CH 10

Liang Zheng and Su Yanjun hurried down the mountain and returned to the medicine hall. They immediately inquired about Mu Xiyun and all the medicinal hall disciples replied that Mu Xiyun had not yet returned since the time he went out early in the morning. The two hurried to the west out of town again, went up the mountain to search. Yet no matter how much they searched, they still couldn’t find him. Even the spirit array they encountered yesterday disappeared completely. 

The two carefully searched the mountain road twice for any signs, but still found nothing and decided they had to go back to the medicine hall first.

Back in Shantang.

Gu Qingqiao sat inside a tea stall not far away, received the tea handed over by the boss’ mother with a smile, and for the third time declined the matchmaker at the next table, Mrs. Wang. He appeared very idle but he kept glancing at the door of the Shantang from the corner of his eye.

A middle-aged man walked out of the door, it was Zhang San, the doorman. He had a long, thin face, a grayish-yellow complexion. His clothes were fine, yet they appeared wrinkled and seemed not to have been washed for a few days.

Gu Qingqiao had been keeping an eye on him for sometime now. This person had been idling for three days straight. He wakes up at noon, eats a meal casually, then goes into a gambling house after. He only leaves when it’s already evening and even goes to another place to get himself drunk. Qingqiao was really intrigued as to where this man gets his daily money to spend.

Today, however, was different. Zhang San did not go straight to the gambling house. Instead, he went to the city gate and strolled inside an alley near it while Gu Qingqiao followed from afar.

A chubby little boy, holding a bunch of candied haws in his hand, hopped past the alley. A sound of an object hitting the pavement was suddenly heard. Not knowing what had fallen, the child stopped and bent over. That’s when Zhang San emerged from the alley and leaned forward while saying, “This little boy, may I ask how to get to Zhangjiagang?”

The child frowned and looked at him defensively. “I don’t know!” 

Zhang San rolled his eyes and pretended to be angry. “Which family’s child are you? Your uncle asks the way yet you don’t want to tell me?” 

Frightened, the child hurriedly took a step back, raised his stubby calves, turned around and ran. Zhang San immediately got up and tried to give chase, yet stopped when he heard a loud shout coming from the corner of the street.

“Zheng Xiaobao, where are you going!” 

Zhang San was so frightened that he staggered three steps back.

A fat woman rushed over and slapped the fat boy on the head. “You always keep on running around. Is it that easy for me to keep an eye on you all the time? Be careful or else you’ll be caught by traffickers, stew your fat and eat you!” After saying that, she grabbed Zheng Xiaobao’s arm, walked away while half-dragging the chubby child. 

Zhang San turned his head bitterly and walked back to the alley. Gu Qingqiao’s heart throbbed and he immediately went to a clothing store nearby and bought a set of children’s clothes. When he went back, Zhang San was still squatting in the alley.

Quietly walking into a deserted corner, Gu Qingqiao took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve. It was a bottle of transforming water that was taken out from Zhang Jinjin’s inventory when he was pretending to be a medicine dealer.

After a while, a six- or seven-year-old child walked out of the corner and walked past Zhang San while looking around.

“Hey, little boy,” Zhang San stopped him, “How can I get to Zhangjiagang?”

The child showed a look of fear. “I don’t know. Dad came to do business and we’ve only been in town for a day.”

Zhang San seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and looked left and right at the empty alley. The smile on his face seemed a little sincere and he said in a soft voice, “Oh, don’t be afraid. Uncle is not a bad person. Then you take me to where you’re staying and I’ll ask others instead.”

“Okay!” The little child showed an innocent smile on his face, turned and walked out of the alley along with the man.

One step, two steps, three steps….. And sure enough, a knife hand strike heavily landed on the child’s nape. The child’s body softened and fell to the ground, but was immediately picked up. He was then sacked and stuffed into an ox cart full of goods.

In the darkness, Gu Qingqiao carefully raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Mu Xiyun, who was in front of a pill furnace, was still immersed in his memories.

Happy days were always fleeting. Like the snow-covered grounds of Tianliang Peak yesterday was now lush with vegetation today and the time of March was approaching in a blink of an eye. 

One evening, after finishing the day’s homework, Xiyun went to the dining hall to get food for two people and walked quickly to the back mountain of Tianji Peak.

Under the plum tree, Gu Qingqiao was leaning against the trunk, looking down the mountain. They stumbled upon this place while trying to catch a hare the other day. He didn’t know how many years this plum tree had been growing on the mountain behind Tianji Peak. Under the spring breeze in March, the crown of the tree was like a canopy. Sitting under the tree and looking into the distance, the winding Baishui River down the mountain can be seen. 

Mu Xiyun sat side by side with him under the tree and gave Gu Qingqiao a steamed bun. Gu Qingqiao took it and held it in his hand, but his eyes kept staring at the sparkling water of the river. After a while of silence, he said, “Ah Yun, I heard a story when I was a child.” 

“Huh?” Mu Xiyun turned to face him while munching a steamed bun in his mouth. 

Gu Qingqiao glanced at him, then turned to look into the distance. “In the story, Ananda said to the Buddha: I fell in love with a woman. The Buddha asked Ananda how much he liked this woman. Ananda answered: I would like to be transformed into a stone bridge and be exposed to the wind for five hundred years, the sun for five hundred years and the rain for five hundred years. All I ask is for her to cross the bridge. “

Mu Xiyun looked at him again. “This story is fake.” 

“Hmm, I know.” Gu Qingqiao faced him and chuckled, “But I believe that there are such people in the world.” The sun was about to fall under the distant mountains. The sky turned crimson as sunset rays shone on the young man’s smiling face. With the help of the warm light of the setting sun, in Gu Qingqiao’s clear eyes, Mu Xiyun saw his own reflection… 

Suddenly, the sky turned completely black and the setting sun turned into dim candles beside a table. Xiyun pushed open the door of his master’s room and saw the figure that appeared in his memories countless times, stabbed a dagger into Li Yao’s heart. 

Intense pain swept through like a storm, and all the sweet memories, like fragile porcelain, shattered in the wind and rain.

The woman in red raised the sharp knife in her hand and stabbed it fiercely into Mu Xiyun’s chest.

“Stop! Cough, Hong Yu, what are you doing!”

There was an angry shout from behind, yet it sounded out of breath and was even followed by a violent coughing. The woman who was called Hong Yu was shocked, yet was unable to withdraw her strength and the sharp knife under her hand was still coming down fast. The point of the knife pierced through the clothes and cut through the skin when suddenly, a bright light burst from Xiyun’s chest, stopping the knife’s momentum for a moment.

Those few seconds was enough. A sound resonates in Xiyun’s consciousness making his mind instantly clear. The pain of the sharp knife cutting through his skin came and the left side of his body instinctively dodged to the back.

Before she could withdraw her dagger, Mu Xiyun immediately gave her a palm strike. The woman holding the knife noticed yet could not retreat in time. She was hit on the shoulder and flew out sideways.

The Chixia Sword being drawn from its sheath immediately followed, and like a shooting meteor, it caught up with the woman who was thrown away. Its blade was already across her neck.

“Immortal Master, please have mercy!”

Mu Xiyun turned around and noticed a young man in white staggering over. The young man was tall and handsome. The most conspicuous thing was his long silver hair, which was draped over his shoulders. It’s a pity that this person appeared sickly and pale. How stunning would he be if he was healthy.

When Hong Yu saw the person coming over, her eyes suddenly turned red.

The silver-haired young man took a few steps closer, but suddenly stopped. He looked at Xiyun carefully and hesitantly said. “Little benefactor?” 

When Mu Xiyun heard the title, he couldn’t help but look at the young man more, recalling something in his memory, “Are you that silver fox?” 

It turned out that this person was actually the silver fox demon who attained the Dao a hundred years ago and who suddenly disappeared more than fifty years ago. 

Mu Xiyun’s eyes suddenly turned cold and his voice was like frost of an autumn night. “Back then, you fell in love with a mortal woman, yet that woman died by your hands. You said that what you did was unintentionally and that you will never harm others, therefore you made a solemn oath that you will never do any harm to human beings again. That’s why I…….. that’s why Senior brother let you go. Yet, how do you explain this?” Mu Xiyun looked around the cave and pointed to the pill furnace and the herbs beside it.

Only then did the young man notice the white snake grass and flowers on the side and understood everything with his experience of hundreds of years of cultivation. Startled in his heart, a violent cough came up, to the point where he coughed up blood. When he finally calmed down, a large amount of bloodstains was already on his sleeves. 

He raised his reddish eyes and looked at the girl with despair in his eyes. “Hong Yu, is this true?”

“I, I” Hong Yu’s tears came down like rain and she was about to rush up to the silver haired young man regardless of the sharp edge placed close to her neck.

Xiyun hurriedly withdrew his sword and saw her pounce on the young man. Supported him and shouted. “Don’t die, I don’t want you to die!”

He raised his hand, wiped away the girl’s tears and said solemnly. “If I die, you will be sad, but those who were killed by you also have relatives, have you ever thought that those people will feel the same heartache as you?” Hong Yu raised her ignorant eyes and looked at him with tears.

Mu Xiyun watched with a cold expression. This little fox called Hong Yu still treats everything around her  out of instinct and does not really understands the human feelings and morals that the silver fox said. 

“I am the body of sin. There are obstacles that I can’t overcome on the road of cultivation and I’m destined to atone for my sins with my life. You are born with a spirit, and if you can already take the form of a human being in less than fifty years, you can become a powerful demon in the future..” The young man’s face showed a gentle smile, “I’m just a passer-by in your life…”

“No, I don’t want to be a powerful demon, I just want you.” Hong Yu’s tears fell on their clasped hands like broken pearls.

“Little benefactor,” the silver fox raised his head. “I was injured. Hong Yu made a big mistake because she wanted to make medicine for me. I would like to bear all the guilt on her behalf. Let me bear all the guilt.”

Xiyun shook his head and answered coldly. “Everything has its own cause and effect. If anyone can just take the place of another as you suggested, how can there be a cycle of heaven and justice? Although she is trying to save you, her methods are cruel and cannot be forgiven lightly. “

After he finished speaking, he pointed at Hong Yu with his long sword. “Go back to Moyun Mountain with me, and the Immortals will decide.” 

In the previous life, Mu Xiyun subjugated and eliminated demons in the human world and also handled many cases of demons hurting mortals. Now, on one hand, it was necessary to give an explanation to Yiyun and Qingxi Town’s Yamen, and on the other hand, it was also because the two demons looked pitiful and he’s unwilling to let the silver fox witnessed his lover’s tragic death on the spot, so he proposes to bring Hong Yu to the mountain to be judged before the elders. 

The silver fox looked at Mu Xiyun helplessly, his eyes darkened, as if he had accepted reality. He supported Hong Yu to stand up slowly, straightened the front of his clothes, and saluted Mu Xiyun with difficulty, saying, “It was because of me this time, so I’ll go with you instead.”

Hong Yu was about to say something, but was suddenly pushed to the side by the silver fox. She staggered a few steps but immediately turned around. When she looked back, she only saw that the silver fox and Mu Xiyun were already fighting together. Silver fox’s fingernails elongated, as if wearing two pairs of steel claws and actually emitted a silver light. The fox’s actions of poking, scratching and stabbing was extremely fast and he always stuck close to Mu Xiyun, having the momentum of a violent storm, suppressing Xiyun’s long sword on the spot. 

Yet even under the vicious attack of the fox demon, he didn’t panic. He defended while instilling spiritual energy on the sword and with every strike and slash, he released thread like spiritual energy, seemingly weaving an invisible net.

The silver fox was already weak and only relied on his demon strength. After a while, his movements slowed down. Under this change, Mu Xiyun’s sword glowed and the intersecting qi threads appeared. It shrank in size and immediately rushed towards the silver fox.

Suddenly, a red shadow dashed over. Hong Yu went to the silver fox trying to block the incoming attack, but the silver fox instantly raised his hand and pushed her to the left. Chixia suddenly pierced the silver fox’s shoulder with a puff and blood splashed everywhere. However, he immediately used a spell to stop the bleeding. The two of them became entangled once more. The silver fox released a spiritual force which collided with Mu Xiyun causing a cloud of white light to erupt. The silver fox was about to sacrifice all the remaining demonic energy in his body, fighting to the death.

Mu Xiyun frowned and shouted, “Stop! She had killed someone and dug their hearts. She had succumbed to her inner demon. Even if she escapes today, she will still face a backlash in her cultivation. Don’t be stubborn!”

The silver fox looked at Hong Yu and a clear line of tear slid down his face, but he still continued to stimulate his remaining demonic energy.

Hong Yu only paid attention to the silver fox when he appeared. From being pushed out to the time of the fast paced battle between the two. Yet, only at this moment did she understood what Mu Xiyun meant, and she was shocked. She hurried over and shouted in panic, “Immortal, I didn’t kill anyone!”