Gazing on Mount Tai

Du Fu

O peak of peaks, how high it stands!

Its boundless green overspreads two States.

A marvel made by Nature’s hands,

Over light and shade it dominates.

I bare my breast at the layers of clouds

My eyes are strained to see the flock of birds.

Try to ascend the mountain’s crest:

It dwarfs all peaks under our feet. [1]

Mount Tai.

The converging point of the dragon’s pulse.

A legendary land well endowed with the treasures of history and outstanding individuals. The first of the five famed mountains, it is the location of choice for the ancient emperors to pray for peace and prosperity.

Mount Tai’s pulse stretches thousands of miles, its magnificence unparalleled.

Even though it is late and there is no moonlight, there is a vigorous atmosphere attacking the senses.

That is an extremely strong spiritual energy!

The peak of the Jade Emperor, the pinnacle of Mount Tai.

A silhouette is seen standing silently, facing the east, next to the Sun Viewing pavilion, blending perfectly into the darkness of the night.

A pin drop silence settles over the valley.

There is an ancient saying that dictates that one, especially youths, should not scale the peak of TaiShan for fear of misfortune after.

It is 2056 A.D., the 33rd year of the New Era and this is now regarded as an ancient myth.

To Chu Yu, the datedness of the saying was of little importance. In the eyes of many, his days were numbered.

Chu Yu was youthful, and not afflicted by any terminal illnesses. He was in his early twenties, tall, with charming looks, eyebrows shaped like swords and eyes that sparkle like the stars.

Furthermore, the aura of masculinity that surrounded him set him apart from his counterparts.

Currently, however, a faint sign of worry and melancholy was written all over his face.

He closed his eyes briefly, feeling the internal state of his body clearly - all 240 of the acupoints previously harnessed by him hid an unimaginably, terrifying force.

However, they were all being sealed by a faint purple gas.

He felt like a frozen sea, capable of immense storms, yet he could only remain dormant for now.

The purple gas’s presence was intermittent, much like clouds and illusions. Yet, it was also latently circulating in his body, morphing itself into shackles, chaining all of his meridians, sealing all of the acupoints in his body... for good.

This was an unfathomably strong seal with unmatched mystic and magic!

Yet, to ChuYu, this was a damned seal! A jerk seal! A bast*rd seal!He should have led a different life, achieve fame at a young age, and revel in the admiration of millions. He could have risen above his peers and unleashed his full potential.

However, the presence of the seal forced him to keep his head low and take an alternate path - a path reminiscent of the old era. Much like thousands of his peers, he was forced to attend school, and be a pawn to the motherland.

It has been sixteen years since his meridians had been sealed.

How time flies.

If not for his open-mindedness and optimism, Chu Yu would have fallen into depression aeons ago.

Despite his best efforts since acquiring the seal, he was unable to extract a single piece of useful information or clue with regard to it.

Chu Yu was to set of for the Dragon City the next day. For the remainder of this life, any news he could get about her, would be through the major media channels. With this thought, a dark gloom set over his face.

If only his body was rid of this damned seal, if only he was a youthful, peerless son of heaven, would she still treat him as her best friend, or brother?

‘Had I known the consequences, I should not have let curiosity get the better of me then’ he muttered to himself

He stretched his hand and rubbed his eyebrows as he spoke. Although his eyebrows seemed no different from his peers, they hid an earth-shaking secret.

"You do have some level of self-awareness, a pity it came too late" A joking voice pierced through the silence in the dead of night. Even though it was soft, it’s message reached Chu Yu clearly.

"Hmm?" Chu Yu frowned and looked towards the source of the voice. It was the darkest hour of dawn, yet, darkness had never been a hindrance for him.

Even though his power was sealed, his eyes were sharper than any of the Acupoint Charging Stage Eight experts.

Chu Yu had another hidden eye in the middle of his eyebrows which could help him see much more.

He once used that eye to peep at Lin Shimeng, immediately resulting in a nosebleed and insomnia for the next few days.

Flashes of white kept appearing in his mind.

Afterwhich he avoided her for many days, and that incident took its toll on his sensitive and fragile body.

Since then, he was wary of using the eye embedded in the middle of his eyebrows.

However, this situation necessitated its use.

From afar, two figures radiating strong energy fluxes closed in on him like a couple of dangerous predators.

Xiang Yu closed both eyes, and his invisible third eye opened instantly, firing two rays of light, invisible to the naked eye, at the two figures.

Under the scrutiny of Chu Yu’s third eye, he was able to see all the acupoints harnessed by the two strangers!

Acupoint Charging Stage Five!

Acupoint Charging Stage Six!

Chu Yu was taken aback, these two were highly skilled!

In the current day and age, anyone who could cultivate to Acupoint Charging Stage Three was considered strong. Possessing great strength, shattering a stone with a single punch, breaking trees with the palm of his hand was child’s play.

Anyone capable of attaining stages five and six were strong beyond imagination

"People sent to kill you." The Acupoint Charging Stage Five attacker mocked. He was in his thirties, with a well proportioned body and ordinary features, characteristics that would make it difficult to pinpoint him in a crowd.

The other male was the Acupoint Charging Stage Six expert. He was in his forties, had pointy eyes and a ferocious look.

"You are... assassins?" Chu Yu frowned. He felt a tinge of regret, he had been too careless. He usually had two bodyguards hidden from sight. Yet, this time he hitched a plan to sneak out, ditching his bodyguards behind. He decided to be willful one more time before he succumbed to his family’s plan for him. Yet, on this day, he crossed paths with the assassins.

This is the 33rd year of the New Era, and it also marks the 33rd year of the Northern Chu Clan. In these years, the Chu Clan had made many enemies.

Yet, Chu Yu kept a low profile, so much so that even many of his dormitory mates at Yanjing University did not know his true identity. Even those who did know his true identity, knew that he was ruined.

Only he knew that he was at the eighth stage of Acupoint Charging. Even his parents were unaware of this fact!

Was there a need to send two of the best to deal with such a ruined mess. In addition, the local Chu Clan would be enraged by his death, and begin a manic mission of revenge.

The Chu Clan have been termed by society as the Northern Wolves and they have earned that reputation!

The people of the Chu Clan were bloodthirsty. Should they be aggravated, they would not stop at nothing, bar death, to seek revenge!

This was the style of the Chu Clan!

Even though the Chu Clan had the occasional internal conflict, when it came to dealing with outsiders, they would come together to face the adversary.

In the current society, those who had the ability and courage to assassinate the eldest son of the Chu Clan were far and few between.

"Assassins? Pretty much so" the workaday looking person chuckled.

Chu Yu stared at them. "Have you made a mistake? Maybe mistook me for another person? I am just an ordinary person" he reasoned.

"Mistake you for another person? Definitely not, we are extremely professional"

The ordinary looking individual shook his head and rattled off as if reading from a script. "Chu Yu, part of the Chu Clan who entered society in the first year of the New Era, and the second son of the Chu Tian Bei, the seventh master of the Clan. You were born talented, harnessing three of your acupoints at age three, allowing you to raise stones of a hundred pounds. Many deemed you a rare talented prodigy. At age six, you harnessed 33 of your acupoints, and attained Acupoint Charging Stage One. You were deemed peerless, a whiz-kid. Legend has it that you had the potential to enter the final stage of Acupoint Charging. In the year you attained Acupoint Charging Stage One, the entire Northern Chu Clan faced 1226 assassination attempts, of which 1128 of them... were directed at you.

Chu Yu rubbed his nose "that many times? And you have information of that resolution? Is this nonsense you just made up?"

"Humph!" The workaday looking individual scorned with arrogance, and replied with disdain "Do I need to make this up? This is..."

At this point, he broke out in cold laughter, and changed the topic abruptly. "However, that very year, for some reason, you lost your ability to cultivate! At first, people thought that this was the Chu Clan trying to keep a low profile, and hide you from the prying eyes of the masses. Yet a year later, it was confirmed that you had indeed lost your abilities. Such a waste! Had you not been ruined, you would have been at least the same level as me. Ha... an Acupoint Charging Stage Five expert at 20, perhaps better, stage six, or even stage seven! If that was the case, killing you would have been quite a bit of trouble."

At this point, the ferocious looking individual interrupted, "Zuo Zong, undue delays may bring trouble, enough with the small talk, let us behead him quickly and be on our way"

"Zuo Zong? If there was a Tang in his name, he would be a famous individual from the Late Qing dynasty. Chu Yu took note of this name"

"In any case, you are a scion of a big household, and this is my first time killing someone with such standing, how exciting! Hehe, there is honor among thieves, please do not seek revenge on us brothers in the afterlife" Zuo Zong said with a smile.

"The more you talk, the more mistakes you will make" Pointy eyes cautioned.

"Fine." Zuo Zong shrugged his shoulders and raised his head towards Chu Yu. "I’m sorry, Chu Yu... it is time for you to be on your way!"

As he spoke, he drew a short blade from his waist.

"A true Nepalese Army blade, I assure you that you will not suffer any unnecessary pain". Zuo Zong recited, as if reading from a script. Yet, his eyes glimmered with a cold bloodthirsty glint, coupled with a tinge of excitement.

He certainly was not one for lengthy speeches, he was a cold blooded killer!

"Hold up... Hold up!" Chu Yu screamed.

"What’s up? Begging for your life? Wanting to know who’s the mastermind? Or do you want to use twice the price to buy your life? Save it Mr. Chu, it is meaningless. To kill you, we have gone through immense trouble!" Zuo Zong carried the Nepalese knife and stared blood thirstily at Chu Yu .

"Can I call the police?" Chu Yu took out his handphone, and shook it in front of the two men. "Can I dial one one zero?"

"Call the police? One one zero? Hahaha... you have watched too many drama serials child." Zuo Zong’s eyes glowed with mockery, "do you know why there are no tourists on Mount Tai tonight? Do you know what a signal jammer is?"

"It was just a passing remark", Chu Yu bared his teeth as he kept his phone

In fact he had actually dialed the number on his phone using voice recognition. Zero zero one on his phone was not actually the police.

Sadly, the signal was indeed jammed and the call did not go through.

Evidently, they had planned extensively in order to kill him.

"Should I be murdered, my family would definitely investigate and exact revenge on all the perpetrators. Since you understand the Chu Clan so well, I assume you should be familiar with our style?"

Chu Yu spoke eloquently, staring at the two men calmly. In fact, he was quite nervous, yet, as a scion of an illustrious clan, to show no fear in the face of danger was a quality ingrained in him.

Even if he was to die... he was to die with honor!

[1] Traditional editors and commentators have included "Gazing Upon Mount Tai" among a handful of surviving pieces that appear to date from the period beginning with Du Fu's failure in the jinshi examinations of 735 or 736 through the several years he spent in the east and northeast during his travels in Qi and Zhao.