Chapter 515 — Lu Li of the Ghost Capital

Xing'an opened his eyes and looked around. His body was still overgrown with every kind of limb, and more than that, a monstrous creature crouched upon his back like an octopus, its limbs powerful and sinewy, slowly tightening around him, squeezing, drawing ever tighter. It was this monster that had squeezed him into unconsciousness. "Who is speaking?

" he said, his breath faint.

"A little creature from the world of the living—what an amusing life.

Xing'an, fallen to such a state, do you still wish to return alive to the world of the living? " A voice circled around him, round and round, now left, now right, now above, now below, like a fish swimming through the dark: "You are a sage who appears but once in five hundred years, and yet you have come to such an end—it truly makes one sigh with sorrow.

In this shape of yours, what face have you to show the world? " The branching, forking mass of bodies upon Xing'an was bound fast by the monster, so that he could not move at all—and yet this, in turn, let him catch his breath. The past half day and more had been sheer torment to him; never in his life had he endured so much suffering, so much misery; never had he been so wretched, so helpless. And yet even now he could not set his heart at ease, for this place was the Nether Capital.

It was when he leaped into the river that he learned this was the Nether Capital, the place where the dead sink down. He had already given himself up to despair. The Nether Capital—the realm ruled by Tubo. He had never heard of anyone entering the Nether Capital and not dying.

First he had blundered into Fengdu, and now into the Nether Capital—why did Heaven treat him with such vicious cruelty?

"Who are you, really?

Why have you come to mock me? " Xing'an spat out a foul breath and tried to break free of the monster's grip, but he could not summon any strength; and even if he could break free, the other bodies upon him would rise in revolt, beating him and cursing him.

He had no power at all now to rid himself of the monster, or of these limbs upon his body. His allotted span was nearly spent; when his life ran out, he would die here in the Nether Capital.

"My name is Lu Li.

" The voice no longer moved about. It laughed: "Xuanming to my left, Hanlei to my right; Lu Li before me, Yuhuang at my back. " Xing'an, panting for breath, said, "Lu Li?

You asked me just now whether I wished to return to the world of the living. I want to go back!

" "You do not know what that line of verse means?

" The voice sounded somewhat disappointed. It sighed: "Even the very greatest of the strong in the world of the living are so ignorant, that they do not know Xuanming, Hanlei, Lu Li, and Yuhuang—have you sunk to such a level of feeble-mindedness?

Very well. I will not take advantage of your ignorance.

I can send you back to the world of the living, I can resolve the affliction of your flesh, and I can erase your name from the register of the dead, so that from now on you need never fret over old age and death.

" Xing'an's expression stirred slightly. "What must I do? " "How refreshing it is to speak with a clever man. " Lu Li's voice laughed: "More than ten years ago, a child was born out of the Nether Capital, drawing in its breath, and then was carried away by someone and sent out of the Nether Capital. When you return to the world of the living, I need you to bring him to me. My flesh is too strong; it cannot pass through the barrier between the Nether Capital and the world of the living.

So I need you to walk the world of the living in my stead, and do my business there!

" "How am I to find this child?

" Xing'an asked. "Very simple. On his chest hangs a jade pendant, and upon the pendant is a peculiar symbol, and also the character Shen. When you see the pendant, you will know it. " Lu Li's voice went on: "He is seventeen years old, soon to be eighteen.

His birth hour and the eight characters of his fate, and the shape of the jade pendant—I have drawn them all.

He was born on the eighth day of the twelfth month, in the year of Jiazi, the month of Chou, the hour of Zi. " A drawing came flying toward him; suddenly the octopus monster upon Xing'an's back tore itself free and flew up, vanishing silently into the darkness.

And at that moment the human limbs upon Xing'an's body began at once to rot and fall apart; heads, hands, feet, torsos dropped away in droves. Xing'an was shaken to the core; feeling his body belonged to him again, he hastily caught hold of the drawing. Lu Li's voice sounded at his ear: "When you find this child, you may kill him, or you may take him alive, but on no account may you let his soul scatter.

I need you to deliver his soul to the Nether Capital whole and unharmed! If so much as a single hair of it is missing, you will die a death of unspeakable misery!

" As the word "misery" fell, limbs burst out all over Xing'an's body again with a bang-bang-bang. Lu Li's chuckling laughter drifted to and fro around him; Xing'an's body returned to normal, and cold sweat broke out upon his forehead. "I give you a mirror. When you find him, you may use this mirror to confirm his identity.

" A mirror suddenly appeared out of the darkness and drifted down into Xing'an's hand. Lu Li's voice laughed: "This mirror can reveal his identity. But you must not hold it to him from the front—do you understand? " "Not from the front?

" Xing'an was taken aback, puzzled by the meaning.

"Correct. You must stand with your back to him, and then observe him in the mirror!

" Lu Li's tone turned suddenly severe. "Remember: when you face him, on no account use this mirror upon him!

Only with your back to him! " "I understand," Xing'an said. "You need not repeat it so many times.

A trifling matter.

.

. " "This is no trifling matter!

" Lu Li's voice laughed coldly: "If you hold the mirror to him from the front, you will bring down great trouble—very great trouble!

I can extend your life by thirty years.

You have thirty years to accomplish this for me. You may go! " "Wait!

" A smile appeared on Xing'an's face.

"We have not yet met face to face," he said leisurely. "This mirror can reveal that person—surely it can reveal you as well? " He turned the mirror around and aimed it behind him.

"You—" He stared blankly at the mirror's surface, and the mirror showed a woman of peerless beauty.

Lu Li's voice was plainly a man's voice, and yet what the mirror revealed was a woman! The beauty flicked a finger, and Xing'an's world spun; it was as if he had fallen into a great whirlpool. When he came to his senses, he found himself lying on a long slab of stone beneath an ancient pine, as though he had fallen asleep and spent the night in the open.

Around him birds sang and flowers gave off fragrance; beside him a spring leapt and a waterfall poured down. Several monkeys were darting through the mountain woods; now and then they stopped, broke a few bananas off the trees, peeled them, and ate with relish, watching him warily all the while they ate. Xing'an was dazed for a moment and looked around.

Where were the cliffs of the Waste now? Before him stretched a vast ocean! "What place is this?

" he could not help asking, full of doubt. "This is the Southern Sea," said the monkey, tossing away a banana peel that struck him on the head.

"The Southern Sea?

" Xing'an scrambled to his feet, his mind a blank.

He was now at the southernmost edge of the Waste, fully thirty or forty thousand li from the place where he had entered Fengdu!

"You are a strange beast of the Waste, and you can speak. It seems you are a rare breed, one that has awakened its spirit-intelligence.

" Xing'an peeled the banana skin off his head, flicked it away with a snap of his fingers, and said, "In consideration of your telling me where I am, I will not kill you—but a little suffering is unavoidable.