I split this chapter into two.
Four
Half a month had passed since Xià Zhòng disappeared from the Mansion of the Eight Celestials. None of the handsome men who lived there were suspicious. Luán Niángzĭ abandoned him. Everyone thought so. For a long time, he had been excluded from her bedchamber. No longer able to satisfy her, naturally he was abandoned by her and driven out of the tower unnoticed. It had happened a few times before. It was nothing to be concerned about. First of all, for the dozens of beautiful men vying for Luán Niángzĭ, one less competitor was a welcome relief. They wouldn’t be inquisitive about it. And so, in the building where Xià Zhòng disappeared, life went on as usual.
“Did it help you to make your doll?” Luán Niángzĭ asked Xíng Hài as she sipped a drink. Needless to say, it was Xià Zhòng. Luán Niángzĭ and Xíng Hài were facing each other across a wide table. The dishes placed on top of it included a variety of dim sum, fruits, lamb filled mantou and bird’s nest soup. To give ‘Luán Niángzĭ’s friend’, Xíng Hài a feast, one of her men, a former chef, had put his heart and soul into making it.
“Well, yes. But it doesn’t feel quite right. I wish I had a slightly thicker arm with a better colour.” Xíng Hài replied. There were no horns on her head and her ears had the same shape as a normal human’s. Today, she also appeared in front of people other than Luán Niángzĭ, so she used an illusion to hide them.
“The completion is near. But now I want to touch it up a bit. I need better parts.”
Luán Niángzĭ chuckled.
“Very picky. You really are an artist.”
As Xíng Hài looked at Luán Niángzĭ’s innocent, smiling face, she thought to herself, this woman… How old was she again? It had already been decades since they had met. Luán Niángzĭ came to visit her, who was living quietly deep in these mountains. The demon Xíng Hài wondered what to make of the little girl who appeared alone and unafraid in her territory. But Luán Niángzĭ was unconcerned about her deviousness and asked with great enthusiasm, how can I live without growing old, just like a demon?
Longevity. Truly a very common human wish. In the case of Luán Niángzĭ however, the passion and the reason for it was unique. Simply summarized, she herself had the most wonderful and most beautiful appearance in the world. With this beauty she had made every man she had met her property and had amassed a vast fortune through their offerings. But in what way were these possessions valuable. For her, a man had more worth. She wanted to taste more and more and more man until every single handsome man on earth had their bodies devoured. She did not say this out of worldly debauchery. Hunting for men was her destiny and her noble ambition. Just as a scholar seeks to master the secrets of his studies, just as a Wulin practitioner trains himself day and night to master the secrets of his art, she was an insatiable seeker of the way of love and wanted to master the very essence of it. But a human’s lifespan and a woman’s prime were too short.
Please, please great demon ancestor! Tell me how to keep this beauty for ten, twenty, a hundred years? It is absolutely necessary! While kowtowing, Luán Niángzĭ told her situation as passionately as if she were breathing fire. Needless to say, Xíng Hài was so amazed that she was lost for words. Luán Niángzĭ’s arguments could be described as foolish. But the light in her eyes was too bright, too real to dismiss it with a laugh. And her beauty, which she claimed as unparalleled in the world, was as superb as she said it was. No human man could fail to be charmed by this girl’s beauty. Truly a siren’s beauty.
Interesting. Xíng Hài thought. The reason why Xíng Hài, unlike most other demons, had stayed in the human world, instead of returning to the demon world after the War of Fading Dusk, was because she secretly planned to overthrow the human world. A task which she had failed during the war. However, years had passed in vain without a plan to do so. The sight of Luán Niángzĭ’s superhuman beauty gave Xíng Hài an idea.
If this girl could be properly raised and sent to the kings, wouldn’t she be able to confuse and disturb the human world? With this in her mind, she decided to grant Luán Niángzĭ’s whish. However, the body structure of a naturally long living demon, was different from that of the human Luán Niángzĭ. If she, as a human being, wanted to attain immortality, she had to leave the secular word, eat mist, and practice asceticism for a long time. But for her, to quit being the greatest woman of loose morals would be an impossible task. There was no choice but to do it with heretical, evil arts. Kidnapping young children, gouge out their livers and decoct them to make elixirs. That way the young child’s youthful spirit would be transferred to the one who takes it, and the ageing process is slowed down. It was a secret art of necromancy that only demons could know. However, this elixir must be taken once every half a month to have a lasting effect. In other words, a fresh liver of a child had to be provided every half a month. When Xíng Hài asked Luán Niángzĭ if she could do that, she easily answered that she could. Some of the men who worshipped her had originally made their living as bandits. It would be easy to use them to kidnap children.
To sacrifice one child every half a month without hesitation to preserve her own beauty. Luán Niángzĭ had no scruples whatsoever. That woman would be too valuable to be left alone Xíng Hài thought with admiration. Also, as a condition, she suggested that in return for the elixir, each time she would be given one of Luán Niángzĭ’s beautiful harem members. As a practitioner of necromancy, she had been wanting to try something for a long time. To collect the corpses of beautiful men, dismember them, select the best parts, sew them together and give them a temporary life to create an ideal living doll. A creation of a demonic work of art that no sane mortal, only a demon, could have imagined.
Still, collecting the corpses of many beautiful men was not an easy task and Xíng Hài had been unable to carry it out until she met Luán Niángzĭ. Luán Niángzĭ had a vast number of such men at her disposal and now Xíng Hài could have as many of the beautiful bodies as she wanted. Thus, decades had passed in which the two evil women took advantage of each other.
“Speaking of an artist, you’re one too.” Xíng Hài cast her voice to Luán Niángzĭ whose face looked nearly as young as on the day she first met her.
“I am?”
“Right. A man-fishing artist. How many men did you devour until now?”
“Who knows, I haven’t counted.”
“When was the last time you said that your goal was to reach a thousand?”
“I’ve long passed the mark of thousand. I think I’m nearing two thousand now.”
Xíng Hài laughed out, “That’s how many men you’ve caught, and you’re still not satisfied?”
“Not yet.”
With an unexpectedly serious look on her face, Luán Niángzĭ shook her head.
“The path of pleasure is a deep one. Even if I thought to have tasted the best of the best, there are still better ones. As long as there are handsome men in this world, there will be no end of my pursuit of passion.”
Her gaze was as if looking up to the heights of a sacred mountain.
“Truly an artist.” Xíng Hài laughed teasingly.
After a long period of interaction, she found herself beginning to like Luán Niángzĭ. Initially, she wanted to use her to bring ruin to the world, but Luán Niángzĭ had never seduced anyone of sufficient status to do so. The reason was that there was no one among the princes and nobles who was good enough to suit her tastes. Xíng Hài’s hopes were completely unfulfilled, but these days she was beginning to realize that she didn’t care that much about it. Through the deal with Luán Niángzĭ the parts for the creation of the living doll were available. And before she met her, she did not have any contact to other demons, let alone humans. Xíng Hài had no interest in mundane human interaction, but Luán Niángzĭ’s mental structure, which allowed her to use any means necessary to achieve her own desires was more akin to that of a demon. In other words, they were on the same page.
In its own way, it was a pleasure to be invited by her for a casual conversation like this. Through the elixir Luán Niángzĭ gained longevity, but as a human being she was unable to escape the fate of death. The effect of the elixir would only last for a few hundred years at most. Xíng Hài was a demon who lived in eternity. There was no harm in enjoying the company of this strange girl for a few hundred years or so. She was just thinking about this when suddenly Luán Niángzĭ called out sharply.
“Hóu Zhuă!”
The door behind Xíng Hài clattered, and she heard a pathetic squeal.
“You’ve been snooping around again! Come out!”
After she said this in a scolding tone, the door opened, and a small man came into the room nervously. A very ugly man. One would call him a small man, but he was as short as a child. Actually, because he had a terrible hunchback, it appeared as if he was crawling on the ground. His arms were oddly long and hairy, disproportionate to his height. His nose was distorted like a pig’s, and his disordered teeth in his mouth were yellowish. Only his eyes were wide and bright. Filled with an unpleasant glow they were staring at Luán Niángzĭ.
The little man who was called Hóu Zhuă prostrated himself on the floor like a toad and gave a foolish sycophantic laugh.
“L-l-lady Luán Niángzĭ. F-f-forgive me… I want to re-report I-I’ve got the thing…”
He was speaking inarticulately with a hoarse voice. Spit was dripping from the corners of his misshapen mouth as he spoke. Luán Niángzĭ looked displeased.
“Then why don’t you knock on the door and come in? Why are you peeping at us?”
„Sorry!”
After being scolded Hóu Zhuă hit his forehead on the floor. Luán Niángzĭ let out a sigh.
“Forget it. Get out. Leave the thing at the usual place on the mountain.”
“Y-Yes!”
The man slowly stepped back. Until the door was fully closed his gaze continued to linger on Luán Niángzĭ.
“What a dislikeable guy. I noticed that he’s always peeping at me.” Luán Niángzĭ spat. Xíng Hài enquired, “I’ve been wondering for some time why you, a woman who chooses by face, has such a man in your house?”
“Because he is useful in many ways. Even though he looks like this, he’s the most loyal to me.”
“I see… Useful…”
That man called Hóu Zhuă who had been peeping into the room from behind… Xíng Hài hadn’t even noticed that she had been watched. Such excellent skills in the technique to erase one’s presence.
The thing that Hóu Zhuă said he had gotten was a child which had been kidnapped from somewhere, tied up and put in a large box. The box containing the child was brought to a part of the mountain, from where it was picked up by one of Xíng Hài’s undead servants and carried to her house. In other words, the role of Hóu Zhuă was to obtain the liver of children which will then be used as an ingredient for the elixir. For the last few years, he had been obediently completing this dirty work, without fail and without anyone knowing who he is.
Was he once some sort of bandit? There is more to him than meets the eye… Xíng Hài guessed.
“Now, Miss Xíng Hài, isn’t it time to give me that?” Luán Niángzĭ said, trying to regain her composure. She was referring to the elixir of longevity.
“Before that, let’s talk about the reward.”
“All right. Which one do you want this time?”
And so, the usual exchange took place.
“Wasn’t there the man with the nice legs, Shā Bózhēng? This one…”
“Not that one.” Luán Niángzĭ shook her head, “That one’s still fun. Take another one.”
Hmmm. Then Jīn Xī, the one with the beautiful fingers…”
“Not that one either.”
Xíng Hài frowned. “Then, how about Zhèng Zhōnghé? That one’s nose is quite something.”
“No.”
“Guī Péishòu…”
“No.”
After that she gave the name of several men, but Luán Niángzĭ continued to shake her head. A look of annoyance began to show on Xíng Hài’s face but when she mentioned the name of “Guì Zhì”, a man she honestly was not really interested in Luán Niángzĭ finally nodded and said “Okay”.
Hasn’t she become a bit arrogant? She used to let me choose more freely in the past. Xíng Hài did not show her thoughts.
“Then, as always.”
“Yes.”
As they did the usual exchange, the door was knocked on from the outside.
“I have brought the next dishes for you.” With the sound of the voice, the door opened and a man came in, carrying a plate with steamed chicken on it. Wearing his silver hair in a ponytail, he had a graceful and noble appearance which was outstanding, even among all the handsome men in the Mansion of the Eight Celestials. With a graceful motion, the man placed the steamed chicken on the table, glanced at Xíng Hài for a moment, gave her an amiable smile and stepped out. She muttered “…an unknown face” as the door closed behind her.
“Not that one. That one only just arrived this month.”
“I’m not saying I want him. But isn’t there something strange about him?”
When Luán Niángzĭ and Xíng Hài were together, the men in the mansion would not look at Xíng Hài at all. They could not help but be enthralled by Luán Niángzĭ’s beauty. The man just a moment ago not only looked in Xíng Hài’s direction, but also showed her a friendly smile.
“Xuĕ Míng.” Luán Niángzĭ said. It was probably the man’s name.
“A good man, isn’t he? But he’s a little bit weird.”
“Weird?”
“Yeah. I invited him to my bedroom, but instead of accepting, he would recite poems all night long and has never laid a finger on me.”
“There is such a man?” Xíng Hài was a bit surprised.
“Sometimes there are men who would worship me so much, that they hesitate to embrace me. Or there are men who will try to attract my attention by ignoring me first. Well, I’m looking forward to caging a man like that and making him as crazy as I want him to be.” Luán Niángzĭ said innocently and broke out in hearty laughter. Xíng Hài thought about Xuĕ Míng’s face. A clever face which had directed a smile at her.
…I don’t like this guy, she thought to herself.
Hóu Zhuă‘s name means monkey claw.
Xuĕ Míng can mean sound of snow.
Setsuna's Translation 