Something had happened on the lake. Along the railings of several pleasure boats, clusters of people had gathered, pressing together in frightened disarray, pointing wildly at the water below. From inside the cabins, still more passengers came rushing out, craning their necks to peer into the lake.
The crowd on the shore seemed to hear the commotion as well, and many paused uncertainly. Then someone finally made out what was on the lake’s surface, clapped a hand over their mouth with a scream, and fled from the water’s edge.
Qin Yao strained to look and finally made out something floating on the surface of the lake — its shape indistinct at this distance, but clearly whatever it was had caused this mass of hysteria.
Lin Xiao came to the window as well, frowning as he studied the lake. He turned to Chang Rong: “Go and find out what has happened.”
Chang Rong had already been stretching his neck curiously toward the window; at the order he responded at once, stepped back, and withdrew.
The room fell quiet once more. Though Qin Yao’s attention remained fixed on the lake’s surface, she was acutely aware when Lin Xiao’s deep blue robe brushed up against her own skirt with a soft rustle, and her body went rigid. The memory of a moment ago returned in a rush, her face burning with a shame that was impossible to put into words.
Lin Xiao, too, felt a persistent warmth creeping up behind his ears. Seeing Qin Yao’s awkward expression and her firm refusal to look at him, he felt deeply troubled within — he knew he should not have lost his composure, not when things had been going so well, and he had gone and startled her like that. He wanted to say something to smooth things over, but every time his throat moved, he felt that his actions from before were simply indefensible, and he couldn’t blame Qin Yao for not wanting to look at him.
After a long while, Lin Xiao finally broke the silence with the utmost care, speaking softly: “A’Yao, I—”
He had barely opened his mouth when the Chixiao Sword at his waist suddenly emitted a low, resonant hum. Both of them startled. Lin Xiao was especially taken aback — ever since the incident with Luo Cha, the Chixiao had not sounded its warning in a very long time.
Puzzled, the two exchanged a glance, and their expressions changed. Together, they looked out the window. Qin Yao opened her Heavenly Eye, and in an instant she saw that beneath the calm surface of the lake, dark killing energy was unmistakably surging and coiling.
Her heart seized with alarm. “There’s something in the lake!” she cried, and without another word she turned and ran for the door, intent on reaching the lakeside as quickly as possible to prevent whatever lurked in the water from causing further harm.
Lin Xiao was not about to let Qin Yao face danger alone. The two of them made their way downstairs, where they happened to run into Chang Rong. His complexion was grim. The moment he saw Lin Xiao and Qin Yao, he spoke quickly: “A dead child has been found in South Garden Lake. The child had been in the water for some unknown length of time, and suddenly surfaced, floating on top — white as paper, horribly frightening.”
At this, Qin Yao wasted no more time. She rushed to the lakeside, pushed her way through the gathered crowd with great effort, and strained to see out across the water. Sure enough, not far away a body was floating on the surface — but the distance was too great to make out the features clearly.
The crowd buzzed with shock and speculation. Someone said: “Who knows which family lost a child like this. Their parents are going to be heartbroken.” Another replied: “South Garden Lake has never had a drowning since it was first dug, all those years ago. That child looked old enough to know better — how could they just fall into the lake? And besides, I’ve seen drowned people before — they’re usually blue in the face, the body bloated beyond recognition. This child doesn’t look like that at all. The body’s much too pale — like someone drained all the blood out.”
A ripple of horrified murmuring ran through the crowd at this. The speaker hadn’t anticipated the effect of his own words and gave a start himself, quickly adding: “I was only talking nonsense — don’t take me seriously. The authorities will be here soon enough, and once they’ve examined the body, there’ll be a proper conclusion.”
Qin Yao, for now, could not spare much thought for the body in the lake. She concentrated her gaze on the water below, reasoning that this child’s death was most likely connected to whatever lurked in the lake’s depths. Whatever that malevolent creature was, it had to be caught. Yet no matter how long she looked, the surface of the lake remained still and undisturbed — the dark killing energy that had been moving through it earlier was entirely gone.
Could the creature have fled already?
She was both alarmed and furious. She raised her head and swept her gaze around the crowd gathered along the shore. The onlookers still stood in twos and threes, arranged in roughly the same formation she had observed from upstairs — their numbers no fewer, and no sign of panic or disorder. This only deepened her confusion. If the malevolent creature had a physical form, its emergence from the water would surely have caused a tremendous commotion — yet here was absolute silence.
But if it had no physical form, how was it able to move freely through the water under the blazing midday sun without being dispersed into nothingness?
Lin Xiao arrived at her side. In a single glance he spotted Qin Yao standing at the very edge of the lake, straining on her tiptoes, nearly half her body already leaning out over the water. His heart seized with alarm. He hurried over and steadied her with an arm around her waist. “Be careful — you’ll fall in.”
Qin Yao was too preoccupied to feel embarrassed. Her eyes remained fixed on the lake’s surface as her mind raced through one possibility after another. After a long stretch of thought, a sudden idea struck her. She turned to Lin Xiao: “Young Lord — South Garden Lake is an inner lake, I know, but do you happen to know where the water source was drawn from when the former Emperor ordered it to be dug?”
Lin Xiao reflected for a moment. “Chang’an has never had a water source of its own within the city. From what I’ve heard, my grandfather spent a great deal of time personally surveying the land before settling on this low-lying area in the city’s south for the inner lake. The water, I believe, was diverted from somewhere in the western outskirts via a specially dug channel — but I don’t know the precise details.”
“The western outskirts of Chang’an?” Qin Yao stilled. “Could it be the Cangheng River at the foot of Five Ox Mountain?” She hadn’t known about the water source near Five Ox Mountain before; it was only after studying a map of Chang’an on a previous occasion that she had learned a river called the Cangheng ran at the mountain’s base, winding its way from west to south around the city until it reached the foot of Jade Spring Mountain.
Lin Xiao could see from her grave expression that she would not have asked such a question without reason, and he answered with patient consideration: “I can’t say for certain, but judging by the terrain surrounding Chang’an and the way South Garden Lake was constructed at the time, the Cangheng River seems the most likely source.”
At that moment, a commotion broke out not far away. A group of officials came striding rapidly toward them, and the crowd parted with a kind of wordless, instinctive cooperation to clear the way.
The officials from the Chang’an prefecture moved with reasonable efficiency. Two of them quickly untied a small skiff moored by the shore, rowed out onto the lake, and used a bamboo pole to maneuver the body alongside the boat. They then lowered a large net, and with combined effort, hauled the corpse aboard.
As the boat returned to shore, a heavy, putrid stench rolled through the air. The crowd erupted in waves of retching, and those who had been watching out of morbid curiosity suddenly lost all appetite for spectacle — faces drained of color, people backed away en masse, leaving only a handful of the truly bold who, despite their unease, could not quite bring themselves to stop trying to peer into the net.
“Move along, move along—” The officials on the shore rested hands on their sword hilts and drove the stubborn onlookers away.
When they reached Lin Xiao and Qin Yao, and one official opened his mouth to shout, his gaze dropped and caught the jade dragon pendant at Lin Xiao’s waist. His half-open mouth snapped shut. He studied Lin Xiao with careful, narrowed eyes — unable to place exactly who this was — but thought better of making any demands, and turned away to drive back other onlookers instead.
Qin Yao had fully expected to be sent away, and was completely taken aback by this turn of events. She couldn’t help sneaking a glance at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao, sensing Qin Yao’s sudden look upon him — as though he were some kind of divine instrument — felt caught between exasperation and amusement.
Although the official had deliberately allowed them to remain, Qin Yao still did not dare openly use her abilities to examine the body under so many watchful eyes. Instead, she took advantage of the moment when the officials lifted the body from the net to study it carefully.
What she saw revealed a boy of about eleven or twelve. He had been in the water for quite some time, and his face was somewhat swollen and blurred — yet even so, his features could be seen to be fine and delicate, and his clothing was of evident quality. His face was white as paper, not even his lips retaining any color. In cases of death by drowning, the seven apertures were almost certain to show traces of blood — yet this boy’s face was entirely clean, without a single bloodstain.
The Chixiao Sword at Lin Xiao’s waist continued its low, continuous hum. Qin Yao’s heart gave a jolt. She leaned in, trying to look more carefully at the boy’s neck — but his clothing obscured the critical area.
Lin Xiao, observing this, said in a low voice: “If you need to examine the body more closely, I’ll find a way to arrange it shortly. But there are too many eyes and ears here — don’t make any move just yet.”
Qin Yao nodded quickly, and was about to reply when a tremendous wail came from the distance. A group of people came running — men and women, young and old, all richly dressed. At the front was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen. When he arrived and took in the sight of the body, his face contorted with agony. He dropped to his knees and threw his arms around the corpse, weeping: “Qingsheng, Qingsheng — Elder Brother is here. Open your eyes and look at your brother. I only scolded you a little — was there any need to take it to this extreme and throw yourself into the lake? What will Father and Mother do now? How am I supposed to live with myself?”
Behind him, a strikingly beautiful young woman was supported by her maidservants as she ran forward. The moment she made out the dead child’s features, all color drained from her face. She stood dazed for a moment — and then threw herself at the young man, beating him with all her strength, her eyes bloodshot and wild: “Why wasn’t it you who died! Why wasn’t it you! Give me back my Qingsheng! Give me back my Qingsheng!”
The young man made no move to resist or pull away, sitting grey-faced as he held Qingsheng’s body in his arms. After a time, the woman stopped beating at him and shoved him violently aside. She gathered the body into her own arms, sobbing as though her very soul were being torn from her: “Qingsheng! My child! You’ve gone and left me — how am I supposed to go on living?”
The force of the woman’s movements caused Qingsheng’s collar to shift aside, exposing his neck. Qin Yao caught a clear glimpse of an inconspicuous wound there, and she went rigid with shock. In a near-whisper, she breathed: “It truly is a jiangshi!”
She spun around to look out over the gleaming surface of South Garden Lake, and after a moment’s silence, turned to Lin Xiao: “I think I’m beginning to understand the nature of this jiangshi. We can’t delay any longer — I need to get to Five Ox Mountain and find my Master as soon as possible.”