The Path Toward Heaven

Jing Jiu was in deep thought about what had happened earlier.

He was concerned about Fang Jingtian since Fang was the peak master of Xilai. And what was his intention when Fang Jingtian asked about his current Cultivation state in front of so many people?

There were many things in this world that seemed to be difficult to understand, but in fact, they could be all predicted and understood after careful calculation, or at least mostly understood. However, This required a lot of effort.

Jing Jiu didn’t think this was important, so he was unwilling to spend his energy on it. As he was about to give up on thinking about Fang Jingtian, he all of a sudden remembered his conversation with Zhao Layue when Jing Jiu saw Gu Qing’s face.

Jing Jiu asked Young Yuan to go inside the room to wait for him, then told Gu Qing about his experiences with Fang Jingtian.

This was the first time Gu Qing heard that Fang Jingtian had attempted to kill Jing Jiu twice. “Did you report this to Sect Master?” Gu Qing asked with a pale face.

Fang Jingtian was the peak master of Xilai and had a high status at the Green Mountain Sect, so the Sect Master and Sword Justice were the only ones who could punish him.

Jing Jiu said, “Without evidence, they weren’t willing to kill Luo Huainan, let alone their Young Brother.”

Gu Qing thought: Since you have told me this, do you want me to do something?

Jing Jiu said, “The purpose of putting all these matters in order is to predict what he would do in the future and what we should do in response.”

Having said this, Jing Jiu got up and entered the room, where Young Yuan was waiting for him.

Gu Qing knew what Jing Jiu would discuss with Young Yuan, and didn’t think too much of it. Thinking of the task his master had given him, he couldn’t help but feel troubled.

…

…

Young Yuan had left.

Jing Jiu walked to the window, looking through the window at the outside.

He first looked at that temple in White Town in the north.

Secondly, he looked at the south, wondering where his Big Brother was at the moment.

…

…

In Juye City.

The cold fog had gradually dispersed in the north. This crowded city had even more people now. The restaurants and inns were full of guests, and the smell of meat boiling in hotpots was everywhere.

In a private room of a restaurant, the hotpot on the table was boiling with red and white soups, the ingredients in the soups rolling around along with the boiling water.

The short and thin old man was quite fed up with the meal. “Aren’t you tired of eating this all the time?” he asked while rubbing the tip of his nose.

The young man said, “If you put different ingredients in the soup, you will get a different flavor. There are tens of thousands of different ingredients, so we have as many flavors. How can you be tired of eating hotpot with so many flavors?”

The short and thin old man picked up a piece of spinach with the chopsticks from the white soup, dipped it in the sesame sauce, and then swallowed it with some tofu. He found the taste was actually pretty good.

It was either because his nose was burned by the hot food or he rubbed it too hard earlier, but it turned red either way. “What should we do next?” he mumbled.

The young man said, “I’d like to go see that child, Xiaoming.”

The short and thin old man asked with an icy expression, “Do you really want to give him the enterprise of my ancestors?”

The young man said, “Is the child Su Ziye in the Mysterious Dark Sect? I like this name, so I won’t help any one of them. The one who has won the contest will become your successor. Isn’t that a good idea?”

The short and thin old man sneered, “Is it because you thought you were pretty good at scheming that you gave yourself the name “Yin San’?”

The young man didn’t get angry, saying with a smile, “You are the third grandmaster of the Mysterious Dark Sect, so this name quite suits you. Should I give this name to you?”

The short and thin old man was displeased, saying with a mocking tone, “That young man Jing Jiu is still alive. Are you disappointed?”

The young man ignored his remark. He picked up a piece of pig brain carefully from the red soup and put it in his bowl full of sesame oil, smashed onion and garlic.

The short and thin old man felt what the young man had in his bowl wasn’t so wonderful, remarking, “The pig brain doesn’t taste as good as the human brain.”

The young man thought his own brain was as stupid as a pig’s brain; how come he hadn’t realized back then that Jing Jiu wasn’t “him”?!

…

…

The next day, the disciples and masters of various sects participating in the Cultivation tournament got ready to go back to their respective mountains.

In the early morning, Bai Zao arrived at the courtyard of the Green Mountain Sect.

None of the caretakers and servants cleaning the yard and none of the disciples of the Green Mountain doing their morning practice stopped her, as they knew that it would be best to take care of their own business.

Young Yuan was hesitant, wondering whether he should do something.

Gu Qing pulled him away, thinking it was a matter for the senior masters and that they were not in the position to interfere.

However, if they intended to do something to mess up things up secretly, it would work, but there were too many witnesses under the bright morning sunlight right then.

They could vaguely hear the voices on the other side of the courtyard.

Young Yuan eavesdropped by placing his ear against the wall, and he became even more worried when he heard how Bai Zao addressed Jing Jiu. “She should call him Senior Master, but she calls him Big Brother instead. What does she have in mind?” he exclaimed.

…

…

“In fact, I should feel happy.”

Bai Zao said softly, “After all, I survived, and I have fixed my broken Golden Pill after that sleep. And it would be even possible for me to raise a Yuanying in a few years. Yet, why don’t I feel joyful?”

Jing Jiu really didn’t understand what she was talking about, asking, “Why?”

“I didn’t expect that the fog would to have completely disappeared when I woke up, after being in trance all these years.”

Bai Zao continued, “How wonderful it would be if I woke up one year earlier, or just ten or twenty days earlier.”

Jing Jiu still didn’t understand her, asking, “What do you mean?”

Bai Zao said softly, “It is as if everything stayed the same as six years ago. If I could wake up just one day earlier, I would be able to know you better, and how wonderful that would be.”

What she had said was very affectionate, even though she didn’t use a single affectionate word.

By now Jing Jiu understood her meaning, thinking it was a troublesome matter. “The path toward heaven is long and timeless. We will meet again if the fate allows it.”

This was refusal, or evasion in other words ; and what he said wasn’t so implicit for the clever people.

Bai Zao looked at him blankly.

The cold fog had dispersed, and the field outside Whit Town wasn’t as cold as before; though the wind was still kind of chilly.

The hair by Bai Zao’s ears flapped gently, looking like a small white flower trembling in the wind quite feeble .

As Jing Jiu was about to say something, she pulled her hair behind the ears before saying softly, “Yes, we’ll meet again soon.”

Jing Jiu wondered what she meant now!

“Big Brother Luo has died; but I will still tell my parents the truth.”

Bai Zao changed the subject without effort.

“Of course,” Jing Jiu agreed.

Thinking of something, Bai Zao said with a smile, “It looks like the relationship between you and Liu Shisui is really close, totally different from the rumors.”

Jing Jiu thought you and Tong Yan had a close relationship as well, but you still didn’t know the truth of the whole event, and I couldn’t tell you about it.

A knock on the yard door, Gu Qing’s voice rang out outside the door, “Master, Tong Lu of the West Ocean Sword Sect wishes to see you.”

…

…

Tong Lu stared into Jing Jiu’s eyes and said, “I’d like to have a duel with you. After you have recovered back on the Green Mountain, send a Sword Letter to me.”

“Why?” Jing Jiu asked.

“It’s because Liu Shisui killed Luo Huainan,” Tong Lu answered.

Having said that, Tong Lu shot Bai Zao a glance, showing a great deal of disappointment in his eyes; then he left the courtyard waving his sleeves dismissively, without uttering another word.

“Does he already?” asked Jing Jiu.

“Yes. Otherwise, he should thank us for letting Big Brother live three extra years.”

Bai Zao was very bright, so she knew full well what Jing Jiu asked about. “But, what I don’t understand is, why was he so upset now that he is aware that the story told by Big Brother is false?” she wondered.

Jing Jiu said, “In the true story, Luo Huainan was unkind to us, but it had nothing to do with Tong Lu. It was Luo Huainan who had saved his life in the end.”

“Why would Big Brother have told him about the truth?” Bai Zao asked.

“Maybe honesty,” said Jing Jiu.

“I would have thought so before, but I really don’t know what kind of a person Big Brother was anymore.”

Bai Zao remained reticent after saying that .

The morning wind tousled the by the ears again.

Jing Jiu said, “I don’t know either.”

He had seen Luo Huainan only twice.

Last time Jing Jiu saw him through a great deal of wind and snow.

…

…

“Senior Master is back!”

“Which Senior Master?”

“The Young Senior Master!”

“Senior Master Jing Jiu?”

“Yeah!”

The Sword-Washing Stream was so bright that it appeared white under the noon sunlight, and the stream didn’t look like a golden whip, but more like a jade belt.

Countless cries and screams could be heard in the training hall by the stream.

A dozen sword-washing disciples couldn’t stand sitting on their stools, and pushed their ways to the windows, looking at the Sword Boat lowering down slowly from the sky.

…