Thousand Autumns

— AFTER YAN WUSHI HAD LEFT, SHEN QIAO IMPATIENTLY TRIED to force open his acupoint. Moreover, he worried how Yan Wushi would fare if he fell into Sang Jingxing’s hands with his present wugong. The true qi within him circulated through his meridians with excessive force for a moment, almost wanting to break out of his body. All that filled his mind then was how his heart burned, as though it were being scorched, before freezing over as though having fallen into a pit of ice. His entire person became dizzied, such that he could not even determine the passage of time around him. It was as though he had fallen into a state that was like that of a dream, yet still very real.

Part of this was the resulting torment of his body temperature alternating between hot and cold; another part of it was because of his mind. It was as though his consciousness wanted more than anything to separate from his body, but because it was still tethered to this world by a single thread. From beginning to end, it was still firmly bound to his body, forced against its will to travel alongside the chaotic circulation of true qi, which rushed about with such fervor that it left him nauseous and his four limbs unbearably numb.

The first half of Shen Qiao’s life passed him without much difficulty. Xuandu Mountain was like a barrier that separated him from the dangers of the outside world.

Not only him, but all the others who resided upon Xuandu Mountain, including even the obsessively ambitious Yu Ai. They had nearly broken away from this world, and looked upon mortal affairs with a sort of naivete and expectation that all was fair. However, because there was Xuandu Mountain, and because Qi Fengge had led them and kept them away from the wind and the rain, none of them had ever paid attention to the world beneath the mountain.

After that, however, it was as though Shen Qiao’s life had been split into two halves, with Banbu Peak delineating this split. The former half was filled with comfort and ease; the latter with the continuous rise and billow of ocean waves.

He had experienced a number of circumstances in which death would have been a far more preferable choice than life. He had seen both the kindness and cruelty of humanity—and in the end, his heart possessed not the slightest hatred. But even if he had, it had died with Guanzhu and Chuyi, the way that it had when he had taken in a disciple named Shiwu, just the way that it had when he fought alongside Bixia Sect, and the way that it had the moment that Yan Wushi had done this so as to ward off Sang Jingxing, vanishing with him like that of smoke and dispersed clouds, leaving not a trace behind.

This thought fell upon his heart like that of a cold drop of water, scattering once it made contact with warmth.

At that moment, his mind appeared to have thoroughly removed itself from his physical body, from the Buddha statue that sheltered him, and from the small temple, arriving at an unknown place—a vast realm that escaped language. All types of pain gradually vanished from his body, leaving him further unaware, yet before his eyes came a sudden light like that from the sun and moon illuminating the mountains and ocean from far above, or the droplets scattered by a fish leaping into an ocean wave, shining upon the stars.

His stopped acupoint slowly opened. The true qi that flowed through his body brought with it a warm current, returning strength to his limbs and bones that had once become numb.

Shen Qiao felt as though he had become a fish that, with a swish of its tail, was able to leap into the boundless universe, inundated with stars. A steady, rhythmic sound reverberated past him—the sound of water droplets weighing down the leaves which carried them before sliding from them impatiently and falling upon the surface of a deep pond, shattering the surrounding tranquility.

As he raised his head to look at the world outside, he sent a ripple through the deep and transparent waters. A profound sensation that could not be described, but only experienced, spread through him.

The droplets of water falling into the pond seemed more like it was falling upon his heart.

All the world shifted with it.

A severe winter transformed into a warm spring in an instant. The flowing waters around him had even become warm and harmonious. The countless other fishes around him had quickly swam away. With a nod of their heads and shake of their tails, they swam further ahead in a lively manner. The moon and stars floated upon the surface of the water in fragments, carrying its magnificent luster and dazzling light around it beneath, resembling a part of the galaxy.

Shen Qiao closed his eyes, feeling as though he had concluded the life that he had led with the fishes, before once more being reincarnated into a life in the expansive pool of water, waiting every day to fill it to the brim, for the flowers that bloomed around the pond to pour out their worries, for them to fall and seal him there, within the waters. With the turn of one hand comes the clouds of spring; with the turn of another comes the rains of autumn. The clear sound of a clock resonates; the flowering peach blossoms fill the trees.

He suddenly remembered a sentence from the Zhuyang Ce:

Except for the self, there is nothing else.

Shen Qiao still remembered when he had first come upon this very line, back when his shizun had given him his volume of the Zhuyang Ce. Although he had used the true qi of the Zhuyang Ce to reconstruct his foundations after having fought against imminent death, this did not mean that he thoroughly understood every sentence within the Zhuyang Ce.

At the time, before he had come upon this sentence, he had read another: The self that enters the mind of the other, may do as they please.

Now this, he could understand somewhat. Frankly put, when one studies swordsmanship, they must understand jian xin, or the will of the double-edged sword. One who studies the equivalent with a single-edged sword must understand dao xin, the accompanying will of the single-edged sword, just as well. One must know their enemies before they are able to come unscathed through a hundred battles.

But in this way, the “other” and the “self” will have become one. Except for the self, there is nothing else. How can they be told apart in such a way?

Shen Qiao at first believed that this was either written erroneously, or that Tao Hongjin himself hadn’t thought about this to such an extent when he had written this.

However, at this moment, he suddenly understood the implicit meaning of this sentence, feeling somewhat as though he had taken a roundabout path after hitting a wall with his thinking.

Humanity existed within the liminal space between heaven and earth. There must first be a self, before there can be an other. One judges others by comparing them to oneself, the way that one may judge other living things. If one is unhappy, their world is unhappy; if one is without sorrow, so follows their world. For the joy in one’s heart gives life to a simple spring, as grief would rob them the color of the mountains and rivers.

Not only does the limits of one’s mind expand after realizing this, but the limits of their bodies as well, as though they could hold an infinite amount of true qi, how all rivers merge into the sea. One must be able to possess before they are able to expand; because of the true qi, his meridians broadened, and his true qi moved freely throughout his body as a result of his newly broadened meridians. There was no longer any need to worry about stagnancy or obstructions.

His Shanhe Tongbei sword quivered with such agitation, as though sensing the progress made by its master’s mind. It was as though it were ready to be unsheathed to cut down its opponents.

While the four people outside the Buddha statue reached the outside of this small temple, right at this moment.

Yan Shou spoke in a cold voice. “Search all around.”

Because Xiao Se had been wounded, his steps were somewhat sluggish; however, though Bai Rong was completely unscathed, it seemed that she had little interest in pursuing their targets, and followed Xiao Se from behind.

The two of them went around the perimeter of the small temple once, before Xiao Se responded: “Yan-zhanglao. There isn’t a trace that Shen Qiao has been here. Could it be that he saw how many of us there were and ran off first, leaving Yan Wushi behind?”

“Impossible,” Yan Shou said. “He had expended quite a lot of energy having battled with us. He couldn’t have recovered after such a short amount of time. And even if he were to have done that, he wouldn’t have gotten far. Even if he did not leave along with Yan Wushi, he should have found a place and hidden away somewhere, and this is the best place for him. Did you already look around?”

“We did,” Xiao Se said. “This temple is very small. In the back, there’s a side room, but it isn’t a place where you could hide someone. A well would be better, but there was water beneath it, so a person couldn’t possibly hide there. And with the size of this place, there’s an even lesser chance that there’s some sort of secret room.”

He gave Bai Rong a look. “On the other hand, it seems that Bai-shimei has some feelings for Shen Qiao, and may be constantly urging us on and thwarting our attempts to find him. I wonder what sort of intentions she must have?”

Bai Rong laughed sweetly: “Xiao-shixiong, you really do like to weave all sorts of tales about me every hour of the day. Could it be that you think that shizun will treat you more favorably if you cut me down? Don’t forget that you belong to Yuan-zongzhu first and foremost. If you want to change your status, then show some good faith. What use is there in attacking a little girl like me?”

Baoyun, who stood by Yan Shou’s side, suddenly opened his mouth to speak: “We haven’t yet found who we were looking for, and here you all are starting internal disputes. Is this how Yuan-zongzhu and Sang-zhanglao teach their disciples?”

The tone of this voice was severe and ghastly, sharply contrasting with his solemn, dignified appearance of a monk.

However, the effects were obvious. Bai Rong and Xiao Se immediately shut their mouths and didn’t say another word.

Yan Shou glanced around once more. His line of sight finally fell upon the large statue of Buddha. He paused, before taking a step towards it.

His actions attracted the attention of the others. Even Baoyun said: “Yi^[1], this statue of Buddha is quite large. If it's hollow on the inside, then it could hide someone inside.”

Yan Shou looked the status up and down, starting from the top of its head down to the pedestal it sat upon, before suddenly extending his hand and pulling away the sheet of fabric it sat upon. After seeing the marks left upon the sheet of fabric, he laughed coldly, and immediately struck the statue!

With Zhang Feng^[2] aimed right at the center, the crack on top quickly spidered throughout the statue. A loud crash followed, and the Buddhist statue split into four!

There really was someone within it!

Everyone present gazed upon the figure that was hidden within the statue. Yan Shou laughed loudly and flew towards them like an eagle hunting its prey—he threw himself towards the man before him!

Before he had even made it there, his Zhang Feng had already swept across the area, as sudden as the madness of wind and strong rain, the skies were filled with bloody shadows—as cold as winter cutting into bone, filled with a ghastly dread coming down in torrents. It was enough to make someone feel as though they were being concealed by the bloody shadow of Zhang Feng from head to toe while being taken by surprise. There wouldn’t have been any room for them to have run—they would only tremble with fear as hopelessness took over their hearts.

Even if Shen Qiao possessed the strength he had in the past, he would have been caught completely unprepared against the palm of Yan Shou’s Zhang Feng—so large it was that it blotted out even the skies—much less with the strength that he possessed now, which was exhausted from having battled the four of them earlier.

When they had fought earlier, Yan Shou had feared how Shen Qiao reached the state of jian xin. However, he had made out the details of Shen Qiao’s condition. He had realized that Shen Qiao’s present internal strength was completely unable to sustain any jian state. In short, though Shen Qiao’s progress on jian dao had developed quickly, his foundational internal strength was unable to keep up. And this fatal flaw wasn’t something that could have changed within the short amount of time he was hiding for.

Therefore, he believed that this strike would at least be able to pin Shen Qiao down where he was and leave him unable to act in an unpleasant situation, even if it wasn’t strong enough to inflict serious damage upon the other man.

Just as he thought this, his Zhang Feng glided towards its target. The distance between Yan Shou and Shen Qiao shrank quickly—yet the other man quickly blocked him just in time!

Before Yan Shou’s eyes was a sea of white light, filled with cold, ominous killing intent. It had even suppressed Yan Shou’s Zhang Feng and overflowed its bloodied shadows as jian qi closed in on Yan Shou’s face!

“Yan-zhanglao, be careful!” Xiao Se shouted.

Yan Shou didn’t need Xiao Se shouting his throat out; he had already quickly retreated.

The others didn’t stand by and watch. Baoyun had leapt up and grabbed at Shen Qiao from another direction.

Shen Qiao drew his sword, while jian qi followed the sword’s body, overflowing as it did before being cleansed by true qi. A flash of teal fabric floated past elegantly, almost seeming to transform into a bluish-green bow of light, and was only further enhanced with and by the blade’s light—the sight of it was indistinguishably dazzling.

Yan Shou’s expression changed repeatedly. He had only taken several dozens of steps before reaching the back wall of the temple, finding no other way to escape.

At last Yan Shou could see that Shen Qiao was coming directly for him, which was why he had left Baoyun behind. He only used his jian qi to construct a screen that had completely blocked off the attacks of the others so that he could completely focus on attacking Yan Shou.

But this man had clearly exhausted all of his strength before—how could he possibly recover to such a point in such a short amount of time?!

Yan Shou did not think any more deeply. He soared upwards, breaking open the ceiling, while Shen Qiao followed him closely from behind.

The two of them fought from the inside of the temple out up onto the roof. Their silhouettes floated up like demons, riding on the Zhang Feng and sword’s light like that of fierce winds and thunder. Their movements came to a halt, resembling the dead of winter, where the grasses and trees wither and all living things remain silent and alone. Because Yan Shou was present, every time he struck with his bloody palm, it carried with it a foul wind and rains of blood—a freezing dread, and gloomy air, an overwhelming intent to kill. However, the light of the sword suddenly rose, taking on the dark, golden color of evening clouds^[3]—the flowers blooming by the rocks of a stream, the outpour of some magnificent light, completely unparalleled.

In contrast, such light could have stolen even the luster of the moon, shaming it to hide behind the clouds and never to return.

Between heaven and earth, only the light of the sword remained. As all the mountains and rivers grieve, so do the metals and stone cry out!

Xiao Se very soon tried to interfere. However, he did not force himself to do much more, and only stood at the side, watching them fight. From the corner of his eyes, he could see that Bai Rong also did not move, and could not help but ask coldly: “Bai-shimei, it’s clear that you have such feelings for Shen Qiao that you can’t even bear to personally deal with him yourself?”

Bai Rong smiled and said: “Even Yan-zhanglao and Baoyun-zhanglao can’t even take him down together. If I attempted to interfere, then I’d only make more trouble. Xiao-shixiong, if you’re capable of it, then your little sister would be happy to hold him down for you while you attack!”

These weren’t truly empty words. Shen Qiao was fighting one against two, and up until now, he hasn’t seemed to have exhausted himself. Not only Baoyun was unable to deal with him—even Yan Shou was clearly showing signs of being close to defeat.

How could a single person suddenly become this strong?!

Xiao Se could only think this with such indeterminable bewilderment. He even wondered if Yan Wushi had imitated the dual cultivation methods of Hehuan Sect—but even if he had, the results wouldn’t be anywhere near this extent of Shen Qiao’s improvement, especially within this short span of time.

He scoffed coldly, and felt disinclined to continue arguing with Bai Rong. Instead, he continued to watch the battle that took place on top of the roof.

However, in the short time that the two of them had exchanged a handful of words, it seemed that it was already clear who had won and who had lost the battle that took place on the roof.