The Madman and the Mad Saber

The moon hung high, and the night lay heavy. The sea stretched beyond the horizon, its blue-black waves rolling without end.

A large ship drifted across the water, hung with lanterns that lit the surroundings as bright as day. A middle-aged man sat cross-legged at the bow, holding a fishing rod, his expression calm as he fished.

His eyebrows were thick, lending him a rugged air. Two strips of mustache stretched horizontally across his upper lip, looking rather peculiar. His blue robe was part Confucian scholar's gown, part monk's robe, part Daoist garb—a decidedly eccentric combination. His aura was restrained, and not a trace of True Qi clung to the fishing rod. He seemed to be genuinely savoring the pleasures of fishing and the peace of a quiet mind. Yet if one followed the rod and line down, one would find no bait on the hook at all. Catching a fish seemed to depend entirely on luck, as he imitated the old tale of waiting beneath a tree for a hare, hoping some foolish fish would bite.

An old servant with a head of white hair stood beside him. He glanced at the middle-aged man with evident concern.

"Don't worry. Your master won't go mad. He's only using fishing to calm his mind and temper his spirit," the middle-aged man said mildly.

The old servant sighed. "Island Master, Madam has passed away, and your bond has ended. There's no need to keep forcing it. Just regard it as a matter of past lives and future lives."

The middle-aged man was Wu Jizhen, Island Master of Three Immortals Island. His hand holding the rod did not waver in the slightest. In a calm voice, he said, "Once Xuan Nü forms her Dharma Body, she won't need an incarnation anymore. When that