"Changshou! Xuanya!"
"Changshou! Goodness—what are you doing out in this perilous place?"
Standing before the rock cave, Li Changshou watched two figures leap down from the cloud and could not help a faint smile. It surprised him their master had come all this way too... Though the old man's expression was fierce and he'd already dragged out that familiar fly whisk, clearly itching to lay another fond lashing across Li Changshou's backside, a warmth nonetheless rose in his chest. Before the sect elders he decided he would not dodge. It wouldn't hurt anyway.
Jiu Jiu and Old Daoist Qi Yuan dropped together off the cloud. Jiu Jiu had meant to reach Li Changshou first, but seeing Qi Yuan present she made straight for Youqin Xuanya instead. Watching his master raise the whisk, Li Changshou screwed up his face and closed his eyes—but the whisk only thumped his shoulder softly.
"Just how did you end up on this vicious Northern Continent!" Qi Yuan scolded. "If Ling'e hadn't woken me and you'd died out here, I wouldn't even know where to gather your bones!"
"Master, your disciple suddenly felt restless from overstillness and failed to report. Forgive me." Li Changshou answered with head bowed, while from the corner of his eye—
Jiu Jiu had scooped up Xuanya and was spinning her in place, laughing like a child. Xuanya's cheeks flamed as she cried 'Aunt-Senior' again, yet could not wriggle free. Her skirt floated, hair scattering—this 'two-person turn' was a lovely sight. Judged by scale or by the ripples swelling through their robes, Xuanya was excellent but plainly lost to Aunt-Senior Jiu Jiu... Objectively, Xuanya won on perfect figure; next to her, Aunt-Senior lost height and had a rounder face—two styles worlds apart.
His glance lasted an instant before he drew it back to his master's lecture... pure old habit, a gentleman's reflex from his previous life, appraising by his own taste. It meant nothing.
What Li Changshou truly watched was the short Daoist. Jiu Wu set down the old Daoist he'd knocked out. Seeing both disciples unharmed, he moved without a word, twitching his wrist lightly. The old Daoist spasmed all over, then his breath scattered in an instant. Unless Li Changshou was mistaken, that nascent soul had just been shattered outright... As if nothing had happened, Jiu Wu tossed the Primordial Immortal's corpse into the forest and smiled at the reunion. Another ruthless one—killing as casually as crushing an insect.
From his sleeve Li Changshou's fingers worked as the rumors he'd heard about this short Daoist surfaced, forming a brief dossier:
【Jiu Wu, fifth senior-brother of Aunt-Senior Jiu Jiu, direct disciple of the Venerable Wangqing of the Du Xian Sect. Over two thousand years at the gate, a peak True Immortal, half-step to Heavenly Immortal. In temper a mischievous child who loves jest, yet in truth resourceful and deep; loyal to the sect, much sent out on business; well-connected within and without. Delights in brewing liquor and refining pills; his weaknesses are hard to pin down.】
Li Changshou drew his conclusion—he need not court this man's acquaintance. Doing his duty as a Du Xian disciple would suffice.
On the side, Jiu Jiu finally released Xuanya and lamented, gazing skyward, that her wine money had by and large been preserved.
Xuanya heard Qi Yuan dressing down Li Changshou: "A Transformation-stage cultivator charging into this place—aren't you just holding everyone back?"
"Aunt-Qi Yuan!" Xuanya spoke up at once. "Senior Brother Changshou burdened no one. On the contrary, I've been saved several times by his aid..."
"Exactly." Li Changshou coolly cut her off, a trace of smugness crossing his face. "I didn't hold anyone back, Master—it was training here that let me break through to Return-to-Void." He let his aura show: first rank, wavering a little, just what a fresh breakthrough should look like.
Xuanya's heart went blank. How had her senior brother suddenly seemed a different man? That old steadiness had given way to flippancy. Li Changshou winked at her. She started, remembered his earlier urging, and pressed her lips.
"Changshou, you broke through?" Qi Yuan grew excited at once, drinking in the aura, then broke into a smile, both eyes brightening. But the smile barely bloomed before the face snapped stern again: "A hundred years for Return-to-Void, and you act puffed-up! Look at Xuanya—she's your junior, and already Return-to-Void fourth rank!"
Li Changshou gave a helpless, embarrassed laugh, seeming a little hurt by the scolding... In truth his heart was utterly calm, even amused.
"A hundred years to Return-to-Void is top-grade aptitude," Jiu Wu laughed. "My second senior-brother took two hundred years, then crossed the tribulation in just twenty. Cultivation rests on fate—don't be so harsh. Oh, Xuanya—do you know where Yuan Qing is?"
Xuanya's face sank. She stepped back two paces, sank to one knee before her great sword, folded her hands, and bowed: "Yuan Qing is dead, killed by my hand. Punish me, Senior-Aunt-Uncle!"
Jiu Wu frowned. "You killed him yourself?" "Yes—four swords through the heart, his nascent soul shattered," she said, head bowed. "I did it alone; Senior Brother Changshou only brought me out by Earth Escape. I accept any punishment!"
Jiu Wu frowned, pondering. Jiu Jiu hopped to Li Changshou's side, meaning to elbow him, but checked the gesture. "What is all this?" she whispered. Li Changshou shook, saying nothing.
Instead Jiu Wu looked over, his gaze like two arrows. "Junior Nephew Changshou, won't you say a word for Xuanya?" "Your disciple doesn't know the exact facts," Li Changshou answered, meeting his gaze.
"You have a steady head," Jiu Wu sighed. "On the way I already searched that Primordial Immortal's soul. Yuan Qing conceived ill intent first, then dragged the mortal power-struggle into the Du Xian Sect—unpardonable in itself. But niece Xuanya, killing a fellow disciple is a grave offense, whatever the reason."
"Then change the blasted rule!" Jiu Jiu cursed. "Yuan Qing attacked first, didn't he?" Xuanya pressed her lips and said nothing.
Seeing this, Li Changshou coughed. "Let us leave first, rejoin the others, and let Xuanya tell the whole matter through. Speak plainly and the sect should understand." The last half was for her ears; she met his eyes with helplessness and bitterness, and Li Changshou, sighing inward, nodded gently in encouragement.
"Then so let it be," Jiu Wu agreed. But he scratched his head over how to spare her—then remembered Yuan Qing's master was here too. He conjured a cloud, bid Xuanya follow behind him in provisional custody; Li Changshou took his place by his master.
Old Daoist Qi Yuan was a changed man now—desolate as at a funeral on arrival, all brisk spring wind on departure. He, too, was now master of a Return-to-Void disciple...
As the cloud was about to rise, Jiu Wu turned and smiled: "Junior Nephew Changshou?" "Your disciple is here." "You're not collecting the silk of those Three-Headed Pupil Spiders from here? It's a rare find."
Li Changshou smiled naturally. "How thoughtful. That silk is no easy thing to retrieve. But I keep nests of Three-Headed Pupil Spiders on Xiaoqiong Peak. If they interest you, I'll shift a nest over."
Jiu Wu raised an eyebrow. "Then I won't be shy. You're a lad with a future—best keep close to me." "Your disciple obeys." Li Changshou's smile stayed mild. Say too much, err too much. Jiu Wu had glimpsed his true nature, but asking for 'hush money' meant no meddling in a disciple's cultivation.
Yet Qi Yuan frowned. "Why so stingy, child? If not for Senior-Aunt Jiu Wu here, who knows where you'd be! Keep one nest, and shift all the rest over!"
"Keh!" Li Changshou's dantian qi surged against the flow; he coughed behind his hand, teeth grinding. "Yes... your disciple obeys..." Jiu Wu laughed loudly twice more.
A little round face poked over the side—Jiu Jiu, circling behind Qi Yuan to study Li Changshou up close. He instinctively leaned back. Yes—now one could just peek down his hemp collar... Er, this screened perfectly against his aunt's sudden pranks.
Jiu Jiu blinked. "What's that spider-silk thing you two were on about? Why are you and Old Fifth being so weird?" "A treasure material I can't explain properly. Ask Senior-Aunt Jiu Wu." "Hmph, keep your secrets." She sat upright, then, as if remembering something, announced with a straight face: "Big Brother Qi Yuan, Old Fifth! Look—what disease does Changshou have? Could his cultivation have left him a heart demon?"
"Heart demon?" Qi Yuan, Jiu Wu, and Xuanya turned at once—and Jiu Jiu had already poked Li Changshou's earlobe lightly, the motion begun mid-sentence, giving him no time to react. The whole of him was swallowed by black lines; his left hand trembled, dragging every muscle into convulsions, eyes rolling back, froth at the mouth, noises like a man choking to death...
Damn it! Had this little aunt gone poisonous too? No—the cloud itself was poisonous! Anyone with the word 'wine' in their Dao-title was, dammit, simply out of control!