Ch110 - Vulnerabilities

Discussion of past rape, but in a very flippant manner that may offend.

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In order to prevent the King of Nine Provinces or anyone else from returning with more problems, Xie Zhiwei and his group temporarily left the capital city to settle down in a small shop in the outskirts. In the interim, Xie Zhiwei and Yan Zhifei exchanged information with each other.

Only then did he find out this storm was no accident.

Chu Zhishi went missing in Flying Flowers Townshop, causing his disciples to search for him anxiously for two days straight. A few sharper ones noticed something wrong because their own shizun had never been so seriously wounded, much less disappeared beneath their very noses. Then there was second martial uncle, who had apparently returned from the dead without their master any the wiser. Under such unusual circumstances, they rushed back to the sect and told Yan Zhifei everything without hiding a word.

The more Yan Zhifei heard, the more bizarre it sounded. Leaving aside the fact that Chu Zhishi had broken his arm, the constant mention of “second martial uncle” was incredible. He was still hesitating and considered sending Xia Zhiqi down the mountain to make inquiries. Unexpectedly, one day later someone inserted a sword into their mountain gates. On it was a strung a piece of paper that roughly described how Chu Zhishi was locked up in the King of Nine Provinces’ manor with his life in danger. It was actually signed “Xie Zhiwei.” Though it wasn’t his handwriting at all, Yan Zhifei’s suspicions were growing.

After all, the day Mu He and Qiu Chongyun vanished, Xie Zhiwei’s grave was left empty with no clear explanation from the Demonic Sect members. Whether or not Xie Zhiwei was still alive, Yan Zhifei felt he had to ask the king in person. Who would have expected that the Lu Wen faction came knocking on the same door? More surprising was the fact that the King of Nine Provinces openly admitted he had Chu Zhishi under custody. However, if they wanted him unharmed, then the daoist sect had to accompany on a trip to a certain inn.

As if Yan Zhifei was so easy to trick. At his insistence, the King of Nine Provinces allowed him to stand outside the prisons and see Chu Zhishi and Tantai Meng from a distance. Yan Zhifei wanted to snatch them right then and there, but there was a boundary field preventing him from taking action. Then the King of Nine Provinces said he was going to the inn to meet Xie Zhiwei himself. Thus, Yan Zhifei deferred to his demands. First, it would ensure Chu Zhishi’s safety for the moment; secondly, he could see Xie Zhiwei.

Even if the king was lying, he had no other choice.

He never expected to see the actual Xie Zhiwei in person.

Yan Zhifei’s mood had been complicated: there was a deep chasm between Lu Wen and Xie Zhiwei. The former was smart enough not to find faults with the daoist sect and only share them with the king along the way. However, his voice was loud enough to spread to their side. Xia Zhiqi had stepped forward multiple times until she got the gist of their story. Thus, Yan Zhifei had denied Xie Zhiwei’s identity to chase him off the first moment they met.

This was all simply a setup.

Xie Zhiwei and Yan Zhifei found two points of doubt. One, who had passed on that paper message to the daoist sect? Two, very few people knew of Black Lotus, much less connected it with Lu Zhanyun’s insanity. Who told Lu Wen?

Xie Zhiwei had a flash of insight and told Yan Zhifei about the grave robbers. He knitted his brow and replied, “In other words, we still don’t know who their sponsor was?”

“Precisely,” Xie Zhiwei mused. “Maozi and Old Du just happened to get murdered. I’m guessing their sponsor wanted to silence them.”

“That’s the only reasonable explanation,” Xia Zhiqi added. “The King of Nine Provinces was bent on framing second senior brother today, which is very suspicious. Could he be the sponsor?”

“Don’t assume without proof,” Yan Zhifei’s expression was serious. “Zhiwei, fortunately your disciple had enough conscience to bear the brunt of it for you. Otherwise…that’s right, Zhiwei. Why didn’t you see me first after coming back to life? Why hide instead?”

Because I was fearing for my life, ah! Now that he thought back, going straight back to the daoist sect wasn’t a bad idea either. He hadn’t helped the plot much just by wandering around.

In any case, the hero bent regardless.

Xie Zhiwei coughed and prepared to stammer when Yan Zhifei said, “Makes sense. You were concerned about your disciple, so you naturally went to find him first. Today he has defended you in every way, repaying kindness with like. But you need to remember to put the daoist sect first.”

“Yes, eldest senior brother,” Xie Zhiwei silently exhaled.

Yan Zhifei was only half right. It wasn’t that he was concerned about the hero, but the plot of the book. Xie Zhiwei found some time to open the System and clicked on the chatbox.

Gallant Outlaw happily picked up. “Idol, is everything finished?”

Xie Zhiwei’s face was black. “Finished your grandpa!”

“Cough, looks like it’s all done…” Gallant Outlaw said nervously. “It’s already been four days, Idol, you…um…how are you.”

Xie Zhiwei laughed coldly. “Is that even possible? Four days? Can the hero last that long?”

Gallat Outlaw grew excited. “Of course! Not just four days, even ten days is no problem! Don’t forget he’s a gifted stud! He didn’t even need a textbook to figure out his first time with a girl!”

“No wonder…” Although rough, his techniques were still skillful.

Gallant Outlaw still persistently in probing. “In any case it was the first time ah, Idol. It couldn’t have been easy for the hero…so how many days was it?”

Xie Zhiwei had black lines down the side of his face. “Three! Days!”

“Oh haha, not bad,” Gallant Outlaw was like a busybody as he continued to ask, “How was it ah, Idol, you look so calm a day later. You haven’t even said anything bad about the protagonist, so I bet it felt pretty good.”

“F**k off,” Xie Zhiwei said. “I’ve lived enough in the last life to seen my share. Isn’t it just being…it’s not like I’m a girl who’d be seeking death and crying.”

“That’s true. What does Idol plan to do next? Pretend nothing ever happened, or avoid the topic?”

“Why avoid it?”

“Aren’t you afraid he’ll try again…”

Xie Zhiwei waved a hand. “He doesn’t have those intentions at the moment, but it looks like we’re in a spot of trouble right now.”

“Huh? How come?” Gallant Outlaw gave a start.

“Take the authorization and see for yourself.”

“Okay!”

—

Five minutes later, Gallant Outlaw was still smacking his lips while clicking the dialogue box. “Idol, this plot…is it really my writing?”

“You’re asking me?” Xie Zhiwei plastered on a fake smile. “Aren’t you perfectly clear about that yourself?”

“But but…I swear upon Heaven that this isn’t a fanfiction, ah. How did we get so far off-track? Isn’t that Lu Wen a soy sauce character? And there’s also the King of Nine Provinces and Yin Cangshan. Dammit, what the hell is all this crap?”

“Very good,” Xie Zhiwei gave him a round of applause, “You spoke the very words from my heart.”

“No, this won’t do, I have to find out where the problem is. I’m hanging up ah Idol, you take it easy first!”

“Hey!” Xie Zhiwei didn’t react in time before the chatbox blinked out.

Well, fine. Let that heartless author panic for once. In any case, these Chadian thrilling-type webnovels had nothing but plot and cool points without caring about the emotional line. The results were that all the girls were big-chested but brainless while worshiping the hero. One got tired of reading it eventually. But Gallant Outlaw had been so insatiable that he wanted both thrills and a different protagonist who was delicate and melancholy instead of mainstream. Now look, the hero’s feelings changed so much that the plot was affected too.

Xie Zhiwei wanted for Gallant Outlaw to get slapped in the face. He estimated the dude had an 80 percent chance of failure to find any bugs.

By the time he left the System, it was almost time to eat. The wind picked up after twilight, chilling the weather to extremes. When dumplings appeared on the dinner table, Xie Zhiwei realized that today was the winter solstice. Several months had passed in the blink of an eye since his resurrection, but he only felt like he was settling down now. Despite the various waves of the plot, at least he could walk out openly under his own identity from now on.

It felt great to reclaim his identity.

Yan Zhifei’s brows were still furrowed while Xia Zhiqi said from the side, “How about eldest senior brother return to the mountain first? Second senior brother and I can stay here to rescue youngest junior brother out.”

Xie Zhiwei finally remembered and quickly told Yan Zhifei, “Eldest senior brother needn’t worry, my disciple has already promised he’ll release youngest junior brother.”

Xia Zhiqi said nothing, but Yan Zhifei sighed. “I hope he isn’t lying to you.”

When the meal was ready, Yan Zhifei gave an order and all the disciples picked up bowls and chopsticks to eat in a disciplined manner. However, the three seniors of the sect were preoccupied and had little appetite. Xie Zhiwei remembered that he was supposed to have a big meal with Mu He, but it was a bust once more. The dumplings in his bowl now were a marked difference and it took him half a day to just eat one.

He heard a Heavenly Sun City disciple behind him ask his companion, “Senior Brother Daoyuan, why don’t you eat? Don’t you like meat dumplings very much?”

Chen Daoyuan touched the mole on his lip, listless. “Our old man shizun likes fennel filling the most, just like the ones on this plate. But shizun’s not here right now…”

Yan Zhifei set down his chopsticks with a heavy crease in his brows. Xie Zhiwei did as well, but before he could comfort him, someone knocked on the door.

“Eldest senior brother, second senior brother, third senior sister, are you guys inside?”

The trio exchanged looks before they rose at the same time to open the door, forgetting that they could manage perfectly well with just spiritual energy. Once it opened, Chu Zhishi was greeted by the light inside and said with excitement, “You were really inside!”

Yan Zhifei grabbed his shoulder. “Zhishi, you’ve suffered.”

Tantai Meng walked over and said simply, “Greetings to Sect Leader Yan.”

Xie Zhiwei was overwhelmed by her and sniffed, “It’s good that you’re okay. Hurry back to the Buddhist sect tomorrow, you’ve suffered too.”

Tantai Meng looked at him with a different kind of gaze and nodded. “Mm.” Then she entered by herself.

Xie Zhiwei saw her find an unoccupied table and sit down. The daoist disciples she met last time struck up a conversation, but her expression remained faint as she ignored them.

“What’s wrong with her?” Xie Zhiwei asked Chu Zhishi.

“I don’t know,” Chu Zhishi shook his head. “A few days ago your renegade disciple used some black qi to torture her. She’s been like that ever since. I’m guessing the abuse was too much and now she’s angry.”

It was only normal to be mad. Xie Zhiwei had been tormented by Black Lotus too and knew how painful it felt. He sighed and said, “Go in and eat. There’s your favorite fennel-filling dumplings.”

“Really!” Chu Zhishi’s eyes lit up before he suddenly glanced behind him. “Hold it, I haven’t given thanks yet.”

“Who are you thanking, Mu He?” Yan Zhifei asked.

“Thanking him? I can’t wait to kill him instead,” Chu Zhishi gnashed his teeth before shouting at the carriage by the road. “King Yin, my senior brothers and the rest are indeed inside. Would you like to join us for a meal?”

At the yell, Yin Cangshan poked his head out of the King of Nine Provinces’ carriage just in time to meet Xie Zhiwei’s eyes. He smiled rather bashfully and said, “Then excuse me.”

Mu He had clearly sent someone to drive Chu Zhishi and the rest over, so how did Yin Cangshan end up in the carriage too? Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help asking quietly, “What’s going on?”

Chu Zhishi lifted his arm to explain. “Eldest senior brother, second senior brother, we really have to give King Yin a big thank you. I would’ve arrived earlier but I ran into him midway. He saw that my arm looked terrible, so he found a miracle doctor from his estate to treat me. Now it doesn’t hurt anymore. I even think the bones are growing back without the aid of spiritual energy.”

Xia Zhiqi reached out to slightly squeeze his arm and nodded. “Indeed they are. The tendons and veins have recovered by 90 percent.”

Now King Yin was walking over with a chuckle while Yan Zhifei’s expression eased. “Please come in, King Yin.”

Yin Cangshan spread his hand in an arc and smiled. “Please.”

The Heavenly Sun City disciples had already poured outside shouting for their master. Chu Zhishi was in a good mood and shouted back while striding inside, but didn’t forget to look back at Yin Cangshan. “King Yin, although these dishes are simple, the flavor isn’t bad. Hope you don’t mind.”

“How could I?” Yin Cangshan said hastily.

The noisy crowd settled back into their seats while Xie Zhiwei decided to sit by Tantai Meng after some thought. She looked askance at him before shifting to the side, puzzling him. Even if she’s angry, she wouldn’t be so cold. It’s like she’s a completely different person.

He asked, “Miss Tantai, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

“No,” Tantai Meng replied expressionlessly.

Chu Zhishi was chewing on dumplings while looking over with interest. “Interesting. That girl’s treating you like ice too. She’s not even calling ‘Benefactor’ anymore. Looks like that black qi was really powerful. Tsk, and it was lotus-shaped too.”

Xia Zhiqi looked at him in scorn. “That was Black Lotus. Supposedly its black qi can affect one’s mind when used lightly, and destroy souls when wielded in earnest.“

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help adding, And it has even more uses than that, such as replacing the hero’s hands…

“So that’s it. No wonder…” Tantai Meng finally spoke up, but her gaze towards Xie Zhiwei was as strange as ever. “Xie zhenren, I’ve remembered everything from the past.”

—

The Chinese commenters:

Translator’s Note: Our daughter’s back! But at the same time…it feels like we’re lost her too (T ^ T) *cough cough* If you feel like you’ve forgotten the heroine’s original character settings, never fear! Just check out 1:35-1:52 of the MDE MV for a review, or 0:19 – 0:50 of this MV for the icy beauty aesthetics. :3