Chapter 10: Sudden Nosebleed

Xu Hua was examining a sachet at a market stall, basket in hand, when someone called her name.

She turned. Ji Hanzhang.

She looked at him with the mild curiosity of someone working out what a person might want. "What is it?"

"You're already in town — why not come home?" He said it warmly. Like an invitation.

"Home? Which home?"

He reached for her hand. She stepped back without making a production of it. He recovered his expression smoothly. "My home is your home, of course. Your grandmother has been missing you. The last time — that whole situation — it was because she missed you and your mother so much, you understand..."

Xu Hua's face was soft. Her eyes were something else entirely. Tian Quzi, watching, felt the gap between the two.

"What are you saying, Father?" she said. "I'm your biological daughter, after all. It's only right that I visit Grandmother."

Ji Hanzhang breathed out. "That's exactly right. You haven't had much schooling, but you should know: since ancient times, a daughter obeys her father before marriage, her husband after, her son after that. Between a father and daughter — is there any grudge that lasts the night?"

Xu Hua lowered her eyes. "Father's teachings are right."

---

He led her to the Ji family home and brought her to the old lady first.

Old Madam Ji was already smiling when she saw her, pulling her hands, saying she'd grown thin but looked more energetic. Xu Hua moved slightly back from the grip and said: "Grandmother and Father called me here for something?"

The old lady's smile warmed further. "Of course. Hua Hua, your mother took you away when you were small. She must have said many things about me and your father — women's complaints, don't believe them. As a daughter of the Ji family, you'll eventually need to acknowledge your ancestors and return to the family line. You're not young. You need to think about your own future. Don't let ignorant women ruin your most important matter."

Xu Hua's eyes moved around the room. "Just to acknowledge my ancestors and return to the family line?"

Old Madam Ji's eyes sharpened briefly. "Naturally. But Hua Hua, the family has relied entirely on your father's teaching income all these years. A large household needs money for everything. Now that you're back, Grandmother is both relieved and worried — worried you won't be used to this kind of life." She paused. "Your mother's divine embroidery — you've lived with her day and night. You must know the reason behind it, don't you?"

Xu Hua smiled. "Of course I know the reason. In fact, I can teach the method to Father."

Old Madam Ji's face lit up like a festival lantern. "My good granddaughter! All my fasting and prayers and good deeds — heaven truly has eyes—"

"Father isn't skilled at embroidery," Xu Hua said pleasantly. "But he's accomplished in calligraphy and painting. Should we adapt it to painting instead?"

Ji Hanzhang was more than satisfied. He knew the value of this technique far better than Fan Qiongzhi ever had — if it could be taken to the capital, presented to the Emperor, he would never need to worry about fame or income again. "Good daughter. Father has the brush and ink ready. Let us begin."

Xu Hua taught him the incantation.

Tian Quzi's frown deepened as he watched. Fan Qiongzhi was one thing — three years of pregnancy had permeated her body with spiritual energy, and Xu Hua had used her own power to reinforce her further. The basic technique of the Flying Needle Workshop consumed very little from either of them. But Ji Hanzhang was a mortal who had long since stopped any cultivation. His spiritual energy was minimal. Could he survive that kind of depletion?

Having obtained the incantation, Ji Hanzhang had no interest in waiting to find out. He went directly to the study. Old Madam Ji, newly generous with her happiness, called in her grandson — she had previously considered Xu Hua an ill omen and hadn't allowed the boy near her, but now she felt she could afford to be magnanimous.

Ji Fenglin had heard his mother discuss this older sister at length and had formed his opinion accordingly. He glanced at Xu Hua and said: "Fat pig."

Old Madam Ji heard this and coughed, then told him to address her properly. He refused. Xu Hua had no particular interest in being addressed at all. The old lady handed her grandson a pastry and said, "My dear child, once you've apprenticed with an immortal and learned the techniques, the Ji family will have someone to depend on."

Xu Hua looked up. "What immortal?"

Old Madam Ji, in good spirits, explained: every year on the fifteenth of the seventh month, immortals came to Lingquan Mountain to select disciples. Children with the right aptitude could be chosen. Ji Fenglin was clearly full of spiritual energy — once he entered a sect, the Ji family would be a divine family—

"Which sect?" Xu Hua asked.

"No manners! How dare mortals inquire about an immortal's origins?"

"Where on Lingquan Mountain is the selection being held?"

"On Lingquan Mountain."

Xu Hua stood up and walked out of the Ji family home without another word. Old Madam Ji looked displeased but consoled herself quickly: the incantation had been given. Once her son learned divine embroidery, what did she need this girl for?

She hurried to the study, satisfied.

---

Ji Hanzhang, afraid Xu Hua had deceived him, wasted no time. He picked up his brush and painted a peony in rapid strokes — hurried, a little careless, but the incantation was real, and it wasn't yet nighttime so the effect wasn't immediately apparent. He rolled the scroll and came out to find Xu Hua, walked into Old Madam Ji instead.

"Mother — quickly, where is she? I need her to look at—"

Old Madam Ji stared at him. She took several steps back. "You— who are you?"

"Mother, it's Hanzhang. What's wrong?"

Her face had gone the color of chalk. He raised his hand to touch his own face. And stopped.

Wrinkles. He was clearly in his thirties, in the fullness of his life. What his fingers found was the face of a man of seventy.

He let out a wretched cry. The cry exhausted him immediately. His heart hammered in terror, and after a long moment of fighting it, he slumped and fainted.

---

Xu Hua went home, helped Fan Qiongzhi finish the painting of ladies enjoying spring, walked her through the final details, and watched her complete the last strokes.

Fan Qiongzhi looked at it anxiously. "Huahua, did I do something wrong?"

Xu Hua misted the painting lightly with water. Fan Qiongzhi watched the lady's oil-paper umbrella open in the painted rain. Her hand went to her chest.

"Huahua."

Xu Hua touched her shoulder. "These paintings always come at a price. Don't make a second one within a year — otherwise the harm will be endless and there's no way to undo it."

Fan Qiongzhi nodded, eyes wide and a little dazed. "Am I dreaming? I always feel like all of this—"

Xu Hua raised her hand to stop her gently. "Master Zhou in town is not a bad person. You can discuss things with him. Whatever happens with the Ji family — don't get involved anymore."

Fan Qiongzhi heard the shift in her daughter's voice. "Huahua, why are you suddenly saying all this?"

"In a few days, an immortal will come to Lingquan Mountain to choose a disciple. I want to go and see."

Fan Qiongzhi was quiet. The story had circulated through the town for years — immortals selecting disciples on the mountain — and everyone treated it as pleasant hearsay. No one's child had ever actually been taken.

Her eyes filled. She forced a smile. "My son is no ordinary person; I've always known that. I hope you are chosen and can ride the clouds to the heavens—" her voice caught— "and I also hope the immortals misjudge you, and my son comes back to me, so we can depend on each other a little longer."

Xu Hua patted her shoulder. "Why be reluctant? Life in this world is like a pine or cypress — it has roots, stems, flowers, leaves, and fruits, but it must grow alone."

Fan Qiongzhi bit her lip. "I understand."

---

That evening, they went to town and presented the painting of ladies enjoying spring to Master Zhou. He had been mournful about selling the Luoyang peony and received this new one with an expression of pure delight.

Fan Qiongzhi didn't know why Xu Hua was giving it away at no charge. She trusted her daughter completely and asked no questions.

Master Zhou invited them to stay for dinner. Xu Hua spent most of the meal looking preoccupied, and eventually Master Zhou asked if she had encountered any difficulties.

She sighed. "Honestly, Master Zhou, last night I dreamed of a celestial being who said my father had abandoned his wife and daughter and was plotting to steal the embroidery technique. The gods were wrathful. I've been uneasy all day."

Master Zhou was somewhat taken aback but immediately offered to send someone to check on the Ji family. He was mid-order when a commotion broke out at the front door.

The Ji family had gone to the village first, learned Xu Hua and her mother were in town, turned around, and come here.

Master Zhou stepped outside and frowned. Ji Hanzhang stood with white hair and the face of a very old man. Had Xu Hua not mentioned divine wrath moments ago, he might not have believed this was Scholar Ji at all.

Before he could speak, Old Madam Ji lunged for Xu Hua. Master Zhou's face went cold; he had his servants pin her down. She screamed and thrashed, and he had her removed from the premises.

Fan Qiongzhi, shaken, turned to her daughter. "Huahua — how could he—"

Xu Hua looked suitably horrified. "The divine wrath the immortal spoke of in my dream — it's real. It's terrifying. Mother, Father and Grandmother already brought men to rob our house last time. Now they'll never let us alone. What should we do?"

Master Zhou, looking at her distressed expression, said: "Miss Fan, Miss Ji — since it isn't safe to return home, please stay at the Zhou residence for now."

Xu Hua turned to him with gratitude. "Then thank you very much, Master Zhou."

That had been the destination of the entire conversation.

---

Tian Quzi unrolled the Luoyang peony embroidery on his desk. A faint sweet fragrance still clung to the scroll. He sat with it for a while.

Her appearance was genuinely harmless, and sometimes he almost forgot — the Demon Puppet Clan was still demon. Their ferocity and ruthlessness ran in the blood. It had never quite repulsed him. Instead he found himself noticing other qualities she had, things that caught his attention in ways he found, when he examined them, somewhat amusing.

He rolled the embroidery back up and put it in the bottom drawer.

When he opened the connection to the Breath of Gods and Demons, it immediately went tense: "Hey! You ignorant lonely old man, you absolutely cannot—"

The contract made resistance impossible. Tian Quzi saw what was in the frame behind it.

Xu Hua, at the Zhou residence. Bathing.

He turned his face away immediately. Cut the connection.

The Breath of Gods and Demons was still screaming somewhere on the other end: "I KNEW you had ill intentions! Pervert! Spying monster! I'm going to be boiled alive by the Puppet Master, WAAAAH—"

Tian Quzi sat quietly for a long time.

Then, suddenly, he had a nosebleed.