Volume One, Chapter Thirty-Two: Black Jade and Black Pearl

In the darkness, something suddenly bit Meiniang’s heel. The sharp pain left her no time to think—she swung her staff back with all her might.

“Don’t hit me! It’s one of us!” a startled voice cried out. Peering through the gloom, she realized it was the Divine Tortoise! One foreleg braced against Meiniang’s black fox staff, the other against Hanyu’s jade pestle.

“One of us? Who’s one of us with you?” Hanyu pressed down harder.

“You did it on purpose!” The tortoise rolled its eyes, clearly having seen Hanyu hesitate for a moment before continuing to strike.

“I did do it on purpose! Who asked you to bite me?” Hanyu was indeed intentional.

“You ignored me when I called!” The tortoise looked aggrieved.

“Called? You mean that ‘the moon is out’? That nearly scared us to death!” Hanyu frowned.

“My voice is that scary?” The tortoise sounded dejected.

“It’s not your voice! It’s the middle of the night—someone speaks, but you can’t see anyone!” Meiniang hurriedly withdrew her staff.

“Hmph! You should have looked down!” The tortoise glared at Hanyu, wary.

“Look down? Maybe I should just step on you?” As Hanyu spoke, she raised her foot, but the tortoise darted behind her, snapping at her heel again. In no time, the two were caught up in a lively scuffle—one stomping, one biting.

“All right! Enough! If you keep this up, you’ll bring the demons down on us!” Meiniang glanced anxiously toward the palace gates.

“Hmph!” Hanyu reluctantly took a step back. Truth be told, seeing the Divine Tortoise filled her with joy. With it here, their rescue attempt seemed all the more likely to succeed.

“Hmph!” The tortoise looked equally dissatisfied.

“Why didn’t you turn into a sheep?” Meiniang asked, curious.

“Hmph, that’s not so easy! That fat—Miss Zhao turned into a sheep, and I tumbled into the grass!” The tortoise’s eyes remained fixed on Hanyu, wary of another attack.

“All right, all right, stop staring at me!” Hanyu couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hmph!” At last, the tortoise relaxed, turning to Meiniang. “I was sleeping soundly when I heard voices, looked up, and there you were!”

“Sleeping? You weren’t thinking how to save people, but napping here?” Hanyu was a little annoyed.

“I was thinking—just a little too hard and fell asleep!” the tortoise admitted sheepishly.

“How did you know it was us?” Meiniang caught herself, realizing how odd the question sounded.

“The voices! As soon as I heard you—” The tortoise shot Hanyu a look, as if the more outlandish the words, the easier to understand.

“So you hate me that much? You remember my voice so well?” Hanyu’s expression soured.

“All right, let’s hurry and blend in before we stir up more trouble!” Meiniang quickly changed the subject.

“I’m not going—” The tortoise turned to leave, but Hanyu blocked its path with her foot.

“You’re coming with us!” Hanyu eyed the tortoise’s mouth warily.

“I won’t be any help. I’ll just wait outside!” The tortoise forced a grin.

“No, we go in together and leave together! I’ll carry you in myself if I have to!” Hanyu threatened, half-smiling.

“No, please! We’ll be discovered!” The tortoise shuddered, thinking, “What if she uses me to smash something?!”

“She has a point—it’s not safe. We need a better plan,” Meiniang agreed.

The tortoise sighed. There was no getting out of this. Raising its head with utmost seriousness, it declared, “Wait here, I need to fetch something!” Hanyu and Meiniang exchanged glances, taken aback by such sincerity. Before they could react, the tortoise vanished in a flash.

“That turtle runs faster than a rabbit!” Meiniang blurted out before catching herself. She glanced at Hanyu, who showed no anger and even nodded, “Indeed!”

Moments later, the tortoise returned, carrying something in its mouth. Hanyu grabbed it—it was the bundle that the plump girl had used to carry the tortoise. The bundle was now chewed and tattered, evidence of the tortoise’s efforts to escape from it.

As they neared the palace gate, a voice called out from the shadows, “Have you eaten?”

Meiniang started, then replied quickly, “Not yet!”

Two female demons jumped out, scrutinizing the pair.

“Moyu!” the leader recognized Meiniang.

“Yes, just back from my shift!”

“What’s that on your back?” The demon’s sharp eyes had spotted the bundle on Hanyu’s back.

“Found it—a bundle with a few floral robes inside,” Meiniang replied. Hanyu nodded and grinned.

“What’s the point of that!” The demon wrinkled her nose in disdain.

Once inside the palace, Meiniang and Hanyu saw that Qingyin Palace was indeed extraordinary. They had expected the same vulgarity as the Sanqing Hall, but the place was regal and elegant. The main hall had columns of blue jade, floors of white jade, curtains of pearls, golden and silver threads fluttering like clouds and mist. There were doors in the center, left, and right; female demons bustled through the side doors while the central door saw little traffic.

“This way!” Meiniang pulled Hanyu toward the main entrance.

Passing through another hall, they found a tightly shut golden door at the center, carved with two upright black serpents. Six female demons stood guard, stern-faced and holding whips.

“Moyu, looking for the Immortal?” asked one of the guards.

“No, no! I’m looking for Hongqin—heard she came here!” Meiniang feigned a glance around.

“Oh, she did come! But when she heard the Immortal was still resting, she left.”

“I see! I’ll look elsewhere then, thank you!” Meiniang quickly pulled Hanyu away.

Back in the front hall, Meiniang and Hanyu wandered left, then right, but Qingyin Palace was more labyrinth than palace, doors within doors, paths splitting in three—it was dizzying. After much circling, they saw nothing resembling a sheep pen. They couldn’t ask, so they found a quiet corner to plot.

“Why is this sheep pen so hard to find…” Meiniang frowned.

“Let’s grab a minor demon and ask!” Hanyu was losing patience.

“Let’s look a bit more,” Meiniang hesitated. With just the two of them left, if they alarmed the demons, rescuing the others would be nearly impossible. Yet, there was no other way.

“More searching? At this rate, the others will have their essence taken!” Hanyu pressed.

“Miss Mei! Miss Yu!” Suddenly, a voice whispered behind them. The two jumped, but saw no one.

“You damned turtle, trying to scare us again!” Meiniang snapped, but Hanyu’s face was expressionless—she could tell it wasn’t the tortoise.

“Tortoise! Tortoise! It wasn’t me!” The tortoise protested indignantly. Meiniang broke out in a cold sweat; the voice sounded like a woman’s.

“Oh, I forgot—you can’t see me!” The voice shifted to stand in front of them.

“Who are you?” Hanyu’s hand trembled on her jade pestle.

“I’m Zhao Lingyao!”

“Zhao Ling…? Oh, the plump girl! But…” Hanyu rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“Yes, it’s me,” the voice admitted, embarrassed.

“Miss Zhao, why can’t we see you?” Meiniang was still doubtful, though it certainly sounded like the plump girl.

“She’s left her body!” called the tortoise from behind.

“Sorry, Tortoise! I forgot to put you down first when I left my body—I didn’t break you, did I?”

“No, no, how could you break me?” The tortoise sounded pleased. Being called “Brother Tortoise” was music to its ears—“This girl really does have a good heart.”

“Left her body? Miss Zhao, I didn’t expect you to have reached such heights,” Hanyu realized calling her “plump girl” had been a bit abrupt.

“No, it’s not like that! My master said I’m too fat and wouldn’t be able to run if danger came, so she taught me the ‘Great Art of Guiding the Spirit.’ Turns out it came in handy! I ran back, bumped into those demons, saw her raise the demon mirror, and quickly left my body. Since then, I’ve been following them through this Qingyin Palace!” the plump girl explained.

“We heard you’d been caught and felt terrible!” Meiniang apologized. She couldn’t help but admire the girl’s loyalty.

“No need! If you hadn’t hidden quickly, we’d all be caught by now,” the plump girl said cheerfully.

“Let’s save the others first! Do you know where they are?” Hanyu cut in.

“I do! I’ve searched everywhere. Go in the left door, turn right, then left again—that’s where they’re kept! But they’re packed so close, there’s no way to talk in secret.” The plump girl sounded frustrated.

“Let’s check it out!” Meiniang strode to the left-hand door. The plump girl stuck close behind, giving directions as they went. Soon, Meiniang saw something like a sheep pen, with two female demons on guard, chatting and laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Meiniang called out.

“Moyu! What else? We’re guessing if the Immortal will reward us! Hehe!” the leader turned around.

“We were curious too. We rushed over as soon as we finished eating!” Meiniang winked. The two demons giggled knowingly.

“We’re still hungry!” the other demon pouted.

“No one’s come to relieve you?” Meiniang feigned surprise. The two shook their heads in dismay.

“Go eat—we’ll watch for you. Besides, we can…” Meiniang leered playfully. Hanyu nearly gagged.

“Really? Wonderful! We’ve been starving!” The two demons cheered with delight.

“Hurry, but we’ll only cover for a bit!” Meiniang called after them.

“Don’t worry—just don’t mess around!” the two demons said warily.

As soon as the guards left, Meiniang and Hanyu hurried to the sheep pen. Inside, dozens of sheep milled about, but it was easy to spot Yibing—the fattest sheep by far. But…there were two fat sheep. They’d forgotten about the plump girl.

“Which one is Yibing?” Meiniang and Hanyu exchanged glances.

“The restless one is Yibing; the still one is me!” The plump girl’s voice whispered in Meiniang’s ear. Of course—a soul out of body would have no reaction.

“You, the fattest one—come here!” Meiniang called. Yibing, who’d been comforting Biyi, blinked and eyed the alluring demoness warily.

“Who else could it be? Yes, you, fatso!” Hanyu snapped, a little too loudly. Meiniang anxiously looked around. Yibing was shocked—the demon’s voice was just like Hanyu’s, and her manner exactly the same.

“Don’t go!” Biyi whispered, but after a moment’s hesitation, Yibing shuffled over.

“What do you want?” Yibing eyed the demoness suspiciously.

“Come closer—I’ll whisper,” Hanyu grinned, seeing all the sheep’s ears prick up. Yibing frowned—the voice was too familiar. He stuck out his head.

“Don’t make a sound. Listen!” Hanyu grabbed Yibing’s ear and whispered, “I’m Hanyu, and she’s Meiniang!”

Yibing’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“It’s me in disguise!” Meiniang grabbed Yibing’s other ear.

Yibing wanted to speak but only nodded nervously.

“Hmph! I can only change my appearance, not my voice!” Hanyu tugged his ear again.

“If not, we couldn’t have gotten in!” Meiniang tugged harder.

Hongkun, not far away, couldn’t watch any longer and was about to scold them when Jin Guishan blocked him with a hoof. Shaking his head, Jin Guishan wasn’t sure what it was—maybe the voice—but this demon seemed odd.

“Stop pulling, you’ll tear them off!” Suddenly, a voice sounded in front of Yibing—though he saw no one. Two plump little hands suddenly snatched his ears away.

“Miss Zhao!” Yibing blurted.

“Brother Mu!” The plump girl’s voice responded from empty air.

At that moment, the soulless fat sheep wandered over, its vacant eyes staring at the air in front of Yibing, then stood quietly by his side. Yibing glanced from the empty space to the fat sheep, eyes wide with fear, staring at Hanyu.

“Out-of-body! Out-of-body! Her soul’s left her body—she’ll be fine once it’s back!” Hanyu pointed to the empty air, then the fat sheep, her eyes full of conviction.

“Whew… That’s a relief! I’ll go tell Brother Jin!” Yibing finally exhaled. He was about to turn when he was yanked back by the ear.

“Tell them quietly in a moment! Do you know how to turn back into humans?” The plump girl pressed.

“No!” Yibing shook his head vigorously.

“Seems we have to find that demon mirror!” Hanyu looked at Meiniang.

“That’s our only option,” Meiniang nodded, then turned to Yibing, “Watch over Miss Zhao’s body! Losing the soul is one thing, but lose the body and it’s all over! Guard her well—don’t keep staring at your Sister Biyi!”

“Yes, yes!” Yibing blushed crimson beneath his wool.

Just then, a voice barked behind them, “Moyu, Mozhu, what are you doing here?”