The Five Venoms are ruthless.

A man followed by ten thousand ghosts must certainly be different from ordinary people.

Tiying thought so to herself.

She was afraid of ghosts... but if she didn’t open her spiritual eye, she wouldn’t see them! And once she left the Forest of Five Poisons, she would make sure to stay far away from this frightening senior and never travel with him again. If she could just see what he looked like now, she’d know to avoid him in the future.

By this calculation, this was likely her only chance to satisfy her curiosity about this mysterious senior.

Having found a justification for herself, Tiying grew all the more eager: who ever traveled for three days together without seeing what the other looked like?

The night was so dark, the cave so still, and perhaps because she was about to do something mischievous, Tiying was so nervous she hardly dared breathe.

She knelt beside him, leaning forward slightly, her fingers gripping the thin black gauze as she tried, little by little, to lift it.

Jiang Xuehe sat in the half-shadowed light, gazing at her through the veil.

Perhaps it was because he had never met such a mischievous person before; perhaps it was because the one teasing him was the little junior sister he’d heard his master mention countless times but never met. He sat in the darkness, unmoving for a long while—unsure whether he should stop her.

Tiying’s breath was so close to him.

Carried on the miasma from the Forest of Five Poisons, beneath the haze was the faintly sweet scent unique to a young girl...

A flush crept over Tiying’s cheeks as she lifted a corner of the gauze. From below, she saw the youth’s slender neck, covered, like his hands, in a dense web of scars. Yet through those marks, she could glimpse his true appearance.

She had never seen a young man who wasn’t an enemy before.

This young senior carried an air as pure and cold as snow. The blood-red scars climbed upward, past his gently protruding Adam’s apple, like a small stone dropped into a clear pool. Still further up...

Tiying’s face burned crimson.

Suddenly, the young man grasped her hand, stopping her from lifting the veil any further.

Caught in the act, Tiying’s embarrassment flushed all the way down her neck.

Sweat broke out all over her body, leaving her breathless.

Jiang Xuehe leaned in suddenly but didn’t push her away. One hand gripped the misbehaving hand that clung stubbornly to his hood, the other cupped her chin, tilting her face up.

Tiying’s vision sparkled with gold, her shame and anger flaring.

She heard Jiang Xuehe’s low, urgent voice burst beside her ear: “Exhale.”

Instinctively, Tiying obeyed.

Her cold sweat ceased, the golden sparks in her vision faded. She stared unblinking at the hood, only now realizing that in the midst of her mischief, she’d been so nervous she forgot to breathe.

She glared at Jiang Xuehe.

Her eyes, clear as polished jade, were wide and limpid as a cat’s—innocent, pitiful, and strikingly beautiful, shining with dazzling brilliance.

She snapped at Jiang Xuehe, “Why are you holding my hand?”

Jiang Xuehe, coming back to himself, looked down at her hand still clutching his hood.

He asked, “What are you doing?”

“I…” Tiying faltered, but quickly found an excuse. “Didn’t you agree to pretend to be a new bride so Wuzhihui would capture you instead? But you’re a man—how can you pretend? I—I need to disguise your face.”

Jiang Xuehe almost smiled. “Junior sister knows how to disguise faces?”

Tiying certainly didn’t.

But her eyes flickered. “Of course.”

Jiang Xuehe’s voice was gentle: “Senior brother knows how as well.”

Tiying: “…”

Her eyes grew even wider, full of grievance.

But stubborn and willful as she was, she refused to admit she just wanted to see what her senior brother looked like—why should she beg him for it?

With her heart full of resentment, the little junior sister watched as Jiang Xuehe leaned closer.

He said, “You’ve reminded me of something.”

Tiying asked, “What?”

Jiang Xuehe released her hand and, with a gesture near her cheek and ear, pointed at the air.

He said, “The new bride Wuzhihui wants should be you. The monsters in these mountains are blind and track us by scent. It’s not that I’m unwilling to distract Wuzhihui for you, but to deceive them, I need something of yours—your scent, to draw them away.”

Jiang Xuehe continued, “Junior sister, you need to give me something of yours.”

Tiying suddenly understood.

She looked up. “What do you want, senior brother?”

She decided for herself, “Shall I give you a hair ribbon?”

Jiang Xuehe’s gaze settled on her.

Tiying was a cultivator, fleeing pursuit into the Forest of Five Poisons; though her face was pale and lips red, she wore no makeup or jewelry—no hairpins, earrings, bracelets, or pendants. Her thick, crow-black hair was simply tied with ribbons.

But a hair ribbon… Jiang Xuehe hesitated.

Among mortals, a woman’s hair ribbon was only ever given to her husband.

Tiying misunderstood his silence and explained sweetly, a hint of pride beneath her words: “Are you thinking I only have one ribbon, and if I give it to you, my hair will be loose and disheveled? That’s not so—I have many ribbons in my hair, so I can style lots of pretty buns. Can’t you tell?”

The truth was, Jiang Xuehe had never really looked.

He simply went along with her, “Yes.”

Tiying laughed.

She was as lovely as peach and plum blossoms, her earlier annoyance at being caught gone.

“I can braid so many styles… I’ll teach you when we get out, all right?”

Jiang Xuehe: “…?”

He wondered why he would ever need to learn that.

But to keep his little junior sister from getting upset, he simply agreed, expressionless, “All right.”

Tiying was instantly in a good mood.

She let go of his gauze, reaching into her hair to remove a ribbon for her senior brother. But after days of fighting and no chance to bathe, her hair was tangled, the ribbons knotted together. With no bronze mirror at hand, she couldn’t untangle them.

Tiying grew irritable.

Before she could ruin her hair, Jiang Xuehe reached over, gently pushing away her fumbling hands.

He said nothing.

But Tiying knew he was helping her untie her ribbon.

She sat still, awkward and dazed, her hands nervously picking at her sleeves.

She looked up, catching a glimpse of his hood shifting, his sleeve brushing her face—soft and ticklish.

Looking up, she could see nothing clearly, but she could smell his scent.

…So different from her former master.

Lost in thought, Tiying didn’t have to wait long. Soon, Jiang Xuehe produced a wide, pale-blue ribbon, withdrew a little to put distance between them.

He might have wanted to move farther, but the cave was so small that even then, they were only an arm’s length apart.

Jiang Xuehe lowered his gaze.

He asked, “Will this one do?”

Tiying glanced at it and nodded.

Her eyes were still pure and clear.

Jiang Xuehe thought, after all, she was so young—so innocent, knowing nothing. Perhaps that was for the best.

Still, when Second Senior Brother came to fetch her, he would have to tactfully suggest that the elders teach Tiying the differences between men and women.

—

So, the two of them fell silent, waiting for nightfall.

Tiying, too embarrassed to pester the stranger for a look at his face again, watched as he sat in the dark, carefully winding her ribbon around his own wrist.

His movements were elegant and slow; her ribbon wound around his scars, carrying the faint fragrance from her hair…

Tiying stared, transfixed.

Jiang Xuehe paused, “What is it?”

Tiying turned away, “Hmph.”

Jiang Xuehe said nothing more.

Soon, the last glimmer of daylight vanished. The cave was plunged into darkness.

In an instant, both felt the surge of demonic energy filling the world outside.

The talisman Tiying had placed at the cave’s entrance burst into flames, breaking the barrier. The lesser monsters, one after another, howled as they charged into the cave…

Tiying held her breath, watching Jiang Xuehe rise.

The eyeless monsters rushed toward him, carrying with them a red wedding dress.

Tiying opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but feared the monsters would sense her presence.

Suddenly, she froze.

—

Because as Jiang Xuehe stood, his sleeve brushed her hand in a gentle touch.

It meant nothing in particular, and Tiying truly didn’t know this senior brother at all, but in that instant, her heart trembled. She understood the words the stranger did not speak—

I am fine. You be careful.

Tiying was stunned.

—

Her hair ribbon truly worked.

The little monsters mistook Jiang Xuehe for her, draping the wedding dress over him.

Holding her breath, Tiying crouched at the cave’s entrance, watching the misty moonlight turn the night to frost, the trees bleached pale.

Shadows flickered; monsters swarmed like locusts. The moonlight poured down like falling snow. Her senior brother was pushed into a bridal sedan chair, both wedding veil and gown thrown over him.

Mist rose in the mountains, glowing white.

The monsters hoisted the sedan, carrying the new bride to meet their leader.

A strange song drifted through the night:

“Red embroidered shoes, blood-wedding gown, the bride weeps for her parents gone. Ride the sedan, jostle and shake—mountain roads are rough and long. Bride, do not look back…”

Only when they’d gone did Tiying compose herself and begin searching for the Shadow-Splitting Talisman, attending to her own tasks.

—

A group of a dozen or so cultivators, men and women, moved cautiously through the Forest of Five Poisons.

They were, of course, the ones who had bought information from Chen Da and come to hunt Tiying.

One of the junior sisters hesitated, afraid of the forest and suspecting a trap, so they left her to keep watch at the foot of the mountain while the rest entered together.

Their urgency was understandable.

They had reason to capture Tiying—because of this secret, they had hunted the disciples of Qianshan Sect. The old master only knew how to hide in the mountains. So, they sought the secret from his young disciple.

Though the Forest of Five Poisons was notorious, Chen Da had assured them that the great demon within would only target Tiying.

They had no desire to fight the demon for her.

They simply needed to catch up to Tiying and, before the demon killed her, extract the secret she guarded.

For that, they might even cooperate with the demon.

They crept through the forest, when suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded ahead.

The leading senior brother quickly signaled his companions, “Careful!”

In the cold forest under the moon, they saw a young girl rush out from between the trees, panic-stricken, a shadowy aura of demonic energy at her back.

She cried out in terror, “Help me, help—”

Moonlight shone on her fleeing figure.

Light and lovely, youthful and delicate.

Her frightened gaze met theirs.

At once, everyone exclaimed, “It’s Tiying! After her—”

—

Jiang Xuehe sat in the bridal sedan.

He wound his junior sister’s hair ribbon around his wrist, used a spell to don the wedding gown, and replaced his hood with the bridal veil to cover his face.

The monsters, smelling the wedding gown’s scent on him, carried the sedan away along a path Jiang Xuehe and his companions had never found before.

He didn’t know how long they traveled before the sedan was finally set down.

Jiang Xuehe felt a heavy demonic presence approach, walking with a human’s steps toward him from outside.

He waited calmly, head lowered.

Five steps, three steps… one step.

The sedan curtain was lifted by the wind.

The bridal veil rose.