There are two sects in Sichuan Province that belong to the Nine Great Sects and One Union.
The Emei Sect, which along with Shaolin forms the center of Buddhist martial arts. The Qingcheng Sect, which carries on the great lineage of Taoist martial arts.
From a martial artist's perspective, the status of these two sects is roughly equal.
But from the viewpoint of someone who knows nothing about martial arts, it's a different story.
Jinding Peak on Mount Emei, where the Emei Sect is located, is a full seven days' walk from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province. The Buddhist nuns and warrior monks of the Emei Sect focus on nothing but cultivation and martial arts. They don't even maintain the usual branch temples.
That's why ordinary people in Sichuan Province don't really care about the Emei Sect. It would be difficult for them to even have a conversation with one of the Emei nuns in their lifetime.
But the Qingcheng Sect is different.
The Qingcheng Sect is only two days' travel from Chengdu and has been aggressive about expanding its influence. They've established three major branch temples within Sichuan Province.
Anyone living in Sichuan Province, unless they're in some truly remote area, can regularly see Qingcheng martial artists. With just one or two connections, you can get in touch with someone from the Qingcheng Sect. In many ways, you could say the Qingcheng Sect dominates Sichuan Province.
Among all the Qingcheng branch temples, the largest by far is the Chengdu branch.
The Qingcheng Chengdu branch has dozens of Taoists and hundreds of lay disciples.
Since this single branch temple is larger than most mid-level sects, quite a few people make their living depending on the Chengdu branch. The Tang family was one of them.
The Tang family had been doctors for generations.
Up until Tang Wulie's great-grandfather's time, they were just mediocre neighborhood doctors. But things improved when Tang Wulie's grandfather started doing business with the Qingcheng Sect.
Their income became fairly stable, and the Tang family's reputation improved because they treated the prestigious Qingcheng martial artists.
What more could a doctor need? It was a decent life if you weren't too greedy.
Tang Wulie had no complaints about his father's life as a respected doctor. So he figured he'd follow in the family business and live like his father.
His father Tang Jianfeng felt the same way. Tang Jianfeng taught Tang Wulie medicine with the intention of passing on the family business.
However, Tang Wulie wasn't treating patients yet.
While Tang Wulie had sufficient medical knowledge, he still lacked experience, and patients preferred to be treated by the experienced Tang Jianfeng rather than young Tang Wulie.
Tang Wulie's father Tang Jianfeng was still at the prime age for vigorous work.
So Tang Wulie's role was doing odd jobs.
Like going to find herb gatherers deep in the mountains to obtain medicinal herbs.
Right now, Tang Wulie was visiting an herb gatherer.
The herb gatherer Zhong Gu handed Tang Wulie a bundle and held up one finger.
"One silver coin."
Tang Wulie partially unwrapped the bundle and grumbled.
"Isn't this way less than usual?"
"Look at the bottom of the bundle. Do you know how hard it is to find chinaberry and mantis egg cases in this weather?"
"...I know. I was just saying."
Tang Wulie handed Zhong Gu one silver coin. It was expensive for one bundle of herbs.
But compared to the value of the herbs Zhong Gu provided, it was actually a bargain. Zhong Gu was a skilled herb gatherer who wouldn't even bother with common herbs like kudzu root or duckweed.
Actually, being a doctor is half skill and half the variety and quality of herbs you have.
Tang Wulie's father Tang Jianfeng knew this well, so he sent his son to herb gatherer Zhong Gu twice a month to obtain herbs.
It took a full day to make the round trip from Chengdu to Zhong Gu's cabin.
Most people would find this annoying, but Tang Wulie liked this errand.
Herb gatherer Zhong Gu and Tang Wulie were similar in age and got along well. Plus, visiting Zhong Gu directly could bring some nice side benefits.
Tang Wulie casually tested the waters with Zhong Gu.
"...Got anything this time?"
"Well, there is something."
Two weeks ago when he came, Tang Wulie had gotten a whole handful of deer jerky that Zhong Gu had made. It was top-quality stuff, well-seasoned and dried.
A month ago, they shared a pheasant that Zhong Gu had hunted while looking for herbs. Unlike the precious deer or pheasant meat, they'd shared rabbit meat countless times since it was relatively common.
Tang Wulie figured about 10% of what he paid for herbs went toward these snacks.
Tang Wulie asked with subtle anticipation.
"What is it this time?"
"Mushrooms."
Zhong Gu pulled three or four dried mushrooms from his pocket.
But Tang Wulie's expression fell miserably. Dried mushrooms were decent enough to chew on, but they didn't satisfy Tang Wulie, who was hoping for meat.
"What kind of mushrooms? Don't you have any leftover jerky or rabbit meat? I even splurged on some liquor on the way here."
Tang Wulie grumbled, but Zhong Gu grinned confidently.
"You don't know quality when you see it. These mushrooms are way more valuable than jerky."
"Really?"
Tang Wulie was a doctor. He knew every mushroom used as medicine, and most edible mushrooms too. But he'd never seen this type before.
"Are they some kind of delicacy? But I'm not really into mushroom dishes..."
"No. You don't eat them for taste. These are special mushrooms."
"Special how? Are they some kind of miracle herb? The amazing kind that gives you sixty years of internal energy if you eat them?"
Zhong Gu narrowed his eyes and looked at Tang Wulie.
"If they were that kind of thing, I wouldn't be showing them to you. I'd hide them away and sell them to some martial arts master."
"Then what?"
"They're mushrooms that give you a special experience. Come on."
Zhong Gu led Tang Wulie to his cabin.
Zhong Gu chopped up the dried mushrooms finely, then handed Tang Wulie half a handful.
"The only downside is the awful taste. Put it in your mouth and swallow it right away."
"If it doesn't taste good and isn't good for you, why eat it?"
"You'll understand once you try it."
Zhong Gu said that, then dumped half a handful of chopped mushrooms into his mouth. He swallowed immediately.
Zhong Gu grinned and looked at Tang Wulie. His eyes seemed to ask if he was too scared to eat them.
Tang Wulie, hot-blooded at his age, didn't want to be looked down on by his peer Zhong Gu.
So Tang Wulie also dumped the mushrooms into his mouth. An indescribable awful taste and smell filled his mouth.
Tang Wulie almost reflexively spat out the mushrooms, but he held back and swallowed.
But nothing happened.
"...It just tastes nasty and that's it. What's supposed to be special about this?"
"Wait a bit. You'll find out soon."
Zhong Gu lay down on the ground at an angle. Tang Wulie did the same. The two chatted leisurely.
About how there was a pretty girl in the village below and he wanted to try talking to her, or how he'd set traps where pheasants often came, so next time Tang Wulie visited he might get to taste pheasant. Trivial stuff.
Then after about an hour or two, Tang Wulie felt a strange sensation.
"...Huh, what?"
"Starting to kick in?"
His fingertips and toes felt slightly tingly, and his body went limp and relaxed.
The sensation was similar to being drunk, but also very different.
His vision became dizzy and he saw colorful hallucinations, and even though he hadn't eaten anything, he could taste and smell delicious foods he'd had before.
"What is this?"
"Mushrooms that cause hallucinations. I can get them very rarely."
"Amazing..."
He felt sensations that were hard to describe.
Relaxed yet euphoric feelings. A bit of confidence like he could accomplish anything.
But since Tang Wulie was a doctor, he became a little worried.
"This won't cause any problems with my body, right?"
When Tang Wulie asked, Zhong Gu chuckled while lying on the ground at an angle.
"It's nothing like that, so don't worry. But don't tell your father about this."
"Of course I won't tell him..."
How much time passed like that? The mushroom's effects gradually began to weaken.
Looking at how much the sun had moved, it seemed like about half an hour had passed since the effects started.
Tang Wulie was disappointed that this strange sensation was ending, so he picked up another mushroom that Zhong Gu had set out.
Seeing this, Zhong Gu waved his hands dismissively.
"Stop it. Nothing good comes from going beyond a reasonable amount."
"Are you being stingy?"
"It's not that. These are hard to sell and go bad if you keep them too long, so there's nothing to be stingy about."
Tang Wulie looked at Zhong Gu and grinned. The same smile Zhong Gu had shown earlier, as if asking if he was too scared.
"Then there's no problem, right?"
Tang Wulie immediately gobbled up the mushroom. It was at least twice as much as he'd eaten the first time.
Zhong Gu looked sick.
"I don't know what's going to happen to you. I've never eaten that much before either."
"It'll be fine."
Tang Wulie answered confidently and closed his eyes.
Shortly after, Tang Wulie felt like his whole body was sinking underground.
Just moments before, Tang Wulie had been lying down talking with Zhong Gu.
But now Tang Wulie was standing in front of a furnace blazing with bright red flames.
Tang Wulie quietly looked into the furnace.
And the moment the metal he'd put in the furnace heated up just right, he shot out his tongs like lightning and pulled the iron block from the furnace.
Then, gripping the heated metal with the tongs in his left hand, he swung the hammer in his right hand.
Clang—
The first hammer strike.
With a loud metallic sound, the impurities that had covered the iron block in the furnace became sparks flying in all directions. The sight was amazingly brilliant and beautiful.
The sparks hitting his arms were hot. But even more than that, they were euphoric. This was the moment Ou Yezi loved most in his blacksmith's life.
Tang Wulie was caught in a strange sensation.
'...I'm a blacksmith?'
Even while thinking this, Tang Wulie swung his hammer again with his right hand.
With slightly fewer sparks than before, the impurities mixed in the iron block flew out, and with them, the random thoughts in his head burst away.
'Of course I'm a blacksmith. I've spent my whole life hammering metal. I've made Zhanlu and other swords, and there's not a single person in the world who knows iron and metallurgy better than me, nor will there ever be. How could this Ou Yezi not be a blacksmith?'
Ou Yezi thought this as he continued swinging his hammer.
But two strange words kept floating around in his mind. Tang Wulie. Tang Wulie... Two words that seemed like a person's name no matter how he looked at them.
Eventually Ou Yezi stopped hammering for a moment.
If he hammered metal while caught up in strange thoughts, the sword he made would turn out mediocre.
Ou Yezi repeatedly took deep breaths and thought.
'I need to forge five famous swords for the King of Yue. They'll definitely be the masterpiece of my life, so I can't let things go wrong from the start.'
Only then could Ou Yezi finally shake the strange name from his mind and focus on his work again.
From starting the first sword Zhanlu to completing the fifth sword Chunjun.
Ou Yezi devoted everything to making swords without being caught up in distracting thoughts even once.
After twenty-odd years passed and he completed the fifth sword Chunjun, Ou Yezi shed his human body, became an immortal, and ascended to heaven.
Just as he was about to rise above the clouds and meet other immortals, Ou Yezi felt hands shaking him.
Then he heard a voice that seemed both strange and familiar.
"Hey, Tang Wulie. How long are you planning to lie there?"
Ou Yezi raised his head. A strange young man was looking down at him.
'Wait, what strange young man? It's Zhong Gu. The guy I was just eating mushrooms and chatting with... But that's not right. I was completing five swords and ascending to immortality...'
The thoughts didn't add up. So Tang Wulie answered somewhat stupidly.
"Uh... huh?"
"Get up quickly. We need to leave before the sun sets further."
Tang Wulie grabbed his head.
The memories of Ou Yezi, the blacksmith of the State of Yue, and the memories of Tang Wulie, the doctor's son, were chaotically mixed together.
He couldn't tell if Ou Yezi was dreaming of becoming Tang Wulie, or if Tang Wulie had dreamed of becoming Ou Yezi.
Was this what they called the Butterfly Dream?
As Tang Wulie sat there confused for a long time, Zhong Gu looked down at him with a pitying expression.
"I told you to eat a reasonable amount, but you got all cocky and stuffed yourself, then collapsed. I thought something serious had happened."
Tang Wulie looked outside with an embarrassed feeling.
The sun had set quite a bit. He must have been out for a full hour.
But that hour didn't feel long. Actually, it felt ridiculously short.
He'd spent decades making swords in his dream, so how could one hour feel long?
As Tang Wulie staggered to his feet, Zhong Gu said.
"Leaving right away?"
"I have to."
"All right then. See you in two weeks. I'll have caught a pheasant or rabbit by then, so don't be late."
"Okay."
Tang Wulie gathered up his herb bundle and hurried toward Chengdu.
Tang Wulie's mind was still hazy.