The yellow plum rain drummed against the blue roof tiles as Tan Jinxuan's brush hovered above rice paper. Ink dripped from the wolf-hair tip, blooming into a black lotus on his copy of The Yellow Court Canon[1]. He jolted awake to find the bronze lamp's wax long solidified, rainwater cascading beyond the window like a liquid curtain isolating his study as an island.

  This marked the forty-ninth day of his seclusion practicing the "Turtle Breathing Technique"[2].

  The humid air carried a faint peach blossom fragrance. As Tan reached for the calming incense[3] on his desk, his fingers brushed something slick—inky tendrils were crawling up the table leg, retreating into shadows upon contact. He shook his head, attributing the vision to meditation fatigue, and adjusted his posture on the straw cushion.

  When the nightwatchman's clapper pierced the rain curtain at midnight, the tinnitus arrived.

  First came the buzzing of swarming bees, then metallic screeching. Tan recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra[4] as cold sweat soaked his underrobe. When the noise breached its crescendo, he heard laughter.

  "Giggle...you hear me..."

  The voice oozed like honey from his left eardrum. Tan's pupils contracted violently. The bronze mirror reflected his ashen face—and the hazy shadow clinging to his shoulder. He whirled around, knocking over the lamp that clattered across blue-brick flooring. In the flickering light, he saw blood tears streaming from the jade pixiu[5] paperweight's eyes.

  "Fear not..." The whisper transformed into a woman's mellifluous voice as a fingernail-sized palm pressed against his auricle. "This humble one dwells in your heart..."

  Tan thrust his peachwood sword[6] toward his ear, but the blade sliced empty air. The mirror fogged suddenly, revealing crimson seal script[7]: There's a person in the ear, a ghost in the heart. Before he could focus, the characters melted into bloody rivulets dripping down the frame.

  At dawn, the study appeared normal. Trembling, Tan unrolled last night's transcribed scriptures—only to find the pages filled with frenzied "KILL" characters. Rainwater pooled on the windowsill mirrored his reflection, revealing a new cinnabar mole on his right earlobe like congealed blood.

  When the apothecary girl Su'e brought calming herbal soup[8], she found Tan burning books. The Seven Bamboo Slips of the Cloud Satchel[9] curled into ash butterflies in the brazier. The scholar's peachwood hairpin held seven yellow talismans[10] that snapped like war banners in the morning wind.

  "Master Tan, what—"

  "Purification." Tan's nails dug into his palms. He dared not mention washing his face at dawn—the basin's water had reflected not his face, but a classical-dressed woman with dewy peach blossoms in her hair.

  Su'e noticed the inkstone's contents glowing unnaturally rouge. As she leaned closer, Tan suddenly overturned the medicine bowl. Brown liquid snaked across the floor as he staggered back, colliding with the Vermilion Bird Bronze Lamp[11] on the antique shelf.

  "Stay back!" He rasped, pointing behind her. "It's smiling at you!"

  Su'e retreated half a step, her skirt sweeping shattered porcelain. Studying the scholar's bloodshot eyes, she flicked open a silver needle case from her sleeve. Three-inch ox-hair acupuncture needles[12] glinted coldly between her fingers. "Look behind you, Master."

  Tan turned to see the Vermilion Bird Bronze Lamp exhaling blue smoke mere inches from his neck. The cloud-thunder patterns[13] on its surface writhed suddenly, oozing viscous ink from the taotie[14] motifs' eye sockets. The black liquid seeped into brick crevices, sprouting peach-blossom roots thin as hair strands.

  "Don't gaze!" Su'e's needle pierced his Yifeng acupoint[15]. Pain brought instant clarity—the bronze patterns now lay dormant, only the vermilion bird's turquoise beak glowing faintly. Collapsing onto the cushion, Tan watched the healer sanitize needles with mugwort[16] smoke, medicinal herbs tangling with the study's unnatural peach fragrance.

  "This lamp was pawned as grave goods[17]." Su'e wrapped the lamp in silk, her fingers staining crimson where the cloth met strange moisture. The redness crawled up her forearm, etching peach blossom patterns on alabaster skin.

  Tan lunged wildly, smashing the inkstone against the mirror. Glass shattered—and torrents of black hair surged through cracks, each strand studded with peach buds. The blossoms unfurled mid-air, petals bearing miniature faces of the classical woman from his washbasin visions.

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  "You should've realized sooner." The mirror's ethereal voice thickened the peach scent to wine-like intensity. Su'e's medicine chest sprang open, herbs arranging into a Bagua[18] formation. Angelica and peony roots[19] morphed into yin-yang fish[20], while peach resin[21] at the center oozed fresh blood.

  Tan's right earlobe burned. The cinnabar mole split, sprouting a peach twig. He clawed at the growing branch, horrified as his fingers lignified[22], nails shedding like petals. Su'e pressed burning mugwort to his ear—amidst acrid smoke and shrieks, the branch retracted, trailing black blood.

  "This is a skin-demon's symbiosis[23]." Su'e ripped open Tan's robe, revealing a charcoal-peach brand over his heart. "She's rebuilding flesh with your essence." Before she finished, the bronze lamp emitted a phoenix cry, its eyes shooting golden rays to tear open mirror cracks.

  From the fissure depths came silk-ripping sounds. A bloodstained fairy skirt[24] floated out. Tan suddenly seized a needle to stab his left ear, roaring through pain: "She taught me Moonlit Ascension[25]! Promised transcendence through corpse-liberation!" His Taoist robe billowed unnaturally, ink stains spreading into a peach forest across his back—every trunk embedded with screaming faces.

  Su'e drew blood sigils[26] on bricks with bitten fingertips. Seven copper coins[27] flew from her chest to nail the mirror frame. As the final coin embedded, the mirror gushed black ink coalescing into a feminine silhouette—her peach blossom hairpin composed of microscopic scriptures.

  "Look!" Su'e scattered mugwort ashes over the ink figure. The soot revealed vermilion charms identical to Tan's pre-seclusion ward talismans[28]. The scholar staggered—now remembering that rainy night forty-nine days prior, when he'd added a blood stroke to the wards during meditation.

  Thunder cracked. The ink figure wailed like a strangled infant. Su'e thrust the bronze lamp into Tan's arms. A hidden compartment in its base held a three-inch peachwood doll[29]—seven gold needles pierced its heart, each trailing faded red threads vanishing into the mirror's depths.

  Rain turned viscous. Puddle reflections spawned countless Tan clones with blossoming ears. Su'e snapped her neck cord—the shattered jade Bagua[30] pendant released smoke revealing half-burnt Demon Subjugation Notes[31]. Pages flipped autonomously to an illustration: the bronze lamp pinning a female arm emerging from glass.

  Cultural Notes:

  1.The Yellow Court Canon (Huangting Jing): Taoist scripture on internal alchemy and meditation.

  2.Turtle Breathing Technique: Taoist breathing method simulating hibernation for spiritual cultivation.

  3.Calming Incense: Traditional herbal blend for meditation and anxiety relief.

  4.Heart-Cleansing Mantra: Taoist chant to clear mental disturbances.

  5.Pixiu: Mythical creature believed to ward off evil spirits and attract wealth.

  6.Peachwood Sword: Taoist ritual tool for exorcism, as peach wood is considered spiritually potent.

  7.Seal Script: Ancient Chinese calligraphic style often used for occult texts.

  8.Calming Herbal Soup: Traditional Chinese medicinal decoction for soothing nerves.

  9.Seven Bamboo Slips of the Cloud Satchel (Yunji Qiqian): Comprehensive Taoist encyclopedia from the Song Dynasty.

  10.Yellow Talismans: Paper charms inscribed with sacred texts for protection.

  11.Vermilion Bird Bronze Lamp: Mythical firebird (one of Four Symbols) shaped ritual lamp, often used in funerary contexts

  12.Ox-hair acupuncture needles: Ultra-fine needles used in traditional Chinese medicine.

  13.Cloud-thunder patterns: Bronze motif symbolizing cosmic forces, common on ritual vessels.

  14.Taotie: Mythical gluttonous beast motif representing insatiable desires.

  15.Yifeng acupoint: Pressure point behind the ear used to treat mental disturbances.

  16.Mugwort: Herb used in moxibustion for dispelling evil energies.

  17.Grave goods: Funerary objects buried with the deceased for afterlife use.

  18.Bagua: Eight trigrams representing fundamental cosmic principles in Taoism.

  19.Angelica and peony roots: Chinese medicinal herbs for blood circulation and calming.

  20.Yin-yang fish: Symbol of complementary opposites in Taoist philosophy.

  21.Peach resin: Symbol of immortality in Chinese lore, also used in dark rituals.

  22.Lignified: Botanical term for wood-like transformation, here indicating demonic possession.

  23.Skin-demon's symbiosis: Reference to hua pi legends where demons wear human skins.

  24.Fairy skirt: Liu xian qun, Han Dynasty-style draped gown associated with celestial beings.

  25.Moonlit Ascension: Taiyin Lianxing, forbidden Taoist practice of achieving immortality through corpse refinement.

  26.Blood sigils: Occult symbols drawn with blood to enhance spiritual potency.

  27.Copper coins: Ancient Chinese coins with square holes, often used in exorcism rituals.

  28.Ward talismans: Protective charms placed on doors/windows against evil spirits.

  29.Peachwood doll: Taoist ritual object for containing evil spirits, as peach wood dispels demons.

  30.Jade Bagua: Carved jade Eight Trigrams pendant for spiritual protection.

  31.Demon Subjugation Notes (Fumo Zhaji): Fictional Taoist manual on exorcism techniques.