Watching Wei Tianzi’s rare expression of shock, Qin Chang Ge smiled leisurely and unhurriedly sipped her tea.
Xiliang revered Buddhism, and the imperial family had always been careful not to let religious forces overly interfere with politics. Regarding the name He Buyu, Xiliang people probably had no concept of it. But if it were any Northern Wei person, they would likely immediately collapse. Wei Tianzi’s reaction was already quite composed.
The foremost of the world’s Taoist masters, child of divine mysteries, immortal who abstained from grain, founder of Shangqing Taoist methods. At twelve he served an unnamed immortal master, obtaining the secret formulas of life and death. He traveled the world, established his sect and proclaimed his teachings at Mount Chongyang, was skilled in yin-yang numerology, proficient in hidden formulas and talismans, with divine responses in all directions, delivering salvation from death and life. Later Mount Chongyang was called Sacred Mountain. In the third year of Wei Zhengye, the Wei King respectfully summoned him with generous gifts, performing disciple rites to inquire about longevity and immortal way matters. He Buyu extended three fingers. The king departed in awe, and died three years later. From then on, Northern Wei honored him as Dharma King, and Wei people called him: Hongsheng Dharma King.
He Buyu was shrouded in too many mysterious halos.
However, Qin Chang Ge thought with a wicked smile, if the Taoism-revering Northern Wei people knew that the immortal-like divine being He Buyu actually hated bathing most and had once created the vile act of catching lice in a bowl then using Taoist magic to transform them into white rice for charity distribution, would they faint again?
He Buyu was Qianjue’s expelled disciple.
This naturally talented man entered Qianjue’s gates but refused to learn anything, spending his days cockfighting, walking dogs, stealing food and playing. Yet at Biluo Sacred Mountain he received heavenly mysteries and self-awakened to Taoist methods. At that time colored clouds surged in the sky, rolling and roaring. The then Qianjue sect master, Qin Chang Ge’s grand-master, was in closed cultivation but suddenly emerged, closing his eyes toward heaven without speaking. After a long while he said: “This is not one of our sect, he has another destiny. Go.”
From then on, He Buyu became Qianjue sect’s first disciple expelled before completing martial arts – this was also a secret unknown to the world.
However, after this fellow descended the mountain, because the world was in great chaos with no one having leisure to pay attention to outsiders, his initial path wasn’t smooth. He had quite a period of destitute days. When Qin Chang Ge descended the mountain, she once accidentally encountered him and, considering their fellow disciple connection, helped him for a while. Later when He Buyu achieved his Taoist career and before wandering the world, he once said to Qin Chang Ge: “Help in urgent need is no less than deep kindness. In this life I promise you two things, without exception.”
Northern Wei regarded He Buyu as divine. Even if he pointed at a latrine and said it contained gold bars, there would absolutely be people prostrating in worship, believing this was unfathomable divine mystery and that gold bars would appear the next second. As long as he came forward, Wei Tianzi’s bizarre background wanting to make a complete turnaround would be all too easy.
Wei Tianzi naturally understood this principle. His gaze immediately blazed like fire, bright and compelling, suddenly saying: “Legends passed down orally often contain errors and falsehoods, such as…”
Qin Chang Ge smiled lazily: “Such as the snake-person theory… Snakes, well, snakes and dragons are very similar… You say he’s a snake? What’s with that look? That’s clearly a dragon, a little dragon!”
Smiling and stopping, Wei Tianzi said casually: “What kind of person is He Buyu? How would he listen to your commands?”
“This doesn’t require Your Highness’s concern,” Qin Chang Ge said indifferently. “You just need to consider my proposal.”
Watching Wei Tianzi’s suspicious, pondering expression, Qin Chang Ge said casually: “I know you find it hard to fully believe, but you’ve already been forced to the end of your rope. Since going in any direction has dangers, why not try this opportunity? You must know that those who hesitate can never achieve great undertakings.”
Staring at Qin Chang Ge for a long while, Wei Tianzi finally smiled: “Good!”
He tilted his head to look at Qin Chang Ge: “But our alliance today, just in this carriage, decided by a few words? If I believe you, how can you believe I’ll honor the agreement?”
Looking around, Qin Chang Ge magically pulled out a stack of jade paper from somewhere behind her, along with a purple-hair jade-tube brush and ink stone, placing them all on the table. She took ink and personally ground it, saying: “I’ll speak, you write. Please remember, not a single character may be changed.”
Wei Tianzi’s gaze shifted, but ultimately he obediently took up the brush.
When he heard Qin Chang Ge’s opening line, “By Heaven’s mandate, the Emperor decrees,” he couldn’t help but pause in shock, the brush tip heavily soaked in thick ink immediately dripping onto the paper with a splat.
Qin Chang Ge frowned, swiftly pulled away that paper and tore it up, replacing it with new paper: “Imperial edicts cannot be stained, change it.”
“Imperial edict…?”
Qin Chang Ge smiled: “Yes, an imperial edict. An edict from Wei Tianzi ceding twelve provinces.”
Wei Tianzi’s gaze showed thoughtful expression, a dark gleam flashing as he suddenly understood: “So that’s it…”
He thought for a moment, showing a strange smile, then lowered his head and wrote according to Qin Chang Ge’s dictation, sentence by sentence, finally sealing it with the Jin Prince’s “Jingxuan Hermit” private seal.
Blowing on the ink, carefully folding the paper and tucking it into her bosom, Qin Chang Ge said with satisfaction: “This constrains both of us – if you cannot ascend the throne, Wei Tianzi naturally isn’t the Wei King, and this paper is just a pile of nonsense, I also won’t get the twelve provinces. But as long as you ascend the throne, this black-on-white handwritten edict from the Wei King, with the Jin Prince’s seal from when he was still in hiding that cannot be forged, this becomes the deed to twelve provinces that you cannot renege on.”
Nodding in agreement, Wei Tianzi praised: “Miss is meticulous and intelligent, calculating without omission. Admirable, admirable.”
Qin Chang Ge immediately returned the flattery: “Your Majesty assesses situations wisely with brilliant decisions. Admirable, admirable.”
“Come, for our sincere alliance, for our grand undertaking, for smooth revenge and possession, for the future wise Wei Emperor and newly born powerful regime, let us drain this cup!”
White jade cloud-pattern cups struck in mid-air, creating elegant arcs, light blue wine rippling. Clear water-like pupils met equally slightly blue-tinted charming eyes.
Smiling at each other, they drained their cups.
It looked very satisfying, very much like kindred spirits, very much like mutual appreciation.
Only one imperceptibly dipped her fingernail into the cup while drinking, while the other seemingly casually flicked the silver-inlaid ear ornament hanging from her earlobe.
Both knew they were conspiring with tigers, both knew how false these smiles were, both knew these smiles contained calculated scheming, lacking only sincerity.
Wei Tianzi’s slightly blue gaze swayed in the wine, that shimmering wine color like a magnificent scroll about to unfold, reflecting his already well-planned step-by-step strategy – borrowing He Buyu’s unshakeable divine authority in Northern Wei, uniting with the forces he had cultivated and networked over the years, driving Wei Tianqi from the throne, then killing He Buyu, absolutely not letting this fellow who could overturn his origins with a word control him in return. By that time, with royal power in hand and the whole nation’s strength, would I still fear your mere jianghu organization? Me cede territory to you? Let a new hostile force establish a nation? Dream on!
He had originally secretly cultivated a batch of forces in Northern Wei, but this incident happened suddenly. Wei Tianqi acted without showing his hand, thunderous and icy, suddenly striking with killing intent that left him no time to arrange things properly, forcing him to flee in panic and constant depletion to this wretched state. Wei Tianzi’s heart harbored deep hatred. Once he had the protective talisman to return home, once he inherited the throne, how would he obediently listen?
Political figures’ agreements and promises were inherently worthless waste paper.
He smiled, seeing in the scroll Northern Wei’s palace’s magnificent Jiuhe Hall, seeing himself in yellow robes and crown, high on the throne, setting up oil cauldrons to deep-fry Wei Tianqi.
Qin Chang Ge blinked at the rippling wine.
How could she really be foolish enough to take this paper seriously? This paper was originally just something for her and Wei Tianzi to mutually deceive each other. She’d be doing well if she didn’t use this paper for Prince Xiao to wipe himself when she returned.
What she wanted was to release Wei Tianzi, this snake, back to Northern Wei to cause Wei Tianqi some trouble. In this she helplessly agreed with Xiao Jin’s approach – Northern Wei had been restlessly stirring these years, constantly probing the borders. The Xiliang people in the border regions suffered constant harassment. There were no major wars but constant minor battles, causing border people to abandon homes and flee, leaving the national boundaries desolate for hundreds of li around.
Qin Chang Ge wasn’t a kind person, but she didn’t like taking losses. So before the great war began, she had to make them consume each other severely first. The weaker you are, the easier my victory becomes, the fewer of our people die, and the relatively lighter the future destined war wounds will be – that was the plan.
The moment she saw Wei Tianzi, she immediately decided to negotiate with him, using this opportunity to cause Northern Wei some trouble.
As for He Buyu, Wei Tianzi presumably planned to burn bridges after crossing, but if that divine charlatan couldn’t even protect himself, what qualification did he have to be a “half-immortal” or “Dharma King”? He should return to secular life, go home to hold children and wash diapers!
The two smiled at each other, both smiling with gentle, respectful, modest demeanor, faces full of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness, like a pair of beautiful, honest national treasures.
“What what?” Hearing his mother had been kidnapped, Xiao Baozi immediately jumped up: “Great Leader, aren’t you the world’s number one in martial arts? How did you lose my mother? You compensate! You compensate compensate compensate!”
Su Xuan looked up to heaven in grief and indignation, wanting to howl and cry. Your mother is biased, and you’re biased too. How come you don’t see that Uncle Chu is also here? How come you don’t blame Uncle Chu for letting your mother go? How come you demand I compensate but don’t ask Uncle Chu to compensate?
“Compensate compensate compensate compensate compensate…” Rarely was Xiao Baozi articulate, but those naturally prone to making scenes supposedly all had extraordinary eloquence.
“Fine, I’ll compensate!” Unable to deal with this unreasonable troublemaker, Su Xuan pulled out a small booklet from his bosom: “Here, this compensates you. If you don’t want it, I’ll immediately take it back.”
An ordinary black leather cover booklet with simple seal script characters: “Langhuan Secret Manual.”
Chu Feihuan’s gaze swept over, his eyes rarely showing shocked expression.
Su Xuan winked at him.
Qi Fan, who had brought the bothering Xiao Baozi, glanced over and gasped.
Xiao Baozi bit his finger, looked at the unremarkable little booklet, looked at the strangely-expressioned Su Xuan and Qi Fan, then looked at Chu Feihuan’s eyes. The latter’s expression finally made him decide to take the booklet.
Chu Feihuan glanced at Su Xuan with meaning that Su Xuan naturally understood, but he only smiled without speaking.
“This is fate,” his eyes conveyed this signal to Chu Feihuan.
Chu Feihuan looked up at the sky with mixed joy and worry. The last returning wild goose flew across the high, distant sky, its posture bleak and lonely. As if feeling something, he sighed softly.
If Xiao Rong knew this manual was the second-ranked decisive secret manual in martial arts history over hundreds of years, knew this was the martial arts essence of Langhuan Sacred Hand, the supreme martial genius from a thousand years ago, knew that countless martial artists had risked death for this manual over hundreds of years, knew this manual’s every appearance caused bloody storms and countless deaths, he would definitely find this booklet too hot to handle, right?
Actually Chu Feihuan was overthinking. Xiao Baozi would at most think briefly, but would absolutely never return something already in hand. He would definitely demand to change this book’s cover and rename it “Langhuan Cookbook.”
Ignorant people are blessed. Now he casually stuffed the precious treasure that countless people had tossed and turned, experienced hardships, broken families and abandoned wealth seeking but couldn’t obtain into his bosom, flicked his fingers, and said very regretfully and grudgingly: “Fine… consider this your compensation.”
But Chu Feihuan said: “Rong’er, acknowledge your master.”
“Huh?”
“This is the martial arts manual you wanted,” Chu Feihuan continued watching the wild goose. “But do you think you can recognize all the characters?”
“Oh…” Xiao Baozi suddenly understood: “But don’t you know characters? Can’t you teach me?”
Chu Feihuan directly answered: “Don’t recognize them.”
Xiao Baozi had no choice but to turn around reluctantly, biting his finger to negotiate with Su Xuan: “If I call you master, can I not kowtow? Also, if I call you master, can you not take advantage of my mother?”
Su Xuan nearly spat blood.
What do you mean take advantage of your mother?
What do you think I am in your eyes? A lecher? A libertine?
Do you know how many beauties I’ve refused who wanted to climb into my bed? Among them were famous courtesans from Longxi, top ladies from Longdong, daughters of wealthy families, jianghu heroines…
Su Xuan felt so wronged and indignant… Yet looking at Xiao Baozi’s sly but very innocent big eyes, how could he say such things?
After thinking with mixed feelings for a long while, he could only smile again: “Kowtowing doesn’t matter anyway. In fact, whether you acknowledge me as master doesn’t matter. As for taking advantage of your mother, do you think your mother is the kind of foolish woman anyone could confuse and take advantage of?”
He secretly muttered: “I actually rather hope she really was that kind of foolish woman…”
Baozi didn’t hear the latter sentence. Seeing Su Xuan was easy to talk to, he immediately called out very cheerfully and happily: “Master!” The voice was so crisp and sweet. Though Su Xuan didn’t expect him to really obediently call him master, hearing it suddenly still made him happy, still intoxicated in the joy of “I finally found the disciple I wanted.” Then he saw Xiao Baozi suddenly make a big turn, rush to Chu Feihuan’s knees, look up, and sweetly call out again: “Godfather!”
…
Su Xuan’s face darkened as he stared at Chu Feihuan: When did you become his godfather?
Chu Feihuan began coughing – Wronged! This kid scares people to death without compensation…
Grabbing back Xiao Baozi, Su Xuan put on his freshly-minted master airs and asked Baozi: “What godfather?”
“Fairness, must be fair…” Xiao Baozi waved his finger, grinning: “My mother taught me to be just. You two are both good to me. Having acknowledged you as master, how can I neglect Uncle Chu? But it’s not good to acknowledge two masters, so I can only make him my godfather.”
What kind of twisted logic was this?
“Can’t favor one over the other… right?”
Su Xuan couldn’t bear it anymore and corrected: “It’s ‘favor this over that’!”
Very satisfied with his arrangement, Xiao Baozi’s face was thick as steamed bun skin, impossible to bite through. How could he care about using an idiom wrong? He proudly climbed onto Chu Feihuan’s knees: “Thunderstruck, right? Mistakes are nutritious, being thunderstruck is even healthier – my mother said so.”
Chu Feihuan coughed even harder… Former empress, future Xiliang emperor, your style is so special. In future conquests, on the battlefield with ten thousand armies, if you came out with “being thunderstruck is even healthier,” wouldn’t you be able to thunderstrike all enemy armies into submission without losing a single soldier?
Grinning, Xiao Baozi laughed for a while then suddenly remembered what he should do. With a “wah-ya” he jumped down, casually pulled off his small belt to tie randomly around his head, and with a swish drew the shark-skin small blade that Rong Xiaotian had given him a few days ago that hung beside his white silk robe. The cold light flashed as he swung it, creating a small rainbow arc in the sunlight: “Godfather, Master, let’s march forth to rescue people!”
…
Charging ahead with thuds for several steps, but hearing no following footsteps, Baozi stood confused, still not forgetting to step on a rock with one foot and put one hand on his hip. The white headband fluttered in the wind as he struck a very impressive pose before turning back: “Why aren’t you coming? To rescue people!”
Su Xuan looked at him sideways: “Sir Ming, dare I ask which direction we march? Who leads the vanguard? How many enemies? Who’s the commanding general?”
The white belt was blown by wind, slapping against the handsome Xiao Baozi’s face. His posture was elegant but his gaze blank.
With faint amusement in his eyes, adding warmth to his usually scattered starlike expression, Chu Feihuan kindly rescued his newly-minted godson from embarrassment by silently pointing ahead.
Turning his head, Xiao Baozi finally noticed that ahead on the horizon, dust clouds faintly appeared. Then an exquisite carriage gradually emerged from the distance.
He moved his lips and asked: “My mother?”
Chu Feihuan nodded. Su Xuan watched the carriage return completely unharmed, with a trace of emotion in his gaze.
She had indeed returned safely, even retrieving the carriage from that sinister, cunning snake-fox fellow. How had a weak woman unskilled in martial arts accomplished this?
Baozi had already charged forward.
Qin Chang Ge, just jumping down from the carriage, immediately saw the round, dusty little fellow rushing toward her in rolling clouds of dust.
She immediately whooshed back up into the carriage.
Baozi missed his target, couldn’t stop in time, and slid past the carriage with a swoosh.
Immediately persevering with a 360-degree flip, he pounced back again.
His legs were too short to jump up on the carriage. He flew into a rage, shrieking: “Stinky mother! After I went through such hardships to rescue you, you bully me like this!”
Poking her head out from the carriage, Qin Chang Ge looked disgusted: “I say, young master, what’s with this look of yours?”
“Dashing style!”
“Dashing! What kind of dashing? I remember in the stories I told you, the head was tied with a red band, yellow would work too – that’s murderously imposing and fluttering in wind. Why tie a white cloth? Mourning? Your mother isn’t dead yet.”
Baozi looked back resentfully at Su Xuan who was holding his belly in wild laughter, and Chu Feihuan who was looking down at ants, and Qi Fan who was smiling with curved brows watching the joke. Suddenly feeling betrayed by everyone, he couldn’t help but cry out in grief and indignation:
“Meeting mother not virtuous ah!!!”
…
Qin Chang Ge jumped down from the carriage, pulled the reins with a smile: “Returned intact.”
Taking the reins, Su Xuan instantly felt his fingers seem to touch her warm, smooth skin. His heart couldn’t help but tremble, and he couldn’t resist looking up at her, only to see the woman before him acting as if nothing happened, with a face full of narcissus-like light smiles.
Secretly smiling bitterly, he laughed at himself – he who had passed through countless flowers without a single leaf sticking, actually had moments like a young man first falling in love, heart racing from such slight physical contact.
Was this still the romantically carefree self who once “gazed through jade curtain sleeves at condensed cream, accompanied beauties at Red Leaf Tower, took a leaf boat down to Penglai, declined Green Flower but kept the pillow invitation”?
As his gaze flowed, under the long wind, the beautiful-featured man looked over with calm expression. Wind stirred the ties of his light blue satin cloak, fluttering like hunting banners. Su Xuan suddenly remembered the earlier delicate, gentle hands that had tied this cloak.
Smiling self-deprecatingly, he gently looked up. A lone wild goose was passing across the sky like a black ink dot.
That was their story, their secrets, their past, their organization.
And he might never truly be able to approach.
Slowly exhaling, as if wanting to expel all the inner burdens of this moment, when Su Xuan lowered his head, his smile was already bright and normal as usual.
She had just negotiated with that person, and presumably had new arrangements for Huang Meng. No matter what, he was an outsider – staying here any longer was really inappropriate.
Smiling and cupping his hands, Su Xuan said: “Thank you Miss Ming for helping me retrieve the carriage. With this, I take my leave.”
Glancing at Baozi, he added: “Miss Ming, I gave a booklet to your son. I should have been the one to guide him, but this journey cannot be changed. I’ll have to trouble Miss Ming to personally teach him yourself, or find a reliable, outstanding martial arts expert.”
Qin Chang Ge’s gaze contracted. Su Xuan spoke lightly, but she wouldn’t treat it carelessly. How could anything gifted from Su Xuan’s hands be ordinary? It must be a supreme manual. And Su Xuan’s words clearly meant both she and Chu Feihuan could study it. Martial artists had sectarian divisions like unbridgeable chasms, yet Su Xuan was so open-minded – his unrestrained, broad-minded, bright character truly exceeded ordinary people.
Smiling slightly, Qin Chang Ge said: “Rong’er is unlearned and unskilled, but still has some comprehension. If there are characters he doesn’t recognize, I’ll naturally teach him. Let him build foundations first – advanced martial arts should wait for your return.”
This clearly showed unwillingness to take advantage. Su Xuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled self-mockingly: “Then, as you wish. Oh yes, during my absence, I’ve already instructed the sect’s higher-ups that regarding what we’re pursuing, continue as usual. Whenever you have needs, feel free to command. If my journey goes smoothly, I might also go to Longbei to investigate An Feiqing.”
“Leader Su’s kindness toward Huang Meng and toward my mother and son, Ming Shuang won’t speak thanks,” Qin Chang Ge slightly gathered her skirts. “In any case, we’re all people of the same path – everything is understood.”
“Yes, everything is understood.” Su Xuan gazed deeply at Qin Chang Ge, his black pearl-like pupils filled entirely with the woman’s delicate, graceful figure. “Please take care.”
Finished speaking, without looking back, he flicked his sleeves and had already smoothly leaped onto the carriage, controlling the reins with one hand, looking up with a smile.
The winter air was calm and dry. After fresh snow, coolness flowed in all directions. From treetops came sounds of birds’ wings cutting through air, and with it the fragmented sunlight was also cut, breaking into layers of gauze that covered the black-haired, white-robed man looking up gracefully without obstruction. He was brilliantly radiant, shining brightly, like an extraordinarily beautiful dream in the pale golden, harp-string-like wonderful sunlight.
And that white sleeve trailing away in the distance was like an immortal poet stepping on moonlight at Mount Emei’s peak, gaining a new fine verse in wild, unrestrained song, newly cut floating clouds.
Qin Chang Ge stared blankly as Su Xuan’s fluttering sleeves disappeared into the distance, a nameless unease faintly rising in her heart. It seemed that this parting at Wanyang Pavilion, behind Su Xuan’s seemingly ordinary visit to relatives and friends, hid a pair of deep, distant eyes and lurked an unclear black shadow. These cloud-like shadows would gradually obscure the bright daylight, burying unpredictable variables and gloom in the otherwise clearly visible long road ahead.