Liyan turned and rushed away from the temple. Chen Wuya followed at a more sedate pace. At every corner, Liyan stopped and waited for him, jiggling in place. More than once, she turned her head and coughed, licking away the blood before he drew close. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

“I sneak in whenever I have a chance. It hasn’t cured me, but it’s slowed the spread. I’m able to move, not stuck in my bed like mother and father were,” Liyan whispered as they walked.

“Is that so,” Chen Wuya said quietly.

She glanced at the floor, then back at him. “Just a little further.”

A stench blew on the wind. Thick and rotten, almost sweet, it tickled at Chen Wuya’s memories. For a moment, he was a rat again, scurrying through the trash, nothing more than a beast. Slave to his hunger, he devoured rotten fruit and moldy grain. Sunbaked, two-day-old fish seemed delicious to his body’s nose, even as his mind rejected it.

He scowled. It would’ve been better if that cat had eaten me. What a miserable life that was!

“Here,” Liyan said, gesturing him on.

Chen Wuya stepped out of the alleys and into an open yard behind the temple. Trash piled high into a mound, everything from human waste to food scraps and broken furniture all mixed together. He stared. I said dirty is fine, but this is a bit much.

She glanced at him, then nodded. Half-ducking, as if afraid to stand upright in the open space, she scurried around to the back of the pile. Chen Wuya followed her, brows knotted, suddenly much less certain about his plan.

Liyan crouched, then lifted a flap of stained fabric and crawled into the pile. Chen Wuya plucked the scrap delicately and peered after her.

A pair of liquid eyes blinked back. She gestured him in. “There’s a hole down here in the center of the pile. They used to throw the garbage down it, but it backed up, and now they just pile it on top. I wriggled down after a rainstorm washed away some of the garbage and unblocked the clog. It leads into the underbelly of the temple, into the old part that used to be part of the larger temple building before the whole thing was buried.”

Chen Wuya smiled. He tied his sword against his thigh, where it wouldn’t catch as easily as he climbed, and followed her into the pile.

Rot smacked him in the face, thick and hot, chokingly thick. He gasped tiny breaths, barely able to breathe. Ahead of him, Liyan scurried through the garbage, batting fallen bits out of her way, then shoved a broken tabletop aside and vanished into a small round hole in the ground.

Glancing down the hole, Chen Wuya snorted, finally grateful for his slender, youthful form. The hole only spread about as wide as his shoulders. Any wider, and he wouldn’t have fit. He slid his legs down the hole, then pushed off, falling after Liyan.

A short vertical drop turned into a narrow slope. As he fell, the light faded, until he slid along in pitch, unable to see his hand before his face. The earth gave out beneath him, and he popped out into a dark, open space. Startled, he spun his arms, reaching for something, anything.

He plopped down into a soft, giving substance. Confused, he patted the ground. Muck splattered under his hands, and a thick, horrid smell spread around him.

Liyan’s words replayed through his head. They used to throw garbage down it…

Disgust flashed over Chen Wuya’s face. He jumped up and nearly fell again, the slippery muck offering treacherous footing. Chen Wuya slipped and slid along until he finally found a firm stone wall, then patted along it. Out, out, I need to get—

A gap in the wall, a door. He thrust himself out, breathing in the relatively fresh air. He wiped his hands on the wall, shuddering. Too much, even for me.

Liyan appeared on the far side as a torch burst to light. She tucked a flint and steel back into her robes and nodded at him, giving him a nervous smile. “Not too dirty?”

Chen Wuya snorted.

She nodded at her torch. “I almost died the first time I came down here. I didn’t bring any light. Luckily, I found the passage and climbed back up it. After that, I brought a bunch of torches down so I wouldn’t get lost again.”

“A bright decision,” Wuya commented dryly.

She beamed at his praise and bowed.

“It was a… never mind. Which way to the temple?”

“This way.” Lofting the torch, Liyan set off.

On either side of them, stone walls buckled, weighed down by the earth pressing down on them. Here and there, he caught glimpses of murals painted on the walls, but time and the damp conditions underground washed them away to mere splotches of color. Liyan’s footsteps echoed far ahead and behind them, bouncing down the long hallway into oblivion. Their torch lit the immediate area around them and little else, the light fading rapidly into the deep shadow of the passage.

Corridors snaked off into the earth, equally as mazelike as the city above. Liyan led the way, navigating the subterranean temple with familiar ease.

“So this is where ‘Qiu Xuanwu’s’ sword was sealed?” Chen Wuya murmured to himself. He ran a hand over the wall, wiping some mud from one of the murals. In the image, an evil wind god with puffed cheeks blew dark wind into the faces of mortals. The mortals fell to their knees, gripping their throats. One bent over, spewing blood on the ground.

Liyan nodded. “In this ancient temple. A long time ago.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“But they think they can purify it now?” he said, ignoring Liyan. Why now? What made them so convinced the sword had to be purified now? Do the Heavens know I’m back?

No. If they did, I’d be dead. It’s a coincidence that this sword was found at the same time I returned.

The hallway drew to an end. To the left and the right, paths led onward. Faint light glimmered to the right. Chen Wuya turned in that direction, but Liyan caught his sleeve. She pointed toward the end of the hallway, where a faint painting remained. “I knew you’d come, hero.”

Chen Wuya squinted at the wall. He stepped forward and brushed the dust off.

A martial deity in red robes descended from the Heavens. Down below, a vortex of rats swirled, eyes glimmering with red light. The marital deity’s arm stretched out in front of him, and a golden sword flew from his hand to stab into the center of the rat vortex.

Sealing the rats? I… remember that happening very differently. Chen Wuya narrowed his eyes.

Liyan jumped forward. Reverentially, she hovered her hands near the figure in red, then looked back at Chen Wuya. “Careful, hero. What if you destroy the art?”

“A tragedy indeed,” he intoned flatly. Flicking another glance over it, he snorted. I wear red, so that makes me this hero? That’s as ridiculous as… suspecting someone as Kai Bailong because they wear white.

…

Anyways. This image is all wrong. None of that happened at all. Instead…

The ship swayed. Qiu Xuanwu perched at the ship’s bow, peering out onto land. “At last, I’ve finally escaped that damnable white cat. Forget about purifying the world or gaining positive karma! I’m going to relax and enjoy my short rat life. After everything I’ve been through, I deserve it.”

He scratched behind his ear with his rear leg. “Stupid… fleas…”

A smirk spread across his ratty lips. But it’s worth it. I’ve figured it out. I might not be able to gather demonic qi, but I can build negative karma to protect my demonic qi! I carry a dangerous disease in the fleas on my back, and I’m about to unleash it upon this unsuspecting populace. Even Kai Bailong can’t stop me now!

The distant port city grew steadily closer. From a blur on the horizon, it turned into distinct buildings and towers. A wide set of docks reached out into the sea, welcoming weary travelers like themselves.

The second the boat bumped against the dock, Qiu Xuanwu leaped off. He scurried into the streets at top speed, brushing by ankles and leaping by legs. Shrieks and kicks followed him. A few of the kicks landed, but Qiu Xuanwu barely felt it. He used the force of the kick to speed ahead and kept running, shaking every now and again to shed as many fleas among the human populace as possible.

Get them, fleas! Inflict despair upon this populace! The Heavens shall learn just how fearsome Qiu Xuanwu can be. I may be a rat, but I bring the plague!

“Mrow!”

A fluffy white bullet shot out of the ship and sprinted after him. Qiu Xuanwu stared over his shoulder, wide-eyed, then sped up, racing deeper into the city. “Dammit! How dare you follow me here, Kai Bailong!”

The cat yowled back. It raced closer, paws thudding over the earth.

Qiu Xuanwu ducked into a stables and raced deep into the piled-up straw, where the cat would never be able to reach him. Another rat startled, surprised by his sudden arrival. Qiu Xuanwu started to pull away, then paused. His eyes glittered. “I’d be a fool not to take this opportunity.”

He sidled closer to the rats. A few of the fleas jumped ship to the other rat, which began to scratch. Qiu Xuanwu’s smirk grew wider. “Try to stop me now, you damned cat. I’ll infect every rat in this city with these fleas. You can’t possibly kill all of us!”

A heavy weight slammed into the straw, sending it flying. The other rat scurried off, afraid. Qiu Xuanwu hunkered down. He can’t get me in here—

Gleaming claws strafed through the straw.

“Fuck!” Qiu Xuanwu bolted into the air and sprinted off, fleeing the cat again. It chased after him, yowling angrily.

The cat chased him through the city, day in and day out. Every moment he had, Qiu Xuanwu sidled up to people or other rats, sharing the fleas, but the cat was never far behind. At last, exhausted, Qiu Xuanwu stared the cat down, back against an alley wall. The stone wall bore shallow scratch marks where he’d tried and failed to climb it. No detritus or dirt offered an escape.

He laughed breathlessly, drawing himself to his full height. “Kill me. Kill me, damn you! My work is done. I’ve spread as much bad karma as I can. Even you can’t possibly purify me in this life!”

The cat raised a paw high, then hesitated.

“What are you waiting for? You didn’t wait in my first life. Stab me through the heart again. Do it!” he taunted the cat.

The cat’s paw trembled. It snarled, showing fangs.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a plague here?”

Cat and rat both whirled, staring up into the sky. A martial deity in red stood above them. His robes swirled on the wind, long hair tossed in his face. He spun a golden sword in one hand, tossing it over and over again.

“There is a plague. What do you mean?” Qiu Xuanwu muttered under his breath.

“I sense disease… but it’s much milder than it’s supposed to be. Did someone infect these people with a milder plague first?” the martial deity murmured.

Qiu Xuanwu stared up at him. His jaw dropped. No… no! Don’t tell me! This city was supposed to get struck by a plague, and here I infected them with a milder version of the plague before the real disease could get here? Doesn’t that… doesn’t that sound like good karma? No! I don’t want it!

The cat lowered its paw. It looked at Qiu Xuanwu with a sudden glimmer of respect in its eyes.

“I don’t want your respect. Don’t look at me like that!” Qiu Xuanwu snarled. “Dammit! All my hard work… all my negative karma…”

A red wind materialized around him and whirled him into the air. Qiu Xuanwu struggled, little limbs spiraling helplessly. The cat jumped and lunged, but the wind moved too fast. In the space of a second, Qiu Xuanwu settled in the martial deity’s hand.

“It was you…? This rat?”

Qiu Xuanwu scrabbled in the man’s hand, the picture of a panicked rat. He scratched and bit madly. The martial deity held him by the scruff, a disapproving look in his eyes. “This rat…”

The disapproval suddenly turned to fear, then disgust. “You! Qiu Xuanwu, it was you? You still resist the Heavens’ will?”

“Resist Heaven’s will, your grandma!” he shouted, then paused. Eh, no. I do resist Heaven’s will. I just had no idea I was doing it by releasing a weaker plague, dammit! Tell me these things! I’ll let you—

Wait. Why… why is Heaven unleashing a plague? Calamities aren’t under the auspices of Heaven…

Gripping Qiu Xuanwu by the scruff, the martial deity in red waved his hand and released his shroud of invisibility. Down below, the mortals suddenly stared up, gaping. A few pointed or immediately dropped into kowtows.

“People of this city! I, Song Dahai, have captured the source of your misery. This rat demon has cast a plague upon you!”

“What rat demon? You dare insult this grandmaster?” Qiu Xuanwu growled, struggling against the deity’s hold. The man’s iron grip didn’t slip an inch.

“Ah, no! What’s happening? This monster…!”

Qiu Xuanwu frowned. “What monst—”

Pain pierced his back. Black corrupted his vision. He struggled, but hopelessly. The world faded under clouds of inky black.

--

“—ero? Hero?” Liyan tilted her head at him, tugging at his sleeve.

Chen Wuya blinked and looked around. “Where…”

“In the temple. You… the painting, it… it’s just too beautiful, no?” Liyan said, giving it another worshipful gaze.

“Beautiful, huh?” Chen Wuya grumbled. He narrowed his eyes. I’d forgotten your name, Song Dahai. Thank you for the reminder. I won’t forget it a second time.

She nodded, then pulled his sleeve again. “Hurry, Ming Jinhai is almost at the altar!”

Right. We came here to see this… sword. Supposedly my sword. He let Liyan lead him on, toward the faint light from the right passage. His eyes narrowed. Let’s see this ancient sword, then!