Thousand Autumns

The two Daoists were stupefied as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight, Shen Qiao was not too arrogant on account of their reaction.

“Xiao Yunchang, long time no see, you’ve grown taller.” His gaze fell on the other person, his expression was warm as it was before, as if nothing had changed, “Le’an’s wugong has also improved, before I appeared you already noticed me.”

Le’an and Yunchang looked at each other, after a brief flurry of motion, they rushed to greet him: “Shen-shishu, Shen-shishu is well!”

Shen Qiao: “How is your shifu?”

Le’an: “Thank you for asking, shifu’s health is good, since shishu you left the mountain, he mentions you often, if he knew you were safe and well, he would be very happy.”

Their shifu was in the same martial generation as Shen Qiao, but was quite a bit older in age, he was always focused on training on Xuandushan, and rarely cared for sect matters, only in his later years did he accept these two disciples.

Shen Qiao: “I have also kept Liu-shixiong in my thoughts, I’m about to go up the mountain to see him.”

Hearing his words, the two young Daoists had two completely different reactions.

Yunchang’s joy was written on his face, Le’an tried to hide his concern.

Taking in the change in their expressions, Shen Qiao, purposefully: “What, you’re not coming up the mountain with me?”

Yunchang was first to react, not waiting for Le’an to respond, he already said: “If Shen-shishu is willing to return, we would be extremely happy!”

Shen Qiao smiled: “But I see your Le’an-shixiong doesn’t appear too happy.”

Le’an rushed to fold his hands in respect: “Shen-shishu speaks seriously, it’s only because Yu-zhangjiao has gone missing, the situation is a bit chaotic, we’re not willing to get caught up in it, our original intention coming down the mountain was to have a reprieve.” Who knew we’d run into you.

That fight between Shen Qiao and Kunye, after he lost and fell into the canyon, in that long interim, jianghu rumours spread erratically, they recirculated in bits and pieces back to Xuandushan, Shen Qiao’s reputation took a big hit, although people wouldn’t speak about it openly, they still felt Shen-zhangjiao losing to Kunye made Xuandushan’s position fall a thousand feet, Xuandushan lost a lot of face, this kind of attitude led to not many people opposing Yu Ai’s appointment as zhangjiao, everyone felt Yu Ai had brains and ability, he could lead Xuandushan back to its glory.

But Le’an and Yunchang’s shifu at the time didn’t regard Yu Ai favourably, he ordered them not to be involved in sect matters, their group of three withdrew from everyone’s field of vision, and had a very weak sense of presence, Le and Yun these two were still young, they were eager to jump in, although they had shifu’s orders, they were unhappy about it, who knew things later would develop in such an unexpected direction, it also confirmed how right their shifu had been, as Yu Ai reached a bottleneck in his dealings with Tujue, as well the configuration of the central plains changing drastically, with the north entered a new dynasty, Sui after Zhou, Tujue’s influence in the central plains gradually diminished, Xuandushan’s position grew more and more awkward.

It was at this time, zhangjiao Yu Ai suddenly disappeared one night, Xuandushan was rendered leaderless, Qi Fengge’s eldest disciple Tan Yuanchun became zhangjiao in the interim, although Tan Yuanchun was previously an elder, his personality was not commanding enough, many people on Xuandushan had their objections, among them elder Liu Yue was the most vocal, the two struggled for power behind the scenes.

Le’an’s shifu used seclusion as an excuse to not see anyone, but Le’an and Yunchang had people showing up at their doors, they were quite vexed, so they had exchanged tasks with someone else to go down the mountain to buy provisions, the truth was to get some peace of mind.

Hearing the details of these happenings, Shen Qiao was momentarily silent: “Yu Ai as zhangjiao, his wugong is also uncommonly strong, and he was on Xuandushan, how could he have disappeared in one night, did you hear any talk of it after?”

The two of them shook their heads: “Shifu’s orders, we are still young, we’re not permitted to engage in any sect affairs, but the few days right before Yu Ai-shishu’s disappearance, a Tujue delegate came to the mountain, something about things they wanted us to do, but was refused by Yu Ai-shishu, both sides departed on bad terms, so lots of people have been saying Yu Ai-shishu’s disappearance is related to Tujue!”

This was very much in line with what Yuan Ying had previously said.

Shen Qiao asked further: “That day the delegate from Tujue, did you recognize them?”

Le’an and Yunchang both said no.

As far as things went, the two young disciples didn’t know much, there wasn’t anything left to ask, Shen Qiao said: “I intend to take a trip up the mountain, do you want to come with me, or would you rather stay here in town?”

The two looked at each other, Yunchang said: “Shen-shishu, why don’t we go up with you, lest you be at a disadvantage!”

Le’an couldn’t shut Yunchang up in time, he didn’t say anything, resigned to his shidi’s words.

Shen Qiao smiled, Yunchang was faster to speak, he was always straighforward, whereas Le’an was more cautious, but wasn’t a bad person, otherwise he would have said something to refuse.

“Nevermind, it was hard for you to get time off to come into town, you should stay and frolic to your heart’s content, going back a day or two later should be fine.”

Le’an could see that this trip for Shen Qiao would not be resolved easily, likely he’ll be struggling for the position of zhangjiao, this would require the support of the elders, he had thought that Shen Qiao would force them up the mountain with him, to pull shifu into his faction, who knew Shen Qiao didn’t mention this at all, their suspicions were entirely their own narrow-heartedness.

“As long as the position of zhangjiao stands vacant, Xuandushan will not rest, Shen-shishu, only you were personally chosen by Qi-zhengren to be zhangjiao.” Shen Qiao had been so straightforward, Le’an felt a bit guilty, he hurried to clarify where he stood.

The meaning being, they won’t participate, but if they had to pick, they’d definitely pick Shen Qiao.

His little bit of cleverness was not lost on Shen Qiao, but it was not in Shen Qiao to make things difficult for a young person.

“Many thanks.” He clapped Le’an’s shoulder. “Don’t get into trouble in town, head back soon.”

His tone was even, like giving an everyday greeting, if you didn’t know you would’ve thought Shen Qiao was just going for a walk on the mountain.

The two young Daoists watched Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei’s retreating backs for a long time, Yunchang suddenly said: “Shixiong, we should have gone with Shen-shishu! Last time shizun’s words were full of self blame for not being able to stand up for Shen-shishu, if his respectful elderly self saw us shrinking back from responsibility, he probably wouldn’t be happy.”

Le’an: “Liu-zhanglao wants to be zhangjiao so bad, he probably wouldn’t relinquish it easily to Shen-shishu, this time Shen-shishu’s trip up the mountain, we don’t know the conclusion, what if we followed him, and people thought we were in Shen-shishu’s faction, wouldn’t we have implicated shifu?”

Yunchang hung his head and sighed: “Ay, I just feel we were unkind.”

Le’an ultimately couldn’t see his shidi disappointed: “What if we followed them at a distance in secret?”

Yunchang: “That’s good!”

On Shen Qiao and Bian Yanmei’s end, their route up the mountain, when the disciples standing guard saw him, all of them had a similar reaction to Le’an and Yunchang — as if seeing a ghost in broad daylight, first tongue-tied, then shock, most of them could only watch the two of them go up the mountain, didn’t dare stand in their way, but soon there was a small group who blocked their path, with no courtesy someone said: “Xuandushan’s discarded disciple, you dare break in!”

Shen Qiao recognized him, this person was zhanglao Liu Yue’s disciple-in-name: “Lou Liang, how come after so many years, how come you’re still here guarding the mountain?”

This phrase was said very warmly, like a common greeting, but struck a bullseye on the other’s soft spot, Lou Liang immediately went red in the face, perhaps from embarrassment or rage: “You, you… Shen Qiao you disrespectful disgraced disciple, today’s Xuandushan has no place for you!”

Shen Qiao smiled gently: “You’re right, my abrupt trip up the mountain is a bit rude, I should have someone showing me the way, I see that you’re most appropriate.”

Saying this, he clasped his hand on Lou Liang’s shoulder.

Lou Liang clearly saw that the other wasn’t moving fast, and did not try any tricks, but before he could react he was seized, he felt a pain shoot from his shoulder, leaving him no room to escape, his expression changed.

Since Xuandushan reopened its doors, news was no longer so stifled like before, stories of Shen Qiao’s exploits would intermittently enter the disciples’ ears, but hearing rumours was not as good as seeing it in person, even if they’d heard a hundred times how strong Shen Qiao was rumoured to be, it couldn’t compare to seeing it with their own eyes.

Lou Liang was no fool, he understood immediately that he had gifted himself to be made an example of, rushed to reverse his mistake: “Shen-shishu spare my life, this disciple was only following orders, to prevent anyone from going up the mountain, I meant no disrespect to you shishu!”

Shen Qiao’s brow flickered: “No one can go up the mountain? Is something happening on the mountain?”

Lou Liang was ready to say everything, didn’t dare hold back: “Yes, the elders are meeting right now to decide who will be the next zhangjiao.”

Shen Qiao: “Are all the elders present?”

Lou Liang: “Only Kong-zhanglao is in seclusion, so is absent.”

The Kong-zhanglao he mentioned, was Le’an and Yunchang’s shifu.

With such a cautious shifu, no wonder the disciples were as such. Bian Yanmei didn’t said anything as he stood by and observed, but thought this to himself.

What Shen Qiao was thinking was: the consequences of Xuandushan’s several generations of seclusion were coming to the surface, the long time closed doors had closed off people’s hearts, there was people like Yu Ai with ambition, there was also people like Kong-zhanglao whose fears had been fed by the seclusion, who felt one less thing was better than one more thing, merely interested in self-preservation.

“What good timing, I should go listen too.”

Lou Liang: “I’ll show shishu the way!”

The truth was even if he didn’t want to lead the way it didn’t matter, that fair, graceful hand was clamped like a vice on his shoulder, Lou Liang was in great pain but didn’t dare show it, he walked faster, while his face demonstrated an eager expression as he explained the current situation to Shen Qiao.

The others seeing Lou Liang defeated, who else would dare try to block their way by force, they made way for Shen Qiao the three of them as they climbed.

This was not entirely on intimidation from Shen Qiao’s wugong, when Shen Qiao was zhangjiao previously, he treated disciples very well, he was fair with reward and discipline, alone or with small groups he also wasn’t pretentious, many disciples looked up to and respected him, up until the fight at Banbu Peak, when Yu Ai formed an alliance with the elders and forcefully claimed his position, everyone was beyond unprepared, many disciples were afraid to speak up, but they certainly had their own thoughts, now seeing Shen Qiao’s return, many of them appeared delighted.

Lou Liang saw all of these reactions, he made some calculations, whispered to Shen Qiao: “Shen-shishu, this disciple realizes that you on this return will seek out justice, my shifu has always been loyal towards Xuandushan, he’s only dissatisfied with Tan-zhanglao’s mediocre abilities and still wanting to be zhangjiao, only then did he oppose it strongly, this disciple dares ask for your tolerance and generosity, that you won’t make things difficult for him, please?”

This person was crude and rash, but as least he had a sliver of conscience. Shen Qiao smiled: “And if I want to make things difficult?”

Lou Liang was at a loss for words, he’d muddled through so many years and was still only a disciple-in-name, the reason was his calibre was average, and also his shifu Liu Yue was someone who admitted disciples based on appearance, to the people who were not beautiful he excluded all of them, Lou Liang looked average, so was missing this layer of luck, and because he was already Liu Yue’s disciple-in-name he couldn’t seek another elder, Lou Liang on account of this was extremely depressed, he thought that no matter what, he had said his piece and done his duty and diligence, whatever Shen-shishu was going to do, he had no say in the matter.

With Lou Liang leading them, Shen Bian these two had no further impediments on their route, some of the newly recruited disciples didn’t recognize Shen Qiao, still called out to Lou Liang: “Lou-shixiong, wasn’t there an order that no irrelevant people can come up the mountain?”

Lou Liang’s face was solemn: “Who said this was irrelevant people, this is my Shen-shishu, he’s rushed back to attend the meeting!”

The others were intimidated, they didn’t press further before letting them go on, this saved Shen Qiao from having to act again.

All in all, Lou Liang was quite useful.

Watching Lou Liang’s departing form, the disciple by the path was left in bewilderment, he asked his companion: “I don’t remember our sect having a Shen-shishu?”

The companion wracked his brains, suddenly came to a realization: “Shen…could it be that person, Shen Qiao?!”

The two of them were dumbstruck, their expression changed, but by the time they had realized this, the group had already moved on, it was too late to stop them now.

Shen Qiao and Lou Liang came to a stop not far from the entrance of Sanqingdian , they were just in time to hear a loud shout come from inside: “Tan Yuanchun! The only reason you were interim zhangjiao was that after Yu Ai-zhangjiao’s disappearance someone needed to manage sect affairs, so we didn’t object, but interim zhangjiao and zhangjiao is not the same, with respect to wugong, you are not ranked first on Xuandushan, in the jianghu you are even more rankless, by what reason do you think you can sit in the zhangjiao position!”

Lou Liang looked awkward, because this voice belonged to his shifu Liu Yue.

Due to the importance of today’s meeting, everyone present was a Xuandushan elder, they were confident in their wugong, so they didn’t make their disciples stand guard outside, so Shen Qiao’s group of three were able to walk quite close without anyone noticing.

Comparatively, the person who replied spoke calmly, no sign of irritation or anger, as if they were not vexed at all by what was said: “Liu-zhanglao, we can all speak respectfully, isn’t that why we are having this discussion? I am no talent, among the elders, I have the least experience, but I understand, the reason why everyone recommended me, it’s not because my wugong is the strongest, but because I’ve managed sect affairs for years and am very familiar with them, in the end, who becomes zhangjiao is not important, the important thing is to be able to contribute to Xuandu Purple Pavillion, wouldn’t you agree?”

Liu Yue, a cold laugh: “Acoording to your logic, it doesn’t matter how strong the zhangjiao’s wugong is, they only need to be familiar with managing sect matters? I have a disciple-in-name Lou Liang, everyday he’s dealing with sect matters, wouldn’t he be more appropriate then?”

Hearing this, not only did Lou Liang standing outside want the earth to swallow him, even Tan Yuanchun looked displeased.

Liu Yue: “Tan-shidi, a person should know their limitations, why did Qi-zhengren those years ago skip over you his eldest disciple for Shen-zhangjiao, wasn’t it exactly because your calibre was average? If we must pick you, I’d rather ask Shen-shidi to come back, I heard Shen-shidi’s wugong has improved recently, long surpassed his previous level, he has previous experience being zhangjiao, however you look at it he’s more appropriate?”

Hearing this, Shen Qiao no longer stayed silent, he raised his foot and walked right in: “Thank you Liu-zhanglao for your favour.”

No one expected Shen Qiao to appear silently outside, and silently walk in, the interior of the hall fell into an unusual hush.

After a few moments, Tan Yuanchun walked over to greet him, looking delighted: “Er-shidi, when did you get back!”

Shen Qiao: “Just now, hearing that you were all here discussing the matter of zhangjiao, I came over, I hope I’m not interrupting you?”

The crowd, more or less, looked very awkward.

After Shen Qiao’s fall, Yu Ai took over as zhangjiao, scrutinizing the process it was shady and illegitimate, but at the time he had the support of the elders and forced his way into the position, no one could say no, of course everyone must have thought about it in their own minds, the reality now was Shen Qiao was still a person of Xuandu Purple Pavilion, with Yu Ai disappeared, Shen Qiao’s return, no one could contest the position of zhangjiao as belonging to Shen Qiao.

Needless to say, Qi Fengge’s shanhetongbei sword was still on his back!

Liu Yue was the first to be able to react, before anyone else could say anything: “Since Shen-shidi has returned, all is well, Yu Ai has disappeared, Xuandushan was leaderless, we were looking for someone who could take on the mantle, since you’re here, we all feel more secure!”

Tan Yuanchun also smiled: “Yes, A-Qiao, it’s good you’re back, do you need to take a break before speaking further?”

Meeting his concerned eyes, Shen Qiao politely declined: “Thank you Da-shixiong, we’ve already rested at the foot of the mountain, I heard something happened to Yu Ai?”

Tan Yuanchun: “Yes, Yu-shidi suddenly disappeared several days ago, the night before he seemed fine, the next day we couldn’t find a trace of him, we looked all over Xuandushan and did not find him.”

He stopped there, his gaze moving to Bian Yanmei who was standing behind Shen Qiao, he asked uncertainly: “And this is?”

Shen Qiao had no intention of concealing anything: “This is Huanyue Sect Yan-zongzhu’s disciple, Bian Yanmei, Bian-daoyou.”

With this said, everyone looked towards Bian Yanmei, the latter wasn’t at all embarrassed or ill at ease, instead he confidently welcomed everyone’s appraisal.

Tan Yuanchun was first shocked, then appeared in pain: “That day on the mountain, you were taken away by Yan-zongzhu, I couldn’t stop him in time, it is shixiong who is useless, but I didn’t think you’d still be conniving with people from the demonic sect!”

Shen Qiao’s expression didn’t change: “Shixiong speaks seriously, the word conniving, Shen Qiao cannot undertake, shixiong saw with your own eyes that day, I was almost captured by Yu Ai and was fortunate to be saved by Yan-zongzhu, but after the fact you didn’t go to seek me out?”

Tan Yuanchun sighed: “A-Qiao, don’t be upset with Da-shixiong, back then Yu Ai had control of Xuandushan, how could I mobilize the disciples to look for you?”

Shen Qiao, blandly: “Even Yuan Ying and Gu Hengbo could leave everything behind, leave the mountain to look for me, it would appear that my expectations for Da-shixiong were too high.”

Tan Yuanchun: “A-Qiao, I know you’re upset…”

“Da-shixiong,” Shen Qiao interrupted: “In everyone’s heart, you were always the good guy, kind towards everyone, so all of us martial siblings adored you, but a good person doesn’t equal having no moral bottom line, you were deceived by Yu Ai, couldn’t do anything about it, I don’t blame you, but that day, I clearly said in front of you how Yu Ai poisoned me, even if you didn’t believe it, shouldn’t you still have looked into it afterwards? Instead, Yuan Ying and Gu Hengbo who didn’t hear the truth that day were still willing to believe me, now we see each other after such a long parting, not only do you not ask about this, but use Huanyue Sect to call my character into question, of course I am bitterly disappointed!”

Tan Yuanchun’s expression finally changed: “What is your intention?”

At this time, a disciple that had been on guard duty rushed in, his body was stained with blood: “Bad news, elders, Hehuan Sect is attacking the mountain, and, and there’s also Tujue!”