Ten Miles Of Peach Blossoms

Chapter 5

I had lost my twig from the Mystic Gorge tree, and the sky was growing darker. I had used up all my good fortune getting myself out of the Eastern Sea before evening fell, and I did not have high hopes for getting back to Qingqiu any time before dawn.

The Eastern Sea consisted of four sea roads, one in each direction. Ever since I was a fox padding along on all fours, I had been a land dweller, and these sea roads all looked identical to me. It was only once I got out of the water that I realized I had taken the North Sea road, thinking it was the east.

The moon was high in the sky by now, and shining brightly. I sat on a reef on the Eastern Sea's northern shore, feeling anxious.

I could have gone back into the water of the Eastern Sea and returned the way I had come, but I didn't want to risk the potential embarrassment of running into Ye Hua again. I went over all my options and decided I would be best off spending the night on the northern shore and deciding what to do in the morning.

Lunar April was the most fragrant and verdant of months. The days were warm, but the nights tended to be cold. I was only wearing light clothing, and the white mist rolling off the ocean made me sneeze three times in quick succession. In the end I decided to jump down from the reef and head into a nearby wood.

This wood was nothing compared with Zhe Yan's, but its trees had tall, gnarled branches and thick foliage that helped to block out the wind and the light. Although there was a clear, round moon hanging from the Ninth Sky, radiating brightness, inside this wood I was unable to even see my own hands. I pulled the white silk from my eyes, folded it, and put it carefully away. From my sleeve I pulled out a night pearl the size of a dove egg and wandered around looking for a tree with cradle-like branches that I could climb up and sleep the night in.

It was a wild wood, and despite the glow of my night pearl to guide me, I had trouble navigating in the dark. I stumbled along for ten feet or so before losing my footing and tumbling into a huge underground cavern.

Strange as it seems, I found that I could see much better inside the cave. A moon and some stars shone down brightly from the magic sky inside the cave, while below I could see a flowing stream and a pond and within it a straw pavilion, slightly larger than Father and Mother's foxhole.

Inside the straw pavilion, I could see an intertwined couple.

I had been prepared for the possibility of stumbling upon almost anything, but I had not considered that I might bump into a couple in the throes of intimacy, and the encounter shocked and embarrassed me.

The boy had his back to me and was half obscuring the girl's face with his shoulder. What I could see of her face was delicate and pretty. I had landed gently, but she obviously noticed, as her almond-shaped eyes were full of surprise.

I gave her a pleasant smile to try and calm her, but she just continued to stare. The two of them were still wrapped in each other's arms, but the man must have sensed something was wrong, as he leaned over, craning his neck to look my way. Even with half a pond between us, seeing his face felt like having sizzling lard poured over me on a hot day. I was overcome with feelings of awkwardness and anxiety. Past happenings, memories I had worked so hard to blot out started flooding back into my mind, one after another.

The man seemed preoccupied. He fixed me with a long stare before saying, "Si Yin."

I lowered my eyes. "So it's Li Jing the Demon Emperor," I said solemnly. "It's been a long time since I cut ties with you, Demon Emperor, and Si Yin is no longer my name. I would be grateful if you were to address me as Goddess."

He said nothing, and the girl in his arms gave a little tremor, which allowed me a clearer look at her. It frustrated me what good terms this generation of little immortals seemed to be on with the Demon Clan. I was feeling apprehensive, and tried not to let the frostiness I was feeling show in my face.