Chapter 6#
Chapter 6: Old Dreams#
Kong Yan couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
“It’s all because Zhuo Yu suddenly appeared before my father’s eyes—otherwise, how could he get angry?” Feng Xianyu said with an air of complete justification.
Kong Yan: “…”
Although he himself wasn’t one to be reasonable, Feng Xianyu’s level of unreasonableness still exceeded his imagination. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for this “Zhuo Yu,” whom he had never met.
That said, the two of them didn’t take their fathers’ words to heart at all.
A few days later, they even snuck down the mountain and spent money like water in the market at the foot of the mountain.
Feng Xianyu had grown up among cultivators and had basically no concept of mortal money. Since he had a lot of gold and silver that Feng Qianqiu had prepared for emergencies, he spent lavishly, buying many useless trinkets at high prices and stuffing them into his Qiankun pouch without a second thought.
After getting tired of wandering, they ordered a lavish feast at the largest tavern in town. Feng Xianyu was full of enthusiasm, saying he wanted to taste everything. But unexpectedly, after just a few bites, he lost interest. Poking at the dishes with his chopsticks, he looked disappointed. “It’s not that tasty after all. Not as good as the food up on the mountain.”
Kong Yan had an “I told you so” look on his face. “No matter how casual the meals your family makes are, the ingredients are all nourished by spiritual energy. How could the mortal world compare?”
Feng Xianyu thought that was true. Propping his cheek with his hand for a while, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he slapped the table. “Waiter!”
These two kids were dressed in fine clothes and spent money freely—they were clearly young masters from wealthy families at the very least. The shopkeeper and waiters didn’t dare to be careless, and had been keeping their ears pricked outside the door. Hearing the call, the shopkeeper and a waiter quickly pushed the door open and came in, smiling obsequiously. “Young master, what are your orders?”
“Bring…” Feng Xianyu’s eyes darted around, then he pulled out a gold ingot from his sleeve and slammed it onto the table with great bravado. “Bring us the best wine you have!”
Seeing that they were still young, the waiter hesitated for a moment, but was immediately cuffed on the back of the head by the shopkeeper and had no choice but to comply. Soon, he brought up two jars of wine—
Although the shopkeeper was greedy, he knew they were just kids, so he only brought some light fruit wine that barely had any alcohol taste.
Feng Xianyu didn’t know the difference. He just thought it smelled fragrant and pleasant, so he poured some into a bowl, dipped his chopsticks in it, and smacked his lips.
Kong Yan watched with great anticipation, only to see Feng Xianyu sucking in air with a “haha” sound, a flush suddenly spreading across his cheeks.
“What’s going on?” Kong Yan asked. “Is it good or not?”
Feng Xianyu was too embarrassed to say the wine was spicy, so he stiffened his neck and said, “It’s good!”
With that, he simply threw down his chopsticks, lifted the wine jar with both hands, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and started chugging it straight into his mouth.
“Hey—”
Before Kong Yan could stop him, Feng Xianyu had already downed who knows how much. A few drops of wine slid down his chin and into his clothes. Kong Yan, puzzled, poured himself a taste. He had stolen wine from the Green Sparrow Sect before, and as soon as it hit his mouth, he knew it wasn’t anything strong—at best, it was a slightly fermented juice. Relieved, he decided it wouldn’t do any harm and even raised his cup to toast Feng Xianyu.
Feng Xianyu found this gesture very novel and cheerfully poured himself a cup to clink. The sky was growing late, and his eyes seemed to be slightly red.
Kong Yan had heard that if an archer trained well, when drawing a bow and aiming, the overflowing spiritual energy would cause their pupils to change color, allowing them to hit targets from a hundred li away without missing. He wasn’t sure if it was true.
Unfortunately, these past few days, Feng Xianyu had only been playing with that small bow, and there was nothing particularly special about it.
After a few cups, Kong Yan suddenly remembered and asked, “When I wasn’t here, who did you play with?”
“I played by myself,” Feng Xianyu replied. “They’re all too boring.”
“Boring?” Kong Yan doubted. “What about that Zhuo Yu senior brother of yours? Isn’t he boring? Don’t you play with him?”
“Hmph!” Feng Xianyu pouted, glaring angrily. “He’s so interesting it’s infuriating!”
At the mention of this person, Feng Xianyu immediately became furious, as if a flood had finally found its outlet. Emboldened by the alcohol, he started chattering on and on. But Kong Yan listened and listened and couldn’t understand a single thing—except for the repeated, crystal-clear pronunciation of “Zhuo Yu,” which was said over and over again.
After enduring it for a long while, Kong Yan finally couldn’t take it anymore. He was about to say, “Stop saying Zhuo Yu, my ears are about to grow calluses,” when he suddenly heard Feng Xianyu’s voice cut off. The cup in his hand tipped over, and with a loud crash, he slammed face-first onto the table.
Kong Yan: “…”
Kong Yan was so startled he instantly sobered up. He looked—Feng Xianyu’s cheeks were flushed with two huge red clouds, his eyes half-closed—he was actually drunk!
How could he get drunk from this?
Kong Yan couldn’t believe it. He turned the cup over and over, inspecting it several times, but couldn’t see any difference between it and his own jar.
Feng Xianyu’s memory ended there. He only remembered that when he woke up the next day, he was back on his bed in Qingdu Mountain, his head still a bit dizzy. Kong Yan had already been dragged back to the Green Sparrow Sect by Kong Ji by the ears and was nowhere to be seen. Feng Xianyu felt a great loss for that. While bowing his head obediently to listen to Feng Qianqiu’s scolding, he thought to himself: I’m never drinking again from now on.
But it wasn’t “never causing trouble again.”
As soon as he stepped out of the hall, he saw in the distance, along the winding corridor, Zhuo Yu approaching from far away—a veritable moving snowman. Feng Xianyu waved at him, but Zhuo Yu only cast a cold glance in return, looking displeased.
Feng Xianyu was baffled—what had he done to offend him now? He asked, “Did Zhuo Yu come out?”
Wasn’t he supposed to be in seclusion?
A nearby disciple replied, “Yes, he came out of seclusion last night.”
As Zhuo Yu walked closer and closer, the surroundings grew increasingly blurry. His figure gradually lengthened, a sword like cold water appeared in his hand, and the scent of Acorus calamus emanated from him—
It was only when Zhuo Yu arrived in front of him that Feng Xianyu noticed this.
But at the same time, Zhuo Yu’s face was abruptly marked by a trail of blood, glaringly conspicuous. As if seeing nothing, he walked straight through Feng Xianyu’s ethereal soul body, stirring up a chill wind, breaking through an old dream.
Feng Xianyu woke up.
In his dream, the faint scent of Acorus calamus became strong and impossible to ignore. Feng Xianyu squinted at the rising sunlight, remembering that he had been reborn.
He was leaning against a tree, with Zhuo Yu sitting cross-legged by his shoulder. True to form, Zhuo Yu had changed his clothes again.
As soon as Feng Xianyu opened his eyes, Zhuo Yu, with sharp perception, had already taken a spiritual pill from his Qiankun pouch.
Feng Xianyu instinctively tried to scramble up—he knew what Zhuo Yu was about to do next. But perhaps because he had slept awkwardly all night and was sore all over, or because he stood up too hastily, he stumbled. In a panic, he grabbed onto Zhuo Yu to avoid falling disgracefully. This gave Zhuo Yu the perfect opportunity to smoothly pinch his chin again and push the pill into his mouth.
It almost looked like Feng Xianyu had run into him on purpose.
Feng Xianyu had no choice but to swallow it and asked, “What’s wrong with me?”
Zhuo Yu lowered his hand, his fingertips brushing across Feng Xianyu’s chin. “You shouldn’t have interfered.”
Feng Xianyu took a while to recall what Zhuo Yu was referring to—the previous midnight incident—and muttered, “It’s been so long. Is it really that serious?”
Zhuo Yu stared at him without a word.
Even though his eyes were covered by white gauze, Feng Xianyu could still feel that gaze. He coughed awkwardly and, glimpsing out of the corner of his eye that the other disciples had also stood up and packed up, seized the opportunity to change the subject. “Then let’s keep going. It shouldn’t be far now, right, Miss Ayue?”
Ayue smiled among the crowd and replied, “Yes.”
Xiang Wan asked, “Is Little Senior Brother still okay?”
“What kind of question is that?” Feng Xianyu feigned anger. “Do I look like such a useless person? Let’s go!”
They regrouped and set off again. They walked for nearly another full day, but the scenery remained unchanged. Just when everyone’s patience was wearing thin as the sun set, the forest ahead suddenly opened up, revealing a large clearing covered in dead leaves. The ground bulged slightly—at first glance, it looked like an ordinary mound.
Ayue stopped. “It’s here.”
“So close?” Xiang Wan looked left and right. “Where are the snakes?”
“Right in front of you,” Feng Xianyu said solemnly, lifting his chin to indicate the mound. “Miss Ayue, I’m guessing this is all snakes inside, right?”
“Not that close,” Ayue said. “That’s right.”
All snakes…
Xiang Wan imagined countless snakes writhing together, endless in number, squirming nonstop. Goosebumps crawled all over his body, and he even shivered on the spot.
Feng Xianyu scoffed disdainfully. “Aren’t they just snakes? What’s there to be afraid of?”
“It’s not fear,” Xiang Wan shuddered. “It’s disgusting, Senior Brother! So many long, slimy things wriggling… tangled together, crawling and crawling, hissing and flicking their tongues, and the sound of scales rubbing—isn’t that disgusting?”
Feng Xianyu thought about it and found it indeed a bit disgusting.
Xiang Wan added fuel to the fire, “And if we kill the snakes, there’ll be so much blood splattering everywhere. Oh my god!”
—And blood!
Now Feng Xianyu really felt disgusted. He discreetly stepped back, pretending nothing was wrong, and said, “A cultivator must conquer their own fears.”
Xiang Wan asked for advice, “And then?”
“So you guys hurry up and get the talisman papers to set up the array, old pal!” Feng Xianyu said. “A blasting array, and make it quick!”
Xiang Wan: “…”
Feng Xianyu then pulled Zhuo Yu back as he retreated, saying, “Let’s go farther away—a thousand feet or so is fine. Just don’t let any blood splatter on us. It’s too dirty and disgusting!”
Xiang Wan: “…”
As they retreated, Xiang Wan asked Ayue, “Can we kill these snakes?”
“Yes,” Ayue said with a smile. “Of course you can. Why wouldn’t you be able to?”
Xiang Wan finally felt relieved.
Among the disciples, there were array cultivators, and since this wasn’t a complicated or troublesome array, it was set up in less than a quarter of an hour. By then, Feng Xianyu had already retreated with Zhuo Yu and the others to a good one to two thousand feet away.
When the disciple who set up the array returned, Feng Xianyu praised him, “Well done. Looks like it’s very powerful.”
He was about to draw his golden bow, “Qiqi,” but Zhuo Yu pressed down on his hand.
“It’s fine,” Feng Xianyu said. “I won’t use spiritual energy this time. Besides, it’s this close.”
With that, Feng Xianyu gently shook off Zhuo Yu’s hand. The golden bow materialized, and he took a wooden arrow meant for mortal use from his Qiankun pouch, sticking a fire talisman on the arrowhead. From this distance, the center of the array, one to two thousand feet away, was already somewhat blurry—let alone the fact that Feng Xianyu had casually said he wouldn’t use spiritual energy.
Feng Xianyu drew the bow and nocked the arrow. The golden dharma bow gleamed brightly, his red robe fluttering. He barely aimed before releasing the string. The wooden arrow, with the burning talisman, shot through the air, sparks trailing behind. Perfectly straight, neither left nor right, it struck the exact center of the array.
The disciples couldn’t help but cheer in unison. Then, with a “boom,” the blasting array they had just set up was detonated.
Spiritual light and blazing flames shot up into the sky in an instant. The dead leaves on the ground became fuel for the roaring fire, accompanied by a bone-chilling crackling sound. Countless long, wriggling shapes were blasted into the air, breaking into pieces before falling back to the ground.
“My god—!” Xiang Wan couldn’t help but open his mouth wide.
Ayue said, “All the generals in the mortal world combined couldn’t match Young Master Feng’s aim.”
“Why compare with mortals? It only embarrasses them and shames me.” Feng Xianyu wagged his finger, then cheerfully patted Xiang Wan on the shoulder. Stroking a non-existent long beard, he lowered his voice and said, “Don’t rush to admire your senior brother. When you grow up and cultivate well, you can do it too.”
Xiang Wan: “…”
He had actually just wanted to comment on how many snakes there were.