Chapter 64 – The moon behind the clouds
Yin Hanjiang awoke in Wenren È’s bedroom. He still felt lingering pain in his body from his spiritual energy running wild, but it had mostly healed.
His emotions were strangely calm. It was as if he’d had a long dream, in which his Venerable had returned. His joy and pain warring with each other, he’d had a qi deviation and nearly died, but at least, upon waking, he could remember two things. His Venerable was alive, and very few things on this earth could overcome him.
Yin Hanjiang was at peace just knowing that Wenren È was alive. As for everything else, he didn’t want to remember right now.
There were three books placed by the bed, the first being Abusive Romance.
Yin Hanjiang didn’t touch any of them. He grabbed for each of the inner demons before him, and only after finding they each were formless illusions did his heart settle. He didn’t feel like he could face these inner demons right now. When he thought that his real Venerable could be hiding among them, he felt uncomfortable all over.
In his years of following Wenren È, enduring had long become a habit. He had cut loose excessively over the past few days and didn’t know how much his Venerable had seen. Thinking about it, Yin Hanjiang tasted blood in the back of his throat.
No, there were times in the dream when his Venerable could not be touched. He couldn’t tell the real one apart from the inner demons by touching them. Panicked, Yin Hanjiang looked at the illusions, who all looked back with focused and tender gazes. Under all their eyes, Yin Hanjiang felt like he had nowhere to hide, wishing he could vanish on the spot.
He grabbed his arms, clawing lines of blood across his skin, managing to calm himself. He thought back to the events of last night.
Actually, his thoughts were muddled, and he only remembered that he had lost control, and though his Venerable had said a lot to him, he didn’t remember any of it. Aside from one sentence—”You read the wrong page, you have to look at the revision”, which it seemed his Venerable had repeated by his ear many times. After he calmed down from last night, he had gradually grown to believe that Wenren È was alive. At the beginning, his emotions were too strong, aggravating his inner demons, but now that he had calmed down, he could face everything rationally. His grief had faded away, replaced by joy.
Yin Hanjiang did his best to force a calm and reserved expression and picked up Abusive Romance. A note fell out from within it: “I’m at Altar Master Zhongli’s place, not among the inner demons.”
It was signed, “From Wenren È”
Yin Hanjiang instantly relaxed, his posture becoming more casual. He leaned back on the bed with the book in his lap, and, thinking about how his Venerable was alive and had already returned, joy flooded his heart and he couldn’t keep from smiling.
“Does this Venerable’s return make you that happy?” said an inner demon, leaning against the bed.
Yin Hanjiang didn’t look at it. He opened the book, beginning to read from the first page.
The story had already been revised as to be unrecognizable, and the original plot could only be gleaned from old comments, but Yin Hanjiang still managed to find out from years-old comments and the unrevised portion what the him in the book had done after his Venerable’s death. He had really outdone his current self. When he thought that his Venerable had read this book over forty years ago, Yin Hanjiang felt like lighting himself on fire.
His qi roiled inside his body, and after only a bit he couldn’t go on. He shut the book, reciting the Clear Mind Spell.
Fortunately, Wenren È wasn’t here and Yin Hanjiang was able to maintain his composure. If it was like last night, he would probably lose his mind again.
He was just reading a book, so if he couldn’t continue, he could pause for a moment and take it slowly. After a while of controlling his breathing, he was about to read on when he heard a knock at his door. Altar Master Shi’s voice came from beyond it. “Sect Leader Yin, your subordinate has a report to make, about Wenren È!”
Yin Hanjiang was going to ignore him, until he heard his Venerable’s name. He ended up hiding the books and letting him in.
Shi Congxin walked to the desk, facing the frosty Sect Leader Yin. “Sect Leader, this subordinate discovered last night that Sect Master Wenren wasn’t dead! Cough cough cough!”
“Mhm,” Yin Hanjiang said.
Shi Congxin saw that Yin Hanjiang had no reaction, but thought of how difficult it had been for him to work up the courage to come here. It was time to make a stand. Zhongli Qian had already thrown in his lot with Wenren È, and if Shi Congxin continued to follow the Lord of Demons, he would have no future. He could only choose Yin Hanjiang.
Remembering Zhongli Qian, Qiu Congxue, Shu Yanyan, and Su Huai, who had eyes on his position, Shi Congxin thought that he had been afraid for his whole life, and ought to work up his courage for something. He said boldly, “The Sect Leader may be unaware that Wenren È and Altar Master Zhongli have acted against you last night, cough cough!”
“What’d you say?” A vicious light entered Yin Hanjiang’s eyes. If Shi Congxin dared to slander his Venerable before him, his life was over.
Oblivious to Yin Hanjiang’s murderous intent, Shi Congxin continued, “Last night, when the Lord ordered me to bring Yao Jiaping to Altar Master Zhongli’s room, I saw him doing something to Sect Leader while you were unconscious. Does the Sect Leader remember this?”
“No,” Yin Hanjiang said. Watching Shi Congxin’s sickly face, he reached for his neck and placed his fingers against his arteries. “What did you see?”
“Cough cough cough! At the time, Wenren È’s hair blocked my sight, but I could see that he must’ve been stealing your spiritual essence!”
He roughly described what he had seen through Wenren È’s hair. Gesturing to his lips, he said, “He was stealing your spiritual essence through your mouth. Sect Leader, you must check the Violet Palace of your dantian. He may have done something underhanded, cough cough cough.”
“Cough cough cough!” It wasn’t Shi Congxin coughing this time, but Yin Hanjiang.
After hearing Shi Congxin��s words, his face went bright red and he started coughing furiously. He withdrew his hand from Shi Congxin’s neck in order to cover his mouth.
Shi Congxin: …
Had he given his sickness qi to Sect Leader Yin? No, it couldn’t be, his sickness qi had been stolen by Miss Baili, so that he had lost most of his power and was barely even sick now, having to pretend to cough.
“This Lord understands,” Yin Hanjiang said after recovering. “You can go now.”
Shi Congxin wanted to say more, but Yin Hanjiang had turned away and was no longer looking at him. He could only leave dejectedly, but when he was at the door, he heard Yin Hanjiang say, “Do you have any wood or other material that can be made into a mask?”
“I do.” Shi Congxin took out a top-grade piece of underworld iron from his storage item, something he was saving for crafting a bonded weapon when he reached Mahayana.
“It doesn’t need to be so… whatever, you can go.” Yin Hanjiang took the piece of iron and shooed Shi Congxin away.
Shaping it with his hands and the Burning Sky Drum’s fire, he very quickly turned it into a ghost mask.
He put it on and, with his face covered, he felt his heart gradually calm.
This time, with sufficient mental preparation, he opened the book and picked out scenes involving Wenren È to read. Baili Qingmiao’s time with Hè Wenzhao at their sect and her thirty years of wandering had nothing to do with him, so he skimmed over all of them.
In less than two hours, Yin Hanjiang had reached the last page of the revision. He saw Wenren È standing by Baili Qingmiao’s bed as he said to her, “What this Venerable needs you to hear is, Wenren È loves Yin Hanjiang.”
He had heard these words last night, but with his thoughts in disarray, he didn’t know whether he should believe it. More importantly, Yin Hanjiang had been almost certain that Wenren È liked Baili Qingmiao at the time, and in his confusion he had suffered qi deviation.
Now he had read the original story and comments and knew this was from before the revision, and had never happened. He had also received Shi Congxin’s report, and with the comforting presence of the mask on his face, as he saw Wenren È say these words to Baili Qingmiao, his emotions were different.
He held the mask, afraid of it falling, and read on with his heart pounding wildly.
Baili Qingmiao said, trembling, “If Senior Wenren has romantic intentions toward Sect Leader Yin, why not say it to him directly?”
With a bitter smile, Wenren È said, “He probably won’t believe me.”
Baili Qingmiao, thinking that Wenren È wanted to ask her about romantic matters, spoke considerately after some thought. “It may be hard to convey your true intentions through words. Often, actions will reassure someone more. Like me… nevermind, I’m a bad example. None of my shixiong’s actions could reassure me.”
“Your example could serve as a warning,” Wenren È said.
Baili Qingmiao instantly felt heartbroken. However, she was someone who liked helping people, so recounted her experiences with her shixiong, getting closer and closer to tears as she went on.
“This Venerable knows.” Wenren È nodded. “I’ll keep your experiences in mind. That’s why I wanted to say it to you clearly, because I want him to understand. Whether it’s the reserved Yin Hanjiang, or the reckless and carefree Yin Hanjiang, this Venerable will love them both. Yin Hanjiang is Yin Hanjiang. He need not hide himself.”
Reading these words, Yin Hanjiang felt like he was burning up inside. His body had always been cold, which hadn’t been resolved even by the Snow Flame. He knew it was the fault of his deep obsession and the inner demons tormenting him. Yet reading this passage, his body felt hot, like his blood was boiling underneath his skin.
He flipped on to the comments—
[Weird, in the original story, I was always scared of Yin Hanjiang, but why do I think he’s kind of cute now? Using the protagonist’s dress to wipe his sword and hands—does he think the little flower is a rag?]
[Better a rag than lamp oil. I also think he’s become a bit cute. Man, what have I experienced over these years?]
[I’ve changed from an innocent little girl into a crazy woman, when I see a psychotic freak I’m not just not scared, I want to say, eeeeeeek, be more psycho!]
[Hello? Are you all still discussing the previous chapter? Go read the new one immediately, this is major! In this Mary Sue romance story, the second male lead confessed to the fourth to the female lead’s face!]
[What kind of crazy words are you saying. I’m reading immediately.]
[Just read the newest chapter, I went back to look at the work’s tags, and the author hasn’t just revised, she changed the romance category from “traditional” to “uncertain”.]
[What does uncertain mean?]
[It means anything is possible.]
[Hold on, how come you all are unshaken by Wenren È’s declaration of love? Where’s the screaming? Where’s the rejection? Where’s the shock that this story has become a danmei?]
[You haven’t seen the next thread over, huh? The one discussing the hidden romantic threads in Abusive Romance‘s original and revised texts. They’ve already analyzed everything thoroughly.]
[Back from reading it and I feel enlightened. So Yin Hanjiang liked Wenren È ever since the original, and that’s why he went so crazy. I used to be scared of him, but now all of a sudden I want to hug the poor thing.]
[It’s no longer considered the original and revised editions, it’s a different life. Go check out the next thread, there’s even fanfiction of the two. If you’re too slow, it’ll be deleted.]
[Back with a nosebleed. Yin Hanjiang being vicious to other people and obedient in front of his master is so adorable, I’m here for more.]
[I can’t say what I want from the Demon Lord and his vicious little wolf, if I say any more I’ll get reported.]
Yin Hanjiang: …