Chapter 15: Mist Spirit (4)

“Thud!”

The peachwood sword hit the ground, and both of them tumbled down.

Fortunately, while they were still in midair, Shen Jibai had wrapped his arms around her and spun half a turn, firmly shielding her in front of him.

Because of that, Zhou Xin did not fall painfully and was not hurt much. Shen Jibai, however, had gone deathly pale. His face was twisted in pain, and he lay curled up on the ground, unable to get up.

The butterfly circled above the two of them, its spiritual light flickering as though urging them on.

The Jinwu Guards who had caught up froze when they saw the two of them. “Lord Lingyun? Court Minister Shen? In the middle of the night, instead of resting properly, why are you two flying on a sword and trespassing into the palace?”

Trespassing into the palace?

This person really had some nerve. The moment he opened his mouth, he slapped them with a charge that could nearly get nine generations of their families executed!

Zhou Xin was so angry that she raised a hand and pointed at him, scolding, “Which eye of yours saw this lord trespassing into the palace?”

The other party answered neither servilely nor arrogantly, “Since Lord Lingyun denies it, then this humble general would like to ask: did Lord Lingyun receive His Majesty’s permission for this sword flight? If not, I must trouble the two of you to come with me.”

Shen Jibai braced one hand against the ground and propped himself up. Gritting his teeth, he said, “The Court of Judicial Review is handling a case. Once it is finished, we will naturally go before His Majesty to plead guilty. General Yan, do not overstep your authority, lest others misunderstand and think the Jinwu Guards are sticking their noses where they do not belong.”

“The Jinwu Guards are responsible for the safety of the people of the Eastern Capital, and also for His Majesty’s safety. His Majesty has strictly forbidden Daoist cultivators from flying on swords within the Eastern Capital. Even Lord Lingyun may not do so without permission.”

He cupped his fists in salute. “Please cooperate and come with this humble general. Otherwise, once this matter is reported to the General of the Left Guards, it will not be so easily explained.”

Zhou Xin crouched beside Shen Jibai and asked, “Can you still walk?”

Shen Jibai shook his head, finding it difficult to say.

“Is the mist spirit still acting up badly?”

Shen Jibai said, “I can still endure it.”

“Time waits for no one,” Zhou Xin said. “I fear the evil cultivator has already made a move. If we keep entangling ourselves with the Jinwu Guards, the trail may be cut off.”

“Whatever method Lord Lingyun has, go ahead and use it,” Shen Jibai said. “This matter began because of Shen. All consequences will be borne by Shen alone.”

Zhou Xin smiled. “You said it yourself!”

Shen Jibai’s face was faintly pale. “Mm.”

Zhou Xin took a bamboo signal tube from her robes, removed the cap, and raised it high.

In an instant, a burst of fireworks shot into the sky and bloomed in the night. The firelight gathered into the shape of an immortal crane, illuminating a patch of the dark world.

The Jinwu Guards all raised their heads at the same time and murmured, “That is... Taiqing Temple’s distress signal?”

“Precisely.”

Zhou Xin said seriously, “Since the Jinwu Guards won’t give Chao any face, Chao can only invite Perfected Linghe here.”

She turned her head to look at Shen Jibai. “If Perfected Linghe blames me, Chao will say this was all your idea.”

Shen Jibai: “...I fear Perfected Linghe will not believe that.”

One of the Jinwu Guards walked to General Yan’s side and whispered, “The State Preceptor has special permission to fly on a sword. If he comes, this matter will become a headless case and can only be dropped. Why don’t we... just let it go?”

General Yan said, “Are those brothers supposed to have been injured for nothing? They followed them to catch a demon, nearly lost their lives, and didn’t get even half the credit!”

So it was because of that.

Zhou Xin said, “Who said there was no credit? It’s just that there are doubts in the hamster demon case, and the Court of Judicial Review is still investigating thoroughly. It hasn’t yet been reported to His Majesty. What are you so anxious about?”

Hearing this, he did not blush at all and spoke bluntly. “Since the conversation has reached this point, Yan does not fear offending Lord Lingyun further. May I ask Lord Lingyun, since your Daoist arts are damaged and your memory is lost, why did you still go alone to subdue the demon? Even if Daoist Zhan was traveling outside and not at the temple, and even if Perfected Linghe, as State Preceptor, would not act lightly, what about your highly gifted junior brother? What about the hundreds of Daoist cultivators in the temple? If you had brought even one person with you, would the Jinwu Guards on duty at the time have been injured?”

Zhou Xin narrowed her eyes.

Just as she was about to speak, a voice rang out from the sky.

“This poor Daoist was the one who sent her there alone. It was not my young disciple acting recklessly and seeking a fight. General Yan, you are making things difficult for the wrong person.”

Following the sound, they looked up and saw an enormous horsetail whisk in the sky. Perfected Linghe sat at the end of the whisk handle, his gaze sweeping down from above. He looked incomparably dignified and full of pressure.

General Yan glanced at Zhou Xin and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Lord Lingyun truly has a good master.”

After saying this, he saluted Perfected Linghe and said, “In that case, Yan has judged a gentleman’s heart by a petty man’s measure. May I ask Perfected Linghe, did Lord Lingyun have His Majesty’s permission for this sword flight?”

“Yes,” Perfected Linghe said. “His Majesty already permitted my young disciple to fly on a sword within the city. The special order simply has not yet had time to be issued. If Young General does not believe it, you may have the General of the Left Guards enter the palace and inquire.”

General Yan said, “Naturally. Since that is the case, Yan will not disturb you further. Farewell.”

He turned and walked toward the bridge, and the rest of the Jinwu Guards followed closely behind him, leaving together.

“...Perfected Linghe.” Facing Perfected Linghe, Zhou Xin was always somewhat nervous and uneasy.

“Say no more. Tracking arts have a time limit. Hurry and follow it.”

He raised his hand slightly, and Zhou Xin and Shen Jibai rose into the air, slowly floating onto the horsetail whisk.

“Sit firmly,” he said.

The butterfly flew west again, and the whisk carried the three of them closely behind it.

But the whisk handle was round, not flat. As the whisk turned left and right, Zhou Xin tilted along with it. Shen Jibai, who was half-lying beside her, was even less steady and nearly fell several times.

Zhou Xin grabbed his robe. “Was the fall just now bad?”

Shen Jibai said, “It was fine.”

She said softly, “Thank you.”

Shen Jibai moved his lips. “No need. We are even now, that is all.”

True.

Shen Jibai had helped with the qi-eating spirit, but for the mist spirit, he truly owed her a favor.

Now that he had taken this fall for her, it counted as repaying that favor.

Zhou Xin said, “It is good that we’re even.”

The three followed the butterfly all the way out of the city and arrived above a vast, boundless forest. Looking down by the moonlight, the dense, seemingly disorderly trees actually occupied the twenty-four directions with great precision, gradually decreasing toward the center like a Bagua formation, enclosing a suddenly rising mountain at its heart.

Perfected Linghe lowered his eyes and looked at the mountain peak, his expression seeming somewhat emotional.

The mountain was not very tall. It was square and rose straight up and down without edges or corners, as though it had formed by abruptly thrusting out of the ground.

If one looked carefully, one could faintly see a small Daoist temple at the mountain peak.

At that moment, the butterfly that had been leading the way suddenly paused and stopped. Its body shattered into countless specks of light, vanishing completely in the blink of an eye.

Shen Jibai asked, “Why did it disappear?”

He lowered his head and touched his abdomen. Seeing that the curve of the swelling had not disappeared along with the butterfly, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“What is going on?” Zhou Xin asked.

Perfected Linghe was just about to speak when Shen Jibai said, “Perfected Linghe, the mist is dispersing.”

Zhou Xin turned back and saw that Shen Jibai’s beer belly was disappearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Perfected Linghe turned sideways, formed the Six Jia secret seal with both hands, and shouted, “Condense!”

No one knew what spell he used, but a cloud of mist overflowed from Shen Jibai’s chest and slowly flowed toward the jade pendant hanging at his waist.

“The mist spirit’s main body has been consumed, and the connection between it and the mist has weakened. It can no longer be tracked.”

Perfected Linghe turned back around, facing away from the two of them. “This jade pendant contains the remaining mist. Though it cannot guide the way, when it comes near the evil cultivator who consumed the mist spirit, it will glow as a warning.”

Shen Jibai took a deep breath. He seemed unwilling to accept it, but what he said was, “That is good as well.”

“We tracked it here, and then the main body was suddenly consumed. Doesn’t that mean the evil cultivator is nearby?” Zhou Xin asked.

“It is possible.”

Perfected Linghe controlled the whisk and descended, circling through the woods. Only then did Zhou Xin realize that this was the locust forest where she had woken up!

The nine-tailed spirit fox had lost its inner core here, and the mist had led them here before vanishing. This meant that the evil cultivator had always been active nearby.

A Daoist temple flashed through Zhou Xin’s mind, and she pointed at the strange mountain. “The evil cultivator is nearby, and it just so happens there is a Daoist temple nearby!”

Perfected Linghe shook his head lightly, his tone full of certainty. “It cannot be him.”

“Why?” Zhou Xin asked.

Perfected Linghe lowered his eyes and did not speak.

He raised his hand slightly, and the horsetail whisk shot straight upward. Just as it was about to approach the Daoist temple, it abruptly stopped with a bang, as though it had struck something. The impact made the whisk tremble slightly, causing Zhou Xin to shake along with it.

“There’s a barrier here? Perfected Linghe cannot break this barrier?”

Zhou Xin looked at the temple below. She could faintly see red maple trees planted both inside and outside the temple. The leaves connected into a red sea, looking extremely bewitching.

“Could this be... Fengyun Temple?” Shen Jibai asked.

Perfected Linghe stroked his beard and said softly, “Fengyun Temple has been hidden away for hundreds of years. I did not expect anyone to still remember it.”

“Rumor says there is a Fengyun Temple in Luoyang. Its temple master is a Daoist cultivator skilled in divination. Each divination costs a thousand gold, and every one of his predictions is said to come true. He was highly revered by the world.”

“He once divined for the emperor of the previous dynasty and directly said that the previous dynasty’s fate was exhausted. The emperor flew into a rage and wanted to execute him, but unexpectedly, the temple master vanished from prison.”

“Later, the events in the divination came true one after another. The emperor sent people to search for him, but they never found any information about him again. It was as though he had never existed at all.”

Shen Jibai blinked, as though still finding it somewhat hard to believe. “I thought it was merely a rumor. I did not expect it to be true.”

“What does that have to do with whether he is an evil cultivator?” Zhou Xin asked.

“This barrier not only prevents outsiders from entering, but also prevents those inside from leaving. Since he cannot come out, how could he be the evil cultivator stirring up trouble in the Eastern Capital?” Perfected Linghe said.

“That makes sense. Since we can’t keep tracking it, we may as well return first. It is already late, and it would be improper for Shen to impose further,” the person behind them said in a low voice.

“Very well.”

With that, the whisk changed direction and flew back to Luoyang City, sending Shen Jibai to the osmanthus courtyard in Zunxian Ward.

The lamps in the main house had long been extinguished, and the courtyard was dark. Perfected Linghe waved his hand, and the doors and windows of Shen Jibai’s room flew open. He was carried into the room by a gust of clear wind.

With another wave, the doors and windows all closed, and a black medicine bottle appeared on the bed where Shen Jibai rested.

The whisk rose straight up, flying over several wards, then over the Luo River, before landing in the quiet courtyard.

As soon as they landed, Perfected Linghe looked through the window and saw Changsheng sleeping soundly on the bamboo mat, as well as the messy desk and the books scattered all over the floor.

“...Your master has only been gone for one day.”

He turned around, lowering his eyes slightly. His deep gaze fell on Zhou Xin’s face, and he silently stared at her.

Zhou Xin’s heart tightened, and she quietly clenched her sleeves.

His voice was as calm as ever, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

“Are you not going to explain everything clearly?”