Song of Adolescence

Chapter 208 The Youths Leave Qingcheng Mountain

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Qingcheng Mountain.

For the last three months, the entire mountain had been dressed in white mourning robes.

Today, the two most outstanding disciples of Qingcheng Mountain’s younger generation, Li Fansong, the progeny of Zhao Yuzhen's Boundless Swordplay, and Fei Xuan, the progeny of Qingcheng Mountain’s Great Dragon and Elephant Strength, removed their white robes. They knelt before the statues of the San Qing Divine Teachers in Qing Xiao Hall and in front of them were the ancestral tablets of all the previous masters of Qingcheng Mountain.

"Shishuzu, this disciple Fei Xuan will obey my master’s order to go down the mountain today. Within three years, I will observe everything under Heaven, and experience all sorts of people under Heaven. Please wait for the day this disciple returns to the mountain!" Fei Xuan bowed before the tablets.

"Shifu, this disciple Li Fansong was not filial and have not mastered his swordplay. I’m not able to avenge shifu’s death. This disciple will go down the mountain and train hard and within three years, I will kill the murderer with my own hands!" Li Fansong also prostrated himself.

The most senior person currently in Qingcheng Mountain, Yin Changsong, was temporarily serving as the Sectmaster of Qingcheng Mountain. He stood behind them and sighed helplessly. "Qingcheng Mountain has developed such talents in the last few generations. I don’t know if this is a blessing or a misfortune for Qingcheng Mountain."

Li Fansong and Fei Xuan stood up and bowed respectfully at Yin Changsong. Fei Xuan said, "Great Grandmaster, today Fei Xuan and little shishu are going down the mountain. Please take care, Great Grandmaster.”

"When I was young, the Sectmaster at the time who was also my Grandmaster passed away. When I was in my mid-years, my shifu passed away. Then, I entered my sixtieth year and Qi-shidi passed away. Now, I’m in my seventies and I’ve seen the passing of the fourth Qingcheng Mountain Sectmaster in my lifetime." Yin Changsong smiled. "I only hope that when I die, I can see the fifth Sectmaster take his position, Fei Xuan."

Fei Xuan shook his head. "Fei Xuan is ashamed and afraid I cannot assume this responsibility."

"If you compare yourself with Yuzhen, then Qingcheng Mountain will have no master for the next hundred years. Fei Xuan, you were imparted with Yuzhen’s Daoist arts, and your passion for Daoism is even higher than Yuzhen’s. The position of Qingcheng Mountain Sectmaster will be yours, sooner or later. There’s no need to refuse. This was what Yuzhen wanted too." Yin Changsong stroked his long beard.

Fei Xuan bowed his head and didn’t say any more. "Fei Xuan obeys."

"In the future, you will be Sectmaster and we’ll be the ones who obey you. Your shifu passed on early. He died of illness soon after he brought you to Qingcheng Mountain. You were raised by Yuzhen, so don't let him down, Fei Xuan." Yin Changsong turned his head. "Fansong!"

"Fansong is here!" Li Fansong hurriedly responded.

"From today onwards, you are no longer a disciple of Qingcheng Mountain," Yin Changsong said calmly.

"What!" Li Fansong and Fei Xuan were both shocked.

"Actually, you have never been a disciple of my Qingcheng Mountain. You were simply Yuzhen’s disciple. Back then, your parents were old friends with Qi-shidi. Your parents died young and entrusted you to him. From young, you were gifted at swordsmanship, and back then, Yuzhen was also young and eager. He took you as a disciple when you were barely six years old. In the past few years, you’ve made a lot of achievements in the Boundless Swordplay. Now that Yuzhen is no longer here, there is no one on Qingcheng Mountain who can teach you," Yin Changsong said.

"But." Li Fansong was sweating anxiously. "This disciple has never thought of leaving Qingcheng Mountain. Yin-shizu, please reconsider!"

"I’m not expelling you from the sect. You want to be a disciple of Qingcheng Mountain, but ask yourself, do you really have the heart to seek the Dao? After you leave Qingcheng Mountain, you’ll be able to seek your own Way of the sword." Yin Changsong slowly said, "Yuzhen has said that in your life, you have two fated teachers. The one with him has already ended. The other one is hidden among the martial world. Go seek him out."

Li Fansong wiped away his tears and stood silently for a long time. Finally, he nodded. "Alright."

"Don't cry. Yuzhen said that man’s swordsmanship was not inferior to his. The Wrath Sword Army Destroyer, the Solitary Sword Nine Songs, the Confucian scholar’s elegant sword, the Snow Moon peerless. Your shifu must be one of these four swords. It’s a good fate, so cherish it."

"This disciple obeys!"

Seeing the two disciples walking down the mountain one step at a time, Yin Changsong sighed heavily, and the other three celestial master elders of Qingcheng Mountain also joined him.

"One was imparted his Daoist arts, one was imparted his swordsmanship." One of the celestial masters watched their backs and said slowly, "Yuzhen has his successors after all."

"Can a little Daoist boy really inherit the position of Qingcheng Mountain’s Sectmaster?" Another celestial master was a little worried.

Yin Changsong shook his head. "Whether he can or not will depend on the next three years of his travels."

"I heard that Yuzhen drew a map for the two of them. It’s funny if you think about it. Yuzhen himself has never been down the mountain. How could he have drawn a map of the road that goes down the mountain?" A celestial master asked in confusion.

"I saw that map. There were only two places on it. The road starts at Qingcheng Mountain and ends at Qingcheng Mountain." Yin Changsong paused. "In the middle, Yuzhen only pointed out one place. The rest he left for them to explore freely."

"What’s that place?" the other three celestial masters asked at the same time.

"Heavenly Revelations." Yin Changsong looked up at the sky. "Directorate of Astronomy."

Li Fansong was carrying a bookcase, and Fei Xuan followed him riding a maroon horse, just like when they traveled down the mountain together last time. This time, however, their emotions and mood were completely different. When the two reached the foot of the mountain, Li Fansong turned his head, and tears started streaming down involuntarily.

"What are you thinking about?" Fei Xuan asked him.

"I remembered the first time I came to Qingcheng Mountain with my parents, I was less than six years old. When I was following my parents up the mountain, I saw a youth sitting in front of the steps. He had a dangling ponytail and he was looking into the distance. He asked me, what’s it like going down the mountain? Back then, I saw that he had a peach wood sword on his back so I said, if you teach me swordsmanship, I will tell you stories about going down the mountain. My parents scolded me for causing offense, but he readily agreed. Later I found out that he was Zhao Yuzhen, the most outstanding in Daoist arts and swordsmanship on Qingcheng Mountain in a century." Li Fansong laughed and cried at the same time. "But at the time, I only thought of him as a little silly, and I only had to make up something about going down the mountain and he’d be overjoyed for a long time. Thinking about it now, I can't help but feel I should apologise to him."

"Why’s that?" Fei Xuan asked.

Li Fansong wiped away his tears. "I was still young then, how could I have experienced anything much? They were all stories I heard from my parents, and some were completely fabricated, but shifu believed it all. This time he went down the mountain. I wonder if he saw how boring this mortal world really was, would he be a little disappointed?"

Fei Xuan also laughed. "No, for a person like shifu, no matter how boring things get, he will find a way to make them interesting."

"That's true. Shifu didn’t get to see enough, so let us see more than enough for him." Li Fansong turned around and said loudly, "Little scholar boy, let's get on the road."

"Okay, little shishu!" Fei Xuan replied.

"Don't call me little shishu. Call me Young Master." Li Fansong knocked Fei Xuan's head lightly.

Fei Xuan didn’t get angry for once. He just walked another few steps before he turned his head again. It was almost as if he could see a little Daoist boy sitting on the steps who grew up into a young man who was as kind and gentle as jade, and then he became a middle-aged Daoist priest with two wisps of beard. All the while, he looked into the distance, his eyes full of longing.

Shifu, I hope that when you went down the mountain this time, you really found the things you’ve been searching for in your heart. As for what you have yet to finish, leave it to Fei Xuan.

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