Jiu Wu clutched his waist as he strolled before his own abode, shifting his five-chi-tall Daoist frame; a trickle of Immortal energy and the fatigue was gone. Three days had passed since he and Jiu Shi returned from Xiaoqiong Peak, and he had just seen his dao companion off to close-door cultivation. A great gourd descended, and Jiu Wu's spirits lifted as he resumed his proper bearing. "Little Nine, come on over to your senior brother's place for a spell."
Jiu Jiu poked her head out, yawned, and looked utterly drained. The great gourd swung around and landed before Jiu Wu's pavilion.
Their nine master-apprentice siblings — the Nine Wine Immortals — stood out among peers; apart from Jiu Jiu, each had a side craft. Jiu Shi was skilled at artifact refinement, while Jiu Wu excelled at brewing and alchemy, so the lower floor of his tower was piled high with wine vats and elixir furnaces. Jiu Jiu sat down and tossed the small cage to Jiu Wu. "The little spiders you wanted. Don't let them die this time. No shame, always sending me off to pester a junior for things."
In the cage were a pair of separated spiders, the size of a meat bun, with three heads and double pupils — Three-Headed Pupil Spiders.
Jiu Wu rummaged through his bookshelf. He glanced at Jiu Jiu, remembered how he could never quite read her cultivation, thought of the little alchemy chamber, and sighed with the sadness of an old father. "A daughter grown is a daughter gone..." This traced back to the Du Xian Sect, where among the ten-odd elders were four pairs of white-haired dao couples. Jiu Jiu sighed too, recalling how she had helped a certain junior nephew refine poisonous pills. It had been novel, and she had been given pills that could fell even True Immortals, but the strain had exhausted her. "And he's only a little fellow at the Return-to-Void stage, yet he had me going this whole time. So tiring."
The jade slip in Jiu Wu's hand slipped and fell. His eyes glistened. Little Nine had truly grown up; this fifth senior brother, half her stand-in old father, was at last letting her go. He recalled the slip — *Formations Compendium, by the Venerable Wangqing* — drew two more, and turned to Jiu Jiu. "Little Nine, take these to junior nephew Changshou. The master's outline, and the insights your third senior brother and I gleaned."
Jiu Jiu was puzzled. "Senior brother, why the sudden devotion to our little Shoushou?" Little... little Shoushou? That wasn't a name you used unless you were sweet on your little Shishi! Jiu Wu sucked in a breath and put on a kindly smile. "Since I saw your junior nephew in the Northern Continent, I've felt Changshou is a rather steady junior. Oh, and your fourth senior sister has tailored new outfits for you." He produced a treasure pouch of rouge, powder, and ornaments. Jiu Jiu tugged out a flimsy gauze gown and frowned. "When have I ever worn anything like this..." Jiu Wu urged her to dress up, then asked, "You and Changshou — did you begin this two years back?"
Jiu Jiu knit her brows, stuffed the gown back, and laughed. "You don't actually think I've fallen for little Shoushou, do you? I'd never lay a hand on junior nephews. The old cow grazing on tender grass isn't something I'd do." Jiu Wu was taken aback. "You two haven't... gotten together?" Jiu Jiu said, "Then why do you think I've been running to Xiaoqiong Peak these two years? To arrange the formations! I was ordered off drink for three years, and that junior had good things that could stand in for wine, so in return I helped him lay out his arrays. Where each array went was all Changshou's doing; my only job was to press down the surging spiritual energy when one was nearly complete. No more need now, but I can't take his things for nothing, so I refined a few pills for him... Senior brother, why that strange look?"
Jiu Wu's face lit up in sudden realization. "So the linked arrays were not laid by someone who hasn't attained Immortality. No wonder they were all simple maze arrays and trapping arrays! Using my designs through your hands — brilliant! This Li Changshou, though hardly the best in aptitude, has reached the Return-to-Void stage within a hundred years, which counts as above average. With nurturing, Immortality would be no problem. A talent worth growing." Jiu Jiu silently drifted toward the door. Jiu Wu called out, "Then give me those three jade slips after all. They count as treasures of our line." Jiu Jiu rolled her eyes and tossed back two porcelain bottles. "Just a bit of insight, why be so stingy. I'll trade you the poison pills I refined with little Shoushou for your cultivation insights. These can lay low even a True Immortal." She drifted out, sealing the outer formation behind her.
Jiu Wu was left at a loss for words. If his ninth junior sister wanted to make a gift of it, no harm — Li Changshou was a disciple of the sect after all. Wrapping himself in Immortal energy, he snapped open the bottles from a distance. Each held three vermilion pills with a faint, fragrant scent — the Flesh-Corroding Heart-Eroding Pill and the Soul-Melting Life-Seizing Pill. Though poison, they were at the True Immortal grade, forged through little Nine's hands. Two lines of small script on the bodies read: *"On the Immortal path, three parts seclusion are rare; the noble man sets no store by hollow glory."*
Jiu Wu let out a low chuckle. So this little fellow had indeed discovered him and Shishi before, which was why he had deliberately undone the grand array. These lines were his way of saying his dealings with little Nine were those of a gentleman. Did he actually foresee the bottles ending up with himself or Shishi? The handwriting was too fine for little Nine to notice — clearly meant for their eyes. Jiu Wu recalled happening upon Li Changshou and Youqin Xuanya's tracks in the Northern Continent, then looked at the wooden cage — that demon spider was hard to rear, yet swarms bred out on that side — and added the linked arrays and poison pills. "What a formidable junior. He never shows his hand. Few had heard his Daoist name, and he held no place among the younger generation. You want to cultivate in hiding. Your senior uncle would not presume to intrude — but as a steward of the Du Xian Sect, I can hardly rest easy. Hmph. 'Three parts seclusion,' 'the noble man determines'... when the noble man is settled, three-quarters of the hour, a meeting?" He blinked, then gave a helpless laugh.
...
At the third quarter of the Hour of the Boar, Jiu Wu sailed on a white cloud up to Xiaoqiong Peak. The formations round the alchemy chamber had all been sealed off, and before the door stood a tall, lean figure who clasped his fists in a distant salute. Jiu Wu smiled and guided his cloud down. Before he had even entered, he caught the rich scent of aged liquor. Li Changshou bowed. "Your disciple pays respects to the senior uncle." "Well said — 'the noble man determines' and 'three parts seclusion,'" Jiu Wu said, shaking his head. "Did you have no fear that I would not come, and would simply have you hauled before the Hall of Rewards and Punishments?" "This disciple had little certainty either," Li Changshou said slowly. "But since I met the senior uncle in the Northern Continent, I have fretted over this matter. I knew that the senior uncle, noble and virtuous, would never make things difficult for a junior of the sect. Your disciple only wished to avoid attention; he holds no ill intent toward the Du Xian Sect and knows full well the duties of a disciple — if he walks straight, he need not fear an accounting. Please, come in and rest. Knowing you are a great brewer, I had a junior sister prepare some snacks, and I invite you to sample the wine I brewed. Ask your doubts tonight; your disciple will reply truthfully, asking only to set your mind at ease so that I may continue my steady cultivation as before."
Jiu Wu nodded with a smile, clasped his hands behind his back, and entered the chamber. Beneath the window, in the clear moonlight, stood a low table laden with fine delicacies, and a cup of night-luminescence filled with superior brew. In truth, it was the "Ganges River Old White Liquor" he had brewed for Jiu Jiu, one small jar of which Li Changshou had unsealed early.