Since they had brought outsiders into the village, they naturally had to take responsibility for them.
Although it was late, Wan Yuntao could only disturb the village chief’s rest. Fortunately, the chief was still making preparations for the celebration and had not yet gone to sleep. On hearing the knock, he called, “Come in.”
“Village Chief.”
Wuhui entered first. The village chief was squinting at something he was writing, and a little ink had stained his long, snow-white beard.
“I heard a commotion outside. What happened?” Although elderly and stooped, the chief was still a very tall man. Little of his body had undergone demonic transformation, so at first glance he looked no different from a sturdily built mortal. “And you’ve both come together. Is something the matter?”
He set down his brush, took up a walking stick to support himself, and gestured toward the chairs. “At my age, I won’t stand on ceremony. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Wan Yuntao and Wuhui each sat down. Leaning on his cane, the chief glanced left, then right, and smiled. “Did you two come here to sit in silence? Why isn’t either of you talking? Is it some happy news you’re too embarrassed to tell me?”
Seeing the Jade Beauty again certainly counted as happy news, but it wasn’t something to blush over yet.
Wan Yuntao could not help laughing. He had remained silent because he wanted to give Wuhui the chance to speak. Who would have thought Wuhui would be so sparing with his words that he would say nothing at all? Wan Yuntao said, “Since Wuhui doesn’t want to speak, I’ll tell you myself.”
His manner of speaking was habitually calm and steady. He briefly explained what had happened with the Sword Sect’s disciples and Qian Xuelang so the chief would understand the situation. Then he turned to Wuhui with a small smile. “Well? Did I get anything wrong?”
Wuhui flushed, looking annoyed. “I’m not that petty! If you tell the truth, do you think I’d refuse to listen to reason?”
Wan Yuntao smiled. “I never said you wouldn’t listen to reason. I only asked because I was afraid I might have described something incorrectly.”
The chief interrupted them. “Ahem. So Little Yuntao took it upon himself to bring back another Brother Yuntao, is that it? I remember Fuli saying not long ago that a kind young Daoist had played some game with him. All the other children were so stirred up by it they couldn’t settle down afterward. Well, now that these people are here, I suppose it must be fate. It isn’t such a serious matter.”
Wuhui’s expression changed. He started to protest. “But Village Chief…”
“Ah, silly child. I know you’re devoted to the village, but if they can’t be stopped, why insist on forcing the matter? Perhaps it’s the Demon Mother’s arrangement. Besides, that man saved little Fuli, so he must be a decent fellow without any wicked intentions.” The chief shook his head. “And there isn’t much in this village worth coveting anyway. Even if someone does come seeking fame or profit, didn’t Yuntao say that important person named Qian Xuelang would help us?”
Wuhui snorted. “Who knows whether that’s true? People from outside can never be trusted. Back then…”
He stopped abruptly, glanced at Wan Yuntao, and gave another snort. “Forget it. Since you’ve decided, Chief, I’ve nothing more to say. But if they violate our taboos, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”
As he left, Wan Yuntao called after him, “Then remember to explain what those taboos are!”
Wuhui’s figure quickly disappeared into the darkness.
After Wuhui had gone, some of the smile faded from the chief’s face. He walked to Wan Yuntao’s side, and together they looked out upon the vast night.
Wan Yuntao asked slowly, “Village Chief, have I made things difficult for you?”
The chief reached out and gently patted his back. “There’s nothing difficult about it. This day came many, many years ago, and it will come again many, many years from now. What place in the world is truly cut off from everything? That would make it an immortal paradise, wouldn’t it? And even a paradise would become part of the mortal world in the end if mortals with their seven emotions and six desires lived there.”
“Still… are you very familiar with that Dao Lord named Qian Xuelang?”
Wan Yuntao paused. He had been about to agree, but something seemed to occur to him, and he shook his head instead. “No, not especially. It depends on what you’re asking, Chief. If you mean his character, he’s absolutely trustworthy. But if you mean anything else, then I… I couldn’t really say.”
The chief studied him in silence for a moment before bursting into laughter. Beckoning, he said, “Good child, come along. Walk with me.”
They walked beneath the silent moonlight, the steady tap of the chief’s cane sounding against the bluestone path. The little village was exceptionally tranquil at this hour. Wan Yuntao fervently hoped that no one would ever disturb its peace.
“You haven’t been in our village long,” the chief said. “I haven’t told you the story of the Demon Mother and Lord Heavenly Demon yet, have I?”
Wan Yuntao hesitated, then shook his head. “No. The children told me a few things, but most of it was the sort of thing that makes them cover their faces and giggle. I only know that the two were very much in love. Beyond that, I don’t know much.”
The Demon Mother was the Heavenly Demon’s wife.
On his first day in the village, Wan Yuntao had connected the villagers’ stories with what Bai Wujin had told him and worked that much out. But he knew nothing of what had actually happened between the Heavenly Demon and the Demon Mother.
They walked toward the Demon Mother’s statue. Gazing into the distance, the chief began unhurriedly, “The Demon Mother was originally mortal, a princess of a small kingdom and its designated heir. She was strikingly beautiful and alluring, of noble birth and outstanding ability. It was as if all the finest things under heaven had been laid at her feet.”
Wan Yuntao sensed something faintly ominous in the story. If she had truly been so fortunate, why would she have changed from human into demon?
“And then?” he asked.
“Perhaps Heaven grew jealous. The Demon Mother soon entered the most turbulent year of her life. No one knows exactly what happened back then. We only know that her mother deceived her for the sake of her lover; her father abandoned her because of her mother’s infidelity; and once she lost her power, her betrothed betrayed her as well. Almost overnight, she was stripped of everything. Then the Demon Mother’s own country cast her out.”
Wan Yuntao was silent for a moment. “Did she meet Lord Heavenly Demon?”
“Meet him? No, no. She was the one who sought him out.” The chief shook his head. His expression grew complicated, and only after a long pause did he continue slowly. “After enduring all that betrayal and witnessing humans killing one another, the Demon Mother grew utterly weary of it all. So she followed Lord Heavenly Demon into campaign after campaign.”
Wan Yuntao said, “She was tired of slaughter, yet joined a war. That sounds contradictory, though when I think about it carefully, it makes a certain kind of sense. Did the Demon Mother want to end the chaos of that age?”
“I don’t know. No one knows what the Demon Mother was thinking. Perhaps she wanted revenge, or to prove herself. Perhaps… perhaps human emotions tormented her until she lost faith in humanity altogether. Or perhaps, just as you said, the Demon Mother wished to end the turmoil of that ancient age.”
“Before long, Lord Heavenly Demon fell in love with her. At first the Demon Mother refused him. She rejected his courtship and devoted herself entirely to creating a world that belonged to demons, for his sake. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Lord Heavenly Demon won the Demon Mother’s heart—”
Wan Yuntao asked, “Hmm? How did Lord Heavenly Demon win the Demon Mother’s affection?”
The story the chief was telling sounded rather dangerous. But since the Demon Mother had been willing to divide her very soul for the Heavenly Demon, Wan Yuntao supposed she must indeed have come to love her husband.
The chief shook his head. “Dem—demons are greedy creatures. Nobody knows what Lord Heavenly Demon did. In any event, before long the Demon Mother did agree to marry him. This village once helped the Demon Mother when she was in exile, and in return the Demon Mother gave us her protection. We’ve worshipped the Demon Mother ever since. After Lord Heavenly Demon and the Demon Mother married, marriages between humans and demons soon became common in the village as well.”
“I remember you once wondered why our village has such peculiar names, so many of them referring to unlucky omens. That, too, is because of the Demon Mother. After all she’d endured, she had little fondness for words of good fortune.”
Wan Yuntao looked surprised. “Really?”
“From the filthiest dung grub comes the cicada that drinks dew in the autumn wind; from rotting, lightless grass comes the firefly that shines through the summer months. The Demon Mother believed that purity could be born from filth, and light from darkness. People everywhere crave auspicious things, but how many truly enjoy good fortune and peace? One might as well accept the inauspicious and find good fortune within it.”
The chief chuckled and patted his back again.
Wan Yuntao, however, recalled the name Bai Wujin had mentioned for the previous Heavenly Demon Vessel: Li Wanjie. At the time, Bai Wujin had also said it seemed to be a tradition—
Something stirred in his mind. “Village Chief, have you heard of Li Wanjie?”
The chief thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I haven’t. Why?”
“It’s nothing.” Wan Yuntao did not say any more.
If so, Li Wanjie had probably also come from a village that worshipped the Demon Mother.
With another clue in hand, Wan Yuntao asked, “Chief, I imagine you’re telling me the history of the Demon Mother and Lord Heavenly Demon for more than simply teaching me about the village’s past?”
“Indeed. You’ve always been a clever child.”
By then they had reached the foot of the Demon Mother’s statue. The chief found a stone and sat down on it with some difficulty, then suddenly began singing. The words were exceedingly obscure and his rhythm was quite casual, but the melody still carried a passionate tenderness.
The song was very short, and the chief soon finished it.
Wan Yuntao had listened, entranced. “Village Chief, what song was that?”
“An ancient love song, about Lord Heavenly Demon’s feelings for the Demon Mother.” The chief looked at him and smiled affectionately. “He loved the Demon Mother passionately and understood the Demon Mother’s abilities perfectly, yet he could never see into the Demon Mother’s heart. The pain of longing gnawed at his own heart like a deadly poison.”
Wan Yuntao had nothing to say.
“Demons are an exceedingly, exceedingly greedy race. When something catches their attention, it seems to seize their whole being: bloodlust, battle lust, obsession. Many humans are like that too, but not all of them. The serenity of some humans is enough to move even the proud gods.”
“Perhaps that is why humanity has infinite possibilities and ultimately became the true master of this land.”
Exactly. That is why Ren Yijue must suppress his nature, must… put the greater good first. Wan Yuntao, however, may confront his own nature directly.
Wan Yuntao grew subdued. He understood perfectly what the chief was trying to tell him. “Was I really that obvious?”
“Not very. It’s just that, aside from his character, the village has no need to know much else about that Dao Lord named Qian Xuelang. I couldn’t think what else you might mean.” Despite his advanced age, the chief grinned and made a playful face at Wan Yuntao. “You’re clever and cautious, child, but your heart gave you away. You’ve fallen in love with him, just as Lord Heavenly Demon fell in love with the Demon Mother.”
Wan Yuntao was left speechless.