Chapter 27.3: The Fog Breaks

At that, the corners of the old lady’s mouth began to twitch.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down and carefully picked up the belt. Though thin and soft, if handled with the right technique, it could be quite dangerous.

“All right now, it’s getting late. Ah Li, time for bed. We’ll play again in the morning.”

Ah Li obediently returned to the house.

Li Zhuiyuan apologized, “Granny Liu, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that in front of Ah Li.”

“It’s just that Granny lost face a bit, but I still know right from wrong. I know you meant well.

But you misunderstood something—it must’ve been your great-grandfather who told you about Ah Li. When she has an episode, it doesn’t matter whether there’s a weapon nearby.”

“What?”

“Go on back to your room. Tingting told me you had her buy quite a few things today.”

“I asked Aunt Liu to help me get some study supplies.”

“Then go do your homework properly. This old woman is heading to bed.”

“Goodnight, Granny Liu.”

Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs and opened the door to his room, only to see it full of various supplies. The once-empty space now felt packed and purposeful.

“Aunt Liu really gets things done fast.”

He walked over to a cage where a small black puppy lay. Inside were bowls of food and water.

Earlier downstairs, Aunt Liu hadn’t said a word about it—clearly, she only handled the purchases. How to explain it to Great-Grandpa was now his own problem.

That included raising a little black dog.

At this age, a puppy should be lively and noisy. But this one lay slumped against the side of the cage, sound asleep.

Even as he approached, it didn’t so much as flick an eyelid.

Definitely not suited to guarding a house. Leave the door to it, and it’d sleep through every commotion, longer and deeper than its owner.

But Li Zhuiyuan hadn’t gotten it for that. What he needed was its blood.

That might sound cruel, but it really wasn’t. Pure yang black dog’s blood appeared frequently in The Sutra of Golden Thread and Silken Spiral—it was one of the essential catalysts for activating many consecrated artifacts.

Only a bit of essence was needed—a small smear of blood served as a catalyst.

As for the way Great-Grandpa used to throw whole basins of the stuff around during corpse retrieval rites… that was actually wrong.

Li Zhuiyuan had scoured The Records of Strange Happenings in the Martial World and The Sutra of Golden Thread and Silken Spiral, and not once did they mention any malevolent spirit being drowned in black dog’s blood.

Besides, what Great-Grandpa used didn’t even seem to be real dog’s blood—it was pre-mixed with dyes. What kind of blood it was really depended on whether they’d had chicken or pork recently.

Ideally, to ensure potency, the blood had to come from a black dog no more than a month old. Any older, and the effect diminished sharply.

Just a bottle cap’s worth at a time was enough. Then it would be blended with other ingredients into something like red ink paste. When needed, you’d just uncap it, press your fingertip in, and apply it to the right spot.

Such small quantities, at such low frequency, had barely any impact on the dog’s health. Worst case, you give it a big chicken drumstick afterward to make up for it.

As for how to raise a “pure” puppy, the book had instructions. Not complicated—just medicinal feeding.

The recipe looked like a regular tonic even an old-school doctor wouldn’t find odd. But when fed to a dog, besides making it healthier, it had one side effect: massively reduced desire in that particular area.

Locking the dog alone in a dark room and cutting it off from the world would drive it mad. The resulting blood would be tainted with foul energy, making it useless.

But supervising it closely was too much effort. And if it ever slipped out and lost its virginity, you couldn’t even be sure. You’d end up using useless blood on a Dead Sinker and get yourself killed. The risk was too great.

As for neutering it—absolutely not. Neutered dogs lost their “essence,” making their blood worthless.

So feeding it this tonic was the best route. Follow the course, and even in heat, the dog would remain a proper little gentleman.

Wei Zhengdao, a kind-hearted man, even noted in the book that once the dog reached three or four years old, you could stop the treatment, grant it its freedom, and start with a new one.

Dogs who’d been on the tonic were usually stronger and healthier—just couldn’t mate for a few years. But once they were set free, they could still chase the open skies and bright future ahead. Consider it a bit of bitter first, then sweetness later.

Seeing the puppy still ignoring him, Li Zhuiyuan stopped fussing and turned to his checklist, beginning to “log inventory” one item at a time.

Thankfully, Liangliang had given him a sum of money. Without it, his pocket change would never have covered this many supplies.

And this was just the first batch of raw materials. It didn’t even include future losses from failed experiments and processing costs.

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan truly felt the weight of financial pressure.

He regretted turning down Liu Yumei’s offer of the jade thumb ring.

After checking that nothing was missing, Li Zhuiyuan sat down at his desk and began drawing up blueprints.

The diagrams in the book were crude and mostly explained with text. He had to translate them into something usable to have others fabricate the pieces.

These hand-written manuals were really hard to digest.

He worked until 1 a.m., then got up, showered, and went to bed.

The next morning, when he awoke and turned his head, he saw Ah Li in her red dress sitting on the chair.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but worry—if he returned to the capital and no longer woke up to her presence, would he feel a hollow absence?

The little black puppy in the cage seemed quite interested in Ah Li, pawing eagerly at the bars in her direction.

But unlike other girls, Ah Li didn’t care much for cute animals. Otherwise, Liu Yumei probably would’ve already opened a petting zoo for her.

While washing up, he heard voices in the courtyard below. It was Li Weihan and Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan paused upstairs to quietly listen.

The police had arrested some people yesterday. After investigation, none of them had actually used “that stuff.” But among the four thugs who’d left earlier, the one in a suit—the ringleader—had connections to it.

That guy had been lounging at home when the police came knocking. He was so scared, he spilled everything. He was just a small-time punk who’d recently made contact with a supplier and was planning to distribute the stuff for quick cash. The bust had unraveled the whole thread.

As for what happened in the video hall, the police explanation was that a gas valve in the kitchen corner had been left open, causing everyone to suffer carbon monoxide poisoning and hallucinations.

Li Sanjiang was skeptical. “Gas poisoning causes reactions like that?”

Li Weihan replied, “That’s what the cops said. Panhou and Leihou got IVs and were back to normal after going home.”

Li Sanjiang muttered, still shaken, “Geez… city folk really take risks with gas. Our traditional stoves are safer.”

Li Zhuiyuan headed downstairs and greeted Li Weihan, who ruffled his hair while cursing Panzi and Leizi again for being bad examples.

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