Chapter 27: Unknown Heroic Name

"My son!"

The people from afar finally arrived.

Three middle-aged men came, wearing the same clothes as the young hero—cobalt-blue Daoist robes embroidered with birds. One look and it was clear they were also from the Jin Xiang Sect.

However, these three arrived by riding the wind, which was something that could only be done in the Second Realm.

One of them, who looked the oldest, saw the golden light in the young hero's arms, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. He carefully reached out, pinched the mass of golden light, and put it back into the young hero's mouth.

Then he laid the young hero in his arms, extended two fingers, a mass of golden light appearing on his fingertips, pressed it against the young hero's chin, and then moved it down along the young hero's mouth and throat, finally stopping on his right chest, pausing for a while before taking his hand away and letting out a long breath.

The other two also breathed a sigh of relief and said in unison:

"It's not that your father/uncle is scolding you..."

"Cough, cough!"

The young hero suddenly coughed, mixed with blood.

The oldest one hurriedly smoothed the young hero's breath and glared at the two who were speaking. "We'll talk about it when we get back."

Those two were also startled and nodded repeatedly. "We'll talk about it when we get back, we'll talk about it when we get back!"

At this moment, the young hero suddenly sat up, as if he had something to say, but he seemed to have injured his lung orifice, making it very difficult to speak, as if he couldn't catch his breath. "Thank, thank you, benefactor, for stepping in to save me. Now, now that my elders are here, please show yourself so we can thank you properly."

Hearing this, the three men, who were full of panic, suddenly changed their expressions, one more majestic than the other, one more alert than the other. However, in the span of a single breath, they all looked toward a nearby island.

Rustle~

The sound of grass parting.

A young Daoist walked out of the grass leisurely. He summoned a crimson cloud, stepped onto it, and then rode the cloud to the front of the group. He raised his left hand to his chest, palm facing up, his right hand's middle and ring fingers curled, fingertips touching the palm, thumb, index, and little fingers straight up, then gently placed the back of his hand on his left palm, and lowered his head.

"Greetings to all, I pay my respects."

The three middle-aged Daoists looked at each other. The oldest one was holding the young hero and couldn't move easily, while the other two stood straight, also raising their left hands to their chests, palms facing up, while their right hands were gently placed horizontally on their left palms, fingertips pointing left, four fingers together without gaps, thumbs hooking the tips of the index and middle fingers, ring and little fingers straight, nodding to Cheng Yunqi:

"Greetings, little friend."

One of the two, who had a long beard, said again: "I am Jiang Yanxing of the Tai Xi Jin Xiang Sect, Daoist name Xuanhui. Little friend, under which high True Person of Mount Sanqing are you a disciple?"

The Daoist replied: "Greetings, Daoist Xuanhui. My surname is Cheng, given name Yunqi, a registered disciple of Mount Sanqing. My cultivation is currently shallow, and I have not yet entered the register, so I dare not speak the name of my master."

"Hmm."

Jiang Yanxing nodded slightly. "So that's how it is. Meeting on the road is fate, and hearing my nephew say that little friend saved his life, please move to my humble sect so we can thank you."

Cheng Yunqi waved his hand. "We are all of the Daoist sect, branches of the same tree. Since we met on the road, stepping in to save you was only right and proper. No need to thank me. Everyone should hurry and take this young hero back to the sect for treatment."

Jiang Yanxing looked at his nephew.

The young hero said hoarsely: "Benefactor, the Thin Daoist was not truly injured and his strength is unimpaired. He might be wandering nearby at this moment. You should come back to the sect with me first, otherwise, being alone might be dangerous!"

This made sense and also reminded Cheng Yunqi. The banner in the Thin Daoist's hand was extremely powerful, and he hadn't seen him use other techniques yet. He was currently no match for him. He thought for a moment, so he no longer declined, cupped his hands and bowed.

"Then I will trouble you. Everyone, wait for me for a moment. I was traveling here and built a hut to practice on the spot. Now allow me to go back and get my luggage."

The young hero's face showed even more shame. "Benefactor, please. It seems it was I who disturbed your quiet cultivation."

Cheng Yunqi waved his hand, indicating that it was too heavy a gift. After saying that, he rode the clouds toward the osmanthus forest. Soon, Cheng Yunqi collected the Eight Trigrams Mother-and-Son Bells, picked up his pack, and was about to leave. He saw the giant rock that had just been hollowed out into a half-person-sized cave and couldn't help but sigh in regret. He also felt that the saying "things have no constant trend, water has no constant shape" was true. Changes came as soon as they were mentioned. He had just come to build a hut and an evil guest had visited. Now he didn't dare to stay any longer.

Just before riding the clouds away, Cheng Yunqi's eyes rolled, and he picked up a few lake stones that had been washed up by the water and stuffed them into his bag...

Cheng Yunqi reunited with the group.

Seeing Cheng Yunqi coming over with a heavy, large pack on his back, the members of the Jin Xiang Sect looked at each other, and they all had ideas in their hearts.

"Little friend, lend us a hand, remove your cloud carriage. This great lake is vast, and this place is still some distance from my sect."

Cheng Yunqi obediently followed suit.

Thus, the three elders carried the two youths and rode the wind, disappearing in an instant.

And thanks to the three local powerhouses, Cheng Yunqi was able to feast his eyes on the magnificence of Poyang. Otherwise, relying on himself alone, he would not have dared to venture deep into this strange water kingdom.

The group was traveling north, but being on the lake, despite the strong wind in their faces, they never saw where the northern shore was. After traveling a hundred miles, the misty waves were vast in all directions, ten thousand acres of shimmering light, a single green horizon. If it weren't for the great sun in the sky, it would truly make one unable to distinguish direction.

Sometimes there was no wind on the lake, and the water surface had no waves, as if stepping into a mirror; sometimes passing by spiritual islands and immortal mountains, seeing strange flowers and exotic trees, as if walking into an ink painting; sometimes encountering sand gulls gathering and golden scales leaping on the waves, as if breaking into a kingdom of fish and birds.

It was exactly: "The accumulated water contains the great void, a vast expanse at a glance. The wind ripples the light silk, the waves reflect the patterned brocade."

=9+Book_Bar

After traveling about four or five hundred miles, the group slowed down, and Cheng Yunqi saw an island ahead:

This island stretched for about a hundred miles, with high mountains reaching into the clouds and clear, beautiful lakes. All kinds of palaces, temples, and towers stood tall, and people coming and going were like ants.

Even more wonderful was that around the island's shore, there were long corridors and water pavilions extending into the lake, dense like a spider web. These water corridors connected with other small islands and pavilions in the lake, linking into one piece, and the place was more than twice as large.

"This, may I ask Daoist Xuanhui, does this entire island kingdom belong to your sect?"

Cheng Yunqi was truly surprised. How many people must this be? It was definitely more than Mount Sanqing.

Jiang Yanxing smiled and nodded, but explained: "However, these are not all practitioners. Most are mortals. All the islands in my Poyang Lake are like this, immortals and mortals living together, clans and sects are actually one body, just as you said, one island is one kingdom."

Cheng Yunqi nodded. Put this way, it was not so scary.

The group gradually flew down, not landing on the island, but landing in a water courtyard on the south side of the island.

Jiang Yanxing and his group seemed to be the masters of this place. As soon as they landed, a large group of people surrounded them, and they screamed repeatedly when they saw the injured young hero.

The way people here addressed them was also very interesting. They addressed Jiang Yanxing as the Family Head, Jiang Yanxing's younger brother Jiang Yuexing—that is, the young hero's father—as the Second Master, and the older Daoist, Daoist name Xianjing, as the Tutor. As for the young hero held in the Tutor's arms, they naturally called him the Young Master.

And Cheng Yunqi had been talking about the world with the three elders along the way, but this young hero had been ordered not to speak because of his injured lung orifice, so Cheng Yunqi still didn't know his name.

1. The hand gestures used by people of different Daoist sects meeting in this chapter are purely my own imagination and do not exist in reality. This is specifically stated, hoping not to cause misleading or offense.

2. The interpretation of Cheng Yunqi's hand gesture in this chapter is: left hand is respected, below expresses self-humility, right hand is three peaks standing, meaning Mount Sanqing. The interpretation of the Jin Xiang Sect's hand gesture is: left hand still expresses self-humility, right hand is horizontal, thumb is not counted, the other four fingers are four horizontal lines, the top two are half-covered by the thumb, forming two short ones on top and two long ones on the bottom, which is the trigram of Dui in the Eight Trigrams, Dui belongs to gold.

3. "Immeasurable Light" is the correct usage of Daoist blessings, meaning to wish for a bright future.

4. Fellow book friends can help think of other hand gestures, comments and messages are welcome.

5. Continue to ask for votes and recommendations.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 28 =====