Chapter 737: Wall Painting

Pan Yun led Xue Shao into the academy.

Most students who joined the bandit-suppression campaign had returned; all lower-year students except them had come back, while only some upper-year students remained outside on trials.

Jiangnan was in turmoil; most of them were out aiding disaster victims.

After her trip to Japan, Pan Yun's reputation in the academy had grown further; as she walked through the grounds with Xue Shao, classmates turned to stare at her, eyes bright.

Even Xue Shao, accustomed to all manner of sights, felt uneasy under their gaze and asked, "Why are they staring at you like that?"

Pan Yun: "They want to read my face, cast my fortune, and train with me. Ignore them—they only dare think it, never dare come to me."

Xue Shao: "Is your image in the academy that fearsome?"

Pan Yun denied it: "Not that bad. I'm upright and kind. Look—I'm being a good person by bringing you here to find relatives."

Xue Shao paused slightly, turning to look at her: "I came to find you."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow.

Xue Shao: "Thank you for what you did for me."

Pan Yun: "It wasn't just for you. Spreading word of the Silver Mountain affair also benefits the sea ban."

Xue Shao: "Because of this, Your Majesty is furious. The imperial court's opinion of you is mixed. Originally, suppressing pirates in Japan and the Silver Mountain affair were two great merits for you, but after the news was wildly publicized, they…"

Xue Shao paused, saying nothing.

Pan Yun: "I know—they think I'm a troublemaker, acting on my own, lacking vision, disregarding Your Majesty and the imperial court. Did they also curse me a lot?"

Xue Shao smiled slightly: "Inspector Pan Yu has been dispatched to Datong Prefecture for inspection."

Pan Yun's smile froze; she sighed: "I expected it."

Her response to this was: "As long as I don't die or lose my freedom, it's fine. I'm already a nun—family ties are severed. We'll each follow our own path from now on."

Xue Shao's gaze dropped to her clenched fist.

Pan Yun loosened her fingers and grinned at him.

Xue Shao smiled: "Let's go. I'm indebted to you, Master Pan, for guiding me."

Pan Yun took him to find Xue Taixu: "By the way, why did you come looking for me?"

Xue Shao: "I was headed to Quanzhou, but halfway I remembered you have three sea vessels. At this time, ships are precious—especially to rebels. So I came to warn you."

He glanced around and smiled: "Though I forgot—Long Hushan Academy isn't an ordinary place. Unless a full army attacks, petty thieves can't breach it."

"Not enough to even give classmates practice," Pan Yun tilted her chin forward: "We're here."

Xue Shao followed her gaze and saw Xue Taixu standing by the door, arms folded.

Xue Taixu smiled warmly, beaming at them.

Xue Shao stepped forward and bowed.

Xue Taixu: "This morning, I woke up and broke two teacups—I knew trouble was coming. I waited all day. Didn't get trouble, but got a surprise instead."

Xue Shao: …

Pan Yun giggled: "Master Xue, maybe he's the trouble."

Xue Taixu shook his head solemnly: "My junior isn't like you. Even if he causes me trouble, I welcome it gladly."

Pan Yun turned to Xue Shao: "Master Xue loves you deeply. Bring him more troubles—he'll love it. Miss this chance, and you won't get another."

Xue Shao smiled and bowed: "I do have a favor to ask of my elder uncle."

Xue Taixu stepped aside to invite him in. Pan Yun didn't follow, but invited him to dinner.

Unexpectedly, Xue Shao vanished by afternoon.

Xue Taixu pointed to the mountain path behind him: "He's up there."

Pan Yun frowned: "Why did he go up there?"

"To awaken the Dao," Xue Taixu chuckled, stroking his beard: "I haven't told you yet? This morning I broke two teacups—but three magpies lined up outside my window and sang. The two teacups on the ground weren't damaged. I've tried for years to persuade him to cultivate, but this time, no persuasion needed—he figured it out himself."

Pan Yun's eyes flickered: "I'm going too."

Xue Taixu: "Aren't you leaving on a long journey?"

Pan Yun: "The Wu Lin Alliance will take time to arrive. We're meeting at the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion before we leave—scheduled for two days from now."

Pan Yun had just negotiated with the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion and obtained several secret manuals from the academy. With her self-study ability, she had no need to attend classes anymore—staying here was useless.

Xue Taixu thought for a moment, then nodded: "Fine. Go up the mountain."

But the summit wasn't open to anyone—Xue Shao could ascend only because Xue Taixu used his personal recommendation slot.

That slot was used up. Pan Yun had another way up.

Xue Taixu dragged her to the Punishment Hall and told Lin Jing: "She insulted me. Punish her with two days of mountain confinement."

Pan Yun put on a "I'm sorry" face: "I accept the punishment."

Lin Jing stared at them, baffled: "What did she say to you that merits mountain confinement?"

Xue Taixu: "It was vile. I won't say it aloud, and I won't hear it again."

Pan Yun: "I was wrong."

Lin Jing instantly understood, drew a deep breath, and stared blankly between the two.

Xue Taixu looked utterly upright: "It's not serious—just two days of mountain wall-gazing. Lock her in any cave."

Lin Jing sneered: "Shouldn't she be locked in the public cave at the summit?"

Xue Taixu nodded: "Two days there, and my anger will be gone."

Lin Jing stared at him for a long moment, then wrote a written order, stamped it, and handed it to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun accepted it gleefully.

Lin Jing then murmured: "You've been confined on the mountain before—you know each confinement deducts points. Watch your year-end total."

Pan Yun's hand froze as she folded the order, then shrugged: "I know. Just need to pass."

Last year she committed far worse offenses and still passed—what's a minor offense like this now?

Lin Jing let out a snort and waved his hand, telling the two to leave.

Of course, the errant Pan Yun was escorted up the mountain by two senior sisters from the Criminal Law Hall.

Xue Taixu delivered her to the foot of the mountain and smiled: "On Long Hushan, a student's career isn't complete without entering the public cave at the summit. Your last offense was too grave, so you were locked directly into the lower cave. This time, go up to the summit and take a good look—the public cave may not match the one below, but it still holds plenty of useful things."

Pan Yun climbed the mountain full of anticipation.

Cheng Lingzi was gnawing on a steamed bun at the summit; seeing Pan Yun arrive, he raised an eyebrow, stood up still chewing, and asked: "What trouble did you get into this time?"

Cheng Lingzi was curious: "Aren't you lately a great hero of the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion and the imperial court? A star of the Academy?" Pan Yun replied: "Brother, you're stationed at the Reflection Cliff, yet you know everything happening down below."

Cheng Lingzi said: "The noise down there is so loud and chaotic, it's hard not to hear."

Cheng Lingzi took the Criminal Law Hall's order, glanced at it, and scowled: "Insulting? Two days in solitary confinement? When did Lin Tangzhu, who always handles affairs impartially, start showing favoritism?"

Pan Yun said: "Don't jump to conclusions—it's a fair judgment."

Cheng Lingzi snorted and pointed downward: "The first cave below the summit—just flip over and you're in. Go on in yourself."

Pan Yun said: "You can't use Qi up here. Aren't you afraid I'll misjudge the flip and fall?"

"Then it's your fate. You can flip into a cave through just a layer of mountain earth—you don't deserve to die, who does?"

Cheng Lingzi urged her to hurry into the cave, adding: "Don't touch anything inside. There are others in the cave—stay five steps away from them. If you get hurt by accident, I won't care."

Pan Yun agreed at once, leaned down to glance below, crouched to brace against the cliff edge, and flipped into the cave.

As soon as she entered, Pan Yun sensed something different.

This cave had wind—and strong wind at that.

Unlike her previous single cell, it was pitch-black, with no visible bottom.

She glanced outward; the entrance wasn't large, same size as the lower caves, just offset.

Pan Yun took a torch from her Spirit Realm space, lit it, and entered. Only then did she realize how deep it truly was. As she walked, she spotted light ahead; following the turn, she saw another entrance.

She stepped forward, peered down, and understood—this level had many entrances, but their interiors were connected.

Once she grasped this, she raised her torch and carefully examined the cave.

She came to the Reflection Cliff for two reasons: first, because Xue Taixu had sent Xue Shao here to cultivate insight;

He sent him, meaning the Reflection Cliff held something to aid his cultivation.

Second, she wanted to probe the hidden depths she'd glimpsed before.

During her negotiations with the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion, she learned it was far more intriguing than she thought—its internal politics were no simpler than the imperial court's.

Pan Yun walked deeper, holding her torch, and saw carvings on the walls.

Curious, she stepped closer, barely making out the characters: "I really want to eat chicken legs… What nonsense—went to all this trouble carving on the wall, couldn't you carve something useful?"

Pan Yun held her torch lower: "Curse Zheng Yaojie to fail in his Dao path…"

"Blessing for breakthrough to First Marquis…"

"Pray that Sister Shi agrees to my proposal…"

Pan Yun walked faster, first spotting a disciple seated cross-legged, facing the wall—then she noticed the wall carvings had changed.

"Secret Prayer Method of the Taiyi Fire Mansion's Divine Inner Chamber…" Pan Yun paused slightly, then stepped around the seated disciples ahead—she knew this one; her senior brother had taught it, and it was also included in the Dao methods the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion gave her.

It seemed many were punished to meditate in the Luo Dadong; as she went deeper, Pan Yun encountered four people—senior brothers and sisters—but no Xue Shao.

The inner cave branched in all directions; every few steps revealed a fork, and each fork led to more forks, occasionally even a large cavern.

Pan Yun simply followed her intuition.

She didn't know how long she walked, but the path grew increasingly remote, no one around, and the space narrowed—stone walls pressed close on both sides, barely wide enough for one person to pass, and only if they weren't too fat.

The torch in her hand flickered uncertainly, meaning oxygen was dwindling.

Pan Yun slowed slightly, but still decided to follow her instinct and pressed onward.

Pan Xiaohei emerged from her collar at some point, his eyes fixed intently ahead.

After walking about fifteen minutes, Pan Yun saw light ahead.

She followed the light—and the passage opened suddenly.

She stepped down from the narrow path into a large circular chamber.

Pan Yun scanned it—its diameter was about fifty meters.

The cave walls rose high, lined with lantern pillars, all now lit with oil lamps.

Xue Shao stood with his back to her, gazing upward. As soon as she lifted her foot, echoes rang through the cave—he turned to look.

Seeing her clearly, the coldness in his eyes faded into surprise: "Why are you here?"

Pan Yun didn't answer. She stepped forward with her torch: "What are you looking at?"

"Secrets," Xue Shao said, pointing to the wall. "Secrets of the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion you probably didn't know."

Hearing this, Pan Yun stepped closer curiously.

The wall bore murals—carved with great force, slightly crude, but clear upon close inspection.

Xue Shao led her to the other end: "Start here."

Pan Yun looked up.

A newborn infant, wailing, was held in someone's arms; strangely, above their heads sat a cross-legged figure glowing all over.

Pan Yun scratched her head, confused, and kept looking. Then came the child, the teenager, the adult—the infant had grown, making hand seals and practicing Dao, showing progress, for he wore the Robe of Sun, Moon, and Stars.

The next mural showed two infants, surrounded by robed figures performing a ritual; their hand seals were unusual.

Pan Yun leaned in, and when she recognized the hand seals, her eyebrows rose. She glanced back at Xue Shao, then continued.

Next, both infants grew simultaneously—one advanced rapidly in Dao study, the other lagged behind, also making hand seals, but the difference was clear.

The distance between the two teenagers widened further, until one day a monstrous beast appeared, opened its jaws, and swallowed the first teenager whole.

Pan Yun: "... What kind of nonsense is this?"

Xue Shao: "Isn't it obvious? The legend says True Person Zhang is the reincarnation of True Person Chongyang, hence his extraordinary talent. And this—this is your Daoist method of transferring fate. The artist believed True Person Zhang transferred the fate of these two children: one surged ahead, the other fell behind. But Heaven's order is unyielding—karma never fails. In the end, the one with superior talent, who stole the fate, met disaster at the jaws of a beast… Doesn't this story sound familiar?"

Pan Yun stroked her chin and said, "You really do hear a lot. It's rare for an outsider to notice the internal struggles within the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion."

Xue Shao said, "The Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion has existed since the Eastern Han, over one thousand three hundred years now. With Confucius in the north and the Zhangs in the south, the wealth the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion has accumulated is beyond counting. Especially since our current Emperor greatly favors the Zhang family, granting the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion a noble title and ordering it to oversee all Daoist Priests beneath the heavens—such power and influence—how could there be no struggle?"

"The year Zhang Liuzhen was gravely wounded, my great-granduncle came home and wanted to take me to Long Hushan to cultivate. Though he didn't say it outright, I knew he wanted me to protect Zhang Liuzhen."

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow.

Xue Shao: "I had no intention of taking part in the struggles between them. My uncle also felt that life should be lived at ease, and one shouldn't go looking for trouble for oneself, so he strongly opposed my going up the mountain to cultivate the Dao."

His gaze fixed on Pan Yun, deep and shadowed: "What about you? Have you gone looking for trouble for yourself?"

"I'm not like you. From the moment I was taken away by Master Xuanmiao, I was naturally on his side." Pan Yun lifted her head and met his eyes directly: "This time, we're cooperating in depth."

Xue Shao sighed: "I guessed as much. The Zhang Zhang Tian Shi Mansion has treated you far too well. They've been fighting at court for so long that even Your Majesty has grown angry, yet none of it has touched you. It seems True Person Zhang has put in considerable effort." (End of chapter)