(1) Haunted Both Waking and Dreaming

Ziyuan returned to his own chambers, intending to read, but found himself somehow lacking the energy for it. His mind kept drifting back again and again to the Mist Forest and to Anu's image, and the text before him blurred together into fragments he could hardly follow, the content ultimately lost on him entirely, never quite understood. He noticed the absurdity of his own behavior — reading had always been his usual pastime in idle moments, so what exactly had come over him today, that even this most ordinary of habits had grown so scattered and disordered? This was simply not like him at all. He rose and began pacing about his chambers, rapping his knuckles against his own forehead, chastising himself for this strange behavior, only to find his feet had, without his even realizing it, carried him to stand before the two arrows that had been drawn from his body that day.

As it happened, those two ochre-red arrows had, ever since his return to his chambers that day, been kept on a high rack in the corner at his instruction to Changxiu, so that he might see them whenever he wished — for in his heart he held a certain admiration for whoever had wielded them, this person (or perhaps woman) who had brought a timely end to a war between two clans, resolving it peacefully, and who, even while using injury to him as the means, had still shown him mercy and struck only lightly, with restraint. He felt he owed this person a debt of gratitude, and it was precisely for this reason that he had gone to the Mist Forest to investigate the truth of the matter — never expecting that hidden within the Mist Forest would be such a delightful young princess, and that this very princess would happen to be the owner of these two arrows.

Gazing at the two arrows, Ziyuan once again drifted into a distant reverie. Lost in thought, thinking over everything about Anu, he could not help but smile faintly — smiling at her girlish, coquettish airs, smiling at that impulsive, fiery, unreasonable temperament of hers, and, more than anything, smiling at how, young as she was, she nonetheless possessed such a tender heart — she had risked her own life to save a mortal little boy; she had given up the best chance to strike a killing blow, all for the sake of peace between the two clans. Perhaps her fight against the nine-headed serpent demon, too, had been for no other reason than to protect the townsfolk, Ziyuan thought.

Searching his own heart honestly, he had to admit that, within the Celestial Clan, he had always been a rather solitary figure.

His nature and inclinations were the very opposite of the typical Celestial person's; the splendor and clamor so beloved by the Celestial Clan left him entirely unmoved, and he much preferred to remain quietly alone, shutting out all such extravagance and glamour, content to drink in his own bleak solitude undisturbed. His father's profound expectations of him had led him, from childhood, to renounce every form of indulgent pleasure, and over time he had grown to neither understand nor enjoy such indulgence at all, shouldering instead the heavy responsibility for the rise and fall, the honor and shame, of the entire Celestial Clan — no matter what, he simply could not bring himself to feel truly lighthearted or joyful. And so, upon seeing Xiaoyi in the Mist Forest, it had felt almost like glimpsing another version of himself — that same relentless drive to perfect oneself for the sake of duty. He had felt a genuine, heartfelt admiration and tenderness toward him; no one who had not endured such hardship themselves could ever truly understand its taste, and he understood it precisely because he himself was a man who had walked, step by step, to where he now stood today.

As he had grown older, he had gradually come to understand that the responsibilities he bore extended far beyond those owed to the Celestial race alone.

The Celestial people occupied the highest positions among the Three Realms, enjoying the greatest of blessings, and it was only right that they should bow with compassion to examine the sufferings of all beings under heaven, rather than remaining aloof above it all, selfishly indulging themselves while looking down with disdain upon everyone else. And yet, within the Celestial Clan, he had almost no true confidant at all — not even his own wife understood him. Shenya was no different from any other Celestial person; as Crown Princess in particular, she enjoyed wealth and glory to the fullest, revered by all the Celestial people, and yet she alone failed to understand him at all. And so, over all these years, he had never felt any deep passion or spark toward Shenya — precisely as the saying goes, "when hearts don't align, even one word too many is one word too many." Their spirits simply did not connect. But since it had, after all, been an arranged marriage by his father's decree, compounded further by political alliance, he could not very well cast her aside without proper fault, and so could only carry on his days treating her with the courteous distance owed a guest, all correct formality and nothing more. As far as he was concerned, all the Celestial women were, in truth, essentially the same. His father, distressed that he had been married so long without any heir, had urged him countless times to take a side consort, and yet he had remained entirely unmoved by it all. Since all the Celestial women were essentially the same anyway, why bother compounding his own troubles further?

He had thought his heart long since settled into perfect calm, and yet Anu's appearance had stirred up ripples within it after all. For no reason he could name, Anu's voice, her face, her smile, lingered persistently in his mind — he had only just returned from the Mist Forest, and already found himself filled with such longing? He could not explain to himself what exactly was happening — he, ever so composed and self-possessed, actually finding himself this restless and unsettled? He had only just met Anu, after all — where could such tangled, ever-worsening troubles possibly come from? And yet, if he were not already caught up in troubles that only grew more tangled the more he tried to unravel them, how else could he explain finding himself unable even to read a book without his mind wandering in such confusion, unable to make sense of a single word?

Ziyuan sighed, still knocking his knuckles against his forehead, uncertain what to do with himself, so thoroughly out of sorts. Just at that moment, Changxiu arrived to present himself, bringing with him Ziyuan's own Dragon Sovereign Sword, along with Anu's Yin-Yang Daggers and the Seven-Colored Flowing Light Sword.

"Your Highness, this humble servant handled the aftermath, and found that dagger and sword belonging to that young Asura woman left behind at the scene. Not knowing quite what to do with them, I brought them all here together." Changxiu spoke with the utmost deference, setting the three items down upon the table.

The moment he laid eyes on the Yin-Yang Daggers and the Seven-Colored Flowing Light Sword, Ziyuan's heart gave a faint tremor — had not everything filling his mind just now been Anu herself? During that fierce battle with the nine-headed serpent demon on Phoenix Mountain in Qingxi Town, that girl had displayed an endless array of tricks, thoroughly enjoying every moment of the fight, without a single trace of cowardice about her. Every frown, every smile, every word, every flash of temper of hers had left itself deeply imprinted upon his heart — he had never before encountered a woman quite like her, one who combined so many different qualities all within a single person. Perhaps that was precisely why she had left such a deep impression on him?

At this thought, a smile once again rose to Ziyuan's face.

"How did that girl end up fighting the nine-headed serpent demon?" In truth, Ziyuan already had a fairly settled idea in his own mind regarding this question, but he still wished to confirm it clearly.

"According to the accounts of the townsfolk, the two young women were friends of a certain Miss Manchun in town, and had gone up the mountain specifically to rescue the residents who had been captured."

"Just as I thought... that girl..." The smile on Ziyuan's face grew even more radiant at this — not only had his own settled conviction regarding Anu's kind and righteous nature now been confirmed, but he found himself gaining, too, a fresh new insight into her — that she was one who "forged good connections far and wide."

"To think she would even befriend mortals... mingling freely with the sprites of the Mist Forest, and now befriending mortals as well — it seems there is, in Anu's heart, no distinction at all between high and low, noble and humble." Ziyuan murmured this to himself, his heart filled with delight.

"Your Highness seems to be in rather good spirits today." Watching Ziyuan's smile, Changxiu found himself somewhat at a loss. Though Ziyuan was ordinarily gentle and generous in his dealings with others, never cold or severe, his moods had always remained remarkably steady, without any pronounced fluctuations. Having followed Ziyuan since childhood, Changxiu understood full well that behind that gentle smile he showed to others there lay little in the way of genuine ease or true happiness — the burden of being the Celestial Sovereign's eldest son was a heavy weight he carried, and how could he ever truly feel light of heart or joyful under such a weight?

But today Ziyuan seemed somehow different — Changxiu could not quite say in what way exactly, only that something about him felt distinctly out of the ordinary.

"Is that so?" Ziyuan gave a noncommittal reply.

"It's not just the dagger and sword..." Ziyuan pointed toward the Yin-Yang Daggers and the Seven-Colored Flowing Light Sword Changxiu had set upon the table, then took down the two arrows from the high rack as well.

"The wound from these two arrows was also her doing." Ziyuan smiled with genuine delight — this girl was simply too interesting; she had truly captured his attention entirely.

"Your Highness means to say Miss Anu is..." Changxiu could hardly believe it — this piece of information was simply too astonishing.

"Yes. She is indeed the young heir of the Asura Clan." Ziyuan gathered up the Dragon Sovereign Sword, the Yin-Yang Daggers, the Seven-Colored Flowing Light Sword, and the pair of arrows together into his sleeve-realm, then turned and walked outside.

Seeing Ziyuan about to leave, Changxiu immediately hurried to follow after him.

"I'm going to the Mist Forest — there's no need for you to come along. Remember, you are not to breathe a single word about anything concerning the Mist Forest or Anu. This is a matter that could spark conflict between the two clans, or even outright war — it must not be taken lightly under any circumstances. If you let slip even a single word, do not blame me for showing you no mercy."

"Including the Celestial Sovereign and Her Ladyship the Crown Princess?"

"Yes," Ziyuan said firmly.

Not allowed to come along? Changxiu felt rather puzzled at heart. Over this long stretch of time he had essentially become Ziyuan's right hand, and though nominally master and servant, their bond ran closer to that of brothers; wherever Ziyuan went, before and behind, Changxiu had always remained inseparably at his side — this had become an unshakable rule between them. What had happened today, that he was now being told he need not follow?

Watching Ziyuan's retreating figure, Changxiu's thoughts wandered every which way — Ziyuan seemed far too unusual today, unusual enough that Changxiu found himself somewhat unable to adjust: not only was his mood remarkably good, but even his stride seemed noticeably lighter than usual. Not knowing what exactly Ziyuan was scheming, all Changxiu could do was stand there, dazed, watching Ziyuan's figure disappear from view.

Ziyuan traveled the whole way along winding, twisting paths so faint and blurred they were barely discernible, until at last the open ground and the row of single-story houses suddenly came into view before him. Though he had left this place only the day before, it felt to him as though a season had already passed. At the thought of seeing Anu again, an indescribable elation stirred within his heart.

From a distance, he saw Anu sitting on the ground on the small clearing beyond the pavilion and the rainbow bridge, before the deep forest, the little sprites gathered clamoring all around her. And so he made his way slowly into the pavilion, quietly watching them carry on with all their noisy commotion.

"Anu, give us a smile..."

"Anu, come sing us a song..."

"Anu, come dance..."

"Anu, don't be sad! Aren't we still here for you?"

The sprites tried to console Anu, each speaking over the other, but Anu simply sat there with a sullen, drooping expression, her face far from pleasant to look at.

Seeing that Anu had no interest in playing along, her heart still sunk in the sorrow of Xiaoyi's brief return and departure, Xing'er gave her a gentle nudge.

"Don't be like this — you need to take care of yourself, so Xiaoyi can feel at ease. The decades will pass by quickly enough."

"That's right, that's right, that's right!" The tiger demon burst out, shouting "right" three times in a row, startling the already timid Xing'er badly.

"Why would you scare her like that?" Seeing Xing'er startled, Anu, already in a foul mood, turned to scold the tiger demon all the more sharply.

"I wasn't... I didn't mean to... I just... I just spoke a bit too loudly, truly sorry about that." Seeing Anu displeased, the tiger demon, clearly feeling he had done nothing wrong, still hurried to apologize and admit his fault all the same. Seizing the moment, he lowered his body and asked Anu quietly, "How about I carry you into the deep forest for a run, to clear your mind a little? What do you say?"

Hearing that the tiger demon intended to carry Anu into the deep forest to clear her mind, all the sprites exchanged glances.

"Do you know where Xiaoyi is? The Little Bluebird won't even take me to him..." Anu's eyes lit up as though glimpsing a ray of hope.

At this, the assembled sprites descended upon the tiger demon all at once, pulling his ears, yanking his tail, kicking his backside, raining down blows upon him from every side. What a hopeless creature — of all the sore subjects to bring up, he had to bring up that one!

"I... I don't know." Realizing he had caused a disaster, the tiger demon scrambled frantically to extract himself from the mess he had made.

"You're lying!" Seeing the tiger demon stammer and hedge, Anu grew angry, seizing him by the ears and pressing him hard. "Take me to find Xiaoyi right now!"

"My dear little mistress, please don't be in such a rush!" The turtle spirit, being rather slow in his movements, had thereby developed an air of unhurried composure about him that always gave others the impression of a certain wisdom.

"The ganoderma is such a small thing, hidden away in some corner of the deep forest — the tiger demon is such a large, clumsy creature, and a hopeless one at that; how would he possibly know where Xiaoyi is?"

"That's right... that's right..." The assembled sprites, hearing this, all chimed in agreement.

"Then which of you knows? Take me there quickly!"