The stone grotto was utterly silent in the night. The several burly men stood rooted to the spot like wooden posts. He Bang used Chunyu Lin as a backrest and stretched out a long, languid stretch. Eating always made her drowsy, and she inevitably let out a yawn.

Chunyu Lin’s slender, clean fingers pressed gently on her shoulders, his lips brushing past her delicate earlobe, his smile alluring enough to captivate cities: “Your Majesty… are you not the least bit curious about what it was they actually intended to do?”

The great He Bang found sitting on a man’s back uncomfortable regardless, and so she simply shifted into her river clam form and curled up in Chunyu Lin’s arms, her whole body emanating the scent of garlic river clam: “Do what?”

“Nothing at all!” Chunyu Lin answered quickly and decisively.

This river clam had poor sleeping habits and was always drooling. Chunyu Lin truly did not want to share such an intimate state of coexistence with her and had no choice but to pull out a piece of shark silk gauze and press it over the fine gap between her two shells. After roughly the time it takes to burn two sticks of incense, He Bang had already been sleeping and drooling freely — when she suddenly spoke up again: “Rong Chen Zi is coming. You should go.”

Chunyu Lin acknowledged this and set her gently down on one of the men’s backs, then turned to leave. But she suddenly shifted back into human form, raised a pale hand, and a sheet of deep blue water ripples spread out in all directions — and before Chunyu Lin’s eyes, the scene went dark, and in an instant he found himself more than ten li away!

Water Escape!

The Water Escape technique was a water-element spell capable of traversing a thousand li within a body of water, though on land its power was greatly diminished. Those who used it generally needed to deliberately create a body of water first in order to move through it unhindered. But a water-element inner cultivator who could casually escape ten-odd li on dry land — even in the Eastern Sea, such individuals could be counted on one hand.

Chunyu Lin walked forward with an unhurried grace, and his mind became clear — no wonder the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea had been perfectly willing to bestow upon her the title of Sea Emperor, keeping her out of sight and out of mind.

He did not know very much about this river clam’s origins either. He had originally been a golden carp with considerable spiritual essence living in the Jialing River. One day, disaster fell from the sky and a fisherman’s net hauled him up onto a fishing boat. By great fortune, this river clam happened to be in the net as well — fast asleep and drooling away as she always was. Upon waking, she had proceeded to playact as both fisherman and goldfish, telling the fisherman to go home and ask his wife if she wanted a sturdy wooden basin.

The result was that the moment she opened her mouth and spoke, the fisherman screamed and leapt into the river to flee. ＝_＝

This creature, finding herself at loose ends, decided she couldn’t let herself have been netted for nothing. So she tucked this carp that appeared to have considerable spiritual essence into her shell and swam off in the direction of the sea.

Although she always insisted she had only been looking for a souvenir from the inland river, Chunyu Lin remained firmly convinced that this glutton had simply wanted a reserve supply of provisions — the reason being that one day, he discovered she was researching red-braised carp…

There is no reasoning with a glutton. He took precautions, and for a good while neither ate nor drank, maintaining a strict diet of starvation until he was nothing but skin and bones. Finally one night, she felt his true form and wore an expression of deep disappointment — nothing but fish scales, nothing much worth eating…

And so she gave him a name — Pure Fish Scales…

Later, when the Eastern Sea pacified her as Sea Emperor and required a register of officials, she was self-aware enough to know that this name was hardly befitting of a High Priest’s dignity, so with one bold stroke of her brush she changed it to the homophone Chunyu Lin.

Chunyu Lin walked slowly toward the sea. He Bang had shifted back into human form. The six men seemed to snap back to their senses all at once, and looking at the lovely young woman sitting on the stone slab — pure as a small white wildflower — several brawny men felt a vague and inexplicable dread stir in their hearts.

“Boss, this woman is a bit uncanny.” The men began to whisper among themselves. They had no memory whatsoever of what had happened just now, as though they had dreamed a dream with no content. But how did this steaming iron pot, the minced garlic, the shredded green peppers, and the pastry crumbs scattered everywhere come to be here?!

The leader seemed to think it over: “Who the hell cares — how uncanny can one woman be! Brothers, move in!”

He Bang was also somewhat curious — just what exactly had these people abducted her for…

The several burly men carefully drew closer. Lust had blinded their judgment after all. The lead man reached out and touched He Bang’s flawless and delicate cheek, found nothing amiss, and immediately emboldened himself. He then stuck out his blackened tongue to lick her moist earlobe.

This river clam immediately fixed him with a furious glare — That stinking Chunyu Lin — and he said they didn’t want to eat This Seat!! His tongue stretched out this far already! Just wait until I get back and pull out every last one of your fish scales!!

She rolled aside to dodge, but the six men were not about to let her go and immediately surrounded her. When Rong Chen Zi followed the paper crane into the stone grotto, this was the scene that greeted him. Qingsu, following behind him, could sense his fury from a great distance. He took up his horsetail whisk and beat the several burly men until they were crying and calling out for mercy, pleading with the Reverend to spare their lives.

The great He Bang fluttered toward him like a butterfly: “Rong Chen Zi, what took you so long! They wanted to eat me!” She pointed with damning certainty at the iron pot inside and the minced garlic and shredded green peppers. “Look, look — they even had the seasonings ready!” She then pointed at the lead man. “And he tried to bite my ear!”

“…” With a soft and fragrant warmth in his arms, emanating from skin of ice and bone of jade — together with a lingering and persistent smell of garlic — Rong Chen Zi’s fury dissipated alongside his exhaustion. He looked at He Bang, her face full of indignation, and before she could react he flicked her on the forehead with his finger.

Not everyone is like you, only knowing how to eat, you know!!

Leaving the stone grotto, the sky was full of stars.

Rong Chen Zi ordered Qingsu and Qing Ling to escort the six burly men to the magistrate’s office, hoping to find other women who had been abducted. He carried He Bang as he walked along the dirt road on the outskirts of town. The night breeze was faintly cool, stirring her hair that floated like silk and clouds. The air carried the fragrance of golden osmanthus — and the smell of garlic on He Bang.

Rong Chen Zi let out a sigh. He had spent so long searching for her using the Immortal Crane Tracking Technique, and he was genuinely a little tired. Yet now, with her held in his arms, the heart that had been suspended in anxiety seemed at last to settle back into place.

“Old Daoist…” He Bang wrapped both arms around his neck, her voice soft and clear. Rong Chen Zi responded in a low voice: “Mm?”

This river clam had absolutely no self-awareness: “What’s that smell on you — it’s awful!!”

Rong Chen Zi let out a sigh and suddenly set her down. He retrieved the horsetail whisk from his back, pointed it at the ground, and traced out a circle of earth roughly one zhang or more in diameter, murmuring an incantation under his breath. In just a short while, that circled area flickered with a soft glow and transformed into a small pool of clear green water.

Rong Chen Zi placed He Bang in her true form into the water, then pinched up a handful of earth and formed another hand seal while chanting the incantation again. He crumbled the earth between his fingers and used it to scrub her clamshell. Before long, every trace of foul odor on this river clam was gone, replaced by a refreshing scent of mint.

This river clam had rarely witnessed authentic Daoist techniques and was so delighted her eyes filled with light: “Wow wow wow, old Daoist, you’re so amazing!!” She nudged up to Rong Chen Zi with her shell to flatter him. “Old Daoist, can you draw a few green onion braised sea cucumber ones…”

Rong Chen Zi found himself both amused and exasperated, as utterly helpless with her as ever: “Let’s go. I’ll take you to eat something.”

They were now some distance from Lingxia Town, but everyone in the group had their own way of travelling. He Bang excelled at Water Escape, and the Daoist methods were varied and many — riding a sword, treading on clouds, commanding a beast — traversing a thousand li as if it were right at hand, all extremely convenient.

But to avoid startling the mundane world, and also to let He Bang see something entertaining, Rong Chen Zi folded a paper talisman into a horse. The moment the horse was folded, he murmured the incantation softly, and the paper-thin white horse reared up with a light whinny — and just like that it became a magnificent steed. He Bang was thrilled beyond measure: “Wow wow wow, old Daoist, can you fold a donkey?!”

Rong Chen Zi ignored her, pulled her up onto the horse, and the fine steed flew like the wind. In just a short while they had arrived at an inn in the small town. A young attendant came out to welcome guests, and upon seeing a scholar in a crown and robe leading a beautiful young woman, could not help but steal a few extra glances. Rong Chen Zi’s expression flickered with a mild awkwardness, but he did not let go of her hand, leading He Bang directly into a private room.

He Bang had eaten quite a lot earlier, so she was not particularly hungry at the moment — but she could still find it in herself to think about donkeys: “Wow wow wow, old Daoist, fold me a donkey…”

Rong Chen Zi could not understand her fixation on donkeys. After she had pestered him relentlessly, this creature finally confessed the truth: “Well… I heard there’s a dish called donkey meat buns…”

Rong Chen Zi felt a deep sadness…

He dipped a finger in water and drew a talisman on a piece of yellow-bordered paper: “Fold it yourself.”

This river clam found the whole thing so novel that even the dozen or so pastries and sweets the attendant brought in could no longer command her full attention. She held up the talisman against the candlelight and examined it from this angle and that, then with great excitement set her hands to folding a donkey.

After a long while, a paper donkey emerged fresh from her efforts. Rong Chen Zi blew a gentle breath on it, and the paper donkey duly transformed into a creature with pointy ears, a rat-like snout, buck teeth, a big belly, and a long tail. Rong Chen Zi examined it from all sides and was silent for a long while: “This… is a donkey?”

The great He Bang was bursting with pride: “What do you think — looks just like one, doesn’t it? I saw one by the banks of the Jialing River, wahahahaha! Take it to the kitchen and make donkey meat buns, wow wow wow…”

She scampered downstairs gleefully. Rong Chen Zi pressed a hand to his forehead: “Your memory is quite something… just don’t go eating something poisonous…”

Sure enough, a moment later a scream rang out from downstairs: “What in the—! Where did this demon beast come from…”