Ch119 - Breach

Xie Zhiwei sneered. “You still have the nerve to play innocent. Why are you adding these broken settings for no reason? The cannon fodder don’t act like cannon fodder, the side characters aren’t like side characters; everyone’s rushing to steal the scene. You’d get told off for acting this way in a production crew.”

“Ah geez Idol, don’t use double standards,” Gallant Outlaw fussed. “You’re a transmigrator, so you have the unique privilege of escaping death. Others aren’t, so are they supposed to sit by and wait for death? My book has logic! If everyone had labels and worried about completing tasks, that’d be too simple and soulless. As a conscientious author, some details are necessary—”

“Fine fine fine, I don’t have time to discuss writing skills with you,” Xie Zhiwei rubbed his forehead as he interrupted. “So what do I do next? How can the hero win?”

“Idol, did you forget? The original hero was invincible and even wanted to go to another world to fight the sea of stars. How? With his treasures, ah! Why is he so weak now? Because you messed up his plans. The canon protagonist obtained Black and White Lotus first, then Golden Lotus, and got the hostile Red Lotus last. This helped all of them merge without any accidents. Now it’s all messed up.”

Xie Zhiwei was speechless. Indeed, without Golden Lotus’s support, Red, Black, and White Lotus had a rejection reaction, but he couldn’t very well throw Red Lotus away. Despite its negative side effects, it still elevated the hero’s cultivation base. He as Xie Zhiwei could keep channeling the protagonist spiritual energy, but the plot…pitted them too much.

Gallant Outlaw said, “Right now the most pressing thing is to let the hero get Golden Lotus. Then we can salvage everything and his spiritual energy will recover while Red Lotus’s negative effects will vanish. Even the hostile qi of the other world won’t be a problem.”

“F**k, you think I don’t want to?” Xie Zhiwei retorted instantly. “But Golden Lotus is with Mengmeng, who gets annoyed as soon as she mentions the hero. Could she hand it over? It’s still the treasure of the Buddhist sect, would Du Sheng agree?”

There was silence from the System before Gallant Outlaw suddenly sucked in a breath. “But Idol, you have to be extra careful. Even if you can’t get Golden Lotus now, you have to make sure it doesn’t fall into that old fox Yin Cangshan’s hands. Otherwise…there’s no hope.”

That’s true! Xie Zhiwei realized. If Yin Cangshan gets Golden Lotus, the hero won’t be able to kill him even if he makes a comeback one day. Plus there’s that weird red hostile qi. Getting rid of Yin Cangshan then would be trying to climb to Heaven.

Gallant Outlaw suggested an idea. “Idol, how about this? Forget about the hero for now. Take the heroine away before Yin Cangshan gets to her and find a way to convince her to give up Golden Lotus.”

Xie Zhiwei recalled Tantai Meng’s cold and frosty look and immediately beat a retreat. “Mengmeng was open and intimate when she had amnesia, so that might’ve been possible, but now…is there no other way?”

Gallant Outlaw sighed. “What do you think, Idol? Other breakthroughs might exist, but this is the only option from your position.”

“By other breakthroughs, you mean…”

“The King of Nine Provinces.”

“Him?” Xie Zhiwei was startled.

Gallant Outlaw said slowly, “This is a hidden plot as well, but you’ve probably guessed it already, Idol. The king’s elder brother, the emperor, is innocent. Everything was Yin Cangshan’s doing behind the scenes to ruin the King of Nine Provinces’ cultivation base. In the past he deliberately concealed his deeds like a disease in remission, but now the symptoms are revealing themselves. How could the King of Nine Provinces fail to notice the clue? I think…the plot will be very interesting from here on out.”

“Interesting, your grandpa,” Xie Zhiwei could care less. “The King of Nine Provinces can play however he likes, but Yin Cangshan’s got Mu He trapped right now. Now you’re telling me to forget about him?”

Gallant Outlaw was unaffected. “What’s the panic, Idol? Don’t forget, the hero is the basis of this world. It doesn’t matter even if he dies, the System will bring him back to life.”

Seeing him so calm and relaxed made Xie Zhiwei inexplicably angry. He growled, “You unscrupulous author! Is this how you pit your protagonist? Leaving aside all the tragic backstory, you don’t even care when he’s in trouble! Do you think it’s comfortable to die?”

Gallant Outlaw was frightened by his reaction. It took a while before he said nervously, “Idol, why are you suddenly so mad? You were always in a bad mood when you brought up the hero in the past, so could it be…”

“Be what?” Xie Zhiwei cut him off. “This plot is so tricky I’m as tired as a dog everyday. A bit of temper like this is considered me being polite.”

“But…”

Xie Zhiwei was too distracted to care. “Enough already, I’ll keep progressing the plot. You figure out a way to fix it soon, don’t put all the pressure on me.” Then he shut off the System interface and was instantly presented with the Buddhist sect at night.

The next second, he heard Mu He saying lightly by his ear, “Shizun, forget about this disciple.”

Xie Zhiwei immediately turned around. “What did you say?”

Mu He looked at him steadily, his expression serious. “Disciple is very happy to see shizun even defying eldest martial uncle to protect me. But shizun has seen for himself, how dangerous this nameless hostile qi can be…you mustn’t risk yourself for disciple’s sake.”

In the original novel, the biggest impression Mu He left on Xie Zhiwei was someone who was selfish and cruel. When in trouble, he could sacrifice everyone to save himself and would never let go of any chance to extricate himself.

Now he was telling Xie Zhiwei not to bother with him.

Xie Zhiwei shook his head at Mu He, but couldn’t say a word.

Yin Cangshan wasted no time to interject, “This is a good idea. It won’t make things difficult for Xie zhenren or the daoist sect while this surnamed Yin can give an explanation to everyone present.”

This time the crowd caught their conversation. Du Sheng asked, “What kind of explanation?”

Yin Cangshan said frankly, “This surnamed Yin will use all my strength to convince Nephew Mu He to turn over the treasures.”

The crowd half-believed, half-doubted him. Mu He’s chilly self didn’t look like someone who could be convinced. But it wasn’t worth questioning at this time since there were no other options.

Yan Zhifei nodded. “That’s an impartial arrangement. Zhiwei, are you reassured now?”

As if! This is the final boss!

But in front of the crowd, Yin Cangshan had promised to “convince” Mu He. If Xie Zhiwei continued to question him, he would end up being the short-sighted, small-minded party.

Softly, Mu He urged, “Shizun hurry back and rest. The weather is cold and chilly, there might be snow soon.” His white robes were slightly tattered and the dark red light around him was constantly floating. Xie Zhiwei seemed to have the impression that this was simply one of those casual remarks Mu He tossed out while they were strolling around the gardens of the king’s manor.

His eyelashes trembled before he took a deep breath and said solemnly to Yin Cangshan, “Send my disciple to a high-quality room to rest. If there are any omissions, this surnamed Xie will definitely not rest easy.”

Yin Cangshan agreed.

Xie Zhiwei gave Mu He a penetrating look until he received a reassuring glance in return before slowly walking over to Yan Zhifei. But he’d hardly stood still when Yin Cangshan called out to the guards that came to escort Mu He away.

“Hold it.”

Immediately after that, the red light draped around Mu He shifted and stabbed towards him like a snake. Xie Zhiwei’s pupils shrank as he stepped forward and blurted out, “Disciple!”

But Yan Zhifei held him fast with one arm while Xia Zhiqi gripped his other. The skies echoed with Mu He’s hiss of pain as his collarbones were stabbed through by the red light like two huge lengths of robes. Mu He’s lips were dull while blood soaked through his white robes. His body swayed and he nearly fell to the ground.

Xie Zhiwei was held back on both sides and couldn’t move, but Qingping Sword burst out into blinding green light in his hand. “Yin Cangshan,” he said in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

Mu He took a few breaths and said, “It’s just piercing the collarbones, shizun doesn’t need to worry.”

During their lovemaking in the illusionary realm, Xie Zhiwei had seen Mu He’s collarbones. They were as clear and delicate as a work of art, so it must have taken a ruthless hand to stab through them. He grit his teeth as Qingping Sword’s light turned ice cold.

Locking the collarbones was the usual method for securing prisoners, so the sight was nothing strange to the crowd. Everyone stared at Xie Zhiwei, surprised he’d be so affected.

Yin Cangshan spread out his arms and said, “Better safe than sorry. If I don’t lock his collarbones and something goes wrong, I won’t be able to afford the losses. I can only let Nephew Mu He suffer.”

Xie Zhiwei would rather throw Qingping Sword at him this instant to stab him in the mouth.

Yan Zhifei murmured in his ear, “Zhiwei, you have to endure it. If you could save your disciple, you would’ve already acted…this is no simple matter. Don’t worry, the daoist sect won’t let you suffer any wrongs.”

Xie Zhiwei’s heart warmed, but he couldn’t say anything right now. He only watched as the guards helped Mu He onto a sedan chair and carried him into Mahavira Hall.

After all that fuss, it was already the wee hours of the night. The King of Nine Provinces and Yin Cangshan personally took Mu He back to the capital city overnight. Xie Zhiwei had been pacing outside his door while eagerly awaiting updates, but lost all will to walk at these news. Yan Zhifei saw him looking listless and try to question him, but got no answers.

In the end he sighed and said, “If you’re still worried, how about I let Zhiqi go with you to the capital?”

Xie Zhiwei’s eyes shone, but they quickly dimmed again. He waved a hand and went back to his rooms to rest.

—

Du Sheng’s room had the lanterns burning until the later half of the night. On a bed in the corner slept Tan Daoyao and his weak breaths.

Tantai Meng asked, “Master, how is it?”

Du Sheng checked Tan Daoyao’s pulse again before his expression finally warmed. “Thank goodness you shielded him with spiritual energy. Otherwise, it’d be hopeless even if you gave him Golden Lotus.”

Tantai Meng silently exhaled in relief and bowed. “Thank you Master, you’ve worked hard.”

Du Sheng looked at her and slowly shook his head. “Meng-er, you’re too polite.”

Tantai Meng bowed her head and said nothing.

Du Sheng rattled his rosary beads twice and remarked, “They all say you’ve changed, but Master doesn’t think so. You’re just more introverted, but your heart isn’t cold.”

Tantai Meng bowed again. “Master, if there’s nothing else, disciple will withdraw first.” Her expressionless face was like an ice sculpture, beautiful but lifeless.

Du Sheng sighed softly again. “Leave this child with Master tonight. You must be tired, have a good rest.”

Tantai Meng nodded and opened the door to leave. Most of the rear mountains had been burnt to ruins, leaving embers to burn like red dots in the night. Tantai Meng walked alone on the path of smoke and ashes, lost in her thoughts. Because of that, she never felt the person approaching her. By the time she reacted, a restriction spell had already hit her body and stopped her from moving. Her eyes widened as she saw Xie Zhiwei floating before her. Then she tried to open her mouth, but no sound came out.

Xie Zhiwei said with a sincere face, “Miss Tantai, this surnamed Xie would like to ask about one thing.”

—

Translator’s Note: The “breach” from the chapter title refers to something like a “breach in one’s defenses.” In this case it’s Mengmeng because anyone who gets her Golden Lotus would be unkillable, thus making her a potential weak point to attack.

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