It was just as Ren had said. The space was distinctly feminine, featuring a crescent-moon bench and a delicate pavilion draped in pale-purple wisteria. A man-made stream flowed out from under the veranda, ribboning across one side of the courtyard before disappearing through a grille in the wall. I could easily imagine a young woman sitting on the bench, enjoying the serenity of her environment.
“Mistress Kang, look.”
I followed Ren’s finger to a dark stain on the limestone-paved ground, just beside the pavilion. It could’ve been mud or old blood. But again, where was the body?
Ren crouched down to examine the blemish, rubbing the brownish substance between his fingers.
All at once, a sickening sensation crawled along the walls of my stomach. The moisture in the air frosted, raising the hairs on my neck and arms. I caught a whiff of something rotten and sweet. “Ren, I think—”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
A sudden gust blew out our lantern, the third candle we’d lit since entering the mansion. I spun around to see a womanpoised on the edge of the veranda, watching us with venomous eyes. She wore the expensive robes of the rich and privileged, layers of black silk brocade flowing down to her feet and a gauzy pibo shawl spilling over her arms. Her long hair, half swept up and pinned by a silver rose, was the color of night.
But neither her lovely face nor her fine clothes held my attention. Instead, I stared at the bloody slash across the woman’s white throat, a curved cut that grotesquely mirrored the sharp red smile above. I imagined the knife pressed to her skin, ripping through arteries and muscle.
“Who are you?” I asked, although I already suspected the answer.
“The person you so rudely came to disturb, priestess.” Yuyan balanced a brass censer in her hands, the white smoke trailing from the perforated lid making her sneer all the more menacing.
“You don’t seem like a spirit,” said Ren, his brows knit in confusion. He’d straightened at Yuyan’s appearance, holding back his talisman to better scrutinize her.
“Because she isn’t a spirit.” I clenched my staff, understanding why I hadn’t been able to purify the mansion itself. “She’s a jiangshi.”
“That’s correct,” said Yuyan, her nose lifting haughtily. “But don’t assume I’m like any other mindless possessed corpse.”
I looked her up and down. Aside from the gash that had delivered her death, Yuyan’s body was in an unnaturally preserved condition. A product of magic, I surmised.
“We’ve come to claim your qi,” I said candidly.
“Funnily enough, I desire the same of you.” Yuyan’s eyes burned. “You have a generous amount of qi flowing through you, priestess. Rather rare for a mortal.”
I pointed my staff at the jiangshi. “Don’t try to intimidateme. You can either willingly give yourself up or drag out your own suffering.”
“Oh, can I? I’ve been rather bored lately. The townsfolk tire me with their lights, and I haven’t had an exorcist visit in so long.”
“What did you do to them?” Ren asked, jaw tight.
Yuyan tilted her head sideways, the wound on her neck turning into a smirk. Fresh blood oozed over the edges, but she didn’t flinch. “Why spoil the ending when you can find out for yourself?”
“Enough games,” I said, stamping my staff against the stone pavement. The chimes echoed in the walled clearing. While the noise disrupted the conversation, I pulled out a purification talisman and flung it at Yuyan.
But just before it touched her face, the jiangshi vanished, only to reappear inside the pavilion in a swirl of black smoke.
“Ah-ah.” Yuyan shook a disapproving finger, half her face cast in shadow. “I can’t be so easily caught, as the residents well know. Underestimate me, priestess”—her gaze traveled languidly over us, like a cat considering a pair of mice—“and you’ll both be mine.”
I gritted my teeth. “Threaten us all you want, but wewillbe leaving with your qi.”
Yuyan sighed, disappointed. “You citizens of Sian are all the same. You only ever care about whatyouwant.”
“How do you know we’re from Sian?” Ren said, his alarm matching mine.
“It wasn’t difficult to put together the pieces while watching you traipse about my house.” Her smile returned. “It’s been some time since a prince of Sian graced this mansion. I’ll enjoy taking your qi, however little you may have.”
I jumped in front of Ren as the jiangshi lunged, holding up my staff to ward off Yuyan’s attack. Upon touching the peach wood, the jiangshi snarled and shrank back.
But I felt far from relieved. At the jiangshi’s closeness, I’d realized just how powerful my opponent was. The tang of blood and incense choked my throat. My arms trembled beneath the weight of Yuyan’s magic, which rippled off her like a dark wave. If I made a single mistake, I would surely lose.
“Come, priestess.” Yuyan grinned from the slitted shadows of the pavilion. “I can read the fear in your eyes. Why not give in now and save yourself a painful death?”
