Chapter 143: Twitterpated Couple (II)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
Luo Jianqing left as if he had nothing to do with the punishment that would fall on Li Xiuchen, while Xie Zizhuo was ready to let out his ‘anger’. That night, Li Xiuchen had to reflect on his mistakes at the Penalty Gate under escort after he was interrogated by Xie Zizhuo, “How many times have you been harassing a sister on Bi Can Peak, huh? Even the Third Senior Sister warned you herself! And yet, you still didn’t learn your lesson?”
Li Xiuchen talked back, “Sister Mu and I already knew each other before she became a disciple of Tai Hua Mountain. I didn’t harass her!”
Slapping his own thigh, Xie Zizhuo reproached, “Still believing you did nothing wrong, aren’t you?”
Li Xiuchen tried everything he could to explain, but Xie Zizhuo just glanced over at him and said, “Undoubtedly, your cultivation speed could be said as ‘fast’ during these recent years, and because of that Master started to pay attention to you. However, Li Xiuchen, that doesn’t mean you can go after Younger Sister and harass her. That’s it. Now, piss off.”
When Guang Lingzi heard about the punishment that Xie Zizhuo sentenced to Li Xiuchen, he widened his eyes and asked in astonishment, “Why do you dislike him so much?”
Xie Zizhuo was annoyed, “No reason. I just don’t like him by nature!”
Words of reproach were right at the tip of his tongue, but Sir Guang Lingzi swallowed them when he recalled the aloofness Xie Zizhuo had showed him for these years. Heart softened, the Master said, “Alright, alright, just don’t bully him that much. He is your Younger Brother after all.”
Xie Zizhuo scoffed and left with satisfaction, leaving Guang Lingzi who smiled wryly behind.
Luo Jianqing knew nothing about what happened on Hao Ming Peak, but he was sure that the Fourth Younger Brother of his wouldn’t let Li Xiuchen go easily.
Xie Zizhuo never liked Li Xiuchen in the last life, and that detest remained the same in this life as well. Before his death in last life, Luo Jianqing heard the rumor about how Li Xiuchen made himself a well-known-and-respected disciple among all the other disciples on Tai Hua Mountain.
At that time, Luo Jianqing’s Second Younger Brother, Zuo Yunmo, and Sixth Younger Brother, Xiu Hen, already passed away; his Third Younger Sister, Wei Qiongyin, practiced seclusion and refused to meet anyone; the Fifth Younger Brother, Huo Yuchong, put all of his attention on taming Spiritual Beasts; Little Sister, Mu Tianxin, had married Li Xiuchen already. Luo Jianqing never heard anything about Xie Zizhuo, but, he could be sure… his Fourth Younger Brother never managed to leave the past in the past.
After all, in the last life, Xie Zizhuo never had any doubt that Luo Jianqing was innocent and tried everything he could to fight the injustice.
It could be sure that Li Xiuchen disliked Xie Zizhuo.
Before he left Tai Hua Mountain with his Master, Luo Jianqing went to the Forbidden Place of Yu Xiao Peak.
The Life Lantern of Sir Jiu Lian was still barely lighted, sparkling faintly. Nonetheless, the nine bice lotuses on the Jade Liquid Stream were slightly brought back to vitality, one step away from perishing.
Though Luo Jianqing knew that Qing Jun couldn’t hear him, he still approached the rostrum and spoke delightedly, “I have no idea whether or not I will find the remains of Sir Mo Qing, but if I do, I will take him back here. You have my words.”
The wick of the bice-lotus Life Lantern was still barely scintillating, as if it heard nothing.
Without thinking too much about it, Luo Jianqing stepped out of the chamber with Xuan Lingzi. Together, they left Tai Hua Mountain.
Starting their journey at the center of Xuan Tian Continent – where the Tai Hua Mountain was located – Luo Jianqing and Xuan Lingzi headed to the Northern Land of Arctic. As soon as they got out of the mountain range, the pair of Master and disciple flew all the way to the north. They didn’t stop until they spotted a prosperous town.
As Xuan Lingzi stroked Luo Jianqing’s forehead, the five-petal-bice-lotus Sword Pattern was concealed. The Master said, “The reason why the Northern Land of Arctic was one of the Zone of the Risk was that, every ten years, there will be a devastating sand storm which lasts for a whole year. Jianqing, the storm hit the land half a year ago. No rush to go there.”
Of course Luo Jianqing knew the power of the sand storm of the Northern Land of Arctic. As a storm which contained a wisp of Heavenly Will, it was no common tornado. Every single grain of sand had the same power of a strike of a Gold-Core-Period cultivator, and sometimes the power could be elevated to the same level of a Body-Fusion-Period cultivator!
A single grain of sand!
Even Xuan Lingzi couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t encounter any danger if they encountered the sand storm.
Luo Jianqing said, “Well, I guess we could slow down our pace then. Master, Fo Zi once told me ‘there is no way to ferry over the ocean when your boat is not even touching the sea.’ Living in a world of mortals is indeed a rare experience for me. Now that we are given the chance to be a pair of common…” Luo Jianqing paused and lifted the corner of his mouth, “…a pair of common couple.”
Xuan Lingzi, “…”
After a few moments of silence, Xuan Lingzi asked, “Did I… mishear something?”
Luo Jianqing replied calmly, “I said, ‘we could be a pair of common couple’.”
Xuan Lingzi nodded, “Right, mishearing it is.”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
When they approached the entrance of the town, Luo Jianqing snorted and took the Disguise Pill from Xuan Lingzi’s hand.
Though acting flirty, Luo Jianqing had no guts to actually ask his Master to dress like a woman, which he himself had no intention to do as well. Therefore, they ended up playing the roles of brothers. As two cultivators who owned breathtaking visage, Xuan Lingzi asked Luo Jianqing to change his appearance, claiming that they would encounter so much more trouble if he refused to do so.
Luo Jianqing chuckled, “Master, there is one thing that I don’t understand – why do I have to have this Disguise Pill?”
The next moment, Luo Jianqing intentionally shortened their distance, staring at his Master with his puppy eyes.
Boom! Xuan Lingzi blushed till the tips of his ears went red. Shoving Luo Jianqing away from him, he said, “Just eat the pill!”
Smiling, Luo Jianqing swallowed the Disguise Pill. Assuring that his disciple really had the pill in his stomach, Xuan Lingzi had his own pill.
Not long after this, a pair of elegant young men arrived at a small town located a hundred miles away from Tai Hua Mountain. The Disguise Pill helped little on changing their ethereal disposition. Many had been peeking at them along the way. When they entered the one and only hotel in this town, the owner welcomed them and asked, “Are you guys… cultivators?”
Luo Jianqing didn’t expect this question and was slightly shocked, “You’ve heard about cultivators?”
For most of the commoners, “cultivator” was an interchangeable word for “immortal”. They believed that even the Qi-Condensation-Period cultivator was an immortal as well. Only some of the royal and noble people and their direct subordinates knew the fact that cultivators were just a bunch of powerful mortals.
The owner of the hotel answered, “Yep, our town is located in the district of Ding Hai Sect. I saw a cultivator from Ding Hai Sect last year. Triennially, Ding Hai Sect would come here to collect tax as protection money. That’s why we know something about cultivators.”
Hearing his words, Luo Jianqing frowned, “Protection money?”
“Right, protection money.” The owner said as if it was such a common phenomenon.
Before Luo Jianqing asked him “why do they have to pay protection money”, Xuan Lingzi interrupted them, “Could we have a premium room please?”
Nodding, the owner presented them a set of keys.
Luo Jianqing brought up the question again once they got to their room, “I never heard such thing about collecting protection money. Have you heard about that, Master? There is an invisible border between cultivators and commoners. For cultivators, money is just a sheaf of useless paper. Why do we need them?”
Flicking his sleeve, Xuan Lingzi set a protection ward covering the room. “I don’t know.”
“Then why did you stop me from asking him?”
Lifting his gaze, Xuan Lingzi put his eyes on his disciple with an amicable look. “You noticed it right? He didn’t treat it as an abnormal thing. I might even use the word “willingly” to describe his attitude towards the protection money. There must be a reason behind this. Jianqing, you need to act after you have a plan laid out.”
Though the town was only a hundred miles away from Tai Hua Mountain, it was nothing but an ordinary town, given that there were countless towns built close to Tai Hua Mountain. The name of ‘Ding Hai Sect’ was an unfamiliar one to Luo Jianqing. It might well be a small sect with no fame.