Inside the carriage sat the most expensive courtesan in the city at that time, a renowned beauty whose company required an initial payment of five hundred taels of silver just for an audience. Even though he was the son of the King of Beiliang, he still had to pay the fee to hear some amusing martial arts stories from her lips.
Although Xu Fengnian had a photographic memory when it came to books, he remained hazy about this particular scene. Therefore, even in his “future,” when he repeatedly accepted jars of marinated beef from a young girl, or was chased by a female assassin, he failed to recognize her as the child to whom he had once casually gifted a jeweled hairpin.
In times of chaos, human lives are as cheap as grass, flourishing and withering year after year. Who would remember a casual act of kindness from their youth?
At that time, the young prince was preoccupied with fending off assassination attempts within and outside the mansion, plotting ways to cultivate martial arts for revenge, and managing the heavy lessons from his teacher, Master Li Yishan. He had far too many concerns to spare any thoughts for sentimentality. While many noble youths could still indulge in leisure and poetic melancholy, feigning sorrow they did not truly feel, his entire childhood was cloaked in a gray and foggy haze. He was vengeful, naive, and foolishly angry at Xu Xiao for possessing the titles of King of Beiliang and Grand Pillar of the State yet doing nothing, refusing to seek vengeance. Thus, Xu Fengnian deeply resented his status as a prince. If even Xu Xiao, a feudal lord commanding thirty thousand iron cavalry, could not avenge his grievances, how could he, even if he inherited the throne as King of Beiliang? As a youth, he was consumed by the desire to cultivate martial arts, to practice swordsmanship, and become an unrivaled martial expert, then travel to the imperial capital of Tai’an to confront the emperor seated on the dragon throne.
Xu Fengnian arrived at a newly built grave. After the Xu family retinue secretly escorting the little girl departed, he saw a middle-aged man who was unexpected yet fitting.
Huang Sanjia.
Huang Longshi, the number one evildoer among the Three Evils of the Spring and Autumn Periods.
The man who had been traveling through Beiliang, planting long-term spies, had been observing the young prince closely during this time. He appeared beside the little girl kneeling in front of the grave, squatted down, picked up a clump of yellow earth, and skillfully molded it into a small figurine. He handed it to the girl and asked, “Does it look like her?”
Startled by the voice, the girl did not take the figurine but instead scooted backward on her knees, her eyes icy and wary.
He held the figurine between his fingers, raised his arm slightly, and asked again, “Does it look like her?”
The little girl, wearing broken straw sandals and tattered thin clothes, her hands and feet covered in cracked, bone-exposed frostbite, stared blankly at the figurine for a moment. Then she snatched it and hugged it tightly to her chest, finally bursting into tears.
The middle-aged man sat down on the ground and smiled gently, “This little figurine looks like your mother, but you, you resemble my daughter. I’m glad to meet you. This makes me happier than finding any ‘person from the book’ during my time in the Spring and Autumn Period.”
The little girl continued to cry bitterly.
He was unperturbed, his gaze unusually tender, like a nearly desperate father who had found his long-lost daughter in a foreign land thousands of miles away. He continued, “My name is Huang Longshi. I’ve claimed the top three honors of the Spring and Autumn Periods for myself. From now on, you may be called Jia Jiajia. You were born in the Spring and Autumn Period, so you may share the surname with the thirteen great figures of this era, but you will share the name with a girl from a very, very long time ago.”
The little girl stopped crying but still dared not approach the strange man.
But she knew he meant no harm.
Because deep in her heart, she didn’t dislike him.
Huang Longshi sat on the muddy ground in front of the grave, “I will teach you martial arts in the future. The young man you wish to repay is also a ‘person from the book.’ But he will die before he turns thirty. Both official and unofficial historical records describe many strange ways he might die, all of them filled with curses. The best and worst account claims he perished under the iron hooves of the Beiman, his body mutilated beyond recognition. I think it would be a great repayment if he were to die by your hands in the future.”
Huang Longshi looked at her young face, filled with sorrow she barely understood, and his heart softened. He whispered gently, “Since the person who flips the pages of the book has mysteriously entered the story itself and wasn’t crushed by the pages, perhaps the future will no longer follow the script.”
Huang Longshi stood up, smiled, and extended his hand toward her.
The little girl allowed him to pull her up and then gazed toward a golden field of sunflowers in the distance, entranced.
Huang Longshi turned to glance at the small mound of fresh earth. He sighed inwardly. He knew without a doubt that the grave would be repeatedly dug open by greedy people who showed no respect for spirits or ancestors, all for the jeweled hairpin buried within. But he didn’t tell her this.
Suddenly, the little girl ran toward the golden field of sunflowers, broke off two stalks, placed one in front of the grave, then hesitated before setting the other beside her feet instead of carrying it on her shoulder.
Kneeling in the mud, she faced the distant horizon and bowed deeply three times.
Coincidentally, Xu Fengnian, standing in the direction of her prostration, gently turned his body aside.
The *Thousand Character Classic*, one of the foundational texts of classical education, begins with the majestic eight-character line: “Heaven and Earth are dark yellow; the universe vast and boundless.” The terms “universe” are further explained as “above and below, east and west; past and present.”
The *Spring and Autumn Dream* cultivated by the Daoist elder Zhao Xitou originated ultimately from the words of an ancient sage: “Emerging without a root, entering without an aperture.”
This was the essence of the later generations’ concept of the “Soul’s Journey of the Immortal.”
At this very moment, this Xu Fengnian raised his head, gazing into the distance alongside Huang Longshi, who had not yet reached middle age.
Atop the peak of Lotus Mountain, the new King of Beiliang, who had previously emerged from his body ten times during his soul journeys without affecting his physical body’s ability to move or think, now resembled a half-dead man lost in a deep sleep.
Three elderly Daoists—Song Zhiming, Chen You, and Yu Xingrui—who were of the same generation as the Sword Obsession Wang Xiaoping of Wudang, took turns “guarding the pass” for Xu Fengnian.
Swift messenger hawks kept landing on the turtle-shaped mount, delivering intelligence reports. The second one arrived late because, after the peachwood sword flew up the mountain, Song Zhiming, who was guarding the pass at that time, already knew the outcome. Chen You and Yu Xingrui arrived upon hearing the news, but remained silent.
Yu Xingrui, the most emotionally expressive among the elder disciples apart from the youngest, Hong Xixiang, was known for his clear expressions of joy and sorrow. Leaning against the massive foot of the stone tortoise, he tilted his head back, unable to look at the suspended flying sword.
Chen You, even older than the current Wudang sect leader’s master, sat beside his junior brother and softly said, “This is a joyous passing. Don’t let Xiao Wang’s departure be troubled.”
Yu Xingrui nodded woodenly and murmured, “The Sect Leader has gone, the youngest brother has gone, Master Wang has gone, and Song says he’s about to go too. Just a few years, and all six of us brothers…”
Chen You smiled and said, “But they left without regrets. And if you think back, Yufu came up the mountain, and so many younger generations followed. There will be new generations coming up the mountain in the future. Sometimes, when I see those young faces, even this old stick-in-the-mud like me can’t help but smile.”
Yu Xingrui sighed and muttered, “I just can’t think as clearly as you do.”
Chen You teased, “Your apprentice is better than you.”
Yu Xingrui said sternly, “If he dares not bring back the youngest brother, he can keep being the sect leader—I won’t recognize him as my disciple anymore.”
Chen You pretended to be angry, “Are you going to be reasonable or not? I’m the elder brother in charge of discipline, and I’m too old to be punished with a beating!”
Yu Xingrui suddenly smiled, rubbed his face, and sighed, “Back in our youth, it was Master Peng who enforced discipline on the mountain. I always liked to oppose him, and he would get so angry he’d say I’d have to become the sect leader to escape his discipline. Never did I imagine that Yufu would actually become the sect leader. I guess I have no regrets now.”
Chen You looked worried and said, “But this way of sending people one after another to intercept them won’t work.”
Yu Xingrui, who had spent the longest time in the martial world, shook his head, “There’s no choice. Among the Through the Ages top ten martial experts, apart from the recent time when the demon lords Luo Yang and Duan Mao teamed up to kidnap Gao Shulu, when have we ever heard of two of them fighting side by side? Besides, this time Deng Tai’a is leaning toward Wang Xianzhi, and even if Cao Changqing wishes to intervene, he won’t leave Guangling since the Chu Kingdom has already been restored. Even if someone were willing to fight alongside Xiao Ping, would our junior brother accept it? And even if he did, perhaps he would never be able to unleash that final, perfect sword strike. And even further, the purpose of intercepting Wang Xianzhi isn’t to delay him—he doesn’t move slowly, but he doesn’t move quickly either. Those who block his path are each trying to find his weaknesses in their own way.”
Chen You sighed helplessly, “If only our youngest brother were still here. In a battle like this, one person could be more useful than three hundred thousand iron cavalry.”
Yu Xingrui thought for a moment and said, “It’s better to rely on oneself than to rely on others. Only by cherishing one’s blessings can blessings come.”
Chen You fell silent.
The two old men sat on the other side of the turtle’s back when they suddenly heard the elder brother Song Zhiming exclaim in surprise.
They stood up to look and finally felt relieved, exchanging smiles.
One “Xu Fengnian” regained consciousness, but his soul did not return to his body. Standing near the peachwood sword, he bowed respectfully to the three Wudang immortals.
A month later, under the full moon shining on the mountaintop, Chen You welcomed the return of the second Xu Fengnian.
Before him, a swirl of vibrant purple and golden qi floated gently around this Xu Fengnian.
Xu Fengnian lay on his side at the cliff’s edge, propping his head with one hand, gazing outward beyond the mountains.
Sleep through the Spring and Autumn, sleep through the Spring and Autumn, resting high on stone roots, forgetting the passing years. Not lying on a felt mat, not covered by a quilt, the sky as his bed and the moonlight as his cover. Thunder and lightning strike, mountains collapse, oceans fall from the sky, dragons roar and spirits tremble, yet I sleep soundly at that moment…
Eyes aligned with the nose, the nose aligned with the life gate, inwardly observing the heart and mind. Breathing gently, silently cultivating, reaching the utmost emptiness and profound stillness. True energy floats in the cinnabar pool, divine water circulates within the five viscera. Summoning Jia and Ding, calling upon the hundred spirits, my spirit emerges from the nine palaces, freely wandering through the azure expanse. Viewing the sea in dreams, grasping yin and yang in the mist, unaware of how many years have passed beyond the Spring and Autumn…
This carefree soul,
Truly Carefree, resting high with no worries.
Already, there were three Xu Fengnians on the mountain—sitting, lying, and standing.
Only one remained.
At dawn, with morning glow stretching across the sky, the seated Xu Fengnian suddenly trembled violently, as if desperately trying to awaken.
Chen You felt a surge of shock. Although he did not fully understand the mysteries of the *Spring and Autumn Dream*, he knew this could not be a good omen.
According to the latest intelligence report, Wang Xianzhi was still in Hezhou and had not yet entered Beiliang. Even if Xu Fengnian had foreseen something, at the very least, Xu Yanbing could hold him off for a while. It was unthinkable for the new King of Beiliang to act so urgently. Could it be that something insurmountable had happened during his dreamlike soul journey?
Chen You dared not speak, only surrendering to fate.
Finally, Xu Fengnian opened his eyes. After a moment of thought, he murmured, “I can’t wait any longer.”
The Xu Fengnian who currently possessed Gao Shulu’s body but lacked a complete soul turned to Chen You with an apologetic expression and said, “These years, I owe Wudang too much.”
Chen You took a deep breath and slowly replied, “Without Zhenwu, there would be no Wudang.”
Then Chen You couldn’t help but ask softly, “Why did you wake up so early?”
Xu Fengnian smiled faintly, shook his head, and gave no answer.
Xu Fengnian turned and walked inward for about ten meters along the cliff, then turned and began sprinting.
The other two Xu Fengnians stepped aside, clearing a path along the mountain ridge.
Xu Fengnian leaped from the peak of Lotus Mountain.
He plunged into the sea of clouds.
He fell toward the foot of the mountain.
With a thunderous crash, like a mountain colliding with a celestial bell, the sound echoed far and wide. Even standing at the summit, Chen You felt the entire mountain tremble slightly.
Chen You suddenly felt uneasy.
This bell-like sound was like a funeral knell.
Xu Fengnian landed on his bent knees, creating a crater several men high at the foot of the mountain. After leaping out of the crater, he continued to sprint toward the border of Beiliang.
In a lifetime, there always comes a moment when reason no longer matters, when a single thought arises in the heart.
When death is inevitable—then die!
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