Chapter 440: Sharpening the Sword
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jing Jiu left Shenmo Peak by riding the Sword of the Universe, breaking through the clouds and then landing in Cloudy Town along with the clouds.
He walked into that restaurant. No sooner had the white soup in the hotpot boiled that the horse-drawn carriage arrived.
The gla.s.s window on the roof of the carriage had been replaced with a new one; the arrangements made by the Gu Clan was still as proper as ever.
A few days later, Jing Jiu’s carriage arrived in Chaonan City. He went to the Precious-Tree House, left a list and then departed.
As the boss of the Precious-Tree House read the magic treasures in the list, the sweat kept coming down from his forehead. He thought that these magic treasures were either the most important magic treasures of some Cultivation sect or those legendary treasures that had been lost for a long time. Where on earth would he find them?
Jing Jiu abandoned the carriage. He bought a conical hat and left Chaonan City on foot. It didn’t take him long to arrive at the Great Marsh.
The weather of the Great Marsh in summer was not as comfortable as people expected, since they would expect that the large lake could bring some cool breeze. On the contrary, the area was shrouded by the warm steam coming out from the marsh, making one feel very hot. It was quite easy to sweat here, similar to what had happened to that pitiful boss of the Precious-Tree House.
It was probably because of this reason that n.o.body could be spotted on the streets of the small town, save for the sounds of cicadas and frogs competing with each other.
Jing Jiu’s body could soak in the lava for many hours, so he evidently wouldn’t sweat due to the hot weather. Standing on the street with his conical hat on, Jing Jiu listened to the sounds of cicadas and frogs vigilantly and the sounds hidden among all the noises.
The Cultivation pract.i.tioners of Green Mountain could sense all the sounds, such as the sounds of insects and gra.s.s movement, within several hundred feet after they entered the Inherited Will State. Yet, the power of Jing Jiu’s perception was many times stronger. If he didn’t employ the Zen method of the Fruit Formation Temple to s.h.i.+eld part of his perception, the sound of a single cicada would be like dreadful booming thunder in his ears.
All of his five senses were sensitive at the moment; he could hear clearly all the sounds in the small town and from the Great Marsh.
Several old men in the courtyard on the west side were playing Mahjong while soaking their feet in the water basins, swearing and cursing. Jing Jiu could even hear the friction between the diagrams on the Mahjong pieces and those old men’s fingers, wondering why one old man was so excited when he picked a piece of “one bar”; in fact, he needed to win by having all the pieces in “coins”.
Next, he heard a great many persistent noises in the Great Marsh. The sound came from shrimps eating mud, fish eating gra.s.s and then being eaten by bigger fish; later that greedy bigger fish bit on a fake wooden fish and then was pulled out of the water, becoming a dish for later on for the fisherman that night. Yet, whom did the fisherman work so hard for?
Jing Jiu walked on the empty street with his conical hat on in such a hot weather. He didn’t go crazy due to all these noises, nor did they make him feel anything. But he spent four hours trying to discover the unnatural sound among so many natural ones. He was doing it in a serious and focused manner.
There was a clam in a dark ditch of the small town, and that was the source of the unnatural sound.
It was common for clams to spit out water, and this clam was very small. The surface of this clam was a bit dry, looking as if it was dead.
Jing Jiu walked to the edge of the ditch and squatted down. “The hatred between you and the Green Mountain Sect is the least of all in comparison to others,” he said to this clam. “In fact, if it wasn’t instigated by my Big Brother, the hatred between us wouldn’t even exist in the first place. I believe that we can have a talk.”
The clam moved slightly, but didn’t make any further response.
The person Jing Jiu wanted to meet was Emperor Xiao. If he didn’t see it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t believe that this hidden swordsman lived in a clam, but thinking of the saying “Practicing magic in a clam”, he believed it was an understandable thing to do.
The clam was merely a disguise. The thing that helped Emperor Xiao evade the search of the Sword Formation of Green Mountain and successfully protected him was the turtle sh.e.l.l.
It would be testing for Jing Jiu to cut open the turtle sh.e.l.l even if his right arm was not injured.
The voice of the Emperor Xiao came out from the inside of the clam: “You people have known that I live in here, but you can’t do anything to me. Why should I sell the Immortal out to you? Can you promise not to kill me?”
“You are mistaken,” Jing Jiu said. “I’m not here for that. What I want is to borrow your turtle sh.e.l.l for a while.”
Emperor Xiao said helplessly, “If I lent you the turtle sh.e.l.l, it would be tantamount to inviting death.”
After some thought, Jing Jiu found it was indeed the case. It seemed that Emperor Xiao wouldn’t agree to his request no matter what.
Glancing at his deformed right arm, Jing Jiu thought that he had no choice but to find another solution.
It was then that a violent wind rose up on the surface of the lake of the Great Marsh.
The energy given off by the Emperor Xiao when he spoke alerted the swordsmen of the Great Marsh who had been keeping a close watch on him. Those swordsmen were on their way coming over by means of the Wind-Rain Method.
Though the relations.h.i.+p between Green Mountain and the Great Marsh was rather close, it was still troublesome to meet them face to face. Jing Jiu turned to leave.
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That clam probably dove to the deep part of the Great Marsh, or hid in a well in somebody’s courtyard. Emperor Xiao had been hiding under the nose of the Great Marsh for so many years, and the Sword Formation of Green Mountain couldn’t even harm him. As long as he didn’t come out from his hiding and make any sound, not even Jing Jiu could find him again.
Jing Jiu was wading forward in the lake. He swiped his hands to drive away the annoying gra.s.s in the water and those foolish small fish. Remembering the cheers of winning the Mahjong game before he entered the Great Marsh, Jing Jiu realized that those mortals played the Mahjong of Qin City, and that it was why that old man was so happy to pick a piece of “one bar” while holding the pieces of “coins” in his hands.
The Great Marsh was very expansive; its water was also very deep. As Jing Jiu waded further into the deep part of the marsh, the natural light grew dimmer, and the water gra.s.s became spa.r.s.er. The ground of the marsh became barren white sand. The foolish small fish was replaced gradually by the ugly, vicious big fish and devil animals. As Jing Jiu walked to the center of the Great Marsh over a thousand feet deep, no natural light could be seen here; it was as dark as the night. Of course, the darkness had no effect on Jing Jiu’s eyesight. He had halted his steps as an alien python with silvery specks on its back was swimming over.
Jing Jiu was like a stone when he held himself still, devoid of any energy, scent, or any sign of life. To say nothing of the alien python of heavenly silver, even the divine animals of a higher state couldn’t detect his existence except for the Old Dragon and Dead Dog, who were much more special.
Jing Jiu used to bring Liu Ada with him whenever he left Green Mountain; it was because he knew that he would encounter strong opponents and potentially big troubles. Yet, the purpose of his departure this time was to treat his injury; so he would avoid those strong opponents as much as possible. As long as n.o.body discovered him, the trouble would be avoided.
A few days later, he waded out of the lake. The water dripped down from the conical hat and clothes, wetting the sandy beach under his feet.
This beach was located on the northern sh.o.r.e of the Great Marsh. The dense green reeds could be seen in the shallow water, and the dense forest was seen up ahead. Human beings were nowhere to be found.
Jing Jiu willed slightly; the sword fire came out from his body and dried the water on his body instantly. But he forgot that he was wearing a conical hat.
The conical hat vanished along with a puff of green smoke, exposing his face.
Dozens of seagulls flew over from the deep part of the lake and were ready to land in their nests among the reeds. As they saw Jing Jiu on the beach, they were so scared that they dropped the small fish in their beaks, which fell down from the sky like the raindrops.
Jing Jiu cut a dozen reeds with his hand and made a simple hat the way he made the braid for Zhao Layue with one hand, and then put it on his head.
He disappeared into the forest.
n.o.body knew that he had come here, and n.o.body knew where he was going, including his enemies on Green Mountain.
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In the next ten days, Jing Jiu kept on treading northward, looking for the objects that would be able to treat his injury.
It seemed to be an ordinary attack by Monk Duhai at the Fruit Formation Temple, but it was actually quite extraordinary since it was the lethal a.s.sault planned by the Immortal Taiping.
During his journey to the north, Jing Jiu seldom took a rest, though he would bite the mountain wind or drank the dew water occasionally.
He didn’t feel hungry or thirsty at all. He did the biting and drinking for show only, to make himself look more like an immortal. He heard that the immortals always had good luck.
He searched all the manor caves that he remembered and were recorded in his Big Brother’s diary, and he also went to several famous source mountains, but he ended up with nothing helpful.
As time went by, he found that his right arm looked more and more unsightly.
Though he was aware that this feeling was an illusion, he still couldn’t stand it.
One night, he looked at the stars in the night sky while standing by the cliff’s edge, wondering what he should do if that thing in Zhaoge City couldn’t even heal his wound.
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When he arrived in Zhaoge City, the summer had not yet ended. The streets s.h.i.+mmered under the scorching sun, making the shadows disappear completely.
The pedestrians either used umbrellas or conical hats to s.h.i.+eld themselves from the suns.h.i.+ne. Jing Jiu didn’t look odd among them wearing his conical hat that he had just bought in a store.
As he walked in that alley and came to the front gate of the Jing house, Jing Jiu turned around to take a look at Taichang Temple habitually. The newly built Taichang Temple looked exactly the same as the original one. However, the dark eaves didn’t look as formidable as before; in fact, it looked rather dull and lifeless. It was unclear if this was due to the lack of rainfall or some other reasons.
A lock was on the front gate of the Jing house, meaning the members of the family had all gone out. They had probably gone out to visit friends or relatives. Looking at the lock on the gate, Jing Jiu thought about it really hard, but he still couldn’t remember if it was the holiday for officials of the imperial court that day, and he also failed to remember where the key was usually hidden. He had no choice but to push in the green brick.
He only thought to save a lock for the Jing family, but he failed to consider that the Manor of State Duke Lu would lose a precious ceramic ware by doing so.
After entering the study room and making sure that all the arrangements and the Go pieces on the board were the same as before, Jing Jiu nodded. Then, he looked at the son of State Duke Lu, Lu Ming, standing reverently by the side, and said, “Tell your father to come here.”
Lu Ming felt relieved when hearing this. He returned to the manor house through the underground tunnel. He couldn’t help but sigh when he saw the broken pieces of the ceramic ware manufactured in the Jun kiln. Then he was on his way to the palace.
Less than one hour later, State Duke Lu came back home in a hurry after cutting short his discussion with the Emperor about state affairs. He entered the Jing family home through the underground tunnel while panting heavily.
State Duke Lu had told Jing Jiu that the Emperor was under a lot of pressure lately, hoping Jing Jiu could come to Zhaoge City. He didn’t expect Jing Jiu to come in less than a year. He thought that Jing Jiu had paid adequate attention to his opinion, so he felt very pleased. “I didn’t expect you to come so soon,” he said with a broad smile.
Jing Jiu had no idea why State Duke Lu was so happy. “I want to go to Taichang Temple,” he said. “Is the temple still watched closely by the Center Sect?”
State Duke Lu was taken aback for a brief moment, as he realized that the reason Jing Jiu came to Zhaoge City had nothing to do with what he had mentioned. “Now that Old Dragon is dead,” he replied with a bitter smile, “the Fiend Prison is only an empty carapace now. The Fiend Prison would remind the Center Sect of the humiliation they suffered and make them feel upset; so they would rather stay away from the affairs of Taichang Temple.”
In the afternoon, Jing Jiu disguised himself as a caretaker to enter Taichang Temple with State Duke Lu; soon after, he disappeared into the courtyard.
A new underground tunnel was built in the deep part of Taichang Temple, leading to the far end of the Fiend Prison. There were many green bamboos planted and wild flowers around the entrance of the tunnel.
There was a cl.u.s.ter of purple flowers in a remote corner.
Jing Jiu came to the cl.u.s.ter of purple flowers and said, “The bell that had been tied to your neck for a while was retrieved inside these flowers.”
Having said this, Jing Jiu realized that he didn’t bring Liu Ada with him this time, and that Ada was still on Shenmo Peak.
He shook his head at his own absentmindedness. He dug the soil under the flowers with his hands in a very careful manner, because he didn’t want to harm the roots of the purple flowers.
A white object was buried in the soil under the purple flowers. It felt warm when touching it with his hands, but it also exuded a hint of faint lethal intent. It was neither a beautiful jade nor a magic treasure.
It was a piece of bone.
Jing Jiu picked up the bone and observed it thoroughly, commenting, “It’s solid. How could you play music with it?”
Having said that, he realized that the Underworld Emperor had already been dead for many years and that he hadn’t fulfilled his promise to the emperor yet.
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Back when Jing Jiu snuck into the Fiend Prison, he saw a bone of a large demon in that green pond, then the stomach of Old Dragon.
The poison was very formidable in the green pond, because it had a strong erosive power. To say nothing of the flesh of the Cultivation pract.i.tioners, even the magic treasures and sword of Fairy State couldn’t survive in it.
That large demon was very powerful, maybe as powerful as the adopted father of the Young Zen Master; as such, his demonic bones couldn’t be destroyed.
Before the death of the Underworld Emperor, he used this bone to play a piece of music called “The lullaby of the Underworld River”.
Those who had heard of this piece of music in Zhaoge City at the time included the most powerful swordsmen of the human race and Jing Jiu.
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He returned to the Jing family.
Jing Jiu walked in the study room, and set up a formation to avoid being disturbed.
He rolled up the sleeve and put his deformed right arm on the bone of the demon, starting to rub his arm against it.
His movement was slow in the beginning; it seemed that he tried to find a perfect angle and force to do the rubbing. Later, his movements sped up so much so that the naked eyes couldn’t even see the movements anymore.
He had already had a good grasp of the rubbing angle and force; more importantly, he was certain that what he was doing was the correct way to solve his problem.
The demon bone was truly special. It didn’t give off much noise when it was being rubbed against at a high speed.
A moment later, Jing Jiu stopped rubbing. He raised his right arm and had a look at it, revealing a satisfactory expression.
In a regular person’s eyes, his right arm looked still the same as before, but he knew that a slight change had happened to his arm.
What he was doing was sharpening the sword.
He had said to Liu Ada on Bihu Peak many years ago that he would use Ada’s skull to sharpen the sword. He attempted to scare the cat at that time; but it was true this time.
The sword was not as sharp as before, so it needed to be sharpened.
He had known that it was something he needed to do in the first place; but he couldn’t find a suitable whetstone all this time.
Even the strongest whetstone would be broken into pieces when it got in touch with his right arm; and the magic treasures and flying swords of Green Mountain couldn’t even withstand it for too long.
He thought of this demon bone back when he and Zhao Layue talked about the bone flute of his Big Brother’s on the Sword Peak and recalled the piece of music the Underworld Emperor played before his death.
Yet, if Emperor Xiao were willing to lend him the turtle sh.e.l.l, it would be the best whetstone.
He suddenly heard a conversation outside of the study room.
It was between a young man and a young woman. It seemed that they were arguing about something, and it seemed that one of them was weeping. The noise died down later.
Jing Jiu didn’t pay any attention to it and focused on sharpening the sword.
His right arm was rubbing against the demon bone at a high speed.
The powder of the bone drifted to the ground, along with a faint burning smell.
His countenance was unchanged. He reached out his left hand and grabbed a handful of water in the air, splattering it onto his right arm and the demon bone.
After a few sizzling sounds, the noise of rubbing between two bones reduced. The powder of the bone was wetted and ceased drifting in all directions, drooping down and piling up on the table.
A surprised scream suddenly broke out outside the window.
Jing Jiu knew that somebody was outside, but he had paid no mind earlier.
A young woman stood outside the window of the study room, her eyes slightly red; it seemed that she had just cried.
Seeing the scene in the study room, she displayed an incredulous expression. “Are you rubbing the skin off your hand?” she asked. “Yuck, it’s so disgusting.”