Chapter 8: The Benevolent Heart Needle Case

“Shriek…”

The falcon dove sharply downward, its gray feathers and orange eyes piercing, talons skimming the water’s surface. Hidden beneath the pool, Ling Xuan’s heart pounded with alarm.

For twelve hours, he could not draw upon the yin-yang energy, his entire body weak and aching, even traveling a burden. He had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure: hide first, then figure out what to do next.

The best place was the pool, where the dry reeds scattered in the cave could help him breathe underwater for an extended time.

The little white snake was already listless, lacking even the liveliness of an ordinary young snake. Beneath the waterfall, the rushing water further masked the faint aura, so even the falcon could not sense it.

Yet the demon-hunting squad had already searched the pool’s edge several times, making their hearts race with tension.

Fortunately, they finally discovered the cave and found the bodies of the village head and the captain.

Camouflaged and already badly decomposed, the true identities were unrecognizable, especially with black mist swirling around the corpses.

The demon-sealing compass needle flickered wildly when encountering the black mist, which thrilled the leader of the Yuwen clan’s squad.

With the New Year approaching, the demon-hunting squad was eager to return home. The Yuwen leader made a misjudgment, took the two bodies, and hastily ended the search.

Yet Ling Xuan still hadn’t grasped the key to his grandfather’s instruction that they must stay in the back mountain for three days before leaving. When he asked Ye Ziyan, she was equally puzzled.

The more confused he became, the more he believed these three thatched huts were arranged by his grandfather to help them escape pursuit, and that they might hold clues.

Memories surfaced of childhood walks in the fields, his grandfather pointing to the straw and saying, “Xuan’er, the Taiji needle technique—yin and yang give birth to each other, water and fire coexist. The thatched hut must have a water jar to harmonize yin and yang.”

There was no water jar inside the cave, but just outside was a waterfall, and the pool was a natural giant water jar. Ling Xuan was more convinced he had no strength left, so he had to ask for help. “My lady, since we can’t be apart, help me look for it.”

“Are you sure?” Ye Ziyan looked doubtful. “We saw nothing underwater just now.”

If nothing was seen earlier, the position must have been wrong. Glancing toward the cave, a sudden spark lit in Ling Xuan’s mind. He asked, “Do you remember where the three thatched huts are?”

“What does it matter?” Ye Ziyan frowned, confused.

“Water and fire coexist; when the three thatched huts are lit, the firelight passes through the cave and falls onto the pool. The intersection is where we need to look,” Ling Xuan speculated.

“Are you worried the falcon won’t return?” Ye Ziyan’s lips twitched. “The demon-hunting squad has only reached the mountain foot at most.”

“That’s why grandfather told us to stay three days,” Ling Xuan grew excited. “Knowing the dog’s nose, they’ll find this place. If they can’t find us, they’ll set the huts on fire.”

“Did grandfather leave a scent?” Ye Ziyan began to waver. If not, how could Uncle Gou have found the cave so quickly?

Ling Xuan struggled to rise. “I’ll go light the fire.”

“No way,” Ye Ziyan quickly stopped him. “Don’t forget, grandfather told me to go with you.”

Looking into her purple eyes, Ling Xuan suddenly understood—she would use her violet gaze.

Ye Qingmei swiftly darted into the cave, and within a breath’s time, leapt out like a small fish, diving into the pool without a splash.

In no time, Ye Ziyan emerged from the water, her curves graceful enough to almost make Ling Xuan lose his senses.

But Ye Ziyan suddenly dragged him underwater, startling him into flailing wildly. Taken off guard, he swallowed several mouthfuls of water. “Attempted murder of your own husband…”

They slipped to the bottom of the pool, through a hidden river, entering a karst cave. Ling Xuan was dumbfounded—the stalactites glowed like human meridians, and the water flowing among stalagmites formed a natural Taiji diagram.

At the yang fish eye, a towering stalagmite bore a plaque. Before Ling Xuan could read it clearly, Ye Ziyan darted over, snatched a bracelet, tears streaming down her face. “Father…”

Her choked voice sent shivers down Ling Xuan’s spine. Ye Ziyan was a princess? This bloodsucking tigress was a princess? Had he somehow married a wealthy beauty and was about to reach the pinnacle of life?

The plaque read: “Spirit Tablet of Emperor Xiao Xuan of Great Chen, named Shubao.” Ling Xuan shook his head. Even collecting old bronze coins from the former Chen dynasty was evidence of rebellion—what did marrying a former Chen princess matter?

His knees crushed green moss into a jade-colored liquid. His slender hand dug deep into a stone fissure, drawing blood. The crimson droplets traced the meridian stalactites, and a purple phoenix shadow flickered out. Her eyes shone with seven stars aligned, and faint ice chains wrapped around her body.

Purple veins suddenly surged from Ye Ziyan’s neck, echoing each other.

The Spirit Snake Coiled Moon suddenly radiated intense heat; suffocation rose again. Ling Xuan’s vision blurred, the purple phoenix’s eyes with seven star points—only the red star lit, the other six star points were dim.

The purple phoenix emitted a “clang clang” sound, struggling against the frost chains, but lacking strength, it shattered violently.

In an instant, the water boiled, the Taiji diagram reversed, forming a whirlpool that sucked them into the yin fish eye space.

The water surface stilled instantly, ripples radiating, reflecting the pool’s situation. The demon-hunting squad returned, Yuwen clan’s leader holding the demon-sealing compass, a sinister smile on his lips. “Two little fish left.”

“Back again?” Ling Xuan’s eyes flickered with bitterness, glimpsing inside the yin fish eye.

Where it had been empty moments ago, now there was a black lacquer box, heavy as iron, with a white jade inlay, but no visible seams.

The jade was shaped like a crescent moon, identical to the birthmark on Ling Xuan’s chest. He was secretly shocked. “Could this hide my secret as well?”

Staggering to his knees, purple veins on Ye Ziyan’s neck burst like frost patterns. Her teary eyes and chattering teeth trembled with cold poison. Why had it appeared now? Hadn’t she drunk his blood just days ago?

Ling Xuan hastily bit his finger, squeezed blood onto her red lips.

Her jade hand gripped his wrist; her fingertips pierced flesh and blood. “Now I know why I must drink your blood… The Chen royal bloodline… long before the fall of Great Chen, was cursed with the Frost Ice Evil Spell!”

“Frost Ice Evil Spell?”

Ling Xuan shivered. Could it be that when the red giant snake appeared, the whispering he heard was the curse, a spell spontaneously formed by heaven and earth?

More bewildering was that the bloodsucking tigress was the former Chen emperor’s daughter?

He recalled that the former Chen dynasty had fallen, the last emperor was taken captive by the Sui army to Chang’an and died the year Emperor Yang of Sui ascended.

Counting the years, Ye Ziyan and he were about the same age. Now it was the seventh year of the Daye era; Ye Ziyan may not even have been born when the former Chen fell.

If she had always lived in this small mountain village, she probably never saw the former empress, but her words revealed the empress was buried here?

“Zi Huang has long been targeted by the Yuwen clan. On the day the city fell, Father sacrificed himself for the country and had no choice but to pass the Zi Huang shikigami to me,” Ye Ziyan whispered. “The person captured was just a decoy made by your grandfather.”

If Old Master Chu could make decoys, then between me and Chu Lingxuan, who is the real one?

Ling Xuan sighed softly, “At least you know who your parents are. I can only guess what mine looked like from portraits… I just hope the demon-hunting squad doesn’t find the entrance so quickly.”

“Here they come, just in time to accompany Father in burial!” Ye Ziyan suddenly sprang up, her violet eyes shining coldly and fiercely. “Quick, take your Ling family Renxin needle case.”

Needle case? This was a needle case? Such a seamless box was actually a Renxin needle case?

“How to carry it?” Ling Xuan shook his head with a wry smile. The dark needle case was made of thunder-struck dark wood, heavy as a meteorite. He had tried just now and couldn’t lift it, especially without being able to use yin-yang energy.

“Blood!”

A soft “crack” sound, the bracelet transformed into two identical purple thin blades, crescent-shaped and as thin as cicada wings. Ye Ziyan waved them out. “Zi Huang twin spirit blades. Grandfather said, soul and imprint are intertwined, yin and yang merge.”

A sharp pain pricked Ling Xuan’s finger, making him dazed. How were these Zi Huang twin spirit blades so much like crescent moons?

Their blood dripped onto the crescent moon mark, suddenly surging into a blood mist that twisted like little snakes, penetrating inside. With a “crack,” the needle case popped open.

Though large, about three feet three inches, the interior space was small. The inner walls were inlaid with a bronze star chart.

Touching it, the Spirit Snake Coiled Moon surged heat again. The bronze star chart resonated, revealing blood-red seal script: “Renxin Delivers Calamity, Nine Needles Calm Spirit.”

The characters appeared formed by countless tiny needle holes. Inside the case, three silver needles stood side by side.

Each three inches long, each silver needle wrapped with silver snake reliefs identical to the Spirit Snake Coiled Moon, differing only in the single eye color: black, white, and red.

The moment he grasped the black needle, stalactites above the cave suddenly fell.

The white needle shot out on its own, its tip tracing profound patterns in the air. The stalactites instantly shattered to powder—precisely the “Embrace the Moon with an Open Heart” opening move his grandfather demonstrated in last night’s dream.

He made the yin-yang hand gesture. The black needle leaped, piercing the perineum. The white needle flew back, stabbing the Baihui point.

Immediately, the glowing stalactite meridian network flickered; black and white energies swirled like little snakes, crazily entering his body, sweeping through the eight extraordinary meridians—the Yin Qiao, Yang Qiao, Yin Wei, Yang Wei, and others—waves of intense pain surged.

At the brink of bodily explosion, the red needle floated up, piercing the Spirit Snake Coiled Moon mark on his chest. Inside, a thunderous roar.

For the first time, yin and yang energies perfectly merged in his dantian, condensing into a Taiji pearl, grain-of-rice sized, resembling two tiny snakes entwined together.

Ye Ziyan’s eyes flashed with surprise. “This way, the eight extraordinary meridians are connected, entering the Lesser Heavenly Circulation?”

“What’s the Lesser Heavenly Circulation?” Ling Xuan was stunned.

Ye Ziyan explained, “The meridians connect the Ren and Du vessels. The Lesser Heavenly Circulation opens the extraordinary meridians. The Greater Heavenly Circulation connects all the meridians of the body. You don’t know this?”

“What good is knowing?” A cold sneer came as a figure appeared at the cave entrance—the Yuwen clan squad leader, holding the demon-sealing compass, the needle spinning wildly. “Remnants of the Chen dynasty, two little rats. Let’s see where you run.”