Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Time in the Green Sky Mirror elapsed differently from the real world, and time in Chaotian was probably different from that in the outside world; but the direction of time is always the same. Time always moves forward boringly and relentlessly. Ping Yongjia had finally woken up in an ordinary day on the top of the Sword Peak.
He was covered with dirt from head to toe due to a long time in the grotto; but he didn’t feel anything about it. All he felt at the moment was that he had slept a very sound sleep. Feeling extremely comfortable throughout his body, Ping Yongjia extended his arms and stretched his back reflexively.
He heard the faint exploding sounds echoing in his body, and soon the thunderous rumbles broke out in the surrounding cliffs like a thunderstorm.
Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!
Countless sword wills shot out in all directions as he extended his hands and arms, cutting innumerable marks when they hit the hard rocks.
The broken rock crumbs fell down with a rustling sound; a big heap of rock chips formed on the ground instantly.
He jumped down from the grotto and was stunned speechless when he saw the plain sword marks on the cliff walls. He looked at his own hands, wondering what had happened.
He couldn’t figure it out after a long while, so he gave it up. He walked about among the peaks in hopes that he might be able to pick up a suitable sword.
A big commotion occurred in the peaks; the rocks and pebbles were rolling about and the sword wills were produced. Dozens of flying swords and sword embryos flew out from the underground and through the cracks between the rocks.
Strangely enough, back when he came to the Sword Peak to search for a sword, these swords on the Sword Peak had come out on their own as well.
However, there was a difference today; as Ping Yongjia was about to pick up a seemingly suitable sword to have a look, it backed away from his hands.
Ping Yongjia was baffled. He reached out his hand in an attempt to grab another sword, but it rolled a few times on the ground and drew back from his hand.
“If you didn’t want me to take you, why would you come out to see me in the first place?” he wondered.
Ping Yongjia couldn’t wrap his head around this; he marched forward. Those flying swords parted aside like the receding tides as he moved toward them.
As he trod on the Sword Peak, hundreds of flying swords came out to meet him, but they drew back afterwards.
He was vaguely aware that these swords had a sense of awe and self-pity when they saw him; it wasn’t because they didn’t want to go with him.
“What on earth is going on?”
Standing on a large rock and looking at the hundreds of flying swords in the peaks, Ping Yongjia offered indignantly, “I’m not going to disrespect you, okay?”
The flying swords lowered their tips slightly; it was unclear if they did this to express their submission or disbelief.
The cries of the iron eagles could be heard above the clouds and fog, which seemed to be the response to Ping Yongjia’s proposal.
Ping Yongjia could do nothing but descend the Yunxing Peak in disgrace. He thought that he had dishonored his Master now that he failed to obtain a sword.
As he reached the foot of Yunxing Peak, he met a few Green Mountain disciples. He greeted them by calling them “Big Brother”.
The Green Mountain disciples thought he was a new inner gate disciple; so they didn’t pay much attention to him. They didn’t bother discontinuing their conversation as they walked forward after uttering “hmm” to Ping Yongjia’s greeting.
“A dozen more people have gone to Scenery Garden to knock their heads this year. A few disciples went there a few days ago on the first day of summer. It’s truly…”
“Are those colleagues crazy? He is evidently a devil, but they treat him like an ancestor!”
“Don’t make such a remark so casually. Nobody has the solid evidence to prove it. Don’t you see Xilai Peak has also stopped making accusations?”
“If he is not a sword devil, why didn’t he dare take out the Inherited Heaven Sword back then? Forget about the born shapeless sword body…he is nothing but a sword! Only the insane ones believe him.”
“The insane ones? To say nothing of those on Shenmo Peak, how can you say Big Brother Zhuo Rusui is an insane person?”
Ping Yongjia was over a hundred feet away from them, but he couldn’t help but stop short when he heard their conversation, especially the last part.
A gust of gentle wind whipped up. He turned around and came before the Green Mountain disciples, asking, “Big Brothers, what are you talking about?”
The disciples exchanged a look, feeling bewildered, as they wondered why he asked such a question since it was a well known matter throughout Green Mountain.
…
…
None of them had the patience of talking to a new inner gate disciple, and Ping Yongjia didn’t have the patience of listening to the whole story. As he learned that four years had elapsed since the Grand Ceremony of inaugurating the sect master of Green Mountain and what had happened during the ceremony, he turned around and ran to Shenmo Peak. His face was as white as a sheet.
A dragon-like dust formed on the ground, hurling countless grass crumbs into the air. Ping Yongjia rushed to the foot of Shenmo Peak from Yunxing Peak at an unimaginably fast speed.
The forbidding formation of Shenmo Peak was activated, and the sword wills were everywhere among the mountain and peak, blocking the passage to the peak top.
Standing at the entrance to the mountain path, Ping Yongjia could sense clearly the power and formidability of the forbidding formation.
He heard that his Master and Senior Master Zhao had almost failed to ascend the path back then; so he was unsure if he could do it.
Yet, when he thought of what those big brothers talked about, it was impossible for him to stand here outside the peak.
They said that his Master was a devil. It was impossible!
The forbidding formation of Shenmo Peak was activated; were his Master, Senior Master Zhao, and two of his big brothers all imprisoned on the peak? Was Big Brother Zhuo also imprisoned? How were they doing right now?
He was worried tremendously, and felt uneasy and remorseful at the same time, which rendered him a great deal of courage. He dashed to the mountain path while gritting his teeth.
Pah!!!
Ping Yongjia had to stop when he landed his first step on the mountain path.
He lowered his head to look at his right leg, finding that there was a wound under his left knee; the wound was as straight as a pen, with fresh blood seeping out slowly, and the wound was also opening wider, exposing the white bones underneath the flesh.
He was baffled at first and soon came back to his senses. The excruciating pain made his eyes and brows come together; he couldn’t make a sound while opening his mouth.
Ping Yongjia calmed down and had a clearer head after he vaguely heard the cries of the monkeys up ahead. He tore off a piece of sleeve and used it to wrap up the wound.
Having done so, the color on his face was as white as a sheet of paper. “It hurts! It hurts!” he cried incessantly in a hoarse voice.
The cries of the monkeys broke out again; it seemed that they were doing it with a hint of mockery this time.
Ping Yongjia didn’t bother paying any attention to those monkeys. Sitting on the ground, he kept on blowing at the wound as he muttered to himself, “It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt…”
After a long while, the pain had finally abated. As he looked at the quiet mountain path again, his eyes showed more hints of fear.
Yet, no matter how dreadful it was to climb the peak, he had no choice but to do it.
Ping Yongjia suddenly closed his eyes; and his countenance returned to a composed state. At the moment he looked as if he was in a sound sleep, similar to what he had done on the Sword Peak.
It didn’t take long before he stood up slowly and walked toward the mountain path with his eyes closed.
It was evident that there was no barrier in front of him, but he suddenly lifted up his right foot and stepped over a nonexistent barrier; then he turned right…
After which, Ping Yongjia seemed to turn into a puppet, as if he was controlled by invisible strings, moving forward or backward and turning this way or that way on the mountain path.
Strangely enough, he hadn’t been injured by the sword wills again as he walked this way on the mountain path. The dangers were manifested only when a piece of rim of his cloth was sliced off by a sword will from time to time.
An hour later, he had finally reached the middle section of Shenmo Peak. A few fine bloody marks were added to his face, and his cloth was in a terrible condition.
He had stopped for a long time. It seemed that he encountered some kind of trouble here.
Ping Yongjia opened his eyes bravely after uttering a curse. He took a deep inhale and hopped forward.
“I jump! I jump! I jump, jump, jump!”
As a result, the puppet turned into a rabbit. He was hopping all the way up the mountain path.
After a long while, he had eventually reached the peak top by hopping.
…
…
Nobody could be found on the top of Shenmo Peak, and the stone door of the manor cave was tightly closed. The dried-up leaves were scattered on the Daoist hall, looking rather depressing and dejected.
The manor cave was for sleeping; the Daoist Hall was for watching the snow scene; and the edge of the cliff was for stepping on the clouds.
The ocean of clouds was still the same as before, and the snowfall must have occurred in winter; but those people were not present anymore. And that bamboo chair on which he had lain secretly was nowhere to be found either.
Seeing the familiar as well as strange scene, Ping Yongjia couldn’t help but feel lonely, a sensation of sadness forming in his heart.
His Master was betrayed by those mean people; but he was not imprisoned on
Shenmo Peak. It looked like he had been expelled from Green Mountain, and his life must be in danger as well…
The place was meaningless when no one lived in it even though the place was regarded as one’s home. Ping Yongjia made his descend to the bottom of the peak in a crestfallen mood.
He hadn’t encountered any obstacle this time; it was unclear if the forbidding formation was special on Shenmo Peak or the sword wills throughout the peak had known who he was.
Soon, he arrived before the small wooden hut at the foot of the cliff.
No one had lived in this small wooden hut for a long time. Many footprints of the monkeys could be seen clearly on the stone steps leading to the hut. The black teas were toppled all over the place, but the green teas were intact in the containers.
It was because those monkeys knew that Gu Qing liked drinking the green tea over the years, so the green teas avoided the fate of devastation.
Seeing the green teas in the containers, Ping Yongjia was on the brink of crying out, wondering where Big Brother Gu Qing was and when he would come back to drink these teas.
Coming out from the small wooden hut, he went to the stream.
He had often picked those broken rocks by the stream, which were cut by the Senior Master Zhao’s Thoughtless Sword; and he had occasionally ridden that horse.
Where was the horse then?
Ping Yongjia looked around and found a bulged stone mound. As the sword light was energized in his eyes, he saw clearly what was inside it.
The horse had already died.
It turned out that many years had passed.
Ping Yongjia came before the stone mound. He touched the stones gently and wiped his eyes a few times without saying anything.
The cries of the monkeys drew nearer.
The wind in the field kicked up and the treetops were bent slightly; the monkeys jumped out from the forest and encircled him, patting on his back and hands gingerly to comfort him.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
Ping Yongjia said this earnestly, his eyes red. He didn’t feel these monkeys were annoying anymore.
He thanked them for comforting him, and more for burying the horse properly.
The atmosphere had been depressing by the stream earlier.
Ping Yongjia’s nerve was on the verge of breaking down at the moment.
He shouted toward the bottom of the peak angrily, “I want to kill all of you bastards with my sword!”
…
…
His angry shout echoed among the mountains and peaks, flowing down the peak after merging into the stream.
The monkeys looked at him quietly; most of them fixed their gazes on this right hand.
The sword practitioners of Green Mountain could merge their swords into their bodies after they broke through the Undefeated State. It didn’t mean that he didn’t have a sword even though he didn’t have one in his hand right now; but the question of these monkeys was very clear.
Where was his sword?
Feeling indignant, Ping Yongjia said, “It’s actually quite complicated. It’s not that I can’t obtain a sword; it’s just that those swords…”
An old monkey suddenly came over before he could finish his sentence.
It was evident that this old monkey had a very high status among the other monkeys. All the other monkeys stopped making noise, gazing at him in awe.
The old monkey came before Ping Yongjia, holding his hand and walking toward the cliff on the other side of the stream together.
Ping Yongjia was taken aback at first, but he remembered those stories he had read when he was a child. He couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.
The monkeys stood by the stream quietly, looking at the old monkey and Ping Yongjia disappearing into the virgin forest after having crossed the stream.
There was a sheer precipice on the other side of the virgin forest, and there were many green vines on the precipice. A manor cave was found behind the densest vines.
