What happened this night was too unexpected for them both.
Yan Jin didn’t know what to think. When he looked at Shen Zhixian, his gaze was calm but his heart was astonished by this unexpected event. Shen Zhixian also didn’t know what to think. He could only pretend to be calm as he walked out the door and closed it firmly behind him. Yan Jin stared after him vacantly, until the weakness in his body disappeared.
He looked down at the sword expressionlessly, until the mist in his eyes gradually dissipated. He’d dreamed about his past life again, causing his emotions to fluctuate. When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t distinguish between reality and dreams.
He didn’t know when Shen Zhixian had entered his quarters or what he did after he came in…But, according to Shen Zhixian’s reaction just now, perhaps he hadn’t discovered anything yet. At most, he probably thought Yan Jin was dreaming about being bullied in the past.
The warmth of Shen Zhixian’s palm still lingered at the back of his hand. He shoved the sword back into its sheath and threw it next to the bed.
The sword knocked against something, creating a clinking sound. Yan Jin looked over and saw that it was a small jade bottle.
It was the bottle that Shen Zhixian had used to hold the spirit pill. When he came, he’d tossed the bottle here and had forgotten to take it back.
Yan Jin picked up the small jade bottle and shook it but no sounds came out. It was empty.
The bottle cap was not tightly closed and the faint smell of medicine emanated from the small opening. Yan Jin pursed his lips, suddenly realizing that this scent was a little familiar, as if…
He licked his lips with the tip of his tongue and tasted a hint of residual medicine. After a moment of hesitation, he gently lifted the bottle cap and brought the opening up to his nose, confirming his guess.
After taking in the faint scent of medicine, Yan Jin was silent for a long time. Then he re-inserting the bottle cap, left the bed barefooted, and pulled out a small package from within the cabinet.
Because it was rarely pulled out, the small parcel still looked very new. He opened the small package, put the empty jade bottle inside, re-tied the knot, and put it back into the cabinet.
When the small parcel was put back, it emitted clinking sounds as the jade bottles inside collided.
Crisp and sweet.
After that night, it was as if nothing had happened.
The stupid master and disciple continued to get along peacefully on the surface.
Yan Jin remained taciturn. Shen Zhixian didn’t know what he was planning and continued to act as if nothing had happened. He treated Yan Jin as usual. Since matters had come to this, he was willing to pretend to be stupid. After all, to behave otherwise, the harm to him would outweigh the benefits.
At least, he must be stupid until he managed to solve the problem of his heart injury.
Fish scale, ah…Ever since he remembered it, he’d begun to secretly plot. This scale was precious and rare, and it was, after all, related to his life. Since he couldn’t feel reassured enough to rely on other people, he could only rely on himself.
Unfortunately, this matter was easy to think about but difficult to do. He didn’t know where the secret realm was located. The only thing he knew was that Yan Jin might enter this secret realm in the future.
…In the end, the protagonist’s thigh still needed to be held.
Shen Zhixian sighed sadly. In order to find the secret realm and the fish scale, it seemed that he would still have to coax Yan Jin.
When this was over, perhaps they could talk openly and honestly with each other. As for what the results might be…Forget it. He’ll think about it later.
…………..
Winter gradually drifted further away, turning the weather increasingly warmer. Under Fourth Elder’s meticulous care, Shen Zhixian’s heart injury had stabilized a great deal. It no longer broke out so easily, thus allowing him to use a little spiritual force as needed.
Meanwhile, Qingyun Sect marked the first month of the lunar year with beating drums and began planning for its Sword Competition Assembly, which was typically held once every five years.
“….This is a trifling matter. Otherwise, Song Ming might misunderstood that I’m lazy….It’s fine. After all, I still have A’Jin, ah.”
When Yan Jin entered the room, Shen Zhixian had just cut off Fourth Elder’s words. As he listened to the last two sentences, he remained standing to the side, not saying a single word.
Shen Zhixian didn’t mind that Yan Jin had heard him. He still couldn’t use much spiritual force so it would be necessary to make Yan Jin work hard. Once this event was over…
Shen Zhixian pulled his thoughts back and said to him, “The Sword Competition Assembly is only a few months away. The Shilian Mountain hasn’t been cleared in a long time. After a few days, when you’re ready, you can come with me to take a look.”
Yan Jin answered in agreement.
Shen Zhixian gave him a few more brief orders.
In addition to being open to ordinary disciples in the sect, the Sword Competition Assembly also encouraged the participation of people who wanted to enter the sect.
The top three disciples would not only get the chance to choose a sword from the Hidden Sword Pavilion but might also be accepted as a personal disciple to one of the elders or even the Sect Leader. Being accepted as a personal disciple was like having a one thousand mile head start.
Therefore, many people took great pains just to sign up.
Shen Zhixian’s task was to inspect the mountain and set up trials for the disciples and competitors.
The mountain typically contained a lot of little demonized beasts that wouldn’t be too difficult for ordinary disciples to handle. However, five years had passed, and it would be prudent for Shen Zhixian to inspect the place, clean up the more dangerous monsters, and add in more small demonized beasts as needed.
Because Shen Zhixian was concealing the fact that his heart injury had worsened, so as to prevent anyone from making calculations that should not be made, he could only take Yan Jin with him on this errand. Even then, Yan Jin was the main force and ended up doing most of the grunt work. Shen Zhixian only accompanied him on the day they were set to clear out monsters.
Shilian Mountain was actually an extremely wide and long mountain range, so large that it could accommodate nearly a thousand people to enter and practice without encountering each other.
Inside the mountain was a lock spirit array that, when activated, could suppress the disciples’ spiritual force. This trial was said to test the disciples’ viability without the aid of their spiritual force.
“After rely on one’s spiritual force for a long time, it’s inevitable that one will forget some basic skills.” As Shen Zhixian opened the special beast containment bag and let out the small demonized beasts within, he added, “This trial is quite interesting.”
The small demonized beasts immediately scattered, each looking for a suitable resting place. For a while, the area bustled with liveliness.
In fact, these demonized beasts were all very common monsters, such as massive, squawking ducks; big, sharp-teeth rabbits; large jumping frogs; slightly poisonous giants snakes that liked to lazily nestle under trees; great barking turtledoves; and so on. There was a bit of everything here.
These beasts were not ferocious monsters; they were just relatively large. Therefore, brute strength would be sufficient. Spiritual force wouldn’t be needed at all.
In addition to the spirit lock array, the mountain also contained ordinary isolation formations and teleportation formations. The isolation formation was meant to prevent others from sneaking in and out of Shilian Mountain. Meanwhile, the teleportation formations would allow disciples to crush a token when in danger and immediately be transported to safety.
Shen Zhixian inspected various positions. Although he was not proficient in advanced formations, he could still handle the more common ones.
After taking care of a few small problems, he noticed that something was wrong. “Why is there an extra spirit jade buried here? That’s weird.” He pondered for a moment. “This is a normal isolation formation, but this extra spirit jade would prevent the formation from working as intended.”
An ordinary isolation formation could restrict people from entering and exiting, but it would not completely prevent contacts with the outside world. Moreover, it would also not interfere with the teleportation formations.
However, with the addition of the extra piece of spirit jade, the formation method immediately changed. It would not only forbid people from entering and exiting the mountain, but it would also isolate that person from the outside world. The person inside would not be able to receive nor send news, and it would be impossible for the outside world to know what was happening here.
At that time, the group of young disciples would have no spiritual power and likely wouldn’t be able to escape from danger. In fact, they might be trapped here instead!
Shen Zhixian frowned. Aside from the Sword Competition Assembly, the mountain was usually sealed. No one would be able to enter. Then, how did this problem come about?
The spirit jade was buried in a location that was too coincidental for it to be unintentional. It shouldn’t be the work of any young disciples with limited spiritual forces. As it was, this direct modification was perfectly balanced, ensuring that the original formation would not collapse when modified.
The same care would need to be taken if one were to remove the extra spirit jade.
Shen Zhixian pondered for a moment and decided to first ask Yan Jin to help dig out the spirit jade. But, when he looked back, he saw that Yan Jin was standing one meter away, his face stoically calm, making Shen Zhixian felt nervous without reason.
He composed himself. “A’Jin, come and help me.”
Yan Jin stood quietly, seeming to have no intention of coming over. He shook his head and said slowly, “Master, goodbye.”
Shen Zhixian suddenly felt an ominous premonition. Yan Jin slightly raised his hand and broke a spirit stone with his fingers. Shen Zhixian’s spiritual force was immediately suppressed. Yan Jin had started the formation!
A thick fog swirled up and completely covered Shen Zhixian in a few breaths. He faintly saw Yan Jin’s figure and instinctively rushed toward him.
Because of this unknown danger, Shen Zhixian’s desire for survival was stimulated to the extreme. This move was very powerful, such that even Yan Jin had to take a few steps back to stabilize himself.
Immediately after Shen Zhixian threw himself at Yan Jin, he held his hand tightly, confirmed that he was still alive, and hurriedly looked behind him.
In one glance, he saw that the dense, menacing fog was floating over. It avoided the position that Yan Jin had previously been standing in and soon engulfed them.
Yan Jin!
With a jolt, the teleportation formation was initiated. Shen Zhixian realized everything at once. People were forbidden to enter or exit Shilian Mountain at will. But, a few days ago…
A few days ago, he’d order Yan Jin to come and do a preliminary exploration!
The sudden appearance of the spirit jade and the small space that the dense fog had avoided were all related to Yan Jin!
The apparent peace in the past few days could not hide the calculations underneath.
Shen Zhixian’s spiritual force was completely suppressed. He and Yan Jin were standing next to each other, and he could feel that Yan Jin’s spiritual force was also quickly dissipating. This meant that the formation was also working on Yan Jin.
This gave him a small measure of relief. At least, this way, Yan Jin wouldn’t be able to get rid of him so easily.
The fog was so thick that it was impossible to see through, and the area shook so much that it was enough to make people feel nauseous. Shen Zhixian’s hand slowly and cautiously slipped down. Despite Yan Jin’s resistance, he gritted his teeth and opened his fingers little by little.
Then he squeezed Yan Jin’s fingers between his own fingers and fastened them tightly.
Interlocking fingers.
The strongest, most difficult to separate position.
As they were tossed about, Shen Zhixian clenched his teeth, thinking, it would be impossible for Yan Jin, this little cub, to shake him off this time!
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It was still pouring when Lu Yang reached the bottom floor with his suitcase, though…
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Truly difficult. The suffering of a lifetime is not something that can be wiped away. It must be confusing for YJ. Those were all things that were too real and he truly experienced. He was seemingly headed down that path once again but then suddenly everything changed. It would be hard and scary. If he were to trust his master again, what happens if it’s all a trick? How much worse would the fall be if it’s born from kindness and trust? How could the original (or whatever it even was) have been so cruel 😭😭
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
Ohh... So exciting! Thank you for translating this!
I also like that Yan Jin isn't so quick to let go of his grudge. This is more believable and makes him more relatable as a character tbh. I do pity Shen Zhixian though, considering he wasn't actually at fault for ruining Yan Jin's spirit root and killing him (unless he did do it and he transmigrated or something, but in that case we don't really know what happened or why he did it).
- XF
Well, I personally feel that Yan Jin has been dragging out the process of finding closure. This attitude's starting to get on my nerves. OK, you do not trust someone who wronged you in the past. You don't have the guts to kill them. Instead you're toying with the idea of letting them die conveniently, but finally decide to save them. Then, after they helped you with a major problem, you attempt to stitch them up... I hope the present crisis (if it can be called so) will jolt them out of this painful indecisiveness.
Sorry for the rant and thanks for the update.
You may love or hate “Quickly wear the face of a villain”. The MC gets transmigrated into previous lives where he suffered, and gives those he was wronged a chance, just one. However, he does have a bad habit of playing with his food. I picture him more with cat ears than devil horns. https://www.novelupdates.com/series/quickly-wear-the-face-of-the-devil/
Thanks for the chapter (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
Another to add on that I liked that YJ didn't let go of his past grudges that quickly, well compared to similar type novels where they fall in love before/by a time skip or such. It makes it feel like there's more at stake, that the MC has to work harder, that there will be more catharsis and development
More realistic. YJ pretty much has PTSD from what his old Master did. He just doesn’t realize the soul changed.
It's understandable that he wouldn't be able to let go can't really blame him but still you have known the new him for a while you should know the difference
I honestly don't understand MC's surprise at ML hatred and distrust of him. Even just the 3 lashes and forcing ML into a freezing cave crippled the ML and would have resulted in the death of anyone lacking the MC halo. It really doesn't need for the ML root to be destroyed to foster hatred and mistrust. MC revelation of ML being reborn too and this being the reason why he is hated is unnecessary because anyone would hate the person who lashed and almost crippled you. After that no matter how good someone treated you it really doesn't make up for such a cruel torment. Only someone very naive would believe otherwise. I can only figure that MC had a very good life and does not understand the suffering of other people.🤷♀️
Thanks for the chapter 😊😍
I honestly just want my guy Shen to ditch Yan jin. Sure, he's trying to keep on his good side, but at a certain point you just got to let it go. It's not his job to make up for things he didn't even do. He might be in the guy's body, and Yan Jin sure is a case of pity, but getting attatched to someone that obviously holds ill will towards you is asking for trouble. I'm actually applauding the MC for hanging in so long just to help the kid, but after clearly seeing Yan Jin's hatred for him still strong and going, he should have been making steps to leave.
Seriously making preparations and the like, to find the scale, leave the sect, and get out of the other's way. There comes a point where you can't go any further than sincere apologies and trying to make up for it. Other than self-harm which I don't think helps anybody, you can't really go any further. Just leave them be and get out of their way.
I think the problem is that cultivation protagonists are basically treasure magnets. Even if MC went to the (probably extremely vague) location where the scale is supposed to be, he still might not be able to find it without Yan Jin there.