Chapter 14 — Utterly Sincere and True to His Nature, Blocking the Way with His Sword!

A group of Earth Deities was summoned, and they immediately employed the Art of Moving Mountains. Rather than saying that they fled through the earth, it would be more accurate to say that they directly moved Qi Wuhuo, Chu Hongtu, and this entire stretch of land they were standing upon. This time, the young Daoist viewed the scenery of earth-traveling from an even more detached perspective, like an onlooker.

The scenery before his eyes was extraordinarily profound. The earth veins were like qi flows, yet also deep, heavy, and substantial, radiant and pure.

Chu Hongtu had clearly reached the end of his lifespan, with great trouble still entangling him, yet perhaps this was simply his nature. Seeing such a sight at this moment, he merely widened his eyes and could not help laughing in admiration. “Hahaha, now this is truly an extraordinary sight!”

The young Daoist held out his palm, letting the little medicine spirit lie upon it. The little medicine spirit widened its eyes as it gazed at the scenery.

Qi Wuhuo fell into thought.

The water veins flow through Heaven and Earth and all things, much like the flow of qi.

And these settled earth veins were almost like the very essence of [Qi] itself after having shed the need for constant flow, becoming purer and more substantial.

At this moment, the young Daoist did not need to cast any spell. He reached out and touched this strand of earth vein, sensing it flow between his fingers and palm. The qi within his body subtly changed along with it. His originally depleted internal organs seemed faintly to show a slight tendency toward recovery. Suddenly, the young Daoist came to a realization—

Since the [Primordial Ancestral Qi], the Northern Emperor’s Qi Refinement Art, and various other cultivation methods could all resolve his problems, then the earth veins, possessing the virtue of [Thick Earth Bearing All Things], could perhaps be observed as Qi. There was no reason he could not comprehend for himself a method to repair the weakness of his internal organs and the problems with his foundation. As the young Daoist pondered and experimented, a strand of earth vein entered his body, then circulated once through it as though it were his own qi. The injuries within his body actually produced a faint sensation of relief.

The young Daoist was delighted and subconsciously circulated the earth qi more vigorously.

In the past, he needed to manipulate Primordial Qi before he could make use of the Earth Deity’s Command to perform this kind of earth-traveling technique.

Today, with these Earth Gods lending him their aid, he finally had the time and opportunity to experiment.

Yet just as the young Daoist was pondering and experimenting, he suddenly heard a voice by his ear that seemed vaguely familiar, carrying a trace of surprise. “Eh?”

The young Daoist raised his eyes and looked faintly toward the distance, but all he saw were the flowing earth veins. Over there, Chu Hongtu was staring wide-eyed at this magnificent sight of the mortal world. Noticing the young Daoist’s unusual reaction, he asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist, what’s wrong?”

The young Daoist said, “It’s nothing…”

Then he added, “Did you hear any kind of voice?”

The Earth Elder laughed heartily. “A voice? True Person, you jest. We have transformed our bodies into something between the tangible and intangible, moving with the aid of the earth veins. To a certain extent, this art of earth-traveling is similar to the power of a ritual altar. What we draw upon is the power of Empress Houtu, the Earth Sovereign Goddess, one of the Four Great Emperors.”

“What we call the earth veins are, in truth, akin to the qi of Empress Houtu.”

“We Earth Deities have relied upon Her power year after year, generation after generation. We have never felt anything, nor have we ever heard any voice.”

“Besides, the depths of this place are beyond words, far removed from the mortal world and already almost akin to the Netherworld.”

“Beneath the earth, all things are utterly still. Even the sounds of all things coming to life and flourishing cannot be heard.”

The young Daoist smiled and did not continue discussing the matter.

It was just that, for some reason, he could not shake the feeling that beneath that surprised “Eh?”—its tone gentle yet carrying a hint of astonishment and amusement—it seemed to be saying: Eh? So it’s you again, little fellow?

The young Daoist always felt that he had heard this voice somewhere before, yet it had been far too brief, lasting only that single sound. There also seemed to be some special reason for it, with his spiritual nature obscured, making it truly difficult to determine who had spoken. The young Daoist recalled the entire journey, yet still could not remember where he had heard that voice.

He merely committed it silently to memory.

The many Earth Deities were all merely equivalent to cultivators in terms of the methods they could employ, comparable to an ordinary cultivator’s Primordial Qi. Yet each of them had spent several hundred years as Earth Deities, maintaining the mountains and rivers of their respective domains, and had witnessed many interesting things. Thus, chatting idly along the way was rather enjoyable and did not feel tedious.

Half a day later, they had traveled more than ten thousand miles and arrived in Hezhou. In an instant, they rose from the earth and set Qi Wuhuo and Chu Hongtu down before the city.

After chatting several times, they finally bid farewell, for they were going to meet and reminisce with Earth Deities they knew in the local area.

The old Earth Deity clasped his hands and said with a smile, “True Person, there is no need to thank us again. Your sword that saved the common people—although we were able to avoid the calamity, we too are grateful for Your Grace.”

“Moving you here was merely a trivial matter.”

“It is just that we cannot remain in Hezhou for long. As for the road ahead, perhaps you will have to walk it yourself, True Person.”

“You have already done us a great service.”

“It is only right, only right.”

The old Earth Elder smiled and clasped his hands. The five-foot-tall old man held a staff that was considerably taller than himself. He spun around on the spot, and in an instant, smoke and clouds billowed upward. In the blink of an eye, the old man had vanished without a trace, no one knowing where he had gone. Only then did the young Daoist turn around and see the city behind him, along with Chu Hongtu dressed in a green robe.

Seeing him standing there with his eyes wide, staring at this city, the old man was already white-haired, having been away from this city for at least several hundred years. Having left home as a young man and returned in old age, he was naturally filled with sorrow and nostalgia. The young Daoist carried the qin on his back. Ever since he had carried this qin out of the Underworld, the sword case and the other items had been stored inside the jade pendant at his waist.

That jade pendant had been refined by Kṣitigarbha. According to legend, it could contain Mount Sumeru within a mustard seed, and could hold as many things as a mountain.

Many treasures from the Underworld had been placed inside it.

The young Daoist stood beside the old man and said, “Fellow Daoist Chu, let us go.”

“Ah, yes… all right.”

Chu Hongtu looked at the city and suddenly asked, “Fellow Daoist, do you have a travel document for passing through?”

The young Daoist shook his head. Chu Hongtu was just about to say that they could enter with divine abilities when he saw Qi Wuhuo already walking toward the city gate. Knowing that he must have some means of his own, he withdrew his gaze from the city gate, laughed several times heartily, and followed after him.

“Do you have a document?”

Qi Wuhuo shook his head, then took out something with his other hand—the item that Qin Wang had given him back then.

The soldier was slightly startled and hurriedly called for the city guard commander. After coming over to inspect it, the commander handed the token back and said, “So you are the Qin Wang’s Residence Chief Tutor. Please, enter the city.”

The Qin Wang was a Commandery Prince, and the position of Chief Tutor at the Qin Wang’s Residence was merely an eighth-rank sinecure. Still, it was an official position, and he could enter the city without needing a travel document to pass through the various local checkpoints.

Chu Hongtu laughed. “I never imagined that Fellow Daoist also has an identity in the secular world.”

The young Daoist said, “An identity is merely something external.”

“I am still me, whether I am a Daoist or this so-called Chief Tutor.”

“Cultivating the Dao is to seek the self.”

“Buddhism is to ferry me across.”

“That is all.”

Chu Hongtu was slightly stunned, seemingly reminded of his own circumstances. He sighed ruefully for a long while before saying, “Fellow Daoist, you are right. It is indeed so…”

He soon recovered his spirits and pointed toward the road ahead.

“Come, Fellow Daoist. This is your first time in my Hezhou, is it not? Hahaha, allow me to show you the way.”

“This main road leads straight through the entire city, and then branches off into various smaller roads on both sides.”

“There used to be someone here who sold soy-sauce beef, and it tasted absolutely wonderful. Over there, there used to be an old apricot tree. Its apricot blossoms were beautiful in spring, and the apricots it bore were not like those of the Central Plains, which were soft and somewhat mealy. These were crisp, sweet, and slightly sour. Hahaha, just imagining them is enough to bring the taste back to my mouth. It is simply a pity that winter has only just passed, so it will still be some time before the blossoms open.”

“When I was young, I most loved galloping through here on horseback.”

The young Daoist raised his eyes.

When he was young?

At the beginning, Chu Hongtu said that when he was young, his family was poor and they lived in the countryside.

Of course, it was also possible that by “when he was young”, he meant the years after he had achieved mastery of martial arts.

Chu Hongtu was in extremely high spirits, taking Qi Wuhuo around to enjoy himself in the prefectural city of Hezhou. It was just that the family that had once sold the soy-sauce beef he spoke of was no longer there, replaced by a pork shop. The place where he had drunk wine was gone as well. Only that old tree remained, yet although it was still there, it was already close to withering. Its branches twisted and spread, gnarled like dragons. They walked on for some time.

Chu Hongtu sat by the window of a restaurant, the saber in his hand placed upon the table. He called out loudly, “Shopkeeper, two pounds of beef, a pot of wine, and another serving of Xiaoyao Drunkenness, and a bowl of Cloud Strikes the Moon Goose. And bring out a plate or two of whatever fresh fruits and vegetables are in season, just to nibble on.”

Although his appearance was refined and ancient, his bearing unworldly, and his hair white with age, this manner of ordering food still carried the air of a wandering martial hero.

He then turned over the teacup that had been placed upside down, poured himself some tea, and said with a smile: “Fellow Daoist, this Xiaoyao Drunkenness and Cloud Strikes the Moon are both rare delicacies found here. Once you leave Hezhou, you will never be able to taste them again.”

“Xiaoyao Drunkenness must be made with fine fish, which are first intoxicated with wine before they can be cooked. Cloud Strikes the Moon uses fine wild geese as its main ingredient. There is a saying among the common folk that these geese can strike at the clouds and seize the moon, making them exceedingly rare. The people of Hezhou are particularly fond of eating such things, and they also value the natural flavor of the ingredients. Not too many strong seasonings are added during cooking; they are simply boiled and then eaten dipped in sauce. The flavor is truly exceptional. Try them later and you will know.”

“The method itself is not difficult, but achieving just the right result requires considerable skill. And if you want to have such ingredients as well, that is even more difficult.”

“Only this place has them.”

The shopkeeper came over with an apologetic expression. “Honored guest, you certainly know your food. Unfortunately, we can no longer make either of these two dishes here.”

Chu Hongtu was stunned. “What? Has even the foremost restaurant in the entire Hezhou Prefectural City fallen into decline?”

The old man looked rather embarrassed and clasped his hands. “Well, honored guest, you cannot say that we have fallen into decline. It is simply that you are such an extraordinary connoisseur of food. The method for making this Xiaoyao Drunkenness has already been lost for nearly three hundred years. No matter how our descendants have tried to recreate it, we have never been able to reproduce the flavor of those days. As for Cloud Chasing the Moon Goose…”

“The Cloud-Chasing Wild Geese have vanished without a trace for a very long time. It is said that there was a Great Black Tortoise that opened its mouth and devoured an entire mountain.”

“The mountain was gone, and the Cloud-Chasing Geese that lived by that mountain naturally disappeared little by little as well. This dish has likewise been lost for a very long time.”

The delight that had appeared on Chu Hongtu’s face gradually faded, until in the end, only wistfulness remained.

“Is that so…?”

After the shopkeeper apologized several times, he finally left. Chu Hongtu held the teacup in his hand, his expression filled with profound melancholy. “Time passes like the years of old; a white colt flashes past the gap in the wall, and suddenly it is all over. For an old man like me, three hundred years is an entire lifetime. But for ordinary people, it seems to be enough time for an entire family to rise and fall, and for a famous dish to be lost…”

“Such are the changes of worldly affairs. You travel the world with your sword, singing as you go, only to turn your head and discover that the road you have traveled is now filled entirely with unfamiliar sights. They say the mortal world never changes, but how could it possibly remain unchanged…? Even this prefectural city that I remember fondly is no longer the same prefectural city in my memories. Hezhou belongs to the people of this age, but where is the Hezhou that belonged to me?”

Chu Hongtu was filled with melancholy.

Looking out from the high place in the restaurant, he pointed toward a lake in the distance. “I still remember that there used to be a great clan here, the Wu family. They were a prominent family even among the martial world, with pavilions and towers stretching for miles. When I first ventured into the martial world, there happened to be a martial arts tournament here to select a husband. I was young and proud back then, so I stepped forward to compete.”

“My saber technique was decisive, learned from an old ape in the mountains.”

“I thought myself capable of being invincible beneath Heaven.”

“Yet she happened to be here as well. She was young too, disguised as a man and traveling with an old man.”

“Perhaps she was unwilling to see me showing off here, so she rose with her hand upon her sword and insisted on fighting me. Back then, I was no match for her. That fellow’s swordsmanship was still raw, as though she had never seen blood before, yet it was at once pure and fierce. She beat my saber from my hand, and I used the saber-release technique I had learned on the battlefield. The blade cut through her hairpin, her hair cascading down, breathtakingly beautiful.”

“Hahaha, the Wu family’s eldest young lady was furious back then. She had clearly taken part in the martial arts tournament to select a husband, yet the victor turned out to be a woman.”

“After that, we…”

Chu Hongtu froze, finally realizing that what he was describing was not his own experience at all.

And yet every single scene, every event that had happened, was incomparably familiar. It was so real that it felt as though it had happened only yesterday. The unwillingness he had felt when her swordsmanship had suppressed him, the moment when he had released that saber strike, the young woman’s black hair cascading like a waterfall, her eyes widening in shock, the sensation of his heart nearly stopping—and his travels through the martial world with the Wu family’s eldest young lady—all of it was so real that he could hardly keep himself from shedding tears.

It was like a great dream, from which fragments of the past had suddenly returned to him.

“I—I… this wasn’t my experience…”

“But why? Why do I remember it? Why does it hurt so much?”

The young Daoist appeared behind Chu Hongtu in an instant and placed a hand upon his shoulder. Primordial Qi suppressed him, and only after a long while did Chu Hongtu recover his composure. His eyes slightly reddened as he said, “Fellow Daoist, I—I want to leave the city. I want to go see the place I most wish to visit…”

“Mm.”

By the time the shopkeeper brought out the dishes, there was no one there anymore, only a small amount of silver left behind.

Qi Wuhuo now traveled alongside Chu Hongtu. The latter seemed to possess profound understanding and mastery of the Art of Riding the Wind, hardly inferior to that of a True Person. The young Daoist received several pointers from him, and as a result, he became more at ease when riding the wind. At last, it was no longer as crude as when he had been at Lianyang Temple in the Central Plains, and he had gained two or three parts of the wind’s unrestrained freedom.

They continued onward until they stood upon a mountain, where they could see a town far below. It was quite prosperous.

“This is the place…”

“I don’t know why, but in those memories of mine, whether they are real or false, this place is exceptionally clear.”

Chu Hongtu murmured. The young Daoist carried the qin on his back and followed Chu Hongtu as he walked forward. Even the little medicine spirit and the little peacock seemed to sense something at this moment and grew much quieter. With his temples already streaked with white, the young Daoist watched as Chu Hongtu seemed to wander through the town as though in a dream, murmuring: “Strange… in my memories, this was only a village.”

“Could a hundred or two hundred years really turn it into a city this large?”

“Fellow Daoist, what happened here in your memories?”

Chu Hongtu remained silent for a long while before saying, “I remember that I traveled here with her, along with the young lady of the Wu family. Back then, we were pursuing a demon who cultivated a demonic art using blood. Later, we encountered a calamity, and the volcano there erupted. At that time, I, I…”

He pressed a hand against his forehead, feeling a dull, throbbing pain.

The scene that surfaced in his mind was of himself embracing the young woman, then knocking her unconscious and handing her to the eldest young lady of the Wu family. He then told her to return to the village immediately, preferably taking the villagers with her and evacuating as quickly as possible. Tears filled the beautiful eyes of the gentle young lady of the Wu family as she asked him what he intended to do.

“Me?”

“A true man acts for no other reason than to uphold justice and aid those in need.”

The self within his memories threw back his head and laughed, released his warhorse, then soared into the air and charged toward the volcanic lava with his saber. The long blade barred the way, its edge cold and sharp as snow, and he struck down directly. Amid blazing flames and a life-and-death struggle, Chu Hongtu covered his forehead with one hand, his brow throbbing faintly.

In his memories, he had fought that demon to the death, but the volcano could not be stopped.

Thus, he chose to destroy his Dao foundation and strike out a saber blow for the sake of all living beings.

That was the strongest and most resplendent saber strike of the self he had been back then, after attaining the realm of a True Person.

The blade directly halted the terrifying molten lava.

The scenes of memory rushed past like a raging flood. Chu Hongtu murmured:

“I—I… I can’t remember. I think… I stopped the volcanic disaster here?”

An old man nearby had been curious upon seeing outsiders arrive. But after hearing this, he burst into laughter. “Eh? Old brother, have you been reading too many books and developed some kind of delusion, or are you dreaming a grand dream? It’s true that there is a legend about something like this happening here, but that was already eight or nine hundred years ago!”

“Of course, we erected a stele for the hero of those days.”

“A stele?”

“Yes, it’s right over there.”

Following the direction the old man pointed, they saw a stone stele. Chu Hongtu staggered over, reached out, and caressed the inscription. The vastness of the passing years had made the characters blurred, but they could still be roughly discerned—

[At that time, calamity befell, and Heaven and Earth underwent great changes, fire spewed forth like flowing light. There was a great hero who pressed his saber down and, with the strength of one man, stood across the mountain’s front and held it back. When the mountain was searched afterward, he was already on the verge of death. Thus proving, whenever calamity and disaster befall, there are always heroes who rise forth.]

[He was a native of Hezhou Prefecture City, and claimed that in his youth he had been proud and unruly, riding his horse along the great roads. He had once entered the army, where he was appointed Cavalry Commandant.]

[Later, he encountered his Dao companion, and traveled the world, acting chivalrously and aiding those in need.]

Chu Hongtu’s eyes unconsciously reddened, tears streaming down his face.

In the memories, his former self flicked his finger against his saber, dressed in fine clothes and riding a spirited horse, laughing aloud:

“Heroes of the world emerge from our generation, Once entering the jianghu, the years hasten by.” “Great ambitions are discussed amid laughter, Better than a single drunken dream of life.”

His finger brushed over it, and he saw the final words on the stone stele.

His name: Chu Hongtu.

Wife · Miao.

The name was exactly the same. Chu Hongtu was struck as though by thunder, and for a long while he could not speak. Before he knew it, tears were already streaming down his face.

The young Daoist said, “Have you remembered?”

Chu Hongtu shook his head and murmured, “That was me. Those were things I experienced… But I only remember those parts. Was that really me? If it was me, why can I never remember it? If it was not me, then why does this heart ache as though it were being twisted by a knife?”

His eyes were red. After remaining silent for a long while, the young Daoist said, “I may have a way, but there will be a price to pay.”

The young Daoist spread the five fingers of his hand slightly. A blade of ink-colored grass appeared in his palm, emitting a faint spiritual resonance. He then took out a small cup containing transparent water. The young Daoist, his temples already streaked with white, said, “This is Broken Heart Grass. After consuming it, you will be able to recall all the events of your past, but the price is that you will have only three days of life remaining.”

“And this… is Water of Oblivion.”

“Consume it. This amount will not be enough to make you forget everything, but it will be enough for you to forget these memories that make you doubt yourself, forget these things, and regain your peace. Or perhaps, you can choose neither, and continue to remain as you are.”

The young Daoist withdrew his right hand, leaving the two treasures suspended in the air. The Three Lives Stone needed to act upon the soul; it was something the dead went to the banks of the Bridge of Helplessness to gaze upon.

Chu Hongtu murmured, “I, I choose…”

The young Daoist suddenly sensed a stagnation in the void. Having experienced it before, he already knew that this was Senior Sister Yumiao’s unique method. With his mind clear and luminous, he tapped the sword with his right hand and, without the slightest hesitation, suddenly swept it across to block. His strength was far inferior to Yumiao’s, but he had already anticipated what his Senior Sister, whose state of mind was now thrown out of balance, would do.

A brilliant and pure sword light drew near.

Its sword technique was profound beyond measure.

The young Daoist had anticipated it beforehand, and the sword in his palm met it with the same sword technique, yet its subtlety seemed to surpass it by a slight degree, blocking the attack.

The majestic sword light, even though it intended only to capture the young Daoist, and even though it had restrained most of its power out of consideration for the ordinary people around them, was still a might that Qi Wuhuo could not possibly withstand. Yet when the sword light touched the faint radiance upon this scabbard, most of its force suddenly dispersed—

The Weak Water of the Heavenly River, where even immortals and gods cannot tread, and not even flying feathers can cross unimpeded.

Amid the sound of rushing water, the young Daoist stepped according to the Eight Trigrams footwork, turning his body to dissipate the force. His sleeves billowed like water and clouds. The sword scabbard collapsed in the next instant, yet did not vanish. Instead, it transformed into the rushing Yellow Springs. The Yellow Springs were cold, traversing the Eighteen Levels of the Netherworld and containing the obsessions of all living beings, and thus the immortal sword intent carried by that sword light was swallowed by the Yellow Springs.

The Yellow Springs rushed onward, its waters suspended in the void, cold and icy.

The young Daoist’s Daoist robes fluttered and whirled.

The Yellow Springs coiled around the young Daoist, embracing him, while the water-and-cloud patterns on his sleeves became clear as though real, turning along with the momentum. The Blood Sword was already drawn. With the subtlety of its pure sword technique, the young Daoist, having received the guidance of the Great Dao Sovereign, forcefully broke through the Earth Immortal’s sword strike. The Blood Sword pressed against an ordinary sword, forcing it against the ground, while the waters of the Yellow Springs coiled around his body, only to fall back upon the sword in an instant and transform into a sword scabbard.

One sword, one block, all within the turning of an instant, swift as a rabbit darting up and a falcon swooping down.

Yumiao had already appeared.

The young Daoist looked at the red-eyed young woman before him and still pressed down on his sword.

He had originally come to repay a karmic debt, but he had never expected that he would end up standing before his Senior Sister.

“Senior Sis—”

The young Daoist’s voice paused slightly, and he said, “Fellow Daoist, this time, please watch his choice.”

Yumiao held her sword and said, “Since you follow the Daoist principle of Non-Action, why did you stop me?”

The young Daoist said, “Non-Action(Wu-Wei) is to follow the will of all living beings.”

“Yet there is also nothing that cannot be done(Wu-Bu-Wei).”

“Nothing that cannot be done, to protect all living beings.”

“Non-Action(Wu-Wei) and Action(Wu-Bu-Wei), in themselves, are a turning between a single thought. One must not use one’s power to place one’s own will above that of all living beings. To follow the will of living beings in all things and move according to their original intentions is Non-Action(Wu-Wei); but when encountering injustice, if one draws the sword not for the sake of one’s own desires, then that is Action (wubuwei).”

“How to choose is something he himself must decide, Fellow Daoist.”

The two Daoists of the same school looked at one another, and the young Daoist relied upon the sword in his hand to block Yumiao’s sword.

Behind him, Chu Hongtu glanced at Yumiao, just as resolute as he had been all those years ago.

He swallowed the Broken Heart Grass.