Chapter Ninety-Six: Leaping Through the Window

Sanzhi was suddenly startled. Keeping his head lowered, he saw that pair of white boots drawing nearer and nearer, step by step pressing in.

“My lord, hurry up, or we’ll be found!” Sanzhi said in panic, his head still bowed and his mouth puckered.

“Eh—”

Sanzhi felt the man opposite had already drawn his talisman sword, and the system immediately sounded its warning.

Then came a sudden commotion.

“Stop, thief!”

Sanzhi looked up and saw a Daoist priest chasing after a figure. On closer inspection, was that not the very robe the young lord had been wearing moments ago?

“Loyal to the bone!”

Sanzhi scampered up the stairs in a rush, muttering as he went, “My lord~ my lord~ my lord~”

The Golden Tome Cultivation System said, “Host, stop calling. The big shot is already far away from us.”

Sanzhi asked, “Then what should we do now? Keep going, or run?”

The Golden Tome Cultivation System said, “Do what needs doing. Don’t spoil the big shot’s important business.”

Sanzhi: “……”

The Golden Tome Cultivation System said, “You’re thinking of running, aren’t you? If you stay silent, that means there’s something wrong. This system is telling you, if you ruin the big shot’s good deed, you’ll get sores on the soles of your feet and pus on your backside…”

Sanzhi said, “Fine, fine. Stop threatening me all the time. I’ll do it, all right?”

Gathering himself, Sanzhi carefully threaded his way past one Heavenly Observatory Daoist after another and sneaked up to the seventh floor.

“All right, now it’s up to you,” he whispered.

“Good. Go into each room one by one, and leave the rest to this system.”

Sanzhi began his campaign through every room on the seventh floor.

He slipped in quietly, then waited for the system’s reply.

The Golden Tome Cultivation System said, “Nothing. Next.”

The rooms on the seventh floor were all much the same. Every room Sanzhi entered looked similar to the one he had seen in Wei Li’s place that day: the same alchemy furnace, the same antique display shelf, even the jars and bottles on it were nearly identical.

Sanzhi searched through an entire row of rooms without finding a single match, growing exhausted. “Could it be you’re not on the seventh floor?”

“There’s still another row. Come on, hurry it up!”

“Ah…” Sanzhi braced himself on a nearby table and hauled himself up, then went into the other row.

Before the system even began scanning, Sanzhi spotted the young lord, Jiang Lan, standing in the corner with a mask on.

“Young Lord, when did you get here?”

Jiang Lan glanced at him. “I’ve been here since early morning.”

“This room?” Sanzhi’s eyes widened.

Jiang Lan nodded.

“Then why didn’t you call me? I’ve already checked dozens of rooms, and my legs are still weak.”

Only then did Jiang Lan turn around at his words. “After I lured that man away, I couldn’t find you.”

Sanzhi rubbed his head. “About that Daoist priest just now, I still have to thank you, Young Lord.”

Jiang Lan waved it off; she had not taken the matter very seriously.

“Young Lord, have you found the clue?”

Jiang Lan nodded, then frowned at Sanzhi. “It’s this room. You don’t remember?”

Sanzhi felt dizzy. “Young Lord, have you forgotten? When I woke up, I was already in this room. I had no idea how I got here.” He was utterly wronged. He had thought all that searching would at least earn him some praise, but now it seemed his efforts had been wasted.

“Oh, I forgot.”

Jiang Lan spoke with blunt honesty, and Sanzhi clutched at his chest as though someone had jabbed a dagger into it, feeling deeply aggrieved.

But aggrieved as he was, business could not be forgotten.

“Have you found any clues?”

Jiang Lan nodded, though her brows drew together. “I can sense it’s within this room, but it seems to be behind some mechanism. I just haven’t found anything.”

Sanzhi moved to Jiang Lan’s side. “You mean this wall, Young Lord?”

“Mm. You know something of the strange arts too. Can you see anything unusual here?”

Sanzhi studied it seriously. “No. Not at all. I can’t sense the slightest fluctuation. It doesn’t look like a formation or mechanism was set here.”

“No, my feeling says it’s right here.” Jiang Lan’s hand touched the wall. The bead of blood from her own body had clearly issued its resonance from this spot; there could be no mistake.

“Feeling? What feeling?”

Sanzhi copied her and laid his palm against it as well. “I don’t feel anything.”

As soon as he said that, a voice sounded in his mind. “Dummy, it’s inside. A very rare sealing curse has been placed here. The system is analyzing it; wait a moment.”

“Then hurry up. If you’re any slower, the young lord might even unlock it herself.”

“Don’t rush. According to the system’s analysis, the big shot mainly uses orthodox spells, so they probably don’t know much about these sealing curses.”

“You sure?”

Sanzhi stared in stunned disbelief at Jiang Lan, who had smashed the wall apart with one palm. “Young Lord, that was… a bit… direct, wasn’t it?”

“Isn’t being direct better?” Jiang Lan reached into the wall and took out a blue crystal orb, the size of a fist, icy and clear. “Since the thing is in there, let’s go.”

“Mm!”

The two of them turned around, and a Daoist in white was suddenly right before them.

“You two—”

Jiang Lan drew a yellow talisman from her sleeve and froze the Daoist in place.

“Go.”

Sanzhi hurried after her.

Unfortunately, the noise from Jiang Lan’s earlier strike had been no small matter, and all the Daoists in the building were surging this way.

“Quickly report to the ancestor! A demonic Daoist has broken in!”

“Yes, Senior Brother.”

Sanzhi looked anxiously at Jiang Lan. “Young Lord, what do we do now?”

“Run!”

Jiang Lan moved like the wind, sprinting at great speed, and Sanzhi hastily followed.

There were many people from the Heavenly Observatory, and they were blocked and pursued from all sides.

Jiang Lan and Sanzhi were driven into a room on the seventh floor. Sanzhi looked out the window. “My lord, there’s no way out!”

Jiang Lan glanced behind her at the two pursuers, then at the crowd of white-robed Daoists before them. She suddenly turned and kicked the window open, saying to Sanzhi at her side, “Jump!”

“Huh?”

Jiang Lan paid him no mind and leaped straight out.

“Hey, wait for me! I haven’t jumped yet!”

Just as Sanzhi was about to leap down, a Daoist who had caught up from behind seized his robes, leaving him hanging from the window.

“Help! Help!” Sanzhi struggled desperately, and the Daoist holding him above felt his weight growing heavier and heavier. His fingers slipped and slipped until all he had left was a single garment, and even that belonged to one of their own disciples.

Jiang Lan waited below, and when she saw Sanzhi dropping, she quickly hurled talismans to catch him.

“Thank you, Young Lord.” Seeing himself unharmed from head to toe, Sanzhi looked at Jiang Lan with gratitude.

“Don’t be happy too soon. Outside, that old monster from the strange arts has laid down a formation with a half-shadow. As soon as we get a little close, he’ll sense us. By then, even if we somehow get out, he’ll send a large group after us to hunt us down.”

“What should we do?”

Hearing the clamorous noise above, Jiang Lan said, “There’s been such a commotion in this building, and that old monster from the strange arts hasn’t even come over to take a look. It seems the situation outside is even trickier.”

Sanzhi looked at Jiang Lan, who had been staring at him all this time, and also lowered his head. It was only a yellow Daoist robe that had been washed slightly fuzzy at the edges. “Did I get something dirty on it?”

Jiang Lan shook her head. “No.”

Outside the Heavenly Observatory, the ancestor of the strange arts sat in command, watching his disciple Rong Mu deal with the gang of wild Daoists who had come causing trouble with their whole households in tow, while also listening to reports from below.

“What? They escaped through the window?”

“Yes, Ancestor.”

The ancestor of the strange arts stroked his white beard. “It was inconvenient to make a big scene in front of the Duke of Wei’s residence before, but now they’ve come right to our doorstep. Don’t worry, they won’t get away. He shattered a wall?”

“Yes. A wall at the right-hand corner of Senior Brother Wei Li’s pill room was blown to smithereens.”

“Did anyone see what was inside?”

“The junior brother who rushed over first after hearing the noise arrived a bit late and didn’t see any objects.”