The Guardian Xuanwu of Xuanwu Kingdom: Fact or Folklore

As the saying goes, what's easy for the skilled isn't difficult. Once the right method is mastered, the seemingly mystical water veins aren't actually hard to detect.

It's just a bit tedious, requiring personal verification on-site.

At the moment, Li Yingling was guiding Li Xingtian in exploring the water veins near Chizhou.

Li Yingling handled the detection, while Li Xingtian was responsible for recording.

Once Li Xingtian finished documenting, he’d show it to Li Yingling for cross-checking to ensure no mistakes were made.

This wasn’t because Li Yingling insisted on bossing her junior around—it was just that if she were to draw the maps herself…

Li Xingtian would struggle to understand, or at the very least, find it incredibly confusing—Li Yingling’s notation method bore too much resemblance to the style used in ancient hydrological texts.

She simply marked and skipped areas without water veins, leaving them blank.

To Li Yingling, her method was far clearer and more efficient, eliminating the need to map out the entire water system.

But the problem was, most areas lacked water veins.

If Li Yingling were to draw the map, the vast landscape would be reduced to just a few sparse strokes.

Handing Li Xingtian such a sketch and asking him to trace the water veins afterward would likely be an exercise in futility.

Besides, before setting out, Chu Xingchen had explicitly instructed them to keep things simple and easy to understand.

So, having Li Xingtian draw detailed water vein maps was the best approach.

Still, a great river like this, with its countless branching tributaries, had very few actual water veins—most were either nonexistent or so faint they were barely discernible.

Li Xingtian’s thorough mapping naturally slowed their progress, but compromises had to be made.

As their master had rightly said, they had to account for the comprehension of ordinary people.

On the river, Li Yingling stood effortlessly atop the raging currents as if walking on solid ground.

Every time a towering wave surged toward her, it would inexplicably calm down about three zhang away, the waters smoothing into tranquility.

"Something feels off…" Li Yingling murmured, gazing at the river before her. After a moment of reflection, she added,

"If we follow Master’s instructions and trace the water veins all the way to the sea, taking this route would make us look like complete fools."

She reviewed the water veins they’d traced along the tributaries, then turned her gaze toward the direction of the dam, calculating silently.

Even if the dam here collapsed entirely and the water veins shifted course, the complexity and fragmented nature of the veins in this area wouldn’t change.

She turned to Li Xingtian and said, "Junior, let me see the water vein map you’ve drawn."

Without hesitation, Li Xingtian handed over the map.

Li Yingling studied it briefly before pointing at the sparse, disjointed water veins and asking,

"Junior, if you absolutely had to follow these water veins to the sea, would you really take such a twisted, convoluted path?"

Li Xingtian followed her finger to the indicated veins.

Assuming Li Yingling’s detection was accurate, these veins were so tangled they resembled a knotted rope. Unless absolutely forced, he’d never choose this route.

Just looking at this stretch, there were at least seven or eight obvious ambush spots.

Understanding his senior sister’s implication, Li Xingtian replied,

"Are you suggesting this is just a diversion, meant to mislead?"

Li Yingling folded the map, running through the calculations in her mind once more to confirm before saying,

"Hard to say. Let’s go back and consult Master."

After all, if even her "not-so-bright" junior brother could see through it, the thieves their master had mentioned would surely have figured it out too.

Li Xingtian naturally agreed.

The two figures swiftly made their way back to Yunze City.

Yuelai Inn.

Li Yingling and Li Xingtian pushed open the door to their guest room, only to find their master conspicuously absent—no leisurely nut-cracking in sight.

Surveying the empty room, Li Yingling spread Li Xingtian’s map on the table and muttered,

"Don’t tell me Master’s gone to the pleasure houses to listen to music again while leaving us to do all the work?"

Not daring to respond, Li Xingtian retrieved a talisman from his spatial ring, preparing to channel spiritual energy into it to summon their master—when Chu Xingchen’s voice rang out from the doorway:

"Spreading rumors again, are we? Your master is a man of impeccable virtue. Fabricating such tales—aren’t you afraid of facing the sect’s disciplinary measures?"

The door swung open.

Li Xingtian inwardly rejoiced at his decision to stay silent—Master always had an uncanny knack for returning at the most opportune moments.

More reliable than any summoning talisman.

Li Yingling turned to face her master, smoothly steering the conversation elsewhere with a puzzled tone:

"Sect disciplinary measures? Since when did our sect have those?"

Chu Xingchen strode to the table, glancing at the water vein map as he replied,

"Of course we do. Otherwise, how would your master survive your antics?"

Li Yingling pressed on, still deflecting: "And what would the punishment be?"

Chu Xingchen eyed his wayward disciple, who was clearly trying to talk her way out of trouble:

"Minor offenses warrant a single Tenfold Replenishment Pill. Spreading rumors about your master? Ten pills. Defying me outright? A whole bottle as a reward."

"Also, final interpretation rests solely with your master."

Li Yingling fell silent for a moment before muttering, "...Master, isn’t that a bit too harsh?"

Still studying the map, Chu Xingchen chuckled dismissively:

"Oh? From the tone of your voice, are you thinking of becoming the first disciple in our sect to defy your master?"

Li Yingling's expression showed a hint of trepidation, but inwardly, she wasn’t the least bit afraid. After all, her master had always been sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.

There was no way he’d actually force his "best disciple in the world" to take some dubious Tenfold Great Tonic Pill.

But then she recalled a period when her master had indeed fed her quite a few elixirs… and suddenly, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Li Yingling swiftly steered the conversation away from this slightly dangerous topic, pointing at the hydrographic map on the table instead.

"Master, during the meeting at Luopo Ridge, I saw the topographic map of Xuanwu Kingdom. Though it borders the sea, it doesn’t have many outlets to the ocean."

"The composition of the other two or three river systems is similar to Chizhou’s, so the waterway conditions probably aren’t much better there either…"

"If we truly want to set sail, Xuanwu Kingdom might not be the best choice. Nanzhu Kingdom has the most coastal access, with nearly all the major river branches flowing through it. That might actually be the ideal place for departure."

"Perhaps we should investigate the situation there."

Chu Xingchen looked at Li Yingling’s earnest expression and couldn’t help but smile faintly with pride.

The once somewhat naive young girl had indeed grown quite a bit.

Though traces of immaturity still lingered, he could now vaguely glimpse the capable figure she would one day become—someone who could stand on her own.

"Logical and well-reasoned. Your deduction makes sense," Chu Xingchen first nodded in approval before continuing, "But going to such lengths just to avoid drawing attention—doesn’t that seem a bit excessive?"

Li Yingling considered this and asked, "Master, are you suggesting there’s an unavoidable reason it must take the waterways of Xuanwu Kingdom?"

Chu Xingchen lightly tapped the hydrographic map in front of him and said,

"Isn’t Xuanwu Kingdom’s guardian divine beast the Black Tortoise?"

Li Yingling nodded. As a native of Xuanwu Kingdom, she had naturally read its historical records.

Whether it was the impossibly glorified official histories or the wildly exaggerated unofficial ones—some so absurd they seemed penned by a wild boar that had gained sentience—she had perused quite a few.

She replied, "Yes, the histories all mention it. The Black Tortoise is the kingdom’s guardian beast, said to have manifested its true form multiple times to save Xuanwu Kingdom from destruction."

"How long has Xuanwu Kingdom existed?"

"Nearly four hundred years now."

"Four hundred years… How long have the Eighteen Immortal Sects of the Central Plains been around? Would a Black Tortoise really linger in such a spiritually depleted land just to protect a mortal kingdom?"

Chu Xingchen chuckled and said,

"Unless the founding emperor of Xuanwu Kingdom had some… unmentionable romantic entanglement with this so-called Black Tortoise?"

At these words, Li Yingling suddenly recalled one of the unofficial histories she had once read.

A particularly… explosive one.