Ch9 – Truths and Lies

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Translator: transcendent.wings

Editor: teaff 

Xu Xingzhi was stunned.
He touched his cheek and couldn’t help but chuckle as he flicked Chongguang’s forehead: “Little brat.”

Chongguang was forced back a step from the flick; he covered his forehead and gazed at Xu Xingzhi pitifully: “.
.
.”

 

 

Seeing him like this, even Xu Xingzhi suspected that he may have used too much force: “The flick hurt?”

“En.” A layer of glistening tears filled Chongguang’s eyes, and he exaggeratedly pouted his lips, “.
.
.
Hurts a lot.” 

Not too far away, Jiu Zhideng frowned slightly.

 

Xu Xingzhi crossed his arms and stared down at this child in front of him who might burst into tears at any moment and faintly felt the onset of a headache: “Be a man, don’t show this kind of expression.”

Chongguang seemed to not understand as his eyes shone so bright it seemed like thousands of bright pearls were hidden in his misty eyes: “.
.
.”

The little kid’s skin was like tofu, a casual flick caused the skin to redden, it looked as if it really was a bit serious.

 

Xu Xingzhi felt helpless.
He leaned down and blew gently on the reddened spot, then pressed down on his head and pushed him towards Jiu Zhideng: “.
.
.
Don’t make a fuss, there’s no exception next time.”

Chongguang held back his tears and turned his head back, smiling sweetly as he responded: “Okay, Xu-shixiong.”

.
.
.
D*mn that’s really cute.

Xu Xingzhi turned around and thought to himself as he walked, now that his name was decided, what surname would be good. 

He picked him up, so should he be surnamed Xu?

No, if his surname was Xu, elder brother would definitely not agree.

After pondering back and forth, Xu Xingzhi silently snapped the clapperboard for himself.

.
.
.
He’ll just go back, flip through the Hundred Families Surnames with his eyes closed, then draw a circle with a brush, and whatever he ends up circling will be the one. 

Right after he made up his mind, Xu Xingzhi saw Zhou Beinan step out of a rippling door of light carrying a long steel spear on his back.

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Catching sight of Xu Xingzhi as soon as he stepped foot on the ground made Zhou Beinan wordlessly roll his eyes into the heavens.

Xu Xingzhi held his folded fan then spread his arms open as he walked and smiled: “Look at who came back?”

Zhou Beinan contemptuously snorted: “.
.
.
Look at you swaying back and forth like that, how improper.” 

Xu Xingzhi approached with swaying movements: “Even if I rolled, don’t all of the disciples here still have to call me Xu-shixiong?”

Zhou Beinan: “.
.
. Ha ha.”

 

Xu Xingzhi didn’t shy away and went forward to hook an arm around Zhou Beinan’s shoulders then used the fan’s handle to tap on his chest: “What, still hanging onto the grudge from the Heavenly Ranking Competition? Say, how can you be so stingy?”

Zhou Beinan let his arm hang and snorted coldly: “An unequal contest brings no honor to the victor, aren’t you embarrassed to bring it up?” 

Xu Xingzhi laughed in amusement: “What does ‘an unequal contest brings no honor to the victor’ mean?”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

He fiddled with the folded fan and with a flip, the folded fan in his hand turned into a sharp Yuchang blade.

Qlat jcbatfg oilq bo atf rkbgv tlia, la aegcfv lcab j 2.61 wfafg ijcmf fcugjnfv klat j ygbchf rcjxf tfjv.

We Wlcuhtl rqec atf ijcmf jgbecv lc j ofk jgmr oielvis, atfc mtjcufv atf ijcmf yjmx lcab j yjwybb-glyyfv obivfv ojc. 

“Cgfc’a rqfjg olutar sbeg rqfmljias?” We Wlcuhtl abrrfv atf ojc eq klat tlr gluta tjcv jcv atfc mjeuta la, “.
.
.
Tfa sbe ralii ibra ab wf, tbk rtjwfoei.”

Zhou Beinan was irate: “.
.
.
Bullsh*t, didn’t you tell me before the duel that you wouldn’t use your sh *tty fan to conjure up tricks during the fight?”

“My god.” Xu Xingzhi widened his eyes, “We grew up together and you actually still believed what I said.
Fatty Zhou, you’re so cute.”

Zhou Beinan: “.
.
.” 

Without further preamble, Zhou Beinan drew the long spear from his back and wielded it in a back-handed stab.

Xu Xingzhi dodged between the sparks produced from their engagement.
The folded fan in his hands morphed into a sawtooth cutlass and its sawtooth spikes firmly caught the long spear that Zhou Beinan stabbed forth, lifting the spearhead high into the air.

He smiled and said: “Be careful, careful. Xiao-Beibei, I was wrong la.”

Zhou Beinan had also only attacked half-heartedly, so hearing him admit defeat, he ceased his attack, but still refused to offer forgiveness verbally: “.
.
.
Why did Qingjing-jun accept someone like you as the head disciple of Fengling?” 

Xu Xingzhi replied shamelessly: “Probably because I’m too handsome ba.”

Zhou Beinan: “.
.
.”

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Qu Chi who was passing by: “.
.
.”

Zhou Beinan turned towards Qu Chi: “.
.
.
Hey, Qu Chi, don’t you think he really deserves a beating?” 

Qu Chi couldn’t help but chuckle: “.
.
.
Occasionally.”

Xu Xingzhi turned the sawtooth cutlass back into his folded fan and fanned himself: “.
.
.
Beinan, now you’re in the wrong here.
This ‘Xianbi’ is something I personally created, and Shifu gave me permission to use it during the Heavenly Ranking Competition.
It isn’t shameful to have lost to me, really.”

 

Zhou Beinan doused his words with cold water: “What can you even accomplish with this sh*tty fan, after all in the end, didn’t Qu Chi still walk all over you?”

Xu Xingzhi clicked his tongue: “What do you mean by ‘walk all over’? Ultimately, I only lost to him.
Wait another five years for the next Heavenly Ranking Competition and that spot at the top of the ranks will definitely be mine.
At that time, I will write the nine characters ‘Number one on the Heavenly Ranking, Fengling Xu Xingzhi’ onto the face of my fan.
.
.” 

Before he could finish his sentence, another door of light appeared in the three’s vicinity.

A wheelchair revealed itself from the light gate and creakily rolled onto the jade green masonry.

When a Qingliang Valley disciple who just happened to pass by with a scroll in his arms saw said person, he was immediately muted with fear and hurriedly bowed: “Greetings, Wen-shixiong.”

The person who just arrived was dressed in cyan clothes made of fabric as thin as cicada wings paired with a lightning-struck jujube wood yin-yang bracelet.
Even after he heard this greeting, he didn’t bother lifting his gaze and only simply and curtly responded: “.
.
.
Hello.” 

He maneuvered the wheelchair to arrive directly in front of the three of them: “What are you guys making a scene about now?”

Qu Chi held the whisk in his hand and answered with a smile: “Xingzhi and Beinan are arguing again.”

Wen Xuechen’s skin was extremely pale, so white that it was unnatural, and there were even faint signs of cyanosis on his lips.

As a result, his voice sounded very ethereal and empty, conveying a feeling of wan weakness: “.
.
.
Are you all that free?” 

Xu Xingzhi sat on Wen Xuechen’s wheelchair armrest unceremoniously: “I just came back after bustling around ma.
There was nothing to do either way and conversing idly isn’t against the rules.
.
.
After all, these beasts guarding the sacrificial offerings are getting more and more boring.
Each one is weaker than the other.”

Wen Xuechen narrowed his eyes at him without saying a word.

“In my opinion, there are only two types of monsters in this world.” Xu Xingzhi played around with his fan and continued to brag, “— Soft persimmons that are easy to crush and soft persimmons that aren’t easy to crush.”

Zhou Beinan: “.
.
.” 

Qu Chi: “.
.
.”

Wen Xuechen raised his chin slightly: “Oh? Is that so? Xingzhi really isn’t afraid of the heavens or the earth now.”

Xu Xingzhi breezily snapped his fan open and replied cheerfully: “Naturally.
.
.”

He swept his gaze across and immediately stopped breathing. 

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Starting from a little while ago, Wen Xuechen spread open the palm that he had tightly clenched.
On it, lay a huge beetle that was fleshy like a tadpole.
It was waving its antennae around and slowly crawling around his palm.

Wen Xuechen said: “Xingzhi, this is a specialty of Yaoguang Mountain.
I thought it had a cute shape, so I specifically brought it back for you to have a look.”

 

Xu Xingzhi who was sitting on Wen Xuechen’s wheelchair armrest instantly stiffened into a sculpture.

A while later. 

Chongguang, who had just changed his clothes and was sitting on the steps with an infinitely bored expression while swinging his legs, heard a heavens-piercing scream from the distance followed by Zhou Beinan’s unscrupulous and uproarious laughter.

He twitched his ears and jumped down from the steps: “Xu-shixiong?!”

Jiu Zhideng indifferently wiped his saber with an expressionless face and stated calmly: “No need to go. Shixiong probably just came across a bug.”

Chongguang blinked his eyes in exaggerated motions: “Shixiong is afraid of bugs?” 

The apathetic Jiu Zhideng who had been silent since before, only radiated a little liveliness in his eyes when he mentioned Xu Xingzhi: “.
.
.
At every Eastern Emperor worship ceremony, Shixiong would always go to the five mountains he is responsible for half a month in advance.

First, is to scout the way for the disciples participating, and second, Shixiong would use his spiritual energy to stun all of the snakes, bugs, rats and insects for half a month.
Otherwise, Shixiong wouldn’t dare to set foot into those mountains.”

The huge beetle that abruptly appeared on Wen Xuechen’s palm shocked Xu Xingzhi into a cold sweat.
He only felt his head become heavy and his legs weak.
Then it was as if he had suddenly fallen into a whirlpool and was being pulled further and further away from this group of people under its huge suction force.

Eventually, he landed on a bed as the world spun around him. 

The moment he opened his eyes, Xu Xingzhi’s head exploded with pain.

The scent of the red cedar trees still hauntingly lingered in his nasal cavity while he himself had already withdrawn from the memory of the original owner and returned to the high tower in the savage wasteland.

.
.
.
Meng Chongguang wasn’t in the room, however, Zhou Beinan was currently beside the bed, hunched over, fluffing up Xu Xingzhi’s pillow.

Noticing that Xu Xingzhi was awake, Zhou Beinan immediately looked embarrassed and pointed to the pillow, making excuses for himself: “.
.
.
You sweated too much.
I was just changing the pillow for you.” 

After the explanation, a subtle expression of “f*ck, what am I explaining so much for” emerged on his face.

He could no longer stand being here so he simply turned around and walked out.

Xu Xingzhi’s mind was still muddled as he opened his mouth and called out: “Fatty Zhou.”

Zhou Beinan, who had already reached the door, stopped abruptly. 

This nickname seemed to have ignited the suppressed emotions in his heart.
He whipped around and returned to the side of the bed in a few brisk steps as he harshly questioned: “.
.
.
Where have you been these past thirteen years?! What are you plotting by entering the wasteland at a time like this?”

He stretched out his hands to grab Xu Xingzhi by the collar, but only snatched up a handful of air.

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Zhou Beinan has been dead for numerous years and was also a ghost servant that served Lu Yujiu.
Strictly speaking, it’s been a long time since he could be considered a human being, at most he was a humanoid weapon utilized by Lu Yujiu.
He could only kill others using his ghostly weapon and couldn’t touch anyone except Lu Yujiu.

His translucent hands went straight through Xu Xingzhi’s body, but even so, he still clenched his fists with all of his strength. 

He whispered through gritted teeth: “Xu Xingzhi, did you know that I thought you were dead for many years.
.
.”

.
.
.
Xu Xingzhi actually picked up on a trace of sorrow mixed with his angry accusation.

In Xu Xingzhi’s formerly scattered memories, the original owner and Zhou Beinan would always fight as soon as they came across each other.
Zhou Beinan also didn’t mince any words when they first met in the wasteland.
He didn’t show him a good expression at all, so Xu Xingzhi had taken it for granted and automatically assumed that their relationship was like fire and water.

But in that complete memory, the relationship between them was obviously very good. 

Xu Xingzhi’s train of thought was a little chaotic at this moment.
He pressed his hands against his unbearably painful temples and strenuously rubbed it twice before barely composing himself.

After he steadied mind, Xu Xingzhi raised his head and confessed to Zhou Beinan: “.
.
.
Someone asked me to kill you all.”

Zhou Beinan was stunned by his straightforward confession.

After a while, he asked: “.
.
.
Jiu Zhideng had you come?” 

Xu Xingzhi gave him a wry smile and didn’t answer.

His current appearance made Zhou Beinan confident in his judgement.

He sat down beside the bed: “He asked you to kill Meng Chongguang?”

Xu Xingzhi nodded: “You should know.
Chongguang would not be guarded against me.” 

A look of understanding dawned on Zhou Beinan’s face followed by a smirk: “This little b*stard really wants to wipe all of us out.”

Xu Xingzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

.
.
.
He was finally able to muddle his way through.

The original owner disappeared for thirteen consecutive years and now he took his place and suddenly appeared in the wasteland.
This incident itself was suspicious. 

Xu Xingzhi failed to kill Meng Chongguang the first time; therefore, if he wanted to stay with this group of people and look for an opportunity to strike, he must find a decent reason to convince them to accept him.

The most brilliant lie would need a mixture of truths and falsehoods to make it sound convincing.

 

And as Xu Xingzhi expected, Zhou Beinan believed his words.

Zhou Beinan leaned forward and asked seriously: “He knows that we are a hair’s breadth away from finding the wasteland’s ‘key’?”