I followed up with a few routine questions for Qu Chen—her age, her family origins, and the like. When a member of the Yao race speaks the human tongue, the age they provide usually corresponds to their physical maturity relative to a human after taking human form. For instance, my master brought me back to the mountain the moment I was born; I took human form eight years later, appearing then as a four-year-old human child. If calculated by birth year, I am actually three years older than Wei Qingming! In that light, her calling me "Sister" is quite reasonable, rather than being entirely a matter of... personal playfulness.
To my surprise, Qu Chen’s voice was already so mature that she would be eligible to participate in the Song Queen competition next year. At the mention of this, the young girl grew nervous again. I smiled and told her not to worry about the results, but simply to try her best with a bold heart.
Before long, Teacher Wang arrived, smiling as she asked if my affairs had gone smoothly. When I had asked for leave before going to Xixi Restaurant, I told her I needed to leave the capital for a few days. Today, she playfully asked if I had remembered to bring my flute on the journey.
After some lighthearted banter, she asked me to perform the exercises she had assigned last time. I had taken the time to review them over the past few days, so I performed them with confidence. The moment music was involved, Teacher Wang’s demeanor became incredibly serious. She merely nodded slightly, offering neither praise nor criticism, and simply had me replay several sections while meticulously correcting the subtle errors in my technique.
We practiced like this for half an hour. Throughout, Qu Chen sat obediently to the side with her knees hugged to her chest, occasionally casting friendly, flickering glances at me like a young deer. I would blink back at her with a smile. Finally, it was her turn. Teacher Wang smiled and produced a sheet of music, handing it to me and indicating that I should attempt a duet with Qu Chen today.
"Ah..." I scanned the score. "Me? Can I keep up with her singing?"
"You can," Teacher Wang said, her smile deepening as she encouraged me softly. "Music is an art to be shared. One cannot simply admire one's own fragrance in isolation. By playing with others early on, you will experience its joys more deeply."
It was a piece titled *Po Zhen Zi*, passed down from the Tang Dynasty Music Bureau. Qu Chen began to hum the melody with familiarity. Perhaps thinking of something pleasant, her habitually somber little face gradually brightened. Her soft cheeks puffed up as she smiled, and her eyes narrowed slightly, leaking slivers of golden light.
I played haltingly, repeating each line a dozen times. Qu Chen showed no sign of impatience; instead, she would demonstrate the melody for me whenever I hit a difficult patch. Her singing was light, graceful, and utterly masterful. I only regretted that my clumsy skills could not yet do her justice.
Finally, we managed to get through the piece roughly without error. Teacher Wang nodded and simply said, "From the beginning." Qu Chen blinked her deep honey-colored lashes at me twice and began to sing with a smile:
"Swallows return for the spring rites, pear blossoms fall before Qingming. Three or four spots of green moss on the pond, one or two notes from the oriole beneath the leaves, the days grow long and catkins drift light."
"The girl next door smiles brightly, meeting on the path to pick mulberry leaves. Wondering why last night’s dream was so sweet—it turns out she won the grass-fighting game today, laughter blooming across her face."
Previously, she had only been humming without the lyrics. Once she began to articulate the words, every syllable was crisp, transparent, and clear, like pearls falling onto a jade plate. Even as I held the flute, I was momentarily stunned by her brilliance and had to scramble to keep up.
Gradually, within her sweet and tender singing, I found myself immersed in the bright spring scenery depicted by the song. Yan Shu’s lyrics perfectly captured the carefree spirit of a young girl. It made me think of the girls at home singing about swallows yesterday. Though it was the end of a bitter winter and the snow lay heavy, spring was not far off after all. In the new year, with me and Ayun together, I would never let her feel lonely again.
We played through it twice with great pleasure. As she listened, Teacher Wang joined in, her voice harmonizing with us. Delightfully, it was all improvised; the music was clear and lofty, yet lively and elegant, adding an even greater splendor to the performance. The three of us played and laughed for over twenty minutes until the scheduled lesson time was nearly over. I presented Teacher Wang with the pastries I had "bought on the way back to the capital" and tucked a portion into Qu Chen’s arms. The young girl looked overwhelmed by the favor.
A maidservant—one of Teacher Wang’s people—hurried in from outside and whispered anxiously into her ear, "Teacher Xue, she..."
Wang Huizhi cut her off, seemingly knowing exactly what she was about to say. She turned to me and said, "We shall stop here for today. Qu Chen, see Lady Su downstairs."
By the time I walked out of the building, Qu Chen was loath to see me go. She tugged at my sleeve with attachment, escorting me all the way to the side door. That was the furthest extent of the world she had stepped into thus far.
Stepping onto the threshold, she leaned against the door and craned her neck to watch me with a melancholy gaze. I looked back and laughed. "Go on back. Prepare well for the competition. When the time comes, this sister will be there to cheer for you!"
Qu Chen was amused by my words, then gave a shy, gentle nod. I used two fingers to push up the corners of my mouth, gesturing for her to be confident and smile more. She finally couldn't hold it back anymore; bracing herself against the threshold, she let out a bright laugh.
Xuesu was sitting on the steps by the door, arms crossed, her expression solemn. Her soft, bun-like face was puffed out as she stared into the distance, lost in thought.
I followed her gaze and found she was watching a caged myna bird kept by a courtesan in the building opposite us. The bird flapped its wings, but unlike the usual pets in such places, the human speech it shrieked was not auspicious blessings of wealth, but rather a string of unbearable profanities... I judged that this beauty’s business likely wouldn't be very good.
After listening to a series of aggressive "Useless! Useless!" bird-shouts, Xuesu finally seemed to realize I was there and glanced at me.
The fire that had been simmering since I left Xixi Restaurant flared up again. Channeling my illusion arts, I turned my hand into a blade and swung it viciously toward her dark, glossy head. But how could I possibly handle the "Second in the World"? In the blink of an eye, she dodged it with casual ease. She at least remembered her role as a bodyguard and didn't draw her blade on me...
The two of us instantly fell into a scuffle. The passing ladies and socialites were stunned, covering their mouths and crying out in terror, yet none dared to intervene.
Her hand gripped the fur collar of my cloak, while my fingers hooked into one of her hair buns. Just as we were about to tear into each other for eight hundred rounds, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the southwest. An eerie, brilliant light flared at the horizon, piercing straight through the somber, snow-laden clouds and scattering into ten thousand shards of luminescence that lit up the entire sky!
We stopped at the same time and bolted toward the source simultaneously. That light had come from the direction of the East Market, and it was a demonic technique far exceeding the Canxia realm. Something terrible had happened!
As I pushed my Minxue technique to its limit, I thought smugly that I would finally show this brat my beautiful movement skills. However, before I could even take a few leaps, Xuesu scooped me up and began running while carrying me...
"You brat, put me down!" I snapped, scratching at her with my claws. "It's such a short distance, who needs you to carry them!"
Xuesu was deaf to my protests. It wasn't until I had repeated every curse I’d just heard from that myna bird that she finally showed some mercy—shifting from carrying me to slinging me over her shoulder...
The capital was vast, with a single district often spanning over twenty miles, but with my movement skills, it would have taken only half a cup of tea to arrive. It was even faster for Xuesu. Though I was gnashing my teeth in frustration, I had to admit that the footwork of the "Second in the World" was indeed marvelous. Despite being on her shoulder, there wasn't a single bump; it felt as though I were riding a light, silky feather. In the blink of an eye, we drifted into the East Market.
It was the time when most shops were preparing to close. It should have been bustling and crowded, but due to the upheaval, the merchants were terrified and frantic. Some were slamming up shutters, others were grabbing their shoes and fleeing. The ordinary wealthy patrons had never seen such a scene; in a panic, they were surrounded by their servants, hunching their backs and panting as they scrambled into their carriages, shrieking for the drivers to leave. There were even those taking advantage of the chaos to loot and steal. For a time, the roads were littered with scattered valuables, trampled under the feet of people shouting for thieves and calling for blood.
Xuesu tossed me aside casually. Just as I found my footing and prepared to resume scolding her, a female demon dressed in a red and black robe came charging toward us from behind. Whenever someone blocked her path, she opened her mouth and spat out a spell.
The substance of the spell was viscous and foul-smelling, yet transparent like a thin veil of milky white silk. Under the glow of the fluorescent green demon light, it took on a verdant hue, striking at the two of us like lightning. It was spider silk; she was a spider demon.
I gave a cold snort, drawing Hanguang and instantly releasing a sword qi that cleanly severed the silk before me. Xuesu didn't wait for my command, nor did she need to linger with such a mediocre spell. With a single slash of her blade, she aimed straight for the spider woman’s neck, forcing her opponent to hastily veer off and retreat. The demon summoned a defensive tool to block, but she still lost half of her hair bun to the blade.
As her long black hair scattered in the wind, the demoness bared her teeth in a rage. Her blood-red eyes flared with light as her racial talent activated. The spider silk instantly transformed into a dense, inescapable web that draped down toward Xuesu, ignoring me entirely.
Xuesu possessed divine bloodline, and her strength slightly exceeded the peak of the Tunyun realm. However, this demoness possessed equivalent cultivation, and her talent faintly carried the aura of the Canxia realm—it was incredibly sinister. Xuesu’s fighting style was one of absolute hardness and strength; for a moment, she was actually caught by the sticky, soft silk and found it difficult to break free.
While Xuesu was locked in a stalemate, tearing at the clinging web, I had already surveyed the surroundings and laid down an illusion array. Just then, a group of officials arrived in pursuit of the demoness, casting their own spells. The spider silk began to stiffen, and it would soon be shredded by Xuesu’s blade. Those familiar black robes—were they not the people from the Temple?
I flashed my Yingzhao Temple Special Envoy token. The leading captain clasped his hands in greeting and said politely, "I am Zhang Sheng. My thanks to the Lady for her assistance."
"Which officer are you serving under, Brother Zhang?"
"A man named Ye."
It was Ye Jun. I understood immediately. He must have been leading men through the East Market in search of the Demon Zither when they stumbled upon the culprits—this demoness was one of the four people I had seen in the memories I extracted from Zhou Jihong and He Huan, the ones who had kidnapped them.
She, and perhaps her accomplices, must have come here to retrieve the Demon Zither that had been temporarily hidden in the city to avoid detection!
I smiled and pointed ahead. "Are there other villains trying to steal the Demon Zither?"
Zhang Sheng was surprised for a moment, then realized. "Yes. With Master Ye and Master Wei there, I expect they will be apprehended shortly. Your safety is paramount, Lady; there is no need to join the fray."
"Oh! I wasn't planning to go, but now I certainly am." I grinned and pointed at Xuesu. "Leave her here. Capturing this demoness won't take a moment longer. You can take a rest, Brother Zhang."
With that, I activated my light-travel technique and flew toward the "excitement."
Based on my knowledge of the East Market's layout, the site of the disturbance should be near the headquarters of the Dayou Merchant Association. Most of the major shops and flagship stores were clustered there, occupying nearly one-sixteenth of the entire district. The closer I got, the more dazzling and brilliant the demon light reflecting through the eastern sky became. It was as if the colors and order of the world had been inverted—a brilliant green sun had risen in the twilight!
I shielded my eyes, squinting to observe. I discovered that this great sun was not only an eerie green; at its center, there was a speck of black. This black was pure, deep, and extremely ominous. The green light was merely demonic energy, but this black light was a terrifying aura of destruction, similar to the aura of the final strike from Pimo-zhitiduo, the Ancestor of Ashuras, that I had seen at the Tianshan Meeting!
Before I could reach the spot, an arc of clear blue rippled up from the west. It was as bright and gentle as a shallow spring, yet the faint blue within it gradually became clear and profound, until it transformed into a crystalline ice-blue, like a thousand-year-old lake in the north.
The somber leaden clouds of winter were pierced by this blue, which was as thin as a cicada's wing. The array light flared brilliantly, and the frozen lake water turned into a deluge of blue rain, instantly intercepting that arrogant, outward-flaring, and overbearing demon light. It suppressed the light halfway through the air above the East Market, preventing it from expanding even a fraction further!
I couldn't help but smile. This was her array technique—the sophisticated evil-expelling array path accumulated over a thousand years by the Wujing Sect. It was also the light of justice that had bloomed in the hands of generations of righteous souls since the time of Ni Tian.
***
