Lin Xiao lifted the window curtain and asked: “What has happened?”

Wei Bo had already gone ahead to investigate. He came back quickly and reported: “Young Heir, it appears to be a carriage from Prince Wu’s manor — it is unclear exactly what has happened.”

Qin Yao paused in the act of tidying her hair. Prince Wu’s manor’s carriage? Just now she had dimly heard someone cry “my lady” — could it be that the one in trouble was Consort Kang, whom she had met today at Luoni Zhai?

What a coincidence.

She could no longer sit still. “Let’s go take a look,” she said to Lin Xiao.

Still feeling a little flustered from what had just happened, Qin Yao spoke to Lin Xiao while keeping her eyes averted in embarrassment.

Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment, then drew Qin Yao into his arms and said softly in a coaxing voice: “Don’t be angry with me, A’Yao. I’ve missed you so much.”

The warmth of his breath fell on Qin Yao’s sensitive earlobe. A shiver ran down her spine. Afraid he would do it again, she pushed him away with a look of mild reproach. “If we don’t go out now it’ll be too late.”

Lin Xiao gave a silent smile, drew Qin Yao up from the seat, and the two of them got out.

Chang Rong had gone and come back at this very moment, running over to report: “Young Heir, Consort Kang from Prince Wu’s manor has been abducted. But according to those with Consort Kang, the ones who took her seem to have been rather strange—”

Before he could finish, the Chixiao Sword at Lin Xiao’s waist suddenly let out a low hum.

Both Lin Xiao and Qin Yao felt a start.

Chang Rong, having had no small amount of encounters with demons and spirits over the past year, naturally knew what it meant when the Young Heir’s sword sang out. He too was struck motionless.

The sound of the Chixiao grew louder and louder. Qin Yao’s heart hammered, her senses extended to feel the movements around her — she sensed a surge of malevolent force, drawing gradually closer.

She stood ready as if facing a great enemy, and let a talisman drop from her sleeve into her palm, prepared to strike at any moment.

Suddenly, Chang Rong glanced toward behind Lin Xiao, and his expression changed drastically. “What… what is that?”

Qin Yao’s whole body tensed. Without waiting to turn around, she unleashed the talisman in a fierce strike toward what lay behind her, then spun around — and stopped short.

Not far off, black mist surged and billowed. Within the fog, countless silhouettes moved. Drawing closer, one could see that every figure within the mist rode a tall horse. There were dozens of them, iron hooves ringing against the ground, surging forward like a tide toward Qin Yao and the others.

No matter how many strange things Qin Yao had witnessed, she was for a moment left completely stunned. This — this was too absurd. An evil creature with the power to overturn heaven and earth would not have surprised her — but an evil creature that could spontaneously assemble an army? This she had never seen.

The talisman she had just hurled landed squarely on a rider at the far right. A chorus of sharp, frenzied wailing rang out — that rider and horse vanished on the spot like dissipating fog. But the pace of the others was entirely undisturbed. In moments they had arrived close at hand.

As Qin Yao and the others made out the foremost figure — tall and broad of frame, dressed all in black, young in face but indistinct of feature, clutching an extraordinarily long sword in his hand — who else could it be but the Ghost Swordsman from before?

He cradled a woman in his arms, driving the reins and charging straight for Qin Yao — his next target was clearly her.

Lin Xiao did not hesitate. He planted one foot against the side of the carriage and vaulted out, shook the sword free, and with a ring of clear steel, thrust directly at the Ghost Swordsman leading the charge.

The Ghost Swordsman let out a long howl and raised his sword to meet the blow.

The sword in his hand — made of some unknown material — was black all through, with a deep, sunken luster. When it clashed against the Chixiao, the ringing rang sharp and clear, and it showed no sign of weakening.

The riders flanking him, seeing this, urged their horses forward one after another, seeking to surround Lin Xiao.

Chang Rong and the others, seeing the situation, shook off their daze without another thought, dashing to Lin Xiao’s side to surround and protect him with their blades.

Night mist wound about everything, making it nearly impossible to see clearly. But drawing close, Chang Rong and the others discovered that the riders to a man had pointed mouths and simian faces, some even sporting rat-like whiskers, their eyes glowing green in the dark — a deeply unsettling sight.

Chang Rong and the others were still in the midst of their dread when suddenly the surroundings blazed with light. Three Fire Dragons emerged from nowhere and swept like whirlwinds through the ranks of the riders. The dragons’ bodies coiled with nimble force in all directions, opening their great jaws and swallowing the riders whole, one by one, without restraint.

Having finished with the lesser troops, the three Fire Dragons merged into a single force and bore straight down on the Ghost Swordsman leading them, quickly coiling around that figure and horse together.

The Ghost Swordsman’s mount was scorched by the fierce flames and vanished instantly into nothing. The Ghost Swordsman was thrown to the ground, staggered only briefly, then steadied himself swiftly.

Under the scorching of the Soul-Devouring Flames, his body began to give off the smell of burning, yet his movements and bearing showed not the slightest slowing — it was plain that the Soul-Devouring Flames could not damage his fundamental core in so short a time.

Cradling the woman in his arms, he engaged Lin Xiao with his sword. His swordsmanship was plain, yet his force was immense. Only because he feared the Soul-Devouring Flames, afraid of prolonged scorching, did he fight while retreating.

What was curious was that each time the Chixiao struck that black long sword, the shape of the sword would twist and distort for a brief instant.

Whenever this happened, the Ghost Swordsman would exert every effort to fall back, evading direct contact with the Chixiao. The moment the Chixiao’s blow was avoided, the sword’s form would swiftly resume its original shape.

Qin Yao drove the Soul-Devouring Flames while watching from a distance the Ghost Swordsman’s every movement. The more she watched, the stranger she felt. That sword of his, in the forms it distorted into, seemed to vaguely resemble something — yet she could not for the moment think what.

Scorched by the Soul-Devouring Flames to the point of unbearable agony, the Ghost Swordsman’s black garments burned away entirely, exposing his bare chest beneath. As the fire coiled around his skin without relenting, his flesh began to show signs of splitting and tearing.

He dimly sensed that Lin Xiao and the others were deliberately attempting to drag him to the point of utter exhaustion. Without further hesitation, he abruptly hurled the woman he held in his arms directly at Lin Xiao.

The Chixiao Sword, unlike the Soul-Devouring Flames, could wound the living as readily as the dead — if the sword was not withdrawn, this woman would surely be struck by mistake.

Lin Xiao made an instant decision, withdrew his sword, and caught the woman in a full embrace. The moment he steadied himself, fearing the Ghost Swordsman would use the confusion to flee, he tossed the woman to Chang Rong behind him and lunged forward in a single stride, intending to press the fight further.

But in the blink of an eye, the Ghost Swordsman vanished like blue smoke, gone without a trace.

The Fire Dragons, which had been fighting with such relish, suddenly grasped at empty air. They were left hovering in bewilderment for quite some time, circling slowly, as though unable to determine where the Ghost Swordsman had gone.

Lin Xiao also seemed somewhat at a loss. He held his sword and looked around him in a full sweep, only to find that the thick fog, which had been everywhere, had dissolved in an instant — the surrounding scene was clear and bright again, and everything within several dozen paces was plainly visible, with no sign of anything unusual.

After orienting himself for a moment, he realized that where the group stood was a narrow alleyway not far from the Eastern Market. He remembered that the carriage had been moving for quite some time — he had thought they were at least halfway along the journey home — yet it turned out they had been circling in the vicinity of the Eastern Market all along.

Qin Yao recalled the Soul-Devouring Flames, ran to Lin Xiao’s side, looked about in all directions, and said with frustration: “That thing got away from us again.”

Thinking of the woman who had been thrown over, she turned to look. Chang Rong, to avoid any impropriety, had already set the woman down on the ground. Qin Yao crouched and looked carefully. The woman’s eyes were tightly shut, her long lashes trembling faintly, her body shivering without stop — clearly she had not lost consciousness.

“Consort Kang—” Qin Yao recognized her, and cried out softly in surprise.

Consort Kang did not dare respond. She kept her eyes firmly shut.

Qin Yao spoke to her gently: “That wicked creature has left.”

Consort Kang heard in the voice something familiar. She cracked open her eyes just a sliver. The young woman before her — eyes bright and expressive, expression soft — was the future consort of the Heir of Prince Lan, whom she had just met that very afternoon.

Her eyes opened a little wider. She moved her gaze around to survey her surroundings, and indeed saw no trace of the creature.

Not far away stood several young men. Seeing her gaze sweep toward them, every one of them turned their heads to look away.

The nearest figure held a long sword, standing with his back toward her and his hands clasped behind him — keeping his distance out of propriety, it seemed, for he had not turned around at all.

She had glimpsed his profile a few times before and remembered it well. She recognized him immediately: the Heir of Prince Lan, Lin Xiao.

“Thank you.” Consort Kang scrambled up from the ground, too flustered to care about the filth on her dress from rolling on the ground. She seized Qin Yao’s hands and expressed her gratitude again and again.

Qin Yao was just about to ask her the details of what had happened, when from not far off came a sudden thunder of hoofbeats — a great number of riders, seemingly, and clearly heading in this direction.

Consort Kang, thinking the ghost riders had returned, went pale with fear and pressed herself into Qin Yao’s arms.

Qin Yao concentrated her senses for a moment. She felt none of the dense, suffocating malevolence that had accompanied the Ghost Swordsman’s arrival, and relaxed. “Don’t be afraid — it’s not those creatures from before.”

The hoofbeats reached them quickly. Though the force was considerable, it was orderly and disciplined — clearly trained riders.

Then she heard Chang Rong and the others call out in surprise: “Your Highness.”

Qin Yao heard this and turned to look. The incoming party was quite numerous, all mounted, upward of a hundred people. The one in the lead wore brocaded robes and a golden crown — it was Prince Wu.

Prince Wu’s face was etched with anxiety. He caught sight of Lin Xiao, seemed briefly taken aback, and reined in his horse. He dismounted and asked: “Eleventh Brother, what brings you here? Did you see anything amiss just now? My side consort has gone missing in this area—”

Before he had finished speaking, he suddenly caught sight of Consort Kang in Qin Yao’s arms. Astonished and overjoyed, he stepped past Lin Xiao and strode forward. “Jing’er!”

Consort Kang let Prince Wu pull her into his embrace and wept with tears streaming down her face. “Your servant thought she would never see Your Highness again…”

Prince Wu’s heart ached. He held her close and soothed her: “My dear Jing’er, don’t be frightened — haven’t I come? What happened just now?”

Consort Kang then told him what had occurred in broken, tearful fragments.

That afternoon, after leaving the Eastern Market, she had instructed the driver to return to Prince Wu’s manor. But after going a short way, the carriage had inexplicably turned into a narrow alleyway. She was just feeling puzzled when a swarm of ghost riders appeared ahead. The one in the lead was saturated with an aura of death — he seized her directly from the carriage and nearly carried her away. It was fortunate that the Heir of Prince Lan and Miss Qu had been there, and she had been rescued.

When she finished, she pressed her head tightly against Prince Wu’s chest. “Your Highness, that wicked creature was so terrifying — your servant’s heart is still racing.”

Prince Wu seemed also to have been thoroughly frightened. He held Consort Kang closer still, and said softly: “Nothing of the sort will happen again.”

Qin Yao found the sight rather awkward to witness. She rose quietly, and recalled how at Yuquan Mountain she had accidentally stumbled upon Prince Wu’s secret meeting with Xia Yan — Prince Wu had spoken words of devotion and sweet promises to Xia Yan just as freely then. Looking at this scene now, it seemed Prince Wu was truly a man of deep sentiment.

Prince Wu soothed Consort Kang for a while, then looked up and caught sight of Qin Yao. He released the woman in his arms, rose, and offered his thanks: “Thank you, Miss Qu.”

He did not actually believe Qin Yao had the ability to deal with such a creature on her own, but having heard Consort Kang say so, his upbringing compelled him nonetheless to express his courtesy to Qin Yao with proper civility.

Qin Yao made repeated modest protests.

Prince Wu then walked to Lin Xiao’s side, gave him a clap on the shoulder, and said a few words to him in a low voice.

Lin Xiao shook his head with a smile. “We are brothers — it was nothing.”

Prince Wu let out a breath of relief, and instructed his attendants: “Go quickly and invite the Abbot Yuan Jue from Dayin Temple. Have him come to see what this is all about. The wicked creature from tonight must be captured.”

The attendant received his orders and departed.

Only then did Prince Wu support Consort Kang to her feet and say quietly: “I’ll take you home first.”

Consort Kang nodded, turned back to give Qin Yao a grateful smile, leaned into Prince Wu’s arms, and left.

In no time at all, the whole party from Prince Wu’s manor had departed completely.

Qin Yao walked slowly to the place where those ghost riders had fought with Chang Rong, crouched down, and looked carefully.

Lin Xiao walked to her side and crouched down as well. “Is something wrong?”

Qin Yao nodded. She searched through the dust and picked up an object.

Lin Xiao looked and saw it was a long, blood-soaked tail — very long, yet very slender. It looked somewhat like a rat’s tail, yet far longer than the tail of any ordinary rat.

Qin Yao studied it for a moment, set the “rat tail” aside, and searched the ground again. She picked up another object and examined it closely — a thing patterned in yellow and black, thick at one end and thin at the other — a severed snake’s tail, also cut cleanly off.

“Interesting.” The expression on Qin Yao’s face grew gradually serious. “I’m afraid we’ve all been thinking about this the wrong way.”