【Three: What is the Heaven and Earth Society?】
【Nine: The Heaven and Earth Society is a heretical cult. They've been coveting our Earth Sect's treasure for ages. Heh — this treasure is also called the Earth Book. It allows transmission of messages across a thousand li.
Some time ago, I received a distress signal from Senior Brother Jinlian. I learned he'd gone to the Great Feng capital — because only within the capital could he evade the Heaven and Earth Society's pursuit.
But when I arrived in the capital, I lost contact with Senior Brother Jinlian. I used the Earth Book to broadcast a message and discovered he'd handed the "Earth Book" over to you. Senior Brother must have been in extremely dire circumstances to part with the Earth Book in order to save himself.】
What the... He dumped the hot potato on me?!
Xu Qian's mind went blank.
【Nine: I simply can't imagine who you might be, to have earned Senior Brother Jinlian's trust with the Earth Book.】
I'm just a lowly constable — no, I'm just a minor Night Watchman... Xu Qian felt his heart chill by half.
【Three: Why would abandoning the Earth Book help him escape? Can the Heaven and Earth Society track its location?】
The deduction-loving Xu Qian seized on the key question.
【Nine: That matter involves a secret of our Earth Sect. I cannot disclose it. The Earth Book is our sect's supreme treasure. I humbly request that you return it to me. I will make it worth your while.】
【Three: Sure. How do I return it?】
Xu Qian was somewhat reluctant — after all, it doubled as a storage artifact. But considering the risks it brought, he chose to play it safe.
【Nine: I'm in the capital and can come to you at any time. If you don't trust me, you may choose the exchange location. Hmm — what do you want in return?】
Women. Warm, willing women... Xu Qian almost blurted it out.
【Three: You're too kind, Daoist. Returning an item to its rightful owner is simply my duty. However, the Daoist Jinlian who gave me the mirror stated that this was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, and sold it to me for five hundred taels of gold.
I'm not asking for money — but if the treasure returns to its original owner, the gold should naturally return as well. Equivalent exchange, right?】
【Nine: ...That seems fair.】
...
Xu Qian put the mirror away, cradling sweet dreams of five hundred taels of gold, and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, he donned his Night Watchman uniform, strapped on his badge and saber, and secured the new gong to his chest.
He vaulted the wall to eat breakfast at Second Uncle's.
Leaving the Xu residence, he took the horse reins from old Zhang the gatekeeper and rode toward the inner city and the Night Watchman headquarters.
The horse had been Second Uncle's mount — now it belonged to Xu Qian. To silence Aunt's complaints, he'd paid Second Uncle fifty taels.
It couldn't be helped. The Night Watchman headquarters was in the inner city, far from the Xu residence. Walking there, he'd barely arrive before lunch.
He galloped to the headquarters and strode into the Spring Breeze Hall. Li Yuchun was drinking tea with a Silver Gong.
"New recruit under you?" The Silver Gong eyed the unfamiliar face and asked casually.
"Mm." Li Yuchun nodded.
"What rating?" the Silver Gong asked.
Li Yuchun answered before Xu Qian could: "Rank B, lower tier."
The Silver Gong looked impressed. "Not bad, not bad. The headquarters needs talented young blood like this. You lot will be the pillars of the Night Watchmen someday."
The last remark was directed at Xu Qian.
Xu Qian bowed respectfully, then stated his business: "Boss, I'd like to visit the Archives Repository."
He didn't know where it was or what clearance he needed.
"From now on, just ask the clerks for any questions," Li Yuchun said.
"Understood." Xu Qian withdrew from the Spring Breeze Hall.
When the boss was chatting with a peer, subordinates knew better than to interrupt without urgent cause. That much awareness he had.
He flagged down a clerk, learned the Archives Repository's location, and arrived at a large compound.
He presented his badge to a black-robed clerk, who verified it and returned it, then said:
"The Archives Repository is divided into four zones — A, B, C, and D. Gongs may only access the D-zone files."
Xu Qian considered. "How do I know which vault contains the materials I'm looking for?"
The black-robed clerk smiled politely. "Go to the D-zone vault."
The "A, B, C, D" zones formed a pyramid — D was the base level and the largest, which made sense. The more classified the documents, the fewer there were.
Xu Qian entered the D-zone vault, approached the front desk, and said: "I need information on the Daoist path."
The clerk behind the desk flipped through a thick register, consulted it for a while, then looked up: "One moment, sir."
He disappeared into the vault's interior.
Shortly, the black-robed clerk emerged with a scroll, took Xu Qian's badge for verification, and handed over the book.
Xu Qian said: "A cup of hot tea, please."
He turned to a side hall furnished with desks and began reading through the Daoist path materials.
The Daoist path traced its origin to the Daoist Ancestor. His era was lost to history, but legend held he was an ancient marvel who split his qi into three purities: the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning, the Celestial Worthy of Moral Virtue, and the Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure.
These corresponded to the three principles of Heaven, Earth, and Man.
This was the origin of the Daoist path's three sects — Heaven, Earth, and Man.
The Heaven and Man sects were mortal enemies, each claiming to be the orthodox lineage, each wishing they could smash the other's brains out.
The Earth Sect was the most restrained. Its disciples cultivated a low profile, pursued no fame, coveted no profit. Those unfamiliar with the Daoist path assumed only the Heaven and Man sects existed.
Their apathy was almost pitiful.
*These days, the battle over doctrinal lineage is probably the biggest source of conflict,* Xu Qian thought, adding silently: *Mature beauties are invincible.*
Reading further, he discovered the Earth Sect's passivity was well-founded.
The Earth Sect worshipped the Celestial Worthy of Moral Virtue and cultivated boundless merit. They roamed the land, lived humbly, did good deeds without seeking credit, and departed once merit was gained.
"Merit..." Xu Qian furrowed his brow.
Merit and luck shared the same root, in a sense. The common saying went: do good and accumulate virtue; good people receive good fortune.
Merit meant blessed fortune — and blessed fortune was another word for luck.
*So that old Earth Sect Daoist could see my uniqueness? He knew I was a luck-blessed constitution — a true lucky charm — and calmly dumped the hot potato on me... Damn it, aren't you supposed to cultivate merit? Why are you doing the most shameless things...*
Xu Qian grumbled internally.
This led him to speculate — was the strange luck he carried also a form of merit?
But the Xu family had been common folk for eighteen generations. Second Uncle's generation was the first to see modest success, and the two brothers were the type to chop through power lines with a kitchen knife — all sparks and lightning.
Good deeds? They hadn't done many. But they'd killed plenty on the battlefield.
The clerk returned with a cup of hot tea and made small talk: "Sir is researching the Man Sect?"
No — the Earth Sect... Xu Qian asked: "The Man Sect?"
"Our Imperial Preceptor is the current Dao Master of the Man Sect," the clerk said. "Lord Wei is... not fond of that female Dao Master."
*Female Dao Master... Ah, that legendary beauty of a Daoist nun?*
Xu Qian suddenly understood. He'd only known that the current Emperor was obsessed with cultivation and craved immortality, having appointed a heaven-sent Daoist nun as Imperial Preceptor.
He hadn't realized she was from the Man Sect!
The Directorate of Celestials' warlocks, the Daoist Man Sect, the Night Watchmen, White Deer Academy of the Confucian path, the Great Feng's military, the civil officials' bureaucracy... The capital was a small pond, but it was packed with dragons.
No wonder "Nine" said the Heaven and Earth Society's members dared not enter the capital.
Senior Brother Jinlian: *Come on in and try.*
Heaven and Earth Society assassin: *Try it and die.*
Ha ha ha... Xu Qian's lips twitched. "Find me information on the 'Heaven and Earth Society' as well. Oh, and the Earth Book. Do you know what the Earth Book is? A supreme treasure of heaven and earth... If I wanted to access the A, B, or C vaults, how would I apply?"
The clerk smiled. "The B and C vaults correspond to Gold Gongs and Silver Gongs respectively. As for the A vault — you'd need Lord Wei's personal authorization. But the Heaven and Earth Society and Earth Book records you're looking for are in the D vault."
When Xu Qian looked surprised, he explained: "The Heaven and Earth Society sounds like a minor jiangshan outfit, and the Earth Book is a legendary ancient artifact. Neither is particularly classified. Let me check the catalog for their locations."
He returned to the front desk.
Xu Qian stared after him, processing, then understood.
He'd fallen into a cognitive trap — assuming the more ancient something was, the more classified it must be. Not so. The more ancient something was, the less valuable it was in terms of classification... Well, not less valuable — antiques were still expensive — but less classified.
The real secrets were things intimately tied to the present: military intelligence, border defense layouts, gunpowder formulas, siege engine blueprints, shipbuilding schematics.
*I believe one day the A vault will house a top-secret file: "A Secret Manual of Human-Beast Hybridization"*
Authors: Song Qing; Xu Qian.
Shortly, the clerk located the Earth Book and Heaven and Earth Society records.
Xu Qian pored over them eagerly. The Heaven and Earth Society was directly tied to his personal safety — he chose to learn about this organization first.
...
The jiangshan world was teeming with organizations and sects, most unworthy of special attention.
They ran some gray-market businesses but generally obeyed the court's authority. A few deeply rooted jiangshan powers didn't much care for the court's rules.
But their presence served to stabilize local order, and they occasionally took the initiative to suppress banditry.
The Heaven and Earth Society was one such unremarkable jiangshan organization.
Its earliest recorded appearance dated back six decades, when Yunzhou suffered a catastrophic drought and refugees turned to banditry, raiding across the land.
Natural disaster and human calamity raged together.
Local jiangshan forces joined the court in suppressing the bandits. The Heaven and Earth Society was among them.
*Seems like a somewhat righteous outfit... But sometimes those doing good aren't necessarily good people. Just like those running charities aren't necessarily sincere.*
It could be a play for reputation... Xu Qian sipped his tea and continued reading.
The Heaven and Earth Society wasn't an active organization — it operated in semi-secrecy. The records were sparse.
Xu Qian finished without finding much of substance.
"No findings is actually normal. If they can force an Earth Sect master to flee into the capital, they must be a vast, powerful organization..."
"Such an organization managing to stay under the Night Watchmen's intelligence radar is entirely plausible. Should I report this to Spring Brother and enrich the Archives Repository?"
"...Better not for now."
He chose not to report this to the headquarters. While it might earn him merit, it couldn't compare to five hundred taels of gold.
An artifact like the Earth Book — anyone would covet it. What if some Gold Gong took a fancy and ordered him to hand it over to the imperial treasury?
Xu Qian closed the register and opened the Earth Book file.
The Earth Book was an ancient supreme treasure. Its origins were untraceable, known only to have been left behind by the Daoist Ancestor, whose own era was lost to history.
The file didn't even describe the Earth Book's functions.
However, it contained one note: such ancient treasures were typically born of heaven and earth, beyond the power of human refinement.
They shared one common trait — blood-bonding ownership.
Blood-bonding... Xu Qian thought: *I know this trope. After all the twists and turns, it comes down to blood-bonding.*
The artifacts Song Qing had given him, the Night Watchman's gongs — they only required qi infusion to use. There was no concept of ownership bonding. They were tools at their core, usable by whoever held them.
Xu Qian had assumed blood-bonding didn't exist in this world.
He took the jade mirror from his pocket, placed it on the desk, drew his saber two inches, and pressed his fingertip against the blade.
Crimson blood welled immediately. Xu Qian smeared it across the mirror's surface.
The blood lingered on the glass for several seconds, then slowly vanished — absorbed by the mirror.
The next instant, the world before Xu Qian's eyes blurred. The register, the desk, the teacup — all faded, replaced by primordial chaos.
Within the formless void, he saw eight points of light, suspended in the chaos.
These eight lights represented the other mirrors? Including himself — exactly nine mirrors. Xu Qian's gaze swept across them, searching for 【Number Nine】.
But he had no way to know which light belonged to Number Nine.
*Well... I'll just randomly add one as a friend!*
Xu Qian raised his hand, attempting to point at the nearest light point.
The point rippled outward like water, waves of disturbance spreading across the entire chaos.
Xu Qian felt as though he'd awakened from a dream. The world before him restored — he was still in the Archives Repository's reception hall, the register and teacup before him, along with the unremarkable jade mirror.
But he knew it hadn't been a dream. After the blood-bonding, the jade mirror had formed a mysterious connection with him.
An ineffable sense of belonging.
Then, slowly, a line of characters materialized on the mirror:
【Six: Don't trust Number Nine. Don't respond. Don't respond. Don't respond...】