Chapter 58: Mr. Qi
At the edge of a desolate wilderness, a flying sword obediently hovered in midair, like a well-bred young lady from a modest family who, upon seeing an elder who had established the family rules, could only lower her eyes and stand with her hands folded demurely.
Standing beside the flying sword was a middle-aged Confucian scholar, travel-worn, with more frost at his temples. If Zhao Yao or Song Jixin, two seeds of learning, had been present, they would have noticed that in just a short span of ten days, this academy teacher’s white hair had increased significantly.
The tip of the flying sword pointed toward the silent Mountain Moving Ape of Zhengyang Mountain, whose entire body exuded a restless aura, as if the slightest disagreement would lead to a fight to the death.
The Mountain Moving Ape finally couldn’t hold back and growled, “Why just now could the people from Zhenwu Mountain go, but not me? Mr. Qi, aren’t you being a bit too biased?”
This sort of face-to-face accusation was extremely disrespectful, but the ape still felt nothing improper. Although Zhenwu Mountain was a sacred place for military strategists on Eastern Bottle Gourd Continent, it had always been fragmented, with a weak sectarian consciousness. Cultivators and martial artists bearing great divine abilities seemed more like they were merely registered there in name. The rules of Zhenwu Mountain were notoriously broad and empty, hardly binding, so where was the cohesion?
Qi Jingchun, looking exhausted, said to the flying sword first, “Go. Your master is safe now.”
That flying sword, as if granted a pardon, gave a cheerful leap, turned its blade, and shot away.
The Mountain Moving Ape, thinking he had guessed the reason for the matter, grew even angrier. “That girl was indeed a junior chosen by you, Mr. Qi. If you had long been interested in the Liu Clan’s Sword Sutra, you could have told me outright! As long as it didn’t fall into the hands of Wind and Thunder Garden, I wouldn’t mind if your unregistered disciple took it. But you, Mr. Qi, insisted on hiding it. What’s this? Wanting to have your cake and eat it too? You take the benefits quietly, but you want Zhengyang Mountain to bear the infamy?!”
If his earlier accusations had been made in anger, causing him to speak recklessly, then this insulting speech was undoubtedly meant to burn bridges.
Qi Jingchun’s expression remained as usual as he said slowly, “As a Confucian scholar responsible for overseeing the feng shui and qi fortune of this place for sixty years, I ought to explain a few things to you. First, I have no connection or origin with that girl. I simply saw that she had excellent talent. The plaque with the four characters ‘Qi Chong Dou Niu’ contains a portion of the sword dao qi fortune of Bottle Gourd Continent. When the girl stood beneath the plaque, those four characters spontaneously resonated with her. Unfortunately, the material of the sword she wore at the time could not support the qi fortune of those four characters, so I took advantage of the situation to remove two of them and place them into her sword. My relationship with that girl ends there. It is not as you speculated, that she is a disciple I chose without formal registration.”
Qi Jingchun smiled self-deprecatingly. “If I were truly shameless enough to steal from my own charge, how could an outsider detect even a trace? A sword sutra that kills in dreams—would I need to scheme for nearly sixty years before seizing it?”
The Mountain Moving Ape, as a top-tier figure of Zhengyang Mountain, had seen too many long-laid schemes and tricks, and had experienced the formidable tactics of many sanctimonious experts and immortals. He was not about to easily believe the scholar’s earlier words. However, his tone was much calmer than before as he sneered, “Oh? So I was measuring the gentleman’s heart with my own mean measure?”
Qi Jingchun glanced at the ape. “The reason I stopped you here but let the people from Zhenwu Mountain pass is actually very simple. Many people joke that Zhenwu Mountain has ‘two truths’: true gentlemen and true villains. So when that military strategist sword cultivator told me something, I could believe him. But you are different. You severely injured Liu Xianyang, ruined his path to the great way, yet deliberately left him alive to prevent me from expelling you prematurely. Someone like you…”
Qi Jingchun paused, smiled, and added, “Ah, I almost forgot. You are not human.”
The Mountain Moving Ape narrowed his eyes, clenched his fists, and his joints crackled audibly.
If it had been a sworn enemy from Wind and Thunder Garden or a cultivator who disliked Zhengyang Mountain, mocking him with the phrase “not human” to gain a verbal advantage, the thousand-year-old ape would not have minded at all. But coming from the middle-aged scholar in front of him, delivered in a calm and gentle tone, the ape inexplicably felt a great humiliation.
Qi Jingchun seemed oblivious to the ape’s rage and continued, “Stopping you is for the good of Zhengyang Mountain. That girl almost offered up her lifebound object earlier. You come from Zhengyang Mountain and have dealt with sword qi and sword intent for a thousand years—could you not feel that pressure?”
“At that time, the little girl was just putting up a desperate struggle. With that bit of dharma power and divine ability, Mr. Qi, you think you can scare people?”
The old ape laughed heartily, then feigned sudden realization. “People used to say that your teacher, Qi Jingchun, lost his integrity in his later years. His statue was demoted again and again, eventually removed from the Confucian Temple and smashed to pieces. I didn’t believe it at the time. I thought, the Fourth Sage of the Confucian Temple—even if he had a chance to meet the legendary Dao Ancestor or Buddha, he could still exchange a few words. But now it seems that this Confucian bloodline, from your teacher to you, Qi Jingchun, has only passed through two generations before it is about to be severed! ‘The blessings of a gentleman end after five generations’—who said that? Why is it that your branch is so unlucky? Could it be that your teacher, as some academies spread, was never a Confucian sage who carried on the past and opened the future, but a great liar unprecedented in a thousand years?”
Qi Jingchun frowned slightly but listened quietly to the ape’s entire speech without uttering a word.
The old ape laughed wildly, stepped forward, and pointed a finger at the scholar who was being beaten like a drowned dog. He snarled, “Qi Jingchun, aren’t you Confucians the most strict in observing rites? I’m standing right here within the rules. What can you do to me?!”
Qi Jingchun turned his head to look toward the town, sighed softly, then turned back to the ape. “Are you finished?”
The Mountain Moving Ape was startled. He looked the middle-aged scholar up and down, withdrew his finger, and bared his teeth. “Boring. Even a clay Buddha has its temper. I didn’t expect scholars to have even better tempers. You don’t talk back when cursed. I wonder if you’ll hit back when struck?”
Qi Jingchun smiled. “You can try.”
The ape seemed tempted but ultimately held back.
The ape asked, “Qi Jingchun, are you determined to stop me from entering?”
Qi Jingchun replied, “The consequences would be too heavy for a mountain like Zhengyang to bear.”
The ape growled, “Really?”
Qi Jingchun did not play mysterious, nor did he angrily make way for the ape. Instead, he patiently nodded. “Really.”
The ape rubbed his chin, then glanced at the distant area behind Qi Jingchun. He snorted, “Count those two brats lucky. Tell them not to let me run into them in the future!”
The ape turned and strode away, his back to Qi Jingchun. Suddenly, the old ape raised one arm high and stuck out his thumb.
But the thumb slowly rotated downward.
Qi Jingchun looked up at the overcast sky. Rain was about to fall.
A voice suddenly rang out from the town, a request from the Zhenwu Mountain military strategist, asking him to bend the rules and allow him to summon one of the deities enshrined at Zhenwu Mountain. Qi Jingchun nodded and said softly, “Granted.”
As Qi Jingchun spoke that word, if anyone happened to look up, they would have seen a tiny grain of light appear at the apex of the sky, followed by an extremely thin golden thread descending in an instant, landing within the town.
“Mr. Qi?”
A boy’s voice came from behind Qi Jingchun.
Qi Jingchun turned to see a boy and a girl running quickly toward him.
Seeing that ink-green foreign girl, he felt a pang of emotion. When the scholarly seed Zhao Yao had fallen in love at first sight with her, Qi Jingchun had offered a word of advice, describing the girl as a sword without a sheath, most harmful to others’ hearts. Young Zhao Yao, not understanding what love was, failed to grasp the depth of that remark and remained deeply entangled. Qi Jingchun could not reveal the heavenly secrets outright, could not say that the girl possessed a heart seeking the Way, which was the most heartless of all.
That heartlessness was by no means derogatory; on the contrary, it was the highest praise.
Among all the affections in the world, the love between man and woman was just one kind.
Down in the mortal world of common streets, such affection could move hearts to the core, could make infatuated men and women willing to sacrifice life for it. But in the cultivation of the mountains, it was far more complex.
When Qi Jingchun saw the straw-sandaled youth, his smile became much more natural. He teased gently, “Several fights in a row, enough to startle heaven and move earth.”
Chen Ping’an felt a bit embarrassed.
Qi Jingchun got straight to the point. “I have two things to tell you. One is that the Mountain Moving Ape of Zhengyang Mountain has retreated and will soon leave the town.”
Without any hesitation, Chen Ping’an asked directly, “Is the old ape leaving through the town’s east gate?”
Qi Jingchun pressed his palm downward twice and smiled. “First let me finish speaking. Liu Xianyang survived.”
The boy’s body tensed. He asked cautiously, “Mr. Qi, is Liu Xianyang no longer going to die?”
Qi Jingchun nodded. “Someone lent him a hand. There is no doubt that Liu Xianyang’s life is out of danger. However, the bad news is that his body has suffered severe damage, and he may not be able to move as freely as before.”
Chen Ping’an grinned.
For these past days, the boy’s mind had been like a bowstring stretched to its full moon, never relaxing. Upon hearing that Liu Xianyang had survived, he finally relaxed, and his entire body fell backward, completely unconscious.
Ning Yao quickly caught him.
Qi Jingchun explained, “Earlier, Chen Ping’an’s mind was forcibly opened by Cai Jinjian of Yunxia Mountain with a finger stroke, breaking down the portals of his spirit. His essence, qi, and spirit were constantly leaking out. Then Liu Xianyang’s accident happened right at that time, so he had to fight desperately to stimulate his potential. That’s what’s called ‘smashing a broken pot to pieces.’ He might have had half a year of life left originally, but now I estimate it’s at most ten days.”
This meant that from Mud Vase Alley to the town rooftops, to the deep mountain stream, and finally to this wilderness, every time the straw-sandaled youth ran, he had been drastically shortening his lifespan. The boy had been well aware of this.
Ning Yao asked, “Mr. Qi, just tell me how to save Chen Ping’an!”
Qi Jingchun sighed inwardly.
This was the marvel of a Dao heart.
The girl was not without feelings for Chen Ping’an; otherwise, she would not have fought side by side with him to this point.
When a normal person hears bad news, there is inevitably a process of panic, grief, and sympathy—the speed, length, and depth vary. But Ning Yao showed none of that.
She immediately jumped to the “result” she wanted most: How can I save the person?
In cultivation, training physical power is visible—step by step, one only needs to move upward, and the differences are merely the size of each step. Cultivating the heart is ethereal; paths stretch in all directions, as if every road can lead to the great Way, yet it also seems every road is a deviant path, beyond guidance. In matters of heart cultivation, those who possess a Dao heart can reach heaven in a single step.
Thus, the girl could look at the straw-sandaled youth with clear eyes and directly ask him if he liked her.
Qi Jingchun thought of the young Daoist with the lotus crown on his head, and his mood grew heavier.
Ning Yao crouched down, gently lifted Chen Ping’an onto her back, and asked, “Mr. Qi, just say it. But I’ll tell you in advance, I don’t think the old shopkeeper at Yang’s Shop is very good at healing. But Chen Ping’an knows an old man at another shop who’s pretty impressive.”
Qi Jingchun looked at the serious girl and asked a strange question. “What action in this world is the most heaven-defying, the most against the current?”
Without thinking, Ning Yao shouted, “One person, one sword, kill all the demons!”
Qi Jingchun laughed despite himself, a bit helpless. “It’s cultivation.”
Ning Yao thought carefully. “It’s actually the same.”
Qi Jingchun pointed to where they had been standing earlier, then to another spot. “The Sword Furnace can nourish the body, and the Millennia can strengthen the soul. But for Chen Ping’an, at most he can barely maintain balance. With luck, there might be a slight surplus. So after he wakes up, tell him that from now on, even if he doesn’t pursue anything else, just to survive, he must put in hard work on his fist techniques.”
Ning Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, she wasn’t much better off than Chen Ping’an, but her foundation was much stronger, so she hadn’t fainted. “Mr. Qi, should I take Chen Ping’an to Mud Vase Alley to recuperate now, or go check on Liu Xianyang first?”
Qi Jingchun smiled. “Either is fine now.”
Ning Yao thought for a moment. “This guy on my back will definitely want to see Liu Xianyang the moment he opens his eyes. So I’ll go to Master Ruan’s place.”
Qi Jingchun nodded. “I’ll walk part of the way with you.”
They walked side by side.
The spring breeze brushed their faces. The scholar walked with his hands behind his back, and the girl carried the boy on her back.
As they walked, Ning Yao suddenly asked, “Mr. Qi, as the master of this small cave heaven, have you taken on any talented disciples by being in a favorable position?”
Qi Jingchun smiled and shook his head. “No. I only took a book boy who isn’t really a disciple. I kept my distance to avoid suspicion. Looking back now, I did miss a few good sprouts.”
Ning Yao asked again, “Mr. Qi, here, do you know everything?”
Qi Jingchun smiled. “As long as I want to know, I can know. But it’s not necessarily all the truth. Some things, a slight difference leads to a great error.”
There was something Qi Jingchun didn’t say: starting from when he left the town, he had lost this divine ability of “mind mirror illuminating heaven and earth.”
Because someone had taken that ruler tablet—a token left by one of the Confucian secondary sages in the town, and also one of the hubs of the grand formation.
Ning Yao hesitated, then couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Qi, what realm are you in now? Have you entered the Upper Five Realms? Also, sir, by sitting here in this world, are you truly invincible under heaven? Of course, if you find it inconvenient, you don’t have to answer. I’m just asking casually.”
Qi Jingchun indeed did not answer.
The girl rolled her eyes and said no more.
Qi Jingchun deliberately slowed his steps and turned to look.
The boy blinked.
The middle-aged man blinked back.
Qi Jingchun smiled knowingly, then quietly quickened his pace.
A gentleman helps others achieve good things.
After walking a long distance together, Qi Jingchun stopped and smiled. “I won’t see you off any further.”
Standing in place, the middle-aged scholar with frost at his temples watched the receding figures in silence.
He took a step.
Qi Jingchun instantly appeared near the Dragon Slaying Platform.
Every Confucian sage has a lifebound character that stands supreme.
No matter who in the world writes, uses, or recites that character, it adds a trace of cultivation to that Confucian sage, accumulating over time, dripping water wearing through stone.
Qi Jingchun was an exception.
Not that he had no characters, but he had two.
And the meaning of those characters was extremely profound, the realm extremely deep.
Stillness: Still heart attains meaning.
Spring: The world welcomes spring.
That was why he had been banished to this small world, completely isolated from the great world outside.
Although Qi Jingchun was merely one of the mountain masters of the seventy-two academies under the three Confucian schools, he truly could not be judged by ordinary standards.
This unremarkable scholar, who had shown no reaction to the repeated provocations and insults of the Zhengyang Mountain ape, closed his eyes and silently thought of the third stroke of the character “stillness.” Then he extended two fingers together and lightly drew downward in the air.
The indestructible Dragon Slaying Platform was instantly split into two halves.
Qi Jingchun waved his sleeve, and two neat large stones appeared—one landed in Ruan Qiong’s blacksmith shop, the other in a small house on Mud Vase Alley.
After doing all this, Qi Jingchun fell into deep thought, like a Go master in a long meditation. He stood in the fine rain, and by the time the downpour had become torrential with thunder and lightning, he still had not come back to himself.
Qi Jingchun, whom the townspeople had always called Mr. Qi, was thinking about his own teacher.