Chapter 1963 — The Secret of the Jade Pendant

"Thank you, Granny!" Wei Zhao took the teacup and said politely.

"Ha ha, think nothing of it. I'll be out in the living room watching TV — just call me if you need more water, don't stand on ceremony," Chu Huifang said.

"Go about your business, don't mind us," Wei Zhao said.

Chu Huifang went out. Liu Weishan, true to her word, forgot everything else the moment he was busy — but Wei Zhao had to admit that Liu Weishan's skill was beyond reproach. The jade pendant in his hands was being turned and worked at a furious pace...

Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan sat quietly to one side, waiting. Neither spoke, for fear that a word might disturb Liu Weishan.

After roughly two hours, one small face of the jade pendant had been cut open — and Liu Weishan gave a startled cry: "Eh? There really is something inside?"

"There really is something?" Wei Zhao had not expected that his and Sun Jingyan's conjecture would actually prove true!

"There is. This pendant is hollow. I'll have to cut with even greater care, following all four sides, to make sure whatever's inside isn't damaged!" Liu Weishan said. "But that's rather difficult — it may not be something I can finish in a day or two."

"No need to go to the trouble!" Sun Jingyan said suddenly. "Elder Liu, since there's something inside, all that matters is that the thing itself stays intact. It doesn't matter if the jade pendant outside is destroyed."

Now that Sun Jingyan knew there was something inside, the pendant itself had become far less important. One might say the outer jade served only to protect what lay within; once the contents were out, the pendant would be of no further use.

Besides, Sun Jingyan had already decided to give the pendant to Wei Zhao. From what Wei Zhao had said, it seemed to make no difference to him if it were broken — he merely wanted the jade as material for refining something. As for exactly what, Sun Jingyan had not asked.

"Destroy it?" Liu Weishan was slightly taken aback. "If it's destroyed, it can't be restored!"

"It doesn't matter. I only want what's inside. The pendant goes to... Wei Zhao," Sun Jingyan said.

"Xiaoyi, is it really all right if the pendant is damaged?" Liu Weishan looked at Wei Zhao in some surprise.

"It's fine!" Wei Zhao said. "As long as it's pure yellow jade, it makes no difference whether it's a whole piece or in fragments."

Wei Zhao meant to use it to refine the jade-pendant space; when the time came, it would have to be crushed anyway. So whether it was broken or whole was of no consequence.

"Oh? So that's how it is. Then it's easy enough. I have a few friends who used to carve pure yellow jade — they kept all the leftover scraps and offcuts. I believe I can find some here as well. If it's only the scraps you need, I can gather some up for you!" Liu Weishan, having earlier taken Guan Xuemin's word for it, had assumed Wei Zhao wanted a whole block of pure yellow jade. After all, everyone who sought jade wanted whole jade; Liu Weishan had never heard of anyone asking for scraps and offcuts.

"That would be wonderful!" Wei Zhao was at once astonished and delighted. Sun Jingyan's piece of pure yellow jade was not large, and Wei Zhao feared it might not meet the requirements for refining the pendant. After all, last time he had already suffered a qi deviation once over the substitute for the body-tempering medicine. This time, refining the jade-pendant space, he must be even more careful and cautious. When the raw materials were insufficient, Wei Zhao would not lightly attempt it.

Otherwise, wasting the materials would be the least of it — ruining the jade-pendant space in the refining would be no joke at all.

"But those little scraps I have left should be sealed in zip bags and stored in the warehouse. I won't be able to find them today — I'll have to look for them for you bit by bit," Liu Weishan said. "There's simply too much in that warehouse."

"That's all right, there's no hurry," Wei Zhao said.

Apart from pure yellow jade, Wei Zhao also needed colored steel and blue crystal powder. Without those two as well, having the pure yellow jade now would do him no good, so there was truly no rush.

"Very well, in that case I'll just break the pendant open directly," Liu Weishan said.

"All right." Sun Jingyan nodded. She too was rather impatient to know what was actually inside the pendant.

Rather than cutting along the grain, he would simply force it apart — as long as the contents were preserved intact, it would be much easier. Liu Weishan took his cutting blade and scored several times around the pendant, and what was inside was revealed!

Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan both stared fixedly at the pendant in Liu Weishan's hands, not blinking. Wei Zhao was curious about the contents as well, so naturally he was not about to miss this.

Liu Weishan chiseled a few more times, then gave a slight pull inside the pendant with a pair of tweezers, and drew out a piece of silken jade fabric folded with extraordinary neatness. The silk was soft and thin, folded into a tiny bundle hidden within the pendant. Had Wei Zhao not chanced upon it, who knew how long that silk would have lain inside.

"This is the thing." Having drawn out the silk, Liu Weishan did not open it, but laid it directly on the table and spoke to Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan.

"Thank you, Elder Liu!" Wei Zhao hastened to express his thanks. He could see that Liu Weishan was an upright man — he seemed to have not the slightest interest in what was written on the silk, and instead turned to gathering up the pieces of pure yellow jade that had been cut from the workbench...

"It's nothing, a trifling effort," Liu Weishan said indifferently.

"Jingyi, open it and have a look!" Wei Zhao said.

"Mm..." Sun Jingyan stared at the silk on the table, overcome with emotion. On this tiny scrap of silk might be recorded the story of her parents and the mystery of her origins! She had asked her grandfather about her parents many times, but he had always avoided the subject. Curious as she was, she had seen that her grandfather perhaps had some compelling reason, and so she had stopped asking.

Now, to be able to find a clue on a piece of silk — Sun Jingyan's hands trembled slightly...

A map? In Sun Jingyan's mind, this silk was either a letter or a cultivation method. She had never expected it to be a map, and it left her with an odd, indefinable feeling. She wanted to ask Wei Zhao what he thought, but turning her head, she found that he was not looking her way, and she knew he was perhaps keeping his distance to avoid any suspicion of prying.

"Wei Zhao, take a look at this — it's a map..." Sun Jingyan took the initiative and handed the silk in her hands to Wei Zhao.

Since Sun Jingyan had shown it to him herself, Wei Zhao did not stand on ceremony and reached out to take the silk.

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