Chapter 575: It’s All Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity’s Fault (part 1)
The gentle voice spoke from above, almost chanting. “Floating clouds are the mountains’ halos; in my heart a field of boulders glows!”
Xu Qing was shocked, and the Captain was clearly taken aback.
Wu Jianwu looked up at the woman in the sky. Raising his eyebrows, he said, “The mountains ask not the depths of the gloom; only heaven knows of the setting of the moon.”
The woman clearly understood what Wu Jianwu meant, as she softly replied, “Forgive me for being rude. You can call me Mistress Rosyclouds.”
This time, it was Wu Jianwu’s turn to be stunned. A gentle afternoon breeze swayed the plants and vegetation on the mountain, and sent clouds drifting lazily through the sky. It stirred the hair of everyone present, and also brushed against Wu Jianwu’s heartstrings. How could he have guessed that there would actually be a person in existence who could understand his poetry and appreciate the emotion it contained? The fact that such a person had suddenly appeared was nothing short of a surprise.
Ever since he started imitating Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, nobody ever understood him properly, not even his own Master. Yet he never gave up on his ideals and never forgot about that Ancient Emperor’s unique style. From early on, he became used to the crude and tasteless response of people who didn’t understand him, and had long since stopped hoping to have his poetry acknowledged.
Yet now....
A fierce light shone in Wu Jianwu’s eyes as he clasped his hands behind his back. The breeze picked up slightly, stirring his hair and causing his robes to ripple. At the moment, his attention was completely focused on the woman.
“The world, society, and the universe dominate; will the mist obscuring the bridge evaporate?”
Visibly moved, the woman landed on the ground in front of Wu Jianwu. The sunlight shone down onto her simple daoist robe, causing it to glimmer as if with seven beautiful colors. The way that light shone in her eyes made her attractive features even more beautiful, like that of an immortal fairy. She nodded slightly.
“You guessed correctly, young sir. I am indeed the sect leader of the Southern Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect.”
Eyes glittering, Wu Jianwu said, “Yesterday the starry wind blew early; might cats and dogs fall from the sky?”
The woman laughed. “I understand.”
Turning, she waved her hand, causing the sect’s defensive shield to open slightly. At the same time, bells tolled thrice. It was nothing insignificant in terms of ceremony.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing and the Captain were dumbfounded, and Ning Yan stood there with a blank look in eyes. Ning Yan looked at Wu Jianwu, then the sect leader, and could reach no other conclusion than that both of them were off in the head.
Ning Yan wasn’t the only one to be thinking that. The three sect disciples on guard duty were all reeling mentally. They literally couldn’t understand one bit of Wu Jianwu’s poetry, yet their sect leader seemed to understand it down to the core. It made them think of the stories they had heard about their sect leader. Supposedly, she had absolutely adored Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, who was a human. She was also very fond of literary and artistic talents, and was even known to compose poetry of her own.
That said, the details didn’t matter. The three guards were extremely respectful as they stepped aside to clear the path. They were especially careful to give Wu Jianwu lots of room.
“Please, come with me, young sir!” the woman said softly. Clearly, she wasn’t worried about the vast difference between her cultivation base and Wu Jianwu’s. In fact, in her experience, the higher someone’s cultivation base, the less likely that they could be a literary or artistic genius. As far as she was concerned, Xu Qing and the Captain were nothing more than foils to Wu Jianwu’s superiority.
Wu Jianwu looked very enlivened as he stuck out his chest and courteously walked along with Rosyclouds.
Xu Qing and the Captain exchanged a glance, then followed politely behind. Ning Yan hurried to do the same, but before he could get inside the sect, Wu Jianwu stopped in mid stride.
“Half a piece, one piece, two pieces, three; the squat little dog ought bow its head to me!”
Upon hearing that, Mistress Rosyclouds turned to look at Ning Yan. He shivered, and before he could say anything, the sect’s defensive shield slammed shut in front of him.
“Hey, what’s going on? I don’t even understand what he just said. You can’t do this!” Ning Yan knew that Wu Jianwu was petty. But despite Ning Yan’s fury, he didn’t dare do anything but meekly watch Xu Qing and the others walking away.
Thus, they entered the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect. They saw large groups of tiger-headed butterflies everywhere, far more than they’d ever seen in the wild. From a distance, they looked like multicolored clouds swirling around the mountains.
Xu Qing was surprised. He had seen these types of butterflies a few times in his recent travels. But he had never seen as many as this. Then, as he continued after Wu Jianwu and simultaneously looked at the distant butterflies, his vision suddenly swam. He stopped in place. A moment later, everything went back to normal.
A few paces ahead, the Captain stopped and looked back questioningly.
Xu Qing shook his head. He looked just the same as before, but now he was far more on guard. He knew that he was hale and healthy from head to toe, which meant that the unusual sensation from moments ago was the result of something gruish. However, now wasn’t the time for discussion about it. Lowering his gaze, he continued following Wu Jianwu. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the sect leader had led them to the sect’s guest housing area, which was where they were to stay.
***
The sect leader watched them enter the guest houses, then turned and left. As she walked through the sect, a host of butterflies swept toward her, then swirled into the shape of two illusory figures that walked by her side. One of them leaned over and spoke in a low voice.
“Sect Leader, this group showed up out of nowhere in Ox-Receiving City about ten days ago. They’ve never been around here before. The first thing they did in the city was go to a spirit spring facility. Nothing out of the ordinary happened there. Later, they left and went into the Unfinished Mountains. After that, their trail went cold. We have no idea why they’re here. Their disciple identities check out. They’re really from the Eastern branch of the sect.”
The other figure then said, “The talented young poet doesn’t have a high ranking in their group. That said, he doesn’t seem to be with them under duress. He’s traveling with them of his own accord. All of them have signs of the curse on them, which means it’s unlikely they’re from out of the region. That’s especially true of one member of their group, who has very strong curse levels. In fact, they’re so strong they could erupt at any moment.”
Hearing all of this, Mistress Rosyclouds nodded. “Just keep an eye on them. If they’re really just here for lodgings, and they don’t reveal any malicious intentions toward our sect, then you don’t need to do anything.”
“But if...” one of the figures said hesitantly.
“But if they do have malicious intentions,” Mistress Rosyclouds said, stopping in place, “then... chop them up and feed them to the butterflies. Except for the poet. You can give him a proper burial.”
“Yes, sir!” The two figures blurred, then vanished into thin air.
***
Seven days had passed.
Xu Qing, the Captain, and Wu Jianwu settled in and didn’t do anything to overstep their bounds. Though they did leave their residence a few times, they didn’t pry into any secrets of the sect.
They knew full well that since they had shown up out of nowhere, the sect would be watching them. Though the unexpected development with Wu Jianwu ensured a quick and easy entry, in the end, they were not disciples of this branch of the sect. Therefore, they were confined to the lower half of the sect’s first mountain peak. The deeper parts of the sect were closed to them. Although the sect leader obviously liked Wu Jianwu a lot, she wasn’t going to break the sect rules casually.
In the end, just being able to stay in the sect was enough to fulfill the first part of the plan.
That was because the spirit spring in the back of the sect was open to all disciples as long as you had the spirit stones to pay for entry.
Xu Qing and the Captain had gone twice already. By soaking in the spirit spring and doing breathing exercises, they were able to keep the curse within them under control. The curse was the excuse they had come up with on the way to the sect. If you wanted to sell a lie, you needed to have some realistic bits of evidence to go along with it. By mixing the false and the true, you were much more likely to succeed.
Although the spirit spring wouldn’t directly affect the power of the curse, it could nourish the fleshly body, and thus provide indirect benefits.
There were a lot of places like this scattered throughout the Moonrite Region, and they were one of the big reasons there was even a Heavenly Ox Alliance to begin with.
There was one other occasion in which Xu Qing experienced that same blurred vision and strange sensation as before. It was always when the tiger-faced butterflies were around. As he had come to learn, the butterflies had a specific name.
They were ‘dancing butterflies,’ and they were a unique life form that was crucial to the Yin-Yang Betwixt Flowers Sect’s sacrificial dance.
Xu Qing secretly consulted with the Captain about why he was experiencing those strange episodes. The Captain took it very seriously, and analyzed it from a lot of angles. However, not even he could come up with an explanation. There was definitely something suspicious going on, but since empty speculation wasn’t going to do any good, Xu Qing decided to pay closer attention going forward.
During the seven days that passed, Xu Qing and the Captain had to deal with unexpected circumstances affecting their plan.
For one thing, the sect leader Mistress Rosyclouds frequently visited the spirit spring. Considering that, it didn’t matter how careful they were in making preparations to deal with Nethersprite, they had to hold back, otherwise Mistress Rosyclouds would definitely notice what was going on.
It was now less than a month until Nethersprite would come for her baptism.
The Captain was starting to get very anxious. Even though he and Xu Qing had come up with a very comprehensive plan, given the circumstances, it reached the point where they knew they needed help from Wu Jianwu.
Therefore, on the eighth day, the Captain found Wu Jianwu, threw his arm over his shoulder, and quietly said, “This isn’t going to work, Brother Jianjian.”
Wu Jianwu looked at the Captain out of the corner of his eye but didn’t say anything. The past few days had been wonderful, and he had already mentally composed several volumes of poetry that were now waiting at the ready.
Clearing his throat, the Captain continued, “Big Jianjian, I need you to seduce the sect leader. Just a bit. Get her away from the spirit springs....”