Chapter 834

"Hmph, you really think Dao cultivators can do anything? With such meager cultivation, let me tell you—even the Master Wang of Kunlun Mountain would have to tuck his tail and crawl. Each mountain has its own rules; rivers and mountains all possess spirit. Don't think that learning a few spells and gaining some cultivation means you can ignore the spirits."

Pan Yun: "Senior Brother Zhang, that's not what I meant—I've always revered nature. I was just asking, can Senior Brother still hold on for three or five more years?"

Zhang Ziwang's pupils shrank slightly as he turned to glare at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun looked back at him, puzzled: "Aren't Third Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Sister going to find medicine for Senior Brother?"

Zhang Ziwang's face was expressionless: "Which Senior Brother are you referring to?"

"Of course, our Long Hushan Academy's Senior Brother Zhang Liuzhen. Could it possibly be my lively, energetic Senior Brother Wang Feiyin, who looks like he'll live another three hundred years?"

Zhang Ziwang fell silent.

Li Wenying rubbed his nose and lowered his head, stifling a laugh.

Zhang Ziwang shot him a furious glance, then turned back to Pan Yun, eyes red: "Who told you that?"

Pan Yun grinned at him: "I was just testing you."

Zhang Ziwang froze, fury surging instantly, nearly burning away his reason. Li Wenying immediately grabbed him: "Calm down, calm down—we're on someone else's rooftop..."

Zhang Ziwang remained silent for a long while, then said: "Someone doesn't want them to find those herbs, doesn't want them to bring the herbs back. That's why Zhang Li had to hide his trail—if they knew, they'd be heartbroken."

Pan Yun: "I don't understand. Zhang Liuzhen is the only son of True Person Zhang. Why doesn't he clear the path for him? From what I know, although he's been searching everywhere for herbs to keep Zhang Liuzhen alive, he hasn't truly sought the three ingredients that could cure him completely. Why?"

Zhang Ziwang fell silent for a long time, then finally said: "True Person always hopes he'll be well. He hopes he'll live."

Li Wenying's face was grim; he stopped holding Zhang Ziwang and stared blankly into the distance.

No one could give Pan Yun an answer. All three fell silent. Dawn arrived quickly.

Pan Xiaohei, who had been dozing, woke first. At the moment dawn appeared, he tilted his neck, mouth open, inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy.

After Pan Yun and the others had settled into meditation, the spiritual energy surged. All three opened their eyes simultaneously.

The clear morning sun on the horizon spilled like a cascade of colored silk over the mountains behind the mansion, its trailing edge drifting across the mansion's main roof.

Spiritual energy gathered from heaven and earth. Zhang Ziwang and Li Wenying perceived the dragon qi.

"This is a dragon vein!" Zhang Ziwang's eyes widened. He jumped around the rooftop with his compass, darting from the east wing roof to the west wing roof, then leaping onto the main house roof.

Zhang Ziwang breathed heavily, urging Li Wenying: "Is it Qinglong qi?"

Li Wenying nodded calmly: "Yes."

Zhang Ziwang was deeply troubled: "But that doesn't make sense. There's a dragon vein here, and Long Hushan isn't far away—how come we never knew?"

Who knows?

Li Wenying rubbed his head. He'd trained outside often and remembered passing near here several times, yet never sensed anything unusual. If not for yesterday's village ritual nearby and the strange celestial signs during the spirit dispersal, they wouldn't have noticed.

"Huh, this dragon vein's qi seems locked—but no, not locked. The qi passing through this mansion can't linger; it immediately dissipates—either returning to the mountains behind or scattering into the nearby village and town..."

Hearing this, Zhang Ziwang grabbed his compass and leapt down to find the source.

Pan Yun's forehead twitched. She lowered her voice: "Just go down like that? What if someone sees us?"

The servants in this mansion had already risen before dawn, but their back quarters were far away, so they hadn't noticed the three.

But now there was movement in the master's quarters. Once they woke, the entire mansion would be full of people. Unless they could vanish, they'd be caught the moment they stepped out.

Vanishing talismans were expensive. Vanishing spells drained Yuan energy.

Zhang Ziwang thought for a moment, then grabbed Li Wenying and Pan Yun and led them out.

The three went to town for breakfast, then changed into Long Hushan Daoist robes, holding their fly whisks, and appeared openly before the Huang mansion's gate.

Pan Yun sighed. She knew she couldn't stop them.

With their cultivation, finding her talisman array wouldn't be hard. She only hoped they wouldn't recognize the Huang talismans as familiar.

At this moment, Pan Yun wore her true face. She wasn't worried at all about being recognized by Master Huang, so she walked openly beside Zhang Ziwang into the Huang mansion.

Master Huang, hearing that Daoists from Long Hushan had come to visit, panicked and fumbled about.

Upon meeting them, Zhang Ziwang spoke gravely: "Good sir, your household's aura is unusual. I passed by from afar and came to investigate."

Master Huang grew even more terrified, fearing discovery of his dragon vein. Long Hushan's Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion was the Emperor's enforcer—if they found out his Huang family was about to produce an emperor...

This was defeat before the battle even began.

In his panic, Master Huang's face twisted. He roared, pointing at Zhang Ziwang's face: "Where did this fraud come from, daring to deceive my Huang family? Get them out! Throw them out!"

And so, Zhang Ziwang and the others were thrown out.

Had they not remembered their rule against harming ordinary people, Zhang Ziwang might have struck back.

The gate slammed shut before their eyes. The three hastily pulled back their half-stripped clothes, looking disheveled.

Pan Yun plucked the broom fragments from her head and burst out laughing.

Zhang Ziwang and Li Wenying glared at her furiously.

But Pan Yun clutched her stomach and laughed harder and harder!

Zhang Ziwang's temple veins bulged. He growled: "What are you laughing at?"

At Master Huang's paranoia. At her own foresight years ago. And at their own humiliation today.

Pan Yun wiped away tears of laughter, finally calming down. She soothed: "Yuanzhu, let's go. The owner refuses entry—we can't force our way in. But we can report it to the Zhang Zhang Tian Shi's Mansion. Let the Dao Dao Lu Si send investigators."

We're just scholars and students of the academy—we have no enforcement authority.

But the Dao Dao Lu Si does.

Even if Master Huang refuses, once the Dao Dao Lu Si sends people, he'll have to open his doors.

Pan Yun glanced back at the closed gate, a cold gleam flashing in her eyes. When the Dao Dao Lu Si comes to investigate, Master Huang's secret won't stay hidden.

With a magnanimous monarch, actions matter more than intentions—the Emperor might ignore it and let the matter fade.

But she knew their young Emperor lacked such breadth of heart.

The talisman array left behind—find a chance to destroy it later.

Pan Yun's gaze swept over Pan Xiaohei, crouched beneath the stone lion. She thought: 【Did you hear that?】

Pan Xiaohei: 【I heard. I'll destroy it after you leave.】

Pan Yun led the two of them into town, giving Pan Xiaohei time to himself.

Zhang Ziwang stormed forward, then halted halfway, his gaze cold: "No, we can't just go back like this."

Pan Yun swallowed hard: "Then what does the Yuanzhu suggest?"

"Find out who owns this house. I'll go to the county magistrate—I refuse to believe I can't get inside!"

Pan Yun: … Why take it so seriously?

But she dared not speak it aloud; given her nature, such words would raise suspicion.

Sigh, she should have been more submissive and obedient in daily life—then things would've been easier now.