Chapter 138: The Legend of Leaving the Island

Legend has it that the island at the center of this lake is known as the Isle of Solitude, and upon it stands the Pavilion of the Parting.

The master of the Pavilion of the Parting bought a young girl from a fisherman, took her as a disciple, and named her Ah Li.

In the pavilion, Ah Li learned to read, compose verses, and master the arts of dance and song!

Eighteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Thanks to her extraordinary talent and peerless, celestial beauty, Ah Li became the most sought-after geisha in the Pavilion of the Parting.

Whenever Ah Li performed, countless patrons would gather around the Isle of Solitude, many traveling from afar solely to witness her dance.

Each time her performance began, layers of lanterns would rise across the surface of the lake, illuminating the water like patches of flickering fire.

Because of this, Ah Li acquired another moniker: "The Geisha, the Ignis Fatuus!" For every time she made her entrance, it sparked a brilliant spectacle of blazing light, much like the legendary grand yokai known as the Ignis Fatuus, which always appeared accompanied by towering walls of crimson fire.

"Is this the geisha, the Ignis Fatuus?"

Today was yet another day of Ah Li's performance. The waters surrounding the Isle of Solitude were already thronged with eager spectators, their boats packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

Meanwhile, aboard an elegant skiff, an Onmyoji sipped clear sake from his cup and gazed at the Pavilion of the Parting in the center of the isle, a faint smile curling the corner of his lips. "To think a mere geisha commands the same renown as the Ignis Fatuus. I, Kamo no Yoshinori, rushed here believing the great yokai had truly manifested, only to find it is merely a songstress bearing the title of the Ignis Fatuus."

On the stage of the island, a young woman gradually emerged, her face veiled behind a paper fan. Her slender figure and graceful posture instantly provoked a wave of cheers from the surrounding onlookers.

"Ah Li has appeared!"

"The geisha of the Ignis Fatuus, Ah Li!"

"I love you, Ah Li!"

The songstress on the stage swayed her waist, her paper fan fluttering with her movements as she danced as lightly as a startled swan in mid-flight.

"This is...!" Even Kamo no Yoshinori, the Onmyoji aboard the nearby boat, was captivated by the dancing maiden in the Pavilion of the Parting!

As the dance drew to a close, the maiden lowered her paper fan, revealing a breathtaking face of otherworldly beauty—one that could not be found a second time, no matter how far one searched the ends of the earth.

"So beautiful...!" Kamo no Yoshinori could not help but rise to his feet.

Out upon the water, a young attendant of the Pavilion of the Parting was rowing a small skiff, collecting tips from the surrounding patrons!

At that moment, Kamo no Yoshinori penned a letter. When the boy rowed his boat within reach, Kamo placed both the monetary tip and the letter onto the vessel.

Seeing this, the young attendant looked up at Kamo no Yoshinori, who could only offer an awkward smile.

The boy accepted the letter. As the performance concluded, he returned to the Pavilion of the Parting and, entering a chamber, handed the missive directly to Ah Li, who had just finished her performance.

"A man gave this to you," the boy said softly.

Ah Li unsealed the letter, glanced over its contents, whispered a few words into the boy's ear, and rewarded him with a generous tip!

The boy smiled. "Understood."

***

Gradually, the quiet night deepened into the small hours. Under the cover of darkness, Ah Li slipped out to follow the rowing attendant down to the lakeshore.

Waiting anxiously by the bank was a solitary man.

"Floating life is like a dream, our wings are bound—when shall we ever find release?"

Stepping from the boy's wooden boat, Ah Li recited this verse aloud.

"She has come...! The geisha of the Ignis Fatuus... she has truly kept her tryst."

Astonishment crossed the man's features, swiftly giving way to profound joy.

"How breathtaking!"

"The poem in your letter must be *Yearning for the Autumn Moon*, is it not?" Ah Li stepped past the boat and onto the shore, while the young boatman waited patiently in the skiff.

"You are an Onmyoji? Kamo no Yoshinori—that is how you referred to yourself in the letter!" Ah Li walked right up to Kamo no Yoshinori.

By now, Kamo was already gazing fixedly at the woman before him, lost in a trance of rapt adoration.

"Well... so you invited me out here only to stare foolishly at me all night?" Ah Li covered the corner of her mouth and laughed softly.

"Ah, forgive me!" Kamo no Yoshinori snapped back to reality, belatedly realizing his lack of composure. "I am Kamo no Yoshinori of the Kamo clan!"

"How is it that an Onmyoji has also fallen under the spell of the Pavilion of the Parting?" In the nocturnal breeze, Ah Li's enchanting posture appeared even more ethereal, and the fragrance she exuded was utterly irresistible.

"In truth, I came here in pursuit of the grand yokai known as the Ignis Fatuus. More than a decade ago, it burned my hometown to ashes, and all these years I have hunted it relentlessly. When I heard rumors of the Ignis Fatuus appearing here, I rushed to the scene, never expecting that—!"

"Only to find an ordinary mortal instead?" Ah Li paced gracefully through the night, the moonlight casting a divine radiance upon her that made her all the more mesmerizing.

"Do you wish to leave the Pavilion of the Parting?" Kamo no Yoshinori asked abruptly.

"Why do you ask?" Ah Li turned to face him.

"I can tell that you yearn to escape this place. Though your dance is as light as a startled swan, I can see the imprisonment within your soul. Surely you do not wish to spend the rest of your life trapped in the Pavilion of the Parting, do you?" Kamo no Yoshinori asked earnestly, looking straight into her eyes.

"Are you planning to redeem my contract? To take me away from here?" Ah Li gazed back at him.

"Would you allow it?" Kamo asked, completely enthralled by the peerless beauty before him.

Ah Li covered her lips with a smile. "What if I told you that I am the Ignis Fatuus itself?"

"The geisha of the Ignis Fatuus! Ah Li!" At that moment, Kamo no Yoshinori's heart and mind had been utterly captured by the songstress.

"Recite it for me—the poem you wrote in your letter!"

As she spoke, Ah Li drew the paper fan from behind her back.

"Y-yes, of course!" Kamo no Yoshinori stammered, his eyes flickering with emotion. "I entrust my longing to the bright moon; where is the departed soul to be found? Grief wells from my heart, tears refuse to fall; a single long sigh echoes in the tranquil night."

***

Beneath the moonlight, Ah Li, the geisha of the Ignis Fatuus, danced gracefully. Countless fireflies swarmed around her, dotting the night sky with points of starlight, making the entire scene feel like a waking dream.

As dawn approached, Ah Li stepped once more onto the boy's wooden boat. Before departing, she turned her head and called out to Kamo no Yoshinori standing on the shore: "Do you truly intend to take me away?"

"Yes!" Kamo replied with unwavering resolve.

With the gentle gliding of the skiff, Ah Li returned to the Pavilion of the Parting. Yet in her chambers, a man surrounded by an opulent array of gifts had been waiting for a long time.

Seeing her return, he rose with a smile, his face radiating arrogance. "I am the lord of this city. I can grant you everything you desire. I will make you my one and only Ignis Fatuus."

Frowning slightly, Ah Li walked past the man and plucked a white blossom from a vase on her table. "An exquisite flower only reveals its true value when someone who understands it plucks it and holds it in their palm!"

With these words, Ah Li extended the white blossom toward the man who claimed to be the city lord.

"What is the meaning of this?" The lord took the flower, glanced down at its withered petals, and cast it aside in disgust!

Ah Li frowned at the sight.

"There is nothing here that I desire!" she declared, walking straight out of the chamber.

"No one has ever dared refuse the Lord City Master! I shall give you one final chance: become my sole geisha, the Ignis Fatuus." The man's face twisted with a mixture of scorn and rage.

"I said there is nothing here that I desire!" Disgust was plain upon the face of the Ignis Fatuus.

"To dare speak to me in such a manner! You are nothing more than a lowly geisha, and you shall pay dearly for this!" the lord sputtered in fury.

Ignoring him entirely, Ah Li walked away.

The next day, Kamo no Yoshinori was walking through a village, his mind still lingering on the tryst he had shared with Ah Li a few nights prior.

"Ah Li, the Ignis Fatuus—I will surely take you away from this place!"

Suddenly, a commotion erupted around him. Several squads of soldiers boarded boats and headed in the direction of the Isle of Solitude.

"What is happening?" An ominous foreboding gripped Kamo no Yoshinori's heart.

"You haven't heard? The lord has declared Ah Li of the Pavilion of the Parting to be a yokai, and he is sending troops to exterminate the monster!" several villagers discussed nearby.

"To think that such a stunningly beautiful geisha was truly a yokai all along!"

"Well, when you think about it, what mortal woman could possess such unearthly beauty? Of course she was transformed by a demon!"