Chapter 144: Probing

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

Zhang Liuzhen watched this, unable to suppress a smile.

Footsteps approached—it was Zhou Wangdao returning from seeing them off; Pan Yun immediately folded the cultivation technique 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, hesitatingly calling out, "Senior Brother?"

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

"Yes," Zhou Wangdao replied, remembering suddenly. He glanced out the window and frowned. "Where's Si Dao?"

Si Dao was Zhang Liuzhen's young Daoist attendant, fourteen years old, a servant from the Zhang family who tended to him.

Zhang Liuzhen chuckled, "I sent him to brew tea. Probably couldn't find the supplies—too much 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. If they remain here long-term, they might affect you."

Zhang Liuzhen smiled, "They're not important. Let them stay. The array seals them off—they can't reach me."

"But my master says their energy is too chaotic. 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. Did you feel any influence from the East Tower?"

"No, I didn't."

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

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

"Lin Tangzhu is overly concerned," Zhang Liuzhen said, still smiling, but his tone was 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 up. "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, and even adjusted my breathing method. That's how I recovered—but he injured himself worse helping me."

Zhou Wangdao remembered why they'd come. "Senior Brother, Sister Pan was injured saving me, and she hasn't healed. Ordinary healing pills don't work on her. I—I…"

Zhang Liuzhen glanced at Pan Yun and smiled at Zhou Wangdao. "You want to ask me for a bottle of my healing elixir?"

Zhou Wangdao blushed and nodded. "Yes. She's still young. I'm afraid if her internal injury lingers, it will 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. "Sister, try this. It works well for me."

Pan Yun reached out to take it; Miao Zhen and Miao He both looked over. All three recognized the vial at once—it was the same one Xuan Miao sent out each 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 many more were fired, none matched it.

There weren't many such vials on Mount Sanqing. Xuan Miao sent a few down the mountain each month, then retrieved the empty ones.

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

Pan Yun pulled the stopper free. The medicinal scent filled the air; merely inhaling it brought clarity and refreshment. She resealed it, looked up, and smiled at Zhang Liuzhen. "Thank you, Senior Brother."

Zhang Liuzhen smiled faintly. "No need."

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

Zhang Liuzhen's gaze snapped toward him like lightning, meeting Pan Xiaohei's large, glassy eyes.

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

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

Pan Yun caught him, then switched from embrace to grip, hauling him up by the scruff of his neck. "Did you wash your paws?"

Pan Xiaohei hung limply in midair, unresponsive, expressionless.

Zhang Liuzhen smiled warmly. "This is your black cat?"

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

"I've heard talk," Zhang Liuzhen said. "That you brought a black cat into the academy, even took it with you during your entrance exam. Last June, Aunt Li wrote to ask me whether black cats are more likely than ordinary animals to awaken and attain spiritual awareness."

"Once an animal awakens, it's no longer ordinary—it becomes a spirit beast," Zhang Liuzhen said, his gaze fixed on the cat. "I wonder—if this cat awakens, will it be a spirit cat… or a demonic cat?"

Pan Yun laughed. "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. "Sisters, if you have time, come visit me. My Fuxi Courtyard holds many books—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 threw back the quilt, rose, picked up the vial, and looked out the window—just in time to see Pan Yun, still carrying the black cat, walking through the courtyard below.

Before she reached the gate, she turned back and glanced his way. Their eyes met through the window—both silent.

Zhang Liuzhen gave her the medicine—it was an admission of his identity and stance: he was not her enemy. He was the one Xuan Miao 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 she confirmed his connection to Xuan Miao 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.

!. ead

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

Pan Xiaohei was spiritually uncanny—Wang Feiyin had pointed this out the moment it arrived on the mountain. After living together day and night for so long, they'd all noticed it understood their speech, even argued with Pan Yun like a person.

And Pan Yun, when she became a disciple, had claimed she could understand the speech of all things.

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

So they waited, patiently, for their junior aunt and Xiaohei to finish their exchange.

Pan Yun's brow grew increasingly furrowed.

"That room had a tight array, no gaps at all—I couldn't get in. So I hid my body in a bush and sent my spirit drifting inside. Guess what I saw?"

Pan Yun gave a flat, dutiful response. "What?"

"A pile of demonic beast skeletons. One was a Nightmare Beast—most complete, largest, brimming with malevolent energy, heavily affecting the spirit. Lucky I'm a spirit essence, not a human soul—if I'd gone in like that, I'd have been affected too."

Pan Yun frowned. "Why does a Nightmare Beast's skeleton carry such overwhelming malevolence?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Dunno. Probably tortured before death. Perfect Nightmare bones—completely ruined."

Pan Yun pondered. "Zhang Liuzhen's body and spirit are wounded. Living among so many demonic skeletons—doesn't he fear influence? And he won't let Lin Jingle move them. Could something in them help him?"

Pan Xiaohei had no idea. He turned to leap onto the table—only to be snatched midair by the scruff. "Anything else?"

Pan Xiaohei: "…No."

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

Pan Xiaohei fumed. "You used 'cat emergency' as an excuse—I didn't actually pee!"

Pan Yun: "I meant wash off the malevolent energy clinging to you."

Pan Xiaohei lifted a paw, sniffed it. It did feel faintly tainted.

He scampered onto the roof, found a spot facing the sun, and lay down—no, not to bask, but to cleanse the malevolence.

All evil things in the world can be purified by sunlight.

The sun is the enemy of every malevolent force under heaven.

Pan Yun sat down, poured herself a cup of water, and said to Miao Zhen and Miao He: "We've got a powerful backer now. The next True Person of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the next Celestial Master, the next academy head—Senior Brother, ding-ding-ding."

Pan Yun swayed her head. "No wonder when we left, Senior Brother and Fourth Sister only warned us not to bully others—never worried we'd be bullied. They'd already found us a backer. Knew ordinary bullies would get punched back, and serious ones couldn't touch us at all."

Miao Zhen pulled out a scroll from her sleeve. "This is the Seventy-Two Sword Techniques of Long Hushan—also called the Flowing Cloud Chasing Moon Sword Art. I asked: to exchange sword techniques in the academy, you need ninety-nine merit points. We're new students. Aside from sweeping the academy grounds and gathering herbs, we have no other way to earn merit."

"Wait—what do you need?" Pan Yun's voice cracked.

Miao Zhen: "Merit points. Doing free labor for the academy earns merit. Going on expeditions to exterminate demons and defend the Dao earns merit. Saving victims during natural disasters earns merit. The academy awards merit points accordingly—you can exchange them for cultivation methods and medicine formulas the academy doesn't teach."

Pan Yun leapt to her feet. "How come I never heard of this?"

Miao He: "I didn't know either. Probably because we can't earn merit yet, so no one told us."

Miao He glanced at Miao Zhen.

Miao Zhen nodded. "Right. We're first-years. Aside from manual labor, we can't earn merit—and even the labor jobs are all taken."

Pan Yun: "How much merit do you get for manual labor?"

Miao Zhen held up one finger. Under Pan Yun's eager gaze, she said: "One merit point—for one month of cleaning."

(End of Chapter)