On the outskirts of the Xuangu Mountain Range, Copper Bell Mountain.
Zhuge Buhuo braced his hands on his knees, panting heavily at the mountaintop. He looked half dead.
Using the light from his phone’s flashlight, he stared at a small clump of withered grass in front of his toes as he caught his breath, unable to straighten his back for a long time.
He wondered where Huo Wei got all her energy. She had been climbing up and down the mountain all day in a pair of sky-high heels, striding along as if she never got tired.
Just as his thoughts wandered, the last bit of light before his eyes went out, and the grass suddenly sank into darkness.
He came back to his senses and pressed the screen-lock button twice, only to find that the screen didn’t respond at all.
—The battery had died, and the phone had shut down.
“Little Black Huo…”
Zhuge Buhuo straightened up and roared.
When he received no response, he took a deep breath, gathered all his strength, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Huo Wei!!!”
“Are you trying to die? What are you yelling for?!”
Huo Wei’s voice came from somewhere nearby.
“If you don’t say anything soon, I’m really going to think you quietly rolled down the mountain.” Zhuge Buhuo staggered toward the direction of her voice, placing one foot carefully before the other.
“Did you find it? Sisy, the New Year’s bell has already rung. Instead of sitting in a warm home watching the Spring Festival Gala and eating dumplings, I’m hiking up a mountain with you, blowing in the cold wind and searching through the grass. Do you have any idea how loyal and righteous I am?”
“Just shut up already. If you don’t want to stay, you can leave. I didn’t stop you or drag you here and force you to accompany me, did I?” Huo Wei snapped.
“That’s not what I meant! Don’t get worked up… By the way, there’s actually something I really want to ask. Why are you so sure there’s a Stone Gold Flower on Copper Bell Mountain? You came straight here after leaving the main branch without even considering anywhere else.”
Seeing Huo Wei still bent over, feeling around in the dark for the flower, Zhuge Buhuo couldn’t hold back his question.
“Of course, it’s because I’ve seen a Stone Gold Flower here before. So I know it can grow in this place.”
Huo Wei furrowed her brows and took the opportunity to provoke Zhuge Buhuo.
“Right, you don’t know this yet. Do you know that you never would have lived to this age? When Fu Sang was in his teens, he once stood here and used his own flesh and blood as a sacrifice to curse the entire Zhuge family, including Zhuge Lin’s generations. If he hadn’t failed in the end, who knows where you’d be now.”
“…Holy shit? Seriously??”
Although he said that, Zhuge Buhuo didn’t have any doubts about her words.
Because he knew Fu Sang was genuinely capable of doing something like that. It was very Zhuge Fusang.
“What would I gain by lying to you?”
“The sense of achievement from deceiving me.”
“Get lost. Can’t you give me something more valuable?”
“Then why did he fail in the end?”
Had Zhuge Fusang suddenly turned over a new leaf at the last moment, decided not to implicate the innocent, and put his plan aside for the time being because a gentleman could wait ten years to take revenge? That didn’t seem likely.
“Because I stopped him.”
Huo Wei frowned and reached out to part a patch of withered grass, shining her phone’s light into it.
Then her gaze paused slightly.
She reached into the depths of the weeds and picked a small wildflower that looked very ordinary.
Its petals were light gray, with golden-yellow stamens hidden inside.
“Found it!”
Huo Wei held the flower out for Zhuge Buhuo to see.
In the light, Zhuge Buhuo saw not only the Stone Gold Flower but also the tiny cuts on Huo Wei’s fingers.
Blood was still seeping from the wounds, but Huo Wei didn’t care at all.
She continued what she had been saying as if nothing had happened.
“Back then, he stabbed himself three times, with each wound going all the way through. They were all close to vital points. I was the one who stopped him from continuing the curse, carried him down the mountain, and took him to the hospital.”
“He was so badly injured and had lost so much blood that he actually shouldn’t have been able to survive. The doctors said it was a miracle, but the truth was that there were lots of these flowers on the mountain at the time. Flowers with gray petals and yellow stamens were rare and distinctive, so I remembered them clearly. I recalled that my textbook said these flowers could save lives, so I picked handful after handful and stuffed them into his mouth. Only later did I learn that this thing was called Stone Gold Flower. The flowers were what kept him alive.”
Huo Wei took off her bag, emptied its contents, and carefully placed the flowers inside.
“Let’s go. We wasted too much time finding Copper Bell Mountain today. The mountain paths are difficult to walk, so I hope we can still make it back in time.”
“Wait…” Zhuge Buhuo didn’t move.
He stood where he was, looking at Huo Wei hesitantly, as though he wanted to speak but wasn’t sure how.
“There’s something I don’t know whether I should say… Do you really think Zhuge Can’s half-baked abilities could make Zhuge Fusang stumble?”
“Of course I don’t. Of course I know he’s doing this deliberately to lure someone out, and I know he must have kept a backup plan. He’s a gambler, but I can’t gamble.”
Huo Wei was usually carefree and unreliable, but at this moment, she was exceptionally serious.
“You can’t use ordinary people’s way of thinking to predict Fu Sang’s behavior. He might be perfectly fine one second, then suddenly have something go wrong in his head the next and jump off a building.”
“Life and death can’t restrain him. To him, living is fine, and dying doesn’t matter either. He doesn’t care about his life or his body. He likes to mess around and hurt himself in small ways from time to time. I don’t interfere with that. But I was the one who saved his life, so I have to leave him a backup plan, a last safety net. I can’t wait until he really goes too far, then calmly go along with it and let him die. Do you understand?”
“As for this poison and curse he’s dealing with now, it would be best if he knew exactly what he was doing. But if he’s gambling, I can’t let him lose. He can’t die, at least not by taking scum like Zhuge Can or Zhuge Lin down with him. That would be too much of a waste. I won’t allow it.”
“…Zhuge Fusang really should call you Mom,” Zhuge Buhuo said sincerely.
After hesitating for a moment, he spoke again, still uncertain.
“But… do you really think he could die?”
“?” Huo Wei paused, slightly bewildered. She didn’t quite understand.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think that everything about him, from his personality to his appearance, is unlike a normal person?”
Zhuge Buhuo had actually always had this suspicion. Before, he simply thought Fu Sang was much crazier and more eccentric than ordinary people. But after hearing Huo Wei’s story, other possibilities that went beyond common sense began to emerge in his mind.
“Of course, I’m not questioning whether your story is true, but… can you show me where those three stab wounds were?”
“…”
Huo Wei lowered her head and pointed to three spots on her own body according to her memories.
“Here? Three stabs, six holes?”
Zhuge Buhuo imitated her movements and pointed to the same spots on his own body. He almost let out a cold laugh.
“Let me tell you, if that really was the situation, this person would have been dead within ten minutes!
“But come on, let’s do the math. From where you were standing, it would take at least two hours to get down the mountain and reach the main road, even if you weren’t carrying anything and ran all the way down by yourself. Then, let’s assume an ambulance was waiting for you the moment you reached the road and sped all the way to the nearest hospital. That would still take at least an hour.”
“To make sure you don’t complain that I’m being unfair, let’s say ten-something-year-old Huo Wei was Superman. You could carry a half-grown boy down the mountain to the main road in just one hour, and it would take only two hours to get from there to the hospital. Even then, it would be impossible. By the time you pushed Fu Sang into the operating room, his corpse would already have gone stiff.”
Zhuge Buhuo’s expression was extremely complicated.
“Th-then that’s why I said the Stone Gold Flower saved his life!” Huo Wei was really intimidated by Zhuge Buhuo’s argument. Even her speech became a little hesitant.
“Sister, you only remember that the Stone Gold Flower can save lives, but do you know what it actually does? It calms the mind, regulates qi and blood, and removes blood stasis! You gave handful after handful of a miraculous blood-activating herb to someone who was bleeding profusely, then spent at least two hours transporting him from the deep mountains to the hospital. He was jolted around the whole way, yet he actually survived. Listen to yourself. Doesn’t that sound bizarre?!”
Zhuge Buhuo put his hands on his hips and shook his head repeatedly.
“I think you should stop thinking about how the Stone Gold Flower saved his life or how the doctors called it a miracle. You should seriously think back on what Zhuge Fusang actually is. As far as I’m concerned, he’s already very far from being human.”
“…”
The sheer amount of information was too much. It overturned Huo Wei’s understanding of the world over many years.
She genuinely believed that the Stone Gold Flowers had saved Fu Sang’s life back then. But now…
Her thoughts came to a halt. It seemed that something had caught her attention, and she turned to look down the mountain.
A moment later, she swallowed nervously.
“Buhuo…?”
“Huh?” Zhuge Buhuo was also in a state of confusion. Hearing her, he came back to his senses and looked at Huo Wei.
He saw her frowning slightly, staring intently at a certain spot without being able to look away.
“Look… what is that?”
“What?”
Zhuge Buhuo took two steps forward and followed Huo Wei’s gaze.
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse that night. Under the especially clear, silvery moonlight, he saw that a storm of yin energy had silently arisen in the direction of the main branch’s residence.
Gray-black yin energy swirled above the main residence, and a dark red light flickered faintly below. Even from a distance, he could feel the surging, malevolent energy.
“Holy… shit?” Zhuge Buhuo’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he seemed to hear a series of screams rising and falling in the distance.
A moment later, he came back to his senses and turned to run down the mountain.
“…Something’s happened!!”
…
Jiangchen Residence.
Blood and minced flesh covered the floor. The stench in the small, almost completely enclosed space hit them head-on, making anyone who smelled it want to vomit.
The unfamiliar yin energy mingled with the smell of blood in the air. The underworld spirit, having fed on enough pain and resentment, turned its head toward Fu Sang with a low laugh, its pair of completely black eyes gleaming with eagerness, as if it would tear him apart with its sharp claws at any moment and turn him into its next prey.
Fu Sang watched it coldly. He stepped on the broken bones and sticky tissue scattered across the floor and approached it one step at a time.
The underworld spirit couldn’t sense any fear from him and wrinkled its nose in hesitation.
Then, perhaps having caught a certain scent coming from his body, the underworld spirit’s expression flashed with fear. Instinctively, it retreated as he approached.
The room wasn’t large. Before long, the spirit’s back pressed against the cold, hard door.
Seeing this, Fu Sang lifted his chin slightly.
“Get lost.”
Before his words had even faded, there was a loud bang. The fifth-rank Red Wrath slammed through the door and fled in panic.
The cold wind outside rushed in with a whoosh, forming a current with the broken window and instantly chilling Fu Sang to the bone.
He found a coat and threw it over himself. As he left the little room, a beam of light swept past outside, illuminating the door for an instant.
A few strokes were hidden among the wood grain, reflecting a faint, peculiar light.
The door of Jiangchen Residence was made of black walnut, and its color was very dark. The room was also dimly lit. Therefore, if someone used blood to draw a small incantation on it, such as a curse to attract evil, and lured an underworld spirit over, once the blood dried, it would be almost impossible to notice the marks unless someone examined the door closely under the light.
Aside from the person who had drawn the curse, no one else would ever think that such a little trick was hidden on the door.
Fu Sang stepped over the threshold and took a deep breath of the cold air outside.
The wind carried a mixture of different layers of yin energy, coming from numerous underworld spirits. What they had in common was that they were all restless and violent. Every wisp trembled with excitement and exhilaration. The slaughter that someone had deliberately allowed to unfold lit up the most extreme revelry of the night.
Unfamiliar screams and shouts came from far away. The lights from various spells and barriers flickered faintly in the depths of the night. Someone had torn down the lantern hanging from the eaves. It lay quietly tilted on the ground, faintly illuminating the sticky blood flowing across the bluestone path.
Fu Sang glanced at it, his expression indifferent, without the slightest disturbance in his heart.
If he were Zhuge Lin, he would also choose to strike on New Year’s Eve, at the moment when the largest number of people were gathered together and least on their guard.
At the turn of the old year and the new, on a night when the whole family should be reunited, springing such a huge surprise on everyone really was a good way to disgust them.
The yin energy gathering around him grew increasingly dense. Fu Sang knew that several underworld spirits had been drawn by his aura and were now lurking nearby, watching him and coveting his flesh and emotions.
However, coveting him was one thing. Whether any of those ghosts had the guts to approach him was another.
He carried Qi Changying’s scent and yin energy. Below the seventh rank, no ghost dared to come near him.
Fu Sang raised his arms and stretched, slowly rolling his shoulders and neck. Only after the soreness in his body had eased a little did he set off alone toward the mountain residence.
Along the way, he encountered several people struggling desperately against underworld spirits. There were men and women, old and young.
The sounds of magical artifacts operating, the cries and curses of the crowd, and the shrill shrieks of underworld spirits all mixed together. It was truly lively.
The underworld spirits Fu Sang sensed along the way were at least fourth-rank.
On New Year’s Eve, gathering a group of high-rank underworld spirits ranging from fourth to sixth rank to massacre the family and give the Xuangu Mountain Range its very own Zhuge family Spring Festival Gala… That was so Zhuge Lin.
“…Hey! Brother over there, who are you?! Come help me, please! Save me!!”
Someone nearby shouted loudly, attracting Fu Sang’s attention.
He turned his head and saw a man holding talisman paper and a magical artifact, struggling to hold off a Vermillion Nightmare. Judging from the gritted-teeth expression on his face, he had probably reached his limit.
Fu Sang looked the young man up and down. He seemed to be about the same age as him, and his face looked somewhat familiar.
In fact, Fu Sang didn’t need to think too hard about where he had met this person. After all, he hadn’t met many people from the main branch, and he couldn’t be bothered to care about other people’s appearances. Anyone who had left even a little impression on him could hardly have been a pleasant character.
“I’m not one of your Zhuge people.”
Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly.
“What does it matter to me, an outsider, whether you live or die?”
Hearing this, the man’s face turned pale.
Just then, a beam of light swept over Fu Sang, illuminating his unusual eye color.
That red left eye seemed to remind the man of something, and he stared at Fu Sang in a daze.
“You… you’re…”
“Go keep Zhuge Can company. He’ll be very happy.”
Fu Sang smiled at him. Before leaving, he spoke in an unusually gentle voice.
“Good night.”
…
“…Officer Liu, what exactly are you taking me to do?”
A handcuff had been fastened around Zhuge Buyi’s right wrist, with the other end held by Liu Dongfeng. He couldn’t break free or escape, so he had no choice but to follow Liu Dongfeng forward.
Zhuge Buyi was anxious and kept looking back over his shoulder.
After Liu Dongfeng took him away from Jiangchen Residence, the other party confiscated all the communication devices, talismans, and magical artifacts on him, then locked him in the guest courtyard where he (Liu Dongfeng) lived.
Zhuge Buyi tried to escape, but Liu Dongfeng came from the Spirit Supervision Bureau. The people there might not excel at much else, but their methods of detaining and shackling prisoners were exceptionally effective. Liu Dongfeng didn’t hold back at all and used the real equipment, locking the little courtyard up so thoroughly that not even a mosquito could fly out.
Zhuge Buyi was trapped in the small courtyard for an entire day. Only after the twelve o’clock bell rang did Liu Dongfeng appear from who knew where, put handcuffs on him, and take him somewhere else.
On the way, Zhuge Buyi saw many ominous things in the moving air.
For example, the chaotic, dense, and violent yin energy floating through the air.
This kind of thing absolutely should not have appeared in the Zhuge family’s main residence.
Zhuge Buyi didn’t know what had happened. He was uneasy the entire way, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
Liu Dongfeng dragged him forward, and he stumbled along. His gaze happened to sweep across a corner and when he saw what was there, his pupils suddenly trembled.
“Cousin!!”
He struggled desperately, trying to rush toward the figure lying in the corner.
“Cousin! Let me go! My cousin is over there! He’s injured, he needs…”
“He’s already dead!!”
Liu Dongfeng interrupted Zhuge Buyi’s cries in a stern voice.
He grabbed Zhuge Buyi by both shoulders and shook him hard, hoping to bring him back to his senses and make him calm down.
“Child, a large number of underworld spirits have invaded the main branch tonight in an organized and premeditated massacre. They’re all high-rank underworld spirits of the fourth rank or above. Neither you nor I have any power to fight back. Under these circumstances, stop worrying about people who are already dead. Hurry up and come with me!”
“…What exactly are you trying to do? Why do you insist on taking me with you?!”
Zhuge Buyi tried to push him away, but Liu Dongfeng was extraordinarily strong, and he couldn’t break free for the moment.
“No way. I’m telling you, what you’re describing is simply impossible! How could there be so many high-rank underworld spirits in the world? If there were, the whole world would have descended into chaos long ago! And how could underworld spirits have organization and plans? Even if what you say is true, and this is a planned massacre arranged by someone with ulterior motives, the family has a protective formation laid down by our ancestors beneath it. How could it be breached by anything? Not to mention fourth-rank underworld spirits, even sixth-rank ones shouldn’t be able to break through!”
“Even if I take a step back and assume there really is danger, why should I go with you? My brother, my parents…they’re all still at home. What am I supposed to do, blindly follow you away?”
“What if someone deliberately destroyed the formation?”
“Outsiders don’t even know the formation exists or where it is. Even if they did, how capable would they have to be to bypass so many security measures, find the formation, and destroy it without anyone noticing?”
“What if the people who destroyed the formation were members of your own family?!”
Liu Dongfeng’s shout left Zhuge Buyi stunned.
For a long time, he couldn’t recover his senses.
“Listen, child. Your family has protected you too well. You don’t know or understand anything about what’s going on. But in a situation like today’s, someone needs you to be strong and take responsibility!”
“I’ll tell you the truth. Your grandfather ordered me to take you to him. He hopes that, no matter what you hear or see from now on, you’ll hold firmly to your convictions and continue doing what you should. Do you understand?”
As he spoke, Liu Dongfeng took a family head’s token from his pocket and held it before Zhuge Buyi, telling him to look carefully.
“…”
Zhuge Buyi seemed to take a long time to digest Liu Dongfeng’s words.
After a long while, he finally nodded hesitantly.
“This attack came without the slightest warning, and it happened on New Year’s Eve, when everyone was least on guard. But don’t worry. I’ve already checked, and most of the people in the main branch have gathered together. They’re temporarily safe. As the saying goes, there’s strength in numbers. They’re all members of the Zhuge family, after all, and each has their own way of protecting themselves. They should be able to hold out for a while if they work together. What we need to do is resolve the problem and eliminate the danger as quickly as possible, before everyone runs out of strength.”
Seeing that Zhuge Buyi had calmed down, Liu Dongfeng softened his tone and did his best to explain and reassure him.
“…Whose side are you on, exactly?”
Zhuge Buyi frowned and thought for a moment before finally asking.
“Fu Sang’s, my grandfather’s, or the Spirit Supervision Bureau’s?”
Liu Dongfeng didn’t answer that question.
He silently led Zhuge Buyi forward, used his ID card to unlock access to the mountain residence, and went straight to the archives room, where he simply took a tool and smashed the security lock.
A piercing alarm sounded from inside, but evidently, no one in the entire main residence had the time to care about such things now.
Then he walked toward the Seven-Life Wheel in the archives room and felt around for a while. With a click, a passage slowly opened in the previously level floor.
Zhuge Buyi had never known that something like this was hidden in his family home. In a daze, he followed Liu Dongfeng down the stairs and continued forward. They passed through a damp, dark passageway and the ever-burning candles on either side. At last, the space suddenly opened up, and he saw another world.
The space here was extremely vast, as though they had entered another layer of the world.
Stone spikes resembling stalactites hung from the ceiling. Opposite them was a single expanse of rock wall covered in moss, with a long crack running through its center.
From where he stood, Zhuge Buyi could see a faint dark red light flickering behind the crack. An extremely dense resentment spread out from the fissure, filling the entire space and instinctively making him feel repulsed and want to flee.
“You’re here?”
An old voice caught Zhuge Buyi’s attention.
Only then did he notice someone kneeling before the crack in the stone wall.
The figure was very familiar to him.
He wore a gray Tang suit, his hair was almost completely white, and his back remained straight. He had lived his entire life with pride and arrogance.
“Family Head…”
Zhuge Buyi had never known that something so terrifying was hidden beneath his family home, and he couldn’t help being stunned and distracted.
“I always tell you to keep public and private matters separate. Outside private occasions, you aren’t allowed to call me ‘Grandfather.’ You must call me Family Head. But today is different.”
Hearing his voice, Zhuge Heng slowly rose to his feet.
Only then did Zhuge Buyi see that several magical artifacts originally belonging to Fu Sang had been placed in front of him.
“I originally thought there was no need to rush this matter and that we could wait a little longer. But today, the family is facing a great calamity. Buyi, I think it’s time for you to shoulder the responsibility that belongs to you.”
“…”
Zhuge Buyi didn’t understand what Zhuge Heng was talking about.
“The Nether Path’s promising young talents grow weaker with every generation. A thousand years ago, a spirit master of the Nether Path could face a fifth-rank Red Wrath alone without any difficulty. But in this generation, someone capable of fighting a fourth-rank Violet Corrosion one-on-one is already extremely rare. Almost no one can make use of the things our ancestors left behind.”
“Our Nether Path guards a mountain of treasures, but we have no one capable of using them.”
“Among the younger generation, you’re one of the most outstanding. You’re clever and perceptive. You quickly absorb and apply whatever you’re taught, and you’re very good at using talismans and incantations. The only pity is that your heart isn’t in this path. You seem to prefer the way of life in ordinary society. Since childhood, you’ve followed the usual path of studying and advancing through school. You got good results in the college entrance examination, then even went so far away to study medicine.”
“Grandpa doesn’t want to interfere with your life either. But there’s no choice, Buyi. The Zhuge family has reached the time when it must pass the torch to a new generation. Someone has to shoulder the burden. The outcome of today’s calamity is still unknown. You must grow up and face it, and I must also make every possible preparation.””
As he spoke, Zhuge Heng suddenly changed the subject and looked at Liu Dongfeng.
“How is Zhuge Fusang?”
Caught off guard by the question, Liu Dongfeng froze for a moment before answering.
“He… was hit by Zhuge Can’s evil curse. He can barely move. I’ve already informed Zhuge Can according to your instructions, and he’s gone over there now.”
Zhuge Heng nodded and sighed.
“Ah Can is a pitiful child too. In order to take revenge, he even figured out the long-lost forbidden art of mixing an evil curse with poison on his own. Such diligence… Since it’s the New Year, I should help him fulfill this long-held wish.”
“What do you mean? Fu Sang…” Zhuge Buyi’s mind went completely blank as he listened to Zhuge Heng.
“He’s Zhuge Lin’s man! Zhuge Lin has held a grudge against the family and has been plotting to take revenge on us for more than twenty years! The calamity that has befallen the family today must be due in no small part to Zhuge Lin’s schemes, and to Zhuge Fusang’s false show of loyalty, helping him from within and fanning the flames! Otherwise, how could the secret protective formation passed down by our ancestors have been broken? How could those underworld spirits have entered?! Underworld spirits cannot think. Only he could…!”
Zhuge Heng stopped speaking and didn’t continue.
“…Fortunately, I was prepared. The family has nearly a thousand years of deep foundations. We won’t lose too much because of this calamity. I already have a way to resolve the problem, and this disaster will soon be brought under control. At this point, the only thing I can’t put at ease is you, child.”
Zhuge Heng sighed softly. Then, from who knew where, he took out an ivory-white teacup.
The teacup was about the size of a bowl and exquisitely crafted. Its rim had openwork carvings, while the body was decorated with reliefs. The intricate patterns resembled some kind of incantation, growing along the sides of the cup.
“At this point, it’s time you learned some things… This is the secret that has allowed our Zhuge family to survive wars and changing eras and flourish for thousands of years.”
“Come, take it.”
Zhuge Heng held the teacup out to him.
“It’s called the Soul-Transferring Cup.”
