Yan Qing had been watching the show, but now it affected him. This was an unforeseen disaster.
It was fortunate that his martial art in his last life had been blackthread. A moment ago, he had been reluctant to throw away his cut strand of hair, and now he unexpectedly found a use for it. The strand of hair moved between his fingers as if it had come alive, leaving scattered shadows like a snaking chain. When the cave came crashing down, the thread blocked all of the stones that fell towards Yan Qing, binding them tightly together.
“Young Master!” Congming yelled in panic.
Yan Qing wanted to tell him not to worry for no reason, but before he could speak, his strand of hair pulled in a warm object for him. In the darkness of the cave, Yan Qing was a little startled. But he soon knew what this object was. It was Yin Wuwang’s hand.
When the cave fell in, Bai Xiaoxiao hadn’t dared to move, and seeing this, Yan Jianshui rushed forward and embraced him. As for the heavily-wounded, unconscious Yin Wuwang who they’d forgotten about, naturally, no one cared about him.
Yan Qing didn’t have much interest in saving Yin Wuwang, but if he died, then no one would know where his sagecloud mirror had gone.
He curled his finger and brought over Yin Wuwang in the end. Yan Qing didn’t like having skin contact with others, so his black hair wound around his fingers and Yin Wuwang’s wrist, leaving a little distance between them.
Yin Wuwang’s hair crown had fallen. His face was ash-white, blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, and there was a diamond-shaped golden imprint in the center of his forehead.
Yan Qing measured him with cold eyes in the darkness.
Not far away, Bai Xiaoxiao was like a scared little bunny, sobbing incessantly. Yan Jianshui felt so tender and protective that he couldn’t be angry for the moment. He coaxed him lowly. “Don’t be afraid, Xiaoxiao, you have me. Don’t be scared, I’ll protect you.”
Bai Xiaoxiao said through tears, “Shixiong, why did this place cave in?”
A-Hu’s voice came from above the cave, almost crying out of panic. “Oh god! Why did the cave fall in?! How am I supposed to explain this to the elder?! I might as well go die!”
A-Hua was still lost in her own world, crying and accusing him, “Ungrateful bastard, don’t stop me from jumping. You don’t have a conscience anyway. I’ve seen through you. You’re just a scumbag.” The next moment, A-Hua’s voice stopped, and then she let out the most world-shaking shriek of the night.
“—Zhao Dahu! I haven’t even freaking jumped yet, how dare you jump first!”
After the sky spun and the earth turned, everyone landed on the ground.
Yan Jianshui had triggered the formation set up at the back of the mountain. Before them was a dungeon.
Once he landed on the ground, Yan Qing decisively let go of Yin Wuwang, and the strand of hair in his hand turned into dust and scattered into the air. He looked at it disappear, and felt a long moment of regret. Yin Wuwang gave a muffled grunt. Falling to the ground, he rolled into a dark corner.
Nearby, it was as noisy as a vegetable market, full of voices.
“Xiaoxiao, are you alright?”
“Yan-shixiong.”
“Where am I?”
“Young Master!”
Yan Qing looked around him. They were on a patch of level ground, and all around them was dark water. Before them was a stone bridge stretching across the water, leading to a golden cage in the center of the water. A fire burned in the golden cage, and heavy red mist wove around it.
Congming scooted over, looking wronged. “Young Master, I thought I’d never see you again.”
Yan Qing didn’t pay attention to his moving words. He asked, “Is this the Serene Prison?”
Congming rubbed his eyes, looked ahead and was shocked. “Yes, this really is the Serene Prison. I hadn’t thought it was below the back of the mountain.”
Congming looked at the cage in the middle of the pool. “That’s not right, no one has entered the Serene Prison in a long time, so why is there something in the cage?”
Yan Qing looked at the fire in the cage and thought of something. At the next moment, the fire in the cage was roused awake. There seemed to be a bird in the center of the scarlet fire, with golden wings and emerald eyes. Its wings trembled slightly. At the moment the bird awoke, the red mist around the cage rippled and stirred.
Suddenly, the cold and dignified voice of an old man rose from the corner.
“Who has come?”
The voice had an imposing and profound air.
Everyone looked toward the source of the voice, and simultaneously sucked in a breath of air. In the corner of the serene pool, there was a white skeleton leaning against the wall. The skull lifted slightly, and two pitch-black sockets watched them silently. When this man died, the water of the pond had completely eroded his body, until only the bones were left. There was only a thread of intelligence left in his corpse, yet it carried such power. If Yan Qing didn’t guess wrong, this should be the Desireless Sect supreme elder who Bai Xiaoxiao saved in the first part of the novel, Master Zixiao.
Bai Xiaoxiao poked his head out of Yan Jianshui’s embrace. When he saw the scene before him, he was a little stunned. “Elder?”
Yan Jianshui was surprised as well. “Xiaoxiao, you know him?”
Bai Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, Yan-shixiong, I’ve stumbled in here before. This is the elder I told you I met.” Bai Xiaoxiao looked down and said, downcast, “The elder suffered a heavy wound, and even though I obtained the siftrain flower, I couldn’t save him. The elder was about to reach his limit, and after he sent me out, he told me to not come here again.”
The consciousness left in the skeleton controlled it. Once it was disturbed, it released an earth-shattering sword intent, and warned them, “No matter who it is, get the hell out of here!”
A strong wind arose, and the water of the pool rippled. The killing intent was enough to prickle their scalps.
Bai Xiaoxiao shivered, and pulled on Yan Jianshui’s sleeve. He said, “Yan-shixiong, let’s hurry up and leave.”
But before his words could land, an eerie voice sounded behind them.
“Why leave? That geezer Zixiao has already died, so what are you afraid of him for?”
Everyone was startled, and looked at each other.
The voice immediately sounded again, as if through a layer of skin. It humphed and said, “I’ve hidden in here for a year, and finally managed to wait out this geezer who refused to die.” The voice actually came from A-Hua’s stomach.
A-Hua’s face was dazed at first, and then she paled and let out a screech: “My stomach, my stomach!”
She swooned to the ground with an expression of terror.
A-Hu was shocked as well. He rushed over and grabbed her hand. “A-Hua, what exactly are you pregnant with?”
A-Hua’s eyes were swimming with tears. “How would I know? That day, I was walking and suddenly I was pregnant. If you ask me, who would I ask?”
A-Hu stood still. “So you didn’t find another man behind my back?”
Yan Qing: “......” So you two didn’t have mouths before?
The “child” in A-Hua’s stomach let out another sneer, as if it had the natural ability to ask for a beating. “I’m going to die of laughter. Do you really think I am someone you can conceive?”
“......”
A-Hua and A-hu: “Aaaahhhhhh!”
The “child” was impatient. “Shut up, both of you! I’m about to be born, what are you yelling for?!”
Congming: “Young Master, he’s about to be born!”
If it wasn’t crying that Yan Qing heard today, it was screaming. He gave Congming a mild glance and said calmly, “What, are you going to help deliver him?”
All the blood had left A-Hua’s face. She was in so much pain that her forehead was covered in sweat. Her spasming hand covered her stomach. “It hurts, it hurts, my stomach hurts so much. My child is about to be born.”
A-Hu didn’t know what to do. The instant he heard Yan Qing say “deliver,” he rushed over and pulled on Yan Qing as if he were his last hope, tears running down his face. “Comrade, comrade. My wife is about to give birth! Help me! What do I do?!”
Yan Qing: “......”
In his last life, he had boasted that there was nothing he couldn’t do, but this didn’t include delivering a baby. But when his gaze landed on A-Hua’s face, Yan Qing was drawn in by a strange yao aura. In the end, he rolled up his sleeves and walked over. He pulled a strand of hair from his head and wove it between his fingers, wanting to ease A-Hua’s pain.
But a violet light suddenly shone from A-Hua’s stomach and rose toward her chest with thunderous power, spreading to her throat. Yan Qing’s black silk wound around her wrists and pierced several acupuncture points.
A-Hua settled down a little. She opened her mouth, and a violet light split open from her throat.
The violet light grew more and more intense, until it finally gathered into a ray and shot into the air, laughing madly. “Zixiao, you geezer, you didn’t expect this, did you? I’ve returned!”
Zixiao’s skeleton sensed a familiar yao qi, and began executing its command. A vast sword intent took form, and Zixiao said furiously, “Evil creature! Last time, I let you escape. I didn’t expect that you would return now!”
Yan Qing got a good look at the thing in the air.
It was black, with skeleton wings and red eyes. It was…a bat???
Flapping its bony wings, the “bat” sneered. “Zixiao, you old bastard, back then, it was obviously you who first stole my bird. I finally found a phoenix, and was planning to roast and eat it, and then you came along and stole it.”
Zixiao said coldly, “Evil beast, I spared your life because you hadn’t yet committed murder, but that was my mistake. A beast is destined to remain a beast. You’re pig-headed and can’t be taught!”
The “bat” was so incensed his wings almost turned into electric fans. “Damn it, you locked me up for no reason, and you’re still so self-righteous about it! You refuse to die, and you’re shameless! A year ago, you failed your tribulation and didn’t have many days left, so you took me along and hid in this run-down sect, waiting to die. Fortunately, I was clever enough to escape back then, and I’ve finally waited long enough for you to die. I’m going to steal my bird back.”
Then Zixiao’s sword intent began battling the bat.
Each side showed divine ability, and flowers of fire splashed in the air.
As for the crowd of onlookers, A-Hu held the unconscious A-Hua in his arms, bawling, while Bai Xiaoxiao and Yan Jianshui clung together.
Yan Jianshui looked left and right, then turned and addressed the crowd with a commanding tone. “We can’t stay here. Hurry up and think of a way to leave.”
But no one heeded him.
Furious at being ignored, a blue vein pulsed on Yan Jianshui’s forehead. He roared, “Do you all want to die?”
Then Bai Xiaoxiao tugged at his sleeve, and said anxiously, “Wait, Yan-shixiong, we seem to have forgotten Wuwang-gege when we came down here.”
Yan Jianshui looked down at him in disbelief. “So you want me to go look for Yin Wuwang right now?!”
On their side, Congming asked, “Young Master, why did this bat come out of A-Hua’s stomach?”
Yan Qing: “I want to know why too.”
A-Hua’s face suddenly turned ash-white. Her stomach began to give her discomfort again.
“Comrade…” A-Hu’s teary eyes once again looked toward Yan Qing, who had “delivered” the baby.
Yan Qing glanced at him, and since he wanted to understand the reason why this had happened, he walked over.
He kneeled down, his sky-blue robe dragging on the ground, and his black hair falling around him, contrasting against his cold white skin and his red lips. His fingers were long and thin, and the blueness of his veins could be faintly seen under his skin. His gaze moved to the sachet that hung from A-Hua’s waistband.
Yan Qing asked A-Hu, “What’s this?”
A-Hu answered, “That’s the engagement gift I gave A-Hua.”
Yan Qing asked, “A year ago, did you come to the Serene Prison?”
“I haven’t come here before.” A-Hu thought about it deeply, and added, “But my sister once brought me a heap of fragrant black grass that gave forth a red light, saying her friend who guarded the Serene Prison gave it to her. Oh, that’s right, the sachet I gave A-Hua was filled with that grass.”
Yan Qing nodded. “The case is solved. The grass your sister gave you must have been this bat, disguised in a different form. After you sewed it into the sachet, it wormed into your fiancée’s body.”
A-Hu: “What?!”
Congming considerately explained, “Our young master means to say that you and your sister brought about the child in your fiancée’s belly.”
A-Hu was in a daze. “Ah?”
A-Hua woke up a little. Her intellect hadn’t come fully online when she heard this shocking sentence from Congming.
“!” Her pupils trembled, and she was beside herself, her voice dripping with blood. “What? Zhao Dahu, you got with another woman behind my back to create the child in my belly?”
Yan Qing: “......”
With the way their brains worked, were they ill? And Miss, isn’t there a problem with the logic of what you just said?
At the next moment, A-Hua exploded. She rushed over and grabbed A-Hu by the neck, sobbing. “The child I toiled for nine months to bear actually isn’t mine? Aaahhh, I’m going to kill you two cheaters.”
Choked, A-Hu’s eyes rolled, showing the whites. He gurgled.
They made so much noise that everyone else at the scene couldn’t help but notice them.
The bitterness and desolation in Yan Jianshui’s heart disappeared at the sight of these two. “......” A bunch of lunatics!
Bai Xiaoxiao’s tears stopped as well. He looked at Yan Qing in a daze.
His fingers curled slightly. As the little shidi of the sect who had always been pampered, this was the first time…that he felt that everyone was ignoring him.
Congming wept with his true feelings. “Young Master, A-Hua’s so tragic. She’s actually pregnant with her husband and another woman’s child. If in the future, my child was that of my wife and another man, there’s no way I would be able to bear it,” he sobbed.
Yan Qing: “Yes, it sure is tragic.” He moved backwards a step and opened his fan, for fear that these three people’s low IQ would contaminate him.
He suddenly felt an ice-cold gaze on him.
When he looked behind him, he saw that Yin Wuwang had woken up in the corner, and was looking at him with cold eyes.
Startled, Yan Qing gave Yin Wuwang a smile. “You’ve woken up?”
In fact, Yin Wuwang had woken up a while ago. He felt as if the world beside him had been cut into three parts.
Above, there was a fierce battle for revenge.
To the left, Bai Xiaoxiao and Yan Jianshui were locked in a quarrel.
To the right, there was Yan Qing’s group. Every sentence of their conversation made his brain hurt.
Yin Wuwang’s hand clawed into the dirt, and he raised himself up halfway with difficulty. He opened his eyes, his expression cold as a blade. Yin Wuwang felt only disgust for Yan Qing, this man who didn’t know what was good for him, like a toad who wanted to eat swan meat. As the young sect master of Lightstream Sect, the men and women who admired him were as numerous as the carp in the river. Everything that Yan Qing did, no matter if it was good or bad, only made him hate him to his bones.
Yan Qing closed his fan and said, “It’s good that you’ve woken. Yin Wuwang, when are you planning to return the sagecloud mirror that I gave you?”
***
The author has something to say:
Don’t mock me anymore, bear it a little longer and keep reading, qwq
I have to go through this little plot, I want to try a more relaxing kind of style… (covers head and cries)
As for Bai Xiaoxiao and the other men, I have my own settings for them.
I’ll continue to send out red envelopes in this comment section, thank you everyone for your support 😊
***
cela’s notes:
Cōngmìng’s name is 聪明, or “smart.” A very crude name. Note that servants’ names are assigned, and are not the same as their birth names.
2 hours and 2 minutes for 2,835 words, or 4.3 minutes for every 100 words. A decrease in rate by 1.4 minutes! I think that’s a record.
A total of 8 hours and 48 minutes for 9,506 words, or 5.6 minutes for every 100 words. A decrease in rate by 0.5 minutes.
If you would like access to the next five chapters, please consider encouraging me on Ko-fi! 💛
Thanks for the translation!!!
ReplyDeleteIt has been over a month, are you still working on this project? I hope you are!