Song of Adolescence

Side Story Arc: Follow the Dao, Chapter 1: Killing Dream

First Year of Tianzheng. On the fifth day of the fourth month, the emperor had ascended to the throne for over a month but was plagued by nightmares and suffered from insomnia. They suspected the cause to be a practitioner of evil arts. Hence, the inner court urgently summoned someone from the Directorate of Astronomy to the palace. Since the State Preceptor had passed away, the Deputy Director, Tan Ze, entered the palace instead. Yet, he could not break the spell after three days of trying.

"Your Majesty, what did you dream about?"

"We dreamt of our imperial father. He was sitting alone under heavy snow, and there was no one accompanying him. He looked very miserable and we stepped forward to call him. But, whenever we took a step, our imperial father would move an inch forward."

"We also dreamed of Qi-di. He stood in the midst of a pile of corpses with blood pooling in his chest, and bloody tears flowing from his eyes. He looked at me and couldn't stop laughing."

"We also dreamed of… dreamed of…" Tianzheng Emperor sat on the bed, and the words stopped on his lips.

Tan Ze sighed. "Your Majesty."

Tianzheng Emperor shook his head. "I dreamt of lao-Liu. He came back. He didn't say anything, but he just came back."

After a long silence, Tianzheng Emperor sighed faintly. "The influence he left behind is still here."

Tan Ze did not add anything to that, but he asked again, "Have you sought out that genius doctor?"

In the Autumn House, Hua Jin lifted her medicine box onto her back and waved goodbye to Mu Chunfeng. "Little disciple, I'm leaving."

Mu Chunfeng frowned slightly. "But aren't you going to do anything about His Majesty?"

"I'm a genius doctor who serves all under Heaven, not the family doctor of the Xiao Clan. One emperor had me staying here for a whole year. Is this emperor going to make me stay too?" Hua Jin shrugged. "Besides, I already had a look this morning. It's also an ailment of the heart. I can't cure him."

"Then, will shifu bring me along?" Mu Chunfeng asked.

Hua Jin patted Mu Chunfeng on his shoulder. "You're the son of the wealthiest family in Qingzhou and you will be inheriting the family business in the future. Be good. You've already learned most of it. Go home and review what you've learned for a year and I'll go to Qingzhou next year to look for you. In the future, we will meet once a year and I'll impart medical arts to you."

Mu Chunfeng said with a smile, "Thank you, shifu."

"A doctor should travel through all under Heaven, and serve all people under Heaven." Hua Jin turned around and added, "That's what my shifu told me."

Mu Chunfeng shook his head. "Your shifu only wanted to go out and have fun."

Hua Jin tossed a medicinal herb over and it landed in Mu Chunfeng's hand. "I want to go out and have fun too."

Mu Chunfeng caught the Bingxin plant and placed it into his mouth, chewing on it for a while. He was feeling somewhat conflicted. When he ran off and left his home, he told the old master that he was coming to help his friend become the emperor. But, the one who became the emperor was not really his friend.

A carriage drove out slowly from within the palace gates.

Tan Ze sat in the carriage with a solemn expression. Once the carriage returned to the Directorate of Astronomy, three celestial masters met him outside. Two were old and distinguished celestial masters, and the third was the young and childlike Fei Xuan.

"Was the matter solved?" one of the old celestial masters asked.

"I'm afraid he's under a curse," Tan Ze whispered, and hurried back into the main hall.

In the courtyard, a youth was practicing his sword when he spotted the celestial masters hurrying back into the main hall. He lowered his sword and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The youth was obviously Li Fansong from Qingcheng Mountain. He smiled and turned to look at the middle-aged scholar lying on a chair and reading a book. "Shifu, why does the wind and rain in Heavenly Revelations City never stop?"

The Confucian scholar didn't lift his head, and turned the page on his book. "There are people who wish to rise by riding the wind. Naturally, they will want the wind to be as strong as possible."

Li Fansong sighed. "I want to send Fei Xuan back to Qingcheng Mountain as soon as possible, and then explore all under Heaven."

In the main hall, the four present celestial masters of the Directorate of Astronomy were sitting together. They were the current Deputy Director of Astrology Tan Ze, the nearly seventy-year-old celestial master, Huang Kunlun, the celestial master, Zhao Chuanyi, and the little celestial master, Fei Xuan.

"Who could invoke such a major curse as to affect the destiny of the Son of Heaven?" Huang Kunlun said in a low voice.

"Maybe the true Son of Heaven…" Zhao Chuanyi replied equally softly.

"Don't talk nonsense." Tan Ze stretched out his long sleeves and pressed lightly, suppressing the wind in the entire hall under his sleeves. "You must never mention such matters in the presence of our Son of Heaven."

"If shixiong were here, he'd be able to solve this curse." Huang Kunlun frowned. "But now…"

"We can investigate," Fei Xuan said softly.

Zhao Chuanyi shook his head. "Investigation of cases is the job of the Court of Judicial Review. Since when did the investigation of cases fall to the Directorate of Astronomy."

Tan Ze sighed softly. "Almost the entire Court of Judicial Review perished that night. The present Court of Judicial Review is but an empty shell. Besides, when it comes to such arcane matters, those people will still push it to us, the Directorate of Astronomy."

"Who will investigate?" Zhao Chuanyi asked. This was a very important question.

"Celestial master, there's news from the palace." A little Daoist walked hurriedly into the main hall.

"What happened?" Tan Ze frowned.

"The two inner eunuchs that disappeared for several days have been found," the little Daoist reported.

Tan Ze was taken aback. "Where were they found?"

"In the Palace of Tranquillity and Harmony. Both were dead and their corpses had decomposed," the little Daoist replied.

Huang Kunlun was puzzled. "They've only been missing for a few days. Why are the corpses decomposed?"

The little Daoist shook his head and said, "I don't know. Apparently, they looked as if they'd been dead for over ten days. The palace has summoned our people to enter immediately."

"Now murder cases are our busineses too. Even without Shen Xiduo, how can the Court of Judicial Review be so incompetent!" Huang Kunlun groused.

"Forget it." Tan Ze got up and walked outside.

"Deputy Director, the one summoned by the palace is not you…" The little priest hurried to intervene.

Tan Ze asked, "Then who?"

The little priest glanced at the little celestial master in the corner who was only a few years younger than him. "The ones summoned are the little celestial master, Fei Xuan, and… the guest from Qingcheng Mountain, Li Fansong."

Fei Xuan was surprised. "Me?"

"I heard the summons came personally from His Majesty," the little priest added.

In the courtyard, Li Fansong took the book from the Confucian scholar's hand. "Shifu, what do you think? What does this matter have to do with me now?"

"One Daoist and one sword, solve the case in the imperial city. This could be interesting." Naturally, the scholar was the world-renowned Confucian Sword Immortal Xie Xuan. He yawned and added, "If you solve this case, you could have a plaque bestowed with imperial favour for Qingcheng Mountain. "

Li Fansong was a little annoyed. "But what does this matter have to do with me? I've never had any contact with this White Prince, nor am I some court official. I'm just a guest of the Directorate of Astronomy."

"He's not the White Prince anymore. He's Tianzheng Emperor." Xie Xuan smiled. "The only reason he has for summoning you is because you and Fei Xuan are friends of that person."

Li Fansong was taken aback.

Yong'an Prince, Xiao Se.

"Little shishu, let's go." Fei Xuan walked up to Li Fansong's side.

Li Fansong exhaled a sigh. "Fei Xuan, I finally understand why shifu told us we had to come to Heavenly Revelations City. He wanted revenge on us!"

Fei Xuan shook his head. "Little shishu, you haven't even stood up and you're already saying such disheartening words."

"When carrying out a task for the Son of Heaven, success reaps no reward, failure means certain death. Do you know what will happen if we don't take care of this matter well?" Li Fansong asked.

Fei Xuan had a brief thought before he replied, "Thrown out of Heavenly Revelations City."

Li Fansong raised his sword and pointed it into the distance. "All of Qingcheng Mountain, to be executed!"

At this moment, on a certain rooftop in Heavenly Revelations City, a swordsman in red was looking over the city while chewing on an apple in his mouth. He opened his mouth in a wide yawn.