Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Spring Breeze Arrives

Amidst the mists of the South Sea, Hundred Flowers Island bloomed with a splendor of blossoms, a veritable paradise. Beneath a ten-thousand-year-old pear tree, the pear flowers clustered like clouds, their falling petals drifting down like snow. Under the tree stood a small grave, the inscription on the tombstone reading, "The Little Crow's Grave." Scattered all around were more than a dozen wine jars. The God of Spring Wind lay sleeping on a large branch, tightly clutching a black crystal bracelet, his brows furrowed in troubled dreams. His hair, dark as silk, and his splendid brocade robe were dusted with pear blossoms.

"Little Crow!" Spring Wind suddenly shouted, leaping down in a flash. He stood dazed on the ground, glancing about, his anxious gaze slowly giving way to utter despair.

"Little Crow, I shouldn't have been so hasty to refine pills and left you to keep vigil alone. Why couldn't you see past it..." Spring Wind caressed the tombstone, mourning in solitude.

In the distance, a small beast, Shanhe, came bounding joyfully, and as soon as it reached Spring Wind, it leaped at him. With a helpless wave of his sleeve, Spring Wind fended the creature aside. Undeterred, Shanhe grabbed the hem of his robe and tugged, tearing a large gash with a loud rip.

Spring Wind looked at the exuberant Shanhe with a mournful gaze. "Little Crow, this is the thirtieth day since you left, and the one hundred and second robe Shanhe has chewed to pieces. When will you return to pay me back for all my ruined clothes..."

"Spring Wind! Let me out! I want to be with him!" A woman's voice, raw with anguish, echoed from elsewhere on the island.

"Annoying!" muttered Spring Wind, scooping up Shanhe. He waved a hand to mend his robe with a spell, then soared to a cave sealed with a boundary.

Inside, a crazed woman with disheveled hair wailed ceaselessly, "Spring Wind, let me out! I need to find him! I don't believe he's really dead!"

"You're giving me a headache with all your shouting! Yunxiao is dead, Little Crow is dead. Do you think I want to believe it?" Spring Wind snapped.

The woman rushed to the mouth of the cave, pounding on the immortal barrier. Even in her hysteria, with her hair in disarray and her garments soiled, she was still strikingly beautiful. She was the impostor Lu Xue, imprisoned on Hundred Flowers Island.

"Let me out! Take me to him! I must see him with my own eyes, or I'll never believe you!" she demanded.

"Fine! I'll take you! Just stop making a scene! If you want to die, go throw yourself into the Heavenly River too. I won't stop you!" Spring Wind tried to put Shanhe down, but Shanhe clamped tight onto the front of his robe. Spring Wind hurriedly patted its mouth. "Stop! Stop! Where are you biting? Don't bite at random! All right, I'll take you too!"

Hearing this, Shanhe instantly calmed. Spring Wind dispelled the boundary, releasing the nearly deranged false Lu Xue, and took her soaring up to the summit of Mount Sumeru in the Thirty-Three Heavens, where the God Yunxiao lay in eternal sleep.

Lu Xue threw herself before the crystal coffin, her eyes desperate as if she wished she could climb inside. After a moment, she broke down, her wailing heart-rending and piercing.

Cradling Shanhe, Spring Wind's eyes reddened as he spoke sorrowfully to the crystal casket, "Whether it was for all beings or out of righteous duty, that was your fate as the God of Resplendence. I blame myself for my greed and folly, for letting Little Crow become your disciple and thus losing her..."

"Hanqing, it's me, Xue'er! Wake up! Look at me!" Lu Xue screamed in frenzy.

"Enough, enough, you almost make it believable. Every time you shout, my head aches. You've seen him, now come with me," Spring Wind said with a frown.

"I'm not leaving! I am Lu Xue! Why won't any of you believe me? When you all snuck out to play as children, you were chased by the Long-haired Lion, and it was Hanqing who drove it away. When Hanqing was gravely wounded in battle, he insisted I leave and refused my aid, but I used immortal magic to restrain him, stripped his robes, and treated his wounds. Forty thousand years ago, before his execution, Hanqing gave me a Returning Breath Pill. The lashes from the God-Whip struck him as well—I know all this! I wish to stay by his side!" she choked out.

"You even know about me being chased by the Long-haired Lion?" Spring Wind was startled.

"When you snuck back, Hanqing told you to enter through the front gate, but you insisted on using the back, and your father caught and beat you. If I weren't Lu Xue, how would I know these things? Hanqing sent me to Hundred Flowers Island only because war was imminent and he didn't want me to worry! He didn't want me waiting another forty thousand years!" she continued.

"To fear for his beloved, that was always his nature. But how did you become like this after forty thousand years?" Spring Wind wondered.

"I haven't changed! Never! It's only because I miss him so much!" she replied.

"Enough, even if you are who you say, he's gone, and so is Little Crow. If you wish to keep vigil, do as you please." With that, Spring Wind took Shanhe and left the crystal coffin, heading to the banks of the Heavenly River.

Shanhe squirmed in his arms, wanting to get down.

"Little Crow jumped into the river, and you want to follow her in? Do as you please! I can't stop any of you! Death comes easy, but who'll clean up the mess? Who'll mend the heavens?" he said, tossing Shanhe to the ground.

Sniffing around, Shanhe looked up at Spring Wind, hopping and tugging at his sleeve, urging him onward.

Spring Wind glared, shaking off its grip. "If you want to jump, do it quickly! I'm not going with you! Dying is simple, but who takes care of everything left behind? Who will mend the sky?"

Shanhe shook his head like a rattle drum.

Spring Wind took a few steps back, warning with distaste, "I'm turning you back to half-human form. Tell me first what you want—don't just run up and hug me! And keep your voice down!"

Shanhe nodded.

Spring Wind cast a spell, transforming Shanhe into a half-beast figure.

"I can smell Fei'er," Shanhe whispered.

"Of course! She jumped into the river here. How could you not smell her?" Spring Wind replied.

"No, she went this way, leaving tears all along," Shanhe said.

"Tears? You mean, Little Crow's tears are still here?" Spring Wind asked, delighted.

"Yes! I'll lead you to Fei'er!" Shanhe said.

Spring Wind, elated, turned Shanhe back into a small beast, and followed as she traced the trail of tears...

After a night that seemed only a dream, I awoke feverish and weak in bed. I realized then that the ghost marriage was consummated, the bridal chamber entered, and under the spell of enchantment and illusion, I had lost myself to Mingzhong! A surge of fury roared up within me, and I fainted dead away.

In my delirium, I seemed to feel someone stroking my hair, calling my name, but the voice was indistinct. Someone seemed to cradle me and lower me into an icy pool, which suddenly transformed into a pit of flames. Amid the blaze, I saw him and Lu Xue, hand in hand, beaming with joy. Suddenly, I was on Ascendant's Cliff, seeing him standing with hands behind his back. I ran toward him, only to see the masked Mingzhong. Mingzhong embraced me tenderly—then slashed his own wrist and forced his blood upon me! At times, a coolness seemed to ease my pain, and I regained some clarity, only to find Mingzhong seated by my side, gripping my hand tightly! The torment burned anew, and I lost consciousness once more.

"Feed her to the Underworld Hounds!" I thought I heard Mingzhong order in my stupor.

"No! Whatever it takes, keep her alive. As long as she lives, Spring Wind is sure to come save her! Father's divine body is destroyed, his vitality depleted, he's gone into seclusion. We must keep her safe! We must seize Spring Wind's divine body!" came the voice of Mingbo.

"So that's their ploy—to use me as bait for Spring Wind! No! Spring Wind, you mustn't come!" I screamed in my heart, but agony consumed me again and I sank into a dream...

In my dream, the heavens and earth split asunder, and I wandered the shadowy Netherworld, not knowing where to go, so I hid behind a mound of earth. Starving ghosts and vengeful spirits surrounded an immortal of noble bearing, cheering wildly. When he turned, it was my master! He reached out to pull me toward him, but just as I moved, someone else seized me and dragged me away. We fled as the ground on either side crumbled into endless ridges, the path we'd crossed collapsing into molten magma behind us.

"Little Crow! Wake up!" a voice called urgently.

I opened my eyes—it was Spring Wind! He had even come into my dream...

"Little Crow, I've come to take you home! Hold on!" Spring Wind pressed a pill to my lips and shook me vigorously.

My mind cleared a little. Blinking, I saw in the hazy distance the dark iron mountains of the Underworld...

"Spring Wind! Why are you here? Go! Leave now!" I urged desperately, pushing him away with all my strength.

Suddenly, a whip lashed toward us. Spring Wind dodged in a flash.

"You cannot escape!" Mingzhong's fierce shout blocked the way, whip in hand.

Spring Wind drew his twin maces and clashed with Mingzhong. I lay helpless at the side, still burning with fever. Watching Spring Wind fight with all his might, I felt a surge of power well up from within and forced myself to cry out, "Spring Wind! Go now! The Underworld King wants your divine body!"

I could speak! I was actually able to speak!

"Little Crow! You can talk! I adore you! I'm taking you home!" Spring Wind called as he fought, but in a moment's distraction, he was struck on the left shoulder by Mingzhong's black bone whip, leaving a bright red gash on his splendid robe.

Spring Wind's eyes blazed with fury, violet-red flames of spirit energy rising around him. With a flick of both hands, his twin maces merged into a single violet-gold celestial whip! So Spring Wind could wield a whip as well!

The two battled fiercely, as if recreating the primordial chaos of creation itself. Thunderbolts split the darkness, dazzling light illuminating the Underworld as if it were day. The heavens shook, mountains quaked, and Mingbo and Mingmo, even at several paces away, could not approach.

After a dozen exchanges, Mingzhong was exhausted and losing ground. Mingbo and Mingmo rushed in, but Spring Wind lashed out with a bolt of violet light, sending them both staggering back. Mingzhong hurled the golden Immortal-Binding Rope at Spring Wind, but with a flick of his whip, Spring Wind sent it flying aside. Mingzhong sprang forward. Mingbo gripped Mingmo tightly, hiding behind him, and shouted in a slick, shrill voice, "Spring Wind! The 'Seventh Princess' is being tormented daily in the Underworld by my second brother! It's too horrific to witness!"

"Spring Wind, don't listen! Go! Please!" I cried anxiously.

"They force-feed her every day, whether she wants it or not! It's my brother's essence—ask her how delicious it is!" Mingbo cackled.

Spring Wind fought on with growing desperation...

"My brother has already taken her body. If you can't rescue her, he'll play with her to death and then toss her to the Underworld soldiers for more fun..." Mingbo grew cruder with every word.

"Shut up! Beast!" Spring Wind bellowed in rage, his attacks faltering. Mingzhong seized the opening, slashing a whip mark across his handsome face.

"Don't believe him! Go now!" I shouted, weeping.

"Second brother, not the face! If it's marred, how will Father use it?" Mingbo reminded Mingzhong, still cowering behind Mingmo for protection.

Mingzhong summoned the Jade Dragon Goblet...

He actually meant to use this against Spring Wind. How could I just stand by and let Spring Wind end up like my master?

Without thinking, I summoned all my immortal power. The Black Crystal Sword flew from Spring Wind's arms into my grasp!