Withered Forest

In the fifth year of the Great Liang's Pingtong era, it was a rare good year for wastrels across the realm.

A wrist-slicing dagger cost five copper coins, a bowl of rotten meat noodles cost three, and if one slept beneath a tree beside an ancient grave, one could not only encounter a Night Roaming fox and enjoy a carefree evening, but also earn ten copper coins for nothing.

That year, Prince Zhongshan Yuan Ying of the Northern Dynasties led sixty thousand armored troops south. He first captured Yinping and beheaded twenty-five enemy generals, then advanced on Shouyang and crushed thirty thousand Liang soldiers, finally bringing his army beneath the walls of Zhongli City.

Great Liang's famed General Wei Huaiwen, commander of the Left Guard, marshaled the armies to meet him in battle and built another three cities outside Zhongli City overnight.

The two armies fought bitterly for thirty-six days. Having exhausted every means, Yuan Ying looked up at Wei Huaiwen, who sat quietly atop the walls beneath parasols, fans, banners, and standards, lightly flicking his fly-whisk. Yuan Ying took out a short flute and played a tune, leaving behind only the words, "Hidden like a rival state," before leading his iron cavalry away.

Afterward, Wei Huaiwen led the generals in pursuit. He first defeated them in Nanxu, then routed Yuan Ying in Beiyu. Of the sixty thousand armored soldiers who returned north, not one in five remained.

That year, the Huai River surged and flooded three provinces and sixteen counties. The court withheld half the military grain intended for the front and diverted it to disaster relief.

That year, a dragon fell in Yunmeng. Its blood rained down and condensed into jade. Wealthy merchants carried it into Jiankang, where a single piece was worth ten thousand coins.

Many years later, the wastrels of that time had long since spent all their vital yang and become lonely ghosts.

Yet when they gathered in the City God Temple to sponge off the incense offerings, they would still smack their lips as they recalled the musky scent on fox courtesans, muttered about the flavor of rotten meat noodles, and praised the good times of those days.

The long night was like a canopy, pressing down over the four seas. The outlines of distant mountains and wilderness shifted endlessly beneath the moonlight, while mist transformed without cease in the pure, brilliant glow—at times condensed like a long serpent exhaling breath, at times swaying like a seated tiger asking after its ghostly servants.

A red lantern swayed ceaselessly through the night.

It passed through layer upon layer of mist, following a mountain path thick with wild grass onward without pause.

The bluestone slabs laid in the early years of the dynasty had gradually shattered into countless pieces, while tenacious grasses and trees invaded the spaces beside them through every crack.

The red lantern bobbed up and down. The four words "Duling Su Clan" upon it were impossible to make out clearly through the mist.

"Young Master, there are lights ahead. It should be somewhere we can rest our feet."

A young servant boy carried a bamboo case on his back, held the lantern in his right hand, and pointed ahead as he spoke. His lips were red and his teeth white, his features delicate and handsome. His glossy black hair had been tied into two child's buns.

Beside him walked a young gentleman in a pale green Shu brocade robe, a jade hairpin tucked into his topknot and a black wooden case strapped across his back. His thick boots stepped over the slightly damp bluestone as he smiled.

"...Judging by the lay of the land, this ought to be a temple. What a pity..."

"What is a pity?" The servant boy's expression changed slightly. He remembered all those strange and fantastical tales he had heard in the capital.

Rotten wood could gain a spirit, old things could become monsters, old women could conceive ghosts, and shadowy phantoms walked by night...

He glanced at the young master beside him, then suddenly recalled that their Third Young Master had also experienced something strange a few months ago. Without thinking, he edged a step away.

"What a pity that the protagonists in such stories are usually alone. Even if they have companions, they are either Daoist masters hiding among the common folk, holy Buddhist monks traveling the four directions, chivalrous swordsmen full of righteous generosity, or female ghosts both affectionate and chaste..."

Third Young Master Su smiled. "Who ever heard of one wandering around with a peach-blossom-eyed bookboy?"

You really do have designs on me. A chill ran through the little bookboy from head to toe, and he moved farther aside.

If it weren't to save you, who would have brought you out?

Su Che glanced at the slightly panicked little bookboy.

The aristocratic clans of Jiankang City were notorious for having no scruples about meat or vegetables. The little bookboy had a fine face; in Su Che's previous life, he could easily have been some minor fresh-faced idol.

Unfortunately, he had been born in this Great Liang, where demons and phantoms ran rampant and the troubled age had yet to settle.

Keeping him by his side could count as giving him some protection.

"Young Master, there's a ruined temple ahead."

Following the path, they came upon a gateway where a stone lantern was covered in moss and the decayed plaque was overgrown with vines.

Under the bright moon, they could just barely make out the four large characters upon the plaque.

Withered Forest Monastery.

Sure enough, it was an abandoned temple.

Through the half-collapsed gateway, they could see fire burning inside. In this damp, chilly night, merely looking at it gave one a little strength.

"Young Master, the jianghu says: do not sit when crossing mountains, and do not enter when encountering temples. Shanyin County isn't that far away. We should keep traveling."

Thinking of the advice he had sought before leaving home, the little bookboy suddenly had another thought. How had his young master known there ought to be a ruined temple here?

"Young Master, do you know the Qi-Reading Art?"

"The Son of Heaven observes qi; it is recorded in the Zuo Commentary and passed down in the Classic of Divination. I have heard of it, but never studied it in detail."

Su Che shook his head and stepped through the half-collapsed gateway. The Four Heavenly Kings on either side had long returned to their origin, reverting to their true forms as clay statues.

There was only mud everywhere.

"Our family has served Celestial Masters for generations. Then do you know the secret arts of the Celestial Master Sect?"

"Talismans and blessed water cure illness, flying swords slay demons, cultivation reaches the transformative wonders of creation, and Qi Consumption grants long life. I yearn for such things, but my immortal affinity is shallow, and I have no chance to cultivate."

"Then perhaps you're a monk? I heard Qixia Temple..."

"Yes." Su Che coughed and clarified, "This layman only studies the Joyous Meditation."

Su Che walked into the courtyard.

This place had once likely been a grand complex of halls and pavilions, with winding corners and hooked railings, but now everything had become rotten timber and broken tiles. Only the central main hall still remained in part.

Ahead stood a tall stone incense burner, already filled with stagnant water and dotted with floating duckweed.

The firelight came from the surviving main hall.

"Then how did you know this was a temple?"

"I guessed."

Su Che looked toward the firelight and called out.

"This late student is passing through and begs pardon for the disturbance."

With that, he led the still-hesitant bookboy inside.

Within the temple, a fire burned. Much dry grass had been spread over the floor, and seven or eight men in rain capes sat atop it, warming themselves by the flames.

When they saw people enter from outside, traces of surprise and suspicion crossed their faces. They exchanged glances.

A dark-faced man was likely their leader. He rose from where he sat, his right hand slipping into his left sleeve, though his face wore a smile.

"Meeting is fate. What disturbance is there to speak of? We're all travelers. Scholar, come in and sit."

Su Che nodded. Without standing on ceremony, he walked into the temple and sat beside the fire, stretching out his hands to warm himself.

"A scholar traveling the road?"

The dark-faced man gave Su Che a thorough look, then glanced at the lantern in the bookboy's hand.

"I'm going to Guobei County."

Guobei County bordered Shanyin County. Guobei was haunted by ghosts, while Shanyin had demons.

"Visiting relatives?"

The dark-faced man narrowed his eyes, his right hand burrowing farther into his left sleeve.

Su Che suddenly thought of a certain predecessor who had fucked a fierce ghost.

"Collecting debts."

"So you are a young master. May I know your honored name?"

The dark-faced man relaxed somewhat, though his right hand remained tucked within his left sleeve.

"So they can't read."

The little bookboy muttered from behind. Wasn't it written right on the lantern?

"My surname is Su. My family lives in exile in Duling, Yongzhou."

In these times when chimei roamed and wangliang cried at night, only the dead did not need to trouble themselves with worry.

Su Che could deeply sympathize with these men's tension.

"Young Master Su looks like a man whose household has a great business," the dark-faced man said, looking at Su Che. "My brothers and I are from Shanyin County. We entered the mountains to gather herbs and are returning home."

"You all look like fine fellows." Su Che glanced at the carrying poles behind them, stuffed full of herbs and plants.

These days, gathering herbs in the mountains required more than luck. Above all, it required courage.

Who knew whether a mountain ginseng would have a mountain-patrolling demon beside it? Who could say if a life-taking female serpent would be coiled beside the fleeceflower root one meant to pick? An ancient shade tree might be full of wronged souls waiting for substitutes, while across from a spring meant to quench thirst might stand tiger ghosts keeping watch for demons.

The dark-faced man smiled and slowly withdrew his right hand from his left sleeve.

"Then please, Young Master, rest awhile."

The little bookboy lightly tugged Su Che's sleeve from behind.

These herb gatherers had questioned us, but we had not questioned them.

Who knew whether they really were herb gatherers?

Perhaps they were tiger ghosts devoured by some Demon King, fishing here for their master.

Su Che ignored the worried bookboy. Sitting quietly beside the fire, he began speaking with the dark-faced man, discussing the local customs of Guobei and Shanyin Counties, as well as floods, droughts, and calamities.

The bookboy was immediately reassured. His young master might look like some fool gilded with gold and jade on the outside, but he was not truly dull after all. He still knew how to probe around the edges.

What was that called in the jianghu?

Right, sounding out the road. Third Young Master, sir, sound him out properly.

The bookboy sat by the fire as the warm heat roasted him without cease. Already exhausted, his mind gradually grew hazy.

He did not know how long he slept. When he awoke, aside from the crackling fire, his young master was still chatting with the dark-faced man.

"...Guobei cannot compare to our Shanyin. Shanyin County has a literary legacy. Back in the previous dynasty, it even produced a top scholar. Its household fortunes have since declined, though, and the place has now been turned into a tavern called Top Scholar Residence..."

The dark-faced man sat beside the fire and spoke of tales from his hometown.

"Speaking of that, I recall an old matter concerning Shanyin County."

The dark-faced man was somewhat curious. What matter could this young master know of?

"Withered Forest Monastery was built during the Datong era of the previous dynasty, two hundred and thirty-six years ago. In the early years of this dynasty, when chaos engulfed the realm, Withered Forest Chan Temple gradually fell into abandonment for unknown reasons."

The bookboy thought that his young master really could lie without batting an eye. He had clearly already found out this was a temple, yet told him he had merely guessed.

"More than thirty years ago, hunters discovered twenty-four hu of salt inside Withered Forest Monastery and reported it to the authorities. After investigation, Guobei County determined it was illicit salt. That was the first incident to occur at Withered Forest Monastery."

"More than ten years ago, a group of court constables secretly escorted captured Japanese pirate ringleaders along a planned route through Guobei to the provincial city. The entire group vanished without a trace. The force sent to meet them investigated along the road and eventually discovered four identity plaques and two broken blades at Withered Forest Monastery. The final verdict was that Japanese pirates had intercepted the prisoners. Generous compensation was paid, but in the end, the matter came to nothing."

The dark-faced man clenched both hands. He was clearly from Shanyin County, yet he had never heard of this matter.

As he spoke, as if to echo the young master's account, the doors and windows of this dilapidated hall, which had been tightly shut, suddenly began to creak and groan.

The sound outside the windows whimpered and wailed. For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether it was the night wind howling or ghosts crying in the dark.

He was about to wake his sleeping companions when he suddenly noticed that the wooden case Su Che had carried on his back since entering was trembling slightly.

The dark-faced man rubbed his eyes. The wooden case was indeed shaking without stop, and the movement was becoming ever more obvious.

"Today is a Gengshen day. According to the books, on this day the Heavenly Emperor spreads virtue and the Supreme Yin grants nectar. Moonlight bears a peculiar divine power. Plants that receive it awaken their spirits, while birds and beasts that drink it become demons. If they miss today, they must wait another sixty days for the next Gengshen day."

Su Che gazed out the window. Branches quivered, tiles shifted, and beneath the heavy night mist, something unknown seemed to dance, seemed to sing praises.

He laid the wooden case across his knees and stroked it with both hands.

Within the hall, the flames had taken on a layer of jade-green.

The dark-faced man let out a long breath, only to see mist pouring from his nose and mouth.

Why had it suddenly become so cold?

His entire body went numb and limp. He could not summon even a thread of strength.

Though it was a long summer night, the chill had already seeped into his bones.

The ceaseless ringing and leaping from the Sword Case upon his knees could not make Su Che feel warm, but it kept his mind clear.

At this moment, the doors of the hall stood wide open.

The herb gatherers traveling with him and the bookboy had been pinned beneath nightmare oppression. They could neither speak nor see, their bodies as though weighed down by a thousand-pound boulder, unable to move.

A jade-green shadow, as large as a carriage wheel, floated beyond the doorway.

Su Che slowly recited the inscription on the Sword Case.

"My sword has spirit, the finest of Shouyang. Nurtured by benevolence and righteousness, girded with the five weapons. The three powers form its edge, the five virtues its blade. Sun and moon conceal their patterns; it treads upon the seven stars. It commands rivers and stills seas, making dragons lie low. It suppresses mountains and locks peaks, making a hundred ghosts hide their forms. What god will not submit? What ghost dares stand against it?"

Su Che looked at the Sword Case in his hands and softly called out a single word.

"Please."

In an instant, the dark-faced man felt as though moonlight flashed before his eyes.

The case fell still.

Outside the hall doors, there was only the bright moon illuminating all, the jade heavens clear and pure, tree shadows swaying as before.

The mist had already dispersed.

The dark-faced man was horrified. Vaguely, he roughly understood what had happened.

His expression darkened, and he clasped his hands in salute.

"May I ask your honored name?"

"Su Che of Duling." The brocade-clad young master smiled faintly. "The newly appointed county commandant of Shanyin County."

"Congratulations, Lord County Commandant, on slaying demons and eliminating ghosts."

Slaying demons and eliminating ghosts? Su Che glanced outside and merely shook his head.