At midnight, an owl’s long cry cut through the dark.
The Zheng residence lay utterly silent, without a human voice to be heard. Zheng Qi pressed the willow leaves the Daoist had given him over his eyelids, his heart jumping with unease. Only after a long while did he gather the courage to open his eyes, and the sight frightened him so badly that he collapsed onto the ground.
Black qi surged skyward from every corner of the residence, turbid and dense enough to almost swallow the scenery whole, and remembering the Daoist’s instructions, Zheng Qi forced himself to push open the door, where sure enough he saw one place blazing with red light and stumbled toward it.
After walking for roughly a quarter of an hour, Zheng Qi found the source of the red light. It was Huangliang Pavilion. Hiding among the peonies, he saw curtains of Floating-Light Brocade drifting in midair around the pavilion, with beautiful women of every kind reclining upon them, so light they seemed to merge into the silk itself. In Xilian Lake, several handsome men splashed naked in the water. Zheng Qi had seen no shortage of beauties, yet even he found himself staring in a daze.
Suddenly his eyelids stung, shocking him awake. He hurriedly followed the Daoist’s instructions and looked more carefully. Inside Huangliang Pavilion, a man and woman lay drinking and making merry. They were none other than the siblings Zheng Bing and Zheng Han. Zheng Qi squeezed his eyes shut, then looked again and nearly cried out. What people? Lying there were two enormous white foxes with glossy, sleek coats! The figures on the Floating-Light Brocade and in Xilian Lake were likewise more than a dozen white foxes of various sizes, though their coats and builds were plainly inferior to those of the two great foxes.
Zheng Qi’s legs shook so badly he almost turned and ran, but then he remembered the Daoist’s warning that his life would soon be forfeit. Trembling, he took the two talismans from his sleeve and buried them beneath the two largest peony plants. Only after finishing did he crawl away on hands and knees.
Once he was far from Huangliang Pavilion, he scrambled upright in a tangle of limbs, face ashen and tears streaming down his cheeks.
Demons!
There really were demons in this world! Aaaaaah!
Outside the garden wall.
Yue Jingming looked at the towering wall, then turned toward Xiao Chunhe.
Xiao Chunhe was tying a black cloth over his face. Seeing Yue Jingming look at him, he handed over another piece of fabric. “Whether you’re killing people, setting fires, or catching demons in the middle of the night, if you’re forcing your way into someone else’s home, it’s best to cover up a little. Otherwise, they’ll recognize you later and you’ll only invite trouble.”
Yue Jingming accepted the cloth but hesitated for an instant. Xiao Chunhe folded his arms and looked at him. “I may not be an upright gentleman, but I’m not some contemptible scoundrel either. I wouldn’t go so far as to soak the cloth in charm incense.”
Yue Jingming covered his face with the fabric, stepped back, and used the momentum to leap onto the high wall, where he paused and turned just as Xiao Chunhe also jumped up lightly; his balance was unsteady and he was about to slip off, so Yue Jingming reached out and caught his arm.
Half of Xiao Chunhe’s face was covered, but the laughter in his eyes was unmistakable. Leaning closer, he murmured, “Of course, if I soaked it in some other fragrance, your chastity might not survive the night.”
Yue Jingming looked at him. “I can tell by the scent. It smells like you, not anything else.”
Xiao Chunhe raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“This cloth came from your inner robe. I recognize it.” After saying this, Yue Jingming seemed to realize that something about the statement was improper. He released Xiao Chunhe and floated lightly down from the wall.
Xiao Chunhe’s foot slipped and he nearly toppled off. He stared in shock at Yue Jingming’s perfectly composed back, looking genuinely bewildered for once.
Yue Jingming looked up at him.
Xiao Chunhe ground his teeth, jumped down neatly, and walked forward beside him. “Judging by the demonic qi around this residence, we’re probably dealing with powerful demons that have cultivated human form. They’re nothing like little creatures such as Li Si and Lan Shi, who obtained human forms by consuming human bodies. Tonight, we’d better just investigate and avoid fighting.”
“Did you come here to subdue demons as well?” Yue Jingming asked.
“More or less.” Xiao Chunhe thought of gleaming silver and golden ingots, and his expression turned solemn. “I also have principles that I absolutely must uphold.”
A trace of approval entered Yue Jingming’s gaze. This man was not entirely beyond saving after all.
Before long, they found their way to Huangliang Pavilion.
Clouds had swallowed the moon and the owl’s cries had gone silent, leaving only brilliant candlelight, shadowy figures moving behind the Floating-Light Brocade, and an unending mixture of low laughter, high cries, and the sounds of men and women coupling, a scene that could hardly have been more debauched.
“Goodness, goodness gracious.” Xiao Chunhe flicked open his fan and blocked Yue Jingming’s eyes, exclaiming in alarm, “How utterly unfit for decent eyes! Fellow Daoist Su, don’t let such filth corrupt your vision!”
His mouth condemned the spectacle with heartfelt outrage, but his eyes watched with considerable interest. He even silently evaluated what he saw and found it rather disappointing.
Yue Jingming pushed the fan aside. His expression did not change as he observed the pavilion. “Fox demons are behind this.”
The distaste in his voice was much too obvious. Xiao Chunhe narrowed his eyes. “You seem to dislike fox demons quite a lot.”
“Why would a human like demons?” Yue Jingming asked, genuinely puzzled, before turning his attention elsewhere. “There are more than a dozen living men and women in the pavilion. They have coupled with these fox demons for a long time. Their lives may already be in danger.”
“Their own wills were weak enough to be seduced. If they die, they deserve it,” Xiao Chunhe said disdainfully.
“Demons possess magic. Ordinary people sometimes have no power to resist,” Yue Jingming replied. “If we can help them, we should.”
“By that reasoning, humans have selfish motives, so demons who do evil might also have their own hardships.” Xiao Chunhe curled his lips into a smile. “Why can’t you spare those you can spare?”
The moment he finished speaking, he regretted it slightly and was about to make some joke to brush it aside when Yue Jingming said, “That is exactly why we came to investigate first, to see whether there are circumstances we do not yet understand. We cannot kill recklessly.”
Xiao Chunhe lifted an arm and hooked it around his shoulders. “Brother Su, you really are a good man.”
Yue Jingming glanced at the hand on his shoulder. Xiao Chunhe immediately let go. “There I go again. Old habits. Forgive me, forgive me.”
He pressed his palms together and bowed several times, eyes curving with laughter, looking simultaneously sincere in his apology and lazily teasing. Even if Yue Jingming had possessed ten parts anger, seven would have disappeared at the sight. He said, “These two demons have very high cultivation. Stay on the outskirts and keep watch. Do not approach them casually. If anything changes, protect yourself first.”
“All right,” Xiao Chunhe answered obediently.
Formations had been laid all around the waterside pavilion, so since they had come only to investigate, Yue Jingming plucked a peony and silently recited an incantation until his figure blurred into the flower and his presence disappeared, then walked directly toward the pavilion.
Inside Huangliang Pavilion, Zheng Bing shoved aside the barely conscious woman beneath him, picked up a piece of fresh meat from the table, and took a large bite. Blood remained between his lips and teeth, yet the people around him seemed not to notice. He said to Zheng Han, “Sister, fresh meat is delicious, but in the end it can never compare to the sweetness of human flesh.”
Leaning among several men, Zheng Han said, “Brother, have you forgotten our agreement not to eat humans? Otherwise, when the day comes for us to face our tribulation, neither of us will enjoy the consequences.”
“What’s difficult about that? We’re hiding inside these siblings’ bodies now. Even if a lightning tribulation comes, we have nothing to fear.” Zheng Bing laughed loudly. “Sister, you’re much too timid. You’ll never accomplish anything great!”
“Our life now is already more pleasurable than we could ask for. Don’t go looking for trouble.” Zheng Han lifted the chin of the man beside her and gently drew in a breath of his yang energy, sighing in satisfaction. Then her gaze abruptly sharpened. “Brother, why are the peonies in the garden blooming so brilliantly tonight?”
Zheng Bing glanced over without concern. “Haven’t they always looked like that? Besides, there’s never been any shortage of fertilizer. These peonies bloom day and night. The day they wither is the day our good life comes to an end.”
Zheng Han pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t know why, but I’ve felt uneasy all night. I’m afraid something is going to happen.”
Unable to bear seeing her worry, Zheng Bing called, “Children, activate the Huangliang Formation! Save your grandaunt from fretting!”
The dozen or so white foxes of every size frolicking on the brocade and in the lake all leaped into the air. A blaze of red light erupted and enveloped the entire Zheng residence.
Xiao Chunhe had been plucking peony petals out of boredom when a violent wind suddenly swept across Xilian Lake. Huangliang Pavilion shuddered, then sank beneath the lake and vanished. The branches throughout the peony thicket abruptly swelled and grew. Not good. Xiao Chunhe turned to run, but after only two steps he suddenly remembered Yue Jingming standing outside the wine shop and looking up at him, and his pace slowed for the briefest instant.
That single instant was enough to ruin everything.
The peonies shot several zhang into the air, their branches rustling wildly. Petals as large as baskets transformed into torrents of blood that poured down and swallowed Xiao Chunhe whole.
Yue Jingming stood amid peonies tall enough to blot out the sky. His vision blurred for an instant, and when it cleared, he found himself back at Qingsong Residence on Zushan.
The sky stretched high and the clouds wide. Sword in hand, he stood on the cliff behind Qingsong Residence and, for a moment, could not remember where he had been before. Looking up, he saw drifting clouds, a clear breeze, and layer upon layer of mountain ridges. His heart immediately opened with them.
He drew his sword and took his stance, and though the Taixu Sword Art long engraved into his bones flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water, it still lacked a measure of unrestrained serenity, so a thought arose in his heart and from that thought the Clear Breeze Sword Art came naturally into being.
His master, Su Ji, stood with his hands behind his back and said, “Jingming, all living beings beneath heaven face a calamity, and you too have a calamity of your own. Withdraw from the world for a hundred years and it will disperse by itself.”
Yue Jingming looked quietly at Su Ji. “Master, heaven and earth follow their own nature. One calamity passes and another comes. To avoid it is still not to escape it.”
Su Ji smiled faintly. “Enter the mortal dust alone and raise a clear breeze with one sword. Jingming, remember this: do not let this heart stir.”
Yue Jingming cupped his hands and bowed as Su Ji and Qingsong Residence disappeared, and the Clear Breeze sword intent drew upon mountain streams and clouds above the peaks until his body and mind merged completely with the natural order of heaven and earth, allowing him to comprehend the Dao in clarity and natural stillness until he lost all awareness of passing time.
Years turned and seas became mulberry fields as he practiced the sword and contemplated the Dao with complete absorption, until a rich fragrance suddenly curled around his nose and Yue Jingming sharply held his breath, only to see a square of black fabric fall into his palm.
Threads of fragrance wound around his neck and cheek, as though someone had gently climbed onto his shoulder and was whispering teasingly beside his ear. “What a sin, what a sin. My good fellow Daoist, how did you suddenly end up thinking of me?”
Peony petals scattered through the sky, transforming into red snow that swallowed mountains, rivers, clouds, and pines until everything became yellow earth.
Those shimmering foxlike eyes brimmed with laughter. The man intimately looped his arms around Yue Jingming’s neck, leaned close, and seemed to brush the lightest kiss against his cheek. Teasingly, he murmured, “My good fellow Daoist, do not let this heart stir.”
The Clear Breeze Sword gave a faint tremor, and its flawless rhythm abruptly fell into disorder.
Elsewhere.
Xiao Chunhe sprawled atop a mountain of gold, happily drinking the finest wine to be found anywhere between heaven and earth. Countless beauties danced among the gold, men and women alike with supple waists and extraordinary faces.
He drank to his heart’s content while eating grapes offered by the beauty beside him, then laughed loudly. “Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
Wine, lust, wealth, and every worldly pleasure were his, while age, illness, and death held no fear. What free and carefree bliss, truly the life of an immortal!
He drank until he was dead drunk. Gold glittered before his eyes and the fragrance of beautiful bodies filled his nose. He seemed to float among clouds, sunk deep inside a dream from which he could not wake. Yet when one beauty leaned toward him, his eyes suddenly opened and his hand closed around the person’s throat. With complete seriousness, he said, “No. Not beautiful enough.”
The world spun, and every beauty transformed into the same person. The man wore plain Daoist robes, his clothing and hair perfectly neat, and looked at Xiao Chunhe with cold reserve. “Is your injury any better?”
Xiao Chunhe’s mouth turned down. He wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, pulled him into his embrace, and wailed, “My good wife, I’m dying of pain. Only a kiss from you can make me better.”
The other man did not move. Coldly, he said, “Although I like you, in the end we walk different paths.”
Xiao Chunhe’s heart burst into bloom. “That’s fine, that’s fine! As long as you like me, everything can be worked out. I like you very much too…”
Before he finished, the demon-gu in his leg suddenly stirred. Agonizing pain pierced straight through him, waking him instantly and nearly making him faint again.
The “good wife” in his arms was no person at all, but an enormous peony as tall as a man. Its branches pierced his temples and chest like tentacles, and its stems writhed like living blood vessels as they greedily sucked the blood from his body.
“Aah!” Horrified, Xiao Chunhe clenched his fist and smashed the blood-swollen flower to pulp with one punch. Furious, he shouted, “You dare drink my blood? And you dare impersonate my good wife? Damn you! Damn you!”
A long, strong hand suddenly caught his arm. “Stop hitting it.”
Flower thorns had already torn Xiao Chunhe’s fist until the flesh was ragged. He turned and saw the face from his illusion. The viciousness on his own face and the bloody glint in his eyes vanished instantly. Looking weak, he stumbled half a step and leaned against Yue Jingming. “Brother Su, I truly almost died just now.”
“It was an illusion created by the fox demons.” Several scratches from the flower branches marked Yue Jingming’s face as well. He released Xiao Chunhe and did not look at him. “I probably alerted them earlier. They have already hidden themselves.”
Xiao Chunhe said bitterly, “What a pack of bastards. They actually dared scheme against me!”
Yue Jingming said, “It is unsafe to remain here. We leave first.”
“Whatever you say.” Xiao Chunhe noticed the black cloth clenched in Yue Jingming’s hand. His eyes rolled, and he leaned closer with a bright smile. “But Brother Su, I’ve been meaning to ask. How do you still remember the pattern and scent of the cloth from my inner robe?”
Yue Jingming: “…”
He remembered the man’s outrageous behavior in the illusion. Although Yue Jingming had awakened in time and pierced the illusion through the chest with one sword, his state of mind had still wavered for a single instant.
His cultivation was clearly still insufficient, and his heart was not firm enough, which was why he had been deceived; the failure was his own doing.
“Hey, wait for me!” Seeing Yue Jingming turn away with a grave expression, Xiao Chunhe hurried after him. “You still haven’t answered me!”
Yue Jingming tightened his grip on his sword.
The demon-gu in Xiao Chunhe’s leg gave a faint ache. He looked down at it in disbelief, then at the figure walking ahead, and bared his teeth with a headache.
This was bad.