The immortal book once said: Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things. The combination of yin and yang gave birth to this world.
Above the heavens, the laws of nature are laid out to govern all things; at the bottom of the earth, the Yellow Spring leads to the underworld and is the place where life and death go on in reincarnation.
There are nine continents between heaven and earth. Among them, Qi, Chu, Qin and Jin are in the mortal world, and Li, Hui, Liuhua, Yanghe and Xiyuhuang are in the immortal lands.
Nineteen years ago.
The secular world, Qi Continent.
It was the twelfth month, the coldest time of the year. A herd of war horses galloped across the rugged desert road, shaking the earth and stirring up clouds of dust.
The men on horseback were dressed in various clothes, wearing cloth armor, with swords, spears, bows and other weapons hanging on their saddles. They were all free and easy-going, like generous green forest heroes in the Jiulong Mountain area.
As they were galloping through a deserted forest path, the heroic man in the lead suddenly reined in his horse and raised his hand to signal, “Stop!”
“Shh…”
People in the village whispered that the heroes of Jiulong Fortress were better trained than the soldiers. All the horses neighed and stopped after a breath. A tawny man with a scar on his face rode forward and asked in a hoarse voice, “Boss, is there a problem?”
The handsome and tall man was Su Hong, the leader of Jiulong Fortress. He waved his hand and said, “Hush. Do you hear crying?”
Scarface scratched his head and said, “Crying? No.”
Su Hong said, “Don’t move, wait for me here.”
Su Hong jumped from his horse and walked alone deep into the woods, leaving his brothers looking at each other in bewilderment.
After a while, the head of the Su family came out laughing and showed the brothers something wrapped in his coat . “I heard crying! Look, it’s a child.”
It was indeed a child, or rather a baby, who looked to be less than a year old, with delicate features and a very pretty appearance.
Sadly, it was unclear if it was due to hunger or cold, causing the baby to become too weak to cry out loud. It could only whimper softly from its throat, like a kitten on the verge of freezing to death.
Scarface took a look and sighed, “Whose sin is this? To leave a baby in the wilderness in such a cold winter, even if it’s not taken away by wolves, it would freeze to death within a few hours.”
Su Hong said, “There’s no way. Nowadays, ordinary people don’t have enough food. Look at this child, he’s so delicate and tender. He won’t be strong enough to work in the future. A pair of cruel parents would just abandon him.”
As he was talking, a thin man appeared before the brothers. He turned his eyes slyly and clapped his hands, saying, “Boss! This is not a sin, this is a blessing!”
Su Hong asked in surprise, “A blessing? Why do you say a blessing?”
“Hey, boss, think about it. Our boss’s wife is weak, and ever since she had a miscarriage last time, hasn’t she been secretly crying that she couldn’t give birth to a big fat boy for you in this life?”
The thin man was beaming with joy, pointing his fingers to the sky and the ground. “In my opinion, you, the head of the family, should take the child back. Ah, tell your wife that it was the gods in heaven who blessed you and your wife with a child because of our years of chivalrous deeds. Your wife will be very happy to keep the child!”
“Wow! You kid.” Scarface gave him a light punch. “You’re quite bold!”
The thin man smiled. “Brother, I’m also worried about your wife’s sad face day and night! It just happened to be a coincidence. Isn’t it said that saving a life is better than killing and such, right?”
Before the thin man had finished speaking, Su Hong’s face was already full of joy. As soon as he finished speaking, Su Hong laughed and said, “Good, very good! I never thought that I, Su Hong, would have a son in this life!”
The bandits immediately started to make loud noises, laughing and cursing. Su Hong held the baby against his chest with one hand, mounted his tall horse, and shouted, “Brothers, let’s go! When we get back to the fortress, I’ll treat you all to the strongest wine!”
…………
Eight years later.
Swords flashed amidst the raging fire, and blood flowed.
It was the dead of night. The screams, shouts, and neighing of horses were all mixed together, creating a scene of deep sorrow.
“Kill!!”
“The general said there’s no need to leave anyone alive!”
“These evil bandits must be eliminated, shoot them!!”
Thousands of soldiers, holding torches in their hands, rushed into the bandits’ fortress in the deserted mountain, and blood splattered everywhere. The soldiers on the periphery pulled their bowstrings tight, and at the command, arrows flew like rain!
Mrs. Su burst into tears. “Xuesheng, go quickly—“
Su Hong was shot in the back with an arrow. He roared with blood in his mouth. “Third brother, take Xuesheng away! Go!!”
The young boy ran wildly in the flames of war, with corpses everywhere he looked. Suddenly, someone grabbed his wrist and said, “Young Master! Come with me now!”
“Uncle Peng!” Su Xuesheng’s face was pale. “My adoptive mother and father are still behind us!!”
The one who grabbed Su Xuesheng was the thin man from before. Eight years had passed, and his temples had a lot of white hair, and he no longer looked as smart and cunning as before.
Blood and mud covered his shrunken face. Peng Laosan’s cloudy eyes were reflected in the firelight. He shook Xuesheng’s thin shoulders and choked with sobs:
“Let’s go, Young Master… You’ve never been an ordinary child. Since the fall of the mountain stronghold five years ago, you have been wandering around with our gang of bandits and have suffered a lot. The eldest master actually wanted to send you to the Xian Continent to seek an opportunity, but he couldn’t give up his selfish desire as a father. It was he who asked me, Old Peng, to take you away…”
Blood, fire. All that was reflected in the boy’s eyes was blood and fire, both of which were extremely sad and beautiful colors.
Su Xuesheng couldn’t remember the specific scene of that night, but he remembered that familiar people fell down one after another and turned into corpses. The last one to fall was Uncle Peng, the thin man who always told vulgar jokes and made everyone laugh. In the end, he hugged him tightly in his arms, with more than ten arrows embedded in his stiff back.
Blood was still flowing, and the fire was still burning, but the people were all dead. When Su Xuesheng lay coldly under the corpse, he could only wonder if he was dead too.
But no, his gloomy eyes looked past Peng Laosan’s lowered hand and saw a figure walking towards him in the distance.
At the end of the bloody red sky, a hint of gray appeared.
A strange man in a gray Taoist robe walked up to him and squatted down. He pulled him out from under the corpse, stroked his head and asked him to be a savior.
Su Xuesheng raised his head and asked numbly, “Are you an immortal?”
The Taoist in gray robe said, “It can be considered as such.”
Su Xuesheng asked again, “Can you save people if you become an immortal?”
The Taoist in gray robe said, “Yes.”
Xuesheng pointed at the large number of corpses around him and said through trembling teeth, “Save them for me.”
The boy’s voice was incoherent, and tears began to flow.
“If you can save all these people…I will go with you and become the savior you mentioned.”
Yin Changxin said calmly, “Okay.”
He flicked his whisk.
That night, a bright light rose from an uninhabited mountain somewhere in Qi Continent, as bright as day.
This light lasted for three days and no one could get close to it.
Three days later, more than a hundred Jiulong Fortress bandits who had just been wiped out by government soldiers came back to life thanks to the help of immortals.
Only one person was missing.
Su Xuesheng, adopted son of the bandit leader Su Hong, the young master of Jiulong Fortress, had been missing ever since. Rumor has it that he was spotted by an immortal and taken to the celestial world.
Even the emperor of the mortal world hesitated to send troops to destroy Jiulong Fortress again. After two years of indecision, he issued an edict to confer a title on Su Hong and his wife…But that’s another story.
……
A few days later, the sky was clear. The grey-robed Taoist and the young master, newly discipled, were walking in the mountains, one in front and one behind.
Su Xuesheng was no longer called Su Xuesheng. His new master had changed his name so that he could cut off his worldly ties and his attachments to the mundane world.
“Your surname should be Lin, and your given name should be Fuqing.”
“From now on, there will be no more Su Xuesheng in the world, only Lin Fuqing.”
At that time, Lin Fuqing had asked him, “Why change my name to this?”
Yin Changxin moved his lips slightly.
For a moment, the young boy was sure that the immortal would say something startling, such as “An immortal should shoulder the responsibility of heaven and protect the people.”
But Yin Changxin said, “Because it makes me happy.”
Lin Fuqing: “…….”
His master was indeed not an ordinary person.
What he said was not ordinary.
For example, his talks of saviours and fate were confusing, often leaving Lin Fuqing puzzled.
The mountain road was difficult to walk on. Lin Fuqing was tired and bored. He couldn’t help but stretch his neck and asked, “Master, what exactly is a savior immortal?”
Yin Changxin did not look back as he said, “You will know later.”
Lin Fuqing lowered his eyelids helplessly, wondering to himself what his “future” would be like.
He heard that immortals live long lives. Maybe he would live for hundreds of years? Would he be able to fly with a sword and save whoever he wants?
Savior, Savior…
The boy was too young and he didn’t understand.
It was early spring. The thin ice on the mountain stream had thawed. The water was gurgling, and the banks were covered with clusters of red crabapple flowers, looking extremely beautiful and picturesque.
Lin Fuqing suddenly stopped.
The young man listened attentively, then said to Yin Changxin’s back, “Master, do you hear crying?”
“I heard it a long time ago.” Yin Changxin pointed casually at the stream not far away, “Look, there are fishes in the river.”
Lin Fuqing ran to the stream and parted the leaves and flowers of a clump of crabapple trees. He saw the dead body of a huge fish of rare appearance floating down to the river bank. There was a cradle on its back, and inside it was a crying baby girl.
To prevent the baby girl from falling into the water, all the small fishes along the river had swam over and were trying their best to support the body of the big fish. Colorful scales flashed under the water, bright and beautiful.
Lin Fuqing was surprised. He had never seen such a wonder before. He thought that the immortal world was indeed different from the mortal world.
Lin Fuqing turned around and called Yin Changxin, “Master.”
Yin Changxin: “Yes.”
Lin Fuqing pointed at the baby girl. “You said I can be a savior and protect many people, right?”
Yin Changxin: “Yes.”
Lin Fuqing asked, “Then can I take her away?”
Yin Changxin responded, “Master doesn’t know how to raise fish, you’ll have to raise them yourself.”
Lin Fuqing jumped into the river, the icy water reaching past his knees. He waded forward, bent down and picked up the baby girl. The clothes in front of him were immediately soaked.
The baby girl cried even harder, waving her hands and kicking her feet tenderly. Lin Fuqing touched her wrinkled face, and his eyebrows curved for the first time since seeing the deaths of so many loved ones. He said with a smile, “I will raise her myself.”
=========
The main peak of Xuyun was covered with snow all year round.
The wind blew through the pines, and the snow fell gently.
It was already winter. A few days ago, there was a heavy snowfall, fluttering in the air, turning the four peaks of Xuyun into a blanket of white.
Two little children transformed from cranes were each holding a broom, slowly sweeping the snow in front of the house, clearing out a path that was convenient for walking.
In the room, the Taoist in gray robe and the young man in white sat opposite each other. Yin Changxin took out a piece of red paper from his sleeve and handed it to him. “Here, you asked me to calculate an auspicious date for you.”
“Thank you, Master.” Lin Fuqing took it and stroked the words on it with his fingers, his eyes shining with a smile.
Yin Changxin asked lazily, “Anything else?”
Lin Fuqing said, “Yes.”
He sat up straight, clear-eyed, and asked seriously, “Master, do you know…the forbidden technique of reversing time and space?”
Yin Changxin’s expression remained calm. “Why do you think of asking this?”
Lin Fuqing laughed and said, “Qing’er was fooled by the master back then. He thought that it would be easy to bring people back to life after becoming an immortal. Later, he realized that it was not that easy.”
“The rebirth spell you cast back then—“ Lin Fuqing paused, his eyes burning, “should be a simplified variant of some forbidden time and space technique. If it is a real forbidden technique, it should not be a problem to trace the entire Three Realms back hundreds of years.”
Yin Changxin was silent for a long time, then he shook his head and put his index finger to his lips. “Heaven says: it cannot be said.”
Lin Fuqing took out a pen and paper from his Qiankun bag and asked earnestly, “Then can you write it?”
Yin Changxin glared. “……”
Lin Fuqing took it back with regret. “Is it not possible to write it?”
Lin Fuqing did feel a little regretful.
Having hinted to this extent, Lin Fuqing didn’t believe that his master was unaware of his hidden intentions.
After all, he deliberately did not conceal the traces of subtle changes after his rebirth. Even Xun Mingsi had noticed it, so it was impossible for Yin Changxin to be unaware of it.
But not only did the master not ask proactively, he also did not allow himself to ask – this showed that either Yin Changxin was unwilling to intervene, or Yin Changxin could not intervene.
Lin Fuqing sighed softly in his heart, sorted out his thoughts, and decided to put the things he couldn’t figure out behind him for the time being. He stood up and said, “Then… Qing’er will take his leave.”
Yin Changxin suddenly asked from behind him, “After going out for a walk, have you found the way you want to go?”
Lin Fuqing didn’t look back, and whispered, “I’m a little tired after walking around. After walking around, I still like Xuyun the most. I want to rest here first.”
Yin Changxin said, “It’s good to take a break. Go ahead.”
Lin Fuqing nodded and went out.
He greeted the two little cranes, then walked down the long mountain path on the snow with his sleeves gathered up.
The view from the top of the main peak was the widest. The other three peaks were all in sight, and one could even slightly hear the pleasant sounds of the zither and pipa coming from Tinghe Peak.
More than a month had passed since they’d returned from Liuhua Continent.
The Xuyun’s disciples returned to their peaceful and quiet lives as before.
Shentu Linchun lived with Xun Mingsi at Tinghe Peak, and Yin Changxin didn’t care. The two music practitioners would compete with each other in music and rhyme every now and then, and the outer disciples at Tinghe Peak whispered that the third brother looked much more radiant.
Lin Fuqing stopped to listen to the music for a moment, shook his head smiling, then continued walking.
After turning a few bends on the mountain path, he saw from afar a figure in black sitting with his back against the trunk of an extremely tall and conspicuous old sacred tree, with one leg propped up, and a set of red clay wine utensils next to him.
Fang Zhiyuan’s head was slightly lowered. He held a wine pot in his right hand and used his left hand to move burning spiritual energy under the pot, slowly heating the wine in this way.
It was cold, and the breath he exhaled condensed into light white mist, blurring his cold brows and eyes.
Lin Fuqing watched from afar, and suddenly felt that everything was the same as before, and he didn’t know what day it was.
If there was any difference…
Lin Fuqing pinched the small piece of paper hidden in his sleeve. His eyes flickered, and his heart beat grew faster and faster.
How could he get Zhiyuan to open his mouth about this?
Lin Fuqing was a little worried again.
In any case, it wouldn’t work to ask for a marriage alliance directly. Last time in front of Ziwei Pavilion, he had been straightforward enough, but unfortunately Fang Zhiyuan’s reaction was…no reaction.
More than a month had passed with no response.
His words about forming a Taoist couple made the same sense as if he hadn’t said anything at all.
Lin Fuqing guessed helplessly that Fang Zhiyuan might think he was teasing him.
Maybe in the eyes of Immortal Sovereign Fang, a big pervert with three thousand concubines in his harem saying to someone “Be my Taoist partner”, was the same as those immortal elders who were good at socializing and often patted others on the shoulder and say “I will treat you to a meal next time, brother.”
Lin Fuqing didn’t dare to act rashly.
In fact, the lack of reaction was already a good thing. He was afraid that when he put the “auspicious day” in Zhiyuan’s hands this time, that person would seriously tell him, “Dual cultivation is fine, but becoming a Taoist couple is not.”
His face turned pale as he thought about it. He suddenly became very scared, afraid that he would become so angry that he would spit blood on Fang Zhiyuan’s face.
The author has something to say:
I’m back! Volume 2 will start with the truth about the harem & the sweet moments of forming a couple!!
Qing’er was so wild and carefree when he was young, but in fact, he was half a bandit by nature.
So this is actually an inspirational story of how Little Immortal Fang went from being the partner of a bandit leader who later became a Demon Lord (?)
Note: The names of the continents in the secular world were borrowed from the ancient vassal states. This is just because the author is bad at naming and the secular world does not have a major role. It does not mean that the setting of this article is based on the historical Eastern Zhou Dynasty or anything. No, no~0w0