Song of Adolescence

Chapter 15: Eight Cardinals Mara Dance

“Monk, you sure have a ton of strange martial arts up your sleeves, don’t you? What is it this time?” Eunuch Jin Xian asked in a clear voice.

Wuxin laughed and didn’t provide an answer. As his sleeves danced in the air, he soared through the sky like a crane and twirled about.

“What’s that monk doing?” Lei Wujie was confused.

“He is…” Xiao Se was stunned for a moment and he there was shock in his voice, “Dancing?”

“Bravo!” Eunuch Jin Xian gave a loud cheer, “You’re actually dancing the Dance of the Mara! But, this dance of yours can’t be considered beautiful without eight demons dancing it. When it’s just you, it almost seems a little lonely.”

Wuxin didn’t answer him. Instead, he continued dancing, but as he did so, more figures appeared, every single one of them clad in a white robe and dancing in a different posture. The one thing they had in common was that their facial features were blurred.

“One… two… three… eight…” Lei Wujie rubbed his eyes. He had faced the Lunar Maiden’s Shadow Sword before. However, with eight figures appearing at the same time… it was clearly at a level much higher than the Lunar Maiden’s. “However… can he actually kill someone by dancing?” Lei Wujie finally voiced his suspicions.

“Stop looking!” Xiao Se hurriedly turned his body around, “how depraved can one monk get!”

“What’s the matter?” Lei Wujie slightly furrowed his brows.

“The Dance of the Mara is a group dance supposed to be performed by the eight demoness serving under the Mara. It’s a demonic art of the Vajrayana branch of Buddhism which has never been passed down. It has been said that when the eight demoness performed the dance at the same time, ordinary men would fall victim to their otherworldly beauty with just a mere glance. Even if there was a bottomless cliff in front of them, they would step off the edge without hesitation. Just look at everyone else in the courtyard!” Xiao Se yelled.

Lei Wujie turned around to see but all he saw was the two battlemonks from the Great Sanskrit Temple sitting down with their eyes shut and hands clasped together as they chanted a Buddhist scripture with a clear voice. As for the Venerable, he simply closed his eyes and shook his head as before. Bo Yong, Ling Jun, and the four burly men were already caught in web that Wuxin’s dance. Their bodies lightly swayed and they started mimicking Wuxin’s movements as he danced.

“That’s… “ Lei Wujie had never seen such a strange sight before.

“Why are you still looking?!” Xiao Se was bewildered. “Could it be that you aren’t affected at all?”

“I…” Lei Wujie’s eyes widened as he looked at all eight of Wuxin’s figure performing the dance. All he felt was how beautiful the sight of his white flowing robes were as they danced “Not particularly?”

Eunuch Jin Xian waved the sword in his hand and a gust of cold qi swirled gently about, like butterflies weaving through flowers, elegant and soft. Waves of sword qi shot out from his sword. However, they weren’t there to attack Wuxin. Instead, they merely brushed past him as if they were just there to add life to his Dance of the Mara.

“Monk, even though you managed to recreate the beauty of the eight demoness, I’ve been an eunuch for more than thirty years. In my eyes, these are nothing more than chunks of flesh and blood. Makes me retch just looking at them… what else do you have?!”

The eight Wuxin figures trembled and a white figure appeared in a flash before Eunuch Jin Xian. Barely a second later, Wuxin’s right palm shot towards him.

“Great Soul Searching Palm! You even learned the skills in the Grievous Sorrow Manual!” With a wave of Eunuch Jin Xian’s long sword, a tyrannical sword qi charged towards the white figure in front of him. As the sword qi approached, the white figure gradually slowed down till he stopped moving entirely. The cold qi swirled around his body, freezing him solid in the process. However, Eunuch Jin Xian didn’t even spare him a second glance as he waved his sleeve, smashing the ice statue into smithereens.

“Enough of this charade. Show me your real abilities.” Eunuch Jin Xian said.

“How can you say that? It’s just that your martial arts level is too astonish… I’m not your opponent at all.” Wuxin’s tone was filled with pain.

“Not my opponent?”

“Not at all!”

“Then die!” Eunuch Jin Xian’s pointed his sword to the sky and howled at the heavens, “Break!”

White qi started to swirl around as a layer of frost appeared on the surface of the beams and walls of the temple. Xiao Se couldn’t help but wrap his fur coat tighter around him. At the same time, Lei Wujie started emitting steaming hot qi from his body.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Xiao Se looked at Lei Wujie with a stunned expression on his face.

“Just having to watch from the sidelines and not take part is… regretful.” Lei Wujie sighed.

“You don’t know what’s good for you. Since you’ve already heard of Chen Jingzhou’s name, you should also know how scary is his sword.” Xiao Se replied.

“Of course I do. When he was seventeen, he took his first step into the martial world and challenged the Five Great Sword Sects alone. In two hundred moves, he defeated the Sect Master of the Lone Shadow Sword Sect, Zhuo Zizai, and the Sect Master of the Cloud Refuge Sect, Yi Shuihong. In another three hundred moves, he defeated the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, Xia Hui.”

“He once challenged Ancient Lightning Pavilion’s Fu Qingfeng who was known as the person with the fastest sword in the world and would only need ten moves to defeat his opponent. Fu Qingfeng’s sword, the Startling Lightning Sword, was sent flying in a mere eight moves. Only when he fought against the Heavenly Water Sword Sect’s Sect Master Xiao, was he unable to secure a victory five hundred moves. In the end, Chen Jinzhou sheathed his sword and left. However, Sect Master Xiao had been famous for more than twenty years. Chen Jinzhou was. only seventeen years old then!”

“Since then, the martial world was filled with tales of him. They said that even though he was a man, he had the appearance of a heavenly maiden. When his sword swept out, his white robes would flutter in the wind and a wave of white qi would come bursting out like the majestic onset of winter…There were countless young girls who idolized him and I’ve even heard of a poem written about him: like an immortal falling from the heavens, a sword descends and the frosty winds wilt. However, he only stayed in the martial world for three years before disappearing. No one knew where he went after that and there was no news about him at all.” Lei Wujie knew the stuff which happened in the martial world like the back of his hand.

“In the past, Chen Jinzhou was just seventeen years old. As for this monk, I think he’s seventeen as well.” Xiao Se mumbled.

Seven figures suddenly merged into one at which point Wuxin clasped his hands together and shut his eyes. His robes and prayer beads on his neck started to dance in the air as he chanted in Sanskrit without a break in his breath. Eunuch Jin Xian stabbed towards him, sword qi rushing towards the monk like a domineering tyrant.

“Jin Xian is really out to kill him this time!” Xiao Se frowned.

However, it was at that moment that Wuxin’s eyes snapped open and an image of an enormous bronze bell appeared in front of him. Eunuch Jin Xian’s sword stabbed right into the bronze bell but stopped one inch before it could pierce through Wuxin’s chest.

“The Inner Bell of Great Wisdom.” Eunuch Jin Xian’s sword suddenly stopped. Even though the sword itself stopped, the sword qi continued to shoot towards Wuxin.

“Boundless wisdom lies in a heart at ease: to speak, or to be silent, to move, or to be still, all a reflection of the natural.” Wuxin muttered in a soft voice as his body contorted at an impossible angle, causing that gust of cold qi to lightly pass over his forehead.

(Note: For context, the full saying is:

The Buddha said: The Bodhi tree originally wasn’t a tree, neither was a clear mirror a mirror, if neither existed in the first place, what taint is there to speak of. Man is just man, there’s no need to try to be one; the world is just the world, there’s no need to purposely conform to it. To sit is to meditate, to move is also to meditate. One flower, one world. One leaf, one Buddha. When spring arrives, the flowers will bloom by themselves. When autumn arrives, the leaves will fall by themselves. Boundless wisdom lies in a heart at ease with itself, every action and inaction a reflection of nature.)

“Monk, I’m asking you for the last time. Are you leaving with me or not?” Eunuch Jin Xian sighed.

“You almost sound like you’re trying to elope with me. This humble monk’s face is all red now, you indecent eunuch.” Wuxin laughed.

Eunuch Jin Xian was stunned for a moment before bursting out in laughter, “Such an interesting monk, it will be such a waste to kill you.”

“Kill me?! As if it would be that easy!” A purple light flashed through Wuxin’s eyes bathing it in an enchanting light

“Demon Enthrallment? This is the skill which caused Wangyou to lose his way?” Eunuch Jin Xian was stunned as he looked into Wuxin’s eyes. Right this very second, it felt like his entire mind was being thrown into disarray…

A blazing inferno that had raged through the day and the entire night suddenly burst to life around him. The sky was filled with the mournful wails as the figure of his father waved his sword and howled madly atop the city walls. Yet the instant that figure did so, an arrow felled him. An overwhelming vortex of despair gripped his heart then; the last of his family had fallen, either to the fire or to weapons. The city was about to fall, and before long, the iron cavalry of Wei would trample over this piece of land. All that awaited him then was a horse whip around his neck as he was dragged to death. It was said that the troops from Wei were a cruel bunch. Even after he died, they would tear off the skin from his body… Compared to dying a death like that, he rather end it himself, he thought to himself as he looked at the short sword in his hand.

It would be better for him to end it all… A soft voice resounded in his head.

Suddenly, he burst into laughter

The light in his eyes which had almost faded away started to focus once more and the illusion disappeared. Eunuch Jin Xian had returned to reality, and as he looked at the sword in his hand, he laughed softly. “I haven’t thought about that day in a long time. I was such a cowardly child back then…”

Wuxin chuckled wryly, “Sir Eunuch’s heart is as firm as a boulder, I see.”

“Have you heard of Kunlun? It’s an area of extreme coldness where snow falls all year round. Even after a thousand years, the snow won’t melt. I was trained there in the way of the sword for six years. My heart had long been frozen like the snow on Kunlun Mountain. Inner demons won’t affect me in the slightest.” Eunuch Jin Xian said. “Now die!”

Howling with fury, the phantom of that bell was shattered to pieces by the sword qi. However, Wuxin didn’t retreat at all. Instead, he stepped forward and faced the sword head-on. Sleeves fluttering wildly as before, he sent an attack of his own flying outwards. However, Eunuch Jin Xian wasn’t fazed a bit as he leaped into the air and landed in front of Xiao Se and Lei Wujie. “Little Wuxin, you’re not my opponent. How about asking your two little friends to come out and help you?”

Lei Wujie was shocked for a moment before punching out.

Xiao Se exclaimed in shock, “NO!”

“Lei Clan’s Unseen Fist! Good!” Eunuch Jin Xian’s figure flashed, face turning towards the pair for a second as he easily dodged the incoming blow. By the time Lei Wujie was done with his attack, Eunuch Jin Xian had already returned to the sedan. However, his eyes were still, seemingly lost in thought as he gazed ahead.

“Sigh…the cold winds bite, yet the wanderer meanders without guard.” He recited cryptically in a soft voice.

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