Chapter 6
T/N: I found this chapter a little trickier to translate both coherently and faithfully. Maybe it’s because we’re starting to get into the actual story now that I really want to make sure everything is as perfect as possible. Let me know if there’s anything I can improve on!
Having heard Zhi Yan’s sniffling complaints, I have a general understanding of her bullying situation now.
Previously before I left, I had told her to go and tightly hug Mo Qing’s thick thigh. However, this little lady is an aloof one with high self-esteem, and did not plan on doing so. She had planned to depend solely on her own abilities and cultivate properly in Wan Lu Sect, and, upon achieving success in her cultivation, seek out the Jian Xin Sect Leader Liu Wei for revenge.
I listened to her story with a mocking laugh- young lady, you are still too naïve.
Indeed, within a few days, the demonic cultivators on Xi Yue Peak discovered that this “Direct Disciple”, who had been carried in on a palanquin, was actually nowhere as formidable as they had imagined, nor had she as close a relationship with the Sect Leader as they had thought.
Instantly, those who had previously greeted her in an amiable manner began treating her coldly; those who had previously treated her with extreme consideration began mocking and even humiliating her. Her original plan of quietly relying on her own abilities to achieve success became completely impossible.
In less than a month, this lady, coming from a righteous celestial sect preaching ‘Harmony is to be prized’, was, due to her lack of resistance, attacked from all sides by people wanting to vent their frustrations. The male demonic cultivators on Xi Yue Peak started to take advantage of her, and today, their violations had gone too far and crossed a line. She finally began angrily resisting them, but by this point, there was no one left to help her.
The female demonic cultivators simply stood by and enjoyed the show; the male demonic cultivators called her a little slut, and intensified their efforts to take advantage of her.
In her panic, Zhi Yan flew away from them on her sword, but the demonic cultivators chased after her doggedly until she ran into the forbidden grounds, where no one else dared to enter.
When she finished recounting, in between her choked sobs, all the heart-wrenching things that had occurred over the past month, it was almost the zi hour (11pm – 1am).
I squatted in front of her. “Little lady, it is okay to depend on yourself; in this world, there are indeed many times when you can only depend on yourself. But the pre-requisite of depending on yourself is that you must be strong enough. And when you are not strong enough…” I stared at her incomprehensibly, “Couldn’t you use your brains and remember the words I said to you before, and go and suck up to Chen Li Lan?”
“I did realise that I couldn’t depend on myself, that’s why I’m here to find you…”
Mn, that can indeed be considered a solution as well.
(Translated by jillaimee at Silent Moon Translations)
She wiped her tears away and glanced at me. “Besides, if I went looking for Chen Li Lan… Chen Li Lan is the Sect Leader, he is so high up and unreachable… all those people who’ve stayed in Xi Yue Peak for tens of years, none of them have managed to see Chen Li Lan, what qualifications do I have…to curry favour with him and let him help me.”
Hearing this, I was enraged. “I am also the Sect Leader! I was also once high up and unreachable! Just because I’m dead so you think that I’m easier to bully, is that it!”
She glanced at me again. “Yeah.”
“……”
I gritted my teeth, thinking that this person in front of me, as well as that door guard Little Flat-nose – both of them are unable to discern things properly. But seeing as she was going to offer me her body to use, I decided to pardon her disrespectful words.
“The worry you have regarding Chen Li Lan is completely unfounded. Didn’t I say before – Chen Li Lan ordered ‘Kill all intruders’, but why did he not kill you?”
With her face full of tears, she stupidly stared at me. “Why?”
I solemnly announced “Because he has taken a fancy to this body of yours!”
Zhi Yan’s entire body jolted. “What!”
“Then what else, what other reason could he have not to kill you?”
Zhi Yan thought for a bit. “At that time, you were in my body ah, who knows, maybe he was looking at me and thinking of you then?”
I gave another mocking laugh. “Mo Qing is the Wan Lu Sect Leader now, a position he had snatched out of my hands. Now that he finally managed to stabilise his position, if he knows that I’ve reincarnated in someone else’s body, tell me, how would he treat me?”
“Kill…kill the weeds and destroy the roots?”
“You’re not too stupid then.” I raised my head to glance at the sky, and seeing that it was already the zi hour (11pm – 1am), I called out to Zhi Yan. “It is about time, let’s give it a try.”
Zhi Yan straightened her back. I centered myself, ridding myself of all irrelevant thoughts and desires, and pushed my way into Zhi Yan’s body.
Instantly, my fingertips warmed, my feet become heavy, and the familiar feeling of having a body surged over all my senses. I blinked my eyes and looked over to the gravestone, and saw Zhi Yan’s soul standing there blankly, where I’ve pushed her out.
Indeed! An act like usurping someone else’s body is best done at night!
I stood and clenched my fists, and feeling the strength in my hands, my heart immediately brightened. Finally! After going in such a huge circle, this body is still ultimately mine!
However, even before I’ve had time to savour my happiness at finally gaining a body, I suddenly sensed an aura flash behind me. My brows furrowed, but just as I was about to dodge, I felt a hand choke my neck, lifting me up.
In an instant, my breath was stolen from me, and as I suffocated, I looked up at the person in front of me. I saw the familiar black robes, just as before, but his expression was frosty, and his gaze was like sharp knives that pierced into my bones. “You again.” His voice was cold as ice. “Intruding into the forbidden grounds, don’t think that I will spare you a second time.”
Zhi Yan’s soul beside me was so frightened that she continuously gasped and shrieked loudly “You see you see! You still wanted me to go curry favour with this Li demon, you still said he was interested in me – more like he’s interested in killing me! Thank goodness I didn’t go!”
The fury in my heart. If not for Zhi Yan’s body being so useless, how could I be bullied by Mo Qing into such a sorry state!
This Mo Qing was also too laughable; why is it that every time I switched bodies with Zhi Yan he would come over to make things difficult for me – it must be fated for him to be a curse and plaque in my life!
I gripped his arm, using all my strength to try to get him to relax his stranglehold on me slightly, and hoarsely said, “Last time I was forced to, this time I…was also forced to…”
Mo Qing laughed coldly, and roughly threw me onto the ground.
I immediately covered my neck, coughing and choking for breath. Through the continuous buzzing in my ears, I heard his sarcastic and cold laugh, filled with an unmistakable murderous aura, “Forced to? By those demonic cultivators outside?”
The last time Mo Qing saw me, he received two sword attacks from me. Based on the power behind those two blows, indeed none of those lowly ranked demonic cultivators on Xi Yue Peak could pose any sort of challenge to me.
But when this body was being bullied, it was controlled by the even-weaker than-a-chicken Zhi Yan! I was unable to explain myself, and in order to deflect Mo Qing’s suspicion, I could only rely on my quick wits in this emergency situation – I pointed to my own gravestone, and said, “It was her, I was forced by her.”
The moment those words left my lips, Mo Qing abruptly stilled.
When I lifted my head to glance at him again, he was examining me, who was sprawled out on the ground, very closely. “You know who this gravestone belongs to?”
“I know, it is Lu Zhao Yao…”
His gaze was frigid, his face harsh. “Where did you learn this from?”
“From a dream.” I was thinking and making it up as I went, “She comes into my dreams every night to force me to burn paper offerings for her.”
“She enters your dreams?” Mo Qing interrupted me, his eyes narrowed and filled with suspicion.
I thought about it for a bit. Letting Mo Qing know that my soul is still around might not be a very good idea. But whatever, these supernatural affairs…If I had not died myself, even I would not have known if people became ghosts after their death. To the living, such matters are simply too illusory; no matter how much he investigates, he would never be able to find out anything concrete.
I might as well simply put all my pieces on the chessboard and set a trap.
(Translated by jillaimee at Silent Moon Translations)
If Mo Qing learns that my soul still exists, but has no way of finding me, he would definitely spend all his time jumping at ghosts in order to protect his Sect Leader position. While he is occupied with that, I can use Zhi Yan’s body to infiltrate and get closer to him using the excuse of Lu Zhao Yao entering my dreams. I can pretend to help him look for ‘Lu Zhao Yao’, manipulating his emotional state and getting close to him at the same time. I would enter into his life, attain his trust – the enemy’s every movement would be known by me, while I remain hidden and undetected – and as soon as he drop his defences, I would give him a killing blow!
How absolutely perfect!
I was momentarily bowled over by admiration at my own ability to think up such a complex plan in an instant. Then, keeping my eyes fixed on Mo Qing, with a solemn expression, I said, “Yes, she wanted me to burn paper offerings for her, otherwise, she would haunt and kill me.”
Mo Qing was silent for a long time; his dark pupils resembled a whirlpool, hiding all of his emotions, leaving me unable to fathom his mood.
I waited for him to express his stand. I waited for a long time, yet eventually when he opened his mouth, he only said three words, “That is impossible.” He bowed his head, as if he was murmuring to himself, “If she was still around, she would definitely have looked for me first.”
Ah, regarding this point, little ugly monster understood me quite well. My only regret in this mortal life was not being able to take you down with me at the very end. If I returned to life, of course I would look for you first, then take you down.
Exactly what I’m doing now.
But at this moment I could not say that, so instead I said, “I don’t know why she only looked for me, perhaps…it is because I hit my head against her gravestone last time, and so she started to haunt me… she was so terrifying in the dream, I had no other choice… Sect Leader, my second intrusion into the forbidden grounds can’t actually be blamed on me.”
I gazed at him pitifully – because Zhi Yan had cried earlier, her eyes were still a little sensitive. I determinedly kept my eyes wide open without blinking, and quickly, the frail gaze was filled with tears.
He silently looked at me for a long while.
In my heart I understood that acting pitiful in front of someone from the Wan Lu Sect was actually not an effective trick. Mo Qing can be regarded as having been brought up by me; I can predict that this pitiful act today, if effective, it would definitely be because…
“Stand.”
He spared my life. I silently confirmed in my heart – as expected, this Mo Qing was interested in Zhi Yan’s face! He can’t bear to kill her!
Mo Qing glared at me. “How was she in your dreams?”
“Who? Demoness Lu Zhao Yao?” I examined his expression, and deliberately said, “She ah, her face was completely white, she had no legs at all, truly vicious looking…” As I spoke, I saw Mo Qing narrow his eyes suspiciously. I knew he was scrutinising me carefully, so I immediately drew out my true feelings, and said, “She was actually no different from a living person; it was just that she hates you, she said you stole her position and caused her death, she wants to come back for you so she can take revenge.”
All the people in the Sword Tomb that year should have been killed by the tremendous aura from the Wan Jun Sword. Even if the common people had come up with some theories about what exactly happened back then, there was no way anyone could so confidently state that I was actually killed by Mo Qing.
Therefore, I said something that could only have been known by the two of us, so as to eliminate his suspicions.
As expected, when Mo Qing heard this, he became silent. Only after a long time did he turn his head slightly to gaze at my nameless gravestone.
Zhi Yan’s soul was standing right there; she stared back at Mo Qing blankly, until he eventually lowered his head.
He murmured, “Then why…has she not come.”
Huh, provoking me.
I was a little tempted to roll up my sleeves.
But I quickly controlled my own emotions. This was not the time to fight with Mo Qing head on. I suppressed my anger, reminding myself that I had to endure this humiliation for my important mission, that I was merely taking a roundabout way to achieve my ultimate goal. I cannot be impulsive.
After his quiet murmur, Mo Qing silently turned and left.
He didn’t say anything about his plans for me, and so I just stood where I was, staring at his back. Zhi Yan floated beside me, and perplexedly said, “This Li demon…his expression just now was so sorrowful.” She said, “It was completely unlike a demon…like a lonely little child who had been abandoned…”
Mo Qing was nearby so I couldn’t speak openly to Zhi Yan, I could only roll my eyes at her.
These prestigious and righteous sects are really good at imagining a whole bunch of sentimental nonsense.
Mo Qing, sorrowful? He currently holds so much power and authority – if there is any sorrow at all, then it is probably that kind of ‘how lonely it is, being so superior that no one can ever understand me‘ sigh of sorrow!
