One hot night, both Ruoxi and Shen Lian sat on the roof of the clinic. Summer had arrived. Stars littered the sky, painting a faint river in the sky.
Shen Lian's gaze was on that starry river. There were records in Daoist ancient books about that river being called the 'Milky Way.'
There was once an immortal from long ago who was lucky enough to reach the Milky Way, where he then realized the 'Milky Way Swordsmanship' methods and established a Daoist sect. There was a time when five Zhenren appeared all at once, and the sect flourished for some time. Afterward, for reasons unknown, there was an internal conflict within the sect and this great Celestialism that almost came close to the prominence of the four main Daoist sects fell. It is also unknown whether anything was passed down or remained.
As for the 'Milky Way Swordsmanship' that was the foundation of the established sect, there was no one left to pass the methods down to. The 'Milky Way Swordsmanship' methods are above Chen Jianmei's 'Shapeless Sword Formula' because the Milky Way Grandmaster used this swordsmanship to break through the cosmos. He was hailed as an unlikely grand achiever of this world.
Ruoxi said, "Big brother, I want to listen to a story."
"What do you want to listen to today?" Shen Lian asked softly.
"I want to know about where that river in the sky came from." Ruoxi pointed at the Milky Way while biting a finger of his other hand.
Shen Lian simply smiled and said, "Alright, let's talk about it. A long time ago, there was a young cattle herder named Lee. His parents had passed away very early on. People called him Lee Erwa. He owned an ox that was left by his parents for him.
He also had a brother who had a wife. The brother's wife did not like Lee Erwa. She never gave him a full meal and had him sleep with the ox.
After some time, the brother's wife chased both Lee Erwa and the oxen out of house and home. Lee, however, did not want to sell off the ox so he said to the ox, 'Brother ox, I really cannot bear to sell you. I am afraid that you will be slaughtered by others and be eaten. You should go freely from here.'" Shen Lian paused. Young Ruoxi did not care about how the Milky Way had anything at all to do with the ox so she quickly asked, "Big brother, if the oxen leave, what about the young man? His brother and his brother's wife do not want him." In reality, Rouxi was a little worried that her brother might have a wife in the future that would not like her and chase her off.
"It was in this moment that the ox suddenly opened its mouth and spoke. It said, 'You cannot bear to part with me and I cannot bear to abandon you.' Lee Erwa was naturally shocked that the ox could speak. However, he had spent all of his life with the ox and was not afraid that the ox might be a demon.
The ox was truly a mighty demon. It taught Lee Erwa how to bee an equal being to a celestial. However, not long after the ox had taught him its ways, the ox was captured by a celestial.
By then, Lee Erwa had already learned to fly. When the celestial being noticed that Lee had caught up with him and his captured ox in their chase, he simply waved his hand and the Milky Way appeared in the sky before them. It was so wide, Lee Erwa could not see the shore on the other side. He did not realize how far he had flown and fell into the Milky Way once he had no more strength left." Shen Lian leisurely continued.
"What happened next? Was the young man all right after falling into the milky way?" Little Ruoxi was extremely nervous. She had always bee engrossed in the story during story time.
Shen Lian replied, "He did not drown after falling into the Milky Way. A red carp fish saved him. It turned out that this carp was actually a female celestial. Later, Lee married this female celestial and went back to the mortal world."
"What happened to the Brother ox? Did the young man not try again to save it? Was it eaten by the celestial? Do celestials even eat meat?" Ruoxi was really worried.
"Lee Erwa had a good life with his celestial wife and naturally had forgotten about the ox demon who is still waiting high above in the Ninth Heaven for Lee to rescue it. Who knows?" Shen Lian patted Ruoxi's small shoulders.
"Then, what is the ending like?"
Shen Lian smiled and said, "I too don't know how it ends. Perhaps the ox is still waiting for Lee Erwa to rescue it?"
His story was partially true. The Milky Way was indeed created by a Daoist master but the ox demon and the female celestial were all made up.
"Big brother, I still have something to say," Ruoxi suddenly faced Shen Lian and said in a serious tone.
"What is it?" Shen Lian asked. Little children always asked the strangest questions but Shen Lian was patient.
"Big brother, can you please not find a wife? Wait until I've grown up and I'll bee your bride. That way, no one can chase Ruoxi away." She had this sad look on her face. There were even signs of tears in those bright eyes.
Shen Lian pinched her little nose and said, "For someone so small, you're being oversensitive. Make a few more copies of the calligraphy tomorrow."
Ruoxi tugged on his sleeves and pestered on when she did not get the answer she wanted, "Big brother, promise me."
"All right, I can guarantee you that no one will chase you away." Shen Lian answered nonchalantly.
The young girl was making a groundless statement; how was he meant to take it seriously? After all, Shen Lian had his heart set on pursuing Dao and had not even thought about looking for a woman. He had lived for such a long time now if he bined his past life with his current one. If it were someone ordinary, they would have started and ended their first love and went through waves of relationsh.i.p.s by now.
Little Ruoxi, on the other hand, had gotten the reply she wanted from Shen Lian and the most important thing was that no one would chase her away. Being his bride or not was secondary.
With a wave of sleepiness ing over her, she dozed off laying in Shen Lian's arms.
The night breeze blew through cold like flowing water.
The swoosh of a blade sounded from afar with the cool breeze. It was quick and short.
Shen Lian had long since he needed sleep and was not interested in meditating and practicing his Qi. It was a waste of his time anyway so he decided to give in to his interests and watch a show.
Even as he carried a little girl, his body was as light as a sparrow and outlandishly stable. He did not upset the sleeping Ruoxi in his arms.
Under the night sky, there was a shadow almost blending into the moonlight. After it went up and down, it was already on another street.
Normally, this street was not busy with a lot of people. Moreover, it was night time and had bee a dead alley.
There were five men dressed pletely in black chasing after a young man.
There were exactly five cuts on the young man's body: two on the back and three on his right hand.
He was now holding a long sword in his left hand, as though to give a final try to save himself.
The young man was clad in white and was quite calm and solemn.
One of the men in black said, "Young man, give us the 'Stream Sword technique' and you can die in one piece."
"No way," the young man managed these two words through the grit of his teeth.
Another man in black followed, "Boss, don't waste your breath with him. Let's restrain him and talk after we searched him."
The five men in black held sabers and it seemed to the young man that their expertise lied in the bination method. Their attacks seemed flawless as they slowly closed in.
The young man, on the other hand, had bee trapped like a beast in a cage.
The loaded atmosphere dispersed without a word.
Without warning, the young man charged into his assailants. The five men in black stepped back as they were afraid of killing him before retrieving the secret text.
During this hesitation, the young man in white suddenly rolled down towards the floor and thrust the long sword he held upwards, towards them.
This sword thrust was nothing special but two of the men in black were caught by the tip of the young man's sword.
Coincidentally, the sword hit their Qimen points. This point was a crucial pressure point of the human body and it caused the whole body to relax once it was hit.
The young man swung his sword a few more times. His swordsmanship was mon and there was not any discerning transformation but the men in black were easily cut down by him as though they had been bewitched.
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