Chapter 7 - Millennium Black Ice

Warning: This work is classified as restricted. Readers under the age of 18 are not allowed to read it.

—

“Drink this.”

Rong Jin looked at Song Ziqian but didn’t move for a long time. Song Ziqian knew he was resentful about the acacia nectar, so he put the white porcelain medicine bottle by the head of the bed. “I know you don’t want to look at me right now, but this medicine can slow down the negative effects of the Resurrection Gu. Even if it’s just for Shen Yuzhi, you must take it.”

Rong Jin lowered his eyes. His long eyelashes trembled slightly. After a while, he reached out to pick up the medicine bottle. “Shidi, thank you,” he whispered.

“Are you going to see him?” Song Ziqian asked.

Rong Jin lifted his head sharply, and Song Ziqian understood the moment he saw Rong Jin’s eyes. “I’ll open the mechanism for you, but don’t stay inside too long.”

After saying that, he couldn’t stop himself from bending down to kiss Rong Jin’s forehead. Then he strode out.

When would his Shixiong turn back and really look at him? Shen Yuzhi couldn’t do it when he was alive, and he still couldn’t now that he was dead.

Whether in the past or the present, it was always the same—

Rong Jin looked at Shen Yuzhi, while Song Ziqian looked at Rong Jin.

Both men wanted what they couldn’t have, and both refused to turn back.

—

Rong Jin arrived at the entrance of the underground chamber and took a deep breath. At Song Ziqian’s command, the mechanism slowly opened.

Inside the hidden chamber, the air was bitter cold. An icy-blue light illuminated the space with a faint brilliance.

Rong Jin walked into the chamber step by step. Then he turned around and pressed the mechanism to close the door behind him.

He lifted his head slightly to look up. In the center of the hidden chamber was a slab of millennium black ice about five meters high, glowing with a faint blue luster. And lying within the black ice was a man in white.

The man in white lay there with his eyes closed, tall and slender and utterly still. But even so it wasn’t difficult to see this person’s features resembled a painting. Like the bright moon in the sky, he had the features of a fallen immortal. But even more remarkable than his handsome and beautiful immortal face, from a distance he had an indescribably, unexplainably aloof and solitary aura, like the supernaturally fine craftsmanship of the gods. Seeing him, one could only sigh. There was hardly anyone in the world who could stand side by side with him and not seem out of place.

“Shixiong…”

Rong Jin called out in a low voice. His eyes were slightly red as he stared at Shen Yuzhi, who seemed to be asleep within the black ice. He couldn’t help but put his hand on the surface to gently stroke the thick ice above Shen Yuzhi’s cheek. The frigid cold soon invaded Rong Jin’s hand, forming white frost on his skin. However, Rong Jin didn’t seem to notice. His palm remained insistently on the ice, as if doing this could bring him a little closer to Shen Yuzhi.

“I’ll bring you back. You must… must wait for me.”

He closed his eyes full of tears, and the Adam’s apple in his throat rolled. He choked up, but after a while he continued, “Remember when we first met, when you saved me, a pure Yin body, and allowed me to become a normal Yaowang Valley disciple. In the central continent, people with pure Yin bodies are only born once or twice a century, and they’re always stripped of their souls by various cultivation sects and turned into mindless furnaces and vessels. If not for you… I wouldn’t be alive.

“Shixiong, it was you who gave me my life and my name. Back then I told you, ‘If one day I bring disaster to Yaowang Valley because of my pure Yin body, Shixiong, please hand me over to them. I was able to live a peaceful life for more than twenty years, and I’m already satisfied.'”

Tears fell one by one. Because the room was so cold, they soon solidified into transparent frost on Rong Jin’s face.

“But Shixiong, you said to me, ‘You’re Rong Jin first, and the disciple of Yaowang Valley second. Everything else is immaterial. You needn’t worry.'” Rong Jin slowly moved his hand, finally pausing on the black ice above Shen Yuzhi’s brow.

“But I feel that I’m Shen Yuzhi’s shidi first and foremost, and Rong Jin second. If there’s no Shen Yuzhi in this world… then… Rong Jin will also cease to exist.

“Shixiong… Shixiong… Shixiong…

“Keep waiting for me, OK?”

—

“Your hands are frostbitten.” Song Ziqian looked at Rong Jin’s hand. “Didn’t I tell you not to stay inside too long? But you just…”

“Tell me about my last target.” Rong Jin looked down at his red palm and spoke without any fluctuation in his voice. “I don’t want Shixiong to wait too long.”

Song Ziqian looked at Rong Jin for a long time. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. “In Xingtian Valley, Yin Jiuxiao.”

Rong Jin frowned. “Yin Jiuxiao, the Devil Master of the Darklands?”

“Yes. It’s said that after the secret realm of Mount Shu opened, Yan Jiuxiao disappeared. Some say he was killed, others say he was seriously wounded. You’ll have to travel to Xingtian Valley in person. The journey will be extremely dangerous. Not to mention how many devil cultivators live in Xingtian Valley and whether you can protect yourself…”

Song Ziqian took a deep breath and gazed at Rong Jin. “If Yin Jiuxiao is dead, so be it. But if he’s not dead, he’s at Great Perfection level. Even if he’s seriously wounded, he’s unstoppable wherever he goes. And just as he wants to recover, a pure Yin body delivers itself to his door…. You’re nine-tenths doomed already.”

“I’m nine-tenths doomed whether I go or not.” Rong Jin gazed quietly at Song Ziqian. “Stay here and guard Yaowang Valley. I’ll go on my own. The central continent hasn’t been at peace lately.”

“I know. Even if I follow, you’ll do your best to get rid of me.” Song Ziqian smiled sarcastically. Then he looked back at Rong Jin, and his face turned solemn. “Rong Jin, even if Shen Yuzhi had never entered the secret realm of Mount Shu before, he was the only person in the central continent at the pinnacle of Great Perfection stage. The person who killed him must have been no lower than Great Perfection stage himself…. I suspect this Yin Jiuxiao… is the man who murdered Shen Yuzhi!”

Rong Jin suddenly looked up, his eyes wide. “What did you say?!”

TL Notes:

devil cultivators – 魔修 – mó xiū

Great Perfection – 大圆满 – dà yuánmǎn – This seems to be a high cultivation level in this novel. According to Wikipedia, it’s also a tradition of teaching in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. It specifically refers to the stage after deity visualization has been dissolved and one rests in the natural state of the innately luminous and pure mind. Alternatively: Dzogchen

nine-tenths doomed – 九死一生 – be a close shave; a hairbreadth escape; a slim chance of surviving; a ten percent chance to survive

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Yin Jiuxiao – 殷九霄

Devil Master – 魔主 – mó zhǔ

Darklands – 暗界 – àn jiè – Alternatively: Gloomy/Secret/Hidden Kingdom/Boundary/Group/World/Realm

[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner: R18 / Non-R18 ]