Although Shen Shushi had said first thing that morning that he would set up a barrier around the Library Pavilion, Mei Man still couldn’t bring herself to relax.
Thinking she ought to add another layer of protection, she had gone to the spirit market the day before and found the spirit-beast shop she had broken into previously.
When she told the owner she wanted to buy a chain for restraining a spirit beast, he recommended more than ten of them, his attitude excessively agreeable.
His overenthusiasm made Mei Man especially wary. It wasn’t until the owner couldn’t resist boasting that she learned two inner sect disciples had barged into his shop a few days ago and caused a commotion, startling quite a few of the spirit beasts. In the end, they had compensated him with over a thousand spirit stones—enough to cover a month’s worth of food for all the spirit beasts and renovate the entire shop.
Watching him beam with delight, Mei Man fell silent for a moment before tentatively saying, “But I heard they were catching a thief.”
“What thief?” the owner scoffed. “Those two little punks were spouting nonsense. They turned the whole spirit market upside down, and they think saying they were catching a thief will get them off the hook? If I didn’t teach them a lesson, who knows what kind of bigger trouble they’d cause in the future.”
Mei Man felt wonderfully satisfied listening to him. If time had permitted, she would have loved to hear the owner curse those two a few more times.
The shopkeeper was clearly in high spirits as well. He brought out a treasure he had kept hidden for years and said, “You said the spirit beast you want to restrain has a cultivation level that’s too high? Today’s your lucky day, young friend—you’ve met a true expert. This Dragon-Prisoning Chain was made from the spiritual power of a White Tiger Gold Beast and forged with Vermilion Bird divine fire. Even a beast with ten thousand years of cultivation can be restrained by it.”
Mei Man held the dull gray chain in her hands, highly skeptical of his claims.
What White Tiger Gold Beast? What Vermilion Bird divine fire? If it was really that powerful, why did it look so utterly ordinary?
The owner, however, was refreshingly straightforward. He immediately flung more than ten spiritual arts at the chain. Sparks flew from the Dragon-Prisoning Chain, yet it did not suffer the slightest damage.
Mei Man was so startled that she stood there in a daze, utterly astonished.
“But I can’t make too bold a claim,” the owner added. “If the spirit beast’s cultivation is too high, this chain can only restrain it for a few hours at most.”
A few hours.
Coming back to herself, Mei Man fastened the collar around Shen Shushi’s neck.
A few hours would be enough. Even if she had to crawl, she could make it back to the Library Pavilion by then.
The instant the collar snapped shut, Shen Shushi, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes. The whites of them were rapidly flooded with a honey-brown color, while his pupils continued to darken.
His slightly parted mouth revealed teeth that had clearly grown longer and sharper, and a faint, threatening sound rumbled in his throat.
Mei Man tightened her grip on the collar, then seized the other end of the chain.
That end was fitted with a claw-shaped hook. As long as it was pressed against the ground, it would lock itself in place.
She glanced around, searching for somewhere sturdy.
Behind her, Shen Shushi continued to emit low, hoarse growls. His bones twisted and reshaped with a series of creaks, and his body was rapidly covered in silver-white fur.
The puppet that had been caring for him these past few days stood motionless nearby, staring blankly at him.
Mei Man caught sight of it from the corner of her eye.
“…”
Now she understood how the previous puppet had been destroyed.
After looking around for a moment, she fixed her eyes on a stone pillar in the corner. She hurried over and pressed the hook-lock against it.
A howl split the air behind her.
The sound was deafening. The hairs on Mei Man’s back stood on end, and she abruptly threw herself into a roll to the right.
A huge white wolf brushed past her and lunged at the windowsill. Its sharp fangs easily tore the edge of the window to pieces.
Mei Man broke into a cold sweat.
Especially when she caught sight of her torn sleeve, her entire body went rigid.
That had been close.
Far too close. She had nearly been bitten to death.
Without letting down her guard, Mei Man scrambled to her feet and sprinted toward the stairs on the other side.
The white wolf shook the splinters from its mouth, then whipped around. Its icy eyes locked onto her.
It lowered its head, its back arching high, like a bow pulled taut and ready to fire.
The next instant, it shot forward, moving so fast that its motion could barely be followed.
Mei Man grabbed the still-dazed puppet with one hand and seized the stair railing with the other. With a twist of her body, she leaped straight down from the second floor.
The chain snapped taut. The white wolf was yanked backward, tumbling across the floor and sending dust billowing into the air.
Mei Man’s brows twitched as she panted heavily, still shaken.
She released her sweat-soaked hand and stared intently at the top of the staircase.
The white wolf’s throat had been pulled tight. It whimpered twice, then leaped back to its feet and charged forward again.
Mei Man finally managed to breathe a little easier.
Fortunately, it wasn’t very intelligent. It hadn’t even noticed the chain around its neck.
The puppet she had dragged down suddenly said blankly, “Thank you, Immortal Mei.”
Mei Man shot him a sidelong glance and ignored him.
Hmph!
He didn’t even know how to run. If he weren’t the only one who called her “Immortal,” she wouldn’t have bothered saving him.
Mei Man dusted herself off and was about to leave when she noticed, after taking a few steps, that the puppet was still standing there in a daze. She suddenly realized what was wrong.
Normally, Shen Shushi gave him orders, which was why he knew to act.
But now that Shen Shushi had transformed into his demonic form, no one was giving him instructions, so he had become nothing more than a human-shaped piece of wood.
After some thought, she turned back and examined the puppet before her.
One had a face as impassive as still water; the other looked dull and slow-witted. The two of them silently stared at each other.
After a long while, Mei Man tried speaking to him. “Go fetch some water.”
The puppet turned around and left without the slightest hesitation.
Was he really that useful?
Mei Man felt a pang of envy. If she could ever gain spiritual power, she would have to make herself a wooden puppet like this one.
When she returned, she took out half of a Nine-Turn Meridian-Forging Pill—about the size of a fruit—and lay on the windowsill, chewing it as she watched the distant Heart-Clearing Pavilion.
The pill’s sour, bitter taste filled her mouth. She swallowed it without changing expression and soon felt a warm current nourishing the meridians within her body.
At this rate, after taking the Nine-Turn Meridian-Forging Pills for another month, her meridians would be strong enough to withstand demonic or spiritual power.
As for the white wolf…
From where she sat, she could see only the top of its furry head through the narrow window.
The wolf had already realized that it was trapped and was now biting and clawing at the chain.
Mei Man had not originally intended to pay it any attention, but before long, a wolf’s howl rang out from the Heart-Clearing Pavilion.
The howl reverberated through the heavens. It was piercingly loud and seemed to bore straight into her ears.
She had assumed it would stop after a while. Instead, the howling continued for a full half-hour.
No wonder people always paired ghostly wails with wolf howls. Mei Man felt as though her ears were about to go deaf. The worst part was that the wolf did not howl continuously. It would stop for a while, then start again.
Every time it howled, her heart trembled.
Every time it howled, her eyelids twitched.
In the end, she could take it no longer. She called over the puppet guarding the entrance to the cave abode and went to the Heart-Clearing Pavilion with him.
Back at the Qiu residence, she had helped Qiu Heyang raise a dog.
The dog had refused to obey her at first, but after spending enough time with it, she had gradually trained it.
She had some experience raising dogs. Shen Shushi might have turned into a wolf, but presumably it wouldn’t be all that different.
When the white wolf saw Mei Man, it did indeed stop howling, but it remained poised to attack at all times.
Its arched body was taut, its white fur standing on end, its ears pricked high as it tracked her every movement.
It did more than stare at her. From deep within its lungs came low, muffled growls, dark and menacing, as a warning.
Mei Man stared at it expressionlessly, showing none of the deference she displayed before Shen Shushi.
Suddenly, she pulled a strip of dried meat from the spirit-beast shopkeeper and tossed it to the wolf.
The meat landed on the floor. The white wolf evidently thought she was attacking it and immediately darted away, the growling rumble in its throat growing even louder.
But its nose was keen. It quickly caught the scent of the meat and located the source.
Keeping a wary eye on the strip, it circled around and approached it in a roundabout way, all the while shooting sidelong glances at Mei Man and sniffing repeatedly, as though trying to determine what it was.
When it was only a few steps away, the white wolf suddenly pounced, then retreated several paces at lightning speed.
After repeating this several times, it finally lunged forward, seized the dried meat between its teeth, and raced to a corner on the other side of the room, hiding most of its body behind a cabinet.
Mei Man could only watch as it leaped and bounded about, dashing here and there.
“…”
She thought that if Shen Shushi had happened to witness this scene and she had recorded it with a memory orb to blackmail him, he might even have agreed to take her as his master.
The white wolf pinned the dried meat beneath one paw, still warily watching her. Its nose, however, remained pressed against the meat as it sniffed and investigated, occasionally licking it as though trying to determine whether it was safe to eat.
Mei Man and the puppet stood motionless at the foot of the stairs.
A full quarter of an hour passed before the white wolf cautiously tore off a small piece of meat.
It chewed twice, still looking as wary as before, its body tense, though its ears had honestly flattened backward.
The white wolf gulped down the morsel, then seized the rest of the dried meat in one bite. After chewing it a few times in a haphazard fashion, it swallowed the whole thing.
Even after finishing, it kept its head lowered and its eyes tilted upward at Mei Man. But unlike before, it no longer let out threatening whines.
Mei Man understood that it was waiting for another piece, so she tossed one in front of it.
In the blink of an eye, the white wolf had eaten it clean and was looking up at her again.
This time, Mei Man did not immediately throw it another piece. Instead, she raised her hand so the wolf could see the dried meat, then extended that hand toward the puppet.
“Sit,” she said.
The puppet did not understand what she wanted, but he did as she said.
He sat cross-legged on the floor.
“Not like that,” Mei Man whispered. “Sit like a dog.”
The puppet changed positions and settled into a crouch, sitting like a large dog.
“Good dog.” Mei Man patted him on the head, handed him the dried meat, and said, “Eat.”
The puppet, not knowing what was going on, took a wooden bite.
Mei Man took out another strip of dried meat and said to the white wolf, “Sit.”
The white wolf remained motionless, its eyes gleaming fiercely.
She then looked at the puppet, who had already gotten to his feet. “Sit.”
The puppet crouched down and sat again.
“Good dog.” Mei Man patted him on the head and fed him the meat.
Then she turned back to the white wolf. “Sit.”
The room was filled with the savory scent of meat, and the white wolf stared at her without blinking.
Just as she was about to move her hand away, its tail suddenly wagged twice. Then it crouched down and sat.
“Good—”
Mei Man was about to step forward and pat it, but remembered that this was not a real dog. She came to an abrupt stop, then patted the air twice from a distance.
“Good dog.”
With that, she tossed the dried meat to it.
The white wolf caught it perfectly and swallowed it in one gulp, barely chewing at all.
The puppet had watched the entire thing. Only then did he belatedly realize that she was training the Immortal Lord’s demonic form like a dog.
He fell silent, his mind muddled.
By his understanding, he should have been destroyed by now. Yet not only was he still perfectly fine, he was also standing here watching the Immortal Lord’s disciple train a dog.
Mei Man taught the wolf to “sit” once more.
Seeing that it had mastered the command, she turned to the puppet and said, “Shake.”
The puppet raised his hand.
Mei Man took it, shook it up and down, then gave him another strip of dried meat. She patted his head and said, “Good dog.”
She looked toward the white wolf and extended her hand, then quickly withdrew it. Instead, she picked up a wooden stick nearby and held it out from a distance.
“Shake.”
The white wolf suddenly exploded into motion. It pounced on the stick and tore it to shreds between its teeth.
Mei Man had the distinct illusion that it was her arm being mauled. She shook her hand several times before finally dispelling the phantom pain.
“Bad dog! Bad dog!” she said darkly, glaring at it, her displeasure written plainly across her face.
She stopped training it altogether and, right in front of the wolf, put away every last piece of dried meat.
Just then, Qiu Yingling contacted her through a communication jade slip and asked her to come to his cave dwelling. Mei Man did not want to listen to the white wolf howl anymore, so she hurriedly left.
Mei Man arrived quickly. When she reached Qiu Yingling’s study, however, he was nowhere to be seen.
A large pile of notes and ledgers still covered his desk. She only glanced at them before spotting another large X, with several small words written beside it:
Dragon bones won’t do either.
Mei Man could not make sense of what was written there. Suddenly, the painting hanging on the wall shifted, and Qiu Yingling pushed open a door behind it and emerged.
So it was a hidden mechanism door?
Not wanting to invite trouble for herself, Mei Man looked away without examining it too closely.
Qiu Yingling was also startled for a moment. Then he smiled and said, “Manman, what brings you here so quickly today? Even if you were impatient to see me suffer under the torment of demonic energy, you’ve never been this eager.”
Mei Man thought, What torment? It only forced out his true, shamelessly lecherous nature.
But aloud, she merely said, “It’s nothing important.”
“How have your studies been going these past few days?”
“Not bad.” Mei Man was distracted.
“What have you been learning lately?”
“Training dogs—and once I finished with physical cultivation, I started practicing alchemy.”
Her words sounded like human speech, yet Qiu Yingling seemed unable to understand them. His smile stiffened slightly.
“What?”
“I’ve been practicing how to make fasting pills,” Mei Man said, as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
