Estranged

Song Nanyan, who could hardly process these “kittens or dogs”, not only felt treated unjustly but was even outraged.

Back then, he was accepted as a disciple seriously. Although he didn’t know that his teacher was a cultivator, after he was accepted, he followed his teacher, braving the wind and the rain all the time. After that, when he thought that his teacher had died, he even returned to his homeland to mourn over him, erecting a tomb for his teacher, and shedding some tears for him. Could this “dashixiong” be more concerned and loving?

But who was Song Nanyan? He had been occupying his position in government for several decades and had dealt with every kind of person. It had been a long time since he learned how to maintain a sweet smile on his face, even if howling winds and torrential rains were surging in his heart.

“Shifu, is this immortal my dashixiong?”

Song Nanyan seemed harmless, even a bit wronged after being jeered at, and his chin was a bit stiff. Rosy rays of the setting sun were helping him to act pitiably.

“According to the order I accepted you in, he is indeed your dashixiong. You can call him shixiong Yun.”

Changming looked at Yun Hai once but didn’t explain his complicated circumstances.

Song Nanyan followed his advice readily: “Nice to meet you, shixiong Yun. I was studying under our teacher for several years, but I didn’t know his status. I never learned the art of cultivation, and the teacher only taught me how to read the classics and conduct myself, but it was enough to give me an advantage through my whole life.”

Yun Hai smirked: “Then your fortune was very good, and you left yourself before he could expel you. And Zhou Keyi’s fate, tut-tut! Indeed, whoever hears it will grieve, whoever sees it will shed tears!”

Song Nanyan: ???

Changming said nonchalantly: “Your dashixionig Yun was wounded, so he is mentally unstable now, and talks nonsense. It will be fine when he recovers.”

Song Nanyan didn’t focus on Yun Hai’s words as well. He was busy saying everything he wanted to say: “I don’t know whether the teacher has other important matters which led him here? If there’s nothing, let your disciple fulfil his filial piety. I’ll respectfully ask you to stay here for a while. This disciple hasn’t seen you for so long, and we entered the palace before we could reminisce about old days. You don’t know it, but every day and night this disciple has been cherishing the memory of his teacher’s kindness. There is an ancient saying, peach and plum trees are silent, yet people beat a path to them. This disciple holds some power in the Luo Capital. A teacher for a day is a father for life. This disciple’s parents perished when I was young, so you’re like a father to me. Please, teacher, don’t refuse my request out of politeness!”

Peach and plum trees are silent, yet people beat a path to them: great people attract admiration

He finished speaking, but Changming didn’t answer, so he couldn’t help but urge him: “Teacher?”

Changming hummed: “This teacher is thinking that with your skill of talking glibly in an unceasing torrent, if you could turn every word into a soldier, you would have created an unparalleled, grand army.”

Song Nanyan thought, is this a new way you’re using to deride me by saying I’m too wordy?

He was a bit offended: “This disciple is already not that young. Although I don’t seem old because I was fortunate enough to have you teach me techniques of nourishing my health, I’m afraid it’s too late for me to enter a sect. But, so that you don’t disdain me, this disciple will serve you day and night, listening to your every instruction.”

Changming recalled why he accepted Song Nanyan as a disciple back then. One of the reasons was because Song Nanyan was sticking to him all day round, and started talking endlessly as soon as he got a chance to, using childish, youthful words to flatter Changming. Changming was vexed to the point he could no longer endure it, so he finally accepted Song Nanyan. When Changming named him Nanyan, he thought the latter would notice his flaw, and try to fix it. But he hadn’t anticipated that after several decades of not having seen each other, this chronic illness would strike again.

“I wish to visit You together with your shixiong Yun, so we can’t stay here for too long.”

“Why are you going to You?”

“The fifteenth day of the seventh moon is around the corner. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple is performing a puja ritual on this day, have you heard of it?”

Puja ritual: Budd. religious assembly. Monks gather and discuss Buddhism

Song Nanyan answered quickly: “I have. The puja on the fifteenth day of the seventh month is a very well-celebrated ritual in You, performed on a large scale. They say that it lasts for three days every year, and those who enter the Wanlian Buddhist Temple in these three days are not allowed to exit it.”

Changming: “Why?”

Song Nanyan: “This disciple isn’t clear about the reason. Master Kuhe is from a Buddhist sect as well, so he should know more. Why doesn’t Teacher return with me and have a rest, and then we’ll find the Zen master again and ask him about everything slowly.”

Before Changming could answer, Kuhe, Yue Chengbo and others had approached them.

“We are very thankful to the immortal for lending a hand in today’s matter. If you weren’t here, the imperial palace would have probably been turned upside down.”

After what happened today, even a proud person like Xie Chunxi would bow his stubborn head willingly.

They expressed their thanks to Changming.

Changming didn’t like to get entangled in secular etiquette, so he reacted unenthusiastically, and only asked Yue Chengbo: “Was there a disciple named Nie Emei in your Zhengling Clan in the past?”

“Where did this senior meet her?!”

Changming only asked this offhandedly and didn’t expect Yue Chengbo to react this strongly.

Back then, Nie Emei had told him that she came from the Zhengling Clan, and, as luck would have it, Yue Chengbo happened to be the master of the Zhengling Clan.

When Changming went to the past on the Void Shore, he had a short interaction with Nie Emei in Yuru Town.

“I was acquainted with her several decades ago.”

People often met, just like duckweeds on the surface of water, and few people left an impression on him. Nie Emei’s perception and determination were not bad, and, if nothing went wrong, her position shouldn’t be lower than that of Yue Chengbo.

“My shimei disappeared a long time ago. Thirty years ago, even on the birthday of our Shifu, she did not return to the sect. Some disciples of my sect have left it to travel around the world to look for her.”

The Zhengling Clan wasn’t a big sect, but its disciples all had good relationships with each other. Yue Chengbo and Nie Emei grew up together, and their friendship was even more affectionate.

Although Nie Emei had disappeared from the sect, her soul lantern still hadn’t gone out, so she was alive somewhere. However, the world was so vast, and many years had passed since then. Yue Chengbo had almost lost hope.

It was this way up until last year, when a disciple of the Zhengling Clan, Yue Chengbo’s shidi, brought back news: he came across Nie Emei in the Luo Capital.

Hope had reignited in Yue Chengbo’s heart once again, and he even went to the Luo Capital in person, agreeing to the empress dowager’s request to guard the Imperial City for three years, and she promised to help him in return.

After all, if the empress dowager controlled the imperial army, and gave the order to find this person, that was a bit faster than looking for her with a cultivator’s skills.

But a year had passed since then, and no news about Nie Emei had been received.

“Her soul lantern?” Changming asked.

“Sometimes it’s bright, and sometimes it’s dim. When it’s dim, there is only one ray left, as if it’s about to die out; when it’s bright, it’s like a vigorous fire. Ai, if it wasn’t for the lantern, we’d have thought that she’s already perished,” Yue Chengbo’s expression was gloomy, and his voice low, “Last year, my shidi told me that he saw a trace of her near the Celestial Library Pagoda.”

Originally, he only paid attention to the whole Luo Capital and was looking for her everywhere inside the city. But, after what they had been through when he heard that Changming and Kuhe were besieged by perils in the Celestial Library Pagoda, Yue Chengbo started to suspect that he had been wrong from the very beginning, and Nie Emei’s disappearance could be connected to the Treasured Celestial Library Pagoda.

Kuhe said: “This poor monk and the seniors haven’t seen other people inside the pagoda, and haven’t seen bodies of cultivators as well. Probably, daoyou Nie hasn’t entered the pagoda, and only went by.”

Yue Chengbo sighed: “In either case, I’m very thankful for the senior’s concern over her. Shimei Nie is a brisk and neat person, and she wouldn’t even hesitate to sacrifice her life for her friend’s, and we all love her. The path of cultivation is extremely dangerous. If she had an accident and quickly lost her life after that, it’s fine, but what’s frightening is…”

Is that since her soul lantern hasn’t died out, she was being tortured somewhere, unable to live if she wants to or die even if she begs for it.

Just like the emperor, whose souls were seized by the demon, which turned the former into a walking corpse—it was better to die than to be alive.

It depended on Nie Emei’s luck.

Xie Chunxi had been standing to the side for a long time, waiting for Yue Chengbo to finish his dull speech, and finally had a chance to speak his thoughts.

“Dare I ask the senior, the empress said that your name is Jiufang Changming. Are you actually that Jiufang Changming who used to be the master of the Yuhuang Temple?”

After Jiufang Changming’s identity was revealed, Kuhe and the others didn’t believe it too much. But they were saved by Changming just now and were afraid to hurt his feelings by asking questions that would put him in a difficult position. After all, all these years, this four-character name, Jiufang Changming, was associated with colluding with demons.

Kuhe and the others were either sect masters or elders and were proud of their own identities and experiences. They would be sceptical about this fact.

But the younger generation of cultivators was mostly influenced by their seniors and believed in this opinion firmly without any doubt.

Especially disciples of the Wanjian Immortal Clan, who regarded Changming as a human who betrayed his kind. Given the current influence of the Wanjian immortal Clan, it was easy to imagine how widespread this point of view had become.

Even feathers can drown a ship, if there’s too many of them, just like the right number of straws can break an axis; public clamour can melt gold, and accumulated slander wears the bone.

Even feathers can drown a ship, if there’s too many of them, just like the right number of straws can break an axis: from “Strategies of the Warring States”: a combination of insignificant efforts can work out miracles

Public clamour can melt gold, and accumulated slander wears the bone: from “Guoyu”: slanders can kill

“It’s me.”

Hearing the admission of his status from Changming’s mouth, Xie Chunxi still couldn’t help but be shocked.

This person in front of his eyes was a figure of legends.

Whether Changming was betraying humanity, or inspiring awe throughout the world, it had nothing to do with Xie Chunxi back then. He was a mere nobody from the Jinque Daoist Temple and didn’t stand out at all. He had no chance of getting acquainted with Jiufang Changming.

“Since the senior attacked the demon just now, it’s obvious there’s no compatibility between them. Why haven’t we heard about you all these years, and you haven’t come out to clear the misunderstanding?”

When Xie Chunxi was young, his aptitude wasn’t high, and he attracted no attention among the disciples of the Jinque Daoist Temple, receiving no special treatment from his Shifu. So, he was drifting along with the situation, passing his days idly.

Until one day, when he went down the mountain and was pushed around by others. At that time, he happened to hear cultivators discussing the newly appointed head of the Yuhuang Temple, Jiufang Changming, who cut a dashing figure. Xie Chunxi was impressed, and from that time, worked hard to get close to that senior’s level, finally taking over his shifu’s mantle and becoming the mentor of the Jinque Daoist Temple.

Xie Chunxi was a very complacent person by nature and offended many people while wandering through the Jianghu. But his cultivation level was high, and few people could handle him; moreover, Xie Chunxi had a reputation as well.

When Jiufang Changming was the strongest person in the world, Xie Chunxi didn’t like mentioning him, because it felt like flattery; when Jiufang Changming was in dire straits, Xie Chunxi was disappointed and felt a sense of loss.

Xie Chunxi thought he had judged Changming wrong. After many years, he got older and felt that this matter was not that simple, and it was difficult to solve.

That was how it was until now when he met his role model he had admired with all his heart in his youth.

“He wasn’t in the Human World, how was he supposed to clear his name? If you cared, why didn’t you help clear up the matter on his behalf?”

A taunting voice sounded. It did not belong to Changming, but to Yun Hai who was dozing off at the side.

He was indeed utterly tired and didn’t even have the strength to chatter with Song Nanyan. He was leaning drowsily on the chair.

After taking a short rest, he had come back to his senses. He was smiling mockingly, but his eyes were cold like ice.

“The one who behaves like a demon isn’t necessarily a demon in their heart, and the one who behaves like a Buddha isn’t necessarily a Bodhisattva. Which type are you? Since you already know the answer, why would you ask such a hypocritical question?”

“I…”

Xie Chunxi was angered and opened his mouth to retort, but, just when he wanted to say something, his anger dissipated.

Of course, he had doubts about what happened this year, but it was also true that he didn’t dare talk against the Wanjian Immortal Clan’s judgement. Jiang Li resembled Jiufang Changming back then. He was as lofty as a mountain, and was like a statue of a deity.

No, his standing was on even firmer ground than Jiufang Changming, because Jiang Li had countless fans by his side, which covered him with another layer of gold. Surrounded by guards from every side, Jiang Li was a flawless master of the Wanjian Immortal Clan, and not a single strain of slander could smear him.

Perhaps, Jiang Li’s cultivation was somehow lower than Jiufang Changming’s at his most glorious days, but his position and influence were far greater.

Perhaps, he was even more powerful than a secular emperor ruling over the whole world.

Yun Hai seemed to have guessed his thoughts. He only sneered coldly and restored his relaxed pose.

Xie Chunxi was embarrassed: “Many thanks for your guidance, daoyou. This Xie believed in empty words and made a misjudgment, making others laugh at him.”

Yun Hai lowered his head as if he wasn’t listening to Xie Chunxi’s words at all.

Changming didn’t care about it. To begin with, he simply didn’t mind whatever the world was saying about him, and words didn’t influence his actions. Whether Xie Chunxi realized the truth or not couldn’t change Changming’s Dao and cultivation.

“Don’t leave now, there’s another matter,” he said.

Kuhe: “Senior, what’s wrong?”

Changming: “There’s no doubt the existence of the Celestial Library Pagoda was anticipated by the enemy. With a formation that big, if one calculates the divination in advance, and chooses the right position on the place where winds and waters meet, its effect of gathering souls will be spread over the widest range possible. I’ve sent people to search for clues around the city, and expect to have the results within a day.”

Just when he finished talking, a bright five-colour light ignited near the Imperial Palace.

Five-color: white, black, red, yellow, and blue

In a moment, Xu Jingxian, supported by her flattering thin silk, appeared in front of them. The ignorant palace maidens even mistook her for a descending fairy due to her stunning beauty.

“At last, here I am, tired to death!”

Xu Jingxian took away her thin silk, wiping off the nonexistent sweat from her forehead, and breathing heavily.

She hadn’t been to the imperial palace, so she couldn’t teleport here using her Yulin Bell, and had to come here on her own from the outside.

“Senior, I looked through the four directions outside the city walls as you asked me to, and found something.”

Of course, ordinary palace guards couldn’t stop her. Since a mishap had taken place here today, it would inevitably lead to disturbances. However, when Kuhe saw she was familiar with Changming, he explained the situation to the others.

But Xu Jingxian continued to wipe off her sweat and sigh in front of Changming, assuming a sort of tired stance that even Xie Chunxi couldn’t help asking whether she needed to take a rest. Only Changming was standing still with his sleeves rolled up, completely unperturbed, and was looking up at the sky.

Xu Jingxian didn’t say anything, and he didn’t take the initiative to ask.

She said angrily: “You aren’t going to ask me what I found and whether it’s dangerous?”

Changming: “You haven’t returned here unharmed. Whether I ask or not, you’ll tell me anyway.”

Xu Jingxian felt wronged: “My thin silk is gone, and I couldn’t find a substitute that fast. Now, I had to run around the entirety of the Luo Capital, my legs are almost broken!”

Changming raised his chin: “Then you should go squeeze together with daoxiong Yun, his chair is big.”

Who would Xu Jingxian be, if she dared to sit near Yun Hai? The latter looked at her once, opening his eyes for a moment, and she couldn’t help but hide behind Changming.

This cursed man, no wonder he’s been a bachelor all his life!

She was brimming with grudges and didn’t even know who she was scolding.

“I searched in the four directions, east, south, west and north, and found four Dragon Pillars.”

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By the way, Xie Chunxi had a history with Xu Jingxian in the past, does anyone still remember it →_→