Tang Li originally had no intention of taking over Jiufang, but because Liu Yiyi's death was linked to her, and Jiufang currently offered more benefits than drawbacks, she weighed the options and accepted.
After reading through the manual and pondering for a moment, she decided to go to the City Lord's Mansion first to gather information.
Liuye Town fell under the jurisdiction of Azure Dragon City, and the City Lord could not possibly be unaware of the tragedy that had wiped out the entire town. If he remained unmoved and took no action, it likely meant he had known about it all along and had tacitly allowed the villains to carry it out.
However, even if he did take action, he could not shake off his suspicion. Liuye Town had guards who answered directly to his commands, and on the day bodies were collected, every single corpse was battered beyond recognition. She was unsure if anyone from the guard detachment had survived; if any had, they would likely have returned to the City Lord's Mansion.
As for the method of sneaking into the City Lord's Mansion, Uncle Liu said he had a way.
Because the City Lord's birthday was in half a month, guests from all directions had been invited. Some people had already entered the city, while others had just arrived outside the city walls, and Tang Li could assume one of their identities to slip in.
Uncle Liu sent his men out to scout for information, and within half a day, word came back. Tonight, several groups of travelers would be checking into a post house ten kilometers outside the city. Among them, three people matched Tang Li's build—one was traveling alone, while the other two each had companions.
Upon receiving the news from Uncle Liu, the manager of the opera troupe hurried over. The manager possessed a unique mastery of facial transformation and could help Tang Li with disguise.
Tang Li's attitude toward Jiufang instantly shifted from reluctant acceptance to absolute satisfaction, because their operational efficiency was astonishingly high.
With two hours left before sunset, Tang Li and the opera troupe manager set off for the post house.
Outside the post house, operatives from Jiufang met up with them and informed them that the people they were waiting for had not yet arrived, estimating it would take another hour. They were advised to go inside the post house and wait.
The post house boss was a woman in red whose attitude toward guests was neither warm nor cold. She worked the abacus swiftly, neat and decisive. Tang Li glanced at her twice, her gaze lingering on the woman's wrist for a few seconds, before she rented a room and went inside to rest.
As soon as time was up, two knocks sounded from outside the door—it was the opera troupe manager signaling that the targets had arrived.
When night fell, Tang Li sat up in bed and waited a moment. The knock sounded again, this time a single tap, indicating it was time to move.
She opened the door and saw a red thread tied to the door of the opposite room—the opera troupe manager's mark.
She felt a brief flash of suspicion: did the target really happen to live directly across from her?
Hesitating for a fraction of a second, she sprang into action.
She drew out her sleeping incense, but before she could blow it in, the door swung open. A person was already kneeling on the floor, trembling violently in prostration.
The opera troupe manager, observing from the shadows, saw that the plan had changed and was about to resort to force when she received Tang Li's message to hold position.
Tang Li stepped inside, closed the door, and erected a barrier with her Spiritual Power so that no sound could escape to the outside world. With an inscrutable expression, she gazed down at the person on the floor.
The fourth female, Tumi.
Their original plan had been to knock the target unconscious, carry her away, lock her up for a few days, and release her after Tang Li returned from her reconnaissance at the City Lord's Mansion. Now, Tang Li had drawn her sword directly, and her intent was blatantly clear.
"Don't kill me! Whatever you want me to do, I'll help you! Please, I'm begging you, don't kill me..." Tumi clutched Tang Li's thigh, her face smeared with tears and mucus, looking genuinely terrified.
Tang Li took a disgusted step backward and said coldly, "Did you know I was coming to kill you? Or rather, you knew someone was coming to kill you tonight."
Tumi pulled out a handkerchief and wept bitterly. Tang Li noticed that the pattern on her handkerchief was unusual, resembling some kind of totem. Upon closer inspection, her attire did not look like that of people from Central Prefecture either.
"Speak." Tang Li tapped her cheek with the flat of her sword.
Tumi became even more frightened and wailed louder. If Tang Li hadn't set up a sound barrier in advance, everyone in the entire post house would have heard her howling.
"One, two..." Tang Li raised her sword, counting down.
"I-I-I-I... I'll talk, i-i-it's..."
"Three."
"A fortune-teller—"
The tip of the sword stopped less than an inch from her throat.
"Go on."
Tumi swallowed hard and rattled off as if rapping, without a single pause: "My name is Tumi, I'm from Leizhou, and I'm a fortune-teller. Before I came here, I calculated that I had a massive tribulation in my destiny; if I didn't come here to experience it, I'd die out in the wilderness, but coming here might give me a chance at survival. Because I can't interfere with Karma, I didn't tell anyone about this, so no one is protecting me, wuu wuu. I've told you everything, can you let me go now?"
Tang Li's eyes darkened as she fell into thought. Tumi cautiously tilted her neck aside.
"You didn't know the person coming to kill you was me; you only foresaw that someone would come to kill you."
Tumi sobbed, "Yeah, I don't even know you! Why would you want to kill me?"
"What would have happened if you had changed your mind at the last minute and not come to this post house?"
"I would have died without a whole corpse, of course."
"Details."
"W-when I calculated it, I only saw that if I didn't come into this post house, I would die out in the wild. My brains would be spilled all over the ground, and this place would be torn open, leaving it completely hollow inside." She pointed to her chest as she spoke.
The described manner of death sounded just like the victims in Liuye Town.
With blinding speed, Tang Li flicked Tumi's handkerchief away with her sword. It was merely a simple intimidation tactic, but it made Tumi cry even harder.
"Stop crying. Read my fortune," she commanded somewhat imperiously.
"T-t-then can you let me go?"
"Yes."
"Then crouch down, my legs are weak."
Tang Li hesitated for two minutes before squatting down in front of her.
Tumi raised a hand to touch her, but Tang Li swiftly dodged out of the way.
"If you're a cultivator, bone-reading is more accurate. For ordinary people, I can calculate based on their birth destiny."
"Are you an ordinary person?" Tang Li asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Yeah, born fortune-tellers can't cultivate, and our physical constitutions are twice as weak as ordinary people's. When the heavens give you something, it always takes something else away."
Tang Li took her pulse and found it faint and ethereal. Probing further with her Spiritual Power, she found that Tumi's condition was indeed as she claimed; even if she didn't kill her today, with this kind of constitution, Tumi could live for three years at most.
"Can I do the reading now? You promised to let me go, you know!"
"Mn."
"Can you take off your hair ribbon? I need to feel your facial bones first."
"Mn."
Tumi untied her hair ribbon, and her slender fingers began groping along Tang Li's face, moving next to her earbones and skull, then tracing down her shoulders and neck.
Tang Li suppressed the urge to strike her, praying that the girl could at least figure out when she would be able to go home.
After going through this probing three times over, Tumi's soft whimpering gradually grew louder.
"I'm sorry, I can't read it, wuu wuu..."
"Use her birth destiny to calculate," Tang Li snapped impatiently with a cold reprimand.
"Oh, wuu wuu, you're so mean..."
If Tumi weren't still somewhat useful, Tang Li would have already taken action.
She wrote down the date she transmigrated into this world and placed it in front of Tumi.
Tumi looked up at her in puzzlement, wanting to ask if she was really only three or four years old.
Tang Li: "Hurry up and calculate."
"Oh, wuu wuu..." Tumi sniffled as she took out paper and brush to calculate for her.
Tang Li stared at the mathematical symbols on the paper, her lips twitching slightly: "Are you a fraud?"
"Huh?" Tumi looked up at her, startled by her icy gaze: "Wuu wuu, no, m-math, a-algorithm, is m-more accurate."
When the result came out, Tang Li stared at the infinity symbol on the paper with a forced smile, pointing her sword at the mark as she spoke in a demonic whisper: "Tell me, what does this mean?"
If the girl said positive or negative infinity, Tang Li would definitely kill her.
"The Dao." Tumi stared in astonishment at the answer she had calculated. Refusing to believe it, she calculated it two more times, and the answer came out identical to the first.
"Explain in detail."
Tumi looked at her aggrievedly, mumbling, "I don't know."
"Hmm?" Tang Li paused in the middle of wiping her sword, lowering her gaze as she looked at Tumi.
Tumi couldn't help trembling twice and repeatedly begged for mercy: "Don't kill me, I'm still useful! My grandmother knows how to interpret it, and someone in our clan might know too."
"Didn't you say fortune-tellers have short lives?"
"Y-y-yes, but Grandmother is the most powerful fortune-teller in our clan. She left behind a lot of notes and manuscripts."
Weighing the matter for a moment, Tang Li put away her sword and asked, "Did you come to Azure Dragon City to celebrate the City Lord's birthday?"
"Y-y-yeah."
"Give me your invitation."
Tumi was stunned into a daze by Tang Li's brazen demand.
"If you want to live, hand it over."
"C-can I bring you in with me?" Tumi blinked her watery apricot eyes, looking at her pitifully.
While Tang Li was considering it, the girl hurriedly tossed out bargaining chips to win her over: "I can bring you in. First, I won't ask about your actions or purpose; second, I can cover for you; and third, the City Lord has seen me before, so if you disguise yourself as me, there's a risk he might recognize you."