Chapter 42 : Suppressed
42: Suppressed
By afternoon, Fu Peibai was still left on the sidelines just like in the morning. With no other choice, she could only stand there blankly, growing drowsy from the sun. Yet from time to time she could sense heavy gazes falling from the high platform, so she forced herself to stay alert.
Finally, the hour of you arrived. Today's martial practice ended, but for her, it was only just beginning.
After finishing dinner, she went to find Wei Xiao and asked him to teach her the Heavenly Pole Sword forms. Wei Xiao readily agreed. He first took her to collect her training uniform and sword, then led her to a spacious, empty forest clearing and transmitted the sword techniques to her.
Fu Peibai watched Wei Xiao demonstrate just once before she understood. She held the sword in her left hand and began practicing with proper form.
Wei Xiao was somewhat surprised and praised her repeatedly. "Junior Brother Fu, you have extraordinary natural talent. If you had started practicing martial arts when young, you would surely have surpassed all of us."
Fu Peibai cupped her fist in acknowledgment at his words, smiled modestly, and continued practicing swords.
However, swordsmanship requires unity between person and sword, unity between sword and spirit. She had only just begun learning these sword forms, so she could only mimic the surface appearance. Her technique couldn't withstand scrutiny.
Sure enough, on the second day, the Four Halls Master saw her practicing sword and quickly walked over.
The man frowned and watched for a while, then reached out and tapped Fu Peibai's arm. "Wrong. Your hand is a full inch too high. Lower it."
Fu Peibai thought he had come to guide her, so she quickly held her breath and followed the instruction. But soon after, her calf received a kick, not too light, not too heavy. "Wrong. Step forward and bend your body. Lower."
Then came her back, her thigh, her neck. Each part received the hall master's tapping. The man's strength gradually increased, and his expression grew more impatient. "Wrong. All wrong. I thought you had some great ability to make the Sect Master favor you so. I didn't expect that even the Sect Master could misjudge people. My Heavenly Pole Sect's sword technique is agile and flowing. When you practice it, it's simply an ugly imitation. Neither fish nor fowl!"
Fu Peibai stopped her movements and lowered her head without speaking. These insults entering her ears, to say it didn't hurt would be a lie, but she could only listen.
Just then, another middle-aged man walked down from the high platform. He had a rounder build and a friendly face. He said to the Four Halls Master, "Brother, you're being overly harsh. Think about it. Before this, he was just a farm boy working the fields. His aptitude is dull. He's barely been practicing martial arts for a year. Being able to imitate the general form is already pushing him to his limits. Don't be so harsh on him anymore."
On the surface it seemed like he was helping, but underneath it was mockery. Fu Peibai could hear that clearly. She looked up. The man speaking was the same one who had spoken on Mo Qingyuan's behalf during last year's entrance examination. She wasn't surprised at all. She lowered her head again and continued receiving her scolding.
That evening, Xie Jingming expressed indignation on her behalf, grumbling continuously in her ear. "The Four, Four Halls Master is clearly, clearly making things difficult for you on purpose. You're clearly, clearly working so hard. He's deliberately embarrassing you, deliberately, deliberately sabotaging you. Should, should we go find the Sect Master to seek justice?"
Fu Peibai shook her head. While kneading her arm to relax, she said, "For such a small matter, there's no need to disturb the Sect Master. Once I pass the inner disciple examination, everything will be fine. By the way, Jingming, which peak do you want to go to?"
Xie Jingming hadn't thought about this before. Given his ability, passing the inner disciple examination in the first year would be somewhat difficult. He thought carefully for a while and said, "Chaoquan Peak, I suppose."
Fu Peibai's ears perked up. "Why?"
"I heard that the Peak Master of Chaoquan Peak is cold in temperament, but, but treats the disciples under her very well. The Peak Masters of the other three peaks are strict, and the rules, the rules are many. As for the Sect Master, I haven't thought about that. I, I certainly couldn't get accepted under the Sect Master anyway.
"By the way, A-A-Pei, you came from Chaoquan Peak. How does the Peak Master treat people?"
Fu Peibai frowned, then relaxed her brow. "Very well."
Xie Jingming smiled. "Then, then that's good. What about you, A-Pei? Which, which peak do you want to go to?"
Fu Peibai stared into the void. The words "Peak Master" murmured from her lips. Then a sour feeling rose in her heart. She closed her eyes briefly and said, "I don't know. Any one of them would be fine, I suppose."
"A-Pei, I, I believe you can, can get accepted under the Sect Master."
Fu Peibai gave a forced smile and turned away. "Let's sleep."
The next day, there was no martial practice. Instead, they were to go to the schoolroom for lectures. The outer disciples of Cangqiong Peak put on wide-robed, long-sleeved scholar's attire. Their hair was neatly bound, covered with hair nets, and they held scrolls in their hands. They looked elegant and refined, handsome and scholarly.
As soon as Xie Jingming rose, he saw that Fu Peibai had already changed into her clothes. He praised, "A-Pei, you, you look really good in this outfit."
Fu Peibai had been on the mountain for nearly a year now. She was no longer the dark-skinned, filthy-looking beggar boy from before. Now wearing an ivory-white long robe with a straight collar and long hem, her tall, slender figure looked elegant. Her features were clear and handsome, and her skin was no longer as dark as before but had moved toward a healthy wheat color. Her eyes were bright. Anyone who saw her would call her a fine young man full of youthful spirit.
The two quickly gathered their things and set off for the schoolroom.
The schoolroom was located east of the training grounds. Each room held thirty people. Since Xie Jingming and Fu Peibai belonged to different halls, naturally they couldn't attend lectures in the same room. However, Wei Xiao happened to be assigned to the same room as her, so the two sat together at one long desk.
After the students inside had mostly arrived, a white-haired old man walked in slowly, his body hunched over. The room instantly fell silent. Everyone sat up straight. Although the old man walked with trembling steps that made one want to go help him, his eyes carried such oppressive force that it inspired instinctive fear.
He looked around at everyone below the platform. Soon he discovered Fu Peibai, this unfamiliar face. He withdrew his gaze, took out a book, and began the lecture.
Today's lecture was on an ancient internal cultivation method. The language was obscure and difficult to understand. Fu Peibai listened in confusion. Just as she was feeling lost, she saw the old man on the platform point at her and say, "You, come explain this passage. 'All things are not all things, sharing the same breath with me. Illusions take various forms, assisting the birth of intent. Creatures that fly, swim, move, or grow, all kinds serve humanity. How vast is creation's grace, yet reckless killing becomes violent. Clams, pythons, mosquitoes, and flies, born at dawn and dead by dusk. Tortoises, cranes, deer, eating little and drawing in breath, thus enjoying long years. Humans fall short of these creatures, greedy only for clothing and food, forgetting matters of life and death. If one can cut off desires, then self and all things become one.'"
Fu Peibai's eyes widened slightly. With many gazes falling upon her, she could only force herself to answer. "All things are not all things, they are one with oneself... All things transform into various appearances, assisting, assisting..."
The old man suddenly interrupted her and said coldly, "Enough. If you don't know, then say you don't know. Making things up, spouting nonsense, simply making a fool of yourself. This Heart Sutra is required study for martial cultivation. The other disciples here may not be able to recite it backward from memory, but even the worst among them are familiar with its meaning. Go back and copy this Heart Sutra ten times. Bring it to the next lecture. Do you understand?"
Fu Peibai lowered her head. Listening to the rustling laughter around her, she said quietly, "Disciple understands."
After a full day of lectures, her spirits were visibly low. Wei Xiao comforted her for a long time, but with little effect.
After Fu Peibai returned to her room, she lay motionless on the bed. Seeing her so dejected, Xie Jingming didn't need to ask to know she must have suffered some grievance in the schoolroom. But he wasn't good at comforting people, so he could only stand helplessly to the side.
"A-Pei..."
Fu Peibai turned over, sat up, and put on a forced smile. "It's fine. I'm going out to practice martial arts for a while."
After saying this, she pushed open the door and went out, arriving at the forest where she usually practiced. While gathering her energy and exerting force, she couldn't help feeling somewhat disheartened. Her family had suffered a catastrophe, and she had wandered all the way to Xingyang. Luckily she met Ding Yi and Old Man Wen, receiving their help to come to the Heavenly Pole Sect.
Along the way, there weren't many hardships. She entered the mountain and joined Chaoquan Peak. The Peak Master treated her extremely well in every way, as did everyone on the peak. A-Ruo, A-Fu, Meng Yan, and many other warm-hearted elders.
She knew deeply that throughout this journey, she had received much help from others. She felt she hadn't experienced many hardships before successfully entering the Heavenly Pole Sect. But now, though her long-cherished wish had been fulfilled, the people and things around her felt completely strange. Every day it was either Mo and He's open mockery and veiled insults, or the hall master and others deliberately making things difficult for her. It made her feel repressed.
Thinking of this, a pent-up anger surged in her heart. She punched straight at a thick tree trunk. The tree shook from the impact, dropping a shower of leaves.
She punched like this for two hours, venting her emotions, before finally feeling somewhat relieved in her heart. Then she walked back.
The lamp in the room had already been extinguished. In the quiet room, only Xie Jingming's rhythmic breathing could be heard. She lightened her footsteps and picked up clean clothes to go wash.
On the way to the bathhouse, the quiet forest beside her suddenly rustled. Her feet paused. She turned her head and caught a glimpse of a black figure walking atop the leaves in the forest. The figure was extremely fast, vanishing in an instant.
She was startled by this transcendent qinggong skill, then grew suspicious. Why would someone appear here in the middle of the night? She looked in the direction where the mysterious figure had disappeared. It seemed to be toward the suspension bridge to Chaoquan Peak.
She quickly ran over. But under the moonlight, the suspension bridge swayed precariously. A night breeze blew past. On Chaoquan Peak across the bridge, night fog swirled and forest shadows layered thick. She even began to wonder if she had seen something wrong earlier.
She stared at Chaoquan Peak, separated by just one bridge, unable to resist the urge to cross over. A nightingale's call finally roused her from her trance.
The night wind was desolate, and so was her heart.
She sighed deeply, turned, and returned to Cangqiong Peak.
The next day at breakfast, thinking of last night's events, she asked Wei Xiao, "Senior Brother Wei, is there anyone on Cangqiong Peak who can walk atop leaves?"
Wei Xiao's eyelids twitched, but his face remained composed. He smiled and asked in return, "Why do you ask?"
Fu Peibai paused for a moment and said, "Last night I seemed to see a black-clad figure in the forest, moving through the treetops. The figure was like a ghost."
Xie Jingming was startled. "R-really?"
Wei Xiao smiled. "Impossible. Junior Brother Fu, you must have seen wrong. Not just on Cangqiong, but in the entire Heavenly Pole Sect, the only ones with such accomplished qinggong are the four Peak Masters and the Sect Master. Naturally, they wouldn't behave like that in the middle of the night, appearing on Cangqiong Peak."
Fu Peibai scratched her head. The memory of that black shadow was growing fuzzier. She murmured, "Maybe my eyes played tricks on me and I saw wrong."
Wei Xiao let out a breath of relief. "Alright, everyone's done eating. Let's go."
The three went to the training grounds. Today the weather was poor. Dark clouds rolled, and waves of clouds surged. Rain was clearly imminent.
What they were practicing today was qinggong. After the managing disciples brought out the equipment, everyone could choose what to practice.
Fu Peibai walked beneath a horizontal bar. She reached up with both hands to grip the bar, letting her body hang naturally. Then she contracted her abdomen and raised her legs, hooking her toes over the bar, doing an inverted hang.
Blood rushed toward her head. She curled her body upward, breathing evenly.
Just then, a rumbling sound came from the sky. Thunder crashed and lightning flashed. Bean-sized raindrops fell in response. The rain was so heavy that visibility blurred before her eyes.
The managing disciples called for everyone to take shelter from the rain first, continuing practice when the rain lightened. Soon people began leaving in groups. Xie Jingming and Wei Xiao ran over to call Fu Peibai to take shelter together.
Fu Peibai didn't move. Raindrops struck her body and face repeatedly, making it hard to keep her eyes open. She shook her head and said, "You go ahead!"
Accompanied by another rumble from the heavens, her voice wasn't loud but was incomparably firm. Wei Xiao could only go with Xie Jingming to take shelter under the eaves beside the training grounds. Below, it was packed with disciples avoiding the rain. On the grounds, only scattered figures remained, among them Fu Peibai.
She hung inverted from the horizontal bar, motionless despite the torrential rain, silently counting in her heart. Only after a quarter hour did she relax her body. Just as she was preparing to curl upward, a bamboo-ribbed green umbrella appeared above her. Suddenly an upside-down face appeared before her eyes, extremely close. Startled, her feet lost their grip and she fell from the bar.
As she fell, she didn't forget to protect her head. Fortunately, only her body was bruised from the impact. Just as she was about to climb to her feet, she heard a familiar, lovely young girl's voice beside her ear. "A-Pei, are you alright?!"
Sure enough, when she raised her head, she saw Lu Qingwan. Suddenly she had one headache after another.
She sat on the ground, using her hands to push herself backward. "Second Young Miss, why are you here?"
Lu Qingwan held the umbrella and was about to step forward to help Fu Peibai up, but the other party suddenly stood up on her own. "I'm fine. Second Young Miss, please go back. Look, your clothes are all wet."
Lu Qingwan's green skirt hem fell upon the ground, stained with water. The thin gauze on her shoulder was also soaked through. Not to mention the water droplets hanging from her face. Fu Peibai felt somewhat pained to see this.
Lu Qingwan bit her lower lip gently, watching the thin, tall youth standing in the rain before her. His handsome brows were slightly furrowed, his mouth opening and closing, telling her to leave. Raindrops slid down his clear jawline one by one, then soaked into his collar.
This person was being beaten by the violent wind and rain until he could barely keep his eyes open, yet he just stood there straight and still, not moving an inch. She felt both heartache and a surge of admiration rising in her heart.
Actually, she didn't know why she had come to like someone like Fu Peibai, a mere servant. But now she seemed to suddenly understand. Fu Peibai as a person possessed a youthful spirit that other young men of his age no longer had.
Like the clear wind, the bright moon, and the stars that never fade on summer nights.