Chapter 94

Liu Yao (but only some of it).docx

When Yan Zhengming had left Fuyao Mountain, he had been no more than seventeen. Once slightly over twenty, he had focused on honing the sword, and his features had grown without much change.

Now, his primordial spirit had stepped into the Sword Spirit Realm. Though his features had not been even a tiny bit dyed by the traces of the years, his bearing was leagues different.

The two gate-watching kids exchanged a look, some second thoughts in their hearts. Fuyao Mountain was a paradise of few visitors, and they had never seen such greatly powerful people before without their master present.

They shook with some fear. After a long while of hesitation, the slightly older one rallied the courage to stand in front of his companion by stepping forward. He was too afraid to raise his eyes, respectfully bowing out level. “Our Sect Leader went out for a trip yesterday, and his date of return is unknown. All of you immortals have come at an inopportune time. Dare I ask your names, so that I may report them later?”

The slightly younger child was about twelve, with a round face that hadn’t shed its baby fat. He stared straight at their group from a few steps away.

Yan Zhengming choked. He wanted to say, ‘You don’t even recognize me?’, but when the words came up to his lips, he suddenly realized that he couldn’t recall the names of these two kids, either.

It was like he had returned to his previous life, gazing out across a hundred-year River of Forgetfulness — he had memories of everything, but their images weren’t quite solid.

There was a saying amongst the people that went, ‘Youths that leave the home are aged when they return.’ This was probably that feeling, huh?

Suddenly, the younger Daoling blinked, then exclaimed in alarm. “Ah, Brother Teng Huang! This man looks like our Young Lord!”

Ah, right. The kid was called Teng Huang… Yan Zhengming quickly remembered that these Daolings had been servants of the Yan family, which had meticulously selected a bunch of them to send with him when he had left. Plus, to simplify things, he had bestowed them all with the names of pigments, like a palette. At the time, he had been so spoiled, he had obeyed no laws nor gods, nor had he committed a single one of the people coming and going from his side to memory, heartlessly and instantly forgetting the names he had come up with himself.

That title of ‘Young Lord’ had not been heard in a very long time. Once the group heard it, they all began to laugh.

“Fuyao has been sealed for over a hundred years, but it’s only been a day and a night for you all,” Li Yun said with a smile. “Looks like you don’t know how much time has passed; he isn’t your Young Lord now, but your Sect Leader. I’m Li Yun, remember?”

Teng Huang’s eyes went wide. He stood there for a while in disbelief. “A hundred years?”

His gaze swept out aimlessly, and he happened to catch sight of the large locust tree at the foot of the mountain, which had a thick trunk and luxuriant, many-leaved branches.

He stared at it in a daze for a while, then murmured, “The Sect Leader planted that before he left, and said that when it had grown a few times around, you would all be back…”

Now, it already looked to be covered in pavilions.

Teng Huang futilely counted on his fingers for a short moment. It was unknown what amount he had counted up, but he lifted his head after, then tried hard to see a bit of familiarity in everyone’s faces. “You’re S-Second Uncle… and Third Uncle! Didn’t you just go up the mountain with the Sect Leader the year before? You were only yea big and tall… Gods…”

His gaze fell upon Shui Keng, and he hesitated, too afraid to name her.

“I’m Han Tan,” she said.

Even though he had had a guess, seeing this one grow up overnight was still a bit hard to digest.

“The Young Lord is the Sect Leader? What about Sect Leader Han?” the younger child bluntly asked. “And why didn’t you come back with him?”

As soon as that was said, everyone’s expressions went glum. Upon seeing this situation, Teng Huang, who was the best at weighing words and observing expression, swiftly gave his friend a smack. “Since you can talk so much, go up the mountain and make a report, now! Don’t let them be neglected! The Young Lord… pah, the Sect Leader and the rest have returned!”

Fuyao Mountain became quite lively. At this interim, all of its living things abandoned their posts to come see — who could have expected that after they had taken a mere doze, they would wake up to an entirely new sun and moon?

Even the crane circling the front of the Hall of Ignorance swooped down, alert; Shui Keng’s appearance had undergone major change, but it still remembered her scent.

After nuzzling against her, it stretched its neck out to gaze down the mountain, as if believing that another would also come back.

Shui Keng had the most shallow recollection of the Mountain, silently lagging all the way to the back and unable to fully take in these familiar, yet unfamiliar sights. She looked and looked, then remembered something, lowering her head with some loneliness.

“What’s wrong, young miss?” someone beside her asked.

She looked up; it was their guest, Tang Zhen. She didn’t know him well, but in the Skeletonizing Array, he had saved her life from Xuan Huang, so she had a big of a cordiality towards him.

Pausing for a bit, she then forced out a smile. “I’m over a hundred years old, Senior. I’m not a young miss.”

“In your Red Crane clan, one’s bones aren’t yet fully grown in a hundred years’ time. How are you not a young miss?”

Upon hearing the name ‘Red Crane’, her forced smile gradually dimmed, and she sighed. “I’m not a real Red Crane.”

“Why do you say that?”

Despite that being a question, he didn’t look at all surprised. He seemed to never be surprised at anything, ever.

Shui Keng was not her second senior of very devious heart; she didn’t have much caution towards others, let alone someone that had such a deep relationship with the Fuyao Sect. Hence, she explained without any hesitation. “My mom was the Yao Empress of Yao Valley, but my dad wasn’t the Yao King. I was born of the her, and a human.”

Tang Zhen apparently hadn’t expected her to be so frank, startling slightly.

“I heard that after I was born, I stayed inside my egg for over a hundred years, and everyone else believed that I was a dud. My mom placed me on the Immortal Overlook Platform, which she died from trespassing on. I’ve never see my father before, so I don’t know if he’s still alive, let alone his name. My surname is our Master’s, and my name was randomly blurted out by our eldest… but that’s not a name that gets used often. I don’t hear it more than a few times a year because my seniors go ’Shui Keng, Shui Keng’ all day long. It’s like, as long as they’re not wanting to scold me, they won’t remember that name at all.”

Despite her grumbling, there was broad lack of care within her words. Amused by her, the sickly look on Tang Zhen seemed to ebb a little.

She then scratched her nose, abandoning all hope. “In any case, my second brother says that I’m a mixed-breed chicken that my father doesn’t want and mother doesn’t love. Now that we’re back at Fuyao, I might be meeting people from Yao Valley every New Year’s. I’m not sure what the Yao King will think once he sees the green hat that I am.”

Tang Zhen paused. Right as he opened his mouth in want to comfort her, she blinked, then attempted to find excuses for herself. “Oh, but that’s nothing, really. I heard that the Yao King’s heart is only as big as the tip of a needle. He’s always wanted to kill me when I was egg, but now that the Sect Leader is here, he won’t dare to do anything to me. If he tries to trip me up any after he sees me, I’ll be able to avenge myself! Haha, if he rages himself to death, the next Yao King might be me!”

This ‘mixed-breed chicken’ was quite ambitious. Tang Zhen quietly swallowed what he was going to say back down, smiling. “Well said.”

Shui Keng ran a few steps ahead, then forcefully patted the sad-looking Nian Dada. “Nephew, the dead can’t be revived, but your dad was still a cultivator with a primordial spirit! As long as his spirit didn’t die, he’ll be able to reincarnate. When you officially enter the sect later on, I’ll bring you up the nine-story Library Tower. There has to be a way to look for a reincarnation in there!”

He looked at her with bloodshot eyes. “Thank you, Aunt.”

He had been a noisemaker before, able to play two roles as one person, but now, he had apparently settled down after a great tragedy. He raised his head to view the Mountain; the magnificence of the human world flashed past in his eyes like a blur. Not caring about it, he merely thought to himself, Was it because I’m too useless?

Inadvertently turning his head, Cheng Qian happened to catch sight of the look in the eyes of his easily-earned disciple, and his heart suddenly moved.

Every young person’s ambitions apparently began with this ‘I’m too useless’ look. The world spun like each and every generation was one complete revolving, and continued to do so.

Yan Zhengming suddenly hauled him over from the side. “Hey, why are you always looking at what he’s doing?” he whispered, unhappy. “Why don’t you look at me more?”

“…”

He was now regretting what he had said in the Stone Seed, because he knew that their eldest senior, who was a complete expert at seizing advantages, was going to walk all over him.

Fuyao Mountain was a place of pure cultivation, in the end, so flashy displays of joy were unsuitable. In the evening, Yan Zhengming merely called everyone over, as a simple, open-air banquet had been arranged before the lecture hall.

The cook had been specially sent here by the Yan family, back in the day. When the dishes were being served, he was a bit dazed — hadn’t the Young Lord and his juniors been growing in body and snacking just a day ago?

In the blink of an eye, they were now abstaining from grains and alcohol!

During the feast, Cheng Qian packed something up, then left by himself.

Tai Yin was over fifty li from Fuyao, but it took no more a moment by sword.

The remnant bloody aura surrounding the Ten-Party Array lingered without dissipation. The people were all long gone. Some of the dead, no one had buried, the corpses lying alone, waiting to become one with the world.

Han Yuan’s entire self appeared to have already become the darkness.

Upon hearing deliberately heavy footsteps, Han Yuan slanted his head, expression overcast. It was unclear whether this was his original self, or his heart demon that wasn’t prone to talking much.

Cheng Qian held Shuang Ren in hand, silently walked over, then crouched next to him, pulling out an oilpaper parcel from a pocket.

There was a tiny oil stain on the bag’s edge, and it was still warm. He threw it into Han Yuan’s hands, brushed away the dust on the remnant array, and sat.

Han Yuan opened it, then saw that there was a bundle of translucent, sparkling pine nut candy inside, which was mixed in with the veiled aroma of osmanthus. Each one had been sliced into thumb sized chunks, and were separated, none sticking together.

The devil was dumbstruck for a moment. He didn’t say anything rude, nor did he cry with gratitude, merely taking one and stuffing it into his mouth.

His cheeks were so thin, their bones could be seen, giving him the cutting look of a hard life, and they bulged from a single piece of candy being stuffed in them. His face was still stained with blood while he savored the stuff way too seriously, furrowing his brows and looking bitterly hate-filled, as if he was swallowing down medicine.

His mouth kept on going. In seconds, even the crumbs were gathered up together, then dumped into his mouth as he boldly threw his head back.

Cheng Qian got a bit of a toothache just from watching him. “Want a drink?”

“Yeah. This is cloying me to death.”

The other made a hand sign. A small bit of frigid qi solidified in midair, turning into a lumpy cup that he passed over once he drew some water into it.

Han Yuan drank it dry in one gulp, then sighed. “The first sweet thing I ever ate in my life… was that pine nut candy.”

“Our eldest gave it to you.”

Han Yuan gave him a look. “You gave it to me. I thought it inconceivable, back then; I was thinking that if something so delicious had ever been around, those young beggars would have risked their lives fighting over it, yet you had actually given it to me so casually. You were either stupid, or too nice to me.”

Cheng Qian smiled. “I was neither. I didn’t like our eldest at the time, so I didn’t feel like eating anything of his.”

Han Yuan was quiet for a minute, then grinned. “That seems about right.” Immediately after that, he asked, “Is it okay?”

There was no need to elaborate; Cheng Qian knew that he was talking about Fuyao Mountain, so he gave a ho-hum nod. “It’s the same as ever… wait until you get back, so you can see it for yourself.”

Han Yuan paused, smiling grotesquely. “Don’t tease me, little senior. What did Master say to you, right before he died? ‘Those who unforgivably sin must be personally cleaned up by those of their sect.’ Did even you get affected by too much sugar?”

Cheng Qian turned his head to look at him steadily. “Are your sins unforgivable?”

The other’s expression slightly shifted, and in an instant visible to Cheng Qian, that cowardly Han Yuan ran off again, the one speaking with him turning into the heart demon.

Demon-Han Yuan shot him a lazy glance. “The Bureau is now as hated as a rat crossing the street, and as I see it, the imperial family is practically ruined, their good fortune exhausted. Someone will inevitably revolt. My anger has been vented, and my heart is light. Whether I’ve sinned or not is your call.”

Cheng Qian shook his head, dodging any answer. He looked at the frosted moonlight. “I’m going. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“I want milk cake, then.” Han Yuan rubbed his own stomach, then added, “It’s too sweet… makes you uncomfortable afterwards. Bring me half of a chicken, too.”

The other waved his hand. Shaung Ren shot out like a meteor, and he was gone.

By the time he returned to Fuyao, the banquet had already disbanded. He headed straight for his own Residence of Peace, where Teng Huang was awaiting him.

Noticing that he looked a bit tense, Teng Huang came forward and took his sword. “The Young— Sect Leader is here.”

“Mn. I came to study the Wish-Granting Stone of our sect’s forebears,” Sect Leader Yan covered up, and badly.

Cheng Qian glimpsed the legendary ‘offering for the Tower of No Regrets’ upon the Stone, only to see that a wine pot was impolitely placed upon it. He didn’t expose him. “What have you found?”

Yan Zhengming glanced at Teng Huang, who had just been transferred over to the Residence. The boy wasn’t too old, but he was clever. Immediately realizing that he was being an eyesore, he quickly found an excuse to flee.

“What did you go to do?” Yan Zhengming asked.

Cheng Qian didn’t answer, only smiling.

The other immediately understood, and asked no further, merely putting his extended hand onto the wine pot. “Don’t move. Wine is nothing to you, so I’ll pour a cup.”

Cheng Qian’s gaze landed upon the Stone, which he had used as padding to copy an unknowable amount of scriptures. Even when closing his eyes, he could silently count out the notches on its surface. He placed his hand upon it, and the light of remote orchids shining upon it made said hand as white as jade.

Yan Zhengming saying that he was looking at the stone had just been an excuse. At this moment, he started staring at Cheng Qian’s hand single-mindedly, intermittently drinking as he also drank his junior in.

Cheng Qian suddenly frowned. “Huh?”

“What is it?” the other asked absently.

“I’m getting the sense that there’s something circulating inside the Stone.”

The Stone had been like a pond before, nothing more than dead, stagnant water. Now, though, he could sense light and shadow fluctuating within it, as if it was alive.

Hearing this, Yan Zhengming took out a small bottle from his sleeve, then squeezed out a few drops of grass juice-looking liquid from it. It spread out on the Stone’s surface, then quickly condensed into a square-cun film.

When looked at through the film, the texture of the stone appeared to be magnified by a countless number of times, making its exquisite quality clearly discernible.

Cheng Qian came in close. “What is this? Something of second brother’s making?”

“Mhm. It’s one thing he’s good for… this is called Blockeye Leaf Juice. It can generally be used for fine fluctuations or blinding techniques, where a few drops of it will magnify things to the surface.”

The two waited for a time, only to witness the liquid film completely vanishing, no change to be seen.

On the contrary, when Cheng Qian had approached, the airflow brought about by his breathing finely brushed against Yan Zhengming’s face, making his affection involuntarily drift about.

He stared at Cheng Qian’s profile, but, upon remembering his own history, he leaned his upper body backwards and gave a dry cough. “It’s been so many years. Maybe your senses are off?”

After that, his eyes vaguely peered around the inside of the Residence. “It’s still quiet here. It always makes me feel that there’s immortal qi in that bamboo forest out back, which would be suitable for seclusion.”

He kind of regretted that as soon as he said it. Though he had planned to hang about here and not leave, he didn’t want to sound like he was in such a hurry.

This feeling was unlike that of an eldest senior… but of a lecher. Those acting as senior brothers would always feel that it was bad to have a too-scant sense of shame.

Conversely, Cheng Qian had not heard his implication at all, and answered absent-mindedly, “You’re going into seclusion?”

“…”

Unromantic idiot.

Cheng Qian then went on to make a lot of sense. “Right. You’ve been scrambling all over the place ever since you entered the Sword Spirit Realm, with no chance whatsoever to seclude yourself and consolidate your state. On top of that, I didn’t have deep comprehension of swordwill when I refined that wooden sword, so you really should refine it again… um, what’s wrong?”

Yan Zhengming looked at him sullenly.

Not only was it impossible for him to empathize well with others, but he was great at bringing up that which should not be spoken of.

Yan Zhengming stood up while carrying the wine pot. “You wish,” he said angrily. “Anyone ‘coming out’ with you would get mad just seeing you! I’m leaving.”

Cheng Qian rapidly went over the words he had just said in his head, then had a flash of realization. “Hey, senior!”

Yan Zhengming held some hope.

While the frost was heavy in the dead of night, Cheng Qian suddenly thought, He came over without any proper business. Why would he just say a few things, then leave?

As soon as that thought arose, his throat went a little dry, but then he thought, If I tell him not to leave in the middle of the night, wouldn’t that be rude? He spazzes a lot; what if he doesn’t have that implication?

After inwardly weighing things, he still felt it a bit rude, so his words took a turn.

“If you hate how noisy anyplace else is, you can come into seclusion here,” he said, heartfelt. “I’ll stand guard for you.”

I’ll seclude your head from your damn shoulders, Yan Zhengming thought. You’re going to anger me to death.

Thus, he made not a sound, and, using a pace that looked like a striding meteor, spent no less than an incense stick’s worth of time dawdling all the way to the Residence’s gate, where the doorsill of the small courtyard was wedged with non-existent mud.

Since you didn’t keep me around, I can only go, Sect Leader Yan thought to himself, completely unhappy.