Chapter 405

Hu Xiaotian shook his head and said: "For now nothing has been said, but I estimate they definitely won't go easy on me."

Shi Xuedong sucked in a breath of cold air; they were mutually dependent—if Hu Xiaotian got into trouble, his days in the palace would be miserable; given his temperament, relying on Hu Xiaotian's power and status in the Directorate of Gardens, he privately acted tyrannical; if he fell into misfortune, it's not guaranteed those little eunuchs wouldn't turn on him. He said in a low voice: "Since the fire was set by the Talented Person, it has nothing to do with you, and the Emperor will understand the greater principle."

Hu Xiaotian chuckled and said: "He doesn't have time to worry about the life or death of a little eunuch; although this fire at Mingyue Palace was indulged by the Talented Person, Wen, the Grand Preceptor, may not accept this reality, and he certainly won't swallow this anger easily." Remembering Wen Chenghuan's resentful gaze just now, Hu Xiaotian couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

Shi Xuedong said: "Isn't there Eunuch Quan, and isn't there Eunuch Ji protecting you?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "Do you think they'd be willing to offend the current Grand Preceptor for me?"

Shi Xuedong also felt there was no possibility, he sighed gloomily and said: "Things won't be that bad, right? At most they'll remove your position."

Hu Xiaotian said: "He's only concerned with grief right now; he can't yet attend to assigning blame; once his emotions settle, perhaps it will be time for him to settle accounts with me."

Shi Xuedong said: "His daughter burned down the house; on what grounds does he come to you to settle accounts?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "When I first saw that suicide note, I also felt relieved, thinking the matter had been clarified and my responsibility might be lessened; but the more I thought about it, the more wrong it seemed—Wen Ya is already dead, and Wen Chenghuan holds the position of Grand Preceptor. Do you think he would let his daughter take the blame for burning down Mingyue Palace?"

Shi Xuedong bit his lip: "If it were me. I wouldn't either."

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: "Therefore, whether the fire at Mingyue Palace is a natural disaster or man-made, ultimately someone must come forward to take responsibility; after thinking it over, the most suitable person to take the blame is me."

Shi Xuedong said: "But..."

Hu Xiaotian said: "Older brother Shi, I don't know if this will cause big trouble, but just now at the fire scene, Quan De'an and Ji Feihua didn't speak to me. Inconvenience is one reason; another is that they want to draw a clear line with me. Not to mention them, even those little eunuchs in the Directorate of Gardens have heard the wind, seen the signs, and deliberately keep their distance from me."

Shi Xuedong said: "I don't care about others; we are brothers, if the sky falls I'll shoulder it with you."

Hu Xiaotian said: "I appreciate your feelings, but if misfortune strikes there's no need to drag you along; if I run into trouble, please go to Zilan Palace and say that I failed to fulfill my promise to the princess."

Hearing this, Shi Xuedong felt a sense of impending disaster, his nose soured and his eye sockets reddened. A flash of insight struck him: "Right, the little princess—last time the Empress sought trouble for you, it was the little princess who helped resolve it. Why not go find her?"

Hu Xiaotian said: "The little princess isn't in the palace. Actually, even if she were, she couldn't help much; I estimate this matter could be big or small, depending on what Wen, the Grand Preceptor, decides." As he said this, a loud voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Is Eunuch Hu in?"

Hu Xiaotian and Shi Xuedong exchanged a glance; Shi Xuedong's face instantly turned pale, while Hu Xiaotian remained very composed, got up and went out, and before pulling open the door he reminded Shi Xuedong: "Don't forget what I told you to do."

Shi Xuedong nodded firmly.

Although Ji Feihua sent a message through He Mu to Hu Xiaotian telling him not to be afraid, Hu Xiaotian still didn't believe Ji Feihua would offend Wen Chenghuan for his sake. He clearly understood his own position—he was merely a pawn; whether Wen Ya was dead or alive, her palace career had ended, which meant he had also fulfilled the mission Ji Feihua entrusted to him and lost his value. As for Quan De'an, he should be even less likely to step forward to protect him, since Quan De'an had tasked him with protecting Wen Ya, and he hasn't fulfilled that mission; moreover, Quan De'an and Wen Chenghuan are on the same side, so if Wen Chenghuan wanted to assign blame, Quan De'an wouldn't speak up for him, let alone offend the current Grand Preceptor for him.

Outside the door stood two palace guards; seeing Hu Xiaotian, they didn't bow, their expressions stern as they said: "Commander Mu Rongzhan asks you to come with us."

Hu Xiaotian understood, sure that they were going to investigate his responsibility; Wen Ya's suicide note had already made things clear, and there was nothing left to investigate at the scene. Hu Xiaotian smiled and said: "Thank you, brothers, for leading the way."

Hu Xiaotian had been to Commander Mu Rongzhan's office before, but this time upon returning he didn't see Mu Rongzhan; it was said that Mu Rongzhan was still handling affairs at Mingyue Palace. The two guards directly took Hu Xiaotian to a small room in the northwest corner, a place used for temporarily detaining suspects, six feet square, with only one door connecting to the outside. After Hu Xiaotian entered, the door was locked from outside. The interior was pitch black, not a finger visible; Hu Xiaotian realized he had been put in solitary confinement, and at this point it was probably useless.

In the cramped space there was no furniture; Hu Xiaotian sat cross-legged, recalling everything from last night, piecing together the fragmented memories. He should have seen the Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant, but his memory was very blurry; at the time his attention was focused on that beautiful chest, so he overlooked this extremely important thing. If he remembered correctly, the Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant should have been a token he personally gave to Le Yao when he was at Qingyun; if this isn't an illusion, then Wen Ya is Le Yao, yet why did Le Yao suddenly possess such formidable martial arts, and why would she ruthlessly attack someone who had once helped her? Hu Xiaotian couldn't figure it out; he had treated the young widow well, so why did she conceal such deep hostility toward him?

Recalling the scene of last night's internal fire burning his body, he still felt some lingering fear; the marks from the poisonous scorpion stings on his body remained, reminding him these things had really happened. Would those seven Scarlet Yang Burning Yin Pills endanger his body? In any case, since he couldn't leave for now, he might as well set aside distracting thoughts and practice the mental method of the Formless Divine Skill.

Hu Xiaotian made up his mind to begin practicing the mental method Li Yuncong had passed to him; he had been practicing the Formless Divine Skill for a while, though he hadn't made much progress, each time after practicing he felt refreshed and his worries vanished; even if it wasn't a powerful mental method, it should have health-preserving effects.

Hu Xiaotian closed his eyes tightly and began to breathe quietly; a strange thing happened—when he first adjusted his breath, a warm, melting sensation arose in his Dantian Qi Sea; this sensation was very clear, three inches below his navel like the rising sun; as his breathing progressed, the area below his navel grew hotter and hotter; Hu Xiaotian initially thought it was the residual medicinal effect of the Scarlet Yang Burning Yin Gall taking effect; although his cultivation in martial arts wasn't deep, he also understood that the medicinal power should be dispersed throughout the meridians, ultimately expelling all internal heat toxins. He tried to disperse this heat from his Dantian Qi Sea into the meridians, but after several attempts it was futile; he clearly felt a hot, bubbling vortex forming below his navel, rapidly growing and intensifying as it spun. Hu Xiaotian's heart jumped; he hurriedly tried to withdraw his internal breath, attempting to stop.

Yet once the scorching vortex was triggered, it couldn't be controlled; his lower abdomen kept swelling, Hu Xiaotian panicked and tore open his clothes, only to see a faint red light shimmering from below his navel, making his skin semi-transparent, even allowing him to see the flow of blood vessels on his belly. Hu Xiaotian regretted not falling—now he was in trouble, having drawn fire upon himself; he had been practicing martial arts earnestly, yet he had literally played himself to death.

Just as he felt the scorching heat in his abdomen becoming unbearable, a sudden burst of cold air welled up at his navel; due to the sudden abnormal condition inside his body, his true qi almost went astray. Hu Xiaotian hastily gathered his spirit, closed his eyes, and a strange vision appeared in his mind: as if he saw a torrential, roaring river of molten lava rushing forward, while another river filled with floating ice slowly flowed from the opposite side; where the two rivers were about to meet, they formed a vortex, ice and fire, red and Lan, intertwining as they spun, the vortex growing faster and larger, steam rising in great amounts above it, and Hu Xiaotian felt as if his body were bathed in that mist.

The vortex's bottom deepened, forming a visible black hole; as the rotation sped up, the black hole grew larger, finally breaking through to the opposite side; blinding white light poured from the black hole, ice and fire, water and mist, light and darkness all merging together to form a magnificent scroll; Hu Xiaotian's Dantian Qi Sea finally opened its gate, and the mingled cold and hot qi surged out, flowing into his eight extraordinary meridians, breaking through layer after layer of obstruction.

Hu Xiaotian's meridians instantly expanded, first feeling pain, then becoming numb under the alternating cold and hot internal breath; meridians throughout his body rose and fell without cease, like countless worms wriggling and crawling on his skin, tingling and numb, feeling very comfortable.

The circulation of qi in his meridians grew ever smoother; the alternating hot‑cold feeling faded, the two merged as one, like basking in spring breeze, every part of his body felt an indescribable comfort. After the qi completed three circuits, Hu Xiaotian gathered his internal breath back into the Dantian Qi Sea, opened his eyes—his tiger eyes blazed in the darkness, and he could clearly see everything in the room. This was partly due to his adaptation to the dark, but largely because his cultivation of the Formless Divine Skill had finally achieved minor success.

Not only had his vision improved, but his hearing had also become much sharper; although he was indoors, he could clearly hear the movements outside. The low‑voiced conversations between people, the footsteps from walking, even the rustle of leaves blown by the wind, the sound of grass and flowers swaying in a breeze—all came into his ears distinctly. Li Yuncong had once told him that after minor success in cultivating the Formless Divine Skill, one's perceptual abilities would greatly increase. Hu Xiaotian secretly rejoiced; at that moment he heard a series of footsteps approaching from afar, and someone respectfully called out, "Murong Tongling."

This chapter is an Extra chapter for 450 votes! (To be continued~^~)