Chapter 397: When the Music Stops, the People Go
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Days later, the Cottage became unusually lively. The disciples of the Moon Clan had moved into the Cottage. Mr. Du had said before he left that the Cottage was one with the disciples of the Moon Clan. All at once, the mountain was filled with beautiful women.
If this had been the Ye Futian of the past, he would’ve been so happy. However, he was no longer in the mood for any of that. These past few days, he remained at the cliff, reading and cultivating. It used to be Jieyu accompanying him, but now it was Yu Sheng.
A couple of figures headed his way. The Sword Saint, Goddess Wangyue, Xue Ye and Luo Fan, as well as College Chief Xiao, all arrived in Ye Futian’s location.
“Little Brother,” the Sword Saint called out.
“Eldest Brother, College Chief Xiao, Goddess,” Ye Futian greeted.
“Your Eldest Brother is the college chief now, you can just call me Uncle-Master,” College Chief Xiao chuckled.
“Alright, Uncle-Master Xiao,” nodded Ye Futian.
“Sit, we’re just strolling around,” said College Chief Xiao. “We were so busy settling things at the College, we didn’t even have time to chat with you.”
“Uncle-Master, you’re too polite.” Ye Futian was still unfamiliar with College Chief Xiao. After all, they hadn’t met too many times. However, he was different from what Ye Futian had imagined. The disciples of the Cottage had all naturally assumed that the relationship between the college chief and their teacher was not a good one but in reality, it was the exact opposite. The relationship between the two of them was not one that could be easily understood by outsiders.
Some people claimed that College Chief Xiao wanted to control all of the College and was thus displeased with Mr. Du. Truth was, the college chief had always wanted the Sword Saint to take over.
The group took seats on the ground. The Sword Saint spoke, “Little Brother, the people of the Qin Dynasty are already gone. The palace is now empty. They’re most definitely worried about the College’s revenge and have completely become a thing of the past. Several lords of the Liu Kingdom have come to Book Mountain with apologies. Wuchen and Liu Chenyu are cultivating on Book Mountain. I asked for their opinion and they rejected the apologies, so I told the people from the Liu Kingdom to leave. However, I won’t order any follow-ups with them as this is a Liu Kingdom business. I’ll leave it for them to deal with themselves.”
“Okay,” nodded Ye Futain. It was only natural that Ye Wuchen and Liu Chenyu would refuse to forgive the traitors of the Liu Kingdom.
“Also, your Third Brother left. He came to see me and then left without saying anything to anyone else,” said the Sword Saint. Ye Futian nodded in understanding. This was expected. According to Third Brother’s personality, there was no way he wouldn’t leave. The proud scholar he was would definitely chase after his target.
“The teacher and your Third Brother had high hopes for you. They both mentioned you before leaving, saying that you don’t belong in the Eastern Barren Territory. Your world is somewhere far away.”
“I’ll be leaving for the Barren State in some days,” said Ye Futian. “Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, Seventh Brother, what are you guys planning to do?”
“We’ll stay to help out at the College for the time being. After everything is completely settled and the Eastern Barren Territory starts anew, we’ll leave,” Xue Ye explained. “As his disciples, we’ll help teacher achieve his dreams.”
Ye Futian nodded. Life is full of meeting and parting. Everyone had their own path to take. The disbanding of the Cottage was only a matter of time. Although, the time seemed to have arrived too early. So, there was no helping these feelings of sadness.
“Your teacher always wanted to be able to create change. In the end, he realized he wasn’t able to change a single thing and even dragged his disciples into it,” said College Chief Xiao. “A thorough jerk.”
“Uncle-Master, what kind of person was the teacher? Why was he taken away?” asked Ye Futian.
College Chief Xiao let out a reminiscent look. He said, “When your teacher was young, he was just like you guys, full of pride and confidence. He was so focused on traveling the world. That was until he met two people, the two people who changed his fate.”
“Donghuang the Great and Emperor Yeqing?” Ye Futian asked him with bright eyes.
“That’s right.” College Chief Xiao looked so serious as he nodded his head. “Not many people knew about this slice of history, but your teacher did indeed leave with the two emperors. It was many years before he returned and when he finally did, his edge was gone. He became lazy and idle. I’ve asked him what happened while he was gone and he said that he was tired of what he saw in this world. He killed some people but never told me who. However, I’m sure that they were people he shouldn’t have messed with. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have returned to the Eastern Barren Territory and gone into hiding. He only began to change slightly when he started taking in disciples. He had new goals but it was all null in the end. Though, he did say before he left that he had no regrets. He said he had seen things that others hadn’t and killed those that others didn’t dare to. Now, he even had a group of such extraordinary disciples. He wouldn’t feel regret even if he were to die.”
Ye Futian listened quietly. He never thought that his lazy, alcohol-loving teacher would have such an astounding story behind him.
“Your teacher always said that principle ruled humanity, but more often than not, principle loses to a physical punch. Therefore, your punch has to be stronger and more powerful than everyone else’s because that’s the only way people will listen to you. In reality, that jerk has never had any principle when he was with me because his punch was always stronger than mine.” College Chief Xiao seemed to be complaining. Ye Futian and the others couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed like College Chief Xiao had been through a lot.
“Because of this, his life was full of contradictions. He spent his whole life in a world of self-contradiction,” College Chief Xiao continued. “He has finally let everything go now. He said the person he had been waiting for had finally arrived. So now, the future is up to you guys.”
“The person he had been waiting for?” Ye Futian was interested. “Who?” Just as he asked, he realized that both College Chief Xiao and the Eldest Brother were looking at him. He was Mr. Du’s last disciple. After Ye Futian came on the mountain, Mr. Du cultivated with him in the back mountains and even said that he had no regrets leaving. So, who was the person Mr. Du was waiting for?
“Is it me?” Ye Futian muttered. If so, then the old man that always looked down on his talent was actually waiting for him? Wasn’t that funny? However, he couldn’t manage to let out a laugh.
Lifting his head to the sky, Ye Futian could almost see the elder’s figure. The old drunkard that was both respectable and loathsome. Why was he the one he waited for? What did the old man know? Their only similarity had to do with the two emperors.
After some random chit-chat, Eldest Brother and others left. Ye Futian watched their departing figures and called out, “Uncle-Master, Senior Brother, I won’t come to say goodbye when I leave either.”
“The College and the Cottage will always be your home.” The Sword Saint turned to smile at him. In fact, everyone turned to give him a last smile.
Days later, Ye Futian could no longer be found in this spot. The disciples of the Cottage had all left the mountain, including Xue Ye and Luo Fan. Now, only the ladies of the Moon Clan remained.
Standing by the cliff right now was a beautiful girl. She stood quietly, looking up at the ocean of clouds. The view here was truly breathtaking. This girl, was Chu Yaoyao.
“Sis,” called out a voice. Chu Lian approached, looking equally beautiful. With her eyes on the same view, she asked, “What are you thinking?”
“No much.” Chu Yaoyao shook her head.
“Don’t lie to me. Ever since you left Sky Mountain, you’ve been hiding something deep down,” said Chu Lian. “Can you tell me?”
“You want to know?” asked Chu Yaoyao.
“Yeah,” Chu Lian nodded.
Chu Yaoyao smiled before giving her reply, “I fell for a person I shouldn’t have fallen for.”
“It’s not a matter of whether or not you should have. If he’s worth it, then you should follow your heart. Throughout the Eastern Barren Territory, there wouldn’t be a single person who wouldn’t fall for your charm.”
“Of course, there is.”
“Who?”
“Someone who used to cultivate,” Chu Yaoyao answered with a big smile. “But that’s all in the past now. Everything starts anew now.”
On another mountain of Book Mountain, another beautiful girl stared into the distance with a tear-stained face. “Why did he have to leave by himself?” she uttered through her tears.
Beside her, a young man spoke to her softly, “Because he couldn’t bear the thought of dragging you around while they wandered.”
“That’s his opinion. Doesn’t he know that this is even crueler?” Liu Chenyu cried.
“He’s cruel to himself as well. However, he would rather shoulder it all himself. I would do the same in his situation.” Liu Feiyang smiled. “He wants to give you the world, not have you suffer with him.”
There was another girl on Book Mountain with her eyes focused somewhere far away. It was Yi Qingxuan. She did not cry though. She was smiling. She knew that this was all part of the experience. Parting was going to be a large part of it. This was the choice she made. The man she loved did not belong to her fully. He belonged mostly to the young man beside him.
…
Months later, a rumor spread from Sky Mountain. They said that the sounds of a guqin were heard from the mountain. The beautiful music melted in with the snowflakes. Nobody knew if this was another appearance of Emperor Will. However, there weren’t many people climbing Sky Mountain anymore so not many cared about this rumor.
At the top of Sky Mountain, the fluffy, white snow never stopped falling. A figure clad in white sat quietly, playing the guqin while the snow fell. It was Ye Futian. He hadn’t left the Eastern Barren Territory just yet. He was cultivating here. All this time, he was practicing on the guqin and building his Spiritual Energy. He also cultivated sorcery and martial arts to strengthen his body.
Not far from Ye Futian, Yu Sheng sat cross-legged, also cultivating.
In a distance was a one-armed youth practicing with a sword in the snow. Ye Wuchen was bathed in Sword Will, flowing and blowing through the snow. There was also a girl on the snowy mountain. Quietly, she took in the cold of the Sky Mountain. It was Loulan Xue.
Just then, the music stopped. Ye Futian shifted his gaze to the mountain trail. There, a beautiful figure braced the cold winds and approached the mountaintop. Her steps were light and she headed for Ye Futian.
Ye Futian took in what she was wearing. The rough fabric looked like something monks would wear, but not even the plain clothing could hide her innocent beauty.
“You…” Ye Futian was surprised at how the girl in front of him was dressed.
“When the monks from the Qianqiu Temple arrived on Book Mountain last time, I wanted to be enlightened. So, after that, I went to the temple and I cultivate there now,” smiled Hua Qingqing. The air of innocence around her seemed to have been restored.
“That’s good.” Ye Futian returned her smile.
“Can you play the Ukiyo song for me again? I want to listen to the full piece,” she asked softly.
“Okay,” Ye Futian nodded. His expression became serious and he placed his hands on the guqin.
The peaceful music resonated on Sky Mountain once again. Perhaps, this was the last time.
When the music stops, the people go!