The Dao of Reincarnation (390-391) (Patreon)

Chapter 390: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 1)

The cold wind howled as heavy snow blanketed the ground. An elderly man in tattered clothes lay in the snow, his body covered by the falling flakes.

Su Chen felt completely drained of strength. He was starving, having gone so long without food that he could no longer remember the last time he had eaten. Along the way, he had survived on dirt and tree bark until even the bark ran out. His fingers and toes had gone numb. The bone-chilling cold had robbed his body of all sensation.

Icy winds cut into him like sharp blades. In the dead silence, only his intermittent gasps and faint heartbeat told him he was still alive.

Alive, yes. But how much longer could he last? He would either freeze to death completely or simply die at any moment. Either way, death was inevitable. Only the manner of it differed.

Su Chen figured he would most likely freeze to death. At this point, he could not even move, let alone cultivate.

"Grandpa Wei, there's still someone alive here."

Su Chen sensed people approaching.

The voice belonged to a young girl, clear and bright, full of innocence and liveliness, completely unaffected by the blizzard.

Unfortunately, he could not even open his eyes.

"What a pitiful state," he thought with self-mockery.

"Miss, he is still alive, but he is on the verge of death."

A deep, resonant voice reached his ears. This was a trained martial artist of no small cultivation.

Su Chen no longer had the strength to gauge the cultivation level of the man called Grandpa Wei.

His life force was fading rapidly.

"He's about to die, Grandpa Wei! Hurry and save him!"

Wei Qiong looked at his young mistress with a doting yet helpless expression. His mistress was good in every way, except that she was far too kindhearted.

"Miss, to save his life, we would need at least a third-grade spirit medicine. But we brought none of that rank on this outing."

Third-grade pills and spirit medicines. Such precious items were not something they would carry casually. Even if they had them, who would waste a third-grade medicine on a ragged old man about to freeze to death?

"Grandpa Wei, he looks so pitiful. This is what Father gave me. Can we use it to save him?"

The girl's voice carried pity and reluctance as she rustled about and took something out.

"Miss, this is a fourth-grade pill that the Sect Master spent a great fortune to obtain for you. It is meant to nourish your meridians. He is not worth such a sacrifice from you."

Wei Qiong moved to stop her. He knew full well the price the Sect Master had paid for that fourth-grade pill.

"Grandpa Wei, if it were me lying here, would you use this pill to save me?"

Wei Qiong fell silent.

"Of course I would. Then it's settled. You would save me, so I will save him. Mother always said that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda."

Wei Qiong muttered inwardly that it could not possibly be the same. But he did not say it aloud.

"Miss, the Sect Master will be angry when he finds out."

Su Chen felt something round slide down his throat. In an instant, the cold that gripped his body began to fade.

"I know Father loves me most. He will not blame me!"

The girl's reply was pure and innocent.

Wei Qiong's expression grew complicated.

"He's opening his eyes."

In a daze, Su Chen opened his eyes and saw a little girl wrapped so tightly in red silk that she looked like a plump dumpling. The red cloak embroidered with golden plum blossoms stood out against the snow like a bright flame.

The next moment, he lost consciousness again.

"Grandpa Wei, what happened to him?"

The girl sounded deeply worried.

Wei Qiong glanced at Su Chen. "Miss, after you fed him the fourth-grade pill, his body was too weak to withstand the sudden surge of power, and he fainted. Even with the pill's nourishment, in this freezing wilderness, his life is only barely preserved. If he stays here, he will still die. If you want to save him, we must take him back to the sect to recover slowly and wait for the pill's effects to fully take hold. Only then might he survive."

The girl beamed. "Grandpa Wei is the best!"

Wei Qiong shook his head, his eyes full of affection. Yet when he looked at Su Chen, that affection turned to heartache. That had been a fourth-grade pill!

...

Su Chen woke up. He discovered that fate seemed to have played a tremendous joke on him. He had not died. He had not returned to the Reverse Fate Space. He had actually broken the curse and lived again.

As if sensing that Su Chen had awakened, a young man soon entered.

"You were lucky to run into Junior Sister Ruan. Junior Sister Ruan used a fourth-grade pill to save you!"

A trace of barely noticeable envy flickered in the young man's eyes. Yet when he saw the expressionless old man who had been rescued, his interest quickly faded.

Perhaps the old man had no idea what a fourth-grade pill truly meant. Talking to such a mortal was no different from playing a lute to a cow. He did not know that Su Chen was already pondering that the little girl who had saved him must be the Junior Sister Ruan the young man mentioned.

From the looks of it, this sect was not particularly powerful.

Su Chen rose with a hunched back and said, "Please thank Miss Ruan on this old man's behalf, young brother. One day I will repay the favor many times over."

The young man burst out laughing. "Old man, Junior Sister Ruan has always had a heart of kindness. You were fortunate to meet her. As for repayment..."

He dismissed the idea with contempt. He did not believe an ordinary old man could offer anything of value in return.

Still, the old man's desire to repay the kindness softened his expression somewhat, and he looked at Su Chen a little more kindly.

"Old man, Junior Sister Ruan wasted a fourth-grade pill to save you. If you go down the mountain and die, that pill will have been wasted for nothing. Because of this, the Sect Master flew into a rage and ordered Junior Sister Ruan into seclusion. She is forbidden to leave the mountain. Your life is precious now."

The young man chuckled, then continued, "There are some jobs available here. You can live out the rest of your days peacefully on this mountain. That way, Junior Sister Ruan's fourth-grade pill will not have been completely wasted."

Su Chen murmured inwardly that this was another person who was hard on the outside but soft on the inside.

Everyone in this sect seemed far too kindhearted.

Whether it was the little girl surnamed Ruan, the old man surnamed Wei, or the young man before him, they were all kind people. Although the young man's tone carried dissatisfaction and a certain aggressiveness, he had never intended to make things difficult for Su Chen. He had even cared for Su Chen while he was unconscious.

As for the work...Sweeping the floors? Becoming an obscure sweeping monk? Tending to the spirit herbs? Becoming a low-key alchemy master who quietly built up his strength?

Su Chen considered each option in turn. At this moment, he did not dare cultivate at all. In the end, his gaze settled on one particular role.

"Recorder."

As the name suggested, the duty was to record the life stories of the sect's elders and disciples after they died.

The recorders themselves remained nameless, yet the names they wrote down all belonged to people of note. Whether those people were remembered as good or bad, revered or despised, was left for later generations to judge.

They only recorded.

Seeing the work Su Chen had chosen, the young man looked somewhat surprised.

"Old man, this job requires knowing a great many characters."

Su Chen replied calmly, "In my hometown, this old man was a teacher." The young man looked him over, and a hint of respect actually appeared in his eyes. So he was a man of learning after all!

Chapter 391: The Ancient and Modern Recorder (Part 2)

In the blink of an eye, several months passed.

Su Chen came to understand that he was now in a small sect called the Heavenly Origin Sect.

The sect master was a martial artist of the fifth realm, the Spirit Soul Realm.

Though the sect was small, it had everything it needed.

According to all the disciples, the Heavenly Origin Sect had once been even smaller, reduced to a single mountain peak.

Yet with the rise of the current sect master, that humble peak had grown into one of the few notable forces in the surrounding region.

From then on, the Heavenly Origin Sect's name spread far and wide, becoming a power that everyone respected.

In the disciples' voices, there was nothing but admiration for the sect master.

He truly was a legendary figure.

Su Chen made this mental note.

Although he could not compare to those peerless prodigies whose fame echoed across the heavens, in the eyes of everyone in the Heavenly Origin Sect, their sect master was that legend, their idol.

During these months, Su Chen lived a very leisurely life. He even found himself enjoying this rare peace.

The sect was large, with over a thousand disciples. His work was to record the life stories of disciples and elders who had died.

Disciples and elders could not die every single day, after all. So Su Chen did not have work every day.

From the time he entered the Heavenly Origin Sect, through the cold winter snows to the revival of all living things, and now into the height of summer when the cicadas sang, he had never received a single true assignment.

Just as he was thinking this, Su Chen noticed movement outside the door.

Someone had come!

Su Chen rose from his rocking chair and watched a figure slowly walk in, face filled with grief.

The dead could not be pursued. Their life stories naturally had to be told by the living.

Su Chen looked at the newcomer's genuine sorrow and knew the deceased must have been someone closest to him.

As it turned out, Su Chen's guess was correct.

The visitor's name was Yue Anping.

The deceased was his Dao companion, named Hua Caidie.

Both Yue Anping and Hua Caidie were ordinary martial artists of the Heavenly Origin Sect. They possessed no outstanding talent and could not compare to the gifted inner disciples. Even though both were past thirty, they remained ordinary outer disciples.

Yue Anping's aptitude was slightly better than Hua Caidie's. Not long ago he had broken through to the Spirit Vein Realm, a cause for celebration. An outer disciple who reached the Spirit Vein Realm could at least become a minor steward.

But Hua Caidie's cultivation had been stuck at the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Su Chen took up his brush and recorded Hua Caidie's life.

In her youth, she had joined the Heavenly Origin Sect in ignorance. Later, she became Dao companions with the outer disciple Yue Anping, and the two remained inseparable.

Finally, he wrote: Died after failing to break through to the Spirit Vein Realm.

An ordinary disciple's entire life was reduced to a few brief lines.

"Thank you."

Yue Anping expressed his gratitude.

Su Chen watched the man with slightly graying temples leave, then let out a soft sigh.

The path of martial arts has always been this way.

Without sufficient talent, failing a breakthrough and perishing with one's dao extinguished was the most common outcome.

But when it happened to someone closest to you, it was a different matter entirely.

After Yue Anping left, no one came to Su Chen for a long time.

The Heavenly Origin Sect was, after all, a major power in the surrounding area. Disciples rarely died at the hands of others in disputes.

Su Chen was more than happy to enjoy the quiet.

...

Time passed through midsummer, autumn, and winter. In the blink of an eye, another season of revival arrived.

Su Chen met a familiar young man.

"It's you?"

This was the same young man who had carefully cared for Su Chen in the beginning and who had recommended the position of Recorder to him.

Yet the youth before him now lacked some of his earlier high spirits and had grown a little more steady. Clearly, the events that had occurred had tempered him.

"Nameless old man, I want you to help me record someone."

Su Chen nodded.

Nameless old man. That was because he had no name, or rather, he did not wish to recall his former name. Now he was only a recorder. He recorded others but could never record himself. Whether he had a name or not no longer mattered.

"Whom do you wish to record?"

The young man said, "My master."

The young man's name was Li Li. He was a disciple under Elder Wang of the inner sect.

To Li Li, Elder Wang had been both teacher and father.

Unfortunately, when his three-hundred-year lifespan reached its end, he remained stuck in the Spirit Sea Realm.

The Spirit Sea Realm granted a lifespan of three hundred years. When that lifespan was exhausted, dust returned to dust and earth to earth.

Su Chen slowly lifted his brush and recorded the life of a sect elder.

In his youth, Wang Heshou had joined the Heavenly Origin Sect, full of ambition. He befriended Ruan Jingtian, and together they resolved to rebuild the Heavenly Origin Sect. He defeated many geniuses and ranked thirty-fifth among the prodigies of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty. Later, he refused the recruitment of the Wooden Scenery Dynasty's royal family and chose to remain with the then-destitute Heavenly Origin Sect to build it up. His disciples were many and widespread. He lived to three hundred years of age and died a natural death.

Wang Heshou's life achievements far outnumbered those of Hua Caidie. Yet in the end, they too were reduced to a single brief page.

Li Li said, "Thank you."

Su Chen replied, "This is simply this old man's duty."

Li Li watched Su Chen arrange the bamboo slips and place them high up. "This work truly suits you."

Li Li left.

Su Chen smiled faintly.

Perhaps it did.

Su Chen heard the mournful tolling of bells outside the door.

The death of a highly respected elder was a tremendous loss for the entire sect.

All of the Heavenly Origin Sect sank into grief. Even former rivals set aside old grudges upon Wang Heshou's passing.

Su Chen did not feel sorrow.

Life and death, partings and farewells, were only ordinary occurrences.

Yet this made Su Chen think of his current life. He was already past sixty.

By chance, he had consumed a fourth-grade pill, so living to eighty or ninety would not be a problem.

But in the end, he would still die like the elders of the Heavenly Origin Sect.

Twenty or thirty years were but a snap of the fingers.

This was his only variable.

"Perhaps this life cannot end so uneventfully," Su Chen thought to himself.

As the commotion over Elder Wang Heshou's death gradually quieted, the people of the Heavenly Origin Sect recovered from their grief. Life had to go on. The living could not remain lost in sorrow forever.

Yes, Su Chen became idle once more. He had considered training the disciples of the Heavenly Origin Sect. But in the end, he abandoned the idea.

He was uncertain whether doing so might attract the attention of those behind the scenes. He could not expose himself. He could no longer wait for a second variable.

Over the following five months, another disciple came to his door. He recorded the life of a friend.

Zhou Hua, an outer disciple, had gone out seeking opportunities and died in the jaws of a demonic beast.

Su Chen raised his eyes slightly.

At least... There was still a friend willing to remember him and willing to let the sect remember him.

After the young man offered his thanks, Su Chen smiled and placed Zhou Hua's record together with Hua Caidie's.

This time less than a month passed before someone else arrived, causing Su Chen to mutter to himself.

"The Heavenly Origin Sect... the frequency of disciples dying seems to have increased recently."

In the past, one died every half year. Now one had been lost in less than a month.

"I am a friend of Yue Anping, sent here at his request."

The visitor's face showed no sorrow, as if he had only come to complete a task he had been asked to handle.