That evening, the family held a banquet to welcome them back.
It sounded somewhat formal among family members, but with Pei Yuan Jin present, this degree of respect and courtesy was only proper.
Although they had been apart for only ten days, the exhaustion of travel and the uncertainty and unease from first arriving in Jiangling had gradually faded from everyone’s faces. In their place appeared a growing hope for the life ahead. They seemed to have accepted that they would begin again on this land.
The next day, Fu Xi Yan sent a visiting card to the former Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, now Jiangling Prefect. A reply arrived quickly. The new Prefect said he had only just assumed office and everything was waiting to be put in order, leaving him no time to receive visitors. Once the busy period passed, he would send an invitation.
Whether those words were true or false, Fu Xi Yan prepared a generous gift as another test. The Prefect accepted it, which meant they could maintain contact in the future.
The Prefect had been the last person sent out by the emperor. His attitude therefore indirectly reflected the emperor’s. Combined with the Liu family’s intention to marry into the Fu family, the three official powers on the southern frontier were, for the moment, living peacefully alongside one another.
Fu Xi Yan felt that the matter of him and Pei Yuan Jin traveling to Southern Yu could now be placed on the agenda.
Looking at the large, chubby son he had personally raised happily preparing to run away with some man from outside, Fu Fu inevitably felt a little melancholy and reluctant. He sighed. “Be careful in everything once you’re away from home.”
Fu Xi Yan shamelessly smiled. “Last time I went to Luoyang, Uncle gave me a spiritual weapon. Dad, have you prepared a gift this time?”
Fu Fu snorted. “You’re the Young Madam of the Immortal Treasury Palace now, and you still come cadging things from your father?”
Fu Xi Yan threatened, “Eldest Uncle, saying that makes us sound awfully distant.” Hmph. If you don’t give me something good, your son will just recognize Uncle as his father instead!
“Exactly. I’m your eldest uncle. Go ask your father!” Fu Fu immediately felt that all his previous melancholy and reluctance had been an illusion. Whoever wanted this wretched son could take him away!
Fu Xi Yan left dejectedly. The instant he stepped out of the courtyard, however, he revived completely and went to find Madam Fu, handing her the contracts he had signed with the Four Directions Merchant Alliance.
Madam Fu was very satisfied. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle all of this properly.” Then she gave him three banknotes worth one thousand taels each. “Since you’re traveling far, you must keep money on hand. These are profits advanced from this year’s dividends. You can use them in Southern Yu as well.”
That emotional intelligence made Fu Xi Yan sigh. If Madam Fu could enter government, she would probably already be sitting in the Grand Secretariat as a chancellor. Unlike his father, who had only been Vice Minister of War for a few days before the emperor “exiled” him to the southern frontier.
Fu Xi Yan remained in Jiangling for another two days before packing his luggage and traveling south with Pei Yuan Jin toward Southern Yu. “Traveling south” was not entirely accurate. They would actually follow the Yangtze eastward, pass Jiangcheng, and proceed directly into Jinling.
Southern Yu’s capital was Lin’an, while the Spirit Sect headquarters was in Jinling.
Their destination this time was the Spirit Sect headquarters, so following the Yangtze east was the most convenient route. The crucial part of the journey was therefore still finding a ship. Because they would cross between two countries, traveling independently would mean dealing with all sorts of troublesome procedures. The best option was to hitch a ride on a ship with the right connections. When they first arrived in the region, they had had no such connections. But after visiting Jingmen, disrupting a martial tournament, and negotiating a business deal, the Four Directions Merchant Alliance was now an obvious route.
“No friendship without a fight!”
Fu Xi Yan said this cheerfully to Chen De Yuan.
Chen De Yuan looked at that overly familiar smile and felt an enormous headache.
The martial tournament had ended in disgrace. Once Chen De Yuan returned home, he would inevitably have to face the wrath of his family ancestor. That was why he had remained in Jingmen for two additional days, hoping to negotiate several more business deals so that when he returned, the ancestor might show mercy on account of the money he had earned.
He had never imagined the culprit responsible for the disaster would still possess enough shamelessness to come ask for a free ride on his ship.
Where did he get such thick skin?!
Chen De Yuan had a hundred and twenty thousand reasons to refuse inwardly, but maintained a dignified expression. “The Chen family merchant ships carry goods worth fortunes. It is not especially convenient to accept outsiders.”
Fu Xi Yan smiled. “Now you’re treating us like strangers. We only just began cooperating on the fragrant soap business. As the producer, it’s perfectly reasonable for me to accompany the goods and observe their sales.”
Chen De Yuan smiled without warmth. “Have the two of you truly come to Southern Yu for business?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “Since you’ve asked so sincerely, I’ll answer honestly. In truth, we’re traveling to Jinling at the Spirit Sect’s invitation.”
“The Spirit Sect?” Chen De Yuan looked surprised, then his expression relaxed. “May I ask who within the Spirit Sect invited you, and for what purpose?”
Fu Xi Yan thought, The Spirit Sect captured someone from the Immortal Treasury Palace, and even our Martial King failed to retrieve him. How could I possibly tell you something that embarrassing?
He said, “Well, actually, it was Miss Ban’s invitation. As for the reason…” He glanced at Pei Yuan Jin and waggled his brows, looking as though everything that needed saying had already been said without words.
Chen De Yuan remembered the rumors. Years ago, Palace Master Pei Xiong Ji had negotiated three possible marriages for his son, and one of the candidates seemed to have been Ban Qing Yu of the Spirit Sect. He immediately understood. Matters between men and women were naturally not something one should spell out too openly.
The Spirit Sect was Southern Yu’s state religion. Establishing a connection with it would naturally offer countless advantages in the future.
“Since this is an invitation from the Spirit Sect, as a man of Southern Yu, I should naturally extend half a host’s hospitality.” His manner became much more attentive. “A merchant convoy leaves harbor the day after tomorrow. I’ll send someone to invite you when the time comes.”
Fu Xi Yan nodded and once again left the address of the inn where they had stayed during their previous visit to Jingmen.
With the journey arranged, Fu Xi Yan finally had the leisure to walk around Jingmen. The Start of Summer had already passed and the weather was warming. After walking for a while, he began to feel hot. Conveniently, a stall nearby sold iced refreshments. Ever since his family presented the Northern Zhou emperor with their ice-making house, the price of ice in Northern Zhou had dropped. Iced snacks like these were no longer expensive and could be enjoyed even by ordinary people.
He bought several bowls of chilled sour plum drink. He carried two himself, noisily slurping one while passing the other to Pei Yuan Jin. Xiao Sang and the others could take the remaining bowls themselves.
“Young Master Pei.”
The sweet, delicate call sounded even more sour and chilled than the plum drink in Fu Xi Yan’s mouth.
Liu Zhen Zhen looked delightedly at Pei Yuan Jin. “Young Master Pei has come to Jingmen again?”
Fu Xi Yan remembered the girl who had been knocked from the arena by a single palm from the Old Ghost of the Yangtze very clearly. Even more memorable was the romantic chain in which the sons of both the Xiong and Taishi families liked her while she herself liked the Chen family son.
Now that one of the actual people involved had appeared, Fu Xi Yan was secretly excited. Unfortunately, Pei Yuan Jin was not someone who enjoyed gossip. Otherwise, if they could persuade Miss Liu to open her heart and personally recount this romantic history, would that not be a hundred times more interesting than the Wind Division’s cold written records?
While Fu Xi Yan was thinking this, he noticed Pei Yuan Jin holding his sour plum drink and staring at him.
“Is there a bug in your drink?”
Fu Xi Yan stretched his neck over to look.
Pei Yuan Jin signaled with his eyes: I use my hands. You use your mouth.
Fu Xi Yan looked at Liu Zhen Zhen, who stood beside them staring eagerly at Pei Yuan Jin and refusing to leave, and understood.
Liu Zhen Zhen’s face looked somewhat disappointed, but she still forced a smile. “Young Master Pei’s single sword strike that shattered the stele that day illuminated all Nine Provinces. Zhen Zhen admired it enormously. That is why I took the liberty of approaching today to request two moves of instruction.”
Fu Xi Yan stared.
Liu Zhen Zhen had lost to the Old Ghost of the Yangtze in twenty-four moves, while the Old Ghost of the Yangtze had lost to Pei Yuan Jin in half a move. According to that formula…
Fu Xi Yan pondered. “Miss Liu, two moves might be a little too many.”
Liu Zhen Zhen’s face instantly went white. Her lips moved twice before she said, “Zhen Zhen has been presumptuous. I simply love martial arts and became excited on seeing such skill. I won’t disturb the two of you further. Zhen Zhen will take her leave.”
Watching her leave in dejection, Fu Xi Yan said to Pei Yuan Jin, “I don’t know why, but I don’t particularly like that girl.” She had clearly shown proper restraint and knew when to retreat. “But somehow, I think I understand how that entire romantic chain formed.”
The tiny amount of attention Pei Yuan Jin had paid Liu Zhen Zhen disappeared completely after Fu Xi Yan said he did not like her. He frowned and drained the sour plum drink in one swallow.
Fu Xi Yan asked, “Good?”
“Not good.” Pei Yuan Jin was not accustomed to sour-and-sweet flavors.
Remembering that Pei Yuan Jin liked tea, Fu Xi Yan said, “Next time I’ll make you iced milk tea.”
He said it casually, but Pei Yuan Jin remembered. After dinner, the moment they returned, he asked when he could have the milk tea.
Fu Xi Yan, who was currently digesting his meal: “…”
He just finished what was in the bowl and he’s already thinking about what’s in the pot… Thank goodness there were only nine Harmonized Yang Pills, and I ate seven of them. For the first time, despite always feeling guilty about that matter, Fu Xi Yan felt it had all been Heaven’s will!
Pei Yuan Jin had no idea why Fu Xi Yan suddenly glared at him twice. Then he heard Fu Xi Yan hum some strange tune, “Everything is Heaven’s will, everything is fate, no one can escape,” as he slowly wandered toward the kitchen.
Iced milk tea required not only ice and tea but milk. Goat milk and cow milk were currently luxuries enjoyed by the wealthy and powerful. Ordinary people had nowhere to buy them even if they possessed money. Fu Xi Yan could only send Xiao Sang to find Chen De Yuan.
Chen De Yuan assumed some major matter had arisen. When he heard the request, he looked utterly bewildered. “Goat milk? Cow milk?”
Xiao Sang nodded.
Chen De Yuan desperately wanted to ask whether the Immortal Treasury Palace’s Young Madam truly had this much difficulty obtaining a little goat or cow milk. Was his master actually the Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace or not?
But remembering the earth-shattering sword strike from the martial tournament, he ultimately swallowed the question and instructed the steward to send them a jar of goat milk. This might be difficult to find elsewhere, but the head of the Chen family could naturally obtain as much as he wanted.
With the goat milk secured, Fu Xi Yan began preparing the iced milk tea.
He had not personally made anything for a long time after creating fragrant soap. Now, determined to show his skill, he measured everything with painstaking care. A single pot of iced milk tea was treated with almost as much solemnity as a full Manchu-Han Imperial Feast. Even the sugar was placed on a tiny white porcelain spoon so Pei Yuan Jin could shake in however much he wished.
Pei Yuan Jin had originally held only three parts expectation for the iced milk tea. Seeing how much effort Fu Xi Yan put into it raised that to seven. But when the drink actually entered his mouth, although it was cool and contained tea flavor, that unnecessary milk flavor really was unnecessary.
Nevertheless, beneath Fu Xi Yan’s expectant gaze, he drank the entire cup.
Fu Xi Yan asked, “Is it good?”
Pei Yuan Jin thought about it. “It would be better without the goat milk.”
Fu Xi Yan poured himself a cup and found it reasonably good, though compared with the taste in his memories, something was indeed missing. Since his technique was not the problem and Young Master Pei’s tastes were not the problem, the only possible problem was:
“The Chen family’s goat milk is no good.”
＊
On the day of departure, the Chen family came early in the morning to invite them aboard. There was a ceremony before the merchant convoy departed, but it had already ended by the time Fu Xi Yan and the others arrived. The Chen convoy consisted of five cargo ships and three fast patrol vessels.
They were assigned to the second-to-last cargo ship. Its cargo was cotton, which at least counted as thoughtful arrangement because it had no unpleasant smell.
Chen De Yuan was not traveling on the same ship. He only came to see them before boarding and then disappeared.
Fu Xi Yan was perfectly happy with that.
As the ship slowly left the harbor and the sound of flowing water splashed around them, Fu Xi Yan once again returned to those days of passing time aboard ship by practicing martial arts.
When he had been little, he had desperately wanted to practice martial arts but could not. Sneaking in practice twice a day had felt like staring at plums to quench thirst, only making the longing worse. Now he could practice openly every single day, yet somehow he had developed a little laziness. He knew perfectly well that dripping water wore through stone only after long effort, but still wanted to slack off for two minutes.
Pei Yuan Jin had, however, given him a task: find his own path. There were countless strange ways of searching. Lu Qing even liked dressing as a beggar. Compared with that, sitting around in a daze was an entirely ordinary method, so Fu Xi Yan managed to slack off without leaving any obvious traces.
After spending three consecutive days staring blankly into space, Fu Xi Yan felt deeply guilty and decided he could not continue degenerating like this. He considered reorganizing the books from his previous life. Knowledge was power, and for a transmigrator, was science not precisely where his power lay?
English. Physics. Chemistry…
Making fragrant soap had already been exhausting enough. If he truly chose chemistry as his path, then by the day he entered the Dao-Entry Stage, he could probably see the end of his martial road with one glance.
He flipped through the books one by one until he reached the Complete Book of the Jianghu left by his mother.
In this world, this book held far greater power than the others. Fu Xi Yan suddenly became curious: once ordinary books had knowledge written into them, would their spiritual energy be different?
Using the Spirit-Sight Art, he examined Physics and Chemistry. They remained two perfectly ordinary books. But when he looked at the Complete Book of the Jianghu, he paused slightly. He carefully opened the book and discovered that, besides the ink visible to ordinary eyes, the pages contained writing his biological mother had hidden there using spiritual energy.
＊
After Fu Xi Yan suggested raises and promotions for Xiao Sang and Xiao Zhang, Pei Yuan Jin began considering how to strengthen the Phoenix-Roosting Unit, formerly the Fatty Unit. His own path was one of relentless advance, so he had no interest in simply piling equipment onto them as assistance. Martial arts were truly one’s own only when they existed inside one’s own body. Everything else could be lost or stolen. If an enemy arrived and your weapon was missing, were you supposed to ask him to wait while you posted a lost-item notice?
Xiao Sang and Xiao Zhang knew they had only obtained the opportunity to serve beside the Young Madam through fortunate coincidence. After repeatedly suffering defeats and even requiring the Young Madam to find ways to rescue them, both had long been holding frustration in their hearts. They therefore studied extremely seriously. Every time they sparred with the Hidden Dragon Unit, even if they were beaten black and blue, they would bounce around a few times on the spot and charge back in full of life.
Pei Yuan Jin watched from nearby, partly to supervise them and partly to give Fu Xi Yan room to search for his own path.
The Dao was called sudden enlightenment, but in reality sudden enlightenment was built upon insights accumulated day after day. Without the latter, there could be no trigger for the former. Pei Yuan Jin had met Fu Xi Yan too late and did not entirely understand what went through his mind each day. When it came to finding his path, there was little Pei Yuan Jin could do except stand aside and watch.
The sun descended in the west, casting another day into gold.
On the far side of the river, distant mountains looked like clouds, faintly appearing and disappearing. They seemed sometimes to stand upon land, sometimes upon the river, sometimes at the edge of the sky. No matter where they were, from the deck they remained impossibly far away. The setting sunlight, however, was perfectly impartial. It poured over everything regardless of distance, only to be gradually swallowed back by the encroaching night.
When Pei Yuan Jin returned to their cabin, Fu Xi Yan was lying against the window ledge, staring blankly at the sunset.
Pei Yuan Jin had seen this exact scene whenever he returned these past several days and had almost become accustomed to it. He sat at the edge of the bed. Water had already been brought in, and he was preparing to bathe and change clothes.
Even a Chen family merchant ship could not possibly have a bed more than three meters wide. They had therefore dismantled the bed from one room and joined it to the bed here. That made the bedroom cramped, so they had also removed the door panel between the two rooms. Fortunately, the Hidden Dragon Unit had watched carpenters do it once and managed a reasonably competent imitation themselves.
The room containing the beds was now the bedroom; the adjoining room served as the bathing room.
Before bathing, Pei Yuan Jin casually asked, “Did you figure out your path today?”
He was not asking to pressure Fu Xi Yan. Rather, he worried Fu Xi Yan might have spent the entire day frustrated over accomplishing nothing and wanted to give him an opportunity to complain.
Unexpectedly, Fu Xi Yan turned around and answered with complete seriousness, “I have.”
“Oh?” Pei Yuan Jin became interested and temporarily forgot about bathing. “What did you decide?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “To seek the One That Escapes.”
Pei Yuan Jin froze, then his expression turned serious. He had plainly understood what Fu Xi Yan meant.
The number of Great Expansion is fifty; forty-nine are used.
Some interpreted that unused, escaped “One” as the thread of survival that existed outside inevitable laws.
Elio’s Notes: 遁去的一, “the One That Escapes,” comes from a traditional interpretation of the Book of Changes line about the Great Expansion numbering fifty while only forty-nine are used. In later Daoist and cultivation fiction, the missing “One” is often understood as an unpredictable chance of survival or change that lies outside an apparently fixed order.
Fu Xi Yan had once encountered this interpretation while reading wuxia fiction. As a mere reader back then, he had only found it interesting. But after personally falling into a world as full of danger as a novel, he understood exactly how important a single thread of survival could be.
Because that thread might be the very reason he had come to this world and survived until now.
“You’ve decided?” Pei Yuan Jin’s expression was somewhat grave. Compared with his own path, Fu Xi Yan had unquestionably chosen something more difficult. Pei Yuan Jin’s path was to cut down even gods if they stood before him. Whether circumstances favored him or opposed him, he overwhelmed all technique with sheer force. Fu Xi Yan’s path, however, required tempering himself in adversity, turning the tables against the odds, and finding a way to survive even in desperate straits.
Fu Xi Yan smiled bitterly. “Someone like me will eventually become a Duke of Anle who gets so comfortable he forgets about Shu unless I suffer a little. I need someone whipping and supervising me.” Especially now that he knew there were so many secrets surrounding him. Whether he wanted adversity or not, he was probably destined to enter it.
Elio’s Notes: “Duke of Anle” refers to Liu Shan, the last ruler of Shu Han. After surrendering, he was famously said to have become so comfortable in his new life that he “felt no longing for Shu,” giving rise to the idiom 乐不思蜀 for becoming so content that one forgets what came before.
Pei Yuan Jin had never liked interfering in other people’s affairs. He had already made an exception by saying this much today. Since Fu Xi Yan had clearly made up his mind, Pei Yuan Jin merely nodded and did not continue persuading him.
Besides, a road that looked difficult now might ultimately become the smoothest road of all. Perhaps the act of seeking the One That Escapes was itself already that “One.”
After deciding the path he intended to follow, Fu Xi Yan became much more diligent in practicing martial arts. At first, Pei Yuan Jin was pleased, but later he noticed Fu Xi Yan had not practiced puppet arts for half a month and could not help asking about it.
Fu Xi Yan said, “I’ve already finished the introductory material. Puppet arts are at most a supporting method, something I cultivate on the side. Martial arts are my primary path, so I still need to increase my martial cultivation first.”
Pei Yuan Jin was pleased by this but also felt Fu Xi Yan’s attitude had changed rather dramatically.
Fu Xi Yan added, “Of course I’m not abandoning puppet arts completely. Their main value is surprise. They seek the unusual, and that aligns with my path too. But right now I need to stabilize the Mortal-Shedding Stage first. I have a feeling I’m not far from the Dao-Entry Stage.”
Martial cultivation was like a pyramid. The higher one climbed, the fewer people remained.
If someone else made such a boast, they would inevitably be mocked. But Fu Xi Yan, an extraordinary genius who had gone from the True Essence Stage to the Mortal-Shedding Stage □□ in less than a year, somehow made anything he said sound naturally believable.
Elio’s Notes: The source itself contains `□□` immediately after the cultivation-stage phrase here, indicating obscured or missing text. It has been preserved rather than reconstructed.
There was nobody else present anyway.
Only Pei Yuan Jin, who was himself another extraordinary genius.
Naturally, he did not consider Fu Xi Yan’s statement strange. Everyone else encountered bottlenecks whenever they advanced. Fu Xi Yan alone had progressed so smoothly it was as though he were Heaven’s own biological son.
Precisely because his path had been so smooth, Pei Yuan Jin had reminded him early to find his own Dao. Otherwise, when Fu Xi Yan attempted the Dao-Entry Stage, an unstable Dao heart might leave hidden dangers.
Hearing Fu Xi Yan speak this way instead made Pei Yuan Jin feel reassured.
“Besides raising your cultivation stage, you also need more experience fighting opponents.” Pei Yuan Jin now resembled a teacher running a final cram course before the national college entrance exam, convinced that every subject needed emergency tutoring.
This time, Fu Xi Yan did not bargain or complain as he used to. He agreed readily.
And so their leisurely cruise down the Yangtze gradually transformed into a tutoring class. Every day, people from the Immortal Treasury Palace could be seen flying around the deck, chasing one another and attacking one another with swords.
The Chen family sailors and guards: “…”
How should they put it?
There was definitely a sense of insecurity. Every day, they had to remind themselves to serve these great figures from the Immortal Treasury Palace properly and absolutely never make them unhappy.
There was also a sense of security.
They were not remotely afraid that some blind idiot might appear and offer himself up to die.
Human expectations were strange things.
Sometimes you wanted something and never got it. Sometimes you wanted something and received it immediately. But more often than not, good wishes failed while bad ones came true.
For example, now.
Looking at the imposing line of more than a dozen ships blocking the convoy ahead, Fu Xi Yan was surprised. Even including its patrol vessels, the Chen family convoy had only eight ships. They had already lost in sheer numbers.
He summoned the manager of their ship. “Someone actually dares block the Chen family’s ships?”
After witnessing the spectacle of ten thousand merchants converging upon Hanjin Ferry, Fu Xi Yan had almost assumed the Four Directions Merchant Alliance had already unified the entire Yangtze basin.
The manager gave a helpless smile, clearly accustomed to it. “The Four Directions Merchant Alliance consists of respectable merchants doing business on land. How could we compete with people whose families have made their living on the water for generations? But don’t worry. These are old acquaintances. We pay some money and everything will be fine.”
The Yangtze natural barrier currently formed the border between the two countries. Whenever one state tried to govern the river, the bandits simply fled into the other. After this happened repeatedly, even the soldiers lost interest in pursuing them. Over time, the Yangtze river bandits became arrogant enough to fear neither Heaven nor earth.
Only after the Four Directions Merchant Alliance was established and began maintaining guards and hired fighters were the smaller river-bandit groups scattered or absorbed. Two powerful groups remained that even the Alliance could not easily move against. Otherwise, traveling this entire route would practically require passing five checkpoints and slaying six generals.
Sure enough, the manager continued, “Though not everyone dares demand passage money from our ships anymore. At present, only the White Dragon Gang and Dragon-Swallowing Stronghold still do.”
Fu Xi Yan said, “The White Dragon Gang and Dragon-Swallowing Stronghold… I’m guessing they don’t get along very well?”
The manager was also a talkative man. Once he opened his mouth, he could not stop. “People in the same trade are natural enemies. If the Four Directions Merchant Alliance had not split itself into seven routes, we could never coexist as peacefully as we do now. But those two groups have much more than professional rivalry between them. The leader of Dragon-Swallowing Stronghold was originally the leader of the White Dragon Gang. Later, his own son-in-law seized his position. He barely escaped with his life, then established a new stronghold from scratch.”
Fu Xi Yan could not resist saying, “Excellent drama!”
The manager was about to continue when someone ahead shouted to get underway, and the ship began moving again.