Star Gate

Chapter 13: Master and Disciple (I)

The Zhang family home.

Inside a small yard.

Li Hao sweated profusely and his heart pounded with fear. Spending a year at the Inspectorate was proving to be a valuable experience. If the Veteris version of him stood here, he might not have been able to maintain his composure and pull off a grand play of deception.

“I need to search as quickly as possible and leave. What if the other guy comes back?? Panth!”

He looked at the dog. Li Hao was very familiar with the house, but the more familiar one was in a place, the less likely one was able to find an item of interest. He’d brought the little black dog to borrow its canine strengths.

Panther tilted its head back at Li Hao.

The young man scanned the yard and kept his voice down, pointing at the jade sword in front of his chest. “Sniff around, there should be something here that’s similar to this. You’ve got a sharp nose, see if you can find it.”

That’s right, perhaps Panther would have some luck. The dog had been very taken with the jade sword. In fact, Li Hao was beginning to suspect that Panther had found its way to his door because of Stellaris.

It just lacked the chance to lick it before because he’d never taken it out. Today was its first opportunity.

In that case, could Panth sniff out the stone blade?

The Zhangs had always resided here, so if the stone blade still existed, it would most likely be inside the house. No one carried around a rock for fun.

More?

Panther understood! Newfound energy moved its stiff limbs. The little black dog didn’t immediately smell it around them because it had to be very close to catch the barest whiff. If it didn’t know that these items were special, it would easily overlook the strange shapes.

But since it did, Panther bent its mind to the task. Nose twitching ferociously and front legs crouched on the ground, it diligently sniffed the ground in a close search. If Li Hao had another one of those things, then perhaps good things would be in store for the human’s furry friend!

Li Hao was just as busy while Panther conducted its examination. He looked through the yard, the walls, the ground…

The scarlet shadow had most certainly looked at the same places, but Li Hao surmised that they didn’t know what the stone blade looked like. They might not even know it was stone.

After all, how likely was it that anyone would believe the cross around his neck was the sword of the Lis? It was a cognitive conflict!

If one went by the folk song, then surely the sword of the Lis and blade of the Zhangs were weapons that could slice through metal like butter. Of course they were domineering, awe-inspiring, and gleamed with radiance!

But in reality, the sword of the Lis was a tiny jade pendant and the blade of the Zhangs was an insignificant rock.

……

Ten minutes… twenty minutes…

Li Hao grew anxious when he failed to locate what he was looking for. Was it gone? Had the scarlet shadow found it? Or was it actually lost?

Not only did he come up empty-handed, but so did Panther return with nothing after making a complete circle. The dog would smell something if it was close by, right?

“Nothing!” Li Hao couldn’t stay here too long. Although he’d frightened the person off, they might come back. He couldn’t keep searching either, that would expose his true intentions.

Would the Zhang family heirloom be covered in ashes? Li Hao didn’t think so, but they’d still conscientiously sifted through it!

Panther came up empty-handed once more, disappointing the young man. Was it really in the outhouse?

Gross!

Battling growing distaste in his heart, Li Hao’s eyes flicked toward the large chimney over the stove. Chimneys of brick were commonplace in kitchens of old houses. Without it, the kitchen was uninhabitable when cooking.

“Um… the kitchen?” Li Hao suddenly recalled something. Hadn’t the kitchen undergone some work after Uncle Zhang beat Little Yuan? He wasn’t sure, but it seemed to be coming to him!

Being a small dog, Panther sniffed around the stove. It was unable to climb up the chimney that was the height of a person.

“Can it be there?” Li Hao jumped nimbly onto the stove and grabbed the dog by the scruff of its neck. “Sniff there!”

He raised Panther high and moved it around like a metal probe. Resignation filled the dog’s eyes and it dutifully stuck its nose out.

Its nose twitched at a spot one meter over the stove. A familiar scent wafted into its nostrils.

“Arf? Arf arf!” Panther lit up, prompting Li Hao to brighten as well.

Had they found it? Was it really here?

The chimney… had probably been overlooked by the faction behind the scarlet shadow. Who could’ve fathomed that the Zhangs would stick the family legacy into a chimney?? They’d even once searched around the structure!

Or perhaps the scarlet shadow had looked around. It was formless and intangible, possibly able to go through walls and floors. It’d likely searched the walls and floors, but the faction was focused on cracks, cubbyholes, boxes, or chests.

Maybe it’d never occurred to them that the blade they were looking for was a rock.

Li Hao stared at a protrusion in the chimney with bright eyes. Was the blade in there?

Mottled plaster had fallen off in pieces, revealing some of the bricks inside. More plaster flaked off when Li Hao touched it, revealing a stone the color of dirt. It wasn’t fully apparent, but the young man beamed when he saw it!

“That’s it!” His heart raced. Although he couldn’t see the entire stone, what it should look like floated to the forefront of his mind. It was a rock shaped like a blade—not too big, just a bit larger than a fist.

“Uncle Zhang… really respected his ancestors, huh!” Li Hao suddenly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Uncle Zhang had given his son a hefty beating because of this stone, then immediately shoved it into his kitchen chimney! Was this how one was supposed to respect the family ancestors’ wishes?

If the Zhang ancestors came back to life, they would likely promptly die again of anger.

While it was unknown how the other families treated their inheritances, the Li family sword was treasured as a family heirloom. It was incredible that the Zhangs had managed to pass on a rock for so many generations!

Or… perhaps it hadn’t looked like a rock before? Maybe it slowly petrified until it became a stone by the time of Uncle Zhang’s generation?

There was no time to think about it, neither did Li Hao really care to. He frowned at the stone stuck in the chimney.

He’d found it! But how was he supposed to get it out?

It wasn’t that he couldn’t, but that if he did, it would leave very apparent marks on the chimney. A year at the Inspectorate taught him that once a place was disturbed, scarlet shadow and its backer were sure to inspect it when they came back. What did Li Hao want with this inconspicuous chimney?

And once they saw that it was missing a stone, they might very quickly realize what had happened!

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