NEBM Chapter 26: Dressed in White

After the Sword Competition Assembly, Shen Zhixian went into seclusion once again on the grounds of conditioning his body after his heart attack.

Song Ming sent several disciples to ask what ought to be done with Yan Shen. For several days, they came countless times to Fifth Peak to see Shen Zhixian, only to be turned away every time. The response was the same: Do as the sect leader’s wish. Fifth Peak has nothing to say.

One small disciple even wanted to break into the summit directly, only to find Yan Jin holding a sword at the door!

Although Senior Brother Yan seemed to have no expression on his face, the small disciple clearly felt his murderous aura.

It was within the murderous spirit of “say nothing, ask nothing, just fight.”

The small disciple ran away in fright.

Yan Jin was not murderous for no reason. The other disciples didn’t know the truth and thought that Shen Zhixian was really in retreat. Only Yan Jin knew that Shen Zhixian just didn’t want to see him.

On the seventh day in front of Shen Zhixian’s closed door, Yan Jin finally knelt and called, “Master.”

There was still no response.

Yan Jin was silent for a long time and conscientiously kowtowed three times, whispering, “Master, disciple is leaving now.”

In the end, he couldn’t bear to force Shen Zhixian. If Shen Zhixian didn’t want to see him then he’ll leave for a period of time. Perhaps, by that time, Master’s anger would have died down.

Yan Jin stood up. Many things had happened in such a short period of time. Perhaps, he really should leave for a while to calm down…Master, Sui Xian.

He chewed on these two words and walked back, feeling upset. His pace was not as smooth as usual, his attention not as sharp as usual. The window that had been closed for many days quietly opened to reveal a trace of green.

It wasn’t until Yan Jin’s figure had completely disappeared that the slit at the window quietly closed once again. After a while, the door squeaked open and a young man in white came out.

He had an incredibly refined and noble appearance. His eyes were clear and pure, and when he leisurely shook out his fan, it made him looked very lively–the kind of liveliness that often made people draw swords and dance and write about.

Noble and reckless. These were two contradictory words that described him perfectly, that balanced on his features harmoniously.

He walked out leisurely, took a deep breath, and a relaxed and easy smile stretched over his lips. “…Any longer, and I would have died in that room.”

The door was half-opened, revealing a table. Sitting at the table was Shen Zhixian, who was raising his hand to calmly pour tea.

The young man in white folded his fan and rapped the tip against the door. Shen Zhixian was alerted and turned to look over, setting aside the teacup as he did so.

“Elder Shen, I’ll be troubling you during this time.” The young man in white clasped his hand in a respectful bow. The puppet in the room raised his hand with a gentle expression. As he did so, his sleeves swayed, exuding a faint fragrance.

The young man in white carefully looked over the person in the room and, finally at ease, folded his fan before turning away smartly to leave.

………………………….

Meanwhile, Yan Jin silently went down the mountain. Feeling at a loss, he turned around a few times to look at the mountain peak that he’d lived in for several years.

Although he’d been planning to leave for a while now, when the time really came, he found himself feeling adrift.

He didn’t know what to do or where to go.

When Yan Jin left, he didn’t tell anyone so, aside from Shen Zhixian, no one knew.

Many years ago, he’d entered by himself. Now, he also left by himself, carrying nothing but a sword, two sets of clothes, and a few spirit stones.

Yan Jin stood for a moment in silence before he finally stooped to pick up a dead branch. He tossed it and headed in the direction it pointed.

Because he had no specific direction, Yan Jin did not buy a mount like other disciples who went out to practice. Of course, the biggest reason was also that he was broke.

In fact, Shen Zhixian was very generous when it came to money. In addition to the usual monthly allowance given to his close disciples, Shen Shixian also allocated a lot of spirit stones to him from his own private account.

Yan Jin hadn’t used the money much and mainly left it untouched. He only took it out later to buy Shen Zhixian the soft jade bed and the white jade table. In the end, there were only a few spirit stones left, which he brought out with him.

But, he was not willing to use these spirit stones, wanting to keep them as a momento.

So, the first thing Yan Jin did was to offer his service to a little old man living at the foot of the mountain. He worked for three days at his house and finally received some compensation—a few strings of copper and a few broken pieces of silver.

The little grandpa lived alone, but his family was wealthy and he had no shortage of money. Although Yan Jin was taciturn, he was willing to work hard, which made Grandpa appreciate him greatly. Grandpa even wanted to introduce his granddaughter to him. After being politely rejected, Grandpa felt that it was quite regrettable and, as a result, tried to give him more money than was worked for as compensation.

Yan Jin thanked him very seriously and only took the amount that was due him. Then, he said goodbye and left.

Yan Jin, the impoverished and quiet Qingyun Sect member and a personal disciple of Shen Zhixian, worked odd jobs along the way. As a result, his journey was quite slow. When he arrived at a small town not far from Qingyun Sect, he finally had enough money to spend a night at an inn.

He randomly chose a small inn to stay in but, unexpectedly, as he was handing over payment, a group of more than a dozen people rushed in and said, “Boss, Boss! Are there any rooms available?! We need six rooms!”

The owner of the inn had just handed the receipt to Yan Jin and found it very difficult to hear those words. “There are five left…”

The group immediately became frustrated. A younger boy rubbed his hair into a mess, clearly annoyed, and muttered, “Ah, it’s gone …”

With a blink of an eye, he just happened to see the paper in Yan Jin’s hands. Noticing the sword around Yan Jin’s waist and guessing he was a sword cultivator, his eyes flashed. He immediately came over and looked at him eagerly. “This fellow, are you willing to give us this room? We’re colleagues who don’t want to be separated… There is an inn in front that has three first-class rooms left. If the Daoist is willing to change, we’re willing to bear the cost of your accommodation.”

This group of juveniles looked very young, and the young man who’d just spoken also looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. They looked like little disciples who’d left their sect behind to tour and experience the outside world.

Yan Jin was silent for a moment, not knowing what to think, and finally just quietly handed the receipt to them.

The youth was overjoyed and felt for his money bag, intending to give him money. But, Yan Jin waved his hand and refused. Then he turned out of the inn and walked to the other side.

He wanted to find another ordinary inn, but the cheaper inns were full, leaving only the inn with the three first-class rooms left.

Yan Jin could only go there and spend half of his money.

However, he didn’t feel bad about the money at all. Just to save trouble, he decided to eat dinner at the inn. After a brief rest in the room, he put down his travel bag and just went downstairs with his sword.

It was dinner time, and the downstairs was very lively. The boss was said to be a lover of stories, and a storyteller was commissioned to tell a story every day.

Today, the storyteller didn’t know that the story he told would cause a listener to be upset and start an argument with him.

“Old Mister, what are you saying to this crowd?” This was said by a man in white. With his back to Yan Jin, he sat idly near the storyteller, his action seeming very lazy as he waved the folding fan in his hand.

The storyteller was a bearded old man who was irritable by nature. “Naturally, what I’m talking about are these two sets of books that are all over the streets. I’m talking about the love between the two of them. What’s it to you?””

The fan’s lazy action paused and the man in white slightly straightened, as if surprised. “The streets are full of these two sets? What kind of books are they?”

The old storyteller probably liked the story of “those two people.” He suddenly let out a derisive snort and pulled out a thick stack of books under the table. He dropped them on the table and lovingly smooth his hand over the corner of a book. He said, “Take a look yourself.”

The man in white casually took the objectionable books. Who knew that the more pages he flipped through, that more his back would stiffen and the more wooden his face would become. After flipping two more pages, he suddenly switched to the next book. After flipping through several more books, he finally threw the bundle of books and said angrily, “Who wrote these damn things?!”

After they were thrown, a few books fell out and scattered, displaying the serial titles. The person nearby saw the titles and became excited. “Serving My Master? Co-habitating with Master? The Gentle Master Pampers His Disciple?”

He let out a squeal of excitement. “It’s the series written by Qingyun Bai Xiaosheng. This series is so addictive. But I wasn’t able to grab last month’s latest update.”

Qingyun Bai Xiaosheng had a good reputation for stories and gossip.

“Hey, I knew that one! The one about the Master and Disciple…Oh, it’s so good!”

“Yes, what a beautiful master and disciple love story. Say, did the master sleep with his disciple yet?”

“Seems like it hasn’t happened yet. The story so far got up to when the Master was admiring the moon, drinking a jug of alcohol. He slightly narrowed his eyes at his disciple…”

“….Ya! That disciple! Is the Master going to coerce him after getting drunk?”

“And then what happened? What happened?”

The old storyteller sobered up with a snap and continued to talk.

Qingyun Bai Xiaosheng!

The person who wrote it was probably too afraid to let others know his identity.

Which thoughtless little disciple would write such stories blindly, spinning untruths just for the sake of catching a fat meal?!

As he listened calmly to their discussions, the man in white, Shen Zhixian, squeezed the folding fan in his hands, which emitted a creaking sound.

He’d just flipped through the books, reading a few words here and there, because it was about “Qingyun.” But, he immediately recognized that the two protagonists in the books were him and Yan Jin. It was all about him and Yin Jin’s relationship, down to the smallest details.

Here he was, pushing for a harmonious master and disciple relationship that would cement a beautiful future. But, the things that were being written in these irritating books…

How could he not be angry?

Although Qingyun Bai Xiaosheng didn’t explicitly state it, based on Shen Zhixian’s many years of reading experience, he could see at a glance that there were some subtle emotions and hidden passions between the master and his disciple.

Even the sword practice between master and disciple could ripple with lingering gazes filled with hidden emotions. When the disciple gave the master a bowl of medicine, the bowl seemed to be filled with deep emotions, just like the cup of wine exchanged by the bride and groom on their wedding night.

Shen Zhixian: “?????”

He wanted to go back immediately without delay! Clean up the sect! Try to catch this little disciple who was addicted to fooling around! Assign him to growing melons in the field!

As the storyteller became engrossed in his story, his beard shook uninhibitedly up and down as he said, “….The disciple was reading a book in his room when he heard the Master call for him. The Master, with drunken, shimmering eyes…”

The more that was said, the more outrageous the scene became.

Shen Zhixian cleared his throat and rapped his fan sternly on the table. “Old Mister, can’t you talk about things that are optimistic and positive, like self-improvements?”

Suddenly interrupted again, the bearded storyteller trembled with rage. He grabbed a small paperweight and threw it at Shen Zhixian, shouting angrily, “This youngster, why do you talk so much?! If you have the ability, why don’t you come talk then?”

Shen Zhixian shifted his body slightly backward to avoid being hit. Smiling, he corrected, “These messy words are not correct. The master and disciple have a proper relationship. How can there be so many weird things going on between them? You should talk about the simple and honest relationship between the master and disciple instead, encouraging everyone to respect the master and protect the disciple. In this way, the master and disciple can work together to create a better future for the world…”

After trying to listen to something he’d been anticipating for a while, but then getting interrupted time and again, the boss couldn’t stand it anymore. His face grew heavy, and he slammed his hand loudly on the table. “Who are you? The book has nothing to do with you. Why do you have so many protests?”

Shen Zhixian coughed again, widened his smile, and said firmly, “This humble person’s name is not known in the Jianghu and is not worth mentioning. The small disciple that was spoken of in the book is a distant younger cousin of mine. I know that he really revered his master and would not want to be misunderstood in this way…”

Everyone saw his serious look and was fooled, believing that he was speaking the truth. The old storyteller was the first to regain his senses. In all his years of living, he’d seen many things. He frowned and asked, “What is your name?”

Shen Zhixian snapped open his fan and waved it by his face. He stood and took two steps forward, his appearance both confident and at ease, distinguished and accomplished. “The pair of swallows returned to their old nest, mutually beholding each other year after year. This humble person’s name is Sui Xian, similar to the character Xian for leisure, signifying the leisurely life of the Jianghu. I saw that you are discussing the people in the book; everyone knows who this pair of master and disciple are. If you don’t believe me, you can go up to Qingyun Sect to verify and see whether the disciple is willing to recognize this older cousin of his.”

Who knew where Yan Jin went? To find him, these people would have to go in search for the person first.

Shen Zhixian thought this lazily, watching the people around him with a satisfactory and contemplative look. Just as his mouth stretched into a smile, he heard the sound of a clatter, like a tea cup falling and shattering into pieces.

Who got scared?

Shen Zhixian turned his head to look, but as soon as he turned around, he saw a dark face, one that he thought would never appear here in front of him.

His heart suddenly jerked, recognizing that this was probably how it felt like to be caught right in the middle of a lie. Shen Zhixian subconsciously took a step back. Who knew that in the next moment, his wrist would be firmly grabbed, even as the young man’s tight voice sounded in his ear, “—Sui Xian?”

At this sudden, unexpected development, the crowd watched the drama unfold in stunned silence. Then, gazing at the lively scene, all kinds of curious gossips took shape.

Yan Jin tightened his mouth, staring at the strange face in front of him. Realizing that the man in white had every intention of shaking off his hand, he tightened his grip on the slender wrist and tightly dragged the person upstairs in silence.

With a bang, the door was knocked open.

With a bang, the door was slammed shut.

Rapid breathing sounded slightly in Shen Zhixian’s ears.

Behind him was the hard door and in front of him was a young man who looked oppressive and threatening and who was still tightly clasping his hand, holding him firmly in place against the door.

Shen Zhixian frowned, suddenly overcame with a bad feeling.

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Xixi: Well, I’ve been spelling Sui Xian as Sui Jian, and apparently it was wrong. The pinyin for the character 见 can be either xian or jian. So, I just randomly went with Jian. Sigh. So, forthwith, Sui Jian is now Sui Xian. I’ll go back and fix previous chapters when I have time.