Joy of Life

In the midst of spring, various trees were stretching their branches and sprouting green leaves. Dongyi was near the seashore. The moist sea wind blew through night and day. It made spring arrive earlier and last longer than in other places.

No one knew how long the large tree on the outskirts of the city had been there. The tree branches grew straight and tall but had no intention of piercing the sky. Countless green leaves on the crown of the tree formed a large umbrella. It appeared particularly beautiful and benevolent. It blocked the sun in the sky, spilled down shade, and protected people entering and leaving the city.

The tree was extraordinarily large. The area of its shadow covered a few mu of land. Many people were resting under it. Below the tree were twisted roots that broke through the ground like the rough and powerful body of dragons, steady and true. Sigu Jian, Fan Xian, and the little Emperor rested by these roots. This strange group did not draw the gaze of many people. Dongyi always had many strange people.

Fan Xian sat on a root and felt the coolness beneath his bottom. He didn’t know the species of the large tree behind him and couldn’t be bothered to find out. He only lowered his head to look for ants or dung beetles moving dung balls, but he didn’t see any.

“How old was she at the time?”

“Maybe 6 or 7 years old?” Sigu Jian sat on the wheelchair and furrowed his brows as he thought for a long time. It was as if the distant time blurred his recollection. He spat on the ground and said, “In any case, she was a little girl.”

“How old were you at the time?”

“In my teens?” Sigu Jian scratched his head. “You know, my brain has never worked well. I can never remember such complicated things.”

“I don’t think one’s own age is a complicated matter.”

“Geniuses are always different in some ways from everyone else.” It was clear that Sigu Jian did not care about Fan Xian’s mockery as he laughed coldly.

“A genius is a different kind of idiot.” Fan Xian glanced at him lazily. “Of course, everyone in the world knows that you were an idiot when you were little.”

Sigu Jian didn’t say anything. He just directed his eyes to where Fan Xian was looking, like he was trying to find some trace of the past in the gaps between the roots.

Emperor Zhan Doudou stood coldly to the side and watched as this elder and youth expressed their sentimentality. She felt slightly objectionable. It had been quiet as the three of them walked here. According to the logic of the secular world, the little Emperor’s status was the noblest. However, it was clear that neither Sigu Jian nor Fan Xian cared about this.

Sigu Jian and Fan Xian seemed to be interested in finding ants. They stopped under the green tree and showed no signs of leaving.

The little Emperor furrowed her brows slightly. She thought about how the people outside the Sword Hut were probably still worried about her. She also didn’t know what would happen next. She was worried that these two might expose her secret. She worried and quietly said, “Lady Ye is no longer alive. You two could look here for three years and she still won’t come to life again.”

These words seemed to be asserting a matter, but it also seemed to devastate their hopes. The little Emperor’s intelligence and reaction was most adequately demonstrated. Inside the Sword hut, Sigu Jian had only casually mentioned the matter of urging Fan Xian to rebel. She had caught onto some hidden clue and made a probing comment.

Hearing these words, Sigu Jian and Fan Xian both raised their heads and glanced at her. Their gazes made her feel slightly uneasy. Fan Xian shrugged and said, “I just think ants are more interesting than people.”

Sigu Jian looked at Fan Xian and sighed with admiration. “When your mother used to look for ants with me and people asked us this, she would also reply like that.”

Following Sigu Jian’s joyful narration, Fan Xian smiled. An image from many years ago seemed to rise before his eyes.

A snot-nosed idiot squatting below the large tree, watching ants moving homes and fighting. Perhaps he had even untied the belt around his waist and pissed on the anthill. The pedestrians passing by, the residents of Dongyi, all knew of this idiot’s identity. When they passed by him, they all wore an expression of pity and loathing in their eyes. No one was willing to go forward to talk to him.

Then, a young blind servant holding a little girl’s hand came from far away to Dongyi and the roots of this large tree. They found this idiot, who was so focused as to not care about what was happening around him.

The pretty little girl crouched curiously by the idiot’s side and asked him, “What are you looking at?”

The idiot glanced at her impatiently and said, “I am looking at ants.”

The little girl made a sound of acknowledgment. She then began to look at the ants with him. They looked for a long time until someone could no longer ignore it. They reminded the young servant that this idiot was the young master of a large family in the city. However, he was a bit simple and he, the servant, should not let his little mistress be foolish with him.

After the little girl heard these words, she didn’t stand up. Smiling, she said, “I just think that sometimes ants are much more interesting than people.”

It was clear that the meaning in these words was far more mature than the age her little body presented. However, the pedestrians under the tree did not notice this. They just wondered whose family this little girl belonged to. She was pretty and clean, like an immortal who had walked out a picture, yet she was crouched together with the Master of the City’s most famous idiot. They simply could not go on watching.

Then, the little girl waved her hand. The young blind servant, who had been like a cold block of ice, also crouched down beside the two of them. Although he didn’t want to crouch, there was no difference between crouching and standing for him. Since she wanted him to crouch, he would crouch.

…

…

Sigu Jian continued his recollection and scratched at his itchy face. “We spent half a day watching ants fight. Then, I invited them to be guests at my home.”

“Your home?”

“My goddamn father was the previous Master of Dongyi. Did you not know?”

“Oh, I have heard about it. However, that was a long time ago. Your father died long ago under your sword.”

“The Master of the City’s manor was very large and luxurious.” Sigu Jian’s face suddenly split into a smile. “Where I lived, it was like a doghouse because I was an idiot. My goddamn father hated me. Furthermore, my mother was only a servant. You understand what I am saying, right?”

“Yes, I have read many novels like this.” Fan Xian nodded. No one in Dongyi discussed Sigu Jian’s past, but that did not mean the Overwatch Council had not researched this area. He long had a thorough understanding of Sigu Jian’s background and knew what a humiliating and scornful life the idiot had lived in the manor of the Master of the City. It was only now that he learned that Sigu Jian’s birth mother was a servant who had probably died many years ago.

“Your mother and Wu Zhu were my first friends in my life,” Sigu Jian suddenly said solemnly. “Although where I lived was terrible and I could not even offer them a cup of tea, they did not look down on me and still went with me.”

“Perhaps it was because I was an idiot at the time, but I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. Clearly, many people in the manor had a problem with it. They would not allow two strangers of unknown origins to enter the manor, particularly to live with the idiotic young master. Thus, a few days later, Lady Ye and Wu Zhu left the manor. I didn’t care since I always left the house to watch ants during the day. Along the way, I would go play in the room they rented.”

“This is truly my first time learning that you once had such a period of friendship with my mother and Uncle Wu Zhu.”

Sigu Jian furrowed his brows and said coldly, “Has Wu Zhu never told you about what had happened in Dongyi?”

“No.” Fan Xian sat on the tree root. Picking up a thin branch, he unthinkingly picked at the mud. “Uncle’s memory became much worse later.”

“Hmph. Wu Zhu’s memory could turn bad?” Sigu Jian suddenly roared with laughter. “Then, is he not similar to my idiotic appearance in the past?”

Fan Xian glared at him. He then smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Do you know where my mother and Uncle Wu Zhu came from?”

This was something that had troubled him for a dozen years. He could faintly guess some of it, especially since Xiao En had brought it up a little in the cave inside Xi Mountain’s precipice outside Shangjing before he died. Xiao En’s story only clarified where his mother had come from but did not mention Uncle Wu Zhu.

In Xiao En’s story, he and Ku He had suffered thousands of li and entered the outer boundary of the Temple and saw Ye Qingmei. The two of them rescued her out of the temple, but they had become separated during the journey. At that time, Ye Qingmei was only 4 years old. There were at least two years between then and when Sigu Jian saw her inside Dongyi.

During this period of time, what was Ye Qingmei doing? How did Uncle Wu Zhu come to be by her side?

In Xiao En’s recollection, he had mentioned that it seemed Ye Qingmei was deeply worried about someone in the Temple and wasn’t able to let go of them. Thus, she had refused to leave. Was that person Uncle Wu Zhu?

Hearing Fan Xian’s question, Sigu Jian suddenly became silent. A moment later, he faintly said, “The me at the time did not know where they had come from or where they were going. Later, I slowly came to know.”

He turned his head slightly and stared at Fan Xian with his bottomless and calm eyes. “Do you not know where Wu Zhu came from?”

Fan Xian lowered his head and was silent for a long time. Uncle Wu Zhu was a strange creature. Uncle Wu Zhu did not become old, did not know internal qi, and was very good and strong. He laughed bitterly and said, “Even if Uncle Wu Zhu came from the temple, what about my mother?”

“What nonsense. The blind man was an emissary of the Temple. Your mother was his mistress. She was an immortal of the Temple. Otherwise, how could she have done so much by herself in this world?” Sigu Jian scolded irritably as if feeling Fan Xian’s question was rather redundant.

Fan Xian did not feel that he was being redundant. He smiled bitterly and thought that his mother Ye Qingmei was clearly like him. She possessed a soul that did not belong to this world. What did it have to do with the Temple?

Fan Xian and Sigu Jian talked energetically, sighing at the memories. Their voices naturally drew together and did not affect anyone else under the tree. The Northern Qi Emperor stood by them and quietly listened. As she listened, her face gradually grew white. Her hands began to tremble in her sleeves.

She had not thought that she would be able to hear such astonishing secrets under this tree. She finally understood how such a young person like Fan Xian could have the confidence and even arrogance that most could only hope to achieve. It made clear how he dared to treat an Emperor with disdain, sit on the same level as Sigu Jian, shamelessly judge the world, and attempt to control everything within his hands.

The little Emperor knew Fan Xian’s mother was Ye Qingmei and faintly knew that he had a blind master behind him. It was not until now that she learned the mistress of the Ye family and that blind master had some uncertain connection to the Temple.

What was the Temple? It was a god that hovered high in the heavens and coldly watched all the pain and suffering in the human world and had no reaction. It was a will-power behind the mortal realm, the legendary protector of the world. No one knew where the Temple was or what the Temple was other than Master Ku He, who had once personally seen it.

Ku He kowtowed in front of the Temple for three days and came into his Great Grandmaster powers. Below the large tree, the young lady of the Ye family met Sigu Jian and he turned from a snot-nosed idiot to a warrior of the sword with no equal in the world. And, the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom…

The little Emperor’s short eyelashes shook involuntarily. From the beginning of the Wei Kingdom to now, everyone in the world wished to personally see the Temple, to seek the shadow of Tiandao within its nothingness. In the past, had the Emperor of the Wei Kingdom not sent out a troop of thousands of people north to search for the Temple in a bid to find immortality?

Behind Fan Xian was the shadow of the Temple. The Northern Qi Emperor glanced at Fan Xian’s profile. She was shocked. Everything was complicated in her heart.

Fan Xian took a deep breath and said, “I know a bit of what happened later. After mother lived in Dongyi for a few years, she got into business. This became the later Ye family, as well as the present palace treasury in the Qing Kingdom.”

“The development of nothing is so simple,” Sigu Jian lifted his only remaining arm and raised a finger. “Even if Ye Qingmei was an immortal, it would be impossible for her to accomplish all that she did without any help. She needed someone to help her.”

Fan Xian furrowed his brows and looked at Sigu Jian. “You?”

“Yes, me,” Sigu Jian said coldly. “Although I was an idiot, I was the young master of the manor of the Master of the City. As long as I controlled the manor, Ye family’s business could flow smoothly within Dongyi.”

“I understand now,” Fan Xian lowered his head and said. “The chance meeting under the tree was not a chance meeting. Before she entered Dongyi, she already knew of the situation inside. She had chosen you.”

“However, chance is chance,” Sigu Jian said coldly. “At least, I persist in believing this. If she was searching for a partner, there were too many better than me. The things in her head were enough to attract endless wealth. The existence of the blind man ensured that she would not have any true enemies in this world.”

“What were you two doing in the years before she started a business?” Fan Xian did not dispute this question.

“I continued to watch ants and practiced the sword. One day, Fei Jie, that old poisonous creature, came.” Sigu Jian yawned as he recollecting for a long time had drained him mentally.

“Yes, teacher has said that the most glorious thing in his life was doctoring an idiot in Dongyi into a Great Grandmaster.” Fan Xian smiled.

Sigu Jian sneered and said, “I am just easily distracted when thinking about things. I’m not a true idiot. What does turning into a Great Grandmaster have to do with Fei Jie?”

Fan Xian contained a laugh. Smiling slightly, he said, “Then, it has something to do with my mother.”

Sigu Jian was silent for a moment. He then smiled. “If your mother could give the martial methods of Tianyi Dao to Ku He, she could pass on sword techniques to me. However, I am a genius. The sword techniques your mother gave me were not very useful. What were truly useful were the ones I figured out myself.”

“You seem even more narcissistic than I thought.” Fan Xian shrugged. However, he knew that this Great Grandmaster said was true. Even if the Sigu Sword methods were one of the martial methods Ye Qingmei had snuck out of the Temple, for a commoner to be able to reach the real of a Great Grandmaster, it was impossible without talent, powerful perseverance, and great luck.

“There are many kinds of genius.” Sigu Jian’s eyelids twitched like it could close at any moment and be unable to open again. “Your mother once said that my genius lay in focus and indifference.”

“One could not casually find someone who had watched ants move homes for 10 years,” Sigu Jian said in a raspy voice. “To find an idiot who had used a slender piece of wood to kill tens of thousands of ants was even more difficult. My luck was good in meeting your mother and Wu Zhu. Your mother was also lucky in meeting me in Dongyi.”

Fan Xian could not speak for a long time. He quietly savored these words. Years ago, a strong wind swept over the land and many talented individuals appeared, such as those with the perseverance of Ku He, those with the foolishness of Sigu Jian, and those who could endure like the Emperor. They had all appeared at the same time. Ye Qingmei had escaped from the Temple with Uncle Wu Zhu and met these people.

Regardless of realm and fortune, just looking at talent and determination, no one in this world could compare to these people who were not yet Great Grandmasters. Haitang could not compare. Her teacher dared to eat human flesh. Fan Xian could not compare. His Emperor had endured the pain and hopelessness of his meridians shattering. Thirteenth Wang could not compare. His sword saint teacher completely disregarded human life. The young people of this generation each had their flaws and inadequacies. No one knew how much time or how many pitfalls would be needed to compensate for this difference before they could touch the layer of paper between the people and heavens, finally crossing it to become a true Great Grandmaster.

“Everything is fate.” Fan Xian looked at Sigu Jian and sighed.

Sigu Jian looked at Fan Xian with a strange gaze and said, “Do you want to learn? If you want to learn, just speak up.”

Fan Xian’s heart trembled. He knew what this sword saint was preparing to offer him. He couldn’t help a bitter smile rising to his face. He quietly said, “I think you know that I’ve already learned it.”

Sigu Jian coldly said, “I am speaking about the true Sigu Sword.”

Fan Xian was shocked. He was silent for a long time. He then suddenly said, “There isn’t actually any difference, but the importance lies with the person. Our generation is still not as good as your generation. This difference could slowly be reduced. Even if you move everything in the Temple to in front of me, what if I can’t learn it?”

Fan Xian had countless thoughts and feelings swirling in his heart. The martial methods his mother had stolen from the Temple seemed to have been given to these Great Grandmasters. Other than Ye Liuyun’s Flowing Cloud Release of mysterious origins, he had enough evidence for the others.

Outside the Temple, Ku He paid the price of a grievous injury to rescue Ye Qingmei. Afterward, he obtained the cost from Ye Qingmei’s hand, which was now Tianyi Dao’s Ultimate Enlightenment.

Although Sigu Jian’s sword technique was formed through his exceptional spirit and obstinate self-study, it was clear that without the chance meeting under the tree, the idiot would still be an idiot. Without provocation, how could he move forward?

As for the little yellow book that had constantly accompanied Fan Xian, the first volume was Tyranny. The second volume was the Way of the Emperor. In the blink of an eye, it had been with him 20 years. He understood that his mother had left this to the Emperor. Then, the Emperor had, somehow, left it to him through Wu Zhu’s hands.

It was precisely this Tyrannical martial method that made Fan Xian feel a sense of defeat. He would never be able to enter the realm of the Way of the Emperor. The Tianyi Dao zhenqi he had learned had not been of any help. Even if Sigu Jian actually taught him the so-called true Sigu Sword, what help could it be?

The favors Ye Qingmei had left behind in this world had gradually been brought back by Fan Xian. One more seemed not to make a difference.

“Back in the day, Ye Qingmei grew into a large tree within Dongyi. Relying on the sword in my hand, I obtained a place within Dongyi and became a friend to the bugs beside her large tree.” Sigu Jian closed his eyes slightly. “If you can’t get it right, keep practicing. It is not that easy for a tree to grow.”

Fan Xian smiled. He walked to the trunk of the tree and gently patted it. “I’m not afraid to bite off more than I can chew. Since you are determined to have me learn, then I will force myself to learn.”