Chapter 2
The tiger told me that the people who had tortured Master to death came from Qingya County.
They possessed strange arts and had summoned heavenly lightning to slay an immortal. They were no ordinary mortals.
I stroked the hideous wounds on the tiger’s body.
“You did all you could.”
It whimpered. Just as it had pretended to be a big kitty to comfort me when I was little, it slowly lowered its head and rubbed against my palm.
It never opened its eyes again.
I buried the tiger beside Master, shouldered my bundle, and went down the mountain once more.
Qingya County was suffering a locust plague. Countless acres of young crops were about to be devoured.
I cut out ten thousand swallows and sparrows. The paper birds came to life, destroyed the swarm in moments, and saved the town.
The people bowed to me as an immortal maiden. The county magistrate offered to submit a memorial on my behalf.
I waved him off.
“I hear someone in this town once slew a snake demon. I would marry that man and bring a thousand pieces of gold.”
The townsfolk exchanged glances. Magistrate Shen looked at me with particular meaning in his eyes.
Fang Liang emerged from the crowd in filthy rags, reeking of wine. He grabbed my hand and grinned, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth.
“Little immortal, don’t you go back on your word.”
I studied him. How could a scoundrel like this have killed my master?
Seeing my doubt, he immediately pulled out a scale and shouted,
“Look! I dug this out of that snake demon!
“Those sorcerers wanted a demon to make their medicine. I was the only one who knew where it was, so I took them up the mountain.
“They all looked capable enough, but they were cowards, the lot of them. In the end, they needed me to stab the monster to death!
“You have no idea. That beast was thicker than a tree. One roll could crush a man or two. Good thing I was quick enough to pick my moment…”
His voice grew louder as he held up the scale and boasted to the crowd.
It was still stained with dried blood, a red so vivid it hurt my eyes.
I looked at him and smiled, with a coldness beyond words.
“A thousand pieces of gold, and my hand in marriage. I will not go back on my word.”
Blind and arrogant creatures. How could they know whether the woman they took home was an immortal—or a monster?
When Master taught me paper-cutting, he had warned me: cut blessings and celebrations if I wished, but never living things.
“Things endowed with spirit can bewilder the heart. Bai Zhi, remember this. Do not lose yourself in them.”
He practiced immortal arts and had never ventured into human society. He did not know that the things most apt to corrupt a filthy human heart were not living creatures at all, but lifeless gold and silver.
For a little money, mortals would even sacrifice their own daughters to tigers.
He was pure and kind. He did not understand people, and that was why he had died at their hands.
I cut out a thousand pieces of gold, acquired a house and servants, and brought Fang Liang and his mother, Madame Chen, to live there.
When I offered them money, mother and son made a show of refusing before throwing themselves into spending it like ravenous beasts.
Fang Liang had grown up poor. His father died early, and his mother raised him alone.
Once, he had been famous in the area for his devotion to her.
When a leg injury of hers would not heal, he went into the mountains to look for a miraculous herb. That was how he happened to meet Master.
Moved by his concern for his mother, Master risked danger to gather the herb and cured Madame Chen.
Yet Fang Liang repaid kindness with betrayal. When the sorcerers offered him a hundred taels of silver to guide them, he agreed without hesitation.
He soon squandered the money and fell back into poverty, supported entirely by his mother’s work washing and starching other people’s clothes.
On my wedding day, the whole town came to congratulate me. Even Magistrate Shen sent a gift.
Fang Liang and Madame Chen were bursting with pride, pressing drinks on everyone.
Thanks to me, they now had more than enough to eat. They lived in a grand house, with money and servants in abundance.
With a little wine in him, Fang Liang lost all restraint. He drunkenly climbed onto a table, stamped his feet, and shouted,
“A fortune-teller said it ages ago! I, Fang Liang, was born to get lucky!
“That snake up in the mountains—you know, when they butchered it, it rolled around in such agony it nearly knocked me over a cliff. I grabbed its tail, and it actually saved me! What a fool! Hahaha!”
The banquet was so noisy that no one noticed what he said.
But I heard Auntie Su muttering a curse from the corner.
“Ungrateful wretch! It stayed quietly up on its mountain. Demon or not, it never hurt anyone. It even helped you. Miserable swine, drunk on your little triumph. Mind you don’t fall to your death!”
Someone was speaking up for Master. My heart softened for a moment.
When I looked back at Fang Liang, I could keep a proper smile fixed on my face, even with blood in my eyes.
I discreetly extended two fingers and pressed them down through the air.
The table beneath him sagged as though collapsing. He tumbled to the ground, plunging headfirst into the leftovers.
I lifted the corners of my mouth and turned my wrist. The dishes beneath him seemed to come alive. They broke into sharp spikes and, concealed by his robe, drove straight into his knee.
His drunken warmth turned to cold sweat. He clutched his bleeding knee, twitching and crying in pain.
Madame Chen rushed over, shrieking, and tried to help him up.
I watched Fang Liang curled into a ball and gave a cold laugh. A lift of my wrist drove the spikes deeper.
Even through the noisy crowd, I could hear his bones cracking.
Crisp and clear. Music fit for the immortals.