Chapter Ninety-Three: Do Not Be Afraid; I Have Faith in You

Little Fish, are you here to help your master? A smile played on the lips of the Purple Lotus, and he nodded with visible relief. “Then I shall rest nearby. You take care of these little demons.”

“No, no, that is not it.”

I waved my hands at him in alarm. In his eyes, I was nothing more than an ordinary mortal with no strength to swat a fly. I knew no immortal arts, and I could not possibly use the magic of the demon world before him. To face those female fiends like that would be no different from courting death.

Suddenly, a fierce gust swept through, and countless bamboo leaves burst from the grove in a dense, hissing wave toward the Purple Lotus and me. They came so swiftly that there was no time to dodge; where the leaves cut past, fresh tears opened in our clothing.

“Little Fish, sit back down.”

The Purple Lotus suddenly opened his eyes. His long sleeves swept outward, and I only caught a flash of violet light before my body was flung backward beyond my control, farther and farther away, until the great boulder behind me loomed close. Then I dropped straight down, slamming into the stone hard enough to send me sprawling face-first.

Ow, ow, ow, it hurt!

I lay atop the rock, one hand pressed to my chest, the other clenched tight, cursing him under my breath in bitter indignation. How wicked he was—how utterly wicked! He had used far too much force on me. In his eyes, was I even his only good disciple? Why did he never think to pity me a little? My not-very-full bosom, bound up in these cloth strips for so long and denied any chance to breathe, was already miserable enough. And now he had hurled me so brutally against the stone; after such a blow, who knew whether it had been flattened as smooth as a chopping board?

I kept rubbing the sore spot and looked up, only to start in alarm. Whether it was due to the sorcery of the four female demons or to the overwhelming might of the Purple Lotus’s immortal arts, the bamboo grove in an instant seemed to grow legs and stride toward us like a monstrous beast.

The wind moaned coldly. A murderous aura rose. The ground, once covered in grass and trees, suddenly stirred up a gale of sand and dust. In the blink of an eye, the sky and earth were swallowed in a brown haze, the sun and moon dimmed to nothing, and the flying grit made it impossible to open one’s eyes.

“Little Fish, Moonlit Abyss.”

The Purple Lotus, encircled by the sandstorm, called out.

“Yes.”

I hurriedly answered, afraid of distracting him and making him anxious. In haste, I untied the bundle from my back, took out Moonlit Abyss, and held it high in my hand, shouting toward him with delight, “Master, Moonlit Abyss is here!”

As soon as the words left my mouth, my body involuntarily slid forward again with the rock beneath me.

By now, the sandstorm was so fierce it blotted out heaven and earth. The world before me was a blur of whirling grit, striking my face again and again, clinging to my lips and cheeks until I could barely keep my eyes open.

When the rock beneath me finally came to a stop, I turned back to look at the Purple Lotus and asked him with a frown, “Master, why did you move Little Fish and the rock here?”

It would have been one thing to place me at the site of their battle, but why must I be made to stand directly in front of him? I looked down on this behavior; as a master, he was being far too underhanded.

The Purple Lotus gave no answer. His violet robes billowed in the wind as he lifted his arm and swept out a sleeve. In that instant, the four green bamboo spirits were frozen motionless where they stood, each face twisted in fury, eyes glaring fiercely at me and the Purple Lotus. Their green pupils shone ominously; even in broad daylight, they sent a chill through the heart.

I could not help inching backward, but before I knew it, the ground vanished under me, and I tumbled off the rock.

“Why are you so careless?”

The Purple Lotus smiled as he walked slowly toward me, extending his hand. “The combined power of these four demons is still less than a thousand years. There is no need for Little Fish to be afraid.”

“Yes, Master.”

I reached out to him, and memories surged up all at once. In our first meeting a thousand years ago, he had also held out his hands to me just like this and taken me from that little girl, saving my life. Time had flown; a thousand years passed in the turn of a hand. And now, after all that time, I could still meet him and become his only disciple. I truly was blessed.

“You have not a trace of cultivation in you, but with the aid of Moonlit Abyss, subduing these four little demons will be only a matter of time. I shall rest nearby first. Those four little fiends can be your practice opponents. When you have dealt with them, we shall leave this place.”

At that moment, my mind was still in a haze. One hand rubbed at my aching backside while I slowly emerged from my memories. To my surprise, the bundle on my back was snatched away at once, and a palm shoved me and the rock forward together, nearly slamming me into the four female demons opposite.

A flash of purple crossed my vision. The Purple Lotus leapt above the bamboo forest, summoned an auspicious cloud, and reclined upon it. Then he reached into the bundle, took out some snacks that Sister in Green had given me, and began eating them at his leisure.

Seeing me stare at him, the Purple Lotus said, “Little Fish, do not hurry. These demons amount to nothing. I have faith in you.”

He spoke with complete ease, his tone light and faint, as though he were merely admiring the moon or arranging flowers.