Chapter 18

In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the window lattice, falling on the indoor table; the weather was exceptionally clear.

Zhou Shuo stood by the window with his eyes closed, welcoming the bright sunlight, feeling the true qi ceaselessly cleansing the impurities in his body's blood, his expression calm; compared to his leisurely joy, Zi Nu, Han Fei, and the handsome youth Zhang Liang, who were seated at the indoor table, did not share such a good mood.

"I'm back." The voice came from outside; the sliding door was pushed open, and Zhou Shuo turned to see Wei Zhuang returning from outside. This guy's doing, he had been holding his breath wanting to resolve it, and he hadn't returned to the Purple Orchid Pavilion for two consecutive days.

"How is it?" Han Fei looked at his returning friend and stood up straight.

"She's fine; I found Tian Ze, and this is his condition." Wei Zhuang recounted Hong Lian's safety, then took out a slender ceramic bottle from his waist—the condition Tian Ze had proposed.

"What is this?" The people inside looked at what Wei Zhuang had taken out, unable to help but crowd forward; Han Fei took it in his hand, examined it for a moment, then passed it to Zi Nu, who passed it to Zhang Liang, who after looking at it for a while handed it back to Zhou Shuo.

"It once held fresh blood, a woman's blood." Zhou Shuo took the bottle, waved the mouth under his nose, his eyebrows twitching slightly. Having undergone true qi tempering that cleansed his blood and marrow, all his senses had reached the human limit; an ordinary nose could not smell what was inside the bottle, but he could—there was a fishy odor and a fragrance, the fragrance being that of female hormones.

Faced with Zhou Shuo's words, Wei Zhuang couldn't help but frown, took the bottle back to sniff it, then passed it to Han Fei, Zi Nu, and the youth Zhang Liang; each took a sniff, and though they weren't sure if it was psychological or something else, there indeed was a faint fishy smell, but no other odors.

"Brother Zhou, how did you smell that the blood inside is a woman's?" The exceptionally handsome youth Zhang Liang stared at Zhou Shuo.

"Hormones, well, in other words, it's the body scent of a woman; kids shouldn't ask more." Zhou Shuo waved his hand, making the handsome youth instantly blush; Zi Nu curled the corner of her mouth, while Wei Zhuang remained expressionlessly cold, and Han Fei wore a bitter face.

"There's no doubt the scent in this bottle is that of a woman's blood; sending this over, what is their intention?" Zhou Shuo looked at Han Fei, who wore a bitter expression; this guy had looked like that for the past two days, but it's no wonder—his career and family are both facing crisis.

"He didn't say." Wei Zhuang wore a wooden expression.

"So you didn't ask either, right?" Zhou Shuo looked at the wooden-headed fellow, couldn't help but smirk, "Brother, you run a business without even asking what the merchandise is—how cool; I hope you lose so much in business you end up wearing only your pants."

"The other side holds more chips than we do." Zi Nu looked at the wooden-headed Wei Zhuang, couldn't help but shake her head; actually it's not that she didn't want to ask, but even if she did, she probably wouldn't get an answer—the other side now holds the Han crown prince and Princess Hong Lian, and not having them make an exorbitant demand is already good.

"This blood has many uses, but judging from my experience fighting him, I suspect it's the key for him to break free from the General's Manor control; the General's Manor would hardly let him go without imposing some restriction, yet the medicinal properties are subtle, and we currently have no recourse—perhaps we can find clues from the craftsmanship of this ceramic bottle." Seeing Zi Nu's defense, Zhou Shuo spoke while glancing at the blushing Zhang Liang; the future strategist instantly understood.

"Speaking of craftsmanship, the quality of this ceramic bottle should be made from clay specially fired for the royal household; the patterns on it are lifelike, likely a stamped pottery technique. This technique is widespread, but it originally spread among the Hundred Yue; well, the artisans of Fire Rain Mountain Villa were also skilled in this." Zhang Liang's sharp mind quickly made some connections.

"The Hundred Yue—there are not a few people in Han connected to them; besides the deceased Liu Yi, it should be Bai Yifei, that Blood Marquis, who once campaigned among the Hundred Yue, Liu Yi having been his subordinate; he is a noble of merit and also shares lineage with the General's Manor, so obtaining clay specially supplied to the royal household is not difficult for him." Zhou Shuo looked toward Han Fei.

"So then! How do you plan to get a hold of it?" Wei Zhuang set down the wine cup he had just lifted.

"Simple, that Blood Marquis lives there—just go to his place and swindle him!" Zhou Shuo said without hesitation.

"Do you know how many residences that guy has? And how big each is?" Wei Zhuang lowered his gaze.

"Well then, I'm out of ideas." Zhou Shuo looked at the guy who was spoiling things, feeling a bit disheartened; speaking truthfully, a marquis's residence has many buildings—damn it, searching for a ceramic bottle in that vast area is no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.

"But speaking of which, there's one thing: we can pretty much confirm this bottle belongs to the Blood Marquis, because after the Fire Rain Mountain Villa was destroyed, those stonemasons vanished without a trace, very likely taken over by the Blood Marquis; at least we now have a target." Zhang Liang seized the moment to ease everyone's mood; although it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, at least we've narrowed down to a single target.

"But we don't have much time to waste." Han Fei appeared worried and depressed.

"I can think of a way to tail the Blood Marquis." Zhou Shuo looked at the worried, depressed Han Fei and couldn't help but smirk.

"What method?" Zi Nu's expression shifted.

"You guys don't need to ask about this; I'll keep an eye on the Blood Marquis side, but you'd better also figure out a way to get hold of it." Zhou Shuo waved his hand, refusing to answer a question involving privacy.

"Aside from the Blood Marquis, this ceramic bottle could also come from the palace; I'll have Nong Yu's side help look for it." Seeing Zhou Shuo refuse to answer, Zi Nu could only drop the question, while also offering what she could do.

Zhou Shuo listened to Zi Nu's words, his expression shifting; Nong Yu is Li Kai's daughter, a lady musician residing in the Purple Orchid Pavilion. After Tian Ze made his move, she was arranged by Zi Nu, one of the leaders of Flowing Sand, to enter the Han palace as an inside agent, because Nong Yu's maternal aunt—her mother's sister—was another lady of the Fire Rain Mountain Villa who served the Han king in the palace and was conferred the title of Hu Meiren.

Through the connection with Hu Meiren, Flowing Sand also began to infiltrate the Han palace; their plot is grand, but this scheme of theirs is destined to come to nothing. Zhou Shuo clearly sees how things will unfold, so he cannot help but consider Nong Yu's safety—after all, Li Kai is the only capable subordinate under his command, but now Nong Yu is a member of Flowing Sand, making it awkward to intervene directly.

The best way to rescue Nong Yu at this stage is to let things take their natural course—first let her leave the palace according to the plot; even if the Purple Orchid Pavilion is no good, at least Zi Nu and Wei Zhuang can shelter her, whereas the Han palace is a place where every step is a killing zone. Zhou Shuo instantly made up his mind: originally he had wanted to use the opportunity of monitoring the Blood Marquis to steal that thing away, but now he can't.

If that's the case, then I'll go prepare first. Zhou Shuo rose, looking at the others in the room; matters are better done early than delayed, so he now needed to send his agents into the Han palace.

Since he's not a member of Flowing Sand, Zhou Shuo doesn't need to explain anything; after leaving a sentence, he simply departed from the Purple Orchid Pavilion. Over the past two days many things have happened—his soul has been injured, he has newly obtained a secret manual, and though he had been staying here, he now must return home to check on things, while also arranging for infiltrators to enter the Han palace.

In the familiar courtyard, the alchemy furnace had been cleaned by the disciples, everything left untouched; after Zhou Shuo inspected it, he had a disciple bring his white-bellied serpent hawk—a raptor native to the southern borders, a gift from Tang Qi of the Seven Absolutes Hall.

Tsk tsk. After dismissing the disciple, Zhou Shuo looked at the raptor inside the cage—standing one zhang tall, with a dark-blue back and white belly, golden eyes and sharp talons, appearing extraordinarily divine—and teased it by making a sound with his mouth.

Ga! The serpent hawk in the cage, provoked, raised the feathers on its neck and spread its wings in a striking posture.

Little thing, still this fierce. Zhou Shuo looked at the ferocious large bird, extended his index finger and flicked its head; the serpent hawk comes from the southern borders, specializing in eating snakes, hence its name, favored by exotic-loving nobles, but this white-bellied serpent hawk clearly hasn't received training; facing Zhou Shuo's teasing, it still wanted to thrust its beak to injure, yet no matter how fierce, it remains just a bird—no matter how it ruffles its feathers and squawks inside the cage, it can't get ahead.

Zhou Shuo looked at the fierce bird, flicked it several times with his finger, then, having had enough, he gathered his smile; with a thought, his soul leapt from his body and plunged into the thrashing, jumping fierce creature, which instantly froze in place, while Zhou Shuo, occupying its body, instantly sensed many things.

The bird's simple yet fierce thoughts are not substantial; Zhou Shuo could easily suppress them, then opened his eyes—his vision was somewhat blurry, but as his focus sharpened, his sight cleared; these were the eyes of a hawk, whose ability to adjust distance and focus is several times that of a human.

Well, in some respects animals truly surpass humans a hundredfold. Zhou Shuo experienced the hawk's various senses, reached out to open the cage, and, using a first-person perspective, manipulated the serpent hawk inside to walk out, then lifted his head to gaze at his own body beside the cage.

Clad in black-and-white ancient attire, his features not particularly handsome but not ugly either, he sat cross-legged on the ground, gazing at himself; for the first time Zhou Shuo viewed himself from a third-person perspective, as if looking in a mirror, a mix of laughter and tears, then with a thought he returned to his corporal form, looking at the dim-witted hawk governed by his own divided spirit and thought.

Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly, the butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou—indeed interesting, though a pity I am only a projected thought, not materialized. Zhou Shuo felt the shifting perspectives, couldn't help but recall the butterfly dream from Zhuangzi's Discussion on the Equality of Things; although he is still far from Zhuangzi's realm—where the butterfly is both butterfly and Zhuang Zhou—he nonetheless gained a hint of insight.

The ability to project one's spirit and thoughts, a special power possessed when the Dao technique attains the embodiment stage; Zhou Shuo, while using true qi to temper his entire body's blood and marrow and nourishing his mind with blood-qi, had his Dao cultivation automatically cross from manifestation into embodiment, thereby gaining this ability. Now, projecting his thought to control the hawk's body, yet in the switching of his vision there remains a sense of unreality, for he is still a person; even though he cultivates Dao arts and martial skills, his heart always retains a sense of identity, but this sense of identity is gradually weakening within the Dao.

Go! Zhou Shuo didn't switch perspectives again; merely a thought, and the serpent hawk instantly spread its wings and soared into the sky.

Cry! With a single eagle's call, the entire landscape of Xinzheng was taken into Zhou Shuo's thoughts by the eagle's eyes from the nine heavens.