The moon was dark, the wind was high, and the night was deep and silent. Charging into a Jinyiwei camp while carrying an ox cleaver ultimately seemed somewhat inappropriate, so Fu Xi Yan treasured his precious ox cleaver and respectfully invited it back to Auspicious Cloud Cloth Shop.
The shopkeeper had not gone to sleep yet. It was rare for two genuine great figures to descend upon his humble establishment, so naturally he intended to serve them properly. He did not ask for promotion or wealth. He merely hoped to send both gods away safely.
Seeing him reminded Fu Xi Yan of the accounts he had once audited. Recalling old hardships amid present sweetness, he said, “I wonder how many ledgers the shop has accumulated now.”
The shopkeeper immediately turned around and brought over the ledgers he had prepared long ago.
Fu Xi Yan was surprised. “You keep the real and false accounts simultaneously now?”
The shopkeeper nearly jumped from fright. “Everything this humble one has provided is genuine!”
Fu Xi Yan casually flipped through them. Losses had decreased and profits had increased, so apparently they really were genuine. The Rain Division’s accounts had contained tricks back then. He had no idea how Pei Yuan Jin handled them afterward, but somehow everyone had become obedient.
After they returned to their room, Pei Yuan Jin explained, “Aunt Yu handled it.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
Young Master Pei’s domineering-CEO persona truly remained consistent from beginning to end. Naturally. Matters like “the weather has turned cold, bankrupt the Wang family” never required the CEO himself to worry about the process. He only had to move his lips, and naturally his subordinates would join forces with the author to handle everything.
Elio’s Notes: “The weather has turned cold, bankrupt the Wang family” is a Chinese internet meme parodying domineering-CEO fiction, where an absurdly powerful CEO can destroy an entire family or company with a casual order.
Pei Yuan Jin could not hear Fu Xi Yan’s internal commentary, but seeing the mysterious smile curling at the corners of his mouth, he guessed that Fu Xi Yan’s soul had wandered somewhere strange again. He reached out and pinched Fu Xi Yan’s lips between two fingers.
Fu Xi Yan was forced into a pout and stared at him with wide eyes, thinking, I wasn’t even talking. Why are you making me shut up?
Then Pei Yuan Jin kissed him.
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
Had Young Master Pei eaten so much Auspicious Snow Divine Beef that before kissing something, he now instinctively needed to pick it up with chopsticks?
＊
During these past months, Chu Guang’s life had been neither particularly good nor particularly bad.
Back then, he had colluded with Hu Yu and Chen Wen Ju to secure the position of Jinyiwei Commander. Believing himself supported by the enormous tree that was Grand Consort Chen, he imagined he could lead the Jinyiwei to stand against the Imperial Guard and had even rolled up his sleeves in preparation for a grand campaign. Who could have imagined that not long afterward, Grand Consort Chen would “die of illness,” Chen Wen Ju would escape prison only to be executed, and the Chen family would withdraw completely from the stage of history?
Chu Guang did not know that Chen Wen Ju had defected to Rong Rong, nor did he know that Hu Yu’s real master had always been Emperor Jianhong. He wholeheartedly believed himself to be a hardened member of the Chen faction, so naturally the death of the rabbit made the fox grieve, filling him with fear.
When the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. But what if a particular monkey had grown directly out of the tree? During that period, Chu Guang spent every day feeling as though an invisible blade rested across his neck, never knowing when it might fall.
Fortunately, he was in Luoyang, far from the emperor, and beside him happened to be an imperial son. After diligently ingratiating himself for a while, he finally managed to draw closer to the Third Prince without making his intentions too obvious.
During this period, the situation in Haojing churned with hidden currents.
Consort Rong died inside the Ministry of Justice prison, exposing her identity as Tie Rong Rong of the Puppet Path. The Rong family fell into turmoil, and its patriarch disappeared. Yongfeng Earl, who had fought Chu Guang for half a lifetime, abruptly packed up his entire household and left Haojing for the southern frontier. Fu Xuan, once the mighty Commander of the Imperial Guard, reached the south only to accept the humble rank of chiliarch. Meanwhile, after the Third Prince used Chu Shao Yang as a bridge and the Qinling Sect successfully entered Emperor Jianhong’s service, the Chu family had found new backing.
Chu Guang had thought that as one side rose and the other fell, he had finally surpassed Fu Xuan. Who could have imagined that the useless fatty who once knew nothing except how to use a slingshot would follow the Immortal Treasury Palace Young Master into Southern Yu’s imperial palace and cause absolute chaos? Even if Fu Xi Yan had not intended to demonstrate power, that was exactly the effect he produced. Sure enough, not long afterward, one imperial decree from Emperor Jianhong let Yongfeng Earl make a salted-fish comeback and become Governor of Hubei.
After several months apart, Chu Guang and Fu Xuan’s nephew seemed to have fought another battle against each other across vast distances, both indirectly strengthening their respective families. But compared with Fu Fu now governing an entire province, the benefits gained by the Chu family were almost laughably small.
Worse, Emperor Jianhong had just delayed the capital transfer and cut off funding, making Luoyang’s future suddenly uncertain.
Chu Guang had intelligence sources in Haojing, but none at a high enough level to pry into the emperor’s thoughts. As for the Third Prince… their relationship was still in its ambiguous stage. At this point, everything depended upon exchanged looks and mutual understanding, so it would be inappropriate to discuss interests too nakedly.
After considering everyone he knew, the only person Chu Guang could ask was Hu Yu.
After Hu Yu became Commander of the Imperial Guard, their relationship had cooled.
Partly because Chu Guang did not know whether Hu Yu had been involved in the Chen family’s fall. And partly because Chu Guang had nearly fought Fu Xuan to the death over the position of Imperial Guard Commander, only to watch a third person benefit like the fisherman collecting the spoils. Naturally, he felt furious at having made a wedding dress for someone else.
But circumstances were stronger than people. He could only thicken his skin and reopen communication.
Hu Yu possessed an excellent temper. When you ignored him, he tolerated it. When you spoke to him again, he accepted it. His reply contained an enormous paragraph filled with nauseating lines such as “Tonight I gaze at the moon and think of you.” At the very end, he finally reassured Chu Guang that moving the capital was inevitable. Sooner or later. He should simply wait patiently.
That was not an empty reassurance. The great clans and noble families had already rearranged their interests around the capital move. If Emperor Jianhong tried to retract the order now, the resistance would be a hundred times fiercer than when the proposal was first made.
Still, Chu Guang inevitably thought one step further.
Hu Yu commanded the Imperial Guard, while Chu Guang commanded the Jinyiwei. Their responsibilities overlapped. At present, one remained in Haojing and the other in Luoyang, so they could coexist peacefully. But after the capital moved?
Hu Yu had told him to wait patiently. Could it be that… Emperor Jianhong had already made his choice?
Chu Guang could not stop himself from thinking about it.
He had reached an age where failing to advance meant retreating. Going back to serve beneath a former subordinate was absolutely impossible. The Imperial Guard already had a Commander, and he did not want to become a Deputy Commander. Was he supposed to cling to the Jinyiwei and turn himself into a marginal figure?
Fu Xuan had gone to the southern frontier. With Fu Fu supporting him, it would not take long before he carved out his own territory there. Perhaps this was itself a brilliant strategy of retreating in order to advance. The Chu family’s military influence was not as visible as the Fu family’s, but it possessed connections. After Chu Guang came to Luoyang, the old prince stationed along the northern frontier had even written to test his intentions, asking whether he wanted to enter the army and build achievements there.
Everyone knew that remnants of the two princes who had once fought Emperor Jianhong for the throne were hidden somewhere in the Northern Lands. A war between the two states would inevitably come someday. If Chu Guang truly wanted to rise another level, perhaps that was a viable road.
He was just considering calling his nephew in to discuss matters when Chu Shao Yang appeared outside with almost supernatural timing. “Zhou Zhong Xin and Zhou Geng Geng are causing trouble again. Are we still refusing to release them?”
Chu Guang frowned. “The Jinyiwei has a fixed establishment. If two people disappear without authorization, how am I supposed to explain it? The request to recruit replacements has already been sent to the Ministry of War. Once they reply, naturally arrangements will be made.”
This was obviously an excuse. First, the Jinyiwei had never once reached its full authorized numbers. Second, although the Jinyiwei had been modeled after the Imperial Guard, it did not fall under the Ministry of War. As long as its numbers remained within the official establishment, recruiting new members was practically a matter of speaking one sentence.
Chu Guang continued blocking the brothers simply because jealousy had twisted itself into a peculiar desire for revenge, especially after Fu Xuan wrote to him and once again mentioned that old incident when Chu Guang had accepted benefits yet deliberately made things difficult for Fu Xi Yan.
Seeing Chu Shao Yang hesitate, Chu Guang sighed. “Relax. I’ll release them in a few days.”
Chu Shao Yang nodded.
He could somewhat understand his uncle’s awkward state of mind. Had he not once felt the same? Watching a former opponent he had barely respected grow stronger by the day until that man became famous beneath Heaven while he himself remained standing almost exactly where he had begun had left a painful sense of disparity in his heart. Fortunately, he and Fu Xi Yan had not known each other long and had rarely met. They lacked the almost fated rivalry that existed between Fu Xuan and Chu Guang, so Chu Shao Yang had kept those emotions under control.
He thought, As long as we don’t meet, I don’t have to care.
A Jinyiwei guard hurried over to report that an old acquaintance who had once boiled water for Centurion Chu was waiting outside.
A new year had come and gone, but Chu Shao Yang remained a centurion. Even if Chu Guang practiced blatant nepotism, he could not raise his nephew straight to the heavens in only a few months. After all, Uncle himself remained in place. If the nephew rose too quickly, the new wave might accidentally push the old wave onto the shore.
Chu Shao Yang saw Chu Guang nod and went outside.
Since the Qinling Sect had established itself in Haojing, he had begun cultivating his identity as a young hero of the sect. If jianghu people encountered trouble and came seeking help, he generally assisted as long as the request was not excessive.
So at first, he assumed his visitor was some jianghu acquaintance he had met once. Then, from far away, he saw the plump figure. The person wore a bamboo hat that concealed his face, but that body… was a bamboo hat really capable of hiding it?
It truly was… an old acquaintance for whom he had once boiled water.
Chu Shao Yang suddenly did not want to continue walking. Unfortunately, the other man had already turned his head. He could only force himself forward. “Fu…”
“Cough, cough.” Fu Xi Yan interrupted his greeting with a string of coughs. “Keep it secret.”
Had Fu Xi Yan caused some enormous disaster and come here seeking refuge? Chu Shao Yang suddenly became cheerful. He enthusiastically welcomed Fu Xi Yan into his room, practically one breath away from asking, “May I help you?”
Fu Xi Yan removed his bamboo hat and placed it on the table. He spoke earnestly. “Little Chu, do you still remember the water I boiled for you back then?”
“…” Chu Shao Yang smiled brilliantly. “We’re friends. If Brother Fu needs something, naturally there’s room for discussion.”
Fu Xi Yan was shocked by his courage. He shook his head. “Since you put it that way, I suppose I can only use the worst possible method.”
Chu Shao Yang’s instincts screamed danger. He was just preparing to bolt for the door when Fu Xi Yan cupped his hands. “I heard Brother Chu’s martial arts have improved somewhat during the months we’ve been apart. Why don’t we spar? We can limit ourselves to fists and feet.”
Elio’s Notes: The raw source says “Brother Fu” in Fu Xi Yan’s line here, an apparent name slip. Since he is addressing Chu Shao Yang, it has been normalized to “Brother Chu.”
…
Hearing these strangely familiar words, Chu Shao Yang wanted only to laugh coldly.
“I’m in Northern Zhou, yet even I’ve heard about Brother Fu’s great achievement in Southern Yu. They say you single-handedly defeated the imperial palace experts and nearly took the Southern Yu emperor’s head. May I ask… what realm has Brother Fu reached now?”
As a martial artist himself, Chu Shao Yang knew very well how difficult cultivation was. There were no shortcuts, or so his own limited experience had led him to believe. So he had never believed Fu Xi Yan could become a genuine expert in such a short time. Vajra Stage was probably the absolute limit. Those exaggerated jianghu stories most likely resulted from Fu Xi Yan borrowing Pei Yuan Jin’s authority and putting on an impressive show.
This era had no popular literature about domineering CEOs and their delicate little wives. Nevertheless, Chu Shao Yang had already constructed several complete dramas inside his head.
Fu Xi Yan modestly said, “It isn’t any remarkable realm. Just a little below Young Master Pei.”
Chu Shao Yang’s face changed. “You reached Mortal-Shedding?”
“No, no. How could it be Mortal-Shedding?” Fu Xi Yan waited until Chu Shao Yang’s expression relaxed before shaking his head and sighing. “Mortal-Shedding was two months ago. I’m Dao-Entry now.”
Looking at Chu Shao Yang’s stunned expression, Fu Xi Yan felt his vanity receive unprecedented satisfaction. Remembering their duel back then, when he had racked his brain merely to force a draw, now felt almost like remembering a previous lifetime.
Chu Shao Yang remained silent for a very long time.
Fu Xi Yan smiled brightly. “We’ve been separated for so long. I wonder what realm Brother Chu has reached?”
Chu Shao Yang desperately held his breath, determined not to open his mouth and spray blood. At this moment, he finally understood perfectly why his uncle insisted on holding Zhong Xin and Geng Geng hostage. There was no complicated motive. I feel terrible, therefore I would like you to feel terrible too.
He mocked sourly, “Naturally, I cannot compare with Brother Fu. I don’t have the Immortal Treasury Palace Young Master for a husband.”
Since the other man had voluntarily mentioned Pei Yuan Jin, Fu Xi Yan could not resist showering praise upon praise. “Mm-hm, mm-hm. He really is incredibly, unbelievably good. He even taught me my qinggong. Want me to demonstrate?”
Chu Shao Yang: “…”
Was Fu Xi Yan mocking him for not knowing qinggong?
Grinding his teeth, he said, “Yes.”
…
In the broad training ground, the bamboo-hatted Fu Xi Yan demonstrated exactly what it meant to “rise straight into the azure clouds.” He truly walked upward through empty air one step at a time without pausing.
Elio’s Notes: Ping bu qing yun literally evokes walking straight into the blue clouds and figuratively means rising rapidly to a high position. Fu Xi Yan’s qinggong makes the expression comically literal.
When he reached approximately the height of a five- or six-story building, Fu Xi Yan began feeling dizzy. Especially because nothing lay below him except an open training ground, and the nearest rooftop was far away. He knew perfectly well he would not fall, but his heart still fluttered nervously, so he quickly walked down.
The instant his feet touched the ground, he relaxed. Then he placed one hand behind his back and assumed the dignified bearing of a supreme expert. “Did you understand?”
Chu Shao Yang had no idea what to say.
The Qinling Sect might be a major martial faction, but when it came to the depth of its secret manuals, it was far below the Immortal Treasury Palace.
He could only answer, “I’m not blind.”
That qinggong alone already proved Fu Xi Yan’s cultivation. Chu Shao Yang had no desire to humiliate himself further, so he asked directly, “Brother Fu didn’t come here today purely to reminisce, did you?”
Fu Xi Yan said, “I’m taking Zhong Xin and Geng Geng with me.”
Chu Shao Yang had already guessed as much. “I need to ask Uncle.”
Fu Xi Yan nodded. “Naturally. But I won’t accept a negative answer.” From the moment they met until now, he had remained cheerful and smiling, yet Chu Shao Yang understood perfectly that their conversation only resembled their interactions from the past. The initiative had remained in Fu Xi Yan’s hands the entire time.
Just like now. If Fu Xi Yan wanted to overturn the table, he could.
Chu Shao Yang left. Nobody knew exactly what he said to Chu Guang, but he returned before long with Zhong Xin and Geng Geng.
Just like Chu Shao Yang, the instant the brothers saw Fu Xi Yan’s back, before he even showed his face, they became visibly excited. Fu Xi Yan could not help feeling depressed. “Does my disguise have absolutely no effect?”
Zhou Geng Geng answered with perfect honesty. “Among everyone we know, only Young Master has this kind of… this kind of mighty build!”
Fu Xi Yan: “…” Thank you so much for remembering to modify the wording at the last possible instant!
Chu Shao Yang curiously asked, “Brother Fu, did you encounter some trouble? Why conceal your face?” He was desperately curious about this. He practically hoped Fu Xi Yan would burst into tears and recount a great series of personal misfortunes.
Unfortunately, Fu Xi Yan shook his head and said with some amusement, “Don’t you think dressing this way makes me look more like a supreme expert?”
Originally, Pei Yuan Jin had intended to accompany him, but Fu Xi Yan firmly refused. If dealing with people like Chu Guang and Chu Shao Yang still required Pei Yuan Jin to provide support, then what exactly had he entered Dao for?
Still, Fu Xi Yan understood that people formed fixed impressions. He did not want Chu Shao Yang’s image of him to remain stuck on that youth who cheated with a slingshot, so he had dressed differently to emphasize the transformation.
Chu Shao Yang, after receiving this explanation: “…”
He was not stupid. Did Fu Xi Yan really think Chu Shao Yang needed to see him wearing a bamboo hat before understanding that the present was no longer the past?
And why a bamboo hat?
Fu Xi Yan himself did not have any clear answer. Perhaps it was simply because, in his personal understanding, turning sideways, speaking very little, wearing a bamboo hat, and holding a saber formed the basic entrance configuration of a supreme expert.
He returned triumphantly with Zhong Xin and Geng Geng. Along the road, all three recounted what had happened since their separation.
Zhong Xin and Geng Geng’s story was extremely uneventful. After the Jinyiwei entered Luoyang, nothing major happened. Their main responsibility remained protecting the Third Prince and, incidentally, watching over construction of the imperial palace. But the Third Prince was not the crown prince, which left the Jinyiwei in an awkward position. And because the Zhou brothers were well known as members of the Fu faction, they spent most of their time being sent to guard the palace construction site.
Fu Xi Yan’s story, meanwhile, would require an entire thick volume titled A Worthless Fatty Must Rise. The story was still ongoing, but compared with the Zhou brothers’ peaceful lives, Fu Xi Yan’s past few months had contained more twists than a mountain road.
The two brothers became completely absorbed. Even after reaching the inn where Fu Dong Wen stayed, they refused to go inside. They insisted he finish first.
Zhou Geng Geng said, “You already reached Southern Yu…”
Fu Xi Yan’s mouth was dry from talking. “I only just reached Southern Yu.”
Fu Dong Wen walked outside. “Unless a Southern Yu emperor is hidden behind the door, are none of you willing to come inside?”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
He talked until noon. Fu Xi Yan was just about to send someone to tell Pei Yuan Jin that he would not be returning for lunch when he raised his head and saw Pei Yuan Jin arrive himself. So the story continued.
He finally finished sometime in the afternoon.
Zhong Xin and Geng Geng still wanted more. They almost wished they had personally been there. But they also understood that as Fu Xi Yan’s martial arts grew stronger and stronger, the gap between them had become enormous. They were no longer capable of serving as his guards.
That was hardly because Zhong Xin and Geng Geng lacked effort.
Fu Xi Yan’s progress was simply too monstrous. Had not Xiao Sang and Xiao Zhang themselves gone from newcomers to old hands in only a few months? At present, the only person capable of remaining inseparably beside Fu Xi Yan from beginning to end was Pei Yuan Jin.
But Zhou Geng Geng possessed an excellent attitude. He immediately comforted himself. “Fortunately, Third Young Master doesn’t know martial arts.”
Fu Dong Wen: “…”
＊
Time spent reunited was always short. Fu Dong Wen still had to remain in Luoyang with his teachers and fellow students and bring this ridiculous protest to a proper conclusion. Fu Xi Yan, meanwhile, had to continue traveling with Pei Yuan Jin.
Neither side held any elaborate farewell. One brother stood beside the guest-room window, while the other sat inside the carriage. From a distance, they waved.
If the two brothers truly began saying goodbye properly, there would never be enough words. Fortunately, Fu Xia Qing would marry next year. All the brothers scattered outside would return to attend the ceremony. There was a clear promise of reunion and something to anticipate.
＊
The Immortal Treasury Palace lay northeast of Luoyang. Fu Xi Yan had never been particularly skilled at geography. He studied their map, which was so simplified it could barely be called a map, for an embarrassingly long time before discovering that Mount Fujun, where the Palace stood, was unexpectedly in the Youzhou region.
He asked in confusion, “Isn’t that a place of exile?” In his previous world, the region had possessed a glorious history, but in this world, it had yet to reveal anything particularly impressive.
Pei Yuan Jin said, “It is where the Yellow Emperor sought the Dao.”
Fu Xi Yan: “…”
Fine. A place like the Immortal Treasury Palace, which enjoyed raising “divine beasts” such as white tigers and green donkeys, naturally could not choose an ordinary address.
Still…
Lying inside the carriage, Fu Xi Yan rubbed his aching lower back. “It’s really far.” He missed airplanes, trains, toll highways, and comfortable long-distance buses.
Unfortunately, Jiangcheng-style “public transportation” did not work in the north. Nobody stopped them to request rides, leaving Fu Xi Yan plenty of free time. Under Pei Yuan Jin’s supervision, he began diligently practicing martial arts.
Between practice sessions, he also worried about Pei Yuan Jin’s condition. “Has your true qi been behaving lately?”
Pei Yuan Jin had his arms around him and his head buried against Fu Xi Yan’s shoulder, gently biting the skin there.
“I’m asking you something.”
The carriage compartment was far too close to the driver’s seat. Even with the door between them, Fu Xi Yan refused to constantly kiss. So Pei Yuan Jin had somehow independently invented a new form of affection: neck nibbling. The first time Pei Yuan Jin bit him, Fu Xi Yan genuinely suspected that during their stay in Jiangcheng, Young Master Pei had secretly gone out to buy braised duck neck.
Otherwise, how had he become so skilled so quickly?
Pei Yuan Jin himself did not know how to explain.
He was beginning to understand why Jiang Xiu insisted upon refining Harmonized Yang Pills. After entering Martial King, almost everything else remained manageable. He could even tolerate the burning body temperature. But a restless agitation constantly lingered inside both his true essence and his heart. Only when he held Fu Xi Yan did it ease slightly, yet after holding him for too long, the feeling eventually became even stronger.
Pei Yuan Jin did not say any of this, but after enough time passed, Fu Xi Yan could sense part of it. All he could do was hypnotize himself into pretending the carriage driver did not exist and secretly kiss Pei Yuan Jin twice inside the carriage.
…
Truly.
Only twice.
Once in the morning.
Once in the afternoon.
At night… they did not sleep inside the carriage.
＊
Perhaps this was the driver’s first time handling such a long journey. Not long after passing Shimen, he suffered heatstroke and had to lie in a village for two days before recovering.
Fu Xi Yan used the opportunity to wander around nearby and stretch his muscles.
Perhaps because they had spent every day inside the carriage together, Pei Yuan Jin had grown accustomed to entering and leaving places beside him. Even in front of other people, he no longer avoided holding Fu Xi Yan’s hand. The villagers found this strange, but Pei Yuan Jin’s aura discouraged anyone from commenting to their faces.
Fu Xi Yan felt slightly embarrassed. Still, he did not want to discourage Pei Yuan Jin’s newfound enthusiasm, so he led him toward the mountains instead, partly to scout the road ahead.
The two stood on the mountain summit and were preparing to admire the scenery below when they discovered a large group of people crouching halfway down the slope, carrying every imaginable kind of weapon.
…
Fu Xi Yan rubbed his forehead. “Don’t tell me we ran into mountain bandits again?” Putting aside the young emperor, the Spirit Sect, and every other infuriating affair, Fu Xi Yan’s strongest impression of Southern Yu had been the sheer abundance of mountain bandits and river bandits. He had never imagined Northern Zhou had developed them too.
Pei Yuan Jin thought for a moment. “Xia Family Fort is in the Shimen region. The mountain bandits here should not amount to much.”
He had barely finished speaking when a carriage came down the road from north to south. Then the entire group of “not amounting to much” men jumped down with weapons and blocked it.
The carriage stopped abruptly.
Both sides fell into a completely silent standoff. Nobody spoke.
Fu Xi Yan had originally assumed this was an ordinary robbery, but the longer he watched, the stranger it looked.
The man leading the group carried a pair of hammers. He took one step forward and respectfully saluted the carriage. “Ding Qing Shan of Gao Yi Sect greets the Young Master of the Immortal Treasury Palace!”
“Greetings, Young Master!”
Everyone behind him roared in unison.
…
Fu Xi Yan looked at the handsome, outstanding, unquestionably genuine Immortal Treasury Palace Young Master beside him. Then he looked down at the group of heroes saluting the carriage and began wondering whether he too had suffered heatstroke.