Chapter 28: Save Me In the hot spring, waves of steam twisting through the air, and the ambiguous lingering atmosphere, Ning Guang leaned only a finger"s distance behind Di Jiufeng.
She naturally heard this cry for help, but she was always cold-hearted and had no excess mercy to care for others. She only had time for Di Jiufeng, and occasionally for herself.
"Ning Guang, did you hear someone cry for help?"
The voice which had poured into their ears was a young woman"s voice, frightened until the tones twisted, crisply reverberating like a silver bell.
Ning Guang wanted to say she hadn"t, but seeing her Shifu already moving towards the sh.o.r.e like she wanted to take a look, hurriedly pressed her down, saying in a soft voice, "I heard, I will go look. Shifu, your wounds still have not taken a turn for the better, don"t run about."
Holding her Shifu"s shoulder and taking her to the sh.o.r.e, making sure there was something for her to lean on, Ning Guang crawled ash.o.r.e, then put on her clothes.
She did not hurry off to the rescue, but first crouched down, helping her Shifu arrange her dark hair in front of her chest. "I"ll come back quickly, wait for me." Though she was not very willing, she still had to follow her Shifu"s intentions.
With a severe expression, Ning Guang raised her sword, following the sound to search with an aura of killing intent.
Not far away, she saw the person who cried for help. It was a fifteen or sixteen year old girl, chased by a crowd of black-clothed a.s.sa.s.sins.
[T/N: 死士 (si3 shi4), translated as "a.s.sa.s.sin" here, are jianghu warriors who are willing to sacrifice themselves for a n.o.ble sponsor for glory, wealth, or to repay a debt. Often used for mercenary/a.s.sa.s.sin jobs.]
She wore high-quality yellow defensive cultivator robes, a pair of golden rings on her head, facing Ning Guang"s direction. Though the fear on her face was difficult to suppress, her beautiful appearance was not lessened a bit.
This should be the eldest young mistress of some cultivator family. From head to toe, not an article was not a spiritual device, but that pair of glistening apricot-seed eyes were limpid and ignorant, like she had grown up cupped in the palm of someone"s hand, never having suffered any setback.
A quite likeable young girl.
But Ning Guang didn"t really feel anything. She perfunctorily drew her sword, stealing through the crowd of people like a gale of wind. Her sword rose, then fell, rustling blood splatter falling all over the ground.
These black clothed people were not low in cultivation, but Ning Guang first used demonic cultivation to freeze their minds in fright, then reaped without restraint, one strike each. She effortlessly dispatched these mercenaries, making that yellow-robed young girl"s eyes go round in admiration.
She saw Ning Guang turn to leave, and before she could straighten her robes, ran over, hair in a tangle.
"Benefactor, benefactor, don"t go, I haven"t thanked you yet." Flinging both hands at Ning Guang"s wrist, that young girl said, face full of charming naivete, "My name is Ji Liuran, benefactor, what is your name? You saved me, I will definitely have my daddy thank you properly."
Saying this, Ji Liuran lifted her chin, fawn-like eyes overflowing with adoration and dependency.
She secretly slipped out of her home, but was chased to this sort of place by a.s.sa.s.sins sent by her family"s old opponent. Running all this way, she was already exhausted and out of strength, even having made the preparations to die.
But when she was right on the verge of losing hope, this sort of person fell from the sky. Like Xuannü of the Nine Heavens, a G.o.ddess too high to be reached, meeting blood with every strike, merciless and cruel, but still made her feel at ease.
Ji Liuran"s heart moved, her fawn eyes opening even larger and rounder.
Ning Guang did not want to pay attention to her. With a shake of her hand, she threw off her palms. If not for Shifu"s kindness, she wouldn"t have wanted to come in the first place. Though she had unintentionally saved her life, Ning Guang didn"t care to be polite to her.
Cooling her face, she hurried back, but this girl stuck firmly behind her like a little tail.
If she went forward any more, she would be at Shifu"s hot spring. For fear that someone would peep at her Shifu"s beauty, Ning Guang stopped, turning around. "Why have you still not gotten lost? If you don"t get lost, I"ll kill you." Pulling at the hilt of her sword with her fingertips, she showed half a section of gleaming-cold blade.
Ji Liuran jumped in fright, her little face shivering, backing up half a step.
She was not as tall as Ning Guang and shrunk into a ball in fright, a little thing dejectedly raising her little head to look at Ning Guang. "Benefactor, why are you so fierce to me, I only wanted to thank you."
Ning Guang furrowed her brow, saying impatiently, "I don"t need your thanks, I just want you to never appear in my face again. Don"t follow me anymore, get lost."
Mercilessly leaving in a flash.
But, Ji Liuran wasn"t not discouraged in the slightest. She forcefully clenched her fist, looking eagerly at the place where Ning Guang disappeared. "You don"t want me to follow, but I will appear in your face. Who am I, Ji Liuran, how could you lose me this easily?" Puffing out her cheeks in anger, she carelessly straightened her hair, then chased towards Ning Guang.
But, there were many forks in the forest road, and after a few turns Ji Liuran could not even see any traces of Ning Guang"s pa.s.sing.
Successfully throwing her little tail, Ning Guang hastily walked back to the hot spring. When she arrived, Di Jiufeng had already put on her robes.
Seeing her disciple return, Di Jiufeng asked, "Did you save her? Did you get injured?"
Ning Guang shook her head and said, "I did not get injured, but I did save a little pest called Ji Liuran."
Hearing this name, Di Jiufeng visibly started. If she didn"t remember wrong, Ji Liuran was a loyal supporter of the ancient witch. No matter if it was getting vengeance or exterminating the world, she not only did not obstruct the ancient witch, but helped her quite a bit. Though it was not because she was a violent type, but because she held feelings for the ancient witch which surpa.s.sed friendship.
To say it simply, it was because Ji Liuran liked the ancient witch.
For some reason, thinking of this, Di Jiufeng"s heart faintly trembled like a small stone had been cast into the calm lake of her heart, raising waves of ripples, stirring up hidden currents under the surface, silently fermenting into giant waves dashing to the skies.
"Shifu, what about Ji Liuran? Has she slighted you in the past? If so, I"ll go kill her right now!"
Seeing her Shifu blankly lost in thought, Ning Guang"s brow also furrowed. She gripped her sword hilt tightly like she was going to bring back Ji Liuran"s head in the next second.
Seeing her like this, Di Jiufeng hurriedly stopped her. "The Ji family is the number one clan of the cultivation world, and Ji Liuran is the Ji family head"s only daughter. If you can maintain good relations with her, it will definitely be a big benefit to you. It"s just, she…"
"What about her?" Seeing her Shifu not speak for a while, Ning Guang opened her mouth to ask.
But, thinking left and right, Di Jiufeng still didn"t know how to explain it to her disciple. If her disciple had those inclinations, that"s alright, but in the book, all the way until the last word of the rotten end, the ancient witch was never aroused to interest towards anyone. It was like she was made of stone, heartless towards the cultivation world and also heartless towards herself. "It"s nothing really, if it actually comes to that day Shifu will tell you then. Let"s go, I am a bit tired."
After hearing this name Ji Liuran, Di Jiufeng was a bit worn out.
She suddenly didn"t want to do anything anymore, didn"t want to consider what Ning Guang did to her in the hot spring, didn"t want to consider her improper address. It was like after knowing Ji Liuran and Ning Guang had met, her mood had fallen down for no reason.
Di Jiufeng sat cross-legged on the flying sword. She wasn"t quite sure why, she just thought it was because the disciple she had toiled to raise had been coveted by someone, and she was just unwilling to let go.
Shifu"s mood was not good, looks like it had to do with Ji Liuran. Ning Guang was clear on this, but didn"t know how to comfort her.
This rarely seen gloom could not be broken even until night fell. Ning Guang couldn"t help but feel a bit panicked, fearing her Shifu would leave her and go.
What should she do? How could she make Shifu happy?
In the five years they had been together, Di Jiufeng had never expressed any particular liking towards anything other than that crowd of fuzzy little chicks. But to Ning Guang, to let that crowd of creatures occupy Shifu"s time was a thing she definitely could not endure.
Then, what should she do?
Ning Guang suddenly felt a bit of self-accusation. She had blindly soaked in the warmth Shifu had given, but had never properly understood her. She didn"t know where she was born, what her past experiences were, what dreams she had, and she didn"t know, when her eyes were full of loneliness, how to make her happy.
Notes:
This chapter was translated by Lily. 季流染 (Ji4 liu2 ran3), with the characters for "season", "flow", and "dye". I have no idea how one would sit crossed-legged on a flying sword. Cultivator shenanigans I suppose.