"In just a few days, your Sword Qi managed to injure me this badly. Though you borrowed the power of a spirit sword, you've done well enough."
A martial art like the Purple Sash Azure Charter was like the Sword God of Ten-Mile Slope—a grinding discipline that one should not leave the mountain before mastering, lest all previous effort be ruined.
Otherwise, a martial art guaranteed to reach Sixth Grade would not have drawn so little interest in White Deer Grotto.
Gu Yin crouched, gripped the slick sword hilt, and aimed the blade at Su Che's throat.
"Dying beneath your own weapon—haven't you anything to say?"
"..."
Su Che's lips moved, and he spat out a bloodied chunk of viscera.
"What did you say?"
Gu Yin gave a cold, sinister chuckle. All at once, he found himself patient enough to listen.
"Things have come to this. Can you tell me what all this was for? At least let me die knowing the truth."
Rain fell in sheets, dark clouds coiled overhead, and Gu Yin slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Fine. At this point, what harm was there in telling him?
"Everyone has their own allotted fate. When we of the Confucian School cultivate to Sixth Grade, we gain what is called Qi-Reading. We can distinguish fortune from misfortune and judge Destiny Patterns. Your original Destiny Pattern was the so-called Canopy Fate."
There was deep regret in Gu Yin's eyes. "This sort of fate is suited to entering the gate of emptiness. Whether you seek the Buddha or pursue the Dao, you can achieve something. Unfortunately, your fate changed abruptly several months ago, becoming the destiny of the Sixfold Azure Dragon—the fate of a human sovereign."
"So White Deer Grotto targeted me because of this Destiny Pattern?"
"Correct. Everything that happened before was arranged by our academy."
Su Che had already heard this from Zhongyuan.
Yet the whispers that had slipped from that mysterious Zhongyuan's lips were something he truly had not wished to believe.
Now that he had finally received confirmation from a White Deer Grotto disciple, Su Che did not know whether he should feel relieved or have his scalp prickle with dread.
His enemy was White Deer Grotto, one of the Confucian School's Four Great Academies, renowned throughout the land.
"Just because of some illusory Destiny Pattern?"
"The matter of Destiny Patterns is not illusory. The Qi-Reading Art is a form of judgment upon the future. Young Master Su, consider yourself. You were born into an Aristocratic Clan of officials, possess considerable talent, and if you also have intelligence beyond ordinary men, along with a little opportunity, how far do you think you might grow?"
"Would it not be a good thing if the world gained another hegemon who united all beneath heaven?"
"Young Master Su, think about it. What does an age of great contention, where countless heroes shine, mean for the common people?"
For heroes, troubled times were a stage. For common folk, troubled times were doomsday.
Had there been no chaos at the end of Qin, the Han Founder would have been no more than a village constable, while the Hegemon-King of Chu would still have been wandering in exile.
The Hegemon-King of Chu fought with his back to the river and buried surrendered soldiers alive at Xin'an. How many sons of Guanzhong could never return home?
The Han Founder destroyed Qin in two years and annihilated Chu in four.
As they swept across the world, how many famed ministers, great generals, soldiers, and laborers paid with their lives?
The Han Founder was a great man who could take or leave the world; the Hegemon-King of Chu was a singular man who ranged unhindered beneath heaven.
Alongside their glorious achievements stood the bones of countless commoners.
When the state rose, the people suffered. When the state fell, the people suffered.
"The world has already become like this, and you still think it worth patching up?"
Su Che wanted to laugh—the kind of laugh that would make him laugh out his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
White Deer Grotto's reasoning was simply too fucking stupid.
Many things in this world demanded a price. Just because commoners might die, was one not supposed to do them?
Yes, rebelling against Qin would kill people. But if they did not rebel against Qin, did not contend for the world, would the people have been able to live in a paradise of kingly rule?
Bullshit.
"Our White Deer Grotto lineage inherits Master Hengqu's teachings and guards the Destiny Aura of the Human Path for all under heaven. Young Master Su, you were born at the wrong time. Had you been born several centuries ago, we disciples of White Deer Grotto would naturally have followed you to accomplish great deeds. But now... what a pity."
"Brother Gu, open your eyes and take a look. You needn't look far—just look at Shanyin County and Guobei County. What sort of Human Path fortune is this? Is this the fortune your White Deer Grotto protects?"
Gu Yin fell silent for a moment.
Because he, too, had once considered what Su Che said.
"Though the road may stretch far, one cannot arrive without walking."
Su Che gave a dark chuckle.
"Fucking White Deer Grotto—do you love being everyone's father that much?"
Gu Yin's expression darkened as rainwater streamed relentlessly down his face.
"Death is at your door, yet your tongue is still sharp. Young Master, you truly never change."
"You flatter me." Su Che used every ounce of strength in his body to shout, "Furry one, your man can't hold on anymore! Get over here and take over, or you'll be a widow guarding the door!"
Gu Yin's heart jolted. He spun around, the bronze short sword in his hand pointing straight ahead.
A massive white phantom rode wind and thunder, arriving without a sound. A pair of sharp claws struck directly at his chest.
She had finally come.
What a huge dog.
Su Che closed his eyes in satisfaction.
A giant fox lightly shook the blood from her claws.
Her fur was entirely silver, ghostly fire seeming to burn within her emerald eyes. Her body was nearly two zhang long, but from the waist back, she was formed of mist glittering with scattered points of light.
"Ah, as the saying goes, one night as husband and wife brings a hundred nights of affection. This cheap husband of mine may be quick and useless, but if you beat him like this, my heart will ache."
There was no need to say more. This giant fox who had arrived was Qingqiu's true form.
A rare breed famed across the Ten Isles of the Eastern Sea—the Cloud Fox.
Gu Yin remained expressionless. From his sleeve, he drew a jade hairpin and stabbed it toward the heart meridian in his chest.
"Piercing your heart and drawing blood can indeed stabilize your injuries, but after a quarter of an hour, things will be just as they were."
Qingqiu extended her tongue and groomed her fur.
"Come."
Gu Yin's expression did not change as he slowly pushed out both palms.
With twelve-tenths of his true force, he unleashed the Four-Domain Suppression Palm. The Cloud Fox met it with a claw, and Gu Yin was sent flying sideways.
"You're rather stupid too. A useless technique like the Purple Sash Azure Charter should have been cast aside long ago. You stayed cooped up at home for decades to reach Sixth Grade—what makes you think you can compare with Sixth Grade fighters who trained by licking blood from a blade?"
The Cloud Fox pounced forward, one claw as nimble as a human hand as it pressed down on the jade hairpin in Gu Yin's chest.
"Pierce the heart and draw blood; chase the light for a moment. Once the jade hairpin leaves the body, soul and spirit scatter." Qingqiu looked coldly at Gu Yin. "Before I pull it out, do you have anything else to say?"
"Vast righteous hea—"
Pfft.
Little Fox pulled out the jade hairpin.
"I call you dumb, and you refuse to believe it. Didn't that dead man feed you all those lines just to stall until I arrived? Even if you talked until the sky split open, could you have angered him to death? Sigh, none of you know what you're doing."
The Cloud Fox slowly walked to Su Che's side and reached out a claw to pat his face.
"Hey, hey, don't die."
"I won't."
Su Che spat out blood. "The Golden Core's medicinal power hasn't dispersed. Taking my life won't be that easy."
"I know, I know, you're amazing."
Little Fox tossed Su Che onto her back with a lift of her head.
"Let's go. We'll find somewhere to recover."