Where were they? Where was Yan Wenqing? Gu Zhaoyan gazed at the dark surroundings, open and silent, with not a single shadow of a person in sight except for the unconscious people by his feet. He knitted his brows tightly, first sending the souls of the guards back into their physical bodies before feeding each of them a medicinal pill. Shortly after the pills went down their stomachs, the guards slowly fluttered their eyes open, regaining their wits only to frantically search everywhere for their lord.
Gu Zhaoyan recounted what had happened to them, and before they could speak, he said, “You woke up just in time. I need to go look for your lord. The few of you should follow this path straight ahead and wait at Zhou Village; we will be back shortly.”
The guards exchanged glances, and their leader stepped forward, pressing his palms together in a Buddhist salute toward Gu Zhaoyan. “Then we will not drag Master down. We implore Master to rescue our lord safely. If there is ever anything we can do to help in the future, we will gladly risk our lives!”
“Amitabha. Monks hold compassion as paramount, so this poor monk naturally will not stand by and watch someone die.” Gu Zhaoyan nodded, returning the Buddhist greeting.
Watching them depart, Bailang trotted over with something yellow clenched in its teeth. Gu Zhaoyan reached out and took it, only to discover that it was the protective and exorcism talisman he had given Yan Wenqing. If Yan Wenqing had not voluntarily thrown these two talismans away, ghosts and malevolent spirits could never have drawn close to him so easily.
“Where did you find this?” Gu Zhaoyan brought the talisman paper to the tip of his nose and sniffed it lightly, catching the faint trace of a lingering demonic aura.
Bailang turned and faced the pitch-black forest on the right, saying, “Among a clump of thorn bushes.” If it hadn’t searched carefully, it wouldn’t have spotted it at all.
Gu Zhaoyan could practically imagine what had happened and let out a helpless, long sigh. Walking over to the spot Bailang indicated, he saw that the thorns and weeds bore no signs of a struggle, only a slightly flattened state. He pressed a hand to his forehead in mild exasperation. “You’re saying he threw them away himself?”
“Aside from him walking off of his own accord, nothing else could leave a trace like this,” Bailang said flatly. If a demon had forcefully dragged him away, with the exorcism and protective talismans still on him, Yan Wenqing could never have slipped away so silently without leaving a single trace behind.
Gu Zhaoyan drew out that faint strand of demonic aura, repeating the same trick to let the paper crane lead the way. Under the cold moonlight, two silvery-white figures wove through the mountain paths in pursuit of a paper crane. Glancing back at the vast distance they had already put behind them, Gu Zhaoyan couldn’t help asking, “This demon’s home is certainly built far away.”
Bailang observed, “Where demons live is usually far removed from the mortal world. If you search deep within the wild mountains and ancient forests, you’ll find them eight or nine times out of ten.”
Suddenly, Bailang halted. Gu Zhaoyan stopped as well, asking with a puzzled expression, “What is it?”
“Did you hear something?” Bailang tilted its head to listen intently, its two ears twitching upright.
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoyan quieted down to listen too. Faint music seemed to be drifting over, the sound was weak, appearing to come from afar, yet simultaneously sounding right beside them, though for some reason the volume was very low.
At that moment, the paper crane suddenly began spinning in circles ahead, refusing to take another step forward. The instant Gu Zhaoyan and Bailang caught up, they watched the paper crane plummet straight down. Gu Zhaoyan reached out and caught it, only to find that the wisp of demonic aura on the paper crane had completely dissipated.
“Oh no, the demonic aura is completely gone. How are we supposed to find him now?” Gu Zhaoyan’s expression turned somewhat unsightly. Was his mission going to fail before it even truly began?
Bailang, however, remarked, “Perhaps the paper crane has already brought us to where we need to be.”
Hearing this, Gu Zhaoyan pondered thoughtfully and said, “You mean the demon that took Yan Wenqing is right here? Your speculation isn’t entirely unreasonable, otherwise the paper crane wouldn’t be spinning around in circles here. Even if the demonic aura dissipated entirely, it should have dropped somewhere along the search path.”
He looked around the dim surroundings, realizing that at some point, he and Bailang had wandered deep into the mountains. Even with the excellent moonlight tonight, its beams couldn’t pierce through the dense, overlapping layers of tree branches.
Gu Zhaoyan sighed. “Searching like this is truly inconvenient. Once we get back, I am definitely going to forge a magical artifact specifically for tracking demons.” Or perhaps he could just ask Senior Brother for one.
Bailang surveyed the surroundings and said, “Since the paper crane is spinning in circles here, the clue is likely right around us.”
Gu Zhaoyan nodded, and man and wolf began searching the immediate area. Yet after a thorough sweep, aside from trees and dirt, there was genuinely nothing else to be found. Gu Zhaoyan planted his hands on his hips in irritation. “This is truly bizarre!”
“Wait!” Gu Zhaoyan raised a hand to stop Bailang, who was about to speak. “I think I hear those notes of music again, and they are much clearer than before.”
Bailang listened closely, then confirmed with certainty, “It’s celebratory wedding music.”
“In the dead of night, deep in these wild mountains and ancient forests, hearing celebratory music no matter how you look at it feels thoroughly eerie.” Gu Zhaoyan looked toward Bailang. “Shall we go take a look?”
Bailang stared straight ahead at a specific spot and muttered, “We don’t need to go look. It’s coming to us.”
Coming? What’s coming? Gu Zhaoyan followed Bailang’s line of sight, and the next second frantically pulled Bailang into the shadows with him. He slapped an invisibility talisman onto each of them to conceal his human aura and Bailang’s demonic aura.
Out of the deep gloom, three red sedan chairs drifted forward, accompanied by strings of music, with dots of eerie, ghostly green light fluttering around them. As they drew closer, he realized the music was being played on suonas. And what shocked Gu Zhaoyan even more was that whether it was the bearers of the sedan chairs, the suona players, or the surrounding glowing dots, every single one of them, damn it, was a weasel’s eyeball, glowing a sickly green and brimming with malice.
The weasels carried the sedan chairs and played the suonas, passing right by Gu Zhaoyan and Bailang as they marched straight ahead. A gust of wind suddenly blew up, lifting the curtain of one sedan chair. With sharp eyes, Gu Zhaoyan caught sight of a young man with delicate and handsome features seated inside, though his eyes stared blankly ahead, clearly having lost his wits.
Once he saw clearly, Gu Zhaoyan didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried. The good news was that this person wasn’t Yan Wenqing; the bad news was that they couldn’t just stand by and watch him walk into a tiger’s mouth.
Watching the weasels march forward, Gu Zhaoyan and Bailang silently trailed closely behind them. They hadn’t gone far before the weasels carrying the chairs and playing the suonas gradually vanished, taking Gu Zhaoyan and Bailang with them as the scenery dissolved.
Gu Zhaoyan felt his vision blur, and the scene before him transformed entirely: a four-courtyard grand mansion blazed with bright lights. Dazzling red lanterns hung at the front entrance, and a red silk flower hung over the lintel, making it look precisely like a festive wedding household.
Gu Zhaoyan stood outside the front gate, watching the weasels chatter noisily as they carried the sedan chairs into the manor grounds. Could Yan Wenqing have been dragged here too? After all, Yan Wenqing’s facial features were decent enough, falling squarely into the refined and scholarly category.
“We’ll know once we step inside and take a look.” Bailang turned its head and blew a puff of demonic aura toward Gu Zhaoyan. “This wisp of demonic aura can conceal your human aura, making you look like one of their own to other demons. However, this effect will only last for an hour, so we must find Yan Wenqing’s whereabouts as quickly as possible and rescue those people.” It knew Gu Zhaoyan couldn’t simply ignore the individuals who had just been carried inside.
Gu Zhaoyan nodded. “I understand.” He casually fished out an item, placed it inside a wooden box, and holding the box, he walked toward the front gates alongside Bailang