Zhu Shian: I Bask in My Own Glory

The first day of the Lunar New Year.

Before the sky had fully brightened, the members of the Zhu Family were already packed and ready to descend the mountain.

Is the eldest young lady not here?

She is inside offering incense; she will be out in a moment.

The oldest great-aunt of the Zhu Family, not seeing Zhu Shian, pulled a younger relative aside to ask, and the youngster pointed toward the main hall.

Zhu Shian had been offering incense at each hall in turn. Only the innermost statue—the Zhu Family ancestor, the Yuntai Daoist—remained. Just as she had done yesterday, Zhu Shian turned to leave, only to be held back by several elders.

Come quickly and pay your respects. You were sickly as a child, and every first of the month, your grandfather would bring you here to burn incense for our ancestors.

You have grown up safe and sound, and now you have your own skills. You must thank the ancestors for their protection.

Come, kneel and kowtow.

Some of the elders tugged at her arms, others set out a prayer mat, and some lit incense for her. The others stood to the side, gazing at her with fervent expectation. Zhu Shian felt so awkward her scalp began to tingle.

What kind of sense did it make to kneel and kowtow to oneself?

Was this a case of 'if you want something done right, do it yourself'?

Kneel, quickly! the elders urged.

Zhu Shian looked at the stone-carved statue and simply could not bring herself to bow. She took the incense handed to her and shoved it into the censer in a perfunctory manner.

You child!

Before the glaring elder could scold her, Zhu Shian spoke first: This main hall is quite empty. I think it would be better to add a spirit tablet for the Taiyi Sect. They were the mentors and peers of the Zhu Family ancestors, and they died sacrificing themselves to purge the world of demons and evil. In terms of both sentiment and reason, it is only right and proper to offer them a stick of incense.

What you say makes sense, but the ancestors left behind not a single word about the Taiyi Sect. How are we to carve a spirit tablet for them?

Zhu Shian had wanted to say she remembered their names, but she could not explain how she knew the names of everyone in the Taiyi Sect. She could only say: You do not need to set up a tablet for each person. Just one tablet for the Taiyi Sect will suffice.

Will they be able to receive the incense?

They will certainly receive it.

Zhu Shian sneered inwardly. If the spirits of the entire Taiyi Sect were truly being held in the Underworld, and the Underworld dared to withhold their incense, she would eventually find a time to settle the score.

Zhu Changfeng, who had been following along, glanced at the sky outside: The time is nearly here. Let us head down the mountain.

Let us go.

Zhu Shian led the way out of the main hall. In the mountain breeze of the winter morning, mixed with the scent of dew and the thousand-year-old pines and cypresses surrounding the temple, the cold made one shiver.

Zhu Shian took a deep breath. Life on the mountain in winter was never easy.

Zhen Shan County was located in the hinterlands of the southwest. Because the mountains there were damp and cold, and because no one disturbed them year-round, Zhang Xuanqing had grown accustomed to sleeping in during the winter.

Having slept late last night, he rose even later this morning. By the time Zhang Xuanqing opened his door, the Zhu Family had already descended the mountain.

Seeing no one inside or out, Zhang Xuanqing was filled with regret: Alas, I was a step too late. They have actually left.

Zhang Jie, being so young, did not understand his meaning and looked up at him with wide eyes.

Zhang Xuanqing patted his head and said with a smile: It does not matter. If it does not work this time, we will wait for the next. Since you call me Grandmaster, I will certainly secure a bright future for you.

Zhang Jie nodded obediently.

Zhang Jie was the grandson of Zhang Xuanqing’s fellow apprentice.

Zhang Jie’s grandfather—that is, Zhang Xuanqing’s junior brother—had possessed greater talent than Zhang Xuanqing and should have been the one to inherit the sect. Instead, he led all the disciples down the mountain to fight in the war. Of those who returned alive, fewer than one in ten remained, and even they were wounded or crippled.

In his youth, Zhang Xuanqing had been the classic example of someone with high seniority but low ability in the sect. When the sect went to war, he was left behind to guard the home. When his surviving brothers were carried back, Zhang Xuanqing had scrambled everywhere in search of medicine.

At that time, it was thanks to the kindness of the Zhu Family that he obtained the medicine needed to treat his brothers’ wounds. To repay this debt, Zhang Xuanqing had come to serve as the abbot of the Zhu Family’s Yuntai Temple.

Returning to Zhang Xuanqing’s junior brother: before entering the mountain gate, he had been a lay priest of Zhengyi Daoism. He had married while practicing at home and had a son named Zhang Sida. His son did not become a priest; he lived in the countryside as a farmer, married an educated youth who had been sent down to the countryside, and had a son—Zhang Jie.

The family of three had lived a decent life, but Zhang Sida had died of illness some years ago, leaving the widow and orphan to struggle and suffer frequent bullying.

When the country restored the College Entrance Exam, Zhang Sida’s wife passed the exam for a technical school. She had to return to the city, and she did not take Zhang Jie with her, sending him to Zhang Xuanqing’s sect instead.

The sect was now filled with the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled. Although they had performed meritorious service in the war, no one troubled them, but no one helped them either.

They often relied on Zhang Xuanqing’s support themselves; how could they possibly raise a child? Besides, even if they could provide a meal, how were they to raise him?

After some discussion, they could only think of sending the child to Zhang Xuanqing.

After all, among all the survivors of the sect, he was the one who had fared the best.

Zhang Xuanqing walked a few steps and suddenly stopped. He touched Zhang Jie’s thin, gaunt face and pondered carefully: If we really speak of it, your biological grandfather was a beggar who was only given a surname after the sect leader picked him up; he did not actually have the surname Zhang. As for you, there is no need to be too particular about your surname; the name Zhang was not something passed down by your ancestors. Furthermore, we who practice Dao Cultivation do not care for worldly possessions. What is a name, anyway? Why not change your surname to Zhu? If you change it to Zhu, I suspect that slippery girl will have no choice but to take you as a disciple.

Zhang Xuanqing had thought it over carefully. That girl’s talk of talent and age was all a ruse; she must simply be reluctant to teach the Zhu Family’s secret arts to an outsider.

Grandmaster, I am hungry.

Ah, ah, you are hungry, are you? Let us go eat right now.

Hearing the child say he was hungry, Zhang Xuanqing stopped overthinking. The old man took the child by the hand and trotted toward the kitchen.

Zhu Shian did not know that Zhang Xuanqing was secretly plotting against the Zhu Family. By this time, she had already arrived at Zhu Family Village, where the entire clan—men, women, and children—had come out to line the road in welcome.

Zhu Shian’s gaze slowly swept over the Zhu clansmen. Those living in the village, plus those who had rushed over from neighboring villages since dawn—there must be a thousand people here. Could it be that not a single one had talent?

Zhu Shian focused her attention on the infants held in their parents’ arms and the toddlers just learning to walk; they all looked quite promising.

Eldest young lady, let us perform the ancestor worship first, then we can have breakfast.

Zhu Shian nodded: Then let us begin.

Although Zhu Family Village was a single-surname village, in those years, it had been no small feat to protect the ancestral hall. Ancestor worship could not be too ostentatious, so the grand rituals of the past were omitted.

As the lead officiant, Zhu Shian stood with a row of young people behind her. Before entering the hall, Zhu Changfeng had brought these youths to her, saying they were the scholarly seeds of the Zhu Family.

The thirty-second generation head of the Zhu Family, Zhu Shian, leads the entire clan in offering incense to our ancestors!

Kneel!

Bow!

The spirit tablets in the Zhu Family ancestral hall were not counted starting from Zhu Shian; her ancestors were here as well. Zhu Shian finally felt willing to kneel.

However, the Zhu Family had been passed down for over a thousand years; how could it only be thirty-two generations?

After the simple yet solemn ceremony, Zhu Shian saw the family genealogy. It turned out that the genealogy was divided into two volumes; the Zhu Family of Sanqing Alley had a separate record.

The genealogy of the Sanqing Alley Zhu Family was not based on bloodline alone, but on the talent for Dao Cultivation. Without talent, even a biological father and son would not be included in the Sanqing Alley genealogy.

For example, her biological father in this life, Zhu Shoulai, was the only son of her grandfather, Zhu Fujiang. Because her father lacked the talent for cultivation, his name could only be entered in the Zhu Family Village genealogy.

In the Sanqing Alley genealogy, the thirty-first generation successor was Zhu Fujiang, and the name of the thirty-second generation successor had just been added: her name, Zhu Shian.

The Zhu Family’s heritage was difficult to maintain, and those with talent were few. However, the Zhu Family practitioners were skilled in both medicine and Dao, placing great emphasis on health and longevity. Calculating it this way, the generations of the Sanqing Alley Zhu Family were dozens fewer than those in the village.

The elders carefully put away the genealogy and placed it on the altar.

I will speak plainly: like father, like son. Most of the talented Zhu Family members in the genealogy came from the branch of the eldest house. It is rare for other branches to produce someone with talent, and even then, it is usually mediocre.

That is the truth. Looking back, our eldest young lady also comes from that eldest branch.

The branch the elder referred to was the one Zhu Shian belonged to in her previous life. Her father had three brothers, and he was the eldest.

If judged by bloodline, in this life, Zhu Shian was the descendant of her own elder brother.

Alas, it is a pity that the Daoist Shian passed away when she was only in her twenties. If she had left behind descendants to inherit her bloodline, our Zhu Family would surely be even more prosperous.

The great-aunt looked at Zhu Shian and smiled: Our eldest young lady has a good name, the same as the Daoist Shian. She is basking in the old lady’s blessings.

Zhu Shian smiled. Was she basking in her own glory again?

In her previous life, her parents had named her Zhu Yunduan, and Shian was her Daoist name, meaning that the ten directions of the world would all be at peace.

At that time, she was the rising star of her sect, undefeated among her peers. Her master’s choice of the name Shian had been quite arrogant; the implication was clear: with my little disciple Shian here, who would dare disturb the peace of this place?

Thinking of those unrestrained and glorious days, Zhu Shian’s eyes curved into crescents.

Looking back a thousand years later, Zhu Shian felt the name Shian was perhaps too grand; she should have avoided the omen, and then things might not have ended so tragically.

To die for the world was to die for a worthy cause. Even if there had been schemes she did not know about, she still had no regrets.

Her sect had not a single survivor. To call it tragic was an understatement.

Aside from her, the Zhu Family were all ordinary people. They had been unaware of the truth behind that great battle. After learning of her death, her eldest brother had led the clansmen to retrieve her remains, buried her on Yuntai Mountain, and built a temple to pray for her.

After reading the records in the genealogy, Zhu Shian did not understand: who had told the Zhu Family to retrieve her remains? Why bury her on Yuntai Mountain?

And who had set up the formation at Yuntai Temple?

That formation was powerful. On the surface, it appeared to be protecting the temple from demons, but in reality, it was meant to suppress her.

Although it was meant to suppress her, the formation did indeed have the effect of gathering spirits and nourishing the soul, with the eye of the formation located beneath her statue. In that sense, the person who had gone to the trouble of setting up this formation had, at heart, intended her well.

They were friends, not foes!

The Zhu Family elders did not understand the affairs of the Xuan Sect. When asked about those who had good relations with the Zhu Family, the elders mentioned that the Mao Shan Sect had been on good terms with them for generations and had always maintained contact.

The Mao Shan Sect?

Many names crossed Zhu Shian’s mind.

Too much time had passed—so long that she did not know if the people she had known had left any descendants.

Zhu Shian’s gaze moved past her elder brother’s name. To retrieve her remains, one hundred and twenty-four members of the Zhu Family had died.

They were all her blood kin!

There were debts to be collected, and kindness to be repaid.

After the ancestor worship, Zhu Shian was busy again after a simple breakfast, meeting with the clansmen in the village.

Zhu Shian felt helpless. Among so many Zhu Family members, she truly could not find a single one with a talent for metaphysics.

With such low odds, it was a wonder the family heritage had not been broken. She did not know whether to call this luck good or bad.