Chapter 24

Xie Chang'an mused that the brief moment she perceived might have seemed like an eternity to the other party, to the point where the scholar noticed her unusual expression.

"Why does the young lady look at me so? Could it be..." The scholar appeared hesitant. "Do I resemble someone you once knew?"

"I mistook you for someone else," Xie Chang'an replied, withdrawing her gaze with practiced ease.

The scholar gave a dry laugh and pressed on with thick-skinned persistence, "I wonder where you are headed, young lady? Might you be able to offer me a ride? I truly lack the courage to walk out of this forest alone."

He could not, of course, enter Fuguang Mountain, but delivering him to the Pear Blossom Town at the foot of the mountain would be no trouble.

Xie Chang'an nodded. The scholar was overjoyed, thanking her profusely and proactively introducing himself.

"My surname is Zhu. I am the third in my family; you may simply call me Third Young Master Zhu."

*Zhu?*

Xie Chang'an was stunned. She had never inquired about her master’s life before he began his cultivation, but she knew he could not have simply sprung from a stone. With this surname and such a striking resemblance, could they be blood relatives?

"My surname is Xie."

"My mother’s surname is Xie as well!" the scholar exclaimed, though it was unclear what he found so delightful.

The corner of Xie Chang'an’s mouth twitched slightly.

The scholar continued, "I am on my way to Chang'an for the imperial examinations. Passing through this place, I nearly lost my life. Fortunately, you were here, Lady Xie. Your great kindness is impossible to repay. Perhaps..."

Xie Chang'an: "Then there is no need to repay it."

The scholar’s unfinished words were choked back in his throat, leaving him gasping in discomfort. Yet, he soon recovered and chattered incessantly throughout the journey, recounting his family history back to his ancestors. Xie Chang'an pondered that Zhu Xuanguang could not possibly have such a noisy relative, and their similar appearance must surely be a coincidence.

They had not traveled far from the forest when the wind picked up and rain began to fall. Xie Chang'an remained unfazed; a layer of protective aura around her body kept her completely dry.

Third Young Master Zhu scrambled to retrieve an umbrella, but the torrential downpour, driven by the shifting wind, rendered it useless. He was soon soaked to the bone, his voice fragmented by the gale and rain until he was barely audible.

Xie Chang'an sighed. Unable to be cruel to someone who bore her master’s face, she pointed toward a dilapidated temple ahead, and the two ducked inside to shelter from the rain.

The temple was already occupied—by two separate groups.

A father and son, who appeared to be herbalists from the mountains, were busy salvaging usable herbs from two baskets soaked in the sudden deluge. The youth looked ready to cry, his expression distorted as he endured his father’s relentless nagging.

The other five were traveling merchants. The pack horses tethered outside the temple likely belonged to them. They sat huddled in a circle, trying to maintain a fire that flickered and waned in the crosswinds, though it provided a modicum of warmth to the desolate space.

As Third Young Master Zhu rushed in, the gust of wind he brought with him promptly extinguished the fire the five men had been struggling to preserve.

All five heads snapped toward them.

Third Young Master Zhu: ...

"Apologies! My apologies!"

He offered a sheepish laugh and backed away, nearly colliding with Xie Chang'an behind him.

While a scholar like Zhu, clearly on his way to the exams, was unremarkable, the young woman behind him drew every eye. Despite the heavy downpour outside, not a single droplet of water touched her hair. Her clothing, untainted by the dust of the mortal world, made her look nothing like a companion to an exam candidate. She looked more like a sheltered young noblewoman abducted from her home—or perhaps, an immortal possessing divine powers.

Xie Chang'an’s posture stiffened slightly. It was not because of their gazes, but because she caught a whiff of a strange scent. It carried a fishy stench, like something dragged from the deep sea; it had been lingering in a corner, only to be released into the air as the fire scorched and evaporated it, carried forth by the wind.

Looking at the others, it seemed no one else could smell it.

Maintaining a calm composure, Xie Chang'an stepped into the temple. Third Young Master Zhu followed closely, step for step. Having some sense, he saw her searching for a spot to sit and quickly grabbed a worn meditation cushion from before the Buddha, brushed it off with his sleeve, and offered it to her.

The men nearby sneered, their tone unfriendly, seemingly mocking his sycophancy or harboring crude speculations about their relationship. However, Xie Chang'an's arrival added a touch of brilliance to the cold, dim temple. The father and son remained restrained, but the five merchants kept glancing back at them with malicious intent.

Third Young Master Zhu sensed the danger, hugging his knees and moving closer to her. He turned his body toward them, his face tilted toward her, his expression one of wanting to speak but holding back.

Xie Chang'an glanced at him, picked up a damp, withered branch from the floor, and flicked her finger. A cluster of flame burst forth at the tip of the twig. As she released it, the branch hovered in mid-air, burning with a faint yet real warmth.

Third Young Master Zhu stared in awe, and the others were equally stunned. The restless intentions they had harbored were suppressed; they dared not be bold and forcibly turned their faces away to tend to their own business.

"L-Lady Xie, is this truly the power of an immortal?!"

Third Young Master Zhu was so excited he nearly bit his tongue, yet he dared not raise his voice. "I was blind to your greatness. In the storybooks, I read of hidden immortals who come and go like spirits, crouching tigers and hidden dragons. I didn't believe it, but it’s true! May I ask which immortal mountain you cultivate on? If I fail the exams, I shall come to apprentice under you... No, wait, could you first see if I have the bones of an immortal?"

Xie Chang'an felt a headache coming on from his chatter. She only refrained from knocking him unconscious for the sake of his face.

"Be quiet," she whispered, casting a silencing spell on him. "I need to listen."

She did not specify what she was listening for, but Third Young Master Zhu finally ceased his fidgeting.

Outside, the wind and rain continued, intensifying. Inside, the father and son remained silent in the corner, and the merchants kept their voices low. That strange scent seemed to have vanished entirely, nowhere to be found.

As the night deepened, the others lay down to rest. Being on the road meant settling for less; having nothing to pad the ground, they leaned against the pillars and closed their eyes.

Third Young Master Zhu poked her finger and made a gesture, signaling he had something to say. Xie Chang'an did not lift the silencing spell; she simply extended her hand and tapped her palm, gesturing for him to write.

Having no choice, Third Young Master Zhu stretched his finger and wrote stroke by stroke on her palm: *The five merchants are bandits.*

Seeing Xie Chang'an look at him, he quickly wrote: *Believe me, immortal lady. I saw them pull a saber from their baggage earlier. It had no sheath, and it was stained with blood.*

Xie Chang'an shook her head.

Third Young Master Zhu grew anxious. Seeing he was about to make noise, Xie Chang'an tapped his pressure point. He slumped over, unconscious and still.

Xie Chang'an had caught a glimpse of the blades in the merchants' baggage as well, but she had said nothing, not wishing for the scholar to alert the enemy.

A faint, sweet fragrance wafted through the air, richer than ordinary incense. Xie Chang'an leaned against the pillar with her back to the group, feigning the appearance of someone overcome by the scent.

"Where is that fragrance coming from?"

"Could it be drifting from that young woman?"

"Go over and smell it for yourself, then!"

The merchants’ voices grew louder, confident that everyone else had been drugged.

"Be careful. That young lady is a bit uncanny; she was able to conjure fire out of thin air."

"Just a cheap trick to scare people. I’ve seen it at the markets. She probably ran away from a wealthy household—maybe eloped with that scholar... She’s quite beautiful, though. Let's agree now: since I brought the incense, I’ll be the first to take her..."

One of them spoke as he walked toward them. The girl leaned against the pillar like a willow in the wind, seemingly unaware of the danger descending upon her.

"Hrk... Hrk..."

Except for the bandit walking toward Xie Chang'an, the other four were busy rifling through the belongings of the father and son. At first, they heard nothing unusual.

"What was that sound?" The man rummaging through the young herbalist’s pocket paused, looking suspicious. "Did you hear that?"

Before his accomplices could respond, the sound grew louder.

"Hrk..."

It was coming from right beside them!

The bandit was startled, instinctively looking down at the youth who should have been unconscious—

The next moment, he let out a shrill scream, clutching his hand, which had been bitten off halfway, blood spraying wildly as he stumbled backward and fell to the floor.

His accomplices were shocked and drew their blades, hacking at the herbalist youth!

The youth, his eyes blood-red and his mouth stained with blood, smiled. That sound was the same eerie wheezing they had just heard.

Before the blades could strike him, they flew from their hands as if by magic.

The more cowardly of the group shrieked and turned to flee, but halfway to the door, their limbs tore apart, blood mist spraying as they were ripped to pieces on the spot.

The small, dilapidated temple instantly turned into a hellish abyss. The half-bodied Buddha statue, long neglected, remained stained with blood, still gazing down at the carnage with a look of compassion.

By the time Xie Chang'an moved, four of the five bandits were dead. The last one had been driven mad with terror, wetting himself and unable to even walk, only able to crawl backward on the ground.

The youth-like demon cultivator flicked a wisp of black energy toward Xie Chang'an and the unconscious Zhu. In mid-air, the energy transformed into several black snakes with bared fangs, but they were all swept away by a sudden gust of sword wind.

"So, it is a demon cultivator."

Xie Chang'an sighed, finally finding the source of that scent.

Her strike had been swift, but these two demon cultivators had been closer and had struck first. The five bandits, who had intended to kill for wealth, had no strength to resist; they had received their karmic retribution instantly, a case of one predator devouring another.

"I intended to dispose of these nuisances before having a long talk with you. Why the rush, young lady?"

The demon cultivator chuckled, a strange and unsettling expression that did not match his simple, youthful face.

This was not the first time Xie Chang'an had encountered a demon cultivator. When she was still a mortal, two cultivators under An Lushan’s command had come to hunt her down. One of them, a man named He Bisheng, was a demon cultivator.

Demon cultivators were different from humans; their methods of cultivation were also distinct. Relying on years of accumulation was the righteous path, but it required a deep, stable foundation and surviving the lightning tribulation during their transformation—a feat with a slim chance of survival. Countless demon cultivators had perished along the way.

The owner of the green dragon core, which had served as the foundation of Xie Chang'an’s own cultivation, had been one such creature who had cultivated for thousands of years, only to be betrayed by a mortal and left without even a skeleton.

Thus, many demon cultivators chose a shortcut: devouring the spirit cores of other cultivators to absorb their power, then finding a human skin to inhabit. Those who were particular would change skins periodically, walking among mortals as if they were one of them. As for the origins of these skins, some were peeled from the dead, while others were obtained by killing.

Xie Chang'an had only learned of these things after entering the path of cultivation. It was for this reason that Yuwen Chi had been so shocked when He Bisheng’s identity was exposed.

Clearly, this demon cultivator, who wore the guise of a youth, had cultivated in the same manner. The skins they wore had been peeled from the mountain-dwelling father and son.

They were now very close to Fuguang Mountain. Usually, demon cultivators feared the cultivators of Fuguang Mountain and would rather take a detour than linger nearby. Yet, here they were, setting an ambush to kill with such ease.

It was evident that a major crisis had occurred at Fuguang Mountain.