Flying Dust - Chapter 12

The next morning, when he woke up, He Yunfeng was rarely still asleep. Mo Fei Chen felt that he had sweated a lot last night and his body was so sticky and uncomfortable, so he quietly got up, found another set of white and grey clothing that He Yunfeng had given him and leapt down from the cliff path to take a bath in the pool.

The cool water flowed over his body and his brain became clearer.

Seeing the fish swimming around in the water, Mo Fei Chen tried to send his true qi out of his body by concentrating it on his fingertips as usual.

Unexpectedly, a light flashed, causing the ripple on the surface of the water.

Mo Fei Chen stared blankly in the place when he suddenly shouted, “Shi Fu! Shi Fu!! Quickly take a look!”

Inside of the mist, ahead of him, He Yunfeng slowly arrived, lightly touching the water and standing on the shore.

“I saw it, you have a pretty good little JJ.”

Mo Fei Chen looked down and realized that he was naked, so he hurriedly covered his lower part with his hands, “What? Just now, I was showing you that I have successfully formed the sword!”

He Yunfeng smiled faintly and said, “With your current level of cultivation and internal strength, it’s not a surprise that you can form the sword.”

“Huh?” Mo Fei Chen was stunned, “Am I really great now?”

“Definitely not first-rate but around the third-rate.” He Yunfeng hooked his finger and gestured for him to come ashore, “Then, later we can play with the invisible sword Qi.”

Mo Fei Chen’s face was dark, You are always the best of the first rate. If I am the ninth best of the third rate and play the invisible sword Qi with you, I’ll end up in heaven!

“Now, what you need to learn is to ‘continuously switch the Qi into a sword’, what you need is to be able to release and control it freely, in other words, attain perfection in a skill” He Yunfeng made light of the fact, regarding the state that many martial artists may not be able to achieved in their entire lifetime, “Have you thought of a name for your sword yet?”

“Not yet. Anyway, I don’t want a name like what Manor Leader Shi Fu has, something like ‘Quiet Rain Sword’, sounds so sissy.” Mo Fei Chen went ashore and put on his trousers and clothes in a hurry. Frankly speaking, with He Yunfeng around and looking at him, so natural and at ease, this made him couldn’t help but feel so embarrassed.

“Let’s call it ‘Flying Dust Sword’ then!”

“Huh? Why? Shi Fu’s name is He Yunfeng, but your sword is called the World Detention Sword (Shi Ji Sword). Besides that, the owner of the Mu Yun Mountain Manor, Wen Qian Liu, his sword is called the Galloping Waterfall Sword (Fei Pu Sword)…”

“These two words ‘Flying Dust’ are much more meaningful than ‘World Detention’ and ‘Flying Waterfall’. I ask you, what in this world is as light as nothing and it is dust. I ask you again, what is the most difficult thing in this world to grasp? It’s still dust. A tiny speck of dust can fly away unrestrainedly with just a little wind and a little force. Isn’t ‘Flying Dust’ a good name?”

Mo Fei Chen laughed, “Listened to what Shi Fu had said, therefore the Manor Leader Shi Fu has done nothing good in his life, beside this name he gave me is quite good.”

From that day on, Mo Fei Chen and He Yunfeng changed their daytime game from tree branches to invisible sword Qi.

During the first month, Mo Fei Chen could only intermittently ‘take out his sword’. Compared to He Yunfeng who could easily shift his Qi to a sword, he wanted to go up to him and hold his arm and bite him to his heart’s content.

He Yunfeng’s patient was extremely good that he would tell Mo Fei Chen some tips and tricks after Mo Fei Chen had exhaust all of his efforts, suffered a lot and was about to give up, so that Mo Fei Chen would feel deep veneration for him and then gnash his teeth in his heart, ‘Why didn’t this guy tell him the tricks earlier?

The reason given by He Yunfeng was very simple: “If you do not suffer, how can you appreciate what I have taught you?”

About after two or three months had passed, Mo Fei Chen was already capable of using his Qi to form a sword. On top of that, He Yunfeng had also trained Mo Fei Chen’s sword skills in a fun way, so that he was able to control and manipulate his invisible sword Qi with ease.

“Hn, now you can be considered as the second-rate.”

Mo Fei Chen’s face glowed with happiness as soon as he heard He Yunfeng’s comment, “At this rate (speed), the day I’ll be a first-rate practitioner can be expected soon.”

He Yunfeng smiled and said, “Lazy monkey, if you can become a first-rate practitioner, you will make the world’s greatest heroes die of heartbreak. What are their decades of cultivation for?”

“I’m just saying. I don’t even want to go to Jiang Hu, so it’s not really my business to be first-rate or second-rate.”

“You really don’t want to venture out in Jiang Hu? With your aptitude and qualifications, it’s not impossible for you to become one of the top ten swordsmen in the martial arts world within ten years.”

“So what if you squeeze in? People are always staring at your back and trying to press you down!” Mo Fei Chen conveniently took slender fibers like horse’s tail and picked two leaves and wove them into a little squirrel, “It’s better to stay here with Shi Fu like this, it’s quite pleasant.”

He Yunfeng smiled faintly, Mo Fei Chen had to admit that he liked He Yunfeng’s smile. It was a smile from a person who had gone through the vicissitudes and settled down from the complexity, it looked so clean and incomparable.

In the evening, when he went to the stove room to look for something to eat, he heard a few of his Shi Xiong discussing something around the stove in high spirits.

It was basically boring in the mountain manor, Mo Fei Chen did not like to gossip about someone, but that did not mean he did not like to listen to gossip. So he slowed down in reaching for the steamed buns on the stove and listened to what they were saying.

It turned out that the every five year martial arts general assembly was about to begin. It was fortunate that the purpose of the assembly was not to vote for the Wu Lin leader, as it was the common practice, but to exchange martial arts skills between different sects. To put it in a formal way of speaking, it was a competition to progress together. To put it more colloquially, it was a chance for each sect’s master to show off how much potential his disciples have.

Mo Fei Chen was not interested in this. He had just walked to the door with his buns (crammed himself with food/ overeat) when he heard them mention the word ‘Yu Shi Xiong’.

“Do you think Yu Shi Xiong will also go to that meeting?”

“Then of course, even though the Jing Shui Sect is not well-received, it is still one of the major sects in Wu Lin and since Yu Shi Xiong takes the position as the Protector, he will naturally attend.”

“What’s the point of calling him Shi Xiong? He has separated himself and left our Kun Yun Mountain Manor since the earlier time.”

“But I kind of really envy him. We’ve been on the mountain manor for more than ten years and we’ve never seen the world, but Yu… Yu Jin has become the Protector as soon as he leaves the mountain.”

Mo Fei Chen grunted in his heart, Yu Mu tou (The woodenhead Yu) had always been one of the best in the mountain manor. Now he had already mastered the invisible sword Qi through a comprehensive study, but there was not even a single disciple in the mountain manor who could ‘form the sword’.

When he returned to the hut, he put down the buns and salted vegetables. He then sat down to play chess with He Yunfeng.

After about an hour, He Yunfeng suddenly sighed and said, “Fei Chen, you’ve already eaten six steamed buns.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, I only left one for you. I’ll get it more for you.”

“I’m afraid that you hold out.”

“It’s fine, I’m just hungry.”

“Forget it, not playing anymore.” He Yunfeng pushed aside the paper in front of him with a writing brush.

“What’s wrong? Shi Fu, don’t worry, I’m not holding on.”

He Yunfeng flicked his finger at the center between Mo Fei Chen’s eyebrows, “I’m saying that since you are not in the mood to play chess, then don’t play anymore. I’ve won you four times yet you didn’t even realize it.”

Mo Fei Chen pursed his lips and did not say anything.

“Do you want to go?” 1[“想下山嗎?”: literally “Do you want to go down the mountain?”, so He Yunfeng asking him if he want to go outside the mountain manor]He Yunfeng propped up his head with his hand. Half of his wrist was exposed from inside his sleeve. That was Mo Fei Chen’s most favorite part, not only because He Yunfeng’s wrist was the most flexible when he used his sword, but also because the shape of the wrist bone had an indescribable feeling.

“No…” Mo Fei Chen lowered his head, “But also yes.”

“What do you mean by ‘no’ and ‘but also yes’?” He Yunfeng raised his chin. The light from the oil lamp went through the shadows between his eyes and eyebrows.

Precisely at this moment, there was a knock on the door of the hut.

“Come in!” He Yunfeng sat upright, when the door was pushed open, it was unexpectedly Wen Qing Yuan.

“He Shi Xiong,” Wen Qing Yuan precisely act like Wen Qing Yuan, he didn’t even hesitate when he called his Shi Zu as his senior martial brother, so natural, “In a few days, I will take the disciples to Mu Yun Mountain Manor to participate in the martial arts tournament.”2[武林大會 : martial arts general meeting/ conference/ Wu Lin general Assembly]

“Hn.”

“Fei Chen is also over sixteen, so according to the rule, I should take him there too…”

Mo Fei Chen’s heart kept thumping, he suddenly didn’t dare to look at He Yunfeng.

“That’s right, we can’t let him always stay in this mountain manor. When are you guys going to leave?”

Mo Fei Chen’s fingers trembled. He had never thought that He Yunfeng would so readily agree to it.

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Hn,” He Yunfeng nodded, “Then Fei Chen, you should prepare your luggage!”

Wen Qing Yuan didn’t stay long. Once he was gone, the hut was uncomfortably quiet.

“Don’t you want to ask me why I let you go?” He Yunfeng’s voice was very soft and gentle.

Mo Fei Chen just shook his head.

“Remember what I have told you, when you stand outside Jiang Hu and look at it, what you see is Jiang Hu.”

“To be in Jiang Hu, yet you can’t see Jiang Hu.”

“But if you’ve never been in Jiang Hu, you’ll never really understand and experience what it means by Jiang Hu. You will forever never understand what it means to stay beside someone calmly and quietly. You… will always be a speck of flying dust that doesn’t know how to land.”

Mo Fei Chen raised his eyes and looked at He Yunfeng. It was only after many years that he realized that He Yunfeng was the first person to see through his entire life and he was also the one who had predicted the end before him.

“Then, Shi Fu, will I come back?”

“Why do you ask like that? Didn’t you say that you joined Jiang Hu to leave Jiang Hu?”

“But when you’re in Jiang Hu, how can you not suffer from the cut (of sword)?!” Mo Fei Chen pouted his mouth. At this moment, he wanted to cry a little.

He Yunfeng took him into his arms and said, “Fei Chen, you have to remember this, when you come down from the mountain, don’t use or show your sword willfully and don’t let anyone know that you know how to use the invisible sword Qi. As I said to you, it is not unusual to know how to use and switch your Qi into a sword after 40 to 50 years of training, but those who have the natural gift can achieve it in one go. There will be many who want to take your life before you become a first-class master.”

“I understand.” Mo Fei Chen nodded as he immerse oneself in He Yunfeng’s embrace.

“Fei Chen…”

“Hn?” The moment Mo Fei Chen raised his head, He Yunfeng kissed him.

This kiss was different from the one he had given him on that birthday night, it was so frantic, a desperate attempt of possession.

It was more affectionate than rubbing the lips together 3[耳鬓厮磨: lit. ‘head rubbing together’, it refers to the contact between the ears and the temples of the two people, describing the intimate relationship]and all the emotions seemed to burst forth in this kiss.

But he only kissed him.

Quite a long time later, when Mo Fei Chen remembered this night with a bottle of wine in his hand and rested his head on He Yunfeng’s shoulder, his evaluation was that He Yunfeng was a man who knew how to let go and also knew how to (possess) took hold of something.

Two days later, Mo Fei Chen left the hut, carrying ‘a bundle wrapped in cloth’ and went to join Wen Qing Yuan on the front of the mountain.

He Yunfeng only stood at the door of the hut and watched him leave, entrusting him with only one parting message.

“Go early and come back early too.”

Mo Fei Chen took a breath and walked slowly along the cliff path.

He recalled that night when Yu Jin also watched him leave.