Ch54 - Imminent Sandstorm

Translator: transcendentwings

The sorrow and self-mockery in Tao Xian’s tone made Xu Xingzhi feel a slight soreness in his heart.

He half-seriously and half-sentimentally questioned Tao Xian: “Qu Chi had a comfortable position as the head disciple of Danyang Peak, so why did he bother sticking his nose into the matter of the divine artifacts ne.”

Tao Xian gazed at Xu Xingzhi in confusion, as if he didn’t understand what he was referring to: “Divine artifacts? I, I don’t understand and haven’t seen it. I’ve only heard Zhou-shixiong and the others mention it when they grumbled about it after I had already entered the wasteland, asserting. . . claiming that the divine artifacts in the four sects were all imitations. They had obtained the divine artifacts and only found out when they tried to use them, causing their following methods of handling the incident to fall short. They were caught off guard and were apprehended as a result.”

The conversation with Tao Xian made Xu Xingzhi even more puzzled: “You’ve neither seen the divine artifacts nor did you participate in the events of that year, so why were you also sentenced to the savage wasteland?”

Tao Xian replied agreeably and obediently:  “At that time, Qu-shixiong was seriously injured and couldn’t be left alone. . . . I, I was willing. . . to accompany him here.”

“. . . You are. . .” Xu Xingzhi was so shocked that he couldn’t be more surprised. He pointed at Qu Chi’s broad back and suppressed his voice into a whisper, “This matter didn’t involve you in the slightest, neither are you proficient in cultivation, just a mere mortal who had entered the sect for seven days. Only for his sake, did you cast yourself in here?”

Tao Xian attempted to explain: “I am not very literate, but I’ve read a number of playbooks whilst I was still engaged in opera. They’ve all mentioned that the kindness brought by a meal should be repaid by a spring. Qu-shixiong gave me candied haws, and, and also brought my elder brother’s remains back to me, helping me bury him to rest in peace, that, that is a great kindness and virtue. . . . Besides, the other disciples of Danyang Peak all had no reason to be sent into the wasteland and Qu-shixiong was heavily wounded at the time and couldn’t fend for himself in the slightest. . . so. . .”

Xu Xingzhi’s impression of this man who looked effeminate and weak changed drastically.

When it came to the word “righteousness”, few people in the world could surpass this short, gentle and frail weakling.

Noticing the look in Xu Xingzhi’s eyes, Tao Xian smiled shyly: “Xu-shixiong, don’t look at me like that. . . I also am not, not that noble. I just thought at that time that Qu-shixiong possessed great ability and it was possible that it wouldn’t take us very long for us to make it out of the savage wasteland after. I never, never thought that a brief stay, would be so prolonged.”

“We will escape.” Xu Xingzhi comforted him, “We will all be able to leave, no one will be left behind.”

“Xu-shixiong, I believe in you.” Tao Xian’s slender danfeng eyes were full of pure trust, “You’ve promised before, that you’d retrieve my elder brother’s bones. You vowed so, and accomplished as such. I believe you.”

Xu Xingzhi smiled wryly, raised his hand and pressed it against the back of the other’s neck, rubbing it vigorously a few times while Tao Xian instantly arched his spine like a small animal.

Xu Xingzhi was used to being in intimate contact with others and even Lu Yujiu, who was easily bashful, wouldn’t react like Tao Xian did, always maintaining an extremely flustered expression like that of a frightened bird.

Xu Xingzhi teased him: “So afraid.”

“I’m timid.” Tao Xian pressed his lips together, admitting his shortcomings in a somewhat cowardly manner, “Fortunately, I have Qu-shixiong’s protection, and also Ah-Wang. . . . Qu-shixiong and I were the ones who took Ah-Wang home back then. . . . By the way, there is also Meng Chongguang. He is very good, a great person. He has constantly been looking for Shixiong in the wasteland. Now that he’s reunited with you, I feel very happy for him, and also very delighted for Shixiong.”

In the eyes of the world, Meng Chongguang, was perhaps extremely heinous, but in the eyes of Tao Xian, who possessed such a gentle and soft temperament, he could be regarded as an upright person too. This couldn’t avoid inciting another layer of doubt in Xu Xingzhi’s heart.

What exactly went wrong in the first place?

In the end, what was the exact reason they had to steal the divine artifacts for?

At least in the original owner’s recollection, the only memory involving the divine artifacts was the appreciation conference that was held every seven years.

Xu Xingzhi never knew where the “Shijie Book” that Fengling Mountain guarded was placed, and he didn’t even know what skills were inscribed in the “Shijie Book”. He had only seen it a few times at a distance, and only knew that it was wrapped in an elegant and pure brilliant glow where its original shape was even hard to distinguish.

Every time the conference was held, the lord of each of the immortal sects themselves were the ones who personally escorted the divine artifacts.

In order to prevent villains from coveting and robbing the artifacts, Xu Xingzhi, Qu Chi, Zhou Beinan, and Wen Xuechen all had to conjure one hundred twenty thousand points of focus, patrol the periphery, and stand guard overnight. Therefore, every time this appraisal meeting was held, Xu Xingzhi and the others would be so utterly exhausted that they’d wish they could lose a layer of their skin.

If they had known that what they were protecting were just fakes, why would they have bothered to deplete their energy so much?

Yet, then again, the fact that the divine artifacts weren’t sacred objects, would bring about untold troubles if it was easily known to others.

The prestige of Fengling Mountain brought them to the helm of the four sects, thus how could Xu Xingzhi let Zhou Beinan and the others know that as the chief disciple of Fengling and also the disciple loved and highly regarded by Qingjing-jun, he didn’t know where the Shijie Book was usually placed? If that were true, then how would he have come up with the notion of coveting the world’s most valuable treasures?

Xu Xingzhi was racking his brains when he saw Qu Chi toss the branch aside, climb to his feet and scamper over to Tao Xian. Taking his hand, he pointed to several strings of candied haws scribbled on the ground, all dipped in ashes: “Do they look like this?”

Tao Xian smiled: “Indeed. Qu-shixiong has drawn them very well, even better than mine.”

A light smile graced Qu Chi’s face. Pointing to the largest bunch of candied haws, he declared: “. . . Look, this one is yours.”

He sketched a large handful of candied haws, including Zhou Wang and Xu Xingzhi’s shares, showing them all to Tao Xian as if there were sticks of real street desserts lying there that were eagerly awaiting purchase.

Tao Xiao listened patiently to him check the inventory with a smile, nodding his head from time to time. After Qu Chi finished distributing the lot of them, Tao Xian frowned suspiciously and counted those dusty candied haws on the ground himself: “. . . Where’s yours ne?”

Qu Chi was startled, then counted off with a one two three four five again and grinned sheepishly: “I forgot.”

Tao Xian generously pointed at his assigned haws on a skewer that were as big as his head: “We’ll divide it. Each person gets half ya.”

Qu Chi mulled it over for a while then nodded his head happily.

Seeing how warm and harmonious their atmosphere was, Xu Xingzhi smiled unconsciously and remarked: “He’s a big dolt, but for him to pick up such a good and loyal companion like you is truly a blessing in disguise.”

When Qu Chi heard this, he turned around and protested: “I’m not silly. I’m Qu Chi. Xingzhi, you can’t say that about me.”

Xu Xingzhi raised his hands in surrender: “Okay, yes, I was wrong.”

Qu Chi felt really depressed when Xu Xingzhi called him that and turned around to ask Tao Xian for confirmation: “Tao Xian, am I simpleton?”

Tao Xian was obviously not very good at coaxing others and stuttered hesitantly before stating softly: “Being simple. . . is also very good. Everything about Qu-shixiong is the best.”

“Is a fool good?” Qu Chi grasped Tao Xiang’s hand thoughtfully and declared trustingly: “Then, I won’t be Qu Chi anymore, I’ll be a fool.”

Tao Xian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and let the other hold his hand as they slowly walked towards the side hall where the two of them lived. Before leaving, Tao Xian waved at Xu Xingzhi apologetically, slipped the other’s robe that he warmed up off, and hung it on a low branch not too far away.

Xu Xingzhi stared at the backs of the two and only felt very at peace in his heart.

Those troublesome melancholic and messy thoughts were all drawn out one after another and only the image of these two people clinging to each other was left, terribly picturesque.

He was still in a trance when he was suddenly pulled into an embrace.

Meng Chongguang nuzzled him gently from behind, like a puppy scratching at an itch: “Shixiong, why didn’t you call out to Chongguang when you woke up, causing Chongguang to be unable to see you when he awakened.”

“I saw that you were too weary and wanted to let you sleep a little longer.”

“I’m not tired.” Meng Chongguang refuted coquettishly, “As long as I fall asleep, Shixiong would occupy my dreams, but would be untouchable, unreachable, such an awful feeling. It’s better to rouse earlier so that I can be more intimate with Shixiong.”

Xu Xingzhi laughed.

That may be the case, but in Xu Xingzhi’s eyes, Meng Chongguang was indeed deeply exhausted.

His nearly insane amount of accumulated fatigue emanated bone deep.

In the past, Xu Xingzhi didn’t notice this bone-weariness because he kept Meng Chongguang at arms length out of politeness. Yet when he got closer to the other, the indescribable exhaustion was like a dark tide, washing over Xu Xingzhi overwhelmingly.

He had finally fallen asleep today, so Xu Xingzhi didn’t want to bother him.

In the past few days, whenever he awakened from a deep sleep, he would find Meng Chongguang staring at him.

The turbulent emotions in the other’s eyes were extremely complicated as if he wished to swallow Xu Xingzhi up with his eyes, store him there, cherish him carefully, and imprison him forever.

And the moment Xu Xingzhi picked up on this, Meng Chongguang would immediately pack up his emotions, embrace Xu Xingzhi, and kiss him softly and restrainedly.

. . . Xu Xingzhi always had the illusion that the other was trying to run away from something.

However, since the other didn’t want to come clean about it, Xu Xingzhi wouldn’t probe further either.

At least with Meng Chonguang, Xu Xingzhi wanted to maintain this subtle ambiguity.

After resting for a few more days, the bunch of them embarked on the road to Huawai Territory.

The prison that is the savage wasteland was an endless barren land possessing neither the sun nor the moon. They could only use the tower erected by Meng Chongguang in the middle of it as a benchmark to judge where they were headed.

In the past thirteen years, Meng Chongguang had traveled to all corners of the wasteland that he was able to reach, making it best for him to lead the way.

After exiting Hutiao Ravine, Zhou Wang smiled and stretched her waist: “We haven’t been home for so long, I rather miss it. If I were aware it would take this long earlier, I would’ve brought the bell with me as a talisman.”

Yuan Ruzhou comforted gently: “That is the only relic your mom left you, what would you have done if you had shattered it.”

Zhou Wang: “I’m just afraid that someone will break into the tower and snatch it away.”

Yuan Ruzhou whispered closely in her ear soothingly: “You can rest assured. With the formation Chongguang set, any random person will not be able to enter.”

Xu Xingzhi listened to the conversation between the two for a while, then turned to Chongguang, wanting to secretly inquire about how Yuan Ruzhou ended up acquiring such a messed up skeletal body, but who would’ve thought that as soon as he turned around, Meng Chongguang at his side would take his palm into his and scratch his palm with his pinky impatiently.

Seeing his crafty appearance of insatiability after already receiving benefits, Xu Xingzhi couldn’t help laughing: “What do you want to do?”

Meng Chongguang licked his lips, dyeing his deep red lips with a thin layer of cool and seductive glint: “I want to do Shixiong.”

“The night before last. . .”

“That was the day before yesterday.” Meng Chongguang’s eyes were somewhat resentful, “Shixiong didn’t ask Chongguang to enter the room yesterday. . . and even locked the windows.”

“We already came to a consensus that we had to get on the road today, thus we couldn’t mess around.” Xu Xingzhi clearly knew what the other wanted, but still teased him deliberately, “You’ve been holding back for thirteen years and now you can’t bear it for a day or two?”

Meng Chongguang fell silent and gently rubbed against the side of Xu Xingzhi’s hip, staring at him with a gaze, half-begging pitifully and half-expectantly.

Xu Xingzhi couldn’t hold back his amusement: “. . . Stand properly! Don’t act so clingy.”

Meng Chongguang wheedled him: “Can’t stand. . . I want Shixiong to carry me.”

Maybe it was because of the other’s outstanding looks, but Meng Chongguang, who was a little taller than Xu Xingzhi, didn’t trigger any emotions of irritation when he acted in this way, on the contrary, he was so pleasing to the eye that even refusing his ridiculous requests seemed unreasonable.

Meng Chongguang obstinately pasted himself next to Xu Xingzhi’s ear and whispered shamelessly: “Shixiong has made my leg feel like jelly, you can’t just leave me be.”

Xu Xingzhi: “Who did you say did what? En?”

Meng Chongguang held his stance with absurd righteousness and resentment: “Of course it was Shixiong who tortured me so, biting me so badly and refused to let me go. . .”

Even if Xu Xingzhi’s face was as thick as the city walls, he couldn’t still couldn’t endure this hooligan’s outrageous flirting: “I’m unable to carry you.”

“You can.” Meng Chongguang tried to bewitch Xu Xingzhi tenderly, “That day Shixiong piggybacked me for fifteen kilometers ne.”

Speaking of that day, Xu Xingzhi’s expression froze slightly.

He wasn’t stuck on Meng Chonggung’s lack of acknowledgement when he saw him, rather he recalled Meng Chongguang’s severe burns that covered his skin and flesh.

He remembered that when Meng Chongguang found Yuan Ruzhou, she had also asked him this question and his answer was very vague, saying that “he’d been plotted against”.

But, who in this wasteland could hurt him to that extent?

And, where were those who tried to scheme against him now? Would it affect their search for the key fragments?

Noticing that Xu Xingzhi had sunk into deep thought, Meng Chongguang couldn’t help becoming depressed again. Scraping the soles of his feet back and forth on the barren sand, he muttered softly: “Never mind, if Shixiong is unwilling. . .”

Xu Xingzhi coughed lightly: “Unhappy?”

Meng Chongguang moved his gaze away, looking as if he were about to cry: “. . . No.”

Xu Xingzhi sighed helplessly, took two steps forward, squatted down, and gestured at Meng Chongguang with the palm of his left hand that had been naturally hanging down by his side.

Meng Chongguang’s eyes lit up: “. . . Shixiong?!”

Xu Xingzhi kept his eyes forward: “Are you getting on or not?”

Meng Chongguang launched himself over like a kitten, wrapping his arms around Xu Xingzhi’s slender neck while his legs were tightly hooked around his waist, and excitedly couldn’t stop peppering the back of Xu Xingzhi’s neck with soft kisses.

Xu Xingzhi warned: “I only have one good hand so I can’t hold onto you, cross your legs tightly so that you don’t fall off.”

“It’s secure ne.” Meng Chongguang grinned blissfully and pressed his slightly pointy chin on Xu Xingzhi’s shoulder, murmuring wickedly, “. . . I will cover my body with a huge cloak later and sneakily eat Shixiong along the way.”

Xu Xingzhi’s lower half couldn’t help tensing up a little: “You want to mess around, don’t you? Get off.”

Meng Chongguang’s hands immediately locked on more tightly: “I’m not coming down, I won’t alight for the rest of my life. Shixiong carried Chongguang back to Fengling Mountain, so you will have to carry Chongguang for the rest of your life. You won’t ever be able to get rid of me.”

Xu Xingzhi chuckled: “What foolishness.”

“If Shixiong likes to listen, Chongguang still has tens of thousands of silly things to say.” Meng Chongguang lowered his volume, his voice warm and gentle, like the sweetest and softest pastry, “. . . Only for Shixiong to hear.”

After moving forward with Meng Chongguang on his back for countless steps, Xu Xingzhi became dazed again.

He didn’t know how he could be so thick-skinned, but when he bantered about such topics with Meng Chongguang, he still didn’t blush nor did his heartbeat speed up, he even enjoyed it quite a bit instead and didn’t feel that there was anything wrong with what they were doing at all.

He quietly pressed his wooden hand against his heart as he questioned himself.

Original owner, are you still in this body? Are you the one who made me say such things and do such things?

What is actually going on with Xu Xingzhi and Xu Ping?

What is the real relationship between me and you and you and me, I am sincerely clueless ah.

Meng Chongguang was very talkative, but not long after pointing out the way forward for everyone and clambering onto Xu Xingzhi’s back, he slipped into slumber soundly with his warm cheek pressed closely against Xu Xingzhi’s shoulder, while the tip of his nose would brush against Xu Xingzhi’s earlobe from time to time.

If it weren’t for the sound of his even breathing by his ear, Xu Xingzhi might’ve assumed that the other was feigning sleep.

The journey was very boring and Xu Xingzhi wasn’t one to seclude himself in his own bubble. He couldn’t bear long periods of silence, thus he chose a person who was proceeding forward alone to chase after.

“Fatty Zhou? Ai, Zhou Beinan!”

Whenever Zhou Beinan caught sight of Xu Xingzhi in the past few days, he seemed to be in a foul mood. Xu Xingzhi guessed that Zhou Beinan’s irritable temper was triggered when they had let loose too crazily in the muchi the other day.

Though of course, Xu Xingzhi would never apologize for it.

He rushed to the other’s side swiftly, taking the initiative to offer up a smile: “Fatty Zhou, are you envious of us ah.”

“Jealous of you. . .” Zhou Beinan was about to utter a dirty word, but when he turned his head and saw Meng Chongguang, he swallowed the second part of the sentence with a gudong, scrutinizing Meng Chongguang for a long time before asking, “. . . He’s asleep?”

“En.”

Zhou Beinan finally was able to spit out the second half of his sentence happily: “Jealous of you my ass.”

Xu Xingzhi was amused to no end: “You haven’t been able to settle things with Xiao-Lu all these years, you really can’t do it ya.”

“You can’t f*cking do it!” Zhou Beinan scolded, his volume fluctuating obviously from loud soft for fear that Lu Yujiu, who was chatting with Tao Xiao not to far away, would be able to hear them, “He, He’s. . . not willing, there’s nothing I can do.”

Xu Xingzhi: “You still can’t do it.”

Zhou Beinan: “. . . Surnamed Xu, believe it or not, I’ll blow your head off right now.”

Xu Xingzhi whistled lightly and didn’t answer, just craned his neck to look at him with mirth.

Seeing his appearance, Zhou Beinan’s mind relaxed slightly, the anger that had risen dissipated in an instant and his bulging veins also calmed down bit by bit.

He considered it repeatedly, ultimately spilling out what he had been holding back in his heart for the past few days: “. . . The last time I saw you in the present world, I thought you would never be able to smile again in this life.”

Xu Xingzhi’s steps faltered slightly.

Zhou Beinan continued hoarsely: “Your dejected face at that time really deserved a beating. Well. . . after all, thirteen years have passed. No matter how sad you were about the matter with Qingjing-jun, there’s no need to bury it all in your heart. But. . . But I really can’t figure it out, among the four sects, Qingjing-jun treated you the best, not a single one of us from the same generation were able to not look upon that with envy. Yet why did it have to be you. . . that murdered Qingjing-jun?”

Xu Xingzhi was dumbfounded and stopped his footsteps.

. . . Could it be. . . It wasn’t Meng Chongguang who committed magistricide and then shifted the blame onto him?

Killing his master? Murdering Qingjing-jun?

How could that be something that Xu Xingzhi would do?!

For a moment, Xu Xingzhi had the illusion that he couldn’t breathe. His lips quivered a few times as he voiced with difficulty: “You. . .”

Zhou Beinan abruptly stopped and stared straight ahead.

Xu Xingzhi also faintly felt that there was a rough and nefarious wind blowing from in front of him and ceased his question to cast his gaze ahead as well.

The sky in the distance changed colors at some point in time and a phantasmal yellow slowly drew an even line while that glowing object that couldn’t be pegged as the sun or the moon had already melted into that line of sand. It seemed as if it had been ground raw by the sand as fresh blood flowed out and the scarlet spots merged into the dark yellow waves, like ochres growing vertically among yellow stones.

Zhou Wang roared loudly: “Sandstorm!”

Zhou Beinan took a step forward, protecting the deeply unconscious Meng Chongguang and Xu Xingzhi within the range of his steel long spear.

Xu Xingzhi was very puzzled: “It’s just wind and sand, just find a crag of rocks to avoid it and hide for a bit, it’ll be fine.”

Zhou Beinan gritted his teeth and answered: “. . . No. The sandstorm is its representative mark. It’s coming. It’s useless to run away, if you turn your back to it, you’ll just be dying for nothing!”

“Who?”

Zhou Beinan’s voice was torn apart by the increasingly shrill winds: “The savage wasteland’s. . . origin giant.”

Author’s Chapter Summary:

Emotional, sandstorm, Huawai Territory

The translator has something to say: the more simple and straightforward ones are definitely XXZ’s best source of information and XXZ is so trusted and loved by them that they wouldn’t hesitate to be forthcoming with what they know and their concerns, this steady reveal is good for XXZ and us as well (or else the sad truths would be too much to handle all at once)