Chapter Ninety-Five: Falling Spirit Mountain, Falling Spirit Cave Heaven

Quanyin was so ashamed she wanted to die. Though the person before her was a woman, she herself had not been seen naked for more than twenty years. How could she endure such brazen, invasive scrutiny, a gaze that seemed to be everywhere, seeping into every crack and crevice?

Suddenly, she felt herself lifted up into the air. When she opened her eyes, she was indeed already aloft. Grief and indignation surged in her heart, yet she could not even move. She had no choice but to close her eyes again.

Time seemed to stretch on for centuries. Then the light dimmed, and she felt as though she had entered some cavern. She thought of how demons were said to have their own lairs, and wondered if she had already arrived. What would they do to her? At the thought of it, she felt even death would be a relief.

If she had been able to move, she would already have killed herself with the curved blade in her hand.

There must be many monsters in here, many ugly and ferocious ones. Just imagining their lewd eyes, imagining herself being seen through and through by them, made her heart feel as though it were being twisted by a knife.

Then, with a sudden violent toss, she was flung through the air. Quanyin braced herself to crash onto the ground or into someone’s arms, and sure enough, she fell straight into some demon’s embrace.

Yet before that fall, while still in the air, she had felt something like clothing wrap around her body. The instant she landed in that unknown monster’s arms, she found she could move again. At once her mind stirred, her inner power began to circulate, and the restraint was indeed gone.

She opened her eyes at once. The moment she did, before she could even see what the person holding her looked like, the blade in her hand had already slashed out, cruel and ruthless, carrying the desperate force of a life-or-death strike.

The sharp edge met no resistance at all, as though it had split the void itself. She felt it clearly, and saw it just as clearly: her blade had come down across the monster’s neck.

And yet it caused the slightest injury. Shocked, she hacked madly again and again, but still could not hurt the creature that looked so much like a human. Only a single strand of hair drifted down through the air.

At once she understood that she could not possibly wound this demon, so similar to a human in appearance. She quickly seized the robe that had slid from her shoulders and wrapped herself in it, retreating to put distance between them. Only after steadying herself somewhat did she realize she was on a jade bed, from which white mist continually rose, though the bed itself was warm and smooth to the touch.

The woman who had brought her stood more than a zhang away from the jade bed, clad in blood-red robes, watching with a smile that was not quite a smile. There was not a single feature about that woman that differed from a human being, and yet Quanyin could no matter what not connect her with humanity.

But the man was different.

He wore a blue robe and sat motionless. When she looked at him, she could feel a kind of benevolent smile on his face.

“Benevolent? How could it be benevolent?” She immediately banished that feeling from her mind and held the blade across her chest, using the smooth, unknown fabric of the clothes to wrap herself fully.

Then she heard the voice of that handsome man, even among humans handsome enough to stand out, speaking with warmth and a trace of anger.

“You should not have done that.”

He actually spoke to her in such a tone. Could he be a demon even more formidable than she was? Quanyin could not help thinking this.

“Don’t tell me you look down on her? She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Most importantly, she is a human just like you. Don’t you like her?” said the woman in red. Her waist-length black hair lent her an especially bewitching air.

“You interfere too much. Do you not know that what you are doing is an insult to a person?” said the blue-robed man, his calm voice carrying a touch of ire.

Indeed, from that steady voice Quanyin could hear a trace of anger. But why anger? Could he truly be human? How could that be? How could a human be mixed up with demons, and seem to hold such high standing among them?

“I only want to know what sort of woman interests you. I have no concern for anything else. Since you are not interested in this one, then I shall take her away,” said the woman in red. With a sweep of her sleeve, a great force enveloped Quanyin.

Her body involuntarily began to rise from the jade bed. A streak of white light flashed through the void, and the force that had bound her instantly dissipated. The woman in red seemed enraged. She shrieked sharply and opened her mouth to inhale.

Seeing this, Quanyin could not help shrinking back. She had seen with her own eyes how those beasts had died when sucked in by that breath.

White light flared again, stirring the air, and in the end transformed into a brilliant ray that came slashing down toward the woman in red. The radiance stabbed at Quanyin’s eyes, forcing them shut, but she quickly opened them again. When she looked, there was no longer any sign of the woman.

The cavern at once fell silent, leaving only two people, a man and a woman. The woman was beautiful, and still unclothed, her body wrapped only in a dark blue robe.

Quanyin immediately pressed herself against the rear wall, pointing her blade at the blue-robed man. A sigh reached her ears, and then he said, “Miss, do not be afraid. I am human too.”

“You are human too? You really are human? Impossible. Don’t try to deceive me...” Quanyin spoke quickly and anxiously, though in her heart she desperately wanted his words to be true. If he truly was human, then whatever happened would be easier to bear.

He smiled, his expression gentle, and rose to his feet, walking outside.

Watching him leave, Quanyin quickly put on the robe. Even as she dressed, her eyes remained fixed on the entrance. Once she had it on, she discovered how unusual it was. It was as light as nothing, yet made her whole body feel strangely buoyant, as though she could fly without even using inner power.

Now dressed, her heart settled a little more. Though the robe still hung loose and empty upon her, it was far better than being wrapped around herself as she had been before.

After slightly calming herself, Quanyin looked around the cave again and found it had changed in her eyes. Thinking of the man’s claim that he was human, she looked more closely and discovered that the tables, chairs, and other furnishings were indeed all of the kind used among human tribes. Her trust immediately deepened by several degrees.

Still gripping the curved blade, she stared at the cave entrance for a long while. When the man still had not returned, she stepped down from the jade bed and, barefoot and white-footed, cautiously made her way toward the opening.

Only upon reaching the entrance did she realize she was high upon a cliff, with a small leveled stone platform ahead. On one side of the cave were carved the words: the foremost heaven and grotto under heaven, Cloud-Descending Mountain, Cloud-Descending Grotto-Heaven.

“Was he just going to let me leave like this?” Quanyin thought as she looked down at the clear lake below the cliff. She glanced around and saw the blue-robed man standing quietly at the edge of a protruding boulder atop the precipice, poised against the wind, his bearing elegant and unfettered.

She wanted to ask again whether he truly was human, but in the end said nothing. Turning to leave barefoot, she heard that gentle voice again.

“Do you have some difficulty? Why did you come into these mountains alone?”

She turned at once. Somehow, he had already appeared beside her.

Being looked at by him, Quanyin suddenly felt her face burning. She remembered how, in the cave, he must have seen every bit of her.

“I... I...”

He chuckled softly. “You need not fear. I truly am human, not a demon. That woman just now was a demon, but I drove her away.”

Hearing him speak so lightly and calmly, Quanyin inexplicably relaxed, and in a low voice said, “I believe you...” Her voice was faint, bearing none of the sharp ruthlessness from before when she had slashed without hesitation.

“You should be from the human tribe below the mountain. Why did you come alone to such deep places in the mountains...”

“Yes. My name is Quanyin, and I am the priestess of the Dawn Mist tribe below the mountain. I came into the mountains to look for my elder brother,” Quanyin said softly.

But after she spoke, the other did not answer. She could not help looking up, only to see him gazing absently into the void, his expression distant. Between his brows and eyes there lingered a faint sorrow.

For a long time, Nanluo had never truly accepted the destruction of the Yangping tribe. The deaths of his clansmen, the death of his younger sister, he had buried all of it on the day the white wolf was skinned and dismembered. Afterward he had no longer wished to think of it. But today, hearing this woman named Quanyin speak of venturing deep into the mountains to search for her brother, how like his own past it seemed. Only the perspective was reversed. Back then he had been the priest, taken away. His sister must also have suffered terribly.

She was a priestess, a human priestess. So had he been, once. What he would be after this, he did not know.

At that thought, he abruptly came back to himself and smiled at Quanyin, though he himself did not realize that there was a trace of sorrow hidden in that smile.

He said nothing more, only suddenly called toward the void, “All of you, come at once to the entrance of Cloud-Descending Grotto!”

Though the voice was not loud, it carried extraordinarily far. The instant it rang out, Quanyin was astonished to see the entire mountain range erupting as though a nest had been stirred. From within the dense forest and the dark recesses, beast after beast emerged, each with a different bearing, some fierce, some cruel, some lascivious. Some were wholly beast-shaped; some were half beast and half human; and some were on the verge of becoming human.

Quanyin’s lips parted slightly. Though she had guessed that Nanluo might possess formidable power, and that was why he lived here, she had never imagined such overwhelming authority. Could he truly be a demon lord? A human becoming a demon lord in the mountains—who would believe such a thing if it were told?

Nanluo smiled at Quanyin. “Ask them whether anyone has seen your brother.”

Quanyin inhaled deeply, then mustered her courage and described her brother’s appearance and clothing, as well as the time and likely place of his disappearance.

The monsters below all shook their heads like rattles, indicating they had not seen him. Quanyin thought that if her brother had already been harmed by one of these demons, there would be no way to ask them. Anxiety welled up in her, and she could not help looking toward Nanluo.

Nanluo seemed to have already seen her worry. He addressed the demons below the cliff again. “If any of you saw who harmed her brother, or know where he was taken, simply tell me. I shall teach you a mantra and take you in as child attendants of the cave.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than a small red bird darted into the sky, fearing someone would beat it to the answer. In a clear, bright voice it said, “I know. I saw a human man taken away by the Golden Sand King of Burial-Soul Mountain that day.”

“You are certain?”

“The little one is certain that the man was the lady’s brother,” the red bird said brightly from midair.

Hearing the bird call her lady, Quanyin could not help but feel shy. She glanced at Nanluo and saw that his expression remained normal, which let her relax a little. Yet thinking of the red bird’s words—that her brother had been taken by the Golden Sand King of Burial-Soul Mountain—she immediately felt powerless.

The Golden Sand King had occupied that place for who knew how many years. She had practically grown up listening to stories of him. Whenever she thought of his power, fear arose in her heart.

Her thoughts turned bleak. Her brother’s life was likely beyond saving now. Her nose stung, and she felt on the verge of tears.

“Come. I will go with you to Burial-Soul Mountain and bring your brother back.”

The voice was warm, yet firm.