江湖路弯弯: Jianghu Road is Curved! Chapter 43

_{(translated by anniaxx)}

^{(edited by xia0xiao1mei)}

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Old Man of the Icy Mountain

When this unexpected guest enters the cave, everyone’s facial expression clearly changes.

He Qing Lu lightly furrows his eyebrows, Jin Di Luo has joy written all over his face, whilst Pang Wan and Nan Yi are somewhat surprised.

Especially Nan Yi, he obviously freezes for a second.

“How’s this, little brother^[1] finds out that he wasn’t able to kill me and grows pretty regretful at heart,” Sang Shang Sheng takes the straw hat off his head, exposing a mouth of clean white teeth, “I’m so sorry, for letting little brother be disappointed, actually, I know the art of rising from the dead.”

Nan Yi sounds a humph from his nose, appearing extremely disdainful.

“Ai yo, I say Little Lu Child^[2], isn’t your second uncle back now, why are you still putting on your dead-person’s face,” laughs Sang Shang Sheng, stepping forward to pat He Qing Lu’s shoulder.

Without waiting for a reply, he then turns to Nan Yi, eyes shining as a torch, “This little brother, it is alright that you want to kill me, but how has my nephew offended you? Why you want to snap off his pretty neck?” Tze tze, his head is indeed really precious!

“Jin Di Luo failed to protect my master, may Palace Master punish me!” Jin Di Luo endures the pain and kneels to the ground.

Pang Wan’s face immediately changes colour —— isn’t this person the boatman on the emerald river? Why has he suddenly become the Solitary Palace’s Palace Master?

On the other hand, Nan Yi reveals a scornful look, “So you’re that old monster? Hiding in the river and playing tricks in the dark, do you dare to count yourself as something good!”

Sang Shang Sheng, no, right now he should be called Solitary Palace’s Palace Master, He Shao Xin, is not angry; he only lifts his eyebrows and very leisurely says, “Ai ya, little brother, everyone has a hobby or two, right? I like to be a boatman, just like you like to suck people’s blood and flesh, they are just some daily common pastimes, why should you be angry?”

As Pang Wan stays in shock, Nan Yi had already raised his hands to grab He Shao Xin with lightning speed.

He Shao Xin almost jumps up at the same time, calmly swinging his sleeves and eludes him, moving towards the east one moment then going towards the west the other moment.

“One, two, three, four……” He also counts at the same time.

When he had counted to six, Nan Yi’s body suddenly pauses, his shoulders shakes, then collapses to the ground with a crash, like a tall building that lost its foundation.

“Ai ya oh my mother, that scared me to death, almost thought I was going to be captured by this little monster.”

He Shao Xin pats his chest, making a scared “I survived” look.

“Little brat, I almost thought your soul-consuming nails doesn’t work anymore!” He clasps He Qing Lu’s arm, making a long exhale.

“I have already used five times the normal dose.” He Qing Lu pulls away that fiddling hand, showing an unconcerned look on his face, “Him enduring for such a long time, is really a miracle.”

Then he turns to look at the body lying on the ground.

That person is drugged with a dose of anesthetic that is enough to have ten male lions fall unconscious, he will not be able to wake up within a short time.

Yet he sees the young lady in red closely leaning against that person’s side, panicking, she shakes that person as she cries out, “Senior bother? Senior brother? Wake up!”

There is no one else in her eyes, her whole face is covered with traces of tears, as if the sky is going to collapse any moment now.

Dark clouds from some unknown origin fly into that pair of amber eyes, blotting out all the sunshine, leaving behind only an unbroken shadow which is continuously unrolling.

**********

At the summit of the Solitary Palace, on top of the the Icy Mountain Court.

“Whether you believe or not, I really did not send people to assassinate Mei Wu.”

He Shao Xin gently caresses the glossy purple granulated teapot in his hands, slightly smiling.

“For a woman, it’s not worth it.”

After he finishes this sentence, he aligns his mouth with the teapot opening, sounding a “zi” chirp as he drinks a mouthful.

This is the first time that Pang Wan has seen anyone drinking tea like this, she couldn’t resist being surprised.

No matter how she looks at it, He Shao Xin is just an unhandsome, sluggish man, she finds it difficult to connect this destitute boatman to a noble gentleman like He Qing Lu —— how can these two have the same blood flowing in their bodies?

“Speaking of which, to see your young master falling into this state for a woman, it is indeed very horrifying.”

He Shao Xin looks over to the bed where Nan Yi lies in coma, muttering this as he shudders.

“May I ask Palace Master, why has my senior bother become……like this?”

Pang Wan looks at the person lying in bed, her face overflowed with worry.

Over half of the bulging blood vessels on Nan Yi’s body have already faded, right now what lies in bed, is still that pale and delicate young man, just that, that originally bright red earring has now grown bleak and dim, as if it is declaring its owner’s extreme frail state.

“Have you ever heard of {{Xi Sui Jing}} _{(bone marrow cleansing scripture)}? ” He Shao Xin drinks another mouthful from the teapot opening again, his smile becoming sweeter and sweeter.

“I have heard of it.” Pang Wan nods —— not only heard of it, also practiced it, even though she only managed to practice to the fifth level.

“There is an ancient saying, if someone is able to practice {{Xi Sui Jing}} to the legendary ninth level, then he can reverse all the meridians in his body,  this person would not only abundantly increase his power, but also can hide his vital spots as he pleases. All the blood vessels on this little brother’s body are almost about to explode, I think it looks like he forcefully broke through the ninth level of {{Xi Sui Jing}} in a very short time; however……”He lowers his eyes, showing slight pity, “However, unfortunately he was consumed by his own power.”

Pang Wan irresistibly lets out an “ah” cry, her face is as pale as a piece of paper.

“The result of being consumed by one’s power is really strange, some can be insane and crazy, some can also be invincible, I think little brother looks like the latter one.” He Shao Xin continues to smile, presenting an indifferent attitude of ‘it has nothing to do with me’, “But this invincible state has its price. According to my observation, this little brother can only burst out in certain Yin hours^[3], all other times he needs to suffer the severe pain of his organs boiling and burning. But if he bursts out, only fresh blood can quell the evil air within him, so this is why your senior brother will end up as a monster without any logical sense, seeking human blood and flesh everywhere —— tze, tze, so scary.”

Pang Wan’s face immediately reveals a look of utter disbelief.

“He’s become like this because he wants to seek revenge for Mei Wu right?” He Shao Xin shrugs his shoulders, showing that it is really regretful, “Maybe in his subconscious, there is an extremely strong enemy, but that enemy is not me.”

Pang Wan’s heart and mind crumbles, in this moment, thousands of past scenes rush into her brain like a roaring ocean, yet she has too much to think about so she could not clear up her mind no matter what.

——during childhood, Nan Yi lined a blade on her neck, yelling that he doesn’t want sect leader to teach {{Xi Sui Jing}} to her.

——in the Misty Wave Manor, Bai Xiao Sheng was injured, everyone was cursing at the newly invented weapon “Blood Tyrant” of Bai Yue Sect, which could dig out people’s blood and flesh.

——also the hesitation and fretful expression that Nan Yi showed when she was curiously asking what kind of earthshaking thing “Blood Tyrant” is.

“May I ask Palace Master, does my senior brother still have any hope of being saved?”

Her eyes are saturated with misty fog, she is trying her hardest to not let them flow out.

He Shao Xin freezes for a second, then immediately laughs out loud, his eyes full of contempt and mischief, “You little lady, sure have an extraordinarily thick face! This little brother is ruthless and cruel, tried to destroy me, also killed my hall masters and hurt my capable subordinates, even threatening to snap off my precious nephew’s neck, say, why would I care if he can be saved or not? Ridiculous to the extreme!”

Pang Wan blinks her almond eyes, her face cannot be any paler.

——Palace Master is right, he doesn’t have any obligation to care about Nan Yi’s life, he did not cut off Nan Yi’s neck when he is unconscious, this is already very merciful of him.

“Then may I ask Palace Master, when will my senior brother wake up?” She puts herself in a humble place again.

“How can I possibly let this monster wake up?!” He Shao Xin scoffs out loud, “Little girl, I advise you to daydream a little less! As long as he is in my territory, he will never have any chance to create any chaos!”

“I will use drugs on him, many many drugs, all kinds of drugs, to prevent him waking up.” He reaches out his hand to cover his yawn, appearing tired and annoyed, already showing his will for her to leave.

“……Palace Master needs not worry, when my legs are a little better, I will immediately take my senior brother down the mountain.”

Pang Wan bites a shallow white mark on her lower lips.

“Since my senior brother hurt other people because he was consumed by his own power, then I beg Palace Master to not be hurried to ask for his life, it won’t be too late to wait till his wounds are recovered, then fight with him properly and fairly.”

She begs him earnestly, her eyes grieving.

He Shao Xin is surprised by her; he originally planned to speak again, but now he pretends nothing has happened and closes his eyes.

Pang Wan pushes the wheelchair and goes out of the room.

Until she comes to a place with no one around in the hallway, she finally stops the wheel, covers both eyes with her hands.

Her shoulders are silently shaking, tears continuously drop down from her cheeks, as if turbulent flood has suddenly burst out of its bank.

Why? Why did Nan Yi become like this?

Why? Why did they, senior brother and junior sister, end up like this? 

She misses the reckless time when she was Sheng Gu, she had martial arts, four limbs were healthy, didn’t need to stay under other people’s roof, didn’t need to submit to humiliation.

Why didn’t I know how to treasure those times? Only wishing to foolishly place hope on other people?

Regaining life after escaping death, she has finally understood that here is not the land of Mary Sue where female nobilities could command the wind and order the rain, here is the completely real wu xia world.

She did everything as she pleased, harmed other people, also harmed herself.

After she finishes crying, she wipes her face with her sleeves, returning back to her previous cold dullness.

With all her strength, she clings onto a column in the hallway, struggling to get up from the wheelchair, and anxiously makes a tentative step forward —— must be able to walk as soon as possible, no matter how painful, no matter how difficult, no matter if it will leave her any sequelae or not. As long as Nan Yi stays here for one more day, he is in danger for one more day, she needs to quickly take senior brother away before Palace Master makes a move.

But she didn’t expect that only after two steps, she would suddenly lose her balance and fall to the ground, making a “pu-tong” sound, scratching her elbows into a bloody state.

Clenching her teeth, she staggeringly pushes herself up from the ground, and continues to walk as she sticks herself to the wall as she advances forward.

One step, one step, and another step.

Her wounds are burning with pain, small blood drops start to form, a drop by a drop, they embed onto the white wall, like red plum blossoms in early spring quietly blooming in the snow.

She walks forward without even noticing, letting sweat to wet through the cloth on her back.

At the pavilion not far behind her, a person is quietly watching her every move.

However long she cried, however long he watched on.

When he saw her falling to the ground, he was almost going to reach out his arms.

Until he sees her stumbling and crawling to finish walking more than ten steps, finally sitting back into the wheelchair again with her exhausted body covered with sweat, only then did he lower his eyes, turning to walk towards the room.

**********

“Do not make things difficult for her.”

He Shao Xin was pouring wine into the teapot when a chilling voice sounds up beside his ears.

He lifts up his head and sees He Qing Lu emotionlessly standing by the doorway.

“Ai yo I say little Lu child how did you find time to care about other people’s business?” He Shao Xin laughs loudly, putting one leg on the chair, acting just like a careless rogue, “Hurry over and let your second uncle see, did you eat the wrong drug or something?”

He Qing Lu stands at the original place and does not move a bit, stubbornly emphasizing, “I said, do not make things difficult for her.”

He Shao Xin looks at his tensed face, sighs and raise both his hands, “I did not make anything difficult for her, I just forgot to tell her, that little brother cannot be easily hurt by any sort of weapon after being consumed by his own power, plus he has a dangerous air protecting his body, even if he is unconscious, no one can really hurt him at all.”

She didn’t ask me about this anyway, he murmurs and adds in his heart.

“She is in a hurry to leave now.” He Qing Lu knows his own uncle’s temperament well, and couldn’t help frowning.

“Wah, it takes a hundred days when muscle and bone get hurt, she’s not afraid that she would be disabled for real in the latter half of her life?” He Shao Xin is a little astounded, “this lady sure has some stubborn temper!” This is unexpected, if he knew this, he would have teased her more, so life wouldn’t be this boring.

“Do not tease her!” He Qing Lu throws him a glare, fast and sharp.

He Shao Xin freezes, then squints his eyes and smiles.

“Little Lu child give me a reason.” He slowly knocks on the desk top, once, then twice.

“My tolerance for these two people has already exceeded the limitation, although right now I can’t touch that little brother, but killing this lady, and using her head as an offering to Mei Ya Xiang and Tu Su’s death, cannot be anymore of a natural thing to do. ”

Within a second, all the wanderer vibes from him withdraws into his shell, an acute freezing light slips through He Shao Xin’s eyes.

“You want me to not touch her, then you need to give me a convincing reason, this is the rule of the He family —— do, you, un-der-stand?”

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[1] Little brother/小哥/Xiǎo gē: It literally translates to “little older brother” or “little bro”, which is a friendly term to address young men in Chinese. According to my experience, people don’t really use it in daily conversation, but it appears frequently in literature. Many contemporary authors choose to use this term to call their characters; the most well-known “小哥/little brother” in novels is probably the epic main character of The Chronicles of Grave Robbers by Uncle Three–Kylin Zhang.

[2]Little Lu Child/小芦子/Xiǎo lú zi: Little(小)+one character in a person’s name+child/suffix(子) = a common cute way to mock someone. It used to be the way to address eunuchs of the royal family back in the dynasties. Nowadays, people would use this method to make nicknames to joke around with others.

[3]Yin hours/阴时/Yīn she:Yin-Yang is an idea in Chinese philosophy that states opposite forces are complementary, interconnected and interdependent(wikipedia). So Yin is associated with female, gentleness, dark, moon, sinister; Yang is associated with male, light, strength, sun, positivity. Certain hours of the day is also calculated to be Yin hours where darkness and negativity predominates.

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Translator’s Note: Hmmm…Little Lu, what reason are you going to give? You’d better give a good one!…..You all should be super excited for it!!