Chapter 68: A Ray of Spiritual Light Shoots Out From the Top of Your Head

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: A Ray of Spiritual Light Shoots Out From the Top of Your Head

The mountain village had no more than a dozen households. In a place this small, neighbors knew clear as day if a family acquired so much as an extra chicken or duck, to say nothing of an outsider arriving.

THWACK, THWACK, THWACK~

By the stream at the village entrance, several women were beating their laundry with paddles, trading gossip.

"What do you think those three men who came looking for the Xie Family a few days back were up to? They all looked like they were carrying blades. You don’t think Xie Tangyan is mixed up with the mountain bandits, do you?"

"Who knows? That Xie fellow only moved into our village this past year. If the village chief hadn’t let him stay, we’d never have allowed an outsider to live here."

"These are troubled times. The chief must have a lot of trust to let an outsider settle down in our village..."

This was the life of country women with time on their hands—gossiping about the affairs of every household...

THWACK! THWACK!

The women continued to beat their clothes.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats from the streamside drew the women’s attention. They looked up to see a stunningly beautiful woman in a green dress on horseback.

As she rode past the stream, a sweet fragrance filled the air.

The village women immediately shot her envious looks.

"What kind of perfume is she wearing? You can tell she’s from the city just by looking at her. Why have we been getting so many outsiders in the village lately?"

One of the women watched for a moment before saying:

"Look, isn’t that little hussy headed toward Xie Tangyan’s place too? Well, well. That Xie fellow is no good after all, fooling around left and right. And to think I even gave him six eggs..."

...

Peacock reined in her horse, stopping before a thatched courtyard.

The wooden gate was open. Inside, a man of about forty sat at a stone table in the courtyard. His temples were streaked with gray, and he was peeling an apple with a small knife. His nose twitched slightly.

"The unique fragrance of a woman from the Western Celestial Fragrance Sect. Who are you?"

Peacock glanced around the courtyard and smiled.

"Peacock, Vice Hall Master of the First-Grade Hall. The Three Heroes of Xiangnan told me that the legendary Divine Blade, Xie Tangyan, was living in seclusion in a small courtyard in this run-down village. I didn’t believe it at first. I never expected your life to be so... spartan. Have you truly retired from the Jianghu?"

"The Vice Hall Master of the First-Grade Hall."

The man smiled faintly. "So you’re one of their leaders."

The hand slowly peeling the apple came to a stop.

Abruptly, a chill shot through Peacock, racing up her spine and making her scalp tingle.

"Wait! Don’t move!" ℯℯ𝑙.

She stared at the five-inch knife.

"Can you at least let me finish what I have to say?"

The man’s expression grew cold. "When those three doomed fools came the other day, I already told your people that I have retired from the Jianghu. Unless there is a chess partner in this world who can convince me to emerge from my seclusion, I will not be disturbed again..."

Several yards of open ground separated them.

But Peacock had no doubt that he could, in an instant, unleash Sword Qi from that little knife and sever her head from her shoulders.

Long Saber Xie Tangyan. A Second-Grade Grandmaster, yet he possessed the strength to fight a Great Innate to the death.

It all stemmed from the unremarkable five-inch-long knife in his hand.

Peacock didn’t dare test him any further and got straight to the point.

"If I’ve come a second time, it’s because I’m confident I can solve your chess puzzle. Mr. Xie, there’s no need to be so hasty."

The man’s hand paused, and he gave Peacock a surprised look.

He slowly rose to his feet, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Then by all means, try and place your stone."

Hearing this, Peacock took a deep breath. She stared at Xie Tangyan for a moment, then summoned her courage and walked toward the stone table where he had been sitting.

With every step forward, she felt her chances of escape dwindling.

Long Saber!

The name said it all. To step within ten feet of this man was to place your life in his hands. Unless you were a First-Grade Great Innate master, no other Grandmaster had any say over their own fate in his presence.

Hooo...

The closer Peacock got, the faster her heart pounded. She finally reached the man and looked down at the stone table. Sure enough, it was a Go board, a grid of seventeen by seventeen lines.

The placement of the stones was just as simple as the Three Heroes of Xiangnan had described: a single white stone placed on the Tengen, the very center of the board.

"You only get one move," Xie Tangyan reminded her coolly.

Seeing that the man had nearly finished peeling the entire apple, Peacock closed her eyes. She recalled her master’s instructions, and when she opened them again, her hesitation was gone. She took a small box from within her robes...

A black stone was revealed before Xie Tangyan.

The hand holding the knife paused once more. He stared at the stone in the small box, his voice deepening.

"Place your stone."

Peacock remembered her master’s instruction: ’Place the stone on the corner star point.’ She carefully picked up the black stone and placed it on the hoshi, the black star point in the upper-left corner of the board.

VMMMM~~

The instant the stone was placed, the only two pieces on the board—one black, one white—seemed to resonate with each other, suddenly erupting with a burst of True Qi...

"This..." Peacock was stunned by the sight.

"You truly possess a stone just like mine?"

Xie Tangyan’s expression changed, and he demanded at once:

"Where did you get this stone?"

When he first saw Peacock produce the stone from the box, he had assumed she was a charlatan who didn’t understand the true meaning of his Go board. He never imagined he would finally find what he had been waiting for.

Seeing Xie Tangyan’s reaction, Peacock felt seventy percent certain of her safety. Recovering some of her composure, she said:

"If you would accompany me to the First-Grade Hall, you will learn everything."

She smiled.

"The chess partner you spoke of has also been waiting for you for many years."

Their gazes, separated by three feet of air, seemed to clash.

KLANG!

Peacock felt as if she were facing an infinitely sharp blade. After only two breaths, her eyes began to ache and sting.

Just as she was about to give in to the urge to close her eyes, unable to meet his gaze any longer...

A hand appeared before her, offering a freshly peeled apple.

"I already peeled it. It would be a waste not to eat it."

Peacock breathed an inward sigh of relief and took the apple. "To eat an apple peeled by Xie Tangyan with his Five-Inch Divine Saber... I can certainly take pride in that."

Xie Tangyan said calmly, "I am never stingy with my friends."

「A short while later.」

The women at the village entrance saw a carriage enter the village.

After that day, they never again saw the man who used to sit in his courtyard peeling fruit with a knife. Not long after, the yard fell into ruin.

.........

.........

The Canglang River originates from Zhong Mountain, flowing past many of Zhao Country’s famed peaks. It nourishes the people along its banks, giving rise to many livelihoods that depend upon its waters.

Fishing boats and ferries were common sights all along the Canglang River.

「Aboard a large riverboat.」

Song Yu stood in the shadows, his bamboo hat pulled low, silently observing three young people who had come down from the mountain and boarded the boat.

The three of them were at a table, feasting on the famous Cangjiang Carp of the Canglang River. Lin Qingqing took a bite and couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

"You know, when we traveled to Dao Yi Mountain to become disciples, we came by land. We never got the chance to taste the world-famous Cangjiang Carp. Now that I’ve tried it, it really lives up to its reputation."

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the group stood at the boat’s bow. Before long, the ferry dock came into view.

"We’re getting off at the dock. You should head home alone, brother. Tell Dad not to worry about me. I’ll come home to see him after I’ve formally been accepted as a disciple."

After a somewhat somber farewell, the Lin Family siblings parted ways on the boat.

Song Yu quietly followed them off the boat.

The two Named Disciples of Chen Sha didn’t seem to have a destination in mind after leaving the mountain. They entered the town and began to wander aimlessly.

Just then, a fortune-telling stall on the street caught Lin Qingqing’s eye. She walked over and stopped to watch for a moment.

The stall was bizarre. It had no Star Disc, no Eight Trigrams of Sinan, no copper coins or bamboo fortune sticks—none of the usual tools of the trade.

Instead, it featured a single white Go stone, placed on the star point in the lower-right corner of a board.

It was like an invitation to a game.

Lin Qingqing saw that the fortune-teller was an old man with a goatee, speaking with great eloquence. He turned his head and noticed the young woman.

The old man froze for a second, then immediately called out:

"Well now, little lady! I see a ray of spiritual light shooting from the crown of your head! Come, come, let this old man read your destiny..."