The great white shark of the Li Family Settlement was a ruffian by birth — put plainly, it was a thug of a shark. In ordinary times it bullied those beneath it and fawned upon those above, and it made a regular habit of flipping up the skirts of female fishermen and yanking down the trousers of male ones.

Strictly speaking, He Bang was the Sea Emperor, personally appointed by the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, and outranked this creature by quite a margin. But the creature was poor — as they say, a barefoot man has nothing to fear from someone wearing shoes — and so it had always relied on its utter destitution to run amok wherever it pleased.

Everyone found this utterly exasperating. Fight it? The place was so impoverished that fighting would cost time and effort, and after winning, they’d still have to pay to support the wretched territory. Leave it alone? It would cause endless trouble without a moment’s peace.

He Bang had made up her mind to give it a good fright — to keep it from taking advantage of Chunyu Lin’s absence to bully him.

Once her resolve was set, He Bang formed a hand seal. The blood pearl atop her staff blazed with light across the jade-green sea, staining the water’s surface a brilliant crimson. The great white shark panicked. The Li Family Settlement was poor, while Lingxia Township was wealthy, and upon hearing that this river clam had been away for a long time, it had worked up the nerve to steal sea fish from within Lingxia’s waters — and had already done so many times. It hadn’t expected her to return now.

“He Bang!!” the great white shark bellowed. “The Eastern Sea has issued an edict — no fighting between sea territories! If you start something reckless, the Dragon King will not let you off!”

Behind He Bang, the phantom of a serpent soared into the air, circling and shrieking above the water’s surface. The calm, breezy sea suddenly churned as the waters swelled and the winds picked up, and countless blood-red serpent shadows erupted from the depths, lunging straight for the great white shark.

He Bang’s voice was ice-cold: “And so?”

She brought her staff down with a single blow. A tremendous boom rang out, and the seawater surged backward in a column dozens of feet high, shaking even Lingxia Mountain enough to shudder. The great white shark was hurled dozens of feet into the air by the water column, its soul nearly frightened from its body.

Chunyu Lin too was somewhat alarmed by the spectacle. “If this gets too out of hand, the Dragon King may call us to account!”

He Bang murmured quietly, “I’m only a primordial soul right now. I can’t afford to burn through my energy. Scaring it off will have to be enough.”

The great white shark’s inner cultivator took one look at the situation and was so terrified it forgot how to hold its own ceremonial staff. The waves were too fierce and violent — even members of the Sea Clan could not keep their footing. After the shark tumbled down from the crest of a wave, one of its fins was knocked askew, and its head was covered in lumps. Without another word, it grabbed its inner cultivator and fled. The deep sea seemed to be swept by a tornado, leaving the waters around the Li Family Settlement in utter disarray. But the great white shark was not worried — the Li Family Settlement was so poor it didn’t have a single spare pair of undergarments, and there were no grand structures built in the deep sea.

He Bang felt she hadn’t gained anything from the whole affair and that it hadn’t been worth the trouble. Turning around, she asked her priest: “These two are such cowards. Should we take the opportunity to claim the Li Family Settlement for ourselves?”

Chunyu Lin heard this and immediately felt a splitting headache coming on. “The Li Family Settlement is too poor. Taking it over would cost money to sustain, and the effort wouldn’t be worth it. Besides, the commotion just now was far too loud — it’s certainly caught the attention of the Eastern Sea. If I’m not mistaken, Eastern Sea envoys are already on their way.”

He Bang had no patience for dealing with whatever envoys the Eastern Sea might send, and immediately lost all interest in the game. “You go handle them. That thug of a shark got such a fright from me today, it absolutely won’t dare tell the envoys the truth. I’m going back to Qingxu Temple — and don’t forget what I said.”

With those words, she turned and mounted a sailfish, vanishing from sight almost in an instant.

Chunyu Lin sighed softly. After all these years, he’d grown accustomed to cleaning up the messes she left behind. Turning, he gave instructions to the whale guards stationed there: “Make preparations to receive the Eastern Sea envoys.”

He Bang returned to Qingxu Temple. Her physical body was still lying face-down on the bed, breathing steadily, as though in a deep sleep. Liu Qinfang stood before her, occasionally reaching out a hand toward her, only to quickly withdraw it.

He Bang entered her body and opened her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Liu Qinfang seemed caught off guard by her sudden waking and stumbled back a few steps before steadying herself, looking timidly frightened. “I… I was afraid being alone, so I came to check on you.”

He Bang gave a cold snort. “Are you any less afraid seeing me? Go back to wherever you came from!”

Liu Qinfang didn’t dare say more and slowly moved toward the door. He Bang watched her go, then suddenly recalled — when I left, didn’t I bolt the door shut?

She glanced at the bolt on the door, her expression uncertain and suspicious.

That evening, Qingyun learned to make radish dumplings. He Bang, always hungry for novelty, ate until she was full and was beginning to feel drowsy. She lay on the bed drifting in and out of sleep. Outside the door, there came a soft sound — someone walked in. Wearing a Daoist crown and robes, his attire impeccably neat: it was none other than Rong Chen Zi.

He Bang pretended to be asleep. Rong Chen Zi, as though entirely to himself, removed his outer robe and hung it on the clothing rack. By now, in He Bang’s presence, he was no longer as he had been at first — if he was only changing his outer robe, he no longer turned away from her each time.

Qingxuan brought in water for him to wash up. He wrung out a damp cloth and gently wiped her face and hands. Qingxuan stood to one side with his head bowed and, after Rong Chen Zi had finished washing his face, took the basin and left.

Rong Chen Zi closed the door and got onto the bed. As before, he sat cross-legged, formed a hand seal, and closed his eyes to begin his cultivation practice. Daoist practitioners place great emphasis on inner work — that is, the cultivation of one’s primordial soul. In the early stages, practitioners often sit still at a hearth or altar, closing their eyes to chant incantations in silent contemplation, hands folded one over the other atop the navel. During the recitation of seals, one’s spiritual consciousness and physical body separate, allowing greater communion with celestial messengers and strengthening the primordial soul.

Rong Chen Zi sat on the bed for an hour before slowly concluding the practice. He then lay down beside He Bang and, seeing that she appeared to be deeply asleep, took care not to touch her in the slightest, and went directly to sleep himself.

Just as he drifted into light slumber, He Bang rolled over and draped herself across him, her voice soft and sweet: “Zhiguan.”

Rong Chen Zi was neither annoyed nor upset. “Mm?”

He Bang pressed the right half of her face against his chest, her long hair cool and silken as it cascaded over his shoulder. “Did everything go alright on the Li Family Settlement side?”

Rong Chen Zi’s tone was heavy. “The body has disappeared, and the dog hasn’t been found either. But the aura was strange — it doesn’t really seem like a demon. The divination compass showed nothing either.”

He Bang reached up to touch his brow. Sure enough, the ridge of it had furrowed again. She slowly smoothed it out. “Then why did Zhiguan come back?”

Rong Chen Zi gently patted her back. “I was worried about all of you. Go to sleep.”

He Bang shifted herself upward a little and pressed her lips to his. She gently licked at him. Rong Chen Zi’s body slowly grew taut. He placed a hand to hold her back, the pads of his fingers softly stroking her smooth, tender chin. She was like a perfectly ripened peach — the impression was that if you took a bite, the sweet juice would come gushing out. Rong Chen Zi’s voice was very low. “Go to sleep.”

He Bang shook her head. “I can’t sleep. I don’t know why, but I’m frightened. Zhiguan, do you think that Liu Qinfang could be a ghost?”

Rong Chen Zi kissed her full lips in the lightest graze, and suddenly the atmosphere between them took on an intimate, tender quality. He clasped her small hand — soft as though boneless — and spoke gently: “I’m here. Don’t be afraid.”

He Bang rolled about restlessly. “But you’ll be leaving again tomorrow!”

Rong Chen Zi was caught between exasperation and amusement. “You’re a demon — can’t you have a little more courage?”

He Bang was indignant at this. “What does being a demon have to do with it? Does being a demon make you indestructible and immortal?” She launched into her signature smug monologue: “All the ones I cultivated alongside who had great courage are dead! Only the ones with small courage are still alive!”

Rong Chen Zi curved his lips slightly and ruffled her long hair. “Mm. Caution makes for safe sailing across ten thousand years of sea.”

This He Bang was entirely without scholarly refinement: “We don’t sail. We all swim.”

Rong Chen Zi gave a low laugh. “Mm. Then is it caution makes for safe swimming across ten thousand years of water?”

He Bang scrambled upright and kicked him with her small foot. “Are you laughing at me?!”

Rong Chen Zi put on his most serious face. “Hardly.”

He Bang kicked him harder. “You clearly are laughing at me!!”

Rong Chen Zi caught her foot — afraid she’d fall — and without pulling or tugging, raised his left arm to brace her waist and help her sit down properly. His right hand, with its rough palm, slowly massaged her crystal-clear, delicate little foot.

He Bang lay sprawled across the bed at an angle, both her small feet now resting at his waist for good measure. About a quarter of an hour passed. Rong Chen Zi’s throat moved slightly as he swallowed. He reached his hand toward He Bang: “Come here.”

He Bang launched herself into his arms, licking at him all over like a small puppy. Rong Chen Zi suddenly flipped over and pressed her beneath him — then gently kissed her forehead, privately thinking that Liu Qinfang must have behaved strangely and given her something of a fright. For her to be in a state of anxious agitation was no good for her health if they were to be intimate.

He made a great effort to restrain himself, softened his voice, and coaxed her: “Alright, go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll take Miss Liu back to the Liu Mansion.”

He Bang nestled into the hollow of his neck and nodded slightly. “Zhiguan, when you come back, bring me some spiced sunflower seeds.”

Rong Chen Zi let her hold onto him. After a long moment he said quietly, “Mm. Be well-behaved while you’re at the temple. Drink plenty of water. If you want anything, tell Qingxuan. Don’t cause trouble.”

He Bang gave an indistinct sound of agreement and was already drifting off into a fuzzy half-sleep.

Just before the fifth watch ended, Rong Chen Zi rose without waking He Bang. Once he had washed and dressed, he went directly to find Liu Qinfang, saying he would take her home first. Liu Qinfang gathered her belongings and truly went with him.

By the end of the tenth month, the days were slow to brighten — in the final part of the third hour of the night, outside it was still pitch black. He Bang was jolted awake by the sound of a room being opened. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and reached to her side: sure enough, Rong Chen Zi was gone. Dazed and bewildered, she asked: “Zhiguan, when did you go out?”

Rong Chen Zi’s voice was perfectly ordinary. “Just now. Go back to sleep.”

He removed his shoes and socks, got back onto the bed, and once again drew He Bang into his arms. He Bang closed her eyes — then suddenly opened them wide again. She looked once more at the Rong Chen Zi before her, and in that instant, every hair on her body stood on end.