Volume Two, Chapter Nine: Shrouded in Mist

After chasing after the bamboo dragonfly at full speed for half an hour, the group of four plus the turtle were at their limit. The divine turtle wasn’t tired, but even he was dizzy from all the jolting.

“Hey, hey, I’m about to be shaken to death! Ugh… let’s take a break…” The turtle was close to throwing up.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he said that, the bamboo dragonfly dropped straight to the ground.

Everyone gasped for breath for a long time before they finally recovered.

“Which phrase do you all think it is?” Hanyu asked cautiously.

“It must be ‘take a break!’” Meiniang’s eyes darted.

“I think so too!” Hongkun nodded his head.

For a while, nobody spoke.

“Shall we try it?” Moxian was the first to break the silence.

“Yibing, you do it!” Hanyu kicked Yibing’s back with her rabbit foot.

“Alright…” Yibing got ready to run, then softly called out, “Go back!”

Sure enough, the bamboo dragonfly immediately rose into the air.

“Take a break!” Yibing shouted again in a hurry after running only a dozen steps.

But this time, the bamboo dragonfly ignored him and continued flying forward.

“What’s going on? Why isn’t it working? Take a break! Take a break!” Hanyu started to panic.

“Looks like ‘go back’ is right, but ‘take a break’ isn’t! Oh dear…” Meiniang had barely spoken when the bamboo dragonfly instantly sped up.

“Let’s rest!” Chengyan suddenly called out.

The bamboo dragonfly immediately fell to the ground.

“Hehehe…” The divine turtle was so delighted he nearly rolled around in his pouch.

“Hey, you knew it was missing a word, didn’t you?” Hanyu said as she kicked the turtle hard with her rabbit foot.

“Hehehe… you fools, the incantation to start is three words, how could the stopping phrase be just two? Luckily this girl is clever!” The turtle laughed, unconcerned. Hanyu and Meiniang felt deeply embarrassed.

Now that they had figured out the bamboo dragonfly’s tricks, everyone felt much more at ease. The wild dash just now had exhausted them, so they all sat down on the ground. Hongkun took out rations and shared them so everyone could rest and recover.

“You’re still laughing!” Hearing the turtle snicker, Hanyu started kicking him again. That wretched turtle had clearly known the incantation was wrong and let them run for so long on purpose.

“Hehe…” The turtle knew he was at fault, so he didn’t dodge, letting Hanyu vent her anger.

“I’m not feeling well either!” Meiniang couldn’t help giving the turtle a kick as well. Her pride stung; after all these years cultivating as a demon, she’d been made a fool of.

“Alright, enough, let’s discuss how to proceed,” Hongkun quickly cut in to defuse the situation. Hanyu and Meiniang both huffed, then fell silent.

“That dragonfly flies too fast. We can’t go on like this. Turtle, you wouldn’t happen to know a spell to make it go slower?” Hongkun asked with a grin.

“Oh, you look so honest, but you’re blaming me for not telling you? I just got lucky this time, how would I know any spell to slow it down?” The turtle nearly leapt out of his pouch.

“Don’t be upset, Turtle, I didn’t mean it that way…” Hongkun apologized.

“Didn’t mean it? You absolutely did!” the turtle retorted.

“Hey, don’t get worked up! I think you’re holding a grudge because we dragged you along!” Hanyu snapped.

“Alright, Turtle, it was my mistake! Please accept my apology.” Hongkun quickly cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

“Hmph…” The turtle stiffened his neck.

“Elder Brother, you know how to ride magical objects, don’t you?” Moxian suddenly remembered.

“Of course, but there’s nothing around to ride!” Hongkun looked around. Except for the thickets, there was nothing.

“Ah!” Hanyu cried out.

“What is it?” Meiniang stared at her in surprise.

“Turtle, turtle, turtle…” Hanyu ignored her, squealing as she nudged the turtle with her hind leg.

“What… what… don’t you dare…” the turtle’s voice grew fainter.

“The world’s number one divine turtle, you can fly, can’t you? How could I have forgotten that!” As soon as Hanyu spoke, Yibing and Meiniang snapped to attention. Of course—how could they forget?

“I won’t! I won’t!” the turtle protested desperately.

“Turtle, please?” Meiniang suddenly pleaded coquettishly. Hongkun felt his bones go soft just hearing her.

“I won’t, I won’t!” The turtle shrank into his pouch and refused to show himself.

“Is Turtle really that powerful?” Moxian asked in disbelief. Meiniang nodded emphatically.

“Turtle, help us out!” Yibing pleaded.

“Yes, please, Turtle! Let me see for myself!” Moxian joined in excitedly.

“…Fine! Just for this little lady’s sake!” the turtle finally relented.

“Great! Great!” Before the turtle finished, Yibing quickly placed the pouch on the ground. Hongkun was astonished; when he first met Yibing, he’d never heard mention of this.

“Don’t talk! I need to think. Haven’t flown in a long time,” the turtle muttered as he crawled out. Everyone held their breath, but for a long while, he didn’t change.

“Hop on!” the turtle finally snapped, apparently ready.

“It’s so small—do you want Yibing to crush you?” Hanyu couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Oh, I forgot! Right, right, just a moment!” The turtle’s neck flushed red. He shook his head, and with a muffled thump, he swelled dozens of times his size, as big as a carriage.

“Is this good enough? Hurry up!” the turtle said smugly.

“Should I just step on?” Moxian asked, both nervous and excited.

“As you like…” The turtle wagged his tail. Moxian scrambled onto the shell and sat at the very front. Chengyan followed silently, sitting right behind her.

“Yibing, you take the middle, I’ll sit in the back,” Hongkun instructed, worried about balance. Yibing nodded, slung Hanyu and Meiniang onto his back, and climbed up last.

“Don’t worry—it’s steady!” The turtle had barely finished speaking when they were airborne. Moxian squealed in delight.

“Having fun?” the turtle asked, circling in the air.

“Yibing, command the dragonfly to go!” Hongkun’s voice was trembling.

“Go back!” Yibing called out and tossed the bamboo dragonfly into the air. The turtle immediately followed.

“It’s too slow! Go back! Go back! Go back!” the turtle shouted three more times, and the dragonfly shot forward like a streak of smoke.

“Turtle, can you fly higher?” Moxian asked curiously. The turtle didn’t reply—perhaps he hadn’t heard.

“Of course, but you have to tie—” Hanyu was just about to say, when the turtle suddenly soared upward.

“Tie what… whoa…” Moxian was admiring the view when the turtle abruptly flipped a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

The chorus of screams had barely begun when—thump, thump, thump, thump—Moxian, Chengyan, Hongkun, and Yibing all landed back on the shell. Hongkun, about to cast a spell, didn’t even have time to recite the incantation.

“Let’s do it again!” Moxian shouted excitedly.

“Hey…” Hongkun was about to protest, but the turtle flipped again. This time, Hongkun gave up on spells and just gazed around as they fell.

“Wow, I’m flying!” Moxian spread her arms wide, swooping toward the ground like a bird.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

“I haven’t had enough yet…” Moxian complained.

“You’ve had plenty!” Hanyu snapped, cutting her off, then shouted at the turtle, “If you flip again, I’ll have Yibing tie you up!” She really would be sick if it happened once more. Chengyan quietly withdrew his hand, which he’d been about to bring down on Moxian’s head.

“Hehe, little one, I’ll take you flying as much as you want next time!” the turtle whispered mischievously.

“Deal!” Moxian almost bounced with joy. Hanyu rolled her eyes.

At last, the turtle descended smoothly, following close behind the bamboo dragonfly. It was undeniable: the turtle’s shell was a very comfortable ride, especially for Moxian, whose seat behind the turtle’s head was sheltered from the wind.

“Look there!” Moxian suddenly cried. In the distance, a mountain peak wrapped in clouds appeared, its summit rising above the mist as if floating upon it.

As expected, the bamboo dragonfly flew straight for the mountain. In the time it took for a stick of incense to burn, they reached the foot of the peak. The bamboo dragonfly fell to the ground and moved no more. The turtle glided down into the grass, running a few steps to keep from jostling his passengers before finally coming to a stop.

“Thank you, Turtle!” Hongkun hurried over to express his gratitude as soon as he touched down. But the turtle ignored him, instantly shrinking back into his pouch.

“Heh, acting all high and mighty! Someone’s thanking you, you know!” Hanyu mocked as the turtle disappeared into the bag.

“N…ot… tir…ed…” the turtle drawled out, making everyone laugh.

Looking up, they saw that the foot of the mountain was shrouded in mist; one could barely see a few feet ahead. A narrow path led straight into the clouds.

“Put me down!” Hanyu demanded.

“And me!” Meiniang chimed in.

“What’s wrong?” Yibing asked in confusion.

“What’s wrong? We’re scouting ahead!” Hanyu kicked Yibing’s back.

“But your bodies…” Yibing quickly set them down.

“It’s just like a stroll at Banyue Mound!” Meiniang grinned at Yibing.

“Do we have any rope? We should tie ourselves together so we don’t get lost in the fog,” Hongkun said with a worried frown.

“Rope? Meiniang, you can’t…” Hanyu looked at Meiniang.

“What are you talking about…” Meiniang glared at her, nervous.

“Oh…” Hanyu awkwardly smacked her own mouth with her forepaw.

“Will this work?” Moxian suddenly pulled out a small black ball of string.

“It’s so thin?” Hongkun tugged it—it was surprisingly strong.

“My master gave it to me when I was little. It’s never snapped.”

“This will do!” Hongkun said, glancing at Hanyu, then handed the string back to Moxian.

“When you were little? Did you ever wash it?” Hanyu’s ears perked up.

“What are you talking about? Of course I did!” Moxian’s cheeks flushed.

“Oh! Then tie it to my leg!” Hanyu nodded doubtfully.

Moxian tied up Hanyu first, then left five or six meters before tying Meiniang’s leg, then did the same for Hongkun’s and Chengyan’s wrists, her own wrist, and finally Yibing’s, before handing the remaining ball of string to Yibing.

“What about me?!” the turtle protested.

“What about you? Someone’s carrying you and you’re still complaining? Or do you want to climb with us?” Hanyu said slyly.

“Forget it!” The turtle shrank back at once.

“We’ll only pull the string if something goes wrong!” Hanyu called as she and Meiniang vanished into the mist.

So Hanyu and Meiniang scouted ahead, with Hongkun and the others closely following as they ascended the mountain. Jiuxi Mountain’s path wound up the side, one side a sheer cliff soaring into the clouds, the other a bottomless abyss, shrouded in impenetrable fog, without a blade of grass or a single tree for cover.

“Watch your footing!” Hongkun warned nervously. Here, if one fell, all would be dragged down.

They walked for the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, but Hanyu and Meiniang didn’t pull the string for danger. Hearing Moxian panting behind him, Hongkun tugged the black string. Hanyu and Meiniang soon rushed back, puzzled to find everyone unharmed.

“Let’s rest a while,” Hongkun said apologetically. Seeing Moxian drenched in sweat, Hanyu understood right away—if it had been Biyi, she’d have teased her for sure. But this little Moxian was rather likable.

“Something’s strange,” Meiniang said, glancing at Hongkun.

“Strange?” Hongkun tensed. If anyone else said so, it was nothing, but coming from a fox spirit, it was serious.

“Damn it! It feels like demon energy, but not quite; like it isn’t, yet it is.” Meiniang was clearly frustrated.

“I honestly don’t know…” Hanyu was just as confused.

“It’s evil energy,” the turtle suddenly said from Yibing’s back.

“Yes, evil energy!” Meiniang called out.

“Hey, did you know all along?” Hanyu darted to Yibing’s back.

“No, no, no, I was just guessing!” the turtle said hastily, pulling his head back into his pouch.