The Lurking Taotie

A piercing yin wind burst through the hall and scattered the stacks of paper coins beside the wedding candles. Outside the Yuelao Temple, paper lanterns swung wildly, and the rusty door lock rattled against the plank with a grating screech.

Mountain fog rolled in like a tide, whirlwinding the joss paper into pale petals that drifted over them like night-blooming pear blossoms.

Chen Shangqing stared at the paper coin resting in his palm. Green smoke hissed up; every flying scrap of paper money turned to ash, and even the papier-mâché figurines ignited, collapsing into a heap of blackened cinders.

He rose and gazed into the mist-wrapped sky. Twirling a few threads of true qi round his fingers, he tested the Soul-Summoning Banner, his sword-straight brows knitting together. “Second Brother’s soul still doesn’t answer. He hasn’t reached this place.”

Chen flung the artifact at Liang Jingxuan’s feet. “Senior, you praised this treasure to the heavens, yet it can’t even locate my brother’s soul. It’s hardly the mighty tool you claimed.”

“That’s impossible.”

Liang Jingxuan’s mask finally cracked. He stooped, retrieved the Soul-Summoning Banner, and inspected the artifact for damage. “A Master’s weapon cannot fail; something was done wrong!”

Chen Shangqing had died by Liang Jingxuan’s hand back then; seeing the two men stand side by side in harmony sent a shiver of wrongness through the air.

If Liang Jingxuan felt so certain Chen Shangqing could not pierce his disguise, he must again be wielding some cheating treasure.

Lin Qianshuang’s mind lit with a sudden plan.

“Lanle?”

A light tap landed on her shoulder. “Senior sister, I’m right beside you.”

Lin Qianshuang gave a small smile, shook the dust from her skirt, and said, “Senior Brother Liang is so busy, shouldn’t we lend a hand?”

Xiao Lanle caught the real meaning of “help” in Lin Qianshuang’s tone; a flicker of amusement sprang into her eyes and the corner of her mouth curled in a half-teasing arc.

“Senior sister, I never noticed, you have a wicked streak too.”

A pinch landed on Lin Qianshuang’s cheek. She glared at the empty air beside her. “What was that for?”

“I just realized… you’re adorable.”

For no reason at all, Lin Qianshuang felt her face grow hot. Before she could react, a soft kiss brushed her cheek.

“Still, I like it.”

The warmth beside her vanished.

Lin Qianshuang blinked, a shimmer crossing her eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting a fraction.

The treasure had been yanked and twisted again and again.

Liang Jingxuan tugged and kneaded the Soul-Summoning Banner, certain the artifact was sound; could the spirit itself refuse to answer?

He was about to rise and carry the banner to Chen Shangqing when a thread of sword-light, thick with murderous true qi, speared toward his back.

Purple Thunder Fire flared to protect its master, and the Shark Pearl, caught in the backlash, betrayed Xiao Lanle crouched inside the mirage.

“Junior Sister Xiao?”

Chen Shangqing’s gaze snapped to her in startlement, then slid to the violet flames wreathing the black-clad man; in their crackle he knew the culprit.

His sword kissed the exposed throat. “Liang Jingxuan, you! Why skulk in black?”

Liang froze, exposed too soon. His eyes locked on the Shark Pearl in Xiao Lanle’s hand; understanding hit, and he wheeled on Lin Qianshuang, face ashen. “Senior sister, she’s been at your side the whole time? You two strung me along?”

Lin Qianshuang lifted her brows in innocent protest. “No one tricked you. Junior Sister Xiao was right beside me, you simply couldn’t see. Besides, you never asked.”

Liang Jingxuan realized that every word of his heartfelt confession had been heard, word for word, by the very ex-girlfriend who had stolen the love of his life. Senior Sister’s fearless face was clearly because Xiao Lanle was right there.

The system’s verdict came back: the Soul-Summoning Banner had failed, and the Shark Pearl’s mirage mist was to blame.

In that instant Liang Jingxuan felt every shred of dignity stripped away. Watching Xiao Lanle take Lin Qianshuang’s hand and gaze at her with tender warmth, rage blazed from his soles to his forehead. He jabbed a finger at Xiao Lanle’s nose.

“Xiao Lanle, you wrecked my plans again and again; those dozen sword thrusts nearly cost me my life. Yet I once treated you well, waited on you and that old sect leader hand and foot! I won’t claim perfection, but while we were together I gave you at least seven-tenths of my heart. Where did I ever wrong you? So I kept a few extra girls company and cleared a few obstacles off the road. That old man deserved to die; his death was justice!”

“Only an idiot like you would first be fooled round and round by me, then fooled round and round by someone else.”

The moment Xiao Lanle heard the words “old sect leader,” her eyes darkened, and killing intent rolled from her sword though the blade stayed sheathed.

Lin Qianshuang slipped her hand from her sleeve and pressed down on Xiao Lanle’s sword, signaling with her eyes: stop.

Liang Jingxuan’s gaze shifted from Xiao Lanle to Lin Qianshuang, and he spoke in aggrieved fury. “Senior Sister, I, Liang Jingxuan, treated you with absolute sincerity. I gave you a chance, yet you still chose to betray me and side against me. Tell me, what does this woman beside you have that I don’t?”

Lin Qianshuang ignored him and turned to Chen Shangqing. “Junior Brother Chen, Liang Jingxuan stands right in front of you. Aren’t you going to strike?”

Chen Shangqing’s voice was icy. “Chen bears a blood feud with Liang Jingxuan; no one needs to remind me.”

Seeing the two men about to clash, Lin Qianshuang reached to pull Xiao Lanle away, but before she could take a step the Soul-Summoning Banner on the ground sucked her in.

Liang Jingxuan caught the banner, sent Chen Shangqing flying with a palm, and looked at the pair. “I’ll take my people and leave; I won’t keep you company.”

He snapped his fingers, tearing open a slit in mid-air that revealed a black vortex and froze the surrounding space. Just as he was about to step into the primordial-patterned portal, the pommel of a sword slammed into the back of his head and he toppled, defenseless.

Liang Jingxuan gaped as if he’d seen a ghost while Xiao Lanle darted forward and snatched the Soul-Summoning Banner from his hand. His gaze flicked to Chen Shangqing and he exhaled in relief.

The spell hadn’t failed after all. Whenever he used a technique alien to this cultivation world, the system locked the natives, including Chen Shangqing, inside a crystalline stasis.

So why was Xiao Lanle still moving?

Liang Jingxuan stared in bewilderment as she approached. Did she carry some secret he hadn’t discovered, something beyond the Shark Pearl?

“Junior, the seal is loose! Hurry and aid this Sovereign!”

Taotie’s¹ restless roar burst from the portal; the heaven-shaking cry and its divine majesty made Liang Jingxuan’s very soul shudder.

The moment to sever his soul had come. Linger a breath longer and it would scatter into death.

Liang Jingxuan clutched the Soul-Summoning Banner, unwilling to let go. His eyes flashed savagely. If he could not keep it, no one would.

Purple thunder-fire blossomed from his palm; lazy tongues of flame licked the spirit flag until the banner blazed like a torch in his grasp.

He stepped into the gate and watched the burning banner drop, a falling comblet of fire driven by the wind. A trace of sorrow crossed his face.

Senior sister, you are the one I loved most. You chose wrongly, but I will remember you. Every gentleness you once gave me, I will keep forever.

The narration so heartfelt, the scumbag strikes a pose with that classic forty-five-degree upward gaze, handsome yet steeped in sorrow.

This scene becomes the cover of a serial installment on a certain website, and the bullet comments explode.

[What the hell is this? The white-moonlight senior sister is alive and hooking up with the female lead, disgusting. Author, did you eat crap?]

[I thought this was supposed to be a face-slapping power-fantasy. The hero’s so pathetic: zero girls, endless green hats². Villain-in-the-making, right? Where’s the “invincible Liang, conqueror of heaven and earth” the blurb promised? Worst stud-hero ever.]

[Damn, the 600k-word novel just shrank to 400k. Has the author turned into a yuri fanboy? Ever since the site got pulled for cleanup, I waited forever for the rewrite, and this is what blinds my titanium eyes³: a reverse harem for girls. (shrug) (black-guy-question-mark.jpg)⁴]

[They gave that dead Lin cannon-fodder 200k extra words—she’s in every chapter, practically the protagonist. Pretty, sure, but an orange-scented white-lotus bitch. Is the male lead pig-stupid or what? Still can’t see it?]

[Heh heh heh, I think it works great, I’m just gonna enjoy it as a yuri story…]

[Yuri-bro up there, hold it right there, comrade, you’ve defected!]

…

Top-floor office, Ancient Primordial Media Co., Ltd.

A staffer eyeing the on-screen bullet comments lifts the phone. “President, should we cull and reshuffle these comments?”

“No. Feed them to me live, and pull the file on that Selected while you’re at it.”

The woman’s voice on the phone seemed to tug at his very soul. The staffer swallowed hard, grabbed the bottle of mineral water, and gulped. He glanced at the file-transfer progress bar, fingers rattling across the keyboard, then said awkwardly, “Real-world data search complete, file sent. The Selected can’t exit until the novel ends. She’s the closest match we found and the final one.”

The voice answered coolly, “Keep watching the last Selected. Since the soul-collection quota is already seventy-five percent, there’s a seventy-five percent chance she’s our target.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He swallowed again, relieved he wouldn’t lose pay for upsetting the boss; she seemed in a good mood today. Nerves made the donkey ears on his head pop out; he stuffed them back under his hair and returned to the screen. At that moment the system voice travelled through his headset to another space:

“Host, exit the Soul-Summoning Banner within ten seconds. Ten, nine, eight …”

Lin Qianshuang hacked at the barrier of the Soul-Summoning Banner with a sword forged from demonic qi, listening to the system’s countdown, and burst free at the very last second.

As she tumbled from the sky, someone caught her steady in mid-fall.

“Liang Jingxuan got away, but senior sister, all that matters is you’re safe.”

Xiao Lanle planted her sword in the ground, still shaken by the burning banner, then leaned back into Lin Qianshuang’s arms and hugged her with a spoiled little squeeze, eyes shadowed.

————“Junior sister, you slipped past my skill, so why can’t you see how the sect leader died? I only gave the old man a taste of pain; I didn’t kill him. Who stood closest to him in that final moment? You already know.”

Liang Jingxuan’s parting words echoed clear as he stepped into the portal.

Xiao Lanle refused to believe it, yet a needle of doubt pricked her heart. Too many questions surrounded her father’s death, and Senior Sister Lin had indeed been with him in his final moments.

T/N: The plot thickens…