Chapter 6: The Fallen Sword Immortal
In the midst of a faint, misty haze, Shen Wuyou spoke at length.
“Wielding the sword is no easy road. Or rather, among the three thousand paths, none is truly a smooth one.”
“In the end, all roads converge. One can no longer rely on outside things, and must understand by oneself.”
“But as your master, I could not comprehend it, nor see through it.”
Xiao Lin’s eyes widened slightly.
Noticing his reaction, Shen Wuyou said calmly, “Because every step your master took back then was a path no one before me had ever walked.”
“And so I wandered for centuries without progress. My sword path advanced not a single inch. I even thought this was the end, with no road ahead.”
“But I knew it was not the end, because in those hundreds of years, I more than once glimpsed the magnificent vista at the terminus of the sword path. That sliver of insight lingered in my heart, faint and elusive.”
“If I wished, I could indeed seize that glimmer of understanding and break through at once. But I always felt it was not enough. There should have been a better way.”
“But I had already waited too long. After three more years, I finally decided to enter the Dao by this means.”
“And so, on an ordinary morning, I personally severed a strand of my own will.”
As the quietest of listeners, Xiao Lin could not help but ask, “Will?”
Shen Wuyou said, “My obsession with the sword path.”
“Once that obsession was cut away, the great path took shape of itself.”
Xiao Lin frowned. “If Master’s sword path was perfected, should that not be cause for joy?”
Shen Wuyou nodded, then shook his head. “And yet I brought into this world an almost immortal evil thing—the Fallen Sword Immortal.”
A glint flashed in Xiao Lin’s eyes. He knew the crucial part had arrived.
He asked, “Immortal?”
Shen Wuyou did not answer at once. Instead, he sighed. “I forgot that the road of severing emotion and desire is a dead end.”
“Seven emotions and six desires are all one’s own. To lose even one is to be incomplete. How could they be cut away so easily?”
“Sure enough, that strand of obsession took root and became the Fallen Sword Immortal. Worse still, because my cultivation was so high at the time, even if I were to destroy him, as long as he absorbed even a trace of negative emotion, he would be like the centipede that will not die even when cut to pieces.”
After silently digesting all of this, Xiao Lin said, “Whether immortal or undying, why should Master bother with him? Why not simply seal him away?”
A hint of a smile finally appeared on Shen Wuyou’s face again.
“You foolish disciple. You do not know that the Fallen Sword Immortal took perfected sword path as his foundation and delved into the three thousand Dao. Whatever a cultivator feels in the way of negative emotion becomes his nourishment, and he grows stronger by the day. No seal can suppress him for long. It may hold him for a time, but not for a lifetime.”
“But Master severed negative emotion, did you not? Why not simply deal with him yourself?”
“I only cut away my obsession with the sword path. Besides, the Fallen Sword Immortal is a part of my soul. Our karmic entanglement runs too deep. I can do nothing to him.”
Xiao Lin’s brows knit tightly. “Then is there no solution? Must we simply watch him grow stronger until he breaks the seal and brings calamity to the world...”
“There is a way,” Shen Wuyou said with a light smile. “Since the source of his immortality is negative emotion, then if we send someone who cannot give rise to negative emotion to deal with him, we can make him perish completely.”
“The one person is...”
“Me?”
Xiao Lin pointed to himself.
Shen Wuyou smiled and nodded.
At that moment, the truth seemed laid bare.
The reason Shen Wuyou had set up the illusion was to determine who could deal with the Fallen Sword Immortal.
But Xiao Lin keenly sensed something amiss.
If it were truly that simple, then Shen Wuyou’s standard of “killing himself” would be a little too much like needless worry.
Thinking this, Xiao Lin asked it outright: “I do not understand. Why does Master hope to be killed?”
Shen Wuyou’s smile faded as he looked toward the last glow of sunset outside the window.
“Because your master and the Fallen Sword Immortal share one life. If he dies, I die as well.”
Bang!
Xiao Lin shot to his feet, nearly overturning the wooden table and the incense burner.
Shen Wuyou seemed to have anticipated this. He merely lifted his head slightly and gazed up at Xiao Lin with a kindly expression.
Yet Xiao Lin’s face had turned extremely ugly. “Old man, are you trying to make me into a faithless, master-betraying wretch reviled by my sect?”
Even such disrespectful words came spilling out, showing just how unsettled he was inside.
“Damn it, only how many episodes in and someone’s already dying?”
“Little Junior Brother’s hissing now.”
“If it were me, I’d be hissing too. I thought the illusion was fake, and now you’re suddenly telling me it’s real. Anyone would lose it.”
“Did anyone catch him calling him ‘old man’? I’m dead.”
“How dare you speak to your master like that?”
Shen Wuyou suddenly put on a stern face, though his tone still carried a smile.
Though he wore the face of a young man, he gave the impression of an old grandfather facing a grandson in a tantrum.
“Do not rush or lose your temper. I have naturally discussed this with the elders, and they already know. No one from Sword Mountain will ever spit on you for it.”
“And outsiders?” Xiao Lin said in a low voice. “How will the righteous and demonic factions see me? As a vile, unforgivable, traitorous disciple!”
Shen Wuyou continued, “How would outsiders know of this? They will only think your master has gone into seclusion.”
Xiao Lin opened his mouth, then closed it. Closed it, then opened it again.
Finally, his entire body seemed to deflate like a punctured leather ball. His voice dropped. “Master, you know that is not what I mean.”
Shen Wuyou said warmly, “Of course I understand. You are not worried about your own reputation being ruined; you cannot bear to strike at your master.”
“But, Lin’er, you yourself once said that you would rather send your master on his way with your own hands than watch him be ruined before your eyes.”
“Alas—”
Xiao Lin let out a long sigh. “At the time, this disciple only thought it was a test.”
Shen Wuyou chuckled and gestured for Xiao Lin to sit. “That Fallen Sword Immortal not only turns evil thoughts to his own use, he has also comprehended quite a few sinister fallacies. His art of bewitching others is nearly a path in itself.”
“What your master feared was that you might suddenly be told this truth by the Fallen Sword Immortal and have your Dao heart shaken, allowing him to seize an opening. That is why I chose to tell you now.”
Xiao Lin sat down on the floor with a thud, no longer caring about posture.
“So I really must betray my master and destroy my sect? What about the elders?”
“Even with cultivation like your master’s, my obsession did not entirely vanish. Much less theirs. With their strength, I fear that if they merely drew near, they might allow the Fallen Sword Immortal to break the seal on the spot.” Shen Wuyou shook his head. “Only you, Lin’er, have always carried a righteous spirit in your heart. Even in the illusion, when I slaughtered the entire sect, your righteousness never wavered. If anyone can purify the Fallen Sword Immortal, it is indeed you.”
“Can’t this be delayed? If disciple grows stronger first, perhaps I can find another way, and Master would not have to die.”
“Your master has a feeling that before long he will break the seal. By then, it will all be too late.”
Before Xiao Lin could say more, Shen Wuyou looked at him gently.
“Foolish child. Master and disciple have shared a bond. Take this as... the fulfillment of that affection.”
The room fell quiet again, with only a fragrant sweetness drifting through the air.
Until Xiao Lin’s sudden laugh broke the silence.
“Haha...”
“Damn, the junior brother’s gone mad!”
“Hahahaha, why am I laughing along with him?”
“Laughing from anger?”
“Doesn’t seem like anger. More like he has no choice.”
“Why do I feel a little sad?”
Xiao Lin’s laughter stopped abruptly.
He rose with a blank expression, then dropped to his knees and bowed deeply.
From the audience’s perspective, only his tightly pressed lips could be seen.
“Your disciple... obeys.”