Jin SeCh14 - Parting

“Ai ouch!” Shi Wuduan heavily sat on the ground. He turned his head and saw the side of Bai Li’s thin face pressed against his shoulder. It seemed that Bai Li was too weak to even lift his head, his shoulder hurt from where his chin was jutting into his shoulder. From afar, Shi Wuduan could tell with a glance that it was Bai Li, but now that they were closely pressed against each other, the person before him started to seem unfamiliar.

Shi Wuduan finally, belatedly, began to wonder, how did a pink dumpling-like maiden suddenly turn into a man? 4kRd1e

Luckily, he was still young. Even though he randomly called out “wife” and “mother-in-law,” in truth, all he knew about those matters were the words themselves. He used them to bad-mouth and disgust the fox king, nothing more, but at heart he was very ignorant. He didn’t understand anything at all about what it meant for men and women to have feelings for each other, so he only felt slightly awkward and didn’t actually have any major reaction. He dubiously pushed Bai Li’s shoulder softly and asked, “Are you little… little Li-zi?”

Bai Li forced himself to raise his spirits, using him to prop himself up, pressing a hand against his chest, and said softly, “Why did you come here? Leave… leave quickly.”

Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

It really was Bai Li.

Shi Wuduan startled for a moment, feeling rather lost. How was it that Bai Li grew up and turned into a man? Didn’t that mean he couldn’t be his wife then? It must be that he didn’t grow correctly. It was definitely because his mother didn’t treat him well. Ai, no wonder people say “girls go through eighteen changes.” It turned out that growing into a woman from childhood to adulthood was strangely difficult indeed. aBQfrR

If he couldn’t be his wife, then he couldn’t be his wife. Shi Wuduan was very good at not taking things to heart. Even if he turned into a man, he was still little Li-zi. In the future, he’d just find someone else to be his wife, little Li-zi could just be a … a sworn brother instead, and it’d all be good.

Then the Cuibing bird cried out. Standing on his shoulder, it seemed vaguely anxious. Shi Wuduan looked back. There was a large crack in the ground stretching from the entrance of the Fire Lotus Cave. Even denser black mist was seeping out, so dark you couldn’t see to the bottom, as if the final layer of hell laid below.

Aside from Shi Wuduan and Bai Li, who were protected by the astrolabe’s green light, even the yao king Bai Ziyi was curled up on the ground. Her ears had turned into that of a fox’s; she was on the verge of returning to her original form.

The astrolabe’s green light was becoming dimmer and dimmer. Shi Wuduan felt a stagnant sensation in the pit of his stomach. Standing before the chasm made him short of breath.

hCWV2g

Bai Li forcefully grabbed Shi Wuduan, his fingers sinking into his shoulder. He managed to shakily stand up from the ground, “Leave … hurry, leave!”

Shi Wuduan hurriedly clambered up, stumbling a few steps from Bai Li’s dragging, followed him around the chasm, and headed towards the center of Fire Lotus Cave. There must have been secret paths in the cave. As Bai Li walked, his blood ran along his arm and dripped from his fingers. His deathly pale face seemed almost ashen. Shi Wuduan thought for a moment, then said to Bai Li, “Little Li-zi, turn a bit smaller, I’ll carry you!”

He stooped for a while, waiting for Bai Li to get on his back, but didn’t sense any motion from him. He turned his head to ask, “What’s wrong?”

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.

Only after a good while did Bai Li softly say, “That… is merely a transformed appearance,” his teenaged voice already starting to deepen. His voice was somewhat hoarse, his expression complicated, as he looked at Shi Wuduan. After a moment, he gloomily smiled and said, “I’m very happy that you came to save me, but I’ve been deceiving you….” VhwQ n

“Clsj, P xcbk, pera aegc yjmx jigfjvs, batfgklrf P kbc’a yf jyif ab mjggs sbe.” Vtl Qevejc mbeivc’a delaf vlralcuelrt atf vlrajcmf yfakffc aglmxlcu qfbqif jcv vfmflnlcu qfbqif. Ktbeut tf ofia ragjcufis vlrmbcmfgafv lc tlr tfjga, tf kjr rbwfktja rlwqif, jcv xcfk atja sjb ilxfv ab mtjcuf rtjqfr jcv wfrr klat qfbqif lc atflg ogff alwf. Lf jrrewfv atja Djl Ol kjr jirb rlwqis qijslcu jgbecv. Po atf rlaejalbc kjrc’a rb vlgf, qfgtjqr tf’v ufa lcab j teoo obg j ktlif, yea ja atf wbwfca atfs kfgf frmjqlcu obg atflg ilnfr, tbk kbeiv tf tjnf atf alwf ab ufa tecu eq bc atlr xlcv bo rwjii wjaafg?

Bai Li stared at him blankly. He was heavily injured. Though, ever since Shi Wuduan had released him from the pillar, his powers had been slowly returning; it was still not enough to make up for the blood that was flowing out from his wound. He then, may as well, returned to his original form — just like the first time Shi Wuduan had seen him, he looked a child sporting a pair of fox ears.

Shi Wuduan piggybacked him and sprinted away. His hair, having been carelessly done up himself, and because of all the chaos he’d just caused, was already a mess. It brushed against the tip of Bai Li’s nose nonstop. It was a bit ticklish, but it seemed to tickle more than just his nosetip. The hands that Bai Li looped around his neck squeezed a bit, he asked quietly, “Aren’t you mad that I tricked you?”

Shi Wuduan replied, “There’s no time right now, wait till we’ve run away and found my shifu, and then I’ll be mad.” ZdanBv

He paused, then comforted, “My shifu’s really strong, you just relax, it’ll be alright — how’s your injury, does it hurt? How could your mom be like that?”

Bai Li didn’t speak for quite a while, Shi Wuduan had almost thought he’d passed out and couldn’t resist turning back to glance at him, but found that Bai Li’s eyes were somewhat red, his little face stiffly tensed up.

He heard Bai Li say, “Mother said the black mist outside was coming for me, it was all because of me, and as long as they killed me, then Cangyun Valley would be peaceful. She said I was a thing of misfortune.”

Bai Li seemed frightened. He spoke with an undertone of self-contempt, wanting to see if Shi Wuduan would abandon him, and thought: If he throws me away too, then I’ll no longer have any attachments to this world. In the future, no matter if I live or die, it’ll all be a clean end. IZLc2h

But who knew that, Shi Wuduan, the rascal, would ask without thought, using himself to measure others, “What? It’s all because of you? Just how much trouble did you get into?”

Bai Li started, and couldn’t resist bitterly laughing, “It’d be good if only I knew. Ever since the day I was born, there’ve been all sorts of rumors in the valley, those that fear me, that hide from me, that say I’m a sign of calamity….”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Shi Wuduan didn’t yet have enough life experience to understand what those things really meant. On one hand, he simply thought it was strange, and on the other, thought that Bai Li was pitiful. He even, like a little grown up, nodded and said comfortingly, “Ai, that’s really unreasonable, it must’ve been hard for you, having to carry such a large poop bucket over your head all these years.”

Throughout the day, Bai Li’s mental state had been significantly fluctuating. Just then when he’d spoken those words to Shi Wuduan, he even felt as though he was slipping into lunacy, the feeling of despair was like icy water submerging him beneath its surface. He couldn’t imagine that suddenly hearing such words, Shi Wuduan’s seriously earnest expression was like a tiny tiny needle, suddenly poking a hole through the grief and indignation twisted up in his chest. Bai Li started to feel as though he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, as if all the various things that had happened in the past had been lightly whisked away by this child’s understatement, all of it becoming a disgusting and bizarre joke. utafXp

He leant down, pressing the side of his face against Shi Wuduan’s neck. After a good while, he said softly, “You’re so good to me, I ….”

“Haha, then you can just be my wife then!” Shi Wuduan said thoughtlessly, but then suddenly remembered something. He shook his head, “Aiya, that’s not right, you’re not a girl, you can’t be my wife.”

Bai Li said softly, “It’s not important.”

“…..” Shi Wuduan was speechless for a second, but couldn’t resist saying quietly, “That’s… that is still important isn’t it?” FUexiL

Bai Li laughed softly, smelling the youth’s fresh and clean scent and closed his eyes slightly, “If I say it’s not important, then it’s not important.” He thought, If there’s anyone who dares make us part, I’ll just kill them. Everyone in this world who treats me badly, I’ll just kill them all, what’ll be the problem then?

Shi Wuduan heard his voice become weaker and thought that his wounds were affecting his strength so he didn’t argue. He only thought, like a little grown up, “Ai, he’s still little, even if I explain he won’t understand.”

As Bai Li pointed out the way, Shi Wuduan carried him, sprinting into Fire Lotus Cave’s secret passage. As soon as he went in, he felt a gloomy and sinister aura inside that reminded him of the scent of rotten flesh. He couldn’t resist asking, “Little Li-zi, we haven’t gone the wrong way right?”

“No, this is the way, there’s a shortcut here that goes directly to your Xuan Sect’s checkpoint halfway up the mountain.” 4J7HK5

The secret tunnel was extremely dark, so much so, that the two people bumping about like headless flies didn’t notice that the black mist floating up from the corners was even denser than in the Fire Lotus Cave. They ran for another while, but the astrolabe’s green light had dimmed so much it was almost invisible.

Bai Li didn’t detect anything off. Even while they’d been encircled by the black mist, when even Shi Wuduan felt that it was hard to breathe, he hadn’t been affected by the black mist coming out of the crevice. At the moment though, he did notice that Shi Wuduan’s breathing was getting heavier and heavier, so he asked, “Are you tired?”

“Oh, it’s just … hard to catch my breath.” Shi Wuduan frowned. The sweat at his temples had already dripped down along his face.

Bai Li reached out his hand to touch, but got a handful of ice-cold stickiness. He started in surprise, “Shi Wuduan, put me down!” IMCEVT

Shi Wuduan didn’t put him down, but his own feet staggered for a second. He kneeled on the ground with a thud. The Cuibing bird was almost unable to fly, and listlessly fell down together with him. Bai Li let go of his neck, turning back to his teenaged form in a flash. The blood on his chest had already stopped flowing out. For some reason, he felt that he’d even recovered a bit of strength — he seemed to recover even faster than normal.

Shi Wuduan clutched at his own chest, taking in large gulps of air before he felt as though there was a hand squeezing his chest. The air that went in circled around his throat once before rushing out again. He kept seeing stars spinning wildly before his eyes.

He reached out his fingers, lightly rubbing them together. A small flame leapt up above his fingertips. This time, the two finally saw clearly. In the darkness, following closely behind them, was a skull-like ball of black mist, opening its gaping maw of a mouth and throwing itself at them. A gust of wind heavily laden with yin qi blew from who knows where and easily put out the fireball above Shi Wuduan’s hand.

At that time, Shi Wuduan instead became cool-headed. He looked to the other side and saw a faint light at the end of the deep, narrow pathway, and knew that Bai Li hadn’t led him on the wrong path, there really was an exit there. VbBU7X

Shi Wuduan seemed to have the innate quality that the more difficult the situation, the more strength he was able to exert. He grabbed Bai Li’s hand, pushed himself, and actually managed to stand. He picked up the Cuibing bird by its scruff, took a deep breath, shook his head, and said briefly, “Run.”

Bai Li didn’t know why he was so uncomfortable. The black mist around them had already seeped into his body. Not only was it not painful, it even felt kind of soothing. The black mist had gently filled in the wound on his chest, but before he’d had time to wonder what it meant, he’d been dragged away by Shi Wuduan.

Please support our translators at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

The black mist behind them seemed aware that they were on the cusp of escape. In the blink of an eye, it had sped up significantly. As the black mist roiled closer, the light at the mouth of the cave grew brighter. But Shi Wuduan felt like his shoes were full of lead. His heart was nearly pounding out of his chest, but he still held on to Bai Li and the Cuibing bird instinctively.

Suddenly, something pulled on his ankle, sending him tumbling head over heels. His vision blackened and for a moment he was completely senseless. But after that instant’s faint, he woke up immediately and found that he’d been caught, hoisted up, and thrown forward. KacCmQ

Blinding sunlight stabbed into Shi Wuduan’s pupils, forcing him to squint and nearly making his eyes tear up. He landed heavily on his shoulder on the rocks outside the cave. The pain was so intense he feared his bones had broken. He saw clearly that in the moment Bai Li threw him, he was overcome by the black mist. It even issued forth from his chest like a sword that’d run himi through. Bai Li jolted and cried breathlessly in pain.

“Little Li-Zi!”

Countless tendrils of black mist pierced through Bai Li’s body as if to break him into pieces. Two streams of blood seeped from the corners of Bai Li’s eyes. His lips were deathly pale. He looked at Shi Wuduan as if he wanted to engrave the image of that disheveled youth into his heart. But before he could say a single word, he was dragged completely into the darkness, and knew nothing more.

He vanished with the mist before Shi Wuduan’s very eyes. The ground was empty; there was nothing. It was like Bai Li had never even existed. jqQLP2

Then, Shi Wuduan saw something glimmering on the ground. He groaned, clenched his teeth, and dragged his body, nearly numb with pain, forwards like his life depended on it. It was the hair ribbon braided with a feather of the Cuibing bird that he’d gifted to Bai Li. He took it in his hand and held it in a death grip. He trembled in pain.

“I have to find my master,” he muttered to himself. “I have to….”

And then he finally gave out, passing out as his head tilted to the side.

Jink1U

Leave a Comment

4 comments