Thousand Autumns

The hearts of Hehuan Sect’s people were not completely identical. This was very much clear from Shen Xiao and Yan Shou’s battle.

Although Shen Qiao had reopened his acupoints earlier, his strength could not have advanced this significantly so as to reach its peak within the span of an evening. At its best, his meridians were able to expand, allowing him to recover some of his strength. And his strength at present wasn’t much different from that of Yan Shou. However, fighting against Yan Shou and Baoyun would be a more strenuous task.

But Baoyun gradually decided not to interfere after seeing how Shen Qiao focused all of his energy into pursuing Yan Shou. He allowed Shen Qiao to ride out his winning streak, while Yan Shou was beset by one problem after another.

Yan Shou was filled with great hatred. Moreover, he did not want to be underestimated by the rest, so he wanted more than anything to kill Shen Qiao on his own.

Who knew that the Shen Qiao of the present was completely incomparable to the Shen Qiao of the past. His Shanhe Tongbei sword was enough to ward anyone from approaching him. Yan Shou had wanted to change from his defensive position to an offensive one, but remained unable to for fear of the screen of light from the other man’s sword. Amidst the light, the powerful and infamous “Bloodstained Monk” had been suppressed to the point of being unable to land a single strike on his target. He knit his eyebrows severely as he wore a grave and stern expression, as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He was cornered. Inevitably at some point, he was careless, and at that very moment, the light of the Shanhe Tongbei sword expanded vigorously, heading straight between Yan Shou’s eyebrows.

Baoyun naturally could not sit and watch as Yan Shou lost his life before his eyes. If he had, then it would be difficult to explain once he returned to Hehuan Sect.

“What are you two standing there staring there for?!” he shouted directly at Xiao Se and Bai Rong.

As he did this, he raised one hand and prepared to strike in Shen Qiao’s direction.

Xiao Se and Bi Rong could no longer stand on the sidelines and watch the way that they were. They immediately entered the battle, each one prepared to attack Shen Qiao.

However, when two experts are battling, a myriad of changes can take place within the blink of an eye. The moment that they had already made an attempt to interfere with the battle, they already heard Yan Shou’s tragic cries. This omen of death arose from within the curtain of light emitted from the sword; and as the light vanished, did it come crashing down.

An arm tumbled down from the roof to the ground. The moment they caught sight of it, they knew that it was clear that Yan Shou had lost his upper arm. He repeatedly fell made an attempt to retreat, trying to stop the bleeding as he dea as he wore a face hideously distorted by pain. He, too, nearly fell from the roof, naturally unable to participate in battle again.

Baoyun and Shen Qiao exchanged a number of moves in their battles, before the man came to the sudden realization that Shen Qiao did not use up all of his strength in battling Yan Shou just then. Rather, the jian qi of his sword remained abundant, and flowed without pause; Baoyun considered the advantages and disadvantages of prolonging this battle, and believed that, even if he emerged victorious, it would be a wretched sort of victory. Moreover, he did not have any sort of profound hatred for Shen Qiao. Even if he were to kill him, it would not be much to his advantage. It would have been better to use a little over half of his strength so as to prevent Shen Qiao from fulfilling his desire to kill Yan Shou instead of engaging with him for very long.

Right then, Xiao Se shouted: “Baoyun-zhanglao, Yan-zhanglao isn’t looking good!”

Outside of having lost his arm, Yan Shou’s entire body was covered in dozens of internal and external wounds of varying sizes. At that moment, he had lost a significant amount of blood. Even if he had closed his acupoint to stop the blood from flowing, he would have had to circulate his inner strength and breathing. It wouldn’t have reduced the bleeding by any significant means anyway. The more fatal thing was that the technique Yan Shou utilized to earn his reputation as the Bloodstained Monk required the use of the right hand that he had lost. Even if they were able to save his life, his strength would be reduced by a significant amount with the loss of this hand. And this, for those who studied wugong, would be the most fatal blow.

His mind was filled with hate for Shen Qiao, and hate for Baoyun and the others who only stood and watched. Combined with hate and anger, he could only faint away.

Baoyun, upon hearing these words, took advantage of this opportunity to escape. “Shen Qiao! There will come a day where you will repay in full for the crime you committed of wounding an elder of our Hehuan Sect!”

Shen Qiao responded lightly: “There isn’t a better day than today, is there? Why wait for some other time when we can settle things here now!”

Immediately after saying this, he pointed his sword in Yan Shou’s direction and flew directly towards him. Clearly he was taking advantage of the brief moment wherein the man would be unable to strike back and kill him at once!”

Baoyun was taken aback. It seemed that he did not expect Shen Qiao to be so persistent .At once, he rushed ahead, with one hand ready to strike him

It was right at this moment that Bai Rong flew past. With the slender fingers of her soft white hands, she produced sky blue lotus flowers, their appearance fine and exquisite, elegant and charming—it was too much for anyone’s eyes to take in.

However, Shen Qiao’s sword swept across them, and the curtain of light from his sword split into tens of thousands of images in a split second, forcibly dispelling Baoyun and Bai Rong’s offensive maneuvers, even causing Bai Rong to strike Baoyun with one of her hands.

“Bai Rong!” Baoyun shouted, angrily.

Bai Rong let out an aiyah as she responded, sweetly: “Baoyun-zhanglao, please forgive me! It was because of that vile traitor!”

After saying this, her flowery steps became even lighter. The sleeves of her robes almost appeared to carry lotus flowers within them, each one emerging one after another like that of phantoms, bursting into bloom upon Shen Qiao’s body. Though they were beautiful and lithe, an expert would know at first glance that each layer of lotus blossoms were actually layers of true qi. Her “Qinglian Seal” was most impressive in this way: if the wugong of its user was powerful enough, then a terrifying amount of true qi would be contained within each “blossom”. The attack was like that of a surging wave, continuing endlessly, with one wave crashing upon the other, each one more powerful than the last.

At that moment, her use of the Qinglian Seal was utterly unmatched. Shen Qiao, who had come in close physical contact with her, experienced this, and came to the knowledge that the true qi she had sealed within each of her attacks was nothing at all like the internal strength that she had possessed back when they had first met each other.

Baoyun did not have any interest in battling with Shen Qiao any longer. He took advantage of the fact that Bai Rong and Xiao Se had entangled him and carried the unconscious Yan Shou as he prepared to leave. He had even said in a distant voice: “Hehuan Sect will return and ask for a lesson from you some later day!”

Xiao Se had also been wounded. He originally did not have any desire to continue fighting. Seeing Baoyun leave, he had also wanted to go along. Who would have thought that Shen Qiao’s gaze immediately fell upon him, and the Shanhe Tongbei sword would follow. Immediately he received another large wound on his back. As fresh blood gurgled and spilled across his clothes, he let out a cry of pain, and immediately used his qinggong to his utmost ability to carry him far away without even looking back. In a blink of an eye, he had already blended into the boundless night, and his silhouette could no longer be seen.

Shen Qiao had wanted to continue pursuing him, but Bai Rong had cornered him without allowing him to escape. She was on the opposing side against Shen Qiao, and she had already taken no small number of lives before. Time and time again did she show sympathy for Shen Qiao, especially at the Bailong Temple. Had she not hindered Xiao Se’s pace, there was a high chance that both Shen Qiao and Show would not have been able to escape from them.

With regards to this, Shen Qiao did not take into deep consideration the favorable impression he had left upon her, nor did he treat her with significant heartlessness. At that moment, Bai Rong once more hindered his pace, and did not allow him to chase after Baoyun and the others. He also could not have laid an attack on her. All of this made him inevitably crestfallen.

Seeing his expression, Bai Rong burst into laughter, and was the first to put an end to their battle.

Shen Qiao, seeing her suddenly give up her attack, had also sheathed his sword.

“Ever since that day you left for Bixia Sect, this poor girl has worried over you so much that she’s spent every night tossing and turning in bed, longing to see you again. Only now when I saw that Shen-lang’s strength has improved so much that no one ever dares take advantage of him anymore do I feel relieved. But you know, I am so infatuated with you! Time and time again I’ve helped you in secret and shown you mercy, yet the moment you see me, you’re making all this noise with wanting to beat and kill me! You’re really heartless!”

She was beaming as she said these words, her expression completely without the slightest indication of deep sorrow nor pleasant surprise. It was difficult to tell if she meant it or not.

Shen Qiao responded earnestly: “I shall always bear your kindness in mind. I will never forget it.”

Bai Rong laughed, covering her mouth as she did: “I was just saying it for fun, and here you are, responding so honestly! But you’re so beautiful no matter what you do, even I can’t help but want to draw closer to you!”

As she said this, she straightened and stepped towards him. Shen Qiao took three steps back, alarmed, while Bai Rong stopped in her tracks and only laughed.

Shen Qiao could only think that of how she and Yan Wushi’s minds were difficult to fathom. It was no wonder that they were both of demonic sects. Surely enough, they shared some common ground.

“Would you happen to know where Yan Wushi is attempting to lure Sang Jingxing?”

Bai Rong nodded: “Of course I do. They’re heading down to the foot of the mountain. If I haven’t guessed wrong, Yan Wushi most likely wants to use the city walls as protection to cast Sang Jingxing away!”

Shen Qiao, who was in a hurry to rush after them, immediately began to head in that direction once he heard this.

Bai Rong, however, would not let him leave: “I haven’t seen you in so long. Is this how you treat those who you owe your life to?”

“Thank you for telling me,” Shen Qiao said. “Let’s talk again some other day!”

“Shen Qiao!”

At the sound of her calling out his full name, Shen Qiao’s feet came to a stop, and he turned around to face her.

He saw, however, how her smile had already left her face, and how her eyes, resembling peach blossoms, gazed at him, filled with such complex intent: “I haven’t thanked you yet. Yan Shou has always seen me as a nuisance, and now that you’ve inflicted such a wound upon him, I will have one less enemy in the sect. But Shen-lang, at the end of the day, I am a member of Hehuan Sect. The next time the two of us meet, if you still insist on opposing us, I won’t be able to have mercy on you any longer.”

Shen Qiao was silent for a moment, before saying: “You want to become leader of Hehuan Sect?”

Bai Rong seemed somewhat astonished, before once more regaining her sweet appearance: “I assumed that Shen-lang was completely indifferent towards me. I didn’t think that you’d be able to figure that out.”

Shen Qiao sighed. He thought about the unceasing internal strife within Hehuan Sect, how each act of violence was more serious than the last, and already had some words to say. In the end, however, he did not say a single one. He could only cup his hands and respond: “I hope that you will look out for and take care of yourself, and that we may meet again.”

Bai Rong watched as his silhouette grew smaller in the distance, and stuck her tongue out at him: “Stupid Shen-lang!”

Shen Qiao used his qinggong to its utmost strength, his figure rushing forwards. However, though he had searched for almost the entire evening, he found no trace of Yan Wushi nor Sang Jingxing.

Logically, with the fact that Yan Wushi’s strength having yet to fully recover, Sang Jingxing could not have been unable to capture him after pursuing him for this long. Even if the two of them fought at the same time that they ran, then with his qinggong, he still would most likely have caught him after putting up with this for most of the night. Right then, Shen Qiao had already believed that he very well could have been deceived by Bai Rong, and that the girl had pointed him towards the completely wrong place on purpose so as to make him waste his efforts.

But even if he were to return to the small temple to deal with her, he almost certainly would be unable to find her there.

Shen Qiao stopped. He took a breath and bent down to look at the Shanhe Tongbei sword that he grasped in his hands, before raising his head and looking into the distance.

After having spent the entire night like this in a place that he knew nothing about, just how little hope was there in finding a single person?

Shen Qiao thought back to the words Yan Wushi had said to him before he left. He closed his eyes, suppressing the rise and fall of emotions.

The Shanhe Tongbei sword resonated against its scabbard, as though feeling its master’s inability to put to words his complex state of mind.

Dawn approached, dying the vast horizon with hints of gray, as though eager to break open the great abyss of night and bring light to the heavens and earth.

Chang’an.

This word rose silently from the depths of Shen Qiao’s heart.

The road north to Chang’an was not especially long. Shen Qiao had also traveled at a pace that certainly wasn’t slow, as he just about traveled day and night. This way, only a few days had passed.

Though he had just arrived in Chang’an, he already felt that things were out of sorts.

The moment he reached the city roads upon entering the capital, he intermittently came upon the figures that belonged to those of the families of guilty subjects being exiled from the city, as well as migrant laborers and convicts being sent towards the capital under the commands of government officials.Before, he had caught sight of these things, but only occasionally if at all. To see both of these things happen at the same time and continuously was completely out of the ordinary.

It was right then, when he was resting at a small teahouse, that Shen Qiao caught sight of a family who was cuffed by their hands and feet, being led by soldiers on horseback. They staggered onwards, visibly battered.

The soldiers escorting them stopped, as though preparing for a break. They all took a seat in the teahouse, but the imprisoned women and children did not receive such treatment at all. Every one of them had to sit outside of the teahouse, without being given even so much as a drop of water.

Shen Qiao whispered a few words to the waiter in the teahouse, before approaching the table where the soldiers sat.

“To have met by chance is to have been fated to meet. This poor Daoist would like to treat you two langjun to a cup of tea. I must ask if you are willing to grace me with your presence.”

By that time, Shen Qiao had already changed into his Daoist robes. They flowed gracefully upon him, and emphasized without words his appearance resembling that of solemn man of noble character, as though he had already completely achieved Dao. Moreover, his voice was gentle and pleasant to the ear, such that one who heard it even briefly would want to draw themselves closer to him.

Though Yuwen Yong had forbade Buddhism and Taoism, the common people’s high respect for Buddhists and Daoists never wavered. On top of this, Shen Qiao himself did not look like an ordinary Daoist. Both soldiers did not dare put on self-important airs, and immediately stood to respond to his greeting: “How could we have daozhang treat us? It would be better for all of us to sit down and have a chat.”

Shen Qiao had already intended to do this. He took advantage of this opportunity to say: “This poor Daoist vowed before xianzun^[4] to accomplish ninety-nine good deeds within three years, and as of yet I have not fallen short of even one. I must ask if both langjun are willing to exert themselves to assist me, and allow this poor Daoist to invite the people sitting outside of the teahouse in for some cups of tea, so that they may satiate their hunger and quench their thirst.”

The soldier laughed: “Daozhang, your heart is quite soft. You may do as you like.”

Shen Qiao had the waiter deliver the cups of tea. The convicted family, upon receiving them, we’re moved to tears. He then asked once more in passing: “This poor Daoist has seen many families and women convicted and exiled while on the way to the capital. I must ask, has something happened here? Did those subjects wrong His Majesty in some way?”

“Oh, they certainly did,” the soldier said. “His Majesty wants to rebuild the Imperial Palace. These people’s fathers and brothers, or perhaps even their husbands, were once subjects of the Imperial Court. Every single one of them submitted a memorial to the Emperor expressing their opposition against reconstruction, infuriating His Majesty. They were the ones who caused this.”

“Rebuild the palace?” Shen Qiao said, taken aback. “According to what this poor Daoist knows, His Majesty is hardworking and spends very little, as though he were one to not seek a life of comfort and pleasure.”

“Daozhang, I must offer you some advice,” the soldier said nervously. “Do not ever utter these words once more when you reach the city! The former Emperor indeed did not spend luxuriously and loved his people. But this new Emperor isn’t like this at all! The crown prince didn’t even observe his father’s death for even a full month. He even said to the people that they didn’t have to either. We don’t even have to mention what happened to those who submitted an opposition against him!”

As Shen Qiao listened to his words, his expression had darkened greatly. His heart nearly skipped a beat from astonishment.

Yuwen Yong had died?