NEBM Chapter 70: Seventy

Shen Zhixian gave a light cough but didn’t panic. He calmly got out from Yan Jin’s lap and stood up to greet Fourth Elder as usual. “Good evening, Martial Uncle.”

Fourth Elder silently looked at him and then looked at Yan Jin.

Shen Zhixian said, “Martial Uncle doesn’t recognize us?”

Fourth Elder’s expression was sorrowful. “You… He… What are you doing…?”

He’d forgotten why he came here tonight. Right now, the image of Shen Zhixian and Yan Jin embracing each other intimately was etched in his mind. What in the world happened when the little nephew and the little nephew’s disciple went out to gain practical experience?!

Shen Zhixian tilted his head and thought for a moment. Then, he said euphemistically, “Probably, the normal behavior between ordinary Dao companions?”

Fourth Elder, “….”

Fourth Elder, “???”

While Shen Zhixian thoughtfully allowed Fourth Elder time to process this, he took out the tea set and utensils and brewed tea on the small jade table.

None of Shen Zhixian’s products was low-quality. Once the first-grade spiritual tea was steeped with boiling hot water, the faint scent of tea finally woke Fourth Elder. He breathed out a sigh and ran his hand over his face. “You need to think carefully about this matter.”

Shen Zhixian’s movements paused.

Yan Jin’s hands on his lap clenched into fists.

Fourth Elder said, “Although, our Qingyun Sect has a habit of not interfering with the private affairs between masters and disciples, but you doing this is not good either. If you think this relationship is good, then you should do things properly and select a good date…”

As Fourth Elder recovered from his shock, he became more and more excited. “There haven’t been a lively event in the sect for a long time. Take this opportunity to give the place some liveliness and excitement…”

Shen Zhixian looked at Yan Jin and didn’t know whether he ought to laugh or cry. Seeing Fourth Elder so excited, he could only interrupt in a low voice, “Martial Uncle, we’ll prepare for this. Why did you come so late at night? Is there something wrong?”

Fourth Elder was silent for a moment before he finally remembered the reason why he’d come here. Under the dim light, he carefully studied Shen Zhixian and asked cautiously, “Are you back? Sui Xian?”

—Fourth Elder really did know that his body was seized.

Shen Zhixian’s heart relaxed, and he nodded without hesitation. “Martial Uncle, it’s me.”

He stood up, carefully restraining his expression, and bowed respectfully to Fourth Elder. He said, “Master and Martial Uncle both had worked hard at that time. Junior would never forget it again.”

This appearance, this kind of gesture, could never be made by the half-devil who’d robbed his body. Even when Shen Zhixian’s temperament changed a few years ago, it still wasn’t the same.

Fourth Elder stopped talking. His thoughts were unknown, but his eyes gradually grew bright with unshed tears. He raised the teacup to his mouth and drank it, not caring that it was still too hot. Then, he spoke a sentence, “If Senior Brother Wen knew, how happy he would be…”

On that day, when Shen Zhixian had his accident, Senior Brother Wen had dragged Fourth Elder to save him and he saw how much Senior Brother Wen was frowning and sighing.

Shen Zhixian was a rare genius. After Shen Zhixian’s body had been seized, Fourth Elder himself regretted it and worked hard for a long time to treat it. But, after Senior Brother Wen was gone, that half-devil who’d robbed Shen Zhixian no longer suppressed himself and began to act more and more perversely. Fourth Elder could do nothing but hold on to a little bit of hope.

At last, his real, little martial nephew finally returned…

Unfortunately, Senior Brother Wen was no longer here to see this scene.

He reached out and lifted Shen Zhixian up. He comforted, “You coming back is enough. It’s enough…”

Once the three of them sat down again, Shen Zhixian began to describe his incredible experience. If he hadn’t experienced it himself, he would also find it hard to believe.

He didn’t want Fourth Elder to worry too much so he spoke about the easier matters and explained them bit by bit. He talked about the trip down the mountain, how they found the inverse scale to heal his heart ailment, and how the half-devil was driven away.

Fourth Elder asked a few question to confirm that he was really back and that everything was okay. Finally, he breathed out a sigh of relief. But, he soon frowned. “So, you were together all this time and were never separated?”

Shen Zhixian nodded, “Roughly.”

Fourth Elder’s frown deepened. “A while back, there was a rumor about Yan Jin…saying that Yan Jin killed many people outside. Several small sects sent people to complain several times.”

“It was Yan Shen causing mischief.” Shen Zhixian took a deep breath and carefully said, “Martial Uncle, there is one matter related to Master that I wanted to talk about…”

……

In the middle of the desert.

The moon glowed hazily, and yellow sand stretched out as far as the eye could see. The frail youth dragged himself forward with heavy steps, struggling to keep up with the tall man in front. Each step was like dragging stone, leaving behind deep footprints in the sand.

The youth gasped. The sand was blowing too hard, and his lips were a little cracked. Seeing the man’s figure moving further and further away, the youth had no choice but to call out, “Wait… Wait for me…”

The man didn’t turn back nor did he stop. But, his steps slowed a fraction. He said coldly, “You came to the desert yourself, you can also leave by yourself.”

Because the man didn’t turn back to look, he could only hear the youth’s weak voice; he didn’t see how calm the youth’s face was, with no trace of worry or fear. “You saved me. I should repay you…”

“No need.”

The two words, so cold and stiff, allowed for no opening.

The youth gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to go up and beat him—What’s wrong with this man? Why did he even want to come to such a big desert?

Even when he came to such a big desert and saved such a “weak and pitiful” little beauty, he was still so indifferent!

The bald monk was right. This man was a big ice cube with no feelings and deserved to be single all his life.

The youth silently cursed. He pondered if he should pretend to sprain his ankle and fall and put on an even more pitiful act. Suddenly, not far away, the yellow sand suddenly rolled up like an ocean wave, revealing a red cloud that looked like a sand demon traveling at fast speed.

As a “weak and pitiful” man “lacking the strength to even truss up a chicken,” the youth tried to hide behind the ice cube’s back.

However, before he could even come close to achieving his goal, Chen Lie raised his hand and a crimson whip snapped out.

The speed of his movement was as fast as blinking. The youth managed to take two to three steps toward Chen Lie before the sand demon disappeared.

After the dust had settled, they discovered that the red cloud was just a scarlet robe that belonged to some poor man who’d already died. He’d died here, leaving behind only one robe, which that demon was trying to take.

The whip had shredded the robe, scattering it into pieces on the sand. The wind blew a layer of sands over the red pieces, turning them a darker color.

Who knew what instigated Chen Lie. He suddenly raised his hand and the whip shot out.

Sparks emerged from the whip and, within moments, the few pieces of clothing were burnt into ashes. A gust of wind blew over and the ashes scattered until they merged into the sand and ceased to exist.

The youth’s eyes were meaningful and deep. “You don’t like red?”

Chen Lie acted as if he didn’t hear his question.

The youth didn’t give up and reached out to touch the fiery red whip. “This whip is very beautiful…”

His hand hadn’t fully extended yet when Chen Lie returned the whip back to his wrist. He turned to look at the youth, his expression like an ice blade that froze the youth’s hand in place.

The youth looked at him and withdrew his hand.

It was merely one whip. This kind of treasure… he also had one too!

A long, long time ago, he’d had such a whip and often used it to mercilessly kill demons and ghosts!

The wind carried over the sound of soft whimpers. They both looked around and saw a tiny hedgehog huddled behind a stone, half-exposed and shivering.

It was merely a small demon cub.

This desert was very strange and also had demons. It was not surprising that hedgehog demons would appear here. However, looking at the lonely little creature, it was likely that its parents were swallowed up by some other larger demons, leaving it alone and helpless here.

Pity flashed across the youth’s eyes.

But Chen Lie hated demons and devils. The moment he saw the tiny hedgehog demon, he immediately raised his hand.

The youth refused to allow it. His eyes flashed and he reached out to hug the man’s arm. “Don’t hurt it!”

He moved so quickly that Chen Lie found his arm suddenly hugged. He looked coldly at the youth and, no longer caring about the little hedgehog, shook the youth off.

He didn’t hold back his strength. The youth was thrown back by him and the force of it caused the youth to take a few steps back before falling to the ground and landing in front of the little hedgehog.

His hands scrapped painfully against the gravel. But, the youth merely raised his hands casually, patted the sands off his palms and wiped away the little bit of blood.

Ignoring Chen Lie, he turned to look at the little hedgehog.

The little guy was terrified and rolled into a ball with great effort, raising its quills. But it was too small and its quills were not very hard. Touching it wasn’t painful at all.

If it’d encountered another demon, it would likely be impossible for the little creature to protect itself.

The youth looked at it for a moment and silently sighed. Using his body as cover, his fingertips flickered. The Wanggui flower that bloomed on his fingertip fell on the little hedgehog.

The smell of this flower was probably very sweet. The trembling little hedgehog momentarily paused, then stretched out its body. The tiny head came out and bean-like eyes looked warily at the youth. Then quickly, it grabbed the flower against its belly before curling back into a ball and then rolling behind the stone.

The youth laughed. He stood up and turned around but saw that Chen Lie was looking at him coldly. “Wanggui flower–Si Fei?”

Huh?

Did he have a dog nose?

He could still sense such a small flower with such a weak aura!

Si Fei jumped back, avoiding the whip’s full wrath. With a smile, he said weakly, “We traveled together for so long. Surely there must be a little sentiment. Don’t be so fierce!”

Chen Lie said nothing, but the whip shot out in a blur. Si Fei had no weapon and didn’t fight back. As he avoided the whip, he said, “I’m just an innocent, ordinary person. What are you chasing after me for?”

Chen Lie icily said, “You monsters are the ones who are the most vicious and heartless. At that time, if it wasn’t for you demons–” His words abruptly stopped, but his attack became more fierce.

Si Fei was keenly aware of what he was referring to. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a dark mass of black qi silently slipped out from the nearby sand and drifted toward Chen Lie.

But Chen Lie was too focused on attacking him and didn’t notice at all.

Si Fei’s eyes jerked and, almost without hesitation, stopped to face the whip. With a wave of his hand, countless white flowers formed a barrier, cutting off the black qi.

The whip fell on the back of his hand, leaving a bloody gash that burned painfully. That cloud of black qi was also extremely fierce. It bursted out from the barrier of flowers and streaked toward them.

Si Fei bore the brunt of Chen Lie’s attack and focused on the movement behind him.

He swiftly made a decision and, with a cry of surprise, “just happened” to bump into Chen Lie’s chest. In that critical moment, before Chen Lie could react, he shot out his hand and blocked the black qi.

Chen Lie felt a quick touch on his chest.

He was startled but, in the next moment, he saw Si Fei’s lips curled up into a sly smile. He held the book in his hand and quickly slipped away.

“You’re courting death–” Chen Lie’s entire body emitted an icy chill, and each word fell like ice shards. His whip danced, the stroke cold and raw with killing intent.

The back of Si Fei’s hand was still bleeding. That devil qi seemed to smell the blood and became more aggressive and threatening as it moved closer.

After many encounters with Chen Lie, Si Fei was very clear about his strength. Since this devil qi was unlike the ordinary fiends and appeared to be more intrepid, it’s best to let Chen Lie and this devil qi contend with each other.

What’s more, this mere devil qi would be incapable of harming Chen Lie.

Seeing this situation, Si Fei took advantage of the opportunity and turned his feet away.

He still held the stack of the bald monk’s destiny papers in his hand. Chen Lie didn’t want to let him go and resisted the devil qi while simultaneously trying to stop him from leaving.

Si Fei avoided his whip and laughed. “I’ll give you this. Don’t worry…” He raised his hand and threw the book at the ice cube.

Chen Lie’s hand instinctively shot out to grab the book. The moment Si Fie disappeared, the devil qi no longer had a target and was confused.

Chen Lie shoved the book into his chest pocket. Without Si Fei distracting him, he showed no mercy this time and quickly dealt the black qi blows after blows from all directions. In the end, there was only a thin, pure black qi left, and while Chen Lie wasn’t pay attention, it quickly slipped into the sand and disappeared.

This battle stirred up a cloud of dust.

Within the sand storm, Chen Lie expressionlessly wrapped the whip around his wrist and pulled the book out.

In the blink of an eye, the book suddenly turned into a ray of light in his hand and what remained was a single Wanggui flower pinched between his fingertips.

He stared at the flower for a long time, smiled grimly, raised his hand, and almost threw the flower to the ground. As his fingers were about to release, he paused. After a moment, his turned his wrist, put the flower away, and pulled out from his chest pocket a thin piece of paper.

—It was a blank destiny paper.

……

Si Fei didn’t look back. Chen Lie, this person, was a ruthless and cold, mad dog.  He’d experienced it firsthand and was also unexpectedly almost got caught.

He hurried to the meeting place he’d set with the bald monk. After turning around and examining the path carefully to ensure that Chen Lie hadn’t caught up, he was relieved and threw the book back to the bald monk.

The bald monk took it, and his eyes narrowed with a smile. “Aiyayaya, my little darling…”

Only then did Si Fei begin to deal with the wound on the back of his hand. Chen Lie didn’t show mercy and the wound looked very bad. He drew out a cold qi to clean it up and said irritably, “Take care of it properly. Next time, it won’t come back.”

When the bald monk came over to help Si Fei and was pushed away, he paused and opened the book instead.

With the book in his hands, he turned the pages over and characters gradually emerged on the blank sheets.

As the bald monk continued turning the pages, he said, “In the last lifetime, Shen Zhixian’s soul was too weak. I had no choice but to use the destiny paper to open up a world to help him raise his soul… Now that everything is back on track, this little world should also be sealed up.”

He turned to a specific page, closed his eyes slightly, traced a seal over the page, and closed off the small world where Shen Zhixian had briefly stayed.

This was not an easy task. By the time the bald monk was done, his forehead was beaded with sweat. Breathing a sigh of relief, he watched carefully as the characters on the destiny paper gradually disappeared and the parchment became blank once more. Then, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and began to fiddle with the book.

“Yan Jin is now controlling the wasteland, and Shen Zhixian is still alive. Anyway, this life can be regarded as saved. I hope that no more mistakes will be made. Otherwise, the monk’s sin will be too great…”

He flipped through the book at will and suddenly discovered something. His movements stopped and, after a moment, he raised the book closer to carefully look at the inconspicuous tear.

“A’fei, how come a page is missing?”

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Translator Xixi:
I love Fourth Elder’s reaction. Haha.

I’m really curious about Chen Lie’s backstory. I totally ship Si Fei and Chen Lie. There’s definitely some chemistry there, and possibly some history. Si Fei said he once had a red whip. Chen Lie had a red whip and he apparently hated the color red, a color that Si Fei often wore. Maybe Chen Lie’s whip used to belong to Si Fei? And, what is Chen Lie going to do with that destiny paper?

Edited with minor spoiler: I checked the comment section on jjwxc.net and the author did respond to some comments that she intended for these two to be a side couple. But, at this moment, she still hasn’t written their side story extra yet. 🙁

Edit 2: Turned out she wrote their story as a short instead of an extra and only has 1-2 chapters out. I’ll most likely translate it once it’s completed.