(3) Hot on the Trail

Watching Ziyuan's retreating figure, Anu felt a stirring of resentment, though she couldn't quite say what exactly she was resentful about. Ziyuan wasn't anyone in particular to her—what right did he have to go managing her comings and goings like that? And yet she also knew he had saved her life twice now, and had drained a thousand years of his own cultivation for her sake—having him set a few boundaries for her hardly seemed unreasonable. Her thoughts churned in a muddle. She drew out the jade pendant Ziyuan had given her from her waist and studied it closely—ever since Ziyuan's arrival, the pendant had grown warm to the touch, which she'd found strange, though she hadn't wanted to bring it out in front of him. Now, holding it in her hand, she felt the warmth gradually fading as Ziyuan walked away. Anu paused, turning the thought over in her mind: could the pendant somehow recognize its owner?

　　This curious discovery led Anu to decide, quietly, to follow after Ziyuan—partly to confirm this strange new finding, and partly because some inexplicable pull made her want to go after him: Ziyuan came and went so quickly, and it left her with an odd, indescribable sense of loss.

　　Her own spirit-flight was naturally no match for Ziyuan's superior skill, but fortunately the pendant, recognizing its master, gave Anu the right guidance at just the right moments—she might lag behind, but she never lost her way entirely, and so the pendant's recognition of its owner was confirmed as well.

　　Understanding now the thought behind Ziyuan's gift, Anu felt a fresh wave of warmth settle over her heart, sweet and gentle, deeply satisfying.

　　The pendant's spiritual energy was more than enough to stand in for Ziyuan's own protection—this, she realized, was exactly why he had given it to her.

　　She watched from a distance as Ziyuan entered the army's great tent, and an idea began forming in her mind. Tucking the pendant back at her waist, she pressed her hands together in a seal, murmuring softly under her breath, and one by one the celestial soldiers patrolling and standing guard outside the tent fell into slumber. Only then did she slip inside.

　　"You… you…"

　　No sooner had she stepped into the tent than she found Ziyuan seated, arms crossed over his chest, staring straight at her, with Changxiu standing respectfully at his side, bowing to her as well. Anu was so startled she couldn't speak for a long moment.

　　"I noticed you following me the whole way and wanted to see just what you were up to. Didn't I tell you to stay put in the Mist Forest and not go wandering off? You really don't take my words to heart at all, do you? What a troublesome girl you are." Ziyuan shook his head, rubbing his temple with a helpless expression.

　　"This… this… the fighting hasn't even started yet, has it?" Caught red-handed, Anu stammered.

　　"I noticed the pendant grows warm whenever I get close to it—isn't that just… curiosity? I wanted to see if it was… true… or not…" She drew out the pendant and held it out toward him with both hands, bowing her head in embarrassment.

　　Watching her stammer through her explanation, so plainly mortified, Ziyuan didn't know whether to laugh or scold her.

　　"You followed me all this way just for that?"

　　"Mm… no, not just that…"

　　Anu paused, then added, "Your eleventh sister is young, and a girl besides—how could you possibly understand what's going through her mind? I, on the other hand… might be able to help." This was the excuse she'd rehearsed the whole way here, and rather a dignified-sounding one, if she did say so herself.

　　"Are you saying you understand my eleventh sister better than I do?" Ziyuan stroked his chin, finding the excuse rather absurd—and yet, absurd as it was, there seemed to be some grain of truth in it after all.

　　"Well, not exactly…" Caught off guard by his counter, Anu found herself momentarily at a loss for words.

　　"Come now—she's called your eleventh sister for a reason, isn't there a considerable gap in years between you two? Can a grown man like you really understand what goes on in a young girl's heart?"

　　Anu had thrown all caution to the wind now, still working hard to argue her own case.

　　"So?" Ziyuan gazed steadily at Anu's anxious face, nearly unable to hold back his laughter—this girl, was she being foolish or clever? He honestly couldn't quite tell.

　　"Can I stay and help you? All of you are men—what do you know besides rolling up your sleeves and fighting?"

　　"No." At this, Ziyuan frowned and rubbed his temple, his refusal firm and final.

　　"Setting aside whether it's appropriate for you to stay here at all, it won't be long before the Asura King learns of it. How could he possibly tolerate you being in a Celestial military camp? If he flies into a rage and sends his own army charging in, wouldn't I find myself under attack from both sides at once?"

　　"Oh, right…" Ziyuan's words landed on Anu like a heavy blow, sending a sudden shiver through her.

　　"I nearly forgot all about that hot-tempered father of mine…" Anu rubbed her own head, feeling thoroughly deflated—it was all because of that father of hers, always looking to pick fights with the Celestial Clan over nothing, that she had to live so constrained a life.

　　"Well then… I'll head back…" There was nothing else for it—with a father like that, all she could do was obediently return to the Mist Forest.

　　Watching Anu's face fall into sudden gloom as she turned to leave, Ziyuan found himself oddly unsettled—he wasn't sure whether it was reluctance to see her go, or simply the sight of her dejected expression that troubled him.

　　"Didn't you just say we don't understand a young girl's heart? Well, since you've come all this way, why not stay a while and say your piece before you go?"

　　"You… you really want to hear it?" Anu, whose face had clouded over a moment ago, stopped in her tracks at his words, a smile blooming back across her face. In truth, the whole excuse had been something she'd made up on the spot—she hadn't expected Ziyuan to actually be interested in hearing it.

　　"Your Celestial Court has far too many rules—all those rigid constraints would smother anyone to death. The eleventh princess must have grown thoroughly sick of it, which is why she fled on her own to get some air. If a young girl meets someone who suits her heart, someone who can love and protect her, then things like status shouldn't matter so much. Demons have their good and their bad too, you can't paint them all with the same brush—look at the little spirits of our Mist Forest, every one of them is perfectly decent. But the Celestial Court would never see it that way, would it? Perhaps it's precisely because she knows this that the eleventh princess doesn't want to go back to the Celestial Court at all."

　　"You make a fair point, Anu. I'll keep it in mind," Ziyuan said with a faint smile. In truth, he understood the reasoning as well as anyone—it was only that, seeing Anu's dejected look a moment ago, he had deliberately kept her a little longer to let her talk, so she might work through some of the frustration weighing on her heart. And her little analysis had, in fact, been rather a case of judging others by her own measure—which he found he couldn't help finding amusing.

　　"When you left, you undid the charm spell on the soldiers outside—I wonder what sort of ordeal you put them through?"

　　Anu froze. She'd cast that spell without a sound, and yet even that hadn't slipped past Ziyuan. A cold jolt ran through her—it was fortunate that, back when she'd shot him with those two arrows, Ziyuan hadn't yet recognized her, nor known what her charm spell even was, which was the only reason she'd managed to land the strike. Otherwise, given how formidable Ziyuan was, how could she ever have pulled off a surprise attack on him?

　　She pouted, mumbling, "They didn't go through anything… I just let them sleep and have a… nice dream, that's all."

　　What had very nearly slipped out of her mouth was "a spring dream," but she caught herself just in time and swapped "spring" for "nice"—that wasn't the sort of thing one said so plainly in front of Ziyuan.

　　Ziyuan, hearing this, understood well enough there was more to the story, but could only laugh wryly—there was nothing to be done about her either way. Watching her pout, that particular sulky charm unique to young girls caught his eye, and it pleased him rather more than he cared to admit, leaving him with no heart left to scold her further.

　　"Travel safely," he said, smiling gently.

　　"You too—settle things quickly, or I'll get so bored I might just run off on my own."

　　"Understood." Ziyuan waved a hand, gesturing for her to go.

　　"I'm off, then."

　　Watching Anu step out of the tent, Ziyuan called Changxiu over.

　　"Escort the princess back to the Mist Forest. Keep it discreet—don't let her notice."

　　"Yes." Changxiu accepted the order and departed.

　　No sooner had Changxiu left than a figure slipped in abruptly from outside the tent, looking Ziyuan up and down with evident amazement.

　　"Well, isn't this something—the sun rising in the west? My elder brother, sneaking off for a private rendezvous with a lady?"

　　The newcomer was none other than Mo Ying, the tenth prince of the Celestial Clan.

　　"What nonsense are you spouting? Your other skills show no sign of improving, but your tongue certainly grows sharper by the day," Ziyuan said, shooting him an irritated glance.

　　"Aside from Sister-in-law, when's the last time I've seen you talk that much with a woman? The two of you seem to be getting along quite well!" Mo Ying said, beaming with delight.

　　"Keep talking nonsense and I'll send you back to the Celestial Court!" Ziyuan gave a low grunt, delivering a bit of a warning to the young man before him.

　　"Let's talk business—say your piece, or get back to your own tent."

　　"Yes… yes… yes…" Seeing the displeasure on Ziyuan's face, Mo Ying reined in his playful mood at once.

　　"Word of the Celestial Clan's mobilization has already been sent ahead. If Rong Yin has any sense, he'll hand the two of them over, and this whole fight might not even need to happen."

　　"Rong Yin's a stubborn one, and besides, there's no guarantee the two of them are even hiding with the demons at all. The reason I brought you along on this campaign is that you're close in age to our eleventh sister, and the two of you get along well—you know her better than most. So tell me, what do you think is going through her mind?"

　　"Young love, obviously! What else could it be?" Mo Ying said offhandedly, plopping himself down in the chair beside Ziyuan and crossing his legs.

　　"Sit properly and speak with some manners." Ziyuan shot Mo Ying a sharp look, startling the lively, high-spirited young man into sitting up straight at once.

　　Ziyuan, for all his generosity and even temper, carried a certain elder-brother authority among his siblings that none of the younger princes and princesses dared trifle with, made all the more weighty by his composed, self-contained nature.

　　"Nine times out of ten she's fallen for that demon fellow, Rong Heng. Who knows what sweet nothings he fed her to make her so reluctant to come home? Eleventh sister's always been drawn to novelty, always chasing excitement—she must have grown bored of the Celestial Court ages ago. The mortal world, the demon realm, those must seem far more appealing to her. Otherwise, how could some demon possibly measure up to the good looks of us Celestial folk?" Mo Ying looked himself over, then glanced at Ziyuan, wearing a rather smug, self-satisfied expression.

　　Ziyuan shot Mo Ying another sharp glance and said coldly, "I told you to bring something eleventh sister often likes to play with—have you brought it or not?"

　　"Oh, right… nearly forgot about that…" As he spoke, Mo Ying drew a jade ruyi scepter from his sleeve and handed it to Ziyuan.

　　"I had to turn her whole chamber upside down to find it. She must have taken most of her favorite things with her, but she left this behind—I gave it to her for her birthday one year, and she used to carry it around with her all the time…"

　　With that, Ziyuan raised two fingers toward the jade ruyi and cast a soul-tracing spell; before long, two figures appeared shimmering in the air—Yinglan and Rong Heng.

　　Yinglan was the Celestial Court's eleventh princess.

　　"This year, for Father's birthday, envoys came from every realm to offer congratulations, and Rong Heng attended for the first time alongside his father. He saw Yinglan dance at the banquet. So when you say our eleventh sister happened to cross paths with Rong Heng in the mortal realm—I suspect this 'chance encounter' has more to it than meets the eye," Ziyuan said, counting through the calculation on his fingers, speaking slowly and deliberately.

　　"Elder Brother means…"

　　"Whether Rong Heng harbors ill intentions is hard to say for certain just yet, but from what I can see, our eleventh sister appears happy and unharmed. The two of them are making their way toward Gu City, where the demon king resides—they must have received word from the demon king himself that the Celestial Clan has brought an army to demand the eleventh princess's return, and so they're hurrying toward Gu City." With that, Ziyuan released his soul-tracing spell.

　　"A mere demon clan, daring to provoke the Celestial Clan? At least they seem to know their place…"

　　Before Mo Ying could finish, Ziyuan cut him off.

　　"Don't forget—our purpose is to bring our eleventh sister home, not to go picking fights with the demon clan." With that, he vanished from sight in an instant, his voice trailing back on the air: "Let's go. Time to intercept them."

　　Mo Ying blinked, startled, and seeing that Ziyuan had already set off by spirit-flight, hurried to catch up.