Chapter 40 – Who are you, handsome?
While speaking, Hè Wenzhao used his spiritual essence to force out the yin energy inside his body. He was a Void Boundary cultivator, and Su Huai’s level was too low in comparison, so any effect he had could only be temporary. After the yin energy was gone, Hè Wenzhao would be fine.
But Su Huai had humiliated him in front of his fellow disciples and his wife, so his expression was rather strained. If Baili Qingmiao wasn’t shielding Su Huai, Hè Wenzhao would’ve taught the Core Formation brat a lesson.
“This is my disciple, Su Huai,” said Baili Qingmiao. Now that she had come back to her senses and her emotions were being suppressed by Zhongli Qian, she could speak casually with her shixiong. She put a hand on Su Huai’s shoulder as she introduced him.
“Shouldn’t he greet his elders, then?” Liu Xinye said at Hè Wenzhao’s side, an unpleasant look on her face.
Su Huai pulled a face. He had only reluctantly accepted Baili Qingmiao. As a ghost cultivator, he had no loyalty to the Shangqing Sect, and in fact, now that he and Qiu Congxue got along, she had promised to recommend him into the Hellfire Pavilion. If he did good, she said she would even help him get rid of the current Altar Master Shi and gain the position of master of Hellfire Pavilion.
Su Huai had no wish to show respect to these strangers in front of him.
Baili Qingmiao had been taught manners by Shangqing Sect since youth and was about to order him to, when Immortal Qingxue said, “Huh? I’m an elder. Why don’t you greet me?”
Su Huai immediately bowed deeply to Qingxue. “This disciple greets Master Qingxue.”
The assembled members of Shangqing Sect were speechless.
“Oh, and you.” Qingxue took out a jade with the piece of Liu Xinye’s soul sealed inside. “When are you going to repay me my elixir? You’re only at Deity Transformation? A Deity Transformation Nascent Soul isn’t worth the Seven-Colored Lotus Heart. It’ll probably even out if you add in your cultivation partner.
Liu Xinye: …
Hè Wenzhao: …
Hè Wenzhao quickly grabbed Liu Xinye’s hand and led the rest of the disciples to bow to Qingxue. “Greetings to Elder Qingxue.”
At the same time, Su Huai also bowed, following Zhongli Qian’s instructions. That way, neither side was insulted.
“Elder, for the past thirty years, we have been searching for a cure for the Sect Master and unable to find you an elixir. Fortunately, the Lockheart Herb is the last thing he needs, and after he wakes, this disciple can leave his duties and accompany his wife to find a treasure for you. We beg for your forgiveness,” Hè Wenzhao said. Even though he had been embarrassed, he suppressed his emotions and was willing to plead on his wife’s behalf.
Her shixiong was such a good husband, Baili Qingmiao thought, and she couldn’t help but fall back into her old infatuation.
Zhongli Qian slapped his bamboo scroll against his palm and Su Huai immediately drew the Rod of Heartbreak. Baili Qingmiao frantically said, “Don’t hit me! I’m calm!”
Seeing the giant weapon brought out again, Hè Wenzhao quickly dodged out of the way with Liu Xinye. With no one to hit, Su Huai curled his lip and put away his weapon.
Since both sides were tense, Zhongli Qian announced, “Let’s go check out the volcano. Curing the Sect Master is what’s most important.”
The standoff was resolved, with everyone heading toward the crater.
From Hè Wenzhao’s words, when they had arrived at the Violet Spirit Pavilion, the Pavilion Master had glanced at them through a curtain and sent them all to the crater to come up with a solution on their own, saying that they could have any sprouts they managed to ripen. Everyone had been spending this time racking their brains at the top of the volcano, but had not found a way to restrict the lava to a suitable area.
Baili Qingmiao’s group didn’t even enter the main hall, directly being taken to the crater.
No one dared to criticize the Violet Spirit Pavilion. After all, the Pavilion had been secluded with no contact with the rest of the cultivation world for years, and they were here to beg their favor. It was already great that they were allowed up to the crater.
Hearing that it had been dormant for three thousand years and was completely safe, Baili Qingmiao’s group approached it confidently. Zhongli Qian, Qingxue, and Su Huai didn’t discover anything out of the ordinary, but when Baili Qingmiao stuck her head over the edge, a streak of flame shot toward the sky, aimed right at her face.
She pulled back with a cry of shock and barely managed to avoid the fire. The black cloth around her eye had been burned off, though, and fell into the crater.
“Shimei, are you okay?” Hè Wenzhao shook off Liu Xinye and charged over to see whether or not Baili Qingmiao’s face had been burned.
Baili Qingmiao opened her eyes and saw her shixiong’s concerned face in her right eye, but before she could feel touched, Zhongli Qian’s giant face was plastered in her left eye. Looking at Zhongli Qian with one eye and Hè Wenzhao with the other, she nearly went cross-eyed.
She shoved Hè Wenzhao off and closed her eyes, turning her head away. “Give me a blindfold.”
Su Huai handed her a black cloth. After she tied it around her eye, Baili Qingmiao finally let out a breath. Now she could see Hè Wenzhao’s hurt expression properly. Wanting to explain, she took a step forward, but Liu Xinye came over to help Hè Wenzhao off the ground, shooting Baili Qingmiao a glare.
Baili Qingmiao retreated her step, thinking that this was for the best.
“After all this time, the volcano has finally reacted!” Yao Wendan said, ignoring the atmosphere. “Shimei, what did you do just now to get it to erupt? It was so precise too, just aimed at one area.”
“I didn’t do anything…” Baili Qingmiao was also confused. She had only stuck her head over slightly, and flames had spewed out. Yet after she backed away, the flames vanished.
It was like it was targeting Baili Qingmiao, Zhongli Qian thought, standing at one side.
After being with Baili Qingmiao for thirty years, he had gotten the sense that legendary treasures were plentiful around her. He had managed to reach Mahayana after only thirty years, not only because of learning Wordless Child and awakening to the path of teaching, but also thanks to the treasures he kept running into which could increase his spiritual essence.
He suddenly remembered Wenren È. Baili Qingmiao had told him that she’d twice met Wenren È when he told her that a certain item was fated to her, and wanted her help in retrieving it.
Had Wenren È long since discovered Baili Qingmiao’s quirk? Zhongli Qian frowned, deep in thought.
While everyone discussed how they should awaken the volcano, a scent drifted past on the wind.
“This incense… I smelled it back when we met the Pavilion Master,” Yao Wendan said. “Is the Pavilion Master here to check on the activity at the crater?”
As he spoke, several purple-robed women flew towards them, a few of them carrying a radiant carriage. A curtain shrouded the person inside from sight.
Approaching the crater, they landed on it, and the four servant girls set down the carriage. The leading disciple said, “Who was it who made the volcano react?”
The crowd backed away, leaving behind Baili Qingmiao. A deep voice came from inside the carriage, “Indeed it was you.”
Baili Qingmiao cocked her head, then cupped her fist respectfully. “This one is Baili Qingmiao. Is the Pavilion Master implying that we have met before?”
“Who knows?” A single hand pushed aside the curtain, and a young man in lavish silver robes emerged. He swept his gaze over Baili Qingmiao’s face and said, “Perhaps we met in another life.”
His black hair was gathered together by a silver band, with a few loose strands draped over his shoulders. He had cold elegant eyes and colorless lips, and upon catching sight of Baili Qingmiao, had shown a smile without any hint of warmth.
“The Shangqing Sect is certainly the leader of the righteous sects. Since so many eminent persons have gathered here, the Violet Spirit Pavilion dares not be discourteous. Why don’t you all stay in the Pavilion as guests, while we work together to think of a way to grow the Lockheart Herb? There’s no problem if we can’t. Isn’t there one ready? As long as Shangqing Sect offers something of equal value in exchange, we aren’t unwilling to give it.”
Everyone: …
Hey now, you weren’t saying these things several days ago.
Not only were the people there confused, Wenren È also was. The readers of Abusive Romance and God of Annihilation were also dumbstruck.
For once, the comment sections of both books were aligned, all filled with people saying, “Who are you, handsome?” Even Wenren È had trouble believing his eyes.
The Violet Spirit Pavilion Master, the main wife in God of Annihilation, the top female villain in Abusive Romance, the wandering immortal who Wenren È had found underneath the Ice Plains and beaten up, was now a man?
Yin Hanjiang watched as Wenren È stood in front of the Misty Dawn Bell, reading for two hours straight, then suddenly stopping. He had a strained look on his face, seemingly having run into some problem.
“Venerable?” Yin Hanjiang looked at him in confusion. He couldn’t imagine what could stump Wenren È.
“Nothing.” Both revisions stopped there, so Wenren È put his books away. After thinking for a time in front of the bell, he said, “Sect Leader Yin, it seems we need a change of plans.”
Wenren È had come to the Violet Spirit Pavilion with two plans. The first was destroying the array, fighting his way in, and forcing the wandering immortal to give out her possession technique. The second was demolishing half of True Yin Mountain, then communicating his request to the Pavilion Master, making her offer it freely.
But now that this unprecedented development had occurred, Wenren È decided on a different plan, to enter the Pavilion “courteously” under different identities.
“We need to change our appearances. Let’s say we’re… guest cultivators of the Zhongli clan. We’ll hand over greeting slips and follow the regulations. Zhongli Qian should be able to figure out the situation and help cover for us.” Wenren È thought up a new plan on the spot, relaying it to Yin Hanjiang.
He had met the Pavilion Master before, and without a disguise, he would be recognized. He might never be able to figure out why the story had taken such a turn.
If the Pavilion Master, as a major female character, changed her fate and avoided marrying Hè Wenzhao, then didn’t that mean that as two major male characters, Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang’s fates could also be changed?
Xuanyuan Sect was naturally rich in disguising techniques. Yin Hanjiang took out two masks. These weren’t like the skin masks used in the Jianghu, and appeared like two lumps of dough. Once stuck on one’s face, it could be kneaded to one’s liking. This was a very low-level magic item without much spiritual energy, and couldn’t do anything other than change one’s appearance. However, as long as no one touched your face, you were certain to not be discovered.
“Sect Leader Yin, why don’t you make a face for this Venerable?” Wenren È said.
Yin Hanjiang stuck the dough on Wenren È’s face, carefully smoothing it with his fingers. “What would the Venerable want to look like?”
“Anything you want,” Wenren È said. He had faith in Zhongli Qian’s intelligence. Whatever his disguise looked like, Zhongli Qian could see through it and help cover for him.
Yin Hanjiang was quite tall, just an inch shorter than Wenren È. He gazed intently at Wenren È’s face, shaping it carefully. After he created a face, he hesitated, and was about to wipe it out and start over when Wenren È said, “Are you done yet? Let me see.”
With a flick of a finger, a mirror of ice appeared before him. Wenren È stared silently at the face in the reflection.
This was exactly the same as his face. Only the eyes were slightly different, looking a bit more relaxed and resembling the General Wenren stationed at the border town one hundred years ago.
“Is this how I’ve always looked in your eyes?” Wenren È felt a spark of annoyance, though he didn’t know why. “General Wenren was just this Venerable’s identity when he walked the mortal world. This Venerable has long since progressed past that. If you remain stuck in that time, you will never reach Mahayana.”
“It’s not that,” Yin Hanjiang said. “It’s just…” He himself didn’t know how to explain it. His Venerable had looked at him with such a warm and attentive expression. His hands had moved on their own at the time.
“This subordinate will make the Venerable a new one,” Yin Hanjiang said quickly.
“No need.” Wenren È waved a hand and the mask became a completely unremarkable face, his black robes also transforming to the grey robes of the Zhongli clan’s guest cultivators.
Yin Hanjiang stuck the dough on his face and was about to sculpt an ordinary appearance for himself when Wenren È said, “Let me do it.”
A forceful hand landed on Yin Hanjiang’s face. Yin Hanjiang stiffened, his whole body freezing up, not even daring to breathe.
After creating an average face for Yin Hanjiang, Wenren È withdrew his hand and said, “Sect Leader Yin, you mustn’t always live chasing this Venerable’s shadow.”
“This subordinate hasn’t…” Yin Hanjiang was unable to continue. He had once told Zhongli Qian that he wouldn’t desire, would only watch from a distance, and therefore he would never feel resentment. But fantasies were difficult to do away with once they arose.
He wanted to be General Wenren’s most loyal subordinate. Even if they were both mortals, he would be happy just fighting alongside him, even dying alongside him.
The Lord of Demons was too powerful and too impossible to pursue. Yin Hanjiang only dared to hold this small wish, hoping that he would have such a chance in his next life.
Wenren È looked at him and sighed quietly.
When the Army Crushing Sword was forged, he had felt Yin Hanjiang begin to dissolve his psychological blocks and move past the thoughtlessly loyal Left Protector he had been. Everything was going well then, so why had he regressed and gotten even worse than before?
“Sect Leader Yin, is there something important that you’ve been hiding from this Venerable?”
“No…” Yin Hanjiang trailed off again. He really was hiding something from his Venerable, something he could never admit. Even if after he died, someone interrogated his soul, he wouldn’t let a word slip.
He lifted his head and looked at Wenren È, his eyes filled with resolution. It was the resolution to take his secret to the grave. “This subordinate does have something on his mind. However, it is unrelated to the Venerable. The Venerable need not concern himself, as this subordinate will carry out his duties regardless.”
“You—” Wenren È reached out, and his hand froze the instant before it grabbed hold of Yin Hanjiang’s throat.
Yin Hanjiang didn’t avoid him, instead raising his head and making it easier for Wenren È to grab him.
“After we return to Xuanyuan Sect, go to the forbidden grounds and reflect for fifty years. If after fifty years, you cannot resolve your concern…” Wenren È stopped. He couldn’t think of a punishment, and at last said, “We’ll talk again after fifty years.”
Reflect for fifty years… that was just as well. Yin Hanjiang lowered his head with a bitter smile.
Seeing nothing he said could make Yin Hanjiang listen, Wenren È felt oddly powerless. He raised a hand and sounded the Misty Dawn Bell, announcing with the bell’s sound. “We guests of the Zhongli clan under Zhongli Qian, Wenzun and Yinjiang, are here to call upon Young Master Zhongli. Hoping the Violet Spirit Pavilion will relay him this message.”
Zhongli Qian, hearing this: …
Wenzun[1] and Yinjiang… was Wenren È worried that people wouldn’t know who they were?