Chen Ziping's words left Xing Yan feeling as though a breath had been forced back down his throat. For a moment, he could not speak.
Seeing that the usually talkative youth beside him had fallen silent, Chen Ziping turned to look-and found a very strange expression on Xing Yan's face.
Chen Ziping was puzzled too. After a moment's thought, however, he turned to Xing Yan and said apologetically:
"Please forgive my discourtesy. I should not have called you Brother Daoist-I should have addressed you as Daoist Master Zhang, or Hall Master Zhang... I shall be more careful from now on!"
"Huh?"
Only after Chen Ziping finished speaking did Xing Yan come to his senses. Once he understood what Chen Ziping meant, he hurriedly replied:
"Ahem! Brother Chen, you've misunderstood me. I was merely thinking about the Three Teachings Grand Competition and couldn't help letting my mind fly off toward it. It had nothing to do with you. Just keep calling me Brother Daoist-or, if you don't mind dispensing with formalities, please call me Xing Yan! I'm still not quite used to hearing 'Brother Daoist.'"
"Yes! Actually, I think calling you either Daoist Master or Hall Master Zhang feels a little strange too."
It seemed that this young Shangqing Palace disciple, though not particularly gifted with words, was quite straightforward by nature.
The two young men chatted along the road like this, and the journey never felt dull. They lodged in villages and sought meals in towns, and after some fourteen or fifteen days, they arrived at a settlement called Luoyang.
Xing Yan had passed through many villages over these past days, but upon reaching Luoyang, he found that this town had a character all its own.
After entering the town and walking for a while, he realized that Luoyang covered quite a large area. Green bamboo grew throughout the walled settlement, and groves of it could be seen everywhere.
The clothing of the people walking along its streets was also very different from what he had seen on the journey. Many still wore Han attire, whether short jackets or long robes; where there were decorative patterns, they mostly featured plants, animals, or geometric designs. Besides these outfits, which resembled those worn around Raozhou, however, he also saw many men and women in unusual dress.
For instance, many women he encountered, young and old alike, wore broad-fronted, right-lapping tops with embroidered or trimmed edges. Blue cloths were wrapped around their heads, silver pendants hung from their ears, and rows of silver flowers were pinned at their collars. Below, they often wore knee-length skirt-like trousers, their hems embroidered with delicate borders. The men in unfamiliar clothing mostly wore black, narrow-sleeved tops that opened on the right, with loose, baggy trousers whose edges were gathered into many folds. Their sleeves, collars, and trouser hems were also trimmed with decorative borders, though the colors and designs were nowhere near as brilliant or elaborate as the women's.
He also saw several women dressed differently again: they wore short tops and pleated skirts, mostly blue or white. Most striking of all was the abundance of silver ornaments adorning their heads, necks, chests, and hands, all gleaming brightly. The rings hanging across their chests bore especially numerous silver chains, much like strands of tassels and jeweled fringe.
Looking at all those dangling silver ornaments, Xing Yan could not help exclaiming to Chen Ziping beside him:
"Ah! So much silver! What a wealthy place this is!"
"Heh, Luoyang is a place where Han and tribal peoples live together. Most of those you see are Miao or Yi. They favor silver ornaments on their clothing; that is simply their custom. There are many other strange folk customs here too, which we cultivators truly cannot understand."
There seemed to be a note of regret in Chen Ziping's voice as he said this. Xing Yan, however, was busy looking around at these unfamiliar local sights and customs, and did not notice the emotion in the Shangqing Palace disciple's words.
Seeing that Xing Yan was reluctant to leave, and that the sun was gradually sinking westward, Chen Ziping suggested:
"Since you like the sights here so much, Brother Daoist, why don't we stay here tonight and come back to look around the streets tomorrow morning?"
"Good!"
The suggestion suited the youth perfectly, and he readily agreed.
Recalling all the mountains and rivers he had seen along the way, Xing Yan could not help feeling deeply moved:
These past few days have truly opened my eyes! Never mind how many spells I might learn at Shangqing Palace-just seeing all these fresh sights along the road has made the journey worthwhile!
After walking a little farther, they found an inn beside the street. They asked the innkeeper to take their donkey away and feed it well, then settled in for the night.
The night passed without incident.
Early the next morning, after the two had risen and washed, they drank a little thin rice porridge. Then Xing Yan called Chen Ziping along and eagerly headed out to stroll through the streets and see the sights.
They had arrived travel-worn the previous evening and had not had time to look closely. Now, with leisure to wander and admire his surroundings, Xing Yan discovered that Luoyang truly had an extraordinary amount of bamboo.
The buildings lining both sides of the street, whether homes or wine shops, were all made of bamboo. The older bamboo buildings had turned pale yellow. These houses, green or yellow, looked especially peaceful nestled among the verdant bamboo groves. Whenever a breeze came, the rustling of bamboo leaves filled the street, and the fresh scent peculiar to the groves wafted into their faces, leaving both young men wonderfully refreshed in body and spirit!
As they wandered, Xing Yan suddenly noticed a circle of people gathered at a street corner ahead. Cheers rose from among them from time to time. Since he was only strolling anyway, he pulled Chen Ziping along to join the excitement.
Only when they drew close did they realize how large the crowd was, packed three rows deep within and three rows deep without. The two circled the gathering, found a slightly thinner spot, and squeezed their way in.
Looking into the open space, they discovered that a wandering martial artist was performing in the street.
He had apparently already delivered his opening patter, and was now putting his full strength into his performance at the center of the circle. His upper body was bare, exposing a mass of knotted muscles, and he was demonstrating his staff skills.
The fellow clearly had considerable mastery of the staff. The weapon in his hands whirled with a tiger's force, stirring the air as it spun like a wheel, dazzling the eye with more movements than it could follow.
As the staff display grew more spectacular, bursts of applause and cheers rose from the surrounding crowd.
At the finest moments, Xing Yan could not help admiring him, and joined the others in cheering loudly. As he applauded, he marveled:
It seems the martial world really does have plenty of extraordinary people!
Leaving aside the youth's admiration, the man in the ring was also getting carried away by his own performance. With a loud shout, he stopped spinning his staff in place and began moving all around the open space, wielding his eyebrow-height staff with even greater vigor. To the onlookers, it now seemed as though some magic had been cast upon the weapon: it appeared to have left his hands entirely, flying and dancing above, below, and on either side of him like a roaming dragon!
At this sight, the spectators even forgot to cheer, watching silently as staff shadows filled the air like a spinning windmill. Only after the man performed several beautiful flourishes, drew back his staff, and stood still did they come to their senses. In an instant, thunderous cheers erupted from the crowd-
The sound was so tremendous that, several streets away, a crow foraging by the roadside startled into flight. It circled above Luoyang, its cawing ringing out without cease.
Among the crowd, Xing Yan's cheers were every bit as loud. Chen Ziping, standing beside him, wore an indifferent expression, seemingly little impressed. Noticing this, Xing Yan silently admired him:
It seems Shangqing Palace on Mount Luofu truly is extraordinary-the composure of its disciples is exceptional indeed!
As the cheers gradually died down, the man, looking thoroughly pleased with himself, wiped the sweat from his forehead. He saluted the spectators all around with clasped hands and declared in a ringing voice:
"Though I claim no great talent, my staff skills have earned a modest reputation in the martial world. It's because this jujube-wood staff moves so fast in my hands that my defense is as seamless as a heavenly robe. My friends in the martial world therefore gave me a nickname: Water! Cannot! Penetrate!"
Hearing him pronounce those final four words one by one, the crowd cheered again. His spiel, however, reminded Xing Yan of Wang Er and his Substitute Beating service beside Lakeview Tower half a year earlier:
Ha! If this Water Cannot Penetrate fellow were wielding the staff, I doubt Brother Wang Er of the Substitute Beating trade would dare make such extravagant boasts!
More than half a year had passed, and people and circumstances had changed several times over. Now, recalling that shabby fellow beside Poyang Lake, Xing Yan actually found him somewhat endearing.
Hearing the crowd play along, the wandering martial artist grew even more animated. In an instant, his words poured forth like a cascading river as he lavished fresh praise upon his staff skills. He even singled out several glorious examples of his "Water Cannot Penetrate" prowess, recounting them with vivid detail.
Xing Yan listened with relish to this torrent of a wandering performer's patter.
While everyone was listening to the man's stories, someone in the crowd suddenly said crisply:
"What Water Cannot Penetrate? I think you're just bragging!"
To Xing Yan's ears, the speaker's voice sounded rather babyish!
The martial artist had been warming to his tale, basking in his own glory. The moment these spoilsport words reached his ears, he flew into a rage:
"Which friend of the road said that? You show me no respect and come here to wreck my performance?!"
As he spoke, his eyes swept back and forth through the crowd, searching for the brazen troublemaker.
Xing Yan was puzzled too, when he heard an old man beside him, dressed in local attire, say:
"Ah, this outsider is probably in for trouble!"
"Exactly! Who could be so tactless as to provoke a man with such formidable martial skills!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Xing Yan chime in, the old man gave him a somewhat puzzled look and said:
"The man I said was in for trouble is the brave fellow in the ring."
"Eh?!"
Xing Yan's face filled with surprise.
"Young fellow, are you an outsider too?"
"Yes! You could tell even that, sir?"
Xing Yan felt impressed, for he had changed into ordinary clothes before coming out today, and his accent was no different from that of the local Han people.
"Heh, it's not that my eyes are sharp. If you were a local, how could you not know the Little Fox Immortal's name?"
"The Little Fox Immortal?"
As Xing Yan stood there bewildered, a little girl in red, still brimming with childish innocence, suddenly stepped into the ring and skipped up to the martial artist, who was still looking all around.
Planting both hands on her hips, the little girl tilted her face up toward him and asked in a tender, childish voice:
"Are you really that powerful? Water Cannot Penetrate?"
"Of course!... Whose little girl are you? Don't bother me. Can't you see your uncle is-eh?!"
The impatient martial artist suddenly found the girl's voice strangely familiar:
"Was it you making trouble just now?"
By now, Xing Yan could see her clearly too.
Judging by her appearance, the little girl who had suddenly entered the ring was only eleven or twelve, with her hair tied into two little horn-like bunches. Yet her tender face, still untouched by maturity, was already dazzlingly beautiful-a beauty in the making through and through. Especially when she puckered her little mouth, her cheeks looked so rosy and plump that one could hardly resist stepping forward to give them a pinch. With her pretty face gleaming like snow against her fiery red clothes, she looked as though she had been adorned with powder and carved from jade!
"What a beauty!"
It was Xing Yan who could not help voicing his admiration. Perhaps because the sunlight grew fiercer farther south, the women he had seen on this southward journey were often less fair-skinned than those in the north. Suddenly encountering such a lovely figure, he could not help marveling.
"Young fellow, she is the Little Fox Immortal I was just telling you about!"
Seeing Xing Yan's bewildered expression, Chen Ziping, standing close beside him, spoke up:
"What fox immortal? The little girl before us is a fox demon. I don't know why your region has such a custom. Most people here don't even regard such creatures as evil, and actually call them immortals!"
The latter part was directed at the old man. Chen Ziping looked thoroughly disgruntled as he spoke.
"Heh, Daoist, if you ask this old man, not all the strange spirits and creatures in this world are bad."
The Shangqing Palace disciple still looked unconvinced upon hearing this. Perhaps out of respect for the old man's age, however, he offered no further rebuttal.
While the three were talking, the little girl in the ring, apparently annoyed at being treated as a small child, declared that she wanted to test the man's staff skills and see whether they really were as he claimed-so flawless that water could not penetrate.
The wandering martial artist, unaware of what gave the girl her confidence, was brimming with assurance himself. Who knows whose home this little girl came from, with no idea how high heaven is or how deep the earth runs? Her milk breath hasn't even faded yet-she'll make the perfect chance to show my skills. Then the people of Luoyang will learn what Zhao Yigun, the brave man of Zhenzhou, can do with his "Water Cannot Penetrate" technique-and gladly offer up their gold and silver by the handful!
Before you continue