Blade - Unbound

Sha Lifei was secretly alarmed and quickly lowered his voice to ask, "Daoist, were there this many people in previous years as well?"

"Certainly not." Wang Daoxuan's expression turned serious as he shook his head. "Mount Taibai stands lofty and imposing. Wind and rain come without warning. Only during the height of summer in the sixth month does the mountain become passable, which people call Opening the Mountain.

"During all other seasons, fog and snow block the roads, and few people travel there. That's called Closing the Mountain.

"But winter has already arrived, and these mountain paths are becoming increasingly difficult to traverse. Devout pilgrims may visit the old temples halfway up the mountain, but cultivators of the mystic path will certainly head for the summit.

"The journey is dangerous. There shouldn't be this many people."

Li Yan nodded. "Then something must have happened. After we go in, be careful and see if we can find out what's going on."

The three dismounted and led their horses toward the fortress. The gate had obviously been repaired at some point, but it was still little more than several charred logs crudely assembled together. At the moment, the gates stood open, and no one was guarding them.

Once inside, Li Yan discovered there was more to the place than met the eye. The entire fortress resembled a small village. An ancestral hall and a Three Officials Temple stood in the center, surrounded by six large residences.

Along the outer perimeter stood numerous large buildings that were likely warehouses, stables, and similar structures. Of course, most of the buildings were in worse condition. Many old houses had completely collapsed and were later rebuilt in a makeshift manner by merchants.

Shop banners fluttered everywhere. There was an inn, tea houses, taverns, clothing shops, incense stores, and even a blacksmith shop. Though small, it had everything one could need.

It was already nearing dusk. The fortress walls blocked much of the light, leaving the interior dim. Lanterns were quickly being lit as the place buzzed with noise.

People shouted while mules and horses whinnied. Steam rose from food stalls everywhere. And from time to time, shamans and spirit mediums wandered past. The atmosphere felt strangely surreal.

Before they could recover from their surprise, a servant boy came trotting over, bowing and scraping. "Would the three guests like lodging?"

Wang Daoxuan looked puzzled. "Wasn't this called the Gao Family Inn a few years ago? Has the owner changed?"

The servant sneered. "What's so strange about that? Business is all about profits and losses. If you can't keep it running, you leave. The inn was bought by our master."

Then he raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, our master is a descendant of the Qin Dynasty's Divine General Bai Qi. The fortress itself is said to have been built by the Bai Family. In a manner of speaking, all of this belongs to our master."

"Oh, give it a rest." A blacksmith happened to be passing by and immediately mocked him. "As if there were even fortified settlements during the Qin Dynasty. And even if there were, they would've disappeared long ago. As for your master, everyone here knows exactly what his situation is. A descendant of General Bai? You've got some nerve boasting that."

The servant's face turned red, but he clearly feared the blacksmith and dared not argue. Turning back toward Li Yan's group, his tone grew hostile. "Let me make this clear. It’s twenty taels of silver per night without including meals. Hot water costs extra. Are you staying or not?"

Sha Lifei's eyes widened as he yelled, "Twenty taels? That's outright robbery!"

The servant showed no fear whatsoever. Jutting out his neck, he declared, "That's the market price. The price is clearly listed out there. Stay if you want. Don't if you don't."

With that, he turned and walked toward another newly arrived guest.

Sha Lifei was furious, but the servant's arrogance clearly came from having backing. Since they had only just arrived and knew nothing of the local situation, he could only swallow his anger.

The newly arrived guest was a middle-aged woman who wore a dark Daoist robe.

She had a Seven Star Sword and a peachwood sword strapped to her back. She even wore bamboo armor over her outer garments with a Soul-Calming Bell hanging at her waist. Her features were heroic, and her face was weathered from travel. One glance was enough to tell she was from the mystic path.

To their surprise, after hearing the price, she nodded without hesitation. "Fine. Lead the way. I need one room, and feed my horse while you're at it."

"Yes, yes! Right this way, honored guest!"

The servant instantly became all smiles and practically bent his back in half while leading her away.

Before leaving, he turned around and shouted loudly, "The rooms are full! Anyone else wanting lodging can come back tomorrow!"

Then he hurried off.

Sha Lifei was stunned. Only after some time did he ask, "Business is really that good?"

Li Yan watched the woman's departing figure and quietly asked, "Daoist, that woman isn't simple. Can you tell what lineage she's from?"

Before Wang Daoxuan could answer, the woman suddenly turned around. Her cold eyes swept over the three of them before she continued on her way.

A hearing divine ability!

Li Yan's expression didn't change, but he instantly became more vigilant.

This place had gathered numerous practitioners, and every one of them possessed divine abilities. It seemed they would need to be careful with both words and actions.

Wang Daoxuan shook his head, equally puzzled. "Let's find somewhere to stay first."

Unfortunately, another problem soon arose. Wang Daoxuan remembered that besides the inn, there were once several abandoned buildings in the fortress where travelers could spend the night.

Since they only intended to stay one night before climbing the mountain, that would've been sufficient. Yet after circling the entire fortress, they discovered that every place capable of sheltering people from the cold had already been occupied.

Groups sat around campfires, each glancing toward them with obvious wariness.

"Brother, let me ask something..."

"Don't know."

"The rivers and mountains all have their paths. Where are you from, friend?"

"Get lost."

Even Sha Lifei's attempts at gathering information ended in failure. Whether he approached them politely or used the secret jargon of the jianghu, nobody responded. Everyone seemed to be guarding against everyone else.

Sha Lifei cursed under his breath, "Damn it, this is strange..."

The atmosphere made him uneasy. Li Yan suddenly thought of the blacksmith who had mocked the servant earlier, and quickly led the other two toward the blacksmith shop. Inside, the forge wasn't operating. The blacksmith himself was a large man with a thick beard and muscles like knotted rope. Together with two apprentices, he was burning incense and performing a ritual.

Li Yan's group didn't interrupt, simply waiting outside.

During the Xiayuan Festival, some craftsmen worshiped the Furnace God. As for the Furnace God, he was none other than the Supreme Lord associated with furnaces and alchemy. Interrupting such a ritual was a serious taboo.

After nearly the time it took an incense stick to burn, the blacksmith finally finished. Wiping his hands, he turned around. "You three have good manners. Where are you from?"

Perhaps because they had shown proper respect, his tone was noticeably friendlier.

Li Yan cupped his fists and replied, "We've come from Xianyang and are planning to head up the mountain."

He had already noticed the warm incense aura lingering within the forge. This blacksmith was clearly a craftsman of the mystic path as well.

"Xianyang..." The blacksmith thought for a moment before asking, "Do you happen to know Shopkeeper Wan of the Listening Pavilion?"

Sha Lifei immediately seized the opportunity. "We know him very well! Our relationship is anything but ordinary; we even stayed in Shangyi Village for a time. Do you know Shopkeeper Wan too?"

The blacksmith nodded. "We have some friendship. Not long ago, Shopkeeper Wan delivered a batch of drums to the mountain. He returned yesterday."

Sha Lifei sighed loudly. "What a pity we missed him!"

With Shopkeeper Wan serving as common ground, the conversation quickly became more relaxed. The blacksmith's name was Hong Mushan, a true craftsman of the mystic path. Having inherited the forge from his master, he regularly handled work for temples and monasteries on the mountain. Business has never been a problem.

Li Yan finally voiced the question that had been bothering him. "Brother Hong, something feels off about this place..."

Hong the Blacksmith looked surprised. "You don't know?"

Li Yan followed up, "We've been traveling the whole time and haven't heard any news."

"No wonder."

After listening to Li Yan's explanation, Hong Mushan shook his head. "Normally there wouldn't be many people here at this time of year. However, something major happened recently. Shortly after the Hanyi Festival, several State Preceptors of the orthodox sects submitted a memorial to the court. They claimed that evil cultivators in Jiangnan were misleading the common people, hiding by day and operating by night.

"They were conducting illicit sacrifices to evil gods and calling themselves some kind of Holy Marshal. Apparently they were plotting rebellion. The Emperor was furious and ordered the Mystic Office to tighten supervision. Word has already spread that in the future, anyone wishing to use the spiritual nodes within the holy lands and sacred realms controlled by the orthodox lineages must possess an official permit issued by the office.

"They say the policy will begin after the New Year. So after receiving the news, many people rushed here, hoping to cultivate during this final window of opportunity."

The three exchanged glances, and Sha Lifei rolled his eyes. "What a convenient excuse. They're obviously using access to sacred lands to control the mystic sects throughout the empire."

Li Yan immediately understood. Martial heroes violated prohibitions through force, while scholars disrupted laws through words. If practitioners of the mystic path harbored ambitions, they could throw an entire realm into chaos.

There was the Han Palace Witchcraft Incident, but there were always emperors obsessed with immortality throughout history. Sometimes there were also prophecies emerging during troubled times and peasant uprisings during famine.

Every dynasty had struggled with those problems.

Yet just like the jianghu, the mystic sects could never be eradicated completely. The court still needed them to calm the populace and suppress evil entities, making control the only option.

Thus, under Great Xuan law, all practitioners, whether Buddhist monks, Daoists, shamans, or spirit mediums, were required to register with the Mystic Office operated by the Ministry of Rites and receive a permit.

But much like gunpowder restrictions, enforcement was never perfect. Many wandering sorcerers ignored the regulations entirely, along with evil cultivators. For cultivators seeking to construct inner temples, succeeding in ordinary locations was exceedingly difficult. However, using the spiritual nodes within sacred lands dramatically increased their chances.

It seemed the court intended to seize control of these locations and use them as leverage over the mystic path.

Li Yan neither deceived people nor used his arts to harm others. He actually had no objection to the policy. In fact, he had already asked Luo Mingzi to help register him. He even intended to travel to Chang'an before the end of the year and obtain his Dao Permit.

However, the policy created a new problem. A grand ritual would be held during the Winter Solstice at the Queen Mother Courtyard atop Mount Taibai. During that period, the spiritual nodes would temporarily close until the following year.

The mountain range itself was vast, but the number of discovered ones containing innate astral qi was extremely limited. With so many cultivators gathered, competition was inevitable.

After a moment's thought, Li Yan asked, "Senior, if people are paying such high prices for lodging, then that inn charging astronomical prices seems suspicious!"

Li Yan had already felt that something was off. It was like the tourist places in his previous world that charged stupid prices for some shady gimmick.

Hong Mushan immediately snorted. "You're absolutely right. The previous owner, Old Gao, got along well with all of us. We all made a living around this fortress, and life wasn't bad.

"However, this fellow who just took over has relatives among the managers of the mountain monastery. He used those connections to seize Old Gao's business and forced him to leave."

Then he glanced toward the inn and lowered his voice. "After hearing about the court's policy, the owner of the inn saw an opportunity. The twenty taels aren't really for the room. What's being sold is a chance to meet the manager on the mountain and rent a spiritual node."

Just as expected, I’m right.

Li Yan sneered.

"Those bastards. Even a sacred cultivation site is filled with filth and corruption!" Sha Lifei cursed before asking, "If buying a ticket really gives you a chance, twenty taels doesn't sound too bad."

"Heh." Hong Mushan laughed coldly. "Let me put it this way. He's been selling tickets daily for several days now. By my estimate, he's already sold over a hundred. There are only a handful of spiritual nodes on the mountain. When the time comes, he'll probably squeeze everyone dry again, and maybe make people bid against one another for rental rights."

Sha Lifei stared in shock. "More than a hundred tickets at twenty taels each?! That's over two thousand taels just for introductions. That's black-hearted, why don't we ever get opportunities like that?!"

Hong Mushan nodded. "Exactly!"

Looking at Sha Lifei, he suddenly felt a strange sense of kinship.

Wang Daoxuan sighed helplessly. "I never expected things to turn out this way. The money we brought probably won't be enough. What do we do now?"

Between the loot from the bandit stronghold near Xianyang and the spoils taken from Chen Fakui, they were actually quite wealthy. Even after deducting the funds reserved for constructing Li Yan’s inner temple, they still had plenty left. As a result, they had spent rather freely along the journey.

They had hired pallbearers, rented carriages, bought fine wine and tea, and even enjoyed the luxurious bathhouses in Capital Passage City. Their expenses were considerable. If bidding truly became necessary, they might not be able to compete.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yan asked another question. "Senior, since you often work on the mountain, do you know a Daoist named Yu Linzi from Queen Mother Courtyard?"

When Li Yan had left Xianyang, Luo Mingzi had given him a letter of introduction. He had instructed him to seek out Yu Linzi if he encountered difficulties at Mount Taibai.

The Taixuan Orthodox Sect was enormous. Although Luo Mingzi belonged to the Enforcement Hall while Queen Mother Courtyard belonged to a different branch, they were still fellow disciples who interacted regularly. The fact that Luo Mingzi had entrusted him with a letter suggested their relationship was extremely close.

"Yu Linzi?" Hong Mushan stared at Li Yan in shock. "Of course I know him, he's exceptionally talented! Despite his youth, he's already reached the third level of cultivation.

"His master is also a High Ritual Master of Queen Mother Courtyard. If you can get his help, this matter shouldn't be difficult. Though with so many people heading up the mountain, I'm afraid you won't be the only ones trying to use connections."

Sha Lifei slapped his thigh. "Then let's leave tonight, we can't get rooms here anyway. Sleeping outside isn't much different. Didn't Daoist say the mountain paths are difficult because it's warm at the foot of the mountain, but covered in snow higher up? Now that the mountain is officially closed for winter, plenty of people are bound to get stuck along the way. If we move fast enough, we might secure a spiritual node before anyone else."

Li Yan hesitated and looked at Wang Daoxuan. He and Sha Lifei were fine. Years of martial training had given them tremendous endurance, so fatigue wasn't a major concern. But Wang Daoxuan was different, and Li Yan worried whether he could handle it.

"No need to worry about me." Wang Daoxuan laughed. "My legs aren't as strong as yours, but I've traveled all over the land. There were times when I crossed mountains for two or three days straight."

"Good." Li Yan stood up before addressing them again. "Let's buy what we need and leave."

There was much to prepare before climbing the mountain. They needed thick sheepskin coats, fire-starting kits, food and dried rations. Naturally, plenty of merchants took advantage of the situation. Items that were normally cheap had doubled in price.

The three didn't bother arguing. They purchased what they needed, left their horses in the stable, and departed the fortress that very night.

The atmosphere inside the fortress had become increasingly strange. Many people sat in silence, yet all of them were secretly observing everyone else.

When they saw Li Yan's group leaving, several people's expressions changed.

"Climbing the mountain at night?"

"Are they idiots?"

"Should we leave too?"

"Why the rush, fellow Daoist?"

"The mountain paths are treacherous."

"One misstep and you'll fall off a cliff."

"And who says you'll even secure a spiritual node if you arrive first?"

"No hurry."

"My disciple is bringing money tomorrow."

"I'll leave after that."

While these people debated among themselves, not long after Li Yan's group departed, the middle-aged woman carrying twin swords also quietly left the inn.

Outside the fortress, three lanterns slowly rose upon the Heavenly Pole.

An aged voice echoed through the night.

"Offerings to the Three Officials... On the night of the Xiayuan Festival, the Water Official relieves misfortune..."