Chapter 710: Only Drive Away Dragons and Snakes, Not Mosquitoes
Inside the Jise Peak Ancestral Hall, Liu Shiliu looked up at the three hanging portraits that received the incense offerings of Luopo Mountain, and remained silent.
Chen Nuanshu fetched a bamboo incense tube, raising it high with both hands. Liu Shiliu said a word of thanks, bent his head, and picked out three incense sticks from the tube.
Zhou Mili told the big man that if he got tired later and needed to rest, he could sit in her chair.
The little girl in black pointed to a seat. On the back of the chair was pasted a palm-sized slip of paper that read, "Right Guardian, Zhou Mili."
Liu Shiliu nodded.
Chen Nuanshu tugged at Little Mili's sleeve, and together they left the Ancestral Hall, leaving Liu Shiliu alone.
They went out the main gate of the shrine, then passed through the outer gate of the Ancestral Hall. A plain and elegant Sword Immortal Mi Yu, dressed in a long blue gown, and Wei Bo, the Mountain Lord in a snow-white robe with golden earrings, stood side by side outside the great gate. They were like orchids and jade trees, twin-born before the hall steps.
Mi Yu asked via heart-message: "How did you know who he was? The Hidden Official has never mentioned this before."
Wei Bo explained. Earlier, when Mr. Bai had neared the Northern March region, he had proactively reported his name to Piyun Mountain, saying, "Bai Ye brings a friend, Liu Shiliu, to visit Luopo Mountain." And that Liu Shiliu claimed to be half of Chen Ping'an's senior brother, coming here to offer incense to his teacher's portraits.
Mi Yu teased, "Speaking of that Bai Ye, Wei-zhang is so excited?"
Wei Bo laughed. "A Sword Immortal who is not a sword cultivator—who wouldn't yearn for that?"
There weren't many people Wei Bo admired. One was Bai Ye, another was A Liang, who inscribed characters on the Sword Qi Great Wall, and also the great god of Middle Earth's Sui Mountain.
Mi Yu shook his head. "In my homeland, there's not much discussion about this man."
Of course, it wasn't that he thought that scholar's reputation was unearned; rather, Bai Ye simply drew his sword too few times for there to be much to say.
Aside from that time when a single sword stroke brought down the Yellow River waterfall from the sky, in the long years that followed, Bai Ye seemed to have no other achievements.
It wasn't until this time that he appeared on Fuyao Continent, already part of the Barbarian Heaven's territory, and with three sword strokes slew a Nighthood Great Demon.
Actually, between those two sword strikes, Fiery Dragon True Lord visited that island isolated overseas, after which Bai Ye quietly traveled far with his sword, and with one stroke slew a flying-ascension realm great demon in the Central Continent.
Mi Yu looked toward the gate. That big fellow who had come from afar, after lighting the three incense sticks, raised them above his head. He did not place them into the incense burner for a long time, probably muttering to himself.
Mi Yu was quite envious of this Liu Shiliu. As soon as he arrived at Luopo Mountain, he could burn incense and bow to the portraits.
Mi Yu, who went by the alias Yu Mi and was a Jade Realm Sword Immortal, had been on Luopo Mountain for so long but had never offered incense inside the Jise Peak Ancestral Hall. But he couldn't blame anyone for that—Mi Yu himself had said he would wait until the Hidden Official returned home, and when there were more people on Luopo Mountain, then he would have "Mi Yu" recorded in the Ancestral Hall register. That delay had stretched on for several years. Mi Yu was genuinely a bit annoyed. After all, on Luopo Mountain, there were plenty of tasks. Accompanying Little Mili while cracking sunflower seeds and watching the clouds come and go, or strolling on the circle of white jade railings outside the Mountain God's shrine—if he got too bored, he'd go to the blacksmith's forge by the Longxu River to chat with the equally lazy Liu Xianyang about the intricacies and knowledge of the "mirror flowers, water moon" illusions among immortal sects. He was thinking of dragging in Wei Bo the Mountain Lord, the Offering Zhou Fei, and that white-robed youth, to seek an auspicious opening for business, to at least earn some immortal coins for Luopo Mountain and supplement the mountain's spiritual energy.
But these things, while amusing and comfortable, offered too few opportunities to do serious work.
Mi Yu really wanted to get to know that Water God Empress of the Embroidery River, and maybe find a chance to sneak a look—to use a single sword strike to open her golden body and see just how bold she actually was.
Back home, Mi Yu had very few opportunities to interact with the true gods of landscape. But here on Vase Bottle Continent, shrines and deities were everywhere.
He had long wanted to visit that fox kingdom in Qingfeng City. As for the city lord Xu Hun, Mi Yu considered him a half-kindred spirit, because Xu Hun was said to be a man who wallowed in the midst of cosmetics and powder. Mi Yu was even more eager to confirm whether the city lord, who contended with the Wind Thunder Garden's Huang He for the title of "Number One Below the Upper Five Realms" on Vase Bottle Continent, was still wearing that mole-ridge armor that had once been a heirloom of Liu Xianyang's family—and whether it still fit after all these years.
As for Zhengyang Mountain, which on Vase Bottle Continent was known as "Every Sword Path Reaches the Summit, Ten Peaks Ten Sword Immortals," a founding elder Sword Immortal had just emerged from seclusion. At the time, Mi Yu was napping with Liu Xianyang by the riverside forge. When he heard Liu Xianyang say "old Sword Immortal," Mi Yu was startled, and just as he was weighing whether he, a Jade Realm cultivator from the Sword Qi Great Wall, might have a chance to exchange lives with a Vase Bottle Continent Immortal Realm cultivator, Liu Xianyang handed him that landscape gazette, a special congratulatory edition for mountain cultivators, with gold-inked characters on blue pages.
Mi Yu looked at the gazette, with all its effusive praise—it seemed as if that old fellow hadn't just entered Jade Realm, but the Ascension Realm. Mi Yu was puzzled. Damn it, you make a minor breakthrough to Jade Realm, and it takes you a hundred years of seclusion? The reason I was honored as the Embroidery Great Sword Immortal on the Sword Qi Great Wall and won the reputation of "Number One in Jade Realm" was largely because my seclusion took half a year longer than expected!
Mi Yu felt his sword would rust. If Bai Ye hadn't visited with Liu Shiliu this time, Mi Yu might have forgotten that his own life-bound flying sword was called Radiance Fills the Sky.
Ordinary Dao seekers or mountain spirits—like the black serpent from Qidun Mountain, which had the same origins as Wei Bo, or the great python from Huanghu Mountain—wouldn't feel that time passed too slowly. But who was Mi Yu? A "embroidered pillow" who could get drunk on clouds and fall asleep without bothering to practice swordsmanship even on the Sword Qi Great Wall. After arriving on Vase Bottle Continent, especially after parting ways with Wei Jin from the Wind and Snow Temple to travel afar, Mi Yu always felt farther and farther away from the Sword Qi Great Wall. He didn't even dream of becoming a Great Sword Immortal, since he didn't even know where the bottleneck to Jade Realm was.
Truth be told, going by Mi Yu's own nature, if he didn't know, he didn't know. It didn't matter. Whether he became an Immortal Realm or not, he'd just go with the flow. If Heaven wanted to give it to him, fine; if not, he wouldn't ask. If given, he'd accept.
But on Luopo Mountain, the Hidden Official wasn't on the mountain, the steward Zhu Lian wasn't there either, and even Zheng Dafeng, who watched the gate, was traveling far away. In the end, only Nuanshu and Little Mili were left, along with some children who had just started learning boxing, or else spirits and ghosts that Mi Yu didn't like dealing with. So Mi Yu inexplicably became the temporary backbone of Luopo Mountain, which felt a bit strange to him.
After all, back in his homeland on the Sword Qi Great Wall, Mi Yu was long accustomed to the presence of so many old Sword Immortals and Great Sword Immortals. Even if the sky fell, he wouldn't be afraid. Moreover, Mi Yu had an older brother, Mi Hu, a genius sword cultivator who had a chance to rank among the top ten peak Sword Immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Mi Yu was used to being casual, used to not taking anything to heart. So he really missed those days in the Summer Palace and the Spring Banner Studio when the young Hidden Official told him to do something and he did it. And the key was that every time Mi Yu did something, he received rewards big and small afterward.
Mi Yu suddenly sighed with emotion: "If this keeps up, I'm really going to coast through life until I die. Sunbathing and cracking sunflower seeds—those things are way too addictive."
For some reason, on Luopo Mountain, perhaps because he had adapted too well to this place, Mi Yu felt he had fallen into what the books called "spring slumber."
Especially the two daily patrols around the mountain with Zhou Mili—that was the most interesting thing.
Wei Bo hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Are you planning to take a look at Old Dragon City?"
Mi Yu glanced at the sky and shook his head. "I was planning to before, but now I really can't bear to leave Luopo Mountain. Luopo Mountain is too close to Piyun Mountain; it's very easy to attract those ancient remnants."
Wei Bo nodded. "This Northern March of mine is the only territory that hasn't been invaded by the ancient gods. We need to be very, very careful."
Inside the Ancestral Hall, after Liu Shiliu had offered incense, he closed his eyes and muttered again.
Zhou Mili, shouldering the golden carrying pole and holding the green bamboo staff, said to Sister Nuanshu with great seriousness: "That half senior brother of the Mountain Lord—he's so tall, and he looks really strong. And this is just half! If he were a whole one, wouldn't that be something?!"
Chen Nuanshu had several keys hanging from her waist. She said helplessly, "'One and a half' doesn't mean that."
The little girl in black raised both eyebrows, delighted. "Sister Nuanshu, I was telling you a joke! Didn't you catch that? I said it for nothing."
Chen Nuanshu squinted her eyes with a smile and gently patted Little Mili, who was shorter than her. "Mili is a bit smarter today than yesterday. Keep it up tomorrow."
Zhou Mili nodded vigorously. "Right, right, right. Pei Qian said, ambition doesn't depend on age, and cleverness doesn't depend on height."
Liu Shiliu left the Ancestral Hall, stepping over two thresholds, and said to Chen Nuanshu with a smile, "You can lock the doors now."
The little girl in the pink skirt nodded and went to close the inner door first. Little Mili hesitated for a moment, then followed Sister Nuanshu to take care of business first. As for exactly how to entertain the honored guest Liu Shiliu, she would have to take her time and think it over carefully.
Liu Shiliu cupped his fists and bowed to Mi Yu and Wei Bo in thanks. "My junior brother hasn't been on the mountain for many years. I am grateful for your care of him."
Mi Yu said, "Mr. Liu, no need to be polite. I am already an Offering of Luopo Mountain."
Wei Bo also said, "My becoming the Great Li Northern March Mountain Lord is all thanks to A Liang. I am also good friends with Chen Ping'an. A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. A few small matters are nothing."
Liu Shiliu said, "No need to call me 'Mr.' That's too much. Just call me Junqian. Although it's also an alias, on the Bright World, I've always used this name externally."
——
In the backyard of the Yang Family Medicine Shop, smoke curled up.
Old Man Yang took the long tobacco pipe from his waist and stood up to welcome them.
It was the Old Scholar and Bai Ye arriving together.
Previously, Bai Ye had already left the continent and entered the sea, but the persistently pestering Old Scholar stopped him, insisting on dragging him here to sit for a while.
Bai Ye recalled that Dao affinity from the late Yuanbao era at the homeland's Spring Bright Gate, so he didn't refuse the Old Scholar's invitation.
If we say that Chen Chun'an of Nansouth Potala Continent alone embodied the term "pure Confucian."
Then Bai Ye alone occupied the meaning of "immortal being."
With supreme swordsmanship and perfect cursive script, clearly already peerless in poetry, yet he also let lyrics and musical pieces spread, startling later generations. They always thought them forgeries attributed to him, yet never dared to be certain, turning them into case after case of unresolved mysteries.
In the end, there was only one explanation: an immortal being—what couldn't he do?
When the Old Scholar reached the courtyard, he immediately clenched his fists, raised them high, and shook them vigorously, his smile brilliant. "Only today do I have the fortune to meet Azure Lad Celestial Lord. I've lived my life for nothing, but at least I didn't die for nothing."
Old Man Yang rarely smiled. "Literary Sage, your grace is undiminished from years past."
For a fourteenth-realm cultivator to merge with the Dao of heaven and earth was quite particular. It was not simply a matter of seeking magnitude.
What truly made Old Man Yang think highly of this former Literary Sage was that his place of merging with the Dao was Nansouth Potala Continent, Tongye Continent, and Fuyao Continent.
Not the stable territories of Central Continent, Aiai Continent, Liuxia Continent, and the like.
Now two continents had fallen, so this Old Scholar before him was not in an easy position.
Bai Ye only nodded slightly in greeting to Old Man Yang.
Old Man Yang did not exchange pleasantries with Bai Ye either.
But the Old Scholar had no intention of letting Bai Ye off. He fumbled in his sleeve and brought out a carefully preserved scroll of letters, handing it to Old Man Yang with a chuckle. "This is the 'Late Yuanbao Era' post, also known as the 'Proud Copybook.' The genuine work, absolutely genuine. It wouldn't be right to visit without a gift. The gift is not light, and the affection is even heavier."
Old Man Yang unrolled most of it. It was about the late Yuanbao era, when Bai Ye, drunk in the daytime, leaned against Spring Bright Gate and fell asleep, dreaming of traveling the starry river together with the Azure Lad Celestial Lord in a raft. When the wine wore off and the dream ended, moved by the moment, he composed this poem.
Old Man Yang rolled up the running script scroll and put it into his sleeve.
Originally, this would have been a matter of mutual understanding between Bai Ye and Old Man Yang that needed no words.
But after all this fuss from the Old Scholar, it had lost all its lingering charm.
Unexpectedly, the Old Scholar shamelessly began to boast. "Azure Lad Celestial Lord might as well unroll it and take a look. The brilliance of this scroll is in the back. Besides the Embroidery Tiger cipher stamp of Cui Chan, there is the 'Spring Breeze' book stamp of Young Qi, and the somewhat abrupt two characters 'Junqian,' and finally the seal 'Looking Left and Right, the Understanding Isn't Far.'"
Old Man Yang did not take out the scroll again, but accepted the sentiment.
Old Man Yang said, "After the sages created characters, aside from the eight who had the merit of pioneering a style, no one else in the world of calligraphy has attained the Dao or become a true master. They are the bottom of the dregs."
It was obvious that the old man did not recognize calligraphers' status at the forefront of the middle nine streams. He even felt that calligraphers were not even qualified to be ranked among the various schools of thought.
The Old Scholar was famous for being able to pick up any topic and turn it around. He nodded vigorously. "These words are hard to hear, but they are the truth. Cui Chan had a similar lament in his early years, saying that the so-called great calligraphers of the present age were nothing but ghostly scribbles. A snail's shell, yet they want to churn up rivers and seas—if that's not making mischief, what is?"
Bai Ye was well aware that several pioneering ancestors of calligraphers had fairly good relationships with the Old Scholar. Cui Chan's "a single character worth a thousand gold" didn't come from nowhere. In his early years, the Old Scholar took Cui Chan traveling around the world, collecting favors all along the way. No matter how good the rubbings of ancient steles were, they ultimately separated the viewer from the true spirit of the original by a pane of paper. But with the Old Scholar's help, Cui Chan was able to witness the handwriting of those calligraphy ancestors in person.
Big brother, write a few more scrolls. Use this wine inspiration, write more. Whatever comes to mind, just write it. Calligraphy and letters, the more down-to-earth the content, the more appealing. "Bought a few catties of oranges," "Had a few meals today," "Wind and rain," "Took the opportunity to go up to the balcony," "Today's bamboo shoots were a bit bitter to cook"—write as much as you can. If nothing else, just say you met me today, an old friend generous enough to give you a basket of pears, making you weep with gratitude...
It would definitely be enshrined as a family heirloom! Big brother, what's with that look? Am I the kind of person who sells things for money as soon as I step out the door? Would big brother make a friend like that?
I'll write the prose, you write the calligraphy—we two brothers are a perfect match. All that's missing is a big-shot book merchant to help with engraving and selling. Then the three of us together would be absolutely invincible under heaven.
As for the eight pioneers the Azure Lad Celestial Lord mentioned, Bai Ye roughly knew them: the great seal script Tai Shizhou, the small seal script Li Tonggu, the clerical script Yuan Cen, the draft script Shi Jijiu, the modern cursive script Zhang Chunhua, the wild cursive script Zhang Huai, the regular script Wang Zhong, and the small regular script Zhong Yao. Among them, only Cui Chan was "not doing his proper job," writing casually; his cursive script was the most famous. In fact, Cui Chan's small regular script was extremely sublime. The sutras he copied were the treasures of many major Buddhist temples in the Central Continent.
The Old Scholar turned around and sat on the long bench in the corridor under the eaves. He reached out and patted the bench. "Sturdy."
Old Man Yang asked, "Literary Sage, besides asking me to pass this scroll to Luopo Mountain and have more seals added, what else do you want to do?"
The Old Scholar replied, "Nothing else, just to express my thanks to you, senior."
Old Man Yang certainly didn't believe that.
The Old Scholar wasn't in a hurry to contradict himself. He looked left and right.
Probably in the early years, Young Qi and Little Peace had both sat here. When the teacher wasn't by his side, and the student sat here alone, it wasn't to rest, nor could he rest easy—it was still quite hard.
The three of them looked up at almost the same time.
On the sky curtain of Vase Bottle Continent, a huge hole appeared. A golden-bodied god slowly poked its head out. For thousands of miles around that part of the sky, countless golden lightning bolts interwove like a net. Its gaze seemed to fall on the Piyun Mountain area of the Northern March.
The Old Scholar stamped his foot. "Brother Bai, Brother Bai! A provocation! This bastard is absolutely provoking you! Do you need me to shout 'Bai Ye is here' for you?"
Bai Ye said calmly, "Liu Shiliu is there."
The Old Scholar stood up and rubbed his hands together. "That big dummy is empty-handed, he'll be at a disadvantage. If only Brother Bai had an immortal sword..."
But even as the Old Scholar spoke.
A burly figure originally on Jise Peak of Luopo Mountain was first sent by Mountain Lord Wei Bo to a quiet border area within the Northern March territory. Then, within a hundred miles, the earth ox turned its back with a great roar, and the figure shot straight upward in a single line.
Wei Bo wiped the sweat from his forehead. Just sending that man calling himself "Junqian" to the border of his jurisdiction was this exhausting?
He hadn't been the Earth God of Qidun Mountain for a long time; he was now a continent's Northern March Grand Mountain Lord! If it was this much trouble, was Liu Shiliu's "Dao" too absurdly heavy?
The figure turned into a rainbow light, shooting upward, soaring straight to the highest point of the sky curtain.
Since the ancient god was high up on the sky curtain, far from the ground, it was not yet suppressed much by the Great Dao. It was a true behemoth, like a great mountain suspended in the high sky.
The Old Scholar laughed and cursed. "This big dummy, he always fights in the way that's most disadvantageous to him. Far worse than his junior brother. But this momentum of charging forward without looking back—that's quite impressive."
On the sky curtain of Vase Bottle Continent, the great god remnant, as huge as a mountain, was simply smashed open by that figure as tiny as a mustard seed. That infinitely small figure continued to punch the lofty god relentlessly. For a time, thunder boomed in the sky. In the end, the uninvited guest's hand, arm, and head all shattered instantly.
Nearly half of the continent's high sky was splattered with countless golden raindrops. Before they could fall to the mortal world, most of the golden body fragments had already vanished, dissolving into heaven and earth. Then, as if drawn by an invisible Dao, the remaining golden rain almost all fell on the lands for a thousand miles around Piyun Mountain. But just as they were about to land and merge into the landscape, the golden light flashed and disappeared. This stunned many landscape gods, immortals, and cave paradises. Could it be that the great Mountain Lord Wei had intercepted it? Some high-level adepts immediately observed the mountains and rivers with their divine powers, looking again at Piyun Mountain. It seemed that the landscape's spiritual energy hadn't increased much either. How strange.
On the steps of Qilong Alley, a smiling woman flicked her sleeve, which streamed with golden light, but the phenomenon quickly vanished.
The Old Scholar said, "I'll trouble you to lead the way, senior."
Old Man Yang nodded.
Liu Shiliu's mind stirred. He plummeted sharply, and just before nearing the mortal ground, he suddenly shrank mountains and rivers for thousands of li, arriving at the medicine shop's backyard in the small town.
There he saw the Old Scholar, who was already standing on the long bench. Liu Shiliu's eyes reddened. It was fortunate that he had already cried in the Jise Peak Ancestral Hall, or else it would have been even more embarrassing now.
The Old Scholar stood on the bench, stroking his beard and smiling.
Liu Shiliu walked quickly, tears welling up, and bowed, his voice clear: "Junqian pays respects to Teacher!"
Among the four students of yore, Cui Chan was restrained, Zuo You sharp, Qi Jingchun best inherited the Literary Sage's true teachings, and Liu Shiliu was the most silent, yet also the most true to his nature.
The Old Scholar patted the stalwart man on the shoulder, then jumped off the bench. He stroked his beard and nodded with a smile. "As expected of Brother Bai Ye's good brother, and my good disciple! Well said—'Only Drive Away Dragons and Snakes, Not Mosquitoes'!"