Chapter 217 — Homeland

But on this day, a singular guest arrived at the Shanhai Yuan. She was a young woman, of striking beauty—and that alone would have been enough; but beneath that lovely face, every smile and every glance carried a strange, heart-stealing quality, as if one sweep of her water-like eyes could soften the bones of any man nearby by three parts.

She was none other than the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox—Xiaobai—who, after the great upheaval in the southern frontier, had been separated from Hades and Lu Xueling and vanished without a trace.

She walked into the Shanhai Yuan tavern with just such unruffled poise, casting her beguiling glances this way and that. For a moment, from the proprietor down to the serving boy, including the guests at the only two occupied tables, all stared dumbstruck—not one came forward to greet her. Fortunately, Xiaobai seemed long accustomed to such scenes and was not offended; she only smiled faintly and said, "Is no one going to attend to me?"

Those words woke them as if from a dream. The proprietor, being older after all, still retained a shred of composure; he hastily collected himself, then cuffed the back of the head of the serving boy who stood gaping nearby, and snapped angrily, "A guest has arrived—aren't you going to attend to her?"

The waiter stumbled, and whether it was guilt weighing on his conscience or not, he shuffled forward haltingly, not daring to look Xiao Bai in the eye, and forced a smile. "Miss, would you, would you like to eat or take a room?"

Xiao Bai thought for a moment. "Let's have something to eat first. Do you have a private room here?"

The waiter nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, please go upstairs, miss."

Xiao Bai nodded and started up the stairs. "Find me a quiet seat by the window."

The waiter kept his smile fixed. "Rest assured, miss. The private rooms upstairs are empty—you may have whatever seat you like, and I guarantee it will be quiet. No one will disturb you."

Xiao Bai paused slightly. "How could it be empty? I heard business here used to be quite good."

By now the waiter had reached the top of the stairs, and at her words he smiled bitterly. "You're not wrong there—business was wonderful back then. Everyone in He Yin City used to come here for a drink. But then, damn it all, that beast demon came a while back and threw everyone into a panic; in the end countless were dead or wounded. At a time like this, not many people care to come here anymore."

Xiao Bai nodded slowly and gave a soft sigh. "So that's how it is. No wonder, then."

By this time the waiter had led Xiao Bai to a table by the window upstairs and was wiping it down with the rag he carried. Xiao Bai sat and looked out the window. The street was bustling enough, with passersby coming and going, but most faces bore little sign of smiling—there were more drawn and worried looks than anything else.

Xiao Bai watched in silence for a while, then suddenly asked the waiter, "Waiter, there's something I want to ask you. Answer me honestly."

The waiter nodded. "Go ahead, miss."

Xiao Bai hesitated a moment. "Do all the people of He Yin City—yourself included, of course—hate that beast demon in their hearts?"

The waiter gave a snort, and indignation rose at once on his face. "Of course we do! In that beast demon calamity, nine out of ten households in He Yin City were emptied. Go grab anyone off the street and ask—I guarantee he'll have kin who died under that beast's claws. We common folk are helpless, no weapons to fight back with. But luckily the immortals on Cang Lan Mountain took pity on us and showed their divine power, driving that cursed beast demon away, and only then did we get to live like human beings again."

Watching the waiter's agitated expression, Xiao Bai smiled bitterly to herself. Somehow, before her eyes flickered once more the image of that man in the depths of the ancient Demon-Suppressing Cave in the southern borderlands, lingering on beneath the dying embers.

Who in this world can truly say what is right and what is wrong?

The waiter seemed to realize he had lost his composure. He flushed, stepped back, and said in a low voice, "This—this is just idle talk, miss, don't take it seriously. Would you, would you like to order?"

Xiao Bai smiled. "Very well. But there's no need to pick out particular dishes—go down and tell the proprietor to send up three or four of your best small dishes, and bring ten jugs of good wine as well."

The waiter was taken aback. "Ten jugs?"

Xiao Bai glanced at him and nodded. "Ten jugs."

The waiter choked for a moment, then after a long hesitation said quietly, "Miss, may I ask if any friends will be joining you? If so, I'd best add a few more bowls and chopsticks in advance."

Xiao Bai laughed. "Don't overthink it. It's just me. Ten jugs of wine it is—bring them up quickly, and don't ask anything more."

The waiter murmured his assent and retreated, though his eyes plainly showed disbelief. And no wonder—for an ordinary man, the greatest capacity is but one or two jugs; anyone who can drink four or five must be either a wine immortal or a drunken devil. Yet this woman of boundless charm was clearly a "normal person" who could not be judged by normal standards.

Since there were few patrons, the waiter soon brought up the dishes Xiao Bai had ordered and set them on the table. The ten jugs, each engraved on the outside with "Shan Hai Yuan," were before long lined up neatly at the other end of the table.

It was just as well the tavern was in a slow spell; had it been busy, would the whole establishment not have gathered round to gawk? Even so, Xiao Bai likely would not have cared in the least.

The waiter soon went back downstairs, leaving Xiao Bai alone in the private room. She poured her own wine and drank, and before long one fine jug was empty to the dregs, while on her cheeks only the faintest pink had appeared—not a trace of drunkenness, but rather a touch more allure.

"Ah."

Suddenly, she gave just such a soft sigh.

The fine wine, pure as amber, poured in a thin thread from the jug's mouth into the cup, raising tiny splashes. Xiao Bai gazed at the cup before her, at her own dim reflection swaying gently on the surface.

Then she smiled—a smile with a trace of bitterness in it—lifted the cup, and drained it in one go.

Beyond the window, the street flowed on with people's myriad voices, bustling past in endless streams. Those sounds seemed very distant, as though they came from another world.

She set the sixth empty jug aside.

The gentle red on her cheeks set off her ageless, eternal beauty, and in those eyes there was still nothing but clarity.

Wine has always intoxicated men—but never the heart!

Her white teeth caught her lip in a light bite; alone, she gave a low laugh, tossed her head, and raised her hand to pour again.

Out on the street beyond the window, the clamor somehow seemed to swell suddenly. Xiao Bai frowned, moved to the window, and looked down. In that one glance she started—there, slowly walking along the street below, was a woman in white, her beauty pure and ethereal, drifting like an immortal. Who else could it be but Lu Xueling?

The people around seemed drawn by Lu Xueling's peerless beauty, yet cowed by her icy air; not daring to approach, they gathered at a distance to watch and chatter—that was the reason for the commotion. Watching Lu Xueling's figure, a smile slowly surfaced at the corner of Xiao Bai's mouth.

"Truly, in life there is nowhere one does not meet." She murmured this with a half-smile, and rose to her feet, looking as though she meant to greet Lu Xueling of her own accord. But she had no sooner stood than her expression suddenly froze, and her gaze left Lu Xueling below and drifted toward a remote corner far off in He Yin City.

A familiar black figure flashed past at great speed, then vanished into another dark corner, and a moment later another gray shadow—one no less familiar to her—gave chase close behind.