Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The thunderous chime of the bell passed through the thatched huts, the Daoist halls, the manor houses, the small boats on the rivers, the godly ships on the sea and the snowy mountains, spreading far and wide.
Everybody had heard the bell.
The Giant on his way back to his homeland turned his head in the direction of Chaotian while curling up the corners of his mouth slightly, letting loose a frank and happy smile.
Gu Qing ran to the rear of the godly boat as quickly as he could. His eyes were moistened as he looked in the direction where the sound of the bell arose.
On the icy peak in the deep part of the snowland, a small and short figure appeared amid the cliff walls that were as smooth as glass. She was gazing into the south, reflecting on something.
If a line was drawn between the icy peak and Green Mountain, the small temple in White Town happened to be on the line. As such, the Queen of the Snowy Kingdom could see the small temple at any time when she gazed at Green Mountain. It was understandable that the Young Zen Master crouched underneath the incense table playing with the thin sticks rather than sat on the lotus seat.
“I still can’t understand why you didn’t go to Green Mountain since it’s the day when the Immortal will ascend,” said He Zhan while squatting on the ground.
The Young Zen Master said, “He’ll ascend to a highest place; one can see him no matter where. Why should I go there to witness it?”
Though He Zhan thought what he said made some sense, he couldn’t help but wonder how the Young Zen Master could see anything by crouching underneath the incense table.
Sitting on the doorsill, Sese commented while looking in the direction of the south, “The Immortal will definitely say something before his ascension. It’s a pity that we can’t listen to it.”
The Yong Zen Master said in a slight mocking tone, “He will, based on his temperament, ascend with a swing of the sword. I don’t think he will say anything. Did you hear him speaking last time?”
“I was only nine years old at the time!” Sese exclaimed angrily. “My grandma didn’t take me there. How could I know what he did?”
The Young Zen Master had almost knocked the pile of sticks down with his trembling fingers after he was rebutted by Sese. “All in all, that guy won’t talk to others in a sensible way!” he proclaimed.
He and the Immortal Taiping who knew Jing Yang very well were the only ones aware of the origin of “killing with a swing of the sword”.
“You had gone to Shenmo Peak to discuss the Dao with the Immortal back then, and the two of you sat face to face for one hundred days. What had you two talked about?” asked He Zhan, feeling baffled.
The Young Zen Master thought these two were indeed proper partners as he sneered, “He treated me like a child during those one hundred days, and told me stories every night to put me to sleep. What else do you expect him to say?”
He revealed a mocking expression on his face when he talked about the past; but the hint of nostalgia and sorrow could be detected in the deep end of his eyes.
…
…
The chime of the bell faded away, dissipating like a gust of wind. In the next moment, the voice of Jing Jiu rang out.
His voice sounded as light as ever, devoid of any cold intent and zest; it spread in all directions like a gust of wind.
“I was born among this patch of heaven and earth, and you people are also inside it. This is the karma between you and me. I’ll depart today; so I’d like to say something to you.”
Hearing this, the Cultivation practitioners of various sects sat straight up with a more focused expression on their faces.
In their minds, what the Immortal was to say before his ascension must be very important, which might be extremely helpful for their future Cultivation. It would be a great pity to miss one single word of what he was to say. Unfortunately, they sat a bit too far from the Immortal and couldn’t see his countenance clearly; they wondered if this shortcoming would have some effect on a full understanding of his speech.
“I don’t know how to teach principles; the most I can do is to tell you some stories. I’m going to tell three stories today.”
Though Jing Jiu said it in a casual manner, those who guessed what he was to say might have something to do with them changed their expressions slightly.
Zhao Layue wondered how he came up with three stories since he had gone and asked two questions earlier. Cao Yuan wondered why Jing Jiu was to tell his story now that it was he who was about to ascend. Bu Qiuxiao thought that if the story Jing Jiu was to tell was something related to him, he would do something to him even though he was a fairy man on the verge of ascending…And Bu Qiuxiao also wondered how Jing Jiu was not worried about the safety of his disciples after his ascension.
The person wearing the conical hat underneath the large tree stood up while leaning against the coarse tree trunk with his hands. The color of the leaves was reflected on his face as he looked at the blue sky and mulled over something.
The rest of the Cultivation practitioners didn’t think too much into it.
Many miraculous magic methods and tenets were hidden in the seemingly simple stories; the Zen sects were very good at explaining the principles by telling stories.
It turned out that the Immortal was to give lessons that day.
…
…
Jing Jiu lifted Ada up by grabbing his neck and put him into Zhao Layue’s bosom. He started telling the first story after dusting off the hairs on his hands and shooting the Large Buddha a glance.
“Many hundred years ago, there were two big clans in Juye City, the Shi Clan and the Cao Clan. The two clans had been fighting for dominance over the years. The both sides had similar amounts of wins and losses until the Cao Clan produced a formidable master with a high Cultivation state; and the master of the Cao Clan married a female free-traveling practitioner of the Dongyi Dao. By then, the Cao Clan had utterly suppressed the Shi Clan. Though the master couple had a high Cultivation state, they had no chance of ascending. They wished to have a descendant as they neared the end of their lives.”
This was a rather ordinary story without any twisted plots. The audience listened to it with a great deal of concentration even though they couldn’t figure out any meaning from it so far.
Guo Nanshan saw a terrible look in Gu Han’s countenance, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“An infamous massacre case had occurred around that time in Juye City,” said Gu Han pale-faced.
The Gu Clan was a large one attached to Green Mountain; so Gu Han was well aware of the histories of the clans in Chaotian. But Guo Nanshan didn’t have so much knowledge in these matters. “So what?” Guo Nanshan questioned Gu Han.
Gu Han didn’t relate the murder case. “What is the surname of the Broadsword King?” he asked in a low voice while looking at the large Buddha in the distance.
“Is the Grandmaster telling the story about the Broadsword King?” returned Guo Nanshan with a changed expression on his face.
As the two of them talked, Jing Jiu was still telling the story.
The master couple of the Cao Clan knew that they had acted too brutally in the past, especially when they dealt with the Shi Clan. They were worried that the Shi Clan would fight back after the two of them died. If the child they were to have were a regular person without any talent in Cultivation, the child could spend the whole life as a regular mortal after the decline of the Cao Clan. And it would be easier to deal with if the child had an extraordinary talent like someone with the natural Dao quality. The worst scenario for a talented child would be that the child was sent to the Center Sect or the Green Mountain Sect, and the Shi Clan wouldn’t dare to do anything to the child.
As such, they had no idea whether they wished their child to be a genius in Cultivation or a regular person…Under such complicated circumstances and emotions, the wife was pregnant.
The troubled part after the birth was that the child was rather ordinary and had no special qualities. Though he had a little bit talent, he was not the kind of child who could impress the onlookers at first sight.
This was the most troublesome outcome.
Neither the Center Sect nor the Green Mountain Sect would choose this child as their disciple.
But on the other hand, the Shi Clan would pay close attention to this child because he could cultivate, and would even attempt to kill him.
How could they protect this child?
…
…
“The couple had made a decision overnight, which is to wipe out the whole of the Shi Clan.”
Upon hearing this, more and more Cultivation practitioners, like Gu Han, remembered the massacre case that had happened several hundred years ago in Juye City; their countenances changed slightly.
The massacre case was indeed infamous because the couple was really brutal when carrying out their plan.
It was often told in the stories about the massacre of a whole clan. In fact, the Shi Clan had experienced the actual massacre of their whole clan.
The direct descendants of the Shi Clan, the caretakers and the members of the whole clan had been slaughtered by the Cao Clan in a short time; none of them had survived. The couple had also killed those strongmen and influential people in the society who were on the good terms with the Shi Clan. The whole of Juye City seemed to have sustained a bloodbath.
Having conducted such an evil deed, the Cao Clan also suffered a harsh consequence. It had gradually gone into oblivion as time passed until their clan was mentioned by Jing Jiu that day.
“The Cao couple went to Moqiu after they had carried out their plan. They knelt before the Chief Monk of the Fruit Formation Temple. ‘…We know that we are guilty and unforgivable; but does it mean that this child will bear the consequence?’ they inquired.
“The Chief Monk said that though the child was innocent, what they did was truly evil and foolish…Even though they had killed all of the friends of the Shi Clan, those friends also had their own friends and their relatives also had other relatives; how could they kill them all? After their deaths, the friends of the friends and the relatives of the relatives might vent their hatred onto the child.”
The people present found something was out of place about this story in the beginning; now their suspicion was confirmed.
“The wife realized that they had made a big mistake after she heard what the Chief Monk said; but the master of the Cao Clan told the Chief Monk that they had done the killing for the sake of the child.
“The Chief Monk was at a loss, wondering what he meant. The master of the Cao Clan said that this child would be unable to live long if his origin were discovered by others and that the Chief Monk would conceal it for him after knowing the fact. By now the Chief Monk realized that the Cao couple had the intention to leave the child with the Fruit Formation Temple.”
Hearing this part of the story, the people had guessed whom this story was about. Countless complicated gazes were fixed on the large Buddha.
The large Buddha’s face with peeled off paint showed neither sadness nor happiness, save for an experienced feel to it.
“The Chief Monk was still at a loss. He asked the couple, ‘The Cao Clan has already been in decline because of the decision you’ve made, and the Cao Clan will be retaliated against after your deaths. Don’t you care about the fates of your relatives and subordinates?’ The Cao couple said in unison that they don’t after exchanging a glance. The wife said that she would be pleased so long as this child could live a peaceful life as she looked at the child in her bosom fondly. The Cao couple committed suicide after the conversation. The child was left at the Fruit Formation Temple.”
The first half of the story had been related; it was straightforward, but not too simple.
What the Cao couple had done was too bloodthirsty and dreadful, and it remained unclear if their idea was correct or not. Nevertheless, the child had lived successfully until today and became a most outstanding figure in Chaotian.
Looking at the large Buddha, the people realized that the origin of the Broadsword King turned out to be so eventful; they were stunned speechless.
Cao Yuan said, “There are many inaccurate depictions in this story; for instance, you said that my mother looked at me in her bosom fondly…how did you know the expression in her eyes at the time?”
“They were the exact words Sanyue used,” said Jing Jiu.
This story was related to the secretive origin of Cao Yuan and the brutal and murderous past, which might affect the reputation of the Broadsword King, the Fruit Formation Temple, and the Windy-Broadsword Church.
Jing Jiu learned this story from Lian Sanyue, of course.
Cao Yuan was merely a young monk who had just left the temple when he told her this story by a lake many years ago while wiping his tears.
Lian Sanyue didn’t like making up stories and was unable to add contents to a story; most of all, she was lazy as well. The word “fondly” must be used by Cao Yuan when he told the story. However, how could a newly born infant remember the expression in his mother’s eyes? It was either because Cao Yuan had imagined it after he grew up, or because he was not an ordinary person to begin with; it was only that his talent was too special for his parents to discover it. Otherwise, it was impossible to explain why a regular child could become so powerful later on.
Cao Yuan said after a moment of pause, “In fact, the members of the Shi Clan were not all killed. My parents intended to pull out the roots by killing them all, but it was not that easy.”
“There are many members with Shi as their surname in the Windy-Broadsword Church,” remarked Jing Jiu.
There was an uproar when the crowd heard this.
Many years ago, Cao Yuan joined the Windy-Broadsword Church and became a regular disciple of theirs after he left the Fruit Formation Temple to start his experience in the outside world. Later, he participated in the Plum Meeting as a disciple of the Windy-Broadsword Church and had an excellent performance. Unexpectedly, he didn’t opt to go back to the Fruit Formation Temple after the meeting, but chose to stay at the Windy-Broadsword Church.
He helped the small sect to grow and develop in the perilous north until they had become a dominant force there.
The people in the Cultivation circle had always thought that Cao Yuan chose to stay at the Windy-Broadsword Church because he couldn’t cut off the karma and the affection he felt for the sect. After they heard the story and the conversation between Jing Jiu and Cao Yuan, they found out the other important reason.
Cao Yuan said, “You’re right.”
“Didn’t they know?” inquired Jing Jiu.
Cao Yuan said, “Yes, they knew.”
“Didn’t they hate you?” pressed Jing Jiu.
“Whether they hated me or not is not important since they couldn’t beat me,” said Cao Yuan after he turned toward Jing Jiu. “But, what do you intend to achieve by telling my story?”
“Not all the stories have a moral…but yours has one,” Jing Jiu said to the Cultivation practitioners while pointing to the large Buddha. “His parents had killed thousands of people for his birth and conducted many evil deeds. As such, he thought that he was born with guilt and evil and that he had no way to expunge the evil penetrating all the way to the core of his soul. He didn’t wish to redeem guilt; all he hoped for was make the lives of thousands of killed people more valuable, which is why he went to the snowland and stayed there ever since.”
The evaluation and admiration the people had for Cao Yuan was: guarding the wind and snow with a lonely broadsword. They had no idea that he did so for such a reason.
He did what he did in the Underworld for the same reason; and it was believed that he would do so for the rest of his life.
What he did was not intended for redemption; but when would he be salved?
“Why can’t he ascend? It’s because he thinks he hasn’t repaid the debt. However, why should he repay the debt owed by his parents? Why the offspring suffers the consequence for the cause originated by their parents or ancestors?” exclaimed Jing Jiu while looking at the large Buddha. “All in all, there is only one reason, which is that you haven’t thought this through.”
In addition to the reasons mentioned above, Cao Yuan guarded in White Town for hundreds of years for some other reasons also, like Lian Sanyue; but Jing Jiu had no intention of mentioning it.
The purpose of telling this story was not about the benevolent result coming out of the evil cause; it was all about “not thinking things through”.
If one couldn’t even think it through, why would the sky open up for them?
