Chapter Ninety-Five: Journey to the Western Sea

I had never seen what was written on it before—perhaps it had something to do with the Netherworld. At that thought, I carefully took the silk booklet in my hands and slowly opened it...

"Nineteenth disciple of the Jade Purity Realm on Mount Kunlun, Divine Lord Yu Fei. This disciple embodies benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and courage, with a pure and fierce temperament, and is possessed of keen intelligence and wisdom.

Two years after entering the Jade Purity Realm, set traps of incense, flowers, wine, and fruit to lure and capture a ginseng spirit child, encountered danger, and returned victorious. Discerning the cause in hindsight: knowing both oneself and the enemy, seizing the advantage at every turn, and letting the prey run before capturing it. Thus, in warfare, the way of deception prevails—strike where the enemy is weak, adapt to changing circumstances, remain invincible, and when retreat is the best option, retreat. This disciple is small of stature and slight of strength; her wisdom should be cultivated, and self-cultivation should come first."

So—back then, Father Master had known every detail of my mission to capture that ginseng spirit child, and he had never doubted me... And that extra hour of martial practice each day was not a punishment at all.

The silk booklet was filled with records of my cultivation...

One hundred and sixty years...
Two hundred and thirty years...
Three hundred... four hundred... five hundred...
Eight hundred years: accompanied the master to the plague region of Qingqiu, personally testing medicines. Prepared the Fivefold Plague-Dispelling Decoction. The heart of a healer, the benevolence of a general...

"One thousand years: swayed by persuasion, descended from Kunlun without leave, used the wiles of beauty to capture a flower thief, fell into the Netherworld, preserved herself through wit, destroyed the Netherworld's pills, and was rescued to safety. Fell under a soul-charming spell. She acted recklessly without discerning the enemy's situation; sacrificing herself to lure the enemy only to end up trapped. In the danger of warfare, when death is certain, one may be killed. Still requires cultivation...

Two thousand years: under coercion, descended from Kunlun without leave, detected a Netherworld incursion, and returned. Fierce and resolute, she safeguarded the Jade Purity Realm with wisdom, placing herself in mortal peril in a woman's body, sacrificing herself for righteousness, and perishing at Zhui Xian Cliff. Revived by a soul-capturing art, she lost her voice.

At the Thirty-Third Heaven's Flat Peach Banquet, she captured the enemy with both wisdom and courage. The sounds of prosperity, the dances of peace, the drums of victory shook heaven and earth. The phoenix soars, its wings beating wide—she has come home, radiant with grace and light."

Father Master's brushstrokes were smudged at the final words "come home"—blurred and indistinct... It was his tears that had fallen upon the page...

This was the entry he had recorded before departing for the Luo Long battlefield. It was also the last entry in the silk booklet.

Five hundred years after he left, only then did I see clearly the hand that held the paired feather, only then did I see clearly this heart that had been hidden away.

I slowly closed the silk booklet and pressed it tightly against my chest with both hands...

Spring Breeze had intended to linger in the Jade Purity Realm for some time, but unexpectedly I received a flying immortal decree from the immortals of the West Sea, saying that the situation there was quite unstable. I invited Spring Breeze to accompany me to the West Sea to investigate. The immortals of the West Sea had always greatly revered Father Master, and the successive Divine Lords of the West Sea had always deferred to the Nine Provinces; having Spring Breeze there would make matters much easier.

For my safety, Spring Breeze insisted that I disguise myself once more as an old grandmother. "This lord alone need know the beauty of the little crow." Spring Breeze worried that Ming Zhong would not give up.

Spring Breeze entrusted Little Little White to the care of Shan He, Ke Ke, and the old Flower Immortal on the island, and sealed the boundaries of Hundred Flowers Isle.

Upon arriving at the West Sea, West Sea Divine Lord Gui Er was most hospitable, and he treated me—his "Flower Immortal Grandmother"—with great respect. The dishes he served to the exalted god were quite distinctive: seaweed dishes, laver rice, sea fungus tossed with dried shrimp, and sea clam soup—an entire table spread before us...

Spring Breeze curled his lips and looked at the dishes before him. "For a grand Divine Lord of the West Sea, you truly are stingy. Even if Yun Xiao is gone, and old favors have faded, this lord is still a venerated deity. You ought to show at least some respect to a deity's dignity." Spring Breeze had been specially brought along by me, and little did he expect that this meal by the West Sea Divine Lord would make him lose all face.

The West Sea Divine Lord's expression turned awkward. "The exalted god misunderstands. The Elder Sovereign Yun Xiao shall forever remain the most revered Double Brilliance Sovereign in this humble one's heart. All these years, this humble one has been following his elder's teachings. If the exalted god will not laugh at me—this humble one, the West Sea Divine Lord, owns but this one robe fit to wear before an exalted god." The West Sea Divine Lord lifted his outer robe, revealing clothes of patch upon patch beneath.

Spring Breeze was caught between laughter and tears. "This lord remembers your West Sea to be bountiful enough in produce. All these years, to bolster your West Sea's strength, I've even granted you favorable seasons and weather. How have you become so poor! Surely you're not crying poverty to this lord? Look how plump you are!" Spring Breeze poked at Gui Er's fleshy shoulder with his fan.

"This humble one is merely swollen with water weight, all bloat and no substance. This humble one knows the exalted god's good intentions—how would I dare deceive you! Ever since the Elder Sovereign Yun Xiao passed on, the Heavenly Palace reduced the West Sea's military expenditures and the subsidies to the Sea Wolf Tribe, saying that if the Sea Wolf Tribe stirred up trouble again, they would wipe the tribe out entirely. When the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold. The Heavenly Palace can do without these lips, but we of the West Sea cannot stand idly by. If we truly go to war with the Sea Wolf Tribe—setting aside how the Netherworld would profit as a fisherman reaping the spoils with copious quantities of sea wolf oil—even if we slaughter this 'chicken,' I fear we would not awe any 'monkeys.' Instead, those independent tribes of the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, each harboring their own schemes, would be driven to desperation, and might unite against the Heavenly Realm or defect to the Netherworld. In recent years, under Ming Zhong's leadership, the Netherworld's power has grown greatly. We cannot afford to err." Gui Er poured out his grievances to Spring Breeze.

So that was it. I had previously received word that the West Sea was having a hard time, but I never imagined it was this hard. The Sea Wolf Tribe had indeed set a bad example for those independent tribes. Fortunately, the other independent tribes were already under my command—all except for the Sea Wolf Tribe.

"If even you, the West Sea Divine Lord, must tighten your belt this way, then how much harder must it be for the immortal citizens of the West Sea?" I asked.

Gui Er sighed. "It is not easy! Speaking of it, this Divine Lord feels deeply ashamed before the immortal citizens of the West Sea, but I have no recourse. Our West Sea borders the Netherworld, and we cannot follow in the footsteps of the Western and Northwestern Divine Provinces. As the years pass, it grows harder and harder—often we must rely on aid and relief from other parts of the Nine Provinces. Fortunately, the immortal citizens of the West Sea are most understanding of the greater good."

Spring Breeze let out a sigh.

"Have you tried negotiating with the Sea Wolf Tribe?" I asked Gui Er. I thought to myself that the West Sea immortals cinching their belts this tight was no long-term solution. If the West Sea kept harboring parasites for so long, its weakness would eventually see it devoured by the Netherworld as well.

Gui Er sighed. "We negotiate every year. When the old chieftain of the Sea Wolf Tribe was still alive, things were manageable—he understood the stakes and kept his actions restrained. After the old chieftain died, his grandson Jiang Ye succeeded him and grew brazen and reckless. That Jiang Ye claims he will be the number one king of the Four Seas."

"This Jiang Ye has rather an inflated opinion of himself," I said with a cold laugh.

"Indeed, but the man has the capital to act on it," Gui Er said.

"That's just his folly!" Spring Breeze said.

In truth, I had long ago sent people to investigate the Sea Wolf Tribe.

The Sea Wolf Tribe was an independent tribe dwelling within the West Sea. They possessed their own cluster of islands and sea territory, belonging to neither the Heavenly Realm nor the Netherworld.

The Sea Wolf Tribe held a peculiar relationship with both the Heavenly Realm and the Netherworld within the West Sea. Members of the Sea Wolf Tribe, upon entering the sea, transformed into plump, rotund wolf-headed fish; upon coming ashore, they took the shape of land wolves. The thick fat layered upon their bodies could be rendered to ignite the ghostly fires of the Netherworld, and to light the everlasting lamps of the underworld that guide lost souls. However, the Netherworld used this sea wolf oil not to guide lost souls into the underworld to receive their punishments and be reborn, but rather to bewilder those souls that should have ascended to the Great Radiant Heaven to be reborn as immortals—making them lose their way, allowing them to mistake a false light for the true one and stray into the underworld, where they were steeped in nether poison. This served as an important means of expanding the underworld's power.

Though the Sea Wolf Tribe's territory was small, they were very much aware of their crucial position to both the Heavenly Realm and the Netherworld. The Netherworld wanted to recruit them, so the Heavenly Realm had no choice but to protect them. Thus they grew emboldened by their possession of sea wolf oil, fearless in their arrogance. So long as each year they privately rendered a small amount of fat from their dead kin into oil, they could openly and covertly blackmail the Heavenly Realm into granting them all manner of benefits. And of course, if the Netherworld offered a higher price, then that bottle of sea wolf oil would go to the Netherworld instead.

One can guard against thieves from without, but the thief within one's own house is hardest to defend against. The thief at one's very doorstep was the greatest headache for the Heavenly Realm. They were not quite enemies, nor did they observe any code of honor. Appeasement, concession, protection, wealth, immortal power—nothing could fill the Sea Wolf Tribe's insatiable desires, and in recent years they had demanded more and more from the Heavenly Realm. The Heavenly Palace grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Sea Wolf Tribe's conduct and conceived the notion of exterminating the entire tribe.

In the old days, Father Master had been there to mediate, restraining the Heavenly Palace from the short-sighted practice of cutting off its own wings wherever it ached. Now that Father Master was gone, the immortals of the West Sea had taken up that responsibility, bearing the pressure from all sides and continuing to hold the line. For five hundred years, it had truly been no easy task.

As he spoke, West Sea Divine Lord Gui Er covered his face and wept, choking out, "My elderly mother has endured a lifetime of hardship, eating these seaweeds morning and night, and in her entire life she has tasted sea fish only a handful of times. Now that she is advanced in years, this unfilial son of hers can only provide her with two catties of seaweed each month."

Hearing this, I said to Spring Breeze, "Come now, exalted god, let us not be picky. In difficult times, we must not waste the Divine Lord's heartfelt hospitality."

Spring Breeze glanced at the West Sea Divine Lord, most reluctantly.

"And besides, the cost of this meal—you, exalted god Spring Breeze, ought to contribute something, don't you think?" I smiled at Spring Breeze.

Spring Breeze let out a helpless sigh. "Fine, fine! I already work hard giving them favorable weather and seasons, and now for this sorry meal I have to pay out of pocket besides... Ah, West Sea Divine Lord, at least show a bit more spine yourself. Don't be such a coward."

Though we called it the cost of the meal, it was in truth aid to the West Sea. Spring Breeze's contribution would certainly not be small—he was one of the foremost money-making deities in the Heavenly Realm. In the old days when Father Master was still alive, Spring Breeze was always claiming he was short on meal money and would come by the Jade Purity Realm to freeload, saying that Father Master was the most financially powerful deity in all the Heavenly Realm. Now that Father Master was gone, Spring Breeze had stepped up to bear the burden.

"How dare I accept meal money from the exalted god," the West Sea Divine Lord demurred.

"Keep it, for the immortal citizens of the West Sea. Their food and sustenance must not be skimped," I said.

Gui Er was moved to tears, thanking us profusely.

After the meal, Spring Breeze and I parted ways to attend to our respective matters. Spring Breeze went to inspect the West Sea's seasonal ledgers and the implementation of the weather arrangements, while I went out to see the condition of the immortal citizens.

The aquatic clans of the West Sea were indeed most frugal in their clothing, food, dwelling, and travel, yet the spirit of the people remained vigorous and full of vitality.

"Old grandmother, what would you like?" A little shrimp immortal at a fruit stall in the market hailed me. The shrimp immortal's sleeve bore two patches.

"Dear fellow, give me two pears," I said.

"Certainly! One coin," the shrimp immortal said warmly.

"So cheap?" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Grandmother must not get out much. Here in the West Sea, every food item sold receives a subsidy from the West Sea Crystal Palace, and we also often receive assistance from the Young Prince Xue. The immortal citizens have it hard enough already—if we don't eat our fill or keep warm, how can we defend our homeland? We don't profit from our fellow immortals," the shrimp immortal explained.

I thought to myself, "The West Sea Lord skimps on himself for the sake of the citizens—that is his duty. But who is this Young Prince Xue?"

"Oh, I am quite old and rarely leave my home. Who is the Young Prince Xue?" I asked.

"The eldest grandson of the Old Duke Xue, of course. Though he is a merchant, he does not profit from the suffering poor. Why, he's even giving out alms today," the little shrimp immortal said.

So he was the grandson of Old Duke Xue, who had earned such illustrious military merit in his time. I grew curious about this noble scion of the Heavenly Realm and asked, "Dear fellow, could you tell this old woman where the Young Prince Xue resides?"

"The Duke's Residence, of course. Ah, but at your venerable age, grandmother, don't trouble yourself going to join that crowd—you might get jostled or hurt. Forget the coin for the pears; consider it a bowl of porridge from me. Do hurry on home," the little shrimp immortal urged.

I smiled. "This old woman has been cooped up at home for so long that she's quite suffocated. I'm not after the porridge—I simply wish to see the excitement. Just tell me the way, dear fellow."

The shrimp immortal, seeing my insistence, said helplessly, "Very well, then. I'd hate for you to get lost. I'll accompany you there. At your age, going to join such a crowd—what if you get bumped and hurt?"

Along the way, I continued conversing with the shrimp immortal.

"Have you seen the Young Prince Xue, dear fellow?" I asked.

"The last time the Young Prince Xue came back to give sermons on doctrine, I saw him once. But there were so many people—I packed up my stall and stood at the very back, so I couldn't see him clearly. But I could hear his voice. It seemed to reach into my very heart. He spoke so wonderfully," the little shrimp immortal said with admiration.

"How old is the Young Prince Xue?" I asked.

"About the same as me, I'd say? Five hundred years old? He's but a young man, truly accomplished at such an age!" the little shrimp immortal said.

"Five hundred years old and still a young man?" I thought to myself. My Little Little White was only the size of a bean at five hundred years old.

"Ah, grandmother, you wouldn't know this, but the Young Prince Xue gestated in his mother's womb for two thousand years before being born. When he was born, he was a luminous pearl, radiating brilliant light. After forty-nine days, the pearl had grown several times larger, and the Young Prince Xue broke forth from the pearl—already in the form of a child," the little shrimp immortal said.

"Oh? How marvelous," I said.

"Yes indeed! They all say the Young Prince Xue is no ordinary immortal seed."

"And what of his cultivation of immortal arts?" I asked, moving from letters to martial matters.

"I'm not certain of that, though I have heard people say that despite his miraculous birth, the Young Prince seems to have been frail since childhood. He suffers from an ailment of the heart," the little shrimp immortal said with a sigh.

I thought to myself, "Had I not come to the West Sea this time, I would never have known it held so many remarkable figures. This Young Prince Xue... how intriguing..."