First Immortal of the Sword

“Young Lord, when you’re unhappy, your eyes are colder and more distant. It’s subtle, but really it’s very different from usual.

“Also, you usually like to spend your afternoons meditating, napping, or reclining in your wicker chair and staring off into space. The only thing you don’t like to do is go out for a stroll. Yet this time, you went out for a full four hours. That’s extremely unusual for you.

“Also, I’m a woman, and my intuition tells me that Miss Lingxue’s departure has left you in an strange mood. Am I right?” She spoke softly, not daring to meet Su Yi’s gaze.

Su Yi stared at her for a while, a bit stunned. Finally, he said, “Come on, let’s go eat.”

With that, he walked directly into the pavilion, but inside, he felt a bit strange. Has this woman already learned to read my emotions?

Dinner was sumptuous, and every dish was one of Su Yi’s favorites. There were also two ten-catty jugs of liquor. All in all, it was quite a tempting sight.

When he saw this, Su Yi nodded in satisfaction. “Tonight’s fare looks rather decent.”

Cha Jin rolled up her sleeves and scooped Su Yi a bowl of congee. She flashed him a winsome smile. “I’m just glad you like it.”

Next, she opened the first jar of wine and poured them each a full glass.

Beneath the lamplight, her skin was fair as snow. She was stunning, and her expression was gentle and soft.

Today, she wore an indigo muslin skirt, and her long hair was tied up, accentuating her long neck and outlining her exquisite features.

She was a feast for the eyes.

“Young Lord, cheers!” Cha Jin raised her cup and drained it. Her soft, suet-like complexion instantly flushed red.

Su Yi picked up his cup and drained it too. “How long has it been since you came to the Great Zhou?”

“A year, three months, and nineteen days,” said Cha Jin without even pausing to think.

Su Yi was stunned. “You remember in such detail?”

A trace of sorrow flashed across Cha Jin’s face. “The Great Zhou isn’t my home. I naturally feel lonely and isolated here. From time to time, I think about my friends and family and count the days since I last saw them. That’s why I remember so clearly.”

“A common sentiment.” Su Yi nodded.

“What about you, Young Lord? Do you ever miss your friends and family?” asked Cha Jin as she refilled their wine.

“I don’t,” said Su Yi casually.

“.....”

Su Yi took in her stunned expression, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “When the day comes that you step onto the path of the Great Dao, you’ll naturally understand. On this journey, only two things will accompany you every step of the way.”

This immediately piqued Cha Jin’s interest. “What two things?”

Su Yi took another drink, then said with casual understatedness, “Solitude and conviction.”

Just one sentence, but it sent waves coursing through his heart!

In the 108,000 years of his past life, he’d witnessed far too many deaths and partings. When he reached the pinnacle and reflected on his life, he realized that at the peak the Grand Dao, there was no one left to accompany him, and there hadn’t been for quite some time.

Cha Jin was instantly a bit confused. “In that case, why even pursue the Grand Dao?”

Su Yi thought about it, then said, “The mountain is right there in front of us, just waiting for someone to climb all the way to the peak. And in my eyes, there’s an even loftier Sword Dao out there just waiting for me to transcend.”

He said this, then shook his head and laughed dryly. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Cha Jin smiled. “I’ll try and wrap my head around it in the days to come.”

The lamplight was soft and gentle, and from time to time, the buzzing of insects and rustling of grasses drifted in from outside, adding an additional layer of tranquility.

The two of them chatted and ate. Before they knew it, they finished an entire jar of liquor.

For the first time, Cha Jin realized that although Su Yi was a man of few words, he was quite the talker when the mood struck him. His words were plain, open, and easy to understand, but they afforded much food for thought and contained arcane truths.

Especially when Su Yi let slip his insights into cultivation. This, more than anything, left her sighing in admiration.

Perhaps because she’d had too much to drink, Cha Jin spoke more brazenly than usual. After a while, she began airing a long list of grievances.

She said she was an outstanding disciple, and that she was the daughter of a Prefectural King of the Great Wei, and that while she might not be the most beautiful woman of her era, she’d never lacked admirers and suitors, yet Su Yi only saw her as a servant to order around and…

Su Yi was under the influence too.

This was his first time over-drinking since reawakening the memories of his past life.

As he listened to Cha Jin complain as if she were some kind of tragic victim, he couldn’t help but laugh dryly. This is called being ignorant of one’s own good fortune. How is becoming my servant any different from defying the heavens and changing your fate?

As soon as he thought this, Su Yi took out a piece of paper covered in compact handwriting and passed it over. “Take it.”

He seemed a bit tipsy, and he was already acting a bit frivolous, although it wasn’t yet to the point of abandoning all restraint. Still, this was noticeably different from his usual calm composure and indifference.

“What is it?” Cha Jin’s eyes were like limpid pools, and she was still stunning, but the alcohol had already taken its toll on her. She currently lay slumped over the table.

“See for yourself.” Su Yi rubbed his brow, feeling a bit dizzy. He realized that he couldn’t drink anymore, so he promptly rose to leave.

Who’d have thought that before he could, Cha Jin would reach out, grab his sleeves, and admonish him?

“Tonight, we won’t stop until we’re drunk! I won’t let you stop until I’ve drunk you under the table!”

Su Yi snorted coldly, returned to his seat, and picked up the second jar of wine. “Come on then! Go ahead and try it!”

Cha Jin stepped onto the stool and rolled up her sleeves, revealing snow-white arms. Her eyes were hazy with intoxication, but they now blazed with the will to fight. “Young Lord, don’t look down on me! I said I’d drink you into a stupor, and I will!”

This peerlessly beautiful woman’s cheeks were flushed, and her hair was in disarray. Under the influence of hard liquor, she displayed an aggressive, overbearing attitude she normally lacked.

When Su Yi saw this, he wasted no more words, and the two of them drank with abandon.

……

Su Yi was drunk.

It was as if he were in a trance. Everything was hazy and indistinct, but it seemed like he was having a particularly poignant dream.

In his dreams, he felt a searing heat envelop him and refuse to let go. Something blocked his mouth, making it hard to breathe, and he couldn’t help but struggle.

It was an instinctive reaction. In the face of imminent suffocation, anyone would choose to resist.

But afterward, he felt as if he were immersed in a soft, hazy cloud. Wave after wave of warm, indescribable comfort washed over him, soothing his soul and sublimating his mind and body. Soon, all of his vital energies obtained release….

Throughout that gaudy, multifaceted dream, he heard a series of indistinct sounds. They resembled plaintive cries, but also the warbling, joyous song of an oriole.

But just as he was on the verge of recognition, his awareness slipped back into a blurry haze.

He didn’t know how much time passed. All he knew was that his tongue felt dry and that there was a low ache in his skull. He suddenly opened his eyes.

He immediately discovered that something was amiss.

This wasn’t his room!

A delicate fragrance assailed his nostrils, startling him. He couldn’t help but turn to look.

Then, he saw that there was a woman lying beside him!

Her hair was in disarray, and her snowy shoulders were half exposed. Her head rested at an angle on the pillow, so he could only see half of her beautiful face. Her skin looked soft and delicate as suet, and her rosy lips were slightly pursed. The sound of her breathing was soft and gentle, like a snoring kitten.

A flower in repose.

Cha Jin!?

Last night….. Don’t tell me we….? Hm?

Su Yi struggled to recall. He could vaguely remember having a drinking contest with Cha Jin. In the end, Cha Jin couldn’t hold any more liquor, and she sprawled out in a drunken stupor.

Out of the goodness of his heart, he picked her up and carried her back to her room.

But then…..

After that, he didn’t remember anything at all.

Su Yi’s expression shifted erratically. He just wanted to know one thing: Did she bed me? Or did I bed her?

A little while later, Su Yi let out a breath of turbid air, then rose from that fragrant bed. Afterward, he saw both his and Cha Jin’s clothes scattered across the floor….

He rose, then walked up to the desk, and took a few sips of tea from the teapot sitting there. Afterward, he gathered up his clothes and left.

When he shut the door, Cha Jin’s eyes fluttered, and she woke from her deep slumber. She sighed, seemingly fully relaxed.

She struggled to sit up, then suddenly frowned and let out a low grunt. Her face flushed red, and her pretty eyes widened in a daze. Last night…

After a while, she sighed again, then muttered to herself, “I’ll never drink again. I was like a lamb in a tiger’s den. I let him take advantage of me, and I can’t even complain.”

Cha Jin glanced at the clothes scattered across the floor. She couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. He couldn’t even pick up my clothes too?

She got out of bed, but as soon as she stood, those long, curvaceous legs staggered, and she would have fallen if she hadn’t reached for the bedframe in time.

That bastard. Last night, he really went crazy…

When she took in her sorry state, she felt both bashful and upset, and she inwardly gnashed her teeth.

She then limped over and got dressed, wincing through the piercing pain before redoing her long, disheveled hair.

But as she left her room, she felt a bit guilty. She didn’t know how to face Su Yi when she saw him…

To her delight, Su Yi wasn’t currently in the pavilion.

Only after realizing this did she slip out to do the laundry, stealthy as a thief.

It was only after she wore clean clothes and she'd made herself up nice and neat that she worked up the courage to return to the first floor.

No one had cleaned up the cold leftovers from last night’s feast, and the smell of booze permeated the air.

Cha Jin felt a headache coming on. Do I have to clean all this too?

But as her gaze swept across the table, she saw that paper covered in tiny, densely-packed handwriting, and she froze momentarily before going over to examine it.

A long time passed before she looked away, but her heart was already surging with great waves of emotion.

This was the paper Su Yi gave to her last night. On it was the cultivation technique Su Yi had prepared for her, the “The Nine Profundities of Perceiving Chaos Sutra.” Every word was like a gem; it was incomparably miraculous.

By comparison, the legacy techniques of the Wheel of the Moon Sect were far too crude and coarse.

There was no doubt about it: the Nine Profundities of Perceiving Chaos Sutra was an inestimably priceless treasure!

Had Su Yi given this to her today, she would have been deeply displeased; she would have felt like she’d traded her body for it.

But obviously that wasn’t the case!

It’s definitely because I agreed to stay by his side yesterday. That’s why he took the time to prepare a present like this for me. And he did agree to instruct me in my cultivation… As Cha Jin thought to herself, she clutched the paper to her chest. Delight and happiness filled her chest, and her red lips curved up into a smile.

A beauty was a beauty, whether she smiled or frowned. She was a living example of this.

Meanwhile, by the side of the pond.

Su Yi leaned back into his wicker chair, watching the lotus flowers sway beneath the gentle light of dawn. He felt utterly languid and indescribably relaxed.

His only regret was that since he drank so much last night, he couldn’t remember any of it!

Seth's Thoughts

The Chinese title of this chapter is “酩酊大醉 海棠春睡”.

The first four characters just refer to a drunken stupor, but the other four are from a Su Shi poem. 海棠春睡 is also the Chinese translation of the film title, “Sleep, My Love.”

I am not finding anything in English that doesn’t look like it was run directly through google translate and I am not familiar with the poem, but in context, I’d guess the flower in question is a stand-in for one’s sleeping lover. Seems fitting!