(1) The Truth

Following close behind Xing'er's every step, they walked into an open, level little courtyard — a neat row of single-story houses in a straight line, a few small rooms with a central hall, flanking rooms on either side. Anu's bedroom lay in the innermost room, right next to Xing'er's. In front of the house ran a long, straight veranda, with a small bamboo table and two bamboo chairs set in one corner. The open ground before the house was spacious, dotted with trees, flowers, and grass, and a babbling little stream wound its way through it all, the sound of the water clear and pleasant, altogether quite elegant. A pavilion had been built over the stream, with a stone table inside surrounded by several stone stools. A small rainbow bridge connected the pavilion to both banks, and beyond that lay the deep, dim forest once more.

No sooner had they stepped onto the open ground before the house than Xing'er's urgent cries rang out.

"Little Bluebird! Quick, find Xiaoyi — Anu's been hurt and has fainted!"

From within the dense foliage of a tall pagoda tree nearby, a little bluebird burst out in startled flight, spreading its wings. Though it hesitated somewhat, it still hurried swiftly toward the depths of the woods — this was its mission, and having gone over four hundred years without once carrying it out, it now found itself startled and hesitant.

Faced with everything unfolding before him, Ziyuan too was left with far too much he could not understand — this truly was a place shrouded in mystery. Mysterious people, events, places, things — for the moment he could make no sense of any of it, and could only follow Xing'er all the way to the innermost room, where they laid Anu down upon the bed.

No sooner had Anu been properly settled than hurried yet gentle footsteps sounded outside, drawing nearer from the distance, growing no heavier for it. A young man in a yellow robe then stepped over the threshold and into Anu's room, his long hair falling loose, gathered lightly only by a hairband, his face flawless and fair, with fine features and bright eyes, yet carrying a certain heroic air about him. The moment he crossed the threshold, one could sense at once his handsome, noble bearing, his immortal grace drifting about him; even Ziyuan could not, for the moment, place his origins, and only after fixing his gaze steadily upon him did he realize this was a thousand-year-old ganoderma spirit. As it happened, mountain spirits and water sprites generally possessed weaker spiritual power than birds and beasts, making it all the more difficult for them to take human form; even Xing'er, who had been especially favored by fortune, still possessed only feeble spiritual power despite having cultivated a human body over eight hundred years. Ganoderma was, after all, already a spiritual herb by nature, and for it to become a sprite was no easy feat, let alone to take human form — and yet the young man before them wore his human guise to near perfection, every gesture and movement already carrying a faint air of the immortal realm, in no way comparable to the likes of Xing'er. Xing'er stared, dumbstruck, and blurted out, "You're Xiaoyi?"

"Yes," said the young man in yellow.

"You're... Xing'er, aren't you?" He glanced at Xing'er once, and in that same instant caught sight of Ziyuan from the corner of his eye, an odd expression flashing across his face at once. He seemed about to ask something, but immediately turned back toward Anu instead, asking nothing further — at this moment, the only person on his mind was Anu.

"How did Anu end up in this state?" He noticed the violet flower mark upon Anu's forehead, and after taking her pulse, seemed to have some idea of what had happened, turning back to question Xing'er.

"It all happened so suddenly — no one noticed that mortal little boy. Anu got herself into this state trying to save him," Xing'er hurriedly explained.

"If it hadn't been for the Celestial Clan's Crown Prince stepping in to help, the Seven-Colored Flowing Light Sword would probably have already run straight through Anu's chest. You need to hurry and find a way to treat Anu — her mother, before she left, gave the strictest instructions that if anything ever happened to Anu, we must send the Little Bluebird to find you. You must have some way to treat her, don't you?" Xing'er, in her anxiety, gave no thought to the fact that Ziyuan was still present, spilling everything out in a rush.

"The Celestial Clan's Crown Prince?" Hearing these five words in Xing'er's account, Xiaoyi felt a thick wave of unease rise within him. But he had no time to dwell on it — treating Anu was the most urgent matter at hand — and so he rose and bowed to Ziyuan. "My thanks to Your Highness for your righteous assistance. Please wait outside for a moment; Xiaoyi shall now cast a spell to treat Anu."

Hearing Xiaoyi's words, Ziyuan nodded, returned his bow, and walked out of the room. He paced slowly, taking in every sight around him — every flower, every tree. Too many mysteries left him puzzled: the ganoderma spirit and the apricot tree spirit clearly had not known one another before today — what relationship, then, existed between the ganoderma spirit and Anu? Who was Anu? Who was the ganoderma spirit? Who were the Little Bluebird and the apricot tree spirit? Wasn't the Mist Forest supposed to house the young Asura heir? Yet looking around, only two of the rooms appeared inhabited, seemingly belonging to Anu and the apricot tree spirit, while the rest of the rooms seemed unoccupied — even the ganoderma spirit had come from outside, not living here himself. Even Ziyuan, ordinarily so clear-headed and meticulous in his calculations, now found himself thoroughly bewildered. He had thought that entering the Mist Forest would let him uncover the truth, never expecting matters to grow only more tangled and elusive instead. Ziyuan decided to use the time while Xiaoyi treated Anu to walk about and see what he might find — perhaps some clue would present itself.

Following the veranda in front of the house, he came to the main hall positioned squarely in the center. Ziyuan stopped and peered inside, finding the furnishings within all exquisite and delicate, more the taste of a young girl's household than anything else, without the slightest trace of masculine presence. A main hall ought to reflect the character of its master, and a proper young Asura prince, however young, surely ought not to have such an air about his home. Ziyuan shook his head lightly, unable to make sense of it.

Just as he was about to step forward, a strange thought suddenly flashed through Ziyuan's mind. "Could it be that the true master of this place is that girl called Anu?"

This strange notion truly startled Ziyuan himself, and yet he had to admit — of everything he had seen today, the only one who was truly Asura was that girl Anu, and even the hall of her dwelling carried the delicate touch of a young woman. This bold conjecture struck at Ziyuan's heart: could it be that the so-called young heir of the Mist Forest was not a prince at all, but a princess?

Such a wild, far-fetched thought truly seemed hard to believe, yet the more he considered it, the more sense it began to make. Today he had witnessed with his own eyes Anu's unique and extraordinary skill in enchantment, and it seemed all the more likely that she was the very archer who had used that same enchantment to bring the war between the two clans to a bloodless end — after all, within the Three Realms and Six Paths, few indeed possessed such ability. If she truly was the young heir, then her involvement in the war would make perfect sense. If the young heir were a prince, where would such enchantment come from? Only one who could possess both traits at once could the young heir be — and that meant she could only be a princess. And had not that apricot tree spirit's extreme anxiety, her attempt to stop him from bringing Anu back to the Celestial Court to treat her wounds, only confirmed the very suspicion now forming in his mind? After turning it over several times, the confusion that had once seemed so impenetrable suddenly lifted, all becoming clear at once.

Had the Asura King and Queen, all those years ago, truly deceived the entire world with such a monumental lie?

This thought startled even Ziyuan himself. Had the Asura King and Queen gone to such extraordinary lengths, turning heaven and earth upside down, deceiving all under heaven, hiding this secret in the Mist Forest, only to guard against the Celestial Clan's covetous designs? At this thought, Ziyuan drew a deep breath, his expression taking on a wistful cast — this was a grudge layered upon grudge between the two clans, a problem nearly beyond all hope of resolution, and the heaviness weighing on his heart left him almost unable to breathe. And so he set off, walking quietly toward the pavilion over the stream, hoping that its clear music might ease some of the troubles weighing on his mind.

Meanwhile, in Anu's room, Xiaoyi turned over and over in his mind the teachings his master had given him all those years ago. His very existence had been for the purpose of protecting Anu, and his master's earnest instructions still rang in his ears — though over four hundred years had passed, he dared not forget them even for a single day. That he had spent over a decade living alongside Anu day and night had been entirely by his master's and the Queen's design; he needed to understand Anu thoroughly, or how else could he protect her? Back when his master had first come to the deep forest and chosen him among all the mountain spirits and water sprites, Xiaoyi had felt not only trepidation but also genuine, profound gratitude — he was merely a lowly thousand-year-old ganoderma spirit, and yet he had won his master's favor, been raised up as a disciple, studied under his master for nearly twenty years, and, more than anything, had been allowed to grow close to Anu — a favor beyond compare. Among all the sprites of the deep forest, who did not adore Anu? Yet knowing her noble status as the treasured jewel of the Asura King's palm, none dared entertain any improper thoughts, content merely to hope for the chance to accompany and grow close to her, already counting themselves endlessly fortunate. But his master had singled him out, using immortal art to fix his human form, guiding his spirit-essence into that vessel, and then led him into the pavilion, beginning his nearly twenty years of studying under his master while being able to stay close to Anu.

Anu's current condition was clearly the result of her having invoked her enchantment spell, only to fail, through some accident, to properly withdraw it in time — the qi within her body was now in complete disarray, leaving her utterly unable to defend herself, and so she had fallen unconscious. The enchantment spell created illusion, shifting between the illusory and the real, and once mishandled even slightly, it would turn back and harm its own wielder. Seeing that the flower mark on her forehead had not been hidden away in time, Xiaoyi had already guessed at seven or eight parts of what had happened. Anu's forehead flower had been with her since birth, resembling closely the Queen's own features, though the Queen herself bore no such mark — and so Anu had disliked it ever since childhood, ordinarily always taking care to conceal it through magic, letting it show only when casting her enchantment spell. It seemed to share some inseparable bond with the enchantment itself, resonating together with her innate violet eyes, so that anyone who beheld it would find themselves dazzled and dizzy, their hearts stirred beyond their own control.

Just as his thoughts spun through his mind, Xing'er's voice reached his ears: "Xiaoyi, do tell us how this wound of Anu's is to be treated?"

Xiaoyi came back to himself. Meeting her again today, after over four hundred years since he had returned to the deep forest, the figure he had so deeply cherished in his heart now stood right before him, and he even felt himself grow rather agitated, though he could only suppress it quietly within. The shackle of five hundred years required to truly achieve human form weighed upon him; forcibly taking human shape consumed his spiritual power to an extreme degree, and each time he did so, it only pushed back further still the time when he might truly complete that transformation. And so, though he longed every moment to see Anu, he had to force down that longing and pour his heart instead into diligent cultivation; whenever the other sprites played and laughed alongside Anu, he had never once joined them, never once daring to disobey his master's earnest instructions: only when Anu was in danger could he step in to help. Now, with the five hundred years nearly at their end, how could he have known that Anu would run into trouble at just this moment? Whether it was surprise, fear, worry, or joy, he himself could not even say what exactly he was feeling in that instant.