It was really just an ordinary inn, and the room itself was equally ordinary. Yet the farther Fu Xi Yan walked, the more his steps slowed of their own accord.
He had already done plenty of mental preparation before coming, repeatedly telling himself that a python was nothing to fear. He was a man who had patted a white tiger’s butt, after all. But the moment he imagined opening the door and finding a snake flicking its tongue at him, cold dread welled endlessly from the bottom of his heart.
…
A thousand years I wait for this one return, this one return… A thousand years I wait, and I have no regrets…
He silently hummed the song in his head and told himself that although the creature inside might look like a python now, perhaps it was actually a promising investment. Maybe it would suddenly transform into Zhao Ya Zhi… That would be even more terrifying!
Elio’s Notes: Fu Xi Yan is humming the theme from the 1992 TV drama New Legend of Madame White Snake. Zhao Ya Zhi played Bai Suzhen, the White Snake, hence his attempt to imagine the python transforming into her… followed by immediate regret.
Just as he hesitated over whether to go downstairs and walk another lap, the door suddenly opened. A snake’s head poked out and tilted upward to look at him.
Fu Xi Yan had both hands clamped around a crossbeam beneath the corridor roof while his two feet silently performed the Air-Stepping Walk, slowly climbing higher… Just as both feet finally made it onto the beam, a voice at last came from inside the room.
“Since you’re already here, why aren’t you coming in?”
…
The python had retreated to the window, though its tongue was still hanging out and flicking back and forth.
Fu Xi Yan’s body was standing inside the room, but his soul seemed to have remained hanging from the crossbeam. Who would have thought that at such a tender age, he had already comprehended the Martial God experience of having one’s soul scatter from the body? What virtue had he accumulated to deserve this? Why had life brought him here?
Xi Mo Ya slowly raised his head and looked at the plump young man standing beside the door with a token held aloft. Xi Mo Ya was handsome. Though not as striking as Xuan Ou Zi, he had regular features and a powerful build. His only flaw was the heavy bags beneath his eyes, which made him look rather lacking in energy.
“Lord Xuanwu.” His tone was one of certainty. Tong Fang Yu must already have told him about what had happened before.
Fu Xi Yan relaxed slightly and forced a smile. “Eldest Senior Brother.”
Xi Mo Ya said, “You are Senior Martial Aunt Tie’s disciple, and you entered the lineage earlier than I did. I should be the one calling you Senior Brother.”
Fu Xi Yan hurriedly waved his hands in modest refusal.
Xi Mo Ya’s eyes widened. Fu Xi Yan immediately straightened his expression. “Junior Brother.”
Xi Mo Ya slowly narrowed his eyes, apparently satisfied. “Did you come to Jiyang merely in passing, or do you have another purpose?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “I once paid my respects to Martial Aunt Tong in Xiangyang and was fortunate enough to win her favor. She assigned me a task: assassinate Meng Chun Qiu of Huayue Tower. Huayue Tower happens to be here in Jiyang County, but people have been following me everywhere, so I haven’t had a chance to investigate.”
Xi Mo Ya nodded. Clearly he already knew all of this. “I have heard, though, that you and the Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace are extremely close…” As he spoke, he gave Fu Xi Yan a strange look, naked disgust appearing on his face.
Fu Xi Yan did not even need to ask what filthy thoughts were packed into that glance. A sex-crazed ghost who thinks with his lower half like you knows what mutual love is? Calling you an animal would insult all the animals who contribute honorably to the continuation of their species!
That was what he thought, but on his face he gave a bitter smile. “It is not something to speak of before outsiders.”
Xi Mo Ya put himself in Fu Xi Yan’s shoes and immediately felt a little sympathy. Then an obscene smile suddenly curled his lips. “I hear Pei Yuan Jin’s martial arts are excellent, so excellent he dared challenge a Martial King across realms. I wonder whether his skills in bed are equally fierce and formidable.”
…
Fu Xi Yan covered his face. “Junior Brother, please stop asking.” Fuck you, you filthy pervert! Ask one more question and I’m going to lose control and kill you myself!
Xi Mo Ya was deeply dissatisfied at not getting an answer and gave a cold snort through his nose. Men sometimes became obsessed with the strangest forms of competition. He said viciously, “Once I flatten Huayue Tower, I’ll let you properly witness my own prowess in the saddle.”
Fu Xi Yan’s gaze slid past him to the dust that had accumulated along the windowsill because the staff had neglected it. He began seriously considering Duan Qian’s proposal to “catch Xi Mo Ya and Meng Chun Qiu in one net.” The existence of Xi Mo Ya truly polluted the environment.
He changed the subject. “Then how does Junior Brother intend to flatten Huayue Tower?”
Xi Mo Ya waved a hand. “I have my own arrangements. Senior Brother, first go investigate Huayue Tower’s layout.”
Fu Xi Yan frowned slightly. “That may be inconvenient. I slipped out without telling anyone this time.” His purpose in coming here was to get himself involved in Xi Mo Ya’s core plan against Meng Chun Qiu, not to become some errand-running scout.
Xi Mo Ya sneered. “What’s inconvenient about it? All you have to do is curse Pei Yuan Jin in bed for being useless, then urge him to go study properly. Naturally he’ll take you to Huayue Tower.”
Fu Xi Yan had truly not expected Xi Mo Ya to operate in this particular style. He was silent for a long moment.
Xi Mo Ya smiled suggestively. “Never underestimate a man’s obsession with matters like this.”
Fu Xi Yan gave two dry little laughs. “Heh. Heh.”
Xi Mo Ya abruptly changed the subject. “I hear you’re staying with a wealthy merchant in the city. Is it an Immortal Treasury Palace branch in Jiyang County?”
Fu Xi Yan had been wondering how to explain that point away. He had not expected Xi Mo Ya to hand him a perfectly reasonable explanation himself, so Fu Xi Yan immediately accepted it.
Xi Mo Ya smiled faintly, the smile brimming with the smug arrogance of a man convinced everything lay within his grasp.
Fu Xi Yan left the inn weighed down with thoughts. His gaze swept through the crowd, and he knew some of these people had to be Duan Qian’s eyes. That did not matter. He already had the goods in hand, and Duan Qian had now invested more into the deal than he had.
According to the sunk-cost effect, the person who had invested more would have a higher tolerance for trouble in the transaction. If Duan Qian canceled now, Fu Xi Yan would have gotten everything for nothing. Surely Duan Qian was not that stupid. Besides, the golden signboard of “Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace” should still inspire at least some degree of trust.
Fu Xi Yan asked a passerby for directions. Ignoring the tail who quietly followed him, he swaggered toward Huayue Tower.
Since Xi Mo Ya wanted him to inspect Huayue Tower, he might as well oblige. He was curious about this Martial Aunt Yin Fei Yu anyway. If he could meet her early, then Duan Qian’s sunk cost would become even higher.
Huayue Tower’s business was only middling by Jiyang County standards. Its proprietor did not seem particularly motivated by profit. Many of the women were already older and could no longer attract customers, yet they were still allowed to stay and more or less retire there.
During the day, Huayue Tower’s doors remained closed. Its extinguished red lanterns looked listless beneath the sunlight, hanging there without the slightest spirit.
Fu Xi Yan circled the area and found that all the surrounding buildings were single-story houses. Huayue Tower alone rose high above them like a watchtower, its roof offering a view over almost the entire county town. There were very few nearby trees, and the surrounding eaves were not broad. Unless someone possessed concealment skills like Xiao Sang and Xiao Zhang, it would be difficult to sneak beneath the occupants’ eyes. Of course, Huayue Tower was a business. If one really wanted to assassinate someone inside, walking openly through the front door disguised as a customer would actually attract less attention.
The Puyang River ran not far from Huayue Tower, convenient both for firefighting and for escape by water. Clearly Yin Fei Yu had considered every angle when selecting the site and constructing the building.
After two circuits, Fu Xi Yan had seen about as much as he could from outside. The location alone had been chosen with such care, so the interior certainly held even more tricks. But even if he went inside, he doubted he could understand all its secrets in a short visit.
Seeing the sun tilt toward the west and figuring Pei Yuan Jin should return soon, he headed back.
Pei Yuan Jin returned even earlier than he expected.
Naturally, two hundred-plus refugees could not truly put down roots in a foreign place within a day or two. Still, the Jiyang County magistrate had arranged things reasonably well. At least they had roofs over their heads and grain to eat. Once people could see hope in their lives, their spirits visibly improved. And once their spirits improved, everything else seemed better too.
So Pei Yuan Jin had actually been in a fairly good mood when he first returned, right up until Duan Qian told him Fu Xi Yan had first gone to Peace Inn, then to Huayue Tower.
Peace Inn was where Xi Mo Ya was staying.
Duan Qian had clearly come to fish for information. Whether Fu Xi Yan contacted Peace Inn or Huayue Tower, either one would have made him deeply uneasy, much less both in succession. He could not help wondering whether his wager had been too large. Would he lose everything? Worse, had he invited a wolf into his own house?
Pei Yuan Jin showed nothing on his face, but whatever he was thinking inside, even Duan Qian could not read it. The only thing one could safely say was that he was not happy.
The moment Fu Xi Yan returned, he sensed something strange in the atmosphere of the residence. The servants, usually cautious to the point of timidity, boldly looked him over several times today. When he reached the central courtyard, Xiao Zhang even broke precedent and came out to welcome him.
Fu Xi Yan grew uneasy. “What happened?”
Xiao Zhang jerked his chin toward the inside, then gave him a look that said, You’re on your own. Good luck.
Fu Xi Yan: “…” If he could move his mouth enough to point with it, why couldn’t he use that mouth to say one sentence?!
Dinner had already been laid out in the pavilion. Duan Qian and Pei Yuan Jin sat opposite each other in rigid silence.
Fu Xi Yan had originally hoped to privately coordinate his story with Pei Yuan Jin first, but one look at this formation told him Duan Qian was getting anxious. He had no choice but to abandon the idea and walk straight inside.
He had barely sat down when Duan Qian gave him a deeply aggrieved look. Even the fan in his hand had stopped moving and now lay quietly on the table.
Considering Duan Qian had given him manuals and a weapon, Fu Xi Yan decided not to keep him in suspense. He went straight to the point. “I met Xi Mo Ya.”
Duan Qian immediately came alive. “Why did you go see him? Don’t tell me you’re planning to switch sides at the last moment?”
Fu Xi Yan declared righteously, “Young Master Duan, have you never heard the saying, ‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated’? Yin Fei Yu is Tong Fang Yu’s junior martial sister. Xi Mo Ya is only a martial nephew, yet he dares come here alone. Aren’t you curious what he’s relying on?”
Duan Qian looked at him suspiciously. “Would he actually tell you?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “He doesn’t need to tell me. As long as he lets me take part in the operation, I’ll find out sooner or later.”
Duan Qian was only half convinced. “How do you plan to gain his trust?”
“Among Mo Xiao Ran’s four disciples, Jin and Yin were close, while Tong and Tie were close. If I tell him I’m Tie Rong Rong’s disciple, do you think he’ll believe me?”
Duan Qian thought, Believe you, my ass. Tie Rong Rong had died in the Ministry of Justice prison, and Fu Xi Yan had probably had something to do with it. Xi Mo Ya would have to have lard covering his heart and lightning frying his brain to believe a lie like that.
“And how did it go?” he asked. His heart clearly held no hope whatsoever.
“I’m responsible for scouting Huayue Tower. He’ll notify me when he acts.” Fu Xi Yan took out the Lord Xuanwu token. “This is the payment he gave me. Once it’s done, he’ll recommend to Tong Fang Yu that I formally take the position of Lord Xuanwu in the City of Ten Thousand Beasts.” That could only be called astonishingly candid.
Duan Qian stared dumbfounded. He could not understand even after scratching his head raw how Xi Mo Ya had fallen for a dogshit lie that not even a pig would believe. If he had known it could be done this way, he would have struck first himself.
Naturally, he did not know Fu Xi Yan had planted the groundwork with Tong Fang Yu months ago. At the time, Tong Fang Yu had not thought Fu Xi Yan capable of much and had merely planted a hidden piece because there was no harm in it. If it sprouted, wonderful. If not, forget it. Lord Xuanwu was just a title. She could replace him whenever she pleased.
What she did not know was that after Xuan Ou Zi was promoted to Lord Vermilion Bird, he had immediately written Xi Mo Ya a letter to brag.
Of course, Xuan Ou Zi had not said Tong Fang Yu had appointed Lord Xuanwu first and only promoted him along the way. He claimed that because she now had such an excellent Lord Vermilion Bird in him, their master had decided good things should come in pairs and therefore established a Lord Xuanwu as well. And that Lord Xuanwu was none other than the Young Madam of the Immortal Treasury Palace.
With all that groundwork in place, Xi Mo Ya naturally had no reason to doubt Fu Xi Yan’s identity.
The twists and turns behind the matter were complicated enough that even Duan Qian, for all his schemes and calculations, could only sit there woodenly.
Fu Xi Yan had only produced the Lord Xuanwu token because he had no choice. Without concrete proof shocking enough to crush suspicion, someone as distrustful as Duan Qian would definitely obsess over every word and interaction between Fu Xi Yan and Xi Mo Ya. Fu Xi Yan was not one hundred percent confident he could invent a flawless account on the spot.
Duan Qian had not expected Fu Xi Yan to have secretly done so much. He could not help feeling somewhat moved. “Actually, you could have left this to me.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “I wasn’t completely certain myself. How could I ask Young Master Duan to take the risk?”
Xi Mo Ya’s brutality was known throughout the jianghu. Duan Qian had to admit the danger really had been high.
He asked, “Then what should we do next?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “A perfect fake death needs actors, setting, props, timing… not a single piece can be missing. We should inspect the stage in person.”
Duan Qian’s suspicion rose again. “Which one of them is your master, exactly?”
Could it really be Tie Rong Rong?
The thought jolted him. If Fu Xi Yan truly was Tie Rong Rong’s disciple, then by luring him into Jiyang County, Duan Qian had picked up a rock only to smash it onto his own foot.
Fu Xi Yan said, “If you don’t trust me, surely you trust the Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace?”
That was true.
The grudge between the Immortal Treasury Palace and the Puppet Path was known throughout the realm. After Mo Xiao Ran married into the Heaven-and-Earth Mirror, most of that hostility had been inherited by the City of Ten Thousand Beasts. Back then, Pei Xiong Ji had publicly declared that no one from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts was permitted to set foot in the Central Plains.
That single sentence had forced people from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts to creep eastward like thieves every time they left their territory, never daring to make a grand entrance. It was also the reason Duan Qian’s foster mother had been able to steal a little breathing room.
Only recently, with the realm descending into turmoil again, Northern Zhou and Southern Yu locked in constant conflict, major powers emerging one after another, the boundaries between righteous and wicked becoming increasingly blurred, and every kind of demon and monster crawling out of hiding, had the City of Ten Thousand Beasts dared show itself openly again.
Sometimes Duan Qian even thought that if he had known things would turn out this way, he should have persuaded his foster mother to surrender directly to the Immortal Treasury Palace. Their branch had never used living people as puppets. Surely the punishment would have been lighter, and anything would have been better than endless harassment from the City of Ten Thousand Beasts.
Duan Qian’s expression eased. “I need to ask my foster mother about this.”
Huayue Tower was not especially famous in Jiyang County, but because its proprietor ran the place loosely, the women had little competitive spirit. Everyone muddled along at their own pace, accidentally creating a relaxed atmosphere completely unlike other brothels and attracting a stable group of regular patrons.
Every night, the women at other brothels stood outside calling for customers. Huayue Tower alone placed a few lonely pots of flowers by the entrance. Only when customers actually arrived would someone hurry out from inside to greet them.
Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin received somewhat better treatment.
Mostly because of Pei Yuan Jin. The instant he stepped through the door, Fu Xi Yan could feel from far away the vibrations of women sprinting down the stairs at top speed.
The champion sprinter arrived panting. “Young Master, how many in your party?”
Fu Xi Yan thought, Since you specifically said ‘this’ young master, why even ask how many?
Pei Yuan Jin looked at Fu Xi Yan.
Fu Xi Yan said, “Let us first see what private rooms you have.”
Ordinarily, whether at a restaurant or a brothel, nobody particularly welcomed such fussy customers. But Pei Yuan Jin’s face was more important than heaven itself. Work that usually went unwanted nearly caused a fight today as everyone scrambled to serve them.
Huayue Tower was enormous. The first floor alone had seven or eight private rooms in addition to the main hall. The second floor held about the same number, but each room was larger.
Fu Xi Yan had originally been walking beside Pei Yuan Jin, but after being squeezed from every direction, he somehow ended up behind him. If Pei Yuan Jin had not held tightly to his hand, one of them might have ended up inside the door while the other was left outside.
“Young Masters, you two are…?” At last, one of the women noticed they were holding hands.
Pei Yuan Jin gave a slight tug, pulled Fu Xi Yan into his arms, and held him lightly. “Two people. A quiet private room. One table of food. No attendants.”
＊
The most expensive private room overlooked the Puyang River when its window was opened.
Fu Xi Yan took a small sip of the wine. As expected, it was much mellower than distilled spirits. It lacked the sharp burn upon entry, but the aftertaste lingered. Even the same salt-baked chicken and pork belly with preserved mustard greens tasted more authentic at Huayue Tower.
The chicken was tender without being greasy, the pork fragrant without becoming cloying… Before long, Fu Xi Yan and Pei Yuan Jin had once again entered full eating mode.
Once he was about eighty percent full, Fu Xi Yan finally slowed down, stopped devouring peonies like an ox, and began taking time to smell the roses.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Three knocks sounded at the door.
Fu Xi Yan abruptly put down his wine cup. “Come in.”
The door opened gently, and a man and woman of indeterminate age entered.
The woman was softly beautiful, as though she possessed the skin of a ten-year-old, the youth of twenty, the charm of thirty, and the maturity of forty all at once, a profoundly contradictory whole. The man beside her was tall and powerfully built. Half his face disappeared beneath a thick beard, leaving only a pair of wild, unruly eyes that looked almost bestial.
She smiled as she walked farther in. “Did you enjoy the meal today?”
Fu Xi Yan could not help standing. “Very much.”
The woman’s eyes shimmered with flirtatious warmth as she smiled. “Not many men come to Huayue Tower for wine without asking for a woman. I hardly know how to calculate your bill today.”
Fu Xi Yan did not know how to answer for a moment.
This woman might be his mother’s close friend. She might know a great deal about his mother. Once that thought formed, his body instinctively developed the stiff restraint of a junior meeting an elder.
“Keep eating. I’ll come back in a moment. Old Dong, keep them company.”
With that, the woman had the man sit by the table and turned to leave.
The door creaked shut. Old Dong’s head suddenly drooped and his whole body collapsed over the table. A moment later, the door that had just closed opened again. The woman swayed back inside, shut it behind her, and smiled at Fu Xi Yan. “You’re Little Junior Sister’s son, aren’t you? You can call me Aunt Feifei.”
The man’s appearance had been so intimidating that Fu Xi Yan had instinctively assumed he was some formidable figure. But when Yin Fei Yu casually pushed his head aside, he suddenly looked more like Random Passerby A.
Seeming to notice Fu Xi Yan’s confusion, Yin Fei Yu patted the man’s head and sighed. “A new favorite from the last two years. At some point he was caught and turned into Xi Mo Ya’s puppet. They’ve hunted me so many times, and every time they came in swinging and killing. At least this time they finally remembered to use their brains, though an inside-man trick is awfully old-fashioned. Our feelings had already cooled over the last two years and we were about to go our separate ways. Then he suddenly started clinging to me again. Even a ghost would know something was wrong.”
That single speech somehow contained both military strategy and relationship theory. It was too profound. Fu Xi Yan had no idea what to say.
“And where is your mother? How could she feel comfortable letting you run around everywhere with a man?” Yin Fei Yu could not resist reaching toward Fu Xi Yan’s plump cheek, but before her hand got halfway there, Pei Yuan Jin knocked it aside with his chopsticks.
Yin Fei Yu turned to him, studied him with shining eyes, and sighed. “If I’d known the Immortal Treasury Palace had men like this, I shouldn’t have run away back then. I should’ve let Pei Xiong Ji catch me. Maybe I’d be your mother now.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
He truly had never imagined Yin Fei Yu would be this kind of Yin Fei Yu. She turned back to him. “Didn’t you want to meet me? Why aren’t you talking? Am I so beautiful you’ve lost the courage to speak?”
Fu Xi Yan coughed dryly. “Why are you certain I’m Jin Yuan Xiu’s son?”
Yin Fei Yu laughed. “That story about being Tie Rong Rong’s disciple might fool the idiots Tong Fang Yu raised and my own silly son, but no one else. Tie Rong Rong was a madwoman. There was only one kind of person she would spend time and effort teaching: a child she had with Mo Xiao Ran.”
Mo Xiao Ran was Yin Fei Yu’s master, yet she called him directly by name without the slightest respect. That naturally made Fu Xi Yan curious. In everything he knew, both Tie Rong Rong and Tong Fang Yu had been utterly devoted to Mo Xiao Ran.
He voiced the question. Yin Fei Yu’s smile faded slightly. “Have you ever met Mo Xiao Ran?”
Without waiting for an answer, she continued on her own. “I have. Elegant as jade, dazzling in bearing… all of those descriptions are too shallow. I’ve had many men in my life, yet I’ve never been able to stay with one for long. Given enough time, I always start feeling that they’re unworthy.”
She picked up the wine bottle and drank deeply. “But Mo Xiao Ran is unworthy too. He possesses nearly every beautiful quality people in this world yearn for, except one. That man has no heart. In his eyes, you, me, Little Junior Sister, Shi Luo Ying… we’re all the same. Nothing more than pieces in his hand. Have you met Mo Xiao Ran?”
This was the second time she had asked, and this time she paused much longer. Clearly she wanted an answer.
Fu Xi Yan nodded. “But I never saw his face. He wore a mask.”
“What was his personality like?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “Somewhat cold? Somewhat strict?”
Yin Fei Yu laughed. “Do you know what Mo Xiao Ran was like in Tie Rong Rong’s eyes? Gentle, refined, warm, and kind. In Tong Fang Yu’s eyes, he was cold outside but warm within. In my eyes, Mo Xiao Ran was silver-tongued, eloquent enough to make lotus flowers bloom from his mouth, and just a little stingy.”
Fu Xi Yan stared blankly. The version in Yin Fei Yu’s head had clearly wandered far beyond anything he understood.
Yin Fei Yu said, “Still don’t understand? Mo Xiao Ran understands human nature, and he’s a superb actor. Whatever your heart longs for, that is what he becomes. He breaks through your defenses and turns himself into the most perfect man in your heart.”