Hearing of immortals

Food Immortal Master

Author: Parrot Bites Its Tongue

Synopsis:

Synopsis:

Mysterious, uncanny swords lay scattered across the land, awaiting the Sword Masters who would make their names resound beneath heaven.

And who could fathom the Extraordinary Arts Canon passed down through the ages?

Within Chang'an's hundred wards lurked those who could raise fire and swallow the sun. In the Central Plains stood vast, decaying clans a thousand years old. In the Northern Frontier, silent, battle-hardened Wilderness People sharpened their blades. Among the Southern Kingdoms, song and dance celebrated peace while intrigue and deceit ran rampant...

And high above, in the distant azure heavens, a pair of Azure Eyes encompassing the world was slowly opening.

Pei Ye raised his head and pulled the longsword from his abdomen. "Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord... let's see just who is whose food."

Chapter 1: Hearing of immortals

The third day of the eighth month.

Autumn rain during the White Dew season was fine weather for Fenghuai, a little county town beside the deep mountains. The summer heat had dispersed, the crops had ripened, the mountain deer and rabbits were fat, and the fish in the streams awaited the nets. These were a few leisurely days before the harvest.

Pei Ye had been in fairly good spirits these past two days as well. Carrying a fishing rod over his shoulder and a basket in his hand, he crossed the stone bridge at the edge of town, his straw sandals squelching with each step. Just as he stepped off the last stair, a shifty old face with a deerlike head and ratlike features sidled eagerly up to him. "Young Pei, catch anything good?"

Pei Ye kept walking and glanced down sideways. "Yeah."

It was Old Xiangzi, the half-mad widower who lived in the courtyard next door. This time, Pei Ye couldn't help giving him another look. A crude, unfamiliar symbol had been painted in blue pigment on his filthy forehead, clearly by his own trembling, feeble hands. It looked both bizarre and comical.

Seeing the boy notice his handiwork, Old Xiangzi seemed to have received a reward. Newly invigorated, he leaned into Pei Ye's line of sight, tilting his head back and forth to show it off. "Heh heh... heh heh..."

Pei Ye couldn't help smiling. He looked away and indulged the old man's wish. "What do you want with me?"

Old Xiangzi grew excited at once and straightened his back. He had barely opened his mouth before clapping a hand over it again. Bending low, he looked all around before leaning close to Pei Ye's ear and whispering, "Become immortals."

"..."

"Become immortals! Become immortals!" Old Xiangzi's eyes shone; he was clearly desperate to share his news with someone. "I've found a way to become an immortal. Give me a hand, young Pei, and we can both become immortals, free from illness and calamity..."

"..." Pei Ye couldn't be bothered with this latest bout of madness. "Go become one yourself."

Old Xiangzi had been spouting this sort of mystical nonsense for far more than a day or two.

He had lived alone for years, without children, handling every aspect of life himself, and his mind wasn't quite right. A few years ago, people would still see him running all over the streets with a little girl from a neighboring family. Now that the girl had grown up and married, she no longer wanted to be close to him, and he spent his days alone, fiddling with gods, ghosts, Daoism, Buddhism, and the like.

Old Xiangzi wasn't a devout believer, nor did he lavish incense on any one altar. He simply excelled at casting a wide net. Today he worshipped the Buddha; tomorrow he paid homage to the Dao. Mountain gods and little ghosts, river gods and dragon kings, the King of Hell and the City God had all received a few sticks of his incense. Strange sects and assorted immortals he heard of from all manner of places could each claim a spot in his home.

Nor did Old Xiangzi understand any doctrine. He made all the rules himself. When others finished plowing and urged him to get on with his own planting before he missed the season, he lay in bed and said his fields needed no plowing. When asked why, he said he had put his faith in the Buddha that year, and the Buddha would do the work for him.

That joke had spread widely through the east of town, so Pei Ye's attitude toward him was easy enough to imagine.

Old Xiangzi saw his indifference and hurried to explain, "No, no, this time it's real! Believe me. I slept in the ruined temple east of town yesterday and heard it with my own ears. Big Ears, the beggar under the Big Willow Tree—a divine immortal enlightened him, and he's already become an immortal..."

"Oh."

"Ah, why won't you believe me? You're sick and I'm sick. If we both became immortals, wouldn't we both be cured?"

"I'm not sick."

"Bah-you hide your ill... ill... illness!"

"'Concealing your illness and refusing treatment.' And it really isn't an illness. It's an injury. It can't be cured."

"Who cares what it is! What couldn't an immortal cure? An immortal might descend again tonight. If we don't go now, we'll miss our share!" Old Xiangzi pleaded earnestly. "I really saw it with my own eyes. Big Ears has become an immortal, over ten feet tall, clad in armor, majestic as can be!"

"If he's become an immortal, shouldn't he ascend to heaven?" Since they were going the same way for now, Pei Ye humored him.

"Yes! He ascended to heaven!"

"..." That answer did surprise Pei Ye a little. "He's not begging under the Big Willow Tree right now?"

"No! Nobody else can find him. Only I know that he..." Old Xiangzi hesitated, then cast another furtive, rat-eyed look around. Gritting his teeth, he lowered his voice further. "Young Pei, I'll tell you in secret. He drank Immortal Water and became an immortal."

"Then go drink some yourself."

"There wasn't any left!" Old Xiangzi slapped his thigh. "There was only a little at the bottom of the cup. I was afraid of the pain, so I... I fed the Immortal Water to a cat, and the cat became an immortal! Fire couldn't burn it away, and blades couldn't cut it. You're very capable, young Pei, but even you can't take a knife without bleeding, can you? Let me try..."

He reached for the dagger at Pei Ye's waist. Thoroughly speechless, Pei Ye pushed him away. "Now that sounds familiar. Auntie Zhang said she saw you carrying a dead cat. Was that the one you said became an immortal?"

Old Xiangzi froze, then said urgently, "Yes-no! No, no. The cat died because it hadn't drawn this!"

Old Xiangzi extended both index fingers and pointed at the crooked blue symbol on his forehead. "Look! See it? I've understood! To become an immortal, draw this first. Big Ears had this on his head that day. With this, you drink Immortal Water and become an immortal. Hurry and draw one too, young Pei. We'll get Immortal Water together and become immortals together. Then won't that illness of yours be curable?"

Pei Ye said nothing. By now, he had passed the alley leading to his home, and he knew Old Xiangzi wouldn't follow much farther.

He had plenty of experience dealing with Old Xiangzi: the more attention he gave him, the more worked up the old man became.

A big catfish was a river god, the widow by the town wall was the Queen Mother of the West, a stone picked up beside a stream was a stone used to mend the heavens-and now there was Immortal Water. Old Xiangzi wasn't deliberately deceiving anyone. He truly couldn't distinguish fantasy from reality.

Old Xiangzi followed Pei Ye, prattling without pause, while Pei Ye steadfastly behaved as though he wasn't there. At last, the old man stamped his foot in anger. "You don't believe me! Then I'll go find it myself! Once I become an immortal tonight, I'll come straight over to make you jealous!"

He squelched away, stamping through the water as loudly as he could.

But only a few breaths later, the squelching footsteps returned. The old man flipped open the bamboo basket. "Give me a fish!"

Pei Ye rolled his eyes. "I didn't catch any!"

Having shaken off Old Xiangzi, Pei Ye headed toward the west of town.

For the past two years, Pei Ye had no longer dared freely enjoy the cool touch of rain. Yet on rainy days, even if he lay indoors wrapped in a quilt, the pain in his chest and abdomen was almost certain to flare up.

He still had a few Meridian-Protecting Pills prescribed by Physician Qian, but the strong liquor he swallowed them with had run dry. Feeling that he wouldn't escape the effects of this turn in the weather either, Pei Ye needed to buy some at the wine shop.

But as soon as he reached the west of town, a familiar face spotted the wine gourd in his hand and called out, "Going to Old Zhang's for wine? He's closed! Sold the shop a few days ago and moved to the prefectural city to enjoy his newfound fortune. If you want wine now, you'll have to go to Old Lu's in the north!"

Pei Ye turned toward the north of town. The detour took him past the Big Willow Tree, and he made a point of looking. Sure enough, the tall, lame beggar with the big ears wasn't beneath it. Two officers were there instead, making inquiries about something.

They said Big Ears had gone astray in his martial training years ago. Someone he had offended came to his door and broke his leg. Then calamity struck his family again and again, his loved ones died one after another, and at last he sank into a state from which he never recovered.

Luckily, Pei Ye hadn't been particularly arrogant back at the martial school. He smiled self-mockingly, passed the Big Willow Tree with a few more strides, and headed straight for the Lu family's wine shop.

Before long, the raised wine-shop banner came into view, and Pei Ye quickened his pace to reach the entrance.

He lifted the curtain, and a lively clamor flooded his ears. Warm air mingled with the fragrance of wine washed over his face, drawing a sharp boundary between the little tavern and the cold rain and chilly mist outside.

There were always more customers during the slack season. Pei Ye skirted the flushed, wine-warmed men slumped together, stepped over legs casually stretched across the floor, and set his gourd on the counter.

"Uncle Lu, fill it up."

"Coming right up." Lu Youcai was in his forties, with brows that looked carved by a knife. He pulled the stopper from the gourd and walked over to the wine barrel. "Little Pei, ever since you moved, you've been coming here less and less."

"Couldn't be helped. Without the money from selling the house, it would've cost me half my life." Pei Ye smiled.

"Ah, the fortunate lose money; the unfortunate suffer in their own flesh. You're still one of the fortunate, little Pei. Look on the bright side, and you'll have something to hope for."

"That's right. I've nothing to be dissatisfied with." Pei Ye took the gourd. "Still four coins?"

"Bullshit!" Lu Youcai's brows shot up, and he thumped the filled gourd onto the counter. "Did I ever charge you before? You're penniless now-why pretend to be a big spender?"

Pei Ye laughed, but still counted out four copper coins and firmly pushed them toward Lu Youcai. "Precisely because I'm penniless now, I have to keep every account clear."

Lu Youcai sighed and accepted the coins. Pei Ye was about to say goodbye when Lu Youcai suddenly added, "Oh, right. Looks like you've been outside town again? Be careful these next couple of days. They say someone outside town was eaten by a tiger or wolf."

"It's fine. I don't go deep into the mountains." Fenghuai lived off the mountains beside it, so herb gatherers and hunters inevitably perished there. It wasn't frequent, but neither was it unheard of, and Pei Ye didn't think much of it.

"Not in the mountains. Outside town," Lu Youcai corrected him. "Someone saw it this morning, outside that ruined temple east of town. Nothing left but a ragged garment and blood. The person was gone, bones and flesh alike. Nobody even knows who was killed."

Pei Ye started. "Where? The ruined temple east of town?"

"That's right. If the beast dares come that close, the families in the east are all worried it'll enter town at night and eat people."

Remembering Old Xiangzi's words, Pei Ye frowned. "Was it reported to the authorities?"

"Of course. Constables went over first thing this morning."

Pei Ye recalled the two officers beneath the Big Willow Tree. It seemed the authorities had already identified the victim, so he stopped worrying. He said goodbye to Lu Youcai, retrieved his fishing rod and basket outside, and walked home.

Pei Ye's home stood beside Old Xiangzi's dilapidated little courtyard, and was just as run-down.

He pushed open the gate, entered the courtyard, and lifted the lid of his fishing basket. Inside were medicinal herbs he had gathered along the way.

Pei Ye took out several kinds and carefully ground them in a stone mortar. Then he fetched some clean cloth, went to a corner of the courtyard, and lifted a dark little ball of fur from a basket.

Pei Ye held up the little black cat and met its clear, jade-green eyes for a moment before gently setting it on his lap to examine it.

Blood had faintly seeped through the bandage over its small, soft belly. Pei Ye knew a fatal wound lay beneath.

Pei Ye had found the black cat while fishing by the stream yesterday. Something like a sharp stone seemed to have cut a long gash across its belly.

It was hard to say whether it was a house cat or a stray. Plenty of families in town kept cats, and the animals mated freely without restraint. Gradually, a colony had formed, foraging in the uncertain borderland between the county town and the deep mountains.

In all fairness, this cat was very beautiful. It was black as jade from head to tail, without a trace of another color. Its fur was fine and smooth, it had neither scars nor disease, and it lacked the sly, vicious air stray cats acquired through fighting.

If cats had a society, its bearing would have placed it among princes and nobles. It hadn't cried out once or struggled at all while Pei Ye treated its wound, remaining poised and gentle.

He removed the bandage. The wound had clotted, so Pei Ye applied fresh herbs and bandaged it securely again.

After tending to it, Pei Ye went inside and wheeled out an old man who looked like a hideous demon.

Had the old man been able to stand, he would probably have been a little taller than Pei Ye, but Pei Ye knew that would never happen. The old man leaned against a crude, roughly made wheelchair, utterly motionless. Even his breathing seemed to have stopped, and he looked like a length of wood that had withered over many years.

Beneath the dim daylight, the details of his face looked even more grotesque. Scars like fleshy centipedes crawled across both cheeks and spread into his scalp and neck. His eyes were entirely gone, leaving two pitch-black holes. His dry white hair was sparse, exposing broad patches of scalp.

"Grandpa Yue, I'm going to start practicing my sword. It's just past the start of the shen hour. I'll practice until a quarter past the start of the you hour."

"Good. I'm listening..."

Whenever the old man spoke, he had to stretch his neck taut, raise his chin toward the sky, and lift his back slightly away from the wheelchair. Like a cormorant swallowing a fish, he exerted his entire body, looking both ridiculous and terrifying.

This sword practice was for the sword art the old man had taught Pei Ye after his "dantian seed" was injured, saying, "At least now you might be able to learn it."

The teaching process was exceptionally difficult and strange as well. The old man had created this sword art in his mind after becoming paralyzed. He had neither practiced it himself nor any means of seeing the boy's movements. He could only judge by sound whether the boy's movements were correct and whether he was applying his strength properly.

Fortunately, the old man's swordsmanship truly approached the Dao. Even under these circumstances, he could always pinpoint Pei Ye's errors with a single incisive remark. Of course, there were times when he genuinely couldn't hear enough to answer Pei Ye's questions. Then he would say, "Just fucking practice. That's not what matters."

Whatever the case, this was indeed a profound sword art. After two years of practice, Pei Ye's moves had grown increasingly polished, his understanding of sword principles had deepened considerably, and his feel for the sword kept improving. He could already be called an expert swordsman, yet to this day, he hadn't truly learned even a single form.

Even the realization that he "hadn't learned it" had only faintly dawned on Pei Ye after his swordsmanship reached a certain level. Before then, he had once believed that mastering those sword moves with precision and finesse was enough. He had never even glimpsed the higher realm beyond them.

"When you truly learn it, I'll certainly be able to hear it," the old man had said. "I may even be able to see it."

But that clearly wasn't today. As usual, Pei Ye practiced for the full allotted time, then raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead. Perhaps because of the sweat and grime, his forehead began to itch, and he rubbed it a couple more times.

As the cold wind grew stronger, he wheeled the old man back inside and began preparing their meal, while also putting on a small pot of gently warming, restorative medicine for himself.