What is Shangji Guankou?

A cryptic entity or location only found in Great Qi; Zhuge Yuan says it can locate Dice, but refuses to define what it is—it looks different to different people and resists simple description.

Why can't the Supervisory Heavenly Office just use Shangji Guankou?

Because Shangji Guankou only exists in Great Qi. Great Liang does not have one. This means the knowledge died with the fallen empire, and only the dead (like Zhuge Yuan) know about it.

Did Zhuge Yuan know about the Dragon Vein's severance?

No. He died before the Dragon Vein was cut, and his knowledge ends there. His discomfort with the question reveals a rare crack in his composure.

Is Li Huowang going alone?

He will have allies for the dealing-with-Dice part, but Zhuge Yuan makes it clear that Shangji Guankou can only *find* Dice—Li Huowang must handle the confrontation himself.

Shangji Guankou

1,261 words

Li Huowang’s eyes snapped open in the darkness.

Am I awake?

He looked around nervously. When he realized he was lying in his own home in the capital, not on a hospital bed, he let out a long breath.

He struggled to sit up and shook his head, trying to clear the fog. The world lurched violently in front of him.

Ever since he had returned from Great Qi to Great Liang and found himself in a sweltering woodshed, he had rushed straight to the Supervisory Heavenly Office to report the Benevolent King’s collusion with the Dharma Sect. The Office’s reaction had been predictable. When he learned from Nangong that the commission regarding the Benevolent King had already been picked up, he knew Ji Lin’s task was as good as done. Now he just had to wait.

And in this brief window of time, Li Huowang needed to rest. To recover his spent energy. To dissolve the headache that refused to go away.

It seemed that forcing the act of Cultivating the True with Zhuge Yuan had taken a toll not just on his body, but on his mind and spirit as well.

The feeling was unbearable—and worse, it caused his Innate Pneuma to go out of control, forcing him back to the White Tower prison. He hated that.

After washing up quickly, he walked to the table and picked up a steamed bun that hadn’t risen at all. It was Li Sui’s handiwork, of course. Dead dough wouldn’t produce fluffy buns—only hard, dense lumps. Still, it was a lot better than before. At least the bottom wasn’t burnt anymore.

He could hear Li Sui downstairs through the floor, chanting the incantation over and over. Li Huowang sat down at the table and enjoyed his breakfast in silence.

After chewing and swallowing carefully, he turned to Zhuge Yuan, who was standing nearby. “Brother Zhuge, I have a doubt. Could you help me with it?”

“Speak freely.”

Zhuge Yuan had once again become the unflappable man of old, as if the Zhuge Yuan in Great Qi had never existed.

Li Huowang turned the words around in his mouth a few times before speaking in a grave tone. “Brother Zhuge, under the pursuit of the entire Supervisory Heavenly Office, Dice still managed to send people to interfere with the succession struggle. Does he have some other plan for the Dragon Vein?”

Now that he understood the importance of the Dragon Vein, and after hearing the doctor’s reminder, Li Huowang couldn’t help but think in that direction. He strongly disliked Yi Donglai, but he had to admit the man had made a valid point: if he wanted to deal with Dice, he couldn’t let Ji Lin ascend the throne just as Dice wished.

Zhuge Yuan did not answer immediately. He tapped his closed fan against his palm four times before speaking slowly. “You’re not wrong. But Brother Li, if you can think of this, how could the imperial court and the Supervisory Heavenly Office not?”

“Brother Li, you need to understand something. The Dragon Vein is important, but that doesn’t mean it’s so fragile that it needs protection. The Dragon Vein is placed within the Imperial Temple not to be sheltered—on the contrary, it is there to shield the Imperial Palace. In other words, the saying that the Emperor is the True Dragon Son of Heaven is not mere flattery. Inside the palace, Dice cannot overcome it.”

“The Dragon Vein is that powerful? Even Dice can’t beat it?” This was the first time Li Huowang had heard that the Dragon Vein was so formidable. Thinking about it now, it made sense. If the Dragon Vein was an anchor point of history, then it couldn’t possibly be too fragile.

“Brother Zhuge, if the Dragon Vein is that powerful, then how did Great Qi’s Dragon Vein get severed?”

The question made Zhuge Yuan’s expression darken. He was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “I do not know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I have been dead for some time now. Before I died, Great Qi was still purging the heretics. There was no news of the Dragon Vein at all. As for what happened after I died… there are far too many possibilities.”

The room fell silent. The two men stood there without speaking.

After a while, Zhuge Yuan spoke first, his tone serious. “Brother Li, there’s no need for us to guess what Dice plans to do. We should focus on how to eliminate him once and for all. If you intend to deal with him, we need to act quickly on what I told you before.”

“Now?” Li Huowang immediately remembered what Zhuge Yuan had said that day—that in Great Qi, there was a way to find Dice’s whereabouts.

“With the Yu manifesting, there’s no telling what will happen to Great Qi next. If we wait any longer, and something goes wrong…” Zhuge Yuan paused distinctly. “If something goes wrong in Great Qi, finding a way to track Dice will become much harder.”

Li Huowang shuddered. This was a rare breakthrough point—he could not give it up easily. It was even more important than helping Ji Lin seize the throne. “Brother Zhuge, what should I do next?”

“Go to Great Qi and find the Shangji Guankou. They have a way to locate Dice.”

“Really?” Tracking down Dice—a problem so difficult that even the Supervisory Heavenly Office’s entire force couldn’t solve it—suddenly sounded so simple coming from Zhuge Yuan that Li Huowang was momentarily suspicious. “That’s Dice we’re talking about. Even the entire Supervisory Heavenly Office couldn’t find him. And the Shangji Guankou can do it just like that? If it’s so easy, why didn’t the Office go to them?”

Zhuge Yuan looked at him with mild surprise. “Brother Li, that’s because Shangji Guankou only exists in Great Qi. Great Liang doesn’t have one.”

Li Huowang’s face lit up with sudden understanding. He immediately turned and walked toward the weapons under his pillow. “I see. Then there’s no time to lose—let’s go!”

“Not so fast, Brother Li. Let’s get out of the city first. If we cross into Great Qi from here, we might end up within Youdu’s borders. Too many eyes and ears—it could cause trouble.”

“Hmm!” Li Huowang grabbed the red Daoist robe and threw it over his shoulders, then picked up his two weapons and hurried downstairs. “Brother Zhuge, what exactly is this Shangji Guankou? Is it a person? A sect?”

“It cannot be spoken.”

“Cannot be spoken? Why not?” Li Huowang asked as he ordered Li Sui to put on her straw cloak.

“In some people’s eyes, it is human. In others’ eyes, it is a demonic entity. And in still others’ eyes, Shangji Guankou is a mountain gate.”

“That mysterious?” Li Huowang was taken aback. “Will we have to pay something to get them to help find Dice?”

“Brother Li, don’t worry about that. Leave it to me. Though I am dead, I still carry some face in Great Qi.” The confident Zhuge Yuan had returned.

“Hyah! Hyah!” Li Huowang snapped the reins, lashing the horse’s back as the carriage shot out through the gate.

“But Brother Li, while Shangji Guankou can find Dice for us, they won’t be able to help us deal with him. You’ll need to find your own allies for that.”

“I understand!” Li Huowang’s voice was full of conviction, his tone unwavering.

Finally, there was hope of defeating Dice. No matter how difficult the road ahead, he had to give it everything he had.

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Reading Guide Decoding

A Ghost's Lead in a Dead Empire

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Shangji Guankou (上极灌口): This arcane name is not a random invention. "灌口" (Guankou) is a real geographic term—an irrigation sluice or canal head—but in Chinese mythology, the most famous Guankou is the temple of Erlang Shen (二郎神), the fearsome god with a vertical third eye. The name itself hints at a transcendent vantage point: a "mouth" or "gate" at the extreme upper limit, from which all things can be seen. It also echoes the idea that some beings exist at the border of description—which is why Zhuge Yuan says "in some eyes it's a person, in others a demon, and in others a mountain gate."

The "Can't Be Spoken" (说不得) Trope: In Chinese folk supernatural literature, certain names are taboo because speaking them defines them into a form too narrow for their nature. It's a cousin to the folk belief that knowing a demon's true name gives you power over it—and that by extension, labeling a transcendent being wrongly is dangerous. Zhuge Yuan's refusal to define Shangji Guankou is not coyness; it's a cautious survival instinct.

Dragon Vein (龙脉) as Political Geomancy: In traditional cosmology, a dynasty is not just a political entity—it is a living body sustained by underground energy channels called Dragon Veins. A thriving dynasty has a strong, unimpeded Dragon Vein; a severed one means the mandate of heaven has been revoked. That Great Qi's Dragon Vein broke means more than just an empire falling—it means the land itself rejected its rulers. Li Huowang's question hits Zhuge Yuan where it hurts: his civilization not only died but was cosmically invalidated.

Chapter Overview

Li Huowang recharges in the mundane safety of his capital home—eating a rock-hard bun, listening to Li Sui's chanting, and trying not to think about the white-walled prison waiting for him if his Innate Pneuma slips again. But the dread of the Dragon Vein and Dice's endgame claws its way back in. Just when the hunt seems hopeless, Zhuge Yuan drops a name: Shangji Guankou. A cryptic entity that may or may not be human, a mountain gate that may or may not be a sect, and the only lead that promises to pinpoint the most wanted trickster in two empires. Li Huowang doesn't hesitate for a second.

Key Plot Points

Li Huowang wakes up at home (not in the asylum)—a small victory that immediately comes with a price: lingering cognitive damage from forcing Zhuge Yuan's Cultivate the True, which threatens to destabilize his Innate Pneuma and drag him back to White Tower.
Zhuge Yuan dispels Li Huowang's worry about Dice corrupting the Dragon Vein: inside the palace, the Dragon Vein is the protector, not the protected—Dice can't win a direct confrontation with the True Dragon Son of Heaven.
Li Huowang presses on Great Qi's severed Dragon Vein, which visibly unsettles Zhuge Yuan; the dead scholar admits he died before the severance and has no answer, leaving the mystery dangling.
Zhuge Yuan pivots the strategy from guessing Dice's plan to hunting his location passively, revealing his solution: seek out Shangji Guankou in Great Qi—a being/place that can track Dice down but is impossible to describe in words.
Li Huowang is shocked that the Supervisory Heavenly Office never tried this route; Zhuge Yuan calmly explains that Shangji Guankou only exists in Great Qi, not in Great Liang—a sobering reminder of how much knowledge died with the fallen empire.
The chapter ends on a rare moment of forward momentum: Li Huowang, reinvigorated, sets out beyond the city walls to cross into Great Qi with single-minded determination.

Reading Guide

High-energy setup chapter disguised as a breakfast scene. The pacing is deceptive: the first half feels like domestic downtime, but every beat—the headache, the burnt buns, the silent tension with Zhuge Yuan—is laying groundwork for the second half's sharp pivot. Enjoy the breather, but stay alert; the real meat is crammed into the final pages.

Watch how Li Huowang's approach has matured. Earlier in the story, a lead like this would make him charge in half-cocked. Now he asks the hard questions ("If it's that simple, why didn't the Office do it?") before grabbing his dao robe. He's actively stress-testing his own hope.

Zhuge Yuan's discomfort with the "child" subject is telling. He dodges the question about Great Qi's Dragon Vein with visible strain—not because he's hiding something, but because his own knowledge died with him. This is a rare moment where Zhuge Yuan's composure cracks, reminding us that even the dead are limited by what they witnessed.

Why the "private" setting matters. The chapter opens in Li Huowang's own house, a space the novel rarely uses. It creates a false sense of safety—but the headache, the hospital's gravitational pull, and the constant threat of his Innate Pneuma slipping all remind us that nowhere is truly safe.

Buckle up for an operation with no support. Zhuge Yuan makes it clear: Shangji Guankou can find Dice, but dealing with him afterward is entirely on Li Huowang. This is a solo reconnaissance mission into a dead empire, chasing a god-tier manipulator, with only a ghost for backup.

Quick Q&A

Lore recap (TL;DR) drawn from this chapter's Cultural / Xianxia Notes — same text as the FAQ structured data on this page.

What is Shangji Guankou?: A cryptic entity or location only found in Great Qi; Zhuge Yuan says it can locate Dice, but refuses to define what it is—it looks different to different people and resists simple description.
Why can't the Supervisory Heavenly Office just use Shangji Guankou?: Because Shangji Guankou only exists in Great Qi. Great Liang does not have one. This means the knowledge died with the fallen empire, and only the dead (like Zhuge Yuan) know about it.
Did Zhuge Yuan know about the Dragon Vein's severance?: No. He died before the Dragon Vein was cut, and his knowledge ends there. His discomfort with the question reveals a rare crack in his composure.
Is Li Huowang going alone?: He will have allies for the dealing-with-Dice part, but Zhuge Yuan makes it clear that Shangji Guankou can only *find* Dice—Li Huowang must handle the confrontation himself.