Chapter 44: Jewels, Firewatch Tower

What use are jewels? They are meant for refining the Treasure Eye.

Since gaining the refining technique from Lord Bonie, Ji Ming had been keen to use it, but as with crafting magical artifacts, he lacked the necessary materials. Such is the drawback of walking alone—no platform exists to support one's cultivation needs.

This refining method is called the "Treasure Radiance Qi Refinement." The practitioner must construct a Yin Corpse Steady Fire Altar, where jewels are continually burned to produce threads of treasure qi, thereby nurturing one's magical implements.

What caught Ji Ming's attention was that both the jewel refining technique and the refining method made use of the Yin Corpse Steady Fire Altar. He speculated that these two methods must have originated from the same lineage, though he knew not its true origins.

Leaning over his desk, after studying the Treasure Radiance Qi Refinement for some time, Ji Ming sensed the location of the White Bone Heart-Gathering Pearl within Yu Xiao's body.

He had instructed Yu Xiao to retrieve the jewels alone for two reasons: first, to independently study the refining method; second, to test whether Yu Xiao was truly obedient.

If Yu Xiao complied, he could remain in the garden for a while longer. If not, Ji Ming would activate the White Bone Heart-Gathering Pearl hidden within him, shatter his heart, and end his life.

After emerging from the secret passage, Yu Xiao dared not delay and rushed straight to the treasury in the garden, driving away the menial workers guarding it. Yet, the moment he entered, a chill ran from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.

Within the vast treasury, aside from strings of coins scattered on the shelves, all the gold, sand, and silver pearls had vanished without a trace. Entering the inner vault, he found that the jewels—lapis lazuli, water jade, chariot shell, agate, crimson pearls—were all gone.

Only a few porcelain trays that once held jewels remained.

“I…”

Overwhelmed, Yu Xiao’s vision darkened.

“Sister!”

He hurried out of the treasury, intent on running to Zhang Xinmei’s quarters. He knew Zhang Xinmei possessed protective methods bestowed by their master, and perhaps he could find some shelter there.

Halfway there, Yu Xiao suddenly stopped, shuddered as if startled, touched the top of his head, and turned back again.

Those who cherish their lives, those who are ambitious, are best at judging others by themselves.

That centipede spirit dared let him venture out alone—clearly there were foolproof countermeasures in place. Besides… he was afraid.

“Little Ghost, move the wealth!”

Forcing himself to calm down in the treasury, Yu Xiao sniffed the lingering Yin energy on a wall, and understanding dawned.

It seemed the tranquility of the garden was only a facade; in truth, everything had been thoroughly probed. His junior brothers were a bunch of incompetents, and those itinerants were even worse.

Yu Xiao sighed inwardly, “If only I hadn’t been controlled by him…”

Now was not the time for regrets; he was barely surviving, and could hardly worry about those fools. He needed to report this quickly.

He hadn’t retrieved the jewels, but it wasn’t his fault. Surely the flying centipede spirit would understand.

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In the dark room.

Ji Ming sat at his desk, holding a brush dipped in ink, sketching a construction method for the Yin Corpse Steady Fire Altar.

The previous altar used for refining jewels could still be improved to allow better ventilation, which would make the flames stronger.

Ji Ming wrote and drew, his mood quite pleasant.

“He’s here!”

Sensing his magical implement nearby, Ji Ming knew that Yu Xiao had returned.

“Great King!”

Yu Xiao approached and called out.

Ji Ming always felt uncomfortable at being addressed as Great King. It seemed that monsters and demons liked being called that; he wondered where this custom came from.

“Reporting to the Great King, those seven bushels of jewels have been stolen by the Daoists.”

Seeing that his first words failed to elicit a response from the centipede spirit at the desk, Yu Xiao’s face turned pale and he continued.

“Daoists lack funds; before becoming full disciples, they need gold and silver to support themselves. There’s residual Yin energy on the west wall of the treasury—they must have set up an altar there, sending little ghosts in secret to carry off the treasures.”

“Where are they?”

“Little ghosts are weak; they couldn’t carry the goods far. The Daoists must be nearby.”

“I see. Go now.”

Ji Ming rose from the desk, beckoned with his long hand.

From Yu Xiao’s chest, a small pearl burst forth, landing in Ji Ming’s palm.

Yu Xiao could not truly think Ji Ming was unaware of his attempt to head for Zhang Xinmei’s quarters after leaving the treasury. Now, Yu Xiao could no longer be kept.

“Hero of the wilds.”

Looking at Yu Xiao’s corpse, Ji Ming commented in his heart.

Inside the room, Ji Ming tied the poison pouch and the storage pouch onto two of his legs. Both had been taken from Yu Xiao—one for storing poisons, the other for keeping valuable items.

This storage pouch seemed to be made from some animal’s stomach lining, with an internal space of about one cubic meter.

Thus, he swept into it all the unread Daoist books and notes in the room, along with important manuals—especially the two scrolls explaining the Great Cycle Talisman diagrams.

The Daoists had dispatched little ghosts to steal treasures, just when he desperately needed jewels himself—almost as if the opportunity had fallen into his lap.

Had they been Daoist cultivators of the Qi Refinement stage, he might have been wary, but these were mere Daoist initiates, daring to rob him in his hour of need.

Ji Ming suddenly realized that, like the Daoists, he too was exploiting the chaos in the garden.

Falling from the moral high ground, Ji Ming felt not a trace of shame. His thick-skinned ways had long since been mastered.

Just as he crawled from the secret passage, he saw several itinerants inside the building.

They were sneaking about, rifling through books and knocking on walls and floors, trying to find any hidden passages.

Ignoring these internal thieves, Ji Ming spread his wings and flew from the building.

The sun hung high, the view was broad, and Ji Ming didn’t dare fly too high. He skimmed along the rooftops, his antennae whipping like lashes to catch scents in the air.

Daoists cultivating the Minor Cycle often enjoyed burning incense to calm their minds, but the witch’s disciples lacked the wealth to indulge in such practices.

Here, Ji Ming caught two distinct scents: one was the poisonous fragrance from Zhang Xinmei’s quarters, the other wafted from the north of the garden… from the Watchfire Tower.

“The Watchfire Tower, looming above, surveys the entire village—in robbing the jewels, these Daoists demonstrated remarkable prudence.”

Ji Ming quickly descended, shrank his body, bit onto the two loose pouches, and flew to a well in the garden. Using his poisonous claw, he pried open the bricks beneath, and hid the pouches inside.

When the sky above the well darkened, and starlight began to fall, Ji Ming shrank further, becoming as small as a ladybug.

A gust of Yin wind rose in the well, carrying the tiny centipede out, sweeping toward the Watchfire Tower.

Inside the tower, a man and two women sat in a triangular formation, each meditating in their own alcove on the observation platform.

Between them was a square altar covered with a black cloth, set with an incense burner and candle stands. In the center stood three wooden plaques, each inscribed with a name and birth date.

The male Daoist, his face waxen, draped in a robe that made him look neither monk nor priest, formed a hand seal and said, “Midnight approaches, the Yin hour is here. We may now open the altar and dispatch the ghosts.”

“Tonight, we must find a way into Zhang Xinmei’s quarters and obtain the Minor Cycle Talisman diagrams,” declared the female Daoist on the left, in earnest.

“And the Daoist books in the building—don’t forget those,” the other female Daoist, with a hint of allure, reminded him.

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