Chapter 14: Treading the Waves and Singing, Drawing on the Wall at Night

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 14: Treading the Waves and Singing, Drawing on the Wall at Night

The thick-browed young man was also very satisfied. His eyes were filled with satisfaction. His opponent was strong. This kind of battle was a rare experience for him.

“He is someone from the Yan Dynasty, a cultivator of the True Fire Palace.”

He grabbed the umbrella that was still floating down and reinserted the large black sword into the umbrella handle. Then, he raised the umbrella once again over the head of the handsome young man who had emerged from the pavilion. He looked expectantly at the legendary Fourth Mister Zhao.

No wonder his umbrella was so large. With just such a wide umbrella surface, the umbrella handle woould not look too thick.

The handsome young man, who turned out to be Fourth Mister Zhao and the current leader of the Sword Furnace, walked past the tall, thin cultivator's corpse along the smal path toward the Wei River in the distance.

“He must be Yan Dongfu. After seeing him fight, I knew it was most likely him. His Mountain Demon True Fire Art seems quite decent; he must have received some of Cao Yangming's true teachings from the True Fire Palace.”

Fourth Mister Zhao glanced at him and said, “Changling is a fat piece of meat, everyone wants a piece of it.”

The thick-browed young man, Zhao Zhi, glanced back. Behind him, Changling was nothing but a shadow in the wind and rain. He could not even see those enormous towers clearly. However, he was worried that numerous chariots would rush out of the torrential rain, and that some powerful cultivator would suddenly appear and attack him with swords.

“Is this just a fat piece of meat? It doesn’t seem like it at all.” He, who only saw danger, could not help but mutter. He still felt that the small path of the past and the small blacksmith shop were the best. If he had a choice, he felt that he would never have to enter this large, organized city full of danger in his entire life.

Forth Mister Zhao did not pay attention to his mutterings and said softly, “The Chu Dynasty, the Yan Dynasty, and the Qi Dynasty—who among them isn’t eyeing Changling. But even in Changping, I've seen that these people are all the same. They all want to steal meat from others. If they don't get an equal share, they'll fight. We, the weaker ones, will be eaten if we team up with others.”

The thick-browed young man turned and gave Fourth Mister Zhao a strange look. “You seem out of sorts today. You’ve only met the Eldest Miss of the Shang Family once, so why do you speak as softly and gently as she does?”

“Really?” Fourth Mister Zhao paused slightly and then thought back. His tone of speech was slower than usual and lacking his usual ferocity.

“I might have learned a few things from her.”

After a slight pause, Fourth Mister Zhao sighed and said seriously, “Now you understand why Master didn’t let you stay in the Sword Furnace in the past, and instead told you to follow me to travel and see more.”

Zhao Zhi shook his head seriously. “I am stupid. You’ll learn by watching, but I’ll watch and probably not learn.”

“Cultivation is like crossing a river at night by touching the stones. For one to live longer and advance further, it is important to understand and acquire more knowledge.” Fourth Mister Zhao had calmed down now and asked without anger, “ust look at Yan Dongfu. He had only just reached realm five with great difficulty, why did he die here?”

Zhao Zhi said without thinking, “Because he encountered us, and we don't have the habit of being compassionate.”

“Because of a lack of insight and knowledge.” Fourth Mister Zhao sneered and said, “He lacked knowledge. He followed us, and he died. Dynasties and sects, unless it's truly about to collapse, usually don't communicate with each other. We, and the cultivators of the Qin Dynasty, are far better at this than the cultivators of the Yan Dynasty, the Chu Dynasty, and the Qi Dynasty. After all, what haven't we seen after fighting for so long? And even three kingdoms were destroyed. What kind of tactics haven't we seen?”

Zhao Zhi nodded thoughtfully.

“You probably don't understand why Master only taught you one move,” Fourth Mister Zhao glanced at him and said directly.

Zhao Zhi shook his head.

Fourth Mister Zhao looked forward, took a deep breath and said, “Master is an expert who teaches disciples according to their skills and personalities. He knows you’re stupid, so he only had you practice one move. He wanted you to have fewer obstacles you couldn’t grasp. You followed me because you only know that one move, you only have that one move. You see more people, you see more tactics, and you memorize them. When you encounter similar tactics in the future, you’ll be better able to deal with them.”

Zhao Zhi was not angry when someone called him stupid. His eyes were filled with emotion and longing.

There was a large river in front of them. Waves rose high, foaming and crashing against the shores.

They reached the Wei River.

“Let’s go!”

Zhao Zhi first jumped onto the bamboo raft tied to the long grass on the shore before shouting at Fourth Mister Zhao, who was looking back at Changling. However, he did not row the raft straight away. He took out two wine jars. He first drained one jar of alcohol, then poured the other into the flowing water.

“Junior sect Brother Zhao Zhan, I toast you!”

At this moment, his tears finally flowed freely.

Bang bang bang…

The bamboo raft drifted away in the strong current.

Zhao Zhi put down his umbrella. One hand on the bamboo pole, the other tapping it, and he sang loudly.

The song was rough and in the local dialect. The meaning of the song was not audible, but the rhythm was strong and steady like forged metal.

 

The night grew darker. Someone opened the door under the blue flag at Falling Parasol and lit a candle with a dim light.

Ding Ning put away his umbrella and then closed the door by attaching the wooden lock.

Zhangsun Qianxue sat by the table, staring at him expressionlessly. An oil lamp was lit on the table, reflecting its light on a bowl of cold fried noodles. Another plate held two boiled eggs.

Ding Ning's face was unusually flushed. After closing the door, his breathing became heavier. However, when he saw Zhangsun Qianxue waiting for him with the lamp on, the corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he smiled.

He did not say anything, sitting opposite Zhangsun Qianxue. He picked up the bowl of cold fried noodles and placed two poached eggs on top. Then he began to eat heartily.

“Is it really that delicious?”

Seeing Ding Ning’s slightly protruding stomach as she looked down, Zhangsun Qianxue's eyes grew slightly colder. “You've clearly eaten, and you're still eating so much. All cultivators pay attention to what they put into their mouth. They prefer drinking fflower dew to water, and they'll eat plants and fruits containing the energies of the universe instead of other food. You didn't pay attention and overeat after being injured. Is that alright?”

“That's a waste of effort. One will naturally cleanse their body after reaching realm eight…”

Ding Ning chewed on the boiled egg and said, in a muffled and arrogant voice, “And who in this world can eat the boiled egg and noodles you make?”

Zhangsun Qianxue glanced at him coldly. “I bought the eggs and noodles from another shop.”

“…” Ding Ning’s face immediately grimaced and he could not speak.

Zhangsun Qianxue's expression turned serious, and she stared at him. “When one reaches realm eight, the body will automatically be cleansed. All that body care, all that attention paid to food, is a complete waste of energy… did that person say this?”

Ding Ning stubbornly ate the rest of his noodles and then nodded with his mouth full. “Realm eight, Heaven Opening. This realm isn’t for refining and storing, but for directly manipulating the primal energies of the universe. Cultivators are the key to opening the world, and their bodies must be pure.”

Zhangsun Qianxue was taken aback and frowned. “But don't the records all say one must eat cleanly to cleanse their bodies to reach realm eight, Heaven Opening, and realm nine Immortality?”

Ding Ning looked at her and shook his head seriously. “People rarely reach realm eight, so most of the records are just speculation. Those who truly reach that realm will only tell a few things to their disciples. Why waste their energy trying to make people believe those records are false?”

“Or rather, for the sects, they want cultivators from other sects to take detours and make more mistakes,” Ding Ning rubbed his stomach, and added.

Zhangsun Qianxue pondered the meaning of those words and remained silent.

Ding Ning stood up. As usual when he prepared to cultivate, he went to the inner courtyard, washed his body with hot water, and put on clean clothes.

However, today, he did not return directly to his bedroom. He lit an oil lamp and walked to a side room used for making wine.

A dim light illuminated the wall near the window.

Many flower-like patterns were on this wall. It seemed someone, with nothing better to do, had painted flowers with a brush. This person had evidently been painting for many years. The numerous flowers covered almost the entire wall.

However, Ding Ning knew this was no ordinary wall.

He used a piece of charcoal to erase one of the flowers, then thoughtfully drew two more flowers. Because he had too many people and things to remember, he was afraid of forgetting one, thus creating this wall.

He stared silently at the wall, especially at the two new flowers he had drawn. He knew he could not do anything right now but wait.

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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