Chapter 186: Keeping Vigil
After Chen Ping'an had completely passed out, at the stairway between the first and second floors, the green-clad boy finally released the pink-dress girl's arm. She dashed over, her face covered in tears, crying like a little tabby cat. While taking his pulse and checking the movements of his soul, she turned her head and sobbed, "Why did you stop me? You're ungrateful and heartless... If the master dies, I'll fight you to the death..."
The green-clad boy's face was as calm as water. "Calling you a silly girl and you still won't accept it. If you had recklessly interrupted Chen Ping'an's energy circulation, you would have been seen as an enemy by that sword energy. Not only would you have been beaten half to death, but you would have also delayed Chen Ping'an's opportunity to confirm the Dao. You might even have caused his death. What was originally a good fortune would have been turned into a disaster by you."
The pink-dress girl choked with grief, "The master is covered in blood, the master is almost dead. Now are you satisfied? I'm not stupid! You're just coveting the master's snake gallstones. The master should never have brought you back. You have no conscience at all. The master has been so good to us..."
The green-clad boy gave a light leap and crouched on the blue bamboo railing, saying irritably, "Whether Chen Ping'an is dead or not isn't for you to decide. With your meager cultivation, you don't know a damn thing."
The pink-dress girl's crying gradually softened as she realized that the two streams of energy inside Chen Ping'an, though initially chaotic and violent, were slowly stabilizing, like a meeting of mountain and river. Although at first the water and rocks clashed, stirring up thousand layers of waves, turbulent and fierce, with a dangerous atmosphere, as time passed, it became calm and peaceful. The soul and spirit consciousness that had been trembling violently due to pain were also being soothed, changing from wails to whimpers.
Chen Ping'an was in a deep sleep. His twisted and ferocious dark face gradually returned to normal, until he finally looked like a baby in swaddling clothes, sleeping exceptionally sweetly.
The pink-dress girl was overjoyed. With tears still on her face, she whispered to the green-clad boy, "The master is fine, he's just really asleep."
The green-clad boy rolled his eyes, stood up, and began to pace along the railing as if it were a walkway.
After Chen Ping'an collapsed, the pink-dress girl had completely lost her backbone and had to ask the green-clad boy for help. "What should we do next?"
The green-clad boy walked back and forth on the railing, deep in thought. To be honest, he only had a vague idea of the situation. He really didn't dare to jump to conclusions about how to handle Chen Ping'an afterward. It was true that he coveted Chen Ping'an's snake gallstones, but to say that he would take advantage of someone's misfortune and kick them when they were down—that would be underestimating him, the good brother of the River God of Yujiang. He would rather kill Chen Ping'an with a frontal punch and then openly snatch that pile of snake gallstones like a small mountain than act sneakily.
When you roam the martial world, you have to uphold some righteousness.
This had always been the rule of the martial world that he adhered to.
After one heavy drinking session, his river god brother had said something extremely profound: "There can't be too much righteousness in the martial world, but there should at least be a little. If you have none at all, even if you're a true dragon, you'll eventually drown in the rivers and lakes."
The green-clad boy's mind sharpened, and then his vision darkened. He looked up and saw a white-clad immortal standing beside him, wearing an annoying grin as he looked down at him.
That fellow named Wei Bo smiled at the green-clad boy, saying, "Little water snake, I'm surprised you didn't want to kill your master."
The green-clad boy hated that guy's handsome smile the most. It seemed the two were naturally at odds. Especially when Wei Bo mocked him in a condescending tone, he couldn't help but curse, "I didn't fuck your mother back then, and I regret it now!"
Wei Bo's wide sleeves fluttered as he gracefully jumped off the railing, lightly tapping the green-clad boy on the head as he passed, chuckling, "Naughty."
That seemingly casual tap sent the green-clad boy staggering, his legs splayed open, and he fell hard onto the railing, clutching his crotch in pain, grimacing and baring his teeth.
If it had been anywhere else, even a mountain of bronze or iron would have been crushed by his fall, but this little bamboo building was unusually sturdy and strong.
Wei Bo sat beside Chen Ping'an, placing a hand on his wrist. The pulse was steady, a good sign.
The pink-dress girl asked softly, "Immortal Master Wei, it's cold outside. Should I move my master inside?"
Wei Bo laughed. "You belong to the flood dragon lineage, so you have a natural resistance to extreme heat and cold, so you might not feel it deeply. Actually, this bamboo building has the benefit of being warm in winter and cool in summer. Even an ordinary person, stripped naked in this building during a heavy snow, wouldn't suffer frostbite. So it's more appropriate to let your master lie here and sleep without moving him at all."
The pink-dress girl breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed to Wei Bo in thanks.
Wei Bo didn't pay it much mind and asked with a smile, "Did Chen Ping'an bring any clean clothes to change into?"
The pink-dress girl shook her head. "The master didn't plan to stay long on this trip up the mountain. There are no clothes in his backpack."
Wei Bo frowned slightly. Looking at Chen Ping'an's clothes, which seemed soaked in blood, it certainly wouldn't do for him to wake up still wearing them. So he suggested, "You can either go to the town to buy clothes or go to Nilpotent Alley to get them. Go quickly and come back. Chen Ping'an shouldn't take too long to wake up."
The pink-dress girl said "Oh" and was about to leave.
The green-clad boy's eyes darkened as he stared intently at Wei Bo. "I don't trust you."
Wei Bo thought for a moment. "Then you stay."
The green-clad boy tossed a gold ingot to the pink-dress girl. "Besides buying new clothes for the master, get a few sets for the two of us as well."
The pink-dress girl smiled. "I don't need any."
The green-clad boy said sternly, "I was just being polite."
The pink-dress girl felt a bit hurt, then ran off in a flash, dashing down the bamboo building and racing down the mountain.
After that, the green-clad boy sat on the railing, his back to Chen Ping'an, who was lying on the ground, and to Wei Bo, who was seated, lost in thought.
Chen Ping'an slept for a full day and night before waking up. After washing up and changing into clean clothes, he felt refreshed all over. Not wearing straw sandals, he stood barefoot on the corridor of the second floor of the bamboo building. The soles of his feet were covered with a thick layer of calluses as hard as iron and stone. The earliest calluses from his childhood were worn out by rough straw sandals, and later thickened by mountain rocks, gravel, grass, and thorns.
In his hair bun, Chen Ping'an had also inserted that white jade hairpin, on which he had personally carved eight small characters.
He cradled the locust wood sword in his arms, gazing southward in a daze.
Wei Bo came and went, bringing some medicinal herbs. He had the pink-dress girl help boil them to warm and nourish Chen Ping'an's vitality. Chen Ping'an was used to doing everything himself and wanted to do it himself, but she absolutely refused, her red little face scrunched up as if about to cry. Chen Ping'an couldn't stand that, so he reluctantly gave up.
The green-clad boy had gone off wandering around, like a ruler inspecting his domain. Today he headed up the mountain. At the top of the mountain was a mountain god temple enshrining a strange mountain god with a golden head. The shrine wasn't yet completed, with only some finishing touches left, so there were officials from the Great Li Ministry of Works, cultivators assigned to help by the imperial court, as well as young and strong townsfolk and exiled prisoners, a mixed bag.
Wei Bo stood beside Chen Ping'an now and smiled. "After all that reckless bashing, at least you didn't suffer in vain. You're almost at the third realm now."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Faster than I imagined. I thought it would take at least three to five more years."
"Boring, no fun. I'm off."
Wei Bo chuckled dryly, shook his head, and walked away. This time, he didn't fly but walked down the stairs step by step, swaying as he left.
After Wei Bo's figure disappeared, Chen Ping'an patted his chest and muttered to himself, "I know you're dissatisfied and reluctant to stay with me."
He lowered his voice. "That swordsman Cao Jun must have some extraordinary qualities to make you so excited. It's only natural. An eighth or ninth realm sword cultivator, such a great immortal on the mountain, is certainly far stronger than me. But there's no help for it. You were given to me by Sage Wen Sheng, so until I die, you can't go anywhere..."
A piercing pain shot through Chen Ping'an's chest. His Adam's apple moved slightly, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Chen Ping'an clenched his teeth and forced down the blood, muttering indistinctly, "Although I don't know the truth of the matter, I can roughly guess that you could easily kill me, but for some reason, you can't. So your position is quite awkward, isn't it?"
After a moment, Chen Ping'an wiped the two trails of blood flowing from his nostrils with his palm. "It doesn't matter. I have several more sets of clean clothes up on the mountain. And my little maid is a fire python. She can wash and dry the clothes on the spot, and I can keep wearing them. If you have the skill, keep rampaging through my energy palaces. This bit of suffering, heh, I'm not bragging to you, Chen Ping'an, but it's really nothing. When I was five, I've experienced worse."
A cramping pain in his abdomen churned his guts.
Standing barefoot on the corridor, Chen Ping'an only hugged the locust wood sword in his arms. His eyes were resolute, though his voice trembled slightly. "If I cry out in pain even once, then from now on, you're my ancestor."
Eighteen energy palaces, eighteen passes. Among them, between the sixth and seventh, and between the twelfth and thirteenth, there seemed to exist two insurmountable chasms.
Previously, when Chen Ping'an circulated his energy, he could only pass through six acupoints in one breath. Though the energy hadn't yet reached the point of being spent, it was as if there was no road ahead. He could only smash into a wall each time, returning empty-handed. This time, after inexplicably merging the silver sword embryo from his hand into his heart, he still couldn't touch the seventh great pass in one go, but between the sixth and seventh, some bottleneck seemed to have loosened.
It was as if someone was diligently repairing the road and building a bridge. The scene on the other side began to become faintly visible, getting closer with each attempt.
Moreover, compared to training the body through fist techniques and walking the stakes, the unrestrained travel of sword energy within his body was even more effective, somewhat forcing Chen Ping'an to cultivate both internally and externally.
It was like a great mountain. Chen Ping'an had always wanted to carve a road through it, but didn't know where to start. Cutting through thorns and thistles was extremely slow.
But after the sword embryo entered his acupoints, it was like the green-clad boy revealing his true form and roaming through the mountain ranges, naturally creating a crude "mountain path." Chen Ping'an only needed to follow behind it, constantly patching and filling.
Chen Ping'an wasn't afraid of hardship, but very few people in the world truly liked hardship. Chen Ping'an was no exception.
But if hardship could bring benefits, Chen Ping'an would unhesitatingly seek out hardship.
Because after so many years alone, struggling to live, he had understood a truth: in this life, many people do many things, and hardship is just hardship, nothing more.
As the saying goes, "No pain, no gain"? It depends on whether the lazy heavens agree.
He still had to put most of his belongings in Miss Ruan's blacksmith shop. The down-and-out mountain folk were too mixed; Chen Ping'an simply couldn't trust them.
If not for Li Xisheng earlier, Chen Ping'an would have suffered a great loss even at his own door in Nilpotent Alley.
No wonder the green-clad boy often recited that catchphrase: "The martial world is dangerous."
Chen Ping'an jerked his head to the side, quickly covered his mouth with his hand, and blood seeped through his fingers.
He breathed heavily and opened his palm to reveal a patch of crimson.
Chen Ping'an said angrily, "I'm going down the mountain next to build tombs for my parents. During this time, let's have a temporary truce, what do you say?"
The sword embryo, which had been about to ram another energy palace wall, slowly calmed down, as if silently agreeing to Chen Ping'an's request.
Afterward, Chen Ping'an went down the mountain alone, carrying his backpack containing most of his belongings. He found Ruan Xiu at the blacksmith shop and had to ask her for help again, letting her put the things back in the yellow mud house.
When she heard that Chen Ping'an was going to build tombs, Ruan Xiu offered to help, but Chen Ping'an shook his head and refused, saying it wasn't a big deal and he could afford to hire some craftsmen. The money wouldn't be a problem.
Ruan Xiu didn't insist, only saying that if he needed help, he should let her know and not be polite.
Chen Ping'an smiled bitterly and said that if he really were being polite to her, he wouldn't have come here.
The girl smiled.
With no further worries, Chen Ping'an took silver to the town and quickly found workers. After asking an old craftsman about the customs and etiquette of tomb building, they settled on a price, picked an auspicious day, and started the work. Chen Ping'an watched the entire process, lending a hand when he could and staying out of the way when he couldn't, following all the instructions of the old craftsmen.
Perhaps because the boy paid enough silver, and from their daily interactions, the craftsmen felt his heart was sincere enough, everything went smoothly without any trouble.
Finally, the tomb was meticulously and carefully built. It wasn't better than ordinary people's tombs, nor was it particularly luxurious. The words on the tombstone were all carved by Chen Ping'an himself after staying up all night.
After settling the accounts, Chen Ping'an bowed to the group in thanks.
Finally, he took the sacrifice offerings and returned to the tomb. When preparing the offerings, he hesitated for a moment but added a jug of good wine. When pouring the wine as a tribute to his father, he looked toward his mother's tomb, scratched his head, and said, "Mom, Dad didn't seem to drink. Let him have this one time."
Then he turned slightly and smiled at the adjacent tomb. "Dad, if you don't like the wine or if it makes Mom unhappy, just send me a dream, and I won't bring wine next time."
Chen Ping'an finished pouring the wine, wiped his face, and said with a grin, "Mom, Dad, since you're not saying anything, I'll take that as your agreement."
After that, Chen Ping'an went to the Immortal's Grave and, familiar with the place, paid respects to the few statues.
He didn't do any large-scale road building or bridge construction. Instead, he chose this Immortal's Grave and, in Ruan Xiu's name, hired craftsmen to repair the scattered and dilapidated statues. He paid, and she took the credit. Ruan Xiu didn't know why but didn't ask, simply nodding in agreement. After the great calamity last time, all the townspeople had heard the cracking sounds from the Immortal's Grave that night, like firecrackers bursting. The statues had become fewer and even more damaged. Following Ruan Xiu's advice, the large-scale restoration this time followed the principle of repairing the old to look old, preserving the original appearance as much as possible. If restoration couldn't guarantee authenticity, they only ensured that the re-erected statues wouldn't collapse again, without casually altering anything. So they temporarily built several bamboo sheds to shelter from wind and rain.
Occasionally, Chen Ping'an would sit in the two shops on Riding Dragon Lane. And so, busily occupied, before New Year's Eve, Chen Ping'an made a special trip into Fallen Mountain to find the green-clad boy and the pink-dress girl.
When Ruan Xiu heard this news, she said she happened to need to oversee the construction of the residence on Shenxiu Mountain, so she went into the mountains with Chen Ping'an. But instead of parting ways, she changed her mind midway, saying she wanted to see the bamboo building Chen Ping'an had mentioned. The last time she had looked at it cursorily, she wanted another look. Chen Ping'an certainly wouldn't refuse.
When Chen Ping'an and Ruan Xiu appeared at the foot of the mountain, the green-clad boy stood on the railing, clicking his tongue in wonder. "Twin peaks standing proudly facing each other, a magnificent and spectacular view."
The pink-dress girl stood on tiptoe, looking into the distance, and asked in confusion, "There aren't any peaks south of Fallen Mountain."
The green-clad boy turned and glanced at her, a mischievous smile on his face. "You're still young."
He put his hands behind his head, planted his feet firmly, and swayed back and forth on the railing as if on a swing, murmuring, "Where can you find a girl like that? She's one of a kind in heaven and earth! If the master doesn't cherish her, he'll be struck by lightning. Really, I say that with a clear conscience."
The pink-dress girl nodded in agreement. "Miss Xiu Xiu is truly wonderful."
Chen Ping'an and Ruan Xiu slowly ascended the mountain. Ruan Xiu said she had received a letter from Pillow Water Station. Later, a blind old Daoist with a lame boy and a round-faced girl did come to town and found her at the shop on Riding Dragon Lane, but the master and two disciples soon continued north, saying they wanted to try their luck in the Great Li capital.
Chen Ping'an recalled the old Daoist who had shared hardship with him and thought of Lin Shouyi and his cultivation of "Clouds Above, Langlang Scripture." So he asked her about the Five Thunder Orthodox Method. Unfortunately, Ruan Xiu had never been interested in such things and knew little, only able to share hearsay.
During their chat, Chen Ping'an learned that Master Ruan had taken on three nominal disciples this year. One was a long-eyebrowed youth surnamed Xie. Although his family had lived in Peach Leaf Lane for generations, by his generation the family fortunes had declined. If not for entering the blacksmith shop, they would have had to sell their ancestral home and move to another alley. He also had an older sister and a younger brother.
One was a quiet young man who became Master Ruan's nominal disciple late.
On the first heavy snowfall of winter, he knelt by the well for a whole day and night, begging Ruan Qiong to take him as a student. He remained motionless, covered in snow.
Perhaps it was sincerity that moves metal and stone, for Ruan Qiong agreed to let him enter the shop to forge swords and smith iron.
After the Xie youth, a girl from the Wind Snow Temple became the second disciple. According to Ruan Xiu, the girl had average talent in the Wind Snow Temple and seemed to have committed a major mistake, getting expelled from the sect. She then found Master Ruan, who had established his own territory.
Ruan Qiong said that her resolve was unstable. In everything she did, her subconscious always sought a retreat. He said she could stay and even learn swordsmanship from him, but he wouldn't take her as a disciple.
She worked as a menial laborer in the blacksmith shop for a long time. One day, she cut off her own thumb on her sword-wielding hand.
Pale-faced, she found Ruan Qiong and said that from that day on, she would practice the sword with her left hand, starting from scratch.
Speaking of all this, Ruan Xiu remained calm, as if talking about an old hen and her fluffy chicks.
Chen Ping'an was oblivious to this and didn't realize it. In his mind, this girl was so good that he couldn't find a single fault.
At that moment, Chen Ping'an was more focused on thinking about matters "on the mountain."
He knew that anyone who could become a cultivator was anything but simple.
He himself had Lin Shouyi by his side.
Yu Lu and Xie Lingyue—they were even more favored children of heaven.
But from Cui Dongshan's fragmentary words and Ruan Xiu's casual talk, Chen Ping'an had roughly understood one thing: even after successfully ascending the mountain and becoming what commoners called immortals, people were still divided into three, six, and nine grades, with strict hierarchies.
It turned out that cultivation was hard at the beginning, hard in the middle, and would be hard all the way to the end.
Chen Ping'an had some understanding of this recently.
Because after finishing the tombs, the sword embryo had started causing trouble.
It became even more ferocious, charging and ramming through Chen Ping'an's acupoints like splitting bamboo.
So in the town's Nilpotent Alley, there was now a guy who often staggered as if drunk, or who would inexplicably crouch by the Immortal's Grave coughing, or who would shut himself up in the ancestral home, rolling around on the wooden bed.
As they neared the bamboo building, Ruan Xiu asked, "Will you also spend New Year's Eve on the mountain?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No. I'll definitely go to Nilpotent Alley for the New Year. That day, after visiting the tombs, I'll go back to the ancestral home to paste spring couplets, blessing characters, and door gods. After the New Year's Eve dinner, it's keeping vigil. At dawn, we set off firecrackers. And the two shops on Riding Dragon Lane also need pasting. There's too much to do. It's going to be very busy."
Ruan Xiu asked, "Can I help you?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and shook his head. "No need, no need. It sounds busy, but it's actually very simple."
The green-clad boy and the pink-dress girl had no objections when they heard they were going down to Nilpotent Alley for the New Year.
While packing his luggage, Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "If I paste couplets and door gods on this bamboo building, would it look ugly?"
The green-clad boy replied without hesitation, "Of course it would be ugly! Red on green is simply unbearably tacky. Master, I absolutely oppose this!"
The pink-dress girl also nodded slightly, agreeing with the green-clad boy's view.
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "I was just saying. If you don't like it, forget it."
The green-clad boy tested the waters. "At most, we can paste a 'Spring' character or an inverted 'Fortune' character."
Chen Ping'an laughed. "Forget it."
The green-clad boy felt a bit guilty. "Master, you're not holding a grudge, are you? If you really want to make it feel a bit more festive, we can discuss it nicely. For example, if you give me just one not-so-ordinary snake gallstone, I'll take the initiative to paste the couplets all over the bamboo building, up and down, inside and out, no problem!"
Chen Ping'an gave him a flick on the head. "Thanks a lot."
After going down the mountain, Ruan Xiu parted ways with them and headed to Shenxiu Mountain.
Before they knew it, it was already New Year's Eve.
After visiting the tombs together, they returned to Nilpotent Alley. While pasting the spring couplets at the door, the green-clad boy and the pink-dress girl one said it was crooked, the other said it wasn't, leaving Chen Ping'an a bit flustered.
During the New Year's Eve dinner, Chen Ping'an had prepared a feast. He didn't forget to give each of them an ordinary snake gallstone. The green-clad boy tossed it into his mouth without a second word, crunching it with a crisp sound, his face beaming like a flower.
The pink-dress girl ate demurely, her head down, her face full of happiness.
That evening, a small brazier with enough charcoal was placed under the table. The three of them all propped their legs on the edge of the brazier, all wearing brand-new clothes.
On the table were a lot of snacks and pastries brought from their own shops. In front of Chen Ping'an lay a book, bamboo slips, and a carving knife.
He was going to keep vigil.
Year after year, it was always like this. But this year was different—Chen Ping'an was no longer alone.
The pink-dress girl cracked sunflower seeds, while the green-clad boy propped his cheeks on his hands and looked at Chen Ping'an, asking with a smile, "Master, Master, on New Year's Eve, will you be so happy that you give me another snake gallstone?"
Chen Ping'an read his book intently by the lamplight, which was brighter than in previous years, without looking up. "No."
The green-clad boy wasn't upset but instead seemed quite happy. He asked again, "Master, when we set off firecrackers tomorrow morning, can I do it?"
Chen Ping'an looked up and smiled, nodding. "Sure."
He turned to the pink-dress girl. She quickly put down her sunflower seeds and made a cute gesture of covering her ears with both hands.
Chen Ping'an made a funny face at her and then continued reading.
The two little ones exchanged a smile and then, as if by telepathy, looked together at the top of the boy's head.
There, a nondescript hairpin was tucked, carved with eight small characters related to scholars.
About this—just like whether the spring couplet was pasted crookedly or not—they had private disagreements. The green-clad boy thought it didn't suit the master at all, while the pink-dress girl thought it couldn't be more fitting.
After the Hour of the Rat (midnight), it was the new year.
The green-clad boy went early to bed and fell fast asleep. The pink-dress girl, at Chen Ping'an's urging, eventually dozed off on the table.
Chen Ping'an kept vigil alone, with only the soft rustling of pages turning in the room.
When the first rays of dawn appeared between heaven and earth,
Chen Ping'an gently rose, went to open the door, and looked up towards the east.
Suddenly, he couldn't help but cough softly, and then he opened his mouth and spat out a streak of white rainbow light about an inch long.
It turned out to be a small, clear flying sword.
It hovered silently in the courtyard.
Its edge was fully exposed.