Chapter 23: Laws Are Not to Be Borrowed Without Cause

Gu Liubai squatted on the ground, tapping his fingers against the snow. The snow emitted a rhythmic *bang-bang* sound, as if it were cheering him on.

Gu Liubai seemed quite satisfied. "It's frozen solid; it won't be as hard on the horses' hooves."

As he stood up, Chen Tu noticed he had changed into a pair of cowhide boots. Compared to the ones he had worn before, these were older and greasier.

"Can't you, for the love of heaven, be a little cleaner?" Chen Tu couldn't help but furrow his brow. Compared to the disheveled Gu Liubai, he looked as pristine as a bridegroom about to enter the bridal chamber.

Gu Liubai explained patiently, "Keeping too clean out here makes one prone to illness."

Chen Tu immediately thought of the "Black Eye Plague," and his face darkened instantly. He felt that Gu Liubai was once again taking a jab at him.

Gu Liubai looked around. They were about to depart, yet he still saw no sign of Xu Qi.

"Don't worry about him. Sometimes he's nearby, sometimes he's not, but he will always be following," Yin Shiniang said, intuiting Gu Liubai's thoughts. She added bluntly, "We don't see him that many times a year."

"More than once a month?"

"Just about."

"Does Xu Qi not need a horse?"

"He doesn't. Granny Long and I don't need horses either. As for Lan Yufeng, she could keep up without one, but there's no need."

As she spoke, Yin Shiniang kept a close watch on Gu Liubai's reaction. He seemed indifferent when she mentioned that she and Granny Long did not need horses, but he appeared genuinely surprised to hear that Lan Yufeng could also manage without one.

However, Gu Liubai asked no further questions. He simply nodded and said, "These boots of mine are easy to walk in; I won't be needing a horse either."

Chen Tu felt uncomfortable just looking at those boots, but he couldn't be bothered to call Gu Liubai out. He asked casually, "What about your two brothers? Weren't you going to take them along?"

"Zhou Lu'er set off yesterday, and He Huoluo will meet you halfway," Gu Liubai replied while inspecting the horses and luggage.

These fifteen horses were prepared by He Huoluo; they were all Dayuan steeds. While they lacked the speed of the "Fire Flying Dragons" of the Turkic Black Cavalry, their stamina and load-bearing capacity were equally impressive.

"Meet us halfway?"

"Yes, there might be another snowfall in two days, and it's easy to lose one's way out there."

"You even know there's going to be a snowstorm in two days?" Chen Tu thought this was a bit far-fetched.

"It's not my prediction; it's what the star-gazers at the Imperial Observatory said," Gu Liubai explained. "After Uncle Gui warned me, I made some inquiries. The Emperor seems to place great importance on this handover of warhorses, so the date wasn't chosen at random; people from the Imperial Observatory arrived early. I suspect some nobles from Chang'an will be coming as well, so we'll need Qiao Huangyun to disguise us beforehand, or we'll be recognized the moment we reach the city."

Chen Tu blinked, looking somewhat defeated, and fell silent. He was under a heavy psychological burden. The plague called the "Black Eye" was likely not just Gu Liubai fear-mongering; upon waking this morning, he had felt his body to be heavier than usual, and his urine was significantly yellower.

Gu Liubai had quite a bit of luggage; he used three horses to carry it. Added to the supplies and tents that He Huoluo had prepared for their journey, the fifteen tall horses made them look like a proper merchant caravan.

Once this "caravan" cleared Mingbo Slope, Gu Liubai stepped out alongside Yin Shiniang and Granny Long.

The snow was frozen firm; Gu Liubai, being light, left only shallow footprints. The fierce north wind blew, carving the snow surface into massive white scales, and soon, his tracks would be smoothed away.

Yin Shiniang deliberately trailed behind Gu Liubai by half a pace. In her understanding, the Great Tang Empire alone possessed over a hundred methods of *qi* cultivation. Yet, whether they were secret arts passed down from the *qigong* masters of the pre-Qin era or techniques from the Western Regions and overseas, only about thirty could be considered superior internal arts capable of tempering the internal organs and elevating one's spirit and strength far beyond the ordinary.

Among these thirty methods, a few emphasized the unity of body, technique, and intent. Unique movement combined with breathing techniques and the mental guidance of the muscles and flesh not only allowed *qi* and blood to reach the most minute parts of the body but also vibrated the internal organs, purged illness, and strengthened key acupuncture points.

Liang Fengning had once been an instructor of the Shanyin Guard, the elite of the elite, serving as the personal guard to the Jiedushi of Youzhou. The powerful figures within the Shanyin Guard practiced the "Dragon-Nurturing Art."

The Dragon-Nurturing Art indeed emphasized the unity of body, technique, and intent. She was certain that its movement, known as "Dragon-Walking," involved a majestic stride where the spine vibrated while the body remained light. During the constant movement, every muscle along the back rippled in a specific way, as if each fiber were massaging the insides, while the breathing was exceptionally long. At the pinnacle of practice, the breath expelled from the nose and mouth resembled a swimming dragon.

Although she had never met Liang Fengning, as an instructor, he would have been the type of man who, in the heat of battle, could have blinded an enemy ten paces away with a single "breath arrow."

Gu Liubai’s preference for walking instead of riding was clearly for the sake of cultivation, and he was likely at a critical juncture. Yet, his breathing and footsteps were entirely casual, not at all like someone in a state of cultivation. If she hadn't been certain he was practicing, and given her unique sensitivity to high-level *qi* techniques, she wouldn't have sensed that profound, mysterious aura.

Gu Liubai gave the impression of being completely at ease, as if the world around him were pushing him forward.

As they were now "grasshoppers tied to the same rope," Yin Shiniang shed her previous reserve and asked directly, "You aren't practicing the Dragon-Nurturing Art, and it’s certainly not the meditation techniques of the Canglang Sword Sect. What method is it? Did your mother pass it to you?"

"I wouldn't say my mother passed it to me," Gu Liubai answered straightforwardly. "Half of it is the Dragon-Nurturing Art, and the other half is a *qi* cultivation method from the Lion Kingdom. The Dragon-Nurturing Art was practiced by the imperial guards of the previous dynasty; it is overly aggressive, and practitioners often suffer from various ailments after middle age. My mother felt the founding Emperor of the Great Tang had no good intentions when he gifted this technique to the Shanyin Guard in Youzhou. Later, she managed to 'borrow' a method from the Lion Kingdom, and what I practice is a fusion of the two."

"'Borrow'?"

"Yes. My mother said she only wanted to look at it; she certainly wasn't going to practice it herself, and she guaranteed it wouldn't be taught to anyone in the Great Tang. The old monk in the Lion Kingdom was quite easygoing and agreed. After she read it, she returned the scroll."

"Is it a Buddhist technique?"

"Yes."

"Your mother is indeed formidable." Yin Shiniang took a moment to find the right adjective. She had initially wanted to call her "cunning," but then decided it wasn't a matter of politeness. To be able to borrow such a technique from the Buddhist sect of a remote kingdom and then weave it together with the Dragon-Nurturing Art—few people in the world could achieve such a feat.

Gu Liubai nodded earnestly. "Guo Beixi was also shocked when he saw my cultivation method back then. On his way here, he had already decided to make me practice the meditation techniques of his Canglang Sword Sect. He said that while on the surface it seemed like two methods complementing each other, in reality, it was no different from creating an entirely new technique. He told my mother that he didn't think anyone in Chang'an could have done this."

Yin Shiniang took a deep breath. "How did your mother respond?"

Gu Liubai recalled the scene and couldn't help but laugh. "My mother said his swordsmanship was decent, but his horizons were a bit narrow."

Yin Shiniang pondered this. "Does she mean she thinks there are people in Chang'an who could do it?"

"Likely," Gu Liubai nodded, speaking slowly. "She originally wanted Guo Beixi to read more books instead of sitting there like a wooden post, staring at mountains and water, obsessing over sword intent. She told me that many things do not exist in isolation, and there are inherent connections between many techniques. But Guo Beixi's injuries had dragged on too long—even she couldn't cure him—and he didn't have the time to read."

Yin Shiniang stopped trailing behind and walked beside Gu Liubai. "What injury did Guo Beixi suffer, and why did he come here?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Gu Liubai said. "I asked my mother, but she only said he was already suffering from internal injuries when he left Luoyang. As for the rest, she told me I would find the answer myself once I reached Chang'an."

Yin Shiniang asked, "Then who exactly is your mother?"

The expression in Gu Liubai's eyes grew complex. "My mother is a very peculiar person. Apart from Uncle Gui, it seems no one knows when she arrived here. Even to me, she feels as if she simply fell from the sky. At first, some said she was a singer who escaped from within the Great Tang, but I think that's complete nonsense. She only knows how to dance a type of exorcism dance, and she knows too much—not just medicine and Buddhist scriptures, but even some ancient scripts of this region. The strangest thing I remember is when a shaman from a large tribe in Gumo passed through here; upon seeing her, the shaman cut off her own tongue. And that shaman held a status of immense importance in Gumo."

Yin Shiniang was silent for a while. "Even today, you haven't figured out her true identity?"

Gu Liubai smiled. His smile looked bleak against the world of ice and snow, yet it carried a sense of pride. "No. As I understand more, I only find her more formidable. In fact, I have never seen anyone more capable than her. I believe she is exactly what she claims to be—the most powerful type of person in the world, with a mind approaching that of a deity. But she never told me her origins, only that if I reached Chang'an, I would eventually learn who she is."

Yin Shiniang asked, "Is that the reason you must go to Chang'an?"

"Not necessarily," Gu Liubai said with emotion. "Her way of thinking is vastly different from that of ordinary people. She always told me that her life and her choices have nothing to do with me, and that I should simply live my own life. She believes I should go to Chang'an because she thinks if I don't, I will always just think she is powerful, rather than becoming more powerful than she is."