Heart-to-Heart

On the back slopes of Golden Ao Mountain.

Liu Yunhe sat on a large rock, his face deathly pale, while Li Siyi stood beside him with her hands clasped.

Little Red and Little Orange were both perched on a nearby branch.

The two of them looked fearfully west, toward White Sand Mountain:

Shao Yang light and crimson bloodlight pierced the Great Void, dividing the sky into several sections as they wound and intertwined without cease.

Li Siyi looked uneasily at the deathly pale Liu Yunhe:

"The Daozi... he'll be all right, won't he?"

Hearing this, Liu Yunhe turned to her and was about to comfort her when Li Siyi interrupted him. Her voice now tinged with tears, she choked out:

"It's all because we're useless. We can't help him at all."

When she finished, she bowed her head low.

Liu Yunhe sighed and struggled to his feet, intending to pat Li Siyi on the shoulder to comfort her. But as he raised his hand, he remembered the distinction between men and women and lowered it again. He said softly:

"The Daozi is blessed with heaven-sent talent. If we went, we might only get in his way.

"Besides, that witch barbarian ambushed us both with a Spirit Artifact, leaving us badly injured. Even if we went, we wouldn't be of any use. We might as well recover on Golden Ao Mountain, and later..."

Before Yunhe could finish, Li Siyi began to cry, like a pear blossom in the rain.

She raised her head and looked at Liu Yunhe:

"Am I really that useless?"

With that, she turned sideways to look at Cibi Lake:

"I was well protected from childhood and began cultivating at six. The amount of Spiritual Qi for my clan's foundational fifth-grade cultivation method was limited. If I wanted to wait, I would have had to wait another five years, but no one could guarantee that, among the brothers and sisters who began cultivating in the clan over those five years, none would have better aptitude than me. So they arranged for me to cultivate a fourth-grade method. I had already accepted it and entered Qi Refinement..."

She paused, her sobs growing quieter:

"But as soon as I entered Qi Refinement, an immortal decree came down from the mountain, granting me a cultivation method and Spiritual Qi, as well as pills to help me switch methods. From that moment on, I knew that as long as nothing went seriously wrong in the future, I could expect to reach the Purple Mansion realm at the very least."

When she finished, she turned back to Liu Yunhe:

"In our clans, anyone who followed one of Qixia's temple masters or Daozis through the generations became at least a Purple Mansion Middle Stage True Person, as long as they didn't fall along the way. And from the time I switched methods, I heard the clan elders say that the current Qixia Daozi was blessed with heaven-sent talent and had been born in response to the Rainbow Cloud Fruition. The Daozi was born in response to the Rainbow Cloud Fruition and has a great chance of becoming a True Lord someday. For people like us, as long as our luck isn't too bad, attaining a Divine Core is well within reach. Even if we really can't manage it, becoming a Human Immortal is possible too."

By this point, she had composed herself:

"Although the cultivation method granted from the mountain was only fifth-grade, it was far more profound than the one in my clan. So that I could raise my cultivation as quickly as possible, the clan generally didn't let me go down the mountain or get involved in miscellaneous affairs, simply because the path of Wu Earth is now mostly occupied by immortals and naturally better suited to that aim. Some days ago, I received orders to go down the mountain. At first, I was quite unwilling, thinking the Daozi was younger than me and, at best, no better than my equal. But when he dealt with the mangy birds of Noon Sparrow Mountain and the witch barbarians of the Hepu Witch Tribe, I was truly convinced, heart and soul."

As she spoke, she began to choke up again:

"From that moment on, I made up my mind. But leaving Mount Zhongnan aside, I was afraid in the secret realm and spoke out of turn many times, yet the Daozi never said anything about it. Then we came here, and I finally had a chance to do something, only to botch it on my first try. I..."

When she finished, she began crying again.

Seeing this, Liu Yunhe did not comfort her, but laughed instead:

"And how am I any better than you?"

Seeing that Li Siyi was still the same, he teased her again:

"At least think about it: you were injured while carrying out the task the Daozi assigned you. Isn't that much better? At least your heart was in it."

Li Siyi gave an aggrieved huff and was about to retort when a tremendous boom suddenly rang out.

The two hurriedly turned to look and saw:

In the direction of White Sand Mountain, crimson bloodlight surged out of the Great Void like a tide. Witch markings swam like tadpoles, flickering in and out of sight.

In an instant, the bloodlight gathered into a pillar of blood that spanned heaven and earth, descending from the nine heavens. Its body was as red as magma, witch markings flowing over its surface, and countless twisted runes could dimly be seen wailing and shattering within it.

When the pillar of blood struck the ground, the earth trembled, and every plant and tree within a hundred li was stained a deep red.

"This is..."

Liu Yunhe stared at the sight in disbelief.

After a brief daze, Li Siyi murmured:

"A True Person has fallen... It should be a True Person of the Witch Talisman path."

Liu Yunhe was about to speak when another tremendous boom erupted.

Beside the crimson pillar of blood, another pillar of light crashed down.

Its body was mostly a murky yellow, threaded with strands of blood-red: yellow like rotting soil, red like remnants of blood. Dry, cracked lines spread ceaselessly over its surface, like the earth splitting apart, or dry bones crumbling. From within the pillar came the faint sounds of witchfolk worshipping and a Witch Emperor presiding from a high seat. Yet the sounds of the rites were shrill and piercing, making their hearts race.

Liu Yunhe swallowed, his voice trembling:

"This should be the phenomenon of a True Person of the Earth Witch path falling..."

The two turned back and looked at each other.

Just then, Little Red and Little Orange, who had been quiet until now, suddenly flapped their wings and let out piercing cries. Before the two could react, the birds had become two streaks of light, shooting toward White Sand Mountain.

The two turned and looked in the direction the birds had flown. At the far end of the sky, a speck of rosy light blossomed like the first light of dawn, drawing nearer until, in an instant, it was not far from Golden Ao Mountain.

Sensing a familiar presence, Liu Yunhe was overjoyed. He raised an arm and called out:

"Daozi, are you all right?"

Li Siyi first shot Liu Yunhe an annoyed glare, then quickly turned around. She smoothed the hair at her temples that the mountain wind had mussed, straightened the front of her robes, and flattened the wrinkles in the hem of her skirt. Finally, she remembered to pull a small mirror from her sleeve and take a quick look at her face. Only after confirming that her makeup was intact and had not been dampened by the tears she had shed in her earlier panic did she quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Su Yao revealed himself and landed before the two of them.

Liu Yunhe immediately stepped forward, intending to support him.

But Su Yao waved him off:

"Let's return to the cave abode first. I'll enter seclusion for a few days."

With that, he paid the two no further attention and hurried toward the cave abode.

The two quickly followed.

When they reached Su Yao's cave abode, he went inside and was about to close the door when he turned back to them and pointed at the sky:

"Keep watch on the struggle between that Shao Yang light and the crimson bloodlight at all times. Tell me the outcome when I come out of seclusion."

The two nodded their assent, and Su Yao closed the cave abode.

They stood guard outside the cave abode for an hour, and seeing that nothing was seriously amiss, agreed to take turns keeping watch.

Liu Yunhe took a few steps forward, then suddenly went rigid.

Li Siyi, whose view was blocked by Liu Yunhe, was puzzled and asked:

"Fellow Daoist Liu, have your injuries flared up again?"

But Liu Yunhe did not answer. He merely bowed to someone ahead.

Only then could Li Siyi see clearly: a black-clad youth stood before them, his body suffused with a faint layer of Shao Yang light.