Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Wedding Night

The thread of devil qi led them out of Azure Cloud City.

Around any great city sprawled fertile fields and farm estates that fed its population. Azure Cloud City was no exception. They walked past darkened furrows and low fences until the Stone Lamp pulled them toward a large estate.

Before they even reached the gate, cheerful wedding music drifted out into the night.

All three of them stopped.

“Is someone getting married?” Yue Yun Qiao whispered.

“Senior Brother,” she asked, eyes flicking to the lamp, “is the source of the devil qi here?”

Huo Chong Xiao lowered his gaze. “Yes. Look—the flame is even stronger.”

It shouldn’t have been.

They hadn’t collected much devil qi in the first place. Burning it for tracking should have consumed it. The flame should have weakened the farther they went.

There was only one reason it burned brighter now.

Something here was hiding a denser concentration of devil qi, and the lamp had sensed it.

Bai Meng Jin put on an innocently concerned look. “What do we do?”

Huo Chong Xiao’s jaw tightened. “We go in and look. There are too many people here. If something happens, it’ll be a massacre.”

Yue Yun Qiao nodded hard. “We can’t just watch.”

Bai Meng Jin, of course, offered no objection.

Huo Chong Xiao blew out the Stone Lamp and tucked it away. He suppressed his cultivation and, with a few quick adjustments, disguised himself as a rural independent cultivator.

“Junior Sister, did you bring the jade token?” he asked.

Yue Yun Qiao answered at once, pulling out a jade pendant and shaking it lightly. “I kept it safe!”

Huo Chong Xiao hesitated, then reached into his sleeve and produced three copper coins strung together. He handed them to Bai Meng Jin.

“Miss Bai, we still don’t know what’s going on,” he said quietly. “This is a warding charm my master made. Don’t let it leave your body until we leave the estate, all right?”

Bai Meng Jin took it.

For a brief, unsettling moment, something like warmth tugged at her chest.

In her memories, Huo Chong Xiao had been the first to ward her away.

Now she stood under his protection.

It didn’t feel real.

After tidying themselves up, the three of them approached the estate.

Someone spotted them quickly. An old man stepped out with several young men behind him, their faces wary beneath the lantern light.

“Stop right there,” the old man barked.

Huo Chong Xiao stepped forward with an easy smile and bowed. “Greetings, Elder.”

His face was honest, his manners polished. The kind of person who earned goodwill without trying.

The old man didn’t soften. “Where do you immortal guests come from, and what business brings you here?”

Huo Chong Xiao answered smoothly. “My junior sister and I are from Yong Province. We’re traveling under our master’s orders and happened to pass through. We missed the inn today by accident, so we hoped to borrow a room for the night.”

Before the old man could speak, one of the young men behind him scowled and cut in. “No. Can’t you see there’s a wedding tonight? We can’t host outsiders. Go find another farm.”

Huo Chong Xiao’s smile faltered into a troubled look. “But—”

Bai Meng Jin swayed suddenly, as if her legs had given out.

Yue Yun Qiao caught her. “Junior Sister Bai!”

Huo Chong Xiao’s eyes sharpened. He seized the opening. “My junior sister is sick. She can’t walk much farther. Please—do us a favor.”

Bai Meng Jin’s skin was porcelain-white, and beneath the hazy lantern light she looked fragile enough to snap. The men exchanged glances.

In the end, the old man clicked his tongue. “Fine. We’ll clear a room. But don’t wander around. Don’t offend the bride.”

Huo Chong Xiao bowed again, relief written neatly into his face. “Thank you.”

They were led through the estate along winding paths until they reached a secluded courtyard.

An elderly couple lived there. The old man muttered a few instructions and left, locking the gate behind him.

The old woman showed them into an empty room. “This is my son’s room. He’s not home. You can make do for one night.”

She brought hot water and food, then withdrew.

Once the door shut, Huo Chong Xiao moved at once, inspecting the room with careful eyes. Only after he’d confirmed nothing was amiss did he plant formation flags around the edges, sealing the space against spying.

He exhaled. “For now, we’re safe.”

Yue Yun Qiao turned to Bai Meng Jin, impressed. “Junior Sister Bai, you were so sharp. If you hadn’t reacted quickly, they wouldn’t have let us in.”

Bai Meng Jin lowered her head, the picture of shy honesty. “Actually… I was hungry and lost my balance.”

Yue Yun Qiao laughed. “Either way, getting in was what mattered.”

Then her expression sobered. “Senior Brother, what now?”

Outside, the wedding music drifted to them in broken pieces, as if the main festivities were some distance away.

Across the courtyard, the elderly couple’s window faced them, the curtains shifting now and then. Watching.

This estate didn’t welcome outsiders.

“Eat first,” Huo Chong Xiao said. “You two haven’t fasted yet. Don’t go hungry.”

Yue Yun Qiao had food in her storage pouch. When she took it out, it was still steaming hot. She shared it with Bai Meng Jin.

The meal the old woman brought was fed to the spirit bird Huo Chong Xiao kept, which pecked at it suspiciously before deciding it was acceptable.

After a short rest, Huo Chong Xiao took out a few small puppets and set them on the bed.

He breathed lightly.

The puppets blurred, grew, and turned into three convincing figures: Huo Chong Xiao, Yue Yun Qiao, and Bai Meng Jin, sitting and leaning as if resting.

Then he traced a line on the wall. With a soft crackle of spiritual power, a small passage opened through the plaster.

Huo Chong Xiao stepped through first. He reached back, pulling Yue Yun Qiao along, then Bai Meng Jin.

On the other side, he produced paper figures and handed one to each of them.

They poured spiritual power into the paper.

Their bodies shimmered, shifting into new shapes.

Huo Chong Xiao became an ordinary-looking middle-aged man. Yue Yun Qiao became a clean-cut young boy. Bai Meng Jin turned into a little girl in a red padded jacket.

Together, they looked like a father taking his two children to a wedding feast.

Bai Meng Jin widened her eyes as if she’d never seen anything like it. “This is…”

“Puppet craft,” Yue Yun Qiao said proudly. “Once you start learning, you can do it too.”

Huo Chong Xiao snapped off a twig and turned it into a neat gift box with a flick of spiritual power. He grinned, mischief bright in his eyes. “Come on. Daddy’s taking you to drink wedding wine.”

“Senior Brother!” Yue Yun Qiao hissed, face red beneath his disguise. “Stop taking advantage of us!”

Huo Chong Xiao laughed quietly and led the way toward the music.

Bai Meng Jin followed behind, her steps slowing for a heartbeat.

Yue Yun Qiao had been dead for too long.

Bai Meng Jin had almost forgotten what Huo Chong Xiao looked like when he was happy.

In her memory, he was either out hunting devils or shut inside the Martial Hall. Even when they met, his face was always grim, carved into discipline and grief.

Her feud with Ning Yan Zhi had nothing to do with Huo Chong Xiao.

They hadn’t been close. And after she betrayed the sect, she hadn’t explained anything to him. She’d never offered him the courtesy of truth.

So every meeting turned into a fight, and without anyone intending it, they became enemies.

Seeing him like this now, she almost—almost—felt pity.

When they left this strange realm, would he be crushed?

Loss was pain carved into bone. To taste it again, just to lose it all over—

Bai Meng Jin’s mouth tightened.

How ridiculous.

If anyone deserved pity, wasn’t it her?

They reached the front courtyard.

Lanterns and red ribbons hung everywhere. Drums and gongs thundered. Twenty or thirty banquet tables crowded the space, and the estate was loud with laughter and shouted toasts.

Huo Chong Xiao guided them to the gift desk and offered the box.

The accountant eyed them suspiciously. “And you three are…?”

“Distant relatives,” Huo Chong Xiao said, adding a heavy accent as if he’d lived his whole life far from polite speech. His expression was guileless. “We live far away. We just arrived.”

The accountant turned, asking a few nearby guests, but no one seemed to know. The auspicious hour was close. With too many people to manage and too little time to care, the accountant accepted the gift with a harried nod.

“There are too many people today,” he said. “Sorry for the poor welcome. Go over there to watch the ceremony.”