Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Dread Bow of Muco

A white sparrow soared across the vast blue sky, swift as an arrow loosed from a bow, with a gray eagle relentlessly pursuing behind. Two long-maned horses galloped over the boundless Mukco grasslands, their hooves treading the green, wave-like carpet of grass.

The white sparrow pierced through a cloud, diving toward the grass below, where it transformed into human form, leaping onto the back of a running horse. Stirrup pressed, reins in hand, I called out, “Hyah!” and raced across the immense prairie like the wind.

The gray eagle, too, spiraled downward, transforming into a valiant young woman who mounted the other horse. Her expression was grave, and she urged her steed forward, close behind me. Whips cracked, “Hyah! Hyah!” The wind roared past our ears, and the endless ocean of grassland surged behind us in rolling waves.

“Ulan! There’s no time to return to the tent! Quickly, have them bring him here!” I cried urgently from horseback, summoning the Antlered Divine Bow with a wave of my hand.

“Yes!” The spirited woman on the other horse was Ulan herself. She cupped her hands to her mouth, letting out a sharp whistle. In the distant sky, a gray eagle soared, clutching the body of a dead white eagle in its talons.

I loosened the reins, gripping the horse’s flanks with my legs. Rising in the stirrups, I conjured a crimson spirit arrow with divine power, nocking it to the bow as my eyes fixed like torches upon the white eagle in the sky.

A flash of red light—thwack!—the arrow struck the white eagle square in the chest.

The spirit arrow dissolved into power within the white eagle, which shuddered, its wings quivering. With a piercing cry, it flung its head back and ascended into the clouds.

“Divine One, look! Amugulang lives! Wonderful!” Tears of joy streamed down Ulan’s face as she leapt into the air, transforming back into a gray eagle to soar alongside the resurrected white eagle.

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, stowing my bow and arrows. I rode on, wild and free beneath the endless sky, galloping across the limitless grasslands.

“Master! Are you here? Did you see? My archery has improved again! I used my skills and the Tear of Rebirth to bring Amugulang back to life!” I called out in my heart to him.

The distant strains of a joyful qin mingled with the deep, resonant hum of throat singing, growing ever clearer—the Mukco people celebrating the rescue of their heir.

Round yurts gradually appeared amid the grasslands, and the horses, sensing they neared home, slowed their pace.

“Whoa.” I pulled the reins, halting my celestial steed, dismounted, and patted its neck. “Thank you for your hard work.” The other heavenly horse stopped beside me, and I patted it as well. “You too, thank you.”

Half an hour earlier, I had received Ulan’s urgent message—a Spirit Summon—telling me her betrothed, Amugulang, had been struck dead by a hidden arrow. I rushed from Flower Island and arrived just in time to save him.

Two divine eagles descended from the sky, transforming into Ulan and Amugulang as they knelt before me. “Thank you, Divine One, for saving my life!”

“Quick, stand up. Call me ‘Grandmother’ instead,” I said, helping them to their feet. In truth, both Ulan and Amugulang were older than I, and playing the role of a crone felt a little like taking advantage.

Ulan wiped her tears and laughed, “I won’t! Or maybe I’ll call you Master! After all, you remind me so much of Lord Yunxiao! Are you truly his incarnation? No one in the heavens can match your archery except him! Tell the truth, Divine One!”

“H-how could that be…” I was startled by Ulan’s bold guess.

“You look just like him when you shoot! I saw him as a child—when fierce beasts ravaged our land, the Lord came to capture them. One spirit arrow and the monster became tame as a kitten!”

“We all wield divine power… Similarities are bound to show…” I stammered.

“Is Grandmother related to Lord Yunxiao? How can even your expressions be alike?” Ulan pressed.

Indeed, women are ever so perceptive. We are the same. I spent two thousand years learning from him, growing from being unable to draw a bow, to this. During those years, I even dreamed nightly of him shooting arrows at me! I will never forget his expression while shooting.

“Mere coincidence,” I hastily explained.

“Divine One, whether you are the True God Da Yin or Lord Yunxiao, both Ulan and I wish to become your disciples!” declared Amugulang.

“Well… Let’s set aside discipleship for now. Tell me, what exactly happened?”

As it turned out, Amugulang had given me his Antlered Divine Bow and later acquired another powerful spirit bow, which he found exceptionally handy and grew fond of. An hour ago, he brought it to compete in archery with Ulan. They were laughing and teasing each other, when Amugulang carelessly loosed an arrow—only for it to suddenly reverse mid-flight and pierce his own heart, killing him instantly.

My heart tightened. Someone had cast a spell to assassinate the Mukco heir. Was this Tiande’s doing?

“Someone used magic against you? Did you notice anything suspicious?” I asked Ulan.

“No! We saw nothing at the time. The area is open and exposed—no way to hide. Afterwards, my father sent men to search, but found not a trace of magic or spirits.” Ulan replied.

If there was no hidden assassin, the problem must lie with the mysterious “treasure bow.”

“And where is that bow?” I pressed.

“Afterwards, my father said it was a demonic object and had it suppressed beneath the Mukco Tower of Subduing Demons,” said Ulan.

Being well-traveled and wise, Chief Baolide recognized the bow’s danger.

At that moment, Baolide arrived with his soldiers, carrying the palanquin of seven treasures. From afar, he saluted me, “Divine One! Please honor us by riding the palanquin!”

“Great Khan, where is the Tower of Subduing Demons?” I asked, ignoring the palanquin, intent on the matter at hand.

“Carry the Divine One to the tower!” Baolide ordered.

“No need—they’re too slow. That bow is of unknown origin; I fear delay may bring disaster.”

Baolide nodded in agreement. Transforming into a great eagle, he led the way with Ulan, Amugulang, and me flying to the tower’s location.

The Tower of Subduing Demons was built upon the Mukco tribe’s most vital leyline. Seven stories tall, it was imposing and steeped in sinister energy. Four fierce, fanged guardian beasts were carved atop the tower, as if ready to leap down upon intruders at any moment. Even from several yards away, one could feel the oppressive, chilling aura.

Before the tower, I asked Baolide, “What else is suppressed here?”

“One Bixie beast,” Baolide replied.

“Bixie!” I was shocked—could it be the very one that escaped from Jade Purity Realm five centuries ago?

“Yes! A fierce beast, the Bixie, ran amok here five hundred years ago. I captured it and imprisoned it in this tower,” Baolide said.

To think that the beast that caused me such trouble so long ago, which had eluded me for five centuries, was locked here all along! Truly, what one seeks may be right under one’s nose.

Baolide, Amugulang, and Ulan wished to accompany me into the tower, but I stopped them. First, the tower’s evil miasma was too strong for their level of power—entering would be dangerous. Second, the bow’s true nature was unknown; whether the tower’s power could suppress it, or if it might provoke some reaction, was impossible to predict—especially with a fierce beast inside as well. Their presence would only hinder me; it was safer to go alone.

Transforming into white light, I slipped through the swirling evil energies encircling the tower, flying inside.

Within, the miasma surged, each wisp strong enough to strip a lesser spirit of all its power. I shielded myself with a divine barrier and proceeded cautiously, searching each floor in turn.

I avoided the quagmire trap of the first floor, the flood on the second, the howling winds on the third, the monster soldiers on the fourth, and reached the thunder and fire of the fifth. Here, I discovered something unexpected.

The Bixie was indeed here, slumbering. Even after five centuries, I recognized it at once.

In those days, it always treated me with utmost respect, but while I was away, it fled and left me with false accusations and nearly got me killed by my senior brother Baize. My master arrived just in time to straighten things out, but the truth of those events remains unclear to this day. Now, perhaps I can finally clear my name.

The Bixie lay sleeping, but beside it was another spirit, also suppressed in the tower.

A goddess’s soul was imprisoned here as well!

I cast a spell to illuminate the tower and studied the goddess’s features. The sight made my feathers stand on end.

Opposite me—the goddess hiding behind the Bixie—she looked exactly like me!

That goddess, a perfect double, peered at me with both wariness and fear. “Why do you look exactly like me?” she demanded.

“Heaven knows why we look identical. You ask me, but who can I ask?” I thought to myself, scrutinizing her face.

Before I could answer, the goddess called to the Bixie, “Bixie! Wake up! Protect me!”

The sleeping beast leapt up at her command, opening its bloody maw and roaring at me in threat.

“Bixie! You big fool! That’s not Yu Fei! Yu Fei hasn’t got a mole on her left cheek!” I was both exasperated and amused. After all these years, Bixie’s eyesight and sense of smell were as hopeless as ever.

The Bixie froze, the roar dying in its throat. Its gaze shifted to the goddess, and it saw the difference. Instantly furious, it bellowed and lunged at her. Though it didn’t recognize me in my crone’s guise, it could tell she wasn’t me.

I cast a spell, shrinking the Bixie to a small beast, and bound it with the Immortal Rope, dragging it to my side. It struggled furiously in my arms.

“Lord Chunfeng has sent me to bring you back to Jade Purity Realm,” I told the Bixie.

It grew even more agitated. “I won’t go! The Divine One will kill us!”

“Nonsense! Who said the Divine One would do such a thing?” I replied.

“Dongfang Mo did—while cleaning the beast pens. He heard Lu Xue complain that we were criminals, an eyesore and a danger, and that the Divine One should be rid of us. The Lord loves Lu Xue so much; he’ll do whatever she says!” Bixie protested.

Dongfang Mo! So it was him who caused the chaos in Jade Purity Realm all those years ago! Truly him! The thought of my senior brother, with whom I’d lived for two thousand years, filled me with pain.

I steeled myself and reassured Bixie, “The Divine One would never do that. After all these years, if he wanted you dead, he’d have killed you long ago—instead, he gave you a chance to change by letting you live in the Hundred Beasts Garden.”

“But the Lord loves Lu Xue—he’ll listen to her! I was scared, so I ran away,” Bixie said.

“You great fool! All the other beasts live peacefully in Jade Purity Realm—only you fled and ended up imprisoned here!” I scolded.

“They weren’t killed?”

“Of course not! Many have even cultivated enough to descend the mountain!”

“Lord Yu Fei always called me ‘great fool’… Is he all right? I actually mistook her for Lord Yu Fei—truly foolish of me.” Bixie said guiltily.

“Yu Fei is not well—he suffered injustice because of you. Were you the one who released the other beasts? How did you break the seal?” I asked.

“It was me. As the gatekeeper beast, I’m skilled in seals. I secretly learned how to open the Hundred Beasts Garden while Dongfang Mo wasn’t looking,” Bixie confessed.

I sneered to myself—this fool! More likely, Dongfang Mo had deliberately let it learn.

“You mastered the seal quickly, but your mind is as slow as ever. Enough. Stay here quietly—don’t cause trouble, or I’ll hand you over to Baize myself. He won’t go easy on you,” I warned.

“Yes!” Bixie quieted at once.

“Are you the Flower Immortal Grandmother from Flower Island?” The goddess hiding in the tower’s corner, identical to me, asked cautiously after hearing my exchange with Bixie.

“I am. And who are you?” I replied.