Chapter 298: Music for the Mortal World
Xu Qing watched the grain of sand vanish. He didn’t care about the people who had died. Rather, he was shaken by what Void Returning cultivators were capable of. What Arch-Immortal Plumdark had done seemed simple, but was filled with profundity that Xu Qing couldn’t even grasp. Inhaling deeply, he looked down into the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains where that specific mountain had once existed. That spot was now a level plain.
Maintaining silence, he piloted the dharmaskiff forward. As the moon shone down, Arch-Immortal Plumdark seemed to be in a good mood. Occasionally, she would lift the flagon of alcohol to her lips and take a sip or two. As she drank, she seemed less flirtatious than usual, and a bit more bold and heroic. At the same time, she was no less glamorous than before. In fact, she emanated the air of those ancient jianghu wanderers who would sip unfiltered rice wine as they roamed the lands. All-in-all it made her even more attractive than before. [1]
Xu Qing found himself repeatedly glancing at Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s alcohol flagon. Given the level of her cultivation base, she could probably drink a lot without getting drunk.
Noticing his gaze, she smiled brightly and held the flagon in his direction. Rocking it back and forth, she asked, “Would you like a drink?”
Xu Qing shook his head.
“You seem a bit stiff right now, child.” She laughed softly then took another drink. As she did, a bit of alcohol splashed out and was picked up by the breeze.
By chance, one drop happened to fly over and land on Xu Qing’s chin. He could smell the fragrance of the alcohol. Meanwhile, as Arch-Immortal Plumdark sat on the railing, she took out a green willow flute and started playing some music. It sounded wonderful.
Xu Qing didn’t really understand music, but he could tell that the song was bold and inspiring. It made him think of a woman dressed in a woven rush raincoat, holding a sword in her arms as she told stories about her years wandering the jianghu. The song also seemed laced with regret. As he listened, he slowly relaxed, and eventually lost himself in the music.
In that manner, time passed.
The moonlight shone down. Arch-Immortal Plumdark was dressed in white and looked like an immortal fairy descended to the human world. She was beautiful, but her eyes contained an unreadable look as her flute music drifted about. The mountains and the wind made good companions for the song.
The Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains were usually a brutal place, but this night, with the flute music filling them, they seemed inimitably peaceful. It was as if heaven and earth contained only Arch-Immortal Plumdark.
Gradually, the regret in her song turned into profound loneliness. When Xu Qing sensed that loneliness, he couldn’t help but look over at her sitting on the railing.
She seemed empty, even desolate, like a lone orchid at the bottom of a dark valley. She didn’t need anyone to admire her youthful beauty. She didn’t need anyone to witness her elegance. She bloomed for herself, and for the hope that she clung to.
As Xu Qing looked at her, he suddenly understood what the Captain meant when he said that, in her youth, countless cultivators had been obsessed with her.
Xu Qing wasn’t obsessed. But he was enjoying the bold and inspiring song, as well as the regret within it, and the loneliness. He closed his eyes and thought back to when he was younger. He remembered how he had struggled to survive. And then he thought about Sergeant Thunder and Grandmaster Bai.
He suddenly felt like drinking.
Sometime later, dawn broke. The flute music faded into nothing. As light filled the sky, Arch-Immortal Plumdark stood at the prow, her back to Xu Qing, looking at the rising sun.
“Do you like watching the sunrise, Xu Qing?”
He thought for a moment. “Not usually.”
“I like to,” she replied softly. “The light is most beautiful at sunrise.”
Xu Qing looked into the sky.
They didn’t speak. The crimson sun climbed up, turning the clouds red and casting out light to fill all the lands. Before long, the night was gone, and darkness was removed from the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains. Everything was bright.𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
A new day had come. Along with it came a vile gaze that rose from the mountains below and locked onto Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff. The gaze seemed to become corporeal, causing the air to twist and distort, and covering the light from the sky.
A flicker of displeasure appeared in Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s eyes.
Then the gaze reached her, and it suddenly filled with astonishment and terror. It immediately fled.
Unfortunately, there were consequences for disturbing Arch-Immortal Plumdark. She waved her fair hand, and a distant low-lying mountain burst into flames and quickly transformed into ashes. It all happened in the blink of an eye. There wasn’t even a scream. The mountain, and everything on it, simply ceased to exist.
Having accomplished that, Arch-Immortal Plumdark stretched lazily, then turned and walked toward Xu Qing. His anxiety immediately spiked. She stopped in front of him and looked at him with a deep gaze that would entrance just about anyone.
Xu Qing instinctively stepped aside.
She smiled faintly, and without a word, entered the cabin.
Relaxing, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since leaving the sect, time seemed to be moving at a crawl. Sending his cultivation base power into the dharmaskiff, he tapped into the ship’s godliness, giving it more speed as it moved onward.
The day passed and night fell.
As before, Arch-Immortal Plumdark sat on the railing drinking from her flagon and playing her flute. The music added to the jianghu atmosphere, and as the unhurried tune entered Xu Qing’s ears, he realized that, even though it was the same song he had listened to for so long the previous night, he really enjoyed it.
It was cloudy that night, and there was no moon. Muffled thunder could be heard occasionally. It seemed like it might start raining. Arch-Immortal Plumdark eventually stopped playing and took a drink.
All of a sudden, Xu Qing couldn’t hold back from asking, “Senior, does that song have a name?”
“You like it?” she asked, putting down the flagon. She looked at him, her eyes filled with a faint divine resonance.
He nodded.
“Can you play the flute?”
He shook his head.
“I’ll teach you.” She hopped off the rail and walked up to him, and before he could even react, she was there, holding the willow flute out.
He took it hesitantly. Then she stepped behind him, put her arms around him, and placed her hands on his. When her skin touched his, he shivered from head to toe. As they stood together, he smelled her perfume, and it caused beads of sweat to break out on his forehead. All of a sudden, he wished he hadn’t asked about the name of the song.
“The flute has twelve holes. Put your hands on either side and hold it to your left.” Her sweet, alluring voice rippled through his mind, and he could feel her breath on his neck as she helped him lift the flute. [2]
She paid very close attention to his posture and the angle of the flute, until he felt so stiff he couldn’t move. Once everything was perfect, she put the flute to his lips.
“Pay attention, child. Don’t get distracted. Now, I want you to… blow, just like this.” He felt her warm breath as she whispered into his ear.
He went even more stiff, and was so anxious his heart was pounding like mad. After a few breaths worth of time in which he did nothing, he forced himself to relax slightly. Then, just as she instructed, he gently exhaled.
An ear-splitting sound erupted from the flute.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark laughed. Walking out from behind him, she extended a fair finger and placed it over one of the finger-holes.
“Like that,” she said, looking at Xu Qing with her red lips curved into a slight smile. Her skin was so fair it seemed it might be damaged by the wind, and she was so beautiful that, being this close to her, Xu Qing, for the first time in his life, felt his mind go completely blank.
All of a sudden, a peal of thunder rang out, and rain started falling. As it hit the dharmaskiff’s defenses, it made a loud pattering sound that caused Xu Qing to shiver and then back up a few steps.
“Many thanks, Senior. I understand now. Going forward I think I’ll just figure it out on my own.”
She laughed softly. It seemed like she enjoyed seeing Xu Qing this nervous. Setting to the side, she sat down, put her chin in her cupped palm, and looked at him.
Taking a deep breath, he sat down cross-legged with the flute. Closing his eyes, he mentally reviewed what she had taught him. Then he opened his eyes and tried again. This time, the sound that came out of the flute wasn’t ear-piercing. Instead, it sounded more like a whimper. It definitely didn’t sound beautiful.
She smiled. “Take your time, child. There’s no rush.”
Time slipped by slowly but surely. It rained heavily and there was occasional thunder.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s gaze remained fixed on Xu Qing, and over time, it grew more and more tender. Occasionally, she would give him some advice about the flute.
Xu Qing calmed down, and eventually immersed himself in the flute. Around dawn, the rain stopped. He wasn’t very familiar with the song, and when he played it sounded forced. But by sunrise, his music echoed out in all directions.
As the dharmaskiff flew through the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains, the song drifted to the banks of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River. There, as the various mortals wiped the rainwater off of their mutagen-ravaged bodies, something stirred in their blank eyes, and they looked to the sky.
For the whole night, Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s gaze had remained fixed on Xu Qing. But now, she suddenly looked away from him toward the riverbank and the mortals.
“Wait a moment,” she said softly. She stood, hopped off the dharmaskiff, then floated to the bank.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark was the most beautiful thing any of the mortals had ever seen. When they looked at her, they couldn’t help but tremble in shame of their inferiority. This clearly wasn’t the first time Arch-Immortal Plumdark had done something like this, and she knew how to react. Her smile became incredibly warm and tender, quickly dispelling the unease of the mortals.
Stepping onto the riverbank, she stopped in front of a little girl who was gasping for breath. The girl’s body was half rotten thanks to the mutagen that filled her, and she exuded a noxious smell. The light of youth still flickered in her eyes, but it was slowly fading into darkness.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark in her pure white garment knelt next to the girl. Without even a hint of revulsion, she gently put her hand on the girl’s forehead. Gradually, the rot that had filled the girl disappeared.
“We live in a bitter world,” she said softly. “But don’t ever give up hope.” A piece of candy appeared in her fingers, which she placed in the little girl’s mouth.
The little girl’s eyes began to shine brightly once again.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark smiled. However, when she looked around at the other mortals, she sighed. She was powerful enough to change the fate of an entire sect. But she couldn’t change the world.
Xu Qing stood at the prow of the dharmaship, watching silently.
1. The term ‘jianghu’ has different meanings, but in the context of Chinese fantasy novels, it creates a very wuxia atmosphere. It essentially refers to the underworld society that revolves around martial arts. It’s not the same ‘cultivation world’ that exists in xianxia novels. PLEASE NOTE: there is a difference between wuxia and xianxia!!! Even in the comments of this novel, I see people throwing around the term ‘wuxia’ in a way that’s not totally accurate. Anyway, mentioning the jianghu imparts a very unique flavor to this scene, and to Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s appearance. I have a YouTube video talking about what the jianghu is, and the same information can be found in my non-fiction book Understanding Chinese Fantasy Genres. Tangentially related is the fact that I co-authored a tabletop roleplaying game in which the jianghu is a very key element. The above are affiliate links, so I’ll earn a microscopic bonus if you purchase through them. ☜
2. The type of flute described here is, when transliterated, a “dizi.” You can find all sorts of details about it in the Wikipedia article. As far as I’m aware, these types of flutes usually have no more than nine finger-holes. So the version here is presumably some sort of fantasy xianxia type, or maybe there’s just something I don’t understand about how these flutes are structured. I’m sure most of you know what this type of music sounds like, but for reference, here’s a YouTube video with a great rendition of a pretty famous song. Now that I think about it, it makes great background music for this chapter. ☜