The Path Toward Heaven

In order to mitigate the embarrassment she felt earlier, Xiao He asked more questions regarding the topic Gu Qing had started.

Why would Zhao Layue place such an emphasis on this restaurant?

“All I know is that this is the place where Senior Master Zhao had killed somebody the first time; the other reasons are simply beyond me.”

Gu Qing continued, “She killed a disciple of the Underworld at that time.”

Xiao He’s face had suddenly turned pale.

Gu Qing shook his head, as he said, “You shouldn’t think of things that aren’t real; we have absolutely no intention of killing you.”

But Xiao He still couldn’t feel relaxed, so she remarked while staring into Gu Qing’s eyes, “I’m a trouble for Liu Shisui, no matter how you look at it.”

If the matter of Zuo Yi of Bihu Peak were settled, the future for Liu Shisui on Green Mountain would be quite bright.

Yet, if he had a vixen who had committed many evil deeds at his side all the time, his reputation would suffer.

And judging by Liu Shisui’s usual demeanor, this matter wouldn’t be resolved so easily, unless the vixen disappeared permanently.

That was why Xiao He would show a strong reaction of caution and uneasiness when she heard that this restaurant was the place where Zhao Layue had killed someone the first time.

“Since Liu Shisui doesn’t consider you trouble, and you are not troublesome to him; likewise, Liu Shisui is not trouble for our Shenmo Peak.”

Gu Qing said with a small smile, “However, it looks like our Shenmo Peak will be trouble for Green Mountain.”

It was because some people on Green Mountain consider Shenmo Peak trouble.

In Xiao He’s eyes, Gu Qing’s smile wasn’t so disgusting anymore; it was lovelier, full of self-assurance.

…

…

Nine days later, the sun set down as usual.

The sun on Shangde Peak seemed to go down more urgently than on other peaks. The temperature on the mountain dropped rapidly as the night had just fallen, and the icy frost had gradually formed on the pine trees on the cliffs.

Yuan Qü hadn’t been to this place in a few years, so he wasn’t accustomed to walking on the mountain path covered by the ice and snow anymore. Yet, he still could remember the paths he had walked on before, and it didn’t take long for him to find the residence of the disciples on Shangde Peak. He called out to Young Sister Yushan without alerting anybody else.

Young Sister Yushan dusted off the ice and snow on his clothes with a heavy heart. All of a sudden, she thought of something, pulling him hastily toward a remote place behind the cliff. “What are you thinking sneaking in here? It’s absolutely impossible to rescue him,” she declared with a nervous expression.

Yuan Qü thought the anxious look on her face was rather cute, so he teased her, “Why not? I have you to lead the way.”

Young Sister Yushan was quite upset and glared at him, saying, “What are you thinking? There is only one gloomy and horrifying passage leading to the Sword Jail, and I can’t even get close to the forbidden manor cave; how could I take you there…No! No! Even if I could do it, I wouldn’t, because that is none other than the Sword Jail!”

Yuan Qü mused that it was only a well and her description was a bit too exaggerated. But he felt somewhat surprised that Young Sister Yushan knew about the forbidden manor cave and the well. Usually, the regular disciples of Shangde Peak had no way of knowing all of this, not to mention that she had come to Shangde Peak for merely a little more than ten years ago.

For various reasons, fewer and fewer disciples were willing to inherit the sword of Shangde Peak, especially the female disciples.

Young Sister Yushan had been the only female disciple taken by Shangde Peak in the last twenty or thirty years; so it was natural that she was favored by the masters here.

Yuan Qü didn’t think of these facts, and yet somehow felt a tinge of jealousy after he found Young Sister Yushan enjoyed being on Shangde Peak. Still, he felt happy for her.

Young Sister Yushan didn’t notice his changed expression, asking nervously, “What are you doing here? Seriously.”

“I don’t know either,” Yuan Qü said blankly. “Senior Master Jing asked me to come here to visit you, so I’m here.”

Young Sister Yushan was baffled, asking, “What is Senior Master Jing Jiu’s intention?”

Yuan Qü said, “Don’t need to think too much about it. The masters do the thinking; all we need to do is listen to them and carry out the tasks required of us.”

Young Sister Yushan thought what he said was sensible; but Big Brother, it’s inappropriate for you to enter my manor cave to drink tea, so what should we do next in such a cold night?

Yuan Qü led her to the other side of the cliff. They arrived at a black rock protruding from the accumulated snow after they had passed through a patch of small forest.

The black rock faced the starry night sky, with a cluster of cold-resistant wild flowers growing underneath it.

As Young Sister Yushan was wondering how her Big Brother was so familiar with the paths on Shangde Peak, she suddenly saw a beautiful scene, which made her forget all her suspicions.

She thought it was a great place to talk: in front of the flowers and under the moon.

…

…

Though Yuan Qü was quite familiar with Shangde Peak, someone else was actually even more familiar with it.

Jing Jiu had lived here for a very long time; in fact, he had lived here longer than he had on Shenmo Peak.

Back when his Master and Grandmaster were alive, they were busy preparing for their ascension, staying behind closed doors all year long. His Big Brother was the peak master of Shangde at the time, so he had to cultivate on Shangde Peak as well.

He was still quite young at the time, and was interested in a lot of things, just like Liu Ada. His Cultivation states had progressed a bit too fast sometimes, so at certain stages, when his Cultivation required time for absorption, he had a lot of leisure time at his disposal, so he often walked about on Shangde Peak and checked out all the sceneries here. This is how he discovered many well-hidden passages.

Even his Big Brother and Yuan Qijing didn’t know about those secret passages as much as he did.

Yet, he still didn’t like this place. It was because it was too cold here, full of ice and frost inside and outside, plus a bit of dampness.

This feeling of cold both inside and outside was mostly due to the existence of the Sword Jail here.

He was fairly familiar with the Sword Jail as well.

Yet, he didn’t intend to deceive all the people about rescuing Liu Shisui from the Sword Jail.

It was because somebody couldn’t be deceived.

Even if he could conceal it from the heaven and earth, he still couldn’t conceal it from that being.

No matter which passage he chose to enter the Sword Jail, he would be discovered by that being, and he would also be discovered when he was to leave the jail.

So Jing Jiu had been wondering what that being had done, as his Big Brother escaped from the Sword Jail seventeen years ago.

A band of starlight streamed down from somewhere high above in the sky.

Looking down from a high elevation, the wellhead appeared like a speck.

Yet, the bottom of the well was a large cave, dry but a bit chilly.

As the starlight shone down, it projected a column of light onto a huge black dog that looked like a small mountain.

He was the Principal Guard of the Green Mountain: Dead Dog.

Jing Jiu landed on the bottom of the well along with the starlight.

He didn’t come down from the wellhead; instead, he came down from a secret passage in the cliff wall.

He drifted down to the ground, his clothes fluttering like a lotus leaf, not making even a single sound.

He was at the moment devoid of breath, heartbeat, or bodily energy, and his existence couldn’t even be sensed; he had become like a lifeless stone.

He was certain that even a Cultivation practitioner of the Broken Sea State couldn’t discover him as long as his eyes were closed.

But he knew Dead Dog had already discovered him.

Dead Dog had seen too many dead people.

Even a genuine, dry corpse couldn’t evade his perception.

Dead Dog opened his eyes and stared back at Jing Jiu in silence.

The starlight shone on them.

Dead Dog’s eyes were calm, devoid of any emotion, like a serene old well.

Jing Jiu was the only one who could see a hint of profound affection in the depth of the dog’s eyes.

That hint of affection was not targeted at him specifically, since it was there all the time.

Jing Jiu said, “Thanks for your hard work over the years.”

The expression in Dead Dog’s eyes was dispassionate.

“I thought you would like that child and want to teach him something.”

Jing Jiu continued, “It was probably my misconception. No matter how similar they are, he is not Big Brother.”

Dead Dog turned his head and looked at that gloomy passage, indicating his agreement and… reminiscence.

“No two leaves are totally the same, nor are two people.”

After a silent pause, Jing Jiu continued, “What my Big Brother said is right: We can’t step into the same river twice.”

Dead Dog glanced at Jing Jiu sympathetically.

He knew that Jing Jiu must have something to ask him if he was taking such a risk being discovered coming down here to see him, that in addition taking away that disciple.

“Did you let my Big Brother go?” asked Jing Jiu.

Dead Dog looked at him soundlessly and answered him by the spiritual awareness.

“No.”

“But you didn’t stop him when he was leaving here.”

“Neither did I stop you when you locked him up here.”

…