In late March, Rong Chen Zi set aside all other matters and specifically took He Bang to the temple fair at Guangyu Temple. When it was time to leave, He Bang was still reluctant to part with Qingzhen and Ye Tian, but both Ye Tian and Qingzhen knew that the two needed more time together, and they joined in coaxing her along. That morning, after He Bang finished breakfast, Ye Tian dressed her up beautifully, and she followed Rong Chen Zi down the mountain.

The Guangyu Temple fair was the grandest celebration in the area. The streets were crowded with people, and Rong Chen Zi carried He Bang through the throngs. She still appeared as a young girl, even her speech soft and babyish, delicate and tender in every way. A Daoist carrying a little girl through the streets was naturally a strange sight — but fearing she might get lost, Rong Chen Zi could not worry about appearances.

The fair ran for three days. In the wide open space outside Guangyu Temple, food stalls stretched the entire length of the grounds. He Bang was overjoyed. Rong Chen Zi led her from one end to the other, trying every single item without exception. She ate her way from soft bean curd all the way to grilled meat skewers, and in the end was reduced to a pitiful, sniffling state by a bowl of spicy offal. Rong Chen Zi bought her a pomelo drink. She drank a large cup through teary eyes, and as they were finishing, she caught sight of a dish called clams in black bean sauce with peppers. She eagerly moved to order it. Rong Chen Zi hurriedly stopped her, bent down, and wiped the residue of chili pepper from the corner of her mouth: “…Even this you won’t spare?”

That evening, outside the fairground, a troupe had set up to perform opera. Rong Chen Zi took He Bang to watch for half the night, then brought her to have pig’s trotter noodles before finally returning to the inn for the night. He Bang had never had strong stamina to begin with, and by now she was exhausted beyond measure — yet she was still playing with the dozen or so candy-sculpted cows she had collected, each one a different color and shape. Rong Chen Zi carried her back to the room, set her on the bed, and drew water to bathe her.

She arranged all her candy cows neatly in a brush holder, stripped off her clothes, and dove into the bathing tub. Rong Chen Zi could not help but look away. After a moment, he pressed his lips together, as if making up his mind, and took up the fragrant ointment to wash her. Her skin was as smooth and tender as always — but that little body had not yet begun to develop; small as it was, it stirred no improper thoughts. Rong Chen Zi was a man of moral integrity to begin with, and so he bathed He Bang with meticulous, unhurried thoroughness.

Before the bath was even finished, He Bang had already fallen asleep. Afraid she would catch a chill, Rong Chen Zi found a clean large towel to wrap her in and carried her back to the bed.

She had worn herself out during the day, and this sleep was exceptionally deep. Listening to the soft sound of her breathing, Rong Chen Zi drifted off into a deep slumber without noticing.

The next day, He Bang slept until the sun was high in the sky. When she woke, Rong Chen Zi was already fully dressed and breakfast was laid out on the table. She cheered and sat down at the table. Rong Chen Zi washed her face and hands for her, then sat down with her to eat. She ate without any table manners whatsoever; this time Rong Chen Zi did not correct her: “Your previous years of martial cultivation — what did you do?”

“Martial cultivation?” He Bang was still young in this form, and her memories of earlier times were fragmented and incomplete. Rong Chen Zi guided her patiently: “For example, your master, your senior brothers, or Jiang Haoran and the others — what did they all do on an ordinary day?”

He Bang stuffed a crab roe bun into her mouth: “We rarely got to see Master. He didn’t let us say we were his disciples. Our senior brother was the one who looked after us.”

Rong Chen Zi rarely heard her speak of the past. He did not interrupt now, quietly serving her more food. She ate and thought at the same time: “Later, he was killed by someone. The ones who killed him all had shaved heads. And after that our lives became very difficult. The demon creatures on Fuyu Mountain were many and fierce, and we were constantly bullied — always without food to eat.”

Rong Chen Zi listened attentively. He Bang counted slowly, one by one: “Senior Brother would take us out to look for food. He was still very good to us — whenever he found something to eat, he would always share it with me and Junior Sister. But later… later, when we were caught in danger, he grabbed me and ran, and left Junior Sister behind.”

She seemed to see again the blood spreading and dispersing through the water on that day. She trembled slightly. Rong Chen Zi quickly drew her close. She did not cry; too much time had passed. Even the deepest grief eventually fades: “And later, when we were in danger again, Senior Brother ran and left me behind. There were water-clan creatures on all sides coming to fight over food — so many, so many.” She stared with her wide, watery eyes and made an exaggerated gesture to show just how many. “I thought I was done for, but then a great roc-bird snatched me up. It couldn’t pry open my shell and, besides, I practiced internal cultivation, so it simply brought me along on its hunt for food. Our diets were not the same, but when I was desperately hungry, I would still eat a little bird or a small rabbit. Later, Senior Brother did come looking for me. At the time I thought he was terrible, and I never spoke another word to him.”

Those days were already very distant now. She narrated in her soft, babyish voice, and Rong Chen Zi nodded from time to time. Then something seemed to occur to her: “And later… later, when there was danger once, Jiang Haoran happened to be passing through. He had Eastern Sea people with him, and the water-clan creatures didn’t dare provoke them, and scattered and fled. He saved me, and I stayed in the Jiang household. At the time Jiang Haoran was still very young — he had just barely managed to take human form, but he was the heir of the Jiang family, so his standing was very high. And besides, there were few demon creatures in the Jialing River, but plenty of food. Following him meant eating one’s fill.”

Rong Chen Zi sensed something had been left out in between. Then He Bang gradually lowered her head: “That great roc-bird… at the time, it was genuinely too dangerous. They drove a wedge between us. When I managed to escape through the water to the bank… I couldn’t bring it with me.” And so in the memories of the many, many years that followed, she had always deliberately avoided thinking of it, treating it as though it had never existed. “I hated Senior Brother for many, many years. But it wasn’t until that moment, watching the blood in the water grow thicker and thicker, that I understood — Senior Brother had never truly wronged me. I had no right to hate him. He had already gone far beyond what was owed to me in terms of kindness and loyalty. What a pity that by the time I understood this, there was no longer any chance to tell him.”

Rong Chen Zi drew her into his arms. She pressed her face against his chest and said in a muffled voice: “The things that came after — you already know all of them.”

Rong Chen Zi tightened his arms around her, holding her securely: “If… and I say if — if you were still Jiang Haoran’s internal cultivator, and in the face of danger, you had no other choice — would you abandon him?”

He Bang narrowed her eyes and thought carefully: “Probably, yes. Because when it truly comes to a moment where there is no other option, he would certainly abandon me too. The partnership between an internal cultivator and a martial cultivator — life is the final line. Escaping when your life is genuinely at stake has never been considered a betrayal.”

Rong Chen Zi stroked the hair at her temple. So much time had passed — so much that the little demon creature who once despised her own senior brother could now regard choices of abandonment and sacrifice with equanimity. He held her in silence: “Are you lonely? From the time you first formed a human consciousness — are you lonely?”

He Bang did not answer.

If every person who lived beside you day and night was no more than a mutually beneficial arrangement — across thousands of years of time, how could one not be lonely?

“I will spend whatever years I have left at your side,” Rong Chen Zi kissed her on the forehead. “From now on… neither of us will be alone.”

After breakfast, Rong Chen Zi took He Bang to catch fish at Mingxi Spring. He Bang was overjoyed at the sight of water, splashing and tumbling about inside. Rong Chen Zi did not bother with her, found a shaded spot for himself, sat beneath a tree, and kept an eye on things. By the time he had read half a page of Records of the Celestial Collection, he looked up — and the river clam who had just been happily playing in the water was nowhere to be found. Rong Chen Zi was alarmed and shot to his feet. She was an immortal body now, and the methods he used against demons would do nothing to her. And they were in the water — she had countless ways of concealing her presence and aura.

Rong Chen Zi grew urgent: “Xiao He?!”

He stepped down into the streambed — the water came up to his knees — and river clams were plentiful in the water, but he had no idea which one she was.

Rong Chen Zi was ordinarily a composed person who placed great stock in his appearance. Right now he had no time to care. He rolled up his sleeves and searched in every direction. The river clam was also mischievous; she had hidden herself somewhere and, no matter how Rong Chen Zi called and called, she made not a single sound. Rong Chen Zi’s heart sank. He understood clearly — they were in the water. If he didn’t find her now, there was no telling where she might drift off to.

She still wanted to leave.

In the past, he would never have compelled anyone to stay against their will. But now he was no longer willing to hold fast to some notion of gentlemanly conduct. If she left, he would become the past — like Jiang Haoran, like Chunyu Lin. She would go on living happily regardless; she might return to the Eastern Sea and find a new martial cultivator, spending her days eating and drinking, using food to soothe whatever troubles lay in her heart.

He was not willing to simply become the past.

The streambed was quiet and secluded, with no other people about. Rong Chen Zi searched for a moment, then suddenly turned and went up onto the bank. His voice was very soft, yet carried an authority that brooked no argument: “You cannot leave. Come out.”

The water showed no movement at all. Without delay he established a formation to seal off all four directions, then sat back down beneath the shade of the tree, his tone unhurried: “When you’re hungry, come out. I’ll take you for braised abalone soup at noon.” There was no response. He was in no rush. His wet clothes — he expelled the moisture with inner energy.

The two, one person and one clam, remained in this stalemate until midday, when a string of bubbles suddenly emerged from a crack in a rock near the base of the mountain. Rong Chen Zi shook his head: “Come out. We’re going.”

No sound. Rong Chen Zi was still worried she was hungry, and could not help coaxing again: “Good girl. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at Yuanxiang Pavilion is very famous. Come on, let’s go.”

After a long while, a muffled voice came from inside the rock crack: “For the love of — come here and pull me out, I’m stuck!!”

Rong Chen Zi laughed despite himself. He went back down into the water and fished her out, being careful not to scratch her shell, and examined her thoroughly. He Bang reverted to human form, panting from exhaustion. She was still indignant: “If I hadn’t gotten stuck, I’d have been long gone by now! Your formation means nothing to me!”

Rong Chen Zi held her in his arms. He bit open his index finger and pressed it to her forehead, leaving a vivid red beauty mark there. He Bang felt a burning sensation on her forehead and immediately reached up to touch it, but naturally felt nothing. Her expression filled with alarm: “What did you do?”

Rong Chen Zi’s pace did not slow: “Stop fussing. If we wait any longer, there’ll be nothing left to eat.”