The Demon Rises Higher

For the past several days, whether in dreams or in waking reality, Cheng Yu had been confined to that cramped, suffocating room. Feeling as though he were about to turn moldy, he could not bear staying in the partitioned room for another moment. He climbed off the couch and walked toward the outside. From beyond came the chirping and trilling of birds. Dust motes danced in the sunlight streaming through the doorway, heralding a brilliantly sunny day. The instant Cheng Yu crossed the threshold, the beam of light spilling inside was blocked by his own shadow. Outside lay utter darkness. *What in the...?* Disaster! He tried to turn back into the room, but behind him lay vast emptiness. Where was the small partitioned room? Only Bai Ziqi remained seated in his original spot, smiling at him. With that smile, the man's mouth split wide to the back of his ears, baring an irregular row of sharp fangs that jutted back and forth like crocodile teeth. Only then did Cheng Yu belatedly realize that Bai Ziqi had been sitting in the corner the whole time, never once approaching that beam of light by the door! That ray of light had to have been the last shred of clarity in his heart. "You stepped out of your heart's chamber, leaving the protection of Bai Ziqi's candlelight." Before his horrified gaze, Bai Ziqi's face gradually warped into the Hundred Faces Nightmare. Both heads broke into shrill cackling. "Come, it's time we settled our score!" *** Bai Ziqi first returned to the county yamen to check on Cheng Yu. If an outsider walked in, all they would see was the curse master still unconscious, Fan Sheng standing guard beside him like a wooden statue without moving an inch, and four pale white-gold candles burning at the room's four corners. Other wards were concealed here as well; anyone trying to take the man by force or slip in surreptitiously would find themselves in deep trouble. "All quiet?" Bai Ziqi asked. Naturally, it should be quiet—the most suspicious ones, He Xiao and Fu Shanyue, had had no chance to make a move over the past half-shichen. Fan Sheng nodded. "All quiet. Emissary Bai, rest easy. How is Wu Kai?" "Dead." Fan Sheng was taken aback. "Then only Cen Boqing is left?" "Indeed." Bai Ziqi rubbed his forehead. "The sole survivor." "Zhongsun Mou is dead, and now Wu Kai is dead too. Nothing must happen to Cen Boqing. I'll assign more men to keep watch over him." "Zhongsun Mou was killed by Mai Xuewen. As for Wu Kai, he was likely killed by the faction refining the elixir of immortality. These two sides are working against each other, yet both are wiping out our leads and witnesses." Bai Ziqi gave a faint sigh. "Both sides are pushing Cen Boqing onto me. Heh." Fan Sheng said dryly, "Emissary Bai has worked hard." "Hardly. Compared to cases I handled before, this one is much simpler. On my very first day in Baishaqu, I caught Cen Boqing confessing. All I have to do is take him back. Could anything go smoother?" Bai Ziqi said no more. He returned to the inn to wash up, change his clothes, and eat breakfast. Awakening in the morning light, Baishaqu was as bustling and full of vitality as usual. Just like He Lingchuan, Bai Ziqi sampled the town's most famous beef flatbread with sesame seeds, washed down two fried dough rings with sweet egg wine, climbed Chaohu Pagoda to take in the view, and then went to inspect the site where Fan Sheng had lost to He Lingchuan— The Lotus Palace. Of course, after the incident with the Water Spirit, only ruined lotus blossoms remained. Yet his walking route was centered around the county yamen. If anything happened there, he could rush back with little effort. On his way back, he passed the inn where he was staying and noticed people peering around inside and outside, poking their heads out to look. They were likely wealthy, noble clans living in Baishaqu who wanted to pay their respects to the Duyun Emissary. Bai Ziqi had no intention of entertaining them. He turned a corner and headed straight to the county yamen. Magistrate Tian immediately came over to report that the constables had moved all of Wu Kai's belongings from the Cen Manor and were inspecting them piece by piece. Wu Kai had been cautious in life and might not have left behind useful clues, but Bai Ziqi was even more cautious, unwilling to overlook a single detail. By the time he finished with these matters, afternoon had arrived. Originally, he and Fu Shanyue had planned to interrogate Wu Kai during this window, but now that the prisoner was dead, the procedure was canceled. Fan Sheng remained in Cheng Yu's partitioned room, the Everlasting Lamps still burning at its four corners. Yet Cheng Yu remained unconscious. With his hands behind his back, Bai Ziqi stepped inside. "No abnormalities at all?" "None that I can see." Fan Sheng pointed at the four candles. "The wards were never touched, and the candle flames stayed perfectly still throughout. But this Cheng fellow still hasn't woken up." The door to the room stood open, but the flames of the four candles burned quietly, never flickering. Natural wind could not stir them; on the other hand, they were exceedingly sensitive. Fan Sheng's tone was grave, clearly aware that this was the greatest abnormality of all. He had seen with his own eyes that Emissary Bai had fed Cheng Yu a batch of exceptional medicine. That dosage and efficacy could have made five or six dying old men jump up to keep playing music and dancing. How could it fail on Cheng Yu? Bai Ziqi observed closely for several moments, then reached out to check Cheng Yu's pulse. "His injuries have improved significantly." Even his complexion was faintly ruddy. The spiritual medicines brought out by a Duyun Emissary were no joke. "His heart and lungs are unobstructed as well." There was no reason for him not to wake up. When things went against reason, foul play was at work. Bai Ziqi's expression darkened. After pondering for a moment, he retrieved the white-gold candle from his robes. After last night's manhunt, only a candle stub remained, but Bai Ziqi lit it anyway. This lamp spirit had a specialized function, but the candle was on the verge of burning out and could only be used one last time. The flame flared up. Bai Ziqi did not snuff it out into a spirit as he had done the previous night, but whispered several incantations toward the flame. Soon, the candlelight shifted into a pale green. That ghostly light, akin to phosphorescence, suddenly cast a chilly gloom over the partitioned room despite the blazing midday sun and oppressive heat outside. The two guards on duty outside could not help shivering, feeling a chill seep into their chests. Naturally, neither man inside the partitioned room was afraid. "This light can illuminate souls." Bai Ziqi brought the green candle flame close to Cheng Yu, holding it right before his breathing mouth and nose. The candle flame remained completely motionless. Fan Sheng felt as though double images were blurring his vision and hurriedly rubbed his eyes, but Bai Ziqi's expression changed. Fan Sheng's heart tightened. "What is it?" Bai Ziqi did not answer. Instead, he waved a guard inside and brought the candle flame close to the guard's mouth and nose. "Look." Under the light of the fire, the guard's body and face blurred slightly. Fan Sheng strained his eyes to look and found that the man's features had grown indistinct; only behind his brow center, in the region of his brain, did a wisp of white light flicker ceaselessly, dancing like a flame. "That is what a human soul looks like when illuminated by the soul-illuminating candle," Bai Ziqi said, his voice tinged with anger. "Now look at Cheng Yu again!" No matter how he shone it, Cheng Yu's head remained entirely vacant, like a manor stripped of its master. "He lost his soul long ago. He will never wake up!" "How could that be..." Fan Sheng blurted out. "I've been guarding this place the entire time. No evil entity could have gotten close!" The wards had not been broken, nor had they even sounded an alarm. Bai Ziqi knew this full well. His gaze shifted slightly. "When did Cheng Yu lose his soul?" Fan Sheng could not answer this question, nor did Bai Ziqi expect him to. Last night, when Bai Ziqi had interrogated Cheng Yu alone, the fellow had regained consciousness for a dozen breaths and answered two of his questions. At that time, Cheng Yu's soul was still intact. Afterward, Cheng Yu fell unconscious, so Bai Ziqi had to switch to questioning the guard. Fu Shanyue then brought He Xiao over. Once those two left, Bai Ziqi returned to Cheng Yu's partitioned room, established the wards, and asked Fan Sheng to stand guard there personally. In other words, Cheng Yu had lost his soul while the three of them were interrogating the guard and Cen Boqing. Fu Shanyue and He Xiao themselves could likely be cleared of suspicion, as Bai Ziqi had been present the whole time as an eyewitness. According to Cen Boqing's own confession, Cheng Yu was someone he had hired on short notice to deal with He Xiao, having no connection whatsoever to his elixir of immortality business. Therefore, Cheng Yu losing his soul should not have been the work of the mastermind behind Wu Kai's death. Who wanted him dead? Could it truly be, as He Xiao claimed, that the wraith whose golden body was ruined had come seeking revenge against Cheng Yu? Cheng Yu's earlier act of sealing his soul in the dreamscape bottle, along with the guard's deposition, proved he had something he feared. That thing had tried again and again, and ultimately succeeded. Progress on the Baishaqu front appeared smooth—someone had already served up the "true culprit" on a platter—yet whenever Bai Ziqi tried to investigate further, he was met with endless resistance. He let out a long, heavy breath. Just how many factions were tangled up in this strange case? *** He Lingchuan sat on the roof playing his flute, accompanied by the gentle breeze and the rustling waves of bamboo. Practice made perfect. His skill had improved considerably, and he could now play several tunes fluently from start to finish. The soul-snatching mirror felt as though its torment were finally coming to an end. "You have a lot of room for improvement!" He Lingchuan flicked the mirror surface with a finger. "Drop 'room for'! Or drop 'room for improvement' entirely!" As a beginner, he lacked refined finger technique and seasoned mastery, but the one thing he did not lack was breath. Whether playing the flute or the xun, good lung capacity was essential. Complex melodies relied mostly on long, sustained notes combined with various techniques. Other people practicing this would blow until they grew dizzy and short of breath, but He Lingchuan had his cultivation, having long formed the habit of rhythmic breathing. With his abundant, enduring inner breath, he enjoyed a natural advantage. Even so, he knew his musical talent was limited. At most, he could pretend to be an artistic youth; no matter how much he practiced, he would never reach true perfection. Still, the focus and tranquility he found while playing were very beneficial for nurturing and steadying his meditative state. This was why many cultivators enjoyed taking up a musical instrument as a secondary pursuit. The demon-killing and pearl-harvesting case that had begun back in Shuangyi Town had come to a temporary pause with Cen Boqing's confession, finally giving He Lingchuan a few days of leisure to relax his mind and body. Throughout the investigation, even when cooped up inside hiding from the rain, he had been forced to keep his nerves taut to guard against enemy ambushes. The soul-snatching mirror also lamented, "This case is just too complicated." "Complexity isn't a bad thing." It had deepened his understanding of the Beijia Kingdom layer by layer. How could a superficial tour have touched upon so many inside secrets? The mirror remained uneasy. "Are you really not afraid Cheng Yu will rat you out?" Was it truly wise to leave Cheng Yu in Bai Ziqi's hands without a second thought? Cen Boqing had already confessed, so Fu Shanyue would no longer interfere with how Bai Ziqi handled Cheng Yu. As Fu Shanyue himself had put it, Cheng Yu was merely an irrelevant bystander. He Lingchuan smiled. "He won't." "Why?" He Lingchuan smiled without answering. As an artifact spirit speaking to its master, the mirror could not be heard by others, but He Lingchuan's every word and deed might fall under Bai Ziqi's watch. Who knew what wondrous methods the Duyun Emissary might possess to monitor him?