“I’m sorry, uh, your lordship,” I quickly said. “I have come to apologize—”

“APOLOGIZE? You stupid girl,” Yuanshi Tianzun shouted. His eyes bulged out of their sockets. “You idiotic, useless, moronic girl.”

I opened my mouth to protest his adjectives.

“Get out!”

His face was so contorted that I knew there was no point in saying anything. Men in anger did not listen. The apology, now apologies, would have to wait. I turned to leave.

“DON’T MOVE.”

I froze.

“Xiansheng, I can’t get out and not move,” I reminded.

But Yuanshi Tianzun didn’t answer. He stiffened like an alert lion. Eyes shut, ears twitching, he seemed to hear some unknown sound.

Then without warning, he began waving his arms like a mad man. Intricate diagrams of stars disappeared from walls, scrolls incinerated into ash, a whole shelf of books went flying into the giant fishpond.

I watched in bewilderment as the water in the pond turned black from dissolved ink. Yuanshi Tianzun now pointed at the pile of broken shells. They instantly ground into a fine powder and blew away with another swirl of his finger.

Pop! The sound of something cracking startled Yuanshi Tianzun out of his frantic activities. A tortoise shell that levitated above the purple fire (and thus surviving my butt) seemed to have fractured from the heat. It was nothing unusual, but he rushed to pick up the shell, rubbing the dark cracks tenderly.

“Sir…” I began.

He snapped up to look at me, as if he had forgotten that I existed. He walked towards me but suddenly stiffened again. Then his face drained of color.

“If you want to live, stay silent,” he whispered. He pointed at me. I felt my legs glue together, my head expand, and my body lengthen. I looked down at the yellow petals that used to be my neck and the green stalk that used to be my feet and realized that he had turned me into a sunflower. What a strange choice. Was it because my face was freckled and round?

Yuanshi Tianzun was running around again. He directed water from the fish bowl to the fire, but the flames would not extinguish. Exasperated, he threw a pot on it. The sole shell in his hands, he first hid it in his sleeve, then he buried in the ground. The he saw the moon cake I had brought and stuffed it inside. What in the world was he doing?

The doors bursted open, revealing a masked figure. He wore all black. No emblem or marking gave away his identity, but his hands caught my attention. Although he wore gloves, a patch of dark green skin showed where the glove met the sleeve.

“Protectorate Luosha of Mojie, what is the meaning of this?” Yuanshi Tianzun asked.

“It seems I need longer gloves next time I want to disguise myself.” Luosha stepped forward and took off his mask. With a smile, he bowed to Yuanshi Tianzun.

Yuanshi Tianzun moved sideways and refused the curtsey. “I don’t recall inviting you.” He made a farewell gesture with his hands that still held the mushed moon cake.

Luosha glanced at the blank walls and empty shelves around the courtyard. His eyes came to a rest at the giant purple fire that was clearly too big for the pot that sat on top of it. His smile deepened.

“No word games then. My mistress wants the calculations.”

“I know nothing,” Yuanshi Tianzun answered, but his fingers dug into the moon cake, squeezing the mess into a ball. Luosha’s eyes fell on his strange movement.

“The Purple Omen is a complex phenomenon that baffles even me. I’m afraid a mooncake is all I can offer for your visit,” Yuanshi Tianzun said quickly.

He handed Luosha the broken pastry. My heart began to beat rapidly.

Luosha stared at him for a moment, and then flung his hand away. The moon cake went flying into the ground.

“You mock me as if I’m a beggar,” Luosha hissed. “I will do this the hard way then.”

A whimper resonated in the quiet night. Another man appeared from the fog, holding the reins to a Qilin. The Qilin from earlier, I recognized.

Yuanshi Tianzun lunged before he stopped himself, trembling in cold fury.

“You,” he growled. “How many of you cowards are out there? Reveal yourselves!” His roar echoed into the sky.

After a moment of silence, the thin man known as Luosha sighed, “Oblige the old man.”

Instantly, rows upon rows of shadowy figures stepped forth from the fog, the misty drapes falling away like clothes. My mind boggled. There must have been over a hundred shadow figures, and I couldn’t even see the end due to the fog. A small army had come to Yuanshi Tianzun’s doorstep!

“My dearest apologies, your lordship,” Luosha said, bowing deeply. “It would have been an insult to your ability had I brought any fewer men.”

Yuanshi Tianzun gritted his teeth.

“You will find nothing here.”

Luosha smiled.

“So you mean there is something here, merely that we won’t find it? In that case…” Luosha walked over to the Qilin and took off his glove, revealing a rotting hand dark as gangrene.

Yuanshi Tianzun jumped. “Don’t you dare—”

Gently, the official from Mojie petted the head of the mythical steed.

Silently, I screamed.

It was like seeing the villagers get mutilated all over again. At the first pat, skin melted off the Qilin’s skull. At the second, blood gushed from the Qilin’s ears. At the third pat, the Qilin’s gently collapsed, a writhing mass of pain and terror.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Yuanshi Tianzun roared. He lunged forward to where Luosha stood and his steed lay melting. But before he could take one step, a squadron of masked figures had encircled him.

The Forseer snarled and didn’t change his direction. He dashed toward the closest masked figure and struck him down. A spear punctured his leg from the side, another protruded from behind him. Yuanshi Tianzun gripped his sword and spun about in a fierce circle. In an instant, the group circling him had lost their heads.

Yet more came. With each fallen shadow warrior, another stepped in to take his place. If it was like this, Yuanshi Tianzun would surely die! Already, he was covered full of wounds, although this did not stop his dogged advance.

Luosha had stepped back from the battle distastefully. “Your grace,” he sighed. “It doesn’t have to be this way. Just tell me-“

He was interrupted by a bellow, and a last whimpering neigh. The shadow warriors immediately surrounding Yuanshi Tianzun had all fallen, allowing all to see Yuanshi Tianzun’s sword plunged into the chest of his Qilin. The majestic steed raised its head, with effort, touching its nose to its master’s forehead, before it lowered its head for the last time. Finally, it was at peace.

For a moment, Yuanshi Tianzun didn’t move. Then he ripped out his sword with crazed fervor, spraying blood into the air. His eyes locked onto Luosha with hatred.

Immediately, the shadow figures closed on the lone swordsman. Their spears piercing right through him and forming blades at his back, he took it all and whipped around so that they were cut down by their own spears. It was bloodshed. It was a massacre. It was…

“Troublesome.” Luosha muttered. “Even a dog is dangerous when cornered.”

He glided towards the battle as if the clang of weapons were horseplay of sticks.

“Luosha!” Yuanshi Tianzun roared. He shoved two warriors out of his way, their sternums cracking with the force. He grasped his sword. Through the blood of his enemies, it began to glow brightly. The destructive power of the sword seemed to have increased tenfold. “I will KILL you where you stand!”

He charged at Luosha, but at that moment, a puff of smoke filled the courtyard. Yuanshi Tianzun’s eyes rolled into his head, and he collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut.

A shadow warrior approached him slowly after the smoke dispersed.

“He is out,” he said, turning to Luosha. "Mistress’s incense works like a charm."

Luosha uncovered his mouth.

“Search him.”

A flurry of activity followed. From Yuanshi Tianzun’s robes came a wine bottle, incense sticks, a compass, a telescope.

Luosha frowned.

“Look in his rooms!”

The men ran inside. The moon cake lay on the ground forgotten.

Don’t look inside the pastry… Don’t look inside the pastry … Don’t look inside the pastry. I repeated in my head.

Tables, chairs, trunks flew out of the room. They stripped the inner linings of wood, even breaking down some walls. Eventually, I dozed off.

When I woke up, I lay facedown on the ground. I lifted my head and realized that my sunflower disguise had worn off. It was only due to the pile of debris around me that I had remained undiscovered. A bed lay sideways in front of me, its bedding had been slashed. Bits of cotton lay like snow over everything. The remains of books fluttered in the wind. I crawled to the edge of the bed and peeked. The men were still here. So was the moon cake, thankfully, untouched.

They still searched. The ground was now dug up. The walls were torn down. Even tiles on the roof were stripped bare.

“Your grace, it will be hard to leave unnoticed soon,” a subordinate advised. He was right. The sky had turned to a soft, dark blue. In the east, there was an orange-glow. Soon the morning rush of deities would appear overhead.

Luosha didn’t budge. His gaze wandered to the remains of the purple fire.

“Perhaps, we’ve overestimated the old fool. Maybe he hasn’t figured out the calculations to the Purple Omen?”

Luosha kicked the subordinate to the ground.

“If we can’t have the calculations then we will need to find more butterflies. Have yaoguai do it,” he snarled.

“But all yaoguai under our control are already looking—”

“Then lure more wild ones! Promise them everything they want! We only have until the Purple Omen ends to find it!”

“Y-y-yes, your lordship!”

“Leave no trace,” he ordered.

I watched as his subordinates stood in a circle. Their fingers made identical, flicking movements. It was as if time went backwards. Everything repaired itself and flew back to where they belonged. The previously disheveled courtyard was not spotless… so spotless that the mooncake stood out like a sore thumb against the sparkling stone ground. Luosha frowned and bent down—

“I hope I’m not too late for the party,” I exclaimed as I stepped out, clapping my hands to prevent their shaking from being noticeable.

Luosha’s subordinates immediately flanked him.

“Who are you?” He asked with narrowed eyes.

“Who do you think I am, if I’m able to get in without your notice?” I asked in return.

Luosha stared at me, until my palms began to sweat. Finally, he turned to glare at a subordinate.

“Your… your lordship, I set a powerful barrier, but I don’t know how she got through,” the subordinate stammered, glancing at me. “Unless… unless she is a Supreme One.”

I didn’t know what a Supreme One was, but it must be badass if it made his voice quiver. I lifted my chin.

“Your subordinate is a man of great discernment, more so than you,” I replied haughtily.

Luosha frowned.

“What does your grace want?” He asked, with more respect in his voice.

“Trespassing into Shenjie, maiming a Qilin, injuring a senior god, damaging property, if this comes to light, a war with Mojie is inevitable. However, I am a lover of peace. I can let you leave, but you need to promise not return to Shenjie uninvited. Otherwise…”

“You will let us off that easily?” Luosha asked with a frown.

Was that too easy? Would a real Supreme whatever punish them more?

“Do you prefer otherwise?” I asked immediately, trying to lift an eyebrow to stress the absurdity of his question, but it was hard since my face was so tense.

“Of course not, we shall leave immediately,” Luosha grunted.

I watched them cut a hole through the cloud floor. Luosha had his eyes on me as they descended. I tried to hold my head high and keep my back straight, the way I imagined a Supreme One looked.

The cloud hole closed up. All my energy melted away as relief overcame me.

I forced myself to run to Yuanshi Tianzun.

“Your lordship,” I said, shaking him. He was lying on his back, eyes rolled upwards. I shook him more.

Yuanshi Tianzun’s eyelids flickered.

“Who are you? Why are you here?” He groaned.

“I’m Ziyan! I came to apologize last night…” I trailed off because he gripped his head as if he wished to crush it.

“Last night? I don’t remember anything. What’s wrong with my head? Just thinking is excruciating!” He moaned.

The men! Whatever incense they used on Yuanshi Tianzun must have erased his memory.

“These men… I mean, your Qilin…” I was so flustered that I couldn’t explain. “No, the most important thing was that they wanted…”

I leapt to my feet and seized the pastry that Luosha had carelessly flung away.

“It’s still here,” I said, ripping apart the pastry. The tortoise shell was unharmed, but the dark, sticky filling of the moon cake clung to the shell, delineating the carvings and cracks.

With the help of the (diagram of stars), will Arum’s treasure be found?

A small crack

With the help of the (diagram of stars), will Arum’s treasure bring fortune or calamity?

A bigger crack

With the help of the (diagram of stars), where is Arum’s treasure?

Jagged cracks running in all directions forming some sort of map—

What it was, I never found out. A hand snatched it away. I looked down to see a revived Yuanshi Tianzun. He glared at me angrily and stuffed it in his sleeve.

“You will speak to no one about this,” he said, pointing at me. I flinched but didn’t turn into anything this time.

“But some men were after this and killed your Qilin!” I tried to say. What came out of my mouth was, “BAAHTAUMAWAAFFADEENKAYACHIYI!”

I blinked. What was that strange sensation in my mouth? I smacked my lips and tried again.

“The men KILHARGHALABULARQUABA!”

My tongue was sticking itself to the roof of my mouth. I realized what Yuanshi Tianzun had done with his finger pointing. I literally could not talk about the events of last night.

“Get out!” He shouted.

I was furious at his stupidity. My temples throbbed from anger. I wanted to curse him, to punch his ugly face—

“Qilin, where are you?” He called. “Bring me some water. My head is killing me! Qilin?”

I stopped short as Yuanshi Tianzun staggered off in search of it. The men had sprinkled some sort of powder on the body of the Qilin, dissolving it into a puddle of water. Yuanshi Tianzun would never know what happened to his companion.

No one would know what happened, I realized as I stumbled out of the door. If these men were able to sneak in, then they certainly knew how to cover their tracks. And I couldn’t warn anyone.