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Translator: SilverNeko

Editor: Dancing Dolphins Yo!

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He slowly woke up. The wooden door was blown by the wind, making clanging sounds.

Cold wind drilled into his clothes and made his heart feel chilly. Even the corner of his eyes had some ice.

Wen Jing rubbed his eyes. There was no warmth here at all, only him alone.

Staring at the wooden door, he fell into a daze. The figure of Jun YanZhi, standing by the door under the moonlit night, seemed to have appeared in front of his eyes. 

Wen Jing stayed in this daze for a while, his heart feeling painful and sour. He gently shook his head and took out the jade token, carefully considering what to do.

The first thing would be to visit Red Maple sect. 

That year, when Heng Yang palace was massacred, two secret scrolls that were inheritances passed down from generation to generation disappeared from Jun YanZhi’s house. Ancient scrolls that were passed down were definitely not insignificant or unimportant. One of them was sealed by strong spells. If someone were to forcibly steal it, the most severe outcome would be instant death while the least severe outcome would be their soul gradually becoming damaged, causing them to lose their life within two years.

Out of the two ancient scrolls, one was the《Hundred Herbs Thousand Souls Method》. After some tossing and turning, it landed in the hands of Lu ZhiShan. This scroll had already been taken back by Jun YanZhi during the first time the Qing Xu sword sect had an incident. 

The other one was the《Five Elements Returning Sword Method》. This sword method was a bit strange. It only recognized the people of Heng Yang palace. Normally, it was still and silent, and no one knew of its strength. When it was stolen by others, because its origin was a bit questionable, that person changed the cover to《Thunder Sword Method》. After that person died, his family didn’t know the uses of that sword method, so they randomly auctioned it.

Currently, this scroll had landed in the hands of a degenerate person called Li QingRan of Red Maple sect. 

His name was very ordinary, and Li QingRan didn’t know of this inheritance. He flipped through it few times but couldn’t understand it, so he put it aside.

To find this inheritance, Jun YanZhi did all that he could. Once he knew that it had landed in the hands of a disciple of the Red Maple sect, who knew what thought emerged from his heart. Although on the surface he was gentle like a breeze, he showed no mercy and massacred the Red Maple sect to the point where their sect practically didn’t exist anymore. 

The Jun YanZhi at that time already had an ice cold heart with not a care in the world. 

Wen Jing didn’t dare to go find Jun YanZhi empty handed. Since he wanted to plead for forgiveness, he needed to at least prepare a present and show some sincerity. The importance of the《Five Elements Returning Sword Method》was pretty high. If he could bring that to find Jun YanZhi, then maybe the two of them could sit down and say a few words.

The second thing would be to find the mastermind who had caused the Heng Yang palace massacre. 

The outline only said that this incident was complicated, but it didn’t clearly say who had done it. Now that Jun YanZhi wholeheartedly believed that Duan Xuan was the mastermind, there was probably something suspicious going on. If he could investigate and find out everything that had happened that year, it would be an achievement as large as the sky. When he met with him at that time, maybe this conflict could turn into goodwill and closeness.

Additionally, even if Jun YanZhi wouldn’t admit it, deep down he definitely didn’t want to kill shifu.

Except, where was he now? Could he still be rolling and struggling in the ice and snow? He was the most afraid of the winter and cold. Weren’t these days the most difficult to endure? And the person who had sent him on this road was himself……

Regret that made him want to pull out all his hair surged from his heart. Wen Jing couldn’t bear it anymore. 

In the outline, after Jun YanZhi escaped from the Punishing Immortal Tower, he was saved by a female cultivator who was admiring the snow. That female cultivator was called Mu Yan, owner of a villa in one of the nearby mountains.

Before going to the Red Maple sect, he could first check around Mu Yan’s villa. 

Wen Jing stood up with a “whoosh” and ran back to his room in a hurry, tidying up. He stuffed everything with value into his storage bag.

The big tortoise watched him as if it was very uneasy. Wen Jing thought for a bit, used a blanket to firmly wrap up the big tortoise, leaving only the head and two eyes outside, and then carried it on his back.

He packed up all the fruits in his house and slid a letter under He Ling’s door.

“I’m going out to wander for a few months. Don’t tell anyone, second shixiong.”

Everything was arranged. Wen Jing raised his head and looked at the moon in the sky. He left Hui Shi peak under the cover of the night. 

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“Mu Yan’s Raomu villa was situated in a mountain range covered in ice and snow.” 

——Excerpt from 《A Calamity for All Living Things》Next Volume Outline, Line 17 

The heavy snow fell at dawn. Wen Jing’s face was frozen red, and his line of sight was obscured by the goose feather like snow. The big tortoise that was being carried on his back had already shrunk its head into its shell a while back, wrapped up tightly inside the blanket. 

With his head dropping, he searched in the boundless wind and snow for “a small and elegant mountain villa”.

The surrounding mountain range extended for hundreds of miles, snow stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see. There wasn’t even the shadow of a living person. After searching for a day without any gains, Wen Jing found a cave to settle in and slept for a night with the big tortoise, wrapped up in one blanket. 

The next day at dawn, the wind and snow stopped. Wen Jing encountered a middle-aged hunter in the mountains. After some excitement and ecstasy, he quickly calmed down and asked for directions: “Uncle, do you know where Raomu villa is?”

That middle-aged person saw that he was a cultivator and quickly responded: “Raomu villa? This is still the Xun Yang mountain range under the management of the Qing Xu Sword sect. You have to fly south twenty to twenty five miles before you can see any other mountain range.”

“Thank you, uncle.”

He walked and stopped, walked and stopped, investigating and asking for directions. Finally, after two days, he came to a mountain peak called Little Bamboo peak. Halfway up the mountain, an elegant villa was half visible from within the countless red plum blossoms like the profile of a beautiful and shy girl.

The villa was quaint and quiet with countless red plum blossoms planted outside. A faint fragrance filled the air, aloof and elegant. Wen Jing looked at the two large words “Raomu Villa” above that were filled with vigour and spirit but didn’t dare to knock on the door and enter unauthorized. He wandered around the wall, not knowing how to enter.

A barrier was set around the place. There was no way to secretly enter.

Right then, the small door off the side of the big main door opened with a “creak.” A beautiful girl around seventeen or eighteen slowly walked out with her head lowered.

Wen Jing thought that it was best to not delay this and quickly went up to politely ask: “Excuse me, lady……”

That girl raised her head and looked at him, carelessly saying: “Why did you come to our ‘Raomu Villa’?” 

“Lady doesn’t know, but my brother went missing a few days ago after getting injured. I have searched for a long time, but I couldn’t find him. Has this place taken in anyone around twenty with heavy injuries recently?”

That girl rolled her eyes at him: “Your brother? Never seen him.”

Wen Jing’s heart sank: “……His appearance is really beautiful like he is an immortal from the ninth heaven. His figure is tall and slender, his temperament elegant, with sword injuries at the waist. You really haven’t seen him?”

That girl couldn’t help but reveal a strange expression and then remembered the villa owner’s order. She coldly said: “Haven’t seen him.”

The patient in the courtyard looked okay, but it wasn’t to the point of an “immortal.” Also, he said it himself that he was the eldest disciple of the Qing Xu Sword sect’s Tian Heng peak, Wen RenMu. He didn’t mention that he had any family members. He definitely wasn’t this youth’s brother.

Wen Jing uneasily nodded and then smiled: “Much thanks, lady. I’ll keep looking.”

“You go.” That girl turned her head and walked away. 

Wen Jing lowered his head and thought for a while. He was truly unwilling to just leave it and decided to secretly go in to take a look. 

He followed the wall made of stones and searched for a long time before he finally found a broken dog hole. He gauged it and determined that he should be able to crawl in. 

He stretched his head and looked around. There wasn’t even the shadow of a person inside, and it was a bit messy, completely out of place with the rest of the courtyard.

Wen Jing knew that this place was connected to a more deserted corner of the villa. He shouldn’t be easily found if he burrowed in. He sat down, leaning on the wall, until nightfall. He carefully took out the few mosquitoes given to him by Jun YanZhi.

One of the abilities of the Tian Wen was to bite through barriers.

He had put the mosquitoes in a jade box to let them sleep and had already ignored them for many days. Now, one by one, they were woken up and swayed as they got up. Four of them quickly entered an alert state, lining up and waiting for orders. The remaining one spun around for a long time before it finally understood what was going on and quickly stood upright. 

Wen Jing ordered in a whisper: “Bite through the barrier on top of the hole.”

The four that had fast reactions immediately flew up. The last one dazedly followed behind them. It only understood what was going on after seeing the other mosquitoes starting to do work. It quickly began to work hard on the barrier contentiously. In no time, the few mosquitoes flew back and landed on Wen Jing’s shoulder. 

“Help me look after the big tortoise.” Wen Jing wrapped the big tortoise in a blanket, hid it under a pile of snow, and instructed the mosquitoes, “If something happens, quickly fly in and call me.”

After finishing with his words, he laid down and crawled through the dog hole.

There wasn’t even a shadow in the courtyard. In the dim evening light, he could only see hazy outlines in the courtyard. Wen Jing didn’t have an invisibility talisman with him, nor did he use any hiding techniques or spells. He cautiously stuck to the wall as he walked, concealing all the spiritual Qi on his body.

After entering the Foundation Building stage, his five senses were much sharper than normal people, and his movements were also particularly fast. Under the cover of the night, it was very difficult to be found. 

In the courtyard, a young girl, carrying warm porridge, slowly walked over. Wen Jing rapidly hid in a nearby room, looking out through the cracks of the door. A charming smile and light movements with a beautiful appearance, it was the girl whom he had seen during the day outside. 

He saw a slightly older woman catch up to her, smiling and joking: “Sending porridge to the villa owner’s guest again? Do you like him?”

That girl rolled her eyes at her: “His injuries are severe, and he’s quite pitiful. Also, it’s not that I want to send it. It’s the villa owner who wanted me to send it.”

“I heard that he’s from Qing Xu Sword sect?”

“En. Don’t spread it around. The villa owner doesn’t allow people to talk about it.”

“Why does it have to be so mysterious and secretive?”

“How would I know?”

The two people’s voices gradually faded into the distance. Wen Jing silently came out of the room, watching the two’s backs as they left. His heart was relieved, but it contained unspeakable sadness and sourness.

Sure enough, Jun YanZhi was here and not suffering in the ice and snow…… Then, he could be at ease and go to the Red Maple sect.

It was not like he had any face to see Jun YanZhi anyway. Seeing himself would only anger him. It was bad for his body. It would be better to return and plead for mercy after he had some meritorious deeds under his belt.

Wen Jing ran out of the courtyard following his original route. The five mosquitoes were lined up in a row, waiting for him. He quickly dug up the big tortoise from the snow, fed it a few fruits, and then carried it on his back. He whispered: “Let’s go!”

“Buzz——”

Wen Jing turned his head and took one last glance at Raomu villa, his heart feeling a lot more relaxed. His movements sped up, and he rushed towards the Red Maple sect in the darkness. 

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Footnotes:

Uncle: He’s not related to Wen Jing. He’s merely older than Wen Jing and a male. In China, people are called with terms like uncle, aunt, grandma, grandpa, brother, and sister even if there’s no blood relation. It’s similar to how elderly people are referred to as grandmas and grandpas even if they aren’t your own, especially by little kids. 

Ninth heaven: In some parts of Asia, it is believed that there are nine layers of heaven and hell. The ninth heaven would be the highest heaven with the strongest immortals, so in his mind Jun YanZhi is extremely beautiful.

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Tn: I don’t know why, but this author really likes describing snow as goose feather like. 

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