After visiting her brother, Qin Yao went to see Qu Chen Shi.
Qu Chen Shi had been beside herself with worry over Qin Yao these past two days, and now that she finally had her daughter in front of her, she naturally launched into a thorough scolding.
Qin Yao held herself together at first and listened to her mother’s chiding, but eventually she could no longer hold out — her upper and lower eyelids began to wage war against each other.
Qu Chen Shi saw her daughter’s little head swaying back and forth like a fishing float and felt equal parts tenderness and amusement. She released her to go back to her own small courtyard and rest.
The moment Qin Yao lay down, she sank into a deep, pitch-dark sleep — long and heavy and profound, so deep that even her dreams were swept clean away.
In a distant haze she became aware of a faraway voice calling out: “Young Miss! Young Miss, wake up quickly!” The voice carried a note of anxiety and frantic urgency.
Qin Yao’s heavy sleep came to an abrupt end. With a start, she shot bolt upright.
“Young Miss!” The maidservant Caiping saw that Qin Yao had awakened and let out a sigh of relief. “There are several people outside who claim to be guards from the Duke of Lu’s household. They say the Duke has been struck by something malevolent, and they are urgently requesting that you come and perform an exorcism.”
“The Duke of Lu’s household? An exorcism?” Qin Yao mechanically repeated the words, staring about in a momentary daze — and saw that outside the window, the sky had already darkened to a deep twilight. The lamps inside the room had been lit.
She had slept all the way until evening? That gave her a fright. She scrambled up to wash her face.
Coming out of the washroom, she had been about to put on her everyday feminine clothes, but remembering that the people from the Duke of Lu’s household were still waiting outside, she directed Caiping to fetch her Daoist robes and change into those instead. She fastened the Soul-Devouring Bell around herself.
Then she glanced in the mirror, made a slight adjustment to her appearance, reached into the drawer for a small false moustache and pressed it into place on her face — and only then was satisfied. She made her way to the front hall.
But the people in the front hall were nothing at all like guards from the Duke of Lu’s household.
Chang Rong saw Qin Yao enter and quickly rose to his feet, first shooting her a meaningful look, and then bowing: “Greetings to the Venerable Daoist Yuanzhen. We have been sent by the Duchess of Lu to invite you to the household to perform an exorcism. Time is pressing — I would ask that you please accompany us out at once.”
What on earth was going on? Qin Yao looked Chang Rong up and down with suspicion. He was clearly one of the young heir of Prince Lan’s personal attendants — so what was he doing impersonating a guard from the Duke of Lu’s household?
She recalled that when she had left Prince Lan’s residence that morning, the young heir had said he would help inquire into Zhu Qi’er’s recent whereabouts. Could it be — had the whereabouts of the third host been discovered?
Her eyes lit up. She quickly played along: “Ah, so you are from the Duke’s household. I just now heard one of the servants mention something vaguely about the Duke himself having encountered something malevolent — might I ask exactly what has occurred?”
“Well—” Chang Rong cast an awkward glance at the Qu couple, who were looking on with curious expressions, and then at the eldest young master of the Qu family, who had not said a single word since entering the room. His face was calm, his eyes as dark and still as the water at the bottom of a deep well — he looked at once shrewd and not easy to deal with. Clearly, telling falsehoods in front of him was not going to work.
After a moment’s consideration, he decided to simply tell the truth: “It is a long story. Today, after the Duke returned from morning court, he was peacefully drinking tea in the courtyard when, without any warning, he suddenly lost his faculties and collapsed to the ground. Imperial physicians came in wave after wave, all of them saying it was a stroke; they were busy administering acupuncture and decoctions. But then, this afternoon, the Duke unexpectedly came to — only no one he recognized, and he went running into the rooms of several of the ladies of the household to put on their hairpins and accessories, dress himself in women’s robes, and proceeded to sing and dance all through the residence, throwing the entire household into complete chaos. The Duchess, fearing the Duke had been possessed by something evil, sent us to invite you to come and perform the exorcism.”
Such private household scandals were not normally his place to air before outsiders, but today’s incident at the Duke’s residence had already caused such an uproar that word had long since leaked out — and the Qu family had likely already heard something.
Indeed, neither the Qu couple nor Qu Ziyu showed any particular look of shock. It was Qin Yao who reacted with astonishment, her mouth dropping open. The Duke of Lu had fought on countless battlefields throughout his life, earning merit upon merit; in the eyes of the people of Chang’an, he was a figure of heroic stature. What manner of malevolent creature could be so brazen as to humiliate him in such a fashion?
“Outrageous!” She sprang to her feet. “I will go with you to the Duke of Lu’s residence at once.”
She turned and made a proper bow to her parents and brother: “Father, Mother, Brother — I am leaving. I will return once the matter is settled.”
The Qu couple had barely had a chance to speak when Qu Ziyu came after her in quick, long strides. “Qin Yao” — he looked at his sister, a faint shadow of concern in his gaze — “do not underestimate it. Be careful in everything.”
Qin Yao looked up at her brother for a moment, then gave a solemn nod. “I will be careful. Don’t worry, Brother.”
The Duke of Lu’s residence was imposing and austere in the darkness of night.
As the heavy vermilion gates slowly swung open, a chill gust of yin wind drifted out from within, setting the two large crimson lanterns hanging before the gates swaying and flickering.
The servants silently led Qin Yao and the others all the way to the garden. In sharp contrast to the cold, deathly stillness of the front courtyard, the garden felt like an entirely different world — chaotic and clamorous beyond measure.
At the center of the chaos stood a man perched high atop an ornamental rockery. He was tall and powerfully built, his face buried under a thick layer of white powder and rouge, his hair and beard fully grey — and yet, absurdly, every inch of his head was crammed with pearl and jade ornaments. His broad, muscular frame was straining against a bright red women’s robe and looked on the verge of splitting it open with even the slightest movement.
He held his head high, swinging a green half-sleeve draped over his arm, formed his fingers into a delicate orchid-hand pose, and sang out: “This maiden pines for her lover who will not return — in the springtime light, I search and find no trace of him, oh what a heartless one — leaving this maiden to shed her tears in vain, oh cruel lover—” What was naturally a deep, resonant, aged voice had been deliberately pinched thin and pitched high, and to listen to it was more excruciating than the sound of fingernails scraping across a whitewashed wall.
Clustered around the base of the rockery was a large group of finely dressed people, men and women alike. One of them was an older noblewoman with brows sweeping elegantly into her hairline, whose very bearing commanded authority without any show of anger. She was urgently barking at the servants at her side: “What are you standing there for?! The Duke is deep in his singing right now — take this chance to help him down from there!”
Several men who appeared to be stewards quickly acknowledged the order and began carefully climbing up the rockery.
The singing came to an abrupt halt. The Duke of Lu looked around in all directions, then leapt — and sprang down from the rockery, which stood over a man’s height, landing squarely and steadily on the ground below.
The crowd let out a collective cry of alarm. The noblewoman lurched backward in fright, then stamped her foot: “Heavens above! Dalang! Erlang! Sanlang! Your father is going to injure himself like this — think of something, all of you!” Even as she spoke, she hurriedly reached for a maidservant’s hand to steady herself and rushed forward in pursuit.
The Duke of Lu executed several swift leaps in succession and, in the blink of an eye, had scrambled up into a wutong tree in the courtyard. He patted his hair into place, settled himself comfortably against the fork of a branch, and began to croon again.
This time, without waiting for the servants, several men of impressive bearing and appearance rolled up their sleeves and made to climb the tree themselves. They were all dressed in official robes, and their bearing and manner set them distinctly apart from the rest of the onlookers — these must be the Duke of Lu’s three legitimate sons.
Qin Yao quietly formed a hand seal and opened her Celestial Eye to look at the Duke of Lu. Strangely, no matter how hard she pushed, she could make out only a faint red shadow — she could not, for the moment, determine what manner of malevolent entity it was.
“A’Yao.” Someone drew near just then and called to her in a low voice.
Qin Yao turned her head, and saw that Lin Xiao had appeared at her side — she had no idea when he’d arrived. He was still dressed in his Imperial Guard’s silver armor, and there was a trace of weariness in his expression.
“I imposed on you all of last night, and now I’ve called you out here again tonight — I am truly sorry,” he said, studying Qin Yao’s expression carefully. Seeing that her eyes were clear and her color was good — that she had evidently gotten adequate rest — he quietly let out a small breath of relief.
“It’s nothing,” said Qin Yao with a smile. “It’s just—” She gestured toward the chaotic crowd. “I really cannot do anything with things in this state, and I’m afraid of injuring innocent people as well. Could you ask the Duchess and the other family members to step back for now and give me room to carry out the rite?”
Lin Xiao nodded. “I’ll see to it right away.” He turned and walked toward the Duchess of Lu, bending his head to speak quietly with her. She listened attentively, glancing over in Qin Yao’s direction from time to time, and before long she gave a nod and led everyone back toward Qin Yao.
Qin Yao had made a slight alteration to her appearance today and had the false moustache in place; the Duchess and the others found this young Daoist’s features somewhat delicate, and none of them immediately saw through her disguise to realize she was a woman.
The Duchess looked her over, then bowed respectfully: “Weijin tells me that you are a highly accomplished disciple of Qing Xuzi, the Daoist master of Qingyun Temple, and that your Daoist arts are profound. You have seen the Duke’s condition for yourself. This has all come upon us so suddenly, and we understand nothing of Daoist practices — we are entirely in your capable hands.” Her voice carried the quiet, instilled authority of someone long accustomed to a position of power.
Behind her stood three young men, all of noble bearing and handsome countenance. The youngest of them was perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old, with a pair of naturally charming peach-blossom eyes and an exceptionally attractive face — the most striking of the Duke’s sons by far.
He cast a meaningful glance between Qin Yao and Lin Xiao, then stepped forward to offer: “Mother, elder brothers — you have all been occupied since morning and must be exhausted by now. Why don’t you go back inside to rest for a while? Weijin and I are young — leave this to us.”
In the blink of an eye, the garden held only Qin Yao, Lin Xiao, Jiang Sanlang, and a few of the Duke of Lu’s most able guards.
The Duke of Lu stopped his singing, turned his head, and fixed a cold stare on Qin Yao. After a long moment, one corner of his mouth curled into a slight smirk, and he let out an androgynous little hum.
Qin Yao narrowed her eyes. Without wasting any further words, she pulled the Purification Talisman from her robe, let out a sharp cry, gathered her inner energy, and leapt forward — straight toward the Duke of Lu.
Lin Xiao had already witnessed Qin Yao’s abilities firsthand and thought nothing of it. Jiang Sanlang, however, let out a surprised sound.
Qin Yao closed the distance in an instant and swiftly pressed the Purification Talisman against the Duke’s forehead, casting the spell: “Break—” The most urgent thing now was to force the malevolent entity out of the Duke’s body.
The Duke of Lu showed no expression and made no move to stop her. Once she had finished her sequence of actions, he suddenly let out a contemptuous snort, then slowly lifted his hand — and, with Qin Yao watching in astonishment, began tearing the talisman away inch by inch.
He looked at her with a half-smile and said: “And here I thought you were someone exceptional. It turns out this is nothing but a trivial little trick.” He blew lightly on the talisman in his palm, and in an instant it shattered into a pile of fragments.
Before Qin Yao could even react, the Duke’s expression turned dark. He curled his fingers into a claw and slashed toward her with lightning speed: “Overreaching fool! You want to die?!”