Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 63

When Jiang Baiyu spoke of past events, his tone was calm, as if he were an outsider telling someone else’s story.

But Yun Qing listened with her eyes growing moist.

Not eating, not sleeping—she had only thought he was an obsessive cultivation fanatic, never imagining there were such reasons behind it all.

Fu Xue shed tears directly, wiping her eyes while saying, “I’m sorry, Baiyu. I used to think you were just a pretty boy, never knowing your days at Huayang Mountain were so miserable.”

“It was bearable,” Jiang Baiyu said.

Cheng Suiyan’s eyes also turned red, and he gritted his teeth as he cursed, “That Jiang Binghe is truly worse than a beast!”

Ci Li crouched on the table, puzzled. “If Jiang Binghe acted so wildly, didn’t Huayang Zi care at all? Or were they birds of a feather?”

Yun Qing suddenly thought of the immortal in her dream.

She had originally suspected that Huayang Zi and Jiang Binghe were accomplices, but now it seemed…

“If Huayang Zi and Jiang Binghe were in league together, then why didn’t Huayang Zi directly pass the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus to Jiang Binghe?”

Ci Li nodded. “You’re right. Is it possible they weren’t allies at first, but became allies later?”

Yun Qing said leisurely, “Your line of thinking is quite distinctive.”

Ci Li continued, “Setting that aside for now… who did Huayang Zi originally pass the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus to? Did he pass it directly to Jiang Baiyu? When he ascended, Jiang Baiyu wouldn’t be born for another eighty years, right?

Perhaps he passed it to his eldest disciple, Tuishan Zi Yu Wanzhi? If it was Yu Wanzhi, he himself hadn’t ascended yet—why would he be willing to pass such a powerful treasure to someone else? If he hadn’t given away the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus, he wouldn’t have died either.”

He looked toward Jiang Baiyu. “Little one, what’s your relationship with Yu Wanzhi?”

Jiang Baiyu shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Could you possibly be his son?”

“Unlikely. He never married or had children.”

“What about an illegitimate child?”

“He was the previous sect master, after all. If he had descendants, it would be hard to hide.”

“Did he leave behind any disciples?”

“He had four direct disciples who all disappeared at the same time as his mysterious death. Their whereabouts remain unknown to this day.”

Yun Qing thought for a moment and asked, “What about Hanlu Zi? She’s still alive, isn’t she? She was Huayang Zi’s junior sister—she might know something about past events. Have you ever met her?”

Jiang Baiyu shook his head again. “The forbidden area where Hanlu Zi resides has formations set up by Jiang Binghe. I can’t break through them yet.”

“Formations?” Yun Qing smiled. “I’d like to see what they’re like.”

Her smile pulled at the wounds on her face, making her involuntarily hiss.

Jiang Baiyu looked at her face, frowned slightly, and said, “There’s one more thing, Yun Qing.”

“Mm?”

“The soul body that Qingcheng Zi forged counts as an immortal artifact. That jade sword contained immortal power, though not much. I suspect your Vajra Indestructible Body works against mortals but can’t resist immortal power, which is why you were injured.”

“I see,” Yun Qing pondered for a moment and nodded. “What you say makes sense.”

The problem was, Jiang Binghe’s Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror was an extremely powerful immortal artifact.

This was going to be somewhat troublesome…

****

After talking for a while and discussing how to handle Qin Ranqing’s corpse, Ci Li kept suggesting terrible ideas—first proposing to throw the body in the river to feed the fish, then suggesting burning it for fertilizer. Jiang Baiyu remained silent.

At this time, a maid came carrying a food box to deliver breakfast. Yun Qing noticed that all the maids wore plain clothes without powder or rouge, and had removed all their hairpins and jewelry. Her heart sank as she asked, “Chu Yanzhang, he…?”

One maid’s eyes welled with tears as she answered, “The young master… has passed away.”

After all, Chu Yanzhang’s soul had been separated from his body for quite some time and had been swept by yin energy. Being mortal, he couldn’t withstand such erosion. Besides him, dozens of others near Chaoque Tower who had been swept by the yin energy had also died.

In a single day, dozens of households in Linglong City began preparing for funerals.

Yun Qing frowned. Though she had expected this, the news was still heavy. She wondered how Yanhe was doing.

…..

Chu Yanhe stood in the corridor wearing plain clothes, her expression calm as she lowered her head to trim her nails.

These nails had been dyed bright red with balsam flowers before yesterday, but now they had been scrubbed clean with strong liquor. From soaking in alcohol for too long, her fingertips still ached.

Chu Xing held his sword with an expressionless face, standing beside Chu Yanhe like a door guardian.

In front of Chu Yanhe, in the courtyard, over a dozen long benches were arranged. A person lay prone on each bench—men and women—held down by their shoulders while receiving beatings on their thighs with wooden boards.

The entire courtyard echoed with the slapping sounds of wood striking flesh and pig-like wailing.

After listening for a while, Chu Yanhe lightly raised her hand.

The wooden boards stopped in perfect unison, and the wailing turned to groaning.

Chu Yanhe swept her gaze over the groaning people and said, “You are all people of standing. By rights, with my eldest brother’s body not yet cold, I shouldn’t be punishing you elders. But you’ve gone too far!

You thought I was young and easy to fool, didn’t you? Slacking off, keeping false accounts, stealing—what wouldn’t you dare to do? You really thought I was dough that could be kneaded at will?

My eldest brother just passed, and each of you couldn’t wait to empty the city lord’s mansion. Why don’t I just give you the city lord’s seal too!”

The groaning people repeatedly protested their innocence and cried that they were wronged.

“Wronged?” Chu Yanhe sneered. “Anyone who feels wronged is welcome to file a complaint at the magistrate’s office. Better yet, let the whole city know just how wronged you are.

Is it the kind of wrong where eggs cost one tael of silver each, or the kind where you steal the master’s gold and silver? My accounts here are crystal clear—I guarantee every one of your wrongs is recorded in detail!”

She looked at the executioners. “Continue beating. Beat them to within an inch of their lives. Don’t stop until they’ve each received forty strokes!”

The beating resumed with crackling sounds and renewed wailing. Everyone around held their breath.

A maid entered the courtyard from outside, carefully approaching Chu Yanhe to whisper, “Young miss, Immortal Lady Yun requests an audience.”

Chu Yanhe left Chu Xing to supervise the punishment while she went to the flower hall to meet Yun Qing’s group.

…..

Yun Qing felt that Chu Yanhe seemed somehow different.

Before today, she had been an innocent, carefree girl—straightforward and guileless, laughing when happy, crying when sad.

But now, having lost all her support, her gaze had become steady and resolute.

Faced with tremendous shock and caught completely unprepared, she had grown up.

Yun Qing sighed. “You’ve worked hard.”

Chu Yanhe’s eyes reddened, and she struggled to tilt her face upward, forcing back her tears.

She didn’t want to grow up either. How she wished she could always depend on her elder brothers, remain carefree forever, and always be just a pampered young lady.

But she couldn’t. Now the burden had fallen on her shoulders. How could she escape? She had to support the entire city lord’s mansion and become her brothers’ pillar of strength.

It was truly exhausting…

The scheming servants, the restless Chu clan members, and the common people seeking to settle scores with the city lord’s mansion…

Overnight, she discovered her world had changed color. Those who had once been kind, respectful, and deferential had all abandoned their pretenses, revealing sharp fangs.

Everyone was watching her, waiting for her to fall, like hyenas waiting to devour someone struggling on their deathbed.

She couldn’t fall. If she fell, what would happen to the Chu family? What about her brother?

In public, she didn’t dare show even fatigue.

Chu Yanhe waited until the burning sensation in her eyes subsided before saying, “Let me take you to see big brother.”

“Mm.”

Come to think of it, when they had arrived in Linglong City, Chu Yanzhang had already succeeded as city lord, his earth soul already fused by Qingcheng Zi.

So that passionate young man who had single-handedly served his country—Yun Qing had never truly known him. Not being able to spar with such a person in this lifetime was indeed a regret.

Chu Yanzhang lay on the funeral bed in burial clothes, his face ashen gray.

Curled up in his arms was a beautiful calico cat.

When Chu Yanhe saw the cat, she was startled. “How is there a cat here? Someone come!”

Ci Li said, “Wait, this is Liaoliao.”

“Who is Liaoliao?”

Fu Xue said, “Liaoliao was your big brother’s beloved while he lived.”

The calico cat was awakened by the noise. It stood up from Chu Yanzhang’s chest and opened a pair of somewhat vacant sapphire-blue eyes. After staring blankly for a moment and sniffing the air, it finally faced in the direction of Yun Qing’s group.

It asked, “Ninth Uncle, is that you?”

Ci Li answered, “It’s me.”

“Ninth Uncle!” Tears suddenly burst from the sapphire-blue eyes. “I knew he hadn’t changed his heart! I knew he hadn’t changed his heart!”

*****

Late at night, Yun Qing came to the rooftop carrying two wine jars.

Jiang Baiyu sat on the roof with one leg drawn up, his arm resting on his knee. He wasn’t looking at the moon but gazing straight ahead at some point in the distant void, lost in thought.

Yun Qing sat down beside him and handed him one of the wine jars.

Jiang Baiyu reached out to take the jar. He broke the seal, lifted the jar, and took a large gulp. After drinking, he maintained his head-tilted position, looking up at the waning moon in the sky.

Yun Qing turned to look at him, seeing his expression as tranquil as the night, revealing no emotion.

Having no emotion was itself a kind of emotion.

“She actually treated me quite well,” Jiang Baiyu suddenly spoke.

Yun Qing knew he was talking about Qin Ranqing.

She said, “There are few people in this world who are clearly black or white. Most people are gray.”

“Mm.” He lifted his index finger from the hand holding the wine jar, pointing toward the sky. “This moon is the same. It’s rarely full—most of the time it’s incomplete.”

Yun Qing nodded with some emotion. “Yes, people spend their lives pursuing completeness, yet rarely achieve it. The moon at least becomes full once a month, but most people never experience completeness even once in their entire lives.

Even if they ascend to immortality, so what? Can immortals achieve completeness? That immortal called Yinmei Zi was still beaten until his soul scattered, unable even to reincarnate.”

Jiang Baiyu said, “The way of heaven is distant; the human path is near. If we pursue completeness in external things, we will never have a complete day. What people can do is only achieve inner completeness—having a clear conscience means no regrets.”

“You’re right.” Yun Qing rested her chin on her hand and turned to look at him, discovering he was also looking at her. Their gazes fell directly into each other’s eyes.

She had come tonight intending to comfort him, but unexpectedly found herself comforted by him again.

She sighed, “I think when Master named me ‘Yun Qing’, he had this meaning too. He didn’t want me to be affected by worldly love, hate, and entanglements—just to seek inner completeness. Unfortunately, I haven’t done very well.”

Jiang Baiyu smiled slightly. “I think you’re doing very well.”

Both felt somewhat relieved and clinked their wine jars, drinking together under the waning moon and autumn wind.

Later, Jiang Baiyu played the Song of Ease for her again.

Yun Qing lightly tapped her knee with two fingers, quietly listening to the entire piece before softly calling his name, “Baiyu.”

“Mm?”

“Do you want to sleep? I’ll keep watch for you.”

Jiang Baiyu held the wine jar in one hand and turned to look into her eyes again. Her brilliant pupils reflected moonlight and starlight, shining almost too brightly. Her lips were still wet with wine, looking moist and soft like flower petals dampened by rain.

He said, “Are you pitying me?”

“I…”

“Yun Qing, everyone else can pity me, but you cannot.”

Yun Qing was stunned. “Why?”

He suddenly leaned slightly forward, moving closer. The lotus fragrance at the tip of her nose became several degrees more distinct.

“Think for yourself.”