Pip, pip.
The window trembled lightly.
Xiao Chunhe twitched his nose and went over to open the window. A little fox carrying a bundle was crouched on the sill. The moment it saw him, it burst into tears. “Young Master!”
“So it really was you.” Xiao Chunhe grabbed it by the scruff and hauled it inside. “How did you find me here?”
Hu Xiaohu shook the dust from its body, its eyes darting around. “I-I was worried Young Master would have no one looking after you while you were out on your own, and that every fifteenth of the month would be unbearable, so I came to take care of you.”
Xiao Chunhe flicked one of its ears. “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
Hu Xiaohu guiltily looked left and right, rubbed its hollow stomach, and said pitifully, “Young Master, I haven’t eaten for three days. Last time I ate, I only managed to catch a rat.”
Xiao Chunhe rummaged in his sleeve, pulled out a plump steamed bun, and handed it over. “Here.”
“Thank you, Young Master!” Hu Xiaohu wagged its tail furiously and began gnawing on the bun, not forgetting to ask, “Young Master, where’s your storage pouch? I brought you lots of things this time.”
“Gave it away.” Xiao Chunhe sat at the table and watched it eat.
Hu Xiaohu stared at him in shock. “But that was one of your most important treasures! How could you give it away so casually?”
“I gave it to my wife.” Xiao Chunhe sounded utterly lazy about it.
“Young Master has a wife?!” Hu Xiaohu cried delightedly. “Who?”
Xiao Chunhe said, “Yue Jingming.”
The bun dropped from Hu Xiaohu’s mouth onto the table. It stared at him, completely dumbfounded.
Xiao Chunhe rapped it on the skull. “Eat.”
Hu Xiaohu had completely lost its appetite. It stamped its paws anxiously. “Isn’t Yue Jingming your enemy? Didn’t you say before that you were only going to toy with him, and once you were bored you’d kill him to eliminate the future threat?”
“Did I?” Xiao Chunhe rubbed his itchy nose. “How come I don’t remember saying that?”
“And you still have the demon-gu in your body. You can’t fall in love with anyone, or it’ll feel like ten thousand ants are gnawing at your heart until you die.” Hu Xiaohu looked as though the sky were collapsing. “Even if you ate the other person’s heart to break the gu, you’d still be better off dead than alive. Young Master, how could you be this muddleheaded?!”
Xiao Chunhe muttered, “It might not be that terrifying. At most it only hurts now and then. Apart from not being able to… do that, I’m very happy when I’m with Jingming.”
Hu Xiaohu said in horror, “Young Master has gone mad.”
Xiao Chunhe propped his cheek on one hand and looked at it. “It isn’t as though the demon-gu can never be removed. There’ll always be some way.”
Hu Xiaohu looked surprised. “Young Master, you’ve changed a lot. You never used to be this calm.”
“You become like the company you keep.” Xiao Chunhe curled his lips. “Yue Jingming never panics when something happens.”
Even when he was close to qi deviation, he had still remembered to reattach Xiao Chunhe’s severed finger. He really was the best Daoist under Heaven.
Hu Xiaohu sighed. “Even if we ignore the demon-gu, you still have to return to Zixu Mountain for treatment every fifteenth of the month. The clan leader is terribly worried about you. Your soul lamp on the mountain is down to one tiny flame.”
Xiao Chunhe raised his brows. “Did they make things difficult for you?”
“Not really. They just told me to make you hurry back.” Hu Xiaohu flicked its tail worriedly and stuffed the remaining half of its bun into its mouth. “Right, the clan leader also said your mother’s death anniversary is coming soon. Even if you don’t care about your own body, you should go back and visit her.”
Xiao Chunhe pulled out another bun and pushed it at the little fox. “You’re just a little fox. Don’t worry about grown-up matters. Have another.”
Hu Xiaohu happily hugged the bun and began eating. “Thank you, Young Master. This really is the best bun I’ve ever had!”
Xiao Chunhe gave a soft laugh and patted its head. While it was busy eating, he felt over its Baihui acupoint and, sure enough, found a slightly protruding silver needle. His eyes instantly darkened.
* * *
Zhangzhou City.
The young Daoist tilted his head up at the large characters over the city gate and calculated on his fingers for quite a while, a puzzled look appearing on his face. “Strange. Where did Eldest Senior Brother go now?”
“Looking for someone, little Daoist?” a passerby beside him asked nosily.
“Yes. There’s a Daoist named Yue Jingming. Uncle, have you seen him?” Fang Jingyi looked at him expectantly.
“Ah, the Number One Daoist Under Heaven? I’ve heard of him. Some time ago they saved quite a few refugees in Zhongzhou,” the middle-aged man said.
Fang Jingyi asked in confusion, “They?”
“I heard there were four young masters who looked like immortals. They did plenty of good deeds along the way and helped quite a few people,” the middle-aged man said. “I never had the good fortune to see them myself. Since he’s your Eldest Senior Brother, I suppose you’re a Daoist from the Zushan Sect too?”
Fang Jingyi said proudly, “That’s right. Yue Jingming is my Eldest Senior Brother.”
“Well, forgive my disrespect.” The middle-aged man cupped his hands. “So the little Daoist is also a fine disciple of Daoist Su.”
Fang Jingyi said shyly, “I wouldn’t call myself a fine disciple. I’m nowhere near Eldest Senior Brother.”
After chatting with the man for quite a while without learning anything about Yue Jingming, he continued into the city. Along the way he also received messages from his Second Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister.
“Eldest Senior Brother’s trail stops outside Zhangzhou. I intercepted and read the letter he sent back on the way; he said he was going to the capital.” Fang Jingyi scratched his head. “But there are several roads from Zhangzhou to the capital, and I don’t know which one to follow.”
“Eldest Senior Brother never likes ordinary roads. He must have gone into the deep mountains to gather medicinal herbs and refine pills. If he finds somewhere rich in spiritual qi, knowing him, he could sit in meditation there for ten days or half a month.” Xin Jingleng’s voice came from the Yingsheng Talisman.
“Eldest Senior Brother has never stopped sending letters. Something must have happened. How could he still be wandering the mountains gathering herbs and meditating?” Zhu Jinghui said anxiously. “You’re useless. If I’d known, I should have gone down the mountain to find him myself.”
“Master only allowed me down because my grandmother at home is seriously ill. Second Senior Brother, you’d better forget it,” Fang Jingyi said. “Fortunately my family lives near the capital. If I search all the way there, sooner or later I’ll find Eldest Senior Brother. Don’t worry about me. I brought plenty of magical artifacts.”
Zhu Jinghui said, “People down the mountain are devious. Don’t casually reveal your identity, and don’t trust people too easily. Understand?”
“I know, Second Senior Brother. You nag so much my ears are about to grow calluses.” Fang Jingyi rubbed his ears.
“And whatever you do, don’t let spirits, monsters, or demons bewitch you. Cultivators are a great tonic to them. Fox demons especially love eating Daoists’ hearts, and they’ll even harvest your yang essence. If you run into one, you’re finished,” Zhu Jinghui warned him.
Fang Jingyi shook his head like a rattle-drum. “I definitely won’t be bewitched. Besides, Eldest Senior Brother hates fox demons most. If I meet one, I’ll definitely subdue it.”
The Yingshi Talisman burned away, and his senior brother’s and senior sister’s voices vanished completely. Fang Jingyi brushed the ashes from his sleeve. When he raised his head, he saw a young woman standing at the mouth of an alley. Her face was pale and bare of makeup, and beneath her clothes her lower abdomen was visibly rounded. A young man stood in front of her, speaking with a gloomy expression, while the woman knelt before him trembling.
The young man raised his foot as though to kick her.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Fang Jingyi shouted, hurrying over to shield the pregnant woman behind him.
The young man opposite him looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight. His gaze was sharp, and there was a faint hostility between his brows. Seeing Fang Jingyi’s Daoist robes, he raised an eyebrow. “What sect are you from?”
“What business is it of yours? Your wife is pregnant and you still want to kick her. Are you even a man?” Fang Jingyi snapped.
“My wife?” The young man gave an amused smile. “Xiang Zhao, he actually thinks you’re my wife.”
“This subordinate would not dare,” Xiang Zhao said with her head lowered.
Fang Jingyi looked at them awkwardly, but still gathered his courage. “Even if she’s your subordinate, you can’t beat and berate her as you please. And there’s a child in her belly. If anything happened, wouldn’t that badly damage your hidden virtue?”
The young man laughed. “You’re right. My mistake. Xiang Zhao, since this little Daoist pleaded for you, get up.”
Xiang Zhao’s face was pale as she rose with her head bowed. “Thank you, Master. Thank you, little Daoist.”
Fang Jingyi smiled at her. He seemed to realize he might have meddled a little too much and said, “You look weak. It would be best to get some medicine and nourish your body. I’ll be going now.”
Xiang Zhao looked at him in surprise. Catching sight of the Zushan Sect token at his waist, she stepped half a pace forward and turned sideways to block it from view. “Thank you. Little Daoist, you should hurry on.”
“Little Daoist, wait.” The young man suddenly called after him, cupped his hands, and smiled. “To tell the truth, this young woman is a maid in my household. She is of marriageable age, and I meant to find her a good match, but she acted willfully and became pregnant by some unknown fellow. I lost my temper and only meant to frighten her. What do you think ought to be done?”
“This…” Fang Jingyi grew even more embarrassed. “The child is still a life. Since things are like this, perhaps you should find the man. If they care for each other, then letting them marry naturally would be best.”
The man gave a soft laugh. “Did you hear that, Xiang Zhao? Who is the child’s father?”
Xiang Zhao said in a low voice, “He is already dead. I will give birth to the child and raise it myself.”
Fang Jingyi could not help sighing.
“Perfect. Then let the little Daoist perform a ritual to help his soul pass on.” The man looked at the token at Fang Jingyi’s waist, his smile deepening. “My name is Xue Lezhi. May I ask the little Daoist’s name?”
“This poor Daoist is Fang Jingyi,” Fang Jingyi said.
“Your surname is Fang, Daoist? Are you of the Fang family line in the capital?” Xue Lezhi asked.
“I am.” Fang Jingyi nodded. “Young Master Xue knows the Fang family?”
“My teacher is Fang Xiang, the Fang family’s Sixth Young Master,” Xue Lezhi said.
Fang Jingyi brightened. “Fang Xiang is an uncle in my clan.”
“Then we can even claim a little kinship. What a deep stroke of fate.” Xue Lezhi smiled. “All the more reason to ask you to handle this matter.”
“I’ll do my best.” Fang Jingyi immediately felt somewhat closer to him and could not resist advising, “Saving a life brings immeasurable merit. Young Master Xue, please don’t make things difficult for this young woman anymore.”
“Of course.” Xue Lezhi extended a hand. “Please.”
Fang Jingyi nodded and followed behind him.
Xiang Zhao stared expressionlessly at the innocent little Daoist and could not help pinching the bridge of her nose.
These people from Zushan really were… softer-hearted and easier to fool than the last.
* * *
Deep in the mountains, the vegetation grew lush. Yue Jingming ground the medicinal herbs he had gathered and placed them into a small cauldron, then carefully refined them while controlling the flame with true qi. About two shichen later, he opened the cauldron and found a black pill inside.
Elio’s Notes: A shichen is a traditional two-hour period, so two shichen is roughly four hours.
He took it out and swallowed it, carefully sensing the changes in his dantian. A faint current of true qi emerged there, only to dissipate again a moment later.
“If you test them one pill at a time like this, how long is it going to take?” Xiao Chunhe’s voice came from above his head.
Yue Jingming looked up and saw Xiao Chunhe lying in a tree, lazily waving his fan.
“Little by little adds up. The ghost qi has already faded quite a bit.” Yue Jingming sat back down in front of the little cauldron. “Why aren’t you with Shijiu and Brother Liang?”
Yesterday Liang Yun had accepted a demon-subduing commission. Early this morning, the others had all rolled up their sleeves, eager to show what they could do. Xiao Chunhe had loudly insisted on going too, while Yue Jingming had taken the opportunity to enter the mountains and gather herbs.
“It’s only a minor demon. Little Ye and the others can handle it.” Xiao Chunhe jumped down from the tree and sat in front of him. “Besides, it’s no fun if you’re not going.”
Yue Jingming plucked a little red berry from one of the herbs and put it in his mouth. Xiao Chunhe watched him. “Can you eat that?”
“It’s sweet.” Yue Jingming paused, then picked several of the plumpest berries and handed them to him.
Xiao Chunhe lowered his head and swept the little berries into his mouth, smacking his lips. “A little sour.”
Yue Jingming looked at his lips, stained red by the berry juice, then lowered his head and picked several more.
“I wasn’t fully awake last night. When I heard you say all that, I was too shocked to do anything but stare. I wasn’t deliberately hiding things from you.” Xiao Chunhe rubbed the red juice staining his fingertips. “You didn’t exactly give me a chance to answer properly either, but considering you’re on the verge of qi deviation, I can forgive you.”
“Mm.” Yue Jingming handed him a few more berries.
“Lu Yu didn’t have what I was looking for.” Xiao Chunhe accepted them and put one into his mouth. “He was a fierce ghost, so I’d hoped he might be carrying the soul of the person I’m looking for. Unfortunately, he wasn’t.”
Yue Jingming remained silent.
Xiao Chunhe bumped his knee lightly against Yue Jingming’s, then said carefully, “That Chalcedony Demon Heart… belonged to my mother.”
Yue Jingming’s hand stopped halfway to another berry. He looked up at him.
Xiao Chunhe clenched his fist. “Giving birth to me damaged her vital energy, and then she exhausted all her cultivation to save my life. Her enemies took advantage of her weakness. They called her an evil creature, and then they—”
A cool hand closed over his clenched fist. “I understand. You don’t have to keep going.”
Xiao Chunhe’s eyes reddened. “She gave me this life. I… I can’t stand by and watch her remain without peace even after death. No matter what, I have to find her, at the very least so she can finally rest in peace. I didn’t dare tell you because I was afraid that if you knew her remains carried the aura of a moyao, you would suspect me, or even try to stop me.”
Yue Jingming looked at him gravely. “Your mother’s remains carry the aura of a moyao?”
Xiao Chunhe’s heart slowly sank. He pulled his hand free, his voice hoarse. “Yes. I still haven’t learned the true cause of her death, and I don’t know what connection she had to the moyao. You asked me to be honest with you, but if my mother… I…”
The cool scent of pine suddenly enveloped him as the person in front of him reached out and pulled him into an embrace. Xiao Chunhe froze.
Yue Jingming sighed softly. “The grace of giving you life is heavier than a mountain. She is your mother. Whatever may have happened while she was alive, you have done nothing wrong by doing everything you can for her now.”
Xiao Chunhe’s nose stung. He lowered his head onto Yue Jingming’s shoulder and clutched tightly at his clothes.
The person in his arms trembled, his tightly suppressed sobs nearly inaudible. Yue Jingming wrapped an arm around his waist and held him closer, warmth gradually dampening his shoulder.
“I have to see this through. I didn’t mean to hide it from you. I was just so afraid that once you learned the truth, you wouldn’t… wouldn’t want to be with me anymore,” Xiao Chunhe said muffledly. “And I didn’t want to drag you into it and bring you so much trouble.”
“Dao companions are supposed to advance and retreat together. Your affairs have never been trouble to me.” Yue Jingming patted his back. “You’ve been so cautious the entire journey that several times I wanted to ask you, but could never find a way to begin. I was always afraid you would retreat and run away again like before.”
Xiao Chunhe opened his mouth and bit Yue Jingming’s shoulder. “I didn’t,” he mumbled.
His canine teeth were sharp. Yue Jingming winced and gently pushed him upright. “Or that you would deliberately feed me something filthy again.”
Xiao Chunhe did not know whether to laugh or cry. “I know you don’t like it. I won’t eat human hearts anymore.”
Yue Jingming said, “No other hearts either.”
Xiao Chunhe’s eyes were still red and the tip of his nose was pink from crying. He leaned closer and kissed the corner of Yue Jingming’s mouth. “You’re always so understanding that it makes all the things I hid from you seem pointless.”
“You can know a person’s face but not their heart. There’s nothing wrong with being cautious.” Now that Yue Jingming knew the Chalcedony Demon Heart belonged to Xiao Chunhe’s mother, the lingering frustration in his chest vanished like smoke. All he could think was how difficult things had been for the fox before him; his heart ached for him too much to even consider blaming him.
Xiao Chunhe rubbed his nose, embarrassed by the way Yue Jingming was looking at him, then wrapped his arms around Yue Jingming’s waist and tucked his face into the hollow of his neck. Happily, he licked Yue Jingming’s neck and nibbled at his Adam’s apple.
Among foxes, this was an extremely intimate behavior. Xiao Chunhe had always been a solitary fox; he had usually only watched other foxes huddle together, grooming and play-biting one another, and had always disdained it. Only now did he discover that he liked doing it too.
Yue Jingming grew somewhat flustered under the licking. But the fox, finally relieved of his burden, was in high spirits and excitedly pushed him down onto the ground. After nibbling at his Adam’s apple, Xiao Chunhe brushed his sharp canines over the small mole on Yue Jingming’s cheek and affectionately licked his eyelid and temple.
Yue Jingming’s breathing tightened. He quickly gripped Xiao Chunhe’s shoulders. “Enough, Chunhe. That’s enough.”
Xiao Chunhe narrowed his fox eyes at him. In the mingled sunlight and firelight they were captivating enough to steal a soul. He curled his lips. “No. I want you covered in my scent.”
With Yue Jingming’s cultivation still unrecovered, the No-Thought One-Mind Art failed him for once. He awkwardly tried to avoid Xiao Chunhe and said hoarsely, “This is improper. We still haven’t—mm.”
Xiao Chunhe cut off the rest without ceremony and said indistinctly, “You saw everything that morning in the village. Looks like you still didn’t learn anything. Want me to teach you?”
Yue Jingming gripped his sash tightly. “No.”
“What about that time with the door between us? You never thought about it?” Xiao Chunhe raised one eyebrow and breathed a wisp of crimson charm incense toward him. “Hmm?”
Yue Jingming instinctively held his breath, his lashes trembling. “No.”
“Stubborn.” Xiao Chunhe lowered his head and bit lightly at his lip. The moment Yue Jingming’s breathing faltered, Xiao Chunhe slipped a heavy breath of charm incense past his guard. “My good Jingming, just try it. These hands of mine can pull out a whole heart without damaging it. I promise I can make you…”
He leaned to Yue Jingming’s ear and murmured a few words, then caught the reddened earlobe between his teeth.
The charm incense was thick. Yue Jingming’s grip on his wrist hesitated for only a moment, but that was enough for the fox demon to seize the opening and press his advantage.
Sunlight fell through gaps in the leaves onto their overlapping robes, bright patches of light trembling with their breathing. The fire beneath the little cauldron beside them flickered faster and slower as its owner’s true qi wavered, flaring and fading again and again. No one knew what had become of the herbs inside. Only the little red berries were crushed over and over, their juice soaking through the cloth of their robes…
…
Beneath the fox’s paws, clouds rolled and rain overturned. Yet the fox still clung shamelessly to the perfectly proper man and insisted on returning favor for favor. The man was more reserved by nature, but with charm incense curling around them, neither could quiet the desire in his heart. And so the sunlight in the forest lengthened and faded, green robes and white sleeves tangled and stained together while autumn leaves whispered down, until the scene looked instead like the height of spring.