Ch55 - Reunion

Xie Zhiwei didn’t have time to react before tender white fingers reached to grasp the wooden handle of the candy lobster beneath his own. Right after that, a dainty little face appeared before him, along with a pair of small lips framed by dimples.

“Hey, you’re still not letting go?”

Xie Zhiwei’s eyes widened.

The other raised her eyebrows. “What are you looking at?! Hurry up and give me the sugar figurine!”

The expressions on Xie Zhiwei’s face changed rapidly as he froze like a piece of wood. The other party was furious and withdrew her hand to yell at you. “You…you’re still looking, you ugly masked monster! This commandery princess will gouge your eyes out!”

Tantai Meng couldn’t stand it any more and came to say kindly, “Miss, it’s only a sugar figurine. Why are you being so aggressive?”

The vendor followed suit. “Right, right ah. If you like lobsters, I’ll make you one exactly the same.”

“No way!” Invigorated, the girl pointed at Xie Zhiwe’s hand. “This commandery princess only wants the one he’s holding. He has to give it up!”

She was no older than fourteen to fifteen, but was brutal and unreasonable. Her temper tantrum was almost overwhelming. If it was anyone else, they’d be beaten up by now, but she was an exception. In her life, she had only beat up others—and without having to use her own hands. She was none other than the last of the three big heads in Mu He’s harem:  Yin Wushuang (尹无双). Despite her young age, she spent the most time with the protagonist. For the sake of gaining her father Prince Yin’s support, Mu He always doted on her. He gave her the moon and stars.

But this was a particularly unreliable love interest. First, she had no cultivation base. Secondly, she wasn’t particularly bright. All she did was get jealous and find faults with Qiu Chongyun one day or get angry with Tantai Meng another. Thus, though she (or rather, her father) greatly helped the hero pave his way in the world, she had less fans than even Yang Zhuer. Prince Yin commanded military power, but had raised such a brainless daughter for one reason only: to serve the protagonist.

Technically speaking, there were tons of characters who ended up inexplicably serving the hero’s means. Xie Zhiwei was one of them too. According to the plot, Yin Wushuang should be sticking to the hero’s side right now. After she reached adulthood, the hero would push her down onto the bed. When the rice was cooked, they were as inseparable as glue. The hero also stopped concealing himself and started being a boss. After the Demonic Sect destroyed Aureate Sect, he took over the aftermath and killed Chi Yan, becoming famous with one battle. Now that Yin Wushuang was here, that could only mean…

Xie Zhiwei felt that he couldn’t stay here for long.

Tantai Meng was both amused and annoyed by Yin Wushuang’s stubbornness. “Benefactor,” she said to Xie Zhiwei, “Let’s just leave.”

Yin Wushuang stepped forward to block their way with her arms. “You can’t go unless you give me the sugar figurine.”

“Miss, you..” Tantai Meng trailed off.

Xie Zhiwei waved a hand. “Forget it. Why should I fight with a little girl? She can have it.”

Yin Wushuang proudly stretched out her hand as her dimples deepened. “That’s more like it. Give it here.”

“But…”

“But what, you long-winded man?”

Xie Zhiwei decided to play it cool one last time. “I’m guessing you’re not buying this sugar lobster for yourself, right?”

She gave a start. “How did you know?”

Sure enough. Xie Zhiwei was about to act profound, but his eyes fell on a line of people walking slowly down the street before he turned speechless.

Tantai Meng asked him doubtfully, “Benefactor, why do you have chills on such a hot day?”

“D…do I,” Xie Zhimei stammered.

“Yes, ah. You’re even shivering as you speak.”

“Hey, do you have any skills or not, ah,” The impatient Yin Wushuang reached for the lobster in his hand. “Must’ve been a blind guess, or else you wouldn’t be shaking from a guilty conscience.”

Xie Zhiwei jerked back a step and felt an impulse to flee. Dammit, isn’t that the protagonist leading the crowd? Heheh, how could I be shivering from a guilty conscience?

I’m about to pee my pants in fear alright?!

Yin Wushuang saw the lobster candy moving away and lost her temper. “If you insist on vying with this commandery princess, then fine. Mu He gege, hurry over!”

At her words, a few figures rushed over to form a circle around her with a respectful chorus. “Commandery Princess, please give us orders.”

Yin Wushuang’s eyes glared as she turned to scold them. “Meddlesome, it’s not like I called you guys!” She looked at the figure still walking leisurely towards her and yelled, “Mu He gege, someone’s bullying me. Do you care or not?”

As she ran towards him, she darted a threatening look back at Tantai Meng and Xie Zhiwei. “Just you wait!”

The person she went to stopped three steps away from her, dressed in spotless, ethereal white robes as if the noisy marketplace had nothing to do with him. Furious, Yin Wushuang tugged at his right sleeve. “Mu He gege…ah, sorry!” She seemed to realize her mistake and quickly let go, her domineering actions immediately becoming cautious.

“It’s fine,” the other naturally placed his right hand behind his back and quirked his lips into a grin. “Wushuang, who’s bullying you?”

“It’s those two…” Yin Wushuang pursed her lips and pointed towards the candy stand before giving a start. “Huh? Where’d they go?”

The spot was deserted. It was obvious the two had ran away. She was thoroughly humiliated and ran over to scream at the retainers for not keeping an eye on the culprits. The stall vendor could tell these people had formidable origins and tried to soothe her. “Miss, don’t be mad. Isn’t this another one?”

He held a freshly-made sugar lobster figurine that was still cooling. Finally a little appeased, Yin Wushuang tossed a handful of money at the stall before grabbing the lobster to wave it at the white-robed man’s face.

“Mu He gege, why do you want such a strange model? But luckily I managed to find one.”

“Thank you.”

Yin Wushuang’s eyes curved into crescents as her smile revealed her dimples. “Don’t be so polite. You eat this, I’ll keep wandering. I’m about to die of boredom with father keeping me in the mansion all day. Now that I’m finally out with you, I have to play my fill today.”

“All right. Let them follow you and don’t run about.”

It wasn’t until Yin Wushuang and her attendants walked into the distance that a certain person’s courteous smile faded off his face. He kept his leisurely pace while the shadow of willow trees along the river spilled over his form. It wasn’t until he crossed a bridge that he stopped to look at the lobster-shaped candy in his hands. The river water reflected his handsome features as a moment of softness entered those extremely bright eyes. But soon enough, he looked up with an expressionless gaze.

He coldly raised his hand and tossed the candy lobster in a flying arc until it plopped into the river waters.

—

Xie Zhiwei was running a marathon with his life. His body reacted faster than his brain, causing him to pull Tantai Meng with him and flee before getting a clear look at Mu He’s face. Sure it was wimpy, but he didn’t regret it.

Who was the protagonist? A black-hearted white lotus! In his tragic death four years ago, the hero was forced to follow his act. He couldn’t very well tell him now, “Disciple, back then Master didn’t actually die. Sorry to waste your feelings, ah.”

…even if he tried to sound more sincere, these were still words that merited a beating, all right?!

At the very least, they couldn’t meet up right now.

The two of them ran all the way back to the inn. Tantai Meng held onto a pillar as she caught her breath to ask, “Benefactor, what’s wrong? Is that person really terrifying?”

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help slapping his head. Shoot, I forgot about the heroine! He met Tantai Meng’s puzzled look and deliberately made a fuss. “Yes, we can’t afford to mess with him. Do you know who he is?”

“I think I’ve heard of him, but I don’t know the details.”

Xie Zhiwei took a deep breath and grandly introduced, “That’s the Shizi of the King of Nine Provinces. His compound surname is Nangong while his given name is Mu He and he has an incalculable future.”

“Oh,” Tantai Meng replied.

Oh?!

Sister, that’s your man ah pooh, can’t you react a little more?

Xie Zhiwei guessed his introduction wasn’t impressive enough and added fuel to the fire. “He once studied at Yujing Sect’s Summit City under the Bixu zhenren Xie Zhiwei. Think about it, Xie Zhiwei only had one disciple in his life, so he must have taught him everything. Meanwhile, the current emperor has no heir to the throne. Perhaps in the future, he will…you understand, right?”

“Then he’s very powerful,” Tantai Meng declared. Before Xie Zhiwei could celebrate, she dashed his hopes in cold water. “But Benefactor, to cultivators like me he’s just an ordinary layman.”

“Oh…his looks are outstanding. I thought girls like you would notice the difference.” Xie Zhiwei was going crazy. Girl, you really don’t think he’s handsome?!

He’d only caught a glimpse just then, but had to admit: Even a man like me thinks the hero’s looks are explosively good!

Tantai Meng explained, “I didn’t look closely. To tell you the truth, Benefactor, I’ve gotten a bit face-blind after losing my memories. To me his looks aren’t much different from your masked face.”

Seriously? How can you say that to the pretty boy features of He Zheng?

I’ve never heard of amnesia causing face-blindness!

But Tantai Meng quickly grew excited. “Still, Bixu zhenren should be the more powerful one, right? He faced off the Demonic Sect all alone, repelled his enemies, and even destroyed Black and White Lotus despite all criticism. He’s also got great calligraphy skills. Even now, my master treasures his writing. It’s a shame he’s no longer alive, or else I’d definitely pay him a visit.”

So I’m that great and righteous in the eyes of the heroine, ah. Xie Zhiwei seized the chance to say, “Although it’s a pity, Mu He is his disciple and got his true teachings. Visiting Mu He should serve the same purpose.”

“How could it be the same?” Tantai Meng creased her brows. “Benefactor, I heard this Shizi didn’t pay a single visit to the daoist sect in the past four years. He didn’t even accomplish any deeds worth praising. How could he have gotten Xie zhenren’s true teachings? It’s more like he’s ungrateful and forgot all ties.”

There’s a reason for that, sis!

Right now over half the imperial court is under his sway and soon he’ll claim the rest too. Soon enough, he’ll even take over the Demonic Sect, the entire cultivation realm, and the rest of the world! Isn’t that worthy of praise? Don’t be so superficial!

As for being ungrateful and forgetting his ties…the person from the coffin hopes he’ll forget him quickly. Hurry and let go.

Xie Zhiwei could only try to redeem Mu He. “You can’t be too narrow-minded when you look at things. Do you know why he always eats lobster-shaped sugar figurines? Because his mother and Xie Zhiwei bought them for him. Do you know why he dresses in white? Because he was wearing white robes on the day Xie Zhiwei died.”

…he felt a bit like a braggart. For the sake of praising Mu He, he really was giving his all.

Once again, Tantai Meng missed the point as she blinked at him. “Benefactor, you know so much.”

“I…I’ve only heard these things in passing.”

“Is the gossip from the outside world this detailed? Then is there anything about my master? Benefactor should share, I bet it’s really interesting.”

“….” said Xie Zhiwei.

After losing her memories, the heroine acquired face-blindness. But Xie Zhiwei realized another big problem: she could always miraculously go on a tangent when it came to the protagonist.

A few days later was the reconstruction ceremony for the Buddhist sect’s Mahavira Hall. Many people would be present. As the King of Nine Provinces’ official heir, Mu He would be required to show up in an official capacity as well. If he took the chance to push Mengmeng out, he refused to believe that sparks wouldn’t appear between such a compatible couple!

Xie Zhiwei plotted and planned while trying to figure out how to make Mengmeng absolutely stun the crowds. But he hadn’t thought things through when he discovered there was someone living next door to his inn room.

Of all people, it was Chu Zhishi.

—

The author has something to say: Okay, the hero’s back, are you satisfied?

The Chinese commenters:

Translator’s Note: Consider rating/reviewing the novel on Novelupdates if you like it! I really think it deserves more than 3.7 stars, ahem… (T_T) (Xie Zhiwei: Even I have more Presence Points than that, and I died once to keep them!)

Most of Arc 2 will involved Xie Zhiwei spying on Mu He while trying not to get caught. A lot of stuff happens in between, but for readers impatient to know when Master and disciple will meet (as themselves), the answer is in the spoilers below:

Ch 76

Xie Zhiwei’s disguise gets exposed and Mu He captures him.

So strap in and get ready for a long, hijinks-filled ride. I promise the shenanigans make the wait bearable… Anyways, there’s a surprise for everyone tomorrow so be there or be square~