Evil Spirit - chapter 15

Chapter 15

Early the next morning, Shen Yunlan and Fang Zhiyi returned. Li Jiaojiao, still sleepy-eyed, came down from the guest room and ran into the two of them.

“Yunlan Sister, was that Fox Demon really so powerful?” Li Jiaojiao nibbled on a bun at the table, listening to yesterday’s story of Shen Yunlan subduing the Fox Demon as if she were enjoying a play.

“It was a Seven-Tailed Fox – its cultivation was higher than ordinary Fox Demons. It’s a pity, we were supposed to catch it…” Shen Yunlan’s brows drew together, her sharp gaze fixed on Fang Zhiyi, who was quietly sipping his soy milk nearby.

“I was just afraid the Fox Demon would hurt you! You were almost…” Fang Zhiyi began, but when he met Shen Yunlan’s eyes, he swallowed his words.

No need to guess – Fang Zhiyi must have made things worse.

Fang Zhiyi was highly skilled in martial arts; about eighty percent of the criminals in the Capital Guard Department’s dungeon were caught by him. But when it came to demon hunting, he really lacked experience.

Li Jiaojiao sighed inwardly, smoothing things over for Fang Zhiyi: “Since the one who was bewitched was the daughter of the local prefect, it must have been a male fox, right? Was he handsome?”

Her words hit Shen Yunlan’s warning line. Sure enough, Shen Yunlan stopped glaring at Fang Zhiyi and instead told her, a little more sternly, “Young Princess, a demon is a demon. Even if it takes human form, it will never have the goodness of a person.”

“Oh…” Li Jiaojiao was startled by Shen Yunlan’s sudden seriousness and could only respond meekly.

Perhaps realizing she’d been a little out of sorts, Shen Yunlan covered her mouth and coughed lightly. “By the way, Young Princess, where’s that wicked… Young Master Duan?”

“No idea.” Li Jiaojiao shook her head as she bit into her bun.

Duan Qinglian had disappeared early in the morning, and she couldn’t be bothered to look for him. After all, a living person couldn’t just vanish.

Shen Yunlan nodded, picked up her chopsticks from the table, and began to eat breakfast.

“Young Princess, don’t run around today. That Fox Demon was seriously wounded by me and will definitely look for women to drain their essence.”

“Got it, Yunlan Sister.” Li Jiaojiao replied sweetly. She really was an angel – despite being so busy, she still remembered to warn Li Jiaojiao.

After breakfast, Shen Yunlan and Fang Zhiyi went out again to track the escaped Fox Demon. Li Jiaojiao grabbed two buns from the table and left the inn to look for Duan Qinglian.

This time, Duan Qinglian was surprisingly easy to find. Li Jiaojiao found him on a street behind the inn.

It was a small teahouse: two square yellow wooden tables set to either side, the storyteller standing on a raised platform waving a paper fan, and a teapot sitting on the stove with its lid half-covered.

People of all kinds packed the teahouse.

Li Jiaojiao quietly sat down beside Duan Qinglian.

He didn’t seem surprised by Li Jiaojiao’s arrival.

“Here, for you.” Li Jiaojiao stuffed the two buns into his hands, then beamed, “Breakfast.”

The girl’s voice was bright; her apricot eyes curved, and her lips, painted with balm, were red and glossy.

He thought of last night, when she’d risen on tiptoe to kiss him in the corridor.

His chest inexplicably tightened, as if a Sword Line had coiled around his heart, making it hard to breathe.

Duan Qinglian touched his chest and said, “I think I’m sick.”

“What’s wrong? Do you have a fever again?” At these words, Li Jiaojiao reached out to feel his forehead.

It wasn’t hot; in fact, it felt a little cool. But his skin was so nice – soft and smooth, wonderful to the touch.

“No, it’s this. It started jumping, and I don’t think I can control it.”

His words made Li Jiaojiao burst out laughing. She poked his chest and coaxed him like a child, “If it stopped jumping, you’d be dead, silly.”

With that, Li Jiaojiao broke off a small piece of bun and stuffed it into Duan Qinglian’s mouth. “If you don’t want to get sick, you need to eat. Look at you – you’re so skinny now!”
Duan Qinglian did not refuse the food that was forced into his mouth. He obediently chewed, looking like a docile cat.

Li Jiaojiao remembered how he often compared her to a cat, but in fact, he seemed to resemble one even more.

Pa-

The storyteller on the stage seemed to have rested enough and slapped the wooden clapper, drawing all eyes in the small teahouse to the high platform.

“Yesterday I promised to talk about Shen Chendao, so today, let’s begin the tale-”

Cheers erupted from the audience below, everyone full of excitement.

Li Jiaojiao couldn’t help but perk up her ears.

“They say that Shen Chendao spent his life subduing monsters and spirits, mastering the arts of yin and yang to the point of perfection. But does everyone know where he was before the Emperor established the Yin-Yang Department for him?”

“Who doesn’t know! The Nine Paths Sect!”

“Old man, all you know about the Nine Paths Sect is that bit, and you’ve told it a dozen times already. Can’t you tell us something new?”

“All right, all right, then let me tell you the origins of the Emperor founding the Yin-Yang Department for Shen Chendao!”

The storyteller smiled, waving his folding fan to calm the crowd.

“This was before the Yin-Yang Department was established. Ghosts and monsters ran rampant, and even the Capital under the Emperor’s feet could not escape their mischief.”

“The common people could hardly bear it, and officials constantly submitted memorials day and night. The Emperor took the matter very seriously, even ordering Duanhua Junwang to lay down his armor and go to the Nine Paths Sect to invite Master Qianyu to come down the mountain and suppress the evil.”

“Later, Master Qianyu and his junior brother Shen Chendao joined forces to capture all the ghosts and kill all the monsters, restoring peace to the world. Old man, you’re going in circles again!”

The audience below began to complain once more.

“Aiya, aiya, just listen to me continue.” The storyteller covered his face with his fan, feigning mystery. “After peace was restored, Shen Chendao was supposed to return to the sect with his senior brother Master Qianyu, but on the night before returning, he received a secret message and entered the Imperial City overnight to discuss matters with the Emperor by lantern light.”

The hall fell silent, everyone listening intently.

“The next day, the members of the Nine Paths Sect all set out to return, but Shen Chendao stayed behind. Together with Duanhua Junwang, he led a force of a hundred thousand elite soldiers to the southernmost Luo River.”

“Why would they bring troops to the Luo River? There’s no war there.”

“And that’s the question.” The storyteller chuckled, his two little mustaches quivering. “They didn’t fight any war, yet they brought troops. What’s stranger is that when they returned to the Capital, only Shen Chendao and Duanhua Junwang came back safe and sound. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

“I’ve heard of this. Supposedly, they went to suppress an extremely powerful Evil Spirit. The entire army was wiped out, but they managed to seal the Evil Spirit in the Luo River. The families of the fallen soldiers even received double the usual compensation!”

A listener from the audience interjected.

“Correct, correct, that’s the official story, but among the Yin-Yang Masters, another version is whispered.”

The storyteller snapped his fan shut and slapped the clapper. “But the most thrilling part of the story will have to wait for next time. If you want to hear more, come again tomorrow.”

In an instant, the hall was abuzz with chatter.

The storyteller stroked his mustache, ignoring the commotion, shaking his head with a smile as he stepped down from the platform.

“This storyteller is so annoying, always leaving things unfinished,” Li Jiaojiao said, having listened intently but now left with her rising excitement dashed by his interruption.

“Is that so.” Duan Qinglian smiled, his eyes fixed on the bits of bun she was breaking off piece by piece.

The big, white bun was now only half left, the tempting brown sugar filling oozing out.

She had said it was for him, but she’d eaten even more enthusiastically herself while listening to the story.

But that was fine. He didn’t need to eat anyway, much less this overly sweet brown sugar bun.