War?

"The Three Four Classic?" Fierce Tiger asked, puzzled.

"The Three Character Classic," Du Yu repeated.

Xiao Qi suddenly seemed to realize something was wrong. "Du Yu, you're in the Tang Dynasty right now. The Three Character Classic was written by Wang Yinglin of the Southern Song."

"Xiao Qi, I mix this sort of thing up all the time. You'll get used to it," Du Yu whispered.

"Oh..." After agreeing, Xiao Qi suddenly felt something was off. "Wait, you're the one who got it wrong... What am I supposed to get used to?"

Du Yu ignored Xiao Qi and patted Fierce Tiger on the shoulder. "Brother Tiger, I know you're very curious about the human world right now. If you're willing, I can come chat with you regularly and teach you a few things. If you manage to take human form years from now, it'll make things easier for you."

"You... aren't afraid of me?" Fierce Tiger asked, looking at Du Yu.

"Afraid?" Du Yu chuckled. "I've fought alongside a giant snake a hundred feet tall. Why would I be afraid of a little tiger like you?"

"But... but, I can talk. They're all afraid."

"That's all right. The giant snake I know can talk too."

"Really?" Fierce Tiger's eyes lit up. "There are other animals in this world that can... talk like humans?"

"Oh, there are loads of them." Du Yu nodded. "I know a whole bunch myself. Actually, in this very dynasty, a master and his three disciples fought talking animals all the way to the Western Heaven."

Fierce Tiger's eyes gleamed. "Really?"

"Looks like you don't know anything about this." Du Yu sighed. "Tell you what, I'm not in a hurry today. I'll explain properly how animals cultivate into demons."

Fierce Tiger nodded vigorously. He really did have far too many questions, but no one could answer them. All he could do was keep searching for heaven's secrets in the writings Guiguzi had left behind.

Yet even after Fierce Tiger waited for ages, Du Yu still said nothing.

Xiao Qi was puzzled too. "Du Yu, why aren't you saying anything?"

Du Yu said irritably to Xiao Qi, "Sis, where's our unspoken understanding? What the hell do I know about how animals cultivate into demons? I need you to explain it. You say a sentence, and I repeat it."

Xiao Qi blinked. Although she felt Du Yu had a point, she could never quite keep up with his thinking. So she began explaining the principles behind animals cultivating into demons, and Du Yu relayed every word to Fierce Tiger without changing a thing. This was not just a learning process for Fierce Tiger, but for Du Yu as well.

For a full two hours, Du Yu spoke in an endless torrent while Fierce Tiger nodded repeatedly.

"...If your cultivation is sufficient to form an inner core within your body, you can channel your magical power to take human form. But a beast becoming human goes against the Heavenly Dao. When that happens, it will summon the nine heavens divine thunder and bring down the transformation tribulation."

"Transformation... tribulation?"

"Exactly. Most demons and spirits cannot withstand the transformation tribulation. They either have their souls scattered to the winds or are beaten back into their original forms. But if you can endure the nine heavens divine thunder, you can attain true fruition. Even those in the animal realm can cultivate into immortals."

Seeing Fierce Tiger's eager expression, Du Yu nearly laughed aloud.

"Amazing," Fierce Tiger said with a nod. "So I... absorbed spiritual energy on this mountain... and became a demon?"

"That's right." Du Yu nodded.

"Then, is the transformation... tribulation powerful?" Fierce Tiger asked again.

"It is. The more sins a demon has committed, the harsher the tribulation."

"Sins?"

"Yes. Committing sins means things like eating that old woman's son down at the foot of the mountain."

At those words, the tiger demon's eyes instantly widened, and his pupils contracted.

"You... know?"

Du Yu nodded, but he still could not make sense of it, so he asked, "Brother Tiger, you don't strike me as a demon who runs around committing evil. Why did you go down the mountain to eat someone?"

The tiger demon silently lowered his head and said quietly, "I can't say."

"Then forget it." Du Yu waved a hand. "I've spent all this time baring my heart to you, but you won't tell me anything. We might as well stop talking. You carry on being your tiger demon, and I'll carry on being my Yuan Xiangqin."

Du Yu stood up to leave, but just then, the tiger demon reached out a paw and caught him.

"No... it's not that I don't want to tell you. I just... promised someone," the tiger demon said, enunciating each word.

"So you don't consider me a friend after all." Du Yu sighed. "I came all the way up this mountain in the middle of the night to impart knowledge, teach you, and clear up your doubts, but you... Ah... forget it, forget it..."

The tiger demon immediately grew anxious. He hurriedly waved his enormous paws and said, "No, no! Having someone... talk to me makes me very happy."

"Then will you tell me?"

"But I really... can't say. I promised... the girl."

"The girl?" Du Yu frowned. So there was a girl in this story too. "Is that girl very important to you?"

"Very important." Fierce Tiger nodded vigorously.

Du Yu pondered for a moment. It seemed that to break through this impasse in the story, he would also need to find a little girl called "the girl"...

"Brother Tiger, I have a request. I hope you'll agree."

"What... request?"

"You said lots of people are afraid of you. I have a way for you to walk openly among people with every right to be there, so they won't be afraid of you anymore," Du Yu said earnestly. "Then you won't have to stay on this mountain every day. You can go play with the girl all day long."

"Really?" Fierce Tiger looked delighted.

"Really." Du Yu nodded. "What you need to do is simple too. I need you to admit that you ate the old woman's son down at the foot of the mountain. Before long, she'll report it to the authorities, and the magistrate will summon you for trial. Whatever he says in court, admit your guilt. Then he'll sentence you to become that old woman's adopted son. After that, you'll have every right to live among humans, and you can visit that girl you mentioned whenever you want."

Du Yu's words were somewhat abstruse, and the tiger demon only half understood them. But he understood one thing: as long as he admitted that he had eaten someone, he could live with humans, and live with the girl.

"It's getting late, Brother Tiger." Du Yu stood up. "I'll come back to see you soon. You should know that I didn't climb this mountain in the middle of the night just to trick you."

The tiger demon remained rooted to the spot in a daze, his thoughts already soaring beyond the ninth heaven.

Could I really live with the girl?

Du Yu bade the tiger demon farewell and descended Cloud Dream Mountain.

The Underworld.

Dong Qianqiu sat inside an enormous stone cavern. Numerous torches burned with ghostly flames, and a huge stone table stood in the center, laden with delicacies from the mountains and seas.

Looking at the tableful of food before her, Dong Qianqiu could not help feeling puzzled.

A woman who appeared to be in her thirties sat across from her, her hair piled into a high bun. She was dressed like a martial artist. Her handsome face and close-fitting fighting clothes gave her both a woman's allure and a man's heroic bearing.

Had Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost not been standing behind her, Dong Qianqiu would never have believed that this person was Lady Houtu, the foremost figure in the entire Underworld.

"You are... Lady Houtu, aren't you?" Dong Qianqiu asked tentatively.

"That's right. I'm Houtu, damn it." The woman wore a troubled expression and kept bouncing her leg, looking thoroughly irritated.

"'Damn it'...?" Dong Qianqiu was startled by her tone, but quickly recovered and asked, "Lady Houtu... what exactly did you bring me here for?"

"Ah..." Lady Houtu held back for a long while. "I'll just say it straight..."

"Hey, hey, hey." The tall Chi Ghost standing nearby suddenly interrupted her. "How can you just say it outright? Didn't you carefully prepare a plan?"

"But I can't hold it in!" Lady Houtu slapped the table. "I've always been straightforward, and now you're making me scheme over something this big. It's driving me out of my mind!"

Chi Ghost flared up too. "Aren't you being a little too impulsive, you crazy woman? I fought the Eight Great Underworld Enforcers for your plan! And now you're abandoning it without another word?"

"Did I tell you to fight them?"

"Stop arguing..." Mei Ghost, standing to one side, seemed to want to mediate. She stepped forward and said, "I think Chi Ghost is right. You've gone too far, woman."

"Oh, so you two are joining forces again, Mei Ghost?"

"I'm siding with what's right, not with my friends!"

"You two want a beating, don't you?!"

"Come on, then! You think we're afraid of you?"

Dong Qianqiu truly could not make sense of this. Weren't Chi Ghost and Mei Ghost Lady Houtu's subordinates? Right now, those two subordinates were loudly arguing with the highest-ranking person in the Underworld, and they looked ready to come to blows.

"High Immortals..." Dong Qianqiu finally could not take it anymore. "Your argument is your own household affair, and I shouldn't interfere, but I would still like to know what any of this has to do with me."

The three fell silent and looked at Dong Qianqiu.

"You tell her, crazy woman," Chi Ghost said irritably. "You insisted on bringing her here. Now explain."

"Argh! This is driving me mad!" Lady Houtu waved a hand. "Hey, Dong Qianqiu, do you know the Underworld is about to be finished?"

"The Underworld... is finished?" Dong Qianqiu did not quite understand. "My lady, what do you mean?"

"I brought you here for two reasons." Lady Houtu scratched her head. "First, I want to ask about the Legend Management Bureau's position. Second, I want to see how capable the new Operator is."

Dong Qianqiu shook her head, still confused.

"Lady Houtu, I don't understand the first matter you mentioned. What do you mean by the Legend Management Bureau's position? What position are we supposed to have?"

"Let me put it simply." Lady Houtu reorganized her thoughts and asked, "Suppose-and I do mean suppose-the Northern Yin Great Emperor of Fengdu went to war with the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai. Which side would the Legend Management Bureau take?"

Dong Qianqiu's mind instantly went blank. She had thought this would be nothing more than a simple conversation, never expecting Lady Houtu to open her mouth and drop such a bombshell.

The Underworld's two highest leaders were going to war?

"Lady Houtu, is this merely hypothetical, or...?" Dong Qianqiu was rather frightened. If the Northern Yin Great Emperor of Fengdu really went to war with the Eastern Peak Great Emperor of Mount Tai, the Underworld's troubles would go far beyond being "finished." Hundreds of millions of souls would be left without anyone to manage them, and they might even escape into the human world. If souls were set loose among humans, the heavenly realm would have no choice but to intervene. Thus, once turmoil arose in the Underworld, all three realms-heaven, earth, and humanity-would inevitably be affected.

"You figured it out? This isn't hypothetical," Lady Houtu said. "Seven days ago, the Great Emperor of Fengdu was wounded in an assassination attempt by the King of the Wheel."