Chapter 40: Dashan Descends the Mountain

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Dashan Descends the Mountain

"Fourth Brother... do you have a date for your return?"

Just a simple sentence.

But when Wei Dashan saw the desolation and sorrow in the young man’s eyes, it felt like a punch to the gut. A sharp, bitter pang surged through him.

He had come to say his farewells because each day on the mountain had become more painful than the last. He felt that on the day of their master’s wake, he had completely alienated Chen Sha. So, he had planned to use the excuse of renewing the sect’s old Jianghu relationships to get off the mountain and find some peace and quiet for a while.

After all, for the past three or four months on the mountain, not a single person had dared to approach him to speak. He was utterly miserable.

But after Chen Sha asked that question...

’A date for his return?’

Wei Dashan never imagined Chen Sha would think he wasn’t coming back.

’He’s afraid I’ll leave for good?’

He certainly hadn’t expected to see such desolation and sorrow in Chen Sha’s eyes.

This trace of emotion sent an inexplicable pang through Wei Dashan’s heart. He’d assumed that his petty actions before their master’s spirit tablet—siding with Fifth Brother—had already broken his Little Junior Brother’s heart.

And yet, here he was, merely wanting to leave the mountain for a breath of fresh air, and Chen Sha thought he was planning to abandon Dao Yi Mountain for good.

The emotion in his eyes was genuine, a sorrowful reluctance to see him go.

Dao Yi’s Six Disciples... there were only six of them.

Fifth Brother was gone. Only a few of their martial brothers remained. And now he was leaving too?

"Little Junior Brother."

Wei Dashan’s chest heaved, his breath catching in his throat. Suppressing the urge to sob, he said:

"This... this is my home. I’m just going down the mountain to take care of a few things, but I have to come home eventually. Unless you forbid me from returning, where else in the world could I possibly go?"

Chen Sha glanced at his Fourth Brother. "As long as you come home, that’s all that matters."

Wei Dashan took a deep breath. "I’ll be back in less than half a year. Sect Leader, please take care."

With those words, Wei Dashan bowed deeply, then turned and strode out of Chen Sha’s room.

The moment he stepped outside,

Hot tears streamed down his face, yet he felt a sense of relief he hadn’t experienced in three or four months.

In a daze, the image of the young Sect Leader sitting there just now merged with a scene from his memories.

That year,

It was his third year on Dao Yi Mountain. He was sixteen.

That was the year their master left the mountain for half a month. When he returned, he was holding a swaddled infant. He called all five of them—his disciples—before him.

"This is my only son in this world. I’ve brought him home today. From now on, he will be your Sixth Junior Brother. As his older brothers and sister, you must protect him as he grows. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Master!"

He remembered how not just him, but even Fifth Brother, who was only sixteen at the time, had puffed out his chest and declared it like an oath.

Then, one by one, they had all peered curiously at the baby in the bundle, not even a year old.

Back then, when they had all promised their master they would protect their youngest brother no matter what, every single one of them had been sincere.

But as the years passed on the mountain,

and as Chen Sha grew to manhood,

When had he started to drift away from his Little Junior Brother and grow closer to Fifth Brother?

’Was it when the difference in their martial arts talent began to emerge?’

’He started to think that even though Little Junior Brother was the master’s son, he wasn’t fit to inherit the position of Sect Leader. Fifth Brother was the most suitable person to take over Dao Yi Mountain. And so, for a time he became Fifth Brother’s staunchest supporter.’

’Gradually, he stopped talking to his Little Junior Brother as much.’

’This continued until the day they vied for the title before their master’s spirit tablet. Fifth Brother was defeated and chose self-exile, leaving the mountain. As the one who had spoken up for Fifth Brother, the one who had most obviously expected him to win, Wei Dashan became even more estranged from Chen Sha.’

’He never expected that despite all that,’

’Chen Sha still saw him as one of the few family members he had left. So much so that what should have been a simple farewell, Chen Sha had feared was a final goodbye, and had tried to make him stay.’

How many blood brothers, inseparable in their youth, who could talk about anything, find themselves drifting apart as they age? Their relationship becomes distant, and the innocent bond of childhood is lost.

Wei Dashan was one of them.

But how many are as fortunate as he, Wei Dashan, to be able to mend that relationship and reconcile just as they are about to drift apart for good?

A person who cannot stand to see others succeed, or to see others be more brilliant than themselves, lacks a magnanimous heart.

He never thought that the Little Junior Brother he’d once dismissed would, at some point, not only master profound Martial Arts far surpassing his peers but also develop a heart more magnanimous than Fifth Brother’s.

Wei Dashan admitted that he had been wrong for the past twenty years.

Tears streamed down the face of the square-jawed, middle-aged Daoist, yet he descended the mountain with a hearty laugh.

Unlike Li Jianzhou, his departure wasn’t final. He could still go home. He could still return.

He was wrong about the choice for the Sect Leader position.

So what?

He had lost to his own master’s judgment.

This proved that the master had indeed chosen the right person.

And wasn’t that the greatest blessing for Dao Yi Mountain?

.........

Back in Chen Sha’s room,

Just after his Fourth Brother, Wei Dashan, had departed down the mountain,

Song Yu, Yuu Miaolian, and Zhang Liting arrived together, as if by prior arrangement.

"Fourth Brother has gone down the mountain," Song Yu said.

Chen Sha rose from his bed and poured tea for his three senior siblings. "He has," he said. "He’s gone to reconnect with some of the sect’s sources of income. He’ll be back soon enough."

The three of them breathed a collective sigh of relief. A look of gratitude appeared in their eyes as they looked at Chen Sha.

How could any of them not care about their bond as martial siblings?

"Haha, well in that case, I’ll take this opportunity to ask our Sect Leader and Junior Brother for permission to go down the mountain as well."

Zhang Liting laughed heartily.

Chen Sha arched a brow in surprise. "And why do you want to go down the mountain?"

Zhang Liting shot Chen Sha a look. "Sixth Brother, you can’t possibly think Fourth Brother can restore the mountain’s income all by himself, can you? True, his job used to be managing our relationships with other sects and recruiting new talent."

"But since Master passed away... well, we all know our own business. The sect’s prestige in the world isn’t what it used to be. Not many prestigious families are willing to send their children here to study under us anymore. The two from Lin Family Castle were an exception, after all." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

"No matter how hard Fourth Brother works, it won’t be as easy as it once was."

Zhang Liting took a sip of his tea and said:

"I used to have frequent dealings with the Government Office in Zhao Country. I figure I can go down there, help them solve a few cases, and collect the bounty rewards. That’s a decent source of Silver Coins for Martial Artists like us. It would help ease the pressure on Fourth Brother."

Chen Sha was stunned when he heard this.

This was the first time he’d ever heard of Martial Artists earning money this way in the Jianghu.

He could understand a sect relying on apprenticeship gifts as its main source of revenue. After all, even in his previous life, some third-rate "grandmasters" of martial arts could make a fortune through swindling and trickery.

It was even more understandable for prestigious Major Sects. If one wished to join and study under them, bringing a monetary gift was a matter of course.

But helping the Government Office hunt down criminals and solve cases to collect bounties...