Volume Two, Chapter Four: Blossoms Bloom and Wither

“Did Master Xifeng really say that about me? What else did she say?”
He had expected the great bird to turn hostile immediately, perhaps even drop a fresh load of dung on his head. But to his astonishment, not only did it not get angry, it actually became exceedingly gentle. Yibing's jaw nearly dropped in shock! It took him a moment to realize his slip—he had mistakenly called her “Master Uncle” instead of “Senior Brother.”

“Master Uncle said a lot…” Yibing ventured tentatively. The great bird's eyes widened a full circle.

“She said you’re not a demon, but an immortal—a good immortal at that…” Yibing nervously swallowed, then went on, “She said you’re the senior-most among us, powerful and kind, slaying demons and vanquishing evil, aiding the distressed and rescuing those in peril… And, most of all, you are always willing to help others…” Yibing felt a twinge of disgust at his own flattery.

“Heh, little fatty, you’re quite the storyteller! Still, it’s pleasant to hear!” The great bird couldn’t help but laugh. Some things Xifeng would never have said.

“She really did say it! Truly! Oh, Immortal, may I know your name?” Yibing quickly stood up with a grin.

“Xiaoyao!” The great bird stiffened its neck.

“What a grand name! Are you well acquainted with my Master Uncle?” Yibing stared curiously into the bird’s eyes.

“Ahem… well… yes, we’ve known each other for ages!” Xiaoyao coughed lightly, his gaze evasive.

“Oh, I see!” Yibing nodded repeatedly, thinking to himself, “They must be very close!”

“Hey, little fatty, what’s your name?” Xiaoyao glanced at the branch propping up Qi Yuanxiao and He Lingchi.

“This disciple, Mu Tianci, greets the Great Immortal!” Yibing solemnly bowed.

“Tianci, gifted by the heavens, is it?” Xiaoyao sneered.

“Heh, the Great Immortal truly knows all! They all call me Yibing!” Yibing’s face was full of admiration.

“Gifted?”

“The ‘Yi’ of ‘one,’ and the ‘bing’ of ‘flatbread’!” Yibing laughed awkwardly.

“Hahaha… Absolutely accurate! Absolutely!” Xiaoyao laughed so hard his feathers shook. Seeing the bird in good spirits, Yibing hurriedly pulled Jin Guishan to his side.

“What are you doing?” Xiaoyao’s expression turned stern at once.

“Great Immortal, for the sake of my Master Uncle, please forgive them!” Yibing pleaded.

“Forgive? They tried to steal my treasure, why should I forgive them?” Xiaoyao cast a disdainful glance at Jin Guishan.

“Great Immortal, we truly didn’t know it belonged to anyone! Had we known, we wouldn’t have dared to take it!” Jin Guishan said hastily.

“Who told you there was treasure here? Didn’t he tell you it was already claimed?”

“Well… I can’t say… he didn’t say…” Jin Guishan looked troubled.

“Hmph! That person’s heart is suspect!” Xiaoyao frowned.

“Great Immortal, please forgive them! Ignorance is no crime, is it not?” Yibing quickly interjected.

“No! Stealing is stealing, knowing or not knowing makes no difference.”

“You—” Yibing clenched his fists.

“What?!” Xiaoyao cocked his head, glaring at Yibing.

“…Nothing,” Yibing lowered his head in frustration, sighing deeply, “Alas… Master Uncle, you praised him, but he won’t even give you face…”

“Hey! Little fatty, aren’t you twisting my words? Who said I wouldn’t give Xifeng face?!” Xiaoyao bristled.

“So you will? My Master Uncle was right after all!” Yibing quickly looked up, grinning, while Xiaoyao awkwardly avoided his gaze.

“What exactly is your relationship with them?” Xiaoyao asked, his face dark.

“These three are fellow disciples of the Misty Cloud Sect. They came in search of this treasure to save their junior sister. We once…” Yibing hurriedly recounted the tale. Though his storytelling rambled, Xiaoyao listened with great interest. Usually, he watched over Peach Marsh alone, with no one to talk to; today he’d finally met a chatterbox, and he relished it.

“So that’s how it is! That young lady is truly remarkable!” As soon as Yibing finished, Xiaoyao couldn’t help but sigh.

“Great Immortal, I beg you! As long as my junior sister can be saved, you may punish me however you wish!” Jin Guishan dropped to his knees with a thud.

“You are indeed loyal! Sigh… Forgiving you is not a problem! But as for the treasure, that is impossible! It does not belong to me; I am merely its guardian and have no right to give it away!”

“Then who is the true owner of the treasure?” Jin Guishan’s face turned pale.

“Telling you is pointless… Go ahead, pull the other two up first.” Xiaoyao seemed to have a hidden difficulty.

“But…” Jin Guishan wanted to ask further, but Yibing quickly pulled him back.

Yibing then slowly shortened the branch, gradually hauling Qi Yuanxiao and He Lingchi up.

“Little fatty, you’ve become its master!” Xiaoyao stared at the divine iron tied to Yibing’s waist.

“You recognize it?” Yibing looked at Xiaoyao in curiosity.

“That dragon must be furious, isn’t it?” Xiaoyao couldn’t help but ask.

“You know about that too?” Seeing Xiaoyao only smile without answering, Yibing continued, “It actually seemed quite happy, saying it was finally free!”

“Oh?” Xiaoyao’s face fell at once.

At that moment, Jin Guishan brought Qi Yuanxiao and He Lingchi over. Together, they bowed and said, “Thank you, Great Immortal!”

“That’s enough, that’s enough!” Xiaoyao waved his wing. Seeing they had no intention of leaving, he understood their intent.

“Sigh… Even if I told you who owns the treasure, it would do you no good,” Xiaoyao sighed.

“Why not? At least we could go and beg him!” Jin Guishan stepped forward.

“Come with me!” Xiaoyao hesitated, then turned towards the heart of Peach Marsh without another word. Yibing and the others hurried after him.

With Xiaoyao leading, they no longer needed to find their own way and soon reached the center of the marsh. Perhaps they’d run too quickly last time, but Yibing hadn’t noticed a small path leading west. Following it a short way, a round black jade well appeared before them. Without Xiaoyao’s guidance, no one would have suspected a black well lay hidden in the black mire.

“See for yourselves,” Xiaoyao pointed to the wellhead. The group leaned over, only to see the water inside was inky black.

Everyone was astonished.

“The treasure you seek lies within this well,” Xiaoyao turned to Jin Guishan. “It is called the Infernal Lotus. Its seed can indeed restore the soul. But it only blooms once every eight years, and bears seed every sixteen.”

“Sixteen years…” Jin Guishan’s face went ashen.

“This year happens to be a fruiting year…” Xiaoyao’s avian face twitched.

“Really?!” Jin Guishan’s eyes lit up with hope.

“The Infernal Lotus, before it blooms, the well water is murky as ink, lying dormant at the marsh bottom; after it blooms, the water is clear as a mirror, the flower floats upon the surface; when it bears seed, the water divides into yin and yang, breaking forth on that very day,” Xiaoyao continued without expression.

“But didn’t you just say this is the year it bears seed?” Yibing eyed the inky water.

“Yes, not only this year, but today itself. Yesterday, the water was as clear as a mirror, but this morning, instead of dividing into yin and yang, it turned like this. The lotus seed may not form at all—so what use is it to tell you who the owner is?” Xiaoyao’s face was full of worry. The group was stunned into silence.

Suddenly, He Lingchi began to sob, her cries echoing desolately across the silent marsh.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry!” Xiaoyao was most flustered by women’s tears.

“Is there no way? Will my junior sister’s soul really scatter like this?” He Lingchi looked at Xiaoyao, eyes brimming with tears.

“Is there really none left from previous years?” Yibing cut in. He’d even hidden sweet potatoes under his bed before!

“Absolutely not! The lotus seeds perish every eight years. As soon as the flower blooms here, the previous seed is scattered to dust!” Xiaoyao shook his head and sighed, “If the lotus bore seed, and I presented it to its master, he might grant you one, and you could save your junior sister. But now…”

“Why would it suddenly change? Haven’t you watched over it for years? Couldn’t you guess the cause?” Yibing grabbed Xiaoyao’s wing anxiously.

“At first, I thought it was the work of demons, so I searched the marsh. Just as I finished, I saw those three sneaking around. I thought they were the culprits and… well, turns out they weren’t. That leaves only the marsh bottom to investigate, but to stir the ancient mire, I must have the master’s permission.”

“Why not go and ask now?” Yibing urged.

“It’s not so simple. I can only leave Peach Marsh when presenting the seed—tomorrow. Any other time, I cannot leave. Yet if I go tomorrow, it’ll be too late. After today, the Infernal Lotus will sink again, and the next fruiting won’t be for sixteen more years!” Xiaoyao forced a bitter smile.

“What? Then let me deliver the message for you!” Yibing jumped up at once.

“You can’t reach him…” Xiaoyao patted him gratefully with a wing.

“Is there nothing to be done?” The thought of his plump friend’s soul scattering set Yibing on edge. He immediately leaned over the well, prying at the water with his hands to see beneath the surface.

“It’s so dark, what can you see?” Xiaoyao, watching, couldn’t help but be moved: this little fatty truly shared their urgency!

“Even so… Ah!” Suddenly, an unknown force gripped his wrists, yanking him downward. At the same time, the well water began to spin, and in an instant, a massive vortex sucked him in.

Yibing thought, “I’m doomed!”

He held his breath and squeezed his eyes shut, but for a long time felt no muddy water on his face. It seemed he was slowly falling through the air. Opening his eyes, he found himself surrounded by light; the black mud that had encased him now peeled away, forming a space around him, much like the cave of Origin. He inhaled anxiously—and found he could breathe freely, just as in the cave.

“So this is the benefit Master Uncle spoke of!” Yibing patted his chest in relief. Only now did he notice his clothes were perfectly dry, not a drop of water on them. He looked down—and nearly leapt out of his skin. His own body was glowing!

“Could it be the tear?” Yibing rolled up his sleeve, but saw no bright spot.

“Whatever! First, let’s survive!” As he sank deeper into the black mud, he could think of nothing else. Hastily, he untied his belt, wondering what form he should change it into to escape, when he suddenly plunged into murky water. It turned out that above was mud, below was water in Peach Marsh. After a while longer, his feet finally found solid ground.

At the marsh bottom, black sand stretched everywhere, black rocks jutted skyward; there was neither a blade of grass nor a living insect—only the occasional rise of bubbles, and otherwise utter deathly silence. Looking around, he saw a faint glimmer to the west. Yibing swallowed and crept toward the light. After less than thirty feet, he saw a jade-like object protruding from the mud, from which a pillar of light as thick as a bowl pointed upward. Closer now, he realized the jade was a section of lotus root, from which the light issued—a lotus stem.

“This must be the Infernal Lotus!” Yibing hurriedly followed the stem upward.

Along the way, he saw the stem twisting incessantly, more violently the higher it rose, as if something was tugging it from above. It had originally slanted east, but at the mud’s edge turned sharply west. Not fifty feet further, a leaping orb of light burst into view—a radiant seven-colored lotus in full bloom!

Elated, Yibing swam quickly toward it. But before he reached it, three streams of black water surged at him, pushing him back over ten feet. He at once transformed his belt into a sword.

Only then did Yibing notice three objects clinging to the translucent flower stalk, desperately pulling the Infernal Lotus downward, holding it beneath the water’s surface!