Rong Chen Zi carried He Bang all the way back to his bedchamber. Although he had been away from Qingxu Monastery for some days, his room was kept spotlessly clean by someone who swept it daily — still immaculate, untouched by dust. Entering the inner chamber, Rong Chen Zi set her down on the couch. He Bang was somewhat uneasy and wrapped her arms around his neck, refusing to let him leave. Rong Chen Zi soothed her gently: “Be good. I’m just going to fetch a ritual instrument — I’ll be right back.” He Bang stared at him with wide, round eyes: “You’re not going to not come back, are you?” Rong Chen Zi carefully pried her hands away: “Trust me.”

He had barely stepped out the door when he ran into Ye Tian, hurrying toward him with quick steps. Ye Tian flung the riding whip in her hand to the ground, her expression taut with anxiety: “Senior Brother, her heart meridian has been severed and her life’s measure is spent — how can she possibly be saved?”

Rong Chen Zi paused mid-step, then after a long moment said: “A severed heart meridian can be reconnected. And a spent life’s measure can also be borrowed.”

Ye Tian was stunned. After quite some time she said in a daze: “Senior Brother — to borrow a life? But Master said that technique is a forbidden art of our school…” Rong Chen Zi raised a hand to stop her from saying more, his voice tinged with a quiet sigh: “Precisely because Master repeatedly cautioned us it was forbidden, I never studied it deeply, and I have no great confidence in it now. The situation arose suddenly — the only way forward is to attempt it first and continue working it out as we go.” Ye Tian gazed steadily at his face, not another word needed; she knew he had already made up his mind. She could only agree.

The two of them went to Wuliang Cave and gathered all the texts related to the life-borrowing technique. He Bang lay quietly on the couch. Qingxuan came to look in on her several times and, following Rong Chen Zi’s instructions, made sure she had enough water. He Bang could feel her primordial soul scattering, and her heart grew more and more anxious — but she forced herself to stay still. A primordial soul concentrates in stillness and disperses in movement; she had to hold on a little longer. Perhaps Rong Chen Zi truly had a way. Qingsu also came to check on her, but with Rong Chen Zi’s instructions, no one dared disturb her. From outside the room came Qingzhen’s hushed voice: “She nearly harmed Master last time — how is it that Master has brought her back again?” Qingsu sighed: “She really has our Master completely wrapped around her finger.” Qingsu’s voice was despondent: “Let’s just hope this doesn’t end with braised immortal meat — that would be a betrayal of Master and all our ancestors…” Finally Qingxuan’s voice: “Don’t cluster around here — go see to your own duties.”

He Bang lay quietly still, her black hair flowing like ink across the pillow beside her. After her departure, Rong Chen Zi had ordered Qingxuan to clear out of the room everything that had belonged to her, but this inner chamber he had never quite figured out what to do with, and so it had not been much disturbed. An upright and open-hearted man, he was not someone with many secrets — even the things on the couch were all perfectly proper and above reproach; there was truly nowhere one could find anything unfit to be seen. This inner chamber had also been left behind by Zixin Daozhang, and it was of no great use to him.

He Bang had not had a moment like this in a long time — to simply lie still and let her thoughts roam quietly. Right now she was as fragile as an infant; even a child of three feet could walk in and end her life. And yet she had no way to save herself. Her chest ached as though a hollow had been torn open within it, and she lacked even the strength to lift her hand. A being who had lived for thousands of years rarely entrusted her life to another. Aside from her own physical cultivation, she trusted no one. And yet here she was, lying in a Daoist monastery, waiting for a Daoist to save her — a Daoist who would perhaps have to expend a great deal of effort. She stared blankly up at the canopy of the bed. Incense could not be burned in the room. She was now a creature of demonic nature, and her qi and meridians were so faint and fragile. The monastery enshrined the many deities of the Three Purities and Four Sovereigns, and fearing that the celestial spiritual energy might harm her, Rong Chen Zi had ordered Qingxuan to clear out all the ritual instruments. Before long, Qingxuan and Qingsu came back in, moving with light and careful steps, and lit many lotus-shaped oil lamps, arranging them in what looked like a formation — though she did not dare move much, and could not clearly make out what formation it was. The light in the room gradually brightened, and the dark gold glow illuminated her scarlet robes, making her beauty all the more sultry and intoxicating. Rong Chen Zi’s disciples were mostly upright people — Qingxuan and Qingsu glanced at her only once before hastily averting their eyes and exiting the inner chamber.

When Rong Chen Zi entered with Ye Tian, He Bang still could not move. Ye Tian came forward to help her undress, and He Bang wrinkled her lips in displeasure. Ye Tian was equally irritated: “You think I want to do this?! Whatever you have, I have too!” Upon hearing this, He Bang glanced down briefly at the open ground below, then looked back at her own peaks with a downward tilt of her head. Ye Tian was so furious she nearly hurled the thing in her hand to the floor. Rong Chen Zi’s face turned slightly red — he was in a rather awkward position. He turned away, tied a red thread around his own middle finger, then pricked his fingertip so that the thread was stained red. Ye Tian removed all of He Bang’s clothing, let out a cold snort, and though her manner was disdainful, she could not help stealing a few extra glances. He Bang’s skin was as white as snow and smooth and tender to the touch — truly deserving of the description “jade bones and icy skin.” Despite her habit of eating and drinking without restraint, her waist was slender to an extreme, and where she was supposed to be generous, it was beyond the capacity of one’s hand. Ye Tian dared not look any further. She was not normally a person given to idle thoughts, but somehow she suddenly recalled the scene of He Bang and her senior brother entwined together that night. How had Senior Brother made love to her that night… this body… had Senior Brother caressed it? He… must have liked it very much indeed… Two burning clouds flared hot on her cheeks. Her gaze drifted upward, and she could not help but notice the wound on He Bang’s chest. Liu Qinfang’s blade had struck with ruthless intent — entirely bent on ending He Bang’s life.

Rong Chen Zi was deeply awkward as well. He bound the red thread from his finger to the middle finger of He Bang’s right hand, then took up a roll of red thread of some unknown material — so fine it was finer than a strand of hair; held up against the lamplight one could faintly see a hidden shimmer flowing through it. He sat down beside the couch. The silver hooks at the couch’s edge gathered the gauze curtains, and in the lamplight the room was suffused with a springtime glow. His face flushed, he reached out across the air and drew out He Bang’s heart. He Bang’s body went numb and she suddenly lost all sensation. Her eyes widened in terror as she stared at Rong Chen Zi.

Rong Chen Zi used a stone box shaped like an inkstone, filled halfway with a red clay-like substance, and proceeded — to actually mend the heart by replacement. But the moment the heart was in his hands, he suddenly furrowed his brow — aside from the fresh blade wounds, He Bang’s heart bore old scars as well. The old injuries appeared to be very precise, not having reached the heart chambers. And the scarring had already faded to an extremely faint trace — had he not been obliged to mend the heart, he would never have noticed.

He used the red thread to reconnect her meridians, then dipped his fingertip in the clay-like substance and focused intently on repairing the heart. Blood vessels had their limits; the heart could not be too far from the body. He was nearly lying flat against He Bang’s chest, a faint sweet fragrance drifting around him — he had to exert tremendous effort to restrain his gaze and keep himself from noticing the lofty peaks rising before him. Ye Tian was constantly leafing through the volume titled Life-Borrowing Technique, moving among the lotus lamps, arranging the ritual instruments Rong Chen Zi would need in order, afraid of missing anything. He Bang lay on her back with nothing to do, and could only study the enlarged face of Rong Chen Zi before her. Rong Chen Zi’s eyebrows were very thick and dense, his nose bridge high and straight — his eyes, too, were nothing like Chunyu Lin’s double-phoenix eyes, but they always carried a sharp and austere spirit within them. His face overall was very firm and striking in its lines. Yet he always wore that imperturbable, old-before-his-time expression — as though he had long since seen through every worldly affair, utterly devoid of youthful spirit — and for no particular reason he gave off the air of an old man. On an ordinary road, He Bang would never have been willing to stand alongside him; at the very least there would have been a gap of two full generations between them. Now that He Bang was no longer in pain, she started feeling a bit smug — someone like that ages quickly, unlike herself: forever youthful, eternally at the blooming age of a young maiden.

Rong Chen Zi held his breath and focused entirely on repairing the heart, his peripheral vision never straying anywhere else. He Bang opened her mouth and silently yawned — she was growing a little drowsy.

Rong Chen Zi noticed immediately. He swiftly tightened the red thread on his own left middle finger, deepening the wound so the thread’s color grew even more vivid. Only then did he glance at He Bang, his voice low in warning: “Don’t fall asleep.”

He Bang nodded and forced her eyelids open with great effort — she wanted to live. Thousands of years of time, having endured more partings and sorrows and joys than could be counted, and yet she still feared death, still wanted to go on living. She wanted to keep watching the sunrise over the sea, keep listening to the seagulls sing, keep counting the tides of morning and dusk, keep eating all those delicious things.

Rong Chen Zi did not dare lean on her — repairing a heart was extremely delicate work, with so many blood vessels, none could be missed. His arms had long since gone numb, and beads of sweat were threatening to fall from his brow. He Bang, with great effort, lifted her right hand. He furrowed his brow slightly: “Don’t move about.” He Bang curled the corner of her mouth, and with her small hand, gently helped him wipe away the sweat beading on his forehead. It was a tiny gesture, and it cost her tremendous effort to carry out. Rong Chen Zi did not stop her — it was good to have something to do; it would keep her from falling asleep. After a full half-hour, Rong Chen Zi at last placed the heart back in her chest. He cleared away the broken bone fragments in He Bang’s chest, then finally looked at her properly: “How do you feel?”

He Bang knitted her brow — she was genuinely skeptical of mystical techniques: “I can’t feel like I have a chest at all.”

Rong Chen Zi’s face flushed slightly. He picked up He Bang’s shark-silk cloth and, with five fingers, gently pressed down on He Bang’s acupoints through the fine silk, beginning from her chest. His rough fingertips occasionally brushed over He Bang’s twin peaks, making his expression even more awkward. He Bang pursed her lips: “It’s not as if you haven’t touched them before.” Rong Chen Zi gave a dry cough and admonished her quietly: “Stop talking nonsense.” Past her chest, he gradually increased his pressure, but his attention remained fixed entirely on the region of her chest — that heart was beginning to beat slowly, at first so slowly it was barely perceptible. He pressed downward along through the fine silk, and by the time he reached her lower abdomen, his own heart was beating violently, his throat also growing a little dry. He was not a man who easily harbored improper thoughts, and at that moment he felt a deep sense of shame stir within him — he silently recited the Sutra of Purity and Stillness once more. Ye Tian was still behind him, but he could not ask for her help — he understood He Bang’s damaged heart meridian better, and knew which acupoints required particular care. He continued to press carefully along that smooth and silken skin. He Bang’s heartbeat slowly revived. Her large round eyes filled once more with tears: “Zhiguan — it hurts!”

Rong Chen Zi let out a soft breath, but his hands did not stop: “Bear with it.” His white robes were covered in mud and grime — only his two hands were clean and spotless. Ye Tian heard He Bang’s voice and walked over. Unable to bear seeing Rong Chen Zi so exhausted, she took off her shoes and climbed onto the couch: “Senior Brother, go and freshen up first — I’ll take over and stimulate her blood circulation.” Rong Chen Zi hesitated briefly. Ye Tian added: “Borrowing a life is a great matter — you need to restore your vital energy as well.” Rong Chen Zi had no choice but to nod: “Very well.” He glanced at the red thread on his own left middle finger, then hesitated once more: “Let me wait a little longer.” He reached out and touched He Bang’s forehead, his gesture gentle: “Do you still feel like sleeping?”

He Bang saw in his eyes a fatigue he could not conceal, and gave a small shake of her head: “I’m not drowsy anymore.” Only then was Rong Chen Zi reassured. He formed the hand seal again, bent his fingers, and snapped the red thread linked between them.

He stepped out of the inner chamber, and Qingxuan quickly brought hot water for him to wash up. The young Daoist disciples came by from time to time to see if their master had any further instructions. Seeing their master — who was always as vigorous as a dragon — in such a state of exhaustion, all of them were alarmed. This… this… this! As expected, the demon had been draining his life essence! In such a short time, this demon river clam had already wrung their master dry like this…