[Classic of Mountains and Seas] Demons Haunt the Path to Immortality

The Demon Lord Mo Duo lured the fox spirit Bai Ning into altering the king’s memories, plunging the world into chaos and leaving countless lives in ruins. Cultivators from the Three Realms fought with their lives on the line, and at the cost of half their number, they finally sealed Mo Duo beneath the Heaven and Earth Stele in Dark Nether Valley. For a hundred years, all was peaceful.

At the start of this year, three muffled booms came from the direction of Dark Nether Valley, and three fine cracks appeared in the Heaven and Earth Stele. Then a strange children’s rhyme began circulating through the martial world:

Green mountains gather, all under heaven unite,

No one escapes the world’s greedy desires.

Seven things sought, mountains and rivers transformed.

Dark Nether Valley, a hundred ghosts arise.

People in the prosperous kingdom grew anxious. Wasn’t “green mountain” a reference to Green Mountain Temple, where demons were exorcised? Did “a hundred ghosts arise” mean Mo Duo was about to break free? Strange incidents were happening everywhere, too. The Zhang family’s young lady’s hairpin flew around by itself in the middle of the night, and a man from the Li family lost his soul after seeing a silver-haired figure. Everyone rushed to Green Mountain Temple, hoping to get a talisman to keep them safe.

Zhang Xuan’er was the youngest junior sister at Green Mountain Temple. She paid no heed to the affairs of the world and had no desire to work hard. Her greatest wish in life was to lie flat and live off her parents.

But the heavens had other plans. Her father, Master Zhang, suddenly ascended, leaving behind just four words: “The temple is yours.”

Zhang Xuan’er clenched the note between her teeth and stared at the exorcism requests flooding in through the door. She nearly spat out her osmanthus cake.

“What abbess? I can’t even work a hand seal!”

She could complain all she wanted, but seeing the hefty reward listed on the request, she still picked up her horsetail whisk, dragged along her honest-looking senior brother Zhang Chunliang, and reluctantly left the mountain...

Bonus Scene 1:

Among the requests, the job from Master Li was the most lucrative.

She was to go to Mount Fuling and reclaim his occupied ancestral home. The reward was fifty taels of silver. But the farther Zhang Xuan’er walked, the more suspicious she became. Master Li had only given her the address, saying, “There’s a silver-haired gentleman living in the house,” but he refused to come along. As soon as they reached the foot of the mountain, he claimed that “my mother’s cough has gotten worse,” then ran off with half the down payment.

“Something’s definitely haunting the place,” Zhang Xuan’er muttered, pushing open the vermilion gate of the large brick house.

The moment it opened, an impatient young man’s voice rang out from the courtyard. “What are you two doing, making a racket at someone’s door so early in the morning?!”

Zhang Xuan’er looked up and instantly forgot to put on her Taoist airs. The young man in the courtyard had long, loose silver-white hair, eyes that slanted slightly at the corners, and a moon-white brocade robe. He lazily waved a jade-handled folding fan, and even his frown had a striking, flamboyant charm.

Her hand moved faster than her brain. She stepped forward and stroked the young man’s hair. It was soft and silky, and she couldn’t help exclaiming, “Wow, are you a white fox? Your fur is so smooth! Senior Brother, look, it’s way softer than that old squirrel’s fur at the temple!”

Zhang Chunliang stood behind her, staring in utter disbelief.

Bai Jin abruptly stepped back, snapping his fan up in front of himself. His voice was as cold as ice. “A human dares touch a fox’s fur with those filthy hands? Aren’t you afraid it’ll ruin your luck?”

He glanced sideways at the horsetail whisk in Zhang Xuan’er’s hand and snorted. “A Taoist from Green Mountain Temple? Is this how little discipline they teach you?”

Only then did Zhang Xuan’er come to her senses. Her hand was still frozen in midair, but her mouth was already making excuses. “I-I was inspecting you for signs of being a demon! You’ve occupied someone’s ancestral home, so you must have harmed plenty of people. I touched your fur to see if it had human blood on it!”

A breeze swept through the courtyard, lifting the young man’s silver hair. He gave Zhang Xuan’er a knowing smile. “Inspecting me? Then you’d better do a thorough job. If I really am a demon, the first thing I’ll do is turn you, you money-grubbing Taoist, into a bad debt in my ledger.”

Bonus Scene 2:

In the middle of the night at Green Mountain Temple, Zhang Xuan’er slipped into her senior brother Zhang Chunliang’s dream again.

In the dream, Zhang Chunliang had just tucked his secret stash of money into a wooden box under the bed when Zhang Xuan’er took advantage of his distraction and reached for it. The moment her fingertips touched the latch, a familiar, teasing voice came from behind her. “Is this the fifth time this month? You’re going to empty out Senior Brother’s savings for his future wife.”

Zhang Xuan’er turned around and saw Bai Jin leaning against the doorframe, holding a piece of osmanthus cake. The tooth marks were unmistakable: it was the one she’d hidden under her pillow.

She didn’t panic. Instead, she sat down on the floor and rummaged through the money box. The tip of a fox claw accidentally peeked out from her fingertip, but she didn’t notice. “What do you know? This is called consolidating assets! I’m doing this so I can save up enough to marry you!”

Bai Jin took a bite of the cake and nudged the battered money box with his toe. “Marry me? Does your senior brother’s paltry stash even cover the osmanthus cakes I like?”

Zhang Xuan’er glared up at him, but her claw held the copper coins even tighter against her chest. “It will eventually! Once I’ve saved enough, I’ll promote you from ‘pet’ to ‘bandit chief’s husband.’ I’ll manage the temple’s money, and you can just focus on looking pretty!”

Bai Jin looked at her bulging clothes, amusement hidden in his eyes, but teased her anyway. “All right, I’ll wait. But if you steal from your senior brother again, be careful. Once he wakes up, he’ll chase you for three streets with his peachwood sword.”

Zhang Xuan’er waved a hand dismissively. “He’d never do that! Besides, once I marry you, you can take the sword for me, can’t you?”

Reading Guide:

Most of the demons are inspired by the Classic of Mountains and Seas and Chinese books on spirits and monsters.

A lovesick little fox spirit vs. a good-for-nothing female Taoist

Level up and battle monsters, raise a fox

Inspect haunted homes and exorcise demons, make big money

Sweet romance, happy ending, one-on-one pairing

Episodic stories, plot-focused, an alternate setting, very loosely defined, so please don’t overthink it.

Theme: If you can’t forget something, it will surely answer you in time.