Heavenly Demon Soul-Rending

When Su Che woke, he was already inside a cave.

This seemed to be a natural karst cavern. It was not very large, roughly three zhang square. The air was chilly and damp, and he could hear water dripping steadily beside his ears.

Six stone lamps stood at the front, back, left, and right of the cave, green flames spilling layer upon layer of cold radiance within their lantern covers.

The light outlined the cavern, lending it an air of tranquility.

Though this place was rather cold, his body was quite warm. Su Che reached out and touched a tiger-pelt blanket, its yellow and white stripes interwoven, its fur smooth beneath his fingers. He had no idea what craft Qingqiu had used this time.

Su Che climbed up and discovered that a tiger pelt lay beneath him as well.

This fox truly loved picking fights with tigers.

People said foxes borrowed a tiger's might. Now it was the other way around.

Cloud Fox had somehow found a broad, flat boulder and placed it at the very center of the cavern as a great bed. Wooden bookshelves stood along the cave walls, stacked with layer upon layer of books and bamboo slips.

Besides the bookshelves, several instruments had been placed here. A cursory glance revealed a guqin, flutes, and xiao pipes.

Not far from the stone bed stood a wooden table and two or three stones serving as stools. A gilded incense burner on the table burned rich agarwood incense.

Not far from the incense burner lay several of Su Che's belongings, including the long rope painstakingly made by the Yellow Heaven Sect, the short sword left behind by Hero Jiang Qin, and the Azure Emperor Wine Cup obtained from Withered Forest Chan Temple.

Had he not known this was Qingqiu's residence, Su Che might have mistaken it for the dwelling of some scholar.

Su Che let out a long breath. With the medicinal power of the Nine-Turn Golden Pill still in him, the injuries inflicted by "Bookboy" Gu Yin were not yet fatal.

Su Che rose from the stone stool and slowly gathered up the things on the table.

He walked over to the bookshelves and inspected Qingqiu's collection.

He found that they were either Confucian School classics, Buddhist scriptures, or Daoist canons. These books did not concern cultivation, yet they contained the ideas of every school and sect.

Records of Netherworld Wanderings, Dragon-Pattern Whip Shadows, Selections of Literature, Treatise on the Middle View, Introduction to Abhidharma, Scripture of Great Peace and Pure Leadership, Explanations of the White Tiger Hall, Yellow Emperor's Scripture of Hidden Talisman, and so on.

If one were to simply distinguish between "Dao" and "arts," these all concerned the Dao.

The little fox's reading was broader even than that of many scholars in this world.

"Hey, you're awake."

A great furry head poked down from directly above the cavern.

"I took the liberty of looking around Miss Qing's boudoir. Your tastes are truly refined and elegant."

Su Che praised her sincerely.

With Qingqiu's tastes and pursuits, she was qualified to go to Jiankang and contend for the title of foremost pure courtesan.

"There's a Cloud-Hidden Tower in Cloud-Deep Unknown Place. It claims to hold all the rarest books beneath heaven. You can go take a look if you get the chance."

"I certainly must go and see it."

The little fox bared her beastly mouth in a smile.

"But it's never open to outsiders. Only those who've married into the family can enter."

Still the same chatterbox who spared neither meat nor vegetables.

"Ah, Miss Qing saved my life. By all reason and sentiment, it would only be proper for me to call you sworn elder sister."

"What sworn elder sister? For such a deep favor, even calling me sworn mother would not be enough. Better to pledge yourself to me. The man loves, the woman desires; love entwined and lingering, growing old together with white hair."

"I would be all right, but Miss, your fur has already turned white."

Su Che answered offhandedly.

"You're looking quite rosy." Qingqiu lowered her entire body into the cave. "Speaking of which, now that you've killed the people from White Deer Grotto, what do you plan to do next? Why not gather in the mountains and forests with me?"

"'Gather in the mountains and forests' describes bandits." Su Che looked at Qingqiu. "Miss Qing means to roam freely through the mountains and forests, doesn't she?"

"Grasp the intention, grasp the intention. And you call yourself an official."

The little fox found a comfortable spot, sprawled down, and closed her eyes.

"It's not impossible, but that would be the inferior course."

Su Che took a bundle of bamboo slips from the shelf and flipped through it.

"If White Deer Cave wants to find me, unless I truly hide away in the Eastern Sea, in that place where clouds run deep and none know the way, they will always be able to find me."

"So what is your superior course?"

"Brother Gu was killed by a demon. What does that have to do with me?"

The little fox fell silent for a moment.

"So you'd already decided who to make carry the blame when you came looking for me."

"Miss Qing is refined and magnanimous. We help each other, help each other."

Qingqiu seemed too lazy to argue further and merely gave a cold snort.

"Alas, this poor woman has such a bitter fate. Her beloved is a man without any sense of responsibility. Not only must she manage the household, she must even take the blame for her husband."

"Since Miss Qing thinks so highly of me, Su will certainly report this to my elders and arrange the three matchmakers and six rites—"

"Enough, enough."

Qingqiu grunted twice. "So, can you move around easily?"

"More or less."

"If you can, then hurry up and get lost. A county commandant has vanished without a trace; the Crimson Cavalry and Nightwatch Division will investigate. This young lady is already saddled with a debt of enmity from White Deer Cave. I don't want to provoke the only two government offices in your human court that actually get things done."

Su Che silently praised this ally of his.

Though Cloud Fox spoke without a filter, she truly was a dependable companion.

"Great kindness needs no words of thanks. Su will surely repay you."

"Don't, don't. If you repay me again, you'll probably set fire to the Profound Capital Palace, smash the ancestral statues of the Celestial Masters, Jade Vista, Divine Firmament, and Yellow Heaven sects, then wreck the mountain gates of Great Spirit Coffin Temple, That Wretched Pagoda Temple, Great Wheel Vajra Temple, and Compassionate Heart Nunnery—and afterward credit all those glorious achievements to me."

The little fox continued, "Do you see the things on the table?"

Su Che looked at the white paper, scissors, brush and ink, and needle and thread laid on the table.

What did she mean, she wanted him to sew her pants?

"You humans have nimble fingers. Cut out a human shape for me."

Su Che picked up the paper and, in three strokes and two cuts, snipped out a crooked human figure.

"Very good. Much faster than doing it myself."

Indeed, it was rather troublesome for fan-sized fox paws to handle this.

"See that brush beside you? Draw facial features on it."

Su Che picked up the jade-shafted brush, dipped it in the cinnabar ink in the inkstone, and dotted a human face onto the paper.

The little fox closed her eyes, and a faint, ghostly white shadow emerged from the crown of her head.

"Manifestation of the Yin Spirit?"

Su Che looked at the female ghost whose features could not be seen. It seemed the little fox's Yin Spirit cultivation was quite accomplished; having a basin of hot blood poured over her head had not affected her much.

"It's not a manifestation of the Yin Spirit. It's a soul-rending technique."

The little fox's true body chuckled. "This Qingqiu is not like you, you Fengxi. The cultivation art Zhongyuan bestowed upon me is called the Boundless Heavenly Demon Purple True Soul-Rending Secret Art. Even among the demon sects of the Four Seas, it is a first-rate method. It is heaven knows how much stronger than your Mirage Shadow Origin Sword, that thing everyone in the Eastern Sea has."

What kind of rule was this? The worse the codename, the better the thing it gave?

Su Che could not bear to reveal to the little fox that he was actually Lord Dongwang.

Let the child be happy for a few more days. There were only a few days left until the Mount Zhong Association's next gathering anyway.

The faceless female ghost leaned against the paper figure. At once, a charming young woman appeared in the cave, her hair like dark clouds, her brows like distant mountains. She wore a light green robe, her jade-like arms as pale and tender as lotus root, her skin like fresh snow. With icy flesh and jade bones, delicate and lovely, she was such a pretty girl that anyone who saw her would have to praise her.

"Go take an umbrella from the shelf. This young lady will take you to watch some excitement."