The Arrival

1,317 words

“Senior Brother Li, is that you?”

Bai Lingmiao reached out and touched the face of that swirling mass. Gradually, everything around it began to coalesce, solidifying into the familiar visage.

Seeing this, a smile spread across her face. It seemed she would need to get more used to this ability.

“Miaomiao, can you see now? You can really see?” Li Huowang stared into her eyes, asking with wild, delighted urgency.

“I don’t know if this counts as seeing, but… at least I can do the same things as before. And at least I’m not a burden anymore.” Bai Lingmiao stood up, spinning around the room, feeling this wondrous new state.

She could not only see the world outside, but even the inside of some things. She was particularly clear on anything that moved.

For instance, she could now clearly “see” the insects and ants on the short tree outside the courtyard.

Gradually, Bai Lingmiao grew to love this feeling. It was so much better than being trapped in a pitch-black void where she could see nothing at all.

“Senior Brother Li, I can see! I really can see! Thank you so much!” Her expression grew more and more joyful.

Seeing her smile, Li Huowang felt that all the previous trials had been worth it. At least through his own efforts, he was making the people around him better, little by little.

After watching Bai Lingmiao spin around like a white butterfly for a while, Li Huowang spoke up. “Alright, take a rest. You’ll make yourself dizzy.”

He then opened the two roast geese wrapped in lotus leaves on the table. “Come! To celebrate your eyes being healed, we’re eating roast goose today! I heard this place roasts them over lychee wood—the flavor is supposed to be amazing. It’s a specialty of the capital.”

“Dad, I want some too.”

“Then go get yourself a bowl and chopsticks.”

As the three of them were enjoying this rare, happy moment of sharing a meal, a knock came from the courtyard gate. “Is Erjiu home? It’s your Auntie! Lian Zhibei!”

Hearing that familiar name, Li Huowang’s brow furrowed. Wasn’t this woman supposed to be going to fetch his mother? What kind of nonsense was she up to now?

When Li Huowang opened the door, the plump, elderly woman immediately launched into a torrent of speech.

“Look, here’s the thing. Your Auntie was stuck in a dead end before. There’s actually no need to bring my mother over. Auntie can sever the connection between your wife and the immortal. You just give me that jade token first, and it’ll be done, won’t it?”

Just as Li Huowang was about to say something, he heard the sound of two sets of footsteps approaching from behind him.

“Senior Brother Li, what’s this auntie doing here? Should we invite her in for some roast goose?”

Just as the cheerful, hospitable Bai Lingmiao was speaking, the Er Shen whispered something in her ear.

“Why do I need to go inside first? Aren’t we having a guest?”

“Miaomiao, it’s for the best if you go inside first.”

When even Li Huowang said the same thing, Bai Lingmiao stopped her protests. She gave a soft nod and went back into the house.

“All decided, have you? Then let’s get started!” Lian Zhibei said, trying to push past him, but Li Huowang blocked her way.

He turned his head silently to look at the Er Shen. After a long pause, he spoke. “You understand what this means for you, right?”

“I know. As long as the immortal on Miaomiao is removed, I can merge back with her.” The Er Shen’s voice came from beneath the red bridal veil.

That was true in theory, but Li Huowang’s feelings toward the Er Shen were extremely complicated. He didn’t know whether to see her as an independent person, or as a part of Bai Lingmiao.

If he treated her as a person, did doing this mean she would die?

“Besides, the immortal is a ticking time bomb if it isn’t removed, isn’t it? You don’t want to live with a threat that big by your side, do you?”

“Miaomiao might not agree, but don’t worry. I’ll convince her.”

“So, are we going or not? How are we doing this? Say something! Are you trying to drive your Auntie crazy with impatience?”

Lian Zhibei didn’t know all the ins and outs; she was just afraid Li Huowang would back out.

“Let’s go. This way.” The Er Shen nodded at her and led her toward the inner room.

“Fine! Wait here. I’ll take your wife to get ready. You wait outside.” With that, the flustered Lian Zhibei followed the Er Shen inside.

When the oil lamp inside the room was lit, Bai Lingmiao looked a bit nervous. She had met this woman on the road, but being alone with her still felt awkward.

“Girl, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and take off your clothes.”

“Huh? I-I have to take off my clothes?” Although her senior brother had told her to obey, Bai Lingmiao was still extremely tense in the face of such a request.

“Of course. What are you shy about? We’re both women. Hurry it up.”

“Oh…” Just as Bai Lingmiao was shyly beginning to undo her clothes, Lian Zhibei suddenly rushed to her side and pressed her mouth close to her ear, whispering in a low voice, “Curtain hides the jade peak, storing the night snow; the foundation is laid by blue water, growing autumn moss.”

Bai Lingmiao was clearly startled by this action, taking several steps back. “Auntie, what are you talking about?”

“You don’t know? You really don’t know?” Lian Zhibei asked again, excited.

“Know what?” A sudden voice came from behind her. Lian Zhibei’s heart lurched violently.

She turned around, immediately putting on an impatient expression. “Oh, that’s just some preliminary preparation. Didn’t I tell you to wait outside? Why did you follow me in?”

“She’s my wife. What does it matter if I see her disrobe? Why should I be made to leave?”

“She doesn’t need to avoid me, but I have to take my clothes off too! Am I your wife, then?” With that, Lian Zhibei threw off her outer robe, revealing a bulging yellow belly-band that strained to hold her rolls of fat.

Li Huowang stared at her, speaking slowly and deliberately. “Don’t you start any trouble.”

After delivering this veiled threat, he turned to the blushing Bai Lingmiao. “I’ll be right outside the door. I can hear everything that happens in here. If anything’s wrong, just call out.”

“Mm…”

Li Huowang pulled open the door and dragged Li Sui, who had been waiting outside, into the room. “Keep an eye on that fat woman. If she does anything strange, bite her.”

“Got it, Dad.”

Only after setting up all his precautions did Li Huowang return to the main hall.

He was certain now: those two cryptic sentences Lian Zhibei had whispered to Bai Lingmiao were definitely not “preliminary preparation.”

Judging by her tone and demeanor, it had sounded more like a recognition code.

This Lian Zhibei seemed to have ulterior motives. If it weren’t for the fact that she really did have a way to free Bai Lingmiao from the immortal, he wouldn’t have let her anywhere near his wife for a second longer.

After a long while, the two of them came out. Lian Zhibei was now holding a large bundle of things, though Li Huowang had no idea where she had been hiding it.

But his attention was entirely on Bai Lingmiao. She was now wearing nothing but a yellow paper vest painted with talismanic script.

Her body, smooth as lamb’s fat, was covered in crooked red cinnabar characters. The white and red interweaving created a look that was at once deeply strange and faintly alluring.

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Reading Guide Decoding

A Coded Whisper and a Cinnabar Canvas

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

Lian Zhibei’s whispered passphrase—“Curtain hides the jade peak, storing the night snow; the foundation is laid by blue water, growing autumn moss”—is not random nonsense. It reads like a coded verse typical of sectarian or underground religious networks in Chinese fiction. The “jade peak” and “night snow” are common euphemisms in classical poetry and inner alchemy texts, often referring to hidden or esoteric knowledge. The fact that Lian Zhibei uses it as a recognition signal suggests she may be part of a secret organization—possibly the White Lotus or a related sect—testing whether Bai Lingmiao is an initiate. The failure of the passphrase (Bai Lingmiao’s genuine confusion) tells Lian Zhibei that her target is not “in the know,” which forces her to continue the operation under a different guise. This kind of layered sectarian verification is a staple of historical martial arts and xianxia fiction, where a single misspoken line can mean life or death.

Mind-eye perception (心眼通)

A supernatural sense that allows a character to perceive qi, auras, and hidden presences; attained via a Buddhist relic in this novel, it reveals the true, unstable nature of beings.

Passphrase (暗号)

A secret word or phrase used to verify identity or affiliation within a closed group, common in sectarian and jianghu (martial underworld) fiction.

Chapter Overview

After a hard-won healing, Bai Lingmiao can finally “see” again—though her new perception is anything but ordinary. The chapter opens on a rare moment of domestic joy: a family celebration over roast goose, a brief respite from the endless horror. But the peace doesn’t last. Enter Lian Zhibei, the nosy, portly auntie who was supposed to be off fetching Li Huowang’s mother. Instead, she’s back with a sudden change of heart, offering to sever the immortal’s connection to Bai Lingmiao. What follows is a tense, claustrophobic interplay of trust and suspicion, where an intimate medical procedure becomes a stage for cryptic passphrases and watchful paranoia.

Key Plot Points

Bai Lingmiao successfully uses her new mind-eye perception, seeing not just surfaces but the inner details of the world—insects inside bark, the movement of life around her. Her joy is pure, and Li Huowang allows himself a moment of earned satisfaction.
Lian Zhibei returns from her errand abruptly, claiming she no longer needs to bring her mother and can now sever the immortal’s connection to Bai Lingmiao. Her sudden change of plan and eagerness are immediate red flags.
Li Huowang and the Er Shen have a quiet, loaded conversation outside the treatment room. The Er Shen accepts that removing the immortal will mean her own dissolution back into Bai Lingmiao, a fate she treats as acceptable.
Inside the treatment room, Lian Zhibei abruptly tests Bai Lingmiao with a cryptic two-line poem that sounds like a passphrase. Bai Lingmiao’s genuine confusion halts the secret exchange.
Li Huowang catches the suspicious behavior, confronts Lian Zhibei with a veiled threat, and sets Li Sui inside the room as a watchdog.
The chapter ends with Bai Lingmiao emerging, her body painted in red cinnabar talismans over a yellow paper vest—a ritual preparation that is as eerie as it is intimate.

Reading Guide

This chapter is a masterclass in tension disguised as a domestic scene. The joy of Bai Lingmiao’s recovery is genuine, but the moment Lian Zhibei knocks on that door, the atmosphere thickens. Pay close attention to the Er Shen’s quiet acceptance of her own erasure—it’s a poignant beat that adds moral complexity to what could have been a simple “cure.” And that whispered passphrase? It’s the kind of detail that rewards re-reading. Li Huowang’s suspicion is not paranoia; it’s survival instinct. The chapter ends on a note of ritualized intimacy (the painted body) that is both beautiful and deeply unsettling—a perfect distillation of what makes this novel’s horror so effective.

Er Shen’s Sacrifice

This chapter deepens the Er Shen’s characterization in a quietly devastating way. She willingly accepts her own dissolution—being reabsorbed into Bai Lingmiao—as a fair price for removing the immortal. It’s a selfless act from a being who has always existed in the margins of personhood. Li Huowang’s hesitation is telling: he doesn’t know if he should see her as a person or a fragment. The Er Shen’s calm logic—the immortal is a ticking time bomb—leaves no room for sentiment. Her fate is left hanging, making this one of the chapter’s most emotionally charged undercurrents.