Chapter 65
The old male fox looked at Xiao Xiao with some confusion, “You’ve lived here for a long time, why are you still asking me?”
Xiao Xiao let out another “hearty” laugh and then flattered him with blinking eyes, “I’m too young and haven’t cultivated on Lingshan for very long, so how could I possibly know as much as a well-traveled elder like yourself?”
The old male fox was flattered and felt rather proud of himself. As he often roamed far and wide, he did know the legends about the phoenixes on Demon Rock Cliff, so he said, “It’s just a legend that phoenixes once refined themselves here, nesting on the rear mountains of Demon Rock Cliff, laying phoenix eggs protected by thorns, but no one knows when they might hatch… However, these are just ancient folktales passed down. I’ve never actually seen any phoenixes flying out from Demon Rock Cliff.”
Hearing that it was a folktale, Xiao Xiao understood how she should respond. When she approached the young princess again, she adopted the aloof and gracious demeanor befitting a sect leader, neither humble nor arrogant, “As cultivators, we should not be tainted by mundane matters. Since the princess has taken a liking to this mountain and constructed a residence here, we shall take our leave and seek another place to cultivate…”
However, this Princess Yongning was warm-hearted and generous. Upon hearing that they had long been cultivating on the rear mountains, how could she drive away such celestial beings? So she also candidly said, “I will be getting married soon. I’ve only come here to pass a few days before my wedding. I won’t be staying long, so how could I displace you cultivators from the rear mountains? I’ve heard from the servants that there are no paths connecting the front and rear mountains. You can continue cultivating undisturbed on the rear mountains. I’ll instruct the workers and guards not to disturb you!”
After saying this, she excitedly asked Xiao Xiao to lead the way, hoping to catch a glimpse of the phoenixes on the rear mountains as well.
Before Xiao Xiao could politely decline, the princess’s guards hurriedly intervened, “Princess, you absolutely must not go! The rear mountains are desolate and filled with ferocious beasts. If the king learns that we allowed you to venture into such danger, we would be punished for nine generations!”
The guards and maidservants then knelt down in a flurry.
The young princess seemed accustomed to such kneeling and pleas. She silently sighed, then instructed her servants to present boxes of pastries and preserved fruits that she regularly enjoyed, gifting them to Xiao Xiao and the Talisman Sect disciples. She repeatedly asked Xiao Xiao to inform her if any phoenixes appeared on the rear mountains so she could observe them from the Phoenix Viewing Pavilion on the front mountain.
After the young princess finally departed by carriage, Xiao Xiao turned to see Yu Ling’er eyeing the pastry boxes hungrily and immediately slapped her fox paw away, “How dare you eat the Prince Can’s niece’s gifts! What if they were poisoned with a puppet venom?”
Reminded of this, Yu Ling’er shuddered violently and hurriedly tossed the pastry boxes onto the ground.
Knowing Yu Ling’er must be hungry, Tang Youshu said to Xiao Xiao, “Master Ancestor, please lead us to the residence on the rear mountains so we can settle in. It must be covered in dust after being uninhabited for so long. I’ll do some basic cleaning first, then prepare a meal for you all.”
It seemed he had taken Xiao Xiao’s words to the young princess at face value and truly believed the Talisman Sect’s premises were located on the rear mountains.
Xiao Xiao had previously vowed to Master Tang Youshu on his deathbed that she would never lie again. But now, she had lied again, deceiving her own beloved master.
How could she face Master Tang Youshu and bear to see the disappointment on his face?
The lies kept piling up like patched rags, and she could only stubbornly continue this falsehood she had woven.
As a result, Cui Xiao Xiao led Tang Youshu and the fox tribe, step by difficult step, through the dense thickets and brambles, until they finally arrived at the mountain cave where her master had previously guided her cultivation on the rear mountains.
At this time, the rear mountains were still considered forbidden grounds with no stone paths, pavilions, or stone tables like two hundred years later. The journey was extremely arduous.
Most dreadfully, when they reached the stone cave on the rear mountains, Yu Ling’er’s fox eyes widened, and everyone fell into an eerie silence.
Yu Ling’er stared at the vine and cobweb-covered, pitch-black mountain cave for a while in disbelief before finally picking up a small stone and tossing it inside to test the depths.
The next moment, countless bats came fluttering out, startling the timid fox who let out a yelp and clung to Tang Youshu’s neck, refusing to let go.
After regaining her composure, Yu Ling’er asked Xiao Xiao with tearful eyes, “You… inherited the Talisman Sect’s lineage from your master here in this place?”
Adhering to her skills of shameless fortitude, Xiao Xiao dragged out her response, “Well… it has been abandoned for too long, so this cave has become rather desolate. But with a bit of cleaning, it will still be quite cozy and livable.”
Yu Ling’er immediately shook her head. Even as a fox, she was a refined demoness with certain standards! She would never live in such a cold and damp mountain cave, no matter what.
She finally understood why, despite Xiao Xiao’s capabilities, the Talisman Sect had remained unheralded and unable to attract disciples.
Without a paulownia tree, how could a golden phoenix be lured!
With the Talisman Sect’s shabby state, poorer than even a beggar’s den, where could they recruit disciples?
Thinking this, Yu Ling’er couldn’t help but sigh, “We really placed too much hope earlier. Why did we bother using invisibility talismans to sneak away? You should have just led those people who insisted on becoming disciples into this mountain cave and let them live here for a couple of nights. Any who remained determined would truly be fated disciples sincerely seeking to join you. You absolutely must accept such predestined disciples!”
Xiao Xiao actually felt that Yu Ling’er made a lot of sense.
If she had known she would end up weaving lies that would lead them to spending the night in this mountain cave, Xiao Xiao would have definitely brought that group along.
At the very least, she wouldn’t be lacking readily available labor when clearing vines and gathering firewood now!
But there was no use crying over spilled milk. Xiao Xiao thought about it and decided she was too lazy to even bother gathering grass. She told Tang Youshu and the others, “Let’s go, this place is uninhabitable. We’ll head back down the mountain.”
However, Tang Youshu hesitated and reminded her, “But… didn’t you say tomorrow is the proper day for making offerings to the Talisman Sect’s ancestors? If we go down the mountain to find lodgings, we’ll have to travel at least a couple hundred li there and back. With all that back and forth, wouldn’t we miss the auspicious timing for the offerings?”
Xiao Xiao was stumped again. She couldn’t tell Young Master Tang the truth that the ancestor she intended to make offerings to was actually him, who would pass away two hundred years in the future tomorrow.
Moreover, there were no graves on Demon Rock Cliff two hundred years ago where she could make offerings.
It was already too late to hastily construct a grave overnight. If they really waited until tomorrow, who would she be making offerings to?
Master, your teachings are truly profound. This lying has indeed depleted my virtue, disciple has patched up this tattered lie to the point where her mouth has gone soft, utterly unable to mend it further.
That night, they still remained on the rear mountains, building a campfire to rough it through the night before making offerings to the esteemed Talisman Sect’s ancestors the next day at dawn!
Since Wei Jie was not around, dinner was prepared by Tang Youshu. After one taste of the fish soup, Xiao Xiao nearly vomited from the nausea.
It turned out that when Tang Youshu cleaned the fish, he had accidentally ruptured the gall bladder, causing the entire pot of fish soup to be tinged with a bitter, unpalatable flavor.
This indescribable, wondrous taste momentarily reminded Xiao Xiao of how her late master would occasionally cook for them with similar results back in his later years.
Should she mention it? Her master’s culinary skills seemed to have remained stagnant over the past two centuries!
For a while, everyone missed Wei Jie. Although the young master appeared carefree and lazy, he had prepared nearly every meal, whether roasting, braising, or making soup, all with exquisite flavors.
It was unknown if he had reached the Wei Family ancestral home and when he would return to find them…
Thus, on the first night of the Talisman Sect disciples’ return to make ancestral offerings, they spent it in the cold, dreary rain without food or proper shelter.
The ground was too damp, and their bedding had all been left behind in the carriage when they had slipped away using invisibility talismans.
So Xiao Xiao did not sleep at all. She only moved some of the campfire embers closer and silently read through the Talisman Sect’s secret manuals by herself.
Meanwhile, Yu Ling’er and Tang Youshu studied books and characters together, chattering merrily as if quite enjoying themselves.
Xiao Xiao was now making up for the section detailing when her master had first arrived at Demon Rock Cliff alongside Wei Jie.
At that time, after losing his mother, Wei Jie had become resentful of the world and deeply demonic. However, he seemed aware of his tendency to not recognize even close relatives while in his demonic rages, so he would always seek out unpopulated areas whenever an episode struck.
When Wei Jie initially came to Demon Rock Cliff, he had once secluded himself in closed-door meditation on the remote rear mountains but mysteriously disappeared. Tang Youshu searched everywhere but could not find Wei Jie. When he finally saw his master again, Wei Jie was covered in charred burns all over his body.
Fortunately, he possessed fox demoness bloodline which allowed him to slowly recover from the full-body burns over time…
When Tang Youshu recorded this section, he seemed to vaguely imply that the ordeal had also affected his master’s mind, as he wrote that after surviving this tribulation, his master’s temperament became gentle and amiable, developing a penchant for appreciating flora and fauna. He even kept a pet bird…
Reading this, Xiao Xiao broke into a grin, curious to see what kind of bird Wei Jie had kept… Huh? A crow?
Why would he keep a crow? Could it be that he intended to fatten it up as a drinking snack?
However, after the brief smile, Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but shudder – by taking over Wei Jie’s destiny, she was truly stepping into one pitfall after another. If Wei Jie had truly faced some ordeal on the rear mountains, did that mean she would have to endure it in his place? If it was some other tribulation, perhaps it would be fine. But this fiery, full-body burning trial… she definitely couldn’t withstand that!
Thinking this, Xiao Xiao became even more determined – time to make tracks! These rear mountains two hundred years ago were certainly no nurturing environment!
With that thought, she casually stuffed the secret manuals into the bundle she carried and pretended to meditate while surreptitiously observing what the others were doing.
As always, Yu Ling’er loved to sleep in. Tang Youshu had retrieved two small cushions from his backpack, giving one to his Master Ancestor Xiao Xiao, and placing the other on a large boulder.
Ling’er had now reverted to her original fox form, curled up into a fluffy white ball as she slept comfortably on the small cushion.
Tang Youshu was also leaning against the large boulder, seated as he slept. The little fox had unwittingly snuggled her fluffy body against the side of Young Master Tang’s head, who contentedly nuzzled against her soft fur, the two sleeping as innocently as children!
After the other fox tribe members found spots to settle in for sleep, the previously meditating Xiao Xiao suddenly opened her eyes.
She had long made up her mind to seize an opportunity to slip away.
Now that her towering lie could no longer be maintained, when else would she have a chance to escape if not now?
As for her excuse, she had already thought it through. She would leave a message for Tang Youshu, saying that she missed her master terribly, unable to bear the anguish of longing, fearing excessive grief during the memorial offerings. So she had no choice but to leave early.
As for whether Tang Youshu and the others would remain here waiting for Wei Jie or seek another place, that would be up to them.
Although Xiao Xiao felt a million reluctances towards leaving her master, she also knew she had to depart!
Now, under the cover of the dark, moonless night, was the perfect opportunity to escape.
So she left another farewell message on her meditation cushion and then silently applied an invisibility talisman before slipping away from the campsite.
She had previously frequented these rear mountains with her master and fellow disciples. According to her master, all of Lingshan’s spiritual energy converged on these rear mountains, making it an ideal place for cultivation, though he had never explicitly explained why.
However, in this era, the rear mountains were densely forested with no sign of the small paths or wooden signposts from her previous life. So while invisible, Xiao Xiao wandered like a lost spirit… becoming hopelessly lost amidst the layered mountain thickets!
The night was too dark, and even the stars in the sky were not very bright, making it impossible to discern the cardinal directions. Xiao Xiao circled around for a long while but still could not find her way out of this maze-like tangle of thorns.
She hadn’t eaten much for dinner and was now starving. Finally feeling dejected, she sat down where she was to wait for the sun to rise before trying to find an exit.
At that moment, a faint rustling came from the branches overhead. Xiao Xiao looked up to see a long-tailed mountain grouse perched above her.
The grouse seemed slightly smaller than the ones she normally saw, but its tail was exceptionally long. In the dim moonlight, she could not make out its feather colors, only its two eyes gleaming with an eerie light against the darkness, appearing rather unsettling…
As long as it wasn’t a man-eating monster, Xiao Xiao couldn’t be bothered to care. But in the dead of night, shouldn’t grouses be asleep? Could it be that she had disturbed this one?
As Xiao Xiao pondered this, a few more grouses landed on the same tree branch, one after another.
Xiao Xiao hadn’t even seen how they flew up, as if they had simply materialized, each dragging their excessively long tails behind them as they perched in a staggered line on the branch, tilting their necks to silently observe Xiao Xiao.
Their eyes flickered with an eerie glow, unmoving in the pitch-black night, enough to frighten the faint-hearted and startle their souls.
Xiao Xiao warily watched these birds for a while. Seeing they had no intention of closing their eyes to sleep, she couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.
Although grouses were not formidable birds of prey, shouldn’t they fear humans? For them to actively land above a person’s head and gaze at her with such an ominous aura was quite irregular.
However, as the native residents of this mountain, Xiao Xiao decided to cede them the territory and maintain some distance.
But as she stood and walked a short distance into the brambles to rest, she suddenly felt a stiffness in her neck and slowly looked up.
Not far away, up in the tall trees, around ten pairs of those same flickering, eerie eyes were glowing…
Those five grouses had somehow relocated and perched directly above her head once more.
Xiao Xiao was now convinced there was something amiss about these five birds. Grouses were not nocturnal birds of prey and had poor night vision, so they should not be able to see clearly at night to fly around so deftly.
Unless someone had disturbed and threatened them, they would never take flight so nimbly.
Yet these five grouses made not a sound, nor did their wings flap as they relocated, which defied reason!
Xiao Xiao could not help but ponder – just what were these five creatures perching above her head?
Feeling wary, Xiao Xiao silently palmed five demon-subjugating silver talismans, ready to strike first if these birds attacked.
However, the birds perched on the branch showed no signs of movement, only tilting their necks to stare unblinkingly at Xiao Xiao.
Xiao Xiao suddenly understood Yu Ling’er’s fear of the dark and her reluctance to hunt alone in the woods.
In this dead of night, surrounded by towering mountains and dense forests, it was truly terrifying! If she had known she would encounter these five unnerving, watchful birds, Xiao Xiao might have reconsidered slipping away from her obedient grandson-disciple and the others until later.
As she thought this, Xiao Xiao suddenly turned and ran swiftly back towards the campsite – no matter what, she had to return first before attempting to slip away again at daybreak.
Just as she ran, the moon emerged from behind the obscuring clouds, bathing the land in its glow.
Xiao Xiao saw her own shadow cast on the ground, along with a cluster of large, bird-like shadows shifting and flapping wings. In the moonlight, those shadows appeared monstrously oversized, many times larger than her own.
The oppressive sensation of being pursued and hunted was truly unbearable. Unable to withstand it any longer, Xiao Xiao turned to unleash the talismans in her hand.
But before she could turn, her foot stepped onto a soft pile of fallen leaves and then suddenly gave way beneath her as the ground opened up. In her panicked state, her bundle also slipped from her grasp and flew out.
There was actually a deep ravine here! Concealed by fallen branches and leaves, it had become a natural pitfall trap, causing Xiao Xiao to plummet downwards.
In this crisis, Xiao Xiao’s consciousness instinctively called out to the Heaven’s Defiance sword, which swiftly unsheathed and halted her fall just in the nick of time, preventing her from crashing into the ground below.
When Xiao Xiao landed and looked up, she realized the spot where she had fallen through was over a hundred zhang away from her current position!
With the darkness around, she gripped Heaven’s Defiance tightly and ignited a fire talisman to examine her surroundings by the flickering light.
This ravine seemed to be shaped like an hourglass, narrow at the top but spacious below, with an expansive floor covered in overgrown weeds and unidentifiable trees. A stream also flowed through the ravine bottom in a meandering course.
As Xiao Xiao used the fire talisman to look around, the faint light seemed to awaken something in the stream, causing the water to gradually glow and illuminate the entire ravine like crystal jade.
The tiny flame in her hand became redundant, so Xiao Xiao extinguished it. As she approached the stream, she realized the glow came from countless transparent, noodle-like fish swimming within, their slender bodies emitting a brilliant radiance that lit up the entire stream.
It was then that the five grouses who had been following Xiao Xiao descended and landed beside the glowing stream.
They seemed hungry, pecking at the luminous little fish in the water. After eating one or two, their bodies appeared to undergo a transformation, with each feather beginning to glow brilliantly. The crests on their heads also gradually unfurled.
Xiao Xiao had been warily observing these birds, but her eyes widened as she suddenly realized – these didn’t resemble ordinary grouses at all. Moreover, their plumage colors differed greatly, distinctly crimson, azure, yellow, violet, and white.
Regardless of color, their forms and haughty, aloof demeanors were completely unlike any common grouse!
At that moment, the young Princess Yongning’s words about the legendary phoenixes dwelling on the rear mountains of Demon Rock Cliff flashed through Xiao Xiao’s mind…
And these “grouses” seemed to correspond perfectly with the described colors of the fabled five phoenixes. Her late master had read her excerpts from the Lunheng, which stated: “Among those resembling the phoenix, there are five colors – the crimson is the feng, the azure is the luan, the yellow is the huangque, the violet is the yinggui, and the white is the honghu.”
Currently, these five multicolored, luminous birds appeared before her, aligning precisely with the mountain’s folktales!
The question was, why had these five phoenixes been following her?
However, since these were indeed celestial phoenixes, Xiao Xiao dared not rashly attempt to subdue them with talismans. As divine birds, they naturally possessed immense pride. If she revealed hostility despite them not harming her, it would undoubtedly offend their noble dispositions.
So Xiao Xiao cleared her throat and attempted to communicate respectfully, “Esteemed celestial birds, I mean no offense. I merely lost my way, unintentionally trespassing into your domain. Once I find the exit, I will immediately depart and no longer disturb your cultivation…”
After she finished speaking, the celestial birds seemed to understand, yet they nonchalantly continued preening their feathers. They then flew down beside Xiao Xiao, their talons shifting as their long tails swayed, and they actually began performing an ethereal, mesmerizing phoenix dance!
Truly befitting of phoenixes, although smaller in stature than the legends described, their graceful, flowing movements were not the slightest bit diminished.
Xiao Xiao was momentarily entranced, lost in the shimmering iridescence of their swirling feathers and wings as they transformed their poses in an unceasing dance…
However, it was at this moment that the long-dormant demon bead suddenly spoke up, “Wake up, you dimwitted girl! If you’re going to die, don’t drag me down to be buried with you!”
Although it had not spoken for a long time, the demon bead’s tone remained acerbic and scathing, like an old, festering grudge.
Xiao Xiao snapped back to alertness and gripped Heaven’s Defiance tightly as she silently asked, “What do you mean?”
The demon bead seemed to have witnessed something horrifying as it lowered its voice, “You’ve recognized that they’re phoenixes, haven’t you? So why are you still standing there like a wooden dummy? Be careful, or they’ll make a snack out of you!”
Xiao Xiao was perplexed, “But I’ve never heard of phoenixes eating humans. As long as we don’t provoke them, aren’t they auspicious birds?”
The demon bead seemed unable to reason with Xiao Xiao and sounded somewhat agitated, “Sure, celestial birds don’t eat humans… but are you human? Have you forgotten that you’re already a half-demonic body? What’s more, you became a demon by snake possession. With my demonic aura lingering on you, that’s the favorite delicacy of these yang celestial birds! Can’t you see them getting so excited they’ve started dancing? Soon they’ll tear you apart and devour you as a midnight snack! Aimlessly dragging me out in the dead of night to get yourself killed, you foolish girl! I’ve truly suffered ill fate by ending up in your body…”
Then followed a stream of vulgar curses from the demon bead. However, it seemed to fear the phoenixes, its aura suppressed and its voice growing increasingly faint until it was nearly inaudible.
The legends did say that phoenixes favored devouring dragons and serpents!
For instance, the Buddhist sutras mention the garuda, which was said to be the previous incarnation of the phoenix, one of the eight deities of the eight celestial divisions. It was said that whenever the garuda was reborn after its five-hundred-year rebirth cycle, it would consume hundreds of giant serpents and venomous snakes daily…
Xiao Xiao’s heart skipped a beat – that’s right, she had forgotten that one side of her body had already become demonic. Now her entire arm was covered in snake scales, so in terms of taste, she probably wasn’t too different from those fish…
As if confirming the demon bead’s words, the phoenixes’ dance grew increasingly vigorous, their flapping wings filled with force, while their eyes remained fixated on Xiao Xiao.
Suddenly, the lead crimson phoenix let out a shrill, piercing call. As if obeying a command, the other four phoenixes joined in with their cries, then streaked towards Xiao Xiao like bolts of multicolored lightning!
