Ch53 - ...Speak Human, Alright?

Editor: Sahloknir

“Although everyone says that Xianjun is as cold as frost, I know that you’re actually very nice!”

After finishing the pastry, Kong Jing’s eyes narrowed with delight. He couldn’t help blurting out, “I like you so, so much!”

The confessions of a child were often short-lived and not to be taken seriously. Jiang Yinghe didn’t take it to heart as he asked, “Do you have any homework today?”

“I finished it already.” Kong Jing scooted closer and said, “The other day, I heard the Abbot chatting with other people. He mentioned you.”

Jiang Yinghe saw how he was eager to share but also hesitant to do so. He didn’t admonish him and even played along. “And what did he say?”

Kong Jing was very happy with this response. “The abbot felt that there would be a succession of visits from evil cultivators over the next two days, so he wouldn’t be accepting new disciples for now. He said that they were all here for you, Xianjun, so you must be careful…”

Halfway through his speech, he remembered Jiang Xianjun’s longstanding reputation as a formidable cultivator. In terms of martial ability, even the Abbot himself might not be his equal. He shifted his tune, “But you’re so powerful, so you should be…”

Before Kong Jing could finish, he heard a cat’s cry outside the otherwise silent room. The sound was soft and charming, with a loneliness that inspired pity in others.

Just when the little monk was about to look through the window out of the goodness of his heart, Jiang Yinghe stopped the child with one hand and coaxed him to continue his exercises elsewhere.

Jiang Yinghe was the only one left inside to hear the faint sounds coming from beyond the door.

The cat’s cries became more and more crestfallen.

As if he hadn’t heard a thing, Jiang Yinghe flipped through the pages of the book he had just put down, thinking about his upcoming tribulation. There were three Heavenly Tribulations at the Hollowed Cave stage. This would be his last one.

After all three had passed, his body would be tempered, which left only the test of his mentality. He would return to his true self step by step, purify his Daoist heart, condense his soul, and then ascend to the Half-step Golden Immortal stage to find his path to become one with the Dao.

Jiang Yinghe suddenly raised his eyes. As expected, there was a small white cat sitting on the windowsill. Its round, inky eyes were brimming with tears as its entire body exuded caution and an urge to please. It lightly jumped to the ground.

Jiang Yinghe watched it for a moment without speaking.

The cat stopped at his feet, meowing. Its big, fluffy tail gently rubbing against him a few times.

Jiang Yinghe’s gaze sharpened. “A wasted effort.”

The little beast at his feet looked at him with widened cat eyes.

“You say that you don’t care if I can reciprocate your feelings,” Jiang Yinghe spoke casually as he continued to glance at the book. If you judged based on his appearance, he didn’t seem to care the slightest about this matter, “but you’re clearly hurt by this. Don’t you think that there’s a contradiction here?”

After a few moments of silence, the white cat at his feet transformed into a human, only keeping his tail.

Chang Ye was born with a shocking beauty that transcended gender. He was a sight to behold even when he was a distraught mess like now.

He knelt in front of Jiang Yinghe and rested his head on the other’s knees. He could sense the faint cold fragrance that had eluded him for so long.

“Ye-er was afraid…afraid that the person that Shizun likes wasn’t me.”

Jiang Yinghe heard his quiet sobs.

“Shizun already…didn’t like me… I always made you angry. But I’ve really changed! I won’t lie to you anymore, so will you forgive me?”

Like a real cat, he revealed a soft and pitiful appearance. His tail, covered with dense, fluffy fur, wrapped around Jiang Yinghe’s calf.

“So stop looking at others. Look only at me… Shizun, please look at me…”

Jiang Yinghe closed his book and sighed. He flicked Chang Ye’s forehead and asked, “Where are your Shixiongs?”

Chang Ye’s eyes brightened before quickly becoming dull. He seemed to find it difficult to accept Shizun finally speaking to him, only to ask about the other two. He sobbed again before whispering, “They came here a long time ago, but they d-didn’t come over.”

Jiang Yinghe flicked him again. “But you did. How disappointing.”

Those dark and watery eyes fixed on him as his disciple climbed into his arms. His voice was utterly soft and pitiful.

“Don’t be angry with me anymore… I really won’t do it again. I’ll protect what Shizun wants to protect from now on…”

How could Jiang Yinghe withstand such a blow? He couldn’t bear to hear Chang Ye cry, so he helped wipe away his tears. “Do you really know what you did wrong?”

Chang Ye nuzzled against his fingers and looked at him with big eyes.

“Your mistake was—those two understand that love is a two way street and respect that I need to consent as well. You, on the other hand, could only scheme and plot to trick me into giving away the limited amount of affection and pity I have to offer.”

Jiang Yinghe was very calm. There wasn’t the slightest hint of anger in his words.

“Chang Ye,” he called, “when will you learn that respecting me and getting my consent is the most important thing?”

The red-clothed youth looked blankly at him.

“In your eyes, the people of any race are like ants if they have no use to you.” Jiang Yinghe slowly said, “I know that this way of thinking was necessary to survive in the Dark Ages, but if you are to stay by my side, you must learn to stand in the light and to see things differently.”

“I don’t want to be the only light you can catch from the darkness.” Jiang Yinghe took his hand, “I should be the one to pull you out instead. You can’t even respect and love me, so how can you do so with other creatures?”

He raised his hand and wiped the tears from the corners of Chang Ye’s eyes again, sighing.

“Nevermind. If you still can’t understand then I can wait.”

He said these words on purpose. Jiang Yinghe got so into his little lecture just now that he almost started on the ideological and moral lessons he had taught in his past life.

The era he had lived in and the basic education he received there were so very removed from Chang Ye. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Correcting his way of thinking and character would take time.

Just as Jiang Yinghe withdrew his gaze to finish reading the cultivation novel in his hand, his fingertips were suddenly grasped. He heard the other party’s voice.

“But Ye-er can’t wait.” Chang Ye looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, “I thought that as long as Shizun was around, everything would still be the same as before. But lies can’t ever become the truth. They remain buried in your heart where they eat away at you and twist your perspective. Shizun…”

He paused for a moment and before jumping like he had remembered something. As if he was grasping at straws, he asked hoarsely, “Shizun…do you…want to retrieve your passion root?”

Jiang Yinghe remembered the words that Abbot Chan Qing had said to him, that their three souls were one… And that he was nothing more than a trial for the unified soul to overcome… His finger pressed against the bottom of the page as he paused for a moment.

After the silence, there was a quiet agreement.

“…Yes.”

Even if this path led to a dead end—

It was the only way to get answers for the three of them, and for himself.

—-

When Chang Ye closed the door, he could still detect the lingering notes of the other’s cold fragrance.

He withdrew from the room, feeling like a fire was burning in his lungs. It scorched his cruel and frozen heart that was always ready with a mask.

He closed the door tightly with his palm resting where the two panels met and slowly slid down.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him.

Chang Ye closed his eyes and opened them again. He licked his sharp canines. “Did you come to mock me?”

The person behind him stopped.

“So even little Shidi has times where he can’t hold back anymore.” Qin Jun raised his eyes, looking surprisingly calm, “You’ve always been the most favored one over the years.”

“To bring up the past again at a time like this, you must really hold a deep grudge against me.”

Chang Ye turned around with a cold face. For a split second, his gorgeous features were twisted with madness and sorrow. Then the Devil King Tianhou that existed only in darkness retreated, leaving behind Chang Ye, the Peng Lai disciple who grew up beside his shizun.

“…Where’s Li Huanhan?”

“He’s right next door to Shizun.”

“Up to no good I bet.” Chang Ye commented offhandedly, “Tell him that I’m going to go up to the Endless Sky Watchtower to settle an old matter.”

What could be more important than matters that were related to Shizun?

Qin Jun leaned against the fenced wall. The dark robe he was wearing was embroidered with many ghostly runes. The dark patterns within the robe periodically showed the waves of the River Styx, spirits wandering the Earth, and even the fires of Hell itself.

“I thought you wouldn’t agree so easily.” Qin Jun stared at him, “Little Chang Ye-shidi, do you really think so little of your two Shixiongs that your would go there by yourself?”

Chang Ye raised his eyebrows and looked at him, as if he was truly considering it for a moment. He smiled.

“Fine,” he’s been constantly crying these past few days. Rarely has a smile so sweet and harmless crossed his lips, “since Qin-shixiong is so powerful, you should go first. Ye-er will clean up after you.”

“…That was so fake I want to hurl. The mopey you from before was better. Little Chang Ye-shidi, you look too weak to take care of yourself.”

Neither was holding back, and it looked like they could continue to argue for another ten years. After a few mutually sarcastic comments, they suddenly stopped as Li Huanhan’s stifling demonic aura descended upon them.

Chang Ye looked to the edge of where the demonic energy was emanating from and saw Li Huanhan. He was dressed in black with bloodshot eyes and internal demon patterns pulsating across his body. The strangest thing was actually how he seemed to be having an amicable conversation with the Abbot of Lan Ruo Temple.

The two men walked in their direction from a side corridor. Chan Qing was wearing a robe over his pure white monk’s garment. The seal of Buddha adorned his forehead, giving off a sense of detachment unique to Buddhist cultivators. Li Huanhan, who walked in step with him, exuded a completely different feeling.

After reaching the end of their conversation, Chan Qing looked deeply at him and clasped his hands together, nodding his head, “Your Excellency is skilled at considering all the sides of a situation. This one is in awe.”

Li Huanhan returned the salute calmly and looked at the two men to the side. “My two shidis have caused trouble for the Abbot.”

Since Chan Qing was able to divine their true identities, he also knew that the unified soul was not someone he could interfere with. He only said, “The orchid outside the window was trampled on by the cat.”

“He’s the most disappointing one.” Li Huanhan said, turning to Chang Ye with dark bloodshot eyes, “A beating would serve him well.”

Chan Qing was shocked into laughter. Then he asked, “How confident is Benefactor Li in his predictions?”

“Eighty percent sure.”

“Goodness.” Chan Qing said, “Maybe it’s better this way.”

He nodded, then walked by the other two fractions of the soul to enter Jiang Yinghe’s room.

Outside, the three of them faced off, forming a solid equilateral triangle in between.

The demonic energy continued to exert pressure for a moment. However, it retreated just before angering the other two.

Li Huanhan said indifferently, “I have entrusted the Abbot to keep Shizun busy.”

The matter of slaying Hundun would definitely cause great upset across the land. No matter how disappointed Shizun was with them, it was in his nature to worry. It would be impossible to guarantee his safety in a battle between Half-step Golden Immortals, even if he was just watching from the sidelines. Shizun sustaining even the slightest of injuries was unacceptable to him.

Not even if it was an accident.

That’s why he took measures so it wouldn’t come to that.

Qin Jun stared at him for a moment and said, “You told him about that?”

He was referring to how the two of them believed that Shizun was the reincarnation of the Taichu Sword Saint.

“Yes.” Li Huanhan said, “In exchange, he also told me something.”

Qin Jun raised his eyebrows and curled his lips, “Let me guess…it’s related to the similarities between you and I.”

Li Huanhan nodded lightly. He knew that Qin Jun picked up on how their temperaments gradually melded together. It was a passive process that was difficult to perceive, but its presence was undeniable.

Chang Ye was completely left out and lost. The growl of a ferocious beast threatened to erupt from his throat as he watched these two speak in damned riddles. He almost gave in to his instincts, but he couldn’t lose face like this. Chang Ye asked patiently, “What are you guys talking about?”

Qin Jun’s eyes shifted over and he suddenly asked, “Is he one as well?”

Li Huanhan was silent for a moment. “Yes…I was surprised too.”

Chang Ye growled, “…Can’t you guys talk like normal humans for once.”

The previously equal triangle seemed to suddenly shift into an isosceles triangle, and he was the corner that had been abandoned.

Chang Ye didn’t think that he would even be ignored by his rivals one day.

Li Huanhan didn’t pay him any attention as he turned to leave. It was Qin Jun who pretended to kindly remind him, “Little Shidi, your tail is out.”

The fur on his soft and fragrant tail was all standing on end. It was completely inconsistent with the red-clothed boy’s demeanour, like a fucking lie detector.

Chang Ye blinked. “…”

It turned out that cats and their tails were two separate creatures.

—–

After Chang Ye left, Jiang Yinghe couldn’t finish his book, which was rare for him.

This book was about how to fortify one’s cultivation body. As long as he passed his last Heavenly Tribulation, his body would become completely tempered. Then the only thing left would be to face the test of mentality.

He didn’t know why, but he had a very bad feeling about this tribulation. Like it would spiral out of his control somehow.

Every tribulation represented an interrogation by the Dao itself, accompanied by strikes of heavenly lightning. The third one was especially important as it represented a crucial turning point in the process of conditioning the body to no longer be affected by the heart. Rather than calling it an interrogation by the Dao itself, it was more apt to describe it as the cultivator facing his own obsessions. It was the first time that their truest selves would be tested.

He could remain calm and steady as always the first two times, but this time…

He found out that his passion root had been removed, that his disciples saw him as more than a shizun, and that the Dao Ancestor had split his own soul… How could he remain calm with all this on his mind?

Jiang Yinghe sighed softly. Just as his thoughts grew complicated again, he heard a knock at the door and the steady footsteps of someone headed his way.

The sandalwood scent often found on Buddhist cultivators drifted over.

He raised his head and saw Chan Qing sit across from him and start setting up a chess board on the small table. He said meaningfully, “The heavens have undergone a great change.”

Jiang Yinghe took a glance outside and saw the sky that was clear only a short while ago had suddenly become dark. Steel-grey clouds covered every inch, as if a swift upset had taken place.

He gazed into the distance for a long time, his heart growing more and more uneasy. “The colour of the sky seems unusual.”

“The spring orchids are also withering early.” Chan Qing said, “In the summer, there are often torrential rains, so it will be a few months yet before we are able to see the orchids again.”

A few months was a very short period of time to cultivators.

Jiang Yinghe nodded his head, suppressing the doubts in his heart, and played chess for a while. He suddenly heard calm and gentle words from the one seated opposite him.

“Jiang Xianjun, are you truly angry with them?”

Jiang Yinghe didn’t expect a senior like Chan Qing to ask about such things. He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Not really.”

He looked at the Abbot’s slightly amused gaze and felt a little embarrassed for some reason. He added, “I can’t feel those emotions, but I can consider the situation from an observer’s perspective. The three of them are also so different from ordinary people as well as each other and myself. Even if the Dao Ancestor is just stirring up a storm within the world that he once created, I still can’t…”

“The one believes,” Chan Qing said, “that he may have split his soul to meet you. Just like how he is your love tribulation, why can’t you be his?”

“…Me?”

Author’s Corner

Passion root: Here I come, here I come! With a deafening roar from the sky, Laozi appears in center stage!

Sahl

…”The orchid outside the window was trampled on by the cat.”

…”He’s the most disappointing one.”

😂  😂  😂

Rain

Everyone’s dunking on my boi Chang Ye XD