chapter 36.2

During their brief exchange of dialogue, the various sect heads who had just been forced to retreat now rushed back up one by one. They all came to a halt a few steps away for an unspoken reason. Only Jiang Molou took his two disciples with him to walk directly to Jiang Xunyi’s side, without even looking at the surrounding people.

This act finally gave them a subject to discuss, and Feng Xue was the first to speak: “Sect Head Jiang, Sect Master Yun, do you two mean to protect that scum until the end?”

Jiang Molou was as concise as ever: “He is my Shixiong. Since he has returned, he shall be the Hidden Spirit Sect Head in the future.”

Yun Xie was uncharacteristically quiet as he stood on the side. Instead, it was He Deng behind their group who finished his chicken drumstick, wiped his mouth, put his palms together devoutly1, and then spoke with great benevolence: “Amitabha, another idiot has arrived.”

Jiang Molou probably had never been called such a term in his life. For a moment, he didn’t react, or perhaps he suspected some hidden meaning behind those words, so he looked to Jiang Xunyi in complete confusion.

Jiang Xunyi: “He’s insulting you.”

Jiang Molou: “……”

Upon being completely ignored once again, Feng Xue couldn’t endure any longer, and raised his voice: “If this is the case, then do not blame me for being rude. Everyone, attack together! No matter how sky-high their abilities are, they can’t beat all of us at once!”

Yun Xie slowly took a step forward, blocking in front of Jiang Xunyi, and indifferently said: “Who dares?” His tone was not particularly harsh, but it carried a chilling momentum: “It is not as if you all do not know who I am. If any here do not understand the correct decision between advancing and retreating, then do not blame me for casting aside mercy. Killing people has always been the simplest matter in the whole world.”

Glancing at Yun Xie’s clenched fists behind his back, Jiang Xunyi knew he was definitely bluffing. He was originally injured in the first place, and had just fought such an earth-shaking battle with the Sharing Affections Banner. At this moment, he was likely already at the end of his rope2—don’t even mention killing a person, even killing a chicken would probably be a problem for him.

He quickly strode up and grabbed Yun Xie’s arm. While it looked like he was blocking Yun Xie from attacking, he was in fact supporting Yun Xie’s body. He whispered under his breath: “What are you flaunting around for, hurry and shut up. Molou, you carry him and leave first. Without him as an encumbrance, I’ll probably be able to run away even faster than you two.”

The endlessly noisy He Deng spoke out again: “These two benefactor brothers share deep feelings, enough to move one’s heart. However, with a gulf between their hearts, how can there be no obstacles in their minds3? Young master Jiang, are you thus willing to forgive Sect Master Yun for that deadly enmity?”

In this kind of extremely urgent situation, he still wanted to blab away with no end in sight. The chatter was enough to explode one’s brain, and Jiang Xunyi and Yun Xie simultaneously roared: “Shut up!”

He Deng did not shut up. He continued to speak while watching them: “Unexpectedly, the two of you experienced a bout of life and death, yet still remain so close that nothing can come between. Young master Jiang, are you not afraid that Sect Master Yun’s current injuries are all faked? Have you considered that perhaps you encountered all these people precisely because he secretly invited them over, intending to capture and kill you once again?”

Faced with such blatant attempts to sow discord and drive a wedge between them, even someone with immense self-restraint wouldn’t be able to take it any longer, let alone Yun Xie. He ground his teeth in rage—if it weren’t for his injuries being so heavy that he lacked even a modicum of spare strength, he would truly abandon everything else in favor of making his first priority chopping down this old man.

Jiang Xunyi didn’t show much reaction to these words. Instead, it was Jiang Molou who was abruptly shocked, pulling Jiang Xunyi behind his own back and lifting up his sword to prop it against Yun Xie’s neck.

But before he could complete the move, Jiang Xunyi had already flicked his finger to knock Jiang Molou’s sword away: “Alright, that’s enough, are we seriously going to play this game of internal strife? You don’t have to worry, Yun Xie would not do such a thing.”

Yun Xie raised his head, quietly watching Jiang Xunyi.

Jiang Molou said: “You still trust him? He killed you!”

Jiang Xunyi said: “He killed me, but it was an open and fair killing. My skills were no match for his, so there is nothing more to say. What’s more, whether he killed me is one matter, but whether I trust him is another matter entirely.”

At this time, it was already past midnight. Feng Xue saw that Yun Xie was indeed badly wounded, so he couldn’t help but take a couple steps forward. However, he still held an ounce of fear towards this bizarrely behaving old man, so he hesitated for a moment before attempting to test the waters: “May I ask the reason behind the Great Master’s coming? If you do not recognize these two men in the first place, I would advise Great Master to first avoid meddling in other people’s business.”

Great Master He Deng was all smiles: “Although this old monk has never met the Dual Jades of the Spirit Stage before, the Buddha’s mission has always been to deliver all living creatures from suffering. I was not acquainted with them before, but now I am. I came here today precisely to resolve the confusion between these two.”

Jiang Xunyi said: “What resolving confusions, I have no need for that.”

Great Master He Deng laughed: “Amitabha, it seems that you are still unwilling to forgive Sect Master Yun. If this is the case, this old man might as well help young master Jiang repay this enmity.”

The moment the words left his mouth, his palm suddenly shot out without any warning whatsoever, smashing straight onto the crown of Yun Xie’s head. He had moved with incredible blazing speed—neither Jiang Xunyi and Jiang Molou on the side, nor Yun Xie himself, had any time to react.

With such a clean blow to the crown of the head, no matter who the attacker was, there was no reasonable chance of survival. Jiang Xunyi could only watch as Yun Yie sprayed out blood from his nose and mouth and toppled over. His heart skipped a beat and his mind was completely blank in that instant, feeling as if his whole body was paralyzed.

But immediately afterwards, Jiang Xunyi felt a wave of extreme grief and anger rush to his chest. Blood flooded to his brain, and amidst the resentment he didn’t think before blurting out: “I’ll fucking kill you!!”

He smashed his palms out, even forgetting to unsheathe his sword. A stream of spiritual energy intertwined with his characteristic fire dragon, rushing up towards the heavens before attacking He Deng with the momentum of a churning sea4.

But this earth-shattering palm of his… appeared to do absolutely nothing to this bony aged monk. With a casual wave of He Deng’s sleeves, the immense force was deflected at an angle to hit the nearby empty ground instead. With a huge bang, another wave of sand and rocks was stirred up from the earth, barraging all those present.

He Deng smiled slightly: “Having avenged such a great hatred, is young master Jiang actually not pleased?”

As he spoke, his figure seemed to sway slightly. He leaned over to pick up Yun Xie’s corpse, and then turned and leapt away. His silhouette rose and fell, when suddenly he pulled out a great saber5 from some unknown location. With one stroke through the air, an enormous opening was actually ripped open in the empty space, and He Deng carried Yun Xie to jump inside. Jiang Xunyi’s rage seemed to have overcome his reason, and he followed without even thinking.

Behind them, the crowd of people watched with wide eyes as the crack in space-time shuddered and twisted a few times before once again disappearing into the air, leaving no trace of the three people behind.

Footnotes:

1. 双手合十: You’ve probably seen monks put their hands together in prayer, like in this picture: \n2. 强弩之末 lit. “an arrow at the end of its flight”

3. He Deng’s line here is likely a reference to the most famous Buddhist scripture the Heart Sutra, which emphasizes that Bodhisattvas have “心无挂碍” [“No worries in their heart” or “No obstacles in their mind”]

4.  排江倒海

5. 刀 can refer both to a knife and to a single-edged sword/saber. Since He Deng is literally tearing space open, I felt a knife might not be large enough for this endeavor.