C36. Like An Illusion
The cultivation world had produced many Immortalisation-level masters.
Many of their life stories were akin to legends, the only difference being the level of difficulty—for example, Nanhongzi of the Beixuan Sect had been imprisoned for thirty years without any guidance nor cultivation practices, and he had gained insights and formed a Golden Core on his own. This was impressive because people like Nanhongzi were very rare.
As for people like the Enlightened Tianyan, who started out as beggars but became elders or sect leaders of major sects, and even came close to ascending to immortality! It was fantastical compared to other beggars, but it would not even reach the realm of ‘legendary’ in the cultivation world!
Cultivators were also humans born and raised by their parents. Naturally, there would be more commoners and impoverished people than children from privileged households. No matter how talented these privileged children were, how could anyone tell if they did not even step out of the house? How many cultivators would go about in the cities and spot these people who remained within the depths of the earthly world all their lives?
Everyone lived in the mountains and caves, for goodness’ sake!
A third of the cultivation world consisted of those who were sent to abbeys and temples by their parents for various reasons. Another third consisted of orphans from the streets, or talented children that cultivators spotted in impoverished families. A sixth consisted of people who were taken up by people whose relatives or ancestors had been cultivators. The remaining one-sixth consisted of people who came from a mishmash of other origins.
Nanhongzi was part of that mishmash.
Chen He was also part of the mishmash, and so was Young Master Yao, the Chen household’s family friend whom he had failed to remember both in the previous life and this life.
If one were to categorise cultivators by what they were before they became cultivators, there would of course be a large proportion of junior Daoist and Buddhist monks. And if one were to count all the ones who had been beggars, such as the Enlightened Tianyan, they could form the biggest Beggars’ Union of the cultivation world.
—after working so hard and cultivating for four hundred years, he had been thrown back to his days of begging on the streets.
After silently grumbling on his own, the Enlightened Tianyan calmed down.
As an Immortalisation-level cultivator, he remembered his cultivation practices, and he knew how to perform divinations despite not having enough ability. He had his divine sense, though it had been greatly weakened, and he even knew what would happen to the cultivation world in the next four centuries! Such an opportunity would give him sweet rewards after bitter suffering, and he would make the best of his situation and follow his destiny!
As the leader of the orthodox faction, there was no way the Enlightened Tianyan would not remember the old enemy who had caused him so much trouble. Chen He came from a well-established family in Yunzhou, obtained the Stone-borne Flame, and became a demonic cultivator.
Now the question was: he had been reborn, and he knew that this devil who would later become a pain in the orthodox faction’s neck was still a fool, so what would the Enlightened Tianyan do?
—he crouched next to his bowl and begged, calmly pushing Chen He to the back of his mind.
His responsibility as ordained by fate was to lead the orthodox cultivators against the demonic cultivators, more than two hundred years in the future!
One had to commend the Enlightened Tianyan. After all, when the orthodox faction had been seized by fear, he took up the mantle alone, and he had lasted longer than the previous three orthodox leaders combined. He was always most rational when it came to the important matters.
He would not plot and plan and go all the way to Yunzhou just to kill off one silly little Chen He.
—the war between the orthodox and demonic cultivators had not been started by Grandmaster Liyan. Without Grandmaster Liyan, the demonic cultivators still had other grandmasters! Would killing one fool do anything? No matter how much karma there was in the world, one could not make someone pay for something that had not yet occurred.
Much less would the Enlightened Tianyan urge people to go to Yunzhou and search for the fabled Stone-borne Flame. Such rare beings had minds of their own, and one misstep could cause Yunzhou City to be burned to the ground earlier than expected.
No matter how much he mourned the thousands of innocent Yunzhou citizens who lost their lives, he was still a young beggar who had not yet become the Enlightened Tianyan of the Heluo Sect. Right now, his most important job was to prevent himself from starving to death!
The Heluo Sect was close to Yuzhou. If he could scrounge up enough money for the trip and make his rounds near the sect’s grounds, he would easily be taken in and recorded as a disciple.
In the Enlightened Tianyan’s predictions, he should have met this rising demonic cultivator for the first time after he was in the late stage of Golden Core-level! Which would be fifty years later!
What had gone wrong for them to meet so early in Yuzhou City?
***
Chen He looked at the Daoist monk who was pale with fear, yet was eyeing him with suspicion.
He took a step closer and the fellow immediately became much more hostile, dropping his restorative hand seals in favour of a defensive stance.
—how difficult was it to survive in the cultivation world, to the point that this guy was being so wary even though he had nothing but himself and the clothes he wore?
According to his little book, Chen He had only seen people with this much ‘underworld experience’ during his time with the salt traffickers.
This monk seemed to be decently dressed, but his robes had many protective magic symbols on them, handwritten and crooked, and one could immediately tell he had written those himself. What purposes did they have? Fortification, tear-proofing, dustproofing, all so that his clothes would not be worn out from being washed too frequently…
The more Chen He looked at them, the more guilty he felt.
In no way was this guilt related to a strange Daoist monk he hardly knew. It was towards his senior brother.
Had it not been for Shi Feng, Chen He could still have been a silly boy who knew nothing. Even if he had gotten lucky and not been smashed on the head, he would still have become like this monk before him once he entered the cultivation world, making a living on the streets like this.
Wearing the same piece of clothing over and over, trying to keep the clothing in one piece, using camouflage spells to swindle and trick others (Enlightened Tianyan: I do not!), catching beasts to earn money for elixirs and cultivation manuals, and becoming an expert at fleeing for his life.
Senior Brother had spared him from leading such a difficult life and even bought a house in Yuzhou to ensure his safety, and now he was even risking himself by dealing with demonic cultivators! It was no surprise that Chen He felt guilty. The only way he could help Senior Brother was to get stronger, and not mess around here with this fellow!
“Knock him out, blindfold him and take him away!”
With a light wave of Chen He’s hand, the dummies arrived at once.
The Enlightened Tianyan was horrified.
“What are you going to do, you devil?”
“Kidnapping!”
“…”
Chen He dusted himself off and told the stunned monk, “I know you’re poor as a mouse, so I don’t have many requests. Just tell me honestly about that so-called ‘hatred at first sight’—“
“And you’ll let me go?”
“And I’ll lock you up for a decade or so, or get someone to wipe this section of your memories.” Chen He nodded, stroking his chin. “If Daozhang won’t talk, this is the best way to resolve things.”
Chen He grinned and made a slashing motion over his neck with his right hand.
He was satisfied to see that the other man was stunned into silence, his gaze blank.
—no, the Enlightened Tianyan has been stunned by your smile.
“So, what say you?”
“I’m still not fully awake…no, I think I’m exceptionally talented, to think I could have such treacherous inner demons before the Golden Core stage!” The monk frowned in concentration, starting to use his techniques.
How absurd! A leopard can never change its spots; even if Grandmaster Liyan had been reborn, he should not be able to smile! No cultivator had ever seen the demonic leader smile! All the demonic cultivators who tried to entertain and please their lord had become ashes, for goodness’ sake!
Chen He’s expression froze. He stood up at once.
The dummies immediately knocked the poor monk unconscious.
“Let’s get back and have Elder Long-Brows take a look…” Chen He said absently.
If hatred at first sight really existed, an elder of the Heluo Sect would be able to tell, right?
As they were preparing to leave, a large procession suddenly came up to the city gates. Some were on horseback, some carried a sedan chair, some carried crates; it was a massive group numbering a few hundred. Chen He noticed that the person on the horse at the very front wore armour and had a tough appearance. This was the same demonic cultivator Shi Feng had pointed out when they first arrived in Yuzhou.
Chen He signalled for the dummies to wait.
That demonic cultivator was of average ability, but he had many subordinates and that many more eyes. Chen He did not want to expose himself at all, much less make the other person wary of him; he was planning to stay longer in Yuzhou City, after all.
The few citizens near the city gates were pushed to the sides of the road.
In this snowy weather, everyone was dressed in thick layers. One could easily hide their face by bowing their head.
The procession, which had come from within the city, appeared to have no intention of associating with the commoners; they headed straight for the gates. Qin Meng, the provincial lieutenant of Yuzhou, dismounted from his horse, and soon the sedan chair also stopped before the gates. The bearers tilted the sedan chair very slightly and drew the curtains back. Out stepped a middle-aged man dressed in a deep blue formal robe and official’s boots.
Qin Meng greeted the man with clasped hands.
Though they were far apart, Chen He clearly saw that the middle-aged man’s face seemed somewhat familiar.
“The journey to Yunzhou is a great many miles long; who knows when we may be able to meet again!” Provincial Lieutenant Qin Meng sighed. He had his attendants fetch a cup of wine, which he raised towards the man to bid him farewell.
The middle-aged man shook his hands. He wore a white belt with no jade pendant, and there was not a stitch of embroidery on his clothing. Clearly, someone in the family had passed away, and he was still in mourning attire.
The two made some more small talk.
The middle-aged man spoke rather little, but with a calm demeanour and firm tone. His elders had passed on, but he had to report the matter to the imperial court, wait for a substitute, and make arrangements on the administrative end, which had held him up for three months. It was high time he returned home.
As Chen He stood in the shadows, he heard a few scholarly-looking passersby muttering among themselves ahead of him, “Governor Chen’s home is in Yunzhou?”
“Sounds nice. Yunzhou Province of the southern lands, it’s a place with beautiful scenery and great people, and the Miao women are an affectionate bunch. It’s just that the people tend to be tough and fierce,” said one of them, which elicited snickers from his companions.
“It’s so windy and snowing so heavily, and it’s the first day of the New Year, so why is he hurrying to leave the city?”
“Hurrying? Doesn’t look that way to me. If he were really in a hurry, he’d have taken a horse-drawn carriage instead of a sedan chair!”
“Tsk, how could Governor Chen be as casual as you and me! Besides, the forty-ninth day has passed, and he won’t even have to attend the wake. Yunzhou’s so far away, they’ll probably have to continue by sea along the way…”
Chen He slowly stiffened as he beheld the middle-aged man.
He slipped into the crowd, pretending to be one of the onlookers, and joined the conversation rather nonchalantly, “It’s not easy for someone living in Yunzhou to come work as an official in Yuzhou. With his home so far away, even if news of his elder being gravely ill had been delivered by the fastest messengers, he might not be able to make it in time for a last reunion.”
“Brother, you look like a scholar, but you haven’t even heard about something like this?” After noticing Chen He, the chatty scholars lowered their voices, “Not even gods riding clouds would make it in time for a final reunion or whatever! Governor Chen’s whole family was burned to death! Not even the maids and old grandmas in the second courtyard made it out. Only the page boys who were out on errands survived!”
Chen He felt his mind buzz. He felt dizzy as he asked, “So it was a fire accident. But how do you know this so clearly, good sirs?”
“It came from the people working in the provincial court, of course!”
“Brother, you must be the kind who studies hard and never comes out to meet people! Haven’t seen you around.”
Chen He forced a smile. He watched as the middle-aged man boarded the sedan chair, and the procession slowly left the city amid the snow.
—so that was the father he had never met before.
C36. Like An Illusion
The cultivation world had produced many Immortalisation-level masters.
Many of their life stories were akin to legends, the only difference being the level of difficulty—for example, Nanhongzi of the Beixuan Sect had been imprisoned for thirty years without any guidance nor cultivation practices, and he had gained insights and formed a Golden Core on his own. This was impressive because people like Nanhongzi were very rare.
As for people like the Enlightened Tianyan, who started out as beggars but became elders or sect leaders of major sects, and even came close to ascending to immortality! It was fantastical compared to other beggars, but it would not even reach the realm of ‘legendary’ in the cultivation world!
Cultivators were also humans born and raised by their parents. Naturally, there would be more commoners and impoverished people than children from privileged households. No matter how talented these privileged children were, how could anyone tell if they did not even step out of the house? How many cultivators would go about in the cities and spot these people who remained within the depths of the earthly world all their lives?
Everyone lived in the mountains and caves, for goodness’ sake!
A third of the cultivation world consisted of those who were sent to abbeys and temples by their parents for various reasons. Another third consisted of orphans from the streets, or talented children that cultivators spotted in impoverished families. A sixth consisted of people who were taken up by people whose relatives or ancestors had been cultivators. The remaining one-sixth consisted of people who came from a mishmash of other origins.
Nanhongzi was part of that mishmash.
Chen He was also part of the mishmash, and so was Young Master Yao, the Chen household’s family friend whom he had failed to remember both in the previous life and this life.
If one were to categorise cultivators by what they were before they became cultivators, there would of course be a large proportion of junior Daoist and Buddhist monks. And if one were to count all the ones who had been beggars, such as the Enlightened Tianyan, they could form the biggest Beggars’ Union of the cultivation world.
—after working so hard and cultivating for four hundred years, he had been thrown back to his days of begging on the streets.
After silently grumbling on his own, the Enlightened Tianyan calmed down.
As an Immortalisation-level cultivator, he remembered his cultivation practices, and he knew how to perform divinations despite not having enough ability. He had his divine sense, though it had been greatly weakened, and he even knew what would happen to the cultivation world in the next four centuries! Such an opportunity would give him sweet rewards after bitter suffering, and he would make the best of his situation and follow his destiny!
As the leader of the orthodox faction, there was no way the Enlightened Tianyan would not remember the old enemy who had caused him so much trouble. Chen He came from a well-established family in Yunzhou, obtained the Stone-borne Flame, and became a demonic cultivator.
Now the question was: he had been reborn, and he knew that this devil who would later become a pain in the orthodox faction’s neck was still a fool, so what would the Enlightened Tianyan do?
—he crouched next to his bowl and begged, calmly pushing Chen He to the back of his mind.
His responsibility as ordained by fate was to lead the orthodox cultivators against the demonic cultivators, more than two hundred years in the future!
One had to commend the Enlightened Tianyan. After all, when the orthodox faction had been seized by fear, he took up the mantle alone, and he had lasted longer than the previous three orthodox leaders combined. He was always most rational when it came to the important matters.
He would not plot and plan and go all the way to Yunzhou just to kill off one silly little Chen He.
—the war between the orthodox and demonic cultivators had not been started by Grandmaster Liyan. Without Grandmaster Liyan, the demonic cultivators still had other grandmasters! Would killing one fool do anything? No matter how much karma there was in the world, one could not make someone pay for something that had not yet occurred.
Much less would the Enlightened Tianyan urge people to go to Yunzhou and search for the fabled Stone-borne Flame. Such rare beings had minds of their own, and one misstep could cause Yunzhou City to be burned to the ground earlier than expected.
No matter how much he mourned the thousands of innocent Yunzhou citizens who lost their lives, he was still a young beggar who had not yet become the Enlightened Tianyan of the Heluo Sect. Right now, his most important job was to prevent himself from starving to death!
The Heluo Sect was close to Yuzhou. If he could scrounge up enough money for the trip and make his rounds near the sect’s grounds, he would easily be taken in and recorded as a disciple.
In the Enlightened Tianyan’s predictions, he should have met this rising demonic cultivator for the first time after he was in the late stage of Golden Core-level! Which would be fifty years later!
What had gone wrong for them to meet so early in Yuzhou City?
***
Chen He looked at the Daoist monk who was pale with fear, yet was eyeing him with suspicion.
He took a step closer and the fellow immediately became much more hostile, dropping his restorative hand seals in favour of a defensive stance.
—how difficult was it to survive in the cultivation world, to the point that this guy was being so wary even though he had nothing but himself and the clothes he wore?
According to his little book, Chen He had only seen people with this much ‘underworld experience’ during his time with the salt traffickers.
This monk seemed to be decently dressed, but his robes had many protective magic symbols on them, handwritten and crooked, and one could immediately tell he had written those himself. What purposes did they have? Fortification, tear-proofing, dustproofing, all so that his clothes would not be worn out from being washed too frequently…
The more Chen He looked at them, the more guilty he felt.
In no way was this guilt related to a strange Daoist monk he hardly knew. It was towards his senior brother.
Had it not been for Shi Feng, Chen He could still have been a silly boy who knew nothing. Even if he had gotten lucky and not been smashed on the head, he would still have become like this monk before him once he entered the cultivation world, making a living on the streets like this.
Wearing the same piece of clothing over and over, trying to keep the clothing in one piece, using camouflage spells to swindle and trick others (Enlightened Tianyan: I do not!), catching beasts to earn money for elixirs and cultivation manuals, and becoming an expert at fleeing for his life.
Senior Brother had spared him from leading such a difficult life and even bought a house in Yuzhou to ensure his safety, and now he was even risking himself by dealing with demonic cultivators! It was no surprise that Chen He felt guilty. The only way he could help Senior Brother was to get stronger, and not mess around here with this fellow!
“Knock him out, blindfold him and take him away!”
With a light wave of Chen He’s hand, the dummies arrived at once.
The Enlightened Tianyan was horrified.
“What are you going to do, you devil?”
“Kidnapping!”
“…”
Chen He dusted himself off and told the stunned monk, “I know you’re poor as a mouse, so I don’t have many requests. Just tell me honestly about that so-called ‘hatred at first sight’—“
“And you’ll let me go?”
“And I’ll lock you up for a decade or so, or get someone to wipe this section of your memories.” Chen He nodded, stroking his chin. “If Daozhang won’t talk, this is the best way to resolve things.”
Chen He grinned and made a slashing motion over his neck with his right hand.
He was satisfied to see that the other man was stunned into silence, his gaze blank.
—no, the Enlightened Tianyan has been stunned by your smile.
“So, what say you?”
“I’m still not fully awake…no, I think I’m exceptionally talented, to think I could have such treacherous inner demons before the Golden Core stage!” The monk frowned in concentration, starting to use his techniques.
How absurd! A leopard can never change its spots; even if Grandmaster Liyan had been reborn, he should not be able to smile! No cultivator had ever seen the demonic leader smile! All the demonic cultivators who tried to entertain and please their lord had become ashes, for goodness’ sake!
Chen He’s expression froze. He stood up at once.
The dummies immediately knocked the poor monk unconscious.
“Let’s get back and have Elder Long-Brows take a look…” Chen He said absently.
If hatred at first sight really existed, an elder of the Heluo Sect would be able to tell, right?
As they were preparing to leave, a large procession suddenly came up to the city gates. Some were on horseback, some carried a sedan chair, some carried crates; it was a massive group numbering a few hundred. Chen He noticed that the person on the horse at the very front wore armour and had a tough appearance. This was the same demonic cultivator Shi Feng had pointed out when they first arrived in Yuzhou.
Chen He signalled for the dummies to wait.
That demonic cultivator was of average ability, but he had many subordinates and that many more eyes. Chen He did not want to expose himself at all, much less make the other person wary of him; he was planning to stay longer in Yuzhou City, after all.
The few citizens near the city gates were pushed to the sides of the road.
In this snowy weather, everyone was dressed in thick layers. One could easily hide their face by bowing their head.
The procession, which had come from within the city, appeared to have no intention of associating with the commoners; they headed straight for the gates. Qin Meng, the provincial lieutenant of Yuzhou, dismounted from his horse, and soon the sedan chair also stopped before the gates. The bearers tilted the sedan chair very slightly and drew the curtains back. Out stepped a middle-aged man dressed in a deep blue formal robe and official’s boots.
Qin Meng greeted the man with clasped hands.
Though they were far apart, Chen He clearly saw that the middle-aged man’s face seemed somewhat familiar.
“The journey to Yunzhou is a great many miles long; who knows when we may be able to meet again!” Provincial Lieutenant Qin Meng sighed. He had his attendants fetch a cup of wine, which he raised towards the man to bid him farewell.
The middle-aged man shook his hands. He wore a white belt with no jade pendant, and there was not a stitch of embroidery on his clothing. Clearly, someone in the family had passed away, and he was still in mourning attire.
The two made some more small talk.
The middle-aged man spoke rather little, but with a calm demeanour and firm tone. His elders had passed on, but he had to report the matter to the imperial court, wait for a substitute, and make arrangements on the administrative end, which had held him up for three months. It was high time he returned home.
As Chen He stood in the shadows, he heard a few scholarly-looking passersby muttering among themselves ahead of him, “Governor Chen’s home is in Yunzhou?”
“Sounds nice. Yunzhou Province of the southern lands, it’s a place with beautiful scenery and great people, and the Miao women are an affectionate bunch. It’s just that the people tend to be tough and fierce,” said one of them, which elicited snickers from his companions.
“It’s so windy and snowing so heavily, and it’s the first day of the New Year, so why is he hurrying to leave the city?”
“Hurrying? Doesn’t look that way to me. If he were really in a hurry, he’d have taken a horse-drawn carriage instead of a sedan chair!”
“Tsk, how could Governor Chen be as casual as you and me! Besides, the forty-ninth day has passed, and he won’t even have to attend the wake. Yunzhou’s so far away, they’ll probably have to continue by sea along the way…”
Chen He slowly stiffened as he beheld the middle-aged man.
He slipped into the crowd, pretending to be one of the onlookers, and joined the conversation rather nonchalantly, “It’s not easy for someone living in Yunzhou to come work as an official in Yuzhou. With his home so far away, even if news of his elder being gravely ill had been delivered by the fastest messengers, he might not be able to make it in time for a last reunion.”
“Brother, you look like a scholar, but you haven’t even heard about something like this?” After noticing Chen He, the chatty scholars lowered their voices, “Not even gods riding clouds would make it in time for a final reunion or whatever! Governor Chen’s whole family was burned to death! Not even the maids and old grandmas in the second courtyard made it out. Only the page boys who were out on errands survived!”
Chen He felt his mind buzz. He felt dizzy as he asked, “So it was a fire accident. But how do you know this so clearly, good sirs?”
“It came from the people working in the provincial court, of course!”
“Brother, you must be the kind who studies hard and never comes out to meet people! Haven’t seen you around.”
Chen He forced a smile. He watched as the middle-aged man boarded the sedan chair, and the procession slowly left the city amid the snow.
—so that was the father he had never met before.
