CH 58

Edited by P. & Snake

Almost every cultivator had heard Jiufang Changming’s name at least once.

For some, he was a sword hanging above their heads, a threat; for others, he was motivation, like a shining beacon.

Jiufang Changming had even more history with the Qingyun School, than with many others. Although this insolent and presumptuous grandmaster rebelled against Buddhism long before Kuhe entered his sect, rumors about Jiufang Changming never died down. It got so bad that even when Kuhe went to draw water from a well, someone would tell him, pointing to it, Once, Jiufang Changming comprehended a formidable Buddhist incantation near this very well.

But he didn’t expect anyone to bring up this name again after all these years.

Kuhe suspected him of being an impostor. After all, he had met many people who wanted to imitate outstanding and renowned elders.

But he looked at Changming several times, and still couldn’t figure out what could be the reason for such pretence.

Kuhe’s abnormal behaviour drew the empress dowager’s attention, so she wondered: “Zen Master, is something wrong?”

“No, this poor monk was only lost in thoughts, please forgive me, Empress Dowager,” Kuhe brought his palms together in a prayer, and did not look at him again.

Changming didn’t pay attention to Kuhe’s confusion. Ever since he had reentered the Human World, such scenes would occur often.

“I have a question, and I’ll ask the Empress Dowager to answer truthfully.”

The empress dowager collected herself.

“Please ask, Immortal.”

“Did a prophet actually ask the emperor to establish the Treasured Celestial Library Pagoda in his dream?”

“By no means. My birthday is in two months. The emperor is dutiful, so he said that he wants to build a pagoda to sacrifice the five cereals and treasures, and wish for my longevity and an abundant harvest of all food crops for our country, so that it would prosper.”

The five cereals: rice, millet, soybean, sesame, barley (or others)

“So the legend of a prophet appearing in his dream and making a request is a hoax?”

“I apologise for this, Immortal, but those are really only false rumors. Apparently, common people like supernatural stories, so they added some oil and vinegar to it.”

Added some oil and vinegar: exaggerated

“Has the emperor visited that pagoda?”

“No. After the pagoda was completed, the emperor and I only saw it from afar, but we’ve never visited it. Originally, the emperor was going to ask an eminent monk from the Qingyun School to perform the consecration of the pagoda on the second day of the twelfth moon, which is my birthday. The emperor and I were going to attend it personally and offer sacrifices to our ancestors, and pray for propitious weather. After that, common people would be allowed to enter it on the first and fifteenth day of every month to offer fruits.”

“There is no one inside the pagoda now, so to speak?”

“No one,” the empress dowager paused, “there should be no one.”

She looked at Kuhe, as if asking for his confirmation.

Kuhe said: “There really is no one. Those Buddhist monks visited it on the day the tools were transported there, but today the pagoda is deserted. Although, some people are guarding it outside. Does daoyou think there is a problem with the pagoda?”

Changming: “Wind comes to the Luo Capital from all eight directions, and this pagoda is built precisely in the place where the winds meet. It’s not just a steady and stable position on the joint between the earth and the sky, but rather the very core of this joint, like the brightest jewel in a crown, luminous to the point of being blinding;it is also a place that absorbs yin and gathers yang.”

Wind comes from all eight directions: a favorable position

The empress dowager got tense: “And what does it mean?”

Kuhe summarized Changming’s words: “Immortals like this place, and so do demons.”

The empress dowager’s expression changed slightly.

“Han Ye decided on a suitable location for the pagoda. Zen Master and Mentor Xie saw it, and said everything was fine.”

Kuhe sighed: “This poor monk was careless. There was no problem with the location for the pagoda itself, I just didn’t expect Han Ye to be the problem.”

Changming said: “I didn’t know that the Donghai Sect has become so adept at the art of yin-yang placement.”

Kuhe: “Although Han Ye was an elder of the Donghai Sect, the art of feng shui has been handed down in his family. His aunt is a disciple of the Wanxiang Palace.”

Making a circle, you return; in the end, everything was connected.

Changming didn’t say much, and only turned to the empress dowager: “I want to go to this pagoda and take a look.”

The empress dowager asked hopefully: “Will the emperor’s soul be there?”

Of course, no one could answer this question.

Kuhe also said: “I’ll go with daoyou, while daoyou Yue and daoyou Xie will continue searching through the palace.”

The empress dowager said quickly: “There is another thing. Following Zhaoyue’s customs, ambassadors from You and Zhaoyue brought cultivators with them to exchange pointers in a friendly competition with us. Last year, we won, but this year You will certainly refuse to give up; they say that You brought two masters to restore their dignity. I will ask the two gentlemen to return before sunrise. If you are not here, my heart won’t be at peace!”

After everything they had been through, the empress dowager now trusted Changming more than the other three. Kuhe also understood that although she said “the two gentlemen”, she was only looking at Changming, and didn’t make a decision without his approval.

Changming said: “If there is indeed something wrong with the Celestial Pagoda, it’s unknown whether we’ll be able to leave it without difficulties or not, so we can’t make any promises.”

The empress dowager paled: “Is the situation really that dangerous?”

Kuhe felt that Changming was exaggerating, but he was sincere and kind, and didn’t want to undermine him in front of the empress dowager, so he chimed in with Changming: “Right now, we don’t know what awaits us at the pagoda, so we can’t guarantee anything. However, two masters, Yue and Xie, are now in the palace, so everything should be fine.”

When he finished speaking, he took a copper tag out of his sleeve.

“If something urgent happens, the Empress Dowager can send people to my school, and find my shidi, Ting Yu.”

It was yet another reassurance.

The empress dowager heaved a sigh of relief: “Thank you very much, Zen Master and Immortal. I wish you two to succeed, and hope that Luo will be quiet and stable, and the whole world will be peaceful.”

The Imperial Palace was located close to the Celestial Library Pagoda. Using their techniques, they reached their destination quickly.

Before they entered the pagoda, Kuhe was glancing at Changming repeatedly, as if he wanted to say something, but hesitated.

In the end, he was unable to hold back from asking: “Many years ago, there was one Buddhist monk in the Qingyun School; although he entered Buddhism halfway, he was highly gifted, revered as a genius one could only meet once in half a millennium; later, he left Buddhism for some reason. He was surnamed Jiufang, named Changming. Daoyou, dare I ask…”

Changming was unwilling to listen to his prolix rambling, so he interrupted him.

“It’s me.”

Kuhe:…

Changming looked at him: “You came from the same school as Sun Buku; I probably should be called shibo by you. But why are you so different from Sun Buku? If you had his skill of being sly while putting on a smile, the position of the Qingyun School’s master would have been yours.”

Shibo: shifu’s shixiong. So, Kuhe should be Sun Buku’s shidi

Kuhe smiled bitterly: “I don’t deserve such praise! The senior is exaggerating, how would I dare compare with shixiong Buku!”

Changming hummed: “No wonder you were thrown to the Luo Capital to gather dust here.”

At first, Kuhe wanted to test him with a few questions, but he didn’t expect to be rendered speechless so quickly instead. It was best to just keep silent.

Some cultivators actually were guarding the Celestial Pagoda, but their skills were nothing special. They didn’t recognise Changming, but saw Kuhe, and saluted him one after another.

When they heard the reason why Kuhe came, they quickly opened the pagoda’s doors.

But Changming didn’t hurry to enter it.

He raised his head to look into the distance. From where they stood, the pinnacle of the pagoda seemed to be reaching the clouds. Lanterns were shimmering in every window, as if someone was walking around the whole night.

If someone couldn’t fall asleep at night, they could put some clothes on, look at the distant pagoda, and thus comfort their minds and feel warmth.

But it was only on the surface.

In cultivators’ eyes, the clouds rolling over the pagoda’s peak, faintly scarlet, were an inauspicious omen.

The Celestial Library was a legendary Heavenly Emperor’s book collection, but not only did this pagoda bring no luck, it even caused troubles to the country after it was built.

A small crack would be unworthy of noticing, but, when such cracks started to intersect, forming a bigger rift, the thing would simply fall apart, splitting into tiny pieces.

The accident with the emperor was exactly one of such conspicuous rifts.

Kuhe also noticed the slight abnormality.

Contrary to his expectations, everything was tranquil when they entered the pagoda.

Demonic qi didn’t assault their senses, and the enemies he had pictured didn’t attack them either.

Kuhe moved his line of sight from a statue of a Buddha, and surveyed their surroundings, then looked up at the dome and down at the floor.

Everything seemed alright.

“This is a statue of Xu Tiancang?” Changming asked.

“Indeed, it’s Fozun Xu Tiancang of the Buddhist sects,” Kuhe bowed his head to the statue.

Fozun: lit. venerable Buddhist, just like Daozun is venerable Daoist

Xu Tiancang was the founder of Buddhist sects. It was said that he was a Buddha who descended to the earth; after he passed away, he was venerated as the founder of Buddhist sects. The Qingyun School had a standing statue of this fozun as well.

But, because it was placed inside a pagoda, this statue was different from the one in the Qingyun School—it was a sitting statue. The fozun was sitting cross-legged, with one hand holding a sphere, and the other turned upwards, holding the void.

This Buddha statue actually aroused controversy.

Originally, unlike You, that only supported Buddhism, Luo venerated Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism equally, taking hundreds of rivers into one sea with an open mind. So, when the Celestial Library Pagoda was created, Daoists and Buddhists argued ceaselessly about whose statue should be placed inside. Kuhe and Xie Chunxi turned a bit hostile because of this. After that, Confucianists also meddled, insisting on placing portraits of distinguished precursors inside the pagoda. The emperor [was impossibly annoyed], and finally found a way out. Among the eight floors of the pagoda, one had a Buddha statue, three had portraits of ancient Confucian thinkers, and on the highest floor Daoists could offer treasures. Therefore, the three religions fit together, and no one could raise any opposition.

Hundreds of rivers into one sea: all kinds

Although Buddhists expressed discontent afterwards, saying that the Daoists’ and Confucians’ things shouldn’t be placed above them, and Confucians were dissatisfied as well, feeling that they were pressed from both sides, those disputes were only twigs and high branches. Kuhe didn’t intend to amuse Changming with these stories.

Twigs and high branches: minor details

But he heard Changming’s question: “What is the statue supposed to lift with its hand?”

Kuhe collected his thoughts, looked at it and said with a smile: “Nothing, it’s just a gesture.”

Buddhist statues, holding the void, could be found everywhere, and Changming brushed it aside, so the two of them started searching the first floor. Enamelled wall bricks were shining brightly in the candlelight, as if the whole world was made of coloured glass. Gold bricks with images of blooming lotuses were glued to the floor, making visitors excited, as if they were reaching the gates to the Western Paradise.

Western Paradise: aka Sukhavati, the pure land of Amitabha in Mahayana Buddhism. While Daoists seek immortality, Buddhists want to escape the cycle of rebirth; in Tibetan Buddhism, coming to this paradise is the best thing that can happen to a soul

In tune with this sumptuous scenery, music sounded faintly from the upper floor. Pipa, konghou, and bianzhong, pleased the ear with graceful music.

Konghou: Chinese harp

Bianzhong: serial bells. Pics [1]

But he was sure that there was no one else in the pagoda, so how could this music suddenly appear out of nowhere?

Kuhe trembled slightly, but quickly snapped out of this and reflexively looked at Changming.

But the latter had already gone up to the second floor.

“Senior!”

Kuhe reached out subconsciously, waited for a moment, and grabbed the hem of his robes.

Changming’s figure had already disappeared around the corner.

Kuhe could only grip his cane tighter, and hurry after him.

The second floor was another realm.

Gorgeous and alluring dancers were floating around the floor lightly and gracefully. There were male and female dancers, and their sashes were fluttering in the air, their silk garments almost transparent.

Changming was already standing among them. A naked dancing girl was snuggling up to him, and her ample bosom moved down along his silhouette; her red lips were close to him, and her aura resembled that of an orchid.

Kuhe flushed with shame, and almost couldn’t raise his eyes to look at them again.

“What kind of evildoer dares cause trouble here! Every creature has a true form, and demons shall be gone, get out!”

He casted an incantation with his hands, and his spiritual power turned into golden rays that rushed at the crowd of demons. But the dancer not only didn’t get frightened nor did she retreat, she even laughed at him coyly, as if taunting him for making a big fuss over a minor issue, and got closer, leading him to the centre as well.

How could my incantation malfunction?!

Kuhe was anxious and doubtful, as he failed to stop himself from being pushed forward. The dancers, men and women, having all kinds of appeal, entangled his body so tightly that Kuhe couldn’t even take a single step. No matter which incantation he recited, or what technique he used, nothing had an effect. However much he wanted to leave, in the end he was returned to the same place.

The tinkle of bells on the dancers’ ankles, as they were leaping around, seemed to contain a bewitching spell. Kuhe could no longer control his own actions, and even felt like joining the dance.

And if he started dancing, he would never be able to stop, not until his death.

This is the Dance of Deva-Mara!

Deva-Mara: the demonic celestial king in Buddhism

Sweat was streaming down his face when he suddenly came to his senses. But he realised that Changming had already started dancing with the girl, and he was now holding her in his arms tightly. The two of them almost blended together, their bodies bending; it wasn’t intercourse, but the spirit of it was quite suggestive, so Kuhe simply couldn’t bring himself to look at them.

Jiufang Changming has already been seduced!

Kuhe felt cold thinking about his good name being buried in this place. In the future, someone would open this pagoda, and see him and Changming lying on the floor with disheveled clothes and in an indecent posture. Surely, he wouldn’t be able to wash away the dishonor until his death. But, even though his mind was clear, his body was moving, and he even wanted to embrace a dancing girl in front of him.

Bang!

He heard a sharp sound.

Some warm liquid splashed on his face, and flowed down to his mouth. It somehow tasted salty and blood-like.

Kuhe took a closer look. One of Changming’s hands pierced the dancer, his spiritual power pouring inside. She screamed as her skeleton was breaking apart; her head fell down from her neck, and rolled to Kuhe’s feet; its eyes were wide open, unwilling to give up, as if it could bite Kuhe. He subconsciously stepped back, but felt nothing under his foot, and fell into a pool of blood.

The head rolled into the blood and sank, and numerous pairs of [hands] stretched from the bloody pool, grabbing him by his ankles and pulling him down, as if they wanted him to sink completely.

Blood from the pool was splattering on his face, so his nose was full of a foul stench; countless voices were shouting about their unjust deaths to Kuhe, pulling him down.

Their grievances were tremendous, and the sea of blood was dashing to the sky.

But the Luo Capital was prosperous, where did all these spirits demanding vengeance come from?

Kuhe was startled, and was almost pulled into the water in this moment of distraction. The bloody pool was already level with the tip of his nose; he wasn’t prepared, and drank a mouthful of blood. Kuhe almost spat it out, and his mind became hazy.

In this state of mental confusion, he vaguely recalled one thing.

The Luo Capital was the last dynasty’s capital as well. In the final years of Hon’s regime, seditious ministers raised a rebellion; the Son of Heaven refused to open the city gates and give up, so the ministers were enraged. After taking the Luo Capital by force, they massacred many people. It was said that fifty thousand perished in ten days, comprising all who hadn’t had enough time to run away.They were mostly common people; some were noblemen from the previous dynasty. The bones of those who were butchered back then covered the earth in the whole city, and the bloody stench rose into the skies. Many women and children were treated as delicacies, slaughtered, roasted and presented to the ministers for their amusement.

In the end, the emperor of the Luo Capital defeated the treacherous ministers, and sent people to bury the remnants of the killed under the ground in the capital. But how would so many aggrieved spirits of those who died unnatural deaths rest in peace after so little time had passed?

As if replying to his guess, many quiet voices sounded in Kuhe’s ears, telling him of their inhuman deaths, of them whirling around gloomy places for many years, and of their sufferings and reluctance to yield; they wanted to return to the Human World.

If Kuhe was so easily led astray, he wouldn’t have been sent to the Luo Capital to represent the Qingyun School.

He gripped the cane in his hands, and stopped paying attention to the bones stretching towards him from every direction; he closed his eyes, preventing all the worldly appearances from distracting him.

“All living beings of the world have much suffering and little happiness, and obsess over vanities; [thus, the truth is in transcending over all appearances to the rise]. Break!”

Kuhe opened his eyes abruptly. Bright light was coming from his hands!

The dry bones around him turned into ashes, and the souls purified in the Buddha flames transcended. The sea of blood gradually waned, and the grieving spirits loosened their grip on him, floating away.

The spirits that had been obsessed for so many years dispersed like smoke with his merciful declamations. Even if some souls with everlasting regret refused to leave, grabbing Kuhe stubbornly, they couldn’t withstand his voice.

Kuhe hadn’t forgotten their original goal. While he was reciting sutras, he was looking for the emperor’s immortal souls in the darkness; but the grieving souls turned into glowing rays and flew away, and he still didn’t manage to determine the location of the emperor’s souls.

After all that, he gained nothing.

The bright light dispersed, and Kuhe found himself on the second floor of the Celestial Library Pagoda once again. Now, all the bright and colorful murals on the walls unexpectedly turned into emptiness.

“Deva-Mara appeared from nothingness, turning the drawings into his idols. I congratulate the Zen master upon breaking the karmic hindrance and advancing in cultivation.”

“Appeared from nothingness” is a Buddhist term. According to Buddhism, there are four ways for a creature to be born; “appearing from nothingness” is one of them, it’s the way deities, demons, and spirits are born. In this particular case, as I understand it, the demon jumped out of nowhere and turned the murals from the last paragraphs into his weapon. But Kuhe managed to survive it, so Changming congratulates him

Kuhe looked at Changming’s spurious smile in his eyes, and felt a little trapped.

“This poor monk is ashamed for demonstrating such unrefined techniques, please, Senior, don’t laugh at me!”

Regardless of what his sect and the rest of the world said, in Kuhe’s opinion, Jiufang Changming was worthy of the title of the strongest person in the world in the past. Now that he reentered the Human World, his cultivation level shouldn’t have been lower than it used to be; he had probably broken through his heart obstructions long ago, and was now simply watching Kuhe’ struggles.

“Dare I ask the senior, have you perhaps found the emperor’s fleeting souls?”

If previously he called Changming a senior because of his politeness and the other’s reputation, this time he was very sincere.

Strength is the easiest way to gain respect, and Changming knew it very well.

“No, we should look for them on the upper floors.”

The third floor of the Celestial Library Pagoda, just as Kuhe said, contained sixteen Confucian paintings of ancient sages.

Kuhe wasn’t a Confucianist, so he knew little about the people depicted on the paintings; he was only looking for traces of demonic qi and the fleeting souls on them.

Based on their experience on the second floor, he could tell that the pagoda was weird. Originally, it had fine sacrifices, spiritual tools, statues and treasures of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism that balanced each other out. But, unexpectedly, there was also a blood pool of Deva-Mara. Kuhe was sure that he would have already been done for if he wasn’t a master of cultivation.

So, it wasn’t impossible for their enemies to turn the paintings into obstacles by trapping souls inside.

Kuhe was diligently and whole-heartedly checking every painting.

But they were all indeed ordinary. Although these paintings were detailed and exceptionally lifelike, he couldn’t discern anything supernatural in them.

This floor seemed to be a real place for looking at ancient thinkers with reverence.

Kuhe frowned and looked at Changming.

Changming seemed to have guessed his thoughts. He shook his head, expressing that he hadn’t found anything remarkable as well.

The two of them continued climbing up the stairs.

To the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh floors.

The view from the pagoda was breathtaking. Standing at the window, they could look over the Imperial City and the whole capital, covering it all with one glance.

The more serene it seemed, the weirder Kuhe felt.

From the very beginning, he felt something lurking behind them, waiting for a chance to bounce at them.

“The last floor has Daoists’ treasures? Which ones?”

“There is the horsetail whisk of the last mentor of the Shenxiao Abode, named Boundless Sea Gathering Dust. There are also some valued treasures of the imperial family. His Majesty was attaching great importance to this pagoda, so he ordered people to bring in many treasures.”

They reached the top floor as they were talking.

Just as Kuhe said, a whisk was placed on a glassed platform. Glares were sparkling on the whisk faintly, and it looked striking.

Changming had seen the Boundless Sea Gathering Dusk before, and it wasn’t much of a challenge for his perceptiveness to tell apart a fake from the real thing.

There was no doubt about it—the Boundless Sea Gathering Dusk was real.

This treasure used to belong to the previous mentor of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao, so it was indeed an excellent tool; but it was more than a peerless artwork, and valuable as a symbol: since it was displayed in this place, the imperial family and Daoists sects had reached mutual understanding.

The problem was not with the Boundless Sea Gathering Dusk.

Changming withdrew his gaze and turned to the other treasures, randomly scattered nearby.

There was a huge pearl with a volume of several hu, gems of various colors, and a moon-shaped treasure with weak spiritual power.

Hu: could be either 100 litres, or 50, the first is more likely

“What is this?”

Changming bent down, and picked up a basin made of white ivory.

The edges of the basin were mounted with brightly glittering jewels, representing stars; even the night couldn’t cover its radiance.

Kuhe extended his head to look at it.

“It’s probably a Basin of Plenty.”

This ivory was indeed a bit too white, slightly blue, even; it was smooth to the touch, just like a beautiful maiden’s skin.

“No,” Changming said suddenly.

Kuhe: “Why?”

Changming: “It’s not ivory.”

Kuhe touched it as well, “Then what is it?”

He also thought it was different from ivory by how it had felt, but couldn’t quickly determine what it actually was.

“It’s human bones.”

Kuhe was startled when he heard these three words, but Changming even dug out a ruby from the Basin of Plenty with his hand.

In the twinkling of an eye, black clouds filled the air, demonic qi whistled, and the two of them fell into a pitch-black darkness that seemed to have never seen a single ray of sun!

The author has something to say:

PS, Someone wanted to learn about the cultivation ranks in this novel. To make it easier for everyone to remember them, they were simplified as much as possible. There are low-level, middle-level, high-level, master and grandmaster ranks. There is no way to measure levels beyond grandmaster, so the winner in every particular case should be determined through a fight.

Tn:

[1]:

Konghou

Bianzhong