As usual, Shen Hui soaked in the hot spring until he had absorbed all the spiritual energy his body could hold before rising to get dressed.
The days in the mountains passed quickly.
He had not even noticed when the twelfth lunar month ended.
By the time he realized it, half of the first lunar month had already passed.
Icicles under the eaves melted with a steady drip, drip, drip, and the last patch of snow in the courtyard had shrunk to a tiny puddle.
In a few more days, the spring equinox would arrive. Then he would go down the mountain with his master.
He counted the days as he walked down the mountain.
A few scattered flecks of green had already pushed up beneath the dead grass along the mountain path.
Birds chirped in the woods, and warm sunlight filtered through the branches, bathing him in pleasant warmth.
As he walked, a sharp whistle suddenly cut through the air from the side.
His gaze sharpened, and he dodged aside.
A black object grazed his ear with a whoosh and plunged three inches into the tree behind him.
Shen Hui frowned and looked toward where it had come from.
"Whoosh—"
Another whistle rang out, even faster than the first.
He barely had time to look up before a black speck was already upon him, fast as lightning and aimed straight at the center of his brow.
In the heat of the moment, Shen Hui opened his mouth and unleashed a burst of Sharp Gold Qi.
A streak of white shot out and met the black speck head-on.
With a muffled pop, the speck was instantly shredded, its fragments scattering in every direction.
Shen Hui drew back his qi and looked closely.
A monkey crouched in the treetop not far away.
It was a strange-looking creature, its black fur gleaming like oil, but its face was a startling white, like a mask emerging from ink.
It stood no more than three feet tall, yet its tail was astonishingly long and thick—nearly ten feet. It hung among the branches, slowly writhing like a python.
When the monkey saw its attack had missed and Shen Hui was looking its way, fear appeared on its white face. It let out a strange cry, turned, and fled.
For a moment, Shen Hui did nothing.
He watched the monkey's retreating back, estimating the force of its attack.
That black speck had carried tremendous force. If he had failed to stop it, he would likely be lying dead on the mountain path now.
At the thought, his expression darkened. He raised a hand and formed a seal.
A streak of fire shot through the air, swift as an arrow, in pursuit of the monkey.
The streak cut through the canopy, snapping branches and leaves in its wake with sharp cracks.
The monkey was leaping away at full speed when it heard the commotion behind it. It hurriedly looked back, shrieked in terror, and flung itself to the side with all its might.
It jumped in time, and its body escaped.
But its long tail could not be pulled back quickly enough.
The streak of fire swept across the base of its tail, severing a section nearly ten feet long. It fell among the dead leaves below, still writhing.
The monkey crashed to the ground, clutching the stump of its tail and shrieking without end. Its piercing cries echoed through the forest.
Shen Hui strode toward it.
The monkey's eyes filled with even greater terror when it saw him coming.
It whipped around, its cheeks suddenly puffing out, and spat another black speck at him.
This time, Shen Hui saw it clearly.
It was a fruit pit of some kind, which the monkey had turned into a hidden weapon.
He gave a cold laugh. Even if you were surnamed Qiu, you wouldn't escape death today.
He pointed with two fingers.
The fruit pit burst into flame halfway through its flight and burned away in an instant, leaving only a wisp of green smoke that quickly dispersed.
Shen Hui took a few more steps forward.
He was close enough now.
A warmth spread across his chest. The Heart Lamp turned, and he cast all seven emotions and six desires into it.
The monkey was struggling to climb a tree, blood pouring from its severed tail.
But suddenly, its entire body stiffened. It let out a shriek and fell straight from the trunk, smacking into the pile of dead leaves.
It began to struggle.
Its limbs clawed wildly, its body writhed, and the features on its white face twisted together. Its mouth gaped wide, but not a sound came out.
A moment later, a tiny flame emerged from the corner of its eye. Then another from its nostril, its ear, and the corner of its mouth...
Smoke poured from its seven orifices, then flames.
Its struggles gradually slowed until it stopped moving altogether.
Shen Hui walked over and looked down at the charred corpse.
His expression was calm. He raised his hand and sent out several more streaks of fire, cleanly severing its head from its body before finally stopping.
At the same time, he spared a wisp of attention for the Parchment Interface.
The number in the Dao Xing column jumped.
"More than a hundred and sixty points..."
His gaze returned to the monkey's corpse.
Severed tail, white face, black fur, fruit pits...
He stared at the creature for a while, then suddenly remembered seeing it in a book.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas: Eastern Wastes recorded: "In Yingzhou there is a beast called the White-headed Macaque. Its face is as if powdered, its body as if stained with ink, and its tail longer than its body, supple as a snake. It hides deep in the woods and delights in pelting people with fruit pits; anyone struck dies instantly. Its tail can be severed without killing it. It can crawl away on its own, seek out its master, and be reborn."
His brow gradually furrowed.
Yingzhou lay at the far end of the Eastern Sea, thousands of miles from Yongchang Commandery. How had this creature appeared here?
And it could survive with its tail severed, seek its master, and be reborn?
Did that mean the monkey could not die, or that the tail could not die?
As he pondered, he caught sight of the pool of blood from the corner of his eye.
The severed tail was gone!
His heart lurched, and he abruptly looked around.
Only a charred patch remained among the dead leaves. The nearly ten-foot-long tail had vanished without a trace.
But it had still been there when he sent out those last few streaks of fire. Only a moment had passed...
He followed the trail of blood with his eyes.
A thin drag mark wound through the dead leaves and into the depths of the forest. It was so faint that one might mistake it for the trail of a snake or insect without looking closely.
Without a word, Shen Hui set off after it.
The tail was badly injured. It could not run fast or far.
He did not hurry, following at an unhurried pace while keeping an eye on his surroundings.
The drag mark came and went, at times disappearing beneath the dead leaves only to reappear a few yards farther on.
After crossing a ridge, the view opened up before him.
It was a small clearing, perhaps twenty or thirty feet across, flat and ringed by old trees.
More than a dozen white skeletons lay scattered across the clearing. Beside them were scattered woodcutters' axes, ropes, chopping knives, and the dismantled pieces of a carrying chair.
Shen Hui stopped.
His gaze passed over the pile of bones and settled on the center of the clearing.
An old man sat there cross-legged.
By then, the severed tail had escaped to the edge of the cliff and was crawling straight toward the old man.
The old man's gaze snapped toward them.
He looked at the severed tail, then at Shen Hui behind it. His gaunt face changed dramatically, and he immediately shouted:
"Fellow Daoist! Quickly, help me hold off this monster!"