Volume Two: The Mortal Realm, Chapter 122: The Immortal Knocks at the Door

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Ye Mingke and the others were likewise dressed in rags, mingling with the flood of refugees as they made their way toward Sunlit Capital.

It was already dusk. In the dim fading light, the refugees winding endlessly ahead and behind seemed to be taking one step at a time toward the darkness sinking over the land.

“Every year, when winter arrives in Sunlit Capital, some of the immortals from the Guarding Office distribute alms outside the city, displaying the immortals’ benevolence and universal compassion. Many of these people are heading there for that very reason.”

“But many among them have also been displaced, directly or indirectly, because of immortal calamities.”

“Victim and savior, vengeance and gratitude—all of it is tangled together, leaving these people unable to see clearly the so-called age of prosperity in which they live.”

“Some mortals also ask why, when immortals possess such vast powers, they cannot save all living beings. Those immortals call the suffering of mortals a tribulation ordained by Heaven’s Way, an endless cycle of its own accord. What utter nonsense. If it truly were for the sake of mortals, then Heaven’s Way would be flawed. What would their doing everything within human power have to do with it?”

Xu Zixian had removed what he called his “spectacles” so as not to attract attention. Squinting as he struggled to see the winding tide of refugees, he spoke to Ye Mingke in a hoarse voice.

Ye Mingke looked at the refugees trudging onward, his expression equally heavy.

Hearing Xu Zixian’s words, he turned to look at the young man who had always seemed like a bookworm. His opinion of him had changed somewhat.

“You have a remarkably clear view of the Guarding Office’s methods. I had thought you only studied numerology and those firearms and mechanisms.”

Xu Zixian seemed still lost in his own thoughts. Rather than answer Ye Mingke directly, he replied with something unrelated.

“What you told me that night gave me a great deal to think about. But I do not entirely agree with your view. Firearms alone cannot eradicate immortal calamities, and I alone cannot create firearms capable of contending with high-level cultivators.”

“Perhaps I was wrong during those past ten years. But I still have not figured out what I ought to do. Once I have sorted out my thoughts, I will discuss it with you again.”

Ye Mingke nodded and did not disturb Xu Zixian, who continued to ponder bitterly over whatever troubled him as they walked. They pressed onward.

The sky gradually darkened completely. Ye Mingke and the others veered away from the main mass of refugees, who continued toward the city, and found shelter for the night in a half-collapsed ruined temple nestled in a mountain hollow.

The temple’s entrance had completely caved in. Rubble and broken stones covered the floor, while the collapsed half of the roof opened onto the snowy night sky.

Perhaps because of its remote location and extreme ruin, the temple was deserted.

Though wind swept in from every side, Ye Mingke, Liu Xi, and the others still entered the temple and lit a fire beside the toppled statue of a deity.

The cold night grew slightly warmer in the firelight. Nearly all the wild animals around Sunlit Capital had already been hunted by the refugees, so that night they merely chewed on dry provisions.

The snowy night was silent. Just as everyone was eating, someone suddenly knocked on the ruined temple’s door.

Knock, knock.

The sound rang clearly in every heart. Each person instinctively raised their head and looked toward the darkness outside.

But the distance was too great for them to see clearly. All they could make out was a blurred figure standing beyond the temple.

Knock, knock.

Perhaps because they had gone so long without responding, the figure knocked again. The sound was unhurried and courteous, exactly like an ordinary knock at the door.

But the entrance to this ruined temple had already collapsed. Where was there a door to knock on?

Knock, knock.

The exceedingly courteous knock sounded for a third time.

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The knock was not striking a door. It was striking their hearts, making every one of them feel as though they had heard a knock.

Liu Xi stared into the darkness ahead, her gentle pupils narrowing slightly. Xu Zixian, meanwhile, gripped the gunpowder hidden in his pouch.

Something was wrong. They all sensed an oppressive presence drawing near.

But Ye Mingke rose directly to his feet. Looking toward the blurred figure outside the temple, he said calmly, “There is no door. Come in.”

His tone was flat and natural, as though he were speaking to an old acquaintance.

The blurred figure outside paused, then walked straight in. The instant it moved, Liu Xi reacted as though facing a great enemy. The protective energy around her surged forth of its own accord. She rose and stepped forward, but Ye Mingke moved ahead of her.

“Mingke, be careful. He is the most powerful cultivator I have ever seen,” Liu Xi whispered.

But Ye Mingke seemed not to hear her. He walked toward the figure approaching him and went straight to the center of the ruined temple.

The two figures stopped almost simultaneously, neither close nor far from the other.

“Did you come looking for me, or do you have something else to do?” Ye Mingke asked calmly, wariness hidden within his deep eyes as they reflected the figure before him.

“I came to chop wood,” the figure replied in the same calm voice.

The two figures stood in the center of the ruined temple, both tall and straight, both wearing tranquil expressions. They looked almost like reflections facing one another in a mirror.

“Mingke, go back. ‘Chopping wood’ is the term cultivators use for killing fugitives wanted by the Guarding Office. He means us no good.”

Liu Xi came to stand beside Ye Mingke. Her voice was hoarse, and her gentle eyes remained fixed on the figure.

Even before the fight began, her palms had begun to sweat. Facing that figure directly, she faintly felt a stabbing pain between her brows, as though a sharp sword were pressed against her forehead.

She had never encountered anyone whose sword intent was so fierce and pure.

But Ye Mingke did not retreat. He met the figure’s gaze without yielding an inch and spoke in a resolute voice.

“They are friends whom I could never abandon. I will not retreat. And you still owe me a life.”

The figure fell silent for a moment. The ruined temple became utterly still, silent enough to hear a pin drop, shrouded beneath the oppressive force of that seemingly ordinary figure’s silence.

“The good piece of wood I am looking for is not here. I have no interest in anything else.”

The figure finally spoke, breaking the stifling silence.

“So I have come looking for you. I also remember that I owe you a life.”

“Then it seems we can still be friends for the time being.” Ye Mingke smiled, and the taut tension in the temple slackened. “Sword Nine. It has been a long time.”

“Indeed.” The figure answered blandly. “The feeling of owing someone something is unpleasant. It has certainly been a long time.”

“He is my friend. We once sailed out of the Sea of Mists together, so we became companions through hardship.” Ye Mingke smiled at the astonished Liu Xi and Xu Zixian. Then he turned toward Sword Nine and introduced them as well. “They are also my friends. The little girl is the daughter of a close friend.”

Ye Mingke’s smile was sincere, but the atmosphere in the ruined temple did not relax.

Liu Xi and Xu Zixian continued to regard the white-haired man with caution. Several swords were strapped across his back, yet Sword Nine had not once looked at anyone else in the temple. Upon hearing Ye Mingke’s introductions, he merely frowned slightly, as though already finding the complications tiresome.

“What have you come to the capital of Great Xia for? Should you not have returned to Penglai Immortal Island?” Ye Mingke asked Sword Nine. “Given your temperament, you should dislike a place as tangled in worldly causes and consequences as this. Did you come merely to find me?”

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“I came to the capital of Great Xia to serve as the Celestial Examiner. It was my sect’s command,” Sword Nine said blandly.

The instant he spoke, Liu Xi and Xu Zixian’s gazes sharpened. Though Liu Xi appeared calm, a veiled killing intent pointed toward him.

“You are going to serve as the Celestial Examiner? Do you also intend to drain the blood of the common people?” Ye Mingke’s expression changed slightly. “Have you come to take charge of Great Xia’s Central Guarding Office?”

“I told you. It is merely my sect’s command. I neither understand nor take interest in those matters. I originally accepted a first-grade secret order from the Guarding Office to kill a martial cultivator who had broken through the Twelfth Tower of Martial Dao and slain the previous Celestial Examiner and the Guarding Officers of twelve commanderies. Unfortunately, he is not here.”

Sword Nine spoke in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. Then he looked at Ye Mingke and asked seriously, “I have told you my purpose. What have you come to the capital for?”

“I want to enter the capital to find someone,” Ye Mingke replied.

“You are all on the wanted list as well. Though it is only a third-grade secret order, entering the capital will not be easy. Moreover, what you have done has already provoked the fury of Great Xia’s cultivation world. Countless cultivators want to kill you,” Sword Nine said.

“Can you help me?” Ye Mingke asked directly.

“Is that martial cultivator who broke through the Twelfth Tower of Martial Dao still alive?”

“He is already dead.”

“Then I can. First-grade secret orders come directly from the Heavenly Court. Third-grade orders fall under the authority of the Central Guarding Office at most. I can help you.”

“You are both the Celestial Examiner and a cultivator. If you help me, will you not get yourself into trouble?” Ye Mingke asked after a moment’s hesitation.

“I will. But I do not care. As for matters beyond the sword, I have no desire to think about them or meddle in them,” Sword Nine replied calmly.

He studied Ye Mingke, hesitated briefly, then said, “There are too many causes and consequences bound to you. They will affect your cultivation. However…”

A rare trace of surprise and wonder appeared in his eyes as he looked into Ye Mingke’s pupils.

“You have grown stronger far more quickly than I estimated. More importantly, many of the spiritual apertures within you have opened. You can cultivate now.”

He closed his eyes, as though sensing something, then continued.

“You possess a fire-aligned spiritual energy constitution. Although only a small number of your spiritual apertures have opened, you can already begin establishing a circulation of spiritual energy. You have merely touched the lowest threshold of cultivation, but with your strange intuition, your prospects are already promising.”

“Was it not said that, among the one hundred and eighty orthodox points within the spiritual apertures, those that can open must do so innately, while changing them after birth is exceedingly difficult? Why has your aptitude for cultivation changed so greatly in the few months since I last saw you? It is practically unbelievable.”

The more Sword Nine examined Ye Mingke, the more astonished he became, despite his usually detached and composed nature.

The person before him had transformed completely in such a short time, almost as if he had been given an entirely different body.

“Are you certain?” Though Ye Mingke had already discerned some of the changes brought about by his transformation, he could not suppress his delight upon hearing that his spiritual apertures had opened.

In a world where spiritual-energy civilization had flourished, the ability to cultivate spiritual energy meant far too much.

“If you can already become a cultivator, why are you still staying among mortals?” Sword Nine asked suddenly, perplexed.

Hearing that Ye Mingke could cultivate, Liu Xi and Xu Zixian also looked at him with complicated expressions.