Qing Shisan grinned. "Weird, but it makes perfect sense! With Master Zheng’s personality, he has no parents above him and no children below. What would he do with this huge family fortune? Zheng Erniang is just an adopted daughter. Unless they hastily find a live-in son-in-law, if anything happens to Master Zheng, the authorities will definitely confiscate their property! If it were me, I’d confiscate it too! Anyone would! I was wondering why Master Zheng was so calm and composed in prison, not letting us break him out. Turns out he’d already prepared a way out. If anything happens, he has a legitimate son to inherit everything. He can die without regrets!"

"The timing of this legitimate son’s appearance is truly brilliant. Although the Master is imprisoned in the Heaven-Gazing Platform, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice has yet to convict him. Now that this illegitimate son has appeared, once his status is established, even if Lord Jiang, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, convicts him and issues the documents, the Zheng Family will have an heir. They won’t have to worry about their various assets, and the family line will continue! For the sake of the Zheng Family, for the sake of the Zheng Clan bloodline, Master Zheng is willing to risk his life! Truly great!"

Qing Pi’s analysis was entirely logical. His eyes shone brightly as he secretly admired Master Zheng’s brilliant foresight. He gave a thumbs-up and pointed in the direction of the Heaven-Gazing Platform. "Master Zheng, a true genius! A giant!"

Hearing this, Ji Hong’ou nearly fell off the wall.

While Qing Pi and the proper ladies were whispering in the East Wing Courtyard.

Zheng Xiu pushed open Zheng Erniang’s bedroom door.

Carved cage lanterns illuminated the inner chamber. Expensive sandalwood incense burned in the four corners, its smoke curling straight up.

Zheng Erniang was lying on the bed, covered by a thick goose-down quilt. Her eyes were closed, and her delicate brows were knitted together.

"Second Lady."

Zheng Xiu’s breath caught in his throat, and he hurried forward.

Outside the door, Zizi, Bobo, Pingping, and Lily did not enter. They watched the young man’s back, each with a different expression, lost in their own thoughts.

"Master... Xiu’er... Master... Xiu’er."

On the bed, Zheng Erniang vaguely sensed someone approaching. Her moist lips parted as she mumbled a few words in a daze. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Zheng Xiu was stunned. ’She recognized me?’

Zheng Xiu soon realized he was overthinking it.

Zheng Erniang didn’t open her eyes. After muttering a few nonsensical words, she fell silent, her breathing faint.

Zheng Xiu studied Zheng Erniang’s face. The last time he had seen Second Lady was before the butterfly effect occurred, and back then, she had been radiant. But now, Zheng Erniang had clearly lost weight. Her face was pale, her eye sockets were dark, and her long hair was splayed across the pillow. It was hard for Zheng Xiu to be optimistic.

"Sister Bobo... come in for a moment."

Zheng Xiu was silent for a moment, then snapped his fingers.

Zizi and the others used their six hands to shove Bobo into the room. BANG, the door slammed shut.

Jing Xuemei sighed softly. Holding her flute, she glided gracefully to the young master’s side.

"What are your orders, Young Master?"

"What did the physician say?"

"He couldn’t find the cause of the illness, but he suspects she caught a chill," Jing Xuemei said softly after a moment’s hesitation.

"Did you call for the best physician?"

"We called for the city’s number one physician, Situ Yong, who is known as the ’Living Dead’."

Zheng Xiu suddenly turned his head, his expression turning cold. "Tell me the truth!"

Jing Xuemei was taken aback. For some reason, in that moment, she felt as if she were seeing the Master standing before her.

"COUGH COUGH!" Outside, Qing Shisan suddenly tapped on the door with his pipe and cleared his throat twice. "Go ahead and speak freely. The young master... he’s not an outsider."

’So Qing Shisan finally admits I’m the young master.’

Jing Xuemei pursed her lips, paused for a moment, and then said calmly, "We suspect that a Miracle Master has cast Magic on Second Lady."

"A Miracle Master?"

Jing Xuemei looked helpless, unsure of how to explain.

’The young master isn’t an insider,’ she thought. ’It’s normal for him not to understand the situation.’

"Young Master, you are still young and don’t know the dangers involved."

Outside, all hell broke loose.

"Talking is just too difficult for Sister Bobo."

"Yeah, it’s too hard."

"We all know Sister Bobo is better at blowing than talking."

"We can’t let the young master put Sister Bobo in a difficult position!"

The three of them pushed the door open and came in. Since the topic was already out in the open, they decided it was time to let the young master understand the world of adults.

This was their duty as his new mothers, after all.

After a lengthy explanation.

Zheng Xiu looked surprised on the outside, but inside, his thoughts were in turmoil.

’So, it turns out that hidden within this seemingly peaceful world is a Cultivation route called a ’Path’.’

"The ’Paths’ have no fixed method of Cultivation. From the lowly wanderers of the Jianghu, street vendors, brothel Singing Girls, and dancers on Painted Boats, to the lofty Scholars, Physicians, high-ranking officials, and even Emperors and their generals—any of them has a very small chance, through some fortuitous coincidence, to glimpse a Path and master a Miracle Technique."

"Those who step onto a Path and learn a Miracle Technique are known among insiders as ’Miracle Masters’."

"When a Miracle Master commits a crime, it’s called a ’bizarre case’ within the circle."

"These strange and bizarre cases are handled exclusively by a department called ’Ye Weiyang’."

"Ye Weiyang operates independently of the Six Ministries and answers only to the Emperor. Not even the Left and Right Chancellors can deploy them without authorization."

Bobo silently retreated to the side while Zizi, Pingping, and Lily chattered away, explaining the crucial points to the young master.

But in just a few words and in their haste, the three could only explain the basics without going into detail.

Zheng Xiu was inwardly shocked, but not because this world had developed supernatural powers due to the butterfly effect.

He’d had a vague premonition of this ever since he learned that Feng Bei and Wei Chen might be alive in this world. It was unexpected, yet at the same time, something he had anticipated.

What truly surprised Zheng Xiu was that the Cultivation route they had discovered was also called a "Path."

In other words, his[Prisoner’s Path]was actually just one among many Paths.

This unintentionally reminded him of the terrifying vision that had appeared on the Game Table on his first day in prison, when he first came into contact with the Heart Prison.

Forty-nine black lights had scattered, and the last ray of red light had struck him on the forehead.

’The Dao of Heaven begets forty-nine, leaving The One Who Escaped? Is that the setup? Am I the One, the Jiazi?’ Zheng Xiu mused, touching the bump on his forehead as speculation ran wild in his mind.

Zheng Erniang had been sick for six days.

The illness had struck like a collapsing mountain.

She had been perfectly fine, but then her Spirit weakened, she collapsed, and now she couldn’t be woken.

Zheng Xiu took the Second Lady’s hand. It was ice-cold to the touch. Seeing Zheng Erniang like this left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"All of you, step back."

Zheng Xiu stood up and had everyone move back. The Dice emerged from between his eyebrows, and he tossed it forward.

[Scouting]!

[You were Cunning and Deceitful!]

[Critical Success on Scouting!]

[Your observation was meticulous, and you noticed clues that an ordinary person would miss. Your Scouting has gained a small amount of Experience Value.]

The Celestial Dao rewards the diligent. Zheng Xiu had rolled a critical success on Scouting.

But even with a critical success, the Experience Value gained from Scouting was merely a "small amount."

However, Zheng Xiu knew that the Difficulty of improving the[Scouting]Trait was never low.

Zheng Xiu vaguely sensed that the success rate of his rolls seemed to be related to[Destiny]. His[Fortunate People’s Celestial Appearance]Destiny often resulted in critical successes, making him much luckier than the Mighty Painter.

Unfortunately, the critical success on[Scouting]produced a ten-line intelligence report before Zheng Xiu’s eyes, but the information was largely consistent with what Qing Shisan and the others had provided. It was of no use in diagnosing the cause of Second Lady’s illness.

"Wait."

Zheng Xiu slapped his forehead and gripped the Dice. ’People always say that forming good habits is essential for success. But I was so used to using[Scouting]and[Intuition]to pave the way and investigate that I had momentarily forgotten about the new Ability from[Evil Child].’

But it wasn’t too late to remember now. Zheng Xiu tossed the Dice.

The people behind him seemed unable to see Zheng Xiu’s mysterious "throwing" motion, their expressions remaining unchanged.

[Inspiration (Slightly Knowledgeable)]You were born into a scholarly family, but the tragic death of your parents caused you to awaken a Spirit Communication Constitution in your grief. You can perceive strange auras that ordinary people cannot, though this rarely happens. By using ’Concentration’, you can actively initiate ’Spiritual Vision’. The duration and depth of this vision are directly related to how well you can concentrate.

The ’Concentration’ mentioned in the Trait’s description was easy to understand.

’It’s just a roll of the dice.’

’Fortunate People’s Celestial Appearance!’

[Eleven!]

’No critical success, what a shame. But I still managed to pass.’

[Greater than ten.]

[You have achieved sufficient Concentration.]

[Initiating Spiritual Vision.]

The moment Spiritual Vision began, it was as if a filter had been placed over Zheng Xiu’s eyes. The room’s furnishings seemed to be covered in a faint, ink-wash hue.

Zheng Xiu glanced back. The people behind him left faint afterimages with every movement.

The scene reminded Zheng Xiu of his experience in the Darkness.

Zheng Xiu took two steps forward and, through his ’Spiritual Vision’, carefully observed Zheng Erniang on the sickbed.

From head to toe, and then from toe to head.

Just then, a faint gray mass of air appeared in Zheng Xiu’s vision, located beneath the silk pillow. It was about three fingers wide and the length of a middle finger, pressed firmly under Zheng Erniang’s pillow.

The gray mist was extremely faint. In this ink-wash style of vision, it was easy to overlook at a glance. If Zheng Xiu hadn’t been looking so closely, he might not have discovered it so easily.

Zheng Xiu carefully removed the object from under Second Lady’s silk pillow and was instantly stunned.

It was a Peace Talisman Brocade Pouch.

Zheng Xiu was very familiar with this Brocade Bag. It was the one Second Lady had spent three thousand in gold to obtain, then gave to Zheng Xiu, saying it would protect him.

’But how did it end up here?’

Zheng Xiu took a deep breath and opened the Brocade Bag.

He had expected something strange to jump out, but the Brocade Bag was completely empty.

"It’s empty?"

No one noticed.

As Zheng Xiu opened the Peaceful Silk Pouch, beneath the goose-down quilt, Zheng Erniang’s ten fingers suddenly stretched out straight.