Chapter 30: I Am Your Concubine Now!

As the prayer ceremony approached, the capital was currently at the height of its prosperity. The soft, autumnal hues blanketed the city, stretching from Yintai Temple all the way to Thousand Lights Temple. Pedestrians seemed to melt into the painted boats and carved pavilions, and the sky above the capital felt as though it had been drawn a little closer.

"Min Ning, I will go in first to see what is happening. You must be extremely careful."

"Yes... then I leave it to you."

After this brief exchange, Chen Yi rode his tall steed to the front of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. From afar, he saw the pavilion built along a serene, jade-green waterway, surrounded by stone bridges, weeping willows, scholars, and noble ladies. As the sky dimmed and twilight settled like water, it promised to be a beautiful evening. Painted boats drifted on the water, and the lanterns of the brothels and pleasure houses were layered one upon another. Though night had not yet fully fallen, the capital was already awash in the glow of lanterns and the scent of wine. From time to time, flower girls and attendants passed by, carrying lanterns or oil lamps, exchanging jests with the patrons on the street.

Though it should have been the peak hour for business, the area outside the Hundred Flowers Pavilion was strangely quiet. The carved plaque seemed to be ignored by all, and Chen Yi could feel from a distance that some sort of formation had been cast here. The splendor of the capital was severed at the gates of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion; this lane of song and dance felt, at this moment, like a place of ascetic seclusion.

A ripple stirred in his heart. Chen Yi suddenly looked up and saw a woman in white Taoist robes leaning against a window railing. Her beauty was ethereal, and as she pursed her lips in a faint smile—reminiscent of Siddhartha Gautama holding a flower—she vanished before his eyes. Yet, that fleeting glimpse remained etched in his mind, breathtaking and profound.

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes, dismounted, and with his hand on the hilt of his sword, walked slowly into the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Once inside, he saw the madam of the house deathly pale, glancing nervously toward the upper floors as if burdened by great fear. Upon spotting Chen Yi, her expression turned frantic, as if she intended to block his path, but then she heard a voice transmitted directly into her mind:

"Let him come up."

Chen Yi heard it too. He furrowed his brows, his hand gripping his sword handle tightly. Not since he had been killed by Yin Tingxue had he felt such tension. Yet, at this moment, the hairs on his arms stood on end; it felt as if a thin mist had gathered over the lake of his heart, followed by a fine, drizzling rain.

Chen Yi ascended the stairs slowly. As he approached the chamber where the woman in white sat, he heard the faint, melancholy strains of a zither playing "Guangling San," the notes trembling as if in a mournful cry. Standing at the door, Chen Yi took a breath and pushed it open, finding the woman in white sitting there, whisking tea.

At that instant, his tension deepened. He had never seen her before. Chen Yi felt a flicker of shock; he searched his memories, but he truly had not encountered her. No matter which save-file he checked, no matter the point in time, he had never met this woman. Having always relied on his knowledge of the game to maintain an advantage in every situation, Chen Yi felt, for the first time, truly cornered.

She wore plain white Taoist robes, ethereal as a goddess. Her tea-whisking technique was simple yet refined, her grace impeccable from head to toe. Chen Yi intuitively felt how perfectly she matched the Thousand Lights Temple of the capital, and the unparalleled poise with which she finished her tea left a lasting impression.

As Chen Yi entered, a sudden silence fell. Min Ming’s delicate hands froze on the strings, and she looked up in alarm. Chen Yi gave her a look to signal that she should be at ease. Min Ming understood instantly, her fingertips trembling as she resumed playing.

"May I ask for the Daoist name of the priestess... and why you seek my sister?" Chen Yi watched the woman in white whisking her tea.

Yin Weiying pushed the tea bowl lightly toward him and smiled. "I am looking for you, Min Yuechi."

Min Ming’s fingers stiffened slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. Chen Yi sat down slowly, took the tea bowl, tested it with a silver needle, and only then drank. Yin Weiying gazed at him, and after he finished, she spoke:

"The prophecy says you are both dragon and phoenix, yet seeing you now, there seems to be a slight discrepancy."

Chen Yi’s grip on the tea bowl tightened.

"But that is no matter."

Just as the music ceased, the woman in white turned her gaze to Min Ming. "‘Guangling San’ was composed by Ji Kang. He retreated into the mountains, indifferent to fame and wealth. Before his death, he asked for his zither and played one final, resolute piece, never losing his reclusive spirit. After his death, he became a Ghost Emperor. Miss Min, your technique is superb, without a single misplaced note, but unfortunately, your heart is full of fear; you possess none of Ji Kang’s true spirit."

Hearing this, Min Ming said, her voice strained and bitter, "Priestess Yin, I am but a woman of the pleasure quarters. The songs I play are mostly of grief and longing; how could I ever comprehend the state of mind of Ji Kang?"

*Priestess Yin... the imperial surname?* Chen Yi caught the implication.

Hearing Min Ming’s words, Yin Weiying turned her face away. "Enough, enough. I have been too harsh."

Finally, she looked at Chen Yi again and spoke with directness: "Min Yuechi, I have come to see you today because you have an affinity for the Dao. Are you willing to follow me up the mountain to cultivate?"

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes. In other words, this woman wanted to take Min Ning away. In "Tianwai Tian," Min Ning reached the top ten of the martial rankings in her twenties, and when the Heavenly Gate cracked later on, she ascended by sword. Such ability could not possibly come from nowhere. It was likely the opportunity brought to her by the woman before him.

"Priestess Yin, this matter... I must refuse."

Chen Yi, playing the role of Min Ning, replied, "Not to mention that I cannot bear to leave my sister, I have no capacity to abandon the duty of restoring the Min family. Someone like me can never sever the ties of the mortal world."

Seeing Chen Yi refuse so thoroughly on behalf of his sister, Min Ming was stunned, her heart racing with panic, fearing that the woman in white might suddenly lash out. However, Yin Weiying’s expression remained unchanged; she sat there, calm and composed.

"Morning fungus," she said.

"What?"

"Cicadas."

The woman in white continued. Chen Yi understood immediately; she was calling him an ephemeral creature, ignorant of the passing of seasons. Just as Chen Yi was about to speak, Yin Weiying added leisurely:

"It does not matter. Many feel this way before they have seen the scenery of the mountains. How can mortal men imagine what the immortals see? Min Yuechi, you have an affinity for the Dao, so I will make an exception and show you the cycles of time, the spring and the autumn."

As she spoke, the fragrance of tea began to permeate the air. Chen Yi’s heart sank, the mist covering his inner lake suddenly thickened, and the fine drizzle turned into a driving storm.

The scene before him shifted abruptly. The original chamber was gone. Chen Yi looked down and found himself in the bustling Thousand Lights Temple. In the temple, Yin Weiying wore a peach-wood sword at her waist and turned to smile at Chen Yi. A momentary trance swept over him as he followed her lead.

Stepping into the front hall, he saw the flickering lights. Verandas were erected, with oil lamps burning outside. Beyond the veranda stood the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals. Chen Yi tried to count them, but gave up after a few dozen; the name "Thousand Lights" was no exaggeration. The pillars, often repaired, still retained their original brown wood color, with a thin layer of snow beneath them. The maple trees outside were covered in snow.

Coming to the rear hall, the altar was filled with eternal lamps arranged in nine tiers, with the Ten Thousand Blessings Heavenly Venerable behind them. Yin Weiying, her robes white as snow, reached out to take an eternal lamp and handed it to Chen Yi.

"Take it," she said.

Chen Yi took it. The flame flickered, burning steadily, as constant as the sun and moon. Yin Weiying reached out to take it back. Chen Yi handed it over. In the hands of the priestess, the lamp that should have burned eternally flickered and extinguished in an instant.

*What... is happening?*

As Chen Yi wondered, Yin Weiying looked at him and said, "You are very confused."

Chen Yi paused.

"Because you are nothing more than a morning fungus or a cicada," she said.

Chen Yi replied after a moment, "Please, Priestess, enlighten me."

Yin Weiying smiled leisurely. "Mortal bodies of the world below have an end. No matter how one nurtures life, one can barely live beyond two cycles of sixty years. People have only a superficial understanding of the Dao, seeing but the tip of the iceberg. How can they imagine that in ancient times, there was the Great椿 tree, which took eight thousand years for a spring and eight thousand years for an autumn? To the Great椿 tree, a mortal living two cycles is nothing but a cicada."

Chen Yi, half-understanding, asked, "You mean..."

Yin Weiying looked at him with a smile. "The lamp burned eternally in your hands, but extinguished in mine. Do you not understand yet? To me, even the 'eternal' lamp is not truly eternal. How could a lamp burn longer than a spring and autumn on the mountain?"

Chen Yi realized she was speaking of the Taoist method of immortality. "Then... how can I attain the spring and autumn of the mountain?"

Between the flickering of the flames, he suddenly realized his own insignificance. Yin Weiying waved her horsetail whisk and chanted a Daoist title.

The scenery changed once more. Everything turned into a vast, boundless white. Snow fell, and in the distance, the familiar outlines of pavilions and blue-tiled roofs appeared. Chen Yi looked around and saw the stone statue of the Bodhisattva, realizing he was back at the Yintai Temple of the Prince of Xiang’s estate.

"If you wish to attain the spring and autumn of the mountain, you must achieve realization—like a sudden awakening, or the 'head-on blow' spoken of in Buddhism," Yin Weiying said, looking at the stone Bodhisattva.

Chen Yi could not help but ask, "Why do you speak of Buddhism? And why bring me here?"

Yin Weiying spoke softly: "The Daoist scriptures say, 'The immortals of the heavens all speak in Sanskrit.' The truths are all the same, just expressed in different ways. The reason I brought you here is that this is where your greatest worldly attachment and your greatest ignorance reside."

*The greatest worldly attachment, the greatest ignorance...*

Looking around, Chen Yi could not help but think of the girl who seemed so resolute, yet was actually so fragile. In his previous life, she had killed him; she was his enemy. In this life, he had forced her to become his concubine. She did not like him, nor did she love him, yet even so, she haunted his every thought.

Chen Yi muttered, "You want me to... sever all ties to the world below? To stop concerning myself with worldly affairs?"

Yin Weiying smiled. "You are indeed perceptive. Those who leave the home must be like this. If you do not sever the ties of the world, what kind of 'home' have you really left?"

Chen Yi asked, "If I do not sever these ties, I cannot attain immortality? Is it not said that the immortal touches my crown..."

Yin Weiying laughed. "I am that immortal, touching your crown to bestow immortality."

Severing all ties, forgetting all emotion—this was the path to immortality she offered. Chen Yi fell silent. The visions Yin Weiying had shown him were filled with an indescribable tranquility, a serenity that surged into his heart and filled his entire being.

Chen Yi glanced to the side and, without intending to, caught sight of the gray-black treasure basin. It was here that the girl, his enemy Yin Tingxue, had burned three thousand taels of silver notes to ash, becoming his concubine. Even though she had fled, he had brought her back. Did he really have to sever this bond... to cut off everything with her?

"No matter the path to immortality, one must sever worldly ties and wipe away all form to realize the Dao. Only by forgetting all emotions can one gather the Three Flowers upon the crown and harmonize the Five Energies. Buddhism also says that to become a Buddha in an instant, one cannot have a single moment of ignorance."

As these words fell, Chen Yi felt his feet slowly lift from the ground. He turned and saw the woman in white stepping onto the mist, ethereal as a flying celestial from Dunhuang, leading him upward.

Half of the Great Yu capital lay beneath his feet, a tapestry of splendor in the twilight. Seeing this, Chen Yi thought he would be shocked, yet he felt no ripples; the lake of his heart remained as calm as ever.

The capital grew small. The Goddess of Taihua led him away from the worldly vanity, step by step. As he moved further away, the time of the Great Yu seemed to accelerate. The once-unrivaled prosperity slowly decayed; the Jin army besieged the city, the last emperor surrendered, and the Great Yu dynasty came to an end after five hundred years, with the world reunified.

Twilight descended. The capital withered and then welcomed a new era of peace. Merchants gathered from across the land, pavilions were rebuilt on ruins, and painted boats once again spanned the river. People came and went, the sun set and rose, the wind blew from west to east, returning to its source.

Watching this, Chen Yi felt an indescribable peace. In the twilight, the sound of a great bell rang out from the blessed lands. The prosperity remained, yet it was no longer what it once was. The once-famous Thousand Lights Temple fell into ruin, while the Yintai Temple flourished. Seasons turned, and worldly affairs changed.

*Drifting past the head of the summer waters toward the west, looking back, the gates of the old capital are nowhere to be seen. Only in my own sudden enlightenment, floating with the Goddess as if ascending to immortality, does the mortal world appear as nothing more than a mirage.*

As his thoughts settled, time seemed to pass in a blur of hundreds of years. Everything became strange, everything unworthy of lingering attachment, everything small. All things were like mayflies, like a single grain of rice in the vast sea. Chen Yi finally understood what it meant to see the cycles of time. The day had arrived.

"The small knowledge cannot compare to the great knowledge; the short life cannot compare to the long life..." Chen Yi murmured. The capital was pushed further and further away. Only the Goddess of Taihua remained, gently encircling him, ascending step by step. It felt as if, should he let go of that final thread of desire, he would achieve the Three Flowers and the Five Energies.

Min Ning, Min Ming, the Empress Dowager... even Yin Tingxue—her image slowly faded, lost in memories like ripples reflected in water. Could they ever really be grasped?

Just as he was about to close his eyes, he heard:

"I am your concubine now!"

As her image faded, that sentence echoed back. Deep and turbulent, every word jagged, flashing by like a mournful firework. When she entrusted herself to him, how resolute had she been? The silver notes that could have bought her freedom had been cast into the fire. After he saved her in the rain-slicked alley, she had shed tears. No matter how much she disliked him, no matter how much she hated him, she was his.

She had wept, saying she would not run again, that she would serve him forever. Though she hadn't said it outright, it was an entrustment! Facing his demands, she had never been able to refuse. She had no way back; she had entrusted herself to him!

He... he could not abandon her...

A sudden trance seized Chen Yi’s heart. He could wipe away all form to realize the Dao, chanting the name of the Heavenly Venerable like a sage forgetting all emotion to enter the boundless path, but he could not wipe away the traces she had left upon his heart.