Volume One: The Dragon Rises from the Wilderness Chapter Sixty-Five: Heavenly Secrets

Before him was another cave, even narrower than the last. The space was barely four or five feet across, and within it sat an old man—none other than Elder Qiu—his eyes sunken, his body withered to the bone, exuding a faint scent of decay. He had clearly been dead for some time; perhaps, on that winter night at the end of last year, after saving him, his life had quietly slipped away.

Yu Ye embedded the luminous pearl into the stone wall, then bowed low, touching his forehead to the ground.

When he raised his head again, tears brimmed in his eyes.

Yu Ye had known Elder Qiu since childhood. The old man always liked to sit beneath the ancient tree at the village entrance, sometimes gazing quietly toward the distant horizon, sometimes smiling gently as he watched the children play. At times, he would head into the mountains, gathering medicinal herbs alone. Whenever anyone in the clan suffered from illness or injury, it was Elder Qiu who tended to them.

He was a kindly old man, and Yu Ye’s understanding of him extended no further than that. Only on that snowy winter night did he learn that Elder Qiu was versed in the mysteries of the world, possessed deep knowledge, and had an extraordinary, hidden past. Yet the old man expended the last of his life to save a youth.

Elder Qiu had said, “This is my only Longyang Pill. It was meant to prolong my own life, but feeling that my days were numbered, I used it to save you, child.”

He had also said, “In the northern reaches of the Great Marsh, it has been many years since a cultivator was seen. I have long awaited someone to resolve my doubts; saving you was only natural.”

Yu Ye recalled another of his words: “I did not expect that your would-be killer was not out to silence you, but only to seize the flood-dragon pearl within your belly! The pearl hails from the deep seas of Qizhou; refined, it can help a cultivator form their core—a rare treasure indeed. Yet within it lies the dragon’s venom. How could a mortal body like yours possibly endure it? The Longyang Pill is wondrous, but can only prolong your life for a while. Should the venom flare, you will not escape death in the end!”

In the end, the old man had said, “I have named you Yu Ye, for ‘the dragon battles in the wilds’ is an omen of great misfortune. Now, in the northern Great Marsh, dragons and serpents rise anew. Who can say how many will ascend to the heavens, and how many will perish in the underworld? If you survive, perhaps the answer shall be revealed.”

Remembering Elder Qiu’s departure, Yu Ye felt his sorrow deepen.

He knew nothing of Elder Qiu’s past, but the old man had given him a name, saved his life, and, in the moment between life and death, helped him cleanse his bones and marrow, setting him on the path of cultivation. If his parents had given him life, Elder Qiu had given him rebirth.

Yet amid his grief, Yu Ye could not help but reflect on every word Elder Qiu had spoken.

Elder Qiu claimed that the Great Marsh had seen no cultivators in many years, implying he did not regard the local Daoist sects, but was concerned about those from across the seas. This troubled him greatly; Elder Qiu must have sensed something amiss, and thus left these few words of advice. First, that the flood-dragon pearl was both extraordinary and a source of calamity; second, that the name Yu Ye, drawn from a divination hexagram, hinted that many disasters might be entwined with him; third, that if Yu Ye survived, all his doubts would one day be answered.

In other words, Elder Qiu was uncertain whether his divinations were accurate. He left his bamboo staff as a hidden sign, hoping that if Yu Ye survived and became a cultivator, he might discover the secrets and the fate left behind. Otherwise, his remains would be forever sealed here, his secrets turning to dust with him.

Such thoughtful intentions from the old man!

Fortunately, the ignorant, unknowing youth did survive, became a cultivator, followed the hint of the bamboo staff, and finally found this place.

Yu Ye wiped away his tears and sat down on the ground.

Now that he had found Elder Qiu, what was he to do next?

This place contained two caves, one large and one small. The larger must have been where Elder Qiu cultivated in life, while the smaller resembled a tomb. Perhaps sensing his end drawing near, Elder Qiu had prepared his final resting place.

Beside the remains lay a few miscellaneous items: a broken short sword, scattered gold and silver, a worn Daoist robe, a piece of charcoal, and a scrap of white cloth.

Yu Ye reached for the short sword.

Only the hilt and half the blade remained, clearly a shattered flying sword, now useless. Yet on the hilt was engraved a single word: “Heaven’s Secret.”

Heaven’s Secret?

Yu Ye pondered briefly, then set the sword down. He examined Elder Qiu’s belongings one by one, picking up the piece of white cloth.

The cloth had yellowed with age, and two crooked lines of characters were scrawled upon it with charcoal:

“South of the Rainbow Clouds, the Vermilion Bird flies north, the Golden Toad rises from the water, Heaven’s Secret may be found. Fate leads Yu Ye; without fate, Heaven’s will prevails.”

There were only twenty-four characters. These must have been Elder Qiu’s dying message. The first part seemed a riddle, its meaning unclear for now. The latter part told Yu Ye that fate or its absence was the will of Heaven.

Yu Ye took the white cloth and the short sword, then rose and walked out to the larger cave. He sat on the open ground, produced a white jade ring, and waved it lightly. This was a storage ring he had acquired earlier; everything within it spilled out.

He rummaged for a moment, picking out a collection of items to lay before him.

Among them were two scrolls: topographical maps of Yan Prefecture and Qi Prefecture; two jade tokens carved with the words “Qi Prefecture, Cloud River”; two jade slips containing cultivation methods—“The Supreme Spirit Talisman” and “Cloud River Sword Manual”; several rolls of beast-hide notes; a silver short sword; more than twenty spirit stones; a few bottles of healing and fasting pills; another jade token, and a damaged jade slip.

Yu Ye set the broken jade slip and the jade token aside.

The jade slip was from the Sutra Repository of Beiqi Mountain, bearing only a single line: “A flying star enters the Southern Dipper; the Nine Purples open the Netherworld.” Another cryptic message, similar to Elder Qiu’s last words, and seemingly unconnected.

The palm-sized jade token was inscribed on one side with “Heaven’s Secret,” and on the other with “Harmony.”

Yu Ye placed the jade token and the white cloth together, thinking to himself, “This must be it.”

When he had read the message on the white cloth, he felt that the words “Heaven’s Secret” looked familiar. Was it mere coincidence that the jade token bore the same words, or was there a deeper connection? He could not yet tell. The phrase about “Heaven’s Secret” clearly instructed him to seek it out. As for what Heaven’s Secret was, he would have to ponder and explore in the future.

Yu Ye gathered the white cloth, jade token, broken sword, damaged jade slip, and the maps of Yan and Qi Prefectures, placing them in his iron ring along with the “Forbidden Heavens Manual” and the purple jade stone. The spirit stones, short sword, pills, cultivation manuals, the empty storage ring, clothing, gold, and silver he sorted and stored in separate places.

He rose, walked to the neighboring cave, and gazed once more at Elder Qiu’s remains.

Elder Qiu, to this day I do not know your true name or the story of your past, nor why you spent your final years hidden away in these remote mountains. I only know you were my benefactor.

But, on that winter night at the close of last year, did you foresee the calamity that would befall the Yu family village?

Though I have found you at last, you cannot speak. My old doubts remain unexplained, and new mysteries have only multiplied. The boy you saved now carries a debt beyond repaying, along with the blood of more than thirty souls upon his shoulders. How am I to seek out Heaven’s Secret?

He sighed heavily, a deep and unnameable confusion rising with his sorrow. He retrieved the luminous pearl from the stone wall, picked up his long sword, and turned toward the exit.

Elder Qiu had left him not only unsolved mysteries, but an intangible, inescapable burden. The gravity of it would not let him turn away, yet he saw no path forward.

With the mechanism triggered, the stone door slowly opened.

Yu Ye stepped out of the cave.

The entrance closed again, leaving no trace that it had ever been opened.

He kicked the green stone in the thicket into pieces, then covered the area with rubble. He did not wish for anyone to disturb Elder Qiu, letting the old man rest in peace.

Night remained unchanged.

Silence reigned in all directions.

The vast Xingyuan Gorge was shrouded in hazy moonlight.

It was likely already midnight.

Yu Ye leapt from the cliff.

Moments later, he reached the earthen slope at the eastern edge of the village. The collapsed hut was even more dilapidated than before. He gazed at it in silence, then walked to a mound just south of the house, pulled away the wild grass, patted a few handfuls of earth atop it, and knelt to kowtow several times.

Mother, I’ll come to keep you company another day. I’m leaving now…

He murmured a few words, then rose and left.

In a flash, he entered the village.

He paused briefly before a small courtyard, then made his way toward the ancestral hall.

The Yu family ancestral hall was now nothing but a heap of ruins.

Yu Ye stood silently before the debris, a sharp ache stabbing his heart.

At that moment, a figure came running up, clothes in disarray, eyes bleary with sleep, voice lowered in disbelief: “Yu Ye, is that you?”

Yu Ye turned and replied softly, “Brother Ergou, it’s me.”

“Ai, I thought you were calling me in a dream. Who would have thought it was really you!”

Yu Ergou was just as brash and reckless as ever. He looked Yu Ye up and down, eyes wide. “What are you doing back in the middle of the night? Aren’t you afraid the villagers will come after you?”

Yu Ye was speechless, waving his hand.

With a thud, a bag landed on the ground.

“Eh? Are you performing magic now?”

Yu Ergou jumped in fright, but as he grumbled, he still reached out to rummage through the bag, exclaiming in surprise, “What have you been up to, becoming a bandit in the hills? Where did you get so much gold and silver?”

“It wasn’t stolen or robbed; all was obtained righteously!” Yu Ye explained, “Take this gold and silver to repair the ancestral hall—consider it my way of repaying a little of what I owe…”

“Heavens, there must be a hundred pounds of gold and silver here—far more than needed for repairs!”

“Share whatever’s left among the families then.”

“No!” Yu Ergou, greedy as he looked, suddenly shook his head. “Our Yu family village may be poor, but we don’t covet ill-gotten gains! If you can’t say where this money came from, you’d better take it back!”

“I…” Yu Ye hesitated, then raised his sword and said, “To tell you the truth, Brother Ergou, I am now a cultivator. This gold and silver was earned as a reward for a good deed; it came cleanly.”

Yu Ergou stared in astonishment. “You’ve learned to cultivate in just a few months?”

Yu Ye smiled. “Just a stroke of luck…”

But Yu Ergou curled his lip, unconvinced. “Since when are cultivators good people?”

Yu Ye’s smile froze. After a moment’s silence, he said solemnly, “The blood debt at the ancestral hall will be repaid one day!”

He left that promise behind and vanished into the night.

Yu Ergou stood there dazed, worry clouding his face. “He’s become a cultivator… but is he still my brother?”