Page 68 of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

And so, for love, she descended into the hot springs.

The minute Xifeng lit the lanterns and stood before her makeshift altar, with the incense and the dagger, she sensed she was not alone. There was a familiar presence here—she heard her name being whispered in the shadows, and a sound like a gentle tapping of fingers.

“Guma?” She strained her ears and caught a faint reply beneath the bubbling of the water. But it was too quiet, too low, and with a growl of frustration, she bent to light the incense, closing her eyes as the thick black fumes emerged. Still, a thin veil separated her from Guma.

The tapping came again. Xifeng froze as a thick, skulking body darted from the shadows. It approached, and she nearly laughed with relief when she saw the rat, its beady eyes flashing in the light. It paused beside her, fearless, and she could almost hear its blood drumming in her ears.

To imbibe another’s lifeblood is to strengthen your own.

Would it be enough to help her see Guma? Before she had even finished the thought, Xifeng’s fingers had snatched the rat, quick as lightning. She broke its neck cleanly, so it would feel no pain, and wondered why she had ever hesitated to kill. After all, the animals would live forever through her, in the strengthening of her vitality and magic.

She laid the dead rat on the ground, by the edge of the water, and sliced it open with the dagger. Dark splatters shone on her fingers as the warm fur gave way to her prodding, revealing a lump hot as the springs themselves. She placed the heart on her tongue and swallowed it whole. The rich, metallic taste scorched her throat as it went down, and she shuddered as her nerves tingled with delight and newfound strength.

“Xifeng.”

Startled, she knocked the rat’s corpse into the water. She faced Guma, seeing her as though she truly stood there, the increased magic in her veins enhancing the vision.

“I knew you were here.” She reached out, but her fingers slipped right through Guma’s shadowy form. Nothing but air, of course. Her aunt looked older than she remembered, and thin and worn, her headbarely reaching Xifeng’s chin. Had she truly been capable of beating the life out of her?

Guma surveyed her, too, with pride. “You look as I hoped you would.” She listened with a dark expression as Xifeng told her of the phantom wounds.

“It was no dream. I felt the injuries with my own fingers and there was blood on my pillow.” Xifeng touched her chest, where the creature listened. “Am I losing my mind?”

The older woman did not answer right away. “There are consequences for everything we do. You know that,” she said at last, with a slow, sad smile. “You’ve come seeking answers. I’ve wanted to tell you the truth for years, and it seems the time is now. You are fulfilling what I wanted for you and more. You’ve learned well.”

Approval, after all this time. A thousand questions sat on the tip of Xifeng’s tongue, but her aunt held up a filmy hand to silence her.

“We don’t have much time, for this sort of magic will not last long. Listen well. I know the visions you’ve seen.” She turned away and the very air seemed pregnant with tension, with things left unsaid for far too long. “When I was your age, a handsome young nobleman named Long came to town. Our family fell in love with him. Our parents, because he was the means to a better life; my sister Mingzhu, because of his gentle way with her; and me.”

Xifeng turned to the waterfall, where her reflection stood small and alone.

“I was plain and awkward. I never had your or Mingzhu’s ability to win a man’s heart with my face,” Guma said bitterly. “But I had something else. You see, I used to play by the river as a girl. I found a black snake there once and followed it to a cave, where... it became a man. He told me I had the makings of a great wielder of magic and taught meall I know about poisons and poetry. He gave me books of poems and my first deck of cards. He taught me the dark magic of lifeblood, which he had shared with no one else. Only me.”

“The Serpent God.”

“He told me to call him that.” Her aunt grimaced. “He forced me to keep our meetings secret and took payment here and there for our lessons over the years. Things he said I wouldn’t value: My ability to read music. Memories of my childhood. My sense of direction. My vision in the dark. Things I was willing to give if it meant I could be special like Mingzhu.”

“He took all of these things and you never questioned him?”

“Not at first. I was young and desperate to make something of myself. Over time, I began to suspect things were not as they should be, but still I felt a duty to him, and a desire to be more—much more—than what I was.”

Xifeng gave a slow nod. She understood that desire well.

“He cared for me like a father. He was the only one who saw me as anything.” Guma’s shoulders drooped with every word. “So I worked hard to please him. I progressed so well that he promised me one great wish. Anything I wanted. I should have known the wish wouldn’t be free, either. Something else would be taken, and this time, it would be something I’d notice.”

“You wished for Long to fall in love with you?” Xifeng asked, though she was terrified of the answer and what it might mean... what it might change.

Guma’s body faded with each passing minute, but her grimace was clear. “My parents wanted him to marry Mingzhu badly enough that they bribed the matchmaker and astrologer to favor the union. So I knew it was time. But what I wished for was one night with Long, toconvince him he should be with me. I still had my pride. I would not have him unless I had earned him myself.”

She clenched her jaw. “That night was the worst of my life. The whole time, he believed I was Mingzhu. He came to me in the dark, drunk with passion, believing I was my sister. Afterward, he screamed when he realized it was me. And we both saw what had become of my leg. Rivers of blood. Unimaginable pain. It came on suddenly, as soon as Long found me out and our night together was over. The payment was due, you see.”

Despite the heat of the springs, Xifeng felt ice in her veins. “The Serpent God injured you as payment for granting your wish.”

Guma stared into the waterfall that did not reflect her. “Long left in terror, convinced my parents had used black magic to entangle him with their daughters. Mingzhu’s mind had never been strong—a vein of madness runs through our family—and grief destroyed her.”

“A vein of madness?” Xifeng repeated. “You told memagicruns through our family.”

“Are they not the same, I wonder? My parents never recouped the fortune they’d wasted trying to attract him into marrying her. They died, one after the other, followed by my sister. Youraunt,Mingzhu.”

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