Chapter 6: Autumn Waters

Wei Li’s words were like flames, scorching Yue Shi’s face until it burned red. He reached out, wanting to hold Wei Li back and explain, but everything was settled—what was left for him to explain?

“Conversion is good, conversion is good!”

Wei Li’s face darkened like the bottom of a soot-blackened pot. She turned to Li Sheng, who could see her fury, tears glistening in his eyes. “Let’s go!” Wei Li spat out the words coldly, settling herself in the wheelchair. Li Sheng picked up a blanket, dusted it off, and covered Wei Li’s legs, pushing her out.

“From now on, it’s best that we never meet again!” Wei Li’s deep voice carried a mocking chill.

Yue Shi had no name, wandering the world. By chance, he settled in a mountain temple devoid of gods, living off the incense offered. It was only when he met Wei Li—or rather, when Wei Li found him—that he learned there were treasures in the world, and she gave him a name. To Yue Shi, Wei Li was hope, irrigating his parched heart.

For over a hundred years, they depended on each other. Yue Shi never left the temple, while Wei Li was always off causing trouble. Sometimes she brought him wild fruit, sometimes wild rabbits or chickens, but more often human hearts and flesh. Yue Shi resisted eating people, but whenever Wei Li looked at him with expectation, no matter how much he loathed it, he would eat with big gulps. Seeing him devour so hungrily would make Wei Li happy, and seeing her happy, Yue Shi couldn’t help but be happy too—so what he ate mattered little.

Ten years ago, Yue Shi disappeared. Wei Li searched in vain, then found Li Sheng to continue supporting herself. What Wei Li didn’t know was that Yue Shi had been captured by Guangzong. In a month of conversion, seeing the people ruined by his and Wei Li’s fleeting happiness, he could not betray his pure nature. He converted, becoming a true mountain god.

But watching Wei Li’s disappointed back, he wondered if his choice was right or wrong.

Back at the Li residence, Wei Li vented her emotions, smashing precious porcelain again and again. Li Sheng always managed to bring her various living women. Wei Li liked to eat them raw, to preserve the original tender taste, and after the meal, Li Sheng would clean the house until it was spotless.

But what happened next was unexpected: Commander Si Beixu led a squad of soldiers into the Li residence. Li Sheng, though a governor, was merely a local official, while Si Beixu was like a district commander, holding power over three provinces. Li Sheng had once been his adviser—a man of great authority.

Wei Li craned her head, peering outside. She couldn’t hear what was said, only saw Li Sheng repeatedly apologizing to Si Beixu, bowing and scraping. Wei Li had thought he only acted this way in front of her.

Suddenly, Si Beixu spotted the furtive Wei Li, pointed at her, said something to the officers, and two of them strode forward, seizing her arms and dragging her out.

“This is the demon woman?” Si Beixu looked at her. Unlike other men, his authority was unshakable, reminiscent of Guangzong, though Guangzong’s gaze was always indifferent.

“Yes.”

Wei Li now noticed the elderly woman behind Si Beixu. Bent with age, her hair white, her candle-yellow eyes had lost their spirit, but the robe in her hands bore the Taiji symbol—it was clear she belonged to the Daoist sect.

“Commander, this girl is just my distant cousin, not a demon woman.” Li Sheng’s nerves were stretched tight; he knew if Wei Li were taken as a demon, her fate would be terrible.

“Abbot, Daoist robes never lie. This girl, though she appears a child, is a hundred-year-old abomination, eating human flesh and drinking blood. Let me perform rites to rid us of this evil.”

Wei Li had no enmity with the old Daoist woman, so why did she cling to her today? Looking into those clouded eyes, Wei Li saw hatred—deep, unforgettable hatred.

Wei Li was loaded into the car by soldiers. Behind her came Li Sheng’s frantic voice, Duan Yien repeatedly pulling him back. Si Beixu’s decision not to punish Li Sheng was mercy enough; she could not let Li Sheng be caught in this storm.

Wei Li sat upright in the center seat, two officers flanking her with guns, holding her fast. The atmosphere was frozen until Wei Li let out a cackle, making it even heavier.

She found it dull, tilting her head to watch the townsfolk. Dressed in patched quail coats, faces grimy, they hurried to avoid the military vehicle, heads bowed, not daring to look straight. When the car passed, they busied themselves with their own affairs. Such poverty—what was the point? Better for Wei Li to eat them, earning a merit, wasn’t that a fine thing?

At least, that’s how Wei Li saw it.

At the command center, Wei Li was locked in an isolated cell in the backyard, yellow talismans pasted inside and out. The cell wasn’t so bad—just a bit dark and damp. Her hands and feet were chained, movement difficult, so she simply chose not to move.

What surprised her was that night, the Daoist old woman came to see her—or rather, to interrogate her from on high.

“Wei Li, it’s been a long time.”

The old woman, bent with age, sat on the bench before Wei Li, her tone now familiar, lacking the arrogance of daylight.

Her face was haggard, eyes dull and lifeless. “Fifty years, and you haven’t changed at all.”

“Old hag, you know me?” Wei Li sat upright, gazing at her.

The old woman sneered, “Lu Xian’s death—so you forgot it so easily.”

Lu Xian’s name stunned Wei Li, dredging up memories nearly faded.

“Little monster, I know you wandered into our world without intent. I’ll take you home.” Lu Xian’s voice was gentle as she looked at Wei Li, faint from the summer sun.

Wei Li looked at Lu Xian, feeling warmth envelop her.

From then on, Lu Xian’s home became Wei Li’s home.

But Wei Li’s appearance never aged, pure and untouched, beautiful and distant.

Until Lu Xian married Qiu Shui, a bewitching beauty and deeply jealous woman. She knew Wei Li was not human and reported it to the Daoist sect.

The Daoists’ duty was to eradicate the unnatural, never allowing ordinary people to live with them.

Yellow talismans formed a net, binding Wei Li tightly in the Eight Trigrams array. Strands of black, wet hair clung to her forehead, her face smeared with dust, bright red blood dripping from her arm onto the floor…

Firelight flashed in her eyes. The flames burned. Wei Li’s lips cracked, her face flushed, chest heaving violently, her vision fading to black.

Even if burned to ashes, she could be reborn. But Wei Li wondered—why hadn’t Lu Xian come to save her? Why hadn’t he come…

After her rebirth, Wei Li mercilessly killed Lu Xian and his babbling child, blood splattering every corner of the house.

But why did Lu Xian not struggle before death, instead, as if knowing his end was near, quietly grasping Wei Li’s sleeve, saying nothing?

If he had pleaded, if he had explained, perhaps… Wei Li might not have killed him. But the pain of the burning was too much, worse than death, draining Wei Li completely. She never wanted to endure that agony again.

“So it’s you, Qiu Shui. How ugly you’ve become—once alluring, now bloated.” Wei Li mocked Qiu Shui without restraint.

“A monster is always a monster, untouched by mortal cares. Lu Xian thought only of you day and night, yet you cruelly killed him—and our child.” Qiu Shui’s hands clenched into fists, veins bulging.

“So you’re here for revenge?”

Wei Li’s face showed no trace of anxiety, only ease and delight.

“The moment I first saw you, I knew I’d lost. But I thought with you dead, Lu Xian would be mine alone. I was too naïve…” Qiu Shui’s eyes were like dry wells, her thin face wrinkled in pain.

“I never fought you for him.”

Qiu Shui ignored Wei Li, speaking to herself. “Lu Xian always said, ‘Wei Li is a good girl, always smiling,’ but he didn’t know the beastly desire hidden beneath that beauty.”

Wei Li, seeing Qiu Shui’s pitiful state, laughed aloud.

Suddenly, Wei Li felt a dampness between her brows.

Soon, she felt her blood pounding crazily in her temples, her head pressed as if about to explode. She hadn’t felt such pain in ages—now, for the first time in so long, she felt truly alive.

She collapsed, powerless, unable even to open her eyes. In her ear came Qiu Shui’s voice: “This is the deer blood you fear most—stop struggling.”

With that, Wei Li sank into chaos.