Chapter 89 — A Good Man, a Wild Dog

Xiaowan turned and looked toward the small tree. Zhou Yixuan and the Wild Wolf Daoist were indeed still sitting there. During the height of the wind and rain they had been shouting at each other, but now, battered by the storm, they clearly had no spirit left; both feebly lowered the garments covering their heads, and with a splashing sound the water poured off them in streams.

Xiaowan smiled faintly, turned, and set Xiao Hui down. He landed on the ground, gave two little hops, then shook himself all over, sending droplets flying everywhere—even Xiaowan could not dodge in time.

Xiaowan laughed and scolded him, then noticed not far off a patch of water plants that looked like a small pond. She walked over, found a spot with fewer plants, and looked down.

The pond was thick with water weeds; even here, where the surface was a little more open, it seemed to reflect a deep, clear green, and she could not tell how deep it was. Xiaowan gazed at the water, at her own reflection, and slowly tidied herself, gathering back the strands the storm had disordered—though her clothes, soaked through and clinging to her, were still most uncomfortable.

Behind her, in the distance, Zhou Yixuan and the wild dog seemed to have started bickering again, but their voices were low and she could not make out the words. All around her, the world had suddenly gone quiet; after the endless wind and rain, the silence now felt extraordinary.

Even the sound of a crystalline drop sliding quietly down a green leaf vein on the water plants beside her and falling into the pond seemed unusually loud.

Xiaowan could not help drawing a deep breath of the faintly sweet air after the rain.

Suddenly, behind her, Xiao Hui, who had been quiet all this while, let out a sharp, tense chattering cry.

Xiaowan started. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but her voice caught in her throat. There in the pond before her, within the dense water plants ahead, a pair of eyes—more than twice the size of an ordinary person's—was staring at her.

Xiaowan screamed. Farther off, Zhou Yixuan and the Wild Wolf Daoist were both badly startled, but before they could react, the surface of the pond before Xiaowan suddenly erupted, and a thick column of water roared up, hurtling straight at her.

Xiao Hui shrieked shrilly!

Xiaowan's face went white, but her wits did not desert her. In her alarm she instinctively took a step back and drew her left hand to her breast. Quick as a blink, just as the water column was about to strike her, a ring of orange light burst from her left hand and formed a luminous screen that blocked it for an instant.

The thick water column struck the orange screen head-on and stopped dead in midair, unable to advance a hairsbreadth. From within the column came a hoarse, muffled cry, and the column swayed in the air; amid the white spray a black shadow appeared, about to fall back into the pond.

Xiaowan, still shaken, was about to retreat when a sharp whistle cut through the air. A goose-yellow figure flashed like lightning, racing toward her, and in an instant stood before her—it was Jin Pingyue.

Jin Pingyue's lovely face was cold with menace. Her right hand swept out, and purple radiance surged forth, plunging straight into the waters of the pond. An instant later came a thunderous roar, and a surging wall of water rose from the pond, shooting skyward several zhang high.

The black shadow was driven out by her, yet it still had strength to spare. Though it dared not face Jin Pingyue directly, it tumbled backward with the water and splashed down among the weeds; its body twisted, and like a fish it swam forward with incredible speed.

Everyone was taken aback. The creature looked almost human, yet such movements in the water were far beyond any ordinary person. Jin Pingyue frowned slightly but did not give chase. The monster's shadow was about to vanish into the thin mist at the far end of the pond.

But just then the monster gave another hoarse, furious cry. Within the mist a faint dark-blue glow tinged with blood-red flickered, and the creature immediately flipped and flew back, as though in utter terror of that dark-blue radiance.

Yet as it hung in midair, it suddenly saw that the once-green water plants in the pond below, spreading outward from beneath its feet, had all withered swiftly, turning charred yellow, and even the water's surface was faintly darkening—only in the direction of Jin Pingyue did the weeds remain unchanged.

The monster seemed to give a death-roar, but in the end it dared not fall into the pond. It flew at Jin Pingyue, plainly making a final, desperate lunge.

Xiaowan cried out in alarm, "Sister, look out!"

Jin Pingyue's expression did not change; a cold smile touched her lovely face. As the black monster drew nearer, her bright eyes flashed, her right hand rose, and purple radiance blazed. No one around could make out what magic treasure lay within that dazzling purple glow; they saw only the purple light, like a blade, come down on the monster's head. The creature gave a muffled "hou" and its body was blasted ten zhang into the air, then crashed heavily down, limbs twitching. It did not look like it would live.

All around, the world gradually quieted. In the pond that had been so turbulent, the waves slowly stilled. Every eye turned to the monster on the ground—and then everyone, Jin Pingyue included, was taken aback.

It was indeed a monster—but a monster shaped like a human.

It had, like a person, hands and feet and four limbs, and even wore tight garments on its body, though they were scanty, evidently for ease in the water. On the exposed skin were patches like fish scales.

But the most shocking thing was its head: it was a fish's head—lips, gills, and even eyes like a fish's, without lids.

Now this fish-headed, human-bodied monster lay on the ground, blood flowing steadily from its mouth, its body motionless. It seemed Jin Pingyue's blow had struck it dead.

Xiaowan looked at the monster on the ground and felt a genuine chill. Instinctively she shrank back behind Jin Pingyue, who reached out and patted her shoulder lightly, murmuring comfort.

After a moment, two figures slowly emerged from the mist ahead. Though they came out together, they kept well apart, as though still wary of each other: Ming Li, and Qin Wujiu of the Wan Du Sect.

Ming Li's gaze shifted and rested briefly on Xiaowan's face behind Jin Pingyue, then moved on.

Xiaowan looked at Ming Li, then at Qin Wujiu, and felt an involuntary shudder. These three—the most outstanding young masters of the Demonic Cult—meeting in secret like this; the very thought of the reason was both baffling and thrilling.

Qin Wujiu walked up to the monster and nudged its body with his foot. The creature rolled over and lay still.

Qin Wujiu said mildly, "Dead."

Xiao Hui, who had been hiding nearby, chattered twice and leaped onto Ming Li's shoulder.

Ming Li glanced at the Wild Wolf Daoist, then at Zhou Yixuan and Xiaowan. He seemed to frown, then said slowly, "We've said all that needs saying. Let it be."

With that he turned to go. Qin Wujiu suddenly said, "Brother Ming Li, this monster—neither human nor beast—appearing here so abruptly is highly suspicious. Have you no thoughts on the matter?"

Ming Li halted but did not speak. Jin Pingyue glanced at Qin Wujiu. "What, do you know what this thing is?"

Qin Wujiu paused, then shook his head slightly. Judging by the faces of Jin Pingyue and Ming Li, neither of them knew the origin of this half-human, half-fish monster either. Just then, someone stepped forward from the side and said in a clear voice, "I know where this monster comes from."

Ming Li and the other two were startled and turned to look. It was Zhou Yixuan. Even Xiaowan was surprised. "Grandpa, you know?"