Life"s been a mess…again…this chapter took much longer than normal to translate. Hopefully I can turn out more tonight.
C9. Far Beyond Expectations
Silently, Chen He watched the twisted expression of the man on the horse, an expression so twisted, it made him look like he wanted to devour someone - until the man turned his horse around and left, his body rigid. Then Chen He wiped the tip of his nose with his index finger, looking thoughtful.
That was such a genuine, vivid killing intent.
And that hatred, it was colder and more bone-chilling than the waters of Black Depths Lake.
—only the demons detained in the depths of h.e.l.l would look at people with such hatred-filled glares, because they had been robbed of their right to live.
Had they not been on a busy street, this person might very well have picked up something and charged at him, bellowing about wanting to kill him. It was Chen He"s first time having such strong feelings of hatred directed at him; he felt intrigued and amazed, seemingly having no self-awareness that he was being hated by someone. Turning, he prepared to walk further into the tavern.
But why was there a red obstacle in front of him, instead of the path?
"Senior Brother."
Chen He took a quick step back, pretending that nothing had happened, that he had only been delayed because he was too busy admiring the sights of the streets.
s.h.i.+ Feng was not looking at him even in the slightest. Eyes trained on Chen Shu, who was already far off (he was far easier to spot than anyone else because he was on a horse), he frowned slightly.
Why would a regular mortal harbour such deep hatred towards his junior brother?
In such a situation, the norm would be for the senior brother to ask "do you know him", and for the junior brother to reply respectfully.
On the other hand, it was rather strange for s.h.i.+ Feng and Chen He. s.h.i.+ Feng had no need to ask, because his junior brother could not even remember things that had happened the day before.
The tavern"s waiters watched the pair standing at the tavern entrance. It was quite a pretty sight, which attracted the gazes of pa.s.sers-by, but it would not do for them to block the doors, either.
"Senior Brother, I"m hungry," Chen He reminded s.h.i.+ Feng.
He did not want any - thing - bad to happen today!
He wanted to use the excuse of treasuring today"s memories to keep this jade orb forever, so how could there be accidents today? Secretly, Chen He was annoyed. The fellow who had accosted him an hour ago, and the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had glared at him; couldn"t they have appeared some other day?
s.h.i.+ Feng lowered his head in confusion: He ate some cakes a while back, so why is he hungry again?
But his junior brother was seventeen, the point where his height would increase every month, so of course he would have to eat a lot. At Chen He"s level of cultivation, even if he stuffed himself full, it would all be digested if he let his spiritual energy circulate for about a day[1].
The waiter led them eagerly to a table by the window, then wiped the table and chairs and brought some hot tea. He began to list the names of the dishes in a singsong manner.
In addition to the names of the dishes, he even described the freshness of the ingredients and wonderful textures of the dishes themselves in great detail.
Chen He found it so strange and new. The waiter, meanwhile, was bitter from having to repeat all of it more than once.
And the people at the next table, who had been drinking wine and sh.e.l.ling peanuts, were attracted by the descriptions of the dishes. Patting his stomach, one of them called out to the waiter, "Get me another of the, what didja call that, the ham and tofu broth, and the fish in sour soup[2]!"
Chen He glanced at the table. They had not yet touched their dishes. There was steamed egg custard with chicken-fir mushrooms[3] and braised chicken - it looked very pleasing to the palate. He quickly stopped the waiter, requesting, "I"d like the same dishes they"re having, please."
After he had spoken, he stood up and gave a salute with cupped hands[4] to the table next to theirs.
The people from that table glanced his way, giving him nods of acknowledgement; they somehow became curious about Chen He and s.h.i.+ Feng. In Yunzhou City, the streets were full of handsome young men, but such outstanding ones were rare. Their demeanour, too, was unlike those from the foreign tribes or the people who lived up in the mountains.
But Chen He did not seem to want to talk to them, and instead looked out of the window, enjoying the view.
—interacting with people and things was just one of the many innate abilities that the Liquor-Wisdom Technique had instilled in him. Chen He could use this ability, but it was his first time using it as well. In today"s itinerary of "happy sightseeing", he had not added anything like chatting with other people he met on the way.
"Here are your dishes, sir!"
As Chen He reached out for a pair of bamboo chopsticks, his hand froze: he had asked for the same dishes that were on the next table, but the waiter had brought even the wine and peanuts.
Should he think of an excuse to drink some?
As long as Senior Brother did not drink it, he would have a reason to finish it off, in the interest of not wasting money.
"Senior Brother, about that…I"ve never seen you drink before?" Chen He asked uncertainly, for there were no such instances recorded in the jade orbs.
Hearing this, s.h.i.+ Feng looked up, coming out of his contemplation, seemingly having seen through Chen He"s thoughts. With an abrupt smile, he gave the table a light tap, and the jar of wine rose up, landing in his palm. With a flourish of that red sleeve, and a slight backwards tilt of his head, the wine rushed out in a single stream, all of it downed in an instant. Then the wine jar landed back on the table, spinning in a single round.
Chen He stared, agape. Looking around, he realised that the entire series of actions had happened so quickly that no one in the bustling tavern had noticed.
s.h.i.+ Feng"s expression was as per normal, as if nothing had happened. The only thing different was his lips, having turned a faint scarlet from the remaining wine clinging to them.
Chen He shook the jar, which had been completely emptied. He immediately shrunk back in his seat dejectedly, beginning to eat. Minutes later, the thing about the wine was completely out of his mind.
"Senior Brother, aren"t you going to eat, it"s delicious."
s.h.i.+ Feng was silent. He was wondering if he had mistreated his junior brother these ten-odd years; it was only a few signature dishes at a tavern, not some exotic delicacy.
His junior brother was also much more lively than when he was in Black Depths Valley.
In the bustling streets of this city, one could see people from all walks of life, and there was nothing unlively about the place. The way Chen He glanced about only emphasised the cruel truth: he should have lived here. He was not yet at the age where someone would want to leave the mortal world behind. Even going by his original personality, he had not been someone who abandoned all worldly affairs and pursued the ways of immortality, or the path of the Dao.
Even if they had been together for years, what if one day…
"Right there! I saw that fellow go into the tavern!"
"The ones tailing Chen Shu also said Chen Shu looked off when he saw this guy, so he could be the one we"re looking for!"
The voices were quite loud, so loud that even Chen He could detect them.
Before Chen He had a chance to see them clearly, the tavern suddenly filled up with people. Looking out into the street, it was all the more obvious that the tavern was being surrounded by crowds. Buddhist, Taoist, monk, nun; men, women, old and young; dressed in all manners absurd and abnormal; it seemed they were all gathered here.
Yunzhou was full of foreign tribes, with quite the valiant people. It was not uncommon to see people who seemed to be seeking revenge, so the cultivators did not purposely cover their tracks.
"May I ask if your surname is Chen?" a large man asked slowly. The people in the tavern felt something amiss in this atmosphere, and quietened down instantly.
The hand that Chen He used to hold his chopsticks flinched slightly, before he kept his head down and continued eating.
—they didn"t come up to him anyway, so what was wrong with pretending not to hear? He just wanted to get through this day in one piece!!
"Kid, he"s talking to you!"
"Come this way, young sir. You have been roped into a tribulation, and your life is in danger. Do not listen to them!"
"What are you saying, you d.a.m.n monk." A few demon cultivators glared at the orthodox cultivators.
s.h.i.+ Feng"s back was turned towards them, and Chen He kept his head down. These fellows, who were barely there in terms of cultivation level, did not see anything amiss.
"What gives you the guts to be so c.o.c.ky? The Heluo Sect and other major sects are here in Yunzhou City at the moment!"
"Joke"s on you[5], the Third Grandmaster of the demon Dao is here too!"
Seeing that everyone was starting to raise their voices, an old man with a scholarly appearance coughed twice, reminding everyone, "Arguing will not benefit us. First, let us ascertain how true the rumours are."
"There"s no way it would be fake! We all investigated thoroughly; the Chen family did indeed have a child that fell into the pond ten-odd years ago!"
Chen He"s chopsticks, which had been picking up a piece of braised chicken, paused.
"…they say he died prematurely, but actually, he got lost in the mountains."
His fingers clenched slightly.
"It must be him, look…This kid heard us talk!" someone snickered.
"So what about it, are you demon cultivators going to kill someone in public?"
"You"re just putting on an act too. Really, you just want to take this fellow away, since he"d be good raw material for any sect. Hm-hm, I"ve got that wrong, actually; accepting him as a disciple is what the major sects would do. You"re just waiting for us to kill him and try to take advantage of the situation, don"t you even think of seizing the Stone-borne Flame!"
THWACK
Two broken halves of a chopstick glanced past the face of the demon cultivator who had been squawking about earlier. They pierced straight into the wall.
Two bloodied lines gradually appeared on the unlucky fellow"s cheek.
All became still in the tavern at once. Chen He kicked his chair aside, his expression dark.
"What"s this about stones and flames? I just came into the city to have a meal in the tavern, but you all just had to come and mess things up! If anyone doesn"t let me eat, I"ll make sure they never get a good meal in future!"
In a flash, he grabbed the stunned demon cultivator and gave him a great slap, so hard that the man fell to the floor, spitting out two teeth.
Truly, there were extremely few cultivators who learned martial arts in addition to the mystical ways of cultivation and immortals.
None of them could react in time. With his flexible figure and strange steps, Chen He skimmed through the crowd as quickly as a swimming fish, pa.s.sing through like a gust of wind. Kicking down the two who were squalling the most, he twisted their right arms, altering the very positions of their tendons and bones. Such damage, inflicted with the help of spiritual energy, could not be healed even by the best bone and joint specialists[6]; they could only wait for the spiritual energy to dissipate on its own.
Seeing how Chen He was slapping demon cultivators and kicking orthodox cultivators, the crowd retreated, furious, and readied their spiritual energy and magic tools.
"How bold this fellow is!"
The demon cultivator snickered as he touched the gap in his teeth. Lowering his head, Chen He noticed a writhing grey ma.s.s of energy circling around his right arm. He seemed to have pa.s.sed this grey energy to the other fellows he had beaten, as well.
"You"re doomed if you try to hit someone from the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons!" the demon cultivator sneered.
Chen He flicked his arm in annoyance. His spiritual energy, glowing faintly gold, floated on the surface of his right arm, and the endlessly outstretching grey dissolved, like snow under the hot sun.
"You—”
"Manifestation of spiritual energy; he has completed the Foundation Establishment stage?”
The a.s.sembled cultivators were shocked. They would never have thought that even the missing child of the Chen family had entered the world of cultivation as well.
"No, this is impossible! We must have gotten it wrong. That child of the Chens, he can"t be older than twenty. Not even the major sects have such talented disciples who can complete the Foundation Establishment stage in fifteen years!"
Was this some joke? Most of them had spent decades, even centuries, to reach such a state.
s.h.i.+ Feng remained seated, focusing only on Chen He"s safety.
There were many cultivators present. Although few of them were at levels higher than Chen He, and even fewer had gained insight into the Dao through martial arts, it would still be a little difficult if Chen He were to be trapped by all of them.
s.h.i.+ Feng did not even move a muscle, because to him, all of these people combined would not even stand up to a single strike from him.
Knowing that his day of "peace and happiness" was completely gone, Chen He sulkily flipped a plate onto the stunned demon cultivator"s head, sending food and gravy all over him. Before the latter could retaliate, he used his spiritual energy to attack the demon cultivator"s joints directly, causing this poor fellow to lose all the tension in his body and crash to the floor face-first.
"Now could you tell me what that d.a.m.ned Stone-borne Flame, and what the pond, the Chen family…what all of this is about?" Chen He stepped on the fellow"s back, glaring all around him. "This is my first day in Yunzhou City, how did all of you find me?"
Though he was asking, Chen He already knew the answer in his heart.
There was that man in brocade robes who had insisted that he was lost, and there was that man on the horse with the fierce gaze and the intense desire to attack him, in front of the tavern.
Every person who had lost their memory would be suspicious of their own background, and Chen He was no exception. The pond, the Chen family…this was all he could remember. At the same time, he had grown up, no longer the confused child he used to be, and there was nothing wrong with his mental faculties. In his memories, he remembered the process of falling into the pond very clearly: he had not lost his balance, neither had he tripped; no, he had been pushed from behind.
One day he would investigate the truth behind this matter, but that day was definitely not today, not when he was going sightseeing in the city with Senior Brother!
—if he remembered correctly, the Chen family were all normal people, so what had happened? Why did so many cultivators come here?
Everyone looked at the others blankly, now at a loss due to this sudden development. Chen He was now questioning them, and they could not hide anything, since it would be difficult to hide anything after it had spread and become such a great affair.
"About this, it has to be explained starting from the Stone-borne Flame. Young Mister Chen, who might you be studying under…"
Many people looked towards s.h.i.+ Feng, who was seated at the same table as Chen He.
At that moment, the entire tavern suddenly shook, sending bowls, plates and cups sliding across tables.
"What"s going on?" The cultivators stumbled for a moment before regaining their footing.
BOOM
Now it could be felt distinctly that the entire ground was shaking. Things crashed to the floor; flags hung from the shops at the sides of the street fell; throngs of people writhed beneath cloth canopies, trapped; all around there were screams of fright.
"Why would there be tremors?" The cultivators hurried outside to check.
Chen He suddenly felt a tightening in his hand. s.h.i.+ Feng had grasped him firmly.
"Senior—Ngh!" The back of his head started hurting violently; his vision went black for a moment, and he nearly fell over.
The bamboo poles holding the tavern window open had long since disappeared. With a sweep of s.h.i.+ Feng"s sleeve, the entire window disintegrated, and the shocking sight in the distance became instantly visible to all.
In the eastern part of the city, a red column of flame rose up from the ground, like a fiery dragon reaching for the clouds.
"The Stone-borne Flame! b.a.s.t.a.r.d, who activated the Stone-borne Flame?"
On the roofs, tens of coloured light flashed by - the cultivators of the major sects.
"What is happening?" They stopped one of the demon cultivators who was escaping from the east side of the city.
"That…That young man from the Chen family ran back to the manor, saying that the paranormal activity in the backyard these days was caused by some evil spirit chased away in the past, and now the evil spirit"s back to haunt the Chen family. He ordered his servants to fill up the pond in the backyard!"
Whatever the servants dumped into the pond must have touched the stone that contained the Stone-borne Flame, thereby activating it…It’s not MC’s fault, you see.
Now, on with the notes:
[1]: Original term 一周天. I admit, most of the timeframes I found seemed quite illogical (12 years, 60 years) - would it really take MC that long to digest food?! This is purely speculation, and I am honestly not sure if TianFang was referring to a day, as in, a 24-hour day, but it was the only logical option for me.
[2]: [Very long explanation] Food words! Yay, I love food o/ Okay, so both dishes are of the soup-y type, but there are differences.
The first one was 羹geng, usually describes a kind of thick soup/broth that"s usually thickened with starch. Shark fin soup (which is generally shark fin-free these days, rest a.s.sured) belongs to this category. Interestingly, 鸡蛋羹 can refer to both a starch-thickened egg-drop soup and steamed egg custard - think something like j.a.panese chawanmus.h.i.+.
The second one was 汤, and this one is more common, being more watery in texture. Sometimes has larger pieces of food in it, and it can be considered less of a soup and more of a stewed dish (fun fact, Chinese cuisine distinguishes soups 汤 from dishes 菜). Here, the second dish, fish in sour soup, could be considered more of a quick stew, and the sour soup 酸汤suantang in question is usually made beforehand, either the long way (also known as the traditional way) or the short way.
[3]: More food terms, ehehe…Anyway, I"m not sure if there"s a proper English translation for this yet. The Chinese name is 鸡枞菌jizongjun (one out of many names), and it refers to a variety of mushroom with the scientific name Macrolepiota alb.u.minosa. It"s a relative of the parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) in Europe. 鸡枞 means "chicken fir tree" so I built on that.
Side note: the original term mentioned 炖蛋, which can also refer to steamed egg custard. Go figure. (Call it whatever you want, I call it delicious :’D Seriously, a well-made one is delicious.)
[4]: Original term 拱手gongshou. A form of salute where the right hand forms a fist and the left hand is cupped over the right hand.
[5]: Original words were just 笑话 (literally just "joke"), but if I were to translate it as something like "What a joke", it would feel like something isn"t quite right…Since each side is trying to talk the other down, I felt like "Joke"s on you" would be more appropriate.
[6]: [Long explanation] Original term 跌打医生. This term is far more likely to appear in wuxia novels rather than xianxia novels, due to the types of injuries they deal with. I translated it as "bone and joint specialists", and indeed, they do deal with injuries like fractured bones or dislocated joints. They also treat injuries of the ligaments or tendons, and many other external injuries. They may also treat conditions arising from congested blood, organ trauma, old injuries that regular physicians are unable to treat, etc, etc. (Such doctors still exist in modern times, and often found treating sports injuries - you know, since athletes are some of the most common victims of bone- and muscle-related injuries.)