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MDZS Chapter 110. “Concealment” Part 4

Everyone has their own path

Wei WuXian replied, “Naturally, coffins are for storing the dead. I’m guessing what it originally contained was Jin GuangYao’s mother, Meng Shi’s corpse. He’d come here tonight intending to retreat his mother’s corpse and flee to Dongying with it.”

Lan XiChen was still at a loss for words. With an “Ah,” Nie HuaiSang suddenly said, “Right, that makes a lot of sense.”

Wei WuXian continued, “What do you think the person did with GuangYao’s mother’s corpse after digging it out?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “Wei-xiong, why are you always asking me? No matter how much you ask me, how would I know?”

After a pause, he continued, “But hm……”

Slowly, Nie HuaiSang gathered up his rain-drenched hair and said, “I’m guessing, since this person hates Jin GuangYao so much, he’s probably going to be particularly cruel towards something which Jin GuangYao held so dear.”

Wei WuXian suggested, “For example, tearing the corpse into pieces and scatter it across the land, just like what had happened to ChiFeng-Zun?”

Shocked and startled, Nie HuaiSang staggered backwards, “That that that…… that would be too cruel…….”

Wei WuXian studied him for a while but ultimately moved his gaze away.

After all, speculations were just speculations. No one had any evidence.

The expression on Nie HuaiSang’s face appeared lost and exasperated. Perhaps he was faking it. Maybe he didn’t want to admit to using people like pawns, treating them as if their lives were nothing; or maybe his plan didn’t end here. Maybe he needed to disguise the truth to accomplish greater, higher goals. Or, maybe it wasn’t so complicated after all. Maybe the one who had delivered the letter, killed the cats, and pieced Nie MingJue’s head back to his body had been someone else, and that Nie HuaiSang was truly as useless as he looked.

Or maybe Jin GuangYao’s last few words were simply lies that he’d spun after Nie HuaiSang had seen through his backstabbing attempt, aimed to sow doubts in Lan XiChen’s heart so he could take the opportunity to take him to the grave After all, Jin GuangYao was a notorious liar. It wouldn’t be surprising for him to be able to spew anything any time he wanted.

As for why he’d changed his mind in the last moment and pushed Lan XiChen aside, who could really know what he was thinking?

With veins pulsing on the hand that was pressed to his forehead, Lan XiChen lamented, “……What exactly did he want? Once upon a time, I thought that I knew him very well, until I realized that I didn’t anymore. Before tonight, I thought that I had learned him anew, but once again I know nothing.”

No one could answer him. Lan XiChen repeated, at a loss, “……What exactly did he want?”

But if he, the one who was the closest to Jin GuangYao, didn’t even know the answer, then no one else would.

After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian said, “Let’s stop standing around doing nothing. Get a few of these men to go find more people, the rest of them can stay and guard this thing here. This coffin and these qin strings won’t seal ChiFeng-Zun for long.”

True to his words, a series of thundering noises came from within the coffin, radiating an aura of insuppressible rage. Nie HuaiSang shuddered. Throwing a glance at him, Wei WuXian said, “You see? We need to find a stronger coffin fast, dig a deep hole, and bury it again. Definitely shouldn’t be opened for at least the next century. If opened, I guarantee you the resentful spirits will still be there to cause more problems, disaster awaits……”

Before he even finished speaking, a series of crisp, vigorous dog barks came from the outside.

Wei WuXian’s expression changed in an instant. Meanwhile, Jin Ling’s spirit reluctantly lightened up a little. “Fairy!”

The thunder and lightning had passed. The pouring rain had diminished to a small drizzle. The darkest hours of the night were already over and the sky glowed with dim light.

Drenched from head to toe, the dark-furred spiritual dog sprinted towards Jin Ling on all fours like a torrent of dark wind. With a pair of round, teary puppy eyes, she stood up on her hind legs, sprawled over Jin Ling’s legs and made low whimpering noises. As Wei WuXian saw Fairy incessistantly licking Jin Ling’s hand with her scarlet tongue darting out between her sharp, pale teeth, his face was ashen and his eyes were frozen. Opening and and closing his mouth, he felt as if his soul was ready to evaporate out of his mouth in a bundle of smoke and fly towards heaven. Lan WangJi quietly stood in front of him, blocking him from Fairy’s line of sight.

Immediately afterwards, about a hundred or so people surrounded the entire Guanyin temple. Every single one of them had a sword in their hands. With caution and alarm all over their faces, they looked prepared for a brutal battle. Once the first wave entered, however, they were all startled by the scene before them. The ones on the ground were all already dead, while the ones who were still alive were either half-down or no longer standing. To summarize, corpses were everywhere, covering the floor in chaotic disarray.

From left to right, the two armed at the front were respectively the Head of Staff from the Yunmeng Jiang Sect and Lan QiRen. Lan QiRen was still too puzzled to speak, and the first thing that greeted him was the sight of Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi plastered so close together as if they were a single person. Instantly, Lan QiRen forgot everything he wanted to say. Murderous anger flared upon his face and his brows stood. Fuming, his breath was making his beard flare and shake. The Head of Staff hurried to help support Jiang Cheng, saying, “Sect Leader, are you alright……”

Meanwhile, Lan QiRen shouted, “Wei……”

Before he could finish shouting, a few figures clad in white darted out from behind him, all shouting, “HanGuang-Jun!”

“Senior Wei!”

“Senior Patriarch!”

The last youth bumped into Lan QiRen. Nearly stumbling, Lan QiRen warned, furious, “No running! No shouting!”

Aside from Lan WangJi, who called him “Uncle,” everyone else ignored him. With his left hand seizing Lan WangJi’s sleeve and his right hand seizing Wei WuXian’s arm, Lan SiZhui beamed, “This is wonderful! HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, you’re all fine. Looking at how agitated Fairy was, we all thought that you guys were in deep trouble.”

Lan JingYi said, “You must not be thinking straight, SiZhui; what trouble couldn’t HanGuang-Jun handle? I said a long time ago that you were worrying over nothing.”

“JingYi, weren’t you the one who was worried sick all the way over?”

“Go away! Stop talking nonsense.”

Finally spotting Wen Ning, who had finally managed to crawl up from the ground, from the corner of his eyes, Lan SiZhui immediately grabbed him and dragged him towards the group of youth as well, chatting about what all had happened.

As it turned out, after Fairy had injured Su She, she ran all the way to find the nearest subsidiary sect of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect within the city, and barked in front of their door nonstop. When the leader of the subsidiary sect saw the special collar on Fairy’s neck, the golden symbol and the family sigil, they realized that Fairy’s master must have come from a prestigious place. Noticing the blood marks on Fairy’s teeth, claws and fur, it became evident that a chaotic battle had just happened. No doubt the dog’s master was in danger. Too scared to waste another minute, the sect leader had immediately rode on his sword to the Lotus Pier to inform the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, the largest and most powerful sect in the area. The Head of Staff there had immediately identified the dog to be Young Master Jin Ling’s Fairy, and had immediately send out backups for rescue.

At the time, the Gusu Lan Sect were just about to leave the Lotus Pier, but Fairy had blocked Lan QiRen’s way. Leaping, she ripped off a stripe of white from the corner of Lan SiZhui’s robes with her teeth. Placing it on top of her head with her paw, she seemed to be trying to tie the stripe of white around her head, and then dropped onto the ground and pretended to be dead. While Lan QiRen was puzzled, Lan SiZhui had an alarming revelation, “Mister, look at that; doesn’t it seem like she’s trying to mimic our sect’s forehead ribbon? Is she trying to tell us that HanGuang-Jun or someone else from the Lan Sect is in danger?”

Thus, the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, the Gusu Lan Sect and a few other sects that hadn’t left yet all gathered up their people and headed over for rescue.

Lan JingYi praised, “All this time we’ve been calling her ‘Fairy’, ‘Fairy’, who knew she’s actually a spiritual dog!”

But no matter how spiritual or how smart it was, to Wei WuXian, a dog was still a dog—the most frightening existence in the world. Even though he had Lan WangJi blocking in front of him, he still shuddered nonstop. Ever since the group of youths from the Lan family had come in, Jin Ling had been stealing furtive glances towards them—towards the sight of them talking and chatting loudly around Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. Seeing that Wei WuXian’s face was becoming paler and paler, Jin Ling patted Fairy’s butt and said quietly, “Fairy, go outside first.”

Shaking her head and wagging her tail, Fairy continued to lick him. Jin Ling chided, “Hurry and go. What, you don’t listen to me anymore?”

Fairy gave him a sad look, and dashed out of the temple, wagging her tail. At last, Wei WuXian relaxed. Jin Ling wanted to go over but felt too awkward to actually do it. Just as he was hesitating, Lan SiZhui suddenly saw what was by Wei WuXian’s waist. Frozen and startled, he asked, “……Senior Wei?”

Wei WuXian said, “Hm? What?”

Lan SiZhui said numbly, “Your…… Your flute, may I take a look at it?”

Wei WuXian brought it down and asked, “Something’s up with this flute?”

Receiving the flute with both hands, Lan SiZhui’s brows creased slightly. He looked a little lost. As Lan WangJi watched him, Wei WuXian turned to Lan WangJi and asked, “What’s up with your SiZhui? Does he like my flute?”

Lan JingYi exclaimed, “Huh? You’d finally lost that awful-sounding flute of yours? This new one here’s not bad!”

Little did he know that not only was this flute “not bad”, it was the legendary, treasured Ghoul Flute Chenqing upon which he’d always dreamed of gazing one day. Right now, however, he was merely thinking in glee, ‘This is great! At least he won’t be embarrassing HanGuang-Jun anymore the next time they duet together. Heavens! The flute he had before was ugly in both looks and sound!’

Lan WangJi said, “SiZhui.”

Only then did Lan SiZhui remembered himself and offered Chenqing back to Wei WuXian with both hands. “Senior Wei.”

Retrieving the flute, Wei WuXian at last remembered that it had come from Jiang Cheng. Turning to the latter, he added, “Thanks.” Waving Chenqing, he said, “Then, I…… will be keeping this?”

Jiang Cheng threw him a glance. “It was yours to start with.”

After a pause, his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something more, but Wei WuXian had already turned to Lan WangJi. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng didn’t say another word.

Of the people gathered, some were cleaning up the scene, some were strengthening the wooden coffin’s seal. Some were trying to figure out how to relocate it safely and securely, while others were angry. Lan QiRen raged, “XiChen, what exactly is up with you?!”

With an unspoken sorrow stitched between his brows, Lan XiChen pressed against his temple and replied in tired words, “……Uncle, I’m begging you. Stop asking. Please. I really don’t want to talk about anything right now.”

In all the years he’d raised him, Lan QiRen had never seen Lan XiChen so irritated and discomposed, so disquieted and hard to reason with. Looking from Lan XiChen to Lan WangJi, who was being surrounded together with Wei WuXian, Lan QiRen’s rage magnified, consumed by the realization that these two pupils of his—once perfect and spotless—had both stopped listening to him, and neither would give him peace of mind.

The coffin containing Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao was not only unusually heavy but needed to be carefully handled. Thus, the few brave souls who volunteered to relocate it were all sect leaders. One sect leader took a look at the face of the Guanyin statue and started. Then, as if discovering something fascinating, he called out to those next to him and said, “Look at this face! Doesn’t this look like Jin GuangYao?”

The one next to him looked and then muttered in wonderous contemplation, “It really is his face! What was Jin GuangYao doing with something like this?”

Sect Leader Yao said, “Made himself a god out of pride and arrogance, duh.”

“That’s a lot of pride and arrogance, hahaha.”

Wei WuXian thought to himself, ‘That’s not necessarily true.’

Jin GuangYao’s mother had been a whore looked down upon by the whole world. Therefore he constructed a Guanyin statue in her image so that she could be praised and respected by tens of thousands kneeling by her feet, offering her burning incense all day long.

But there was little use for bring up it up now. Wei WuXian understood, better than anyone, that no one would care, and that no one would believe it. Anything that had even remote ties with Jin GuangYao would never be given the benefit of the doubt again. From now on, people would only assume the worst of the worst of him, and words would ripple like ceaselessly waves.

Soon, the coffin would be sealed inside an even bigger, stronger casket. Seventy-two mahogany stakes would be nailed into it before it became buried deep beneath the earth, underneath a mountain surrounded by warning posts.

And whatever that was sealed within would never be reborn underneath the weight of a thousand seals and the scorn of thousands more.

Leaning against the door frame, Nie HuaiSang watched as the group of sect leaders carried the coffin outside the Guanyin temple’s doorsteps. Lowering his head, he swiped at the dirt and grime caking his robes when something seemed to catch his eyes, making him pause. Wei WuXian followed his gaze. Laying on the floor was Jin GuangYao’s hat.

Nie HuaiSang bent down. It was only after he picked it up did he wander outside slowly.

Outside, Fairy was already worried sick waiting for her master, and cried out two long howls. At the sound, Jin Ling suddenly remembered that Fairy had been just a dumb young pup no taller than his knee when Jin GuangYao had first brought her to him.

At the time, he was only a few years old and had just fought with a few other kids at the Koi Tower. Even though he’d won, it hadn’t felt like a victory, and so he had thrashed his room in a huge tantrum, shouting and crying. None of the maids and servants dared to approach him, scared that he’d hit them. With a face full of smiles, his youngest uncle had suddenly appeared and asked, “A-Ling, what’s wrong?” and he’d instantly shattered five or six flower vases by Jin GuangYao’s feet. Jin GuangYao had said, “Aiyoh, so scary, I’m so scared,” and left while shaking his head, as if he was truly scared.

The next day, still mad, Jin Ling had refused to leave his room to eat, and so Jin GuangYao had roamed back and forth outside his doors. Jin Ling, with his back against the doors, shouted at him to stop bothering him, and had been suddenly greeted by the weak howls of a small pup.

Opening his door, Jin GuangYao had been half-crouching right outside with a black-furred small dog tucked in his arms, its sparkling eyes big and round. Jin GuangYao smiled up at him and said, “I found this little one here, not sure what to call it. Would A-Ling like to give it a name?”

That smile had been so warm and genuine. Jin Ling couldn’t ever believe that Jin GuangYao had faked it.

Suddenly, fresh tears rolled down his cheeks again.

Jin Ling had always believed crying to be a sign of weakness, and had thus always looked down upon it. Right now, however, aside from crying his eyes out, he had no other means to express or unleash the pain and fury in his heart.

For reasons he couldn’t understand, he couldn’t find anyone to blame, or anyone to hate. Wei WuXian, Jin GuangYao, Wen Ning—every single one of them should be responsible for the death of his parents in one way or another. Every single one of them rightfully deserved his hate. Yet, in one way or another, he found himself incapable of hating any of them. But if not them, then who else could he hate? Did he deserve to have his parents taken away from him so young? He was already incapable of avenging their death—incapable of making the kill. Was he also to be robbed of his hatred? Was he not even allowed to hate with no repercussion nor hesitance?

It didn’t feel right. It didn’t seem fair. He almost felt like he should have died with them. That would have been more right.

At the sight of him crying soundlessly at the coffin, Sect Leader Yao asked, “Young Master Jin, why are you crying? Are you crying for Jin GuangYao?”

When Jin Ling didn’t answer, Sect Leader Yao spoke with the air of a senior chiding a fellow young disciple of his own house, “What’s there to cry? Cease your tears. People like your uncle don’t deserve other people’s tears. Young Master, I’m not just speaking for myself, but you cannot be this weak and frail! You’re acting like a woman. You need to know what’s right and what’s wrong, and straighten your……”

Had the Lanling Jin Sect still held the seat of the Chief Cultivator that sat above hundreds of sects, never would any of the other sect leaders dare to chide a disciple of the Jin Sect in the tone of a condescending senior even if the chance was handed to them on a silver platter. But now that Jin GuangYao was dead, the Lanling Jin Sect had no one left to support the roof over its head. With its reputation utterly ruined, it would probably never return to its glory days. And so the others finally dared to come at them. Jin Ling’s heart was already in churning turmoil. Sect Leader Yao’s unnecessary, condescending words only made his mood worse. Rage exploded like a gush of fire inside his chest as he shouted, “So what if I just want to cry, what’s it to you?! Who do you think you are to comment on my crying?!”

Sect Leader Yao didn’t expect to be shouted at for his chidings. After all, he was still a sect leader; not spectacularly renounced but respected all the same. His expression darkened immediately. Someone next to him persuaded, “Let it go, don’t quarrel with a child.”

Tucking away his anger, he huffed and said, “Of course. Heh, what use is there in arguing with a little child who has yet to learn black from white?”

After seeing the coffin carried onto the carriage, Lan QiRen turned around and, after a pause, asked, “Where is WangJi?”

He had only just been thinking of dragging Lan WangJi back to the Cloud Recesses and have one hundred and twenty days of lengthy, private conversation with him. And if that failed, he planned to confine him again for a little while. Little had he expected Lan WangJi to disappear in the blink of an eye. After roaming a few times around the premises, he yelled, “Where is WangJi?!”

Lan JingYi answered, “Earlier, I mentioned that I brought Little Apple along and left it right outside the temple, and then HanGuang-Jun and…… and…… left to see Little Apple together.”

Lan QiRen asked, “And then what?”

Little needed to be said regarding what happened after that. Outside the temple, Wei WuXian, Lan WangJi, and Wen Ning were no longer in sight.

Turning to Lan XiChen, who was slowly following behind him with an unfocused gaze, Lan QiRen exhaled angrily before turning back with a swipe of his sleeves. Meanwhile, Lan JingYi looked left and right before gasping, “SiZhui? What’s going on? When did SiZhui disappear as well?”

Hearing that both Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi had disappeared, Jin Ling hurried outside and nearly tripped himself by the tall doorstep of the Guanyin temple’s main gate. Despite his haste, the two were already nowhere to be seen. Fairy happily circled around him with her tongue out. Standing by a tree, rigid and sky-high within the Guanyin temple’s grounds, was Jiang Cheng, who looked over at Jin Ling and spoke coldly, “Clean your face.”

Giving his eyes and face a few forceful wipe, Jin Ling dashed over and asked, “Where are they?”

Jiang Cheng responded, “They left.”

“And you let them go just like that?” Jin Ling burst out.

Jing Cheng’s response dripped with sarcasm. “Or what? Ask them to stay for dinner? Say ‘thank you’ and then ‘sorry’?”

Agitated, Jin Ling pointed at him and said, “No wonder he left! It’s because you’re always like this! Uncle, why are you so unlikable?!”

At the words, Jiang Cheng raised his hand, mad as well. “Is this how you should speak to an elder? You’re asking for a beating!”

Jin Ling visibly shrunk. Fairy’s tail went between her legs as well. Ultimately, Jiang Cheng didn’t land his palm on Jin Ling’s head and instead weakly lowered it.

He irritatedly added, “Shut up already, Jin Ling. Shut up. Let’s go back. We’ll all go back to our own.”

Startled, after a moment of hesitation, Jin Ling pliantly remained quiet as told.

Head sloping, Jin Ling walked by Jiang Cheng’s side for a few strides before looking up. “Uncle, you wanted to say something earlier, didn’t you?”

“What? No. I didn’t.”

“You did! I saw it, you wanted to say something to Wei WuXian but then you stopped.”

After a beat of silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head. “There’s nothing to be said.”

What was there to say?

Tell him ‘I didn’t get caught back then by the Wen Sect because I was trying to retrieve my parents’ bodies from the Lotus Pier.’

‘When you went out to buy food at that little town where we ran to, a group of cultivators from the Wen Sect had caught up.’

‘I found out early and left the place we were staying at, and avoided capture by hiding at a street corner. But they were patrolling the streets, and soon they would have caught up to you.’

‘And so I left my hiding place and attracted their attention away.’

However, just like all those years ago when Wei WuXian had ripped out his own golden core for him without telling him, here and now, there was no way for Jiang Cheng to bring this up again.

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #novel translation #my translation #'i am back' i said #and then i disappeared for 2 more weeks...#claaaassic shortsightedness coming from me #apologies apologies

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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I have a question about them golden cores. Can't WWX make another golden core now that he has a new body? Also isn't it the reason why they live long and don't age? (Or age slowly maybe? Or did I make this up in my head?) Then won't he age/die faster than LWJ? Also I've read somewhere that in the novel/extra it says that Mo Xuanyu's body is starting to morph into what Wei Wuxian looked like before due to his soul's influence. Is it true?

What a great series of questions, but most of which I’m honestly not sure? orz;;

Cultivation appears to be quite a popular setting in Chinese web novels except MDZS really is my first one so I’m not as familiar with its more commonly-accepted world settings and many things are in fact not explicitly clarified in the novel...sometimes I really wish it did lol

But oh I think WWX should have MXY’s core right now since he’s in the latter’s body? Would he be able to strengthen it through further cultivation? I’m not sure... And I’m not sure how this will affect his lifespan... Also I don’t ever recall it mentioned anywhere of MXY’s body morphing into WWX’s o: But of course I might have missed the detail somewhere

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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Oh my..g rA9

Something that's been bugging me for quite a while - what is the meaning of 忘羡 (Wangxian)?? Because everywhere I look it tells me it means ´´to forget envies``, but it doesn't make sense to me lol if that's really the real meaning, could you share with me your interpretation?

I always thought that it’s just the ship name for WWX and LWJ since it takes a character from each of their name? Its’ the “Wang” from WangJi and “Xian” from WuXian

Didn’t know there was added meaning to this but I’m often unaware of many things lol…if anyone else knows please enlighten me and anon

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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I always thought that it’s just the ship name for WWX and LWJ since it takes a character from each of their name? Its’ the “Wang” from WangJi and “Xian” from WuXian

Didn’t know there was added meaning to this but I’m often unaware of many things lol...if anyone else knows please enlighten me and anon

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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Heyy sorry, I know it's only been 2 weeks since you updated it but I was wondering if you are still translating it? Sorry, thankss.

I’m still translating it~

Sorry for the 2 week absence due to a combination of work and traveling somewhere that offered jet lags and a blocked internet

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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MDZS Chapter 109. “Concealment” Part 3

Sealing the coffin

The shove had Lan XiChen stumbling quite a few steps backwards. Before he could even process everything that just happened in the span of a few moments, Lan WangJi had already given the delicate-featured Guanyin statue a slap on the back, shaking it from its spot, sending it airborne and flying towards the coffin. Nie MingJue was still keenly studying the dead body in his hand, the head of which slumped to the side. The weight of the heavy statue knocked him over and back into the coffin.

Leaping, Wei WuXian stepped onto the Guanyin statue’s chest. With the coffin lid already broken into pieces, they could only use the statue in its stead to reseal the rampaging Nie MingJue. From beneath the statue, Nie MingJue struck it again and again, attempting to get out, shaking the statue and Wei WuXian along with it. Staggering with each strike, Wei WuXian nearly fell down. Realizing that there was no way that he could draw a talisman in this state, he said, “Lan Zhan, hurry hurry hurry, hurry and get up here with me. Two people’s weight is heavier than one. If he keeps hitting it, this Guanyin statue will definitely break apart as well……”

However, before he finished his sentence, both WuXian’s balance and line of sight suddenly tilted. Gripping one end of the coffin, Lan WangJi had already raised it up by one end.

Meaning, with just his left hand, he had lifted the heavy, wooden coffin along with the two corpses inside, the Guanyin statue above, and Wei WuXian on top of that, off the ground.

Wei WuXian was stunned speechless.

Even though he had already known that Lan WangJi had exceptional arm strength, this was still…… too shocking!

Meanwhile, without any change in expression, Lan WangJi whipped out a single, silver qin string with his right hand. Like a weaving shuttle, the qin string whooshed and wrapped around the coffin and the Guanyin statue a few dozen times, securely binding the two together. Followed by a second string, then a third…… Only after making sure that Nie MingJue and Jin GuangYao were both securely sealed did he let go of the side of the coffin he was holding up. It met the ground with a tremendous noise, sending Wei WuXian careening towards the ground. Turning, Lan WangJi caught him in his arms before carefully lowering him to the ground. Those arms capable of unspeakable strength had nothing but gentleness when they were around Wei WuXian.

Lan XiChen was still staring blankly at the coffin wrapped in seven strings, stunned and lost. Reaching out a hand, Nie HuaiSang waved it in front of him and asked in dismay, “……Xi-XiChen-ge, are you alright?”

Lan XiChen said, “HuaiSang, earlier, was he really trying to attack me from behind?

Nie HuaiSang, “I think I saw it……”

At his hesitancy, Lan XiChen pressed, “Think again, carefully.”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “If you ask me this way, I can’t be sure anymore either…… It really seemed as if……”

Lan XiChen replied, “Don’t ‘as if’! Did he or did he not?!"

Nie HuaiSang sounded distraught, “……I don’t know, I really don’t know!”

Whenever he was pressed too hard, this was the only line Nie HuaiSang knew how to say. Lowering his forehead into his hand, Lan XiChen looked as if he was suffering from a tremendous headache, and desired to speak no more.

Suddenly, Wei WuXian said, “HuaiSang-xiong[1].”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “Ah?”

Wei WuXian asked, “How did Su She stab you earlier?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “He was carrying San-ge[3]…… carrying Sect Leader Jin and running away. I was in his way, so he……”

Wei WuXian asked, “Really? From what I remember, where you were standing was pretty far from blocking them.”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “I couldn’t have went up to them to get stabbed on purpose, could I?”

Smiling, Wei WuXian said, “I didn’t say that.”

Nie HuaiSang asked, “Then what does Wei-xiong want to say?”

Wei WuXian said, “I simply suddenly pieced together some things.”

Nie HuaiSang asked, “What things?”

Wei WuXian said, “Jin GuangYao said that someone had sent him a letter which threatened to reveal all his dirty dealings to the world in seven days’ time. Let’s suppose he wasn’t lying, that he was speaking the truth. If so, then whoever had sent the letter was being completely unnecessary.”

He continued, “If you are planning to call someone out on their crimes, why not just go ahead and do it? Why would you specifically warn them that you hold evidence of their crime?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “Didn’t San-ge…… Didn’t Sect Leader Jin say that the person wanted him to take his own life to repent for his sins?”

Wei WuXian, “Be real, even your foot knows that Jin GuangYao would never choose to take his own life. What’s the purpose of banking on the impossible? From the surface, it seems completely pointless. However, would someone who’d dug out every one of Jin GuangYao’s secrets all those years ago really make such a wasteful move? What appeared unnecessary definitely had ulterior motives. They must have intended to orchestrate something; trigger something.”

Lan XiChen asked, surprised, “Trigger? Trigger what?”

Lan WangJi answered in a low voice, “Jin GuangYao’s killing intent.”

The usual ZeWu-Jun would never have overlooked this possibility. Now, however, he had no heart or mind left to spare for thinking anymore.

Wei WuXian said, “Precisely. This letter triggered Jin GuangYao’s bloodlust more than ever before. Didn’t the letter tell him to wait for his death in seven days’ time? Then he must make a move first, trap all the major powers of the world’s most prominent sects on the Burial Mound within seven days, and see who dies first.”

Lan XiChen said, “You are saying that this was what the letter sender had intended? To push Jin GuangYao into making a move first?”

Wei WuXian, “That’s what I think.”

Shaking his head, Lan XiChen murmured, “…… Then what exactly did the letter sender want to achieve? To unveil Jin GuangYao’s crimes or to spill the blood of every sect?”

Wei WuXian replied, “Simple. It’s to see what would happen after the siege fails. When everyone had gathered at the Lotus Pier, when all the tension and indignation were at its peak, SiSi and Bi Cao arrived—I don’t think their appearance was a coincidence. And when everything piled up all at once, the situation exploded.”

Wei WuXian paused before continuing, “He didn’t only intend for Jin GuangYao to lose his reputation and his name, he also wanted Jin GuangYao to become a public enemy. He wanted to land a critical strike—driving things to the point of no return.”

Nie HuaiSang said, “Ah, so it seems like this person has been planning this for a very long time.”

Wei WuXian looked at him and asked suddenly, “By the way, wasn’t Sect Leader Nie the one in charge of keeping ChiFeng-Zun’s body?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “I was in charge of it originally. But I just received word tonight that Da-ge’s body in Qinghe had disappeared. Why else would I be heading over to Qinghe in such a hurry and then get snatched by Su She mid-way……”

Wei WuXian inquired, “Sect Leader Nie, I heard that you frequently visited the Gusu Lan Sect and the Lanling Jin Sect, is that right?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “That’s right.”

Wei WuXian continued, “Then do you really not recognize Mo XuanYu?”

Nie HuaiSang, “Ah?”

Wei WuXian elaborated, “From what I recall, the first time I met you after the sacrificial host ritual succeeded, you appeared as if you didn’t recognize me at all. You even asked HanGuang-Jun who I was. But considering Mo XuanYu had harassed Jin GuangYao back then, and was close enough to him to have seen Jin GuangYao’s treasured collection of my hand-written notes, and since you frequented Sect Leader Jin to whine and complain—even if you weren’t familiar with Mo XuanYu, have you really never met him even once?”

With a hand in his hair, Nie HuaiSang said, “Wei-xiong, the Lanling Jin Sect is such a large sect, I couldn’t have met every single person there. Even if I met him before, I might not have remembered. Besides……” He continued with an awkward expression, “You know what kind of person Mo XuanYu was, it’s kind of…… the Lanling Jin Sect tried to hide the matter the best it could, it’s not that weird if I’ve never met him before. XiChen-ge might never have met him either.”

Wei WuXian said, “Oh, that’s true. ZeWu-Jun didn’t recognize Mo XuanYu either.”

Nie HuaiSang said, “Right?! And I’m a bit confused. Even if I’ve met Mo XuanYu before, why would I purposefully pretend to not know him? What would be the point of that?”

Smiling, Wei WuXian said, “Nothing. I just found it strange and wanted to ask, that’s all.”

In his heart, he said, ‘Of course it would be to test whether the “Mo XuanYu” in front of him was the real Mo XuanYu or not.’

For someone who had always been timid and fearful in other people’s eyes, where did Mo XuanYu find the courage to sacrifice his own life and body?

Where had ChiFeng-Zun’s left arm suddenly come from? Was it really an oversight from Jin GuangYao that had led to its unintentional escape?

And why had it just so happened to appear in the Mo family’s household, right where the sacrificial ritual had happened? Why had it coincidentally run into Wei WuXian right after his revival? Why hadn’t it appeared elsewhere?

ChiFeng-Zun’s corpse was buried by the Qinghe Nie Sect. Nie HuaiSang had always respected his Da-ge. Did he honestly not sense anything at all, all these years, after his brother’s corpse had been swapped?

Wei WuXian was leaning towards another possibility.

Perhaps Nie HuaiSang really was a ‘headshaker’ before the death of Nie MingJue. But after Nie MingJue’s death, he learned everything—including the fact that Nie MingJue’s corpse had been swapped, and what kind of person that the San-ge he used to trust really was.

He tried to find his Da-ge’s corpse to the best of his ability. Yet, after many years of expense, effort, and hard work, he only found a single left arm.

And then he was stuck and lost on where to go from there. Not to mention that the left arm was unusually fierce and aggressive. It was difficult to suppress and would only attract endless calamities the longer he kept it. Thus, he thought of someone—someone who was an expert at dealing with matters such as this.

The Yiling Patriarch.

But the Yiling Patriarch had already died without leaving even a full corpse behind. What was he supposed to do?

And so he thought of someone else, someone who had been chased out of the Koi Tower—Mo XuanYu.

Perhaps Nie HuaiSang had approached Mo XuanYu for the purpose of fishing information from him, and, from Mo XuanYu’s depressed recounting, learned that he had once seen bits and pieces from a worn out scroll of Jin GuangYao’s which detailed an ancient, wicked ritual. He then encouraged Mo XuanYu, who had suffered enough oppression and humiliation from his own family, to sacrifice himself and use the forbidden ritual for revenge.

And which sinister abomination should he summon?

The Yiling Patriarch, of course.

Unable to withstand his current life, Mo XuanYu finally set up the blood array. All the while, Nie HuaiSang took the opportunity to toss the hot potato that he couldn’t hold onto any longer—and unleashed ChiFeng-Zun’s left arm on the Mo family.

Since then, the plan had successfully kicked off in motion, and Nie HuaiSang no longer had to waste energy or effort to find the remaining pieces of Nie MingJue’s corpse. Just leave all the dangerous, difficult parts for Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi to handle. He only needed to observe their every move from the shadows.

When Jin Ling, Lan SiZhui, Lan JingYi and the other youths had encountered the incident with the dead cats, someone had obviously been creating strange events on purpose. Together with the nonexistent “hunter” from the nearby village who had pointed them the way, no doubt the whole point had been to lure the group of naïve and guileless young cultivators into Yi City. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to think that, had Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi failed to protect them and kept them out of harm’s way, if anything had happened to them in the Yi City, this crime would no doubt also be pinned onto Jin GuangYao as well.

Either way, anything that could add onto Jin GuangYao’s pillar of crimes, anything that could lure this careful, meticulous sinner into making more mistakes, anything that could possibly be leveraged would be used. The more the better. He wanted to make sure Jin GuangYao suffered the worse fate possible.

With the tip of Bichen, Lan WangJi flipped over the black box beside the coffin. Giving the talisman carved over it a glance, he said to Wei WuXian, “The head.”

This box was originally used to keep Nie MingJue’s head. After Jin GuangYao had moved it out of the Koi Tower, this was likely where he had sealed it.

Returning a nod, Wei WuXian said, “Sect Leader Nie, do you know what was kept in this coffin originally?”

Nie HuaiSang said, “How would I know? But looking at San-ge……I mean, looking at how Sect Leader Jin was, it’s probably something very important to him.”

Footnotes:

[1]: HuaiSang-xiong: Nie HuaiSang and Wei WuXian have been calling each other “xiong” (older brother) since their school days. In this instance, I don’t think it’s an indication of their relative age with one another but a term they chose to call each other out of familiarity, like the English equivalent of “bro”

[2]: San-ge: third-oldest brother.

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #novel translation #my translation

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

Text

MDZS Chapter 108. “Concealment” Part 2

Nie MingJue, I’ll **** your ****X￥#%@&#*&@

If this strike was successful, even if he couldn’t subdue Nie MingJue, he could at least buy more time. However, because the sword had just been overcharged with Su She’s spiritual energy not long ago, it had already exceeded its limits. Before reaching its target, it broke into pieces with a ‘clang’. Meanwhile, Nie MingJue’s palm had struck him right in the chest.

Su She’s spark of brilliance instantly died. He didn’t even get the chance to choke out a mouthful of blood or say a few last words, be it dignified or hateful, before the light in his eyes extinguished completely.

Jin GuangYao slumped by Lan XiChen’s side and witnessed everything. Whether it was due to the pain from his severed arm, bleeding torso, or something else, his eyes were glazed with tears. But Nie MingJue didn’t give him the opportunity to catch his breath or lick his wounds. Retreating his hand, he turned towards Jin GuangYao with eyes like a predator watching its prey.

The cold, harsh look of scrutiny on his tough, livid face was exactly like the one he used to wear in life. It was the look that Jin GuangYao feared above all else. Even his tears were scared right back into his eye sockets. With a trembling voice, he begged for help, “Er-ge……”

Lan XiChen redirected his sword. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi also quickened the pacing of their melodies. However, the effect of the whistled tune had already been broken. Re-establishing it now would be much harder. Just then, someone suddenly yelled from the side, “Wei WuXian!”

Wei WuXian immediately snapped back, “What?”

It was only after he’d answered that he realize the one who had called him was Jiang Cheng. Wei WuXian was startled. Jiang Cheng didn’t reply. Instead, he retreated something from his sleeve and tossed it over. Wei WuXian caught it on instinct. Lowering his head, he saw a jet black flute with a scarlet red tassel.

The Ghoul Flute Chenqing!

With his old, familiar flute back in his hands, Wei WuXian didn’t even have the time to be surprised. Raising the flute to his lips without thinking, he shouted, “Lan Zhan!”

Nodding slightly, Lan WangJi didn’t need to respond with words as the qin and the flute started playing in unison. Like a cool spring and a fleeting bird, one suppressed while the other lured. In their combined efforts, Nie MingJue’s body wobbled. At last, he reluctantly moved his feet away from Jin GuangYao.

One step at a time, under the combined influence of the qin and the flute, he stiffly progressed towards the empty coffin a second time. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi also followed after him one step at a time. Once he’d flipped himself into the coffin, the two of them simultaneously kicked the coffin lid on the ground, sending the heavy thing flying and landing back onto the coffin. Jumping onto the coffin effortlessly, Wei WuXian stored Chenqing by his waist with his left hand and quickly bit open the skin of his right fingertip. With a practiced ease, he painted a full, bloody talisman in one go from start to finish without a moment’s pause! Its wild strokes were like a dance of dragons and phoenixes.

Only then did the bestial howls and roars coming from within the coffin die down. Pressing his hand over the seven vibrating strings, Lan WangJi stopped the qin’s sound. Wei WuXian lightly exhaled. After taking another moment to make sure that there was no more energy coming from beneath the coffin lid, he finally stood up and said, “Such terrible temper, right?”

Standing on the coffin, his height was towering. Putting his qin away, Lan WangJi stared up at him with his pair of light-coloured eyes. Lowering his head, Wei WuXian couldn’t stop himself from giving Lan WangJi’s clean, pale face a few good scratches and, be it accidental or intentional, painted a few strokes of blood onto his cheeks. Lan WangJi didn’t seem to mind and said, “Come back here.”

Smiling, Wei WuXian jumped down and landed right into his arms.

Finally, things had died down on this side of the temple. Over on the other side, however, Nie HuaiSang had started to wail in pain.

“XiChen-ge!” He said, “Quick, help me check if my leg is still attached to my body or not!”

Lan XiChen went over. Pressing him down, he checked carefully before answering, “HuaiSang, you’re fine, don’t be so afraid, your leg isn’t broken. It only got stabbed in one place.”

Nie HuaiSang replied, frightened, “Stabbed! How can I not be afraid when I got stabbed! Was I stabbed through? XiChen-ge, save me!”

Not knowing whether to cry or laugh, Lan XiChen replied, “It’s not that serious.”

Still, Nie HuaiSang hugged his leg and rolled on the ground. Knowing that Nie HuaiSang was scared of pain above all else, Lan XiChen retrieved a bottle of medicine from his robes and placed it in Nie HuaiSang’s hand. “For stopping the pain.”

Nie HuaiSang hurried to imbibe the medicine. He spoke as he ate, “How am I so unlucky? I got snatched by that Su MinShan on my way for no reason. Even while he was running he had to stab me! Didn’t he know that to deal with me he only needs to push me aside? There’s no need for blades or swords……”

Getting to his feet, Lan XiChen turned around. Collapsed on the ground, Jin GuangYao’s face was pale like paper, his hair was slightly disheveled and his forehead was drenched in cold sweat—a terribly unkempt and pathetic state. It must be because his severed arm was in too much pain, a few low moans escaped his lips. Raising his gaze, he looked at Lan XiChen. Though he didn’t say a thing, but just the sight of him clutching his severed wrist and the wretched look of misery in his eyes made it hard to not feel pity for him.

After staring at him for a while, Lan XiChen sighed, and still ended up retrieving the medicine supplies that he’d carried on his person.

Wei WuXian said, “Sect Leader Lan.”

Lan XiChen said, “Young Master Wei. Look at him…… He shouldn’t be able to do anything anymore. If I don’t tend to him now, he might die here today. There are still too many lingering questions.”

Wei WuXian replied, “Sect Leader Lan, I understand. I’m not stopping you from saving him. I was reminding you to be careful. It’s best to silence him and don’t let him talk again.”

Nodding slightly, Lan XiChen said to Jin GuangYao, “Sect Leader Jin, you’ve heard. Please stop making more needless moves. Otherwise, just in case, if you were to make any move, I would, without fail or mercy……” He inhaled deeply before continuing, “Take your life.”

Jin GuangYao nodded and said in a low, weak voice, “Many thanks to ZeWu-Jun……”

Lowering himself, Lan XiChen cautiously but carefully tended to the wound of his severed wrist. Jin GuangYao trembled the entire time. Seeing what state his former sworn brother, once magnificent and formidable, had become, Lan XiChen didn’t know what he should say, and could only sigh in his heart.

Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi went to the corner. Wen Ning was still half-collapsed onto Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling in an awkward position. Wei WuXian laid him flat on the ground. After studying the dark hole on his chest, he fretted, “Look at you……What should I use to fill this now?”

Wen Ning asked, “Young Master, is it serious……?”

Wei WuXian said, “It’s not serious. You don’t need the organs here anyways. But it looks bad.”

Wen Ning replied, “It’s not like I asked to look good……”

Jiang Cheng was silent. Jin Ling, meanwhile, wanted to speak but didn’t.

Meanwhile, as Lan XiChen tended to Jin GuangYao’s wounds, he’d originally planned to take the opportunity to reprimand him a little for his actions. Yet, at the sight of Jin GuangYao almost ready to faint from pain, Lan XiChen ultimately couldn’t bear to do it. Instead, he turned and said, “HuaiSang, give me back that bottle of medicine.”

After eating two pain-killing pills, Nie HuaiSang had stored the bottle in his own robes. He hurriedly said, “Oh, right.” And lowered his head to search for it on his person. Just as he found it and was ready to hand it over to Lan XiChen, his pupils suddenly constricted as he shouted in horror, “XiChen-ge, watch your back!!!”

Lan XiChen hadn’t lowered his guard around Jin GuangYao to start with. Already high-strung, the moment he saw the look on Nie HuaiSang’s face followed by his shout of warning, Lan XiChen’s heart jolted. Without thinking, he pulled out his sword and stabbed backwards.

Jin GuangYao was stabbed by him right through the chest, astonishment written all over his face.

Everyone else were also startled by this sudden turn of unexpected events. Wei WuXian leaped to his feet, “What happened?!”

Nie HuaiSang explained, “I-I-I……I saw San-ge[1]……No, I saw Sect Leader Jin reached behind himself, and didn’t know if he was……”

Lowering his head, Jin GuangYao stared at the sword that had stabbed through his chest. Lips trembling, he wanted to speak, but since he had already been silenced, he ultimately couldn’t. Wei WuXian had the feeling that something wasn’t right. Before he could start asking questions, however, Jin GuangYao had coughed out a huge mouthful of blood and yelled in a hoarse voice, “Lan XiChen!”

He had actually forced himself free of the Silencing Spell’s bounds!

By now, Jin GuangYao was injured all over. His left hand was burned from the poisonous gas; his right hand was severed; his torso was missing a piece; blood littered all over him. A moment ago, even sitting took him efforts. Perhaps it was a rebound of strength now that he was near his last breath, he actually managed to to stand up by himself before yelling again in a voice full of spite, “Lan XiChen!”

With a look that was beyond disappointed and sad, Lan XiChen said, “Sect Leader Jin, I’ve said already. If you were to make another move, then I would have no more mercy to give.”

Jin GuangYao spat viciously, “Yes! You’ve said so. But have I?!”

He had always acted as refined and genial in front of others; courteous and polite. Yet, here and now, the face he was showing was almost crassly malicious. Seeing how much he was deviating from his usual self, Lan XiChen also sensed that something was off, and snapped his head towards Nie HuaiSang. Jin GuangYao laughed, “Enough! What are you looking at him for? Stop already! What can you tell from it anyways? Even I had missed it all these years. HuaiSang, you really are amazing.”

Nie HuaiSang was stunned wide-eyed and speechless. The unexpected stream of accusations from Jin GuangYao seemed to have frightened him enough to rob him of speech. Full of anger and spite, Jin GuangYao continued, “I can’t believe I’d fall in your hands……”

He tried to force his body towards where Nie HuaiSang’s was but there was still a sword stuck through his chest. Just one step had his expression turning anguished. Unable to either deliver a lethal blow or pull his sword out, Lan XiChen shouted, “Don’t move!”

Jin GuangYao indeed could no longer move. Seizing the blade in front of his chest with one hand, Jin GuangYao steadied himself and spat out a mouthful of blood, “What an impressive ‘headshaker’! No wonder…… Hiding for all these years, that must’ve been a lot of work!”

Nie HuaiSang mumbled, “XiChen-ge you have to believe me, I seriously did see him…….”

Jin GuangYao bellowed with a savage expression, “You!”

Once again, he tried to move towards Nie HuaiSang, causing the sword to stab another inch deeper. Lan XiChen bellowed again, “Don’t move!”

He had been played and tricked by Jin GuangYao too many times, fallen for his lies too many times to not be harbouring a sense of wariness towards him even now. A part of Lan XiChen still suspected Jin GuangYao’s tantrum to have ulterior motive; a desperate attempt to distract him again after having his move foiled by Nie HuaiSang. Jin GuangYao saw through the worries in his eyes instantly, and became so enraged that he actually started to laugh, “Lan XiChen! All my life, I’ve lied to countless people and have destroyed countless more. Just as you’ve said, murdering my father, my brother, my wife, my son, my master, my friends—There’s not a single sin left in this world that I haven’t committed!”

Taking in a deep breath, he said in a hoarse voice, “But you, only you, I’ve never ever wanted to harm you!”

Lan XiChen was stunned.

Heaving and clutching his sword, Jin GuangYao continued through clenched teeth, “…… Back when the Cloud Recesses was burnt and you were fleeing and hiding, who was the one that had lent you a helping hand and pulled you out of troubled waters? Later, when the Gusu Lan Sect had to rebuild the Cloud Recesses, who was the one that had offered you tremendous aid? All these years, when have I ever given the Gusu Lan Sect any difficulties? When have I not supported you with all my might?! Aside from sealing your spiritual energy this one time, when have I ever slighted you and your family? When have I ever asked for the favours to be returned?!”

Hearing his questions, Lan XiChen could not convince himself to seal Jin GuangYao’s speech a second time. Jin GuangYao continued, “All of Su MinShan’s loyalty and dedication simply came from the fact that, all those years ago, I had remembered his name. But you, ZeWu-Jun, Sect Leader Lan, are just like Nie MingJue. Neither of you can tolerate my existence; wouldn’t even give me a chance to live!”

At this, Jin GuangYao abruptly retreated backward. Shuoyue left his chest in a spray of blood. Jiang Cheng shouted, “Don’t let him run away!”

In two steps, Lan XiChen easily seized Jin GuangYao once more without any effort. At his current state, no matter how fast Jin GuangYao ran, he still wouldn’t get very far. Even a blind-folded Jin Ling could catch him. Not to mention that Jin GuangYao had just been fatally stabbed, the need for wariness around him had long passed. Suddenly, however, Wei WuXian realized something as he yelled, “He’s not trying to run!!! ZeWu-Jun, get away from him!”

It was already too late. Blood from Jin GuangYao’s severed arm had already dropped onto the coffin’s lid, splattering all over the freshly-painted talisman drawn by Wei WuXian, destroying the pattern and seeping into the coffin within.

Nie MingJue broke out of the coffin with ferocious speed!

The lid was splintered into pieces. One large, ghastly white hand seized Jin GuangYao by the neck. The other one reached for Lan XiChen’s throat.

Jin GuangYao did not intend to run. Instead, he wanted to lure Lan XiChen towards Nie MingJue with his last, dying breath, and perish together with him!

Unsheathing Bichen, Lan WangJi directed it towards them with a speed that paralleled wind and lightning, but Nie MingJue had no fear for such spiritual weapons. Even if Bichen were to hit its mark, it wouldn’t stop Nie MingJue from closing the gap between him and Lan XiChen’s throat.

Yet, as the hand was just shy of reaching Lan XiChen’s neck, Jin GuangYao used whatever strength that was left in his damaged left hand and shoved Lan XiChen in the chest hard, pushing him away—

—while his own body got dragged by Nie MingJue towards the coffin, held high by the neck like a rag doll. The sight was beyond horrifying. With his sole remaining hand, Jin GuangYao pried at Nie MingJue’s iron grip. Squirming from the pain, his hair disheveled and flying, Jin GuangYao struggled as he glared daggers. “Nie MingJue, you son of a bitch!” He shouted his throat hoarse and raw and cursed at the top of his lungs. “You think I’m fucking scared of you?! I……”

Painfully, with great difficulty, he choked out a mouthful of blood. Everyone present heard the sickening, gruesome but unmistakable sound of bones crunching.

One last whimper escaped from Jin GuangYao’s throat. Shoulders shuddering, Jin Ling closed his eyes and covered his ears, unable to listen or watch a second longer.

Footnote:

[1]: San-ge: 三哥, “third-oldest brother”

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #novel translation #my translation

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

Note

your translation is really pretty and clean! thank you for doing this, your style really complements the relationship between wei ying and Lan Zhan

*blushes like a socially incompetent demon lord*

That’s something I’ve mused about before my duties in the icy cold demon realm started taking bigger chunks of my time.. but the worst part of this time of unrest is almost over now and maybe I’ll start musing about that again after I get to the end of the novel first, har har har...

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

Note

Thank you for sharing your translations!! If you read the entire novel with the extras, can you tell me if there's some chapter in the future in which we can read what happens at the wedding?

Oh I don’t think they actually married, at least not "on-screen” aka no ceremonies held or the completion of the 3rd bow mentioned/shown during the timeline of the novel

Could they have married afterwards? Maybe? We don’t know? They are practically married..

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boat-full-of-lotus-pods · 5 years

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MDZS Chapter 107. “Concealment” Part 1

Let’s all fight Big Bro Nie together

With clenched teeth, Jin GuangYao hit a few acupuncture points above his severed arm. All the blood loss was making his head dizzy and his vision swim. When he suddenly saw Nie MingJue taking a step towards him, eyes hard and blank, Jin GuangYao’s soul nearly left his body. Off to the side, Su She coughed out another mouthful of blood and yelled in a hoarse voice with all his might, “Fools! What are you all waiting for?! Stop him! Stop that thing by the door!”

Those cultivators from the Lanling Jin Sect who had been standing distracted all this time finally raised their swords and went forward. The two cultivators at the frontmost were immediately flung into the air by Nie MingJue with a single blow.

Jin GuangYao sprinkled medicine powder over the severed end of his arm, but the powders were flushed away immediately by the blood flow. His eyes were practically brimming with tears as his tried to tear off a strip of his own robes, attempting to tie his wound in order to stop the bleeding. However, his left arm had already sustained injuries from the white smog of coffin and the black box earlier and was barely of use to him. With a trembling hand, he kept struggling to tear his robe with no success, worsening his pain. Su She practically crawled over to his aide, tearing off a strip of his own white robes and tied it over Jin GuangYao’s arm. Frantically, Su She looked for spare medicine gels and powders on his own person. When he couldn’t find any, he turned towards Lan XiChen, who had stepped towards a safer area of the room while shielding Nie HuaiSang, and said, “Sect Leader Lan! Sect Leader Lan, do you have medicine? Please help him! The Sect Leader has always been kind and courteous to you; please just help him out!”

Seeing that Jin GuangYao was on the verge of fainting in his miserable state, pity rose in Lan XiChen’s eyes. Just then, shrieks came from the other side of the temple. Nie MingJue had just reduced three cultivators into bloody pulps with a single blow!

Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi put themselves in front of Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Wei WuXian asked, “Wen Ning! How did you bump into him?!”

Finished reattaching his hand, Wen Ning went on to reattach his broken leg and replied, “Young Master…… Apologies…… You told me to go find Young Master Lan. I went back to the inn but didn’t find him there, so I could only go search on the streets. Before I could find Young Master Lan, I saw ChiFeng-Zun walking about on the streets. He looked as if he was trying to find something, and a group of homeless beggars went up to bother him without knowing how dangerous he was. ChiFeng-Zun is completely senseless. Those beggars, they almost…… I had no choice but to fight him all the way here……”

Wei WuXian didn’t need to ask why he didn’t find Lan WangJi at the inn. If he couldn’t find sleep next door to Lan WangJi, then could Lan WangJi really find sleep next door to him? No doubt Lan WangJi had also gone out to roam around or run about, right up until he met Fairy, who had gone off to find backup with her tail between her legs. The thunderstorm that had arrived without warning no doubt also started right around when Wen Ning and Nie MingJue had started fighting.

“Corpses” already attracted dark energies and resentment on their own, not to mention that, in this case, two exceptionally fierce corpses were involved at the same time.

Despite not standing a chance against Nie MingJue, the Lanling Jin cultivators continued to rush forward. But their swords only clashed against Nie MingJue’s body as if clashing against metal, unable to make even a light gash. Nie HuaiSang poked out half of his body from behind Lan XiChen and said in a mixture of fear and anticipation, “Da-da-da-da-ge, I-I am……”

Nie MingJue’s pupil-less, fuming eyes glared round and wide. Abruptly, his hand lunged at Nie HuaiSang. With a slight tilt of his head, Lan XiChen made a weeping note out of Liebing, and Nie MingJue’s body froze.

Lan XiChen said, “Da-ge, this is HuaiSang!”

Nie HuaiSang said, “Da-ge doesn’t even recognize me anymore……”

Wei WuXian replied, “Not just you, right now he doesn’t even recognize himself!” Nie MingJue’s corpse was already propelled by an overwhelming amount of resentment. Fiercely aggressive, he attacked anyone and anything in his way. After taking a few moments to fix himself, Wen Ning rejoined the fight. However, the air of resentment around Wen Ning was not as strong as Nie MingJue’s, and neither was his build as massive. Furthermore, Wei WuXian’s flute was already broken and, without his aid, Wen Ning was no match for Nie MingJue—and it showed. Meanwhile, lying on the ground, Jin GuangYao finally stopped the bleeding of his severed arm after much effort. Su She crawled up and immediately tried to haul Jin GuangYao onto his back and make a run for it amidst the chaos. The motion drew Nie MingJue’s attention over to them. Tossing Wen Ning away from him, Nie MingJue headed towards Jin GuangYao with big steps. Jin Ling involuntarily cried, “Youngest Uncle! Run!”

Seeing that he was actually warning the enemy, Jiang Cheng slapped him over the back of his head and said, fuming, “Shut up!”

The slap woke Jin Ling up. But no matter what, Jin GuangYao was still the youngest uncle who had watched Jin Ling grow up, and in these past ten years, Jin GuangYao had never treated him poorly. Thus, fearing that Jin GuangYao would meet his tragic demise at the hands of a fierce corpse, Jin Ling had cried out without thinking. As the words reached Nie MingJue, he turned around, seemingly puzzled. Wei WuXian’s heart leaped to his throat as he cursed under his breath, “Shit!”

Nie MingJue had become a fierce corpse. Naturally, his resentment was strongest towards Jin GuangYao, the source of his resentment. However, fierce corpses did not identify people by sight!

Jin GuangYao and Jin Ling were close blood-relatives. To the dead, the scent of their breath and their blood was similar. To the disturbed dead, it would be even harder to tell the two apart. And right now, Jin GuangYao’s spirit was weak and half-dead from the blood loss of his severed arm while Jin Ling was at his full health, lively and filled with vigor. With a dead, unthinking mind, naturally Nie MingJue would be more interested in the latter.

Lan WangJi directed Bichen to aim right for Nie MingJue’s heart. As expected, the blade couldn’t advance even an inch into his chest. Lowering his head, Nie MingJue saw the shiny sword and howled as he reached to grab it. Immediately, Lan WangJi summoned Bichen back into its sheath with a ‘zing’, avoiding Nie MingJue’s clutches. With his left hand, Lan WangJi pulled out his guqin and started strumming without a moment’s hesitation. Lan XiChen had also brought Liebing back to his lips. Wei WuXian threw out fifty or so talismans all at once, all aiming at Nie MingJue’s body. Before the talismans even reached him, however, they were all ignited by the strong force of his resentment and incinerated into dust without a trace!

Nie MingJue reached for Jin Ling, roaring. Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling had already retreated into a corner with no room left to escape. Jiang Cheng could only shove Jin Ling behind himself, pull out the temporarily not-spiritually-charged Sandu and put up his best defense. Although both the qin and the xiao had started playing, they were already too late!

Nie MingJue’s heavy fist struck right through a body.

But the body was neither Jiang Cheng’s nor Jin Ling’s.

Standing at the corner, in front of both of them, Wen Ning clutched Nie MingJue’s iron-strong arm and slowly pulled it out of his own chest. A large, empty hole was left in its wake, high on his chest. There was no blood. Only a few chunks of blackened pieces of organs fell out.

Wei WuXian screamed, “Wen Ning!!!”

Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, looked about ready to lose his mind on the spot.

He said, “You? You?!”

The force of the punch had been too powerful. Not only did it go right through Wen Ning’s chest, the shock of it also shattered part of his vocal chords. Unable to form a single word, he fell towards the ground.

Due to his position, he crashed right into Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Though he couldn’t move a muscle at the moment, his eyes remained open, and stared straight at the two with an unmoving gaze.

Originally, Jin Ling had harbored unparalleled hatred towards the murderer and the weapon who had struck a hole through his father’s heart many years ago. Since a young age, he’d sworn countless times that, if the opportunity ever arise, he’d make sure to cut Wei WuXian and Wen Ning into thousands of pieces[1], inch by inch. Later, when he no longer wanted to hate Wei WuXian, his hatred for Wen Ning grew tenfold. Yet, right now, this murderer—this weapon—was suffering the same fate as his father right in front of them. And Jin Ling couldn’t even bring himself to shove him away.

He knew very well that Wen Ning was already a corpse, and so he should have no problem sustaining a hole in his chest. He’d probably still be fine even if he were to be cut into half. However, for some reason, Jin Ling couldn’t stop the tears from coming.

After delivering the blow, Nie MingJue’s movements also seemed to hesitate.

As Lan WangJi and Lan XiChen performed in unison, like flowing cold springs and fierce, high wind, the qin and the xiao made sounds that Nie MingJue absolutely despised. With the piercing notes magnified by the duet, his body slowed as if someone had bound him with an string. As the string pulled tighter and tighter, his anger grew more and more, until finally, Nie MingJue suddenly lashed out in an explosive attempt to free himself of the Sound of Vanquish’s bounds, and struck towards the man holding the qin. Lan WangJi calmly turned aside to dodge the attack, the music from his qin not breaking for even a moment. Nie MingJue’s fists ended up striking through the wall. Just as he was about to turn around, two sharp whistles caught his attention.

Pulling his fist out of the wall, he turned towards the source of the noise.

Wei WuXian whistled two more times before greeting him with a smile, “Hi there, ChiFeng-Zun. Recognize me?”

Nie MingJue glared at him with terrifyingly eyes of pure white. Wei WuXian continued, “It’s fine if you don’t. So long as you recognize this whistle.”

Lan XiChen inched his lips away from Liebing and warned, “Young Master Wei!”

He wanted to warn Wei WuXian that his current body belonged to Mo XuanYu. Not only was Mo XuanYu also related to Jin GuangYao, their blood-relation was even closer than Jin Ling and Jin GuangYao’s. Were Nie MingJue to redirect his resentment towards him, it would be very difficult for him to deal with it. Before Lan XiChen continued his next sentence, however, Lan WangJi looked his way and calmly, resolutely shook his head.

Lan XiChen understood his message at once: There’s no need to worry.

Lan WangJi believed that Wei WuXian would be fine.

As Wei WuXian whistled a tune, his gait also gained an easy rhythm. The tune was relaxing and light. However, in contrast to the thundering storm and the howling wind, amidst the countless corpses lying about inside the temple, the breezy tune painted an indescribably eerie mood. Off in the corner, lying against Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling, Wen Ning felt a strange, tremendous surge of power propelling him to stand up. Ultimately, whether it was because he restrained himself or because he had still not recovered the ability to move, Wen Ning only struggled a few times and staggered. Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling caught him instinctively, and a complicated expression rose on both their faces, as if they also wanted to drop him.

Smiling, Wei WuXian whistled his cheerfully out-of-place tune, folded his hands behind himself, and started walking backwards at a steady pace. Nie MingJue stood his ground. When Wei WuXian took the first step, Nie MingJue did not react at all. By the third step, he still didn’t budge from his spot. By the seventh step, however, he finally seemed no longer able to resist the pull of the tune, and took a step towards Wei WuXian’s direction.

Wei WuXian was leading him towards none other than the refined, empty coffin by the back of the Guanyin temple.

If he could make Nie MingJue go inside, then he would find a way to seal him.

Those white poisonous fumes had long since dispersed, no longer a threat. With a dead, livid expression, Nie MingJue instinctively resisted the coffin even as he was lured towards it. Wei WuXian circled around the coffin once. Everyone held their breaths as they watched what was happening, especially Lan WangJi. As Wei WuXian continued to whistle without pause, he slowly threw his gaze over. When he met Lan WangJi eyes, he gave a light, playful wink with his left eye.

As if he’d been pricked by a thin needle, the music underneath Lan WangJi’s fingertips took on an almost unnoticeable ripple of emotions before it stopped altogether. Wei WuXian turned back to what he was doing with an almost satisfied grin and slapped the coffin in front of Nie MingJue.

At last, Nie MingJue slowly began to lower himself into the coffin.

Yet, just as he was about to settle his upper body into the coffin, suddenly a shrill scream came from behind Lan XiChen.

Nie MingJue’s body immediately froze. Like everyone else, he whipped his head towards the direction of the scream. What greeted them was the sight of Su She carrying a half-conscious Jin GuangYao on his back, with one hand holding his legs and the other holding a sword. The blade was bloody. Beside them, Nie HuaiSang was on the ground, holding his leg and rolling in pain.

At the sight, a powerful aura from Shuoyue struck against Su She’s weapon hand. Startled, Su She dropped his sword, but he had already injured Nie HuaiSang, and the scent of blood drifted in the air. Wei WuXian silently cursed, ‘What the hell, ruining my hard work at such a crucial moment!’

Nie HuaiSang and Nie MingJue were half-brothers, sharing a father. The scent of Nie HuaiSang’s blood wouldn’t fuel Nie MingJue’s bloodlust but it would make him very curious. As his curiosity dragged his attention over, no doubt he’d notice Jin GuangYao again. And if he were to kill Jin GuangYao, his aggression would no doubt magnify, and become even harder to deal with!

Just as expected, growls came from Nie MingJue’s throat as he turned away from the empty coffin. He instantly identified the person on Su She’s back. Not even Wei WuXian’s whistles could stop him now. Nie MingJue rushed over like a torrent of dark wind, palm aiming straight for Jin GuangYao’s head!

Su She dashed to the side abruptly. Kicking up his fallen sword with the tip of his foot, he channeled all his spiritual energy into it and thrusted it against Nie MingJue’s heart. Perhaps because it was a matter of life and death, the thrust was stunningly quick and fierce. The blade shone dazzling bright with an overflow of spiritual energy. The move was more brilliant and more breathtaking than the countless other more elegant ones that he had practiced in the past. Wei WuXian almost couldn’t stop himself from praising him out loud. Even Nie MingJue was forced to take a huge step back by the explosive force of the blinding sword. But the moment the sword’s energy resided a little, Nie MingJue went forward again and reached for Jin GuangYao with an unforgiving relentlessness. With his left hand, Su She tossed Jin GuangYao towards Lan XiChen. With his right hand, he slashed towards Nie MingJue’s throat.

Even if Nie MingJue’s whole body was iron-hard and immune to swords and blades, the same might not be said of the string stitched across his neck!

Footnote:

[1]: Thousand pieces: 凌迟 ‘Ling Chi’ is actually an extremely slow and gruesome torture/execution process, also known as “death by a thousand cuts” where small pieces of a person’s body is removed over an extended period of time until they die.

#魔道祖师 #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #novel translation #my translation

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