Ch123 - Discussion

Whether intentionally or not, Gallant Outlaw’s tone was low and deep and his every sentence struck a nerve with Xie Zhiwei. He blanked out briefly before replying sardonically, “It’s not that exaggerated, right…what do you mean I’ll throw my life away.”

Gallant Outlaw slowly reasoned with him. “Idol, you don’t need me to analyze this, right? You should know better than me how the situation stands. If the System doesn’t get involved, can the protagonist beat Yin Cangshan in his current state?”

Xie Zhiwei’s voice was muffled. “I was about to ask. What kind of spell formation did Yin Cangshan cook up? They say he’s going to refine the three lotuses in Mu He’s body.”

This time, it was Gallant Outlaw who fell silent.

Xie Zhiwei’s heart was almost hanging in the sky. “Talk ah, you!”

“Idol, I’m telling the truth. …You don’t have to take this risk. Give up.”

“Give up?” Dammit, can’t you see how hard laozi’s working? The plot’s almost at an end and you tell me to give up? Why didn’t you say that when I first transmigrated?

Xie Zhiwei suppressed his seething temper and asked, “Tell me if he can still be saved first.”

Gallant Outlaw scratched the back of his head haphazardly, feeling at a loss. “When I first wrote down the settings, Yin Cangshan did have a refining spell formation like this. It was meant to trap the hero for a few days during the imperial court plotline and counted as a small hurdle on his path of powering up. The formation’s made from the hostile qi of that other world and can force out weapons from one’s divine consciousness. Your Qingping Sword is one example, or Yan Zhifei’s Taisu Sword, and those lotuses too. But I figured no one wanted to read about court intrigue, so I cut that part out.”

Xie Zhiwei had no more strength to complain about his unreliability at this point. “That hard? If the original Mu He didn’t have Heart Sway Arts, wouldn’t he be finished as well if he ran into Yin Cangshan?”

“That’s different. The original protagonist got all of the treasures and combined the four lotuses with Qingping Sword, so he wasn’t afraid at all. They were tailor-made for the protagonist. Think about it, ah: everyone else who loses their soul weapons face death, but only the hero remains proudly independent and unharmed. Isn’t that super cool? But look at him now. He has no troops, weak spiritual energy, and only three out of the Five Treasures which he can’t even wield without effort…what’s he going to use to deal with the formation?”

Xie Zhiwei had no words.

Gallant Outlaw sighed heavily again. “After being disciple and master for awhile, there’s bound to be some affection even if he made a thousand mistakes and broke character to become scum. But think about it, Idol. There’s a miniscule possibility of saving the hero now, while you staying behind carries incalculable risks. A short burst of pain is better than prolonged suffering, so you should choose soon. Look at how tempting the first two choices are, ah. If you really can’t bear to part, choose Option 2 and you’ll get back an all-new protagonist.”

“…all-new?”

“Right, ah. On the one hand, he won’t bend into such complicated twists like the current hero, but only be more interested in girl…ah no, strictly speaking, he won’t give his heart to anyone, nor truly trust anyone. He’ll be the splitting image of the original novel, so I promise you’ll never see him cry again. Nothing but a blackened, ruthless character here. On the other hand, you’ll have learned your lessons already and know how to get along with him the second time around.”

Xie Zhiwei heard him break down the original hero’s glorious image layer by layer and raised his eyes, staring unfocused at the system interface. The digital text was colorful and the windows sharply defined, but somehow they seemed to distort and change into Mu He in front of him.

Mu He’s eyes were shining as he looked at him with a smile.

Last night, the night before, in his dreams, in reality, every time they met—it was always like this. As long as he was gazing at Xie Zhiwei, those eyes seemed to hold only him and nothing else.

Gallant Outlaw was still rambling on. “We won’t steal any scenes next time, but you can mix up some acting parts to make up for it. Just observe the hero from the sidelines and follow the plot to prevent any mistakes. But you still have to save him at the start. Still, no matter how he begs, don’t become his shizun. I guarantee there’ll be no problems…”

“Let me think it over,” Xie Zhiwei said slowly.

“What’s there to think about? Option 1 versus Option 2?” Gallant Outlaw reminded him, “Idol, you have to hurry, the System gave a short deadline—”

Pah! The twenty minutes were up and System was forced to end the dialogue.

Xie Zhiwei opened his eyes and felt the darkness in the cave was like a curtain spreading all the way outside. He slowly stood up. Because he had summoned the System in his dream this time, he was still drowsy as if just woken up.

Tantai Meng’s body was covered by the fox fur cloak as she curled up in a corner to sleep quietly. Her thin white figure in the dark somewhat resembled Mu He’s weak self at fifteen or sixteen. At first glance, Xie Zhiwei’s heart gave a jolt. Right after that his eyes cleared up—Tantai Meng’s face had no trace of warmth. She was still cold and aloof, even when she slept.

Xie Zhiwei withdrew his gaze and sighed imperceptibly.

Outside the cave the weather was frosty and flying snow blanketed the skies.

—

It was the second morning after the storm outside Mahavira Hall. Du Sheng shut the doors to the residence halls and went to see where the members of the daoist sect were staying. From a distance he heard a loud commotion. Chen Daoyuan was happily running to Chu Zhishi’s room with a bowl of medicine. When he saw Du Sheng, he stopped and quickly bowed.

“Morning ah, Great Master.”

“Little friend, what’s the hurry?” Du Sheng nodded back.

Chen Daoyuan was very enthusiastic. “My shizun’s awake! Great Master, I’m going in first to serve him medicine! You lot, hurry and open the doors. Can’t you see my hands are full?”

A few young disciples obediently drew back the curtains as Chen Daoyuan dodged in like a loach. Du Sheng’s face looked gratified as he followed behind, only to see that Xia Zhiqi and Yan Zhifei were also sitting inside. A few disciples were helping Chu Zhishi sit up and pad a thick blanket behind his back.

Du Sheng cupped his hands in a heshi “Shanzai, City Lord Chu is awake.”

Xia Zhiqi and Yan Zhifei both rose to greet Du Sheng upon seeing him. Chu Zhishi’s complexion looked terrible as one shoulder laid flat with thick bandages wrapped around the place where his arm used to be. He leaned against the quilt with tired, half-hung eyes as she said, “Great Master, I won’t be getting up.”

Once he was a first-class member of the cultivation world; now he was reduced weakly to lying in bed and waiting for others to serve soup, to say nothing of losing half his arm. That daoist whisk and épée-wielding sage of the daoist sect would probably remain only a legend from now on.

“City Lord Chu is injured, no need for such formalities here,” Du Sheng said hastily.

Chu Zhishi didn’t say anything and lay back like splattered mud against the blanket, looking very weak. By his side, Chen Daoyuan quickly raised his bowl of medicine and said quietly, “Shizun, drink the medicine.”

“Not drinking, take it away,” Chu Zhishi shut his eyes.

Chen Daoyuan looked at the bowl of thick liquid. Although it didn’t smell good, it was full of excellent spiritual herbs. It would be wasteful not to drink it. “But shizun…”

Chu Zhishi creased his brows as his eyes flew open. “Take it away!”

His voice was infused with qi and left Chen Daoyuan shaken. Yan Zhifei said to him, “You lot should leave. Close the door behind you.”

A person raised the curtains and entered. “I’m afraid just shutting the doors won’t do.”

Yan Zhifei’s brows relaxed at the sight of him, only to scrunch together again. “Zhiwei, where did you run off to in the past two days?”

“Doing some minor matters,” Xie Zhiwei replied. “I’ve made eldest senior brother worry.” He and Du Sheng exchanged bows before he walked over to Chu Zhishi, who had half-raised himself to glare as soon as he stepped in. Xie Zhiwei pressed him back onto the bed. “Youngest junior brother has suffered.”

Chu Zhishi was in no good mood. “Right? I’ve suffered a lot.”

Xie Zhiwei felt terrible too. If he was the one who lost half an arm, he wouldn’t be able to take it either. He handed over the food box in his hands and said, “Youngest junior brother, senior brother brought you this.”

Opening up the lid revealed a fragrance that made Chu Zhishi’s nostrils twitch. He knew was it was without a glance. “Turtle soup? With parsley? Second senior brother, hurry and give me a bowl.”

This was a far cry from the bitter, hateful attitude he had when told to take his medicine. Yan Zhifei’s eyebrows furrowed even further, but Xie Zhiwei really wanted to give Chu Zhishi a thumbs up. Cheese was really manly. Xie Zhiwei assumed he’d be depressed, but the man was actually calm and easy as he eat and drank as he ought. He seemed to have accepted the reality of his broken arm.

If I was broken or crippled, I’d never be able to act like him…ah pooh, crow’s mouth, I can’t let that kind of thing happen!

Xie Zhiwei tossed out a boundary field as the green light of Qingping sword covered the doors and windows tightly.

Xia Zhiqi didn’t understand. “Second senior brother, this…”

Xie Zhiwei poured out a bowlful of soup as he spoke. “Great Master Du Sheng, please have a seat. Senior brother and junior sister should sit as well. Today we should discuss a matter together.”

Xia Zhiqi and Du Sheng both sat down, but Yan Zhifei didn’t. “What is it?” he asked while looking at Xie Zhiwei.

Xie Zhiwei’s motions paused mid-pour before he placed the soup on a table. Chu Zhishi could only smack his lips on the side. He turned back and said, “Now that Yin Cangshan has betrayed his trust and started forcibly refining the three lotuses in my disciple’s body, we need to put a stop to him before he succeeds in his plot.”

Xie Zhiwei didn’t raise any terms as this was no small matter. Who “we” referred to was self-evident.

Yan Zhifei’s expression was grave. He didn’t say anything, while Xia Zhiqi stood up and asked, “Does second senior brother plan to save your disciple with the strength of the daoist sect?”

Xie Zhiwei was serious as he replied. “It’s not for the sake of saving my disciple, but all the people in the world.” He had never joked, much less with the world at stake.

Du Sheng’s body leaned forward slightly as he inquired, “What does Xie zhenren mean by these words?”

Chu Zhishi finally managed to pull the soup bowl towards the corner of the table closest to him. Now he also raised his head. “Second senior brother, although I don’t oppose your suggestion, saying that it’s to save the whole world…is a little exaggerated, right.”

“Not a bit,” Xie Zhiwei shook his head before he was startled. “Youngest junior brother, you don’t oppose my suggestion? But towards my disciple, aren’t you…”

Chu Zhishi finally got the soup bowl and drank two mouthfuls in satisfaction before he spoke again. “I heard about the events that night from my disciples. Actually, I was perfectly clear the explosion originated from my broken arm and had nothing to do with your disciple.”

His words shocked the other three as well. Chu Zhishi sighed, placed the bowl down, and said tiredly, “To tell you the truth, your bastard disciple isn’t completely innocent. If he hadn’t hurt my arm first, someone else wouldn’t have taken advantage of the situation to hide those suspicious things under the pretext of treating me.”

Xie Zhiwei was a little lost. Although this was the truth, why did Yin Cangshan bother to preserve Chu Zhishi’s life after hiding the hostile qi in his body? Wasn’t it better to blow the rest of him up too? Why leave a witness to identify him?

Yan Zhifei was perplexed as well. “Zhishi, since the explosion originated from your arm, why was that the only thing you lost? You were closest to the source of the blasts.”

His words almost sounded like he was disappointed Chu Zhishi had only lost an arm and wished he’d lost more. Sensing his slip, Yan Zhifei added, “Those explosions nearly razed the entire rear mountains of the Buddhist sect, but you…”

“Eldest senior brother doesn’t need to explain, I know what you mean,” Chu Zhishi arched a brow and looked at Xie Zhiwei with a complex gaze. “It was my second senior brother’s disciple…who quickly added a layer of white light to my body when the explosions happened, thus preserving my life.”

—

Translator’s Note: Finally finished this giant of a chapter ahhhh.

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