Even now, Mo Zi still believed there were no secrets hidden within the Water-Purifying Pearls. Despite having all ten pearls laid out before her eyes, the only thing that moved her was the divine craftsmanship of the Min family’s ancestor. Her own small skills were nothing compared to it—she couldn’t even bring them out to show.
The white rock shell presented a perfect sphere with no visible seam. Inside, the Guanyin miniature carving was refined down to individual hair strands. Beneath the clouds floated lotus flowers, and specialized treasure appraisers had counted them—one hundred and sixteen petals. The ten pearls showed Guanyin in ten different aspects: eyes lowered or open, smiling in contemplation, fingers gesturing or stroking leaves, hands clasped in prayer—as if each had an unknown story behind it.
According to Grandfather, Ancestor Min Zhen had locked himself away on a mountain back then. Upon completing these ten pearls in isolation, he passed away, and his descendants never discovered any written words beyond the pearls and tools themselves. Thus how he actually created the Water-Purifying Pearls remains unknown to this day. One could only assume that if someone mastered all nine techniques he pioneered and reached his level of skill, they might be able to recreate such stunning treasures from the tools he left behind.
“No matter how I look at it, it has nothing to do with treasure.” Between her fingertips the pearl’s jade color diminished, and under bright light the Guanyin image was clearly visible. Mo Zi propped her left cheek with one hand, looking through it at the golden lamp paper.
Dou Lu, who had crossed the river with her, sat across from her, leaning forward with her gaze level with the other nine pearls. “If we sell these pearls to Grandfather, we could get eight hundred thousand taels.” Wasn’t that almost like treasure?
“Eight hundred thousand taels isn’t enough for your brother-in-law to fight a war for two months.” That was far from the concept of treasure. Mo Zi smiled and said, “Besides, how could we calculate money from our own family? These Water-Purifying Pearls must eventually be returned to Grandfather, and we can’t take a single coin for them—consider it our filial respect for the old man.” This had been agreed upon with Yuan Cheng and Jin Yin.
“We could just go look at the Mingshan Sandstone Cave and see—maybe Great-Grandfather left something there.” Dou Lu shook her head after speaking. “But Grandfather should have gone to look long ago.”
Mo Zi started. “What mountain, what cave did you say?”
“Mingshan Sandstone Cave.” Dou Lu repeated.
“You must be remembering wrong. It should be Mengshan Qianshi Cave.” For two years she had been occupied with the Water-Purifying Pearls, and Mo Zi knew every detail about them by heart.
“…” Dou Lu thought for a moment. “No, it’s Mingshan Sandstone Cave. The Mengshan Qianshi Cave that Sister mentioned—I’ve never heard of it.”
“Dou Lu, who told you about these mountain and cave names?” Mo Zi had never mentioned it to Dou Lu. “Jin Yin?” But that wasn’t right either. Mengshan Qianshi Cave was widely known because of the Water-Purifying Pearls. Grandfather had mentioned it many times as well.
“No… no one told me.” Dou Lu spoke even more slowly, somewhat puzzled herself. “It just came out suddenly.”
Just came out suddenly? Somehow, Mo Zi recalled Dou Lu’s earlier dreams. Dou Lu clearly belonged to those who remembered things early. The fire had occurred when she was three years old, yet she still retained strong subconscious memories.
“Did you hear it in a dream?” Mo Zi asked.
Dou Lu shook her head. “Not in a dream—just now while looking at the Water-Purifying Pearl, these five characters just popped out.”
Mo Zi didn’t dismiss it. First, Father’s intention in secretly taking the Water-Purifying Pearls was difficult to understand. Was it to comprehend the highest realm of the nine techniques, or did he also believe secrets were truly hidden within? Second, Prince Su’s unusual obsession with the Water-Purifying Pearls—could it be because he had conclusive evidence? Someone with such meticulous scheming who wanted to rebel should be very cautious about doing anything that might leave a trail. There was also another point: Father and Mother had sacrificed themselves to protect her and Dou Lu. But they would rather die than hand over the Water-Purifying Pearls. If it was only about the pearls’ inherent value, she couldn’t help but ask—was it worth abandoning everything for that?
At this moment, Yuan Cheng walked in with Jin Yin following behind.
Jin Yin beckoned to Dou Lu, and Dou Lu went to stand beside him.
Mo Zi really wanted to pull her sister back, but the two sisters were innately committed to keeping their word. Nominally, Dou Lu’s indenture contract was still in Jin Yin’s hands, and Dou Lu still had two matters she had to obey his commands on. As the older sister, she could only watch for now.
Unable to bear watching yet unable to interfere, she focused on the doubt that had just arisen and asked Yuan Cheng, “Do you know where Mingshan is?” He read extensively and seemed knowledgeable about the geography of various countries—he would likely know.
“Mingshan?” Yuan Cheng seemed unaware. “Besides the mountain name, is there anything else?”
“Mingshan Sandstone Cave.” Mo Zi said.
“Never heard of it.” Jin Yin was quick to answer.
Yuan Cheng then said, “Why do you ask?”
“Everyone knows the outer jade shell of the Water-Purifying Pearls was made from jade rock from Mengshan Qianshi Cave, but today Dou Lu said it was Mingshan Sandstone Cave. I’ve never heard of it, yet she doesn’t know where she heard it from—only says it came out suddenly.” Mo Zi told them the truth.
“Did Jiu Jiu mishear? Mengshan Qianshi Cave, Mingshan Sandstone Cave—they sound very similar.” Jin Yin always called Dou Lu Jiu Jiu, and no one could stop him.
“Only someone who speaks as unclearly as you would think two completely different place names are alike.” Yuan Cheng snorted with laughter, mocking him.
Dou Lu clearly disagreed with Jin Yin too, but she didn’t like to argue. She only thought about how to prove she hadn’t misheard. “Phoenix comes to Mingshan, sandstone hears jade chimes, warm hands summon compassion, mind’s eye… mind’s eye…” What was it? What was it? She held her head in both hands, tears welling in her eyes. “Sister, it’s Mother’s voice—I can’t hear it clearly anymore. What should I do—”
Mo Zi was greatly alarmed and was about to rush over.
But Jin Yin extended his hand to cover Dou Lu’s eyes, while his other hand gently patted her back. His tone was so gentle, completely devoid of his usual flippant manner. “Jiu Jiu, don’t worry, don’t worry. If you can’t hear clearly, it’s okay—your mother loves you and will come again.”
Mo Zi stared blankly at this scene, then felt warmth in her own palm. The rebuke that had reached her lips instantly dissipated.
Yuan Cheng’s hand led her out of the camp tent.
“Everyone has feelings they cannot control—don’t overthink or overdo things. I see Dou Lu is just like you, her sister—intelligent and refined. Though she doesn’t speak much, she has strong opinions in her heart. Whoever marries her in the future won’t suffer a loss either. Just trust her.” He said with a smile.
“My protective nature really takes after Grandfather’s side. When you try to do something, the whole family rushes up to help you with all their might.” Without the Min family backing her up, how could she alone, with her abilities and resources, have manufactured so many bombs? With just one diagram and one explanation, the Min family went full force experimenting and manufacturing—almost like an arsenal.
“So having daughters is good. Blow a pillow wind and the in-laws invest everything. Act coquettish toward your natal family and they urgently send whatever you want.”
Mo Zi raised an eyebrow, amused. “Are you implying something with those words?” Did he want her to have daughters?
“No.” Yuan Cheng denied it, then said next, “What do you think?”
“Whether we have sons or daughters isn’t up to me—it’s up to you.” Mo Zi thought he was referring to having children.
Yuan Cheng looked at her with great interest. “Although what I asked was your opinion on Mingshan Sandstone Cave, is it really up to me whether we have sons or daughters?”
Mo Zi’s face turned bright red. She decided to ignore his latter comment. “Dou Lu has very strong subconscious memories of some childhood events. Earlier she kept dreaming about Mother pushing us out of the fire, and later events proved she was right. So this time I believe her too. Mishearing one sentence is possible, but she couldn’t just randomly say that rhyme. ‘Phoenix comes to Mingshan, sandstone hears jade chimes, warm hands summon compassion’—these three lines are practically custom-made for the Water-Purifying Pearls.”
“I also believe Mingshan Sandstone Cave is more like the truth than the widely known Mengshan Qianshi Cave. For over a hundred years, Mengshan Qianshi Cave has been trampled countless times by treasure seekers and thieves, precisely because of the legend that Min Zhen harvested jade there for making the Water-Purifying Pearls. But no one, including the Min family, has ever found any clues there beyond jade rock.” This was recorded in many folk tales.
“But if Mengshan Qianshi Cave has color-changing jade rock, maybe Min Zhen really did go there.” Mo Zi hadn’t actively concerned herself with this before.
Yet Yuan Cheng shook his head. “If not for what Dou Lu said today, I wouldn’t have noticed the oddity in these legends.”
“What?” Mo Zi asked curiously.
“It’s that your great-grandfather seems to have used up all the jade rock in Qianshi Cave. Later generations could never find this color-changing material again—only a few hollow stones he had mined remain.” Thinking about it now, it seemed rather unreasonable.
“If that’s really true, could it be that Min Zhen deliberately created a false trail to make people think it was Mengshan Qianshi Cave? The more I think about it, the more it seems like these pearls are hiding something. And why—I can understand not telling outsiders, but why wouldn’t he even tell his own family members?” Didn’t he care about passing knowledge down through generations?
“He did tell them.” Yuan Cheng said lightly.
“Huh?” Mo Zi didn’t understand.
“‘Phoenix comes to Mingshan, sandstone hears jade chimes, warm hands summon compassion.’ Your parents already knew the secret within. That last line is probably the clue or answer.” What came after “mind’s eye”?
Mo Zi looked at him in shock, unconsciously repeating, “My parents already knew the secret within?” So they died protecting the Water-Purifying Pearls.
“Would your parents have left two young daughters orphaned and helpless just to guard dead objects worth several hundred thousand taels? There must be an enormous reason that could make them choose such a difficult path.” Mothers like Qiao Niang who wanted to put their biological son to death were rare in the world.
“If what you say is true and they discovered the secret of the Water-Purifying Pearls, but Father only took away two pearls at the time, and the Min family never had them all collected together either—does that mean they had other unknown clues?” Now her reaction speed returned to normal.
“When you put it that way, I think you’re right.” He hadn’t thought of that point—they complemented each other well.
“Once we find where Mingshan is, we’ll know.” With a name, how could they not find it?
“Mingshan.” Yuan Cheng’s gaze cast into the night, where darkness still prevailed.
Two days later, seven or eight large Min family ships loaded with weapons and armaments arrived. Unexpectedly, besides the frequently traveling Min Feng and Min Zhen, Grandfather and Old Master Yu had also come. Upon meeting, they first blamed Yuan Cheng for marrying their precious granddaughter without waiting for them, then solemnly told him he must treat Mo Zi well, or else the Min family would cut off his weapons supply, and so on.
With this marriage, Yuan Cheng’s former carefree life of one person eating his fill and the whole family being satisfied seemed gone. Like Mo Zi, he now had a large extended family who could nag at him.
With family together, they naturally discussed the discrepancy between Mingshan and Mengshan, which greatly surprised the two old masters.
“You’re saying Fifth Son and his wife discovered the secret within?” Old Master Yu spoke. “And it wasn’t derived from the Water-Purifying Pearls themselves?” Incredible.
“Grandfather, when Father left with Mother back then, besides the Water-Purifying Pearls, did he take anything else that Great-Grandfather Min Zhen left behind?” Mo Zi nodded while asking.