Chapter 66

Chapter 66 Delivering the Message

Chang Yangzi’s habit of using a longsword was also because of this dream.

Since all the chaos began with the Record of Plucking Stars, then to end it all, naturally one needed the “Star-Suppressing Sword.”

On such matters, Chang Yangzi had not only spoken to Ling Bozi; Ling Xiaozi had also heard some.

They did not think that every detail inside was fake. Their master had once dealt with the Fu family’s ancestor in earlier years, and founding the sect at Tianshan was something that happened only after the new dynasty was established. All of Chang Yangzi’s disciples knew this, and they never doubted the tragic scenes in the imperial palace at the fall of the former dynasty as described by Chang Yangzi.

However, “an immortal entering a dream to gift a sword” — that was still far too illusory, wasn’t it?

After listening to Ling Bozi’s account, everyone in the room remained silent for a long time, immersed in the shock brought by this newly learned news.

During this, Ling Yunzi silently shed tears, recalling an old matter, and said: “The night before Master passed away, it was I who attended upon him. At that time, there was a brief moment when he was clear-minded. Then, Master also pulled me close, saying he had something important he had forgotten to say. Thinking of it now, could it have been this matter?”

Ling Bozi and Ling Xiaozi comforted their junior sister: “Now you do know it.”

Ling Yunzi gently nodded, then said: “If… if everything Master said truly was real, then what exactly was the identity of the immortal who gave him the ‘Star-Suppressing’ sword? Why would he know of the chaos on our side, and even lend his hand to help?”

No one could answer these questions. After a long while, Ling Bozi gave a faint bitter smile and said: “Had I known there truly were such monsters and demons in the world, I would have asked Master carefully back then.”

But now it was too late. Ling Bozi’s heart was filled with regret, and at the same time with many worries. According to Bai and Mei’s account, in just a few months they had encountered two places of demonic evil. This frequency was really too high, making Ling Bozi think that, aside from his own disciples and the young blade-wielder who came to Tianshan with them, there must have been quite a few others who had encountered similar situations — perhaps even already perished?

This was a grave matter! It could not be ignored!

He immediately said: “We should announce this matter to the martial world and invite the heads of the major sects to discuss it together.”

Ling Xiaozi and Ling Yunzi both solemnly nodded: “It should indeed be so.”

Ling Bozi continued: “We must also summon the Tianshan disciples scattered outside, so that they will stay vigilant…” One matter after another, all of them serious, none could be treated lightly.

Yet resolve was one thing, actual implementation another. With the footspeed of people today, to spread Tianshan Sect’s summons throughout the martial world — even though they indeed had status and position, and even if what they said sounded unbelievable, there would still be some who would listen — just the step of “delivering messages” would consume an enormous amount of time. Not to mention, once the letters arrived, and the other sect leaders then had to rush to Tianshan, how much time would that take in between?

Just thinking of this gave Ling Bozi a headache. But no matter the headache, action had to begin.

He first said: “Like this. We will draft a ‘Letter to All Sect Leaders,’ and let our disciples descend the mountain to deliver it. As for what comes after, we will plan once the letters are sent.”

Everyone nodded. Ling Yunzi also proposed: “Why not write directly in the letters, asking the sect leaders to carefully account for the whereabouts of their disciples, so there won’t be cases like Emei’s Young Hero Nie or Wudang’s Young Hero Lu. Their people had already perished, yet their sects knew nothing at all. With such information, once people are gathered later, what we say will not be empty talk.”

After a short pause for thought, Ling Xiaozi also spoke: “We ought first to contact Emei. To people of the Central Plains their location is somewhat remote, but compared to us, they are in truth ‘Central Plains.’ If they were to take the lead in organizing, perhaps the results would be twice the effort.”

Ling Yunzi nodded, “But letters to the other sects still must be written. If only Emei is involved, the other leaders might consider it baseless. With us added, it will be all the more credible.”Ling Xiaozi: “Let the disciples who go deliver the letters act according to circumstances. If Emei has already sent out an invitation for everyone to gather at some place, then we simply follow along, so as not to waste time.”

Ling Yunzi: “Exactly so. In addition, the imperial court…”

The three elders all turned their gaze toward where Bai and Mei were sitting.

They once again recalled that the two young men had mentioned that Gu Miao and the Ninth Prince had already gone to the capital.

Calculating the distance from Guang’an Prefecture to the capital, the two must have long since arrived. In that case, the court’s power would surely be drawn into this matter as well.

Ling Bozi let out a long sigh, “I once thought that after removing the Blood Demon, we would at least have some days of peace. Who would have thought, in the end, it is still a life of toil.”

Ling Xiaozi and Ling Yunzi said: “Who doesn’t say so? But since it is an important matter, we absolutely cannot treat it lightly!”

The elders began discussing in detail how exactly the letters should be written, and to which sect leaders they should be sent. During this time, Bai and Mei mostly just listened. Occasionally, they would add in the things they had seen and heard while roaming the martial world over the past year.

Mostly, it was that some sect already intended to change to a new sect leader, or that some sect had some new rumor about it.

For the elders, these served as useful references.

When there was nothing that required them to speak, the two simply stayed silent, each with their own thoughts.

Mainly, it was Mei Yinghan who was thinking. Bai Zhengliu just held his teacup, his gaze drifting again and again toward Brother Mei.

As for what Ling Xiaozi had said earlier, not to mention Brother Mei, even he himself was extremely shocked. Seriously comparing, it was as though even when learning that General Yang Chunyue relied on the Twenty-Eight Generals to recuperate, Bai Zhengliu had not had such a great emotional reaction.

——But no wonder. For Bai Zhengliu, from first knowing that the Twenty-Eight Generals were unusual, to seeing the female general’s figure emerge from the blade, to then, through a few words with Mei Yinghan, guessing the general’s identity — it had been quite a long process. Whereas for Mei Yinghan, with just a few words from Ling Bozi, the sword-bearer had been struck senseless.

“Your sword also has a spirit.”

“When your grandmaster passed away, the sword went with him. Only when you appeared did the sword reappear.”

“Oh, and this sword is not only connected to your grandmaster, but also to a mysterious, extraordinary ‘immortal.’”

Who, upon hearing such things, could remain calm?

Bai Zhengliu secretly thought: “For Brother Mei to react as he does now, he is already an extremely calm and composed person — ah! His finger moved! Is he about to touch the sword’s scabbard? Huh, Brother Mei’s hand did not fall onto it. Oh, I understand this particularly well: when I had just seen General Yang’s figure, I too felt deep awe toward the Twenty-Eight Generals. It’s different from carrying it with you daily — in idle moments, I would be embarrassed to even touch it too much.”

Mei Yinghan called him: “Brother Bai.”

Bai Zhengliu was still secretly thinking: “But, with this matter of the ‘immortal gifting a sword’ now revealed, doesn’t it mean that even immortals could not bear to see the chaos of the former dynasty? And Brother Mei’s grandmaster being chosen by an immortal… truly worthy of Senior Chang Yangzi. I had long heard that the founder of Tianshan was a martial genius unseen in hundreds, even thousands of years.”“He took countless disciples in his lifetime. Each disciple, if they could learn just one peerless skill from Senior Chang Yangzi, would be able to look down proudly upon the martial world. Only, it’s uncertain whether the immortal not only gifted a sword to the senior, but also passed down many martial arts to him — or if it was precisely because the senior already possessed such great ability, that the immortal chose him.”

Mei Yinghan, seeing that Bai Zhengliu still had not responded to him, called once more: “Brother Bai.”

Bai Zhengliu continued to sigh: “Those years truly produced many outstanding figures. It wasn’t only Senior Chang Yangzi; there were also the many heroes of Emei and Wudang… But then again, so the Record of Plucking Stars had already appeared in the world even back then?”

“What exactly is the origin of that old ghost of the Chang family? And from where did those wicked people obtain this evil book? …Hm?”

He finally heard Mei Yinghan’s voice. The blade-wielder’s eyes blinked slowly once, and he lifted his head, looking toward the swordsman not far away.

Outwardly, his expression was calm.

But inwardly, it was sheer disbelief.

Bai Zhengliu! Have you fallen to such a state? Brother Mei called you so many times, and you gave no response. Does this not show that your vigilance…

But this was Brother Mei.

And this was Tianshan, not some dragon’s lair or tiger’s den.

Thinking so, his mindset steadied; perhaps this too was an ordinary matter?

All these thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, while on the surface, Bai Zhengliu responded evenly: “Brother Mei called me?”

Mei Yinghan nodded slightly and pointed at the teacup in his hand.

Bai Zhengliu, confused, followed his gesture to glance at his own cup.

The Tianshan Sect had always been generous. The first time he had come, the whole mountain had been full of guests, and then they had served all their visitors with snow lotus tea.

Now entertaining Bai Zhengliu alone, Tianshan certainly would not be stingy. The snow lotus bloomed faintly in the cup, exquisitely beautiful. Taking a sip, the fragrance lingered in his mouth.

Bai Zhengliu could not see what was so amiss that Brother Mei had to call him so many times.

He turned again toward Mei Yinghan, silently conveying his question with his gaze.

Mei Yinghan smiled at him and said: “I saw Brother Bai holding the cup for quite a while, yet only taking two sips. I feared the tea had already cooled, so I meant to change it for you with hot water.”

Bai Zhengliu: “…”

Could he say that earlier he had been caught up thinking about the small interactions between Mei Yinghan and the Star-Suppressing Sword, to the point of not even noticing whether he had drunk the tea?

No. He could not.Bai Zhengliu, polite and courteous, said: “This is too much trouble…”

Mei Yinghan replied: “I only hope Brother Bai will never again say those two words to me.”

Bai Zhengliu paused slightly, then smiled: “Alright. I will only say, ‘Many thanks, Brother Mei.’”

With that, he openly handed out his cup. He watched as Mei Yinghan poured out the cold water and refilled it with hot. With the movement, the snow lotus once again bloomed in the cup, releasing a refreshing fragrance as the hot water brought it to life.

Bai Zhengliu vaguely thought: “This tea, this lotus, is just like Brother Mei.”

On the outside it appeared cool and aloof, but after spending time together, one would know that Brother Mei’s nature was warm and gentle. For instance, now — the cup delivered into his hands would surely be at just the right temperature, never scalding Bai Zhengliu.

He received the cup and gave Mei Yinghan a smile.

Mei Yinghan’s fingers moved again, though his expression remained calm and unruffled. Only after withdrawing his hand did he lightly rub his thumb against his index finger, brushing over the spot where his fingers had just touched Bai Zhengliu’s.

…

…

The Tianshan elders moved swiftly.

Bai and Mei had arrived at the sect at noon; by evening they had already finished writing all the letters to be sent out. Even with three people working together, producing such a thick stack — in the eyes of the blade-wielder and swordsman — was not easy at all.

They then watched Ling Bozi and the others press their personal seals one by one at the end of each letter, then seal the envelopes with wax. That was considered complete.

Ling Yunzi sighed regretfully: “It’s already nightfall today; after all, it will be delayed by a day.”

Ling Bozi waved his broad hand: “No matter how urgent, it must be so. We cannot have the disciples descend the mountain at night.”

Ling Yunzi and Ling Xiaozi both nodded. The three discussed a few more words, then decided simply to use the time to gather everyone together, to tell them about Bai and Mei’s report, as well as Tianshan’s next arrangements.

Bai Zhengliu also attended to listen. Occasionally, when the Tianshan masters and disciples spoke too roughly on certain details, he would step in to supplement them.

Even though Yu Han and the others had long prepared themselves mentally, when hearing the details now, they were still greatly astonished.

Beyond astonishment, the disciples then calmed themselves and began volunteering one after another: “I’ll deliver the letters!”

“I’ll go!”

“I’ll go!”Facing the disciples’ fervent eagerness to volunteer, the Tianshan elders felt both gratified and worried.

Naturally, they hoped their disciples would remain safe and unharmed. But having once been that age themselves, who did not understand the hearts of young heroes? Back during the calamity of the Blood Demon, they had rushed to the very front. Now, of course, they could not fall behind.

Thus the Tianshan elders could only repeatedly exhort them, telling the disciples to be sure to remember the experiences by which Bai and Mei had twice escaped from peril. In addition, they assigned disciples according to the number of letters.

Each letter would have two, even three people to escort it, and along the road they were to travel best in company with other teams.

After these repeated admonitions, the disciples listened solemnly and obeyed one by one.

As for Bai and Mei, considering that someone might come to Tianshan seeking details, they were kept behind as a precaution, just in case.

Author’s Note:

Loved the part where Little Bai keeps sneaking glances at Little Mei while running his inner monologue.