Courtyard Check-in: Starting with a Small World of Cultivation

June 17th, 11 PM.

Kunming Lake shimmered under the moonlight, like a giant, dark mirror. The Summer Palace was already closed, and the outline of Longevity Hill resembled a lurking beast in the night. Chen Yu hid behind a clump of reeds by the lake, his spiritual sense spreading out like ripples on water, probing the surrounding movements.

He already had the water-repelling bead in his mouth, and a faint aura of spiritual energy flowed around his body—this was the "Water Concealment Technique" that he had developed by combining the breath-concealing technique from the "Tai Xuan Zhen Jing" with modern diving knowledge, which could conceal his aura and figure to the greatest extent underwater.

"Master, the patrol passed through the east side ten minutes ago, and the next patrol is expected to be in twenty-five minutes." The voice of Manhunt No. 3 sounded in his mind. When Chen Yu entered the Summer Palace during the day as a tourist, he had already sent three Manhunt mascots to lie in ambush on Longevity Hill, the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, and the West Causeway, forming a triangular observation network.

"There are two people stationed in the direction of the pavilion in the middle of the lake. They are from the park management office and they are already asleep," Pseudo-Man No. 2 added.

Chen Yu nodded. He was wearing a black, tight-fitting wetsuit—a replica made from modern diving suit materials in the small world—over which he wore ordinary dark blue overalls. A waterproof backpack hung from his waist, containing potentially needed tools: a powerful flashlight, rope, a small shovel, several waterproof bags, and the crucial jade slip.

The water vein diagram in the jade slip shows that the Water Spirit Pearl is located in the north-central part of Kunming Lake, at a depth of about eight meters, buried three feet below the silt at the bottom of the lake. Zhou Wenyuan left a warning in the jade slip: "The pearl is hidden in the water palace, protected by an array. The method to break the array requires the use of wood-element spiritual energy as a guide, and to activate it at three-quarters past midnight, using the power of the moonlight."

Tonight is the third quarter of midnight, the eighteenth day of the lunar calendar, and the moon is full.

Chen Yu glanced at his diving watch—11:35. Ten minutes to go.

He gave his equipment a final check, then silently slipped into the water. The moment he entered, the water-repelling bead activated, forming an oval-shaped air film around his body, isolating him from the lake water. Simultaneously, he activated his Water Concealment Technique, and his figure gradually blurred in the water, blending into his surroundings.

Dive down.

The lake water was clearer than I had imagined. Moonlight shone through the surface, creating beams of light underwater that illuminated the tiny suspended particles. Water plants swayed like long hair, and a school of carp swam slowly in the distance, completely unaware of Chen Yu, the uninvited guest.

At a depth of eight meters, the water pressure was noticeable. But for Chen Yu, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining, this pressure was nothing. He circulated his spiritual power to counteract the discomfort caused by the water pressure, while simultaneously activating his full spiritual eye technique to scan the bottom of the lake.

The lakebed was covered with a thick layer of silt, mixed with pebbles, shells, and debris discarded by tourists—coins, hair clips, and even a worn-out shoe. Following the watercourse map, Chen Yu swam north for about thirty meters and arrived at a relatively flat area.

right here.

With his spiritual eye technique, he could see a faint blue light flickering three feet below the silt at the bottom of the lake. Around the light, intricate patterns were faintly visible—it was a protective formation!

Chen Yu floated one meter above the lake bottom, waiting quietly. The hands of his diving watch moved slowly: 11:44... 11:45...

It's midnight!

Almost simultaneously, moonlight shone through the water's surface, illuminating the lakebed area directly. A wondrous thing happened—the moonlight didn't scatter underwater; instead, it focused into a silvery-white beam, precisely illuminating the blue dot of light above!

The silt began to churn, and patterns lit up! A circular array about two meters in diameter emerged from beneath the silt, composed of countless interwoven silver-blue rays, complex and precise, exuding an ancient and powerful aura.

Chen Yu immediately took out the wood element spiritual energy source he had prepared beforehand—a piece of century-old peach wood heartwood. This was an old item he had found at Panjiayuan for eighty yuan. Although the wood element spiritual energy contained within it was weak, it was enough to serve as a catalyst.

Following the method recorded in the jade slip, he placed the peach wood heart directly above the formation and infused it with a trace of his own wood-elemental spiritual power—cultivating the "Tai Xuan True Scripture" balanced his five elements, and although his wood-elemental spiritual power was not strong, it was sufficient.

The peach wood heartwood glowed with a pale green light. The formation seemed to sense this; its silver-blue patterns began to change, flowing and rearranging as if they had come alive. Three minutes later, a fist-sized hole appeared in the center of the formation.

It's now!

Chen Yu reached out with his left hand, his spiritual energy transforming into an invisible palm that extended through the hole into the mud. His fingertips touched a smooth, cool object. Overjoyed, he closed his fingers and pulled it out!

Amidst the churning mud, a blue bead the size of a pigeon egg appeared in his palm. The bead was completely transparent, with liquid seemingly flowing inside, emanating a gentle yet vast water-based spiritual energy. Just holding it in his hand, Chen Yu felt every pore on his body open up, and the speed of his internal spiritual energy circulation increased slightly.

Water Spirit Orb!

Suppressing his excitement, Chen Yuqiang placed the bead into a specially made jade box—carved from a piece of spirit jade from his small world, designed to lock in spiritual energy to the maximum extent possible. The moment the jade box was closed, the array at the bottom of the lake began to dim and dissipate. The pillar of moonlight also collapsed, and the lake bottom returned to calm.

Mission accomplished, time to retreat.

Just as Chen Yu was about to surface, his spiritual sense suddenly issued a warning—something was approaching! It was moving extremely fast!

He whirled around and saw a dark shadow leap out from the depths of the lake, lunging straight at him! It was... a snake? No, it was a dragon! About three meters long, with a single horn on its head, covered in black scales, and its eyes glowing red in the darkness!

"Guardian spirit beast!" The phrase flashed through Chen Yu's mind. Zhou Wenyuan's jade slip mentioned "a pearl guarded by a spirit creature," but didn't elaborate on what it was. It turned out to be a water snake that was about to transform into a dragon!

The black dragon opened its mouth, revealing its gleaming white fangs, and a stream of icy water shot out! Chen Yu dodged to the side, the water grazing past him and striking the rocks at the bottom of the lake behind him. With a "crack," a layer of frost formed on the surface of the rocks!

Such intense cold!

Chen Yu dared not be negligent. He formed a hand seal with his right hand and shot out a "Water Arrow Technique." Ordinary water arrows were obviously ineffective against the black dragon, only splashing a few drops of water when they hit its scales. Enraged, the black dragon swung its tail, stirring up undercurrents that churned the entire lakebed.

"We can't fight underwater!" Chen Yu made a decisive move, unleashing his spiritual power in his legs and shooting upwards! The black dragon relentlessly pursued, faster than him, and was about to catch up—

Chen Yu suddenly turned around, grabbed a handful of something from his waterproof bag, and threw it out! It was lime powder! He had prepared it specially during the day, packed in a waterproof bag, and now, as he tore it open and scattered it, it instantly spread throughout the lake!

The black dragon, clearly unaccustomed to such a "chemical attack," plunged headlong into the lime fog, writhing in agony. Taking advantage of this, Chen Yu surged upwards with all his might, bursting out of the water with a "splash!"

The moment he reached the shore, he sprinted towards the west embankment without looking back. Behind him, the lake exploded, and the black dragon burst from the water, letting out a roar that sounded less like a snake and more like the low growl of some wild beast. But it seemed unable to stay out of the water for long; after hovering in the air for a few seconds, it reluctantly plummeted back into the lake.

Chen Yu ran out of the Summer Palace and stopped at the pre-arranged location—a grove of trees near the West Garden. Three fake men were already waiting there.

"Master, the commotion on the lake has attracted attention, and the park management is investigating," reported Pseudo-Man Number One.

"The patrolling police are also heading that way," Pseudo-Man No. 2 added.

Chen Yu nodded, panting, "Let's retreat, back to the courtyard house."

The four of them split up and left. Chen Yu wandered through several alleys, making sure no one was following him, before climbing over the wall back to the courtyard house. It was already 1:30 a.m.

Inside, Qin Huairu was still awake, mending clothes under the lamp. Seeing Chen Yu return soaking wet, she was startled: "What happened? Did you fall into the water?"

"It's nothing, just a little accident." Chen Yu took off his wet clothes and dried himself with a towel. "Are the children asleep?"

"Go to bed early." Qin Huairu went to the kitchen and brought back a bowl of ginger soup. "Drink it quickly to warm yourself up."

Chen Yu felt a warmth in his heart and drank the ginger soup in one gulp. Qin Huairu didn't know what he was doing, but she never asked, only silently supporting and caring for him. With such a wife, what more could a husband ask for?

"You go to sleep first, I have something to do." Chen Yu changed into clean clothes and went into the inner room. Qin Huairu nodded, finished her needlework, and went back to her bedroom.

Chen Yu closed the door and entered the small world.

Beside the spiritual spring, he carefully opened the jade box. The Water Spirit Pearl shone even brighter in the spiritual energy, its blue light flowing and illuminating the entire small world like an underwater dragon palace. The liquid inside the pearl seemed to come alive, slowly rotating and forming a tiny vortex.

"This is a supreme treasure of the water element..." Chen Yu was awestruck as he felt the immense water element spiritual energy within the bead. If this bead were placed in a small world, the quality of the spiritual spring would increase several times over, and the concentration of spiritual energy in the entire space would also increase significantly.

But he can't do that for now. The Water Spirit Pearl's spiritual energy is too strong; if it's exposed, it's very likely to be sensed by the Heavenly Dao Alliance or other cultivators. He needs to find a way to conceal it.

Chen Yu took out a "Spirit-Nourishing Jade" he had obtained from previous check-ins. This was a special type of jade that could nurture and conceal spiritual energy. He placed the Water Spirit Pearl into the box carved from the Spirit-Nourishing Jade and closed the lid. Sure enough, the fluctuations in spiritual energy decreased by 90%, leaving only a faint trace.

"Let's leave it like this for now." Chen Yu buried the jade box deep within the small world and then set up a simple concealment array on top of it. With double insurance, it should be safe.

After dealing with the Water Spirit Orb, he exited the small world and began writing anonymous whistleblower letters.

The smuggling of cultural relics by Jia Dongxu and Yan Bugui must be dealt with. However, directly reporting them would expose themselves, so they must remain anonymous. Chen Yu wrote with his left hand—the handwriting was crooked and illegible. The content was concise: Jia Dongxu and Yan Bugui had been dealing in cultural relics for a long time, and the stolen goods were hidden in the beams of Jia's house and Yan's cellar. Transactions mostly took place late at night on weekends, and the contact person was at No. 47, Gulou East Street.

He also attached several key pieces of evidence to the letter: the time and place of Jia Dongxu's transaction, the general characteristics of the cultural relics, and the percentage of Yan Bugui's commission. Some of this information came from surveillance by agents of the puppet regime, and some was his own speculation, but it was enough to attract the attention of the public security bureau.

After writing the letter, Chen Yu sealed it in a kraft paper envelope and affixed a stamp. He instructed Pseudo-Man Number One to mail it to the mailbox in the west of the city early the next morning—the farther away from the courtyard house, the better.

After finishing all this, dawn was breaking. Chen Yu, wide awake, sat cross-legged on the bed and began his daily cultivation.

Although the Water Spirit Orb cannot be used directly, the faint water-based spiritual energy it emits has a subtle nourishing effect on the small world and the spiritual spring. Chen Yu circulated the "Tai Xuan True Scripture" and could feel that the spiritual energy today was purer and more gentle than ever before, as if it had been washed by water.

After two hours of cultivation, Chen Yu felt refreshed and invigorated. When he exited his cultivation state, it was already broad daylight outside. Qin Huairu was making breakfast in the kitchen, Banggeng and Huaihua were playing in the yard, and Jia Zhangshi began her usual nagging... The courtyard had returned to its daytime bustle.

A new day begins.

Chen Yu went to work at the research institute as usual. But today, he keenly sensed that the atmosphere in the institute was somewhat different—his colleagues were gathered in twos and threes, talking in hushed tones, and Lin Zhenhua's expression was also very serious.

"Mr. Lin, what happened?" Chen Yu asked.

Lin Zhenhua pulled him aside: "Xiao Chen, have you heard? Something happened at the Summer Palace last night!"

Chen Yu's heart tightened, but he remained outwardly calm: "The Summer Palace? What happened?"

"I don't know the specifics, but the police went this morning and cordoned off the Kunming Lake area." Lin Zhenhua lowered his voice. "I heard from the park management that there were strange noises in the lake last night, like some kind of large aquatic beast, and it even roared. This morning, there were quite a few dead fish floating on the surface, all covered in ice!"

"Ice shards? In the middle of summer?" Chen Yu feigned surprise.

"Absolutely! It's really weird!" Lin Zhenhua shook his head. "There are all sorts of rumors circulating outside, saying there's a monster in the lake, or some kind of natural phenomenon... The police are investigating."

Chen Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the black dragon had caused quite a commotion, but probably no one would connect it to cultivators. After all, in this materialistic age, people preferred to explain unusual phenomena with science.

"By the way," Lin Zhenhua changed the subject, "the 'Material Microstructure Optimization Scheme' you submitted before is highly valued by the institute's leadership and may be approved as a project. If it succeeds, you will be one of the project leaders."

This is good news. Chen Yu's plan is to combine the "microscopic observation" ability from his cultivation with modern materials science, using spiritual vision to observe the microscopic structure of materials, identify defects, and find directions for improvement. Although he can't explicitly call it spiritual vision, he can explain it with reasons such as "special observation skills" and "intuitive experience."

"Thank you for the recommendation, Engineer Lin," Chen Yu said sincerely.

"It's because you're capable." Lin Zhenhua patted him on the shoulder. "Keep up the good work, and you'll have a bright future."

Chen Yu was busy at the station all day. At three o'clock in the afternoon, he made an excuse to leave work early and went to the vicinity of the Public Security Bureau—he wanted to see the effect of the anonymous letter.

Sure enough, two jeeps were parked in front of the police station, and several police officers hurried in and out, their expressions serious. Chen Yu ordered a pot of tea at the teahouse across the street, sipping it slowly as his spiritual sense quietly extended.

"...No. 47 Gulou East Street has been cordoned off..."

"Jia Dongxu, Yan Bugui, identities confirmed..."

"Tonight's operation, catch them red-handed..."

Hearing this, Chen Yu knew his plan had succeeded. He finished his tea, paid, and left.

At seven o'clock in the evening, Chen Yu returned to the courtyard house. Everything seemed normal; the Jia family was having dinner, and Yan Bugui was watering the flowers at the entrance. But Chen Yu could sense that several pairs of eyes were watching the courtyard from the shadows.

He went home quietly and had dinner with Qin Huairu and the children. Banggeng had received a little red flower at school today and proudly showed it off; Huaihua had learned to count to twenty and performed in her childish voice; Xiaodang ate quietly, occasionally picking food for his younger sister... The warm daily routine softened Chen Yu's heart.

At nine o'clock in the evening, most people in the courtyard had already gone to sleep. Chen Yu was reading a book in his room, but his spiritual sense was monitoring the movements outside.

At exactly ten o'clock, the courtyard gate was gently pushed open. It wasn't the sound of the gate being pushed open, but rather the sound of the bolt being loosened with professional tools. Then, seven or eight dark figures silently slipped in, quickly splitting into two groups: one group rushed towards the Jia family's residence, and the other towards the Yan Bugui family's residence in the backyard!

"Police! Don't move!"

"Jia Dongxu! You're under arrest!"

"Yan Bugui! Behave yourself!"

After a brief commotion, Jia Dongxu and Yan Bugui were handcuffed and taken out. Jia Zhangshi cried and wailed, but was stopped by the police. Yan Bugui looked ashen-faced, and the third aunt slumped to the ground.

Police found a small wooden box on the beam of the Jia family's house, containing more than a dozen jade artifacts, porcelain pieces, and copper coins; in the Yan family's cellar, they unearthed three pottery jars filled with various antiques.

unambiguous evidence.

The other residents in the courtyard were awakened and came out to see what was going on. Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong (who had just been released from the detention center) and others had complicated expressions, while He Yuzhu looked gloating.

"Serves them right! Let them do crooked things!" He Yuzhu whispered to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu remained silent, simply watching. As Jia Dongxu was being led away, he suddenly looked up at Chen Yu, his eyes filled with complex emotions—resentment, confusion, and perhaps even a hint of regret.

Yan Bugui kept his head down the whole time. This shrewd elementary school teacher had finally miscalculated his own life.

After the police left, the courtyard remained unsettled for a long time. Jia Zhangshi sat on the ground wailing, while Zhang Xiulan hugged a stick and wept silently. The three older women were helped home by their children, and the door was tightly closed.

"Everyone, disperse, disperse!" Yi Zhonghai called out, but no one listened to him. People in the courtyard talked in twos and threes until late at night.

Chen Yu returned to the house. Qin Huairu was still awake, her eyes filled with worry: "Chen Yu, do you think... the Jia family and the Yan family might implicate our courtyard?"

"No, it's a personal matter," Chen Yu comforted her. "Go to sleep, you have to go to work tomorrow."

Lying in bed, Chen Yu couldn't sleep. He was the one who orchestrated tonight's events. Jia Dongxu and Yan Bugui deserved their fate, but looking at the chaos in the courtyard, he still felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Is this the everyday life he's meant to protect? Using extraordinary power to interfere with the lives of ordinary people?

However, if we do not intervene and allow these parasites to continue damaging cultural relics and disrupting order, it would be irresponsible to more people and to history.

Chen Yu closed his eyes. He knew that the path he had chosen was destined to have many nights like this. He had to find a balance between spiritual practice and worldly life, between the extraordinary and the ordinary.

Outside the window, the moonlight remained the same.

The story of the courtyard house continues.