The Path Toward Heaven

Chapter 417: Whose Sound It is in the Wind

Chapter 417: Whose Sound It is in the Wind

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After pushing open the door of the house, Yin San didn’t see Liu Shisui in there, but did see Xiao He. “I came here to get some wine and food,” he said with a smile.

Though Xiao He felt surprised, she asked him to sit down and then went to preparing the food and wine. She was not as cautious about this mysterious senior master as she had been; it was because she had more things to worry about right now, like Liu Shisui’s physical condition, or Jing Jiu, who was living at the Fruit Formation Temple.

The dishes were as lavish as before, but the wine was different.

Yin San put down the wine cup, and remarked with a small smile, “It’s not so easy to acquire ] strong rice wine from the Thunder Island.”

Standing by the side, Xiao He fidgeted nervously while holding a corner of her cloth.

The high-quality wine suddenly appeared on the table. One possibility was that friends came from afar, and the other possibility was that the hostess needed help from the guest.

Yin San was a careless person. He drank the wine and ate the dishes casually, and spoke casually as well.

“He will go back to Green Mountain sooner or later. What about your identity of a vixen?”

After a moment of silence, Xiao He said, “If nothing will work out, I simply leave then.”

Yin San said, “The vixens are usually affectionate, good at scheming, and know what they want. Since you are willing to give up a lot of things, you must wish to gain something. Do you want him to become the sect master?”

Xiao He knew that she couldn’t deceive this clever person, and admitted, “Yes, Senior Master.”

Yin San shook his head and said, “He won’t be able to become the sect master of Green Mountain during his lifetime.”

“Why?” Xiao He asked, her face a bit pale.

“It’s because I know Green Mountain. Someone who has his experience can’t become the sect master, unless he can do what I had done, but can he do it?”

Looking at the big boiled fish in a large bowl, Yin San continued, “No, he can’t. So he won’t be able to become the sect master.”

Xiao He felt more calmed, though her face was still pale. The relief usually came after the despair. She said in a low voice, “He said that the Immortal Master Jing Jiu had the same view.”

Hearing the name, Yin San curled up the corners of his mouth slightly, saying, “At least he hasn’t forgotten that.”

“What suggestions do you have for me?” Xiao He asked.

In her opinion, now that Liu Shisui couldn’t become the sect maser of Green Mountain, it would be better to spend their lives here in this vegetable garden. But she was fully aware that this was a silly dream, and Liu Shisui would sooner or later leave this place, and even her.

“The world is very big. Why do you want to limit your choices to that green mountain? Even if you two will leave here, you can go to other places, and even other lands.”

This was Yin San’s true thoughts.

If he hadn’t had Green Mountain in his heart, he would have left back then.

Thinking of the past, he guided the chopsticks to a pile of green spinach on the plate, as if he was piercing a green mountain with a sword.

“Since the Immortal Master Jing Jiu came to the temple, he had been following Jing Jiu all day long, just like when they were on Green Mountain. He has to go back to Green Mountain if the Immortal Master Jing Jiu tells him to. How can we go to anywhere else?”

Thinking of what she had to put up with lately, she felt a bit bitter.

Yin San suddenly stopped the chopsticks in midair, and said, “I dislike eating the spinach the most; it’s too bitter.”

Though Xiao He didn’t understand his meaning, she somehow felt the room had suddenly turned chilly.

The chill came from Yin San’s body.

Pah!!!

Xiao He knelt down on the ground, her face pale, her body trembling.

Though Yin San’s energy was not very powerful, Xiao He somehow felt extremely terrified.

She had the same feeling when she was pierced on her left shoulder by Jing Jiu’s sword in the Sea-God Temple outside Haizhou City.

...

...

The Fruit Formation Temple had a front temple and a backcourt, and a large patch of crop field outside; there were endless sheds built by the roads.

People could burn incense, meditate and conduct the funerals in the front temple; the backcourt was the place where the monks of the temple carried out meditating and cultivating.

The pagoda forest was very serene. It was located in a remote area, and the spiritual pagodas were mostly painted with the white mud; as such, the meditation room closest to the pagoda forest was named the “White Mountain”.

Sitting on the stone steps outside the White Mountain meditation room, Yin San gazed at those stone pagodas, remaining silent for a long time.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect came back from outside while wiping his greasy mouth. As he saw the scene, he felt it a bit odd.

Yin San often sat on the stone steps bathing in the sun, but the sun was not out that day.

And given the Cultivation state of the Great Grandmaster, he could easily find out that Yin San was in a strange mood today.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect asked gingerly, “Immortal, what has happened?”

“I didn’t know,” Yin San said in a sour tone, “that Jing Jiu is at the Fruit Formation Temple.”

The Great Grandmaster had been guessing who Yin San’s helper was at the Fruit Formation Temple; it looked like that person must have gone to the north with the Principal Justice.

Then...he suddenly came to his senses, and understood what he had just heard. He fell silent, and his nose grew even redder.

The sound of crows could be heard from the deep end of the pagoda forest.

“What is he doing here?” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect asked in a deep tone.

“That Fairy Book is problematic.”

Yin San added, “He can’t solve it on Green Mountain; so he came here to rely on the Buddhist methods for solution...just like myself.”

After a moment of silence, the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect suddenly headed toward the meditation room, saying, “There are a few scripts that I haven’t read yet, and I will bring them for the road.”

Yin San lifted his head and looked at the few crows flying up from the pagoda forest. “Why are you going to leave?” he asked nonchalantly.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect stopped short, and replied, “We have to leave afterwards anyway, regardless of whether we are going to evade him or kill him.”

What he said made sense.

Yin San said, “I came here to rely on the Buddhist methods for the solution. But I haven’t acquired the true script yet, so how can I just leave?”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect walked back to his side and prompted, “We kill him then?”

“I have always wanted to kill him,” Yin San said. “Now he brings himself to us, why not?”

“What you have just said sounds rather vulgar; it’s not suitable for your status and bearing.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect continued shamelessly, “As you have said that he is not Jing Yang, so why kill him?”

“Even though he is not Jing Yang, he still has to die,” said Yin San.

The expression on the face of the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect turned cold, as he demanded, “Why?”

If this were another matter, he would bark like a dog to agree with Yin San once Yin San gave the order; but he wouldn’t do so with this matter, and he needed an adequate reason for doing it.

Now that the Young Zen Master had gone to White Town and the Chief Monk of the temple stayed behind closed doors, nobody at the Fruit Formation Temple could resist his Mysterious Dark Magic at the moment. But, even if he could kill Jing Jiu, he would reveal his own identity as a result, and the two figures in the Heavenly Arrival State on Green Mountain would pursue him until he was killed. Would he hide underground without seeing the sun again?

Yin San said, “I don’t like seeing his face; is this an adequate reason?”

“No, this is not a good reason at all,” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said seriously while shaking his head.

Yin San suddenly stood up and headed for the pagoda forest, and said, “I’m just kidding. Given his temperament, he must have brought that cat with him. It’s not so easy to kill him.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect called after his back, “Should we just evade him for now?”

Yin San didn’t halt his steps, as he said, “Let’s wait and see.”

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect suddenly generated an ominous feeling, and he demanded sharply, “Does the Immortal want to go see him?”

Yin San didn’t respond to him; he halted his steps in the pagoda forest.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect could finally breathe properly.

Yin San took out the bone flute, and used it to draw dozens of lines on the ground between several spiritual pagodas.

Those lines composed a complicated diagram, looking like a formation.

The crows cawed in the sky. The chilly wind blew over to bring down some leaves, and the fallen leaves rolled into the pagoda forest from outside and covered up those lines, making them invisible now.

...

...

No master monk gave a lesson in the Instruction Hall this day, and Jing Jiu stayed in the Tranquil Garden.

He was lying on the bamboo chair with his eyes closed, listening to the sounds brought by the wind, his ears twitching slightly.

His large ears could hear any sound brought by the cold wind.

In fact, Jing Jiu could hear all the sounds in heaven and earth, including the sounds of monks reciting the scripts, the sounds of pilgrims knocking their heads on the ground in the grand hall, and the sound of incense burning.

Normally, his big ears should be quite noticeable, but his handsome looks often attracted almost all the attention, and it was hard for anybody to pay attention to his unusual ears.

Listening to the sounds in the wind, Jing Jiu rested his right hand on the arm of the bamboo chair and tapped on it in a disorderly manner.

Sitting by the bamboo chair, Liu Shisui stared at Jing Jiu’s finger and adjusted the operation of his own zhenyuan according to the rhythm of Jing Jiu’s tapping.

This had happened often by the pond back when they were in the small village more than twenty years ago.

Jing Jiu’s finger suddenly stopped tapping, and then he opened his eyes, looking at the outside of the Tranquil Garden.

Thought the sounds in the wind were chaotic, he had still noticed it even just for a brief moment.

His finger started tapping again, but the tapping was much faster this time, bringing out countless residual movements.

Liu Shisui didn’t notice that Jing Jiu had opened his eyes. He thought Jing Jiu was still tapping the rhythm, but he felt his zhenquan was suddenly in havoc, and stopped operating his zhenyuan immediately.

Jing Jiu looked at the outside of the Tranquil Garden, a changed expression showing in his eyes.

He could calculate and predict problems and solutions for the matters related to the Fairy Book of Longevity; but for some reason, he couldn’t calculate anything this time.

Liu Shisui thought Jing Jiu was worried about the Fairy Book, and said, “I know a master monk at the Fruit Formation Temple. I wonder if he is someone Young Master is familiar with.”

Jing Jiu brought back his gaze, and picked up the teacup and sipped it once, then shook his head.

He had only one known friend at the Fruit Formation Temple, and knew a few highly achieved monks; he was not familiar with anybody else.

Liu Shisui thought Yin San must be the helper provided by the Young Zen Master. “That master monk has a profound knowledge of the Buddhist scripts. He has helped me understand many difficult scripts. Do you think you might need his help?”

Jing Jiu put the teacup back on the table, and shook his head again.

Zhao Layue was studying the script she had learned a few days ago under the corridor on the other side of the courtyard, and pondering the thorny issues related to her sword work. She instinctively stroked the white cat in her lap and occasionally rubbed his stomach. When she heard what Liu Shisui suggested, she remarked, “Someone as arrogant as he is wouldn’t think anybody in the world is qualified to teach him.”

The sensation of beauty develops usually when the target is far away, and it is the same for the feeling of awe.

If one is too familiar with something, they will lose the sensation of its beauty as well as the feeling of awe about it.

This principle is applicable to the cats, as well as the humans.

Zhao Layue’s attitude toward Jing Jiu had grown more and more reckless, and she almost regressed to the way she treated him during the first two years when they had just met.

Yet, the white cat didn’t feel offended; instead, he felt it quite comfortable when being rubbed on the stomach, purring happily. In the end, he chose to turn his stomach upward, facing the sky.

Jing Jiu didn’t say anything. By the time he raised the teacup, he realized that he had drunk all the tea in it.

Liu Shisui filled it up hastily.

...

...

Dusk was falling. Yin San thought it was probably the time for Liu Shisui to come back home. He stood up from the stone steps and dusted off the dirt from his clothes, ready to go to the vegetable garden for a tasty meal.

The Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect asked, “Are you still planning to go there?”

“Just go have a look,” Yin San replied.

“If you happened to see him there,” the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect said, “would you really intend to kill him?”

Yin San shook his head and said, “Now that he thinks he is Jing Yang, he won’t go to the vegetable garden again; it’s because it’s a meaningless affair for Jing Yang. Hence, I won’t meet him there.”

“What are you going there for then?” asked the Great Grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect.

Yin San didn’t respond to the question. He left the Fruit Formation Temple and headed for the vegetable garden.

He chose a right time to arrive at the garden, because Liu Shisui and Xiao He were eating the dinner in the house.

Since Yin San wasn’t someone invited by his Young Master, Liu Shisui naturally didn’t want to talk to him about the matters related to his Young Master, but unexpectedly, Yin San mentioned Jing Jiu himself.

After finishing a cup of wine, Yin San said, “I know what Jing Jiu is doing. I might have some helpful methods. You should go ask him if he wants to learn them.”

Liu Shisui was a bit alarmed, as he said, “I’m not sure; but I can go ask him.”

Yin San took out a few paper slips and handed them to Liu Shisui, saying, “Don’t tell him who I am. If you don’t trust me, then don’t tell him. If he doesn’t trust me, don’t use the methods.”

In the early morning the next day, Liu Shisui brought the new teas of high quality sent by the Gu Clan and those paper slips to the Fruit Formation Temple.

Jing Jiu took the paper slips and had a glance of them. He found that the writing was unfamiliar, but the statements had a hint of familiarity.

More importantly, the methods suggested by that person were rather sensible.

This wasn’t a matter of understanding the Zen and scripts, but tempering the Fairy Book.

How many people in the world had such an ability to do so?!