Ch56 - Ceremony

Chu Zhishi had arrived in town the night before the Buddhist reconstruction ceremony. At that time, Xie Zhiwei had just finished picking out clothes for Tantai Meng when he heard messy footsteps coming up the stairs. It sounded like quite a crowd.

Then he saw a group dressed in Yujing Sect attire pouring into the corridors. Two younger disciples were holding Lingkong and Thunderstrike respectively while Chu Zhishi strode in front in blue daoist robes, his sleeves fluttering in the breeze. Xie Zhiwei took a step back over the threshold to make room.

Looks like Cheese’s showoff skills improved over the years. His compelling aura nearly makes him the face of the daoist sect.

Previously it was Bai Jianzhu in charge of any matters of etiquette, but now Chu Zhishi had taken his place. The hero was also preparing for his final appearance, so the Bai duo’s days must be getting worse and worse.

Chu Zhishi haughtily strode past the open door before spotting the masked figure beyond it. Everything about his face was covered up except for the pair of eyes staring his way. He couldn’t stop pausing to raise his eyebrows. “Something wrong?” he asked.

Xie Zhiwei didn’t panic after being caught blatantly “peeping,” but cleared his throat and spoke in a coarse voice, “Oh, just wanted to remind you there’s a lot of mosquitoes tonight. Pay attention to lighting incense or something.”

“Oh, thanks.” Chu Zhishi looked at him as if he was an idiot before continuing his way. A few disciples very properly guarded the hall until Chu Zhishi’s doors closed, then relaxed.

One of them saw Xie Zhiwei still standing there and remarked, “Bro, it’s obvious you’re not a cultivator at a glance.”

Xie Zhiwei had suppressed his spiritual power so it was impossible for ordinary people to perceive him. But he was still surprised when this little disciple jumped to conclusions. “Why do you think so?”

The disciple was very smug. “Even those who’ve just brushed the edge of cultivation should recognize our shizun. He’s Yujing Sect’s Heavenly Sun City’s city lord, Chu Zhishi. How could he be afraid of mosquitoes?”

Xie Zhiwei came to a “sudden” realization. “I see, I’ve learned my lesson.”

The eastern half of the corridor was reserved by the daoist sect and illuminated brightly with candles. Xie Zhiwei only felt his heart ache. The original host couldn’t even bear to wear new clothes back at the sect, but these losers were doing as they pleased.

He was a little perplexed. “Only the Mahavira Hall of the Buddhist sect was destroyed. There are still other places to live there, so why is Chu zhenren mingling in the mortal realm of this town?”

The disciple bristled with disdain. “What can we do? Someone my shizun doesn’t want to see has already taken up residence there.” The other disciples didn’t speak, but their expressions were equally unhappy.

The crowds of Heavenly Sun City had never bowed their heads before others. If this was the past, Chu Zhishi would definitely make the other party move out first…

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help asking, “What kind of holy figure is the person he doesn’t want to meet?”

“Holy? Hmph, just a white-eyed wolf taken in by the daoist sect in the past.”

Xie Zhiwei gave a start. “Mu He?”

The disciple wasn’t afraid of being overheard and even raised his head. “Isn’t that so? Second martial uncle treated him so well, but what about him? After rising to the top in one step, he didn’t pay a single visit to second martial uncle’s grave in four years.”

Another disciple chimed in. “Good thing he hasn’t shown his face in the past few years. If he ran into our shizun, he’d be beaten up by now.”

“Maybe he’s hiding because he’s afraid of our shizun.”

“Senior brother, that’s a great point.”

The various disciples gabbed amongst themselves as if no one was there. All they needed was a bench and some melon seeds to complete the image. Despite this, Chu Zhishi didn’t care. Obviously, he condoned their behavior. Xie Zhiwei sighed and shut the doors to his room. His death didn’t improve the relationship between Cheese and the hero but made things worse.

His head swelled with questions. Among the hero’s original followers and harem members, all had ended up as bystanders or opponents now except for Yin Wushuang.

No way. How can such an unlikeable person compare with the heroine?

I really have to focus on salvaging Mengmeng.

Xie Zhiwei yawned before curling up in a corner to catch some shut-eye.

—

Since Du Sheng had survived the catastrophe, he was now head of the Buddhist sect and the most popular person in the crowd. People from all walks of life surrounded him. They didn’t return to their seats until the ceremony was about to begin, finally giving him a chance to catch his breath.

A piece of paper covered in handwriting was exquisitely hung on the front wall of the great hall. Xie Zhiwei squinted at it and found it looked familiar. Just in time, Tantai Meng came over with a cup of tea and asked Du Sheng, “Master, although Xie zhenren’s copy of the Diamond Sutra is very precious, we only have the first half. Why is master hanging it up?”

Du Sheng blinked his dry eyelids while taking the tea. “Master naturally has my reasons.”

This old monk is being mysterious on purpose, Xie Zhiwei mused, He’s not gonna auction off my calligraphy, right?

Du Sheng drank a mouthful of strong tea before greeting Chu Zhishi who had been waiting on the side for ages. “City Lord Chu, apologies for the poor hospitality.”

“Now you’re treating me as an outsider. Since the Buddhist sect has suffered calamity, Great Master has been working hard for days. This surnamed Chu is afraid of troubling you.”

“How could that be?” Du Sheng sighed lightly. “The scourge on the daoist sect has now befallen the Buddhist sect. I don’t know where it’ll fall in the future. A pity that Xie zhenren has passed away with no one to punish the Demonic Sect.”

Chu Zhishi’s face suddenly turned grave. “In time, this surnamed Chu will eradicate them on senior brother’s behalf.”

A light laugh came from out of nowhere. Chu Zhishi’s hands shook before loudly setting his teacup down. Everyone’s eyes shifted to the entrance, where a white-robed figure appeared. Behind him followed a maiden as fair as a jade flower and a group of skilled-looking retainers. Du Sheng rose to his feet with Tantai Meng’s support and placed his hands in a heshi. “Greetings to Shizi.”

Xie Zhiwei also sat up with a jolt, his courage almost collapsing after a whole night’s preparation. He moved into the crowd and pulled up his cloth mask until it was nearly covering his eyelids before daring to spy on the scene.

Then he couldn’t look away.

Mu He had truly grown up. He was much taller than four years ago and his features had matured completely. He gave off a handsome, if melancholy, aura with an ethereal temperament that already overlapped with his original novel description. Although he hadn’t spoken, just standing there with hooded eyes made him outshine everyone else in the Buddhist sect.

Originally, Xie Zhiwei should hate the face that was an exact copy of his nemesis He Zheng. But now things were different. After all, he had played the part of nanny dad in the past. Seeing his child grow up so much, Xie Zhiwei didn’t know what to feel.

Everyone looking at Mu He was either jealous or appreciative of his status and appearance. Only Xie Zhiwei was aware that he had a thoroughly black heart beneath his top-tier white lotus looks.

In the end, there’s no going back.

“Great Master Du Sheng, long time no see,” Mu He returned the greetings with perfect manners.

A little girl from a cultivation sect finally broke out from her petrified state. “My God…” she murmured, “Thank goodness he moved, or else I would’ve thought he came out of a painting.”

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help giving kudos to the girl’s aesthetic sense. Then he looked at Tantai Meng and felt black lines down his face. She’s actually patting Du Sheng’s shoulders and circulating his qi. Tantai Meng was so dedicated that she didn’t even glance at the hero.

Yin Wushuang looked up and asked Mu He, “Mu He gege, can we sit over there?”

“I still have something to do. You lot, bring the commandery princess over there.”

“Yes, Shizi.”

The entrance to the great hall was empty, leaving Mu He standing in place with his lone shadow stretching out behind him. He raised his eyes towards a certain place. Although his expression didn’t change, a hand clenched fiercely inside his sleeve. Xie Zhiwei followed his gaze and saw that he was staring at the first half of the copied Diamond Sutra hanging on the wall. Under everyone’s gaze, Mu He walked over and picked up the brush prepared for the reconstruction ceremony. He dipped it in ink and began to write on the paper.

His actions were so inexplicable that the crowd was rendered silent.

Chu Zhishi stood up with an unfriendly look and muttered towards him, “Acting pitiful.”

A displeased Yin Wushuang also rose to her feet. “Hey, who are you saying is acting pitiful!” Her voice was crisp, clear, and somewhat childish, ringing loudly in the hall.

Chu Zhishi raised his brows and saw it was a little girl, so he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Needing a little girl to speak up for you. Looks like you aren’t just pretending. You really are pathetic.”

Yin Wushuang glared at him with eyes round as saucers before pointing a finger to yell, “You…this commandery princess is helping Mu He gege! Unlike you, an old daoist that nobody wants! No one cares, old man!”

Chu Zhishi had already sat back down, but his eyebrows raised even higher at her words. Low laughter broke out around them, while Xie Zhiwei had to hold back his own snickers with effort. Although age meant nothing in the cultivation world, Chu Zhishi was almost a hundred years old. Even though there were skills to preserve one’s looks, being accused by a squirt like Yin Wushang was still a bit comical.

Chu Zhishi lowered his head to drink tea and didn’t bother retorting. Still, his slightly heaving chest revealed the fact that he cared very much.

Old Cheese bro, you’ll suffer a lot if you always want to save face. After all, on the other side is the protagonist… Xie Zhiwei shook his head before looking at Mu He, only to discover an extraordinary detail.

Mu He was actually writing with his left hand and the movements were very smooth. He recalled that…the original novel never mentioned whether the hero was a southpaw?

Though the ceremony had begun, Mu He didn’t stop writing. He seemed wholly focused as if he was in an empty study. But if he really liked to write, he didn’t need to accommodate a simple ceremony. His current strength meant he didn’t have to worry about anything.

As the ceremony went on, a few people shot curious looks at him, but nobody dared to see what he was writing. Xie Zhiwei watched from his perch by the wall and felt that things weren’t bad. The hero could rise up while he helped from the shadows. This would not only preserve his Presence Points, but also let him save the scene once in a while.

When the ceremony came to an end, Mu He finally stopped. Only then did Yin Wushuang walk over and peer at his paper full of words. “Mu He gege, aren’t you tired after standing to write so long…huh?”

Her huh roused Xie Zhiwei’s curiosity. He really wanted to see what Mu He was so fixated on penning.

With Tantai Meng’s support, Du Sheng walked over with a nod. “Amitabha, Shizi has taken pains.”

A premonition clawed at Xie Zhiwei’s heart. Meanwhile, a few monks scurried over to carefully take Mu He’s finished work and hang it up next to the first half of the Diamond Sutra. The characters shone clearly in the sunlight.

And then everyone was stunned, including Chu Zhishi, Du Sheng, and Xie Zhiwei.

Mu He had written down the unfinished second half of the Diamond Sutra. Each word and stroke shone with exemplary style. Of course, that wasn’t enough to shock the crowd.

Instead, it was the fact that the characters of his sheet were completely identical to Xie Zhiwei’s handwriting in the first half.

—

Translator’s Note: *throws confetti* Thank you for reading, rating, reviewing, and following Too Bad Master Died Early’s translation journey! Hoho, we’re not a mere 3-star novel anymore!! 🙇‍♀

And now, welcome to our End of April Five Chapter Fete! To speed things along, I’ll be releasing up to Chapter 60 today, plus giving another surprise for readers at the end. Enjoy it~

I feel a little sorry for Mu He here. Looks like he’s been in mourning for a long time…