“What other relationship could there be between a human and a demon? We’re enemies, of course.” Xiao Chunhe lifted his chin so the sword would not actually pierce his throat. “When I was young, my mother was harmed by a demon. That creature left behind an East Sea jiaoren pearl. After I grew up, I traveled from place to place until I found my way to Jiarong County. I originally wanted to use that river demon to find more clues, but I never expected to actually draw this monster out…”
He smiled bitterly. “I only hate that I was too young back then to protect my mother. Otherwise, I would have killed it and ended the matter once and for all.”
As he spoke, he pinched the sword between two fingers and tried to push it aside, but the blade did not move in the slightest.
Xiao Chunhe sighed and pointed toward the demon core. “Before I came down the mountain, I promised my master that I would not indiscriminately take lives. That river demon had committed evil, so I merely removed his demon core and made him return to cultivation from the beginning.”
“If you were capable of removing that river demon’s core, why were you chased into such a miserable state by that creature?” Yue Jingming asked.
“My good fellow Daoist…”
The sword immediately moved a little closer.
“All right, all right. I won’t say it.” Xiao Chunhe sighed, grabbed the front of his robe with both hands, and pulled it open. A scar nearly half a chi long ran down the center of his chest, extending from the Shanzhong acupoint to the Zhongwan acupoint. Pale pink flesh bulged along its edges, showing that it was still relatively fresh. On either side of the long scar were numerous older wounds crossing one another.
Yue Jingming’s gaze darkened.
The scar had not been caused by a weapon, and demonic qi still clung to it. A demon had inflicted it.
“Naturally, I wanted to fight that creature properly, but I was badly injured while killing a demon not long ago. Even if the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.” Xiao Chunhe raised his eyelids toward him, then suddenly curled his lips. “Does it look good?”
Yue Jingming looked puzzled. “What?”
Xiao Chunhe crooked a finger and frivolously flicked the sword blade. “Look at us, out here in the wilderness with rain pouring down, chilled to the bone and aching from our wounds. Why not let me hold you for a little warmth? Then perhaps the pain won’t hurt so much.”
Zheng!
The sword tip that had already moved away from him immediately pressed against his throat. After a faint sting, bright-red blood slowly welled from the cut.
Xiao Chunhe swallowed, his smile still intact. “So fierce.”
“There is no need to say such things deliberately to confuse people.” Yue Jingming said coldly, “Spit out the charm incense you are holding beneath your tongue.”
The corner of Xiao Chunhe’s mouth twitched. He turned his head and spat out a tiny rouge-colored bead. It rolled several times across the ground before the cold rain soaked through it and caused it to dissolve completely.
Yue Jingming withdrew his sword and said solemnly, “For now, I will believe what you have said. But the way you conduct yourself is certainly not that of an orthodox cultivator. What sect do you belong to?”
Xiao Chunhe raised a hand to cover his faintly aching neck and sighed. “You must come from some great and prestigious sect. I’m only from an obscure little sect hidden deep in the mountains along the southwestern frontier. The Xuzi Sect. Ever heard of it?”
Yue Jingming: “…”
Xiao Chunhe smiled freely. “Exactly. You haven’t. There are only two people on the entire mountain, my master and me. I even came up with the sect’s name right before I descended the mountain. My master taught me all sorts of random things, so I randomly learned a little of everything. Naturally, people from great orthodox sects like yours would look down on us.”
“I would not.” Yue Jingming sheathed his sword. “What is your name?”
“My surname is Xiang, given name Gong. You can just call me Xiang Gong,” Xiao Chunhe said.
“Fellow Daoist Xiang.” Yue Jingming said blandly, “I am Su Zheng.”
Xiao Chunhe’s gaze paused. “Su, is it? No wonder you’re so…”
Yue Jingming waited for him to finish.
“Fellow Daoist Su, do you think that demon’s claws might have been poisonous?” Xiao Chunhe abruptly changed the subject.
Yue Jingming looked toward his temple, which had already begun turning faintly black.
Xiao Chunhe pointed at his neck. “Your neck is turning black.”
“…So is your face.” Yue Jingming watched the black poison visibly spread from Xiao Chunhe’s temple toward the bridge of his nose.
“Ah! It hurts!” Xiao Chunhe clutched his head in pain.
Yue Jingming’s neck also began throbbing violently. He quickly sealed several major acupoints on his own body, then helped Xiao Chunhe seal his as well. Xiao Chunhe was apparently in such agony that he actually tried to ram his head against the wall.
Yue Jingming gave him one of his detoxification pills.
Xiao Chunhe held the pill and stared at him suspiciously. “This isn’t poison too, is it?”
“If you won’t eat it, give it back,” Yue Jingming said.
Only after seeing Yue Jingming swallow one himself did Xiao Chunhe reluctantly put the pill into his mouth, whereupon the bitterness twisted his entire face into a grimace.
Yue Jingming sat cross-legged and attempted to circulate his true qi, only to discover that his dantian was completely empty. Unwilling to accept it, he tried forming another hand seal, but could summon only a weak trace of spiritual power.
“Stop wasting your effort. We’ve definitely been poisoned.” Xiao Chunhe’s face was pale and his lips purple as he leaned listlessly against the damp wall, his disordered clothes hanging wide open.
Yue Jingming glanced at him, then turned his face away.
A teasing, irritating laugh sounded beside his ear.
Yue Jingming stopped speaking altogether.
“Demonic poisons usually come from four things: teeth, claws, blood, and bones. Each poison has its own antidote, but every remedy requires some of the demon’s own vital blood. The place where that vital essence is strongest is naturally the dantian.” Xiao Chunhe continued, “Your detoxification pill can only suppress the pain. To remove the poison entirely, we have to catch that demon and cut open its core… otherwise we’ll both be dead within three days.”
Yue Jingming looked slightly surprised. “Fellow Daoist Xiang seems remarkably knowledgeable about demonic poisons.”
“Stop calling me ‘fellow Daoist’ every other breath. We’re grasshoppers tied to the same rope now, so just call me by name.” Xiao Chunhe pinched the corner of Yue Jingming’s sleeve between his fingers and rubbed it. “I grew up in the mountains and spent plenty of time being chased by demons. I picked up a little knowledge.”
Yue Jingming pulled his sleeve free and closed his eyes to rest. “Once dawn comes and the rain stops, we will go find that demon.”
“All right.” Xiao Chunhe folded his arms, though his gaze never left Yue Jingming.
Rain pattered softly outside, and the reeds beyond the door rustled beneath the wind. A faint scent of smoke drifted through the air while the warmth of the fire temporarily drove away the cold and dampness, making them both drowsy.
The rainfall gradually weakened. The final thread of smoke spiraled upward, and a faint crack came from the ashes.
Yue Jingming opened his eyes. The sky outside had already begun to brighten. Because of the poison, he had slept unusually deeply and had not even noticed someone leaning against him.
Xiao Chunhe was pushed away and woke in confusion. He stared blankly at the patch of cloth on Yue Jingming’s shoulder for quite some time before opening his mouth in a tremendous yawn.
Yue Jingming had already risen and gone outside.
The sky washed clean by the storm was exceptionally clear, and the damp freshness of rain hung everywhere. Yue Jingming walked outside the abandoned estate and studied the plaque above the entrance. Most of the writing had faded away, leaving only fragments that vaguely resembled three horizontal strokes crossed by a vertical one.
Someone stretched both arms high above his head as he walked over. “What are you looking at?”
“What character is this?” Yue Jingming asked.
“No idea. I can’t read.” Xiao Chunhe rubbed his chin while sneaking another glance at Yue Jingming’s shoulder. “Last night… Hey, wait for me.”
Yue Jingming, sword on his back, walked straight into the narrow path through the reeds without looking behind him.
Xiao Chunhe looked once more at the badly faded plaque. Something about it seemed familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it. He could only set the thought aside and hurry after Yue Jingming into the reed marsh.
At the turn between spring and summer, dense clumps of reeds formed rolling waves of green. Wild ducks occasionally glided across the water. Yue Jingming walked ahead with his sword on his back while Xiao Chunhe followed leisurely behind, a blade of grass between his teeth, occasionally turning to admire the scenery.
“Brother Su, the sun is coming out,” Xiao Chunhe called.
Yue Jingming turned. The rising sun slowly climbed above the distant mountains, illuminating the luxuriant forest in glistening green and scattering light across the rippling river. Xiao Chunhe stood carelessly by the bank with his clothes still disordered, lazily narrowing those foxlike eyes as the light traced a faint golden outline over his face.
He looked like a fox lying belly-up in the sun.
“Mm.” Yue Jingming turned his gaze away and continued walking.
“You don’t want to look a little longer?” Xiao Chunhe sounded regretful.
Yue Jingming did not slow. “Removing the poison is more important.”
“My, you really are inflexible.” Xiao Chunhe caught up and pretended to put an arm around his shoulder, but Yue Jingming quietly evaded him.
As though discovering a particularly entertaining game, Xiao Chunhe persisted, wanting to see how long it would take before Yue Jingming finally lost his temper.
Unfortunately, despite being pestered the entire way, Yue Jingming retained that detached expression, leaving Xiao Chunhe unexpectedly frustrated.
During their fight, Yue Jingming had managed to obtain a fragment of the demon’s claw. He calculated the creature’s approximate location with his fingers, then took out cinnabar and began drawing a talisman.
Xiao Chunhe squatted beside him with his hands tucked into his sleeves and watched with great interest. “What talisman is that?”
“A Demon-Seeking Talisman.” Yue Jingming placed the broken claw before it, formed a seal, then traced another talisman in the air.
“And what are you doing now?” Xiao Chunhe leaned closer, squeezing against him and tilting his head so they could look together.
Yue Jingming fell silent for a moment. “A secret art of my sect. It cannot be taught to outsiders.”
Xiao Chunhe turned his head and looked disappointed. “Oh.”
His arms and legs were practically pressed against Yue Jingming. The early morning was chilly, making the warmth of Xiao Chunhe’s body particularly obvious. Yue Jingming rose with the talisman in hand. Suddenly deprived of support, Xiao Chunhe tipped sideways and collapsed to the ground, clutching his ankle with a cry of pain.
Yue Jingming had instinctively reached out to help him. He would have done so for anyone. Yet this particular man constantly spouted shameless nonsense, so his hand stopped halfway. Instead, he held out the handle of his horsetail whisk. “Are you all right?”
Xiao Chunhe curled into himself from the pain and refused to take it.
He looked genuinely pitiful. Yue Jingming recalled his master’s teachings that in all matters one need only keep a clear conscience. No longer hesitating, he knelt and helped him upright. “Let me see.”
Xiao Chunhe’s lips had gone pale from pain. He leaned weakly against Yue Jingming and gritted out, “The foot I twisted last night… I think it’s broken.”
“You merely fell once. It would not break from that.” Yue Jingming moved his hand aside and removed Xiao Chunhe’s shoe and sock, then froze.
Xiao Chunhe’s ankle was badly swollen, with blue-black veins bulging hideously beneath the skin. Something seemed to writhe beneath the thin flesh, and blood had begun faintly seeping through.
Xiao Chunhe’s expression changed. He immediately covered his ankle and looked toward Yue Jingming with suddenly sharpened eyes. “You…”
“A demon-gu?” Yue Jingming’s entire attention remained fixed on the ankle, his expression grave.
Elio’s Notes: Gu (蛊) is a traditional Chinese concept involving a poisonous or parasitic curse, often associated with creatures placed inside the body. Here, 妖蛊 is specifically a supernatural gu connected to demons, so we’re keeping it as “demon-gu.”
Xiao Chunhe slowly narrowed his eyes, then softened his voice. “Mm. I was poisoned by it when I was very young and never managed to remove it. I probably twisted the bones and tendons when I hurt my ankle, so it woke up to drink some blood and eat a little flesh. Ignore it. It will settle down soon.”
Yue Jingming frowned. “A demon-gu feeding on blood causes unbearable pain. You can endure this?”
“Of course not. It’s only because there’s a beauty right in front of me.” Xiao Chunhe inhaled sharply. “If I rolled around crying and covered in tears and snot in front of you, what would I do if you stopped liking me?”
Yue Jingming: “…”
I never liked you in the first place.
Xiao Chunhe was already trembling all over from the pain, cold sweat covering his forehead. Seeing this, Yue Jingming pulled a red cord from inside his robe, wrapped it around Xiao Chunhe’s ankle, then used his sword to cut open the swollen skin and applied a medicinal plaster.
The restless demon-gu immediately went still.
Xiao Chunhe smiled at him. “Isn’t something this good wasted on me?”
“The red cord and medicine can only temporarily numb it,” Yue Jingming said. “If you want to remove it completely, you must find the demon that implanted it.”
“I’ll never find it.” Xiao Chunhe closed his eyes and lazily rested against Yue Jingming’s chest. “As long as I don’t get hurt, it doesn’t matter much. At worst, I’m simply more sensitive to pain than other people.”
Yue Jingming pushed aside the head that kept leaning against him. The lingering fragrance on Xiao Chunhe’s body made his own head ache. “If you’re better, stand up.”
Xiao Chunhe said weakly, “If you push me away again and I fall even once, the demon-gu might drink me completely dry.”
Sure enough, the man beside him fell silent and no longer pushed him away.
It took Xiao Chunhe quite some time to catch his breath. Eventually, he hooked one finger around Yue Jingming’s sleeve. “Are you this good to everyone? If so, how many romantic debts are you going to accumulate on this journey?”
Yue Jingming caught the hand reaching toward his chin and pushed Xiao Chunhe away. He stood and glanced at the talisman. “The demon is northwest of here. It is probably hiding somewhere marshy and overgrown with aquatic plants.”
With that, he walked away without looking back.
Xiao Chunhe supported himself on his knee and stood. Lowering his eyes, he glanced at the demon-gu trembling timidly around his ankle, then licked his dry lips while watching Yue Jingming’s retreating back.
This Daoist… he really was a good man.