The Right Guardian Just Wants to Retire - Chapter 3

Word was that ferocious beasts were causing havoc all over the world.

The tall and fat sect disciples came again.

They said they happened to be passing by and had stopped in to revisit old haunts.

The tall one was named Zhang Gao. The fat one was Chi Pang.

Brilliant.

When naming their sons, their parents must have poured all their fondest hopes into the task. After all, a tall man could see far, and a fat man had room for a generous heart.

The two had risen from entry disciples to elite disciples. They said the various sects had recently mobilized to put down the beast uprisings.

They also said it was strange that my mountaintop, for all its heavy yin energy, had no ferocious beasts.

Their sect was short on disciples and recruiting more.

While we talked, Mu Yun returned from the market in town.

They turned around—and were collectively stunned by his beauty.

The child was still growing and shooting up fast. In rough clothes, with his hair tied in a high ponytail, he already cut a heroic young figure.

Zhang Gao darted forward. “Young man, I see you possess extraordinary bones. Might you be interested in joining our Tianyan Sect?”

The boy froze.

I refused outright. “No. This household can’t do without him.”

He sold our vegetables in town with impressive speed. Aunties, young wives, and unmarried girls all loved buying from his stall. Close your eyes, open them again, and the vegetables were gone. Where else was I supposed to find a star salesman this good?

Zhang Gao was beside himself. “What a criminal waste of talent! We’re the greatest sect under heaven! Countless people would fight tooth and nail for a place!”

I leaned in and studied Mu Yun closely. He turned his head away, uncomfortable. “Is Xiaoyun very gifted? How can you tell?”

Zhang Gao wagged his head with the air of a venerable expert. “As the saying goes: brows like distant peaks conceal a spirit root planted deep; eyes like drifting clouds hold sword aura sweeping free. This child’s fate is extraordinary. With only a little refinement, his name is certain to resound across the four seas. Fortunately, I possess some modest attainment in the art of reading bones…”

Beside him, Chi Pang bit into a cucumber and translated the Chinese into Chinese for me. “My senior brother just really likes pretty faces.”

I once asked Mu Yun what he wanted to do when he grew up.

Under the blazing sun, he was hoeing the earth. He cast me a sidelong glance. “Other than growing vegetables, cooking, washing clothes, and waiting on you, do I have any other choice?”

I sat in the shade, waving a fan. “Xiaoyun, time is like a sponge. The more you squeeze, the more comes out. Understand?”

He was silent for a moment, a chill darkness in his eyes. “How long do I need to practice the sword before I can kill someone?”

In any case, after Zhang Gao’s endless coaxing and pestering, I sent Mu Yun to the Tianyan Sect.

The Tianyan Sect lay between three main peaks. Clouds and mist wreathed it, and its towers and pavilions stretched from the foot of the mountains to the clouds.

Disciples came and went with fluttering robes and composed expressions.

Zhang Gao said the entrance examination was next week, and only one in ten thousand passed. Mu Yun would train with him on the mountain for the next few days.

Before leaving, I handed Mu Yun the iron sword I had bought in town. “It may not be a famous blade, but it sits well in the hand. Use it for now. Once you’re admitted, you can mooch a good one from the Sword Tomb.”

Chi Pang escorted me down the mountain. A crow flew overhead and cawed once.

Halfway down, we met a party coming the other way.

Chi Pang secretly tugged my sleeve. “This is Elder Dai. The sect leader is in seclusion, so Elder Dai is managing everything in his place.”

As Elder Dai passed, Chi Pang hurriedly bowed. I didn’t move a muscle.

He stopped. “Who is this?”

Chi Pang hurried to smooth things over. “A friend of this disciple. She came up the mountain to visit me.”

Elder Dai snorted. “In the future, don’t bring every stray nobody inside.”

Sweat poured down Chi Pang’s back. “Yes, Elder.”

As we passed each other, Elder Dai gathered a hidden force in his palm and struck at me.

My body swayed slightly.

Chi Pang caught me. “Are you all right?!”

I shook my head. “I’m fine.”

Elder Dai walked away, satisfied.

Only when he was far off did I brush the dust from my clothes.

I had swallowed that force just now.

I was calculating how to return it with interest—

when suddenly, beneath the boundless sky, a bell pealed.

It poured into every mind from all directions.

It was the voice of heaven and earth.

Everyone closed their eyes at the same time.

In the sea of consciousness, someone called softly,

“Xiaoyu.”

“It’s the Mystic Maiden of the Nine Heavens!”

All around us, people cried out in unison, eyes still shut.

In my sea of consciousness appeared a woman in peach-colored robes with a zither on her back, her figure graceful and lovely. Everywhere the eye could see, there was only empty void and a single dark well seething with baleful energy. She stood alone beside it.

“Greetings, everyone. I am Xu Zhiyue of Linglong Pavilion. A hundred years ago, Lu Qingheng sacrificed his life to seal away the ferocious beasts. To fulfill his dying wish, I entered the Gloom Realm and have guarded this well in his stead ever since.

“Now my cultivation is exhausted, and the seal is about to break—

“Therefore, I am using the last wisp of my lingering consciousness to speak to you all. A beast tide is coming. Please make every preparation and protect the mountains and rivers of the mortal world.”

When the group chat ended, she messaged me privately. Her eyes curved in a smile. “Xiaoyu, it’s been so long. You’re still just the same as before.”

“You’ve changed a great deal,” I said.

She sighed. “The Gloom Realm lies in a crevice between heaven and earth. It has no boundary, no sun, no seasons, no passing years. A hundred years… Xiaoyu, do you know how long a hundred years feels in this place?

“Long enough that I almost forgot who I was.” She smiled briefly. “Long enough that I turned every old memory of the five of us over and over in my mind countless times. In the end, there were details I could no longer tell apart—things that truly happened, or things I had made up myself.”

Her shoulders slowly relaxed. She was no longer the revered Mystic Maiden of the Nine Heavens, only Xu Zhiyue.

“Being alone really is lonely after all.” She sounded almost as if she were complaining, then smiled again. “Xiaoyu, aren’t you lonely?”

I answered honestly, “I grow vegetables. I have to water and fertilize them and get rid of pests. I’m too busy every day.”

Xu Zhiyue stared, then her eyes curved. “Is that so? Then I would truly like to taste the vegetables you’ve grown. Trapped here, I neither eat nor drink, neither sleep nor rest. I’ve long forgotten what food tastes like.”

She reached a hand toward me.

But destiny had reached its appointed end.

The moment our fingertips touched—

her peach-robed figure dissolved into motes of light. Starting at her fingertips, they melted into the void.

“I always thought that, among us, you were actually the one who tried hardest to pretend you were strong.”

Her gaze rested on me, gentle enough to ache.

“Even though you’re afraid of being alone too, aren’t you?”

“Xiaoyu, I’ve fulfilled my duty. At last… I can leave as well.”

The light spread from her fingertips to her arms, and her figure began to turn transparent.

Apology colored her face.

“I’m sorry I left you as the last one.”

She smiled again, regretfully, and murmured,

“It’s a pity that no matter how long the years stretch on, I’ll never meet Qingheng again.”

The motes of light dispersed completely.

Wind swept through the void, leaving desolation in its wake.

I opened my eyes. Chi Pang leaned closer hesitantly. “Are you all right?”

I was baffled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He scratched his head.

“It just feels like you suddenly lost something important.”