No one spoke for a long time.
“Thank you for telling me what happened,” Jing Pu finally said, rising to his feet. This time his decision was made. Without even glancing at Ren Yijue, he continued softly, “My parents harmed other people. To their victims, they were guilty of every imaginable evil. I… I cannot say Your Excellency was wrong.”
Jing Pu drew a deep breath. “My father’s poisonous blood came from refining three Heart-Guarding Needles for me. That weakened him and left an opening for his enemies to exploit. During cultivation he suffered deviation and had to purge the poisonous blood from his body. It all began because of me. And my mother… my mother attacked you with poisoned nails out of love for me.”
“Whatever else they did wrong, they loved me sincerely. As their son, I cannot leave this blood feud unanswered. More than that, I benefited from their crimes, so I cannot refuse to bear their guilt. Their victims must long since have turned to bones. Since Your Excellency once took up that old man’s grievance, you might as well bring the matter to an end by dealing with me too.”
Seeing how frankly he spoke, Qian Xuelang raised his brows and answered in an unusually gentle voice. “Your talent is rare, but your strength of character is worth even more. Very well. I accept.”
Ren Yijue’s face changed abruptly.
Jing Pu rose and inclined his body in farewell. “In ten days, by Shadowed Spring. I’ll be waiting.”
Qian Xuelang said, “Agreed.”
Before going out, Jing Pu looked back. “I am a snake yao, born with venom. I carry three extraordinarily poisonous Heart-Guarding Needles. On the day of our duel, Your Excellency should beware.”
Qian Xuelang replied, “I shall.”
“Lord Pu—”
Ren Yijue followed him to the doorway. When Jing Pu did not turn back, he hurried after Jing Pu, grief-stricken and said softly, “Lord Pu, let me see you off.”
Jing Pu neither agreed nor refused. Only two tears fell, disappearing into the boundless waters of the spring.
They traveled up through the spring to Jingyuan. Ren Yijue escorted him farther and farther until Jing Pu finally said, “Cangyuan, go back. I bear too much guilt. I don’t want to drag you down with me.”
“To me, Lord Pu is simply Lord Pu.” Ren Yijue sighed softly. “Don’t dwell on it. During these ten days… do you have any plans?”
Jing Pu answered, “I wish to see my adoptive mother.”
Ren Yijue’s heart sank. He understood that Jing Pu was preparing for the possibility of never returning. Deeply moved, he heard Jing Pu add, “Cangyuan, I’d like to entrust you with something.”
“What is it?”
Jing Pu raised his head toward the dark, murky sky and was quiet for a moment. “If I die, would you bury my remains on Chaoyao Mountain, so I can rest in the same green hills as my parents? And… please don’t hand my remains over to my adoptive mother.”
“I’ll spend these ten days serving her as a son should. Afterward, I’ll tell her I’m going into the mortal world to gain experience. She lives beside Blue-Green Pool and is known as Lady Crane-Bone. If you ever have time, would you visit her on my behalf?”
With that, Jing Pu handed Ren Yijue a token: a golden pearl.
“It’s a Water-Repelling Pearl that grants entry to Blue-Green Pool. When my adoptive mother sees it, she’ll know you’re my friend.”
Ren Yijue took the pearl. Still unable to bear it, he pleaded, “Lord Pu, how can you… how can you do this after everything Lady Crane-Bone has done to raise you?”
“In this world, there are always people we cannot help disappointing.” Jing Pu closed his eyes. “I… I don’t want to fail my adoptive mother. But if I don’t avenge my parents, how could I face myself? Cangyuan, my parents were terribly wicked, but they treated me… they treated me with such heartfelt love. Good or evil, they were still my parents. They loved me. They loved me so… so much.”
“I’ve never stopped missing them. Over all these years, I kept thinking how happy we could have been if the three of us were still together. How precious that would have been. I simply cannot stop loving them.”
Ren Yijue stroked his back and said tenderly, “I understand… Lord Pu, I understand all of it.”
Jing Pu remained silent for a long while. They walked a little farther before he said, “Cangyuan, let me walk the rest of the way alone.”
“Are you afraid the Jade Beauty might take his anger out on me?” Ren Yijue sighed. “He may be distant and proud, but he is no cruel, heartless person. You needn’t worry.”
Jing Pu shook his head. “No. It isn’t that. I just want to walk by myself for a while.”
“Then… very well.”
Ren Yijue turned back. Alone in the boundless demonic mist, Jing Pu stared ahead in a daze. Each heavy step carried him farther along the road he had taken, his mind in turmoil.
Jing Pu’s vision blurred. The road before him seemed to split in two. On one path stood the adoptive mother waiting for him at home; on the other stood his father and mother, waiting for him as well.
“Adoptive Mother… Father, Mother…”
Just as Jing Pu moved toward them, his foot seemed to catch on something. He started. Snake scales crept over his face, and with a twist he broke free of the restraint and wheeled around.
Out of the endless black mist came a low, eerie voice. “Why cling to them so desperately? Why be so reluctant to part? Have you never thought of killing Qian Xuelang? Then you could avenge your parents in the underworld and return to your adoptive mother to care for her in her old age.”
Jing Pu replied coldly, “Hmph. Hiding your face and skulking about like this, do you think I’m some witless fool who can be set against others by a few careless words?”
A figure suddenly emerged from the dark mist. His face resembled a skull carved from white jade, and he wore a black robe. Smiling faintly at Jing Pu, he said, “I am White-Jade Skeleton, and I come from Daihai. Venerable Cloud-Chi and I share an enemy, so I’ve come to invite Venerable Cloud-Chi to join forces with me. Well? Is that proof enough of my sincerity?”
Jing Pu favored an extraordinarily long silver whip. In motion it flashed like flowing silk, resembling a chi dragon emerging from the clouds. This was why people called him Venerable Cloud-Chi.
“You call that sincerity? You’ve done nothing beyond what was required.” Jing Pu gave a cold laugh. He glanced sideways, his killing intent plain to see. “I don’t care what feud you have with Qian Xuelang. It has nothing to do with me. I made you show yourself only to tell you to your face: I need no helper, and I have even less desire to borrow another person’s hand for revenge!”
“I’m in a foul mood today. That is all I have to say. Trouble me again and you’ll have one more enemy!”
With these words, Jing Pu strode away, leaving White-Jade Skeleton alone.
Only after a long time did White-Jade Skeleton smile slowly. “Such a spirited young man. No wonder you could bear so much wrongdoing and still leave Qian Xuelang’s presence unharmed. Good, very good. Such admirable integrity.”
With a soft chuckle, he vanished into the demonic mist, his thoughts unreadable.
* * *
When Ren Yijue returned to the spring, he saw that Qian Xuelang had not gone back to his room. Ren Yijue sat down at the table and sighed repeatedly.
“Did your talk go badly?” Qian Xuelang asked indifferently.
“The talk went very well. The trouble is that what’s done is done, and talking is useless.” Ren Yijue sounded miserable. “I wanted to resolve the hatred between you and Lord Pu, but you’ve already set a date for one of you to die. All I could do when I went after him was say a few decent words. Whatever his parents were like, they loved him with their lives and cherished him to the bone. How could I tell Lord Pu to abandon his revenge?”
Qian Xuelang looked unruffled. “If you know that, why did you follow him?”
“Because I have feelings,” Ren Yijue said. “Even if I cannot change anything, I wanted Lord Pu to know I care about him, that he matters to me, and that he still has a friend in me.”
Qian Xuelang detected the emphasis in his words and grew slightly puzzled. “Ren Yijue, why are you displeased?”
Ren Yijue gave a bitter laugh, perhaps in self-mockery, perhaps deliberately sarcastic. “There are many things I’m unhappy about. Most of all, I’m unhappy you didn’t kill Lord Pu back then.”
This caught Qian Xuelang entirely by surprise. He had expected Ren Yijue might defend Jing Pu or be upset by what had just been said, but he had never imagined hearing that.
“He had committed no crime. Why would I kill him?”
Ren Yijue stared at him. “No crime? Are you certain? Or has the Jade Beauty merely been waiting until he commits one?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.” Qian Xuelang frowned slightly, displeased by Ren Yijue’s aggressiveness.
Ren Yijue continued to stare, eyes seemingly filled with compassion and resentment, yet somehow also as calm as still water. It was impossible to tell what he was hiding. “Silver-Ring Sheng and the Golden Buddha Maiden committed unforgivable crimes and deserved to die. I don’t dispute that. They weren’t worthy of your mercy. But what about Lord Pu?”
Qian Xuelang understood. “You blame me for handling things badly?”
“No. I’m not blaming the Jade Beauty for mishandling them. I’m only saying: no wonder.”
“No wonder? What do you mean?”
“No wonder the Jade Beauty said he came to settle cause and effect. No wonder the Jade Beauty never speaks of good and evil.”
Qian Xuelang met Ren Yijue’s eyes. They were the eyes of a human being, full of tenderness and fury.
But whom was that tenderness for? And whom was the anger for? Qian Xuelang could not understand.
“Oh?”
“When you said the female snake had fired ten poisoned nails at you to protect her child, I was… I was deeply moved. Because at last the Jade Beauty had lowered his gaze to look at this wicked woman. You saw her clearly, understood her completely, and felt a trace of pity. You did not call her cunning or vicious. You said she acted for the sake of her child. The Golden Buddha Maiden was cruel and venomous by nature. How could she believe a gentle plea would earn her what she wanted? She tried to kill you because only your death could keep her child safe. She dared not leave even the slightest part of his safety to chance.”
Ren Yijue gave a soft, mirthless laugh. “A snake yao’s venom is deadly, but it could never be more potent than her love for her child. You… you clearly saw that.”
“And yet you could understand the Golden Buddha Maiden so completely, even grant her a moment of pity, while refusing Lord Pu the smallest kindness. The Golden Buddha Maiden was guilty and has paid with her life. All her surviving child needed was a word of comfort. If you truly believe Lord Pu was innocent, why wouldn’t you offer him that much? Or do you still think him guilty, and consider sparing his life an extraordinary act of grace and forgiveness?”
Qian Xuelang gazed at him evenly and said nothing.
In fact, when recalling the Golden Buddha Maiden, Qian Xuelang had unexpectedly thought of his master He Tianjun. To eliminate demons, his master had not hesitated to manipulate Wei Wenfeng, breaking his heart and trapping him within an oath.
Was there truly no other way? For the sake of everyone else, did Wei Wenfeng really have to suffer like that?
Master ought not to have done that, and the Golden Buddha Maiden ought not to have killed people. That was why Qian Xuelang did not understand Jing Pu’s question. No matter how often the question was asked, his answer would remain unchanged.
The Golden Buddha Maiden was not worthy.
Did Ren Yijue think I felt pity for her?
Qian Xuelang looked at his palm. He finally understood what was making Ren Yijue so sad. Ren Yijue believed there was something in him that had never existed at all.
Slowly, he curled his fingers into a fist.
Ren Yijue was still speaking. “If Heaven hadn’t watched over Lord Pu and let him meet Lady Crane-Bone, so he could grow into the man he is today and earn the Jade Beauty’s rare approval… what if he’d gone astray merely to survive, becoming someone who would do anything to protect himself? If you met that once-innocent child again, would you feel entirely justified in trampling him underfoot, perhaps even killing him?”
“Or perhaps, to the Jade Beauty, killing is simply enough. Perhaps you were lucky enough to stand above the clouds, judging others’ good and evil without ever becoming stained by the mortal world’s cause and effect.”
Ren Yijue looked at him quietly. “Then I thought perhaps it wasn’t any of those things. The Jade Beauty simply doesn’t care.”
Qian Xuelang’s heart suddenly gave a beat.
“Because the Jade Beauty has no pity in his heart. You didn’t pity that old man, and you don’t pity Lord Pu. You don’t even hate the Golden Buddha Maiden or Silver-Ring Sheng. You killed them merely to settle the matter. Because you have no emotion in your heart, worldly feelings do not move you to act. You simply do what is right.”
“I have no grievances or fears at all. That’s why I asked why the Jade Beauty didn’t kill Lord Pu too. You’ve left me helplessly caught between the Jade Beauty and Lord Pu, subject to all the games fate plays.”
Qian Xuelang had understood everything said before this. But how Ren Yijue had twisted through so many turns to reach such a conclusion was beyond him. “If you and he are close friends, why say something so cruel?”
Ren Yijue looked at him with a desolation suddenly filling his eyes, like that little deer in the dream.
“Because Ren is a person of many feelings. The Jade Beauty… hasn’t the Jade Beauty known that for a long time?”