At Wuyan Crossing, as the clear moon rose, the sea tide stirred up stories of the past.
Nan Yi walked slowly along the shore, his Nascent Soul stage divine sense extending. Normally, it would reach a hundred miles, but this was the Demon Sealing Formation—the strongest sealing array created by an entire generation of cultivators under Dao Sheng Tian. No divine sense could penetrate the sea here.
After wandering for a long time, Nan Yi felt the moon reach its zenith. He found a spot near some rocks, laid out his ancient qin, and began playing “Homecoming.”
While the Demon Sealing Formation blocked divine sense, it couldn’t stop the qin’s music. “Homecoming” was an ancient score taught by a friend. Travelers hearing it would feel homesick, and it could guide lost souls back home.
He hoped Jiao’er would hear it and find her way back to shore.
As the Wild Qin’s melody flowed from his fingertips, pouring out melancholic ancient rhythms, the previously turbulent sea grew calm. It seemed even the newly sentient sea creatures below ceased their struggle for survival, floating gently to listen to the peerless qin master’s tender music.
Nan Yi hadn’t felt this conflicted in a long time. If his sister heard about this, she’d likely laugh at his foolishness.
He was a cultivator, while the girl whose voice perfectly complemented his qin was merely a mortal. The distance between mortals and cultivators was vast, needless to say.
Moreover, she was to be married next year, wasn’t she? To a mortal man her age, to live out a peaceful life.
At this thought, Nan Yi’s fingers uncommonly missed a note, preventing “Homecoming” from forming a qin realm. As he was about to start over, he heard a splash near the rocks.
Nan Yi sensed a woman surfacing by the rocks, quietly watching him.
“You…” Nan Yi was about to speak when he heard her emerge from the water and walk onto the rocks. The water seemed to stream off her with each step.
She spoke haltingly, as if unused to conversation. “Why… did you stop playing?”
Nan Yi fell silent as he felt a wet little hand gently touch him with one finger. She seemed to like his qin and, seeing no rejection, boldly moved closer.
Nan Yi could almost feel her long hair brushing the back of his hand. He suddenly clenched his fingers.
“Are you Miss Jiao’er?”
Mermaid? He knows?
She shrank back, quickly withdrawing her hand as if about to return to the sea.
Sensing her retreat, Nan Yi panicked and found himself grasping her hand.
“Please wait, Miss. I…” This was improper, Nan Yi knew he should let go, but fearing her departure, he said, “If you’re Miss Jiao’er, your mother is worried about you not returning from the sea. I came to find you.”
Oh, that Jiao’er.
The mermaid had been watching this Qin player for a long time. When he played on the sea cliff, she listened from the sea bottom, entranced, lingering nearby for days.
…He’s a blind Qin player.
The mermaid looked at his eyes. They were clear and gentle, but unfocused. He couldn’t see her current appearance.
Long hair, scaled tail, and vertical pupils of a demon race.
Out of water too long and caught by Nan Yi, her blue, iridescent fishtail silently transformed into human legs. Unsteady, she stumbled.
Nan Yi thought she had tripped and caught her, feeling a soft, smooth body fall into his arms. He froze.
“M-Miss?!”
Unable to stand on her newly formed human legs, Jiao’er, unaware of shame, grabbed Nan Yi’s collar and said, “The boat capsized. I was in the sea. My clothes… torn. Lend me yours, please?”
Nan Yi felt a fire burning from his heart to his senses, forgetting he was a cultivator. He hurriedly took off his outer robe and draped it over Jiao’er.
After Jiao’er put on the robe and sat hugging her knees on the rock, she turned to look at Nan Yi’s back. Her beast-like eyes softened as she asked, “Do you… dislike me?”
“…No, Miss. You overstate.”
“You… came for me. I’m happy.”
Nan Yi steadied himself and said, “…I am blind. I’ve unintentionally compromised your reputation. If you don’t object, I’m willing to ask your mother for your hand in marriage.”
He spoke instinctively, not considering how the Vermilion Emperor’s Jade Palace behind him might react.
“What does… ‘ask for hand in marriage’ mean?”
Nan Yi, dazed, replied, “It means… we live together and die together.”
Jiao’er touched the back of his hand, then grasped it, her long fingers intertwining with his. Her ethereal voice asked curiously, “Does it mean I stay with you like this until we die?”
“Jiao’er?”
Jiao’er didn’t know who he was then. The years in the deep sea had been too monotonous. She only felt a swelling joy being near him.
“Alright, I’ll go with you,” she said.
Under the moonlight, Nan Yi hazily allowed her to stay by his side all night. The next day, when he brought her home, Madam Gu took one look and pulled Jiao’er inside, holding her hand and weeping incessantly.
From then on, Jiao’er stayed with him. During the day, she helped Madam Gu with fishing nets; at night, she sang along with Nan Yi’s qin.
Time flew by with his beloved. Three months passed in a blink. As Nan Yi was finalizing his newly composed “Night Whisper,” a visitor finally arrived.
It was Nan Yi’s friend, also carrying a qin. When he came, Jiao’er hid away.
“My friend, you seem quite weary lately.”
After examining the musical score, his friend remarked, “Yigu’s new composition, ‘Mountain and Water Journey,’ deserves my presence. Yigu’s style has always been ethereal, yet this ‘Night Ballad’ carries human warmth. I suspect Yigu has found a companion recently.”
“Among all lute players in the world, only you understand me, my friend.”
“Lute player? That’s fitting. But tell me, which noble lady has captured Yigu’s heart?”
Nan Yi’s face showed a hint of worry. “She’s the daughter of a mortal family.”
His friend’s usually calm demeanor betrayed surprise. After a long silence, he said, “The Red Emperor’s Jade Palace has strict rules. My position prevents me from speaking on your behalf. In Yin State, only Lady Rao might listen to you. Have you informed her?”
“My sister has always indulged me. I’ll write to her explaining the situation. As for Jiao’er… she hasn’t accepted me yet.”
“From your words, it seems a natural progression. Regarding Lady Rao… she’ll officially become Dragon Lord Ao Guanghan’s partner next month. If you’re serious, Yigu, you might want to bring this up after her union is settled.”
“It’s good that my sister is willing to settle down,” Nan Yi smiled, then turned to his friend with concern. “And you, my friend? Have you let go?”
His friend didn’t answer directly, instead saying softly, “The Dao Master once told me that only by conquering one’s inner demon can one find true freedom.”
“My friend…”
“But what if one falls in love with their inner demon? What if it can’t be conquered or released?”
Sharing his friend’s sorrow, Nan Yi said, “You stand in a precarious position.”
“Indeed. One step back, and it’s an abyss… Sometimes I think, walking alone through purgatory is too lonely. Don’t you agree, Yigu?”
At the time, Nan Yi thought his friend was merely going through a phase and would overcome it given his cultivation. He comforted him for a while and gifted him the “Night Ballad.” After his friend left, Nan Yi told Jiao’er he was going to see his family—to attend his elder sister’s union ceremony and to inform his relatives of his intention to marry Jiao’er.
Old Lady Gu was delighted, daily combing and styling Jiao’er’s hair while singing traditional pre-wedding songs. Only Jiao’er grew more worried each day.
“When I return, can you give me an answer?” Nan Yi’s voice was full of hope.
He didn’t notice Jiao’er’s concern.
“Alright, I’ll wait for your return.”
The day after Nan Yi left, his friend came again. This time, Jiao’er couldn’t avoid him.
“Do you know what happens when a cultivator marries a demon?” His friend seemed well-intentioned, his words carrying a note of caution. “I don’t judge your feelings for each other, but you shouldn’t deceive him… Have you considered how he might hate you if he learns you’re a demon?”
“I…”
“He’ll be mocked by the entire cultivation world for proposing to a demon. Has Yigu told you what happens to cultivators who marry outside their kind?”
“What… happens?”
His friend’s expression was disarmingly gentle: “Intermarriage is seen as treason. The demon is killed, and the human has all memories of the demon erased. They’re branded as traitors and sentenced to guard the Demon-Sealing Array until they’ve slain a million demons. Only then are they released.”
The peaceful life Jiao’er had known began to crumble. Her intelligence, inferior to the demon nobles under the Demon-Sealing Array, had never been informed of the catastrophe that wanting to grow old with a cultivator could bring upon him.
“What should I… do?”
“If you can let go, leave now and enter the depths of the Demon-Sealing Array, never to return. If you can’t… then bid him farewell. He hasn’t left Yin State yet.”
The friend’s departing figure seemed like a demonic temptation. Jiao’er remembered Nan Yi asking for her answer before he left, which she hadn’t given yet.
No one had warned Jiao’er about the dangers of leaving the North Sea and entering human territory.
…
“Ah Yan, wake up.”
Ji Yang forcibly stopped the Huangquan Mirror. When Nan Yan broke free from this illusion, her Buddhist robe was soaked with cold sweat. The final vision showed Jiao’er, on her way to find Nan Yi, surrounded by over ten greedy cultivators who forced her into her demon form, broke her bones, and sealed her acupoints.
Opening her eyes, Nan Yan felt Ji Yang’s hand on her forehead, cool spiritual energy flowing through her meridians.
“How do you feel?”
“I’m fine. It was just an illusion of being attacked by Foundation Building cultivators.” Compared to the previous Linglong Capital illusion, this was minor, but understanding the context, Nan Yan’s expression darkened.
“So he was behind it all.”
Nan Yi’s friend, whom she’d seen in the Panyin Temple illusion, was rumored to be the Dao Sheng Heaven’s ruler, the cultivation world’s number one.
Ji Yang let Nan Yan catch her breath. “I know what you want to say. You could argue he lured Jiao’er from the North Sea, leading to her capture and auction in Linglong Capital. But can you say he was wrong?”
Nan Yan gripped her prayer beads, steadying herself. “We’re biased because we saw Jiao’er being flayed alive earlier. To outsiders, this Dao Sheng Heaven ruler, as uncle’s ‘friend,’ did nothing wrong even if the Huangquan Mirror’s scenes were made public. He might even be seen as loyal and righteous.”
He had only suggested Jiao’er should leave Nan Yi for his sake, not encouraged her to seek him out. The greedy cultivators weren’t under his command either.
“This is an open conspiracy,” Nan Yan felt deeply powerless. “We’ve finally identified the prime suspect, but after all this investigation, we haven’t gathered any convincing evidence. Even if I want to exonerate uncle, I don’t know where to start.”
Sighing, Nan Yan sat beside Ji Yang. “You’ve expended significant spiritual energy manipulating the Huangquan Mirror across months in a breath. I have some spirit-gathering pills. Take them and rest.”
“It’s fine. My constitution is unique; pills aren’t very effective for me. Just talk to me,” Ji Yang leaned against a reef, his spiritual energy completely drained. “Don’t be too discouraged. There’s a saying in the Upper States: ‘No master is without flaws.’ If everyone could find his weakness, how could Dao Sheng Heaven remain stable until now?”
“True, but what’s his motive? Is it just to disrupt my mother’s marriage to the Dragon Lord?”
“If that’s all, it seems overly complicated.”
Nan Yan couldn’t forget Ying Zewei’s gaze at Nan Rao in the Sick Drunken Qin illusion… It wasn’t the look of someone who could think calmly.
“Let’s follow your earlier suggestion and inform Uncle about this, see if he has any information.” As they spoke, dawn broke. Just then, one of Yin Ya’s paper cranes arrived, relaying news of encountering the Ji State Young Lord in the market.
“The Demon-Sealing Array will be opened at the sea barrier ten miles away by Ji State forces. How timely,” Ji Yang said after hearing the message. He turned to see Nan Yan stretching and asked, “What are you doing?”
Nan Yan: “Ji State is full of demon cultivators, right?”
Ji Yang: “Correct.”
Nan Yan: “Well, I recently studied Buddhism in Mao State and had some insights. I’ve been wanting to discuss them with demon cultivator friends.”
Seeing her determination, Ji Yang attempted to dissuade her: “I’ve expended too much energy. I’m afraid I can’t move for now.”
“Oh, no worries.” Nan Yan produced a wheelchair from her spatial bag and helped Ji Yang into it.
Ji Yang: “…This wheelchair?”
Feeling something was missing, Nan Yan examined him briefly, then placed a feather fan in his hand, finally satisfied.
“I confiscated this from a crippled demon cultivator during a previous demon-slaying mission. I thought it looked nice, so I kept it. You don’t need to do anything; just sit here and strategize. Today, I’ll be your Zhao Zilong of Changshan.”
“…”