Chapter 10: The Qi That Devours an Ox
Cai Jinjian was stepping backward at the time. In fact, the moment her foot came down, she already realized something was wrong.
The only thing more unbearable than stepping in dog shit was, of course, actually stepping in it and having someone else see it. And the only thing worse than that was having the person who saw it tell you aloud that you really had stepped in dog shit.
Cai Jinjian was not a woman of shallow temperament, nor was she some delicate, spoiled young lady who couldn't endure hardship. As one of the many offspring of the Mountain Lord of Cloud Mist Mountain, the fact that she could stand out and win the final quota spoke volumes. Cloud Mist Mountain had a total of eighteen peaks of varying sizes, shrouded in mist all year round. The Cloud Root Stone it produced in abundance was an important ingredient for the alchemical sect of Daoism when refining external elixirs. It was renowned throughout the world for being "flawless and stainless," unique in its kind. Therefore, the people on Cloud Mist Mountain had to uphold cleanliness and elegance; most of them had a touch of mysophobia. Cai Jinjian was certainly no exception. If not for the fact that the small town was entangled in too many matters, Cai Jinjian would never have set foot in it in her entire life, let alone walk step by step through Mud Vase Alley, which was full of chicken droppings and dog shit. The most awkward part was that after arriving here, they, who were originally lofty immortals, were like small fish tossed onto the shore, suddenly losing all their support. The family that occupied a certain blessed cave heaven—their profound cultivation capable of moving mountains and overturning seas, riding the wind and soaring through the void, their wondrous magic treasures for subduing demons and commanding ghosts—all of it was gone.
And then came the scene of Cai Jinjian stepping in dog shit.
Fu Nanhua had initially found it amusing. The flawless Cai Jinjian of Cloud Mist Mountain, with a sticky, stinking pile of dog shit on her boot—who would believe it if word got out?
But the next moment, Fu Nanhua bellowed, "Cai Jinjian, stop!"
Standing atop the mud wall, Song Jixin's pupils contracted slightly as he clenched the green dragon-carved pendant in his palm.
In the alley, Cai Jinjian seemed to have crossed the distance in a single step, arriving before Chen Ping'an. Her hand, as crystal clear as mutton-fat jade, shot swiftly toward the straw-sandaled boy's crown. Just as Fu Nanhua's voice of warning reached her from behind, she abruptly halted her palm, then gently lifted it and softly patted down. After completing this affectionate gesture, as if an elder doting on a child, she bent down and stared into the boy's eyes. They were like a clear spring so limpid that Cai Jinjian could almost see her own reflection in them. Unfortunately, her mood at the moment was utterly foul, and she gave a hollow smile. "Little one, I know you deliberately slowed down when you spoke."
Fu Nanhua let out a sigh of relief. If Cai Jinjian had dared to kill someone here so brazenly, she would most likely have been expelled from the small town, dragging the entire Cloud Mist Mountain into becoming a huge joke.
His face dark, he warned her in the orthodox official language, "Cai Jinjian, please think thrice before acting. If you still act so impulsively, I think it necessary to abandon our alliance. I don't want to be dragged down by you and end up with nothing."
Cai Jinjian, her back to the young master of Old Dragon City, muttered rapidly under her breath, "The superior sees the Buddha quickly, the inferior sees the Buddha slowly... Truly there is a Pure Land, truly there is a Lotus Pond..."
She quickly turned around and smiled apologetically at Fu Nanhua. "I lost my composure. I promise nothing like this will happen again."
Fu Nanhua sneered, "Are you sure?"
Cai Jinjian dismissed it with a smile and didn't bother giving Fu Nanhua any solemn vows. She lowered her head again to look at the straw-sandaled boy and spoke to herself in the official language prevalent throughout the continent, "My Cloud Mist Mountain originates from one of the five sects of Buddhism, which places great emphasis on subduing the mind-monkey and reining in the will-horse. But before coming here, I couldn't even grasp what the mind-monkey and will-horse truly were. The elders in my family never wanted to force growth, leaving me to figure it out myself. Who would have thought that today, in your Mud Vase Alley, stepping in a pile of dog shit would allow me to perceive a hint..."
Chen Ping'an reminded her, "Elder sister, you stepped in dog shit a long time ago. Why don't you scrape it off already?"
That celestial woman had originally felt as if she had entered a state of Buddhist Pure Land serenity. Upon hearing this, she immediately broke her concentration and fell back into the mundane world, her face turning ashen. But Fu Nanhua's warning still echoed in her ears, so she could only vent her anger by reaching out a finger and giving the straw-sandaled boy a hard poke on the forehead. She glared, "At such a young age, didn't anyone ever teach you that a perverse temperament is a sign of early death, and a sharp tongue is a person who diminishes their own fortune?!"
Chen Ping'an, thick-skinned and tough, didn't mind. He just looked at Song Jixin not far away without saying a word.
The latter stomped his foot and cursed, "Chen Ping'an, what are you looking at me for? What rotten luck!"
Fu Nanhua was astonished to find that he still hadn't crossed into Song Jixin's courtyard. His expression turned displeased as he sneered openly, "Cai Jinjian! How interesting. There really are people in this world who let a pile of dog shit delay their steps on the path to longevity."
For once, Cai Jinjian wasn't angered. She took a deep look at the unremarkable, scrawny boy, then turned and left.
Suddenly, the boy's voice came from behind, "Elder sister, your eyelashes are very long."
Such a vulgar, insignificant mortal ant dared to flirt with a celestial maiden?
Cai Jinjian erupted in fury and whirled around.
She had made up her mind that, even at the cost of some of her fortune, she would teach this seemingly honest but actually cunning rustic little wretch a lesson. Although Cai Jinjian and her companions had entered this place like prisoners thrown into a cage, bound hand and foot and hitting walls everywhere, unable to wield any techniques or artifacts for the time being, the benefits of a lifetime of cultivation—such as nourishing the body after reaching certain levels, constantly tempering the bones and sinews—were still present. Though the effects were not remarkable and far inferior to those who specialized in martial arts, with this foundation, dealing with a boy who had grown up rolling in the city's mud was as easy as picking up a leaf. A casual palm strike, tampering with some vital acupoints to plant a root of illness and shorten his lifespan, would be effortless.
But in the dimly lit alley, all she saw was a dark face and a pair of bright eyes.
A moon rising over the sea.
Cai Jinjian's eyes first lit up, then a trace of natural feminine pity welled up in her. Finally, that pity faded little by little from her phoenix-like eyes, and her smile grew brighter and brighter. A sudden realization struck her.
Cutting off the inner demon—this was an opportunity.
One must know that the Cloud Mist Mountain lineage, which favored Buddhism over Daoism, had ever since its founder, the Old Immortal of Cloud Mist, always upheld a viewpoint: each arising and cessation of karma is a tribulation.
Of course, this method of crossing tribulations had no fixed principles, patterns, or forms; everything required the person involved to solve the puzzle and break the game themselves.
For example, Cai Jinjian at this moment.
She felt that the mind-monkey and will-horse she needed to suppress and subdue was precisely this seemingly innocent but obstructive boy.
So she once again raised her hand, pressed it gently against the boy's heart, and gave a light push. All these movements were smooth as flowing water, swift as thunder. Even though the boy instinctively stepped back half a pace, he was no match for the tall woman's speed.
Fu Nanhua stared fixedly at that alluring, graceful back. Far from any romantic thoughts, his mind seethed with murderous intent, almost solidifying into a heart of iron and stone. He deliberately concealed his killing intent and shouted angrily, "You flicked his forehead just now, ensuring he'll suffer constant illness for years to come—wasn't that punishment enough? Why must you, Cai Jinjian, have you lost your mind? Do you really want to throw away your chance at the Great Dao for the sake of a lowly wretch?!"
Cai Jinjian paid him no heed. Fu Nanhua lowered his voice, resuming the dignified bearing of an aristocratic scion, and chuckled, "The illustrious Cai Jinjian of Cloud Mist Mountain stooping to haggle with a street urchin—if word gets out, aren't you afraid of losing face?"
Cai Jinjian turned around and smiled, "This alley really is destined for me. Who would have thought I could snatch a bit of fortune here? It's not much, but even a mosquito's leg is meat—a good omen. I have even more confidence in that boy named Gu Can now!"
Fu Nanhua was stunned.
Had this woman truly achieved some sudden enlightenment?
Cai Jinjian lifted one foot, looked at the disgusting filth, and chuckled, "I really stepped in good luck."
Song Jixin's face darkened and brightened in turns, his thoughts impossible to read.
The maidservant Zhigui, unnoticed by anyone, stood still in silence. At a certain moment, two pairs of pale golden pupils appeared in her eyes—double pupils in each eye.
Fu Nanhua faintly sensed something unusual, abruptly turned his head, and quickly scanned around. Detecting nothing amiss, he finally looked up and down at the girl servant, finding nothing wrong either. He could only attribute this uneasy feeling to the gaze of the celestial sage in the small town, who must have been watching due to Cai Jinjian's actions.
Cai Jinjian felt lighthearted. All the stagnation and conflicting thoughts that had accumulated earlier now flowed down like a flood bursting through a dam.
A small fortune? Hardly!
If not for the fact that Cloud Mist Mountain, with its hollow interior, truly needed a "celestial heavy artifact" of sufficient weight to stabilize the constantly leaking mountain gate fortune, and she also needed it to secure her position as the next mountain lord, Cai Jinjian would have wanted to leave this place immediately and return to Cloud Mist Mountain for ten or twenty years of seclusion.
Cai Jinjian walked toward that alley maidservant of Fu Nanhua.
From behind, the boy asked, "Did you do something to me?"
Cai Jinjian didn't turn around. "Little one, you're overthinking it."
The boy fell silent.
Cai Jinjian glanced back and smiled, "You'll be dead in at most six months."
The boy was stunned for a moment.
She said sweetly, "You really believed that? Sister was just joking!"
Chen Ping'an grinned.
The celestial man and woman, Cai Jinjian and Fu Nanhua, almost simultaneously had the same thought.
A frog at the bottom of a well. An ant at the foot of a mountain.
Song Jixin, crouching on the wall to watch the drama, rubbed his temples with both hands, an unusual seriousness on his face.
Even though Zhigui had already led that strange-tempered elder sister to find the snot-nosed Gu Can, and that reckless young man who would throw gold like dirt had also entered his courtyard.
The sharp-witted youth Song Jixin still crouched there in a daze. In his exceptional vision, a lean boy stood in the middle of Mud Vase Alley, watching the tall woman's back for a moment before quickly shifting his gaze and walking toward his own courtyard gate. But the wicker door lingered, never pushed open.
Song Jixin hated this feeling. There was a certain someone who usually kept a low profile, never showing his hand, but at certain times, he was like a stone in a latrine—not moving it was an eyesore, moving it was dirty.
So much so that he didn't even hear what Fu Nanhua said behind him.
The young master of Old Dragon City had to repeat himself. "Song Jixin, do you know that there are people in this world who are vastly different from you?"
Song Jixin finally came back to his senses, turned around, and continued crouching as he looked down at Fu Nanhua, who wore a tall crown and elegant robes. He said flatly, "I know."
Fu Nanhua was forced to swallow the words that had already reached his lips, but he still couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Do you really know?"
The small-town youth of mysterious origin sneered coldly, "Are you trying to say that they can bring the dead back to life, make flesh grow on bones, live long and see forever, and possess boundless Dao magic?!"
Fu Nanhua nodded, gratified. "We can be considered half-fellow cultivators."
Song Jixin glanced sidelong at the neighboring courtyard gate, a bit distracted, out of place.
Fu Nanhua spoke frankly, "Then I'll lay my cards on the table. Whatever you have, as long as you name a price, I'll sell everything I own to buy it!"
Song Jixin asked doubtfully, "I can tell that between you and that woman, your family background and status are higher. Since she could treat that neighbor like that, why are you willing to treat me so..."
Fu Nanhua took over the words, "As an equal?"
Song Jixin nodded, praising, "You're a straightforward guy. Talking to you isn't tiring."
Fu Nanhua didn't mind the boy's condescension, whether in position or in his arrogant tone of speech.
Unlike Cai Jinjian, who saw the straw-sandaled boy as a lowly ant, Fu Nanhua felt not only close to Song Jixin but also held a reverence for the area of Mud Vase Alley, in a way he couldn't explain.
So Fu Nanhua genuinely regarded this boy as a fellow traveler.
On this Great Path, the further one went, the more distinctions of status, gender, and age became illusions, utterly meaningless.
Song Jixin jumped down from the wall and said in a low voice, "Let's talk inside the house."
Fu Nanhua nodded. "Good."
As he crossed the threshold, Song Jixin asked casually, "Just asking—what's your relationship with that elder sister who looks like she'd be good at bearing children?"
Fu Nanhua answered without hesitation, "For now, we're in the same boat, but not on the same path."
Song Jixin made a sound of acknowledgment and said some strange things, "Then you guys are too slow and messy in doing things, not sharp at all. I've heard before that in the outside world, immortals, demons, and monsters are all bizarre and strange, but as long as they are cultivators, once there are grudges, shouldn't they uproot the grass and stamp out the roots to avoid future trouble?"
Fu Nanhua, the eldest son of the Fu family, was ultimately a celestial descendant raised in Old Dragon City, accustomed to great storms and waves. Hearing this, his face showed no emotion.
He asked with a smile, "Is there enmity between you two?"
The boy widened his eyes and asked in feigned surprise, "What are you talking about?"
As if realizing the man in front of him didn't believe it at all, Song Jixin withdrew the exaggerated expression on his face, first sat down on the main hall chair, and gestured for Fu Nanhua to sit as well. Then he said seriously, "Chen Ping'an, who lives next door and lost his parents at a young age, and I have been neighbors for many years. We've never quarreled. Believe it or not."
Fu Nanhua instantly understood the boy's veiled meaning.
The boy next door was alone, with no one to rely on—a floating duckweed without roots.
If he died, he would just die. No one would pursue the matter.
The young master of Old Dragon City found it both ridiculous and ironic. He suddenly realized that the turmoil in this alley had occurred absurdly and farcically.
That poor boy next door could be said to have attracted this unexpected disaster precisely because he deliberately concealed the address of Song Jixin and his servant. And now he would suffer and die because of it.
And yet, it was this very Song family youth, who seemed to come from a wealthy and noble clan, who wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife, to push him to death.
One cut wasn't enough; let's have another cut.
Fu Nanhua couldn't help but sigh with emotion. No wonder the *Shizi* said: "The cubs of tigers and leopards, though not yet fully marked, already have the qi to devour an ox."
---
In Gu Can's courtyard, the child had been locked in the inner room by his mother. The woman sat opposite the old man who called himself "True Lord."
The old man put away his palm, with its crisscrossing lines, and said with a smile, "The overall situation is settled."
The woman asked doubtfully, "May I ask what the immortal master just did to make Chen Ping'an..."
As she spoke this far, she noticed a sharp glint in the old man's eyes and was so frightened that she immediately shut her mouth.
The old man looked toward the courtyard gate, lightly flicked his sleeve, and summoned a breeze that swirled and lingered in the small yard. Only then did he say, "For a person of my status to set foot here, the more deeply I sink into this helpless situation like a clay Buddha crossing a river—though it's not yet to the point where I can't save myself—the longer I stay, the more... well, as that youth Song Jixin said, it becomes messy and muddled. At best, I'll end up entangled in a web of karma. The good thing is that that person has incurred the wrath of heaven and men. Even though he has taken a step back and thought bigger, he still cannot preserve his late reputation and is doomed to utter destruction. It's a pity. The situation that once promised to enjoy a thousand years of incense has taken a nosedive, turning miserable beyond words... Taking advantage of this opportunity, I was able to make some plans for your son. I'll see if I can both end the boy's life and sever any future leads that certain sages and immortal masters might follow, avoiding the worry of settling accounts later. This way, my new disciple, on his future path to immortality, can ride the momentum of wind and thunder and eventually transform into a dragon..."
The woman sat to one side, listening intermittently until she was drenched in cold sweat.
The old man asked with a smile, "Is it strange that a hermit who supposedly feasts on clouds and dew and ignores worldly affairs, who practices the Dao diligently, seems after all that cultivation to have only developed this kind of scheming and malice? Barely better than you, an ignorant village woman with shallow eyes?"
The woman quickly lowered her head and said tremblingly, "I would never dare to think such a thing!"
The old man dismissed it with a smile and quietly waited for Cai Jinjian of Cloud Mist Mountain to knock on the door.
On the path of cultivation, techniques are boundless, divine powers are inexhaustible. Principles have their sizes; the Dao has its heights and lows.
Cai Jinjian sees you as ants, and I, this True Lord, see her and Fu Nanhua as ants.
To the ants under your feet, what reason is there to speak?
(Note: The phrase "Sanqi Zhongwen" at the end is a publisher's mark and is not part of the chapter text.)