Chapter 35: A Bowl of Congee in the Daoist Temple

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: A Bowl of Congee in the Daoist Temple

The journey from Lin Family Castle in the south of the Zhao Country to Dao Yi Mountain spanned a distance of twelve hundred li.

The party from Lin Family Castle, journeying to apprentice themselves to a master, had thus departed half a month prior.

The passengers in the carriage were young masters and ladies accustomed to a life of luxury. Naturally, they couldn’t travel through the night. They stopped to rest whenever they reached a town.

For the past two days, the procession had been traveling through the region of Kaolao Mountain, eight hundred li shy of Dao Yi Mountain. The area was sparsely populated, leaving the young master and lady in the carriage feeling thoroughly bored and restless.

A wild wind kicked up today, filling the air with dust, and it looked as if it would rain that night.

The handsome pair in the carriage had long since lost their patience.

"I told Father to send a larger escort with us! Now we just have this one carriage, we can’t even find a place to sleep for the night, and we have to suffer through this awful wind and rain. Sister, this is all your fault."

The speaker was Lin Baibai, the eldest son of Lin Yunhe, the Southern Martial Arts Alliance Leader.

His sister, Lin Qingqing, rolled her eyes. "Say one more word and I’ll slap you silly. You want to try me?"

Though he was the eldest brother and a young master, he was both angry and frustrated, but ultimately, he didn’t dare talk back to his sister again.

Ever since they were children, his sister’s talent for Martial Arts had been far superior to his. It was so exceptional that this shameless old man had insisted on tagging along on their journey to Dao Yi Mountain, trying all along the way to dissuade her from apprenticing there.

"Little lass, I’ll say it again. That old monster Chen Canxuan is dead. Dao Yi Mountain is just a name now, a shadow of its former self. What ’greatest sect under heaven’? There’s nothing left but a couple of kittens."

Squeezed into the carriage with the two siblings was a goateed old man in a tattered cotton coat. He warmed his hands by the carriage stove as he repeated the same old speech Lin Qingqing was sick of hearing.

"Become my disciple. What I can teach you is no worse than what those kittens on Dao Yi Mountain have to offer. Besides, I can teach you right at Lin Family Castle. We could turn around and head home right now, no need to suffer the wind and snow of this journey."

Lin Baibai always found the way this tattered-coated old man spoke to be rather sleazy. But whenever he glimpsed the Divine Sword resting beside the old man, his solemnity returned.

That sword, it was said, was one of the six from the sword-case of Chu Yankai—the man ranked "Second Under Heaven" on the list of the world’s greatest masters fifty years ago.

Each of Chu Yankai’s six swords was world-renowned. For an ordinary Swordsman, obtaining even one meant doubling the power of their Swordsmanship.

The fact that this old man in the tattered coat possessed one was proof enough that he was extraordinary.

This old man was none other than Sword Crown Wuu Liusheng, the "Southern Sword Champion" of the renowned "Southern Sword Champion, North Dugu" duo, who were unrivaled in the Martial Arts world of the Zhao Country.

His level of Martial Arts was a cut above even that of Lin Baibai’s father, the Southern Martial Arts Alliance Leader.

By chance, the old man had visited the Lin Family last year and discovered that his sister was an uncut diamond of the Sword Path. He became dead set on pouring out all his knowledge and teaching it to her.

But Lin Qingqing, for her part, stubbornly refused to learn from him.

"I’ve told you countless times, old man. I don’t like practicing with swords, so why should I become your disciple?"

The young woman in the carriage said,

"In the last hundred years, have you ever seen a swordsman become the greatest in the world? I want to learn the *Great Yellow Court* from Chen Canxuan, who *was* the greatest. Even though he’s passed on, Dao Yi Mountain must still possess that Superior Martial Arts."

The old man in the tattered coat sneered. "And who says practicing the *Great Yellow Court* guarantees success? Chen Canxuan taught it to three of the current Dao Yi’s Six Disciples, and I’ve yet to see them amount to much."

With that, he turned back to Lin Qingqing and pleaded, "My dear young lady, you were born to wield a sword! Why go and learn some Daoist Martial Arts? We Swordsmen thrust out a blade, and everything falls before it. It’s elegant, it’s dashing!"

"What path I’m suited for is none of your business," Lin Qingqing said, ignoring the old man. She poked her head out through the carriage flaps and called,

"Uncle Lin, we’re not actually going to sleep in the carriage tonight, are we?"

The driver heard her and turned around with a gentle smile. "Don’t you worry, miss. I’ve traveled this road a few times. If my memory serves, there’s a dilapidated Daoist Temple about twenty li up ahead. We can ask to take shelter there for the night."

"Oh, good."

The carriage continued onward. Around midnight, they finally spotted a dilapidated Daoist Temple at the foot of a mountain beside the main road, just as promised.

The four of them entered the Daoist Temple, only to find a campfire already lit inside.

When Lin Qingqing stepped inside, she saw two campfires burning in the dilapidated Divine Hall. Something was cooking over one of them.

Three people were gathered around the fire with the pot.

"Oh? Are you all just passing through and stopping here to rest, too?" Lin Qingqing asked, stepping inside with a red cloak draped over her shoulders.

As she spoke, she noticed that one of the three, a slightly older man, was missing an arm and a leg. He was severely disabled, leaning back against a shrine.

Beside him, a young boy and girl, both around fourteen or fifteen, were tending to a pot of porridge and looking after the man.

Without turning her head, the girl cooking the porridge replied, "That person over there is the traveler. We live here."

Lin Qingqing quickly replied, "I apologize for the intrusion. We were also hoping to take shelter from the storm."

Still without turning, the girl said, "Suit yourselves."

Lin Baibai leaned closer to his sister and whispered, "There’s something odd about these people. We should be careful."

With that, they found a spot sheltered from the wind about five *zhang* away from the trio and settled down.

The old man in the tattered coat glanced at the disabled man and the two youths, tutting. "What a pair of outstanding martial physiques. A pity they’re held back by a cripple..."

Lin Qingqing asked, her curiosity piqued, "Old man, do you mean those two children are very talented in Martial Arts?"

The old man turned and grinned. "They’re not as talented as you are."

Lin Qingqing ignored the flattery, but she couldn’t help but cast a curious glance toward the trio.

Gradually, the fragrant aroma of the simmering porridge wafted through the air.

It made the stomachs of Lin Qingqing’s group rumble, so they too took an iron pot from their carriage and began to prepare a meal.

Just then, Lin Qingqing heard a young man’s voice come from the other campfire.

"Excuse me... young miss. Could I possibly buy some of your porridge? I’ve run out of the provisions I brought with me."

The young man looked a bit embarrassed, holding a piece of silver in his hand.

The girl paused, then hesitated for a long moment before saying, "You can keep the money. Just bring over a bowl, and I’ll ladle some out for you."

The young man said awkwardly, "I don’t have a bowl."

The girl sighed in resignation. "We only have three bowls. You’ll have to wait until after I’ve served my master and senior brother. Then you can have what’s left in the pot."

The young man was overjoyed. "Thank you so much!"

A moment later, the girl had filled bowls for the three of them and handed the porridge pot over to the young man.

Over on their side, Lin Qingqing’s group had started grilling meat—the finest cured cuts they had brought from Lin Family Castle.

The rich aroma of grilling meat soon began to drift through the air.

But Lin Qingqing noticed that the trio of the crippled master and his disciples seemed oblivious to the smell, simply sipping their plain porridge one mouthful at a time.

When they had finished their porridge, the girl glanced at the young man drinking straight from the pot and chuckled.

"How could you be so foolish? Traveling all this way without packing enough food."

The young man sheepishly lowered the little pot and replied, "Before I set out, someone told me that half a month’s rations would be enough to get to Dao Yi Mountain. I only realized after I’d walked this far that they must have meant traveling on horseback..."

"Dao Yi Mountain?"

Unexpectedly, at the mention of those three words, the girl’s expression changed. The boy beside her reacted the same way. Both of them immediately fixed their gazes on the young man.

"What are you going to Dao Yi Mountain for?"

The young man’s expression turned serious. "To be perfectly honest, my name is Qii Zhengyi, and I am traveling to Dao Yi Mountain in the hopes of being accepted as a disciple of the Major Sect."

Immediately, gazes from several different corners of the small Daoist Temple all turned to him.

"You’re going to Dao Yi Mountain to become a disciple?"

"You’re *also* going to Dao Yi Mountain to become a disciple?"

Two similar, yet very different, questions came from different corners of the temple.

The first question came from the pair of youths with the disabled man.

The second came from Lin Qingqing, who was five *zhang* away.

The moment both questions were asked at once, the air in the small Daoist Temple instantly grew deathly still, heavy with tension.

"Apprenticing yourself to Dao Yi Mountain?"

Then, her face flushing with anger, the girl who had been cooking the porridge surged forward, snatched back the pot, and raged,

"You—spit out my porridge! Spit it out right now!"