Volume One, Chapter Thirty-Two: Black Jade and Black Pearl

In the darkness, something suddenly bit Meiniang’s heel. She didn’t have time to think—she swung her black fox staff backward with force.

“Don’t hit me! I’m one of you!” came a startled cry. Looking closely, it was the spirit turtle! One of its forelegs was pushing back against Meiniang’s staff, the other against Hanyu’s jade pestle.

“One of us? Who do you think you’re fooling?” Hanyu pressed down hard.

“You did it on purpose!” the turtle rolled its eyes. It had clearly seen Hanyu hesitate before resolutely bringing the pestle down.

“Yes, I did! Why did you bite me first?” Hanyu admitted without shame.

“You ignored me when I called out!” the turtle complained bitterly.

“When did you call us? Was it that ‘the moon has risen’ nonsense? Nearly scared us to death!” Hanyu scowled.

“My voice is that frightening?” the turtle seemed a little deflated.

“It’s not your voice! It’s just, in pitch darkness, someone speaks but no one can be seen!” Meiniang quickly withdrew her staff.

“Hmph! Who told you not to look down?” the turtle kept a wary eye on Hanyu.

“Look down? Why, so I could step on you? Here, let me try!” Hanyu lifted her foot to stomp, but the turtle darted behind her and lunged at her heel again. In a flash, the two were tangled, one stomping, one snapping, raising quite a commotion.

“All right, enough! You’ll attract demons with all this noise!” Meiniang anxiously peered toward the palace gate.

Hanyu reluctantly stepped back. Truthfully, seeing the spirit turtle filled her with delight—they’d have a much better chance at rescue with this old turtle’s help!

The turtle, for its part, was equally indignant.

“Why aren’t you a sheep?” Meiniang asked curiously.

“Hmph, changing me is not easy! That—um—Miss Zhao turned into a sheep, so I got dropped in the grass!” The turtle kept a nervous eye on Hanyu, half afraid she’d try something again.

“All right, all right, stop staring at me!” Hanyu couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hmph!” The turtle finally relaxed, turning to Meiniang. “I was sleeping so soundly, then I heard voices, looked up, and saw you!”

“Sleeping? You’re not trying to rescue anyone, just napping here?” Hanyu was a little annoyed.

“I was thinking about how to help! Thought so hard I fell asleep,” the turtle admitted sheepishly.

“How did you know it was us?” Meiniang asked, then realized how odd that sounded.

“Your voices! Who else talks like that…” The turtle rolled its eyes at Hanyu. The less logical the question, the clearer it seemed.

“Such hatred! You remember my voice so well!” Hanyu’s tone was tinged with annoyance.

“All right, we need to get inside,” Meiniang quickly changed the subject to avoid another argument.

“I don’t want to…” The turtle started to leave, but Hanyu blocked it with her foot.

“You’re coming with us!” Hanyu eyed the turtle’s mouth warily.

“I’m not much help, better to wait outside!” The turtle grinned.

“No, we’re in this together! I’ll carry you in myself if I have to.” Hanyu’s smile was half mocking, half genuine.

“No! We’ll get caught!” The turtle shuddered inwardly. “What if she uses me to smash something?”

“That’s true, it isn’t safe. We need a plan,” Meiniang agreed.

The turtle sighed. There was no getting out of this. Raising its head solemnly, it said, “Wait for me, I need to fetch something!” Meiniang and Hanyu exchanged a look—his sincerity left them a little nonplussed. In their hesitation, the turtle vanished in a flash.

“That turtle runs faster than a rabbit!” Meiniang blurted, then glanced at Hanyu, who, surprisingly, nodded, “He really does!”

Moments later, the turtle returned, carrying something in its mouth. Hanyu reached out—it was the torn, chewed-up cloth bundle the chubby girl had used to carry him. He must have struggled to wriggle out of it.

As they neared the palace gates, a voice called from the shadows, “Have you eaten?”

Meiniang froze, then quickly replied, “Not yet!”

Two she-demons stepped out, scrutinizing them.

“Moyu!” the leader recognized Meiniang.

“Yes, just back from my shift!”

“What’s that on your back?” The she-demon’s sharp eyes had spotted the bundle Hanyu carried.

“Found it—just some colorful clothes inside,” Meiniang replied quickly. Hanyu grinned and nodded.

“Why bother with that?” the demon sneered.

Inside the palace, Meiniang and Hanyu were struck by its grandeur. They’d expected something as vulgar as the Sanqing Hall, only to be surprised by the elegant magnificence: columns of blue jade, floors of white, pearl curtains fluttering between threads of gold and silver, as if in a sea of clouds and mountains. There were three doors—center, left, and right—each with women passing through; only the central door had fewer comings and goings.

“This way!” Meiniang pulled Hanyu toward the main door.

Beyond it was another grand hall, this one dominated by a closed golden door engraved with two upright black serpents. Six she-demons stood guard, three on each side, holding leather whips.

“Moyu, are you here to see the Master?” one guard asked at once.

“No, no! I’m looking for Hongqin—heard she was here,” Meiniang replied, glancing around.

“She was, but when she heard the Master was still resting, she left.”

“I see, I’ll look elsewhere. Thank you!” Meiniang pulled Hanyu back to the front hall.

They wandered left and right, but the palace was labyrinthine, doors within doors, paths splitting three ways. After ages searching, there was no sign of a sheep pen, and they dared not ask. Eventually, the two found a quiet corner to confer.

“Why is the sheep pen so hard to find?” Meiniang frowned.

“Let’s just grab a little demon and ask!” Hanyu was getting impatient.

“Let’s search a bit more,” Meiniang hesitated. With only the two of them left, raising an alarm would doom any chance of rescuing the others, but they really had no other choice.

“If we keep searching, they’ll be harvested before we find them!” Hanyu urged.

“Miss Mei! Miss Yu!” Suddenly, a voice whispered right behind them. They both jumped, but when they turned, there was no one there.

“Hey, you blasted turtle, stop scaring us!” Meiniang snapped, but Hanyu’s expression didn’t change—she knew it wasn’t the turtle’s voice.

“Turtle! Turtle! I swear it’s not me!” the turtle protested at once. Meiniang broke into a cold sweat—the voice sounded like a woman.

“Oh, I forgot, you can’t see me!” The voice shifted to stand right before them.

“Who are you?” Hanyu’s hands trembled on her jade pestle.

“I’m Zhao Lingyao!”

“Zhao Ling—? Oh, chubby girl! But…” Hanyu rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“Yes, it’s me…” The voice sounded sheepish.

“Miss Zhao, why can’t we see you?” It was unmistakably her voice, but Meiniang still couldn’t believe it.

“She’s left her body!” the turtle called from behind.

“Sorry, turtle brother! I forgot to put you down first when I left my body—did it hurt?”

“Ahem, no, not at all! Who do you think I am?” The turtle was delighted. “Turtle brother” was a title it relished—this chubby girl had a good heart!

“Left your body? Miss Zhao, I didn’t realize your cultivation was so advanced!” Hanyu realized calling her “chubby girl” earlier was a bit much.

“No, no! My master said I was too slow if danger struck, so she taught me the Art of Controlling the Soul. Never thought I’d have to use it! I was running away when I bumped into those demonesses. I saw her raise her demon mirror, and I just fled from my body. After that, I followed them all the way into this palace!” the chubby girl quickly explained.

“We heard you’d been caught and felt so guilty!” Meiniang apologized sincerely. She couldn’t help but admire the girl’s courage.

“There’s nothing to feel guilty about! If you two hadn’t hidden yourselves, we’d all be captured now.” The chubby girl was unconcerned.

“We need to rescue the others. Do you know where they are?” Hanyu interjected.

“I do! I’ve been all over this place. Go in through the left door, turn right, then left—that’s where they’re held. But they’re so crowded together, you can’t talk without being noticed,” the chubby girl said, frustrated.

“Let’s go see for ourselves,” Meiniang said, striding toward the left door. The chubby girl stuck close behind, guiding her at every turn. Soon they came to something like a sheep pen, guarded by two she-demons who were chatting and laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Meiniang called out.

“Moyu! Oh, just guessing whether the Master will reward us!” the head guard replied, turning around.

“We were curious too—we just finished eating and rushed over to check!” Meiniang winked. The guards giggled knowingly.

“We’re still hungry!” pouted the other.

“No one’s come to relieve you?” Meiniang feigned surprise. The two shook their heads, looking wronged.

“Go eat, quickly! We’ll watch for you a bit,” Meiniang said, grinning suggestively. Hanyu nearly gagged.

“Really? Wonderful, we’re starving!” The two guards leapt up in delight.

“Go on, but we’re only watching for a short while!” Meiniang said, pretending to be uneasy.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be quick! But don’t mess around!” The guards eyed them warily as they left.

As soon as the guards departed, Meiniang and Hanyu hurried to the pen. Inside, dozens of sheep milled about, but it was easy to spot Yibing—he was by far the fattest! But…there were two fat sheep. They’d forgotten about the chubby girl’s transformed body.

“Which one is Yibing?” Meiniang and Hanyu looked at each other in confusion.

“The one wandering around is Yibing, the one standing still is me,” the chubby girl whispered in Meiniang’s ear. Meiniang understood instantly—a soul outside its body would show no reaction.

“The fattest one, come here!” Meiniang called. Yibing, who was comforting Biyi, froze and eyed the alluring demoness suspiciously.

“Who else could it be? I mean you, you fat oaf!” Hanyu was getting impatient, her voice a little too loud. Meiniang glanced around anxiously. Yibing felt a jolt—this demoness sounded terribly like Hanyu, and her mannerisms were exactly the same.

“Don’t go!” Biyi whispered. Yibing hesitated, but shuffled over anyway.

“What do you want?” Yibing asked, eyeing the Hanyu-like demoness warily.

“Come closer, I’ll whisper it to you!” Hanyu said with a forced smile, seeing all the sheep pricking up their ears. Yibing wrinkled his sheepy brows—this was just too familiar—and poked his head forward.

“Don’t make a sound! Listen carefully—I’m Hanyu, and this is Meiniang!” Hanyu grabbed his ear and whispered.

Yibing’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

“It’s me, transformed!” Meiniang quickly pulled his other ear.

Yibing wanted to speak but just nodded frantically.

“Hmph, I only changed my appearance, not my voice!” Hanyu tugged his ear.

“If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten in!” Meiniang tugged the other ear harder.

Not far away, Hongkun could barely watch. He started forward to scold them, but was blocked by Jin Guishan’s hoof. Jin Guishan shook his head—maybe it was the voices, but something about this demoness seemed off.

“Stop pulling! You’ll tear them off!” Suddenly, a voice sounded before Yibing, but there was no one there! Then, two chubby little hands snatched his ears away.

“Miss Zhao!” Yibing blurted out.

“Brother Mu!” came the chubby girl’s disembodied reply.

Just then, the soulless fat sheep shuffled over, vacantly staring at the space before Yibing, then stood motionless by his side. Yibing looked from the empty air to the sheep beside him, terror on his face as he stared at Hanyu.

“Soul left the body! It’s just the spirit gone—if the body’s safe, all’s well!” Hanyu pointed at the air, then at the sheep, her gaze steady.

“Phew…that’s good! I’ll go tell Brother Jin!” Yibing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to leave, but was yanked back by his ear.

“Tell them quietly in a bit! Do you know how to turn back?” the chubby girl asked urgently.

“No idea!” Yibing shook his head hard.

“We’ll have to find that demon mirror, then!” Hanyu looked at Meiniang.

“It’s the only way!” Meiniang nodded, then said sternly to Yibing, “Guard Miss Zhao’s body well! Losing the soul is nothing, as long as the body is safe! Don’t keep staring at your Sister Biyi!”

“Yes, yes!” Yibing’s sheep face flushed bright red.

At that moment, a shout came from behind: “Moyu, Mozhu, what are you doing here?”