Chapter 62: Mid July

　　A seafaring visitor spoke about Yingzhou. However, the mist was thick that it was difficult to believe the existent of this island.

　　In this world, there was no Yingzhou beyond the seas. However, there was Qing Xuan.

　　Shen Lian was on a voyage and he traveled far. The land of the Dawei that he was at would be thousands of miles away by that time.

　　Without the sea chart from Ye Liuyun and a boater that knew the area well, it would not be easy to get there.

　　Even with prior preparations, it took him a tremendous effort to get there. For a person to stumble upon Qing Xuan by accident, the person must be really blessed.

　　Furthermore, for said person to meet the entry criteria of Qing Xuan that Ye Liuyun mentioned, that person would have to be one in a million.

　　The world was vast and Dawei was only one small part of it. Celestialism had a long history. The entry rules and requirement were passed down for many generations without fail.

　　Ye Liuyun pointed out that there were other celestial schools in the world. However, proper celestial schools such as Qing Xuan, more often than not, were located far away.

　　As for the likes of Nanhai Flying Celestial Island, despite them being part of the cultivation community, no one managed to attain immortality in the past thousands of years.

　　At most, they lived an extra hundred or two hundred years.

　　These sects that exhibited some form of celestial characteristics was somehow related to Qing Xuan. A few of them used to be disciples of Qing Xuan. After failing at their cultivation of Daoism, they had left behind some form of Confucian orthodoxies. However, Qing Xuan had never acknowledged these ‘Waimen’.

　　In any case, people who were related them would know more about entering Qing Xuan than others.

　　Just as how Guiyun Peak was close to Nanhai Flying Celestials Island, Mingjian Peak had their sources as well.

　　These celestial schools that were out of this world might seem impressive. However, even their best disciples were just around Ling Chongxiao’s standard.

　　Having mastered one or two celestial Daoist Techniques, they enjoyed higher social status than the normal sects in Jianghu. They were considered semi-celestial, semi-mortal.

　　Given their access to exclusive information, these disciples from the aforementioned Confucian orthodoxies did have a better chance at getting into Qing Xuan than normal people.

　　As the saying goes, ‘there are plenty of skeletons in front of the Changsheng Door’. Most of them did not manage to make it back home and were buried at unknown places.

　　It was a huge island. There was a mountain far ahead where mystique clouds surround it.

　　Shen Lian managed to deduce that it was July by observing the flow of his Qi and blood. It was roughly two months away from the Double Ninth Festival mentioned by the old fox deity, Xin Qubing.

　　He was early.

　　He got his hands on a smaller boat from the sea boat that he was on because bigger boats would not be able to get into the island. Moreover, Shen Lian did not want to expose the location of Qing Xuan.

　　With his feet on the ground, he observed his surroundings. He noticed that the scenery matched both of Ling Chongxiao’s story and Ye Liuyun’s map.

　　Shen Lian was convinced that he was at the right place.

　　Since he was early, he was not sure if he could locate the actual location of Qing Xuan.

　　There was a small river before him. The banks of the river were covered with grass. The only strange thing was the lack of birds chirping and the whirring of insects.

　　Besides the sound of the wind movement, grass, and stream, Shen Lian did not hear anything else.

　　The sun was scorching. Despite his experience with inner Qi cultivation, he still felt slightly restless.

　　He did not cool himself down with the water and remained cautious. According to Ye Liuyun’s instruction, there was a small town at the mountain foot where the actual mountain gate of Qing Xuan was located. At the end of the town, there was a road leading up to the actual mountain gate. That road was Wenxin Road.

　　It was a special road created by those with supernatural powers, as it was in line with Qing Xuan’s agenda – ‘before cultivating one’s behavior, one must first cultivate one’s heart’.

　　With the two months that he had, Shen Lian was confident that he could locate the small town regardless of the size of the island.

　　Shen Lian was not worried at all.

　　The small town should be on the south, which was in the same direction as the upstream of the river and most villagers would stay by the river bank.

　　The river was deep and it was impossible to see what was in the water. However, it was unlike the polluted rivers from the modern world, as it did not give off a foul scent.

　　Shen Lian walked upstream along the river. He walked for three days. He had food and water with him but with his level of attainment, he did not need to consume a lot of food. Hence, he did not consume the food and water from his surroundings.

　　During the day, he walked. At night, he would find a spot and enter into the state of spiritual calmness.

　　Besides plants, he did not see any other living creatures.

　　The entire river was dead silent.

　　One morning, Shen Lian walked as usual and he saw a living creature. More accurately, he saw a human being.

　　On the opposite bank, a lady stood quietly.

　　She was dressed in purple. Her clothes accentuated her perfect body shape.

　　Shen Lian had great eyesight and could see her clearly. She was beautiful and otherworldly.

　　The wind blew, ringing the purple bell that hung at her waist. It danced to the wind and gave off a crisp ring.

　　Perhaps Shen Lian was excited because he finally saw someone and not just because that she was beautiful.

　　He tried to greet her, but the lady disappeared after she glanced at him.

　　There was not even a sign left. It was as though what Shen Lian saw was merely an illusion.

　　However, the bell still rang in the wind. It was a melodious tune.

　　Shen Lian thought that since he met a person there, it must not be a deserted area then. Perhaps he might meet another person later.

　　He met the next person indeed. It was a lot sooner than he thought.

　　It was midnight, where the moon was almost a full moon.

　　The stars were sparse and the moonlight was heart-moving.

　　Shen Lian sat cross-legged on top of a rock. As usual, he was waiting for the day to come.

　　A layer of thin mist appeared on the river while the moonlight was scattered amongst the mists. The moonlight shone as melancholy filled the air.

　　There was a light at the upstream that was three hundred feet away from Shen Lian. It seemed hazy as if it was stirred in the water and moonlight.

　　Shen Lian finally realized that it was fifteenth of July – the Hungry Ghost Festival.

　　The reason behind his sudden realization was because the light that he saw was actually from a lamp, and the lamp was hanging on a boat.

　　The boat was white, and a person dressed in white was standing on it. Due to the mist and the distorted light, he could not see the person clearly.

　　The person in white was holding a lantern, it looked like a Soul Summoning Lantern used during funerals.

　　The river flowed slowly. As the boat did not have any paddle, it flowed with the current.

　　Shen Lian heard someone crying, or rather, singing.

　　It was the dead who was singing. Shen Lian found it creepy.

　　To hear such mournful singing on a silent night without any chirping of birds or whirring of insects, a weak-hearted person would probably have fainted by now.

　　However, Shen Lian did not faint. The song felt magical, and Shen Lian felt his body lightened up.

　　He turned around and saw himself.

　　That was the first time that he had an out-of-body experience involuntarily.

　　The person in white waved the white lantern, and balls of light on the river bank floated towards the lone boat.

　　Shen Lian finally knew why there were no other living creatures along the river.

　　This was because their spirit was summoned by the white lantern held by the person in white.

　　The sparse balls of light were probably living creatures that came to the river recently.

　　Neither did he feel nor did he notice it beforehand.

　　

1. 瀛洲 － It is one of the five sacred islands. Others namely, Fangzhang, Daiyu, Yuanjiao, and Penglai, where Chinese immortals lived. Categorised under Chinese mythological geography

　　

2. 外门－ A ‘replica’ school claiming they originated/branched from established schools. Usually do not teach the genuine syllabus.

　　

3. 长生门- where 长生 (Changsheng) means ‘immortality’, and 门 means ‘door’. Here is to say many who cultivate toward immortality often die before they achieve it (‘reach the door’). Hence, there are many skeletons in front of this ‘door’.

　　

4. 重九－ ninth day of the ninth month.