MOF Chapter 1
by VolarePrologue
In these Six Realms and Three Lifetimes, there once existed a god-like figure, gender unknown, whereabouts uncertain, and never seen in person. Rumor had it that this deity did not love romance, did not enjoy fine wine, did not understand human affairs, and was not skilled in stringed and wind instruments. They spent their days traveling mountains and rivers, and when sitting still, they would pick up a brush and write a few lines.
Deities have boundless lifespans, so even if they only picked up a brush every few days and wrote only a few words each time, over hundreds and thousands of years, it would be enough to make up a whole story.
The deity looked at the empty pages and wanted to give the book a name, but was slow to find inspiration. One day, while traveling, they saw willow branches covered in golden light swaying in the wind, like light moving with the wind. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and they turned into a wisp of green smoke and returned to their immortal cave, picking up a brush and writing the two characters “Fuguang” (Help the light) on the paper that had been empty for many days.
Because the story was divided into four unrelated volumes, it was later officially named “Four Collections of Fuguang” (《Four episodes of support for light》).
One day, the deity went out traveling, carrying the “Four Collections of Fuguang,” but accidentally dropped it and lost track of it. By chance, it was picked up by a poor scholar.
The scholar opened the book and saw three large characters at the beginning: “Record of Strange Contracts” (Symbol record).
This book compiled four periods of Da Fu (Dafu) history – the first volume being the Fu Nan Scroll (Funan Volume) from the Da Fu period, recording many strange and unusual events. Among them was a poem, said to be about the love, hate, sorrow, and joy of two romantic figures during the Fu Nan period. The poem was titled “Strange Contract” (Symbol), and the content was as follows:
A boat, a drunken stupor, a solitary drink; a person, a sword, an autumn; a frown, a crease, a raised eyebrow; a step, a pause, a look back; a sorrow, a joy, a separation, a reunion; a thought, a memory, a waste of time; a tribulation, a fortune, a mortal world; a lifetime, an eternity, a pair of people.
* * *
The late autumn night wind was like a knife, the ground covered in silver frost. The sound of a flute, clear and melodious, arose from nowhere.
At this moment, a large number of countless gray-green shadows appeared in a desolate Wilderness Ridge. If someone looked closely, they would see that all the shadows were Wandering Souls three feet above the ground.
They seemed to have been ordered to come here, but then they heard the flute music suddenly stop. Without the sound of the flute, the Wandering Souls showed some signs of being lost. After a moment, they gradually dissipated in place.
Once the Wandering Souls dissipated, they revealed a huge rock that they had been blocking. The cold wind in Wilderness Ridge was biting, and a cold moon emerged from the dark clouds, illuminating the person on the boulder.
The man’s face was as pale as snow, his brow furrowed, and his eyes tightly closed, as if trapped in a Nightmare. With a screech of a Night Owl, he suddenly woke up from the stone and sat up.
Xie Yiling, on the boulder, opened his eyes with difficulty, his mind a chaotic mess. After a long while, he slowly regained his thoughts.
Who am I? Where am I?
Xie Yiling tried hard to remember, and the memories of his past life gradually awakened in his mind. He was originally from an Immortal Clan, a disciple of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, who accidentally learned of Heavenly Secrets, which he should not have interfered with.
But for those in the Immortal Sect, saving the common people was their duty. Even though Xie Yiling usually had a cynical demeanor in the eyes of others, at crucial moments, he could distinguish the importance of things.
Therefore, knowing that he would be forgotten by the world and even never be reborn, he made a desperate gamble, recklessly changed destiny, and ended his life.
Remembering these things, Xie Yiling raised his hand and rubbed his throbbing temples, his heart in a mess. He wanted to see where he was, but saw that the night was dark and misty, and he also heard the faint lowing of wild beasts from the distant forest, so he couldn’t help but become vigilant.
He looked around and confirmed that there was indeed no one nearby before he sat up from the boulder.
Remembering the familiar flute music he vaguely heard while in a daze, his Spirit out-of-body, Xie Yiling’s eyes flashed with doubt: “That sound… it sounds like the Red South Flute (Chì Nán Dí)?”
After saying that, he paused for two seconds before he realized that the low, hoarse voice he heard was coming from his own mouth.
Before he could figure it out, he suddenly saw green light appearing not far away. Xie Yiling became alert in his heart, and ignoring the pain and weakness in his body after being reborn, he quickly stood up and wanted to find a hidden place to hide.
But looking around, the Wilderness Ridge was as flat as a mirror except for a few boulders, and there was really no way to avoid it. Instead, his action of getting up attracted the other party’s attention even more.
The green light approached, and he saw the appearance of those things clearly. It was a group of people approaching him on all fours like beasts.
Xie Yiling’s eyes narrowed, and he stopped in place, not daring to act rashly.
Those people were prostrate on all fours, with stiff faces, sunken eyes, and a stench of decay assailing their faces, forcing him to take two steps back. If he still couldn’t see that these were not normal living people, then he would be too ashamed of his identity as an Immortal sect disciple.
Seeing that the monster in the front with a mouth full of black teeth was about to bite him, Xie Yiling dragged his body, which he couldn’t muster any strength from, and wanted to run away.
Who knew that as soon as his legs moved, he immediately felt extremely sore. He managed to dodge the inhuman monster, but he was also tripped and fell to the ground.
The moment he fell to the ground, he did not dare to stop, and crawled forward with grief and speed, his ears inappropriately but understandably reddening.
Embarrassing! Utterly No Face left!
To think that Xie Yiling was infinitely glorious in his previous life, but now he was forced into such a shameful state by a mere Humble evil spirit, using both his hands and feet to escape for his life, shaped like a turtle.
It was just during this second of distraction that the monster behind him caught up. The heavy stench of decay was like Mount Tai pressing down on him from above.
Xie Yiling hadn’t been this embarrassed in a long time. He had no spiritual power, no martial arts, and not even much strength.
Was he going to re-enter the Yellow Springs just after being reborn?
Fortunately, Heaven never cuts off all paths.
Just as he was in despair, several streaks of white light “whizzed” through the night sky like shooting stars, and a Cold Sword pierced through the air and went straight into the monster’s head. Hearing the movement, Xie Yiling looked up.
The sword was bright, Azurefall and containing jade, with a sharp blade that could cut steel like mud, and there was no difference from memory.
This was Nangong Ci’s Spirit Sword Azurefall?!
In the next moment, the Cold Sword was recalled by its master and disappeared from his sight, but it also took away his heartbeat with it.
At the moment he saw the Cold Sword, Xie Yiling’s ears trembled slightly, as if he was in a state of Hearing Loss. But soon, he reacted and shouted, “Immortal save me! Immortal Lord save me!”
The remaining monsters ignored the tragic state of their companions and fearlessly swarmed up. Xie Yiling struggled to crawl forward and heard a series of light and quick footsteps. He straightened his upper body, lunged forward with both hands, and grabbed the leg of the person who had come.
“Immortal Lord save me!”
The person he grabbed froze for a moment, but indulged his actions and stood in place. A Cold Sword shot out, piercing the remaining monsters from head to toe. When retracting the sword, the sword body shook lightly, and all the bloodstains on it were shaken off.
A clear voice rang out behind the person, “Fufeng Daozhang, why are you walking so fast? Wait for us!”
Xie Yiling’s body shook when he heard this, and he realized that he was hugging Nangong Ci.
Although he had expected it when he saw Azurefall, it did not prevent him from being shocked again in his heart.
This was too coincidental, the person who came was actually Nangong Ci!
Even if he recognized the other person’s sword in advance, when he actually faced him, his heart still stopped uncontrollably, and even his bones trembled. Immediately afterward, a thousand strands of guilt were drawn out from the bottom of his heart.
When the previous voice rang out again, Xie Yiling quickly let go of the leg he was holding.
The owner of the voice hurried over and asked, “Gongzi, how are you? Are you alright?”
Xie Yiling supported himself on the ground and used the force to stand up. He lowered his head, and the loose hair in front of his forehead was lifted by the cold wind, revealing his eyes.
“Thank you for saving me, Immortal Lord.” His voice was weak, with an air of near-death weakness.
Seeing that the person was alright, just seemed to be frightened, Si Wumian couldn’t help but step forward and said, “This Gongzi, why did you appear in this desolate Wilderness Ridge in the middle of the night? Recently, Yin corpses have been frequently appearing in various cities, so please be careful!”
The person was wearing the Immortal sect clothing that Xie Yiling was all too familiar with, and his height was also much taller than he remembered, but the way he looked at him was as if he were a stranger.
Even though he knew that being forgotten by the world was inevitable, an already destined ending, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but feel a sourness in his heart.
Without thinking too much, he replied, “I… escaped here from somewhere else.”
As he spoke, he exhaled cold fog-like white air from his mouth.
Si Wumian looked at the person in front of him and found that he was very eye-catching.
The man’s eyes were as bright as stars, and his skin was white and sickly. Although the color of his lips was rosy, upon closer inspection, one could see a bit of purplish-black, presumably from being frozen. The features on his face were like jade carvings, deep eyebrows, light eyes, high nose, and low lips, forming a unique style.
“I see.” Si Wumian suddenly understood and turned to the other person who was walking over and suggested, “Fufeng Daozhang, why don’t we send this Gongzi to the town first, and then go to Ink City?”
Xie Yiling’s eyelashes trembled a few times, as if he couldn’t bear the endless night wind. He forced himself to raise his eyes calmly and looked at his savior.
He was a man with Clear eyes and handsome features. He wore snow-white and gorgeous clothes, without a trace of dust on his whole body. He had Azurefall suspended from his waist, and his eyes did not contain any joy or anger.
At the moment their eyes met, Xie Yiling’s heartbeat stopped.
He stayed in place, his eyes dazed, staring straight at the person in front of him. It wasn’t until he heard the laughter of others that he hurriedly withdrew his gaze.
Si Wumian seemed to be used to people looking at Nangong Ci in such a state, and after laughing heartily, he introduced himself: “I am Si Yuan, courtesy name Wumian. May I ask for Gongzi’s honorable name?”
When Xie Yiling heard this, he smiled self-deprecatingly in his heart and thought: Since no one in the world remembers me anymore, there is no need to falsely report my name.
He squeezed out a smile, lowered his head, cupped his hands, and saluted: “So it’s the Immortal Lords of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, I’m sorry for my lack of respect. My name is Xie Ci, courtesy name Yiling.”
Nangong Ci’s hand holding the sword immediately froze. The words of the person in front of him were like a torrential downpour of cold water pouring over him from head to toe, chilling his heart; and like a clap of thunder hitting his ears, his heart was jumping wildly.
After years of searching, one day, they were reunited after a long separation.
An old friend was reborn, but had forgotten the past.
After a long time, he heard himself say in a deep voice, “Jin City Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, Nangong Ci.”
When Si Wumian heard the name “Xie Yiling,” a trace of familiarity flashed through his heart, but it quickly disappeared without a trace.
Xie Yiling’s heart ached so much that it was almost difficult to breathe. Nangong Ci had indeed forgotten him. He couldn’t help but look at Nangong Ci a few more times. When he raised his foot, he quickly grabbed the other person’s wrist: “Where is Immortal Lord going?”
Even through the clothes, Nangong Ci could still feel the coldness gradually seeping into the place where he was being grabbed. And the person grabbing him, although not weak, could not sense even a trace of spiritual power.
Si Wumian, who was on the side, only thought that he was too frightened and comforted him: “Gongzi, don’t be afraid, we won’t leave you here.”
Their group was originally going to fly their swords to Ink City. Who knew that halfway, Nangong Ci suddenly walked quickly on his own and rushed to this place to save someone.
Now, it had become a problem with whom to leave the Xie Yiling, who was looking sick.
Si Wumian, who wanted to volunteer, saw Xie Yiling grabbing Nangong Ci and not letting go, and Fufeng Daozhang did not refuse, so he wisely took the rest of the disciples away.
The disciples flew away on their swords one after another, and soon only the two of them were left in place.
Xie Yiling was wondering in his heart when he saw Nangong Ci take out a Pill and hand it to him: “The night wind may cause you to catch a cold. Xie Gongzi… looks as weak as if you are ill, eating this will make you feel better.”
Xie Yiling slowly blinked his eyes and said “Thank you, Daozhang” with some trepidation, took the pill and ate it. In an instant, he felt warmth all over his body.
The two of them boarded the sword, and Xie Yiling stood on the sword, with his vision blocked by Nangong Ci in front of him. His heart was beating wildly, and he slowed his breathing.
Recalling the monsters from before, they were probably the “Yin corpses” that he had heard of in his previous life. He had no identity or magic power now, and yet he encountered Yin corpses everywhere after being reborn. If his luck was bad, he would easily enter the Yellow Springs again, so he had to find a reason to stay by Nangong Ci’s side.
Considering that Xie Yiling was a mortal, Nangong Ci and his group found a dilapidated temple to rest in halfway. Si Wumian, who was always talkative, saw Xie Yiling sitting on the ground and immediately came over to talk to him.
“Xie Gongzi,” Si Wumian asked eagerly, “Where are you from? And where did you escape to here from?”
After thinking for a moment, Xie Yiling said softly, “I am from Ghost City, and I came out…” He paused, and a flash of inspiration came to his mind, “I came out wanting to join the Immortal sect and find a place to live in this world.”
After saying that, he looked at Nangong Ci, who was closing his eyes to rest, and said cautiously, “I wonder if Fufeng Daozhang is accepting disciples?”
Before asking this question, Xie Yiling understood in his heart that it was probably impossible. In his previous life, he wanted to join Nangong Ci’s Fufeng Pavilion, but due to various reasons, he was not destined to be his disciple.
Si Wumian was startled by his bold words and hurriedly looked at Nangong Ci’s expression, and whispered a reminder: “Xie Gongzi, not to mention Fufeng Daozhang, but the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion and various Immortal sects, have not recruited new disciples in the past two years.”
“Why is that?” Xie Yiling was puzzled.
“Of course it’s because of these Yin corpses that suddenly appeared!” Speaking of this, Si Wumian was particularly angry, “I don’t know who is secretly cultivating the ghost path, using these sinister methods to refine a large number of Yin corpses and release them, causing unrest in the world. Several of our Immortal sects are busy cleaning up these things, how can we have time to recruit new disciples!”
The information in these words was enough for Xie Yiling to have a general understanding of the current situation in his heart. He was thinking about how to lead the topic back when he heard Si Wumian ask, “Then Xie Gongzi, what are your plans next?”
Xie Yiling was stumped by this question and smiled bitterly: “I have no parents above, and no brothers or sisters below. In this chaotic world, I don’t know who to turn to. Even if I die one day, I’m afraid no one will know.”
Si Wumian spat three times and said softly, “Xie Gongzi, don’t say unlucky things, it will be fine when we send you into the town.”
Xie Yiling looked at him and asked, “Aren’t there Yin corpses in the town?”
“This,” Si Wumian scratched his head, “That’s not true. But most of the Yin corpses are distributed outside the town. Even if a few enter the town, there are disciples guarding the town to deal with them.”
“I’m not staying in the town.” Xie Yiling shook his head, his eyes revealing some worry about being left behind, “Where are the Immortal Lords going? Can you take me with you?”
Si Wumian was a little anxious: “Xie Gongzi, you are just a mortal, how can you follow us in and out of those dangerous places? We are going to the Evil spirit-infested Ink City, a place where many cultivators have lost their lives! Even this time, we only dare to go with Fufeng Daozhang.”
His words were euphemistic, but Xie Yiling still heard the meaning of rejection in them, but he didn’t care and said earnestly: “I will be careful to follow you!”
Si Wumian was about to continue to politely decline when he heard Nangong Ci say, “Si Yuan, Jing Shen (Quiet).” He immediately straightened his expression and returned to the group of disciples.
When the other disciples heard this, they also adjusted their postures and began to close their eyes to rest.
Xie Yiling pursed his lips. No one was talking to him, and the feeling of fatigue quickly surged up. He leaned against the pillar and closed his eyes to feign sleep.
The old events of his past life reappeared in his mind like a revolving lantern. After a moment, he tried to secretly circulate his spiritual power, confirming that he had no spiritual power at all.
It was no wonder, after being reborn, he had no golden core, and the immortal path he cultivated naturally disappeared with it. Xie Yiling frowned slightly, he was really not used to this ordinary human body.
But what he was even less used to was the sudden awakening of his spiritual consciousness, which had been dormant for so long. Who was it, and what method did they use to Reborn him?
In this world, there was clearly no one who remembered him anymore.
Could it be that the wrong person was saved? This possibility made Xie Yiling somewhat convinced.
It was just that he felt sorry for the person who saved him. The Reborn technique was against the heavens, and in the end, it accidentally made a wedding dress for someone else, and half a lifetime of effort was wasted, which was really pitiful.
Thinking of Si Wumian saying that they were going to Ink City, and mentioning “Evil spirit-infested,” Xie Yiling vaguely felt that something big must have happened in Ink City. He wanted to go, but was in a dilemma, because Nangong Ci and the others did not seem to have any intention of taking him along.
If he secretly followed them and encountered Yin corpses again along the way, he would probably have a hard time escaping death. Publicly, since he was reborn, he was unwilling to hide in a safe room and become an ordinary person.
Privately… Xie Yiling’s heart was filled with mixed feelings. He had already tasted the pain of being separated from Nangong Ci, and in this life, he would never let such a thing happen again.
Therefore, the first priority at present should be to find a way to refine the golden core again and restore spiritual power. And the fastest way to reshape the golden core was to find a Ning dan wan (Ningdan Pills).
But Ning dan wan was extremely rare, and even some Immortal sects probably did not have it.
Would Nangong Ci know where to find Ning dan wan?
Thinking of this, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but want to take a look at Nangong Ci.
He thought that Nangong Ci had already entered a state of closing his eyes and meditating, but who knew that as soon as he opened his eyes and secretly looked to the side, he was caught.
The man, sitting in an elegant posture, had light-colored eyes, like a deep pool of still water without wind or waves, quietly watching Xie Yiling. When he looked at people, his eyes did not contain any emotion, but his expression was serious, as if he was scrutinizing, which often made the person being watched feel inexplicably uneasy.
But the person happened to be Xie Yiling. He met Nangong Ci’s gaze and looked back unassumingly: “Daozhang, why are you looking at me?”
Nangong Ci withdrew his scrutinizing gaze: “It’s nothing, the night is deep, Xie Gongzi should rest early.”
So the two turned to face each other, two different hearts, containing the same concerns.
The night quickly passed.
The dim dilapidated temple was covered in light, and Xie Yiling woke up to the sound of swords dancing. He closed his eyes hard to drive away his sleepiness.
Seeing that he was awake, Si Wumian, who was dancing the sword with everyone, stopped his movements and showed a smile: “Xie Gongzi, you’re awake!”
Xie Yiling nodded to him, looked around, and then saw Nangong Ci’s figure outside the dilapidated temple.
It was already dawn. There was a water source outside the dilapidated temple. Xie Yiling brushed past Nangong Ci, who was returning to the temple, and walked outside.
Seeing the person leave, Si Wumian whispered to Nangong Ci, who had returned, “Fufeng Daozhang, this Xie Gongzi, should we send him into the town or? Could it be that we really want to take him to Ink City?”
Nangong Ci didn’t say anything.
Si Wumian was shocked in his heart. He didn’t dare to look at Nangong Ci, and only speculated in his heart: Could it be that Fufeng Daozhang really wants to take this person of unknown origin as his disciple? Would it be too reckless?
He couldn’t help but remind him: “He looks sickly, I’m afraid he can’t stand the Yin and evil energy of Ink City.”
Nangong Ci looked elsewhere and said in a low voice, “This person has an Immortal Fate, taking him along is also in accordance with the Heavenly Fate.”
Immortal Fate? Si Wumian turned his head to look at Xie Yiling, who was just coming back, and blinked his eyes. No wonder he was Fufeng Daozhang, he couldn’t see where Xie Yiling looked like he had an Immortal Fate.
Xie Yiling came back quickly, with water droplets still on his face.
“Xie Gongzi!” Si Wumian congratulated him as soon as possible, “You’re in luck, Fufeng Daozhang said he’s going to take you as his disciple!”
Nangong Ci glanced at Si Wumian lukewarmly, and turned his head to meet Xie Yiling’s somewhat surprised gaze.
The other party’s ink-like black eyes were staring at him without blinking, as if expecting him to say an affirmative word.
“Yes.” Nangong Ci responded to the words he had never said, as if possessed.
In his previous life, he wanted to become a teacher and disciple but never got his wish. In this life, he unexpectedly got to end it. An unspeakable joy welled up in Xie Yiling’s heart, accompanied by his bright smile, and the remaining water droplets on his forehead suddenly slid down and were printed on his cheeks like tears.
“Master is above, please accept this disciple’s bow!”
The raised arm was stopped halfway, and Nangong Ci’s tone was gentle: “There is no need to be polite, let’s go.”
Xie Yiling raised his head and looked at Nangong Ci, who left one step ahead of him, his white clothes as bright as snow.
Separated, two vast and indistinct worlds, turning around and meeting again.
He raised his foot and followed, just like before.