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Translator: SilverNeko

Editor: Dancing Dolphins Yo!

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He was surrounded on three sides by mountains while a lake that seemed to be connected with the sky was on the fourth side. The mountains weren’t high, but there were clouds and mist, as well as weird stones that were stacked layer upon layer in the area. It was quiet and beautiful. This was an iconic scenic spot of the Xun Yang mountains.

In other words, once he had escaped from the Punishing Immortal Tower, he hadn’t been sent far away, nor had he stayed by Xi Fang’s side. Instead, he was sent to a corner of the Xun Yang mountain range. 

This place was very close to home. Wen Jing contemplated for a long time, but he wasn’t able to come to a decision. If he went back now, wasn’t he looking for death? At that time, to save Jun YanZhi, he entered the Punishing Immortal Tower and stood on the same side as him. He was now an enemy of the Qing Xu Sword sect. Why would he go back?

Jun YanZhi was also definitely not in the Qing Xu Sword sect……

The lake’s water was clear enough to see the bottom. Wen Jing took off the clothes on his body and jumped into the water to take a refreshing cold water bath. Most of the injuries on his body were basically healed, but when he exited the tower, that flame-filled sky burned him again, adding a few new burns. After being burned by fire for months on end, new and old wounds overlapped. His back and legs were covered in scars and scabs. He himself didn’t care. However, he didn’t know that in the eyes of others, it looked pitiful and scary like he was a ghost who had escaped from the fire-filled eighteenth level of hell. 

Wen Jing used his sword to stab a few fish and then climbed back onto the shore. He shook the broken and torn clothes before frowning and throwing them aside.

He sat down, grilled the fish with fire, and ate it. After wiping his oily mouth, he started to seriously consider what he should do next.

First, he had to find clothes. 

Wen Jing rolled up the clothes that were burnt black and loosely hung them on his waist, barely covering his key part. He then pulled off a bunch of big leaves and wore them with vines, covering his chest and thighs, leaving only his arms and calves uncovered. 

He looked into the water, picked up a pile of mud, and randomly smeared it on the side of his face that was not ruined. Dressed like this, he looked like a wild Yao monster from far away. Although he had developed wisdom, his wild instincts were still there, making him look not human. 

Wen Jing put away the Su Xin sword and leaped into the air like a wild monkey.

He had to find people to gather information and news!

Two disciples were currently picking spiritual herbs with their heads lowered in the valley. They wore light blue robes, each carrying a small basket on their backs. Their cultivation levels weren’t high, probably only at the seventh or eighth level of the Qi Refining stage. 

One of them quietly said, as if sighing, “Have you heard? Something happened in the Red Maple sect.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. I heard that a few days ago, small wounds appeared on the body of tens of disciples. The wounds bled non-stop. I don’t know what the situation is like right now, but they will probably die.”

“Small wounds bleeding until the blood runs dry…… It’s probably the work of demonic cultivators. Is it Jun YanZhi again?”

“Who else could it be if not him?”

“…… In the past, he would still pretend to be a good person and save over half of them. Now that there is no one to hold him back, he completely doesn’t care anymore.”

The other person sighed and responded,    

  “Jun YanZhi betrayed the Sword Sect a few years ago. His personality and temperament now are completely different from before. Even his shifu can’t control him. He has caused havoc, making it so that the five great sects were unable to have a day of peace. Everyone’s on edge. I really don’t know why he’s doing all this.”

Wen Jing quietly hid in the tree. The leaves and branches shook gently.

“The sect head is too soft-hearted for letting that scourge live back then. He led the wolf into the house and caused quite the disaster.”

“Isn’t that right? If it was me, I would’ve killed him with a slash of the sword way before. He’s a demonic cultivator who was born with the ability to cause people to fall into madness. He really doesn’t deserve to live.”

Anger boiled in Wen Jing’s chest. Two waves of spiritual Qi flew out simultaneously, landing on their backs. Two groans came from under the tree as their heavy bodies fell to the ground, stirring up the grass and leaves and making them fly into the air. 

With a somersault, he jumped down and scolded, “Idiots who don’t know the truth and only know how to repeat what others say.”

Although these words were used to scold the two Qi Refining stage disciples, he wasn’t much better. That year, someone had purposely misled him, which almost resulted in him killing Jun YanZhi. Wasn’t that also because his willpower wasn’t strong enough?

Wen Jing gently sighed and thought, ‘Thinking too much is useless.’ With his head lowered, he started to strip one of the disciples.

Soon, he wore a light blue robe, and the side of his head that had hair was brushed and neat. He finally looked like a human being.

However, he still looked scary.

Like the evil ghosts that adults used to scare children.

After surviving great danger, he should at least send a message to his family members in order to give them peace of mind, and then he could also ask about Jun YanZhi. However, it seemed that Duan Xuan and Jun YanZhi didn’t get along very well. If he moved brashly, there might be some serious consequences.

It would be better to first go to Hui Shi peak and observe the situation before doing anything. 

He chose a path covered densely by trees and foliage and traveled through jumping from tree to tree. Even when he encountered disciples of the sword sect, they would only see a light blue figure, with their face covered by leaves, flash by. No one was suspicious of him or particularly cared. 

Before long, he arrived under the cliff where his house was.

That day, he put the big tortoise into a storage bag and threw it. The bag wasn’t tied tightly so that the big tortoise could easily crawl out and go find Jun YanZhi. Except, that big tortoise wasn’t any more intelligent than him. Who knew if it had found him.

With the big tortoise by Jun YanZhi’s side, he could at least be less worried.

There seemed to be a trace of spiritual Qi under the cliff. It was light and faint. Wen Jing thought, ‘    

 Isn’t this the spiritual Qi of spirit stones? There are spirit stones here? Is      his luck      that good?’

The blood in his entire body flowed faster. He excitedly followed the light trace of spiritual Qi and searched around. Finally, he stopped in front of a weird stone the height of a person.

That weird stone stretched about thirty to forty feet wide. However, there was a one-foot-long crack, and there seemed to be something in there. It was a bit blurry, as he couldn’t see inside too clearly. Wen Jing picked up a tree branch and poked around, pulling out some broken threads of a storage bag that looked very familiar.

This was precisely the bag that he had thrown down.

Wen Jing slashed the stone into pieces. His eyebrows immediately raised. A lizard-like Yao monster laid on the ground, staring at Wen Jing with its eyes wide and its gaze unfriendly, seeming to see him as an intruder. It appeared to have already considered that storage bag to be its.

It looked like this lizard-like Yao monster claimed this place after the big tortoise crawled away, seizing the spirit stones in the storage bag and dragging them into the crack to absorb the spiritual Qi until now.

Spiritual pressure rushed out from Wen Jing’s entire body as he provocatively looked at it.

That Yao monster trembled and hesitated for a moment before fear overtook all other emotions. It didn’t dare fight Wen Jing, so it begrudgingly and slowly crawled away. However, it wasn’t willing to go far. It stared at Wen Jing from a few feet away.

Wen Jing opened the storage bag and took a look, his mood instantly brightening. That year, Lu ZhiShan gave him over a thousand spirit stones and a bunch of pills. They all laid inside. Not a single one was missing.

Wen Jing jumped up, turning into a streak of blue light as he rose up.

He lightly landed in front of the familiar yet strange yard. 

The spring was still the same as before, quiet and gentle. The gurgling sounds of the water seemed to bring him back to a few years ago. The big tortoise would docilely lie on the ground, waiting for him to return home. As soon as Wen Jing picked it up and pushed open the door, he would be able to see Jun YanZhi take out a little red fruit from his pocket, suck on it, and gently bite it. He was clearly such an elegant person, yet he had such a hobby. It was really……

Wen Jing quickly snapped out of his memories, his eyes dimming. He knew that he couldn’t keep thinking about it.

“Who?”

A cold, hard question suddenly came from afar, dispelling his daydreams like a heavy hammer, cruelly and ruthlessly bringing him back to reality.

He Ling!

What should he do?

He was just about to respond when an unexpected voice suddenly came from inside the house, “He shidi, Liu shidi, it’s me!”

Wen Jing immediately concealed all his sword Qi, flipped onto a tree branch, and hid.

The door opened with a creak. A handsome man in white clothes slowly walked out. His movements were confident, completely without the awkwardness of being caught doing something sneaky.

Wen RenMu. Why was he here? He would    

  need to check and clean everything inside his house in the future……

Wen RenMu smiled and said, “I was free today; thus, I came to help clean Jing shidi’s house.”

Wen Jing’s eyes nearly fell out.

Did he eat the wrong medicine?

Liu QianMo frowned and responded, “WenRen shixiong, we have already said many times. Jing shidi’s soul can’t handle such a gesture from you, nor does he like it. WenRen shixiong, please don’t enter without permission.”

As he talked, he threw a glance at He Ling, signaling him to help. 

He Ling calmly said, “Since you have so much free time, how about you clean the houses of all the disciples here on Hui Shi peak.”

Wen RenMu: “……”

He didn’t talk anymore. Smiling, he lowered his head and said, “I’ve disturbed,” before flying away.

Liu QianMo frowned, unable to understand. “Just what is going on with this Wen RenMu? He keeps running over to Jing shidi’s house every now and then these past two years. Could it be that that little idiot had two affairs and even made Wen RenMu fall for him?”

Cleaning his house or something, it sounded so sappy and mushy that he even had goosebumps.

     Was it the so-called “only knowing to treasure it once you have lost it ”? Now that Wen Jing had died, Wen RenMu finally regretted it and understood his true feelings? Then, what about that person who he wouldn’t name even if he died and who took away his first time?

Simply baffling!

Thinking carefully, Wen RenMu didn’t explicitly say that they were female. Could it be that Wen RenMu really liked men?

The man who took away his first time. This could explain his resentfulness and agony at that time. It could also explain why he wasn’t willing to say the truth, even if he died.

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed likely.

He Ling indifferently glanced around, “Let’s go.”

Liu QianMo was deep in his thoughts: “……”

He Ling ignored him and flew up, leaving first. Liu QianMo quickly followed him. However, he was still lost in his own world, unable to snap out of it. 

Once the two people had flown far away, He Ling calmly said, “Just now, there was a person with a higher cultivation level than us standing by the cliff. Once I called out, he concealed his sword Qi and hid.”

Liu QianMo instantly snapped out of it and quietly asked, “Who? Jun YanZhi?”

He Ling seemed to be thinking about something as he answered, “Doesn’t seem like him.”

“…… Then who is it?”

“I don’t know.” He Ling indifferently glanced at Liu QianMo.

Liu QianMo had his head lowered as he said, “There’s no point in overthinking it. If we get close, it would alert him and make him vigilant. Let’s pretend to not know and observe.”

He Ling didn’t answer. Liu QianMo lowered his head and whispered, “Have you heard? Something happened in the Red Maple sect.”

He Ling, “…… I have heard about it.”

Liu QianMo sighed, “Everyone is spreading that it was done by Jun YanZhi. He hasn’t shown his face in over a year. I really don’t know what he is thinking.”

He Ling said, “Shifu hasn’t said a thing from the beginning. Maybe there’s some inside story. Don’t jump to conclusions.”

“En.” Liu QianMo then said with a bit of sadness in his voice, “The ninth of next month is Jing shidi’s three-year death anniversary. Let’s go light some incense then.”

“Okay.”

……………

Two days slowly passed.

Wen Jing was so busy these two days that he didn’t have time to think about anything else. First, he went to the black market of Xun Yang city. In《A Calamity for All Living Things》, Jun YanZhi had gone to the black market, so Wen Jing very easily engaged with someone and said the right secret phrases. 

In the black market, he threw out five middle grade spirit stones and three hundred low grade spirit stones to buy a “Transformation Pill ”.

This was a type of pill that could    

  be made by Golden Core stage cultivators. This pill could let someone change their appearance into whatever they wanted, and the effects lasted one month. The scars and scabs on his face were too obvious. No matter where he went, it was a hindrance and could easily attract the gazes of other people. However, this transformation pill and illusion techniques were similar. If he disguised as a mature and older person, then even people with lower cultivation levels than him would be able to find abnormalities if they observed carefully from up close. Thus, it wasn’t a long-term solution.

A bright, full moon hung in the sky; silver light swayed between the heavens and the earth.

Wen RenMu concealed his cultivation level as he slowly walked on the mountain road to Hui Shi peak. He wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the moon. Instead, he held the piece of jade You Si had given him.

These three years had truly been filled with misfortune and bad luck.

Jun YanZhi was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing like a shadow, and he hated him greatly. Jun YanZhi hadn’t shown up in front of him at all. Their grudges weren’t merely one or two years old. Wen Jing’s death was also indirectly caused by him. It’d be weirder if he wanted to see him. Even though Wen RenMu was willing to risk death to see him, if Jun YanZhi didn’t want to see him, then there was nothing that he could do. Therefore, the jade had stayed in his hands until now, growing mold and gathering dust. 

He heard that Jun YanZhi would sometimes come back at midnight to contemplate in Wen Jing’s room. Unable to think of any other ideas, he could only go to Wen Jing’s residence from time to time and stay over, hoping that he could have a “chance encounter ”. However, it was like scooping water with a bamboo basket; he came up completely empty, wasting time and effort. 

Li QingYun naturally broke off Ji KeQing’s engagement. Lu ChangQing had made guarantees in front of her. With Wen RenMu being so unreliable and fickle, he felt that he had embarrassed himself, so he became furious and punished him severely. 

While Rong Xuan……

She had been in seclusion for three years with no new news. Who knew how much longer she would be in seclusion for.

Additionally, a strange rumor spread recently. Someone in the sword sect actually guessed that the person who took away his first time might be a man.

A man!

He, Wen RenMu, must have committed great sins in his past life in order to be slandered so in this life. 

Wen RenMu slowly swayed towards Wen Jing’s house. Suddenly, his footsteps halted. A shadow was standing suspiciously by the spring with trees covering its figure as the sound of water splashing rang out. It didn’t seem like the gentle sound of water flowing; instead, it sounded like someone was bathing. 

“Who is it?” Wen RenMu questioned quietly.

Wen Jing felt angry as he thought,    

  ‘I’m bathing in my own house. I haven’t even questioned you yet.’

He didn’t make a sound. However, he quickly wiped his body and pulled on a pair of pants.

A wave of spiritual Qi flew towards him! 

Wen Jing grabbed his sword and swung. Su Xin sword instantly changed into an orange-red color, fire seeming to flow within as it blocked the spiritual Qi that Wen RenMu sent over. Only a soft clang rang out before the spiritual Qi wave flew back towards Wen RenMu. 

An extremely strange face appeared under the moonlight.

Instantly, all the hair on his body stood up. Wen RenMu opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to be choked by someone, unable to make any sounds.

The familiar yet strange face was expressionless. A face and head full of scars and scabs paired with a pair of indifferent eyes, it looked a bit eerie and creepy.

“WenRen shixiong, since you have seen and recognized me, I will need to trouble you to sleep for a while.”

The figure of the person by the spring disappeared in the blink of an eye. A gust of wind blew behind Wen RenMu. Black appeared before his eyes as he fell to the ground while tightly holding onto the jade. 

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Footnotes:

Yao: Is a type of animal that cultivates and can take on human form. It’s similar to beastmen who can transform from animal form to human form. 

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Tn: Liu QianMo your brain hole is so big! Hahaha. You should write BL novels. Trust me, you have talent in that area. Hahahaha. 

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