Chapter Eleven: The Truth!

Following Qian Yuhai, Qi Xiu remained silent along the way, quietly contemplating yet another escape plan.

“How did the young master know I escaped from the second young master’s place?” Halfway there, Qi Xiu suddenly asked.

“It’s simple. Just have someone keep watch on Yuchuan’s courtyard,” Qian Yuhai replied. “I had actually planned to secretly rescue you while Yuchuan was away. I didn’t expect Mr. Qi to be so resourceful as to escape by himself. I’m quite curious—how did you do it?” He glanced sideways at Qi Xiu, his eyes full of inquiry.

“Oh, I just slipped out while the guards were asleep,” Qi Xiu replied offhandedly, waving his hand as if it were nothing.

“Is that so?” Qian Yuhai’s smile carried a hint of deeper meaning as he nodded. “Mr. Qi is quite lucky indeed.”

They continued forward.

As they approached the covered corridor adjacent to the banquet hall, they heard the cheerful sounds of music and laughter just beyond the wall. Intrigued, Qi Xiu peered through a lattice window in the wall.

Inside, the guests were dressed in their finest: the men in embroidered robes, the women in ornate silk dresses adorned with elegant accessories. Traditional performances like lion dances and dragon dances unfolded. Fireworks blossomed in the sky, firecrackers snapped and popped, and the whole scene was alive with joy and festivity.

At the head table, an elderly man with white hair and beard, robed in brilliant red for longevity, sat smiling benevolently at the gathering. Guests approached to toast him, and he responded with gracious courtesy.

“Is that Master Qian?” Qi Xiu asked. Although he had visited the Qian residence many times, it was his first glimpse of the family patriarch.

Qian Yuhai glanced at the head table and nodded slightly. “You could say so.”

“You could say so?” Qi Xiu was momentarily taken aback by the ambiguous reply.

For the rest of the walk, Qian Yuhai grew noticeably silent. Apart from the rhythmic tapping of his short cane, neither spoke another word.

After some ten minutes, Qi Xiu followed Qian Yuhai to his private courtyard.

Compared to Qian Yuze’s elegant, refined red-walled retreat, or Yuchuan’s broad, rugged martial training ground, Qian Yuhai’s courtyard exuded a tranquil, ancient simplicity. High walls encircled the grounds, their surfaces overgrown with green vines that shimmered in the sunlight. A stone path meandered from the gate, flanked by low walls planted with all manner of flowering shrubs. A small arched bridge, built from blue stone, spanned a clear, gently flowing stream, its soft burbling a balm to the spirit.

“Please, Mr. Qi.”

No sooner had Qi Xiu stepped into the courtyard than the character for “Suppression” hidden at his chest began to react. So this really is a tiger’s den...

Now that matters had come to this, Qi Xiu could only grit his teeth and follow Qian Yuhai inside, all inner resistance forced down.

Upon entering the inner chamber, a faint medicinal fragrance wafted into Qi Xiu’s nostrils.

“Perilla seeds... and thyme?”

In recent months, while practicing the Black Sand Palm, Qi Xiu had frequented herbal shops, and on his last visit, he remembered the apothecary had just received a large supply of these very herbs. Their scent was now all too familiar.

“You know medicine, Mr. Qi?” Qian Yuhai’s eyes betrayed some surprise at Qi Xiu’s immediate recognition.

“Not really. My former neighbor used them often, so I got used to the smell,” Qi Xiu replied with a forced smile, though inwardly he frowned. If memory served, both herbs were used for preservation. Wait—could it be that all those herbs purchased by the shop ended up here?

In one corner of the inner chamber, a black drape hung from the ceiling.

Suppressing a cough with his hand, Qian Yuhai leaned on his cane and walked over, lifting the mysterious curtain.

The scene revealed behind it made Qi Xiu’s pupils contract sharply, the “Suppression” character at his chest searing hot in violent response.

A life-sized white jade Buddha stood within the room. Before it, an elderly man sat rigid and upright in a grand armchair, his eyes tightly shut. One hand of the jade Buddha rested atop the old man’s head, and vivid, blood-red veins pulsed between them, connecting the two in a macabre embrace.

The sight was eerie and sinister.

And that old man—he was unmistakably the guest of honor at today’s Qian family banquet.

Master Qian.

“This...” Qi Xiu drew a sharp breath, pointing at the comatose Master Qian. “This must be the real Master Qian.”

“That’s right. The one outside is merely a stand-in,” Qian Yuhai replied, pausing for a fit of coughing. He lowered himself onto a chair, gesturing for Qi Xiu to sit as well, and continued, “In truth, I invited you here today to ask for your help.

“Two years ago, my father fell ill with a strange malady. Despite consulting the most renowned physicians, his condition only worsened. In desperation, I learned from a wandering mystic of a place that might save him: Huayu Temple at Clear Pool Mountain.”

Clear Pool Mountain? Wasn’t that where Qian Yuze had gone? Listening to Qian Yuhai’s measured narration, Qi Xiu’s expression grew somber, as though sensing a storm gathering overhead.

“Hoping against hope, I went with Yuze to Huayu Temple. The abbot, Daoist Wu, truly possessed uncanny powers. We hadn’t even spoken before he divined our purpose. He gave us this jade Buddha, saying my father’s illness was due to an evil force invading his body, a malignant aura that could be dispelled if we brought the Buddha home. My father would recover at once.

“And so it was.”

When they brought the jade Buddha home, Master Qian did recover, stronger than ever. It seemed the ordeal was finally over—but it was only the beginning of a nightmare.

A month after the Buddha’s arrival, Master Qian relapsed into a deeper coma, his breath all but gone. In terror, Yuze and I rushed back to Huayu Temple for answers from Daoist Wu.

Weariness shadowed Qian Yuhai’s eyes, yet a sliver of dread shone through as he gripped his cane reflexively.

“All things require sacrifice to gain. For the Buddha’s power to endure, it must be replenished. This is the method for restoring its divine strength. Think carefully before you proceed. But I warn you, if the Buddha’s power is not replenished—in Master Qian’s state—he will not survive three days!”

Daoist Wu’s cold, indifferent voice echoed in Qian Yuhai’s mind as he sighed long and deep. “From that moment, everything spun out of control.”

“What was the method for restoring the Buddha’s power?” Qi Xiu asked, frowning.

“You must give something to receive something. If you wish to prolong life, you must pay with life in return.”

“So all those people who died tragically—it was you...” Qi Xiu sprang to his feet, voice icy with outrage, but then his expression shifted abruptly. No—that couldn’t be. If Master Qian had so long relied on this sinister means to cling to life, and if Qian Yuze had been in on it from the start, then the pretense of inviting him to write birthday wishes was a lie from the beginning.

He was brought here... to be used as fodder for extending Master Qian’s life!

“Qian Yuze tricked me here to feed this monstrosity’s power, didn’t he?” Qi Xiu demanded, his tone now cold as ice.

Qian Yuhai’s face darkened as he slowly nodded. “Yuze was closest to our father, and for his sake, would do anything. Too many servants in the household have already died—there is unrest, and if word reached the authorities, the consequences would be dire. You, alone in the world with no kin or connections, could disappear without anyone caring. And the more gifted the sacrifice, the greater the Buddha’s replenishment. For these reasons, Yuze chose you.”

Hearing the truth, Qi Xiu’s fury threatened to boil over. Were it not for the possibility that this Qian scion had some hidden means, he would have smashed his head in on the spot!

“Then why did you invite me here today? To offer me up as another sacrifice?” Qi Xiu asked coldly, barely containing his anger.

“No. This time, I invited you here to ask you... to stop this thing from harming anyone else.”