The Target

Li Huowang examined the list of stolen goods again. Though he couldn’t determine the pill’s exact effects from the raw materials alone, as Danyangzi’s former direct disciple in alchemy, he could easily tell this was a prescription.

“Another Danyangzi?” He recalled his time at Qingfeng Temple, and his expression darkened.

Seeing Li Huowang’s shifting face, Magistrate Lou approached cautiously. “Your Excellency? Have you found something? Have you located the infants?”

“No, not yet. But I have a lead.” Li Huowang slapped the paper against the man’s chest.

“I don’t know what they’re refining, but some things never change. Alchemy must follow the principles of One Qi, Two Extremes, Six Dusts, and Seven Returns. These materials fall short. To reach the Six Dusts, they’ll have to steal ingredients like Fifty-San next.”

“Inventory all such substances and keep a close watch. Whatever they are, they’ll come again.” Li Huowang’s voice was absolute.

Whether or not it was another Danyangzi, the first step was to find them. Once he did, the rest would be simple.

“Understood! Whatever it takes to recover the children, I’ll follow your orders! I’ll summon every pharmacy owner in the county at once!”

“Wait.” Li Huowang grabbed his arm. “That would be beating the grass and frightening the snake. Let me handle this. First, you need to help me stage a performance.”

“A performance?”

That afternoon, Magistrate Lou led a crowd in an ostentatious farewell for Li Huowang’s departure from Cangshui County. He clutched Li Huowang’s hand, showering him with flattery the entire way.

Once word spread that Li Huowang was the one who had caught the rapist, the onlookers packed in layers deep. Grateful townsfolk tried to shove all sorts of gifts onto his carriage, but he refused them all.

They traveled five li before Li Huowang urged them to stop. Magistrate Lou and the others finally turned back, reluctance etched on their faces.

Now that the rapist had been executed by slow slicing, no more women in Cangshui County were violated. Though the missing infants had not been recovered, no further children disappeared. The anxious county gradually settled down.

A few nights later, on an empty street, a hunchbacked night watchman beat his gong, yawning loudly. “The air is dry, beware of fire…”

At first, nothing unusual happened. But after the third watch, things turned strange.

With each knock of the gong, the watchman’s shadow rose from the ground. Its limbs stretched long and thin, mimicking his movements with eerie slowness.

The shadow seemed to be propped up by something within. Inside that black void, something was moving.

The wooden clapper sounded again. “The air is dry, beware of fire…”

As the watchman neared a pharmacy, bundles of herbs wrapped in oilcloth passed straight through the wall and dissolved into his shadow. The shadow swelled larger.

“The air is dry, beware of fire…”

More and more herbs melted into the watchman’s shadow. It bulged, bloated, detaching from human form, becoming increasingly twisted and grotesque.

From a rooftop, Li Huowang watched it all with cold eyes.

Magistrate Lou’s send-off had been a ruse. The whole point was to make the enemy believe Li Huowang had left.

Using his invisibility, Li Huowang had single-handedly mapped every stash of Fifty-San in Cangshui County. After days of secret surveillance, he had finally waited for them to make their move again.

Alchemy had strict requirements for the year, month, and day. He had calculated that they could not wait forever.

“Taoist! Now that you’ve found them, what are you waiting for? Catch the child-stealing scum before they harm anyone else!”

Even the monk seemed more anxious than Li Huowang. “Easy. Catching one underling will accomplish nothing. If I let him go, he’ll lead me to something bigger.”

Watching the watchman move away, Li Huowang—still invisible—followed on soft footsteps across the roof tiles.

Time passed. By the fourth watch, the bloated shadow had grown as large as a house, a lumbering black giant shuffling down the streets.

The monk beside Li Huowang was frantic. He had seen a bamboo basket carrying a child pass through a wall and merge into that massive shadow.

“Taoist! He’s leaving! Go after him!” The monk looked like he was about to cry.

“Quiet!” Li Huowang stamped hard on the rooftop beast-carving and shot forward.

The shadow drifted through the sky. Li Huowang chased on the ground. Only his sharp eyesight let him distinguish the black shadow against the black sky.

He ran farther and farther, leaving Cangshui County behind. The dirt road stretched ahead. Panting, he watched the distance between them grow.

“Not like this. I’ll lose him.” Li Huowang pulled out a talisman, bit his fingertip, and began writing.

He slapped the two talismans onto his knees. Veins bulged across his face, twisting it into a savage mask. An indescribable heat suffused his chest.

But the price was worth it. His speed multiplied several times over.

The wind blew, flattening the flesh-nodules sprouting on his face. He managed to keep up with the shadow.

Gradually, dawn broke. With a soft pop, the shadow shattered. The objects inside tumbled into a surging river.

Li Huowang rushed to the bank. In the murky water, something was moving the sunken herbs.

Ripples distorted the view. He could barely make out the vague forms beneath the surface, hauling the herbs toward a distant underwater cave.

Li Huowang lifted his head, looking at the low crevice on the far water face. “Is this their lair?”

The cave sat beneath a towering green stone mountain. The opening gaped like a black mouth, endlessly swallowing the wide river.

He checked the map. This spot was the exact center of all the counties that had lost their children. Everything originated from here.

“Whatever they are, they’re like Danyangzi—hiding in some place people never visit.”

Finding the hideout should have been cause for celebration. But Li Huowang stared at the cave floating on the water, troubled.

“But how do I get inside?”