Flying Dust

As soon as he opened his eyes, Yu Jin walked up to him with a sneer and tossed a silver money to the madam1 in a natural and confident way, “Pay for this table that was overturned by this monkey!”

Mo Fei Chen directly picked up the chicken leg from the ground. Anyway he would not be able to outrun Yu Jin, he also didn’t care about the guests who were watching, simply sat down there to gnaw on it, “Shi Xiong, you’re not really going to skin me, are you?”

“I’m not going to skin you, I’ll curse you this lifetime, all the women you like will not like you!” Yu Jin probably was having a good time just now, but was slapped by a tile which was Mo Fei Chen’s doing and lost all his excitement.

“Hey, hey.” Mo Fei Chen wobbled to his feet as he got up, “Shi Xiong, there are not only women in this world, there are also men!”

Yu Jin was originally bristled in anger but after hearing him say so,he burst into laughter instead. He grabbed him by his collar and dragged him out of the door, “Good! Good! I’ll wait for those men to come and torment you one by one and shut your big mouth.”

Mo Fei Chen laughed,’He he!’, thinking in his heart that if Yu Shi Xiong wasn’t angry, he wouldn’t be that unlucky. How would he still remember what nonsense talk he himself had said? 

“Shi Xiong, you wait a minute!” Mo Fei Chen suddenly turned around and ran back, “Since you paid for the banquet, I must at least get that braised hare back.”

Yu Jin stood outside the threshold and watched his back with a slight smile on his lips.

Mo Fei Chen was gnawing on the rabbit meat while following behind Yu Jin’s back. After a few dozen metres of walking, Yu Jin suddenly threw a bottle of wine at Mo Fei Chen’s head. Luckily he was quick, otherwise he would have been knocked silly.

“Shi Xiong ah, it’s wine!”

“That’s right, you’re already ten years old.” Yu Jin turned around and sat down on a lion statue in front of a big wealthy family’s house.

Mo Fei Chen didn’t say anything, he just looked up at Yu Jin who was sitting up high, his hair lightly floating in the night breeze, giving him a dissolute and chivalrous feeling. 

“We’ve been brothers for ten years but we’ve never had a drink together.” Yu Jin lifted his chin and gestured to Fei Chen to open the wine jug.

But Mo Fei Chen stood still there, not moving at all, “Shi Xiong, are you able to ‘form your sword’ 2now?”

Yu Jin nodded his head and said indifferently, “Although I am able to form the sword, there are more than a hundred young disciples in Jiang Hu who can change their Qi into a sword. How many of them can really train to the level of the ten top swordsmen?”

“Since there are not many, why do you have to insist on acquiring it? Just like now…a bottle of wine and a beautiful woman, isn’t that good?”

Yu Jin smiled,”I envy you very much, Fei Chen. I envy you for not wanting anything, so you are easily satisfied. But not everyone can become ‘Mo Fei Chen’.”

“Shi Xiong, do you want to leave Kun Yun Peak?”

Yu Jin nodded, “You know me, I’ve always wanted to go outside to see…what Jiang Hu means?”

Mo Fei Chen took a breath, he threw that bottle of wine back to Yu Jin as he casually recited the two lines of poem from ‘Invincible Eastern’3, “This mortal world is like a tide, people are like water. How many people in Jiang Hu can eventually return? (alive in the end). Since Yu Shi Xiong insists on entering Jiang Hu, then this wine, I will wait for you to return (to drink it together)…Mo Fei Chen certainly will keep you company by then.”

He felt very sour in his heart, although he had expected that this day would inevitably come.

He was on his way back alone and his pace was very slow. He knew that Yu Jin was standing where he was and carrying the wine as he watched himself.

People are like that. If you haven’t tried it, you will always yearn for it. By the time they really get the taste of it, maybe they will just heave a deep sigh, “Just like that!”

Jiang Hu…Mo Fei Chen also believed that it was the same, just like that. If not, why did ‘Xiao Feng’ always yearn for the chance to herd horses beyond the Great wall with A Zhu? Why also did Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu live in seclusion in the ancient tomb?4

That night, Mo Fei Chen sat in front of the mountain gate and waited until sunrise, but Yu Jin did not return.

Instead it was his Shi Fu, Wen Qing Yuan, who came down from the Mountain Manor and patted him on the back, “Fei Chen, go back ba! “

Mo Fei Chen was a bit overwhelmed by the unexpected favour. In recent years, Wen Qing Yuan had hardly ever cared about him; he hurriedly jumped down from the stone and saluted Wen Qing Yuan. 

“Shi Fu….”

“Hn?” Wen Ching Yuan who was walking in front of Mo Fei Chen stopped and turned his face sideways.

“In your heart, what is Jiang Hu?” Mo Fei Chen was a bit curious, this Sect Leader of Kun Yun Mountain Manor who had been almost avoiding the world, how did he view Jiang Hu?

“A cup of wine, a pot of tea, a book… all of it can be Jiang Hu.” Wen Qing Yuan smiled, “Just like you said, Jiang Hu ‘is in your heart’.”

Mo Fei Chen raised his eyebrows, he couldn’t understand what Wen Qing Yuan was saying, he just had a vague feeling that it seemed to be very deep.

Back to the mountain, the days continue to go on.

About six months later, it was time to repair the mountain path.

Mo Fei Chen and his two or three Shi Xiong were responsible for checking the fences along the path.

The wind was strong in the mountains, especially after autumn.

The deepest part of Kun Yun Mountain was this mountain valley, covered in fog all year round, making it difficult to tell whether it was a deep pool or a mire. On the mountain wall were five wrist-thick hemp ropes that stretched into the fog. At the other end of the rope were the ashes of all previous masters of the Mountain Manor with the exception of ‘Shi Zu’5‘, He Yunfeng.

“Do you think, since the wind is so strong in the mountains, could it be that the ashes of our predecessor Mountain Manor masters have been broken?” Mo Fei Chen sat by the fence, holding a gulfweed in his mouth and staring at that thick fog. The cliff path was a pathway that extends out from the cliff wall, with nothing underneath it to support on. Every year they came to held a memorial ceremony for the previous ancestry grand masters. In order to make it perfect, the disciples were sent in advance to repair it.

“Pei,pei,pei6 !” What nonsense are talking about?” A young Shi Xiong came and hit him on the head.

“I heard that our Shi Zu, He Yunfeng, is buried under this thick fog. In his prime time, he and Luo Lianyun of Mu Yun Mountain Manor already reach the peak of perfection7 in the Wu Lin. I really wish that I could see what he looked like.” Another Shi Di who half a month younger than Mo Fei Chen, said as he nailed the fence. He was so impressed and touched that he couldn’t help expressing his feelings. 

“That’s enough! Unless you die and go to the underworld, you can see his ghost, otherwise even if you see him now, he’ll just be a withered bone!” Mo Fei Chen stretched his back, hoping that his other Shi Xiong and Shi Di could quickly finish the reparation so that they could go back to sleep and hang out.

Everyone gave him a blank look and said nothing more.

Mo Fei Chen suddenly thought, if Wen Qing Yuan died, his ashes would also hanged by a rope, should he need to make a sturdier urn 8 for him? He then looked at the thick fog again which likened to ‘flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in the water’ 9. Suddenly he had a reverie that If he just fell like that, would he be able to return to his former world?

Both of his legs swayed in the air and suddenly he seemed to kick something.

Then a swarm of hornets flew out from under the cliff path10. 

Pic of 棧道:

Mo Fei Chen was still frozen in place, thinking to himself, ‘Why does this thing look like a hornet?’. The result was that his fellow Shi Xiong beside him had already cried out, “Quickly run——!It’s a wasp——!”

A group of youngsters ran on the wooden cliff path. From time to time, they waved  around and fled in panic. 

Mo Fei Chen was the last one to run but in a moment of danger he managed to run ahead of everyone else.

“Mo Fei-Chen! You deserved to be killed by a thousand knives!”

“I’ll chop you up when I get back!”

Mo Fei Chen didn’t care about the cursing behind him. He didn’t want to be stung like a hornet’s nest. However it turned out, it was absolutely reasonable for the manor to send them to check on the cliff path. Mo Fei Chen only heard the sound of cracking under his feet, the wood split open and he fell down. 

He grabbed the corner of the cracked plank with his quick hand. That piece of plank was torn off by his weight. Finally he fell, followed by the shouts of everyone.

“Ah——”

After all of this time …He, Mo Fei Chen, didn’t live longer than Yu Shi Xiong who had already wandered around in Jiang Hu! 

Look at this fog! The bottom must be an abyss!

Mo Fei Chen closed his eyes tightly and shuttle back and forth through the vast expanse of whiteness, but within a couple of moments, all he could hear was the sound of water, a gurgling sound in his ears. His whole body was frozen to the point where he could hardly stretch it out. 

In here, there is indeed a pool of water, just like in the martial arts novels. Why else will there be such a mist? Isn’t the mist just water vapor?

Mo Fei Chen didn’t care, regardless of the consequences, Mo Fei Chen used the dog style (swimming style), breaststroke and freestyle, he used it all, finally he got to the shore and climbed with both of his hands.

“Damn, it’s really nothing new [not creative at all]…it’s indeed a pool…”

However, fortunately it was a pool, otherwise it would have been over for him. 

He sat down on the shore as he panting hard, leaned back and collapsed. It’s good, it’s so good that I’m still alive so I still have a chance to wait for ‘Yu Mu Tou11‘ to come back for a drink.

He opened his eyes slightly and saw a cave-like place.

“Don’t tell me that I have fallen down to the legendary cave dwelling where the immortals live12 right..?” Mo Fei Chen staggered to his feet, since the fog made his vision faint, but the further he went into the cave, the lighter the fog became.

There was no light at all, so he could only grope around in the dark as he walked forward, “Damn it…if only I had a flame stick…”

Pic :

火摺子 (flame stick) 

No, no, no… Even if there was only dried grass, he could still make a fire by drilling the wood, but now he was freezing like the shivering stuffed husk, hoping that Wen Qing Yuan would think of his disciple and come down to the valley to look for him.

Perhaps God had heard his prayer and after walking a dozen metres, he actually kicked some hay. He knelt down and felt some stones and sat down where he was. It took him a long time to make some sparks. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to burn the hay. He had to learn a lesson from this, changing the angle and the position of the hay before finally he managed to get it to burn.

With the light, only then did he realize that the dried grasses were actually growing in the cave. It was probably because of the high temperatures last summer that had caused them to withered away in the crevices of the rock. This year, the water had dried up completely.  

Mo Fei Chen pulled up the hay and tied them together to make a torch.

The cave also had a stairway that seemed to be meticulously reorganized. Could it be that there are still some treasures hidden inside, such as gold and silver, pearls and jewellery used to accompany the burials of the masters? Mo Fei Chen’s heart was moved, but then he laughed again, looking at Wen Qing Yuan’s poor appearance, how could Kun Yun Mountain Manor look like a place with a lot of money?

But curiosity was in everybody’s blood. In addition to being at the bottom of the valley, there was nothing to do to pass the time.

The cave dwelling became more spacious.

As the light from the flame swept past, Mo Fei Chen was a little dazed. On the top of the stone wall were carved little figures, which seemed to be marked with some kind of acupuncture points and ‘qi & blood13‘ . He drew a sigh of relief, knowing that they were probably some kind of secret manual of martial arts from Kun Yun Mountain Manor, but there was no end to it, moreover he couldn’t understand it.

As he went further, Mo Fei Chen felt that the temperature had suddenly dropped again.

Ahead of him was a white ice pedestal with a mist flowing from it.

Thousand-year ice? That was the first word that came to his mind.

As he came closer and closer with the torch, Mo Fei Chen stayed stupefied in that place. 

It was an ice coffin. Perhaps because the ice was crystal clear, Mo Fei Chen could easily identify the facial features of the person inside the ice coffin.

With eyebrows like a faraway Mount Tai and a nose like a star, yet unfortunately…it was a man.

Even more pitiful, it was a dead man.

Translator’s note:

After rereading while translating give me different opinion of our Mc, maybe the half mtl effect give kind of shallow character kind of opinion toward the Mc, but reading word by words make me realized that Mc actually is quite wise.

Fei Chen gave me ‘kind of having a crush on his Shi Xiong, Yu Jin’ feeling to me, instead of being a straight guy (not really that straight actually) but maybe it’s just me hope the author make Yu Jin one of the ML which unfortunately not. T.T