Xu Fengnian, wearing a gloomy expression, left the city with the old sword immortal to visit a grave. Qingniao, accompanying them, carried the most renowned Danggui wine from Zhizhang City. Li Chungan sneered, “With such a soft heart, how can you achieve anything significant? There are so many pitiful people under heaven—do you have three heads and six arms to help them all?”
Xu Fengnian rolled his eyes and replied, “I’ve never liked the Xuan Yuan clan, which stands among the three greatest martial cultivators. Now that I’ve finally found an opportunity, if I don’t stir up trouble at Gu Niu Gang, I’d truly be letting down the memory of being chased by Xuan Yuan Qingfeng back then. Xuan Yuan Dapang treats that sibling pair like food on his plate? Hmph, this prince intends to snatch the meat right out of his bowl. If he objects, let him come at me. Then, old master, you can perform your sword opening the heavenly gate again, if you please.”
The old sword immortal glanced sideways and said, “Can you stop scheming against this old man all the time? Without the girl Jiang Ni to back you up, if I really get angry, I might just open the heavenly gate with my sword on you.”
Changing the subject, Xu Fengnian asked, “What kind of person is that old Xuan Yuan fellow? I’ve heard this pervert can’t go a single day without intimate contact with a woman, or his eyes turn blood-red, his cheeks burn crimson, his skin feels like it’s splitting, and his tendons seem to twist. Sounds like he’s lost control of his cultivation.”
The old man in the sheepskin coat thought for a moment and said with a crooked grin, “Well, what else could he be like?”
Xu Fengnian sighed, “Please, give me some details. I’m heading to Mount Hui soon to cause trouble. I should know both myself and my enemy. Otherwise, if I descend the mountain in a grand procession only to crawl back in disgrace, Xuan Yuan Qingfeng will laugh her head off.”
Li Chungan wore an expression of impatience and said offhandedly, “That old rogue might count as half a martial genius. He can’t compare to Wang Xianzhi.”
Xu Fengnian muttered under his breath, “No kidding. If he were anything like Wang Xianzhi, I wouldn’t bother going to Gu Niu Gang at all.”
The old sword immortal kicked the prince’s behind and turned to ask Qingniao for some Danggui wine to satisfy his craving, but she gave him a cold stare. Sighing, the bored old man said casually, “You’re too focused on showing off in front of those siblings, not knowing the limits of heaven and earth! Xuan Yuan Dapang might not be listed among the martial experts, but his strength surpasses Wang Mingyin’s. If not for his excessive ambition to learn everything and excel at all of it, if he had focused solely on swordsmanship, there wouldn’t have been room for Gu Jiantang. It’s said he’s remained lustful even in old age, behaving indecently, but it’s not that simple. He has long been deeply versed in Buddhist and Daoist principles. Combined with his powerful inner energy cultivated in his prime, he uses the yin cauldron to nourish the yang furnace, taming his mental obstacles. If he truly succeeds, he’ll achieve the lesser immortality of the Daoist Yellow Path, his cultivation rivaling that of a grand Daoist master. Whether you go to Mount Hui or not, that’s up to you to decide.”
Xu Fengnian rubbed his chin and began to seriously consider the matter.
The old sword immortal asked softly, “Which of those two siblings do you really like?”
Xu Fengnian’s mouth twitched as he replied, “Old master, you shouldn’t say that.”
Li Chungan hummed and continued on his own, “Indeed, with that fellow who lent you the twin blades Chuntao and Xiu Dong setting such a high example, perhaps Murong Tonghuang won’t impress you much. Then when will you make a move on that white fox-faced beauty? The longer you wait, the less chance you’ll have. Eventually, you won’t even have the opportunity to force the issue. Actually, I can teach you a simple method—just imagine yourself as a woman. That white fox, whether man or woman, is still the most beautiful person in the world. You wouldn’t be losing out.”
Xu Fengnian shuddered with horror, his entire body breaking out in goosebumps, filled with dread and indignation.
Li Chungan sneered, “What, want to fight me?”
Xu Fengnian immediately turned fawning, “How could that be? I’m just looking forward to the old master’s sword slicing through six cascading waterfalls, drowning Gu Niu Gang in their own waters.”
Li Chungan snorted, “Typical!”
An hour’s journey beyond Zhizhang City, they finally found a solitary, overgrown grave. Three feet high, wild grasses grew rampant. Xu Fengnian squatted down, pulling away the weeds entwining the gravestone. He gazed silently at the three-foot tall stele. After more than twenty years of wind and rain, the inscriptions had long faded, barely legible in broken fragments: “The sun rises from the Eastern Sea, the earth’s energy surging boundless; it sets at Kunlun, the heavens return to stillness,” “Spring and Autumn, again Spring and Autumn, the sound of galloping horses trampling over scholarly chants,” “I shall embrace the universe, my noble spirit equal to the boundless sky.” The old sword immortal, idle, squatted down, squinting at the broken epitaph, murmuring in astonishment. Xu Fengnian took the wine from Qingniao and slowly poured it before the grave. The grave stood atop a hill; after the libation, Xu Fengnian sat on the ground, gazing at the distant fields, murmuring to himself, “I’ve always been terrible at writing essays, only able to buy poems from scholars in Beiliang with money. My second sister was right—most of what I bought were merely contrived laments, sounding like grieving widows wailing, unbearable to hear. But the one buried here, why couldn’t he have lived a few more years, written a few more lines like ‘Fifty years of great endeavors, told only to mountain spirits’?”
The old sword immortal sat cross-legged, removed his shoes, scratched his toes, sniffed them, and chuckled lightly, “Dead is dead, clean and clear. The one buried here is lucky enough to still have someone visit his grave. As for me, who will bring wine to my grave after I’m gone, sweep the leaves and pull the weeds?”
Xu Fengnian nodded, “That’s true.”
The old man rubbed the soles of his feet and turned to ask, “Xu lad, do you think you’re pitiful?”
Xu Fengnian laughed bitterly, “Me? I’m the esteemed heir of Beiliang! Didn’t someone from the previous dynasty say something about living in luxury and dying in grandeur? I was born into gold and silver, never lacking food or clothing. Few in the world live as comfortably as I do. Now even the hereditary title is secured. If I still thought myself pitiful, I might as well hang myself with my own hair or smother myself with a woman’s bosom. So those Descendants of a Fallen Kingdom and martial assassins who came to the Beiliang Prince’s Mansion to die all those years ago, I only felt pity, not hatred. Being Xu Yiao’s son, I must accept this reality. Where in the world is there a life of only comfort without hardship? Before traveling with Lao Huang, I had some resentment, but not anymore.”
The old sword immortal laughed heartily, “You sure think light of it.”
Xu Fengnian said with self-mockery, “Actually, I do have worries.”
Li Chungan asked with a smile, “What are you worried about?”
Xu Fengnian pulled up a weed, flicked the dirt from its roots, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly, saying, “I’m just worried I can’t master the Qing She technique.”
The old sword immortal declared proudly, “My secret techniques aren’t so easily mastered.”
Xu Fengnian softly replied, “Actually, I know those 216 Qing She moves of yours are like forging iron, strengthening my Huang Ting cultivation. As for how much of the Qing She essence I can grasp, it’s all up to fate, right?”
Li Chungan slowly said with narrowed eyes, “You’re not stupid, lad. To speak plainly, Qing She’s sword techniques are already so intricate they’re almost untraceable. You couldn’t even begin to learn them. As for the sword opening the heavenly gate, that’s purely a matter of sword intent—you can’t learn that either.”
Xu Fengnian frowned and sighed, while Qingniao behind him smiled slightly.
The old sword immortal picked up a weed too, chewed it, spat it out with a “Pah!” and said, “Next, I’ll have some trouble helping you practice. Don’t aim too high, lad. First, solidify those twenty-odd mismatched sword moves you’ve cobbled together. Actually, my martial arts skills alone would be enough to deal with Wang Mingyin.”
Before Xu Fengnian could speak, the old sword immortal wiped his face and added, “If Jiang Ni were here, she’d surely accuse this old man of bragging without restraint.”
Xu Fengnian chuckled.
Thinking of that girl with her “hehe” laughter, where was she hiding now, waiting to strike?
The three walked down the mountain along a path between fields.
“Xu lad, you really have no interest in that beauty Murong Tonghuang?”
“…”
“Such a lotus whose gender is hard to discern, a rare treasure indeed. Even with my exceptional eye for beauty, such a sight is a once-in-a-century occurrence. You’re really not tempted?”
“…”
“You can be tempted! This time, I’ll turn a blind eye to your beastly behavior.”
“…”
“Just imagine Murong Tonghuang as a woman. When the lamp goes out at night, can you tell Murong Wuzhu from Murong Tonghuang? Can you tell male from female?”
“…”
“Boy, say something!”
“I just can’t beat you in a fight right now!”
“What? Little brat, don’t think I won’t help you practice anymore. I’ll still give you the Qing She treatment later.”
“No, please!”
“Then, will you eat this pair of rare lotuses?”
“Go to hell.”
“You’ve been holding back for over a year now. Haven’t you developed internal injuries from it?”
“Go to hell!”
“How pitiful! So many peerless beauties dancing before you, yet you can’t have a single one. Pitiful, pitiful indeed.”
“Old master, can I just go now?”
…
Walking behind, Qingniao listened to the prince and the old sword immortal bickering, smiling like a lotus blooming in clear water.
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