"This Lord is unwilling."
Four cold, indifferent words, and Bai Shuo felt everything inside her turn to ice.
Her little disciple had not vanished. But he would never come back.
The Boundless City of Bliss had no master, yet it stood at the very edge of the demon realm. Who but a half-god could reach it in an instant?
The illusion demon butterflies were born thirsty for blood. If they had not feared him, would they ever have let her go?
Purple Moon Lake was the divine relic of the Demon God, something that existed only in legends for a thousand years. For a little rabbit demon to know where it was had always been a joke.
She had always known he was Fan Yue, not Mumu. But what if? Just what if?
A Chongzhao who was already a Lord, who would enter the Nine Heavens Palace and walk ten thousand years of immortal path. The road she could walk beside him ended here.
A half-immortal like Bai Shuo lived only a hundred years. What if her Mumu had been willing to spend a few decades with her as master and disciple in Southern Sea City, living free and easy?
She had come alone across a thousand miles to Phoenix Isle, gathered her courage, and tried with everything she had. She had still lost the gamble.
When she chose to wake the Lord of Hallmoon Palace in that strange city's stone hall, she should have known her little disciple would never return.
Bai Shuo looked up in a daze and met a pair of eyes edged with anger.
"To save Chongzhao, you tricked this Lord into signing a soul contract with you. To keep from hurting Piaomiao, you coaxed this Lord into playing the spirit creature who lets himself be slaughtered."
"No, I didn't..." Bai Shuo began in a rush.
"Master? Southern Sea City?"
Fan Yue let out a scoffing laugh and flicked his sleeve. The flower bundle and the Yaochi water in Bai Shuo's hands fell to the ground, and her face changed.
He stepped down on them, and a cold hand caught Bai Shuo by the chin. "A mere half-immortal, making a fool of this Lord like this. Bai Shuo, who do you think you are?"
The Lord of Hallmoon Palace was furious to the extreme, yet his eyes stayed cool and indifferent.
Words crowded up in Bai Shuo's chest, and she could not say a single one. Nor was she given the chance. A flash of spirit light, her vision swam, and Fan Yue had taken her away from Purple Moon Lake.
Decadent music poured into her ears, along with a hot, roaring clamor. When Bai Shuo came to her senses, she was standing on a stone stairway in an unfamiliar place.
Glazed lamps filled the hall, and floors of jade-green stone and spirit jade stretched out before her. The sheer extravagance of it made her stare. Then bold laughter rose from below her feet, and Bai Shuo looked down.
Rough demon lords filled the entire first floor, gazing hungrily at the center, where girls danced across an enormous mirror-like surface. One by one the girls were picked out and pulled into arms, laughing coyly.
Boundless City? That pagoda tower? What did the great demon want with her here?
"In Southern Sea City, what did you make this Lord do? Do you remember?"
The cold voice sounded by her ear. Bai Shuo froze. The scene at the fortune-telling stall came back to her: her little disciple frowning, surrounded by the lady lords, while she smiled and collected their spirit pearls. It lined up with what lay before her in some strange way.
No way. A queer unease rose in Bai Shuo's heart. The great demon couldn't be planning to...
"I, I don't rem-remember." Her tongue tied itself in knots.
"You don't remember? Then shall this Lord help you recall?"
"N-no need..." Her scalp prickled. She turned to bolt, but the person behind her blocked the way on the stone steps.
"Do you know why this place is called Boundless City?" The voice at her neck was strangely wicked and carried a faint chill. For a moment Bai Shuo lost herself.
"Why?"
"Where there are no rules, and everything can be taken. That is what 'boundless' means."
Before she could make sense of it, she was suddenly lifted and thrown down.
"Aaaaah!"
A rush of wind, a thud, and something small crashed onto the mirror surface. The dancing girls shrieked and scattered to the side. When they saw what lay in the middle, their fright turned at once to curiosity.
The hall went quiet. The demons stared at the little creature on the mirror, and cries of astonishment broke from them.
"A fox clan!"
Bai Shuo, dizzy and spinning, opened her eyes to find everything taller than her, rows of greedy eyes looking down.
"Mama, what's happening?" She meant to speak, but only a soft, squeaky "yip-yip" came out.
Bai Shuo was stunned. She lowered her head and saw in the polished mirror a plump, snow-white little fox. The jade flute around its neck swung from side to side, looking terribly heavy.
She reached out a hand, and the little fox stretched out a paw. She lost her balance and fell onto the mirror with all four paws in the air.
Tilting her head back, the little fox opened her eyes wide. And there, at the far end of the second floor, lay the Lord of Hallmoon Palace, now in red robes, lounging on a couch cast from red jade.
The crowd below saw the red jade couch had an occupant and was shocked. They rose together and bowed to Fan Yue.
"Greetings, Tower Master."
Boundless City had no master, but everyone knew that the owner of the red jade chair atop Boundless Tower was the underground king of the city. No one had ever seen the Tower Master's true face. The throne itself was the symbol.
Fan Yue rubbed his forehead and swept his gaze downward. His hoarse voice rang out.
"It's nothing. This white fox is here to entertain you all. Whoever is first to take the jade flute from her neck, she belongs to them."
At his words the hall fell silent, then erupted into thunderous cheers.
Only Bai Shuo stared wide-eyed, a fox with her fur on end.
Hmph! Black-hearted! Petty miser!
The fox clan had always held a lofty place among the demons. Boundless City had spirit creatures of every race, but the fox clan had never been hunted. To get hold of a white fox would be a tale of the city for ten years!
The demon lords who could enter Boundless City were all lawless sorts. The moment Fan Yue finished speaking, one demon leapt straight toward the mirror.
A gust of wind swept past, and Bai Shuo's fur stood on end. But she was used to walking on two legs, and a fox on four paws was truly hard for her.
Her two little fox feet had barely lifted half an inch when they shot out from under her on the slick mirror, and she took a ridiculous tumble, flat on her face.
"Oh, careful, careful!" The girls who had hidden aside looked on with aching hearts, wishing they could gather the little white fox up and cuddle her.
On the jade throne, the man drinking from his cup watched the little creature without expression.
Fan Yue had seen countless immortals and demons. If anyone had the most dazzlingly clever heart, it was this half-immortal called Bai Shuo.
Perhaps Bai Shuo was just lucky. Because of her fall, the first demon lord to strike grabbed at nothing. By the time he turned to snatch the flute again, five or six other demon lords had flown onto the mirror at once and blocked him.
In an instant, demonic power surged across the mirror, blades and swords flashing. The dancers' contest of beauty turned into a bloody fight over whose spiritual power was highest. The little white fox dodged and darted about the murderous mirror, and between moves she still found time to steal a glance at the person on the jade throne.
But from beginning to end, the man did not stir. He looked down on the stage below as if it were a play.
The white fox's eyes dimmed. Just then, a demon lord below found an opening and flew onto the stage, a one-foot whip in his hand, lashing straight at Bai Shuo's neck as she huddled in the corner.
The Tower Master had only said to take the flute. He had never said anything about life or death. This demon lord delighted in killing. An unformed fox would be nothing more than a pet if he won her, but taking first place today would make him a hero of Boundless City.
Bai Shuo's mind was elsewhere. Only when she heard the women cry out did she realize that the killing intent of the whip had already locked onto her. She could not move. Her pupils shrank, and she watched the whip lash toward her neck.
On the jade throne, Fan Yue's idle hand, turning the wine cup, stopped. His eyes darkened.
On the mirror, in the chaos of the fighting, the scattered demonic powers of the other demons suddenly and without warning merged into a single current and rushed at the attacking demon lord. A swarm of weapons joined in and flung the whip, which had been about to land on Bai Shuo's head, clean away.
The demons turned and saw someone had taken the chance to strike. Their eyes went red, and without a word they united against the demon lord who had broken the rules of honorable combat and began to beat him.
The killing intent around Bai Shuo scattered. At the very moment the demons turned to fighting, she sprang up. The women gasped, the demons turned, and they saw the little fox that had been so clumsy a moment ago leaping gracefully across the mirror on all four legs. Like a gust of wind she rushed up the jade steps and landed before the red jade couch.
That speed! That agility! The hall fell silent. The corners of the demons' mouths twitched. Cunning as a fox indeed!
Before their astonishment had settled, another surprise followed. With the whole hall watching, the little white fox stretched out a paw, pulled the jade flute from her chest, and pressed it into the Tower Master's hand without a word.
What had the Tower Master said just now?
Whoever is first to take the jade flute from the little white fox's neck, she belongs to them.
Now the jade flute was in the Tower Master's hand.
All the demons looked toward the person on the red jade seat.
A flicker of surprise crossed Fan Yue's indifferent eyes. He lowered his gaze. The pitiful little white fox was pressing the jade flute tightly into his hand, eyes wide as she looked up at him, her ball-like paws trembling slightly.
Suddenly the Lord of Hallmoon Palace found that the heavy, stifling tightness in his chest, which had been there since he woke, had simply and easily cleared by more than half.
To say this half-immortal had a heart of seven clever openings was almost an insult to her.
How could there be anything under heaven so clever and so endearing?
What a pity she was not his.
Bai Shuo propped herself up on her two little paws. If it hadn't been so embarrassing, she would have wagged her tail.
But the Lord of Hallmoon Palace only watched her with amusement and gave no reaction at all.
Not even this worked? Forget it, she would throw everything away. She had never had any face to begin with.
Bai Shuo gritted her teeth, and her tail began to rise.
Suddenly the world spun, and amid the gasps of the entire hall, a pair of slender hands lifted her and set her in a cool embrace.
"She is this Lord's now. Tonight, Boundless Tower hosts the whole city. Enjoy yourselves, everyone."
The lazy voice rang out at the end of the jade steps. Before the demons could react, the man and the fox on the red jade seat had vanished.
On the glazed mirror, the demons who had just been fighting to the death looked at one another. Before they could curse aloud, soft, charming girls came crowding in with coy laughter, and hazy, entwining music slipped into every gap. With beauty in their arms, in the Tower's bliss of the world, the pointless scramble from a moment ago became just something for the demons to laugh about.
With a thud, the little white fox landed on soft grass. The purple moon rippled on the lake, as though the extravagant, blood-hot farce had never happened.
"Petty miser! Black..." The little white fox began indignantly, then realized how conspicuous her scolding was beside the quiet lake. She clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.
Heavens, when had she turned human again?
"Why did you stop scolding?"
Fan Yue leaned against a tree, his red robes billowing in the wind. His lazy eyes were indifferent, yes, but astonishingly alluring and handsome. He even looked to be in rather good spirits.
Bai Shuo stared for a second, then snapped back and lowered her eyes meekly. "Lord of the Palace."
The man under the tree glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and turned to leave. ??? What was going on?
"L-Lord of the Palace!" Bai Shuo hopped over in two or three steps and caught his hem in confusion. "Where are you going?"
Fan Yue looked back, puzzled, and answered as though it were obvious. "Back to Parasol Tree Phoenix Isle, naturally."
Bai Shuo saw that he was traveling light and pointed at herself, stunned. "Then, then what about me?"
Fan Yue narrowed his eyes. The jade flute appeared in his palm. "Becoming a member of Hallmoon Palace was your own choice."
Was the great demon going to leave her in the demon realm?
"No!" she blurted. "I have to go back."
"Go back?" Fan Yue's voice turned cold. "Piaomiao has already driven you out. What difference is there between Southern Sea City and Hallmoon Palace for a half-immortal like you?"
"I, I..." Bai Shuo stammered. Somehow, facing that face of his, she could not say that she was going back for Azhao.
"Oh, this Lord remembers now..." His voice cooled further. He bent down, stared at Bai Shuo, and curved his lips mockingly. "You have an agreement with that Chongzhao."
"I..." Bai Shuo broke into a sweat. She gritted her teeth and still caught hold of Fan Yue's wrist. "Lord of the Palace, I am willing to go back to Hallmoon Palace with you. But before the great banquet of the two clans, I must go back and see Azhao once. I have something very important..."
Before she could finish, her chin was seized hard. The Lord of Hallmoon Palace, who had been so mild a moment ago, now looked at her with contempt.
"You are willing? Bai Shuo, why do you think this Lord keeps you at his side?"
Bai Shuo was stunned.
"You insulted and toyed with this Lord like that. Killing you would be far too lenient. What do you take Hallmoon Palace for? That you may come when you like and leave when you like?"
His eyes were bitterly cold, as if the man who had held her in his arms in Boundless Tower had been someone else.
"No, I'm going back because..."
Bai Shuo rushed to speak, but Fan Yue could not be bothered to hear her out. He flicked his hand, and a barrier appeared in front of her.
"Great demon! What are you doing!" Bai Shuo lunged toward him, was stopped by the barrier, and fell to the ground with a thud.
Fan Yue's brow creased. He no longer looked at her, and said coldly, "Stay here and behave. In one day, this Lord will return."
"No, great demon, I promised..."
Before she could finish, Fan Yue had already shot into the sky, becoming a streak of light that raced toward the horizon.
"Great demon! Fan Yue!" Bai Shuo scrambled up and charged at the barrier with all her strength, only to be thrown back again to the lakeside.
Her face full of anxiety, Bai Shuo stood in the moonlight, her figure by Purple Moon Lake shrinking little by little into a single point.