Origin-Restoring Pill

"Three rounds of drums, and Ning Xiu Qing was dead. That should leave that old bastard Ning Xiangyi hurting for a while. Gu cultivators really do have vicious methods. Where has Guest Minister Hu gone?"

"Senior Hu suffered a backlash from his Gu Worms. He's still in seclusion, recovering."

"Li Fuchan is formidable indeed. Matched against someone at his own realm, few could take him down."

"But however formidable he is, he's only a rogue cultivator who has just entered Outer Scenery. He can't stir up any great waves. The Ning Family, on the other hand—now that the surviving Zhu of Southern Chu have headed south, they dream of staying out of it. What wishful thinking. Back then, Ning Xinping only broke through by using Buddhist cultivators' methods to devour his own blood kin. He forged karmic ties with them long ago. Now that the destined Great Compassionate Venerable Wisdom King is about to attain the Dao, he actually thinks he can lead the Ning Family clear of it all. Does he not know he's a mantis raising its forelegs against a carriage, ignorant of his own limits?"

"Now that Ning Xiu Qing is dead, let's hope it serves as a warning to the Ning Family. Our ancestor has Ning Xinping confined in the Edge-Raising Pool. Go tell Bozhuo to pass word to the Ning Family and explain the truth. If they still refuse to see reason, they can hardly blame our Yang Family for using them as the vanguard."

"As you command."

On the Ning Family's Chisu Mountain, white banners fluttered. White mourning silk had already been hung all the way from the mountain gate to the mourning hall.

The mountain wind swept through the woods, setting the mourning cloth across the mountain snapping and rustling, deepening the desolation.

Suddenly, heart-rending wails rose from the foot of the mountain, drawing closer as they made their way up.

"Xiu Qing! Xiu Qing—how could you leave us like this!"

Yang Bozhuo stumbled up the mountain, his robes disheveled and his face filled with grief, wailing without pause. "I was still waiting for you to come spend my spirit stones! Xiu Qing, you died so horribly. How can your older brother bear to let you go..."

His cries shook the heavens, and his voice cracked from all the howling, yet there was not a single trace of tears on his face.

On either side of the mourning hall, the Ning Family's younger members glared at him, wishing they could kill him right there before the bier.

Ning Xiu Rang was gentle by nature and had always been the most even-tempered of them, but even he could no longer contain his grief and fury. Clenching his teeth, he stepped forward, about to charge out.

A hand clamped firmly around his arm.

Ning Xiu Rang whipped his head around, his eyes bloodshot and his voice trembling. "Brother Xiu Cong!"

Ning Xiu Cong's expression remained stern. He merely shook his head and said quietly, "Let Xiu Fu go."

A short while later, Ning Xiu Fu hurried over. He wore plain mourning clothes, and though his face betrayed no emotion, a heavy gloom clouded his features.

The moment Yang Bozhuo saw him, he abandoned everyone else and threw his arms around Ning Xiu Fu, wailing with renewed vigor. "Xiu Fu... how could Xiu Qing have died! I promised I'd take him aboard a boat to have some fun next time! He was so young. How could he leave us..."

Ning Xiu Fu let himself be embraced and forced the faintest smile. "Brother Bozhuo, please temper your grief. Crying like this is rather unbecoming. Please come with me to the inner hall so we can talk."

Once he had led Yang Bozhuo into the inner hall and dismissed the attendants, the man immediately put on a different face.

He tossed aside his earlier weeping and wailing as casually as shedding an old robe. Turning, he instructed the Ning Family's servants, "Fetch some water. I wish to wash my face and change."

Both servants looked toward Ning Xiu Fu. Expressionless, Ning Xiu Fu gave a slight nod.

Neither dared delay. They immediately prepared fresh water in a golden basin, along with new clothes and an ornate headpiece, and attended to Yang Bozhuo as he washed and dressed.

Only a moment later, Yang Bozhuo strolled out of the inner room.

Not a trace of that earlier nauseating expression remained on his face, only his effortless air of a wastrel. He straightened his sleeves and offered a simple bow. "Sorry for the wait, Brother Xiu Fu."

"You're too courteous, Brother Bozhuo."

Without waiting for an invitation, Yang Bozhuo found a folding chair and sat down. Looking up at Ning Xiu Fu, he went straight to the point. "The death of Ning Xiu Qing had something to do with our Yang Family."

The flow of qi in the room faltered, and a murderous chill spread.

Ning Xiu Fu's hand was already on the sword at his waist. Yang Bozhuo continued as though he had not noticed. "You could say our Yang Family killed Ning Xiu Qing. But you could just as well say it was your own ancestor."

He looked at Ning Xiu Fu. Something difficult to name entered the eyes of this wastrel renowned across the lake—perhaps mockery, perhaps pity. "Your ancestor Ning Xinping cultivated Ren Water, uniting his innate nature and Life Force. Yet the Dao Fruit he formed was not one of the Five Aspects. Instead, it was called [unchaste offering]. That old fellow Ning Xiangyi won't speak of this sordid business, but I will tell you."

Ning Xiu Fu was exceptionally well-read. The instant he heard the words "unchaste offering," thunder seemed to explode in his mind, and he understood the crucial details at once. Unable to contain his fury, he shouted, "Enough!"

Yang Bozhuo only gave an unabashed grin and continued. "Ning Xinping's cultivation of Ren Water went poorly. To break through, he borrowed Buddhist methods, swallowing his elder brother and eating his younger brother, forcibly transforming his gathered Outer Scenery into a wu earth palace. He pared earth into a membrane to imprison Ren Water, turning his own innards into amniotic fluid. When his waters broke, he spat out two rabbits, one white and one black. The moment those black and white rabbits touched the ground, they cried in unison, 'You are no sage!' Ning Xinping could not bear to look at those two beasts, so he opened his mouth and swallowed them back down. Only then did his ears find peace. But when he opened his eyes, he discovered that those two rabbits were actually two infants crying to be fed. He appeared to be eating rabbits, but in truth he was eating his children. Only then did he attain mastery of Outer Scenery. Yet because he had ruined the foundations of his innate nature and life essence, though he had clearly formed a Dao Fruit, Inner Vision remained beyond his reach..."

Clang.

The dark room smothered the light. Even the gleam of the sword being drawn failed to brighten it.

Looking at the sword laid against his neck, Yang Bozhuo said with a smile, "Xiu Fu, don't frighten me. I picked a time when Ning Xiangyi was away before I dared come up here and say all this. I only thought I would be safe with you here. Don't disappoint me."

Ning Xiu Fu glared at Yang Bozhuo for three full breaths, then returned his sword to its sheath and said coldly, "The Ning Family is receiving no guests today. Please leave, Bozhuo."

With that, he turned to go. Yang Bozhuo stood, lowered his head, and went on speaking. "Ning Xinping used Buddhist Dharma to devour his blood kin. He has long had karmic ties to Buddhist cultivators that cannot be erased. Now, for some unknown reason, the most important of the three incarnations of that destined Great Compassionate Venerable Wisdom King has stopped heading north. Your Ning Family's attempt to stay out of this will only have the opposite effect. Ning Xinping has already paid the price. Neither you nor Ning Xiangyi should bring further ruin upon yourselves."

Only after finishing did Yang Bozhuo raise his head to look at Ning Xiu Fu, a hint of hope in his eyes. "Everything I just said came straight from the Household Head. None of it was my own wish. However the times change, whatever happens between the Yang and Ning families, Xiu Fu, you and I are still as we always were!"

Ning Xiu Fu paused, then drew his sword again and cut off a piece of his robe's hem. As chance would have it, that plain white scrap fell into a stain on the floor and was dirtied at once.

Ning Xiu Fu left without a word. Yang Bozhuo walked to the doorway and picked up the scrap. After looking at it a moment, he tucked it into his sleeve and sighed softly. "It won't wash clean."

By the time Ning Xiu Fu returned to the mourning hall, everyone had dispersed. Only Ning Xiu Cong and Ning Xiu Rang remained, standing silently on either side of the coffin.

White candles flickered, casting wavering shadows over the mourning cloth throughout the hall.

Ning Xiangyi stood before the coffin with his hands behind his back. Without turning, he asked softly, "Did he tell you everything?"

Ning Xiu Fu nodded, then hesitated to speak.

Ning Xiangyi's voice was strained. "The ancestor only told me about this on the day he left. He also instructed me not to act rashly if he failed to return. But now..."

For a time, no one in the mourning hall spoke.

After a long while, Ning Xiangyi asked one more question. "Where is Li Fuchan?"

Ning Xiu Fu answered quietly, "He's already left. Before he went, he took his half a spirit stone in advance."

Ning Xiangyi remained silent. An unknown length of time passed before he slowly spoke, his voice as weary as that of a man in his seventies. "Close the coffin."

Ning Xiu Cong and Ning Xiu Rang stepped forward in response. They placed their hands on the coffin lid and were about to close it when Ning Xiu Rang's gaze sharpened. Beside the body lay a jade bottle that had appeared at some unknown point.

Suspicion stirred in him, and he reached to take it.

A hand suddenly clamped around his wrist. Ning Xiu Cong's expression was grim as he said gravely, "Better not touch anything of unknown origin."

Hearing the commotion, Ning Xiu Fu and Ning Xiangyi hurried over. Ning Xiangyi had already opened six apertures. He immediately released his scant spiritual sense and probed through the jade bottle.

When he saw what was inside, he could not help staring in astonishment:

"An Origin-Restoring Pill?"