Eternal Longing

Wen Hui was unconscious for two days before finally waking up.

He hugged his young master and wailed for a long time about how wicked the old hag was. Suddenly, he noticed Xiao Dao entering with a bowl of porridge, her face cold. He coughed, stopped wailing, straightened his clothes, and began to ingratiate himself.

Seeing that he had finally calmed down, Chen Weichen asked, "So - what exactly did she do, hmm?"

The young servant had a pretty face and said bitterly, "How would I know?"

Chen Weichen pinched his chin. "Think."

"She took me out of the South Sea and flew south," Wen Hui said aggrievedly. "At first, I only served her, but later it became too much. The old hag wanted to take off my top and draw many talismans on my back - later she threw me into a lake, where there was a stone room. I was chained up with iron chains, and she came to torture me with sorcery every day."

"Turn around," Young Master Chen said. "Take off your clothes."

There were only the three of them in the room now. Although Xiao Dao was a girl, they had grown up playing together and would most likely become husband and wife in the future, so there was nothing to avoid.

Wen Hui did as he was told and took off his top, but his back was very clean and there was nothing on it.

Chen Weichen asked again, "How did she perform sorcery? What did you feel when she did it?"

The young servant thought back painfully for a while and replied, "She just sat there with her eyes closed, and countless things crawled inside me. At first it hurt a lot, but later I forgot the pain and saw many things in a daze. After I woke up, I couldn't remember anything."

Chen Weichen asked a few more things, but Wen Hui's memory was too scattered for him to learn anything useful.

After he finished asking, he pulled the covers over Wen Hui and left Xiao Dao to take care of him, letting him rest for a few more days.

The rain gradually stopped, and he couldn't help but think of the scholar who had lost his soul in the rain.

A group of arrogant followers from the State Preceptor's Manor went to the Situ Manor to "pay a visit". The fat-brained and fat-gutted Master Situ was tortured quite miserably. He had originally ordered his servants to go to several friendly families for help. Suddenly, he heard a snort of laughter and turned his head to see the State Preceptor, who had even coaxed the Emperor into submission at the Peach Blossom Banquet, leaning against a screen. He was so frightened that he fainted.

Xing Qiu, the Demon Emperor of a generation, was used to seeing the demons of the Demon Realm being obedient and well-behaved, and found the mess in the human world quite unpleasant. Moreover, this person's appearance was really not flattering, so he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him. He casually threw out a sinister demon cultivation technique and walked out with ease.

Although blood debts could be repaid, the dead could not be brought back to life.

The scholar refused their kind offer to help take care of the matter, picked up his wife's corpse, and walked step by step into the vast curtain of rain.

Chen Weichen could only send his servants to keep an eye on him from a distance.

He returned to the study and saw Ye Jiuya writing something with a brush, his strokes sweeping across the paper with momentum that seemed to break through the paper.

This person was not idle on weekdays either. When he was on the mountain, he had to guard the Heavenly River at all times. After coming down the mountain, in addition to practicing swordsmanship, he also had to organize his daily insights and experiences in detail for the disciples of the sect to practice.

What he was writing now was related to sword intent - it should be known that one of the praises of the immortal way for Swordmaster Ye was "mastering the essence of sword techniques and founding the school of sword intent". It was conceivable that once the book was completed, it would definitely be a legendary martial arts manual with an outstanding reputation that everyone would want to obtain.

Chen Weichen leaned to the side and watched for a while, then waved his hand in front of Ye Jiuya's eyes. "Take a break, this kind of work is really too taxing on the mind - just watching makes me dizzy."

Ye Jiuya put down his brush for the time being. Seeing that he was free, Chen Weichen ordered the servants to take the papers away for binding, and he himself leaned over with a smile, resting his head on Ye Jiuya's shoulder.

A small bird with a deep purple body flew over, flapping its wings. It was the size of a fist and kept calling out "Bald Donkey" "Bald Donkey".

- It was the one Xing Qiu had brought before: a rare phoenix bird that, while not a true phoenix, resembled one and could imitate speech. The State Preceptor had taken it out for a stroll, but had accidentally left the phoenix bird here.

Chen Weichen reached out to tease it. Seeing that "Bald Donkey" sounded really unpleasant, he taught it to speak. "Good phoenix, call him Lord Ye."

The phoenix bird tilted its head, its black and bright eyes full of confusion.

Chen Weichen called out "Lord Ye" a few more times.

The phoenix bird opened its mouth but couldn't make a sound.

Seeing that there was hope, Chen Weichen held the phoenix bird in his palm and taught it sentence by sentence. After a long time, the phoenix bird finally opened its mouth and called out a still unfamiliar "Lord Ye".

Chen Weichen flicked its crest feathers in praise and turned his head to look at Ye Jiuya with a smile.

Ye Jiuya had been quietly watching Chen Weichen teach the phoenix bird to speak, hearing him call out "Lord Ye" with great care and a gentle voice. Now that person turned his head, and his eyes, like a pool of melted spring water, caused a sudden ripple in Ye Jiuya's heart.

It seemed that in these days of being together day and night, a genuine connection had indeed been formed.

When Chen Weichen turned his head, his cheek brushed against Ye Jiuya's hanging hair. The usual action casually evoked a lingering and tender scene, swaying uncertainly like the white smoke flowing out of the incense burner.

In that moment, he was in a daze, feeling that there was only one such person left in the world, whom he could see when he turned his head and touch when he reached out.

- So he really reached out and gently touched that jet-black hair.

It was only because he was addicted to the warmth and was too close to this person, a distance that could entangle unwarranted ambiguous thoughts. He saw that face that haunted his dreams, saw those pale and thin lips, and was enchanted, almost forgetting to breathe. So at this moment, his whole body was out of control; his arm crossed over Ye Jiuya's neck, their gazes locking as they drew closer and closer.

As luck would have it, footsteps came from outside, and the servant who served the study invited credit and said, "Young Master, the book is bound!"

- I don't know whether to praise him for being quick or blame him for coming at the wrong time.

Chen Weichen was called like this and came back to his senses as if waking from a dream. He let go, lowered his eyelashes, sat properly, and took the book handed over by the servant.

He stole a glance at Ye Jiuya's expression and saw that it was still as calm as usual. He felt a bit of relief and a bit of sadness in his heart.

So he turned the page and pretended that nothing had happened, and the room fell into an awkward silence.

Finally, it was Ye Jiuya who asked, "How is Wen Hui?"

He replied, "He doesn't know what he was doing and can't remember clearly, only that Senior Chi seemed to have used him as the eye of the formation and performed some sorcery."

Ye Jiuya: "What's so special about him?"

Chen Weichen thought for a moment and replied, "The two of us, one born at noon and the other at midnight, have complementary fates. I didn't take it to heart before - when heaven and earth give birth to people, where there's one, there must be two. Since I was born with such an ominous fate, there must be someone born with great fortune to balance it out. But now it seems that either Ah Hui's fate is useful to Senior Disciple Chi, or there's something special about him too."

Having said all this, there was nothing more to talk about.

Fortunately, Young Master Chen was not thin-skinned, and in a moment, he had already recovered.

He picked up the half-bound book: "Brother Ye, shall I annotate it for you?"

Ye Jiuya nodded.

Cultivation manuals are usually divided into two parts, one original and one annotated.

The original is the most essential, with every word a gem, but it is also obscure. The annotated version adds detailed explanations in small red letters to the original text.

When disciples study, they first comprehend the original, then read the annotations, and finally combine the two to forge their own path.

Chen Weichen dipped his brush in red ink and began annotating earnestly.

True to the saying that calligraphy reflects one's character, the words flowed from his brush like clouds and water, elegant and refined. Paired with Ye Jiuya's upright and clean script on the same paper, they complemented each other quite nicely.

As he wrote, he would stop from time to time to discuss with Ye Jiuya, and before they knew it, time had slowly passed.

This sword intent manual took them half a month, and when it was completed in the evening, upon reviewing it, there was not a single part that seemed out of place. If not for the different handwriting, it would have seemed like it was written and annotated by the same person.

Chen Weichen was extremely pleased and asked, "Brother Ye, this is sure to be a manual that will be passed down through the ages. What shall we name it?"

Ye Jiuya said, "Anything is fine."

In the immortal path, there are no particular rules for naming things, as the opportunities for enlightenment and the origins of cultivation techniques are all quite strange. Names like "Flying Flower Sword Art" from the Sword Pavilion and Sword Platform, "Vast Sea Flow", "Conjoined Bi", and "Threaded Pearls" are still considered elegant, while the Dao Sect is even more casual. Names like "Earthen Pot Scripture" and "Gourd Scripture" would be quite unseemly in the mortal world.

Chen Weichen pondered for a moment, then picked up the brush and wrote three characters on the cover: "Chang Xiang Si*".

*T/N: Chang Xiang Si means 'eternal longing'

Ye Jiuya looked at the three characters: "What does it mean?"

"Your sword intent is a heartless sword intent," Chen Weichen said. "When affection comes, heartlessness leaves. It's better not to long than to long."

Ye Jiuya said, "If one does not long, why title it Eternal Longing?"

"They are not you. They don't have the talent to cultivate the heartless path like you do. To comprehend your sword intent, they need a harsh dose of medicine," Chen Weichen said as he flipped through the pages, his voice gentle. "Anyone with the slightest bit of mortal heart remaining will have their mind and spirit stirred upon seeing the title. Then, when they open it and see the cold and heartless words inside, it will be like a sudden splash of ice water. Contrasting the two, they will be able to see the mortal desires they have yet to sever and understand the difference between affection and heartlessness."

"But they will certainly be unwilling and will want to read on and comprehend further until the very end."

Chen Weichen flipped to the last blank page and wrote down the sentence "When affection comes, heartlessness leaves. It's better not to long than to long", his voice a bit lower: "Finally seeing this sentence at the end will be an enlightening epiphany."

"Moreover," he looked into Ye Jiuya's eyes, "do you still not understand your own path? A talent like you in the immortal path appears less than once in a thousand years. In my opinion, even Emperor Yan may not compare to you - but why are you still lingering at the peak of the second realm, unable to advance?"

"Your path is based on comprehending heartlessness from his unforgettable sword back then. But in the end, it relies on him, using an affectionate heart to cultivate a heartless path. Ye Jiuya, tell me, in the end, do you not long, or do you long everlastingly?" His voice grew lower and lower until the end, like a whispered murmur: "After reading your cultivation manual these past few days, I finally fully understand the foundation of your enlightenment. I find him hateful, but my heart also aches for you."

His words, one by one, fell into Ye Jiuya's heart.

As those past events that even he himself did not fully understand gradually became clear, Ye Jiuya saw the infinite sorrow and grievance in Chen Weichen's always affectionate eyes.

He reached out, wanting to stroke this person's hair to soothe that sorrow and grievance.

Chen Weichen smiled and turned his head to avoid it. After the signature "Sword Pavilion, Ye Jiuya", he carefully added his own name and a few more words.

"Genxu Year, late spring, co-written by Weichen and Brother Ye at the Zhiqiu Villa in the Southern Capital.

Outside the window, the bright moon; on the desk, a lit candle; in the vast red dust, a grand dream."