Phork: I did a translation of the first chapter since people were confused as to where the first chapter was.
Late spring, Misty Willow City.
Zhu Yanyin leaned against the bed, eyes filled with anticipation: “According to the divine doctor, when will my martial arts skills recover?”
Before the doctor could answer, someone beside him couldn’t help but speak out: “Younger Brother, wake up. Our Zhu family doesn’t have such things.”
Zhu Yanyin didn’t believe it: “I’ve lost my memory, naturally you would talk nonsense now.”
Zhu Yanhui was really puzzled. Why did his second brother, who went out spirited, come back like this? Logically speaking, the group of mountain bandits only took his baggage and valuables, and didn’t draw any knife to harm him. How did he end up getting scared silly? He’s too stupid, ah, this was embarrassing.
Zhu Yanyin: “Brother, I’m not stupid.”
Zhu Yanhui: “Yes, you are.”
Otherwise, how could the distinguished Second Young Master of the Zhu family, a renowned elegant and talented scholar, suddenly become interested in the giant sword at the blacksmith’s shop talk about ‘martial arts skills’ and ‘gathering divine light’? Doctors were invited one after another, but no one could cure this strange disease of amnesia and talking gibberish. In the end, they could only prescribed a bunch of warming and nourishing tonics. After drinking, Zhu Yanyin’s face became rosy, and he turned even more energetic, engaging in succeedingly all sorts of antics, further unsettling the entire family.
Thinking about all this, Zhu Yanyin was about to be infuriated.
Thinking about these things, Zhu Yanhui simply wanted to die of anger.
Spring remained cold even though it was a sunny day. The room, even with a brazier lit, didn’t feel warm. Zhu Yanyin pulled up the blanket, tucking his chin in, revealing only a pair of slightly upturned peach blossom eyes. He had a slender figure, and his long ink-black hair were scattered haphazardly, giving him a rare appearance of fatigue and illness— something that couldn’t be beaten or scolded.
Zhu Yanhui could only patiently repeat, “Our Zhu Family is a literary family.”
Zhu Yanyin thought, I get it. If you repeat this eight hundred times a day, my ears will develop calluses from hearing ‘literary family’ over and over again.
But being a literary family and a martial artist in the Jianghu were not mutually exclusive.
So he had another whimsical thought, “Could it be that I’ve possessed someone else’s body?”
Zhu Yanhui looked at him in surprise.
Zhu Yanyin sat up a bit, slightly excited, “Transmigration of souls. Have you heard of it?”
Zhu Yanhui was truly puzzled about what suddenly excited him. Feeling confused, Zhu Yanhui ordered the servants to bring the account books, saying coldly, “Finish reading before discussing possession.”
Zhu Yanyin opened it—
• Fifth day of February: at Old Wang’s Blacksmith Shop, eighteen peerless great swords.
• Sixth day of February: at the bookstore in the south of the city, “Dragon Subduing Palm: From Entry to Mastery,” a complete set of forty-nine volumes.
• Seventh day of February: construction of a alchemy furnace in the house.
• Eighth day of February: the purchase of various materials needed for alchemy.
• Ninth day of February: the alchemy furnace exploded.
•…
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.
Then Zhu Yanyin really didn’t mention it again. Firstly, because it was indeed nonsense, and secondly, he really didn’t have money. Although the Zhu Family was wealthy, since the day the second young master spent a fortune, buying up all the blacksmith shops in the city, his generous monthly allowance had become a myth only true in name.
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Zhu Xiaosui pushed open the courtyard door and saw Zhu Yanyin standing in the courtyard. As expected, he started nagging, “Why isn’t the young master lying on the bed?”
Zhu Yanyin said, “I want to go and see my eldest brother.”
“The eldest young master is busy. There are guests in the house today,” Zhu Xiaosui gave him some pastries, “They are from the famous sword sect in the northwest.”
“Famous Sword Sect?” Hearing these three words full of jianghu spirit, Zhu Yanyin’s heart moved, “Are they here to look for me?”
Zhu Xiaosui smoothly denied it, saying that they came for business, and had nothing to do with him.
Zhu Yanyin was puzzled, “But I always feel that I am indeed a person from the Jianghu. There must be some reason for this, right? Are you really not hiding anything from me? I have also been having a dream recently, very vivid and realistic. It seems to be related to my experiences before losing my memory.”
Zhu Xiaosui squatted beside him, “What did the young master dream about?”
Zhu Yanyin answered in a torrent, “I dreamt that my whole family, in order to prevent me from becoming a great devil in the martial arts world, conspired to tie me to the bed and force me to drink a bottle of Something absurd was meant to be implied here I guess. .
Zhu Xiaosui listened dumbfounded, feeling like vomiting blood. As a close servant, he indeed knew many secrets, and thus had a duty to make his young master stop these messy thoughts as soon as possible. He pulled Zhu Yanyin into the bedroom, and lifted the bed board with one hand.
He bent down, picked up a book, opened it, and coincidentally, the illustration happened to be of a man and a woman in the process of pouring something down onto an injured person lying on the bed— one holding the drug, the other restraining the head. The book’s title was also rather straightforward, called ‘The Generation’s Greatest Hero, Unmatched Grand Marshal, Unexpectedly Lost His Life At The Hands Of The Male And Female Pair Of Thieves’.
“…”
This thing obviously had nothing to do with martial arts secret manuals. Zhu Yanyin switched to another book, and another, and another.
‘Wulin Alliance Leader Retires, Ambitions of Various Sects Surface,’ ‘Former Wulin Alliance Leader Retires and Turns to Pig Farming,’ ‘Denial: Wulin Alliance Leader Did Not Return to Countryside to Raise Pigs’…
Zhu Yanyin’s mood was complicated as he looked up at Zhu Xiaosui.
Zhu Xiaosui ignored him, first moved the three large boxes back, then re-laid the bedding, and explained plainly, “These are all books the young master bought before. Because he was afraid of being scolded by the old master, he hid them under the bed.”
Zhu Yanyin found it hard to understand, “Why would I buy these things?”
Zhu Xiaosui replied, “Because the young master really yearns for the Jianghu.”
Yearning for the Jianghu but unable to enter it. The Zhu Family of South of the Yangtze River. had been a literary family for generations, a prestigious family of scholars. Most of Yanyu Liu City was the ancestral property of the Zhu Family. The family’s children were elegant, talented, skilled in playing musical instruments, adept at debates, and each person could compose three hundred poems. They always looked down on killing and fighting, and disdained associating with the martial artists of Jianghu.
In such a family tradition and environment, the second young master of the Zhu Family had no place to channel his aspirations of becoming a martial hero. It seemed that there was only the path of reading books and fantasizing. Zhu Yanyin sat on the bedside, listening to the servant recounting past stories for a full two hours, finally accepting the reality that he was just an ordinary family’s young master who knew nothing about martial arts and had never stepped into the Jianghu. The reason for his extravagant dreams was entirely because he had read too many miscellaneous books before.
Zhu Xiaosui, however, thought that everyone knew the second young master’s extraordinary talent. Where was he ordinary? When he walked on the street, flowered handkerchiefs floated around him like snow.
Zhu Yanyin patted his shoulder, “Come, let’s go outside and relax.”
This relaxation brought them to Zhu Yanhui’s residence. In recent years, Old Zhu Master’s health had deteriorated, and many family affairs were handled by his son, brothers and nephews. Speaking in Zhu Xiaosui’s words, “The eldest young master is so busy that he doesn’t even have time to get married. The second young master also fell and injured his head.” The tone of his complaint made Zhu Yanyin suddenly feel like a ‘stupid younger brother at home, the reason why the elder brother was still single’— like he was a child from a previous marriage dragging him down.
Zhu Yanhui noticed that ‘child from previous marriage’ peeping through the courtyard gate:
“Second Brother!”
“Eldest Brother.” Zhu Yanyin respectfully bowed.
Zhu Yanhui walked out of the main hall, “It’s cold outside. Why aren’t you resting in the room?”
Zhu Yanyin actually came to apologize because he remembered that in the early days of his memory loss, he used to clamor every day to buy sword manuals, set up a furnace for alchemy, and spent money like water. Not only that, he regarded everyone who advised and reasoned with him as evil villains. Now thinking about it, the fact that he wasn’t hung from the rafters and beaten with jujube sticks showed that family blood was indeed thicker than water.
So, he held Zhu Yanhui’s hand, pledging solemnly, “Eldest Brother, these days, it’s my fault for not being sensible. You can rest assured; I will never mention the Jianghu again and will no longer yearn for martial arts.”
Zhu Yanhui’s brow twitched slightly.
Zhu Yanyin really wanted to make amends for his past irrational behavior, so he proactively asked, “Is there anything at home that I can help with recently?”
Zhu Yanhui said, “Yes.”
Zhu Yanyin immediately clasped his fists, “I will go through fire and water without hesitation.”
Zhu Yanhui, looking at his younger brother’s appearance, felt even more distressed by his ‘Jianghu wild man’… no, his foolish jianghu-muddled attitude. “Five days later, accompany Young Master Zhao to participate in the Wulin Conference.”
Zhu Yanyin was stunned, “Ah?”
At this moment, another person came out from the main hall. He looked about twenty-five or six years of age, and bore an extraordinary and likable visage. It was Young Master Zhao Mingchuan of the famous sword sect.
If it were in normal times, Zhu Yanhui would never want to deal with , but it happened that his own brother’s brain was damaged, and none of the doctors in the country could cure him. The only hope left was the top divine doctor in the martial arts world.
The top divine doctor diagnosed based on his mood, and money couldn’t move him. The people sent by Zhu Yanhui were all rejected. There was no choice but to seek help from Zhao Mingchuan, who had good relations in the jianghu. Coincidentally, the Zhao family also wanted to use the Zhu Family’s influence in Jiangnan to expand their sword business. The two sides quickly reached an agreement, settling on both seeking medical help and going into business together.
Zhu Yanhui said, “On the third day of May, there will be a martial arts conference in Jin City. It is said that the divine doctor will also attend.”
Zhu Yanyin immediately inquired, “When do we leave?”
Zhu Yanhui looked at him, showing a look of “I knew you still wanted to go out and explore the Jianghu. You just lied to me saying ‘I will never yearn for martial arts’; now look your eager appearance, my head hurts from this foolish younger brother.”
Zhu Yanyin: No, listen to my explanation. I really just want to reassure you!
That night, the group packed their bags and headed towards Jin City.
Zhao Mingchuan was straightforward and likable. Zhu Yanyin became friends with him in a few days and learned a lot about the Jianghu. For example, the Wulin Conference was not fixed to be held annually. If everything was peaceful, it could be held once in ten years or not at all. However, if there were evildoers causing trouble, it could even be held eight times in a year.
Zhu Yanyin asked, “Is there trouble in Jincheng this time?”
“It’s Xue City. The Demon Cult has revived in the Northeast of Xue City,” Zhao Mingchuan explained. The reason they chose to hold the Wulin Conference in Jin City was to invite someone.
“Who?”
“The master of Jin City’s Wanren Palace, Li Sui.”
To gather numerous martial arts factions in Jin City, Zhu Yanyin speculated, “That must be an extraordinary figure.”
Zhao Mingchuan nodded, “Unrivaled martial prowess.”
“How formidable?”
“Someone like me, he can defeat with just one hand. He can even take on a hundred.”
Zhu Yanyin was slightly astonished, showing respect. He contemplated that he might not even be able to defeat half of Zhao Mingchuan, while Li Sui, on the other hand, could take on a hundred of him. Truly impressive.
Zhao Mingchuan expressed concern, “Although Master Li has excellent martial skills, he never concerns himself with Jianghu matters. I wonder if he will be willing to help this time.”
Zhu Yanyin poured tea for him, saying, “Even if Wanren Palace is unwilling to help, with so many righteous martial factions present, should we still fear being unable to deal with the Demon Cult? From what I read in novels, most of these demon leaders live in dark, dimly lit palaces, clamoring to kill people every day. They wear all-black robes, top it off with a ghastly pale face, recruit a stunning demoness, and add some eerie decorations on the walls. They think they are invincible, but in reality, it’s laughable and not worth fearing.”
Zhao Mingchuan still sighed, “Alas.”
…
In Jin City, Wanren Palace.
In the spacious underground hall, the cold air almost permeated the walls and stone steps. White lotuses stubbornly grew from the stone crevices, layer upon layer suspended in mid-air.
A shadow guard reported, “More and more Jianghu sects are gathering in the city.”
The man in black leaned on the stone chair, indifferent, his fingertips brushing over a lotus, “Let them be.”
The imperial guard worried, “But this time, it seems they are determined to invite the palace master.”
“Ignore them.”
“If the Wulin Alliance leader comes to visit…”
Li Sui, feeling annoyed, stood up and walked toward the back hall.
“Then kill them.”
How to put it, in this dimly lit palace with eerie lotuses, a black-robed figure with a pale face, clamoring to kill people and proclaiming invincibility, the Demon Cult’s typical characteristics were almost complete.
The only missing element was a stunning demoness who would willingly come forward. At this moment, the willingly approaching Zhu Yanyin, the Second Young Master, was looking up at the majestic blue-stone city gate under the setting sun, filled with amazement.
Ah, so this is Jin City!
Phork: So tired. I am the laziest person in the world, so please forgive me if each update takes as long as an entire moon cycle. Also exams are ending tommorow, so yay! Probably a more stable update cycle coming!
