Chapter 10

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

Double digits! I was originally going to get this out yesterday, but I got stuck on the last two lines oops.

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The person speaking with Wenren Heng was a youthful young sir, with the bearing of a martial artist, and a faint air of arrogance on his face.

When he saw Ye You enter the room, he looked the other up and down and said, “This is your Junior Brother?”

Wenren Heng nodded, looking at his Junior Brother while smiling. “You’ve returned?”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgement, and hearing his Senior Brother introduce this man as Sir Wei, he politely gave a greeting. Sir Wei nodded his head and didn’t continue intruding, immediately taking his leave. Ye You poured himself a cup of water, and when his Senior Brother returned from seeing the man off, he asked, “He’s Manor Lord Wei’s son?”

“Yes, he’s the family’s second young master.” Wenren Heng walked to his side and sat down. Nose twitching, he said, “You drank wine?”

Ye You didn’t even blink. “No, I didn’t.”

Wenren Heng looked at him.

“The person sitting next to me drank a lot of wine, so that’s why there’s the smell of alcohol on me.” Ye You randomly brought out an excuse to placate the other before hastily changing the subject, “Did Sir Wei come to look for you because of his younger sister? It probably wasn’t Manor Lord Wei’s idea, right?”

Wenren Heng wasn’t the least bit curious where the other had heard about this situation. In agreement, he said, “Yes, it’s most likely he himself who wanted to ask.”

Ye You knew he was right. Manor Lord Wei looked sly and cunning; he wouldn’t have supported being so impetuous.

He also wanted to say to not use him as an excuse, but then remembered that his Senior Brother and the Wei family have had years of good relations, so the other probably couldn’t speak too openly or reject too adamantly and could only drag things on. If the opposing party was smart and discrete enough, they probably won’t bring up this matter again.

He thought of the scarred man’s words and asked, “How did Senior Brother and Manor Lord Wei meet?”

Wenren Heng was silent for a moment before saying, “Ten years ago, when Master suffered a fatal injury, it was him who led men to kill the assassin. And, afterwards, he also helped me arrange Master’s funeral.”

Ye You suddenly felt a brief ache in his heart and a stuffy feeling throughout his chest. These feelings were similar to the last time. They came quickly and also left quickly. He let out a breath before asking, “Master was fatally injured? By who?”

“It was an incredibly strong swordsman known as ‘Boundless Line‘[1]. He was obsessed with practicing his martial skill, and his internal energy increased rapidly, though as a result, he murdered many people. A wounded adventurer from Jianghu escaped to Master’s house to plead for help. Who knew that the moment he arrived would also be the moment he was caught…” Wenren Heng’s voice was very serene.

It had already been ten years. At the time, he had held a youth’s piercing grief and a hard stone of blank helplessness. But as the river of time flowed, so too did the hard stone turn into fine sand, and even the great waves of pain and hatred would gradually calm and abate. The only thing that remained was a disappointed sigh, an ordinary lingering spider thread in his mind.

Wenren Heng said, “At that time, Manor Lord Wei and some others just happened to be in pursuit, and because Master occupied the swordsman for a while, Manor Lord Wei’s party successfully caught up and surrounded that swordsman. That was how they managed to capture him. But Master’s injuries were serious, and we didn’t manage to save him.”

He paused for a moment. “You were also there at the time.”

Ye You was startled. “Me?”

“When I arrived… Master had only one breath left in him, and after he finished telling me to take care of you, he was gone.” Wenren Heng softly said, “Manor Lord Wei’s party all sustained injuries. The swordsman died about twenty steps away from Master, and the adventurer who begged for Master’s help was dead in the same direction, about seventeen meters[2] out, with his heart’s arteries shattered in pieces. And you were just kneeling there in front of him, covered in blood from head to toe, with a hit acupoint, already completely blank. No matter how much I shouted your name, you never seemed like you could hear me.”

Ye You frowned.

Ten years ago, Senior Brother was just a youth of nineteen. Suddenly facing such big changes, he shouldn’t have been able to pay attention to anything else. The fact that he was able to remember so clearly must mean that he must’ve turned the events over and over in his head afterwards, probably even returning to the scene of the battle. But it must’ve been incredibly painful. What could’ve pushed such a person to ruminate over those events in such detail?

With his head wrapped in bandages, Wenren Heng couldn’t see him frown, simply thinking that the other was listening attentively, and so continued with, “I asked Manor Lord Wei’s group, and they said that you were already like that by the time they got there. Afterwards, when I thought it over, I believed that it was probably Master who wanted you to flee, but since you weren’t willing, he had the adventurer hit your acupoint and take you with him. But that adventurer wasn’t able to escape and ended up dying. And maybe that madman even wanted to kill you at some point, but he was stopped by Master and the others.”

Ye You carefully tried to look through his memories but still found that his mind was a complete blank, unable to remember a single thing. He could only ask, “Is that how I got sick?”

Wenren Heng said, “Yes.”

Ye You then asked, “How did I later get better?”

Wenren Heng lifted his cup and drank a mouthful of tea. It was the first time that he didn’t answer the other’s questions, not even a, “You got better after drinking medicine,” or a, “I don’t know.”

He put down the tea cup and looked at his Junior Brother. In a soft voice, he said, “It’s getting late, go wash your face, and I’ll help you apply the medicine.”

Ye You’s internal musings was again cut off abruptly, leaving him off-balance. He silently looked at his Senior Brother. After seeing that his Senior Brother really wasn’t going to continue speaking, he got up to wash his face, all the while pondering over the reasons why.

The scarred man entered the room soon after and meticulously relayed all that had happened during the day. When Wenren Heng heard that his Junior Brother drank two cups of wine, he let out a small, “As expected.” The scarred man recalled what the group of drunk men had said and did not know whether to laugh or cry. “Most of what they said was hearsay. A complete mess.”

“He also wouldn’t truly believe it,” Wenren Heng said, thinking that his Junior Brother would probably figure out for sure only two things. One being that the Demonic Sect wasn’t actually an evil sect, and two being that Sect Master Ye didn’t often show his face, or else having been in the Central Plains all these years, everyone’s descriptions about his appearance wouldn’t be so fantastical.

Naturally, his Junior Brother would consider the possibility that he and Sect Master Ye were the same person, but… that name “Gold Sect” should probably allow his Junior Brother to let go of many of his suspicions.

He lifted the corners of his mouth.

In all honesty, he also wanted to know why his Junior Brother would pick such a name.

 

It wasn’t until Ye You had returned, sat down, and finished having medicine applied that he suddenly remembered something. “Where am I sleeping tonight?”

Wenren Heng spoke as if it was a matter of course, as dictated by the heavens and the earth, “You’ll be sleeping in the same room with me.”

Ye You reminded him, “Senior Brother, right now, we aren’t outside.”

Wenren Heng lectured, “The poisoner has neither shown themselves nor left any clues until now. We can’t be careless.”

Ye You was actually eager to meet the poisoner and ask about matters relating to the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison, but he knew that the other had no reason to appear in this room, so the only thing he could be was resigned. In a practiced manner, he laid on the inside of the bed, leaving the outside for his Senior Brother.

The candle was blown out, and the entire bedroom suddenly descended into stillness.

Having heard a whole pile of things, Ye You was not in the least bit sleepy. After laying for a while, he opened his mouth and asked, “Today I heard that Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion[3] are really incredible. Is Lingjian Pavilion’s Pavilion Master the thin, tall man sitting across from Manor Lord Wei this morning?”

Wenren Heng had also not slept and answered, “Yes, Pavilion Master Ding.”

Ye You asked, “I also heard the martial arts circles’ Alliance Leader was chosen because of them. Why?”

Wenren Heng quietly laughed. “You conveniently didn’t ask for the reason why?”

Ye You said, “I wanted to, but the man was already drunk. I couldn’t get an answer out of him.”

Wenren Heng said, “It’s because Manor Lord Wei and Pavilion Master Ding have never gotten along, and it’s said that they’ve been this way since they were young…”

Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion, the two big powers of Jianghu.

Manor Lord Wei’s character was sly and cunning, and he was polite and amiable to everyone he meets. He was really good at winning over people’s hearts, and so managed to gather many skilled and famous adventurers. In contrast, Pavilion Master Ding had an honest disposition and a solemn character. Many swordsmen who disliked Manor Lord Wei ended up gathering around him instead.

The two men had been in conflict for over twenty to thirty years, and there was even friction between their sects. Although they haven’t gone to war, every time they started arguing, many in Jianghu broke out in cold sweat, afraid that these two would eventually end up disrupting the current peace.

In the past, during this time, it would be Shaolin and Wudang[4] who would come and help them reconcile, but as time went on, they both began to feel physically and mentally exhausted since neither side was willing to compromise. Finally, they decided to choose an Alliance Leader for the martial arts circles. His martial arts skill didn’t need to be high; he just needed to have patience and a good temper, able to appease the people.

To speak plainly, they were just looking for someone capable of stopping fights.

The Alliance Leader was chosen by Shaolin, Wudang, and a few other long-established sects. At first, he just stopped fights, but then he started taking care of some trivial matters too. He was extremely patient while also being completely evenhanded. As the years passed, he steadily gained more and more respect from the men in Jianghu.

So right now in Jianghu, Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion have both been controlled. The Alliance Leader, who had been randomly chosen from one sect, had managed to achieve a certain balance. As long as there wasn’t a big incident, the two won’t fight.

Ye You closed his eyes, gradually feeling more and more sleepy. At the end, his words sounded almost like subconscious mutterings, “When one family alone gets big, it becomes a target for the masses.”

Wenren Heng was surprised.

That year when his Junior Brother first moved back to the Central Plains, they happened to meet one day. After hearing him talk about the situation in Jianghu, the other had said the same sentence as he did just now. Sure enough, even though he’s lost his memory, his way of thinking was still the same. Wenren Heng naturally knew that these long years of peace and harmony was only possible because of those two men’s restraint, or else there would’ve been a bloodbath long before this.

Looking at the indistinct silhouette in the darkness, he had a mind to touch, but after lifting his hand up a little, he ended up lowering it again.

 

After going through a night of disturbances, the Wang family’s mood the next day had clearly turned more grave. All the servants walked around with their heads down, talking only when absolutely necessary, as if they wanted to turn invisible.

Although Ye You somewhat wanted to avoid his Senior Brother, he actually had a fairly good night’s sleep, and so unhurriedly followed after his Senior Brother to eat breakfast. After, he prepared to walk further through the city so as to listen to more of those incidents from Jianghu.

The scarred man quickly looked at his Sect Master. Wenren Heng wanted to laugh on the inside, but on the outside, he slowly caught up to his Junior Brother and said, “Senior Brother will go with you.”

Ye You said, as if touched, “Senior Brother, I just knew you were especially good to me.”

“Yes, but I’ll be even better, and I won’t let you go out alone today,” Wenren Heng quickly cut off the next words the other wanted to say and earnestly followed with, “The outside is so chaotic, and I finally found you after such hardship, so of course I have to protect you.”

The words that Ye You wanted to say next died in his throat. Thinking about how utterly shameless his Senior Brother was, Ye You gave up resisting.

Yesterday, he had made many friends, so right as he stepped on the street, he met some who had been coming to greet him. Wenren Heng stood on the side smiling, until he heard the men saying that they wanted to invite his Junior Brother to Fengchun House[5] at night to sit for a bit. Hearing that, he furrowed his brows and prepared to step forward to change the subject, but at this time, he suddenly felt a set of eyes probing in his direction and couldn’t help but raise his head.

Only to be met with the closed window of the neighboring inn’s second floor. Nothing could be seen.

He gave another look before retracting his gaze.

 

A certain someone in the second floor guest room had closed the window, letting out a breath of relief. “Oh heavens, how terrifying.”

The room’s other occupants asked, “Who was it?”

The person said, “Wenren Heng.”

“He’s also here?”

“Yes. He also seemed to have someone by his side, but the shed downstairs blocked my view, so I didn’t see who it was.” That man walked to the front of the table and sat down. “You all really think that the Sect Master is at the Wang family residence? The Sect Master’s been missing for a while.”

Some said, “What if he had snuck into the Wang family residence beforehand, making secret arrangements this whole time, and only now decided to show his hand?”

“That’s definitely possible. But with the whole matter with the Wang family blowing up, how are we supposed to get in?”

Elder Miao said, “Oh… Sell ourselves[6]?”

The remaining people looked at him. Elder Mei said, “Right now, even a fly can’t enter the Wang family residence. Would they buy people now?”

Elder Miao sat in silence for a moment. “Yes.”

The group stared.

Elder Miao said, “For instance, if it’s for the Patriarch to accumulate virtue[7].”

The group, “…”

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[1] 一字蒼茫 I am terrible with names, so forgive my crude one-one translation.

[2] The actual measurement here is actually 5丈, which is a measurement still used today (but which means different things, measuring-wise, than in ancient China). According to wikitionary, 1丈 = 10尺. Someone on baidu did the calculations for 5丈 and said it was about 16.7 meters, so I rounded up.

[3] 靈劍閣, lit. “Quick Sword Pavilion” essentially.

[4] They’re famous fictional martial arts sects in wuxia. Though there’s a real Shaolin monastery and martial arts school in China, the reality (now, at least) is very far removed from the Shaolin in typical wuxia stories. <del>If you haven’t watched like Shaolin Soccer you probably should.</del>

[5] 逢春樓 lit. “opportune spring house”. A brothel, most likely.

[6] This and the following bit are censored. 賣[*]身 (lit. “selling ___ bodies”) and 買[*]人 (lit. “buying ___ people”). I just took the most obvious route translating this here.

[7] So I had no idea what this line had to do with the previous ones, even though I technically knew what it meant, until I asked the nice folks over at NU who gave me an answer: “In Chinese opera and stories, a typical scene has someone selling themselves in order to get money to bury their dead parents. They would say things like buying them would be accumulating virtue, or gaining karma, even if the person they bought are useless and not worth the burial cost asked for.” (answer courtesy of keialpha, thanks!)

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Not a super easy chapter, but actually pretty fun to translate! My suspicions of Manor Lord Wei are going off the charts right now. (Also, I’m getting more and more suspicious of whether Wenren Heng and Ye You had planned the latter’s amnesia from the start. Hm, though I guess only time will tell.)

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