"The Immortal Lord has given orders. From this day on, he will enter secluded cultivation. All immortal soldiers on patrol are to strengthen their guard, and no one is to disturb him."
Standing at the entrance to Situ Fanzhi's sleeping chamber, Ou Shinan gave his instructions to the gathered immortal soldiers. Once he had sent away the guards, his hand gave a light flick behind his back. A black-ringed toad fell silently into the grass and hopped through Situ Fanzhi's half-open window.
Watching the toad disappear into the room, a smile curled briefly across Ou Shinan's lips. Since Situ Fanzhi desired the power of the Chixi Dan so badly, he would simply give him a little help.
Over the past few days, Hua Qiuyuan had searched the peach blossom grove from end to end, yet he had not seen so much as a single person, much less any trace of Mie Xingzhe. When he saw a wooden cottage in the distance, he cautiously checked the surrounding area. Only after making sure no one had lived there for some time did he step inside.
There was a light layer of dust on the furnishings, but the arrangement inside did not look like a place that had been abandoned.
Hua Qiuyuan looked around, and in a corner on the floor beside the bed, he saw a medicine case he recognized at once. Kicking aside the low stool in front of it, he lifted the black case with gold corners into his arms and gently ran his hand over the pattern on it. He knew this medicine case far too well. He had made it with his own hands back when Hua Ruoying first began learning poison craft, and inside the box there was even a raised black cumin flower carved into it.
"So ugly! Brother, how could you carve such an ugly design?" Hua Qiuyuan remembered Hua Ruoying complaining the first time she received it.
[So she really did come here once.]
Just then he heard the sound of many footsteps outside. He quickly picked up the medicine case and had only just reached the doorway when he found the wooden cottage already surrounded by immortal soldiers.
"So I wondered who it was. Since when can a commander from the demon race come and go from the peach blossom grove of Liao Yin Immortal Realm as he pleases?"
Ou Shinan's voice came from behind the soldiers. Slowly fanning himself, he stepped out from the midst of them.
Hua Qiuyuan knew that, as a demon, he had no right to appear anywhere near Liao Yin Immortal Realm. He leaped onto the roof of the cottage and immediately tried to flee.
"Catch him!!"
With a flick of his hand, Ou Shinan hurled his folding fan at Hua Qiuyuan on the roof, then sprang up after him with a light step and shot a beam of golden light from his hand.
Hua Qiuyuan bent backward to dodge the fan, planted one hand on the roof, and flipped sideways to avoid the golden light aimed at him. He raised his hand in front of him to block the kick Ou Shinan sent at him as he closed in. Still clutching the medicine case, Hua Qiuyuan lost his balance and staggered back two steps.
Ou Shinan caught the falling fan. Seeing Hua Qiuyuan lose his footing and retreat, he spun and closed the distance in a few swift turns. With the edge of his fan, he hooked the strap of the medicine case and wound it around his hand.
On the other side, Hua Qiuyuan clutched the strap tightly and pulled with all his strength, trying to wrench it back. Under the strain from both of them, the strap began to tear visibly.
Ou Shinan naturally saw how much the medicine case mattered to Hua Qiuyuan. Turning his palm, he gathered power and struck toward the case.
Seeing this, Hua Qiuyuan hurriedly kicked out, trying to knock away the fan that held the medicine case fast.
But Ou Shinan had clearly anticipated the move. The hand that had seemed about to strike the case suddenly turned over and shot upward instead, striking the sole of Hua Qiuyuan's foot as he kicked. The force of that blow sent Hua Qiuyuan flipping backward off the roof. The immortal soldiers waiting below rushed forward all at once and seized him the moment he hit the ground.
Standing on the roof, Ou Shinan looked down at Hua Qiuyuan with a half-smile. Right in front of him, he released the fan wrapped around the strap. The medicine case fell from the roof and shattered on the ground with a sharp crack.
"Take him away."
Hua Qiuyuan struggled with all his strength, but the Immortal-Binding Rope on his body left him unable to use even a trace of power. He could only be dragged away by the immortal soldiers, he stared at the medicine case Ou Shinan had just smashed.
Inside a cave in Xueling,
Li Luoning looked at the Liuguang butterfly fading away in his hand, then turned toward the still-unconscious Mie Xingzhe and let out a long breath.
"You little medicine fool, there are so many caves in Xueling. How did you manage to hide in the hardest one of all to find? I had to climb mountains and cross ridges to get here. Just look at how filthy I am. Honestly, honestly, honestly. I am telling you, the wine you promised before must be doubled this time." Jiagu Qing complained while plucking twigs out of his hair.
"Senior, did you get the Sky Scorpion Water?"
"Here."
Jiagu Qing pulled the small bottle he had found in Jingyun Residence from his robe and handed it over.
Li Luoning snatched it up at once and hurried toward Mie Xingzhe.
"Oh, you ungrateful little thing. I ended up in this state, and not even a single word of thanks?" Jiagu Qing muttered in complaint.
At that moment, Mie Xingzhe filled Li Luoning's every thought. Carrying the tiny bottle of Sky Scorpion Water, he went to the bowl of medicine he had already prepared and carefully opened it, dripping the liquid inside. As the other ingredients in the bowl reacted, black smoke rose little by little. When the smoke slowly dispersed, there remained a small portion of medicinal broth.
Even from far away, Jiagu Qing could smell the sharp fishy and salty odor coming from it.
"What exactly have you mixed up there? Be careful you do not end up killing your little golden baby."
"Nian has been poisoned. This Sky Scorpion Water can open his meridians, ease the pain, attack the poison, and break up the knotting faster than anything else."
Li Luoning lifted the unconscious Mie Xingzhe into his arms, held him lightly against his chest, used one hand to pinch open his mouth, and quickly poured the medicine from the bowl down his throat with the other.
"Your little disciple has the Floating Light Golden Seal protecting him. How did he still manage to get himself into such a state?" Jiagu Qing asked.
"Nian's golden core can summon the Floating Light Golden Seal, but every time he uses it, it consumes an enormous amount of spiritual power. That power runs out very quickly. And when I found him, someone had already driven a Soul-Fixing Spike into his body. I fear it sealed away most of the Floating Light Golden Seal's strength. By now the Floating Light Golden Seal has most likely exhausted all its power and gone dormant."
"Such a precious thing can actually go dormant?" Jiagu Qing asked.
"Though the Floating Light Golden Seal is the strongest shield in the world, every use requires powerful spiritual energy to sustain it. That is why the Floating Light Golden Seal is always born beside one of the twin dan carriers," Li Luoning explained.
"So that means, back when your little golden core was in Pingyan Land, the Floating Light Golden Seal inside him must have been used more than once?"
"By all logic, if Nian had managed to activate the Floating Light Golden Seal, Nangzhe should not have been able to capture him."
Inside the dungeon of Liao Yin Immortal Realm,
Hua Qiuyuan's arms were chained tightly in place, while a thick iron chain fitted with two three-pronged spikes had been driven into the bones of his back.
The dungeon door opened, and Ou Shinan stepped in slowly, fanning himself. The moment Hua Qiuyuan saw him, he became agitated and tried with all his strength to break free. Yet even though his violent struggling brought nothing but searing pain from the spikes in his back, he did not let out a single sound.
"As a commander of Wuming Demon Mountain, you should know very well that for a demon to trespass into Liao Yin Immortal Realm is a capital offense. Your bones will be split and your inner core shattered."
Ou Shinan bent slightly at the waist and said it with a wicked smile.
"I came to find someone!" Hua Qiuyuan replied in a voice cold as ice.
Ou Shinan raised his fan lightly over his lower face, tilted his head back, and laughed softly.
"Since when did the people of Wuming Demon Mountain grow such courage that they dare come to Liao Yin Immortal Realm looking for someone?"
He glanced at Hua Qiuyuan. In the turning of his eyes there was a trace of hidden amusement and calculation, and at the bottom of his gaze a gleam of satisfaction. Slowly bending close to Hua Qiuyuan's ear, he whispered,
"Or was it that someone told you Yun Wannian ran toward the peach blossom grove?"
The moment he heard those words, Hua Qiuyuan's pupils flew wide. Amid the rage in his eyes there suddenly appeared a thread of doubt. His brows drew together, his expression filled with disbelief, and he jerked his head up to stare at Ou Shinan, lips parted as if he meant to say something.
Ou Shinan's fan flashed out. In one swift strike, it smashed directly into Hua Qiuyuan's throat and shattered his larynx. Then he naturally withdrew the fan, unfolded it again, and leisurely fanned himself at the chest.
"What a pity. If not for Yun Wannian ruining things, I might have been calling you brother by now."
Hua Qiuyuan felt his breathing turn difficult. The air in his chest grew thinner and thinner, while something hot and thick gathered in his throat. He could neither breathe nor speak. His eyes slowly turned red. He wanted to roar, but no sound could come out.
Ou Shinan paid no mind to Hua Qiuyuan's suffering. He tilted his head, watching with interest as Hua Qiuyuan struggled at death's edge. There was a faint and almost imperceptible delight in his eyes. He strolled carelessly a few steps to the side and said,
"Since there is a connection of this kind between us, I will at least let you die knowing the truth. There is actually no grand reason behind it. It is only that the inner core soaked through with Crystal Cold Poison inside you is truly a rare and precious thing. I am borrowing it for a while."
There was a dark, seductive mockery in Ou Shinan's voice. The fan in his hand tapped lightly against Hua Qiuyuan's chest, and there was even a trace of laughter in those eyes as cold as frost.
Hua Qiuyuan felt unbearable burning in his throat. The things before his eyes were beginning to blur. To him, Ou Shinan now looked like a cold, venomous snake, wrapping its icy tail tightly around his neck.
The realization struck him that from beginning to end, all of this had been Ou Shinan's trap.
Hua Qiuyuan curled his fingers into his palms and clenched his fists with all his strength, the joints cracking audibly. Fierce rage surged in his chest, and his desperate struggle made the iron chains behind him rattle wildly.
Ou Shinan slowly turned his back to Hua Qiuyuan's futile struggle and listened to the frenzied clatter of chains while fanning himself.
Inside the cell, the sound of the chains gradually weakened until at last it fell completely still.
Only then did Ou Shinan turn back with a smile curling his lips and take Hua Qiuyuan's inner core, saturated with Crystal Cold Poison, from his body.
Looking at the frost-glimmering inner core in his palm, Ou Shinan smiled in great satisfaction.
"This thing is rather beautiful."
A cool night breeze drifted softly into the cave, carrying enough chill to wake Li Luoning, who had been keeping watch at Mie Xingzhe's side.
As he looked at the still-unconscious Mie Xingzhe, there was a shadow of loneliness and distance in his lowered eyes.
He laid two fingers lightly on Mie Xingzhe's pulse, but for some reason his thoughts suddenly wandered. The image of Mie Xingzhe killing Yun Qingyi right in front of him rose sharply into his mind, and the hand resting on Mie Xingzhe's wrist unconsciously tightened.
"Mm..." Mie Xingzhe murmured softly.
That quiet sound snapped Li Luoning back to himself.
Seeing the red marks left on Mie Xingzhe's wrist, Li Luoning frowned.
"What is happening to me? Ever since I took in the Moon Shadow Dan, every grief from the past seems to surface in my mind from time to time. And worse, I almost seem to enjoy the feeling that comes from remembering those pains. Could Senior Jiagu truly be right? Has the Moon Shadow Dan inherited not only Li Minghan's power, but also his nature?"
Li Luoning did not wish to think further on it. He rose and walked toward the cave entrance, wanting to let the night wind clear his mind.
He did not notice that after he turned away, the unconscious Mie Xingzhe moved faintly, and a weak golden glow appeared over his chest.
"Yun Wannian..."
Within Mie Xingzhe's dream, a soft voice drifted gently through the air.
"Who... who is there?"
Mie Xingzhe looked around in alarm, only to find that the darkness all around him had turned into a soft light like the afterglow of sunset.
"The twin dan appear, the golden seal lends its strength, and the three realms are brought under one rule."
The voice of Supreme God Liaoyin floated over him.
"Grandmaster? Grandmaster! Your disciple is dull-witted. I beg Grandmaster to make it clear."
Mie Xingzhe dropped to his knees and asked in the direction of the voice.
"Cause and effect are born together. Yin and yang restrain one another. The lives of the three realms. One thought saves the world, one thought destroys it."
Liaoyin's voice was distant and uncertain. A golden feather drifted gently down and touched Mie Xingzhe over the heart before vanishing.
"Grandmaster, Grandmaster!"
With one desperate cry, Mie Xingzhe jolted awake.
He looked at where he was, then saw the empty medicine bowl set nearby.
"Could it be that Grandmaster saved me?"
Filled with confusion, Mie Xingzhe thought he saw the silhouette of someone standing outside the cave. He got to his feet and walked toward the entrance.
Before the cave mouth was a small patch of open ground, and beyond that stretched a sheer cliff falling ten thousand feet.
The night in Xueling was silent all around. Now and then fireflies rose from the grass like stars fallen from the sky.
The night wind blew softly, the starlight hung sparse and distant, and the whole mountain forest seemed to have sunk into sleep.
Mie Xingzhe slowly made his way to the cave mouth. Just as he was about to call out, he saw a crow land on a dead branch not far from Li Luoning.
"Caw... caw... caw..."
The crow cried at Li Luoning as though it meant something.
Annoyed by the noise at his side, Li Luoning's brows slowly drew together. He turned his head and looked at the crow perched on the dead branch.
"How can there be a crow out here this late at night?"