chapter 4

Not far from the cave entrance was a small mountain. Jiang Xunyi stood at its foot, narrowing his eyes as he looked up towards the top. A crowd of people formed a dense mass on the mountaintop, though the distance made it difficult to distinguish which faction they belonged to. He thought for a moment and was just about to gather his energy1 to go up, when a large man suddenly rushed out of the slope and pointed at him, yelling: “Kid, who the hell are you? Where’d you pop out from? Do you know where this is? You must be blind to dare trespass here!”

Jiang Xunyi had originally been the chief disciple of the Hidden Spirit Sect. After the death of his Shifu2 Immortal Master3 Ti Ming followed by the accusation of Jiang Xunyi colluding with the Demonic Faction, the Hidden Spirit Sect had split into East and West divisions, supporting and opposing him respectively. Seeing that this man wore the West Hidden Spirit uniform and also spoke in such an unpleasant way, Jiang Xunyi’s old hatreds and new grudges immediately added together.

Killing intent rose in his heart, but his face instead showed a slight smile. He paid no attention to the man and walked directly onto the mountain.

The man saw that such a shabby and ragged-looking boy actually dared to ignore him, and immediately flew into a rage. He lunged forward to kick Jiang Xunyi’s Dantian4, only to hear a “crack”––his leg was broken by the vital energy protecting Jiang Xunyi. The man’s body flew backwards, landing heavily on the ground.

Jiang Xunyi clicked his tongue: “How’d that feel?”

What exactly just happened?! The man couldn’t believe that the young man in front of him was actually capable of such a feat. He rapidly pulled out the personal sword at his waist, his fear and surprise temporarily overpowering his rage as he struggled to sit up.

But he didn’t have time to say anything when Jiang Xunyi already smiled and said: “I’m5 still standing, but you actually dare to sit? Very brave of you.”

With the elegance of his walking posture and the fluttering of his clothes, his bearing was that of a debonair nobleman who stood out from the common masses, even as he directly moved to “gently” step onto the man’s body.

Jiang Xunyi had always been unrelenting and merciless when it came down to business. This step was infused full of real power and instantly stopped that man’s pulse, while his own pace did not even pause as he drifted away.

He had always prized his reputation, so all his acting like a fool was only because he had no other choice. He was happy to now be able to throw his weight around without having to conceal anything, even though the only witness had straight-up died. While walking onward, he faced the clear ice wall bordering the path up the mountain, using the reflection to tidy his hair out of habit.

The hand tidying his hair did not retract for a long time.

The person reflected in the ice wall wore clothing of passable quality, but it had been reduced to tattered rags. Like before, he was tall and lithe with an aura of delicate elegance6, it was just…… His mouth was crooked and his eyes mismatched, along with blood smeared over his face that obscured his original features.

In a stunned daze, Jiang Xunyi looked at the ice wall for a long time before he finally understood the reflected person was himself——what the fuck, the Du family’s elder brother shouldn’t look like this, right?!

He actually used this face to excitedly act cool? It would have been more merciful if lightning struck him instead7! That man just now was shaking the whole time—could it be that he wasn’t afraid, but was instead actually laughing until he peed his pants?!

Jiang Xunyi pressed his hand on the wall to cover his face. He could not calm his surging emotions for a long time.

After a while, he slowly stood up and weighed his options for a moment. In the end, he tragically resigned himself and continued walking up the mountain with this face.

This was a disguise anyway. Du Heng’s mother was supposed to be an outstanding beauty within《Rising Clouds, Billowing Skies》, so hopefully his original face should not be so…. unusual. Though right now he still had proper matters to take care of, so staying low-key would be nice.

I’m not asking to look good, I’m only asking to at least look like a human being….

The farther he traveled up the mountain, the more bustling his surroundings became. Jiang Xunyi moved extremely fast, darting through the crowd like a ghost even with the blue skies and shining sun overhead. Other people only felt their vision blur before he disappeared without a trace. Very quickly, he found his target and stopped behind the cover of a massive ancient tree.

Jiang Xunyi leaned against the trunk and sat down. On the other side of the tree was a gathering of young disciples in the middle of lively gossip. Judging by the color of their outfits, they should be under the Solar Envy Sect. The mouths of these little brats, fresh out of the Jianghu, was often the easiest source of news.

As soon as he sat down, he felt physical weakness setting in. He simply crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, basking in the sun while lazily listening to the chatting children behind him.

Unexpectedly, the very first sentence almost made Jiang Xunyi jump up from his seat. He heard a hoarse boy’s voice speaking: “The way I see it, Sect Head Jiang really can’t see the big picture! This Jiang Xunyi clearly reaped what he had sown. He got the punishment he deserved for his crimes, what’s that have to do with our sect master? Sect Head Jiang just has to keep pestering and badgering! We went up the mountain this time to siege the Demon Sovereign, and were already somewhat short on staff. He doesn’t help out, fine. But he even shouts and makes a fuss over wanting to snatch back Jiang Xunyi’s corpse. What, would anyone actually keep that sort of thing? It’s probably already been minced into paste!”

The Sect Head Jiang he mentioned was Jiang Xunyi’s Shidi8, named Jiang Molou. Both of them had been picked up as children by his Shifu, Immortal Master Ti Ming, and they also took the same last name as their Shifu’s secular family. After Jiang Xunyi’s rebellion, he had heard that Jiang Molou took over the East Hidden Spirit Sect and was continuously looking for him. It was only that he did not want to drag his brother down with his own infamous reputation, and therefore did not contact Jiang Molou at all before his death. He didn’t expect that Jiang Molou would also come to this mountain at this time.

As he frowned, he heard a girl whispering: “You can’t say it like that. There’s nothing wrong with Sect Head Jiang caring for his elder brother. Plus if Jiang Shi––I mean, if Jiang Xunyi was truly that bad, why would Sect Master be devastated to this extent after his death? Maybe there’s some hidden secret behind all this or something……”

The previous boy was full of adolescent delusions9 and seemed to be one of Yun Xie’s loyal stupid fans. He most hated hearing those words, and at once sarcastically replied: “What do you mean by that? Our sect master is devastated because he cherishes both personal affections and greater justice. As a member of the Solar Envy Sect, you’re actually speaking on behalf of that villain? Hmph, it’s only because of his ‘first under the heavens’ face, isn’t it?!”

“You! What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Another person hurriedly tried to mediate: “Don’t quarrel, don’t quarrel. Look, our sect master and Sect Head Jiang are over on that side, how about we hasten over there?”

Jiang Xunyi glanced in the direction he was pointing. He rose and darted away, incidentally brushing a phoenix flower off his sleeves.

The young man who spoke first refused to give up the issue. He was just about to denounce the “Sect Head Jiang who can’t see the big picture” some more, when he suddenly felt a burning pain searing across his face. He touched the area to feel blood dripping off his face.

As he froze from shock, someone next to him pointed at him and exclaimed in surprise: “Shixiong, what hit you just now was… was… a flower petal!”

Yun Xie and Jiang Molou were rare experts in the cultivation world, so Jiang Xunyi of course could not be as casual in front of them as he had been just now. He stopped his footsteps upon seeing those two people from a long distance away. Drawing in his spiritual power, he simply walked over at a natural pace like any other ordinary person.

Both sides of the dispute were eminent figures, so there were quite a few people stretching their necks to watch the fun from the side. When Jiang Xunyi walked over, the surrounding people were watching with great pleasure. No one paid attention to him, so he concealed himself behind a large man and silently looked over.

Although Jiang Molou had already taken the responsibility of Sect Head, he was still wearing the same robe of all Hidden Spirit Sect disciples, light blue with ocean wave patterns. At this moment, he was using his sword to prop himself up. His face did not look good; it appeared that he had suffered some losses. His phoenix eyes10, cold and dark, glared unrelentingly at Yun Xie: “Are you going to give it over or not?!”

On the other side, Yun Xie was in even more haggard shape. He had become quite a bit thinner and now looked emaciated, with one foot already in the grave. If this world had heroin, Jiang Xunyi would even think he’d been taking drugs.

Yun Xie looked straight at Jiang Molou’s face, as if he wanted to find something on his body. After a moment, he lowered his gaze: “Never.”

Jiang Molou wiped the fresh blood by his lips. His face heavy, he unsheathed his sword. A disciple next to him exclaimed: “Sect Head Shixiong, you…”

Jiang Molou waved his hand to interrupt him, and coldly said: “Then I’ll kill you!”

Yun Xie’s face was lined with exhaustion. His speech carried an undercurrent of dull apathy, as he flatly said: “Do as you please.”

His hands behind his back, he turned away and moved to leave, as if this world would never again have anything that would attract his interest.

Jiang Molou gathered his energy: “Yun Xie! You better not think I’m joking, look at this!”

Yun Xie did not look back, but a disciple by his side exclaimed: “It’s the Soul-Devouring Myriad Souls Sac11! Sect Master, Sect Head Jiang is…”

Jiang Molou’s voice was ice cold: “That’s right. Below this mountain is the Imprisoned Demons Valley. If I crush this Myriad Souls Sac here, its aura of fury will leak out, inevitably breaking the seal outside the Imprisoned Demons Valley and killing the people here. Yun Xie, he sent a letter to me before he died, saying that if one day he died under your hand, I do not need to avenge him. But if you force me, I won’t care about that anymore.”

Yun Xie hurriedly turned back around: “He sent a letter to you? Where is it? Give it to me!”

Jiang Molou: “Already torn to pieces.”

Yun Xie’s fury rose: “What did you say?!”

Seeing Yun Xie’s emotional fluctuations, Jiang Molou’s own mood improved somewhat. He spoke indifferently: “He’s already dead, what use is there to preserving his letters? Yun Xie, don’t make me remind you––you were the one who killed him. What are you doing all this pretending for?”

As if he had received a heavy blow, Yun Xie retreated two steps. A layer of black aura flitted across his fair and handsome face, and blood suddenly spurted from his mouth.

“Sect Master!”

“Shixiong!”

Several people stepped forward to support him, and Jiang Xunyi could not help but frown slightly. Even though he had been killed by Yun Xie, it was an ending that had long been set in stone by the book. His own death wish had of course played a factor too. Still, they had been dear brothers who grew up together. When Yun Xie’s sword stabbed his chest, some feelings of frustration and depression were inevitable. But the person in front of him becoming like this was something far outside of his expectations.

This was not a good thing, both for his plan to depend on the protagonist and for the existence of this entire book world.

Extreme hatred built up in Jiang Molou’s heart, and he turned a blind eye to Yun Xie’s current state. He raised up the Soul-Devouring Myriad Souls Sac: “To the Sect Master Yun so revered for his righteousness… Since you killed my big brother for the ‘common people under the heavens’, then you shouldn’t be able to just stand by and watch all the people on this mountain being reduced to dust because you wouldn’t hand over a corpse, right?”

Yun Xie pushed away the people next to him and stood up. Upon listening to Jiang Molou’s words, he suddenly laughed out loud: “As matters stand today, how could I care about anyone else? Ah-Xun is no longer here, there is nothing else in this world worth my time. If you want to destroy it, go ahead! If everyone dies, that’ll be a clean ending!”

After he said this, gasps of shock rang out all around him. There was no one in the world who didn’t know the sheer power of the Hidden Spirit Sect’s magical weapons. This Jiang Molou was also famous for his obstinate stubbornness. Who would have thought that when facing disaster, Yun Xie would actually have this attitude? The surrounding audience immediately went into an uproar. Some bitterly pleaded with Jiang Molou, some rushed to Yun Xie to speak. Jiang Xunyi sucked in a deep breath and had just taken a step, when he heard the sound of decadent and vulgar music at the foot of the mountain.

Xuan Li!

Footnotes:

1. 提气 lit. “raise air”. In ancient/Wuxia settings, it refers to the technique of gathering energy (Qi) to use one’s Lightness Skill (轻功) to move really fast, climb walls, etc.

2. 师父 (shī fù) lit. “teacher father”. I’m assuming everyone knows what a Shifu is, but yeah it’s basically one’s master in martial arts, who takes on a fatherly role.

3. originally 仙师 (xiān shī): 仙 = “immortal”, 师 = “master/teacher/expert”

4. 丹田 (dān tián) lit. “Cinnabar/Elixir Field” = region in the body where a person’s Qi is concentrated. Most novels refer to the lower dantian, located three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel.

5. Jiang Xunyi here refers to himself as “本座” (běn zuò) lit. “this seat”. This is a very arrogant/proud way to refer to yourself, kind of like you’re declaring yourself to be a super important person. In the future I will likely leave this as “I”, but the associated sentence will have a generally proud tone.

6. 玉树临风 lit. “a jade tree facing the wind”

7. This is a derivative of the punny phrase “装B被雷劈”, which literally translates to something like “If you pompously show off when pretending to be cool, you’ll be struck by lightning”. I can’t even try to translate the pun…

8. 师弟 (shī dì) lit. “disciple younger brother” = junior fellow male apprentice. Again, I don’t want to keep spamming “disciple younger brother” over and over, so I decided to keep this as “Shidi”.

9. 中二 lit. “second year of middle school” is a borrowed term from Japanese; you might know it better as “chuunibyou” or “chuuni”. Refers to that phase everyone goes through in adolescence where you either act like a know-it-all and look down on others, or have delusions of magical powers.

10. 凤眼 lit. “phoenix eyes” = elegant, almond-shaped eyes with the inner canthus pointing down and the outer canthus up. Something like this: phoenix eyes

11. 噬魂万魄囊: 噬 = “to devour”, 魂 = the immortal/Yang/masculine parts of one’s soul that leaves the corpse after death, 万 = “ten thousand”, 魄 = the mortal/Yin/feminine parts of one’s soul that stays with the body after death, 囊 = “bag, sac, purse”