Flying Dust

The cold air came directly to the face, the person’s face was wrinkled by the blow. 

Mo Feichen1 breathed through his nose and opened his eyes, as if the world were enveloped in a silvery white, he struggled a bit before he found himself wrapped around in something that appeared to be a small quilt. He looked carefully around…he was actually being carried as that person walked. 

This…what is actually happening? 

Obviously, his mom caught him reading a martial arts (Wu Xia) novel before the college entrance exam so she roared with rage and almost overturned the table while he dodged it to the left and right yet he still seemed to be tragically hit by that one volume edition book of Jin Yong2 … 

He admitted that he had passed out, but after he woke up, how come it was not the ceiling of his own home, nor was he placed on the one-meter wide single bed? even that Yaksha kind of Mother Superior …was not with him?

He moved his own neck with difficulty. That quilt-like (play)thing wrapped too tightly around him. Could it be that, after being hit by his old mom, he sprained his neck and it needed to be fixed?

It can’t be, right? 

Mo Feichen realized that the person in front of him had an extremely classical and elegant face, her slightly wrinkled eyebrows were like the willow leaves in the second month of the lunar year, the tip of her nose was small but the bridge of the nose was very high, her pursed red lips were soft and attractive. He then looked at the bun, Mo Feichen was stricken dumb by it …This hairstyle combed really nice, it certainly didn’t look like the thick plaster wig in the ancient costume TV drama. On the contrary, it was simple and poised. He looked at the collar again… the cyan lining collar folded inside and the outer lining had some peach blossom pattern in it. 

What a beautiful woman! Mo Feichen moved his body again but he suddenly realized…he became a baby and he was being held by this woman!

What’s actually going on? 

Is he dreaming? He must be dreaming! It was obviously summer and he was still blowing the electric fan, so how could it suddenly become a winter? Was it possible that the moment he was hit unconscious, his family also transported him from Nan Fang (Southeast part) to Heilongjiang3? 

Wake up quickly, please! 

The woman stumbled and fell, with the child in her arms also fell out.

After that dizziness combined with the blurred vision, Mo Feichen sadly found himself still in that swaddling clothes. That woman got up, her hair was a little messy as she picked him up and weighed the baby in her arm. She seemed to be afraid that the baby would feel pain. 

“Son, Please forgive me! The fall hurts, right?”

Not really that hurt, just awfully dizzy… and moreover I am not your son!

Of course, if my mother can be really gentle and beautiful like this, I also don’t have any objection. 

Mo Feichen tried to speak, but helplessly only let out a babbling sound. Could it be that when he became a baby, his speech ability also degenerated along with it?

Ai, you say, this beautiful woman, what are you going to do by taking the child wandering outside blindly in this kind of extremely cold weather?

The woman held him and continued to walk forward.The roadside tree branches could not hold the weight of the accumulated snow, one after another, it fell and scattered sparsely into the snowfields. You could occasionally see several cottages, curling smoke (from kitchen chimneys), thatched roofs, brick houses… Mo Feichen knew that he was definitely not in the modern world right now. 

Okay, he admitted he was obsessed with martial arts novels, after all, in the novel, it was likened to ‘a heavenly steed, soaring across the skies’ [bold, imaginative, or unconstrained], it was pleasing and there was also ‘debt of gratitude coupled with duty to avenge’ that many boys fantasize about. However, on such a cold day, no heating equipment, not to mention internet, a computer, a comfortable room and a modern society.

God, I know that I didn’t improve. 

But as long as God is willing to give me another chance, I am willing to never read martial arts novels and honestly take the college entrance exams, to be “a good youth”! (no smoking, no drinking, no whoring, no gambling, no reading light novels)

This moment, a man with a conical bamboo hat driving a bullock cart passed by, half of the cart was full of firewood. Seeing the woman walking with so much difficulty, he immediately stopped.

“This young lady, where are you going? If it’s convenient, I can give you a ride.”

The driver was about forty, dark-skinned, and seemed to be a farmer from this neighborhood.

“Thank you a lot, this big brother. This little girl wants to go to Kun Yun Peak Manor. I don’t know if this big brother knows how to get there (or if it’s convenient)?”

Mo Feichen was in that woman’s arms and he could feel her heavy breath. Perhaps, it was because she had been walking in the snowfield for a long time. 

“This young lady, are you going to Kun Yun Peak Manor?”

“Exactly.”

“It just so happens that I’m going to deliver the firewood to them, so come on up!”

In this way, Mo Feichen and the woman who was holding him sat on the carriage for almost an hour before arriving at the bottom of Kun Yun Peak.

This mountain didn’t have any magnificent aura but if the snow was cleared, perhaps there would still be beautiful scenery. There was a stone gate in front of the mountain with four words of bold and elegant style of calligraphy. Although Mo Feichen recognized some of the traditional Chinese characters, this stone door was probably not written with the words from the world he knew well. 

A blue-clothed boy carrying a sword on his back, stood up in front of the mountain. He was about 13 or 14 years old. The moment he saw the farmer, his originally solemn and quiet face revealed a smile, “Big Brother Zhang, thank you so much!”

“No thanks, no need for thanks!” The farmer shook his hand, “Looks like, this young lady has something to do with your Manor.”

“Oh?” The blue-clothed boy smoothly took the two bundles of firewood in the carriage and threw them over to his shoulder. Mo Feichen widened his eyes since this was his first opportunity to see such a dashing and natural posture. If he compared it to that kind of well-designed movements in the martial arts dramas, this one was smooth and unrestrained, “I wonder, who is this young lady coming to see at our manor?”

“Wen Qing Yuan,The Lord Manor 4Wen.”

“So you are here to visit my teacher [ Shi Fu/ Master]. This young lady, please follow me!”

The blue-clothed boy threw the thumb-sized broken silver into the farmer’s hand, then turned around and walked towards the stone steps on the hill.

“Young lady, be careful of the snow! Better let me carry the child, ba!” The teenager drew out one branch of the firewood and held one end of it himself, while the other end of the branch was stretched out in front of the woman. The meaning of it was telling her to hold it, so he could pull her up. 

“Then, thank you very much. I wonder what this young hero’s name is?”

Zhao Xia5? Not a young master? Not a little brother (Xiao Ge)? Is this really a martial arts world?

“This humble one’s surname is Yu and my given name is Jin6.”

This young man led the woman to the manor. 

The gray tile roof with sloping eaves as well as the red pillars supporting the roof were not as graceful as those of the Suzhou gardens. This mountain manor was perhaps located near the mountain and it was completely backed up by the shape of the mountain. 

Entering the front gate of the manor, the plants and trees stood in great numbers like a forest but unfortunately in this winter, the scenery was quite bleak (desolate). After walking a few dozen meters further in, Mo Feichen vaguely heard the rhythmic sound of yelling.

The cold air came again, Mo Feichen sneezed two times in a row, while on the other hand, the woman looked quite distressed for him and tightened him into her embrace again.

Suddenly in front of his eyes was the clear and bright, layer by layer platform built on top of the mountain range. The platform between the pavilion connected, as in the Wudang Mountain in the movie. 

On each platform, there were people in blue clothes holding long swords, waving it according to the beat, reciting what seemed to be a mantra.

Mo Feichen was stunned, this momentum… He really respected the pirate copy collection book of Jin Yong that gifted and transmigrated him over to the martial arts’s world?  

Please don’t! He believed and accepted that he wasn’t any martial arts genius. He also didn’t have any wild ambition to make a name for himself. At most he could only imagine himself like Zhang Wuji 7or Duan Yu 8 ,hugging girls on one’s left and right for a while. However, God let him come to this world. Did God really want him to follow and learn from those great heroes who passed through a thousand difficulties and make a name for himself?

Wait, wait, don’t rush! 

Maybe my beautiful mother intended to let me study hard and go through hardships (that a poor student has to go through in his studies) to become a Zhuangyuan 9 or something like that.

It’s not likely that I’ll be back to my own bed after a good night’s sleep.

Mo Feichen comforted himself while being taken into a hall.

Yu Jin bowed towards the woman in salute and said, “This young lady, please rest here for a moment! I will go and get my Shi Fu.”

The woman sat down while holding Mo Feichen in her arms, then a disciple around an eight or nine year old served her a fragrant tea. Her frosty red hands covered the cup, she put the lid on the cup and took a small sip elegantly.

Through the mist of hot tea, Mo Feichen felt more and more that this woman was attractive, if this baby was really her flesh and blood, therefore the baby would also be cute and dexterous. Wait,wait, isn’t he this little baby?

When he thought about this, Mo Feichen was a little proud.

When the disciples who served tea left, the woman picked up the child and put her forehead on his nose.

Mo Feichen suddenly felt his cheeks had some coolness, it turned out to be the woman’s tears.

As if she had made some great determination, the woman raised her head, put the child on the seat and turned away.

Mo Feichen was shocked and finally understood why she had walked so far to Kun Yun Peak for. She perhaps wanted to leave him here. What was the difference of this behavior of hers with what had happened in the countryside when a daughter was born, then just left it at the entrance of the village, not caring about it anymore? 

So he cried out loudly, the sound was not that ‘shake up the heaven & earth and bring tears to the ghosts & gods’ 10but somehow miserable. 

As expected, he could see her back figure stopped.

Mo Feichen was very happy in his heart. See, which mother will be willing to abandon their own flesh and blood? Moreover, he, Mo Feichen, is a boy. 

But he was too soon to be happy. 

His beautiful mother clenched her fist and left quickly, leaving him there to cry out loudly. The teenage disciple who served tea just now heard the cries and came in. He saw Mo Feichen with his face full of snot and tears so he wiped them with his cuff and then picked him up.

Quickly, take me to chase that irresponsible mother of mine ah!

I don’t want to become an orphan just after I come to this place that I didn’t even know what it was called!

But the teenager also just didn’t know what he should do as he held him, looking left and right but he did not know where the mother of the child ran off to.

Idiot! still looking, why are you still looking? The time when you keep looking, she already slipped away!

“Leave it to me!” The man’s loud and clear voice crossed over his head. 

The young man brought Mo Feichen back, he then nodded and saluted, “Shi Fu, I don’t know where the mother of this child went.”

That man wear a gray changshan 11 , a dark green belt tied casually around his waist, long hair tied behind his head, quite a bit of scholarly temperament, with sober and calm look. He reached out to take Mo Feichen as the side of swaddling cloth fell apart, revealing the small face of the baby. 

Mo Feichen looked at him and forgot to cry for a while.

Just now that youngster called him Shi Fu (Master), could it be that he is Wen Qing Yuan?

Behind that man stood Yu Jin, he frowned and said in a heavy voice: “I guess this child is abandoned by his mother. I will go and chase that woman back!”

He was about to step forward, however Wen Qing Yuan pulled him back, “Forget it. Originally, this child could also be counted as the disciple of our Kun Yun Peak Manor.”

“What?” Yu Jin’s face was puzzled. 

“He should be the posthumous child of my Shi Di12, Mo Chang!”

“You mean Shi Shu13?” Yu Jin sighed, “That woman just now is Shi Shu’s first wife, Wu Qing Yan?”

“It should be,” Wen Qing Yuan took out a letter from the swaddling clothes, with a few lines written on it, which Mo Feichen also could not understand, “It’s indeed Mo Shi Di’s child.”

At that time, Mo Feichen was still a child and did not know why Wen Qing Yuan would sigh when he mentioned his father who had already died and why his Shi Xiong, Yu Jin would frown.

It was only after a long time that he no longer dwelled on the fact that he had transmigrated into the place where he did not want to be transported to and he also no longer remembered his mother, Wu Qing Yan. He just learned that his father was originally a disciple of Kun Yun Peak Manor, the famous swordsman in Jiang Hu. In the fourth year after he went down and left the mountain, he was bewitched by the main disciple from a certain heresy sect. Not only did he abandon his wife and child but he also fell into the wrong path, even when he died, he heard that no one would bury his body.

As for his mother who had only been with him for an hour or so, no need even to mention it. Her husband had fallen out of love plus his reputation had been tarnished by his affair partner. Could he still hope that she would treat him as her precious child in the future?

Wu QingYan (乌青言), Wu QingYan… isn’t she just “the heartless eye” (无情眼)14? 

“Shi Fu, since you want to take this child, then give him a name ba!” Although Yu Jin did not have a good opinion toward Mo Feichen’s father yet toward a baby he didn’t have such hostility. He poked the baby’s cheek with his finger.

“This child’s surname is naturally Mo,” Wen Qing Yuan glanced sideways, just in time to see a disciple sweeping the table and chairs, making the dust flying, “His name will be ‘Fei Chen’15 ba!”

Wait, wait? Mo Fei Chen (莫飞尘)16…. This name sounds the same as his own real name.

Only Feichen (非沉)17, Feichen meant not to sink for forever. Unfortunately, with ‘Mo’ (莫) as the surname, negative+negative = positive, he still really ‘sank’ to this inexplicable place.

As for Mo Feichen, this name was quite a bit of spontaneity.

Mo Feichen laughed and let out a giggling sound.

Yu Jin also showed a rare relaxed look, “Shi Fu, Look! This kid likes the name you gave him!”