The evening wind moved through the bamboo grove and drifted lightly into the courtyard.
Outside the bamboo fence, Gui Junmeng and the three-colored cat had been looking at one another for some time.
The young woman gently smoothed her skirt and crouched down, drawing a piece of pastry from inside her robe and holding it out on her open palm.
The three-colored cat seemed to understand her meaning. It padded forward with light, neat steps, swaying its soft body, and walked slowly to the young woman's feet, lowering its head to eat the pastry.
When it had finished, the cat pressed its face affectionately against her ankle.
Gui Junmeng reached out and stroked its fur, from the top of its head to the back of its neck, and then along its fluffy tail, each motion gentle and careful.
The little wild cat half-closed its eyes and wore an expression of great contentment, a soft purring rising in its throat.
Inside the courtyard, Xiao Mo was sitting with Daoist Master Yun Xi's words turning over and over in his mind, deep in thought.
Seeing the furrow at Xiao Mo's brow, Daoist Master Yun Xi continued. "If they are unable to attain proof of the Dao and ascend within a thousand years, they will not live past the age of a thousand. But fortunately, there is always a way..."
"I ask that Daoist Master Yun Xi explain it to me clearly."
Xiao Mo raised his head, his gaze steady, his voice carrying a seriousness it had never held before.
"Your talent for the Daoist arts is very high, extremely high, and most importantly, in all this time, you are the first man who has been able to cultivate the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet."
Daoist Master Yun Xi placed her hands one over the other in her lap, tilted her head slightly upward, and let her gaze pass through the thickening night, beyond the stars scattered across the sky, as though she meant to see straight through the heavens.
"The origins of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet are not as simple as you imagine. Even Senior Gui and I understand this cultivation method only in part."
"But..."
Daoist Master Yun Xi raised a hand and lightly tucked away the wisps of hair the evening wind had blown across her cheek, the movement composed and graceful.
"Within the later chapters of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet, there is recorded a method of dual cultivation. If you and Junmeng were to cultivate together by that method, you would be able to complete Junmeng's great path, helping her step into the realm of the immortals."
"At that point, Junmeng would truly and fully become her own person, no longer subject to any influence from her... counterpart."
"Beyond that..." Daoist Master Yun Xi looked at Xiao Mo. "Junmeng's Heaven-Born Dao Vessel constitution can in turn nourish you and support your own cultivation."
"And so taking Junmeng as your wife and cultivation partner would be a matter of no loss whatsoever to you. From that point on, the two of you could ascend the great path together. Whether in the Demon Realm or the Ten Thousand Laws Realm, you could go wherever you wished, and no one would be able to stand in your way."
Xiao Mo lowered his head and fell into thought, without answering immediately.
After a moment, he raised his head and looked at Daoist Master Yun Xi steadily, his gaze carrying a careful seriousness. "Then may I ask Daoist Master Yun Xi, if I were to cultivate with Junmeng and she completed her great path, what would become of Jingci?"
At the question, Daoist Master Yun Xi shook her head, and a quiet sadness passed through her eyes.
But she did not conceal anything, and told him plainly. "Jingci carries the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox bloodline, and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan attains the Dao through love. That word love, how difficult a thing it is, and how uncertain and intangible."
"For a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox to step into the realm of the immortals is not difficult in itself. But to ascend to the higher realm beyond that, how many have ever managed it?"
"If you cultivate with Junmeng, then Junmeng will be able to live."
"But if you remain at Jingci's side, and Jingci is ultimately unable to attain the Dao through love..." Her voice paused slightly. "Then both of them will die."
The night wind drifted through the bamboo tops with a soft, rustling sound, as though sighing on someone's behalf.
"In other words, Daoist Master Yun Xi is asking me to choose Junmeng, and let Jingci go her own way?" Xiao Mo had understood what Daoist Master Yun Xi meant.
Daoist Master Yun Xi closed her eyes. After a long pause she opened them slowly, turned to look at Xiao Mo, and said calmly, "Yes."
"Daoist Friend Xiao Mo, you once saved Tushan Jingci when you were children. Tushan Xinhua gave you the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet so that you could make this choice."
"Whatever choice you make, no one will blame you for it."
"But if you take Junmeng as your wife, the two of you will without question become a pair of immortal companions and ascend the great path together."
Daoist Master Yun Xi looked at Xiao Mo steadily, her gaze warm and still, her tone carrying no trace of pressure, only a candid and unhurried waiting. "Everything I had to say, I have said."
"So, Daoist Friend Xiao Mo, are you willing to come with me?"
In the courtyard halfway up the mountain, moonlight flowed like water across the eaves and the stone steps.
Tushan Jingci lay on her bed, turning from one side to the other, unable to sleep.
Tossing and turning, she had worked the brocade bedding into creases all around her, and her heart refused to settle.
"How is Xiao Mo doing right now?"
She murmured to herself, her voice as soft as though she were whispering a secret to no one.
"Should I... go and find him again?"
The moment the thought surfaced, she buried her face in her pillow, leaving only a pair of beautiful fox eyes rippling above it, her cheeks burning hot with embarrassment.
"But I only just said all those things to him not long ago. It feels so terribly embarrassing..."
She pressed her flushed cheek against the pillow and tried to hide it there, but her heart simply would not settle.
"Oh, never mind!" Tushan Jingci suddenly sat up, took a deep breath, as though mustering her courage, "It is already said, whether it is embarrassing or not. I just want to see him!"
She swung herself off the bed with a decisive motion, draped a light outer robe over her shoulders, and pushed the door open to walk out.
But the moment the young girl stepped into the courtyard, her steps came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes contracted sharply, and she stood as though rooted to the ground.
"Mother... Mother..."
Catching sight of the familiar figure sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard, Tushan Jingci called out in surprise, recognizing her at once.
"Mm." Tushan Xinhua smiled and gave a nod, turning slightly to look at her daughter with a warm gaze. "Jingci. Three years without seeing each other."
"Mother, what has brought you here?" Tushan Jingci walked quickly forward, her heart full of surprise.
Three years without seeing her mother was not something she felt particularly strongly about.
After all, for a cultivator, three years was like three months for an ordinary person, no more than the blink of an eye.
But still...
Every time her mother came to visit her, she would always send word in advance by flying sword.
To arrive unannounced and without warning, as she had this evening, was something that had never happened before.
Tushan Xinhua did not answer immediately. She clasped her hands gently before her and looked quietly at the winding mountain path that led from the halfway point down to the foot of the mountain.
The moonlight fell across her profile, her expression calm and faraway, as though she were waiting for something.
"Jingci..." she began softly, her voice as gentle as the night wind brushing through the flowers. "Your mother came tonight because she is waiting for an answer."