Back on Xingde Mountain after so many years, Liu Xiaolou felt a little out of it as he stared at the temple, now covered in dust and tangled in cobwebs.

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

With a creak, he pushed open the doors of the east annex and slowly stepped inside. The bronze lid covering the Nine-Star Earthfire was as heavy as ever. As soon as he lifted it, a wave of heat surged out to meet him.

Liu Xiaolou sat cross-legged in front of the fire pit. He took out a jade tablet engraved with talisman markings and held it suspended above the fire.

Hmm, a little higher. Green Bamboo said back then it needed to be at least a foot above.

His eyes drifted toward the doorway. No one was there, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of a tall figure standing by the entrance, pointing at the fire pit, saying:

“The fire’s a bit too strong.”

“Hold it higher, about a foot, don’t let it get too close.”

“So, tell me, how are things between you and Xixi?”

“Liu Xiaolou, do you think Xixi will ever know?”

Liu Xiaolou gave his head a quick shake, driving that image out of his mind, and focused once more on the earthfire before him. Slowly, the engraved talisman channels of the jade disk began to glow faintly with light. He held his breath and concentrated, beginning the smelting of the Five Metals and Eight Stones.

Before the Nine-Star Earthfire, he spent nine days refining the Ground Disk. Another nine days went into inscribing the Three Wonders on the Sky Disk. Finally, after seven more days of merging the Sky and Ground Disks together, the simplified version of the Abyssal Blackstone Formation Disk was complete. In all, thirty-two days had passed.

The moment the formation was finished, he stepped into it to test its effect. And once again, that tall figure appeared. This time reclining against the embroidered pillow at the side of the bed-curtain, eyes fixed intently on him.

Liu Xiaolou stared blankly at the her for a long while. At last he withdrew from the formation, covered the earthfire once more, shut the temple doors, descended Xingde Mountain, and set off eastward.

After traveling all night, he finally reached Dongting. He bought a boat there and headed down the river. The next day, he pulled ashore and pressed southeast, asking along the way for directions to Shengzhou. He made his way through the hills and mountains, winding along the paths as he went.

The scenery ahead grew even more beautiful. Mountains rising in jagged layers, waters glittering with light. After circling for several li, he came upon a stone archway at the foot of a mountain. Four bold characters were carved into its face: “Clouds Rising, Glorious Sunset.” Liu Xiaolou knew then that he had arrived at Siming Mountain.

Upon that mountain stood the great sect of formation masters—the Siming Sect.

Liu Xiaolou dared not intrude, so he stood respectfully before the mountain gate to wait. Before long, a steward came down the path. “From where does the guest come?” he asked.

“I am Liu Xiaolou,” replied Liu Xiaolou. “I wish to meet with Master Diao Gao in person. Might I trouble you to pass along my request?”

“Are you acquainted with Senior Brother Diao?”

“Last year, on Jinting Mountain, I was fortunate enough to receive his guidance.”

The steward said, “Then I’m afraid you’ve come for nothing. Senior Brother Diao went down the mountain a month ago and has not yet returned. I don’t know where he went. If it’s something urgent, you can leave a letter with me and I’ll see that it’s delivered.”

Liu Xiaolou had come to find Diao Daoyi mainly to ask after Green Bamboo’s whereabouts. Since Diao wasn’t around, that was that. After a moment’s thought, he asked, “Might you know where to find Green Bamboo? From the Ouyang family of Lianxi Hall…”

The steward did indeed know. It turned out Green Bamboo’s bragging in the past had not been empty boasting. She was truly well known in this region.

Having learned the location of her retreat, Liu Xiaolou set out at once. Leaving Siming Mountain, he turned northeast, and sixty li away, by the side of a small stream, he came upon a grove of bamboo.

The bamboo was not dense, growing in clusters of three or five stalks, encircling a ring of bamboo houses. In the clearing before those houses, Green Bamboo was hosting a banquet. She sat across from a young woman as the two of them drank together.

Liu Xiaolou hid at a distance, quietly watching her. She looked just as beautiful as he remembered, and her grace and charm seemed even more striking than before.

A flock of geese wandered leisurely through the bamboo grove…

He had been there since noon and stayed until dusk. At last, beneath the glow of evening clouds, Liu Xiaolou slipped away quietly.

He did not even know why he had come. But having come, and having seen her, he felt content.

Passing through a market town, he paid ten taels of silver to hire a donkey cart. Sitting inside, he lifted the curtain to look out at the autumn scenery of Jiangnan. A wave of melancholy swept over him. Closing his eyes to rest, he was caught off guard when his cultivation broke through the Zhongdu acupoint.

Most cultivation was just like this. Bit by bit, little by little, steady progress inching forward. Liu Xiaolou was not some predestined genius. His way was to walk firmly on solid ground, and his heart was at ease because of it.

The donkey cart did not hurry. The driver rarely raised his whip. Heading west like that, Liu Xiaolou watched the autumn scenery, holding a spirit stone in his hand and at times closing his eyes to regulate his breath.

After a day and a night of travel, a manor appeared ahead. White walls, red tiles, green willows circling it. The driver, speaking in a thick Wu-Yue accent, told Liu Xiaolou that they had arrived.

Liu Xiaolou got down from the cart and took in the manor before him. To the northeast, several dozen li away, rose the peaks of Shenwu Mountain. Here, though, was the White Cloud Manor.

Yun Ao was both surprised and genuinely happy to see Liu Xiaolou. He welcomed him inside and hosted a small banquet for him in a rain pavilion surrounded by banana trees.

“Brother Yun Ao, here is the formation disk I finished refining. Please, see if it meets your standards.”

“Xiaolou, what’s all this? Didn’t we agree I’d come fetch it myself? For you to travel all this way just to deliver it... ah, really now!”

“I came to visit an old friend, and thought I’d stop by on the way.”

“Ah, was it Fifth Lady you went to see? I heard she’s been cultivating on Weiyu Mountain. Wait. Could it be that Xiaolou might return to the Su family?”

“Hehe, Brother Yun Ao, don’t go making wild guesses. The Fifth Lady and I have no such fate. Better that you take a look at the disk.”

While drinking, he activated the formation, drawing Yun Ao inside. Not long after, he let him out. Yun Ao cupped his hands and said, “Wait for me a moment, Xiao Lou,” before hurrying off.

Liu Xiaolou drank alone for a while, then Yun Ao hurried back, took his seat again, and with a broad smile handed over a small pouch. “Xiao Lou, here’s the spirit stones we agreed on. Twenty, not a single one missing. Please Take a look.”

Liu Xiaolou tucked it into his robe and, right then and there, taught him the method to activate and shut down the formation disk.

After Yun Ao had learned it, he tried it a few times to make sure he got it right, then packed the disk away. Suddenly, he glanced over his shoulder and whispered, “Xiaolou, you really have no intention of going back to the Su family, do you?”

“What do you mean by that, Brother Yun Ao? Cast aside means cast aside. Once water is spilled, there’s no getting it back.”

“What do you mean no getting it back?” Yun Ao said. “Once your cultivation reaches a certain level, even spilled water can be gathered up again without a drop missing!”

Liu Xiaolou smiled. “That’s a different matter. Let’s drink.”

Yun Ao went on, “A few days ago...” He glanced behind him again, this time lowering his voice even more. “Ninth Lady came. At first I thought she was here for me, but it turns out she was asking about you.”

Liu Xiaolou paused. “Asking about me?”

Yun Ao said, “Didn’t the lot of us go looking for you at Wulong Mountain a few months back? Word of that got to her ears, so she kept pressing me about why we went and what we wanted with you. She asked for quite a while, and from the sound of it, she might even head to Wulong Mountain herself. That’s why I asked if you were planning to return to the Su family. At first I thought it was about Fifth Lady, but my wife says it’s not. She claims Ninth Lady just wants to go there on her own, nothing to do with Fifth Lady. Xiaolou, tell me the truth, what’s really going on between you and Ninth Lady?”

He glanced around nervously again. “Xiaolou,” he blurted out, “when Fifth Lady gave you the divorce letter, was it because of Ninth Lady? Tell me straight!”

Liu Xiaolou suddenly laughed and raised his cup. “Oh, Brother Yun Ao, Brother Yun Ao. I spent three years in the Su family, and I never realized... you actually have feelings for Ninth Lady.”

That scared Yun Ao into hastily raising a finger. “Shh! Don’t talk nonsense!”

Liu Xiaolou took a sip and reassured him. “Relax. Even if she goes to Wulong Mountain to find me, it’s not because she has feelings for me.”

Yun Ao pressed him nervously. “Swear it?”

Liu Xiaolou pointed to the sky and swore. “If I’m lying in the slightest, may lightning strike me where I stand.”

Yun Ao finally let out a breath. “You’d better not be tricking me.”

“How could I possibly lie to you? Ninth Lady’s sweetheart isn’t me, it’s Jing Zhao. You and Tigerhead don’t communicate with each other, do you? Hahaha.”

After that, the banquet lost its flavor. Yun Ao could only sigh and brood while Liu Xiaolou drank up all the spirit wine by himself.

When the drunken Liu Xiaolou was finally sent off on a donkey cart, Yun Ao felt a heavy emptiness. He paced back and forth in the courtyard, his mind a tangled mess.

It hadn’t been long when the sky grew dark. Thunder rumbled, and a fine autumn rain began to fall.

Through the sound of the rain came a voice from the inner chambers: “Husband, come quickly!”

Yun Ao let out a long sigh and walked toward the house. Suddenly, a flash of lightning struck, shattering several red tiles on the pavilion roof over the banana trees.

Yun Ao paused, then burst out laughing inside. “So it really came true. Thunder and lightning. Liu Xiaolou, you dared to swear that Ninth Lady’s beloved was Jingzhao? Heaven itself just proved you a liar.”

The weight in his chest lifted, and his steps grew lighter.

“Husband, hurry!”

“Haha, I’m coming, my dear!”