The dark red liquid in the porcelain vial swayed slightly. It was the heart's blood Xie Zhaolin had taken from Yuzhu's chest, rippling faintly with an abnormal surge of spiritual power.
"This isn't a righteous method…" she murmured. Her fingertip brushed the surface, black qi merging with the blood to release a faintly sweet, metallic tang. "It's more like…"
Suddenly, faint footsteps sounded outside the window. Xie Zhaolin's wrist flicked and the vial vanished into her sleeve.
"Did you hear? That girl in the west wing's really sick…"
"Shh, keep your voice down! Madam said no one's allowed to talk about it…"
The maids' whispers drifted past, then faded. Xie Zhaolin crooked her finger and lifted a droplet of blood into the air. Black qi wrapped around it as it floated, reflecting her thoughtful expression.
"A blood curse…" she muttered, staring at the faint symbols flickering within.
This wasn't some simple restriction. It was an evil art that required living blood as a guide. No wonder Yuzhu collapsed the instant she touched forbidden memories—her very life and soul had been refined into a curse trigger.
Moonlight deepened outside the window. Xie Zhaolin slipped the fragment back into the porcelain vial. Since the whole Chu household had been bound by a silence curse, the study might hold more answers.
At Zi hour, third quarter (around 11:45 p.m.), a shadow slipped silently through the window.
She crossed the corridor like a wraith, black qi trailing her form like mist, suppressing her presence entirely. She'd left Yuzhu in the room, posed like a maid keeping night watch, enough to fool ordinary eyes in the dark.
But light flickered through the crack of the study window. At this hour, someone was still awake?
Holding her breath, Xie Zhaolin pressed to the wall and stretched out her divine sense. Voices inside rang clear in her mind.
"Father, must we really use Ah Xiu?" Chu Huaizhou's voice carried a note of hesitation. "She…"
"Shut your mouth!" Chu Father's low snarl nearly shook the walls. "Your weakness comes from your mother spoiling you rotten! To achieve great things, how can you falter at something so small?"
Chu Huaizhou's throat bobbed. "But Ah Xiu… she was once my fiancée…"
"Fiancée?" Chu Father gave a harsh laugh. "If not for that engagement, why bother bringing her back!" He shot to his feet, sleeve knocking over a teacup. Brown liquid spread across the calligraphy paper like a stain. "A gambling whore has no place in our Chu family. What, would you rather hand over the Zhou family's daughter instead?"
The Zhou family?
Outside the window, Xie Zhaolin's eyes narrowed.
"Though the Zhou girl has five spiritual roots," Chu Father continued, eyes gleaming, "she can still cultivate! The child she bears…" His finger rapped the table with force. "That child will be the key to our Chu family's rise!"
So that was it. Chu Huaizhou was already engaged to a Zhou daughter. But when that black-robed man who granted him his cultivation demanded his fiancée, he couldn't bring himself to give up a girl who could actually cultivate. That was why he suddenly remembered Ah Xiu.
Chu Huaizhou's fingers unconsciously stroked the faded amulet at his waist, the birthday gift Ah Xiu once gave him.
"That man only wants a name," Chu Father's voice softened, turning persuasive. "Once your cultivation's stable, you can have any woman you want." His finger tapped his son's dantian. "Not to mention five roots. Even a three-root cultivator would beg to enter the Chu family."
Xie Zhaolin's divine sense trembled. So Chu Father spelled out every ounce of his calculation.
"She's just a Zhang Xiuxiu," Chu Father sneered. "Once you reach Foundation Building, Li Xiuxiu, Lin Xiuxiu, Wang Xiuxiu—you can have as many as you want!"
Chu Huaizhou swallowed hard. "And the Zhou family…?"
"The Zhou girl must never know about Zhang Xiuxiu!" Chu Father's tone cut like a blade. "That man only wants the title of fiancée. He doesn't truly want to marry her." He clapped his son's shoulder meaningfully. "When this is over, I'll personally go to the Zhou family to propose. For a girl with five roots, marrying into our Chu family is the greatest blessing she could dream of."
Outside, Xie Zhaolin's lips curled in a silent, icy smile.
A blessing? What a joke. The Chu father and son wanted to protect the Zhou girl for her bloodline, yet use Ah Xiu's life to buy their cultivation. No wonder they smuggled her in through a side door. If the Zhou girl found out about the ex-fiancée, everything would collapse.
"Next month, that man will come in person. You'd better rein in your emotions," Chu Father's voice turned frigid. "Don't forget how you gained that cultivation."
Chu Huaizhou sat silent for a long time. At last he lifted his head. Under the candlelight, his hesitation faded, leaving only cold resolve.
"Father, you're right." His voice was chillingly calm. "I was being foolish."
Chu Father stroked his beard in satisfaction. "That's the son I raised. Keep that girl pacified. Once we've dealt with that man…" He trailed off, the implication heavy. "The Zhou family will fall in line."
"I understand." Chu Huaizhou bowed and backed out of the study.
His footsteps drew closer. Xie Zhaolin flickered into the shadow of a pillar. The study door opened, and moonlight revealed his pale, stiff face, his eyes flat with frost. Only after he left did she step back into view. Her gaze lingered on the study's glowing lamp, her expression hard as steel.
Back in her quarters, she pieced together every word she'd overheard. If Chu Father and son were right, they had no idea about Ah Xiu's real secret. They just needed a scapegoat to satisfy that black-robed man. Their true goal was to use the Zhou girl's cultivation potential to improve their bloodline.
She had hoped for new clues about Ah Xiu. That lead had snapped. But at least she now knew the Chu family's true scheme—though that man's reason for demanding Chu Huaizhou's fiancée was still a mystery.
Tapping the table with her fingertip, Xie Zhaolin counted the days. Twenty-five days later would be the seventh day of the month.
That meant she was safe, for now.
By candlelight, black qi curled around her fingers, her eyes deepening to shadow. From afar came the sound of the night watchman's clapper. It was already Chou hour (around 1 a.m.). Her hand brushed the storage ring as her lips tilted into a cold smile. Since the Chu family wanted her to play the scapegoat, they'd better pay the price—pills, artifacts, spirit stones. She'd test it all.
They probably wouldn't dare use force on a "helpless girl." After all, Chu Huaizhou had gone to such lengths to play the hero saving the damsel. But the world never lacked surprises.
She looked at the moon outside the window, lips curving into a sharper smile. If they dared to try, she wouldn't mind teaching the Chu family the truth of inviting a god and failing to send them away.
Xie Zhaolin sat cross-legged. The Xuanyin Foundation Technique circulated slowly through her meridians. She had to raise her cultivation fast. At her current fourth level of Qi Refining, wiping out the Chu family was easy, but escaping Hehuan Sect's layers of checkpoints was another matter.
From Qingyang City to the nearest Xuanyang Sword Sect territory was a month's journey. If she ran into a Hehuan Sect patrol, this body couldn't withstand inspection.
For now, with the Chu family as her "umbrella," it was best to reach late-stage Qi Refining before planning her escape.
The next morning.
"Young Miss! Ah Xiu, Young Miss! Come quick!!"