The Path Toward Heaven

Back when they met in the old plum garden of Zhaoge City, Sese gave a silver bell of high state to Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue each.

The bell given to Jing Jiu was tied to the neck of Liu Ada.

Zhao Layue promised to give Sese a good sword, and she kept the promise.

Jing Jiu promised to do something—anything–for her, but he hadn’t done it yet.

At the time, Luo Huainan and the Prince Jing Xin thought it unbelievable; it was because doing anything often meant doing nothing.

And Jing Jiu also believed that Sese wouldn’t put him in a difficult situation.

However, when he lent the bell to the Underworld Emperor in the Fiend Prison, he had wondered if Sese would get upset and ask him to kill all the elders of the Hanging-Bell Sect.

In fact, he had guessed it right. If he was to kill the great grandmaster of the Hanging-Bell Sect, he had to kill all the elders of the Hanging-Bell Sect first.

The reason he had thought of it was because he had predicted many things.

No matter whether Tian Jingren’s prediction was correct or not, the great grandmaster was someone who would die soon. The closer her death date was, the more trouble Sese’s mother would be in.

To choose between grandmother and mother was a difficult decision, especially for Sese, who was a girl growing up pampered.

There must be a good deal of pain hidden in her silver bell, just like with bitter laughter.

Jing Jiu rubbed Sese’s head.

Sese propped against his chest as he did. “Do you know how many women want to throw themselves into your chest? Though I’m aware that you don’t treat me as a woman, I’m still very content; at least other women don’t have a chance to lean against you,” she said.

She wore a satisfied smile as she spoke.

Jing Jiu didn’t say anything.

“Oh, do you know where He Zhan has gone? He had said he would take me to Penglai Island to have barbecued fish more delicious than that of the Great Marsh, but he has been gone for many years.”

Sese’s voice grew lower and lower, until it couldn’t be heard anymore.

Jing Jiu lowered his head to see the tears on her cheeks. He reached out his right hand instinctively to rub her hair. “He has been at the Fruit Formation Temple. He is here this time,” said Jing Jiu, after some thought.

“Ahh,” Sese screamed. She grabbed Jing Jiu’s face and kissed it. Then she darted toward the bottom of the cliff, leaving a barrage of laughter behind.

The sound of the silver bell was truly wonderful.

Jing Jiu thought about it for a moment and then ran his hand across his face. After the sword fire burned his face, his face returned to its former condition of cleanness.

Then, he started contemplating.

Now that Jing Jiu was determined to obtain the Fairy Book of Longevity, he had to make some preparations.

He knew what the Illusionary Realm of Cloud-Dream that Bai Zao mentioned was.

The Center Sect had a fairy magic treasure that could induce the spiritual awareness of the Cultivation practitioners to enter the illusionary realm. It was rumored that everything in the illusionary realm felt like the real thing; the practitioners could perceive heaven and earth, emotions of the world, and human nature in it. Actually, the practitioners would cultivate in the illusionary realm and develop their Dao Hearts there. It was similar to experiencing the mortal world of the Fruit Formation Temple. However, the perceiving process in the illusionary realm would be shortened considerably due to the time difference between the real world and the illusionary realm. Of course, the Cultivation gains in experiencing the mortal world were more authentic.

Jing Jiu remembered that he should ask Sese for an item.

He could hear the faint music in the distance, indicating the Cultivation teaching was over for the day.

Jing Jiu treaded to the bottom of the cliff. He met a Center Sect disciple and asked him where the monks of the Fruit Formation Temple stayed.

The Center Sect disciple led him to a valley in the east and then left.

It was almost dusk; the temples in the valley appeared gloomier and lonelier.

The guests from the Fruit Formation Temple, the Water-Moon Nunnery, and the Baotong Zen Temple were all staying in this valley.

The Center Sect was an orthodox Cultivation sect, but it had so many temples. It was unclear if they were broad-minded, or simply extravagant.

As Jing Jiu came to the temple where the monks of the Fruit Formation Temple stayed, Bai Zao had already been waiting here.

She was the only daughter of the Center Sect Master, and she should be very busy this day; but she was here. It must be that she had been informed by that Center Sect disciple.

Though Jing Jiu could figure out the reason for her to be here, he didn’t bother thinking about it. “I’m here to look for someone,” he said.

Hearing the noise coming from inside of the temple, Bai Zao said, “Though I don’t know who you are looking for, I think he should be still inside.”

The wooden door of the front gate of the temple was closed firmly. Sese stood on her toes to peer into the temple, as she banged on the door with her hand and yelled, “Open the door for me if you dare!”

Jing Jiu and Bai Zao didn’t go over, but watched in the distance.

After a long while, the front gate had finally opened.

Sese marched in the temple angrily; but her anger abruptly subsided as she saw the figure kneeling on the futon and remaining silent before an ancient script.

She walked behind He Zhan and said, “Even though…you became a monk, you don’t have to be so cruel. You even tried to avoid me.”

Hearing Sese’s irrelevant words of comfort, He Zhan sighed, “You don’t know anything.”

Sese squatted beside him, looking at his face. An expression of attempt was displayed in her eyes.

He Zhan had already had his hair removed, and his beard was shaved. As a result, he appeared much younger now.

Sensing Sese’s gaze, He Zhan said vigilantly, “Don’t touch my head.”

Sese felt dejected since her intention had been discovered. “I don’t know why you are so sad; but you can tell me,” she said.

He Zhan said in a trembling voice, “One of my friends betrayed us, and another one of my friends died because of this betrayal. What kind of person do you think I am?”

“I think it was your friend’s fault, and it had nothing to do with you,” Sese said confusingly. “Why do you blame yourself?”

“I ushered in the tragedy because I didn’t recognize the true nature of the person. Of course it was my fault,” He Zhan said.

Sese said, “Then, you are a little bit blind when choosing friends; but it was that person’s fault nevertheless. Your responsibility was not that significant.”

“I grew up without parents, and I still don’t know who my father was. Such a disaster occurred right after I had learned who my mother was. It is obvious that I’m an ill-omened person.”

He Zhan paused for a moment before saying, “I think…you’d better not come to see me in the future.”

Sese was very upset to hear that, saying, “When my father died, I didn’t remember a thing. As I could remember things, my grandmother has been thinking to kill my mother the entire time because she is afraid that my mother will marry somebody else. When she does, she will let me inherit the position of the Sect Master since my family name is De. This means my existence is the reason for my mother to die. Tell me what kind of daughter I am.”

Having said this, she couldn’t help her sadness any longer; the tears filled her eyes.

He Zhan turned his head around, feeling quite sympathetic. “Don’t cry now.” He tried to comfort her.

Sese cried even more. The sound of her crying echoed before the Buddhist statue in the temple.

He Zhan hesitated for a long moment before saying, “What about…I take you to have the barbecued fish?”

Sese abruptly changed crying to smiling. “Good,” she exclaimed while wiping off her tears.

He Zhan couldn’t help but smile, wondering if her crying was pretend.

Sese suddenly thought of something and said, “Here is the Cloud-Dream Mountain. I don’t know if we are allowed to catch fish and barbecue them here.”

“Don’t worry,” He Zhan said. “I have a friend at the Center Sect.”

Speaking of the word “friend”, his expression became a bit awkward.

He didn’t want to come to the Cloud-Dream Mountain, because he was afraid to meet that friend, which was the so-called “embarrassed to meet friends and relatives”.

Yet, Sese didn’t give him the opportunity to change his mind. She pulled him up from the futon and dragged him to the outside of the temple.

As they came to the outside of the temple, they saw Jing Jiu and Bai Zao.

Jing Jiu was composed and wordless as usual; but Bai Zao had a seeming smile on her face.

He Zhan felt somewhat embarrassed, wondering if their conversation in the temple had been heard by these two.

But Sese didn’t care. She showed a hint of contentment on her raised face. “Why did you chase me here?” she asked Jing Jiu.

Bai Zao glanced at Jing Jiu and realized that he was here to look for her.

Jing Jiu said, “I don’t have any bell now. Give me another one.”

Sese was confused and asked, “What happened to the one I gave you?”

Jing Jiu wouldn’t tell her that the bell was tied to the neck of a white cat right now, though the cat was not an ordinary white cat.

“I hid it on Shenmo Peak; didn’t bring it with me.”

Sese was satisfied with his cautious arrangement of the bell, saying, “I can’t find a bell of that quality in a short time. Let me find one for you when I go back home.”

Jing Jiu intended to use the bell in the Illusionary Realm of Cloud-Dream. “Forget it then,” he said.

Sese realized that he wanted the bell right now, so she took off the bell on her wrist and handed it over to Jing Jiu after some thought, saying, “I lend it to you for a few days.”

This bell was her life bell, so it was very precious.

Considering her status at the Hanging-Bell Sect, it could be said that this was the best Cleansing-Heart Bell in the world.

Bai Zao and He Zhan didn’t know what Jing Jiu had promised her, so they felt a bit astounded.

He Zhan took Sese to seek his friend to barbecue fish. Jing Jiu didn’t leave; he entered the temple to visit those two monks.

The old monk looked at him with a smile, without saying a word. The wrinkles on his face were deeper than they had been in Nanhezhou, but he was still energetic, a mild expression forming in his eyes.

The young monk was excited to see Jing Jiu, but he couldn’t speak a word.

Bai Zao felt it odd.

Jing Jiu liked this young man a lot. “Release him, please,” he said to the old monk.

The old monk smiled as he tapped his finger at the young monk from some distance.

All of a sudden, countless words surged out from the young monk’s mouth like a constantly flowing river.

He repeated the words like “Long time no see”, “How were you doing”, nonstop.

Jing Jiu felt a bit regretful letting him speak, asking, “He Zhan came here to experience the mortal world; what are you two doing here?”

“There will be a lot of fights in the Dao Competition…”

The young monk turned to Bai Zao and said, “Your sect must have prepared many magic pills in advance, but we are good at treating external wounds.”

Jing Jiu exchanged a few words with them and departed after learning that the representative of the Fruit Formation Temple, the Principal Justice Monk Duhai, hadn’t returned yet.

He wanted to ask Monk Duhai about Liu Shisui’s situation there.

They walked out of the temple.

Bai Zao wondered why Jing Jiu had such a friendly relationship with these two doctor monks of ordinary Cultivation states; he even exchanged some pleasantries with them.

As she was about to ask him about it, she found a young woman standing under a willow tree up ahead.

The young woman had two slightly red eyes, indicating she had cried earlier; her face was full of resentment.

She was the disciple of the Water-Moon Nunnery who had been selected to participate in the Dao Competition.

It was evident that the great grandmaster of the Water-Moon Nunnery didn’t agree to her request and was still giving the spot to Jing Jiu.

The young woman felt sadder when she saw Jing Jiu, and even more resentful when she saw the iron sword on his back.

“You are not even in the upper state of the Undefeated and not qualified to participate. Why did you want to steal my spot?”

Bai Zao knew that Jing Jiu wouldn’t respond to her; she smiled apologetically to the young woman.

“As a matter of fact, I also don’t understand where your self-confidence comes from?”

A voice rang out from somewhere not far.

Though the voice was not vigorous, it didn’t sound lazy either.

Laziness was a sort of emotion.

But the voice was devoid of any emotion.

The speaker was Zhuo Rusui.

He stood against a rock by the mountain path, his eyelids drooping as he looked at the ground, full of tiredness.

It seemed as if he would lie down and fall asleep if he didn’t prop against the rock.

Jing Jiu suddenly became appreciative of this little child when he saw him in such a posture.

Bai Zao looked at Jing Jiu and asked, “Do you want me to find a place for you two?”

Jing Jiu uttered “hmm”.

Zhuo Rusui straightened up and said to Bai Zao, “Thank you.”

The young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery was puzzled, wondering what they were talking about.

“Follow us,” Jing Jiu told the young woman.

The young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery was startled, wondering where they would take her to.

Bai Zao said to her with a smile, “Didn’t you want to find out his qualifications?”

…

…

A few light beams landed in a gloomy valley.

Dusk had just arrived, and the stars were still dim. The trees in the cliffs appeared dark and gloomy, making anyone feel pressured for no obvious reason.

Jing Jiu looked at the deep end of the forest and asked, “Is this the place?”

Bai Zao said, “This valley is where I usually cultivate. My manor cave is right on top of this cliff. Do you want to have a visit up there later?”

“Fine,” Jing Jiu said.

Zhuo Rusui put his flying sword slowly back into his body, thinking that Jing Jiu was indeed full of confidence.

Bai Zao looked at Zhuo Rusui and said, “Nobody is allowed to come here without my permission. As long as you two don’t cause too much commotion, no one will know what has happened here.”

Zhuo Rusui was the personal disciple of the Green Mountain Sect Master and stayed behind closed doors for over twenty years. He shocked the whole world after coming out and was at the height of his fame.

In everyone’s eyes, he was best candidate for becoming the next Green Mountain Sect Master, even more likely than Guo Nanshan.

Earlier, no matter how much Gu Qing instigated him, he didn’t respond; it was because Jing Jiu was his senior master.

He thought that the internal contention of Green Mountain shouldn’t be seen by others; and he didn’t even want his own colleagues to witness it. So he sought Jing Jiu in private.

As far as Zhuo Rusui was concerned, he couldn’t let Grandmaster Jing Yang feel humiliated because of the failure of his personal disciple.

Coincidently, Jing Jiu had the similar thought.

Liu Ci was not a bad person.

Jing Jiu thought that his favored disciple shouldn’t be humiliated too much.

The fewer people witnessed it, the better.

There was no other audience here, save for two young women. It was enough to have them here to be the witnesses for the event. And he believed that they wouldn’t tell anybody afterwards.

But…

The sound of stomping on the grass and the sound of water dropping on the grass suddenly broke out in the night forest.

Next, a fire was lit.

A moment later, He Zhan emerged from the forest with a fish in his left hand and a torch in his right hand.

The light from the torch illuminated the valley.

Sese followed him to come out from the forest. The lapel of her dress was wet, indicating that she had been in the stream water to catch fish.

Seeing the group in the valley, He Zhan and Sese stood frozen in the same spots.

Sese had the quickest reaction, as she yelled at Jing Jiu, “How come you chased me here again?”

Jing Jiu didn’t respond.

Zhuo Rusui sighed, “How many onlookers do you have for this?”

Soon after, a young man walked out from the forest.

Since his eyebrows are very light, any observer would think that his eyes were on top of his head and that he was a sort of aloof person.

He was Tong Yan of the Center Sect.

“The Cloud-Dream Mountain is so big, so why do you choose this place to barbecue fish?”

Bai Zao looked at Tong Yan and said crossly, “Big Brother, I gave you the Order Board not for this kind of thing.”

He Zhan suddenly felt the fish and the torch in his hands grew heavier. It seemed that he had troubled his friend again.”

Tong Yan thought about it and said, “If we barbecued fish somewhere else, it would be troublesome with the masters; but it is trouble free here in your place. Long time no see. Good to see you. And good to see you too.”

He said “Long time no see” to Jing Jiu.

He said “Good to see you” to Zhuo Rusui.

And he said “Good to see you too” to the young woman of the Water-Moon Nunnery.

One statement solved all the issues.

He was indeed a master of the Go game.

They all thought this.

Or was it a sort of laziness?

Jing Jiu spoke even less than Tong Yan. Was it because Jing Jiu was better at Go, or he was even lazier?

Sese suddenly asked, “You guys are going to have a fight?”

Zhuo Rusui replied weakly, “I’d like to get some guidance from this senior master.”

“I will offer it,” said Jing Jiu.

Sese said sympathetically to Zhuo Rusui, “I’m afraid you’ll have a tough time.”