Seclusion in a Mid-Tier Martial World

A full day after the Aska had sailed away in the direction Zhang Shou pointed, a boulder slowly shifted and reformed into the likeness of Yu Xian at the very spot where the ship had originally lingered. Wearing a miraculous item that shielded him from prying eyes, he let out a long breath of relief. That was right. He had pulled off a classic trick of hiding in plain sight. Having known Zhang Shou since he was thirteen or fourteen, Yu Xian could practically tell what kind of fart Zhang Shou was about to let loose the moment the man cocked his rear end. He knew all along that Zhang Shou would sell him out; his dramatic act in front of Zhang Shou had merely been a performance to get him to point out a direction and lead Nora and the other women astray. "Time to run. If Nora and the rest realize what happened, I'm in deep trouble." Yu Xian muttered under his breath, picked an entirely new direction, and instantly vanished as a streak of flowing light. ... Ten years later. In a certain world governed by a puppy-like Heavenly Dao, by the shores of Lake Longqin. An ugly old man, bald on top with long strands of white hair hanging from his temples, sat fishing. "Young man, your looks are utterly ordinary, but you're bound to attract bees and butterflies in the future—cursed with rotten peach blossoms from head to toe. Take it from me, though: every woman under heaven is hideous to behold and dull in speech. It's best to keep your distance." Holding his fishing rod, the ugly old man spoke to a young man sitting nearby. The young man merely offered a faint smile and continued gazing absently at the endlessly flowing river. This youth was named Yue Feng, formerly the young master of Saber King Fort. Ten years ago, just as a divine saber came into the world, Saber King Fort had been ambushed by mysterious assailants, and Yue Feng's entire family was slaughtered. Yue Feng had survived only because his heart happened to be on the right side of his chest. Rescued by Dao Xiu, who arrived in the nick of time, he became Dao Xiu's disciple and bitterly practiced the Rotten Wood Divine Saber, all for the sake of one day finding the culprits and taking his vengeance. Seven months ago, he had finally earned Dao Xiu's approval to roam the martial world on his own. Yet returning to Saber King Fort yielded no clues, nor had his travels across the jianghu uncovered a single lead. Consequently, he had fallen into low spirits over recent days, beginning to doubt whether he could ever find the murderers and avenge his parents and brothers. "Brother Yue, you haven't eaten all day. I made some osmanthus cakes..." As Yue Feng lost himself in thought watching the river, a young maiden clad in green approached carrying a basket, speaking softly from behind him. "Look at that, the rotten peach blossom is here! Though these osmanthus cakes don't look half bad." The ugly old fisherman chuckled, reached out, pinched an osmanthus cake, and popped it straight into his mouth. The maiden glared at him, huffing angrily, "You... Those are for Brother Yue!" "See? Women under heaven are not only hideous to behold and dull in speech, but petty-minded to boot! The ancient sages truly didn't lie: 'Only women and small-minded men are difficult to handle!'" the ugly old man laughed. Yue Feng found both the maiden and the old man far too noisy, so he stood up and walked away. The girl directed a sharp huff at the old man before scurrying after him. "Tsk, tsk." The ugly old man shook his head and continued to fish. In the past, while he hadn't disliked fishing, he had never particularly enjoyed it either. But now, he understood some of its charm. As long as he was fishing, he could stay far away from women; as long as he was fishing, he could obtain peace of mind. In truth, it was not fish he was angling for, but tranquility. That was right. This ugly old man was Yu Xian. To avoid attracting bees and butterflies and to steer clear of any entanglements with women, he had deliberately made himself ugly—as ugly as he could possibly manage. Now, with a bald crown flanked by long graying hair, a wretched and grotesque countenance, a bulbous nose rivaling a blobfish, and a deliberately raspy, grating voice, he ensured that every woman on earth with eyes would keep as far from him as possible. In all likelihood, any woman who caught sight of him would need to wash her eyes after returning home and make a concerted effort to scrub his image from her mind just to summon the courage to go on living; otherwise, she would surely suffer nightmares through the night. Likely because his ugliness was truly earth-shattering, Yu Xian had garnered quite a reputation around Lake Longqin despite never having stepped into this world's martial circles, earning himself the nickname 'Old Man Ugly.' For the rest of the afternoon, Yu Xian passed the hours fishing. Notably, his hook was entirely straight, as he had never intended to catch anything in the first place; he sought only serenity of the spirit. As long as no women came to bother him, he felt he could sit here fishing until the end of time. However, he was playing the role of an ordinary mortal in this world. To avoid complications and draw no unwanted attention, he hoisted his empty creel onto his back when dusk fell and leisurely ambled toward home. He had bought a modest courtyard in the outskirts of Longqin City, where he spent his days basking in the sun, daydreaming, sipping tea, and browsing the internet for novels, movies, and dramas. Around midday, he would head out to fish, watching the surging river roll eastward as its waves washed away all heroes of the past. "Indeed, unless one lives in a world utterly devoid of living beings, life is bound to intersect with other lives," Yu Xian mused aloud as he arrived at his doorway. He had considered living on a dead star, but upon reflection, that felt far too dull. Humans were social creatures after all, and he enjoyed a bit of lively bustle. The ideal state was to find quiet amid noise and noise amid quiet—which was perhaps the true essence of the adage, 'the lesser hermit hides in the wilds, the greater hermit hides in the city.' After all, stillness inevitably prompts a craving for movement, and movement inevitably prompts a craving for stillness; only a balance of the two brought genuine spiritual contentment. Yu Xian pushed open the door. Yue Feng was sprawled across the courtyard, his white robe soaked in blood and several concealed weapons protruding from his back. Fortunately, this was a mid-tier martial world and the fellow had internal energy shielding his body; otherwise, such wounds would have sent him to King Yanluo long ago. "Stuff someone into my yard again, and I'll butcher them all," Yu Xian said toward the sky after stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. The Heavenly Dao of this world possessed a sliver of self-awareness, roughly on par with a puppy dog, and held its own personal preferences. From a certain perspective, Yue Feng could be considered the protagonist of this world during this era, simply because the puppy-like Heavenly Dao favored him. After Yue Feng had been ambushed, the Heavenly Dao had quietly guided his flight toward Yu Xian's courtyard, knowing Yu Xian had the means to save him. Yet Yu Xian only found it a nuisance. He was still in the midst of his quiet retreat and had no desire to stir up trouble. Walking over, Yu Xian crouched down before Yue Feng and roughly yanked out the flying daggers lodged in his back. With each blade pulled free, black blood spurted high from the wounds. "I already told you that women under heaven are hideous, but you just wouldn't listen. Now look at the misery you've brought on yourself," Yu Xian muttered to himself. Yue Feng had walked into this trap simply because he had confided his background to his sweetheart, completely oblivious to the fact that she was none other than the daughter of the mastermind who had massacred his entire clan. Moreover, the woman's intellect had not been dulled by love in the slightest, nor did she feel any remorse over the fact that Yue Feng's family had died at her father's hands. The moment she realized the irreconcilable blood feud between Yue Feng and her family, she had decisively alerted her father, who laid an inescapable dragnet determined to see Yue Feng dead. Had the puppy-like Heavenly Dao not bent the rules on Yue Feng's behalf, his head would have parted company with his shoulders long before now.