Chapter 352: Ancestral Hall Token, Moonlight Overhead
(The last line of this chapter borrows from a reader’s comment in the Zongheng community; it was beautifully written.)
After the old Heavenly Lord and Zhong Kui left, the remainder of the night passed without further incident.
Pei Qian, whose eyelids were heavy from fighting sleep, was carried onto the windowsill by Chen Ping’an and told to go back to her room and rest.
Chen Ping’an stayed alone in the courtyard, neither walking the stake nor practicing the sword. He sat by the stone table, thinking about his plans for the future.
Occasionally his mind would wander, and he would look up at the night sky, recalling what Zhong Kui had said earlier: among the sage attendants of the Confucian Temple, aside from those who had gone to open up new territories and seek new paradises, the other sages would take up posts above that vast continent of the Haoran World, the lakes and seas, overlooking the mortal realm. In their eyes, great human cultivators, whether on the mountain or off it, were like ordinary people watching fireflies floating on a summer night; the strength of their glow depended on the realm of those terrestrial immortals. Thus, during the battle at Taiping Mountain, when Chen Ping’an and the White Ape had fought with all their might, completely unrestrained, it had appeared in the eyes of the sages above Tongye Prefecture like two sudden bursts of light, prompting a sage to descend and prevent those great cultivators from acting unreasonably or settling private grudges through combat. If they fought without any restraint and shattered mountains and rivers, the common people would suffer greatly.
Most of the time, Chen Ping’an simply sat with his eyes closed, reciting the immortal’s incantation from the jade slip of Biyou Prefecture.
Read a hundred times, and the meaning reveals itself; all the myriad laws of the world trace back to the same source.
At dawn, Chen Ping’an opened his eyes and heard the footsteps of the old general Yao Zhen outside the courtyard, stopping at the gate as if hesitating whether to knock.
Chen Ping’an got up and opened the courtyard gate. Yao Zhen smiled and said, “As expected of a martial grandmaster—you can recognize a person by their footsteps.”
Chen Ping’an asked, “How about taking a walk in the garden of the inn to clear your mind?”
Yao Zhen walked side by side with Chen Ping’an and said slowly, “The reason I didn’t follow you earlier yesterday to visit that scenic spot where the ancient immortal rode a crane up to heaven was because I received word that a secret envoy from Shenjing City was coming to the inn, so I had to wait. I waited until the second watch of the night before I finally met that honored guest. Care to guess who it was?”
Since he was asking Chen Ping’an, it definitely wouldn’t be someone from Shenjing City who had nothing to do with him. A flash of insight struck Chen Ping’an, and he replied, “The Duke of Shen, Gao Shizhen.”
Yao Zhen gave a thumbs-up and nodded. “Exactly the Duke.”
He who comes with ill intent is no friend.
Since the Emperor sent the Duke of Shen as a secret envoy to convey the imperial will ahead of the Yao family’s entry into Shenjing City, while they were still in Qihe City, it meant that in the Emperor’s mind, the Duke of Shen carried more weight than the future Minister of War, Yao Zhen. As for whether the Liu Emperor had personally instructed the Duke before leaving the capital, or meddled with things, Chen Ping’an had never met the Liu Emperor, so he couldn’t speculate. For the Duke of Shen to secretly enter the inn at Qihe City was, for the old general, nothing less than an incredible show of strength.
It isn’t easy being in the capital.
Even if you are Yao Zhen, you’re still an outsider from the borderlands.
During that long “travel” in the lotus-root-flower blessed land, observing the Way alongside the old Daoist of the Eastern Sea, Chen Ping’an had gained immensely. Perhaps it wasn’t until that moment when he left the Lotus Root Blessed Land that this mud-legged boy from Mud Vase Alley finally shook the last bit of dirt off his trouser legs.
Yao Zhen said slowly, “In the Daquan Dynasty, there are ten princes and dukes of foreign surnames. In the two hundred years since the Liu family founded the dynasty, with ups and downs, only the Shen Ducal Mansion remains as the sole survivor. The old Duke of Shen had an excellent reputation and was fair-minded. Twice he risked having the ducal mansion’s plaque removed to protect a faction of upright civil officials and a border general. So in the court, both civil and military officials remember the debt of gratitude owed to the Shen Mansion. The current Duke, Gao Shizhen, keeps a low profile and doesn’t like to court attention, but he was closely connected to the then-prince’s residence when he was young. Looking back, this Duke is no simple man. That’s why Gao Shuyi can swagger around Shenjing City…”
Chen Ping’an suddenly interjected, “If Gao Shuyi is domineering and offends all the powerful and noble families, it might not be the best way for the ducal mansion to tarnish its own reputation. The two generations of Dukes each have their own methods, taking full advantage of benefits that other court officials wouldn’t dare imagine. If Gao Shuyi didn’t do something like that, the fate of the ducal mansion might have been the same as the Yao family’s border army earlier.”
Yao Zhen’s expression turned strange, and he gave Chen Ping’an another thumbs-up. “That’s remarkably similar to what my granddaughter Jinzhi said.”
Then Yao Zhen patted Chen Ping’an on the shoulder. “But her words were spoken when she was fourteen.”
Chen Ping’an found it amusing that the old general was trying to pick a fight with him over this, but he still added, “Miss Jinzhi has a pure heart and is well-versed in both orthodox and miscellaneous studies. I am far from her level.”
A smile bloomed on Yao Zhen’s weathered face, and the gloom in his heart vanished.
As for what exactly the Duke of Shen, Gao Shizhen, had said when he arrived at the inn, Yao Zhen, as a subject of the Liu family, would never reveal a single word.
But if Shenjing City or the Duke wanted to target his young benefactor, Yao Zhen wouldn’t mind dying once more. After all, if he could pay back his old life to Chen Ping’an, the Yao family would still come out ahead. This was because, late last night after seeing Duke Gao off outside the city, Yao Zhen had returned to the inn and held a candlelight discussion with Yao Jinzhi, and she had drawn that conclusion: the Yao family cavalry had basically escaped this storm entirely. When Yao Zhen entered Shenjing City, there would be a grand reception with the streets empty of people. The reputation of the Yao cavalry, pushed along by layers of officialdom, would resound throughout the court and the countryside.
The inn’s garden was extremely famous. With the exaggerated descriptions of generations of literati and banished officials, it had earned the reputation that “the beauty of its hills and ponds, the elegance of its pavilions, surpasses those of all the princes in the capital.”
With green trees providing shade and small bridges over flowing water, the two of them walked onto a wooden arch bridge. Chen Ping’an was now probably as familiar with bridge construction as a Ministry of Works official. As he walked on the bridge, his steps alternated between light and heavy, and he reached out to lightly tap the railing. Yao Zhen assumed it was just a personal quirk and didn’t bother to ask.
The Yao family was set to depart the day after tomorrow. Tonight, there would be a banquet hosted by the governor, and tomorrow, the prefect would host a private feast for the old general Yao Zhen, so they could spend two more days enjoying Qihe City.
Chen Ping’an stayed behind in the courtyard to shut himself in and cultivate.
As for martial arts advancement, the speed of his rise had already far exceeded his expectations from when he left Daoxuan Mountain. There was no need to rush, and rushing wasn’t possible.
But the matter of rebuilding the Longevity Bridge was urgent.
Twice he had visualized it—once in the Lotus Root Blessed Land, and once by the bank of the Mai River. Both times, the golden bridge had successfully manifested over the river, each time more stable than before. Especially the second time, spanning the Mai River, Chen Ping’an had even had the confidence to walk on it.
But when he thought about how, after cultivating the Longevity Bridge, he would still need to refine five elemental treasures as the “town-house” objects for his “small body world,” Chen Ping’an felt a headache coming on. After receiving the jade-slip incantation from the Water God, it meant he had to start preparing right now. In other words, Chen Ping’an had to refine no fewer than five life-bound objects. Otherwise, even if the Longevity Bridge was built, it would still be a dead end. Unless he abandoned his martial arts cultivation, once the Longevity Bridge was erected, spiritual qi would flood in like seawater, with disastrous consequences. But if his qi prefecture possessed five objects like lakes or divine residences, he could accumulate heavenly and earthly qi without it greatly affecting the circulation of his pure true qi. The two could mostly coexist without interference.
That mysterious state was like one Chen Ping’an walking the world with his fists, while another Chen Ping’an shut himself away deep in the mountains and quietly cultivated the Way.
As he walked the stake, Chen Ping’an murmured inwardly: “The Water Seal that Mr. Qi gave me must be refined into a life-bound object. That way, if it’s linked to my life, even if it’s shattered like the Mountain Seal was, as long as I don’t die, it can still faintly manifest in my qi prefecture. Even if it loses all its power, I’ll always have that thought, and as long as I want to see it in this life, I can. And that immortal incantation from the Water God talks the most about the process of refining water.”
“As for that ancient jade slip that can nourish the body and soul, it’s probably also related to the water element of the five phases, but I don’t know its exact rank or origin. I’ll have to ask Wei Bo about that.”
“It’s a shame the golden dharma robe isn’t part of the five elements; otherwise, with its rank, it would be suitable for refining. I wouldn’t have to wear it all the time, and it would immediately reveal my background to a Nascent Soul Earth Immortal. Ah, what a pity.”
“As for the golden literary courage bestowed by Chenghuang Lord Shen Wen of Caiyi Country, when I talked about sequential learning at Biyou Prefecture, I had a sensation that it could be refined into the metal element of the five phases. Besides, reading is a lifelong practice, just like boxing and swordsmanship.”
“As for the earth element, the old Daoist entrusted a child-disciple to say something about the Five Sacred Mountains’ social order and five-colored earth of the Dali Dynasty. Now the Dali cavalry is heading south, with war raging on. Could it be that the Song family of Dali will really take at least half of the entire Bottle Gourd Prefecture? If that’s the case, the five elements and five-colored earth of Dali’s five sacred mountains would indeed be valuable. I’ll have to trouble Wei Bo, who is now the Northern Sacred Mountain Deity of Dali, about this when I return to Longquan next time.”
Chen Ping’an, in his white robe, “forgot himself” as he threw punches, exceptionally fluid and natural.
He was no longer the apprentice kiln worker pulling clay, stiff and formulaic like regular script. Now his style had become like the freehand calligraphy of a master.
The essence of it all came only from enduring hardship and grasping good fortune.
——
The four figures in the painting all had their eccentricities.
Wei Xian had recently developed a liking for snacking, with two small pouches hung at his waist filled with food bought from various shops.
Lu Baixiang favored all things refined. He now liked to hold a few Go stones in his hand, rubbing them together as he walked, producing a faint creaking sound from his palm.
Zhu Lian disliked constraints. For example, he found wearing boots and socks a hassle. From somewhere in Qihe City, he had bought a pair of straw sandals and changed into a set of plain yellow hemp clothes. Also, whenever they stopped in a city, Zhu Lian would buy a few books of strange tales of spirits and demons, or romantic stories of beautiful women and talented scholars. In his spare time, he would flip through them to pass the time.
As for Sui Youbian, apart from contemplating the sword every day, she seemed to have no hobbies—her greatest eccentricity was being herself.
After Chen Ping’an finished his boxing practice, he returned to the house.
Today, Zhu Lian was basking in the mild winter sun in the courtyard, reading a rather racy romantic tale.
The youth Yao Xianzhi came by to visit and asked Wei Xian for boxing instruction.
Lu Baixiang was playing Go with the visiting Yao Jinzhi.
Sui Youbian, after her trip to that small mountain, had a slightly different aura. She was again in seclusion, with her sword lying across her knees. Repeatedly, she would push the blade an inch out of the scabbard and then push it back in.
Pei Qian never liked to stay still. She watched Lu Baixiang and Yao Jinzhi’s game for a while, found it boring, went back to fetch her walking stick, and then swung her signature frenzied staff technique next to Wei Xian and Yao Xianzhi. Wei Xian told Yao Xianzhi to practice a standing stance, then watched Pei Qian for a while, speechless for a long time. The little girl wielded the walking stick in a completely haphazard manner, sometimes even accidentally hitting herself. Truly a domineering style that sacrificed one hundred of your own to kill a thousand enemies.
Yao Xianzhi, practicing the stance, rolled his eyes.
But Wei Xian didn’t seem to think the charcoal-head girl was that childish.
Pei Qian, panting heavily, bent over with both hands on the walking stick, and asked, “Old Wei, what about my talent for martial arts? Am I one in a million? Tomorrow… no, next year, can I become a peerless master like my dad? Can I beat ten of you with one hand?”
Wei Xian answered obliquely, “In the martial world, they say ‘a year to master the sword, a month to master the blade, but a lifetime to master the spear.’ If you truly want to advance in your staff technique quickly, I have two suggestions. One is to practice in a field of rapeseed flowers, thrusting the staff like a dragon; over time, you’ll gain an invincible momentum. The other is to go poke a hornet’s nest; when you’re in danger, you’ll develop a different kind of ‘looking death in the face’ momentum.”
Pei Qian looked at Wei Xian, who seemed sincere. After a moment’s thought, she said dubiously, “You’re not tricking me?”
Wei Xian said coolly, “Believe it or not.”
Lu Baixiang, who had his back to the courtyard, smiled faintly.
Zhu Lian, hunched over reading his book, had just licked his finger and turned a page. But the romantic scenes on the previous page were so racy and intimate that he couldn’t help flipping back to enjoy them again.
Suddenly, Pei Qian shook her head and sighed, looking at Wei Xian with pity. “Old Wei, haven’t you realized that what I’m practicing isn’t staff technique at all, but swordsmanship?!”
Wei Xian pretended to have an epiphany, but it wasn’t very convincing.
Pei Qian flew into a rage. “Old Wei, if you keep being this boring, our friendship over that one sugar figure is over!”
Wei Xian twitched the corner of his mouth, looking smug.
As soon as she said it, Pei Qian threw down her walking stick and quickly covered her mouth.
Sure enough, Chen Ping’an’s voice rang out, “Go back to the room and copy five hundred characters.”
Nowadays, in addition to reading and reciting texts, Pei Qian was also required to copy books.
Every time she gritted her teeth while copying, she wanted to slap herself twice—why had she asked Xuanhua, that female ghost from Biyou Prefecture, for paper and brush? As a result, Chen Ping’an said that since she had her own brush, she should start practicing calligraphy every day. Only five hundred characters, but any character copied carelessly, too crooked or slanted, wouldn’t count toward the five hundred; she’d have to make up for it. Pei Qian felt like dying. She had only just had a few days of comfortable, blissful living!
Pei Qian puffed out her cheeks like a big meat bun, picked up the walking stick, and obediently went back to the room to copy characters.
While the courtyard was filled with such harmonious joy, at a small mountain god shrine’s domain a hundred miles outside Qihe City, because the annual incense money was too plentiful, the god’s residence—not large enough to be called a mansion—had been built into something like a fairyland.
Over the past two days, the residence had been crowded with distinguished guests, to its great honor. The minor mountain god himself served as a menial, bringing tea and water, carefully attending to those nobles.
The first to arrive was a true mountain immortal, accompanied by two beautiful young female cultivators.
Du Hanling, the abbot of Jinding Temple, was a famous Nascent Soul Earth Immortal. Jinding Temple was located in a scenic and spiritually rich area in the north of Tongye Prefecture.
For such a formidable terrestrial immortal, a visit to such a lowly mountain god temple was utterly beneath him. Even the Daquan Emperor might not be able to invite the old immortal master.
At first, the mountain god was so terrified his shrine’s golden statue nearly shook. But after Du Hanling personally issued a decree, saying he was merely borrowing the place to entertain friends and would surely reciprocate afterward, the mountain god immediately calmed down. The old immortal wouldn’t bother scheming against a nobody like himself; this little mountain god wasn’t even worth it.
Next came a high-ranking official exuding an air of nobility, with several attendants who were qi cultivators of some accomplishment.
Then a young Daoist with a face like jade quietly ascended the mountain, accompanied by a master and disciple. The old man was low in cultivation and heavily injured, while the disciple was a tall, honest-looking youth.
Finally, the mountain god’s immediate superior appeared late at night: the city god of the prefectural city’s Chenghuang Pavilion, whose official position was akin to a provincial governor in the mortal world, overseeing all county and city god temples and mountain and river deities within the prefecture. However, the civil and military temples were exceptions, directly under the jurisdiction of the state’s Ministry of Rites. The two types of temples and the City God Temples never interfered with each other. As for which had higher rank or greater power, or who would take charge in emergencies, it varied from place to place.
Jinding Temple’s Abbot Du Hanling, Daquan’s Duke of Shen Gao Shizhen, and the Qihe City God.
Plus Shao Yuanran, who was both a disciple of Jinding Temple and a spiritual guardian of the Daquan Liu family.
The winter sun was mild and the scenery pleasant. The four of them gathered in a viewing pavilion atop a mountain that commanded an exclusive view.
The mountain god stood far away, ready to serve at any moment.
At the pavilion, they conversed happily.
After Duke Gao Shizhen descended the mountain, he returned to the Daquan capital, Shenjing City. His demeanor on the return journey was no longer gloomy and sullen as it had been on the way here.
The city god quietly returned to the Chenghuang Pavilion, the tallest building in Qihe City, and stared at the inn, his gaze icy, a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth.
Du Hanling stayed an extra day on the mountain.
Before leaving, he once again summoned his disciple, the Golden Core-hopeless True Man Yin Miaofeng, and his grand-disciple Shao Yuanran. Both master and disciple were currently at the Dragon Gate realm, so they couldn’t serve as first-rank guardians in Shenjing City; instead, they were stationed at the border, monitoring the Yao cavalry for the Daquan Liu family.
In addition to bestowing on Shao Yuanran a heavy treasure of the sect ahead of time—essentially an early reward for the Golden Core realm he should have attained—the Earth Immortal Du Hanling also revealed a confidential matter.
Even the normally reserved Shao Yuanran couldn’t hide his great joy. Yin Miaofeng grinned from ear to ear, stood up, and offered his master a respectful thanks on behalf of his disciple.
Du Hanling encouraged Shao Yuanran a few words, then rode the wind northward back to Jinding Temple. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to bestow on the mountain god a high-quality spiritual artifact.
The mountain god was naturally grateful, and after the old immortal had ascended on clouds, he even knelt at the mountain top, kowtowing in thanks from afar.
In fact, the mountain god’s seemingly obsequious and flattering manner appeared exaggerated, but it wasn’t entirely without reason. Obtaining a spiritual artifact wasn’t the most important thing; being able to latch onto Jinding Temple and make the acquaintance of an elusive Nascent Soul Earth Immortal—that was the greatest fortune for this humble mountain god shrine.
From now on, how could the assessment by the Chenghuang Lord of Qihe City be unfavorable?
The young Daoist Shao Yuanran left the master and disciple he had brought up the mountain to recover.
True Man Yin Miaofeng and Shao Yuanran did not enter the city together but returned to the inn at different times.
In a quiet courtyard on the mountain, the tall youth who had forcefully broken into the Military Temple to borrow a sword had a complicated expression. He sat on an embroidered stool beside the sickbed, his hands clenched into fists, as if struggling with a problem he couldn’t figure out.
His master lay on the bed recuperating. Though he was quite injured, making it impossible for now to engage in combat or slay demons, he could already walk on the ground without difficulty.
The old man’s face was pale, but his spirits were high, and his eyes were bright. He turned his head to look at his only disciple. “Taking in a good disciple is one difficulty; having that disciple’s cultivation go smoothly is another difficulty—no simpler than raising children at home. I have no children of my own, only you as my disciple. And your talent is far better than mine. If I don’t plan for your future properly, I won’t be able to rest easy even in death.”
The old man smiled. “I’ve already explained the reasoning and the process to you. As for how I got to know Jinding Temple, and why you happened to run into Little True Man Shao this time, don’t ask too many questions. Starting today, just cultivate diligently. Old Immortal Du personally helped you break through your bottleneck, allowing you to enter the middle five realms. Remember this kindness. To put it bluntly, Jinding Temple is a huge immortal cave. Even if you sincerely want to repay them, do they need you to? But you must still have that intention; otherwise, you won’t even qualify to be their dog.”
The tall youth’s eyes were wet. He lowered his head and said, “Disciple is useless. I’ve caused Master to suffer.”
The old man sighed and tapped his blockheaded disciple with a finger. “You still don’t get it. Oh well, if it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have taken you as my only disciple. Honestly, if I had encountered someone as brilliant as Little True Man Shao early on, I might not have dared to take him in. When a man meets the right circumstances, he transforms into a dragon. How could I, an Observing Sea realm cultivator, possibly control him?”
The tall youth, still at an age where he was competitive, said, “Master, I also have some hope of reaching the Dragon Gate realm at a young age.”
The old man scolded with a laugh, “Foolish child! Go out and cultivate. Your master is sick and injured, and I don’t want to play the lute for a cow!”
The tall youth hummed in acknowledgment, stood up, and took his leave.
When he reached the door, the old cultivator softly comforted him, “On the path of cultivation, some grievances are inevitable. What’s scary is spending a lifetime accumulating them. So you must go further and higher than your master, to suffer fewer grievances. The mountain god temple and viewing pavilion here aren’t high; coming from Tongye Prefecture to this Daquan Dynasty isn’t far. In this world, immortals and extraordinary people dwell only in higher places.”
The tall youth turned around and nodded. “I’ll remember.”
The old cultivator smiled. “If you can, when you reach a higher realm one day and can stand on equal footing with people like Old Immortal Du, remember to treat the common mortals below the mountain well.”
The youth, who had been sullen all along, suddenly smiled brightly. He nodded vigorously from the bottom of his heart.
The old man laughed. “Truly a foolish child!”
——
On the day before they departed for Shenjing City, someone came to visit Chen Ping’an.
It was a young Daoist wearing a Daoist robe and a lotus crown, travel-worn. Drinking a bowl of cold tea in Chen Ping’an’s room, he said that since he was the closest to Qihe City, he had the honor of receiving the patriarch’s decree to deliver something to Chen Ping’an.
The young Daoist, a disciple of Taiping Mountain, carefully took out a jade token.
After placing the jade token on the table, he explained its origin to Chen Ping’an. Without mincing words, he said, “The patriarch instructed me to make it clear: Young Master Chen need not worry that Taiping Mountain has tampered with the jade token to track your whereabouts. The patriarch has stripped it of the sect’s restrictions. It’s now just an item of somewhat better material. But of course, its external significance is extraordinary. So I hope that before you leave Tongye Prefecture, you will take the trouble to hang it at your waist daily.”
Chen Ping’an stood up to thank him. The Taiping Mountain Daoist quickly stood up to return the bow, repeatedly saying, “Don’t dare.”
Chen Ping’an put the jade token away and immediately hung it at his waist, on the opposite side from the Raising Sword Gourd.
He saw the young Daoist, who had openly announced his name and entered the inn, to the front gate.
Taiping Mountain’s intentions were profound.
This jade token, indicating a direct disciple of the Taiping Mountain Ancestral Hall, was engraved on one side with “Taiping Mountain cultivates the true self” and on the other “Ancestral Hall continues the incense flame.”
Even Golden Core and Nascent Soul Earth Immortals from Taiping Mountain might not necessarily get to wear it.
Because it had nothing to do with cultivation realm or age.
On the entire Taiping Mountain, only five or six people wore this jade pendant. The oldest was three hundred years old, now managing the temple’s Daoist book collection, yet only at the Dragon Gate realm. The youngest was a little Daoist boy of seven or eight, exceptionally gifted.
But the most famous wearer was undoubtedly the female Daoist Huang Ting, who traveled the world alone with a sword.
So from this moment on, Chen Ping’an’s protective talisman in Tongye Prefecture was the entire Taiping Mountain.
And that patriarch of Taiping Mountain, the old Heavenly Lord, had just displayed eye-catching immortal divine powers, manifesting a golden dharma body, holding a bright moon mirror, and driving a flying sword to slay an enemy a thousand miles away.
Who would dare to provoke the sharply honed Taiping Mountain at such a time?
Chen Ping’an sighed with deep emotion as he walked back to the courtyard.
Dressed in a white robe, with a jade hairpin in his topknot and a jade token hanging from his waist.
When the inn’s clerks saw Chen Ping’an on the road, they all took him for a scholar.
——
The Yao family departed for Shenjing City early that morning.
The closer they got to the famous ferry port of Shenjing City, the closer they came to the moment when Chen Ping’an and his party would part ways with the Yao family.
One evening, the Yao family stayed at the last inn on this northern journey. The inn was simple and rustic, somewhat crude, a world apart from the inn with the garden in Qihe City.
Along the official road outside the inn, about ten li away, there was a scenic mountain called Zhaoping Peak. Though not tall, it rose like a drawn sword, ideal for watching sunrises and sunsets. It was a famous scenic spot that attracted dignitaries and noble children, who often stayed overnight at inns on the summit to enjoy the breathtaking sight of the sun rising over the eastern sea and reflecting off the mountain screen.
Yao Zhen insisted on dragging Chen Ping’an to Zhaoping Peak, and only the three Yao family members joined him, not letting any of the accompanying military cultivators follow.
In the end, only the old general, the three Yaos, Chen Ping’an, and Pei Qian went to Zhaoping Peak. They climbed the mountain and spent the night in one of the summit inns.
Behind this inn was a viewing platform facing east, the best spot for viewing among the six inns on Zhaoping Peak.
They brought wine and late-night snacks from the inn, set them on the table, and planned to first admire the moon and then the sunrise.
The youth Yao Xianzhi joined Pei Qian, who held her walking stick, in their usual mischief, busy “sparring” with each other.
The girl Yao Lingzhi walked alone to the railing by the cliff, looking southward, seemingly a little melancholy.
The old general swore he’d stay up until sunrise, but after drinking two jugs of wine, he couldn’t outdrink Chen Ping’an and got himself drunk. Yao Jinzhi and Yao Lingzhi had to help their grandfather back to the inn.
Pei Qian and Yao Xianzhi had plenty of energy and would definitely see the sunrise.
Chen Ping’an sat alone at the table. He picked up the walking stick that Pei Qian had tossed aside and, out of boredom, drew circles in the dirt at his feet.
A small circle, a larger circle, an even larger circle, and another even larger circle.
Layer upon layer, circling around.
Chen Ping’an was deeply absorbed in it.
Yao Jinzhi had been standing behind Chen Ping’an for a long time. She asked, “Why don’t you keep drawing?”
Chen Ping’an put down the walking stick and leaned it against the stone table. Smiling, he said, “I can only draw this far.”
Yao Jinzhi sat down, poured herself a cup of wine, and after entering the inn, she had taken off her veiled hat. As she drank, her face scrunched up—the wine was clearly hard to swallow. After drinking, she glanced at the ground and said, “It’s hard to keep drawing, I think. I doubt any Confucian gentleman could keep drawing it either.”
Chen Ping’an shook his head, saying nothing, just looking toward the railing by the cliff where Yao Xianzhi and Pei Qian, one big and one small, were acting furtively as if discussing something.
Yao Jinzhi smiled and asked, “Won’t you ask me if I really understand what you drew, or if I’m just pretending?”
Chen Ping’an said softly, “Miss Yao probably knows.”
Yao Jinzhi hesitated, then poured herself another cup of wine and downed it in one gulp. Her face flushed, becoming even more radiant. She said slowly, “Between you and me, between families, between countries at war, between continents, between cultural traditions, between the three teachings, between the hundred schools of thought. Between one world and another, between humanity and the demons! You, Chen Ping’an, are thinking about the ‘principles’ you know, and just how many circles those two words can contain. Then you’ll walk along the trajectory of the outermost circle, going around and around, until you determine the boundary of the next circle, cross it, and keep walking! Only by doing this can you take every step with a clear conscience. Although it’s extremely tiring to handle people and affairs like this, your heart isn’t tired at all. So when you throw a punch or draw your sword, you can charge forward without hesitation. Only you, Chen Ping’an, can stand in an inn and tell a Confucian gentleman, with your hand on your heart, ‘I have examined myself!’”
Chen Ping’an turned to look at this woman and nodded. “Miss Yao, you are one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”
That was the truth.
Without “one of,” it would have been a flattering lie.
After all, setting aside everyone else, even his own “disciple” Cui Dongshan was not something Yao Jinzhi at her current level could match.
Yao Jinzhi, perhaps because of the two cups of wine she had drunk and her low tolerance, spoke with a hint of a different charm. She gazed at Chen Ping’an and asked softly, “In your eyes, is Jinzhi only smart?”
Chen Ping’an paused, then scratched his head. “Miss Yao, I already have a girl I like.”
Yao Jinzhi covered her mouth and laughed, not offended at all. Instead, she asked, “Is she very beautiful?”
Suddenly, Chen Ping’an’s spirits soared. Without hesitation, he said, “All the beautiful mountains and beautiful waters in the Haoran World put together are not as beautiful as her!”
Yao Jinzhi, seemingly without any hard feelings, smiled, drank a sip of wine, chatted about the customs of Shenjing City with Chen Ping’an for a while, and then took her leave.
After she turned around, this gorgeous woman walked toward the inn, her expression dark and unreadable.
Chen Ping’an did not turn his head. He kept his elbows on the table, leaning sideways, smiling at the moonlight in the distance.
His gaze was tender, as if he were looking at a girl, no longer able to accommodate any other beauty in this world.
The girl he liked was both the cinnabar mole on his heart and the moonlight.
Set a small goal, like 1 second to remember: