An Autumn Day Long Ago

He rose to his feet, and Xuxian's eyes widened as he realized that this was the terrapin spirit Qingqing had mentioned. The one who had torn out Zheng Haoran's heart and left the bloody scene among the bandits' bodies. He swallowed, feeling his heart leap nervously. This man looked like any other man you might see on the roads. There was nothing to mark him out as different. The rough, uneven skin and thick callused hands were like any farmer's, and the stooped shoulders were what you might see in the marketplace any day. Yet the ferocity in his eyes and the glowing fingertips of his claw-like hands were like something from a nightmare.

"You're the one who should be afraid," Gui Yuan continued with a laugh. "I know more than you think, snake. I've been watching you. I know this monk is after you. He's smelt you out long ago, and he can't stand it that you've married a human. He's coming for you this time. Fool you were to do such a rash thing. As for me, how do you think I got to this level, despite everything you did to try and take it away from me?"

His teeth flashed in an angry sneer. Pulling back his shoulders, he seemed to grow taller, or at least to Xuxian he seemed to tower over them. Fear prickled under his skin.

"I've eaten many hearts," Gui Yuan said softly. "But those will be nothing compared to that monk's. Or to sucking your life essence. That would be justice to please the heavens. You took ought to be mine. You stole it. You thief! If not for that, would you still be what you are today?"

His voice was choked with rage. Suzhen instinctively took a step back, confusion stamped on her face. Gui Yuan's words were baffling. What was he talking about? What had she stolen from him?

Xuxian watched the two of them tensely, his fingers curling around the hilt of his knife.

"Explain yourself," Suzhen said curtly. "I have never met you before this. How could I have stolen from you?"

Gui Yuan looked at her with disgust. "Look at you. High and mighty, aren't you? Have you forgotten how you got to this level of cultivation?"

He came nearer. "Have you forgotten that autumn day in the river under the bridge, so long ago? You were nothing special then. Just another snake spirit striving to cultivate at this petty pathetic pace."

Suzhen said nothing, but realization had started to dawn in her eyes.

An autumn day where the first cold edge had come into the air. Yellow leaves were falling from the gingko trees by the river every time the wind blew, as if someone had scattered pieces of gold into the water. She remembered gazing up from beneath the water, seeing the sky through the surface, through the yellow leaves blooming on the face of the water. The bridge, its arch crooked and shivering through the moving water.

"You were there," she whispered in disbelief.

The scene flashed through her mind, the scene that had taken place that day when her life had changed. She had not thought about it for so long, but now that it leaped to her memory it was knife-sharp in clarity.

When her head came above the water, feeling the gingko leaf sticking to her smooth scales as she broke through the surface. She had heard voices. The two men leaning over the side of the bridge, seemingly chatting to each other, but from the water beneath Suzhen had seen their tense, nervous faces and the grim look in their eyes. This was no ordinary conversation they were having.

"He'll be passing by any time now," one murmured. "Huang is ready, isn't he?"

"He's in position at the end of the bridge. Even if Kang Yu manages to get past us, Huang and his men will stop him from leaving."

His companion nodded. "We must get it at all costs. Prince Zhen will have our heads otherwise. The future of the state and court depends on it."

Looking thoughtful, he continued,"If all went well, Kang Yu wouldn't expect us to waylay him. If he brings his full retinue with him here it will attract too much attention. I'm guessing he'll be playing it low profile this leg of the trip, probably with under ten men. If that's so, we can easily get it from him. We'll be gone before anyone calls the officials."

They glanced at the road, clearly watching for Kang to appear.

Suzhen looked closely and saw the swords hidden in the bundles of sticks they carried on their backs. Likely there were hidden weapons in their boots as well. They were dressed as peasants but clearly they were professional assassins in the middle of an important job.

"But if I was Kang Yu I wouldn't take any chances," argued his friend. "After all, it wasn't easy for him to get this immortality pill. And Lord Qiao is waiting eagerly for him. That old wretch thinks he can get back his legs, and his youth, if he eats that pill. What a waste, giving that old fox another lease of life. If anything happens to that pill before it reaches him, he'll skin Kang Yu alive. No, more likely Kang is playing safe."

He sighed. "This pill better be everything it's made out to be. How do we know it's really an immortality pill? Maybe it's all a bluff, and we're risking our lives to go against Lord Qiao for nothing."

"It's real, I tell you. It's from Lu Dongbin himself, they say. Prince Zhen will die before he sees Lord Qiao get it, and possibly be revived. That old devil should have died already."

"With his martial skills, Prince Zhen will be invincible if he takes it," murmured the other man. "His qi is already superior to most people. The Crown Prince himself will be no match for him."

Suzhen felt excitement growing in her. An immortality pill, from Lu Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals no less. That was truly a wonder. It would give anyone a tremendous surge of cultivation. She had been cultivating diligently all these years, and yet she had not even attained her human form yet. If this miraculous pill was somehow hers--

The two men did not move, but she saw the lines of their bodies suddenly go alert, and she knew that Kang Yu had arrived on the scene.

Kang Yu--with the mystical immortality pill.