Seeking Immortality - Chapter 3

Yu Hai doubled over with laughter.

He clapped at me. “Great big idiot! A great big idiot who can’t use spiritual power.”

In my agitation,

the spiritual power that never obeyed me rushed into my palm. The leaf moved at my will and flew straight into Yu Hai’s mouth.

Now it was my turn to laugh.

Yu Hai spat several times and coughed up the leaf.

Xu Ping’an’s mouth fell open. “You’re amazing. I can only move my spiritual power within ten feet of me.”

“I knew it. If you can be Li Zhengyang’s good friend, you must be a genius too.”

I had not expected it either. The wind happened to be particularly helpful that day.

Yu Hai flew into a rage. “He’s a liar.”

One of our fellow disciples defended me. “You can’t beat him, so you call him a liar. You’re horrible.”

Yu Hai stamped his feet and shouted, “He is a liar!”

“I went to the inner sect with my uncle and met Li Zhengyang. He said he doesn’t know anyone called Lin Qiang.”

I wanted to argue, but Yu Hai demanded proof.

I had none.

Yu Hai raised his head and repeated, “I asked Li Zhengyang, ‘Do you have a good friend named Lin Qiang?’ He said no.”

Even the birds in the courtyard fell silent. I could hear my own heart beating.

It felt as though everyone were laughing at me.

They stopped crowding around to ask me questions.

Even when we meditated, they sat far away, afraid they might catch my habit of lying.

I felt terribly wronged. That night, I asked Xu Ping’an,

“Do you think I’m a liar too? Do you not want to be my friend anymore?”

If he hated me as well, I would have no friends at all.

I told myself not to be sad even if I had no friends.

I would cultivate even harder. Once I became an immortal, they would all envy me.

Xu Ping’an made no sound for a long while. Just as I was about to secretly wipe away my tears, he took my hand.

“We’re still good friends.”

“But you can’t lie anymore.”

I did not know whether to cry or laugh.

“I really do know Li Zhengyang.”

Xu Ping’an patted my hand. “All right, all right. Go to sleep. Teacher is testing us tomorrow.”

I fell asleep holding Ping’an’s hand.

When classes resumed, I decided to devote myself wholly to cultivation and pay no attention to anything else.

Whenever my fellow disciples passed by laughing and playing, I stared straight ahead and silently recited the cultivation method in my heart.

I learned to gather qi in my palm and use it to guide a writing brush.

Excited, I ran to find our teacher.

“Have I entered Qi Refining?”

The teacher formed a hand seal. A fresh breeze swept the sweat from my face.

“Not yet. The qi must temper your body before your dantian can store spiritual power.”

Seeing my disappointment, he smiled.

“Don’t rush. With your aptitude, being able to use qi after a few months is already quite good.”

I dragged my feet back to the courtyard. Yu Hai was showing off a little technique he had just learned.

He sent qi into a jasmine branch.

The leaves unfurled. Bud after bud emerged and blossomed, filling the air with the scent of jasmine.

The young disciples all clapped and cheered.

I had secretly tried it too.

But when my qi covered the plant, the flowers did not bloom. The jasmine died.

Sharp-eyed Yu Hai spotted me.

“Lin Qiang, come try it too.”

I stopped and said stubbornly, “I don’t like jasmine.”

“Then I’ll bring you a vat of lotus flowers.”

And he really did drag and wrestle an entire vat of lotus flowers over to me, panting from the effort.

I thought there was something wrong with his head.

“I don’t like lotus flowers either.”

Yu Hai clenched his teeth. “Then what do you like?”

I looked up at the sky. “Fireworks.”

At New Year, the wealthy merchants in town always set them off. My parents would take us onto the roof to watch.

Yu Hai became angry again.

“You obviously can’t do it. You love lying to people.”

I hated it most when anyone mentioned Li Zhengyang now, so I began arguing with Yu Hai.

We argued until we started fighting.

I had just grabbed Yu Hai’s little topknot when Ping’an came running over, panting.

“Li Zhengyang is here.”

I lifted my head from Yu Hai’s arms and met Li Zhengyang’s astonished gaze.

The two of us sat stiffly in the corridor behind the courtyard.

The hem of his robe brushed my hand. With great dignity, I raised my bottom and moved a little farther away.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t know me? Why did you come looking for me?”

Li Zhengyang scratched his head. “I never said that.”

Holding in my anger, I repeated what Yu Hai had said, without missing a single word.

Realization dawned on Li Zhengyang. “I think that did happen, but the name he gave me was Lin Qiang.”

“I am Lin Qiang!”

“Aren’t you called Lin Sanniu?”

I clenched my fists. I wanted to hit someone.

“You’re the one who gave me that name.”

He smiled sheepishly. “I’ve given out so many names that I forgot.”

He said that many servants had attended him at the prince’s estate, and he had named every one of them.

That made me uncomfortable.

“Did you think I was one of your servants?”

Li Zhengyang hurriedly waved his hands.

“You’re my friend. My first good friend.”

“I wanted to visit you long ago, but Master kept me confined so I could temper my body. I reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, so I came to see you immediately.”

He had reached the middle stage of Qi Refining. I had not even entered the realm.

“Look at this.”

He turned his hands, and a paper crane appeared in his palm.

“Go!”

The paper crane flew into the air and wobbled out of sight.

“It’s a messenger crane. If you attach what you want to say, the other person can hear it.”

I seized his hand, my eyes shining.

“Can it fly home and carry a message to my mother?”

“No.”

Li Zhengyang recalled the paper crane and said gloomily, “It can only carry messages inside the sect. Once it leaves, it will dissolve.”

Disappointed, I let go of his hand.

“Then I’ll go back to see them after I reach Foundation Establishment.”

Li Zhengyang stood. “I have to go back. Master only gave me half a day off. From now on, I’ll send you messages with the paper crane.”

“But I don’t know how to control it.”

Li Zhengyang thought for a moment. “Then tie your written letter to it. I’ll call it back after an hour.”

“All right.”

Li Zhengyang left, and the courtyard immediately erupted into noise.

Ping’an shook my arm. “You really know Li Zhengyang. You weren’t lying.”

I snorted. “I told you that ages ago.”

Yu Hai tried to slip away behind the crowd. I shouted his name. “You owe me an apology.”

His face turned bright red. He shouted back at me,

“I’m sorry, Lin Sanniu!”

I nearly went mad. “You horrible bully! You listened in on us!”