Under the pale Shallow Night, mountain silhouettes lay heavy in the distance.
Qin Ming had set out. Forest crowded both sides of the road, and he trod swiftly over the snow. Silver Elm Town hove into view, its lights flowing softly through a veil of thin mist. The town bustled; shops lined the streets, their shelves laden with goods, and cries of buying and selling rose and fell. Lately the crowds had swelled, for many had come from Redcloud City — nobles, adventurers, and New Lifers of unknown origin alike.
A little asking led Qin Ming to the old noble's mansion in the town's eastern quarter. Its vermilion gate was imposing, studded with bronze nails, flanked by auspicious beasts.
"Qin Ming." Young people from the villages had arrived today; someone called his name.
He answered with a smile and walked toward the mansion with a few New Lifers. Servants were already waiting at the gate to usher them inside.
The mansion was vast, its courtyards winding one into another, dotted with rockeries and pavilions. In this winter of scarce provisions the old noble's life went on untouched — he was clearly wealthy and knew how to enjoy it. The main hall was spacious and bright, furnished with choice rosewood and hung with fine scrolls of calligraphy and painting.
The steward received wave after wave of young people, the smile never leaving his face, always polite and decorous.
"Qin Ming."
"Er... Zhou Wubing." Seeing Er Bingzi, Qin Ming nearly let the old nickname slip, then corrected himself. The youth had changed enormously since his New Life — half a head taller than ordinary men, and with so many people about, his old name no longer suited.
"Soon I'm going to Redcloud City. What are your plans?" Zhou Wubing's hair, once withered and sallow, now gleamed black, a bright light in his eyes.
"I long for those distant cities as well. We'll see when the time comes." Qin Ming said.
The parlor was full of young men, ill at ease in surroundings far richer than their own green-brick homes. But as time passed they relaxed, eating the fruits and pastries the steward sent in. Qin Ming, not the least reserved, helped himself freely — he had come precisely to eat his fill.
"Today I'm not competing with you. My relative said he'd take me..." Er Bingzi lowered his voice, then stopped short, catching sight of a silver-haired old man and a woman in a black fur cloak crossing toward a smaller parlor.
"That's the Xie family's young lady. Her figure seems exceptionally fine." Zhou Wubing spoke more than he had all day.
"She seems in no hurry to marry either." Qin Ming muttered. But even his murmured words were heard; the woman in black turned and shot him a glare. Her hood sat low, strands of black hair falling over one jade-pale cheek, so he caught only part of an oval face and a mouth whose lips seemed very red.
"Heh heh heh..." The crow on her shoulder actually laughed, in a voice no different from a human's.
Qin Ming found it odd, but he had been displaying "Blending With Dust" since entering the mansion, concealing his oversupply of vital force.
"It must be a myna," Er Bingzi said, then he too caught a glare — from the crow this time.
"Why is she dressed like that in her own home? Ah, I see. She's about to meet us. A noble lady wouldn't show her true face at first meeting." Whereupon both he and Qin Ming were glared at together.
Qin Ming spoke in the tiniest voice: "If you can talk, talk more."
Then — let alone the woman, even the crow reacted, this time going ga-ga-ga in laughter. Qin Ming fell silent at once. This woman was plainly no ordinary creature; even a loose black fur cloak could not hide the fineness of her figure. How could someone like her be hard to marry off?
The other young men had confirmed the silver-haired man was the noble himself, and that his daughter seemed outstanding. Everyone who came here was a New Lifer, senses far keener than ordinary folk. They could tell she carried extraordinary power, and even her crow understood human speech.
Before long the old noble came in person. His name was Xie Jingrui, every silver strand crystal-clear, his face ruddy. "All good children, plainly kind-hearted, far more genuine than the idle young bravos I've met."
Xie Jingrui wore his candor openly: he truly wanted to marry off his daughter, but he also had a favor to ask. He knew these young New Lifers would all enter the mountain, long chosen by Redcloud City's great families to guide the way.
"If you discover that rare produce has been born at a node, please do an old man a service. Relax — I'm not asking you to fight over it. Merely send word to me." He could speak to Redcloud City's nobles, and wished to buy a particular rare produce the moment it appeared, for fear it had already been traded away, with so many organizations loudly offering high prices for the nodes' harvests.
Then he had sharp swords brought in, all costly, bidding each young man choose one as a token of gratitude.
"My daughter drives me to distraction. I truly long to marry her off. I'd never judge a son-in-law by birth — as long as someone takes a mutual liking to her." He wished he could hold the wedding tomorrow. By the end he was genuinely wistful, and did not seem to be feigning it.
"You two — I've heard of you both. Both with Golden Foundations, quite the fine thing." Xie Jingrui, all genial smiles, addressed Qin Ming and Zhou Wubing. "Have you ever considered taking a different path?"
Before long Er Bingzi was led to the back garden, but soon returned. "She's the woman in black. Dashing and valiant, remarkably beautiful. But, alas, she's not right for me. You could consider her." With that he hurried off.
Qin Ming had not come for matchmaking. Yet the old noble gave him a fine hard bow as a special gift and singled him out to meet the noble lady. Out of courtesy, he could hardly leave early.
In the back garden, a woman in black was practicing the sword, her blade glaring cold — truly dashing and valiant. Qin Ming stood stupefied.
Not that she was ugly. On the contrary, she was beautiful, with a rare heroic air. But her face was far too large — little smaller than a washbasin — and her tall figure stood nearly fifteen feet, the great sword in her hand more than ten feet long. Er Bingzi had told the truth; he had just left out her height and her bulk.
Her name was Xie Lingxi, and the great sword she held was longer than Cao Long's height.
Qin Ming realized what the old noble meant by "a way to change your path" — he wanted him to walk the Giant Spirit path!
"Don't you think I look like a monster?" Xie Lingxi asked.
"No. You walk the path to godhood, an eternal great road. And once a Giant Spirit body is perfected, one can return to one's normal form."
"Godhood? If there really were gods, why wouldn't they hoist up the sun and make it rise again?" The woman sneered, then returned to her sword practice.
Qin Ming turned to leave.
"Two years ago I saw you. We came from Flowing Light City, passed through Falling Moon City, then Redcloud City, and on the road we discovered you. You were on the verge of death." Xie Lingxi, nearly fifteen feet tall, suddenly spoke.
In an instant Qin Ming's body froze, then he turned around, very slowly.