Chapter 335: Ladder in the Mist

Pei Ye looked at the painting quietly, staring motionlessly at the youth throwing the sword in a fit of anger, his tightened face like a statue in the light and shadow of the campfire.

Pei Ye had never looked at anything so earnestly. His gaze crawled over every strand of hair, the width of the eyebrows, the color of the pupils, the cheekbones, the nose and lips... A completely unfamiliar face was firmly imprinted in his mind bit by bit the first time he saw it.

The blue bird pecked at the fingers holding the jade bead in the cage on his wrist. The youth seemed unaware until a jade-like finger reached over and took over this little bird full of spiritual energy.

Pei Ye came to his senses: "... Miss Ming."

Ming Qitian raised her thumb and gently stroked the bird's head, her voice like clear water: "Do you want to listen to the sword?"

"I am now..." Pei Ye was stunned for a moment. His mind was actually completely tied to this painting, and he only intended to rest for a moment before entering the pendant again. The fire had already burned up. But meeting the woman's peaceful and clear eyes, his throat just moved and choked.

"..." Pei Ye gathered his mind, rubbed his eyebrows, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "Then, I'll trouble you, Miss Ming."

Ming Qitian unfolded the gloomy book in her hand: "Have you read it before?"

"Not yet."

Ming Qitian nodded: "That's just right, we can read it together."

"... I can ask you for advice after I finish reading it, Miss Ming."

Ming Qitian shook her head: "You are like this, have you only read one sword scripture?"

"... Which way?"

"You have no understanding of a sword technique, and you have no master to guide and correct you. You only rely on a book to practice on your own."

"... Yes," Pei Ye was stunned for a while. "Only 'Cicada Sparrow Sword'."

By the time he learned Huang Feicui, there were already masters and disciples of Cuiyu leading the way.

"'Cicada Sparrow Sword' is a very simple sword book, steady and reliable. What it wants to say is very clear and can be understood. A sword learner may not be able to learn it, or may take some detours, but it won't be too crooked," the woman said eloquently. "But when facing more mysterious sword scriptures with this method of self-study, it is easy to make mistakes—especially when the learner's foundation is not solid, the sword theory is shallow, or the talent is barely enough."

The woman looked at him with quiet eyes: "So let's read it together, so you don't take risks."

"Good," Pei Ye nodded in a daze. "Thank you, Miss Ming."

Ming Qitian placed the book between the two: "You must also keep in mind the points I mention during the reading later. Learning the sword often begins with reading books. Correctly interpreting sword scriptures is a skill you will definitely use in the future."

Pei Ye nodded silently again.

So the two began to read this scroll of the gloomy immortal for the first time.

The woman read the book like clear water, flowing words and sentences, thoroughly understanding the meaning. She returned and reread every place where the youth paused... Her step-by-step approach even gave a sense of not knowing the preciousness of time.

The two finished the first half of the scroll in two hours. The campfire had become cold ashes, and the whiteness of the east was reflected on their clothes.

Ming Qitian slowly flipped to the last page, which was a sixteen-character sentence: "Why speak of grass and trees, I am where I am; spiritual brilliance is dim, life is fire."

The woman looked at this sentence quietly for a while, did not explain it for the time being, tilted her head and said: "This is a very unique intent sword."

Pei Ye nodded and paused: "Very quiet and beautiful."

Ming Qitian smiled and nodded twice.

She added: "This sword is obviously more intent than reason. You can't learn it just by interpretation; you have to realize it—it's very suitable for you."

Pei Ye showed a shallow smile.

The woman put away her smile: "These last sixteen characters are the guiding words for this sword. If you can't find the way for a while, you can read and ponder this sentence more—what do you think of it?"

Pei Ye was silent for a moment and did not answer directly: "I have seen others use this sword."

The woman raised her eyebrows slightly: "You didn't say that just now."

"He used it wrong," Pei Ye recalled. "Because of those missing pages just now, he couldn't find the way to reach 'I am,' so he created a sword technique to make up for it."

Ming Qitian was slightly surprised: "That's hard work—how did he make up for it?"

"A violent attack sword," Pei Ye recalled. "He called it 'Grass Pulling Chapter,' cast into a raging fire with seven sword moves from his own life, wanting to burn everything around him to achieve 'I am'."

"..."

"I knew he was crooked after watching it twice," Pei Ye smiled shallowly from the bottom of his heart for the first time. "I just climbed this weakness and defeated him without using the intent sword."

"Oh, it's the person who hurt you in the autumn competition."

Pei Ye nodded and added: "I won't make this mistake, Miss Ming... It's just that I'm not clear about the understanding here."

Ming Qitian said softly: "If you make this mistake, I will be a little frustrated."

"..."

Pei Ye suspected for a moment that these words came from the black cat's mouth, but the woman's clear and gentle face was right in front of him. It seemed to be just stating a simple fact, without any mockery. After closing her lips, she had already lowered her head to look at these sixteen characters.

"This method is to hold onto the four words 'life is fire' out of context. We said earlier that this sword is more intent than reason. Structurally completing it is actually not as good as tracing its original meaning from the realization," Ming Qitian said earnestly. "He went into a dead end at the end because he didn't realize the temperament of this sword in the previous chapters."

"The deepest part?"

"Its most distinct characteristic is 'dim,' and the depth of 'dim' is exactly the 'quiet and beautiful' you just mentioned," Ming Qitian said softly. "Realizing this sword from this temperament, you won't go on the crooked path of killing and violence."

"Then how should these sixteen characters be interpreted?"

"The sentence 'I am' is interpreted correctly; it is the purpose this sword wants to reach. The sentence 'spiritual brilliance' points out the path to 'I am'," Ming Qitian said softly. "Which word do you think is the core of these sixteen characters?"

"... Life?"

Ming Qitian nodded: "Life. The correctness of its interpretation is wrong here."

"I actually can't figure it out either, Miss Ming. 'Life,' isn't it just the meaning of life?" Pei Ye frowned. "'Life is fire,' it sounds like the meaning of burning life... but this deviates to Shang Huaitong's path... and it is far from the temperament earlier."

"Here, it should take its ancient meaning," Ming Qitian gently tapped the ink characters on the scroll. "Do you know what font this is?"

"... It looks very early."

The woman praised softly: "Not bad, very early."

"Blue Flower Font, imitating the former Han calligrapher Ji Shaoqing," Ming Qitian said. "After the Jin Dynasty, no one used this font anymore."

Pei Ye was slightly enlightened.

Ming Qitian continued: "In fact, the writing style of the whole book is Jin style, and even—"

The woman pinched the page: "The age of this shark skin paper is also more than a thousand years."

"..."

"This is knowledge of interpreting scriptures," the woman smiled faintly. "It doesn't matter if you don't understand it for a while, but knowing this, we have to take the meaning of these two words from the Jin Dynasty."

"What does it mean?"

"A word of Daoism. 'Nature' is the root of man, 'Life' is the endowment of heaven. When the two are used together, they often refer to the characteristics of things, not the meaning of 'life'."

"... So that's what it means."

"The mysterious wind was extremely prosperous in the Jin Dynasty. People liked to talk about Dao and mystery. The sword writer took the two words 'nature and life' to write sword words, not to deliberately mislead, but because 'nature and life' was indeed a common word at that time," an ancient book with no origin gradually became clear in the woman's mouth. "It's just that the literary style at that time liked beauty and magnificence, so he habitually did a little bit of fine brushwork when writing the sentences. The meaning of the last two sentences should be—'The true intent is hidden in the dim and dark places. If you want to illuminate it clearly, 'nature and life' is the candle fire'."

Pei Ye nodded in a daze: "So, 'nature and life' is not the nature and life of the sword learner, but the 'nature and life' of the fungus."

Ming Qitian smiled and nodded: "Yes, so, it is to let you realize the essence of 'Immortal in the Earth'. I think that for thousands of years, they must have their own gentle way to reach 'I am'."

"..."

The woman breathed lightly: "In this way, the direction of this sword is roughly set. You can read it carefully in the future, don't deviate from this principle—if you have a chance later, remember to walk in the mountains and forests, and look at how these underground spiritual things grow, which can make people write such an intent sword... I think it will be very interesting."

Pei Ye nodded slowly: "But I think there are thousands of types of fungi, so we still have to find the right one."

"Naturally, but it shouldn't be too remote," Ming Qitian smiled and closed the scroll. "Alright, we'll talk about the second half when we have a chance. The first half is like this. Although the theory is indeed missing a few pages, as if there is no way to reach the end, but practicing step-by-step from beginning to end is a wrong idea. In fact, as long as the last sixteen characters are still there, it doesn't matter which pages are missing in the front, because you can always go back and complete it after realizing the true intent."

Pei Ye smiled: "Is it okay if only these sixteen characters are left?"

"Hmm... that requires you to be very, very powerful."

"Can Miss Ming do it?"

The woman laughed: "This is equivalent to someone giving you an 'intent', and you write an intent sword according to it."

"Can it be done?"

"Should be, possible."

"..."

The east was already white.

Pei Ye packed up the camp, led the horses over, and the two continued to run south. There was a lot more talk on this road.

"Miss Ming, don't you learn this sword?"

"No, it's not on my sword ladder."

"I don't quite understand, Miss Ming. What's wrong with learning more?"

"Nothing wrong, but nothing necessary."

"... Isn't an excellent sword better the more you learn?"

Ming Qitian shook her head: "I have passed this stage."

"... Oh," Pei Ye was silent for a while. "Then what stage are you at now, Miss Ming?"

"Proving my own sword with the swords of the world," Ming Qitian said. "The sword ladder is nothing more than two stages, first others then self... Have you thought about your sword ladder?"

"..."

"Only with a ladder can you ascend the Dao," galloping into the forest, the waves and drumbeats were just distant background sounds, and the woman's soft voice entered his ears. "Senior Yue is the same. He sharpened his sword in the first half of his life and saw himself in the second half. Only then did he enter the Dao realm. If you want to achieve something in the sword path, you have to build your own long ladder."

"I can't think clearly... Miss Ming," Pei Ye said in a low voice.

After being silent for a while, he said hoarsely: "You told me to choose a sword I like to pursue, but I really don't know what I like now, Miss Ming."

"Do you still want to learn the sword?"

"I want to."

"Then, the body wants to move, it is the heart that moves first... Where does your heart move?"

"..."

After a long silence, the youth rubbed his eyebrows painfully: "I don't know, Miss Ming. Now, maybe it's to become stronger..."

The woman looked at him, and Pei Ye looked straight ahead and said: "I want to learn a very strong sword now, Miss Ming."

The woman was silent for a while and said softly: "This is desire, not heart movement."

"... Hmm."

A long silence, the horse galloped into the mountain forest, and the road began to have a slope.

"Does Miss Ming also have times when your heart moves?"

"Of course," the woman's voice was as clear as a jade pendant. "This is also the origin of my sword ladder."

"Sorry, when we were at the county government office before, everyone said you were 【Bright Ming Jing Bing Jian】. I thought you wouldn't be angry, wouldn't be happy, and wouldn't like anything..."

"You are talking about a wooden man."

Pei Ye pursed his lips and smiled.

"In fact, everyone can be 【Bright Ming Jing Bing Jian】," Ming Qitian said.

Pei Ye understood half of it, but he looked straight ahead and didn't ask.

"You can be too," the woman's voice was always like cool clear water and light clouds in the sky. "Master brought me to Yunlang Mountain when I was three years old. I grew up there and haven't seen many struggling human affairs. And for me, making choices or staying calm is indeed a very normal thing. But I think I just did what others find difficult to do easily, rather than doing what others can't do.

"So, you can also try to push aside desire and find back that calm self."

"..." Pei Ye looked at her in a daze, feeling a strange feeling.

Even in such sincere telling, it is still difficult for the woman to make people feel close. She is by no means indifferent to everything. For the things she chooses, any obstruction cannot make her move her eyes.

But looking at her god-like indifferent face, knowing that she will never have anything on her mind... this feeling is like being far away in the sky.

But it is this absolute distance that makes Pei Ye feel a kind of peace of mind for no reason, and his restless mood drops a little.

It's just that the heavy gloom is even more distinct. Pei Ye lowered his head, and a note in his palm was slightly wet with sweat. It was a few lines of handwriting from the girl he intercepted from above the painting.

"Pei Ye, this is the scene I saw in the Heart Candle. Now I have drawn it and sent it to you. This person is very dangerous. You cooperate with the adults to investigate... must not be impulsive.

The results in my library here should come out soon, and then I will send you a letter.

Yang Yan also left Bowang today.

Say hello to Ming Jianzhu for me. If you have any news there, reply to me at any time."

A very clean and neat page of letter, but Pei Ye saw some ink stains that had soaked through, which were traces left after the girl discarded the draft—the girl had discarded the draft.

And seeing these handwritings, Pei Ye couldn't help but think of the girl's appearance when she picked up the pen to write.

"... I understand what you mean, Miss Ming. Just like the predecessor who wrote the Gloomy Immortal Sword, walking in the rain, walking in the mountains and forests, seeing the subtle things that ordinary people can't see, and then stroking the sword and thinking carefully... I can imagine how interesting that is," Pei Ye crumpled the note into his sleeve bit by bit and said hoarsely. "I must have been fascinated by such sword-writing journeys before, but... it's different now."

"I tell you honestly, Miss Ming, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me," Pei Ye lowered his head, his voice hoarse like a hiss. "I am trapped by the desire for revenge. Now I think back to those sword techniques that used to excite me, and they all taste like nothing."

The forest waves were like the sea, the horse's hooves slowed down, and on the top of the mountain cliff ahead, the first building with a color like iron appeared, like a standing goshawk.

Kongdong Mountain.

"I think, that doesn't affect it, Pei Ye," in the silence, Ming Qitian said softly. "Before defeating the enemy, you must first defeat yourself."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 336 =====