Washing My Feet in the Heavenly River

Qi WuHuo cupped his hands toward the man and bowed. "Greetings, sir. You are..."

Then he turned to the yellow ox, larger and more robust than any beast he had ever seen, and bowed slightly as well.

"And greetings to you, Brother Ox."

The yellow ox seemed pleased by the boy's good manners and propriety. It mooed twice and rubbed its body gently against him. The tall man's expression softened without his realizing it, and he laughed heartily. "Good boy, good boy. It seems I was the one who was rude."

He turned back to the old man. "I've prepared for you three hundred..."

The old man gave a faint cough.

The man kept a straight face. "Ahem, yes."

"Rice that ripens only once every three hundred days... I've got it all ready. The meal's prepared, and the wine has finished fermenting."

"I've been waiting for you. Though you've brought this young brother along, there's more than enough food."

"Please."

The old man smiled and nodded. The tall man led the way. Qi WuHuo looked around and saw that the place had not only fields, but also channels to irrigate them and a reservoir to store water. It looked like a farmstead. Looking again, he noticed that the tall man had a warm, honest smile and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing strong arms. He walked like an ordinary man with no cultivation, yet there was an air of unhurried composure about him.

Noticing Qi WuHuo's gaze, the man smiled, lowered his eyes, and nodded to him.

Then he praised him. "A child with excellent insight."

"Your eye for people is as discerning as ever."

He knew that the old gentleman often traveled the world and was never stingy about teaching a few methods to people of good character. But those whose names the old man remembered were invariably people whose character suited him and who also had exceptional insight. There were quite a few such people, and they had all achieved good results in their cultivation.

"WuHuo, go wander around and have a look."

The old man seemed to have something to discuss with the man, so he sent Qi WuHuo off to explore. The boy bowed in assent, then walked around the grounds with the sword case on his back. He saw that the rice plants grew to an enormous size and faintly radiated spiritual charm. Even the pond used for irrigation was no ordinary thing; it gave off a wisp of Spiritual Qi.

Beside the irrigation pond, Qi WuHuo saw a stone stele bearing some flowing, flamboyant characters.

"Nine Canals?"

"Does that mean nine ditches?"

Qi WuHuo wondered.

A silvery laugh rang out behind him. "Hehe, how could it possibly be that straightforward?"

As he stood puzzled, Qi WuHuo turned around and saw a young girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen. She wore pale green clothes, and the hem of her gauzy skirt was embroidered with flowers and birds. She regarded the blue-robed youth before her, who had a sword case on his back, with some curiosity.

"Are you a guest?"

"We hardly ever have guests here!"

The young girl seemed unused to seeing outsiders. She came closer, her eyes dark, bright, and wide, her smile clear and radiant.

Qi WuHuo discreetly took a step back, putting a suitable distance between them. He cupped his hands in a slight bow and explained that he had come with the old man to visit a friend. The young girl nodded, seeming relieved, and said with understanding, "Oh, I get it. You came with an elder to visit my father, so you're about the same generation as me."

"Some guests look young, even younger than you or me."

"But they're actually bad-tempered and very old."

"And their seniority is high, too!"

"Scarily high!"

"You're not like that. That's such a relief!"

The young girl stuck out her tongue, clearly still shaken by something. Then she asked:

"Where are you from?"

"What's your name?"

"Come on, I'll show you around my home."

The young girl was naturally pure and guileless, her smile bright. She seemed happy to have someone her own age visit for once.

Qi WuHuo cupped his hands and thanked her.

As they walked along the path, the young girl cheerfully introduced the sights around the island. But Qi WuHuo could see that, apart from the fields and houses where they were, the island was vast, stretching so far that the eye could hardly take it all in. The young girl seemed rarely to visit the other parts, saying that they were desolate and there was no need to see them.

The area planted with rice alone was already enormous.

Besides, the scenery was especially lovely. With the sword case on his back, the boy walked on step by step, listening as the young girl talked about the sights around her home and telling her about the Human World. He had not experienced much, but he had seen the Yellow Millet Dream and the Record of Becoming Immortal, in which Tantai Xuan struggled through an entire life. The myriad sights were in his eyes and in his heart.

When he spoke of the world beyond, the young girl listened, her face full of longing and curiosity.

She sighed wistfully.

"It sounds so wonderful out there."

"When will I ever get to leave?"

Qi WuHuo asked, "Why do you want to go out?"

The young girl pointed around them. "If you spent your whole life looking at scenery like this, wouldn't you want to see what's outside? Besides, my father and Empress met out there. Why won't my father let me leave?"

Qi WuHuo asked, "Is your mother here too?"

"I'm a junior, and I'm a guest. I should go pay my respects."

"She's not here."

The young girl waved a hand, indicating that the boy did not need to do that, and explained, "My mother's somewhere else now."

"Hmm, you want to know why? A long, long time ago, my father and mother worked in the same place. My mother came from a higher station, you see, and Father was a guard commander. They saw each other every day and grew fond of one another. When they were discovered, Father was only a guard, so they stripped him of his duties and drove him out. Later, Mother ran away too, and she and Father met again 'outside.'"

"After overcoming so many obstacles, they finally married, but later they were separated again."

"Though it seems someone finally spoke up for them, so they didn't get into too much trouble, they were still given a very heavy duty."

"They can only see each other once a year, in the middle of the year."

Qi WuHuo asked, "You only see her once a year?"

"Doesn't that mean you can only see your mother once a year?"

The young girl did not seem to mind much. "That's right."

"But we can write letters and talk during the rest of the year, so it's fine."

"And we have the Method of Manifesting Light Circles, too. It's all right."

"Whew, I'm tired from walking."

"Sit down too."

The young girl sat on a nearby blue-gray stone, then took off her shoes and dipped her sock-clad feet into a stream. It was a branch drawn from the channels that irrigated the fields. This particular stream did not water any crops and was kept purely for its beauty. The young girl let out a breath and smiled again. "The water from the Nine Canals is great for soaking your feet. It really relaxes you. Want to try?"

Qi WuHuo saw the clear purity in the young girl's eyes.

She wore the triumphant look of someone introducing a cherished thing to a friend her own age.

He smiled faintly. "Then, thank you..."

He took off his sword case and his thin-soled shoes, then lowered his feet into the stream. It did feel cool and refreshing, as if all the weariness in his body had faded away. He said, "By the way, you haven't told me what 'Nine Canals' means."

The young girl braced her hands on the ground at either side of her and lifted her feet, kicking at the water as she watched the ripples spread.

At that, she laughed. "Oh, how can you come here and not know the story behind it?"

She gazed up at the sky, answering with casual nonchalance:

"Because the star lodge made up of nine stars is called the Nine Canals."

"What's there to ask about?"

Qi WuHuo froze.

He watched the clear water of the Nine Canals flow together through its branches, then merge into a mighty river unlike any he had ever seen. It seemed to have been flowing for a very long time. He thought it over, then nodded. "I see. So the waterways here were named after a star lodge in the heavens?"

"That's interesting."

The young girl tilted her head. She did not correct his mistake, only asked in puzzlement:

"What's interesting about it?"

Qi WuHuo pointed toward the broad river and answered:

"If this really is the water of the Nine Canals, doesn't that mean we're soaking our feet in a river formed by stars in the heavens?"

"Washing my feet in the Heavenly River."

"That's romantic and grand."

"Something an immortal would do."

The young girl's eyes lit up. She looked at the thing she did so often, then suddenly broke into a radiant smile.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She threw her arms around the blue-robed youth and shouted, "It can mean that too?!"

"You can explain it that way?!"

"What a grand vision!"

"You really are an interesting genius!"

"Of all the people I know, no one has ever said anything like that!"

She was only a girl of thirteen or fourteen. Qi WuHuo's eyes were clear, without awkwardness or the slightest improper thought. He answered, "I just happened to come up with it." The young girl patted Qi WuHuo on the shoulder, then sat back down, savoring the idea with delight as she committed it to memory. Compared to her simply sneaking out to slack off instead of cultivating, this explanation was undoubtedly far more majestic.

Next time, she could tell Father and Teacher this!

As they chatted, Qi WuHuo slowly grew drowsy. He followed the young girl's example and lay back on the ground.

The blue-robed youth bit into a tender shoot the young girl had given him, folded his arms behind his head, and gazed up at the sky.

How strange.

He wondered idly.

Why were there no stars in the sky tonight?