Volume One: The Millennia of the Stream Chapter 13: The Yearning of a Rushing Heart, the Moon Transforms the Sky

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On this long journey, the two could only keep each other company; silence was impossible. Yet Jiang Yujin stubbornly refused to speak, responding only with a hum or a gentle push to Sun Zikai when she wanted something.

However, there were always difficulties. Matters of relieving oneself were the hardest for both to face. The banks of the infant river were swarming with barbarians. Sun Zikai fared better, but Jiang Yujin had more trouble. Each time, she had to rush the carriage dozens of miles away from the riverbank to find privacy, then return along the same route. While she was occupied, Sun Zikai couldn’t stray too far; it was very inconvenient.

On the way back, Sun Zikai complained, “You’ve gone four times today. How about I find some medicine for you? You can’t keep running off like this.”

Jiang Yujin flushed and snorted, refusing to respond.

“Well? If not, next time I’ll sneak a look.”

“You dare! Try it and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

“Heh, I already saw it from afar—a big, white butt.”

“Ahhhh!” Jiang Yujin struggled to kick Sun Zikai off the carriage, but he was unmovable. Since then, if Sun Zikai didn’t go at least a mile away, Jiang Yujin wouldn’t even squat down.

This river was truly long. Sun Zikai estimated they had traveled over four hundred miles. The barbarians were becoming more numerous, and villages appeared. They built wooden frames, draped with straw mats for walls. With the changing seasons, they herded cattle and sheep, constantly migrating. Sun Zikai discovered fields; the barbarians actually farmed various crops, but never in abundance. Agricultural civilization could not flourish within nomadic culture. If you planted too much grain, naturally barbarians would come to steal it.

After hurrying another hundred miles, the horses were exhausted and refused to run. Reluctantly, Sun Zikai loosened the reins, granting them freedom, and led Jiang Yujin on foot. But this made them vulnerable. They could not communicate or contact the barbarians and had to keep a distance from the river. After just five miles, the pampered Jiang Yujin’s body could no longer bear the strain.

Yet she was not delicate. Though it was hard, she gritted her teeth and endured silently, understanding she was no longer a great princess. Here, she was just an ordinary girl.

“Let’s rest for a while.”

“No need.” Jiang Yujin refused Sun Zikai’s kindness, picking up a stick as a cane. But no matter how much she persisted, her delicate frame had limits. Soon her waist ached severely, she could no longer straighten her back, and struggled to breathe.

“Alright, rest a bit.”

Jiang Yujin could barely form a complete sentence, only gesturing dismissively. Surrounded by barbarians, she didn’t want to be a burden. She was still sulking and refused to pay him any mind.

Sun Zikai was helpless. Despite all this, the girl was still sulking at him. But he had an idea. “How about this: I carry you, you pay. I do the work. There are barbarians everywhere here. If you keep dilly-dallying, we won’t get out. If you feel bad about it, you can pay me more.”

Jiang Yujin held on for two more miles before she could walk no more. She stopped, paused for a moment, then touched her bracelet. A flash of light appeared, revealing a gold ingot.

Sun Zikai grumbled, “Even if I cut off both my legs, it wouldn’t be worth this much.”

Jiang Yujin replied, “But this is the thing of mine that’s least valuable.”

“Uh, then you owe me. When I do enough work to earn that price, you can pay me back.”

“Alright.”

Sun Zikai half-crouched. Jiang Yujin shuffled over, resting her hands on his shoulders, and collapsed forward. She was truly at her limit, weak and limp on his back, hands too feeble to hold on, eyes half-closed, drifting off.

Sun Zikai stood and lifted her hips a little, and Jiang Yujin immediately woke up.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing, just carrying you.”

“Behave.”

“Oh, you smell so nice.”

“No sniffing.”

“Oh.”

Moments later, Jiang Yujin fell asleep.

That night, Jiang Yujin woke up drowsily, first seeing a flowing cloud-like garment dancing beneath a brilliant starry sky. Moonlight melted over the world, fish leapt in the long river, and the riverbank was now all yellow sand, with no sign of green trees.

“Where… is this?”

“You’re awake.”

“Where is this?”

“After I hurried a hundred miles, there was no more grass or barbarians by the river. Somehow, the road ahead turned like this—both sides are sand.”

“This is a desert,” Jiang Yujin said.

“A desert? What’s a desert?”

“It’s what you see now, silly. Grass can’t grow in sand. We probably won’t see barbarians anymore.”

“How far did you say you traveled just now?”

“After a hundred miles, we entered the desert. We’ve gone over sixty miles since then.”

“You’re lying.”

“Huh? You think I’m bragging?”

“Bragging… what?”

“Bragging means telling big lies.”

“Hmm, you’re bragging.”

“Hehe, then hold me tight and I’ll show you I’m not bragging.” Sun Zikai tapped the ground lightly and suddenly leapt with the wind. Whether he stirred the wind or the wind lifted them, they soared.

Fish leapt from the water. Sun Zikai stepped on a nearby droplet, light as a feather, then dashed forward, skimming hundreds of yards, flipping airborne, wind as wings and water below, gliding among the stars, bathing in moonlight, flying endlessly.

Jiang Yujin’s mind wandered among star and moon, as if in a dreamlike vision, entranced, before suddenly biting Sun Zikai’s ear.

“What are you biting me for?”

“I thought I was dreaming.”

“Tch, I’m not bragging, right?”

“Who taught you that?”

“No one, I figured it out myself.”

“Bragging! You’re from a sect, you’ve been lying to me.”

“No, really!” Sun Zikai said, “I became an orphan at five, wandered for a long time, then Old Yang brought me to ‘Peaceful Pass’ to be a gatekeeper. People like me aren’t wanted by sects. My dad said even becoming a gatekeeper requires layers of connections.”

“But… but,” Jiang Yujin couldn’t accept this. “You’re lying. Our palace nurtures many cultivators, all from sects. Without teaching, you wouldn’t even know where to find spiritual energy.”

“That’s why I don’t cultivate the path of spiritual energy. I’ve discovered other paths on my own, quite good ones too.”

“At least you should have a beginner’s manual,” Jiang Yujin said. “You must have some method.”

“I do, but I came up with it myself. I call it ‘Limitless’. I’m not lying. I can’t access the spiritual energy path, so I had to guess some side paths. No choice.”

“You really…” Jiang Yujin leaned on his shoulder, studying his profile seriously.

“Really what?”

“Really… amazing.”

“Heh, I think so too, but it’s all coincidence. Enlightenment isn’t that easy.” Sun Zikai stirred the wind and flew higher. No clouds were left in the sky; it seemed the stars floated right beside them, within reach.

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The wind grew stronger and colder. Jiang Yujin sneezed. Sun Zikai asked with concern, “Are you cold?” Then he snapped his fingers, igniting flames on his fingertips that stretched into a thin river in the sky. The “river water” sprinkled down from the northern heavens, scattering into countless stars on the real river below.

“So beautiful, so warm... What else can you do?”

“Lots. What do you want to see?”

“Nothing. Just like this, I want to quietly fall asleep.”

“Huh? Then I have to keep supporting you like this.” They were flying, Jiang Yujin lying on Sun Zikai’s back, and he periodically tapped the wind for momentum.

“Mm.”

“No, I’m uncomfortable.”

“I’ve paid already.”

“No, you haven’t. Oh, fine.”

The night was silent, moonlight as their backdrop, starlight their melody. The girl hadn’t slept this peacefully in a long time. Tears streamed down her cheeks like her mother’s gentle kiss just yesterday.

It was a long night, a happy dream.

The next day, Sun Zikai couldn’t rush ahead because Jiang Yujin’s legs were numb and sore; she couldn’t even squat.

Sun Zikai knelt to massage her feet, grumbling, “I can fix the acupoints on your legs in half an incense stick’s time, but you refuse.”

“You wish. Even my feet, not even the imperial doctors could touch before.”

“You’re really hard to please.”

“Humph, I’ve paid already.”

Thinking of the shining gold ingot, Sun Zikai’s eyes sparkled with energy. “Young Madam, watch me.”

After a dozen breaths, Sun Zikai suddenly stiffened. He clearly sensed vitality and energy twenty miles ahead. How could there be others in the desert?

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yujin asked.

“Wait here a moment, I’ll check it out.”

“Check what?”

“Someone’s there.”

“Ah? Impossible, this is a desert.”

Sun Zikai prepared to leave but Jiang Yujin insisted, “I’m coming too!” She stood quickly but her numb legs gave way, and she fell again.

“No need. I’ll be back soon.”

“I want to go!”

Sun Zikai paused, looked into Jiang Yujin’s eyes, and suddenly understood. He reached out, stroked her head, as if comforting a child, saying, “Don’t worry. A gatekeeper always keeps their word. I won’t leave you, my big benefactor, behind until I earn that gold.”

“Then carry me.”

She raised her arms. Sun Zikai sighed and bent down, lifting her up. Then with a step, they took to the winds.

Soon they saw people—a carriage, horses collapsed on the ground, the cart tipped over, the wind gently waving the curtain.

At the carriage, a cat meowed. Lifting the curtain, they found the interior filled with yellow sand. A girl about eleven or twelve lay barely alive, beside her a dying black cat.

Sun Zikai was about to speak when Jiang Yujin shouted, clutching the girl’s body, full of shock and joy, “Mao girl? Is it really you? God, how did you end up here?” Then she urgently pulled Sun Zikai’s arm to save her.

The girl was not seriously ill, just severely dehydrated. They retrieved a water bag and dripped a few drops onto her lips; she immediately responded.

Handing the water bag to Jiang Yujin, Sun Zikai fetched water for the cat and the horses as well, which revived them.

Before long, voices calling from the carriage were heard, then two girls weeping bitterly.

When the crying subsided, Sun Zikai held the cat and Jiang Yujin introduced both sides.

It turned out that under the Emperor of Song, there were two prime ministers. One was surnamed Wen, who grew up with the emperor—Jiang Yujin’s father—as companions. Wen was unparalleled in literary and martial talents, highly trusted by the emperor, known as “Prime Minister Wen.” The girl was Wen Yiru, the prime minister’s fourth daughter, who grew up alongside Jiang Yujin. They were very close.

When Song fell, Prime Minister Wen died alongside the emperor. Their retainers scattered, his sons fled disguised among the chaos but were betrayed before leaving the city. All sons were slaughtered; only two daughters escaped. The enemy vowed to exterminate them, pursuing them over a thousand miles, killing one sister. Only Wen Yiru escaped by luck.

Unlike Jiang Yujin, Wen Yiru was protected by a loyal retinue who shielded her from hardships. Driven by vengeance, she sought information on sects and traveled hundreds of miles into barbarian lands.

They did not know the barbarians’ savagery. Through blood and wind, over twenty retainers risked their lives to protect Wen Yiru, but after five days of pursuit, only two retainers survived into the desert.

They followed the river for many days in vain. Two days ago, a desert storm scattered them. Wen Yiru was only twenty miles from the river but lost her way in the desert. One day in this land could claim a life. Meeting Sun Zikai and Jiang Yujin was truly fortunate.

Wen Yiru begged them to help find the two retainers. They were now family. Sun Zikai didn’t hide anything: “No need to look. You said there was only one carriage. That cart blocked the light and saved your life. If they are at the riverbank, fine. If not, they’re surely dead.”

The two girls embraced, soon recalling their parents and homeland, bursting into tears again.

Sun Zikai stepped outside, gently uprighted the fallen carriage. The cat perched on his shoulder. He led the horses toward the river.

After a long time, the tired horses finally saw the sky-blue infant river, shaking their trembling hooves, arriving at the riverbank and plunging their heads into the water.

The black cat was thirsty too. Sun Zikai jumped into the river, tossing in many fish and shrimp.

At noon, when the sun was fiercest, Sun Zikai’s fingers brushed the sand. The earth’s pattern in his skin reacted with the sand, drawing fine grains together. Under the water’s moisture, they formed a large shade, where the horses could rest in coolness.

Sun Zikai roasted some fish; no one was left out, even the cat got two pieces.

The two girls seemed to have endless stories, alternating between tears and laughter. Sun Zikai reminded them, “We’ll be leaving soon. The horses have rested enough.”

Jiang Yujin asked, “Is the gold I gave you enough to bring one more person?”

“Twenty people would be enough,” Sun Zikai replied.

Wen Yiru said, “Do you need money? I have some.” She touched her wrist, which bore a bracelet like Jiang Yujin’s. A flash of light revealed a money pouch filled with silver coins.

Jiang Yujin said, “You have these too? I’ve been using gold all the way—like those we used when playing tiptoe.”

Wen Yiru laughed and cried, “Princess, those are tributes given by various counties over the years. How could you spend them all?”

“Does gold really cost that much?” Jiang Yujin asked seriously.

Wen Yiru nodded, “Yes, especially gold like that, it’s very valuable.”

“Hmph, damn those scoundrels who tricked me all the way. Luckily, I told them I was running low on gold. In truth, I have plenty, more than I could ever spend.”

Sun Zikai spat, leaving the shade to bury his face in the river water. Once finished, he cursed, “Damn! This is heaven on earth, hell on the ground.”

But when he looked back at Jiang Yujin, her appearance brought him comfort. As long as the girls embraced each other, they were still themselves—the princess, the prime minister’s daughter, carefree as before.

When the sun no longer blazed, Sun Zikai decided to move on. Wen Yiru went to wash her face by the river. Taking advantage, Sun Zikai asked Jiang Yujin the question that had puzzled him.

“Hey, why do you call her Mao girl? Her surname isn’t Mao. Is it because she has a lot of hair?”

“Go to hell!”

“Oh.”

After traveling five more days by carriage, Sun Zikai finally sensed vitality again. Grass and trees began growing on both sides of the river.

Wen Yiru was puzzled. “It’s strange to have a river in the desert, but even stranger that there’s aquatic plants and fish.”

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Sun Zikai explained that the river continuously poured forth energy, nourishing countless living beings. This river was extraordinary. But the girls could not comprehend.

When the vegetation turned into forests, signs of people appeared. Every so often, there was a stone embankment by the river, guarded by a person radiating spiritual aura. Sun Zikai sensed these people were extracting energy from the river. That energy, shifting like wind and clouds, must be the legendary spiritual energy. These people were cultivators.

People rarely ventured out of the desert. These cultivators became interested in the three children. When they learned the trio sought the Sect of Moving Dust, they generously pointed ahead. “Keep going. The largest embankment you see is the wall of the Sect of Moving Dust.”

Along the way, more people appeared, unlike barbarians. They did not charge with knives. After traveling several miles, they finally saw a grand embankment, fifty zhang high, comparable to the perilous peaks flanking Peaceful Pass, spanning a small river. The walls stretched a thousand zhang on both sides, densely lined with standing stones and crowded figures. A suspended stone staircase was built downward from the wall—this was the rear gate of the Sect of Moving Dust and the eastern edge of the prosperous City of Heroes.

Cultivators guarded the stone steps. Judging from their energy, Sun Zikai concluded the gatekeepers held high status. He explained the situation to Jiang Yujin, who was ready to pull out all her treasures. Sun Zikai stopped her, taking only three gold ingots and holding them as the two girls waited. He briskly ascended the stone steps and approached the man.

The man first asked, “From the desert?”

“Yes.”

“For what purpose?”

“To apprentice and learn skills.”

“There are no skills here,” the man said. “Child, go back. Or walk along the wall to the City of Heroes.”

Sun Zikai took out the three gold bricks. He had prepared a story, but when the gold appeared, the man’s eyes widened. Sun Zikai cursed silently, regretting bringing too much. Indeed, these people were not as wealthy as Jiang Yujin’s homeland.

“Who… are you?” The man spoke but kept staring at the gold.

Sun Zikai sighed. “I am a ruined family’s descendant, now offering these heirloom ‘Three Prime Bricks’ in exchange for cultivation. Please grant me a chance.”

“Alright, you have a chance.” The man accepted the gold eagerly, exclaiming, “Good stuff! You may enter the sect.”

“Uh, no, not me. It’s those two girls.”

The man glanced over and nodded. “Fine, I will give my own quota to them. This price can get them entry at the second tier.”

“What is the second tier?”

The man, pleased by the gold, patiently explained. He was an elder of the Sect of Moving Dust. Each elder had an annual quota of recruits, divided into five ranks: from low to high, recruits entered as outer gate miscellaneous disciples, outer gate cultivators, inner gate junior disciples, inner gate regular disciples, and inner gate core disciples.

The higher the rank, the faster and better the disciple’s cultivation.

“I see.” After thanking him, Sun Zikai asked about joining the sect through battle merits. As he suspected, while the Sect of Moving Dust knew the Swallow Bright Sect and had dealings, they had never heard of admission based on battle merits.

Sun Zikai was not upset. He greedily glanced inside the sect, then confirmed with the elder about admitting the two girls at the second tier. Taking a deep breath, he summoned a large amount of unseen energy currents.

The elder spoke true. Sun Zikai returned to the girls relieved.

“It’s done. You two can enter.”

Wen Yiru rejoiced, “Wonderful.”

Jiang Yujin immediately asked, “What about you?”

“Me? Ha! Battle merits mean nothing here.”

“I have gold too. I can give you three more bricks.”

“That’s your gold. Also, don’t flash any more gold, fool. I told that guy these three bricks are our last treasures. If you show more, they’ll eat you alive.”

Wen Yiru carried the cat down from the carriage. Sun Zikai led the horses. Jiang Yujin suddenly grabbed Sun Zikai’s arm, asking, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going back.”

“You still owe me money. No, I owe you.”

“Use this carriage as repayment. I’ll pull it back for Yang Youshi.”

“Youshi?”

“She’s a girl I picked up while wandering. Three years younger than me.”

“I have plenty of gold. If you want to join a sect, I can lend you some.”

“Princess, I can’t repay it. You can’t imagine how valuable that is to me.”

“Then I’ll hire you for three years.”

“No need.”

“Then ten years. Don’t say no, you dummy!”

“I don’t want to join the Sect of Moving Dust. I want to go to the Swallow Bright Sect. That’s where my parents were. You study well. Don’t flash gold again, fool.”

After bidding farewell, Sun Zikai led the horse toward the desert. The girls watched from the stone steps.

Jiang Yujin clenched her hands tightly. That figure grew smaller and smaller. Her heart tightened painfully. The sunlight was dazzling, but she recalled that night’s moonlit stars, that night’s fiery Milky Way.

Suddenly, she grabbed Wen Yiru and whispered something, then hurried to the elder, said something else, and finally, without even glancing at the cherished sect or her sister, she ran down.

Just as Sun Zikai was about to board the carriage and continue, he heard someone shout “dummy.” He turned to see Jiang Yujin clumsily running toward him, bewildered.

That girl seemed to have run her whole life for this one thought. She ran, desperately ran, and finally leapt into the young man’s arms.

“What are you doing?” Sun Zikai looked puzzled.

After a long pause, Jiang Yujin stuck out her tongue and said, “Turn around, carry me.”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up!” Jiang Yujin grabbed him, turning him around, pushed him down to a squat, and jumped onto his back.

Sun Zikai sighed helplessly, “What are you doing? Why do you want me to carry you?”

“I’ve paid.”

“Didn’t you pay with the carriage? I’m going back.”

“Carry me back.”

“What?”

“I want to go to the Swallow Bright Sect.”

“You…” You’ve made me carry you over a thousand miles, now you want me to carry you back?”

“Hmph, I’ve paid!”

“You’re too much!”

Just as he was about to protest, a flash of light caught his eyes. Jiang Yujin waved the gold bricks before him, almost blinding him, proudly saying, “Are you going or not?”

“Alright, alright, young master, watch this!”

The young man carried the girl on his back, the horse pulling the carriage behind. The girl looked back and waved, as if bidding farewell to something…

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