Chapter 79: 67

Chapter 67 – Chilli Crab (a)

 

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

 

That evening, all everyone could talk about was the mysterious black-robed man and his two apprentices. News of how this person could get even the two Liu Elders to respect him spread like wildfire. That guy must have some kind of incredible background indeed since not even the emperor himself could speak so disrespectfully with the Liu Elders.

For a time, all eyes were upon the Imperial College, pondering upon the identity shrouded behind the black robes.

[1] Just who was this person?

 

[1] Where did he come from?

 

[1] Why did he choose those two as his personal disciples?

 

After busying herself for days fine-tuning her birthday cake making technique for Ling Xiaoxiao, Shiyu rarely entered the cafeteria after that. There were only two weeks left to the promised challenged with Mo Yin, and the Fat Cat was pressing her to work on her knife skills.

The villa garden looked especially pretty today. The ivy vines had covered up any exposed brick, leaving nothing but a fluffy green background for the blooming flowers to dance against. Red and white flowers flashed vividly, creating a very lively atmosphere.

Shiyu had also woven a high arch for her Japanese Roses and had transplanted a Ginseng Fruit Tree in front of it. It was the same tree that she had collected from the Divine Tea Mountain. This remarkable tree provides two batches of fully matured Ginseng Fruit every single day. Volume aside, even the best tasting food would taste bad if eaten every day, so Fat Cat thought up a good way to make use of the fruits.

Since each fruit was basically a miniature person, Fat Cat had Shiyu practice dissecting the fruit into sections according to basic human anatomy.

Shiyu looked down at her work, noting the pieces of fruits that had been sorted into heads, arms, legs, torso. Eventually, she will move on to split the eyes, mouth and ears as well as fingers, toes and so forth. It really looked like she was dissecting a little human the more she polished her skills.

As she studied the assembly line of limbs, she sighed. [2] Though it might be a bit cruel to treat fruit this way, it had to be done. This was a world where the strong devours the weak. Where having a soft heart was a liability. Every day she practised skills that would eventually protect her life in the future. She had known this right from the beginning and had stayed resolutely on this path since.

While Shiyu was focussed on polishing her skills, something big was happening at Feng City.

The Feng Elder has fallen.

 

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[3] “I heard that the old man was besieged by eight Great Perfection Level Core Condensation warriors at once and died in the fight.”

 

[3] “Who do you think those eight masters are?”

 

[3] “I heard they are dressed in all black with their faces covered, so who knows?”

 

[3] “The only thing we know for sure is that the Feng Clan is finished.”

 

“Did the Feng Clan have no allies at all?” someone inquired.

“Of course they do, someone from the Zhou Clan was ambushed on his way to support the Feng Elder. Others also encountered similar problems when they set out to aid the Feng Clan. In the end, only one sole supporter managed to make it into Feng City. With the other three most powerful Feng Clan members, there were only four fighters against eight. How could they win against eight ambushers?”

No matter how powerful someone was, when it came to battles, fighting two against one tended to be very bad odds.

“Aih, now that the Feng Elder has really fallen, will the Feng Clan be divided up?”

“Not quite yet. Though the Feng Elder has fallen and the Feng Patriarch badly injured, the descendants of the Feng Clan are still alive. Those eight strong men did not escape without heavy injuries either. Moreover, the rest of the Feng Clan supporters have converged at their place now.”

As to why the supporters suddenly converged at the Feng Clan Estate after Elder Feng was killed off… well, who could resist the tempting meat pie that was the leaderless Feng Clan? If they don’t grab the choicest bits of meat now, they would be left with nothing but the shell later. [4]

Lin Fan brought the news to Shiyu himself. By then, she had reached the point where she could cleanly split the Ginseng Fruit to six separate pieces.

“I’m going to see Feng Luo now!” without another word, she made her way towards the Imperial Capital Feng Estate.

 

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[5] The Feng Estate was not far from the school, since it had been bought especially for Feng Clan’s children to stay while they attend the College. Shiyu shortened her travelling time via Cloud Beast, and dropped in near the entrance. She was just in time to see Feng Luo trying to get onto his own Spiritual Beast and make his way back to Feng City.

 

Trying, because an old man was doing his utmost best to stop this young man, “If you go home now, you would ruin all the arrangements made by the master. Now that the Feng Clan is like this, it is your duty to stay at the College, keep yourself safe and grow strong. So long as you are there, nobody would dare come after you. If young master wishes for revenge, 10 years is not too late. However, revenge is only possible if you’re alive to take it, ah!”

Shiyu had seen this old man a couple of times when she visited this estate. He did not leave a very strong impression, but from his firm attitude and calm words, it was clear that he was a fairly important person in the estate.

Feng Luo closed his eyes in pain, “Father is seriously injured and unconscious even now. How can I just sit here and preserve my own life while my family is in danger?” suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he stared determinedly at the old man. “Uncle Feng, I must go back! The other members of the Feng family can take care of revenge, but for now, someone must be there to oversee family matters. Eldest brother had always been too mild-tempered and second brother too reckless. Neither could properly control the family, I must return home!”

Right now, Feng Luo looked half-wild and desperate. His clothes in disarray, his eyes bloodshot with emotion. Even his lips were bleeding from having been nervously bitten over and over again. There was no trace of the dignified young master from Ling Xiaoxiao’s birthday banquet.

Shiyu had come with the intention to comfort him, but after some thought, she believed that nothing she said would persuade him otherwise. If that’s the case, perhaps it’s better to assist him?

Thinking over her options, she got back onto Cloud Beast and flew for the villa. [6]

It’s better to consult her local elder than to act impulsively. She found Old Gu relaxing in the garden with a novel as usual and hurried over. She updated him on what was happening with the Feng Clan and asked, “Grandpa Gu, if it’s you, surely Feng Luo can take control of his family with your backing?”

Old Gu chuckled, “Little girl, don’t be deceived by appearance. Do you know just how many powerful people there are hidden in the shadows around that Feng Luo brat?”

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“Ah?” Shiyu was not sure where the old man was going with this.

“On the day of the birthday banquet, I sensed no less than five masters shadowing the child. At least one of them is a Great Perfection Level Core Condensation Stage master. If the Feng Family really lacked masters to protect the elder, wouldn’t that guy be called back to defend the Feng Estate?”

“… …” Shiyu took the time to digest this information for a moment. Finally, she exploded, “The f*ck? Is it a trap?”

“Hohoh, perhaps, perhaps.”

With Old Gu’s advice ringing in her ears, Shiyu went to look for Feng Luo again. A new plan was forming in her head. Old Gu settled down among the sweet-smelling roses again, good deed for the day done. He lifted the little cup of wine to his lips and took a sip. Ah, nothing like good wine on a fine day like this. Now let’s see what the protagonist has done to get himself into trouble now… [7]

 

Back at the Feng Estate, Shiyu found that the old man, Uncle Feng, had sealed off Feng Luo’s Dantian, causing the young man to temporarily lose his ability to fight back.

“This old man could not allow you to run into danger, young master,” Uncle Feng said calmly. [8]

Shiyu just happened to burst in during this very awkward moment. Earlier, she had remained hidden from Feng Luo’s sight because she did not want to embarrass him by letting him know that his dishevelled state was seen by outsiders. However, she leaned in now to smile tentatively at Feng Luo and Uncle Feng. [8]

“Hello,” she said awkwardly. [8]

To his credit, Feng Luo made a monumental effort to pull himself together and pushed away from his uncle to stand on his own. “Shiyu,” he said, “what a surprise to see you here.” He stood very straight, as though that could hide his fatigued and dishevelled self. He frowned, “Why are you here?” [8]

“Er, my master sent me!” Shiyu improvised quickly. “He’s heard what happened and sent me to see how you are. Because you’re my friend.” [8]

“Young lady, you’re too kind,” said Uncle Feng. [8]

“Oh no, this is the least I should do as a friend,” she said quickly. She remembered what Old Gu said, about the Feng Clan not spreading out their forces if they had not been confident about their own safety. That may be true, but if the people had to expend energy to make sure Feng Luo was not doing anything stupid, they would not be able to effectively assist the Feng Clan back at Feng City. She continued, “Actually, my master sent me over with a message. He would like to invite Feng Luo over to stay at our College Villa for a while. The End of Term Competition is coming up, both Lin Fan and I could use some pointers from a senior.” [8]

When Feng Luo did not say anything to Shiyu’s ‘request’, Uncle Feng answered in his stead, “Apologies, the young master’s Dantian has been temporarily blocked for the next few days, so his strength is now no different from a regular person. However, he could still give some pointers to such enthusiastic juniors in preparation for their first competition. Of course, he would be happy to assist such enthusiastic juniors. This old man begs young miss please to look after him for me.” [8]

“Of course, of course,” Shiyu nodded. “As a guest of our house, we promise that Feng Luo will be well taken care of.”

Since Shiyu had arrived on the Cloud Beast, the Feng Clan had a carriage prepared with all the necessary things needed for a ‘short stay’ at the Bamboo villa. Feng Luo was hustled away to clean up while Uncle Feng engaged Shiyu in small talk, which she obliged. [8]

Once the carriage drove off, Uncle Feng suddenly addressed the gatekeeper, “Has that Meng Li girl appeared at all these past few days?”

The gatekeeper shook his head, “Not yet.”

A shadow of ridicule flashed across Uncle Feng’s eyes. “The Strength of Horses are Tested on Shaky Roads, the Hearts of Men by Time!”

 

When Feng Luo arrived at the Villa, he was given the remaining room on the upper floor. He stayed silent as he went through the motion of settling in. However, when he remained listless and miserable during their lunch, Shiyu could not take it anymore.

She caught hold of his elbow and said quietly, “I remember the time you took the Immortal Jade Petal Lotus back to Feng City. It must have been a few months now, closer to half a year [9]. Surely… your grandfather couldn’t have just put it in a pot and just admired it all this while…”

 

[Gumihou: Well said, Uncle Feng. Humph! Humph!]

 

[1] Structural Change: Instead of ‘For a while, everyone wondered over etc etc’ split the questions into short lines for more impact.

 

 

[2] Added More Details: Re the broken down bits of Ginseng Fruit.

 

 

[3] Structural Change: Split the dialogue into separate dialogues for dramatic effect

 

 

[4] Added More Details: Expanded the meat pie imagery.

 

 

[5] Added More Details for Transitional Purposes: Shiyu ‘ran for the estate’ and in the next paragraph ‘Feng Luo wanted to go back to Feng City’ isn’t this kind of speed too unusual?

 

 

[6] Added More Details: I called the Cloud Beast in!

 

 

[7] Added More Details: Transitional details from talking to Old Gu to going back to see Feng Luo. Also added details of how Old Gu enjoys his day…

 

 

[8] Added More Details: Transitional – when did Shiyu show herself? Why did Uncle Feng just let a strange girl take their precious young master? What did they say? Seriously, what happened? Also, the concept of ‘face’ means the Fengs won’t accept Shiyu’s help at face value, so I had Shiyu phrased her offer to shelter Feng Luo as a request for help from a senior.

 

 

[9] Plot Related Detail: There must be about three weeks to one month between the deleted scene as well as the ‘author patch’ which I ignored. So, technically, we gave the Immortal Flower thingy to grandpa early, so cheer up, Feng Luo!

 

 

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