Night Talk

"Is anyone there?" Li Huowang's shout echoed through the vast emptiness.

Confused, he looked around and realized he was standing on a wooden bridge. All around him, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

Li Huowang took a deep breath and raised his foot to continue walking. The wooden planks beneath him creaked with each step.

After walking for an unknown time, he felt something moving in the distance. His body shuddered, and he quickened his pace toward the source.

However, when he finally got close enough to make out what it was, his body came to a sudden halt. It was Li Zhi's "Guardian Deity."

The small clay figure, which had once been the size of a palm, had now grown to three times the size of Li Huowang's own body. As it slowly turned its head toward him, the sound of stones rubbing together filled the air. Its pupils were completely white—disturbingly so.

"This isn't a wooden bridge! I'm standing on someone's rafters!" Li Huowang immediately realized.

The sound of cracking wood filled the air as the many red strings wrapped around the Guardian Deity snapped. Dozens of mud-like hands reached out from the cracks, their fingers dripping dust as they crawled toward Li Huowang.

Just as Li Huowang was about to retreat, a massive red veil suddenly descended, completely enveloping him.

"Don't look..." A thin, ethereal female voice sounded.

"Whoosh!" Covered in cold sweat, Li Huowang suddenly jolted awake. He quickly scanned the surroundings, relieved to find that there was no Guardian Deity, no red veil—just a vivid dream.

Looking down at Bai Lingmiao, who was lying beside him, Li Huowang gently adjusted the blanket over her shoulders. He then turned, walked to the window, and peered outside.

The moon was still high in the sky, suggesting he hadn't slept for long.

Gazing at the dark rooftops outside, Li Huowang began to think about the events of the previous day.

The mysterious figure with the red veil, the second god, had clearly wanted to say something to him, but Li Zhi had interrupted her.

"What did she want to say? Why did she tell me not to look at the Guardian Deity?" Li Huowang furrowed his brow, thinking hard about the puzzle.

The second god had been silent, neither eating nor drinking. In contrast to the easy-going Li Zhi, she seemed extraordinarily enigmatic.

For someone like her to suddenly speak, there must have been something important she wanted to convey.

"What could she have to say to me that she didn't want Li Zhi to know? Is Li Zhi trying to harm me?"

Li Huowang had originally planned to ask Li Zhi about the "jumping of the gods," but now, given the strange circumstances, he hesitated. After all, he and Li Zhi weren't particularly close.

He had considered seeking another practitioner, but even then, there was no guarantee they would be more trustworthy than Li Zhi.

"Since I'm looking for answers, I might as well ask the second god directly. I need to figure out what's going on," Li Huowang thought resolutely.

He glanced once more at the pitch-black sky, then put on his blood-red Taoist robe and stepped outside. Li Zhi's relative lived nearby, not far from where he and Li Zhi stayed.

The dimly lit room was eerily quiet as Li Huowang walked silently toward Li Zhi's place.

"Creak—" The door, covered in lucky charms, slowly creaked open. A small glowing stone was tossed inside.

The faint glow illuminated the room, revealing the form of Li Zhi, sprawled across the bed snoring loudly. The second god, still wearing the red veil, stood rigidly by the bed, almost like a piece of clothing.

Hearing the noise, the second god turned her head toward Li Huowang without a sound, as if waiting for something.

Seeing this unsettling scene at such an hour sent a shiver down Li Huowang's spine.

"Am I really going to spend time alone with this thing?" Li Huowang hesitated for a moment.

But remembering what the second god had whispered to him earlier, he made up his mind. He waved his hand lightly.

Surprisingly, the second god moved. Like a ghost, she slowly drifted toward the door.

As she moved, Li Huowang stepped back, mirroring her movements. They continued until they were outside the courtyard.

The dim moonlight of the half moon bathed the courtyard, somewhat soothing Li Huowang's tense nerves.

The second god, veiled in red, slowly approached again, getting closer and closer. She was so near that Li Huowang's breath caused the veil to flutter slightly. "What did you want to say yesterday?"

Her long, black nails slowly raised, and in a moment of shock, Li Huowang saw her gently cut the tip of her other finger.

With the dark red blood flowing from the wound, she began to write on the red veil.

"Be... careful... you... are... the... heart... essence... immortal..."

"What are you two doing!" A sudden loud shout shattered the night, and the black blood on the veil quickly disappeared, absorbed into the fabric.

Li Huowang, stepping back two paces in shock, saw Li Zhi, barefoot and grim-faced, rushing over to the second god. He tightly hugged her at the waist. "What do you think you're doing? This is my wife!"

Li Huowang heard noises coming from the house and quickly thought for a moment before responding. "Nothing. I was just curious about your wife's face."

Li Zhi gave him a suspicious once-over, then, as if to assert his dominance, lifted a corner of the red veil and stuck his head under it, giving the second god a series of passionate kisses.

As the red veil fluttered, and with the moonlight filtering through, Li Huowang caught a glimpse of something.

"Those are... scales?"

Li Zhi pulled his head back, licking the yellow-green sticky liquid from his lips. "Remember this! She's my wife! You're single—who can you blame? Isn't it your fault for being a Taoist? If you have the guts, you can renounce your vows!"

Without waiting for Li Huowang to respond, Li Zhi grabbed the second god's pale hand, with its long black nails, and led her back into the house.

Scales, yellow-green sticky liquid—these two images kept flashing in Li Huowang's mind. What exactly was this second god?

When Li Huowang returned to his room, he found Bai Lingmiao awake, sitting up on the bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"What happened? Is something wrong?"

Li Huowang said nothing. He blew out the oil lamp and said softly, "It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

"Be careful? I'm the heart essence immortal?" Li Huowang lay on his bed, pondering the cryptic words of the second god. "What's a heart essence immortal? And what did she want me to be careful about?"

The next morning, when Li Huowang woke up and entered the main hall, he saw Li Zhi sitting and drinking porridge.

He had one hand tightly holding the second god's, while talking to Li Zhi's relative.

"Old friend, thanks for your help. How about this? I'll help you get a Guardian Deity—I'll give you a discount. How about thirty copper coins?"

Li Zhi stopped speaking when he saw Li Huowang enter. His face no longer held the easygoing demeanor it had the day before.