The severely injured man could not be moved, so the group had no choice but to stop and rest beside the pool for the time being.
It was late autumn, and the mountains were windy and rainy. Yue Jingming used true qi to carve out a cave, then moved the injured man inside with Xiao Chunhe while Liang Yun and Ye Shijiu went back to bring the horses over.
The three adults busied themselves making a fire, cooking, and tending the injured man, so Ye Shijiu volunteered to take charge of gathering firewood.
Yue Jingming glanced at the sky. “It’s going to rain.”
Liang Yun said, “I’ll go call Shijiu back.”
“Better let me. Who knows how far that brat has run off.” Xiao Chunhe dusted the ash from his hands and glanced at Yue Jingming. “Do you want rabbit or pheasant? I’ll bring some back while I’m at it.”
Liang Yun said, “Rabbit. Haven’t had it in ages.”
Yue Jingming was preparing medicine and seemed to accept the choice without comment. Xiao Chunhe shrugged and turned to leave the cave.
In the woods, Ye Shijiu looked around to make sure no one was nearby, set down the dry branches, and pulled a paper figure from his sleeve. Forming seals, chanting, and dotting it with blood came in one smooth sequence. Then he split half his soul into it.
With a pop, the paper figure expanded into a living person identical to him, every expression and movement lifelike enough that an ordinary person would never be able to tell them apart.
Ye Shijiu shoved the lessons Yue Jingming had assigned him into the paper figure’s hands and ordered, “Hurry up and finish the rest for me.”
The paper figure raised an eyebrow. “Why do you get to play while I work?”
Ye Shijiu planted his hands on his hips. “Because I’m the master and you’re the paper figure.”
The paper figure planted its hands on its hips too. “Only my shell is made of paper. I’m the other half of your soul. You do the lessons. I’m going bird-catching.”
Ye Shijiu clenched his fist and thumped it on the head. “You’ve got some nerve. I’m taking you back.”
“Then take me back. You won’t catch any birds or finish your lessons, and you can just wait to get scolded.” The paper figure stuck out its tongue in an infuriatingly smug way, clenched its fist, and thumped him right back.
Ye Shijiu hugged his aching head. His eyes shifted. “Let’s draw lots. Whoever loses does the lessons.”
The paper figure reluctantly nodded. “That’s more like it.”
A little while later, the paper figure sat with a dark expression, clutching the book as it watched Ye Shijiu gleefully climb a tree. After writing only a few characters, it flung the book aside. “To hell with this.”
Ye Shijiu was lying sideways along a branch reaching into a bird’s nest when he suddenly grabbed a warm hand and screamed in fright. “Ah!”
The hand seized him in return, and his own face appeared from behind the nest. The paper figure said gloomily, “I did the lessons. Let’s play together.”
“That fast?” Ye Shijiu stared in shock.
“Nobody said I had to finish them.” The paper figure spoke with complete confidence. “Let’s play together, or I’ll knock down every bird’s nest.”
Ye Shijiu frowned. “Are you threatening me?”
“Didn’t you split me off because you wanted to play?” the paper figure urged.
Ye Shijiu’s eyes lit up. “That’s right.”
The two halves of his soul reached instant agreement. They happily raided bird nests together, then ran to the stream to catch fish once they had enough of that, and even dug up an enormous anthill along the way.
“The Taixu Heart Method Daoist Master Yue taught me is good, but No-Thought One-Mind Art is still stronger. I secretly memorized all of it.” Ye Shijiu poked the paper figure. “From now on I’ll learn Daoist Master Yue’s Taixu Heart Method, and you learn the Fox Great King’s Wushu Heart Method. Then we’ll see which of us is stronger.”
The paper figure said, “Good idea. We can learn illusion arts together too.”
“Once we learn them, we’ll trick enemies into an illusion first and cripple their cultivation,” Ye Shijiu said.
The paper figure continued, “Then dig out their yuan cores and refine them, tear out their souls, and stuff them into paper figures.”
“Make them fight inside an illusion. Whoever survives is the strongest and can help me fight afterward.” Ye Shijiu was deeply inspired. “I’m going to catch an evil demon and kill it to modify you, turn you into an invincible giant paper figure. You can swallow magical artifacts, eat souls, and help me absorb true qi, so I won’t even have to cultivate by myself.”
“I’m so clever,” the paper figure said proudly.
Ye Shijiu and the paper figure tossed ideas back and forth, their imaginations running wild and their plans growing more unscrupulous by the moment. Xiao Chunhe stood behind a tree listening for a while, and even he, a ruthless fox demon, began to turn green.
He hurriedly burned a Yingshi Talisman for Yue Jingming and lowered his voice. “Get over here. Quickly.”
Xiao Chunhe rarely sounded so grave. Yue Jingming arrived not long afterward.
He then listened to Ye Shijiu’s grand plan to wipe out Cangyang Mountain, kill the entire Zhou imperial clan, refine an army of puppet ghost soldiers, and dominate the realm. The brat even remembered to repay kindness by planning to make Yue Jingming, Xiao Chunhe, and Liang Yun all retired emperors…
Xiao Chunhe’s vision nearly went dark. “He really dares to imagine anything. Did something filthy get mixed into that half of his soul inside the paper figure? Why does it keep egging him on?”
Yue Jingming frowned.
Ye Shijiu fashioned several little wooden figures from twigs, bit his finger, and dotted blood between their brows. He told the paper figure, “Make them my servants.”
The paper figure said eagerly, “Can we find Cen Shuang’s soul? Lock him inside one of them and make him suffer worse than death.”
“I’ll try.” Ye Shijiu made several more paper figures. “I’m going to split my soul into even more pieces and train them. I’ll send them to kill Zhou Ran first, then infiltrate Cangyang Mountain as spies and kill every enemy who caused the deaths of my master and senior brothers!”
The more he spoke, the darker his expression became. The paper figure clapped excitedly. “Good, good! Kill them all! Don’t let a single bastard live!”
Yue Jingming took a step forward, only for Xiao Chunhe to grab him. “Don’t be impulsive. He watched his entire sect get wiped out at such a young age, then Cen Shuang trapped him in that illusion for months. It’s normal for him to carry resentment. If you forcibly stop him now… this child holds grudges. He might end up hating you too.”
Yue Jingming removed his hand. “If I do nothing, once he strays onto the wrong path, it will be difficult to bring him back.”
Xiao Chunhe disagreed. “Because he’s Qiu Heng’s reincarnation?”
“It has nothing to do with whose reincarnation he is.” Yue Jingming walked out without hesitation.
Ye Shijiu and the paper figure, in the middle of their evil experiments, both jumped when Yue Jingming suddenly appeared. Ye Shijiu shot to his feet. “D-Daoist M-M-Master Yue, w-why are you here?”
Yue Jingming glanced at him, then at the paper figure he was hiding behind his back. His voice turned cold. “A person’s soul must not be damaged. Back then I placed a sliver of my own soul into a paper figure because I had no choice. Even so, it took me a long time to stabilize my soul afterward. This is not an orthodox method of cultivation. How many times have you split yours?”
Ye Shijiu guiltily lowered his head. “N-not many.”
Yue Jingming said, “When the soul is divided, the mild consequence is instability of the soul; the severe consequence is qi deviation. You rely on your exceptional aptitude, so you feel nothing now. But once your cultivation reaches a certain level, this will become an enormous hidden danger.”
Ye Shijiu bowed his head even lower. “S-sorry. I-I was wrong.”
“You have used this paper figure for so long that it is already beginning to develop an independent consciousness. With no spiritual consciousness to restrain it, the evil thoughts inside you will grow without limit.” Yue Jingming’s expression was grave. “Take back this half of your soul and extinguish the awareness it has developed yourself.”
Ye Shijiu looked up in panic. “B-but it’s my friend. W-we only talk. I-I won’t listen to it and do bad things.”
“Ye Shijiu, you have already cultivated demonic-path qi.” Yue Jingming frowned.
With Ye Shijiu’s aptitude, it would take only a few days for him to fall fully onto the demonic path.
Ye Shijiu instinctively raised an arm to shield the paper figure behind him. “D-Daoist Master Yue, I-I’ll teach it properly. I feel miserable when I’m alone. W-with it talking to me, I feel a lot better.”
“It isn’t talking to it that makes you feel better. It is indulging your own evil thoughts and desires that feels good.” Yue Jingming took out his horsetail whisk and struck Ye Shijiu across the back. “Kneel.”
Ye Shijiu dropped to his knees against his will. He gritted his teeth, clearly unwilling to yield, and desperately tried to stand. Yet the horsetail whisk in Yue Jingming’s hand seemed to carry the weight of a thousand jin, pinning him so firmly he could not rise. Every bone in his body creaked unpleasantly under the pressure.
Xiao Chunhe had been standing aside with his arms folded, watching the show. At the sight, he could not help advising, “Little Ye, stop forcing it. Hurry and apologize to your master.”
“I did nothing wrong!” Ye Shijiu stubbornly raised his head, his eyes full of hatred. “Cen Shuang killed my master and senior brothers. So what if he used to be pitiful? Even death can’t ease my hatred. Once I finish learning, even if I have to go to the underworld, I’ll seize his soul and keep him from reincarnating. I’ll make him suffer worse than death! And Zhou Ran was the true culprit. I’ll cut him into a thousand pieces, grind his bones to ash, and wipe out their clans too!”
His eyes went scarlet as he struggled to rise. “Anyone who dares stop me, I’ll kill them too!”
Yue Jingming lashed the horsetail whisk hard across his back, knocking him flat onto the ground and making him cough up blood.
Xiao Chunhe straightened with a wince. He wanted to plead for the child, but this was the first time he had seen Yue Jingming this furious and cold. He silently swallowed and, for once, did not dare speak.
“If I can teach you, I can also cripple your cultivation,” Yue Jingming said heavily. “My Zushan Sect has never accepted people with crooked hearts. If you keep drowning yourself in hatred and resentment, sooner or later you will destroy yourself.”
Ye Shijiu struggled to get up and said defiantly, “I-I have immortal bones. I learn everything faster than you. Sooner or later I’ll be stronger than you. I’m not afraid of you!”
Yue Jingming fell silent for a moment, then tossed him the Clear Breeze Sword. “I’ll give you ten moves and use the same heart method you do. If you can defeat me, from this day onward I will never interfere with you again. Even if your soul is utterly destroyed, it will have nothing to do with me.”
The force suppressing Ye Shijiu suddenly vanished. He caught the Clear Breeze Sword and looked at Yue Jingming nervously. “R-really?”
“A gentleman does not take back his word.” Yue Jingming sealed several major acupoints on his own body, forcibly suppressing his true qi to the same level as Ye Shijiu’s.
Xiao Chunhe clicked his tongue, hurried over, and hooked an arm around Ye Shijiu’s neck. “What are you two doing? Master and disciple don’t need to make things this formal. Your master is just angry.”
He lowered his voice and squeezed the words through clenched teeth. “Are you stupid? He’s softer-hearted than anyone. Hurry up, call him Master, bow your head, and admit you were wrong. Whatever you want to do, just do it secretly. If nobody knows, nobody can stop you.”
Ye Shijiu clutched the Clear Breeze Sword and hesitantly looked at Yue Jingming. He opened his mouth. “M-Master, I was w-wrong…”
Xiao Chunhe looked up and desperately signaled Yue Jingming with his eyes.
Yue Jingming stared at him expressionlessly. “Move.”
Xiao Chunhe hurried in front of him next. “Your injuries haven’t fully healed. There’s no need to discipline your disciple this instant.”
Yue Jingming put the horsetail whisk into his arms. “If I die, all the better. I won’t bother you anymore. Collect my corpse and take it back to Zushan.”
Xiao Chunhe was horrified. “What the hell?!!”
Before the words were even out of his mouth, the Daoist beside him shot forward like a gust of wind, too fast for Xiao Chunhe to stop.
Yue Jingming casually picked up a branch from the ground. Ye Shijiu, hesitating because of what Xiao Chunhe had just said, had not drawn the sword. Yue Jingming filled the branch with true qi and stabbed it straight at the paper figure behind him, completely extinguishing the awareness the paper figure had developed.
The half of Ye Shijiu’s soul that had been separated returned to him, doubling his hatred and malice. Without hesitation, he drew the Clear Breeze Sword and slashed at Yue Jingming. “What right did you have to kill my friend?”
Yue Jingming held one hand behind his back and used the branch as a sword with the other, catching Ye Shijiu’s still-immature technique. He said coldly, “It was not your friend. It was a demonic obstruction born from your resentment.”
Ye Shijiu shouted, “I liked it that way!”
Yue Jingming’s branch cracked hard across the back of his hand. “Hatred blinds the eyes, and then you can no longer see clearly!”
The sword nearly fell from Ye Shijiu’s hand. He simply gripped it with both hands instead. “I’m going to kill everyone on Cangyang Mountain and every member of the Zhou imperial clan!”
With a lift and flick of the branch, Yue Jingming sent the Clear Breeze Sword flying from his hands. “When your heart is full of resentment and your soul is restless, you cannot even hold a sword steady.”
Ye Shijiu staggered several steps forward. The branch struck the back of his knee, and he cried out in pain. Its tip came to rest against his throat as Yue Jingming looked down at him. “If you drag the innocent into your revenge, your very intent is corrupt. How are you any different from Cen Shuang or Zhou Ran?”
Ye Shijiu snarled, “Why do I have to be different from them? I have nothing left. Who is going to give it back to me?”
He gathered true qi and clawed at empty air. Dense red threads descended toward Yue Jingming. Xiao Chunhe, watching from the side, instinctively stepped forward to help, but Yue Jingming did not move at all and simply let the red threads close in to tear him apart.
Ye Shijiu panicked and tried to call the threads back, but it was already too late. Terrified, he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Yue Jingming!” Xiao Chunhe tried to rush in, only to be stopped by a barrier Yue Jingming had set up.
The red threads blanketed Yue Jingming but failed to tear apart either his soul or his body. Instead, a powerful current of true qi held them outside him until they slowly dissolved into mist and vanished.
“That is the difference between you and Cen Shuang. He, at least, had the strength to fight me.” Yue Jingming looked coldly at Ye Shijiu kneeling on the ground. “If you want to walk the demonic path, then abandon everything, including your conscience. If you want to walk the orthodox path, then set your heart and thoughts straight and cultivate diligently. Otherwise, caught between the two, you will accomplish nothing.”
Ye Shijiu opened his eyes and stared at him in shock. Every meridian in his body had been completely sealed. If Yue Jingming chose to act, he could sever them all.
Yue Jingming tossed away the branch and took back the paper figure. “If you remain trapped in hatred, you will never make any progress. Think about it yourself.”
With that, he turned and left without looking back. The paper figure was reduced directly to powder and scattered into the air.
“Hey—” Xiao Chunhe started to chase after him, only for Ye Shijiu, still kneeling on the ground, to burst into loud sobs. Xiao Chunhe stopped dead. “Huh?”
Ye Shijiu cried so hard he could barely breathe, blood still spilling from his mouth. Xiao Chunhe sighed and reached down to help him up, but Ye Shijiu threw his arms around him instead. “Fox Great King! M-Master, he… does he… d-doesn’t want me anymore? I’m so talented, and he… he actually doesn’t want me! Waaaah—”
“No, no, no, no. He does want you.” Xiao Chunhe hauled him up. “He’s afraid you’ll stray onto an evil path.”
“I-I won’t practice evil arts anymore, and I w-won’t play with paper figures. I can’t beat him. I won’t dare again.” Ye Shijiu sobbed. “It hurts so much. He almost beat me to death.”
“You were planning to wipe out entire clans. If he beat you to death, that would still be getting off lightly.” Xiao Chunhe sighed and hoisted the nearly beaten-flat child over his shoulder. “I’m already this much of a bastard, and even I don’t dare kill people right under his nose. I only dare sneak off in the middle of the night to do it. He caught me, and I still haven’t managed to coax him back into a good mood.”
Ye Shijiu muttered, “He’s biased.”
“Biased, my ass. If I wiped out everyone in Prince Wenren’s residence, just see whether he’d deal with me too,” Xiao Chunhe said.
Ye Shijiu asked, “What if I-I become a really, really powerful great demon? Master s-said I could be bad all the way.”
“Hah.” Xiao Chunhe smacked the back of his head impatiently. “Wake up. You have immortal bones. If you truly fall to the demonic path, he’d be the first to risk his life dealing with you. He’d suppress you inside the Myriad Demons Scroll, and then you’d never get to raid bird nests or eat meatballs again.”
Ye Shijiu drooped, his entire body aching terribly. “I-I won’t dare. Yue Jingming is m-more frightening than a great demon.”
Xiao Chunhe knocked him on the head. “Watch your manners. Call him Master.”
“D-doesn’t he keep saying he w-won’t take disciples?” Ye Shijiu said. “He won’t accept me.”
“Ignore his stubborn mouth. If he had no intention of taking you in, why would he teach you this carefully?” Xiao Chunhe said sourly. “He even teaches you to write. He practically raises you like his own son.”
Ye Shijiu sniffled. “Then wouldn’t that make you Master’s wife?”
“Hey.” Xiao Chunhe’s eyes lit up. He approvingly tapped Ye Shijiu on the head. “Yue Jingming was right after all. Brat, your comprehension really is exceptional.”
Ye Shijiu resentfully covered his head, which was already covered in bumps from being hit. “Master’s wife, then my paper figure—”
The fox demon carrying him abruptly turned his head. His scarlet fox eyes brimmed with malice and wickedness, the outline of a savage fox face emerging faintly over his features. His voice turned chilling. “If you dare study that kind of evil art again, Yue Jingming won’t need to do anything. I’ll eat you in one bite myself. With those immortal bones of yours, I wouldn’t exactly lose out.”
Ye Shijiu shuddered. Every hair on his body stood on end as he pleaded, “D-don’t eat me.”
Xiao Chunhe swallowed the saliva filling his mouth and forcibly suppressed his greedy appetite. He snorted. “Then listen to your master.”
Still shaken, Ye Shijiu said, “Okay.”
He never dared play with paper figures again.