Chapter 47: Fox Sovereign of Yuan Mountain |
Xuan Huang got up early in the morning and saw Mr. Chen practicing sword in the courtyard.
Strangely, although Mr. Chen had brought a sword back, he was holding a bamboo stick in his hand. Xuan Huang couldn’t figure out why, but he didn’t dare to ask.
After finding a spot to sit, he watched Mr. Chen practice the sword.
Mr. Chen’s sword art was sometimes calm, like slowly falling autumn leaves, and sometimes like a fierce wind or sudden storm, with a baleful aura. It was so fast Xuan Huang could only see afterimages.
Moreover, the longer he watched, the more Xuan Huang felt that Mr. Chen’s sword art was mysterious. It gave him a headache because it was too fast to see and a bit hard to grasp.
Chen Changsheng put away his sword, and the wind in the courtyard quieted down.
He looked at Xuan Huang and asked, “When you get up early, you need to move around. That way you can live longer.”
After hearing this, Xuan Huang answered, “Well, it’s only about two more years for me anyway. It doesn’t matter if it’s earlier or later.”
Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, “That may be true, but if you sit still like a dead tree, after a while you might really turn into a dead tree.”
He went inside the temple and brought out a wooden sword.
So he started practicing sword with Mr. Chen in the courtyard.
Mr. Chen was right, because moving around early felt much better. After a round of practice, Xuan Huang felt energy slowly returning to his body, and the heavy feeling went away little by little.
They kept at it until the sun was high in the sky, and Mr. Chen slowly put away his sword.
Xuan Huang went to wash himself, while Chen Changsheng went to the library pavilion, took a book, and came back to the courtyard to read.
Compared to that, Xuan Huang’s days were quite boring. After sword practice, he either went to meditate in the temple or flipped through Taoist scriptures, sitting for a whole day.
Chen Changsheng sat under the peach tree and turned the pages of the book in front of him.
The pile of books the Old City God had sent him, he had only read about half of them so far. Just as the Old City God had said, these Daoist arts were small tricks, not hard, and easy to learn.
That day passed without much busyness.
The peach tree above Mr. Chen swayed in the summer breeze.
Chen Changsheng was so absorbed in reading that he suddenly felt thirsty.
Right then, a peach fell down.
“Plop.”
The peach landed squarely on the table.
Chen Changsheng paused, picked up the peach to look at it, and didn’t think much about it. He just saw it as a coincidence.
But he still smiled at the peach tree and said, “Thank you.”
The peach tree didn’t do anything.
Chen Changsheng turned, picked up the peach, and ate it. Reading and eating the peach felt especially relaxing.
…
The second princess of Great Jing sneaked into the library pavilion at night. This wasn’t too serious because she was a princess, so she couldn’t be punished much. In the end, she was only confined to her own room and couldn’t go anywhere.
When bored, she sat by the window sill and daydreamed.
She thought about the story that person had told her.
The story said that the Great Sage Equalling Heaven was pressed under Five-Finger Mountain, but then there was no more.
The little girl felt restless inside. She thought there must be more to the story, that person must not have finished it, but she didn’t know when that person would come back. She wanted to hear the whole story.
Later, when her royal brother came to visit her, she pleaded with him in a pitiful voice for a long time. Finally, her royal brother agreed.
“The Great Sage Equalling Heaven? What kind of storybook is that?”
“Royal brother, help me find it, royal brother, royal brother…”
“Alright, alright, royal brother will help you look for it, help you look for it.”
But the result was definitely not found, because it was a story never passed down in these parts.
The Old Sword Cultivator wandered around Shangjing City all day. Sometimes he slept soundly on trees in the palace, sometimes in the comfortable spots of brothels or on pleasure boats. It was very relaxing.
But he didn’t expect some sudden commotion inside the imperial palace.
The Old Sword Cultivator, sleeping in a tree, frowned and looked toward the rear palace.
He did some quick calculations with his fingers, but it turned up empty.
“How could it be an early birth?”
He turned into a sword light and flew to the chamber of Li Fei.
Unexpectedly, before he could even step inside, he was stopped.
In front of him stood a handsome young master with rich clothes and tiny dots near his nose. Under the robe, you could barely see a tail hidden underneath.
“Six-Tails…”
The Old Sword Cultivator frowned.
The Six-Tail Fox Demon said warmly, “Sword Immortal, please go back. The Yuanshan Fox Clan will ensure this child is safe.”
The Old Sword Cultivator glanced inside the chamber and sensed an even scarier presence inside.
Maybe a Seven-Tail, or even an Eight-Tail Fox Demon.
He also knew he couldn’t get in today, so he said, “If anything goes wrong, I’ll go to Yuanshan and find some reason.”
“Sword Immortal, don’t worry.”
The Old Sword Cultivator gave up on going inside and found a tree to sit on.
About two hours later, with the sound of crying, the baby was born.
But the sound stopped all at once.
The Old Sword Cultivator looked up and saw the palace door swing wide open.
“Bang!”
A strange wind suddenly swirled up.
The Six-Tail Fox Demon in front even turned into a gust of wind and disappeared at the palace door.
The Old Sword Cultivator didn’t chase after him, but he was sure that the baby had been taken away.
He walked into the chamber and saw Su Xiaoxiao in bed, holding a baby in her arms and resting with her eyes closed.
On the ground, all the palace ladies had fainted and hadn’t woken up yet.
The Old Sword Cultivator looked at the baby in her arms and asked, “That’s not the real baby, is it?”
Su Xiaoxiao nodded and said, “I have to keep this one, to make sure a baby doesn’t disappear without a word.”
The Old Sword Cultivator sighed helplessly and said, “Why bother?”
He actually wanted to say that the emperor wasn’t the same emperor anymore, but then he thought that Su Xiaoxiao probably knew that too. Even so, she chose to stay.
It was truly a messy bond.
Just then, a figure suddenly stepped out from behind a pillar nearby.
The Old Sword Cultivator turned his head and frowned.
“Eight-Tails…”
The demon in front wore a black robe with gold sleeves, and his face was old. But when he stood before him, the Old Sword Cultivator clearly felt a big pressure.
This demon was no ordinary being!
The Eight-Tail Fox Demon bowed and said, “Su Junhan of the Fox Clan, greetings to the Sword Immortal.”
The Old Sword Cultivator looked serious and stared at the demon.
The fox demon spoke again, “I want to ask the Sword Immortal about someone.”
The Old Sword Cultivator stared at him as the demon pulled out a hair.
“The owner of this hair has a huge connection to the Yuanshan Fox Clan. Sword Immortal, do you know where he is now?”
He was asking about Mr. Chen.
The Old Sword Cultivator was a bit cautious and asked, “Why are you looking for him?”
“It’s not an enemy thing, Sword Cultivator, don’t worry.”
The Old Sword Cultivator shook his head and said, “The Celestial Immortal left yesterday. I just met him once and had no other ties. I can’t help you.”
“Is that so…” the Eight-Tail Fox Demon thought for a moment and said, “Sorry about this.”
The Old Sword Cultivator looked into his eyes and suddenly saw a flash of golden light. He jolted and felt his divine sense shake.
That jolting feeling faded quickly, and he was back to normal.
“What did you do!?”
“Sword Cultivator, don’t be angry. I just wanted to see if the Sword Immortal was telling the truth.”
“You…”
The Old Sword Cultivator paused as he suddenly realized something.
The honored one!
This Eight-Tail Fox Demon couldn’t be… darn it! Fox Sovereign of Yuan Mountain!
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