“Untitled” (Part 1/2)
T/N: To avoid confusion in case some people forgot details mentioned throughout the novel: This is a 2 chapter extra about AJ and ST’s previous life. This took time before AJ became a resentful river ghost and where ST hasn’t reincarnated into the Blessed Star ST from the 1st part of the book yet.
Edited by Yummers
The rainstorm rumbled with no sign of stopping as the cold wind blew.
The violent waves on the river blocked the way for a group of people. There were about a few dozen who wanted to pass, their shoes had already been stained by the mud as their raincoats were completely soaked. The rain lasted for two days, and the group had also traveled with no rest at all for two days and nights. At this moment, some of their eyes showed exhaustion, hopelessness, and mostly loss. But within them were a pair of eyes that did not weaver at all, they were as settled as ink.
He sat on a horse as he looked over the rumbling river water. His expression was as calm as a pool of stagnant water. Rain washed over the statue-like complexion underneath the hat, soaking the edge of his coat before sliding down the path of the sword in his hand, and finally dripping off the tip. The tassel on the sword swung alongside the wind slightly, dark stains covered it. They were unwashable stains of blood.
“Where is Lin Fei?” Once the person on the horse let out a sound, all the whisperings came to a halt. For a moment, only the sound of wind and water remained.
One underling of his got off his horse and walked over. He bowed with his fist as he said, “General.”
“Is there any farmstead nearby?”
Lin Fei answered, “There is a village by the name of An Ling going west of the Pu River…” For some reason, he averted his eyes when he caught a glimpse of the other’s expression.
“That is good.” The person had not realized it yet. He turned around the horse to give out his order. “Advance east——”
As the group of people traveled in the rain, footsteps left by them were quickly washed away by the rain.
In less than ten miles from the roaring river was a little temple.
The little temple had no name or an abbot, there was only one monk who took care of maintaining the four small courtyards. No one knew how long the temple had been there for, nor did anyone know where the monk came from. But it seemed like they’ve existed for a long long time as if they’ve always been there. It made people wonder if they were waiting for someone.
The dimmed firelight flickered, its oil was almost out. But the monk who sat in front of the table copying scriptures did not make any motion to go add more oil.
With the current emperor who had no morals and believed in slanders, the exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous levies made the people’s lives barely sustainable. No one would have any excess money to give to a monastery when they could not even have a full meal.
The building had not been repaired for a long while, it had holes all over that allowed wind to leak in. At some point, a blow of wind managed to loosen the door latch. Rain surged in alongside the freezing wind. The fire was instantly blown out and all the copied scriptures were thrown onto the floor. The monk was a bit all over the place as he organized the scriptures that had been blown all over the place. Before he could even get back up, a cold light flashed by in front of his eyes.
Rumble——
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
The roaring thunder seemed to have split the sky in half. In the instance that the white light flashed in front of him, he saw clear of the reflection and blood on the sword.
“Gb cba wbnf.” Ktf nblmf kjr ilxf atf rbecv ifa bea ys j kfjqbc rmgjamtlcu j uglcvrabcf, atf tbjgrfcfrr rffwfv ab yf jyif ab fcafg ragjluta lcab bcf’r tfjga.
“…” Ktf wbcx bqfcfv tlr wbeat j yla lc rlifcmf, atfc tf ofia atf yijvf mibrlcu lc fnfc wbgf bc tlr cfmx. Lf mbeiv tfjg atf fcvifrr vbkcqbeg bo gjlc ralii. Ktf wev jii jgbecv mbeiv cba mbnfg atf atlmx rmfca bo yibbv. Ktfc, klat j raglcu bo mijwbgr, atf olclrtfv rmglqaegfr lc atf wbcx’r tbiv tjv ojiifc ab atf ugbecv. Ejlc qbegfv lc atgbeut atf klvf-bqfc vbbg. Cii atf foobga tf’v qbegfv lcab atbrf kglalcur obg vjsr jcv clutar tjv ubcf ab kjraf.
“Ugh…” A muffled groan suddenly interrupted. Following that, the hand that held him immobile released itself.
The intruding person came down on one knee as he supported himself against the ground with his sword. The monk staggered as he backed up to the wall. Another strike of thunder came down then, giving him a clear view of the unwelcome guest.
The person had a set of armor on, it was stained with blood like the dangerous weapon in his hand. Blood and mud were smeared across his face, but they could not hide his dark eyes. The ink-black pupils resembled a lonely flame burning while still glistening in the darkness. He was not any normal Jianghu swordsman, nor was he a bandit who’d come down every once in a while to harass the citizens from the mountains.
He was someone at the edge of his life. Yet, despite being at the end of his will in a state where anyone could slaughter him—the look of aloofness and pridefulness that did not suit the situation was still settled in his eyes.
He certainly was not someone ordinary.
“Ah——” The monk suddenly let out an odd scream. Then, there was a thud sound of something falling that followed.
Although the person seemed very thin, he was unexpectedly heavy.
Xuan Kong was not a warrior monk. When he trained at the Bi Luo Monastery, he had only trained a bit of the fundamental skills. That was only to keep his body healthy too. Therefore, it took him great effort to transport the person onto the bed.
Xuan Kong did not dare to rest. He chanted positive sutras before taking off the person’s armor. Then, after another excerpt of great effort, he separated the hilt of the sword from the person’s grasp. When he saw the injuries on him, Xuan Kong could not help but be shocked. There was a bloody mess from his shoulder to near his chest. His clothing had already been dyed a deep color, the original hue almost indistinguishable.
Xuan Kong went to get a pot of hot water first, then fished out a bottle of medicine from the drawer.
He carefully got rid of the clothing on the person’s upper body and cleaned the bloodstains of the wound with warm clear water before taking off the bottle cork. At that point, he hesitated for a slight moment. But he quickly thought to himself that it was more important to save the other’s life first as he applied the light yellow medicine powder on the wound.
“Mnh!” Although the person was still unconscious, his entire body tightened from the pain.
“This medicine is fairly strong. Please endure for a while, this benefactor.” Not concerned with whether the person lying on the bed could hear or not, the monk still comforted in a quiet voice. He proceeded to apply all of the medicine onto the unsightly wound. Despite the medicine having the ability to bring ghastly pain, it was certainly a miracle medicine. The powder ran out after just two layers. The seeping blood from earlier had stopped as well.
The person had not woken up yet, but he was covered in cold sweat from the pain. Xuan Kong’s back was also soaked once he had finished treating his wound. He thought about how good the person was at enduring pain.
Then, he went to boil a new pot of water. Xuan Kong dipped the clean towel into the hot water.
The sound of rain had softened greatly by the time he realized. Raindrops trickled down the rooftop, falling on top of the bamboo leaves that were blown crooked from the rainstorm before blending into the dirty puddle of water.
As he wiped off the stains on the person’s face little by little, his complexion also became clearer.
Slowly, the pot of water also became tainted. The monk added some oil into the lamp, little bits of black oil staining his head. Xuan Kong placed the lamp next to the head of the bed. He was not a perverse individual, yet he could not help but be in a trance at the moment. His brows were as far as mountains and as dark as ink.
To describe a man with such words seemed to be very unfitting.
The person on the bed started heating up after a while. Xuan Kong already expected that outcome, he made the other take the medicine he had brewed. The person was still unconscious, so it cost Xuan Kong a great effort again just to feed him. About half of the medicine was spilled, but at least he succeeded. In the latter half of the night, his temperature came down by a bit, a layer of hot sweat covered his body as well. The monk was used to taking care of others. Not to mention he was the one who took care of the young shidis back at the monastery. He had come across many refugees from the South and North during the recent war. He was capable of treating skin injuries as he barely managed to save some injured individuals.
The lamp fire swayed. The rain had stopped long ago, yet the wind kept blowing. The sound of a wind chime seemed close yet far. The scent of blood lasted on.
Once the dark clouds dissipated, the water-like moonlight shone. The person’s willow eyebrows were still tightly furrowed as if there was an undoable knot.
Xuan Kong could not help but think that the person must have gone through too many sufferings for him to not be able to be at peace in his dream. He took a hold of the person’s hand and tucked it under the blanket.
Then, a new train of thoughts came up. He thought of the person’s wound, the cold light that emitted from the sword, and those sharp eyes…the monk immediately stopped his improper thoughts. He clasped his hands together and chanted “Amitabha” to himself.
Xuan Kong did not sleep for the night. He did his morning class once the sky started to brighten. When done, he walked out with the water buckets.
The little temple had been abandoned for a long while, the well was already dry of water. If he wanted clean water, he needed to pick them up from the river in the morning. Xuan Kong left a bit later than usual that day. He did not expect to see so many people passing by the shortcut that he would usually take, it was quite lively. He looked further in front to see people crowded on the main street of the town.
No one was certain who had gotten in the ferocious battle here last night, but corpses laid across the road with wretched and frightening deaths. Crows cawed as the bloody smell that not even the rain could wash off approached everyone. The villagers started discussing amongst themselves, “It sure is a blessing from the Heavens for these mountain bandits to have self conflicts.”
“Sigh, I think that these people…do not seem like those bandits.”
Where did these people come from?”
Someone shook their hand as they sighed. “Sigh, with the currently ongoing war, nowhere is at peace…”
A mother walked by with her child and quickly covered up the child’s eyes. “Do not look, walk faster!”
The place had no Yamen as the magistrate was gone from a slice of the bandit. A long time had passed since then, and no new magistrate was seen to have been transferred. It was rumored that many conflicts were occurring in the capital. The higher-ups were all busy with their own affairs, so of course, no one would take the time to care about a small village.
Xuan Kong finished picking water from the river. When he passed by again, about half of the crowd was gone. The corpses remained exposed to the public, no one came to move them away. They had nothing valuable on them either; probably because they were all already stolen by others. The monk put down his shoulder pole and chased off the crows that were feeding on the rotten flesh. He sat down with crossed legs and started chanting the rebirth mantra to send the dead ones on their way.
When the run-down temple’s door was opened, the monk in his gray kasaya came in with the shoulder pole. He went to the kitchen to boil water for porridge first, then carried the buckets of water to the hall. The hall was not as run-down as the rest of the place. A few straw mats were laid out on the floor. Homeless people would sometimes come here for shelter for the night. Xuan Kong rolled up his sleeves, dipped a towel into water, then stood on the offering table to wipe the statue of the East God. A few parts of the holy figure’s paint had already come off, all the offerings in front of it were all stolen as well. Only three incense sticks burned.
Once finished with wiping the statue and cleaning the hall, Xuan Kong went to the room in the back with the cooked porridge.
The door let out a creaking sound as he opened it. As the monk came in with the steamy hot porridge, he looked towards the bed to find no one. Xuan Kong was just perplexed when he saw something flash by and a pair of hands came from behind the door.
The bowl in his hands fell to the ground, letting out clang sounds. The monk was pressed against the wall with a firm hand choking him. The hand that was used to holding weapons did not seem much bigger than his, yet it exerted great strength. Xuan Kong could not help but be stunned slightly when he met the other’s eyes. They had the disharmony of a murder, yet also they also carried the aura of a ruler with thousands of men beneath him.
“…Who are you?” Xuan Kong heard the raspy voice again. When the hand that determined his life and death tightened a little again, he finally spoke, “This monk…this monk’s Dharma name is Xuan Kong.”
“Where did you put my sword?” The person asked again.
Xuan Kong looked to the side, his eyes directed below the bed. The grip around his neck loosened. He watched as the person walked to the bed, bent over to look for his sword, and found it. He withdrew the sword with a sharp sound. With enough light now, Xuan Kong could see the unwiped bloodstains on the sword. When the other saw that his sword was not broken, he put it away. He looked at the monk once then turned, wishing to leave.
But to his surprise, his legs weakened as he pressed onto the aching wound on his chest in immense pain.
Xuan Kong quickly got up. Just as he was about to touch the other, he received a sharp glare. So Xuan Kong stood by the side with his hands to himself. “This benefactor, your wound is very serious. You have also caught a cold, it is not yet treated. Let this monk help you back to the bed for rest.”
The person kept still like the monk. It was just like the monk had said, his primordial energy had been greatly hurt from last night. He was surrounded by dozens of people, he persisted through, and even killed the traitors, but it was not enough to prevent him from getting injured. The cut on his chest had messed up his meridian flow. The reason why he came to this run-down temple was for a place to treat his injury as well. To his surprise, a place that’d been long abandoned like this had a monk.
Xuan Kong pretended to not see the obvious suspicions in his eyes. Detecting that the person had lowered his guard, he went over to support him.
Once he got him back on the bed, his wound started bleeding again after the whole ruckus. The monk bandaged the wound again. The other said nothing during the entire time. Xuan Kong could not help but glance at him. His master was the Great Master Wu Kong of the eighteen high monks, he could easily tell that the person had the look of a ruler. The person had a really good face, it would not even be a stretch if it was to be described as beautiful. Despite that the person had the appearance of a noble ruler, the blood congested between his brows showed signs of him walking down the wrong path.
Xuan Kong had roamed around the country for many years and seen at least ten thousand individuals. Yet, this was the first time he came across someone with such ferocious features. However, the Heavens’ design shall not be defied. He was not a talkative one either, so no conversation occurred between the two at all. Once Xuan Kong tidied everything up, he stood up and said, “This benefactor, please rest first. This monk will go make some food.”
The sharp eyes examined the monk’s backside quietly until the person cleaned up all the mess and left in silence.
Jiang Yanyun stopped his gaze. Since he woke up, could tell that his injury was treated. Now looking at this situation, it was probably the monk’s doing.
He grasped his sword on the bed. He thought about how the monk named Xuan Kong seemed quite different from all the monks in his memory. He did not have an exhilaratingly kind complexion but was still pure enough. He seemed like someone that could blend into a crowd and be easily forgotten. Back then, Jiang Yanyun would have never given someone like that an extra glance.
It was not important who was evil or good now. He had experienced enough warmth and coldness on his escape journey. Encountering the framing and betrayal of his comrades time after time. Just last night, the one he believed to be his closest friend turned on him.
Thinking of that, Jiang Yanyun’s lips curved up slightly. A scornful glint filled his eyes.
so is this monk the Little Rock we know???? thank u for the chapter~
Thank you for the update!