Chapter 683
The Sound of Martial Arts Resounds Again
Inside the cave, Wuyun tirelessly carried ginseng to Chenji, then lowered his head to eat the beads one by one, and then occasionally checked whether Chenji showed any signs of waking up.
The chill on Chen Ji's body gradually dissipated as the person in the bundle was brought to the bottom. Wu Yun rubbed his cheek against Chen Ji's neck, where the cold had subsided.
But Chen Ji never woke up.
Old Ears sat cross-legged beside Chen Ji, then turned to look at Wu Yun squatting to the side: "Why isn't he awake yet? We've fed him so much ginseng and he still hasn't responded. Wasn't that woman's effort wasted?"
After pondering for a moment, Wuyun walked out of the cave. When he reached the entrance, he stopped and looked back at Old Ears.
The old man asked, puzzled, "What are you doing?"
Dark Clouds gestured towards the cave entrance: Let's go.
Old Ears said irritably, "You think ginseng isn't enough? You want this old man to go dig for ginseng with you in the snow? This old man won't go."
Dark Cloud stood at the cave entrance, pondering for a long time. Then it walked back to Old Ears, tucked its two front legs together, and kowtowed its head to the ground, unable to get up.
Old Ears laughed in exasperation: "You think that woman's kowtowing was useful, so your kowtowing is useful too?"
The dark cloud remained silent and did not get up.
Old Ears looked up at the cave ceiling and sighed, "What the hell is this?!"
He propped himself up and slowly walked to the cave entrance, looking up at the heavy snow outside: "This is probably the most miserable day of my life."
Having said that, Old Ears led Dark Clouds into the snowstorm to dig for ginseng.
Inside the cave, Chen Ji's eyelids twitched, but then fell silent again, unable to open.
……
……
Chen Ji drifted in the black sea of clouds for an unknown amount of time. On the lone boat, Li Qingniao, who was punting, was no longer there. Only he himself stood at the bow, slowly sailing towards the huge bright moon on the horizon.
The bright moon looked very close, but no matter how long the lone boat sailed, it seemed to get any closer.
Chen Ji leaned over the edge of the lone boat, scooped up a handful of black clouds from the sea of clouds, and watched them flow through his hands and slip away between his fingers.
He didn't know how much longer he would have to drift, or if he would drift forever.
Chen Ji lay on his back on the lonely boat, hearing the sound of the wind and water outside, hearing Wu Hongbiao's mutterings by the Heavenly Lake, hearing Wu Hongbiao's struggle as he stood still, and hearing that he owed Wu Hongbiao three jugs of wine.
He heard Wu Hongbiao talking to Aunt Ping.
He heard Aunt Ping say, "I am his mother."
Chen Ji heard Aunt Ping carrying him as they ran wildly, her footsteps crunching through the snow, the rustling of her body brushing against the branches as she ran, and the soft sound of frost falling.
Then, he heard Aunt Ping kick Old Ears so hard he tumbled twice. He heard Aunt Ping try to kill Old Ears to silence him, heard Wu Yun urinate all over Old Ears, and heard Aunt Ping go to Mirror City Port to get ginseng for him.
With his eyes closed, Chen Ji could only imagine what was happening outside by listening to the sounds.
Finally, the world seemed to suddenly fall silent. He heard Aunt Ping kneel on the ground, kowtow, and say, "Senior, I beg you."
Chen Ji stood up from the lone boat and leaped into the black sea of clouds, where all sounds from the outside world were blocked out.
He was enveloped in black clouds as he fell, landing on the summit of Green Mountain.
Above the sky, the three-legged golden crow was frozen in the air, its tail feathers not even trembling; a golden arrow was flying through the battle formation, hovering in the air, and the person who was firing the arrow with full force was also frozen in place; a giant rushed towards the battlefield like Kuafu chasing the sun, but stopped at the position of taking one step.
This battlefield is like a vast and lonely amber, imprisoning everything for tens of thousands of years, and will continue to do so.
Xuanyuan sat alone on the edge of the cliff, a black royal flag embroidered with gold characters stuck in a crevice of a boulder beside him, fluttering in the wind.
Chen Ji walked over and sat down next to him: "Why did you leave me here?"
Looking at the still clouds in the mountains, Xuanyuan casually replied, "You haven't been here for a long time. Wouldn't it be nice to have you stay and chat... How have you been lately?"
Chen Ji recalled recent events, lost in thought, and said, "Yeah, I almost died a few times, and I was betrayed by a friend once, but I can't really blame him..."
He had thought he would have a lot to say about his experiences over the past year, but when he finally spoke, it all sounded rather bland.
"It seems like everything I've said isn't good..." Chen Ji took a deep breath. "Let me rephrase. I've made some really good friends lately, and I've also befriended some brothers who aren't the brightest but aren't bad at heart. Hmm, I finally rescued the person I wanted to save, and I don't have to go through all that trouble anymore. Listening to them talk about how the martial world is like strong winds and strong liquor, about how pampered young men are always fighting and gambling, we should naturally turn our backs on them and march north... It's quite interesting."
“Oh, right,” Chen Ji suddenly added, “I’m married now, I have a family.”
Xuanyuan looked surprised: "Congratulations."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Thank you."
Xuanyuan suddenly said, "Although it's inappropriate, I still have to ask you, do you remember the bet we made a year ago?"
Chen Ji slowly suppressed his smile and calmly said, "I bet you'll never be able to borrow my power to return to the mortal realm?"
Xuanyuan smiled and said, "You said back then that I would pass on the sword seed to you, and if I were to return to the world one day, you would be the one to help me cultivate."
Chen Ji feigned ignorance: "But you didn't agree to that bet back then. You said you would pass on the sword seed to me for the sake of the ten-mile camellia in Guixu."
Xuanyuan frowned and corrected, "What camellia? It's ten miles of peach blossoms."
“Oh, oh,” Chen Ji nodded, “It’s Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms.”
Xuanyuan looked at the three-legged golden crow in the sky, and then at the giant frozen in mid-air in the distance: "Sixteen thousand years, that's too long. Now that you have returned to the world, there is no reason for me to stay here any longer."
Chen Ji suddenly said, "I recently recalled some fragments, some of which I remembered at the Longmen Inn in Guyuan, and some of which I remembered at the bottom of Tianchi Lake."
Xuanyuan asked curiously, "What did you remember?" Chen Ji propped himself up on his hands behind his back, sitting on the edge of the cliff and looking up at the black sea of clouds in the sky: "I remembered some fragmented things. When I was in Guyuan, I remembered that I actually knew all eighteen weapons, no, to be precise, all eighteen weapons started with me. At the bottom of Tianchi, I remembered the ten miles of peach blossoms in Guixu, the snow on Kunlun Mountain, and the sea outside Penglai. Actually, these are all just images, but the ten miles of peach blossoms in Guixu were quite beautiful, more beautiful than any peach blossoms I have ever seen."
Xuanyuan listened quietly, but then Chen Ji changed the subject: "I also remembered the saying 'A king doesn't need friends,' which I didn't say to you..."
Chen Ji turned to look at Xuan Yuan: "You're the one who told me that. My answer to you was that a king will not have any friends."
Xuanyuan fell silent.
"Thinking about it, I'm still pretty angry. In the end, you actually won," Chen Ji said to himself, then turned to look around. "But it seems you didn't get off badly either... Although we did have a promise, I can't give you my body. Not today, and not ever. I promised someone that no matter what, as long as I'm alive, I will definitely go to see her."
Xuanyuan retorted, "Going back on your word? That's not like you."
Chen Ji shook his head: "It's not that I'm going back on my word, it's that I'm betting you won't be able to return to this world."
Xuanyuan fell silent. The black sea of clouds in the sky suddenly churned, transforming into a vortex above his head. A fierce wind swept across the green mountains, causing the black royal banner stuck in the cracks of the rocks to flutter loudly.
Chen Ji looked up, but the vortex quickly subsided, and the sea of clouds gradually calmed down.
Xuanyuan asked in confusion, "Since you have already taken the six divine swords, why hasn't the seal loosened? The swords you took are not the ones I told you about?"
Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "What I took was my own sword."
Xuanyuan muttered to himself, "It's the sword you left in Mount Buxian..."
Chen Ji thought for a moment: "Those swords you mentioned, were they used to trap you? I'm locked in the Forty-Nine Heavens, and you're trapped beneath the earth's veins. We're both in worse situations than each other. So, if you take away six swords, you'll be able to break free? Then you're more powerful than me."
Xuanyuan grinned: "But you can't get out either."
Chen Ji shook his head: "No, you are just a remnant soul hidden in the Xuanyuan Sword, while I have my friends."
At this moment, Old Ears returned to the cave with a few ginseng roots in his arms, complaining as he walked: "That's enough, I'm getting old, I can't keep digging ginseng with you in this heavy snow."
Dark Cloud followed behind him, a few sticks dangling from its mouth.
Wuyun came to Chenji's side, holding the old ginseng in its mouth and bringing it close to Chenji's finger. In the blink of an eye, the old ginseng melted, turning into crystal clear beads that fell to the ground.
The dark cloud swallowed the beads one by one, and the next moment, Chen Ji suddenly opened his eyes.
……
……
At dawn, Ningchao arrived in the capital.
With his hands tucked into his sleeves, the golden pig walked out of the Eagle House with the celestial horse.
He hunched his shoulders and exhaled a puff of white breath, saying listlessly, "That bastard Li Dongyan is really inhuman. What did I go through all the trouble to advance to the twelfth zodiac sign? Wasn't it just to avoid the day of the hour? Why is he meddling in other people's business and even interfering with the day of the hour?"
Ignoring Jinzhu's complaints, Tianma gestured, "Want to go get some soup noodles? I heard there's a new place on Qipan Street that's pretty good."
The golden pig became interested: "Let's go, let's try some."
The two went to Chessboard Street together, found a noodle stall, and sat down in a corner. Jin Zhu rubbed his chopsticks and muttered to himself, "I wonder where that kid Chen Ji ran off to. I hope he doesn't die out there. I'm just one step away from the Dao Seeking Realm... Strange, I can only get half of my cultivation from him. I'm already half a step into the Dao Seeking Realm. What level is he at?"
As they were talking, the waiter came over with a white cloth draped over his shoulder, and the golden pig shut its mouth.
The waiter asked with a smile, "What would you two like to eat? Our shop is newly opened, and our specialties are mutton soup noodles, mutton stir-fried noodles, plain noodles, and noodles with soybean paste."
The golden pig thought for a moment: "Give me a bowl..."
Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and he froze on the spot.
Tianma, suddenly inspired, stood up and took a step back, pulling the table further away, leaving only the golden pig sitting on the long bench.
Crackling sounds emanated from the golden pig, as if every bone was undergoing metamorphosis, accompanied by thunderous booms from its chest and abdomen. This commotion startled the waiter, who retreated hastily, completely bewildered.
Just then, the clothes on the golden pig suddenly burst open. The gray clouds in the sky above the capital city swirled, followed by the clinking sound of copper coins falling into a bag.
Everyone on the street looked up; the steamed bun vendors, the porters, the cart drivers, the street sweepers—all froze in place. The sound echoed throughout the entire capital, as if someone were shaking a money bag in the sky.
In front of the City God Temple in Chongnanfang, a group of early risers were burning the first incense. An old woman was kneeling on a prayer mat. Just as she inserted the incense stick into the incense burner, she heard that sound and immediately began to chant, "The Bodhisattva has appeared! The Bodhisattva has appeared!"
In the Eight Great Hutongs, the girls who had entertained customers at night had just gone to sleep, while the madams were still calculating the previous night's revenue in their accounting rooms. A pimp who was emptying his chamber pot heard a voice from above, his hand trembled, and he poured water all over his shoe.
In front of the Six Ministries, sedan chairs and carriages that had been coming and going all came to a stop. People in the sedan chairs and carriages lifted the curtains and peeked out to look up at the sky.
Inside the Eagle House, Li Dongyan suddenly stepped out, staring intently at the vortex in the sky.
Upstairs in the Jiefan Building, someone slowly rose from behind a desk, went to the window, and silently looked out, muttering to themselves, "...The sound of martial arts?"
Inside the noodle stall, the thunderous roar from the golden pig gradually subsided. He stretched out his hand, his five fingers spread, then slowly clenched. His knuckles cracked, as if he were breaking something.
He slowly raised his head, grinned at Pegasus, and said, "I've done it, man!"
Tianma gestured in inquiry: "Divine Path Realm?"
The golden pig shook its head: "Seeking the Dao Realm."
Tianma wondered, "How can someone who has reached the Dao Seeking Realm possess martial arts resonance?"
The golden pig exclaimed, "I have no idea either!"
He pulled the table back in front of him and tossed a one-ounce silver ingot to the bewildered waiter: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid... Give me, cough, give me a bowl of mutton hot pot noodles." (End of Chapter)