The Xiang River surged beneath the brilliant sun.
It was late May. Amid the green mountains and clear waters, a passenger boat cut through the emerald waves, approaching from afar.
A young man stood at the bow with his hands behind his back. Listening to the cicadas and birds on either bank, he gazed at the boundless sky and earth and the clouds stretching for miles. His spirits lifted, his heart stirred, and he felt as though he had merged with nature, sharing the pulse of heaven and earth and the breath of mountains and rivers.
Beside him stood a girl with a braid, graceful brows, and upturned eyes. She was tall, and although her clothes were ordinary, they could not conceal her beauty.
The man and woman were none other than Lian Youming and Yang Shuang.
Rather than hurry to Wudang Mountain, they had been taking in their homeland's magnificent landscapes while settling themselves and tempering their states of mind.
The Righteous Path Lian Youming cultivated was also the Human Dao, and, beyond that, the way of Fists Suppress the Mountains and Rivers.
But without knowing the grandeur and vastness of those mountains and rivers, how could that conviction grow?
Before protecting something, one had to understand why it should be protected and where its significance lay.
And now, he was walking that very road, looking at the paths his predecessors had traveled and seeing the world and its living beings.
Yang Shuang, too, was sensing with her eyes closed, feeling out Taiji Listening Jin as she stood motionless, shutting her eyes and quieting her breathing.
Lian Youming continually stimulated her with his own Qi Dynamics, helping her improve her perception of the outside world.
Only when Yang Shuang had steadied her internal breathing did he say softly, "Don't