When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Seeing this, Wenren Qian did not continue his questioning. Instead, he comforted him, saying, “Alright, it’s fine. Let’s get out of this miasma first.”

By all rights, after such a considerate gesture, Fu Guzhou should have been moved. However, this normally optimistic fellow suddenly turned cold. “I think I know what’s wrong now.”

“Hmm?”

A longsword was suddenly drawn and leveled at Wenren Qian’s throat. Fu Guzhou asked in a frigid voice, “May I ask who your Excellency is?”

Wenren Qian looked at Fu Guzhou with some surprise, seemingly not understanding this move. Then, his brow smoothed out. “Guzhou, stop playing around.”

Fu Guzhou did not shrink back in the slightest; instead, he pushed the longsword a bit closer, his expression cold as ice. “I think I probably know who you are. Your miasma technique is indeed impressive. Not only can it completely see through my thoughts, but it can also replicate the person to about seventy or eighty percent similarity. However, in your attempt to keep me from suspecting anything, you made one mistake: the Wenren Qian you replicated is the Wenren Qian I want to see. Although I don’t really want to admit it, the Great Demon Sovereign would never be this easy to talk to right now. Try to act more like him next time.”

With that, Fu Guzhou swung his sword at the fake Wenren Qian. However, the place where his sword landed turned into a cloud of mist, and his strike ultimately only sliced through a mass of vapor.

As the mist dissipated, Fu Guzhou suddenly moved from the fog-shrouded Wujian to a familiar mountain peak.

He instantly realized something was wrong. He had likely been poisoned by the miasma or had strayed deep into the heart of the illusion. Before he could think further, he saw a familiar figure.

An old man in grey cloth clothes, short in stature and somewhat hunchbacked, was standing beneath a mountain peak.

As soon as the old man saw Fu Guzhou, he squinted and smiled. “Little girl Fu is back. Did you learn anything this time you left the mountain?”

Fu Guzhou looked at the little old man before him with eyes full of astonishment.

Receiving no answer, the little old man’s brow furrowed, and he glared, huffing into his beard. “You’ve only been out for how long, and you already don’t recognize your Master?”

Fu Guzhou’s nose wrinkled, and for a moment, he felt a wave of grievance. “You old geezer.”

“Aiyoh,” the little old man, who was just dissatisfied with his disciple for dazing out, immediately changed his expression. He began coaxing him like a child, with a hint of teasing. “What’s the matter? Why has our little Miss Fu’s nose suddenly turned red? How old are you? Aren’t you ashamed? Could it be some bad brat bullied our little Guyang?”

Fu Guzhou didn’t speak, but this time, not only was the tip of his nose red, but his eyes were also slowly turning red.

Seeing this, the little old man who had been teasing him just a moment ago became anxious, but he quickly put back on his air of a Master. “You’re not really going to cry, are you? Though I call you little girl Fu, I didn’t mean for you to act like a little girl, weeping at the drop of a hat.”

After barely managing to stay stern for a few seconds, the old man couldn’t hold it anymore and turned back to comforting him. “Alright, alright, there’s nothing to feel wronged about. Who bullied you? At worst, Master will go back with you and beat them up, forcing them to apologize to you.”

“Aren’t you just using the big to bully the small?”

“So what if I use the big to bully the small? Master only has two precious disciples; how could I let anyone bully you?”

“Master, no one bullied me. Even if someone did, I would bully them back myself.”

“Eh, incredible. Our little Miss Fu has grown up; you’ve learned to take revenge for yourself. Good job. If your strength is currently insufficient, we’ll just practice hard. There will come a day to strike back.” Reaching a happy point, the little old man looked as if he wanted to force Fu Guzhou into more cram sessions on dealing with powerful enemies. But seeing Fu Guzhou still looking like he was on the verge of tears, he felt a bit nervous. “Wait, little Guyang, what grievance did you run into? Tell Master. Seeing you like this makes Master feel quite bad too.”

“I didn’t suffer any grievance. I’m just very happy to see Master.”

The little old man laughed. “If you’re happy, why do you look like you’re about to cry? You’re scaring these old bones of mine.”

“Masters can be scared too? You were clearly the one who often scared me when I wasn’t practicing the sword seriously. I just… suddenly missed you very much, Master. Very much. And I really regret not being more serious when you were teaching me all that knowledge.”

“You child, what does that matter? Young people are naturally restless. If once isn’t enough, you can just learn it a few more times.”

Fu Guzhou smiled. It was a sweet smile that completely clashed with his appearance. “I thought you would blame me for being a poor student.”

Without waiting for the old man to speak, he continued: “Actually, I used to find you so annoying. Whenever I read storybooks, you’d come to catch me, and once you caught me, you’d chase after me reading the storybook contents out loud. After Xiao Jingyu found out I still read those kinds of books, he laughed at me for a whole year. Also, on this trip out, I really did see many different things.

You know Xiao Jingyu, right? The one you called my ‘fair-weather friend,’ the one who used to pant just from walking. I can still remember him back then, dressed in white and barefoot, practicing the Xiao family’s mental cultivation in the snow, and then being so sick he couldn’t get out of bed for half a year. You even mocked the Xiao family for having no heirs, but now he’s very impressive; he’s already a generation’s Immortal Venerable.”

“And Senior Brother. You often said Senior Brother was a major failure in your teaching career, that no matter how you taught his sword techniques, they lacked ‘spirit’ and he’d have a hard time achieving greatness. But Senior Brother is now a Sect Leader, living much more glamorously than you, you old geezer. And your disciple—me—I’m also quite impressive. I won’t go into details about how impressive, lest you say I’m boasting.”

“Oh right, I have a Dao companion now. He’s a very unique demon, and he has a great relationship with your disciple. Sometime I’ll bring him to see you; he’ll have to serve you a cup of tea. Of course, the only reason you’d get to drink that tea is because of your disciple.”

Fu Guzhou rambled on and on. If it were the little old man of the past, he would surely have been angry enough to strike him for wasting cultivation time. But now, the little old man only looked at him with gentle eyes, like the most understanding elder.

Fu Guzhou stopped talking and looked at the old man. He sniffed, and finally couldn’t hold it back; the first tear since his amnesia rolled down his face. Yet, there was still a smile on his lips. “Even though I often cursed you behind your back, I really did like and respect you from the bottom of my heart. If it weren’t for you, I would have certainly become food for some roadside beast. But it seems after all these years, I haven’t just failed to make you proud; I’ve always made you angry…”

By the end, Fu Guzhou was almost unable to speak. His current state was truly pathetic; anyone who saw him would likely mock him. But the corners of his mouth remained turned up, even though the smile looked more painful than crying.

The little old man just kept looking at Fu Guzhou. He seemed to have realized something as well; he wanted to say something, but in this moment, nothing seemed appropriate.

After a long while, he said almost tenderly, “Little Guyang, how can you say that about yourself? No matter what heights you eventually reach, you are always Master’s pride.”

Fu Guzhou was stunned. After a long silence, he laughed again. “Master, even if you’re just saying that to make me happy, I’m taking it as the truth.”

The little old man said cheerfully, “Listen to you. It was always the truth. Little Guyang, Master has always looked forward to the day you ascend. When that time comes, when everyone is praising you, they’ll mention me, Qingchen Sanren. Then Master will be riding on your coattails!”

“That day will come, Master.” Fu Guzhou closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he swung his sword mercilessly.

This was perhaps one of the few times Fu Guzhou couldn’t hold his sword steady; as he struck, the blade was even trembling slightly. But it was enough—enough to shatter the illusion before him.

When he looked again, he had arrived at a snowy plain. A youth in white robes, barefoot, was clearly trembling all over, yet he still held a sword and practiced his techniques.

Staring at the youth’s hands and feet, which were frozen red and even cracked with ice sores, Fu Guzhou felt a bit dazed. He was very familiar with this scene.

Sure enough, he saw a white-robed youth, whose face was even younger than the other’s by two points, biting into a fruit and saying to the barefoot youth with disapproval: “Xiao Jingyu, why don’t you just learn something else? With your sickly body, trying to master the Cold Ice Heaven-Heart Manual isn’t it just as hard as reaching the heavens?”

That year, Fu Guzhou was fourteen. To a casual listener, those words didn’t sound like those of a friend. But Fu Guzhou knew that he didn’t say it to discourage him; rather, even back then, he could see that the naturally weak Xiao Jingyu could not withstand the Cold Ice Heaven-Heart Manual. Continuing to practice it would not only prevent him from truly entering the Great Dao but might also completely damage his foundation.

Xiao Jingyu was very angry, just as in his memory. Back then, Fu Guzhou thought the anger was because of his bluntness; looking back now, it seemed more like Xiao Jingyu was angry at his own disappointing body.

After being angry, Xiao Jingyu’s face turned cold, and he only spat out the words “I must practice,” before starting to practice that extremely frigid sword technique again.

That was the first time Xiao Jingyu practiced the Cold Ice Heaven-Heart Manual’s sword techniques, and it was also the last time in Fu Guzhou’s memory—because after this time, Xiao Jingyu would fall gravely ill.

Fu Guzhou logically knew this was just an illusion, yet he still wanted to change the ending.

Soon, the Fu Guzhou of that time asked the question he had asked back then: “Why?”

Xiao Jingyu did not answer. But the Fu Guzhou who had returned to this moment already knew. It was because Xiao Jingyu was the only descendant of the Xiao family’s main branch. As long as he didn’t want the Xiao family to fall into the hands of the branch families, he had to master the Cold Ice Heaven-Heart Manual, even if it meant recklessly ruining his own body.

Many things look completely different when viewed from a different age. His past self, who had discouraged Xiao Jingyu seemingly for his own good, was in a way also negating Xiao Jingyu’s final efforts.

Unlike when facing his Master, toward the current Xiao Jingyu, Fu Guzhou only felt guilt and a desire to change something.

This is an illusion, Fu Guzhou told himself rationally. An illusion is just an illusion. No matter how he changed it, what was meant to happen had already happened. Arbitrarily changing the contents of the illusion would likely cause the miasma to invade his body even more aggressively, leading him to lose himself in the illusory fog.

But when a mistake he had made appeared before his eyes again, could he truly remain indifferent? Even knowing it was an illusion, he still wanted to change it.

“Xiao Jingyu.” The Fu Guzhou of then and the Fu Guzhou of now called out simultaneously. “Actually, what I wanted to say is that your talent is so good, the Cold Ice Heaven-Heart Manual isn’t your only way out. But if you want to learn it, you will definitely be able to.”

Xiao Jingyu froze. His exposed skin was already frozen into a terrible state by the ice and snow. However, this barefoot youth, who was much more taciturn than Fu Guzhou, actually laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”

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