Chapter 1016: Who Says the Dao Crown Blooms Like a Lotus

Chapter 1016: Who Says the Dao Crown Blooms Like a Lotus

The journey was uneventful. Qingni led the two strange fellows, who looked as if they had been picked up from somewhere, back to the small town. Perhaps what outsiders saw as a sinister and filthy place was endearing in the girl's eyes. Once back in town, the thin girl visibly relaxed, her steps becoming lighter. Earlier, when she had followed the sword-carrying youth through the wilderness, Qingni's body had been noticeably tense, her nerves constantly on edge. To a girl born and raised here, the familiar town and the unfamiliar world outside were as different as day and night.

The young Daoist asked, "Little Dao-friend Qingni, does this town have a name?"

"Fengle."

"In times past, this was a place where swords clashed and war drums beat. Now, the scenery in all four seasons is delightful."

This Daoist, wearing a lotus crown and a thick cotton Daoist robe that reached only to his knees, had cloth strips bound around his calves. Probably because the roads in Hehuan Mountain territory were not smooth, the bindings were covered in brambles and thorns.

The girl was now more worried about returning to her lodging and finding Sister Zhou angry. Although Sister Zhou was gentle and refined, always speaking softly, over years of living together, the girl had long discovered that Uncle Liu and the other men were all quite in awe of her.

After several twists and turns, Qingni led the young Daoist and the sword-carrying youth into a dark alley. Occasionally, she glanced back and saw the Daoist looking around furtively, as if casing the place.

Zhou Qiu, holding an umbrella and wearing embroidered shoes, appeared at the corner of two alleys, frowning slightly. "Why are you back?"

The thin, dark-skinned girl twisted her clothes and pursed her lips. She had thought of a few clumsy excuses on the way, but when she saw Sister Zhou, she didn't want to lie.

Fortunately, the sword-carrying youth spoke up to help her out, explaining, "Earlier, under the tree, the moment I took the money, I accepted this escort mission. But I never said when we would set out. Miss Zhou, I promise I will take Qingni out of Hehuan Mountain territory, safe and sound, bouncing and lively. If you don't believe me, I, Chen, can swear an oath here. If Qingni loses even a single hair in this town tonight, this friend of mine, who claims to be my close friend and relative, Daoist Lu, will chop off his own dog head to apologize to you, Miss Zhou."

Daoist Lu looked bewildered. "Huh?"

Zhou Qiu suppressed a surge of anger and asked, "And this is?"

The young Daoist quickly turned around, cleared his throat a couple of times, then made a Daoist salute and announced loudly, "This humble Daoist's surname is Lu. I am skilled in character analysis, drawing lots, and fortune-telling, especially palm reading. Fair prices, no cheating, and if it's not accurate, no charge!"

A man in armor emerged from behind Zhou Qiu, his hand resting on the hilt of his waist knife. Seeing this, he wanted to scold the foolish girl but couldn't bring himself to do it in front of others, so he complained telepathically, "Zhou Qiu, just tell me, what kind of mess is this?"

Zhou Qiu also felt a headache coming on and replied telepathically, "My fault, I picked the wrong person."

The man asked, "If it really comes down to it, should I go ask Old Man Qi for help?"

Zhou Qiu said, "Let me talk to them first."

The man reminded, "Don't drag it out too long."

Zhou Qiu touched the girl's head. "Usually so obedient, why are you causing trouble at the critical moment?"

Qingni said quietly, "Home is here, Sister Zhou, Uncle Liu, you're all here. I don't want to leave."

Zhou Qiu smiled bitterly and said nothing. She led them to a house, simple but clean. The girl put down her satchel, familiar with the place, went to the kitchen to get white bowls, took a gourd ladle, and scooped glutinous rice wine from a jar. The four of them sat around a small table in the courtyard. Qingni placed the wine bowls on the table but didn't sit down; she poured herself a bowl of rice wine and sat on the threshold of the kitchen door.

The man with the knife laughed. "My name is Liu Tie. I believe both Young Master Chen and Daoist Lu have already figured out that I'm no longer a living person. Since the two of you don't mind and are willing to drink with me, I'll first toast you both."

The sword-carrying youth and the young Daoist both raised their bowls. Liu Tie drank it all in one gulp. Zhou Qiu didn't drink, so she pushed her own wine bowl over to the armored man.

Chen Ping'an asked, "Brother Liu, where are you from? Your accent doesn't sound like it's from Qingxing Country."

Liu Tie said, "I'm from the north."

Lu Chen smiled and asked, "Which north, north of the Great River?"

Liu Tie shook his head. "Daoist Lu is joking. North of that Great River would be the Dali Dynasty."

Lu Chen exclaimed admiringly, "This humble Daoist's cultivation might not be high, but my judgment of people is extremely sharp. I can tell at a glance that Brother Liu is a fierce general on the battlefield, who has been through countless campaigns and held high office."

Liu Tie was taken aback. Zhou Qiu's expression remained unchanged.

The girl by the door asked doubtfully, "Isn't it 'countless campaigns and official posts'?"

This sloppy Daoist—was he an illiterate who misused words?

The sword-carrying youth smiled. "Probably pronounced a phonetic loan character?"

Lu Chen showed no sign of embarrassment. He wiped his mouth with his thumb. "Brother Liu, which mountain lord's mansion are you serving in now? I've heard that both the Zhuiyuan and Wuteng Mountains have set up military camps, all with strong soldiers and sturdy horses. With Brother Liu's skills, if you don't get a rank like Colonel, then the eyes of the managers of those two mansions must be on their asses."

Liu Tie smiled. "Not worthy of such high praise. Let's not talk about these depressing things. I have matters to attend to, so I won't stay long."

After drinking two bowls of wine, Liu Tie took his leave. Zhou Qiu got up to see him off. At the alley outside the door, they exchanged a bitter smile. They had thought the Daoist might be an expert, perhaps comparable to the fourth-martial-realm Chen Ren, with a Cave Mansion realm cultivation. If a Qi refiner teamed up with a pure martial artist, escorting Qingni out of here would be much more assured. But unexpectedly, this Daoist's breathing in town was labored, his exhalations full of turbid qi, clearly unable to adapt to the yin and baleful aura here. He definitely wasn't a Middle Five Realms cultivator.

In life, Zhou Qiu had been both a spy and a military camp Qi refiner. So Liu Tie and the dozen or so riders, both in life and in death, were very convinced by Zhou Qiu.

Chen Ping'an asked, "What's the girl's real name?"

The dark-skinned girl sitting on the threshold was stunned. How had her gender been seen through?

Zhou Qiu smiled. "Ni Qing. Reverse the characters and take the homophone."

The young Daoist, like a country bumpkin ignorant of literature, asked, "Ni as in what?"

Zhou Qiu smiled. "Daoist Lu is a Daoist immortal—haven't you read the 'Great Master' chapter and the 'Autumn Waters' chapter of that Daoist supreme being? 'Ni' as in 'unknown beginning and end,' knowing that right and wrong cannot be divided, that the large and small cannot be measured. If even Daoist Lu, a high-grade ritual master, doesn't know these, then ordinary cultivators outside Daoism, or even bookish commoners in scholarly families, should know these two phrases, right?"

Daoist Lu got anxious. "This humble Daoist just hasn't read this or that chapter—that doesn't make me a fake Daoist! Is Miss Zhou bullying me because I grew up poor and didn't study much?"

Chen Ping'an twitched the corner of his mouth and took a sip of rice wine. The flavor wasn't as good as Dong Shuijing's homemade brew.

Zhou Qiu smiled. "The height of the Dao doesn't lie in how much one memorizes. Daoist Lu..."

The Daoist sighed. "What virtue does this person have to make Miss Zhou so familiar with him..."

Chen Ping'an said, "That's enough."

Lu Chen had to stop the self-praise he had already prepared in his mind and changed the subject, looking at the thin, dark-skinned girl. He smiled. "Ni Qing, a good name. 'Sentences come forth like a sundial, blending with the natural balance.' Autumn qi is strong and fierce, clear qi arrives in abundance, grass and trees wither. 'Qingni' is also a good name. 'Qingni small sword pass, wind and snow a thousand mountains.' True name Ni Qing, Daoist style Qingni—simply perfect."

Zhou Qiu was suspicious. Because just the one phrase 'Sentences come forth like a sundial, blending with the natural balance' proved that this Daoist surnamed Lu had indeed read the 'Great Master' and 'Autumn Waters' chapters.

She glanced at the sword-carrying youth who sat drinking silently, then at the young Daoist who had taken seven or eight sips without even finishing an ounce of wine. One spoke startlingly, fond of big talk; the other was chatty, grinning, and full of strange theories. No wonder they could be friends.

Zhou Qiu said, "Daoist Lu."

Really, she couldn't delay any longer. The rainbow light and sword light that had lit up from the Splashed Ink Peak were greeting her.

The young Daoist quickly said, "Just call me Brother Lu."

Zhou Qiu ignored that and said, "This Fengle Town—what kind of place it is, you two probably have a general idea. Especially tonight, it's the day of Hehuan Mountain's wedding feast. It's a mix of fish and dragons, far more dangerous than usual. Liu Tie and I have some personal grudges to settle, but our chances aren't great. To do what one knows is impossible—naturally there are reasons we must. You two don't need to ask. Since I'm destined not to be able to take care of Ni Qing, that's why I sought out Young Master Chen earlier, hoping he could take Ni Qing out of Hehuan Mountain territory, away from this place of trouble. Back when I became a ghost, I stayed in Ni Qing's ancestral home. Later, Liu Tie and the others settled in this alley. Over the years, there were things that ghosts couldn't do, and Qingni helped with them. Repaying kindness with kindness, repaying enmity with enmity—that's only natural. So I earnestly beg you two to take Ni Qing and leave Fengle Town quickly. If Young Master Chen thinks the money is too little and doesn't want to escort her, I can give more immortal money."

Chen Ping'an pointed at Lu Chen. "I was originally planning to head to the capital of Qingxing Country. He was the one who wanted to come back, swearing that if Qingni returned to town, a lucky opportunity awaited her."

Zhou Qiu looked at the Daoist.

But the Daoist had already turned sideways, facing the courtyard gate, avoiding Miss Zhou's gaze.

Zhou Qiu had no choice but to wait for Liu Tie's news. She hoped that Old Man Qi could help, asking this Golden Body realm martial arts grandmaster to find someone to take Qingni out of town.

The people in the courtyard just drank in silence for a while.

Soon, Liu Tie brought an old man and a woman. Zhou Qiu stood up and cupped her hands. "Senior Qi, Miss Lü."

The old man was named Qi Song, the chief guest minister of the Zhang clan of Tiancao Commandery. He was a Golden Body realm martial artist.

Last time, when the Zhang clan's cultivators hit a wall here, it was Qi Song who covered their retreat, preventing greater losses. Both sides then beat a retreat, but Qi Song alone came to the town at the foot of the mountain, saying that even if it meant showing off in front of Hehuan Mountain, so be it. Zhao Fuyang and Yu Chunzhi didn't want to fight to the death with an old fellow carrying martial luck, so they let him stay at the foot of the mountain. This spring, another person came—Qi Song's direct disciple. Although a woman, she was an extremely ruthless martial artist. This woman named Lü Mo, in her thirties, was already at the peak of the fifth realm in martial arts. It was said that Qingxing Country wanted to recruit her as a drill instructor for the imperial guards.

Qi Song was a short, fat old man with a curly beard and a bulging belly. He smiled, glanced at the cotton-robed Daoist and the straw-sandaled youth, and pretended to ask, "Miss Zhou has guests here? I hope we're not disturbing your drinking."

The young Daoist waved his hand vigorously. "Guests are welcome here—what disturbance? We're not short of wine at home."

That Lü Mo was not like Miss Zhou, who was slender. She was voluptuous, and at first glance, really didn't look like a martial artist, more like a pampered noblewoman from a wealthy family.

The Daoist had been staring intently at the courtyard gate. The first thing to catch his eye was not the woman's side profile—she had considerable capital, as one could imagine.

The Daoist winked at Liu Tie. Hey, so Brother Liu likes this type—likes to eat fatty-lean mixed pork belly.

Liu Tie was baffled and pretended not to see the weird expression on Daoist Lu's face. Qingni brought two benches from the main room. Sister Zhou and Uncle Liu, and the master and disciple pair, each sat on one.

Zhou Qiu braced herself and said, "Young Master Chen, Daoist Lu, I won't beat around the bush with you. Liu Tie has already discussed it with Senior Qi and Miss Lü. Miss Lü herself will escort Qingni out of town."

Chen Ping'an nodded, only said a good word, and then remained still.

Lu Chen felt he had thin skin, so he had to whisper to remind him, "Brother Chen, have some awareness. Miss Zhou is hinting that you should take out two bags of immortal money."

Chen Ping'an looked askance. "None of your business."

Lu Chen was so anxious he almost scratched his feet. "Don't just stand there! One bag of snowflake money for Grandmaster Qi and Sister Lü as escort fees, and one bag of minor summer money to return to Miss Zhou."

Qi Song chuckled and gently stroked his round belly.

Lü Mo frowned slightly. Where had these two swindlers come from? That boy surnamed Chen—did he really have a martial fourth realm?

Zhou Qiu smiled. "Daoist Lu might be mistaken. That bag of minor summer money was my agreed-upon escort fee with Young Master Chen."

"Brother, you're cheating even your own family?! Didn't you say earlier you only earned one bag of snowflake money?!"

The young Daoist's eyes widened, then he was full of eagerness, his eyes burning, rubbing his hands. "Men die for wealth, birds die for food. I risk my life day in and day out, exorcising demons and subduing monsters everywhere, and I only earn a few snowflake coins. A whole bag of minor summer money! I'll take this escort! No need to trouble Sister Lü..."

Lü Mo's expression was blank. She picked up her wine bowl, but gently twisted her toe. In an instant, the young Daoist, along with his bench, flew backward. She was a little surprised—was the Daoist so weak?

She had to flip her wrist, using a gentle gust of wind to "cushion" between the Daoist and the wall. The young Daoist fell to the ground. He stood up, one hand on his hip, the other raised, and said in a trembling voice, "It's nothing... Ouch, it's fine, I just threw my back out. Minor, still minor!"

The sword-carrying youth was unmoved by this. He just looked up and said, "Miss Lü, aren't you afraid of hitting a hard nail with such reckless testing? Or are all the guest ministers from the Zhang clan of Tiancao Commandery so impulsive?"

Qi Song nodded with a smile. "Peace brings wealth, peace brings wealth. Lü Mo, quickly apologize to Daoist Lu. Young friend Chen is right—when out and about, be kind to others. Don't always think everyone is a sinister ghostly creature."

Lü Mo stood up and cupped her hands. "My apologies for offending."

The young Daoist picked up the small bench and staggered back to his seat, grinning. "One family doesn't speak two kinds of language. Hitting is affection, scolding is love. Sister Lü..."

As he said these frivolous words, the young Daoist's expression suddenly changed. Little wench, dare to be so rude to this Daoist? Take this... With a swift step, he hurled the bench like a hidden weapon at Lü Mo. But the woman, with ghostly speed, sidestepped the table, grabbed the bench, threw it to the ground, and in the next moment was in front of the Daoist. She elbowed him in the chest, knocking him completely off the ground. He flew sideways into the main house, his back hitting the edge of the octagonal table with a creak. He fell flat on his face on the dirt floor inside the house. The young Daoist groaned and moaned for a long time, unable to get up, babbling that his back was broken, "Brother Chen, save me!"

The sword-carrying youth took out two bags of immortal money and casually threw them on the table. "Since you like taking on trouble, take it."

Zhou Qiu glanced at the two bags on the table. Her brows knitted, and she took a deep breath, barely restraining herself from exposing the mystery. Never mind. Those few minor summer coins missing could be considered the travel expenses for this Chen Ren escorting Qingni back to town.

Lü Mo pocketed the bag of minor summer money and tossed the other bag of immortal money to Qingni. She laughed. "Little girl, we can start moving now."

Zhou Qiu said, "Liu Tie, escort them part of the way."

The armored man put down his wine bowl.

Qingni hesitated, but seeing that Sister Zhou looked like she might get angry, she had to pick up her oilpaper umbrella and bundle again and follow the woman out of the house. She looked back. Sister Zhou nodded at her. The sword-carrying youth was drinking with a straight face. The Daoist with the lotus crown on his head was lying on the threshold of the main house, waving at her, still able to smile.

Walking in the alley, the girl remembered something and barely managed to use telepathy. "Uncle Liu, that Daoist Lu's crown is very strange. I've never seen one like it in town."

She had heard Sister Zhou say that orthodox Daoists with official certificates had strict rules about their clothing and headgear. No violation was allowed, or they'd end up in jail. For example, the Daoist crown of Heavenly Lord Qi of the Shengao Sect was in the shape of a fish tail. That sect had several direct lineages of transmission. But this young Daoist surnamed Lu had a lotus crown. Here in town, there were also some Qi refiners from the spirit race who liked to dress up as "Daoist masters," but none of them had this kind of crown.

Liu Tie's expression changed slightly. He smiled and asked, "How so?"

Qingni said, "The crown blooms like a lotus."

Liu Tie stopped in his tracks, his expression complex. He hesitated.

If he remembered correctly, on this Vase Bottle Continent, the only Daoists qualified to wear a lotus crown, aside from a few obscure, sparsely-incensed small Daoist temples on the Shengao Sect mountain, were those from the old Dafrost Dynasty's Lingfei Temple. The previous temple master, Celestial Cao Rong, was a disciple of the Dao Ancestor of the Upper Court of the Jade Capital, and thus wore a lotus crown. Honor and glory shared—only the ordained direct disciples of that temple had this privilege. Liu Tie had heard this secret of the mountain from Zhou Qiu.

The most mysterious thing was that in Liu Tie's eyes, the young Daoist wasn't wearing any Daoist crown at all!

If he couldn't see through the illusion, that was one thing, but Zhou Qiu was a Dragon Gate realm Qi refiner with deep family learning. How could she have also misjudged?

That surnamed Lu was either a reckless, heaven-defying wilderness rogue cultivator, or he was a registered Daoist from Lingfei Temple!

Liu Tie was meticulous. He continued walking and asked casually, "Miss Lü, can you tell which mountain tradition and background that Daoist comes from?"

Lü Mo laughed. "Just a poor swindler. But he is a Qi refiner, knows some breathing and guiding techniques for strengthening the body. When I made those two moves in the courtyard, I used subtle force. If he were a Middle Five Realms cultivator, he wouldn't have been so pathetic. If you say he's faking, that's unlikely. With my master's eyesight, unless he's a land immortal, he can't fool him. If by any chance he really were a wandering land immortal, his behavior and words wouldn't be so cheap."

Liu Tie then asked telepathically, "I've heard that the Gold Que Sect of Old True Man Cheng has a lineage called the Gold Immortal Nunnery on Clear Still Peak, with abundant incense, historically no less than the Green Focus Peak, and has some connection with the Lingfei Temple at the southernmost end?"

Lü Mo was greatly surprised, using martial arts sound-condensation technique. She laughed. "Captain Liu, your information is so well-informed you even know mountain insider secrets like this? I've heard from my master that the Gold Immortal Nunnery is on Clear Still Peak, the ancestral mountain of the Gold Que Sect. The real lineage of the founding ancestor does indeed come from Lingfei Temple. But for some reason, the Gold Immortal Nunnery has refused to speak of this for hundreds of years. Logically, being able to claim a connection with Lingfei Temple—now we should call it Lingfei Palace—they wouldn't hide it, let alone not openly advertise it. My master guesses that the founding ancestor of the Gold Immortal Nunnery might have been a disciple expelled by Celestial Cao Rong, so he didn't dare mention it. My master knows this only because he has a close, tell-everything relationship with the Zhang clan's old ancestor of Tiancao Commandery."

Liu Tie clenched his knife handle and telepathically asked the girl beside him, "Qingni, did that Daoist ever say anything that revealed his identity? Think carefully, don't miss any clues."

Qingni said, "Just a bunch of unreliable nonsense. Like saying Heavenly Lord Qi of the Shengao Sect is familiar with him, but he's not familiar with Heavenly Lord Qi. Also saying that if I teamed up with them two, we could kill something at the fourteenth realm. Well, according to that Daoist, that means fourteen first-realm Qi refiners."

Liu Tie was speechless. He spat, cursed "goddamn swindler," then said in a deep voice, "Let's go. We need to leave town quickly."

Then he would hurry back to warn Zhou Qiu to stay far away from that Daoist who must have eaten a bear's heart and leopard's gall, and also the sword-carrying youth.

For some reason, the girl felt a hollow in her heart.

Those two strange people she had only met not long ago, though neither was proper, had interesting things to say. For example, when they stopped by a river halfway, the sword-carrying youth brushed off dirt, chewed on a grass root, and stared blankly at the water. Then Daoist Lu said, "Heaven does not give birth to useless people, and the earth does not grow nameless grass." Seeing no one applaud, the Daoist turned to her and asked if she knew why a person's left ear hears better than the right ear, and what it means to face the yellow earth with one's back to the sky... She ignored him, so the Daoist started explaining on his own, saying there are yin and yang qi in heaven and earth—heaven is pure, earth is turbid. The earth's filth gives birth to many things. The left ear belongs to yang, so it hears heaven's sound more keenly; the right ear belongs to yin, so it hears earth's sound better. Also, men and women are different... Saying this, the young Daoist pointed at the river and said some things that made Qingni, who was never afraid of ghosts, feel a chill run down her spine. He said that if there were drowned corpses floating in the river, even if their faces were bloated beyond recognition, people on the shore could still tell at a glance whether they were male or female. Men have yin faces and yang backs, so when a corpse floats in water, it must be face-down and back-up. This, he said, was also a sign of humans imitating the patterns of heaven and earth in the unseen world. After all, being called the "leader of the ten thousand spirits" was not for nothing...

Back at the small courtyard, Zhou Qiu saw Qi Song off at the corner of the alley. The old man patted his belly and smiled. "Since our goals are the same, why not simply join forces with us?"

Zhou Qiu shook her head. "Two different matters."

The old man sighed. "Even if it's just for personal vengeance, if Miss Zhou is willing to reveal your identity to the Liu clan of Qingxing Country, why worry that Hehuan Mountain won't hand over that demon who leaked information to the Barbarian Hearth camp?"

Zhou Qiu said calmly, "There's no evidence."

Qi Song hinted, "Evidence? Once that creature falls into Miss Zhou's hands, won't you have it?"

Zhou Qiu smiled. "According to the border army regulations, using public office for private gain is punishable by beheading."

Seeing her determination, Qi Song had to give up. He hesitated, then said, "Those two in the courtyard—they have unclear origins. You still need to be careful."

Back at the courtyard, Zhou Qiu saw the young Daoist sitting back in his seat, rubbing his lower back, still stubbornly saying, "Miss Zhou, don't think your Brother Lu looks weak, with no sturdy bones, sickly but still alive. That's the great benefit of having a Dao heart firm and a soul steady—the 'spirit abides' great heaven. If Miss Zhou doesn't mind, I'll immediately teach you a guiding technique. Whether it's a thunderclap at night that makes your heart pound, or walking under the sun during the day, no problem. Come, let me first read your palm. My studies are varied; I need to prescribe the right remedy for the right ailment to achieve double the results with half the effort..."

Zhou Qiu waved her hand. "I appreciate Daoist Lu's kind intentions. Young Master Chen, don't blame me for showing you the door."

Chen Ping'an said, "I take money to dispel troubles for others. Those few minor summer coins can be considered Daoist Lu's reward for solving Miss Zhou's problems."

Lu Chen stopped rubbing his back. "What?"

Chen Ping'an said, "Zhao Fuyang and Yu Chunzhi of the two mansions of Hehuan Mountain—could they have colluded with the Barbarian Hearth monsters? And was the Liu clan of Qingxing Country aware and covering it up? Don't talk to me about evidence. You and Captain Liu just need an inkling in your hearts."

Zhou Qiu was shaken inside. She squinted and said slowly, "Who exactly are you?!"

Her conversation with Qi Song had been quite far from the house. Besides, a Dragon Gate realm Qi refiner and a Golden Body realm martial artist—how could the two in the courtyard have overheard them?

The young Daoist said sadly, "You. Miss Zhou, you left out the word 'two.' I am also a hero of iron backbone! I can't stand to see injustice in my life."

Chen Ping'an glanced at Lu Chen. "Work for pay."

Lu Chen put down his wine bowl, burped, muttered to himself as if talking to someone in private, then shook his sleeves.

Helpless as he was, it was "work for pay," not "take money and work."

Who said this humble Daoist and Mountain Lord Chen are close friends who can drink together at first sight.

Zhou Qiu withdrew her hands into her sleeves, suspicious and uncertain. Was this poor Daoist putting on a show? But what was the point?

After a moment, a young woman with her hair in a bun appeared out of thin air at the alley. She was tall, with a high forehead. She looked at the sword-carrying youth in the courtyard and laughed. "Master."