Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 77

When Yun Qing stood in the snowy ground and spoke those words to the headless charred corpse, Cheng Suiyan curiously asked, “Yun Qing, are you saying that the one who kidnapped your master wasn’t Huayang Zi?”

“Yes, I think Jiang Binghe must have been afflicted with a silence curse.”

Hanlu Zi and Jiang Baiyu also nodded, both agreeing with her assessment.

The silence curse was a general term that encompassed various different incantations.

Some silence curses prevented a person from speaking even a single word, with effects similar to the silence formation that the Huayang Sect disciples had previously deployed. Other silence curses only controlled people from speaking about certain specific persons and objects. What Jiang Binghe had been afflicted with should have been this latter type.

Moreover, the curse he had been afflicted with was extremely powerful—it not only imposed silence but also caused severe backlash to anyone who attempted to speak.

He couldn’t mention this person, including this person’s name, dao title, various appellations, and so forth. Any words that pointed to this person were within the scope of the prohibition, and once he formed the intention to speak, he would suffer backlash from earth fire.

Yun Qing gave Cheng Suiyan and Fu Xue a simple explanation of the silence curse, then concluded, “As the sect master of Huayang Sect, Jiang Binghe wouldn’t have mentioned Huayang Zi infrequently, so the person under the prohibition wouldn’t be Huayang Zi.”

Jiang Baiyu added, “When he heard Yun Qing’s question just now, his expression showed no abnormality. I think he himself probably doesn’t know that he’s been afflicted with a silence curse.”

“Baiyu is right. To be able to cast a curse on him without his awareness—this person’s strength is powerful beyond our imagination.”

When everyone heard these words, their expressions all became serious. If his strength far exceeded Jiang Binghe’s, then it could only be an immortal.

Fu Xue had originally wanted to ask Hanlu Zi whether they should try the soul-summoning secret technique that Huayang Sect was said to possess. But now it seemed that since this was a silence curse cast by an immortal, even if they summoned the soul, they probably wouldn’t be able to interrogate anything from it.

Fu Xue nervously looked left and right. In the vast wind and snow, it seemed as if something was secretly watching her from the shadows. She suddenly felt somewhat horrified and asked, “Senior sister, then what should we do?”

“I don’t know.”

Yun Qing’s gaze fell on the snowy ground, and rarely, her face showed confusion.

Having expended tremendous effort and risked her life to reach this point, she had finally seen a glimmer of hope, only to suddenly hit what seemed like a transparent wall. This made her feel extremely frustrated.

She had even considered telling that person that she could understand Emperor Xi’s Wordless Book—just capture her instead, as long as they released her master.

But if she revealed the truth, would her master really be safe? What qualifications did weak people have to negotiate terms with powerful ones? When people killed chickens, did they negotiate terms with the chickens?

Her hand was suddenly grasped by someone. A warm, broad palm enveloped hers, palm pressed against palm, with a slightly hard object between them. That hand squeezed hers once before separating, leaving this object in her hand.

Yun Qing curiously looked down and opened her hand to see a piece of malt candy lying in her palm.

She looked up at Jiang Baiyu.

Being gazed at by those beautiful eyes through the falling snow, even in such freezing weather, Jiang Baiyu’s ears began to burn. He pressed his lips together and said gently:

“Yun Qing, being able to determine that the person who kidnapped your master isn’t Huayang Zi is also a kind of success. Take it slowly.”

“Mm.” Yun Qing broke the malt candy in half and gave half to Fu Xue.

The two senior and junior sisters held the candy in their mouths, and Fu Xue said, “Baiyu is right. Senior sister, let’s take it slowly. Didn’t Master say that the fastest way to accomplish something is to do it slowly?”

Yun Qing nodded. Feeling the blissful sweetness blooming in her mouth, her emotions also calmed somewhat. “I was too anxious.”

Hanlu Zi had been silently listening to their conversation. When she saw Jiang Baiyu comforting Yun Qing, she thought of something and her expression became gentle.

Jiang Baiyu looked toward Hanlu Zi and asked, “Grand-martial Aunt, there’s something I don’t understand.

Huayang Zi is our sect’s founding ancestor. From the Jade River Sky-Shaking Mirror, we can see that he cared deeply for the younger generation of the sect. But why has he remained silent and ignored Jiang Binghe’s twenty years of causing chaos in Huayang Sect?

Previously, we speculated that he and Jiang Binghe might have shared the same position. Now it seems that the immortal Jiang Binghe colluded with is someone else entirely. Why has Huayang Zi sat by and done nothing?”

“Good question,” Hanlu Zi suddenly let out a long sigh. “Actually, there’s something I’ve suspected for a long time.”

“What is it?”

“I suspect that senior brother is no longer among the living.”

“What did you say?!”

Everyone was stunned by this news, staring at her in bewilderment.

Hanlu Zi’s eyes reddened. “Let’s go. This isn’t the place to talk.”

The group left Guizhen Peak and found a thatched hut at the foot of the mountain to rest. The hut was covered with dry grass, and everyone sat on the ground. Jiang Baiyu lit a campfire.

Hanlu Zi gazed at the dancing flames and said, “Senior brother was a person of noble character and pure intentions. He and I were both disciples of Jiuxiao Sect back then, when Jiuxiao Sect had very poor discipline. Those who killed and plundered, who turned against their fellow disciples, were everywhere.

We two couldn’t stand Jiuxiao Sect’s way of doing things, so we betrayed the sect and came to Huayang Mountain to establish our own school.

The Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus grows in the Heavenly Pool of Kunlun Mountain. It’s a magic treasure that has existed naturally since the beginning of heaven and earth.

Senior brother was being pursued by people from Jiuxiao Sect to Kunlun Mountain at that time. By chance, he obtained the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus and escaped from a desperate situation—it was truly a tremendous stroke of fortune.

He could have kept such a treasure for himself, but he said that the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus could only preserve a mortal body from death and had no such benefit for an immortal body. So after becoming an immortal, the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus would be nothing more than a magic treasure for absorbing spiritual energy for him.

It would be better to leave it in Huayang Sect for future generations.

As you all know, the spiritual energy in this world is gradually becoming thinner. Legend has it that this is due to a crack in the heavens long ago.

At that time, both the pure and turbid energies and spiritual energy of this world leaked out through the heavenly crack into unknown spaces. Later, the goddess Nuwa refined five-colored stones to mend the heavenly crack, blocking the outflow of pure and turbid energies and saving all living things in the mortal world.

However, those five-colored stones couldn’t stop the outflow of spiritual energy. Fortunately, spiritual energy only affected cultivation and didn’t affect the survival and reproduction of all living things.

Therefore, for many years, the spiritual energy in this world has been decreasing every day. Absorbing spiritual energy has become increasingly difficult, and naturally, the speed of cultivation has become slower and slower.

So the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus, which could absorb spiritual energy, became especially precious. We all knew the weight of this magic treasure, so we never revealed even half of it to outsiders.

It’s just that senior brother once felt he was about to break through a realm and summoned Yu Wanzhi to discuss this matter, but Jiang Binghe accidentally overheard it. This led to all the subsequent troubles.”

After listening, Yun Qing nodded and said, “It seems that Senior Huayang Zi was an upright and selfless person.”

“Yes, Yu Wanzhi was very similar to him in this regard, so we senior and junior discussed it and both felt that Yu Wanzhi was most suitable to manage the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus.

Because the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus could only accelerate cultivation speed—it couldn’t guarantee that whoever obtained it would definitely become an immortal. If a greedy person obtained it, they would always monopolize it and never let go, which would go against senior brother’s original intention.

Senior brother hoped that if they encountered disciples with excellent natural talent and comprehension, the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus could be transferred to that disciple to assist their cultivation, which would also continue the unbroken lineage of our Huayang school.

Yu Wanzhi himself had average natural talent and had no chance with the Great Dao, but his temperament was gentle and honest. If he encountered a suitable disciple, he would be able to hand over the Golden Frost Jade Dew Lotus. In contrast, there was absolutely no such possibility with Jiang Binghe.”

“Senior Huayang Zi’s consideration was extremely thorough.”

“Later, after senior brother ascended to immortality, he gave me a spirit communication incense stick. He said that if Huayang Sect had any trouble, I should light this incense stick, and no matter where he was, he would return, unless he had died and his dao had been extinguished. Nineteen years ago, after Yu Wanzhi’s mysterious death, I lit this incense stick, but senior brother didn’t come.”

When Hanlu Zi reached this point, a clear tear slid down her cheek. “My senior brother never broke his word. I think he must have truly died and his dao extinguished.”

Yun Qing stared blankly, still somewhat unable to believe that the person she had been searching for so long was actually no longer alive. “A powerful immortal just disappeared like that?”

Ci Li pressed further, “What about Yixin Zi? She and Huayang Zi were dao companions. If Huayang Zi is gone, then she…” Is she still alive or not?

Yun Qing’s heart sank. If Yixin Zi were still alive, it wouldn’t make sense for so many of her magic treasures to appear in her master’s possession. Most likely, she was also gone.

And the fact that her master had never used those mysterious magic treasures from Longshou Mountain all these years finally had an explanation: he was hiding from enemies, and these enemies recognized those treasures.

So the truth was actually this simple… Yun Qing couldn’t help but smile bitterly. After thinking it over, she said:

“If Senior Huayang Zi is truly gone, I wonder—could the person who killed him be the same immortal who colluded with Jiang Binghe?

Think about it: why was Jiang Binghe so confident when he ambushed Yu Wanzhi nineteen years ago, not fearing that Huayang Zi would hold him accountable? Is it possible that he already knew Huayang Zi was gone?”

“You’re right. Over the years, I’ve also tried to probe Jiang Binghe with words, but that scoundrel was too cunning.”

Cheng Suiyan listened as if in a dream, murmuring, “So the world of immortals is far from being as beautiful as the mortal world describes it—it’s full of cruel slaughter.”

Yun Qing used a tree branch to stir the fire and sighed, “Now I finally understand what my master meant by those words.”

“What words?”

“He said that people spend their entire lives trapped in cages. Cultivating immortality is just jumping from one cage into another, larger cage. If the heart isn’t free, then everywhere between heaven and earth is a cage. If the heart is free, then there’s no difference between a mortal body and an immortal body.”

Everyone carefully pondered these words. The thatched hut fell into silence, with only the crackling sounds of the fire remaining.

After a while, Ci Li sighed with emotion, “Truly worthy of being a successor of the Way of One Mind.”