When Shang Shuangze returned, he found Xia Yunzhao crouched head-to-head with a young girl, the two gesturing at each other as they talked about who knew what.
Hearing him, Xia Yunzhao turned and waved. “Come here! This little girl says there’s an evil god in her village!”
The girl glanced at him. “I didn’t say evil god. Everyone in the village says it’s a mountain god.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded repeatedly. “Mm-hm, mm-hm. Keep going.”
So the girl continued.
The village not far ahead was called Yanhe Village. Inside the village ancestral hall, they worshipped a “god.”
According to legend, gods dwelled above the Nine Heavens and paid no attention to mortal affairs. For their village to actually receive divine miracles, what incredible fortune was that? Naturally, everyone in the village treated the deity with immense reverence.
The deity also manifested miracles often. Ever since it appeared, the village granaries had overflowed year after year, while vegetables and fruit grew in abundance.
But every time the deity manifested, it demanded offerings. At first, those consisted of wine and food. Later came livestock, gold, and silver… until thirty years ago, when it began demanding human sacrifices.
“It wants the village to offer one girl every three years as its new bride,” the girl said. “Our village isn’t that big. How could we have that many girls of marriageable age? The first few were seventeen or eighteen. Later they were fifteen or sixteen… Now it’s finally my turn. If I can’t kill that god, then three years from now, it’ll be my little sister’s turn.”
Xia Yunzhao could hardly understand it. “The villagers really hand over their own daughters? Couldn’t they go to a nearby city and ask for help? If nothing else, couldn’t all of you pool money and hire a cultivator?!”
The girl glanced at him. “The villagers are pretty happy about it. Ever since they started offering brides, the harvest has gotten even better, and there’s more game to hunt in the mountains. They aren’t the ones dying, so what do they have to complain about?”
Xia Yunzhao met her gaze and had no answer.
The girl looked away and asked with feigned indifference, “You said you could help me earlier. Will you still help now? My parents love me very much. They tried to run away with me before, but the villagers found us and locked them up. I’m the one who makes decisions for our family now. If you’re willing to help, I can give you all the money we have.”
Xia Yunzhao took a deep breath. “We’ll help! Whether it’s a god or whatever the hell it is, we’ll help you slaughter it!”
“Really?!” Delight flashed across the girl’s face. When she smiled, a little of her gums showed, making her look adorable, but she hurriedly suppressed it. “Then I’ll take you to the ancestral hall! Everyone in the village is preparing for the wedding today, so there’s nobody there!”
“Let’s go!” Xia Yunzhao’s blood immediately heated. He stood up, clearly meaning: Let’s go kill this fraud pretending to be a god right now!
“Not so fast.” Shang Shuangze sighed and pulled him back. He asked the girl, “How do you know the girls who were sent there were eaten?”
The girl became slightly more restrained in front of him. “Those older girls all grew up in the village. The ancestral hall isn’t far away. If they were still alive, how could they never come back to visit? And… and…”
The girl, who had remained calm and mature until now, suddenly shuddered and went pale. “I-I saw it myself…”
She had an older cousin who was gentle and had doted on her since childhood. Three years ago, when that cousin was eighteen, she was chosen to become the mountain god’s bride.
The girl could not bear to see her cousin married away, and she had also heard that none of the mountain god’s brides ever returned. That night, taking advantage of her young age and the fact that no one paid attention to her, she followed the wedding procession all the way to the ancestral hall.
She had always been bold. After the procession left the bride behind, the girl stayed. She had been too young to understand much at the time. All she thought was that the wedding night only lasted one night, so if she waited until morning, she could simply bring her cousin home.
She waited and waited until even the moon and stars disappeared. Everything beneath the sky was pitch-black, with only a faint flame glowing inside the ancestral hall.
She had grown drowsy while waiting when a sudden scream from her cousin jolted her awake, and she saw a shadow cast across the ancestral hall window…
The girl shuddered again. Her lips were white, but she still spoke clearly. “I-I saw a cloud of smoke. Then it became a person. A mouth opened from its chest, a huge mouth… It swallowed my cousin whole… When I came back the next morning, there wasn’t even a drop of blood inside the hall!”
She raised her head. “Big Brother, believe me. I really saw it! That so-called god is a monster…” Her voice lowered. “But when I told everyone in the village, nobody believed me…”
Xia Yunzhao’s expression was complicated. This girl truly was extraordinary: clever, resourceful, and astonishingly brave. He said, “Mm. I believe you. That thing is definitely a monster. Don’t worry. Your big brother here is a cultivator. Do you know what cultivators are? Flying through the heavens and burrowing through the earth is nothing to us. We’ll definitely help you kill that monster!”
The girl looked at him, then at Shang Shuangze. Her eyes reddened, and she nodded forcefully. “Mm!!!”
The two decided to go with her to examine the ancestral hall.
“Oh, right.” Xia Yunzhao asked, “I still don’t know your name… Uh, are you allowed to tell us?”
The girl smiled openly. “My name is Fuyao. My mother said she hoped I could rise on the whirlwind for ninety thousand li and never be trapped in this tiny corner of the world.”
Elio’s Notes: Fuyao (扶摇) evokes a famous image from Zhuangzi of soaring upward on a great whirlwind for ninety thousand li. Her mother’s choice of name expresses the hope that she will escape the confines of her birthplace and see a wider world.
“That’s a great name!” Xia Yunzhao introduced himself and Shang Shuangze as well, and the three headed toward the ancestral hall.
Yanhe Village’s ancestral hall was not located inside the village itself but more than ten li away, hidden in a stretch of woodland.
The hall was fairly large. For such a small mountain village, it was practically luxurious, and it must have cost a considerable sum when it was built.
“This ancestral hall looks pretty old. Was it built for this evil god?” Xia Yunzhao asked.
Fuyao shook her head. “I don’t know. But I’ve heard the village grandparents say this evil god has been here for more than a hundred years.”
After hearing Xia Yunzhao call it an evil god so many times, she had started doing the same.
Xia Yunzhao told her to wait outside and left her a magical artifact for protection. Then he and Shang Shuangze went inside.
The moment they pushed open the wooden doors, a layer of dust rose from the floor.
Logically speaking, if the villagers revered this evil god so much, they ought to come here often to worship. Yet the ancestral hall looked as though no one had entered for centuries. The dust on the floor was thicker than the soles of their shoes, and layers of cobwebs blanketed the rafters.
Xia Yunzhao released his divine sense and frowned. “Why is there nothing here… What do you sense?”
Shang Shuangze also extended his divine sense. After a moment he said, “A trace of incense-offering aura, and a faint rotten-fishy smell.”
Xia Yunzhao concentrated hard but still could not detect it, so he gave up. “Can you find where it is?”
Shang Shuangze shook his head. “It probably hasn’t come here in a long time… or it possesses some special concealment technique.”
Xia Yunzhao frowned again. “Does that mean we can only wait until the wedding night? Do we really have to make little Fuyao risk herself again… Hm? Wait!”
＊
The wedding was held the following evening.
The sun set and dusk deepened. Fuyao claimed she needed to sleep so she could better “serve the mountain god” that night and finally managed to trick everyone into leaving her room.
Once she heard that it had gone quiet outside, she removed the wedding robes, bundled them up haphazardly, opened the window, and climbed out.
Her parents had both been imprisoned. If she refused to marry, the villagers would beat them to death. Everyone knew Fuyao was a filial daughter, so they did not guard her particularly closely.
Perhaps they had simply seen too many girls obediently marry the mountain god and never imagined she would cause trouble.
Fuyao clutched the bright-red wedding robes and ran all the way out of the village toward the riverbank. When she saw the green carriage waiting there, her wildly pounding heart finally settled.
She took a deep breath. “Big Brother Xia, I brought the wedding robes!”
The carriage curtain lifted, and the handsome Big Brother Xia made his entrance. “Finally! I thought something had gone wrong. I was this close to charging into the village to rescue you!”
Fuyao smiled and shoved the robes into his arms.
Xia Yunzhao hugged the wedding robes and ducked back into the carriage.
Fuyao waited outside nervously. She had no idea why Big Brother Xia wanted the wedding clothes, but these two people were the only ones besides her parents who had ever offered to help her.
Voices came from inside the carriage. Uncle Shang, who always looked aloof but was actually a good person, asked in an indescribable tone, “Are you really going to do this?”
Xia Yunzhao said, “It’s the only way.”
Fuyao grew even more anxious. What kind of plan is it? She wanted to save herself, but she did not want anyone else to be hurt because of her.
Then a string of cries came from inside the carriage. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!”
Fuyao panicked and started climbing into the carriage. “Big Brother Xia, what happened? Are you hurt? Maybe I should still go myself. I hid stones on my body! If it swallows me, it won’t have an easy time either! Uh…”
The curtain lifted. Inside the carriage, the two men’s hair and clothes were tangled together, their posture looking far too intimate at first glance. Shang Shuangze had one hand pressed against Xia Yunzhao’s shoulder blade, clearly distressed as he pulled him into his arms to examine him. Xia Yunzhao had one hand clutching Shang Shuangze’s shoulder, his face tilted upward with a trace of pain in his expression.
Fuyao dropped the curtain instantly. “Sorry!”
Xia Yunzhao lunged after her and yanked it open again. “N-no! It’s not what you think! You’re a child, don’t start imagining nonsense! This Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art just hurts like hell! I’m hurting!”
Fuyao nodded wildly. “Oh, oh, oh, oh…”
Hurting? But that looked exactly like Father and Mother when they were together! Could Big Brother Xia and Uncle Shang have the same relationship as Father and Mother? Then maybe I shouldn’t call him Uncle Shang. Should I call him… Sister-in-law Shang?
The child crouched beside the carriage and fell into deep contemplation.
Xia Yunzhao turned around and stepped directly on Shang Shuangze’s foot. “Look what you did!”
Shang Shuangze looked innocent. “I only wanted to examine your meridians.”
Xia Yunzhao reached up, pinched both his cheeks, and pulled them outward. “I don’t care. You explain it to her later!”
This was not the first time Xiao Xia had used the Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art. The previous time, when he disguised himself as one of Cold Crow Stronghold’s bandits, it had not hurt nearly this much.
The culprit was the secret-realm core. It had repeatedly tempered his skin, bones, and flesh. That was naturally beneficial, but his body had not yet completely recovered. The Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art also forcibly altered his skin, bones, and flesh, rather like exercising violently before an injury had healed. That was why it hurt.
Still, even that pain brought benefits. Using the technique in his current condition gave Xiao Xia greater familiarity with his own muscles and bones. Not only would his proficiency with the Disguise and Bone-Shrinking Art improve, but cultivating body techniques in the future would also become easier.
Grimacing in pain, Xia Yunzhao finally compressed his body until he was roughly the same size as Fuyao. Then he put on a human-skin mask, adjusted it for a while, and shaped his features to match hers.
When he climbed down from the carriage wearing the wedding robes, Fuyao stared dumbfounded and circled him several times. “Forget me. Even if my mother came, I don’t think she’d recognize you!”
Xia Yunzhao asked about her usual speech habits, then followed her back toward the village.
Shang Shuangze concealed himself and followed behind them.
Xia Yunzhao and Fuyao climbed through the window into the bridal chamber. Their timing was perfect because someone outside was already knocking and calling for her. Had they arrived even slightly later, people would have become suspicious.
Xia Yunzhao slapped an invisibility talisman onto Fuyao and whispered, “As long as you stay quiet, they won’t see you. Protect yourself later.”
Fuyao nodded forcefully. “Don’t worry, Big Brother Xia. I won’t hold you back!”
The door opened, and several old women dressed in festive reds and greens entered. They looked Xia Yunzhao up and down, their faces immediately filling with delight. “Aiya! Look how pretty our Fuyao is! Girl, today is your great day. From now on, you’ll follow the mountain god and enjoy a blessed life!”
Xia Yunzhao looked at her expression and could not resist snapping back, “If it’s so wonderful, why don’t you marry him?”
The old woman’s expression stiffened. “Even if I wanted to, the mountain god wouldn’t take me!” She hurriedly called outside, “Enough, enough. The auspicious hour is almost here. Bring the bridal sedan! The bride is leaving!”
Xia Yunzhao was even more impatient than they were. He shot a glance toward Fuyao and, with someone helping him, climbed into the bridal sedan.
As the sedan left the house, the last trace of daylight vanished and the world outside plunged completely into darkness.
The wedding procession traveled through that darkness. Gongs and drums clanged while festive music played, yet not a single torch was lit. Whenever someone stumbled and fell, they silently climbed back up. Everything carried an indescribably eerie air.
The procession finally reached the ancestral hall. Two burly men lifted the sedan curtain and dragged the “bride” out. “Get inside!”
Somehow, their hands slipped. The “bride” had already escaped their grasp and walked ahead on her own. The face they had watched grow up since childhood wore a smile that was not quite a smile, and the sight made their scalps prickle. “I can go inside myself. No need to trouble yourselves.”
The two villagers hesitated, then sighed. “Fuyao, don’t blame your uncle. We’re doing this for your own good. If you don’t marry, your parents won’t come to a good end. The village won’t either! What would you do then?”
The “bride” snorted, flicked his sleeve, and pushed open the wooden doors. “Then let me see what kind of ‘good end’ you’re talking about.”
The people outside had not expected “her” to enter so readily and hesitated for a moment. The matchmaker hurriedly backed away. “She’s inside, so leave her! Hurry, let’s go! The mountain god will be here soon!”
Everyone shuddered at once. “Quick! Go!”
They fled in a stumbling scramble, yet somehow remained eerily quiet.
Once Xia Yunzhao entered, the ancestral hall was indeed different from during the day.
The dust-coated floor was spotless, and the dilapidated hall had become new and luxurious. If he had not taken the exact same route here, Xia Yunzhao might have thought he had entered a completely different building.
An illusion? No, that’s not right… Before coming, he had taken a Clearheart Pill specifically in case the monster could create illusions. So was everything here actually real? What kind of power could accomplish this?
Cleaning a filthy room was nothing remarkable, but how could old objects become brand-new? Did this monster have a time formation too? Since when did time formations become something you could find on every street corner?
Xia Yunzhao instantly became vigilant.
A soothing feeling reached him from somewhere deep in his heart.
Xia Yunzhao smiled faintly and glanced upward. Shang Shuangze had arrived.
At that moment, the candlelight inside the ancestral hall suddenly flickered. The air grew thick and damp. A strange fishy stench spread through the room, and the temperature began to drop.
Xia Yunzhao turned. In a daze, he seemed to see a figure with loose hair standing in a corner… but when he looked carefully, no one was there.
…No.
He slowly lowered his gaze. A pair of wet footprints had appeared on the floor.
＊
Fuyao dangled in midair by her belt, held in Shang Shuangze’s hand.
Earlier, she had intended to follow the wedding procession in secret just as she had three years ago. She had barely taken a few steps when someone grabbed her belt, and suddenly her entire body began floating.
Shang Shuangze stood in empty air, holding her by the belt while following the procession.
They traveled all the way to the ancestral hall. After the wedding procession left and the lights inside the hall flickered once, Shang Shuangze moved.
He placed Fuyao on a thick tree branch and asked, “I need to go help your Big Brother Xia. Can you stay here by yourself?”
Fuyao still had a cloak clutched in her arms. She nodded hard. “Sister-in-law Sha… Uncle Shang, hurry! Don’t worry about me. If anything dangerous happens, I’ll run away myself!”
Shang Shuangze gave a faint laugh and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Inside the ancestral hall, Xia Yunzhao’s calm voice rang out. “No need to come out. Let me guess where you are.”
Fuyao blinked and carefully peered downward. Is Big Brother Xia talking to Uncle Shang or the monster? Does he know Uncle Shang is going inside?
Xia Yunzhao looked toward the four corners of the hall. A figure seemed to keep appearing at the edge of his vision. Perhaps it was only an illusion caused by the flickering candlelight. Or perhaps… something really was there.
A trail of wet footprints appeared across the floor. Something brushed against the back of his head. He whipped around… and saw two feet hanging down from the rafters.
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “Is that all your petty tricks can do?”
The swaying candlelight went still. A voice came from every direction. “You’re braver than the other girls.”
Xia Yunzhao replied, “And you’re surprisingly cowardly. Faced with a child, you still have to frighten her until her soul grows unstable before daring to appear?”
A terrifying pressure immediately filled the ancestral hall, accompanied by an intimidating voice. “What did you say?!”
Xia Yunzhao’s aura had been unstable lately, and he could not help taking one step backward. The creature seemed to notice his weakness and seized the opportunity. Thick fog erupted from nowhere and surged toward him. Within it appeared a mouth lined with sharp teeth, snapping viciously at the upper half of his body!
But although Xia Yunzhao truly was unstable, that step backward had been an act. He had never been recklessly arrogant. With one sweep of his hand, he actively triggered the Snow-Crane Spirit-Guarding Crown for the first time. Silver-white light enveloped his entire body as he chopped downward with one palm and shouted at the same time, “Shang Shuangze!”
Clang!
Sword light shot in through the window and nailed the dense fog in place. A scream came from within.
When Xia Yunzhao looked up again, the white-robed, black-haired figure was already standing in front of him.
Xia Yunzhao stretched out a hand. “Quick, quick!”
Shang Shuangze hurriedly supported him, only to hear him say, “Quick, help me get this crown off. It’s too heavy. What a crime!”
Shang Shuangze: …
Carefully, he untangled Xia Yunzhao’s hair from the crown and removed it. Xia Yunzhao’s soft black hair spilled loose over his shoulders.
His hair was rather soft. If it was not smoothed properly, it would become a messy bird’s nest.
Shang Shuangze simply took off the Snow-Crane Spirit-Guarding Crown, smoothed Xia Yunzhao’s hair, then put it back on properly.
One scream after another came from the dense fog, but neither of them even glanced at it.
Xia Yunzhao obediently waited until Shang Shuangze finished fixing his hair, then tore away the wedding robes and restored his original appearance.
Outside, Fuyao saw what happened, slid down from the tree, and ran inside.
Shang Shuangze took the cloak from her hands and draped it over Xiao Xia’s shoulders. With another wave, he produced a table, chairs, and a pot of hot tea.
Xia Yunzhao rubbed his slightly sore wrists after returning to normal and went over to sit down. Shang Shuangze poured him tea.
Fuyao looked left and right, then ran over to stand obediently behind Xia Yunzhao, pretending to be a little maid.
Xia Yunzhao took a sip of tea and looked toward the mass of fog. “All right. Tell me what exactly you are.”
Shang Shuangze beckoned. Mingyun flew back, and the screaming immediately stopped. The fog churned for a moment before the voice said, “I did not know honored Daoists had arrived. I am the mountain god worshipped by this village. My divine power is weak, and now I cannot even compare to ordinary cultivators, but I am still a god. Heaven and earth will not tolerate the slaying of a deity. Please spare my life and do not defy the Heavenly Dao…”
Xia Yunzhao set down his teacup and sighed. “I really admire how shameless villains like you can be. You’re already one foot in the grave and you’re still bluffing?” He raised a hand and dispersed the fog.
The so-called mountain god immediately let out a scream even more miserable than when the sword struck him. “No!”
The fog cleared, revealing a short, skinny man on the ground. He was ugly and sly-looking, with a patch of sores across his scalp. Forget looking like a god, he did not even look like a respectable villager.
He covered his face and head with both hands. “D-don’t look at me… I’m the mountain god… I’m the mountain god!”
Fuyao peered carefully through the gaps between his fingers. After a long moment, she pointed and cried, “Ah! He’s Sun Ergou!”
Xia Yunzhao nearly spat out his tea. “Sun Ergou? That’s his actual name?”
“Yes!” Fuyao spoke rapidly. “When my father took me into the city, I heard stories about him! They’ve been told for years, and children love them. I’ll tell you: ‘Villain Sun Ergou, uglier than a dog, sores upon his head and pus beneath his feet, stealing east and stealing west, greedy for wealth, faithless and full of lies…’”
Elio’s Notes: Ergou (二狗), literally “Second Dog,” is an intentionally rustic, comical given name. The folk rhyme turns Sun Ergou into a stock villain children would immediately recognize.
Fuyao even acted out the story as she spoke, making it remarkably vivid. “Basically, he was a terrible person who did every bad thing imaginable. Eventually his neighbors couldn’t take it anymore and joined forces against him. The adults beat him, the children set off firecrackers to frighten him, and some people pretended to be ghosts outside his window at midnight… In the end, he panicked, ran around blindly, fell into a latrine, and drowned.”
The man on the ground nearly leaped up. “Who drowned in a latrine?! That was slander! Once I perfect my divine art, I’m going back to kill every last one of them! A bunch of filthy peasants!”
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “So you really are Sun Ergou.”
Sun Ergou shuddered. “I-I…”
“Since earlier, I’ve sensed something on you. Let me see what it is.” Xia Yunzhao reached out and grasped. “You aren’t even a cultivator. Where did you get the power to perform these ‘miracles’?”
At once, Sun Ergou felt something draining rapidly out of his body. He screamed, “No! You can’t! Give it back… Ah!”
A multicolored fragment the size of a fingernail peeled out from his chest and flew into Xia Yunzhao’s hand. The next instant, hummm.
A sound wave beyond human hearing spread outward. Xia Yunzhao suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath his feet. He instinctively reached out, someone caught his hand, and the two of them fell together into a pure-white space.
An obsession secret realm?
There really were strange things every year, but this year had more than usual. Sun Ergou was not even a cultivator, and he was still alive. How could he possibly possess an obsession secret realm?!
No…
Xia Yunzhao slowly lowered his gaze to the fragment in his hand. Could this obsession belong to it instead?