So What If You’ve Been Reborn? - CH 34

C34. Reasons

“Shi Feng’s mad, he’s gone mad…”

Elder Long-Brows tugged at his beard as he paced about in the room, muttering in frustration, “How could he say such things in front of Chen He, isn’t he worried at all about setting a bad example for the boy!”

He was talking loudly in a rather small house, so Chen He, who was just next door, could hear him loud and clear.

It was snowing everywhere in Yuzhou City, and firecrackers sounded every now and then. The thirteen lanes in the western half were bustling with activity, but this house was the only one of its kind: dummies acting as maids and servants were blending in by pasting couplets at the front doors, there were red lanterns hanging from the eaves, but all was quiet inside the house.

There was still a bowl and chopsticks on the stone table that had not been cleared away. The broth left in the bowl had already lost its warmth.

Chen He had watched Shi Feng leave the house. His senior brother inquired about the condition of the clambeast pearl in his upper dantian, taught him a few new hand seals for the Hundred Points Circulation, and placed newly made clothes for the new year on Chen He’s bed before leaving.

Shi Feng said he would return after ten days.

—once a cultivator reached the point where they could form their Golden Core, a closed-door cultivation could easily last a year. Compared to that, what could ten days possibly amount to?

“Why didn’t he let me bring Chen He back to Black Depths Valley, that’s the safest place!” Elder Long-Brows was still grumbling.

“Because of the Secret Beixuan Treasure.”

Chen He sat with his back perfectly straight. His voice sounded tranquil in his own ears, as if his reluctance to part with his senior brother had been cut off and buried deep below.

“Uh?”

Elder Long-Brows came to a halt.

The house was far from large, but there was still an empty room in the rear courtyard that Elder Long-Brows could use, though it was a little shady. Elder Long-Brows did not mind either. At the moment, he watched as Chen He came out of his own room.

The young man had grown taller since his time in Black Depths Valley. His long hair was neatly combed and tied back, his steps were steady, and his gaze was cool and determined. Looking closely, Elder Long-Brows felt as if he saw some semblance of Shi Feng in Chen He.

That little lump of a child who had been dressed thickly, whose hands smelled of delicious meat buns, who had been spooked by stories of his senior brother being a fox spirit, who cried as he ran away…tsk.

Elder Long-Brows shook his head regretfully.

Chen He walked into the courtyard. He raised his head, looking at Elder Long-Brows as he asked, “Could Daozhang tell me about the Beixuan Sect?”

“Hmm, about that!”

The old man had nothing better to do anyway. He also came out of his room, beginning casually, “The Beixuan Sect is probably the oldest sect in the cultivation world, having been around for many millennia. Because its records were destroyed, no one can tell exactly how long it’s been around.”

As he spoke, he observed Chen He’s expression.

When he realised the latter showed no trace of shock or anger, and was not disturbed in the slightest, Elder Long-Brows stroked his beard in relief.

The Beixuan Sect had too many connections to the cultivation world. It was difficult to describe or explain all of them.

Countless tragedies had already become history, and the foes would not be found even in the underworld. Being obsessed with the past would only increase one’s troubles.

“Eight thousand years ago, there were the Great Calamity Wars. The Beixuan Sect and the Nanhe Sect were the two greatest sects of the time, and countless minor sects were affiliated with each. There were also many enlightened beasts and ghost cultivators…”

“Enlightened beasts?”

“Ah, I forgot to tell you. During ancient times, the lines between cultivators weren’t so clear. In the Beixuan Sect, there were disciples from beast clans, and demonic cultivators too.”

“Aren’t demonic cultivators unable to ascend to immortality?”

“During ancient times, they could ascend.” Elder Long-Brows nodded. “Just that they had the lowest chances, lower than even the beast cultivators. We orthodox cultivators have the highest chances of surviving tribulations and ascending. After the Great Calamity Wars, the cultivation world fell into decline, and they no longer had things like entire sects ascending to immortality, or prestigious cultivator bloodlines. For every ten sects that had existed, nine were lost. The demonic cultivators killed unscrupulously, which brought much more karma upon themselves, and for the past eight thousand years, there hasn’t been a single demonic cultivator who’s ascended to immortality.”

Countless dynasties passed in the mortal world, and the face of the world changed dramatically.

“Has Daozhang seen…my Master?”

“Nanhongzi? Ah, of course. Nanhongzi gained insight into the Dao through martial arts. To this day, the mortals still tell legends about him. Five hundred years ago, he was a military general who won many wars on the borders, and the countries to the west and north feared him very much.”

Elder Long-Brows sighed as he combed his beard, “But things are just that. His achievements were so great that his muddleheaded ruler began to fear him, and he was locked away for thirty whole years in the imperial prison[1]. People only remembered him after the emperor passed away, but when they got to the imperial prison, they saw a man with such long hair that it covered his face. He gave three long laughs, broke his shackles, and left the prison.”

“He had no cultivation practices or guidance. He sat quietly in that prison, gained his own insights into the Dao through his martial arts experience, formed a Golden Core, and left the earthly world behind to cultivate. Nanhongzi was a living legend in the recent history of the cultivation world.”

—how had Nanhongzi, this remarkable man who was his and Senior Brother’s master, died? This question became stuck in Chen He’s throat, and he was unable to voice it.

Immersed in his own memories, Elder Long-Brows said, “It’s very hard for a Golden Core-level cultivator to find a sect. There were many sects whose practices didn’t suit him. In the end, he went to the Beixuan Sect.”

The Beixuan Sect’s practices were considered the easiest to understand and the hardest to practice. It was also the only set of practices that was available throughout the world (since the Beixuan Sect had been robbed of its cultivation manuals three thousand years ago) yet could not raise anyone to the Golden Core stage.

The main principle of the Beixuan Sect’s practices were contained in a single sentence: Beginning in spring, growing in summer, harvesting in autumn, storing in winter; such is the nature of the great Dao.

—go with the ways of the world and do what you must.

As for ‘ways of the world’, many people interpreted it as the rules of the divine order, but Chen He felt that it was telling people to not be choosy with their environments. If they would be able to find the Dao in any environment and know what they had to do, would their cultivation bases not increase naturally?

“Mm, if that’s what he experienced, Master is indeed well-suited to the Beixuan Sect.” After saying that, Chen He realised it sounded somewhat strange and possibly disrespectful, so he quickly fell silent.

Elder Long-Brows did not know the true meaning of the Beixuan Sect’s main principle, so he did not understand Chen He’s point. All he said was, “Although Nanhongzi was a monk, he had a fiery personality, and he died too early…aye.”

Chen He listened quietly.

The elder cultivator snapped out of it at once. He coughed, saying somewhat awkwardly, “Chen He, there’s a lot of things only your senior brother would be able to tell you, I don’t know much myself. I thought about it for a while, Shi Feng must have been speaking nonsense when he talked about becoming a demonic grandmaster, you don’t have to worry about him…”

“That’s not it.” Chen He shook his head solemnly.

“…”

Elder Long-Brows touched his forehead: How could I have forgotten that this child’s been hard to trick since age ten!

“Three months ago, we heard that the Secret Beixuan Treasure was about to resurface. Senior Brother brought me to Yuzhou instead of returning to Black Depths Valley because he didn’t want to bring the unrest back to the valley.” Chen He looked up. “I don’t know how valuable this treasure from eight thousand years ago might be, but there’s been too many fights breaking out over the Secret Beixuan Treasure in the cultivation world. Maybe there are people who don’t want the treasure, but they absolutely don’t want their enemies to have it.”

Indeed, the Heluo Sect was like that. Elder Long-Brows gave an awkward cough.

“And the people who died fighting for the treasure, their families and friends wouldn’t want them to die in vain.”

“That’s…”

“Covering our tracks and hiding is a good idea.” Chen He raised his head, his tone calm. “The only thing that would be better is to intimidate others and keep them at bay.”

The Divine Master of the Great Snowy Mountain spread the news that Grandmaster Huanjian and Shi Feng fought each other for the Secret Beixuan Treasure. In addition, someone in Grandmaster Huanjian’s following was secretly adding to the rumours. Would the cultivators be willing to cause trouble with Grandmaster Huanjian or Shi Feng?

Influence was the greatest advantage a demonic grandmaster possessed.

One had to be flexible depending on the circumstances. It would be too late to build his own influence, so he could only rob another. There were six grandmasters of the demonic Dao; excluding Grandmaster Huanjian, Shi Feng still had five other targets to choose from.

“Senior Brother said he would resolve any problem no matter how immense…this is the solution he came up with. The Secret Beixuan Treasure has existed for eight thousand years, but why did they only intrude upon the Beixuan Sect to hunt it down three thousand years ago? It was only because Beixuan had become weakened. Why hadn’t anyone done anything for five thousand years even with all those rumours and schemes flying around?”

Elder Long-Brows was at a loss for words.

There was no other reason. A large sect was still stronger than others even if it had little power; who would dare to commit the terrible mistake of going in for treasure before the Beixuan Sect truly became weakened?

And there was one more thing Chen He did not mention: actually, the cultivation world was after Shi Feng. Other than the people of the Great Snowy Mountain, few knew of Chen He’s existence, and Liang Qianshan had even mistaken Chen He for Shi Feng’s disciple.

“Just look at how Shi Feng’s done things!” Elder Long-Brows stomped about indignantly. “He didn’t let me say anything about the Baigu Sect being attacked by the Blood Demon, but he spoke of his plans in front of you. He’s letting himself do anything he wants while putting such heavy restrictions on me!”

—because Senior Brother knew from the moment you let it slip that he wouldn’t be able to hide it from me any longer.

Chen He’s gaze shifted away. He did not know if he was feeling happy or worried.

“The news about the treasure has spread far and wide and caused an uproar in the cultivation world, but it’s still salvageable! You just need to come back to Black Depths Valley, and we’ll spread rumours that the Secret Beixuan Treasure is with Grandmaster Huanjian. Let them all go pay the Strongest Demonic Cultivator a visit!”

After being deep in thought for a while, Chen He suddenly turned around.

“Eh, where’re you going?” Elder Long-Brows quickly hurried after him.

Shi Feng had trusted him to look after Chen He, and if anything happened, he would be truly ashamed to return to the valley.

Chen He walked around the house some. Finally, he came to the main hall and found the items used for ancestral worship. Before the candlestick, there was a red box.

He had not purchased anything like this, and this had not been in the house before his senior brother returned with the clambeast pearl.

Chen He lifted the lid gently, took one look, and slammed the lid back in place.

“Chen He?”

“Grandmaster Huanjian wouldn’t take the blame for such a thing.” Chen He left the main hall with a grim expression. He turned and said casually, “By the way, Daozhang, be careful with that box, because you might just be holding the Secret Beixuan Treasure.”

“What?”

Elder Long-Brows gave a great cry, tossed his duster, threw himself over the box, and instinctively tossed out a bunch of protective amulets. He was about to scold Chen He for being too careless since it would be troublesome if the aura of the magic items were to be detected by others, but he realised Chen He had disappeared. He carefully lifted the lid of the box just a little, peeking through the resulting crack.

“…”

A few days later, a message reached Black Depths Valley. Elder Long-Brows claimed that he had experienced the worst shock in all his seven hundred years of being alive, and even his primordial spirit had been shaken.

***

The frigid northern winds blew Chen He’s scrambled thoughts away. He tossed the box to Elder Long-Brows and left the house after applying a camouflage spell to himself.

All kinds of heavy feelings lay suppressed within his chest. The streets were now empty, and as he walked the paths that were strewn with the remnants of used firecrackers, Chen He could only see the servants sweeping in their respective households. Faint laughter and chatter could be heard from within those walls.

After exiting the thirteen lanes, one could see that all the shops had closed their doors and put their banners away. The eateries and teahouses were not open for business, and only a few inns were still open. The residential areas were separated from the market districts; no matter how lively it was in the residential areas, this side would still look empty and forlorn.

“Come get your divinations, have your fortune told for the rest of the new year!”

An old, hunchbacked Daoist priest stood before an inn, trying to attract customers.

“Shoo, get lost! Why don’t you say something auspicious for the festive season!” The inn’s staff, having become impatient, came out to drive him away.

“This poor monk only wishes for some sustenance in this cold, windy weather!” the old priest begged, dragging his Eight Trigrams banner along.

“You! You stubborn old thing, why can’t you call yourself something else during the festive season, you still call yourself poor…phooey!” Without giving him any room to argue, the inn’s staff chased the old fortune-telling priest away.

The man left resentfully, and just as he turned around, he saw Chen He.

“You—“

Chen He frowned. He had cast a camouflage spell on himself, so anyone who noticed him was a cultivator!

Upon closer inspection, the corner of Chen He’s mouth twitched a little. The other person had also used a camouflage spell, a powerful one that forcibly disguised him as an old, bearded priest. In fact, on that round, youthful face, his eyes were round with shock!

“Blessings for the new year, Daozhang.”

The priest took three steps back, holding out a defensive hand seal.

“What do you want? Not a noble soul would fight with dummies as backup!”

Chen He felt like laughing, but he kept it down.

Although he had recorded the incident with that strange monk after the last time and made a rough sketch of the man’s face, it was still rather difficult to nail down all the details.

Luckily, this fellow was kind enough to admit it himself, so that saved him all the work!

Chen He purposefully cleared his face of all expression as he said, “I do not know you, Daozhang, so why do you know that I have dummies?”

The monk was stunned into silence, his face paling in horror.

Chen He did not know that he bore a much greater resemblance to that arrogant, overbearing demonic grandmaster from the monk’s memories of the previous life when he had that blank expression. This expressionlessness was enough to jog many of the monk’s unpleasant memories.

The Daoist monk was indeed filling with regret now. Chen He was no longer a fool this time, but how could he have forgotten that Grandmaster Liyan had the confoundment that would jumble his memories? This devil did not have the clambeast pearl and he had not even formed his Golden Core, of course he would have forgotten already! Yet he still fell right into the guy’s lap!

The monk felt nothing but grief and rage.

“It’s nothing, we just happened to meet. I’ve gotten the wrong person, so I’ll just be off now!”

“So Daozhang couldn’t catch demonic beasts to sell, and you’re so poor now…” Chen He’s eyes narrowed.

“If you hadn’t been in my way and taken up my time—” The monk’s voice died abruptly. His expression became even worse. “Chen He, how dare you mess with me?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t dare to, not when I don’t even know Daozhang’s title yet.”

“We’ll see more of each other in the future!” Without a second glance behind him, the monk sped away with his banner.

Trying to escape?

A derisive look flashed in Chen He’s eyes. This fellow would have to go through him in order to escape.