It is said that the great affairs of the world, long divided, must unite, and long united, must... wait, wrong story.
After Jiang Ci carried Lu Yan on her back out of the mountains, she continued to display her innate lack of direction, wandering aimlessly along the road.
In her mind, north, south, east, and west were the same as forward, backward, left, and right, while a map and the actual terrain were two completely different things. She thought she knew where she was going, but in reality, every step she took led her astray. Even though the number of refugees on the road kept growing, driven by her own misguided experience, she ended up wandering further and further away from her destination.
She believed that seeing more refugees was a good sign, indicating she was heading in the right direction. In reality, she was looping in a massive circle toward the southeast along the edge of the Northern Border. Although the crowds of refugees grew larger, she hadn't seen so much as a shadow of Everspring City.
A journey to Everspring City that should have taken less than a week had somehow dragged on for a full week under her guidance. On a map, she had already bypassed Everspring City entirely.
But Jiang Ci was stubborn and hadn't brought a map. She had thought about bringing one when she set out, but after rummaging around for ages, she couldn't find it. The only thing that puzzled her slightly was the growing number of refugees, so she simply headed toward the densest crowds.
Based on her experience leaving Beizhou City, places with more refugees were usually where cities were located. This logic held true for Beizhou City and Black Mountain Fort, but it failed completely for Everspring City. She had no idea she had gone off course.
As she drew closer to Everspring City, the air grew warmer, and the surrounding vegetation became increasingly lush, meaning there was no shortage of food.
Crunch. Jiang Ci took a bite of the green, red-speckled fruit in her hand. A sour and astringent taste with a hint of sweetness bloomed on her tongue. It wasn't very juicy and left her mouth feeling a bit dry, but it was swallowable. Not particularly delicious, but not terrible either, she concluded fairly.
Perhaps because food was abundant here, the refugees were not very aggressive. Or maybe they simply never lacked food in the first place, since they weren't fleeing a famine. Many people fled the Northern Border, but the climate near Everspring City was excellent; anything planted would grow, so no one would starve. She devoured the fruit in a few bites and stamped the core into the dirt. With such a suitable climate, maybe it would grow into a large tree and bear even more fruit.
She wiped the sweat from her brow. Her thick outer robe now felt rather cumbersome. In Black Mountain Fort, this robe had been just right—neither too cold nor too hot. But here, it was far too thick. The collar and cuffs were frayed, and the hem was splattered with mud that she couldn't wash out, nor did she care to try anymore.
She hoisted Lu Yan higher on her back. As for that cotton quilt, she had abandoned it halfway. It was too hot and utterly useless. Wrapping him in it would only cause heat rash, and she couldn't carry the extra weight anyway; every ounce saved counted. The porcelain bowl in her bedroll was still there, clinking noisily as she walked. She found the noise annoying but couldn't bring herself to throw it away. She had brought it down from the mountain; if she threw it away, she wouldn't have another.
As she walked, afternoon arrived. The sun began to tilt westward. It wasn't as blindingly bright, but the air was stiflingly humid. It felt like a wet quilt pressed against her face, making it hard to breathe. Jiang Ci wiped the sweat from her forehead and flicked the droplets off the back of her hand. They hit the dirt and evaporated instantly.
In the distance, she spotted a building. She squinted, but she couldn't see it clearly in the bright glare. It looked like a low, dark silhouette of a roof. Perhaps a temple? Or something else.
Jiang Ci gritted her teeth. Ignoring her doubts, she decided to head over and take a look. If it was a temple, she could escape the sun. It was around two or three in the afternoon, the most stifling time of day. Carrying Lu Yan, Jiang Ci felt as if she were trapped inside a giant oven. Although the sun wasn't particularly harsh, the muggy heat rising from the ground and wrapping around her from all sides left her with nowhere to hide. It was better to seek shelter if she could; she wasn't a fool.
As she drew closer, she saw it was indeed a temple. Built of blue bricks and grey tiles, the paint on the lintel had mostly peeled away, revealing the greyish-white wood beneath. The pillars were tilted, a corner of the roof had collapsed, and a few broken tiles dangled from the eaves. Many refugees leaned against the corners of the walls, resting with their eyes closed in the shade of the broken tiles. No one spoke, and no one moved; they had all been drained of their strength by the sweltering heat.
Jiang Ci stepped inside. It was another ruined temple. Judging by the memorial tablet, the deity enshrined here seemed to be a True Monarch of the Kan Water spiritual root from the Tianlu Sect. The statue's face was barely recognizable, its paint having peeled off to expose the clay mold beneath. The altar table was empty, devoid of even an incense burner, leaving only a sunken outline where one had once stood.
She tilted her head, unable to recall the True Monarch's name, though she vaguely remembered he had once visited the Central Continent. She wondered if this True Monarch knew his temple had fallen into such disrepair.
She found an empty spot, gently set Lu Yan down, and plopped onto the ground, ignoring the dust. Placing Lu Yan's head on her lap, she gently stroked his cracked face. His wounds had scabbed over into dark brown patches, yet there was no sign of healing. Beneath the scabs, his skin remained raw and red, bleeding at the slightest touch.
“Are you hungry?” Her finger brushed against his chapped lips. “Look at me, talking nonsense. You haven't eaten all day, so of course you're hungry. Don't complain that I'm feeding you too little. If I feed you too much, I won't have the strength to travel.” She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a series of old and new bite marks on her fair arm. The old ones had scabbed over, while the new ones still seeped blood. They were clustered together, piling up from her wrist upward.
Finding a relatively unmarred spot, she bit down hard. She only let go when she tasted copper, then pressed the wound to Lu Yan's lips, letting the blood drip into his mouth drop by drop.
She used to bite her fingers, but that was too painful and yielded too little blood, forcing her to bite again soon after. So she had switched to her wrist. The skin there was thicker, so the pain wasn't as sharp, and it bled more freely, lasting a long time with a single bite.
After less than fifteen minutes, the blood began to coagulate and slow to a trickle. Jiang Ci pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding. Her lips turned slightly pale. The loss of blood drained her strength and body heat, causing her vision to go dark. She leaned against the wall to steady herself, waiting a moment before she recovered.
She leaned back against the wall, resting Lu Yan's head on her lap once more, and gently patted his cheek. “It doesn't taste good, does it? In a couple of days, once we reach our destination, you won't have to drink it anymore. If only you could wake up sooner, we'd get there faster too...” As she spoke, exhaustion washed over her. Still murmuring sleepily, she drifted off against the wall.
Two miles from the gates of Everspring City. An old man dressed as a Daoist tossed three copper coins. The coins bounced twice on the stone pavement, rolled in a circle, and came to a crooked halt. He looked down at the divination result and his mouth twitched.
“Damn it, why is this World-Breaker wandering around so aimlessly? Didn't the divination clearly show they would arrive at the gates of Everspring City in a week? Where are they?” He gathered the copper coins, stood up, and snapped his fan open with a loud clack, fanning himself vigorously. The blazing sun made his scalp tingle. His Daoist robe was flung open at the collar, revealing his bony collarbones. He had been squatting by the city gates for four hours now, and he was about to be roasted alive.
He was absolutely certain that something had gone wrong with the World-Breaker's fortune; there was no way his divination was incorrect. Since the very first divination he had ever cast in his life, he had never been wrong! The first divination he had cast was for his neighbor Old Wang's lost chicken. Old Wang went to look for it but couldn't find it. Later, the chicken returned on its own. Old Wang claimed his divination was inaccurate, but the old man argued that since the chicken had returned, how could it not count as being found? From then on, he firmly believed his divinations were never wrong; it was the world that was mistaken.
“Forget it, forget it.” The old man folded his fan and sighed. “This old man will have to make the trip myself! What time is it now?” He calculated silently, chanting about the primary hexagram and the changing hexagram while counting on his fingers. After a long while, he reached a conclusion he wasn't entirely sure of: the northeast.
Wearing straw sandals, he took a step toward the northeast and vanished instantly. The guard at the city gates rubbed his eyes. Had someone been standing there just now? The guard next to him said no, that he was seeing things. The guard thought about it and agreed; standing under the blazing sun for too long would make anyone see things.
Inside the temple, Jiang Ci was taking a nap while holding Lu Yan. The old man stood at the entrance, looking at the two of them, and couldn't help but laugh out of sheer exasperation. While he had been baking under the sun waiting for them at the city gates, these two were actually in here enjoying a nice nap. He wanted to see if his divination was truly off!
A golden light flashed in the old man's eyes, and complex patterns surfaced deep within his pupils. In his eyes, fortune and karma seemed to be dyed with vibrant colors, leaving nothing of the intangible and ephemeral hidden from his sight.
“Sure enough, this kid's timeline has been tampered with. An expansion of the spiritual sea? Tsk, this is tricky.” He squatted down, pointing his finger to trace a few imaginary lines in the air above Lu Yan's brow. His fingertip didn't touch the skin, but Lu Yan's brow twitched. “I'll apply a Soul-Sealing Art to him. If he keeps staying wide open like this, his soul will leak away completely.” A talisman slid from his sleeve into his palm. Holding the talisman, he chanted under his breath. The paper caught fire without any spark, and the greyish-white smoke condensed into a single thread, drilling into the space between Lu Yan's brows. Lu Yan's breathing stabilized slightly, but he still didn't wake.
Seeing the kid covered in cracks, the old man frowned and cast another spell on him. This time, he didn't use a talisman; he used his hand. He pressed his palm directly onto Lu Yan's face, channeling spiritual energy out of his hand like warm water pouring over parched earth. The dark brown scabs on Lu Yan's face began to loosen, their edges curling up to reveal the pink, new flesh beneath. The new skin was incredibly tender, like a freshly peeled egg, delicate enough to break at a breath.
The old man nodded in satisfaction at his handiwork, then quickly retracted his hand. As the aura of his profound cultivation leaked out, the sky seemed on the verge of tearing open. Dark clouds gathered from all directions, swirling above the temple like a giant eye slowly opening. Terrified, the old man quickly withdrew his spiritual energy, suppressing his aura to the absolute limit and even holding his breath.
“Motherfucker, I didn't even use my spiritual energy! Why the hell are you watching me so closely?” He glared up at the sky. The dark clouds dispersed, and the sunlight fell once more. He snorted and muttered, “It's just a soul patch-up. Is this really necessary?”
Placing his hands behind his back, he took another look at Lu Yan. The scabs were still peeling, falling off piece by piece to reveal the new skin. The old man let out a sigh of relief, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them.
He noticed a thread connecting Jiang Ci and Lu Yan. It was rose gold—not red, pink, gold, or black, nor any color he had ever seen before. He had cast divinations his entire life, yet he had never encountered this color. A red thread signified a fated match, pink was for lovers, black for enemies, and gold for benefactors. This was the first time he had seen rose gold, but it was certainly nothing bad.
This kid was quite heavily affected by the timeline; he had to be dragged back. The old man looked at the talisman at his waist with a pang of reluctance. He had treasured this talisman paper for many years. Oh well, consumables were meant to be used. The talisman burned to ash, and the ashes drifted to the ground, scattered by the wind. The old man took one last look at the pair, then stepped forward and vanished instantly, just as he had arrived. Quiet returned to the temple, leaving only the soft, mingled sounds of Jiang Ci and Lu Yan's breathing.
By the time Jiang Ci woke up, it was already night. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and carried Lu Yan out of the temple. Stepping outside, a grand city appeared before her eyes. The city walls rose majestically, built of blue bricks and grey tiles, with copper bells hanging from the eaves that chimed softly in the wind. Flying vessels and dharma ships circled in the sky above, their hulls etched with dense arrays of artifact patterns that glowed with a faint blue light in the moonlight. Rows of blue-robed cultivators stood atop the city walls, holding long spears and standing perfectly straight beside the battlements like a row of statues. On the plaque above the city gate, three large characters were written:
Everspring City.
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