Chapter 79: A Shocking Secret
The Endless Sky Sword had returned.
Unlike its departure—when a waterspout had shot twenty zhang into the sky and the whole of Changchun Peak had trembled—the sword, upon driving the enemy away and returning, merely touched the water’s surface with its tip. The ripples rose until they covered the hilt, then the blade sank quietly into the silt of the seabed, without raising so much as a single wave. It was like a war god who, having achieved his feats of glory, laid down his armor and retired in peace.
But to the three jiao, it was as if they faced their mortal enemy. Their massive bodies trembled faintly. The bloody lessons of the past meant that the very sight of the sword flying overhead made their scales and bones throb with phantom pain.
In Jingsi Valley, the scene was one of ruin: the hall’s roof lay in tatters, tiles and stones shattered across the ground. The various Peak Masters escorted the Sect Leader back to the main peak to recuperate and gathered for a meeting in the main hall. The young disciples who had not been injured helped those who had. Others crowded around Yu Qishu, leaving him at a loss for what to do—until Qian Yuzhi thankfully came to rescue him.
Qian Yuzhi, his robes fluttering as he rode the wind on his sword, took the dazed and exhausted Yu Qishu—who felt as though his entire body had fallen apart—back to Changchun Peak. They landed before the floating suspension bridge, and just before leaving, Qian Yuzhi reminded him: “Rest well. Get better soon.”
Before Yu Qishu could even show his gratitude, Qian Yuzhi added, “The sooner you recover, the sooner you can deliver peach blossoms again, or else we’ll run out of stock.” For ever since Meng Xueli had defeated the rivals in the secret realm and shaken the cultivation world with his fame, Changchun Peak’s peach branches had been in such demand that they became collectibles on par with the Sword Sovereign’s calligraphy. The supply could not keep up. Yet the peach groves could not be stripped bare, so “Hengtong Juyuan” now only sold peach blossom pastries, rouge, and sweet wine, all packaged in boxes engraved with “Changchun.” They made elegant gifts, suitable for both men and women. As for actual peach branches, one had to try their luck at an auction.
Yu Qishu muttered, “Crooked merchant… At a time like this? Han Shan has already fallen into chaos, the Supreme Elder has accused my master of being a demon. Once he returns to Huai Shui, who knows how he’ll slander us further, and you’re still worrying about business…”
Qian Yuzhi snapped his folding fan shut and tapped Yu Qishu on the head: “That’s grown-ups’ business. Kids shouldn’t worry so much. Go sleep.”
Yu Qishu pouted, crossing the suspension bridge. There he saw Xiao Huai waiting for him by the stone stele engraved with the characters “Changchun.”
The timid young disciple had heard the commotion from Jingsi Valley, and the Supreme Elder’s voice echoing across the sky. He had worried all night long. Seeing Yu Qishu return, he was both overjoyed and anxious: “Senior Brother Yu, what happened? What’s wrong with you?”
Yu Qishu’s face was pale, his hair messy, his robes torn and stained with blood.
He said, “It’s nothing. I just fell a few times while flying on the sword. I’ll recover in a couple of days.”
Xiao Huai grew tense. “Then you must be careful. But I heard that for beginners, it’s normal to fall off the sword. By the second time, you’ll be steady!”
Yu Qishu thought to himself that he definitely could not afford a “second time,” and continued walking toward the pond.
Xiao Huai ran after him. “Senior Brother Yu, is something happening to Changchun Peak? Will Elder Meng be in danger? I just heard someone in the sky say—”
Yu Qishu reached out and ruffled the boy’s hair: “That’s grown-ups’ business. Kids don’t need to worry. Go sleep.”
“Oh…” Xiao Huai thought, But it’s broad daylight—why would I sleep now?
Yu Qishu walked alone to the edge of the pond.
Clear sunlight filtered through the trees, scattering golden light across the rippling surface of the water. Three koi thrashed their tails wildly, splashing the pond into a spray of glittering shards.
He had fed the fish here countless times, and always thought the scene full of vitality, delightful and soothing. But now, recalling the colossal bodies of the jiao in the sea, a chill ran through him from head to toe.
Yu Qishu let out a long sigh. Everything that had happened from yesterday until now was a tangled mess in his head that he was just beginning to sort out—when suddenly he heard a voice: “Demon core, demon core, demon core…”
Yu Qishu shuddered in fright and stared at the koi. “You’re talking to me?! What did you just say?!”
The third jiao who had just been taught by his elder brothers to act pitiful and beg for repayment, said: “Because you borrowed my demon core, you can understand what I say. I lent you my core to protect your body—that’s why you weren’t wounded by the aura of the Endless Sky Sword. Don’t your human cultivators say, ‘A borrowed thing must be returned, so borrowing again won’t be hard’? Please understand how hard I’ve cultivated for so many years, and return the demon core to me.”
The voice sounded so wronged, almost on the verge of tears, that Yu Qishu quickly said, “I’m coming.”
He leapt straight into the pond’s oceanic waters. The second time was easier than the first, and he swam down to the seabed.
The demon core had no physical body; it was a condensed orb of power, shimmering with golden light. The golden orb flew out from the crown of his head, and Yu Qishu instantly felt all his strength drained away. In the fight against Daoist Revered Tai Heng he had suffered hidden internal injuries, merely suppressed by the power of the demon core. Now everything burst forth at once. Unable to endure the crushing pressure of the deep sea, blood streamed from his seven orifices, and he collapsed into the sand and mud of the ocean floor—so frightening that even the jiao panicked.
The third jiao was nearly in tears. “You’re not allowed to die! If you die here, how will I explain it to Ji Xiao when he comes back?!”
With no other choice, the third jiao lent him the core again. Only then did Yu Qishu regain consciousness.
The second jiao exchanged a sly smile with the eldest. “Heh heh, our brother lent you its demon core. When you recover from your injuries, just return it. We don’t ask for repayment—just put in a good word for us when Ji Xiao returns, all right? Tell him that the Three Jiao Kings of the Western Sea truly repented and even rendered you their aid…”
Yu Qishu’s heart sank. “So you were trapped here by the Sword Sovereign. If Ji Xiao Zhenren were still alive, how could Han Shan, how could my Changchun Peak have ended up like this? But… the Sword Sovereign has already passed away.”
The three jiao stared at him in utter shock. “Ha! What nonsense are you talking about?”
Yu Qishu was startled, his heart thumping. If they learned Ji Xiao had died, would they decide to devour him instead?
Second jiao, “Isn’t your senior brother Ji Xiao? He just went on a trip. Otherwise, why do you think that sword would still awaken?! Ji Xiao left a fragment of his consciousness within the Endless Sky Sword to help him control the divine weapon. I don’t know why he changed bodies—maybe just for novelty’s sake—but his soul’s pressure is unmistakable!”
Yu Qishu felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him out of a clear sky.
“This… what’s going on?”
“Foolish boy!” The eldest jiao reminisced, “It all started three years ago. Back then, the three of us roamed freely in the abyss of the Western Sea, unrestrained and infamous, making all who heard our names tremble in fear…”
Yu Qishu listened for a good half an hour to the jiao boasting of their glorious past before finally hearing Ji Xiao’s name.
“When we met Ji Xiao, we couldn’t defeat him, nor could we escape, so we had no choice but to beg for mercy, to plead for our lives. But Ji Xiao said he had no need for jiao. His Dao companion needed a feng shui array for ‘wealth, fortune, and romance,’ and it required three koi…”
The second jiao cried indignantly, “We were mighty jiao! If not for the chance to become true dragons, how would we have ended up like this!”
Back then, when the pond on Changchun Peak had just been rebuilt, Meng Xueli had felt a quiet worry: such tiny koi fry, they might easily die. But since they were given by Ji Xiao, he didn’t want to see them perish. So he carefully fed them every day, and over three years they grew longer and longer.
“…This stretch of ocean was refined by Ji Xiao’s spatial magic and placed within the pond. Deep in one part of the seabed is a spatial formation that leads somewhere, though I don’t know where. Because of Ji Xiao’s spiritual restriction, only he could pass through it. The day he left, he told the Endless Sky Sword to guard the place well.”
After hearing the tale, Yu Qishu was dazed for a long time. If that were true, then Xiao Tingyun was Ji Xiao? What a colossal secret—so enormous that it could only be whispered at the bottom of the sea, amidst the cries of jiao. So enormous that he felt as though the world had collapsed and rebuilt itself in the same instant.
He had become Ji Xiao Zhenren’s junior brother? In the past, he had thrown his arm around Ji Xiao, called him brother, even tried to recruit him into the “Pro-Ji Party,” and had even thought of becoming Ji Xiao’s senior…
Memories flashed one by one through his mind, making him laugh and cry by turns.
The Sword Sovereign hadn’t died—how wonderful. He had become the Sword Sovereign’s junior brother—how marvelous. But he also felt like such a fool.
Where had the Sword Sovereign gone? Had he gone into the secret realm to find Brother Meng? Had he recovered his cultivation yet? When would the two of them return? With the Sword Sovereign around, wouldn’t every danger be resolved? Countless questions spun endlessly through Yu Qishu’s mind.
The third jiao noticed his strange expression. “Hey, are you all right?”
Yu Qishu muttered, “I want to die.”
The third jiao were horrified. “What the—why are you trying to play the victim now?” If you want to die, then go do it outside!
…
Yu Qishu recuperated on Changchun Peak. When most of his injuries had healed and his mind was no longer clouded, he went down the mountain to seek out Qian Yuzhi. He had no intention of speaking about Ji Xiao’s earth-shattering secret. He only wanted to see what plans Qian Yuzhi had and whether there was anything he could do to help.
The upheaval at Han Shan had not affected the wealth and prosperity of Hanmen City. The main hall of “Hengtong Juyuan” was as lively as ever, and someone was in the middle of telling the tale of the young hero Yu Qishu. The storyteller gestured dramatically as though he had witnessed it with his own eyes, drawing a larger and larger crowd.
“…Daoist Revered Tai Heng slashed down with his sword! And guess what happened next?”
“Oh? What?”
“He didn’t land the strike! Turns out Yu Qishu had cultivated an indestructible body-protection art—blades and spears couldn’t pierce him!”
“Whoa! Amazing!”
“Young Yu Qishu wielded the Endless Sky Sword and fought Tai Heng in a great battle. That battle—why, it darkened the sun and moon, shook mountains and rivers!”
Yu Qishu, with the golden coin rat tucked in his arms, turned helplessly to Qian Yuzhi. “…You do realize they’re not talking about me, right?”
Qian Yuzhi, fanning himself with his “Harmony Begets Wealth” fan, smiled. “I know.”
“Then why don’t you stop them? You’re just letting people spread nonsense in your own territory?”
Qian Yuzhi plucked the golden coin rat from his arms. “They’re telling the same story in every branch of ‘Hengtong Juyuan.’”
Yu Qishu didn’t understand.
Qian Yuzhi stroked the rat’s fur and said, “Hanmen City owes its prosperity to the protection of Han Shan Sword Sect. But most of the people listening to your tale don’t care about the complicated factional disputes within Han Shan. They just want to know who’s good and who’s evil, who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s like going to a tavern or teahouse to hear a storyteller—if the grievances are too complicated, no one listens. What they want is a good play: the loyal versus the treacherous, righteousness triumphing over wickedness. That’s how the story ought to unfold. So instead of an unknown nobody, Yu Qishu becomes the young hero who defeated the mighty Tai Heng Zhenren.”
“In Huai River, and in the regions nearby, they tell the opposite story—that the five peak masters of Han Shan were deceived by demons, while Daoist Revered Tai Heng, unwilling to sink into corruption with them, stormed away in anger. Once Meng Xueli appears, they say, the demons’ souls will be revealed and the truth laid bare. Guarding against rumor is harder than guarding against floods. That is our second battlefield. For now, the story of an unknown youth turning into a hero is the more popular one.”
Yu Qishu stared, dumbstruck. After a long silence he sighed, “You really don’t seem like a sword cultivator… But I understand—it’s all to protect the reputation of the Sword Sovereign and of my master Meng Xueli. Luckily, you’re on our side!” Since that was the case, what harm was there in spreading a few rumors? It didn’t cost him anything. Let them spread.
But Qian Yuzhi shook his head. “No. If the Sword Sovereign’s reputation were ruined, his calligraphy and Changchun Peak’s peach blossoms would lose their value. That would cut off one of my biggest sources of income.” And also cost Chongbi Peak Master a fortune.
Yu Qishu: “You—!”
“Kid, what’s with that look? Seems after all this time, you still misunderstand me…”
Yu Qishu snapped, “Scheming merchant! Give me back the rat. I’m going back to Changchun Peak!”
He snatched the golden coin rat from Qian Yuzhi’s arms, and man and rat stormed off together, both puffed up with indignation.
Author’s Note:
Yu Qishu: I’m not playing with you anymore! Give me back my rat, I’m going home!
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
