Volume Two: No Way Forward Amid Mountains and Rivers Chapter Six: The Fairy

Zhuo Hua no longer knew what kind of feelings or expression he ought to wear in the face of this matter. The Qin Ying before him was beginning to change; the contours of her face shifted from clear to blurred and then clear again, and when the radiance faded, it was Lanling’s features that remained.

At this moment, Zhuo Hua’s heart grew calm. The torrent of questions and longing that had filled him was, for now, replaced by a single thought: “It’s enough that you’re back.”

“Are... are you all right?” Zhuo Hua asked.

“Zhuo Hua, I’ve come to you this time using the Cloaking Mirror, so as not to be detected by the people of Dark Lament. I know you have a thousand things to say, but I must be brief,” Lanling spoke quickly, her words so swift that Zhuo Hua felt them ethereal, drifting.

“You’ve lost weight; you must have suffered much out there. Has anyone bullied you?” Zhuo Hua seemed to be talking to himself.

Lanling looked at Zhuo Hua, her eyes brimming with complicated emotion, but she kept it hidden and continued, “Fool, will you go back to Cloud Palace now? Don’t head further south. And please, don’t involve yourself in what’s to come.”

Her gaze was piercing, locking with Zhuo Hua’s eyes.

Zhuo Hua was thoroughly perplexed and unleashed a flurry of questions: “Why? What’s about to happen? And last time, when you took Tian Chong’s Cloud-Taming Umbrella, what did you mean to do? How did you become entangled with the Dark Lament tribe? What’s your connection with the Sun Worshippers? What are they after?”

Lanling grew anxious, stepped forward and gripped Zhuo Hua’s hands. “Don’t ask so much. Everything I do is for the glory of the Xuanhuang lineage, to restore it to its former splendor. All you need to do is return to the Palace on the Summit and wait for me to finish what I must. Then, I’ll tell you everything, every last detail.”

Seeing Zhuo Hua unmoved, Lanling shook his hands and pleaded, “Zhuo Hua, believe me. Please go back. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Zhuo Hua’s expression turned resolute as he replied, “I won’t turn back. It is my duty as the Lord to protect this void and the Xuanhuang lineage. No matter who threatens this land and sky, I will fight with my life—even if that person is you.”

Lanling, beside herself, cried out, “If the land remains but its people are lost, all is lost! Do you not understand this?”

Zhuo Hua shook his head, “I can lose my teacher, but I will never disgrace my country.”

Lanling heaved a long sigh, lowered her head, and said, “Someone’s coming. I must go!”

Her words struck Zhuo Hua like a hammer, pounding at his temples. It was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over him while he slept. Suddenly, he pulled Lanling tightly into his arms, tears streaming uncontrollably as he repeated, “Don’t go. Stay a little longer. Please?”

After a long time, the sound of weeping from the one in his arms pulled Zhuo Hua back to reality.

He released her and saw her face streaked with tears, shoulders shaking as she sobbed, unable to utter a word.

“Lanling?... Qin Ying! I’m sorry,” Zhuo Hua said.

Qin Ying lifted her tear-stained face, and suddenly a smile began to bloom through her sorrow. “It’s all right. You just didn’t realize she had already gone,” she said, then turned and left.

Zhuo Hua, heavy-hearted, returned to his lodgings, where Old Yao had been waiting at the door for some time.

Zhuo Hua motioned for him to come inside.

Once they were seated, Old Yao poured Zhuo Hua some water and began to report on what he had learned that day. “Lord, I followed that envoy today. He didn’t return to the royal palace to report back, but went instead to the Grand Chancellor’s residence. So I disguised myself, slipped inside and hid on the roof to continue my investigation. I overheard the envoy reporting the events here to a man he called the Grand Magus. After hearing the report, the Grand Magus seemed quite uneasy and instructed the envoy to go tell the Grand Chancellor that we must be driven from Changshan as soon as possible, lest we interfere with their great plans.”

Zhuo Hua paused, cup in hand, then turned to Old Yao, “That is curious. We’re only passing through Changshan, staying a few days to rest. What grand plans could we possibly ruin?”

Old Yao nodded. “That was my thought as well, so I continued my investigation. After questioning some close attendants of the Chancellor and the Grand Magus, I finally pieced some things together. It turns out this Grand Magus was invited from Huaxu by the Chancellor, supposedly to help the king create a Spirit-Settling Pearl for ascending to godhood. The King of Changshan is obsessed with immortality and cultivation, neglects all affairs of state, and has entrusted the entire administration to the Chancellor, obeying his every word.”

Old Yao took a sip of water and continued, “The Grand Magus demanded large quantities of white fox and snow dog pelts, claiming they were needed to trade with the Kualun tribe in the north for crystal-gold ore to refine those pearls. The king actually issued an edict requiring the entire country to hand over pelts.”

Zhuo Hua nodded, “I heard something like this when I was drinking with Xiao Sui earlier.”

Old Yao nodded. “But, my lord, things are not as simple as they seem. The pelt tax has been collected for years, yet the Spirit-Settling Pearl remains unfinished. I thought this odd, so I used a little trick to coax some useful information from the Grand Chancellor’s chief steward.”

Zhuo Hua chuckled, “I doubt it was just a little trick.”

Old Yao scratched his head sheepishly. “You don’t get much by asking outright, so I used Three-Breath Incense.”

Zhuo Hua laughed, tapping Old Yao with his finger. “I made that stuff to amuse Lanling when my mischievous side took over. How did it end up in your hands?”

Old Yao grinned, “I don’t know, my lord. Palace Master Lin gave it to me for fun.”

Zhuo Hua waved his hand. “I’ll settle accounts with Old Jiao later. Go on.”

Old Jiao nodded and continued, “That incense worked wonders. After three breaths, the steward spilled everything. The Chancellor and the Grand Magus are mutually dependent. The Grand Magus is in fact the High Steward of the Sun Worshippers from Huaxu, with tens of thousands of followers. They need massive amounts of pelts for sacrifices. The Chancellor, wary of the Blue Clan’s power, hopes to use the Grand Magus to eliminate the King of Changshan and thus seize the throne himself.”

“Sun Worshippers again! They’re everywhere,” Zhuo Hua said with a frown of distaste.

Old Yao said, “I’ve heard about your past dealings with them from Palace Master Lin. The Sun Worshippers do need to be investigated thoroughly.”

Zhuo Hua straightened. “Yao Bogong, send a message to Cloud Palace at once. Tell White Tiger Hall to speed up their investigation of the Sun Worshippers. I want a full report before the third month of spring. If they fail, they’ll hand over the Spirit-Settling Pearl.”

Yao Bogong immediately rose, knelt on one knee, and declared, “I obey,” then turned to leave.

After this conversation, the softness in Zhuo Hua’s heart gradually hardened.

He spoke to himself, “Those who dare offend the Xuanhuang, even from afar, shall be punished.”