Chapter 241: Returning Together (Part XI)
Qingyang Mountain possessed a barrier.
Unless one was invited and possessed a mountain token, or was guided by a member of the Xiao family, ordinary people could only be stopped outside the mountain.
Those capable of treating Qingyang Mountain’s barrier as if it were nothing could likely be counted on two hands within the immortal sects.
From the very beginning, Xiao Ji only knew that the man he had entered into a marriage bond with was absolutely not from the immortal sects, but looking at it now, it was likely even more complex.
The person behind him was gently embracing Xiao Ji’s waist, his chest pressed against Xiao Ji’s back. Yet Xiao Ji couldn’t sense a single trace of demonic or monster aura. Just like when they first met, he couldn’t even feel the other party’s breathing or heartbeat.
In this situation, it actually seemed somewhat akin to a ghost cultivator.
But he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the other party was doing this intentionally to conceal their identity.
Xiao Ji never did anything without certainty. Even though he disliked others getting too close to him, he remained honest and didn’t resist.
Because the other party’s strength was clearly unfathomable, even if he did resist, it wouldn’t necessarily yield any results. Why waste energy for nothing?
The other party also acted exactly as he had said; other than quietly holding Xiao Ji like this, he did nothing else.
And that so-called “leave in a bit” didn’t specify exactly how long it would be.
Xiao Ji closed his eyes and lay quietly. When the person’s fingertips lightly brushed against Xiao Ji’s own fingertips, Xiao Ji opened his eyes again. In a place where the person couldn’t see, he frowned, all traces of sleepiness vanishing.
That person still did nothing, and Xiao Ji also asked nothing.
But that so-called “in a bit” of his was clearly a lie. Xiao Ji felt that by the time light had already appeared in the sky outside, the weight on his body finally lifted. When he turned his head, the figure was already gone from the room.
Xiao Ji slept groggily for a short while, and as usual, arrived at the lecture hall during the Mao hour.
And today, Zhong Yinnian was also still the last to arrive.
The Sixth Elder stood at the door, watching him. “The same mistake—why do you always commit it?”
Zhong Yinnian didn’t utter a sound, merely reaching out to hand a stack of Xuan paper into the Sixth Elder’s hands.
The Sixth Elder glanced at the handwriting on the paper, shook his head, and sighed, “Like spring earthworms and autumn snakes, utterly unbearable to look at!”
Zhong Yinnian didn’t argue back. In any case, the fact that his handwriting was ugly didn’t affect the fact that he was good-looking.
The Sixth Elder cast a sidelong glance at him. “Yesterday it was three copies; today, go copy it three more times.”
Hearing these words, Zhong Yinnian finally chuckled with a “hehe.” “This student came prepared early today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been this late. Why don’t you count them?”
The Sixth Elder froze. He flipped through the stack of papers in his hand, which were covered in chicken-scratch writing, and sure enough, there were actually six copies.
His eyes wide, he stared at Zhong Yinnian and reached out to poke his forehead. “You rascal! Did you calculate that you were going to be late and punished?!”
Zhong Yinnian looked at the Sixth Elder innocently. “Elder’s words are misguided. While this student was transcribing this Lingxi Sword Art yesterday, I was simultaneously comprehending its essence. As I copied, without realizing it, I copied three extra portions.”
“Since there were already extras, I figured I might as well sleep in a bit longer today, so that this student’s half a night of wasted effort wouldn’t be in vain.”
The Sixth Elder had never seen a student like this before.
After a long while, he finally used that stack of Xuan paper to smack him on the head. “Opportunistic and deceitful!”
Zhong Yinnian rubbed his nose. “Rational utilization.”
The Sixth Elder: “Clever words and an ingratiating appearance!”
Zhong Yinnian: “Look at you, please don’t be angry. If you ruin your health from anger, it’ll become this student’s fault. At worst, this student will simply arrive earlier tomorrow.”
After finishing, taking advantage of the moment before the Sixth Elder could react, he hurriedly slipped to the back of the lecture hall, sat down beside Xiao Ji, squeezed out a smile at him, and whispered, “Where’s my bird?”
Xiao Ji remembered this matter. Hearing this, he pulled the bird out from his robes and placed it at the edge of the desk.
The little bird stood on the surface of Xiao Ji’s desk, squinting its eyes, looking as though it were still sleepy. Its round body sank, and it nestled down.
Zhong Yinnian whispered, “Zhong Cui, come here.”
Xiao Cui tilted its head, leaned closer toward Zhong Yinnian’s side, shuffled to the edge of the desk, and nestled down once again.
Zhong Yinnian cursed under his breath, “Be careful that one day when you take human form, he’ll stab you to death with a single strike of his sword.”
Xiao Ji raised an eyebrow. “I said I wouldn’t.”
Zhong Yinnian narrowed his eyes. “You may know a person’s face, but you don’t know their heart. One must still take necessary precautions.”
The moment his words fell, a disciplinary ruler flew over from the front, delivering a smack to Zhong Yinnian’s and Xiao Ji’s foreheads respectively. Afterward, the ruler hovered for a moment and then delivered another smack right onto Xiao Cui’s little head.
“No playing with birds during the lecture! Get out!”
For the first time in his life, Xiao Ji was kicked out of the lecture hall. However, he didn’t say anything, merely sitting down beneath a large tree not far outside the hall.
Zhong Yinnian followed him out, carrying the bird on his shoulder, and sat beside him.
Neither of them spoke. After a long while, Zhong Yinnian asked him, “Are you angry?”
Xiao Ji looked at him. “Why should I be angry?”
Zhong Yinnian said, “If I hadn’t insisted on making you pull out the bird in the lecture hall, you wouldn’t have been kicked out. Do you feel you’ve lost face?”
Xiao Ji was very calm. “Not at all.”
To be frank, the material the Sixth Elder taught was something Xiao Ji had already memorized backward and forward long ago. Sitting in the lecture hall was nothing more than a matter of habit.
As for things like losing face, Xiao Ji cared even less.
He had merely been kicked out, not beaten to death.
Furthermore, in other words, if the Sixth Elder, as an elder of the Xiao family, really had beaten Xiao Ji to death, then Xiao Ji could just conveniently stop living.
It couldn’t be said whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
What joy is there in life, and what bitterness in death?
Living has the tediousness of living, and dying has the relief of dying.
Zhong Yinnian looked at Xiao Ji’s profile and remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, he spoke, his tone carrying a hint of bewilderment and ethereality, “Xiao Ji, is there truly nothing in this world that you care about?”
Xiao Ji turned his face sideways, looking at Zhong Yinnian.
He wanted to say: never.
But for some unknown reason, he felt that the Zhong Yinnian at this very moment seemed a little sad.
Xiao Ji didn’t understand what Zhong Yinnian was sad about, or whether he harbored some unknown troubles and confusions, but he understood that not everyone in this world cared about nothing, just like him.
He didn’t answer Zhong Yinnian’s question, only saying, “Your mind is restless. Something is weighing on it.”
Zhong Yinnian opened his mouth, but ultimately shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Xiao Ji’s face blindness wasn’t an issue of just a day or two.
Other than the elders in the family, his relationships with his fellow disciples weren’t close. He interacted with them so little that he could only remember that they looked familiar and were people from his own family.
To him, it seemed as if everyone else shared the exact same face.
But Zhong Yinnian was an exception.
Upon first meeting him, he immediately knew that this person was good-looking.
He said, “People in this world are all the same; they cannot escape the eight sufferings of life. And all suffering is nothing more than the result of obsessions and attachments. Zhong Yinnian, do you have attachments, or do you have an obsession?”
Zhong Yinnian gazed into Xiao Ji’s pitch-black pupils, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I have an attachment, and I also have an obsession.”
Xiao Ji met his gaze. “Are there many?”
Zhong Yinnian shook his head. “Not many. Merely one person.”
Xiao Ji didn’t quite understand, only asking, “Can you let it go?”
Zhong Yinnian smiled again. “I cannot let it go, nor am I willing to let it go.”
Translator’s Note:
A few terms to learn and remember:
- Mao hour (卯時): Refers to the time period between 5:00 AM and 7:00 AM. Cultivators are very early risers!
- Spring earthworms and autumn snakes (春蚓秋蛇): A fantastic Chinese idiom used to describe terrible, squiggly handwriting—basically the equivalent of “chicken-scratch” in English!
- Eight sufferings of life (人生八苦): A fundamental Buddhist concept referring to the eight types of suffering: birth, aging, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, associating with those you dislike, being unable to obtain what you desire, and the flourishing of the Five Skandhas (the physical and mental aggregates of existence).
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