When Master had once lectured on the Compendium of Demons, he had said: if a person is possessed by a demonic entity, all eight extraordinary meridians are thrown into disorder and the consciousness falls into turmoil — the body is no longer under one’s own control.

In such a situation, if one wishes to force the demonic entity out, there are two approaches. The first is to use talismans and incantations — but this method is only effective against ordinary demons. Against an evil spirit with exceptionally great demonic power, it is largely useless unless the one casting the talisman has an extraordinarily high level of Daoist cultivation.

The second method is to strike the Tianxing acupoint at the back of the head.

The Tianxing acupoint is where the lesser yang and yin link meridians of the hands and feet converge. Though it does not govern consciousness and spiritual awareness directly, when a possessed person receives a blow to this point, the original soul of the host — previously sunk into a stupor — will suddenly jolt awake and burst forth with a powerful surge of force. Caught off guard by this surge, the demonic entity within will experience a brief moment of disorientation; if one then applies the Purification Incantation in that very instant, the chances of successfully expelling the demon are quite good.

But this approach is extraordinarily risky — it amounts to hand-to-hand combat pressed directly against an evil spirit, placing extremely high demands on the Daoist’s own physical abilities, and requiring the precise alignment of timing, terrain, and circumstance. The slightest misstep would invite a ferocious counterattack from the evil spirit.

Yet this was already the best plan Qin Yao could think of given the circumstances. The situation was urgent, and there was simply no time for her to deliberate at length.

A gamble — she had to take it!

A’Miao had dived with such momentum that her back was now left wide open. Qin Yao saw it clearly and struck without hesitation, driving a precise blow into the Tianxing acupoint at the back of her head.

A’Miao stumbled and crashed to the ground, convulsing in violent coughing. As she coughed, the red light within her body flickered in and out — faint signs of separation beginning to appear.

Qin Yao was overjoyed. Giving her no chance to catch her breath, she lunged forward in a single bound and slapped the Purification Talisman onto her back.

A’Miao let out a cry of pain. The red light shot out in a flash, streaking like a meteor toward the other people in the courtyard.

Qin Yao rushed two steps after it. A flash of white light blazed through her mind. She tried to deploy the Soul-Devouring Bell — but she was one step too slow. In less than an instant, the red light had slipped inside the head matron’s body.

She had calculated for everything — and missed this one thing! It could possess A’Miao’s body, and naturally it could possess anyone else’s body too!

Qin Yao cursed her own carelessness, her eyes locked on the head matron. She called out sharply: “Everyone else in this courtyard — leave the courtyard at once!”

The events of just moments ago had been witnessed by all; once the initial shock passed, dread began spreading quickly through the group.

First A’Miao, and now the head matron. No one knew who might be the next unfortunate victim.

Everyone bolted for the courtyard gate. In the chaos, several maidservants collided and crashed into each other, falling hard to the ground — but there was no time to cry. They scrambled back up and kept running for their lives.

Out in front of everyone was the Duchess of Lu. Her expression was dignified and commanding, one hand clamped firmly around Jiang Sanlang, as she ran with the vigorous, powerful strides of a seasoned warrior.

Jiang Sanlang kept craning his neck back toward A’Miao, who lay motionless on the ground, and struggled, crying out: “A’Miao — Mother, let me go to A’Miao!”

“Crack—” The Duchess halted, and gave her son a fierce slap across the face. “Worthless wretch! I truly gave birth to you in vain!” Without waiting for him to say a word, she grabbed him again and kept running.

In a matter of moments the courtyard had only three humans and one creature left in it.

Lin Xiao walked slowly forward, drew his sword, and held it at the ready in front of Qin Yao. He said in a quiet, level voice: “I’ll face it with you.”

He did not look back. His voice was as clear and composed as ever — standing before Qin Yao, towering and unshakeable as a mountain, giving one a sense of calm without any particular reason.

Qin Yao quietly let out a breath. No matter the moment, having a companion was always better; especially when that companion appeared to be this reliable.

The head matron glared at the two of them with seething malice, then struck out a claw and came lunging at Lin Xiao with tremendous speed.

Lin Xiao watched it close the distance with cold eyes, his sword gathering power and ready to strike. He was not a person of the Daoist way, and felt none of its ethical constraints. He simply waited for the creature to reach him — and then he would drive the blade through its vital point without any hesitation.

The head matron came charging closer and closer. When she was just half a zhang away from Lin Xiao, she suddenly wheeled and flew at full speed toward the courtyard gate.

It turned out her target was never them at all.

Lin Xiao reacted with remarkable quickness, immediately raised his sword and sprinted in pursuit. Qin Yao followed close at his heels.

The head matron moved at a speed far beyond that of any ordinary person; in just a few bounding leaps she had cleared the courtyard wall and was outside.

A chorus of shouts arose. Someone’s furious voice rang out: “Vile creature! If you dare — come for me!”

It was the Duchess of Lu!

Lin Xiao and Qin Yao both lurched to a stop and looked up — just in time to see the head matron seize Jiang Sanlang, soar up into the air, and fly straight for the outer wall of the residence.

“Terrible — the demon is trying to escape!” In her panic, Qin Yao broke into a full sprint.

Lin Xiao’s qinggong was superior to Qin Yao’s. He reached the courtyard wall first, and with a light leap stood atop it. He raised his sword in his right hand, aimed at the head matron, and was on the verge of hurling the blade at her back.

At that very instant, a sharp gust of wind split the air above them. Something resembling a long tether of rope, moving with thunderous speed, coiled itself around the head matron’s neck. A single sharp yank — and she was dragged clean out of midair and sent crashing to the ground.

“Fox demon — and where do you think you’re going?!”

Two figures in Daoist robes landed steadily on the ground, their bearing stern and imposing as they looked down at the head matron, who had landed heavily at their feet and was still straining frantically to break free.

“Master! Senior Martial Brother!” Qin Yao was flooded with shock and joy, and sprinted toward Qing Xuzi. “A’Yao!” A’Han called to Qin Yao with delighted, waving enthusiasm.

Qing Xuzi still had the rope-like object in hand. When Qin Yao came running to his side, he gave her a sharp flick on the forehead first, and scolded: “You reckless thing — you stole your master’s Boundless Mirror, and don’t even know how to use it. Every year I’ve spent teaching you has been a complete waste!”

His face was somewhat thinner than before he had left for Luoyang, and his complexion a shade darker, but his color and bearing were excellent.

Qin Yao grinned and let Qing Xuzi scold her, hanging on his arm: “Master is absolutely right! Your disciple is ashamed, your disciple humbly accepts the lesson.” Inwardly she felt enormously reassured; joy shone from every corner of her expression.

Lin Xiao watched every change in her expression, and with a thoughtful look began to study Qing Xuzi and A’Han.

The head matron’s eyes looked ready to burst from her skull. She broke into a torrent of vituperation: “Old traitor Daoist, you who aids the wrongdoer! If not for you all those years ago, how could I have been sealed beneath Wuwei Mountain for ten years?! I only just managed to break free from the seal and come seeking my revenge — and now you intend to thwart me yet again?!”

Qing Xuzi, without a word, sharply tightened the rope-like object. It was pale yellow in color, and looked nothing different from an ordinary rope — yet now, where it pressed against the head matron’s neck, it was blazing with a brilliant apricot-colored radiance.

The head matron struggled with all her might. Her nostrils flared. The black pupils of her eyes contracted with uncanny, eerie swiftness, shrinking smaller and smaller until only a needle-tip’s worth of black remained visible. A moment more, and her body convulsed violently — and a mass of red light was ejected from her form.

The red light moved far more sluggishly than it had before. A’Han did not even wait for Qing Xuzi’s instruction; hugging a sack-like object, he lunged forward and with one deft motion enveloped the red light completely inside it.

Qing Xuzi bent down and carefully removed the rope-like object from the head matron’s neck. Qin Yao leaned over to look — and found not a single mark from the constriction on her neck at all.

Qing Xuzi passed the rope to A’Han and told him to tie the flour-sack-like object as tightly as possible. Then he personally opened the bag himself — and revealed inside a small, fluffy fox’s head.

The fox’s fur was as vivid and blazing as a raging fire, an exceptionally rare and beautiful coloring.

It fixed its pair of deep, ink-black eyes on Qing Xuzi, and when it opened its mouth, that small, fluffy muzzle unexpectedly produced human speech: “Old traitor Daoist — one day you will pay the price for what you have done!” The words were full of bitter, seething resentment, and a strange light flickered and pulsed in its eyes.

Qing Xuzi let out a contemptuous snort: “Subduing demons and eliminating evil is my calling. You brought harm to others; I captured you. Your abilities were inferior to mine — accept your defeat and submit to judgment. What more is there to say? Besides, the way of heaven is just and retribution is certain. The moment you fell into the path of demons, your fate at this moment was already sealed.”

“Retribution?” The fox’s voice suddenly scaled upward. “If there truly were retribution — Jiang Heng Zhong, who slaughtered my children and grandchildren all those years ago to flatter the Emperor — why has he faced no retribution? The Emperor, who had the flesh of my children and grandchildren stripped from their bodies and made into a great cloak to wear — why has he faced no retribution? And you — who took the Duke’s silver and, without distinguishing right from wrong, suppressed me beneath Wuwei Mountain — why have you faced no retribution?!”

It ground its teeth, and its eyes looked nearly ready to bleed.

Qing Xuzi was entirely impervious, his hide too thick to be affected. He replied coldly: “The Duke hunted game and presented his catch to the sovereign — that is his duty as a subject. The Emperor, with a body of the utmost distinction, using the finest pelts to ward off the cold — that is perfectly proper. As for myself, a person of the Daoist way, acting to rid others of evil and disaster — what wrong have I done in that?”

“Sophistry! That is nothing but shameless sophistry!” The fox trembled with rage, the blazing fur on top of its head standing fully on end.

“Ten years ago you used your dark arts to cause the Duke to fall and break his leg, rendering him forever unable to return to the battlefield. After I subdued you, you were supposed to spend your time at the foot of Wuwei Mountain in spiritual cultivation and genuine reflection — yet you have come out again to bring disaster upon the world. First Jiang Sanlang — and very soon it would have been each of the Duke’s other sons in turn, would it not? Do you truly intend to make the Duke endure the grief of a father outliving his children?”

The fox laughed coldly: “Exactly! I want him to relive what I went through — to watch his own sons die before his eyes one by one, the grey-haired outliving the young, his final years desolate and wretched, his heart and guts cut to pieces!”

Qin Yao suddenly understood. No wonder Jiang Sanlang had become so gaunt and haggard after being struck by the Gu Poison — by rights, the Witch Empress’s gu should never have been made to harm one’s intended love. Look at the fourth son of the Lin family at the Peony Pavilion, who had been struck by Bao Sheng’s gu — his body was perfectly fine. It had all been this fox demon’s doing all along.

“If you hadn’t come to ruin my plans, Jiang Sanlang would have been dead within three days,” said the fox, its regret immeasurable.

“Then since your plan had only reached its first stage, why did you strike against the Duke today as well, and ultimately expose yourself and put the whole scheme at risk?”

The fox raised its head and looked up at the dim and dark night sky, its gaze distant and deep. “Today is the death anniversary of my children and grandchildren. Ten years ago on this very day, Jiang Zhong Heng hunted and killed my children and grandchildren. By now their souls and spirits are lost beyond all finding — while Jiang Zhong Heng basks in his descendants, enjoying the warmth of family and kin with unchecked ease. Is this right? Is this just?”

It threw back its head and laughed — a laugh saturated with grief and bitterness. “Isn’t he the great hero who shakes the court and awes the realm? Then I will humiliate him in front of everyone. I will make him lose all face before his own children and grandchildren. I will make every person in Chang’an, the moment they hear his name, think of him as the greatest laughingstock in the world!!”