The City God Xue Lingfu lay crushed beneath the willow, and as he watched Xu Ying come running with the great bell dragged behind him, the deity sat up sharply and laughed. "My Yin Court reaps boundless fortune today — to net me a Xu Ying!"
A moment earlier he and Zhou Yihang had struck at once, meaning to slay Xu Ying, only to blunder into the great bell. Struck back by its rebound, the golden body he had cultivated through five hundred years of bitterness had nearly shattered, and the incense qi he had hoarded in his shrine had nearly been shaken to dust.
Luckily the Earth God had just been within the temple, conferring godhood upon the newly enshrined Huang Sanduo, Squire Huang, and had not yet left. Seeing the deity wounded, he scurried out from beside him, thrust a few sticks of incense into the shrine, and offered them up for him.
The City God, once the incense was offered, at last caught his breath, drew back his scattered incense qi, and steadied his golden body.
Now that Xu Ying came running this way, he was walking straight into the net. Even a City God as deep and wily as Xue Lingfu could not help but grin with joy.
But before he could rise, Xu Ying was already but two or three zhang away — and the boy ran while spinning about as he came!
The City God Xue Lingfu had just gotten to his feet, his smile still blooming, when a great bell swept over!
"Milord, defend yourself!" the Earth God cried in alarm.
City God Xue Lingfu did not lose his composure. He drew on his last scattered incense qi at once, shaping it into a great shield set at his side.
"Bang!"
The shield was ground to pieces beneath the bell, and the bronze bell swept on. The City God Xue Lingfu ducked his head, hunched his shoulders, braced to take the blow — and thrust his left hand out to grab for Xu Ying.
Thanks to the shield absorbing the brunt, he was dizzied and reeling, but not gravely harmed.
Zhou Yihang watched from afar and thought grimly to himself: "Xue Lingfu has an Earth God burning incense for him, so he recovers faster than I! It seems Xu Ying is about to fall into his hands!"
Yet Xu Ying, like a top torn from its string, whirled madly as he raced on. The City God Xue Lingfu had barely checked the bell's charge when he saw it spin a full circle and slam at him afresh, so fast his eye could not keep pace!
"His eye cannot keep pace" — it means the eye itself cannot follow.
And if the eye cannot follow, what of hands and feet?
The City God Xue Lingfu took the bell's second blow, but not the third, nor the fourth, nor the fifth. He was sent tumbling end over end, flung into the air!
And the instant he was aloft, the bell caught him again and again, driving him faster still, until he was hurled bodily at the temple!
The Earth God, who had been sheltering behind the deity's back, could hardly come off better when Xue Lingfu was smashed away — he too was clipped a whistle by the bell and sent flying, no one knew where.
Zhou Yihang saw the City God come flying and sprang aside, only for a horrendous crash as the City God slammed into the temple wall.
Xu Ying came charging, the bell trailing behind him; before he even drew near, his body swung horizontal, one hand pressing lightly to the ground as he spun like a top parallel to the earth!
The great bell too was swung up, whistling round, and with a single great clang smashed into the temple wall, driving City God Xue Lingfu — man and wall together — down into the ground!
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!"
A whole burst of thunder-crashes, and the golden body of City God Xue Lingfu was shattered clean through half its bulk!
Zhou Yihang, rousing his Mud Pill secret treasury to mend his flesh, suddenly saw Xu Ying — head down, feet up — spinning like a windmill, the bell whistling down to smash onto his body!
"This old man has truly fallen this time." Zhou Yihang's heart ran cold as the great bell swung hard into him, sending half his body flying.
Xu Ying, having just flung Zhou Yihang off, wheeled about at once to swing the bell at the City God, allowing neither man a breath of respite.
Zhou Yihang crashed to the ground, blood spraying from his mouth, and caught sight of Xu Ying charging at him. He cried out: "City God Xue, only by joining forces do we have any chance of life!"
The City God Xue Lingfu, his golden body half shattered and the other half battered to tatters, his incense qi crumbling and hard to hold, heard Zhou Yihang's shout and knew at once this old rival had reached his own last gasp.
"If we do not join hands, we truly will be beaten to death by this stripling here in Huangtianpu Town!"
So thinking, he gathered his last dregs of magic power; his incense qi gathered into a giant hand a full zhang long, which reached into the temple.
The newly promoted temple god Huang Sanduo, who had been hiding inside to watch the battle, saw the City God's great hand come grabbing for him and was seized fast.
Huang Sanduo cried out in panic: "City God Xue, do you not recall? I have sent you gifts before!"
"I know. That is why I shall borrow your life!"
The City God Xue Lingfu, with the last of his strength, hurled the idol out — straight at Xu Ying!
Xu Ying was swinging the bell at Zhou Yihang when he saw the two-faced, six-armed idol come flying. He spun about at once, letting the bell meet Huang Sanduo head-on.
The bell crashed into the idol, and the statue burst into four and five pieces. Huang Sanduo, only a newly risen god with but a wisp of incense to his credit, had his divine frame shattered and his soul scattered to ash — a tiny immortal flicker of him flew off toward the underworld.
Yet that brief pause let Zhou Yihang catch his breath. He gathered his remaining magic power at once, roused the Eastern Monarch Leveling-the-Heavens Seal, and stamped a palm onto the great bell!
"Dang!"
The bell rang with a thunder that shook the heavens as the appalling force of the Eastern Monarch Leveling-the-Heavens Seal flung it up, tumbling and spinning into the sky.
Xu Ying was not struck by the seal itself, yet felt an irresistible force sweep over and bear him up, sent tumbling and spinning through the air, he knew not how many turns. "Trouble! When I can carry the bell through any motion, the bell likewise carries me through its motions," the boy thought to himself.
The bell crashed to earth, bouncing and rolling along the street for dozens of zhang.
Xu Ying, too, crashed to earth, bounced, fell, and rolled for dozens of zhang.
Zhou Yihang and the City God Xue Lingfu stared a moment, then both understood: "To deal with him, one must use this very method!"
Xu Ying braced his hands on the ground and rose, eyeing the two warily.
Zhou Yihang and Xue Lingfu struggled to their feet, yet neither advanced. Both, though the peerless powerhouses of Lingling, were at their last gasp; and though they knew the trick to dealing with Xu Ying, to lunge forward without a partner's support would likely see them beaten about by his bell all the same.
Xu Ying, having been burned once and with the wound on his shoulder split open, likewise sensed the danger. Watching the two, he backed slowly away.
He retreated into the medicine shop.
The shopkeeper's apprentice had already wrapped the medicine, stuffing it into a great hemp sack, and stood out front with his master, craning to look. Seeing Xu Ying come, they hurried back inside.
Xu Ying snatched up the sack, hoisted it over his shoulder, and backed out carefully — lest in the moment he turned, the great bell bring the shop tumbling down.
He cleared the doorway, turned at last, and ran for the edge of town.
Clang-clang-clang, the great bell trailed smoking behind him, the sound as though a whole procession trailed at his heels, beating gongs and drums in cheerful triumph.
Zhou Yihang and Xue Lingfu each held their wounds and did not pursue, letting Xu Ying go.
"He who walks often by the riverside will wet his shoes," said Zhou Yihang, throwing all his strength into rousing his Mud Pill secret treasury's vitality to mend his flesh, and smiling bitterly. "This time I did not merely wet my shoes — I was nearly dragged under and drowned by that little wretch Xu Ying!"
The City God Xue's face was gloomy; half his golden body snapped and crackled, and from time to time a glittering golden shard burst off and fell to earth, where it turned to solid gold.
That Earth God came running from no one knew where, knelt at the City God Xue's feet, burned incense and kowtowed, muttering charms.
The incense qi that had drifted from the City God Xue slowly gathered again, and the scattered gold on the ground hopped about as though grown legs, leaping back onto his body.
"Xu Ying caught us unguarded and struck us with a body-protecting treasure. Now that we are on our guard, that battered great bell of his will be no hard task." The City God Xue spoke calmly. "But I fear Master Zhou will not be able to hunt Xu Ying himself — for Master Zhou is soon to journey to the Yellow Springs."
No sooner had he spoken than demon qi roiled at the town's edge, and a demon deity strode into Huangtianpu Town.
Said the City God Xue: "I have my Earth God to travel beneath the earth, to summon men from the mountains and lakes alike; the Earth God can also keep watch over Xu Ying's movements. Master Zhou, wounded as you are, I fear you have no strength to resist my demon deity, do you?"
Zhou Yihang sighed and smiled softly. "You can summon reinforcements, and so can I. Does the City God Xue not know of my Zhou family's Nuo art — that every tree and blade of grass is a soldier? Sending word for a few juniors to come and receive me is no trouble to me at all."
At the other end of Huangtianpu Town, the county officers of Lingling — the Offices of Works, Granaries, and Households — came hurrying one after another.
Then spirits of every village and town, and demon deities from every quarter, arrived at Huangtianpu Town. Seeing the wounded City God, all were greatly startled and at once knelt, burning incense and asking after his health.
On the other side, a score or so of Lingling's deputy officers — Works Deputy, Granary Deputy, Household Deputy, Military Deputy, Justice Deputy, Works Captain, the Warden of Prisons — had also come. Though fewer in number than the spirits, they were all Nuo masters kept by the Zhou family, their arts far beyond the reach of ordinary hedge-gods.
The two hosts drew up in opposing ranks, all swords and daggers drawn.
That the spirit power and the imperial power were at odds had been common knowledge since the death of the Most Sagely Brilliant Emperor.
In Yongzhou it was even more so.
Elsewhere, one might keep up a surface amity, but in Yongzhou — especially Lingling, that far-flung corner where the emperor was a world away and even the crown could scarce reach the counties, let alone the spirits — here the Zhou family was the local tyrant, holding its own fief and contending in open water and fire with the spirit power of the Yin Court.
Zhou Yihang, restored to his earlier mien of a dignified old scholar, staggered to the fore of the line and smiled. "City God, this matter is after all a misunderstanding, is it not?"
The City God Xue Lingfu, steadied by the incense of the village and town gods, likewise came forth and said gravely: "A misunderstanding, this matter is indeed."
Zhou Yihang smiled. "Since it is a misunderstanding, and the fugitive Xu Ying fled in panic, it ill becomes the two of us to squabble. Were that Xu Ying to slip out of Lingling, would it not be a laughingstock?"
The City God Xue Lingfu wore a look of shame. "Master Zhou is right. The fugitive Xu Ying is dangerous in the extreme, having violated the Heavenly Edicts; he ought to be bound by the law as soon as may be, without delay. The misunderstanding between our two houses we shall shelve for now, and speak of it again another day."
Zhou Yihang said solemnly, "I am of the same mind."
The two each gave their orders, sending all their officers, and the spirits of villages, towns, mountains, and rivers, to track and surround Xu Ying, while they themselves stayed behind their own ranks nursing their wounds.
The City God Xue bade an Earth God burn incense and commanded him: "This matter of Xu Ying is no small thing. Go and summon the temple dragon of the Ningyuan Temple of Letters to come render aid."
Zhou Yihang likewise secretly sent word for County Magistrate Zhou Yang to come. When Zhou Yang reached Huangtianpu Town and saw Zhou Yihang's battered frame, he was greatly startled.
"Yang'er, Xu Ying is on the run. Call down those officers of the lower cultivation; they are no match for this criminal. Take some capable men and make the arrest yourself. I shall hold the rear for you and keep watch against Xue Lingfu." Zhou Yihang instructed him. "And report this matter of Xu Ying to the Prefect, and ask him to move Zhou-family experts to surround and capture him."
County Magistrate Zhou Yang was taken aback. "Is not this boy but a rustic? Ought we to trouble the Prefect over him?"
The Yongzhou Prefect, one Zhou Heng by name, was the imperially appointed Prefect of Yongzhou, holding command of the troops, with a host of expert fighters under his banner. Zhou Yang too was of the Zhou family, but he could not enter the family's seat of power.
Only a handful could enter the heart of that clan's power — and Prefect Zhou Heng was one of them.
Zhou Yang was rather put out. To tell Prefect Zhou Heng of Xu Ying's affairs was to hand him the credit; why not claim that glory for himself?
Zhou Yihang said: "This criminal Xu Ying has already cultivated his demonic arts to the level of a Demon King. Even among demons, not many reach such heights. Our Zhou family simply cannot allow him to fall into the hands of the Yin Court!"
Zhou Yang hesitated a moment, then plucked up his courage to ask: "Father, our ancestor's cultivation is beyond the reach of heaven and earth; he has already fully unlocked the power of his secret treasury. Neither gods nor ghosts in this world can measure up to him. Why, then, does the old master take such an interest in demonic arts?"
Zhou Yihang's gaze turned remote. "Yang'er, you are not yet entitled to touch these secrets. But since you are curious, let me tell you some of what I know."
He paused a long moment. "Twenty years ago, I followed the clan elders to Mount Dujiao in Beiliu County, in Lingnan, south of the passes. There, our clan's Nuo masters found an ancient cave-mansion. The elders rummaged through the imperial archives and guessed it to be the cultivation ground of the ancient Qi-refiner Tuo Yu — likely one of the few still-preserved cave-mansions in all the divine land. That expedition saw three elders in command, two hundred core scions of the Zhou house, and a thousand Nuo masters, marching in overwhelming force to explore that cave. We met many strange things."
Fear crept into his eyes, and it was a while before he steadied his voice. "Strange things that neither Nuo arts nor the arts of gods and ghosts could explain! These wonders could only be accounted for by immortal arts and immortal methods! We Nuo masters — the three elders included — could not make head or tail of them! Could not understand, do you grasp that?"
His fear curdled into despair.
That deep-digging of the cave-mansion at Mount Dujiao had cost the Zhou family dearly — a thousand Nuo masters wiped out, half the core scions dead or wounded, and even one of the three elders lost.
At length, at a terrible price, they brought a few things out of the ancient cave-mansion, among them a jade slip left by the ancient Qi-refiner Tuo Yu.
The slip was a foot and two inches long, limpid as young bamboo, covered in golden script that no one could read.
Besides the slip, there was a single handwritten ancient scroll — the text records of the ancient Qi-refiner Tuo Yu's decryption of the jade slip.
That scroll was a cultivation art, full of abstruse, knotty, jaw-breaking characters.
"We also saw in that cave-mansion a mural of one enduring tribulation and ascending as an immortal. Some of the elders therefore guessed that the ancient Qi-refiner Tuo Yu had witnessed someone ascend to become an immortal. What she deciphered was none other than an immortal's art!"
Here Zhou Yihang steadied himself and went on. "After that day, I never laid eyes on that scroll again. But I still recall the look on the elders' faces when they pored over it. Their expressions were very strange — strange as though they had swallowed slop three days soured! And they said..."
He paused a beat. "They said that the opening of the immortal art Tuo Yu had deciphered was exactly the same as demonic art."
County Magistrate Zhou Yang's eyes went wide, a surge of shock rising in his heart.
Across the wilds of Lingling there were many demons — not to be met on every road, but easily enough to encounter one or two by chance.
Some of these demons plagued the countryside, some lurked in hidden deep mountains and forests, and some, brazen as bears with lion hearts, claimed peaks as their own. But most who reached the rank of Demon King were roped in by the Yin Court, enfeoffed as mountain gods or river gods and the like, set to steward the mountains and lakes.
Zhou Yang looked down on demons. These creatures' arts were a motley mess, yet all were Qi-Gathering-stage arts; once one reached the full circle of the Qi-Gathering stage, there was no further road, no advancing another inch.
A demon cultivator was beneath even a Nuo master. A Nuo master, having unlocked his secret treasury, could draw on that treasury's power to refine his hidden landscape, and his cultivation would climb higher and higher — reaching beyond earth and sky, arts surpassing the common and entering the immortal!
As for the Zhou family's own ancestor, he stood at the very pinnacle of this world — even the reigning emperor had to treat him with a measure of respect!
But a demon cultivator was not even up to a god enfeoffed on incense.
A god enfeoffed on incense, so long as his divine rank remained, endlessly absorbed incense qi, his magic power deepening day by day, and could likewise cultivate to a fearsome extent!
Demon cultivators alone could reach only the Qi-Gathering stage, at most become a Demon King, be enfeoffed a demon deity, and hold sway over no more than a single mountain.
As for demon arts — they were plain and poor, and few cared to study or research them.
But now Zhou Yihang had said the opening of an immortal art was the same as demonic art — how could Zhou Yang not be shaken!
"The scripture left by the ancient Qi-refiner Tuo Yu, though it is a deciphered immortal art, is far too abstruse — full of knotty and unreadable characters — and has yet to be fully cracked." Zhou Yihang closed his eyes to rest and said, "Even deciphering that scroll has worn out several geniuses of our Zhou family, and not a few dazzling lights of the clan have gone gray-haired over it. Too hard to make sense of."
He sighed, and tears slid from the corners of his eyes.
Zhou Yang's eyes glimmered. "Which is why Xu Ying, who can crack the demonic arts, is a rarity indeed."
"But if our Zhou family cannot have him, then he must be destroyed. We cannot let him come cheap to another house!"
Zhou Yihang's countenance turned a shade cold, and he waved a hand. "Yang'er, go. And mind you notify the Prefect."
Magistrate Zhou Yang assented and, with a bow, departed.
In a cave on Mount Xiao of Lingling, Xu Ying stood within, gazing out. The sky was overcast with rolling clouds, and rain and thunder lashed down. The rain fell ready and free, a downpour, while a wild wind whipped the rain-lines, dragging them askew.
Darkness was gradually descending.
This sudden storm had cut off his pursuers.
Xu Ying drew back his gaze. Before him, a great cauldron sat over the cave-fire, and medicine was boiling in it.
The snake yao Yuan Qi huddled by the fire, sick and listless, waiting for the brew to finish.
In the cave's corner, a black bear shrank back, trembling as it stared at Xu Ying. This was its cave, now occupied by Xu Ying and Yuan Qi, a magpie squatting in the dove's nest.
"Xiong Qianli, do not fear. We are only sheltering from the rain, and we shall leave." Xu Ying spoke to calm the bear yao with a gentle face.
The black bear spoke in human tongue. "Good Samaritan Xu, are you not tricking me? Last time you took my scripture, said you would return it once read — and to this day you have not given it back!"