A magical journey of a sharp-tongued woman and a goofy man

The sound of raindrops hitting the blue bricks of the ancestral hall mingled with the crackling of sparks from the seventeen natal lamps.

Ye Shuli slammed the rain-soaked anonymous letter onto the ebony table, and the spiritual light seeping from the fifth crack of the Kunlun Mirror illuminated the letter.

"The First Elder was attacked half a month ago while inspecting the spiritual veins. The Seven Star Soul-Severing Nails left in his wounds were coated with the Murong Clan's unique deadly poison." She traced the three deepest spots on the rubbing with her fingertips, and the aroma of Snow-Topped Emerald Tea, a favorite of the Third Elder, suddenly burst forth in the southeast corner.

Ye Mingxuan kicked over the gilded footstool: "Why should I believe this piece of rubbish of unknown origin?" The jade pendant at his waist collided with the pink porcelain bottle that Jiang Ye had modified, and indigo smoke instantly rose from the mouth of the bottle.

Dark red patterns simultaneously appeared on the hems of the clothes of more than ten young men—the cinnabar mark specially supplied by the Chen family of Qingzhou.

"At last night's victory celebration banquet, everyone had the snow lotus soup specially bestowed by the clan leader, right?" Jiang Ye suddenly bit into a candied hawthorn, and the bright red hawthorn rolled to Ye Mingxuan's feet.

The boy used a skewer to pick up a fragment of the mirror with remaining ice cracks. "This piece of the 'Reflecting Heart Mirror' was found in the lining of the jade bowl containing snow lotus soup in the back kitchen."

The ancestral hall fell silent instantly.

The Kunlun Mirror in Ye Shuli's palm suddenly became hot, and the image of the Third Elder making a copy of the mountain-protecting array diagram in the library at Hai hour last night appeared on the mirror.

Ye Wenying, a concubine from the seventh branch of the family, suddenly staggered and fell, and half a piece of jade engraved with the Murong clan's totem fell from her sleeve.

"Enough!" Ye Shuli brushed her fingers across the Kunlun Mirror, and the seventeen natal lamps simultaneously rose three inches higher.

She grabbed the revealing powder and scattered it into the air. Tiny fluorescent fragments condensed into different shapes on everyone's shoulders—the afterimage of a gray falcon appeared behind the Grand Elder, and half a broken arrow hung above the Fifth Uncle's head.

Jiang Ye suddenly whistled, and the candied hawthorn skewer pierced precisely through Ye Mingxuan's hairband as he was slipping out the door.

The boy magically produced an oil paper packet: "Chen family cinnabar mixed with Western Region butterfly powder, when touched with a developing agent, it will turn into..." He shook the packet open, and orange-red phosphorus powder fell all over Ye Mingxuan's clothes, instantly transforming the original dark red patterns into ferocious beast heads.

"This is a frame-up!" The moment Ye Mingxuan gathered spiritual power in his palm, Jiang Ye spun around and stood in front of Ye Shuli.

The boy playfully tossed up a shard of the Reflecting Heart Mirror. The mirror's light reflected the flame of his natal lamp, casting a blood-red seven-star mark between Ye Mingxuan's brows.

The sound of jade shattering came from the direction of the cellar, and the defensive barrier at the clan leader's secluded cultivation location suddenly fluctuated.

Ye Shuli pressed the Kunlun Mirror onto the rubbing image with her other hand, and the image of the Third Elder pouring some kind of dark liquid into the clan leader's teacup appeared in the mirror.

She didn't notice the grey falcon that had been flying past the window suddenly turn back, its talons glowing eerily in the downpour.

"The investigation requires a blood pact test." Ye Shuli cut her fingertip and flicked the blood droplet into her natal lamp, causing the seventeen flames to turn ice blue at the same time.

Jiang Ye tacitly flicked out the improved revealing powder, and the fluorescence condensed into chains of different shapes in everyone's hearts—three broken silver chains were hanging down from the chests of the Third Elder, Fifth Uncle, and Ye Mingxuan.

A thunderclap outside the ancestral hall snapped a century-old pine tree in two, and Ye Mingxuan suddenly lunged at the nearest candlestick.

A candied hawthorn skewer flew from Jiang Ye's sleeve and stuck to his cuff. The boy then stuffed the remaining hawthorn into the other's mouth: "The antidote for the Western Regions' Bewitching Powder. You're welcome."

When the final blood pact verification was completed, the communication jade talisman in Ye Shuli's sleeve suddenly became hot.

The writing formed by the cold fire indicated that the barrier around the clan leader's secluded retreat had been broken. However, she did not notice the half-written letter that had fallen under the incense table. The two characters "Murong," stained with tea, were being slowly swallowed by some kind of black liquid.

Deep within the rain curtain, the letter tube between the gray falcon's claws suddenly burst into flames, and the blue smoke condensed into a seven-pointed star pattern in the air.

Jiang Ye paused as he wiped the Reflecting Heart Mirror. On the eaves of the ancestral hall reflected in the mirror, a broken arrow totem drawn with watermarks had appeared at some point.

(Continued from above)

The candlelight inside the ancestral hall was still flickering when Ye Shuli, clutching her blood-stained clothes, rushed into the rain.

As Jiang Ye bent down to pick up the half of the letter from under the incense table, his fingertips were suddenly burned and smoke appeared—the two characters "Murong" stained with tea were oozing out ink-like liquid.

“Western squid ink mixed with heartbreak herbs.” He turned the letter in the moonlight and suddenly threw three hawthorn pits toward the eaves.

A slight creak came from the tile, and the broken arrow totem drawn with watermarks was stuck together by syrup, covering a two-inch crack.

Three days later, the largest gambling den in Qingzhou City posted its odds list.

The odds of the Ye family winning the championship changed from 3 to 1 to 10. The storyteller pounded his gavel, spittle flying everywhere: "The head of the Murong family said it himself, the younger generation of the Ye family used a puppet substitution technique in the championship!"

As Ye Shuli crushed the eighth communication jade talisman, the black iron door ring suddenly shattered into pieces.

Twelve cloud-riding steeds pulled a gilded carriage through the gate, the curtains embroidered with the qilin patterns of the eight great families.

"Please explain the strange phenomenon of the spiritual vein, Miss Ye." The steward of the Nangong family threw over a recording stone. In the image, the entrance to the spiritual vein that should have belonged to the Ye family was faintly visible, with a black iron chain specially made by the Murong family.

Jiang Ye chewed on his newly made sesame candy and leaned closer to the recording stone. Suddenly, he wrapped the chain projection with the candy wrapper: "Three days ago, on a stormy night, the earthy smell in the southeast corner of the Murong family's hunting grounds was mixed with sulfur—to dig a tunnel thirty feet underground to connect to the Ye family's spiritual vein, at least three hundred catties of saltpeter would be needed."

The jade bricks in the tournament's judging hall exuded a chill.

Ye Shuli sprinkled the improved revealing powder onto the surface of the recording stone, and two overlapping spiritual energy ripples appeared on the stone: "The actual recording time was three months ago. The Murong family activated the spiritual veins long before the competition."

The white-haired referee turned the Mirror of Truth in his hand, but the light in the mirror was suddenly blocked by a gray falcon flying in from outside the window.

The old man frowned and pushed open the jade window: "The chain of evidence needs to be closed, unless you can find the workshop where the Murong family forged the recording stones..."

Before the midnight drumbeat had even faded, Ye Shuli had already scaled the glazed wall of the Murong family's villa.

The modified developing powder solidified into a fluorescent arrow at the base of the wall—the very same gray falcon claw print seen in the ancestral hall three days ago.

She took out Jiang Ye's specially made breathing-avoiding pill and put it under her tongue. As her toes touched the pond, seven dark shadows were reflected on the water's surface, flanking from behind the artificial hill.

The cellar iron door was secured with a triple seven-star lock, and the third keyhole was still stained with tea stains from Xuedinghancui.

Ye Shuli picked up some of the shavings with her hairpin, and the tip of the hairpin immediately turned a dark blue—perfectly matching the reaction of the venom in the clan leader's teacup.

“That saves time on testing for poison.” She flicked her fingers to clear the illusory image of the Kunlun Mirror. As the mirror light swept across the wooden box in the corner, five black iron boxes labeled “Ye Family Puppet Technique” were oozing a foul-smelling liquid.

As soon as Jiang Ye's improved developer powder touched the lid, the fluorescence solidified into an image of the Murong family head changing clothes here half a month ago.

Suddenly, the aroma of roasted chestnuts wafted from the roof beams, and Ye Shuli flicked out three silver needles.

The porcelain bottle containing the powder of the Western Regions' Bewitching Butterfly exploded on the beam, revealing seven masked men who staggered into existence. The leader's sleeve had a black iron chain that gleamed with the moss-like color unique to the spiritual vein cave.

"The Murong family's shadow guards actually used the Chen family's weapon-refining workshop's hidden arrows." Ye Shuli spun around and kicked over the wooden box, from which rolled out hundreds of recording stones engraved with the Nangong family's mark.

Using the refracted light from the Kunlun Mirror, she could see the entire cellar—the alchemy furnace in the southeast corner was still steaming, and the unburned cinnabar inside was specially supplied by the Chen family of Qingzhou.

As the sound of air being torn apart came from three directions, Ye Shuli had already crushed the Breath-Avoiding Pill.

Seven heavy thuds echoed through the thick fog, but she suddenly pressed her throbbing leg—the wound from the last graze of the sleeve arrow was now showing the distinctive purple spots of the Seven Star Soul-Severing Nails.

The night wind blowing in through the cellar ventilation shaft carried the sweet aroma of candied hawthorns. Ye Shuli gripped the cracked Kunlun Mirror tightly, its surface reflecting the thunderclouds gathering outside the window.

In the arms of the last fallen shadow guard, half a jade tablet engraved with the tribunal's totem was oozing the fishy smell of squid ink.

A faint rustling sound of candy wrappers came from the roof beams, and the communication jade talisman in Ye Shuli's sleeve suddenly became hot.

Just as she was about to examine Jiang Ye's improved antidote, the sound of the cellar iron door slamming shut drowned out the approaching footsteps outside the window—a kind of spiritual power carrying the fragrance of hawthorn was penetrating the triple seven-star lock.