Song of Adolescence

Chapter 71 A Step Forward on a Leaf

On the road, two men were riding their horses at full speed, one in red clothes, the other in blue robes.

Three months ago, they took a roundabout way and with great difficulty, arrived at Snow Moon City. Now, three months later, they’re in high spirits and on their horses again as they left the city. Only this time, they were full of confidence. Because on the day they left the city, Lei Wujie had prepared a map!

Lei Wujie took a look at the map and turned the horse around. He said, “We should go that way?”

Xiao Se glanced at him with suspicion. “Are you sure this is the right way to the Lei Clan Fort?”

Lei Wujie shook his head with a smile. “Of course not. We’re not going to the Lei Clan Fort.”

Xiao Se returned a blank stare. “Then, where are we going?”

Lei Wujie looked into the distance, his face full of excitement and high spirits. “We’re going to Qingcheng Mountain!”

Xiao Se frowned. “Qingcheng Mountain? What are you planning?”

“Of course, I’m going to Qingcheng Mountain to make that Immortal leave! What do you say, the reunion of three old friends at the Lei Clan Fort, how exciting is that?” Lei Wujie swung his riding crop hard on the horse and in a moment, he’d left Xiao Se far behind.

Xiao Se could only helplessly watch Lei Wujie being struck with his sudden inspiration and sighed. “Zhao Yuzhen of Qingcheng Mountain has never left the mountain in his life. Would he leave because of this one foolish kid?”

Zhao Yuzhen of Qingcheng Mountain. On the day he was born, the six Celestial Masters of Qingcheng Mountain came and brought him up the mountain to raise. When he was three, he became the last disciple of Lü Suzhen, the Sectmaster for nearly forty years. At the age of six, he mastered the Great Dragon and Elephant Strength1, and at the age of eleven, he started training the Boundless Swordplay, and became the only Qingcheng Mountain disciple in a hundred years to learn both the Daoism arts and the sword arts. At the age of sixteen, he became the seventh Celestial Master of Qingcheng Mountain. At the age of twenty-two, Lü Suzhen passed on and Zhao Yuzhen succeeded the position of Sectmaster, becoming the youngest Sectmaster in the history of Qingcheng Mountain. Finally, he attained the title of “Daoist Sword Immortal”. But this legendary figure of the martial world had never left Qingcheng Mountain. Even though the small village where he was born was just at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain, he had never taken a step down the mountain to return.

Lü Suzhen once said, Zhao Yuzhen had concurrently mastered both the martial and heavenly ways of Qingcheng Mountain. If he left the mountain, he would surely trigger a storm. But Zhao Yuzhen was determined not to cause any kind of storm, so he stayed on Qingcheng Mountain for over thirty years, never taking a step off.

Today, he was sitting at the mountain top as usual, watching the distance, as if his mind was a thousand miles away.

Behind Zhao Yuzhen was his disciple and his grand-disciple. One was carrying a bookcase on his back, an air of a Confucian sage about him. The other was but a young child, and he carried on his back a long sword that didn’t quite match his size. They are in fact, those two who went to Snow Moon City by themselves to challenge the Sword Immortal, Li Fansong and Fei Xuan.

“Fansong, you’ve travelled around for half a year. You’re finally back.” Zhao Yuzhen didn’t turn his head as he continued to look ahead. The tone of his voice was not as solemn as one would imagine. In fact, he sounded like a young man chatting about an ordinary day.

Li Fansong walked forward and sat down next to Zhao Yuzhen. “Without this disciple to keep you company for this last half a year, has the old man been well?”

Zhao Yuzhen wore a purple-coloured Daoist’s robe, and with his eminent and clear facial features, he gave off the aura of an immortal. He stroked his beard. “Not too bad. It was a lot more peaceful. Fansong, where have you visited in the past year?”

“We went to Chaisang Town to see the flowers. It’s written in books that during spring in Chaisang Town, you can see over a thousand types of wildflowers along the road for a hundred miles. We also went to Guluo Town and saw the sea. With one sword move, I raised a tremendous wave a thousand stories high. The fishermen who saw me thought I was a little immortal! Oh yes yes, we also climbed Mount Kunlun. This is actually a real place! It snows all year round. Just looking at it makes you feel lonely. Yet, there are people who built a mountain villa there and lived there for twenty years.” Li Fansong spoke frankly. “Truly, the world below is so exciting. Shifu, it’s such a pity that you won’t leave the mountain.”

“Is it really a pity?” Zhao Yuzhen glanced at Li Fansong with a smile.

Li Fansong quickly corrected himself. “But, even though shifu doesn’t leave the mountain, the world is full of legends about shifu. The five Sword Immortals of the world, Confucian Daoist Solitary Wrath Moon, have outstanding reputations in the martial world. The stories told in the tea houses were all about you.”

“Oh? What do they say about me?” Zhao Yuzhen asked.

“They talk about nothing else but how when shifu was born, a ray of colourful sunlight shone into the house, then the six Celestial Masters of Qingcheng Mountain came to receive you, because shifu is the reincarnation of an immortal. They also talked about the duel between shifu and Lei Yunhe, using your myriad of Daoism arts to break his Ninth Heaven Thunderclap. That duel tore a hole in Heaven! They also said shifu refused to leave the mountain because of a woman, they said if you left, you wouldn’t want to return…” Li Fansong stole a glance at his master’s expression.

Zhao Yuzhen frowned slightly. “The front part was fine. But, that last part, you made that up, didn’t you?”

“This disciple wouldn’t dare.” Li Fansong waved a hand hastily.

Zhao Yuzhen reached out a hand, twirling a fallen leaf, and suddenly asked, “Fansong, where’s your sword?”

Li Fansong was startled and rushed to his feet, ready to break into a run.

“Fei Xuan.” Zhao Yuzhen lowered his voice.

Fei Xuan was so frightened he fell to his knees. “Shifu, I’ll confess. I’ll confess everything.”

“What are you confessing?” Zhao Yuzhen stood up, his purple Daoist robes swaying in the wind.

“We… we went to Snow Moon City.” Fei Xuan stammered. Given his practice in the Divination Arts, how could he not know that Zhao Yuzhen had already seen through them, and he confessed everything in a hurry.

“Why did you go to Snow Moon City?” Zhao Yuzhen beckoned lightly and the peach wood sword that was lying on the ground floated into his hand.

That was a very special peach wood sword, with a breathtaking, bright red colour. The sword’s name was “Peach Blossom” and it was a sword Zhao Yuzhen made using the wood of a peach blossom tree when he was sixteen years old. It’s said that the sword had the warmth of the world, and that in winter, Zhao Yuzhen once buried it in a snow field and accelerated the growth of a peach blossom tree to bloom fully even in the twelfth month.

Li Fansong wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. “Well, we went to catch a glimpse of the Snow Moon Sword Immortal.”

“And then?” Zhao Yuzhen drew a sword flower2 and caused Li Fansong such a fright that his chest tightened. Actually, even though Zhao Yuzhen was the noble Sectmaster of Qingcheng Mountain, and one of the five impressive Sword Immortals, among the young disciples of Qingcheng Mountain, he always maintained an amiable and approachable image. Sometimes, he would even personally teach a few sword moves to the little disciples who’d just joined them. However, he was extremely strict with his only disciple, Li Fansong.

“Then, I challenged the Sword Immortal to a sword move.” Li Fansong watched Zhao Yuzhen carefully.

“Sword name?” Zhao Yuzhen asked.

“Moonlit Night and Flowering Dawn,” Li Fansong replied.

Suddenly, Zhao Yuzhen became distracted. He lowered his head and looked at the fallen leaf in his hand absently.

Then, he laughed. He laughed warmly, and the Peach Blossom sword started to glow with a red light. Li Fansong and Fei Xuan exchanged a glance, faces full of surprise. Fei Xuan was proficient in the Divination Arts, so he could tell with one look the reason for the warmth in Zhao Yuzhen’s heart.

“You were as fortunate as I was. When I was your age, that was also the first time I saw such a beautiful sword move.” Zhao Yuzhen suddenly threw the fallen leaf in his hand over the side of the mountain, and immediately leaped off himself. He stepped onto that leaf and rode it towards the great hall in the mountain.