Chapter 339: In the Name of the Sanxuan Sect |
Lin Twin Fish climbed up to Qianzhu Ridge and curiously sized up the small courtyard in front of him.
To Liu Xiaolou, the wooden house and yard had already been nicely repaired by Big Goose and Little Black. But through Lin Twin Fish’s eyes, the place looked worn down and rather shabby. After taking it all in, she let out a quiet sigh to herself. Just as Junior Brother Su had said, life hadn’t been easy for Xiaolou at all.
These past couple of days marked the start of the rainy season in early spring on Wulong Mountain. It would drag on for over a month. Rain fell almost every few days, each shower thoroughly washing the wooden platform out front until it gleamed. That was where Liu Xiaolou received his guests.
Surrounded by the deep green glow of the bamboo, the fresh scent of earth and mountain rock, the distant view of rolling peaks, and the vast, leisurely blue sky dotted with white clouds, Lin Twin Fish suddenly felt that stepping right into this humble place, becoming part of its very simplicity, gave her a genuine sense of being detached from the dusty world.
After she sat down, she couldn't help but freeze for a moment, her thoughts drifting far away.
Liu Xiaolou filled her cup with tea, and had to call her name several times before she snapped out of it. "Senior Sister Lin? Senior Sister Lin? Senior Sister Lin?"
Lin Shuangyu gave a small “oh” as she came back to herself. She blinked, then smiled. “Your Qianzhu Ridge really is something special. Thank you, Junior Brother. Let’s have a cup.”
Liu Xiaolou laughed. “The older I get, the more I feel that when the founding patriarch of my Sanxuan Sect chose this place, he must have had his reasons. It couldn’t have been a random choice.”
Lin Twin Fish looked around again. “So, Xiaolou,” she asked thoughtfully, “what are your plans for the future of the Sanxuan Sect?”
Good. Very good. Much safer now.
So he replied, “I can’t really say. I’ll just take things one step at a time. Small, rogue sects like mine never really get to decide their own fate. But Senior Sister Lin, what brings you to Wulong Mountain today? Is there something you need? And, well… you’re not here to arrest me, are you?”
Lin Twin Fish laughed. “Arrest you? For what? Getting the sword manual back was already more than good enough. Catching people isn’t that easy. The world is huge. Find some remote, quiet place to cultivate in seclusion, and who’s going to track you down?”
Liu Xiaolou nodded in agreement. “You’re right, Senior Sister Lin. I did exactly that once. I went into seclusion in the Hundred Thousand Mountains for three years. Once you’re in there, you’re completely cut off from the outside world. If someone wanted to arrest you, they wouldn’t even find a single hair.”
“You actually trained in seclusion in the Hundred Thousand Mountains? For three years?” Lin Twin Fish said admiringly. “That’s no small feat.”
Liu Xiaolou sighed. “I nearly died doing it.”
As the saying goes, people don’t come to the temple without a reason. Since Lin Twin Fish clearly wasn’t here to arrest him, she must have come for something else. Liu Xiaolou made his stance clear. “Senior Sister Lin, even if we’re not from the same sect, in my heart we might as well be. You’re Thirteen’s senior sister, and that makes you my senior sister too. If there’s anything you need, just say the word. If it’s within my power, I’ll through fire and water.”
Lin Twin Fish thought for a moment, then asked, “How are things between you and the Zhanglong Sect?”
Liu Xiaolou was puzzled. “Senior Sister Lin, what do you mean by that?”
She said, “I’ve heard that Wulong Mountain used to fall under the Zhanglong Sect’s territory, managed by them. Were you familiar with them back then, Xiaolou? Would you be able to put in a word with Sect Master Qu?”
Liu Xiaolou paused for a moment. "Me? Just a rogue cultivator. They’re a major, prestigious sect. When have people like that ever looked at someone like me twice? I know Sect Master Qu, sure, but I doubt he has the time to know me. That said, I’m fairly familiar with the Zang family within the Zhanglong Sect. If you’ve got something you want to bring up, Senior Sister Lin, I could try mentioning it to them.”
The Zhanglong Sect wasn’t some middling outfit like the Han Clan of Dafeng Mountain. Liu Xiaolou had no idea what weight a single Foundation Establishment cultivator carried in their eyes, but he figured it probably wasn’t much; they’d barely give one a second look. Just from what he remembered seven or eight years back, he could already name fifteen or sixteen of their Foundation Establishment members, and that was only the ones he’d heard of. As for how many there actually were, including all the ones he didn’t know about, he honestly had no clue.
Back then, when the three sects ganged up against the Qingyu Sect, he’d been right there in the Zhanglong Sect’s ranks. What a massive showdown that was. Later, during the great battle at Zhuoshui, he heard that the Zhanglong side alone lost seven Foundation Establishment cultivators!
Lin Twin Fish smiled again. “It’s fine, Xiaolou. Just go openly and directly. Pay them a visit, ask about the war with the Jinting Sect, and request to join them. See what Sect Master Qu has to say.”
Liu Xiaolou frowned. “Senior Sister Lin, what do you mean by that? When a war like this breaks out, us rogue cultivators do everything we can to stay out of it. We’re terrified of being conscripted by the big sects. If we die, no one even bothers to remember us. Why would anyone rush off to get themselves killed? That’s why I’ve been hiding out here on desolate Wulong Mountain. If I weren’t, I’d probably already have been drafted by the Zhanglong Sect. They wouldn’t even need to come ask.”
Lin Twin Fish said, “I’m not telling you to go to the Zhanglong Sect for your own sake. I’m talking about your Sanxuan Sect. You should tell them that the Sanxuan Sect is willing to join the war as a subordinate sect under Zhanglong. As far as I know, the rogue sects around Wulong Mountain used to fall under Zhanglong’s authority anyway... didn’t they?”
Liu Xiaolou said, “In the name of the Sanxuan Sect? As a vassal sect of Zhanglong? Senior Sister Lin, what are you getting at? My Three Mysteries Sect is just me. I’m the sect master, the elders, the disciples, and the stewards, all rolled into one. As long as I’m fed, the whole sect survives. What difference does it make whether it’s a sect or not?”
“It makes a big difference,” Lin Twi Fish said. “Right now, the Sanxuan Sect doesn’t just have you as its sect master anymore. It has three more people. Now it’s a real sect... By the way, what kind of token do the disciples of the Sanxuan Sect use? Make me three of them.”
Liu Xiaolou stared at her blankly for a while. "Senior Sister Lin, are you serious? Is this you wanting to join the war? If that’s the case, why not just go straight to the Zhanglong Sect? Why come all the way here and make things complicated?”
Lin Twin Fish urged, “Do you have any tokens or not?”
He shook his head. “No. Just the sect master’s token. The Sanxuan Sect has been passed down for three generations, always one person at a time.”
Lin Twin Fish turned her head and glanced around. By the door, several bamboo poles were piled up from when the small courtyard had been repaired earlier. She reached out and beckoned one over. Her slender fingers began to move, fluttering like butterflies, so fast that all he could see was a blur. Within that blur, bamboo shavings flew everywhere.
Before long, three bamboo plaques took shape, one after another, at her fingertips. Each was the same size, polished smooth as jade. Two words were engraved on each one: “Guest Elder.” The script was graceful and refined, like a pair of butterflies resting there.
“Xiaolou,” she said, “starting today, the Sanxuan Sect is taking in three guest elders. What do you say?”
Liu Xiaolou was helpless. “Senior Sister Lin, what are you actually trying to say? Just be straight with me.”
She replied, “I was going to tell you anyway. The Southern Sea Sword Sect planned to join this war, but Luofu Mountain refused to approve it. We tried lobbying the Danxia Sect, but after careful consideration they decided not to take part either. So the Southern Sea Sword Sect has no way to join the fight.”
Listening to her explanation, Liu Xiaolou slowly pieced everything together.
The Southern Sea Sword Sect was one of Luofu Mountain’s most important affiliated sects. If Luofu Mountain said no, they simply could not participate.
Because of that, the three elders came up with another plan. They would have disciples from the Southern Sea Sword Sect join the war in their personal capacity, using the Danxia Sect as a channel. After all, the Su family had some ties with the Southern Sea Sword Sect, and Su Jing was still cultivating there.
But in the end, the Danxia Sect’s answer was a firm refusal to participate. That meant joining the war through the Su family was also a dead end.
Left with no other options, the Southern Sea Sword Sect backed off again. This time, they sent only three disciples. They would not even fight under their own names. Instead, they planned to use the name of the Sanxuan Sect.
That was why Lin Twin Fish had come to see him in the first place. She said, “So this time, we’ll have to trouble you, Xiaolou.”