Nezha descended the city tower, went home to have dinner, and then was about to go to bed. On his way past the inner chamber, he heard a man and a woman talking inside.
Nezha, of course, knew who they were. The man was Li Jing and the woman was a maid he had seen before, Li Jing's newly favored concubine, Lv Ping.
For the past seven years, Nezha had been in a state of confusion; he was aware of this but was too lazy to bother.
Now, the situation was much the same. At the Li Family of Chentang Pass, everything seemed peaceful on the surface. However, if you delved deeper, you'd find a heap of absurdities that could drive you crazy if you decided to meddle in them.
But this time, as he passed by, Nezha inadvertently heard his own name mentioned in their conversation. So he sat under the illuminated window, looking up at the moon hanging like a jade plate in the sky.
Rare gusts of cool night wind blew, but the cicadas were still annoyingly noisy. The maiden's coquettish voice was no longer as charming as it usually sounded.
"Master, do your words still count or not, Master—"
"Ah, of course, they count. When have I ever deceived you, but this is a different time and circumstances. Isn't it because of a sudden change?"
"Isn't it just Nezha's spiritual intelligence that got restored? But isn't it too much of a coincidence? Just when the master was about to use this as grounds to dispose of Lady Yin, his spiritual intelligence recovered?"
"What do you mean?" Li Jing, who was reading under the lamp, frowned, casting his tiger eyes toward Lv Ping, wearing only a green silk shawl.
Lv Ping was frightened by Li Jing's gaze, but she was anxious about this matter, so she mustered up the courage to say, "I heard people say that Nezha, like Su Daji in Zhaoge, is possessed by a demon, which is why his temperament changed so suddenly. The master possesses vast divine skills, and our family surely doesn't fear a mere demon. But if outsiders find out our family is being toyed with by a demon, the family's reputation would be completely ruined—"
Lv Ping got carried away and only noticed after a while that Li Jing's face had darkened to the point where it seemed like it might drip water, and she hesitantly asked, "Master?"
Li Jing did not speak.
The rumors about Nezha being possessed by a demon had reached Li Jing's ears before, but the other day someone from the Chan Sect came to take Nezha as a disciple, which completely dispelled his concerns.
However, just now, Lv Ping inadvertently mentioned Su Daji of Zhaoge.
Originally, this daughter of Su Hu, the Marquis of Jizhou, was somewhat famous among the eight hundred vassals in the Great Shang Dynasty. She was talented and beautiful, and, what's more, a gentle and virtuous young lady, ideal for marriage.
But this poor woman, after arriving in Zhaoge, almost overnight, her temperament changed completely. She invented punishing instruments and disposed of Queen Jiang...
Li Jing saw with his own eyes that Mei Bai, who spoke candidly in warning, was burned to ashes by the red copper pillar on the court, the level of cruelty causing Li Jing to have nightmares for two months.
It was rumored that on the way to Zhaoge, Su Daji had been killed by demons, and what sat on the court now was merely a demon borrowing a human form.
This was not a baseless rumor in Zhaoge. Just recently, Yun Zhongzi, the Qi Refiner from Zhong Nanshan, presented a peach wood treasure sword at the Fen Palace Tower, nearly subduing Daji.
Unfortunately, in the end, King Zhou was beguiled by Daji again, burned the peach wood treasure sword, and it all ended in vain.
Li Jing had never seen Daji, but he had heard of Yun Zhongzi, an immortal who had attained the Dao centuries ago.
Li Jing's position was lowly and his words carried little weight, so he could not involve himself in court affairs, but the issue of Nezha was a family matter. Even though Taiyi Zhenren vouched for it, he had not met Taiyi Zhenren himself, so who could guarantee that the Taiyi Zhenren from that day wasn't a demon conspiring to harm the Li Family?
Li Jing muttered, "It indeed is a bit too coincidental."
Lv Ping grew bolder, leaning on Li Jing's back, speaking softly, "Yes, master, this is not a trivial matter and must be guarded against. Find a master to take a look. If Nezha is truly fine, then that's a good thing."
"Do you know any masters?"
"I don't have such ability." Lv Ping let her shawl slip to the ground just right, exposing her tender shoulders. As she pretended to pick it up, she said, "But you do, master. Didn't you say you're quite close with the Dragon King of the Dragon Palace of the East Sea? You are neighbors, after all; helping with a matter like this is but a word."
Without turning around, Lv Ping could feel Li Jing's burning gaze. She smiled slightly, secretly satisfied in her heart, thinking that all men in the world were indeed the same. Lady Yin was old and fading; how could she compare to herself?
In the blink of an eye, Lv Ping found herself in Li Jing's embrace.
"My little Ping'er is right, I almost forgot about our old neighbor. When the time comes, I'll ask him for a big pearl to give to you as a piece of jewelry."
"Lv Ping doesn't want any big pearls!"
"Mischievous!"
"Hahaha, Master, stop that, it's ticklish..."
The light in the house went out, but the commotion didn't cease. Outside the window, Nezha's face was grim, veins bulging in his arms, as the stone in his palm was crushed into powder!
Lady Yin was, after all, Li Jing's original wife, and without a grave mistake, Li Jing naturally wouldn't dispose of her for a maid, otherwise, even if not considering Nezha, he couldn't explain it to his other two sons.
The promises made to Lv Ping were merely the result of lust, casual pledges made in the heat of the moment.
Men, at such times, could say anything.
But hearing it all fall into Nezha's ears couldn't be dismissed; he had long known that this Li Jing was narrow-minded, but he hadn't realized he would even scheme against his own wife and children.
Nezha exhaled deeply, a mischievous smile spreading across his face as he calculated the timing, slapping his palm on the large green stone slab beneath him.
A thundering crash resounded like muffled thunder!
Fragments of stone flew, birds startled into flight!
The cicadas' droning grew even more overwhelming.
"Who's there!"
"Who's outside!"
Li Jing rushed out in disarray, treasure sword in hand, looking around; the chilly small courtyard was completely empty.
He grit his teeth and cursed, returning to the room, where Lv Ping cuddled up again, stroking him for a long while. However, having been given a fright by Nezha just when they were getting into it, Li Jing was left deflated and was never able to restore his vigor, sulkingly falling asleep.
Nezha had long returned to his courtyard, found a stone stool to sit on, and as he released his grip, blood had already flowed from his palm into the cracks in the stone below.
He gritted his teeth, opened his palm, and began pulling out the shards embedded in it one by one, washing it clean with water.
The injury wasn't severe, but it hurt badly. After completing this, his short shirt was already soaked with a layer of cold sweat.
In the moonlight, he sat resting in the courtyard. A still-green leaf drifted onto his head.
Lv Ping was just a nameless little maid, unworthy of Nezha's concern. The only bothersome point in this household was Li Jing.
"I only hope you are wise enough not to do anything foolish."
After bandaging the wound, Nezha returned to his room to rest. Before long, he was fast asleep.
This dream was clearer than usual. In the dream, he climbed the city tower of Chentang Pass, the skies were cloudless, with sparse stars beside the bright moon. Strangely, he was the only person on the tower.
Nezha grasped the Qiankun Bow, nocked a Sky-shattering Arrow, drew the bow, and shot. The arrow flew like a stream of light.