Chapter 563: Tailing

Evening, near Zhen Ting Hall. After bathing at Qingxiazi’s residence, Huá Sāng took off her tattered Daoist robe, changed into casual clothes, scratched her back with a ferule as she walked toward the Chain Suspension Bridge, and drew frequent sidelong glances from passing disciples. Those strange looks were full of puzzlement, as if saying, “Beauty, who are you?”

Huá Sāng rarely tidied herself up so cleanly. Though her dress was still a bit lazy and casual, compared to before, her current look had reached the point where many disciples couldn’t recognize her. However, she felt no joy from this at all; being sized up by gaze after gaze, like a monkey in a zoo, only made her feel uncomfortable all over. “Shifu said that since I’m tailing someone, I should dress as ordinarily as possible to avoid unnecessary attention…” Huá Sāng muttered under her breath. “But it’s only drawn more attention.”

That very overage single lady had always treated the disciples like her own children. But that slightly excessive concern—even after more than ten years—Huá Sāng still wasn’t quite used to it. She didn’t hate Shifu; it was just that Shifu’s behavior always reminded her of her grandmother…

“Come to think of it, could Shifu simply have used it as an excuse just to give me a bath?”

While Huá Sāng was talking to herself, two female disciples in the crowd finally recognized her and came over. “Senior Sister Huá Sāng? Excuse me, are you Senior Sister Huá Sāng?”

Huá Sāng glanced at the two girls, curled her lip, and said, “Yeah, what is it?”

At that, the two female disciples hesitated for a while before mustering the courage to ask, “W-We just wanted to ask, Senior Sister, how did your skin suddenly become so good? Because before…”

“Sorry, sorry, Senior Sister, I don’t mean you were bad before… I-I just want to ask about the method.”

The method? Huá Sāng thought for a moment and shivered slightly. Recalling Qingxiazi grabbing her by the back collar, ignoring her struggling and pleading, and forcibly dragging her back to her place for a bath, she felt a chill. That stance was like shoving a little filthy cat caked in mud into the tub and scrubbing it thoroughly from head to toe, regardless of whether the little filthy cat wanted it. “The method is to have my Shifu give you a bath…” Huá Sāng paused, pondered for two seconds, and still felt it necessary to tell them the truth. “If you can endure being scrubbed with a steel wool pad.”

Yes, Qingxiazi had used a steel wool pad to bathe that little filthy cat. The two female disciples, “…”

Seeing the two disciples stunned in place, Huá Sāng politely cupped her hands. “If there’s nothing else, junior sisters, I’ll take my leave.”

I still have to keep an eye on that kid! If I delay any longer, I won’t catch up. Honestly, because of the experience in Hua City, Huá Sāng had always been interested in Lu Yibei. If it weren’t for having to leave the bounds of Zhenwu Mountain, she would’ve been quite happy to tail Lu Yibei. Also, she had to find a chance to ask that guy if he had seen her senior brother…

I clearly asked Senior Brother to receive him, but the old man said Senior Brother went to Shizhou City early in the morning—this is too strange, Huá Sāng thought. After bidding farewell to the two female disciples, she tucked the ferule into the faintly visible cleft at her collar to stow it, then turned and walked toward the Chain Suspension Bridge. As she was about to reach the main gate of Zhen Ting Hall, she saw from afar the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast poking its huge head out of the pool; her eyes lit up slightly, and she quickened her pace. Sensing Huá Sāng’s aura approaching, the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast shuddered and hurriedly hid deep in the pool. It was terrified of this girl…

Having witnessed with its own eyes Huá Sāng’s ferocity in cooking and eating the offspring of its old friend in various ways, it always felt that someday Huá Sāng would set her sights on it.

————

Dusk had arrived. As the sky shifted from gold to red and gradually tinged with purple, the core entity of the haunting within Lu Yibei began to stir restlessly. Lu Yibei pressed on. Passing before the main gate of Zhen Ting Hall, the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast poked its head out of the pool and threw him a flirtatious wink that made his scalp tingle—yet for some reason, after that wink, the divine beast made no further move and silently sank back into the water. He jogged through Zhen Ting Hall, crossed the Chain Suspension Bridge, and headed straight for Xuanwu Terrace. Along the way, Lu Yibei desperately suppressed the haunting transformation. Although this was already some distance from the Great Pure Palace, making the psychic energy fluctuation leaked by the transformation hard to detect, he still couldn’t transform now.

He had discovered he was being tailed. And not by just one person. At least three! Through the premonitory thoughts flashing occasionally in his mind, he realized that two gazes were secretly spying on him, and another person had grabbed the Paper Cicada Immortal he had placed and was following not far behind. Damn it, why are these people tailing me, a completely ordinary reserve operator of The Midnight Watchers Society? Could it be that I told Yi Sihan too much and accidentally slipped up? Lu Yibei couldn’t figure out what about his appearance at the Great Pure Palace as an operator of The Midnight Watchers Society warranted attention.

It was late; most tourists had already left, the scenic area grew chill and quiet, and the weary sunlight filtered through the dense branches of ancient trees, dappling the slightly dilapidated old buildings. A flock of distant birds skimmed across the sky, leaving mournful cries behind. Striding quickly up the long stone steps leading to Xuanwu Terrace, Lu Yibei’s thoughts raced. Unable to figure out why those guys were following him, he could only think of a way to shake them off. It actually wouldn’t be hard: he just needed to find a chance to disappear from their sight briefly and complete the haunting transformation. After transforming, both his appearance and the aura of his psychic energy fluctuation would change drastically; combined with his form-altering ability and the jacket’s new ability, they wouldn’t possibly recognize him again. If worst came to worst, he could abort the transformation and head back to Hongyan Villa for a good sleep—that was also a decent option.

But the problem was, how could he disappear from their sight, even briefly? Pondering this, he unknowingly passed the long stone steps and reached Xuanwu Terrace. From afar, he heard the thunderous roar of the Three Thousand Silver Ribbons cascading down, and his eyes lit up slightly. A waterfall? Got it! The faint yet immense amount of psychic energy dispersed by the spray of a waterfall could interfere with psychic sense probing to a certain extent. In fact, extreme environments like waterfalls, volcanoes, and deserts all cause some interference to psychic sense detection. Such is the greatness of nature, and its difficulty to overcome! He only needed to use the waterfall to disrupt his pursuers’ detection for a moment to complete the haunting transformation.

The only rather troublesome thing was the metal case—too conspicuous a feature, and hard to hide. He could only stash the metal case somewhere immediately after breaking away, then take only the Pure Lotus Sword, a small number of Alchemical Bombs, a few Paper Cicada Immortals, and a few potions—just that little bit! Going in light, as it were. The jacket should barely fit…

With that thought, Lu Yibei glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he took two or three quick steps forward, and just as he was about to climb over the railing at the edge of Xuanwu Terrace and leap toward the roaring waterfall, someone behind him clapped and cheered. “Nice jump!”

At the sound, Lu Yibei’s body froze. Hands on the railing, he turned his head and saw an old and a young man who had somehow appeared near a melon stand, each holding a slice of cut watermelon. Noticing his gaze, the two men wore ambiguous smiles. Lu Yibei had seen that kind of smile before—back when Shui-Ge bathed with his old man, scrubbed the old man’s back, and praised how smooth his skin was. As he stood there stunned, the two made a series of exaggerated winks at him. Lu Yibei, “???”

Wait, who the hell are you? Where did you pop out from? And… why are you eating my melons?! Seeing Lu Yibei stand frozen in place for a long time, the youth lowered his voice and asked the middle-aged man with him, “Elder, why isn’t the Holy Son jumping? Could it be that with us watching, he feels it’s inconvenient to act?”

“Nonsense!” the middle-aged man said in a low voice. “What is it to leap down from above the waterfall cluster without a scratch? A miracle! Since the Holy Son wants to display a miracle, someone has to witness it!”

“A miracle without witnesses—what kind of miracle is that? Salih, you haven’t been in the Miracle Order long; there’s a lot you don’t know.”

“Back when the former Holy Son had not yet fallen, in front of Shibuya, Tokyo, Times Square, New York, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower… every time he displayed a miracle, it was under the gaze of tens of thousands of eyes…”

At this point, the middle-aged man’s thoughts drifted briefly to the past. Before his eyes rose scenes of the former Holy Son stirring up a frenzy as he displayed miracles among the crowds, as if he could once again smell countless Flowers of Miracles blooming among the people, that intoxicating fragrance. Unknowingly, a flush of excitement crept onto his face. Not far away, Lu Yibei looked at that middle-aged man with a gloomy physiognomy and a full beard, who looked like a member of an extremist terror group from Central Asia, flaring his nostrils and taking a fierce sniff in his direction as if he’d just taken a hit of the “good stuff” produced by Celestian, wearing an expression of ultimate high, his whole person coming undone. Damn! I can’t stand this! Lu Yibei cursed inwardly, took a few steps forward, pointed at the two, and shouted, “What’re you looking at?”

Seeing this, the youth whispered to the middle-aged man, “Elder, the Holy Son doesn’t seem happy. Maybe we should back off for now?”

“What do you know?” the middle-aged man hissed back. “Based on my experience, this is when you should answer…”

“Looking at you. So what?”

Listening to the middle-aged man’s Dongbei-style1 dialect with that exotic flavor, Lu Yibei was greatly astonished. Are people this reckless nowadays? Forget it—if I can’t afford to provoke them, can’t I just avoid them? Damn it, if today weren’t so inconvenient, I’d teach you a lesson! Seeing that darkness was about to fall completely, eager to avoid the eyes tracking and watching him and to complete the haunting transformation, Lu Yibei didn’t pay the two suspicious men much mind. 

He turned and jogged along the mountain path of Xuanwu Terrace. Not far below the mountain path of Xuanwu Terrace, there was also a smaller platform from which one could leap into the waterfall cluster. In the dark, Huá Sāng, who had followed Lu Yibei up to Xuanwu Terrace, glanced at his receding back, then at the two tourists, and frowned slightly. Those two seem to know Lu Yibei? 

What’s their background? Crap, that guy got away! As Lu Yibei’s figure vanished from sight, Huá Sāng hastily put away her doubts and gave chase. When she passed through Xuanwu Terrace, descended the steps along the path, and found Lu Yibei again, she happened to catch the scene of him leaping from the lower platform toward the waterfall. His posture was as if he were participating in the Monkey King Selection Contest at the Water Curtain Cave of Flower-Fruit Mountain. Seeing this, she flickered forward a few times and reached the small platform. Bracing her hands on the railing, she peered down, hesitated a moment, then flipped over the railing.

————

On Xuanwu Terrace. Seeing Huá Sāng and Lu Yibei pass by one after the other, the two members of the Miracle Order, Salih and Shem, fell silent for a moment, exchanged a look, and spoke in unison. “Oh no, the Holy Son is being tailed!”

Salih froze for a moment and asked, “What should we do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Shem blurted out. “Of course we go after them and warn the Holy Son!”

So the two gave chase, just in time to see Huá Sāng leap into the waterfall. “…” Salih and Shem were speechless. After a long moment, Salih asked softly, “Elder, do we… jump or not?”

Shem pondered for two seconds, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and made a decision that went against the fragrance of the Flower of Miracles. “Forget it. Let’s sightsee and take the cable car.”

The cable car’s lower terminus was near the waterfall’s plunge pool. “Aren’t we following in the Holy Son’s footsteps?” Salih asked, puzzled. “You don’t get it. We can’t steal the Holy Son’s thunder,” Shem explained. “Oh…” Salih nodded, half-understanding.

————

The instant he leaped from the small platform, the wind roared. Deafening thunder and a water vapor so dense it was suffocating rushed toward him. In the billowing mist, Lu Yibei spread his arms, feeling the wind stream through his fingers like an osprey diving toward the water, soaring between wind and water. After a brief drop, his sight caught a small cave behind the waterfall’s curtain below where he could land. He immediately pulled a Paper Cicada Immortal from his chest and tossed it downward, then snapped his waist to twist his body midair and alter his descent. Next, he stamped downward with his toe and landed squarely on the flapping Paper Cicada Immortal.

Rriiip!

With the soft tear of paper, Lu Yibei used the momentum to flip back, burst through the water curtain, and landed steadily at the cave mouth.

Hoo-chew—!

After completing a series of high-difficulty moves, he let out a long breath, swiftly stripped off his clothes, prepared to release the suppression on the core entity of the haunting and complete the haunting transformation, then change into the jacket stored in the metal case. As for why the jacket was placed in the metal case instead of being worn…

The little cutie is a haunting, after all. If I swaggered into the Great Pure Palace wearing it and got seized, what then? Lu Yibei took two seconds to pull off his shirt and was about to take off his pants when, just then, a figure suddenly swept past in front of him. Thus, Huá Sāng and Lu Yibei, separated by the waterfall’s curtain, stared at each other for about half a second, question marks popping into their heads at the same time. Huá Sāng: “?”

What is he doing? Why is he undressing? Lu Yibei: “?”

Did a girl just fly past? Does tailing someone these days require risking your life like this? As Lu Yibei was thinking this, the sun slipped completely below the horizon, the sky darkening visibly, and the core entity of the haunting within him began to stir uncontrollably.

————

At 5:33:07 p.m., the Zhenwu Mountain Scenic Area was completely shrouded in night. At the foot of the mountain, lights came on in the parking lot beside the scenic area ticket office. Under the lukewarm glow, a bus slowly pulled out of the lot and stopped at the roadside bus stop for final departure waiting. On the bus, the driver glanced back at the empty cabin, lit a cigarette, and stared blankly out the window. Today’s last bus would probably be the same as usual—before leaving the scenic area limits, not a single passenger…

Which was fine: one cigarette, one empty bus—that was the freedom a middle-aged man longed for. As the driver thought so, a soft, milky voice suddenly entered his ears. “Sir, is this bus going to Shizhou City?”

Following the voice, he saw a girl standing at the door, wearing a red-and-white color-blocked shell jacket with the hood up. A few pink-white strands of hair hung from beneath the hood, hiding her face. It’s almost summer—why is she dressed so thick? The driver frowned slightly and nodded. “Mm, this bus goes to Shizhou City.”

“Okay.” The girl responded, pulled out her phone to scan the QR code by the door, paid the fare, boarded, and went straight to the last row by the window to sit down. Catching her in the rearview mirror, the driver stole a glance, then was about to start the engine when the soft chime of a QR code scan sounded again. He turned to look, and another girl boarded. She wore a white T-shirt with four bright red characters on the chest: “The Dao follows nature.” The wide hem of the T-shirt hung down, almost completely covering her denim hot pants. Her long, fair legs extended out, and she wore a pair of Hello Kitty flip-flops, as if she lived in a different season from the previous girl. Her waist-length hair was a bit damp and hung loosely down her back. Her bangs were flipped up and pinned with a cute little bow clip. A few strands framed a classically delicate oval face, bare of makeup yet not at all detracting from her pure beauty—brows and eyes like autumn water, with a charm that made it hard to look away. It’s her? The one who was tailing me just now?

The instant she saw Huá Sāng, Lu Yibei’s heart tightened. Then her gaze swept over the flip-flops on Huá Sāng’s feet, and she frowned. Those sandals—had she seen them somewhere before?

Huá Sāng stood by the bus door and briefly scanned the carriage. Failing to find Lu Yibei, she sighed silently and was just about to get off when two familiar faces appeared at the door.

An old man and a young one—precisely the two tourists she had seen earlier on Xuanwu Terrace!

Them? Those two who had come into contact with Lu Yibei.

Huá Sāng’s eyes trembled slightly. She picked the nearest seat and sat down without betraying a thing.

Her? The one who had been tailing the Holy Son!

Just as Huá Sāng noticed Salih and Shem, they noticed her as well. They exchanged a silent glance, then sat down too.

And so, after waiting a short while and seeing that no one else was getting on, the driver started the bus and headed toward Shizhou City.

Footnote:

1. Dongbei-style(东北口音): A regional accent from China’s northeast, often associated with blunt, hearty, and comedic speech. Here it makes the middle-aged man’s tone sound especially rough and out of place.