Seeing him fall silent, Yue Jingming’s gaze darkened slightly. “Do you think that’s inappropriate?”
Xiao Chunhe said, “If this were before, you would never have said something like that.”
Yue Jingming had never been someone who drove others to utter ruin. Even with people like Cen Shuang and Zhou Ran, he rarely showed killing intent. His principle had always been to save whoever could be saved, redeem whoever could be redeemed, and leave a sliver of possibility no matter good or evil.
Yue Jingming suddenly reached out, wrapped an arm around Xiao Chunhe’s waist, pulled him into his arms, and buried his face in the hollow of his neck.
It was rare for Xiao Chunhe to see him take the initiative like this. After freezing for a moment, he immediately embraced him back, his voice softening. “What’s wrong?”
Yue Jingming lowered his eyes toward the empty space at Xiao Chunhe’s lower back. There ought to have been a large tail wagging there, but unfortunately he could not see it. His voice was muffled. “You don’t want to kill Xiao Wen?”
Xiao Chunhe rubbed his back. “After my mother died, he was the one who raised me. I still want to ask him myself.”
Yue Jingming held him a little tighter. “All right.”
Unable to tell what Yue Jingming truly intended, Xiao Chunhe asked tentatively, “You really have a way to refine that demon-gu?”
Yue Jingming kissed his neck and caught his earlobe between his lips. Xiao Chunhe felt ticklish and tried to evade him, only for Yue Jingming to hold the back of his neck and kiss him directly.
Xiao Chunhe’s reason screamed at him, but a Daoist who took the initiative was even harder for a fox to resist. He responded instinctively as the two of them tangled from the doorway to the window. Outside lay a dense bamboo grove, with the occasional chirp of insects drifting in from among the leaves, only to be drowned out by the breathing close at hand.
“You’re not in your right mind right now. Don’t fool around.” Xiao Chunhe struggled to grip the front of his robe. “When you come to your senses later, I’m afraid you’ll regret this so much your guts turn green.”
Yue Jingming lowered his head and kissed the red mole at the center of Xiao Chunhe’s collarbone. “Mm.”
With his eyes lowered, he carefully straightened Xiao Chunhe’s disordered clothes, then kissed the tip of his nose.
Xiao Chunhe licked the corner of his mouth. “You…”
Yue Jingming lightly kissed his eyelid again. Xiao Chunhe instinctively closed his eyes, and that familiar soft sensation returned to his lips. The reason he had barely managed to recover was once again submerged beneath an overwhelming tide of pine fragrance. Only then did he realize that even such a clean, faint pine scent could become this rich and intense.
* * *
“I should tie you up like you told me to.” Xiao Chunhe touched the split corner of his mouth and hissed at the pain.
Holding the Cloudsmoke Brush, Yue Jingming gathered back his sleeve and continued drawing talismans. At those words, he answered indifferently, “You can.”
Xiao Chunhe’s eyes shifted. He walked over and leaned against the table to watch him draw. “Usually when people fall into qi deviation, they lose their minds, go mad, even become murderous. At least you still look like a normal person right now. You can even draw talismans.”
“Mm.” Yue Jingming turned to look at him.
“Mm?” Xiao Chunhe raised an eyebrow.
Yue Jingming leaned over, kissed the corner of his mouth, licked the wound there, then turned back and continued drawing talismans.
Xiao Chunhe narrowed his eyes, wrapped his arms around Yue Jingming from behind, and rested his chin on his shoulder to look at the talismans. “What sort of talismans are these?”
Yue Jingming said, “Hun-Refining, Po-Devouring, Puppet-Seizing, Life-Severing.”
“…” Xiao Chunhe decided to take back what he had just said.
* * *
Liang Yun hacked through a bamboo stalk and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Little Ye, was it your master’s idea or your martial uncle’s to make us chop bamboo out here?”
“Martial Uncle’s.” Ye Shijiu used a short knife to strip away the stray branches, then tucked a yellow talisman drawn in cinnabar into the bamboo tube and sealed it. “Why?”
“If Brother Yue told us to do it, it’s probably useful. If Brother Xiao told us, maybe he’s just messing with us.” Having learned from experience, Liang Yun said, “Maybe we should just go back to the inn and rest.”
“The talismans Martial Uncle gave me are all for calming the hun and stabilizing the po. He also had me set up a very powerful formation around the inn, so it doesn’t look like he’s joking around.” Ye Shijiu tied the bamboo tubes together with red cord.
Liang Yun was startled. “Don’t tell me the moyao is coming?”
Ye Shijiu crouched on the ground and shook one of the bamboo tubes hard. “There are rumors everywhere now that the moyao has appeared, but no one has actually seen what it looks like. We’ve searched for so long and haven’t even seen its shadow.”
Liang Yun looked thoughtful. “That’s true.”
“Maybe there isn’t even such a thing as a moyao in this world.” Following Xiao Chunhe’s instructions, Ye Shijiu picked up a stone and hammered the talisman-filled bamboo tube wrapped in red cord into the earth at the proper spot. “Brother Liang, drip one drop of blood on it.”
Liang Yun bit his fingertip and let a drop fall. “Does my blood really do anything?”
Ye Shijiu looked at the increasingly dense imperial purple qi around him and nodded.
Liang Yun could not help asking, “Tell me the truth. How high an official am I actually going to become? The real Ji Luo had purple qi from official fortune and still placed first in the imperial examination, but Brother Xiao said my office has no grade. Then what use is all this purple qi?”
Ye Shijiu blinked. For an instant, a true-dragon manifestation appeared behind Liang Yun, and he looked at him with obvious hesitation.
“Oh, I get it. Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed.” Liang Yun held up his hand and gestured a tiny amount. “Just leak me the tiniest bit.”
After thinking for a moment, Ye Shijiu said, “You’re going to be very tired in the future. Very, very tired.”
“…” Liang Yun looked at him in despair and muttered, “I’m going to marry three wives and raise more than twenty children. Of course I’m going to be tired. Heavens, why is my fate so miserable?”
“Ah.” Ye Shijiu patted him sympathetically on the shoulder.
Liang Yun said, “Maybe I should just go up the mountain with you and become a Daoist. Brother Yue said that even though people of his lineage can’t marry and have children, they can still have Dao companions.”
Ye Shijiu shook his head. “You don’t have the aptitude for cultivation. Even if you cultivated your whole life, you’d still be an ordinary person. Besides, your worldly ties haven’t been severed, and your karma is much heavier than other people’s. You can’t become a Daoist.”
Liang Yun asked shakily, “What do you mean my karma is much heavier than everyone else’s? How much heavier?”
After a moment of thought, Ye Shijiu said with complete certainty, “You are the person with the heaviest karma in the world.”
Liang Yun raised a hand, looking utterly defeated. “All right. Stop talking.”
“But if you do good, the merit you accumulate will far surpass other people’s too,” Ye Shijiu comforted him. “You have to work hard.”
“Haha.” Liang Yun gave a bitter laugh and walked away with a face full of melancholy.
Ye Shijiu dusted the dirt from his hands and muttered, “If being emperor makes you this miserable, being a Daoist is better.”
He looked around, pulled a little bamboo figure from inside his robe, and shook its head.
The little bamboo figure blinked its bead-like eyes. “What?”
“Don’t let Master catch you again this time,” Ye Shijiu warned it. “I’ve put down my hatred and devoted myself to doing good. You’re not allowed to incite me to do bad things either, or Master will burn you to ash.”
The little bamboo figure shuddered. “I’m the other half of your soul. If you’ve devoted yourself to doing good, then of course I have too. I don’t want to kill anyone at all now.”
“Good. Then we can chat when we’re bored.” Ye Shijiu shook its head. “Martial Uncle can turn into a little fox, but Master never lets anyone touch him. I want to raise one too.”
“Forget it,” the bamboo figure said. “If you’ve got that much free time, you might as well make me prettier.”
Ye Shijiu grabbed it and shook it vigorously. Its bamboo arms and legs clattered loudly, and Ye Shijiu was having a wonderful time when he suddenly caught sight of a red fox darting through the bamboo grove.
“Martial Uncle?” he called in confusion. He stuffed the bamboo figure back into his robes and followed.
* * *
Inside the carriage, Fang Jingyi struggled hard against the ropes binding him, only for the damned things to tighten even further.
“I’d advise you not to waste your strength.” Xiang Zhao sat opposite him, wiping the sword in her hand with a cloth.
Fang Jingyi tried to reason with her. “Miss Xiang, Young Master Xue and I have no grudge against each other. I’m only an ordinary Daoist. There’s no need for you to tie me up.”
“Then why did you try to run?” Xiang Zhao asked.
Fang Jingyi said, “My Daoist attainments are shallow, and I’m truly not capable of shouldering such a responsibility. I was too ashamed to face all of you, so I left in the middle of the night.”
Who would have thought Xue Lezhi just happened to be practicing martial arts in the courtyard? Fang Jingyi ran straight into him and, after an awkward encounter, returned to his room. When he tried to leave again early the next morning, Xue refused to let him go no matter what. In desperation Fang Jingyi made a move, only to discover that his opponent was highly skilled in martial arts and a cultivator as well. Fang Jingyi was no match for him and ended up tied up instead.
Xiang Zhao glanced from the corner of her eye at the man riding outside and lowered her voice. “Stop wasting your strength. Since you’re from the Zushan Sect, my young master is even less likely to let you go.”
“Does Xue Lezhi have a grudge against Zushan?” Fang Jingyi asked.
“Not exactly a grudge. There’s some history between them.” Xiang Zhao looked up at him. “What is Yue Jingming to you?”
Fang Jingyi put on a solemn expression. “Who is Yue Jingming?”
“…” Xiang Zhao stared at him expressionlessly. “Your name is Fang Jingyi. His is Yue Jingming. You’re both of the Jing generation in the Zushan Sect. Who are you trying to fool?”
Fang Jingyi said indignantly, “If you know, why are you asking?”
“This isn’t the time to play clever. I know the Zushan Sect has a secret technique that can transmit sound across a thousand li and pinpoint someone’s location using a formation, talisman paper, and true qi,” Xiang Zhao said. “Call Yue Jingming here. You may still have a chance to survive.”
Fang Jingyi snapped, “Don’t even think about it.”
“Yue Jingming is capable enough. The two of you might still make it out safely.” Xiang Zhao frowned. “I’m only advising you because you tried to help me. Yue Jingming spared my life before. If I save his junior brother now, I can consider that debt repaid.”
Fang Jingyi looked at her suspiciously. “You’re really that kindhearted?”
“My young master will be back soon. If you’re going to use a talisman to call for help, do it now.” Xiang Zhao touched her lower abdomen. “I’ll count it as accumulating virtue for my child.”
Fang Jingyi hesitated for a moment. “There’s a Yingshi Talisman hidden inside my waist token. Help me take it out.”
The Yingshi Talisman required a specific incantation and heart method to use, so he was not worried Xiang Zhao could tamper with it.
Xiang Zhao removed the talisman paper from his waist token.
Half a shichen later, the carriage came to a steady stop in a dense forest.
A fragrant breeze swept past. The guards accompanying the carriage outside grew dazed and collapsed one after another. Xiang Zhao hurriedly covered her mouth and nose. Fang Jingyi immediately held his breath when he saw that, but the cloying sweetness still hit him once.
Outside the carriage, Xue Lezhi raised his voice. “There’s no need to test us, Your Excellency. Xiao Wen and I are close acquaintances. Since he entrusted me with coming to assist you, I will naturally show my sincerity and do everything I can. Please reveal yourself.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the charm incense slowly dispersed, and the mist in the forest vanished with it. A beautiful young woman sat on a tree branch, smiling down at him. “So you must be the Young Master Xue Lezhi that Xiao Wen mentioned.”
“That’s me. May I ask the young lady’s name?” Xue Lezhi asked.
“I’m old enough to be your ancestor, and you still dare call me a young lady?” The woman covered her lips and laughed. “My surname is Feng, given name Qingying. You can call me Grand-Aunt.”
Xue Lezhi fell silent for a moment. “Elder Feng.”
Feng Qingying said, “…Do you want to die?”
Xue Lezhi cupped his hands. “Please forgive me, Elder. Let’s discuss the matter at hand first.”
Feng Qingying cast him a cool glance. “What did that old fox tell you?”
“To be frank, Shangyun Pavilion has been searching for Daoist Yue Jingming and intends to ‘invite’ him to the capital as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Daoist Yue is extremely enthusiastic about subduing demons and eliminating evil along the way, so he travels far too slowly,” Xue Lezhi said. “Brother Xiao said that once this succeeds, the immortal bones go to you, Yue Jingming goes to us, and that fox demon goes to him. As for the Myriad Demons Scroll, the three of us split it.”
Feng Qingying gave a cold snort. “At least he has some conscience.”
“It’s just that Yue Jingming’s martial arts and magical power are both extremely strong. I’m afraid we may not be his match,” Xue Lezhi said.
“I naturally put in plenty of effort.” Feng Qingying gave a light laugh. “By now Yue Jingming has probably already lost all his cultivation and fallen into qi deviation.”
The carriage behind Xue Lezhi suddenly rocked violently. Feng Qingying looked over, and Xue Lezhi explained, “As it happens, when I passed through Zhangzhou I encountered a little Daoist who also came down from Zushan. He is Yue Jingming’s junior brother.”
“Excellent. Now there’s even less chance he won’t take the bait.” Feng Qingying blew on her crimson nails. “Tonight is the fifteenth, when Xiao Chunhe will be at his weakest. That little fox demon won’t be much of a concern. Yue Jingming’s true qi is completely gone, and the one surnamed Liang is only an ordinary man. The only one left to deal with is Ye Shijiu.”
Xue Lezhi said, “If we restrain the other three, that little Daoist naturally won’t dare act rashly.”
“Everything truly has aligned: the right time, the right place, and the right people.” Feng Qingying suddenly turned toward the woods. “Who’s there?”
Xue Lezhi raised a hand to his sword.
Ye Shijiu, who had followed them all the way here, stopped moving and wound the red cord around his palm.
The grass in the clearing rustled, and a small red fox crawled out. Hu Xiaohu bowed obsequiously toward Feng Qingying. “Grand-Aunt, I’ve finished gathering information and came specially to report to you.”
Feng Qingying asked, “What did you find out?”
Hu Xiaohu answered honestly, “That Yue Jingming is practically a fox spirit reincarnated. He uses his looks to seduce my young master, stops at nothing, and has him completely bewitched. He’s truly an evil Daoist!”
Feng Qingying and Xue Lezhi said, “…”
Ye Shijiu, hidden in the shadows, said, “…”
Inside the carriage, Xiang Zhao and Fang Jingyi said, “…”
This little fox had lost his mind.