Chapter 15: Chapter Fourteen: Qi and Fortune

When Guan Huchen walked over, he saw the Qingsong Daoist acolyte dragging a wooden post, as thick as a bowl’s mouth and a zhang long.

The post had clearly just been felled from the forest and carved with a knife; its blade marks were fresh.

The surface of the post was covered in colorful talismanic script.

The script emitted no glow, yet before the post, Guan Huchen felt as if he faced a legendary weapon that had slaughtered a million men.

Even though it was plainly newly made and had never been used, black-and-red malevolent qi clung to it.

This object is profoundly ominous!

Huchen grew solemn, his demeanor even more reverent, his mind alert: “Master, what are your orders?”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte threw the long post down with a clang and laughed: “Sha Man Yu established a system for the Sha Man, and even cultivated a dragon vein beneath the dunes.

Kill the Sha Man who know how to smelt iron, boil salt, and farm; seal the shrine; take away Sha Man Yu—the system becomes an empty shell.

But the dragon vein is now a fact. Do you understand, General?”

Guan Huchen’s eyes flickered; he already understood seven or eight tenths, and nodded: “The dragon vein is the root. As long as the root remains, fortune can be recondensed.

Even if we slaughter every Sha Man on the dunes, we cannot sever the transmission of iron-smelting and salt-boiling techniques.

Decades later, the wounded dragon vein will gradually recover and give birth to a new potential dragon.

At that time, the Western Sha Man will surely establish a new ‘Dune Kingdom’ and threaten Great Shu.”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte looked at him without speaking.

Guan Huchen lowered his eyes and continued dryly: “For the sake of Great Shu, we must sever the dune’s dragon vein.”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte still wore a blank expression, saying nothing.

Guan Huchen broke into a cold sweat, his mind in chaos, yet he wisely took the blame himself, bowing deeply: “I beg the Master to grant a method—I shall serve Great Shu with all my loyalty!”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte’s eyes glowed with satisfaction, yet he turned his back and sighed: “General, you ask the impossible. I know no methods.”

Guan Huchen glanced at the post on the ground, reluctantly walked over, picked it up, and followed the Qingsong Daoist’s gaze—his mind began to grasp the truth.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte caught his reaction with a sidelong glance; his childlike face brightened further: This old Guan isn’t entirely dull.

Guan Huchen’s expression twisted for a moment; he set the post aside, prostrated himself fully on the ground, and bowed his head repeatedly before the Qingsong Daoist.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte frowned and stepped aside, his tone cold: “What are you doing, General Guan?”

—If you dare refuse, I’ll cleave you now—so even as a ghost, you’ll find no peace!

Huchen’s voice was muffled: “I mean no disrespect. This place is clear mountains and pure waters—it brings joy to the heart. I seek to learn from you about feng shui and fortune.”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte gave a strange smile: “Very well. The dunes do have fine scenery. I, too, feel deeply moved. I shall speak with you.”

—So you’ll finally give up all resistance.

“‘Fortune’ is two characters: qi and yun. Most who observe qi focus only on the present ‘qi,’ not the future ‘yun.’

The way of fortune is simple: the stronger the power, the stronger the qi; the weaker the power, the weaker the qi. Yun and fate are unfathomable.

Humans are born of the qi of heaven and earth, shaped by the laws of the four seasons.

It is also said: ‘Life is the gathering of qi.’

What is qi? Everything is qi!

The Dao emerges from emptiness to give birth to one qi; one qi divides into yin and yang; yin and yang unite to give birth to three; three give birth to all things.

It can also be simply summarized: Pangu cleaved heaven and earth; the clear qi rose to form heaven, the turbid qi sank to form earth.

All things under heaven and earth are qi.

Primordial qi is called ‘qi’; postnatal qi is called ‘qi.’

Since all things are fundamentally qi, wealth such as gold, silver, and jewels is also qi; power and nobility are still qi.

Humans are a convergence of qi.

If you are rich, the qi of your wealth merges into your own qi—observed as red. If you are born into nobility, the qi of power and status enters your qi—observed as blue or purple.

The Emperor possesses all under heaven; the qi of land and people merges into him—lush, vast as a canopy, radiant as the sun—even immortals dare not challenge his brilliance.

In short: whatever you possess, the qi of those things becomes part of your own qi, manifesting as different colors and visions.

Even if you are destined to become a king or overlord, if now you are a commoner with nothing, your qi remains gray, pale, and dull.”

Huchen frowned: “Master’s words have opened my eyes. But your last sentence contradicts what I’ve heard.”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte smiled: “You’ve heard tales of emperors and generals, when they were still obscure, being seen by soothsayers as having ‘qi shaped like dragons and tigers, in five colors’ or ‘red light flooding the heavens, vast and boundless’?”

Huchen nodded vigorously.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte shook his head: “If that were true, how could emperors rise from obscurity or generals be born in poverty? Such obvious signs would have been spotted long ago, and those destined to rule would have been slaughtered or drained of fortune.

Even a future emperor, before his rise, is merely one man—cut him down with a single blade, and he dies.

When a man dies, everything vanishes.”

“So all fortune-telling about the future is false?” Huchen asked.

“Of course, great beings can peer into—or even rewrite—fate and yun. But you’d better hope everyone you meet who speaks of the future is a charlatan.

If you encounter a ‘True Person’ who deliberately meets you to foretell your future—heehee... besides your wretched life, what could possibly interest such a great being?” The Qingsong Daoist acolyte sneered.

Huchen pondered these words, then shivered violently, nodding repeatedly in agreement.

“What is the relationship between fortune, dragon veins, and dragon qi?” he asked again.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte said: “Your qi is the outward manifestation of your power, authority, and wealth.

The stronger you are, the more qi you possess.

Dragon qi is itself a form of qi—a type of ‘qi of all things’ that emerged from primordial qi.

More directly: dragon qi is earth qi.

Humans absorb the clear qi from heaven and cultivate to become immortals.

The murky qi beneath the earth, nourished by human qi and harmonized with the Way of humanity, transforms into another form of qi intimately connected to heaven, earth, and humankind—that is "dragon qi."

When dragon qi coalesces, taking the shape of mountains and earth veins, it gives birth to a collective consciousness—that is the dragon vein.”

Here, the acolyte shifted tone, speaking with deep implication: “To destroy one qi, you need another qi.

Like dousing fire with water—the quantities must match, opposing each other.

A cup of water cannot extinguish a cartload of burning fire; even a torrential rain cannot fully erase the damage of fire—this is the principle.”

The acolyte fell silent, turned away, and gazed greedily at the scenery, as if the dunes were truly a scenic wonder.

Huchen’s limbs turned icy; he cursed a thousand curses in his heart.

He cursed not only the Qingsong Daoist acolyte, but also the Prince of Qinghe, the Prince of Shu, the Marquis of Relying Sun, even the Emperor of Great Qin—all those who forced him to come to the dunes to “counter” the dragon qi.

“I brought three hundred iron cavalry here. Excluding those who died yesterday in battle and those killed by fish demons last night, two hundred thirty-six remain. They are all elite of Great Shu, many from prominent families and royal kin...”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte asked: “Do they possess the Immortal’s gaze?”

Huchen fell silent.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte asked again: “Do they possess General Guan’s martial realm? His rank and status?

Do they have your fortune, like you, who at twelve, hunting in the woods, encountered a Chiyan Steed that had awakened part of its ancient bloodline?”

Huchen clenched his teeth, wanting to roar at the Qingsong Daoist: Is my fortune and luck doomed to be buried in this hellhole? No—I will become an immortal! I will go to the Heavenly Palace, attend the Peach Banquet, live forever, and eternally enjoy immortal bliss!

“Master, you said: existing power and authority manifest as qi. But the qi manifested by power and authority is not true qi like immortal qi or dragon qi.

The Chiyan Steed still lives; my status won’t vanish; my martial realm won’t disappear—my qi should still remain, right?” he said.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte replied: “I emphasized from the start: fortune is two characters.

The art of observation sees only qi.

Though yun and fate are hidden within qi, only those who control fate and yun can perceive them.

‘Qi’ is the outward manifestation of existing wealth, power, and authority.

‘Yun’ is your own qi—your fortune, your fate.

You stand by a river, see the water rushing—though you’ve never gone upstream, you know the source is abundant.

If you see stagnant water and exposed riverbed, though you’ve never gone upstream, you can confidently say the upstream lacks rain and water.

A soothsayer stands before you, sees your qi full, radiant, brilliant—even if he’s only a third-rate practitioner—he can declare your yun thick and your fate noble.

If he sees your qi withered and dim, and says you’re unlucky and fated for hardship, he’s likely correct.

This is logical reasoning.

It is not that the soothsayer or great being directly sees the hidden ‘fate’ beneath the qi.

That’s why street soothsayers can make a living—they lack cultivation, so they rely on reasoning.”

Huchen grasped something faintly; he pondered deeply, then—suddenly, lightning flashed in his mind—he understood.

“Master, I recommend someone who can complete this task.”

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte frowned: “You don’t mean ‘Guan Yu,’ do you?”

“Guan Yu?” Huchen paused a moment before realizing—it was his newly adopted daughter.

“What of her?” He hadn’t even thought of her until now.

“Er... I adopted her as my daughter. Is there a problem?” he asked again.

The Qingsong Daoist acolyte said: “A hero born with innate wisdom, who hasn’t yet committed great crimes that anger heaven and offend men—killing her would bring great misfortune.

If you take her under your wing, it is a great blessing.

It benefits you, and benefits Great Shu. If Great Shu prospers, Great Qin will rest easy.

In truth, I left her disposition to you as compensation and reward.

Had she been born in Zhonghua, you’d never have had the chance to adopt her.

I would have recommended her directly to a Dao palace or noble house.

But don’t expect to draw upon her fortune.

Never mind that she’s now at the mercy of others, with no control over her fate—there’s no fortune to squeeze from her yet.”

The dragon vein was nurtured by her; their qi resonated and mutually nourished each other, making it impossible for them to clash like water and fire.

Hu Zong said: “The person I recommend is not her, but my deputy commander, Song Changqing.”

“So it’s him...” Qing Song the Daoist acolyte realized, then hesitated.

“It can’t hurt to try,” Hu Zong said.

Qing Song the Daoist acolyte sneered: “It won’t hurt you, but if you get it wrong and scare off the dragon vein, I have no idea how much effort it’ll take me to re-survey the dragon’s lair.”

After a moment of silence, he added: “Fine, go summon Deputy Commander Song and let me take another close look.”