Chapter 23

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

Darkened my current theme. If enough people tell me they don’t like it, I’ll change it back.

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The map was split up into a total of six pieces, and a number was written on each of the upper right corners. When the person said to follow in order, they were referring to this.

Those who were smart like Wenren Heng and Ye You had to think for only a moment before understanding the opposing party’s intentions — if the map was in only one person’s hand, then they might secretly send their subordinates ahead, so that by the time everyone hurried over, the place would be empty, and so if the map was split and they didn’t bother to work with the others, then they wouldn’t know where exactly to go.

As for who would hold the map, everyone discussed it for a spell, and for the sake of fairness, they decided to pick lots to decide. But very quickly, there was someone who brought up an issue, “The first ones will wait, but what if after waiting to go through the first five pieces, the sect member holding the last piece goes ahead to steal the book. Then wouldn’t we have come all this way for nothing?”

Everyone else agreed in succession, “That’s right.”

The Alliance Leader said, “Then how about this, when it gets down to the final piece, every day, two people will eat and sleep with that person. With everyone rotating the duties, there’d be no opportunities to pass down orders to subordinates.”

Everyone thought for a bit, and none had any other ideas, so the only thing they could do was agree for now.

They then went up to pick lots, and in the end, it was the miserable Academy Master Ge who got the final piece. He immediately wrinkled his brows, thinking that this time better not be yet another trick. Or else if nothing is found and everyone ended up thinking that he was the one who took the opportunity to steal it away secretly, what could be done?

He gave a bitter laugh and asked, “Can I refuse it?”

Everyone present was experienced, so no one was willing to take this hot potato, and even if someone wanted to take it in their hearts, they wouldn’t openly admit to it. Academy Master Ge was also simply asking without expectations. Whatever the case may be, this map had already passed through his hands, so if they ended up finding nothing, suspicions would fall on him regardless, so he might as well keep a hold of it.

Wenren Heng also got picked. It was one of the numbers in the middle so there was not much danger.

The sky began to darken, and everyone looked in front of them at the miserable scene of a big hole packed with little holes. They tidied up the bare minimum and went to the open area next to it to rest a little. Then while there was still the advantage of light to see the road, they decided to walk for a bit according to the map.

These pieces of the map were the same as the leather that was first found; they all followed a route to relay their information, such as first walk forward two and a half kilometers, turn southeast for five kilometers[1], and so on. The actual distance wasn’t written that clearly, so perhaps it was yet another consideration from the person who left the book.

Pavilion Master Ding was the one who held the first piece of the map.

He had a solemn character and especially hated such deceptive and mystifying tricks, so he simply threw it to his people in “Moon’s Shadow”, completely disinclined to look at it further.

And since they’ve learned from their mistakes, everyone couldn’t help suspecting the possibility of another circular path, so they walked very carefully. Anytime they found that they were walking farther away from the bottom of the cliff, they would let out a breath of relief, but anytime they found a tendency to head in the direction whence they came, they became extremely tense. Their hearts continually moved up and down, so when they stopped to rest, all of them were emotionally and physically drained.

On the way, what Wenren Heng heard the most was, “Don’t let me find out who that old fellow is, or else I’ll grab him and beat him up,” and couldn’t help but look at this Junior Brother of his and then at the angry people faraway, somewhat lost in thought.

Ye You quickly discovered that he was distracted and asked, “What are you thinking?”

Wenren Heng pulled back his thoughts from who knows where and, slightly muttering to himself, said, “Just thinking about whether that person would really have placed the book. If you were him, and you were in a situation where you never had the book in the first place, what would be your motive for putting on such an outing?”

Ye You thought for a bit and then said, “If I wasn’t just bored and wanting to mess around with people for fun, then I must be plotting against someone, and the person I’m plotting against must coincidentally be one of the people here.”

Wenren Heng said, “Oh?”

Ye You said, “And the destination must be someplace the person I’m scheming against recognizes, or else I wouldn’t go through such trouble to make the map like that in order to rouse him to go of his own volition.”

Wenren Heng nodded. He had also been thinking the same thing.

Ye You said, “But I probably wouldn’t do it like this.”

Wenren Heng looked at him. “Why?”

Ye You said, all smiles, “Senior Brother, I think if I wanted to torment someone, I wouldn’t need to do so in such a roundabout way.”

That’s also true, Wenren Heng thought in his heart.

But if this incident really was caused by his Junior Brother, there definitely was some reason where there were no other options. But there was one main point in all of this, it’s that he had been guaranteed involvement at the time of the incident. So if his Junior Brother’s injuries and amnesia weren’t coincidences, then his Junior Brother definitely believed in him very much, as the other felt secure in giving his own amnesiac self to his Senior Brother.

Thinking to this point, his heart felt faintly warm, and he looked over to the person by his side. When the other turned to look over, he said, “Let’s go. Your medicine needs changing.”

Ye You touched the bandages on his face and followed the other onto the carriage.

Candles had already been lit inside the carriage, and Wenren Heng waited until his Junior Brother took off his clothes before helping him unravel his bandages. Ye You looked at the bandages in the tray on the side, and seeing that the amount didn’t seem to have changed, he asked, without any real hope, “Senior Brother, there’s no need for me to still be wrapped up this tightly, right?”

Wenren Heng’s movements paused, and he raised his head to look at the other.

Hundred-Grass Dew was a miracle medicine that had been circulating in Jianghu for many years. Since his Junior Brother had been injured, he had been applying it without consideration for the cost, not missing a single day, so that the bodily injuries had long grown smaller and turned shallow. It actually didn’t need to be wrapped so completely any longer, but that face was too likely to bring disaster to others, so he wasn’t really that willing to let it out into the world.

Thus, he calmly said, “Let’s keep it like this while you still haven’t remembered the past, so as to avoid any visits from enemies you provoked in the past.”

Ye You originally was just randomly asking, and he himself had thought in his heart that being wrapped up was safer, so he simply made a sound in acknowledgement.

 

The carriage was stopped on the side of the road. The scarred man was just outside guarding it with some others when he saw Lady Wei’s servant girl coming over to call the Sect Master and Young Master Xiao over for a meal. He ended up telling her that Young Master Xiao was currently getting his medicine changed and that they’d be over a little later.

This matter was something that Manor Lord Wei himself had sought out Wenren Heng to arrange for.

Over the years, with the wind coming and the rain going[2], Manor Lord Wei had experienced many hardships in his life, so while today he had been messed with to the point that he was even a bit frustrated, he didn’t pay it much mind. On the contrary, he was actually in the mood to order his subordinates to catch some game in preparation for a fun meal, eating and talking, with his good friends and the younger crowd, as if they had come out to play all along.

Lady Wei was looking in the direction of Wenren Heng’s carriage. When her servant girl returned, she learned that Wenren Heng was currently helping his Junior Brother change the other’s medicine, and she couldn’t help but pout at the words. At first, she had also been happy for Wenren Heng that he had found his Junior Brother, but after recent observations, she discovered that Wenren Heng was especially good to his Junior Brother and brought the other along everywhere he went — for as long as she’d known Wenren Heng, she had never seen him treat anyone else this well.

She asked, “Dad, that’s really his Junior Brother?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “Yes, been missing ten years.”

Lady Wei sulked. “Brother Heng doesn’t need to go so far as to…”

Manor Lord Wei interrupted her, “In the past, they were always depending on one another. Other than the old general from the capital, in this world, Xiao-Heng’s only other close relative is him. Being good to him is natural.”

Lady Wei still wanted to say more but was met with the sight of Wenren Heng approaching with his Junior Brother, so she hastily stood up and hurried over.

Sitting on the side, having heard the whole thing from beginning to end, Wei Jiangyue finally looked to his dad and spoke, “You[3] really don’t think that the way he treats his Junior Brother is a bit excessive?”

Manor Lord Wei thought back to the events ten years ago and said, “He was already like this in the past.”

Wei Jiangyue said, “Then what about little sister?”

Manor Lord Wei said, “The melon that is forcefully broken from the vine will not be sweet[4].”

This youngster Wenren Heng was clever and steady, with ample ability, not to mention that he also had an important general’s house supporting him. His prospects were immeasurable, so how could this person possibly be afraid of not being able to be married. His hatred also couldn’t be incurred.

It’s only that there was some difficulty in getting his daughter to give up. He thought for a bit and said, “He treats his Junior Brother like this, but his Junior Brother doesn’t necessarily treat him the same way. Let’s try matchmaking for his Junior Brother as a test. But we can’t be too serious about it. It should be good if we simply brought his Junior Brother to meet more people. Whether we succeed or not, we should act as if we don’t care, or else we’ll be seen through… Actually, there’s no need for us to do all this. After his Junior Brother’s injuries are healed, there will be many people throwing themselves at him.”

Wei Jiangyue was curious. “Why?”

Manor Lord Wei looked at those young ones slowly walking over and said, “You’ll understand in the future. That face of his Junior Brother’s, even with one half damaged, it’s still capable of bringing disaster…”

Seeing those people getting even closer, he ended the conversation and amiably waved them over to sit down. Wenren Heng courteously gave some words in greeting, politely declined Lady Wei’s proposal to sit next to her, and brought his Junior Brother to a randomly chosen place to sit. Lady Wei had a mind to go over but also didn’t have the face to do so. Seeing Wenren Heng tenderly passing over food to his Junior Brother, she immediately descended into a sulk.

The Elders of the Demonic Sect were in the exact same mood as she was.

They had jumped onto a big tree nearby and were all lined up, gnawing on provisions, silently looking over at that place. Before, they had originally thought that the Sect Master had some plan so they didn’t have any issues, but now that they had guessed that the Sect Master had truly lost his memory, they were all out of sorts.

“Having seen the Sect Master’s face before, is Wenren Heng taking advantage of the Sect Master’s amnesia to make up that nonsense about being his Senior Brother?”

Elder Mei said, “I think that Wenren Heng definitely has some designs on the Sect Master!”

Elder Miao also turned solemn. “Do you think that he’ll tell the Sect Master that there had previously been something between them and then do that something?”

The group, “…”

These people tried somewhat imagining the scene and were so angry that they almost bit off the hands that were holding the provisions. Especially Elder Miao, who almost couldn’t be stopped from going down and setting some poisonous insects. Elder Mei pressed him down and narrowed her eyes. “The next time the Sect Master is alone, let’s all directly tell him the truth, and if the Sect Master is really being tricked by Wenren Heng, I’ll definitely chop up that scoundrel!”

“Yes, let’s chop him together!”

The group continued watching, eyes looking on helplessly as the Sect Master left after eating, following behind Wenren Heng. Seeing the two going to sleep in one carriage, they all had to swallow back a mouthful of blood.

 

At this time, Ye You was looking at this Senior Brother of his and smiling. He said, “The next time there’s something like this, there’s no need to call for me. Tonight, your Lady Wei glared at me so much that I felt as if I was being pierced full of holes.”

Wenren Heng said, “Next time I’ll push it off.”

Ye You said, “Can it be pushed off?”

Wenren Heng said, “Of course it can.”

But he didn’t think that Manor Lord Wei would always call for him. The two of them both wanted to have a good relationship, and they had always managed to maintain a certain distance. As a smooth and evasive person, Manor Lord Wei would naturally not do anything that would cause anyone to hate him.

He reached out a hand and helped his Junior Brother unravel the bandages on the face in preparation to rest. Seeing his Junior Brother continue to watch him, he asked, “What?”

Ye You said, “Senior Brother, I think you really look quite good.”

Wenren Heng paused and gave his Junior Brother a look.

He had always known that his Junior Brother had never given up on sounding him out, and now seeing the Wei family’s sister and brother’s reactions, the other was probably even more suspicious of him.

He calmly said, “You aren’t the first to say this.” He put away the bandages and patted his Junior Brother’s shoulder. “Let’s sleep.”

Ye You looked at him and then obediently went to sleep.

Wenren Heng blew out the candle and also went to sleep. He had originally thought that tonight would be peaceful, but at midnight, he felt someone sticking to him, and only then did he realize that he had overthought it.

He opened his eyes and hastily pressed down on a certain someone’s rebelling hand.

At almost the same time, he perceived his Junior Brother letting out a breath of warm air right next to his ear, and his pupils contracted in a flash.

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[1] 5里 and 10里, respectively.

[2] The original text actually just says that Manor Lord Wei had a lot of 風裡來雨裡去 types of experiences, with 風裡來雨裡去 meaning, as I wrote above, hardships in life. I debated between just translating the meaning, but I liked the imagery enough that I decided to keep it in some capacity.

[3] 您 polite “you”. Wow, these are some polite siblings.

[4] 強扭的瓜不甜 I translated this literally. (Melons apparently can easily be taken off a vine if it’s ripe, so a forcefully removed melon is one that’s unripe, and hence not sweet.) The meaning here is that if something is not meant to happen, don’t try forcing it.

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Also, whoo boy, I took a peak at the next chapter, and it is long. Probably because it’s the first VIP chapter on JJWXC. It seems that most of the VIP chapters will be a lot longer in length, so updates will necessarily slow down. Sorry to leave you on this cliffhanger!

And, as this is the last of the free chapters, here’s a reminder to support the author on JJWXC! Buy the VIP chapters! Here’s a guide!

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<summary>Bonus: an (ultra tiny) sneak peak of the next chapter. It’ll probably tell you nothing.</summary>

“You’re truly hard to please. I treat you well, yet you still suspect me. Do you still have a conscience?” Wenren Heng helplessly said.

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