Chapter 153: The Recluse Ape of the Realm Beyond

Chapter 153: The Otherworldly Ape

The white ape glanced back at He Chang'an, grinned, leaped into the air, and vanished after a few bounds.

He Chang'an felt a touch of nervousness.

A gentleman does not stand under a tottering wall; this time, not only had he plunged into danger himself, but he was also dragging along deadweight in the form of the young girl A-Ran, which put him in a rather difficult predicament.

He wanted to investigate further, yet deep down he felt uneasy...

Just as he was hesitating and weighing his options, A-Ran let out a soft moan and regained consciousness.

Carried across the shoulder of He Chang'an through a flurry of running and chasing, although she had not felt the slightest jostling, it was still, after all, rather uncomfortable.

"He Chang'an, where are you hauling this young lady?" A-Ran tried to look around, her brows slightly furrowed, and asked with a trace of doubt, "Something's not right. The spiritual energy in this place is somewhat chaotic; it feels like some kind of grand formation..."

"Could this be the secluded dwelling of Master Five-Willows?"

Coming as she did from a prestigious background and possessing wide experience, even though she was merely a young girl of eleven or twelve, she had guessed the truth with her casual remark.

"You know of Master Five-Willows?"

He Chang'an felt somewhat relieved. He set A-Ran down from his shoulder onto the ground and said gently, "Just stay behind me and don't wander too far. This place is full of deep mysteries."

Master Five-Willows... Could this be the secluded residence of Tao Qian, the great scholar of the previous dynasty?

He Chang'an was somewhat uncertain.

Because the world he had transmigrated into always contained certain things that felt slightly distorted and different compared to his old home on Blue Star, preventing him from being entirely sure.

"Master Five-Willows, according to legend, was a great Confucian scholar of the previous dynasty. He was calm and spoke little, cared nothing for wealth or fame, loved reading without delving too deeply into the texts, and was as fond of wine as his own life. He often claimed to carry half a belly of learning and a full belly of wine."

"It's a pity that the world was chaotic, with demons and monsters running amok. The human race struggled every step of the way, fighting desperately for survival, yet remained in constant peril. After several great battles, they were compressed onto this isolated island of Zhongzhou, locked in a bitter struggle."

"Later, a grand army of the demon race attacked Sword Gate Pass, and just as they were about to breach the city, Master Five-Willows stepped out from his secluded sanctuary, unleashed a single flying sword, and severed the head of a prince among the demon host."

"The demon army immediately withdrew and signed a blood-sworn alliance with the human race, becoming nominal allies."

A-Ran's narration was rather brief, but listening to it still made one's heart surge with emotion.

"And what happened after that?" He Chang'an couldn't help asking. "Was that Master Five-Willows of the previous dynasty the master of this place?"

A-Ran shook her head and smiled. "I merely happened to read about it in an idle book from my sect; how could I possibly know the details?"

"Ah," He Chang'an responded, nodding slightly. He led A-Ran as they slowly walked and weaved through the intricate, maze-like tree-lined paths, yet they found themselves completely unable to walk out.

Suddenly, his eyes brightened as he spotted a small stream not far away, alongside which a faint mountain trail wound its way forward, leading to an unknown destination.

After a slight hesitation, he sent a mental voice transmission to instruct A-Ran, then strode briskly forward.

Along the way, green trees cast cool shades, birds sang and flowers bloomed, and the stream rippled gently, its surface dotted with scattered peach blossoms.

With snow and ice blanketing a radius of tens of thousands of li all around, how could there be a place where peach blossoms were in full bloom?

Not to mention He Chang'an, even the young girl A-Ran, who hailed from an immortal cultivation sect, stared in utter bewilderment. Unable to fathom the mystery, she instinctively sensed that an expert of extraordinary prowess must reside ahead.

Though the two did not speak of it aloud, a surge of joy rippled through their hearts.

After walking seventeen or eighteen li along the mountain path, the stream suddenly veered toward an extremely steep and perilous canyon.

Standing at the entrance of the canyon, the two exchanged uncertain glances. They wished to venture inside and investigate, yet ultimately felt a lingering sense of apprehension.

With their abilities, encountering a few mountain sprites or spectres should have been a breeze, but the fact that this place completely suppressed all spiritual energy, true qi, and vast righteous energy made things rather unfavorable.

"Let's go, let's head inside and take a look." He Chang'an strode forward, not forgetting to turn back and instruct, "A-Ran, watch out for yourself. If things truly get out of hand, retreat first."

"You're so powerful, you'll definitely avenge me."

He Chang'an cracked a joke, teasing A-Ran into a silly giggle as she repeatedly chimed in, "Alright, alright, I'll avenge you."

The tense atmosphere instantly eased.

The canyon was extremely steep, yet not particularly deep. Chatting and laughing, the two arrived in less than half an hour at a spot surrounded by sheer cliffs on three sides.

Could this actually be a dead end?

A-Ran stood upon a massive boulder, looked around, and whispered, "Hey, He Chang'an, something's wrong with the place we've come to. Why do I have... rather ominous premonitions?"

He Chang'an stood quietly at the very end of the stream, observing closely. He discovered an inconspicuous cold pool, barely a zhang in size, radiating a biting chill and veiled in a thin layer of white mist.

He dipped his hand into the pool and couldn't help shivering.

It was bone-chillingly cold.

***

Furthermore, what made him especially uneasy was that within this cold pool, a wisp of sword intent seemed to pulse back and forth, condensed yet unyielding, yet neither graspable nor touchable—truly rather bizarre.

He Chang'an was far too familiar with sword intent.

The small black sword within his dantian's spiritual sea was eager to leap out, seemingly longing to break free of his body, which stirred a sense of excitement within him.

Beneath the cold pool, anomalies were bound to exist.

Additionally, He Chang'an noticed several large footprints near the edge of the pool. They did not resemble human footprints; rather, they looked much like those left behind by the senior white ape.

"A-Ran, wait for me outside. I'm going down to investigate," He Chang'an said gently, his eyes fixed on the surface of the cold pool. "If you don't hear from me after an hour or two, find a way to leave on your own."

"We'll go in together," A-Ran replied firmly.

He Chang'an nodded silently, cast a deeply meaningful look at the young girl, and plunged headfirst into the cold pool...

***

*"At first it was extremely narrow, barely allowing one person to pass. After walking dozens of steps further, it suddenly opened up into a broad and flat expanse, with well-ordered houses, fertile fields, beautiful ponds, bamboo groves, and mulberry trees..."*

Walking and wandering through a vast grove of peach trees, He Chang'an felt a mix of astonishment and doubt. Silently reciting *The Peach Blossom Spring*, he basically concluded that the so-called Master Five-Willows was indeed Tao Qian, the great Confucian scholar of the previous dynasty.

Roughly half an hour later, within a mountain valley, they discovered five large willow trees. Compared to the ones seen on the outside, these were slightly smaller, but their shapes, postures, and arrangement were virtually identical.

"An illusion formation after all..."

A-Ran stood on the hillside, her eyes wide open with wonder as she stared at the peach grove, the large willow trees, the cottages, the bamboo groves, and the fish pond, looking thoroughly impressed. "I've read about these kinds of immortal illusion formations in some of my sect's texts—they describe them as utterly miraculous. Seeing it today, it truly lives up to its legendary reputation."

"You mean the space we've stepped into is an illusion?"

He Chang'an's understanding of immortal cultivation was superficial at best, and he could practically be called entirely ignorant, especially when it came to advanced existences like magical formations, for which he possessed zero foundation.

Yet he had one strong trait: he knew what he knew and acknowledged what he didn't. When faced with something beyond his comprehension, he had no shame in asking.

"So-called grand immortal formations come in several varieties: confinement formations, maze formations, illusion formations, and killing formations."

"The mountain-guarding formations of many sects are mixtures of several grand formations, impossible to break without immortal-level methods."

A-Ran spoke eloquently as she wandered among the cottages, willow trees, and the pond. Her delicate brows were slightly furrowed, and her left hand kept pinching her fingers as if deducing and calculating something.

He Chang'an followed closely behind her with a look of envy.

Look, this was the benefit of belonging to a sect! They possessed profound knowledge and broad horizons, unlike wild cultivators like him, who at best stumbled upon a few great opportunities and lucked into a pile of benefits...

Walking and stopping intermittently, the two soon arrived before a thatched cottage near the pond.

At the entrance of the cottage sat a stone table and three stone stools.

On the table were nineteen vertical and horizontal intersecting lines—it was a Go board, covered with black and white stones, apparently set in an unresolved endgame.

He Chang'an and A-Ran stared at the stone table for a long time, but alas, being two terrible chess players, they failed to fathom its profound mysteries, and could only exchange a bitter, helpless smile.

"Do you know how to play Go?" A-Ran asked.

He Chang'an smiled wryly and shook his head.

Could a cultured pursuit like playing chess ever be mastered by a crude martial artist like him? Although he had learned many characters and understood many principles from the old scholars, his level was at best that of an elementary literacy class.

The reason He Chang'an was staring fixedly at the Go board was not to appreciate the exquisite maneuvers of the black and white pieces, but rather to ponder the nineteen intersecting lines.

Of course, calling them mere scratches wasn't entirely accurate.

This was clearly a brilliant sword technique, executed in one flowing motion and casually slashed out...

"Such a brilliant sword technique!" He Chang'an let out a long breath after studying it for a long while, then said in a low voice, "To be able to make nineteen intersecting lines so perfectly uniform; moreover, the distance between every single line is hair-splittingly exact. Just this level of precision alone is breathtaking."

He Chang'an was filled with deep admiration.

A-Ran blinked, stared at the chessboard for a good while, and her expression gradually grew solemn. "Now that you mention it, it really is."

"My master's sword technique probably isn't even this fierce."

Having said that, she hurriedly looked up, glanced left and right, stuck out her tongue, and smiled. "Don't let my master hear me say that, or else she'll break my master's legs."

He Chang'an wore a peculiar expression as he smiled and said, "You're the one talking trash about your master, A-Ran. Why would she break your master's... legs?"

A-Ran's face flushed slightly. She gave a hearty laugh, unwilling to elaborate, and said, "Since we've already come in, we might as well go inside the master's cottage and pay our respects. Standing here at the doorway like this is hardly proper."

With that, she walked up to the door of the thatched cottage and once again fell into deep thought.

It seemed she was deducing how to open the door.

He Chang'an stepped up to the entrance and said in a clear voice, "Is anyone inside? We juniors stumbled into this place by accident; we harbor no malicious intent and merely wish to pay our respects to the master of this estate..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the wooden door of the cottage creaked open, and an aged white ape 'squeezed' out from within, grinning broadly.

It was precisely the old sword-bearing ape from earlier, except that its body had shrunk significantly; otherwise, how could its frame have ever squeezed into such a tiny cottage?

He Chang'an and A-Ran hurriedly stepped forward and bowed in salute.

The old white ape strode casually over to the stone table, sat down on a stone stool, stared at the endgame for a moment, and then looked up at He Chang'an. Its piercing gaze locked onto him as it spoke in human language:

"Your name is He Chang'an?"

He Chang'an took half a step forward, bowed deeply once more, and replied, "Yes."

Faced with such an unfathomable 'high ape' that bore no hostility toward him, He Chang'an held genuine respect in his heart, truly regarding the creature as a transcendent worldly expert.

The old white ape tilted its head, looked at the porcelain-doll-like young girl A-Ran, and its gaze grew even gentler. Grinning widely, it pointed a finger and laughed aloud, "Among those old Taoist priests on True Martial Mountain, the only one I ever liked was that little girl Ah-Jian. How is it that your face looks somewhat similar to hers? Could it be that Ah-Jian lost her mind and married some old Taoist priest? My, what a waste! A flower stuck in cow dung—what a pity, what a pity..."

As it spoke, the old white ape burst into hearty laughter, though a trace of desolation seemed to flicker in the depths of its eyes.

He Chang'an stood to the side without a word.

A-Ran, however, would not let it rest. Her eyes widened, her face flushed red with anger, and she snapped indignantly, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you old white monkey? My mother is Ah-Jian, that's true, but my father... he is no old Taoist priest! Hmph, speak nonsense again and when my mother comes back, I'll tell her someone cursed my father as an old Taoist priest!"

The young girl stomped her feet, her cheeks puffed out into two little angry mounds, looking genuinely furious.

Yet the old white ape paid her no heed, continuing to laugh heartily as if completely unbothered.

On the contrary, a fleeting flicker of pampering and warmth surfaced in its eyes, much to the curiosity of He Chang'an standing nearby.

This white ape was truly extraordinary.

And A-Ran's background seemed even more extraordinary; even this mysterious old white ape treated her parents with clear deference.

"Right, old white monkey, do you know my mother?" A-Ran asked, her anger making her tone rather impolite.

"You mean Miss Ah-Jian? Of course I know her," the old white ape said, gazing into the distance, its ugly face seemingly cloaked in a layer of loneliness and solitude. "When I first met Miss Ah-Jian, she was even younger than you—unruly to the core, stirring up trouble everywhere, driving those old Taoist priests on True Martial Mountain dizzy with frustration, yet too furious to dare vent it. Your personality really is somewhat like Ah-Jian's. But..."

The old ape peered at A-Ran, grinned, stopped mid-sentence, and instead turned its gaze to He Chang'an. "Do you want to learn swordsmanship? I'll teach you!"

He Chang'an cupped his fists and was just about to speak when A-Ran stepped forward, arched her brows, glared, and demanded loudly, "But what?"

This girl was truly fearless indeed; provoked by the old white ape, she had completely changed her demeanor and dared to confront this formidable 'Grandpa Ape' head-on...

Unexpectedly, the old white ape simply burst into hearty laughter, looking thoroughly amused rather than angry. In a deep, rumbling voice, it said, "You really are Ah-Jian's daughter—that hot temper is an exact match!"

"Girl, what's your name?"

The ape tilted its head, its gaze profoundly gentle.

"My name is A-Ran... You old white monkey, what did that 'but' you said earlier mean?" A-Ran pouted, demanding angrily.

"Well, compared to Miss Ah-Jian back then, your looks are a bit coarse... Put it this way, you're an ugly girl." The old white ape chuckled, teasing her playfully like an uninhibited, mischievous elder deliberately trying to infuriate A-Ran.

He Chang'an felt a touch of inner amusement; the old white ape clearly possessed a playful streak, likely just wanting to see A-Ran's angry expression.

"Ahem! You old white monkey, you actually have some discernment!" A-Ran cleared her throat, smiled radiantly despite her youth, and retorted, "My mother is the most beautiful woman in the entire world; of course I can't compare to her. But at least this young lady is prettier than you, a smelly monkey!"