Jin SeCh36 - Secret

Bai Li snarled, “Scram!”

Shi Wuduan inched closer. That low growl had knocked some clarity back into his addled brain and quaked his insides. He cautiously took cover behind a large tree, remembering that some powerful cultivators could embed “intent” into their words. They could use it to persuade people against their better judgment or strike terror into their hearts. pAovdU

Bai Li had always spoken to him as softly and gently as a young maiden fearful of being overheard. Shi Wuduan had never heard him speak in such a tone before.

This guy acts one way in front of me and completely different when I’m gone, Shi Wuduan thought bemusedly, planning on sneaking a look at just which unlucky soul had riled him up.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Even though he was so overcome by curiosity that he could be so impolite as to eavesdrop, he knew the extent of his capabilities and didn’t rashly approach them. He mulled it over, then reached out his hand. A thin strand of silk crept out from his sleeve; it was a thread of starsilk from his astrolabe. It quietly dropped to the ground, wormed its way into the dirt, and began to lengthen.

Shi Wuduan bit through the skin on his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the silk, which absorbed it immediately. The starsilk glowed very faintly before a fuzzy image began to float above the thin thread. EQUSiw

Shi Wuduan saw Bai Li holding a tray in his hands, probably using it to carry the stuff he’d gotten from the kitchen. There were two people — no, one of them wasn’t a person, it floated limply in the air. He couldn’t see their faces clearly, but he could clearly sense the tension between them.

Bai Li sneered coldly and resumed his usual, quiet manner of speech, though his voice brimmed with killing intent, “So tell me, since when was spying on my whereabouts any of your business.”

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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Lord Yan…. Lord Yan?

He immediately thought of the genteel, yet aloof man he’d met back on Jiulu Mountain, Yan Zhen. Were they talking about him? How did Bai Li get involved with him?

Bai Li replied icily, “You can go back and tell Yan Zhen that he’s overstepping his bounds.”

It was him after all! DYPv76

A hazy idea, one that made him shiver as if he’d swallowed an ice-cold stone, began to form in Shi Wuduan’s mind. His headache worsened.

How did the seal on the Hall of Demons break? How could Bai Li escape after he’d fallen in? How had he torn the Hall of Demons open once more? Or was it…

The man standing before Bai Li sighed, “I implore you, Demon Lord, to act with the greater picture at the foremost of your thought. For your own sake, don’t you want to recover…. that which should’ve been yours?”

Bai Li didn’t respond, but the air seemed even heavier than before. DSyv9w

Shi Wuduan listened woodenly as the mysterious man went on, “I know of course, that your powers are unrivaled, Demon Lord, but there’s a common saying that ‘there’s no such thing as too many skills,’ not to mention that cultivation has no limit. Don’t you want to rise even higher, Demon Lord? Whether or not you’ll be able to move forward has everything to do with the fate of Great Qian; all else is insignificant in comparison. Just think about it, with your power, who’d dare say ‘no’ to you? You know, everything in the world can either be bought with money, taken by force, or obtained through the use of promises and threats. Is there anything you can’t acquire if you know how to use the carrot and the stick?”

The man paused and carefully observed Bai Li’s expression. Seeing that he hadn’t provoked his temper, he continued persistently, “Those who can buy what they desire are the least powerful, those who can seize what they desire are second-most powerful, and those who can obtain what they desire using promises and threats are absolutely the most powerful. They can cast a net that blots out the sky, blocking every means of escape; this is what’s known as “threat.” They can pluck the stars and the moon, they can make the impossible possible; that’s what’s called “promises.” If I may tell you an unpleasant truth, right now you are only the second type of person….”

Bai Li scoffed coldly.

Yet the man didn’t fear him; he seemed certain that his words had already achieved their intended effect, so he only said, “I’m sure you understand, Demon Lord. Don’t lose sight of the forest for a tree; you must be able to tell what’s important from what’s not. If there’s ever a day when you become the most powerful kind of person, you could have anything in the world, do whatever you please. What more could ever trouble you? What more could ever be beyond your grasp?” FOYNVw

Listening in on their conversation, Shi Wuduan aimlessly thought, he makes too much sense.

He’d fully grasped the situation already. Yan Huaipu had damaged the Hall of Demons’ seal when he lit the mountain lights, and from that moment, the knots of karma had been tied — how had Bai Li been able to leave the Hall of Demons?

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Subsuming his “father” likely hadn’t been enough; someone on the outside had assisted him.

They’d borrowed seventy years of time, but the fortune they’d borrowed was thin as a wisp of smoke, merely the chance to take a few more dying gasps before the end. They’d released Bai Li from the Hall of Demons and used the karma that connected it to the seven lanterns to succor the imperial family’s rotting throne and putrid fate. yjGRht

Suddenly, Shi Wuduan laughed soundlessly, thinking that Yan Zhen was really a genius.

He saw Bai Li’s indistinct figure in the blurry mist; his throat started to dry — little Li-zi….

For a long while, Bai Li remained silent. He waved him away and said quietly, “Go back and tell your lord that I know what I’m doing.”

The bone-chilling killing intent was already gone. The man bowed in salute in lieu of a reply before leaving with the black, paper-like shadow. V47K1U

That man was skilled at reading the hearts of others. He could tell from Bai Li’s tone that his words had moved him.

Shi Wuduan was also skilled at reading others, naturally, he too could tell from Bai Li’s tone…..

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7 comments

  1. So that’s what Bai Li meant by them becoming enemies–they are on opposite sides now.

    Demon Lord, huh. So he didn’t in fact escape the Hall of Demons…