Estranged - Chapter 108

“The Wanjian Immortal Clan is influential and its disciples numerous, while we’re nothing but rogue cultivators. How could we dare claim to be connected to them? It’s just that we’ve heard a lot about them, so when we set out to travel this time, we decided to pay our respects if we happen to pass by.”

Yun Weisi’s expression remained unperturbed as he was speaking casually.

Having heard his words, the dog snorted with disdain, reminded of the times when the Jianxue Clan was shining the brightest. Back then, the Wanjian Immortal Clan was nothing special, and its influence, even coupled with that of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao, would not have matched even half of the Jianxue Clan’s fame. When a regular cultivator heard mention of the Jianxue Clan, they would grow pale as they thought of the sect’s notoriety, and would try to run away as far as possible. The reputation of the Wanjian Immortal Clan or the Celestial Abode Shenxiao had never had an effect like this.

This thought made the dog’s blood boil with indignation, and it got up to wail loudly. However, Changming happened to stretch out his hand to the dog’s head at this moment, so its line of sight was blocked.

The roar it had intended to make changed into a whining sound. The dog trembled, remembered its current status, and its lofty sentiments were shattered into pieces. It sobbed, lied down weakly, and no matter how intensely the girl looked at the dog, it did not move at all.

Old He had travelled up and down the country a lot and as a result, he was a highly knowledgeable person. He was also a businessman who knew the ways of the world. When he heard Yun Weisi’s words, he laughed: “The world is vast, and capable and talented people are everywhere. Geniuses do not necessarily hide within the most prominent clans. I’ve seen your abilities just now, and as I see it, you two are handsome like dragons, and noble like phoenixes, so you’re bound to achieve much in the future. We were fated to meet here today, and I’m honored by your respectful treatment and the fact that you condescended to travel with this He. This He has received the blessing of three lifetimes. If I hadn’t met you today, I’d probably have had to stop here to see whether there were any prominent people traveling this way, and whether they would agree to be my companions, for only then would I have dared to stop at Hongluo Town for tonight.”

Yun Weisi: “Judging by the tone of your words, is Hongluo Town in a state of unrest?”

Old He sighed: “The lands between Hongluo and Shangzhou are not peaceful nowadays. Although the general at the border is gathering an army and disregarding the central government, the court simply allows the matter to fester. After some time has passed in this manner, the lands have become turbulent. Hoodlums, bandits, local despots, and even some officers openly demand money. If you don’t choose one of the long roundabout ways, you have to pass through a valley, which is quite dangerous. I’d rather choose to go the long way around than enter Hongluo Town and pass through Shangzhou.”

This explained why a single trader needed so many guards to accompany him.

They had suddenly traveled one hundred years into the past, and Jiufang Changming had lost his memories. Yun Weisi could not just go to the Wanjian Immortal Clan hastily.

He needed more time to investigate the situation and at least find a way to restore their cultivation levels. Otherwise, given their state now, they would have no chance to defeat Luomei.

Moreover, they did not know whether Luomei had already gotten entangled with demons at the moment, or whether he had already started planning to destroy the world.

Yun Weisi slightly frowned.

He suddenly thought that the fresh start they received by crossing time had only complicated everything.

“And we’re still going to Hongluo Town?”

The young man, who was sitting next to him, asked.

Although Changming had lost his memories, he seemed to trust Yun Weisi subconsciously. As the carriage shook, his shoulder bumped against Yun Weisi’s, but he did not seem to draw back from Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi’s heart softened a bit.

Since Changming had forgotten everything, he was completely honest.

Yun Weisi even thought about dropping the idea of seeking answers or looking for an opportunity to go back. It currently did not matter whether Luomei was going to destroy the world or not, since this would take place one hundred years in the future. Since one could not change the history, at the very least, they could live as they pleased for one hundred years.

But this thought went away as soon as it appeared. It was not Yun Weisi’s way of handling things.

And if his shizun, Jiufang Changming, managed to restore his memories, he would never support the idea of running away from one’s problems.

It was just that after experiencing the end of the world, Yun Weisi treasured this moment.

Even—

“Ouw…”

The dog seemed to have mended its broken heart. It came out of Changming’s sleeve and started to explore the carriage and inspect it, yet the dog intentionally avoided going anywhere near the girl. She pursed her lips and wanted to catch the dog, but it turned out to be unusually agile, so she could not catch it no matter how she tried. The carriage was spacious, and the road was not rough, so the girl could chase the dog around.

Obviously, Old He loved his daughter a lot. He only watched with a smile but did not stop her.

Yun Weisi glimpsed at the dog unenthusiastically and finished his thought.

Even Zhou Keyi doesn’t seem that much of an eyesore.

“To Hongluo Town.”

He answered Changming, and agreed to Old He’s request at the same time.

Old He breathed a sigh of relief loudly. Naturally, he had hoped for them to become his travel companions.

“Landlord He, apart from bandits colluding with officials in Hongluo Town, what else happened there?” Changming asked.

He had not talked much after regaining his consciousness. After boarding the carriage, he had been mostly listening and had said very little, yet this time he took the initiative to ask a question.

“I’ve indeed heard a lot on my way here. Some say that the town is haunted, and some say that demons have occupied it. Others say that bandits are spreading rumors on purpose. It’s hard to tell lies apart from the truth. That is to say, I’m very honored that the two gentlemen…”

Before Old He could finish speaking, the horses suddenly neighed, and the carriage abruptly stopped. The girl and the dog did not manage to react in time, so they fell over and rolled to the side!

The side doors burst open due to the bumping, and the girl as well as the dog were on the verge of falling out of the carriage. A child’s neck was delicate, so if she fell out, she could lose her life.

Old He’s face turned pale with fright. His body could not keep up with his thoughts, so he only stretched out his hand to rescue her some time after he thought he should do it.

It’s over, my daughter!

Two arms reached out. One caught the girl by the collar of her gown, and the other grabbed the dog. Then, the two of them were pulled back into the carriage.

The girl still had not processed what had happened, and her expression was lifeless, as if she did not understand anything.

Even the dog froze, as if terrified at the thought of losing face in front of an old enemy.

Old He felt extremely sorry for his daughter and was trying to comfort her. At this moment, a reprimanding voice sounded from outside.

“Your carriages have stopped halfway, how are other people supposed to go round?!”

The young man’s voice was clear, yet it sounded unpleasant.

The main guard stepped forward to argue with the man.

When traveling to faraway lands, harmony was very much valued. Although Old He was obviously unhappy, he still jumped down the carriage to settle the matter peacefully and avoid drawing needless attention upon entering Hongluo Town.

He went around the carriage to meet the newcomers and saw that they were also a caravan of around ten people who were traveling together. They looked like an influential family that had set out to travel. The young man who started arguing carried a sword on his back. He had not even dismounted, and looked at them from above with an aura of arrogance surrounding him.

“Master, these people have caught up to us and wanted to get ahead. But their horse trampled on something and lost control out of fright, yet we were the ones to suffer as our carriage was almost overturned,” their guard explained what had happened succinctly.

Old He’s carriage was in the middle of the procession with several guards in front of it. When the horse had been startled and abruptly slowed down, it was still very close to them, so they turned into fish that suffer when the city gates are on fire. However, judging by the attitude of the young man, Old He could tell that he would not be happy to hear the guard’s words.

As expected, the young man who had sharp ears put on a long face upon hearing these words.

“What do you mean by ‘you suffered, and your carriage was almost overturned’? Is it that the road was paved for you only, and others can’t travel here? You’ve blocked a road that belongs to other people, and paid no attention, how can you accuse other people?! Marvelous—you still have courage to pin the blame on the victims! You’re distorting the truth deliberately, which is a common pattern of behavior for someone who is guilty of a crime!”

As he was saying this, the guards who had been watching over his carriages came forward. They all adopted ferocious poses, like tigers eyeing their prey covetously.

Old He quickly smiled: “Young Master, it’s only a misunderstanding, we didn’t mean it like this. Since nothing happened to either of us, we should let the matter pass. Please, go ahead, and we’ll follow behind…”

“Let it pass? Who told you I’m letting it pass?” The young man interrupted him, “Who do you think you are, how dare you act as if you’re in charge?”

Old He suppressed his anger: “Then how do you think we should handle this, Young Master?”

The young man: “My mother and little sister are sitting in our second carriage. They were frightened by what happened. Come here, make a formal apology, wait till we get at least ten li ahead of you, and then you can set out as well.”

It would have been fine if he had only asked Old He to apologize, but the ten-li demand was too much. This way they would probably not reach Hongluo Town before nightfall.

Even if they managed to enter the town, there were too many of them, so they would not find enough rooms in any guest house.

Old He turned this proposal down without hesitation: “Young Master, I have women and children in my carriages as well. When one of your horses halted just now, my favorite daughter was almost injured. I have no intention to argue and I’m willing to apologize if that will keep the peace, but I’m afraid we can’t comply with your wish of waiting until you get ten li ahead. The world can’t be described as quiet and peaceful these days, so we have to board our carriages soon and set out.”

He did not even spare a glance on the young man and turned around to enter his carriage.

“Wait!”

“Master!”

 A cold wind swept past, and a shriek rang out!

Old He felt that the back of his head had cooled down. Just as he was about to turn back, a black shadow flew past his eyes.

In a moment, following the scream, the young man fell down from his horse, but was caught by a middle-aged man. The latter helped him stand firmly and stretched his arm out to Old He.

Old He staggered back on instinct and was frightened only then.

The young man pulled out his sword in a fit of anger to stab Old He. No one had time to help him, and only Yun Weisi managed to stop this sword, turning it back against the young man.

The sword brushed past his cheek, left a long bloody mark on it, and got stuck in a carriage behind him.

The middle-aged man who had come to help him pushed the young man aside and reached out towards Old He’s group.

However, his target was not Old He, but Yun Weisi who was standing behind the old man.

Yun Weisi did not wait for the man to come closer and attacked him as well.

The middle-aged man was very self-confident. He had been an honored guest of the Zhang family for many years, and thus had seen many high-ranking officials and noble lords as well as masters of cultivation. He had not abandoned cultivation either. However, the man before his eyes, even though he only seemed to be of a high level, and had no weapon in his hands, still emitted an indescribable, oppressive aura.

His strength was monumental like a mountain, yet at the same time as fragile as jade. And still, it was violent like a blizzard, like a tornado swirling up to the skies. It pressed down on him, and unnerved everyone around.

The middle-aged man turned his palms, and a short staff appeared in his hands, erupting in violet rays of light like a flint. In a flash, a barrier of spiritual power appeared around him, blocking his enemy, while he jumped up and extended the short staff in Yun Weisi’s direction!

The staff moved forward in the attack, and the violet rays of light burst out. Yun Weisi grabbed Old He and pulled him aside to protect the latter. Wherever the violet light fell, the earth cracked. Two horses were frightened by this and were eager to gallop away while neighing. The other horses were also agitated by these two, and the situation had almost gone out of control. A man ran out of their carriage and mounted the horse that was pulling the carriage. He tightly grabbed the reins and pressed down the horse’s head.

The horse quickly calmed down. That middle-aged man took a couple of steps back. He stood firmly and did not seem to be at a disadvantage.

His face did not betray his feelings, but his heart was surging like turbulent waves. He was shocked.

The man who had just appeared had long half-white hair, so at first glance it looked like he was an older man. However, his face was young and refined, and his eyes were shining brightly. There was no way to guess his age.

“Shishu!” A young man’s voice interrupted the middle-aged man’s line of thought.

Shishu: aka martial uncle

“May I know your honorable name, daoyou? Which sect happened to create such a talent? This one’s name is He Bo. My shizhi was acting on impulse and offended you, daoyou. I hope you can forgive him.”

Shizhi: aka martial nephew

The middle-aged man spoke again, his tone radically different from how it had been previously.

Yun Weisi: “Yun Weisi, just a rogue cultivator.”

One advantage of going back one hundred years ago was that their names, Yun Weisi and Jiufang Changming, would not be surprising to anyone.

They could continue carrying out their plan without drawing any attention.

He Bo put his hands down. He refused to admit defeat in front of his shizhi, but his attitude had clearly changed, so his shizhi, Sun Wuxia, clearly understood how difficult it was to handle this situation.

He Bo did not seem astonished by the fact that Yun Weisi was a rogue cultivator and laughed: “So you are a cultivator! It seems that waters have flooded the Temple of Dragon King. We, cultivators, are like a family. Everything was only a misunderstanding, and it’s great that we’ve made things clear. Daoyou Yun, you can go first, and we’ll follow behind!”

Waters have flooded the Temple of Dragon King: to fail to recognize an ally

Old He had extensive experience. When he heard this change in tone, he understood that even though this He Bo was formidable, his skills could not compare to Old He’s companion’s, especially young master Yun’s. He threw a glance at Yun Weisi and saw that the latter did not disagree, so Old He turned towards He Bo and nodded lightly. Old He was not particularly interested in exchanging pleasantries, so he turned around and entered his carriage together with Yun Weisi and Changming, ordering his guards to move forward along the now-open way.

Their caravan passed by He Bo’s group.

Sun Wuxia was unwilling to submit, but his shishu did not let him do anything, so he could only watch the carriage disappear into the distance.

He touched his temple and saw that his fingers were painted red. He became even more angered.

“They hurt my face! Shishu, think about your status! How could you let them go like this!”

He Bo’s shizhi came from a family of great wealth and was admitted to the inner sect because of his talent. He had been pampered and grew up to become arrogant, and as a result, did not know how high the sky was and how thick the earth was.

He Bo sighed in his heart, but said out loud: “Your small scratch can be healed with a swab of our sect’s Ointment of Ice Spirit. These two men have high cultivation levels, and the one who fought me was concealing his true abilities—he may be even stronger than me. I didn’t expect such talented people to personally serve some small caravan.”

Sun Wuxia was puzzled: “As I saw it, he’s at best at a high level. Shishu, you’ve already joined the ranks of masters, and you’ll become even more proficient soon, and reach the highest realm of cultivation. How come you’re afraid of them?”

He Bo pondered: “When we fought just now, I couldn’t see through his cultivation level. It feels as if he’s hiding his true strength. Yun Weisi… Have you ever heard this name?”

Sun Wuxia shook his head: “Hasn’t he told us he’s just a rogue cultivator?”

He Bo thought to himself, While traveling through the Jianghu, you’ll face a lot of lies. You’ll die sooner than you’ll know which part of his words were the truth.

However, his shizhi was ambitious and proud, and He Bo did not enjoy preaching. A graceful hand appeared out of the window of the second carriage.

“Daoyou, are they also going to Hongluo Town?”

Together with the voice, a pretty face appeared from the carriage.

Obviously, Sun Wuxia had a good opinion of the young woman. When he turned to her, his expression was way less irritated.

He Bo seemed a lot more polite too.

“There’s only Hongluo up ahead. They must be in a hurry to find a guest house to stay for tonight.”

The young woman nodded her head and disappeared inside the carriage once again.

Sun Wuxia hurriedly called her: “Daoyou Chi!”

Yet the young woman refused to show her face again and only asked, pulling away the curtain: “What else, daoyou Sun?”

Sun Wuxia mumbled: “Nothing.”

Their carriages set out as well. The two of them were riding horses at the head of the procession. He Bo reminded his shizhi in a whisper: “Don’t provoke her.”

Sun Wuxia disagreed: “She’s a gentle and graceful young woman, and any man would be honored to be with her. My father is a cousin of the carriage owner, Princess Changning, and the princess favors the lady. Since my status matches her, and we’re soulmates, aren’t we fated?”

He Bo saw that he would not be able to dissuade Sun Wuxia, so he stopped worrying about him.

These were all minor trifles. He was still pondering the skills of the two men from before.

How could a rogue cultivator have such an unbridled cultivation base and energy?

Let alone this man with half-grey hair, why had he never heard of that Yun Weisi?

Unless that was a fake name.

But if Yun Weisi’s strength was superior to his, why would he bother to lie?

The Jianghu was vast, and there were as many opponents as there were trees in the forests—but when did this Yun Weisi appear?

If he was also heading to the Qianlin Assembly, He Bo’s shizhi, Sun Wuxia, would have a hard time this year.