"What should we do?" Ling Xi asked softly. "Why would the Hua Clan suddenly seek a marriage alliance with a Mei Clan woman?"
The composition of the Crane Control Army was a military secret. Even those within the Mei Clan who served in the Crane Control Army couldn't fully enumerate all the families involved. This information was compiled into the "Secret Records," personally overseen by the Emperor. Any marriages among these families required the Emperor's approval.
The Hua Clan likely didn't know the Mei Clan's background. If they did and still proposed this alliance, it would be nothing short of wolfish ambition—something that would only bring harm to the Hua Clan if the Emperor found out.
"Do you think His Majesty trusts the Hua Clan now?" The Old Madam stroked the fox fur wrapped around her hand warmer, her expression as calm as still water. "The Hua Clan's current situation is similar to ours. They merely want to use the Mei Clan as a stepping stone for their retreat."
"Does this mean the Hua Clan knows our background? Should we report this matter to higher authorities?" Ling Xi couldn't grasp all the intricacies but understood this was no trivial matter.
"Let's observe for a while longer," the Old Madam said.
...
The sky was overcast, seemingly brewing another heavy snowfall. Darkness fell early.
An Jiu had just exerted tremendous control over her body to perform such swift movements, leaving her mentally exhausted. After the Old Madam left, she fell into a deep slumber.
Yao Ye returned to Jade Serenity Residence and roused her from bed. "Young Mistress, it's time for Shadow Academy today."
It was Mei Jiu who woke up. She responded groggily, sitting up on the bed in a daze.
Yao Ye wiped her face with a damp cloth. "Young Mistress, did the Old Madam give you any trouble?"
"Huh?" Mei Jiu thought blankly for a long moment before replying, "I was asleep."
Yao Ye discreetly checked Mei Jiu's pulse. "Good, you're fine. You've missed many sessions already. I'm not sure if you can handle it now."
"I won't waste Mother's efforts," Mei Jiu said, her expression dimming.
Mei Jiu was like a snail—her mother's departure had left her shell-less. She couldn't suppress the panic and fear in her heart. For ordinary girls, the greatest aspiration in their boudoir was to marry well. She had no such opportunity, leaving her future bleak and uncertain.
After preparing everything, Mei Jiu had a simple supper before a woman in black came to fetch her.
The snowy night was desolate. Mei Jiu followed silently behind her. Though there were two of them, only Mei Jiu's footsteps crunching in the snow could be heard.
"She'll be fine," the woman in black said.
Mei Jiu froze.
The woman's eyes flickered toward her briefly before she fell silent again.
Last time, An Jiu had attended Shadow Academy in Mei Jiu's place. Unaware of what had transpired, Mei Jiu felt uneasy. Once inside the carriage, she couldn't help seeking some reassurance. "An Jiu?"
"Piss off," An Jiu snapped.
The response reassured Mei Jiu that she wasn't alone. Only after calming slightly did she notice five others in the carriage—members of the second branch, including Mei Rujian.
Mei Tingyuan glared at her venomously. "Stop with that pitiful, victimized look! It's disgusting!"
The dagger in the mass graves had been well-hidden—impossible to retrieve without skill. Having witnessed An Jiu subduing Mei Rujian that day, Mei Tingyuan was convinced Mei Jiu's usual meekness was just an act, masking formidable capabilities.
"Quiet," Mei Tingzhu said sternly.
"None of your damn business! Worry about yourself!" Mei Tingyuan retorted coldly.Mei Jiu was slightly surprised. Hadn’t Mei Tingyuan always been obedient to Mei Tingzhu? How had things changed so quickly in such a short time?
"Is that any way to speak to your elder sister?" Mei Tingjun reprimanded in a low voice.
Mei Tingyuan sneered mockingly. "Oh? Now you remember to discipline me? What were the two of you doing when I was in danger?"
Mei Jiu lowered her gaze to her toes, pretending she wasn’t there.
Mei Tingchun tried to ease the tension. Turning to Mei Rujian, he asked, "Eldest Brother, why have you come this time?"
Mei Rujian’s foot injury hadn’t fully healed—what could he possibly do here? Everyone was curious.
"I don’t know either. I was about to sleep when someone from the Shadow Academy came to fetch me, saying it was Old Madam’s orders." Mei Rujian had never met Old Madam, but he knew she was the one who had established the Mei family’s Shadow Academy—a woman whose word was law.
Mei Tingchun said, "We’ve been training for days, mostly focusing on sharpening our senses in the dark. It seems today’s lesson will be different."
Training agility in the dark required strong mobility, something Mei Rujian clearly couldn’t participate in.
Mei Tingchun leaned toward Mei Jiu. "Fourteenth Sister, how did you obtain that dagger last time? Could you tell us?"
How would Mei Jiu know how she got the dagger?
She stammered for a while, unable to come up with an answer, until Mei Tingyuan cut in, "Do you really think someone like her, who puts on such an act, would tell you the truth?"
No one responded. Mei Tingchun waited a moment, but when Mei Jiu showed no intention of answering, he leaned back against the carriage wall.
The carriage traveled for about an hour before stopping.
One by one, they stepped out and found themselves at the foot of a mountain. Amid the vast expanse of snow, a pitch-black building stood out starkly about a hundred zhang away.
The structure was unremarkable in appearance, but its interconnected buildings sprawled across a large area. It was unclear what kind of residence would be built in such a desolate place.
The group trudged through the snow, with only Mei Rujian being carried by a black-clad man.
When they finally stopped before the main gate and saw the two characters on the plaque, they collectively gasped.
It was a funeral parlor!
"This is a funeral parlor secretly built by the imperial court, reserved for the families of the Crane Control Army," the lead black-clad man explained as he lightly knocked on the door.
The gate swung open silently. The black-clad man entered first, and the others followed.
Seeing everyone had already gone in and the darkness behind her was vast and empty, Mei Jiu hurriedly dashed into the courtyard.
The funeral parlor had a peculiar layout—its walls tightly enclosed the buildings, allowing almost no light to penetrate. On a night like this, it was so dark one couldn’t even see their own hand in front of their face.
"An Jiu, An Jiu." Mei Jiu trembled uncontrollably, her chattering teeth breaking the deathly silence.
Her fear was so palpable that Mei Tingyuan, startled, clutched Mei Tingchun’s sleeve in fright.
After passing through the first room, dim bean-sized lamps flickered along the walls on either side. The overlapping shadows and eerie atmosphere made it no less unsettling than the darkness.
"We’re here," the black-clad man at the front announced, stopping and pushing open the door ahead. "Please enter."
With that, he stepped aside.
Mei Tingjun stood at the forefront. Seeing light inside, he steadied himself and stepped in.
"Ah—" His low cry came immediately from within.
Mei Tingzhu paused briefly but still walked in.
Mei Jiu’s legs shook so badly she could barely stand, and she burst into tears from sheer panic.
An Jiu had no choice but to silently take control of the body and force it inside.Noticing the powerful presence, Mei Jiu's panic slightly subsided, but upon seeing the objects arranged in the room, her eyes rolled back as she fainted on the spot!
An Jiu naturally filled the void left by her.
Previously, controlling the body had required great effort, but over time, it had gradually become easier. Now, she didn’t even need to consciously take over—whenever Mei Jiu lost consciousness, An Jiu would automatically step in. This discovery was at least some consolation for An Jiu, making Mei Jiu’s fainting less of an annoyance.
The objects in the room were nothing unusual to An Jiu—just two freshly deceased bodies. Instead, the Ghost-Masked Man standing under the dim lamplight caught her attention.
"First time meeting." A warm, spring-like male voice dispelled all the gloom and darkness.
It was him!
The man she had encountered while herding sheep. According to Mei Yanran’s speculation, wasn’t he a member of the Crane Control Army?
The Ghost-Masked Man stood with his hands behind his back. "I am the Deputy Commander of the Divine Strategy Division in the Crane Control Army. For the next six months, I will be responsible for instructing all of you. You may address me as ‘Deputy Commander’ or ‘Sir.’"
None of them knew what rank "Deputy Commander of the Divine Strategy Division" held within the Crane Control Army, but it certainly didn’t sound low.
The Ghost-Masked Man unfurled a scroll in his hand and hung it on the wall.
An Jiu looked up—and was met with a detailed anatomical diagram! The illustration differed slightly from those of later generations, focusing primarily on the meridians, with the organs drawn mainly to clarify the locations of acupoints.
"I will not be teaching you Martial Arts," the Ghost-Masked Man said, his voice as light as a breeze. "Only how to kill with the greatest efficiency."
Ignoring the expressions of the group, he continued, "In life-or-death combat, speed means survival, hesitation means death. The Crane Control Army has written a bloody lesson in piles of bones—always aim for a single, fatal strike. Thus, knowing the human body’s weaknesses is an ability every shadow unit member must engrave into their bones."
The Deputy Commander of the Divine Strategy Division spoke again, "The ears, the back of the head, the neck, the ribs, the waist, and the groin. Striking any of these areas with sufficient force—whether by palm, fist, or blade—can be fatal. Of course, these are also the most heavily guarded. If your opponent is highly skilled, they will never give you an opening. That is why we must understand the human body even more thoroughly."
"The human body has 702 acupoints, 108 of which are vital. Among these 108, 72 are non-lethal, while the remaining 36 can kill with just 30% of your Inner Force."
He said lightly, "With so many vulnerabilities, killing really is quite easy, isn’t it?"
Humans were such contradictions—life could be so tenacious, yet so fragile.
"I assume you’ve all studied this at home, so I won’t elaborate further." He walked over to the stone platform where the two corpses lay.
No one saw where he drew the unsheathed dagger from. "Today, we’ll start with the six fatal points."
He weighed the dagger in his hand before placing it into An Jiu’s grasp. "You’ll go first. Choose a vital point and strike."
An Jiu frowned. This man was deliberately targeting her, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue. Taking the blade, she drove it straight through the corpse’s throat without so much as blinking.An Jiu's action left the group pale with fright. Though they had trained in martial arts since childhood, they had never wielded blades against a person. Mei Rujian, in particular, felt a belated fear. During his recovery, he had often regretted caving to An Jiu's threats like a coward, but now he was grateful—she truly had the nerve to strike!
"Swift and decisive—excellent," he remarked as he slowly drew the dagger and handed it to Mei Tingzhu. "Your turn."
Mei Tingzhu's fingers trembled slightly, but unwilling to show weakness, she took the dagger and gritted her teeth as she plunged it into the corpse's left rib.
"Should have been an inch to the right—the angle is off. But the strike was clean. Good," the deputy commander of the Divine Strategy evaluated.
When the dagger passed to Mei Tingjun, the room was already thick with the scent of blood. Mei Tingyuan, watching the blood seep from the corpse, covered her mouth and bolted outside.
"Follow her. Kill her if she leaves the courtyard," the deputy commander said lightly, as if commenting on the clear breeze and bright moon of a fine evening. (To be continued...)
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