Chapter 95

Yan Zhengming’s soles nearly got stuck and came off. Cheng Qian was still watching him from afar, wanting to say something but stopping; he looked to be at a bit of a loss, and also helpless.

The other had been like this as a child; he had hated cold stools and would refuse to sit on them, standing there with a look full of displeasure as he said not a thing, waiting for his crowd of maidservants and Daolings to fathom his thoughts. With such a giant group of Daolings around, there had always been a few clever ones that could react in time and save him the talking.

What a shame it was that there was only the wooden lump named Cheng Qian around, and not anyone accustomed to this defect of his.

Humanity and divinity warred in Yan Zhengming’s head for a minute, and then he suddenly figured a way out of his ‘desperate situation’, mind taking an unexpected turn. Since he was so bold as to say that stuff in the Stone Seed, how about I be a bit shameless?

Hence, he tilted his head back and drank down all the wine in the jade pot, the alcohol strengthening his resolve. Turning around his prow, he went for Cheng Qian with a dignified look, passed through the Residence’s courtyard, and bluntly declared to him, “I’m not leaving today.”

That change of face came quicker than the turn of a page. His mind was truly indiscernible.

Cheng Qian couldn’t react. “Uh… wah?”

Yan Zhengming shot him a look. “What? Got something to say?”

Cheng Qian had nothing at all, only attempts at some words.

“Get that little Daoling of yours to draw bathwater for me,” the other ordered routinely.

Standing there in a daze, Cheng Qian’s imagination inadvertently ran wild for a moment, and he turned around and left in a panic, heart beating like mad.

The rear yard of the Residence had a tiny pond, which had ever-flowing, sweet-tasting water that was so clear, the bottom could be seen. A purifying charm had been placed at the bottom of the brook in the pond’s upper reaches, making the water therein drinkable.

Cheng Qian did not go bother Teng Huang, nor did he make use of anyone else, setting to work himself. With some unfamiliarity, he drew out a ring of charms to heat up the pond’s water; after no more than a moment, fog rolled off of it, making it look rather like an immortal realm.

He crouched by the pond to test its warmth himself. After a good deal of work, he suddenly felt like he had a cat that wasn’t easy to attend to; even though it was awfully troublesome, he was still happily serving it.

Right when he was about to stand up, Yan Zhengming, at some unknown point in time, had come to noiselessly stand behind him.

Making use of his negligible tipsiness, he drummed up his courage — before Cheng Qian had the time to stand all the way up, he hugged him by the waist.

In truth, his palms were sweaty, both of which he just now nonchalantly wiped off on Cheng Qian’s belt. At the exact same time, he dragged out a long, languid tone, also issuing a look of mellowness that was a complete lie, to say, “This is a good place you have. Aren’t you going to bathe together with me?”

Cheng Qian was shortly quiet. “…Senior, why are you shaking?” he said automatically.

“…”

Beside this pond where immortal qi lingered, neither of them said anything for a time.

Cheng Qian realized that he had apparently flubbed things, quickly attempting to remedy them. “No, that’s—“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as a forceful attack came from behind him, which was his humiliated-into-rage senior straight-up grabbing him and jumping into the pond. The water that was much too warm, in Cheng Qian’s opinion, quickly soaked through his clothes and enveloped him, making him shudder intensely. Before he could speak, Yan Zhengming had already pressed him into the edge of the pond, staring at him with burning eyes.

He lifted Cheng Qian’s head up with one hand, fingertips lightly tracing across his wet face and mind going blank for a short time. The hot water steamed the feeling of the alcohol up to his head.

Coming to this step, he resolved to just go for it, and kissed him without another word.

The water was hot, and the palms of his senior were even hotter. Cheng Qian suddenly couldn’t catch his breath, struggling slightly a bit involuntarily. As it was, with only this bit of movement, Yan Zhengming immediately let him go, cautiously drawing back a bit.

Cheng Qian wasn’t that much more clear-headed than he was. Like a fish thrown out of water, he gasped for breath a few times, a faint ache in his chest as he met Yan Zhengming’s ill-at-ease gaze — it carried unspeakable longing, and a fear to go beyond the acceptable limit.

After wracking his brain for a long time, Cheng Qian asked in a low, somewhat strained voice, “Senior, do you… want to dual cultivate with me?”

Yan Zhengming was speechless, feeling that he ought to just turn around, run out, and go cry right now. It would fit with the times.

“You sure grasp a lot, to even know what dual cultivation is,” he snarled, not knowing how to react. “Dual cultivation, my ass! I just like you and want to be close to you, okay? Can I not do that?!”

“…”

Done roaring, Yan Zhengming stared at him tensely, then tentatively pecked the corner of his mouth. “Do you regret this?” he asked, touch-and-go.

The word ‘close’ beautifully invoked that scene Cheng Qian had witnessed in Zhaoyang, which he didn’t have a good impression of, and had merely felt unbearable upon taking a rough look at.

That bit of unbearableness instead ignited unorthodox thoughts in his head, now. It was like back when he had been a teen and come out of the mountain cave, pased through the Valley of the Heart Demon, and gazed down from up on high; he had clearly felt indescribable danger, yet had still involuntarily stuck his head out to look.

“You’re noisy,” he said.

Guessing that this excitement had origins in abstinence, and shelving his memories of that superficial flower-viewing, he improperly tore off Yan Zhengming’s soaked clothes. After he was done with that, though, he became a bit confused, not knowing where to go from there; thus, he paused, wringing the juices of his brain dry in an attempt to recall how other people did this.

He suddenly had some regrets that he hadn’t observed closely, back then. This was the first time in all his life that he was really feeling the phrase, ‘Regret not knowing more when the time to use that knowledge comes.’

…That was, until he was pressed into the wall of the pond by Yan Zhengming, with no room for question.

The other had been stifled for too long, born with it for too long, and no longer thought to be courteous with him.

Starting from then on, someone else began to claim ownership of the Residence of Peace.

On the first day Yan Zhengming stayed there, Cheng Qian had a rare bout of sleeping in late. He felt a sweetness in his heart upon opening his eyes to see Yan Zhengming. Despite having some slight, indescribable discomfort, it wasn’t that big of a deal; Yan Zhengming only occasionally had such moments where he would be open and reveal his true feelings, so, just for that, Cheng Qian believed that he could do whatever it was that he wanted.

On the third day Yan Zhengming stayed there, however, Cheng Qian began to find it all a bit much. The other’s fussing around had made the Residence of Peace neither peaceful nor quiet, and the guy was horribly clingy. Sect Leader Yan really had his own way of getting someone stuck to him, quite unlike a typical clinger — every time, he would merely vague a hint, and then, after demanding that the other accept it, immediately stick right back to him, so that he could put on a lordly appearance that basically said, ‘Who made me be your senior brother? I should be coaxing you.’

Were Cheng Qian not to respond, or not feel like bothering with him every once in a while, he would have to prepare to get continuously nagged the whole day.

There was a saying: ‘Inviting spirits in is easy, sending them away is hard.’ Sect Leader Yan had been staying in the Residence of Peace for half a month now, and Cheng Qian couldn’t take it anymore, because he was about to go insane. He thought back to when he would have preferred to face the nearest wall than be willing to chat with Nian Mingming, a visiting guest; evidently, in addition to his staunch willpower, he was fond of the quiet.

After getting deliberately ignored several times by him, the noisy Sect Leader Yan finally got mad. “Didn’t you say that you would never fail to be loyal to me? You tired of me after only a few days! Just as expected from someone that’s been a white-eyed wolf since he was a boy!”

Cheng Qian got a headache. “Senior, can’t you let me live a few more years in peace?”

Sect Leader Yan got so angry, he ran out to the bamboo forest to refine his sword, then wrecked the bamboo sea into a bald expanse. He had wanted to leave, then, but ended up being unwilling to; when evening came, he furiously stomped through fine rain as he stormed back, after which he waited for Cheng Qian — who had gone down the mountain to see Han Yuan — to return and reflect upon his misdoings.

The days flickered past. In a wink, the rainy season of Fuyao had arrived, those pattering sounds never stopping all day long.

Today, when Cheng Qian was about to go down the mountain, Yan Zhengming called out to stop him.

“Bring this over to him.” This was the first time that the other had ever brought Han Yuan up, and he threw out a small pearl that was as big as a fava bean.

Cheng Qian caught it. The thing felt cold to the touch, yet the humidity of the pattering rainwater coiling around him suddenly dissipated.

“Anti-Water Drops flowed out of the Western Palace in its early years; I managed to obtain a few pearls,” Yan Zhengming explained. “Tang Zhen’s established appointment on the fifteenth is coming soon. Prevent him from being a drowned chicken-looking disgrace.”

Clearly, he was concerned at heart, yet always donned a look of unending and absolute disdain.

Before Cheng Qian went to see Han Yuan, he first bumped into Tang Zhen at the foot of Tai Yin.

Tang Zhen was a very worry-free guest. Apart from the first day he had arrived at Fuyao, where Li Yun had personally led him on a tour of the Mountain, he pretty much lived a simple life of seclusion, rarely leaving the courtyard of his guest house.

He held an oilpaper umbrella in hand, to not waste his true essence blocking the rain. The sleeves of his robes were damp, but he didn’t mind, calmly walking in the rain.

Cheng Qian let Shuang Ren descend to the ground, then called out to greet him. “Brother Tang.”

“Are you heading to the Ten-Party Array?” Tang Zhen asked. “We can go together.”

The two didn’t speak much, nor did they go by swordflight, walking down the small mountain path that was getting washed clean. The sound of wind and rain in the ears was so fine, it was like everything had slowed down.

“With you accompanying me, Brother Tang, I feel like I don’t need to be so worried about it all.”

“Mortals have lives of mediocrity, pursued by merits, fame, benefits, and fortune. A cultivator has a hundred or thousandfold that amount of time, yet they are still pursued behind by their cultivation base and realm. We all walk against the currents between the Heavens and the Earth; with one tiny moment of slack, one will get a step further away from the Great Dao. You must not dare be unworried… I’m a walking corpse that seeks nothing, so it’s only natural that I’m a bit more carefree than others.”

Those words made some doubt slightly flit past Cheng Qian’s mind. If you don’t seek anything, what are you scurrying over there for?

However, that doubt went away in a flash. He didn’t have many friends, meaning every one counted, and he wasn’t too willing to be unduly suspicious of them. Thus, he didn’t care too much while he answered. “I think that occasionally taking a stroll is balancing, but if you pass every day so leisurely, wouldn’t you be just like an old tortoise? There would be no meaning to it.”

Tang Zhen smiled, then diverted the subject. “The appointment for the fifteenth will be here soon. What is your Sect Leader thinking of doing? In this battle, the demonic dragon bowed its head, the Celestial Divination Bureau fell, the Four Sages weakened, and over half of Mulan Mountain’s elites were destroyed. The other minor sects are not enough to bring up, but Fuyao might be a new power. You all need to plan ahead in the reshuffling of the decks amongst the major sects.”

“Our Sect Leader doesn’t have the ambition to give orders to the whole world and have all four cardinal directions bowing towards him, he just wants to make strangers annoy him less. He used to be too lazy to leave the sect, and with so many years of wandering abroad, I’m thinking that he’s probably going to get even worse after coming back here.”

“Whether in his capacity as a Sect Leader or a sword cultivator, Brother Yan is quite distinctive. His mindset of letting things come as they nay is very in-line with the true meaning of the Great Dao. Coupled with his unsurpassed natural aptitude, he might actually be able to aim for eternal life in the future.”

Since Fuyao’s establishment, there had never been a demand for eternal life, as it only considered itself to be of the ‘path of humanity’. World-shaking talents such as Tong Ru had even placed the sect’s inheritance before personal cultivation progression. Still, Tang Zhen was ultimately an outsider, so Cheng Qian didn’t answer with much. “Thank you for your auspicious words, Brother Tang.”

“But, if we’re speaking of eternal life, you have received the Heavens’ sole blessing.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Cultivation and tool refinement are sometimes one and the same. The Third Prince refining himself into the Skeletonizing Array had that same logic. Cultivators’ practice is a desperate struggle against the Heavens; if their base stagnates, new qi cannot be transferred into their true essence, and their lifespans will be capped. You, however, are not the same. The Spirit-Collection Jade is able to absorb the energy of the world by nature.”

Cheng Qian didn’t care much about this. “Jade and humans are similar, in that neither will rot together with the Heavens and the Earth. Upon arriving at this stage of having a primordial spirit via different means, I don’t feel any different.”

“There’s more,” Tang Zhen answered mildly. “You forged the Jade into a form of flesh. You underwent a heavenly tribulation, so you have a half-immortal body. If you were willing to purely cultivate inside Mingming Valley’s ice pool, it would incessantly supply you with true essence that came from the same origin as your corporeal body. Your cultivation base would never stagnate. You might not ascend, but you could live forever… oh, don’t think that I’m advising you to. This is simply reality.”

With a speaker like Tang Zhen, it was unclear whether he had ulterior motives or not, but a listener like Cheng Qian would only take those words as wind past the ears, anyways. “I only borrowed the Jade to make myself a body, since being human is nice. I really have no intention to turn into an actual jade piece.”

Tang Zhen looked at him profoundly, saying nothing other than an agreement. “Right you are.”

“Speaking of spiritual items, you’re very knowledgable, Brother Tang. Have you ever heard of ‘Hear the Universe’ before?”

The other’s expression changed. “How do you figure that ‘Hear the Universe’ is a spiritual object, and not a person or a technique?”

Cheng Qian smiled, unfazed. “It just felt like one. Why?”

“Ah, that’s a very ancient legend. Some claim that one can hear the sounds of the higher realms by wielding Hear the Universe, but no one knows whether that’s true or not.” Immediately after this, Tang Zhen’s tone took a turn as he exposed the matter at hand. “Zhenren Han has qi deviated, so I’m afraid the death penalty is unavoidable for him. It will be difficult for him to escape hardships. On the fifteenth, I will contend as much as possible. Even if he’s to be imprisoned and suppressed, I will fight for him to be held on Fuyao Mountain.”

Cheng Qian could only sigh. “Thank you very much, then.”

It was nice thought, but unfortunately, it might not get implemented.

By the time the Fuyao crowd reached Tai Yin on the fifteenth day, there were already a lot of sects present.

The people that had arrived were high-class, but not too high-class. The various sects had successively gone back home to recuperate, and now had only sent a representative or two to express their positions. The major sects were sitting all around and separated, but the middle position was left open.

Cheng Qian glanced at Tang Zhen, and the latter nodded. “That’s indeed been reserved for your sect.”

They reserved that, but am I about to step forth and sit there like a duck forced to roost? Yan Zhengming thought.

Not saying a word further, he meandered through the crowd. Having the same mannerisms as ever and not showing care for anyone else’s face, he found a nook that didn’t wallow in the muck with the crowd, ordered Nian Dada to throw out the Stone Seed, and thus partitioned out a tiny world that he went into without prior consultation.

Tang Zhen shook his head. He called for Liu Lang to go up onto the Ten-Party Array’s platform; he was ultimately the one that had congregated this congregation, so he couldn’t stand on the sidelines like Fuyao could.

The Stone Seed displayed a bit of extraordinariness that left behind the world and stood alone. Liu Lang couldn’t resist admiring that slightly. “I wish to have a day where I’ll become just like Sect Leader Yan.”

Tang Zhen patiently tilted his head, listening to him talk as he walked.

“I heard the Daolings on Fuyao Mountain say that he was like this as a teenager, too. All he wanted to do was plant flowers and play with birds. Later on, destiny made him descend the mountain for a hundred years, and after a journey of suffering, he’s become a superpower, but even so, upon returning to the place he started off at, his original goals are unchanged, and he isn’t the slightest bit moved by the ways of the world… setting aside that his original aspirations seem to be lackluster, I really admire him.”

Tang Zhen nodded expressionlessly at that. “That is truly rare.”

Immediately following that, however, he raised his head again, gaze apathetically sweeping over the cultivators that filled the eyes. “It’s a shame that he is unmoved by the ways of the world, yet the ways of the world are not likely to tolerate him,” he said, traces of gloom within his tone. “People like him typically don’t have good ends.”

With that, before Liu Lang could answer, he swept out his sleeves and walked to the remnant array site.

After perfunctorily giving a few pleasantries for the occasion, Tang Zhen got right to point. “This Tang dares not take control of things on my own initiative, so I will have to inconvenience everyone with deliberating over a statute today. I personally believe that retribution for grievances is not necessarily a good thing, and that death may not see atonement for the crime. What do you all say?”

When his voice had only just landed, an elder of White Tiger Estate took the lead in speaking. “The Nine Sages of the Nightmare Travelers perished in the Ten-Party Array, and the demonic dragon is being detained here. Now, no one is managing those demonic cultivators. The Nine Sages and demonic dragon were bound by the blood oath, but it didn’t bind those demons that acknowledge no laws nor gods. They are inhibited by no one, each of them causing chaos to instead make even more of a foul atmosphere. As I see it, it would be better to—“

Han Yuan was completely uncooperative, cutting him off without the least bit of gratitude. “The Nightmare Travelers have never restrained their subordinates. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for your incompetence and failure to take care of your own territory. Don’t count on me to go manage them for you.”

The elder didn’t personally know Han Yuan; he had simply been entrusted with saying a few good things on his behalf. This was the first time he had ever come across someone that was so uncaring of what was right and wrong, making him choke.

“Since the demon’s said as much himself, what else can anyone expect?” someone beside him said coldly. “It would be better to kill him to get rid of him.”

The speaker happened to be Bian Xu, Master of Black Tortoise Hall. Someone with his status should not have been coming to mix in with this himself, but the enmity of having his son killed made it so that he couldn’t live under the same sky as Han Yuan. Bian Xiaohui had only been dead for a year, yet Bian Xu had a thoroughly white beard and hair, faintly showing the desolation that came when one’s time was up.

He, too, was a Sage. Him falling to this plight truly caused one to sigh.

“Wouldn’t it be, though?” Han Yuan responded with equal harshness. “Making the demons and the trash all die out, then leaving only you ever-so-knowledgeable, Dao-devoted people would be pretty nice.”

Inside the Stone Seed, Yan Zhengming said to Li Yun, “Can you make that dumbass shut up?”

The other frowned. “Bian Xu? That’d be quite a bit difficult.”

“…I was talking about Han Yuan.”

“Sure.” Li Yun turned to Cheng Qian. “Do you see that big wutong tree opposite Han Yuan? Xiao Qian, take our sister there. He’ll definitely shut up, then.”

“…”

After a short moment, Shui Keng transformed into a big bird, then flew out of the Stone Seed while carrying Cheng Qian. She landed beneath the wutong tree, in prime position to have a staring contest with Han Yuan.

Her fire-red crane feathers hung down, looking particular eye-catching. Once Han Yuan, who had been raving on the platform, saw the two of them, he instantly sealed up his mouth and obediently made no more sounds.

“Our little junior has met with a lot of calamities in his life. It could even be said to be filled with blood and tears, but if you really add things up, it’s actually Xiao Qian’s death that hit him the hardest,” Li Yun said, utterly self-satisfied. “Haven’t you noticed that his heart demon weakens a little every time he meets him?… There’s also our junior sister, who was the best with him when she was young. On that day, when his demonic nature boomed, he said that he wanted to draw out her yao skeleton, which makes him somewhat guilty-feeling towards her. He always restrains his heart demon whenever he sees her.”

He shook his head proudly, feeling himself to be quite capable of prescribing just the right medication.

Yan Zhengming unhappily smacked him with the spine of his fan. “I haven’t noticed. Shut up,” he squeezed out from between his teeth.

Li Yun went quiet, feeling himself to have apparently overturned someone’s vinegar jar without knowing it.

As Bian Xu’s seniority was presented, it wouldn’t be good for him to lack too much elegance; when it came to quarreling, as long as Han Yuan remained calm, it would be hard for him to clap with one hand, and he would have to give in after not very long. All he could throw out was, “Forgive this old decrepit for not having perfect cultivation. Dispelling the hatred of the murder of one’s child is difficult. My Black Tortoise Hall cannot live under the same sky as this man! He must be killed today!”

As soon as that came out, everyone’s hostility towards Han Yuan was momentarily evoked. A mess of talking arose.

Right then, a voice suddenly came from far away. “The demonic dragon’s guilt has manifested, and the whole world knows about it. If none of us had any grievances with him, there would be no need to mobilize everyone into convening here. Our enmities do not need to be brought up. I believe that Zhenren Tang has spoken some sense — what meaning does the finality of death have? It would be better to allow him to live and atone.”

Everyone looked over at the same time to see a middle-aged man walking over from far-off with a couple disciples, looking like his figure could come before the eyes in a flash already. He was elegant, graceful, and had quite a refined presence.

The White Tiger Estate elder that had just spoken greeted him immediately. “Estate Lord.”

So that was who he was.

The Estate Lord nodded, tidied his cuffs, then cupped his hands towards Bian Xu. “Brother Bian. Long time, no see.”

Cheng Qian furrowed his brow as he sized the newcomer up from the treetops. Then, his eyes widened — wasn’t this clown that old lunatic from the Immortal Binding Platform, Ji Qianli?

Why was he putting on airs all of a sudden?!

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