Chapter 39

The sun gradually set, and a grayish-blue mist enveloped the mountains.

Chang Ning lay within a huanghuali wood bed hung with delicate gauze curtains. His thick, jet-black hair spread over nearly half the bed, rising and falling like magnificent, heavy silk satin. He lay with his eyes open, quietly looking at the pattern on the top of the gauze canopy. Beside elegant, slate-blue bamboo branches was embroidered a cluster of small madder-red flowers, and in the distance, a small, ginger-yellow, scabby-headed frog was hopping.

The curtains were cut by Feicui, the embroidery was done by Furong, and the pattern was drawn by Cai Zhao.

Chang Ning's lips curved slightly—he knew the little girl was secretly cursing him, but he just pretended not to know.

Draping his clothes on, he rose and washed up briefly. The face in the mirror was covered in poison sores, its features blurred.

He couldn't help but smile.

The girl had complained about his face countless times and tried to slip away just as many, yet in the end, she had stayed by his side, showing him the utmost care all this time.

When others wanted to bully him, she had to protect him; when he wanted to bully others, she had to stop him. Every time he saw the girl looking anxious and flustered, he found it inexplicably amusing.

She was someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Even if she were to discover his concealments in the future, she wouldn't stay angry for long.

She treated him so well, so he had to treat her well in return.

Sitting at the table, he spread out a sheet of paper, took up a brush, and closed his eyes in thought. He searched repeatedly through the forest of memories in his mind and finally found a mottled, fragmented leaf on an inconspicuous, short tree—

"...In the second month of the Guiyou year, the Cult Master Nie Hengcheng heard that Elder Yaoguang, Zuo Qianqiu, was plotted against by the Yin thief of the Qingque Sect and Canghuan Zi of the Grand Beginning Abbey. Greatly grieved, he ordered his subordinates to rescue Elder Kaiyang. Unfortunately, they were on the verge of success when they failed, instead losing many brave warriors. Elder Kaiyang also perished. The scoundrels of Beichen were heavily guarded; future generations should take this as a warning."

Below it was a simple sketch of just a few strokes: mountain rocks under a setting sun casting a long, pointed shadow on the ground.

Beside it, a line of small characters was noted: 'From this point, head east for three li, then turn sideways for four li. Repeat this twice. Upon meeting a shallow stream, cross it and head north. It is not far from there.'

Chang Ning did his best to draw the sketch from memory. After examining it carefully twice, he folded it and placed it inside his robe.

Then he pushed open the door and walked out.

The evening wind was cool and refreshing, especially invigorating as it blew against his face.

Cai Zhao's door was still tightly shut; she was likely sound asleep.

Chang Ning wanted to see the girl's sleeping face before he left, but he saw Feicui standing before Cai Zhao's door, hand on her sword, her expression as cold as ice.

Furong forced a smile. "The young mistress isn't awake yet. This... uh, Young Master, you should wait for her..."

Chang Ning wasn't angry. The two maids were loyal and reliable, which was Cai Zhao's good fortune.

He said gently, "Just open the window and let me have a look."

That was acceptable, so Furong gently opened the window halfway.

The girl in the green gauze bed curtains was sleeping soundly, her breathing even and her cheeks flushed, like a porcelain doll.

Chang Ning watched for a while, an unconscious smile appearing on his face.

"I'll be right back. Look after Zhaozhao," he said.

Then, with a flick of his long sleeves, he vanished like the wind into the grayish dusk.

The wind was cold and the dew was damp, yet whenever he thought of the peacefully sleeping girl, an indescribable warmth filled his heart.

Ever since Cai Pingchun's disappearance in the middle of the night two days ago, the girl hadn't rested properly. After returning to the Qingjing Study last night, they had each gone to their rooms to rest. He woke up in the middle of the night and saw a dim light in the room opposite, where the slender, lonely little girl was pacing back and forth.

Poor thing. She had an unreliable master who fell into a trap so easily, leaving her all alone and without support now.

As soon as it was light today, Cai Zhao had rushed off to find Fan Xingjia.

Fan Xingjia was indeed dazed and confused. He only remembered speaking with Steward Chen yesterday when he suddenly blacked out. When he woke up, he found himself in a small alley in town, with his senior brother Zhuang Shu shouting at the top of his lungs, nearly deafening him.

Fan Xingjia rubbed his head and hissed softly.

He figured he must have been transported down the mountain in a box, otherwise he wouldn't have several bumps on his head from being knocked around.

He had wanted to find Steward Chen to ask what had happened, but Zhuang Shu had discovered Steward Chen's body in a gully early in the morning. The cause of death was said to be a fall that cracked his head while drunk—but Steward Chen was not a heavy drinker.

An atmosphere of anxiety and restlessness enveloped the Qingque Sect. Under 'Qi Yunke's' orders, dozens more grim-faced, unfamiliar experts entered Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff, and the disciples felt an inexplicable danger approaching.

Lei Xiuming and Li Wenxun sensed that something was wrong. They wanted to find Qi Yunke to get an explanation, but were blocked outside his sickroom. Looking at Qi Yunke's main courtyard, heavily guarded by strangers, and then thinking of Sky-Hanging Cove, which was similarly guarded like an iron fortress by Vast Heaven Sect guards, a chill ran down both their spines. They had no choice but to return and order their respective disciples to keep their doors tightly shut.

Jiuli Mountain was no longer filled with its usual joyful laughter.

Cai Zhao intercepted Fan Xingjia, who was on his way to the Apothecary to find some medicine, and asked if the Qingque Sect had a prison.

Fan Xingjia said yes, of course they did. How could the Qingque Sect, a sect governed by rules, not have a prison? Dry cells, water prisons, ordinary cells—they had them all. Not only did he tell Cai Zhao where the prison was, he even took her there personally to see—

The dry cells were the busiest. Inside were two thieves, seven or eight street thugs who bullied others in the market, plus a despicable man worse than an animal—who had sold his own infant son while drunk, and then tried to molest his sister-in-law who had come to visit her sister.

Martial Uncle Li's opinion was to castrate him and send him to do hard labor. Simple and clean.

Martial Uncle Lei's opinion was to make him a medicine test subject, so as not to waste him.

The two were still negotiating.

The water prison was set in a cave beneath a mountain stream. It was damp, cold, gloomy, and terrifying. Even the toughest person would be ruined after soaking here for half a year. It was said that many prisoners from the Demonic Cult had suffered a fate worse than death here, unable to live and unable to die.

After Qi Yunke took over, the Jianghu became peaceful, and the water prison fell into disuse.

In the ordinary cells were five or six sect disciples who had broken the rules, for things like drunken brawling or extorting fellow disciples. It was the same old story year after year, nothing surprising.

—The enthusiastic Young Hero Fan explained endlessly, even his headache was gone.

Cai Zhao actually knew it was impossible for Young Master Qian to be blatantly thrown into a prison cell—it's not like the other party was an idiot—but she still couldn't suppress her disappointment. After thinking it over, she felt that Twilight Palace was the most likely place. Just as she was about to investigate it at all costs, she was stopped by Chang Ning.

"Twilight Palace is too big. The front three halls, the back three halls, plus the side halls and guest rooms—the handful of people the imposter brought are not enough to guard it all," Chang Ning said. "Unless they put him in the main courtyard where the Sect Master lives."

He gave a mocking smile. "The risk of keeping him in the same place as the people from the Thousand Faces Sect is too great. The man surnamed Qian must be locked up somewhere else."

There were faint dark circles under Cai Zhao's eyelids. She gritted her teeth and said, "In any case, he must be within the sect grounds. I'll find him even if I have to tear the place apart!"

"Who tears a place apart in broad daylight?" Chang Ning placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and said gently, "You go rest first. Tonight, I'll help you search every single courtyard."

Cai Zhao thought that made sense. Besides, she was truly exhausted, so she did as he said and returned to her room to rest.

When she woke up, the sky was completely dark.

With a creak, the door opened. The young man in a wide-sleeved long robe entered holding a lamp. In the dim yellow light, his figure was tall and slender, like an elegant and refined mountain peak on a yellowed scroll.

Cai Zhao sat on the edge of her bed and looked at him for a moment. "...There are two fewer poison sores on your face."

"Is that so? They're probably about to heal," Chang Ning said nonchalantly, placing the lampstand on the table.

Cai Zhao lowered her head and rubbed her eyes.

'He must have been very good-looking before,' she thought, 'heroic and handsome. A pity I might never get to see it.'

Chang Ning sat by the bed, looking at the girl's fluffy head of hair and her tender cheek, which had an imprint on it from sleeping. A feeling of affection filled his chest.

"Get up and wash. We'll set out after we eat." He knew what the girl was most worried about.

Cai Zhao immediately looked up as expected and grabbed his sleeve. "Do you know where to look?"

Chang Ning said casually, "I went out to scout just now. It should be over there."

Cai Zhao was delighted, but she suddenly felt a damp coldness in her palm. She opened her hand and realized it was Chang Ning's sleeve that was wet. She understood in an instant and felt a pang of apology. "...Is the dew heavy outside?"

Chang Ning's smile deepened. "The mountain air is especially damp tonight, and it's terribly cold. You should wear more later."

Cai Zhao turned her face away and, after a moment, gave a soft sound of assent.

...

The world was pitch-black.

The stars and moon were hidden, and large, dark clouds piled up in the sky. The howling mountain wind blew the trees and grass about, making it difficult to even stand. The oppressive darkness of Sky-Piercing Peak loomed overhead as if to swallow them whole.

"It's there." Chang Ning pointed to an extremely ordinary courtyard ahead.

The Qingque Sect occupied a vast area, with dozens of courtyards scattered about. The one Chang Ning pointed to was a storage house—close to the back mountain, desolate and remote, and shielded by a dense forest. Few people would think of this place.

However, Cai Zhao could already see more than a dozen shadowy figures moving slowly through the half-man-high wild grass ahead. They moved in the starless, moonless night, silently guarding the house, like phantoms.

But such a dark night also provided an advantage for Chang Ning and Cai Zhao.

They approached silently. When they encountered patrolling men in black, they dodged if they could. If they couldn't, they knocked them out with a touch and gently laid them in the grass, then slipped into the house through a side window.

This was a large house with two successive courtyards, containing at least seven or eight rooms in total. Every room was piled with all sorts of miscellaneous items. Chang Ning led Cai Zhao by the hand, and they felt their way in the dark to the second-to-last large room.

"It should be here," he whispered.

Cai Zhao took out a Night-Luminous Pearl wrapped in gauze and surveyed the entire room by its faint light—

They had entered the room from the south. Against the east wall were tables, chairs, and benches stacked high, covered in cobwebs. The west wall was empty. Against the north wall were several huge chests.

Cai Zhao inspected everything carefully, then walked straight to the north wall, pointed at the largest chest, and said, "There's a mechanism here."

Chang Ning: "How do you know?"

Cai Zhao sighed. "Actually, mechanisms and formations were what my maternal grandfather was best at. Unfortunately, his parents said it was a crooked path, so my grandfather had to run off to the Jianghu to practice in secret." —And then he met Cai Zhao's devoutly Buddhist maternal grandmother.

Chang Ning smiled faintly.

Cai Zhao handed him the Night-Luminous Pearl and began to feel around the chests. Suddenly, she said, "Found it. Here."

Chang Ning squinted to see. It turned out one of the chests was firmly nailed to the floor.

He was about to move the chest but was stopped by Cai Zhao.

Cai Zhao stared intently at the huge black iron lock on the chest. The surrounding objects were covered in dust, but while the lock was dull in color, it was very smooth to the touch.

"Someone touches it often," Chang Ning said softly.

Cai Zhao took off one of her earrings, straightened the thin silver hook, and carefully probed the grooves and patterns of the lock. After a moment, a smile appeared on her face. "Done."

In the darkness, there was a soft click. Cai Zhao had pressed down one of the grooves on the huge lock. The entire lock then slowly swiveled open, revealing a pull-rope handle behind it.

Chang Ning and Cai Zhao looked at each other. They both wanted to pull the handle, but they were worried that the sound would attract the men in black outside.

Just then, a deafening roar came from outside. The two of them were stunned for a moment, then realized with joy—it was really going to rain tonight!

Chang Ning gripped the pull-rope handle tightly. Sure enough, another loud clap of thunder soon followed. As fast as lightning, Chang Ning pulled the handle—with a rumbling sound, another chest slowly moved aside, revealing a hole in the ground. Below it was a deep staircase, clearly leading somewhere underground.

Chang Ning couldn't help but smile. He said softly, "Fan Xingjia was right, the Qingque Sect really does have every kind of prison imaginable. See? They even have a dungeon."

Cai Zhao laughed and gave him a light pat, then jumped into the hole.

Chang Ning followed.

Author's Note:

An old reader told me, this is clearly a suspense mystery, so why does your synopsis read like a domestic drama?

So I changed the synopsis.