Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 30

After a night’s sleep, Yun Qing had already processed the impact of the dream events on her. In the morning, squatting by the river, she splashed water on her face. The clear, cold water invigorated her, making her feel refreshed.

She stood up and gazed at the whitening sky in the east.

Jiang Baiyu watched her tall, slender figure from behind, feeling that something important had happened last night.

Naturally, he wouldn’t ask.

Yun Qing suddenly turned around, catching him off guard as he was watching her. Awkwardly, he averted his gaze.

Yun Qing asked him, “Baiyu, can you tell me what kind of person Jiang Binghe was?”

Jiang Baiyu thought for a moment and shook his head, saying, “I lived in Lanji Palace for many years and didn’t have much contact with him. I only know that he was a person who would use any means to achieve his goals—which you already know.”

Yun Qing asked again, “How much do you know about his Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror?”

Jiang Baiyu answered, “The Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror was made by our sect’s founder, Huayang Zi. In the tenth year after ascending to immortality, Huayang Zi appeared as a divine manifestation on Huayang Mountain and bestowed the Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror. Since then, it became our sect’s treasure, kept by each generation’s leader.”

“Each generation’s leader? Wasn’t Jiang Binghe the first leader after Huayang Zi’s ascension?”

“No. After Huayang Zi ascended, the Huayang Sect was passed to his senior disciple, my martial master, Tuishan Zi Yu Wanzhi.”

“Then what happened after that?”

“Later, Tuishan Zi died mysteriously, and my father took over as the leader, naturally inheriting the Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror.

“After that, my martial aunt—that is, Huayang Zi’s junior sister—Hanlu Zi believed Tuishan Zi’s death was suspicious. She led some elders and disciples to challenge my father, plunging the Huayang Sect into internal strife.

“The conflict lasted for a year, affecting many people. The Huayang Sect lost nearly half of its disciples. In the end, my father won and imprisoned Hanlu Zi in the sect’s forbidden area. This incident became known as the ‘Cold Heron Rebellion.'”

(TL: 寒鷺 hán lù=Cold Heron)

“When did this happen?”

“Tuishan Zi died nineteen years ago, and the Cold Heron Rebellion occurred shortly thereafter.”

Yun Qing listened carefully, habitually rubbing her chin with her thumb and index finger. This was the first time she had heard about these old matters of the Huayang Sect, and she felt there might be some shocking secrets hidden behind them.

However, she didn’t have the energy to worry about those things for now.

After listening, Yun Qing said, “So the Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror is an immortal artifact. No wonder its power is so overwhelming. But there’s one thing I find strange.”

“Hmm?”

“In your Huayang Sect, from Huayang Zi to Jiang Binghe, everyone practiced the Way of Longevity. I assume Tuishan Zi and Hanlu Zi did too?”

“Tuishan Zi indeed practiced the Way of Longevity, but Hanlu didn’t. She practiced the Way of the Sword.”

Yun Qing nodded, “Then let’s not talk about Hanlu Zi… From master to disciple, everyone practiced the Way of Longevity. Lotus flowers are carved on your sect’s main gate, embroidered on disciples’ robes, and even Huayang Zi’s statue holds a lotus flower. This shows how important lotus flowers are to the Huayang Sect.

“But I’ve never heard of any powerful treasure in your sect related to lotus flowers. Don’t you find that strange?”

Jiang Baiyu pursed his lips and explained, “The lotus itself symbolizes longevity.”

“Is that so?” Yun Qing raised an eyebrow, walked in front of him with her hands behind her back, and looked him up and down. Suddenly she smiled and said, “Could it be that you are the treasure?”

“……”

“Look, you do have the fragrance of lotus flowers.” As she spoke, she leaned closer and exaggeratedly inhaled, putting on an enraptured expression. “Ah, so fragrant.”

Jiang Baiyu’s ears turned red. He stood still, not knowing whether to retreat or stay, and not wanting to punch her pretty face. In the end, he just turned his back to her helplessly, shaking his head and saying softly, “Frivolous.”

……

After simple preparations, they were ready to set off. Fu Xue asked the question again:

“Senior sister, where are we going?”

A good question. Yun Qing felt she definitely needed to find Jiang Binghe, but she wasn’t ready yet.

Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book contained an important formation that she had been trying to comprehend for a long time but hadn’t fully mastered yet. Without this formation, given her current cultivation level, she might not be able to defeat Jiang Binghe, who possessed an immortal artifact.

Not only was the content of Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book profound and difficult to understand, but even the writing style differed significantly from current forms.

Yun Qing’s current problem was that there was a character she didn’t recognize at all and could only guess. She had tried many times but still hadn’t guessed correctly.

Wait a bit longer. With this thought, Yun Qing answered, “We’ll go with the flow, adapt to circumstances, and just wander around.”

This wandering continued for about ten days. Along the way, they ate in the wind and slept in the open, spending seven or eight nights outdoors.

Cheng Suiyan found it novel at first, but after a few days, he began to complain. In the vast wilderness, with tigers, panthers, and mosquitoes, there wasn’t a human shadow in sight, let alone opportunities to buy things or find entertainment. His thousand pieces of gold were like waste paper.

Finally reaching a small town, he immediately wanted to buy everything—new clothes, incense, a good pot with excellent seasonings, and even mahjong and dice for entertainment on the road.

Fu Xue said, “Big young master, why not buy some maids, servants, and stewards too?”

Cheng Suiyan knew she was mocking him but wasn’t annoyed. He just smiled and said, “Never mind, I wouldn’t want stupid and clumsy servants anyway.”

Fu Xue: “You should suffer a bit. It’s good for you.”

Cheng Suiyan nodded. “You’re right. But I really want to buy pepper and mahjong.”

Fu Xue knew he had misunderstood, so she said, “I didn’t mean it’s good for your character.”

“Oh?”

“Have you heard of wealth-eating ghosts?”

“No, what are those?”

“Wealth-eating ghosts, as the name suggests, are monsters that particularly like to eat you nobles and officials.

They say that in their eyes, privileged people like you are delicious, premium ingredients. Some ghosts will eagerly eat you alive when they catch you, some will take you home to be roasted, and others will slice you into pieces to make preserved meat for slow consumption.”

As she spoke, her expression became increasingly ferocious, as if she were one of those wealth-eating ghosts.

Cheng Suiyan rubbed the goosebumps on his arm through his sleeve and complained, “Always playing tricks.”

Fu Xue: “Hey, I’m telling the truth. If you suffer a bit, you won’t attract wealth-eating ghosts so much.”

Cheng Suiyan nudged Yun Qing with his elbow, “Yun Qing, control your junior sister.”

……

This town was called Shanqian Town, located northwest of Guangling City. Originally, because Cheng Suiyan had talked about the prosperity of the capital, Fu Xue was eager to see it, so they had been unconsciously heading north.

But on the way, they heard from a woodcutter that there were monsters in Shanqian Town. Since they were not far from the town at that time, they turned west, planning to take a look and perhaps catch a monster.

The town was quite dilapidated, with uneven roads and many beggars. Most people on the streets wore drab gray clothes. As Yun Qing’s group walked down the street, they felt all eyes focused on them, which was quite uncomfortable.

They found the best inn in town, which was old and small. Outside the inn, two beggars were sitting in the shade of the eaves. Due to not bathing for a long time, the backs of their hands and feet were black. They occasionally scratched lice from their bodies and then squeezed the lice into their mouths.

Three to five children, laughing, threw half a steamed bun in front of the two beggars. The beggars turned and crawled on the ground, fighting over the bun like dogs, making threatening “hehe” sounds while competing, also like dogs.

The children clapped with delight. Adults around also laughed heartily.

Yun Qing couldn’t help but frown.

The group walked into the inn and sat down in the lobby.

The lobby was quite cramped, with only six tables. At the moment, five or six people were eating noodles at one table, with a dish of dark brown pickled vegetables in the middle. They appeared to be traveling merchants passing through.

The inn attendant was a short, thin servant in his early twenties, with a dark face and an honest appearance. He was taciturn, but his clothes and shoes were clean and neat.

Cheng Suiyan ordered a table full of wine and dishes. Fu Xue asked the attendant about local specialties, and he said they were pickled vegetables and sweet pears. Cheng Suiyan ordered those as well.

Yun Qing asked the attendant, “I saw those two beggars outside have hands and feet and are young. Why don’t they find work? That would be better than begging.”

The attendant replied, “They’re fools,” pointing to his temple with his index finger, “Something’s wrong in here.”

Yun Qing understood, “I see.”

The attendant asked, “Do you find them bothersome? I can go chase them away.”

Yun Qing quickly stopped him, “No need.”

Jiang Baiyu asked, “What about their families? Don’t they look after them?”

“That, I don’t know. They’re not locals, they came begging from another place. I’ve heard they came from Linglong City.”

The group stopped discussing this topic.

Yun Qing asked the attendant if he had heard about monsters in town or if any family had experienced something strange. The attendant first shook his head in confusion, then thought for a moment and said:

“The Master Tang from Southern Street gets bitten by dogs very easily when he goes out, about seven or eight times a month;

Old man Wang from Yangshe Village, ten miles north, has pigs that can climb onto roofs and trees;

And, the Widow Wang from Eastern Street took three husbands at once, one of whom is rumored to be the son of her father’s illegitimate daughter with her cousin… Do these count as strange?”

Cheng Suiyan said, “Wait, let me process this.”

Yun Qing felt a strange sensation inside.

……

During dinner, Cheng Suiyan complained that the food and wine weren’t good and asked the attendant to find two musicians to entertain them. The playing was terrible and the singing was awful, like crows crying at a grave, making people lose their appetite even more.

Cheng Suiyan gave them some reward money and quickly sent them away. The merchants at the next table, who had been listening and enjoying it, looked disappointed when the musicians left.

After eating haphazardly, Cheng Suiyan asked the attendant if there were any entertainment venues in town.

The attendant recommended three options: taverns, gambling dens, and brothels. With each suggestion, Cheng Suiyan’s face darkened further.

He thought these places were too disreputable and decided not to go out for entertainment. Instead, he asked the attendant to buy various goods, including, sure enough, a set of mahjong tiles.

Yun Qing, as a cultivator, wasn’t obsessed with such things, but Cheng Suiyan kept begging.

Yun Qing also knew that he had been very bored on the journey, so she felt a bit softhearted. The three of them played mahjong with Cheng Suiyan for a while.

Cheng Suiyan knew that the three of them rarely played such games and were also poor, so he thoughtfully said, “Let’s not bet money. Let’s bet flicks to the forehead.”

He thought that when Fu Xue lost, he would flick her forehead hard to get revenge for her making up stories to tease him.

From early evening to late evening, they played for a full hour. Cheng Suiyan also lost for a full hour, winning a head full of bumps, which finally taught him a lesson.

In the evening, the attendant directed people to bring in bathtubs and hot water, along with bath beans and dried flowers. The small inn had few staff, so they could only serve one room at a time. Naturally, they served the generous Cheng Suiyan first.

The attendant knew these guests liked cleanliness, so he had people scrub the bathtub until it nearly gleamed.

Looking at the clean, shining bathtub, the white mist rising from the hot water, and the various flower petals floating on the water’s surface, Fu Xue showed a satisfied smile.

As cultivators, they could keep themselves clean and immaculate, so the hot bath was merely for relaxation.

“Playing mahjong is much more tiring than meditation,” Fu Xue complained, then asked, “Senior sister, you first?”

“You go first.”

Fu Xue didn’t stand on ceremony any longer and began to undress.

Suddenly Yun Qing interrupted her again. “Wait.”

“What’s wrong, senior—”

“Shh, there’s monster aura.”