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In the early morning, a road for trade in Jiangnan was shrouded in vapor due to the intense heat. A company of travelling merchants hurrying on their journey were stopped by government officials.
“Hold it! What are you selling? Come down for us to check.”
Each of the government officials who"d stopped them looked worn out. It was evident that they had been guarding this road for the entire night. The odd thing was, behind the large group of government officials, there were two middle-aged men wearing Daoist robes. The two of them didn"t stand with the others, only sitting a small distance away, overseeing them without a care.
The manager of the merchant group hurriedly got off his horse, greeting obsequiously, “Officer, Sir, we"re bringing leather from the north to sell here. We"re all doing honest business, please grant us a favor…”
As he spoke, he brought out a small pouch to hand over with a practiced move.
A hint of greed pa.s.sed over the government official"s face. He was about to receive the pouch, but he suddenly seemed to recall something and hesitated. He stole a glance to the two cultivators not far behind him, clenched his teeth, and pushed the pouch back with a scowl, “What are you doing? You unscrupulous merchants, why won"t you carry out your business properly, where did you learn this kind of dishonest practices? Scram!”
And then he waved his hand, “Search them!”
The manager could only follow the government officials helplessly, “Ah, Officers, wait… We can"t sell the goods if you break them, Officers…”
The merchant group had a line of large carriages, which did contain leather as they claimed. Because the government officials couldn"t find anything, the leader"s face turned sour. He turned to point at the ridiculously large carriage at the very end, “What"s in that one?”
The manager hurriedly said, “To answer the officer"s question, that"s our young master"s private vehicle…”
“Young master?” The leader laughed coldly, “What kind of young master would sit in such a large carriage by himself? Even the Emperor"s grandson wouldn"t make such a great scene when he goes out, move aside!”
Before the manager could stop them, the group of government officials had surrounded the ridiculously large carriage.
The leader procured a palm-sized wooden sword and began gesticulating, as if performing a ritual against the wind, chanting like a shaman dancing in a trance — the common folk was no match for cultivators, so if they wanted to activate a charm, they had to recite the chants in full. Charms that weren"t meant to be used by the common folk would have none of those chants, and could only be spread among cultivators.
After a long while, the charm on the wooden sword was finally activated. There was a flash of green light at the tip of the wooden sword, which pointed at the carriage.
The leader immediately became excited and exclaimed, “There really are forbidden goods inside! Open up!”
What they referred to as ‘forbidden goods" were the charms and celestial artifacts secretly sold in the common folk"s black market.
There was a law in the royal court, that every charm and celestial artifact sold to the common folk must pa.s.s the Office of Heavenly Affairs" examination. Otherwise, if anyone with ulterior motives had bought charms that could kill and bring misfortune upon others, wouldn"t it be a disaster?
Of course, the law itself was reasonable, but this way, when the goods were delivered to the Office of Heavenly Affairs, not only would they be checked all over, the process would also take up to a year. Most of them wouldn"t even pa.s.s the examinations, only a small number could make it through, and practically all of them were s.n.a.t.c.hed off by the royalty and the wealthy people. Because of this, a real celestial artifact could be sold for an extremely high price among the common folk.
As for those selling forbidden goods in secret, the royal court couldn"t rein in the cultivators, so they could only control the common folk. They made a rigid rule, if anyone dared to distribute forbidden goods in secret, it would be considered a rebellion against the court. Their whole family would be executed, their property would be confiscated, and all of their relatives would also be incriminated.
But even then, the supply of goods in the black market never stopped, as there were always desperate people who just wanted to make huge profits. In recent years, someone with the nickname ‘Money-Hustling Young Master" had also appeared. He was said to ‘care more about money than life", and was a mysterious ringleader in the black market.
Some people speculated that he was related to the government officials, that the government and the bandits were working together. Others believed that this person was a cultivator.
There had been all sorts of rebellions in recent years. Because the rebels had quite a large amount of forbidden goods from the black market, the royal court had a very hard time sorting out the riots. Their hatred for these black market dealers deepened, and they became more and more thorough with their search. Practically every trade road had people searching irregularly, and they had even sent some masters from the Office of Heavenly Affairs.
At the leader"s exclamation, the two cultivators behind him exchanged a look and came forward — they saw that the carriage was, in fact, outrageously large. It was so huge that it had practically filled up about half of the road. Before the manager could stop him, the officials" leader had reached out to pull the curtain. The person inside also happened to raise his face.
That person seemed to be a young man, about twenty years old, and was lazily half-reclining inside the carriage. His attire was quite luxurious. With a book in his hand, he swept his half-lidded eyes toward the outside. His form was just like the celestial fox spirit in myths, causing the government official"s leader to be stunned.
The inside of the carriage was even more extravagant than the outside. It was the peak of summer, but there was ice inside the carriage, which was chilling a glittering and translucent jar of plum liquor.
As soon as the fox-like young man saw the officials" leader, he immediately scrunched up his brows and violently used the book in his hand to hide his face, snapping in anger, “Where did this abomination come from, get rid of it, its hideousness is killing me!”
Those words caused the leader to immediately regain his senses. The leader struggled to regain his composure, stuttering, “Im, im-impudent! You"re carrying forbidden goods, this is an act of rebellion that can cost you your life! You"re still not su-su-surrendering yourself?”
“Forbidden goods?” The young man c.o.c.ked his brow. “You mean this?”
There was a peculiar ring on one of his slender fingers. The top of the ring was carved in the shape of a copper coin. Before the official could see what kind of material it was made of, a white blur suddenly appeared from the copper coin, forming the half-body figure of a youth. This kind of thing was unheard of, the government official couldn"t even close his mouth…
Then that youth raised his hand emotionlessly, slapped him across the face, and dispersed in the air, satisfied.
The young man looked down at him and said insincerely, “Oh, Officer, apologies, you"re standing too close. This is not a forbidden item, it"s just something I made to entertain myself. To tell you the truth, I"m feeling quite frustrated too. I wonder how to make alterations, so this darling of mine would at least talk to me — at the moment, he"s only capable of slapping people.”
The two cultivators with the government officials finally spoke up, looking at the young man coldly, “You"re also a cultivator?”
The young man in the carriage didn"t seem to have heard those words. His expression was haughty as he lounged on the small couch, not even bothering to straighten his back.
The slapped official held his own face and erupted with fury, “Xianzhang [1], this person looks suspicious, he might be that… that ‘Money-Hustling Young Master"!”
The cultivator from the Office of Heavenly Affairs asked, “Might I inquire, why does this fellow cultivator go through so many pains to travel with some common folk?”
The young man said confidently, “I"m happy to, it"s good for show.”
The cultivator was stunned. He inhaled deeply and tried again, “Then, might I inquire which sect this fellow cultivator came from?”
The young man laughed coldly, “Why should I tell you — are you done searching? Out of the way!”
Before he finished the last of his words, the young man suddenly slammed the low table inside the carriage. In between his brows, the small figure of a sword flickered. Immediately afterward, a seemingly all-conquering sword aura came toward the two cultivators.
This person seemed like a careless sloth, but he was hiding his real ability. At the very least, he had reached the level of using his primordial spirit as his sword, and could perform this act with perfect skill.
The two cultivators were caught off guard and hurriedly moved aside, not daring to meet the attack head-on. The blabbering leader of the government officials had long since pa.s.sed out.
Even though the two cultivators had been cultivating for hundreds of years, they didn"t dare to offend this sword cultivator. They exchanged a look and backed off, “Apologies for offending the senior, feel free to proceed.”
If a sword cultivator could reach this point, even the most powerful formidable masters had to give some face. Someone like him had to have a steadfast resolution and will. No matter which sect"s name he was carrying, he would"ve been an elder worshipped by tens of thousands. Why would someone like him commit such shameless acts like selling things on the black market?
The cultivators had spoken, so the underlings had to obey no matter what. In just a short moment, the government officials had cleared the way. They had even helped to put the leather back in order before seeing them off.
After moving along for a while, the manager finally released a breath in relief. He carefully came to the carriage window and said rather flatteringly. “This road is supposed to be rarely searched, but our luck seems to be bad… Today, it"s all thanks to Young Master for escorting us in person.”
A reply came from inside the carriage, “No need for courtesy, Boss Li. I just happen to be going in the same direction. If you truly want to express your grat.i.tude, just help us out more regarding the prices in the future.”
Boss Li immediately said, “No, no, we"re the ones who have always been helped out…”
Right then, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came from the sky. A ball of fire descended onto the top of the carriage. With a thunderous rumble, a young maiden emerged from the flames.
The maiden had delicate eyebrows, with almond-shaped eyes and an oval face. She was quite charming, but her way of dressing was very unusual — she had stuck a large amount of bright-colored feathers into the hair at the back of her head. Looking from the front, she was a beauty, but from behind, she was practically a mountain chicken with a fluffed up tail!
After sweeping her eyes over the stunned commoners, she patted her hands clean and flipped down from the roof of the carriage, squeezing inside without warning. “Dshixiong, I"m here!”
The sword cultivator who had paved a way for himself, the one and only person who had partnered up with commoners to sell forbidden goods, was none other than Yan Zhengming.
A hundred years had pa.s.sed in a blur. Back then, Yan Zhengming had brought one Shidi, one Shimei, and one Daoist child across the East Sea to the Yan house, but was met with devastation — the Yan house had been sentenced to a punishment and had its property confiscated eight years prior. Once, they had been so powerful that it seemed like they could command the wind and rain, but now, only the gra.s.s on the tombs remained.
They had no other choice but to start cultivating in misery, wandering from place to place. In order to survive, they had fought for a Yao cultivator"s cave dwelling, entered uninhabited mysterious territories, and loitered in the black market of forbidden goods. With n.o.body to rely on, they had struggled in this difficult situation for a hundred years.
To be honest, they had only been able to start meeting Sect Leader Yan"s standards as a young master in the past couple of years.
The moment Shuikeng entered the carriage, Yan Zhengming raised his hand and destroyed her hairdo from across the distance, scattering the chicken feathers on her hair all over the place. Shuikeng screamed, “Ah, my feathers! I have no face to see people now!”
Yan Zhengming said, “I"m the one who has no face to see people — why are you here, are you purposefully trying to blind me?”
Shuikeng piteously picked up her feathers, blew away the dust, and tucked them into her robes carefully. “There"s been a lot of rumors from Shuzhong lately. At first they said that some great evil overlord had left something behind, and then we just heard that a demonic cultivator had appeared there. Er-shixiong couldn"t stay sitting around, so he"s gone there first and sent me here to tell you.”
Hearing this, Yan Zhengming"s brows furrowed. They had always been searching for Han Yuan, who had gone missing after jumping into the sea back then, but they couldn"t find any news of him. Whenever they heard rumors of any demonic being, they would always go for a look… even if they felt that there was little to no hope.
Yan Zhengming knew that this would be another futile effort, but they had no other choice. He sighed and finished his plum liquor in one gulp. “Let"s go, bid our farewells to Boss Li.”
Shuzhong, Mingming Valley.
Near daybreak, Cheng Qian finally used the excuse that Tang Zhen was feeling unwell to send away Nian Mingming, who was extremely enthusiastic about discussing sword techniques with him.
Nian Mingming wasn"t a sword user. Usually, people who couldn"t see their own toes when they look down would be more suited for shorter weapons, because it was safer that way. But the Valley Lord felt very strongly about the path of swords, for some reason.
Cheng Qian believed that in Valley Lord Nian"s heart was probably a beautiful young man in flowing white robes, so he had an extreme yearning for things he couldn"t have.
Like swords, for example… and a waist.
After agreeing to the Valley Lord"s request to check on the village outside, Cheng Qian saw Nian Mingming and Tang Zhen off. Then he returned alone to the land of extreme cold that he"d secluded himself in for the last fifty years, and pulled out the small bundle of his past that Tang Zhen had given him.
He knew that his physical body had died, that his soul had entered the Spirit-Condensing Jade by chance, and remained in the jade for decades before it was found by Wen Ya Zhenren.
Tang Zhen was a forthright person. When he entered the Spirit-Condensing Jade as a primordial spirit all those years ago, he had extracted Cheng Qian"s decades of memories right in front of him. Now, Cheng Qian had finally made a breakthrough. He was originally impatient about finally holding his past, but at that moment, he was suddenly overtaken with the complicated feeling of antic.i.p.ation and fear.
In the past years, Cheng Qian would occasionally find some scattered fragments in his mind. Like the inexplicable feeling that there should be a sword in his hand, that there should be a bamboo forest where he lived, or that there should be the calming fragrance of orchids in his bedding…
The small bundle of memories that Tang Zhen had returned to him didn"t have a strong light, but it was most definitely not dim either. Cheng Qian turned it over in his hands for a while, and didn"t see the slightest fissure.
The pale white light seemed cold, but holding it in his hand gave him so much warmth. It stood out greatly in this land of ice and frost.
Cheng Qian abruptly took a deep breath and blinked, casting off the frost that had acc.u.mulated on his eyelashes while he was distracted. His fingers had only loosened slightly, but his past memories were like a bird returning to its nest, sinking into the s.p.a.ce between his brows with more urgency than its owner.
In that instance, the years of his youth finally came back to him from beyond the century of struggles. It felt as if he was waking up from a great dream for the first time. Every vague detail that he had brushed off in the past seemed like they had been enhanced with a brush of ink, so vibrant that they seemed just like yesterday.
Going up to Fuyao, leaving for Azure Dragon Island, wielding Shuangren, a fallen blade, the enlightenment on the uninhabited island, the orchid on Shixiong"s collar, the suffering in the Spirit-Condensing Jade…
All these happenings weren"t as simple as ‘the past".
When Cheng Qian opened his eyes again, the sky had turned bright. His eyes were burning intensely. The icy lake had moulded his heart so that it was calm as still water, but it couldn"t stop the longing and yearning of a hundred years from piercing his heart.
No wonder Tang Zhen and Nian Mingming were so convinced that he would leave after regaining his memories.
Cheng Qian got to his feet and came to the edge of the icy lake, then reached out with a clutching motion. The originally stagnant lake water rose suddenly, forming a sword of ice in the air, which fell into his hand. The ground around the icy lake was extremely solid, but it was no match for the ice sword"s sharpness.
In one fell swoop, Cheng Qian drew a circle of extremely complicated charms around the icy lake. After he finished, the ice sword finally couldn"t handle the force of his energy and shattered into pieces. When the fragments fell, they surprisingly began to melt — the coldness of the icy lake had been sealed.
Just in case there was n.o.body to suppress the icy lake after his departure, Cheng Qian"s charms could seal the coldness for ten or twenty years. By that time, if the old fatty couldn"t copy the charms, he could come back to fix it himself.
He refused to neglect anyone to whom he owed a debt of grat.i.tude.
When Cheng Qian came to the Valley Lord"s pavilion to bid his farewells, the grandfather-grandson pair who had come to ask for help the previous day had already been sent home. There was only Nian Mingming, who looked at him with the complicated gaze of a father marrying off his daughter. He raised his sleeve to dab at the corner of his eyes, murmuring, “After you leave, we don"t know when we"ll meet again.”
What an eyesore. Cheng Qian felt that it would be better if they never met again.
Nian Mingming went on, “If you ever encounter any trouble outside the valley, you"re always welcome to come back. When the time comes, you don"t need to stay in the icy lake, I"ll have someone prepare a cave dwelling for you.”
Cheng Qian"s heart abruptly softened. Before it could soften completely, the old fatty had continued again, “I"ve told the disciples in the valley, if they ever get picked on by others when they travel outside, they can use your name. Xiaoyou, you must bear the responsibility!”
Cheng Qian, “…”
He turned around to leave, about to cut off all ties with this place right then and there, but Nian Mingming hurriedly called out to him, “Wait, Xiaoyou, I"ve prepared a sword for you!”
When Cheng Qian looked back, he was greeted with a glaring flash, but fortunately wasn"t blinded — Valley Lord Nian was holding a sword bedecked with jewels. The sword scabbard was embedded full of gold-rimmed jade. That was still fine, but the embeddings were in the form of the Four Gentlemen: plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum [2]. Each of the Four Gentlemen were more imposing and overbearing than the previous one, all of them crudely shoved together, like the four big words of greeting in Chinese New Year [3].
The corner of Cheng Qian"s lips twitched. He said with false courtesy, “Valley Lord, it would be better for you to keep it for yourself.”
Nian Mingming sighed, saying with a strange air of self-satisfaction, “Ah, that"s right. Xiaoyou has undergone seven Heavenly Tribulations before leaving the valley, you will definitely rise to become a formidable master. We"re just a small, insignificant sect, we truly have nothing to offer you…”
Before he could finish his words, his hand suddenly turned empty. When he looked, Cheng Qian had taken the moneybag sword. With a short ‘many thanks", he spun around to depart on the sword, leaving a glittering glow behind to shine on the sunlit Mingming Valley.
A Daoist child peered in from the entrance and said to the beaming Nian Mingming, “Valley Lord, the Elder of the Ethereal Lake has left?”
“He"s left,” Nian Mingming said cheerfully, but suddenly sighed with emotion, “Ah, capable people like them are meant to command the wind and rain, and experience all sorts of trials. People like us, who are fortunate and untalented, can only enjoy a leisurely life behind — Tong-er, what is it?”
“Oh,” the Daoist child said flatly, “I came to tell you, the little Shishu has run off again!”
Nian Mingming, “…”
[1] ‘Xianzhang" The phrase used here is 「仙長」, which is mostly used by commoners to address cultivators.
[2] ‘the Four Gentlemen: plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum" The phrase used here is 「梅蘭竹菊四君子」. Put simply, the Four Gentlemen are used to signify the n.o.ble qualities of a wise man, which would be 傲、幽、澹、逸 in Chinese. Here"s a brief explanation, translated by yours truly:
探波傲雪，高潔志士 Braving through trials and snow, the plum is n.o.ble and unsullied
深谷幽香，世上賢達 A delicate fragrance in the deep valley, the orchid is virtuous and honorable
清雅澹泊，謙謙君子 Elegant and untouched by worldly desires, the bamboo is modest and righteous
凌霜飄逸，世外隱士 Graceful and pure as frost, the chrysanthemum is aloof and distant
[3] ‘four big words of greeting in Chinese New Year" The phrase used here is 「恭喜發財」, the most common greeting said in Chinese New Year. You"ll see many decorations with these four words in large, garish fonts around that time if you live in a Chinese community.
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