Chapter 144: Probe

Pan Yun cast a glance at them; the three exchanged silent glares, until Miao Zhen and Miao He were subdued and lowered their heads in silence.

Zhang Liuzhen watched this, unable to suppress a smile.

Footsteps approached—it was Zhou Wangdao returning after seeing off the guests; Pan Yun immediately folded the cultivation manual and slipped it into her sleeve.

As Zhou Wangdao entered the room, all four inside looked up at him at once.

Under the weight of their four stares, Zhou Wangdao halted, hesitating, "Senior Brother?"

Zhang Liuzhen smiled faintly and asked, "Did you see off Master Xue Yuan and the others?"

"Yes," Zhou Wangdao replied, remembering suddenly; he glanced out the window and frowned, "Where's Sidao?"

Sidao was Zhang Liuzhen's young Dao page, fourteen years old, a servant from the Zhang family who attended to him.

Zhang Liuzhen chuckled, "I sent him to brew tea—probably couldn't find the tea set among all the clutter in the courtyard."

Zhou Wangdao hurried to say, "Senior Brother, since you're staying here, you should move those things from the East Tower out—they'll only harm you if left here long-term."

Zhang Liuzhen smiled, "They're not important—leave them. The formation barrier keeps them from affecting me."

"But my master said their qi is too chaotic here. Fuxi Courtyard is one of the most spiritually rich places in our academy—those things shouldn't be here at all…"

Zhang Liuzhen: "You've been cultivating here for several days—have you felt any effect from the East Tower?"

"No, I haven't."

Zhang Liuzhen: "Then there's no effect."

"But Senior Brother, your body is weak, your soul unstable—you're extremely vulnerable to…"

"Lin Tangzhu is overwrought with concern," Zhang Liuzhen said, still smiling but his tone firm, "I've stayed here for days and felt no discomfort."

Zhou Wangdao dared not mention it again.

Pan Yun waited until they finished before speaking, "Senior Brother Zhou, you were cultivating here a few days ago to recover from your injury?"

"Yes," Zhou Wangdao said, moved and ashamed, "After I suffered qi deviation, Senior Brother brought me here, helped me smooth my internal qi, even adjusted my breathing method—I recovered because of him, but he grew worse helping me."

Zhou Wangdao remembered why they'd come and hurried on, "Senior Brother, Pan Sisister was injured saving me and hasn't recovered—ordinary healing pills don't work on her. I, I…"

Zhang Liuzhen glanced at Pan Yun and smiled at Zhou Wangdao, "You want me to give Pan Sisister a bottle of my healing pills?"

Zhou Wangdao blushed and nodded, "Yes—she's still young. I fear if her internal injury lingers, it'll damage her foundation."

Zhang Liuzhen nodded, "Indeed it would."

He opened the bedside cabinet again, took out a vial, and handed it to Pan Yun, "Try this, Sisister—it works wonders for me."

Pan Yun reached out and took it; Miao Zhen and Miao He both looked over—each instantly recognized the vial: it was the same one Master Xuanmiao sent out every month.

This vial differed from others on Mount Sanqing—its tip glowed crimson with a shimmering aura; legend said it was accidentally produced in the kiln, and only one batch was ever made—no matter how they tried afterward, they could never replicate it.

There weren't many such vials on Mount Sanqing; Master Xuanmiao sent a few down the mountain each month and brought back a few empty ones.

Sometimes she used them directly; sometimes she gave them to the three of us to clean—steaming, washing, drying—so we knew them intimately.

Pan Yun pulled the stopper free; the medicinal scent drifted out, and merely inhaling it made her spirit feel clear and refreshed. She resealed it, looked up at Zhang Liuzhen, and smiled, "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Zhang Liuzhen smiled faintly, "No need."

Pan Xiaohei darted nimbly across the roof, leapt lightly to the windowsill, and stuck his head out…

Zhang Liuzhen's gaze flashed like lightning as he turned—his eyes met Pan Xiaohei's glassy, large ones.

His pupils contracted; his hand beneath the quilt began to move—when Pan Yun called out cheerfully, "Xiaohei, you're back—come here."

Zhang Liuzhen's motion froze; Pan Xiaohei snapped out of his stiffness, leapt nimbly off the sill, and dashed straight into Pan Yun's arms.

Pan Yun caught him, then switched from embrace to grip—she seized him by the scruff of his neck and asked, "Did you wash your paws?"

Pan Xiaohei hung limply in midair, unresponsive, expressionless.

Zhang Liuzhen smiled warmly, "This is your black cat, Sisister?"

Pan Yun smiled sweetly, "Senior Brother knows about it?"

"I've heard talk," Zhang Liuzhen said. "They said you brought a black cat into the academy, even took it with you during your entrance exam. Last June, Aunt Li wrote me asking whether black animals are more likely to awaken to Spirit Step."

"Once an animal awakens, it's no longer ordinary—it becomes a Spirit Beast," Zhang Liuzhen said, his gaze fixed on the cat, implying more than he said. "I wonder—if this cat awakens, will it be a Spirit Cat… or a Demon Cat?"

Pan Yun smiled, "My cat? Naturally a Spirit Cat."

Zhang Liuzhen nodded, "Good."

With Zhou Wangdao present, there was nothing more to discuss; continuing would be pointless, so Pan Yun, still holding Pan Xiaohei, took her leave.

Zhang Liuzhen leaned back against his pillows, "Sisisters, if you have time, come visit me. I have many books in Fuxi Courtyard—perhaps they'll aid your Dao cultivation. I'm unwell, so I won't see you out—Wangdao, see them off."

Zhou Wangdao agreed and stepped out first. Once all four had left, Zhang Liuzhen turned his gaze to the wooden couch beneath the window.

There, alone, sat a single vial.

Zhang Liuzhen pulled back the quilt, rose from bed, picked up the vial, and looked out the window—directly at Pan Yun, now descending the stairs into the courtyard.

Pan Yun still held the black cat; before exiting the gate, she turned and glanced back at him. Their eyes met through the window—both silent.

Zhang Liuzhen gave her the pill—it was an admission of his identity and stance: he was not her enemy; he was the one Master Xuanmiao sought to save; his ties to Mount Sanqing were strong.

Pan Yun left the vial behind—it told him she had indeed been testing his identity, and now confirmed his connection to Master Xuanmiao and Mount Sanqing.

Pan Yun withdrew her gaze and carried Pan Xiaohei back to Fengqi Courtyard.

The three exchanged no words, entering Pan Yun's room directly.

Pan Yun dropped Pan Xiaohei and asked, "What was in that courtyard? Why did it take you so long to return?"

Pan Xiaohei meowed meow meow.

!. Read

Miao Zhen and Miao He, unfazed, sat on either side of the table, pouring themselves water and drinking.

Pan Xiaohei was supernatural—that much Wang Feiyin had pointed out when it first arrived on the mountain; after living together day and night for so long, they'd naturally noticed Pan Xiaohei understood their speech and even argued with Pan Yun like a human.

And Pan Yun—when she first became a disciple, she claimed she could understand the language of all things.

Whether Wang Feiyin believed her, they didn't know—but Miao He and Miao Zhen firmly believed.

So they waited, waited for Little Martial Uncle and Pan Xiao Hei to finish their exchange.

Pan Yun's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"…That room's array was airtight, not even a crack, I couldn't get in at all, but I hid my body in a patch of grass, then sent my spirit drifting in—guess what I saw?"

Pan Yun played along with a deadpan face, "What did you see?"

"A pile of fierce-beast bones. Among them, one Nightmare Beast skeleton was the most intact, the most massive, brimming with violent Qi, and it had a huge effect on divine souls. Lucky for me I'm a realm spirit, not a human soul—otherwise, running in there like that would definitely have affected me too."

Pan Yun frowned and asked, "How could a Nightmare Beast's skeleton carry such an enormous amount of violent Qi?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Don't know, probably was tortured before it died. A perfectly good Nightmare Beast bone, all ruined."

Pan Yun fell into thought. "Zhang Liuzhen's body and divine soul are both injured. Living together with so many fierce-beast skeletons, isn't he afraid of being affected? And he won't even let Lin Jingle move the things away—could there be something useful to him among them?"

Pan Xiaohei had no idea. He turned to leap onto the table, but was grabbed by the scruff of his neck mid-air by Pan Yun, who asked: "Anything else?"

Pan Xiaohei: "…That's it."

Pan Yun simply opened the window and tossed him out. "Wash clean before you come back."

Pan Xiaohei was indignant. "Cat urgency is just an excuse you made up for me—I didn't actually go pee."

Pan Yun: "I mean wash off every last bit of that violent Qi you picked up before you come back."

Pan Xiaohei then lifted his paw and gave it a sniff—seemed like there was a little.

He hopped up onto the roof in a few bounds, found a spot facing the sun directly, lay down and basked—oh, no, washed off the violent Qi.

All the evil things under heaven can be purified by sunlight.

The sun is the bane of every evil thing in the world.

Pan Yun sat down as well, poured herself a cup of water, and said to Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He: "Alright, we finally have a big backer now—the next True Person of the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Residence, the next Zhang Zhang Tian Shi, the next Palace Master of the Academy. Big Martial Brother, ding ding ding."

Pan Yun shook her head and rocked it. "No wonder when we left, Big Martial Brother and Fourth Martial Sister only told us not to bully others, and weren't worried about us being bullied. Turns out they'd already lined up backers for us. They knew ordinary bullying would just bounce back, and big bullying couldn't touch us at all."

Seeing Miao Zhen take out the booklet she'd stored in her sleeve, she said: "This is the Longhu Mountain Seventy-Two Sword Art, also called the Flowing Cloud Chasing Moon Sword Art. I asked around—to exchange for a sword art in the Academy, you need ninety-nine merit points. We're new students; aside from sweeping the Academy and gathering herbs, there's no other way to earn merit."

"Wait—what does it need?" Pan Yun's voice was about to crack.

Seeing Miao Zhen said: "Merit points. Doing free labor for the Academy counts as merit; going out to train, exorcise demons and guard the Dao counts as merit; if you encounter a natural disaster and rescue the afflicted, that also counts as merit. The Academy will, at its discretion, give students merit points, which can be exchanged for techniques and medicinal formulas the Academy doesn't teach."

Pan Yun sprang up abruptly and asked: "How did I not know about this?"

Miao He: "I didn't know either. Probably because we can't earn merit points yet, so nobody told us."

Miao He looked at Seeing Miao Zhen.

Seeing Miao Zhen nod. "Right, we're first-years. Apart from doing hard labor, we can't earn merit points—and we can't even snatch the hard-labor jobs."

Pan Yun: "How is the merit for hard labor calculated?"

"Sweeping for one month," Seeing Miao Zhen held up one finger, and under Pan Yun's excited gaze said: "One merit point."

(End of this chapter)