Ever-changing - Part Two
The sea of clouds engulfed the mountains.
The wind stirred the dense white clouds, surging like waves over mountain after mountain. Finally, the cool breeze flew over the mountains and the "sea," bringing Li Letian's consciousness back to his own body.
Li Letian was in a stone pavilion, with some wild fruits beside him. The pavilion was small, just big enough for two people. Just as he was about to get up, a tearing pain shot through his flesh like lightning through his nerves.
Beyond the stone pavilion lies a long, narrow platform, its surface uneven from wind and rain. Seven steps forward from the pavilion's entrance leads to the platform's edge. Looking down, one sees ancient pines clinging to the cliff face and rising clouds.
Su Yishan leaned against a stone pillar at the edge of the platform, watching the sea of clouds surge and flow past the layered mountains, finally reaching him.
"You're awake?" Su Yishan turned around after hearing the groan.
Su Yishan moved closer. Li Letian also recognized this comrade-in-arms who had helped him many times since the Sword Testing Tournament.
"Brother Su," Li Letian clutched his head, "How did I get here? I should be on Cloud Mist Peak. Those two mysterious old men created a sea of fire..."
The endless cutting, the burning pain. Just recalling these things almost made Li Letian faint again. The confusion in his eyes turned into panic.
"Where's Rui'en?" Li Letian asked, forcing himself to endure the pain as he gripped Su Yishan's arms tightly. "How is Rui'en? Is she alright?"
"Calm down." Su Yishan patted the back of his hand and said, "I don't know where Miss is right now. I want to know what happened to you guys after I fainted."
Li Letian briefly told Su Yishan what happened after that. However, all he knew was up to that sea of fire; after that, he knew nothing about the outcome or the result.
After telling the story, Li Letian's emotions had calmed down considerably, and he began to think calmly. "So, Brother Su only woke up a day earlier than me; it wasn't that you saved me."
“You and I must have been rescued from Yunxia Peak by someone.” Su Yishan nodded. “I secretly went back to Yunxia Peak to investigate. It has been completely destroyed, and there are many corpses there.”
"A corpse?"
“That’s right, the corpses of government officials and soldiers, and martial arts practitioners.” Su Yishan frowned. “So I guess something must have happened after that battle. It’s still unclear who’s in control, so I have no choice but to stay here and watch over you. We’ll make plans after you wake up.”
"You think Zhao Zheng has already taken control of the entire Black Mountain?"
“According to you, this possibility is very high.” Although he was very reluctant to accept this result, Su Yishan could only make a rational deduction: “Those two old men and Zhao Zheng are birds of a feather. Although we were saved by the mysterious man and survived, we only survived.”
"You mean if the Mystic had won, we wouldn't be here now?"
“Yes, if they can beat Zhao Zheng and those two old men, then there's no need to go through all the trouble of bringing us here.”
Li Letian then carefully observed the stone pavilion he was in. Unlike most pavilions in people's minds, this was a long stone pavilion rather than a square one. The long pavilion was twelve feet deep, and about sixteen feet wide and high.
The pavilion faces west, supported by four stone pillars on the front and one independent stone pillar on each of the north and south sides. The inner side of the pavilion, which is the east side, is enclosed by large stone bricks. This is different from the usual four-cornered pavilions; this is a stone pavilion with openings on only three sides.
"This is Chuyun Pavilion, located between Yunxia Peak and the main peak." Su Yishan's gaze passed through the stone pillar and looked at the sea of clouds in the distance. "But it is not a necessary route."
"I think they want me to go back."
Su Yishan withdrew his gaze and looked at Li Letian: "You mean the person who saved us?"
“They must want me to go back to the main peak,” Li Letian said, looking into Su Yishan’s eyes. “That’s why they left us here.”
“Since you’ve made your decision, I’m willing to believe you.” After a moment of silence, Su Yishan said, “However, we’ll have to wait until you’re able to act, because we don’t know what we’ll be facing. We must prepare for the worst.”
"Before that, there's one more thing I need to trouble you with, Brother Su."
"Go ahead and say it."
"The most urgent thing is that we all need a sword."
Su Yishan smiled and pointed to a corner on the north side of Chuyun Pavilion, where two imperial swords leaned against the wall. "I've already prepared them."
The sea of clouds rose and reached the height of Chuyun Pavilion.
*
The shepherd boy had just finished relieving the water buffalo, wiped his hands on his coarse cloth trousers, and slowly walked back to the front of the buffalo. He tugged at the rope, took two steps back, and then charged forward.
The buffalo lowered its head. The shepherd boy braced his hands on the buffalo's perfectly curved horns, jumped, and pressed down, half of his body landing on the buffalo's head. But the shepherd boy slipped down again, with only his left knee resting on the buffalo's horn. So the shepherd boy stomped the ground and jumped once more.
This time, using the strength of his knees and right foot, the shepherd boy finally managed to place both feet on the buffalo's horns. He then gripped the buffalo's neck with both hands and climbed upwards, little by little. Reaching the highest point, the shepherd boy turned, sat firmly, and then began to call out.
The buffalo continued on its way.
A shepherd boy rode on the back of a water buffalo, humming a folk rhyme. This buffalo was shared by four families in the village, and the boy was taking it to the Wang family's house. The Wang family had been using it for several days.
On the muddy road, water buffalo trudged along, their feet sinking deep into the mud. To the left were fields clearly marked by ridges, and to the right stretched a seemingly endless forest of bald cypress trees.
The shepherd boy rubbed his eyes.
He thought he was seeing things. In the bald cypress forest, nestled among the tall, straight cypress trees, small boats drifted out, one after another. Tall, slender women, dressed in long, light blue dresses, stood proudly at the bows. Swords gleamed at their waists in the sunlight.
White clouds drift by, and cormorants fly towards the horizon.
A gentle breeze stirred, causing her skirt to flutter. She looked as if a celestial maiden had descended to earth.
*
Li Letian rested for a whole day, which he originally thought could be even shorter.
The next morning, before the sun had even peeked halfway up the sky and the orange hue of the sun had faded, Li Letian and Su Yishan set off towards the main peak. The closer they got to the peak, the more corpses of government soldiers they encountered. The two proceeded cautiously but encountered no obstacles.
When they reached the last long staircase leading to the summit, the two encountered He Zi'an, who was walking with the monks from Xinyuan Temple.
"Master, it's the Alliance Leader." He Zi'an immediately called to the monks of Xinyuan Temple, and then took the lead and ran to the two of them.
"Brother Yishan," He Zian asked with concern, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Su Yishan's eyes darted anxiously around. "Where's Miss? Has she returned?"
Upon hearing Su Yishan inquire about Xin Ruien's whereabouts, He Zian's expression also became uneasy. Before he could speak, a monk from Xinyuan Temple also came over. After solemnly bowing to Li Letian, he said, "Now that the Alliance Leader has returned, things are much simpler. As for Miss Xin's matter and the affairs of the imperial court, why don't we go up the mountain first and discuss them with Chief Xiang?"
“Alright,” He Zi’an thought for a moment and nodded, “Alliance Leader, Brother Yishan, let’s go up the mountain together. It’s no longer a simple matter of defeating the witch of the Glazed Palace.”
"The Elephant Gang Leader? Which Elephant Gang Leader?" Su Yishan asked in confusion.
This question was quickly answered. Guided by He Zi'an and the monks of Xinyuan Temple, the two soon arrived at the Beggars' Sect leader's tent. Sitting inside was Xiang Yu, the very man who had suppressed the Calamity Sword on Yunxia Peak that day. This used to be Du Taibai's tent, but now it was Xiang Yu's.
Standing to Xiang Yu's left was a Beggar Clan disciple, none other than the loyal Mu Xiongzhen. To his right stood a young man with a sword hanging at his waist and clothes adorned with green bird patterns.
Upon seeing Li Letian, Xiang Yu's eyes lit up as he rushed over. "Alliance Leader, are you alright? Zhao Zheng's helpers are truly remarkable; I thought you had also been killed." At this point, Xiang Yu almost shed tears. He grasped Li Letian's shoulder and murmured, "It's good that you're alright, it's good that you're alright."
"Thank you for your trouble, Chief." Li Letian replied, "What exactly happened these past few days? We've seen many corpses along the way."
“This is a trap.” Xiang Yu wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes: “It was a trap set by Zhao Zheng to massacre the martial arts community. That day, the gang leader and I went to Yunxia Peak because we received news that you, the alliance leader, would be killed.”
At this time, following the announcements from the disciples of Xinyuan Temple and the Beggars' Sect, the leaders of various sects gradually gathered in Xiangyu's tent. After greeting Li Letian, they took their seats on either side of the tent.
Xiang Yu led Li Letian to the main seat in the tent, while he himself stood to the side.
“Zhao Zheng did indeed intentionally set a trap to kill me.” Li Letian looked at Xiang Yu. “You mean not only me, but all of us are his targets?”
"That's right, the gang leader died at his hands while covering for me." Xiang Yu said with tears streaming down his face, "The corpses you saw, Alliance Leader, were all government soldiers who came to surround and kill us. Many of our righteous men unfortunately lost their lives in the battle."
"Thanks to Chief Xiang's timely reminder," the crowd echoed, "otherwise we might have been wiped out by that bastard Zhao Zheng without even knowing why."
Is Zhao Zheng still in the mountains?
"After these few days of fighting, Black Mountain is now under our control." Xiang Yu shook his head. "We haven't seen any trace of Zhao Zheng; perhaps he has secretly returned to the palace. Next time, he will probably lead the imperial army to attack us."
“Zhao Zheng is not all-powerful.” Su Yishan was skeptical of Xiang Yu’s statement: “If the Emperor had not given his permission, things would not have come to that point.”
Upon hearing this, the faces of the heroes in the tent became even more solemn.
"Could it be His Majesty's will?" Su Yishan asked hesitantly.
"According to the intelligence we have received, the Emperor has already passed away." Xiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zhao Zheng has blocked the news. He is using the pretext of assisting the young emperor to carry out his usurpation of the country. The reason he wants to eliminate us in Heishan is to remove any obstacles to his future actions in advance."
“The best course of action now is for us to strike first,” Chen Changgui said, stepping out from the crowd. “Now that the Alliance Leader has returned, I propose that we call upon heroes from all over the land in his name to march north and defend the Emperor. However, this seal is not yet ready for engraving.”
"Time is of the essence, so I think we should use the Chen family's seal. Everyone knows that this conference is only possible because of the Chen family. With the Chen family's seal, we can verify the identity of the alliance leader." Xiang Yu suggested, "With the calligraphy of Alliance Leader Li and all the heroes present, we can issue this first proclamation against the traitors to all the heroes of the world. The official seal of the alliance leader can be engraved later."
Li Letian glanced at Chen Changji, who sat silently among the crowd. This thin scholar, so out of place among the swordsmen, blinked, then lowered his head, dipped his finger into the strong liquor in the bowl, and began to draw on the table as if it were none of his business.
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