The entrance to the guesthouse opened onto a large stretch of ribbon flower. It was the height of the blooming season, and from a distance the scene was truly as splendid as a tapestry of flowers. The town mayor, Minister Liu, and others accompanied Rong Chen Zi inside. Even as he spoke in reply, Rong Chen Zi’s gaze kept flickering toward He Bang, who was running ahead.

Her figure passed quickly through the corridor, and two maidservants led her to a room to rest. Only then did Rong Chen Zi draw his attention back. The town mayor was asking with careful trepidation: “Zhiguan, our town… will anything else happen, will it not?”

Rong Chen Zi felt much the same helplessness inwardly — in the human world, in affairs both great and small, was there ever truly any such thing as permanent safety or a lifetime of smooth sailing? Yet to put the crowd’s minds at ease, he gave a slight nod: “Lingxia Town is rich in spiritual energy, and has always been a place of blessings. As long as everyone does good and accumulates virtue, good fortune is certain to come.”

The words amounted to nothing definitive, yet coming from him they carried a weight all their own, and everyone present immediately felt their hearts ease.

This ceremony was what was called a Yang Rite — a ceremony performed for the living, primarily used to pray for divine blessings against misfortune and to protect the safety of the people. Such a ceremony posed no real difficulty for Rong Chen Zi, yet he still bathed and changed his robes, treating it with the utmost solemnity. Minister Liu had been pressing him all afternoon to help locate his daughter, refusing to leave his side for a moment.

Rong Chen Zi’s heart was preoccupied with thoughts of He Bang, and he still harbored deep resentment over the fact that Liu Qinfang had secretly harmed He Bang. Nevertheless, he was ultimately a man who had left the secular world, and he could not forget that she, too, was a living soul. Now that He Bang was unharmed, investigating Liu Qinfang’s whereabouts was not something he could reasonably refuse.

The minister had counted on exactly this. It was for this reason that he entreated so desperately. If it had been He Bang he was petitioning — he could have knelt for a thousand or eight hundred years, and that creature would never have spared him so much as a glance. If she happened to be in a good mood, there was perhaps a chance she might absentmindedly hand him a prayer cushion.

He Bang slept until dusk before waking. She spent a good while searching the courtyard and, not finding Rong Chen Zi, pursed her lips and made her way out of the inn. Qingyun had assumed she would sleep until around midnight and had paid her no particular attention, going about his business in the kitchen and preparing dried vegetarian duck necks for her.

She was still dressed in her white feathered gauze skirt, barefoot with her hair loose, and having slept well, her cheeks were flushed with a soft, rosy glow — fresh and bright as autumn fruit. At this hour, Lingxia Town was at its most lively: the lanterns before the wooden buildings were all lit, and countless street stalls called out to passing customers. He Bang had originally set out to find Rong Chen Zi, but the moment a delicious scent caught her attention… she rather forgot what she had come to do.

She walked along gazing from side to side. Lingxia Town was, after all, a place of simple, honest customs — a young woman dressed as she was was absolutely unheard of. Every set of eyes in the place bulged round as eggs, and a trail of people followed in her wake. Fortunately, some of them had seen her at the guesthouse, and were quietly explaining to the others in lowered voices: “Shh — don’t startle her. She’s the apple of Zhiguan’s eye.”

She stopped in front of a roast duck stall, frowning as she debated whether to find Rong Chen Zi first or eat something first. While she was still caught in this dilemma, the shop owner, not daring to be remiss, swiftly sliced up several plates of roast duck, wrapped them, dipped them in sauce, and served them to her. The smell was so enticing it made her mouth water, and the creature promptly forgot the matter of finding Rong Chen Zi for the time being.

Qingyun, having finished preparing the dried vegetarian duck necks, naturally sent a maidservant from the guesthouse to check on her — only to discover she had vanished!

Qingyun was so frantic his hair practically stood on end, and he immediately ordered all the guesthouse servants to go out and search for her.

Rong Chen Zi was at this very moment accompanying Qingxuan, Qingsu, and the other disciples in helping Minister Liu search for Liu Qinfang. He, too, found the matter strange — using Liu Qinfang’s birth date and time to divine her fate, he had concluded that this person’s allotted lifespan was not yet spent. Even if she had died an unnatural death, she would be counted among those who had died suddenly and violently, and would not be detained in the underworld.

Yet at present she was nowhere to be found — not among the living, and her soul was nowhere to be seen. Rong Chen Zi used blood as a medium, taking her most beloved jewelry and performing a tracking technique, but her presence vanished completely at a simple, rundown house, leaving no trace whatsoever beyond that point. There were simply no more clues to follow.

Rong Chen Zi frowned, his voice low and measured: “Who lives here?”

Minister Liu did not know, but the town mayor did: “This is Yu Zhusheng’s house — Old Yu, as everyone calls him. He lives here with his grandfather, his wife, and a young child named Yu Chun.” After the keel-serpent disaster, the mayor was still shaken to the bone. “Zhiguan, could it be that this family has been possessed by the serpent demon?”

Rong Chen Zi shook his head: “Do not speculate wildly!”

He knocked and entered. Old Yu had a slight stoop to his back. He had never been in such close proximity to someone of Rong Chen Zi’s stature, and his expression showed open timidity — it was plain he was an honest, simple man. Rong Chen Zi walked quickly forward and discovered that the spot the tracking technique had led him to was only one wall away from Old Yu’s pigsty.

Inside were several pigs, all either sleeping or rooting about in the pen. The pigsty smelled unpleasant, and Minister Liu and the town mayor hung back at the entrance with their noses covered rather than following him in. Rong Chen Zi walked slowly past several pens, deep in thought.

He seemed to hear an exceedingly faint sound — like a soul weeping. A soul’s weeping was the sound that emerged when a person endured torments and suffering beyond what could be borne, and the anguish within it could not be feigned. Yet he could not find where the sound was coming from. Everything here appeared entirely normal, with not the faintest trace of sinister energy.

Reaching the last pen, he found it contained a black sow covered in wounds, lying panting in a heap of straw. He furrowed his brows slightly: “This one is…”

Old Yu had not yet answered when the pig seemed to hear his voice. It wrenched open its eyes with a violent start. Unfortunately, pigs cannot see clearly at a distance, and no matter how it tried, it could not make out who was speaking. Rong Chen Zi felt a jolt of quiet astonishment — this pig seemed to recognize his voice! He said gently once more: “Can you understand my words?”

The pig remained still for a long moment, then suddenly flew into a frenzy. It leapt up, ignoring its injuries, hurling its front legs over the fence rail, its cries shrill and raw as blood and tears. Everyone present went pale with shock. Rong Chen Zi stood steady as a mountain: “If you want people to hear what you have to say, you must first quiet yourself.”

That pig’s tears rolled down in rivers. Old Yu was also frightened out of his wits, and took several trembling steps back: “Zhiguan, this really has nothing to do with me! This pig has been kept here for years now — it was perfectly fine before. But just recently it’s been getting worse and worse. Not only does it refuse to eat, it also bit all eleven of its piglets to death. Eleven piglets! Do you know how much grain I’ve spent feeding it, do you think that’s easy? This time my boy lost his temper and gave it a beating…”

Rong Chen Zi raised his hand to stop him from continuing. His voice was calm and unhurried: “Minister Liu, I believe we have found your daughter.”

As he spoke those words, the weight in his voice was heavy. How had someone turned a person into a pig in a way that evaded all his ritual implements and left no trace? What deep, bitter enmity had Liu Qinfang made with someone, that they would resort to so vicious a method, leaving her in a state of living death?

Rong Chen Zi needed almost no time at all to arrive at the answer. He felt a quiet sorrow in his heart, yet without much of the resentment he might once have felt. He seemed to have become unlike the person he used to be — the one who had hated evil and wrongdoing with fierce intolerance. That little river clam of his could never shed the nature of a demon. But then, who could truly say she was wrong? She was insufficiently tolerant, perhaps, and lacked breadth of heart — but did anyone in this world have an obligation to be as boundless and forgiving as the sea, to accommodate every slight without exception? She harbored no wish to harm others, but if others harmed her, she would repay them a thousandfold in suffering.

He let out a quiet sigh: “Though this method is indeed cruelly vicious, had you not first conspired against her treasure and harbored malicious intentions, how would this calamity have come to befall you?” The pig’s eyes wept blood. Rong Chen Zi sighed softly again: “Your suffering now is real enough, but had she not stumbled upon a stroke of fortunate chance, she would have long since lost her life at your hands, and thousands of years of cultivation would have been destroyed because of you. Was her suffering any less real than yours?”

The pig, terrified he would simply leave, scrabbled frantically with its two front legs, trying to reach him. The town mayor hadn’t yet quite recovered his composure, but Minister Liu, having seen far more of the world, was a degree calmer: “Zhiguan… you are saying that this pig is…”

He didn’t finish the question. Rong Chen Zi’s gaze confirmed his suspicion. He turned to look once more at the pig, then back again. His daughter was not exactly a legendary beauty, but she was at least a refined and pleasant-looking young woman — and yet now, this pig…

He said nothing, brooding in silence. He was, after all, an Imperial Tutor — a man of distinction both within and without the court. To take a pig home — would he not become the laughingstock of the world? The pig, hearing his voice, grew even more frantic in its attempts to get closer to him. He stepped back behind Rong Chen Zi, his expression shifting through many things unsaid.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he composed himself, and said in a solemn and measured tone: “Zhiguan, my daughter has no doubt met with misfortune. Such is the unpredictability of life — it cannot always be foreseen. I have spent my whole life doing good, never doing a single dishonest thing, and yet in the end I am still a white-haired man sending off one with black hair.” He slowly withdrew from the pigsty, his gaze tinged with melancholy yet resolute. “I have troubled you enough, Zhiguan. Let us return.”

The pig could understand every word. It slammed its head against the fence rail, the rough pigskin scraped open, old wounds splitting anew, blood flowing freely. Rong Chen Zi let out a quiet sigh. He was a man who had forsaken the secular world — faced with such a scene, he truly could not bear to linger. He turned and left the pigsty. The pig let out one final, heartrending cry, shrill and desperate.

Coming out of Old Yu’s house, the town mayor said not a word. Minister Liu was an Imperial Tutor — retired now, but his standing no less diminished. When matters were none of one’s concern, it was naturally better to speak as little as possible. Rong Chen Zi was a perceptive man, and he naturally understood what was going through the minister’s mind — with a daughter who had been turned into a sow, how was he to face the world?

Naturally, he would simply act as though he had no such daughter, lest it damage the family’s reputation and standing. And yet, when all was said and done, the bond between father and daughter was as blood to water, and this degree of cold indifference could not help but stir in him — an upright man — a measure of contempt.

He had no desire to continue walking alongside the others, and after taking his leave, headed back to the guesthouse with his disciples. Along the way, he suddenly caught a whiff of a delicious aroma, and the heaviness in his heart lifted a little — the corners of his mouth actually curved into a faint smile. If He Bang saw this, she would certainly be delighted.

He paused briefly. Qingxuan and Qingsu had followed him long enough to understand his intent at once. The two of them went immediately to arrange for a few roast ducks to be packaged and brought back. Then they walked to the entrance — and turned around and came back: “Master… your disciple thinks… the roast duck perhaps need not be purchased.”

Rong Chen Zi raised an eyebrow, stepped forward a few paces, and saw He Bang inside, wolfing down food! Her lips were smeared with grease, and a heap of bowls and plates was piled up beside her! The shop owner was sweating profusely, roasting new ducks as fast as he could!

Rong Chen Zi was caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement. He hurried to settle the bill. The shop owner refused under any circumstances to accept payment: “Zhiguan, there is no need to stand on ceremony. You have done so much for this community over the years — how could I possibly count pennies over this?”

Rong Chen Zi could not allow He Bang to eat and drink without paying, and insisted on giving the money before pulling He Bang out of the shop. He Bang was frowning. She had started out eager to eat, but now she was feeling a little greasy and sick of it. She tugged at Rong Chen Zi’s hand, placing it on her own chest. In full view of everyone around them, Rong Chen Zi quickly pulled his hand back: “What is it?”

He Bang grumbled: “Zhiguan, I feel uncomfortable here.”

He could tell at once that she had been overwhelmed by the oil. With a sigh, he went back into the shop and poured a cup of water, dissolved a purifying talisman in it, and fed it to He Bang to drink. He Bang leaned against him, making sounds of discomfort, and he had no choice but to send Qingxuan to hire a carriage to put her in, to spare her from being stared at all the way back.

By the time they returned to the guesthouse, Qingyun had been on the verge of spontaneously combusting with anxiety. At the sight of He Bang walking through the door alongside Rong Chen Zi, his heart plummeted back into his chest with a crash of relief. Rong Chen Zi urgently ordered his disciples to prepare hot water and had He Bang bathed. Since the guesthouse had maidservants to attend the bath, he had no reason to be present.

He Bang obediently soaked in the hot bath, then emerged fragrant and clean and went running to Rong Chen Zi’s room. Rong Chen Zi was sitting beside his writing desk, reading. On the desk stood a candle holder with a single taper, and a cup of clear tea. Qingxuan had been standing in attendance, but seeing her arrive, he naturally knew better than to linger and quickly withdrew, pulling the room door shut behind him.

He Bang flopped against Rong Chen Zi with a honeyed, lilting air: “Zhiguan~~~~” Her voice trailed off with an ornate flourish. Rong Chen Zi gave a low sigh and set down the book in his hands, gently massaging her stomach: “Are you feeling better?”

He Bang leaned against him as he rubbed her stomach, humming in pleasure with genuine contentment: “I want Zhiguan to hold me while I sleep!”

Rong Chen Zi picked her up only to discover she had draped herself in nothing but a large bath towel with nothing on underneath. His face instantly darkened: “You — you — you! You’ve come out dressed like this again! What if someone saw you?!”

His expression was so fierce that He Bang’s eyes immediately filled with tears: “You don’t care about me at all — you do nothing but scold me all day long! Wuu, wuu, wuu…”

Rong Chen Zi drew a deep breath, went to her room to fetch her clothing, and used the opportunity to calm himself, planning to lower his voice by a notch or two before speaking to her again upon his return. But by the time he came back with her robes and skirts, He Bang had already fallen asleep on the bed. Half the thin bedcover was wrapped loosely around her waist, leaving her long, slender legs bare. Her feet were delicate and exquisitely formed, and an even larger expanse of her smooth, fair back was exposed to view, her long hair spread across half the pillow.

Rong Chen Zi, though his self-discipline was formidable, had always felt deeply for He Bang, and found himself somewhat moved. He slowly ran his rough palm across He Bang’s back. That skin was soft and delicate. She seemed to sense something, and opened her drowsy eyes. Rong Chen Zi’s throat grew dry. His right hand slowly wrapped around her slender foot, gently kneading it.

He Bang opened her eyes, her gaze clear and bright as water. Rong Chen Zi said nothing more of what had happened before, and spoke to her gently: “Tomorrow I will take you somewhere.”

He Bang tucked her head into the hollow of his neck, languid and sweetly artless, utterly harmless: “Where?”

Rong Chen Zi patted her back softly to coax her to sleep: “To see an old acquaintance.”