The Mahjong Deck Comes to Town

Hearing North Wind’s half-threatening, half-mocking words, Li Huowang shot him a glance, then turned his head directly toward Zhuge Yuan. “Brother Zhuge, would you trouble me to use that artifact to forbid this man from lying?”

He had come to see it. Until he finished cultivating the so-called True Ascension method, Zhuge Yuan’s old almanac—the one that could forbid anything—was the true bane of the Zuowandao. Only with Zhuge was present were their petty mind-games useless.

“The almanac’s effect hasn’t worn off yet, Brother Li. Ask whatever you want. He can’t lie right now.”

At that, Li Huowang crouched down, staring at the man’s eyes with a knowing smirk. “Oh? Still unwilling to talk? Should I ask Brother Zhuge to add another taboo—‘No Silence’?”

“I’m not a three-year-old. No need to scare me. They’ve entered the city. The other three North Winds have gone in the city.”

“Don’t leave out details! Which city?”

“Ha, which else? Shangjing, of course.”

“And where are they now?” Li Huowang pressed further.

“We split up yesterday around noon at the Eastern City God Temple. Where they are now? I don’t know.”

“Why are you Zuowandao coming to Shangjing at a time like this? This place is the Supervisory Heavenly Office’s headquarters. Aren’t you afraid of being wiped out?”

“Afraid?” North Wind’s expression was full of contempt. “The Zuowandao toys with heaven, plays with earth, and fools itself. We’ve never been afraid of anyone. We didn’t come before because this crappy place was just boring.”

“Stop dodging the question. Spit it out—what are you doing in Shangjing?” Li Huowang’s tone hardened.

Looking at Li Huowang’s mangled face, North Wind’s expression soured, and his voice turned flippant. “The Dice Boss sent us. He said the Emperor of Liang was up to some shady business behind the scenes, so he told us to come check if there was any fun to be had.”

“As for what the Liang Emperor is doing… heh heh heh, you should know that better than I do, shouldn’t you? I only just got here. Probably know less than you.”

The Liang Emperor? Li Huowang’s mind jumped. The Chief Recorder’s task to find the Heart-Turbid. The scarred warships on the sea. The former emperor beheaded at the crossroads.

He had long known that the whole of Great Liang was stirring, as if something was happening in the shadows. But whatever the Liang Emperor was up to, the Zuowandao had definitely caught wind of it. They were involved now.

“Besides you three North Winds, what other Zuowandao came?” Li Huowang pressed on patiently.

North Wind showed no resistance. He listed them off like counting treasure. “This batch of ours… three Eights, two Nines, four North Winds, and… two Red Centers. Heh heh heh.”

When he said “Red Centers,” his face twisted into a strange smile, his eyes locked straight onto Li Huowang.

Slap.

Li Huowang struck him across the face. “Drop that act! The other Zuowandao already tried that on me—it doesn’t work!”

He kept questioning until he could pry no more useful information, then finally stood up.

“Brother Li, are you done? This man is useless to you now, isn’t he?” Zhuge Yuan fanned himself with his folded fan as he came over and asked.

Seeing Li Huowang nod faintly in thought, Zhuge Yuan took up his painting cloth and shook it once toward the air. The corpse of the Heart-Turbid from the landscape appeared in the sky.

The long scroll paper circled North Wind’s head a few times. The man’s expression grew confused, dazed. In his mind, the memories of Great Liang were rapidly fading.

At the same time, his facial features and even his age began to change. Where he had been tall, he now shrank back inward, eventually becoming a small, bound-footed old woman.

Trembling, she got up from the ground, having completely forgotten what had just happened. Panicked at the sight of the strangers before her, she immediately waved her hands and shuffled toward the door.

“Where is this?! Old man, come quick!”

“Hey, hey, hey, dear lady, take it slow. No one’s going to eat you.” Zhuge Yuan supported her as he guided her toward the Liang family estate’s gate.

When he returned after doing his good deed, he saw Li Huowang still standing in place, frowning in thought. He couldn’t help but ask with curiosity, “Brother Li, how did it go? Was what the North Wind said useful to you?”

Li Huowang nodded. “Useful. But I can’t take all of it at face value. I know the Zuowandao—they can lie even with the truth.”

“Every word he just said was true. But I’d wager some details were deliberately left out, or some truths were framed with phrases meant to mislead.”

After pondering a moment longer, Li Huowang turned to look at the Great Qi people inside the room. Lowering his voice, he said to Zhuge Yuan, “Brother Zhuge, please forgive me. I have something to attend to—I need to leave for a while.”

Seeming to fear Zhuge might misunderstand, he added, “I’m not going back on my word. But this matter is of utmost importance. Once I’m done, I’ll definitely come back to help you.”

“No matter, no matter.” Zhuge Yuan was exceedingly magnanimous. “Now that you know the North Winds are in the Capital, what do you plan to do next?”

“This whole Zuowandao operation might have brought out all their forces. I can’t fight them alone. So I’ve thought of a method. I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’m going to try.”

Zhuge Yuan nodded. “Go ahead, handle your business. If you run into any trouble, remember to come find me.”

At these words, warmth filled Li Huowang’s heart. In this chaotic world, Zhuge Yuan was one of the few genuinely good people.

“Good.” He solemnly performed a Daoist bow, then turned and rushed out the front gate of the dark Liang estate.

He did not go anywhere else. Instead, he leaped over the tiles, constantly shifting positions across the rooftops, heading straight southwest.

Such a conspicuous display immediately drew some eyes. But once Li Huowang raised his identification token high, no one moved to stop him.

He threaded his way through the buildings for the span of two incense-burners until he finally reached the Supervisory Heavenly Office. This night, the doorkeeper was not the Ink-clad with the bird on his shoulder, but a gaunt woman in a hemp skirt, a black talisman pasted to her forehead.

Her skin was dark, and every one of her seven apertures seemed plugged with some kind of yellow mud. Standing in that empty hall, she cut an eerily strange figure.

“Let me in, quickly! Something urgent!” Li Huowang’s tone was rushed as he spoke to the strange woman.

She did not move. With a whoosh, a hidden door appeared in the wall of its own accord.

Li Huowang charged in at a frantic pace, following his memory to find the room he had been in before.

When he arrived once more in the great hall filled with screens, he saw that it was much emptier than before. Only a few candles flickered in the screens near the corners of the wall.

He did not care about the rest. He pushed straight through screen after screen until he reached the manager—the one he had met once before—and put on his most urgent expression. “Brother Nangong! Something huge has happened! The entire Zuowandao has come to Shangjing!”