“Immortal Lord An Yuan, that is the mortal realm’s Huangfu Fengxuan Xichen, has a Shixiong in Yuehua Sect named Li Jiulong. The head of Yuehua Sect has long wished to marry off his daughter to Lord An Yuan and has educated him to be his successor. So with that regard, Li Jiulong is quite resentful and as such has secretly set up various obstacles for him. This time when Lord An Yuan was to pass through here at the behest of his master to deliver a token to Nanshan Sword Sect, the thieves were bribed in advance by Li Jiulong to ambush him. According to the fate inscribed by the Overseer of Fates, they would mount a sneak attack on the Immortal Lord, he’d be wounded, and the token would be snatched. Li Jiulong has already weaved a web of lies and as soon as Lord An Yuan fails to deliver the token and return to Yuehua Sect, he’ll start a rumour to frame him…”
Han Changsheng rolled his eyes: “Then isn’t lao zi inadvertently saving the Immortal dog lord. Why are you still trying to stop me?”
“You don’t understand!” the Black Impermanence continued, “Due to his persecution at the hands of Li Jiulong, Lord An Yuan would be forced to leave Yuehua Sect. After which he’d meet an old man of mysterious principles. This old man will pass down a lifetime of skills he’d collected to An Yuan… His fate is a tightly bound chain, you break one link and all that follow will also be botched!”
“Fuck your grandmother’s leg!” Han Changsheng flung the sword in his hand to the ground. “What’s this bullshit fate!”
At that moment, the Black Impermanence’s face suddenly changed, and he started repeating: “Bad bad bad! This is a big deal! It’s even worse!”
Han Changsheng impatiently prompted: “What happened?”
The Black Impermanence waved his hand and in front of Han Changsheng appeared a screen. The group of bandits, battered and exhausted, had reached the foot of the mountain where Li Jiulong was waiting for them to report. They collected the money, despite having not completed the task. Even more so they had let a “girl” beat them to the point of cursing. In a rage, one of the bandits pulled out his knife and plunged it into Li Jiulong’s heart…
Han Changsheng blinked blankly: “What’s going on?”
The Black Impermanence’s face had become a spectacle too horrible to look at: “These treacherous guys, they haven’t robbed An Yuan and yet they don’t want to spit out the money they received. They just killed Li Jiulong! This is really bad!”
Han Changsheng’s heart raced with a sense of foreboding. Warily he asked: “Listen to what you just said, is Li Jiulong not the guy who specializes in facing off with the Immortal dog? Won’t killing him make the dog’s life pass by better?”
The Black Impermanence shook his head over and over again: “You don’t understand. Want to shut up first and listen to the explanation? Without Li Jiulong as a villain to go against, how can Lord An Yuan’s strength be shown? It was because of his repeated harassment that so many opportunities for Lord An Yuan to grow were created. Now that he’s dead, the plot has no good way to advance!”
“That…” Han Changsheng felt some guilt on his conscience. “Then can you use the Immortal teachings to turn back time again, at worst, lao zi won’t beat up the thieves.”
The Black Impermanence gave him a cold stare: “Is manipulating time so easy? In order to make up for your mistake of kicking the Immortal Lord off the cliff, the judge used 90% of his mana to turn back time. Now he’s gone into secluded cultivation, it will take a hundred years to replenish the Immortal power he’s lost! It’s been less than an hour and yet you’ve already messed up!”
“How would I know that!” Han Changsheng snapped.
The Black Impermanence glared at him: “We Immortals must not meddle in the world of mortals. The previous return was already violating big taboos. If we keep interfering, the Immortal Lord will certainly fail in his divine mission. You made the mistake, you must fix it. If not…” the Black Impermanence laughed grimly.
Han Changsheng recalled the “next life he’d be cast into” he’d seen while he was in the nether realm and immediately broke into a cold sweat: “That… person’s already dead, what can I do?”
The Black Impermanence looked at him: “Are you not an expert in the Yi Rong technique?”
Han Changsheng: “………………………………………… Fuck! Don’t tell me you want me to…”
The Black Impermanence forcefully nodded: “You’re the only one! You can quickly and easily enter Yuehua faction by taking on the appearance of Li Jiulong. What he failed to accomplish, you will finish!”
Han Changsheng couldn’t find any appropriate words to describe his mood.
“Quick quick quick!” the Black Impermanence urged, “You must go without delay, you’ve seen how Li Jiulong looks and sounds from that illusion just now. I know that your disguising arts are the most powerful, you can imitate the demeanour of any person to utter perfection. Li Jiulong sneaked out, he can’t be away from Yuehua Sect for too long. Otherwise, he’ll rouse the suspicion of others and all that’s to come after that would be difficult to handle. You should go to Yuehua Sect right away, I still have other matters I must tend to, go ahead!”
“Wait!” Han Changsheng roared.
The Black impermanence wore an impatient look: “What else?”
Han Changsheng asked: “Is there no other way?”
The Black Impermanence answered: “If you don’t go, I will go back and have the Overseer of Fates rewrite the fate of your next life to something a bit more ‘interesting’. There are also your guards and the four great hall masters. As you’ve implicated them and they’ve also committed many a crime, in their next lives…”
“You!” Han Changsheng was angered, “A man handles his matters alone! What I caused, naturally, I will resolve!”
“That’s good!”
“I just don’t understand.” Han Changsheng continued, “You are Immortals. Doesn’t the fate written by the Overseer of Fates have Immortal power? Why did lao zi destroy it so casually?”
The Black Impermanence was unexpectedly silent, he wanted to say something but hesitated as he glanced at Han Changsheng and vaguely answered: “For mortals, this is indeed the case. However, you… Well, in short, you’re a bit more special. It can’t be explained in a few words. There isn’t any time, you should go back to Yuehua Sect first. I’ll come and find you again with the White Impermanence to tell you what to do next. In brief, you must follow our instructions and no longer freely wreak havoc in his human life, else, not even the Jade Emperor1 will be able to save you.”
“I…” Han Changsheng didn’t have the time to ask any further, as a sudden bright white light shone. Once the light had scattered, the Black Impermanence had already gone.
Han Changsheng was dumbfounded. After a while, a few words he’d been holding back squeezed their way through the gaps between his teeth: “Fuck your grandmother’s leg… What rotten Immortals…” Thinking about it, he still resigned to his circumstances and picked up his sword, opened his bundle and took out a set of Yi Rong tools and a mirror. Then working off the Li Jiulong he’d seen in the illusion, he began painting on his face.
The disguise completed, Han Changsheng collected his things and got up. He turned to look back for a moment in the direction of the cave, before setting off frustrated down the mountain.
When he arrived at its base, he suddenly saw a group of people standing up ahead. To his astonishment the group was headed by his left and right hand guards, Lu Baibi and Lu Qingqian, followed by a few Tianning Cult disciples. Lu Baibi wore a smile, while Lu Qingqian alternated between surveying the sky in one moment and searching the ground in the next. Han Changsheng shuddered all of a sudden and quickly hid behind a tree.
Although Lu Baibi smiled so gently, Han Changsheng knew that this was only the first sign of his impending anger. And Lu Qingqian was certainly mulling over some bad ideas. His left and right hand guards were both of temperamental character. Appearing beautiful and pure, in fact, within Tianning Cult, the two of them were the most rotten.
Whenever someone passed by, they would block the person’s path and try to twist off their face. After checking that it couldn’t be torn off, they would let them go. Han Changsheng knew that they had already discovered his ploy to sneak out under the guise of going into seclusion and were trying to catch him and take him back.
Had it been the usual, upon seeing them in this state, Han Changsheng would first hide and keep a low-profile for two days before going back. However, now, all he wanted to do was fly into their arms and relate to them all his grievances. If he let them know about all he had just encountered, they’d certainly raise an army and overturn hell! All the immortals who had bullied him would be skinned and their muscles stripped!
After a while, Han Changsheng sighed tearing off a piece of cloth from his body and wrote down a series of crooked vermilion characters: This Head has gone out to play for a few days. He shall return soon. Do not read out loud.Afterwards, he hung the cloth on a branch.
He looked back at Lu Baibi and Lu Qingqian again, whispering in their direction: “Xiao Qing, Xiao Bai, I’m sorry.”
He picked up his bundle, making light work of it, turned and quietly left.
“Immortal Lord An Yuan, that is the mortal realm’s Huangfu Fengxuan Xichen, has a Shixiong in Yuehua Sect named Li Jiulong. The head of Yuehua Sect has long wished to marry off his daughter to Lord An Yuan and has educated him to be his successor. So with that regard, Li Jiulong is quite resentful and as such has secretly set up various obstacles for him. This time when Lord An Yuan was to pass through here at the behest of his master to deliver a token to Nanshan Sword Sect, the thieves were bribed in advance by Li Jiulong to ambush him. According to the fate inscribed by the Overseer of Fates, they would mount a sneak attack on the Immortal Lord, he’d be wounded, and the token would be snatched. Li Jiulong has already weaved a web of lies and as soon as Lord An Yuan fails to deliver the token and return to Yuehua Sect, he’ll start a rumour to frame him…”
Han Changsheng rolled his eyes: “Then isn’t lao zi inadvertently saving the Immortal dog lord. Why are you still trying to stop me?”
“You don’t understand!” the Black Impermanence continued, “Due to his persecution at the hands of Li Jiulong, Lord An Yuan would be forced to leave Yuehua Sect. After which he’d meet an old man of mysterious principles. This old man will pass down a lifetime of skills he’d collected to An Yuan… His fate is a tightly bound chain, you break one link and all that follow will also be botched!”
“Fuck your grandmother’s leg!” Han Changsheng flung the sword in his hand to the ground. “What’s this bullshit fate!”
At that moment, the Black Impermanence’s face suddenly changed, and he started repeating: “Bad bad bad! This is a big deal! It’s even worse!”
Han Changsheng impatiently prompted: “What happened?”
The Black Impermanence waved his hand and in front of Han Changsheng appeared a screen. The group of bandits, battered and exhausted, had reached the foot of the mountain where Li Jiulong was waiting for them to report. They collected the money, despite having not completed the task. Even more so they had let a “girl” beat them to the point of cursing. In a rage, one of the bandits pulled out his knife and plunged it into Li Jiulong’s heart…
Han Changsheng blinked blankly: “What’s going on?”
The Black Impermanence’s face had become a spectacle too horrible to look at: “These treacherous guys, they haven’t robbed An Yuan and yet they don’t want to spit out the money they received. They just killed Li Jiulong! This is really bad!”
Han Changsheng’s heart raced with a sense of foreboding. Warily he asked: “Listen to what you just said, is Li Jiulong not the guy who specializes in facing off with the Immortal dog? Won’t killing him make the dog’s life pass by better?”
The Black Impermanence shook his head over and over again: “You don’t understand. Want to shut up first and listen to the explanation? Without Li Jiulong as a villain to go against, how can Lord An Yuan’s strength be shown? It was because of his repeated harassment that so many opportunities for Lord An Yuan to grow were created. Now that he’s dead, the plot has no good way to advance!”
“That…” Han Changsheng felt some guilt on his conscience. “Then can you use the Immortal teachings to turn back time again, at worst, lao zi won’t beat up the thieves.”
The Black Impermanence gave him a cold stare: “Is manipulating time so easy? In order to make up for your mistake of kicking the Immortal Lord off the cliff, the judge used 90% of his mana to turn back time. Now he’s gone into secluded cultivation, it will take a hundred years to replenish the Immortal power he’s lost! It’s been less than an hour and yet you’ve already messed up!”
“How would I know that!” Han Changsheng snapped.
The Black Impermanence glared at him: “We Immortals must not meddle in the world of mortals. The previous return was already violating big taboos. If we keep interfering, the Immortal Lord will certainly fail in his divine mission. You made the mistake, you must fix it. If not…” the Black Impermanence laughed grimly.
Han Changsheng recalled the “next life he’d be cast into” he’d seen while he was in the nether realm and immediately broke into a cold sweat: “That… person’s already dead, what can I do?”
The Black Impermanence looked at him: “Are you not an expert in the Yi Rong technique?”
Han Changsheng: “………………………………………… Fuck! Don’t tell me you want me to…”
The Black Impermanence forcefully nodded: “You’re the only one! You can quickly and easily enter Yuehua faction by taking on the appearance of Li Jiulong. What he failed to accomplish, you will finish!”
Han Changsheng couldn’t find any appropriate words to describe his mood.
“Quick quick quick!” the Black Impermanence urged, “You must go without delay, you’ve seen how Li Jiulong looks and sounds from that illusion just now. I know that your disguising arts are the most powerful, you can imitate the demeanour of any person to utter perfection. Li Jiulong sneaked out, he can’t be away from Yuehua Sect for too long. Otherwise, he’ll rouse the suspicion of others and all that’s to come after that would be difficult to handle. You should go to Yuehua Sect right away, I still have other matters I must tend to, go ahead!”
“Wait!” Han Changsheng roared.
The Black impermanence wore an impatient look: “What else?”
Han Changsheng asked: “Is there no other way?”
The Black Impermanence answered: “If you don’t go, I will go back and have the Overseer of Fates rewrite the fate of your next life to something a bit more ‘interesting’. There are also your guards and the four great hall masters. As you’ve implicated them and they’ve also committed many a crime, in their next lives…”
“You!” Han Changsheng was angered, “A man handles his matters alone! What I caused, naturally, I will resolve!”
“That’s good!”
“I just don’t understand.” Han Changsheng continued, “You are Immortals. Doesn’t the fate written by the Overseer of Fates have Immortal power? Why did lao zi destroy it so casually?”
The Black Impermanence was unexpectedly silent, he wanted to say something but hesitated as he glanced at Han Changsheng and vaguely answered: “For mortals, this is indeed the case. However, you… Well, in short, you’re a bit more special. It can’t be explained in a few words. There isn’t any time, you should go back to Yuehua Sect first. I’ll come and find you again with the White Impermanence to tell you what to do next. In brief, you must follow our instructions and no longer freely wreak havoc in his human life, else, not even the Jade Emperor1 will be able to save you.”
“I…” Han Changsheng didn’t have the time to ask any further, as a sudden bright white light shone. Once the light had scattered, the Black Impermanence had already gone.
Han Changsheng was dumbfounded. After a while, a few words he’d been holding back squeezed their way through the gaps between his teeth: “Fuck your grandmother’s leg… What rotten Immortals…” Thinking about it, he still resigned to his circumstances and picked up his sword, opened his bundle and took out a set of Yi Rong tools and a mirror. Then working off the Li Jiulong he’d seen in the illusion, he began painting on his face.
The disguise completed, Han Changsheng collected his things and got up. He turned to look back for a moment in the direction of the cave, before setting off frustrated down the mountain.
When he arrived at its base, he suddenly saw a group of people standing up ahead. To his astonishment the group was headed by his left and right hand guards, Lu Baibi and Lu Qingqian, followed by a few Tianning Cult disciples. Lu Baibi wore a smile, while Lu Qingqian alternated between surveying the sky in one moment and searching the ground in the next. Han Changsheng shuddered all of a sudden and quickly hid behind a tree.
Although Lu Baibi smiled so gently, Han Changsheng knew that this was only the first sign of his impending anger. And Lu Qingqian was certainly mulling over some bad ideas. His left and right hand guards were both of temperamental character. Appearing beautiful and pure, in fact, within Tianning Cult, the two of them were the most rotten.
Whenever someone passed by, they would block the person’s path and try to twist off their face. After checking that it couldn’t be torn off, they would let them go. Han Changsheng knew that they had already discovered his ploy to sneak out under the guise of going into seclusion and were trying to catch him and take him back.
Had it been the usual, upon seeing them in this state, Han Changsheng would first hide and keep a low-profile for two days before going back. However, now, all he wanted to do was fly into their arms and relate to them all his grievances. If he let them know about all he had just encountered, they’d certainly raise an army and overturn hell! All the immortals who had bullied him would be skinned and their muscles stripped!
After a while, Han Changsheng sighed tearing off a piece of cloth from his body and wrote down a series of crooked vermilion characters: This Head has gone out to play for a few days. He shall return soon. Do not read out loud.Afterwards, he hung the cloth on a branch.
He looked back at Lu Baibi and Lu Qingqian again, whispering in their direction: “Xiao Qing, Xiao Bai, I’m sorry.”
He picked up his bundle, making light work of it, turned and quietly left.
