The Xuanlin Pagoda, over a century ago, used to be a trap tower. It is said to have been designed with extreme danger and ingenuity, so it has left its shadow in many jianghu legends. Although now worn and weathered, with decay evident everywhere due to rain, snow, and wind, the pitch-black tower body, when viewed from a distance, resembled a winding giant python, still carrying a somewhat awe-inspiring presence.
Zhu Yanyin, on the other hand, quite liked the Xuanlin Tower. As he ascended layer by layer, he couldn’t help but think about how these ancient mechanisms must have played a breathtaking role in the past. The martial arts world described in those novels, filled with flashing swords and splattering blood, was so vividly imagined that…
Wait?
A white shadow hung in a corner, unclear what it was. Curious, Zhu Yanyin stretched his neck to take a closer look, coincidentally making precise eye contact with the dark eye sockets of a skull. In poems, “dry bones pierce through decayed iron” is tragic, but in real life, it doesn’t work. Scholars with no strength can’t handle such stimulation. After seeing what it was, Zhu Yanyin let out a scream that shook the heavens, causing chaos under his feet. He almost tumbled down the tower in embarrassment.
Zhu Xiaosui exclaimed, “Young Master!”
Zhao Mingchuan hurriedly held him, saying, “Be careful!”
Zhu Yanyin’s teeth chattered, “Is th-th-that real?”
Zhao Mingchuan comforted him, “In a trap tower, how can there be no dead?”
Zhu Yanyin tightly gripped his wrist, unable to speak for a long time. Even if it was fake, why wasn’t the corpse buried? Letting that hero stay there… I’m sorry, but I feel like vomiting.
People at the top of the tower also heard the earth-shattering scream just now.
Jiang Shenglin guessed, “Perhaps he really has nothing to do with the demonic cult.”
Li Sui leaned against the rafter, casually polishing his sword, “Just because the ghost’s howling was loud enough?”
Jiang Shenglin said, “Forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything.”
There was only a short section of the road left, and Zhu Yanyin was carried by Zhao Mingchuan to complete it. Actually, he didn’t want to lose face like this, but he couldn’t walk; his legs were too weak. Whether he closed his eyes or kept them open, vivid images of the holes in the skull would appear in his mind. His whole body started to shiver, so Zhao Mingchuan not only had to exert his strength but also had to comfort him frequently, saying, “Maybe it’s fake, just to scare people and nothing to be afraid of.”
Zhu Yanyin weakly responded with a whimper, holding Zhao Mingchuan even tighter.
The jianghu is treacherous, indeed, treacherous.
Please, whatever you do, don’t put me down.
Zhao Ming struggled to speak, “Good brother.”
Zhu Yanyin whimpered, “Don’t say anything. I don’t want to hear anything.”
Extremely weak.
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.
…
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Zhao Mingchuan waved his hand, leaning against the wall, panting for a while. “It’s nothing, just that my neck was strangled so hard I couldn’t breathe, and my good brother didn’t allow me to speak.”
Zhu Yanyin: “…” He can give an explanation for it.
The medicine boy descended from upstairs and respectfully said, “Sir, several people are already waiting. Please come with me.”
The top of the tower was much brighter than the lower part, with strategically placed holes in the roof for ventilation but not rain. As Zhu Yanyin entered, a beam of sunlight streamed through a gap, casting a golden glow over him, making him appear almost radiant. His clear and handsome features, at first glance, looked no different from the immortal stepping on auspicious clouds in New Year paintings.
Jiang Shenglin’s eyes quickly swept over the other party’s attire.
Pure white, untouched by a speck of dust, not a single wrinkle.
As Xuanlin Pagoda ascended, the steps became steeper and more difficult. Common sense dictated that an ordinary scholar from Jiangnan shouldn’t easily reach the summit this easily. Jiang Shenglin had a thought; could it be that he was hiding his true abilities, related to the Burning Fire Pavilion?
Leaning against the beam, Li Sui apparently thought the same because the next moment, a jade bead shot out rapidly from his fingers.
Zhu Yanyin was completely unprepared, maintaining an elegant smile. Standing straight, he unassumingly received the concealed weapon. Without understanding what had happened, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen and was thrown backward.
“Ah!” Zhu Xiaosui, holding a pile of gift boxes, was caught in the chaos. Both of them fell to the ground, and carefully selected dried abalone and old mountain ginseng rolled all over the room.
Zhu Yanyin, clutching his stomach, curled up on the ground in pain, not making a sound.
Zhao Mingchuan took two slow steps, not knowing what had happened, and when he looked up, he saw Zhu Yanyin flying through the air. He was frightened, “Little brother! Are you okay?”
Jiang Shenglin, who couldn’t discern any martial arts from Zhu Yanyin, walked up, helped him up, and checked his pulse. Still unable to detect any abnormalities, he said, “It’s probably triggered some old mechanism and got hit; it’s nothing serious.”
“Nothing serious?” Zhao Mingchuan was worried, and his voice trembled, “He has no martial arts skills, has just recovered from an illness, and can only climb this tower with my help. Suddenly being hit by a hidden weapon and flying like this… let’s trouble the divine doctor to carefully examine him again when he wakes up.”
Jiang Shenglin’s expression froze upon hearing this. He continued to maintain a fake smile, squeezing out words between his teeth, “So, it was Young Master Zhao who carried him up?” That’s really… he’s sorry to this young master of the Zhu family.
After learning the truth, Palace Master Li leaned back against the roof beam without a hint of guilt.
Zhu Yanyin still had his eyes closed, dazed diligently, with no intention of waking up. Zhu Xiaosui was both angry and anxious, unable to understand why they chose to have a medical examination in this chaotic place. It made his young master ill and unconscious. However, he didn’t dare to offend the divine doctor and could only repeatedly ask him if there was really nothing wrong.
“Nothing.” Jiang Shenglin patiently said, “He’s overly frightened; he’ll wake up after a few hours.”
Unable to continue the examination with a person unconscious, it had to be postponed for a few days. To show his apology, Jiang Shenglin initially wanted to invite everyone to stay in the tower for easy care, but Zhu Xiaosui, who couldn’t dare, insisted on returning to the inn. Not wanting to force them, Jiang Shenglin personally escorted them out of the pagoda and reminded them, “If your young master feels any discomfort after waking up, come find me anytime.”
So, the onlookers from the martial world, waiting to observe the diagnosis and revel in the spectacle, were once again astonished. This young master Zhu, first engaging in a friendly conversation with Master Li on the main street, and now being treated with such enthusiasm by Doctor Jiang, must conceal an incredibly noble and prestigious status. They dared not even think about it – truly remarkable, these prominent figures of Jiangnan.
Zhao Mingchuan hurriedly drove the carriage back to the inn.
And in this short stretch of the journey, even more rumors, sounding both true and false but all entirely fabricated, began to spread. This time, Wanren Palace personally came to stir up the troubled waters, and the degree of vividness was naturally taken to a higher level. Master Li desires fresh fish. For example, “Master Li desired fresh fish. In the midst of freezing weather, Young Master Zhu disrobed and took a knife to cut through the ice. Suddenly, the ice dissolved on its own and two carps came leaping out. Young Master Zhu took the carps and left.” I ask you, does this not move you?
As for “Young Master Zhu often visits Wanren Palace,” “Young Master Zhu sleeps in the same bed as Palace Master Li,” and “Young Master Zhu and Palace Master Li even share the same cup for drinking water,” they were closer to life. Even the smallest details were included, indicating that it was indeed true. So, when Zhao Mingchuan arrived at the inn, a large crowd was already waiting at the door, hoping to make friends with the hidden heroes of the jianghu.
Zhu Xiaosui asked cautiously, “Who are they?”
Zhao Mingchuan, not understanding the situation, replied, “They are all people from the jianghu, maybe waiting for someone. Let’s go around to the back alley.”
However, before he could release the reins, these unfamiliar or familiar people from the jianghu crowded around, and everyone greeted each other while craning their necks to look into the carriage.
Zhu Xiaosui extended his arm to block in front, sternly asking, “What are you trying to do?”
“I am Liu Qing from the Green Hills Sect, especially here to visit Young Master Zhu.”
“I am Qi Dan from the White Sun Sect!”
“I heard that Young Master Zhu has been unwell recently. Our Sect Master Liu specifically bought some bird’s nest supplements!”
“The Ice Silkworm Sect sent a pair of jade pillows to cool down the heat!”
“Nine Stars Gate! Nine Stars Gate! Nine Stars Gate! Young Master Zhu, we are from Nine Stars Gate!”
Zhu Xiaosui was frightened and asked, “What are they doing?”
Zhu Xiaosui, scared and anxious, blocked the carriage curtain with a “swish,” completely closing it. He thought, people in the jianghu really have never seen the world. Even if our young master is indeed extraordinary, crying and screaming in front of the carriage seems a bit excessive.
As for Zhu Yanyin, he remained unconscious, not intending to wake up in the short term. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, resembling Xi Shi.
Zhao Mingchuan was completely dumbfounded. He asked the few people at the front, wanting to find out the cause of the incident. However, everyone was from the martial world, and there were some things that were tacitly understood. How could they openly admit in front of so many people that they came to curry favor with Palace Master Li? That’s impossible; even a great hero’s face still had to be considered. Therefore, not a single person gave Young Master Zhao the correct answer. They all pretended to be profound and mysterious, as if here to exorcising evil, and the scene was quite frightening.
Finally, a disciple of the Sword Sect, who heard the commotion, came out and yelled while squeezing out a way for the carriage, protecting it into the backyard.
The crowd became even more convinced that Young Master Zhu’s identity must be extraordinary; otherwise, why would Young Master Zhao protect him like the apple of his eye?
No, they have to seize this opportunity.
Zhao Mingchuan had been watching Zhu Yanyin lying back on the bed, making sure everything was fine. Only then did he return to the adjacent room, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and asked, “What exactly happened?”
The disciple reported, “Rumors are spreading in the city that Young Master Zhu has a close relationship with Palace Master Li.”
Zhao Mingchuan shook his head, “Nonsense.”
The disciple whispered, “It’s not necessarily untrue. It is said that some sects with connections have secretly gone to inquire with Wanren Palace people. Although I don’t know what they said specifically, after asking, they rushed to the inn with gifts, looking for Young Master Zhu.”
Zhao Mingchuan was astonished, “This…”
The light outside the window gradually dimmed, and the bustling daytime chatter quieted down.
Zhu Yanyin finally woke up slowly.
Zhu Xiaosui went outside to brew medicine, leaving only Zhao Mingchuan by the bedside. He helped Zhu Yanyin sit up and brought a cup of warm tea.
Zhu Yanyin’s mind was still groggy, the lower abdomen where he was hit by the hidden weapon still ached, and he couldn’t figure out where he was. His eyes lacked focus as he looked at the person in front of him, “Mingchuan, what’s with your expression?”
“If you have something to say, just say it.” Zhao Mingchuan tightly held his hand, “Brother, do you really have a private relationship with Master Li from Wanren Palace?”
Zhu Yanyin repeated in confusion, “A private relationship with Master Li from Wanren Palace?”
Zhao Mingchuan squeezed the words through his teeth, “The entire Jianghu is spreading it, and it seems even Wanren Palace has acknowledged it. Even Divine Doctor Jiang Shenglin treats you with great respect. This… Should I ask?”
Zhu Yanyin was stunned by his probing tone, swallowed nervously, and replied anxiously, “It’s hard to say, I’ve lost my memory.”
Zhao Mingchuan slapped the bedcover.
That probably means it’s true!
Phork: You might have noticed that we finally have a stable update cycle for this novel! That’s right, from now, there will be one chapter posted every two days!
Thank you for the chapter <3
Ohh lord…the snowball grows bigger and bigger 🫣
Thank you for the chapter 🌺
Oh man, now the amnesia premise is perfect