The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The things that the wind cut off from people’s fingers were silver taels and gold, both of which could be used as currency and concealed weapons. Except for these, there was nothing special.

“This is…” Ruan Yushu pulled out something like a piece of jewelry from the bag that contained gold beads.

It was made of gold and hollowed out, forming a very complex pattern, which produced a fantastic beauty that was extremely special, rare, divine, and solemn.

“There’s a special material that’s mixed within the gold that is hard to counterfeit.” Ruan Yushu concluded that upon close inspection.

Jiang Zhiwei took it and rubbed it for a while. “It doesn’t have any Dharma and Logos, just something special in the mixed material.”

In other words, it was just common jewelry with good material and a strange shape.

“Maybe it’s some kind of status symbol of a mythological organization…” Meng Qi speculated. He was imaginative after reading so many books.

Jiang Zhiwei noded while considering that. “Maybe… And it might also contain some special smell that will let you be easily tracked if you have it with you.”

“Haha. Don’t worry. Do you remember this?” Meng Qi patted the Space Ring on his left wrist.

It was hard to track him if he put it inside the ring, even for a master of the Celestial Rankings.

“When the next Samsara task begins, we can consult Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms.” Meng Qi added via Secret Voice-sending.

Jiang Zhiwei reminded him out of habit, but did not say anything more, seeing that Meng Qi was fully prepared.

Because of the sounds from a moment ago, a lot of people of Jianghu came close up at this time, including the constables of Six Fan School. Thus, they collected the goods quickly, dragged the body of Jiang Hengchuan into the water, and left the shore.

…

At sunset, Meng Qi found that nobody was in Hero Tower. It was said that when Crape Myrtle Star and Asininity Taoist were in a battle, many customers found that there was no need to pay after eating and drinking to their satisfaction.

“Ren Pingsheng was so vigilant that he disappeared very quickly…” Meng Qi sighed, crossed several streets, and walked toward the alley of the Chinese Pagoda Tree.

It was getting dark, and the shadow of the Chinese Pagoda Tree was even darker and gloomy. The old wood-carving man stood in front of the door, as if he had been waiting for Meng Qi.

He did not have any chisel, pieces of wood, or the statue. He was wearing a black robe, and holding a common long sword patiently, even if he was waiting for others.

“Your swinging of the sword was a real shock when you chopped the road of the Nine Serenities,” Meng Qi praised him, as he could not again pretend to not recognize the founder of Huamei Heights, Lu Zhiping, the Wholehearted Sword.

Master Lu grinned with delight, saying, “It was just a crack in the Nine Serenities. Some evil spirits will always try to return to the human world.”

After a pause, he continued, “I said before that I had something to tell you after the Tidal Bore of the Jin River. Are you willing to listen now?”

Meng Qi cupped his hand in the other in front of his chest and said, “Please.”

Master Lu looked very dignified as he said, “Little brother, you must have had many adventures considering your destiny, and many times you were able to transform back luck into good. Is that correct?”

“Yes, it’s true.” Meng Qi became serious.

Master Lu said with a sigh, “But your luck does not originate from yourself. Like a tree without roots or water without a source, it seems that it was made by somebody for some purpose or it had accumulated itself beyond control. It looks like a blazing fire, but in the end, it may be dangerous and turn into emptiness.”

“Does this refer to the ‘momentum’ from the Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms? Because of the Samsara tasks and conversions, and adventures in various worlds? Or is it because of other reasons, like Ananda?” The thoughts ran through Meng Qi’s mind, forming a storm in his heart.

“Would you instruct me?” Meng Qi put confusion and shock aside with difficulty.

Master Lu shook his head and said with a smile, “Your own path should be walked by yourself. This wood carving is a gift for you for being an onlooker.”

He handed Meng Qi the wood carving, which was a vivid carving of Meng Qi that looked modest and jumping.

Meng Qi took the carving wood and discovered that it was not different from the others that were sold in the market. But, he did not dare look down on it, so he put it away.

“Thank you.”

Master Lu accepted his thanks and floated away holding his famous Wholehearted Sword. His ancient deep-green shadow disappeared among the sea of people, with not even a trace of dust remaining.

Meng Qi put aside his thoughts and sighed. “There’s still a long way for me to go to reach that level, so there’s no need to worry.”

…

A boat named “Deng’s Fishing Boat” was floating in the center on Crescent Lake.

“My customers, over there is the branch of the Dajiang Gang, so we’d better raft in this area,” said a young fisherwoman in a friendly tone. She was the Master of this fishing boat with a sun-baked but pretty appearance.

Meng Qi was dressed in white and held his long sword. His “Heaven Inflicted Pain” was stored away inside the Space Ring, instead of being carried on his back. He said with a smile, “We laymen don’t care about where we float to, but only about eating crab.”

The fisherwoman chuckled. “So straightforward. OK, I’m getting things ready now.”

He turned and saw that Ruan Yushu wanted to say something, so, worrying that she might be dispirited, he said hurriedly, “The air in autumn is fresh, and it’s high time for us to taste some crab meat. The Deng’s Fishing Boat has been around for 100 years with its delicious crab meat and special sauce. This style can be said to be one of the best things in Maoling. It cost me a lot of money to book this entire ship.”

As he said this, he seemed to be asking for praises when he turned to Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei with the appearance of an upstart.

Looking at him, Jiang Zhiwei laughed out loud. She would have very likely felt resentful when she heard others speak like that, but she felt it interesting when the little monk spoke so frankly with assurance and displayed such a humorous manner while he himself did not feel embarrassed.

Ruan Yushu tasted the lotus tea and said, “Aristocratic families always have their own boats and ask chefs to make dinner.”

Meng Qi predicted this and waved his right hand. “How troublesome that is. We’ll feel more comfortable to be here with the freedom to focus on the delicious food rather than be surrounded by maids and servants, facing strangers.”

“I knew you’d say that!”

Ruan Yushu only slightly nodded her head and said, “It’s not bad.”

Meng Qi became more proud. “And what about it? I won’t back out once I’ve agreed to treat you.”

“I see. So, I have benefited from her.” Jiang Zhiwei smiled and added to the banter.

Meng Qi choked on his saliva and almost turned back into Master Wang. “No, no, no. I planned to treat you too. Friends gathering to taste crab and wine is such a pleasure.”

Jiang Zhiwei was just making a joke, so she did not prevent him from changing the topic. She smiled and said, “Maoling crab is world-famous. I tasted it several times when I was in the branch. It was really good. But, compared with fresh crab, it was inferior, although it had mystical preservation for the long journey.”

“Yup!” Ruan Yushu was greedy. And it seemed that she could not wait any longer.

The three people were chatting about the Maoling crab when the fisherwoman served a large dish of steamed red lake crabs.

“These are the secretly-made spices and pickles. This is the crescent fish, and this is the home-brewed rice wine. The flavor of the crab would be better if you drink this,” the fisherwoman told them with delight.

Upon smelling it all, Ruan Yushu shook her hands spontaneously, seemingly unable to hold herself back.

“Rafting on a lake to eat delicious crab with the company of several best friends is one of the happiest things in my life. Cheers!” Meng Qi poured a cup of rice wine and made a toast.

Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu had deep Inner Force, so they did not fear getting drunk, and clinked their cups as well.

The autumn wind was so nice and cool, and the ripples on the lake were so beautiful. It was really a rare pleasure for them to get together and taste the wine and crab after a Samsara task.

Ruan Yushu laid down the cup, took a crab, and quickly deshelled it. In just a moment, a full piece of creamy crab meat appeared.

She seemed to be very eager, but in fact, her movements were graceful, just like a beautiful scene.

Dipping a piece of crab meat into the spices, she ate it with pleasure.

“Pretty good. It deserves its reputation.”

Her expression and comments made Meng Qi’s appetite kick in. But when he looked at the crab, he discovered that he could hardly strip it like she had.

Over the past few days, he ate crabs by crunching them to stuff himself with delicacies.

Jiang Zhiwei smiled and took a crab, putting her right hand over it. Suddenly, Sword Qi burst out, and the shell of the crab was broken and blasted off to the side, revealing the succulent meat.

“It’s indeed more delicious than it was in the branch,” said Jiang Zhiwei in praise.

Meng Qi was inspired and made use of his genuine Qi. The Eight Nine Mysteries had great power, so that crab shell was opened shortly.

Meng Qi dipped the meat in the sauce and dropped it into his mouth, tasting the sweet flavors enhanced by the sauce. It was really a fantastic pleasure with such a rich flavor.

Ruan Yushu watched that with consideration. She took a second crab and also removed the shell with her genuine Qi, as if all the crab would be eaten up if she continued to adhere to her original process.

“They eat so fast!”

It was such a pleasure to eat crab and drink wine. A half an hour later, all the crabs had been eaten up. Meng Qi was tipsy and knocking on the table, singing countryside folk songs.

Ruan Yushu wiped off her hands and put her Phoenix-perching Zither on the table. The sounds that were generated by her hands were quite broad-minded and deep.

Meng Qi lowered his voice and leaned back on the partition with a pleasant expression.

The longsword lay on Jiang Zhiwei’s lap as she listened quietly with satisfaction.

After a while, the autumn wind blew, bringing moisture along with it. Ruan Yushu stopped playing and said softly, “I’ll go back to Langya tomorrow. It seems that I won’t be able to travel around the world before I’m 18 years old.”

“OK. Then I’ll treat you again when we have a Samsara task.” Meng Qi comforted her with honesty.

Jiang Zhiwei sighed with her hand on her long sword, saying, “‘Master Lotus’ didn’t come. ‘The Unstoppable’ knew about the result of Maoling before his arrival, and returned to the seashore. ‘Five Emperors’ Knife’ retired, following Senior Shouzhuo, and ‘Wolf King’ disappeared. I was thinking to challenge all of the heroes.”

Crape Myrtle Star had great power and had forced Asininity Taoist to retreat in the critical moment.

“I was planning to invite you to ‘hunt down’ Wolf King, but I’ve no clue now. It’s fine. We’ll have a chance to challenge them when all the heroes from the River East gather together,” said Meng Qi in a comforting tone.

Jiang Zhiwei smiled and said, “I know that. But I have to leave the River East for a while. The manager of the Maoling branch of the Sword Washing Pavilion informed me that I must go to Zhongzhou for a birthday celebration on the family member of a deceased Tai Shang Elder. There’s no time left, so I should set out tomorrow. And what about you, little monk?”

There was always a departure after meeting, and vice-versa. Meng Qi held his cup up high and said, “I don’t have a task, but I should wait here for Senior Brother Qi, otherwise, he would be sad if nobody was here.”

Jiang Zhiwei nodded her head. “So shall it be. I’ll return to the River East in one or two months.”

The fishing boat returned back to the shore. Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei stepped down together and headed over to the Dajue Temple.

The drunk Meng Qi looked at their figures and the golden surface of the lake, knocked on the table, and sang loudly,

“Billow of the river running east, and the heroes going with time…”

His voice was heroic and it spread out wide as many people looked in his direction. Ruan Yushu and Jiang Zhiwei also slowed their pace to listen. But, Meng Qi was quite unrestrained and happy, instead of being shy.

“… So many events in history, all gone with the wind…”