Descending the mountain

Two days later.

Rong Kingdom, Wuchuan Prefecture.

A band of riders on black horses, clad in black armor, galloped along the official road, guarding a coffin in their midst.

Their banners were neatly arrayed, their armor gleaming. Even after galloping dozens of miles beneath the sun, neither men nor horses showed any fatigue. At a glance, they were clearly well-trained, fierce soldiers.

"I'd long heard that the new Dao Soldiers bred by the Spirit-Rearing House were extraordinary. Seeing them today, they certainly live up to their reputation. Junior brother, look closely at how their spines move when they exert themselves, like White Toad Guarding Qi, curling their heads and bracing their bellies. If ordinary warriors did that, their bodies would already be covered in bruises."

Behind these mounted Dao Soldiers, two white horses rode apart from the formation, following at an unhurried pace.

One of the two riders wore blue Daoist robes and carried a sword on his back. He was pointing at the Dao Soldiers ahead, explaining their movements to his companion with considerable interest.

The other held a six-stone Vermilion-Lacquered Bow in his left hand and the reins in his right, with a sword hanging at his waist. He wore a black Water-Cloud Robe cinched with a leather belt, which made his tall, slender figure look all the more striking. His bearing was clearly something only a great aristocratic clan could nurture.

Chen Heng, holding the great bow in his left hand, nodded faintly.

He followed Xu Zhi's pointing finger and glanced at the Dao Soldiers, his mind elsewhere.

"Junior brother, what's wrong? You finally got to leave the mountain. Shouldn't you be happy?"

Xu Zhi scratched his head. "Ever since we left the mountain, you've looked weighed down with worry. What is it? Are you afraid Elder Yan will come looking for trouble? Don't worry. The sect master personally granted you permission to leave. He wouldn't dare openly defy the sect master on purpose."

"It isn't only Yan Feichen I'm worried about. There's also..."

Chen Heng tightened his grip on the great bow and shook his head.

After leaving the Jade-Green Heavenly Palace that day, he had packed a few belongings and taken the coffin of his predecessor's older clan cousin down the mountain that very night.

They had ridden hard for three days. Now, less than half a day's journey remained before they reached Lanliang City, where the Chen Clan resided.

Yet Chen Heng remained uneasy.

Would that woman really let me go just because of a few words Chen Ying taught me?

So easily?

When his predecessor had first gone up the mountain, he had begged Yan Zhen countless times, every word earnest, almost like a cuckoo weeping blood. Yet in the end, he had still died in Little Sweet Mountain, filled with resentment.

People like them...

Could words really move them?

"Forget it. They hold the knife and chopping block, and I'm the fish beneath their blade. Thinking more will only exhaust my mind for nothing."

Chen Heng flicked his whip and brought his horse alongside Xu Zhi's. "Speaking of which, I still haven't thanked you for taking the trouble to escort me home, senior brother."

"What need is there for thanks between us? I had nothing to do on the mountain anyway."

Xu Zhi laughed heartily. "You've only just attained embryonic breathing. Though you've shed your mortal body, you have no experience in magical combat, nor have you learned enough Daoist arts to defend yourself. Your senior brother is at least a sixth-level qi refining cultivator. My right hand may be impaired, but any demons or petty villains of the mortal world who come our way will die, one after another!"

"But I won't be much help with next year's journey into the Earth Abyss. Don't hold it against me."

Xu Zhi spoke self-deprecatingly:

"You know I've always been timid and cowardly. I know it's a failing, but I can never seem to change. I won't accomplish much in this life, but being alive each day, able to read and refine medicine, is enough to make me happy. As for somewhere like the Earth Abyss, I truly don't have the courage to go..."

"You're being too hard on yourself, senior brother. How could I blame you?"

Chen Heng shook his head gently.

"But there's something that's weighed on my mind for a long time, and I've never understood it." Xu Zhi looked at him, hesitating before he spoke cautiously.

"Please, ask."

"Wasn't it this older clan cousin of yours who advised Yan Zhen back then and helped trick you into going up the mountain? Before, you wanted nothing more than to kill him with one stroke of your sword. Why are you taking his coffin back to the clan now?"

"If he hadn't pushed me aside, Xu Sai's sword strike aimed at Yan Zhen would have killed me long ago... Besides, who could have known that the pill Yan Zhen gave him was a deadly poison?"

Within this body's memories...

There still remained the scene of his predecessor's older clan cousin coughing blood as he crawled on his knees, weeping and begging forgiveness before his death.

Xu Sai's sword strike had cut through everything.

Not only Yan Zhen, but even accompanying disciples like his predecessor had been caught within his murderous Sword Qi. If his predecessor's older clan cousin had not pushed him aside, and he had instead died alongside Yan Zhen...

Could Chen Heng still have been reborn in the Nine Provinces and Four Seas through that twist of fate?

"What happened yesterday cannot be reclaimed. Mother and he are both dead, and I spent three years on Little Sweet Mountain. At this point, what use is there in holding on to hatred?"

Chen Heng watched calmly as the smoke-like mist over the distant mountains dissolved silently in the sunlight.

"He saved my life, so I'll fulfill his dying wish. That's all."

Xu Zhi stared at Chen Heng. The young man, handsome as a god, rode with an expressionless face, showing neither sorrow nor joy.

Everything in the past had already flowed away with the water.

Even Chen Heng...

Was no longer the Chen Heng he had once been...

"I see a Dao heart in your eyes, junior brother."

He suddenly spoke. "That day, while I was practicing my swordsmanship, Mas... Elder Gu Jun suddenly announced that he wanted to take me as his disciple. Those were the words he said."

"Elder Gu Jun? He truly is a kind and gentle elder. If he hadn't instructed the Spirit-Rearing House to assign me these Dao Soldiers, I'd still be worrying about how to transport my cousin's coffin."

"Elder Gu..." Xu Zhi gave a bitter smile. "He has always been exceptionally good. A man devoted purely to the Dao."

For a time, neither spoke.

As though noticing the atmosphere had grown strained, Xu Zhi turned his gaze toward the great bow in Chen Heng's left hand and asked:

"You're skilled in archery as well, junior brother? This is the first time I've seen it."

"How could a gentleman fail to master the Six Arts?"

Chen Heng smiled faintly. Just then, the vegetation in the woods to the left of the road suddenly rustled, and a powerful white stag sprang out, its four hooves flying.

"What good timing. Allow me to show you my skill, senior brother."

Chen Heng bent the bow into a full moon, effortlessly drawing the six-stone bow to its limit.

Following the archery techniques in his predecessor's memories, he loosed an arrow like a meteor chasing the moon. The bowstring had barely sounded before the white stag crashed to the ground, its neck pierced clean through, blood gushing desperately from the fist-sized wound.

The Dao Soldiers guarding the coffin ahead cheered in unison, and Xu Zhi was even more lavish in his praise.

Chen Heng lowered his bow and was just about to retrieve the stag when the woods beside the road stirred again. Amid a chorus of shouts and cries of pursuit, dozens of young lords and ladies appeared, dressed in fine clothes and mounted on spirited horses.

"It seems I accidentally shot someone else's quarry."

Chen Heng reined in his horse. Rather than approach, he simply cupped his hands in apology, then rode away with Xu Zhi.

"Big sister, someone shot the little deer we were chasing!"

Among the young men and women, a sweet, innocent girl holding a small bow pursed her lips. "The man who shot the little deer was so handsome. But why have I never heard of him in the Rong Kingdom? Big sister, do you know who he is?"

"Isn't that Chen Heng of the Mysterious Truth Sect? How... was he allowed to leave the mountain?"

At the head of the party rode a woman wearing a Fox-Fur Cloak. She was beautiful as a painting, yet her features held a touch of heroic spirit.

"Come on! Perhaps he came down specifically because of that trouble with the Chen Clan!"

She stroked the girl's head, turned her horse, and pursued the direction Chen Heng had taken.

"Let's catch up and see what he can do!"

Meanwhile.

Rong Kingdom, Lanliang City, the Chen Clan residence.

In the main hall, a group of Chen Clan elders sat with furrowed brows. No one spoke, and gloomy clouds and dismal mist seemed to hang over the room.

"We absolutely cannot hand Xi'er over. If we do, what will become of our Chen Clan's good name? Our only option now is to bring out the belongings left by Chen Heng's father!"

Chen Kuang, the Chen Clan's patriarch, who had once earned Top Three Imperial Examination Honors before resigning from office and returning home, rose to his feet.

He swept a cold gaze over the assembled clansmen, his long, graying beard trembling.

"His father may have been an unaffiliated Daoist, but didn't he possess some cultivation? The things he left behind should be able to deal with the Daoist of Blazing Mountain, shouldn't they?"