Lone Guest 5

The monster bird stood in the water vat, letting out a shrill shriek. The sound wave rolled toward Qi Yin's face, and everyone screamed in terror.

His aunt pulled Yao Xiaoshan and the old madam, turning around to run. Xiao Yuan also scrambled away, crawling and tumbling. The monster bird's nine long necks and nine palm-sized withered heads completely surrounded Qi Yin. In that lightning-fast moment, Qi Yin's mind went completely blank.

'Am I going to die?' His miserable eighteen years of life were finally coming to an end.

However, right at this moment, the Eighteen-Bead Glazed Bracelet on his wrist suddenly began to buzz and vibrate. Qi Yin looked down and saw the golden talismanic patterns on the glazed beads flowing with luster, like shimmering liquid gold. At the same time, the temperature of the glazed beads rose rapidly, nearly burning his wrist. The monster bird gave a sharp shriek, and its nine beaks simultaneously lunged toward Qi Yin's chest and back. The talismanic patterns violently shook and suddenly expanded rapidly, conjuring a phantom image that enveloped Qi Yin. The monster bird slammed headfirst into the talismanic patterns and was actually rebounded by a tremendous force, tumbling feet-first into the flower bushes by the corridor.

The talismanic patterns vanished, and the eighteen beads suddenly snapped, clattering as they scattered across the ground. Qi Yin wanted to pick them up, but turning his head, he saw the monster bird about to get back up. He quickly withdrew his hand and ran toward the backyard. There was a back door in the backyard from which they could escape. Qi Yin ran fast and caught up with the old madam and the others after a few steps. They all rushed to the back door, only to be dumbfounded when they arrived—the door was bolted with a large lock, and the key was still in his aunt's bedroom.

The sound of a baby crying and wailing was getting closer. Everyone looked at each other with despairing faces. Their group consisted of an old madam and two weak women; they couldn't even walk nimbly, let alone climb over the wall in time. Qi Yin made a prompt decision: "Let's hide in the house!"

Everyone entered the old madam's room. Qi Yin gently closed the door and crouched against the wall. It was very dark inside. The moon had been obscured by dark clouds at some unknown point. As soon as the door closed, the interior plunged into pitch-black darkness where one couldn't even see their own hand in front of them. The wailing sound drew nearer and clearer, until finally, only a single wall separated them from it. Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats as they listened intently to the wailing pacing back and forth outside the door.

Qi Yin felt extremely uneasy. Yao Xiaoshan had said there were two more monster birds; one was outside, but where was the other? Those monster birds liked to burrow into people's stomachs. Could it be inside someone's stomach right now? In his panic, he had forgotten to retrieve his axe, and now he didn't even have a handy weapon beside him. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. The others were terrified of the monster bird outside and squatted behind the floor-to-ceiling bed enclosure. Only he intentionally stayed near the door without going further in, to avoid getting mixed up with them and being caught off guard if attacked.

Several more wails sounded in the distance. Qi Yin's heart trembled. He quietly poked a hole in the window screen and peered out, only to see that the nine-headed bird and his uncle, whose heads he had chopped off, were standing up again. The originally shattered heads were sprouting flesh buds and slowly regenerating bit by bit.

Qi Yin's eyes widened in shock. This monster bird actually couldn't be killed!

"To slay a demon, one must destroy its heart," Yao Xiaoshan popped out from nowhere, giving Qi Yin a massive fright. "I heard the barefoot Daoist in the West Market say that a demon won't die unless its heart is destroyed." Crying, he asked, "Xiao Yin, are we all going to die today?"

"Don't speak nonsense. Once dawn breaks and the immortals arrive, we'll be saved," Qi Yin said gloomily.

In the darkness, an icy cold hand grabbed his arm. Qi Yin was startled into another shudder. Looking closely, it was actually the old madam. What was wrong with this family? Did they just love scaring people? Then came the rustling sound of clothes rubbing together; it turned out his aunt had also gathered by his side. Only Xiao Yuan remained alone by the bed enclosure.

The old madam pointed at Xiao Yuan and then patted her own stomach. The room was too dark, and Qi Yin had to strain his eyes for a long time before he realized that Xiao Yuan had been clutching her stomach. Now, she was completely motionless, as if she were dead.

So the monster bird was inside Xiao Yuan's stomach!

Qi Yin grabbed a nearby stool to use as a weapon, and everyone stared fixedly at Xiao Yuan. The wailing sound returned, pacing right outside the door, screeching in a way that made their scalps tingle.

Xiao Yuan remained unmoving. At some point, the moon had peeked out slightly, and pale moonlight spilled through the moon-shaped window, brightening the room a little.

The old madam suddenly tugged on Qi Yin's sleeve. Qi Yin turned his head in confusion. Under the moonlight, the old madam's face was bloodless and deathly pale, like she was wearing a papier-mâché mask. Trembling, the old madam pointed at the shadows on the ground.

There were three shadows on the ground: the old madam's on the left, Yao Xiaoshan's on the right, and Qi Yin's in the middle. His aunt was crouching behind them, so her shadow was completely overlapped by theirs and couldn't be seen. What was wrong with the shadows? While he was still puzzled, nine thin, long shadow strips slowly extended from above Qi Yin's head, looking exactly like wildly thrashing hair.

Qi Yin instantly felt a chill run from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

They turned their heads, just in time to see his aunt standing up with a twisted posture, nine long necks protruding from her mouth.

"Ah—"

The old madam and Yao Xiaoshan bolted for the door and ran. Qi Yin was the closest to his aunt, who lunged at him. Qi Yin used the stool to block her, but the impact sent him tumbling out the door. Her strength had suddenly become astonishingly huge. The veins on Qi Yin's hands bulged as he braced the stool against her. A sharp shriek suddenly rang out from above. While blocking the monster bird's creeping long necks, Qi Yin looked up and saw a nine-headed bird perched on the eaves, its nine pairs of eyes staring sinisterly at him. Qi Yin felt like crying but had no tears left. The bird flapped its wings and swooped straight down at him.

A cold, biting arc of light suddenly appeared, as if the dark night had been torn open at a corner. The arc of light pierced right through the monster bird's body. Qi Yin watched helplessly as the monster bird was blown to pieces, and foul, stinking blood splattered all over his head and face. His aunt seemed startled; she suddenly shuddered, and the nine bird heads retracted into her mouth before she scrambled up onto the roof on all fours.

Qi Yin was hauled to his feet by a pale hand grabbing his collar. Turning his head, he saw it was none other than the man in black. On his shoulder was still that big-faced fat cat. The fat cat jumped into Qi Yin's arms, opened its mouth, and spat a glazed bead into his hand. "Evil-Warding Glaze. It can conceal auras, block demons, and exorcise evil. We demons recognize people by their auras. This thing hid you, no wonder we couldn't find you."

Seeing this cat speak human words, Qi Yin almost lost his grip and threw it away.

"You, you, you, you..." Qi Yin was tongue-tied.

The nine-headed birds were still shrieking. His uncle and aunt, with bird necks spewing from their mouths, were chasing Yao Xiaoshan and the old madam all around the courtyard, yet they conspicuously avoided coming toward Fu Lan and Qi Yin. The black cat said, "I have to say, you've got a lot of nerve, kid, treating a demon egg like a treasure. This Guhuo Bird loves to feast on human hearts, livers, and intestines. And having just hatched, it's right at its hungriest. If this old man and Blockhead hadn't arrived in time, you'd be a goner too, kid. Oh, right, where's your mother? Why don't I see her?"

"Help! Help!"

Over there, seeing that Yao Xiaoshan was about to be caught by his uncle, Qi Yin couldn't care less about idle chatter and hurriedly bowed to Fu Lan. "I beg you, great master, please save my cousin and grandmother. Qi Yin will be eternally grateful!"

Fu Lan didn't move. He merely looked up at the eaves and said, "Someone is coming."

As soon as his voice fell, a sharp whistling sound came from the roof, seemingly capable of piercing through one's skull. A swift, snow-white beam of light arrived in an instant, piercing right through the chests and abdomens of his uncle and aunt simultaneously. Blood bloomed out, and the two figures froze for a second before collapsing to the ground like tattered burlap sacks, never to move again.

Sword light danced in the air, the dark clouds dissipated, and the moon reappeared in the sky. Two men in white robes arrived, treading on the moonlight, and drifted lightly down into the small courtyard.

The leading man in white drew back his sleeves and made a long bow, looking like a white butterfly folding its wings. He wore an exquisite smile on his face and said, "Zhao Ran of Wufang Mountain has arrived a step too late."

The old madam crawled to his feet, crying bitterly as she wailed, "Immortal, Immortal, you've finally arrived!"

Xiao Yuan crawled out of the room clutching her stomach. Qi Yin saw a pool of blood beneath her and somewhat understood—it turned out she had suffered a miscarriage.

"My condolences, Old Madam. This humble Daoist saw a monstrous demonic aura soaring to the heavens from this place, so I hurriedly flew over on my sword. I didn't expect..." Zhao Ran saw the Yao couple on the ground, shook his head, and sighed. "I didn't expect to still arrive a step too late."

The old madam cried so hard she was out of breath.

Zhao Ran then cupped his hands toward Fu Lan. "This young friend kills with claws, seemingly someone of the demonic path. May I ask if the monster birds in the Yao family have anything to do with you?"

Qi Yin had been standing there in a daze, but upon hearing this, he quickly pulled Fu Lan behind him and said, "It has nothing to do with him! He is my friend. He rushed over to save me."

Zhao Ran smiled and said, "It's good that there's no connection. This humble Daoist has come to take the orphaned child of Elder Qi back to the mountain, so it's not appropriate to cause unnecessary complications."

This guy smiled like he was wearing a grinning mask. Seeing this made Qi Yin feel somewhat uncomfortable. Turning his gaze to Fu Lan, he saw that Fu Lan still had that indifferent expression, as if he didn't care about anything.

Zhao Ran looked toward the old madam again. "Old Madam, I haven't yet asked where the young friend Qi Yin is? I wonder which of the two here is young friend Qi, or perhaps... he has already lost his life to the demons' bellies?"

A dead silence fell. The old madam looked at Qi Yin with teary eyes and was just about to speak when Qi Yin interjected to ask, "This lowly one takes the liberty to ask the Immortal: Wufang Immortal Mountain has completely ignored Qi Yin for eighteen years. Why have you suddenly thought to take him back now?"

"Completely ignored?" Zhao Ran laughed gently. "Young friend, I'm afraid you have misunderstood. Wufang Immortal Mountain has never had the responsibility of caring for Qi Yin. Cultivators sever the seven emotions and cast aside the six desires. Eighteen years ago, Elder Qi went to the Wujiang to subdue demons. Instead of repaying his kindness, Qi Yin's mother seduced the elder away from the Great Dao, causing him to sink into lustful thoughts. Fortunately, the elder finally repented and returned to the immortal mountain; otherwise, decades of his cultivation would have been wasted. Raising Qi Yin alone and later dying at the bottom of the river was his mother reaping what she sowed. What does that have to do with our immortal mountain?"

"Dying at the bottom of the river?" Fu Lan suddenly spoke up. "Is Ah Fu dead?"

"Ah Fu?" Zhao Ran said. "If you are talking about Meng Funiang, Qi Yin's mother, she was dragged into the river by water ghosts when young friend Qi Yin was five years old."

Fu Lan fell into a long silence. Qi Yin also stayed silent for a while before asking again, "This talk about Qi Yin's mother seducing your elder, did Elder Qi tell you that?"

"Naturally," Zhao Ran said. "Not long after the elder returned to the sect, he confessed his faults in front of the entire sect during morning reflections. He even punished himself by meditating at the Repentance Cliff for eight years to prove his remorse. To recognize one's mistakes and correct them is the greatest virtue. The path of immortality is long; how can it always be smooth sailing? Since the elder was able to repent, he remained an outstanding figure among our generation. What a pity that the elder unfortunately met with disaster when he went to the Ying River to exterminate water ghosts. The Sect Leader felt compassion for the elder and, considering that a mother's sins should not implicate her innocent child, specially ordered me to come and bring young friend Qi Yin back. If he can inherit the elder's legacy, it would be considered a fortunate outcome."

Qi Yin said nothing more. He pointed at Yao Xiaoshan. "He is Qi Yin. Take him away. The glazed beads his father left him scattered while fighting the monster bird, they are in the front courtyard."

Yao Xiaoshan looked at Qi Yin in shock, calling out to him with a stutter, "Cou... cousin, you... don't you want to go?"

"Haven't you always wanted to go? Go then, cultivate well," Qi Yin turned his head and saw the mangled corpses on the ground, his eyes darkening. "Don't disappoint the au... Madam's expectations."

He turned around, shouldered the bundle he had dropped in the front courtyard, and gave a bow to Old Madam Yao. "Old Madam, I'm leaving. Please take care of your health."

The old madam held his hand and shed tears. "Can't you wait until dawn to leave? And take those silver banknotes with you. Take them, please."

He shook his head and declined. Walking to the door, he suddenly remembered that it was bolted shut. Just as he thought about going back to get the key, Fu Lan swiped his fingertip, and the lock snapped. With a creak, the door opened, revealing the pitch-black alleyway and the heavy night outside.

He looked back inside. Yao Xiaoshan and the old madam were weeping bitterly while holding the corpses. Xiao Yuan sat blankly in the corridor with lifeless eyes, like a wooden puppet. Zhao Ran stood to the side with his hands tucked in his sleeves, an indifferent expression on his face.

'Perhaps cultivating to become an immortal means severing emotions and abandoning love. With their hearts set on the boundless Great Dao, why would they care about this insignificant, gravel-like worldly sentiment?' Qi Yin thought silently.

The other man in white stood hugging his sword, tilting his head to look at him. This person looked a bit strange; he had remained completely silent all this time, wore a black glove on his right hand, and had a look of great interest on his face.

Qi Yin frowned, turned his head, and was about to leave when Zhao Ran's voice came from behind again. "Young friend, I would like to offer you one more piece of advice. The demonic path is not righteous; it would be best if you do not associate with demons. Being friends with a demon is one thing, but absolutely do not let yourself be corrupted by the demonic path, or you will fall into eternal damnation."

Before Qi Yin could reply, Fu Lan paused his steps, turned back, and said, "He is not my friend."

"Oh?" Zhao Ran raised an eyebrow.

Fu Lan said, "He is my bride."

The crying in the courtyard suddenly stopped.

Everyone was quiet for a moment before Zhao Ran said, "That is even worse. Young friend, the cut-sleeve path is also not the righteous way. I hope you will think twice."