Yu Diexin sits cross-legged on the mat inside her room in the Duan estate and cultivates.
She opens a small bottle, swallows a blood-energy pill, and guides its power directly into her dantian to nourish her Gu.
The pill dissolves completely.
Inside her, the Gu within its cocoon vibrates, buzzing as if it might break free at any moment.
Diexin opens her eyes, joy flashing across her face.
When the Gu completes its metamorphosis, it will be like shedding a skin.
Her cultivation will rise, and the backlash alone may push her into the third stage of Spiritual Refining.
She remains seated.
The Gu places her in a dilemma.
Once it is reborn, she can reveal her identity and crush Shen Ling and the impostor who replaced her.
But she does not move.
News from Yulan City is clear.
Shen Ling and her stepmother have already divided control of the city between them.
If Diexin returns now, they will unite and kill her without hesitation.
The purest proof of her identity lies in completing the Holy Poison Cave trial.
But to open the cave requires council permission.
And Shen Ling and her stepmother will never allow that.
For now, she chooses another path.
She will use the Duan Family.
She will use the laws of the Song Kingdom.
In Yulan City, those laws mean nothing.
But without the authority of the Song Kingdom, the Shen Family cannot maintain its grip.
She will gather the support of the Duan Family and the noble houses behind them.
Then she will return to Yulan City.
She will reclaim her position.
And she will erase the Shen Family.
Diexin exhales and stands.
She leaves the room and walks down the corridor toward the kitchens.
She decides to cook for Merin herself.
She has heard the saying.
The path to a man's heart runs through his stomach.
For her plan to succeed, Merin must stand with her.
She continues forward.
As she passes a dark side corridor, a hand shoots out and pulls her inside.
She instinctively inhales, ready to shout.
Her mouth opens.
Then she sees Yueqing.
She closes it.
Diexin twists free of Yueqing's grip and turns, irritation clear on her face.
"What are you doing?"
"I wanted to talk to you," Yueqing says quickly.
"Then why are you dragging me into dark corridors?"
Yueqing opens her mouth to answer, then closes it again, embarrassment written all over her face.
She smiles sheepishly.
"Sorry."
Diexin exhales.
"Fine," she says.
"What did you want to talk about?"
She studies Yueqing, puzzled.
She cannot think of anything urgent.
Since dawn, the entire city has been buzzing about Merin's breakthrough.
Even Housekeeper Chen cannot stop news like that.
Diexin's thoughts drift to Merin.
Her chest tightens.
Her fate is tied to his.
Yueqing lowers her voice.
"Chu Feng sent a letter to my office."
"He wants to meet you as soon as possible."
Diexin stiffens.
"He's in the capital?"
"It seems so."
Diexin falls silent.
Yueqing watches her carefully.
"Do you want to meet him?"
She hesitates, then adds, "I think you shouldn't."
"You're about to become my cousin's wife."
"Meeting Chu Feng now will raise questions."
Diexin understands.
Meeting Chu Feng privately would be dangerous.
If anyone saw them together, her plans could unravel.
She has already chosen her path.
Yet she cannot simply refuse.
Her life, her escape, her new identity all trace back to Chu Feng.
She cannot appear ungrateful.
She lifts her head.
"I will meet him," she says calmly.
Yueqing blinks.
"Where?"
"Tell him to meet me in the dining hall of the Pearl House."
Yueqing's eyes widen.
"That place will let my cousin know immediately."
"Hiding is riskier," Diexin replies.
"If we meet openly, I can say he's an old friend."
"And meeting him in the open won't make Merin more suspicious."
Yueqing considers this, then nods slowly.
They step back into the main corridor.
Diexin turns toward the kitchens.
Yueqing heads out of the estate.
----
Merin sits behind his desk.
Across from him, Ye Ran, Gong Qiu, and Li Yan sit in silence, their expressions tight.
The table between them is covered in documents, maps, statements, and coded letters.
Everything related to the sleeping case lies open.
They scour the information again.
And again.
Still nothing.
No origin.
No first-hand.
No trace that leads back to a true supplier.
Li Yan exhales sharply, frustration breaking through.
"How can there be no information on the supplier at all?"
Merin remains silent, eyes lowered, mind moving.
The structure is flawless.
The main supplier never appears.
Letters are delivered to multiple secondary distributors.
Each letter gives only two things.
Where to drop the collected money.
Where the next batch of Dream Powder will be found.
No meetings.
No faces.
No witnesses.
The secondary suppliers never see the source.
They are hired by ink and paper alone.
The room sinks into heavy frustration.
Then a knock sounds.
"Enter," Merin says.
The door opens.
Ye Wen steps inside.
His expression is bright.
Almost excited.
"Lord," he says, "I found something."
All three captains look at him in disbelief.
They used the full machinery of the Divine Guard.
Manpower.
Authority.
Records.
Nothing.
And Ye Wen, running an unofficial intelligence network, found something.
Merin looks up.
"Did you find the main supplier?"
Ye Wen shakes his head.
"No," he says, "a secondary supplier."
The captains exhale.
Disappointment.
And a trace of relief.
Li Yan speaks bluntly.
"Information on a secondary supplier won't solve the case."
Ye Wen's lips curl.
"Not helpful," he agrees, "if that supplier stays in one place twenty-four hours a day."
Gong Qiu frowns.
"That's strange," he says, "but still not enough to suspect a tea worker or street seller."
Ye Wen's smirk widens.
"What if I tell you," he says slowly, "that the supplier isn't in the capital at all."
The room stills.
"And that it's a shop," Ye Wen continues, "inside the mine market."
Silence drops like a blade.
Then Merin speaks.
"Prepare yourselves," he says calmly.
"We're going to the mine market."
Years ago, metal and mineral veins were discovered in low hills west of the city.
The mines were excavated.
The ore was removed.
Then abandoned.
Now the tunnels and caverns are occupied by gangs.
A shadow city beneath the ground.
The mine market.
A place for banned goods, secret exchanges, and transactions meant never to see daylight.
Merin stands.
By the time the sun sinks behind the western walls, he rides out of the city at the head of the group.
Behind him follow Ye Ran, Gong Qiu, and Li Yan, each leading five members of their teams.
Hooves strike stone, then dirt, then open ground, the sound thinning as the city fades behind them.
No banners.
No torches.
Only a quiet purpose.
As the road stretches out, Merin's thoughts turn inward.
His inner organs no longer act as five separate sources of power.
They have fused into a single circulating core, balanced and self-sustaining.
Fire no longer flares alone.
Water no longer flows without direction.
Everything turns together.
Now comes the next step.
Blood Qi.
It must be refined again and again, at least seven times, until it can endure the pressure of the unified cycle without tearing the body apart.
One refinement strengthens.
Seven will transform.
The night deepens as they ride.
The moon hangs thin and curved, a pale crescent casting faint silver across the plains.
Grass sways under the passing wind.
Shadows stretch long and broken.
The riders move through the open land like silhouettes cut from darkness, cloaks whispering, armour muted.
No one speaks.
The ground begins to rise.
Low hills emerge ahead, uneven and scarred.
Old excavation marks cut through stone like wounds that never healed.
The mine appears at last.
Its mouth yawns wide and dark, framed by rough timber and cracked stone.
Around it sprawls a settlement that was never meant to exist.
Tents cluster together in uneven rings, patched with mismatched cloth and leather.
Cooking fires glow dimly, smoke drifting low.
People move between shelters, some armed, some wary, some simply tired.
Vehicles crowd the outskirts.
Horses tied to posts.
Carts stacked with ore crates.
Large carriages reinforced with metal plating, their wheels stained with mud and rust.
Buildings rise where tunnels once collapsed, half-repaired structures leaning at odd angles.
Wooden beams prop up stone walls.
Metal sheets cover holes that should not be there.
Nothing is uniform.
Nothing is stable.
Yet everything functions.
This is the mine market.
A place born after law abandoned the ground beneath it.
Merin dismounts.
The others follow.
Eyes turn toward them at once.
Some curious.
Some cautious.
Some hostile.
Uniforms draw attention, even without insignia.
Ye Wen steps closer to Merin and speaks quietly.
"The shop is inside," he says.
"Not near the entrance."
"Deeper."
Merin nods.
They move forward, passing between tents and broken structures, boots crunching on gravel and discarded stone.
The air grows cooler.
Damp.
The smell of earth replaces smoke.
Ahead, the tunnel opens, descending into darkness lit only by scattered lanterns fixed to iron hooks.
Shadows crawl along the walls.
The sound of the surface fades.
Merin steps into the tunnel without hesitation.
The others follow.
And the hunt moves underground.