Transcending the Nine Heavens

The zither’s music lingered. The sound was clearly soft and faint, but it awakened people’s hearts like thunder. Each person unconsciously followed this music into a wondrous realm.

Chu Yang’s heart was as calm as water; he quietly watched his life as if he was a third person. He watched heart-broken memories; he watched as pain broke his insides into pieces!

When he was a teenager, fire raged all over Beyond the Heavens Sect. Meng Chao Ran, in his white robe, fought with his long sword among the flames. His face seemed calm but hopeless at the same time. With one palm, he knocked Chu Yang out and buried his body underneath all the corpses. He had given Chu Yang a chance at life…

Leaving Beyond the Heavens Sect, he had no one to rely on. At first, he was a youth without any experience and trusted the wrong people. He almost lost his life and had to flee becoming the dust of life… Time and time again, people deceived him and hunted him. Time and time again, he had to find a way out from places of death. This gradually made him cruel, cold, and heartless…

He retreated deep into the mountains to cultivate. When he went into Iron Cloud, war and destruction was raging on…

Travelling all over Jiang Hu, he killed and robbed. Thus, he was on the path to becoming the Poisonous Sword Revered Martial Artist. It was a bloody path, with countless corpses trailing behind him…

He was not a heartless person by nature. He was sickened for three days after killing the first person. But if he did not kill people, they would kill him! The world was vast, but there was no one with him. He was alone on a bloody path for survival…

Until that one fateful day, he discovered a purple bamboo forest. It brought back memories of his childhood so he lingered there. Unexpectedly, he met a woman in red… What kind of woman is she? She is graceful, stunning, and fragile looking, but there is strength and arrogance hidden within; there is even a sense of sophistication and elegance.

Each of her movements carries a finesse…

She is like a heavenly being standing quietly in front of me…

He still remembered that conversation…

… (walkthejianghu.com)

“… May I ask what your name is, miss?”

“My surname is… Mo, Mo Qing Wu…”

“Good, that is a very good name.”

“Really?” Mo Qing Wu’s beautiful eyes suddenly became melancholy, and she murmured, “My mother once said…”

“Said what?”

“My daughter’s heart… Mo Qing Wu…”

“My daughter’s heart… Mo Qing Wu…” At the time Chu Yang thought and said, “Your mother is truly a caring person…”

Qing Wu, with the surname Mo in front, gave it a completely opposite meaning. Her daughter’s heart should not be weak like a gentle dance. If the heart was weak, you would also be weak, and people would betray you!

This was a name, but it was also Mo Qing Wu’s mother’s advice to her daughter!

“… What a coincidence that you are also here at this purple bamboo forest!”

“I like purple bamboo…” Mo Qing Wu smiled softly covering the melancholy in her heart, “Purple bamboo, the color I liked most as a child was… the color purple… It is truly unforgettable…”

“Really? Haha, me, too. As a child, I grew up in an area with purple bamboos… Then, the people were gone, and the purple bamboos were also no longer there…”

The voices of the two were faint, but they both heard the yearning and sadness in each other’s voice. They were also able to sense the irreconcilable hatred in the heart of the other person… They also recognized that the other person was full of burden…

At the time, Chu Yang did not know. But now he had come to understand…

Mo Qing Wu liked purple bamboo because of her second brother’s purple jade flute…

“Brother Chu, you have come again…”

“Those times, it is all like a dream. The purple bamboo has been engraved in my heart… Not coming to see it, I feel as if something is missing in my heart…”

“Mm, me too…”

“Brother Chu, if you come here next time and coincidentally meet me…”

“Go on?”

“Ah… nothing…” Mo Qing Wu smiled…

Chu Yang closed his eyes; two different lifetimes separated by reincarnation. It was as if he could see Mo Qing Wu’s smile from that time once more. The purple bamboos swayed creating waves like a sea. Mo Qing Wu’s red outfit fluttered as she stood in the purple bamboo forest; her beauty was unmatched.

A smile without any sorrows, it carried a shyness along with a touch of sweetness…

Qing Wu… you know, it was that smile that conquered my heart!

Unfortunately, I did not know it…

“Qing Wu, are you here?”

“What a coincidence…”

“Umm, today is the Double Ninth Festival (TLN: 9/9). Qing Wu, will you drink with me?”

“Umm, sure.”

…

“Brother Chu… Chu Yang…”

“Mm…”

“Brother Chu Yang, do you think my dancing is beautiful?”

“I will have to see first…”

“Haha, today, we drink. And with the purple bamboos as witnesses, I will dance for you.”

At that time, Mo Qing Wu’s eyes were full of sweetness and joy as she looked at him as gently as the flowing water…

Her red clothes softly fluttered. And in that moment, Chu yang felt as if all of Nine Heavens was reduced to a dainty red. And that graceful figure was like a fairy flying on the moon…

“A gentle dance in the misty smoke; looking at purple bamboo in the deserted horizon; a lifetime, a dance, man’s enjoyment; a lifetime, a dance, a step in life!” Mo Qing Wu’s gentle singing seemed to echo at that moment…

The zither’s music slowly rose high and meandered around when suddenly…

The music peaked then suddenly fell. Everyone’s heart moved along with it!

And at this moment, Chu Yang’s burdened heart was violently shocked; it was as if fate was starting to be reversed…

…

“Chu Yang… don’t go…”

“I want to get revenge for my master, for my brothers; I have to go…”

“Chu Yang…”

“Chu Yang… Your heart is too cruel…”

“Chu Yang… Will you return?”

“… I do not know either…”

“Chu Yang, I finally found you. And you are still… like this? Go back with me, please? Can you go back with me?”

“…”

“Chu Yang… I am worried… I have been feeling very uneasy these days…”

“…”

“Chu Yang… your heart, is it really made of stone?”

“… My heart is long dead.” At that time, what Chu Yang thought about was the ruins of Beyond the Heavens Sect, the bodies on the ground, the deep sense of hatred… renouncing love, cultivating his martial arts, and revenge!

He never bothered to notice, or did not dare to look at, the heartbreak that was in Mo Qing Wu’s eyes…

Crushed, Mo Qing Wu turned and left…

Not long after, Chu Yang suddenly had an ominous sense that something bad had happened. Thinking about Mo Qing Wu, who had just left, Chu Yang felt even more uneasy. In the darkness of the night, he felt as if he could hear Mo Qing Wu calling him over and over…

“Chu Yang… save me…”

“Chu Yang… you are too cruel…”

“Chu Yang… I want to see you again…”

“Chu Yang… I miss you…”

With a flash, Chu Yang’s body became a rapidly moving shadow chasing after her. At the time, he also did not know why he gave chase nor what he was chasing…

But after a dozen miles or so, he discovered that Mo Qing Wu was ambushed and suffered grave injuries…

Chu Yang could only feel an explosion inside of himself…

He rushed toward them, and, almost without reason, killed everyone…

In her last moments, Mo Qing Wu lay in his arms with a look of happiness while in despair…

“Chu Yang… it has been a long time since you held me like this. I am very happy…”

“Don’t move… Let me see your injuries; let me see your injuries…”

“I feel no pain, no pain really…”

“Chu Yang… if there is another life, if I can still see you again, I hope you will give me a proper look and see that I am prettier than a sword…”

“Chu Yang, hold me tight, hold me tight… I, I want… to be held by you like this forever… Chu Yang, being able to die in your arms, I am very satisfied…”

“I do not regret… after all, I got to see you at the last moment.”

“If… there is another life…”

That person’s eyes were filled with hope and desire, but everything stopped at that very moment! Her loving gaze remained fixed on Chu Yang’s face, but it had lost its liveliness…

That loving gaze had become eternal…

Chu Yang let out a long sigh and discovered that the zither’s music had stopped some time ago.

At this moment, in the great hall, no matter who they were, everyone was looking solemn, sighing, or in a daze without making the slightest of noise in a still state.

Gu Du Xing sat next to Chu Yang with moistened eyes. He was also remembering about the person who had to pay a dear price because of him… Gu Miao Ling.

Each person had his own encounter. This one melody had made Chu Yang experience the sorrow from his previous life once again, but what other people experienced were frustration, anger, guilt and love from this lifetime…

This one reincarnation melody was like a cleansing and purification of fate!

“What a beautiful melody…” Chu Yang sighed internally, “The zither master’s reputation is truly well-deserved. It’s just that this reincarnation melody is still lacking.”

Lacking was Chu Yang’s own judgement!

Chu Yang did not exactly understand music. In the previous life, Mo Qing Wu used to dance with many melodies old and new. So Chu Yang naturally gained some knowledge about music.

This one reincarnation melody, while Chu Yang was no musical genius, he was the only one who understood it! Because he was truly the only one… who experienced the taste of reincarnation!

When it came to reincarnation, there should at least be two lifetimes! Even then, that could barely be called reincarnation! But with this melody, Chu Yang only recalled his past life! He did not recall this lifetime at all!

When his mind was preparing to move to the next life, which was clearly possible, the zither’s music immediately halted right there.

Therefore, Chu Yang said that it was lacking!

The entire great hall was in silence. Only the large furnace in the middle of the great hall subtly cracking with glowing fire and exuding uninterrupted heat…

After a long time, they burst into thunderous applause…

The zither let out two sounds as if acknowledging the applause.

“Young master Chu, you may ask me three questions about music. If I cannot answer, I will eat dinner with young master Chu.” That faint voice came from the zither master who just played the melody.

Chu Yang laughed; he had restored composure back to his trembling heart in the blink of an eye, “Before the zither master, who would dare to talk about music? However, about that melody you just played, I have some questions I want to ask Miss Xiao Lu.”

“Oh?” There was an obvious trace of interest in Miss Xiao Lu’s voice.

“This reincarnation melody hit straight into the heart of everyone, whether they are poor or rich, good or bad! It is clear to see that Miss Xiao Lu is very successful in her craft, but…”

“But what?” Miss Xiao Lu asked.

“But this melody seems to be only half a melody! Miss Xiao Lu, why is this?” Chu Yang asked softly.

Behind the curtain, Miss Xiao Lu suddenly became quiet without making the slightest of sounds!