As time passed, young Fan Xian began to learn all that Master Fei knew about poisons. Occasionally, they would venture outside the city, searching high and low for poisonous ingredients like strychnine trees, purging nuts, and various fungi. There were countless times when such powerful toxins made Fan Xian feel ill, and he would have feared for his life if he hadn’t had a genius master in poisons by his side.
Of course, to fully pursue his studies under Master Fei's guidance, his young and delicate hands were responsible for the deaths of countless rabbits, and toads would flee at his approach. That year, Fan Xian turned five.
After Fei Jie arrived in Danzhou, Wu Zhu no longer tried to avoid Fan Xian. Whenever Fan Xian sneaked into Wu Zhu's shop to drink wine—something he shouldn't have been doing as a child—Wu Zhu would prepare a few snacks to accompany the drinks, though he never ate or drank anything himself. Fan Xian never thought to ask about this, and what might have puzzled others became a normal occurrence for him, as if he were not blind at all.
Fan Xian had grown accustomed to Wu Zhu's presence nearby, guarding him without realizing it. He had become used to occasionally spotting Wu Zhu in an alley or next to a street-side tofu seller, his eyes covered by a length of black cloth.
Once Fan Xian turned five, the Zhenqi within him began progressing steadily. He was on the brink of a breakthrough, but the powerful Zhenqi he had accumulated during his sleep became unstable, affecting his mood. He was aware of the many dangers in this unfamiliar world and did not yet understand much about Count Sinan's estate in the capital.
After awakening in this new world, he set a goal: “Live well and make progress every day!” Driven by this ambition, he dedicated himself to his practice, striving to stay alive to fulfill his three “grand” missions someday.
In his past life, he had been paralyzed due to a debilitating muscle disease. Finding himself able to move freely in this new life made him value it even more. Each day, he rose early to strengthen his body, climbing on every surface he could and working so diligently that it began to perturb Master Fei.
He struggled to find an appropriate way to train physically. Although he showed more thoroughness than other children, he often reminded himself that he still had the body of a five-year-old.
But nobody knew the truth: he wasn’t born with such commitment; he was just hyperactive. After being confined to a bed for over a decade, there was no way he would allow himself to grow lazy now.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Night fell, and Fei Jie sequestered himself in his private room. He leaned against his writing desk as the oil lamp flickered. He wrote on a piece of white paper with a goose quill in his hand.
A knock sounded from outside. “Come in,” Fei Jie said softly, not looking up.
Fan Xian pushed open the door, carefully stepping over the high threshold. He scratched his head and approached with a broad grin. “What are you writing, sir?”
Fei Jie didn’t seem annoyed at all. He pushed his paper aside and turned around. “What’s the matter?”
After spending over a year with Count Sinan’s baseborn son, Fei Jie felt an unexpected warmth and kindness towards the boy despite being the feared poison master of the Overwatch Council—known for intimidating corrupt officials and underworld criminals alike. Although he was very young, Fan Xian was tough and hardworking, and he did not regard poison with the disdain that most did, which pleased Fei Jie.
Most importantly, after watching Fan Xian learn, asking countless questions, and observing his growth, Fei Jie began to see the boy more as a disciple than a burden. For what felt like the umpteenth time, he thought the child didn’t resemble a typical five-year-old.
“Master Fei,” Fan Xian said as he scrambled onto a chair with difficulty, finally settling himself. “I would like to know what my father is like.”
This was not the first time he had asked Count Sinan and his mother about his past, but Fei Jie had always refused to say a word.
“Your father is an incredible man,” replied Fei Jie, “and of course, your mother was even more so.”
The words felt empty, like stating the sun was yellow, and the sea was blue.
Fan Xian learned almost everything about the Overwatch Council, which was responsible for investigating the Empire’s major criminal activities and combating official corruption. It was greatly feared throughout the land. Fei Jie had been a member since its inception, rising to the esteemed position of head of the Third Bureau, respected and feared even by the capital’s criminal underworld.
That such an imposing figure, a grandmaster in the art of poison, had come to the distant town of Danzhou to tutor Count Sinan’s baseborn son was simply due to the Count’s orders. It was evident that Count Sinan wielded considerable power in the capital, but whether that power stemmed from his official position or less honorable means was uncertain.
Fan Xian knew little about his mother, who had died the day he was reborn. Nevertheless, he could sense that she was no ordinary woman. He wasn’t sure why he always felt a vague yearning for this woman he had never known.
Fei Jie seemed hesitant to continue the topic. “Now that the Count’s concubine has given birth to a son, you have no chance of inheriting his estate. So, what are your plans?”
Fan Xian smiled. “You taught me to use poison and how to cure it. I’ve learned quite a lot about medicine. Worst comes to worst, I could become a doctor.”
Fei Jie stroked his beard. “You’re right,” he said with a hint of pride. “Even the doctors of the imperial palace don’t know more about medicine than I do. As my only student, you could easily become a physician.”
They discussed becoming doctors, but both understood deep down that it was highly unlikely.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
After a while, Fan Xian sighed and remained silent. Fei Jie stared at him, not interrupting.
“Teacher, I’m having problems with my Zhenqi practice,” Fan Xian said suddenly. “I was hoping you could help me. That’s why I came here tonight.”
Fei Jie was unparalleled in his mastery of poison, but that was all he would teach Fan Xian. “Life is limited,” he told him, “but there is no limit to methods of killing. Therefore, we should devote our limited lives to the limitless pursuit of the most efficient method of killing.”
And to Master Fei, poison was the most effective killing method. Fan Xian had the world’s greatest master of poison as his teacher—why was he bothering with Zhenqi? Regarding this practice that Fan Xian couldn’t stop worrying about, Fei Jie felt the same as any other citizen of the Qing Empire who was not gifted with Zhenqi. It was of little use in combat.
But this was the first time in a year that Fan Xian had brought it up, and Fei Jie couldn’t help but feel curious. He stretched out his fingers and took Fan Xian’s pulse. Then he went pale.
Fei Jie slowly frowned. Because he believed the blind man possessed great power, he never considered the potential problems with Fan Xian’s Zhenqi training. And yet today, while checking his pulse, he discovered something unusual.
Seeing his usually offensive teacher being cautious, Fan Xian realized, too, that something was wrong. Grinning, he asked, “Is there a problem?”
“Look at you, grinning like that; aren’t you afraid of becoming too obsessed?” Fei Jie stared at him, continuing, “I only knew the Zhenqi you were training with was tremendous, but I never imagined it to be like this.”
Fan Xian scratched his head, “Tremendous? Tremendous, how?”
Fei Jie answered seriously, “Quite tremendous.”
Fan Xian looked back, also seriously, “Teacher, you’re just talking nonsense here.”
Fei Jie was an expert at poisoning, not a Master of martial arts, so naturally, he could not determine what sort of ability Fan Xian’s Zhenqi had. He could, however, very much feel the dangerous power of the Zhenqi emitting from the child’s body. After some thought, he urged Fan Xian to find Wu Zhu, but unexpectedly, Fan Xian sighed sadly and said that Uncle Wu Zhu only listened to what his mother said and gave the book to him; he had never trained and refused to say too much on the matter.
Fei Jie raged, “Master Wu is being too unreasonable. You are the young master of his house; instead of instructing you himself, why did he make you learn such a dangerous ability without any guidance?”
For the past year, he had taken this five-year-old as his greatest source of consolation during his later years. Even more than that, he hoped Fan Xian would carry his mantle in the future and glorify all he had learned. For those reasons, Fei Jie became angry at the blind Wu Zhu when he heard this.
“Is Uncle Wu Zhu really strong?” Fan Xian squinted as he asked his question, looking like a little fox.
“Of course.” Fei Jie leisurely thought of the past. “It’s just that not that many people in this world know of Master Wu’s existence. Have you heard of the Four Grandmasters?”
Of course, Fan Xian had heard of them. In today’s world, worshipped by the commoners like gods, they were the Four Grandmasters whose martial arts prowess reigned supreme. “There were two in the South Qing Empire, one in the Qi Empire, and another in Eastern Yi City.”
The Qing Empire already held an overwhelming advantage in the current world, having been led by its Emperor. Strangely, after the political bloodshed the previous year, the nation prospered while the Emperor grew quiet and no longer sought to expand his territory. But aside from that, it was only natural for the strongest nation to have two of the strongest people.
“Indeed, we currently have two of the Grandmasters residing here.” Fei Jie laughed coolly, “Humans are foolish; they only recognize the strength in fighting. Never would they realize that if one’s skill with poison were to reach otherworldly proficiency, he too could be a Grandmaster…”
Fan Xian suddenly cleared his throat to stop his teacher’s gloating.
“…If we exclude the most mysterious temple, Qing has two of the Four Grandmasters, one of them being the brother of the current Jingdu Commander of Defense, Ye Liuyun.”
Fan Xian opened his eyes wide, thinking this was a big reputation. However, the defense force oversaw safety for the entire region, which was the most important position. That commander’s brother, Ye Liuyun, must be very strong.
“There’s another strong one, and he supposedly lives in the imperial palace, though no one has seen him.”
“Hey, teacher, we were talking about Uncle Wu Zhu.”
“What’s the hurry?” Fei Jie gave Fan Xian another stare, “The one named Ye Liuyun lived through seventeen duels without losing a single one. But once, when your mother came to the city for the first time, she beat the current Commander of Defence to a pulp. That commander, Ye Zhong, is Ye Liuyun’s nephew, so he wanted to stir up trouble for your mother.”
Fan Xian was stunned. He had no idea that the mother he had never seen was once so arrogant and had mastered martial arts so well.
Fei Jie chuckled, “But something happened later; Ye Liuyun suddenly stopped troubling your mother, and even Ye Zhong went to Taiping Temple to pour tea for her and apologize.”
“Huh?”
“No one knows what happened; it’s an absolute mystery. But I’m guessing Ye Liuyun and Master Wu Zhu fought once behind the palace walls. Master Wu was your mother’s servant, so it wasn’t unusual for him to come out and deal with such things.” Fei Jie raised the teacup and took a sip.
“Who won in the end?” Fan Xian’s eyes were full of curiosity. While he knew that Wu Zhu was strong, he did not expect the blind man to have the experience of duelling one of the Four Grandmasters, Ye Liuyun.
“No one knows, but it was probably a draw.” Fei Jie chuckled.
“After returning to his sword school, he trained his swordsmanship for half a year while blindfolded. After that, he gave up the sword and picked up a series of ancient Sanshou [1], truly becoming a Grandmaster. Thinking back, that battle must have brought him much enlightenment.”
Fan Xian propped up his little face, thinking, “Four Grandmasters? Does that mean Wu Zhu is the fifth?”
Fan Xian’s eyes sparkled in awe at the fact that his blind servant would be so ridiculously strong! When he ventures out into the world someday, who would he have to be afraid of?
Suddenly, he had a question. “Teacher, didn’t you say these things are secret? How do you know all this?”
Fei Jie stated calmly, “I am a high-ranking official in the supervising department and the Headmaster of the Third Bureau of the Overwatch Council. For us, there are no secrets in this world.”
For some reason, Fan Xian had always been interested in the strong people of this world, as if he would run into one of them some years later, so he asked, “The other three, Teacher; have you seen them?”
“The other one in the Qing Empire only exists in legends; I suspect he is in the imperial palace, but no one has seen him or her.” Fei Jie said, “As for the Grandmaster of Qi Empire, that would be their Head Priest, that bald man named Ku He.”
“Bald?” Fan Xian assumed that a world without Buddhism wouldn’t have monks.
“A monk. I heard Ku He was once a pilgrim, kneeling on the temple steps for three months, subsisting on the cold and dew. He managed to move those in the Divine Temple, and thus received divine theology and became a Grandmaster.” Fei Jie spat in disgust, appearing to begrudge the pilgrim Ku He, “You can tell that Baldy is a liar at a glance.”
“Temple?”
“Temple; the place is a temple.”
“Teacher, you’re talking nonsense again.”
“The Divine Temple is the most mysterious existence on the continent; supposedly, it is where our ancestors worshipped. But unfortunately, other than some extremely fortunate bastards, no one could find exactly where it is, so no one knows what it is like inside.”
“Maybe this temple doesn’t exist at all?”
Fei Jie hit Fan Xian’s small head hard. “I don’t care if you mess around every day, but how dare you be so disrespectful towards such a holy place!”
Fan Xian held his head and looked at his teacher in shock, first from the fact that his teacher, who killed with poison without blinking, turned out to hold reverence towards a temple, and second, from the fact that he, himself, accepted what he heard so easily, superstitious things like Four Grandmasters and holy temple.
“Looks like I fit in this world after all.”
“Who has evidence to prove the existence of this temple?” Fan Xian still possessed the empirical views of a modern man.
Answered Fei Jie conceitedly, “Ku He, one of the Four Grandmasters, became one of the strongest figures on this continent after gaining the temple's favor. Isn’t that proof enough?”
“Or perhaps Ku He took too many stimulants and used the temple as an excuse.” Fan Xian retorted.
“Blasphemy! While I envy the luck of the bald Ku He, he has held the utmost reverence for the gods for the past few decades, and I do admire that. How can he use the Divine Temple as an excuse, and what is a ‘stimulant’?”
“It’s a medicine which boosts the body, something like an elixir. he must have had too much; otherwise, how did he lose all his hair?”
Fan Xian was joking with his teacher.
Fei Jie ignored him, “The Divine Temple is like the Tianmai; both can be found in the books and the imperial chambers of all Empires, with the most important part being the sacrificial temples. It’s just that the temples themselves want no part in worldly matters and never interfere. Therefore, all the ceremonies are held at the Heavenly Altar, three miles from the palace. The Qing and Qi Empires conducted large-scale sacrifices at their altars but never used them to influence politics and other national business. Only some pilgrims believe the Divine Temple to be ruins of the realms and take on journeys to train their hearts and bodies.”
Fan Xian smiled, but inside, he thought, What is this temple really like? If it’s part of a belief system, then why doesn’t this world have things like churches? If those fundamental organizations don’t exist, then this belief system would have no authority; no authority equals no benefit, and without benefit, there is no reason for any organization to exist.
Therefore, he didn’t believe what his teacher had just told him about the Divine Temple being an existence transcending this world.
But at the same time, if a belief system truly is based on such a mysterious place, it’s not so bad since it doesn’t seem to interfere with people’s lives.
[1] A Chinese martial art combining elements of kickboxing and wrestling.
