Fang Jingyi was shoved forward.
“So this is Yue Jingming’s junior brother?” Feng Qingying looked him over with interest. “Not bad aptitude, but unfortunately his cultivation is mediocre. He wouldn’t even be enough to fill the gaps between my teeth.”
Fang Jingyi glared at her. “You charm demon are truly detestable. If you have even the slightest shred of conscience left, you should abandon evil and follow good. My Eldest Senior Brother might still spare your life!”
“Hahahaha.” Feng Qingying marveled at his naivety. “You little Daoist are really interesting. Did you forget to grow a brain?”
She caught Fang Jingyi by the chin and poked one long fingernail against his temple. “I wonder what the brain of an idiot like you tastes like.”
Fang Jingyi: “…”
“Scared?” Feng Qingying patted his face and breathed a puff of charm incense at him.
Fang Jingyi held his breath and said solemnly, “Zushan has neither grievance nor feud with you. You’ve cultivated bitterly for hundreds of years, and cultivation does not come easily. Why bring destruction upon yourself?”
Feng Qingying sighed. “You stinking Daoists really are annoying.”
Her nails suddenly lengthened, about to pierce Fang Jingyi’s temple. Xue Lezhi and Xiang Zhao beside her did not even have time to react before Fang Jingyi squeezed his eyes shut.
“Stop!” A cool voice suddenly rang out. Immediately afterward, a leaf brimming with true qi shot straight toward Feng Qingying’s hand.
Feng Qingying dodged in time. The leaf buried itself deep in the tree trunk behind Fang Jingyi. Cracks instantly spread through the thick tree, and it exploded apart.
Everyone looked up. A young man in Daoist robes stood atop the treetops, a sword and horsetail whisk strapped across his back. He gazed down with the air of an immortal, calm and at ease.
Fang Jingyi cried in delight, “Eldest Senior Brother!”
Feng Qingying had fought Yue Jingming before. Seeing how abundant the true qi in that attack had been, she immediately grew wary. Xue Lezhi had also heard plenty about him and became extremely guarded, while even Xiang Zhao took a cautious step backward.
“Mm.” “Yue Jingming” stood on the treetop, the hand hidden behind his back trembling uncontrollably from bearing too much true qi.
Pretending to be his master was extremely difficult, especially because Master did not stammer when nervous the way he did. Ye Shijiu had poured all his true qi into that leaf. As long as he could intimidate Feng Qingying and the others for a little while, he would soon be able to accumulate more true qi.
“Yue Jingming, didn’t you lose all your cultivation?” Feng Qingying narrowed her eyes.
Ye Shijiu gave her a cool glance and said nothing.
Feng Qingying did not take it to heart. She only snorted. “I didn’t expect even the poison I painstakingly refined to fail against you. Since you’re here, I won’t beat around the bush. If you want your junior brother’s life, exchange the Myriad Demons Scroll on you for him!”
Ye Shijiu: “…”
Seeing him remain silent, Xue Lezhi cupped his hands toward him. “Fellow Daoist Yue, I am from Shangyun Pavilion. By His Majesty’s order, I am here to invite you to the capital. If you are willing, everything can be discussed.”
Ye Shijiu raised his head and looked at him arrogantly, then jerked his chin toward the small porcelain bottle in Xue Lezhi’s hand.
Xue Lezhi hesitated. “What does Fellow Daoist Yue mean?”
Without changing expression, Ye Shijiu said, “Give… that bottle of Maple Frostfall… to me.”
Xue Lezhi only found his cadence strange, but did not become suspicious. He gave an awkward laugh. “That belongs to Senior Feng. I’m afraid I can’t decide.”
Ye Shijiu cast him a displeased glance, then turned to Feng Qingying. “The person and the poison… to me. The scroll… you take.”
Xue Lezhi’s face showed a trace of anger at that look, but he could not conveniently flare up, and his expression darkened.
Feng Qingying exchanged a glance with Xue Lezhi, then smiled at “Yue Jingming.” “All right. You’re a sensible man. No matter how powerful the Myriad Demons Scroll is, how could it be more important than a human life?”
Ye Shijiu said aloofly, “Mm.”
Both sides were wary, especially after the tremendous power of “Yue Jingming’s” leaf attack. Feng Qingying grabbed the struggling Fang Jingyi, stuffed the bottle of Maple Frostfall into his hand, and looked up at Yue Jingming. “One hand gives the person, the other gives the scroll.”
“All right.” Ye Shijiu flipped his wrist, and a painted scroll appeared in his palm, faintly radiating dense demonic qi.
Feng Qingying narrowed her eyes. Only after confirming that the scroll was genuine did she laugh. “Here!”
The Myriad Demons Scroll and Fang Jingyi were thrown at the same time. Ye Shijiu immediately rushed forward and caught Fang Jingyi, while Feng Qingying seized the scroll. The two attacked almost simultaneously. Their true qi collided, but Feng Qingying did not budge, while Ye Shijiu and Fang Jingyi were blasted three zhang away by her palm.
Feng Qingying: “Hm?”
The distant “Yue Jingming” spat out a mouthful of blood. His figure and features changed, turning into a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth.
Feng Qingying’s expression changed. “It’s you!”
“Y-yes, yes, it’s your grandfather!” Ye Shijiu wore a mischievous, excited grin. He tore apart the ropes binding Fang Jingyi, grabbed him, and turned to run.
Fang Jingyi was completely baffled but immediately followed. Seeing Ye Shijiu running slowly, he grabbed him, hoisted him over one shoulder, and shot away.
The Myriad Demons Scroll in Feng Qingying’s hands turned into a heavy stone with a sly ghost face drawn on it.
“He tricked us! Chase them!” Feng Qingying roared and immediately drove her true qi to pursue.
Xue Lezhi frowned and told Xiang Zhao, “Set up the formation here.”
“Yes.” Xiang Zhao watched them leave and slowly let out a breath.
Fang Jingyi carried Ye Shijiu over his shoulder and moved at astonishing speed. Ye Shijiu exclaimed, “You’re amazing! Just like my master.”
“Many thanks for saving me, little fellow Daoist. May I ask which sect and master you belong to? I will certainly visit in person to offer my thanks!” Fang Jingyi said sincerely.
“My master is Yue Jingming, of the Zushan lineage,” Ye Shijiu said.
Fang Jingyi stumbled and nearly fell. He turned his head in shock, only to see the young Daoist give him a brilliant smile. “Hello, Little Martial Uncle.”
Fang Jingyi nearly broke down as he fled. “Impossible! Eldest Senior Brother once swore never to accept a disciple!”
“Everything has exceptions.” Ye Shijiu was being jostled hard enough to feel sick. “Martial Uncle said Master is softer-hearted than anyone. You just have to cling to him and refuse to give up.”
Fang Jingyi asked in confusion, “What martial uncle?”
“My Martial Uncle Xiao Chunhe.” Ye Shijiu smiled. “A majestic great fox demon.”
“AAAAH!” Fang Jingyi bellowed.
“What? What happened?” Ye Shijiu jerked his head up in alarm.
Fang Jingyi threw him to the ground. “Y-you… you aren’t some little fox spirit too, are you?”
“I-I-I’m not a little fox spirit. I’m human.” Ye Shijiu grimaced and rubbed his backside, then lifted his chin smugly. “A genius seen only once in a thousand years, even more impressive than my master. I’m only slow because I split off half my soul.”
“Nonsense! No one is more impressive than Eldest Senior Brother!” Fang Jingyi snapped. “All you people and demons down the mountain harbor ulterior motives. Eldest Senior Brother was perfectly fine before, and now he’s mixed up with the lot of you!”
Ye Shijiu said unhappily, “I just saved you.”
“Thank you!” Fang Jingyi cupped his hands stiffly. “Where is my Eldest Senior Brother now?”
Ye Shijiu blinked. “Master is naturally with Martial Uncle.”
Fang Jingyi’s face fell. “That fox spirit?”
Ye Shijiu glared fiercely. “Don’t call my Martial Uncle a fox spirit!”
* * *
Halfway along their journey, something suddenly shot down from a tree toward Yue Jingming and Xiao Chunhe. Yue Jingming reacted instantly and caught it in one hand.
“What is that?” Killing intent flickered faintly in Xiao Chunhe’s eyes.
Yue Jingming lifted the object and paused. “Bamboo?”
The little figure made of bamboo was about the size of a palm. Its limbs were strung together with red cord, and someone had dotted three points of blood onto its face for eyes and a mouth. The instant the little bamboo figure saw him, it opened its mouth and shouted, “Master, something terrible happened!”
Yue Jingming: “…”
Xiao Chunhe twitched his nose. “It smells like Little Ye’s soul.”
“I-I-I split off half my soul because it was an emergency and came to report.” The little bamboo figure stiffened nervously and hurriedly babbled out everything that had happened.
“Reckless. How could you possibly be Feng Qingying’s match?” Yue Jingming’s expression darkened.
Terrified, the little bamboo figure jumped onto Xiao Chunhe’s shoulder and hid behind him. “Master, I was wrong. I won’t do anything bad. Please don’t burn me to ash.”
Yue Jingming: “…”
“We should hurry and save them. You can deal with this afterward.” Smiling, Xiao Chunhe tucked the little bamboo figure, which was trembling so hard it was nearly clattering like bamboo clappers, into his sleeve.
“Mm.” Yue Jingming quickened his pace. “Since they deliberately separated us, don’t reveal yourself yet.”
“Understood.” Xiao Chunhe caught his meaning. With the bamboo figure in tow, he vanished into the dense forest in a few leaps.
Yue Jingming continued alone for about a quarter of an hour before a faint fluctuation of true qi suddenly came from the woods.
He slowly stopped and tightened his grip on the Clear Breeze Sword.
Feng Qingying floated down from a tree. The moment she saw him, she sneered. “Brat, do you think hiding all your true qi will make me believe you’re Yue Jingming?”
Yue Jingming’s brow moved slightly. “Feng Qingying.”
Feng Qingying flipped her wrist, and a short sword appeared in her hand. Without hesitation, she stabbed at Yue Jingming.
Yue Jingming dodged aside and blocked with the still-sheathed Clear Breeze Sword, retreating several zhang. Feng Qingying shouted angrily, “It’s too late to pretend you’ve lost all your cultivation! A yellow-haired brat dares play tricks on your grandaunt!”
Powerful true qi blasted toward Yue Jingming. He retreated rapidly, and the place where he had just been standing exploded into a deep pit. Feng Qingying grew even angrier and attacked again and again. Yue Jingming only dodged without counterattacking. At last the charm demon ran out of patience, formed seals with both hands, and sent surging true qi straight toward his chest.
This time Yue Jingming advanced instead of retreating. He scattered the talismans in his hand into the incoming force, gathering all of Feng Qingying’s surging true qi into them. He then formed a seal and slammed his palm against the ground. Black-qi-wreathed talismans floated up from the pits she had blasted open, igniting without wind. Using Feng Qingying’s own true qi, they formed a great Demon-Locking Formation that trapped her in place.
Feng Qingying finally realized something was wrong and asked warily, “Are you really Yue Jingming?”
Yue Jingming said blandly, “I’m Xiao Chunhe.”
Feng Qingying: “?”
Before she could decide whether that was true, Yue Jingming had already borrowed the true qi within the talismans and leapt into the air. The Clear Breeze Sword left its sheath, its blade carrying a freezing flash as it plunged straight toward her Baihui acupoint.
“Overestimating yourself!” Feng Qingying’s true qi surged. A powerful gale barrier stopped the sword outside her protective qi.
Yue Jingming’s eyes sharpened. He gripped the blade with one hand and slashed his palm open, using the fresh blood to draw a talisman in midair. Then man and sword sank heavily together, and the Clear Breeze Sword finally pierced into Feng Qingying’s hair.
Feng Qingying roared. Her true form abruptly appeared, a gigantic blue-black skeleton standing in the center of the Demon-Locking Formation. Yue Jingming’s clothes were sliced by the gale-force qi, leaving bloody cuts across his face and arms. Just as human and demon reached a stalemate, someone suddenly appeared nearby. “Senior Feng, I’ll help you!”
Xue Lezhi glanced at the Demon-Locking Formation and immediately charged toward its eye with sword in hand. He was about to break it when a massive red fox leapt through the air and snapped at his arm. Xue Lezhi failed to dodge. The fox’s sharp teeth pierced flesh and bone. He struck it with one palm and hurriedly retreated several steps.
Xiao Chunhe planted all four paws on the ground, firmly shielding the formation eye and Yue Jingming behind him. He scoffed. “So the people of Shangyun Pavilion like sneak attacks best.”
Xue Lezhi recognized him immediately. “You’re that half-demon from Zixu Mountain who doesn’t have long to live.”
Xiao Chunhe snorted impatiently. “You’re nothing but the emperor’s dog. You dare bark in front of me?”
Xue Lezhi gave a mocking laugh. “Today is the fifteenth. Are you sure you want to fight me now?”
The fox demon lowered his body, his narrow eyes filled with killing intent. Xue Lezhi was on full alert when the fox demon and Daoist before him suddenly switched positions. Yue Jingming came straight at him with his sword.
Xue Lezhi was shocked and hurriedly raised his sword to block. Yue Jingming drove him to the edge of the formation with the Clear Breeze Sword and said coldly, “I will go to the capital, but Zhou Lie does not get to decide when.”
As the words fell, countless talismans flew from the Clear Breeze Sword, trailing dense black qi. Xue Lezhi cried, “Yue Jingming, you actually dare cultivate heterodox arts!”
Yue Jingming’s gaze was icy, every move aimed to kill. “If it lets me kill you, what difference does orthodox or heterodox make?”
Xue Lezhi was struggling to hold him off. “There is no grievance or feud between us!”
“You said my Dao companion would not live long. You deserve to die.” Yue Jingming thrust the sword straight toward his throat.
Xue Lezhi: “!?”
Meanwhile, Feng Qingying, trapped inside the formation, faced Xiao Chunhe. She mocked, “For Xiao Wen’s sake, I spared your life. You’d better leave immediately.”
Xiao Chunhe tossed the phantom stone into the formation and brazenly began collecting her charm incense. “Good Grandaunt, how would I dare oppose you? You’re only half a step from becoming the clan chief’s wife. I certainly wouldn’t dare touch you.”
“Then why are you helping Yue Jingming now?” Feng Qingying said in displeasure. “Xiao Wen ordered you to kill him, yet you’re fooling around with a Daoist!”
“Not so, not so. You and the clan chief are my elders, and elders can be found everywhere, but there’s only one Yue Jingming.” Xiao Chunhe swished his tail and smiled. “So you’d better die instead.”
The fox demon and charm demon became locked in battle. Feng Qingying was, after all, a great demon who had cultivated for hundreds of years, and it was also the fifteenth. Xiao Chunhe soon began to flag. At that point the talismans Yue Jingming had prepared came into use, and with the two compensating for each other, they somehow fought her to a draw.
Seeing that victory still had not been decided, Xue Lezhi and Feng Qingying realized Yue Jingming and Xiao Chunhe intended to grind them to death inside the Demon-Locking Formation. Xue Lezhi immediately formed a seal and transmitted his voice. “Xiang Zhao, activate the formation!”
Farther away, Xiang Zhao obeyed and activated it. Invisible true qi skimmed rapidly along the ground and slammed into Yue Jingming’s Demon-Locking Formation, forcing him to divide his attention to maintain it. His already depleted body weakened further, and dense black qi gradually spread through his eyes.
Xiao Chunhe was forced back into human form. He stood back-to-back with Yue Jingming, guarding the formation eye. “Can you still hold on?”
Yue Jingming lowered his eyes and touched the Myriad Demons Scroll inside his robes. In a low voice he said, “When demons bring calamity, first suppress, second capture, third execute. Sever their meridians, destroy their demon cores, scatter their souls.”
Xiao Chunhe jolted and hurriedly looked back. A violent gale suddenly burst from Yue Jingming’s body and hurled him aside. He cried, “What are you doing?!”
Yue Jingming’s pitch-black eyes moved, sweeping over Xiao Chunhe and Feng Qingying. “Demons. Eliminate.”
Feng Qingying burst into laughter. “My Maple Frostfall really does work! Even if Su Ji were here, he would inevitably fall into qi deviation, let alone a junior like you!”
Xue Lezhi backed away warily, but Yue Jingming’s gaze landed on him as well. “Heterodox Daoist. Eliminate.”
“Master!”
“Eldest Senior Brother!”
Ye Shijiu and Fang Jingyi finally arrived. The moment they did, they saw Yue Jingming standing in the center of the Demon-Locking Formation with black qi pouring from his body. The dense black qi rose from his dantian and slowly wound around everyone inside the formation, Xiao Chunhe included.
Ye Shijiu quickly grasped the key to the formation. His master was actually trying to refine everyone inside it. He cried, “Master, Martial Uncle is inside too!”
“Eldest Senior Brother, I’m Jingyi!” Fang Jingyi shouted. “What’s wrong with you?”
Hearing them, Yue Jingming turned toward Ye Shijiu and Fang Jingyi outside the formation. Something moved in his eyes. “Living humans. Eliminate.”
Before the two outside could react, Yue Jingming raised one hand and sucked them into the formation. The Myriad Demons Scroll flew above the formation and unfurled, brilliant golden light instantly enveloping everyone.
He lowered his eyes to the black qi pouring from his own dantian and murmured, “One who has fallen into qi deviation must also be eliminated.”
Ye Shijiu was closest and understood at once. “Master plans to suppress himself into the Myriad Demons Scroll along with all of us!”
At those words, every human and demon inside the formation changed expression.
They immediately tried every possible way to break out. But after falling into qi deviation, Yue Jingming’s power had surged. The formation continuously drew in demonic qi, demonic-path qi, ghost qi, and true qi from inside and outside its bounds. No matter how they attacked, the Demon-Locking Formation did not move in the slightest.
Xiao Chunhe had no time to be shocked. Unlike the others, he did not try to escape. Instead he rushed straight to Yue Jingming and wrapped his arms around him. “Jingming, don’t let those evil thoughts interfere with you!”
Yue Jingming’s pitch-black eyes shifted to his face. “Fox demon. Get away.”
Xiao Chunhe looked as though he had been struck by lightning. “…What did you say?”
Even when their relationship had been at its worst, Yue Jingming had never spoken to him so harshly.
Yue Jingming said coldly, “I hate fox demons most. Get away.”
At those words Xiao Chunhe’s expression twisted, yet his eyes suddenly reddened.