Part 6: The Witch and the Celestial Fox

Inside the imperial palace of the Yan Kingdom, a woman with a golden phoenix hairpin in her hair and only the lightest touch of rouge upon her face was quietly grinding ink with her pale, lotus-white hands. Beautiful and beguiling, she carried a charm that could sway hearts with every slightest movement. Her clear eyes, warm with affection, rested on the man beside her as he practiced calligraphy.

The man was strikingly handsome, towering in bearing and unmistakably regal in every gesture. Even his ordinary robes were embroidered with dragon patterns. He was the Emperor of Yan, and the woman beside him was his empress.

It was said that the emperor and empress of Yan treated one another with the utmost courtesy, and that the empress alone enjoyed his favor. Judging by this scene, there was indeed some truth to it.

With a faint frown, the Yan Emperor finished his last stroke, laid the brush upon the white porcelain rest at his side, and said coolly, “Empress, in a few days it will be Qianqian’s fifth birthday, will it not?”

At the mention of her well-behaved and lovely younger daughter, Yan Qianqian, the empress’s gaze softened further. “Yes, Your Majesty. Three days from now will be Qianqian’s birthday.”

The Yan Emperor fell silent for a moment. Three days... He remembered that among the children of the same age as Qianqian there was also that one, the orphan left behind by the Shen family. His brows drew together faintly. “The Shen child is five as well, is he not?”

The empress froze, clearly not expecting him to bring it up so suddenly. Yet she had been properly trained; in the space of a breath, she collected herself and answered evenly, “Yes.”

“Then have that Shen child come and attend Qianqian’s birthday banquet as well.” The emperor spoke again. The empress’s eyes darkened slightly as she began to ponder the meaning of this unusual decision. Rising, the emperor continued, “Someone, go to the Shen residence and deliver the decree.”

After the emperor left the empress’s chambers, she lowered herself in a slight curtsy, smoothed away her smile, and watched in silence as he departed.

The palace worked with extraordinary efficiency. Soon, a eunuch set out from the imperial palace for the Shen estate—no, it should now be called Prince Shen’s residence.

Hidden at the back, Black Slave held Shen Xunqing in his arms and watched the messenger from the palace proclaim the imperial edict. The two figures kneeling at the manor gate were nothing but illusions Black Slave had conjured at a whim, and the servants elsewhere in the residence were merely puppets he had fashioned.

At the sight of “Black Slave” and “Shen Xunqing” kneeling at the gate, the eunuch drawled in a shrill voice, “By the Mandate of Heaven, His Majesty decrees that Prince Shen is to enter the palace on time three days hence to attend the Sixth Princess’s birthday banquet. There must be no error. This is the imperial decree.”

“Black Slave” accepted the decree in “Shen Xunqing’s” place and said, “We thank Your Majesty for his boundless grace.”

The eunuch nodded and said nothing more before leaving in a hurry. The two figures at the gate vanished at once. Black Slave emerged with Shen Xunqing in his arms, holding the yellow imperial edict, and frowned. “My lord... this...”

Shen Xunqing did not seem troubled. He merely let out a soft, “Go.”

After all, the reincarnation of that little King of Hell had not yet been found. Let these people occupy themselves for a while; that was no bad thing.

He had originally intended to make a trip to the Underworld to investigate the trail of the little King of Hell’s rebirth. But with his present body, if his soul left for even a quarter of an hour, he feared the body would collapse and die on the spot. By his estimation, he would have to wait until this mortal shell reached the bloom of youth before he could truly track that little King of Hell down. Until then, he would have to find some amusement elsewhere.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Shen Xunqing wore the pale violet robes bestowed by the royal household. He was still young and did not need to bind his hair, only a ribbon of milky-white silk holding it in place, which made him look all the more delicate and endearing. It was not hard to imagine how fine he would be when fully grown.

Black Slave, dressed in dark gray with his hair carelessly tied by a wooden hairpin, silently carried Shen Xunqing into the imperial carriage sent to receive them. An aura of chilly avoidance surrounded him, and the people who had come to greet them, seeing his manner, immediately shed their initial contempt and became solemn and careful. After many years in the palace, they knew how to read people; the Shen family was not someone they could afford to provoke.

The carriage glided smoothly into the palace. Black Slave carried Shen Xunqing into the banquet hall, and at the proper moment the eunuch called out, “Prince Shen presents himself before the throne.”

The entire hall fell abruptly silent. In the end, it was the Yan Emperor who spoke first. “So this is the Shen child. He already looks clever and quick-witted. Come, sit over here.”

Black Slave set Shen Xunqing down. Shen Xunqing bowed slightly and said, “Xunqing pays his respects to Your Majesty. Since birth, I have suffered from a chill in my legs and am unable to perform a full bow. I beg Your Majesty’s pardon.”

His voice was childlike, yet every word rang clear and strong, audible to everyone in the hall.

The ministers, watching the small child who could only manage a partial bow, were secretly astonished. Since when could a two-year-old child be so monstrous a prodigy? If the Shen family had not been wiped out, what a different brilliance that would have been. A pity. A true pity.

The Yan Emperor gave a few soft chuckles and said lightly, “Granted.”

After a while, Shen Xunqing took his seat not far below the emperor. Only then did the ministers rise and salute him. “This minister greets Prince Shen.”

Shen Xunqing inclined his head with calm composure. Once everyone had resumed their seats and most of the guests had arrived, the Yan Emperor clapped his hands to signal the beginning of the banquet.

Music and dancing filled the great hall, and cups moved back and forth in cheerful abundance.

Shen Xunqing rested his chin on one hand and ate at his leisure, allowing the others to study him as they wished. His eyes were half-lidded as he silently admired the singing and dancing before him. Then he noticed that among the many gazes directed his way, one was especially intense.

He could not help frowning. Pretending to be absentminded, he glanced around and found the owner of that stare: a small girl in pink standing beside the empress. She was dressed prettily, and her delicate face suggested she was the Sixth Princess—the one his own age.

In the five years since his birth, he had never once left home, let alone entered the palace. He was certain, absolutely certain, that he had never met this so-called Sixth Princess before. This was their first meeting, so why was the little girl looking at him like that?

The palace banquet was far more tedious than he had imagined. Using ill health as an excuse, he withdrew early. He had expected someone to come make trouble for him, to provide a bit of entertainment. Thinking of it now, he found the whole affair rather disappointing.

Not long after leaving the banquet grounds, Shen Xunqing was called out to.

“You, over there, stop right there for this princess!”

Shen Xunqing paused for a moment, then quickened his pace. Black Slave followed silently at his heels.

Seeing that the person ahead had ignored her, Yan Qianqian grew angry. She rushed forward and tried to throw herself at Shen Xunqing. He turned to look at her, shifted slightly to the side, and avoided her. Her fall kicked up a cloud of dust that clung to the hem of his clothes.

His brows nearly knotted together.

Yan Qianqian scrambled up and cursed, “You old ghost! Don’t you know how to cherish a lovely lady?” She had shaken off her nursemaid and snuck out alone, and for the moment there were only the three of them present: Yan Qianqian, Shen Xunqing, and Black Slave.

That eerily familiar sense of something unwanted and deeply unpleasant, together with the girl’s manner of speech, made Shen Xunqing instantly recall who she was: that ugly woman from the demon realm.

His face darkened completely, and the disgust and contempt on it were impossible to miss. “Get lost! Stay away from me!”

Before Yan Qianqian could react, Shen Xunqing glanced at Black Slave. Understanding at once, Black Slave scooped him up and strode away in great leaps. He even used a touch of sorcery in his walking, so in Yan Qianqian’s present state she would never be able to catch up.

Yan Qianqian snorted coldly, got to her feet, and stared after the direction in which Shen Xunqing had fled. In her heart she vowed, I refuse to believe I cannot pin down this old ghost. We have all the time in the world.

By the time they left the palace and returned by carriage to Prince Shen’s residence, the sun had already sunk below the horizon.

Shen Xunqing yawned repeatedly, patted Black Slave on the shoulder, and motioned for him to set him down. The two of them walked one behind the other, one small and one tall, when suddenly a streak of white light shot straight toward Shen Xunqing from the distance in the air.

Black Slave instinctively seized Shen Xunqing and dodged aside.

With a thud, the white light struck the ground. As the radiance gradually faded, a white fox appeared—astonishingly familiar. It trembled as it tried to get back on its feet, its eyes wet with tears fixed firmly on Shen Xunqing. Its entire body was plastered with all manner of talismans.

The little fox whined softly. Since Shen Xunqing was in this state, he could still transmit his voice through his consciousness sea, and so he heard the fox call out to him in a trembling voice, “Benefactor...”

Indeed, this was the young celestial fox whom the Ghost Sovereign had once rescued and sent back to the Celestial Fox clan, only to be placed under the care of the old matchmaker. He had escaped from the old matchmaker’s hands again and again, until, in the end, the old matchmaker had simply come to ignore him entirely.

When Shen Xunqing did not answer, the little white fox’s tender voice took on a note of grievance. It called again, “Benefactor...”

It had searched the mortal realm for a very, very long time before finally finding its benefactor and coming to repay the kindness. Grandfather had said that as a fox, especially one of the Celestial Fox clan, it must never forget gratitude. It had taken that instruction to heart and would certainly keep it. It was determined to be a good celestial fox.

Shen Xunqing’s mouth twitched slightly. Could anyone tell him why? He had not yet found that little King of Hell, and yet so many had already found him.

The little white fox seemed to be in agony, its body as if it had come apart at the seams. It struggled toward Shen Xunqing, brushed his shoe lightly with its nose, and then fainted.

Seeing this, Shen Xunqing pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed. To Black Slave he said, “Why are you standing there? Hurry up and carry this thing inside.”

Given his old ties with the fox elders of the Celestial Fox clan, if they learned of it, they would most likely be willing to leave the little fox in his care for the time being. For now, the best solution was simply to let it stay.

At his words, Black Slave silently picked up the young celestial fox and followed Shen Xunqing inside.

The talismans on the little fox were numerous and chaotic, some useless and some viciously poisonous. One glance was enough to tell that this had been done by some pretentious, clueless Daoist who thought himself clever. It was fortunate the little celestial fox had managed to escape by chance; otherwise, who knew how badly it would have been tortured.

Black Slave removed the talismans, applied some healing salve to its wounds, and had it sleep in a guest room. He then went to stand guard outside Shen Xunqing’s chamber. His lord’s body was far too weak now, his aura intermittent and faint; if someone with ill intent were to plot against him, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He could not bear such responsibility, nor could he bear his master’s wrath, so guarding the door was the best course.

Dawn drew near in silence.

The little white fox in the guest room suddenly opened its eyes. In a flash of white light, a small child in white robes appeared within the room. After sleeping, the little fox’s body still ached faintly, but its spirit was much improved.

It opened the door and, following the scent of its supposed benefactor, hurried toward Shen Xunqing’s room.