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[T/N: In accordance to the results of , from this chapter onward, the translation will use ‘Shifu" instead of ‘Master" when used as a form of address.]
Cheng Qian had barely taken two steps out of the valley when he suddenly turned his head to the side and reached out with a clutching motion. He heard an exclamation of ‘aiyo", and a clumsy, seemingly good-natured youth tumbled down from a large tree at the valley"s exit.
That person had landed first, but the traveling bag he was carrying fell a little later and happened to land on that person"s head. The bag seemed to contain some kind of heavy object, because it created a loud, dull thump when it collided with a human skull. The youth"s eyes immediately rolled back in his head as he fell backward. It would seem that he had died before he could complete his apprenticeship.
Cheng Qian, “…”
Even though Cheng Qian knew basically no one other than the Valley Lord in the Mingming Valley, there was no mistaking this one of a kind manner. He could tell with one look that this was the Valley Lord"s disciple.
Right when he was about to leave, the knocked out youth slowly regained consciousness. The moment he saw Cheng Qian, the youth"s face immediately lit up with happiness. With the fist-sized b.u.mp on his head, he energetically threw himself at Cheng Qian"s feet, yelling, “Senior! I"ve been waiting for you here for half a night, Senior!”
Those words felt a bit awkward for Cheng Qian. It kind of gave the impression of two people who had promised to elope, but one of them failed to keep their word.
He coughed drily, “No need for courtesy… uh, and don"t call me ‘Senior".”
The youth was dumbfounded, “Oh, then Elder Cheng. I want to go out for a journey, please take me with you… Uh, you also don"t like ‘Elder"? Then what should I address you as? Cheng Shishu! No, I know! Cheng… Cheng… Cheng Shifu! I might as well become your disciple!”
Cheng Qian, “…”
Seeing that the youth was ready to kneel right then and there, about to present soil in the place of tea to initiate himself as a disciple, Cheng Qian immediately reached out to pull him up, “Don"t, I have no plans to take disciples for now. Who is your master in the valley?”
The youth said casually, “n.o.body, I"ve just been blindly training with the Valley Lord. The Valley Lord is my father, he won"t mind me entering other people"s sect.”
Hearing that not-so-surprising answer, Cheng Qian couldn"t help remarking sarcastically with an emotionless face, “Oh, no wonder. The pupil truly surpa.s.ses the master.”
The youth seemed pleased hearing those words. He truly thought that it was a genuine compliment and hurriedly said out of modesty, “No, no, this junior still has a lot to learn.”
“…” Cheng Qian weakly pinched the s.p.a.ce between his brows and asked, “What"s your name?”
The youth stuck his chest out and answered proudly, “Nian Dada!”
Even the most hypocritical person couldn"t go against their conscience to praise that name. In that moment, Cheng Qian was finally certain that Valley Lord Nian"s brain must have been damaged by something in the past.
Cheng Qian refused to take him as a disciple, but Nian Dada didn"t care. He kept persistently chasing him after picking up his traveling bag, sticking close to Cheng Qian like a b.u.m beetle. While trailing after Cheng Qian, he asked brazenly, “Sen… Cheng Shishu, where are we going?”
This was clearly an attempt at striking up pointless conversation. Cheng Qian didn"t care to entertain him, so he pretended not to hear those words. Nian Dada didn"t mind. When he received no response, he started monologuing, “Nonsense, of course we"re going to Shiwu Town — then Shishu, in your opinion, what is the evil spirit in Shiwu Town?”
He also didn"t expect Cheng Qian to answer him this time, so he just answered himself, “No matter what it is, wreaking havoc isn"t allowed, so we must get rid of it!”
Cheng Qian finally cut off his one-man show, asking, “You left the valley all by yourself, did your father agree?”
“My father doesn"t care,” Nian Dada said, “Shishu, don"t worry. For the people of Mingming Valley, as soon as they complete their apprenticeship, they"re completely free.”
Cheng Qian could feel his teeth aching. He wondered what kind of ‘master" would produce this kind of apprentice.
Nian Dada was able to figure out his thoughts for once, and explained a bit hesitantly, “Shishu is always cultivating in seclusion, so you probably don"t know. The rule of our sect has always been ‘A high level of cultivation isn"t necessary, just a little skill is fine, as long as you don"t cause trouble outside… even if you"ve caused trouble, don"t mention the sect"s name".”
Cheng Qian immediately became speechless.
Nian Dada continued, “Anyhow, going out for a journey means having fun and enjoying oneself, and getting rid of some evil along the way — oh, we need to pick the ones we can defeat, of course. If we can"t defeat them, find a stronger senior.”
Cheng Qian looked down at the sword from the Valley Lord and understood then — of course, this was for him to p.a.w.n off along the way for travel expenses.
All of a sudden, he randomly recalled something and couldn"t help smiling.
Nian Dada immediately turned into a strangled duck and was stunned speechless.
Usually, when the fellow disciples of Mingming Valley gathered, they"d often discuss the Elder of the Ethereal Lake — what kind of person could cultivate in seclusion for decades at the icy lake? Could it be, when he came out, he wouldn"t even be able to speak?
What kind of person could undergo so many Heavenly Tribulations and remain unscathed?
He was practically not a human!
Nian Dada seemed very energetic in front of Cheng Qian, but due to his inexplicable worship to this young elder, he had actually been very nervous all this time. His legs were trembling under his robes.
Seeing his stunned look, Cheng Qian asked in confusion, “What is it?”
Nian Dada immediately pinched himself hard, “I-I-I… Uh, that, this…”
“Don"t be nervous, I was just thinking of our sect leader. He"s a bit similar to your father,” Cheng Qian was in the mood to talk, for once, “Oh, I meant their way of thinking, of course. My Shixiong still has a waist.”
Nian Dada immediately grinned and started b.u.t.tering him up, “How could it be? How can he be similar to my father? Then how could he nurture a formidable person like Shishu?”
But this time, his attempts at flattery had failed.
Cheng Qian was stunned by those words. The slight hint of a smile on his face immediately disappeared. He lowered his head and started toward the village in the distance. After a long while, he finally spoke in a low voice, all sorts of feelings welling up in his heart, “I don"t know, maybe… his fortune was bad.”
Cheng Qian never said explicitly that he would take him along, but Nian Dada had finally found someone to cling to, so he still followed Cheng Qian persistently.
About a half li from the village, Cheng Qian noticed that something was off. Without a change in his facial expression, he gathered his energy to his eyes, and saw that the surrounding villages and townships were shrouded in a b.l.o.o.d.y light.
It stretched into the dark horizon, gathering a large amount of ominous, murky clouds.
Cheng Qian"s brows knitted. This was very unusual — he didn"t think that something with this kind of ability would be some kind of easily-handled stray lonely soul.
One must keep in mind that the higher a cultivator"s skill was, the more deeply-rooted their education was in them [1]. Something like carving out a man"s heart — a defenseless commoner, at that — was practically a barbaric action not unlike wild beasts. Even a real demonic cultivator wouldn"t commit such atrocious acts.
Could it be, the true perpetrator was purposefully creating a false impression, so that the people of Mingming Valley would think that this ‘evil spirit" was a mere worthless rogue cultivator?
If that were the case, one wouldn"t have used a great sword to slay a chicken. If Cheng Qian hadn"t happened to be on his way down the mountain, the Valley Lord probably would"ve sent an average, inexperienced Daoist child to solve the problem.
And then… what?
As Cheng Qian"s mind raced, a thought suddenly occurred to him — the unknown perpetrator"s true aim was most possibly not these common villagers, but the cultivators in Mingming Valley!
He immediately suppressed his own aura. In an instant, the ice-cold, intimidating pressure around his body, which was unique to those who had cultivated their own primordial spirit, immediately disappeared. When he walked with Nian Dada, they seemed like a pair of martial brothers whose cultivation levels weren"t too far apart.
Nian Dada seemed to be an extremely carefree person. He didn"t notice the b.l.o.o.d.y aura above the village or the change in Cheng Qian, and continued chattering while walking in front, “When I was small, I had come out to play once. Shishu, did you see that there? Looks like a villager"s here to welcome us!”
Liulang, who"d returned earlier, had been waiting respectfully for a long time. When he saw them, he hurriedly came forward. But Liulang never expected that Cheng Qian would be the one to come, and was so overwhelmed by the unexpected favor that he couldn"t even think straight, and became unable to speak for some time.
“Are the corpses still here? Take me to see them.” Cheng Qian didn"t care for pleasantries and went right past him toward the village.
Liulang came back to himself and immediately caught up to him, “Y-yes, Xianzhang… That, please sit for a bit, I-I"ll ask someone to pour you some tea…”
Cheng Qian waved his hand, “No need, I"m not used to drinking hot water. We"d better look first…”
His words were abruptly cut off. He was shocked by how desolate the village was.
This place was truly run down. Hearing that cultivators were coming, practically all the villagers had come out to watch from the sidelines. Each of these people looked famished, their clothes in tatters. In the entirety of such a large village, not even a single tile-roofed house could be found. Some of the thatched huts looked like they had been carelessly rebuilt after being destroyed. Even the few dogs that occasionally ran past were so skinny that they were practically skin and bones, their eyes so ferocious they seemed like wolves.
They didn"t dare to approach Cheng Qian, so they only glared at Nian Dada with those cautious and fierce eyes.
These dogs had definitely eaten raw flesh and tasted fresh blood.
Cheng Qian might have spent the last hundred years away from the mortal world, but his birth place had been an impoverished village too. The Cheng family was also utterly dest.i.tute, so he was quite experienced with living in poverty. And yet, despite that, this place had still helped him gain more of an understanding of the world.
Liulang explained hesitantly next to him, “Xianzhang probably doesn"t leave Mingming Valley much, so you don"t know. The previous two years had been a chain of disasters, and then there was the Anping King"s armed rebellion, which had lasted three years. The royal court also keeps demanding forced labor and taxes… We still haven"t recovered, our service might be lacking, Xianzhang, I hope you don"t mind…”
Cheng Qian shook his head. His feelings were a bit complicated.
Only then did he finally experience the feeling of returning to the mortal world after a hundred years of struggles. He suddenly felt that the extremely ostentatious ‘travel expense sword" in his hand was an eyesore, so Cheng Qian secretly made a seal with his hand to hide the sword.
Right then, something brushed against the consciousness that he had involuntarily spread outside. Cheng Qian abruptly turned around. In the mottled shade of the trees behind him, there was nothing to be found.
Nian Dada turned around and asked carelessly, “Shishu, what are you doing? Why aren"t you coming?”
Cheng Qian thought, We"re being watched, you dunce.
Even though he was cursing in his heart, he showed nothing on his face. He only reined his own consciousness in and feigned ignorance, silently walking forward and following Liulang to where the corpses were.
Nian Dada came forward eagerly, “Shishu, I heard from the others" discussion, that this seems to have been done by a demonic cultivator of the Ghostism path!”
“A Soul-Consuming Lamp? Even though it"s true that Soul-Consuming Lamps require the blood of virgin boys when tempering a ghostly spirit,” Cheng Qian said slowly, “I"ve also heard that the blood needed in the practice of Ghostism must be fresh from a living person, and not a large amount is required, so it"s definitely not enough to kill a person in one go. But when done repeatedly, that person wouldn"t be able to handle it, and their blood couldn"t be used anymore. So, the deaths caused by Soul-Consuming Lamps wouldn"t be like these people, who have been completely drained of their blood — besides, the Soul-Consuming Lamps are extremely sinister objects, would there be so many of them in this world?”
Nian Dada"s heart was immediately filled with worshipful admiration, “Shishu, why are you so knowledgeable?”
When Cheng Qian met that pair of big ignorant eyes, he suddenly felt that this brat wasn"t even worthy of relieving his boredom — he was much too irritating.
It was the peak of summer, so the days-old corpses had already rotted. As soon as the shroud over the corpses was uncovered, the flies underneath began buzzing around. When they came near Cheng Qian, the flies immediately fled in fear of the cold. Under Nian Dada"s admiring eyes, Cheng Qian placed his hand on a child"s corpse without much concern. After a moment, a dark aura rose sharply from the corpse and went straight into the sky, morphing into a pitch black ghostly face in the air. As soon as it saw Cheng Qian, it took off in panic.
Cheng Qian frowned slightly. His figure turned into a blur as he went after it.
Nian Dada"s reflexes were a bit slow. Only after a while did he exclaim a short ‘aiya". When he was about to follow, Cheng Qian was already gone.
He hurriedly pulled out a sword from his bag and shoved the rest of his things to Liulang before jumping on the sword, still calling out, “Shishu! Shishu! Wait for me!”
But Cheng Qian"s figure had long since disappeared. After flying around on his sword, Nian Dada dejectedly landed back on his original spot and said sheepishly, “I lost him.”
Liulang immediately said, “Xianzhang, could you take me with you? I grew up here, I"m familiar with the roads. I can take you to where that white figure had appeared.”
Nian Dada looked at him awkwardly. This young one wasn"t skilled, it was good enough that he could fly on his sword by himself, he couldn"t possibly take another person with him. Hearing those words, he was too embarra.s.sed to admit the truth. He coughed drily, put away his sword, and made up an excuse, “Alright. But it"s easy to miss things in the air, it would be bad if we lost my Shishu — why don"t we walk on the ground?”
After he said that, he began digging in his bag, procuring two yellow talisman papers with cinnabar markings. Even though these things wouldn"t use up much energy, they were made from material of a particular standard that could only be used once. They were usually left by seniors in case their worthless disciples had left their sight.
Nian Dada kept picking and choosing, looking at the markings until he went cross-eyed, and finally picked out two charms for speed-traveling, which he stuck onto Liulang"s leg and his own leg, exclaiming, “Go!”
Liulang"s face abruptly turned pale as he was whisked off.
Neither of them noticed a golden cicada, which had remained unmoving on a large tree for a while, making affected, knowing gestures. It then flew off silently from the tree, trailing behind Nian Dada and Liulang. But it hadn"t gone beyond four li when its body went still, as if it had b.u.mped into something.
The golden cicada circled around twice at the roadside and turned into a leaf as it landed. The leaf was split down the middle, allowing the clear Qi within it to diffuse into the clear skies, flying toward a mountain slope about fifty li from there.
Among the many mountains of Shuzhong, a young maiden and a man were standing on a mountain slope as they looked down. They were none other than Shuikeng, who had circled around most of China, and Li Yun.
Shuikeng said, “Dshixiong sent me here to tell you, he"s gone to pay a visit to the Lord of Mingming Valley — since this is someone else"s territory, we can"t neglect notifying them.”
Li Yun nodded. He was about to ask something, but suddenly heard the faint buzzing sound of a bug. He raised his face and saw his glittering and translucent golden cicada flying back to him, obediently landing on his shoulder.
“The golden cicada?” Shuikeng was confused, “Could it have found the demonic cultivator so quickly?”
With a wave of Li Yun"s hand, the golden cicada dispersed in the air. A desolate village immediately appeared in front of them. A youth dressed in tatters was leading two cultivators toward the village.
As soon as the young cultivator at the front entered the golden cicada"s vision, he suddenly turned around, as if he"d noticed something. Then the image disappeared completely.
Shuikeng, “Ah…”
“It"s nothing,” Li Yun didn"t find this strange, only saying, “That person must have been a master above the level of primordial spirit, he"s hiding his cultivation for some reason. Cultivators who"ve cultivated a primordial spirit have extremely keen senses, they would notice even if you had only glanced at them a little too long. With that kind of formidable master"s presence, the golden cicada probably didn"t dare to open its eyes again along the way.”
He had just finished speaking when the image appeared again — this time, it was at a thatched hut. There was a row of corpses under the eaves of the hut. The person who"d almost discovered the golden cicada had disappeared, the other young cultivator was yelling ‘Shishu" repeatedly for a long time. He then flew around on his sword, was persuaded by a young villager, and brought the villager along with a Speed-Traveling Charm. The image in front of them followed those two for a while, but then the cicada seemed to have encountered something and suddenly stopped following them. The image also disappeared.
Li Yun held the cicada in his palm and said, “It sensed danger in that place, so it didn"t dare to keep following them… Hmm, after Dshixiong has returned, we"ll go for a look.”
“Wait!” Shuikeng caught Li Yun"s shoulder and said urgently, “Er-shixiong, let"s see it again, that part in the beginning, I want to see the person that had appeared in the beginning!”
“What"s there to see? It was just a glimpse, you can"t even see clearly,” Li Yun was confused, “Didn"t that rowdy kid call him ‘Shishu" earlier, he must be a senior in their sect, right? What is it?”
“It was exactly that blurry side profile,” Shuikeng said, “I feel that… he looked a bit similar to San-shixiong.”
[1] ‘the more deeply-rooted their education was in them" The expression used here is 「春風化雨」, which literally means ‘the life-giving spring breeze and rain", and is commonly used to say the long-term influence of a solid education. Basically, one"s education is so deep-rooted in them that it influences their actions. This is usually said in a positive manner.
Fun fact: Nian Dada"s name (年大大) sounds like 黏答答 (sticky, often in an unpleasant sense)
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