The banquet was arranged for that evening.
Ji Xin, head of the Ji household, attended together with his uncles, brothers, and several clan elders. The young masters from the various branches also joined Ji Luo, while the women of the family sat at a separate table behind a folding screen. Young and old alike in the Ji family were scholars, refined and courteous in speech and bearing, measured even in their laughter and conversation, and very comfortable company.
Several young masters around Ye Shijiu’s age finished eating early. After asking permission from their elders, they wanted to take Ye Shijiu into the garden to play pitch-pot and admire the river lanterns.
Since Ye Shijiu had learned to communicate with others, he rarely encountered people his own age. He looked eagerly at Yue Jingming and gave him a very proper cupped-hands bow.
“Go. Just don’t cause trouble,” Yue Jingming said.
Ye Shijiu’s eyes lit up. The half-grown boys had barely left the hall before they began horsing around, chattering away as though they had known each other for ages.
Zhangzhou customs were open-minded, and the separation between boys and girls was far less strict than elsewhere. As long as servants accompanied them, there was no harm in children of their age playing together. Before long, several young girls from the women’s table next door left as well.
Ji Xin smiled. “I have long heard of Daoist Yue’s great reputation in the Zushan Sect. Now that I meet you in person, I see that rumors hardly do you justice. Daoist Yue is so handsome and distinguished, with the grace of fine jade and orchids. You truly are a disciple raised by a prestigious sect.”
Feeling guilty, Xiao Chunhe lowered his head and took two sips of wine.
“Master Ji flatters me,” Yue Jingming said.
Ji Xin then asked, “May I ask whether Daoist Yue is betrothed?”
“Ahem—” Xiao Chunhe cleared his throat emphatically and turned to look at Yue Jingming, a faint threat in his gaze.
Yue Jingming answered truthfully, “I am a cultivator. I cannot marry.”
“Ah, what a pity.” Ji Xin sounded genuinely regretful.
The table behind the folding screen abruptly fell silent for a moment.
Ji Xin then turned to Xiao Chunhe. “And does Young Master Xiao have a family of his own?”
In excellent spirits, Xiao Chunhe said, “I already have a fiancée. He is handsome and distinguished, gentle, considerate, virtuous, and strong. A truly exceptional person, one in ten thousand.”
Everyone at the banquet: “…”
Ji Xin gave two dry laughs. “Hahaha. Young Master Xiao is elegant and extraordinary himself. It must certainly be a fine match.”
Xiao Chunhe looked at Yue Jingming. “Naturally. Wouldn’t you agree, Brother Jingming?”
Yue Jingming lifted his tea and took a sip. “Mm.”
Only then did Xiao Chunhe feel satisfied. The conversation about marriage was temporarily set aside, and Liang Yun took the opportunity to praise Ji Luo instead. “Young Master Ji is an outstanding young talent as well. To make the honors list at such a young age is remarkable.”
An oddly tense silence fell over the banquet. One of the clan elders picked up the conversation. “When it comes to studying, Chen-ge’er is still the most capable. He passed the jinshi examination at eighteen and now holds a post in the capital. That child has such a good heart too. The moment he heard his elder brother had met with trouble, he requested leave and hurried home. He should arrive tomorrow. Once he sees Luo-ge’er is safe, he’ll surely…”
“Clan Uncle.” Ji Xin suddenly cut him off. “Why bring him up? Let us drink with our honored guests.”
The clan elder looked embarrassed. “Right. Drink, drink.”
Xiao Chunhe said instead, “But isn’t a top scholar above an ordinary jinshi? Young Master Ji Luo is the top scholar, so shouldn’t he be the most impressive?”
Inside and outside the folding screen, everything went silent at once.
Ji Luo rose to his feet. “Father, I have placed first as top scholar. It is time for me to go to the Lu family and marry Xiaoyu.”
Ji Xin’s face darkened. Ignoring the guests present, he hurled the wine cup in his hand straight at Ji Luo. Ji Luo failed to dodge in time, and blood immediately streamed from his forehead.
Ji Luo’s mother, Song Yun, rushed out and stood in front of Ji Xin. “Quickly, take the Eldest Young Master away. His injuries are too severe and he has started talking nonsense again.”
“Mother, I’m not talking nonsense.” Ji Luo looked bewildered. “Lu Yu and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts. We were betrothed long ago. Father promised me that as long as I became top scholar, he would let me marry Lu Yu into the family. I did it. Why won’t you let me go?”
“You became top scholar?” Ji Xin roared. “Top scholar of what examination? I thought you had recovered, yet you are still raving like a madman, utterly disgraceful. Someone, lock him back in his courtyard!”
“Master!” Song Yun cried as she blocked Ji Luo. “Master, Luo’er has already recovered. He knows he was wrong, and he has spent the past two years studying hard. He must have injured his head in this disaster. You cannot lock him up again! Master!”
Ji Luo said, “None of you can stop me. Even if I die, I will marry Lu Yu into this family!”
Song Yun turned and slapped him across the face, crying out in anguish, “Shut your mouth!”
Ji Luo’s eyes turned bloodshot, as though he had suddenly remembered something. “No. No, where is Lu Yu? Where did you hide Lu Yu? What did you do to him?!”
He turned to run, but Song Yun clung tightly to him. “Luo’er!”
Ji Luo struggled to break free. “I became top scholar. I’m going to marry Lu Yu!”
“You insolent wretch! Drag him away!” Ji Xin bellowed in fury.
Ji Luo’s hair came loose in the struggle. Pale-faced and red-eyed, he looked completely deranged. Some at the banquet watched coldly while others whispered among themselves, and the servants who crowded closer hesitated to lay hands on him. In the middle of the chaos, a young man rushed in from outside, struck Ji Luo unconscious with one swift chop, and told the servants, “Take Elder Brother away.”
The surrounding servants all breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly carried Ji Luo out.
Dusty from travel, the young man saluted everyone at the banquet. “Your son Ji Chen greets Father and all my uncles and clan elders.”
The night outside was dark and windy, while candlelight flickered indoors, illuminating his handsome face. He looked strikingly similar to Ji Luo, but his gaze was clear and his bearing spirited and confident.
The wine was fine and the food fragrant, yet Ji Xin’s expression darkened even further.
Yue Jingming, Xiao Chunhe, and the others were guests and had no place interfering in another family’s affairs, so they only watched in silence. Xiao Chunhe took the opportunity to eat a huge mouthful of crispy chicken, then tilted his head and whispered to Yue Jingming, “This chicken is delicious. If you’re not eating yours, give me your plate.”
Yue Jingming handed him the plate of crispy chicken.
The unexpected incident spoiled everyone’s appetite. Ji Xin hurried away to deal with the family matter, the banquet ended hastily, and the group was escorted back to their courtyard.
“There is definitely something wrong with this family.” Liang Yun deeply regretted missing the rest of the spectacle. “When Ji Luo first came home, the whole family thanked us over and over and treated him like the most precious treasure alive. But the moment he mentioned marriage, their attitude changed completely, as though marrying this Lu Yu into the family were some unforgivable crime.”
Yue Jingming said, “Earlier, Ji Luo said his fiancée had already married someone else. Now he says he wants to marry that person. From Ji Xin’s words, it also sounds as though he never became top scholar at all. Yet when I examined him before, there was nothing abnormal about his mind. Could some demonic creature be causing this?”
Xiao Chunhe sat with one leg crossed over the other, crunching happily through crispy chicken. “My dear wife, don’t blame everything on us demons. Ji Luo doesn’t have the slightest trace of demonic qi on him. Ji Chen, on the other hand, feels a little strange.”
“Don’t you think the strangest thing is the brothers’ names?” Liang Yun, still hungry, held out a hand toward Xiao Chunhe. “If their names were Chenyu and Luoyan, as in ‘sinking fish and falling geese,’ that would be one thing. But one is simply Chen, ‘sink,’ and the other Luo, ‘fall.’ However you hear it, those names sound terribly unlucky.”
Xiao Chunhe pointed at him, and the two exchanged sinister little laughs. Xiao Chunhe generously handed over a chicken breast, while Liang Yun produced his wine gourd. Xiao Chunhe primly waved it away to show that he was abstaining from alcohol.
“This matter truly is unusual,” Yue Jingming said, and was immediately rewarded with a fragrant chicken drumstick.
“You definitely didn’t eat enough either.” Xiao Chunhe had even hidden away a packet of pastries for him and now handed it over. “It’s someone else’s family affair anyway. Once dawn comes tomorrow, we can simply take our leave.”
Yue Jingming looked at the packet of pastries and could not help smiling.
Liang Yun could barely stand to watch. “Brother Chunhe, do I get any pastries?”
Xiao Chunhe lifted his chin and waved him away. “Shoo, shoo. You were wolfing food down at the banquet just now. You don’t need pastries.”
Liang Yun clicked his tongue twice. “I see. Only your fiancée gets to eat them?”
Xiao Chunhe laughed and cursed at him. “Get lost.”
“I-I-I know a b-big, big secret!” Ye Shijiu rushed in carrying an armful of food and toys, dumped everything onto the table with a clatter, then spread his arms while panting for breath. “G-guess what it is?”
“W-why are you st-stuttering again?” Xiao Chunhe tapped him on the head.
“He does that whenever he gets nervous or excited. I noticed ages ago.” Liang Yun casually rummaged through the pile for a pastry. “Wh-wh-what s-s-secret?”
Ye Shijiu planted his hands on his hips and glared furiously at both of them. “D-don’t copy the way I talk!”
“O-okay,” Xiao Chunhe said with a grin.
Yue Jingming raised a hand and stuffed a pastry into Xiao Chunhe’s mouth, then said to Ye Shijiu, “Ignore them. Go on.”
Ye Shijiu looked at Xiao Chunhe and Liang Yun. Only after making sure neither of them was going to act up again did he lower his voice mysteriously. “I heard the Ji family’s children say that Ji Luo never became top scholar at all.”
When the three of them reacted only mildly, Ye Shijiu hurried on. “N-not only did he fail, he wanted to marry a man. Both families absolutely refused and arranged separate marriages for them, so the two of them agreed to elope!”
“And then?” Liang Yun asked curiously.
“Hmph.” Ye Shijiu lifted his chin. “Are you still going to make fun of the way I talk?”
“No, no. Good Shijiu, hurry and tell us.” Liang Yun desperately wanted the rest.
Xiao Chunhe also shook his head repeatedly while chewing on a pastry.
Only then did Ye Shijiu continue. “That’s as far as they got. The banquet suddenly became chaotic, so the child never finished telling me.”
The other three: “…”
A delighted Ye Shijiu ran away with an angry Liang Yun chasing him, while Xiao Chunhe crouched on a stool and happily gnawed on a chicken neck. Yue Jingming said, “A relationship between two men ultimately goes against conventional morality and is not accepted by the world. If that is what happened, then everything makes sense.”
Xiao Chunhe licked the grease from his fingers. Seeing Yue Jingming looking at him gravely, he asked in confusion, “Why are you looking at me? I’m a male fox. Human morality has nothing to do with a single hair on my body.”
Yue Jingming: “…”
True enough. Compared with being together with a man, pledging himself to a fox demon would be even more shocking. If Master ever learned about this—it would be best if Master did not learn about it for the time being.
* * *
After all the commotion, Yue Jingming returned to his room to meditate. He had just settled into concentration when a fragrant breeze suddenly drifted in.
The scent was very familiar. He opened his eyes and saw a beautifully made large pillow steadily advancing toward him. A fluffy fox tail protruded from behind it, swishing back and forth with tremendous effort.
“…” He reached out and stopped the pillow.
A furry fox head popped up, still gripping one corner of the pillow in its mouth. It seemed extremely annoyed at having its progress blocked, but the instant its eyes met Yue Jingming’s, it immediately straightened up and sat with great dignity atop the pillow.
Yue Jingming asked, “Why did you turn back into a little fox?”
“I ate too much tonight. I turned back into a fox to help digest the meal,” Xiao Chunhe said solemnly.
Yue Jingming asked again, “Then what is this pillow for…?”
The pillow looked familiar. Wherever Xiao Chunhe slept, he liked to hug it or rest his head on it. It was stuffed with fragrant grasses and medicinal herbs and smelled deeply soothing. The fox had always treasured it.
“I brought it out to bask in the moonlight.” Xiao Chunhe swished his tail, letting the tip rest lightly on Yue Jingming’s wrist. “The moonlight is brighter in your room. Keep meditating. I won’t bother you.”
So Yue Jingming deliberately shifted aside, leaving the place with the best moonlight for the fox and his pillow.
The little crimson fox placed his beloved fox lantern beside the pillow, then busily kneaded the pillow soft with his paws. He curled his entire body on top of it, hugged his large tail against himself, narrowed his eyes, and comfortably basked in the moonlight.
Yue Jingming watched him for a long while before finally settling his mind, closing his eyes, and returning to meditation.
* * *
The doors and windows had been nailed shut. The room was pitch-black, with only a few threads of moonlight leaking through the cracks and faintly illuminating the young man inside, dressed in wedding robes.
Ji Luo knelt pale-faced on the floor. He bit his finger and, by the thin moonlight, slowly drew a talisman in blood while murmuring, “Xiaoyu, no one is here now. Come out quickly. Don’t be afraid. Come out.”
His wedding clothes were disordered, the tattered top scholar’s robe still worn underneath. He smiled foolishly, but his movements grew increasingly forceful.
Before long, the sigil on the floor began to glow with an eerie red light. The sound of running water drew nearer, the cold floor became a pool, and a bluish-white hand reached up from the water.
Terrified and delighted at once, Ji Luo seized the hand. “X-Xiaoyu?”
He forcibly pulled the person out of the water. It truly was a young man, handsome but utterly bloodless, soaked from head to toe, with dark blue-black shadows beneath his eyes. His gaze carried resentment and rage. The moment he saw Ji Luo, he raised a hand and clamped it around Ji Luo’s throat, his voice hoarse. “Why did you summon me again?”
Unable to breathe, Ji Luo desperately struck at his ice-cold arm. “I… I missed you, Xiaoyu… I’m dying…”
“Good. Die already!” Lu Yu spat bitterly. “You betrayed me. Once you come down, I’ll tear you limb from limb!”
A living man still had abundant yang qi. Ji Luo desperately pried his hand away, clutched his throat, and coughed violently.
Lu Yu stood and surveyed the shabby room and the nailed-shut windows. “You useless thing. Locked up again? Didn’t I tell you to go die?”
Weakly, Ji Luo said, “I-I deliberately found a remote cliff and jumped from it, but somehow some kind people rescued me. I… I truly can’t seem to die. Wait for me a little longer.”
Lu Yu sneered. “Who wants to wait for you? I’ve already found someone else down there. We’re very happy together and agreed to reincarnate together in our next lives.”
“What did you say?!” Ji Luo shot upright, neither coughing nor weak anymore. His shadow fell over the ghost before him as he asked coldly, “You found someone else down there?”
Lu Yu said, “What does it matter to you who I found? It wasn’t you.”
“We agreed to stay together forever, life after life. That day I reached the docks. I saw you, but my family caught me and dragged me back. When I woke, I learned you had jumped into the river and died. I’ve told you this so many times. Why won’t you believe me?” Ji Luo grabbed his freezing wrist. “I meant to marry you. Look, I’m wearing wedding robes. When I die, I’ll still be dressed for our wedding. I even found a Daoist to burn offerings of silver and a house for me in advance. The moment I die, I’ll come down and marry you in grand style!”
Lu Yu stared at him in shock. “Are you insane?”
“I might as well be.” Ji Luo moved closer. “Either divorce that person down there, or I’ll hire someone to perform a ritual and scatter his soul beyond recovery!”
Lu Yu: “…You’re sick.”
Ji Luo gave a self-mocking laugh. “You have no idea how much I miss you.”
Lu Yu’s neck bent at an unnatural angle. Blood slowly seeped across his blue-black face, and a scarlet tongue slid out to hang all the way down. “Really?”
Ji Luo’s mouth fell open in terror, and he instinctively stepped backward.
Lu Yu grinned viciously. “You really are a coward. You keep saying you like me, but you can’t even accept me like this. My husband wouldn’t react that way.”
Ji Luo had been on the verge of fainting, but the word “husband” infuriated him awake again. Jealousy filled his eyes. “Your husband? What husband? I’m your husband! Only me!”
A grim smile tugged at Lu Yu’s ghostly face. His damp, clammy hand closed around Ji Luo’s chin. “Is that so? Then give yourself to me tonight. Do you dare?”
The fierce ghost drew closer. A chill ran down Ji Luo’s spine and every hair on his body stood on end, but the thought that Lu Yu actually had a “husband” in the underworld let jealousy and resentment completely drown out his reason. With trembling hands, he loosened his belt. “Why wouldn’t I dare? I… was yours to begin with.”
Lu Yu laughed with amusement. His long fingernails traced across Ji Luo’s pale, cold chest, and he passed a breath of ghost qi into Ji Luo’s mouth. His voice turned soft and clinging. “Fine. Tonight will be our wedding night.”
Lu Yu’s ghostly body took form through the blood of the living, but Ji Luo was no cultivator. At times he could touch the other’s icy, damp body, while at other times it vanished from his grasp. He could only faintly sense invisible hands moving his legs and waist. He tried to push them away, yet always met empty air.
The fierce ghost sighed and panted softly, seeming at once to tease him maliciously and to lose himself in feeling.
Moonlight lay shallow, dew gathered deep, and low sobs rose beneath it; a flower half-opened, dampening pillow and mat… It had scarcely ceased before it began again. Fate was cruel: ghostly resentment and human jealousy left neither of them any peace.
…
In another room, the meditating Daoist suddenly opened his eyes.
The little fox sleeping soundly with his tail in his arms startled awake too, every strand of fur standing on end. He leaped onto Yue Jingming’s shoulder. “What is that horribly sinister aura?”
Yue Jingming frowned. “It seems to be a ghost.”
“A ghost?!” Xiao Chunhe’s fur exploded, and his claws shot out and dug into Yue Jingming’s clothes.
Yue Jingming looked puzzled. “Fox demons are afraid of ghosts?”
“A proper fox demon isn’t. A half-demon like me is.” Xiao Chunhe wound his entire body around Yue Jingming’s neck. “I was frail as a child, and those malicious ghosts always came to frighten me because I looked easy to bully. I could see them, but I couldn’t beat them. I often had no choice but to dig a hole, bury myself, and pretend to be a dead fox. Only when they got bored would they leave.”
Yue Jingming lifted him down and held him in his arms. In a low voice, he said, “I have been catching ghosts with Master since I was six. Ordinary ghosts do not dare come near me. Don’t be afraid.”
The little fox rolled over and showed him his belly, all four paws tucked upward. “Really?”
“Mm.” Yue Jingming stroked the white fur on his stomach.
Seeing that, the little fox hugged his fluffy tail to his chest. “Then you have to protect me properly.”
Yue Jingming gently stroked the tip of his tail. “All right.”
The little fox therefore climbed quite naturally into the front of Yue Jingming’s robe and pressed himself tightly against his warm chest. Xiao Chunhe put away his claws and carefully felt Yue Jingming’s chest with his paw pads, unable to stop his heart from fluttering.
Being afraid of ghosts was wonderful. A delicate, pitiful little fox like him was naturally terrified of ghosts.
Yue Jingming had no idea how many tricks the fox had up his sleeve. Taking up the Clear Breeze Sword, he left the room with the little fox and headed straight for the place in the Ji residence where the ghost qi was strongest.