Wan Tiancang had dwelt at Lichuan Pass for nigh on half a year, keeping to his house day after day. He watched the jade-green sprouts of rice thrust up through the soil one by one, and his heart was filled with joy. Tonight, having cast the Spirit Rain Art over the spirit field within his courtyard, he sat cross-legged to regulate his breath — when faintly he heard voices boiling over beyond his wall. He opened his eyes, and saw torchlight flickering through the dark of the night beyond the gate, men running this way and that with brands in hand. His heart sank at once, and he flung open his courtyard door to peer out.
A child came running toward him in haste, a torch held aloft, and Wan Tiancang called out:
"You there, child! What has happened!"
"Milord! Old Ye at the head of the village is dead! Folk say a demon has come, and they call the whole village to the square."
The child checked his steps and looked up at Wan Tiancang with a stricken face. He saw this immortal, who had not crossed his courtyard gate in half a year, knit his brows and step half a pace toward the road, then draw the step back again.
"Would a creature blight the very fields of Lichuan Pass! This spirit rice was planted scarce half a year ago, and it must on no account come to harm."
Wan Tiancang thought to go and find Li Tongya, yet feared the creature might be watching the spirit rice in his garden. Caught between the two, he called the child:
"Go fetch Chen Erniu for me."
The child had barely risen to go when, amid torchlight flickering among the trees, a knot of folk emerged clustering about Chen Erniu.
"Immortal Master! What is to be done!"
Chen Erniu was drenched in sweat. Two more watchmen had died since the messenger had gone, both with their brains dug out, and he was at once terrified and furious.
"Has any man laid eyes upon this creature?"
Wan Tiancang set his face sternly and demanded.
"None. The dead often do not let out so much as a single cry of anguish!"
At this Wan Tiancang's heart turned cold. He was but a minor cultivator at the peak of the Profound Vision Wheel, and what power had he to contend with a creature that came and went like the wind? He laughed bitterly:
"Li Tongya, Li Tongya, where in the nine hells are you!"
"Brother Wan!"
A great cry drifted down from far to near, cutting Wan Tiancang's words short. He raised his head and saw a youth striding boldly forward, a vine-woven leather jacket on his back, a long bow in his hand, coming toward them showing a row of white teeth in a smile.
"Young Patriarch!"
Chen Erniu made haste to bow low, and the truth came clear to Wan Tiancang at once — this must surely be Li Xiangping. He clasped his hands:
"I am Wan Tiancang of the Wan family. Greetings to the Young Patriarch."
Li Xiangping waved a hand, bidding Chen Erniu rise, then turned to Wan Tiancang:
"Bear with me but a moment, Brother Wan."
Then, turning back to Chen Erniu, he commanded:
"Let all the old, the weak, the women, and the children of the village gather round the walls of this courtyard. Set the watchmen in companies of ten to encircle them on the outside, each company three zhang from the next, and let each keep within its sight no fewer than five others to back it."
With that he entered the courtyard with Wan Tiancang, paying the others no further heed.
"Yes!"
Chen Erniu felt his anchor found at once, and descended to make the arrangements.
He had scarce entered the courtyard before Wan Tiancang smiled wryly:
"Brother Li, this creature's cultivation is, I fear, no light thing. I am afraid Tian Cang cannot be of much help."
Li Xiangping laughed aloud:
"No need to fence roundabout with me, Brother Wan. Your Wan family must protect its spirit rice, and my Li family must protect Lichuan Pass — the two of us are grasshoppers tied to a single strand!"
Wan Tiancang stiffened at once, his heart wailing in secret. Were the creature not laying waste to Lichuan Pass, then let it eat whom it pleased — he would hold his spirit rice close and laugh to see the Li household caught short. But now he was forced to lend a hand indeed.
Putting away his small designs, he drew paper and brush from the house and said as he sat down:
"Of all plans, the safest is that I write a letter and summon my family head to our aid, so that this matter may be settled before daybreak!"
"Quite so! Write out three letters, and I will send men out of the village by three roads, so that should mishap befall us, at least one shall reach the bounds of the Wan family."
Wan Tiancang set pen to paper for the space of a quarter hour — when from beyond the wall rose screams and shouts for help, a pestle and mortar of confusion.
Li Xiangping went out with a dark face. Before the compound sat a throng of the old, the weak, the women, and the children, all craning their necks to stare in terror into the distance, weeping softly or gasping. Not far off, the watchmen had converged upon the outermost company, holding staves and door panels, shrinking back and staring at the treeline with fearful eyes.
"It is a mountain wolf."
Wan Tiancang stood at his side, pen in hand, gazing at that pair of green, glowing eyes among the trees.
A wolf great as a yellow ox, its pelt of silver-grey, paced out of the forest, pine-green pupils fixed upright, pressing the watchmen back step by step. It raised its head above the throng, and that pair of orbs stared coldly at Li Xiangping, who stood on the stone steps before the courtyard gate. The sharp muzzle curled faintly upward, as though it were smiling softly.
"This beast..."
Wan Tiancang wiped the cold sweat from his brow:
"To judge by that look, it must have swallowed the essence of sun and moon and condensed its Jade Capital Wheel."
Li Xiangping felt a chill run up his spine, and thought he could taste contempt in the cold green gaze. "Should my family's head prove no match for this creature..."
Wan Tiancang looked him straight in the eye and spoke with difficulty:
"A creature of the Spirit-Initial Wheel?"
Li Xiangping narrowed his eyes:
"Let us make ready for the worst. Should this creature be more than a Jade Capital Wheel after all, we shall lure it southeast, round Lijing Village, and lead it up Lijing Mountain. The Li family keeps a formation there; and your family head, seizing the advantage of the ground, may slay the creature."
"Enough, enough!"
Wan Tiancang carefully revised the three letters, handed them to Chen Erniu, and watched as he commanded men to send them forth. Then he shook his head with a wry smile:
"That beast has completed its Jade Capital Wheel, and its wits have wakened. It has surely eaten not a few men, and it has already set its eyes upon you and me. Immortal cultivators are a fine tonic to such as it — and for us there is no way left to run."
"Do not fluster."
Li Xiangping waved a hand, keeping his gaze fixed upon the creature's eyes. His own lips curved upward, even as the great wolf's had done, and a measure of mirth stole into his face:
"When I was a boy I saw my father hunt wolves. This beast is the most wary of things; and now that it has completed its Jade Capital Wheel, it will have grown cautious to the point of absurdity, hoarding its own life. That it has taken notice of us at all is a good sign. Do but follow my orders."
"Chen Erniu!"
"Your man is here!"
"Let the watchmen withdraw by degrees, surrounding us as they go, and fall back together due south at an easy pace. The old, the weak, the women, and the children stay where they are and need not stir — the creature will surely give chase."
"The outer watchmen shall cast aside their door panels and hold their torches turned outward. Should the creature draw near, they are to shout or howl, to curse or rail — but not a trace of fear! Should it leap, they shall bind their long knives to their staves and sweep across the ground — the legs of a wolf are slender, and this beast will treasure its own beyond all measure."
From his quiver he drew a single arrow polished bright, and made a hand seal. A faint golden sheen rose about the arrowhead as he notched it to the string.
"Move out!"