Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 81: The Era Starts Anew

Cui Wenjing could not help but laugh. “Powerful families may have been around for a long time, but not that long. We weren’t there for the transition to the current era, and we are not the descendants of clans from the previous era. As for matters regarding the previous era, everyone, including His Majesty, is in the midst of exploring them. So far, we’ve only been able to gather information from remnants of records and ruins from antiquity. We only know more than other people in the sense that we have a better grasp of the available information.”

Zhao Changhe listened attentively.

“The previous era should have been one where demons and gods inhabited the world. They could move mountains, fill seas, and split the world—or so it’s said. Now, descriptions like that are nothing but descriptions, but they should have really been capable of all that in the past. There are theories saying that they were too strong and their battles caused the world to collapse. Or maybe it happened for some other reason. In any case, heaven and earth were shattered in the span of a single night and the myriad gods perished.”

Zhao Changhe expected as much. The methods of the blind woman were clearly on another level from the people of this world. Cui Wenjing was the number nine man under heaven and could even manipulate the profound workings of the weather, but there was still a sizable gap between him and the blind woman. If people today were not capable of replicating the blind woman’s feats, then her powers had to be of the previous era. She was clearly a survivor of that time. Zhao Changhe was only unsure of why she had decided to act from the shadows.

The dao of heaven has died... At this moment, the thing that resounded the most within his heart were these six words.

The beliefs of cults like the Blood God Cult and the Four Idols Cult may not be superstition after all. What if they actually point to powerful beings that once existed?

“Heaven and earth were shattered and born again. For whatever reason, even though the gods and Buddhas all disappeared, ordinary lifeforms did not completely die out. There were still tenacious humans who walked out of those ruins and rebuilt the world. It’s just that most inheritances from the previous era died along with it. Humanity rediscovered how to cultivate from scouring these ruins and places of antiquity, and also compiled a bit of its history. We know some of the stories from that time, but as to how we can reach the level of those deities...that is unknown.”

This was the crucial reason why Zhao Changhe felt that the level of martial arts of this world was low compared to the fantasy novels he knew. He even found Cui Wenjing’s level to be somewhat lacking. I wonder what level Xia Longyuan has reached.

At this point, Cui Wenjing sipped some tea to wet his throat, then suddenly laughed. He seemed to be laughing at himself. “The people of the world believe the Cui of Qinghe to originate from the previous era and revere us more for this; they believe us to possess some kind of awesome, mysterious inheritance. In reality, that’s not the case. Take this Biluochun for example.... Whether this tea is supposed to be called Biluochun, nobody knows. However, we know that there was once a type of tea with this name, and borrowed it to label this new type of tea. That’s all.”

Zhao Changhe said, “So it’s not that all the powerful families and sects preserved human heritage after the collapse of the previous era. Rather, they were the first to discover inheritances from ancient ruins and they stashed them away for themselves. Is this the case?”

“There are some relics that have been passed down from the previous era, and some people used those to set up their sects. This is the case for a considerable number of cults. However, most sects simply appropriated their names from the previous era. Our ancestors chose to name our clan Cui and, without a doubt, chose to settle down in Qinghe because it was recorded that there was a Qinghe Cui Clan from the previous era that flourished here. If we were to really look at what’s recorded, the Cui Clan of Qinghe and Wang Clan of Langya did not exist at the same time. However, we’re both around today because...well, because we all just appropriated these names.”

So that’s how it is.

The previous era might have some strong relation to the real world. That would explain why the blind woman appeared in the real world. Once the era collapsed, regardless of geography or culture, some things would undergo changes while others would be passed down. Thus, Beimang is still in the north, Qinghe is still in the south, and it’s also why the emperors Yao, Shun, and Yu[1], the Cui Clan of Qinghe, and Biluochun all seem so uncanny. The whole thing is actually very simple, but it’s clear that more in-depth research is required to find out why things are the way they are.

Zhao Changhe’s mouth twitched as he thought about the Cui Clan of Qinghe. Even though he was a humanities student, he was a jock that dominated the court. In the classroom, he would be as slothful as a cat and could not for the life of him remember the powerful families of each time period. Initially, he thought the Cui Clan of Qinghe had a legendary quality to them, like a tall mountain. But now that his father-in-law had revealed this, their lofty standing in his eyes dropped to the mud.

Cui Wenjing said leisurely, “Whether a clan flourishes depends not on what identity they wish to appropriate, but rather on the clan members themselves. I have never once covered any of this up. Yangyang.”

Cui Yuanyang straightened herself in her seat. “Father.”

“There were simply too many things to take care of and so I wasn’t in the mood to rebuke you, but I must make it clear now. You left the house to travel with a bandit. Not only did you ruin your spotless reputation, you even damaged the name of the clan and incited all sorts of disaster. You should be heavily punished. For the next few days, we have to take good care of our guest, so I will let you be for the next two days until he leaves. After that, you will be confined to the back of the mountain and cultivate for half a year.”

Cui Yuanyang had been joyous all this while, but her smile suddenly stiffened and she looked defeated. The father she felt was pleasant to look at a moment ago now seemed revolting.

“Can we talk this over? W–what about three months?”

“I will not accept anything less than half a year.” Cui Wenjing had a blank expression on his face. “Another thing. According to the clan rules. Ten strokes.”

Cui Yuanyang covered her butt and jumped up. “No! That won’t do!”

Cui Wenjing was unmoved and quietly drank his tea.

“Eh...” Zhao Changhe finally said something. “Those ten strokes. Do you mean she’ll be hit on the butt?”

“Yes.” Tears welled up in Cui Yuanyang’s eyes and suddenly, there was a little charm in her voice as she said, “But once it’s hit, it won’t be tender anymore. It won’t be nice to touch...”

“Pffft!” Cui Wenjing spat out all the tea in his mouth. The grand ninth ranked man on the Ranking of Heaven nearly choked himself to death listening to her. His trembling hand pointed at Cui Yuanyang as he coughed for a while, not saying anything.

Zhao Changhe smiled apologetically. “About that. Give me the ten strokes. I’ll take it on her behalf.”

Cui Wenjing slammed the table and stood up. “What do you want to protect her ass for?! I’m warning the two of you. If you dare to do anything to ruin the name of the clan within these three years, I don’t care who you are, I’ll cut you down with my sword!”

After he said this, he flicked his sleeve and left. “Because of what you just said, three more strokes!”

“Hey hey, senior—no, Father, we’re not done discussing the history of the eras...”

“Didn’t I give you the summary? If you want more details, then have that well-behaved daughter of mine dig up some ancient records for you. You’re in a study, have you not thought of reading the books here!? What the hell do you expect me to tell you!?”

Cui Wenjing’s voice was exasperated. Even until he walked far away, he had not spared them an eye, afraid that he’d want to beat them up if he looked at them for too long.

The couple looked at each other and felt that Old Cui had been holding back his rage for quite some time now. It definitely wasn’t easy to force yourself to look so calm and indifferent the past two days. You must be at your limit, right?

“Whatever. Don’t mind him.” Cui Wenjing’s bad daughter was fuming. “I won’t follow the clan rules. If he dares to hit me, I’ll make a fuss over it in front of my mother! His plan seems ironclad this time but mother has been crying for two days. Once I make a scene, she’ll have no small amount of things to say to him. Let’s see how he’s going to hit me then!”

Zhao Changhe tilted his head and looked at her. This girl only wanted to escape her beating and had few qualms about being locked up. She knew herself that what she had done was stupid and she also knew that she needed to receive punishment for it. Even Zhao Changhe thought in his heart that what she had done was incredibly stupid. It would not do if she was not punished.

After experiencing all this, she had grown up and knew what to do and what not to do. At the very least, after leaving her home this once, she would not make a fuss over wanting to leave and find her boyfriend.

To put it another way, everyone knew that it was about time for Zhao Changhe to leave.

There was no way he could remain here forever and be oblivious to the changes of the world.

There were still the misty rains of the jianghu waiting for him, and a vast painting scroll that needed to be unfurled.

There was still the arrangement with Han Wubing at the Ancient Sword Lake. A man was only as good as his word, so Zhao Changhe knew that he had to keep to his appointment. He counted how many days had passed and knew it was about time.

Cui Yuanyang bit her lower lip, shuffled up to Zhao Changhe’s side, and pressed her hand against his chest. “Big Brother Zhao...”

“Ah... Ah?” Zhao Changhe felt the atmosphere in the room was not quite right... This is your father’s study. What do you think you’re doing?

Cui Yuanyang said in a soft, intimate voice, “Are you leaving soon...”

“Yeah... It’s about time...”

“Then... I think I still have something to give you before you leave.”

The little girl’s tone became gentler and gentler. Together with what she said about her butt not being nice to touch after being hit, any man would think she wanted to do that...

Zhao Changhe retreated. “Umm... That. Wait. Your father—No. You’re still young. In three years...Don’t...”

“Hmm?” Cui Yuanyang raised her head and looked at him. There was a hint of slyness in her gaze. “What I meant was that I should give you a horse. Since Father says you’re meant to march through the jianghu full of spirit and all that, how can you do it without a horse?”

Zhao Changhe was dumbstruck. “Huh?”

“So...” Charm flashed through her gaze as she lowered her head and said in a low voice, “Big Brother Zhao, this reaction of yours...what do you want me to give you?”

1. Mythical emperors from 2000 BC ☜

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