Chapter 40 — Reunion

Wherever Zhang Qingyue passed, the countless yin spirits shrank aside and scattered in flight; in a moment he had caught up with Lu Xueling — but the boar-headed demon beast ahead showed no fear of the Black Iron Rod at all, and with a great roar it charged.

Anxious, fearful for Lu Xueling's wounds, Zhang Qingyue would not fall back. He too gave a mighty roar and worked the Daoist art that his master's wife, Su Wan, had taught him before he came down the mountain; the Black Iron Rod leaped from his hand like an arrow loosed from the string and flew at the boar-headed demon beast.

Seeing the little black stick hurtling at it, the boar-headed demon beast swept its huge forepaw to swat the nuisance aside, meaning then to charge in and swallow these two annoying but succulent humans and fill its belly well.

But no sooner had the paw swept out than it felt a chill in its palm, and a moment later another chill at the heart. The boar-headed demon beast froze, looked down, and saw a small hole open in its palm — and another small hole at the heart in its breast. Its whole body had been run clean through by that seemingly insignificant Black Iron Rod.

"Awooo!"

With a heart-rending howl the boar-headed demon beast's massive frame swayed, then toppled like a falling mountain or a collapsing pillar, striking the ground with a heavy crash that sent the dust flying. Then it thrashed a few times on the ground, black blood trickling from the corner of its mouth, and at last moved no more.

Meanwhile Zhang Qingyue caught Lu Xueling and found her cold all over, at the end of her strength, already fainted away. And the Black Iron Rod, having slain yet another living thing, glimmered with its blue-green radiance and came flashing back to land in Zhang Qingyue's hand.

Zhang Qingyue now felt his spirit full and his breath ample; the hurts within his body were mostly healed. He checked Lu Xueling's breathing and found it quick and shallow; looking closer, he saw that the flesh around the wound on her left shoulder had turned black — she had clearly been struck by potent poison.

Zhang Qingyue was frantic, yet he feared that though the two demon beasts were dead, countless yin spirits still lingered about. He turned to look — and to his amazement saw that the yin spirits had at some point drifted away one and all, fading into the darkness. Zhang Qingyue was greatly astonished, but this was a blessing he would never have dared hope for; why think further? He hurried back to tend to Lu Xueling.

In truth Zhang Qingyue did not know that all of this was the work of the Blood-Devouring Bead upon his Black Iron Rod. Eight hundred years ago, Blackheart Old Man had brought glory to the Blood Refining Hall, a branch of the Demonic Cult, making its name known throughout the world, and here in the underground labyrinth of the Ten Thousand Bats Ancient Cave he had founded the Blood Refining Hall's very foundation.

Blackheart Old Man was a cruel man by nature, and in forging the Blood-Devouring Bead he had caused the death of countless living things; who knows how many wronged spirits of the slain had gathered here beneath the Abyss of the Dead, unable to pass on.

In those days they had all been slain by the Blood-Devouring Bead; and though today the bead and the nameless fiendish rod had become one, greatly changed in form, with its baleful aura and murderous air drawn inward —

— yet the moment Zhang Qingyue worked his art, the Blood-Devouring Bead's murderous aura burst forth, and the yin spirits fled in terror, each fearing he would be the last, half believing that the dread Blackheart Old Man had risen again.

Zhang Qingyue laid Lu Xueling slowly on the ground. He hesitated a moment, gazing at the wound that had turned black, and sighed.

The darkness, as though eternal, grew calm again — a stillness like death.

Zhang Qingyue felt a little dizzy; but seeing that the black breath had left Lu Xueling's face now that her wound was bound, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He kept watch beside the unconscious woman, sitting quietly.

The Black Iron Rod gave off its faint blue-green radiance, enfolding them both.

All around, silence!

Silence!

There was not even the chirp of insects. Beneath the Abyss of the Dead, it seemed that apart from the yin spirits and the demon beasts, there truly was no other living thing at all.

Yet just then, Zhang Qingyue suddenly heard it — the sound of footsteps, rising without warning.

Those footsteps in the darkness were soft and harmonious, but to Zhang Qingyue's ears they struck like a thunderclap out of a clear sky. He sprang to his feet, turned his head toward the sound, and at the same time tightened his grip on the Dark Iron Staff.

In the distance, within the darkness, a point of light drifted over. Then, in that light, a woman appeared — dressed all in water-green, with fine brows and delicate eyes, her jade-like skin outshining frost and snow. In that darkness she seemed to wear an uncanny splendor, possessed of a strange, heart-stirring beauty.

Zhang Qingyue's mouth fell open, and he stood speechless and staring — for this woman was none other than the green-robed girl he had met in the Shrine of Mountains and Seas in Heyin City when he first came down from the mountain.

Note One: From the "Monsters and Demons" chapter of *Records of Gods, Demons, and Strange Beings*, the Red-Eyed Pig Fiend: a pig's head on a dog's body, of immense bulk, with black fur, stiff bristles, and crimson eyes that can see in the dark. It delights in rotting flesh and dwells in damp, dark places.

Note Two: From the "Spirits and Strange Creatures" chapter of *Records of Gods, Demons, and Strange Beings*, the Tree Goblin: an ancient tree of a thousand years. Legend holds that it absorbs the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, and that it draws the power of resentful spirits and demons in foul, shadowed places, and so becomes a spirit. It takes the form of a great tree and craves living things. Other tales say it can move of its own accord.