Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 87: Calmness

Miss Shen’s attempt to ease the atmosphere had the opposite effect, and the cold wind of the North almost burst into a hot wave.

If time could turn back, Yin Ci would have wanted to expose Shen Zhu’s identity immediately.

Having lived for so long, he indeed wanted an unprecedented experience, but it didn’t include this century-old embarrassment. However, this couldn’t be blamed on Shen Zhu—just judging by appearances, he looked younger than Shi Jingzhi.

Demonic Lord Yin’s clumsy, fatherly heart trembled and collapsed halfway.

Before, not knowing each other’s true identities, he and Shi Jingzhi had been testing each other for quite some time. Being tied together as “master and disciple”, it was inevitable to have some intimate actions. Now that they recognized each other, the emotions could be slightly turned around… provided he hadn’t teased his own master so casually.

How could he forget about this matter?

From the crossing of qi at the Ghost Tomb to the pretend affectionate kiss at the city gate, and occasionally blowing air to tease each other—Shi Jingzhi, who usually acted like a proper master, would turn red with embarrassment, making it quite enjoyable.

If it were the other way around, he could have magnanimously said that the younger generation was ignorant, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Unfortunately, the old hooligan turned out to be himself, and this matter wasn’t so easy to handle.

Yin Ci rarely regretted anything in his life, but at this moment, he regretted not being honest from the beginning—was teasing a serious junior really that much fun? Why couldn’t he just honestly play the role of an ordinary mountain dweller?

For a moment, he couldn’t see Shi Jingzhi as the cute Little Mute anymore. The fun he had gained from this had turned into an inexplicable embarrassment.

Luckily, he had a face that had been honed over hundreds of years, allowing him to pretend to be carefree at any time.

In these situations, he must never reveal any awkwardness first. Yin Ci clasped his hands together and smiled naturally.

“Yes, I am indeed Yin Ci.”

Shi Jingzhi looked at Yin Ci strangely for a while, not knowing whether he was amazed by the thickness of this person’s face or admired his ability to act dumb.

Shen Zhu didn’t notice the hidden undercurrents between the two and continued, “There are too many injured people. It’s best for all of you to rest at Twin Rivers as soon as possible. After this period of time, it won’t be easy to leave the Central Plains.”

She stepped onto the wooden boat artifact and tied the sled to the back of the boat. The rabbit demons pulling the sled disappeared in an instant.

Shi Jingzhi shook his head and came back to his senses. “Not easy to leave the Central Plains?”

Shen Zhu’s smile faded slightly. She glanced at Yin Ci, then turned her gaze back to Shi Jingzhi. “Regarding the incident at the Jianchen Temple, it was exposed too quickly. The Yueshui Pavilion has already received the news—you forcefully went up the mountain, plotted to kill two eminent monks, and took away Master Kongshi’s Sword of Compassion.”

The Yueshui Pavilion, which managed information, would soon spread the news throughout the martial world.

Shi Jingzhi thought for a moment. “Such a ridiculous statement must come with an audacious title… Let me think, the Sword of Compassion holds a clue, and in order to keep the secret to myself, I killed two eminent monks to silence them?”

Shen Zhu: “Exactly. There must be someone behind this, pushing things along.”

Shi Jingzhi: “I’m well aware of that.”

Having said that, he glanced at the unconscious Shi Zhongyu. “The tragic incident at the Jianchen Temple came first, followed by the unsealing of the Arcane Arts of Mishan. It seems that the more we travel, the more obstacles we encounter… It seems that we need to separate from Miss Shi as soon as possible. If she travels with us for too long, it’s hard to guarantee that she won’t be harmed and become a victim of a plot.”

With this matter exposed, finding the path to the Shirou would become even more difficult. However, Shi Jingzhi remained calm and clearly knew a few things.

Shen Zhu didn’t ask further and continued, “Regarding the clue on the Sword of Compassion, the Ling Sect is already aware. They have taken advantage of the terrain and sealed off Zongwu Mountain.”

Shi Jingzhi’s expression remained calm. “I know.”

Yin Ci didn’t have time to savor the awkwardness; he just looked at his surprisingly calm cheap master, slightly furrowing his brows. Unfortunately, with the freezing cold in the North, and they were carrying a boatload of wounded people, it wasn’t convenient to inquire in detail.

Both of them had their own thoughts as they proceeded towards Twin Rivers.

When Shi Zhongyu woke up, there was a shelter above her head.

It was currently the setting sun, and she calculated that she had actually slept for nearly a whole day.

Subconsciously, she touched her chest and finally let out a long sigh of relief when she felt the talisman. Shi Zhongyu put on her shabby Green Maiden Sword and struggled to get out of bed.

The inn room wasn’t large; just a regular courtyard that looked like a typical household doing some extra business. There were only two or three rooms for guests, and the furniture inside was dusty and shabby, to the point of being crude.

However, despite the hardship faced by the Kushan Sect, they weren’t so uncouth as to toss a young girl into a room with men. Shi Zhongyu had a room all to herself, and even half of the Kushan Sect’s belongings couldn’t be seen inside.

Shi Zhongyu quickly tidied up her appearance, pushed the door open, and wanted to rush back to Taiheng to wake up the sect leader.

However, considering that she had been taken care of by the Kushan Sect during this trip, leaving without saying anything was not the conduct of a gentleman. Now that she had recovered some strength, she began to look for people from the Kushan Sect.

She knocked on the door of the adjacent room for a long time, but no one responded. The door was half-open, and through the narrow crack, she could see the unconscious Su Si and Yan Qing. The two of them were covered in dirt and lying huddled under the quilt, but their wounds were properly bandaged, and they seemed to be fine. Lord Bai was pressing on Su Si’s chest, looking exhausted as it dozed off.

There was no one else in the room. She turned around in circles but couldn’t find Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci.

The yard wasn’t large. As the only moving person wandering around, she caught sight of the innkeeper. “Miss, you’re awake. Your friends are waiting for you in the front hall.”

Friends?

It suddenly dawned on Shi Zhongyu. Taiheng had a post in Twin Rivers, where many disciples with average talents were stationed. They were usually not focused on martial arts training and were busy with the trivial matters of the sect.

They rarely saw important figures from Taiheng, so suddenly, a big senior sister appeared from the sky—it was definitely something worth seeing.

Now that she had successfully reunited with the sect members, she only needed to enter the protection shuttle and could quickly return to the Central Plains.

However, Shi Zhongyu couldn’t understand why the master and disciple chose to inform Taiheng in advance and then specifically avoid them, leaving only two wounded people who couldn’t receive any visitors—Yan Qing was previously just a servant of Taiheng, and Su Si had only recently joined the Kushan Sect. Even if the disciples of Taiheng were waiting for her here, as long as she didn’t speak, they wouldn’t show the slightest interest in those “nobodies”.

Facing two people whose consciousness was unclear, she seemed to have nothing to say.

Though Shi Zhongyu was stubborn, she grew up in a wealthy family and knew which superficial courtesy was best to be done. Back in the Ghost Tomb, Sect Master Shi hadn’t hesitated to repay her kindness.

Now with such arrangements, it seemed like they didn’t want to have any contact with her and were subtly urging her to leave.

Clearly, they had fought side by side before, experiencing life and death together.

Shi Zhongyu rubbed her temples, and she realized that no matter how tangled she was, there was only one path to choose—that she couldn’t risk the life of her own sect master to pursue some minor details of etiquette.

So she forced a smile and dealt with the enthusiastic disciples of Taiheng in front of her. They surrounded her as they left the small courtyard. When parting, Shi Zhongyu turned her head and looked at the shabby yard with confusion.

…Fortunately, even if she couldn’t bid them farewell in person, there were other ways to repay them.

Yin Ci, no, Senior Yin had entrusted her with something.

The life and death situation with Sect Master Qi had to be handled urgently. However, extracting the record of a deceased disciple was something she still had time to do.

A few hours later, an Arrow Horse left Twin Rivers, and a gray pigeon flapped its wings, crossing the night sky.

When Yin Ci received the Taiheng gray pigeon, the moon had risen. It was almost the fifteenth day, and the moon was quite full.

Unfortunately, Twin Rivers was remote and cold. As soon as night fell, the lights on the streets dimmed a bit. The master and disciple stood on the rooftop, casting two faint shadows, like decorative stone animal carvings, continuing to tacitly maintain the facade of tranquility.

When the pigeon arrived, Yin Ci didn’t avoid showing it to Shi Jingzhi. He read the message in front of him.

The note only had one short sentence.

[Shi Chongyu was fortunate to be favored by the emperor, but she passed away before even four years had passed since she entered the palace.]

Yin Ci crumpled the paper, and the final speculation settled—the person who could specially fabricate a body to deceive him was rare in the world. Shi Jingzhi must have come from an extraordinary background.

Shi Jingzhi had mentioned that his elder brother inherited the family business early and that no one cared about him. He said he had drunk Immortal Wine, but it had no effect on him… He also said his elder brother had peculiar hobbies and taught him the strategies of warfare from a young age.

At the time, Yin Ci thought this person was just talking nonsense, but when he looked back now, most of it turned out to be true. Yin Ci had heard some royal information but had never heard of such a son in the Xu family.

After all these years, Yin Ci had finally caught the fox’s tail, but he couldn’t be happy about it.

Shi Jingzhi had once said that he wanted to find him early and be by his side. But now Shi Jingzhi knew the profound connection between them, knew Yin Ci’s concern for him, and yet he didn’t come forward explicitly or implicitly, trying to use the “immortality” which was even more powerful than anything else.

Clearly, no matter who the enemy was, he wouldn’t lose his life for it.

The crying child from back then had grown up. Yin Ci thought that perhaps he had grown up a little too much. Shi Jingzhi’s “addiction” was present, and facing immortality in front of him, who knew how he could resist asking about it.

Even at this moment, with no one else around, Shi Jingzhi still just watched the pigeon fly away and asked, “A message from Taiheng?”

“Mm.”

“A’Ci, the grilled fish with fruit juice at noon were delicious. Can we have grilled fish tomorrow?” Shi Jingzhi naturally changed the topic.

Yin Ci suspected that if he didn’t speak, they could maintain this false calm forever.

“Over the years, I have been investigating the cause of this ‘immortal body’. If I knew the answer, I would never hide it from you.” Yin Ci sighed and took the first step. “Unfortunately, my past can’t help you with anything.”

His memories when he first obtained “immortality” were already fuzzy and indistinguishable between truth and falsehood. In that vague recollection, he only remembered boundless darkness and despair. After investigating for hundreds of years, Yin Ci hadn’t found anything close to an answer. Time was running out for Shi Jingzhi, and this path was obviously not one they should take.

Putting aside his own age, there was no need to burden Shi Jingzhi with the bitterness of the past. Yin Ci didn’t want to give Shi Jingzhi any unrealistic hope; that would be too cruel.

But the person involved in the matter of not aging and being immortal had no clue. Once he said this, it would definitely raise suspicions.

However, upon hearing this, Shi Jingzhi just smiled brightly. “I know. After all, A’Ci promised me a long life of a hundred years. You wouldn’t intentionally hide something from me. The Kushan Sect is about to become public enemy number one, and yet you are willing to stay. I am content as your master.”

Yin Ci could tell that this wasn’t a lie—once the ban was broken, if there was one change in Shi Jingzhi, it was probably this complete and unrestricted trust.

After finishing his words, Shi Jingzhi then enthusiastically admired the lights under the eaves of the houses.

Why doesn’t he come closer? Yin Ci wondered. Shi Jingzhi had sufficient reasons to act coquettish, hint, or ask for help—anything would do.

‘Forget it,’ Yin Ci thought. Since this person had already pulled him into the world, he could also walk over.

Such a simple truth.

“Your Highness, this can’t go on like this.”

Yin Ci placed a hand on Shi Jingzhi’s head, exerting a little force to make him look at him.

“It’s time for an open and honest conversation.”

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The author has something to say:

Compared to immortality, it seems like royal identity is the most irrelevant onion peel _(:з」∠)

Fox Shi has grown up! Demonic Lord Yin… Demonic Lord Yin’s old father mindset failed to renew.

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