Meng Chongguang was completely unaware about the changes in Xu Xingzhi’s mind, so he just continued without further thought: “I don’t know if it’s true. . . Shixiong, do you think that the leader of Feng Mountain was lying?”
Xu Xingzhi could only take responsibility and tell him in his heart that the information was true because laozi wrote as such in the novella.
The fake smile on Xu Xingzhi’s face was stiff: “Did you fulfill his wish after?”
Meng Chongguang responded with a smile: “How could I? Putting him out of his misery or whatever was all just talk. Keeping him alive will still be useful ne.”
. . . Xu Xingzhi decided that if one day his real identity was unfortunately revealed, then he must immediately slit his own throat with the dagger, so he wouldn’t be tormented by Meng Chongguang, this veteran evil spirit, until he was unable to live nor able to die.
Very soon, this veteran demon, who may actually be a cat, fell asleep under his pats. Meng Chongguang was curled up hugging Xu Xingzhi’s knees, sleeping soundly like a kitten, and his fluffy hair was spread out over them, great to the touch.
Xu Xingzhi’s rosewood right hand caressed his hair again and again, while his left hand grasped the handle of the dagger and slowly unsheathed it.
Meng Chongguang already found the whereabouts of the next key fragment. It’s time to kill him right?
The tip of the dagger was aimed at the center of Meng Chongguang’s forehead.
Earlier, the scarlet demonic mark appeared there because of his overstimulated emotions, so Xu Xingzhi was able to easily find the location of the mark.
Meng Chongguang slept entirely unguarded. Hiding under his dark hair was such an innocent and harmless face, as if where he was currently peacefully sleeping was the safest place in the world.
Xu Xingzhi poked Meng Chongguang’s forehead a few times, but he didn’t even stir in response and just muttered: “Shixiong, Shixiong.”
As he called out repeatedly, he began to smile foolishly as if just chanting this name would stir up infinite joy out of thin air.
. . . Xu Xingzhi ultimately decided to toss the dagger aside. He let himself fall over backwards and placed the back of his hand on his forehead.
F*ck. Forget about it.
He wasn’t a gentleman, but he also couldn’t strike down an unsuspecting Meng Chongguang who was sporting such a face.
If he did such a thing, even if he returned to his original world, Meng Chongguang’s face would haunt him in his dreams.
Rather than that, he might as well slit his own throat cleanly right here and now.
Of course, Xu Xingzhi, who had always adhered to the concept of “rather than dying with dignity, it is better to live shamelessly”, would never surrender to death so easily.
After putting away the dagger, Xu Xingzhi worked tirelessly to move Meng Chongguang onto the bed.
He probably spent a lot of energy when he fought against the enemy today, so it’ll be good for him to get some rest.
Watching him sleep so sweetly, Xu Xingzhi even felt a little envious, so he brushed the side of his hooked finger along Meng Chongguang’s tall and straight attractive nose: “. . . You really are the bane of my existence.”
After whispering that, he decided that he’d go out for a walk to relax a bit. However who would have thought that as soon as he got up from the bed and took two steps, Meng Chongguang would hum in a low voice “en”. His voice was husky and magnetic, making Xu Xingzhi look back uncontrollably as his heart wavered.
Cr rbbc jr atf alq bo tlr olcufgr mjwf lc mbcajma klat Zfcu Jtbcuuejcu, tlr fzqgfrrlbc fjrfv wlgjmeiberis.
We Wlcuhtl rwlifv tfiqifrris jcv rtfinfv tlr atbeutar bo ublcu bea. Lf milwyfv bcab atf yfv, ijlv vbkc yfrlvf tlw, jcv mibrfv tlr fsfr jr kfii.
. . . Meng Chongguang seemed tired enough already and it appeared that only when he himself was accompanying him could he get a good rest.
Speaking of which, Meng Chongguang was picked up by the original owner as a child, so it wasn’t surprising that his sentiment for the original owner turned out to be no less than the sentiment one would have for their father or brother.
Seeing that there were no urgent matters either way, Xu Xingzhi cushioned his head with his right hand and gazed at the canopy of the bed as he recalled the vile remarks the Beast Hide Person hurtled at him earlier.
“And who do we have here, it turned out to be Xu Xingzhi who committed magistricide and betrayed the righteous path!”
“. . . Full of wild and evil schemes, betraying virtue and lacking in manners, first you killed your respectful master. . .”
Everyone in the world was under the impression that Xu Xingzhi killed his master, but the original owner’s memories told him that it was Meng Chongguang who rebelled, killed his master in order to steal the divine artifacts, and ultimately let him bear the blame.
However, from what Xu Xingzhi discerned from Meng Chongguang’s recent actions, he seemed to attach great importance to his affections and human relationships. No matter how he carried himself, he didn’t look like the kind of person who would seek to obtain worldly possessions through devious means.
Xu Xingzhi wondered, was it because the divine artifacts were so precious that his mind was momentarily bewitched?
He flipped over and curled up on his side, feeling inexplicably suffocated.
. . . The title of the original owner’s master seemed to be “Qingjing-jun”.
This name tumbled around in his mind, spinning around until he felt nauseous, and even wanted to throw up for a while.
He propped up the upper half of his body and faced the area below the bed, wanting to vomit but was unable to.
Xu Xingzhi pounded his chest twice and then laid down again, only then did the aching and depressive emotions trapped in his chest lighten a little.
Xu Xingzhi couldn’t tell where the origin of these feelings were. He could only comfort himself by reminding himself, since he was using the original owner’s body, perhaps because the original owner had a deep affection for his master, it caused him to feel this indescribable, suffocating depression whenever he recalled that his master had already passed away.
Based on the principle that one night of sleep would resolve thousands of sorrows, Xu Xingzhi covered his face and went to dreamland.
When his breath gradually steadied, Meng Chongguang opened his eyes again. He turned over, gently held Xu Xingzhi in his arms, and reached out to cover Xu Xingzhi’s chest with his hands.
The heartbeat underneath was solid and powerful, each beat echoing in his ears.
Meng Chongguang trapped Xu Xingzhi within his arms from behind and whispered in his ear: “Shixiong, don’t be sad. Even if you wanted to kill me, I won’t fight back. As long as you are happy. . .”
With that declaration, he sniffed Xu Xingzhi’s earlobe like a puppy for a while, then opened his mouth to bite down on it, nibbling on it gently with his small canines.
Xu Xingzhi frowned and groaned once, but didn’t wake up.
That night, Xu Xingzhi had another strange dream.
When he opened his eyes this time around, he was standing on the exquisitely carved ornate jade terrace of a tall building, holding a bamboo slip in his hand, dressed in formal clothes, and seemed to be preparing for a lecture about cultivation.
The disciples were gathered under the high platform and amongst them he saw one or two familiar faces among them. Meng Chongguang and Jiu Zhideng had lost their child-like appearances and had grown up to become handsome youths. They knelt on the cushions and were focused as they waited for the lecture, but the two’s pair of eyes were fixed unblinkingly on him.
Meng Chongguang had even waved his hand at Xu Xingzhi who was on the high platform in greeting while the other disciples were all standing still in their places and looking elsewhere.
A quiet and amicable voice rang out from behind: “Xingzhi, start ba.”
The scene here was completely different from that of Luwang Terrace. The clothing of the disciples below were neat and uniform, white robes adorned with cloud patterns, and thin ribbons to hold up their hair.
. . . It seems that this place should be Fengling Mountain.
And would the one who could instruct Xu Xingzhi, the senior disciple, to start the lecture be that “Qingjing-jun”?
Xu Xingzhi wanted to turn around, but his body refused to obey. He unraveled the bamboo slip and began to teach, reading the difficult and unfamiliar ancient characters aloud word by word flawlessly and explained them.
Xu Xingzhi thought that since this scene was so realistic, it should be another one of the original owner’s memories until a sticky and thick vine silently slipped underneath the hen of his thick robe.
Xu Xingzhi only felt a transient sliminess slide underneath him and hadn’t regained his senses yet when he suddenly tightened the fingers that held the bamboo slip as a sound of exclamation rushed to the edge of his lips which he then seamlessly sealed between his teeth and swallowed back down.
When the tip of the vine saw that Xu Xingzhi didn’t dare resist or call out, it became increasingly arrogant and started to act more unbridled. It passed between Xu Xingzhi’s legs to hook him and fool around, like a deer drinking thirstily, like a fish swimming in water.
Xu Xingzhi lifted his gaze in a panic, but no one else in his vicinity noticed his abnormality.
The disciples below all looked up at him, their eyes full of admiration and respect, and Meng Chongguang was mixed in amongst them, staring at him fervently with shining and passionate eyes.
Xu Xingzhi endured until his veins were bulging and his fingers repeatedly tightened and loosened. He endured bitterly as perspiration beaded on his forehead: “. . . The sky is yang as the earth is yin, spring is yang, fall is yin, summer is yang, winter is yin, day is yang, night is yin. . . Wu!!!”
. . . In. . . It actually went in. . .
. . . Here of all places.
The bells tied around Xu Xingzhi’s wrist rang coldly in response to the tension of his body. For a while, his entire body was numb and tingly. He was shocked and angry, the scriptures were stuck in his throat, unable to be swallowed or spat out.
Some disciples below noticed that something was wrong and were already looking up at Xu Xingzhi.
A voice of inquiry also rang out from behind Xu Xingzhi: “Xingzhi, are you feeling unwell?”
“Responding to Master, not. . . at all.”
Half of Xu Xingzhi’s body was drenched in cold sweat and he relied on pure willpower in order to speak again, but his voice unavoidably trembled slightly: “Above. . . Above is yang, below is yin. Male yang, female yin. Father yang, son yin. Older brother yang, younger brother yin. Adult yang, youth yin. . . .”
He wanted to shout stop, but was unsure of who to plead to and he still had to recite those serious 800 cultivation characters. Under such stimulation, his body became hotter and hotter, like a spider that had spit out soft silver strands and so the vines took this opportunity to kick up a fuss and removed all of the strength from Xu Xingzhi’s body.
Kneeling down was the best he could manage as golden stars flashed before his vision, one moment bright, the next dark. Finally, he couldn’t hold on any longer and softly toppled over to one side.
A few hours later.
Meng Chongguang hummed a little tune and exited the room in a great mood, using the stream running through the tower to wash his hands and face.
Zhou Wang just happened to come out of Lu Yujiu’s room and greeted him in passing: “Meng-dage woke up?”
Meng Chongguang replied with a smile, his eyes curved into crescents: “Yes ah.”
After answering, he simply shook off the droplets of water on his hands and returned to the room.
Seeing his smiling face, Zhou Wang was briefly stunned. Only when Zhou Beinan floated over from behind her did she sigh: “Uncle, I’ve been in the savage wasteland for so many years and I’ve never seen Meng-dage smile like that before.”
Zhou Beinan glanced at the tightly closed door: “That’s because you’ve never seen how he was in the past. Clinging to his shixiong all day long, refusing to leave for even a moment, smiling at his shixiong like a sunflower.”
Zhou Wang was curious: “Ever since Xu-shixiong arrived in the wasteland, the two of them have been staying in the room together every day. What are they doing? I want to go in and take a look.”
“Che.” Zhou Beinan furrowed his brow, “As a girl, why would you stick your nose into this?”
Zhou Wang argued: “When you taught me how to use a blade in the past, you didn’t treat me like a girl.”
Zhou Beinan drew his ghostly spear and planned on giving Zhou Wang a hit on the head, but he didn’t expect Zhou Wang’s footwork to be so agile as she dodged with a few quick steps: “Uncle, you have double standards, how can you justify yourself? Xu-shixiong emphasized to me that a girl should act like a girl.”
Zhou Beinan rolled his eyes when he heard the three characters “Xu-shixiong”: “If Xu Xingzhi knew how to teach, how could he have ended up with two cut sleeve shidis under his tutelage. . .”
Halfway through his comments, he knew that he had misspoke, so he caught himself and didn’t continue further.
However Zhou Wang was intrigued: “Uncle, what is a cut sleeve?”
Zhou Beinan blushed slightly, then flicked his sleeves and walked away, pretending that he didn’t hear.
This time, Xu Xingzhi was harassed pretty severely in the dream. He slept for most of the day and when he woke up, he couldn’t even place his feet on the ground. His legs felt weak for two days before he was able to get up and walk around.
In the next couple of days, Meng Chongguang didn’t mention going to Hutiao Ravine to seize the fragment. Xu Xingzhi was trapped in a conundrum. He just mingled with these people in the savage wasteland all day long, just chatting and drinking, amusing themselves with the pitch-pot game, it was actually no different from his lifestyle in the real world.
. . . In the midst of all these recreational activities, Xu Xingzhi found out about something that shocked him to the core.
. . . He finally figured out what was so special about Tao Xian.
. . . Tao Xian was actually just a mere mortal bereft of any spiritual power.
Tao Xian was a man of few words, despite spending all of his time with Qu Chi, someone who has lost his wits, he was neither bored nor vexed. He would blush and stutter if he exchanged more than a few sentences with the others and would seldom horse around with them. As such, the fact that he was a mortal was something that Zhou Wang had confessed to Xu Xingzhi.
That year, Zhou Beinan who had just been exiled into the savage wasteland, died tragically for an unknown reason and Zhou Wang’s mother bled out after giving birth to her and also passed away at the scene. Qu Chi and Tao Xian, who both were likewise cast into the wasteland, happened upon Zhou Wang who had been wailing loudly after being left alone. So the two of them buried her mother’s body then picked her up and took her with them.
And if it wasn’t for Lu Yujiu, who was passing by catching sight of Zhou Beinan’s wandering soul that was about to scatter and embedding the core of his soul into a talisman, Zhou Beinan would have already become a wisp of smoke in the savage wasteland.
From that moment on, Zhou Wang recognized Qu Chi and Tao Xian as her godparents.
According to her words, her godmother, Tao Xian, was a mortal who was so weak that he even lacked the strength to truss a chicken. The only reason he was able to survive in the wasteland for a full thirteen years was thanks to Qu Chi’s wholehearted and meticulous protection.
When Xu Xingzhi heard this, he was quite surprised. When he bumped into Tao Xian in the giant tower, he already had exchanged some words with him about this matter.
Tao Xian bashfully twisted a corner of his robes: “. . . It’s true. I, I originally only entered the wasteland in order to take care of Qu-shixiong, but now I need Qu-shixiong‘s care and protection instead.”
Xu Xingzhi couldn’t help but ask: “Then what did you do before?”
Tao Xian questioned in a quiet voice: “Xu-shixiong really can’t remember? I, I used to perform in theatrical plays.” He supplemented, “. . . A huadan.”
The author has something to say:
Shixiong (mournful): Is this how you treat your father figure and older brother?
Chongguang: Daddy, hug!
Shixiong: . . . Scram.
Author's Chapter Summary:
Spring night, cut sleeves, little huadan
The translator has something to say: Xu Xingzhi’s little shidi is really so clingy that even 24 hours are not enough for him. Not only does he want to spend all of his time with Shixiong in reality, but even in his dreams as well
The editor has something to say: Is Xu Xingzhi afraid of going to sleep and dreaming yet?
P.S. Also from what I’ve seen, most of you guys are all okay with the translator’s notes as is, so I’ll continue on with them as I have. Also thank you for all of the well wishes! The same goes to all of you as well! Now onto the next thing, would everyone like me to make some sort of glossary, character and location list?