Li Wanjie.
Learning so suddenly about the Heavenly Demon Vessels left the demon with a turmoil of emotions. As he recalled the events of his past, one after another seemed to point toward the father who had disappeared.
But why would his father have done such a thing? Had all his affection for his mother been a lie? Was he even still alive after all these years?
The demon was utterly bewildered. Rather than dwell on questions with no answers, he asked, “Brother Bai, why did you say just now that something terrible had happened?”
Bai Wujin had called the two of them blood brothers born to different parents, but what he meant was that they were fellow sufferers. The demon seized the opportunity to address him more familiarly and draw them closer. The great task of slaying the Heavenly Demon required allies; if he could win over one more helper, so much the better.
“Of course something terrible has happened!” Bai Wujin widened his eyes and shouted. “Originally, I was the only outfit available. After the battle to slay the demon, Li Wanjie’s body was destroyed. If the Heavenly Demon wanted to descend into the world again, the easiest option would have been to possess me, since I had already become a Heavenly Demon Vessel. I’ve long since made every preparation. When he returned, I intended to imprison him within my body. But…”
“But now there is me as well,” the demon said.
Bai Wujin sighed softly. “Exactly. Now he has another choice, which makes everything more complicated. At least I’m alone in the world, with no family or attachments. I owe no one anything, and no one owes anything to me. I can drag him into the underworld myself with a clear conscience. But you… That icy Daoist may not love you, yet I imagine this business of love still has plenty of sweetness and bitterness for you. Asking you to sacrifice yourself would be rather heartless.”
Hearing Bai Wujin speak of life and death as if they were nothing, the demon admired him deeply. Then he shook his head. “Brother Bai, there is something else I want to ask you.”
“What is it?”
The demon thought for a moment before asking, “Could someone else cast a spell and cause a person to become a Heavenly Demon Vessel?”
“Quite a feat that would be!” Bai Wujin laughed derisively. “Do you think these clothes can be cut and sewn whenever someone feels like it? If a mortal had that power, they would probably already have attained the Dao. It’s the same as with demon thralls: there is no way to create a Heavenly Demon Vessel other than the Heavenly Demon acting in person.”
The demon thought it over. “In that case, Brother Bai, you have made a mistake.”
“I’m mistaken?” Bai Wujin looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“There have never been only two Heavenly Demon Vessels. There is at least a third in this world.”
Bai Wujin was startled and hurriedly asked, “What does that mean? Have you met this person?”
“I haven’t met them. But I was not chosen sixty years ago. I was chosen forty-five years ago,” the demon said evenly. “If the Heavenly Demon did not descend into your body forty-five years ago, then this could only have been done by a third Heavenly Demon Vessel whom the Heavenly Demon had possessed.”
Bai Wujin’s voice trembled. “What? What did you say? You were chosen only forty-five years ago?”
The demon nodded. Seeing Bai Wujin’s face turn deathly pale, he could not guess what the man was thinking. Bai Wujin suddenly cried out, “No! Impossible! You must be remembering it wrong! Only fifteen years… It was only fifteen years… But why… No, no! Then why didn’t he possess me back then? Impossible…”
In his fury, Bai Wujin suddenly reached out to seize the demon by the collar. Though the demon rather liked him, he had never let down his guard. The two immediately began fighting, their surging demonic qi stirring the dense mist into a violent tempest.
The demon had been no match for Bai Wujin to begin with and had no desire to fight to the death. In fewer than a dozen exchanges, Bai Wujin seized his collar and dragged him close.
“Tell me everything plainly.” Bai Wujin stared at him coldly. “If it has anything to do with the Heavenly Demon, you must not omit a single detail or overlook a single clue. Tell me everything you know.”
That was easy enough. The demon had already told Bai Wujin about his origins, so he now recounted the attack on Ren Yijue.
As he listened, Bai Wujin began to sense something was wrong. He had assumed the demon had been secretly trailing the pair and watching them, but when the demon described their experiences, it was almost as if he himself had been there. Bai Wujin had been about to tease him over whether he liked Ren Yijue or Qian Xuelang, but the account of Ren Yijue was far too detailed, so detailed that only one explanation remained.
This demon was Ren Yijue. He had been jealous of himself all along.
Remembering all the things he had said about that pretty boy, Bai Wujin coughed reflexively.
“You… Ren… Your mother actually managed to keep you safe from the Heavenly Demon back then.” Bai Wujin rubbed his nose. A possibility flashed through his mind and his expression turned horrified. He could not help crying out, “Wait! Don’t tell me your mother is the Sword Venerable!”
The sheer horror of this revelation seemed, to some degree, to overshadow even the threat of the Heavenly Demon.
The demon neither confirmed nor denied it, merely gazing at him in silence.
Their eyes met. Both thought of the worst possible explanation.
“Good heavens…” Bai Wujin went pale. The thought that the demon had been chosen at birth opened up one possibility after another. Then he remembered the proud, composed Sword Venerable. Thoughts tumbled through his head until he felt dizzy. He pressed his fingers to his brow. “How strange. It doesn’t fit the Heavenly Demon’s nature. He has no interest in romance at all. Besides, he already has a wife. Admittedly, his wife has been dead for longer than anyone can imagine, but…”
“Hm?” the demon said. “The Heavenly Demon has a wife?”
“Of course the Heavenly Demon has a wife! Where do you think half-demons came from? Did you think they were born of human parents alone?” Bai Wujin glared at him irritably, then could not resist asking, “Your mama… No, your mother… Um… Forget it. Is your honored mother really the Sword Venerable? The Sword Venerable Ren Cangming?”
The demon ignored the question and asked instead, “How did his wife die?”
“Who knows? She’s been dead for at least ten thousand years.” Bai Wujin looked disgruntled. “Didn’t I already tell you? That father of mine never fed me a single meal. The only time he ever turned up was to find another outfit for his master. I spent decades around the Heavenly Demon and only happened to learn that he had a wife, that she was human, and that she’d reincarnated Heaven knows how many hundreds of times.”
“If he has a wife, why do you say he has no feelings for romance?” the demon asked.
“Oh, come on. I’ve never fallen for anyone myself, but my eyes aren’t useless. Ten thousand years have passed, and I still know the Heavenly Demon had an original wife, and that she was human. Why do you think that is?”
Ten thousand years of longing, all for a single person.
The demon said mildly, “Though the Heavenly Demon is cruel to everyone else, he is devoted to the wife he first married. I know you meant that he has no interest in other people. But I still don’t understand. If she reincarnates, why doesn’t he try to renew their bond? And why do you say she’s been dead beyond all doubt?”
“Hmph. This comes down to the difference between humans and demons. Maybe humans, because their power is limited, become greedy and always want to hold everything in their hands, wanting to possess the same person in every lifetime.” Bai Wujin shook his head. “The Heavenly Demon is far more accepting of this matter. From the moment his wife died, she was no longer his wife. He does search for her reincarnations, but only to make sure that she has enough to eat and wear, and can live a carefree life. He has no intention of becoming her husband again.”
“Humans and demons travel different paths.” After a long silence, the demon forced out those four words. Then he asked, “Is he not afraid that his wife might be reborn as his enemy?”
Although he spoke of the Heavenly Demon and his wife, the people in his thoughts were himself and Qian Xuelang.
“Of course he’s not afraid—” Bai Wujin seemed suddenly to understand something, and broke off. He stared at the demon strangely for a long while. “No… Wait! You’ve just reminded me of something…”
The demon looked at him, puzzled. “Reminded you of what?”
“So that’s it… Strange. Why did it never occur to me before?” Bai Wujin murmured. “I knew something was missing. Ah, if only I hadn’t spent all this time living such a monkish life. I really should have found a few female cultivators to discuss the great Dao of love with! Then I might have remembered this oddity much sooner!”
The demon was completely baffled. “What? Brother Bai, what are you talking about?”
“Every single one of his wife’s reincarnations has been short-lived and uncomprehending!” Bai Wujin shouted. “I spent decades at the Heavenly Demon’s side. The longest that woman ever lived in one life was sixteen years, and the shortest was only four. In every lifetime she was utterly unaware, without understanding, emotion, or feeling.”
Hearing this, pity welled up in the demon’s heart. The Heavenly Demon certainly deserves to die, but for this young woman to suffer through such reincarnations, lifetime after lifetime… Who will care for her in the future? For Heaven to treat her this way is far too cruel.
Oblivious to his thoughts, Bai Wujin continued, “I used to think that even if she had committed some terrible sin and was suffering retribution, surely the punishment should have ended by now. Only now do I realize these are the signs of a soul with parts missing!”
“Parts of her soul missing,” the demon murmured.
“The Heavenly Demon cannot simply die and then come back to life.” Bai Wujin paced back and forth, horror in his expression. “His human wife shared part of her own soul with him, and that unexpectedly allowed a being who existed outside the cycle of reincarnation to enter it. That’s the real reason he cannot be killed for good.”
Having finally worked it out, his face suddenly brightened. “Good brother! I knew I hadn’t recognized you as my little brother for nothing. No wonder they say that brothers working together can cut through metal. You go and see to your affairs with that icy Daoist. No need to worry about me. I’ll find the reincarnation of the Demon Lady and test this theory, then come back for you.”
Bai Wujin casually pressed something into the demon’s hand. It was a small knife-shaped coin, made of some unknown material, exquisitely delicate and rather charming.
“I’ll be in touch!”
The words had scarcely left his mouth before Bai Wujin disappeared.
His original reason for asking about the Third Veil’s secrets had been the Heavenly Demon. Now that he had a new lead concerning the Heavenly Demon, he naturally cast all his other questions aside.
The demon was too late to stop him. He could only smile ruefully and return to the Earth-Mother Womb Pool, though he felt a little more at ease.
Since the Heavenly Demon was so devoted to his wife that his feelings had not faded after so many years, surely he would not deliberately deceive the demon’s mother with false promises of love. Besides, Bai Wujin had said that such conduct did not fit the Heavenly Demon’s nature. Bai Wujin had spent many years at his side, so his judgment was far more trustworthy than the demon’s own speculations.
Then what role had the man whom Ren Yijue ought to have called Father played in this bewildering mystery?
The demon’s footsteps grew heavy again. Before he knew it, he had returned to the Earth-Mother Womb Pool.
Qian Xuelang opened his eyes from within the water and said calmly, “You’re back.”
“Mhm.” Warmth spread through the demon’s heart. “I’m back.”