Chapter 96: Pact

In the Xin Cang Mountains.

Night.

In autumn, the high forest held a pale moon, sparse and unburdened; moonlight spread like a layer of sugar frost.

Insects chirped beneath the trees, owls perched on branch tips; after those outsiders with differing aims had left, this space returned to its true masters.

A fox crouched beneath a stone, eyes closed as if asleep; moonlight draped the stone in white gauze, but when it fell upon the fox, it slid off its body in a shimmer of light.

This fox was too still, too strange. If it meant to hunt, it should crouch low and move through the grass; if it meant to rest, it should return to its den—not stand motionless beneath the moonlight, as if waiting for a soul to descend into its shell.

A hunter wandering the deep mountains who saw this might think he’d encountered a fox spirit.

But it was merely an ordinary fox: brown-yellow back, dirty-white belly, yellowed canine teeth—only its behavior was peculiar.

Suddenly—

The body twitched slightly, as if something within had awakened.

Slowly, it opened its eyes; within the parted lids swam gold.

A pair of cold, golden pupils fully opened; a lofty will stirred within it.

The Immortal Lord surveyed the surroundings.

He could infinitely divide his consciousness; when he devoured the entire forest, he split himself into eighty-four thousand fragments.

But once divided so thoroughly, he nearly lost the capacity to think, acting purely on instinct to consume and grow.

To possess sufficient spiritual wisdom, this “piece” of consciousness needed sufficient size.

Though the consciousness descending now was not large in itself, he still split it into three pieces of adequate size.

One traveled with him to that small town, and was ultimately cut down within Pei Ye’s abdomen.

One remained in the mountains to continue consuming and storing dragon blood, but to preserve his true body, he recalled it to bear the blow of the Zhanxin Liuli Sword.

The final piece sank into slumber, leaving not the faintest trace—he never used it at all.

Precisely because of this, he now revived within this body.

As long as a single seed remained, he could become infinitely powerful again—though his consciousness still could not be fully restored.

Yet now, the Immortal Lord’s lofty, cold eyes stared straight ahead, unmoving.

Slowly, he extended one claw—touching the shimmer of moonlight.

Glass.

This was a transparent cage; his body had been imprisoned!

He immediately left this body; in these mountains, he had prepared over a dozen servant vessels.

Then he awoke within a frog.

He opened his dragon eyes—and before him stood a massive creature.

A huge, furry tail connected to a tall, brown-yellow back; atop it, a triangular head crowned with pointed triangular ears—it was the very fox from moments before.

And this scene, too, was seen through a layer of glass.

There would be no third chance to change bodies; the fox before him, along with the dozen or so other creatures nearby, all exploded into clouds of blood mist.

With the sound of a book closing, a black cloth shoe stepped beside the cage.

The old man who had sat on the stone, reading ancient texts, rose and tucked his pen back into the small pocket on his chest.

He bent down, lifted the small cage, and met the Immortal Lord’s cold golden gaze.

“A dragon stranded in shallow waters, mocked by shrimp,” he smiled gently.

…

…

Outside Fenghuai County.

On Wangxi Slope, as the black cat reached the summit, Pei Ye had already released the old man’s body and sat leaning against his wheelchair, gazing alone at the last lingering warmth of gold on the horizon.

The entire scene was utterly tranquil; even as the cat’s soft paw pads touched the ground, the black cat felt he was disturbing it.

He walked softly over, climbed onto the boy’s knees, and placed the small box he carried upon them.

Pei Ye lowered his head slowly, staring at the box; his gaze took several breaths to focus.

“I brought it for you,” said the black cat.

Pei Ye lifted his hand to open the clasp; the box bore the aged hue of wood—the very one from beneath the old man’s bed, holding two small jade pieces.

One was green, one white, lying within.

The green one was still new, about the size of a thumb, shaped like a bird, carved with the grand, unadorned elegance of a master’s hand.

The white one was clearly much older; its jade quality was poor, stored carelessly, now dull and yellowish, with several fine cracks.

This jade was carved into a small sword; the carving was extremely detailed, every element of the hilt rendered faithfully—but limited by the carver’s skill, numerous crude flaws were plainly visible.

Two small characters were engraved on the blade: “Yong Sheng.”

These two characters were beautiful, their strokes like gold, lean and forceful; the carver had clearly practiced calligraphy.

Far more beautiful than the sixteen characters Lin Jue had given him.

Pei Ye traced the small sword with his fingers, recalling the green jade pillar—the jade quality was even worse, now also dimmed, and the characters, carved shallowly due to the girl’s weak strength, had already blurred slightly from wear; he did not know how long they would last.

Pei Ye returned the two jades to the box, then placed his hand atop the cat curled on his knees.

“Now, we have the same enemy,” he murmured.

The black cat lifted his head: “Shouldn’t the one you want to kill be the Zhenbei Prince?”

Pei Ye lowered his gaze: “I said I’d avenge him. Since there are two enemies, I won’t settle for cutting off just one head.”

“Besides,” he glanced at his belly, “I carry this thing—we are natural enemies.”

“Then let’s find a way to kill him together,” said the black cat. “In this instance, only three forces can truly oppose him.”

“Chunshou, Zhanxin Liuli, and the Binglu Scripture.”

The black cat nodded: “Chunshou remains a mystery, but the other two—call them the Sword and the Marvelous Scripture.”

“But not all, for example, the Jian Tao…”

“The Jian Tao could indeed fight him,” said the black cat, “but it seems incapable of harming him. We’ll see as we go.”

Pei Ye nodded silently.

The black cat extended a small paw, resting beneath the boy’s still-pained face.

“So… shall we form a pact?”

Pei Ye blinked slightly: “Didn’t we already?”

“The one who formed the pact with you then was the Chi Dragon’s body,” said the black cat, his clear emerald eyes fixed on him. “Do you remember my other name?”

Pei Ye slowly reached out and placed his hand atop the paw.

“Like before?”

“Yes.”

“Pei Ye, Chunshou.”

“Li Xi, Great Fire.”

Pei Ye felt a deeper bond form between them.

The black cat withdrew his paw and said calmly: “Now, the Zhenbei Prince is also my enemy.”

Pei Ye lifted the black cat with one hand, stood, and gazed southward.

The evening wind brushed willow branches against his face; the boy stood motionless.

——

Thus it is said:

Past all storms, a cold blade remains; before heroes’ graves, we speak of this life.

The old city buries bones, harboring hatred; new vengeance demands a blade without mercy.

Characters fade, jade darkens, its luster lost; snow clears, geese die, iron echoes remain.

Ascend high, gaze eight thousand li—after the Golden Autumn Festival, the Divine Capital grows dim.

(End of Volume One)

Volume One is finally over! The summary will come later.

I forgot to thank my patrons on launch day—thank you, Boss Le Cha Cha, thank you, Boss Wei Dao Bai Bi Wei Xin Bu Yi!

Thank you to all readers for your continued reading, subscriptions, tips, and monthly votes!

(End of Chapter)