Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

The courtyard is planted with weeping crabapple trees, their flowers rich in color, their petals as thin as gauze, as vibrant as a sunset.

Ning Fusang found the third crabapple tree and dug up the savings left behind by Ku Ge.

The pit was three zhang deep, and beneath the tangled tree roots lay a treasure chest about three chi long and two chi high.

Ning Fusang used an entangling spell to pull the treasure chest out of the pit, then used her fingers to make a sword and cut off the lock on the chest.

With a crisp click, the treasure chest was opened, revealing half a chest of mermaid pearls. Among the round and full mermaid pearls were buried treasures such as the Xuanhuang Water Control Flag, the Minggui Qingluo Fan, the Double Dragon Scissor-Shaped Lamp, and the Pixiu House-Protecting Talisman.

Between Ning Fusang's fingers, mermaid pearls of varying sizes fell back into the treasure chest, their clinking against each other creating a melodious sound.

None of the treasures in the song of suffering were anything special. Ning Fusang sorted out and put the items away, then filled in the hole under the crabapple tree and headed towards the house.

The master bedroom was empty, except for a screen made of silk gauze, a bed, and a few empty white porcelain vases.

Ning Fusang looked over and saw that the neatly folded quilts and blankets were placed on the bed, without a speck of dust.

She suddenly took a few steps forward, reached into the bedding and felt the texture of it. It was the legendary dust-proof bedding, yet it was a dust-proof bedding.

There should be a purification array within the entire Tanghua Courtyard, which is why it has remained clean, tidy, and spotless for so many years.

After inspecting the master bedroom, Ning Fusang went to the study next door.

The gauze curtains in the study were made of a special material that was as thin as a cicada's wing but slightly brighter. Ning Fusang could clearly feel that the light was better in the study.

The bright sunlight, softened by the thin gauze, made the study both bright and warm.

The bookshelf was filled with miscellaneous books on mountains and rivers, which Ning Fusang read very attentively.

Map.

Ku Ge often looks at these maps. Is he looking for a new place for his people to live, or the ruins of the Merfolk's royal court?
In the cultivation world, it's not unusual for terrain and topography to change daily. Perhaps the location of the Merfolk Royal Court has already shifted several times with the tides, and even Ku Ge couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the royal court's ruins, so he had to repeatedly compare it on the map.

Ning Fusang guessed this way. She looked at the map for a while but couldn't figure out anything. So she put away several maps and wanted to take them back to study them slowly.

The books on the bookshelf were casually placed. Ning Fusang opened a classic book, glanced at it a few times, and then put it back in its original place.

She carefully checked every little detail, feeling the bottom of the cabinet for hidden compartments.

The drawer contained some writing implements, including a large stack of Xuan paper, which was dry but somewhat brittle.

The inkstones feature the most common weeping crabapple pattern in Shangling City. The delicate crabapple blossoms are carved so lifelike that they appear to be in full bloom.

In the corner of the drawer, inside a green bamboo pen holder, were several Xuan brushes, a black jade paperweight, inkpad, a cutting knife, and other items—all were present.

It is evident that the deputy envoy of the Merfolk was also a refined person, but unfortunately Ning Fusang never saw his calligraphy.

She closed the drawer and turned to look elsewhere.

The study was only so big, and she had searched everywhere she could think of, but found nothing. Either she had missed something, or it was Ku Ge's study, and there really was no secret room.

Ning Fusang closed her eyes, recalling her every move after entering the study and the places she had searched.

Suddenly, her eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she opened her eyes to look at the pen holder on her left.

empty.

There were no calligraphy brushes of any type hanging above.

Ning Fusang reopened the drawer, took out the green bamboo pen holder, and hung the Xuan brushes on the pen rack according to the five styles: small regular script, medium regular script, large regular script, couplet brush, and large brush.

After a while, there was no movement inside the room.

Ning Fusang rearranged the bookshelves, and a slight sound came from behind her. After the bookshelves were moved, a door appeared in her sight. There really was a secret room in Ku Ge's study!

Ning Fusang walked forward along the dark passageway, counting her steps. After about a hundred steps, a faint light began to appear.

A string of tiny, rice-grain-sized luminous pearls, arranged like a beaded curtain, blocked her view.

The secret room was empty except for a portrait hanging behind a luminous beaded curtain.

The scroll is made of sandalwood, which can repel dampness and insects. A faint sandalwood fragrance lingers in the air, as if it comes from the woman in the painting.

The woman was slender and well-proportioned, with flowing hair that cascaded over her shoulders, black and smooth, like the finest brocade.

Ning Fusang recognized the woman in the painting as Chaoxi, the Holy Maiden of the Merfolk.

However, when she met the Holy Maiden Chaoxi, the Holy Maiden Chaoxi looked disheveled and was far from being as beautiful as she appeared in the painting.

The painting depicts Chaoxi adorned in embroidered robes, with exquisitely carved jade pendants dangling from her ears and pearl hairpins adorning her head. Her graceful figure and captivating beauty are striking, and she exudes a quiet, elegant charm.

Ning Fusang parted the luminous beaded curtain and came to the front of the portrait of the Holy Maiden Chaoxi. As a human, she had no need to show any respect to the Holy Maiden of the Merfolk. Ning Fusang reached out and touched the scroll from top to bottom, finally finding a thin thread at the scroll's axis.

She hooked the thin thread with her pinky finger and pulled it outwards, and the portrait of the Holy Maiden Chaoxi began to fall apart.

A piece of extremely thin silk gauze landed in Ning Fusang's palm.

She leaned closer to examine the luminous pearl, where several lines of barely legible, mosquito-like characters appeared and disappeared.

Ning Fusang first put the light, inscribed mermaid gauze into her Fusang Ring, then removed the remnant image of the Holy Maiden Chaoxi and burned it with spiritual fire.

Before leaving, Ning Fusang restored the Tanghua Courtyard to its original state.

Holding the key in her hand, she glanced back at the plaque engraved with the four characters "Tanghua Courtyard" and decided to destroy the key.

She had already obtained the items in the crabapple courtyard, so keeping the key was useless.

This little courtyard, which hides the secrets of the tragic song, will remain sealed away in Shangling City.

*
Guixinzhai.

Two regular customers, a man and a woman, came to visit.

The young man lazily fanned himself, lifted his eyelids slightly, and asked, "Are you two here to store your belongings, or to retrieve them?"

The girl gritted her teeth and said, "Gu Xinian! That belongs to our clan! What right do you have to detain it?!"

Her voice was deep and menacing: “You must give us the things today.”

Gu Xi, young man, laughed and said, "Miss Zhu Bei, getting angry is bad for your health. Why not have some cold tea to calm your temper?"

Zhu Bei didn't give him a friendly look, and spread out his hands, saying, "Give me the things!"

Seeing that she wouldn't drink, Gu Xinian drank the cold tea himself and said slowly, "The rule of Guixinzhai is that unless the patron comes in person, there must be a secret code."

"I cannot break the rules just because I have some friendship with Miss Zhubei and Young Master Lishuo. What do you say, Miss Zhubei?"

Gu Xinian spoke slowly and deliberately, asking her a question in return, his attitude already quite clear.

Zhu Bei said coldly, "Lord Kuge has long since disappeared. How could we possibly know the code? Gu Xi Nian, does that mean that Master Gu will never reappear, and that anything entrusted to Guixinzhai will belong to Guixinzhai?"

(End of this chapter)