Taiwei had learned the Bed Positioning for Child Promotion method.

Based on the birth dates and hours of both husband and wife, after selecting an auspicious time, the bed would be repositioned.

The key point in this matter was that when the feng shui master used the luopan compass on site, the needle in the center pool had to be precise, without the slightest deviation.

With the master saying this, he felt confident. He found time to return home and chose an auspicious date to reposition the bed for Battalion Commander Zhang.

The Zhang couple asked why Master Zhu didn’t come personally.

He lied, saying this trip was arranged by the master. The master really couldn’t spare the time, but he’d explained the method clearly to him.

The Zhang couple knew Taiwei had spent over twenty years in the Zhu household and had learned many of the Zhu family’s skills, so they didn’t suspect anything.

After positioning the bed, he thought this matter was over. He continued busily searching for Tianshi’s family, nearly to the point of posting missing person notices at the nine major city gates.

Who knew that only half a month later, his elder brother secretly came from Xuanhua Prefecture, saying something had happened to the Zhang couple.

While training soldiers, Battalion Commander Zhang had taken a tumble—a small tumble that actually broke his leg.

Originally, as a military officer, Battalion Commander Zhang had been very likely to be promoted soon, but with this broken leg, the possibility of promotion was broken too.

His wife also suddenly became deranged, saying there was a shadow in the house that followed her from morning to night and stood by the bed watching her at night.

When Taiwei heard this, he only felt something was terribly wrong.

That day when using the luopan compass, because he was nervous, his hand had trembled slightly, and the needle seemed to have deviated a tiny bit.

He didn’t dare tell his elder brother the truth, only saying he’d check with the master later.

After his elder brother left, he paced around his room like an ant on a hot pan, desperately anxious.

Confess to the master?

He didn’t dare.

The master was different from before. Tianshi had stolen talismans to sell and was expelled from the Zhu residence, his life or death unknown.

He himself had privately taken on work outside and nearly caused a death—an even more serious crime.

What if Battalion Commander Zhang came looking…

What if the master, disregarding their past relationship, sent him to the authorities…

When one panics, the heart becomes chaotic.

He thought and thought, and it seemed there was only one path left—run.

So he took the silver he’d accumulated over the years and secretly fled.

The first two days were fine. On the third day, he began to regret it.

The world was vast, but where could he go?

Would his parents and brothers back home be implicated because of him?

Would Battalion Commander Zhang vent his anger on them?

He didn’t dare run far, hiding in a small inn in Xuanhua Prefecture.

Having been sent to the Zhu household since childhood, there actually weren’t many people in Xuanhua Prefecture who had truly seen him. Inns were places where information flowed most freely.

However, bad news came one after another.

Battalion Commander Zhang felt something was wrong and invited a local feng shui master to investigate his home…

Battalion Commander Zhang brought a squad of soldiers to the capital…

Battalion Commander Zhang put out word to capture him, to make him die a horrible death…

Taiwei became thoroughly frightened. He prepared some dry rations and fled the inn overnight, heading south.

He didn’t dare take official roads or hire carriages, only picking paths without people.

At night, he huddled under a tree, recalling the good old days, sighing over and over—how had he ended up in this situation?

Then he remembered what Tianshi had said by his bed that night—guard against your master.

He wasn’t stupid.

No one who could establish themselves in the Zhu household was stupid. To learn the I Ching and Six Lines divination required a good mind even more.

Regarding Battalion Commander Zhang’s matter, if only the master had accepted this job, he wouldn’t have taken such a risk, and wouldn’t have reached this point.

When the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden away.

Tianshi and he had encountered trouble one after the other. There was only one reason—they knew what unethical things the master had done to become family head.

Now that he had status and position, naturally he wanted to eliminate everyone who knew the truth, one by one.

So Tianshi stealing and selling talismans was false. His family had met with foul play.

And now, it was finally his turn.

Just as he was thinking this, hurried footsteps sounded all around. He looked up to see several soldiers rushing over with gleaming blades.

Before he could struggle, a blade was already at his throat.

“Tie him up, gag his mouth.”

“Quick, go tell the battalion commander we’ve found him.”

What happened next was something he would never dare recall for the rest of his life.

They forced him to drink medicine and cut off his four limbs.

Just as he was about to die from the pain, the master he’d served for over twenty years squatted down.

That face was still so handsome, refined with a touch of otherworldliness—no wonder the mistress was infatuated with him to the point of losing her soul.

But only he and Tianshi knew how black and hard the heart beneath that skin was.

He killed without blinking!

“Taiwei.”

Zhu Xuanjiu called his name, his voice as gentle and innocent as before. “Don’t blame me. If you must blame someone, blame your own bad fate—why did you have to follow me?”

Yes, why did he have to follow such a beast?

If he hadn’t insisted on following his grandfather to the capital to see the world that time, he should have been in Xuanhua Prefecture, living as an ordinary person with two mu of thin farmland and three meals through four seasons.

“When you reach the netherworld, if you see Tianshi, remember to give him a message for me.”

His face showed a sinister smile. “Since you’ve become a dog, don’t always think about becoming a person. Cultivating a human skin—how could that be such a simple thing?”

After writing the last stroke, Taiwei’s mouth opened, and as the writing brush fell to the ground, he also collapsed silently in the chair.

“Taiwei!”

Zhu Qing quickly put his hand under the man’s nose.

Yan Sanhe rushed over. “How is he?”

—

Zhu Qing: “There’s still a trace of breath.”

“Taiwei, you must still have things you haven’t finished saying. Don’t sleep, wake up, wake up quickly!”

Yan Sanhe said in a low voice by his ear, “He wears this human skin too well. Based on just this, I don’t have enough to tear it off. Hold on a bit longer, keep holding on.”

Young Master Pei suddenly slapped his forehead. “Right, my father left a bowl of medicinal soup, saying when he’s exhausted he can drink a bit and it will help him hold on.”

“I’ll go heat it.”

Li Buyan rushed out like a gust of wind and rushed back in moments later with the bowl.

“Miss Li, give me the medicine. I’ll feed him.”

Zhu Qing took the medicine and fed it spoonful by spoonful.

After half a bowl of medicine, Taiwei slowly opened his eyes, looked at the medicine bowl, and indicated he wanted more.

Yan Sanhe let out a long breath of relief. No wonder he’d survived these ten-plus years—an extremely strong will to survive.

“Taiwei, don’t write anymore. I’ll ask you questions, and you just nod or shake your head.”

She needed to conserve his strength.

“Regarding Battalion Commander Zhang’s matter, he should have set up a trap to make you dive right in. As for what kind of trap it was, we won’t discuss that now. Let’s just talk about why he wanted to move against you.”

Yan Sanhe spoke very quickly. “First, you knew too much about him. Second, you kept looking for Tianshi. You didn’t believe Tianshi had just disappeared without a trace like that.”

Taiwei nodded.

Yan Sanhe: “You survived because you were saved by kind people?”

He was saved by an old couple in the mountains.

The old couple had no children. Seeing he still had breath, they carried him home and invited a mountain doctor to treat his injuries.

The doctor had no great skills, using only homemade herbal medicines. The wounds improved for a while, then worsened again.

Those days were worse than death.

He thought about dying every day. Whenever he woke up, he’d bash his head against the wall, but bashing one’s head against a wall required strength. How much strength did he have left to kill himself with one strike?

He wanted to bite his tongue to commit suicide, but each time he drew blood, he couldn’t bring himself to go through with it.

He thought about jumping into a well—at least he’d die quickly. But with his body, he couldn’t even crawl to the well’s edge.

Just as he’d made up his mind not to eat or drink and starve himself to death…

He had a dream.