A thread-thin beam of light streaked through the air and vanished into the Village Chief's hair. The Chief acted as though nothing had happened, walked down from the sky on his qi-formed legs, and returned to the Village of Broken Elders.
A hundred li away, beneath the river, the Yong had turned around a mountain and wound through a gorge. The ice tide, blocked here, piled up higher and higher until it choked the channel entirely.
"Wu Nu, stop!"
The hundred-legged white-bone centipede demon carrying Qin Mu surged through the air like a great dragon, twisting and bounding at breathtaking speed. At his command she alighted upon the peak of the gorge's left bank and sneered, "Stinking brat, why should I listen to you?"
Qin Mu leaped from her back, puzzled. "I freed you from your chains. To repay me, you should help me break through the ice dam."
Wu Nu's body wavered, shifting back into Xian Qing'er. Broken chains jingled at her wrists and ankles as she skipped and danced around Qin Mu, the iron links clattering. Then she ducked behind him and popped her head in front of his face, giggling: "You freed me, so I owe you? Don't you remember? Last time you made me suffer terribly — the old bald donkey nearly refined me to death! And you stole the treasures I'd been hiding for years. I should eat you first!"
Qin Mu smiled. "But you wouldn't dare."
Wu Nu's neck shot out several zhang, coiling around him a few times until they were face to face. She sneered, "I wouldn't dare? There is no old bald donkey to help you now. Why wouldn't I dare?"
"I live in the Village of Broken Elders. There are nine adults in my house, every one of whom could kill you with ease." Qin Mu's smile was gentle. "No matter how you disguise yourself, no matter how far you run, they can find you without effort, kill you without effort, and make you regret being born in this world."
Wu Nu shuddered several times. Her neck retracted and she became the pretty little girl again, shaking her golden rings and broken chains. "I fear your elders — but I'm not obliged to help you either. The old bald donkey was right: once freed, I'll do evil and devour people. Why would I help you save anyone? I'm leaving—"
She turned and walked away, chains clattering.
Qin Mu said suddenly: "Wu Nu, the Buddhist teaching says 'lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot.' That is far too lenient — it draws no line between good and evil and is not to be trusted. But if you help me flatten the barrier lake and save the countless living things downstream, that will be your merit — far greater than that of any bronze Buddha."
Wu Nu halted. Her head twisted around behind her as she listened with curiosity.
Qin Mu continued: "If you come with me to save lives, your merit will surpass that of the bronze Buddha who imprisoned you — by a hundred times! The next time you meet him, will he have the face to cage you again?"
Wu Nu tilted her head, considered, and burst out laughing. "Fine, you make sense. I'll help. Heh heh — that old bald donkey plays the hypocrite, uses my eating people as an excuse, sanctimoniously imprisons me, and talks of letting the rushing river wash away my sins. I told him: I eat people without distinguishing good from evil. I'm simply hungry and need to eat, just as you humans eat rice, chicken, and vegetables. When you're hungry, you eat." She glanced down at the blocked channel. "I have no attachment to the people I eat, so I treat them as food. You have no attachment to vegetables and rice, so you eat them. The bald thief called my reasoning heresy and sealed me away. Well done. So I ate people in his temple, denying him merit. But if my merit now surpasses his, we'll see if he still has the nerve to imprison me! Hm, there's too much ice in this channel. If my spirit weapons were still here, I could blast through — but the bald thief confiscated them all."
Hum—
Qin Mu drove the Shao Bao Sword by qi, sending it slicing downward toward the ice dam choking the gorge. "Wu Nu — assist me!"
"That sword that cut through the chains?"
Wu Nu's eyes gleamed. She revealed her true form, all hundred legs moving at once, and flipped off the cliff. Qin Mu jumped after her, landing on her back. The hundred-legged white-bone centipede soared through the air, winding forward with Qin Mu astride, heading straight for the ice dam.
"Cut!"
Qin Mu roared. The Shao Bao Sword slashed down upon the ice dam, and at the same moment Wu Nu opened her mouth and spat out a torrent of terrifying yao qi that flooded into the blade.
The Shao Bao Sword swelled to a hundred zhang in length, cleaving downward.
The ice tide had been rising steadily, fresh ice swept in by the river piling atop the dam, building it ever higher. Left unchecked it would become a catastrophe for every living thing along both banks of the Yong.
The great sword sheared through the air, its passage splitting the wind into two visible walls. It struck the ice dam and cut through it like slicing tofu — one stroke, clean to the bottom.
"No!"
Wu Nu's face drained of color. She tried to lift off, but it was too late. The dam, struck by the rushing water behind it, collapsed instantly. A million shards of ice, pressed by the surging river, cascaded over them.
This was a death sentence.
The wind from the collapse had not yet reached them when the gale was already driving them from the sky. Wu Nu struggled to fly, but the falling dam and the river had overtaken them.
Hiss-hiss-hiss—
Shards of ice streaked in every direction. A piece grazed Qin Mu's cheek, drawing blood. His qi was formidable and his defense strong enough to shrug off a demon ape's blows, but the ice moved too fast — if a chunk that size struck his body, the consequences would be dire.
Wu Nu raced forward with him clinging to her back. Ice of every size and torrents of water roared past. Then the gale and a wall of ice and water smashed into them, flinging them apart.
Bang. Bang.
They struck the opposite cliff face with two muffled impacts, sending stone fragments flying. Qin Mu was flattened against the rock in the shape of the character "ten." Wu Nu was plastered beside him in the shape of the character "jade."
Then came the sharp whistle of steel. Qin Mu recognized it at once — the Shao Bao Sword was coming straight for him.
He quickly spread his legs. Tink — the blade nearly buried itself in his thigh.
Phew—
Qin Mu let out a long breath. He was now shaped like the character "grand," the Shao Bao Sword a bare half-foot from his body.
Beside him, the great demon began to wheeze with laughter. Qin Mu could not help joining in. Their laughter grew louder and louder, echoing through the gorge.
Below them the river roared on. This strange pair had just resolved a crisis.
Some time later, Qin Mu and Wu Nu — still wearing the form of Xian Qing'er — sat on the cliff edge, leaning back with palms braced on the ground, gazing at the blue sky and drifting clouds. A deep peace settled over them.
"What kind of being was that bronze Buddha?" Qin Mu asked.
"From the Little Thunderclap Monastery. It attained the path as a different kind of creature — a demon, like me." Wu Nu rattled the golden rings on her ankles. "They say the founder of the Little Thunderclap Monastery originally studied at the Great Thunderclap Monastery and became one of its disciples. Later he rebelled, founded the Little Thunderclap Monastery, and proclaimed himself the Little Tathagata. It is said the Tathagata of the Great Thunderclap made his position untenable, so he fled into the Great Ruins and moved the Little Thunderclap Monastery here too. Every abbot since has been a demon like me who calls himself the Little Tathagata. The one who sealed me in the temple was this generation's Little Tathagata. You cut his chains and freed me — heh heh — you've made yourself an enemy for life."
"The Little Thunderclap Monastery? The Little Tathagata?" Qin Mu stared. "The Little Thunderclap Monastery is inside the Great Ruins?"
"Of course. Monk-demons are hardly rare. The monks of the Little Thunderclap are petty and vindictive — and that goes double for their Little Tathagata." Wu Nu giggled. "With a temper like that old bald thief's, he'll certainly come looking for you."
A sharp voice rang out: "A human consorting with a man-eating demon! Today, master and disciples must subdue this monster and defend the Dao!"
Qin Mu looked up to see several Taoist cultivators approaching — an old man and a handful of young men and women. The elder radiated self-righteous fury while the youngsters looked on with excitement; clearly they were outsiders who had come to the Great Ruins to gain experience.
"Elders, we have just together averted a disaster and unblocked the barrier lake, saving countless lives downstream." Qin Mu rose and spoke gravely. "This demon saved many — she is not..."
"Silence, outcast!"
The old Taoist struck a noble pose and thundered: "Conspiring with a demon, you become its accomplice — you deserve death even more! Disciples — formation! Subdue the demon, purge the evil!"
"I'm hungry," Wu Nu whispered, licking her red lips.
"Some people are worse than demons."
Qin Mu felt a wave of weariness. He leaped from the cliff and plunged into the Yong River, calling back as he hit the water: "Wu Nu — I set you free today. You are your own master now!"
He landed in the current and walked across the waves.
From the gorge above came piercing screams. Wu Nu had revealed her true form and unleashed a massacre. Before long the demon had eaten her fill and bounded into the air, winding through the sky and vanishing into the clouds.
"Cowherd — if fate wills it, we shall meet again!" The demon cloud caught up to Qin Mu. Wu Nu's voice rang from within, and then the cloud drifted away.