Chapter 29

That night, it was no longer Jiang Ni, the rebellious princess of the Western Chu, who descended the mountain alone. Xu Fengnian did not fly into a rage and destroy her rebellious cursive script. Instead, he lay on the stone steps, drinking more than half a pot of rice wine, and finished all the beef. When the east began to turn the color of fish belly, he finally left the Tai Xu Palace. That day, Xu Fengnian still diligently practiced his saber techniques, knowing that the slow bird must fly early and endure some hardships. After dawn, a young Taoist boy sweeping the ground saw the hasty writing on the square and was startled, thinking it was a celestial being who had descended to write divine script. He dropped his broom and ran back to the hall to call his master, who then called his own master, eventually gathering the six highest-ranking grandmasters of Wudang.

Wang Chonglou, the only person in the Daoist world to have achieved the Great Yellow Court in nearly sixty years, was the current patriarch.

Chen Yao, who managed the moral and disciplinary code of Wudang Mountain, was strict but not rigid. At over ninety years old, he was still in good health and enjoyed scolding the most talented young junior brother on the mountain by walking in a circle, though he always felt sorry before he finished scolding, making his reprimands more thunderous than rainy.

Song Zhiming, who had lived for two ancient ages, a total of 140 years, was of an unusually low generation. He had passed through the Molaoguan gate seven or eight times, more than anyone else in the world, if not the most, then the second. He was also responsible for alchemy, and many of the nearly a hundred miraculous elixirs and medicines of Wudang were created by him.

Yu Xingrui, who had just returned from a journey in the East Sea, dressed sloppily but had inner strength second only to Wang Chonglou. He was just sixty years old and had taken a disciple with excellent bone structure, a young boy under twenty. On Wudang, seniority often had nothing to do with age, and this was the root of it.

Wang Xiaoping, the sword enthusiast, was even more silent than a mute, his heart as still as an ancient well, as if his life had no other attachment besides the sword.

Finally, there was Hong Xiang, who was probably the most unorthodox on the entire Wudang, solely pursuing the elusive Heavenly Dao.

"Good writing," Chen Yao praised sincerely.

"Excellent," Yu Xingrui nodded in agreement.

"Truly remarkable. Except for the last seven characters, this text is grand and sorrowful but unyielding, a rarity in my life," Song Zhiming sighed heavily, bending over to observe the beginning of the text, stroking his long, vine-like white eyebrow. He then exclaimed, "Upon closer inspection, it seems the seemingly superfluous seven characters at the end are the finishing touch. What a vow."

"Good writing, more unrestrained and bold than contemporary cursive script, like a dragon leaping through the heavenly gate and a tiger lying on the mountain. Rare. Even more remarkable is the text, hard to imagine it was written by a woman not yet twenty," Wang Chonglou concluded.

"Shh, be quiet," the young grandmaster said nervously.

"Fear not, the young prince is practicing his saber techniques below," Wang Chonglou teased.

"Anyway, I'll be the only one in trouble," Hong Xiang muttered.

"Young people get along better with young people; we're all old," Wang Chonglou said with a smile.

"Big Brother, are you pushing me into the fire just because I'm young?!" Hong Xiang said in despair.

"Little Brother, you must have the resolve to enter hell if not me, who then? The Heavenly Dao is nothing more than this," Wang Chonglou laughed, showing no divine or transcendent demeanor in front of his younger brothers.

"Bullshit! That's Buddhist talk!" Hong Xiang shouted.

"All rivers flow east to the sea; the words may differ, but the truth is the same," Yu Xingrui added, laughing and adding fuel to the fire.

"Did you hear that? Your Elder Brother Yu is right," Wang Chonglou patted the young brother's shoulder, then exchanged a smile with Yu Xingrui. They were all old, with no hope of ascending to immortality, and the greatest joy was teasing the young brother, not knowing when they might lie in a coffin.

Wang Chonglou said, "Little Brother, your calligraphy is the best here. While the weather is clear, you should copy it and carefully store it in the top floor of the scripture hall."

Hong Xiang rolled his eyes, "I won't write it. If the young prince finds out, I'll be skinned alive."

Wang Chonglou laughed, "Just don't copy the last seven characters. What's to fear?"

Hong Xiang muttered, "Anyway, the one who gets beaten won't be Big Brother."

Wang Xiaoping, who had not spoken for sixteen years, stood and focused for a long time before finally saying hoarsely, "There is a sword's intent in the writing."

The four older brothers looked at each other, then smiled in understanding.

Hong Xiang, who had never heard his sixth brother speak since he came to the mountain, was surprised but then despaired, "I'll write it!"

Three days later, thunder rumbled.

Xu Fengnian, holding an oiled paper umbrella, came to the Tai Xu Palace again. After a light rain, the ground was black. The rain grew stronger, and the drops pattered on the umbrella. He saw a slender figure with a peachwood sword standing at the other end of the square.

Xu Fengnian wondered if the white-haired old man had left the Beiliang Mansion. Otherwise, he could have called him to fight the sword enthusiast. After the life-and-death battle with the Dongyue knife expert, watching a high-level duel was different; it was no longer just for entertainment. Dismissing this tempting thought, Xu Fengnian turned and went down the mountain.

Outside the thatched cottage, Qingniao, the first-class maid of the Wutong Garden, stood in the rain, holding an oiled paper umbrella with a qingluan design, waiting for the young prince.

Qingniao brought a letter personally handed to her by the Grand Marshal.

Xu Fengnian entered the room, which was almost entirely filled with secret manuals, leaving only a small corner by the wall where Jiang Ni slept. He sat on a pile of books, tore a few pages from a book called "Tiger Cage Saber" to wipe his face, and a few more to dry his hands before opening the letter. In the letter, Xu Xiao wrote that he had sent people to the capital to gather information and was not hiding the fact that he was preparing to place a Buddha statue in the palace to suppress the blind Sun eunuch. In two years, the Sun family would lose power. What truly stunned Xu Fengnian was Xu Xiao's revelation of why he had sent him to Wudang: Wang Chonglou was to transfer his entire mystical cultivation to him, like grafting a branch onto a tree!

Was this not a heaven-defying act?

Wasn't he afraid of being struck by lightning?

Xu Fengnian destroyed the secret letter, his heart filled with turmoil. He looked at Qingniao standing at the door and asked, "Can inner strength be transferred to others? If so, why not pass it on like a throne, making each generation of experts in a sect stronger than the last?"

Qingniao replied calmly, "The effect of a pill or a bowl of rice varies from person to person. The transfer of inner strength is at most half. In the martial world, there was once a demon with deep inner strength who enjoyed forcibly transferring it to others, watching as their bodies could not bear the burden, ultimately exploding into pieces, leaving only a complete head."

Xu Fengnian was speechless, "There are such crazy people who harm others and themselves?"

Qingniao nodded.

Xu Fengnian asked, "Is this Xu Xiao's idea, or my master's?"

Qingniao honestly replied, "I dare not say."

Xu Fengnian sighed, "Then it's Xu Xiao."

Qingniao looked around and actually smiled.

Xu Fengnian said softly, "Wait until the rain eases before going down the mountain."

Qingniao nodded.

When the rain finally subsided, Qingniao had to go down the mountain. Xu Fengnian accompanied her to the Xuanwu Dangxing archway before turning back.

Back at the thatched cottage, Xu Fengnian looked at the muddy vegetable patch and smiled, "Why put your hatred on paper? If Second Sister finds out, you'll be in for another beating, won't you? You remember the beatings but not the good things, you little brat."

The young prince continued to practice his saber techniques, but he started to boldly seek trouble in the purple bamboo forest on the Great Lotus Peak. This was the forbidden area of the sword enthusiast, Wang Xiaoping. Even the few senior brothers of the same generation on Wudang Mountain dared not disturb him, except for the young grandmaster who would bring cattle to graze or find suitable long purple bamboos for fishing rods. The first time Xu Fengnian went to the purple bamboo forest, he was forced out by a sword that cut dozens of bamboo. The second time, he stubbornly withstood a sword strike, resulting in a half-month stay on a wooden bed, costing Wudang several bottles of high-quality elixirs. When Xu Fengnian could finally split a waterfall with a single saber strike, he visited the purple bamboo forest again. After a sword strike, he was forced to retreat, still not seeing the face of the sword enthusiast, but at least he could stagger back to the thatched cottage, almost eating elixirs like meals.

Wudang, like Longhu Mountain, practiced both internal and external alchemy. While they emphasized the internal alchemy of dragon and tiger breathing, they also accepted the "cooking of gold and stone" that Longhu Mountain considered heretical. On the Qingyun Peak, there were several thousand-pound cauldrons, and the alchemists were the hardest-working on the mountain, consuming nearly ten thousand pounds of charcoal each year. Xu Fengnian had observed an opening ceremony of a cauldron on the Qingyun Peak last month, which was said to be the second most evil-proof peak after the main Lotus Peak. It required a good day, the construction of an altar, the burning of talismans, and the alchemists kneeling at the foot of the peak, facing south to pray to the Great Daoist Celestial Venerable before ascending the mountain. This finally made the young prince understand the difficulty of practicing Daoism and alchemy. However, this did not stop Xu Fengnian from eating elixirs like a bull eating peonies, much to the frustration of Hong Xiang, who had finally convinced Third Brother Song Zhiming to allow the young prince to watch the alchemy process.

Master Brother said that young people were easier to communicate with, but this was not true at all!

The osmanthus on the mountain was fragrant.

Xu Fengnian, besides challenging the waterfall at the Xuanxian Peak, visited the purple bamboo forest and faced Wang Xiaoping every few days, finally managing to withstand a sword strike without falling.

Though it was just one sword, whether he fell or not determined whether Xu Fengnian had truly mastered the art of the saber.

Perhaps noticing the sudden reduction in the number of purple bamboos, the sword enthusiast's sword strikes became even more unpredictable.

Few could have predicted that the notorious young prince would stay on Wudang for half a year. Some young Taoists who had experienced the secular world speculated that the young prince had hidden several beautiful maids on the mountain or was feasting on fish and meat daily. They also noticed that they saw the young grandmaster less often, leading to rumors that the young prince was a reincarnated demon, needing the young grandmaster, who was the reincarnation of the True Wu Emperor, to suppress him. The rumors grew wild and varied.

Hong Xiang, who rode a cow, ignored the rumors and did not explain. When asked by younger Taoists, he would smile and say, "The young prince is reading classics like 'Yunji Qiqian' and 'Daojiao Yizhu,' very diligently."

If anyone else said this, no one would believe it. But coming from the grandmaster, it was half-believed.

Occasionally, a Taoist of high rank and seniority would ask indignantly, "Grandmaster Hong, why does the young prince, who has a good life, come to Wudang to bully people? Who is he practicing his saber for?"

The young grandmaster would laugh and say, "Perhaps he is practicing for himself. The young prince comes from a wealthy and noble family, so his hobbies are different from ordinary people. Uh, indeed, a bit unconventional."

Someone couldn't help but sneer, "He must be stealing our Wudang secrets to cause trouble when he goes down the mountain!"

At this point, the young grandmaster would fall silent.

Today, he let the cow go and walked alone in the forest, heading to the Xuanxian Coffin. He saw a unique Zhenma Dan cicada of Wudang Mountain fly past.

Without speeding up, he walked a few steps like a drunkard and caught the cicada just before it hit a spider web.

The young grandmaster bent down to pass under the web, then released the cicada.

The cicada, after transforming from a larva to an adult, had a lifespan of at most three months.

But Hong Xiang still saved it, for no reason, just a natural act.

This grandmaster, who had been on the mountain for over twenty years, was always seen as the best candidate to understand the Heavenly Dao, but he seemed to have no idea what it was, nor did he think deeply about it. He ate, drank, went to the toilet, herded cattle, read books, and enjoyed the scenery, living a simple life.

Hong Xiang slowly walked to the thatched cottage and saw the young prince picking a cucumber from the vegetable garden and eating it.

Hong Xiang tried to sneak a cucumber while the young prince wasn't looking but was hit by the sheath of the Xiudong saber.

Squatting beside him, Hong Xiang asked curiously, "Young prince, are you really willing to give up the red wine, beautiful songs, exotic delicacies, and silk quilts in the mansion?"

Xu Fengnian smiled, "If you do the same for years, you'll be willing too."

Hong Xiang shook his head, "I wouldn't give up this mountain."

Xu Fengnian sneered, "You're just a coward, two different things."

Hong Xiang pouted, the greatest protest he could make.

Xu Fengnian mocked, "I dared to come up the mountain to practice, but you're afraid to go down? Are there clusters of demons and ghosts down there, or are they everywhere? Even if there are, don't you Taoists need to slay demons and eliminate evil?"

Hong Xiang still shook his head vigorously.

Xu Fengnian stopped wasting his breath and asked, "I'm going to the purple bamboo forest, are you coming?"

Hong Xiang shook his head like a rattle and waved his hands, "No, Elder Brother Wang doesn't let me go there to herd cattle anymore."

Xu Fengnian, munching on the cucumber, left the vegetable garden with the Xiudong saber, speaking indistinctly, "What's so great about being the best in the world? It's better to be the only one. Everyone is fighting to be the best, but only one can win. But the latter is something everyone can aspire to, that's the Heavenly Dao."

Hong Xiang, squatting on the ground, propped his chin in his hands, thinking, "I understand a little, but not completely."

Xu Fengnian, walking away, coldly said, "Don't steal any more cucumbers. I've counted them. If I find one missing when I come back, I'll beat you until you're bleeding from all three legs. Do you understand that?"

Hong Xiang forced a smile, "I understand!"