The Sage Who Transcended Samsara

The tunnel was short and narrow as if dug in a hurry. One couldn’t stand upright in the tunnel save for its center where a large space was excavated and constructed like a stone dwelling. It was a secret room with a few chairs placed in it.

There was already a man and a woman inside when the escort arrived. The man was dressed as a trader while the woman was dressed in a maid’s clothing.

The man sighed. “Don’t be anxious, Old Pan. The Immortals don’t have that many full and probationary members and the rewards that we can offer are hardly outstanding either. Unless there are aligned objectives, there probably won’t be someone taking it up so soon.”

His plain features appeared distorted upon closer inspection as if he had tried to conceal his true face.

The armed escort called Old Pan took a chair and sat heavily, looking upset. “How long would it take then? My cultivations have stagnated since last month. Am I to be an escort for the remainder of my life? Am I to be away from my loved ones and friends, only to die alone here? That blasted wreck of a mission!”

The peculiar task without a time limit was, in fact, the reason for their current predicament.

“Old Pan, you didn’t pose any objections back when we decided to accept this task,” the merchant with furrowed brows replied.

The maid snorted coldly. “Old Pan, Dongyuan, we made a covenant when we swore to be siblings. There won’t be room for grievances and complaints in the choice of our missions. We should work together to accomplish the task, not causing a useless fuss.”

Her long eyebrows and reddish pupils hinted at a demonic ancestry. Her appearance was nonetheless gentle and beautiful. Her charms were remarkable even dressed as a maid.

However, the faint traces of the concealment of her appearance remained apparent.

“I’m not grumbling. The nature of this task… It’s just too…” the armed escort stuttered before he continued, “It’s silly, the reason we’re still stuck here! It’s all thanks to Yu Zishou, Fair-faced Flying Dragon! Just because he has developed a liking to our Qin Qing! Has he never seen a woman before? He’s the Master of the Heavenly Village with the powerful skills of a Half-Step from the Exterior Scenery!”

“I don’t get it either. Qin Qing’s beauty isn’t considered remarkable, not with the other beauties of the Jianghu martial artists. She’s at most innocent and gentle. She doesn’t even compare to Yingzi, let alone the renowned charms of the Fairy of the Extinctive Sword. It’s simply unfathomable that Yu Zishou would have taken interest in her.” The trader named Dongyuan sighed in exasperation.

The female heroes of the same generation that he was referring to were from the main world.

Yingzi said coldly, “What’s wrong with Qin Qing’s looks? Who are you to dispute Fair-faced Flying Dragon’s interest in her?”

“That… that’s not the point,” Old Pan quickly interjected. “This mission has gone on for too long. We don’t even know if there’ll be any differences when we return. If we disappear for too long, we’ll be discovered.”

“But we’ll first have to be able to find a way back,” Yingzi snapped.

Dongyuan laughed bleakly. “Let’s hope the eminences from the Immortals come soon. Even a probationary member would be enough to solve this. I really don’t want to end up being a merchant.”

Given their abilities, it was already quite the accomplishment to survive in the Nine Villages. However, they couldn’t bear the price of not being able to make a progress in their cultivation.

Yingzi was about to open her mouth to speak when she felt a sudden gust of cold breeze. Her hairs stood on their ends as she shuddered. She turned to look outside but found nothing there, not even a silhouette.

“What’s wrong?” Noticing the sudden change in her expression, Pan and Dongyuan turned to look in the same direction.

“Nothing…” Yingzi turned around and her eyes froze, a seated figure in the place of honor reflected in her dramatically dilating pupils.

Clad in a brown robe, the stranger wore an imposing and imperious face mask of an elderly Taoist. An air of magnificence was about the seated stranger like a king seated upon his throne. The three of them couldn’t help feeling dwarfed by their guest’s majestic and dignified stature. They felt the urge to bow their heads before him sweeping through them like an avalanche.

“Master… Heavenly Primogenitor…” Yingzi stuttered, speaking with great effort as she fought to overcome her shock. She easily recognized who the mask represented.

It was an official member of the Immortals, possibly even one of its leaders!

The title of Heavenly Primogenitor was too overbearing. It instantly led Yingzi to this line of thought.

Old Pan and Dongyuan swallowed hard, both shocked and delighted. They were shocked to hear the stranger’s title and his Body Movements technique that had allowed him to slip into their presence without their notice. Yet, they were also delighted that their prayers had finally been answered.

They beheld the great, mysterious strength of the unknown that laid hidden in the brown-robed, masked stranger before them.

“Are you the ones who requested aid from the Immortals?” The Heavenly Primogenitor who had made his sudden appearance was none other than Meng Qi. He disguised his voice, pretending to be an elder of serious and stern temperament.

Dongyuan inhaled lightly and replied in an obviously overjoyed tone, “Yes, Master. We’re the ones who have been waiting for aid.”

“Tell me your problem in detail.” Heavenly Primogenitor remained still, his left hand cupping his right elbows on his knees.

Something seemed to be hidden on his back, behind his wide and large robes.

Tamed by the overwhelming eminence of Meng Qi’s bearing and his booming voice, Old Pan didn’t dare disobey his command. He explained with a weak laugh, “I’m afraid ours would be but a mere farce to you, Master Primogenitor.”

“We had inadvertently triggered a separate, special mission during our last Samsara task. We were given the option of coming to the Nine Villages to accomplish the task. There would be no deadline and we would be directly transferred to the Nine Villages. The task was to retrieve the heirloom of the Heavenly Village, the Kylin Pendant. We ultimately decided to undertake the mission due to the lucrative rewards.”

“Realising that we lacked strength and power and that the pendant is under the watch of Fair-faced Flying Dragon, a master of Half-Step from the Exterior Scenery level, we decided to disguise ourselves and infiltrate the village to slowly gain access to our quarry. I was disguised as a gardener and Wang Dongyuan assumed the identity of a servant. Yingzi and Qin Qing were to be maids of the household.”

In a low and deep voice, Meng Qi asked, “Fair-faced Flying Dragon developed a fancy for Qin Qing since maids are often in contact with the masters?”

“We beg of your clemency for this laughable fiasco.” A shade of pink flushed across Dongyuan’s wrinkled face. “Qin Qing is merely an ordinary maid. Due to her status, she barely managed to gain the right to access the study. But who knew she would remain a Jianghu warrior at heart? She insisted on helping the other maids and made herself look like a generous person. She didn’t show joy at being rewarded nor tried to please her master after making him upset, thus making herself look like a worldly and independent woman.”

“It was due to this that she stood out among the maids and caught the eye of the Fair-faced Flying Dragon. He often joked around with her, took care of her, and took her around. In the beginning, we were even happy for this development, thinking that it would make our task easier.”

“Then one night, Qin Qing saw that no one was around and decided to retrieve the pendant. Since the disguise would harm her face, she decided to put it on again at dawn. Alas, Fair-faced Flying Dragon visited her in a whim and happened to see her true appearance, shocking him greatly.”

What a tacky, yet classic turn of events… Meng Qi forced himself to suppress his amusement to maintain his stoic image. In the end, he couldn’t resist smiling. Fortunately, no one noticed it under his mask.

“How do you know this in such detail?” he asked in a dignified manner.

Yingzhi helplessly said, “Other women would naturally gossip about it since they were jealous of Qin Qing winning his favor. We found out the details after some investigation. Back then, Fair-faced Flying Dragon didn’t reveal Qin Qing’s disguise and began to observe her secretly. He found out that her intention was the pendant as well as our relationship with her. He then brought us before Qin Qing, took out the pendant, and asked her about her intentions.”

“Fortunately, we had prepared an excuse in advance so we didn’t expose the matter concerning Dominator of Samsara in Six Realms. In a fit of anger, Fair-faced Flying Dragon imprisoned Qin Qing and expelled us from the Heavenly Village.”

“Later, we found out that Fair-faced Flying Dragon hadn’t killed us because he was afraid that he and Qin Qing’s relationship would be beyond repair. Afterward, he gave her the pendant and told her that she could have it if she wanted, but she wasn’t to leave him by even half a step.”

Was he an overbearing village head… Meng Qi no longer had the energy to criticize the man. He held back his laughter and asked in a loud voice, “And then?”

Since they had already obtained the pendant, why wasn’t their task considered complete?

There was probably more to the story, considering the expressions of the members of the North Underworld…

“Our task had changed. Qin Qing was trapped after obtaining the pendant, and our new task was to find a way to help her escape. It had no time limit as well,” Old Pan said, practically grinding his teeth because of the unlimited time period.

How unlucky, to get involved in such a tragic incident. Fortunately, his team had always been strong… Meng Qi silently ‘mourned’ for them.

After explaining the incident, Old Pan, Yingzi, and Wang Dongyuan all bowed together, respectful and sincere. “Heavenly Primogenitor, please help us rescue Qin Qing.”

They saw the Heavenly Primogenitor, who seemed vast and unsophisticated, slowly stand up.

“Pack up and wait for your return,” he said emotionlessly.

He then headed down one of the routes of the tunnel, looking mighty and awesome from the back.

By the time they had snapped out of their trance and about to rush over for more details, they discovered he had already disappeared.

…

The Heavenly Village was located in a picturesque valley full of ginseng, sealwort, and the like. There were springs everywhere overflowing with water. Exquisite or quaint buildings appeared within the faint white fog from time to time. It was like heaven on earth.

It was nighttime and two maids were walking toward the Spring Pavilion with lanterns in their hands.

“I can’t believe that wretch wants to eat sweet dumplings in the middle of the night!” one of them hatefully spat.

The other one glared ahead with the same hatred. “I really don’t know what Master likes about her. She looks so average and makes a face all day as if Master has killed her entire family. There’s nothing good about her!”

“In the past, people often said their wives wouldn’t be as good as their concubines, their concubines wouldn’t be as good as their mistresses, and their mistresses wouldn’t be as good as women they can’t have at all. Now it seems that there’s some truth to it. So Master actually likes this kind of character.” The maid who had spoken first sounded somewhat regretful.

“Let’s drop the topic. We’re reaching the Spring Pavilion soon. Even if Master doesn’t concentrate on sensing the nearby activity, he can still hear our words from this distance.” The other maid lightly sucked in her breath.

The two of them kept quiet and slowly made their way there. A short while later, they knocked on the door of the Spring Pavilion.

The door opened with a creak, but the one who appeared was Fair-faced Flying Dragon, Yu Zishou. He had broken through his mid-brows’ Hidden Latch in his thirties and thus looked young, handsome, and dignified.

The two maids exchanged looks and saw the unhappiness reflected in each other’s eyes. However, there was nothing they could do about it.

Fair-faced Flying Dragon received the box of food, closed the door, and carried the food to the table. “Little Qing, come and have your dumplings. Didn’t you say you missed the Lantern Festival?”

“What I miss is the freedom I had in the previous Lantern Festival.” Qin Qing had a clean beauty to her but her expression was extremely cold.

Fair-faced Flying Dragon’s eyes showed how much he spoiled her. He wasn’t angry at all and was about to speak when he suddenly stopped.

There was a series of knocks on the door for some reason.

“Who’s there?” He began to concentrate his imposingness as he spoke in a low voice.

The door creaked and opened, revealing a dark-robed mysterious man.

He was tall and calmly stood there, wearing a strange Taoist mask that made him look both young and old.

Qin Qing was shocked and blurted out,

“Heavenly Primogenitor!”