Chapter 65: The Bead
As soon as the young Wind Thunder Sect swordsman saw the boy and girl, his spirits soared, and the first words he said to Ning Yao were, "Little girl, once you're a bit older, you'll definitely not be any worse than our Fairy Su."
This was probably the highest compliment a young swordsman could pay to any woman in the world.
Ning Yao's expression naturally soured, but before she could say anything, Liu Baqiao, who could speak the local town dialect, had already turned around and gave Chen Ping'an a thumbs up. This genius swordsman from the Wind Thunder Sect had a clear gaze and said, "Just with a mortal body, you dared to go up against the Colossal Ape guarding the Bright Yang Mountain, and what's more, you survived—it's practically a miracle!"
Liu Baqiao was truly curious how this straw-sandaled youth, with his slender arms and legs, could cultivate such astonishing explosive power.
He put his thumb down and didn't walk side by side with Chen Dui or Chen Songfeng, who were ahead. Instead, he fell in step beside Chen Ping'an and turned his head with a grin. "Sure, Bright Yang Mountain might be nothing more than a little hill, hiding a bunch of turtles that don't live up to their reputations, but that guardian ape has a fierce reputation, earned punch by punch. Especially after the founding patriarch of Bright Yang Mountain died, in the first two hundred years before they opened the third peak, they relied almost entirely on that old ape to protect the mountain from being swallowed up by surrounding forces. Of course, back then Bright Yang Mountain was just a small, insignificant clan, and the enemies it faced weren't all that strong. If they had tangled with our Wind Thunder Sect back then, hah, no contest—if the patriarch gave the order and rewarded me with a flying sword token, I could have flown alone over Bright Yang Mountain, casually dropped our Thunder Pool Sword Formation, and after that rain of swords, Bright Yang Mountain would have been finished."
Liu Baqiao made a gesture of casually tossing something to the ground.
Ning Yao mercilessly called him out. "Bright Yang Mountain isn't as pathetic as you make it sound, and Wind Thunder Sect isn't as powerful as you claim."
Liu Baqiao showed no embarrassment and swiftly changed the subject. He leaned in mysteriously and said to Chen Ping'an, "I heard that this covered bridge used to be a stone arch bridge. There was a rusty old sword suspended under the arch, supposedly to prevent a dragon from leaving the water. Generally speaking, these old trinkets that look unremarkable are never ordinary—they might even be divine treasures that could shake heaven and earth."
Liu Baqiao stomped hard on the wooden planks of the covered bridge. "But I knelt down and knocked on the wood for a long time without finding anything. Could it be that this thing just isn't fated for me? That shouldn't be possible. I'm a once-in-a-generation swordsman prodigy. If that old sword were a divine weapon, even if it didn't come begging to recognize me as its master, it should at least resonate with me, right? Or maybe that old sword is just mediocre—just an old thing that's been around for a while? What a pity, what a pity."
Chen Ping'an stood beside him, stunned. The guy didn't seem to be joking at all; he was completely serious. Although his words weren't anywhere close to "reasonable and well-founded," you couldn't say he was purely talking nonsense.
Liu Baqiao, not caring whether Chen Ping'an was annoyed or not, started rambling about interesting gossip from the town—how so-and-so got an enviable stroke of fortune and pulled up the entire iron chain from the Dragon-Well Lock, and how another person wandered for days without finding anything, only to randomly look up in a dilapidated alley and discover a bronze mirror embedded in the wall above the gate. That person, in a "treat a dead horse as if it were still alive" kind of attitude, climbed a ladder to take a look, and lo and behold, it was an ancient artifact among demon-reflecting mirrors, with cloud-and-thunder arc patterns and eight small characters engraved: 'Sun and moon light, all under heaven illuminated.' The guy was so happy he sat on the ladder and wailed. Then there was the tale of a noblewoman from the Sea Tide Cavalry, who turned misfortune into blessing and got to know Young Master Cui from the Lake-Viewing Academy. They hit it off immediately...
After crossing the covered bridge, Chen Dui and Chen Songfeng naturally slowed down, letting Chen Ping'an take the lead in guiding the way.
The group followed an unnamed creek upstream. Chen Ping'an carried a large, yellowed bamboo backpack on his back, while Chen Songfeng carried a bamboo book box that was still a lovely emerald green. Liu Baqiao was very curious about what was inside Chen Ping'an's backpack and insisted on taking a look. He asked Chen Ping'an to slow down, then rummaged through the backpack as he walked. He found quite a mess of things: three stacked bamboo hats, two kettles—one for water and one for oil—a large and a small cleaver, two flints, and a bundle of tinder. At the bottom of the backpack were about seven or eight sections of bamboo, split in half and then closed together, plus a small cloth bag containing fishing hooks and line.
Liu Baqiao asked, "Chen Ping'an, what are those bamboo tubes for?"
Chen Ping'an answered, "There are eight bamboo tubes in total. Six of them each hold four rice balls, and the other two contain some pickled vegetables that don't spoil easily."
Liu Baqiao puffed up with pride, his steps almost bouncing. "Pickled vegetables—I've eaten those before!"
Chen Ping'an gave him a strange look, thinking that eating pickled vegetables was nothing to brag about. Unless you could finish an entire bamboo tube of pickled vegetables without drinking water or eating rice—that would be something impressive.
Liu Baqiao suddenly asked with curiosity, "This trip into the mountains won't take more than three meals at most. Do you really need two whole bamboo tubes of pickled vegetables? A little bit of pickled vegetables goes a long way—I can finish half a bowl of rice with just a tiny bite!"
Chen Ping'an was considering which mountain route would be the fastest and replied casually, "Ning Yao and I will share one tube of pickled vegetables. You and your two friends can share the other."
Liu Baqiao was taken aback, then chuckled softly. "Don't be so formal. I'll share a tube with you two."
Ning Yao said firmly, "No way! You eat with your friends."
Liu Baqiao protested indignantly, "Why?!"
Ning Yao tilted her chin, indicating that the answer lay with Chen Ping'an, as if she couldn't be bothered to say more to Liu Baqiao.
Liu Baqiao shifted his gaze, looking a little aggrieved, but with a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Chen Ping'an smiled and shook his head.
Liu Baqiao sighed in resignation. "I understand. You value beauty over friendship."
Ning Yao sneered, "And just like that, you're already friends? You must have tens of thousands of friends, right?"
Liu Baqiao's eyes widened. "How could that be!"
Ning Yao raised an eyebrow and added three words for him. "How could it be so few?"
Liu Baqiao clicked his tongue. "Miss Ning, with that temper of yours, you're no match for my Fairy Su."
Ning Yao frowned. "Are you talking about Su Jia from Bright Yang Mountain?"
Liu Baqiao became even more smug. "Yes, Su Jia! Jia means 'the flourishing of the grain'—from the sage's saying, 'There are many who know how to cultivate well.' Isn't my Fairy Su's name soul-stirring too?"
Ning Yao asked a question that Chen Ping'an absolutely wouldn't understand. "If you really like Su Jia that much, have you ever thought about what would happen if she liked you back?"
Liu Baqiao was immediately put on the spot, stammering. Finally, he muttered guiltily to himself, "How could she possibly like me..."
Chen Ping'an felt that Liu Baqiao wasn't a bad person.
Chen Dui and Chen Songfeng were about a dozen paces behind the three ahead.
Seeing Liu Baqiao chatting so amiably with the straw-sandaled youth, Chen Songfeng felt a bit envious. Liu Baqiao seemed naturally skilled at dealing with people—be they nobles, commoners, emperors, or beggars—he could talk to anyone.
Chen Songfeng asked softly, "When that woman heard the news, she immediately visited the government office and offered to return the armor as compensation from the Clear Breeze City Xu family. Why didn't you accept it?"
Chen Dui was visibly much more approachable now than before entering the town. In the past, if Chen Songfeng had asked such a question, she would have ignored it. Now she patiently explained, "If the Clear Breeze City had known the truth from the start—that the Liu family boy's ancestors were tomb keepers left here in the town by our Yingyin Chen clan—then they would naturally have to pay a price for their audacity, and it wouldn't have been as simple as returning the armor. But since they didn't know the inside story beforehand, the great path's opportunities are precious and rare, and anyone can compete for them. Our Yingyin Chen clan is not so overbearing."
Chen Songfeng chuckled. "Perhaps Clear Breeze City also had the idea of scheming against Bright Yang Mountain. If that old ape hadn't charged ahead and had been used as a banner by that woman, Clear Breeze City probably wouldn't have been able to take that precious armor."
Chen Dui returned to her original expression and sneered. "Petty scheming, just drifting with the current, never caring about what the true tide is."
Chen Songfeng lowered his voice, seemingly casually. "Maybe they were powerless and, rather than toil in vain on great matters, it was better to scrape together small gains."
Chen Dui turned her head and glanced at this descendant of the Dragon Tail County Chen clan. She made no comment on Chen Songfeng's "careless words."
They were about to enter the mountains. Chen Ping'an stopped, and Chen Dui almost immediately said, "Liu Baqiao, tell him—just lead the way, the faster the better."
Because of the straw-sandaled youth's rooftop battle with the Mountain-Moving Ape in the town, Liu Baqiao had watched most of the fight from afar. After returning, he had talked about it extensively with Chen Songfeng, and Chen Dui had been present as well. So she knew that Chen Ping'an couldn't be treated as an ordinary street youth.
In the end, Chen Songfeng became the one who slowed them down. This talented young master from a powerful clan, though he enjoyed climbing to heights and composing poems, exploring secluded wonders, was far inferior to the other four. Chen Dui was a martial arts expert; Liu Baqiao, among all cultivators in the world, was a swordsman who placed great emphasis on tempering his physical body; and that pair of youths had toyed with a Mountain-Moving Ape with terrifyingly powerful flesh.
The mountain path was difficult to traverse.
Especially after the spring rain, the muddy ground was slippery, and they had to cross streams and rocky cliffs from time to time. Chen Songfeng's mouth was dry, and he was drenched in sweat.
Later on, even after Liu Baqiao helped carry Chen Songfeng's book box, Chen Songfeng was still gasping for breath, his face pale.
Chen Ping'an once asked Chen Dui if they should slow down. Chen Dui shook her head.
When they had to wade upstream through a stream, Chen Songfeng stepped on a moss-covered stone, slipped, and fell into the water, becoming a drenched, miserable mess.
Chen Dui stopped and turned around, her face dark, though she said nothing.
Liu Baqiao hurried back to help Chen Songfeng to his feet.
Chen Songfeng apologized, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I can definitely keep up."
Chen Ping'an simply took off his backpack and placed it in a hollow in the rocky cliff. "Let's rest for a quarter of an hour."
Ning Yao didn't mind at all. She crouched near Chen Ping'an, bored, pressing the handles of her saber and sword with the palms of her hands, gently pushing down so the tips of the scabbards lightly tapped the green stone cliff, in a rhythm that seemed to harmonize with the stream.
Chen Dui said sternly, "Keep moving!"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "When entering the mountains, don't use up all your energy at once. Let him rest a bit, and after he gradually adapts, he can keep up with us. It's not that he lacks stamina; he just messed up his breathing rhythm."
When it came to climbing mountains, wading through water, and traversing rugged terrain, Chen Ping'an was indeed an expert among experts.
To his surprise, Chen Dui didn't listen to his explanation at all. She directly said to Chen Songfeng, "You go back to town."
Chen Songfeng looked bitter, facing the unwavering young woman. He turned to Liu Baqiao and said, "Then I'll trouble you to carry the book box from now on."
Liu Baqiao was furious. He took off the book box and threw it at Chen Dui. "I'm not your servant anymore!"
Chen Dui expressionlessly caught the book box and carried it herself. She said to Chen Ping'an, "Let's go."
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, then took two bamboo tubes from his backpack and gently tossed them to Liu Baqiao. "If you get hungry on the way back, these will fill your stomach."
Chen Songfeng whispered to persuade Liu Baqiao, who held the bamboo tubes and sneered, "I'm not going to take this crap. I'm going back with you. When we get to the government office, I'll order a table full of good wine and food, plenty of meat! Isn't that better?"
Chen Dui turned and continued forward.
Chen Ping'an put his backpack on again, a little worried, and asked Liu Baqiao, "Do you know the way back?"
Liu Baqiao smiled. "I remember it."
Chen Ping'an nodded and left with Ning Yao.
The figures of the three ahead gradually faded into the distance. Chen Songfeng sat down heavily on a rock and said wryly, "Why do you have to make things difficult for yourself? Building some goodwill with the Yingyin Chen clan—how could that be a bad thing for you or the Wind Thunder Sect? Why let your emotions get the better of you?"
Liu Baqiao opened one of the bamboo tubes, revealing white rice balls, and said cheerfully, "Chen Ping'an is a good man. He's really my brother."
Chen Songfeng knew Liu Baqiao's temper and stopped trying to persuade him.
He muttered to himself, "A scholar is good for nothing."
Liu Baqiao muttered, "I should have asked Chen Ping'an to leave a tube of pickled vegetables."
He grabbed a rice ball and took a big bite, chewing and saying indistinctly, "What you said isn't entirely right. Teacher Qi from the town—and of course, Teacher Qi's teacher—are very formidable."
Chen Songfeng's expression grew distant. "What do you think Teacher Qi is trying to do?"
Liu Baqiao answered casually, "Heaven knows."
Chen Songfeng shook his wet shirt and sighed, "'Heaven knows.' Indeed."
---
At the shop by the creek, Liu Xianyang had fallen asleep again.
Ruan Qiong sat by the bed, his expression grave.
With every breath the tall youth took, it was long and deep, but what was more remarkable was that each exhale was like mountain mist or lake vapor—pale white and hazy. It didn't dissipate in the wind but gradually gathered around his mouth and nose.
Finally, a small white dragon, about three inches long, coiled over the boy's face.
Using dreams as a sword furnace.
Forging an immortal sword in one go.
Ruan Qiong rubbed his jaw and praised, "So you took the extreme path of breaking down before building up. All your acupoints are shattered, no barriers remain. Though this body is completely ruined, the sword has been forged."
"Able to both forge swords and practice swordsmanship—no wonder this sword scripture is so sought after. Sleep is cultivation, dreams are cultivation. The great path is within reach."
Ruan Qiong stood up and said self-deprecatingly, "I shouldn't have agreed to lend you to the Yingyin Chen clan for twenty years."
---
Three carriages drove along what seemed like an endless mountain road, always climbing upward.
Finally, they reached the summit.
Song Jixin and Zhigui stepped down from the carriages and looked at each other in astonishment. The mountaintop was a large, flat platform. In the center stood two stone pillars, and between them, something flowed like water, obscuring the view beyond. To the boy and girl, it was like standing before a heavenly gate.
The girl stared intently at the gate.
Song Jixin, on the other hand, turned and walked to the edge of the mountaintop, scanning the vast landscape. He felt his heart expand with joy.
Song Changjing, the Great Li vassal king, was wrapped in a fur coat. His face was pale, but his spirits were excellent. He came to stand beside Song Jixin and said with a smile, "This Blessing Pearl Cave Heaven on the East Floating Bottle Continent is one of the thirty-six lesser cave heavens. It's not known for its vast territory—its area is only about a thousand li in circumference."
Without turning his head, Song Changjing simply pointed behind him at the gate. "Once you pass through that gate and follow the cloud ladder all the way down, about thirty li later, you'll be stepping onto the soil of my Great Li. By then, you might not be able to see clearly when you look back, but you'll understand one thing—that this Blessing Pearl Cave Heaven is actually suspended high in the sky..."
Song Changjing paused slightly. "A single bead."