The wound was deep. Yue Jingming wrapped it in true qi, applied medicine, and bandaged it carefully with strips of cloth.
Holding the lantern, Xiao Chunhe said, “Whenever I was hurt before, whether the injury was serious or minor, no one cared. I’d lick it myself and endure until it passed.”
Yue Jingming lowered his trouser leg and looked up at him. “So that is why you have so many scars?”
“Mm.” Xiao Chunhe leaned lazily against the tree. “That time we were fleeing for our lives at the ruined temple, I was badly injured. Not only did you save me, you even put medicinal salve on my ankle. I was especially happy then. It was the first time anyone had cared so much about one of my wounds.”
Yue Jingming used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face. “Mm.”
Xiao Chunhe said softly, “It isn’t that I couldn’t beat that charm demon. I was just too angry to think straight. I thought dying like that might not be so bad. After all, I was never supposed to have come into this world.”
“There is no such thing as supposed to or not supposed to. If you were able to come into this world, then that itself is merit you cultivated. This gu may be vicious, but you have struggled to survive until now. There is even less reason to surrender to it.” Yue Jingming took his hand and carefully wiped away the blood on it. “If one person cannot think of a solution, then another person can help. We will find a way to deal with the demon-gu in your body. Where there is a will, there is a way.”
The moment he finished speaking, Xiao Chunhe suddenly leaned forward and hugged him.
Yue Jingming stiffened for an instant. Xiao Chunhe’s body ran a little warmer than an ordinary person’s, and in the chill night fog he felt almost hot. His familiar fragrance was there too, though much fainter than when he was deliberately causing trouble. Xiao Chunhe buried his face in the hollow of Yue Jingming’s neck, close enough that Yue Jingming could clearly feel the heat of his lips, nose, and breath.
“You don’t have to help me like this.” Xiao Chunhe’s voice was muffled. “I’m… a fox demon. What if one day I can’t restrain myself and dig out your heart to eat it?”
Yue Jingming’s hand, suspended uncertainly in midair, finally settled on his back with careful restraint and patted him twice. “If that day truly comes, then my own heart must not have been steadfast enough.”
Xiao Chunhe raised his head and stared at him. “What does that have to do with whether your heart is steadfast?”
Yue Jingming said, “There is a rumor that fox demons seduce young ladies or scholars into falling in love with them and becoming husband and wife, then eat the other person’s heart on their wedding night to live forever without aging. If my heart is steadfast, naturally I would never give you such an opportunity.”
Xiao Chunhe frowned. “You actually believe that ridiculous nonsense?”
Yue Jingming smiled. “Mm. I also think the rumor is false.”
Xiao Chunhe could not help laughing too, then tugged his cheek in annoyance. “Don’t smile. Whenever you smile, this demon-gu hurts especially badly.”
Yue Jingming looked puzzled. “But does this gu not hurt when your feelings are stirred—”
He stopped abruptly. Shock and embarrassment mingled on his face as he quickly looked away.
Xiao Chunhe laughed even harder. His teasing, shameless gaze clung to Yue Jingming as he said softly, “Even when you’re shy or angry, it hurts. Alas, seeing you hurts, but when I don’t see you I miss you, and once I start thinking about you, it hurts even worse. What am I supposed to do with you?”
Yue Jingming thought seriously for a moment. “I have heard there is an immortal herb called Forget-Sorrow in a secret realm in the southeast. Eating it allows one to forget the person one wishes to forget. If I gathered it and gave it to you, you would no longer have to suffer like this.”
Xiao Chunhe turned pale with horror. “What?! Something that hateful actually exists in this world?!”
Yue Jingming was about to laugh, but remembered what Xiao Chunhe had said and forcibly held his expression still. He caught Xiao Chunhe by the arm and helped him up. “Come. I’ll carry you.”
Only after Xiao Chunhe was on his back did he belatedly react. “What secret realm? What immortal herb? You were deliberately fooling me, weren’t you?”
Yue Jingming carried him forward at a steady pace, amusement in his voice. “It is difficult to tell truth from falsehood in ancient texts. Either way, it is one possible solution.”
Xiao Chunhe tightened his arms around Yue Jingming’s neck. “Well, Yue Jingming! Only today have I discovered that although you put on the face of a gentleman, you’re actually just as improper as anyone else!”
Yue Jingming’s head tipped back slightly under the pressure of Xiao Chunhe’s arm. Then he suddenly said, “If you hated me, the demon-gu would stop hurting.”
Xiao Chunhe drooped dispiritedly against him. “No use. Just like last night, could you control the No-Thought One-Mind Art well enough to stop yourself from coughing blood?”
Yue Jingming: “…”
They walked for a long time in silence through the mountain fog that seemed to have no end. A sudden thought rose like wildfire, sweeping across the mountains in an instant.
If only this fog could stretch a little farther… that would be nice.
*
“Something terrible happened, Brother Yue! Brother Yue! Brother Yue!” Liang Yun frantically shook the paper figure by the shoulders. “Didn’t you say your souls were connected? Say something to me, Brother Yue!”
The paper figure rustled beneath his shaking and looked ready to fall apart. At last, the eye marked with a speck of blood trembled, and Yue Jingming’s cool voice emerged. “Do not act rashly.”
“I don’t want to act rashly either, but what in the world are these things?” Two willow leaves painted with talismans were stuck over Liang Yun’s eyelids. He pointed at a mouse hole beneath his feet. “Shijiu is a whole living person. How could he have gone in there? Have I gone mad?”
They were standing beneath a ruined wall overgrown with weeds, yet at its base was an opening no larger than a palm. Had Liang Yun merely passed by under ordinary circumstances, he would never have noticed it. But with the willow leaves over his eyes, he could see that the inside was splendidly decorated, with thumb-sized people moving back and forth. Even the ruined walls were hung with tiny lanterns no bigger than fingernails. The scene was as bustling as a lantern festival in the human world.
“This is a demons’ lantern festival,” said paper-figure Yue Jingming. “We need to find a way to blend in.”
Liang Yun shook his head repeatedly. “Impossible. We’re so huge that one step from me would flatten the lot of them.”
“You cannot touch them.” Paper-figure Yue Jingming suddenly went poof and shrank back to the original size of a folded paper figure. Then he drew a talisman above Liang Yun’s head, and Liang Yun collapsed unconscious beside the wall.
When Liang Yun opened his eyes again, the wall and weeds had become enormous. His body made a soft rustling sound whenever he moved. Looking down, he saw paper-crafted hands and yelped in fright.
“Don’t shout, don’t shout. Careful you alert the demons inside.” A familiar voice came from behind paper-figure Yue Jingming.
“Brother Xiao?” Liang Yun recognized Xiao Chunhe’s voice at once.
Paper-figure Yue Jingming suddenly split in two, tearing another paper figure of equal size from his own body. The difference was that this one had two pointed fox ears on its head and a paper tail behind its waist.
“Our real bodies are trapped in the fog by a charm demon. My leg is injured too. No matter which direction we walk, we can’t get out.” Xiao Chunhe lowered his head, picked up his paper tail, folded it several times, and stuffed it into his waistband. “Rongxi placed a Yingshi Talisman on the Myriad Demons Scroll. It’s right here. Our souls came over and entered these paper bodies. We’ll find Little Ye and the Myriad Demons Scroll first. Once we subdue that charm demon, the fog should disperse on its own.”
“I see.” Liang Yun looked at his unconscious “self” lying not far away. “What a colossal thing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen myself from this angle.”
Xiao Chunhe flexed his now-nimble left leg, then turned toward Yue Jingming. His folded-paper ears twitched despite himself. “I can smell a fox demon inside. We have to be careful.”
Yue Jingming nodded, then lowered his voice. “Does the demon-gu still hurt while you’re inside the paper figure?”
Paper-figure Xiao Chunhe’s round eyes rolled. The triangular little mouth curled into a wicked smile as he lowered his voice too and said mysteriously, “No idea. Why don’t we find somewhere empty later and you kiss me once so we can test it?”
Paper-figure Yue Jingming’s already wooden expression went even flatter. His two little black-bean eyes shifted away and refused to look at him again. “Let’s go inside.”
Liang Yun squeezed over beside Xiao Chunhe and teased, “You two made up?”
“Hmph. When were we ever not getting along?” Xiao Chunhe folded himself a tiny paper fan and happily waved it as he followed Yue Jingming.
Liang Yun shook his paper head and clicked his tongue. “Wait for me!”
*
The Glazed Crystal Pavilion was hung with lanterns, and flamboyantly dressed demons sang and danced everywhere, making the place extraordinarily lively.
Although Ye Shijiu had been tied up from head to toe, he still looked around curiously. The beautiful pavilions and halls were made entirely of glazed crystal, reflecting dazzling light under the candles. Multicolored demonic qi filled the air so densely that it seemed like lengths of silk floating overhead.
“You brat, stop looking around!” The demon escorting him shoved him forward.
Ye Shijiu turned to him. “I…”
The demon waited for the rest.
Ye Shijiu struggled out, “My eyes are about the o-only thing that work properly. If I don’t look, what else am I supposed to d-do?”
The impatient demon nearly choked to death waiting for him to finish the sentence. He shoved Ye Shijiu hard. “You damned stuttering deaf bastard! In a moment we’ll throw you in an oil pot and fry you to eat!”
Ye Shijiu looked down his nose at him. “Do you know… who my m-master is?”
The demon’s eyes darted. “Who?”
“The f-famous…” Ye Shijiu said, “Number One Daoist Under Heaven.”
The demon abruptly lowered his voice. “Yue Jingming?”
Ye Shijiu curled his lips into a smile. “Sc-scared now?”
“You’re exactly the disciple we came to capture! Get in there!” the demon barked, then shoved him through the curtains.
Ye Shijiu stumbled several steps forward and found himself facing an exquisitely crafted mirror more than a person tall, surrounded by layers of tangled red gauze. A lazy female voice sounded from behind it. “Young master, today happens to be a grand festival for our demon kind as well. I’m busy admiring the lanterns and have no desire to make things difficult for you. I’ll ask you three questions. If you answer them correctly, I’ll let you go today. How does that sound?”
Ye Shijiu took one step back, only to feel the tip of a blade press him forward. Resigned, he asked, “Wh-what questions?”
“First question. Is Yue Jingming truly your master?” The silhouette of a woman appeared behind the red gauze.
Ye Shijiu answered stiffly, “Of c-course—”
The woman behind the curtain sat up straight.
“Not,” Ye Shijiu added.
The woman slammed a hand on the table. Ye Shijiu flinched. “I-I’m still… not very used to… t-talking.”
The woman drew a deep breath and propped her head on one hand. “Then the second question. What is the relationship between Xiao Chunhe and that Yue Jingming?”
Ye Shijiu immediately became wary.
The woman chuckled softly. “Just tell me the truth. Otherwise I’ll cut out your tongue, and you’ll never be able to speak again.”
An image rose in Ye Shijiu’s mind of Liang Yun standing with his hands on his hips and declaring with utter conviction: “You, Brother Xiao, and Brother Yue are all my good brothers. Once we pick an auspicious day, the four of us brothers will swear brotherhood! We’ll live and die together!”
Ye Shijiu answered truthfully, “Th-they are… sworn brothers. Very, very good brothers.”
The woman sounded doubtful. “Truly?”
Ye Shijiu said, “Absolutely. There are no b-brothers better than… the two of them.”
The woman scoffed. “Last question. Look into this mirror. What do you see?”
Ye Shijiu raised his head toward the mirror and hesitated. “M-myself?”
The woman behind the red gauze shot to her feet. “What?!”