Chapter 87

This wasn’t Mo Lin’s first time entering the Yinshan clan’s mansion, but it was his first time entering through the main gate in such a formal manner.

In the garden, there were cranes, and the bamboo grove hid secluded rooms. Unlike the luxurious residences of the aristocratic families in Xiandu Yujing, although the Yinshan family was the wealthiest in the world, their mansion placed greater emphasis on elegance and refinement.

Following behind, the mountain demon passed through the corridor, gazing at the twisted, jagged stones in the clear pond where immortal koi swam, and noticing the birdcages and flower stands hanging high in the pavilion. There was an inexplicable sense of rarity to it all, even the intricate patterns on the flowers of the small pavilions looked particularly elegant and tasteful.

He turned to the ghost woman and said:

“No wonder the Empress dislikes our Nine Hells—looking at all this, I can see why it does seem a bit rustic.”

The ghost woman, unashamed, raised her chin and replied:

“So what? If we can be rustic enough to win the Empress’s heart, that’s an achievement in itself, right, Your—”

Before she could finish the word “Empress,” the mountain demon covered her mouth. Mo Lin glanced at them, but didn’t argue.

The leading maid glanced at them a few times, then covered her mouth, letting out a soft, friendly laugh.

The group, traveling through the night snow, passed through the gilded gates and entered the courtyard. The green curtains fluttered, and the courtyard was as bright as day. The fire jade hanging in the pavilion dispersed the chill, and several banquet tables were already set up inside and outside the courtyard.

Snowflakes fell from the ancient, gnarled camellia tree, landing on the food trays carried by the passing maids.

In the fragrant atmosphere of the jade-scented courtyard, a young man in red, draped in a dark cloak, casually plucked at the guqin on the table. The guqin, named Xiaochun Lei, was a birthday gift Liuyu had given to Yinshan Ze when he was ten years old.

“Coldness enters the jade clothing under the dim light, while spring teases the snow and the fragrance of wine,” the sound of the guqin echoed, accompanied by the young man’s voice with a slight smile:

“The brat who dared to disrespect my precious pearl, before sitting down, shouldn’t he self-punish with a few jars of wine and apologize to Liuyu and her parents?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Nan Gongjing, who was passing by, picked up the wine pot from his table, casually tossed it into the air, and neatly placed it back down.

“The winter days are cold. Your father has been unwell recently, so it’s better to move to the inner chambers.”

After addressing Liuyu and Mo Lin, Nan Gongjing looked at their subordinates, his gaze calm and composed, like a distant mountain.

“Through this begonia gate, there are several other tables prepared. You who have assisted my daughter during this time, working hard and coming from afar, if there is anything lacking in the reception, please let me know. Nan Gongjing is here to thank you all.”

The ghostly servants and demon officials from Nine Hells, who had been admiring the grandeur of the plum tree moments before, were now struck by Nan Gongjing’s composed aura. They couldn’t help but respectfully return the greeting.

After returning the greeting, Fang Fucang couldn’t help but lift his gaze to carefully observe the two heads of the Yinshan family.

No wonder Yinshan Liuyu was so striking and exceptionally intelligent. She had clearly inherited the best qualities from her parents, born to be a ruler…

But the next moment, this ruler whom Fang Fucang had recognized was acting like an ordinary young girl, rushing straight into her mother’s arms.

Nan Gongjing felt the fabric of her shoulder dampen slightly.

“Mother,” the girl, clinging to her mother’s clothes, nuzzled against her like a small animal, sniffing affectionately, “It smells so nice. What incense are you using?”

It was this scent.

In her past life, she had burned the last of her immortals’ marrow in search of this fragrance, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never find it.

Nan Gongjing lowered her eyes, gently stroking her daughter’s soft hair.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been home. When have I ever used incense?”

Yinshan Ze, lying on a low couch with a tone of grievance, said:

“I’ve been waiting for you here in the wind for so long, and you heartless little thing, you come back and only hug your mother.”

Under the guidance of the female attendants, everyone took their seats. Mo Lin, who stood still, watched as Liuyu loosened the grip on Nan Gongjing and slowly walked toward Yin Shanze, whose expression revealed suspicion.

“Hualian, Baipingting.”

The two, already instructed by Liuyu, stepped forward.

Yin Shanze, having heard their names, knew that one was the current head of the Xiangli family and the other was a ghost doctor among the Twelve Ghost Gods of Jiuyou. He smiled and looked at the two of them, saying:

“The Grand Master of the Xiangli family already examined me, and even he couldn’t find the root cause. You two are so young yet so confident?”

Xiangli Hualian flipped open the rubbing of the “Complete Book of Immortal Agriculture” and prepared it nearby, looking at Baipingting, who was holding a medicine box.

The elegant woman, while entering with Yin Shanze, explained:

“Though Hualian understands pharmacology, she doesn’t know much about medicine, so she is here to assist. As for Baipingting, her medical skills can’t compare to the Grand Master of the Xiangli family, but aside from medicine, she also knows a bit about blades.”

Yin Shanze stopped in his tracks.

“Blades?”

In the courtyard, Lan Zhu turned around to explain:

“Our Jiuyou ghost doctors are different from ordinary immortal doctors. Immortal doctors check pulses and diagnose, but ghost doctors cut open bellies and skulls, sever hands for hand injuries, and legs for leg injuries. But don’t worry, our Tingjie is highly skilled—she can even reassemble a severed limb.”

Yin Shanze looked at the demon ghost, who was awkwardly using chopsticks, pursed his lips, and couldn’t help but say:

“That phrase ‘don’t worry’ doesn’t sound very convincing.”

Liuyu, with one arm around Mo Lin and the other around Nan Gongjing, passed by Yin Shanze, humming softly:

“Anyway, if the treatment fails, I’ll die by the hands of others. Why not die at the hands of our own people? Father, you can relax.”

Yin Shanze blinked, his face, which resembled the texture of blue jade, showing a touch of grievance. Even Xiangli Hualian, who was beside him, couldn’t help but be stunned by this breathtaking beauty.

… That Madam Jing, tsk, truly remarkable.

Meanwhile, Tan Ning, hearing about severing hands and feet, widened her eyes, thought for a while, then walked over to Yin Shanze’s side:

“I’ll stay here with you to diagnose.”

Yin Shanze was deeply moved: “Good child, I haven’t treated you in vain.”

“But if it really requires cutting hands and feet to cure—”

Tan Ning looked at Baipingting and seriously said:

“I can help you hold him down.”

“……”

In the inner room, four corners were lit by candleholders with a thousand wicks.

Nan Gongjing and the five elders of the Yin Shan family sat at the head of the table, while Liuyu and Mo Lin sat lower down. Nan Gongjing dismissed those around him, and they all sat at the food-laden table.

Liuyu was the first to speak:

“—How did father’s illness come about?”

The elders exchanged looks, unsure of how to begin, but Nan Gongjing calmly said:

“Your father is not ill.”

Liuyu was skeptical:

“Then what about the hemoptysis Tan Ning mentioned?”

Nan Gongjing pondered for a moment, rubbing the rim of his cup, and decided to start from the beginning.

“In the dream you told me about, you said that when the great clans formed a formation to seal the Heavenly Gate, your father betrayed the human race and acted to disrupt the formation, which led to Zhang Hua having to take the righteous step of killing your father and me, who tried to intervene. Afterward, everyone reformed the formation, and at the last moment, they managed to patch the seal and prevent the evil spirits from the heavens from returning to the mortal realm—was that correct?”

After receiving Liuyu’s confirmation, Nan Gongjing continued:

“So, there are actually two possibilities for this matter. The first is that there was an issue with the formation, and your father intervened to stop it.”

Liuyu had considered this possibility but…

“But the Heavenly Gate was still successfully sealed by everyone in front of all witnesses. Although we can’t fully confirm whether the disrupted formation had any issues, the likelihood of this possibility is significantly reduced.”

Liuyu nodded.

“And the second possibility, which is the most perfect setup—”

Under the flickering candlelight, Liuyu saw Nan Gongjing’s distant, calm eyes darken like the night.

“Someone might have controlled your father without our knowledge before this, leading him to make that act of betrayal in front of the world, thus trapping the Yin Shan family in an inescapable situation.”

The candlelight crackled as a faint blue smoke rose and spread across the room.

After a long time, Liuyu finally came back to her senses from Nan Gongjing’s words.

Yes.

This was the perfect setup.

Tampering with the formation was too risky because, whether it was the Jiufang family or the Zhongli family behind it, the goal would be to eliminate rivals and dominate.

But if the Heavenly Gate seal were truly broken, and the evil spirits returned to the mortal realm, all life on the mainland would be destroyed.

They only wanted to use the evil spirits’ reputation to achieve their goals, and they would never want such a thing to happen.

So, manipulating Yin Shanze was clearly a more stable option.

“…Your father usually stays home and mingles with scholars, only attending occasional philosophical banquets. There were many opportunities to act, but with his cultivation level, it’s hard to believe that someone could use poison or drugs right under his nose. Moreover, up to now, even the immortal doctor from the Xiangli family is unsure of how he was controlled.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Lin, keenly sensing something, frowned and asked:

“Since you don’t know the cause, how did you discover this?”

Nan Gongjing raised his gaze to meet his, then after a moment, opened his palm.

“This is how we discovered it.”

Liuyu carefully examined his hand, which had only thin calluses from holding a brush, but now, two scars were visible across his palm.

Her eyes darkened as she recalled the events.

That day, after returning from court, Nan Gongjing was discussing the water disaster in the Eastern Ji Yang Valley with the officials. As they passed the sword pavilion outside the study, they happened to meet Yin Shanze, who was practicing his sword.

Several courtiers, who were well aware of Yin Shan Ze’s reputation for elegance, had heard of his fame but were seeing his elegant swordsmanship for the first time. They stopped in their tracks for a long while.

They sighed, noting that ever since Yin Shan Ze, there had been no other young nobleman in the Immortal Capital, Yujing, with such grace. Even Jiu Fang Zhanghua, one of Yin Shan Ze’s disciples, had to humble himself when facing his master, losing a bit of composure in his presence.

However, Nangong Jing noticed something amiss.

Yin Shan Ze had inherited the elegant sword of the Yin Shan clan, which, unlike the Ren Sword—imbued with the grand forces of the universe—was characterized by an elegant and fluid sword intent, one that moved freely with dexterity and finesse.

Yet, the sword stance under the cherry blossom tree was too fierce, with an excess of killing intent. It was unlike Yin Shan Ze’s usual style.

After dismissing a few colleagues, Nangong Jing called upon his personal guards and, without revealing his intent, stepped into the range of the sword’s aura, calling out to Yin Shan Ze by name.

Under normal circumstances, Yin Shan Ze would retract his sword aura before Nangong Jing could come close, in order to avoid harming his wife. But this time, Nangong Jing clearly saw that Yin Shan Ze showed no sign of withdrawing his sword until the aura was almost upon him.

Fortunately, Nangong Jing had his personal guards with him, preventing an even more dangerous situation from arising.

When Yin Shan Ze regained his senses, holding Nangong Jing’s bleeding hand, he realized that his memory had experienced a lapse.

He only remembered drinking a jar of “Tianxian Zui” (Immortal’s Drunkenness) earlier that day, and in a burst of inspiration, he had drunkenly practiced his swordsmanship.

Had Nangong Jing not appeared suddenly, he wouldn’t have realized that his casual swordplay had turned into a deadly killing move. Perhaps he wouldn’t have even noticed that he had lost control at any point during the practice.

“…Is this the mastermind testing whether they can truly control Father?” Liuyu murmured.

Nangong Jing nodded slightly.

“I had the same thought as you regarding your father. If that’s the case, at least it proves one thing—this person doesn’t have spies in the Yin Shan clan. After this incident, I had people watch your father closely, and we discovered that he had encountered a similar situation again, meaning the enemy still doesn’t know they’ve been exposed and continues their covert attempts.”

However, even if there had been spies, they were likely gone now.

Because just before Liuyu returned, Nangong Jing had told her that after news of Nan Gong Yao’s death and the Yin Shan clan losing half of their markets spread to Yujing, there had been unrest within the mansion’s servants and guards.

Nangong Jing took advantage of this unrest to dismiss a significant number of staff, conducting thorough background checks. Now, those who remained in the mansion were either family-born children or those raised within the Yin Shan clan’s fortress compounds from a young age.

Such individuals, in other clans, would be considered as elite warriors or loyal guards.

The Yin Shan clan was now at a critical point of life and death, and it was indeed the time to utilize these trusted individuals.

Liuyu felt a chill run down her spine when she heard this.

Was it the Jiu Fang family? Or the Zhong Li family?

She even felt that the act of secretly controlling her father didn’t quite match the methods of these two families. Could there be other noble families involved?

Mo Lin, who had listened to this intricate situation, also felt conflicted.

When Yin Shan Ze had mentioned why the Yin Shan clan couldn’t directly destroy the colorless city, he had spoken of the balancing methods of noble families. At the time, Mo Lin had appeared to agree, but deep down, he had thought—

Since the Yin Shan clan was the leader of the noble families, who could stop them from doing what they wished?

It wasn’t until now, as he found himself embroiled in the situation, that he realized how much hidden ambition and scheming lay behind the so-called leader of the noble families.

He looked at the young girl beside him, whose face was clouded with thought.

No wonder she couldn’t reverse the situation in her previous life.

In such a complex situation, with so many people scheming against her, how could she face it all alone?

Mo Lin spoke:

“So, the coughing up of blood wasn’t due to illness, but a strategy you made?”

“Exactly.” Nangong Jing lowered his eyes and replied, “Even if we can’t find a way to break this control for now, we can’t just let them manipulate him. With his status and strength, it’s too dangerous. So we found a spell called ‘Binding Soul.'”

This spell was originally used to treat a condition called ‘Severed Soul.’

The Binding Soul spell that Yin Shan Ze had cast on himself connected his thoughts to his Qi Sea. When the practitioner cultivates Qi, the Qi moves with the mind, but if the mind doesn’t move with the Qi, the Binding Soul will pull him back, forcing him to stay awake.

The downside of this spell is that, while it pulls the soul, the internal organs are wounded in the process. This is why Yin Shan Ze coughs up blood from time to time.

Liuyu was silent for a long while after hearing this.

After a moment, she picked up a pair of bamboo chopsticks and began eating.

“The Jiu Fang family and the Zhong Li family don’t yet know that I’m Ji Mo Gui, but they must have sensed danger from Mo Lin’s return to Yujing. So, next, they’ll probably take action against us. They won’t rest until they’ve completely consumed the Yin Shan clan.”

Liuyu continued eating, speaking between bites:

“The day after tomorrow is the annual palace examination of the Lingyong Academy. The Zhong Li family may pass down the secret techniques of ‘Immortal Tools’ to Yan Yue Niang to make her famous and show the world the power of the Zhong Li family. If I can get close to Yue Niang that day and confirm that she has inherited the ‘Immortal Tools’ techniques, then the Zhong Li family will be our first target for elimination.”

Mo Lin quietly observed her feigned calmness.

The Fourth Uncle thought for a moment before speaking: “Do you think your father’s issue is related to the Zhong Li family?”

“The Zhong Li family is skilled in creating magical tools, and right now, they seem to be the most likely suspects.”

“That makes sense…” The Fourth Uncle only then noticed Liuyu’s eating habits. “Have you not eaten in days?”

Everyone was stunned as they watched Liuyu rapidly finish a bowl of rice.

She even handed the empty bowl to the servant behind her, signaling for another bowl to be brought in.

The Fifth Uncle’s first reaction was to look at Mo Lin, grinding his teeth: “It must be that mud-footed demon’s influence…”

Liuyu had always been carefree, but when had she ever been so rude?

It must be that demon who had corrupted her!

However, when they looked again, they noticed that Mo Lin, the so-called demon from humble origins, hadn’t touched the food on the table at all, keeping his chopsticks neatly on the chopstick rest without any sign of rudeness.

What’s going on with this couple?

Why do they seem like completely different people with each other?

Liuyu glanced at Fifth Uncle and continued:

“Since we’ve finished talking about Father’s matter, I also have something very important to discuss.”

Nangong Jing, with an unchanging expression, rested his chin on his hand and looked at her:

“Oh? Could it be that you’re expecting?”

Liuyu, who had been calm, froze for a moment, her cheeks immediately turning red. She raised her voice to deny it:

“Of course not! How could that be! Mother, you’re not the joking type! Don’t act like Father!”

Nangong Jing wasn’t offended by this remark and asked softly:

“Then what is it?”

Liuyu took a deep breath, looked around at everyone, and then fixed her gaze on Mo Lin.

“It’s about the puppet general that the Jiufang family took from the Zhongli family.”