NEBM Chapter 2: On the Cliff

It wasn’t that he looked ugly. Rather, he could only be said to have mediocre, forgettable features. This type of appearance could never be the protagonist.

Shen Zhixian, a veteran at laying low, was relieved and let out an inaudible sigh. Now, whenever he thought of Yan Jin, he remembered the immersive nightmare of death. There was only one word to describe his current mood: terrified.

However, this so-called “little disciple”…

Shen Zhixian’s eyes became thoughtful as he tried to remember who this person might be.

He was indeed the original owner’s disciples.

One year ago, shortly after the original owner accepted Yan Jin as a disciple, he also accepted another disciple named Yan Shen at the sect’s Sword Competition Assembly.

Yan Shen was only 13 or 14 years old this year and still had a childish face. However, he looked unexpectedly strong and had a relatively good spiritual foundation.

As Shen Zhixian thought, his dark eyelashes were slightly lowered, contrasting with the paleness of his skin. He was leaning lightly against the side of the bed, his long hair falling behind him in a stream of black satin. The whole man looked elegantly lazy and sleepy.

Yan Shen’s eyes flashed with an inexplicable emotion, but he soon concealed it.

He took two to three steps closer to Shen Zhixian and called “Master” again. Looking Shen Zhixian with a worried expression, he said, “Master, are you still uncomfortable? Don’t be angry with senior brother. Senior brother had already received his punishment and was sent to the Cliff of Reflection. Surely, he will realize his mistake and not do it again.”

Punishment at the Cliff of Reflection.

Realization dawned, and Shen Zhixian finally recalled at what point of the plot he was in.

Then, his eyes darkened, and he wanted to faint immediately and pretend that he didn’t know anything. In this part of the plot, Yan Jin was indeed in difficult straits.

Qingyun Sect had a Hidden Sword Pavilion, which was a restricted area. As such, it was opened only once every five years and only to the top three winning disciples of the Sword Competition Assembly.

In the book, Yan Jin broke into the Hidden Sword Pavilion in the middle of the night and not only destroyed more than half of the swords on the first floor but also ended up hurting many disciples who tried to stop him. After being restrained, Yan Jin refused to plead guilty. He only said through gritted teeth that he had to break into it and then refused to say anything more.

Yan Jin was born with an excellent spirit root. If it was seven or eight years ago, the original owner could probably teach him well. But, since his heart ailment, the original owner’s mentality had greatly changed.

He was also deeply jealous of Yan Jin.

Therefore, whenever Yan Jin was in trouble, the original owner did not bother distinguishing between truth and lies and had no intention of protecting his disciple. When he saw that Yan Jin had refused to plead guilty, he merely sneered, took out his disciplinary whip, lashed him three times and then told him to go to the Cliff of Reflection.

His disciplinary whip was not a small thing. It was specially designed by the sect to punish disciples who had made grave mistakes. The whip had a magic property, ensuring that the one being punished could not resist with spiritual power and could only suffer through the lashes.

The first lash broke the skin, the second lash cut the meat, and the third lash sawed the bone, making it so that the wounds would take several months to heal.

The Cliff of Reflection was not a good place for such wounds. On the high cliffs, enduring the cold wind and the snow and ice, Yan Jin, who had received three lashes from the disciplinary whip, had a difficult time enduring.

This punishment would inevitably damage Yan Jin’s spirit root, causing him to endure bitter chills every time he used his spiritual power. Even worse, soon after this incident, the original owner severed Yan Jin’s spirit root and expelled him from the sect, thus turning him into a waste.

“Master?” Yan Shen called.

Shen Zhixian returned to the moment at hand and gently coughed to hide his momentary inattention. He asked quietly, “How is Yan Jin right now?”

Yan Shen said, “Senior brother passed out but went to the cliff as soon as he woke up. Master, senior brother had already been punished like this and won’t do it again. Please don’t harm your body and worry your disciples…”

Shen Zhixian had some awareness in his heart. He’d read the original book and, of course, he knew the general situation regarding the Hidden Sword Pavilion incident. The person who framed Yan Jin…had some relationship with this person in front of him.

It wasn’t a coincidence that Yan Shen could become his apprentice. Naturally, someone had helped him.

This thirteen or fourteen year old youth looked worried, as if he was really sincerely consoling Shen Zhixian, but the words he spit out firmly nailed Yan Jin to the wrong pillar.

Shen Zhixian straightened and brushed Yan Shen’s hand away. He calmly said, “Go out.”

Yan Shen’s eyes flickered. Holding back the words that rose up in his mind, he merely said, “Okay.”

Without ceremony, the door closed behind him.

As soon as the person left, Shen Zhixian immediately turned over and settled down to look through the box of elixirs and medicinal pellets—He still had to rescue Yan Jin from the cliff! Otherwise, it might be too late!

Never did he imagine that he would transmigrate into the book, but he still wanted to turn the situation around. Thinking about how easily Yan Jin had annihilated the entire Qingyun Sect and how he had ruthlessly and savagely tortured his own master, Shen Zhixian couldn’t help but shivered. He held a bunch of top-quality cold-repellent medicines to his chest.

At present, the only way out was to quickly increase the favorability of the protagonist, Yan Jin, so that the terrible nightmare would not come to pass.

Be a good master, be a good master…Shen Zhixian kept chanting as he packed things up. Since gaining a bit of the previous owner’s memory, he understood a bit of spiritual power and used it to leave the house quietly.

Using this same memory to avoid obstacles and people along the way, Shen Zhixian successfully found the Cliff of Reflection.

The cliff was incredibly high. Even standing underneath, once could feel the cold chill emitting from the ice and snow above. Without using spiritual energy, it would even be difficult to breathe.

Shen Zhixian frowned and glanced around. He saw a stone path covered with snow that was just wide enough for one person to traverse. He tried to take two steps at once and slipped.

The Cliff of Reflection was uninhabited, and a formation array was needed to get to the top. However, disciples who were being punished could not use this array. Therefore, Yan Jin would have to drag his wounded body up the steep slope step by step…Shen Zhixian sighed, left his thoughts behind him, and started to climb the mountain.

He considered flying up with magic, but he was still not very skilled at using spiritual power and was afraid of falling into the depths halfway. The reason he also could not use the formation array was because he didn’t want this secret trip to be discovered.

The Cliff of Reflection was high and difficult to climb. Fortunately, his body was very durable when it was not suffering from the heart ailment. Shen Zhixian climbed for nearly an hour and finally found the place where Yan Jin was located.

There was a cave so small and narrow that it wouldn’t be able to block the wind nor keep out the snow. As soon as Shen Zhixian raised his eyes, he saw a snowman sitting there. Shocked, he hurriedly pulled the person out.

The boy, who was wearing an old, thin robe, was pale. His eyes were closed, and he was motionless even as the snow buried him. Shen Zhixian touched his face, which was terribly cold.

He quickly pulled out a pile of medicines and turned his back to block the wind and snow. As he held the person in his arms, he opened the thin robe to feel the youth’s pulse. After determining that his heart was still beating, he was relieved and began to pour cold-repellent medicines into his mouth.

However, the teenager was still vigilant despite being unconscious. He clenched his teeth and refused to relax enough to swallow. Shen Zhixian had no choice but to put down the medicines and use his own spiritual power to rub down his frozen limbs.

After so much rubbing, he discovered that the young man in his arms was terribly thin, his skin almost sticking to his bones and holding him was like holding a bamboo pole. Yan Jin should be fifteen or sixteen years old this year. Looking at this, he was afraid that Yan Jin might not be as tall as he should have been.

The injury from the disciplinary whip on his back had obviously been left untreated. The blood had already congealed, and his clothes was stuck to it, frozen solid. Seeing this horrible sight, Shen Zhixian felt a ghost pain on his own back.

He sighed in distressed, his heart of a loving master completely stunned. For the first time, he felt truly angry at the original owner for tossing around a good child like this. If Yan Jin wasn’t the protagonist and protected by the Heavenly Dao, he would have died after three lashes.

He changed his posture a little so that Yan Jin was lying in his arms, intending to deal with the wound. Unexpectedly, the youth suddenly woke up with a moan. He opened his eyes and looked up. Upon seeing Shen Zhixian, a vicious light flashed across his eyes and he immediately pushed him away.

Shen Zhixian was caught off guard and subconsciously leaned back, allowing himself to be pushed away.

The push seemed to have exhausted all of the youth’s remaining strength. He gasped and, without Shen Zhixian to hold him, fell backward.

Seeing this, Shen Zhixian quickly lifted his hands to cushion Yan Jin’s head, which would have fallen onto a condensed piece of ice shard. If his head had fallen upon it, there would have been another bloody wound to worry about.

“Hisss–”

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Xixi: The names of things and places will only be translated into English if it sounds better in English or if it’s useful in reminding readers the purpose of the thing/place. For example, the Cliff of Reflection sounds better than Siguo Cliff and tells us exactly what it is.