After Yang Lianting had returned to the guards’ quarters a group of people gathered around.
“Tingzhi, you’ve got a lot of guts to actually block an arrow for the Cult Master!”
“Are you alright? We heard that the divine doctor Ping Yizhi came up the cliff to personally treat your injury, did that old man use his famed Golden Sore Medicine?”
“You must’ve impressed the Cult Master.”
“Tell us, what did the Cult Master reward you?”
The guards who knew Yang Lianting and those who did not, almost everyone gathered around, noisily questioning him. Yang Lianting was heavily injured, he had faced Dongfang Bubai with perseverance and only relied on his own will to hold on. Gritting his teeth and holding his breath, he had acted as if nothing was wrong. However, he had just returned to the guards’ quarters and been surrounded by these people, Yang Lianting could not avoid feeling feeble and drowsy.
His face pallid, he sat on his bed and smiled at them, “There’s no reward, the Cult Master punished me to hold night vigil.”
“No reward? How’s that possible? You’ve made such a great contribution, nearly losing your life.”
“Yeah, Tingzhi, if you’ve received any reward– Out with it! It’s not like we, your brothers, would rob you.”
The rough and roguish men on Blackwood Cliff spoke rudely and loudly yet once they were all together in one place they were so noisy his brain was throbbed in pain. Yang Lianting hardened his heart and dismissively waved his hand. “I’m a coarse person, who doesn’t know etiquette. I was careless and offended the Cult Master. Luckily, the Cult Master suppressed his anger, took my merit into account, and spared my life–”
“So that’s how it is.”
“The Cult Master justly rewards and punishes, possesses civil and martial virtue.”
“Tingzhi you were really born with a bitter fate, you just had to offend the Cult Master when you were about to be rewarded.”
Hearing that Yang Lianting had not been bestowed a reward, and had been punished instead, the guards swiftly scattered and the room finally quieted down. Yang Lianting lay on the bed, his arms beneath his head, the wound on his chest still dully aching. Although he felt sleepy, he could not fall asleep for a long time. He did not think that the guards’ attitudes towards him were odd. Revering the great and stepping on the low, on Blackwood Cliff and in the Wulin, was oddly normal.
For an entire lifetime, he too had been like them. Exhausting his means to be among those of power and position, considering the way the wind was blowing before treating a person well, yet in this life he was unwilling to put his limited energy on a matter as meaningless as this once again.
The meaning of his life was not Blackwood Cliff’s authority, nor the gold and silver[27] that was worthless in death, only that one person’s red figure. Thinking that today after being apart for two lifetimes, he finally saw him again, Yang Lianting slowly closed his eyes, his heart perfectly content.
He wanted to quickly recover his health.
There were still countless things he wanted to do.
Since he had been hit by an arrow for Dongfang Bubai’s sake, Yang Lianting had been given half a month off for recuperation. No longer having to do all those heavy chores and exercises each day, Yang Lianting naturally would not waste this rare free time. He knew himself well, while he had poor roots and bones, would never be an expert of the Wulin, his body’s nature was thick and sturdy. While he had been injured a few days prior, with the help of Ping Yizhi’s medicine, he was able to walk without hindrance and do regular tasks. That being the case, he naturally planned a matter he wanted to do.
In his past life, step by step, it had taken him two whole years to slowly walk to Dongfang Bubai’s side. In this life, how could he be willing to waste a single bit of his time, willing to patiently endure for two long years, when he disliked Dongfang Bubai’s absence in the days of his life.
Previously, despite being timid and ignorant he had been able to chase after Dongfang until he tightly held him in the palm of his hand. Now, with the knowledge he had accumulated over an entire lifetime… Yang Lianting slowly smiled brightly, his heart filled with expectations for a bright future.
Blackwood Cliff had towering terrain and the Holy Cult was located on the highest precipice of the cliffside. At present, Yang Lianting was standing on the chilly and desolate edge of the least known precipice of Blackwood Cliff. Though most members of the congregation would not come to this isolated edge, there was one person who considered this place his personal retreat.
Dongfang Bubai.
Yang Lianting’s black robe was blown by the wind, fluttering audibly in the breeze. Standing on the edge of the cliff, he looked down. The terrain was terrifyingly steep. This perilous place that hardly anyone cared about, was also the place with the best view on Blackwood Cliff.
Winding clouds and mist, steep cliffs and strange rocks, pine trees growing in the crevices and far off in the distance as if from a place high in the clouds, the sun was rising.
Beautiful and magnificent.
A lifetime ago, after a fight with Dongfang Bubai he had been taken here with that person’s qinggong.
On that day, Dongfang Bubai found out he had been keeping concubines under the cliff. He had raised his hand multiple times to kill him, yet ultimately he had relented.
The more that person had given in, the more it had fueled his unbridled arrogance and aggression, turned him more and more unscrupulous. He had even yelled that because Dongfang Bubai could not give birth to children for him he had been forced to do so. In the end, that person whose heart he had utterly broken, had used his qinggong to take him here.
Yang Lianting closed his eyes.
He still remembered, when he had stood here in the past, how downhearted, how sorrowful Dongfang Bubai’s expression had been. In the end, all his struggles, all his sadness had turned into a long sigh. Silently gazing at him, his red rimmed eyes had been brimming with a painfully deep love.
On that day, the Wulin’s no. one martial artist, known as the Invincible East, had worn a red robe. His red long robe had been violently blown by the gusts of wind, fluttering loudly. His face had looked deathly pale and his body shockingly skinny.
Looking at Yang Lianting with a miserable smile, in a tone cherishing a forlorn hope, he had asked, “Lian di, since I can’t give birth to children for you, why don’t we just jump down this cliff together, die together, and in our next life I’ll be reborn with a woman’s body and be together with you again, alright?”
Yang Lianting squeezed his hands into fists, unaware that his nails were fiercely digging into his palms. Feeling bitterness rise in his heart, he shook his head and sighed. That day, he had just cared about his own panic and fear, how could he have heard the deep sadness and despair in that person’s trembling voice. Veins visible on his forehead in rage, he had rashly pointed and cursed at Dongfang Bubai, he had viciously yelled at him, “You lunatic, you absolute lunatic! If you want to die, die on your own! I, your father,[28] won’t accompany you in death.”
Dongfang Bubai started laughing on his own, before he could finish shouting. He shook his head, gazed into the endless abyss to his feet, and slowly spoke in a lowered tone.
“Lian di, don’t be afraid.”
“I love you so much, even if I die… I’ll die by myself.”
“I’m definitely unwilling to drag you down with me. There’s no need to be afraid…”
That day, Dongfang Bubai had stood on the steep cliff’s edge and had told him many things, but that person’s voice had been light, so light it had disappeared in the frigid wind as soon as it sounded. Many of his words, he had not heard. Yang Lianting could only remember Dongfang Bubai’s initial words.
Looking down Dongfang Bubai had stood on that terrifyingly steep edge and told him that since he had defeated Ren Woxing he had come here day after day.
It’s cold at the top.[29]
But the colder it is, the more it feels refreshing.
This kind of self-abuse, while others may not understand, to Dongfang Bubai his own actions seemed reasonable.
Yang Lianting slowly breathed out, suppressing the complex pain and guilt in his heart. Curving the corners of his lips upward into a smile, he could not help but feel a little grateful.
Thankfully, he still remembered that Dongfang Bubai would frequently come up this cliff. Because he knew that he’d come, everything was bound to be much simpler compared to the past. Before coming up the cliff, Yang Lianting had spent a large sum of his remaining monthly silver, which had taken him months to accumulate, bought a bunch of goods and tools, and then carried them all to the edge of this cliff for over an hour.
Wine jugs made of red clay, a wooden pail filled with water, white rice and plugs. He then buried his head in the pile of things stacked by his side as if he were completely immersed in his own world. He busied himself and did not pay attention to movement in his surroundings.
Until his ears faintly heard the sound of robes fluttering in the breeze, Yang Lianting’s eyebrows twitched faintly yet his hands did not stop moving. His keen nose could smell the scent of light pinewood in the air, the smile in his eyes deepened.
He didn’t turn around and continued working by himself. The cooked rice was mashed, soaked, fermented with yeast, and then filled into the jugs. Little by little, he actually brewed a few jugs of rice wine on the cliff’s edge.
Like always, Dongfang Bubai used his qinggong to fly up the cliffside intending to practice his martial arts, when he noticed a figure sitting on the cliff. Intending to drive the person away, he was about to go up to him and reprimand him yet the moment he caught a glance of their face, the words in his mouth were stuck in his throat.
Yang Lianting.
Dongfang Bubai frowned and silently said his name.
He approached him with some rare curiosity, wanting to find out why he was here and what he was doing. After observing for a while, Dongfang Bubai’s eyes held faint confusion. That guard called Yang… Yang Lianting, he’s just brewing wine, is he? His expression was so serious and focused, his actions of the utmost sincerity, as if he were doing his life’s greatest matter. He looked so concentrated that Dongfang Bubai wanted to taste the wine brewed by his hands out of curiosity.
Dongfang Bubai loved wine, especially strong wine.
In the past, he had initially gained his attention because of the wine he had made. The mellow and sweet taste, burning straight down his throat into his lungs due to the hidden strong and spicy flavor, had perfectly suited his craving.
In this life, Yang Lianting silently set the game and patiently waited for Dongfang to make his move and fall into his trap. Of course, he would not entrap him for the sake of power and fame. He would purely and simply use the wine as bait to lure him into a lifetime of love and joy.
After completing all the procedures, Yang Lianting scooped up some water to wash his hands and wiped them clean. Raising his black robe, he directly sat on a rock at the cliff’s edge. A long sigh of relief escaped his lips, as he took out a jug of wine from the package behind him, he pulled the wine jug’s plug and shook the jug, the rich fragrance of alcohol overflowing. Yang Lianting smiled slightly, tilted his head, then drank a large mouthful of wine. His mouth filled with the wine’s spicy taste, flowing down his throat, instantly his handsome face flushed red.
He laughed loudly and, after another taste, he said to himself, “Sure enough, the change in ingredients was worth it! This wine is quite different from the usual.”
Dongfang Bubai’s six senses were exceptional. Naturally, he clearly heard his words, but he felt slightly disdainful in his heart. He, the Master of the Sun Moon Holy Cult, had lost count of the many famed wines he had savored over the last few years. Yang Lianting, this little guard who had not seen the world, was actually so happily satisfied with an ordinary jug of homebrewed wine. But, this disdain did not last long.
With an unintentional shake of Yang Lianting’s hand, the jug fell to the ground and wine spilled out. The fragrance of rich rice wine permeated the air.
Dongfang Bubai’s nose twitched, glancing at the clay shards in the puddle of spilled wine, he could not help but frown in pity. Obviously he had never tasted this kind of wine before. Glancing at Yang Lianting, it seemed that he had not noticed his presence, he simply continued to drink his wine. He drank wine like a cow chewed a peony, he didn’t know how to savor its taste. Dongfang Bubai frowned and flew toward Yang Lianting without thinking. Donned in a vibrant red long robe as he stood on the cliff’s edge, his red robe was blown by the rapid gusts of wind.
Yang Lianting pretended like he had just realized Dongfang Bubai was here. He was taken aback for a moment then hurriedly placed his jug down and knelt down in salute. The man lowered his head, appearing respectful.
“Greetings to the Cult Master.”
“Just, Cult Master–”
After a moment of hesitation Yang Lianting lifted his head to look at Dongfang Bubai and slowly asked, “Cult Master, why’re you here?”