As that blade-light which pierced heaven and earth dissipated, the aura of the fourth-realm tribulation cultivator was utterly wiped from this expanse of heaven and earth.
Having lost the support of its presiding master and its core formation-plate, the gray mist shrouding the skies above the Drunken Dream Boat began to dissolve at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The clamor, the sound of the waves, and even the distant hawking cries from the banks of the Qinhuai River—all once sealed away—came flooding back into this deathly-still pleasure-boat.
Those guests and cultivators who had been walking toward the altar with dull, vacant expressions, like marionettes on strings, abruptly jolted to a halt, the gray film receding from their eyes.
Some clutched their groggy heads, others looked about in a daze, wholly unaware that they had just walked a single round before the Gates of Hell.
Gu Chengming stood in the wreckage-strewn banquet hall and let out a long, long breath.
At the same time, within his sea of consciousness, golden light flickered faintly.
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» is deeply gratified.]
[It declared: The great use of ritual lies in halting chaos. Though the Director intervened, had it not been for your mediation in the earlier stage, the living souls aboard this whole boat would likely have been turned to sacrificial offerings long ago, the collapse of rites and music a matter of but an instant.]
[With a second-realm body, you forcibly contended against one who deranged the Law—this is the courage of a guardian of the Way. In the moment of peril, you did not forget to protect all living beings—this is the heart of a benevolent man.]
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method's» approval of you deepens further.]
[Favorability +5]
[Current favorability: 68 / Fondness]
The way matters developed next was exactly as Gu Chengming had anticipated.
The people of the Night-Watch Bureau and the Demon-Catching Bureau charged onto the Drunken Dream Boat practically one on the other's heels, and hard upon that came the sealing of the scene, the treatment of the wounded, and the examination of the corpses.
Yet in the case file that was later presented before the imperial desk and circulated to all parties, the matter of that Great Qian dragon energy which had risen from the Imperial City and directly suppressed the evil cultivator's formation was, by an extremely tacit understanding, concealed away.
That tribulation cultivator who had died without an intact corpse was classified as an Elder of some secret evil cult, who had intended to use the popularity of the fair Shangyuan Festival to perform a blood sacrifice to an evil god, but had fortunately been detected in time by the Night-Watch Bureau.
And in this upheaval, Gu Chengming once again made a name for himself.
According to the records within the Night-Watch Bureau and the version that circulated, it was this newly-risen Wenjian Sect disciple who, relying on extraordinary intuition and meticulous thinking, had detected the abnormality aboard the Drunken Dream Boat in advance.
Not only had he earlier braved danger alone to investigate the enemy's situation, he had even secretly contacted the sect's Elders and the Bureau's high command before the incident occurred, making thorough arrangements.
Although in the end the scene had briefly spun out of control because the evil cultivator suddenly struck, had it not been for Gu Chengming's early warning and his on-site containment, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
And so, in this major case personally wrapped up by the Director, Gu Chengming indisputably became the second-greatest meritorious officer, adding yet another stroke to his record.
Three days later, the Night-Watch Bureau.
Sandalwood incense curled through the room. Zhou Qingmu, clad in a purple-and-gold informal robe, did not sit in the seat of honor, but stood with hands clasped behind her back before that enormous map of the Great Qian.
Gu Chengming stood three paces behind her.
Though he did not know what exactly this Director's private summons concerned, he already had a vague guess in his heart.
"That night aboard the Drunken Dream Boat, a strand of extremely pure Great Qian dragon energy was set in motion."
Zhou Qingmu offered no pleasantries; she turned and got straight to the point, looking at Gu Chengming as she asked:
"Do you know whose doing that was?"
Gu Chengming's heart tightened, yet his face wore a puzzled look:
"Reporting to the Director, the situation at the time was dire; this subordinate was being driven to a dead end by that evil cultivator, feeling only the blood-qi roiling within my body, nearly crushed beneath that malevolent aura. Then came the great brightening of the heavens, and the Director's single blade cleaving the firmament. As for any dragon energy, this subordinate truly did not perceive it."
"Did not perceive it?"
Zhou Qingmu narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze lingering on him for a moment.
She naturally knew Gu Chengming carried secrets, but that dragon energy was the very foundation of the nation's fortune; none but those of imperial bloodline or those bearing high office could mobilize it.
Gu Chengming's background was clean—he was an orthodox disciple of the Wenjian Sect; this much had long since been investigated thoroughly.
She fell silent for a moment, but in the end did not pursue the question further.
"Never mind. If you don't know, then you don't know. This matter is of grave consequence—once you step out that door, let it rot in your belly."
"This subordinate understands." Gu Chengming bowed in response.
"I called you here today not only to ask about this matter, but for another thing as well."
Zhou Qingmu walked to the writing desk, her fingertip lightly tapping the tabletop:
"Your performance these past days has all been within this seat's sight. Especially that day aboard the Drunken Dream Boat—you used the discerning eye of ritual to shatter delusion, and made yourself the formation's eye to contend against the evil. Well done."
"Your comprehension of the «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» already stands among the finest of the younger generation—even back when this seat first created this method at the Imperial Academy, it was scarcely better than this."
Gu Chengming opened his mouth, suddenly feeling somewhat guilty at heart.
It seemed the Director didn't know he'd set up the formation by stealing the female cultivators' chairs?
"Only..."
Zhou Qingmu's tone shifted, her brows knitting slightly: "I observe the aura coursing through your body—though upright, balanced, and serene, in certain subtle places there remains a trace of obscurity. This is not for want of comprehension on your part, but because you have long dwelt within a sect, and still hold a sliver of estrangement from the loftiness of the court and the order of heaven and earth that this heart-method seeks."
Saying this, she drew from her sleeve a warm, lustrous jade slip and handed it to Gu Chengming:
"This is a letter in this seat's own hand. Within the Imperial Academy are stored some handwritten notes and insights on ritual law and cultivation that this seat left behind during my years of study there, never made public. If you have the leisure, you may take this token to the Imperial Academy Library to have a look—perhaps it can help you mend this last sliver of deficiency and carry your heart-method one step further."
Gu Chengming received the jade slip with both hands, his heart stirring.
The insights Zhou Qingmu had left behind—those were the comprehensions of a fifth-realm great cultivator; they might well be of great help in raising the Zhouli's favorability.
"Many thanks for the Director's guidance. This subordinate shall certainly study them diligently."
With the serious business concluded, the atmosphere relaxed a little. Gu Chengming put away the jade slip, hesitated, and in the end voiced the doubt in his heart:
"Director, regarding the evil cultivator slain aboard the boat that day—when this subordinate crossed blades with him, I found the cultivation method he used to be sinister and venomous beyond compare. Such methods do not seem like something an ordinary roving bandit or tribulation cultivator could master."
Zhou Qingmu caught the unspoken meaning in Gu Chengming's words, and did not conceal it either, saying: "That man was no ordinary rogue cultivator. He was of the Eternal Life Cult."
"The Eternal Life Cult?"
"This evil cult first appeared a hundred years ago. It does not cultivate the great Dao of ascension, but devotes itself solely to usurping the nation and consorting with demons, preaching the falsehood of eternal life—truly treating the people as straw dogs and turning the splendor of the Capital into a blood-cauldron."
A flicker of killing intent flashed through Zhou Qingmu's eyes:
"In the past, the Founding Emperor wielded his sword, allied the various sects, and exterminated their faction. Yet this vermin, though a centipede, dies hard—its baleful souls lurked in concealment, waiting for the demon-tide of the Northern Frontier to rise again so they might rekindle from dead ashes. What the disciples of the Eternal Life Cult practice are all evil arts of gouging out hearts to feed demons. We of the Night-Watch Bureau—seeing them, we must slay them."
Gu Chengming understood inwardly.
No wonder that tribulation cultivator had been so terrified at the sight of the Great Qian dragon energy and Zhou Qingmu.
And this also explained why a fourth-realm great cultivator would be willing to lie low in the Capital doing this sort of dirty business...
No wonder the voices at court directed against the Ministry of Rites and the Chancellor had been pressed down—this matter might truly have nothing to do with them.
"Many thanks to the Director for resolving my doubts." Gu Chengming cupped his hands.
Zhou Qingmu nodded: "Go. As for the Imperial Academy, remember to go take a look soon."
...
Though the case of the Drunken Dream Boat had been classified, its aftermath had yet to settle.
Over on the Harmonious Joy Sect's side, Steward Yun Wan felt, regarding this matter, both fortunate and self-reproaching.
Fortunate, because thanks to Gu Chengming's early warning, though the Drunken Dream Boat's reputation had been damaged, it had not been utterly smashed, and those scions of the powerful and noble had all come through safe and sound. Self-reproaching, because even though Gu Chengming had fed the intelligence right to her lips, she had still underestimated the enemy's methods, letting the formation activate and nearly brewing a great catastrophe.
For this reason, Yun Wan specially entrusted someone to relay a message to Gu Chengming, her words exhausting every humility and gratitude, and she solemnly promised that once she had dealt with the mess on her hands, she would certainly call upon him in person to present a generous gift worthy of this life-saving grace.
As for what that generous gift would be—though it was not stated outright, given the Harmonious Joy Sect's depth of resources, it shouldn't be too shabby.
And in the small courtyard of Jishan Ward, the atmosphere was somewhat subtle.
Yu Wenqiu had seemed exceptionally well-behaved these past few days.
After all, as a Dao-protector, as a dignified Elder of the Wenjian Sect, she had actually fallen asleep at the most crucial moment.
Although she had been caught off guard by a third-realm formation, this was nonetheless a singular disgrace and humiliation for her.
Every time she thought of how Gu Chengming had been fighting for his very life inside while she slept soundly outside—even waking with crumbs of pastry still hanging at the corner of her mouth—she felt boundlessly guilty.
And so, these past few days she not only took the initiative to take over the chore of feeding the cat, but even, for the first time ever, went to the kitchen and tried her hand at cooking congee a few times—
—although the taste was still hard to describe, this attitude of repentance was performed in full measure.
As for within the Hidden Dragon Court, Song Qing admired Gu Chengming all the more.
He told everyone he met of that night's experience aboard the Drunken Dream Boat, and the entire Night-Watch Bureau, too, had its morale greatly boosted by this case.
Gu Chengming, for his part, felt nothing much about it; he still reported in each day, cultivated, and went home to tease the guilt-ridden Elder Yu.
Until, several days later.
Afternoon, the sky slightly overcast, the clouds hanging low, carrying a sultry stuffiness of rain that wished to fall yet hadn't.
Gu Chengming had just returned from reporting in at the Night-Watch Bureau. Before he had even set foot in that little alley of Jishan Ward, he spotted from afar a figure waiting outside the gate of his own courtyard.
Today Yun Wan did not wear the long-sleeved, socially-deft steward's gauze dress of her ordinary days, but had changed into a plain, low-key cyan robe; even the dangling hairpin in her coiffure had been removed, leaving only a single wooden hairpin to hold up her hair.
Seeing Gu Chengming approach, she stepped briskly forward.
"Young Master Gu."
Yun Wan's face bore a look of contrition, her voice sincere:
"For the matter of the Drunken Dream Boat a few days ago, it was thanks to Young Master that the tide was turned. This humble one has been busy with the cleanup these days, and only today have I freed up my hands; I come specially to fulfill my earlier promise."
Gu Chengming made a token gesture of helping her up: "Steward Yun overstates it. As for what happened that day, I too was merely protecting myself."
"Young Master is too modest."
Yun Wan straightened up and drew from her sleeve a jade token carved with a twin-lotus pattern, presenting it with both hands:
"This is a small token of regard from the sect. Besides that, as this humble one mentioned before, an Elder within the sect heard of Young Master's deeds—and especially upon learning that Young Master holds considerable interest in our sect's cultivation methods—specially sent word, wishing to invite Young Master to the Yayuan for a talk."
"An Elder?"
Gu Chengming's brows rose slightly as he took the jade token. It was warm to the touch, with a faint flowing light circulating within—clearly no mortal object.
One who could be called an Elder of the Harmonious Joy Sect would have a cultivation of at least the fourth realm to start, and might even be a great power half a step into the fifth realm.
Surely they wouldn't deliberately want to see her over that little matter from before.
Gu Chengming rubbed the jade token, pondered briefly, and then nodded in assent.
It was both for that Harmonious Joy Sect method he had so longed for, and to probe the depths of this other great power in the Capital.
Since the other party treated him with courtesy, there was no need for him to be timid and shrink back.
Upon arriving at the Yayuan, Gu Chengming unexpectedly noticed several things different from his last visit.
The rouge-and-powder fragrance that usually drifted in the air seemed much fainter, replaced by the smell of some unknown spirit-herb after burning.
The main hall was still brightly lit, yet those maidens who usually flitted about like butterflies among flowers were nowhere to be seen; only a few inner-gate disciples with cultivation in hand stood guard at the various key passages.
The once-lively strings and woodwinds were gone too. The whole Yayuan was almost excessively quiet—even the sound of footsteps on the thick carpet could be heard clearly.
"The Yayuan is closed to guests today?" Gu Chengming asked offhandedly.
"The Elder favors quiet." Yun Wan explained softly, treading very lightly: "To welcome the Elder's arrival, this humble one dismissed all idle persons yesterday and rearranged the isolation formations anew."
Gu Chengming nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping inadvertently over the pillars flanking the corridor.
[Piercing Insight]was not activated, but by that mysterious intuition he could still sense that the spiritual energy drifting in this air seemed to have grown somewhat viscous.
Passing through a nine-bend corridor and crossing several rockeries and flowing streams, the two finally stopped before a secluded little lodge situated in the deepest recess of the Yayuan.
"After you, Young Master."
Yun Wan stopped at the courtyard gate and did not go further, instead respectfully stepping aside to yield the way:
"The Elder awaits within. This humble one is of lowly station, and dare not enter without leave."
Gu Chengming glanced at her, straightened his robes and cap, pushed open that half-shut bamboo door, and stepped inside.
There were no attendant maids within the courtyard.
There was only, beneath an enormous peach tree, a broad reclining chair draped with snow-white fox fur.
And upon that reclining chair lay a figure on its side.
Gu Chengming stepped forward a few paces, and when he made out the person's appearance clearly, his steps couldn't help but falter slightly, an extremely obvious flash of astonishment and strangeness passing through his eyes.
It was not the crane-haired, child-faced, immortal-boned old crone he had imagined, nor was it the sort of bewitching, naturally coquettish beauty.
What met his eyes was, astonishingly, a girl who looked no more than in the bloom of early youth—about fourteen or fifteen years old?
That "girl" wore a somewhat oversized crimson gauze robe, her jade-like little feet bare, at the moment with one leg crossed over the other, holding in her hands a scroll of some unknown storybook, reading it with great relish.
Her figure was petite, one might even say a bit slight, and set against that broad fox fur she looked just like a little girl who'd sneaked into an adult's clothes.
Especially that chest, flat as a plain, with not the slightest undulation.
Even so, Gu Chengming sensed the coercive pressure of the fourth realm coming from her.
Just as he was grumbling inwardly, that "girl" on the reclining chair seemed to sense something. She stretched out a great big lazy stretch and let out a languid little hum through her nose.
"You're here?"
As the storybook slid down, it revealed beneath it that exquisite little face, like a porcelain doll's.
She did not rise; she merely tilted her head slightly and sized Gu Chengming up several times over.
That sort of gaze, were it some grown, beautiful woman doing it, might have been full of charm.
But set upon such a little girl who looked all of fifteen, Gu Chengming only found it rather incongruous.
"This junior, Gu Chengming of the Wenjian Sect, greets the Elder of the Harmonious Joy Sect."
Gu Chengming forced down the subtle feeling in his heart and offered a respectful salute.
"No need for ceremony, no need."
The Elder waved a hand, her voice crisp as a silver bell, yet carrying a thoroughly world-weary, old-fogey flavor.
She sat up straight on the reclining chair—and because her legs weren't long enough, those bare feet couldn't even reach the ground, dangling in midair instead.
She patted the stone stool beside her and said with a beaming smile: "Why sit so far away? I won't eat you. Come over, let me have a good look at you."
Gu Chengming did as told and came forward, sitting down at a distance of three paces from her.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
The Elder leaned her body forward, that exquisite little face nearly pressing up to the tip of Gu Chengming's nose.
"Truly a man of fine bearing, dashing and imposing."
She stretched out a tender, pale finger and traced the outline of Gu Chengming's profile in the air, her eyes growing ever brighter:
"That girl Yun Wan really didn't deceive me—the Wenjian Sect has picked up quite the treasure this time."
"I hear you're very interested in our Harmonious Joy Sect's cultivation methods?"
Gu Chengming leaned his body back slightly, evading that finger, and with a somewhat stiff expression cupped his hands:
"That is indeed so. This junior, roaming the mortal world, holds considerable yearning for your sect's ideal of 'yin and yang complementing each other, the great Dao cultivated together,' and thus a curiosity arose in me."
Seeing Gu Chengming sitting so bolt upright and prim, as though facing a great enemy, the Elder couldn't help but giggle out loud. She laughed so hard the flowering branches trembled, and even those little feet dangling in midair kicked about wildly.
"Aiya, no need to be so tense, and no need to speak all these high-sounding, ceremonious platitudes."
She leaned back against the chair again, casually grabbed a spirit fruit and took a bite, and said indistinctly:
"As the saying goes, appetite and lust are human nature. For a man—whether he's interested in our Harmonious Joy Sect's methods, or interested in our Harmonious Joy Sect's female cultivators, or interested in that dual cultivation—it's all the most natural thing in the world."
As she spoke, she suddenly tossed away the spirit fruit core in her hand, clapped her hands, and her expression grew a touch more serious.
"Since you're interested, then let's throw open the skylight and speak plainly."
She stared into Gu Chengming's eyes and slowly opened her mouth, her words startling:
"Do you have any thought of joining our Harmonious Joy Sect?"
Gu Chengming was stunned.
Before he could even answer, the Elder raised three fingers: "So long as you nod now, this seat can decide it on the spot—let you skip straight past the outer gate and be promoted to a core inner-gate disciple."
She withdrew one finger: "In just two years, this seat guarantees you'll become a true-inheritor disciple."
"As for the Wenjian Sect's side, you needn't worry either."
She withdrew another finger and mused: "Our Harmonious Joy Sect will go and talk with them in person."
These words could be called brimming with sincerity.
One must understand that the Wenjian Sect was a holy land of sword cultivators; the Harmonious Joy Sect, though wealthy, had always been a notch inferior in direct combat strength.
And now, to poach a single second-realm disciple of theirs, they were actually willing to tear face with the Wenjian Sect at any cost?
Though Gu Chengming had no intention of switching sect allegiances, he couldn't help but feel a few stirrings of curiosity.
Although he'd performed rather well, slaying a few evils, in the eyes of these great powers he surely shouldn't yet count as some peerless genius of the age?
As if seeing through the doubt in Gu Chengming's heart, the Elder didn't keep him in suspense.
"Finding it strange, aren't you? Feeling the conditions this seat offers are too good—so good they seem a little unreal?"
She stuck out the tip of her tongue and lightly licked her lips:
"The truth is, before I came, those few old fogeys back in the sect were still squabbling, feeling it not worth offending the Wenjian Sect over a single second-realm sword cultivator. This seat came with a 'let's just have a look' attitude too."
"But..."
She pointed at Gu Chengming:
"The instant I laid eyes on you, this seat knew—there's no one else in this world more suited to the Harmonious Joy Sect than you."
Having said this, she shook her head, her eyes full of wonder:
"Tsk tsk, this seat has cultivated for over four hundred years and seen countless people, yet it's been ages since I last saw such a perfectly natural, flawless Charm Bone."
Hearing this, Gu Chengming's face was covered in black lines, thinking to himself: what's this 'Charm Bone'? Is that word even appropriate for him?
Before he could speak, that inner-gate female Elder of the Harmonious Joy Sect continued: "Oh, I forgot you're of the Wenjian Sect—it's only natural you wouldn't know what a Charm Bone is."
"We usually use this term to describe someone quite suited to cultivating the Harmonious Joy Sect's methods, regardless of whether they're man or woman."
Saying this, her tone carried a touch of teasing:
"How about it? So long as you agree, within the Harmonious Joy Sect, no matter which inner-gate female disciple you wish to dual-cultivate with, I imagine none of them would refuse you."
[Hundred Bones Resonance is furious—what Charm Bone, that's called an Emperor Bone!]
Ignoring Heavenly Emperor Bai's chiming-in.
Gu Chengming sighed and declined without the slightest hesitation:
"I am grateful for Senior's kind regard, but this junior is deeply indebted to the grace of my master's sect; my sword-heart is already set, and I have absolutely no thought of switching sect allegiances."
Hearing this, the Elder's face showed no sign of anger or disappointment, as though she'd long since anticipated this result.
"That figures."
She lay back down in the chair and shrugged:
"Though that bunch of sword cultivators in the Wenjian Sect are dull, they're famously protective of their own. If you really agreed this easily, this seat would instead start doubting your character."
Just as Gu Chengming thought the matter had fallen through and that he was utterly without fate for the Harmonious Joy Sect's methods, the Elder's tone took a turn:
"Not wanting to join the sect is no matter either. If you want to learn our Harmonious Joy Sect's methods, there's actually another path you can choose."
As she spoke, she flipped her wrist, and in her palm appeared a scroll-contract of some special material, which she then handed to Gu Chengming.
Gu Chengming looked at the contents of the contract.
The earlier clauses were normal enough—nothing but the usual constraints of not transmitting it to outsiders, not using the method to do evil, and the like.
But when he reached the last line, his whole person froze.
[One who practices this method must, upon the method's great completion, or once every ten years, go to the Harmonious Joy Sect's forbidden ground to fulfill the duty of feeding.]
"Feeding?"
Gu Chengming pointed at that line, his face full of bewilderment: "Senior, what is the meaning of these two words, 'the duty of feeding'?"
Seeing Gu Chengming's clueless look, the Elder sighed, wearing an expression of "young people these days really are unworldly."
She shifted into a more comfortable posture and, unhurried and methodical, said:
"Why do you think the Harmonious Joy Sect can always have so many spirit stones to give its disciples for dual-cultivating with other cultivators?"
Gu Chengming was slightly taken aback; this was something he really hadn't considered.
"Could it be by means of its enterprises?" he ventured, since the Drunken Dream Boat and the Yayuan both looked very profitable.
"Those are but loose change."
The Elder gave a scornful laugh and shook a single raised finger: "What truly supports our Harmonious Joy Sect in standing unshaken is a supreme treasure of heaven and earth—the Yin-Yang Fish."
"This fish is born of chaos and grows amid yin and yang; it is an exceedingly rare spirit creature between heaven and earth. Once every ten years, it can take in and expel the essence-qi of heaven and earth, gestating a single Yin-Yang Pill."
"But..."
The Elder sighed, her tone carrying a few more notes of helplessness:
"This Yin-Yang Fish is awfully delicate. To get it to produce a pill smoothly, one must feed it with extremely pure 'yin and yang twin-qi.'"
"Yin-qi is easy to speak of—our Harmonious Joy Sect has a great many female disciples, and the methods they cultivate are mostly those of gathering yin to replenish yang, or of the soft-yin path; just pick a few of fine aptitude and it's satisfied."
"The difficulty lies in this yang-qi."
She looked at Gu Chengming, her gaze deep and distant: "For nearly a hundred years, our Harmonious Joy Sect has had flourishing yin and waning yang. The male disciples we recruit are few to begin with, and even when there's the occasional good one, most of them simply can't cultivate to that realm partway through."
"The last seed-fish that could produce pure-yang qi... that was already fifty years ago."
Gu Chengming listened with cold sweat streaming down.
"So..." he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and pointed at himself, "Senior sought me out because..."
"That's right."
The Elder snapped her fingers and looked at him with a beaming smile:
"You bear a Charm Bone, you're naturally abundant in yang-qi, and you're a sword cultivator besides, of strong physique and not easily cut down before your time—naturally the best candidate for cooperation."
This deal sounded, it seemed... quite worthwhile?
Gu Chengming quickly weighed it in his heart and agreed.
Seeing the matter settled, the Elder was clearly in an excellent mood.
She hopped down from the reclining chair, bare feet treading on ground strewn with fallen peach blossoms, and stepped up to Gu Chengming pace by pace.
"Hehehe..."
She let out a string of silver-bell laughter, that exquisite little face that looked all of fifteen nearly pressing against Gu Chengming's chest, those big eyes blinking and flashing as they stared at him, full of mischief and mockery.
"Since we're our own people now, then don't be so reserved."
She reached out a small hand, wanting to poke Gu Chengming's chest, only for Gu Chengming to instinctively retreat a step and evade it.
To be stared at by a girl who looked not yet of age, with such a world-weary yet teasing gaze, and to have her getting handsy besides—this feeling was... truly far too subtle, far too much of an ordeal.
"Senior, please conduct yourself with dignity."
"Aiyoyo..."
The Elder laughed all the more merrily. Clasping her hands behind her back, she circled around Gu Chengming once:
"Look at the state of you—you can't loosen up even this much in front of me?"
She stopped in front of Gu Chengming, tilted her head up slightly, and said with a face full of narcissism:
"Little fellow, don't go by the way I look now. Back in the day, when this seat was young, I too was the fairest of them all. In this cultivation world of the Nine Provinces, I had the fame of 'one glance from her leads the Dao-heart astray.'"
"How many leaders of the orthodox path and titans of the demonic path broke their heads crowding into our Harmonious Joy Sect just for a single glance at this seat."
As she spoke, the Elder blinked.
Because the method she cultivated could conjure forth the form most able to stir up the other party's desires... seeing Gu Chengming in this state, she couldn't help but grow a little curious.
Just what did she look like in his eyes, to make him so tense?
Gu Chengming hesitated a moment, but in the end decided to tell the truth.
He stretched out a hand, gesturing a height in the air, then drew a flat line across his own chest: "In this junior's eyes, you're a girl who looks about fifteen, whose figure hasn't yet filled out, somewhat lacking."
The smile froze on the Elder's face.
What the method reflected should be the most perfect image in the other party's heart.
If he liked young girls, then the illusion should be that sort of flawless, top-grade girl—green and unripe, yes, but with everything where it should be. How could it possibly be "lacking"?
No, no, it might also be that his tastes were rather peculiar.
Somewhat refusing to believe it, she had Gu Chengming go on describing.
And the more detailed the other party's description grew, the wider her mouth fell open.
By the time he finished, she looked down at her own chest that hadn't developed in several hundred years, then looked at this body of hers that—because she'd cultivated some special method of reverting to youth—was forever frozen at the age of fifteen.
The Elder abruptly raised her head, and that little face, which had originally worn mockery and composure, in that instant flushed crimson, red all the way to the roots of her ears.
"What's wrong, Senior? Did this junior say something wrong?"
This true body of hers, being far too childish and not full enough, had always made her quite self-conscious.
And so before outsiders, she had always used illusion to maintain a mature, gorgeous image; for several hundred years no one had seen her true face, and she had always styled herself "the number-one beauty of the Harmonious Joy Sect"—and yet today...
Forcibly suppressing her emotions of mortified, dying-of-shame fury, she spoke up:
"Take the method and go, go! Go!"
Hastily and clumsily catching the method the other party tossed at him—though he had no idea why this Elder had suddenly gone berserk, the thing was in hand, so he couldn't be bothered to look into it deeply.
"Many thanks, Senior, for bestowing the method."
Gu Chengming, ever so tactful, gave a salute, then turned and left.
Even after he'd walked out of the little lodge, he could still hear from within a fit of frenzied bed-pounding and stifled shrieks.
So what on earth was going on?
Gu Chengming, leaving the Yayuan, couldn't help feeling rather puzzled.
[The Huiyuan Sword Formula slowly stirs awake, all groggy and muddled.]
[It mutters: Chengming, your sword... can it really be eaten?]
"?"
Now Gu Chengming knew what was going on.
...
By the time he returned to the small courtyard of Jishan Ward, the night was already deep.
Gu Chengming pushed open the door and lit an oil lamp on the writing desk. The feeble flame leapt and danced, casting the pink jade slip carved with a Harmonious Joy flower into a warm, lustrous, crystalline glow.
He sat cross-legged upon the couch, drew a deep breath, and sent his divine sense probing into the jade slip.
This method, named the «Yin-Yang Creation Manual», was indeed, just as that Harmonious Joy Sect Elder had said, not the crude sort of dual-cultivation art that circulated among the common streets.
From the opening it made its meaning plain, stressing that "lone yin does not give birth, lone yang does not grow," using one's own body as cauldron and furnace to harmonize the yin and yang twin-qi of heaven and earth, and thereby to nourish oneself in return—seeking that realm of the great Dao's perfect harmony.
Only, this method's qi-circulation route was rather treacherous.
Not only did it have to pass through several hidden meridians that ordinary cultivators avoided like the plague, it also required an extremely powerful mind to rein in that restless fire of desire; the slightest carelessness, and the outcome was to go berserk and fall into demonic possession.
However, when Gu Chengming tentatively circulated the first heavenly cycle according to the method's mnemonics—
The spiritual power within his body, originally upright, balanced, and serene, the very instant it touched this heart-method, actually let out a joyful humming, like meeting a long-lost kinsman parted for many years.
Without any need for him to expend effort guiding it, that spiritual energy, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, smoothly and effortlessly burst open those passes that in others' eyes were like impassable natural chasms.
[The «Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method» finds this method to be corrupting of public morals, and after a fierce inner struggle, finally decides—for the sake of the greater good—to personally step onto the field and direct the work.]
[It has already readied a bellyful of grand principles about "preserving the Heavenly Principle and extinguishing human desire," preparing to deliver a sound thrashing the moment that newly-arrived method steps out of line.]
Over the next few days.
Although the case of the Drunken Dream Boat on Shangyuan Eve had been officially classified as the work of an evil cult, with the chief culprit slain, this did not put those few great personages within the Night-Watch Bureau and the Imperial City at ease.
The Night-Patrol Guards of the Night-Watch Bureau began deploying frequently, searching every corner of the Capital for the faintest trace of clues; abandoned Daoist temples and out-of-the-way charnel houses were all turned upside down.
Yet the Eternal Life Cult, having shed its tail to survive, left no further trace.
The common folk in the wards, by contrast, recovered quickly.
The Drunken Dream Boat reopened for business; though it had lost a bit of its liveliness, it was still all wine and lantern-light.
The storytellers in the teahouses had already spun that night's tale into its eighteenth version.
In the small courtyard of Jishan Ward, the days still passed at their own unhurried pace.
Early morning, a light frost.
Gu Chengming pushed open the door and was met with an indescribable burnt, scorched smell.
In the courtyard, Yu Wenqiu was crouched beside the little red-clay stove, a palm-leaf fan in hand, grimy-faced and disheveled, locked in a struggle with an earthenware pot.
That orange cat which had originally been sleeping on the swing was at this moment huddled in a corner of the wall, staring in terror at that earthenware pot belching black smoke, clearly having had some premonition.
Seeing Gu Chengming come out, Yu Wenqiu flusteredly hid the palm-leaf fan behind her back and squeezed out an extremely unnatural smile, a streak of black ash smudged on her cheek:
"Little Gu's up? So early?"
"Elder, what's this?" Gu Chengming looked at that pitiful earthenware pot, the corner of his eye twitching slightly.
"Ahem, that, um..." Yu Wenqiu's gaze drifted: "I figured you've been working hard at cultivation these days—worried you might be running yourself down."
Ever since she'd slept through it aboard the Drunken Dream Boat last time and let Gu Chengming shoulder everything alone, this Elder Yu had fallen into an extremely awkward period of making amends.
Gu Chengming found it amusing. He walked over and lifted the lid for a look.
Mm—a blackened lump, in which one could faintly make out scorched red dates, undissolved donkey-hide gelatin, and some unidentifiable medicinal herbs.
"The Elder is very thoughtful."
Gu Chengming put the lid back without batting an eye and turned to look at Yu Wenqiu:
"But these past few days, cultivating this method has my yang-qi running high within—it's truly not suitable for any more heavy tonics. Why not keep this congee for yourself, Elder? Or else..."
He glanced at the orange cat in the corner.
The orange cat let out a shrill, miserable yowl and went scrambling and tumbling over the wall, its movements so nimble it didn't seem at all like a fat cat.
Gu Chengming had no choice but to cook himself some noodles, and cooked a portion for Elder Yu while he was at it.
...
The «Yin-Yang Creation Manual's» progress was astonishingly fast.
In a mere five days, Gu Chengming had already glimpsed its threshold.
"It's time."
Gu Chengming drew a deep breath and began to assail that final layer of membrane.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, nor any peril of going berserk; everything seemed to fall into place when conditions were ripe, accompanied by a faint "click" sounding within his body.
[Congratulations! The «Yin-Yang Creation Manual» has been cultivated to the entry level.]
[Charm +2]
[Current Charm: 27]
[Conquest target selected: the «Yin-Yang Creation Manual»]
[Favorability: 5 / Stranger]
[The «Yin-Yang Creation Manual» slowly stirs awake, and after coming to its senses, begins to size you up in fine detail, quite satisfied.]
Oh, it looks rather friendly.
So thought Gu Chengming.
[The Zhouli Heavenly Harmony Righteous Heart Method has long been waiting in the wings, gathering its momentum, just waiting for this newly-arrived Harmonious Joy Sect method to utter some foul, obscene words so it can strike it head-on.]
Damn, why are you so unfriendly?!
Gu Chengming instantly grew tense.
[After sizing you up for a long while, the «Yin-Yang Creation Manual» finally opens its mouth to ask:]
[How many female leads have you taken in so far? How many do you plan to take in next? Is it an all-virgins-all-collected situation?]
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