Editor: Sahloknir

Half a day later, at the foot of Cang Yang Mountain..

A young cultivator in an emerald green robe with a?guqin?on his back, was pacing back and forth by the roadside for a long time. He looked towards a path leading up the mountain incessantly. Finally, he saw a familiar figure from afar and raised his voice, “Brother Yuchi!”

Yuchi Xiao stepped forward. “Yunfei? Didn’t I tell you to wait for my news at Linjiang City? Why have you come all this way by yourself?”

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The person he spoke to was Meng Yunfei, the friend who, a few days ago, had sent the letter asking for help. He was a handsome and dignified man, had the same build as Yuchi Xiao, but with an added elegance in his demeanour. He asked eagerly, “What did Cang Yang Sect say?”

Yuchi Xiao shook his head in disappointment and went on to summarise what had happened when he visited Lord Xu on the mountain. “It’s the first time I’ve heard someone use the Taoist Law of Nature to dismiss such things..”

Meng Yunfei consoled him, “Lord Xu’s temperament has always been peculiar, the whole world knows this. Since the death of Chief Gong sixteen years ago, the Sword Sect has been at odds with Cang Yang Sect. It is to be expected that he did not wish to lend his hand. How about Young Master Xiang, did he agree to help?”

As Yuchi Xiao was about to reply, he sensed someone’s presence and spun around with swish.

Not far along the mountain path, a sixteen-year-old boy was seated cross-legged on the upper branches of a tree. His face was fair like snow and he had dark eyes that shone as though stars cascaded within. On his shoulder was a bulky floral print bag and he was leisurely snacking on melon seeds while looking at the both of them.

Yuchi Xiao stared in surprise. “How can you pack so quickly?!”

Nonsense, how can I not be quick. Who would not run off fast after seeing Xu Shuangtze?

After Xu Shuangtze left, Gong Wei had immediately volunteered to go to Linjiang City. He politely declined the elders’ kind intentions to send men to accompany and protect him, while conveying his enthusiasm and determination to help the citizens be rid of harm. He also firmly expressed his trust in the young swordsman, Yuchi Xiao before hastily packing his belongings to leave. On his way out, his disciple sisters insistently stuffed him with numerous snacks to bring along the journey. Even the sheer weight of the bag, which was now half his body size, could not delay his brisk exit.

He was not afraid of being recognised by Xu Shuangtze, who would undoubtedly kill him without hesitation once again, but Xiang Xiaoyuan was an innocent party. If he were to cripple this body, what is the use of conjuring the young?Mei?demon’s soul back?

“This must be Xiang Xiaoyuan right?” Meng Yunfei saw Gong Wei and was momentarily dumbfounded and his handsome face blushed.

Yuchi Xiao witnessed his expression and replied with a tinge of jealousy, “If it’s the fool who runs after people and can’t be shaken off then that’s definitely him. Do you still need to ask?”

Meng Yunfei spoke with a hint of disapproval, “Brother Yuchi! How can you say that!”

In his previous life, Gong Wei and Xu Shuangtze were not on good terms. It was especially worse in the last four years of his life, when they were both adversarial and confrontational. During that time, Xu Shuangtze made a harsh comment about Gong Wei, saying that he enjoyed playing with people’s hearts and it clearly reflected his questionable character.

But this was truly maligning him. Gong Wei had limited knowledge of the human heart and mind, let alone the ability to manipulate them—however, he was exceptionally sensitive to the subtle emotional changes of people around him and relied on guesswork and observation. For example, even with his pair of lifeless and weary eyes, just by observing how Yuchi Xiao and Meng Yunfei interacted, he was able to sense the air around them, pick up hints and roughly understand their dynamics.

When Yuchi Xiao rejected Xiang Xiaoyuan, he gave a reason that his heart belonged to another. Now, this may not exactly be a lie.

But it didn’t matter to him anymore, this nephew of the Yuchi family was definitely deserving of some punishment and someday he will pay the price.

As Gong Wei finished his last melon seed, he dusted his hands and hopped down from the tree. As expected, the massive bag caused him to stagger under its weight and he almost fell. Meng Yunfei reached out to support him. “Careful!”

“Xiang Xiaoyuan” was still young and as a martial arts practitioner, Meng Yunfei could easily grab hold of the entire circumference of his elbow.

Gong Wei, regardless of the situation, could always enter the zone for a ‘performance’. From where he was, he lifted his eyelids, pursed his lips into a smile and said in a small voice, “I don’t have a sword.”

Meng Yunfei froze. “You..”

“I am a non-human being so I can’t form a golden core and don’t have a sword.” Gong Wei tilted his head and gazed wide-eyed at him. His expression was innocent and sincere, as if he did not even understand what the words “non-human” meant. He continued, “Can you take me along on your sword?”

Yuchi Xiao reacted as if he was just struck by lightning, he violently objected, “How is this possible? Lingjiang City is a long distance away and Yunfei’s sword cannot carry both of you. You, come here!”

Gong Wei slipped behind Meng Yunfei and peeked at Yuchi Xiao warily with fearful eyes. This made Meng Yunfei respond, “That’s enough Brother Yuchi. Young Master Xiang is still young, stop scaring him.”

Yuchi Xiao was aggrieved. “Scare him? Did you know how well this lad put up an act at Cang Yang Sect? He was clearly—”

Meng Yunfei glanced back. Xiang Xiaoyuan’s eyes were fast turning red, and as he blinked, tears welled up and rolled down his cheeks.

“..”

“..”

Meng Yunfei said, “That’s enough Brother Yuchi. You stay away from Xiang Xiaoyuan, it’s decided.”

Temtl Wljb ujqfv. “Qtja?!”

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Ca atja lcrajca, Temtl Wljb wbra mifjgis rjk tlw wbeat atf kbgvr,”Lff-tff.”

Temtl Wljb kjr lcoegljafv ab atf qblca atf tjlgr bc tlr rxlc kfgf jybea ab fzqibvf jcv tf gfifcaifrris aeuufv ja Zfcu Tecofl’r riffnf. Obbx! Obbx!! Obbx ja atf kjs tf yftjnfr abkjgvr wf, ibbx!”

Meng Yunfei broke away from his grip, evidently annoyed, “I will not look! You are not allowed to talk anymore, move!”

Three people on two swords rode the wind for half a day across a thousand miles. Gong Wei was comfortably wrapped in Meng Yunfei’s cloak. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a handful of melon seeds and began to snack again as he asked, “Senior Meng, you mentioned that the Sword Sect and Xu Shuang.. and our Lord Xu were on bad terms.. Why is that?”

Meng Yunfei, perhaps because his cultivation speciality was in the?guqin,?did not give off the intensely sharp vibe typical of sword cultivators. On the contrary, he emanated a comforting, brotherly warmth, using one hand to hold on to the back collar of the cloak to prevent Gong Wei from falling down. Laughing lightly, Meng Yunfei said, “Don’t you know about this? I don’t blame you, you were only two days old then right? Do you know of the Immortal Chief Gong from the Immortal Alliance’s Department of Discipline?”

Gong Wei was excited. “Hey, how can I not know! Our Master Xu hates him!”

The words ‘love’, ‘hate’, ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘jealous’ and other words used to describe emotions cannot be associated with Xu Shuangtze. Since many years ago, he had turned himself into a cold and abstract spiritual symbol.

Meng Yunfei laughed, but did not correct him. “Perhaps! Anyway, sixteen years ago, there was an accident and Chief Gong passed away. A few days after the death of the Immortal, the Sword Sect Leader himself left the Golden Gate and ascended Cang Yang Mountain. He demanded to see Lord Xu who refused any visitors. This angered him so much that with a single slash, he crushed the Sect’s stone monument into dust—the stone monument which you see now at Cang Yang Sect is a replacement piece.”

Gong Wei stopped cracking his melon seed between his teeth, and was quiet for a moment.

Perhaps because of the sound of the wind, his clear voice sounded mellow, “..What happened after? How did Lord Xu retaliate?”

The stone monument standing at the mountain’s entrance was the face and pride of the Sect. A grudge like this could warrant a revenge conflict which could easily stretch for a decade or even a century. This depended entirely on whether Lord Xu was forgiving of the insult—but Lord Xu never was.

Meng Yunfei was just about to answer when Yuchi Xiao flew closer from a distance with a whoosh. He leaned right next to his ear and shouted, “Don’t talk to this kid!” Then bent down and roared at Gong Wei, “Don’t try to influence Yunfei! He is an honest man!!!”

Meng Yunfei stared in shock, “Young Master Xiang, what’s wrong? Wake up, Young Master Xiang! —He seems to have fainted from fright!!! Young Master!!!”

The trio arrived at Linjiang City in the evening.

This famous city was no longer the splendid and elegant city of the past. The brothels and merry-making establishments were in a depressing state. All the major families staying in the city had closed their doors and even the illustrious Linjiang Prince’s residence was bolted shut. The cultivators who were staying in the city were long gathered in the front hall of the Prince’s residence, anxiously awaiting Young Master Yuchi and Young Master Meng’s return. Once they saw them landing from their swords, they immediately flocked around and updated them about the situation in the city for the past half a day.

The brothels and merry-making establishments were naturally closed for business and their top courtesans were all afraid and anxious. Beautifully dressed and in their usual attire of jewellery and trinkets, they too were gathered and surrounded the various Immortal Cultivation Sects.

The entire street was filled with the sound of their whispering sweet voices and crisp tinkling of jewellery as they moved. It was so packed that young cultivators leaving the Sect’s doors for errands had to brush past them and blushed with embarrassment.

Wealthy families were more well-informed and knew that the majority who died were the female cultivators from the Immortal Sects. They did not dare to place their hopes on this helpless bunch of cultivators. Instead, they had very early on bawled and bid farewell to their handsome children and sent them out of the town to safety.

Even the Prince’s residence was on edge. The servants had begun to relay that the prince was not feeling well and closed the residence to guests since the late afternoon.

Meng Yunfei raised his sharp brows and turned to a young man in his twenties, dressed in a vermillion robe and teased, “Your Highness, are you not feeling well?”

The Prince of Linjiang was a suave man with excellent manners, but unfortunately at this time, there was only a bitter smile on his face. “Immortal Masters, I was too hasty and promised to open up my residence where the lady hung herself, for you to conduct the ritual. However, the Royal Court has already been alerted and conveyed their harsh dissatisfaction with this matter. You mentioned your plan is to lure the evil spirit out and capture it, but what if, what if..”

Yuchi Xiao did not have the same level of tolerance as Meng Yunfei and hit the nail on the head. “Your Highness must have changed your mind seeing that Lord Xu is not here personally to carry this out, am I right?”

The prince laughed but sounded more as if he was crying. “Immortal Master, must you force me to spell it out?”

Lord Xu was the world’s most powerful man and his authority was unshakeable. Many years ago, the late emperor once paid a visit to Cang Yang Mountain and proposed to confer upon Lord Xu the position of State Master. Although he was callously rejected by Xu Shuangtze, it was evident that his prestige was far-reaching and acknowledged by even the Royal Family. The Prince of Linjiang would have opened up his entire royal residence to Xu Shuangtze to vanquish the evil spirits, but may not take the same gamble if it was just Yuchi Xiao. And it was only understandable.

Ever since Gong Wei stepped into the prince’s residence, he stood in front of the windowsill with hands behind his back. He examined the white heron orchids which bloomed from a jade pot and smiled.

He may not know the aptitude of Young Master Meng but those six golden rings embroidered on the sleeves of Yuchi Xiao were no hoax. His abilities alone to eliminate demons were definitely comparable to the capabilities of the Sword Sect’s Leader himself when he was a young swordsman.

The Prince of Linjiang obviously was not knowledgeable about the internal affairs of the?Xuanmen.?He did not know that if he were to turn down Yuchi Xiao today, he would have to invite other experts of Lord Xu’s level—but these individuals will most likely ignore him.

Yuchi Xiao shut his eyes and when he opened them once more, it was clear that he was suppressing his anger. “It is now past five in the evening and the skies will be dark soon. Eight people died last night, if we don’t resolve the problem tonight, ten, twelve or even twenty people may soon die. Your Highness is aware of this right?”

The prince said sincerely, “Do not worry, there are many other locations where the victims have died in the past two days, I will personally lead the way there. Come, please.”

Yuchi Xiao said, “I have told Your Highness that the spot where this evil spirit caused its first bloodshed would have the strongest bloodlust and is also the best place to draw it out. Your Highness understands this right?”

The prince said, “I do, I do, I will move my family to another town tonight. Do the Immortal Masters wish to go to other locations first to take a look?”

The fire within Yuchi Xiao could not be suppressed, “The evil spirit must be eliminated in a single blow. The most important thing right now is to not delay any further, otherwise once it evolves into a demon, it will cause destruction for the next century. Surely Your Highness does not need me to explain more right?”

The prince personally poured a cup of tea for him, “Immortal Master is really knowledgeable. Come, have some tea, if not once we head over to the places—”

“Your Highness,” said Gong Wei with a smile.

His voice was soft and gentle, like a dream that lingered sweetly in the ears.

The chamber which was just filled with clamour quietened down altogether, only to see Gong Wei turn his head back from the pot of white heron orchids, move through the crowd and look tenderly at the Prince of Linjiang.

“Your Highness has raised good orchids. I am hungry, may I eat them?”

—No one noticed a faint red glow from the depths of his right eye pupil. It appeared like a peach blossom petal, drifting down a branch in early spring, which then disappeared without a trace.

Everyone around took a dumbfounded look at Gong Wei, their expressions seemingly frozen. It felt like a long time had passed before sounds of soft breaths resumed from all directions.

“..eat..eat what?” The Prince seemed to have fallen into a drifting dream, looking straight into the eyes of Gong Wei, murmuring and repeating, “Can..can I eat?”

Gong Wei said, “Yes, you can.” He plucked the white heron orchid, tore off half of the snow-white petals and slowly nibbled at it. Smiling, he said, “Your Highness, I am tired, tonight I wish to sleep in the room where the first person died. May I?”

The Prince’s eyes stared at him without blinking. He could not take his gaze off the lad and stammered, “Sure..sure, I will take you there. Now..I will take you there right now.”

Gong Wei’s eyes curved. That same smile appeared on Xiang Xiaoyuan’s face without contradiction. He grinned, ate the remaining half of the flower, and said, “Thank you then, Your Highness.”

The young prince did not take his eyes off ‘Xiang Xiaoyuan’ the entire way. He personally led all the esteemed cultivators into the courtyard of the room where the courtesan had committed suicide. He attentively entertained them with conversation until the sky was completely dark and Yuchi Xiao had to speak up to drive the Prince and his attendants away. It was then that the young prince, as though he just woken up from a beautiful dream, reluctantly took his leave.

Yuchi Xiao gestured for the servants to leave and immediately questioned Gong Wei, “Did you use a?Mei?demon’s enchantment on him?”

The lavish chamber still had the crime scene perfectly preserved. A white damask? was hanging from the beam, there was a flipped over stool, the furnishings were in a mess and there were jewelled beads scattered all over the floor. Even the thick woven carpet was stained with a few drops of dried blood. Gong Wei was pacing around the room when he heard the question and lifted the tip of a brow. He swiftly turned back with a look of utter surprise and innocence, “Swordsman Yuchi, why do you say it like that? I’m a non-human being so there’s nothing wrong with using non-human tricks.”

Meng Yunfei who was seated at the side finally could not take it and closed his book with a snap. “Young Master Xiang, you and we are the same ordinary people. Please do not take those cheap remarks to heart. Who told you that you are a non-human being?”

Yuchi Xiao froze. “..”

Gong Wei blushed delicately. “..”

Gong Wei sniffled his nose and whispered, “No-no one.”

Meng Yunfei continued suspiciously, “Really? Don’t worry Young Master Xiang, there are only three of us here. If anyone ever speaks against you, Brother Yuchi and I will definitely..”

Yuchi Xiao snapped, “Yunfei, it’s time! Go outside to guard the formation, I will remain here to maintain the protection enchantment. Remember not to be distracted! “

Meng Yunfei was full of confusion, but Yuchi Xiao pushed him out of the room anyway. Once he snapped the door shut, he could instantly hear Gong Wei from behind him, “Pffff—”

“Xiang Xiaoyuan!”

Gong Wei placed his hand on his forehead and grinned widely, “What’s wrong Swordsman Yuchi? `Young Master Xiang is a non human-being and has an unusual behaviour and? demeanour’, are these not your own words when you annulled our marriage?”

“..”

Yuchi Xiao sucked in a deep breath and took a moment to complete a calming incantation. He warned himself to patiently wait for things to end before sending back this non-human..this absurd disciple of the Cang Yang Sect. Opening his eyes he coldly said, “It’s already quarter past five, the evil spirit will come at any time. In order to prevent you from going mad and killing yourself, I want to seal your body meridians, so that you cannot move at all, understand?”

Gong Wei continued to smile, “No hurry, no hurry, I’m still a little hungry.” He went on to eagerly pluck a stalk of white heron orchid from the pot which the prince hastily brought to him earlier. Before he could place it into his mouth, he was slapped on the back by Yuchi Xiao, fell on the wooden daybed with an ouch and became stiff and straight.

Tap, tap, tap.

A fellow cultivator shyly knocked on the door, “Yu, Young Master Yuchi, His Highness has sent another two pots of orchids. He wants to know if Young Master Xiang would like to eat them?”

“He won’t eat them! Who in their right mind would eat something so ridiculous!” Yuchi Xiao finally found an outlet for his anger and took it. “Go back to guard the formation!”

The cultivator stumbled away in shock and ran back.

“Pfffff—”

Gong Wei burst out into laughter, stared at the curtain on top of the bed saying, “Swordsman Yuchi, that’s not right. The Sword Sect’s master once said that flowers and trees are made of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, eating them is to draw the essence of nature. You can say that of me since I am just a non-human being, but the Sword Immortal, he is your own uncle after all.”

Yuchi Xiao was in a meditative pose in the room with one hand on his sword. From his expression, it seemed that he wanted to ignore this provocation but could not hold back, “There is no such thing as the second sentence.”

“What?”

“There is no ‘eating them to draw the essence of nature’.” Yuchi Xiao said coldly, “The sentence was said by the late Chief Gong as an excuse to eat my family’s jasper peach blossoms.”

Jasper peach blossoms?

Gong Wei “Ahh-d.” under his breath, and recalled that there was indeed such an incident. However, Yuchi Xiao couldn’t have been that old during that time, was he even around then?

That was a year before he died. A certain sect gifted the Yuchi family a rare pot of turquoise jasper peach blossoms. Head of the Immortal Alliance, Lord Ying Kai heard about it and was very interested, so he invited Gong Wei and Xu Shuangtze to view it together. In actual fact, it was an excuse to reconcile the two. At that time, their conflict was not as serious—at least in the eyes of the onlookers it was not that bad. Ying Kai took this opportunity to painstakingly persuade the two people to bury the hatchet and nurture harmony, saying that ‘You do not really have a deep blood feud, why do you need to be at each other’s throats all day long, and become the butt of jokes for the sects?’

Gong Wei was not interested in the attempts and nagging of Ying Kai but was salivating over the jasper peach blossoms. He grew up liking to eat flowers, however when Ying Kai mentored him, the older man tried to discipline him and he was only able to change his habit slightly. When no one was around, Gong Wei would often sneak out to eat whenever he could.

The Sword Immortal, Yuchi Rui had long seen through his sneaky friend and made up the story that jasper peach blossoms are rare, blooming once in a hundred years, and whoever dares to steal or eat them will get killed by him. Who knew that within the short span of time of the maid bringing in Gong Wei, Xu Shuangtze and Ying Kai, the entire pot of peach blossoms suddenly disappeared, leaving only the bare branches. Just as Yuchi Rui slammed the table and was about to grab Gong Wei, there was a ‘dong’ and Xu Shuangtze, who was sitting not far away placed his cup down with force.

In the white porcelain cup there floated several delicate jasper peach blossoms, one of them had been swallowed along with the tea Xu Shuangtze drank. There was no need to ask who did this.

The surroundings were so quiet that a pin dropping could have been clearly heard. Xu Shuangtze’s sharp black eyes stared at Gong Wei, and it was a long time before his throat moved and swallowed the peach blossoms, then got up,? flicked his sleeves and walked away.

That day Yuchi Rui chased Gong Wei with a sword for two whole miles.

The so-called ploy to turn the war into peace naturally became a distant fantasy. From that time on, the major northern sects united, and led by Cang Yang Sect’s Leader, went against Chief Gong in every way at the Immortal Alliance meetings. The cumulative effect of the friction turned white-hot, and eventually led to the tragedy at the Immortal Ascension Platform in the twenty-eighth year of Taiyi.

Yuchi Xiao was silent for a long time, no one knew what came to his mind, but he sighed, “The world no longer has peach blossoms.”

Gong Wei did not react for a moment before saying, “What?”

“The peach blossoms all over the world bloomed for a moment right before the death of Chief Gong. But the next day they withered and fell, and since then, for the last sixteen years there has never been a peach blossom in the world that has bloomed.” Yuchi Xiao said glancing at him contemptuously, “Did you even know that there was once a fruit called the peach? Heh.”

“..”

Gong Wei stared at the ceiling beam above him in shock.?What?! The peach trees in the entire world have not bloomed since my death? Don’t tell me heaven’s will is real? Even the heavens think that damned Xu Shuangtze should have been killed and not me? No wonder the market is full of stalls selling plums and loquats.. After thinking about it in such a messy way, he suddenly realised something, “No. It can’t be Swordsman Yuchi, that Xu—what is that plant outside of Lord Xu’s door? You almost stabbed me in the back there.”

Yuchi Xiao shook his head. “I didn’t stab you! Please don’t add fuel to the fire in front of Yunfei! That is the last peach blossom forest in the world, regardless of the seasons, they bloom all year round!”

Gong Wei was suddenly stunned, and his heart trembled violently.

For flowers to bloom in all seasons, they must be maintained by an endless stream of spiritual energy all year round.

He had thought that Xu Shuangtze would have dug out that peach forest after his death. Certainly not maintain it.

The night, other than the breeze outside the window, but the house was quiet. There was one man sitting and another lying down, each with a different set of thoughts. After a long time Yuchi Xiao sighed resentfully, full of disapproval, “Legend has it that it was because of the death of Chief Gong, Lord Xu dismembered his corpse in this forest and let the blood seep into the peach blossoms. Alas, for a great immortal of that generation to end this way.”

Gong Wei blinked. “..”

He twisted over and sneered at Yuchi Xiao, “Can you tell me more about your Sword Sect’s Leader crushing the stone monument of Cang Yang Mountain? I really want to hear the details. “

Yuchi Xiao instantaneously glared back with a ‘what do you think you can you do’ expression and was about to say that even this informal disciple still wanting to square accounts for his master was ridiculous. Suddenly, all the candle lights in the room flickered.

Yuchi Xiao’s reaction time was swift as a flash, with one finger, he calmed the flame, but then Gong Wei who still lay on the bed’s expression changed. “Don’t move.”

The two words were clear and dominant like striking gold and breaking jade, a vastly different tone to how he usually spoke, Yuchi Xiao’s immediately frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“..”

Gong Wei’s eyes fixed behind his shoulder, his eyebrows tightened a little, and he said softly, “There seems to be someone behind you.”