"MANY YEARS AGO, the Dream Butterfly Islands were at war. The demon population on a neighboring island outgrew their lands, and their people had nowhere to go.
To expand their territory, they broke our alliance and invaded the islands belonging to the fire bat tribe. After many months of fighting, the invading demons killed the queen—my mother—and massacred the other bat tribes on the island." A crowd of demons slaughtering their fellows appeared in the ball of light. Its pearly gleam darkened, veiled with a bloody haze.
"I was the heir to the bat throne. Those demons saw me as a thorn in their side and sought to kill me. My elder sister used herself as bait to help me escape, but I was severely wounded… My wings were broken, my tendons snapped, yet I drained my spiritual energy to flee. I was too scared to stop…but I didn't know where to go…"
Furious waves crashed within the ball of light, thunder and lightning interweaving. "I flew over the sea in bat form for many, many days, when I met a great storm. My strength was flagging and my wounds were festering. Finally I could fly no more; I tumbled from the sky onto an unfamiliar island. The moment I fell, I knew I hadn't landed in any ordinary place. Its spiritual energy was too strong—this was the home of immortals."
In the vision, the young Wuyan flapped her ragged wings, attempting to take flight again and again to no avail. "I was terrified," she said. "Ever since I was little, I was told immortals loved to kill demons. I lay in the grass, thinking how I'd survived the battle between demon tribes only to die at the hands of an immortal. I wanted to struggle to my feet and fly from the island, but I didn't have the strength. No matter how I tried, my wings could no longer carry me. But my flailing attracted the attention of a passerby. Someone was walking through the flowers, walking toward me…"
The bat with broken wings collapsed into the grass, near death. She was gravely injured; her thin wing membranes were torn, and blood stained the leaves beneath her. Her black eyes were wet and wide, the picture of misery. As she lay helpless, a white-soled silk shoe with blue trim appeared in the glowing ball and stopped next to her. An elegant, fine-boned hand reached down and gathered her up. That person carefully protected her, supporting her in his palm.
Gu Mang was smug. "Look, didn't I say the heartless and disloyal immortal would appear?"
The field of view in the ball of light slowly moved upward, from that white silk shoe to those spotless sleeves…
Once the immortal's face came into view, both Gu Mang and Mo Xi were stunned.
"The Wise Gentleman?!" Gu Mang exclaimed in surprise.
Mo Xi's eyes widened. "Headmaster Chen…"
The "heartless traitor" looking out from the ball of light was none other than Chonghua's sage from centuries ago—Chen Tang, the Wise Gentleman. It beggared belief. As far as they knew, Chen Tang's cultivation was remarkable and his character faultless, but he was still a normal human. He had never ascended to become an immortal.
"How could this be…" Gu Mang mumbled.
Mo Xi stared at that glimmering ball of light with a frown. He shook his head. "Let's keep watching."
In the vision, Chen Tang stroked his porcelain-pale fingers across Wuyan's fuzzy forehead. His soothing touch passed jade-colored spiritual energy to this little demon hanging onto life by a thread. The scene in the glowing ball slowly widened to show an isolated, nearuninhabited isle—but it wasn't Bat Island.
The island in the vision was undeniably strange. Its climate was difficult to discern, for it was filled with flowers and trees laden with ripe fruit. Winter's plum blossoms, summer's lotuses, autumn's osmanthus, and springtime's peaches and plums were all seen. The fertile land was awash in beautiful blossoms, and at the center of the island was an altar constructed from a single massive stone. The altar was empty save for a jade qin table with a five-stringed jiaowei5 guqin arranged on top.
Gu Mang turned to Mo Xi. "There is much I still can't remember. Is this island part of Chonghua?" he asked.
"No." Mo Xi stared at that flowering isle. "This island doesn't fall within Chonghua's territory."
Gu Mang stroked his chin. "How curious. Chen Tang the Wise Gentleman appearing alone on a deserted island outside Chonghua…"
He had no time for further thought before Wuyan's voice sounded again, this time filled with endless disappointment, frustration, and longing. "Perhaps it wasn't my time to go, or perhaps the tales I was told as a child were false—but after the immortal on this island found me wounded, he never tried to hurt me. He took me back to his living quarters and did all he could to heal me."
In the ball of light, Chen Tang carried the injured bat to a wood cottage near the little island's shore.
"I was badly wounded, and my dear mother and sister had perished in the terrible battle I'd fled," continued Wuyan. "Intent on escape, I'd had no time to grieve, but now that I was safe, I was overcome with heartbreak and cried day and night." In the small room, Wuyan—having recovered her human form—was huddled in a ball, tears streaming down her face. "The immortal kept me company. He wasn't scary like the ones in the demon tribe's tales. He treated me kindly, consoling and comforting me… Under his care, my spirits slowly lifted. I stayed for a long, long time. Later, I discovered the island moved from place to place. It never stayed in the same spot for long…"
Gu Mang and Mo Xi exchanged glances. What kind of island was this, covered in flowers and drifting untethered on the sea? It was like nothing they had heard of before.
"Regardless of season, the island existed in an eternal spring. An immortal lived there, so the spirits of the plants flourished," Wuyan said. "But aside from the flowers and trees, we were the only two on the island. He was kind and good, but far too mysterious. He wouldn't tell me where he came from—he wouldn't even tell me his name. After living with him so long, all I knew was that his surname was Chen."
"So it really was Chen Tang?" Gu Mang murmured.
"But what could I do? I called him Chen-gege." Within the glowing ball, Wuyan had regained some of her spiritual energy and, with it, her human form. She sat by the verdant altar with her delicate legs bandaged, but she didn't seem to be in pain. Her bright eyes never strayed from Chen Tang's figure.
"Chen-gege came to the altar and played the qin every day. The music was beautiful; each time he played, illusory haitang petals fell swirling over the island. I thought this was his immortal magic and begged him to teach me, but he always demurred. He said the haitang flowers didn't fall because of him. When I pressed him, he only smiled. But he was beautiful when he smiled. I saw him every day, and each time I saw him smile I was happy. Our time passed like this. Day after day, he treated my wounds, and I listened to him play the qin. And then one day…" Wuyan paused. "I discovered my view of the world had changed.
"Before that, I had the sky, the flowers, the trees, and Chen-gege in front of me. They were all very pretty, and it made me happy to look at them. But one day, I discovered that although the sky, the flowers, and the trees were still there, they no longer caught my eye. Instead, it was as if they had given all their color to Chen-gege."
Wuyan said: "I finally understood. I had fallen in love with him. He saved my life, treated my wounds, and soothed my grief. He shattered my previous impression of immortals…" Wuyan's inner voice sounded like any young girl's, pleasant and sweet, like crisp fruit on a branch. "Though he was so mysterious and taciturn, though he was an immortal and I a demon, I loved him. And I was going to make him love me back."
A brief silence.
"But he turned me away."
The ball's pearlescent glow dimmed. Within it, Wuyan was standing by the qin altar, face in her hands, tears falling between her fingers with a soft patter. It was clear her attempts to win over Chen Tang had failed. When Wuyan's inner voice spoke again, she sounded tearful. "He was completely shocked when I confessed my feelings," she said. "He said we had only known each other a few months. How could I feel love for him?
"But isn't love just a feeling? It can be slow and steady like a stream, or something you grasp in an instant. No matter how I pleaded with him, he rejected me in no uncertain terms. He said I could stay on the roaming immortal island until my injuries healed; then I must leave. I told him that I really did love him, but he said we didn't share the same path. I told him I would cultivate the immortal path for him, but he said he wasn't an immortal."
Wuyan paused. "Liar. If he wasn't an immortal, how could he move the island? If he wasn't an immortal, why would petals fall when he played the qin? I interrogated him, but he refused to answer. In the end, all I asked was whether or not he thought I was pretty. I would spare no effort to become whatever type of woman he liked. But he said his heart was for the Dao and that he desired nothing else."
At this, Gu Mang sighed. The fire bat tribe wasn't sharp to begin with, and on top of that, the emotions of demons were more stubborn and unreasonable than those of humans. Chen Tang obviously had no feelings for her, but she still hounded him for an explanation. She must have worn him down to the point of helplessness. Cultivators would often say their hearts were for the Dao when they needed to reject a particularly persistent admirer. In most cases, as soon as they heard these words, there was nothing the rejected party could say no matter how infatuated they were. At the very least, it was easy to accept since they weren't losing to a rival.
And indeed, Wuyan said as much: "I wasn't satisfied with his reason, but what could I do? I couldn't possibly stop him from cultivating, could I? In the end, I had no choice but to leave the immortal island. But before I left I decided to be stubborn one last time. I told him, since you're a gentleman, you must be a man of your word. You've rejected me today because your heart is for the Dao, with no desire for anything else—so you can't lie to me. He said he wasn't lying. So I asked him to pinky-promise with me. I used a demonic spell from the fire bat tribe to tie an invisible thread on his pinky—if he ever went back on his word and married another woman in the future, I would find out. And then I would…I would…"
Wuyan sounded lost. Even she didn't seem to know what she would do if Chen Tang married in the future. The scene in the glowing ball shifted again, this time showing the familiar coast of Bat Island.
"After I returned to Bat Island, I went through many trials and became the queen of the island. Yet I longed for him. Every night, I summoned the thread on my finger. When I saw it was still there, I would know he had kept his promise to love no one else. I clung to hope deep in my heart. I went against my nature to cultivate the immortal path…all in the hope that there would come a day I'd see him again. I hoped he would see my sincerity and know my feelings were true. I hoped I could change his thinking. So I kept cultivating and waiting, year after year. Until one day…"
The voice paused, and the ball of light darkened. Within, Wuyan was flying into a rage, as if she'd gone mad. "One day, I found that thread…had broken."
Gu Mang turned to Mo Xi in astonishment. "Did Chen Tang marry before he died?" he asked Mo Xi.
Mo Xi frowned, leveling a doubtful gaze at the ball. He shook his head. "No. He had no wife or children."
"Then did he have any similar-looking siblings?"
"No."
"Strange," Gu Mang said. "According to Chonghua's annals, he died killing the demon beast. But that doesn't line up with Wuyan's story at all." Gu Mang's brow furrowed as he continued in a low murmur. "I've always felt Chen Tang seemed familiar somehow. Like I've seen him somewhere before. What's up with this person?"
As he pondered, Wuyan continued to speak. Like muffled thunder from an approaching storm, her voice slowly transformed from sorrowful to ominous. "He married. He changed his mind, but not for me," she seethed. "For some woman I didn't even know! So much for 'heart for the Dao, desiring nothing else'… He lied to me! He looked down on me because I was a demon and he was an immortal! As soon as a suitable immortal pursued him, he changed his tune! He never intended to tell me the truth! I wished for nothing more than to rush over and rip that man-stealer to shreds, but I didn't even know what the bitch looked like! I was there first!"
Wuyan's fury echoed in their ears, as piercing as bared claws. "I knew him first! He promised me! He was disloyal and heartless! He broke his promise!"
Gu Mang sighed to himself. He'd really expected it to be a typical story of a fickle man, but against all odds, it wasn't so. This fire bat demon queen had staked it all on a one-sided infatuation. Chen Tang never loved her in the first place, and rejected her the only way he could. She tried to force him to love her, but feelings could never be forced. Nor did it matter who had come first. It was true that Chen Tang had promised he wouldn't marry, and had broken that promise, but this couldn't truly be deemed a "betrayal."
"I left the island to look for him, but the world is vast, and I had no idea where he and that bitch were hiding. On top of that, I was cultivating the immortal path against my nature; for this, I paid a heavy price. I was still young, yet my hair had turned white, my body shriveled and shrunken. Only the Xueling Pill made with the blood of the feathered tribe could return me my youth and strength. But why?!"
In the glowing ball, Wuyan had become a wrinkled old woman raging within the palace. A servant girl trembled as she presented a Xueling Pill to Wuyan on the throne. The instant she swallowed it, it was as though an unseen hand smoothed the wrinkles from her face; her aged skin became delicate and supple once more, and her withered features regained their beauty.
Her youth could be returned with forbidden medicines. Only the innocence in her eyes was forever lost.
"Mother was right. Immortals really do kill demons. Some kill our bodies while others kill our hearts! Liar! Liar… I don't understand these men who aren't of my tribe… I never want to see creatures like that again."
By now, Wuyan had descended into a frenzied madness. On the one hand, she believed Chen Tang could still change his mind; she harbored the deranged hope that her lost love would come see her again. On the other, she developed an extreme hatred for men of any other tribe, demon or human. She issued an order: if foreign men came to the island, they would be fed gu worms to change their appearance into Chen Tang's. She would use them however she pleased, easing her longing for a brief time.
"For a love like this, once is enough. I'll never make such a mistake again…" Her soft voice faded like ripples on a lake's surface, slowly falling quiet.
Once her story ended, Gu Mang stood and extinguished the ball of light. All that remained was a wisp of white that curled up and floated into his head—the result of him sharing minds with Wuyan and mastering the Bat Island barrier.
Silence reigned inside the thatched hut. Gu Mang said nothing after completing the spell, and Mo Xi's head ached from the demon tribe's overzealous emotions. He kneaded the bridge of his nose and his forehead in frustration.
The fire bat tribe was beast-like, and their love and hatred came down to something like this: If I love you, I'll make any sacrifice for you. If you don't love me after that, then you're heartless. The situation was a little more nuanced than that, but Gu Mang still felt rather speechless.
Mo Xi sat on the pile of straw, his head pounding. "What is this…"
Watching him, Gu Mang slowly formed a cunning idea. He broke the silence to ask with interest, "What about you? Have you ever had similar thoughts?"
Mo Xi lifted his head, confusion in his black eyes. "What?"
As Gu Mang looked into his limpid, uncomprehending eyes, he felt a twinge of reluctance. But he hardened his resolve, quirking his lips into that infuriatingly roguish smile as he reached out to lift Mo Xi's defined jaw.
Perhaps Wuyan's rambling really had made Mo Xi's head spin, or perhaps Gu Mang's loaded question had stunned him—whatever the reason, Mo Xi didn't resist. He let Gu Mang's finger tilt his face up, staring blankly at the man in front of him.
Gu Mang smiled. "Have you ever resented me like that?"
Mo Xi continued to stare.
"Have you ever thought, no matter how much you sacrificed, or how much you changed…" Gu Mang's finger slid down inch by inch, past that chiseled chin, along the rolling jut of Mo Xi's throat and down to his lapels, slowly coming to a stop on the left side of Mo Xi's chest. "I never actually loved you."
Gu Mang's fingertip tapped against that spot where he had once personally stabbed Mo Xi. A smile like fleeting mist played upon his lips as he pressed down lightly. The wound had long since healed, but the grisly scar remained. Through Mo Xi's clothes, beneath Gu Mang's fingers, it faintly began to throb once more.
Arm propped on his knee, Gu Mang knelt in the straw. He leaned down to stare at Mo Xi, who was sitting in front of him, and his mouth split into a grin as he asked, "General Mo, have you ever felt the kind of resentment she did?"
The confusion on Mo Xi's face disappeared with this. Gu Mang was smiling, but he might as well have slapped Mo Xi across the face. Mo Xi was stung; he hadn't expected this strike, and heartbreak spilled from his expression almost instantly. He turned away, biting his lip. Only after a long moment did he gather up his dignity and turn back to Gu Mang, fixing him with a vicious glare. "Chen Tang never said he loved Wuyan."
"So?"
"But you…" Mo Xi spoke with difficulty. "You did."
"Oh. Did I?" Gu Mang paused. "Then let's say I did. But you should understand, what men say in bed in a moment of pleasure can't be taken seriously." Gu Mang heaved a sigh. "Back when I slept with those girls, I would also tell them I love you, I care about you, you're the only one for me. When I was happy, I would say I'd pluck the moon from the sky for them. But look at you—you're a grown man. These words wouldn't fool silly little brothel girls, yet you believed them."
He sighed, reaching out as if to pat Mo Xi on the head. But before he could complete the motion, Mo Xi slapped his hand away.