Chapter 6

"Stop---"

The person being pursued had been wounded and was fleeing in panic. A group of people was chasing that person in a city with heavy traffic. Vendors and passersby were being consecutively knocked over, causing the whole street to fall into chaos. But seeing that the culprits were from Wuliang Sect, everyone choked with silent fury.

That person stubbornly resisted but was ultimately caught in the end. He still did not give up and shouted: "I don't know anything, why do you want to catch me? Just because you're from Wuliang Sect, you can't arrest people in broad daylight! You're taking advantage of your power to bully people! Does the law still exist?!"

"Stop talking nonsense. Don't think that no one knows what kind of business you're doing. Take him away!"

The waiter from the teahouse came over to replenish their tea, and Xie Bi An inquired: "Brother, do you know what is going on outside?"

"Oh, something serious happened in Wuliang Sect yesterday. Are you the middleman of an immortal sect? If you are, you probably would have heard it."

"Yeah, I've heard of it, is this person the murderer?"

"Of course not, I heard that Meng Ke Fei was very powerful. If he's the murderer, how can he be caught by a bunch of  low-level disciples from Wuliang Sect?"

"Brother makes a reasonable point, then this is..."

"This person most likely escaped from Fumenghui. Last night, the Lone Sword Song Chun Gui brought some people to turn Fumenghui upside down. I heard that they wanted to catch those who are related to trading cores and bring them back to Yunding for interrogation." The waiter pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "They went crazy about catching people. There were a few men in our village who just went to Fumenghui to do some work for food and all of them were taken away inexplicably."

Xie Bi An frowned and seemed lost in thought.

Song Chun Gui's reputation was well-known even to the commoners who were not from the immortal cultivation world. He is Li Bu Yu's youngest disciple, a well-known one-armed swordsman in the world. With only one hand, he could skillfully display the swordsmanship of Wuliang Sect. Currently, he’s the most popular figure in Wuliang Sect. Li Bu Yu dispatching this person showed the importance of Meng Ke Fei's death to the sect.

And Fumenghui, which the waiter mentioned, was only 15km away from Fengdu city. It was Jiuzhou's largest black market and leisure place. There were only things that people dare not to think, but there was nothing that people dare not to do. There were only things that people couldn't afford, but there was nothing that people couldn't sell. It's the most magical place in the world. 

"Wuliang Sect is quick to take action by checking on Fumenghui first." Fan Wu She looked outside the window at those people who were taken away and said coldly, "It's a pity to turn to any doctor one can find when critically ill*. Where the wind and the waves are highest*, who would dare to trade Meng Ke Fei's golden core?"

"Yeah, but if they caught the people who are related to core trading, they might find some clues. However, spreading a wide net and arresting people indiscriminately will damage the prestige of Wuliang Sect."

That word "prestige" made Fan Wu She sneered secretly. Time was really a whitewashed facade*. Who knew the Wuliang Sect right now, as the leader of the Immortal Alliance and the model of immortal families, would have a different kind of appearance a hundred years ago.

"However, as long as Wuliang Sect finds out the truth, they won't hurt innocent people." Xie Bi An said, "Wu She, let's eat first. After eating, I will bring you house."

Go home...

Fan Wu She's heart moved.

After lunch, they returned to Qintai Alley.

Zhong Kui bought a house here. The house was not small, but it was old, plain in appearance, and unattractive. This was the residence in the human realm that he and his master used. When Xie Bi An was young and couldn't stay in the Underworld for long periods of time, he spent more than half of his time growing up here.

When they pushed open the door and entered, a burst of fragrant orchid scent wafted out and a sea of flowers greeted them. The square courtyard was actually filled with orchids of various colors and varieties. With numerous branches and clusters, each plant was elegant and fragrant, graceful and colorful. It was such a beautiful scenery, like a fairytale.

Xie Bi An inhaled the fragrance and felt refreshed. He laughed and said: "I named it Orchid Garden. I've grown this garden of orchids for more than 10 years."

Fan Wu She looked at this beautiful scenery, yet he felt like he was being run over by a nail plate. The spikes pierced directly into his internal organs. His eyes became fuzzy due to the inexplicable burning pain. Time and space became deranged one after another. This simple and elegant courtyard gradually overlapped with the palace garden with dragons and phoenixes. Everything matched, starting from the same blue sky, then the sun, then the clouds, then the flowers, and finally, the young man standing in the sea of flowers, smiling at him warmly.

"Wu She, Confucius said, orchids have the virtues of a gentleman and the fragrance of kings. Senior brother loves orchids the most, do you like orchids?"

"Xiao Jiu, Confucius said, orchids have the virtues of a gentleman and the fragrance of kings. Big brother loves orchids the most, do you like orchids?"

Millions of arrows pierced through his heart.

Fan Wu She staggered and took a step back. His eyes were red.

Xie Bi An realized Fan Wu She's abnormality and asked nervously: "Wu She, what's wrong, do you feel uncomfortable? Is it heatstroke?" He stepped forward and was about to support Fan Wu She.

Fan Wu She slapped Xie Bi An's hand away fiercely: "Don't touch me!"

Xie Bi An froze. His worried expression has yet to change, but a deep disappointment could be seen from the veins that crawled up his face, which looked a little funny. He sighed and said softly: "Wu She, you and I have only met for less than a day. We've never had any disagreements before. I don't know why you seem to...reject senior brother somehow."

Fan Wu She looked at Xie Bi An's lowered brows and eyes. His expression looked as if it could swallow a person whole.

Xie Bi An continued to talk to himself: "It is fate for you and me to be senior and junior brothers. Senior brother wishes to live in harmony with you, to cultivate and serve master together. I know that you had an unfortunate life. You were lonely and had no one to depend on. It may be difficult to trust others, but I will treat you like a real blood brother." He lifted his head and looked at Fan Wu She sincerely.

Yet Fan Wu She turned around. After a while, he whispered: "I just don't like to be touched by people."

I just can't let you touch me. I hope you don't treat me well, smile at me, and touch me, because I don’t want to keep you to myself all the time.

If you know what shameless things I want to do to you, what will you do?

I can't repeat the same mistakes.

Xie Bi An wanted to peek at Fan Wu She's expression, but couldn't see it. He hesitated and said: "Then, do you recognize me as your senior brother?"

"...I do."

Xie Bi An immediately felt relieved. He was open-minded and never clung to small matters: "It's alright so long as you recognize me as your senior brother. It is due to senior brother's lack of consideration. We only met each other yesterday, so it's impossible to get acquainted with you right away. In the future, if there's anything that senior brother did to make you feel awkward, it's okay to voice it out directly."

Fan Wu She adjusted his emotions and turned around. His expression was already indifferent: " The orchids are very beautiful."

"Yeah, I have spent a lot of effort on them. But I don't just plant orchids. There are some heliophilous plants over here. Jiuyou doesn’t have a sun. I planted plenty of them at the Heaven Master Palace. When we head back, I will bring you to see my garden at the Heaven Master Palace."

"Okay."

"Look." Xie Bi An pointed to a bunch of extremely luxuriant and beautiful pink and white orchids and said excitedly, "This is what I told you before, the petal from the maternal plant Brother Lan gave me. This species is called Dangshanhe. The name is beautiful, and the flower is even more beautiful."

Fan Wu She squinted at that orchid. 

"By the way, you can't even imagine Bo Zhu's expression when I mentioned it to him." Xie Bi An mimicked Bo Zhu's expression and said in a surprise, "'Ah! What kind of mother pig* can live for a hundred years, wouldn’t it become a spirit?' Hahahahaha----"

"..."

"That silly Bo Zhu always says silly things. So adorable." Xie Bi An stretched out his white and slender hand and stroked the Dangshanhe lovingly. His fingertips were so gentle it almost melted at the touch, "He doesn't know that the price of this Dangshanhe can be up to thousands of gold in the black market. Even if Xianyue Pavilion has thousands of orchid species, this is the only precious one. Brother Lan and I are people who love flowers, how can he give up what he treasures, I..."

"He just wants to please master." Fan Wu She said in a vicious voice, "If you are not a well-known cultivator, you think he will care about you?"

Hearing the names Bo Zhu and brother Lan in every other sentence, Fan Wu She felt as if  His scalp was on fire*. 

More than a hundred years ago, he didn't know where this shitty Xianyue Pavilion was. Otherwise, he would relocate all of the orchids in their house. And he wouldn't let this person keep singing praises of another man.

Xie Bi An smiled indifferently: "I would have understood even if you didn't say it. But your senior brother prides himself on being a romanticist. Brother Lan is not someone who needs to cling to the high and connect to the rich*. He respects master and is willing to associate with me. There's no conflict."

Fan Wu She was so furious that he wanted to dig out that damn flower.

A couple surnamed Liu lived in the house. They usually looked after the house and took care of the flowers and plants. They knew the true identity behind Zhong Kui and Xie Bi An, so they did not question Fan Wu She's arrival. They understood the rules very well.

Xie Bi An put all the things they purchased today into the Qiankun bag, preparing to take it back to the underworld. Taking advantage of the good weather, he changed his clothes, put on a straw hat, went to the courtyard to dig up weeds, and watered the plants. He seemed to be contented and was enjoying his time.

Fan Wu She sat in the shade, watching in a daze.

He had seen Zong Zi Heng take care of his garden like this, and personally witnessed the orchid garden becoming impoverished, overgrown with weeds and eventually deserted.

Xie Bi An was just like Zong Zi Heng in his prime. 

At the age of 19, that was the start of Zong Zi Heng's drastic transformations. Also, that was when Xie Bi An was reunited with Fan Wu She. 

If there was only a fixed amount of destiny and the Dao had a fixed way, then he won't believe destiny and Dao. He had crawled back into the human realm from hell, and it was definitely not for the repetition of his previous life.

In the evening, after dinner, Xie Bi An handed the Qiankun bag to Fan Wu She and instructed: "Wu She, I’ll send you across Yin Yang Monument. Wait for Bo Zhu to bring you back to the Heaven Master Palace. Remember to put the food in the icebox, otherwise, it won't be fresh. Senior brother will make wontons for you tomorrow morning."

Fan Wu She didn't reply. A pair of black fox eyes stared at Xie Bi An: "You’re not going back?"

"Senior brother still has business to do."

"Fumenghui?"

"Mm."

"Bring me along."

"This trip might be dangerous, senior brother will go alone." Song Chun Gui only investigated people, but he could ask ghosts. Maybe he could find some clues in Fumenghui.

Fan Wu She frowned: "Do you think I need your protection?"

Xie Bi An laughed: "Senior brother knows you are great and talented, but you're still young. That's not a place that you should go."

"Bring me there." Fan Wu She refused to give up, "Otherwise, you shall not go."

Xie Bi An looked at him helplessly.

"I won't burden you, and..."

"And what?"

Fan Wu She whispered reluctantly, "I'll listen to senior brother."

"So obedient." Xie Bi An smiled, "Alright, then you have to listen to me and not act without authorization."

"Okay."

 

SQC’s notes: Going to flashback to previous life soon, everyone no need to panic 

 

----

Translator's Thoughts:

PS: Dangshanhe: I hope that black-clothed dude won’t visit me again. EVER!

***IMPORTANT: In ancient Chinese novels, li* [里] is approx. 500m, and zhang* [丈] is approx 3.3m!!! They're not miles and feet in our modern world. However, I'll still use miles for very generic terms, and only calculate when it's specific.

li* [里] ---ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m

turn to any doctor one can find when critically ill* [病急乱投医] ---those in a desperate plight will try anything

Where the wind and the waves are highest* [风口浪尖] ---where the struggle is the fiercest

whitewashed facade* [粉饰门面] ---a metaphor of beautifying the exterior with decorations

mother pig*[母猪]---XBA was mentioning maternal plant [母株] earlier before he mimicked Bo Zhu’s reaction about mother pig. 母猪 and 母株 have the same pronunciation in Chinese.

His scalp was on fire*[头皮都在冒火]----FWS is jealous that XBA was talking about Bo Zhu and brother Lan

cling to the high and connect to the rich* [攀高结贵]---try to attach oneself to the rich and powerful

 

Editor's Thoughts:

Personally, I like roses more xD

Leave a "Like" in the comments if you like the chapter! 

Edited on 15 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

Edited on 23 Jun. 21(Ari)

Edited on 21 Jul 21 (Limit)

 

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