江湖路弯弯: Jianghu Road is Curved! Chapter 27

_{(translated by anniaxx)}

^{(edited by xia0xiao1mei)}

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Seems Like An Old Friend has Arrived

Two days have passed within a blink of an eye; Xu Rong sent back a message on a dove: Tang Fei Feng is far in Shu Zhong; it will take her seven days and seven nights on fast horses to get to the capital.

Ding Huai Li rushed to the Medicine King Valley on the best horse, yet not even half a word has been sent back.

Pang Wan has used all the methods she knows to control the poison in Bai Xiao Sheng, but she sadly found none of them works —— Bai Xiao Sheng’s poison is extremely complex, plus its power is stunningly strong. If he did not have the Powerful Overlord Pill and Gu Xi Ju’s overwhelming inner energy to support him, he probably would have dropped dead by now.

“Sorry.” Pang Wan sighs once again, she has already not closed her eyes for two nights; her dark circles can be compared to a panda’s.

Gu Xi Ju emotionlessly stares at the person on bed who has already entered the state of fake death; Gu Xi Ju’s eyes are filled with dismal gloominess. He also has not slept or rested for two days and two nights; some short bristles have grown out from his chin, even though he still appears handsome and charming, he seems to have aged countless years within one night.

Pang Wan really cannot bear to see Gu Xi Ju being like this—— In her heart, he has always been the excellent master who commands wind and clouds and looks at all things in Jiang Hu with a smile; how can he have this kind of helpless days?

“Supreme Chief, go have rest, I’ll figure something out!” She gently convinces, reaching out her hands to push his iron-firm body.

Gu Xi Ju turns to look at her, eyes like ice-cold stars, “Shall I give some more inner energy to him?”

“It won’t help no matter how much you supply him!” Pang Wan speaks depressingly, “Right now, we can only help him maintain one breath that can keep him alive, no matter how much inner energy you give to him, it will all be devoured by the poison, this is throwing meat buns to dogs——once gone no returns!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Xi Ju frowns; seeing him struggling, Pang Wan unconsciously lifts her hand to smooth the place between his eyebrows, attempting to gently unfold that furrow.

As the touch of a soft and smooth hand caresses his face, Gu Xi Ju irresistibly turns stunned.

“Hurry up and sleep! Be careful, if you become old and ugly, Fairy Sang Chan will not want you anymore!”

Pang Wan only smoothed his brows twice, then dejectedly pulls back her hands and yawns, “I……ahhhhwuuuu…will figure something out”, tears flowing out of her red eyes.

Looking at her striving to persist while she is clearly exhausted, GU Xi Ju reveals a trace of unnoticeable gentleness in his eyes.

“Okay, have a rest.” He nods; big hand quietly moves behind her back and lightly presses a certain spot_{(an acupuncture point for sleep)}.

Pang Wan immediately falls into his arms without making a sound, just like a drunken porcelain doll.

“You really should take a nap.” He sighs with pity and tenderness, then holds her up and carefully walks out of the room.

Outside, Maid A and Maid B both saw this scene; one dropped her chin and the other lost her pupils_{(an expression of being overly shocked)}.

There was also a Maid C, who really could not believe her eyes. She even unconsciously ripped the handkerchief in her hands into noodle strips.

When Pang Wan woke up, it was already the noon of the next day. She slept extra well this time, not even had a single dream. It was not until she slowly stretched her arms did she suddenly remember the poisoned Bai Xiao Sheng. She runs out so hurriedly that she almost threw herself on the ground.

“Lady Wan Wan has awaken?” A round face maid encounters her at the door, appearing extremely happy.

Did not think her position would suddenly be promoted once she woke up, Pang Wan sticks out her tongue, “Is Adviser better now? Where is Supreme Chief right now?”

The round face maid is overflowing with joy, “Mr. Ding brought back the divine physician last night, Adviser’s sickness has already been controlled by him, Supreme Chief is very happy, right now, he is currently with the physician!”

Pang Wan suddenly feels like an enormous stone on her chest has fallen to the ground.

“I’m going to see the Adviser.” She vibrantly runs toward Bai Xiao Sheng’s room.

There are two more people in Bai Xiao Sheng’s room now: Ding Huai Li and a youth in cyan clothing. Ding Huai Li has met Pang Wan before; now seeing her running in excitedly, he nods at her, “Lady Wan Wan.”

The youth in cyan is sitting at Bai Xiao Sheng’s bedside, treating him with acupuncture. His position just happens to have his back facing toward Pang Wan, upon hearing Ding Huai Li’s greeting to her, his shoulders shake for once, then no more moves are made.

“Is Adviser better now?” Pang Wan hopefully stares at Gu Xi Ju, desiring to get some good news from his mouth.

“The poison has already been stopped.” Gu Xi Ju gazes at her blossom-like dimples for a second, then lifts the corners of his lips, “Divine physician said it was your Powerful Overlord Pill that gave him three more days of life.”

Pang Wan smiles and rubs her hair, “No need to thank me for such trivial help.”

The shoulders of the youth in cyan shake slightly again, but his move was too small to be noticed by anyone.

“Does Mister know what kind of poison Adviser has been attacked with? Do you think you can remove the poison completely?” Pang Wan is curious of the appearance of this divine physician of the Medicine King Valley; she could not resist leaning forward to see how he looks.

“He has three kinds of poison in him, each is “ice soul”, “polygonum”, and “black orchid”; I already stopped the poison’s power, completely removing them will take three months.” The youth in cyan coldly answers, turning his head to look straightly at Pang Wan.

Seeing him suddenly turning, Pang Wan is a little startled. Looking at his delicate yet unfamiliar face, she unconsciously smiles shyly, “Mister sure has excellent skills.”

The youth in cyan does not reply. He turns back and continues to apply acupuncture for Bai Xiao Sheng.

Pang Wan gazes at his every move, dubiously winks her eyes. When her eyesight slips pass the ear of the youth, Pang Wan is shocked.

An hour quickly passed, the blueness on Bai Xiao Sheng’s face has gradually faded. The youth finishes the acupuncture, stands up and takes his leave.

Gu Xi Ju politely thanks him in every verbal way possible, also ordering maids to lead this precious guest to the best guest room. The youth in cyan reacts with no sense of superiority or inferiority, also with no signs of flattering or indifference.

Pang Wan stands behind him, quietly pressing her lips together.

After settling the divine physician of Medicine King Valley, Gu Xi Ju and Ding Huai Li both show tiredness, each returning back to their respective room to rest.

Pang Wan sits and stares blankly in Bai Xiao Sheng’s room for a long while; finally, she quietly sneaks out.

She goes toward the room of that precious guest.

The time is already the evening; blood-red sun hangs right by the mountainside; that youth in cyan stands in the courtyard, gazing into the far distance in a trance for some unknown reason; the luminous afterglow brews his shadow into a rich trace of ink.

Pang Wan comes close to him. As if she is afraid to startle him, she gently calls out.

“Brother Nan Yi?’

The youth in cyan turns back toward her after hearing this call.

Four eyes meet; his unreachable, proud, black eyes reveal a freezing chill.

“Brother Nan Yi, how come you are here?”

Pang Wan carefully walks two more steps toward him, then stops.

Due to a kind of emotion called “fear”, she unconsciously keeps a safe distance from Nan Yi —— after being hunted by someone for five entire years, her body naturally produces a rejecting reaction.

“How come I can’t be here?” Nan Yi glances at her, slowly lifting the corners of his lips.

“I, I mean, how come Brother Nan Yi has become a member of the Medicine King Valley?” Pang Wan is somewhat panicking, “You’re also disguising your face.”

Because she has been bullied by him ever since a young age, even though right now Nan Yi has a fake face on, under his overbearing presence, Pang Wan’s nervousness is almost a conditioned reflex without any hesitation.

“You gave Bai Xiao Sheng the antidote?” Nan Yi ignores her question; his eyes sharp, almost stabbing into her heart.

“This……” Pang Wan’s eyebrows furrow, “the situation was so urgent at that time……”

Nan Yi sneers, his voice exhibits a sarcastic tone, “I did not know father’s Jade-Dew Pure-Heart Pellet has changed its name to Powerful Overlord pill!”

Pang Wan is embarrassed and scared, cowardly shrinks her neck.

Bai Yue Sect is located at the southern frontier. It has always been skilled at collecting herbs for creating poison. To prevent sect members from the situation of getting unintentionally poisoned yet unable to return in time for treatment, sect leader has especially invented a medicine that can postpone all poison’s power. This medicine is Jade-Dew Pure-Heart Pellet. Jade-Dew Pure-Heart Pellet is extremely precious, always kept by the current sect leader, never exposing its ingredients to anyone else. Even if it was Pang Wan, this kind of highly-positioned princeling leaving the sect, sect leader only gave her three pellets.

“At that time, I did not dare to say its real name, I could only make one up on the spot……”Pang Wan is disheartened; she only lied to not expose her identity, she did not expect Nan Yi would be this angry, showing how unsatisfied he is regarding the pseudonym of this medicine.

“This kind of precious medicine, how can you easily give it to other people!” Nan Yi frustrated interrupts her explanation, flames light up in his ink-black eyes.

Pang Wan pauses, thinking: so he is actually mad at me for not treasuring the medicine”, she sadly twitches her lips, “I know, I will never dare to do it again.”

Nan Yi glares at her, and does not say anything else.

Maybe it’s because Nan Yi’s face is suddenly so unfamiliar, so his attack power decreases in Pang Wan’s eyes. Pang Wan stares at the delicate, pale and scholarly face in front of her, cannot resist the sudden desire in her heart to reach out her hand to touch it.

——He Qing Lu said, fake face is cold without any degree of warmth. She just wants to test it.

Pang Wan has forgotten the person in front of her is the devil that she had longed to escape from in her youth years. When she returned to a clear mind, her hand was already completely on his cheek.

“What do you want?” Nan Yi lifts up his eyes, coldly and emotionlessly focusing on her.

Pang Wan is frightened, immediately taking back her hand and stands up straight, the tips of her ears fully red.

“Nothing, nothing!” She shakes her head in panic, lowering her face even more, “I was just curious of your mask!”

——He Qing Lu did not lie to her. Nan Yi’s face right now is indeed cold like ice.

“I made it myself.” Nan Yi condescendingly gives her a glance, “two years ago, when I left the sect to build experiences, I asked a master of disguising to be my teacher.”

Pang Wan stares at his refined mask, could not resist to show a spell-bounded face,  “It would be so great if I can learn the disguising skill.” Then she does not need to bother putting up with that Gentleman He anymore.

Nan Yi laughs and scornfully mocks her, “You want to learn? Can you learn it well? Look at yourself, what have you accomplished after leaving the sect for half a year? Do you know where the Jade Dragon Token is? After fifteen days, you will turn sixteen; have you even lost your virgin kill? You are just a disgrace to father!”

Pang Wan is left speechless by his sudden and unending scolding.

——Indeed, just as what Nan Yi said, after leaving the sect, she indulges in transforming herself into a White Lotus Flower, never noticing that time has flew by so fast. He, the young master of the unorthodox sect, left the sect for half and year and mastered the disguising skill, also slayed two sect leaders; what did she learn in this half of a year? She can’t go back and tell sect leader that she learned how to seduce male leads, right?

“I…” Guiltiness emerges inside of her; she has really been wasting Bai Yue Sect’s money.

“Good for nothing!” Just as after he successfully framed her numerous time in the past, Nan Yi condescendingly summarizes with these three words again.

Pang Wan is not in the mood of arguing with him; she is rather dizzyingly pondering: What? So she will be sixteen after fifteen days? In Bai Yue Sect, not losing virgin kill signifies failing to reach the true adulthood, definitely unable to become the Sheng Gu as well, where should she go to find a head of an orthodox figure to hang on the gate?

The more she ponders, the gloomier her face becomes.

“Although having a sect sister like you is truly a disgrace, I still prepared an adulthood gift for you.”

Looking at her face switching emotions back and forth, Nan Yi slightly lifts his brows.

“Oh, thanks a lot.” Pang Wan superficially shows her gratitude.

Nan Yi would never give her anything good. The gifts from previous years are either hiding poison or containing hidden weapons. Her hope for it has long died.

“Won’t you ask what it is?” Nan Yi is a little confused of not seeing her being surprised at all.

“What is it?” Pang Wan takes a deep breath, forcefully squeezing out a hopeful smile.

“Three days ago, I cut off Nun Miao Zhen’s head and sent it back under your name.” Nan Yi looks at her, showing a proud face, “Now all men in Jiang Hu knows that Bai Yue Sheng Gu has killed the leader of E Mei, whose head is now hanging on the gate to be viewed by the public. You say this is a good gift or not?”

Blood-red sunset glows on the youth’s cheeks; don’t know if it is an illusion or not that his eyes surprising has a sense of “Compliment me” in them.

Pang Wan’s facial features suddenly all twist together.

After a while, she helplessly calms her face back to normal again.

“I…you…she…” She is kind of out of her mind for a second, unable to know what she really wants to express.

Nan Yi sees her not behaving joyful as he thought she would be, he furrows his eyebrows, his voice hardens, “Don’t even think I would kill another leader for you! I have said, your achievements cannot exceed mine!”

Awoken by his sharp manner, Pang Wan quickly swallows a gulp and organizes her language, “…I really did not mean that.”

“Then what did you mean?” Nan Yi viciously glares at her like a monster, “With your three-legs-cat skill, do you think you can kill Gu……”‘

“Ai-Yaaaaa!!” Pang Wan leaps forward and quickly covers Nan Yi’s mouth.

“Don’t say this, don’t say this!” Both of her hands tightly cover Nan Yi’s face, her feet stomping and jumping, “Please, I beg you.”

Nan Yi’s expression freezes, no more words said, he only glares at her with eyes as bright as torches.

Pang Wan confirms that he does not have any intention of opening his mouth, then she releases her hands, deeply takes a big breath —— this startling moment made her sweat all over.

“Brother Nan Yi, give me some more time, I will definitely bring the Jade Dragon Token back, okay?” She eagerly looks at Nan Yi, her pale face is full of begging expressions, “Didn’t Sect Leader Uncle agree to give me two years’ time?”

Nan Yi gives her a glance, speaks with a denouncing tone, “You? Even two hundred years would not enough.”

Pang Wan is really unhappy of being looked down by him, so she angrily declares, “Bringing it back or not is my own business! If I cannot complete my task, I will obey whatever punishment sect leader will give me. ”

Nan Yi sees her “going all in” look, coldly snorts, and does not say more.

Gazing at this cold-heart-cold-personality youth, Pang Wan thinks no matter what, he helped her a lot (even though the consequence might be really bad). Her heart softens and she becomes the first one to take a move, dragging Nan Yi’s sleeve.

“Brother Nan Yi, is sister-in-law doing well? Is the life of newlyweds really sweet?” She grins, trying to flatter him.

Just as she finishes her sentence, the temperature around them suddenly drops, air freezes to cold ice, Nan Yi’s body turns hard as lead in that one moment, his eyes also becomes ferocious with extensive redness.

“You have no sister-in-law.”

He heavily breathes, and with difficulty, says these few words from his dry throat.

“What happened?” Pang Wan looks at him in shock, her heart filled with a bad feeling.

“The wedding……did not manage to take place as planned.”

Sweat drops of the size of beans drop down from his temples, the veins on Nan Yi’s forehead starts to jump.

“Because……Mei Wu died.”

He murmurs as he closes his eyes, appearing so painful as if he is on the edge of falling into insanity.

---

Translator’s Note: Nan Yi is back!

I believe his last line in this chapter would stir up lots of comment from you~

(Be honest, how many of you actually expected this? I kind of expected that their wedding would fail, but I did not think she would actually die in a horrible way.) p.s. when I was reading their conversation, I thought: aww, Nan Yi, look at you! Remembering her birthday, completing the virgin kill for her and wanting her to compliment you for it. You are actually even more immature that your little sister Pang Wan.