NEBM Chapter 35.1: Truths and Illusions

When Yan Jin looked over at that moment, Shen Zhixian’s heart tightened. His footsteps immediately paused.

The slender young man held a sword in his hand as he turned indifferently. When he saw it was Shen Zhixian, his expression slightly eased and he said, “Master.”

This “master” was said very naturally, with no difference from the past. Shen Zhixian settled down and took a step toward him. Then, he began to slowly walk over, saying, “You have also entered the secret realm…”

He stared at Yan Jin closely, without any expression on his face. But Yan Jin was the same as usual. Except for the fact that his eyes were a bloody red, he was no different.

Seeing him come over, Yan Jin slid his sword back into its sheath. A pair of clear and red eyes shifted over and he softly asked, “Master is not injured?”

“No.” Shen Zhixian’s gaze dropped to Yan Jin’s bloodied hand, and he paused. “What’s wrong with your hand?”

He held Yan Jin’s wrist very naturally and looked at the wound on his palm.

In order to clear his head, Yan Jin had cut a wound that was fairly deep. The entire palm was covered in blood. At this time, the blood had almost congealed, looking quite pitiful.

Shen Zhixian frowned and pulled a handkerchief from inside his breast pocket, intending to patch the wound up for Yan Jin.

Just as he was about to use the handkerchief to wipe away the blood, Yan Jin jerked his wrist up to block Shen Zhixian’s movements. He pulled his hand away and said, “It was only accidentally cut. A minor injury. Master needn’t worry.”

Shen Zhixian’s eyebrows tightened, and he said disapprovingly, “Such a big wound, how can anyone manage?”

Yan Jin shook his head slightly, dropped his hand to his side, and slightly raised the finger of his other hand toward the distance. “It’s not important. Master, this place is strange. Let’s go over there and take a look.”

Shen Zhixian looked at him for a moment without moving. Finally, he said, “Does A’Jin mind me concealing my identity? It wasn’t originally my intention. When I saw you that day, I just suddenly thought of it.”

Yan Jin tilted his head to look at him. His expression was serious as he assumed the differential posture that a disciple would have toward his master. “Master can do whatever he wants.”

Shen Zhixian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

After a while, he turned around and walked in the opposite direction that Yan Jin was pointing at, saying, “I saw some interesting things when I came from back there. It’s good that you’re here. Let’s go take a look together.”

He didn’t bother waiting for Yan Jin to respond. After taking a few steps, he heard Yan Jin following—not too far nor too close, just following a few steps behind.

Shen Zhixian squeezed a jade pendant in his hand and continued walking calmly.

Although he was going back the same way, it ended up being different from when he came.

The dense fog gradually dissipated, revealing the usual mountain forest filled with flowers, grasses, trees and stones, mud-covered roads, and even quite a few fuzzy footprints, which looked like human footprints.

Shen Zhixian put down his vigilance a little, thinking that these people would not be difficult to deal with.

As soon as he thought this, he heard faint, noisy voices coming from a distance.

Shen Zhixian couldn’t help but quicken his pace. He only walked a short distance before the woods suddenly dropped away and he came upon a clearing. Not far away, six to seven young people were squatting on the roadside, busy digging in the mud and joking loudly.

“Ah! Spirit fig fruit!” One of the gray robe men suddenly shouted in surprise. He dropped the wooden branch in his hand and carefully pulled out a palm-sized green grass.

The grass had a small yellow-orange fruit at the root. It was only the size of his finger, but he took it as a treasure. He handled it very carefully, but it was clear that he couldn’t wait to clean off the mud on it and put it in his mouth.

He simply swallowed it whole, without chewing, and sat down on his knees, digesting the fruit.

Everyone around him was attracted by his shout, and not only did they not despise him, but they even gave envious sighs.

“This guy is really lucky. He can find good things every time …”

“Exactly! He’s an advanced cultivator. It’s obvious that he’s very determined!”

“Ha ha ha ha ha, right … Hey, I’m afraid there’s nothing left here. How about we go over there…”

The group went away without disturbing the man who was meditating in place.

That fruit was actually just a general fig fruit, with some spiritual qi but not much. After the man in the gray robe finished digesting it, he opened his eyes, saw the empty space around, laughed, patted the dirt on his shirt indifferently, and stood up.

As he was about to leave, he suddenly seemed to perceive something. As soon as he turned around, he accurately looked toward the movements Shen Zhixian was making.

“Ah?” He hesitated in confusion, as if surprised by the sudden appearance of people here. After looking at them for a moment, he finally came over, and greeted them. “Are you new here? I’ve never seen you before.”

Shen Zhixian was about to respond but suddenly realized what was happening. He swallowed back the words he was going to say. The man in the gray robe was watching Yan Jin from beginning to end.

In his words, there was only a singular “you”, not a plural you.

Yan Jin didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. When he saw that Shen Zhixian wasn’t responding, he quietly answered the gray-robed man’s words. “En.”

His tone was cold but the gray-robed man didn’t seem to care. His eyes flitted between them and the road, and he asked with interest, “You came from over there. Did you see any good stuff?”

“None.”

The man in the gray robe clapped his hands and invited, “So let’s go together? My companions have all left and being by myself is also very boring. We can talk to each other on the road.”

This decision wasn’t something Yan Jin could make himself. He tilted his head to Shen Zhixian and asked softly, “Master, what do you think?”

After Jin Yan asked this sentence, the gray-robed man looked shocked. He shot a puzzled, uncertain look in Shen Zhixian’s direction and asked, “….Who are you talking to?”

When he was looking at him in confusion, Shen Zhixian pursed his lips and stretched out his hand to wave in front of his eyes.

The man in the gray robe didn’t blink, as if he couldn’t see Shen Zhixian at all. After looking around for a long time, he turned his gaze back to Yan Jin. “There’s someone…here?”

When he heard this, the hair on Shen Zhixian’s body stood on ends.

When Yan Jin didn’t answer his words, the man frowned and wondered for a while, before he suddenly realized. “Ah! I see, this is a newcomer!”

The man laughed. “Look at my memory, almost frightened myself. All newcomers are like this. We’ll be able to see them after a while. Let’s go together?”

He seemed really afraid of solitude and insisted on inviting Yan Jin to go with him. He didn’t even flinch when Yan Jin only looked at him coldly.

Shen Zhixian asked, “What does he mean by newcomers? What will happen after a while?”

His voice was not small. Because the man in the gray robe kept talking, Shen Zhixian deliberately raised his voice. But, it was as if the man didn’t hear him and continued talking.

Shen Zhixian yanked Yan Jin’s sleeve.

So Yan Jin repeated the question, interrupting the man’s long story.

“Oh, people who are new here are invisible. It’ll take a while for them to show.” The man in the gray robe scratched his head and added, “Might take days, months, or even years. The more powerful, the less likely they’ll be seen earlier.”

“What is the principle? How many days, months, and years?…How long have you been here?”

This question stumped the man in the gray robe. He pondered for a while but still seemed unsure. “I don’t know what’s going on. Anyway, I’ve known these things for a long time. As for how long I’ve been here…It’s been a long time.”

He counted for a while, but he couldn’t seem to remember the time at all. In the end, he waved his hand as if he didn’t care. “How long I’ve been here? There are a lot of spiritual qi here, and there are many good things. As long as I can stay…How long doesn’t matter…Let’s go together! ”

Countless thoughts churned in Shen Zhixian’s mind, but he finally followed the man in the gray robe.

Of course, Yan Jin wouldn’t refute his decision. Seeing him move, he followed suit.

The man in the gray robe was overjoyed, thinking that the newcomer must be unfamiliar with this place, so he naturally walked in front and said, “You don’t know because you’ve just arrived how precious this place is. We just dug a spirit fig…”

He murmured, boasting here and there, fully expressing his desire to linger. As Shen Zhixian listened and made Yan Jin repeat a few questions, his thoughts deepened.

This group of people must have been here for years at least. This was by no means a person who’d just entered the secret realm today.

But there were rumors in the outside world that this secret realm had never been opened! No one had even seen this secret realm!

Where did these people come from? No matter how good the secret realm was, there were no witnesses. They’d stayed for so many years. Were they not willing to leave?

Or were they unable to leave at all?

“How did you get into this secret realm?”

“How did I get in? Ah, it depends on whether you’re lucky or not. I was going around at that time, and suddenly I saw this secret realm…Hmmmm…” After a moment of contemplation, he described, “It sent down a lot of fog that rolled towards me. I just felt cold and then was brought in.”

It was exactly the same experience he’d had!

Shen Zhixian’s contemplation became more and more deep. He no longer spoke but quietly listened to the man in the gray robe. They also met several people along the way, and the man clearly knew them. He greeted them with familiarity, before they all went on their way.

The three of them walked together and soon came upon a stream.

The stream was clear, and a big deer was lowering its head upstream, drinking water.

The man suddenly became even more spirited. He happily made a gesture for silence. “Shh, we’ll have a good mouthful today.”

He observed for a while. When he saw the deer lowered its head to drink water and momentarily setting aside its vigilance, he pounced. With five fingers stiffened into claws, and a cold and weird looking black gas lingering at his fingertips, he suddenly jumped over. He simply grabbed the deer’s neck and twisted it fiercely!

A single death blow!

The deer screamed without sound and died. The man grabbed the antlers and dragged it over to ask for credit. “This thing is very good! It’s delicious!”

He couldn’t see Shen Zhixian and stepped into his way without scruples. Shen Zhixian calmly retreated two steps to avoid him.

The man in the gray robe dragged the deer over and threw it to the ground, telling them with kind intentions, “The things here, no matter what, the neck is the most fragile. It can die with a twist… If you encounter it in the future, just twist the neck. That’s it. ”

He hummed and started to deal with the deer. Shen Zhixian watched as he reached for a knife and expertly peeled the skins and bones. Then, Shen Zhixian calmly took another two steps back.

That deer …

It was not a deer at all!

———————–
Xixi: This chapter is 8 or more pages long, so it’ll get split up as evenly as possible.

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