Joy of Life

“Who has evidence to prove the existence of this temple?” Fan Xian still possessed the empirical views of a modern man.

Answered Fei Jie proudly, “Ku He, one of the Four Great Grandmasters, became one of the strongest on this continent after came to be in the temple’s favor. Isn’t that proof enough?”

“Or perhaps Ku He took too many stimulants and used the temple as an excuse.” Fan Xian retorted.

“Blasphemy. While I envy the luck of the bald Ku He, for the past few decades, he held the utmost reverence for the gods, and I do admire that. How can he use temple as an excuse...and what is a ‘stimulant’?”

“It’s a medicine which boosts the body; something like an elixir... he must have had too much, otherwise how did he lose all his hair?”

Fan Xian was joking with his teacher.

Fei Jie ignored him: “The temple is like the Tianmai; they both are found in the books, and in the royal chambers of all kingdoms, with the most important part are the sacrificial temples. It’s just that the temples themselves want no part in worldly matters, and never interferes. It is for that reason that all the ceremonies are made at the Heavenly Altar three miles away from the palace. Qing and Northern Qi both conduct large scale sacrifices at their altars, but they never use it to influence politics and other national business. Only some pilgrims believe the temple to be ruins of the realms, and take on journeys to train their hearts and bodies.”

Fan Xian was smiling, but inside he thought, “What is this temple really like? If it’s part of a belief system, then why doesn’t this world have things like churches? If those fundamental organizations don’t exist, then this belief system would have no authority; no authority equals no benefit, and without benefit... no reason for any organization to exist.”

And so, he didn’t believe what his teacher just told him about the temple being an existence which transcended this world.

But at the same time, he thought, “If a belief system really is based on such a mysterious place, it’s not so bad, since it doesn’t seem to interfere with people’s lives.”

...

...

“Alright, teacher, you’ve been off-topic for too long. You haven’t told me what’s going on with this zhenqi in my body yet.”

Seeing a rare childish tantrum, Fei Jie checked Fan Xian’s pulse carefully, then stated, “As I said earlier, the zhenqi inside you is very powerful. Even though you’ve been training for such a short amount of time, the amount of zhenqi in your pubic region and meridian have far surpassed what a body of your age is capable of containing.”

“Is it that serious?” Fan Xian looked uneasy.

“I don’t know.”

“Then you’re just trying to scare me.”

“I’m not trying to scare you. It’s just that you right now are like a leather bag used to hold alcohol. The bag can only hold so much, but the amount of alcohol inside keeps on increasing. If you continue, I’m worried that you will end up bursting.”

Recently, while practicing, Fan Xian felt some burning pain around his waist, but other than that, there weren’t any unusual symptoms, so he was reluctant to believe his teacher. He shook his head. “My teacher is scolding me for being a glutton, I believe.”

“Try moving your zhenqi like you do every day in practice.” Fei Jie frowned slightly.

Fan Xian did as told and closed his eyes, naturally entering the meditative state of his training. The warm cloud of qi around his abdomen began to slowly expand, gradually moving towards the limbs along the meridians of the human body.

Fei Jie too closed his eyes, setting his fingertips on the boy’s wrist, judging carefully. After a while he frowned, saying, “Don’t hold it back on purpose; you’re only a five-year-old child, as powerful as your zhenqi may be, it can’t harm me. I’m worried that your body is too frail and can’t handle it.”

“Oh.” Fan Xian had indeed been controlling the strength of his zhenqi, so he slowly released it out through the pubic region. Thinking back on what Fei Jie said, Fan Xian couldn’t help but agree; of course, the amount of zhenqi he has can’t hurt that toxic old thing, and therefore, if he releases too little of it, his teacher wouldn’t be able to make an accurate diagnosis.

While thinking that, he closed his eyes again, with this nameless art of zhenqi resounding through his mind: “Do not keep the force within you and bring destruction; let it flow from you like water from a spring ...”

As he chanted, the zhenqi inside began jumping as if being issued a command. It joyously came out of from his pubic region, traveled to his back along the meridian, and came rushing towards the wrist on a strange path.

A dull noise was heard from the book chamber!

Fei Jie violently opened his eyes as he felt his fingers being deflected off the child’s wrist by a dense wave of zhenqi, and being unprepared, Fei Jie himself was flung against the wall, the impact of which created a dull thud. There was a burning sensation in his fingers, and his chest was in pain; Fei Jie spat out blood!

...

...

On the other side, Fan Xian felt stuffy and raised his head. Only then did he discover Fei Jie’s miserable state. Shocked, he hurried and helped his teacher up.

Fie Jie waved his hand, signaling that he was fine, and got up on his own. Wiping away the blood from his lips, he stared at the little boy with a strange look that was hard to interpret.

Fie Jie mumbled to himself, “He’s five years old, for f*ck’s sake...! And yet his zhenqi is this overwhelming?! If you keep training, one day, the zhenqi inside you will explode and kill you.”

Fan Xian was stunned to hear his teacher use such strong language. He didn’t think the rebellious zhenqi in his wrist would make his teacher bleed. Despite being hurt, the first thing Fie Jie thought of wasn’t his own well-being, but rather that of his student—realizing this, even though Fan Xian sometimes locked away his feelings while hiding in the body of a small child, he felt somewhat moved.

The wooden door opened, and a black shadow rushed in.

“A pair of idiots.”

Even now, the blind Wu Zhu still talked with a cold tone. He led Fan Xian over and put his fingertips to the child’s slender neck. After a pause, he said coldly, “You’re not hurt, just shaken from seeing Fie Jie throwing up blood.”

He then took another “look” at Fie Jie, and remained, “Fie Jie, you are teaching him to use poison, I trust you’re qualified. But Young Miss once said that your martial abilities are one of the weakest of the Eight Masters in the capital. And since this is something I gave Young Master, it’s better if you don’t say anything unnecessary.”

In Danzhou City, Fie Jie was a rather inconspicuous, somewhat trivial man. But here in the capital, he was a very impressive character. Now having being injured—though mostly through his own carelessness—he was unhappy after hearing Wu Zhu putting it like that. Adding to his own worry was Fan Xian learning such overly powerful ability at the age of five, his expression darkened.