“You Actually Gave Me Away to Someone Else!”
Early the next morning, the rising sun pierced through the clouds and fell across the mountains and wilderness.
Ji Chaoyun and Feng Qi stood side by side atop a cliff. The bamboo house was no longer visible from here. With the forest obscuring it from view, all that met the eye were mountains covered in golden leaves, stretching endlessly into the distance.
Facing the morning breeze, Feng Qi drew a deep breath. “It truly is beautiful here.”
“I told you this place was beautiful.” The sunrise breaking through the clouds at the horizon was reflected in Ji Chaoyun’s eyes. He smiled and said, “My home... is no worse than Wenqu Peak, is it?”
“Indeed, it is not.” Feng Qi said, “It is only a pity we cannot stay here a few more days.”
Ji Chaoyun’s expression dimmed slightly.
They had descended to the mortal realm for training, and three thousand merit points still awaited them. They truly should not waste too much time here.
Still, it had not been easy for him to return. Having to leave again so soon inevitably made him somewhat reluctant to go.
Feng Qi seemed to notice what he was thinking and said warmly, “Whenever you miss this place in the future, I will accompany you back.”
Ji Chaoyun asked, “I thought you didn’t like coming to the mortal realm?”
“That’s different.”
How could I possibly dislike a place where you are?
Feng Qi offered no further explanation. He merely lowered his eyes to look at him, the handsome, deep contours of his profile seemingly coated in a layer of warm, downy light.
That gaze was sincere and scorching. Ji Chaoyun lowered his head uneasily. “We can speak of it again when there is a chance.”
“...All right.”
Feng Qi withdrew his gaze and slowly turned toward the ranges of mountains ahead. He suddenly said, “Actually, I wanted to say this yesterday. I keep feeling that this place looks particularly familiar, as though I have been here before.”
“You have been here? When?”
“I don’t know.” Feng Qi smiled without taking it seriously. “Perhaps I passed through here during one of my previous training journeys in the mortal realm. The mortal realm is so vast. How could I possibly remember every place I have or have not visited?”
Ji Chaoyun frowned in puzzlement but said nothing more.
Feng Qi ruffled his hair and said, “Come on. It is time to descend the mountain. Have you decided what to do about those three thousand merit points?”
Ji Chaoyun did not understand what he meant by the question. “What else would we do? Nothing more than hunting down evil creatures and demons, and providing aid to the common folk. Isn’t that what everyone does?”
Something stirred in Feng Qi’s eyes, but he merely smiled without saying a word.
“What are you smiling about?”
Feng Qi said, “If it were truly as simple as you say, why would Academy disciples so rarely dare to descend to the mortal realm for training?”
Ji Chaoyun’s brows drew together slightly. Still unable to understand his meaning, he asked, “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Feng Qi did not answer. Instead, he took a merit ledger from inside his robes.
“The merit we obtain during this journey to the mortal realm can be shared between us, but the merit each person earns is calculated separately. How about this? Let us have a contest.” Feng Qi raised a hand and pointed west. “When we descended yesterday, I saw a city three hundred li west of here. I will give you six shichen. At the third quarter of the Xu hour, we will meet at the largest restaurant in the city and see who has earned more merit. What do you say?”
Ji Chaoyun knew without even thinking that this man was setting another trap for him and immediately said, “You have trained in the mortal realm many times before, so naturally you know the tricks to it. Why should I compete with you?”
Feng Qi smiled. “What is this? Are you already planning to admit defeat before we have even begun?”
Ji Chaoyun turned his head aside and said nothing.
“Even if I do know a trick or two, they did not simply fall from the heavens. Why not find them yourself? Or...” The amusement in Feng Qi’s eyes deepened as he lowered his voice. “Call me Senior Brother and act a little spoiled, and maybe I’ll tell you the trick.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun turned and walked away. “Forget it if you will not tell me.”
Feng Qi called after him from behind, “Hey, then the wager is settled? The loser has to agree to one request from the winner.”
Without looking back, Ji Chaoyun said, “A wager it is. Don’t go back on your word when you lose!”
Ji Chaoyun’s figure soon disappeared along the mountain path. Feng Qi gazed toward the direction in which he had gone, his eyes brimming with amusement.
That little fool.
☁
Several shichen later, Yanbeicheng.
Ji Chaoyun swiftly made his way through the dark alleys. He sprang into the air, turned as he descended, and cleaved the fleeing wisp of black smoke before him in two with a single stroke of his sword. A shrill wail came from within the black smoke before it dispersed into the wind.
He landed steadily, put away his sword, then took out the merit register from his robes and opened it to a page.
His merit ledger, originally completely blank, was now filled with an entire page of writing. Ji Chaoyun quickly swept his eyes over it, his gaze settling on the bottom.
A line of tiny characters slowly appeared: Slain a nightmare demon. Five merit points.
“...”
Only now did Ji Chaoyun understand why Feng Qi had said that few Academy disciples were willing to descend to the mortal realm for training of their own accord.
Heavenly Dao was truly exacting in its calculation of merit. A single act of aiding the common people earned two merit points. Dispelling a wandering soul that lingered in the mortal realm earned three.
Even a nightmare demon like this one, which survived by draining people’s vital essence within the city, only earned five merit points.
Ji Chaoyun had been busy for nearly six shichen, yet his merit had only increased by a little over twenty points.
The time limit for their training in the mortal realm was only ninety days. At this rate, if he wanted to accumulate three thousand merit points, he would have to go without sleep or rest to accomplish it.
Ji Chaoyun sighed and put away the merit ledger. When he turned around, he saw a young child no more than two or three years old stood at the entrance to the alley, tilting his head as he looked at him.
The child had handsome, delicate features and wore luxurious clothing, evidently coming from a wealthy household. He did not seem afraid of strangers. His innocent eyes blinked. “Pa... Papa...”
“...”
Never in Ji Chaoyun’s life had anyone mistaken him for their father in the middle of the street. His brow twitched involuntarily as he walked over. “Little one, why are you here?”
“Papa... cannot find... find Papa,” the child said indistinctly as he looked up at him.
So the child had gotten lost.
Helping a child find his parents... should count as an act of merit too, should it not?
Ji Chaoyun crouched down and met the child’s bright, watery eyes. His heart softened at once. He reached out and touched the child’s cheek, saying warmly, “I’ll take you to find your parents, all right?”
The child immediately beamed. “Papa, papa...”
“...”
Ji Chaoyun did not bother arguing with a child. He cast a spell and conjured a talisman bird. It sniffed the child, then flew ahead.
A short while later, Ji Chaoyun walked through the marketplace carrying the child in his arms.
The city called Yanbeicheng was neither particularly large nor small. Perhaps because it stood along a major transportation route, people traveled through it constantly, and the marketplace bustled with people coming and going. The talisman bird led the two of them onward and soon stopped before a residence.
Ji Chaoyun set the child down and raised a finger, allowing the talisman bird to perch on the back of his hand.
The talisman bird shook its feathers atop his hand. Its long tail feathers were brilliant and dazzling, exceptionally beautiful. Had Feng Qi been present, he would have seen at once that it looked remarkably similar to the true form Feng Qi usually transformed into.
The child looked up at him and spread his arms. “Bird... little bird...”
Ji Chaoyun lowered his head to look at him. “You like this?”
“Like it.”
Ji Chaoyun considered for a moment, then quietly recited an incantation. White light enveloped the talisman bird. Its wings folded inward, and it transformed into an exquisite, translucent little phoenix jade pendant.
The jade pendant was only the size of a thumb. Ji Chaoyun bent down and hung it around the child’s neck, saying quietly, “This little phoenix is for you. Don’t tell anyone. This is our secret.”
The child tilted his head in confusion. “Little phoenix...?”
Ji Chaoyun smiled and was about to say something more when a startled cry suddenly came from inside the residence. “Young Master!”
A young woman hurried out of the residence. “Young Master, where did you run off to? Master and Madam were nearly frantic with worry.”
The child tugged at the hem of Ji Chaoyun’s robe. “Find... find Papa.”
The woman picked up the child, then bent her knees in a courteous bow toward Ji Chaoyun. “Was it Young Master who brought our young master home?”
“Yes.”
The woman said, “Please come inside with me, Young Master. My master and madam will certainly thank you properly.”
“It was merely a small effort. There is no need for the trouble,” Ji Chaoyun said. “The child has already been brought home, so I shall take my leave.”
After saying this, he turned and left. He had not gone far when he suddenly saw a tall, slender figure standing at the street corner not far away, looking at him with a half-smile.
“You actually gave me away to someone else!” Feng Qi said indignantly inside the largest restaurant in Yanbeicheng.
“...” Ji Chaoyun said, “That was only a talisman bird.”
Feng Qi emphasized, “It was a talisman bird that looked exactly like me!”
“...”
Feng Qi tipped his head back and drained a cup of wine. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. “Besides, you have never even given me anything.”
Ji Chaoyun glanced at him. “If you want one, I can make one for you too. Then everyone under heaven can know that Second Highness Feng likes wearing his own true form around his neck.”
“No.” The mere thought of that sight gave Feng Qi chills. His eyes shifted, and he added, “If you made a little dragon instead, I might consider it.”
“...”
Feng Qi was about to tease him further, but Ji Chaoyun glared at him until he fell silent. He rubbed his nose and said, “Right, you gave that child something. Are you not afraid of changing his fate?”
“For him to encounter me today can also be considered an immortal affinity,” Ji Chaoyun said. “Besides, forming a connection with an immortal brings benefit rather than harm.”
Propping his chin on one hand, Feng Qi said leisurely, “Matters of cause and effect are not as simple as you think...”
This was only a minor episode, and neither of them paid it much mind. Feng Qi asked, “Speaking of which, how is your merit ledger looking?”
Ji Chaoyun paused and said quietly, “Twenty-six.”
For escorting that child home in the end, the stingy Heavenly Dao had only awarded him two merit points.
“I knew you were going to lose.” A smug smile appeared in Feng Qi’s eyes. “Guess how many I have.”
“How many?”
Feng Qi slapped his merit ledger onto the table. Ji Chaoyun leaned closer and immediately saw the number at the very end.
Fifty-eight points.
More than twice Ji Chaoyun’s total.
Ji Chaoyun fell silent for a moment. He looked up at Feng Qi, then silently lowered his head and took a bite of a pastry.
Feng Qi did not hurry him and simply drank his wine.
For a time, neither of them spoke. In the end, Ji Chaoyun was the first to give in. “You... how did you do it?”
Feng Qi raised a brow and fixed his gaze on him.
“...Senior Brother Feng.”
Feng Qi immediately broke into a delighted smile. “Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d done that from the start? You even let me win once for nothing.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “A wager is a wager. I accept my loss. Tell me how you did it first.”
Feng Qi said, “After spending the entire day at this, have you figured out how Heavenly Dao calculates merit?”
“Mm.” Ji Chaoyun nodded. “Helping the common people, suppressing the strong and aiding the weak, subduing demons and monsters, all of these can be exchanged for merit. Yet...”
“The merit awarded is too little, correct?” Feng Qi continued for him. “If this were an ordinary training journey in the mortal realm, there would naturally be nothing wrong with doing these things. You, however, are different. Your goal is to earn a Grade A from the academy. You need to accumulate three thousand points of merit in just ninety days, which means you need at least thirty-some points each day.”
“Of course, at your current pace, you would still have a chance of finishing if you went without sleep or rest. However...” Feng Qi swept a glance over him. “With that delicate, frail body of yours, how could you possibly last ninety days without sleep or rest?”
“...”
Ji Chaoyun could not be bothered with the teasing in his words. “I know. If I subdue an evil creature that has brought disaster upon an entire region, or a demon or monster that has taken human lives, the merit awarded will be greater. That is the method you used, correct?”
“Correct. That is the key,” Feng Qi said. “Heavenly Dao uses the evil beings you subdue as its standard. Mortal evildoers and wandering souls are the lowest class. Demons, evil beings, spirits, and monsters with shallow cultivation are the middle class. As for immortals, spirits, gods, and demons with profound cultivation, naturally you earn more merit for subduing them.”
Ji Chaoyun asked, “Yet the more profound their cultivation, the harder they are to find. How could such evil beings be so easy to locate?”
“I found one, did I not?” Feng Qi gave him a mysterious smile. “Hurry and eat. Once you’re finished, I’ll take you somewhere.”
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