That night, Shi Wuduan entered his room and let the bird and rabbit go. He sat on the bed like a puppet with its strings cut. His mind was blank — like he’d just overused it and had forgotten how to think.
Over the course of a few minutes, he slowly began to process everything. He started to feel a pain in his heart. It was like, in the blink of an eye, his world had been turned on its head. The road in front of him was shrouded by mist, and if he looked behind him, everything that had once happened all seemed so unreal.
Shi Wuduan sat on the bed clutching his chest. The corners of his mouth twitched. He wanted to wail and sob, but while his expression twisted in sorrow, the tears and sobs didn’t materialize. He suddenly remembered something and started trembling again. He fiercely wiped at his face, kicked off his shoes, and stepped on the floor. Cautiously, he leaned against the window and scanned his surroundings. There wasn’t anyone in the courtyard surveilling him. Relieved, he sat back on the bed to continue crying.
But once he sat down, the tears he’d worked up had receded again, painfully stopped up inside.
Too much had happened in the last few days, he was tired and exhausted so when he fell back onto the bed, he lost consciousness before his head hit the pillow. As he hovered on the border between being asleep and awake, he woke with a start, soaked in sweat. He flipped over, opened the bag beside him, and retrieved his astrolabe, hugging it to his chest. He then dug out a dagger, hid it beneath his pillow, and kept a hand rested on it. Only then did he let out a breath of relief and continue to sleep.
The next day, Bitan sent someone to bring him a new set of clothes. Shi Wuduan hesitated and, while no one was looking, carefully sniffed the clothes. When he couldn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, he donned the white mourning robes.
As soon as he left the courtyard, a few people began causally following him. Shi Wuduan thought: it seemed that running wasn’t possible for now. How are they planning to deal with me?
He seemed to have an innate talent for keeping his joy and anger from showing in his face and controlling his expression to hide his emotions. In the ten years or so he’d lived, he’d always gotten along with everyone. It was the first time he’d faced people with hostile intentions, and so his gift had emerged. Others only saw him keeping watch quietly beside the former sect master’s coffin. There were no tears on his face, but his aura was heavy as death and made him seem unlike a child.
Bitan spied on him for several days and found that this once energetic child had become silent, he’d changed completely as if he’d grown from a child to a young man in the blink of an eye. Shi Wuduan used to be a person who’d kick up trouble if there was none to be found, who was friendly with everyone and could chatter nonstop. When he came back, he was hardly willing to speak with anyone anymore.
However, Shi Wuduan was still too young and his cultivation too lacking. No matter how much effort he put into his act, those who were observant could still see through its flaws.
Bitan noticed that whenever anyone neared him, Shi Wuduan would tense up, then relax with a strange expression on his face. He controlled his expression diligently, but it still didn’t look wholly natural.
That day, Banya was with him, staring at Shi Wuduan. After a while, he quietly said, “Shixiong, does he seem….”
He paused for a moment, looking at Bitan’s face, then continued, “I keep feeling like this brat knows something he shouldn’t.”
Bitan glanced at him but didn’t reply.
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.
Banya kept going, “Shixiong, think about it, he said he went to Cangyun valley, but on the day the emperor was here, Jiulu Mountain was under heavy guard. How did he sneak all the way to the altar without anyone finding him?”
Dlajc rjlv ribkis, “Lf’r gjatfg rtbga, qfgtjqr atf uejgvr bnfgibbxfv tlw.”
Vfflcu atja tf vlvc’a wlcv, Djcsj mbcalcefv, “Ktlcx jybea la rtlzlbcu, fnfc lo tf kjr wlrrfv ys atf uejgvr jcv tf rcemx lc tlwrfio, kts vlvc’a atf ygja ub ab olcv atf…. atf ijaf rfma wjrafg lcrafjv bo ublcu ab atf jiajg?”
Bitan turned around to face him.
Bitan had an excellent reputation amongst the cultivators of Jiulu Mountain; he was affable and socialized with everyone. Since the sect master had to be more aloof and authoritative, as his position demanded of him, Bitan had even better connections than his shixiong. He even had a face that seemed gentle and pleasant.
Bitan asked softly, “Shidi, what are you trying to say?”
Banya stopped hesitating, “I think there’s something off with the brat, but I don’t know what. Perhaps he’s biding his strength so he can take revenge. I think we should just get rid of him altogether, you know….”
He made a chopping gesture with his hand as his face twisted into a snarl. Bitan frowned.
Banya kept pressing, “Shixiong, I know you’re a merciful person, and we did watch this brat… this kid grow up, who doesn’t have a little fondness? But….”
Bitan suddenly pressed Banya’s hand, which was still making a chopping gesture, down and interrupted him in displeasure, “Speak no more of it. Xuan Sect has been a righteous sect for centuries, we are all just and honorable people. Even if there was some discord, it was for the sake of the greater good, we had no choice. Now that shixiong is gone, and fortune has already been borrowed, what’s the point in making things difficult for a little child?”
“If he knows that the sect master was…”
Bitan waved him off, “So what if he knows? Our consciences are clear.”
Seeing that Banya looked like he was going to argue, Bitan turned and said seriously, “I’ve said my piece for today. Wuduan grew up under my watch, he’s a good kid. Even if he’s not so good in the future, I’ll take care of him myself. Heh, even if I, Bitan were useless despite my years of single-minded cultivation, I still wouldn’t need to take precautions against a kid like him. But before then, he’s still our shizhi. Anyone who wants to harm him will have to go through me first!”
Banya stared at him open-mouthed before scoffing as he flicked his sleeves and left.
“What nonsense,” Banya thought resentfully. He glared viciously at Shi Wuduan’s thin figure, still indignant. “Pah! He’s just a whore building themselves a memorial arch; leaving loose ends and raising a tiger will undoubtedly lead to disaster. You’ll regret this someday, just you wait!”
Too bad he wasn’t as powerful as Bitan, wasn’t as influential as Bitan, and wasn’t as smart as Bitan. All he had going for him on Jiulu mountain was his seniority — before it was the sect master, now it was Bitan that he had to lower his head to. Bitan helplessly stewed in his anger, but having no other options, turned and left.
As for Master Bitan, though he spoke so surely, he wasn’t as certain as he sounded. How could a cunning old man like him miss all the many flaws in Shi Wuduan’s act?
Seven days later, the old sect master was buried. On the day that Shi Wuduan returned to his room and slept, Bitan couldn’t resist sneaking into his courtyard in the middle of the night, quietly pushing open Shi Wuduan’s door and entering.
The three living things in the room were already asleep, illuminated by the moonlight shining in from the window. Shi Wuduan slept on his side, curled into a little ball, hugging something in his chest. Bitan walked closer and examined him for a while. The youth slept fitfully, his brows creased into a knot.
Bitan thought, would a little kid like him, who’s been hopping up and down getting into trouble all his life, really be that observant, that good at deception?
He thought back to how Shi Wuduan stiffened when others neared him, but noted that Shi Wuduan’s attitude towards him was rather normal. Even though he didn’t fuss or act spoiled or get into trouble, and his manners had become impeccable, he didn’t seem to be holding some deep grudge or anything. If he really did know….
Bitan shook his head and silently laughed, feeling that he’d overthought. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly, coincidentally, caught sight of the thing Shi Wuduan was hugging. Though it had been wrapped in cloth, its glow was still discernable in the dark. Bitan carefully reached out a finger and, avoiding Shi Wuduan’s limbs, nudged the cloth aside. Wrapped inside, was an astrolabe.
The moment his finger touched the astrolabe, he felt an unnatural suction force; the qi in his body seemed to seep through his fingers. The astrolabe’s faint glow brightened and, at a glance, resembled ghost fire.
This astrolabe… was a thing of evil!
An astrolabe was the reflection of its master. Ordinary objects were like ordinary, mediocre people, they wouldn’t take on masters and didn’t have much use aside from performing calculations. But this astrolabe, perhaps because of its material or perhaps because of the workings of destiny, seemed to have a soul — for example, because the old sect master’s astrolabe in the courtyard was made of heaven-mending stone and the stars within it came from the ground-up powder of a comet that fell from the heavens, it was extraordinary by nature. This astrolabe on the other hand….
Of course, Bitan didn’t know that Shi Wuduan’s astrolabe had been perfectly ordinary, until it was struck by divine lightning, ate the soul of a malevolent ghost, then sucked in a ton of black qi from the crack in Cangyun Valley — though it was for the sake of protecting Shi Wuduan, it’d been someone difficult for it. Then again, its qi was already aberrant and even complemented the yin qi that emerged from the crack, so it did reap many benefits.
This prickly thing had obviously taken on a master. Things like these, that were almost sentient, more or less only submitted to those with destiny; for a little child to carry such an evil thing….
Bitan frowned as he couldn’t help but recall the conversation he’d had with Banya. A cold feeling crawled up his back. Banya was right, if this child really was so conniving at such a young age that he slipped past such formidable defenses, then the reason he hadn’t gone to find the sect master first was very likely because he’d noticed something off, didn’t want to get caught, and planned to investigate the truth of the matter. Then, after knowing that there was more to his shifu’s death, he was still able to put on an act to the whole sect–
The more Bitan thought, the more fearful he became, until his hairs were nearly standing on end. Thus, he wavered again. Could a child barely more than ten years old really be so astute? Have so much self-control? Then again, for such an evil thing to have recognized him as its master, it was apparent that Shi Wuduan was not as innocent and harmless as he appeared.
He was still undecided, but he slowly raised his hand, glowing with purple light, and, little by little, reached toward Shi Wuduan’s head.
Just then, Shi Wuduan lightly rolled over, as if disturbed by his dream. Before Bitan could come back to his senses and move out of the way, Shi Wuduan had already rolled into him.
Perhaps he was cold, judging from the way he clutched on to his warm body and shoved aside the astrolabe. He even wrapped his arms around Bitan and smacked his lips a few times, muttering in his sleep.
Bitan leaned down to listen and heard, “Shifu…. Shifu…. Shifu stop hitting me…..”
Bitan paused; Shi Wuduan rubbed his face against his robes and mumbled, “Shishu… save me, Bitan shishu…..”
The purple energy around Bitan’s hand gradually dissipated. He gently patted Shi Wuduan’s back and asked gently, “What do you want shishu to save you from?”
Shi Wuduan mumbled an “uh” sound, and after a long while, finally said, “Save me… make shifu stop hitting me….”
Bitan’s heart softened. He sighed, pulled up the blankets that Shi Wuduan had kicked to the side, and carefully tucked him in. He patted his head before quietly leaving, closing the door behind him.
Shi Wuduan flipped over again, back facing the door and squirmed into his sheets.
Then he opened his eyes, staring at the wall. He felt like his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
That was how Shi Wuduan began his fearful, apprehensive stay in Jiulu Mountain, raising his bird and his rabbit and rarely leaving his courtyard.
At first, Bitan came by every day like his shifu to personally teach him, but Shi Wuduan noticed that Bitan never taught him any magical or martial arts. It was like he was preparing him for the civil service exam or something, making him read dusty old classics; otherwise, he’d toss him a few books on divination and, using his lack of knowledge as an excuse, tell him to figure them out himself.
Shi Wuduan played along very smoothly; he’d memorize books if he was told to, and play around with the astrolabe if he wasn’t. To all appearances, he wasn’t ambitious in the least.
As time passed, Bitan realized that his little shizhi only had the cleverness to pull petty pranks, but not to accomplish anything of significance. He was like rotten mud that couldn’t even plaster the walls, so he stopped paying much attention to him. His visits went from every day to once every three days, and then, because Xuan Sect was getting busy and he had a bunch of disciples and grand-disciples of his own, he stopped having much time to visit Shi Wuduan at all. He’d only come by every ten days or so with a few books, perfunctorily check up on him, and leave him to sink or swim on his own.
Though, they never deprived him of any material comforts. On the contrary, his treatment was better than most disciples in this respect.
Thank you for translation!
Just you wait Wuduan will get his revenge soon!!! My heart is aching thinking of what Wuduan experience!
Thanks for the chapter<3
Living in fear, poor child 🙊😳😢❤️🩹
The old cheerful, troublemaker SWD is gone…. we want him back… 😭 Poor child escapeee that hell save him Bai Li
Thank you for the Food!!!
Wow, that was scary. SWD is only ten years old and he has to be able to deceive everyone around him…
How could he call a barely sentient object, “evil” after doing what he’s done? The nerve of this snake! Poor little idiot, you must run back to
I knew I would miss his carefree personality. Know he’s walking on pins on needles😭
Now he’s walking on pins and needles*