Chapter Fifty-Five — The Phoenix-Perching Zither

At the feast, more and more could not resist drinking the nectar.

The Bigu cultivators all without exception were drunk senseless; even Yin-Spirit cultivators, after one cup, were flushed and tipsy.

But whether drunk or not, after drinking the nectar their bodies radiated a glass-like clear light that sank into the pores — plainly they had gained great benefit.

Li Daoxuan steeled his heart — very well, so what if one makes a fool of oneself drunk? So long as it raises mana, it is nothing!

He closed his eyes and in one breath drained the cup.

Soft on entry, a line down the throat…

No — the instant he drank, Li Daoxuan felt the world spin, and thud flopped onto the table.

Laughter rang out.

"Heh — I thought him of some ability!"

"Down at one cup — merely an ordinary Bigu cultivator."

"Tsk-tsk, wasted that cup of nectar!"

Those not yet drunk were all Yin-Spirit cultivators; tipsy and a little floaty, they began to murmur of Li Daoxuan.

Fairy Que could not help but secretly nudge Li Daoxuan, not wishing him shamed.

"Here, wake up!"

But Li Daoxuan did not stir; his breathing even grew lower, as if truly drunk to death.

"Heh — to sit on high yet be drunk dead by a cup — spread abroad, it would be the laugh of the town!"

Opposite, the Meiling Mountain God had drunk a second cup yet remained un-drunk, even spirited; he looked at Li Daoxuan, near to death-drunk, and mocked.

The Lady in Green's eyes moved and looked upon Li Daoxuan.

This was her first time looking at Li Daoxuan; a ripple passed through her beautiful eyes, and at her fingertip a wisp of clear-light quietly appeared.

The old woman beside her was somewhat surprised; she looked at the Lady, then at the insensible Li Daoxuan, puzzled within.

The Lady meant to secretly sober him?

Strange — with the Lady's temper, why take him so to heart?

But before the Lady could act, a rough voice rang out.

"This one is a cultivator of the Horse-Riding Immortal line of Yingzhou — Wang Bo, greeting the Lady!"

The young shaman in the shaman robes drained the cup in one gulp, then rose and saluted the Lady in Green.

This at once drew many cultivators' sideways glances.

For this Wang Bo was but mid-Bigu, yet had safely drunk a cup of nectar, wholly un-drunk.

But when they heard the words "Horse-Riding" line, many understood.

The author's publishing page is the proper source of this chapter, which was copied here without their approval.

The so-called Horse-Riding — also called Horse-Riding Immortals — this line of cultivators worships those great demons of kind heart who have taken spirit-form, and contracts with them; in battle they may invite the god to possess the body and wield those great demons' arts and divine powers.

This line pursues the flesh-body extremely, for only a stronger body can bear more mana and invite a stronger "Great Immortal" to descend.

This Wang Bo, though but mid-Bigu, had a most formidable body, tiger-backed and bear-waisted, near the match of the Meiling Mountain God.

The Lady in Green lowered her finger without show and quietly watched Wang Bo.

Wang Bo slapped the storage pouch at his waist and with both hands offered up an ancient zither; its strings were crystal-clear, its body carved with a lifelike phoenix.

Perhaps it was not mere carving — for the zither seemed to struggle and tremble, with a faint phoenix-cry.

"My Patriarch traveled the four seas and found flood-dragon tendon for strings, and phoenix-dwelling paulownia for wood, and made this Phoenix-Perching Zither — and bade us present it to the Lady!"

"The Phoenix-Perching Zither…"

The Lady in Green reached out; the next moment the struggling zither gave a clear phoenix-cry and flew of itself into that slender jade hand, blazing with rosy light.

Gazing at the Phoenix-Perching Zither, the Lady in Green seemed to recall some memory.

Then she had incarnated as a mortal touring the mountains and waters, and met a boy who meant to leap the cliff to his death; he wept that he was too stupid to master the shaman secret his master had taught, to fulfill his wish, and had best die to end it all.

The Lady in Green then took pity, manifested, and played a tune; with mana she opened his meridians and enlightened his wits, letting him succeed in the Horse-Riding art.

Yet time had passed; that was over a hundred years ago.

The boy who wept to die was now the Horse-Riding line's Old Patriarch — a Yang-Spirit great one, famed throughout Yingzhou.

"Why did your Patriarch not come?"

The Lady in Green asked.

Wang Bo's eyes dimmed; he was silent long, then sighed. "The Patriarch, in pursuit of immortality… died beneath the heavenly tribulation!"

Hearing this, all were greatly shocked.

The Horse-Riding line's Old Patriarch had died beneath the tribulation!

Know that failed tribulation means body and Dao both perished, soul scattered — no next life ever.

The Lady in Green's eyes moved; she was somewhat absent, none knew her thought.

After a long while she gave a soft sigh.

"No success, then death — over a hundred years, his temper is quite unchanged."

Time shifts, seas turn to mulberry fields; as a long-lived ghost-immortal, the Lady in Green from the early Han to now has witnessed countless dynasties and seen off many old friends.

Yet each time an old friend passes, she still feels some dim sorrow, though the ripple grows ever fainter.

Perhaps this is the price of longevity.

"Did your Patriarch leave any last wish?"

Wang Bo recalled the Patriarch's dying charge, his eyes dim, and said, "The Patriarch had but one last wish — to have us present this zither to the Lady."

"He said the Lady's tune of old changed his fate; he traveled a thousand mountains and rivers and at last found this zither to offer the Lady — pity he had not the fortune to hear the Lady's immortal sound once more."

In truth there was a saying Wang Bo did not voice — the Patriarch, lifelong without a Dao-companion, had never forgotten a certain figure.

But that figure was too dazzling and distant, beyond reach.

The Lady in Green, having heard this, said nothing; her eyes lowered, and she put the Phoenix-Perching Zither into her sleeve, then lifted the cup herself and drank lightly.

The old woman sighed within — she knew the Lady's mood now was surely not good.

Just then a clear, bright voice broke the feast's somewhat low mood.

"Who first wakes from the great dream? My own life I alone know."

All looked; Li Daoxuan stretched and had actually woken from his drunkenness — his gaze clear, his face like jade, not a trace of drunkenness left.

Li Daoxuan raised the cup and smiled. "Fairy Que, the nectar is truly fine — trouble you to fill again!"

All looked at him, especially Wang Bo and the mountain god, eyes full of disbelief.

How could he wake?

And seeing his present bright spirit and glistening eyes, he had plainly digested that cup — the mark of cultivation advanced.

Know that many late-Bigu cultivators were still drunk!

Seeing Fairy Que's astonished look, Li Daoxuan winked at her and smiled. "What — reluctant to pour me a second cup?"

Fairy Que looked to the Lady.

The Lady in Green looked at Li Daoxuan, a strange color in her eyes — she had not acted to sober him.

"Lady, a Bigu cultivator may drink at most one cup; more, and there will be trouble…"

The Lady in Green's voice remained calm.

"Pour for him."