Beneath the flowering trees, the cultivators descended with an ethereal poise to select their disciples.
Everywhere was awash with peace and joy.
The mortals were full of gratitude.
Xue Zhenzhen said coldly, “You refuse to improve your skills and don’t have initiative. You are my son. Why stoop to learn these petty tricks of mortals?”
Xue Cuo opened his mouth to respond, but seeing her snap a blossom-laden branch from the tree, he quickly clasped his ears in both hands. “Mom, I’ve done enough training today. I’ve swung my sword one thousand five hundred times!”
At this, Xue Zhenzhen flung the branch away, though her expression remained displeased. “Why not one thousand eight hundred?”
Xue Cuo drew in a breath. “Mom, you’re being unreasonable! I completed the quota and instead of praise, I get scolded. If this keeps up, I won’t want to believe you anymore!”
Xue Zhenzhen clasped her hands behind her back. “I’m being unreasonable? When your father was six, he had already mastered the Tianyi Sword Forms and reached the Spirit Void Realm. I, at six, had already comprehended the first stage of the Dragon Might Sword Intent and stepped into the Spirit Void Realm. And you? You’ve grasped nothing.”
Xue Cuo’s retort stalled in his throat. His ears flushed bright red, but he couldn’t answer back. She’d said nothing but the truth.
He hadn’t yet comprehended the sword intent.
Jun Wuwei brushed aside a flowering bough and strolled over.
The Sword Immortal’s manner was graceful, his robes even whiter than the pear blossoms.
Trailing behind him was Gu Ruhui, struggling to keep pace. He was slender and solitary, eyes cold, his robes tattered and bloodstained, spattered with grime. A man of the dust and dirt.
In battle, he had not noticed how filthy he’d become.
Fragrant grass grew beneath his feet.
Drops of blood fell onto the leaves, sullying the serenity with their stink.
Gu Ruhui paused, stunned, then tore a strip from his robe and began wiping away the blood. He started with the leaves, then proceeded to his face and hands. He did so with great care, until his features were clean once more, quiet as a painting, pale as an immortal.
Jun Wuwei turned back but did not rush him. Only after Gu Ruhui had composed himself did he lead him towards Xue Zhenzhen.
Gu Ruhui cupped his fists and bowed. “Immortal Master.”
Xue Zhenzhen cast a cool glance over him. She was initially indifferent, but then gave a quiet hum of surprise. After a moment’s pause, she said, “Your swordsmanship is not bad.”
A sliver of relief bloomed in Gu Ruhui’s chest. Joy flickered beneath his stern gaze. One of the two most formidable sword cultivators in Eastern Lands had offered him praise.
He also noticed a child by Elder Xue’s side around five or six years old, whose hair tied into two flower-bun knots, wearing blue and white disciple’s robes.
The child’s sleeves and hems were sodden and muddy, no different from ordinary mortal brats at play.
Gu Ruhui looked at him. The child looked back, blinked, and gave him a cheeky smile.
Is he laughing at me? Gu Ruhui wondered.
Then he thought again: Having been born in a celestial realm, such a child would naturally laugh often. Whereas I cannot bring myself to..
The Sword Immortal stretched lazily. If not for Gu Ruhui, he wouldn’t have left his cultivation grounds at all.
He turned to Xue Zhenzhen. “Gu Ruhui is now my disciple. I intend to bring him to Liuyun Peak. As for the registration… shall we place him in Tianyi Pavilion?”
Xue Zhenzhen’s voice was cool. “Xue Cuo is of age for enrolment. He’ll be entering Tianyi Pavilion. Your disciple as well?”
Jun Wuwei blinked, looked down at Xue Cuo, folded his arms and fell silent for a while before asking, “Would you prefer to join Shujian Pavilion?”
Xue Zhenzhen’s expression tightened slightly. Her hand moved to grip the hilt of the Dragon Might Sword.
Xue Cuo, oblivious, was thinking of his two shixiongs, Xu Youyu and Youxia, as well as that female sword cultivator who had lifted him like poultry. He nodded eagerly.
But Xue Zhenzhen cut in at once. “Xue Cuo is only allowed to enter Tianyi Pavilion.”
Jun Wuwei didn’t press the point. “Very well. Let Gu Ruhui enter Shujian Pavilion. It’s not a bad branch, but they are slower to receive the core techniques. Bit of a waste of his talent, really. I’d like to see just how quickly what level he can cultivate to.”
He spoke without any concern for Xue Cuo, assuming the child was too young, too untalented, to mind.
And so he didn’t see how Xue Cuo was clenching the edge of his robe, rubbing it tighter and tighter, head bowed ever lower.
Xue Zhenzhen nodded briskly. “I don’t have the time to accompany you. Practise diligently these next few days. In three days, I’ll escort you to Wendao Palace. If I catch you out gallivanting with that sword again, I’ll punish you.”
Jun Wuwei added, “There’ll be an initiation after the selection ceremony. The wine’s rather good. Come on, Ruhui, I’ll show you around.”
And so they went their separate ways.
Xue Zhenzhen swept eastward in a billow of robes. The Sword Immortal wandered leisurely up the white jade steps of Wanhua Pavilion with Gu Ruhui in tow.
Gu Ruhui glanced back after a few steps.
Xue Cuo stood frozen, clutching two silver fish, lost in thought.
Only after the two had vanished did Sword Uncle reappear and whisk Xue Cuo back to the Immortal Forest of Liuyun Peak.
Xue Cuo hung the fish on a tree branch and said seriously, “Sword Uncle, you must supervise me. This time, I’m swinging it two thousand times!”
The dark hand on Snow Sword blinked, unsure what had provoked the child, and gave a resigned downward smile.
Xue Cuo braced himself with bright enthusiasm. “One, two, three, four…”
“One hundred and seventy-nine…”
“Three hundred and forty-five…”
“Four hundred and one… four hundred… four hundred…”
“…four hundred…”
Two hours later, he was sprawled alone atop a boulder. Sword Uncle flew over and saw his lips moving but limbs still.
Xue Cuo looked dejected, curled around the rock and ignoring him. Sword Uncle circled and gave a phantom punch, but the boy didn’t so much as flinch.
Something was wrong with the child today.
Usually it was Xue Cuo bullying him. Today he couldn’t even get a reaction. The green-black hand drummed thoughtfully against the sword hilt. Was the brat sulking because his hair had become messy? Too hard to please, this one.
The green-black hand tugged mockingly at Xue Cuo’s face, then tied his hair into two little braids, tied up neatly with red string. Even so, Xue Cuo remained listless.
Snow Sword gave his backside an impatient slap. Xue Cuo twitched slightly… then did nothing at all.
The green-black hand bounced in alarm. Could it be hunger?
It flew down beneath the tree, where the little silver fish Xue Cuo had caught were still flapping their tails in fear. Immortal fish that didn’t die out of water.
The green-black hand showed no mercy.
A quarter of an hour later, Snow Sword bore a platter of crystal-clear raw fish slices. It floated back to Xue Cuo’s side, hauled him up by the ear, and smacked his backside.
Xue Cuo sniffed, sat up, and began to eat, sighing softly as he wiped away a few tears. His starry eyes brimmed with longing for freedom. “Sword Uncle, Sword Uncle, I don’t want to practise anymore. I really want to go out and play.”
Snow Sword was silent for a long moment. The dark green hand tapped the hilt a few times, then grabbed Xue Cuo by the collar and floated towards the barrier.
Under the collective gaze of the watching trees, boy and sword slipped quietly out.
The old pines shook furiously: That sly fox of a sword! Since it showed up, Xue Cuo doesn’t even bother pulling our hair anymore!
Sword Uncle drifted lazily towards the Great Loch and dropped Xue Cuo on the bank.
Xue Cuo splashed about for a while, until a white cloud drifted down from the sky. Standing on it were two familiar figures.
His eyes lit up. “Ren Shu-gege! Granny!”
Ren Shu replied, “Little Daoist, I’ve been waiting here for days. If you hadn’t shown up today, I was about to leave.”
The two hadn’t met for a while, so of course their reunion was joyful.
Xue Cuo took Ren Shu fishing in the loch. The purple-robed granny looked like she wanted to object, but thought better of it and held her tongue.
Ren Shu, stepping barefoot on the muddy shore for the first time, seemed rather stiff at first.
Xue Cuo scoffed, “Eh, gege’s so pale.”
Ren Shu nearly burst out laughing in exasperation. “You’re even paler, little miss.”
Xue Cuo dropped his trousers, stuck his hands on his hips, and jumped into the water with a splash. “I’m not a girl!”
Mud splashed all over Ren Shu. He rolled up his sleeves—he was still a youth, after all—and after a moment’s hesitation, stripped off his clothes and leapt stark naked into the water.
The two of them wrestled until the waters turned cloudy.
The purple-robed granny clenched her fists and shut her eyes. Fine. Just this once.
By dusk, the boys were cleaned and dressed again. Xue Cuo sat on a floating cloud, hugging a puff of it, tearing off tufts. “Ren Shu-gege, I don’t want to go home.”
Ren Shu was quiet as a puppet. After a long pause, he said, “I don’t want to go home either. But after I return this time, I won’t be able to come see you again.”
Xue Cuo sat up. “Why not? Is your home really far?”
Ren Shu shook his head. “No… Do you remember that day you were in the sky, meditating on the Dao? We came to look for you.”
Xue Cuo nodded.
“I saw the Golden Crow Sun Wheel in your manifestation,” Ren Shu said. “I thought you were like me, a follower of the Xianghuo Divine Dao.”
The purple-robed granny’s face changed dramatically and she spoke hurriedly. “Young Master!”
Ren Shu’s expression didn’t shift. “Granny, to befriend others, one should be sincere.”
Xue Cuo’s face grew solemn. “Ren Shu-gege… you’re from the Xianghuo Divine Dao?”
Ren Shu was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Mm. Everyone in my family are practitioners of the Xianghuo Divine Dao. Now it’s my turn.”
Xue Cuo said nothing. Ren Shu, a little downcast, formed a seal with his fingers. A faint blue water mirror appeared in the air. “Look.”
Through the mirror, the world lost its colours. Mountains and rivers faded into cold greys. Yet within that greyscale stillness floated pinpricks of gold, rising, drifting higher and higher into the unseen night.
Xue Cuo noticed how different it looked from what his eyes alone could see. “What are those little specks?”
“The will of living beings. The divine power of Xianghuo Divine Dao.”
Xue Cuo wasn’t sure he understood. He looked down again, and became even more transfixed.
Beneath the blue night sky, the dark loch stretched into a fathomless abyss. It looked like a sleeping maiden, curled within a shell not quite a snail’s, with a round, boat-shaped disc behind her head. Thin tributaries were her flowing hair, the thick river ribbons coiled around her body, and the lakes pearls strewn across her skirts, giving off a faint glow.
Xue Cuo rubbed his eyes. “Th-the Goddess of the Great Loch?!”
Ren Shu jumped and looked Xue Cuo up and down. He scooped him up and flew back to the cloud. “Don’t think about it. Don’t listen. The gods of the old days are all strange and sinister. Unless your family cultivates the Xianghuo Divine Dao, you can turn evil fairly easily. And that would bring disaster.”
“Is the Xianghuo Divine Dao is really that dangerous?” Xue Cuo whispered.
Ren Shu nodded solemnly, hands behind his back. “If you don’t want to befriend me anymore, I understand.”
“I don’t like the Xianghuo Divine Dao ,” Xue Cuo said, “but I still want to be your friend.”
Ren Shu’s stiff, doll-like face softened into the hint of a smile. “Alright. If you ever come to Southern Divine Lands, visit Qianyun Mountain in the South Sea. Offer me a stick of incense.”
“I’ll know you’ve arrived. I can send you a dream that night.”
Xue Cuo grinned, “Then I’ll steal your offerings!”
Ren Shu: “……”
Night deepened. They clasped fists and said their goodbyes.
Xue Cuo returned with Sword Uncle to the Immortal Forest. There, he found a small thatched hut by Mirror Lake, and someone practising their sword outside.
