Chapter 127: Eye Contact
Wei Jin smiled and asked, "Are you that someone from the Mohist school?"
The young swordsman’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant. He thought to himself, Senior Brother A Liang, couldn't you have said a bit more than just "that someone"?
He said to Wei Jin, "Wait a moment."
The young swordsman turned to the female ghost clinging to the plaque, frowned, and said, "Madam Chu, things have come to this. Can you show a little sincerity?"
The female ghost, whose soul was hidden within the golden-lettered plaque, nodded. The canopy of heaven gradually began to dissolve—this was a sign that the realm of mountains and rivers was dispersing, much like ordinary folk opening their doors to welcome guests.
Even if she was isolated and uninformed, she had heard of this man's legendary exploits. He was from the wandering swordsman lineage of the Mohist school, and after allying himself with an eminent sect leader and defecting to the Great Li Song clan, he was immediately treated as an honored guest by the Great Li Emperor. Now he was one of the gatekeepers of the Great Li capital, a key figure in intimidating the mountain ascendant factions. It was said that whenever he had free time, he would wander the four directions alone, and whenever he encountered a spectacular landscape, he would transform it into his sword intent.
Thus it was that the Ministry of Rites Vice Director and the Water God of Embroidered River appeared on the street, clasping their fists in salute to the young swordsman, who merely nodded in acknowledgment, showing his transcendent status within Great Li.
That yin spirit also stood by Chen Ping'an’s side, its murderous aura soaring to the heavens. Just moments ago, he had been on the verge of sacrificing his cultivation and Dao base, determined to shatter the mountain vein here and fight the bridal female ghost to the death. If the mountain vein shattered, it meant the female ghost’s protective charm would cease to exist, and she would completely lose her confidence to contend with those tenth-tier cultivators.
From within the plaque extended an arm as white as fine lard jade. The bridal robe on the ground drifted unsteadily toward the plaque, and when the female ghost emerged from it, she was once again wearing that bridal garment. Earlier, her body had been cut into four pieces by the two swords of the immortal platform Wei Jin, yet even in her perilous state, she had not forgotten to keep the bridal robe intact—a testament to how much she treasured it, almost to the point of obsession.
After the female ghost landed, she inadvertently caught sight of the book cases behind the children. Her expression changed instantly, and her violent aura surged. Although she tried desperately to suppress it, her abnormality was completely exposed.
The young swordsman sighed, looked at the straw-sandaled youth he had met briefly on the ferry at Embroidered River, and said in a sincere, pleading tone: "Could you please put away those three book cases first? This Madam Chu holds a deep grudge against scholars. That resentment was the very crux of why she abandoned her position as a proper god of mountains and rivers back then. The reason is a long story, hard to explain in a few words. Chen Ping'an, I only hope you can show some leniency, considering that no grave error has been committed. Let's put this grudge to rest once and for all, how about?"
The young swordsman thought for a moment and then smiled, "If possible, just agree to let me perform a simple illusion."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Agreed."
Soon, the three small emerald-green book cases vanished from everyone's sight. Of course, if a qi cultivator focused his gaze, they would revert to their original form.
Finally, the young swordsman looked back at Wei Jin. This was the youngest upper-fifth-realm cultivator on East Vase Bottle Continent, and moreover, a sword cultivator who could elevate his combat power by a single realm.
An upper-fifth-realm cultivator by the age of forty—no matter what continent he came from, even the vast and mighty Central Earth Divine Continent, he would still be an astonishingly prodigious son of heaven.
Wei Jin of Snow Wind Temple and Song Changjing of Great Li—to the mountain ascendant cultivators of the "younger" generation—were truly the two jades of north and south. Now, one had broken through the tenth realm to become an eleventh-realm sword cultivator, and the other had reached the legendary tenth realm of martial arts. Neither had disappointed anyone.
The two—“one for literature, one for martial arts”—their future achievements were immeasurable.
The young swordsman smiled and asked, "I wonder, Sword Immortal Wei, besides resolving today's disturbance, do you have any other intentions for your journey to Great Li?"
The white-robed sword immortal, who had always walked the world as a chivalrous knight, smiled back and asked, "If I have no other intentions, what then? If I do, what then?"
The young swordsman spoke bluntly: "If you're merely sightseeing, aside from a few forbidden areas in Great Li, all other places are welcome for Sword Immortal Wei to visit. If you're not averse, I would be honored to accompany you. But if you have designs on Great Li amid its current instability, then I will stand in your way and personally test how fast your flying swords truly are."
Wei Jin put away his famous sword, named High Candle, and hung it at his side. "Within Snow Wind Temple, I have always respected Master Ruan the most. However, for various reasons, I had never met him face to face. So when I received the Taiping Token message Master Ruan sent from Li Zhu Cave Heaven, I took on a mission: escort these children to Savage Pass at the border of Great Li. On the way, I encountered a senior swordsman named A Liang, who gave me some guidance on sword techniques. That provided the opportunity for my recent seclusion and breakthrough. So you need not worry about my journey north."
The young swordsman opposite him, whose mountain-moving sword technique was exceptionally stunning, treated others sincerely. Wei Jin was an open and magnanimous person by nature; he did not take the man's somewhat stiff stance as a provocation but instead bared his heart: "If you want to spar in swordsmanship, I would be very willing. Previously, I felt there was no need to continue wandering on my home continent of Vase Bottle. But after listening to A Liang's many tales about the outside world, I very much want to go see Inverted Mountain, to go where A Liang trained, and truly temper my own sword path."
It was because he had traveled to many places and met many people that Wei Jin understood the preciousness of the word "persistence."
The blind old Daoist could not get a word in edgewise, and he dared not speak at all.
The famous Wei Jin of Snow Wind Temple alone was enough to suffocate this heterodox old Daoist.
Upper-fifth-realm cultivators were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns on East Vase Bottle Continent. Tenth-realm cultivators were already pillars of a nation, each treated by emperors and kings as the cornerstone of national destiny. Upper-fifth-realm qi cultivators—each one was a hidden dragon, appearing and disappearing without a trace. They were the kind who could found mountain sects. On the entire continent of Vase Bottle, with its countless dynasties, how many immortal dwellings bore the suffix "sect"? Hardly a handful!
Wei Jin clasped his fists and said to the young swordsman, "Until we meet again."
The young swordsman returned the salute. "I hope that one day on Vase Bottle, I will hear news of you from Inverted Mountain."
The two sword cultivators smiled at each other.
When white-haired, they may seem like strangers; when they first meet, they may feel like old friends—that was exactly the principle.
Chen Ping'an said softly, "Let's go."
Li Baoping, Li Huai, and Lin Shouyi nodded.
The blind old Daoist gritted his teeth, plucked up his courage, and cautiously asked, "This immortal master, I have two disciples who were kept by Madam Chu as guests in her mansion. Might I be allowed to take them away? I'm afraid my disciples are crude and unruly, and might inadvertently break Madam Chu's rules..."
The young swordsman turned to the bridal female ghost and said gently, "Madam Chu, would you be willing to let them go?"
The bridal female ghost nodded. "Since you've spoken, sir, how dare I refuse?"
This gatekeeper of the capital, who concealed his true depth, had drawn his sword a mere inch from the scabbard to block Wei Jin's third strike. The weight of that action was not lost on the bridal female ghost. She knew full well that he was not someone she could contend with. Even in her prime, with the protection of her mountain-and-river realm, it would likely have been meaningless.
Moreover, she was not a true tenth-realm cultivator, and this eccentric swordsman, a former Mohist wandering hero, who knew if he, like Wei Jin, had already become an eleventh-realm terrestrial sword immortal?
She was somewhat annoyed. Squinting, she glared at those boys and girls. If it weren't for one of them making it impossible for her to light the lantern, and if she hadn't seen their detestable appearance while traveling with books on their backs, how could she have fallen to such a miserable state? Not only had she suffered two sword strikes from Sword Immortal Wei Jin, she had nearly had her mountain vein and water source shattered by that yin spirit.
Wei Jin took the reins of the white donkey and smiled at Chen Ping'an's group. "Shall we be on our way?"
Chen Ping'an certainly had no objection.
With an extra terrestrial sword immortal in the study tour group, they slowly departed.
Li Baoping came to Chen Ping'an's side. "Little Uncle."
Chen Ping'an asked softly, "What's the matter?"
Li Baoping grinned. "Nothing!"
Chen Ping'an rubbed her head.
The girl in the red cotton-padded jacket walked shoulder to shoulder with Chen Ping'an. In truth, she was a little homesick for her elder brother.
The bridal female ghost waved her hand, casually yanking the lame boy and the round-faced little girl out of the garden and tossing them beside the blind old Daoist.
Afterward, her peripheral vision glanced in a certain direction. At that moment, she happened to see the straw-sandaled youth turning back to meet her gaze.
Their eyes locked.
The youth’s eyes were cold.
In an instant, the bridal female ghost felt a sudden, inexplicable palpitation.
But she soon found it absurd and ridiculous. She quickly averted her gaze, unwilling to waste time on an ordinary youth. She couldn't understand why she was being so suspicious.
Later, when she inexplicably looked again, the straw-sandaled youth had already turned his back to her, walking away slowly, naturally falling to the rear of the group.
――――
Among the Four Great Clans and Ten Great Families of Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley, even just the struggle for the thirty-plus dragon kilns had been full of scheming and bloodshed over the millennia. Now, with the place having become Dragon Spring County, they had no choice but to open their doors and band together. But in private, who among them was not secretly sending messages to the Great Li court and the immortal factions who had bought up the hilltops?
Some rumors circulated with great certainty outside, but people in the streets and alleys did not take them seriously. For example, "Dragon, Unicorn, and Phoenix" of the Li clan, one of the Four Great Clans, had become something of a joke ever since the melancholy retreat of Li Baoping's teacher, the head of Cliff Mountain Academy. On the other hand, the few young scholars like Zhao Yao, who truly had the potential to become mountain immortals, were the ones the town’s major families dared not underestimate. However, Li Bozhen, the second son of the Li family patriarch—the younger of the "Big Li and Little Li"—was said to have met a benefactor in the capital, was exceptionally accepted as a student of the Imperial Academy, and was studying the "Grand Rites" under the famous scholar Liu Wenhu. This had caused a small ripple in the town.
As for the eldest son of Li Hong, the impression that all the elders on Fortune Street had of him was that he was a bookworm who had read himself silly. His younger daughter, Li Baoping, was the little wild girl who had never stayed home since childhood. Apart from that, there was nothing remarkable about them. Only Li Bozhen still held some hope of bringing glory to the family.
In the Li family study, a young man with a detached expression handed a letter from the Great Li capital to his father, Li Hong.
Li Hong smiled. "Bozhen, like his sister, would rather send it to you, his elder brother, than to his own parents."
The young man gave a bitter smile and said softly, "Father, you should prepare yourself for what's written in the letter."
Li Hong's expression instantly turned serious. He pulled out the letter, skimmed through the initial greetings and pleasantries, and as he read further, his eyes grew increasingly dark. The man stood up, lit an oil lamp, placed it in a brush washer, and slowly burned the family letter. The ashes fell softly into the delicate plum-green brush washer. Using only two words, the man passed judgment on his son's actions: "Nonsense."
Li Hong asked, "What do you think of this? Should we follow your brother's advice and have the county office strike the status of Zhu He and Zhu Lu, father and daughter, from our Li family's registry of bondservants, elevating them to commoners?"
If the Zhu father and daughter succeeded in changing their household registration, being removed from the bondservant registry of Fortune Street's Li clan in Dragon Spring County and granted commoner status, their descendants would no longer be slaves or servants for generations. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a "carp leaping over the dragon gate." However, just as a prime minister's gatekeeper holds a seventh-rank official status, the comparison depended on the capability of the person shedding their bondservant status. Those skilled only in flattery were better off clinging to a big tree for stability; if they had real talent and learning, naturally they had a brighter future establishing their own household.
The young man gave a bitter smile. "Father, you've already made up your mind."
Li Hong leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingers to his temples. "But I still want to hear your opinion. A family can't have everyone thinking they must seek wealth through risk."
The young man sat quietly, his eyes clear and bright. "The truly troublesome part is that no matter which side Father favors, it will create estrangement in the other toward the family. So Bozhen was wrong in doing this. Bozhen acted willfully, leaving himself and the family with no retreat—that's even more wrong. Doing this is not honorable, and it's most unfair to that Chen Ping'an from Mud Vase Alley."
Li Hong looked at his legitimate eldest son with a complicated expression. "You know Bozhen's temperament well, don't you, as his elder brother? Since you foresaw this awkward and difficult situation, why didn't you go to the capital with him back then?"
The young man said helplessly, "Grandfather is in seclusion, Baoping has left home, and now the town's situation is undergoing earth-shattering changes. This is a critical period that will determine the future trajectory of every major family. I can't afford to let our Li family have a blind spot. I wouldn't feel at ease leaving. Even if I must go, I'll wait until the situation here becomes clear. If really necessary, the matter of the imperial examinations can wait."
Upon hearing the earlier prudent and steady words, Li Hong nodded slightly. But when his eldest son reached the last sentence, Li Hong's expression turned anxious. He straightened up and said loudly, "Absolutely not! Selecting scholars through the imperial examinations is a paramount national policy of Great Li, no less important than the court's recruitment of mountain ascendant powers! Li Bozhen is more impetuous than you. Before leaving, even though he swore to Father and Grandfather that after leaving town, he would follow the rules and act openly, never relying on luck or taking risky measures, what was the result? He still pulled this stunt of acting first and reporting later! So we have no choice but to let him persist in his folly. If you delay the imperial examinations on top of that, it will set the family's progress back by at least three years!"
The young man silently swallowed the words that had risen to the tip of his tongue.
If he said them out loud, it would mean that the already not-so-good relationship between him and his brother would plummet to rock bottom, with no possibility of mending or repair.
Moreover, saying it would be utterly meaningless, because deep down, his father did not deny his younger brother's approach of seeking wealth through risk.
Walking the wrong path for three years with early diligence, or holding back and biding time on the right path for three years—the difference these would make to the family's future over thirty years and across two generations was obvious.
After the young man left the study, he walked alone along the wide, elegantly carved outer corridor when he suddenly heard the tinkling of a string of wind chimes under the eaves.
He clasped his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and tilted his head slightly, listening to the ethereal ringing. He murmured, "Too many clever people is not a good thing, either."
The young scholar in green robes was named Li Xisheng.
(End of chapter)