“General, your words terrify me. We’re old friends—must we be so hostile?” Wu Yin narrowed his eyes and smiled, seemingly unbothered by the killing intent laced through Li Shuang’s voice.
“I’ve never considered you a friend.”
Li Shuang’s tone was cool and precise, yet Wu Yin remained composed. “Whether you consider me a friend matters little,” he said. “General Li, you worry too much. The man you seek is now a treasure of my Five Spirits Gate. I would never allow harm to befall him. There’s no question of whether he’s here. I came today to discuss matters concerning him.”
“I’m not here to discuss anything.” Li Shuang’s finger traced the rim of her teacup, her voice calm but heavy with threat. “Either release him, or I’ll burn this mountain to the ground. There is no third—”
“General.” Wu Yin cut in, the smile in his eyes finally ebbing into seriousness. “The situation isn’t as simple as handing the Jade Silkworm over. Even if I were to release him, you might not be able to control him. And when that happens, I can’t guarantee which of your fifty thousand troops will fall first when blades are drawn. You’ve seen the Jade Silkworm’s abilities at the Northern Border.”
Li Shuang had indeed seen them—how he could slay enemy commanders with lightning speed, tearing straight through lines as if they were paper. His speed and strength were unmatched not only in her camp but perhaps in the entire world—few could contend with him and survive.
“What did you do to him after taking him to Five Spirits Gate?” Li Shuang’s gaze turned glacial.
Wu Yin pressed his lips into a line. “Don’t look at me like that—I’m wrongly accused. I captured him only to remove the Jade Silkworm Gu from his body. My ideal vessel should be pure and unclaimed. Who knew his will would be so terrifyingly strong?”
He lifted his alluring eyes to meet hers. “General Li, his attachment to you is excessive.”
Excessive attachment…
“And you,” Wu Yin continued, half-amused, half-accusing, “traveled thousands of li from the Northern Border, leading fifty thousand soldiers to burn my Southern Long Mountain—all for one man. Isn’t your attachment equally excessive?”
Li Shuang said nothing.
She had never truly examined what she felt for that mysterious man. She only knew she wanted to see him again—to see her reflection in those clear eyes—to pull him back from whatever had claimed him. That desire drowned out all other thought.
“I don’t care for your nonsense.” Li Shuang forced the conversation back to the point. “Tell me his condition—and how I can take him away.”
Wu Yin folded his arms. “Very well. Simply put, you must return to Five Spirits Gate with me—alone.”
Li Shuang studied him in silence.
Meeting her scrutiny, Wu Yin laid it bare. “Since I brought the Jade Silkworm’s vessel back, he hasn’t had a single peaceful day. Separation from the master usually brings rejection symptoms—I wasn’t worried. I used conventional Gu-extraction methods to draw the Jade Silkworm out. Unexpectedly, the longer he was apart from you, the more violent he became, until he was no longer controllable.”
Wu Yin exhaled and rubbed his brow. “I bound him with steel chains at his wrists, ankles, and throat. His daily struggles have nearly emptied a crate of chains. He’s destroyed three dungeons and cracked the walls. Preventing his escape is a constant headache. I was about to send someone to invite you here. As luck would have it, you came on your own.”
“You want me to return to Five Spirits Gate with you to pacify him?”
“That was my plan,” Wu Yin said, “though I’m not certain you still can. His mind is clouded—no different from the demons and monsters in the mortal tales.”
Li Shuang considered, then asked, “If I follow you back and he calms, you’ll let him leave with me?”
Wu Yin waved dismissively. “I’ll hand him over completely.” His expression suggested he was eager to be rid of a plague god.
Li Shuang’s eyes narrowed. “How can I trust you?”
“General, Five Spirits Gate has only four dungeons. If this one falls, I’ll have nowhere left to hold him.” Seeing her remain silent, Wu Yin drew a jade pendant from his robes and tossed it to her. Li Shuang caught it mid-air—cool and smooth, the white jade was flawless.
“What is this?”
“The Sect Master’s token of Five Spirits Gate—roughly equivalent to your imperial court’s jade seal. I swear this: if you can stabilize the Jade Silkworm’s vessel, I’ll allow you to take him from Five Spirits Gate. Until either of you dies, I won’t reclaim the Jade Silkworm. I’ll grant you peace for this lifetime.”
With that, Wu Yin rose. “Since he cannot be controlled away from you, keeping him is useless to me. I need someone to hold him back from falling wholly into demonic cultivation and wreaking catastrophe. I’ve said what I must. I’ll return first. If you wish to come, bring the token to Southern Long Mountain. If not, send the token back. Consider it carefully.”
Wu Yin lifted the tent flap and left. The soldiers outside stiffened, watching him with wary eyes, but without Li Shuang’s command, none dared to move. They could only stand in silence as he departed.
Inside, Li Shuang sat for only a moment, the smooth jade token cool in her palm. Then she rose, pushed aside the tent flap, and stepped into the fading light. Her gaze fell on Fu Changqing, who stood guard.
“From today, count forward three days,” she ordered, her voice clear and steady. “If no word comes from me on the mountain, choose a day to burn it.”
Her words carried easily to Wu Yin, who had not gone far. He paused, turned, and looked back at her with a smile that suggested he had expected nothing less.
Li Shuang tightened her grip on the token and strode forward. Fu Changqing faltered, his lips parting. “General…” He wanted to stop her, but her unwavering steps silenced him. He knew her too well—this tiger daughter of a military family never wavered once her mind was set.
He bowed deeply, hands clasped. “This subordinate accepts the order.”
Li Shuang followed Wu Yin toward Southern Long Mountain. Along the path, Wu Yin spoke lightly, as though to pass the time. “The Jade Silkworm was originally the sect treasure of my Five Spirits Gate.”
Li Shuang’s eyes narrowed. “Your sect’s treasure appeared in the Northern Border?” Her words were edged with thorns. Wu Yin only laughed. “When I first heard, I was just as baffled. It’s a long story.”
He continued, “Twenty years ago, a great upheaval struck our sect. I was young then—my father had died early, and I had only just inherited the position of Sect Master. My Guardian Spirit Woman grew ambitious, seeking to seize the sect for herself. My mother opposed her, and after a fierce battle, the Spirit Woman fled with her faction, taking the Jade Silkworm. My mother sent men to pursue them, but they vanished. Only now do I see—they fled all the way to the Northern Border.”
Li Shuang’s mind flashed to the forest outside Deer City, the underground chamber of corpses, and the old woman who had risen from death, clad in elaborate robes.
“Was that chamber connected to your Spirit Woman?” she asked. It was there Wu Yin had once trapped her, the crown prince, and that mysterious man. And Jin’an too—though the strange child had vanished since the man’s disappearance.
Wu Yin nodded. “They hid there, moving between Deer City and the Western Rong for twenty years. The borderlands are perfect for vanishing, and for finding victims to feed the Gu. The old Spirit Woman chose well.”
Li Shuang frowned. “Your Gu cultivation requires human lives?”
“Not always. It depends on the Gu. The Jade Silkworm Gu must be nourished with human blood for one hundred days before it can merge with a host and become a vessel, thereafter obeying only its master. Few can endure such torment. Even this vessel is incomplete, which is why he recognized you as master. There are… defects. Likely because the Gu was forced into him before the time was ripe.”
“What defects?” Li Shuang pressed.
Before Wu Yin could answer, a figure appeared on the mountain path—a woman in lotus-colored robes. She bowed. “Sect Master, the Jade Silkworm is becoming violent again.”
Wu Yin glanced at the sky, now painted with dusk and crimson clouds. He sighed, then looked back at Li Shuang. “Had I known, I would never have brought him back. Perhaps this is heaven’s punishment for separating mandarin ducks.”
The phrase startled Li Shuang. But Wu Yin only said, “Time is short, General. Forgive my discourtesy.” He seized her arm and waist, and in the next instant, the world blurred.
Li Shuang felt the wind rush past as Wu Yin’s lightness skill carried them upward. She had seen his martial strength before, but not this speed. No wonder he had appeared alone in Deer City—few could ever catch him.
In moments, they reached Southern Long Mountain. Li Shuang barely glimpsed the sect’s entrance before Wu Yin swept her inside. She had no chance to study the layout before they stopped before a dark cave barred with iron as thick as a man’s arm.
A cold, damp wind seeped out, carrying low, animalistic growls.
Her heart trembled. He was inside.
Wu Yin triggered the mechanism, and the iron gate rose with a heavy ka.
“Please,” he said, leading her in.
The cave was dark and wet, water dripping from the ceiling onto her shoulders. Torches flickered along the walls, their light swallowed by the oppressive gloom. The deeper they went, the heavier the air grew, the howls echoing like the cries of beasts.
At last, they reached an iron door. Wu Yin pushed it open—
Dong!
An iron chain lashed out.
Li Shuang bent low, the chain whistling past her head and slamming into the stone wall with such force it sank three cun deep.
“Oh no,” Wu Yin muttered.
Li Shuang’s gaze followed the chain—and froze.
There he was. The man she had not seen in three months. His bare torso was now engulfed in flame-like markings that spread across his body, even his face, leaving his eyes a molten red with no whites at all.
He looked like a demon.
“He destroyed the prison,” Wu Yin said grimly.
Li Shuang’s breath caught. His feet and neck were still shackled to the wall, but both arms had torn free—not by breaking the chains, but by ripping them from the stone itself. The chain that had struck them was one of his restraints. His strength was monstrous.
The cell was littered with bodies—some unconscious, others groaning weakly.
The sound of the door had drawn his attention. He turned, red pupils glowing like fresh blood in the torchlight. His muscles twitched, his throat rumbled with a beast’s growl.
Wu Yin’s voice was calm, but his words pierced Li Shuang like ice.
“It seems he no longer recognizes you, General Li.”
Wu Yin was merely stating a fact, but these words, reaching Li Shuang’s ears, chilled her blood.
Previous/Next
.jpeg)
