Easier said than done. In recent days, nearly every disciple under Yuan Jue had been sent out searching for traces of the Ghost Swordsman, scouring the whole of Chang’an inside and out — yet at most they’d caught a snake spirit or rat demon here and there. They hadn’t so much as glimpsed the Ghost Swordsman face to face.

With Yuan Jue away from the city these past few days, the task of hunting the Ghost Swordsman had fallen to Qing Xuzi and his disciples. The night Miss Liu was taken counted as Qing Xuzi’s first direct confrontation with the Ghost Swordsman, but having failed to grasp the creature’s origins, not only had he been unable to subdue it, he’d nearly come to grief at its hands as well.

After discussing the matter, everyone agreed the dry well was the key to the whole problem. Without delay, they sent word to Dayin Temple and headed straight for the abandoned temple outside Chang’an.

Once there, all Qin Yao saw was a bare, desolate hill, not especially steep but deeply eerie. She found it puzzling that her master had said this hill carried no demonic or ghostly aura.

Beside it ran an official road, a necessary route for travel in and out of Chang’an.

Lin Xiao dismounted, and upon looking up at the hill, started as well. “Qianren Mountain.”

The corpse of that half-ghost from the academy that Qin Yao had subdued last time had been discovered right here, and Madam Zhou had gone missing here too. It seemed this mountain truly had something to do with the Ghost Swordsman.

The abandoned temple Qing Xuzi had spoken of stood at the foot of Qianren Mountain. The deity statue once enshrined inside had long since vanished; the altar stood empty, standing alone and forlorn, desolate and out of place.

A dry well stood in the woods behind the temple, its mouth concealed beneath a tilted, fallen peach tree — impossible to spot without a close look.

Qin Yao ran to the well and opened her Heavenly Eye to look down inside. A green mist shrouded the interior — there was indeed a demonic aura visible, but the malevolent energy was light, very different from the thick, chilling ghostly aura that clung to the Ghost Swordsman.

Qing Xuzi’s view matched Qin Yao’s completely. Knowing exactly what his disciple was about to say, he nodded before she could even speak. “Indeed. This well is most likely just a passage used by the lesser demons under the Ghost Swordsman to come in and out of Chang’an. The Ghost Swordsman himself seems to have no need of such a method at all.”

Lin Xiao, gazing for a moment at the fully visible expanse of Qianren Mountain, asked Qing Xuzi, “Daoist Master, Qianren Mountain is so low, and there are no tombs on it — it hardly seems like a place where a great malevolent spirit could lie hidden. Why did the Ghost Swordsman first appear at the foot of this mountain? Could there be other caves nearby?”

Qing Xuzi shook his head. “Past Qianren Mountain lies Shouhuai Mountain, where the Emperor holds his autumn hunt every year. It’s guarded by your Imperial Guards, and we can’t get in at all. Yuan Jue did go in for a look a few days ago, but he said he found nothing unusual either.”

Yuan Jue’s spiritual power ran deep — if he said Shouhuai Mountain showed nothing amiss, then it could most likely be ruled out as a suspect.

Qin Yao racked her memory of the terrain around Qianren Mountain she’d seen on a map of Chang’an before. There was no river nearby, only the two mountains, one before and one behind — nothing else offered a place to hide.

With no flaw to be found in either mountain, she had no choice but to turn her attention back to the lonely abandoned temple behind her.

The temple looked to be at least a hundred years old, its paint long since peeled away entirely. Years of wind and rain had left its frame loose and crumbling, looking ready to collapse at any moment.

Unfortunately there were no villages or households nearby from which to ask about the temple’s history or which deity had once been enshrined there — otherwise they might have traced some clue to the Ghost Swordsman’s origins.

After everyone searched the area for a while with nothing to show for it, and with the hour growing late, Qing Xuzi said to Qin Yao, “Yuan Jue should be back in Chang’an tonight. Once he returns, I’ll have him split his disciples into two groups — one to patrol inside the city, one outside. We’ll throw everything we have into it, day and night, and we’re bound to find this Ghost Swordsman and the whereabouts of those women.”

Ever since Qin Yao had been granted in marriage to Lin Xiao, Qing Xuzi had secretly grown reluctant to let her keep fighting and killing alongside him. If it were an ordinary household, it wouldn’t matter much, but someone like Lin Xiao, of such exalted imperial lineage — even with a simple household, the web of relations behind him was vast and complicated, with no shortage of eyes watching from both inside and outside the palace. Qing Xuzi truly didn’t want his disciple to give anyone the slightest excuse for gossip.

Especially now that the girl had already come of age and safely crossed that fated hurdle in her life — whether she went on hunting demons or not made no difference anymore.

Qin Yao could sense the change in her master’s attitude, and felt a little wronged by it. How was it that simply getting married had reduced her to some peripheral figure at Qingyun Temple? She was still her master’s disciple, after all.

She badly wanted to go on hunting evil spirits with her master as she always had, but even if Lin Xiao raised no objection of his own, she couldn’t withstand the gossip of others, and if she did go out, Lin Xiao would at the very least need to accompany her every step of the way.

She glanced furtively at Lin Xiao. Tomorrow he had to return to his palace post and would have to rise before dawn — if he had to accompany her patrolling the city tonight as well, there was no telling how exhausted he’d be.

She was her master’s disciple, yes — but she was also his wife.

On the way back, Qin Yao asked Qing Xuzi, “Master, what do you think the Ghost Swordsman wants with these women he’s taken? Taking them but not killing them, even buying medicine to heal their injuries — it just sounds strange.”

Qing Xuzi gave a snorting laugh. “Hmph, so this thing actually knows how to dote on pretty women. Among the three he’s taken, there’s a married woman like Madam Zhou, and unmarried girls like Miss Cheng and Miss Liu — he doesn’t discriminate, but every single one is a beauty. In my view, this Ghost Swordsman is undoubtedly some kind of lecherous fiend.”

A’Han, overhearing this, was utterly baffled and asked, “Master, what’s a lecherous fiend?”

Qing Xuzi’s old face flushed, and he spat at A’Han, “Everything you ought to hear, you somehow never catch — but everything you shouldn’t, you hear clearer than anyone.”

Qin Yao, thoroughly embarrassed herself, glanced quickly out the window — dusk had fallen thick and heavy outside, and Lin Xiao was riding ahead, focused entirely on the road, the earlier conversation most likely never having reached his ears.

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, thinking to herself: could he really be a lecherous fiend? She recalled that the Demonic Compendium had once said that ghostly beings, lacking physical substance, would have to go to enormous trouble even if they wished to be intimate with a mortal. Yet ever since this Ghost Swordsman had first appeared in the world, every action he took followed its own deliberate logic — far from simple, and nothing like the ordinary demon driven merely by the seven emotions and six desires.

After parting with her master and A’Han outside Qingyun Temple’s gate, Qin Yao and Lin Xiao returned to Prince Lan’s manor.

Night had fallen deep, and the manor inside and out lay quiet, devoid of voices. As they walked toward the back courtyard, though, the faint sound of strings and bamboo music drifted to them — it seemed her father-in-law was still listening to music at Misty Wave Pavilion.

Qin Yao noticed that Lin Xiao’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, clearly already used to this.

Siru Studio, by contrast, glowed warm with bean-sized lamplight. The moment they stepped through the door, Nanny Wen came forward with a smile, accompanied by senior maids Tingfeng, Saoxue, and a few others, to greet them.

The table inside was already laid with hot dishes and soup, waiting only for Lin Xiao and Qin Yao to wash up before Nanny Wen served them their meal.

As she ate, Qin Yao silently nodded to herself — no wonder Lin Xiao placed such trust in Nanny Wen, and had always, whether deliberately or not, shown such tolerance toward Chang Rong. She supposed that ever since the Princess Consort’s death, whatever scant warmth the manor had held over the years had all come from this mother and son. In his heart, he had likely long since come to regard them as family.

At the thought, Qin Yao felt a pang of tenderness for Lin Xiao well up in her.

But that tenderness, once Lin Xiao instructed Nanny Wen to prepare hot water for a bath and, through a mix of coaxing and trickery, carried her into the bathing chamber, dissolved entirely into a kind of exasperated resistance she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at.

Even though they had long since become intimate, facing each other so openly still left Qin Yao thoroughly mortified.

Struggling against the strange sensations stirred up by Lin Xiao’s gentle touch, she tried to push him off her shoulder. “How could you do this? In a moment Nanny Wen and the others will surely guess we bathed together — how am I supposed to face anyone tomorrow?”

To Lin Xiao, Qin Yao’s snow-white skin looked all the more luminous and clear under the apricot-yellow lamplight. With every stir of the water, droplets rolled down the lovely curves of her body, utterly bewitching and irresistible. He kissed her without pause, his hands no less idle, his voice hoarse. “We’re husband and wife deep in love — even if others find out, they’ll only be happy for us. Good Yaoyao, tomorrow I’ll be back at the palace. Let me cherish you well tonight.”

Qin Yao couldn’t win against him, and in the end let him have his way.

The next day, before dawn had broken, Qin Yao was sleeping soundly when she suddenly heard a faint stirring by the bed.

With something on her mind, her drowsiness vanished at once. She turned her face to look, and sure enough saw Lin Xiao dressing quietly by the bed.

Seeing that she’d woken, Lin Xiao said apologetically, “Did I wake you? It’s not even dawn yet — sleep a little longer.”

Qin Yao shook her head and rolled straight out of bed. Having already resolved to take good care of Lin Xiao’s daily life, how could she fail at something as simple as rising early with him? Back when she was little, learning martial arts under her master, she’d endured far greater hardships than this.

Lin Xiao had already put on his outer robe but had not yet tied the sash. Qin Yao got out of bed and went to stand before him, bowing her head to tie the sash for him.

He had always been tall and slender; the broad black sash against his deep ink-green Prince’s robe carried an air of nobility without being showy, making him look as breathtakingly handsome as a towering jade mountain.

Qin Yao, pleased at the sight, couldn’t resist rising on her toes to give him a quick kiss. Afterward, she turned to fetch the Chixiao Sword and fasten it on him, but Lin Xiao caught her back into his arms, bowing his head to kiss her, and the two lingered together a good while longer before letting go.

The two of them had breakfast, and Qin Yao saw Lin Xiao to the door. Since she hadn’t yet done her hair, it was simply gathered loosely into a bun, and she had to stop seeing him off once they reached the corridor.

Autumn had deepened, and the morning breeze brushed cold against the skin. Lin Xiao tightened the lotus-pink half-sleeve jacket on her shoulders, saying, “Go back in and sleep a little more. If you want to go out later, Chang Rong and the others will arrange everything for you — with them guarding you, I’ll feel more at ease.”

If not for this arrangement, the mere thought that Xia Di had once coveted Qin Yao would have made it impossible for him to focus on his duties in the palace with an easy mind. Unlike before, though, when Chang Rong and the others could only follow Qin Yao in secret, now they could openly and rightfully protect her at all times.

Qin Yao agreed with a smile, then after a moment’s hesitation, said in a low voice, her face reddening, “If nothing comes up, come home early.”

Though just a few short words, they carried within them countless soft, tender threads of affection. Lin Xiao’s heart stirred, and he couldn’t help raising a hand to stroke Qin Yao’s smooth, fair cheek, as delicate as an orchid. “Good. The moment I finish my duties, I’ll come straight home, without wasting a single moment.”

Watching all this, Nanny Wen let out a deep, sentimental sigh. Seeing the two of them so utterly devoted to one another, it was clear the young master truly loved the young mistress from the bottom of his heart. Ever since the marriage had been arranged, he had smiled more times than in the past three years combined. Whatever else one might say of this match, on the matter of being truly suited to one another alone, it far surpassed what a marriage to Princess Yishu would ever have been.

Having seen Lin Xiao off, Qin Yao stood beneath the corridor looking at Siru Studio bathed in morning light. Everywhere she looked, morning breeze and dewdrops on orchids, lush flowers and grasses — an indescribable sense of cool, quiet ease. She drew a slow breath, and her nose filled with the rich, cool fragrance of camellias.

She walked lightly back to her room, saying with a smile, “Nanny Wen, would you help me with my hair? I’m going to Pear White Residence to pay my respects to Father-in-law.”

Nanny Wen agreed, her heart full of delight. This child really did know how to find her own happiness in things.