Legend of the Great Sage

Above the wilderness, Li Qingshan furrowed his brows firmly and stood still.

The red sun rose up to the east. Before it could even illuminate the land, there was a gale from the horizon that brought inky clouds, filling the entire sky in the blink of an eye. Rain poured down as the fierce winds swept through the land, like a river in heaven had spilled over, wanting to flood the entire world.

Without any prior signs at all, the clear morning immediately became as dark as night. He stood in the centre of this dark night, nowhere to run off to, trapped there for good. He simply allowed the winds to rise and the rain to pour down on him as if he was venting the pain within him, yet it was also so oppressive that there was not a single clap of thunder.

This sense of repression was just like the dark, heavy night, unable to be released no matter what. It was just like the pitch-black storm, pouring down noisily and endlessly.

Within several hundred kilometres of him, everyone looked up, surprised by the sudden change in the weather. They could also sense the ill omen that it contained. At the same time, their emotions became gloomy and repressed as well, almost unable to catch their breaths. Many regular people had already knelt down on the ground, praying towards the gods and buddhas.

This was the might of a god, skilled in the wonders of nature, where a slight change of heart could make the wind and clouds change, leaving the living creatures in worship.

The rain made the rivers swell violently as the winds made the houses sway. The wheat fields were all blown down.

Li Qingshan sensed something, suddenly hearing several more voices again. Those were prayers filled with fear, praying for the heavens to change their minds, to take back this storm.

There were hundreds and thousands of villages within several hundred kilometres of him. If this storm lasted for even another hour, who knows how many people would be swallowed by the flood waters.

“Sigh.” Li Qingshan let out a deep sigh and sucked in a deep breath. Immediately, the clouds and rain dispersed. The sky cleared up again.

As a result, everyone became puzzled and delighted again, cheering around. They all bowed their heads to the ground, laying in prostration.

However, it was as if he had swallowed all of the clouds and rain with that breath, holding it all in his chest. As such, it still weighed heavily like the dark night as the rain poured unceasingly.

“The living beings can pray to gods and buddhas. Who are gods supposed to pray to?”

He sighed like that and took a step forward, vanishing from where he was. He tried his best to enter his memories in hopes of sheltering from this rain.

When Li Qingshan appeared again, an ordinary, small courtyard belonging to a farmer’s family appeared before his eyes. The short twig fences on the two sides were covered in vines, wrapping around a half-exposed, wooden door in the middle. A faded Chinese character that represented fortune was stuck on the door, and a tree of redbuds bloomed brilliantly at the entrance.

“Why is she in a place like this?”

It was neither a large sect located on a towering mountain close to the heavens like the Sword Collection palace, nor a secret realm between the trees where magnificent flowers bloomed like the Hundred Flowers dwelling.

Li Qingshan was surprised. He looked around and confirmed that this was only a regular village and not an illusion.

Han Qiongzhi was a cultivator who had undergone the fourth heavenly tribulation after all. Even if she did not have her own sect, she still should have possessed her own dwelling, but this village could not be regarded as any blessed land of cultivation at all.

Smoke curled through the village as roosters crowed and dogs barked, filled with a sense of worldliness. A wisp of smoke rose up from the small courtyard before him. The smell of food wafted out from the door, along with her smell.

“It can’t be wrong. She’s here.”

However, the worldliness and how ordinary everything was seemed even more surreal and mystifying than any sect, dwelling, or secret realm, such that it even left him slightly unsettled. That seemed to be the uneasiness of coming home.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Li Qingshan knocked on the door three times.

Before he could even finish, the door swung open, and a ball of fiery-red came to welcome him.

Han Qiongzhi wore a great, red dress, standing upright in the centre of the doorway. Her bright-red lips curled into a smile. She was delighted but not surprised, seeming as if she had been anticipating Li Qingshan’s visit, having spent all this time waiting for him to arrive.

“You’re here! Why are you so wet? Was it raining?”

Han Qiongzhi gazed at the wet and slightly disheveled Li Qingshan and could not help but glance at the sky. The sun shone brightly with a few faint wisps of clouds hanging in the distance.

Li Qingshan could not help but smile. He pointed at her right hand. “What are you doing? Are you trying to kill your husband?”

As it turned out, Han Qiongzhi was carrying a bloody kitchen knife. If any regular person ran into her, they would definitely leap in fright.

Han Qiongzhi rolled her eyes and swung her kitchen knife, saying like it was common sense, “I’m cooking!”

Afterwards, she simply returned to the courtyard and grabbed an old hen from a cage in a corner. In one fell swoop, she cut off the chicken’s head before defeathering it with hot water and cleaning its insides.

She moved carefully and skillfully, but she did not use any techniques. Even the old hen was not some exotic beast, only a regular old hen that had spent its entire life laying eggs.

By now, she had already entered the kitchen with the chicken she had butchered. She was basically too busy to tend to Li Qingshan, only telling him, “The wine is on the table. Pour it yourself!”

In the centre of the courtyard was a square table and two benches. A few small dishes and a jug of old wine was already set up on the table.

The dishes were no delicacies either, seasonal vegetables cooked ordinarily. The wine was no exotic alcohol either, probably just Nü’erhong from someone’s cellar, except they could not wait until the day their daughter got married.

TL: Nü’erhong is normally wine brewed when a daughter is born and only taken out and consumed when she is married off.

Li Qingshan closed the door behind him and took a seat at the table, pouring himself a cup and drinking it in a single gulp. Then he picked up a single peanut and chewed it slowly. As he watched her busy about in the kitchen, his emotions gradually settled down.

He was like a husband who had finally returned from a distant journey. With the journey over, he could finally sit down in peace and have a slow sip of wine.

He drank it cup after cup, until the jug was empty, until the alcohol left him slightly tipsy. The wine jar was placed right beside the leg of the table, so he picked it up and filled up the jug again.

If it were not for his path to the Nine Heavens, this was everything he could have ever wanted!

Han Qiongzhi heard the clinking and clattering of the cups and bowls in the courtyard. Her eyes began to redden uncontrollably, but she was also too afraid to look back. Her hands moved swiftly, washing and cutting the vegetables, frying, steaming, and boiling the food. Her mind was in a daze, like she was dreamwalking, completely relying on the habit that she had developed after cooking countless times to make these dishes.

The regrets of some people were their love in their youth, how nothing truly ever occurred between them and the one they loved.

However, the regrets of others were having never been able to make a meal for him, to spend a day as an ordinary husband and wife.

Originally, she thought it would never be possible again. Originally, she thought with his personality, he would never look back.

However, he had returned. His gaze was weary and his expression was almost miserable. That was an expression she had never seen on his face before. The Li Qingshan in her memories had always been that high-spirited young man who had just set off on his journey.

Her heart ached, but she acted like nothing had happened. She asked without looking back, “What happened? Why have you come back?”

“I came back to take a look,” Li Qingshan said inattentively.

“How have you ended up like this?” Han Qiongzhi could not help but ask.

“Like what?” Li Qingshan only wanted to drink quietly. He did not want to talk about the Demon domain and the pure land or the war between the gods anymore.

“Hmph, absolutely miserable! You probably lost a fight and was chased back here.”

“Hah, what a joke! Right now, across the myriad worlds, who hasn’t heard of your man’s name before…”

Right when he was about to brag a little more, the humming that he tried his best to ignore became ear-piercing again, so he immediately lost the mood for that. He waved his hand impatiently. “Make your food. Women should keep their noses out of the business of men.”

Han Qiongzhi suddenly stopped, turning around and glaring at him, except her eyes had already welled up with tears.

Li Qingshan set down his cup, smiling wryly without making a sound.