Chen Weichen looked at the sword, and at the words.

It was a fine sword, and fine words too.

The darksteel was taken from the frigid snowy plains of the far north, and the famed generational swordsmith was sought in the scorching valleys of the far south.

When the sword was forged, the great fire burned for seven days without extinguishing. It was quenched with the ice water brought from the far north. The sword radiated a magnificent aura, becoming an unrivaled precious blade.

The swordsmith asked what the sword should be named.

"Jiuya."

The moonlight shone through the latticed window, casting a faint shadow under his eyelashes, concealing his expression. For a fleeting moment, it seemed to take on a gentle hue that was hard to distinguish.

The summer night was cool as water, and the autumn night was cold as frost. The person on the bed naturally couldn't feel it, but Chen Weichen was after all of mortal flesh - mortal flesh pampered and raised in the brocade gold and jade couch of a wealthy family.

The cold seeped up bit by bit through the floor. That old ailment pricked at his heart from time to time. He couldn't fall asleep, so he got up. Seeing the moon high in the sky, the clear light immersed the courtyard - the night colors erased the desolation of daytime, presenting a scene of tranquil beauty.

His gaze slowly shifted to the courtyard, to the small tree not yet fully grown in front of the window.

His eyes met those of the young lady hiding under the tree.

Chen Weichen: "..."

With Young Master Chen's character, he would have politely asked at this time, "Miss, for what matter have you come in the deep of night?" However, there was still someone behind him who may or may not be asleep - if asleep, him speaking out would disturb their slumber, which would be ungraceful.

So the two looked at each other, the atmosphere quite awkward.

Chen Weichen thus quietly slipped out the door, and sure enough, the young lady followed.

The young lady said, "Immortal master."

Young Master Chen: "Miss Ah Shu, I am not an immortal master."

The village wife let out a soft breath: "I thought as much."

Chen Weichen then smiled faintly. He was good-looking, and his smile was like peach blossoms touching water, the moon above willow branches, enough to enchant one's soul: "How did the young lady know?"

Ah Shu lowered her head in embarrassment: "I am not human."

Chen Weichen exclaimed in admiration: "A scholar and a demon, what a good story - did not the young village master say he married the daughter of his teacher as his wife?"

"An unmarried young lady, how could she let a man see her - the young master does not know that lady's appearance, and the teacher's entire family perished in the war. I rescued the young master outside the city, falsely claiming that I too had escaped, that I was the teacher's daughter who had by chance glimpsed his appearance from a tall building." Ah Shu said softly, "My clan has lived for generations in the mountains behind the academy. I know my letters and am versed in some classics, poetry and prose, so the young master deeply believed it without doubt."

"Meeting under the stars in the night, I wonder for what matter has the young lady come?"

The young lady bit her pretty lip: "I dare not seek another person."

Chen Weichen nodded: "I too dare not."

The young lady suddenly knelt down.

Chen Weichen did not help her up, only looked at her.

"Young Master, Ah Shu wishes to request something."

"What is it?"

"I do not know."

Chen Weichen: "..."

The young lady continued, "On that person - even demons can glimpse a thread of the workings of fate. He must be carrying something extremely auspicious on his person. My husband's fate in the latter half of his life is extremely ominous and calamitous. If he could obtain such an object to keep by his side, it may offset it."

As if defending herself, she added: "The object that immortal master carries has fortune that could nearly pierce the heavens. Only the essence from the heart's blood of ancient mythical auspicious beasts could be like this. Ah Shu only needs a drop or half a drop, it will not hinder the immortal master in any way."

Chen Weichen's eyes gleamed with interest: "How do you know it is an object he carries on his person, and not his own innate fortune?"

"We demons were originally beasts, that thing comes from a beast, I can tell - I can also see that Young Master carries an object of extremely ill fortune on your person."

Chen Weichen then asked her: "What will you give in thanks?"

The demoness said seriously and resolutely, word by word: "I am but an ordinary spirit. I only have an ancestral Flower Mirror and a Tushan Flute. I can give them to the Young Master right now. As for my life, whenever the Young Master encounters difficulty in the future, although Ah Shu's cultivation is meager, I will definitely repay with my life."

"Miss Ah Shu," Chen Weichen did not say if he agreed or not, but asked: "If you had not met me, or if I was unwilling, and took you to the Daoist priests who catch demons, what would you do then?"

"With my power, I could not obtain that kind of object no matter what. If I did not meet the Young Master, I could only resign myself to fate." She lowered her head: "I have not done evil, there is no reason to slay me. If they really wanted to eliminate demons, I cannot win against them. I would only beg to die far from the village, so my husband will not find out."

Her voice trembled a little: "Just let him think I was abducted by bandits."

Chen Weichen looked at her steadily and said: "Give me the mirror and flute, but your life is not necessary."

Ah Shu choked back a sob, actually shedding tears: "Ah Shu thanks the Young Master. This lowly life remains here, for the Young Master to take whenever he wishes."

It was tears of extreme joy.

"As for your life, I have no use for it. But you, young lady," Chen Weichen said to her, "he reads the books of sages, aspires to be a sage himself. He has the righteous qi of Confucianism and Daoism on his person, impervious to demonic forces - you are a demon, losing your treasured objects that protect you, have you considered this carefully?"

"I have," Ah Shu kowtowed to him, "Using my short life to trade for my husband's lifelong peace and prosperity, it is naturally worth it."

The young lady raised her head and said to him: "The Tushan Flute can control foxes, the Jinghua Mirror can observe the heart and break illusions."

"I know." There was a hint of a smile in Chen Weichen's eyes. His slender fingers pressed on her red lips as he looked towards the candlelight that had been lit in the room in the courtyard. "Go back to the room, he is about to come looking for you."

Sure enough, the scholar's voice came: "Wife - where did you go? How come you were gone for so long?"

The young lady hurriedly got up, bowed to him, and went towards the room.

Faintly, gentle words could be heard: "I just went to relieve myself, and saw the beautiful flowers under the round moon. I stayed a bit longer in the courtyard."

The scholar laughed: "Wife, that is your fault then. For such a fine night, you should have called your husband to enjoy it together with you."

There was tender affection in her tone: "You were sleeping so soundly..."

Under the window grew a few clusters of hydrangeas. A silver moon hung on the horizon. All was silent. It was truly a fine night with beautiful scenery.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the mortal world, the twists and turns of the red dust, the most peaceful and joyous was nothing more than a matchmaker combing through a bride's hair, a young wife nestling into her husband's embrace under the moonlight.

Chen Weichen held a bronze mirror in his hand and looked at it.

The Jinghua Mirror, when gazed upon under the moonlight, shows the person in one's heart.

After a long while, the moonlight fell into his eyes, evoking an inexplicable melancholy.

"The name is chosen extremely well," he said to himself, "Isn't it just flowers in a mirror, the moon in the water, the person in one's heart?"

Then he saw the whispering in the room die down, the lights were out, while his own room remained completely silent. Comparing the two, the young master sighed - the young lady left her room and didn't return, with her husband waiting for her. Similarly sneaking out, all that awaited him were the cold and icy bedding on the floor.

He pushed open the door miserably and froze: "Eh, Swordmaster Ye?"

He saw Ye Jianzu standing in the room, dressed in white, looking at him.

So he imitated the late-returning young lady and said, "I just got up to relieve myself, and seeing the beautiful flowers and bright moon in the courtyard, I stayed a little longer."

- Then he imagined the person in front of him saying with a smile "let's enjoy the beautiful flowers and bright moon together", like Wen Hui who picked up Xiao Dao's token handkerchief, and he was about to fly with joy.

However, reality often doesn't go along with Young Master Chen's wishes.

"Chen Weichen, next time before you say such things," Ye Jiuya's eyes were cold and indifferent with displeasure, "remember to put your things away."

Chen Weichen let out a long breath, it's good there will be a next time - he won't be killed.

"Swordmaster Ye has sharp eyes and ears, I can't hide from you." He put away the Flower Mirror in his hand and said with a smile, "Give me a drop of the Kaiyang blood, how about it?"

"It will disrupt the worldly fate."

"If you give it to me, it's your doing; if I give it to the demon, it's my doing - if it really messes up the mortal world, the karma falls on me, not you." He suddenly dropped his usual casual demeanor and looked straight at Ye Jiuya, saying word by word: "Besides, Swordmaster Ye took the fresh phoenix heart's Kaiyang blood from the phoenix nest in the fertile lands, then slayed the flood dragon in the East Sea to obtain the Annihilation Incense. Now you still want to go to the old capital of the Central Continent to find the Jinxiu Ashes. Aren't you afraid of disrupting the worldly fate, tainting karma, being entangled in karmic obstacles, and never being able to transcend in eternal life?"

"How did you know about the Kaiyang blood and Jinxiu Ashes?"

"I guessed," Chen Weichen said, "That demon mentioned objects of extremely vigorous fate, then thinking of the Annihilation Incense on me, I knew it was most likely Kaiyang blood. So with you going to the old capital, it must also be for a fate-related object - something from the Jinxiu Ghost City. Besides the Jinxiu Ashes, what else could it be?"

Ye Jiuya's expression didn't change. A translucent jade bottle appeared in his hand, the deep red blood inside glowing with a blazing color, almost dyeing the entire room red.

"Chen Weichen, for a drop of Kaiyang blood, answer me one more time," his voice was piercingly cold, "Who are you?"