Chapter 27 (1/2)

Chapter 27: The n.o.ble Gentleman – Part 10

Translated by: Kestrel

Edited by: Rita

Unexpectedly, the next instant Ming ChangYan suddenly lost strength, head cras.h.i.+ng into the crook of his neck – he was already sound asleep.

Huai Yu's breathing stopped for a moment, before he let out a sigh.

Ming ChangYan's clothes were loose, the struggle from before having pulled it down to reveal a large portion of his skin, and under the light of the moon, Huai Yu noticed a faint shadow on his shoulder. Removing his clothes to look at his back, Huai Yu realized this wasn't an injury as he'd a.s.sumed. On his clean, porcelain-white back was a pattern of five little moons, from new moon to full, plus a series of complicated and primitive characters – most likely the language of ancient Tokhara.

He bent Ming ChangYan's shoulders, helped him put his clothes back on, and pushed him upwards. After a moment, he belatedly remembered to feel shamed into anger, and viciously pinched Ming-shaoxia's handsome face to let off some steam.

The next morning, Ming ChangYan pushed open the door, rubbing his face, and LiMin-Jun said, ”So you've sobered up, have you? Your Huai Yu's already long gone.”

Ming ChangYan, ”Gone? Why didn't he tell me, I could've seen him off!”

LiMin-Jun, ”Hehe, you sure are tasteless. You walk out of a person's room, and have the nerve to ask why they didn't say goodbye. Ming ChangYan, you're really a ruthless guy – I bet you were coveting his charms last night, and had the evil intentions but not the guts to do it, so you got drunk and went to have your way with him!”

Ming ChangYan turned around, and sure enough, the room behind him wasn't his, but Huai Yu's.

”Oh, I did drink a little wine–can't remember what happened after that. Sss, LiMin-Jun, get me a piece of ice, my face really hurts.”

LiMin-Jun spat, ”Most likely that's from getting slapped in the face. My guesses are never wrong – do you see this, YuLou, you'd better not learn from your Da s.h.i.+-xiong.”

Zhong YuLou was eating breakfast, and hurriedly nodded as he stuffed his face, ”I know!”

Ming ChangYan swore as he collapsed himself over the mouth of the well, cupping water in his hands to cool himself off. As he tended to his wounds, he didn't forget to keep exchanging insults and jabs with LiMin-Jun.

At 1pm, GuiFeng Sect's visiting card was sent to the entrance of XiYue Mountain. The outer disciples delivered it to LiMin-Jun, who handed it over to Ming ChangYan – he skipped over the punctiliously polite greetings at the beginning, moving straight to the very end of the note.

”When does it say they're coming?”

”The fourth of the fourth month. Go find a good place for the meetup, I think the sh.o.r.e of the west lake should be good. Oh yeah, ask Maiden Hua how she's faring, if she's doing well she should come over, if she can't get out of bed then have YuLou send food over to the small pavilion terrace.”

LiMin-Jun, ”Should we change out the weapons at the training ground?”

Ming ChangYan said, ”Change them for new ones. Add some more swords, GuiFeng Sect has a lot of sword users. Also, take down all the snack stands next to the grounds.”

Zhong YuLou tilted his head at that, ”Da s.h.i.+-xiong, you're the one who put up those stands.”

Ming ChangYan coughed, ”Normally it's no problem, but if the people from GuiFeng Mountain see it I'm afraid they'll say a big sect like us is lacking in discipline. Do you get it?”

Zhong YuLou pondered this for a moment, then honestly replied, ”I don't get it.”

Ming ChangYan gently pinched Zhong YuLou's ear, saying in a stern voice, ”We're opening the mountain gates here, and we won't be able to avoid a few 'hunters' showing up for the bounty. Who knows what kind of tricks they might use from the shadows? Little snack stands like this are exactly the kind of thing they'll want to take advantage of.”

The boys of TianQing's inner circle stared attentively at Ming ChangYan, as Ya YuNan asked, ”Da s.h.i.+-xiong, who'll be fighting when the time comes?”

Whoever came out to fight this time around would inevitably be representing the face of TianQing, so naturally it'd have to be the most outstanding inner disciple with the greatest martial arts – this choice would also be a show of respect to their opponent.

Ming ChangYan said, ”YuLou's it. Also, it's fine if you don't get it, hurry and go practice your swordplay, I don't want you making any mistakes when the compet.i.tion comes around.”

Ming Yue pursed his lips and balled his fists, his gaze lowering slightly.

YuBao asked, ”Da s.h.i.+-xiong, you're picking YuLou s.h.i.+-xiong again?”

Ming ChangYan, ”Yeah. YuLou's got great talent, and good comprehension.” He then turned around and continued: ”YuLou, when you're fighting, don't forget to watch and memorize the other guy's fighting approach, I'll be checking on you at night.”

With the meeting finished, they all headed for the training grounds.

On the way there, they met the outer disciples. Ming Yue was walking at the very back; the outer disciples all cupped their hands towards him in twos and threes, then joined the group in their forward procession.

One said, ”It looks like Zhong YuLou's taking the stage again for this compet.i.tion with GuiFeng Sect.”

Another picked up where he left off: ”Everyone knows he's Da s.h.i.+-xiong's favorite. He's beautiful to boot, seriously how could a boy grow a face like that, he looks like a sissy!”

”Zhong YuLou's cousin is Wan QianQiu's wife, who else would be fighting besides him? He's totally leaning on relations.h.i.+ps. Ai, it's really unfair…”

”What's so unfair about it? If you've got what it takes, why don't you become an inner disciple yourself? After all these years at TianQing, have you caught even one glimpse of Da s.h.i.+-xiong's face?”

”Aside from those few in the inner circle…n.o.body else has seen it.”

”Da s.h.i.+-xiong spoils Zhong YuLou way too much, the way I see it the next head of TianQing is already obvious at a glance. You'd be better off doing some more toadying up to him!”

”Having people with power and influence to back you up sure must be nice – unlike us, we're never gonna be able to get into the inner circle!”

One of them lowered his voice and said: ”To tell the truth, getting into the inner circle isn't actually as great as you think, just look at that Ming Yue. Da s.h.i.+-xiong rescued him from outside a few years back didn't he? He was barely alive back then, relying entirely on Da s.h.i.+-xiong using inner circle mantras to keep him going; in the end, he conveniently picked up those mantras for himself, so they had no choice but to take him into the inner circle. His att.i.tude isn't all that great, barely better than you or me, and even that little boost is from Da s.h.i.+-xiong's personal directions! Lemme tell you, if Da s.h.i.+-xiong taught me a technique or two one of these days, I bet I could be even better than him!”

”Haha, me too – too bad we don't have that kind of luck!”

As they chatted and laughed, they reached the training grounds.

Ming Yue sat up in a tree, listening to these outer disciples crack jokes, and curled his hands into fists, an incredibly nasty frown on his face. Just as he was busy fuming, his train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a burst of light laughter; lifting his head, he saw a strange woman looking up at him from the foot of the tree. Ming Yue quietly let out a curious noise, then asked in a stern voice, ”Who are you?”

But the woman didn't answer Ming Yue's question, only directing an ever-more-deepening smile towards him.

After dinner, Ming Yue was stopped by Zhong YuLou.

”Hey, where've you been all day? Why didn't I see you at the training grounds?”

Ming Yue coldly replied, ”Why don't you look after yourself more and leave me alone.”

Zhong YuLou humphed, ”Who wants to look after you, don't pretend we're friends! I just wanted to ask, how's your foot?”

Ming Yue's expression changed immediately. He and Zhong YuLou had each broken a leg when their last fight sent them rolling down the mountain. By now, Zhong YuLou's leg had already healed, whereas he still had a slight limp, making him look incredibly comedic when he walked.

This matter hit a sore spot for Ming Yue, and he said, ”What about it? Whether it's better or not is none of your business, are you just here to make fun of me?”

Zhong YuLou gave him a funny look, then pulled a small porcelain bottle from his s.h.i.+rt and tossed it towards him. Ming Yue caught it without thinking, and hear Zhong YuLoud say, ”My family sent this medicine. It works pretty well, try using it!”

Ming Yue gritted his teeth, ”I'm not using your leftovers, do you think you're giving alms to the poor!?”

Zhong YuLou's eyebrows twitched, ”You're such a pest, I haven't even used this medicine, I finished mine already. Forget it, I can never get a word in edgewise when I try to talk to a yin yang-face like you, if you want to use it then use it, if you like being a cripple then go ahead and be one. Oh, while I'm at it, your limp is hilarious to watch!” He let out a few forceful laughs, ”Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Ming Yue's face was green one moment and white the next, ”You!”

Zhong YuLou made a face at him before galloping far away.

A few months later, on the sixth of that month, GuiFeng Sect arrived as scheduled. The disciples which Wan QianQiu brought with him were all well-known figures in his sect; Ming ChangYan understood this was to ease the tense relation between TianQing and the rest of the martial circles, and so was particularly thankful towards him. TianQing Sect had expanded too quickly, attracting criticism and envy within the central plains. As a result of this, they garnered discrimination and scorn from a great many older sects; add to that was the fact that he was the wielder of the Common People's Order, yet refused to pay any attention to the King of h.e.l.l situation. These past two years especially have seen their reputation plummet like a rock, but the King of h.e.l.l problem really was a terrible mess, and Ming ChangYan had enough problems of his own to give him a terrible headache – he honestly didn't have the energy to go play the ”warrior of justice”.

In short, no matter how hard Ming ChangYan tried to pull against the tide, it was about as useful as a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood. GuiFeng Sect was a sect of good moral standing and reputation among the martial circles, and with the added backing of Wan QianQiu's unparalleled benevolence and righteousness, they were respected by all. Wan QianQiu's current methods, therefore, were meant to announce to the world: TianQing isn't as arrogant or morally corrupt as you think.

Zhong YuLou ran up from the foot of the mountain, almost late for the banquet because he'd been too busy playing around; as soon as he arrived he saw Wan QianQiu and his wife Hua XiuYuan, excitedly calling out, ”Cousin!” As she caught sight of him, Hua XiuYuan smiled and said, ”Did you roll your way up the mountain? Your face is a mess, hurry and go wash.” Zhong YuLou then disappeared to go wash his face.

At the banquet, TianQing's inner disciples each took their seats one by one. Everyone exchanged greetings and raised their cups for a toast; as soon as the cups were lowered, a girl carrying a lantern appeared at the door, saying with a smile: ”Xiao Chai has met all of you.”

The moment she spoke, a woman in red suddenly appeared from behind her, delicate and gentle, her face pale; with Xiao Chai to support her, she gave a nod to the seated crowd.

Ming ChangYan stood up, hurrying down from his seat, ”Maiden Hua.”

Hua YunChang said, ”ZhaoZhao, have I disturbed your meal?”

Ming ChangYan smiled, ”Of course you haven't. Your health isn't good, why did you come here? Xiao Chai, help the maiden sit down.”

Hua YunChang covered her mouth with a kerchief and suddenly began to cough. LiMin-Jun immediately pulled out a chair for her to sit, as she sucked in a deep breath, ”I came to see all of you.”

LiMin-Jun said, ”Running around with your health like this, you're making us worry for nothing.”

Hua YunChang said, ”I apologize.”

Her body was like a catkin willow; having lingered in a sickbed for many years, there was a lack of vitality in her complexion, looking extremely thin and pallid.

”Alright, let's not talk about this. YuLou, spoon up a little light congee for Maiden Hua.”

Hua YunChang shook her head, ”I'm not staying to eat. I came to send you a little something – the osmanthus flowers bloomed a few days ago, so I had Xiao Chai make some osmanthus cakes. After you've all finished your meal, you can have them for dessert.”

She looked around at everyone, then continued, ”I'm returning to the small pavilion terrace.”

Ming ChangYan worried her health might suffer some problem, and let out a sigh of relief at hearing she would be returning to small pavilion terrace. He repeatedly warned Xiao Chai that she absolutely must keep a close watch on Hua YunChang, and make sure she didn't trip or b.u.mp into anything on the way back.

Wan QianQiu spoke up, ”Lord Ming, this Maiden Hua…”

Ming ChangYan introduced her, ”She's a good friend of mine – we were playmates as children, then ran into each other again in the central plains. I saw that her health is a lot worse than it used to be, so I had her brought back to XiYue Mountain so she'd be easier to take care of.”

Wan QianQiu said, ”Lord Ming is truly caring.”

Ming ChangYan waved his hands, then heard Lady Wan said, ”Has Maiden Hua always been like this? You must have sought out doctors before.”