【Good deeds and good intentions bear good fruit. One wrong step leads to the next.】
Rongxi came to the back mountain.
Jichuan sat in a tree with his arms folded and his eyelids drooping.
“What’s wrong?” Rongxi could tell he was unhappy.
Jichuan snapped off a twig and threw it at Rongxi’s robes. “Why aren’t you teaching that new disciple of yours? What did you come looking for me for?”
Rongxi looked up at him. “That child never had a full meal in all his eight years. His parents sold him for grain, and the buyer was a demon who had taken human form and meant to steam him alive and eat him. So I brought him back.”
Jichuan’s eyes reddened. “He really is pitiful, but I’m still unhappy.”
Rongxi said gently, “I swore before Master that I would never give you any formal place in the sect. I was so afraid I wouldn’t manage to keep you alive that I dared give you only a childhood name. Jichuan, I’ve wronged you.”
Jichuan was so agitated he jumped down from the tree. “You’ve never wronged me! If it weren’t for you, I would have died long ago!”
Rongxi wiped away his tears. “To me, Master, Junior Brother, my disciples, and you are all the same. I consider every one of you family.”
Jichuan knitted his brows. “I don’t want to be the same as them. You have to like me more.”
Rongxi laughed helplessly. “All right.”
Jichuan was easy to coax. Even the fox had said Rongxi had raised him well. Rongxi had taught him that good and evil could turn on a single thought. Many wicked impulses passed if one simply endured them. There was no need to deny their existence; it was best to let things take their course while remaining true to one’s heart.
After much hesitation, Jichuan admitted that he had secretly gone down the mountain. He knelt cautiously on the ground to acknowledge his mistake.
Rongxi was silent for a long time. Instead of scolding him, he helped him up. “I’ll go down the mountain with you and take a look.”
Jichuan had lived in dread for days. Hearing those words, he almost burst into tears, yet at the same time felt an indescribable sense of relief.
He had caused a terrible commotion in the market that day. A few inquiries were enough to find the injured man’s family. Fortunately, Jichuan’s stab had not gone very deep. The man was still alive, though he had nearly lost his life.
When the victim’s family found the culprit, they were understandably furious and seized Jichuan, intent on beating him to death. Qiu Rongxi stepped in front of him and bowed with cupped hands. “He was wrong to injure someone, and we acknowledge that. We will accept whatever punishment or compensation is due. But there was a reason for what happened. You insulted and beat him without provocation, and he fought back when driven beyond endurance. This matter ought to be settled fairly.”
Standing behind him, Jichuan slowly widened his eyes.
Rongxi took him to the county magistrate’s court. The magistrate sentenced him to twenty lashes and ordered him to pay the family ten taels of silver in compensation. If they were willing to pay thirty taels instead, the lashes could be waived.
Jichuan fished a small piece of silver out of his clothes and looked helplessly at Rongxi.
Rongxi searched every corner of his sleeves and managed to put together twenty taels. Jichuan did not know what else he said to the magistrate, but in the end he received only five lashes.
The whip struck him for real, and the pain was terrible. Yet, all at once, Jichuan felt reassured.
He limped out after taking his punishment and looked at Rongxi with reddened eyes.
“You mustn’t injure people recklessly again,” Rongxi said. Then he frowned. “But you mustn’t let others bully and humiliate you either.”
Jichuan lowered his head. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Rongxi tapped him on the head. “If you want to go down the mountain again, I’ll come with you.”
Jichuan asked, “Am I very ugly?”
Rongxi stopped walking and answered with complete seriousness. “All people are bone, blood, and flesh wrapped in a covering of skin, their minds confined within. The Great Dao is something to understand by looking inward, not something to seek in outward appearances.”
Jichuan only half understood. “Rongxi, my back hurts.”
Rongxi bought a hat from a roadside stall and put it on his head. “Wait here a moment.”
When Qiu Rongxi came out after buying medicine, he saw Jichuan standing some distance away beside a stall where several children were buying sweets. Jichuan watched but did not dare approach, merely pulling his hat farther down.
“Come on.” Rongxi walked over and patted him.
Jichuan looked at the medicine in his hand. “We’ve spent all our silver. Where did you get the money for medicine?”
Rongxi smiled. “I told the shopkeeper’s fortune.”
Jichuan said, “I thought you didn’t like telling other people’s fortunes.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t.” As though performing a magic trick, Rongxi produced a sweet from his sleeve. “Here.”
Jichuan’s eyes lit up. He took it, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. The misery of being whipped promptly vanished. “Did you get the sweet for telling a fortune too?”
Rongxi tucked his hands into his sleeves and smiled. “What do you think?”
Jichuan went digging through his sleeves. Rongxi laughingly dodged him, but eventually let him discover a little bag of malt sweets. “Don’t eat too many. You’ll ruin your teeth.”
“I’ve already lost all my baby teeth.” Jichuan unwrapped one and held it up to Rongxi’s mouth. “Aaah.”
Rongxi took the sweet between his teeth, then gave Jichuan’s forehead a smack. “Show some respect for your elders.”
Life seemed to settle back into peace.
The new young disciple was lively. Once he discovered Jichuan, he not only showed no fear but went to the back mountain of his own accord to play with him. Rongxi may or may not have known, but he never scolded either of them for it.
Jichuan was delighted to have made a friend. There was a little sourness mixed into that happiness, but it was nothing serious. They all had to cultivate, though, so the time they could spend playing together was limited.
That day the wind howled and rain poured down. Jichuan woke with a start and sat hugging his quilt, waiting for Rongxi to come. But Rongxi did not appear. Unable to stop worrying, he took an umbrella and went outside.
A tremendous bolt of lightning struck. He spotted someone collapsed on the ground and immediately ran over to help. Rongxi often taught him to be kind to others.
The person had been badly injured by the lightning. Jichuan carried them back to his little cottage.
The fox poked its head over the windowsill. “That’s a charm demon. Don’t save it.”
Jichuan was puzzled. “Why not?”
“Charm demons are all bad. They’re even better than us foxes at beguiling people.” The fox climbed inside and crouched beside the bed. “It’s just survived a lightning tribulation, so it’s especially weak. Why don’t we split its inner core and eat it? I’d gain cultivation, and you could heal your face and leg.”
“No.” Jichuan rejected the suggestion. “Rongxi says the body and its appearance are only outward things. As long as I keep kindness in my heart and cultivate properly, everything will get better one day.”
The fox was exasperated. “You’ll be waiting until the end of time. That rotten Daoist is fooling you.”
Jichuan balled his hand into a fist and knocked the fox on the head. “Don’t call Rongxi a rotten Daoist. He’s the best Daoist in the world.”
The fox howled with indignation. “Idiot! You’re the biggest idiot in the world!”
Rongxi pushed the door open. The fox was so frightened it immediately fled into the rain.
Jichuan was startled to see him covered in mud and hurried over. “What happened?”
“I slipped and fell,” Rongxi said with a smile.
Jichuan felt something was wrong, but no matter how he questioned him, Rongxi said nothing more. Instead, he helped examine the charm demon.
Jichuan asked anxiously, “Have I done something wrong again?”
“No. It may not be an evil demon.” Rongxi said, “Its demonic qi is pure and untainted. It probably hasn’t taken anyone’s life.”
Relieved, Jichuan tended the creature with great care.
A few days later, the charm demon woke and knelt gratefully. “This little demon is called Qingying. Thank you, benefactor, for saving me from the lightning tribulation the other day.”
Jichuan helped Qingying up. “It was hardly any trouble. There’s no need for thanks.”
Qingying stood, bowing again and again. Its face had been ruined by the lightning and its features could scarcely be made out. It pleaded, “My clan’s elders drove me away because I refused to steal people’s vital essence and take their lives. Could you let me stay here for a while?”
Jichuan readily agreed. “There’s a bamboo cottage on the far side of the river that Rongxi built for me when I was little so I could go fishing. You can stay there for now.”
Qingying was moved to tears of gratitude.
And so the little charm demon settled there. Rongxi often came to the back mountain to teach Jichuan about the Dao. Qingying did not dare come too close, so it secretly listened from across the river. When Rongxi made no attempt to drive it away, it gradually grew bolder and crossed over.
That was when Qingying discovered a fox hidden in the grass, secretly listening to the lessons too.
Rongxi turned a blind eye and let them both be. The meals delivered to the back mountain grew from two portions, for Jichuan and the fox, to three.
Later, Rongxi took on several more disciples from impoverished families. The children were lively and could never resist following their master to the back mountain. Before long, the place grew bustling.
Jichuan’s initial jealousy gradually gave way to acceptance. Cultivating in the company of so many humans and demons was far more interesting than practicing alone. Most importantly, Rongxi still liked him best and brought sweets only for him. Jichuan then very ‘magnanimously’ shared those sweets with the children and little demons. He had become the undisputed boss of the back mountain and was very pleased with himself.
One day, Qingying said, “I hate this ruined face. I want to be beautiful.”
Jichuan imitated Rongxi’s manner of teaching. “Appearances are merely outward things. Cultivating the Dao means cultivating the heart.”
Qingying said sadly, “But looking like this, I don’t even dare go down the mountain.”
“Why would you want to go down the mountain?” Jichuan remembered the people who had insulted and beaten him, and the whipping he had suffered. He frowned. “There’s nothing good down there. I want to stay on this mountain with Rongxi forever.”
Qingying said, “Rongxi is very good to us, but what will we do after he dies? Qingsong Daoist Temple won’t let us stay here.”
Jichuan stared blankly. “Rongxi won’t die.”
“What nonsense are you talking? Rongxi is almost two hundred years old, and he still hasn’t succeeded in forming a core. Yesterday I heard him arguing with Qiu Heng. Qiu Heng said he had no more than three years to live.”
Jichuan was so frightened he jumped down from the tree and set off to find Rongxi. The fox scrambled onto his shoulder. “Don’t panic, don’t panic. Qiu Heng might be wrong.”
“Qiu Heng has the supernatural power to know past lives. No one is more accurate than he is at foretelling how long someone will live.” Jichuan was close to tears. “No. I have to save Rongxi.”
“I could give Rongxi twenty years of my life… No, no, ten years. Maybe just five,” the fox said reluctantly.
The little charm demon said, “I could give him ten years too. But humans and demons are different. Even if he gained more years, when his allotted time came he would still grow old and die.”
Jichuan pushed them both aside and ran to Qingsong Daoist Temple to find Qiu Heng. “Qiu Heng, is Rongxi going to die?”
Qiu Heng looked at him coldly and, as usual, did not answer.
“Qiu Heng! Qiu Heng!” Jichuan blocked his way and begged, “Please tell me! I don’t want him to die. I want to save him.”
After a long silence, Qiu Heng spoke to him for the first time in all those years. “You were fated to die young. Back then, Senior Brother gave you half of his inner core, and since that day he has made no progress in his cultivation. You should never have crossed his path. You ruined him.”
Jichuan stood frozen. “What did you say?”
Qiu Heng looked at him as though he had suddenly seen something. His expression changed, regret flooding his eyes. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you.”
“Why?” Jichuan asked. “When Rongxi was ill before, you and the temple master both secretly brought me food. You even helped drive away wild boars and wolves, and the temple master secretly gave me cultivation manuals. You both clearly—”
Qiu Heng stared at him darkly for a long while, then slowly shook his head. He would not say another word.
Rongxi fell gravely ill and entered seclusion.
Before withdrawing, he instructed Jichuan and his young disciples to practice diligently. He also warned Jichuan, the fox, and the charm demon not to grow lazy or greedy.
Looking at Rongxi’s white hair and visibly aging face, Jichuan felt as though a knife were cutting through his heart. Still, he smiled and answered, “Don’t worry, Rongxi. I’ll protect everyone.”
Rongxi squeezed his shoulder, leaned close, and lowered his voice. “Under the banyan tree east of the stream, I’ve buried a few jars of plum-blossom wine for you. Dig up one each year. The others don’t have any.”
Jichuan’s eyes filled with tears. He hugged him tightly. “And what happens when I’ve drunk it all?”
“…When I come out of seclusion, I’ll brew more for you.” Rongxi patted him on the head and turned away with an air of easy confidence.
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
Jichuan went to the banyan tree to dig up some wine and instead unearthed more than a hundred jars. As though finally understanding something, he raced like a madman to the cave where Rongxi was in seclusion, only to find its entrance firmly sealed from within.
“Rongxi!” He pounded on the hard stone wall and shouted at the top of his voice. “Qiu Rongxi!”
No matter how loudly he called, no one answered from within. He slumped to the ground in despair, but his hand brushed against a line of writing. He hurriedly tore away the weeds around it until he could make out the words.
‘Follow the causes and consequences ordained by Heaven and Earth, fearing neither life nor death. Uphold a sincere heart and the true teachings, and the Great Dao will unfold of itself.’
Jichuan stared at the forceful characters carved into the ground and recognized Rongxi’s handwriting at once. His gaze fastened on the word ‘death,’ and the unscarred half of his face twitched unnaturally.
He did not know how long he struggled before finally breaking through the cave’s seal and finding Qiu Rongxi seated cross-legged inside.
Rongxi’s hair was entirely white, and he was no longer breathing. His once-handsome, otherworldly face was terribly aged; he had wasted away until he was little more than skin and bones.
Jichuan knelt before him and carefully cradled his face, calling softly, “Rongxi… Rongxi?”
The entire mountain was silent.
Jichuan could not cry. He picked up Rongxi’s sword, cut open his own lower abdomen, and took out the yuan core inside. “Rongxi, I’m giving it back. I’m giving it back to you. Please don’t die.”
Jichuan was afraid of death. He had understood what Qiu Heng meant: Rongxi had given him half of his yuan core and, unable to progress in cultivation, had eventually exhausted his lifespan. But Jichuan was afraid. He had not dared return that half to Rongxi. Greedily, he had wanted to find some better solution, one that would let both of them live.
He could not bear to part with his own life, or with Rongxi. He had always believed there was still time.
The yuan core rapidly dimmed once removed from his body. He cut open Rongxi’s lower abdomen, intending to put that half of the core back inside him, but discovered that Rongxi’s dantian was completely empty.
Jichuan stared at him, stunned. Then a wail of utter despair broke from deep in his chest. “Qiu Rongxi!”
It had not been half… Qiu Rongxi had given him his entire yuan core.
They were neither kin nor family. Why would he go so far? Why would he do so much?!
“Jichuan! Jichuan, something terrible’s happened!” The fox stumbled in. Horrified by the blood before it, it turned to flee.
Jichuan seized it, his eyes bloodshot. “What happened?”
The fox stammered in terror, “Qingsong Daoist Temple… so many demons have gotten into Qingsong Daoist Temple! The temple master and Qiu Heng and all the other disciples, they… they…”
Jichuan’s lips trembled. He hurriedly shoved the yuan core back into his abdomen and said to the fox, “Y-you look after Rongxi. Watch over him! I’ll be right back!”
The fox nodded again and again.
Jichuan rushed back to the Daoist temple and found bodies strewn everywhere. They were Rongxi’s young disciples, the same children who had laughed and played with Jichuan only two days earlier. Clutching his aching dantian, he staggered on and saw Qiu Luochen nailed to the entrance of the main hall.
“Temple Master…” He reached up and lowered Qiu Luochen. The great hall doors creaked open.
Charm demons with blue faces and protruding fangs lay pinned to the ground by red threads. Qiu Heng knelt in the middle of the hall, covered in blood. At the sound, he raised his head. Three iron nails had pierced his ears and mouth, leaving his features unrecognizable.
“Qiu Heng!” Jichuan rushed toward him and tried to remove the nails, but could not find a way to do so.
Qiu Heng’s cold gaze shifted past him.
Jichuan turned stiffly and saw a dense, countless throng of demons packing every corner of the temple. At their head stood Qingying.
Qingying was covered in wounds. It lowered its head, not daring to look at him.
Jichuan stared in disbelief. “Qingying, you brought them here?!”
Zushan was protected by a great mountain-guarding formation. Without some special opportunity or connection, ordinary demons had no way to enter.
Qingying sobbed. “M-my clan found me. They saw how rapidly my cultivation had grown and kept demanding to know why. When I refused to tell them, they threatened to kill me. I didn’t want to die… I didn’t want to die, so I told them about the immortal bones.”
Jichuan was baffled. “What immortal bones?”
Trembling, Qingying pointed at Qiu Heng behind him. “Qiu Heng’s whole body is made of immortal bones. He was born able to cultivate, to perceive life and death and know the fates of past lives. Because he’s here, Zushan is filled with immortal qi. Otherwise, how do you think the temple master and Qiu Rongxi cultivated so quickly and lived so long?! A mere fragment of his bones could give an ordinary person a spiritual root. If someone refined him completely, they might ascend to immortality on the spot!”
“Immortal bones? Ascending to immortality?!” Jichuan shouted furiously. “I won’t let you get away with this!”
Qingying wept. “Stop dreaming. You can’t defeat this many demons. Get out of the way!”
“Never!” Jichuan drew his sword and stood in front of Qiu Heng. “Not one of you is getting past me!”
Qingying’s face gradually twisted with vicious fury, and it shrieked, “Even if you don’t care about our lives, don’t you want Qiu Rongxi to live again? One piece of Qiu Heng’s immortal bone is enough to revive him even without his inner core! You could be together with him forever!”
The hand gripping Jichuan’s sword trembled faintly, but he still refused to move.
Qiu Heng pressed a hand to the nails in his mouth and struggled to speak. “Jichuan… you mustn’t let them succeed. If they obtain… the immortal bones… they will bring disaster to the world… and countless living beings will suffer.”
Jichuan clenched his sword. “I understand.”
It was a terribly brutal battle. Demons surged forward by the thousands, endless as the tide. Jichuan did not know how powerful he truly was. He had never once defeated Rongxi in a fight, yet now he watched those demons and monsters hesitate to approach him.
But there were too many of them. So many that he lost all sense of the passing days, months, and years.
Fortunately, he bought Qiu Heng enough time. Qiu Heng made his own body the heart of a formation and used his blood to activate it, sealing tens of thousands of evil demons inside Qingsong Daoist Temple.
Only Jichuan and Qiu Heng remained in the blood-soaked main hall.
Jichuan wiped the blood from his face. Filth covered the disfigured half, and the other half was barely recognizable either. He tightened his grip on his sword and staggered toward Qiu Heng, step by step.
‘Don’t you want Qiu Rongxi to live again? If you obtain Qiu Heng’s immortal bones, he can be revived even without his inner core! You could be together forever!’
Immortal bones… Rongxi… They could both survive.
Greed spread like wildfire, consuming the last shreds of his reason. He raised his sword to Qiu Heng’s throat.
Qiu Heng slowly lifted his head. Blood flowed from his mouth, and his voice was hoarse. “Do it. From the moment I first saw you… I knew I would die by your hand.”
Jichuan’s sword hand shook.
A burst of demonic qi suddenly swept toward them. Jichuan turned his sword and pinned the attacker to the ground. The charm demon Qingying struggled wildly and crawled over Qiu Heng. “You’re going to die anyway. Why not give me one piece of your immortal bones and grant me this wish?!”
Jichuan’s eyes were bloodred, and he wanted to kill Qingying. But Qingying unexpectedly turned its head and smiled. “Jichuan, don’t hate me alone! I wasn’t the only one who brought them here! That young disciple Rongxi accepted was a spy the demons sent. To save the parents who sold him, he sent messages to the demons and helped them break the mountain-guarding formation. And that fox! Do you really think it’s any better? It’s coveted the immortal bones for a long time. It even said what it most wanted to eat was Rongxi’s heart! It might not spare his very soul!”
Jichuan’s expression changed drastically. “Rongxi…”
“Hurry back. If Rongxi’s heart is gone, even immortal bones won’t bring him back!” Qingying giggled.
Jichuan’s voice turned cold. “I won’t let you get away with this.”
Qingying wrapped all four limbs tightly around Qiu Heng. “You can kill me, but can you afford to waste the time?”
Qiu Heng seized Qingying by the throat. “Go and save Senior Brother!”
Jichuan looked deeply at him, then turned and ran out of Qingsong Daoist Temple.
Thunder crashed and rain poured down, washing the blood from his body. Only his thin, terribly misshapen face remained, made ghostly pale by the cold rain.
…
Rain fell in torrents. The fox had been cut open and pinned to the cliff face, while the lines of the farewell verse at the cave entrance stood stark and clear beneath the downpour.
Qiu Rongxi sat inside the cave, his hair entirely white. He looked calmly at Jichuan kneeling before him. “Is that everything that happened?”
“Yes.” Jichuan met his gaze with equal calm.
“Then how was I brought back to life?” Rongxi asked.
Jichuan answered, “Qiu Heng and Qingying perished together. Following his final wish, I took a piece of his immortal bone to replace your yuan core—”
Smack!
Qiu Rongxi slapped him across the face.
Jichuan’s head jerked sideways, blood appearing instantly on his cheek. He stared at the word ‘death’ in the verse washed by the rain outside the cave. Only after a long time did he turn his head back, stiffly and slowly.
Qiu Rongxi knelt before him, gripping his shoulders with all his strength. His eyes were red as he shouted, “Jichuan! Jichuan!!!”
Jichuan bowed his head and clenched his teeth.
Qiu Rongxi spoke very quietly, but his voice was filled with heart-rending anguish. “Everything I did for you, I did willingly. What do you take me for? And what do you take yourself for?”
Jichuan answered him one word at a time. “As a teacher, as a father; as family, as a friend. My closest friend in this life.”
Rongxi seized the front of his robes. “Tell me the truth. Did you arrange all of this to save me?”
Jichuan raised his head and lifted a hand. “I, Jichuan, swear to Heaven’s Dao that I never planned any of this, nor did I ever take the lives of Temple Master Qiu Heng or my junior disciples. If I speak a single lie, may I die without a place for burial, endure endless suffering in every lifetime, and never see you again.”
Tears streamed down Rongxi’s face. He murmured, “But they’re all dead… Not even a trace remains of those demons you say attacked the temple. How can you expect me to believe you?”
Jichuan looked at him, tears flowing straight down his own cheeks.