Chapter Ten: A Malevolent Guest Arrives

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The stars and moon hung dimly in the sky.

At the foot of Chisong Mountain, among the shadowy trees, a crowd of indistinct figures stood, half-hidden by the foliage.

At their head was a man with ape-like arms and a waspish waist, his muscles bulging beneath a suit of black nightwear. His eyes shone with piercing light, clearly revealing a remarkable mastery of martial arts.

Behind him stood dozens dressed in black, their faces shrouded, only their eyes visible. The aura of brutality about them was impossible to conceal.

Each man gripped a broadsword of fine steel, its blade reflecting a chilling gleam in the flicker of their torches.

Soon, several young Daoists, their faces covered in wounds and their bodies battered, were shoved before the leader by his men in black.

The leader narrowed his eyes, gazing at the Daoists before him, and spoke in a slow voice, “Do you know of any small paths up this mountain? And where is the medicine garden in your Daoist temple?”

Bitterness filled the Daoists’ faces and they all shook their heads.

After being frightened away by the haunting in the temple, they had never expected to be accosted by mountain bandits on their way home.

But this gang neither robbed nor killed them. Instead, they had been locked up without clear cause.

Now, at last, the truth dawned on them: these bandits were after the Daoist palace itself!

One of the younger Daoists could not help but protest, “Our Chisong Daoist Palace has countless masters, and the abbot is but a step away from becoming a grandmaster. You’re nothing but mountain bandits—if you attack, you’ll only die in vain!”

To his surprise, the bandits burst into raucous laughter.

The leader sneered, “Just an old man—no matter how complete his qi circuits, how much power can he muster? I, Wang Jin, have roamed the Jinhua Prefecture for over a decade—there’s yet to be a soul born who can make me cower!”

“Wang Jin? Are you Dragon-Catcher Wang Jin? You’re the Golden River Pirates?” an older Daoist exclaimed in shock.

Now they understood who these bandits were.

Jinhua Prefecture was surrounded by mountains and rivers, and thus plagued by many outlaws. The Golden River Pirates were the most notorious group along the Jinsha River.

Their leader, Wang Jin, had unlocked eleven meridians, only a step from perfection himself. He had even once captured alive a monstrous river beast, earning him the nickname “Dragon-Catcher.”

But why had these water bandits left the river to target Chisong Mountain and the Daoist palace?

Wang Jin had no desire to waste more time. Seeing that they would get nothing from these captives, he gestured sharply and said, “Keep one as a guide. Kill the rest!”

“No! Our grand-uncle is a martial grandmaster—if you kill us, he’ll never let you go when he returns!” the Daoists cried in terror.

At this, Wang Jin’s expression darkened.

How could he not know of Daoist Songhe, one of the eight grandmasters of the world, said to have originated from this very Chisong Daoist Palace? It was this reputation that had kept the palace safe for years, even without a grandmaster in residence. No bandit or local power dared lay hands on it.

But tonight, he had no choice; he had been forced to come.

A vicious gleam flashed in Wang Jin’s eyes. He realized now that not a single witness could be left alive.

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“Kill them all—leave no one alive!” he commanded coldly.

At his words, the men in black raised their broadswords high.

The polished blades reflected the despair on the Daoists’ faces.

Just as the Daoists closed their eyes in resignation, the branches and leaves all around them twisted suddenly and in unison.

It was an eerie sight—there was not a breath of wind. Even the torches in the bandits’ hands burned steady as ever.

“Be on your guard!” Wang Jin barked.

The swordsmen, forgetting for a moment about their prisoners, quickly formed a defensive circle, standing back to back. Their discipline matched that of the city garrison.

The moon hung dimly above.

Suddenly, a woman’s sorrowful singing echoed through the woods.

“My heart is like water, but his is like iron…”

The song was full of lament, turning the night even more ghastly.

At the same time, all the trees began to sway. In the eyes of the bandits, the tangled branches transformed into pale, ghostly hands reaching out to seize them.

“A ghost!” someone shrieked in terror, throwing the ranks into chaos.

“All of you, stand your ground! Anyone who tries to flee dies!” Wang Jin roared. His tigerish eyes flashed as he slashed down a deserter with a single stroke.

The merciless act brought a measure of order to the panic.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw, to his horror, a blood-stained woman in white standing atop a branch, silent and still.

Her long black hair hung loose, her eyes blood-red, and she stared coldly at the band of thieves.

The sorrowful singing had come from her lips.

Wang Jin’s scalp prickled, and cold sweat broke out all over him.

Not even when he was hunted by grandmasters had he known such fear.

“A real ghost!” he thought.

The rumors of haunting were true.

His men, too, could no longer contain their terror. No matter the punishment, they just wanted to escape this accursed place.

Yet when they turned to flee, they found to their horror that the mountain path behind them had vanished. Like trapped beasts, they were now prisoners of the forest.

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Wang Jin realized that the night would likely end in disaster. But this only awakened the savage ferocity in his bones.

Brutality overcame fear. He seized his broadsword and leapt into the air, slashing fiercely at the specter in white.

Once, twice, a third time—each strike hit nothing but air.

The woman seemed as insubstantial as mist. Every swing passed through her as if she were not there at all.

And for reasons he could not comprehend, it felt as if the entire world was working against him. Each move he made went awry, leaving him so frustrated he could barely restrain the urge to spit blood.

By contrast, Bai Yi felt as if the spirits themselves aided her. The plants and trees became her allies, and her illusions flowed with effortless ease.

In no time at all, the bandits were subdued.

Even Dragon-Catcher Wang Jin, surrounded by a dozen of his own men now under enchantment, was left utterly exhausted and incapable of further resistance.

…

In the Hall of True Immortals at Chisong Daoist Palace—

The Golden River Pirates lay on the ground, each one bound tightly in vines.

Wang Jin, having regained some of his strength, opened his eyes to take in his surroundings.

When his gaze fell upon a white figure, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.

But, lit by the lamps of the hall, he saw that there was no woman in white—only a white fox with snow-like fur and crimson eyes.

The fox now knelt respectfully at the feet of a young Daoist, as though in the presence of a deity.

Wang Jin was shaken to his core, his heart sinking into despair.

What kind of being had he provoked?

Bai Yi ignored the bandits, bowing deeply to Lin You and reporting, “Master, all the villains from below the mountain have been captured! There are also a few Daoists who had fled from the temple earlier. Please decide their fate.”

“Well done, Miss Bai. You have my thanks,” Lin You replied with a smile, turning his gaze to the bandits.

He saw that the pirates were all men in their thirties and forties, every one of them strong and robust, at the very least martial artists with two meridians opened.

Such a force would be considered elite even in the army.

It was no wonder that, with a group like this, they dared to threaten not only a Daoist palace, but even the prefectural city itself.

How could a mere bandit gang command so many experts?