It’s Not Easy Being a Master, Chapter 76: Seventy-Six

“I, I…” Duan Yuan stuttered, but even after stuttering for a long time, nothing came out.

He really wanted to say, “If Senior Brother can come here, then why can’t I?” But, when he met Lian Qin’s eyes, Duan Yuan became terrified. “I just randomly walked in, no, carefully came in…”

Lian Qin seemed to want to hit him with the guqin. But, in the end, he held back. His usually calm voice was filled with anger as he said, “How many times have I told you to weigh your abilities and act accordingly. Don’t be rash and do anything risky…”

Lian Qin couldn’t imagine what would have happened if they hadn’t come in today. If even the tear demon could trap Duan Yuan, then he feared that, in the end, no one would even know that Duan Yuan’s bones laid here!

He shouldn’t have allowed him to go out and gain experience alone!

“I know, I know. I’ve grown up. I know it myself.” Duan Yuan muttered quietly, “Master was rest assured enough to let me leave…”

Lian Qin realized that he’d spoken the last half of his heart. He pursed his lips, seemed as if he wanted to say something, then paused again. After a while, he said softly, “Forget it. Just follow along.”

He apologized a bit to Shen Zhixian and the others. “My unruly junior brother was confused and entered the secret realm. Please excuse him.”

Xue Ci naturally laughed and said, “No harm.” Afterward, he brought out a few pieces of medicinal pellets and handed them to Duan Yuan for his eyes.

Duan Yuan hung his xun at his waist and happily thanked him. He took the pellets, crushed them, and applied the powder on his eyelids. The medicine from Yao Sect was naturally high quality, and the medicine’s effect was extremely fast. The moment he put it on, he felt a cooling sensation and his discomforts began ease by a lot. It was just a little itchy.

Duan Yuan wanted to rub his eyes but Lian Qin came over and shoved the guqin into his arms.

Duan Yuan was caught off guard. He hurriedly hugged the guqin, but before he could speak, he felt warm fingers gently pressing against his eyelids. Lian Qin’s cold voice sounded, “Close your eyes.”

“Mmn.” Duan Yuan didn’t dare rebel against Lian Qin’s words. He closed his eyes obediently and slightly tilted up his head for Lian Qin to rub his eyes for him.

Gentle spiritual power passed from Lian Qin’s fingertips, rubbing into the skin.

The cold feeling dissipated, replaced by a slight heat. He didn’t know if it was because of the drug’s effect or if it was due to the temperature of Lian Qin’s fingertips.

Since everyone was waiting, Lian Qin didn’t rub for too long. Seeing that the swelling was almost gone, he retracted his hand.

Duan Yuan blinked and whispered, “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Lian Qin didn’t respond to him. He merely took the guqin back and coldly turned his head away.

Duan Yuan seemed to be accustomed to Lian Qin’s indifferent attitude toward him. He merely walked obediently. Shen Zhixian was next to him and took the opportunity to quietly look him over.

The youth they’d met two to three years ago had now grown into a sturdy young man. But, his true temperament hadn’t changed much and his eyes were still bright and clear. It seemed that he’d practice well in these past few years.

Duan Yuan noticed Shen Zhixian’s gaze and turned his head to look at him, revealing a slightly shy grin.

He didn’t recognize Shen Zhixian. But looking at Shen Zhixian, he couldn’t help but think of Sui Xian, whom he’d happened to meet a long time ago.

Their appearances were different, but they had the same pleasing temperament. Sui Xian was more easing-going and unrestrained, while Shen Zhixian seemed to be more noble. They were obviously two very different people, but he couldn’t help but associate them with one another.

Duan Yuan felt he was being offensive for having such a thought. Embarrassed, he smiled at Shen Zhixian again.

With this smile, he suddenly saw that Yan Jin, who was said to be from a hidden clan in Mingzhou, was looking at him.

The man’s facial expression was emotionless, cold and indifferent. Even his gaze had a vague dislike.

Duan Yuan, “…..”

This gaze was too familiar. Everytime he spoke to Big Brother Sui, he would be stared at like this by Big Brother Yan…

Duan Yuan quickly retracted his gaze and quietly stepped closer to Lian Qin, which gave him a slightly stronger sense of security.

Although his senior brother was cold to him and didn’t always like him, he was still his own senior brother.

Duan Yuan seemed to have been here for a while but, when asked, he was still a little at a loss. “I followed a demon in here, probably three or four days ago?”

He wasn’t quite sure. In here, illusion and reality were intertwined, making it difficult to distinguish the passage of time. As a result, he could only roughly calculate based on his energy consumption.

“I’ve been here these past few days and, no matter which door I took or what I’d experienced on the path, I would end up back here in the end,” Duan Yuan said. “Each path was different. Sometimes, you’ll encounter things you fear. Sometimes, you’ll be chased by monsters.”

Shen Zhixian abruptly asked, “What were you afraid of?”

Duan Yuan subconsciously responded, “I broke Senior Brother’s strings, and he chased me…”

He’d already spoken half of it before he realized what he’d said. He stopped, scratched his head in embarrassment, and looked at Lian Qin. He seemed to see a trace of helplessness in Lian Qin’s eyes.

Could it be that, when he was young, he broke Senior Brother’s strings  and so that was why Senior Brother no longer liked him?

Duan Yuan couldn’t help but think a little bit. At that time, he was raised as a girl in the sect. Lian Qin was the only disciple beside Master who knew about his male body. He couldn’t get too closed to the sisters nor be unbridled with the brothers–Only Lian Qin.

He could only get close to Lian Qin. Lian Qin already knew his identity so they got along well without any worries.

It was truly a pity that after he broke Senior Brother’s strings, Senior Brother began to treat him coldly as if, gradually, he liked him less and less.

“… Have you ever pushed open the door at the end of the path?”

Duan Yuan’s confused thoughts were interrupted. He said, “Pushed open.”

“Were you able to go inside and take a look?”

“I’ve gone in.”

Lian Qin glanced at him and motioned for him to continue speaking.

Duan Yuan said, “It was very difficult to walk through that door. It wasn’t that there was a monster blocking it. But the closer you get to the door, the less you want to go in. It’s hard to explain. You don’t want to go in and would feel a strong urge to return. I abandoned the idea many times. But, you just need to be determined and take that first step.”

After entering the door, the overwhelming sensation of wanting to turn back dissipated by more than half. As Duan Yuan forced one foot in front of the other, he found himself in a kind of spring paradise.

There was the sound of birds and insects. The plants and trees were green and lush. Flowers bloomed wildly. Just like a beautiful spring scenery.

It felt like an illusion but, if you reached out, you could touch every branch and every flower.

They felt real, and they surged with vitality.

It was just that, in there, time seemed to pass very quickly. Duan Yuan only took a few steps when the flowers began to fade, the vegetation withered, and the surrounding colors gradually changed from warm nature to cold white—it was snowing.

Snowflakes and the cold wind was enough to freeze bones. Even though Duan Yuan was protecting himself with spiritual power, he was chilled to bones and his teeth chattered. He cautiously took a few more steps and suddenly saw a dividing line not far away.

This side of the line was Winter but the other side was obscure, vague, and unclear.

Duan Yuan instinctively felt that there were many mysteries on that side. Even if this was a fantasy and only the world outside was real… He was determined to pass that boundary.

But, the further he went, the colder the wind became. The ice and snow fell on him, creating a barrier of cold pain on his body. After struggling for a while, Duan Yuan was finally exhausted. He couldn’t continue and could only allow himself to be involuntarily pushed back by the snow and wind.

“Then, I was pushed back, back, and back here again.” Duan Yuan spread his hands helplessly.

Seven doors, all evenly spaced.

They split apart and pushed the remaining three doors open, revealing almost exactly the same three paths.

Shen Zhixian said in a heavy voice, “There seems to be no other choice besides these paths. So let’s choose a path?”

Lian Qin asked, “Separate or together?”

Among them, Xue Ci was the oldest and most experienced. As a result, everyone looked over at him. Xue Ci stroked his chin. “Together. Let’s be mindful of Little Duan’s words. We may have to work together and rush through. But, in case we should get separated, let’s return here to discuss again.”

A preliminary agreement was reached, and then it became a question of which door to choose.

Each door looked the same. Duan Yuan couldn’t remember which door he’d gone through before so everyone simply picked one door and entered.

This time, they were psychologically prepared so there was no accident. However, when they went through the second stone door, they didn’t see a lush Spring landscape as Duan Yuan had described, but a barren mountain with yellow trees.

The bones of demon beasts were scattered everywhere, many of which were piled under trees, white and ghastly.

Duan Yuan let out a sound of surprise and instinctively went over to take a closer look. However, Lian Qin blocked his path.

Lian Qin’s expression was tense, intermixed with a trace of forbearance and protectiveness. Although he looked calm, as if he didn’t care much about Duan Yuan, if one were to look closely, one could see that most of his attention was focused on Duan Yuan himself.

With so many people here, he was still so careful with Duan Yuan.

As if Duan Yuan was a fragile, porcelain doll.

However, everyone only thought that he was nervous about his junior brother and so they didn’t think much about his behavior. They only slowly moved forward and carefully studied their surroundings.

If Duan Yuan had seen a winter scene previously, then what they saw this time should be late Autumn, bleak and desolate.

Shen Zhixian released the grass bud, which twirled around and then flew back in disgust. It stood firmly on Shen Zhixian’s shoulder, chirping and shaking its leaves.

Shen Zhixian said in a low voice, “These plants are real, but their vitality is faint and fading away…” A cool breeze drifted passed, shaking his hem, and he lifted his eyes up to look at the sky. “It’s dark.”

It was indeed dark.

Large, black clouds drifted over the horizon, hanging low and heavy over everyone’s head. It casted vast shadows over the the land, hiding unknown numbers of demons and monsters. Suddenly, there came a thunderous roar. The clouds dispersed as many objects shot through them and began falling down.

Semi-transparent shadow demons, glutinous fiends, and many demons that they’d seen before, such as the tear demons, all gleefully leaped down from the dark clouds.

The dark clouds dispersed, turning this place into a playground for demons and monsters.

The shadow demons played hide and seek in the piles of bones; glutinous fiends gathered bones to gnaw; while tear demon balls bounced every which way, knocking against one another and making rumbling and grumbling noises. However, one tear demon wasn’t careful and accidentally slammed into a headless demon.

The headless demon’s skeleton was disjointed and disorganized, and there was nothing above the neck. After the tear demon collided with it, it reeled about stiffly, creaking and crunching, before turning around angrily.

The tear demon noticed that things were not good. It quickly jumped back and bounced away. However, even though the headless demon looked very stiff when it turned around, its movement was very fast as it caught the tear demon and, in an even faster move, crushed it completely.

Water dripped to the ground and quickly melted into the soil.

This scene was really disturbing.

Duan Yuan picked up a dead branch and shook it in front of a shadow demon. The shadow demon didn’t seem to hear or notice him. Instead, it stuck its head into a pile of bones, causing its buttocks to lift, wobbling.

Duan Yuan tried to poke at it’s butt with the branch, but it only caused the image in front of them to sway, emitting a circle of ripples. The dead branch did not touch the shadow demon; there was a transparent barrier separating them from the demons and monsters outside.

Duan Yuan threw away the dead branch and withdrew his hand. He rubbed his nose. “I can’t touch it.”

Shen Zhixian looked back and saw that the stone door that they’d come through had disappeared. Behind them was only a silent, yellow mountain that was also covered with various demons and monsters.

In the distance, the rising moon shone hazily.

Yan Jin stooped down, picked up a fist-sized stone, and threw it gently.

His throw seemed casual but, as the stone flew out, it suddenly broke into dozens of pieces of rocks that scattered in all directions.

The scenes surrounding them were soon covered with numerous ripples. But, after a while, it inevitably returned to normal. The demons and monsters on the other side of the barrier didn’t seem to notice them nor hear them. However, Shen Zhixian could see clearly that they were enclosed in a barrier.

Unless they break the barrier, they would be trapped here, unable to leave. However, if they should break this barrier, they would soon be swarmed by demons and monsters.

This seemed like a dilemma. However, everyone smiled unanimously; they came here to destroy these demons and monsters, after all.

The outside world didn’t know what this secret realm was and Frost Return sword spirit could not pin the secret realm down for long. They had to make a quick decision.

However, there were still many demons and monsters outside. They need to find a way to break the barrier quietly so as to be able to sneak an attack on them.

The barrier wasn’t difficult to break; the problem was how to break it silently.

Shen Zhixian and Yan Jin’s weapons were swords; Xue Ci’s weapon was a medicinal pestle; Lian Qin’s weapon was a…cudgel guqin; and, Duan Yuan’s weapon was a…xun that was maybe also used to smash things.

It really seemed to be earth-shattering.

Duan Yuan held the xun in his hand and eagerly said, “I can try to shatter the barrier with a xun note.”

Seeing that there was no objections from anyone, he put the xun to his lips and took a breath.

A deep, low note rose up, the sound slightly desolate. Duan Yuan’s robe fluttered with wind, the image both haunting and stirring. Spiritual power spread out, carried forth by the mournful note. It was unexpectedly extraordinary.

Shen Zhixian had only been able to listen to Duan Yuan’s music once, which was the requiem Duan Yuan had played for the kitchen ghost.

The resurrection song had been gentle and peaceful, carrying no trace of lethality. Recently, after watching Lian Qin use his guqin as a cudgel and Duan Yuan using his xun to smash objects, he’d forgotten how entrancing their music could be. Instruments was used by sound cultivators to create music. Music could also be lethal.

Silent scratches appeared on the barrier, and scenes of the demons and monsters outside seemed to be fragmenting.

Everyone was ready. Once the barrier was broken, they would immediately shoot forward and quickly attack those demons and monsters outside with the fastest and fiercest moves.

Lian Qin’s brows moved slightly, his heart suddenly tremoring with an unknown feeling. He leaned back against Duan Yuan and held the guqin with one hand while sliding his other hand over the guqin’s body. Five icy silk strings emerged, formed by spiritual force. He pressed gently on one of the strings, causing it to tremble.

There were now more and more scratches on the barrier and the sounds of the demons and monsters outside were growing louder and louder. In the noise, there was a slight sound, like lightly floating ice and thick snow melting.

Sound cultivators were very sensitive to sounds. Lian Qin concentrated all his attention and heard an unknown sound. His expression changed, and he yelled, “Duan Yuan, stop!”

He suddenly made a move, as if to snatch Duan Yuan’s xun. It was most forbidden to rob a sound cultivator of their musical instruments when they were in the middle of playing it. The result could range from minor to severe injuries. Even Lian Qin, himself, wouldn’t be able to easily handle it, much less Duan Yuan!

But, he was still one step too late. Duan Yuan blew the last note. The sound of shifting ice and snow suddenly rang out, loud and clear. The moment Duan Yuan unfocused, he felt a cold surge at his feet, followed by a slight vibration.

Almost immediately, everybody dropped. The soil that had been covered with dry grass and frozen over with a thin layer of ice could no longer bear everyone’s weight. It suddenly shattered, exposing the huge pit underneath.

Heavy snow fell from the sky, and countless ice cones as thick as an arm bore down from all directions.

The ice cones’ tips brimmed with murderous chill, twined with rays of devil qi and shooting down as if wanting to poke everyone into hedgehogs.

Shen Zhixian pulled out his sword to block an ice cone. He stood back to back with Yan Jin, his sword dancing lightly in front of him as he cut off countless ice cones.

The surrounding ice wall seemed to rise up rapidly as a huge pressure dropped from the sky and pressed them down toward the bottom of the pit. They could only be cautious and careful, standing on the ice cones with the top cut off. Although they couldn’t completely overcome the pressure, they could at least slow the momentum of their fall.

Meanwhile, there were too many ice cones, shooting at them fiercely and endlessly. They were scattered apart, with Shen Zhixian and Yan jin on one side, Xue Ci on one side, and Lian Qin and Duan Yuan on the other side.

Lian Qin’s face was colder than the snow and ice. As his lips pressed tightly together, his fingers flicked over the strings. The sound of the guqin turned into an invisible force that broke the ice cone barreling straight toward him and Duan Yuan.

Perhaps, the secret realm sensed that Duan Yuan was the person who broke the barrier and deliberately retaliated against him. Camouflaged amidst the falling white snow, countless small ice cones gathered together into a particularly thick and large ice cone. It shot toward Duan Yuan.

Duan Yuan was worn out from the efforts used to break the barrier. Although he could still protect himself, it was limited and his movements had a trace of sluggishness, making it difficult for him to retreat.

Just as Duan Yuan thought he would soon be half dead and was preparing to defend against it, Lian Qin saw the cone. He instinctively kicked Duan Yuan away with one foot. Lifting his guqin up toward his face, his five fingers flit across the strings, sending out a burst of majestic spiritual force that collided with the large ice cone.

A harsh sound ricocheted out as the spiritual force slammed into the large ice cone. But, the large ice cone was condensed specifically to target Duan Yuan. How could it be so easy to resist? Duan Yuan staggered sideways but immediately reacted after straightening. He put the xun to his lips and blew, resisting with Lian Qin.

The large ice cone couldn’t resist their combined forces and quickly broke into many small cone fragments. However, it seemed unwilling to be repelled by their spiritual powers.

Duan Yuan felt a force slammed into his chest, making it feel tight and painful. His vision swam, but he still managed to smash away the ice cone fragments by sheer instinct. With difficulty, he opened his eyes.

He saw that there was only one cone fragment left. During this time, Lian Qin was fully resisting against the rebounding spiritual force and had no time to pay attention to it. The remaining cone fragment ruthlessly pierced his chest!

Blood instantly spurted out, staining Duan Yuan’s eyes. He was so scared, he felt as if he would lose his soul. Tossing away his xun, not caring about his own hurting chest, he rushed toward Lian Qin.

Countless ice cones shot by but he didn’t bother resisting them. His only thought was on trying to save Lian Qin.

Lian Qin’s forehead was dotted with a cold sweat. Panting, he reached out, wrapped his fingers around the ice cone half-embedded in his chest, and yanked it out decisively and unhesitantly.

Immediately after, he crushed the ice cone fragment with his last strength.

The wind and snow suddenly melted away and the small ice cones in the air immediately lost their momentum and turned into cold rainwater.

After Lian Qin crushed the ice cone, he staggered weakly and was caught by Duan Yuan.

Duan Yuan also looked very pitiful. His clothes were stained red with blood that belonged to both himself and Lian Qin.

Eyes wide, he staggered under Lian Qin’s weight and shouted hoarsely, “Senior Brother!”

Lian Qin’s face was pale, his eyes half-close. He panted and suddenly spit out a mouthful of blood.

A piece of jade fell from his chest and broke into two halves.

——————
Xixi: I just realized there are only 3 more chapters left, followed by 3 extras.