Chapter 28 (1/2)
Chapter 28: The Helpless Gentleman – Part 1
Translated by Kestrel
Edited by Ritpoppy
Warning: Some really angsty stuff in this chapter, so beware.
At XiYue Mountain, one of TianQing's outer disciples ran all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top.
LiMin-Jun hurriedly stood up from his seat, asking, ”How'd it go?”
The approaching outer disciple said, ”Er s.h.i.+-xiong, it's no good, GuiFeng Sect still refuses to see us. Some of the smaller seniors even got beaten up.”
Zhong YuLou slammed a fist against the table, ”This is ridiculous! We aren't the ones who poisoned them, so why are they putting the blame on us!”
LiMin-Jun said, ”What can we do about it, they refuse to believe it was anyone other than us this time around! What about YuNan, how's that situation I sent him to investigate?”
Zhong YuLou paused a moment before letting out a sigh, ”Still no results.”
As LiMin-Jun walked another circle around the room, Ming ChangYan returned.
The outer disciple said, ”Da s.h.i.+-xiong! They told me to give you something, too.”
Ming ChangYan was vexed beyond belief at the moment, ma.s.saging the s.p.a.ce between his brows as he answered, ”What thing.”
These past few days had been anything but comfortable for TianQing. Ming ChangYan sat on a stool, refusing to take a single step. The outer disciple lifted his head to glance around at everyone, then stepped forward and opened up an elaborate handkerchief; they all looked to see that inside were four silver bracelets of exquisite craftsmans.h.i.+p.
Zhong YuLou said, ”What'd Wan QianQiu send us silver bracelets for?”
Just as he spoke, Ming ChangYan's entire body froze, his face paling in an instant.
He grabbed the bracelets, pinching them in his palms, and for a long time didn't say a word.
These four silver bracelets were none other than the ornaments Yi Yue had worn ever since she was a child; there was even a delicate silver bell hanging from each one. He had four identical ones as well, so he could recognize them at a glance. But how did these silver bracelets make their way into Wan QianQiu's hands, and why did Wan QianQiu send them to him? A chill began to spread from the pit of his stomach.
He pondered over it, his mind a confused mess: Does this mean Yi Yue came to the central plains? No, she might have guts, but not to that degree. I haven't revealed information about Yi Yue to anyone else, either, so how did Wan QianQiu find out!
Ming ChangYan left Tokhara for the central plains when he was 15 years old; all these years being secretive, refusing to reveal his true face to people, had all been because he didn't want to involve Yi Yue due to their similar appearances. If something happened to her…
He couldn't bring himself to follow that line of thought any further, and put away the bells.
LiMin-Jun noticed something off about his mood, and asked, ”ChangYan, what's wrong?”
Ming ChangYan said, ”I'm heading over to GuiFeng Mountain.”
LiMin-Jun, ”Well that's a weird thing to say, what's the point of going to GuiFeng Mountain–hey, ai! Ming ChangYan! f.u.c.k! What're you running for!”
LiMin-Jun chased him a few steps, but Ming ChangYan had already disappeared into XiYue Mountain. His qinggong had always been world-renowned, and no one present was capable of catching up to him; add on to that the fact that n.o.body there could figure out what had set him off, and there was really no point in trying. LiMin-Jun could only wait for him to come back and explain it himself.
Ming ChangYan didn't stop once on the way, making a beeline for the entrance to GuiFeng Mountain. When the two disciples at the door saw that the man approaching them was covered with a black veil and had a longsword at his waist, they immediately guessed he was the n.o.ble Gentleman, and made to block him. Ming ChangYan didn't say another word, dispatching them in two moves, and headed straight up the mountain.
Wan QianQiu knew he would certainly come, and had already been waiting for a good while, standing in the courtyard with a cold look on his face.
”You're here. Where's the antidote.”
Ming ChangYan kicked over a stone stool, a sign that he wasn't here out of good will, ”Where's my sister.”
Wan QianQiu let out a hearty laugh at that, ”Lord Ming, your att.i.tude truly disappoints me.”
Ming ChangYan's expression froze even more, turning cold as frost, as he spat out his reply one word at a time, ”I'll ask you once more, where's my sister.”
Wan QianQiu laughed grimly; Ming ChangYan's body tilted to the side as he moved his hands, and in an instant was clutching Wan QianQiu's neck, leaving him unable to move.
Ming ChangYan's tone of voice was frightening, ”Last time, where is she.”
Wan QianQiu's face was swelled a bright red, clearly unable to breathe. Ming ChangYan loosened his grip a little, and he vomited a mouthful of blood before smiling, ”I'll ask you a last time as well, where's the antidote.”
There was a miserable shriek as, just when Wan QianQiu finished speaking, he was smashed violently into the stone wall before collapsing in a heap to the floor. After a moment, his body moved a bit, and he let out a miserable laugh, ”Your sister's life is a life, but does that mean my s.h.i.+dis' lives aren't?”
The noise he made was like a laugh but not, like crying but not, forcing himself up into a swaying stand, his appearance like that of a madman with bloodshot eyes and noticeably burstin veins, ”My wife's life! My child's life! Do neither of those count as lives!?”
”I really should have trusted you…I should have listened to you! You told me not to provoke Wedding Yama, and yet I insisted on doing it—I never realized you were warning me! How could I have known that you were King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress all along!”
Ming ChangYan was as alarmed as he was surprised, replying, ”What the h.e.l.l kind of crazy talk is that? The situation wasn't my doing, and even less so TianQing's. I already explained to you a long time ago, and since it wasn't my doing, how am I supposed to have an antidote! This past month your people have refused to even see me, and now you're blaming me for not having an antidote?”
”Hahahahahahahaha! Ming ChangYan! Ming ChangYan!” Wan QianQiu sat down, poured himself a cup of wine, and downed it in one gulp. After being pressured by the GuiFeng elders and suffering through the successive losses of his wife and disciples, his hand was shaking terribly, but the man himself was abnormally calm, as if he were no more than a walking corpse: ”Ming ChangYan…all I want is the antidote. I don't care where you go looking for it, that's your problem, not mine. If I don't get the antidote, even if you kill me, or slaughter my entire sect, you'll never find your little sister.”
He drank another cup, then wiped his mouth, ”I know I can't beat you in a fight, but against your sister I have more than enough—”
Before he could finish speaking, Ming ChangYan lifted his foot and kicked him in the stomach, sending Wan QianQiu flying a few meters away and causing a scream to let loose from his throat.
”If you do anything at all to her before I find the antidote, I'll never let you get away with it.”
He hurriedly left, heading back to XiYue Mountain. After reaching TianQing, he wasn't in the mood to eat dinner, instead bursting straight into Xiaoxie Terrace.
Xiao Chai was startled as she said, ”Lord ChangYan.”
Ming ChangYan asked, ”Where's Maiden Hua?”
Xiao Chai had never seen a time when Ming ChangYan lost self-control to this degree; normally he was always happy and lighthearted, making those moments he turned serious seem especially frightening. Xiao Chai said, ”Maiden Hua just went to bed…”
But to her surprise, the door screen was pushed aside, and Hua YunChang came walking leisurely out.
”I'm already up. Zhao Zhao, you don't look well, what happened?”
At the sight of her, Ming ChangYan got straight to the point, ”Yi Yue's come to the central plains.”
Hua YunChang's hands stopped in the middle of lifting a cup of tea, ”Xiao Yue'er?”
Ming ChangYan nodded, ”I don't know how she got here. This morning Wan QianQiu sent two pairs of silver bracelets to XiYue Mountain. They were hers.”
Hua YunChang took the bracelets, lifting them up for a closer look, ”I remember you had two pairs of the same—when we first met as children, you wore them on your hands and feet, and were always jingling when you walked, very lively.”
Ming ChangYan spoke up, ”Wan QianQiu is dead-set on believing we poisoned them, and wants me to get him the antidote, or else he won't let Yi Yue go. I…I don't know where Yi Yue is, and I don't know whether or not he's tricking me, but I'm seriously too afraid to gamble on it.”
Hua YunChang said, ”I know. I recently heard YuLou say that the poison afflicting GuiFeng Sect is incredibly potent, beyond what I've ever heard of.”
Ming ChangYan's expression wavered, looking noticeably fl.u.s.tered, ”Is there really nothing you can do?”
Hua YunChang nodded, ”I have no solutions. If I did, I would have given them to GuiFeng Sect long ago, rather than letting things turn into such great discord.”
Ming ChangYan sucked in a deep breath, sitting in silence.
Hua YunChang loved him dearly, and was just about to console him when Ming ChangYan stood up, ”I'll look for someone else.”
Hua YunChang said, ”Who will you look for?”
Ming ChangYan, ”Anyone who can help me.”
Xiao Chai interrupted, ”Lord ChangYan, forgive this one for speaking bluntly, but TianQing's reputation among the martial circles isn't at all good, and people outside have all sorts of misunderstandings about you; I'm afraid a single cure will be difficult to obtain.”
Hua YunChang said, ”She's right. I know you're a proud and arrogant man, and you won't be able to avoid suffering grievances while beseeching others. Zhao Zhao, if they don't help you, you aren't going to kill them, are you?”
Ming ChangYan waved his hands, ”I'm asking them for help, so of course I won't attack them. If the first time doesn't work, I'll ask a second time; the world's a big place, surely someone out there will be willing to help me!”
But on the first day, Ming ChangYan found himself rejected at the door.
Every sect's head would treat him with respect and fear at first, pouring him tea and whatnot, all of them polite as could be. But no matter how sincere Ming ChangYan acted, all of them politely declined. He couldn't just pressure them into it by force, so after hitting a wall, all he could do was look for a different sect. Unexpectedly, the news that the n.o.ble Gentleman Ming ChangYan was running around begging people for help took flight over night, spreading all throughout both sides of the Yangtze River. Some were derisive, some were astonished, some looked on with interest, still others viewed it all with indifference—but not one of them was willing to offer help.
Half a month pa.s.sed without any results. There was more gossip about him spreading through the country than there were sects he'd gone to visit. The story of his grievances with Wan QianQiu grew increasingly distorted, until it became a huge knot that couldn't be untied. The martial circles only helped to fan the flames; those enjoying the show who didn't think the situation was that dire went on to add details to the story, saying that Ming ChangYan really was the type to kick a benefactor in the teeth, poisoning his good friends to death, and consequently causing TianQing sect's reputation to suffer a sudden, devastating decline.
It all got to the point that, as soon as Ming ChangYan was seen coming in the distance, the sect heads would rush like someone had lit a fire under their bottoms, immediately closing the front gate and rejecting all visitors. By the time Ming ChangYan reached the foot of the mountain, the doors up above him would already be shut tight; the wind blew, dried yellow leaves twirled past him, and suddenly, it began to rain.
He stood staring blankly at the great door, until the servant boy sweeping the entranceway – having watched him for a good while – got up the courage to call out to him, ”Ming, Ming ChangYan! It's raining, you should go home!”