Had the sword-sect disciples been present, they would probably already have shouted that this was a pack of twisted, sophistical arguments.
Qian Xuelang, however, thought, He said he wanted to prevent dozens more deaths. So they really have no desire to hurt people, only to protect themselves. Ah, if Ren Yijue were here, he’d be far better with words than I am. How should I find a way for both sides to compromise?
He had never lowered his head to anyone in his life and was even less practiced at mediating disputes. After thinking for some time, he could only say, “He Yuntao came here because you chased him. He was worried about that child’s life.”
The purple-eyed swordsman mocked him. “Worried about the child’s life? Only after so many days had passed?”
“He was seriously wounded, and he fled into Liuyanzhu,” Qian Xuelang answered unhurriedly. “You fought him a moment ago, so you must know his injuries haven’t healed. Yet he hurried here anyway. Do you think he came looking for death?”
The purple-eyed swordsman fell silent. Before he could say anything more, the demon suddenly spoke. “In that case, would our honored guest be willing to vouch for the Sword Sect’s disciples?”
The question took the purple-eyed swordsman by surprise. He glanced up at the demon as though he wanted to speak, but in the end said nothing, merely standing obediently beside him as if he would accept whatever the demon decided.
“Vouch for the Sword Sect’s disciples.” Qian Xuelang frowned. He studied the demon again and again, momentarily unable to grasp the meaning of the question. “I… What do you mean?”
He had been about to say that of course he was willing to vouch for them, but what significance would such a guarantee have?
The tall demon looked down at Qian Xuelang. His voice was steady, with an edge of roughness worn into it, bringing to mind rock deep underground, repeatedly scorched by heat. It was utterly different from Ren Yijue’s light, warm voice, yet it stirred a similar feeling. “If the Sword Sect harbors malicious intentions toward the village, will our honored guest stand with us in defiance of public criticism? Will you uphold our cause… perhaps even protect us?”
“Brother Yun.” At last the purple-eyed swordsman could not hold back. He said softly, “Why… why must you bow your head to him?”
Bow his head?
Qian Xuelang regarded the demon coldly. The demon simply looked down at him with an almost careless smile, seemingly at leisure as he waited for Qian Xuelang’s response.
I’d say it looks more like a provocation.
Qian Xuelang said mildly, “This is the first time you and I have met. We have not even exchanged names. Even if I agree to act as guarantor, how much would you trust my word?”
“Wan Yuntao,” the demon said suddenly. “That is my name.”
“…Qian Xuelang.”
Qian Xuelang vaguely sensed that something was amiss, but could not say what. For the moment he could only follow Wan Yuntao’s lead.
Exchanging names was admittedly meaningless in itself, but at least it expressed goodwill. This mysterious demon seemed to command considerable respect in the village. The purple-eyed swordsman was clearly annoyed, yet he did not object strongly.
The negotiations were going so smoothly that Qian Xuelang could not tell whether his conversational skills had improved enormously or whether the demon before him was up to something.
Or perhaps the man simply had the confidence to do as he pleased.
He could come and go freely through the Third Veil at Liuyanzhu. Even in a frenzied, mindless state, he had been able to fight Bai Wujin on roughly equal terms. Wan Yuntao certainly had grounds for arrogance. With sufficient strength, one really could disregard many of the world’s rules and move about at will.
Qian Xuelang himself understood that only too well.
“I am willing to vouch for the Sword Sect’s disciples. What about your side?”
Wan Yuntao studied him with interest. “Our side?”
As those two words slipped and rolled off Wan Yuntao’s tongue, they sounded strangely alluring, like plucked zither strings whose melody had been swept through windblown sand and worn into a new sound.
Qian Xuelang sensed something abnormal in Wan Yuntao’s way of speaking, yet he could not begin to identify its source. Over his long life, he had seldom been treated with this kind of frivolous disrespect. If he had to describe it, he felt rather like bait set out for some strange beast. Yet where most people would have felt fear and helplessness, Qian Xuelang chiefly experienced disgust and displeasure.
Qian Xuelang had felt that same displeasure several times already in the Earth-Mother Womb Pool.
“If I vouch for the Sword Sect’s disciples, how can I be certain that you aren’t setting a net to catch sparrows and inviting me into a trap?”
Wan Yuntao suddenly laughed aloud. Then he said slowly, “I can give you my word. I can vouch for the village. If the Sword Sect has no ulterior motive and merely wishes to ensure that child’s safety, then should anyone in the village commit an unrighteous act, I will naturally stand beside our honored guest and kill those who harbor ill intentions.”
The word kill was uttered lightly, yet a thick, bloody aura seemed to spread through everyone’s senses. The purple-eyed swordsman looked startled. His expression shifted, but he said nothing.
Qian Xuelang could discern no hidden maneuver in the offer. After some thought, he nodded. “Very well. Now that each side has given its guarantee, what arrangements shall we make next?”
“The villagers have already gone to sleep. There are a few empty houses here. Perhaps our honored guest could bring the disciples down, and we can discuss everything tomorrow.”
“All right.”
With so many people involved, each nursing thoughts of their own, how could anyone be certain of their intentions? He Yuntao might have no malice, but who could guarantee what the other disciples were thinking?
Just as with the Jiufang Clan disciples, no one had yet discovered who had secretly been reporting information to the White-Jade Skeleton.
To prevent anything unexpected, he would require the sword-sect disciples to swear an oath.
Heaven watched over them all. If a cultivator violated a solemn oath, calamity would inevitably follow; through the cycle of cause and effect, retribution would come in the end.
Wan Yuntao and the purple-eyed swordsman watched Qian Xuelang depart. After a long time, the swordsman finally asked, “Brother Yun, why do you trust this man so much? He’s certainly skilled, but if we joined forces, we might not lose to him.”
“And then?”
The purple-eyed swordsman froze. “Then?”
“Even if we can defeat him, that doesn’t mean we can kill him. Since he’s willing to lower himself and negotiate with us, he presumably means no harm. Would you rather anger him and turn him against us?” Wan Yuntao said coolly. “Did you notice the sword case on his back?”
The purple-eyed swordsman replied, “Who knows what’s hidden in there? It gives me an awful feeling. Whenever I get near it, I feel uncomfortable all over.”
“That case contains a Demon-Slaying Sword. If he draws it, neither you and I nor the village itself would be safe.” Wan Yuntao chuckled. “Do you still dare boast that the two of us together might defeat him, Wuhui?”
Wuhui frowned deeply. “If that’s so, Brother Yun, why did you let him into the village?”
“Whether I allow it hardly matters. Didn’t you hear what he said? A woman named Hua Hanyan sent him here. He won’t leave until he’s accomplished what he came for.” Wan Yuntao shook his head. “What’s the use of resisting him again and again? Do you imagine that if you close your doors and refuse to let him in, he’ll obediently turn around and go away? If he really were that obedient…”
Wan Yuntao sighed softly. No one knew what he was thinking. He merely gazed absently at the cold moon overhead.
Wuhui had no answer. Then he saw Qian Xuelang approaching along the path with a group of sword-sect disciples, so he said nothing further.
When the disciples saw Wan Yuntao, they were all startled, almost instinctively forming a sword formation. Only Qian Xuelang’s cool gaze made them restrain themselves. Even so, they surrounded Ning Zhou, who was carrying He Yuntao on his back, as though terrified the pair would be captured.
“Is everyone here?” Wan Yuntao looked over the group. “Wuhui?”
“Everyone is here,” Wuhui said reluctantly. “Not a single one is missing.”
However unhappy Wuhui felt, he could only accompany Wan Yuntao and lead these outsiders toward the empty houses. The route passed through the square. When the disciples saw the enormous flower palanquin and wreaths of every kind arranged there, they found it strange. One younger disciple, unable to contain his curiosity, immediately asked, “What are all these flowers for?”
The moment he asked, everyone turned to look at him. He too realized that this was not the time for questions and instantly fell silent, hiding behind the others. Tang Wenxian stepped out to block Wuhui’s line of sight, coughed, and said with equal reluctance, “Forgive us. This junior brother of mine is rather outspoken. He didn’t mean to offend…”
He turned and glared fiercely at the younger disciple, who shrank back with a miserable expression, no longer daring to speak.
Unexpectedly, Wuhui looked at them coldly and actually answered. “These were the Demon Mother’s favorite flowers when she still had a human body. They’re called Yuejian flowers, and they bloom only at night. Their blooming season is brief, so we hold our festival while they’re in bloom. This is the Demon Mother’s ceremonial carriage. Do not touch it.”
“When the Demon Mother still had a human body?” The young disciple whispered to the fellow disciples beside him. “What does that mean?”
He had lowered his voice until it was almost inaudible, but the three more powerful cultivators heard him perfectly clearly. This time Wuhui merely pretended he had heard nothing and offered no further explanation.
Only after Wuhui and Wan Yuntao had departed did the apprehensive sword-sect disciples finally heave a sigh of relief. Some even collapsed on the floor and shouted, “Heavens! I thought I’d suffocate holding that in! The whole way here, I was terrified a dozen demons would suddenly jump out and tear us to pieces!”
Ning Zhou laid He Yuntao on a bed, opened the window, and looked outside. Darkness and silence stretched away, and worry touched his face. He looked first at Qian Xuelang, then at Tang Wenxian.
One of the younger disciples sitting on the floor now straightened up. Unlike the others, he did not seem particularly anxious. Sitting cross-legged, he laughed and said, “So demons have sacrificial festivals and celebrations too! They’re not so different from humans after all. That purple-eyed demon looks terrifying, but who’d have thought he’d actually answer our question?”
Tang Wenxian cut him off. “Demons are demons. Of course they’re different from humans! And you! What were you thinking, speaking up in that situation?”
The young disciple wilted under the scolding and dared not say another word. The others took pity on him and spoke up in his defense. Only then did Tang Wenxian let the matter drop.
Qian Xuelang paid little attention to the bonds between the sword-sect disciples. He was also thinking about what Wuhui had said: When the Demon Mother still had a human body…
As far as Qian Xuelang knew, only demon thralls branded with the demonic brand could change from human into demon. From the purple-eyed swordsman’s words, he inferred that this ancient Demon Mother worshipped by the villagers must also have been a servant of the Heavenly Demon.
Was that what Hua Hanyan had meant by becoming a demon? Was she suggesting the village itself consisted of followers of the Heavenly Demon?
Qian Xuelang closed his eyes and briefly imagined the village running red with blood. The Demon-Slaying Sword in its case trembled faintly in response to his killing intent, then gradually fell still.
No… I mustn’t judge hastily.