Tantai Meng added, “We met four years ago, right?”
Xie Zhiwei froze. He never expected the heroine to recover her memory at a time like this. Chu Zhishi only felt confused and asked, “What four years ago? Second senior brother only left the mountain once four years ago. Where did you meet?”
“The daoist sect,” Tantai Meng said slowly, “Outside Ascension City.”
Tantai Meng was the sole female disciple of the Buddhist sect and Great Master Du Sheng’s senior disciple. She had good innate talent and beautiful looks, so she was rather famous in the cultivation world. Everyone knew her as the poor girl who’d lost her memories that Great Master Du Sheng picked up from the riverbanks.
Yan Zhifei looked at Xie Zhiwei. “Zhiwei, what’s going on?”
“This matter…” Xie Zhiwei hesitated.
Crap, how do I explain. The protagonist is a big suspect in Mengmeng falling into the river. I wanted to save her but was too swordsick to move, plus the hero was clinging to me like an octopus back then.
Mengmeng was an extremely opinionated girl in the original novel. After getting amnesia, she became straightforward and silly, but now that her memory was back, she had reverted to the unsmiling, cold and aloof goddess from canon.
How would she view the incident?
Tantai Meng’s expression remained calm. “My clan was slaughtered by the Demonic Sect and my parents fought to the death so I could escape. I had no skills to take revenge, so I wanted to enter the daoist sect and cultivate under City Lord Xia. After trials and tribulations, I made it to Ascension City on the day of the new disciple selections, but ran into two people while crossing a river.”
Yin Cangshan interjected, “Could it be that…they were Xie zhenren and Shizi Mu He?”
Silence surrounded them on all sides as everyone grew curious. Tantai Meng nodded and looked at Xie Zhiwei. “On the bridge, I only saw Xie zhenren standing at a distance. It was Shizi Mu He who walked over. He didn’t say anything and pushed me directly into the water.”
Xie Zhiwei’s pupils shrank. It’s just as Gallant Outlaw speculated.
Everyone’s expressions blanched while Yan Zhifei asked, “Why did he do that? Did you two have a grudge?”
Tantai Meng shook her head. “No. I’d never seen him before. Moreover, I didn’t even have the strength to talk at the time, much less form a grudge with him. By the time I woke up, I was already at the Buddhist sect and only remembered my name.”
“What a pity,” Xia Zhiqi sighed.
Indeed a pity. Earthly Moon City lost a good seedling for nothing and the Buddhist sect got a free gift. If the heroine had successfully joined the daoist sect back then, perhaps the hero wouldn’t have bent…or even if he did, not bend so simply and coarsely.
Xie Zhiwei sighed as well, only to see Yan Zhifei crease his brows. “Zhiwei was there too. Why didn’t you save her?”
There was no shirking responsibility, so Xie Zhiwei only said in a low voice, “I am sorry for letting down Miss Tantai.”
“Xie zhenren has nothing to be sorry about,” Tantai Meng poured herself a cup of wine and took a shallow sip. “Shizi Mu He jumped into the river himself after pushing me down.”
“Did that bastard lose his mind?” Chu Zhishi scoffed, “Second senior brother must have been too busy saving him—but wait, with his skills it’s impossible he should’ve been too distracted to save both.”
Tantai Meng set down her cup. “Shizi Mu He told me personally that he did this so Xie zhenren would only have one disciple. Back then, he held onto Xie zhenren to prevent him from rescuing me.”
Xie Zhiwei gulped. If he wasn’t in such a rush to have the hero and heroine meet ahead of schedule, this accident would’ve never happened.
Yin Cangshan could only sigh with emotion. “Nephew Mu He…was actually so ruthless.”
“Not just ruthless, but selfish,” Chu Zhishi added coldly. “Who doesn’t know that second senior brother’s cultivation insight is extremely high? He’s also generous. He’d devote himself to teaching his sole disciple and give him everything good in the world. That’s exactly what happened later.”
Yan Zhifei nodded. “He saw that Zhiwei was a profitable choice, so he was merciless towards himself…not a simple lad.”
Tantai Meng said nothing beyond continuing to regard Xie Zhiwei with a strange look. He felt restless at the stare and wanted to ask, but she stood up with a pot of wine and said, “Chi Yan is already dead. I’m going to burn some incense to comfort the spirits of my father and mother in Heaven. Excuse me.”
This girl had suffered much and Mu He had mistreated her excessively. Fortunately, Mengmeng didn’t hate him because of Mu He and shift the blame, but objectively told the events as they happened. Xie Zhiwei felt that there was no way he could allow Mu He to touch her again in the future. But Mu He himself had already promised not to seek out Golden Lotus anymore. Hopefully he wouldn’t go back on his word.
…I wonder how his chat with his father’s going.
Yin Cangshan and Chu Zhishi had hit it off together. The former always followed along the conversation of others, which was very effective on Chu Zhishi. For once, he left Xie Zhiwei alone, but Xie Zhiwei wasn’t idle either as he listened to Yan Zhifei’s lecturing: “Things are constantly changing right now, so make clear distinctions,” “Mu He is dangerous, keep your distance from him,” “Restrain your impulses and return to the daoist sect,” etc.
At last he survived through the meal, but it wasn’t until Chu Zhishi was sending Yin Cangshan off that Yan Zhifei finally released him. Xie Zhiwei exhaled in relief and prepared to leave the table when he remembered that Tantai Meng hadn’t eaten anything yet. The dishes were all cold by now, bu he had the innkeeper re-steam a few meatbuns before packing them up and searching for her.
It was currently late night. The north wind howled hard, scattering withered leaves in the air. Xie Zhiwei’s daoist robes fluttered about him before he saw a few spots of red behind the building in a spot sheltered by wind. It was a small mound of earth with a few incense sticks stuck in it.
Tantai Meng was kneeling there unmoving with her eyes shut. Her stiff face was now finally showing some signs of grief.
In the original novel, the heroine had also paid tribute to her dead family members after Mu He eliminated Chi Yan. Gallant Outlaw had given a full description full of beautiful modifiers to craft Mengmeng into a lovely, goddess-like existence. The comments section was full of otakus going, “Feels bad for my Mengmeng” and “Hero get over here already ahhhh.”
The protagonist had lived up to expectations and ran over to comfort her, leaving the couple to snuggle up until dawn. It was an emotional scene rather than a sexual one, which also attracted many female readers to the male lead. But now there was nobody by Tantai Meng’s side. Her white robes were a little tattered and old too, making her look rather desolate.
Xie Zhiwei sighed and called out, “Miss Tantai.”
Tantai Meng immediately restrained her emotions and opened her eyes. Xie Zhiwei took out the meatbuns from his bag and said, “No matter how sad you are, you still have to eat.”
“I have no appetite,” Tantai Meng said as she stood up and took a step to leave.
Xie Zhiwei only said sofly, “If your parents knew you drank so much wine on an empty stomach, they’d be heartbroken.”
Tantai Meng’s steps stilled as Xie Zhiwei placed the meatbuns in front of her. “Eat while it’s hot.”
Her eyes shifted slightly before she took them and said, “Many thanks.”
Xie Zhiwei seized the chance to add, “Miss Tantai, I know my disciple hurt you deeply. I’ve already ordered him to change his ways. If you need any help in the future, this surnamed Xie will definitely—”
“No need for that, Xie zhenren,” Tantai Meng interrupted. “You didn’t wrong me. It’s your disciple who is selfish and malicious.”
Xie Zhwei gave a start and tried to salvage Mu He’s image. “Even so…the fact that he chose to release you proactively shows that he’s different from before.”
“Really?” Tantai Meng’s expression remained stiff. “Proactively? So it wasn’t Xie zhenren telling him to let us go that made him relent?”
“This…” As expected, it’s not easy to fool the heroine.
Tantai Meng’s voice was cold “Xie zhenren is a person of high moral standing but is tangled with a self-centered, venomous person. It’s truly regrettable.”
Xie Zhiwei was so disliked that he couldn’t refute, while Tantai Meng simply took the buns and left quickly. He watched her figure disappeared around the corner of the courtyard wall and thought back to her intimate familiarity during her amnesia. Suddenly, he missed it dearly…
Thank goodness the hero said he doesn’t want Golden Lotus anymore. Otherwise Tantai Meng would rather die than hand it over.
A voice spoke from behind him.
“Shizun.”
Xie Zhiwei whipped back to see Mu He standing in the night, the winds whipping his white robes about him. He quickly strode over and asked, “You came after us so fast. Is your father still angry?”
Mu He bowed. “Father is fine now, shizun doesn’t need to worry.” A corner of his robes fluttered up and down in the wind from two steps away, nearly brushing against Xie Zhiwei’s body. Sensing something off with this image, Xie Zhiwei swept his divine sense over Mu He and discovered his spiritual energy was extremely weak.
“Stand over here a bit,” he said without changing expression.
“Disciple obeys the order,” Mu He said respectfully and took a step forward.
Xie Zhiwei’s tone was warm. “Let Master check your spiritual energy.” So speaking, he grasped him by his left wrist.
There was no willow branch there, but a mole instead. He clenched the wrist so tight the bones made noises and Mu He hissed out, “Please be a bit lighter, shizun.”
Xie Zhiwei’s lips curved up in a smile. “The King of Nine Provinces sent you here?”
Mu He’s gaze flinched, but he remained smiling. “What is shizun saying? Disciple doesn’t understand.”
Xie Zhiwei’s expression fell. He was about to speak when he suddenly released “Mu He’s” hand and dodged to the side. A stream of white light bypassed his sleeves as “Mu He” raised a hand to beckon the light back. “Xie zhenren is indeed formidable to recognize me for the second time.”
Xie Zhiwei remained light-hearted. “That praise is excessive.” I can’t help it, Faceless bro. You might as well cut off your left hand. With that mole around, you’ll never win.
Faceless didn’t give up. “I can’t fathom how Xie zhenren can tell the difference between me and Shizi? I paid special attention to imitate him exactly tonight.”
Nonsense, how can it be identical? He could still pretend to be respectful and polite when he saw me four years ago. But four years later…heheh. He’s always trying to make a move when he talks. How could he ever stand so far from me like some proper gentleman?
Moreover, Mu He’s always conscious of his image, especially in front of Xie Zhiwei. Even if he was pathetically spitting up blood, he makes sure to let his white robes only flutter slightly. How could he allow them to be whipped about by the gale like some windswept chicken?
“He’s my disciple, so of course I know him at a glance,” Xie Zhiwei didn’t waste words. “Is Your Excellency here to take this surnamed Xie back again?”
—
Translator’s Note: I’m going to my friend’s wedding today and had my own anniversary with hubby this week so….double releases for readers time! u3u (Enjoy your bonus gift at the end of Ch. 112!)