Youthful Days

"What if in the future—and I mean one day far down the line—Lord Qi becomes the next Jin Buyi?" The bronze bell pondered silently. It always had its worries. Xu Ying was not safe right now. An overwhelmingly formidable force was watching him, even manipulating him. This power was vast, mysterious, and unfathomable. Even heavenly gods were mere subordinates under this power. Its tentacles could reach across the myriad heavens and worlds. Even Xu Ying in that lifetime when he was powerful enough to rebel against the Great Shang had ultimately ended in bitter defeat. To say nothing of the distant past, just recently, right under the noses of the bronze bell and Yuan Qi, Xu Ying had been taken away by Beichenzi and the others and dumped in Wuling to begin a new life. And Beichenzi was likely just a mere pawn of this power! Although Xu Ying had fortunately regained his memories this time by recalling the many things from his past with the bronze bell and Yuan Qi, that was ultimately an improbable fluke. Judging from Jin Buyi's experiences, Xu Ying being unable to resist that mysterious power was the far more probable outcome. No matter how hard he struggled, in the end he would still be captured, his memories wiped clean, turned into the youth Ah Ying to begin one new life after another. "If that continues to happen in the future, will Lord Qi be just like Jin Buyi—searching for Ah Ying forever, until he grows so old that he can't even remember Ah Ying anymore?" The bronze bell asked itself, then answered right away: "No, he won't!" "Lord Qi would most likely have clamored to divide up the family property long before that!" The bell thought to itself, *Ah Ying's wealth really isn't small. After all, over the past two years and more, exploring the Nuo immortals' Hidden Sceneries yielded a ton of treasures, plus on this trip to the Taiyi Lesser Mysterious Heaven, that stinky snake's belly was stuffed with treasures. He's had crooked thoughts about splitting the family fortune for ages. But...* Following behind Xu Ying, the bronze bell thought leisurely: *I will keep an eye on him and make him search for Ah Ying until he finds him. Even if Lord Qi grows old and forgets, I won't forget. Unless one day I become so rusted over that I can't even remember Ah Ying anymore. Stopping then won't be too late.* At last, Xu Ying found that golden Immortal Dao rune tucked away in a forgotten corner of Jin Buyi's memories. This was an Immortal Dao rune that the youth Ah Ying had comprehended during the Great Shang era while locked in life-and-death combat with the master of the heavenly gods. Many lifetimes of Xu Ying had seen this golden Immortal Dao rune without feeling a thing. Yet as Xu Ying’s gaze settled upon the golden rune, his ancient memories gradually opened like a window. Peering through it, he seemed to see himself trapped within a cage. It was cage upon cage. Xu Ying looked as far as his eyes could see, finding no end in sight. Everywhere in view were cubic cage-characters for "imprisonment." Within every cage was a Xu Ying. These iterations of himself, just like Yuan Qi, had the space around their physical bodies locked down; their fleshly bodies, Realm of Xiyi, Golden Core furnace vessels, souls, Primordial Spirits, down to their very three souls and seven spirits, were all bound. The only thing that was not locked was his imperishable true spirit! His imperishable true spirit was too powerful; the cage Immortal Dao rune was unable to seal it. Witnessing this, Xu Ying's heart stirred. *The me of the Great Shang era comprehended the profound secret to cracking the cage Immortal Dao rune, and it is hidden within this golden rune!* The him of that era and the him of this era had arrived at the exact same idea. They faced the same dilemma: whenever he attempted to comprehend the bird-and-worm seal script that sealed him, his memories would be repeatedly wiped away. No matter how deeply he comprehended it, not a single trace of enlightenment would remain. The solution conceived by the Xu Ying of the Great Shang was identical to that of the current Xu Ying: record what he had comprehended. The difference was that the present Xu Ying found unraveling it exceedingly difficult and had to start from scratch, whereas the Xu Ying of the Great Shang era had already deciphered the cage Immortal Dao rune among them! Quite overjoyed, he meticulously pondered the wonders of the golden rune, temporarily forgetting that he was still inside Jin Buyi's memories. Jin Buyi perched upon the Fusang tree, exuding an aura of weathered antiquity as it stared at Yuan Qi trapped inside the seal, gradually dozing off. In its slumber, ancient memories settled in the depths of its consciousness began to surface once more as Xu Ying and the bronze bell journeyed through them. Occasionally it dreamed of past events, but upon waking, it would gradually forget them again. Battle drums would echo by its ears, stirring its aged qi and blood as though the battle was still waging, yet upon awakening, it could no longer remember who its comrades were, nor who its enemies were. Jin Buyi yawned and woke from sleep. Feeling the Fusang tree had grown a bit chilly, it exhaled a breath of solar divine fire, causing the tree to blaze with even fiercer flames. The ancient golden crow shifted its talons slightly upon the branch to make itself more comfortable. It stared at Yuan Qi not far below the tree, feeling rather puzzled. *There's an earthworm here. What a massive earthworm. The early bird gets the worm—the heavens be praised!* Its avian head thrust downward, pecking with great force, striking the spatial cage around Yuan Qi with loud thuds and sending sparks flying in all directions! Fortunately, the cage seal set by the bronze bell was exceptionally sturdy. Even Jin Buyi could not break it open in a short time, though it pecked the spatial cage full of holes. Yuan Qi’s skull was left exposed beneath its beak. "Great God! Great God!" Many of the fish-belly folk rushed over in panic, blocking the front of the spatial cage and shouting loudly, "Great God, do you still remember Benefactor Xu’s instructions? This is Benefactor Xu’s snake, named Yuan Qi! He asked you to help look after him—you can't eat him!" Some white feathers hung down across Jin Buyi's face, heavy as tasseled jewelry. Staring with its dim, aged eyes, it scrutinized Yuan Qi again and again before suddenly realizing what was happening and hastily jerking its head back. "Heheh, I forgot." Its voice rumbled like thunder from the tree. "Rest assured, I remember now. This is a good friend. I won't eat a good friend." The fish-belly folk were deeply worried and conferred among themselves, "The Great God’s memory doesn't seem very good." Sure enough, Jin Buyi’s memory was truly not great. By the time the fish-belly folk realized something was amiss, Jin Buyi had already pecked right through the spatial cage. Rushing over, they saw the old god they worshipped clamping down on "good friend" Yuan Qi's large head and yanking outward, just like a hen clamping onto an earthworm in a hole, attempting to drag it out of the mud burrow. "Great God! Great God!" The fish-belly folk ran forward, raising both hands to cry toward the Fusang tree, "You can't eat him! You can't eat him! This is Benefactor Xu's friend Yuan Qi, and he's our benefactor too! Benefactor Xu asked you to look after Yuan Qi for him!" Jin Buyi dropped Yuan Qi, who had been pecked into a bloody mess, and asked in confusion, "Who is Benefactor Xu?" After everyone explained, they finally awakened its memories from several days ago. Jin Buyi had a realization and chuckled, "I almost committed a blunder. Is this loach all right?" It smacked its beak with lingering reluctance, seemingly still savoring the flavor. Terrified that it would forget again, the fish-belly folk assigned people specifically to attend to it. Those people raised wooden placards before it, with characters written on them documenting various things about it so it would not forget. Jin Buyi looked at the sign beside Yuan Qi, holding back the urge to devour its "good friend." "Turns out he's a good friend!" it said excitedly. At last, Xu Ying comprehended whatever could be grasped from that golden Immortal Dao rune. As for the parts he couldn't comprehend, continuing to remain within Jin Buyi's memories would be of no use. "Lord Bell, let us depart," Xu Ying suggested to the bronze bell. The bronze bell observed Xu Ying cautiously and asked, "Ah Ying, what we saw in Jin Buyi's memories... do we need to tell it?" Xu Ying gazed up at the sky, thinking it over again and again, before replying, "Lord Bell, forgetting all that transpired in the past is a blessing for it. It no longer needs to rush about, no longer needs to fight desperately for me, battling adversaries that cannot be defeated. Here, it has a group of people who revere it, feeding it and offering sacrifices to it. It can spend the remainder of its days in peace." The bronze bell considered this and said, "However, finding you was its obsession. Ah Ying, it spent its entire life looking for you. Shouldn't it be allowed to fulfill its obsession?" Xu Ying pondered for a moment, then took out a jade vial. The bronze bell stared suspiciously at the jade vial. Xu Ying uncapped it, making the bronze bell even more suspicious: "Ah Ying, what's in that vial of yours? Why does it smell like primordial Dao essence?" It cried out, "Didn't you return the gourd containing the primordial Dao essence to Grand Preceptor Jiang?" Xu Ying said, "Of course I returned it. But before returning it, pouring out a little primordial Dao essence from the gourd to keep for myself is quite reasonable, isn't it?" "How much did you pour out?" "A little." "Let me see!" Xu Ying refused to let it see. He poured some primordial Dao essence from the jade vial, channeled some longevity elixir from his Mud Pill secret depository's cave-heaven, and drew out some soul elixir from his Bubbling Spring secret depository, dissolving them with the primordial Dao essence. Doing this would restore some vitality to Jin Buyi's physical body and soul, though whether it could extend its lifespan, Xu Ying did not know. After all, the golden crow was a primeval strange beast and possessed a limit to its lifespan. No matter how powerful or miraculous primordial Dao essence was, it could not help it defy the heavens and change its fate. Xu Ying could not help such a formidable existence unblock its Mud Pill secret depository; he could only impart some elixir to it himself. The primordial Dao essence would also improve its physical condition, which should alleviate its tendency to constantly forget things. Xu Ying and the bronze bell flew out from Jin Buyi's memories and landed on the ground. Seeing the sunlight shining down, Xu Ying couldn't help but feel a wave of daze, as though an entire lifetime had passed. It felt as if he had experienced countless long years and returned anew to the mortal realm, finding it momentarily unfamiliar. Only after steadying his mind did he accept who he was in the present moment. Then, he saw Yuan Qi, whose head had been pecked bloody, frozen motionlessly with blood streaming down his face. The spatial cage around him was pecked full of gaping holes. "What happened?" Xu Ying asked Jin Buyi in bewilderment. The aged golden crow shook its head like a rattle drum and hastily said, "I don't know. Lately I've been prone to forgetting things. An enemy probably came by." Its eyes darted away evasively. Xu Ying had imparted longevity elixir to it and refined it with primordial Dao essence, greatly improving its memory so that it could recall recent events. Though the golden crow was old, it had grown shrewd and decided under no circumstances would it admit to having done it. Xu Ying looked toward the fish-belly folk, who stammered and hemmed and hawed before him, not daring to speak. Left with no choice, Xu Ying summoned the bronze bell, rallied everything he had learned and comprehended over these past days, and activated the cage Dao script on the bell's surface, reversing the seal to unravel Yuan Qi's cage Dao script! However, Yuan Qi was still afflicted by another Immortal Dao rune—the prison Dao script. Xu Ying's understanding of this rune was not deep enough to undo it for now. Yuan Qi's consciousness finally began to return. Xu Ying asked, "Lord Qi, who injured you?" Yuan Qi cast a terrified glance at the golden crow Jin Buyi. Jin Buyi perched on the Fusang tree, looking benevolent and kind as it said, "Go on, speak. There are no outsiders here." It raised its left wing and made a slicing motion across its throat, its gaze suddenly turning ferocious. Yuan Qi said meekly, "I might have injured myself. I'm also trapped under another seal, so there are a lot of things I can't remember." Jin Buyi showed an approving look, raising a feather toward him like a thumbs-up. Freed from the cage seal, Yuan Qi could mobilize his own longevity elixir to heal his wounds, so the injury on his head was nothing serious. Yet that prison Dao script flared up from time to time, causing his memories to vanish abruptly and then reappear just as suddenly, causing him great distress. Fortunately, the bronze bell was merely half-baked as well and had not brought out the full power of the prison script; otherwise, Yuan Qi's memories likely would have been wiped completely clean. The bronze bell treated Yuan Qi much better now, indulging him in everything and no longer beating him at every turn as it used to. Meanwhile, Xu Ying busied himself teaching Nuo methods to the fish-belly folk, showing them how to open their secret depositories and refine elixirs. His intention was to enable these people who worshipped the golden crow to provide it with longevity elixir from time to time, allowing the golden crow to live a little longer. A few days later, one of the fish-belly folk arrived and said, "A young man has arrived outside claiming to be an old acquaintance of Benefactor Xu, named Xue Ying'an. He has come to pay a visit." Xu Ying was taken aback. *Xue Ying'an is still alive?* He hurriedly had someone invite Xue Ying'an in. Before long, Xue Ying'an strode forward in high spirits, laughing from afar, "Xu Ying, I returned to Jiulong Mountain and told Master that I had obtained the Immortal Dao spiritual root! But Master didn't kill me! All of your suspicions about my master were wrong!" Xu Ying couldn't help but feel happy for him, chuckling, "It seems I wronged Li Xiaoke. I must certainly apologize to him." Hearing this, the bronze bell was invigorated, sweeping away its earlier gloom as it laughed, "Ah Ying, I told you my master was upright and open, that he couldn't possibly be an evil person! And you wouldn't believe me!" Xu Ying repeatedly apologized to it. Xue Ying'an burst into hearty laughter, inexplicably thrilled, and said, "I mentioned you to Master, and Master sent me to find you, saying I must invite the ageless immortal to visit Jiucai Ridge on Jiulong Mountain as a guest!" Xu Ying had long wanted to make a trip to Jiucai Ridge to meet the bronze bell's master, so he readily agreed. As he packed his belongings and prepared to set out, the aged golden crow leaned down and said with a smile, "Young man, no one has called my name in thousands of years. You entered my memories, so you surely know what my name is, right?" Xu Ying gently raised his hand to caress its whitening feathers and said, "Your name is Jin Buyi. Jin Buyi, as in 'never forsaken, never abandoned.'" Jin Buyi lifted its head, filled with joy, and looked all around, laughing to the fish-belly folk, "I have a name! I am Jin Buyi! Jin Buyi, as in 'never forsaken, never abandoned'!" It laughed boisterously, immensely delighted. Xu Ying took Yuan Qi and the bronze bell and departed following Xue Ying'an. Jin Buyi laughed on and on without stopping. In its mind, ancient memories gradually resurfaced, and it suddenly remembered that in its youth, there had also been a voice that said to it: "I'll give you a name. From now on, you shall be named Jin Buyi! Jin Buyi, as in 'never forsaken, never abandoned'! We will never, ever part!" Its dim, aged eyes gazed toward Xu Ying, as if returning to the age of youth.