Chapter 19: Steel Blade, Monkey in the Temple

Ji Ming did not dare to fly too close to the old temple, only hovering at a distance to observe. From the outside, the temple appeared intact, but who could know what lay within?

"Rat Four, why don't you go and—"

"No, I won't," Rat Four, clinging to Ji Ming's back, shook his head frantically, determined not to investigate, even if it cost him his life.

Ji Ming did not force the terrified community rat. If his suspicions were true, this rat would soon face a dire predicament.

He folded his wings and landed atop the temple, peering through a broken patch in the roof. All seemed ordinary within, but the narrow breach prevented him from seeing it all, and there was no sign of that little clay goblin statue.

He craned his head further and finally saw it. The clay figure, with its stubby beard, had a gaping hole at its belly, through which a pile of silver coins had spilled. It seemed the one who broke open the Treasure Lord’s clay stomach had already taken whatever was most valuable, leaving behind only mundane coins.

"Caw!"

Ji Ming flew into the temple, cawing loudly, but when nothing stirred, he landed cautiously.

"Dead?" Ji Ming wondered aloud.

Rat Four darted into the broken clay belly and rolled in the coins, wailing, "It's true! The immortals must be hunting down every demon who joined the gamble."

Ji Ming eyed the statue, then leapt and landed atop its head, his talons tensing as if to tear it open.

"Good crow, come down from my head. There's no treasure hidden in this clay skull of mine," a voice echoed within the temple—the Treasure Lord himself.

Ji Ming withdrew his claws, slightly embarrassed; he had indeed been about to break open the clay head to search for treasures.

Rat Four, full of agitation, leapt from the broken belly and asked, "What happened? Why were the Tiger Demon and the Lady of White Bones killed by the immortals, one after the other?"

"The Lady of White Bones is dead too!" The temple rang with a long, regretful sigh. "All my fault. I touched the immortals' raw nerve, insulting a Daoist corpse with my secret gambling art."

"What are we to do now!"

Rat Four was at his wit’s end, scurrying about the temple like a headless fly, complaining, "How could such secrets have leaked out?"

"It was the Tiger Demon’s ghost slave. I warned him early on—human hearts are the most venomous, and that one was an educated soul, unlikely to submit for long."

The Treasure Lord’s voice was bleak, but at last he gave Rat Four some advice. "Don’t return to the Fox Community. I'm sure the decree from Mount Taiping has already reached there. Even Old Fox himself won’t be able to protect you."

Ji Ming cast a sympathetic glance at Rat Four. Poor little rat—just one night of gambling, and now he had offended one of the great Daoist sects.

Rat Four complained bitterly, "Mount Taiping rules over the five domains of Daoist lands. How can a rat demon like me possibly escape their grasp?"

"Indeed!" The Treasure Lord agreed. "It’s not just you. Even I, the mountain’s own ghost, have been punished and sealed away for a hundred years."

"Good crow, would you kindly come down from my head?"

Seeing the Treasure Lord’s attention had shifted to him, Ji Ming hopped down and asked, "Treasure Lord, could you show Rat Four a way out?"

Rat Four had always helped him in the community, fulfilling every promise with diligence. Ji Ming couldn't bear to see him meet a tragic end. Besides, he hoped to win Rat Four’s loyalty for future plans.

"There is a way, but why should I help you? I've already been punished; should I risk offending the immortals again for a mere rat?"

The Treasure Lord’s words were utterly cold, plunging Rat Four into despair, but Ji Ming had no intention of giving up. He saw clearly that the Treasure Lord's body had been sealed by the immortals—he was nothing but an empty shell now.

A black gust of ghostly wind swept into the temple—Ji Ming was preparing to use force.

He did this not only for Rat Four, but also to make the Treasure Lord cooperate with some private matters of his own. Among mountain spirits and monsters, true patriarchs like the Old Lord were rare; most believed "might makes right."

"Stop!" cried a voice.

Perched unnoticed on a temple beam was a curly-haired macaque, a gleaming steel blade slung at its waist. "Where did these two wild demons come from, daring to offend the mountain ghost here?"

"So there was a temple guardian after all." Ji Ming spread his wings, then glanced at Rat Four—or more precisely, at the round cap atop his head. "Today, even if it costs me this body, the Treasure Lord will cough up a way for you to escape disaster."

"Black Pine Crow!"

Rat Four was so moved that he felt a fire burning within him—all warm and aglow. He quietly swore to himself: if he survived this day, he would serve Black Pine Crow as his king, follow him always, and never waver.

No sooner had he made this vow than Black Pine Crow whispered, "Do you have any fighting treasures hidden in that cap of yours? Quick, use them!"

"Oh!" Rat Four, though feeling a twinge of discomfort, still drew a tuft of white mouse fur from his cap and blew it out in one breath.

The blade-wielding macaque crouched warily on the beam, watching as the white mouse fur floated gently up like a speck of dust.

"Stay back, that's fire rat fur—highly flammable—"

The warning was unfinished when the fur burst into flames with a "whoosh," a fiery bloom enveloping the beam.

The macaque shrieked, drawing his blade with a flash and bringing it down in a mighty chop, splitting the fiery mass in two.

Ji Ming flapped his wings, sending a stream of ghostly wind to stoke the flames, causing the split fireball to merge once more.

"Burn! Burn it to cinders."

In Rat Four’s beady eyes shone a vengeful malice. The macaque shrieked and tumbled from the beam, rolling out of the fire’s reach. Though badly burned, he charged at Ji Ming with his blade.

A sharp clash rang out as steel met talon, and Ji Ming felt a tremendous force surge through his claws, flinging him away before he could react.

Ji Ming had to admit—he was rattled.

Glancing at the cramped temple, which left him little room to maneuver, he beat his wings and shot upward, only to be met by a flash of steel and a sharp pain in his wing.

The macaque had hurled his blade, pinning Ji Ming’s wing to the wall.

"A demon skilled with blades!"

Ji Ming realized he had underestimated this blade-wielding monkey. Even though he, like Ji Ming, had not achieved the "phantom form," his will and martial skill were truly exceptional.

After killing the bat and owl demons, Ji Ming had grown somewhat dismissive of untransformed monsters. Now he saw his error.

The burned macaque, his fur singed and sticking to bloody skin, left bloody footprints with every step—yet he moved swiftly and steadily.

Suddenly, pain shot through his foot. Glancing down, he saw the rat demon gnawing at his flesh, biting through to the bone in moments.

The macaque’s mouth contorted into a gruesome grin, baring two rows of sharp teeth through his scorched face.

"Courting death!"

"Caw!"

As the macaque gathered his strength to smash Rat Four, Ji Ming lunged, seized the blade’s hilt, and wrenched it free from his own wing.

"Crow’s got some strength!" the macaque howled, kicking Rat Four aside and balancing on one leg, arms spread in a crane-style fighting stance.

"Could it be..."

Ji Ming shuddered.

Moments ago, he had hoped for a reversal, but now he felt only dread. No one knew the art of Crane Control better than he did.

That force—able to strike or withdraw through the air—was nearly impossible to defend against.

As the macaque assumed the second stance, his skin flushed red, his burned flesh scabbed over, and his belly rumbled with hunger. Yet his strength was returning.

"He’s only using the standing and spreading forms, transforming the food in his belly into essence to heal himself—he hasn’t learned the Relaxed Crane form!"

Ji Ming felt a surge of hope. He knew he still had a chance to turn the tables. Tucking his wings, he gripped the steel blade tightly.