Young Master Bai — Chapter 71
Chapter 71: A Confession in the Snow
In recent years, the important meetings of the Heaven's Way Alliance had all been held in Lin’an. The great sects also built branch residences outside Busi to facilitate sect communications. The entire city of Lin’an was structured around Busi at its core. Around it, the branch residences of the various sects formed the first ring; outside that lay the private mansions of powerful individuals, forming the second ring. Beyond that lived ordinary cultivators, wealthy merchants, and landed gentry, comprising the third ring. Outside the three rings were markets selling daily necessities and inns and taverns for travelers to rest. As for ordinary people with little savings, in this land where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, they could not even afford a latrine.
Within the territories governed by the Heaven's Way Alliance, every child had to undergo an aptitude test at birth. Based on their spiritual roots, they would then be sent to academies to receive foundational cultivation education. This education continued until the age of fourteen. Those who successfully built their foundation during this period could take part in the annual examination, and those who passed could enter a sect under the Heaven's Way Alliance as junior disciples. For students whose aptitude was insufficient to walk the cultivation path, there were other routes: refining tools, refining pills, managing waterways, engaging in commerce, pursuing officialdom. Failing that, they could apply to farm or raise pigs in the countryside. In any case, they would not starve.
After the unified recruitment by the sects, the academy education became a turning point in a person’s life. The greatest academies of the world, apart from the private Endless Longevity Academy in Jinling, included Busi’s Boundless Academy in Lin’an. Besides that, Lin’an also held the greatest medical pavilion, the largest auction house, the most extravagant pleasure quarters… anything that was the best could be found here. Small wonder, then, that cultivators longed to live in this city, willing to spend their life’s savings for even the smallest foothold.
The Azure Heaven Manor’s branch residence was located within the restricted zone of Lin’an, where entry and exit required a special pass token. Thus, the streets there were sparsely populated. Though this was the most prosperous city of the human race, the streets were clean, blanketed with a thin layer of snow. Bai Chen left footprints upon stepping out.
It was the season of heavy snows in Lin’an. Bai Chen had just resolved a storm of trouble without leaving a trace. The familiar snowflakes falling upon him at last made him sigh in relief. For once, Li Wuming was not carrying him with sword flight. Instead, they walked forward like ordinary men. Only when they were far from the Azure Heaven Manor’s grounds did Bai Chen ask curiously, “Do you think Bai Hangshou really believed that evidence you fabricated?”
A hair’s breadth of difference could easily be twisted into an argument. Bai Chen knew Bai Hangshou was not convinced by that excuse. Li Wuming only smiled. “He doesn’t care what I say. What matters is whether Qiu Xiaohan was willing to speak up to save you.”
This matter had been resolved smoothly thanks to the Azure Heaven Manor’s stance. Without Qiu Xiaohan clearly siding with Bai Chen, Bai Hangshou would not have dropped the matter without extracting concessions. Still, the Great Snow Mountain and Azure Heaven Manor had no prior dealings, so Bai Chen could not understand why Qiu Xiaohan favored him so.
“He wasn’t doing you a favor. He just wanted the Endless Longevity Academy to suffer a hidden loss.”
Li Wuming grasped the small fox’s hand and tucked it into his robe for warmth, explaining as the snow grew heavier.
“Lin’an’s four sides are guarded by the cities of Chang’an, Xing’an, Shao’an, and Yi’an, all held by the Unknown Truth Sect. Beyond them, the nearest to Busi is Dongling. Azure Heaven Manor and the Unknown Truth Sect cooperate extensively in automaton craft, and Dongling is the key link between them. Numerous automaton workshops were built there. How could Azure Heaven Manor tolerate it when the Endless Longevity Academy seized it during Qiu Xiaohan’s seclusion?”
Bai Chen had only recently awakened and was unfamiliar with the Heaven's Way Alliance’s internal strife. Hearing this for the first time, he realized the rift between Azure Heaven Manor and the Endless Longevity Academy ran deep. He had been to Dongling himself and saw nothing but antiques there. He asked in puzzlement, “The Endless Longevity Academy surely knew how much Azure Heaven Manor valued Dongling. Why would they target it anyway?”
Snow meant little to Bai Chen, who had been born in the coldest reaches of the Great Snow Mountain. When Li Wuming saw the little fox unmoved by his gesture, he let go with a helpless shake of his head, then explained, “Dongling is the burial ground of the Xi Shang dynasty.”
“Your Li clan was Western Liang, and Xi Shang came before that, over a thousand years ago. How could a sect like the Endless Longevity Academy, which only rose less than a hundred years ago, be related?”
Bai Chen was familiar with human history. Xi Shang marked the peak of imperial power, the royal clan raising more than ten cultivation sects to serve as armies. If not for encountering both the Demon Venerable and the Yao King, they would not have been destroyed. By comparison, Western Liang, ruling only with the Divine Wordless Book, was weaker. And the Li clan of Chang’an, with no such artifact at all, was even lesser.
Many ancient human techniques were lost with Xi Shang’s fall. The Endless Longevity Academy had scoured ancient texts but never fully recovered them. Yet the royal tombs of Xi Shang in Dongling had long been plundered by Western Liang. An empty tomb should not have been worth offending Azure Heaven Manor.
Few knew the truth, but Li Wuming was one of them. He winked mischievously and whispered, “It’s said Elder Shu of the Endless Longevity Academy is descended from Xi Shang’s royal historiographers.”
If so, then reclaiming the ancestral mausoleum was a matter of face. No matter Azure Heaven Manor’s dissatisfaction, the Endless Longevity Academy would not back down.
Bai Chen understood immediately. Walking beside Li Wuming down the quiet street, he mused, “No wonder Bai Hangshou would rather offend Azure Heaven Manor to seize that city. So the Heaven's Way Alliance has no shortage of internal strife.”
“Not just them. Some years back, the Myriad Treasures Hall annexed the declining Golden Core Immortal Sect. Now, with perfected pill-refining methods, they no longer rely on Illusory Moon Villa. Illusory Moon Villa itself is weak in combat, sustained only through alliance with the Myriad Treasures Hall. Now there are even rumors Lin Kaitian doesn’t want to marry the villa’s heiress. They must be quite unsettled.”
Li Wuming hadn’t spent all these years merely hugging a dead fox in the mountains. His knowledge of the Heaven's Way Alliance surpassed Yunce, who had been in seclusion for years. He laid bare the most unstable factions in a few words.
Trade was the foundation of Great Snow Mountain’s ties with humanity, and the Myriad Treasures Hall dominated commerce. Bai Chen had ignored the rumors surrounding Lin Kaitian before, but now he frowned at Li Wuming’s analysis. “Lin Kaitian doesn’t seem like someone who pursues romance. He shouldn’t reject a political marriage.”
They had both dealt with Lin Kaitian before. That man seemed frivolous, but in truth he was not one to give his heart easily. By logic, he should not resist a sect marriage. Yet Li Wuming disagreed. “He is the pride of the Myriad Treasures Hall. His cultivation aptitude and skill at refining surpass even his predecessors. Such people despise compromise most.”
In Bai Chen’s eyes, to disrupt the great order for personal inclination was incomprehensible. But humans often did unreasonable things. He grew serious. “Then I must quickly strip that green hat from your head. Even if Illusory Moon Villa and the Myriad Treasures Hall drift apart, the cause must not be me.”
No man liked seeing his Dao companion dragged into scandal. To outsiders, Li Wuming looked like he wore a crown of grass these days. Though he knew the little fox would only ever curl obediently in his arms, he disliked the taste of such rumors.
At last, Bai Chen took them seriously. Li Wuming’s mood improved, and his roguish demeanor returned. “Brothers squabble over inheritance; how much more would sects quarrel? As long as you play the harmless little fox wandering among factions, you’ll always manage to snag a chicken leg.”
With Bai Wei’s disaster as precedent, Sword Immortals despised anything green. Even the slightest whiff soured their mood. Bai Chen now noticed how much Li Wuming minded these rumors. Looking down, he realized — ah, the man wasn’t even warming his hand today. Clearly, he was sulking.
It wasn’t the rumors themselves Li Wuming cared about, but Bai Chen’s indifference toward clarifying them. In the world’s eyes, the Sword Immortal had lush grasslands atop his head. Shouldn’t the little fox lie obediently still, proving his loyalty with actions?
Bai Chen could not fathom such strange logic. But he could read expressions well enough. Seeing Li Wuming’s dark face, he steeled himself, transformed back to his original form, and burrowed into the man’s arms. He rubbed his wet nose against Li Wuming’s cheek. “Am I not harmless enough now?”
A fox’s nose was always damp, and his gem-like eyes shone with innocence. One nuzzle and Li Wuming’s anger melted. Hugging the nine-tailed fox, he finally voiced the question that had weighed on him. “You’ve seen the splendor of the Central Plains. If one day you command a force surpassing humanity’s armies, will you truly not covet the vast Nine Provinces [meaning, all the imperial lands]?”
Humans and yao were different races. Sword Immortals protected humanity; the Nine-tailed White Fox was king of the yao. Their stances would never align. They had long avoided such questions tacitly. But as they spoke of Alliance politics, Li Wuming gazed upon this human city and recalled his master’s old question: “If one day the fox you raised destroyed your homeland, what would you do?”
He had no answer even now. All he could do was keep the little fox in his grasp, preventing such a day. But when Bai Chen regained the Nine-tailed White Fox’s divine powers, the pitiful creature licking his hand would no longer be so easy to control.
His master had advised: never return his yao core, only then would he remain within reach. Though Li Wuming knew this ensured control, his heart resisted.
Bai Chen sensed his inner conflict. Part of him wanted to respond like a tyrant: Since I have the one-and-only Li Jiuzhou [his name literaly means Nine Provinces], why would I want the Nine Provinces? But he was no willful yao king, and Li Wuming knew that. The little fox leaned on his shoulder, pondering. When snow accumulated on a red plum branch and melted warm upon his nose, he finally answered, “I’ll keep a ledger.”
Li Wuming blinked. “A ledger?”
“A ledger of debts. However many times humanity spares me, I’ll repay them just as many times.”
This was Bai Chen’s carefully considered answer. To claim he felt no desire for such fertile lands — he would not even believe himself. But even if he desired them, he would first repay the kindnesses he owed.
To Li Wuming, this was naïve. He had fought enough wars to know personal resolve was nothing before collective interest. He sighed softly. “Diplomacy between races isn’t a matter of personal favors.”
Yet Bai Chen slipped free of his embrace. The white fox landed lightly in the snow, nine tails unfurling in elegant arcs. Though he showed no feral aura, he raised his head with the pride of a primordial beast. “That is humanity’s way. Of all living beings, humans have the most schemes. Court intrigue, harem intrigue — never a day of peace. We yao have lived millions of years without such things, nor will we ever. I only want human techniques to improve yao life. I have never once wished for yao to become human.”
The Nine-tailed White Fox had always been proud. Losing his yao core had crushed him into humility. But now, before Li Wuming, he rediscovered his true self — the absolute confidence of a celestial beast.
This was the first time Li Wuming saw such a Bai Chen. Not the timid fox shivering in his arms, but the mythic nine-tailed fox of legend, transcendent and majestic. The fragile fox stirred his pity, but this one made him want to seize him, to crush him close. He restrained himself, asking calmly, “Then what is the yao’s way?”
Bai Chen had not walked the snow in his true form for a long time, almost forgetting he feared no storm. Nostalgically watching his pawprints bloom like plum blossoms, he revealed what he had long hidden. “Yao don’t follow rules. We only follow instinct. All fox yao share one habit: from the moment we open our eyes, we hoard every treasure we find, waiting to gift them to the partner chosen for life. To us, if the partner dies, we will never live alone.”
Whether the mighty Nine-tailed White Fox or the weakest snow fox, all shared this instinct. Bai Chen was no different. His treasure was the Great Snow Mountain itself.
This was not something to tell a human. But Bai Chen wanted Li Wuming to know. Though people thought fox yao were fickle, they were born loyal. Yao were foolish, bound to instinct, unwilling to change, and thus surpassed by humans. They could learn human arts and strategy, but never that mutable heart.
He stepped on the tip of his tail, pulled it free, then turned back to his chosen partner with seriousness. “To never abandon you, through life and death — that is my instinct.”
In the instant their eyes met, all doubts dissolved. Li Wuming was certain this little fox was his. No matter how strong he grew, he would stay with him forever. Though there were many differences and bitter precedents between them, as long as this one truth held, he had faith to overcome all and reach the end together.
The Sword Immortal in black stepped forward, cradled the Nine-tailed White Fox in his arms, brushed snow from his tails, and pledged with firm resolve: “For those words alone, I would pluck stars and seize the moon for you.”
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