A lament, a Question and a surprising Answer!

Ying yue ran along the labyrinthine corridors of the temple. The deeper he got, the more humid and dark his surroundings became. There were no windows or lights.

He heard the storm outside crashing against the walls and felt the freezing cold when the wind whistled through the hole-riddled cracks. He held Xiaodan up high, illuminating the path in front of him. He hadn't expected the temple to be so large and spacious.

His sharpened senses sensed that he was going steadily downhill and walking in circles; otherwise he would have gone around it already. The air was getting colder and staler, and there was a sweet, putrid smell in the air. Xiaodan vibrated slightly. Ready for battle, he raised his sword with one hand, holding its sheath in the other like a shield in front of him.

He gripped the handle tightly as he cautiously inched forward. The smooth, brittle temple walls had given way to simpler hewn stone. As he examined the walls more closely, he saw long claw marks stretching across the uneven earth. Mei ling must have dug these passages under the building herself. He held on to the wall and felt the earth trickle over his shoulders.

Everything shook and Ying yue just hoped that everything wouldn't collapse on him. As he was about to support himself on the wall, he got hold of a pile of loose earth, something fell down with a clatter and rolled across the floor. Ying yue bent down and picked up the white, ivory-colored object. When he turned it over, two black holes looked back at him from the glowing skull.

He turned around to see a skeleton hanging from the wall, half-buried in the wall, with a simple robe around its brittle bones. He ran his fingers over the bones, checking them. They were male. So this couldn't possibly be Mei ling. He buried the skull again and walked forward. He saw buried skeletons hanging from the wall at regular intervals; the regular vibrations must have dislodged them from the loose earth.

The sweetish smell intensified. He must have been walking for at least an hour when the smell became almost unbearable. He had counted thirteen skeletons when he stepped into something muddy and damp. He shuddered and looked down. Ying yue suppressed a gag reflex and pulled his collar up over his nose.

He had stepped on a decomposed, rotten corpse. Suddenly, the dead man groaned and his fingers, which had been gnawed on, moved slowly. They lifted heavily and tried to grasp the foot that was in his chest. Ying yue retreated. He disconnected the fingers from the hand that was reaching for him, and finally the head from the shoulders of the man, who, judging by his clothes, was a simple farmer.

Ying yue turned up the collar of his robe and tried to breathe in as shallowly as possible. The temple's underground passageways resembled a labyrinth; when he reached the lowest levels, isolated torches anchored in the wall provided scant light.

No more tremors were felt here, but the old stone walls were crumbling and the earth trickled out of the cracks and holes here and there. His head hummed from the silence and the dusty air was so thick you could have cut it.

The further he ventured, the more eerily he heard a soft whisper echoing off the walls, and Ying yue tried to follow the voices. But the closer he came, the more the whispers resembled the rustling of parchment, rattling breath without words. Just as he was about to turn another corner, he recoiled and pressed himself flat against the wall.

Undead, in masses. He peeked out from behind the corner. In the hallway in front of him, which led into a large underground room lit by candles and oil lamps, dozens of corpses shuffled around. They all wore clothes from different social classes, but their heavy steps, the pain-distorted faces and the unnatural sounds from their mouths were the same for all of them.

Ying yue took a deep breath, these must be the kidnapped fake husbands. As he let his gaze wander over the dead men, another sound mingled with the hissing, hissing, whispering. »Shit man... why me... she's completely insane... I want out of here!« Mumbled a delusional voice. Ying yue crept past the undead, a few corridors further on. »This wasn't planned, damn it, why is everything suddenly going wrong?«

When Ying yue turned into the corridor, he saw a man crouching on the floor. He had buried his head in his hands and mumbled incoherently. He wore the black and red colors of the Gao clan, which were supposed to symbolize the Daiyu Plain and the blood spilled on it.

His hair had come loose from his braid and hung messily around his face. He seemed to be only a few years older than Ying yue, if at all. As Ying yue approached him, a queasy feeling stirred in him. What was someone from the Gao clan doing here? No one but him had been ordered to take a look at the demonic bride.

While the man was still cursing to himself, he felt a cool, narrow blade slide between his head and shoulders, slowly forcing him to stand up. With trembling hands and knees, he slowly rose and turned around.

When he saw the man who had crept up behind him, he took a frightful step back.

»YOU!« he shouted in panic. Ying yue narrowed his eyes when he recognized him. »You should have been dead long ago, damned bastard!« Ying yue pointed the tip of his sword at the man's throat.

»Gao Hong Yi!« That was a name Ying yue would not forget in a hurry. It was the name of the man who had pushed him down the Wushan.

What had he just called him? Bastard? Even if Hong Yi had held a higher rank, he would not have had the right to speak that way to a firstborn. Not that Ying yue would have minded, but the term left a bitter taste in his mouth. Hong Yi seemed to come to his senses when he realized the situation he was in, and he raised his hands in appeasement, nervously licking his lips.

»Bai Gongzi,« he purred. Ying yue grimaced, something as insincere and deceitful as Gao Hong Yi was yet to meet his match. He felt sick when the thin man took a step towards him and smiled. »Bai Gongzi, you are an honest and righteous swordsman of the respectable Bai clan, infamous for your seriousness and good influence on the world of martial arts. You wouldn't kill an innocent man in the catacombs of this miserable temple, would you? You couldn't live with that on your conscience. How about this? I was also tricked by my clan and lured here. Let's join forces, work together, and I swear I'll confess everything and testify in your favor,« he ranted.

Ying yue just looked at him disparagingly. He had never intended to make a big deal out of it. Even if he returned to his father and made accusations, the chances of him being listened to were truly slim. Not to mention that Bai An rong would never go against another clan for someone like him. He had survived the fall and intended to simply continue as before.

Xiaodan flinched briefly as the familiar face of a great demon flashed before his mind's eye. At least almost the same. Hong Yi, mistaking the twitch for hesitation, took a step closer and gently lowered Xiaodan's blade to the ground.

»Bai Gongzi…!«

»Stop talking, it makes you sick. If I help you get out of here, you will tell me in return what the Gao clan is interfering in!« he snapped back.

Hong Yi's smile froze and he looked at Ying yue with a disparaging look before the smarmy smile returned to his face. He nodded quickly. After all, Ying yue was his only way out of here.

»Of course, of course, I'll tell you everything,« he quickly agreed. Ying yue thought for a moment. Gao Hong yi was a distant relative, some kind of nephew or cousin of the current head of the family, Gao Teng fei. But his martial arts skills left much to be desired. He put away Xiaodan and turned around, just about to warn Hong Yi about the undead lurking in the next corridor, when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head.

When he reached out and felt for it, he found a warm, sticky liquid. With a scream, Hong Yi struck again with the stone he had been hiding in his hand under his sleeve the whole time. How can you be so unbelievably stupid, Ying yue thought as he fell to the ground. The least he could have done was to wait until he was actually outside before committing treason.

He sank to his knees, and before he lost consciousness, he thought he saw black-green smoke coming out of the corner of his eye, slowly retreating from his fingers. Like a gentle touch, he felt the vapors moving over his arm, up his back and neck. Such a foolish man, of course Gao Hong yi could not know that Ying yue was no longer alone.

That there was no one who could hurt him more. He almost felt sorry for him and the consequences he would have to bear if Zhen yan found out about it. Then everything went dark.

Ying yue sat in the tea room, the agreed meeting point for the night hunt, a little apart and enjoyed the tea that the owner had brought him. It was actually very tasty, not brewed too hot, so that the herbs and roots used in it came into their own.

It tasted a bit bitter, but the added blossoms gave it a slightly sweet aftertaste. He had arrived here a few days ago and restored the scattered shrines and talismans in the area when the other summoned cultivators entered the tea room, they did so loudly and awkwardly. Ying yue did not like it when things got too loud. He preferred calm and discretion.

The men talked excitedly and discussed which demons they would slay. Ying yue put down his tea cup. As the innkeeper's eyes grew larger and larger and the sweat of fear formed on his forehead, the men's excesses grew ever wilder. He stood up and introduced himself to the young men.

»Bai Ying yue, the Bai Clan sent me to support you!« While the others only gave him a sidelong glance, one of them stepped forward joyfully. His robe was made of black and red fabrics. He had an unremarkable face, but a charming smile. His eyes shone as he bowed.

»Bai Gongzi, my name is Gao Hong Yi. I've heard a lot about you, and I look forward to working with you,« he said solemnly. Ying yue nodded. His tension eased now that at least one person in the group was well-disposed towards him.

»Have you renewed the protective spells around the village?« one of the others asked. Ying yue answered in the affirmative. The young man narrowed his eyes before turning away and discussing with the others. It wasn't that they were averse to him because it was known that he was the firstborn of Bai An rong but only born of a low-born concubine; there was also jealousy involved. Despite that, he was simply better than most of his peers. And... he looked down at Xiaodan, the only one with a divine weapon. Hong Yi grinned at him.

»Don't worry about it, Bai Gongzi. They're just jealous!« Ying yue nodded shortly. They sat down at a table and Ying yue let the others make the battle plan. They only had to hunt a few low-level demons. They had gathered and terrorized a nearby village.

Nevertheless, the man who had asked him about the talismans was eager and precise in his work. There was no reason to object to him, even if he was a little too meticulous. They set out at dusk. As Ying yue had expected, the demons did not make life too difficult for them. He just drew his blade from the head of a slain demon, which had come crawling towards him on all fours, when Hong yi rushed out of the forest's branches and into the clearing.

The others were also quite out of breath and supported each other. Not that they weren't capable, they had merely overestimated themselves and underestimated the number of opponents. But nothing they couldn't handle. With a swing, Ying yue got rid of the blood on his sword and turned to Hong Yi. You didn't have to be particularly smart or observant to quickly figure out that Hong Yi was a lousy fighter, to say the least.

He couldn't hold his sword properly and kept stumbling over his own feet. Ying yue had saved his life more than once that night. So he rushed towards him hopefully. He didn't seem to mind that he was older. He clung to Ying yue's sleeve.

»Bai Gongzi,« he whimpered, pulling hard on him. »Bai Gongzi, I'm not even half as capable as you. I didn't know what else to do. Bai Gongzi,« he whimpered. Ying yue put Xiaodan away and tried to calm Hong Yi.

»What happened?« he asked, trying to press Hong Yi's shoulders as gently as possible without shaking him. He must have done something really stupid. Big tears rolled down his cheeks as he opened his mouth.

»I couldn't stop them, Bai Gongzi, a handful got away from me,« he whined. The others groaned. Now they had to chase after them, too, when everything could have been done in one night.

»Why do they send us such good-for-nothings as you?« one of them asked, dropping exhaustedly to the ground.

Dawn was breaking, and the frost of the night shimmered on the blades of grass and bare branches. Ying yue straightened his robe, which Hong Yi was still desperately tugging at.

»Right, Gao Gongzi, you're making more work for us than you're helping us,« whined another. Hong Yi whined and apologized, but that didn't appease the mood in the slightest.

»There's no use, we have to go after them before they join forces with others and attack the next village,« Ying yue now intervened. He was tired and exhausted, too, but it was their duty to bring this night hunt to a successful end. The others sighed, one of them even threw a handful of plucked weeds at him, before they picked themselves up and ran back to the inn.

According to Hong Yi, a group of about five demons had broken through his guarded defense and could not be pushed back into the clearing and destroyed. Actually, it was a relatively good result considering that about two dozen of them had attacked Hong Yi. Of course, they undoubtedly blamed him, not that one of the protective spells had failed. Ying yue was torn.

Hong Yi didn't have much to offer, but together with the protective spells, the number would have been foolproof. In fact, only a leak in the talismans could have prevented Hong Yi from defending himself and retreating, which had led to the escape of some Yao.

Although Ying yue chose his words carefully and tried not to sound insulting, he was soon angrily shouted at by the young man who had set up the protective mechanism. After being pelted with vegetables and tea several times, Ying yue finally left with two of his closest friends. Only he, Hong Yi and two other cultists, who depended on this night hunt being a success, remained.

Although they whispered among themselves the whole time and didn't bother to express their dislike for the two, all four of them headed north an hour later. The day was cold, the beginning of spring not yet strong enough to completely displace the frost and fog.

The further they progressed, the more clearly their breath was visible. The two listless cultists walked ahead and constantly glanced back. Hong Yi walked next to Ying yue looking like a beaten dog. Ying yue herself was used to such looks and ignored them; she had another problem to deal with. They had followed the demons' tracks, but Ying yue was taken aback by them. They were exactly where they were needed to show the way, not too obvious, but not hidden either.

Xiaodan didn't make a sound and the demonic aura was completely absent. He frowned, they had been walking uphill for quite a while now and everyone was panting and struggling to catch their breath. Even Ying yue trembled slightly under the strain. Since yesterday, none of them had slept or rested. They had hunted demons all night and then set out in the morning to recapture the escapees.

But there was no sign of them far and wide. Ying yue frowned. Even if the protective spell had shown an error, the Yao should at least have been badly burned. But somehow, nothing seemed to fit. The tracks showed no injuries, no limping or dragging. No blood, no shreds of skin, not even a hair was caught in the bushes.

Ying yue glanced at Hong yi, could it be that he had wandered off in that direction? But then why did they find tracks at certain intervals! He crossed his arms. A queasy feeling twisted inside of him, but he didn't want to accuse anyone of anything. If someone wanted to prove himself by laying a false trail to get a bigger prey, that was intriguing, but still within the realm of possibility. He thought about it, and finally made a decision.

»We should rest!« he suggested. The ones in front eyed him doubtfully. Taking a break during a demon hunt was frowned upon; you hunted until you killed your prey. »We all haven't rested for at least two days,« he added. »Besides, it's quite possible that they hid and we walked right past them.

An injured Yao would never have made it this far,« he said as neutrally as possible so that no one would feel offended. Hong Yi looked at him in surprise but said nothing. He had stayed in the background the whole time, his hands hidden in the wide sleeves of his robe, and had said nothing. The other two frowned.

»Since there are only a few of them, I suggest that one team goes back and the other continues. Whoever finds the demons first sends a signal,« Ying yue suggested. The other two briefly considered whether it might be a trick and whether Ying yue wanted to kill the other demons on her own. But even with this conclusion, they couldn't find any disadvantage. After all, they had hunted the game together for the most part, and the end was certain either way.

It didn't matter who caught the few who had fled. They would just be finished sooner. Finally, they nodded in agreement.

After a break, it was already dawning again, and Ying yue suggested moving on before they had to wander around the mountain at night.

She said goodbye and he continued alone with Hong Yi. He felt sorry for the man, who obviously wanted to prove himself. Near a cliff, Hong Yi leaned over the edge and stared down lost. Ying yue joined him.

»Hong yi,« he began. He didn't really know where to start. Should he confront him? Should he ask questions? Or show sympathy? He wasn't particularly good with other people; in fact, people preferred to avoid him. But since Hong Yi had approached him so warmly, he didn't want to offend him.

»Bai Gongzi,« Hong yi murmured. ‚Do you think it goes down low enough to kill a person?' he asked, his gaze wandering. Ying yue immediately stepped up beside him and spun him around.

»This height is definitely deadly. Hong Yi, listen—«

»What luck,« Hong Yi interrupted him, then pushed him down with the same happy smile he had greeted him with. Yingyue staggered in surprise. He hadn't expected that; many thoughts had indeed come to him, but he hadn't thought that this seemingly weak man would push him to his death. As he fell and found no purchase, Hong waved after him.

»Farewell, Bai Gongzi,« he laughed in farewell. The fall was deep. Although his clothing absorbed most of the energy of the impact when he hit the rocks and broke through the branches, he lost consciousness. He lost his breath as he hit the ground hard, something snapped, and moments later he was tangled in thick, scarlet curtains. His thoughts and stomach spun. Everything hurt. All he perceived was one more person.

»Excuse me,« he mumbled, but the sharp pain in his limbs made him fall to the ground again and again. Suddenly, a cool, strong hand grabbed him. The face in front of him became clearer and clearer. A man was leaning over him. His white face, with full lips, arched eyebrows and dark green eyes, looked at him kindly. His black hair, tied in a simple knot, fell over his shoulders and his black robe.

»Shall we proceed to the wedding night then?«