It’s really, really, really late, and I’m getting tired…I guess this mega release might have to be continued sometime later.

-Terms used:

-Translator's ramblings:

C7. Entering the City

Yunzhou was located on the border of the southwest. There were people of all sorts here: the girls from the border tribes wore black pleated skirts and wrapped handkerchiefs embroidered with pear flowers[1] around their heads; the hunters from the mountains, clad in leather, carried bows on their backs and by their sides; the maidens who sold flowers from their rattan baskets had four or five silver bangles decorating their tender arms, their hair adorned with intricately crafted silver hair accessories, their laughs clear and pleasant.

And even at the city's gates, there were many people as well: street vendors carrying their goods on shoulder-poles; sedans covered in pale green and surrounded by house servants; people of the border tribes shouldering their bamboo-pole carriers[2]; woodcutters with their donkey-drawn carts; there was even a crew of escorts guarding a carriage, talking and laughing in loud, rough voices as they went along.

The sights of the world, businessmen and foot travellers and all, attracted Chen He, making him watch them unflinchingly.

It was only when they reached the largest entrance that Chen He saw the Yunzhou guards checking everyone's entry pa.s.ses. He froze for a moment, then quickly turned his head to look at his senior brother.

s.h.i.+ Feng did not avert his gaze. Calmly, he handed over—

A leaf?!

Dumbfounded, Chen He watched as the guard took the leaf, checked it without so much as a change in expression or questioning word, then requested the payment for entering the city and let them in.

Chen He was not surprised by the fact that his Senior Brother carried copper coins; after all, his food and daily necessities had all been purchased using the worldly currency.

No cultivator would purchase something without giving the payment; not even demon cultivators would trick regular mortals into believing that stones were gold. It was all because everything had its karma. Most of it was hardly worth considering, but there was no escape from being messed with by one's fate. What if that mortal were to die because he had not been paid with actual currency and did not have enough for his daily meals? And what if that person was destined to be a talented person who would be successful as a general or advisor to the emperor?

Cultivators, who took Qi from the heavens and the earth, were already quite a bother to the divine order of things. If they wanted to survive their tribulations, or not be tortured by fate, then it was better for them to stay in line.

Although, if there were to be a rare treasure like the Stone-borne Flame, many cultivators would risk getting into trouble and make an attempt to claim it. Everyone wanted to reap the benefits for themselves, because what if they were the lucky one? So long as there were sufficient benefits to be gained, they could always throw their principles away. In a similar line of thought, so long as they were not completely penniless, a cultivator would not risk gaining more karmic debt just to save a few coins.

The moment Chen He entered the gates, he s.n.a.t.c.hed up that leaf.

No matter how he looked at it, it was a normal leaf, fallen from one of the pear trees in Black Depths Valley.

"A camouflage spell?" Chen He pressed.

s.h.i.+ Feng nodded, clearly in no hurry to leave. He motioned for Chen He to stop by the city gates for a while.

Not long after, Chen He began to see all sorts of strange sights. The short little beggar handed his chipped bowl to the guard. A Taoist nun took out her handkerchief. The child handed over his skewer of candied haws. And the old man who could not find anything stomped his feet in a huff before stealing a bronze hairpin from the woman in front of him, then discreetly returned it to her hair after he had pa.s.sed. He was so skilled at it; the woman's hair did not even come loose.

"Hahaha, how silly, couldn't he have just used a copper coin to fake an entry pa.s.s?" Chen He laughed so hard that he was bending back and forth.

That old man had quite sharp senses. After hearing it, he realised Chen He was right; the realisation made him quite embarra.s.sed, and he glared at Chen He, muttering, "How disrespectful…which family is this young'un from, why is he—”

His voice died abruptly. He stared squarely at s.h.i.+ Feng, who was next to Chen He.

Letting out a few hollow laughs, he forced a smile that looked far worse than a crying face, taking two steps back stiffly. Upon seeing no reaction from s.h.i.+ Feng, he immediately ran for his life.

Chen He, who had witnessed the entire process, turned back and gave s.h.i.+ Feng a look of comprehension.

Apparently Senior Brother was quite formidable! Too bad there was no way to record it and let his future self who lived in the next day know about it.

Then he remembered that he actually had another jade orb on him.

The one around his wrist had been gained through persistent begging when he was fifteen, and it had recorded the memories of the day he discovered the box of jade orbs.

In the two years that followed, s.h.i.+ Feng still hung a jade orb around his neck every day, and he would replace it every night, after Chen He had fallen asleep. Therefore, at this moment, Chen He still had a jade orb around his neck for recording today's memories.

—he had to find some way to keep this one too! He would argue that since today was his first day going out of the valley and seeing so many people, he wanted to learn how cultivators lived among mortals, and learn from experiences such as entering the city.

Secretly, Chen He gave himself some encouragement.

"Senior Brother, could I…"

Before he had a chance to finish, a stack of cakes wrapped in lotus leaves appeared before him.

Did you not say you were hungry? s.h.i.+ Feng eyed his junior brother in confusion, holding the cakes in his hands.

Chen He quickly accepted the snacks, then thought about what words he would use. Just when he was about to open his mouth and express himself as best as he could, he felt a strange fuzzy sensation on his back.

Startled, he looked all around him; only did he realise that many gazes were now fixed on him and his senior brother.

In Yunzhou City, there were many people from the border tribes. There were people who were covered from head to toe, with not a bit of exposed skin. There were people who wore headdresses decorated with gaudy feathers and pieces of metal. In the central plains, one would be considered extremely dishevelled if they did not tie or pin up their long hair, instead leaving it to hang loose; however, it was not at all strange here.

A handsome man dressed in billowing, wide-sleeved robes of red - he attracted many adoring stares.

Yunzhou County had beautiful mountains and waters, and had raised many excellent people. Here, beautiful people were as numerous as carp in the river.

s.h.i.+ Feng's aura and looks were far removed from the earthly world, which attracted even more admirers. Chen He himself was also quite the fair, handsome young man, and seventeen was about the age for marriage. The young ladies by the southwestern border were quite the pa.s.sionate peoples, and they would stare openly at people while giggling and chatting. Some of them even tossed dew-covered flowers towards them.

Previously it had been quite cramped near the city gates, and they had all been lining up single-file, which had severely limited the number of people who had seen the pair of martial brothers; it had spared Chen He from this immense pressure. In this moment, Chen He looked quite awkward, and there was a strange feeling in his heart.

When those lovely ladies cast their pa.s.sionate gazes towards s.h.i.+ Feng, it made Chen He feel inexplicably discontent.

Before he had a chance to settle his emotions, he felt a grip on his shoulder. Lifting his head, he saw that his senior brother's arm was around him, with one hand resting lightly on his shoulder. They walked for a distance before s.h.i.+ Feng led him into a shop.

Mortals rarely hung signboards up for their shops, and few could write words well, so they would only use a cloth banner for their shop signs. The blacksmith's had a hammer; the teahouse had a teapot; the tavern had a calabash; naturally, the shoe shop had a shoe on its banner.

Yunzhou City was full of foreign tribes, and there were few who wore the Han people's style of shoe. Considering how many commoners also made their own shoes at home, it was not a surprise that the shoe shop was doing quite poorly. The interior of the shop was narrow and dark, and after the two of them entered, there was not even any room to turn around.

The shop a.s.sistant hurried out from the back. Seeing how he turned his body sideways and struggled to squeeze over, Chen He touched his nose, "It's too narrow in here. Senior Brother, you can help me buy the shoes, and I'll wait outside."

s.h.i.+ Feng nodded, not minding.

He had already seen what size his junior brother needed to wear, and he remembered it very clearly. Although Yunzhou City was now full of all sorts of unscrupulous people, it was not so serious that he had to worry even if his junior brother took a few steps away from him.

Besides, he had not changed his appearance, or avoided being close and affectionate with Chen He ever since he had entered the city. Anyone that Chen He dared not cause trouble with would not want to cause trouble with him. As for those who did not recognise him, Chen He could settle them all with one hand. He had nothing to worry about.

Chen He stood at the side of the street. Next to the shoe shop were shops selling textiles and hats, which he had no interest in. He could only glance about.

Even the little wanton noodle stall looked highly interesting to Chen He. Holding up the cakes, he picked out one and ate earnestly.

It had a red bean filling, and was a little too sweet for his liking.

Chen He had pa.s.sed the age where people liked to eat sweet foods. Hesitating, he fiddled with a few pieces of cake, thinking of looking for cakes with a different flavour. He had absolutely no idea that most people who ate in the streets like this were all children of very young age. A handsome youth who did this without any qualms, and one whose aura was quite pure at that, would appear like an easy target for kidnapping.

The human traffickers did not come forward, though, as they were able to tell from their years of experience.

Only wealthy families could have raised a youth like him. Plus, although the colour of his clothing was nothing unusual, the material used was from the largest textile business in all of Yunzhou City, a luxurious cloud-patterned brocade that was sold for five hundred copper coins per bolt.

Just as he was eating his cakes and watching the sights, someone suddenly slipped out of the crowd, calling him in pleasant surprise:

"Brother Chen, why are you here? Where are the servants of your family?"

Thinking that this person was not speaking to him, Chen He continued to eat his cakes. Mm, this one was made with glutinous rice…it was so sticky.

Chen He became troubled when he realised that something was stuck in his back teeth. He quickly lowered his head, closed his mouth, and tried to lick it off.

But that person did not become annoyed, instead holding out his hand, "Little Brother Chen, your family must be very worried about you. Come, follow me back."

Chen He reacted quickly, taking a step back to avoid the hand. He lifted his head, giving the person a look of confusion.

That person wore robes of brocade, and had a crowd of servants following behind him. In this moment, he had a genial smile on his face, while completely ignoring the odd looks of his servants.

"Does Little Brother Chen not recognise me? Three years ago, I even took you to the Autumn Leaf Temple!"

"You've got the wrong person." Chen He's expression was becoming stranger and stranger.

There were no mortals or temples in Black Depths Valley.

"Yes, Young Master, you must have gotten the wrong person," the servants reminded in low tones.

"Shus.h.!.+" the brocade-robed man scolded, then turned to Chen He with a pitying, helpless gaze, "Little Brother Chen, has there been no improvement in your condition? I returned to Yunzhou to visit the Chen family, let me bring you back!"

Spooked by the ominous flash in his gaze, Chen He could not help but take another step backwards, which caused him to b.u.mp into s.h.i.+ Feng.

"Senior Brother?"

After letting his gaze skim across the people outside the shop, s.h.i.+ Feng took Chen He with him and left.

"Ay, Little Brother Chen! Wait, who are you, are you trying to lure Young Master Chen away?" the man in the brocade robes bellowed, but s.h.i.+ Feng was already far ahead.

"This person has something wrong with his head," Chen He promptly explained, for the benefit of his senior brother. "He started talking all on his own when he came up. I didn't bother with him."

s.h.i.+ Feng's gaze was cold. He heard the frantic voice of the man's servant—

"Young Master, what is the matter with you? The Chen family has only one son, and the age does not match that of the man we met earlier…"

"What? This can't be!"

The man in the brocade robes pointed in the direction which Chen He had left, so panic-stricken that he was unable to speak.

Was it not true that this fool from the Chen family had been acknowledged by the Stone-borne Flame? Why was it different from his memories - this fool was not of the Chen family?

只要有了石中火，就算入魔也沒關係，這輩子他絕不想再窩窩囊囊在一個小門派裡困到死！陳禾一個傻子都能成爲魔修一代尊者，他會不行？

As long as he had the Stone-borne Flame, he would not mind even if he had to become a demon cultivator. In this life, he no longer wanted to be cooped up in a small sect until he expired! If even a fool like Chen He could become a grandmaster of demonic cultivation, then what about him?

Notes:

[1]: Original term 梨錦帕; dear author TianFang uses quite a few wildly specific terms that I can only guess the meaning of…this was one of them. 錦帕 on its own is a handkerchief decorated with embroidery, and is quite fancy. With the 梨 tacked on, I can only guess that the embroidery here is pear flowers. (Much prettier to look at than actual pears, if I must say)

[2]: Original term 滑竿; it's a form of transport used in the mountains in the southwestern areas of China. Two long bamboo poles are tied into something vaguely resembling a stretcher (yes, like the kind used by paramedics), and in the centre a seat woven from bamboo strips or rope is attached, with a footrest in front of the seat. They are carried by two people, one in front and one behind. Apparently it's very comfortable to sit in these, and they're good for transporting people up and down the mountains.

(By the way, I have no idea if it has an existing English translation, so I went with ‘bamboo-pole carriers’.)