Chapter 95

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

In which Ren Shaotian is resigned to his fate.

<hr>

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

Ren Shaotian was pulled into being consoled by his young master for a long while, and at the very end, even he himself started doubting his own life.

At last, when the young master once again proposed accompanying him to go drinking, he interrupted with, “Young master, let me think about this some more.”

Ding Xilai said, “Then all right. But you definitely can’t do anything foolish!”

Ren Shaotian said, “…Don’t worry, young master, I won’t.”

Ding Xilai then stood up and returned to Wei Jin’s side, wanting to pull Wei Jin away and leave.

Wei Jin had been thrown aside by them and neglected. Seeing them squatting there, nonsensically talking about this and that, he even became somewhat unable to maintain his usual grave expression. He gave the young master a look and said, “Young master, we can’t simply just let this matter go like this.”

Ding Xilai was very shocked. “Shaotian’s already this miserable, what else do you want to do?”

Wei Jin said, “You really believe that he’s fallen for Sir Xiao?”

Ding Xilai said, “Or else what could it be? As is commonly said, ‘the bystander sees more clearly than the participant’. Perhaps he himself is unaware of it, but think about how obvious his actions are. This whole thing is as clear as day.”

Wei Jin said, “If that’s truly so, then he’s not suited to accompany you.”

Ding Xilai was even more shocked, but before he was even able to object, Ren Shaotian had walked over.

The person earnestly looked at Wei Jin, “Captain, I won’t be impulsive again.”

Wei Jin said, “This isn’t something that I can believe just from spoken promises alone.”

Ding Xilai couldn’t take it anymore, “I believe in Shaotian. And what’s more, Sir Xiao is great, so even if Shaotian still goes to save him in the future, I wouldn’t object.”

Wei Jin said, “What if it was a life or death situation?”

Ren Shaotian said, “I wouldn’t leave the young master.”

Ding Xilai nodded. “Shaotian wouldn’t leave me, I know this.”

Wei Jin silently looked at them and didn’t speak.

Ding Xilai had always been somewhat afraid of the other, but when he thought of the possibility that Ren Shaotian could be sent away and perhaps replaced by this person in the future, he then steadied his convictions, raising his head to meet Wei Jin’s gaze, unwilling to retreat even a step. Wei Jin thereupon looked at Ren Shaotian and said, “I’ll give you time to think this through. Give me a suitable explanation tonight.”

Ren Shaotian said, “I understand.”

Wei Jin then retracted his gaze and stood aside, waiting for the young master to start heading back.

Ding Xilai felt as if the atmosphere was somewhat stiff and did a little thinking. After returning with them back to the lobby, he told his old man that he wanted to return to his room to sleep before then pulling Ren Shaotian into the room. As for Wei Jin… if he enjoyed standing guard outside, then just let him stand guard.

Ding Xilai snuck a peek out of the slit between the doors before then pulling Ren Shaotian to hurry and sit on the bed. “Do you think he’ll tell my dad about what happened?”

Ren Shaotian said, “Since he’s willing to give me some time, for now he won’t tell the Pavilion Master.” He slightly paused and, upon seeing that the young master still looked somewhat unhappy, explained, “The young master shouldn’t blame him. Something happened to the Captain in the past, so now he’s always strict with the people of ‘Moon’s Shadow’.”

Ding Xilai startled. “What happened?”

“It’s something from six to seven years ago,” Ren Shaotian said, “At that time, I still hadn’t yet to start accompanying the young master.”

Ding Xilai made a sound in acknowledgment.

At that time, he was only a teenager and still hadn’t started “making his way” in Jianghu with Xiao-Zhong, while Ren Shaotian seemed to have been around twenty and still hadn’t become the second-in-command of “Moon’s Shadow”. Of course, at that time, Wei Jin also wasn’t the captain yet. From what he remembered, the captain had been someone else, but later, upon growing too old, the person had vacated the position and went on to do other things.

He asked, “Then what exactly happened to Brother Wei?”

Ren Shaotian thought back and said, “At that time, a demonic sect emerged in Jianghu which specialized in poison, harming many ordinary people. The Pavilion Master thus had the Captain and them go to investigate the actual situation, but who could’ve known that our colleague’s friend was one of the people kidnapped by that demonic sect. The Captain and them thereby wanted to rescue him, but in the end, an unforeseen event occurred during the operation, and they were all trapped inside.”

Ding Xilai’s expression changed slightly. “Ah?”

Ren Shaotian said, “In the end, the only person who survived was the Captain. He suffered from severe injuries and managed to return only after three months, but before he returned, he single-handed infiltrated that demonic sect and patiently waited for five days before finally seizing the opportunity to kill their sect master.”

Ding Xilai’s entire face immediately filled with admiration.

“His actual disposition isn’t truly like this. In the past, he used to be very brash and was very similar to Temple Master Xie.” As Ren Shaotian spoke, he saw the young master’s face twist and, laughing, added, “But he definitely didn’t provoke as much hatred as Temple Master Xie. I was referring to their brash tempers.”

Ding Xilai patted his frightened chest, feeling somewhat better.

“That time, he was the captain of that squad, and if he hadn’t let emotions get the better of them in order to rescue someone, then nothing would’ve gone wrong.” Ren Shaotian retracted his smile. “Thus, the Captain has always blamed himself and, from then on, he slowly changed, becoming even more steady and reliable, eventually turning into the Captain he is now. That’s why he’s so concerned about my matters this time.”

Since he said it like this, even Ding Xilai was able to understand.

Ding Xilai said, “But it’s not as if people can control their own feelings. What’s more, the one you fancy is Sir Xiao. If I liked men, perhaps I’d also start to fancy him.”

Ren Shaotian wanted to object but also felt that the end result would be the same as before, so he could only tacitly agree and ask, “Young master, you aren’t sleeping?”

Ding Xilai said, “I’m sleeping. You can go think about it on your own then. I won’t disturb you.”

When he finished speaking, he crawled onto the bed to lie down, leaving only his small back to face the other, and unwittingly actually fell asleep.

Ren Shaotian listened to his breathing as it turned long and even, quietly sitting there for a while, before then opening the door to go stand alongside Wei Jin. After a moment of silence, Ren Shaotian said, “I admit it. I do somewhat care about Sir Xiao.”

Wei Jin turned his head to look at the other.

Ren Shaotian said, “But this isn’t the most important thing I wanted to say. Today, I actually discovered something.”

Keeping silent about the major revelations while focusing on the minor ones, he relayed the fact that Sir Xiao suspected Manor Lord Wei and asked, “Should we tell the Pavilion Master about this?”

Wei Jin said, “Was what happened to Sir Yang also something that he did?”

Ren Shaotian said, “I don’t know. I didn’t see that person.”

This was the truth, as he really didn’t see Sir Yang, though he did feel that it should have something to do with Sir Xiao. But he had promised Sir Xiao not to speak of it, so he wouldn’t.

Wei Jin muttered to himself for a while before saying, “We need to tell the Pavilion Master about this. I’ll go do it.”

Ren Shaotian nodded.

Ding Xilai didn’t know what they had discussed.

He simply felt that, after he woke up, these two people’s relationship was already not as stiff as before. Ren Shaotian told this person that he had said that he’d stow away any unnecessary thoughts in the future and wholeheartedly focus on protecting the young master. Ding Xilai wasn’t clear on how he managed to persuade Wei Jin but didn’t ask further, simply patting his shoulder and saying, “You really don’t want to go drinking?”

Ren Shaotian felt helpless. “I really don’t. Why doesn’t the young master sleep for a while longer? It’s not even been two hours yet.”

Ding Xilai said, “No need.”

Today was his first time experiencing such a wretched spectacle, and his dreams were filled with drugged men surrounding him, wanting to tear him apart, so right now he had not the least bit desire to sleep. He said, “We also don’t know how Sir Xiao is. Why don’t we go look in on him?”

Ren Shaotian said, “If the young master wants to go, then let’s go.”

Ding Xilai took these words to mean that Shaotian also wanted to go and so went.

 

At this time, Ye You had already long woken up.

He hadn’t been tired originally and so had awoken after resting for only a short while, but for the sake of acting weak, he continued lying on the bed, not getting up. Wenren Heng also didn’t get up, and the two of them laid there speaking for a while, mutually teasing each other for a bit, before they quickly became unable to hold back.

When Ding Xilai arrived, Wenren Heng had just opened his Junior Brother’s clothes and, upon hearing those sounds, immediately furrowed his brows in dissatisfaction.

Ye You steadied his breathing and, smiling, pushed at the other.

Despite wishing to continue, Wenren Heng retracted his hands, straightening out both of their clothes before then finally allowing Ding Xilai inside.

Ding Xilai was completely unaware of the good thing he had interrupted, only feeling as if Wenren Heng was smiling even more handsomely than usual in a way that was also somewhat terrifying, and he immediately didn’t dare to look further. He walked over to Sir Xiao’s side and asked, “Sir Xiao, how are you?”

Ye You did his best to use a soft voice while also coughing out twice. “Much better.”

Seeing him cough, Ding Xilai was worried to no end. “Did you catch a cold? You need to drink more ginger soup.”

“I know.” Ye You chatted with him for a sentence or two, asking about what was happening outside. When he learned that the righteous faction members had found only two letters in that fishing village, he didn’t find it in the least surprising.

Ding Xilai said, “They said they wanted to search one more time.”

Ye You knew that the white piece had always been cautious and that, even if they searched once more, they most likely wouldn’t find anything useful. He thus decided to ask something else and said, “Oh? Those elders were really concerned about those drugged men?”

Ding Xilai said, “Yes. In the end, they’ll have to order people to send them to Shaolin, right? Leaving them here is too dangerous.”

Ye You said, “Perhaps. But no matter what, there shouldn’t be any delay, since we still have to hurry and rescue Sir Wei.”

Ding Xilai made a sound in agreement and said, “But with Sir Yang still missing… Nothing could’ve happened to him, right?”

Ye You gave a soft sigh. “Hopefully nothing has. The matter with Sir Wei has already caused Manor Lord Wei enough worry. If something has happened to Sir Yang, then it’d definitely be even harder for Manor Lord Wei to take.” When he finished speaking, he again coughed a few more times, looking delicate enough to be blown away by a mere gust of wind.

Ren Shaotian endured, trying not to let his lips twitch in the slightest. Turning his head, he acted as if he hadn’t seen anything.

At this time, Ding Xilai couldn’t help it anymore and had coincidentally shot Ren Shaotian a glance. Upon seeing that this person wasn’t looking at Sir Xiao, Ding Xilai profoundly believed that the other simply didn’t have the heart to do so and thereupon didn’t stay any longer. He wished Sir Xiao a good rest and then went outside.

He consoled with, “Shaotian, Sir Xiao will be all right.”

Ren Shaotian had stopped struggling and simply said, “…Yes.”

 

The sky darkened, and dinnertime quickly arrived.

The Fort Master had obediently ordered people to stew some fish soup, but in the end, since Ye You’s “health was poor”, the person didn’t make an appearance at all, and so he had to send someone to carry it in.

Conversely, Wenren Heng didn’t remain behind to accompany his Junior Brother this time and had appeared at the dinner table.

The Fort Master knew his and Ye You’s relationship and so was very courteous towards him, but while waiting for him and another person to finish speaking, the Fort Master suddenly heard Xie Junming refer to “Sect Master Ye” as darling and had to turn around for a violent coughing fit upon almost spitting out a mouthful of wine. He had heard about the recent rumors, and also knew that Xie Junming had always liked to play, but he hadn’t imagined that Xie Junming actually dared to play at Ye You’s expense.

Xie Junming smiled and said, “Little bro, what’s wrong?”

The Fort Master instantly straightened out his thoughts and said, “This little brother just learned that big bro has received his heartfelt desires and so was overcome in a fit of happiness.”

Xie Junming was very satisfied, “Mn, in the future, remember to call out Sister-in-Law.”

The Fort Master then looked at Elder Baili and said, readily following the other’s directions, “Greetings, sister-in-law.”

Elder Baili, “…”

The righteous faction elders saw that they had changed this matter into something so harmonious, and their expressions all subtly changed. Pavilion Master Ding was even more decisive, not even lifting his eyes in the slightest to look over in their direction.

Elder Baili was the one who felt the most aggrieved and indignant deep down, and he tried to ignore that scoundrel Xie Junming, doing his utmost to turn the topic of conversation to proper business. He said, “Speaking of the drugged men, this lord actually has an idea.”

This one sentence attracted everyone’s attention.

Elder Baili said, “From here, Xiaoqing Mountain is much closer than Shaolin. If everyone can accept it, why not have them escorted to the Demonic Sect and locked up there. And when Miracle Doctor Ji manages to formulate an antidote, we can then just cure them all at once.”

This… Those elders hesitated for a moment.

Wenren Heng said, “I think it’s a decent idea.”

Pavilion Master Ding said, “Why?”

“Right now, rescuing that person is more important, so we can’t delay much longer. What’s more, as long as the white piece has the drug, there’d be no lack of drugged men. It doesn’t matter whether or not the white piece will steal back those people because, regardless, there are already enough drugged men over at Miracle Doctor Ji’s side, enough to make the antidote,” Wenren Heng said, “If there’s another place that’s closer than Xiaoqing Mountain and is willing to accept these drugged men, I’d similarly have no objections.”

Everyone went silent.

Among them, some naturally had estates nearby, but who would so easily accept those people?

Everyone discussed it for a while and came to the decision to hand the drugged men over to the Demonic Sect. Then, on the next day, they will search through the fishing village once again before then hurrying onward to Wuyun City. Wei Jiangrou was able to hear all this very clearly and looked at her dad, “What about brother[1]?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “I’ll leave behind some people to continue searching.”

Wei Jiangrou asked worriedly, “Nothing will happen to him, right?”

Manor Lord Wei placated with, “No, I’ve already sent out the people of ‘Heaven’s Firmament’. He’ll be found.”

Although he said these words, his brows still remained deeply furrowed.

Wei Jiangrou was able to see this and, biting her lips, didn’t ask any further, beginning to eat obediently.

 

The people of “Heaven’s Firmament” had split into teams and taken turns searching this way and that, not resting for an entire day and night.

As the sunset slowly faded away, they had already followed the river current to search three villages and spoken to many people, but they had learned nothing at all. They were just about to continue searching further ahead when they saw two people walking towards them from faraway, and they couldn’t help but stop.

After a while, someone sad, “That person… kind of looks like the Alliance Leader?”

The rest of them focused their stares and found that the person really did look like the Alliance Leader, but everyone also knew, more or less, that there were problems with the Alliance Leader.

They mutually looked at each other, and immediately someone prepared to return and report. At this time, they saw a person’s figure flash, and the person who had just now been far away had actually come chasing after. They hastily blocked this person off, but before they could even skim the hem of this person’s clothes, they were bypassed, and immediately after, they saw him stopping their colleague.

This was an elderly man, with a very ordinary appearance but a deep, imposing manner. When he stood in front of them, they all felt themselves breaking out in goosebumps.

The Alliance Leader walked over and gave them a look. He said, “Yes, it’s the people of ‘Heaven’s Firmament’.”

The elderly man said, “Where’s your master?”

A person from “Heaven’s Firmament” asked, “Who are you? For what reason are you looking for our Manor Lord…”

Before these words could be finished, that elderly man’s figure flashed, and he struck at the person who had spoken with a palm. Without even being able to let out a sound, the other party took a final breath and perished. The surroundings instantly descended into a moment of deathly stillness.

The elderly man asked a second time, “Where’s your master?”

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

<hr>

[1] She’s referring to Sir Yang here, not Wei Jiangyue. (She refers to Wei Jiangyue specifically as “Second Brother”.)

<hr>

Ohoho, so it seems the Alliance Leader is back.

Like this:Like Loading...