Jin SeCh43 - Years Later

In the blink of an eye, another five years had passed.

As Gu Huaiyang, donned in armor, hurriedly walked into the courtyard, he bumped face to face with Meng Zhongyong, who was cursing up a storm as he was exiting. Meng Zhongyong, afraid that the shit he was spewing would spray all over his respected big brother, instantly shut his mouth. He looked to and fro, then bowed and toadied, “Eldest brother, you’re here.” SGFcnl

Normally, Gu Huaiyang would’ve scolded him, but they had urgent matters on their hands, and he didn’t have the time to waste, so he nodded and asked, “Is Wuduan here?”

“Of course, where else would he be?” Meng Zhongyong grumbled, “He’s holed up in his room fiddling with who knows what day in and day out, like an old hen brooding an egg. He won’t even budge an inch from his nest, not like he’s hatched anything out though.”

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Gu Huaiyang glared at him and asked, “What’s he doing then?”

Meng Zhongyong rolled his eyes and griped, “What else could he be doing besides messing around with that fat rabbit of his. The way I see it, it’s almost a whole pot’s worth of meat.”  mfCGYR

Gu Huaiyang ignored him and strode inside.

The small courtyard was the same as it had been, all those years ago, as if it’d been frozen in time. The plants inside were always green whether it was summer or winter, and it was nearly silent save for the sound of birds. There wasn’t even the shadow of a servant inside, so the ground was covered in a layer of leaves. It seemed whoever was supposed to clean the place had been slacking off, or perhaps they’d only bothered to sloppily sweep away the leaves collecting on the pathways, letting the leaves that fell upon the grass become fertilizer.

A stone walkway wound through the small alley, the house within was just barely visible. Its doors and windows were open, creaking as they swayed in the wind. The place wasn’t large; the back courtyard was just beyond a set of small doors.

Gu Huaiyang headed straight for the back courtyard, where a tall man was squatting on the ground, facing away from him. He had a three-inch long stick in his hand, which he was using to poke a rabbit.

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No one knew how old that rabbit was. Its eyes were perpetually confused and foggy as if it was forever lost in a dream. Its body was huge, and perhaps because of its fatness, it seemed to expend an enormous amount of energy merely breathing, let alone moving about. Finally annoyed by the poking, it deigned to open its eyes and blearily side-eye the person next to it. Then it huffed and puffed as it inched its massive body forward. The distance it moved was less than the length of its tail when it plopped down again and closed its eyes.   

Usually speaking, rabbits didn’t hibernate during the winter, only bears did. But it turned out that when a rabbit grew closer and closer to bear-size, even its habits would start becoming bear-like.

Gu Huaiyang called out, “Wuduan.”

The young man, moving as slowly as the rabbit he raised, turned his head around, then answered twice as slowly as a normal person. Only then did he stand up like an old man with knee pain and say, after a long pause, “Ah, eldest brother.” OHmwBR

At that time, Gu Huaiyang’s legs were already getting sore from standing, so he shifted his weight from his left leg to his right leg.

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.

A very very long time ago, Shi Wuduan’s reactions were only slightly duller and slower than others’; he still seemed like a normal person. But for some reason, these last few years, he’d only gotten worse. The older he was, the more unreasonable he became. Li Si-niang once said that if someone with a quick temper spoke one sentence to him, they could go boil a pot of water and brew a cup of hot tea before coming back right in time to hear his response.

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Gradually, Shi Wuduan, perhaps intentionally, started disappearing from their line of sight, wholly focused on his own tasks. If someone asked, he might say a thing or two about his plans. If no one asked, he wouldn’t speak. Or if he left, he left for weeks or months at a time without coming back. And when he returned, it wouldn’t be long before he’d prepared another carriage, ready to set off for somewhere else.  xubZDV

When Gu Huaiyang finally noticed, Shi Wuduan had already turned into an old carriage fallen into disrepair.

He felt that something was terribly wrong; they all felt that something was terribly wrong. To them, Shi Wuduan was like a brother, like a son, and like a friend. He could expand the influence of the Merchant’s Association across half the country in a mere three years. He could unite all the scattered, downtrodden Daoist sects into a force to be reckoned with within five years. Even that miserly Xia Duanfang had become wholeheartedly devoted to their cause.

Still, for some reason, Gu Huaiyang kept feeling that he was changing into something that was just a bit inhuman. When he was together with Shi Wuduan, Gu Huaiyang could never resist letting his mouth run. He was worried that one day Shi Wuduan would turn into a wooden person who couldn’t even move his eyeballs.

Just like how Shi Wuduan, whenever he had free time, liked to find a small stick and poke his rabbit, as if he was afraid that the dumb animal he’d raised, that hardly ever moved, would grow roots into the ground one day. JCOI1T

That rabbit of his wasn’t ordinary either. That day when the Demon Lord had cut into his flesh and forsaken the other half of his bloodline, a snow-white flower had grown from the place where his black blood had sunk into the ground. Even for a long while after Zou Yanlai had taken the Demon Lord and left, no one dared to touch that flower.

Just when Shi Wuduan had shaken off Lu Yunzhou’s support and slowly crouched down to pluck that unimaginably white flower, his rabbit suddenly descended on him from the sky and fell on his hand.

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It turned out the Cuibing bird had picked up the rabbit in its claws – somehow; and just as it’d been flying over them, it lost its hold on the rabbit, which then plopped spread-eagled on the ground. Its lower half ended up on Shi Wuduan’s hand, and its head landed right next to the flower.  

Then, in sight of everyone’s disbelieving eyes, it opened its mouth and ate the flower. Everyone was stunned. Shi Wuduan immediately tried to pry open its mouth, but the rabbit’s chewing technique was simply too excellent and its chewing speed was faster than the human eye could see. No one less than a bonafide immortal would’ve been able to stop it — by the time Shi Wuduan got its mouth open, he found that it’d already swallowed the flower. VqDs7p

Afterward, it seemed like it’d eaten some kind of miracle panacea; it fattened by the day like a balloon filling with air, becoming drowsy and lethargic. Every day, it only did two things — eat and sleep.

Shi Wuduan carried it in his arms and leisurely asked, “Eldest brother, is something the matter?”

Gu Huaiyang had his left hand clasped over his right wrist in front of his body as he looked silently at him. Worn down from the wind and the sunshine over the years, Gu Huaiyang’s visage had gained a hint of world-weariness. The youthful, spirited aura he’d had when he’d first risen up in arms, poor and desperate, seemed to have settled down. His eyes were heavy and dark; there were many things he didn’t do personally anymore. His words became fewer and fewer. To outsiders, his whereabouts became ever more elusive. 

No longer did his face reveal his anger or his joy. He used even more secretive methods to do even more dishonorable things. He started to grow into an indomitable man, capable of bearing the weight of the sky on his shoulders. He wasn’t quite grand and imposing, but his presence was enough to inspire confidence and steadiness from those around him. fk80zK

“Duanfang has already set out with his people,” Gu Huaiyang said, then fell silent.

Shi Wuduan fiddled with the rabbit’s ears. The rabbit merely blinked lazily and found a comfortable position to huddle up in, utterly unaware of what kind of grave information it was hearing. Shi Wuduan asked, “Are you afraid, eldest brother?”

Instead of replying, Gu Huaiyang suddenly looked up, gazing at westward-roiling clouds and the rapidly darkening sky. A while later, he quietly answered, “No… it’s just that the day I’ve been waiting for has finally come. I wonder how long we’ll be able to walk this road?”

“Until we’re dead.” Shi Wuduan said impassively, “These last two years, Zou Yanlai has been pulling lots of little tricks in the shadows, but we’ve given as good as we’ve gotten. Everyone’s still hiding behind a loincloth, but now that your wings have grown full-fledged, eldest brother, it’s time to tear it off.” XyYGTW

Gu Huaiyang thought in silence for a moment, then suddenly laughed and nodded, “You’re right. It was inevitable that one day we’d shred these pretenses and start clawing each other’s faces, tearing each other’s hair. It might as well be today — so, the plan, were you the one who predicted the lucky day and time?”

Shi Wuduan’s long, thin fingers buried into the rabbit’s fur. He said quietly, “It’s the perfect day for murder and arson.”

He suddenly turned around. The water in the back courtyard’s small pond all rose into the air and transformed into a colorful fog. Then, its color gradually dimmed in the hazy, indistinct light of day. A blaze of white shined from within, and from afar, it looked like an astrolabe made of water, displaying an arcane arrangement of stars. 

The innumerous stars slowly began moving. Then, all of the lights gathered to a single point and slowly began to fall. A reflection shimmered into view within the mist. Pixbkj

Gu Huaiyang blurted out unwittingly, “Is this… Xia Duanfang?”

That image was indeed that of Xia Duanfang. He and a dozen others were concealed behind a patch of overgrown underbrush. The rocks around them appeared to be scattered randomly, yet they contained subtle hints of a staggering, treacherous array. Shi Wuduan stepped to the side, giving Gu Huaiyang a better view, and said quietly, “Don’t you want to see this with your own eyes, eldest brother?”

Gu Huaiyang shook his head and replied, “How marvelous. Yet, skills like these are but child’s play to you cultivators. To us mere mortals, they are like godly miracles. Are people really divided into such unequal ranks?”

Shi Wuduan lowered his eyes and said softly, “After this, after this battle, things will never be the same. There were never any immortals walking this earth in the first place.” CqYc9S

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a sharp whistle coming out of the mist. Not far from Xia Duanfang’s location, a whistling arrow rose high into the sky. Xia Duanfang suddenly grasped the sword at his waist. Then, some kind of fierce beast charged in their direction, roaring wildly, its eyes blood red. Its body was covered in wounds. If any members of the Xuan Sect witnessed that sight, they would know that the creature was the sacred beast of Jiulu Mountain, the Qingcu.

The hand resting by Shi Wuduan’s side trembled very faintly as if it wanted to reach out. Yet in the end, he didn’t move. He heard the mournful cry of the Cuibing bird from behind him. Shi Wuduan and Gu Huaiyang turned back to look at it and saw it take off into the air. It circled above their heads; the sound it made was like a human’s weeping.

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The rabbit woke up; its beady black eyes gazed placidly at the mirror formed of water.

Under Xia Duanfang’s orders, the dozen or so people leaped up at the same time and encircled the Qingcu. One hand on his sword, Xia Duanfang whipped out an old cow horn from his waist, put it at his mouth, and blew. Its sound was rather bizarre. 7uHSFz

The others hurriedly followed his example; the low bellowing of horns resounded throughout the air. The melody was simple and familiar — when Shi Wuduan was young and often horsed around with the Qingcu, he’d found out how to communicate with it. He’d explored every nook and cranny of Jiulu Mountain and Cangyun Valley together with the Qingcu. He’d once saved Bai Li from disaster together with the Qingcu.

Looking back on it now, none of it seemed real.

The Qingcu hesitated. It pawed at the ground with its hooves, but its eyes regained clarity. It sang out a familiar tune. A sad, aggrieved sound came out of its throat. It seemed to be searching for that youth that’d disappeared so many years ago and never returned.

Then, Xia Duanfang made a hand gesture, and they all stopped blowing their horns. Only the sound of his melody remained. The Qingcu lowered its head, docile, and slowly approached him. Xia Duanfang raised his hand, staring unblinkingly at the Qingcu, then he suddenly swept his arm downwards. VbyP4l

Countless arrows shot towards the Qingcu from all directions, instantly running through the Qingcu’s body. It let out an agonized death cry. An arrow blinded its eye; it desperately swayed its head. It was suffering immensely.

Shi Wuduan’s hand fisted in the rabbit’s fur.

Xia Duanfang let out a loud yell, then suddenly leaped into the air and forced the arrow in the Qingcu’s eye deeper in. The Qingcu groaned as it finally collapsed. Its one good eye seemed to look at Shi Wuduan right through the water mirror. Its eye was large and black, seeming confused and helpless.

At last, the Qingcu’s body shuddered, then stopped moving. kWCR1d

Breathing heavily, Xia Duanfang sent out another signal, which was shortly met with a response from a distant group of people. Gu Huaiyang looked at the signal’s color, relieved, “It looks like it went smoothly. This was no small matter, hunting down Jiulu Mountain’s sacred beast. It’s all thanks to your familiarity with the beast that we could kill it so quietly.”

Shi Wuduan forced a smile on his face and agreed, “The Qingcu is the last eye of the array. Now, that all seven eyes have been destroyed, the secret treaty between the three great sects is broken forever. Our efforts these last two years haven’t been for nothing.”

Shi Wuduan was an expert at arrays. Over the years, he and his fellow cultivators had all been researching the secret treaty binding the three great sects. They found that so-called secret treaties, whether they were between people or between sects, were all a type of array, tying everything together. There were all sorts of hidden mechanisms and tangled fates. The treaty between the three great sects, which hadn’t been broken for thousands, tens of thousands of years, was even more unfathomably complex. Its array even had seven eyes.

Dasheng Sect’s stone bodhi and reincarnation pagoda, Mi Sect’s soul-subjugation flags and twelve star-pillars, as well as Xuan Sect’s sect leader’s astrolabe, great mountain lantern, and the only living creature, the divine beast Qingcu. WJiK0C

They’d exhausted all their efforts and spared no expense to destroy all the eyes of the array. The contract between the three sects was no more.

The moment he spoke, the earth began to tremble. Thousands of shooting stars fell from the sky as if the milky way had spilled.

“Very good,” Shi Wuduan declared. His gaze shifted from the stars to the inconsolably weeping Cuibing bird. A moment later, he repeated again, “Very good.”

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Translator's Note

It means: hiding behind a flimsy pretense

Translator's Note

Xuan Sect’s sacred cow (made an appearance in ch 9)

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7 comments

  1. Nooooo not the Qingcu 😭 I know they had to do it in order to destroy the array, but it wasn’t the Beast’s fault, and I hated it 😢

  2. This chapter really is heartbreaking. Not just because of the poor divine beast, but because even Shi Wudan couldn’t keep himself from being unaffected by losing Bai Li again. He’s dedicated to his mission but it hurts to see his soulless body, almost like a puppet going through the motions. I’m eager to see the reunion arc.