Chapter 13: A n.o.ble Gentleman – Part 5
Translated by: Ritpoppy
Edited (poorly): Also Ritpoppy
Ming ChangYan lowered his teacup and once again cursed LiMin-Jun eight hundred times in his head. It was obvious that because he was the other"s elder that he went forth and took advantage that he had just met Huai Yu to make fun of himself. Now that the younger generation is learning from their elders, he was afraid that the little guys will now follow the other"s examples.
Ming ChangYan could only explain, "I was just playing around with your Huai Yu ge-ge." When he finished, he gave LiMin-Jun a threatening gaze.
On the way from the pavilion terrace to the Jeweled Canopy, Huai Yu once again regained that cold and indifferent expression. Ming ChangYan didn"t react much to this scene, but he found it as an excuse to ask, "Ai, did you get angry? What"s wrong?"
Huai Yu continued to wear that stiff face, pretending that he heard nothing.
Ming ChangYan this person was the least afraid of people giving him an austere expression, he had a thick face, if one sentence wasn"t enough, he"d say another sentence.
"Was my way of welcoming you not to your standards? What are you walking so fast for, it"s still raining! Hey!" He softly cursed: This little brat!
Huai Yu stopped as he harshly replied, "You seem to be very confident about your cultivation skills. When I leave TianQing sect, I"m going to reveal your appearance to the public."
Ming ChangYan cheerfully smiled and supported an umbrella for him, "I"ve already said, this ShaoXia isn"t afraid of this. I"m beautiful, why should I be scared of people seeing me!"
Huai Yu grunted, Ming ChangYan said, "Don"t be angry, why is it that no matter how much I coax you, you never seem to be happy?"
Huai Yu heard this, his face once again looking displeased, replying, "I"m not a child, don"t coax me like you would with a child."
Ming ChangYan paused for a second before erupting into loud laughter, "You"re upset about this? What"s there to be angry about, from the looks of it, you"re only 17, no more than two years older than YuNan. Why can"t I coax you?"
Huai Yu answered, "You"re also only a few years older than me, what are you doing pretending to be my elder."
He paused for a moment, his voice m.u.f.fled as he emphasized, "I"m almost 19."
Ming ChangYan twirled his umbrella around, the raindrops around the two spread apart to form a small circle. His brows and eyes were curved as he laughed, "You were born good-looking, I like you, I think that you and I were brought together by fate. I just coaxed you, if someone else asked me to coax them, I wouldn"t even answer!"
Ming ChangYan"s form of "like", refers to the general sense of being fond of someone. He never bothers with formality when speaking, his words dissolute and unruly. Unfortunately, it startled Huai Yu, his foot slipping, nearly causing him to fall down.
Ming ChangYan quickly helped support him, "Do you not look below your feet when walking?"
Huai Yu paused for a second, replying, "You, you…"
He thought for a while but didn"t know how to answer, so he shut his mouth, unwilling to say too much.
Ming ChangYan thought that his young boy"s temper was so cute that he couldn"t help but tease him a few more times, causing the receiving party to become ashamed and angry at the same time.
"You shut up! If you say another word, I"m going to kill you."
Ming ChangYan placed his hands on his chest like he was scared for his life, "Wow, I"m so scared." He smiled, "What? You said so earlier yourself, you"re my man. Now that I want to get closer to you, you suddenly say you want to kill me, I feel so wronged!"
His manner of speech when talking to Huai Yu was comparable to when he would tease little children. Huai Yu was restless after being provoked by him, suddenly grabbing the other"s hand, pulling him closer to his face.
Ming ChangYan leaped up and jumped down, his teasing and provoking courting disaster, it was almost impossible to prevent. His face was suddenly closely met with another face, their breaths sticking together, only a hairsbreadth apart, requesting for the two lips to meet.
Ming ShaoXia"s eyes widened, his mind suddenly becoming blank.
Huai Yu saw that he had eaten it, his heart was pleased with itself. He raised the corners of his lips and said, "Just so-so, humph."
He loosened his grip as he took the umbrella away from Ming ChangYan"s hands, and began to walk down the mountain and towards the Jeweled Canopy. Ming ChangYan was soaked from the rainwater, he abruptly turned around, the sound of his beating heart filled the sky, he promptly yelled, "Hey! That"s my umbrella! I"m drenched in the rain!"
Hearing this, Huai Yu slowed down his steps, allowing Ming ShaoXia to catch up to him, squeezing himself under the umbrella.
___
At dawn the next day, Yan YuNan kicked open the door, saying, "Da shi-xiong, the guy woke up!"
Ming ChangYan sat up from his bed, put on his clothes, and walked to the small pavilion terrace.
Just as they entered the room, the man on the bed began to frantically try to escape, even wanting to kneel on the floor for him. LiMin-Jun supported him up, saying, "Don"t move, your wounds are reopening, don"t kneel don"t kneel! No one wants you to kneel!"
The man let out two coughs, shedding tears as he cried out, "The Gou family is looking for Ming ChangYan, Ming ShaoXia!"
Ming ChangYan took a step forward, asking, "What are you looking for Ming ChangYan for?"
The man wiped off some of the blood on his face, his voice quivering uncontrollably as he continued, "I"m in charge of the protection of the Gou family"s goods, three days ago I was making a trip from RunZhou to Lin"an with some goods, but as we pa.s.sed by ZhouShan, we met, met, met…"
He seemed to be extremely afraid, even after tying his words together ten times, he still wasn"t able to properly get the words out of his mouth.
Ming ChangYan patiently stated, "Who did you meet? No need to rush, you"re already under TianQing sect"s doors, you have me, ah, you have Ming ChangYan here. Who in the heavens would dare to even touch a single hair on you."
The man covered in blood unconsciously shook a bit, swallowing down some of his saliva, "King of h.e.l.l…a feast created by the King of h.e.l.l!" His eyes were bloodshot, almost seeming as if he was about to pa.s.s out, "It, it was that King of h.e.l.l, the wedding dress! The King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress!"
LiMin-Jun held up a bowl of medicine, he and Ming ChangYan casted glances at each other.
He said, "The Joyful King of h.e.l.l?"
Ming ChangYan nodded his head, reciting, ""The King of h.e.l.l holds a feast, in the gates of h.e.l.l, none along the Yellow Springs turns their head to take a look.""
Yan YuNan asked, "Er shi-xiong, what"s "The King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress?""
LiMin-Jun set down his bowl, replying, "The Joyful King of h.e.l.l is The King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress. They"re a strange person who"s withdrawn themselves from worldly affairs two years ago in Jianghu."
Yan YuNan questioned, "In what way were they strange?"
Ming ChangYan said, "They"re strange because even though they"re dressed in wedding garments, they commit horrible crimes like wiping out a person"s entire family."
LiMin-Jung said, "This King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress doesn"t appear often. They often cause mischief on forest trails along the mountains, before the person even arrives, you"ll be able to hear their voice, followed by the joyful beat of the drums and cheerful music of the dead. Along the path, two figures would appear, one in a crimson wedding dress, the other draped in mourning clothes. The red dress would roll around on the ground, while the white dress would flutter in the wind. Paper money would fly across the sky like silk, as a palanquin and a coffin were seated side by side to one another. It"s an extremely unusual sight to behold, and had a very eerie aura to it."
Huai Yu stated, "Merging weddings and funerals together is an extremely wretched, sorrowful, and terrible thing to do."
Yan YuNan"s body trembled.
LiMin-Jun continued, "This strange person frequently waits for the troops at the border of the mountain tops while holding onto a guqin. If they want you to die at midnight, then you won"t even be able to live till 5:00 pm. As a result, they earned the t.i.tle of The King of h.e.l.l. Every single sect that have come across them, none returned alive, the entire group wiped out. Consequently, whenever they commit homicide, it"s called the King of h.e.l.l"s Feast. If the King of h.e.l.l invited you to have a meal, wouldn"t it be the same as being gone forever and never returning!"
Yan YuNan asked, "But they"re standing on the mountain tops, how would they kill people?"
LiMin-Jun, "Who knows? Currently, no one"s ever made it back, you"ll have to ask him."
Everyone"s eyes fell on the man seated on the bed.
The man in charge of the Gou family"s goods, who had just finished drinking the medicine to ease his nerves, was startled by the gazes, and could only slowly say, "I don"t know how they kill people…"
Ming ChangYan was silent for a moment.
The man in charge of the Gou family"s goods seemed to have suddenly remembered something, elliptically shouting, "It was with paper dolls! I remembered…they used paper dolls to kill my fellow apprentices! They"re a demon, a monster! They used the paper dolls to take away everyone"s lives!!"
The man became erratic, his mouth leaving behind traces of saliva, "It"s the King of h.e.l.l…it"s the King of h.e.l.l…they aren"t human! Only monsters have the ability to make paper dolls move!!"
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work, I"m going to hunt you down with my paper dolls.
LiMin-Jun saw that the situation wasn"t good, reaching his hand out at once to jab at the pit of the guy"s stomach, the man"s strength was suddenly removed from his body as he pa.s.sed out on the bed.
LiMin-Jun, "I saw that his words were getting obscure, so he might as well just stop talking. The accident occurred 1000 meters from the Brook Market, at BanPo village. It"s right here, I think we"d better find a few people to check it out just to be sure."
Ming ChangYan didn"t listen to him, he stroked his chin as he asked, "What kind of cultivation has the ability to make paper dolls move? Have you guys heard of it?"
LiMin-Jun chuckled, "Ming ChangYan, you should kill this intention of yours. You"d even want to learn these sorts of dishonest practices when there are so many cultivation techniques in this world. It can"t be that you want to know them all?"
Ming ChangYan replied in an inevitable fashion, "If you"re able to learn it, then learn it. Otherwise, how would I be the number one in the world?"
LiMin-Jun picked up the bamboo hat draped over with a black veil from the table and threw it at Ming ChangYan"s chest, "Yes, yes, yes, number one in the world, go to BanPo Village and check how many people have died."
Yan YuNan immediately grabbed his sword, raising his hand and said, "Da shi-xiong! I"ll come with you!"
The Zhong YuLou and Hua YuLing that had been eavesdropping by the doorway for a long time simultaneously began to squeeze themselves into the room.
"I want to go too!"
"I want to go too!"
Hearing this, Zhong YuLou widened his eyes, "Why are you mimicking my words!"
Hua YuLing let out a world-shaking humph, patting her clothes as she said, "You have no sense of shame, who would want to mimic you?!"
Ming ChangYan put on the bamboo hat while walking out of the room, "Your legs aren"t attached to my body, it"s not like I can stop you guys from coming along."
After hearing this, everyone was in high spirits as they followed behind.
As LiMin-Jun saw that Ming ChangYan had grown a new strip of small tails following him around, he couldn"t help but smile, thinking: He just loves to pamper these little things.
The Brook Market was located on Lin"an"s northern side, three of its sides are surrounded by water, while the last side is leaned against the mountain. The market was chaotic and unusually lively.
As soon as they arrived, he brought everyone a tanghulu, blocking up the little children"s chattering mouths. When he wanted to hand Huai Yu one, Huai Yu had his hands on his arms, his head leaning to the side, "I"m not eating, I"m not the same as them."
Ming ChangYan cheerfully said, "Yes, yes, yes, you"re not the same, you"re more beautiful. Alright, quickly eat, when you"re finished, we have to hurry on."
Huai Yu paused, took the tanghulu and sniffed it a few times before immediately coming to a conclusion, "Distasteful."
Ming ChangYan, "You didn"t even eat it yet, let me try it!"
He tilted his head and took a bite, leaving only half of it on the bamboo stick. Ming ChangYan chewed it for a while before he swallowed and said, "It"s very good, it"s just that you"re too picky."
Huai Yu held the tanghulu and walked a few steps forwards. Ming ChangYan was still teasing and having full with Zhong YuLou, never getting tired of it. His heart wavered for a short period of time, and in the end ate the remaining half of the tanghulu, coming to the conclusion that: Not only was distasteful, it stuck to his teeth.
As he finished eating the tanghulu, they had already arrived at BanPo Village.
They haven"t even stepped into the village gate when they picked up a heavy odor of blood coming from within the village. Zhong YuLou pinched his nose, his voice m.u.f.fled as he said, "Da shi-xiong, this place is so disgusting."
As they moved forwards, below the remains of half the hill in BanPo Village was a mountain of dead bodies. All the people were freshly killed, but because runoff caused by the storm yesterday, blood and it"s plasma were mixed together, condensing together to form clots of blood. A lot of the bodies were washed away farther away. Every three steps, Ming ChangYan would run into a corpse, this whole scene was really like a h.e.l.l on Earth.
Yan YuNan used his sword to poke at the corpse"s clothes, Zhong YuLou immediately grabbed onto the other"s sleeve as he cautiously hid behind his body.
YuLing snorted, "Just look at your squeamish state!"
Yan YuNan, "Knock it off," he turned to Ming ChangYan, "Da shi-xiong, it"s just like the other guy, there"s not a single piece of good flesh on their bodies."
Ming ChangYan observed his surroundings with rapt attention for a moment when he suddenly pulled out a needle from the body of a male corpse.
At this time, the mood changed unexpectedly. From the surrounding woods, ten people crashed through and unexpectedly appeared.
In this split second, Ming ChangYan laid down the black veil and covered up his face.
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work, I"m going to hunt you down with my paper dolls.
Whew~ I"m finally on Spring Break
I can translate so much better now that I don"t have things like Mid-terms to worry about.
The flashback only has 2 chapters left! And then we go back to Ming ChangYan and his shenanigans within the Imperial Palace ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)
What did you think of this chapter? If you see any translation/grammatical errors, please comment down below and I"ll change it as I see fit!
Hope you have a spectacular weekend!