Chapter 20

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The big 2-0! We’re one-sixths of the way through this now!

Also: I figured out how to use hover-text! So, from now on, footnotes can be read via hover (on desktop), so no need to scroll. I’ve gone back and edited past footnotes too. (And deleted a few extraneous footnotes that were just me complaining about translating lmao.) I tried to implement some page jumps for mobile folks, but they weren’t leading to correct parts of the page, so I quickly abandoned that idea. Sorry!

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The Alliance Leader’s party quickly discovered that they had thought of this matter too simply.

Because it wasn’t only the people from the city of Suzhou who were staying here but nearly all the people from Jianghu. There was only one reason why this information was able to travel this fast.

Manor Lord Wei said, “He has accomplices.”

Pavilion Master Ding gave the rare agreement, even if it was only a simple, cold, “Yes.” Even though Manor Lord Wei was too busy to take particular note of it now, as always, he wore a slight, soothing smile. He furrowed his brows. “Who could they be?”

The others also sunk into unspoken contemplation.

This was far too easy to determine.

One person couldn’t possibly do all this work on their own. To be able to notify this many people and also, when that poisoner had decided to spread rumors, to relay the information to comrades in various regions so as to spread it on a mass scale, the opposing party must consist of many people, so the possibility was high that it was a sect.

Who could they be?

The Alliance Leader said, “Well, the situation isn’t entirely bad. At least those outsiders believe us, so they won’t be easily used in the future.”

Academy Master Ge was deeply worried.

As the source of the incident, he was afraid that, in the future, when discussing this matter, the first thing the future generations said would be, “If it wasn’t for that moron of an Academy Master from Dingtian Academy picking up that book that year, then things wouldn’t have progressed as far as it did.” In these past two days, his hair, like Juan County’s county magistrate’s, had been falling out, strand by strand. He said, “The opposing party set a trap to draw us over, could it be that they want to capture all of us in one fell swoop?”

Pavilion Master Ding coldly asked, “How many people do we have now? Is there any sect in Jianghu that could actually do that?”

That’s certainly true.

Academy Master Ge felt slightly more at ease.

 

The people that the Academy Master notified were all his family’s own elite troops, traveling day and night. And in these past few days, people from every region of Jianghu rushed over, one after another, to Juan County. What was originally a small, quiet county became filled with noisy clamor. The county magistrate finally couldn’t take it anymore and made straight for their inn to look for the Alliance Leader. Only after having the Alliance Leader promise three separate times that nothing would happen did the magistrate take the three steps necessary to turn back and leave.

The members of Shuangji Sect also arrived at this time.

Everyone was extremely curious about this Young Master Xiao who suddenly appeared as the Sect Master’s Junior Brother. And their leader even solemnly warned not to provoke him at random, making them even more puzzled. Young Master Xiao’s temperament seemed to be quite good, so why say such things?

Why?

Because that’s the formidable Sect Master of the Demonic Sect. Everyone must’ve heard all the rumors about Sect Master Ye. Would anyone who’s provoked him be able to live a good life afterwards? The scarred man looked at these innocent and naive subordinates and decided not to tell them this cruel reality.

Ye You happened to be leaning against the window. Looking out, he asked, “That is?”

Pulling himself out of his reverie, the scarred man was about to come forward until he saw the Sect Master rising to stand. Immediately realizing that he’s superfluous and adapting to the circumstances, he quickly threw his subordinates out and then closed the door behind as he left.

As the door creaked closed, Wenren Heng already clearly understood the situation downstairs.

There were two teams of troops. The first wore red-black robes[1], and everyone carried a sword, standing straight and proper, with harsh auras seemingly capable of freezing the very air, making it difficult for bystanders to even dare breathe deeply. The other team wore blue-white robes, and their expressions weren’t as grave as the red-black team, but their imposing manner also wasn’t anything to scoff at.

Wenren Heng walked up to to his Junior Brother before saying, “It’s Lingjian Pavilion’s ‘Moon’s Shadow’ and Fengxian Manor’s ‘Heaven’s Firmament‘[2]. All elites. It’s said that ‘Moon’s Shadow’ was created first, and then Manor Lord Wei quickly followed by creating his own and calling it ‘Heaven’s Firmament’.”

Ye You laughed. “On purpose, right?”

With a name such as “Heaven’s Firmament”, it’s clear that the intention is to cover up “Moon’s Shadow”.

The inn already had some year-end harvests. Maple vines were coiling along the outside walls, winding ever upwards, with the branches and leaves reaching all the way to the edges of the window. When opening the window, a rude vine sprung in towards the body, conveniently landing right between the two of them. After Wenren Heng pushed this hindrance to the side, he moved closer to his Junior Brother and laughingly said, “Everyone else also thinks so. But since Pavilion Master Ding already named them, he couldn’t simply change the name just because of Manor Lord Wei.”

Ye You was very curious. “Why do they not get along?”

Wenren Heng said, “It’s said that, on a certain year, Manor Lord Wei’s older sister married Pavilion Master Ding’s oldest brother, but not even two years later, she passed away. No one knows exactly how she died, and no one in Jianghu dares to ask. From then on, they gradually began fighting in harsher and harsher ways…”

Before they even finished talking, the two turned towards the door. In the next moment, there was a noise as the people who came knocked on the door as they pleased before simply entering the room. It turned out to be those pack of scoundrels from Xunliu Manor, and even Qin Yuemian was with them.

Young Master Li ran to sit in front of the table without so much as a by-your-leave and poured out a huge portion of tea. Letting out a huge breath, he said, “I’m so thirsty I could die.”

Wenren Heng couldn’t simply throw these people out like he did that maple vine, so he went and sat across from the other, asking, “Why are all of you here?”

“We heard there was something big happening, so we all came over to see,” Young Master Li impatiently asked, “What exactly happened? On the way, we heard no end of rumors, and the more we heard, the more excessive they got.”

Wenren Heng said, “What was it you heard?”

Young Master Li said, “For instance, that all of you found a sacred spring, and if you wash your face in it, no matter how ugly you are, you can become extremely beautiful. And also that a thousand-year-old, pure yin fox-spirit[3] was found and that by sleeping with them, you can gain sixty years’ worth of martial art skill. How did all that become a living dragon when we got here? And that touching it once can make you an immortal?”

Wenren Heng was speechless.

This matter truly had his Junior Brother’s signature all over it. Those who were spreading the information everywhere were definitely members of the Demonic Sect, cut from the same cloth as those Elders. How exactly did his Junior Brother usually teach those people from his sect? Well, it couldn’t be said that it’s all bad. At least, right now, no one had yet to realize that it was the Demonic Sect muddying the waters. It was clear that everything had been done very adeptly.

Qin Yuemian asked, “So in the end which rumor is true?”

Wenren Heng didn’t conceal it from them and said, “The only one that is close to reality is about the rare book.”

The group was shocked. “It’s really Pursued Until Scattered? We’ve heard it was incredible.”

“But wasn’t it said that it was long lost? At that time, when that monster massacred so many people, no one could find this book. How could it suddenly appear out of nowhere?”

Wenren Heng also wanted to know how deeply involved his Junior Brother was in this matter. He replied, “We’ll know only when we actually reach that location.”

“No, no, all of this isn’t important. I have something much more urgent.” Seeing that they still had questions, Young Master Li hastily interrupted all of them and expectantly asked, “Since it’s so lively, do you think that Sect Master Ye will come?”

Wenren Heng carried an elegant smile and calmly told the other that he didn’t know.

 

More and more people arrived in Juan County. They came in twos and threes, each sharing the information they heard. Eventually, the Alliance Leader’s words from a few days ago would be brought up, about someone hiding among them, and then they’d realize that they’ve been tricked. From there, everyone immediately banded together against a common enemy, and seeing “Moon’s Shadow” and “Heaven’s Firmament” became like seeing their own close friends. As long as those two teams took action, there was nothing in Jianghu that couldn’t be put in its proper place.

With their morale roused, everyone rolled up their sleeves in preparation for a fight, itching to settle the score with the other party immediately, believing that they could chase away even a real living dragon.

As before, those Elders of the Demonic Sect were hiding out in the inn across the street. Seeing the righteous faction so invigorated, they felt cold sweat starting to drip from their foreheads.

“I feel as if this is scarier than what happened at Yushan stage.”

“Nonsense, we were so reasonable that year. And now?” Elder Mei frowned. “I really don’t know what the Sect Master wants to do. Does he really want to do something world-shakingly important? How world-shaking? Is it enough to reminiscence over for many years to come?”

“Ah, if only Xiao-Bai was here at this time.”

“Yes…” The group nodded. Although Elder Bai was a slowpoke, he really was the most incredible out of all of them, capable of fighting against even one hundred foes alone.

As they spoke, they suddenly felt as if something was off and collectively turned to look at Elder Miao who was sitting alone at the table. Seeing his face as opaque as water and that he hadn’t spoken a word recently, they all felt somewhat unsettled.

Elder Baili said, “What are you thinking about?”

Miao Wang was silent for a while before slowly asking, “How possible is it that the Sect Master has contracted some incurable illness and so, knowing that he doesn’t have long to live, he decided to play one last big trick before he dies?”

The group, “…”

Could we not always have such scary things said so seriously!

Miao Wang was extremely grave. “Otherwise, just look at this disastrous third order he gave.”

The group, “…”

It did seem to make some sense!

The Elders were silent for a long while. Looking at each other, they thought that they shouldn’t indulge the Sect Master this time, and that they must find some opportunity to call him out to discuss it.

 

After “Moon’s Shadow” and “Heaven’s Firmament” arrived, the Alliance Leader and Manor Lord Wei’s group decided it was just about enough. Although two sect’s people were still far away and haven’t arrived, they had already discussed such things and had decided to reconvene halfway there.

And since the information couldn’t be concealed, the Alliance Leader’s group didn’t try to hide it any further these last few days and called many sect leaders and adventurers over to discuss business together, going over the entire situation once through. They even cleared the air with other heroes of the land[4], revealing that they did not know if this trip was for good or ill, and that they feared that by drawing over so many people, the person in hiding harbored malicious intentions.

As everyone’s mood ran high, they naturally had no fear, and all said they wanted to follow along. Moreover, knowing that the rumors were false, they also wanted to go and investigate.

Upon seeing this, the Alliance Leader didn’t try to persuade them otherwise, and after a night’s rest, he gallantly set off the next day.

As before, it was Junior Academy Master Ge in the lead.

Because of the realization that the other party had many accomplices, the Alliance Leader’s group feared an ambush somewhere down the road, so their speed was greatly diminished with no hurried rushing whatsoever, looking more as if they were going out for fun instead.

As usual, Ye You rode in the carriage with his Senior Brother and even got off along with his Senior Brother to breathe some fresh air when they stopped to rest, making the hidden Elders grind their teeth in frustration. But there was no helping it, and the only thing they could do was keep hiding.

Today, Ye You had gotten off the carriage and hadn’t even walked a few steps when he heard Manor Lord Wei lightly shout, “Trouble, what are you doing here?”

This was certainly something new. Manor Lord Wei was always amiable except when he was opposing Pavilion Master Ding. Ye You had never even seen him glare at anyone and so curiously looked over at once and saw a pink-clothed young lady with red lips and white teeth standing in front of Manor Lord Wei.

The young lady impishly said, “Dad, you[5] haven’t been home for so long, so why wouldn’t this daughter miss you?”

Manor Lord Wei couldn’t maintain a stern face and helplessly raised his hand to point at her. “You…”

The young lady stuck out her tongue. She swept over to look in Ye You’s direction, and her eyes lit up. She ran over laughing. “Brother Heng.”

Brother Heng… Ye You slowly thought over this manner of address. His eyes went round from the young lady to Manor Lord Wei to his Senior Brother before he had a realization.

He thereupon tactfully said, “Senior Brother, you two slowly talk. I’ll go walk over there, no need to look after me. I’ll come back by myself after a while.”

Wenren Heng, “…”

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[1] Specifically, 勁裝 which are the robes you usually see in wuxia dramas, allowing for ease of movement.

[2] 月影 is pretty easy to translate as “Moon’s Shadow”, but 蒼穹 more accurately means “Heaven’s Dome”. I changed “dome” to “firmament” since I thought it sounded fancier, though it had the unforeseen side-effect of making Ye You’s next words seem more obtuse.

[3] Specifically, 狐狸精 hulijing. Kind of like the equivalent of the Japanese kitsune or the Korean kumiho.

[4] 天下英雄 Something similar was used by Elder Wang during his speech proclaiming innocence to refer to the audience. Here, I’m pretty sure it’s being used as a euphemism for the people of Jianghu that aren’t sect leaders or adventurers.

[5] 您 polite “you”.

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Also, not a huge change, but I’m changing what I’m translating 侠士/俠客 again. (In case you forgot, it’s what Elder Wang was referred to as, and it’s a term for wanderers who do chivalrous deeds.) At first I translated it as “knight-errant”, but eventually thought that was too European and changed it to “martial hero”. But this chapter specifically differentiates them from 英雄, which is just a generic way to say “hero”. So, uh, to prevent confusion, I’m changing 俠客 to “adventurer” after a lot of thought. Not a super significant change, since only Elder Wang, one of Ye You’s drinking buddies, and the dude who begged Ye You’s master for help were mentioned to be 俠客, but just a head’s up. And from now on 大俠 will be translated as “martial hero” and 英雄 as just “hero”.

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