Fallen At A Glance Chapter 1
byDescending the Mountain to Treat the Illness
The morning light was just breaking, the horizon turning the color of a fish belly, and a thin mist, like a veil, lingered among the mountains. A secluded valley lay quietly nestled in the embrace of the vast peaks, as if it were a pure land specially opened up by heaven and earth for cultivators.
This was Falling Maple Valley, the residence of Lian Mu, the Young Sect Master of the Cold Shadow Sect.
The valley was surrounded by mountains on three sides, with peaks stacked high, resembling a coiling Azure Dragon and a quietly resting Black Tortoise. The terrain was steep, the rock walls mottled with moss, and vines hung down. Occasionally, mountain springs gurgled out from the rock crevices, converging into small streams that tinkled like the gentle plucking of zithers, adding a touch of vitality to the silent valley.
On a bluestone slab in the valley, Lian Mu, dressed in a white Daoist robe, sat as straight as a pine tree. His robes fluttered slightly in the wind, seemingly conversing with the mountain breeze. His eyes were gently closed, his expression neither sorrowful nor joyful, as if he had forgotten the thousand disturbances and ten thousand worries of the mortal world. He sat quietly between heaven and earth, like a miniature mountain, steady and profound.
“Lian Mu!” A cry rang out. A Phoenix, covered in colorful plumage—red like blazing flame, gold like the morning sun, green like the azure sky, white like solidified frost, and black like the deep night—appeared in the air. As it landed, it transformed into a youth in green robes. “Lian Mu, Lian Mu.”
As the youth’s voice sounded, Lian Mu’s tightly closed eyes slowly opened. His gaze was like a cold pool reflecting the moon, clear and deep, as if he had returned from the Nine Heavens Profound Realm, untouched by dust. A single look could shake one’s spirit.
“What is it, Chi Yan?” Lian Mu looked at the youth.
“You’ve been in Seated Meditation for over a month. I’m truly too bored. Let’s go catch some birds and roast them.”
“We are of the same origin. Why are you, a Phoenix, so fond of eating birds?” Lian Mu did not understand.
“Then roasted chicken will do,” Chi Yan conceded.
“Or roasted fish,” Chi Yan added. “I just ate chicken two days ago.”
“You’ve eaten most of the white Phoenix chickens that Master raised,” Lian Mu stood up, lightly smoothing his robes.
“Weren’t they raised to be eaten?” Chi Yan followed Lian Mu into the valley. “Besides, I cover my tracks very well every time I eat them. The Sect Master definitely doesn’t know it was me.”
“Is that so?” No sooner had Chi Yan finished speaking than Lian Qing appeared at the doorway with a look of fury.
The best of the Thirty-Six Stratagems is to run. Chi Yan instantly reverted to his original form and shot out the door, leaving only a few stray feathers behind.
“Master,” Lian Mu bowed unhurriedly.
Looking at his disciple, who was tall and elegant, with excellent looks and a steady, graceful demeanor in every movement, Lian Qing’s anger instantly dissipated. His eyes, as he looked at his disciple, were filled with satisfaction and appreciation.
“Little Mu, would you like to go down the mountain for a bit of fun?”
“If there is a task, Master, please feel free to command.”
“It’s nothing major,” Lian Qing leaned back in his chair, sipping tea. “Every three years, the Cold Shadow Sect sends disciples to secretly visit the mortal world to observe the suffering of the people. Yesterday, the disciple sent for the secret visit reported that an Epidemic has broken out in a certain town. Most of the citizens inside have been infected. Although the imperial court has sent people to manage it, the effect is minimal. I thought that Little Mu might be bored from cultivating in the valley all year, so I wanted you to go and see the mortal world.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Take Chi Yan with you. It will save him from constantly wreaking havoc on the chickens I raise in the valley.”
“Yes,” a slight smile curved Lian Mu’s lips.
Half an hour later, Chi Yan’s figure appeared outside stealthily, peering into the room.
“Come in. Master has already left.” Lian Mu, who was reading with his eyes lowered, sensed the movement outside and smiled faintly.
“You scared me, Lian Mu.” Hearing that Lian Qing had left, Chi Yan quickly ran in, lifted the teapot, and drank from it with his head tilted back.
“Why do you always go after the chickens Master raises?” Lian Mu asked, turning a page in his book.
“The white Phoenix chickens raised by the Sect Master are very beautiful. Their feathers are pure white like snow, light, and soft. Only chickens like that are worthy of being eaten by a Phoenix.”
“Moreover,” Chi Yan got to the point, “the meat of that chicken is especially tender and fresh. The last time we roasted one, the drumstick was full of juice when we tore it open.”
Chi Yan spoke and gestured, full of affection for the white Phoenix chickens. “It’s just that the white Phoenix chickens grow too slowly. It’s been so many years, and there are only about a hundred edible ones.” Chi Yan sighed.
“Master is sending me to the mortal realm for a trip. Are you coming along?”
“The mortal realm?” Chi Yan instantly became interested. “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll go! When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow, perhaps.”
“Great!” Chi Yan was excited. “I’ll go pack my bags for the trip down the mountain right now.”
The next morning, Lian Mu stood on Chi Yan’s back, traveling through the mountains as if treading on clouds. His posture was straight as a pine, his gaze calm as an abyss, overlooking the winding mountains and lingering sea of clouds below.
The vast mountain wind blew against Lian Mu’s Wide-Sleeved Robe, making it snap loudly, as if he were the only eye of the storm between heaven and earth.
Chi Yan circled down, his wings cutting through the morning mist. The rosy light poured down from the sky, coating the man and the bird in a layer of sacred golden radiance, like an Immortal shadow descending from the Nine Heavens, returning to the mortal world atop a divine bird. This caused the Spiritual Beasts in the mountains to whimper and the ancient trees to tremble slightly, as if paying homage to a Deity.
Upon reaching the vicinity of the mortal world, Lian Mu and Chi Yan continued their journey by carriage.
Chi Yan sat inside the carriage, lifting the curtain to look around. “The mortal world is so lively.”
“We must go to the quarantined area first. Once the matter is resolved, you can wander around the mortal world as you please.”
“Alright,” Chi Yan nodded eagerly.
…
Approaching Pingyang City, Lian Mu and Chi Yan abandoned the carriage and proceeded on foot. They had not gone far before they saw the makeshift Isolation Tents set up outside the city. The tents were crowded with patients; some lay on straw mats groaning, while others huddled in corners, shivering.
In an open space not far away, piles of patients’ clothing were burning fiercely, black smoke billowing into the sky. The air was filled with a mixed smell of char and medicinal herbs. Occasionally, a carriage would arrive, carrying new patients. The people on the carriage were wrapped up tightly, revealing only a pair of fearful eyes as they looked at the outline of the city—the city that once symbolized prosperity and stability now resembled an isolated island besieged by the Plague.
Lian Mu wore a white mask covering his mouth and nose. He stepped forward and squatted down to Take the Pulse of a patient.
After diagnosing five or six people in a row, Lian Mu withdrew his hand.
“Lian Mu, what’s the situation?”
“The pulse is neither floating nor deep, but rapid. They have headaches and body aches, a greasy yellow tongue coating, and Damp-Heat in the body,” Lian Mu stood up. “Let’s go, we need to enter the city and find the official in charge.”
“Greetings, Immortal Master.” Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Lian Mu met the Prefect of Pingyang City. “Seeing the Immortal Master arrive, the worry hanging over my heart can finally be put to rest.”
Lian Mu nodded. “May I ask, Your Excellency, when did the Epidemic appear in the city?”
The person next to the Prefect introduced the situation. “The first symptoms appeared a month ago. Citizens in the north of the city successively developed headaches and high fever. Initially, we thought it was a common cold or fever. However, within a few days, people began to transmit it to one another, exhibiting vomiting, dehydration, and severe diarrhea.”
“When this subordinate learned of the matter, I immediately sent soldiers with halberds to guard the gates and check those entering and exiting. Anyone with fever or vomiting was intercepted and escorted to the An Tang Institute in the north of the city—the isolation facility established specifically for the infected.”
“Even with immediate isolation measures, the Plague spread like a tide. Moreover, rumors circulated in the streets that few survived once sent to the An Tang Institute. Consequently, the common people turned pale at the mention of it, preferring to hide their illness at home rather than report it, which only accelerated the spread of the disease.”
“Soon, long queues began to form in front of every pharmacy in the city. People scrambled to buy Banlangen, Guanzhong, Cangzhu, and other herbs. Ordinary medicinal materials suddenly saw their prices soar, and it became difficult to find a good prescription even for five taels of silver.”
Lian Mu nodded. “I will write a prescription shortly. I trouble Your Excellency to have people prepare and cook it so that the patients can take it first. I will investigate the cause of the illness further.”
“Good, thank you, Immortal Master.”
“Your Excellency is too kind.”
“Lian Mu, where are we going now?”
“I am going to inspect the water source outside the city. Chi Yan, you follow His Excellency. After the patients have taken the medicinal soup, pay attention to their symptoms.”
“Understood.”
Tracing the river upstream, the first thing Lian Mu encountered was a shallow bank. He stopped, examining the water surface closely; the water was somewhat turbid.
Continuing forward, the river channel gradually narrowed, and the rocks on both banks became steeper. The mountain wind passed through the crevices, carrying the clean scent of grass and trees, but also a faint, hard-to-detect smell of rot.
Looking at a patch of muddy ground by the bank that had been trampled, Lian Mu leaned in for a closer look. Clear hoof prints were left in the mud. A few tufts of animal hair were scattered in the grass nearby. He picked up a pinch of soil and rubbed it between his fingers.
Walking further upstream, the terrain grew higher, and the water flow became more rapid.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Lian Mu reached the source of the river—a clear spring that collected water gushing from the cliff face.
The clear spring, once transparent to the bottom with water grass gently swaying with the current, now had its pulse silently choked. A rotting wild boar carcass lay across the shallow bank upstream, like a festering wound, tearing a hideous rift in the clarity.
The boar’s fur had long been bleached white by the water, the edges curled and soaked in mud. The exposed decaying flesh was covered in grayish-green mold spots. Dense maggots squirmed in the crevices, sometimes sinking to the bottom and sometimes floating to the surface as the water pushed them. Turbid liquid seeped from the rotting wound, initially light brown flocculent matter, like crushed smoke dust, spreading out along the current.
Before long, a greasy, foul-smelling film floated on the water’s surface. When the sunlight shone upon it, it refracted a strange rainbow sheen, utterly different from the usual sparkling waves.
Having found the cause of the outbreak, Lian Mu had a plan.
“Chi Yan, the illness of the city’s people stems from water contamination. I have used my Spiritual Power to restore the source to its original state. How are the people in the city?”
“The symptoms have been temporarily relieved after drinking the medicinal soup.”
“Give this prescription to the city’s physicians. Have them cook it as quickly as possible, and ensure that every citizen in the city drinks it.”
“Understood.”