Chapter 63: A Laugh from the Vast Sea (Part One)

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Chapter 63: A Laugh from the Vast Sea (Part One)

When you run into annoying stuff all the time, you naturally cool off after cursing a bit and don’t take it too seriously. But Foundation Building Pills were a big deal for him. He’d been stuck in the Mulberry Grass Garden for so long, and now they were handing out Foundation Building Pills and he didn’t even know about it. Looking at Furong carefully fertilizing the spiritual herbs, he really couldn’t feel happy.

“Aunt Furong, aren’t Foundation Building Pills distributed once every three years?” Yue Qianchou asked with a blank expression.

Furong held her short manure ladle, thought for a moment, then nodded. “This year seems to be the third year.”

Yue Qianchou was speechless. Asking her was pointless—her world seemed to contain nothing else. Too pure, too simple. But what Qingcao and Lüliu had said was probably true.

‘So there’s going to be a chance for foundation building soon? Wonder if I can succeed? Whether I can or not, having a chance is better than no chance. Too bad there’s only one Foundation Building Pill at a time. Xiaotian, Guan Yu, Chen Feng—sorry guys. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely keep the promises I made to you.’

Thinking about this, all the frustration Yue Qianchou had built up over the past year vanished, and he got quietly excited. His work speed picked up noticeably too—he was eager to find someone to ask about when the Foundation Building Pills would be handed out.

After finishing work, he dumped everything on Furong to handle. He wandered around the Mulberry Grass Garden, wanting to cozy up to anyone he saw to get some information, but everyone here treated him about the same as Qingcao and Lüliu. With no choice, he left the Mulberry Grass Garden, but this guy was way too famous as Wanfen Garden’s only male manure-carrier. No matter who he found, they all avoided him like the plague, and a few times he almost got beaten up by some beauties.

“Yue Qianchou, disciples who haven’t reached the Foundation Building stage aren’t allowed to wander around outside the garden. Don’t you know that?” A middle-aged woman at the Wanfen Garden gate stopped him.

“Master, I’m originally a disciple on loan from the Alchemy Pavilion. I have business and need to go back to the Alchemy Pavilion for a bit. It won’t take long—I’ll be right back.” Seeing that he really couldn’t get any information in Wanfen Garden, Yue Qianchou wanted to go back to the Alchemy Pavilion to ask Lingfeng and the others.

“No way.” The garden guard refused without hesitation.

“Master, do you know when the Foundation Building Pills for us Qi Refining stage disciples will be handed out?”

“I don’t know. Uh… Yue Qianchou, don’t come any closer. Get back quickly, or don’t blame me for not being polite.” The middle-aged woman drew her sword and shouted at Yue Qianchou, who was approaching and pleading, with a disgusted expression. His face twitched and he showed signs of getting angry, but looking at the gleaming sword in front of him and knowing the wisdom of ‘a wise man doesn’t fight when the odds are against him,’ he had to grit his teeth and back off.

He didn’t get any information about the Foundation Building Pills and hit walls everywhere, getting a bellyful of anger. Yue Qianchou went alone to the little river again, deciding to fish to relax. He pulled out his homemade fishing gear from under a nearby rock. But strangely, his bad mood seemed to affect the fish’s appetite too—not even one bit. The more he fished, the angrier he got, so he packed up his rod and threw it back.

“Furong said this river leads to the sea. Wanfen Garden has guards who won’t let you leave, but surely no one would stop me from taking a walk by the seaside!” Yue Qianchou muttered, looking at the little river winding through the mountains.

Without realizing it, he started following the river’s flow. After walking along the grassy riverbank for over an hour, winding this way and that, the river passed between two dark, barren mountains where no grass grew. He could already smell the salty, fishy scent in the air. ‘Probably reached the river mouth,’ Yue Qianchou thought.

Sure enough, as soon as he reached the mountains, he could hear waves crashing against the shore, mixed with seabirds calling. He quickened his pace, passed through the mountains, and suddenly his view opened up—the river had reached its destination: the sea.

The azure sea rolled with surging waves, the white beach was smooth and clean under the advancing and retreating waves, a flock of seagulls flew and called between sea and sky, and the two barren mountains behind seemed to be where they nested.

He hadn’t seen the ocean in so long. The endless sea was so vast, and the scene before him lifted Yue Qianchou’s spirits, making him forget all his troubles.

“Awooo… awooo…” Yue Qianchou kicked off his shoes and socks and charged barefoot with wild shouts, leaving lines of footprints on the smooth beach. His yelling immediately startled a flock of seagulls on the rocks behind him, who joined in with their own calls echoing his voice.

Yue Qianchou waved his fists vigorously at them flying in the air and laughed heartily. But he didn’t notice that someone had emerged from a cliff cave in the mountain wall behind him and was watching him—none other than Yan Zixia, whom he’d been seeking for over a year without success.

Yue Qianchou played by the seaside like a child for a long time before finally stopping. He gazed at the vast ocean, spread his arms as if trying to embrace the entire sea, and suddenly shouted: “In this scene, at this moment, I should sing to express my aspirations!”

He did a backflip from the shallow seawater and landed cross-legged on the clean beach. With a wave of his hand, a seven-stringed guqin appeared on his knees. After Yue Qianchou gathered himself for a moment, he let out another wild, unrestrained laugh. A familiar melody that a guy named Richie Ren had covered in his past life appeared in his mind—it perfectly matched this scene, this moment, this mood.

Yan Zixia in the cliff cave on the mountain wall stared at the person below with flickering eyes and murmured: “It’s Yue Qianchou! He wants to sing to express his aspirations? I once saw in Hundred Flowers Palace’s secret reports that the world-famous ‘White Fox’ and ‘Butterfly Lovers Dream’ were actually composed by an insignificant disciple of the Azure Light Sect, and that person seemed to be called Yue Qianchou! I’ve admired him for so long but never got to meet him. I wonder if this Yue Qianchou is that Yue Qianchou? I’ll wait and see…”

After Yue Qianchou finished laughing, he raised his hand and swept it across the strings, creating a harmonic note. In his surging emotions, he unconsciously channeled his true qi, and the qin’s sound pierced through the crashing waves and spread in all directions. His ten fingers skillfully began plucking the strings.

Dong… dong… dong… The moving prelude gradually rose. Just hearing this prelude, Yan Zixia’s eyes began to brighten slightly.

Yue Qianchou suddenly burst into another wild laugh, and accompanied by the qin music, he opened his mouth and sang loudly to the vast sea: “The vast sea laughs, tides surge on both shores, rising and falling with the waves, remember today. Heaven laughs, at the world’s countless dynasties, who wins or loses, only heaven knows. Rivers and mountains laugh, through distant mist and rain, how much of the mortal world do the waves wash away? The clear wind laughs, stirring up loneliness, heroic spirit remains in one last evening glow. La la la… la la la…”

The wildness in his hoarse voice, the boldness of his loud singing, the heroic spirit in his song, the laughing song that saw through worldly matters—all of this scattered before the sea, laughing at the sea, singing to the world, singing to all living beings, everything contained in this song.

This kind of heroic, passionate, and melodious song was completely different in style from “White Fox” and “Butterfly Lovers Dream.” When it reached Yan Zixia’s ears, even as a woman, she felt her whole body tremble.

‘Is the person before me really that plain-looking, unremarkable little disciple from the Alchemy Pavilion I met before?’ The scene of first meeting Yue Qianchou surfaced in her mind, and Yan Zixia’s lips curved in a slight smile: “The Hundred Flowers Palace secret report said that Yue Qianchou doesn’t care about fame or profit and is willing to hide under the reputation of being worthless. The examples given are so similar to this Yue Qianchou before me. With such talent, he’s actually willing to carry manure and fertilize day after day in the Mulberry Grass Garden—truly someone with heaven-shocking talent who sees through worldly affairs. If this Yue Qianchou isn’t that Yue Qianchou, then who could it be? Could there be a second Yue Qianchou in the world with such talent? I don’t believe it.”

If Yue Qianchou had heard her words, he would’ve hugged her legs and cried his heart out. He definitely would’ve told her: “I really don’t want to carry manure in the Mulberry Grass Garden! I really have no choice! Big sister, please save me!”