Chapter 8

Chapter 7. Goodness, the Huashan Sect is in ruins. (2)

Qingming's head snapped around.

"Ah..."

There's someone!

It was a rare piece of good news after a month of being revived. There were people living in Huashan, which he thought had fallen into ruin.

Creak!

The heavy, rotten wooden gate groaned as it struggled to open. Through the half-open gap, a Taoist with a black Taoist cap poked his head out.

"..."

"What, a child?"

The Taoist.

Qingming was certain this man was a true Taoist from just one word. Because in the past month, he had hardly ever heard the word "child."

- What, some brat?

- Looks like a young beggar?

- Is a beggar traveling alone?

'That damn beggar.'

Beggars had no age. Whether young or old, they were all beggars. The fact that this man called him a "child" instead of a "beggar" after seeing his dirty appearance was enough to qualify him as a Taoist.

The middle-aged Taoist, who looked to be around forty, kept turning his head to look around. Then he stared at Qingming with a bewildered expression.

"Did you come here alone? How did you manage to climb up here by yourself?"

"Uh... well..."

Qingming stammered.

'Just climbed up?'

He wanted to say that with determination, anything was possible, but it wasn't appropriate in this situation.

With his emaciated body, any words he said would only raise suspicion. But there was no need to make excuses. What was important at this moment was not to make excuses but to take control of the conversation.

"Actually, I have a question."

"Hmm?"

The Taoist's eyes widened.

It was understandable.

Finding a child alone in a place where even adults had difficulty climbing would be bewildering enough, let alone the child suddenly wanting to ask a question.

"Are you a Taoist of Huashan?"

"…How do you know the name Huashan Sect?"

"Is that correct?"

"For now, yes."

Qingming let out a sigh of relief.

'At least it hasn’t completely fallen!'

Of course, it might be on the verge of collapse. Just looking at the state of the gate gives a rough idea. But the important thing is that it hasn’t fallen yet.

'After all, it means the lineage continues.'

Qingming made up his mind.

First, he had to somehow help Huashan...

"Come in for now."

"Huh?"

Qingming's head snapped up. The Taoist smiled kindly.

"The sun is setting, isn’t it?"

"…What?"

Only then did he notice that it was already getting dark.

"The night in Huashan is cold. It’s not even spring yet, so if you try to spend the night here, you might freeze to death. It would be unreasonable to ask you to spend the night here, and it would be difficult to go down the mountain now. So, come in for now. Although we don’t usually accept outsiders, we can’t let a guest who knows the name of Huashan be exposed to the night dew."

Qingming rolled his eyes.

Why is he letting me in so easily?

...Well, thinking about it, they have no reason to be wary of me. Why would they be wary of a young beggar who looks like he’s about to collapse from hunger?

"Come in for now if you have no one with you and no other plans. We can talk later."

Qingming was a bit dazed.

He felt a lump in his throat.

The traces of the Huashan Sect, which once dominated the world, are almost gone, but the Daoist sect that supported Huashan before the sword sect still felt alive.

'So, that’s enough.'

What’s the point of making a name with swords? Huashan was a Daoist sect before it was a sword sect. If the Daoist lineage continues, Huashan is still alive.

"Then I will be a bother."

Qingming bowed slightly, and the man smiled and opened the gate.

"Come this way."

"Yes. Before that, I..."

Qingming closed his mouth.

How should I introduce myself?

'I don’t know. He won’t suspect me.'

"I am Qingming. May I ask for the Taoist’s name?"

"Qingming. That’s a good name. I am Yunyan."

'Yun character, Pai.'

Qingming's eyes sparkled.

'The Pai character has already gone around once. If Yunyan is the Pai character, is he my great-grandson in the sect?'

Huashan follows the Pai character sequence of Qingming Xuan Yun Bai. It goes from the Qing character to the Bai character and then back to the Qing character.

This Taoist named Yunyan is already four generations removed from Qingming.

'So he’s never met me.'

The last disciples he saw were from the Xuan character. At that time, the Xuan character disciples were the third generation, so this Taoist named Yunyan has never met him.

The passage of time felt real.

Qingming, who once led Huashan with his senior... no, who was a hindrance to his senior leading Huashan, couldn’t even climb Huashan back then, but now he is a Taoist of Huashan, greeting this man.

This strange feeling could only be felt by him.

Qingming followed Yunyan's lead and entered the sect.

"Phew."

He sighed deeply. Seeing the current state of Huashan with his own eyes was a bit burdensome.

Qingming made a firm resolve.

'Remain calm.'

Considering what they left behind and the current situation, it wasn’t strange that Huashan was in a mess. In fact, that was the norm.

But it wasn’t their fault.

It was their own fault for leaving only children who couldn’t even hold a sword properly and being completely wiped out.

In other words, to be blunt, Qingming had no right to be angry at these children. He should feel sorry for them.

If Qingming were in the same situation, would he have struggled to protect Huashan? He would have changed his name and become a Taoist. Isn’t that more sensible?

'What right do I have to blame these children?'

To be angry at children for not succeeding after failing to guide them properly as an adult? That would be shameless.

No matter what, he had to realize that the responsibility was his and accept the situation with an open heart.

"Phew."

He took a deep breath and walked inside.

Soon, a vast training ground spread before his eyes.

'Ah.'

It was a new feeling. In the past, Qingming also swung his sword on this vast training ground, nurturing his dreams.

That white Qinggang stone floor...

"Uh?"

Qingming rubbed his eyes.

Qinggang stone? That white Qinggang... No, where did the Qinggang stone go?

Qingming's eyes trembled.

'Why is it just dirt?'

In the past, the floor of this training ground was filled with solid Qinggang stone.

His senior was unhappy that the floor of the Daoist sect, which should be frugal, was made of expensive Qinggang stone, but he didn’t insist on removing it because it was a pity for the children to breathe in dirt while practicing.

But why did all the Qinggang stone disappear?

Could the current head of Huashan be more frugal than his senior? So he removed all the Qinggang stone?

"Phew."

Qingming's forehead turned red.

'Remain calm.'

Calm. Stay calm. What’s so important about that Qinggang stone?

'It’s just a rock.'

No matter how expensive the Qinggang stone was! Even if it was so expensive that his senior, who was a Taoist, would get angry at stepping on it, which was worth more than a month’s worth of crops for the people...

People were born, and rocks were born. Rocks were born, and people... Ah, rocks could have been born before people.

Anyway!

'It can be sold if money is needed.'

What’s important is that Huashan continues to exist. It’s not important to protect those rocks. Really, it’s not...

'Remain calm.'

"Phew. Phew."

Qingming took deep breaths as slowly as possible. Even if he sold those rocks to protect the name of Huashan and show gratitude to those who kept it...

At that moment, Qingming's eyes bulged.

Another strange scene caught his eye.

'Where did the Jinchuan Palace go?'

The Jinchuan Palace is not visible.

'Ah, not visible? What kind of nonsense is this?'

The Jinchuan Palace is a building, not a living thing. It can’t run away, can it?

But no matter how he looked, the place where the Jinchuan Palace should have been was just a desolate open space.

"Um."

"Hmm?"

"Um, over there."

Qingming's trembling finger pointed to the open space where the Jinchuan Palace should have been.

"The layout seems a bit strange... Was there nothing there originally?"

"Hmm. It seems you can see it too. Originally, there were halls on that open space."

That makes sense.

But where did they all go?

"Hehe. It’s not a story a child like you would understand."

Speak up, damn it! Why don’t I know! I know better than you!

"Just call it a scar of glory. It’s a bit embarrassing for a Taoist to mention glory."

"Glory can freeze to death."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Qingming mumbled.

The sight of Huashan, with its Qinggang stone gone and halls missing, was desolate. The wind blew, and the dirt from the training ground rose, creating a yellow sandstorm.

Is this Huashan? Is this?

I would believe it if you