Song Miaozhu took out the Spirit-Appraisal Bronze Mirror along with the calligraphy scroll bearing the characters "Life" and "Death," then began the appraisal.
Strangely, the mirror returned two separate results. When it reflected on the character "Death," it displayed one outcome, and when it reflected on "Life," it showed another.
If this were a single spiritual artifact, only one result should appear. This could only mean one thing: this was not one artifact, but two independent spiritual artifacts mounted together on one scroll.
The "Death" character had the ability to absorb an opponent's life force and feed it back to the user.
The "Life" character, in contrast, could protect the user's heart meridians and replenish lost vitality. However, activating it would put the user into a dormant state.
Song Miaozhu stared at the appraisal, her expression cold. "That kind of survival instinct... no wonder when I saw him this time, Feng Jinwen not only didn't look older, he actually looked younger."
The "Life" character merely replenished what was lost, keeping the body in a pre-injury state. But the "Death" character could actively absorb life from others and restore the user. It was nearly equivalent to extending one's lifespan.
Good thing she had sent in her paper soldiers first. Since they were made entirely of paper, they had no life force to drain, only the spiritual energy she had infused into them.
Still, now she had to wonder: those people at the top of the Underworld's punishment list, the ones said to be old and crippled—or even dead—were they truly gone?
Most were just politicians. Before the spiritual resurgence, they hadn't trained in any craft, and without technique, their cultivation wouldn't progress quickly. But Feng Ru... he was different.
If Feng Jinwen could nurture spiritual artifacts this powerful, what could his father and master Feng Ru create if they had managed to break free from the lifespan curse?
Suddenly, Song Miaozhu changed her mind. She would not rebuild the mountainside courtyard. Not yet.
It didn't feel good, being out in the open while the enemy stayed in the shadows. A known address could never be as safe as a hidden one. She didn't want to rebuild the place just to have someone plant more bombs at her doorstep. If her cultivation were stronger, she would have made a paper house spirit-dwelling by now, once and for all.
For now, she had to find somewhere else to stay.
"Meow~"
The three fluffy furballs gathered around her feet, brushing against her legs.
"So you're here too. Were you scared?" Song Miaozhu reached down to stroke their heads, calming them. Then she pulled out a bamboo basket. "Come on, get in. We still need to find a new place to settle."
"Lingmo!"
Lingmo merged into her body, instantly enhancing her strength and agility. Even while carrying the three large cats, she moved effortlessly through the forest. She scouted the entire bamboo grove of Xiaozhu Mountain without finding any signs of intruders.
She knew this area too well. Even with the heavy rain, if someone had trespassed, she would have noticed the smallest trace.
Only someone with a direct line of sight to the courtyard on the mountain's waist could have timed the explosion so precisely. If not on Xiaozhu Mountain, could the one who controlled the bombs be hiding in Yuanshan Town?
Song Miaozhu couldn't verify that from here.
"Forget it. One way or another, that little paper servant I hid on Feng Jinwen will eventually uncover the truth. Until then, I'd better stay hidden."
The remote, uninhabited areas deep within the mountains were the safest place now. There was no signal, so electronic devices were useless. But that wasn't a problem. With her spiritual paper kite, she could still communicate with the outside world.
The most stealthy little paper servant was still following Feng Jinwen.
And back at the Anshou Hall Paper Shop, other servants were already monitoring online chatter through a backup phone. Only the side business of paper artifact sales to the living might be affected.
But ever since she advanced her Secret Art of Paper Crafting and began selling Grade-4 Yang Paper Clothes and Yin Paper Mounts, the profits from living-world orders had become negligible.
A few minutes of her time creating a basic Grade-4 paper outfit now earned more than what a little paper servant could make in an entire day.
This was the perfect time to stop that business altogether. Now free of all distractions, Song Miaozhu turned and headed deep into the mists of Yunwu Mountain without looking back.
Meanwhile, down at the mountainside, the flames had finally been put out. The team was still combing through the ruins, unwilling to give up hope.
"Someone as cautious as Master Song couldn't have died without leaving something behind!"
"She must still be alive!"
"If she's dead, we need to see the body!"
"There's someone here!"
Underneath the largest charred branch that had broken off from the old locust tree, they uncovered a figure curled up and covered in soot. The person's clothing was mostly burned off, especially on the back. Though unconscious, he showed no visible injuries. His breathing was steady.
"That's... Feng Jinwen!" Zhao Huoyan recognized him immediately. But rather than joy, fury flared in his chest.
So they really were behind all this.
"Is there anyone else?" Zhao Huoyan asked.
"No one. The basement under the main house was the best-preserved, but it was empty. Aside from this man, all we found were some charred remains that might be human."
"How is that possible? If Feng Jinwen survived, how could Master Song not?" Zhao Huoyan was exhausted after a sleepless night, his head foggy.
Just then, a large paper kite swooped through the air from the ruins, circling Zhao Huoyan once before dropping a crumpled paper note onto him.
It was Master Song's paper kite!
Zhao Huoyan snapped to full alert and caught it instinctively, quickly unrolling the note.
"I'm fine. Not convenient to meet for now. Spiritual item trades will continue as usual. —Song Miaozhu."
Seeing her handwriting, he finally let out a long breath of relief.
She was alive. That was all that mattered.
He was just about to write a reply to ask about her current condition, but the kite had already vanished into the sky.
"Well, that's for the best."
If no one knew where she was, she'd be safe from danger.
With his composure returning, Zhao Huoyan started giving orders for cleanup.
"Take Feng Jinwen back to the SEIU headquarters. High-security holding. I'll interrogate him myself."
He had to get to the bottom of where they got those explosives—and whether there were more people involved. This kind of hidden threat was more dangerous than a terrorist cell. It posed a serious risk to public safety. They couldn't let something like this happen again.
"Clean up the ruins on the mountainside. Seal off the area and prohibit unauthorized access."
If they eventually dealt with all the threats, maybe Master Song would want to rebuild her home. Right now, Zhao Huoyan only felt a deep guilt. If they had only faced firearms, the paper soldiers wouldn't have taken a scratch. But bombs...
This disaster was their fault. They had failed in oversight.
"Oh right—conduct a full investigation of all outsiders who entered Yuanshan Town!"
There could still be accomplices out there.