C5. Sudden Waves

Good day, everyone…Life has been rather hectic these days. (Readers who are also in the SDC server may know some of the things that happened.) Hence this release is coming in later than expected.

…what's that, you say? No long opening speech today?

Hm, I'll spare you from that this time, since you've all been waiting way too long for this.

Time had pa.s.sed without anyone realising. The purple magnolias blossomed and wilted, the pear trees grew taller, and all their petals scattered about in the brook.

Breathing deeply, Chen He awoke, his breaths as controlled as ever.

He had extremely faint brows, a full, fair forehead, a high nose bridge, and was quite the handsome young man. At his left temple, near his ear, there were three red moles; they seemed to form a slash that cut clean through the curve at the end of his left brow.[1]

The silver bangle that he had worn on his right wrist was long gone, bell and all. In its place was a piece of jade that had been carved into an orb.

Instinctively, Chen He touched the jade orb to his forehead. An instant later, his disorientation cleared, and he climbed down the tree quickly and easily.

The streams and springs at the bottom of Sky-High Cliff, with their clear waters, had not changed in decades. Very soon, Chen He found that foreign yet familiar figure in the lake by the forest.

The time was just right. As s.h.i.+ Feng retracted his hands, the prayer beads wrapped themselves around his wrist. Then he turned slowly, heading towards the shallower part of the lake.

"Master—”

The youth stepped into the lake, happily bounding towards the person in the lake.

Before s.h.i.+ Feng had a chance to frown, Chen He had already stopped and corrected himself, "Senior Brother, I'm hungry."

He was no longer that tender white lump of a child. Now he was a youth of age seventeen, with a well-proportioned body and long, flexible limbs; however, he was still shorter when compared to s.h.i.+ Feng. Every time he woke up, the youth who had no memories would secretly compare his own height to s.h.i.+ Feng's, and check his face by observing his reflection in the brook's waters.

"Not bad, I look better than I imagined," Chen He muttered, touching his cheeks.

There was a hint of a smile in s.h.i.+ Feng's eyes.

To Chen He, everything was so new. On the other hand, seeing his junior brother check his own reflection in the water and study his own looks so seriously was something interesting, something that s.h.i.+ Feng would never get tired of seeing.

"Oh, wait, why do I have a dimple on only one side."

There came the familiar sighs.

"And this canine here…Senior Brother, did I even grow up at all, can't I just go back to when I was three and start growing all over again!" Disappointed, Chen He crouched by the lake.

There was more than one reflection in the water. Chen He's gaze s.h.i.+fted unwittingly to s.h.i.+ Feng.

Senior Brother was rather handsome, too.

His narrow brows were set in a slight arch, and were slightly faint; the corners of his eyes were long, with a slight curve. It made even his gaze seem elegant, yet full of affection[2].

Even with his red robes soaked halfway through, and his black hair hanging loose, his smile still seemed as gentle as the spring winds that whisked the pear flowers off their branches.

"The one in the mountains is fragrant as the pollias/Drinking from the stone springs, sheltered by the pines and cypresses[3]," Chen He blurted out.

s.h.i.+ Feng raised his brows when he heard that. Sir Qu's Mountain Spirit, was it not? Fair enough; he was using new lines of poetry today, but he was being just as frivolous about it.

"Ow! Senior Brother, I'm already a fool, you'll make it worse if you keep knocking on my head," Chen He said sincerely, holding his head.

Fixing his gaze on Chen He, s.h.i.+ Feng pinned his junior brother against a nearby pear tree with just one hand. His vast spiritual energy flowed into Chen He's meridians and bones.

He knew Chen He's level of cultivation as well as he knew the back of his hand.

The Qi in his dantian settled down into a slow vortex, with wisps of gold liquid lingering. This was a sign that the Golden Core had not yet been formed, but the Foundation Establishment stage would soon be completed. Were he to be placed among mortals, his spiritual energy would only be used as internal force at the most, and he would be no different from a master of internal martial arts.

In the cultivation world, people like this - people who were but a single step away from the way of the Dao - formed the majority.

For self-defence, and to show the skills of those who sought immortality, they invented various methods, such as making amulets, creating pills, exorcisms, appeasing spirits, and so on. However, Chen He did not have to worry about self-defence, because Nanhongzi's followers all gained insight into the Dao through martial arts. If someone were to try and use a peach wood sword[4] on him, Chen He could knock out two of his teeth with a single punch, long before the guy finished stepping in the Seven Stars formation[5].

—for all his good looks, Senior Brother was actually quite mean. Look, even now he was being treated no better than a fox cub being handled by a hunter.

Chen He got another flick on the forehead for getting distracted. He rubbed his forehead ruefully, keeping quiet.

Casting an impatient glance in Chen He's direction, s.h.i.+ Feng continued to use his own spiritual energy to check on Chen He's meridians, especially the clotted blood at the back of his head.

During all these years, as Chen He's cultivation level increased, the clotted blood had gradually been broken apart and cleared away. However, there was absolutely no improvement in his condition. There was no one in Black Depths Valley who was skilled in the ways of medicine, either. After giving it some thought, the Valley Master voiced his concerns; what if someone, fearing that he was not dead, had hit Chen He's head again after he had hit his head on the rock in the pond? Then the clotted blood would have blocked the true damage that had been dealt.

It was like how a mortal's broken bones would grow back crooked if they were not set as soon as possible. Chen He had missed the best opportunity to heal his head injury, and besides, a head injury could not be healed like a fracture of the bones - simply breaking them and set them right. Every time s.h.i.+ Feng thought of this, he felt utterly helpless, as if his hands were tied.

"Senior Brother, it's alright even if I'll be like this for the rest of my life," Chen He consoled, taking s.h.i.+ Feng's hand away. "I'm used to it already. As we strive to achieve immortality, we often have to let go of worldly attachments. I can't even remember anything, so I have nothing to see past. Isn't that easier?"

As s.h.i.+ Feng reached up to pluck off the leaves that had landed in his junior brother's hair, there was a faint hint of a smile in his eyes: Junior Brother, you are right. If I wished not to implicate you any further, I need only remove that jade orb when you are soundly asleep, and I could vanish without a trace. Then, even if we met, you would be unable to recognise me.

Chen He pretended not to know, but his right hand stiffened at his side.

—he understood Senior Brother even better than he had imagined. Chen He did not know whether to feel happy or sad about it.

Though s.h.i.+ Feng never spoke, he was very easy to understand, especially when he was completely unguarded in front of the people he was close to.

Chen He could easily guess what his senior brother was thinking, partly because he treasured the jade orb even more than he did his own life, and thus was extremely sensitive to anything that could threaten its existence.

"Senior Brother, my shoes are getting a little narrow."

Chen He said this as he pointed to his shoes, taking a few steps forward, before he took one off to compare and prove it to s.h.i.+ Feng.

Having successfully s.h.i.+fted s.h.i.+ Feng's attention, Chen He's eyes flashed briefly with determination: he had to find a way to obtain and hide the second jade orb. Only…this type of green jade was already quite rare. Besides, if he were to grind it down into a jade orb, one that could record all sounds and sights for the entire day, without having to activate one's divine sense…he would have to understand several tempering techniques as well.

And Chen He was not powerful enough to do such a thing. Furthermore, even if he were to seek help from the other residents of Black Depths Valley, it would be impossible to master such skills within a day. Additionally, s.h.i.+ Feng was by his side at all times, and it was definitely not a simple task, to try and obtain a jade orb of his own without his Senior Brother finding out.

He raised his head to look at the sky through the pear tree's branches. Perhaps he should slip out of the valley for once. Anyway, s.h.i.+ Feng had to go cultivate in Black Depths Lake every day, so there was no way he could go too far from Sky-High Cliff.

THUD

Ripples spread across the sky.

Chen He, who had been staring at the sky, jumped in surprise, so startled that he did not even have the time to put his shoe back on.

s.h.i.+ Feng lifted his head at the same time.

The barrier above Black Depths Valley had been disturbed.

Not once in his twenty-one years here had he ever seen such a disturbance in the barrier that s.h.i.+elded Black Depths Valley.

Those who fell off the cliff, like Chen He had, would only land on the outside of the barrier. Like a moth trapped in a spider web, they would be trapped by the barrier, unable to break free no matter how they struggled. They could only wait for the cultivators in the valley to swing by on the second day, pluck them off the barrier lazily, then wipe their memories of the incident and send them out of the valley.

"Finally, a little fun to put an end to these boring long days!"

The master of the Black Depths Valley strode in haughtily, followed by a crowd of cultivators.

"Only powerful spiritual energy or demonic energy can disturb the barrier to this extent. If you are some demon or monster[6], come here and face your death, for we of this valley shall give you a free ride through the Six Realms!"

"Deep is the cliff rising sky-high; desolate is the valley of black depths. Whence do you come, that you have not heard of this saying? Name yourself this instant!"[7]

"Ay, enough with the nonsense, we should just kick out this fellow and relieve our boredom—ahem, I mean, we must seize this intruder who has disrupted our peace!"

Chen He's eyelid twitched. He retreated behind s.h.i.+ Feng, which earned a relieved glance from his senior brother.

If Junior Brother did not forget the previous day's events every morning, s.h.i.+ Feng considered, how would he have grown up, under the influence of these unreliable fellows…it is very difficult to determine.

The barrier above the valley moved again. Finally, there appeared a slightly battered person, his silhouette shrouded in faint green light.

"Great Martial Grandfather—“[8]

It was the first thing this person shouted as he came in. The cultivators of Black Depths Valley immediately looked about for the person he was addressing.

It could not be that old b.a.s.t.a.r.d of a Valley Master; it could not be s.h.i.+ Feng, whose entire sect was dead out there; s.h.i.+ Feng's playful junior brother was impossible, too—everyone's gazes quickly focused on Elder Long-Brows, who was dumbfounded.

There was no way Elder Long-Brows would recognise the disciple of his grand-disciple. However, the person wore the robes of his sect, and since he was not yet old enough for his eyes to have failed him utterly, he could recognise them.

"Ahem, please wait a moment, my fellow Daoists; I shall ask him." Elder Long-Brows instantly resumed his immortal-like posturing, kowtowing to the a.s.sembled crowd. With the Valley Master as their representative, the other cultivators also put on the airs of old, learned senior cultivators.

Chen He secretly giggled.

Blocking Chen He with his own body, s.h.i.+ Feng cast a downwards glance, eyeballing his junior brother's shoes which had become narrow. He nodded, preparing to go back to the cave estate and order the dummies to buy some new shoes from the market.

The mortal world outside, with all its hustle and bustle, often had nothing to do with them.

s.h.i.+ Feng had no interest in why the grand-disciples of Elder Long-Brows would come all the way to Black Depths Valley. He left, bringing the somewhat curious Chen He with him.

That day, when Chen He was seated in the cave estate and doing his cultivation, Long-Brows and a bunch of cultivators came to the entrance with rather dubious expressions.

s.h.i.+ Feng frowned as he watched them play charades at the cave entrance. For fear of disturbing Chen He, they dared not use even their divine senses, and could only hop about impatiently back there.

The Valley Master pointed frantically at Chen He. Long-Brows pointed frantically at the sky. Some of them touched their head, some of them made fists, and some even curled up into lumps and rolled about on the ground. It should have been noisy, but not a sound was made - the cave estate was silent as ever.

With a sideways glance at Chen He, who was immersed in the worlds of his insights, s.h.i.+ Feng lifted his prayer beads and slipped out of the estate quietly, adding a soundproof barrier at the entrance on his way out.

"Phew!" Everyone let out a long exhale.

"s.h.i.+ Feng, my boy, something big has happened in Yunzhou City!" Elder Long-Brows was the first to speak. "Someone discovered a Stone-borne Flame."

s.h.i.+ Feng's pupils shrank. Though he no longer cared about worldly affairs, having long since lost interest in such rare treasures or magic items, he could not help but be shocked.

The Stone-borne Flames, Air-borne Flames, and Wood-borne Flames were the only naturally occurring True Samadhi Fires. If someone were to obtain one of them and successfully a.s.similate it into their own dantian, they could learn to use it like an extension of their own arm, and they would instantly become next to invincible. Even if you had powerful magic items, even if you were a monster or some kind of spirit, you would be burned to ashes by the all-consuming, evil-quas.h.i.+ng True Samadhi Fires - only those who were at extremely high levels of cultivation would not be harmed.

But if cultivators wanted to refine their own True Samadhi Fires, they had to reach the Ascension stage.

And Ascension stage cultivators were so scarce in the entire cultivation world!

Although, as the name suggested, Stone-borne Flames were hidden inside stones, indistinguishable from other similar stones on the outside. It was difficult for cultivators to discover them, much less regular mortals. Yunzhou City was not a place where cultivators gathered, so how did they find such a rare item here?

Sensing s.h.i.+ Feng's bewilderment, everyone put their two cents in to explain:

"Seems to be a Stone-borne Flame that has already recognised its master by blood."

"Only, its owner didn't claim the stone, and it gave off a strange aura as it continued to be left there. Eventually it was discovered by a demon cultivator who was pa.s.sing by Yunzhou City."

"Many cultivators rushed over when they heard the news. Now Yunzhou City's full of all sorts of crooks and baddies[9]."

"Isn't Sir Long-Brows' sect good at divination? A few days back, his disciples and grand-disciples were performing divinations, and they discovered that the owner of this Stone-borne Flame was around Sky-High Cliff, outside Yunzhou City, and their fengshui compa.s.ses[10] all pointed towards our Black Depths Valley!"

s.h.i.+ Feng's brows scrunched. He still had not heard the most important point.

"Do you know where that stone was discovered?" the Valley Master, who had been pointing at Chen He all the while, added, as he stomped his feet. "In the pond in the backyard of the Chen family home, and the Chen household has lived in Yunzhou for generations. How many people are there in Black Depths Valley with the surname Chen, have their family living in Yunzhou, and had something happen to them by the pond?"

So it was the rock that Chen He had hit his head on when he was pushed into the pond? No, no, Stone-borne Flames only resided in fist-sized stones. Then could it be the stone that the perpetrator picked up and used to smash Chen He's head?

s.h.i.+ Feng was astounded.

Today we get…a full day of language and culture lessons! (My goodness, that's a lot of notes…)

[1]: Apologies if the description here is hard to understand…TianFang described MC's brows with the term 眉飛入鬢; I did a little poking around online and someone said that's what Inuyasha's eyebrows are like. So if you know what Inuyasha's eyebrows look like, I suggest using that as a reference point. (Inuyasha's brows are much thicker than our MC's, though…)

[2]: [Long explanation] Originally 風流多情; I took a gamble and split it, translating 風流 and 多情 separately. As it turns out, they have many meanings.

風流 has two sets of meanings; one is the 'scholarly' meaning, and one is the 'commoners' meaning. In literature, or if used by a learned/scholarly person, it carries a positive meaning, and is used as praise; elegance, someone distinguished, admirable, the like. However, at some point in history, it began to carry a more negative meaning among the common people. It began to mean something like 'a learned person who doesn't follow the rules', and later, came to mean someone who was loose, dissolute…could even refer to someone who was flighty/flirty?

多情 can mean stuff like 'flirtatious', and could be used to describe playboy-like characters, but that's not the image I want to give our ML…Decided to use a more harmless meaning instead.

[3]: (Long explanation) These are lines of poetry from 山鬼 (tentative translation: Mountain Spirit), the ninth in a series of nine poems by Qu Yuan. The perspective of the person who says these lines is still heavily disputed, but it's generally agreed that these two lines are describing a very beautiful woman.

Some versions contend that the narrator is the t.i.tular mountain spirit.

One version proposes that the poem is actually a series of lines spoken between a male mountain deity and a human woman, and that in the above lines, the mountain deity is describing the woman (whom he loves).

But whatever the case, MC is using these lines to describe ML's otherworldly beauty AHEM, good looks.

Also, about the pollias…Pollia is a genus of flower that can be found in China, and are the ones described here. Known as 杜若 in Chinese.

[4]: Peach wood is believed to have the ability to ward off evil spirits, so swords crafted from peach wood are often used by Taoist priests. It's a Taoist thing. I imagine you'll see them appearing fairly often in xianxia novels, but only among cultivators who follow the Dao. (There are Buddhist cultivators too, and I personally don't think Buddhist cultivators would use these, since it's more of a Taoist thing.)

[5]: A step sequence or formation of sorts. I believe the Seven Stars here refer to the Big Dipper, or, 北斗七星. (The Big Dipper contains seven stars altogether!)

[6]: Original term used was 邪魔妖道; the 魔 I translated here as 'demon' (think demon cultivators), the 妖 I translated as 'monster'.

[7]: This is the vibe I got from the corresponding line in the original text. To maintain that feel, I swapped the ordering of words in the names.

[8]: If this was a normal family setting instead, Longbrows would be a great-grandfather. Think of it that way.

[9]: (Somewhat long explanation) Original term used here was 鬼魅魍魎 guimeiw.a.n.gliang, although the more commonly used one would be 魑魅魍魎 chimeiw.a.n.gliang. Notice how they all contain a form of the word 鬼 (literal meaning: ghost)? Words like this are usually a.s.sociated with ghosts, demons and devils, maybe with a bit of a supernatural element, things like that. This term is used to refer to bad/shady/just plain suspicious people, comparing them to ghosts, demons, and other such questionable presences.

[10]: 羅盤 - These are used in divination, usually based on the practice of fengshui 風水, which (from my woefully limited understanding) is very closely related to the physical environment.