Firelight flickered, crackling without cease.
Xiao Chunhe yawned sleepily and instinctively burrowed toward the warmer place. He curled his tail in front of his eyes to block the annoying firelight, then, half asleep, caught the scent of blood.
The fox’s eyes snapped open.
It was already deep into the cold late-autumn night. Liang Yun and Ye Shijiu were asleep on the other side of the fire. Xiao Chunhe lifted his head and, to his surprise, found Yue Jingming asleep as well. The Daoist usually spent most nights meditating. Even when he slept, he lay perfectly straight and proper, but now he was curled slightly on his side, placing the fox between himself and the fire while his own body blocked the cold wind outside.
Xiao Chunhe sat up and only then discovered that the rope around his legs had been untied at some point. Even the talismans sealing his dantian had been removed. The only thing left was a red cord looped around his neck, its other end tied around Yue Jingming’s finger in an extremely complicated knot.
The not-exactly-small fox crept closer and sniffed the sleeping Daoist.
Yue Jingming was not sleeping peacefully. His brows were tightly furrowed. The handsome face that had once been full of healthy color was now abnormally pale, with dark shadows beneath his eyes. Probably because of all the travel, a layer of stubble had even appeared on his chin, and he had tanned somewhat. He looked utterly unlike the refined, otherworldly immortal he had resembled when he first descended the mountain.
Xiao Chunhe flicked his tail, leaned in, and licked Yue Jingming’s dry lips. Then he transformed into his enormous demon form and lay down, enclosing the poor little Daoist in his embrace. Thick, warm fox fur instantly shut out every trace of cold from the mountain forest.
The tension between Yue Jingming’s brows eased, and surrounded by that familiar scent, he sank into deep sleep.
Fang Jingyi, keeping watch in the distance, sensed demonic qi and immediately opened his eyes. What he saw was his own Eldest Senior Brother encircled by that fox demon. That reckless fox had even draped its tail over Eldest Senior Brother!
He was just about to get up when Yue Jingming turned over, actively hugged that enormous tail, and buried himself in the fox demon’s snow-white chest fur.
“…” Fang Jingyi shook his head violently.
It was over. He must have fallen into qi deviation!
This had to be the fox demon’s illusion. He absolutely would not be fooled. Of everyone here, he alone was still clearheaded!
The next morning.
Yue Jingming opened his eyes and saw a familiar back. “Chunhe?”
Xiao Chunhe turned to glance at him and held up the grilled fish in his hand. “Want some fish?”
Yue Jingming froze. “I… will wash up first.”
Xiao Chunhe watched him hurry away in puzzlement. The red cord was remarkably stubborn, however. Yue Jingming clearly had no intention of untying it.
Yue Jingming went to wash at a nearby stream. Footsteps approached behind him, but he did not turn around.
“Eldest Senior Brother, are you all right?” Fang Jingyi crouched beside him.
Yue Jingming lowered his eyes toward his reflection in the water. “I’m fine. We’ve been traveling for several days. My face is a little dusty.”
“Are you really not under that fox’s… under Xiao Chunhe’s charm arts? You don’t even seem like yourself anymore.” Fang Jingyi’s nose stung. “Is he worth it?”
Yue Jingming dried the water from his face and turned to him. “He is.”
Fang Jingyi grew agitated. “Why? Eldest Senior Brother, didn’t you say you would never involve yourself in romantic love? You also said you would never accept a disciple, but now everything has changed. You’ve become entangled in so much karma, and both your cultivation and merit are gone. It’s all because of those people!”
Yue Jingming shook his head. “They did not harm me. This was a tribulation I was meant to undergo. Everything that has happened is the result of choices I made myself.”
“Eldest Senior Brother!” Fang Jingyi was both furious and distressed. “They aren’t worth it at all.”
“Jingyi, Chunhe is the Dao companion I have chosen, Shijiu is my disciple, and Brother Liang is my friend. Because of them, I have experienced many of the flavors of the human world. Had I stayed on Zushan forever, my path might indeed have remained smooth, but I would never have made another step forward.” Yue Jingming rose and patted his shoulder.
“But all your cultivation is gone!” Fang Jingyi scrubbed hard at his tears.
“Ten years ago, my cultivation ceased advancing. I secluded myself on the mountain for ten years and comprehended the No-Thought One-Mind Art, causing my cultivation to rise greatly. Now I have entered the mortal world, abandoned everything I cultivated before, and lost all my cultivation. These two things are no different.” Yue Jingming explained patiently. “What we cultivate is the heart and the Dao. Cultivation and merit are merely external things bestowed along the way. If we become trapped by them, that is truly abandoning the root for the branches.”
Fang Jingyi’s first reaction was shock, and he nearly argued. Yet the words reached his lips and stopped. He looked thoughtfully at Yue Jingming. “Eldest Senior Brother, you mean…”
Yue Jingming told him seriously, “If cultivation is lost, it can be regained. If one can cleanse the heart and temper one’s state, one may gain even more than before. There are three thousand Great Daos in the mortal world. There will always be one path for me.”
Understanding suddenly dawned on Fang Jingyi, and true qi surged around his body. He hurriedly shoved his bundle and sword into Yue Jingming’s hands. “Eldest Senior Brother, I understand! Please protect me while I enter meditation for a few days!”
Those words had untangled countless doubts and knots in his heart. He could not wait even a moment before entering meditative enlightenment.
Yue Jingming said with gratification, “All right.”
Fang Jingyi suddenly entered meditation in the middle of the deep mountains, forcing the group to stop.
“Master, what did Little Martial Uncle realize?” Ye Shijiu asked curiously. “When will I be able to have an enlightenment too?”
“Before one comprehends the Dao, one must first pass through pain and struggle. During enlightenment, the difference of a single thought can send one a thousand li astray.” Yue Jingming looked at him. “When you can truly put down your hatred, that will be when you are able to comprehend it.”
“I already put it down long ago.” Ye Shijiu looked away guiltily.
Yue Jingming patted his head. “Don’t overthink it. Resentment is also part of ordinary human nature.”
Ye Shijiu seemed to half understand. He looked toward Xiao Chunhe not far away. “Then is Martial Uncle resentful because we brought him out? He seems a little different from before.”
He no longer liked smiling or talking. He looked cold and distant, almost like a different fox.
Yue Jingming said to Ye Shijiu, “He failed to do what he wanted, so he’s unhappy. It’s like when you were disciplined for playing with paper figures before.”
Ye Shijiu: “…”
All at once, he felt profound sympathy for Martial Uncle!
Yue Jingming suddenly remembered something. “That bamboo figure you made before—”
“Master, I-I suddenly remembered I haven’t done today’s lessons yet. Heavens, m-maybe I’m about to have an enlightenment too!” Ye Shijiu hurriedly said. “I’m going to help guard Little Martial Uncle!”
Hugging his sword, he bounded away. Liang Yun had gone somewhere as well, leaving Xiao Chunhe alone beside the fire.
Yue Jingming paused for a moment, then walked over and sat opposite him.
Xiao Chunhe licked the last bits of fish from his fingers and stared down at the nearly extinguished fire. “You were gone too long. The fish is gone.”
“No matter. I caught two wild chickens.” Yue Jingming picked up some dry wood and fed it into the fire. The dying flames immediately rose again. “Jingyi suddenly entered meditative enlightenment. We’ll have to remain here for several days.”
Xiao Chunhe said, “Once Xiao Wen discovers I’m gone, he will definitely come after us. You can borrow the Cloudsmoke Brush once, but if you rely on it every time, sooner or later you’ll destroy your body so badly you’ll never be able to cultivate the Dao again.”
“I have already begun comprehending a new method.” Yue Jingming said calmly, “Besides, Jingyi and Shijiu are here too. You needn’t worry.”
Xiao Chunhe said, “Handing me over would solve everything.”
Yue Jingming looked up at him. “You and I may someday cease being Dao companions, cease being friends, perhaps even become enemies. But if I hand you over now, an inner demon will haunt me for the rest of my life and I will regret it until I die.”
Meeting Yue Jingming’s unwavering gaze, Xiao Chunhe frowned, then swallowed the words already at his lips.
Yue Jingming handed him a handkerchief.
Xiao Chunhe sighed softly. “You really don’t mind that I’m an evil fox?”
“It would be a lie to say I do not mind at all. But I accept you completely.” Yue Jingming answered seriously.
“You really are…” Xiao Chunhe rubbed his fingers hard with the handkerchief. “Do whatever you want.”
“If you truly mind, then we can go back to being friends.” Yue Jingming said, “We’ll investigate what happened back then together. But no matter what, you cannot leave alone at a time like this. It isn’t only me. Shijiu and Brother Liang have risked their lives for you as well. Xiao Chunhe, disappearing or walking away will not solve this.”
Xiao Chunhe scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fine. I know.”
Yue Jingming added more wood to the fire.
Warmed through by the flames, Xiao Chunhe remained silent for a long time before finally asking in a low voice, “Do you want to… talk with me?”
Yue Jingming looked at him.
“Just the two of us.” Xiao Chunhe frowned.
“All right.” Yue Jingming stood and instinctively held out a hand. Xiao Chunhe did not take it the way he once would have. Yue Jingming paused, then withdrew his hand. “Let’s find somewhere quieter. I also need to set up a protective formation for Jingyi.”
Xiao Chunhe nodded.
Yue Jingming ultimately chose a place above a waterfall. The spiritual qi there was abundant, and it was not far from where Fang Jingyi sat in meditation. He quickly completed the formation and transferred into it the true qi stored inside the paper figures.
Xiao Chunhe quietly watched him work. “No wonder your junior brothers and sisters all like you so much.”
Even with all his cultivation gone, Yue Jingming had arranged the protective formation with extraordinary care.
“They have done many things for me too. When my cultivation stopped advancing back then, they took turns keeping me company.” Yue Jingming said. “I am very grateful to them.”
“I don’t understand it.” Xiao Chunhe sat down on a rock. “My mother was the Saintess of the red-fox clan. She secretly ran down the mountain and got together with a human. Later that man vanished. She returned to Zixu Mountain heavily pregnant and gave birth to me.”
Yue Jingming had never heard Xiao Chunhe speak about his own past, nor had he ever seen this expression on him before. There was none of the melancholy or joking tone Xiao Chunhe usually used when mentioning such things, only a coldness sunk deep into the bones.
“I was born half human and half fox, an ugly monster. I drained every bit of my mother’s cultivation. The moment my spiritual awareness opened, I knew how to hunt for myself. I killed quite a few foxes in the clan and even ran down the mountain and hunted several mortals.” Xiao Chunhe looked at Yue Jingming. Only after seeing no disgust on his face did he continue.
“My mother could only survive by eating mortal hearts. She begged Xiao Wen for help, and together with the clan elders they sealed my demonic qi. That demon-gu was planted in me by my mother herself.” Xiao Chunhe touched the gu at his neck. “Whenever this gu is stirred by emotion, the pain is unbearable. It isn’t limited to romantic love. If I become too happy, pity one of my own kind, or feel hatred… the pain is just as bad.”
“When I was little, those foxes all called me Wooden Head. I didn’t know how to cry or laugh. I wanted to play with them, so I would go alone to the water and practice smiling and crying the way they did. But back then I was easy to see through. They soon stopped playing with me. I couldn’t understand why, so I ate all of them.”
Yue Jingming frowned.
Xiao Chunhe immediately stopped talking. Only the roar of the waterfall remained around them.
“And then?” Yue Jingming handed him a washed piece of fruit.
Xiao Chunhe froze, then said quietly, “There was too much fur, so I vomited all of them back up.”
Yue Jingming sighed. “You can tell me the truth.”
“I dug out all their hearts and ate them.” Xiao Chunhe held the fruit. “My mother was already dying at the time. To keep me alive, she and Xiao Wen used puppet nails to seal my apertures and meridians. The price was that every month I had to supply blood to Zixu Mountain’s formation. My demonic qi is abundant and can help the foxes of the clan cultivate, which is why Xiao Wen insists I return to Zixu Mountain. He knows the puppet nails are close to losing control over me, but he doesn’t dare openly tear ties with me, so he can only use my mother to threaten me.”
Yue Jingming’s expression grew grave. “You also know how to use puppet nails.”
“Of course I don’t want to be controlled by anyone.” Xiao Chunhe tugged at his mouth with an evil air. “Ever since I was little, I’ve planned to refine every fox on the mountain. Their demonic qi would still become mine, and I could have them continue cultivating to accumulate even more for me. I also raised many demon-gu beneath Zixu Mountain. Once I completely free myself of the puppet nails, none of them will escape.”
Yue Jingming: “…”
“My mother died outside Zixu Mountain years ago, her remains scattered everywhere. The only clue was moyao qi clinging to them. I descended the mountain first to gather my mother’s remains, and second to kill the moyao and absorb its demonic-path qi to aid my own cultivation.” Xiao Chunhe looked at him calmly. “The compass was a relic my mother left behind. It happened to fit together with the Myriad Demons Scroll in your hands and the copper spoon in Liang Yun’s. That is why I decided on the spot to follow all of you, searching for my mother’s remains while using you to find the moyao.”
Yue Jingming said softly, “I see.”
“So it was never because our ideals were aligned.” Xiao Chunhe said, “But Xiao Wen was pressing me too hard, you had lost your cultivation and merit, and Ye Shijiu and Liang Yun were of very little use on their own. That day at the inn I had already arranged a formation intending to refine all three of you. But Xiao Wen happened to catch up, so I went along with the situation… and left with the Myriad Demons Scroll.”
“I impersonated you in the first place because of the Myriad Demons Scroll too.”
Yue Jingming looked at him. “If you refined all three of us into the formation, were you not afraid of being entangled in countless karmic debts?”
“I don’t care.” Xiao Chunhe looked back at him. “Maybe I like all of you very much. If I did that, you could stay by my side forever. That would be good too. Just like those little foxes whose hearts I dug out and ate.”
Yue Jingming’s temples throbbed.
Xiao Chunhe continued, “If I fall in love with someone, the demon-gu really does crawl upward, and eventually it will devour my heart and kill me. But after dual cultivation with that person, I can dig out his heart and eat it to break the gu. Sometimes I want to eat your heart, and sometimes I can’t bear to. That’s why looking at you annoys me sometimes.”
Yue Jingming: “…I understand.”
Xiao Chunhe let out a long, turbid breath. “Now you know everything. I will not return the Myriad Demons Scroll. If all of you leave now, there is still time.”
Yue Jingming handed him another piece of fruit. “You crushed that one. Eat this instead.”
Xiao Chunhe stared at him suspiciously.
Yue Jingming reached out and pressed a hand to his head. “Perhaps I believe everything you just told me. But you also said yourself that you are terrible at imitating other people’s expressions. I trust the Xiao Chunhe I have seen with my own eyes even more.”
Xiao Chunhe scoffed. “My magic is profound now. Naturally none of you can tell anymore.”
“All right.” Yue Jingming said gently, “If none of my other reasons can persuade you, then you only need to remember one thing.”
Xiao Chunhe immediately looked up at him, his cold fox eyes lifting slightly.
“If I let you leave, then one day you will inevitably become a moyao that brings disaster upon the world.” Yue Jingming said, “I absolutely will not allow that to happen.”
With that, he released him and turned to leave.
Xiao Chunhe sat on the rock and brooded for a long time. Suddenly thinking of something, he jerked a hand to his head and, sure enough, found two furry fox ears. He spun around in disbelief and came face-to-face with his own large tail swaying behind him.
Xiao Chunhe: “…”
Damn it.