C37. The Heavens’ Secrets are Murky
The Chen family had been in Yunzhou for generations.
The head of the household worked as an official in another province and rarely returned home. Yunzhou was in the south and far away from the central plains, which did make it difficult to travel back to.
Chen He had some vague memories from age three. At a young age, he had been dressed in mourning attire, for his mother had fallen gravely ill after giving birth to him, and she passed away before he even reached his first birthday.
The full mourning period lasted three years. Even the youngest children had hemp strips sewn to their clothes, and they could not wear gold padlock pendants[1] or jade pendants; he wore only a plain silver bracelet with bells. He could not go out on visits, and events like the picking ceremony[2] or large banquets were cancelled.
Thus, very few people had seen the young master of the Chen family before he fell into the pond.
After getting knocked in the head, it became even more apparent that the Chen family would not let him outside. Thus, when he went missing at age six, they assumed he had died, and none of the other major clans of Yunzhou gave it any thought. The years went by, and people had long since forgotten that the Chen family used to have someone called Chen He.
When the cultivators in Black Depths Valley found him, he was no longer in mourning attire. When the Valley Master asked the little one about his father’s identity and job, Chen He only gave a vague answer. He only had the mind of a three-year-old; he did not know his father’s job, and he had never seen his father before.
After growing up, Chen He’s confusion regarding his father had lessened.
Going by society’s norms, if a man did not return home even once within the first two years of his wife passing away, it was sufficient proof of him having no feelings towards his legally wedded wife.
—officials working outside of their home province were allowed to bring their family with them. Governor Chen had not.
When a governor was returning to his hometown to mourn deceased elders, there would naturally be a large procession. Ten-odd carriage-loads of boxes and crates, palanquins for family members, and even two horse-drawn carriages for the maids. All these signs showed that the passersby were right. Governor Chen was not in a hurry to go back. It seemed less like returning to one’s hometown to mourn and more like he was moving house. Why, he had even chosen to set out on the first day of the new year, which was a good date.
Standing in the crowds before the city gates, Chen He gazed after them for a while, then quietly left the scene.
When he returned to the little house among the thirteen lanes of the west end, that complicated expression had disappeared from his face altogether.
The dummies shoved the poor unconscious Daoist monk into the kitchen as if he were a sack of grain.
A while later, the Enlightened Tianyan coughed, woken up by the smoke in the kitchen. He struggled and realised his limbs were weak, his chest felt stuffy, and his head felt heavy. In addition, he was blindfolded.
And…why could he hear water boiling and knives being sharpened?
The Enlightened Tianyan was aghast. Even though he had once been an Immortalisation-level cultivator who led the entire orthodox faction, that did not mean he had experienced everything before! Such as being kidnapped by the most heinous demonic cultivators and being made into soup, for example.
While he was still dumbfounded, the door opened with a creak.
The Enlightened Tianyan cautiously scanned the area before him with his divine sense. Mm, Chen He the devil, and a…Funny, what was this exceedingly familiar feeling? This person cultivated using the Heluo Sect’s practices, and their cultivation base was quite high!
“Senior, run! This person’s a bad guy!” the Enlightened Tianyan shouted frantically.
His mouth was promptly stuffed with a piece of cloth. The dummy dusted its hands off and continued to boil water for Elder Long-Brows’ tea.
Elder Long-Brows came out of the hall in a terrible state, his head full of the Secret Beixuan Treasure. He only managed to snap out of it somewhat after hearing Tianyan’s shout. Confused, he looked to Chen He: Why did you capture a Daoist monk from off the streets?
Chen He waved at the dummy. The latter picked up the young Daoist monk, giving him another precise strike, and the future leader of the Heluo Sect went limp.
Chen He took the blindfold off the man’s eyes and looked back.
“I met him a while back in Yuzhou City. This person’s a bit strange, he managed to recognise me. He may have been to Yunzhou before.”
“Oh?”
Hearing this, Elder Long-Brows came closer. He stuck his duster down his back, and with unexpectedly practised motions, searched the kidnapped man’s clothes and money pouch. He came up with a poorly crafted peach-wood sword, a stack of yellow paper, two small bags of cinnabar, and a balding brush.
“He’s so poor, he doesn’t even have a storage pouch,” Elder Long-Brows muttered.
Not everyone had a mustard seed storage treasure, but every cultivator would at least have a storage pouch. Disciples of major sects could get a storage pouch upon being accepted, plus a pill for fostering spiritual energy every month. Such were the benefits of being in a sect.
As for rogue cultivators or demonic cultivators, anyone who had enough money would naturally have a storage pouch.
“These clothes are so bad, not even a mortal pawnshop would accept them. As for the shoes—” As Elder Long-Brows rummaged about, he realised that this unconscious fellow on the floor was truly poor, so poor that his shoes were heavily worn. His inner robe had been repaired time and time again, washed until the colour had faded and the threads were falling out. How unsightly.
Elder Long-Brows sighed. When he looked up, only then did he realise Chen He was looking at him strangely.
“Ahem!” Elder Long-Brows hurriedly stood up, whipped out his duster, and reassumed his usual saintly appearance.
“…”
Too late, he had totally been exposed as an experienced pilferer!
—old man, just what was your previous job? Were you really an elder of the Heluo Sect who was skilled at divination and not some outlaw who robbed the rich and helped the poor?
“Chen He, there are many things you know nothing of!” Elder Long-Brows said sternly, attempting to defend himself. “Though Sky-High Cliff is a remote place, a few people will fall off every now and then, and they must be rescued by the people in the valley and sent out.”
The corner of Chen He’s mouth twitched; he himself had fallen off as well.
“Black Depths Valley is a place for living in seclusion, but there are always people who come to the cliffs to disturb our peace. People looking to become our disciples, people who want to escape their pursuers by hiding in the valley—such wishful thinking! Is Black Depths Valley a place for everyone?”
With a flick of his duster, Elder Long-Brows said haughtily, “Every few decades or so, things get lively in there! There are too many rogue cultivators below Golden Core-level who know nothing of Black Depths Valley’s reputation. The people change every few decades, so we have to give them a little reminder.”
Which would mean?
Anyone who loitered around Sky-High Cliff, caused trouble, or believed in fateful encounters and leaps of faith, would be robbed by the old fellows of Black Depths Valley!
Chen He’s expression was stony.
A group of Demigod-level and Immortalisation-level cultivators going through someone’s storage pouch for valuables, robbing unconscious people with such ease…honestly? No wonder Black Depths Valley had such a fearsome reputation.
“Fine, fine, this is just a normal cultivator who can’t even afford medicine dregs.” Elder Long-Brows quickly changed the subject. He nodded and looked at the floor with disdain. “You said he recognised you? That’s odd! Cultivators don’t eat, but it’s still quite difficult to travel so far without any money.”
“He claims to be a disciple of the Heluo Sect.”
“Eeh?”
This startled Elder Long-Brows. He searched the man again but came up with nothing.
He then reached out to check and found weak traces of spiritual energy. This man was indeed using the Heluo Sect’s basic cultivation practices.
“Ooh, he has an average physique and is only at the Foundation Establishment level, doesn’t have much spiritual energy, but he has accumulated lots! A good, down-to-earth fellow who’s been cultivating steadily!” Elder Long-Brows’ eyes shone as he stroked his beard.
The major cultivation sects had many disciples. Other than physique, ability to comprehend could also contribute to their future prospects.
Even if they had anything, it would mean nothing if they did not work hard at cultivation.
Elder Long-Brows was bamboozled—Chen He could bring back a future master of the Heluo Sect after going for a random walk on the streets, and this person could be considered outstandingly talented even among hundreds of other major sect disciples of the same level. It seemed a little too shady.
“Daozhang wants to take him in as a disciple?”
“How could I, huhu, my youngest disciples are even older than Shi Feng,” Elder Long-Brows murmured.
Chen He silently committed this sentence to memory.
—he was still figuring out how best to make use of the clambeast pearl.
Mm, it appeared that Elder Long-Brows had more than one disciple.
“I see that Daozhang is appreciative of talents, so I thought I’d prompt you a bit.”
“How did you know?”
Elder Long-Brows looked up in astonishment. Chen He was still young, but he could already determine one’s comprehension ability, especially that which suited the Heluo Sect?
Chen He shrugged. He could not tell, but Elder Long-Brows was so pleased with this person that his brows were standing on end. It was almost as if he had it written all over his face. How would he not know even after this?
Elder Long-Brows could only change the subject again.
“You think this young Daoist was someone that Heluo brought to Yunzhou City, and he has seen you before?”
“Perhaps.”
Only then did Chen He speak of the strange things this man had done during the two times they met.
Naturally, many details were missing, such as the Primordial State Palm and Ruyi Hand, and the most unusual detail: this Daoist monk seemed to be able to determine a dummy’s strength upon sight. He skipped all these things and focused on how that person insisted that he was a devil and that they would be enemies in future.
“Now that’s interesting!”
Elder Long-Brows’ eyes were shining.
“Much hardship in the early years, no lingering relations to the earthly world, and he’s quite the fortunate soul.” Elder Long-Brows tugged the man’s ears, then peered closely at the man’s round face.
Chen He silently averted his gaze, unable to watch.
—this looked just like how Aunty Wang from next door examined cuts of pork at the butcher’s, which he had seen at the market a few days ago.
Elder Long-Brows used his true essence to draw out a wisp of Tianyan’s spiritual energy and carefully performed his divinations. By right, due to the vast difference in their cultivation bases, he should have been able to see the relevant heavenly secrets quite easily.
The heavens’ secrets were not to be revealed or spoken aloud, but one could keep them in mind for their own knowledge.
Unfortunately, no matter how many divinations he performed, this young Daoist monk’s fate was as slippery as a loach. It slipped around, impossible to catch, and even made the whole pond murky—he could not see any of the heavens’ secrets at all.
Amazed, Elder Long-Brows decided to divine Chen He’s fate, but it was as if he had become trapped in a misty haze, unable to see around him. He had divined Chen He’s fate many times back in Black Depths Valley and obtained the result of three tribulations and nine troubles, not something so mysterious and unknown!
“Chen He, something’s wrong!”
How did this senior-junior pair make such a mess of their fates after going out just once?
Elder Long-Brows tossed his duster aside and sat down with his legs crossed, beginning to infer the happenings of the cultivation world through divination. Unfortunately, as soon as he began, his whole body shuddered violently, blood spilling from his mouth.
“Daozhang?” Startled, Chen He went to help him up.
“The heavenly signs and fates have become murky. Looks like something serious is about to happen.” Elder Long-Brows’ expression was troubled.
This solemn mood made Chen He frown. His senior brother was still outside. If something serious were to happen in the cultivation world, would he not then be affected at once?
Right at that moment, a shrill cry came from elsewhere in the thirteen lanes:
“Help! Murder! Demonic beasts!”
“…”
Chen He: Would this be the so-called ‘something serious’?
Elder Long-Brows shook his head furiously: How can that be!!
The Enlightened Tianyan awoke and jumped up from where he had been lying on the floor. Before he could even open his eyes, he was already reaching for his peach-wood sword.
“Where’s the demonic beast? What kind is it, how much is it worth?”
C37. The Heavens’ Secrets are Murky
The Chen family had been in Yunzhou for generations.
The head of the household worked as an official in another province and rarely returned home. Yunzhou was in the south and far away from the central plains, which did make it difficult to travel back to.
Chen He had some vague memories from age three. At a young age, he had been dressed in mourning attire, for his mother had fallen gravely ill after giving birth to him, and she passed away before he even reached his first birthday.
The full mourning period lasted three years. Even the youngest children had hemp strips sewn to their clothes, and they could not wear gold padlock pendants[1] or jade pendants; he wore only a plain silver bracelet with bells. He could not go out on visits, and events like the picking ceremony[2] or large banquets were cancelled.
Thus, very few people had seen the young master of the Chen family before he fell into the pond.
After getting knocked in the head, it became even more apparent that the Chen family would not let him outside. Thus, when he went missing at age six, they assumed he had died, and none of the other major clans of Yunzhou gave it any thought. The years went by, and people had long since forgotten that the Chen family used to have someone called Chen He.
When the cultivators in Black Depths Valley found him, he was no longer in mourning attire. When the Valley Master asked the little one about his father’s identity and job, Chen He only gave a vague answer. He only had the mind of a three-year-old; he did not know his father’s job, and he had never seen his father before.
After growing up, Chen He’s confusion regarding his father had lessened.
Going by society’s norms, if a man did not return home even once within the first two years of his wife passing away, it was sufficient proof of him having no feelings towards his legally wedded wife.
—officials working outside of their home province were allowed to bring their family with them. Governor Chen had not.
When a governor was returning to his hometown to mourn deceased elders, there would naturally be a large procession. Ten-odd carriage-loads of boxes and crates, palanquins for family members, and even two horse-drawn carriages for the maids. All these signs showed that the passersby were right. Governor Chen was not in a hurry to go back. It seemed less like returning to one’s hometown to mourn and more like he was moving house. Why, he had even chosen to set out on the first day of the new year, which was a good date.
Standing in the crowds before the city gates, Chen He gazed after them for a while, then quietly left the scene.
When he returned to the little house among the thirteen lanes of the west end, that complicated expression had disappeared from his face altogether.
The dummies shoved the poor unconscious Daoist monk into the kitchen as if he were a sack of grain.
A while later, the Enlightened Tianyan coughed, woken up by the smoke in the kitchen. He struggled and realised his limbs were weak, his chest felt stuffy, and his head felt heavy. In addition, he was blindfolded.
And…why could he hear water boiling and knives being sharpened?
The Enlightened Tianyan was aghast. Even though he had once been an Immortalisation-level cultivator who led the entire orthodox faction, that did not mean he had experienced everything before! Such as being kidnapped by the most heinous demonic cultivators and being made into soup, for example.
While he was still dumbfounded, the door opened with a creak.
The Enlightened Tianyan cautiously scanned the area before him with his divine sense. Mm, Chen He the devil, and a…Funny, what was this exceedingly familiar feeling? This person cultivated using the Heluo Sect’s practices, and their cultivation base was quite high!
“Senior, run! This person’s a bad guy!” the Enlightened Tianyan shouted frantically.
His mouth was promptly stuffed with a piece of cloth. The dummy dusted its hands off and continued to boil water for Elder Long-Brows’ tea.
Elder Long-Brows came out of the hall in a terrible state, his head full of the Secret Beixuan Treasure. He only managed to snap out of it somewhat after hearing Tianyan’s shout. Confused, he looked to Chen He: Why did you capture a Daoist monk from off the streets?
Chen He waved at the dummy. The latter picked up the young Daoist monk, giving him another precise strike, and the future leader of the Heluo Sect went limp.
Chen He took the blindfold off the man’s eyes and looked back.
“I met him a while back in Yuzhou City. This person’s a bit strange, he managed to recognise me. He may have been to Yunzhou before.”
“Oh?”
Hearing this, Elder Long-Brows came closer. He stuck his duster down his back, and with unexpectedly practised motions, searched the kidnapped man’s clothes and money pouch. He came up with a poorly crafted peach-wood sword, a stack of yellow paper, two small bags of cinnabar, and a balding brush.
“He’s so poor, he doesn’t even have a storage pouch,” Elder Long-Brows muttered.
Not everyone had a mustard seed storage treasure, but every cultivator would at least have a storage pouch. Disciples of major sects could get a storage pouch upon being accepted, plus a pill for fostering spiritual energy every month. Such were the benefits of being in a sect.
As for rogue cultivators or demonic cultivators, anyone who had enough money would naturally have a storage pouch.
“These clothes are so bad, not even a mortal pawnshop would accept them. As for the shoes—” As Elder Long-Brows rummaged about, he realised that this unconscious fellow on the floor was truly poor, so poor that his shoes were heavily worn. His inner robe had been repaired time and time again, washed until the colour had faded and the threads were falling out. How unsightly.
Elder Long-Brows sighed. When he looked up, only then did he realise Chen He was looking at him strangely.
“Ahem!” Elder Long-Brows hurriedly stood up, whipped out his duster, and reassumed his usual saintly appearance.
“…”
Too late, he had totally been exposed as an experienced pilferer!
—old man, just what was your previous job? Were you really an elder of the Heluo Sect who was skilled at divination and not some outlaw who robbed the rich and helped the poor?
“Chen He, there are many things you know nothing of!” Elder Long-Brows said sternly, attempting to defend himself. “Though Sky-High Cliff is a remote place, a few people will fall off every now and then, and they must be rescued by the people in the valley and sent out.”
The corner of Chen He’s mouth twitched; he himself had fallen off as well.
“Black Depths Valley is a place for living in seclusion, but there are always people who come to the cliffs to disturb our peace. People looking to become our disciples, people who want to escape their pursuers by hiding in the valley—such wishful thinking! Is Black Depths Valley a place for everyone?”
With a flick of his duster, Elder Long-Brows said haughtily, “Every few decades or so, things get lively in there! There are too many rogue cultivators below Golden Core-level who know nothing of Black Depths Valley’s reputation. The people change every few decades, so we have to give them a little reminder.”
Which would mean?
Anyone who loitered around Sky-High Cliff, caused trouble, or believed in fateful encounters and leaps of faith, would be robbed by the old fellows of Black Depths Valley!
Chen He’s expression was stony.
A group of Demigod-level and Immortalisation-level cultivators going through someone’s storage pouch for valuables, robbing unconscious people with such ease…honestly? No wonder Black Depths Valley had such a fearsome reputation.
“Fine, fine, this is just a normal cultivator who can’t even afford medicine dregs.” Elder Long-Brows quickly changed the subject. He nodded and looked at the floor with disdain. “You said he recognised you? That’s odd! Cultivators don’t eat, but it’s still quite difficult to travel so far without any money.”
“He claims to be a disciple of the Heluo Sect.”
“Eeh?”
This startled Elder Long-Brows. He searched the man again but came up with nothing.
He then reached out to check and found weak traces of spiritual energy. This man was indeed using the Heluo Sect’s basic cultivation practices.
“Ooh, he has an average physique and is only at the Foundation Establishment level, doesn’t have much spiritual energy, but he has accumulated lots! A good, down-to-earth fellow who’s been cultivating steadily!” Elder Long-Brows’ eyes shone as he stroked his beard.
The major cultivation sects had many disciples. Other than physique, ability to comprehend could also contribute to their future prospects.
Even if they had anything, it would mean nothing if they did not work hard at cultivation.
Elder Long-Brows was bamboozled—Chen He could bring back a future master of the Heluo Sect after going for a random walk on the streets, and this person could be considered outstandingly talented even among hundreds of other major sect disciples of the same level. It seemed a little too shady.
“Daozhang wants to take him in as a disciple?”
“How could I, huhu, my youngest disciples are even older than Shi Feng,” Elder Long-Brows murmured.
Chen He silently committed this sentence to memory.
—he was still figuring out how best to make use of the clambeast pearl.
Mm, it appeared that Elder Long-Brows had more than one disciple.
“I see that Daozhang is appreciative of talents, so I thought I’d prompt you a bit.”
“How did you know?”
Elder Long-Brows looked up in astonishment. Chen He was still young, but he could already determine one’s comprehension ability, especially that which suited the Heluo Sect?
Chen He shrugged. He could not tell, but Elder Long-Brows was so pleased with this person that his brows were standing on end. It was almost as if he had it written all over his face. How would he not know even after this?
Elder Long-Brows could only change the subject again.
“You think this young Daoist was someone that Heluo brought to Yunzhou City, and he has seen you before?”
“Perhaps.”
Only then did Chen He speak of the strange things this man had done during the two times they met.
Naturally, many details were missing, such as the Primordial State Palm and Ruyi Hand, and the most unusual detail: this Daoist monk seemed to be able to determine a dummy’s strength upon sight. He skipped all these things and focused on how that person insisted that he was a devil and that they would be enemies in future.
“Now that’s interesting!”
Elder Long-Brows’ eyes were shining.
“Much hardship in the early years, no lingering relations to the earthly world, and he’s quite the fortunate soul.” Elder Long-Brows tugged the man’s ears, then peered closely at the man’s round face.
Chen He silently averted his gaze, unable to watch.
—this looked just like how Aunty Wang from next door examined cuts of pork at the butcher’s, which he had seen at the market a few days ago.
Elder Long-Brows used his true essence to draw out a wisp of Tianyan’s spiritual energy and carefully performed his divinations. By right, due to the vast difference in their cultivation bases, he should have been able to see the relevant heavenly secrets quite easily.
The heavens’ secrets were not to be revealed or spoken aloud, but one could keep them in mind for their own knowledge.
Unfortunately, no matter how many divinations he performed, this young Daoist monk’s fate was as slippery as a loach. It slipped around, impossible to catch, and even made the whole pond murky—he could not see any of the heavens’ secrets at all.
Amazed, Elder Long-Brows decided to divine Chen He’s fate, but it was as if he had become trapped in a misty haze, unable to see around him. He had divined Chen He’s fate many times back in Black Depths Valley and obtained the result of three tribulations and nine troubles, not something so mysterious and unknown!
“Chen He, something’s wrong!”
How did this senior-junior pair make such a mess of their fates after going out just once?
Elder Long-Brows tossed his duster aside and sat down with his legs crossed, beginning to infer the happenings of the cultivation world through divination. Unfortunately, as soon as he began, his whole body shuddered violently, blood spilling from his mouth.
“Daozhang?” Startled, Chen He went to help him up.
“The heavenly signs and fates have become murky. Looks like something serious is about to happen.” Elder Long-Brows’ expression was troubled.
This solemn mood made Chen He frown. His senior brother was still outside. If something serious were to happen in the cultivation world, would he not then be affected at once?
Right at that moment, a shrill cry came from elsewhere in the thirteen lanes:
“Help! Murder! Demonic beasts!”
“…”
Chen He: Would this be the so-called ‘something serious’?
Elder Long-Brows shook his head furiously: How can that be!!
The Enlightened Tianyan awoke and jumped up from where he had been lying on the floor. Before he could even open his eyes, he was already reaching for his peach-wood sword.
“Where’s the demonic beast? What kind is it, how much is it worth?”
