The lingering moon hung in the night sky like a hook, and the Jackdaws cried a mournful tune.
The Forbidden Room in Qingyun Sect was dark, and the disgusting stench of blood was thick enough to taste.
Eighteen bone-piercing nails penetrated the man’s limbs, chest, and abdomen, pinning his lean body firmly to the stone wall. Blood had been dripping from the body for several days now, condensing from bright red into a dark brown.
Pain usurped his consciousness, and his head hung in a hazy, disoriented manner. The dazzling, beautiful face of the past was now bloodless and pale. But, the dark red teardrop mole underneath his left eye still gave him a devastating beauty.
Just like a flower that had bloomed too much and would soon be ruined by death.
In the silence, the opening door emitted a clear whisper.
“Master.” Yan Jin walked leisurely in front of him, his expression ice-cold as he mockingly said, “Can you still endure ten thousand cuts?”
The person on the wall ignored him. The sound of breathing was nonexistent, and only the slight undulations of his chest indicated that he still clung to life.
But death was approaching.
Yan Jin’s dark eyebrows drew down, and his long fingers pinched the man’s delicate chin. With barely any effort, he lifted the man’s head up.
On Yan Jin’s wrist was a white brocade band adorned with a little white jade, and it shook gently as he moved. He coldly said, “Consider this as a repayment for destroying my spirit root.”
These words seemed to shock the dying man in front of him, and his lips parted to emit a broken breath. “Yan…Yan…”
There was a strong taste of rust in his mouth, and when he coughed, scarlet blood spilled from his lips. The blood moistened his throat enough for him to rasp a name. “Yan Jin…”
He could only see a vague shadow in front of him. The man closed his eyes and on his lips came a small, strange smile. “Are you going to kill me? You will regret it.”
He panted, murmuring, “The person you kill will be him…You’re going to kill him…”
This remark was confusing and incoherent. Yan Jin’s expression grew colder, and he moved his hand to the fragile neck, clenching without hesitation.
“Ah!”
The man wrenched out of his sluggishness and suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils flashed vacantly and strangely. Then, realizing the situation at hand, he briefly collapsed before suddenly struggling to free himself, his pale lips trembling. There was something he wanted to say–
But the blood-soaked spikes firmly imprisoned him, and Yan Jin no longer wanted to listen to him.
The sound of bones shattering and disintegrating lingered, then dissipated.
The dust settled.
….
It hurts!
It was like someone had ran a knife across his skin and pulled out all his muscles and tendons. The pain came from deep within the bones, making his soul tremble and thrash under the agony. But, his mind was clear with despair.
Shen Zhixian struggled under the nightmare, his slender fingers clutching the bedcover. His body trembled spasmodically for only half a moment before his eyes snapped open, and he let out a tired breath.
…He was finally awake.
Hadn’t he just read this novel right before bedtime?! Wasn’t this the cannon fodder master with the same name as him and who ended up being slaughtered by the disciple?! What a nightmare to be nailed to the wall and stabbed to death!
Shen Zhixuan supported himself with his elbow and turned over, wanting to sit up. But, suddenly, he stopped and stared distractedly.
Wait a minute!
This couldn’t be right!
Ignoring the dull ache in his body, he focused on a neglected memory. He did read the novel, yes, but he stayed up all night to finish it and hadn’t slept yet. Where did the nightmare come from?
This xianxia novel was written extremely well at the beginning but ended badly.
The protagonist, Yan Jin, had a gifted spirit root and was a cultivating genius. However, in this kind of book, miserable things often happened to the protagonist, deceiving the readers into tears.
Yan Jin’s story was no exception. After experiencing torture in his youth, such as being framed by his sect, having a hateful, jealous master who severed his spirit root, and so on, he was completely blackened into taking the devil’s path and killed everyone who had previously harmed him. He captured and tortured his master with ten thousand cuts and then strangled him to death.
Later, the author proceeded to say–Yan Jin found out the truth of something shortly after the death of his master, and his mind snapped. He went completely crazy and committed suicide. The End.
That was it. The author didn’t even bother to write what the truth was.
When Shen Zhixian, who’d spent the whole night reading, arrived at this terrible ending, he felt like he was choking on excrement.
After deciding to forget about it and then spending half an hour sending the author a block of cuttingly harsh words, Shen Zhixian decided to head downstairs to buy himself some breakfast to calm down, only to find that the elevator was broken. As a result, he could only take the stairs.
He’d forgotten that he had low blood sugar, added with an empty stomach and a sleepless night. Therefore, due to a momentary dizziness, he lost his footing and cartwheeled down the stairs, ending with his head slammed into the wall.
It was long past work time so no one passed by in the quiet hallway.
Shen Zhixian’s fall was very serious, so much so his shirt soon grew wet and sticky with blood. The sharp scented blood made him drowsy, and so he couldn’t be certain if he had called out for help. He opened his eyes wide, feeling that his body was aching and full of pain, like it was being sliced and chopped.
His eyes flickered for a moment, and in his bloody confusion, it seemed as if someone was standing right in front of him, fingers tightly clenching his throat.
Shen Zhixian had landed on his back, and he was unable to say a word. The last thing he saw was the faint shape of the person in front of him and…
A pair of cold, red eyes..
And then, the memory ended.
WTF!
Shen Zhixian swallowed and touched his throat. And those red eyes. Why had he thought of the scene in the book, when Yan Jin killed his master?!!
Because he had the same name as this cannon fodder, he paid special attention whenever “Shen Zhixian” was mentioned in the book. And, he especially paid attention to the part where he died.
Body pinned by long nails, thousands of cuts, throat shattered.
Shen Zhixian pursed his lips and pushed himself off the bed. He walked to the bronze mirror not far away. After a glance, he felt as if he had been struck dead by lightning.
The young man in the mirror looked both familiar and unfamiliar.
He looked familiar because this face was similar to the face he’d been seeing in the mirror for more than twenty years. But, it was also unfamiliar because…what was this tear-shaped mole? Why was there a mole?
Coupled with his pale and refined features, the mole turned the person into a dazzling beauty.
Shen Zhixian looked stiffly at his neck for a long time, until some intermittent and vague memories quietly flooded his mind. Finally, he closed his eyes, accepting the fact that he had transmigrated into a book and, worst yet, transmigrated into that of a cannon fodder.
Momentarily depressed, he sighed and laid down on the bed to think seriously about life.
The original book once said that “Shen Zhixian” had a good spirit root and was exceptional at cultivating. He was second in charge of Qingyun Sect, but after sustaining an injury while out on training, he was plagued with a heart ailment that struck him intermittently.
Later, he could no longer make any progress in his cultivation, as he was unable to even use spiritual power for long periods of time. His supremacy eventually fell to one of his sect brothers, and he retired as an elder with no official duties.
Shen Zhixian leaned against the bedframe for a while and thought about it. But, he couldn’t remember what had happened to cause such a serious heart ailment. It was probably because he had just transmigrated so that specific memory had yet merged.
He was so caught up in thinking that when two hard knocks suddenly came from the door, his heart jerked in alarm. Before he could ask who it was, the door was pushed open.
Surely his status in Qingyun Sect couldn’t be so low that others could enter and leave his room without his consent?!
Still muttering angrily in his heart, Shen Zhixian raised his eyes to look at the person entering, and his anger immediately extinguished. Oh, just great. That person had some power.
This gentle and refined looking man was wearing a simple, light blue robe. Hanging on his waist was a jade pendant that represented the identity of the sect leader.
He probably didn’t expect Shen Zhixian to be awake. Two pairs of eyes stared at each other for a moment. Shen Zhixian saw a trace of surprise quickly flashed across the other man’s eyes. Soon after, a relieved smile appeared. “Junior Brother is awake?”
No kidding! If he wasn’t awake, he must be sleepwalking with his eyes open.
Shen Zhixian lightly murmured in assent but did not bother to get up. The original body’s memory had not fully integrated, and some memories were still vague. Such as, this time, why did his heart ailment suddenly break out to such an extent that he would pass out?
However, some things were very instinctive, such as his attitude towards Song Ming, the man with the highest position in Qingyun Sect.
It was neither cold nor hot, neither harmonious nor insipid.
In fact, this was understandable. After all, the Qingyun Sect leader position should have belonged to the original. In the eyes of the original owner, Song Ming probably picked up the position by sheer luck
Song Ming seemed very accustomed to his attitude and only smiled mildly, like a good senior brother who often pampered his little junior brother’s temper. “I will take care of the incident with the Hidden Sword Pavilion so that junior brother can relax his heart. You needn’t blame yourself for this incident.”
After hearing this, Shen Zhixian realized that he didn’t know the previous situation and couldn’t make sense of what was happening. Therefore, he was afraid that the more he talked, the more flaws he would expose. He could only answer vaguely and noncommittally and then pretend to be drowsy.
Song Ming stopped and looked at him warmly. “Since you’re tired, senior brother will leave first. Your little disciple is still waiting outside. I’ll let him come in and wait for you to rest.”
Little disciple.
Shen Zhixian’s first thought was Yan Jin. The red eyes flickered across his mind, and his body began to ache again. He almost refused to speak.
But, as soon as he looked up and saw Song Ming’s dark and deep eyes, Shen Zhixian’s heart jerked with discomfort. He swallowed and murmured a slight, “Mmn.”
The light blue figure slowly walked away. After a while, someone slipped in through the half-opened door and called out, “Master.”
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Xixi: Do not re-post my translations without permission. Thank you.
I’m super looking forward to this novel. It has many of the aspects I adore in a Danmei. Thanks!!
Hi, Xixi may I translate your translation, It's Not Easy Being a Master into indonesian? I found your translation and intrested with it.
Of course I will give the link to reach your translation^^
Hi! Of course you may. Good luck with your translation! 😄
Thank you Xixi 😆😆
IM WAITING FOR MORE!! Thanks for picking up such an interesting danmei! I hope you'll continue to translate until the end TwT
OMG! This is so good!! I'm addicted! I'll read diligently! Thanks for the chapter ����
Thanks for the chapter (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
After reading The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System and The Husky and his White Cat Shizu, now I’m here for another one! Can’t get enough of Master-Disciple Relationship.
Thank you for translating this interesting novel!
Hi, I loved the beginning of the novel, I wonder if I can translate it into Spanish so that more people know this story
Yes, you may. Good luck!
Thanks! 💓
Hm I wonder what he found out after this master's death
Hello! Thank you very much for translating this! The translation quality is superb and I'm enjoying it very much.
I'm doing a reading thread on Twitter and I ocassionally attach screenshot of the excerpts of this story from time to time. I wonder whether that's okay or considered as reposting your translation. If it's considered as reposting, I'd be more than willing to take the screenshots down. Nonetheless, I'd like to apologize for not asking your permission first before I posted those excerpts. It's truly my fault for overlooking that.
Hi! I’m glad you’re enjoying this story. Posting an excerpt here or there is completely fine as long as the proper credits are given, and so there’s no need to ask for permission in advance. Thanks for checking! 😄
Hello Xixi,
I am reading this novel and I find it very interesting. I want to know if you allow me to translate it to the Portuguese, for those who doesn't understand english. By the way, your translation is flawless and if you allow me to translate I'll give you the proper credits.
Thanks in advance and greetings from Brazil.
Hello. Yes, you may. Please also credit the author. Thanks for asking and for the kind words. Good luck with your translation. 🙂
Hi dear Xixi may I translate your translation, It's Not Easy Being a Master into myanmar? I really interest your work.
Of course I will give the link to reach your translation.
Yes, you may. Please also credit the author. Good luck with your translation.
Sure!Thank you very much for your kindness
omgg im hypee.. love u translator
Hi Xixi,
I read your translation and was interested in this novel. will you allow me to translate it into Indonesian, for those who don't understand English. if you allow me to translate it, I'll give you a credit and link so they can visit your translation. Thanks.
Dear Xixi,
This one is really a good one and well arranged.
I would like to translate your translation into burmese.
Thank you for the translation, Xixi ❤️
I see Shen Jiu Yue qi and Luo binghe in this first chapter. I hope the original Shen zhixian past not sad and miserable as Shen Jiu past. I had enough.
I wish the text was bigger _:(´ཀ`」∠):_
Hi, XiXi, can I use your translation to translate into Portuguese? I promise to give due credit.
Rereading this againnn coz some novel reminded me of it ╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯
This sect leader is sus
Can someone help I can very confused what happened in this chapter??
mc (shen zhixian) had a nightmare where he was being killed by the ml (yan jin). when he woke up he realized that the nightmare was actually a part of the novel that he had read the day before. after waking up, he feels dizzy and falls down the stairs where his head starts bleeding. after this point he suddenly finds himself transmigrated into the novel’s cannon fodder master who was supposed to be originally killed by his disciple (yan jin)
good
Please if this were those miserable unrequited love like Yan Jin admits he fell in love but Shen Zixuan doesnt have the same feeling I WOULD BE 10X MORE HYPE TO SEE THE THRILL >:DD
It looks very promising!! Thank you so much for your hard work!O(≧▽≦)O
Hmm nice start. I’m curious about this novel
Looking forward to reading more 🙏🧧