Chapter 7: The Lotus Stem Breaks but the Threads Remain Connected

  My eyes glanced at the two porcelain bottles on the side table, which I had placed here as soon as I woke up. Was it really going to bring disaster to the country and harm the people? But what could I rely on? Neither did I have a good-looking face nor a strong family background. What could I do at the age of 28?

  I raised my left hand, and suddenly felt a slight numbness in the tips of my fingers. I wonder if I should use them or not - that so-called manual in the stone room, I memorized it very carefully. If there's danger one day, using this to save my life shouldn't be bad, right? Or maybe I'll just take a gamble and bring out Zhan Yue, how can I draw with it without feeling pain?

  "Master?"

  "It's okay, I don't want to die."

  After Wan Ri Cheng retreated, I lightly drew a line on my palm with Zhan Yue, and blood immediately gushed out. It's really sharp! Sitting up straight, I let the blood drip into the mouth of the purple bottle, and saw that bubbles started to emerge from the edge of the stopper. When there were no more bubbles, I pulled out the stopper and poured out the medicine in the bottle. It was a purple pill. Do I really have to eat it?

  Since I've come this far, what else do I have to fear? I swallowed the medicine and didn't feel any discomfort. In the same way, I opened the green bottle and poured out four pills: two were blue and two were red.

  Took two green pills, got up and walked to the front of Wan Ri Cheng, looked up at him with my head raised, he also lowered his head to look at me, his eyes showed no ripples.

  "Here, have one each." I held out my hand and he took it, about to pop it into his mouth.

  "Don't you ask me what I let you eat?"

  He was speechless, swallowed the pill, and I immediately followed suit. I pulled Wan Rijian's left hand over, took out a dagger, and cut open the tips of our ring fingers.

  "What is this?"

  "Not long ago, the wound left a mark." I touched the crescent-shaped black mark on his wrist, raised my hand to align our fingertips, and with my other hand made a gesture inside my sleeve. Suddenly, the split fingertips hurt, and I gritted my teeth to finish the entire gesture. When I let go, my fingertips turned blue, but instantly returned to their normal color, and the bleeding stopped too. It's really amazing, just like a myth!

  "Don't you even ask me what I'm doing?"

  Wan Ri Cheng didn't answer, just looked at me, is this trust?

  I took two more red pills from the green bottle and handed them to Sima Nan, who got up to receive them, furrowed his brow, and looked at me.

  "What is it?"

  "The lotus root is broken but the threads remain connected."

  Siman looked at the medicine in his hand, then put it into his mouth. I ate another red one, with the same action and gesture, only this time with my index finger. After finishing, he turned around and walked towards the bedside, really feeling a bit tired. The two men silently left the room, closing the door for me.

  The next day, the weather was still very cold, but the sunshine was abundant. I sat on the soft couch and patted the cushion, wanting to take a short nap. This bamboo couch has a similar function to the sofa. I specially asked Wanday Cheng to help me move this soft couch in front of the window, half-open the window, and let the sunlight shine on my body, making people feel very comfortable.

  Just thinking about how to lie down, the corner of my eye caught Sima Nan pushing open the door and coming in, without even knocking? Really anxious, so I got up and sat straight, waiting for him to speak, but there was no sound for a long time.

  "Anything wrong? You can sit there!" My neck is sore too, "Not sitting? Whatever!" I ignored him and leaned against the couch, while Sima Nan carefully helped me cover with a quilt.

  "Lingyue Palace was built by Master Xiang five years ago with the purpose of collecting intelligence and secretly assisting Master Xiang."

  "Doesn't anyone know you exist?"

  "Of course, everyone knows that the Lingyue Palace is a place where information is sold on the rivers and lakes. Someone offers a price, we sell it to them, and the profit is used for development within the palace and daily expenses. It's just that no one knows that Master Xiang is actually the true leader of the Lingyue Palace."

  "How many people are there now?"

  "Over one hundred people."

  "Is there only one palace owner?"

  "There's another young master of the Mingdi clan, I'll bring him to meet you another day."

  "Why tell me this?"

  "It's yours."

  "What?"

  "The Lingyue Palace is yours now."

  "You don't have to listen to me."

  "This is an order from Master Xiang."

  "Your father has passed away, you can completely ignore it."

  "I was only commissioned for five years."

  "What does it mean?"

  "From now on, I will obey you for five years."

  "In other words, five years later you will ignore me and leave with this Lingyue Palace."

  "Yes."

  "It's really laughable, you can leave now."

  Siman Nan didn't say a word, still smiling as usual. I really detest this smile of his. Up to now, nothing has happened, and I still can't understand it. I'm just a passerby, to be honest, at this moment in time and space, I'm just an ordinary citizen, so how did I suddenly become the honored guest? And why is this gentleman so obsessed? Is it all because of that cursed seal? It's too incredible, if used in battle, wouldn't it be more powerful than any weapon?

  "Master? Master?"

  "What? Sorry, I'm a bit sleepy." I changed positions, slightly lowered my body, closed my eyes, and prepared to take a nap. It's really sleepy.

  "What's this 'broken lotus root and connected silk'?" Didn't leave?

  "Huh?"

  "I've only heard of 'one knife, two cuts'."

  "What! Is there still something that Lingyue Palace doesn't know?!"

  "The master smiled and said, this Lingyue Palace is also unlikely to be all-powerful, knowing everything that happens."

  "Why want to know?"

  "Just want to know the details, maybe this information can be sold in the future."

  "Control!"

  "My subordinate is foolish and couldn't understand the meaning behind it."

  "It is to control the loyal servant, protect the master completely, even if it means going through a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, or having one's liver and brains splattered on the ground. If the master dies, then the loyal servant will also die without a doubt."

  I opened my eyes, smiled and quietly looked at Sima Nan. At this time, Sima Nan still had that expression on his face, a faint smile, "That is to say, if the host dies, then no matter where the person who took this medicine is, they will immediately die."

  "It's indeed a good medicine, but I see it has a different color from what Wan Ri Cheng had taken before."

  "Of course, different colored medicines are used to control different people, so the position of the curse seal formed by each person is not the same. To undo it, you have to use this curse seal, otherwise if everyone's curse seal is the same, then undoing one would also release all the others."

  I don't know if I was just making it up or borrowing from the Heaven Dragon Eight Parts, Tian Shan Tong Yao's kung fu, but judging by Sima Nan's thoughtful expression, he probably believed me to some extent.

  "I don't know where my seal is..."

  "On the chest."

  "But I didn't find any traces?"

  "Because there won't be any trace!"

  "So it was."

  "But... I think you'd better give up on the idea of selling this information, because this medicine is a family heirloom."

  "Understood, master. You can rest now."

  After finishing speaking, he stood up and walked out of the house. Sima Nan, oh Sima Nan, I hope you won't make me regret it. I opened my left palm, only to see a red thread at the root of my index finger and a green thread at the root of my ring finger.