Chapter 672: First, Send Off an Old Friend

“Ah, look...”

“There’s someone on the mountain!”

“There really is someone!”

“Could it be an immortal?”

“It must be an immortal!”

Lady Calico stood there with a serious expression, listening for a while, then glanced down for a bit, her face unreadable. When she heard her Daoist’s footsteps growing more and more distant, she didn’t hesitate. She turned on her heel and scurried off in quick little steps to catch up, following right behind him.

“We’re leaving,

meow

?”

“Of course,” the Daoist replied without turning his head. “What we came to do is done. This was never our palace.”

“That’s true...”

“I’ll pack my things.”

“I will pack!”

“Shouldn’t you go round up all those mice you’ve been free-ranging on the mountain?”

“Oh... right...”

“Go on then.”

“Okay!”

The cat spun around again and bolted away like the wind. She really did seem a bit... erratic.

The Daoist, however, took his time packing his travel bag.

Meanwhile, the swallow transformed into his human form to help.

Clouds once again drifted over the mountain, shaped by the wind into visible forms, dragging long tails behind them like banners fluttering in the breeze. From the palace atop the peak, they were surrounded by this shifting mist, so that it felt as though they truly stood upon the clouds, at the place closest to the heavens.

“Purity of mind is cultivation. To do good is to receive blessings,” Song You murmured to himself, then lifted his head to look at the sky.

There’s still one last thing to do.

Though he didn’t speak loudly, even those in the heavens might have heard.

The Daoist soon finished packing. The cat also turned into her human form, slinging a bulging cloth satchel over her shoulder, hurrying toward him. Whatever was inside was still faintly moving, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Let’s go.” A clear, piercing cry rang out.

From within the clouds, a celestial crane flew forth. Countless people at the foot of the mountain looked up, startled and overjoyed, even shouting excitedly toward the peak.

As they were exclaiming and calling out, there came a muffled rumble.

“Rumble, rumble...”

When they lowered their heads and looked toward the source of the sound, they saw that a dangerous narrow path had appeared on Mount Tianzhu, winding up the slopes until it vanished into the clouds.

The mist quickly dispersed, revealing the palace. The crowd stared in brief astonishment before breaking into a commotion. Many people immediately began heading for the summit.

The next day, as visitors descended the mountain, whenever they met new arrivals, even the most reserved among them could not hide their excitement, eagerly recounting the immortal sighting they had witnessed the day before. In just a single day, word spread through those at the base that the path to the palace atop Mount Tianzhu had reappeared, and that an immortal had flown away on a crane.

The old Daoist at the foot of the mountain and his few disciples thus knew the immortal master had departed.

The palace was theirs again.

So, after tidying themselves up, they ascended once more to Mount Tianzhu’s summit. The palace had already been looked over by countless visitors. Compared to three months ago, nothing was missing, nor was anything added. If one had to say something was new, it was the single line of writing within the hall. “Purity of mind is cultivation. To do good is to receive blessings.”

It seemed left for the temple, yet also as if it was meant for them.

***

At Yuelong Waterfall...

The terraced waterfall cascaded down one level after another. It was not tall, nor vast, not something that could be called grand or majestic, yet exquisitely beautiful, like a painting of mountains and rivers.

Lady Calico, wearing a bamboo hat, sat fishing before the pool. The swallow perched on a tree branch watching, while the Daoist sat beneath a tree, leaning against its trunk, eyes closed in rest.

By now it was early summer. At the foot of the mountain, the greenery was lush, and the cicadas had long begun their song unceasingly day and night. The sound of the waterfall’s rushing water was just as constant. Together they formed nature’s noisy chorus, yet it could not disturb the Daoist’s peaceful dream. If anything, it made him sleep all the more contentedly.

In his dream, a divine figure came to visit again. This time, it was an underworld deity.

The Daoist slept for quite a while before finally opening his eyes.

The chirring of cicadas and the sound of flowing water immediately became clear again. The glaring summer sunlight filtered through the leaves overhead and into his eyes, leaving him feeling a little dazed, heavy-limbed and languid.

For a moment, it felt like he had just come down from the mountain for the first time more than ten years ago, or like it could be any time during those years, except for the last two. He would travel the human world, accompanied by the calico cat and his horse, and sometimes the swallow too, wandering slowly along official roads or little paths even he didn’t know the names of.

Whenever they came to a spot, whether tired and drowsy, or not tired at all but simply finding the sunlight fine, the scenery pleasant, and the breeze gentle, he would pick a suitable place to sit down and doze off for a nap.

Thinking about it carefully... it really wasn’t much different now.

Once again he was simply passing through on a crane, coming upon scenery he had walked before. In a different season it revealed a different kind of beauty, so he stopped to rest, have a meal, and naturally take a nap.

How quickly time passed.

“Sigh...” The Daoist let out a long breath before sitting up.

Lady Calico was still by the pool, holding her fishing rod in the same posture as before, but she suddenly turned her head to stare at him. “Awake,

meow

?”

“I’m awake.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Have you decided where we’re going next?”

“Where to...” The Daoist hesitated for a moment.

The Emperor of the Void, an Ancient Great Being, possessed four extraordinary abilities, and had manifested as four different deities.

Dreams, illusions, greed, and fear... In truth, all four were him.

“This pool is too small, there aren’t many fish. You won’t find much enjoyment fishing here. I was thinking of finding a bigger pool for you, where perhaps besides fish, you might catch something even fresher and more precious.” The Daoist patted his robes, brushing away dust and bits of leaves.

Seeing Lady Calico fixedly watching him still serious-faced, but clearly waiting for him to name the place and impatient to set off, he paused, then added, “But before that, we have to go to the outskirts of Changjing City to send off an old friend.”

“The outskirts of Changjing City!”

“That’s right.”

“Which old friend?”

“You’ll know when you get there.”

“Shu...”

Lady Calico immediately lifted her fishing rod, the line snapping up through the water, hook and bait steady in her hand. She put her rod away.

This really wasn’t a good spot for fishing.

There weren’t many fish to begin with, and the waterfall was noisy besides. Even with her superb skill and her unique fishing incantations, after all this time she had only managed to catch a tiny fish no bigger than a finger. She didn’t even bother to keep it. Instead, she grabbed it by the tail, tilted her head back, opened her mouth, tossed it in, and with two chews, that was that.

She had “taken it with her” in the most secure way possible.

Flap!

The celestial crane spread its wings in the mountains and let out a high, clear cry.

***

A day later at Yu Family Village, outside Changjing City...

Last winter, Jianbai, acting on his own initiative, had notified the Ministry of Rites to depose the gods. Afterwards, he reported it to the Emperor in court. Although he received imperial approval, it was not long before the Celestial Emperor personally appeared in a dream to rebuke the human emperor right after the Winter Solstice. Only then did the emperor realize that his prime minister had acted first and sought permission later.

The relationship between the Celestial Emperor and the human emperor was a strange and complicated one.

At the start, the Celestial Emperor had aligned himself with the founding of the Great Yan dynasty, relying on the human court, and it was with the first emperor’s support that he took the throne of Heaven. In both folk tales and Daoist classics, it was uniformly recorded that the Lin imperial family of Great Yan were descendants of the Celestial Emperor, that the Celestial Emperor was ancient and powerful, and, because the previous dynasty had grown corrupt, had descended to the mortal realm as the father of the founding emperor, helping him establish the Great Yan in order to win over the hearts of the people.

In truth, the Celestial Emperor was simply the biological father of the Great Yan founding emperor.

From another angle, when the Great Yan was founded and swept across the land, the previous Heavenly Palace collapsed. The newly enthroned Celestial Emperor was, in fact, a vassal of the Great Yan founding emperor.

Just as the Divine Dao was subordinate to the human realm.

But the Celestial Emperor’s power was not constant, nor was that of the human ruler. Both rose and fell, and changes of seat were a common matter.

The Celestial Emperor of today was already deeply rooted in people’s hearts, but the young emperor of Great Yan lacked the presence and boldness of his forebears. The Celestial Emperor knew well the emperor’s character, while the emperor did not realize that the Celestial Emperor himself had all but reached the end of his rope. For the Celestial Emperor to personally appear in a dream and question him naturally left him uneasy.

On top of that, with the State Preceptor fanning the flames, Yu Jianbai, the leader of the literary world and pillar of the court, was thus dismissed from office.

Of course, the formalities still had to be observed.

The prime minister was already advanced in years, his health steadily declining. He could no longer bear the heavy duties of the position. He submitted his resignation three times; the first two times the emperor refused, and only on the third did he reluctantly agree.

So Yu set aside his official robes and returned to his hometown to farm.

He came from a great aristocratic family to begin with, and besides, how many prime ministers who end well truly live in hardship? The Yu family owned land outside Changjing City, and for someone of his rank, “returning to the countryside to farm” mostly meant no longer wishing to involve himself in the turmoil and storms of the court, simply leaving the city to manage his own estates.

Still, to say “farm” was not entirely false.

An agrarian civilization naturally harbors a longing for the land. The older one got, the stronger that longing became. To return home in one’s later years, with fields and leisure at hand, whether wealthy or not, one could not resist swinging a hoe a few times.

But in the end, he was old.

The Great Yan was in turmoil, and one man alone could not hold it up. The struggle against Miaohuazi in court had exhausted his mind and spirit. Yu Jianbai’s own lamp oil was nearly spent.

By late spring this year, he collapsed in the fields. Fortunately, he was found early and carried back home. But after that, he never rose again.

Word spread through Changjing City, and whether civil or military officials, all came to visit. Even many scholars of the capital, men of refined repute, and even those who had yet to gain any official rank came one by one to pay their respects upon hearing the news. Though most could not get close enough to see the virtuous minister famed for both talent and conduct, they still left behind mountains of gifts.

At last came the following day, and Prime Minister Yu was all but at his end. The imperial physician came in person, but only shook his head repeatedly.

“Mr. Yu’s body has long been depleted. Unless we can somehow bring back that Doctor Cai from Mount Beiqin, perhaps to work a miracle and snatch him from death itself, I fear only an immortal could help now.”

Yu lay on his bed, eyes closed, breath faint as gossamer.

His wife and children beside him were frantic, but still kept their voices low. “Doctor Cai? Do you know where he is now?”

“Doctor Cai has not been seen for many years. Several years ago in Changjing there was already word that, after writing his peerless medical classic

Doctor Cai’s Medical Canon

, he exhausted all his vital essence, incurred Heaven’s jealousy, and passed away.”

“...”

At this, his wife and children were overcome with grief.

Just then, Yu Jianbai opened his eyes on the bed. His gaze was clouded as he looked toward those beside him.

“He’s awake, he’s awake!”

“Father is awake!”

“...”

Yu Jianbai slowly lifted a hand and waved toward those outside the room.

The imperial physician, well accustomed to such moments, understood at once. He nodded, rose, and left, taking the others with him, until only Yu’s wife, a concubine, and a few of his children remained.

They all knew exactly what this meant. Crying immediately filled the room.

“Father, you must hold on! We will definitely find Doctor Cai for you, and an immortal as well!”

“Don’t speak such empty words... Doctor Cai has been dead for years. I’ll be seeing him soon enough... As for an immortal, in my whole life I have only ever met one...”

Though Yu Jianbai’s voice was faint, it was steady.

“Father...”

Yu Jianbai waved his hand again.

“Don’t cry... and don’t grieve. A few days ago, I had a dream. In it, an official from the underworld court came to me. He told me that because in the latter half of my life I served as an upright and incorruptible official, devoted wholly to the people, and accomplished much... that because I was well-known both in court and among the common folk, and had made real contributions in governance... the underworld had kept a vacant throne for me, a post reserved several years ago, waiting for me. When I go down there, it will be to take office...

“In this life of mine... the first half I spent in muddled confusion, the second half in clarity. But whether in the first or second half, I never committed deeds against my conscience or that harmed others... After I’m gone, you all must also uphold virtue faithfully.

“My second wife has been with me for many years. After I’m gone, you must care for her as you would your own mother... The time has come... An immortal has come to fetch me as well...

“...”