Thousand Autumns

Shen Qiao had thought that Yan Wushi’s injuries were not extensive, after this many days, even if not fully recovered, he should be mostly there.

Who knew that examining his meridians would reveal stagnant qi, blood coalescing, the appearance of flow obstruction: the injuries were more serious than before.

Could it be that Xueting’s wugong had reached the realm of “a calm surface, but into bone”?

But if Xueting’s wugong was really on this level, how could he have lost to Yan Wushi, and had his wugong nullified by the other?

Yan Wushi covered his mouth and coughed twice, gave this explanation: “It’s that these days I’ve been busy with managing the affairs of Huanyue Sect, I needed to rein in the previously lost and scattered holdings, so haven’t had time to treat my injuries, I didn’t think they would turn worse.”

Shen Qiao: “This has to do with your health, how can you be so reckless?”

Yan Wushi smiled, clearly didn’t think it was anything: “No problem, it’s not fatal, three to five days and I should be recovered.”

Shen Qiao gave it some thought, from his robes he produced a small porcelain jar he set down on the table: “You and I have neigong of Daoist and Demonic origins which counter each other, I cannot help you, but Xuandushan has many medicines passed down through the years, this is one I based off one of the prescriptions, and recently I had the pharmacy prepare it, if you trust it, you can take some, three tablets a day, to reduce injury.”

Yan Wushi picked up the porcelain jar, it felt warm in his hands, still carrying residual heat from Shen Qiao’s body.

With his thumb he stroked the smooth body of the porcelain jar, the motion carrying with it an indescribable ambiguity.

Shen Qiao didn’t think on it too much, assumed that he was suspicious by nature and didn’t trust him, he would accept the medicine now and then throw it away when he was alone, but that would truly be a waste, needless to say the medicine contained several rare herbs, and had the potential to save a lot of people, so Shen Qiao added: “If you’re not going to take it then return it, the injuries are not that extensive after all.”

“And why wouldn’t I take it?” Yan Wushi found him looking at the porcelain jar, found it quite funny, so deliberately going against his wishes, he pulled open the stopper, poured out three tabs and put them in his mouth, then grabbed the plum drink in front of Shen Qiao, and swallowed.

“I feel the congestion in my chest alleviated, immediate soothing relief.” Yan Wushi said as he held his chest.

Shen Qiao: “…It isn’t a celestial cure.”

Yan Wushi laughed: “I was talking about the plum drink! Word has it that cultivators can even put their saliva into medicine, this plum drink you’ve drank from before, doesn’t it have your saliva too?”

In the face of such dirty talk, what could Shen Qiao say, even if he had heard so many shameless words all this time, his face now still flushed a slight pink.

Yan Wushi, seeing him embarrassed and wordlessly rise to leave, held his hand back and said: “Fine, fine, it’s the medicine that works not the saliva, when did you go to the pharmacy to have this prepared, how come I didn’t know about it?”

Shen Qiao, face solemn: “Does this poor one need to report to Yan-zongzhu for everything?”

Yan Wushi: “Of course not, but I worry about you, I worry that you won’t have enough money to spend, or that you’ll be tricked by someone.”

Shen Qiao: “It turns out that in Yan-zongzhu’s mind this poor one is really such a fool.”

Yan Wushi thought, yes exactly if not a fool how could you be sold by me to Sang Jingxing without your knowledge, but he said: “No, since leaving the mountain, you’ve made gains everyday, I’ve seen it, you’re much smarter than before.”

Shen Qiao resisted and resisted, but couldn’t help saying: “Yan-zongzhu doesn’t look like someone with internal injuries, if you say a bit more, maybe you’ll recover faster!”

Yan Wushi held back a smile: “That won’t do, without Shen-daozhang this good medicine, I’m certain to recover a little slower. I heard that Yang Jian gave you a sum of money?”

Shen Qiao: “That’s right, that sum was for the construction of Xuanduguan.”

Yan Wushi: “Does that mean you’ve decided to stay in Chang’an?”

Shen Qiao: “That’s still uncertain, I want to return to Xuandushan first to take a look, if I can resolve things there, and if Xuandushan wants to enter the secular world, then Chang’an could be a good location. I see that Yang Jian has the makings of a leader, does not appear the least partial or muddled, towards the Daoist sects he has been quite tolerant, perhaps the Daoist sects can welcome this opportune chance to emerge again.”

Yan Wushi reminded him: “He’s doing this to capture people’s hearts.”

Shen Qiao smiled: “I know, but there’s nothing wrong with that, although I’m of a Daoist Sect, I cannot confidently that say there are no scum among the Daoists, if a hundred birds sound, it would be a good thing for everyone, there would be no situation where a leader plunders the public coffers for the benefit of one sect, and leave the people with no way of getting by, Yang Jian has been heavily influenced by Buddhist teachings, but can still treat Ru sects and Daoist sects fairly, as I see it, that is the quality of a true leader of a nation. The most important thing is, if Xuandushan wants to enter the secular world, now is a good time.”

Yan Wushi raised his eyebrows: “Don’t you revere and worship Qi Fengge in all things, how come on this matter your opinion runs contrary?”

Shen Qiao: “That was then, this is now, when he was alive he never had this kind of opportune timing, if his respectful elderly person was still alive, he would definitely agree with me.”

Yan Wushi: “Oh, hearing you say this, this venerable one understands now.”

Shen Qiao: “What do you understand?”

Yan Wushi: “Things you want to do, you’ll say Qi Fengge will agree, things you don’t want to do, you’ll say it was Qi Fengge’s wish when he was alive, either way he’s dead and cannot jump out to contradict you.”

He said this on purpose, but Shen Qiao gave no sign of embarrassment or anger, instead he thought for a moment, smiled a little: “What you said is also true.”

As he smiled, his eyes took in his surroundings, shining and bright, refracting the light in the room, Yan Wushi’s gaze on him also momentarily frozen in place.

Shen Qiao: “He was the most understanding person, and would definitely understand how I feel now.”

Yan Wushi raised his eyebrows, he didn’t agree with Shen Qiao’s tendency to spout off his shifu’s praise everytime he opened his mouth, but he considered himself very generous, and would not get stuck on particulars about a dead man.

It could be seen that although Shen Qiao was quite orthodox, he was not someone who was held back by convention, this was the exact reason Qi Fengge ultimately chose Shen Qiao out of his five disciples to inherit his mantle all those years ago.

Yan Wushi: “Since you’ve already accepted the court’s favour, even if in reality you are not under their command, in name at least there’s a connection, therefore, this matter with Xuandushan is not entirely your own, given the current relationship between Huanyue Sect and the Sui dynasty, if Yang Jian knew you were headed to Xuandushan, even if I didn’t say anything, he would ask me to assist, for this journey I’ll let Bian Yanmei go with you, his methods are smooth, it will be helpful.”

He said this additional layer of reasoning, Shen Qiao didn’t push back further, he nodded and said: “Then I thank you.”

Saying this, Shen Qiao paused, then said: “You still have injuries, the next few days you should rest and recuperate.”

Stop jumping around all over the place for no reason.

Yan Wushi’s smile grew wider: “A-Qiao, are you worried about me?”

Shen Qiao: “No.”

Yan Wushi: “You lie.”

Shen Qiao: “…” Then why are you asking me?

Yan Wushi sighed: “Although I am very moved, I am bound to disappoint, don’t forget, that old bald donkey is still waiting for me to deal with him, he was once the esteemed Zhou dynasty guoshi, head of the Buddhist sects, how can I neglect him for too long?”

I can see you’re more than willing, Shen Qiao thought, but he latched onto the crux of the other’s words: “You intend to kill him?”

Yan Wushi, lazily: “This venerable one intends to trade him for a huge advantage.”

What huge advantage, if he’s not willing to say, Shen Qiao knew he would not be able to get an answer, so didn’t press further.

Several days later, on hearing Shen Qiao was preparing to return to Xuandushan, Yuan Ying was very happy, he ran over to ask when Shen Qiao planned to leave.

However, Shen Qiao hadn’t been planning on taking him with him, as Xuanduguan was still under construction and needed oversight, Yuan Ying was certainly the ideal person for the job.

Yuan Ying, on hearing Shen Qiao’s plans, his face fell from ten thousand hopes through to disappointment, the prominent change was hard to see.

Shen Qiao was a bit surprised: “Si-shidi, you want to go back to Xuandushan that badly?”

“N-, no.” Yuan Ying found it hard to articulate, these past few days Yu Shengyan had been playing with him left and right, Yuan Ying couldn’t outtalk the other, and although his wugong was stronger, Yu Shengyan hadn’t lifted a finger, Yuan Ying was a honest kid, he couldn’t raise his fist first to beat the other, also considering he was living under someone else’s roof, he couldn’t complicate matters for his Er-shixiong, so he had endured it all, in his mind he had already allotted Yu Shengyan a position as chief annoyance, if he saw him in the distance he would swerve to avoid him.

Shen Qiao clapped his shoulder: “I know you’re focused on cultivation, and don’t care for other matters, but to oversee the construction of Xuanduguan, apart from you, I can’t think of anyone else more suited, I will hurry back, and can only trouble you for your help.”

Yuan Ying, hurriedly: “Er-shixiong you, you go ahead, I will be certain to go to the site daily, and not worry, worry you.”

Shen Qiao: “Thank you, A-Ying.”

Yuan Ying: “Er-shixiong, don’t say that, we are all disciples of shizun, but I am the most, most useless one, have never been able to help, I’ve always felt very, very bad about this, it’s rare you’re letting me do something, I am more than willing!”

After not seeing the other for so long, this Si-shidi who had been more than happy hiding behind others had grown up, Shen Qiao was very relieved.

Wrapping up affairs, Yan Wushi had departed one step ahead of him from Chang’an, and so after him, Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei set off towards Xuandushan.

Bian Yanmei was a very interesting person, he did things in an interesting way, he spoke in an interesting way, he was also very perceptive about boundaries, and was nothing like Yan Wushi’s frequent transgressions that made Shen Qiao fume in embarrassment, having him as company on this journey was a breeze, Shen Qiao was already easy to get along with, as others saw it, Shen Qiao was also a great companion, he didn’t like to cause a scene, was more inclined to listen to what others had to say, in times of danger he’d be the most reliable support, everyone could only hope to have a friend like this.

Bian Yanmei and Shen Qiao hadn’t crossed paths too many times before, he was used to navigating court, he had honed his observation skills of people’s inner workings, with someone like Shen Qiao who would never betray a friend, he was naturally very willing to make this new friend, as they say one more friend means one more escape route, although Bian Yanmei had been raised singlehandedly by Yan Wushi, his character was not too far off from his shifu, but compared to his shifu, he was more adaptable, Bian Yanmei had also seen Yan Wushi’s intentions, so on the road he was purposefully very friendly, the two of them got along well.

The two of them had qinggong, and good steeds, if they travelled day and night, they could make the journey in three to five days, if they travelled by day and rested nights, it would be about ten days, if Shen Qiao had been travelling alone, he would have no trouble persisting through the night, but Bian Yanmei was with him, and he couldn’t force the other to rush with him towards Xuandushan.

Ten and some days had passed, the two arrived in Xuandu Town at the base of Xuandushan.

Bian Yanmei seeing how lively the town was, couldn’t help smiling: “In these years Xuandu Town has flourished, I was here once several years ago, back then I don’t remember there being as many people.”

Shen Qiao had also not been here in a long time, he looked around in every direction: “Yes, the mountains remain constant, only the people pass through!”

He grew up in the mountain, was very familiar with Xuandu Town, at the moment he was more affected than Bian Yanmei.

The two them had sat down at a teahouse and were resting and drinking tea, the waitstaff standing by heard their conversation, and came over to interject: “I’m afraid this bustle isn’t going to last long!”

Shen Qiao: “How so?”

Waitstaff: “Ay, the two of you must know the hectares at the base of the mountain belong to Xuandushan’s daozhangs, the previous zhangjiaos were considerate of how hard our lives were, rent was very low, we were very grateful, if this had not been the case, Xuandu Town would not have flourished until today, who knows what this new zhangjiao is thinking, a couple days ago they said they were increasing this year’s rent, and the new rent is exponential, how are we able to make it, the businesses here whether an inn or eatery, or teahouse like ours all have to pay rent, if it’s like this, who dares do their business here? Our storeowner said, after this month, we’ll pack up our things and go back to our ancestral home!”

Shen Qiao: “The new zhangjiao? Is it Yu Ai?”

The waitstaff shook his head: “I don’t think his surname was Yu, it’s said he only came into the position last month, before he was Qi-zhengren’s eldest disciple…”

Shen Qiao: “Tan?”

Waitstaff: “Yes yes yes, it was Tan!”

Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei exchanged a glance.

“But I thought it was Yu-zhangjiao before, how come it’s become Tan-zhangjiao?” Shen Qiao pushed back the rising tempest in his chest.

The waitstaff shook his head: “That I don’t know about!”

After saying these words, and seeing more guests enter the teahouse, he rushed away.

Shen Qiao slowly furrowed his brow: “How is Da-shixiong the zhangjiao, where is Yu Ai?”

Bian Yanmei said: “We departed at the end of last month, and arrived in the early part of this month, it’s highly likely we missed news and messages along our journey, we should look into this, Shen-daozhang needn’t worry, it would not be too late to ascend the mountain after we understand the circumstances more clearly.”

Shen Qiao: “That might be for the best.”

In order to figure out the situation, the two of them first had to find a place to stay, an inn frequented by merchants was a good place to overhear the latest news, Bian Yanmei was accustomed to this method, he brought Shen Qiao to an inn that was mid-sized, said to Shen Qiao: “The merchants or jianghu people all have a particularity, unless they’re a high-born noble, otherwise no one will go to an extravagant place, instead this kind of setting, not good not bad, is likely to be selected by most travellers, it’ll be the best place for news.”

Shen Qiao had no objections, he nodded his agreement.

Xuandu Purple Pavillion no matter how you looked was a prominent Daoist sect, ever since Yu Ai announced the opening of the sect’s doors, there had been intermittently numerous young people arriving to beg for a master, among them were some whose qianbei were jianghu wanderers, but were greatly diminished in their generation, there were some who had heard too many wuxia stories, aspired to become a sword shadow figure, some of their potentials were quite good, but all of them without exception did not come from an esteemed family, because if they were from a prominent clan, their family would arrange a better route for them, they would have no need to traverse a thousand li to beg for a master.

Just as Bian Yanmei said, they would also likely pick this not-good-not-bad inn as their homebase in town.

The main hall was crowded and noisy, Bian Shen the two of them entered, found a spot and sat down.

Coincidently, several young people with swords were seated beside them, they didn’t even need to ask, the others had already started discussing the most recent jianghu happenings.

One of them said: “Did you hear, Huanyue Sect zongzhu sent a formal challenge letter to Hulugu!”

Shen Qiao had been about to pick up a cup, but hearing this he was caught off-guard, he froze.

The author would like to say:

Lao Yan: You all really thought this venerable one’s brain short-circuited, that I would go annoy Hulugu for no reason?

Yu Shengyan (with utmost respect, waiting for his lesson): Dare I ask shizun what his reason is?

Lao Yan: It’s fun.

Yu Shengyan: …