(2) The Nine-Headed Serpent Demon

The group made their way along the estate path, Anu in front, Xing'er behind. Xing'er's heart was, in truth, quite terrified, but once Anu's impulsive, headstrong nature had taken hold, there was no room left for anyone else to have a say in the matter, and so she could only glance about anxiously in every direction, her expression thoroughly flustered. But as things in this world so often go, the more frightened one is, the more likely trouble finds them — no sooner had they reached the front courtyard than a gust of demonic wind came howling suddenly from behind her. Sensing something was wrong, Xing'er spun around and dodged with all her strength, and upon steadying her gaze, found herself facing a young man dressed in black.

Feeling the disturbance behind her, Anu turned to look and saw the young man as well; something about him struck her as entirely wrong, through and through.

"Strike him!" Anu urged Xing'er on, worried she might be too frightened to react. But she remembered there were still the townsfolk to think of, and they needed to be settled somewhere safe first. And so she pointed toward the tightly shut gate and said, "Get out through the gate quickly, all of you. Whatever sounds you hear, do not look back — just keep moving forward, remember that!" As she spoke, she flung out the Yin-Yang Daggers with a wave of her hand, and the two daggers together broke the bolt on the gate once more.

In that brief moment's delay, the young man in black had already lunged toward Xing'er in a single bound, sweeping his right hand and sending a wisp of black energy, both foul and reeking, straight at her. Xing'er, startled, quickly twisted her body aside to dodge, gripping her sword, her hand trembling, uncertain what to do. But the young man gave her no time to think, immediately closing in and pressing her hard. Forced into a corner, Xing'er had no choice but to summon her own power, clumsy as it was, and swing her sword at him. Seeing Xing'er advance sword in hand, the young man twisted his body aside with a few graceful movements, already having taken her measure and concluding she was no match for him at all. With strength to spare, he then turned his gaze toward Anu — this veiled woman was clearly no demonic cultivator, though for the moment he could not quite make out just what manner of being she was, and so he decided to pick the softer target first, going after this weak-powered apricot tree spirit before her.

Watching everyone escape safely through the gate, Anu felt somewhat relieved. Turning around, she saw that the young man and Xing'er had already begun fighting, trading blows back and forth in a lively exchange, but Xing'er was clearly getting the worse of it, each move and counter seemingly unraveled by her opponent, unable to land a single blow that struck true. Anu studied the young man closely, and something about his features struck her as slightly ugly and stiff; she seemed to realize something, and cried out, "So the ugly ones love to put on airs — who exactly do you think you're fooling with that fake body of yours? Only mortals could ever be taken in by that! Trying to put on a show in front of your grandmother? Show your true form, quickly!" No sooner had she finished than the Yin-Yang Daggers left her hand, splitting into two paths and closing in on the young man from either side.

Seeing that Anu had seen through him, the young man secretly cried out in dismay. Ordinarily he passed himself off through illusion as a young man, but this was not because he had genuinely cultivated human form; it was only that the mortals of Qingxi Town had no way of telling the difference. All he needed was a simple trick to fool the eye, and to mortal eyes he would look the very image of a handsome young man — and with human greed knowing no limit, even in a rustic, simple little town like this, the temptation to seek after more could not be entirely resisted. He too had gotten a taste of success this way, growing addicted to the sweetness of it, targeting one place after another, and finding the same tired trick worked without fail every time. Having gotten away with it for so long, he had come to take it entirely for granted, feeling perfectly at ease even as he committed the most heinous of acts. Only today, it seemed, he had finally hit upon a hard obstacle — the apricot tree spirit posed little threat, but this young woman wreathed in immortal energy clearly was not one to be trifled with, and her power was nothing to underestimate. Sullenly dodging the pincer attack of the two daggers, he swung his hand with all his strength, sending a burst of foul black energy to knock Xing'er back a full arrow's flight away. The sword in Xing'er's hand clattered to the ground as she went, her legs going weak beneath her, powerless to stand back up. By now the young man, caught between the two daggers with no room left to counter, could do nothing but suddenly reveal his true form as a nine-headed serpent demon.

Just as these two currents of demonic energy clashed, distinguished guests had likewise arrived outside the Mist Forest — Ziyuan, accompanied by Changxiu, had come to investigate the truth behind that strange arrow-shooting incident. But with the thick fog blotting out the sky, finding the way proved difficult, and with every tree looking exactly like every other, the moment one stepped into the forest, it was as though entering a labyrinth. Ziyuan suddenly recalled how that day the sky had also been filled with a similar thick fog when the rain of arrows fell, and it seemed there might be some subtle connection between the two. Just as he was pondering how to break through the mist formation, he sensed two currents of demonic energy locked in fierce combat, one mountain ridge away. This was, after all, the mortal realm, and a fight between two demons was hardly an everyday matter; Ziyuan was weighing whether he ought to involve himself in mortal affairs, when he caught sight of yet another current of immortal energy joining the fray.

Asura? What would an Asura clansman be doing in the mortal realm? Ziyuan looked toward the Mist Forest and pondered for a moment more — did not the young Asura heir dwell within this very Mist Forest? And so, with sudden understanding, he said to Changxiu, "This is interesting! Let's go and take a look." At once he activated his divine speed and set off for Phoenix Mountain at Qingxi Town.

Forced to reveal his true form, the nine-headed serpent demon appeared enormous and hideous, his nine heads writhing and howling ferociously in the air, their faces contorted with fury, terrifying Xing'er so badly she went pale; she tried to prop herself up, only to fall back down again.

"You disgusting thing, so you're nothing but a nine-headed serpent demon — what's so impressive about that? I've seen plenty of ugly ones before; nine hundred and ninety heads wouldn't scare me either." At the sight, Anu felt a surge of indignant anger, yet even within her anger there was a certain natural, inborn coquettishness — facing a formidable enemy, she remained proud and unafraid, being, after all, a little princess raised in the midst of her father's and brothers' indulgence, and so had naturally grown into someone with a spoiled temperament oblivious to the dangers of the world. And besides, every word she spoke was perfectly true — Asura men were ugly of face, in every conceivable style and variety, and having seen so many of them, she had long since grown accustomed to it and thought nothing of it. Why would she ever be afraid?

"Haven't you ever heard the saying — even beating a dog, you ought to think of its master? And you dare strike my little sister? If I don't make you cry for your mother and father, my name isn't worth saying — and if I ever say it is, then you can spell it backwards!" Anu's fury knew no bounds; even as she hurled taunts at her enemy, her hands were far from idle, and with a sweep of her arm, the Yang dagger shot forward and smashed straight into the nine-headed serpent demon's forehead.

The serpent demon, still reeling from Anu's stream of reckless taunts, was caught off guard when the dagger struck it squarely in the forehead, letting out a cry of pain and staggering back a step — but before it could even steady itself, the other eight heads found the identical spot on their foreheads struck one after another by the daggers' clone forms conjured from the Yin dagger. Unable to bear the pain, the nine-headed serpent demon spat forth snake tongues from all nine mouths and lunged furiously at Anu. Yet, having suffered such grievous blows from the Yin-Yang Daggers, the nine-headed serpent demon's footing grew unsteady, and its nine snake tongues thrashed about wildly and without order in the air. Anu nimbly dodged the assault, her petite frame darting swiftly through the woven net of tongues in stark contrast to the serpent demon's massive bulk, while Xing'er watched with her heart in her throat, able only to keep crying, "Anu, be careful!"

"Her name is Anu? How can it be a girl? Shouldn't it be the young heir?" Ziyuan had just arrived and, hearing Anu's reckless taunting, found himself quite amused; and hearing the apricot tree spirit call her Anu, he could not help but let slip a soft chuckle. "That name wouldn't lose anything even spelled backwards, would it?" he thought to himself. Yet at that moment, more questions still surfaced in his mind — he had assumed this might be the Asura young heir hidden away in the Mist Forest, but this proved unexpected in every way: not only was it not the heir, but it was, in fact, an Asura woman of formidable ferocity and skill in battle. Asura women had never been known to fight, and yet this little woman before him plainly exceeded all his understanding, facing her enemy without the slightest trace of timidity, her skill in combat truly remarkable — this was, one might say, something entirely novel indeed.

Ziyuan's arrival drew the attention of both combatants at once; along with his arrival came a golden light swirling about his person, an auspicious mist rising all around. Though he neither spoke nor joined the fight, his powerful presence unconsciously pressed down upon the nine-headed serpent demon, forcing its bravado to shrink by half at once. It cried out inwardly in anguish: this little immortal maiden alone was already difficult enough to handle, and now here came a heaven-sent divine figure besides — what kind of cursed day was this? It seemed there was no escaping this calamity now. Seeing Ziyuan, Anu felt only that he was handsome and refined, elegant and bright of countenance, gentle and cultured, his very bearing radiant with grace. At first glance, he possessed such natural composure that one could not look away. He wore a single robe of simple, elegant blue, echoing the sturdy pine and hardy bamboo around him; atop his head sat a jade coronet and hairpin, lending him an added air of refinement; the wind stirred his sleeves, and he seemed to drift as though beyond this mortal world, embodying perfectly that ancient phrase, "Thinking of my lord, gentle as jade." Just as she found herself admiring his looks, a faint sense of familiarity stirred within her, and, turning it over in her mind, she suddenly realized with a start — he looked exactly like the Celestial Clan's Crown Prince, the very victim she had ambushed with two arrows that day! And so a sense of foreboding rose within Anu's heart: what dreadful luck, to have one's enemy show up right on one's own doorstep! The world was so vast and boundless — why must he, of all people, come to this very place and cross paths with her here? Her brothers had once praised him as being extraordinarily clever — could it be he had already discerned that she was the culprit? But he had never once seen her face, and even now her face remained veiled — how could he possibly recognize her? The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and she dared not glance at him again.

The nine-headed serpent demon, weighing the situation, resolved not to prolong this fight. It had always relied on deceiving ignorant mortals under the guise of a cultivator of immortality, and now, as fate would have it, it seemed the saying "heaven's justice comes round in due course" had proven all too true, bringing forth two genuine immortals at once, right before its very eyes. This little immortal maiden's power, though great, seemed inexperienced in the ways of the world, her weaknesses easy enough to find; if it did not act on her swiftly, it would surely never escape this disaster. Seizing the moment while Anu stood momentarily distracted, it spat its foul black breath directly at her, and under cover of that black mist, its nine snake tongues came swarming toward Anu all at once.

Because Anu had let her guard down watching Ziyuan, her opponent had seized the opening, forcing her back several steps until she stood but a single pace from Xing'er; seeing the sword Xing'er had dropped and then retrieved, gripped tightly in her hand, Anu reached out and called loudly, "Sword, to me!" Hearing this, Xing'er hurriedly flung the sword in her hand over to Anu.

At this moment, seeing Anu somewhat on the back foot, Ziyuan calmly cast the demon-binding rope at the nine-headed serpent demon. The rope instantly expanded in size in midair, settling perfectly over the serpent demon, and under its restraint the creature found itself utterly unable to move. Anu, having just recovered her sword and intending to strike back properly at the nine-headed serpent demon, could not help but freeze for a moment at the sight of this.