Chapter 70: Mountain Dwelling

Leaving the scripture repository and descending the stone steps, Ding Songyan had barely rounded the mountain path’s bend when Alpine Lake appeared before him in all its misty expanse.

The sun tilted westward, scattering gold and red that nearly set the lake’s surface alight. "Flowing fire" glittered everywhere, playing off the clear reflections of the green mountains and layered forest. It was a beauty that seemed too otherworldly to belong to the mortal world.

A pleasantly cool breeze arrived just then, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees into his nostrils.

Ding Songyan felt his spirits lift at once, the fatigue and weakness accumulated earlier seeming to dissolve considerably.

He walked down to the lakeside step by step, drew a deep breath, and strolled slowly along the bank, in no hurry to return to his quarters.

On one side were small buildings nestled among flowers and trees, courtyards, training grounds, and pavilions. On the other side was the gleaming lake, the mountains, the setting sun, and birds in flight. Ding Songyan felt his chest uplift and broaden.

The alpine lake was quite large. The buildings surrounding it were numerous enough to fill a sizable town. As far as Ding Songyan knew, counting the structures higher up the mountain, the Brightnight Sect could accommodate five to six thousand people, far beyond the clichéd image of a sect’s size he had carried from his previous life.

And this still did not qualify as a truly major sect.

In ordinary times, only eight or nine hundred Brightnight Sect members actually lived on the mountain. The rest were either in Alpine Lake Town at the foot of the mountain, coming up only when duty called, or stationed in prefecture and county cities where they assisted with patrols, or oversaw the mundane affairs of manors, ironworks, cloth shops, weapons stalls, and various trading enterprises, or served as protection for those commercial operations.

Even so, new disciples in their second year had to shoulder loads of manure down the mountain at first light, delivering it to the sect’s various manors. In their third year they went down to Alpine Lake Town to carry rice, flour, meat, oil, and all manner of vegetables and fruit back up, serving the sect while completing their morning body-tempering exercises at the same time.

Ding Songyan was grateful that, from the very moment he joined, his submission of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas had earned him a commendation, sparing him these arduous duties.

As the breeze off the lake grew noticeably cooler, Ding Songyan was just turning to head back to his quarters when Zheng Zhuxi’s perpetually lively voice reached his ears.

"Junior Brother Ding, do you find the evening light on Alpine Lake beautiful as well?"

Ding Songyan turned to see Zheng Zhuxi approaching at a leisurely pace from forty meters away.

The young woman wore a lake-green front-opening short jacket over a pale green pleated skirt. Tall and slender, she moved with the graceful sway of a willow branch touched by wind.

Senior Sister Zheng is open, warm, generous, and self-assured. Like the rosy dawn sky, she should wear red, crimson, or bright yellow. When needed to project uprightness and spirit, she could switch to the sect’s black training gear. Yet somehow she has a fondness for fresh and delicate green... Ding Songyan muttered to himself, then stepped forward with a smile to meet her.

"Who could not love a view like this?"

It was not fake pleasantries. Ever since consuming the Chaos remains and reaching the peak Grandmaster realm, Ding Songyan often found himself overcome by a wondrous sense that everything—the lake and mountains, the setting sun and evening glow, the birds returning to the forest, and the drifting clouds—was the Way. He immersed both body and mind entirely, as though resonating with a deep and hidden rhythm of nature.

At his current level of martial understanding, he could not yet extract much from these feelings, but he believed that in time, each moment of immersion and insight would find its way into the martial arts he was creating.

As the distance closed between them, Zheng Zhuxi was stunned.

"Junior Brother Ding, what happened? Why is your face so pale?"

Her double pupils were not yet prominent, and she had not noticed his condition until now.

Ding Songyan smiled.

"I just spent two hours on aperture refinement."

Zheng Zhuxi exclaimed in understanding, then assumed her bearing as senior sister.

"Rushing only damages the spirit. The earlier in one’s training, the slower one must go."

She genuinely could not understand why Junior Brother Ding, who a little over a month ago had shown no signs of any martial training, had completed the slow grinding work of body-tempering and qi-cultivation in just over a month of joining, and was already permitted to do visualization and aperture refinement.

She had asked her mother, and the answer she received was that Ding Songyan had gained a certain benefit during the Zhen household affair. His body-tempering and qi-cultivation was adapting to a change already made to his body, not making the change itself.

Zheng Zhuxi knew the Zhen household affair involved the mystery of Kunlun and the Celestial Thearch’s secret treasure, but she was unaware of the Chaos remains. She could only guess that Ding Songyan had consumed something like a huai fruit, leaving him physically strong and brimming with vital essence.

"Understood, Senior Sister Zheng." Ding Songyan gave a cooperative reply.

Zheng Zhuxi’s brows curved slightly, and she turned her clear smile toward her junior brother with genuine concern.

"I have some calming incense that soothes the mind. I’ll bring you some later. It will help nourish your spirit."

Ding Songyan had no reason to decline his senior sister’s kindness. Accepting help from others actually drew people closer than helping them did. It was just that many people struggled to bring themselves into accepting it like an inner hurdle, but it was one that Ding Songyan had cleared seven or eight years ago.

After hearing her junior brother’s gratitude, Zheng Zhuxi’s dimples appeared, and a trace of sly cleverness came into her expression.

"Junior Brother Ding, could you do me a favor tomorrow?"

Ah... Senior Sister Zheng, you’ve changed. Back in Dingjiang Prefecture City, you would have asked for help as a matter of course. But today you first showed concern for me, gave me incense, and only then brought up the favor... A little stiff perhaps, but it genuinely does make the other person feel better. It seems what happened previously taught you something too... Even without deliberately studying her body language, Ding Songyan noticed the small change in Zheng Zhuxi.

He asked with a smile, "What can I do for you, Senior Sister?"

"Come with me to Alpine Lake Town for a stroll tomorrow afternoon," Zheng Zhuxi said smilingly and frankly.

"That simple?" Ding Songyan had been about to say that Ahua from Chengyu Lane could handle this favor just as well, but he had not spent enough time with Zheng Zhuxi to know whether she could take that kind of teasing, so he kept his response straightforward.

Zheng Zhuxi’s dimples made a shallow appearance, her smile unchanged.

"I’ll explain when we get to Alpine Lake Town tomorrow. Really, all you need to do is keep me company while I wander around."

So mysterious... Ding Songyan had been deeply absorbed in his martial research and creating martial arts himself recently and was reluctant to leave the mountain, but Senior Sister Zheng’s request was hard to refuse. He gave a sound of agreement.

"Then come find me at my courtyard tomorrow, Senior Sister."

Satisfied, Zheng Zhuxi gave a reminder, "You’ve overtaxed your mind and spirit. Rest early. I’ll leave the incense at your door shortly and won’t come in to disturb you."

With that she waved farewell and walked off along the lake with a light step, the evening breeze rising around her.

Ding Songyan circled to the northwest corner of the lake, near the cliff face, and entered his own courtyard.

The courtyard had five rooms—two side chambers, one quiet room for meditation and reading, a main hall for dining and receiving guests, and a clean and tidy washroom equipped with a water basin and toilet. There was no cooking stove or firewood, only a warming brazier, a tea stove, and some coal.

Clear mountain spring water flowed through clay pipes mounted on the walls and wooden frames, filling the water vat under the eaves and nourishing the flowers and plants around the courtyard, as well as the two trees on either side. One was an evergreen pine, the other a moisture-loving elm.

Ding Songyan went to the washroom, relieved himself, then turned the bronze-and-iron mechanism to let the spring water flow out with a splash.

He cupped cold water in both hands and splashed it on his face. The chill brought his spirits up considerably.

He dried his face, hands, and body, closed the mechanism, changed into clean clothes, and returned to the main hall to find that a servant had already delivered the evening meal and his laundered and dried clothes.

The food box contained red-braised pork with an even mix of fat and lean. It was glistening and scrumptious. There was lotus-leaf steamed chicken, mushrooms stir-fried with Sichuan peppers, a clear vegetable broth, and a large bowl of pearl-white rice.

Ding Songyan swept through the meal like a gust of wind and felt his body and mind both ease.

He tidied the food box, set it outside the door together with a cloth bag of clothes to be washed, and left them for a servant to collect.

Zheng Zhuxi had already left a packet of incense, along with a small, elegantly simple celadon incense burner.

Ding Songyan hung the "Do Not Disturb" wooden placard on the door, then carried the small burner and incense to the western side chamber, lit the oil lamp, and burned a stick of incense, setting it in the burner.

A delicate but deep and settled fragrance gradually spread through the room, somewhat like cloves.

Ding Songyan shed his outer robe, lay down on the bed, and by the glow of the oil lamp and the last light of day, began leafing through the book he had borrowed from the scripture repository the day before.

This book containing jianghu records noted that the Sage-Severing Way’s three secret scriptures were the Sutra of Celestial Heart Wisdom, the Scripture of Sage-Severing and Wisdom Abandonment, and the Heaven and Earth Correspondence Chapters. Of these, the Sutra of Celestial Heart Wisdom was held in the highest regard. Every practitioner through the generations had been required to sever mortal bonds, and whenever no higher-realm member of the sect existed, it was always a Sutra of Celestial Heart Wisdom practitioner who served as Sage-Severing Way sect master.

Breathing in the fresh, delicate fragrance and reading through various jianghu matters, the already deeply exhausted Ding Songyan gradually lost the battle to stay awake as sleep came surging over him.

The void around him suddenly produced that phantom wing which was white with snow, frozen with bitter cold.

A piercing wind howled forth from it and snuffed the oil lamp in an instant.

The phantom wing vanished as quickly as it had come. The room fell into darkness, and Ding Songyan sank into deep sleep.

The following morning, Ding Songyan woke fully recovered and brimming with energy.

After tidying up briefly, he opened the courtyard gate to find that the servant, seeing the "Do Not Disturb" placard, had not brought breakfast. He locked the gate and headed to the dining hall on his own.

He had barely reached the lakeside when he spotted Wan Guhong ambling toward him with complete ease.

This senior brother had a steamed bun clamped between his teeth and was balancing a spread of yellow oilpaper in one hand. A stack of steamed buns was piled on top.

"Good morning, Senior Brother Wan. Why not eat in the dining hall?" Ding Songyan greeted him with a smile.

Of those who received meals delivered by servants, aside from the Grandmasters and the higher-ranking stewards, only Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi who lived in her mother’s courtyard had that privilege.

Wan Guhong smacked his lips.

"If I sit down in the dining hall, someone’s bound to come over. ’Senior Brother Wan, how do I counter this move? Senior Brother Wan, how should I circulate qi through this? Senior Brother Wan, could you give me some pointers today?’ How is a man supposed to eat?"

"Fair enough." Ding Songyan casually reached over and took two steamed buns from the oilpaper in Wan Guhong’s hand.

Wan Guhong froze for a moment, then caught on.

"Hey, those are my buns!"

Ding Songyan finished both meat buns in three bites and was about to continue walking when something tugged at his awareness and he looked up toward the trees along the path.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, and many of the leaves had already turned yellow. One of them slowly worked itself loose and drifted downward on the breeze.

In that moment, Ding Songyan’s eyes held only this tree, this leaf, this wind, and himself.

This was a world entire.

Ding Songyan gazed steadily and followed the drifting leaf one step at a time.

The leaf came to rest precisely at a Brightnight Sect boundary marker. Ding Songyan crouched down and studied its veins carefully, watching a column of ants march across it in perfect order.

The two disciples standing guard at the boundary marker exchanged a glance and shook their heads with amused smiles.

Sect Master Tao’s newly accepted inner disciple was witty, generous, warm, and unpretentious. Everything about him was fine, except for his habit of drifting off into distant reverie and doing inexplicable things.

Before they could say anything, a disciple stationed at the mountain’s foot came hurrying up, leading someone along.

The newcomer wore a dark straight-cut robe and a wanderer’s headband. He stood at 1.9 meters tall and, despite not being old in years, he bore a weathered and careworn face that seemed to exceed his age. The skin of both his hands had an unusual, almost translucent quality.

He glanced over the Brightnight Sect disciples guarding the marker, then let his gaze settle on Ding Songyan behind them, who was using a finger to poke at the ants’ marching path, and furrowed his brow in puzzlement.

"Please inform the sect master on my behalf. Pan Yunzhou of the Pan family of Eastern Plains Prefecture in Bao Province has urgent business with Sect Master Tao." The man withdrew his gaze and gave a bow to the two Brightnight Sect disciples before him.

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