Ch68 - Spying through a Mirror

Translator: transcendentwings

After dishing out his admonishment, Guangfu-juntidied his sleeves and stalked away.

Qingjing-junwatched as the silhouette of his straight-as-a-pine back got further away. After the other was a certain distance away, he retracted his gaze and slowly walked down the steps, stretching out his hand towards Xu Xingzhi who was still kneeling on the ground.

Xu Xingzhi deliberately offered up his own hand.

Qingjing-junpursed his lips and chuckled lightly: “Where’s the wine you bought for me?”

Xu Xingzhi coughed sheepishly and straightened up on one knee before he slipped his storage ring from his finger and took Qingjing-jun’s hand to slide it onto the other’s.

He looked up and grinned: “Shifushould be clear on how to use itba.”

Qingjing-junsplayed the fingers on his right hand, allowing the other to slide the ring on while he used his other hand to gently stroke Xu Xingzhi’s head.

The skin hidden underneath Qingjing-jun’s sleeves that were like the flowing clouds, was white and transparent, and there were even some peculiar blue and red bruises, as if he had been grasped with great force.

Xu Xingzhi only took one glance and frowned immediately in response: “Shifu, your health has been well recentlyba?”

Qingjing-juncomforted him and replied: “It’s only that I’ve been quite lethargic and have had plenty of dreams as of late, there’s no need to worry.”

“Shall I regulate your meridians for you?”

Qingjing-junstroked his hair softly: “Shifuknows how to take care of himself.”

“Isn’t this just because Xingzhi’s heart aches forShifu?” Xu Xingzhi chuckled, “Besides, doesShifutruly know how to take care of himself? Half a month ago, you ran to drink on the mountains in the back and was intoxicated for six days straight, wandering amidst the mountains, not a shadow of you to be seen. It alarmed Guangfu-junso much that he took me to search the mountain, don’t you remember?”

“How can one recall events that occur after one is drunk?” Qingjing-junchuckled good-naturedly, “. . . How isXiao-Deng?”

Xu Xingzhi choked: “Shifu. . .”

Qingjing-junpoked his forehead lightly as he murmured gently: “The scent of alcohol on your body is the aroma of thepure brewwhite wine that has been fermented for more than a century in the demonic sects, did you think thatShifuwouldn’t be able to sniff it out?”

Xu Xingzhi laughed: “Xiao-Deng is doing decently. Ever since he entered the Nascent Soul stage no one in the demonic path dares to bully him anymore.”

Qingjing-junsoftly questioned: “Perhaps it isn’t that simpleba. He grew up in the four sects and no matter how the members of the four sects treated him, they wouldn’t truly hurt him. In the future, you can make frequent trips to the main palace of the demonic path to see him so that he’d at least feel better in his heart.”

Xu Xingzhi deliberately teased him: “Shifujust wants to savor more of the pure brew wineba.”

“I’ve also drunken better wine before.” Qingjing-junrefuted, “Since this wine was gifted byXiao-Deng, either way it’s a representation of his heartfelt intentions. If I drink his wine, it’ll also send him a message that no matter where he goes, at least he can still call Fengling his home.”

Speaking up to here, Qingjing-junyawned and a few tears were squeezed out of his lethargic and reddened eyes: “I’ve been so sleepy lately, maybe it’sspringtime drowsinessba.”

Xu Xingzhi exposed him unceremoniously: “Isn’t it just becauseShifudrank too much. Forgive your disciple for being so frankah, withShifubeing so greedy for the taste of the secular world, when will you be able to cultivate to the state of “inaction” and ascend to become an immortal? It’s better to quit drinking while you’re aheadba.”

Qingjing-junlooked somewhat aggrieved: “If I quit drinking, then what’s the point of me living.”

Xu Xingzhi: “. . .”

Okay, alright, fine,youare theShifu,youhave the final say.

Qingjing-junadded: “Besides, I don’t want to transition into an immortal.”

“Why not?”

Qingjing-junsmiled warmly and crooned: “Xingzhi is still young. Who will take care of Xingzhi whenShifuleavesne.”

Xu Xingzhi could hardly decide whether to laugh or cry: “Sure, of courseShifu, but I’m not Chongguang, I’m already so grown up, how would I still need someone to take care of me like that? Don’t letShishuhear these words ofyoursah, otherwise he’ll definitely pin the blame foryourinability to ascend these many years on my head.”

Qingjing-junchuckled and replied serenly to defend Guangfu-jun: “. . . Xiyun is not that unreasonable a personba.”

Xu Xingzhi thought, in the eyes of a gentle and docile person likeShifu, are there any people who make mountains out of molehills in this world?

Qingjing-junalso genuinely looked weary, so he pushed the other’s shoulder: “Go back and restba.”

After seeing Xu Xingzhi off, Qingjing-junreturned to Qingzhu palace. After he closed the door, he steadily approached the futon and sat down on it cross-legged, before adjusting his breaths to slip into slumber. Within a few moments, he had already sunk his awareness into his sea of consciousness to drift about in order to gather his spirit, eliminate his fatigue, and solve his troubles.

However, soon after Qingjing-junimmersed himself in his sea of consciousness, his body that was supposed to be sleeping underwent a slight change.

—There seemed to be a trace of the movement of insects crawling in his neck, and under the translucent skin, his cyan jugular vein could be seen to be vaguely pulsing abnormally.

Qingjing-jun’s eyes snapped open, he staggered onto the ground with his feet bare and his robe trailing behind him as he headed towards a bronze mirror and stopped before it.

snw YCMOcw JfCCMC CwprwkPwt nfT PnfO, Wgrw, gOt CMdOt gOvrwT, nfT TrwOtwC gOt krwgO kgrZwT, gOt Pnw xCwwO xgdcw WrgfO CMYw PngP bgT tCgWwt gCMdOt nfT YMtj gT fp fP bwCw pgfOPrj dOtdrgPfOx YwPbwwO CwgrfPj gOt frrdTfMO, JgvfOx nfJ rMMv wmgkPrj Pnw TgJw gT bnwO nw CgO gCMdOt tCdOv gP OfxnP.

QOrj Pnw rMMv fO nfT wjwT ngt rMTP PngP xwOPrw gOt fOOMkwOP bgCJPn Mp Pnw WgTP gOt bwCw fOTPwgt TPgfOwt bfPn g pCfxft, YrMMtj kCfJTMO.

Fingers slowly rubbed across Qingjing-jun’s soft and plump lips before a playful yet cruel smile was teased out on those same lips: “. . . Yue Wuchen, helloah.”

jU jQJNeIQ iTdUiJTB df IQA qLYLGT LJB YffqTB LifUJB Qd dmQGT QJ L gfiTB PLJJTi, STTYQJN AfPTmILd LJJfpTB LJB BTqiTAATB QJ IQA ITLid.

WJ dIT qLAd, mITJ IT iTdUiJTB, vTJN VIfJNNULJN mfUYB TQdITi LYiTLBp gT QJ gTB fi AQPqYp AQddQJN fJ dIT BffiAdTq, IUNNQJN IQA sJTTA, mLQdQJN Sfi IQP df GfPT gLGs, dITJ LA AffJ LA dIT fdITi ALm IQA SQNUiT, IT mfUYB MUPq Uq LJB qfUJGT YQsT L qUqqp. KfmTaTi, Jfm dILd IT AUBBTJYp GfUYBJ’d GLdGI L NYQPqAT fS dILd GYQJNp YQddYT gfp, jU jQJNeIQ STYd dILd TaTipdIQJN mLA fSS.

He suffered in the room for a long time, then decisively waved his sleeves and used his spiritual power to make a lamp in the room gradually glow with a green glimmer.

In an instant, there were three more figures either sitting or standing in the room.

Seeing the three of them, Xu Xingzhi felt a little more relaxed: “Yo, you’re all bustling aboutne.”

“F*ck!” Zhou Beinan had obviously just taken a shower as there were clear drops of water hanging on his well-defined, wheat-colored muscles, “Xu Xingzhi, if you wanted to light the lanterns, shouldn’t you give us some advanced noticeah.”

Xu Xingzhi leaned on the back of his chair and waved his hand casually, greeting nonchalantly: “Beinan, I’ve sought you out to play.”

Zhou Beinan hurtled the clothes in his hand directly towards Xu Xingzhi. Xu Xingzhi dodged, but suddenly recalled that he was also a phantom image on Zhou Beinan’s side so he switched to a smirk as he stated: “What’re you trying to doya.”

When Xu Xingzhi was bored, he had crafted thisXi Lantern.

Xu Xingzhi’s original intention for making this item was for a serious reason: “In this way, once something happens within in the four sects, or if there are any troublesome monsters nearby, we can communicate with each other and deal with the issue promptly.”

He went to Qingliang Valley, Danyang Peak, and Yingtianchuan, placing one within Wen Xuechen, Qu Chi, and Zhou Beinan’s room. As long as one of them circulated their spiritual energy to light up one of them, one could then choose to light up the others at the same time in order to glimpse the others’ figures and hear the others’ voices.

Regarding these gadgets he introduced, Wen Xuechen used one sentence to expose his true intentions: “You’re just afraid that no one will chat with you.”

Zhou Beinan also concurred with this conjecture.

However, that being said, ultimately, these four lamps were peacefully placed in the respective palaces of the four disciples. Wen Xuechen also specially stored six priceless black rhinoceros horns in his palace that could be burned in place of the Xi Lantern.

As expected, after placing this thing there, it was put to very few serious uses and was mostly just used by Xu Xingzhi when he had nothing to do and merely wanted to find them for idle gossip.

Wen Xuechen was immersed in writing something, as such when he heard Zhou Beinan and Xu Xingzhi arguing, he interjected without raising his head: “You two speak more quietly, Qu Chi is meditating.”

Xu Xingzhi straightened on the chair he was sitting on, “Hear that Fatty Zhou, stop being so noisy. Guangfu-junordered me to transcribeThe Historical Records of Fengling, I need to calm down and focus.”

Zhou Beinan happily wiped off the water droplets on his body before wrapping a bath towel around his waist as he picked up the clothes he had just scattered about, slipping them hastily over his body: “So, what mischief was it this timela?”

Xu Xingzhi spread out a blank bamboo slip and replied: “I don’t cause trouble and Guangfu-juncan always still find a reason to have me copy texts.”

Wen Xuechen commented emotionlessly: “You should really take advantage of this to cultivate your self.”

Xu Xingzhi whined: “I’m about to be nauseous from all this transcribing, how can I still cultivate my moral character? Which text in our Fengling Mountain have I not copied yet? Now I feel queasy the moment I pick up a brush.”

Hearing this, a faint smile graced Wen Xuechen’s usually cold face: “That’s because you do so perfunctorily.”

Seeing the expression on his face, Xu Xingzhi looked thoughtful then pretended to get up in order to pour some water only to creep around the other and read what he saw out loud: “Sit and watch the sky and earth, lie down to observe your own mind, the following clouds become you, my dear, the scattered stars are also you,my dear. . .”

Wen Xuechen’s faced flushed as he shouted: “Back off!”

Xu Xingzhi scampered off with a laugh: “‘Flowing clouds become you, my dear, the scattered stars are also you’. . . Beinan,Xiao-Xian’erreturned to Yingtianchuan to visit family? Let her go back earlyba, look at how reserved Xuechen had to become.”

Wen Xuechen was so embarrassed that he became annoyed: “. . . Xu Xingzhi!”

Xu Xingzhi instantly became obedient: “I’m copying the text, duplicating it.”

Thus the four of them continued to do their own thing.

Wen Xuechen carefully wrote the love letter that he may never intend to actually send to Zhou Xian, Xu Xingzhi transcribed his text, Qu Chi meditated, and Zhou Beinan went to the training grounds to practice with his spear for two hours and then returned with his spear at hand to take another bath.

Zhou Beinan caused quite a stir when he came back and so, when Qu Chi, who had been cultivating since earlier, opened his eyes and saw the silhouettes of three people before him, he didn’t show much surprise and just stood up gently with a robe draped over himself. He approached Xu Xingzhi’s shadow, took a glance, chuckled, then retrieved a scroll and started to read by himself.

The four of them each busied themselves with their own tasks and were at ease.

After a long time, Qu Chi was called away by several disciples to handle some matters and as soon as he stepped out, Xu Xingzhi placed his brush down and stretched.

Zhou Beinan: “Finished transcribing?”

Xu Xingzhi pushed the scroll that still glistened with wet ink forward: “Copying what? I’ve duplicatedThe Historical Records of Fenglingmore than thirty times since I entered the sect, I can memorize it already. Take a look.”

Zhou Beinan wiped his long wet hair and his bare, muscular upper body while he leaned over to take a look at the scroll: “You’re quite capableah.”

Xu Xingzhi tapped the table with his fingertips: “Help me check if there are any mistakes.”

After saying that, he turned around and asked Wen Xuechen: “Xuechen, willXiao-Xian’erstill participate in the Heavenly Ranking competition this year?”

Wen Xuechen nodded: “En.”

“I say, why isXiao-Xian’erstill participatingah?” Xu Xingzhi slung his arms around the back of the chair, “Wen-baimao, seriously, can you do it or notah, it’s already been more than half a year, where are my little nephews and little nieces?”

Wen Xuechen stopped writing and glanced up at him: “Whether I can do it or not, do you want to try it yourself?”

Xu Xingzhi laughed heartily.

Zhou Beinan walked away from Xu Xingzhi and set the wet towel off to the side: “Although the one surnamed Xu only says two sensible things among the ten sentences of nonsense he spouts, but this was definitely spoken well, Xuechen, I’m waiting for a nephewah.”

Wen Xuechen stated serenely: “I want a girl.”

Zhou Beinan groaned with anah, pulled at his ear: “A daughter? So delicate, how will you raise herah.”

Xu Xingzhi picked up the copied text to scan it from the beginning as he remarked sarcastically: “It’s them husband and wife doing the rearing, as theUncle, it’s good enough for you to be able to hold the babe once or twice a year.”

Wen Xuechen clearly had no intention of continuing this topic as he brought up: “That’s right, this year’s Heavenly Rankings, Qu Chi cannot participate.”

Xu Xingzhi hummed doubtfully: “En.”

Wen Xuechen continued: “Have you forgotten? He is the acting lord of Danyang Peak. For such a grand event, I’m afraid he will have to sit with Qingjing-junand the others.”

Xu Xingzhi was joyous: “That’s greatah. I’ll have one less opponent.”

Wen Xuchen: “Don’t be too happy so soon. I heard fromShifuand the others, that you may also not be allowed to participate this year as well.”

Xu Xingzhi was startled.

Wen Xuechen raised his head and stated: “You are a Nascent Soul cultivator and you’ve already won the title of champion of the Heavenly Rankings, why do you need to participatene.”

Xu Xingzhi frowned.

He mulled over his plan, turning it over in his mind again and again and felt that he should still refuse to give in so easily. Holding the scroll in one hand, he leaned his body in the direction of Wen Xuechen’s phantom form: “I don’t care, I just want to participate.”

Wen Xuechen: “. . . Who are you trying to act spoiled withne.”

Xu Xingzhi grinned: “Youya.”

Wen Xuechen: “. . .”

Xu Xingzhi: “Xuechen-xiong, please put in a good word with Fuyao-junfor mebei.”

Wen Xuechen: “En. When you want something it’s Xuechen-xiong, when it’s nothing it’s Wen-baimao.”

Xu Xingzhi refrained from commenting and only continued to gaze at him with a smile.

Wen Xuechen coughed, covered his mouth and vaguely promised: “. . . I’ll try my best.”

Xu Xingzhi instantly brightened up: “Thanksla. You help me inform Fuyao-junthat I won’t use ‘Xianbi’ if that’s what he wants, or letting me wield a random sword will also do. In short, anything is fine as long as I can participate.”

Zhou Beinan glared at him: “What is that supposed to mean? I’m still participating this year tooah.”

Xu Xingzhi grinned from ear to ear and continued to read what he had just silently written, then without reading more than two or three lines, he frowned. Shaking the scroll in Zhou Beinan’s face: “See, look, I just asked you to help me spot any omissions, so how come you didn’t catch it?”

Zhou Beinan glanced at the scroll: “How would I be clear on yourA Historical Record of Fengling?”

Xu Xingzhi: “Hei, I don’t believe that yourYingtianchuan Historical Recordsdoesn’t have any note on it.”

He pointed it out to Zhou Beinan: “The ‘ZhengshouRebellion’ incited by the demonic cultivators Nian Zai and Sa Luo occurred during the first year of Zhengshou. I wrote it as the second year of Zhengshou, how come you didn’t remind me? What if that was caught by Guangfu-jun, wouldn’t he have scolded me for not being focused?”

“What does it have to do with me if you wrote it incorrectly yourself?” Zhou Beinan rolled his eyes at him, but after pointing that out, there was a hint of doubt in his eyes, “‘Zhengshou Rebellion’ didn’t it happen in the second year of Zhengshou?”

Xu Xingzhi: “. . . Has your brain been waterlogged? How can you forget something that you’ve been memorizing since a young age?”

After saying so, he turned to Wen Xuechen and prompted: “Wen-baimao, you tell him, which year was the ‘Zhengshou Rebellion’?”

Wen Xuechen frowned slightly: “Isn’t it the second year of Zhengshou?”

Xu Xingzhi, who wanted to make some changes: “. . .”

Hearing the two of them question it, Xu Xingzhi himself also started to doubt himself.

However he wondered, how could he remember something wrong after copying it more than thirty times, thus he circled the “two”, crossed it out, then replaced it with the “Yuan” character.

Precisely at this time, Qu Chi returned to his palace after finishing his work.

Xu Xingzhi placed his pen down, turned around and asked: “Qu Chi, you came at the right time. Let me ask you, in what year did ‘Qingjing-junYue Wuchen, annihilate Sa Luo and quell the chaos of the demonic rebellion’?”

Qu Chi answered warmly: “Thefirstyear of Zhengshouah. Why?”

Xu Xingzhi splayed his hands towards Wen Xuechen and Zhou Beinan.

Zhou Beinan just took it as he, himself, remembering it wrong and turned around to get dressed. Wen Xuechen used the other end of his brush to support his head, seemingly doubtful: “. . . Which year did I just say?”

Xu Xingzhi laughed and replied: “Yup, Wen-baimao, your brain seems to be getting on in years.”

Wen Xuechen still felt that something was strange, but this matter was too small compared to the chaos in the valley, so it didn’t plague him for long.

Xu Xingzhi was also very busy on his side. After handing in the “Historical Records of Fengling” he wrote to Guangfu-jun, he began to busy himself with the Heavenly Ranking competition.

After he had been busy for a few days and finally had some free time, he realized that he hadn’t received Meng Chongguang’s spiritual messages for a long time.

Xu Xingzhi slept in a cold bed at night with no one to talk to. His mouth felt so idle that he went to find Zhou Beinan all the time and even invited the other to live with him at Fengling, but as expected, he was rejected: “My honorable self accompanying you to sleep? Can’t you find a d*mnable cultivation partner yerselfah.”

Xu Xingzhi pondered it, I looked for oneah, wasn’t that very person sent out on a mission by himself right now?

Not being able to contact Meng Chongguang really made Xu Xingzhi feel empty. After thinking about it, he felt that the trouble should’ve been caused by that spiritual message he sent a few days ago informing Meng Chongguang that he was going to the main palace of the demonic cultivators to drink.

He drafted another spiritual message.

The so-called spiritual message doesn’t need to be written, but is composed of spiritual energy. It is dictated by the author and then sent out, which not only ensures that the designated recipient receives the letter, but also allows the recipient to hear what the sender said personally.

“Chongguang, I haven’t seen you for a few days. How have you been lately? I’m busy all day long, and I especially miss you at night. I dreamed about you several times and I dreamed of holding you in my arms, warm to the extreme.”

Xu Xingzhi has always been thick-skinned and he will not cut corners about voicing what was on his mind and would write it as is bluntly.

After leaving these words, Xu Xingzhi was about to send the letter out when there was a knock on his door.

Xu Xingzhi was overjoyed and instinctively raised his head: “Chong. . .”

However, it was Yuan Ruzhou who came in.

Several years have passed and her bright face hasn’t lost its brilliance due to her cultivation of immortality and spiritual energy. Instead, it had been polished into a gentle and tender light, as glaring as a dream. Even if she didn’t say a word and just stood there casually, it was enough to occupy many people’s fantasies.

Yuan Ruzhou placed a pot of brewed tea by Xu Xingzhi’s right hand side: “Shixiong, this is the finestJunshan Yinzhen, I’ve noticed thatShixionghas been very weary these days, so I especially brewed it to relieveShixiong’s fatigue.”

Xu Xingzhi’s gaze softened slightly: “Thank you.”

Yuan Ruzhou served the tea, but didn’t leave. She stood at the desk and hesitated for a moment, then slowly uttered: “Shixiong.”

Xu Xingzhi faintly sensed an unusual atmosphere: “. . .En?”

Yuan Ruzhou hung her head, her voice so full of intense emotions that he couldn’t help but feel moved: “Shixiong, I’ve been in Fengling for more than ten years. Ever since I entered Fengling, you’ve been the head disciple in Fengling. I look up to you, notice you, as long as you are by my side, I feel steady, at ease. . . “

Xu Xingzhi was suddenly struck by a bad premonition and tried to put a stop to her next words: “Ruzhou. . .”

Yuan Ruzhou ignored his attempt to obstruct it and softly continued: “Shixiong, can I be fortuitous enough to get a lifetime of stability and peace of mind by your side?”

Xu Xingzhi’s hand shook and sent out the spiritual message that recorded Yuan Ruzhou’s voice.

The author has something to say:

Regarding the foreshadowing for Qingjing-jun, go check out Chapter 42~

Author’s Chapter Summary:

Within the mirror, typo, spiritual message sent

The translator has something to say: honestly, it was WXC’s innocent statement that he wanted a girl that got me in this chapter TVT

And I’m back! Sorry for the long radio silence, we’ll start off with this until I get back into the groove of posting more regularly