Chapter 6 — The Half-Jade Message

The jade pendant glowed only three times.

Then darkness returned.

Lu Chen stood beside the open coffin with the broken piece clenched in his hand.

Nobody spoke.

Qin Ruoxi had learned during the past twenty-four hours that silence around Lu Chen usually meant one of two things.

Either he was thinking.

Or something had gone terribly wrong.

Judging from his face, this was both.

“Your master,” she finally said.

Lu Chen did not look at her.

“You said he may still be alive.”

“I said may.”

“But you recognize the jade.”

“Yes.”

“Could someone have stolen it from his body?”

The question was reasonable.

It still hurt.

Lu Chen's fingers tightened.

“Possibly.”

Ruoxi immediately regretted asking.

Wei Jun had moved closer to the coffin, but he wisely stayed several steps away.

“What kind of pendant is it?”

Lu Chen finally opened his palm.

The white jade rested against his skin.

Even broken, the craftsmanship was unmistakable.

Clouds had been carved along its outer edge.

At the center sat a tiny medicine cauldron surrounded by nine nearly invisible leaves.

“The Valley Master Seal.”

Wei Jun's eyes changed.

“That?”

“You've heard of it?”

“Stories.”

“From whom?”

Wei Jun hesitated.

“People in the martial underground.”

Lu Chen looked at him.

“What stories?”

Wei Jun swallowed.

“That every generation of the Valley of Nine Medicines had one physician who carried the seal.”

“Not every generation.”

Lu Chen's thumb brushed the carving.

“Only the Valley Master.”

Ruoxi looked at the jade again.

“So your master was the head of the entire sect?”

“Yes.”

“And he wore this openly?”

“Inside the Valley.”

“Outside?”

“Almost never.”

Wei Jun frowned.

“Then how would anyone know what it looked like?”

Lu Chen turned toward him.

That was a good question.

A very good question.

He had grown up inside the Valley.

To him, the pendant had simply been part of his master.

Something always hanging from the old man's waist while he walked through herb fields, yelled at disciples, stole medicinal wine from the storage room and then blamed someone else.

But outsiders?

Very few had ever seen it.

Fewer still would know its importance.

Yet someone had placed half of it inside a coffin delivered directly to Lu Chen.

That meant whoever sent the message knew the Valley intimately.

Possibly too intimately.

Ruoxi crossed her arms.

“Could Steward Han have put it there?”

“No.”

“You're certain?”

“He looked confused when I found it.”

“You trust his acting skills?”

“No.”

Lu Chen looked toward the road where Han's car had disappeared.

“But if he wanted to give it to me, he wouldn't hide it inside a coffin and then leave before seeing whether I found it.”

Wei Jun nodded.

“He also wouldn't use someone else's spiritual mark.”

Ruoxi looked at him.

“You sensed something?”

Wei Jun gave a bitter smile.

“At my level? No.”

“Then how do you know?”

“Because Steward Han is paranoid.”

“That sounds more believable.”

Wei Jun continued.

“If he sent a message, he'd make sure Doctor Lu knew it came from him.”

Lu Chen looked again at the jade.

“Agreed.”

A small hand reached toward it.

Lu Chen reacted instantly.

He closed his fist.

Xiaoxiao stood beside him.

He had not even heard her return.

Behind her, Madam Zhou carried a bag of fresh buns.

“I told you to stay across the street.”

Xiaoxiao pointed toward the coffin.

“I saw a box.”

“That is not a box.”

“What is it?”

Madam Zhou answered before Lu Chen could.

“A coffin.”

Xiaoxiao's eyes became enormous.

Lu Chen looked at Madam Zhou.

“Helpful.”

“What? She asked.”

Xiaoxiao walked around the coffin.

“Is somebody inside?”

“No.”

“Was somebody inside?”

“No.”

“Then why do we have one?”

Lu Chen considered several possible explanations.

None sounded appropriate for a four-year-old.

“A patient gave it to me.”

She stared at him.

“You have weird patients.”

Ruoxi covered a laugh.

Lu Chen sighed.

“Yes.”

Xiaoxiao noticed the jade in his hand again.

“What's that?”

“Something old.”

“Can I see?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because Daddy said no.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“That is not a reason.”

“It has worked for thousands of parents.”

She considered appealing to Ruoxi.

Ruoxi immediately looked away.

Traitor.

Lu Chen crouched in front of his daughter.

“It belonged to my teacher.”

“The teacher who taught you medicine?”

“Yes.”

“The one who hit you with books?”

Lu Chen froze.

Madam Zhou looked interested.

Ruoxi definitely looked interested.

“Who told you that?”

“You did.”

“I did not.”

“You said your teacher used to hit you when you were stupid.”

Lu Chen remembered.

He had told her that after she complained about kindergarten homework.

One careless sentence.

Weaponized months later.

“He didn't hit me often.”

“How often?”

“That's not important.”

Xiaoxiao pointed toward the pendant.

“Is he alive?”

The question erased the humor.

Lu Chen looked down at the jade.

“I don't know.”

She thought for a moment.

Then placed both hands around his wrist.

“If you don't know, we can find him.”

Ruoxi's expression softened.

Lu Chen looked at his daughter.

Children had a remarkable ability to simplify impossible things.

A missing master.

A destroyed sect.

A secret organization.

Five years of silence.

To Xiaoxiao, none of it mattered.

If someone was missing, you looked for them.

Simple.

Lu Chen touched her forehead.

“Go eat breakfast.”

“You didn't answer.”

“I know.”

“Are we going to find him?”

Lu Chen looked at the pendant again.

This time, his answer came quietly.

“Yes.”

Xiaoxiao smiled.

“Okay.”

As though that settled everything.

Perhaps it did.

An hour later, the clinic was temporarily closed.

The shattered window had been measured for replacement.

The coffin had been moved into the small storage room after Madam Zhou complained that leaving it outside would “destroy neighborhood property values.”

Lu Chen suspected she simply didn't like looking at it.

Wei Jun was asleep on the treatment bed.

His condition was stable.

Qin Ruoxi had sent her bodyguards away from the entrance and stationed them half a block down after Lu Chen complained for the third time.

Xiaoxiao sat upstairs watching cartoons at a volume that violated several international treaties.

For the first time that morning, Lu Chen had privacy.

Mostly.

Ruoxi stood across from him in the consultation room.

“You're staying?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because somebody tried to kill my grandfather twice.”

“Reasonable.”

“Because his assistant is missing.”

“Also reasonable.”

“Because Steward Han may be connected to the people who destroyed your sect.”

“Possible.”

“And because the mysterious jade pendant appeared inside a coffin delivered to your clinic.”

Lu Chen nodded.

“Less reasonable.”

She stared at him.

“You're not getting rid of me.”

“I was hoping persistence was only a business trait.”

“It is.”

“This isn't business.”

“Someone targeted my family. It became business.”

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair.

“You really don't know when to walk away.”

Ruoxi's expression became faintly amused.

“You're one to talk.”

Fair.

He placed the broken jade on the table.

Now that sunlight filled the room, he could examine it properly.

The fracture was too clean.

Not accidental.

Someone had split the pendant deliberately.

The break followed a natural vein inside the stone, preserving most of the medicine cauldron carving on Lu Chen's half.

The other half would contain the remaining four leaves and part of the cloud pattern.

Ruoxi leaned closer.

“Anything?”

“Maybe.”

Lu Chen rotated the pendant.

At the broken edge, there were tiny scratches.

Not random.

Nine marks.

Extremely fine.

He frowned.

“What?”

“Needle writing.”

“That's a thing?”

“In the Valley.”

Ruoxi looked closer.

“I don't see words.”

“You wouldn't.”

“What does it say?”

“I don't know yet.”

She stared.

“You just said it was writing.”

“I didn't say I could read it.”

“You grew up there.”

“I was a physician, not a jeweler.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from NovelPhoenix. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Ruoxi gave him a look.

Lu Chen ignored it.

Needle writing had been used inside the Valley for important medical formulas.

A master could inscribe hundreds of characters onto a piece of jade no larger than a coin.

The text remained invisible unless activated by spiritual energy.

Normally that wouldn't have been a problem.

Five years ago, Lu Chen could have read it effortlessly.

Now—

he touched his lower abdomen unconsciously.

His cultivation was shattered.

But not entirely dead anymore.

The golden point.

Life Essence.

Perhaps enough.

Ruoxi noticed the movement.

“You're going to do something dangerous.”

“No.”

“You touched your stomach.”

“So?”

“You did the same thing before you nearly collapsed treating Steward Han.”

Lu Chen looked at her.

“You're becoming observant.”

“Occupational hazard.”

“I thought executives mostly shouted at people.”

“I own a pharmaceutical company.”

He paused.

“You didn't mention that.”

“You didn't ask.”

“Qinghe Pharmaceutical?”

Her eyebrows lifted.

“You know it?”

“I buy alcohol disinfectant.”

She stared at him.

“That is your connection to a company worth billions?”

“The disinfectant is acceptable.”

“I feel deeply honored.”

“You should.”

Ruoxi shook her head.

“Back to the dangerous thing.”

Lu Chen looked down at the jade.

“I need to activate the inscription.”

“With what?”

“Energy.”

“You barely have any.”

He looked at her.

She folded her arms.

“You're not the only person who can observe.”

Annoying woman.

“The amount should be small.”

“Should?”

“Yes.”

“What happens if you're wrong?”

“I stop.”

Ruoxi's expression made clear what she thought of that answer.

Lu Chen placed two fingers against the jade.

He closed his eyes.

The room disappeared.

Inside his body, broken meridians appeared like dried riverbeds.

At their center floated the golden point.

Slightly larger than yesterday.

Not dramatically.

But undeniably.

Around it moved two faint traces.

One warm and pale gold.

Life Essence.

The other—

almost colorless, with a dark edge.

Lu Chen's expression changed.

He had purified Death Essence from Han.

He had thought it disappeared.

It hadn't.

A residue remained inside him.

Separate from the golden thread.

Quiet.

Waiting.

Lu Chen did not like that.

He focused on the Life Essence.

The golden thread responded.

He guided a tiny portion through his arm.

Pain followed immediately.

Less than before.

That was new.

The damaged meridian had begun healing.

Not enough to call it recovery.

But enough to notice.

The energy reached his fingers.

Then the jade.

Nothing happened.

Lu Chen frowned.

More.

Still nothing.

He pushed again.

The pendant suddenly became hot.

His eyes opened.

Golden lines spread across its surface.

Ruoxi stepped back.

“You might want to define ‘small amount.’”

“Quiet.”

The nine needle scratches illuminated.

Then expanded.

Lines of ancient script appeared in the air above the table.

Not holographic.

Not exactly.

They resembled golden calligraphy written onto transparent silk.

Ruoxi stopped breathing.

Characters floated between them.

She could not read them.

Lu Chen could.

His heart tightened.

The first line contained only two characters.

Chen'er.

His childhood name.

His master's voice seemed to echo inside his head.

For a moment, Lu Chen forgot to breathe.

Ruoxi saw his face change.

“What does it say?”

He didn't answer.

The golden script continued unfolding.

If this half reaches you, then you survived.

Lu Chen's fingers trembled.

The light flickered.

He stabilized it.

Do not search for the Valley.

His brows drew together.

Do not return to the mountain.

A second line appeared.

Do not trust anyone who claims to act in my name.

Ruoxi watched Lu Chen grow increasingly still.

“What is it?”

He raised one hand.

Not now.

More script emerged.

The enemy within the Valley was never fully exposed.

Lu Chen's eyes hardened.

An enemy within.

A traitor.

He had suspected betrayal.

Everyone had.

But there had never been proof.

He pushed more Life Essence into the jade.

The characters brightened.

The Black Crescent is a mark, not the hand that holds the blade.

That matched Wei Jun.

The Black Crescent wasn't the true organization.

Only a symbol.

Then:

The Upper Court is real.

Lu Chen's jaw tightened.

Steward Han had spoken the truth.

Another line.

But the Upper Court is not the summit.

Lu Chen's heart sank.

Of course it wasn't.

In cultivation, there was always something above.

Another power.

Another hidden hand.

Another arrogant bastard sitting on a taller mountain.

His master used to complain about that.

The next characters took longer to form.

The jade consumed more energy.

Lu Chen's breathing became heavier.

Ruoxi noticed immediately.

“Stop.”

“Not yet.”

“You're going pale.”

“I was already pale.”

“This is not the time.”

The golden script flickered.

Lu Chen forced another thread forward.

Then the message continued.

The second half contains the path.

Path.

Location?

Map?

Technique?

He didn't know.

Do not seek it until the Nine Medicines Seal awakens.

Lu Chen frowned.

Nine Medicines Seal?

He had never heard of such a thing.

His master's pendant was called the Valley Master Seal.

Not Nine Medicines Seal.

The characters destabilized.

“Damn it.”

He pushed harder.

Pain exploded through his right arm.

Ruoxi stepped forward.

“Lu Chen!”

“One more line.”

Golden light surged.

The final characters formed.

Most important—

Then stopped.

Lu Chen's heart pounded.

“Come on.”

The jade shook.

The inscription tried to continue.

One character appeared.

Protect—

The light died.

Everything vanished.

The pendant cracked against the tabletop.

Lu Chen staggered.

Ruoxi caught his shoulder before he fell.

“Enough.”

He tried to reach for the jade.

She slapped his hand away.

Lu Chen stared at her.

“Did you just hit me?”

“Yes.”

“My patient hit me yesterday.”

“You deserved both.”

“I have concerns about the standards of this clinic.”

“Sit.”

He was already sitting.

“That command lacks purpose.”

Ruoxi pushed a glass of water toward him.

“Drink.”

Lu Chen looked at it suspiciously.

She noticed.

“This came from your kitchen.”

He drank.

The message replayed in his mind.

Protect—

Who?

Xiaoxiao?

The Valley?

The Book of Mortal Life he didn't yet know about? Wait we shouldn't mention future unseen. No.

His master could have meant anyone.

Or anything.

And the sentence had cut precisely where it mattered.

Of course it had.

His master had always possessed terrible timing.

Even while possibly dead.

Ruoxi waited until his breathing returned to normal.

“Well?”

Lu Chen looked at her.

“How much did you understand?”

“None.”

“Good.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Lu Chen.”

He sighed.

“It was from my master.”

“You're sure?”

“He called me Chen'er.”

“Could someone else know that?”

“Very few.”

“How few?”

“My master.”

He paused.

“Several senior disciples.”

“Alive?”

Lu Chen's expression changed.

“Unknown.”

That was another problem.

He had been so focused on his master that he had forgotten something obvious.

There had been other survivors.

Maybe.

He knew of none.

But if the message had been created after the attack—

someone might have helped his master.

Someone who knew the Valley's secret writing.

Ruoxi waited.

“What else?”

“He warned me not to return to the Valley.”

“Why?”

“An internal traitor.”

Her face became serious.

“Someone inside your sect helped destroy it.”

“Yes.”

“And the Black Crescent?”

“Not the real enemy.”

“Upper Court?”

“Real.”

“So Han told the truth.”

“About that.”

“And?”

Lu Chen leaned back.

“The Upper Court isn't the highest level.”

Ruoxi stared.

“You're saying there's another organization above them?”

“Maybe.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is.”

She almost smiled.

“What was the last part?”

Lu Chen looked toward the jade.

“The other half contains a path.”

“To your master?”

“I don't know.”

“And something about a seal?”

His eyes moved toward her.

She smiled faintly.

“I couldn't read it. I could recognize that your expression changed.”

“You are becoming troublesome.”

“I've been told.”

He picked up the jade carefully.

There was something else now.

At the center of the carved cauldron, a single leaf had turned gold.

One out of nine.

It hadn't been gold before.

Lu Chen frowned.

“What's that?”

Ruoxi noticed.

“I don't know.”

He rubbed it.

Nothing.

Nine leaves.

Nine Medicines Seal.

One awakened?

Surely not.

He had done nothing.

Unless—

his gaze moved inward.

Life Essence.

Saving Qin Zhenguo.

Wei Jun.

Han.

Could the seal awaken through healing?

The possibility was absurd.

Which meant it deserved consideration.

Lu Chen brought the jade closer.

The golden leaf emitted a faint pulse.

Then his shattered core responded.

Once.

The same rhythm.

His expression changed.

The pendant and his core were connected.

That had never been true before.

At least, not when his cultivation was intact.

“Doctor Lu.”

Wei Jun's voice came from the treatment bed.

Lu Chen looked over.

Wei Jun had awakened.

“How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know I should pretend I heard nothing.”

“Good survival instinct.”

Wei Jun slowly sat up.

Then noticed the golden leaf.

His expression changed.

Lu Chen caught it instantly.

“You recognize this.”

Wei Jun froze.

“Recognize what?”

“The leaf.”

“No.”

“You looked like you did.”

“I've seen jade leaves before.”

Lu Chen said nothing.

Wei Jun swallowed.

Ruoxi walked closer.

“I recommend answering him before he starts diagnosing you.”

Wei Jun gave her a miserable look.

“That's not funny.”

“It was a little funny.”

Lu Chen turned the jade toward him.

“Talk.”

Wei Jun sighed.

“I don't know about the pendant.”

“But?”

“I saw that leaf symbol once.”

Lu Chen's gaze sharpened.

“Where?”

“At a private auction.”

“When?”

“About two years ago.”

“Where?”

“Haicheng.”

That was nearly eight hundred kilometers from Jiangzhou.

“What was being sold?”

“Not jade.”

Wei Jun paused.

“A medical manuscript.”

Lu Chen's attention sharpened further.

“Title?”

“I couldn't read the old script.”

“Describe it.”

“Dark green cover. Very old. Nine gold leaves on the front.”

Lu Chen sat straighter.

“Who bought it?”

“That was the strange part.”

“What?”

“Nobody.”

Ruoxi frowned.

“Then why was it at an auction?”

“It was listed.”

Wei Jun rubbed his wrist.

“Starting price was fifty million.”

“And?”

“No bids.”

“Why?”

“Because before bidding started, someone from the Upper Court entered.”

The room became quiet.

Lu Chen leaned forward.

“Describe him.”

“Woman.”

That surprised him.

“Age?”

“Maybe twenty-five.”

“Maybe?”

Wei Jun gave him a look.

“With cultivators? She could have been eighty.”

Fair.

“Appearance.”

“Long black hair. White clothing. No jewelry except a red ring.”

“Name?”

“Never given.”

“Cultivation?”

Wei Jun laughed nervously.

“I couldn't sense anything.”

That was concerning.

“What happened?”

“She walked onto the stage.”

“Security?”

“Did nothing.”

“Organizer?”

“He bowed.”

“How low?”

Wei Jun thought.

“Very.”

That was useful.

“Then?”

“She picked up the manuscript.”

“And left?”

“No.”

Wei Jun's voice became quieter.

“She opened it.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing at first.”

Then he looked at the jade.

“The nine leaves on the cover lit up.”

Lu Chen's grip tightened.

“How many?”

“One.”

Exactly like the pendant.

His pulse increased.

“What did she say?”

Wei Jun hesitated.

“I remember because nobody understood it.”

“What?”

“She said…”

He searched his memory.

“‘The physician has not returned. The first leaf is only waiting.’”

Lu Chen went completely still.

Ruoxi looked between them.

Wei Jun continued.

“Then she closed the book.”

“What happened to it?”

“She took it.”

“Without paying?”

“Nobody stopped her.”

“That wasn't my question.”

“She didn't pay.”

Ruoxi looked offended on behalf of commerce.

“Fifty-million-yuan item?”

Wei Jun shrugged.

“I didn't ask her.”

Smart.

Lu Chen looked again at the single golden leaf.

Two years ago, one leaf had lit on a mysterious medical manuscript.

The woman had said the physician had not returned.

Now one leaf on the Valley Master Seal had awakened.

Coincidence?

Cultivation had cured Lu Chen of believing in those.

“Who ran the auction?”

Wei Jun hesitated.

“Golden Pavilion.”

Ruoxi reacted.

“I know that name.”

Lu Chen turned.

“How?”

“They own auction houses.”

“Normal ones?”

“Mostly art, antiques, jewelry.”

Wei Jun shook his head.

“That's the public side.”

Ruoxi looked at him.

“There's another?”

“For martial families and cultivators.”

Of course there was.

Lu Chen rubbed his forehead.

The day was becoming increasingly expensive.

“Where is the nearest Golden Pavilion?”

Wei Jun answered immediately.

“Jiangzhou.”

Lu Chen slowly looked at him.

“There is one here?”

“Yes.”

“You didn't mention that.”

“You didn't ask.”

Ruoxi smiled.

Lu Chen gave both of them a tired look.

“I am beginning to dislike that sentence.”

By noon, Qin Ruoxi had gathered information on Golden Pavilion.

Publicly, it was an upscale antique auction company operating in seventeen cities.

Its Jiangzhou branch occupied an old restored mansion near West Lake.

Officially, it specialized in jade, calligraphy, rare medicine, historical artifacts and private collections.

Unofficially—

that information did not exist in Qin corporate databases.

Which itself said something.

Ruoxi slid her tablet across the desk.

“Owners are hidden through several holding companies.”

Lu Chen scanned the screen.

“Anyone connected to the Qin family?”

“No.”

“Upper Court?”

“No public reference.”

“Wei Jun?”

“No criminal record under that name.”

Wei Jun raised a hand.

“That's because Wei Jun isn't my real name.”

Everyone looked at him.

He lowered the hand.

“Probably should have mentioned that.”

Lu Chen stared.

“What is your real name?”

Wei Jun hesitated.

“Zhou Wei.”

Ruoxi's eyes immediately changed.

“Zhou?”

Wei Jun looked confused.

“Yes.”

Lu Chen looked toward Ruoxi.

“What?”

“Qin Zhenguo's missing assistant is Zhou Kai.”

Wei Jun's face changed.

“No relation.”

“You answered quickly.”

“Because there isn't.”

Lu Chen examined him.

No obvious lie.

Ruoxi opened another file.

“Zhou Kai is forty-six. Born in Haicheng.”

Wei Jun's expression became even stranger.

Lu Chen noticed.

“You're from Haicheng.”

It wasn't a question.

Wei Jun looked toward the window.

Damn.

“Answer.”

“Yes.”

Ruoxi leaned forward.

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-eight.”

“Father?”

“Dead.”

“Mother?”

“Dead.”

“Siblings?”

Silence.

Lu Chen's gaze sharpened.

“Zhou Wei.”

Wei Jun's face had become pale.

Not sick pale.

Memory pale.

“I had an older brother.”

Ruoxi turned the tablet.

“Name?”

Wei Jun didn't answer.

She already knew.

“Zhou Kai?”

Wei Jun closed his eyes.

“Yes.”

The clinic fell silent.

Lu Chen stood.

“You told us you didn't know Qin Zhenguo's assistant.”

“I didn't.”

“He's your brother.”

“I haven't seen him in twenty years!”

Ruoxi's expression hardened.

“You expect us to believe that?”

“It is true.”

“Why didn't you recognize his name?”

“I did.”

That answer made the room colder.

Ruoxi stood.

“You lied.”

“Yes.”

Her voice sharpened.

“Why?”

Wei Jun's jaw tightened.

“Because the moment you said Zhou Kai, I knew what you would think.”

“What should I think?”

“That I was involved.”

“You were involved.”

“Not with him!”

Ruoxi took another step.

“You helped poison my grandfather while your brother worked as his assistant.”

“I didn't know!”

“Convenient.”

Wei Jun stood too quickly.

Pain crossed his face.

Lu Chen pressed him back onto the bed.

“Sit.”

“Doctor Lu—”

“Sit.”

Wei Jun obeyed.

Lu Chen looked directly into his eyes.

“When did you last see Zhou Kai?”

“Twenty years ago.”

“Why?”

Wei Jun's throat moved.

“Our father died owing money.”

“What kind?”

“Gambling. Loans. People came to the house.”

His voice became rougher.

“My brother was twenty-six. I was eighteen.”

“What happened?”

“He told me to leave Haicheng.”

“Why?”

“He said he'd deal with the debt.”

“And you?”

“I joined an underground fight ring.”

Ruoxi's anger remained, but some of its edge changed.

Wei Jun continued.

“By the time I returned two years later, the house was sold. My brother was gone.”

“You never searched?”

“I did.”

“For twenty years?”

“For the first five.”

“And then?”

“I assumed he wanted nothing to do with me.”

Lu Chen watched carefully.

“So when Ruoxi said Zhou Kai…”

“I knew it could be him.”

“But you kept quiet.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Wei Jun looked ashamed.

“Because I had already helped people attack his employer.”

No one spoke.

That was messy enough to sound true.

Ruoxi looked down at the tablet.

“Zhou Kai started working for my grandfather twelve years ago.”

Wei Jun laughed once.

Bitterly.

“Twelve years.”

“You didn't know.”

“No.”

He covered his face briefly.

“I spent twelve years taking jobs across three provinces and my brother was sitting in Jiangzhou.”

Lu Chen looked at Ruoxi.

“Family photo?”

“There may be employee records.”

She searched.

A few seconds later, an image appeared.

Zhou Kai.

Middle-aged.

Thin.

Formal suit.

Wei Jun looked.

Everything in his face collapsed.

“That's him.”

No uncertainty.

His older brother.

Alive.

Or at least alive until recently.

Wei Jun reached toward the tablet but stopped before touching it.

“He got old.”

Ruoxi looked away.

Lu Chen did not.

Emotion could be faked.

That reaction was not.

“At least now we know why you were chosen,” Lu Chen said.

Wei Jun looked up.

“What?”

Ruoxi understood first.

“They didn't recruit him randomly.”

Lu Chen nodded.

“Zhou Kai worked close to Qin Zhenguo.”

“And Wei Jun—Zhou Wei—was recruited for the operation.”

Wei Jun stared.

“You think they knew?”

“I think people capable of organizing attacks through cultivators and hidden symbols probably conduct background checks.”

Ruoxi's face hardened.

“They used both brothers.”

“Possibly.”

“For what?”

Lu Chen looked toward the jade.

“That is what we need to find out.”

Wei Jun suddenly stood again.

This time Lu Chen didn't stop him.

“Where is he?”

“We don't know.”

“Then we find him.”

Ruoxi stared.

“You lied to us ten minutes ago.”

“I know.”

“You expect my help?”

“No.”

Wei Jun looked toward Lu Chen.

“His.”

Lu Chen raised an eyebrow.

“You have a very optimistic opinion of our relationship.”

Wei Jun clenched his hands.

“Please.”

The word came painfully.

“My brother may have been used to poison Qin Zhenguo.”

“Or he may have willingly helped.”

“I know.”

“He may belong to the Black Crescent.”

“I know.”

“He may already be dead.”

Wei Jun closed his eyes.

“I know.”

Lu Chen watched him.

Then remembered Xiaoxiao.

If you don't know, we can find him.

Annoying child.

He sighed.

“Sit down.”

Wei Jun opened his eyes.

“Does that mean—”

“It means stop bleeding on my floor.”

He looked down.

His treatment wound had reopened slightly.

“Oh.”

“Idiot.”

Lu Chen reached for bandages.

Ruoxi watched him.

“You're going to help.”

“I didn't say that.”

“You're bandaging him.”

“That's because he's bleeding.”

“Lu Chen.”

He sighed again.

“Yes.”

Wei Jun's shoulders dropped.

Ruoxi looked almost satisfied.

“Good.”

Lu Chen looked at her.

“You're helping too.”

Her satisfaction disappeared.

“With what?”

“Find Zhou Kai.”

“I already have people searching.”

“Not people.”

He tapped the Golden Pavilion information.

“Connections.”

Ruoxi understood.

“If Zhou Kai disappeared because of the same group, ordinary security may never find him.”

“Yes.”

“So we go to Golden Pavilion.”

“We?”

“You need someone respectable.”

Lu Chen looked at his clinic.

Then at himself.

Then at her.

“Was that an insult?”

“An observation.”

He considered.

“Fair.”

Upstairs, Xiaoxiao appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Daddy!”

“What?”

“I'm hungry.”

Lu Chen looked at the clock.

Twelve thirty.

He had forgotten lunch.

Again.

He closed his eyes.

Ruoxi smiled.

“The legendary Ghost Physician.”

“Don't.”

“Defeated by lunch.”

“Don't.”

Xiaoxiao leaned over the railing.

“Pretty Auntie, are you eating with us?”

Ruoxi glanced toward Lu Chen.

He immediately shook his head.

Xiaoxiao ignored him.

“We have dumplings.”

Ruoxi smiled.

“I like dumplings.”

Lu Chen stared at her.

“You have a company.”

“Yes.”

“Surely it has food.”

“It does.”

“Go there.”

“Daddy!”

Xiaoxiao's voice carried deep disappointment.

Lu Chen looked up.

“What?”

“Guests eat with us.”

“Who taught you that?”

“Grandma Zhou.”

Of course.

Ruoxi picked up her coat.

“I wouldn't want to be rude.”

Lu Chen stared at her.

She smiled.

Wei Jun—Zhou Wei—looked between them.

“Can I have lunch?”

All three turned toward him.

He raised both hands.

“I am technically still a patient.”

Lu Chen sighed.

“Fine.”

Xiaoxiao cheered upstairs.

Four people.

One tiny kitchen.

A mysterious jade.

A missing brother.

An ancient underground auction house.

An enemy organization hunting him.

And his daughter had somehow turned the crisis into lunch.

Perhaps this was what normal life looked like when Lu Chen was involved.

The meal was crowded.

Xiaoxiao sat between Lu Chen and Ruoxi.

Zhou Wei sat opposite them.

He held chopsticks awkwardly with his injured hand.

Lu Chen slapped them out of his fingers.

“Left hand.”

“I can manage.”

“You're reopening the wound.”

“I've fought with broken ribs.”

“And now you're eating dumplings. Adapt.”

Zhou Wei switched hands.

Xiaoxiao watched him.

“Mister Patient.”

He looked at her.

“Yes?”

“Why do you have scars?”

The room became quiet.

Zhou Wei glanced at Lu Chen.

“Bad decisions.”

Xiaoxiao thought about that.

“Daddy has scars too.”

Lu Chen stopped chewing.

Ruoxi looked at him.

“Does he?”

Xiaoxiao nodded enthusiastically.

“On his back.”

“Eat.”

“But—”

“Dumpling.”

She obeyed.

Ruoxi's gaze remained on him a second longer.

Lu Chen ignored it.

Zhou Wei smiled faintly.

“Your daughter asks dangerous questions.”

“She inherited that from nobody.”

Ruoxi coughed.

Xiaoxiao looked between them.

Then returned to her dumpling.

A minute later, she pointed toward the pendant beside Lu Chen's bowl.

“Did it tell you where your teacher is?”

Everyone stopped.

Lu Chen looked at the jade.

“No.”

“Then what did it say?”

“He told me not to look for him.”

Xiaoxiao frowned.

“That is silly.”

Lu Chen almost smiled.

“Why?”

“If he's lost, how will you find him if you don't look?”

“Maybe he doesn't want to be found.”

“Why?”

“I don't know.”

She considered.

“Maybe bad people are watching him.”

Lu Chen's chopsticks stopped.

Ruoxi noticed.

Xiaoxiao continued eating, completely unaware.

“Like hide-and-seek.”

Zhou Wei looked toward Lu Chen.

The thought was obvious.

What if the warning wasn't simply “stay away”?

What if his master was deliberately remaining hidden to prevent someone from following Lu Chen to him?

Or—

to prevent whoever held him from finding Lu Chen.

The jade had not said I am safe.

It had said do not search.

Very different things.

Lu Chen looked at the single golden leaf.

A path existed.

But his master had deliberately locked it behind the awakening of the Nine Medicines Seal.

He wasn't telling Lu Chen never to come.

He was telling him:

Not yet.

Lu Chen's heart steadied.

That distinction mattered.

He touched the pendant.

“All right, old man.”

Ruoxi looked at him.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

Lu Chen picked up another dumpling.

“We go to Golden Pavilion tonight.”

Zhou Wei nearly choked.

“Tonight?”

“Yes.”

“You just activated an artifact and almost collapsed.”

“I did not almost collapse.”

Ruoxi stared at him.

He ignored her.

Zhou Wei lowered his voice.

“Golden Pavilion's private auction isn't something you simply walk into.”

“How do we enter?”

“Invitation.”

“Get one.”

Zhou Wei laughed.

“From where?”

Ruoxi calmly sipped tea.

“I have three.”

Everyone looked at her.

Lu Chen frowned.

“You said you didn't know about the private side.”

“I didn't.”

“Then why do you have invitations?”

“My grandfather receives them.”

“Why?”

She shrugged.

“He buys antiques.”

Zhou Wei looked horrified.

“Your grandfather attends Golden Pavilion?”

“Occasionally.”

“Private auctions?”

“I don't know.”

Lu Chen thought of Qin Zhenguo's history.

Thirty-one years ago.

A connection to the Valley of Nine Medicines.

Interesting.

Ruoxi continued.

“There is an auction tonight.”

Lu Chen's gaze sharpened.

“You checked?”

“While you were bandaging him.”

“What's being sold?”

She turned the tablet.

A private catalogue appeared.

Most items looked ordinary.

Old jade.

Antiques.

Rare herbs.

Calligraphy.

Then Lu Chen saw item number seventeen.

His expression changed.

A dark green manuscript.

Nine golden leaves decorated the cover.

The same symbol Zhou Wei had described.

Ruoxi looked at him.

“Recognize it?”

Zhou Wei stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.

“That.”

His face had gone pale.

“That's the book.”

Lu Chen enlarged the image.

Nine leaves.

Only one was gold.

The other eight were dull.

Title:

Anonymous Medical Manuscript — Origin Unknown

Estimated price:

80,000,000 yuan.

Lu Chen stared at it.

Two years ago, a woman from the Upper Court had taken what sounded like the same manuscript.

Now it had appeared again.

Same cover.

Same symbol.

Either it had returned—

or there was more than one.

The jade pendant inside Lu Chen's hand warmed.

On the screen, the single golden leaf appeared to brighten.

Only for a moment.

But Lu Chen saw it.

So did Ruoxi.

Zhou Wei whispered:

“No way.”

Lu Chen closed the catalogue.

The path his master had hidden was beginning to reveal itself.

Not through revenge.

Not through hunting assassins.

Through medicine.

Exactly as the old man would have wanted.

Tonight, Golden Pavilion would auction a manuscript connected to the Nine Medicines Seal.

And somewhere behind it waited the Upper Court.

Lu Chen looked toward the window.

His peaceful life was moving farther away by the hour.

Strangely—

he no longer felt like running from that.

“Daddy.”

He turned.

Xiaoxiao held up the last dumpling.

“Do you want it?”

Lu Chen looked at her.

Then smiled.

“You eat it.”

She shook her head.

“You're going out tonight.”

He blinked.

“How do you know?”

“You have your trouble face.”

Ruoxi laughed.

Lu Chen stared at his daughter.

“I have too many faces according to you.”

She placed the dumpling in his bowl.

“You need energy.”

Lu Chen looked at it for a moment.

Then ate it.

Because some instructions were worth following.

Across the city, beneath Golden Pavilion, a woman in white stood inside a locked room.

On the table before her lay a second piece of white jade.

Half a cloud.

Four carved leaves.

Half of a medicinal cauldron.

The missing piece.

A servant knelt behind her.

“The manuscript has been placed in tonight's auction.”

The woman said nothing.

“Steward Han delivered the first half successfully.”

Still nothing.

“He does not appear to know he was used.”

This time, she smiled faintly.

“He was not meant to.”

The servant lowered his head.

“Will Lu Chen come?”

The woman touched the broken jade.

One of its leaves suddenly turned gold.

Her smile disappeared.

For the first time, genuine emotion entered her eyes.

“He awakened it.”

The servant looked up.

“Impossible.”

The woman closed her fingers around the jade.

“Not impossible.”

Her voice became very soft.

“He has begun walking the path.”

“Should we inform the Upper Court?”

The woman turned.

Her gaze became cold enough that the servant immediately lowered his head again.

“No.”

“But—”

“If the Upper Court learns the Nine Medicines Seal has awakened, he will not survive the month.”

The servant became silent.

The woman looked toward the ceiling, as though she could see through stone and city alike.

“Five years ago, his master gave everything to hide him.”

Her hand tightened around the other half of the pendant.

“We will not waste that sacrifice.”

The servant hesitated.

“Then why draw him to Golden Pavilion?”

The woman looked toward the manuscript prepared for auction.

“Because hiding will no longer save him.”

She paused.

“And because before Lu Chen can learn who destroyed the Valley…”

Her eyes narrowed.

“…he must first learn who inside it betrayed him.”