Chapter 77.2 Hundred Years

*****

At the beginning of summer in the second year of Jinghe, the clattering of horse hooves arrived in a courtyard.

Ye Chufeng restrained his horse and turned back, sighing inwardly and asking, “Your Majesty, do you want to go in with this servant?”

Tantai Jin curled his fingers around the reins, his eyes staring at the ground as he shook his head.

Ye Chufeng saluted him and walked into the courtyard alone.

Faintly hearing someone inside asking about “Xi Wu”, Tantai Jin slowly raised his head and looked at the blooming acacia flowers on the fence in the distance.

Ye Chufeng came out quite soon and he sighed, “Your Majesty should’ve told Third Sister back then that you’d rescued grandmother.”

Tantai Jin coldly laughed and broke the twig in his hand.

For the first time, Ye Chufeng was unsure whether Tantai Jin’s feelings for Third Sister were more of love or hatred.

But death is like a lamp going out ¹ 人死如灯灭 (rén sǐ rú dēng miè) – lit. a man dies the way a lamp goes out; Everything is gone after death. . He…… should’ve already given up, right?

“Is Your Majesty really not going back to the palace anymore?” Ye Chufeng asked.

Aren’t all the things you used to painstakingly pursue what you’ve always wanted?

Tantai Jin looked towards the direction of the imperial tomb, his black eyes were silent, like a deep bottomless pool. His gaze lowered, “I want power.”

Ye Chufeng didn’t speak. Does he actually want power, or just to reverse the events of that day that almost drove him mad, to seek the long-lost soul of the beauty ² 香魂 (xiāng hún) – lit. fragrant soul ? 

At some point, all kinds of demons had begun to appear in the world. The world was rampant with demons and monsters, and it was no longer an era dominated by mortals.

The status of an ordinary immortal was better than an emperor from the mortal realm. How could the palace be compared to the opulent ³ 琼楼玉宇 (qiónglóu-yùyǔ) – lit. bejeweled jade palace (idiom) Meaning a sumptuous place. Penglai Immortal Mountain?

Immortal, an existence that people longed to be.

They were high above the masses, and a mortal’s entire life was just an instant for them. The Immortal Gate was already wide open, and everyone was hoping for the aptitude to go to the Immortal Mountain with the immortal elders to cultivate.

Tantai Jin stretched out his hand, and a falling acacia flower fell into his palm.

“Let’s go.” He crushed the flower, staining his pale fingertips with a tinge of red.

He’d originally pursued power to make thousands of people bend and kneel. Tantai Jin curled his fingers into a claw, smoothing out his sleeve which hid the dense knife marks he’d cut and coldly curled up his lips. His Dao would definitely not allow him to die, because of the string of affection that tormented him day and night, and the woman who had never loved him.

He wanted to live, to live for thousands and millions of years, going against this bright and clear world!

He lowered his eyes to cover up the glimmer of tears that he didn’t even want to admit to.

*****

Time flew by ⁴ 白驹过隙 (báijū-guòxì) – a white steed flits past a crack (idiom); time fleeting , and the acacia tree bloomed and withered.

It was spring again in the mortal realm.

“Today’s story is a secret one.” The old man stroked his beard and struck the table with a gavel ⁵ 惊堂木 (jīngtángmù) – wooden block used by a magistrate to strike the table in calling for attention or order

Picture of what it looks like: , “As I was saying ⁶ 却说 (quèshuō) – lit. “We were telling you”. A stock phrase used by traditional storytellers when resuming narration where they left off , five hundred years ago, there was a strange snowfall in the Zhou Kingdom. Back then, the emperor wasn’t anyone seen from the history books. Instead, he was a crazy emperor who only had a short reign. Later, he set fire to the historical records about him.”

“His past has been reduced to ashes, leaving only imagination for the common people. It was said that he once loved a peerless woman, Ye shi , and had fought several countries just to bring that madam to his side.”

“It was also said that there was once a nameless woman who appeared in his life. That woman didn’t have a title, her full name is unknown, and people only know that after the heavy snow in the Zhou Kingdom, no one had ever seen her again.”

Someone down the stage jeered, “That monarch must’ve loved Madame Ye, otherwise, how could he not even give a title to that nameless woman?”

The old man didn’t deny the audience’s words and he laughed, “Dear listeners, please listen to this old man carefully. Five hundred years ago, during that crazy emperor’s dynasty, although there was war, he also restrained the enemy on all sides, and logically, he would’ve eventually ruled the world. But not long after, he suddenly disappeared from this world.”

“Some say he died of old age, as an ordinary person in this mortal world, and others say that swordsmen who’d crusaded against the tyrant had killed him. But…… some also speculate that he had been to the legendary Weeping Ghost River in the underworld.”

Hearing the term “Weeping Ghost River”, someone below immediately said, “Stinky old man, talking nonsense all day long, how could someone go to the Weeping Ghost River! Everyone knows that’s a place that devours the souls of mortals. Is that crazy emperor seeking death? What Zhou Kingdom from five hundred years ago, a crazy emperor that doesn’t exist in history? Maybe this person doesn’t even exist. Aren’t I right, everyone?”

At his words, many people immediately agreed, “That’s right.”

“What’s the point of always talking about these boring events of the past? If you can, talk about the news of the opening of the Immortal Gate and its acceptance of disciples!”

“Yes, and if you don’t want to talk about the Immortal Realm, describing the Demon Realm and Devil Realm is fine too.”

The elderly man shook his head.

Since ancient times, mortals had always aspired to cultivate immortality. Even if no one had spiritual roots and couldn’t enter the immortal Dao, they would still be curious about the sprites and spirits, and demons and devils. But if there really were demons and devils causing trouble, everyone would be in danger.

Since the story had become a thing of the past, the audience had long dispersed ⁷ 曲终人散 (qǔzhōng-rénsàn) – the tune ends and the audience disperse (idiom) , and the old man didn’t continue the story.

After all, even he didn’t know the truth of five hundred years ago.

“There are five realms in the world: God, Immortal, Mortal, Demon and Devil, and Underworld. The gods have long died, and the demons and devils only do cruel things which don’t need further explanation. Then today, we’ll talk about the customary Immortal Sect Competition held every hundred years. Dear audience, guess who will win?”

“Needless to say, of course it will be the number one immortal sect, Hengyang Sect!”

……

The storytelling house was once again bustling.

In the corner of the second floor, a woman in green pursed her lips in disdain.

“That’s not certain. This year, the participants from Hengyang Sect are some new disciples. Do you think everyone is as talented as Gongye Jiwu, who broke through Golden Core ⁸ 金丹 (Jīndān) to middle stage Nascent Soul ⁹ 元婴 (Yuányīng) in only thirty years? Wait and see how I’ll beat them to the ground ¹⁰ 落花流水 (luòhuā-liúshuǐ) – like fallen flowers carried away by flowing water (idiom); in a sorry plight this time!”

Next to her, Ying Zhuang, who was wearing matching clothes, said with a headache, “Junior Sister, Master said that you were brought along to Hengyang this time to learn skills from Immortal Senior ¹¹ 仙尊 (xiānzūn) Qu Xuan. You’ve heard enough interesting stories about the mortal world, let’s hurry and go to Hengyang Sect by sword, it’s rude to be late.”

The woman in green snorted, knowing that they couldn’t afford to delay, she could only follow the man to get up to meet up with their sect.

Their sect, called “Chi ¹² 赤 (chì) – red/scarlet xiao ¹³ 霄 (xiāo) – sky/clouds/heaven/night Sect”, had a green satin uniform, with teardrop-shaped hair ornaments for the female disciples. The founder of the sect was once a disciple of the Shangqing Immortal Domain, a disciple of the Demigod Ming Ye.

Shangqing had a large heritage, to the extent that the Chixiao Sect was the second largest immortal sect under Hengyang.

“Junior Sister Cen, do you want Senior Brother to take you?”

Cen Mixuan didn’t even look back, she’d already left by sword. Looking at her back, Ying Zhuang revealed a bitter smile.

Junior Sister Cen had cause to be this arrogant. She was only over a hundred years old this year, but she was already in the middle stage of Golden Core. Besides, as the daughter of the sect leader of Chixiao Sect, her identity was noble and she was beautiful.

It’s just that others really couldn’t bear this temper of hers.

I wonder if the Hengyang Sect can accept Junior Sister? It’s said that the sect leader of Hengyang Sect also has a pearl in his palm ¹⁴ 掌上明珠 (zhǎngshàng-míngzhū) – an idiom; fig. beloved person (esp. daughter) , who is loved and pampered by the entire sect. I wonder if Junior Sister can get along with her when she goes over?

Edited by: Gaze

Translator’s Note: So few days back, I made a poll on Twitter and Discord for readers to decide whether I should change 叶冰裳 Ye Bing Shang (in my translation) to Ye Bingchang (same as radio drama and drama) because it might be confusing.

The reason why I used Shang instead of Chang:

1. My Chinese isn’t that good and I don’t know that apparently certain words have to follow a certain way when you use them for a name (pinyin shang is normally used for clothes 衣裳 only and anything else, it’s pronounced as chang)

2. Bingshang sounds smoother than Bingchang.

However, combining the votes from both platforms, majority voted to leave it the way it is, so I won’t be changing it!