Life Going Wild With Plug-ins

Chapter 70

Chapter 70 - It’s coming to an end, goodbye.

His tone was sorrowful, and for a time I also felt distressed, but I didn’t know how to comfort him. I lowered my head and fiddled for a bit, then picked the biggest shrimp from my bowl and placed it into his.

He was the true Creation God in control of everything, and he experienced many painful pasts that I can’t even bear to imagine, so I was afraid that my actions, in his eyes, would be ridiculously insignificant.

Jun Wuwang was stunned, but softly said: “Thank you.”

He was so prudent, but his praise left me with a light an airy feeling, which made me a bit embarrassed.

“Some people think that I own the world, who would believe that I’m just a pathetic man who doesn’t have anything at all?” Jun Wuwang laughed at himself, then took his porcelain spoon and took a small sip, showing a hint of amazement, “Oh, it’s delicious.”

I said: “Hey, actually, it’s not as good as what Qiqi makes.”

“It’s been very long since I last ate, I’ve forgotten all about how things taste. After all, I don’t get hungry, and I don’t get tired.” Jun Wuwang drank a little less than half the bowl, and continued, “When Ye Tan was originally still willing to speak to me, I would accompany him to eat a few things. Afterwards, I didn’t see him very often, so I didn’t feel like playing pretend at being a normal person. In any case, there was no one around who would care about it.”

Jun Wuwang suddenly stood up, putting the fox mask back over his face: “I need to leave. Ye Tan will be here soon.”

I hurriedly spoke: “Qiqi will be coming over from Yun Garden in two days, we’re preparing to set off to Moling together when she gets here, do you want to go back with us? Stay a few more days, Qiqi can make you pork chops.”

Jun Wuwang shook his head: “I’ve been a superfluous variable all along, staying by your side would do more harm than good.”

I asked: “Where are you going?”

“The sword washing pond in Tianshan.” Jun Wuwang bowed his head, “I’ll stay there for the rest of my life. If you come across a matter of life or death that you can’t deal with yourself, you can come look for me.”

I nodded repeatedly: “I’ll go look for you to hang out often.”

“I advise you to refrain from looking for me,” Jun Wuwang restored his cold style of keeping people a thousand miles away, and indifferently said, “Don’t you know I’m so jealous of you I’m nearly going mad out of envy?”

I lowered my head and caught sight of his small bowl of shrimp congee, which had already been cleaned out.

He really was a very lonely person, just a little kindness would be enough for him.

But, unfortunately, Ye Tan and I couldn’t take on this role for him.

Jun Wuwang spoke again: “How do you intend to handle Ye Lan? I can accept that you don’t want to kill him, but you can’t just leave him alone.”

“It would be better to revoke Ye Xiao’s role as shadow guard, just setting him free as an ordinary man, and then let Ye Lan serve as Ye Xiao’s shadow guard.” I stroked my chin, “That way Ye Lan protecting Ye Xiao is exactly what would be expected of him, and Ye Xiao won’t be able to demand that Ye Lan come save me. He should be able to understand he should protect himself above others in case he meets with danger.”

Jun Wuwang was silent for a short time, then said: “That’s fine too.”

Seeing that his attitude had softened, I couldn’t stop myself from asking again: “Ye Lan, can he really not be cured?”

“I don’t dare to interfere on a whim. The more I cheat, the more I sense my own powerlessness, and the more I fear the human heart.” Jun Wuwang still refused, “But there are no shortage of famous doctors in the Jianghu, you can go ahead and try, I will not prevent you from doing anything you can accomplish with your own human strength.”

I thought that was also fine, my own bad habit of relying on this kind of power was still haunting me. I was right in the middle of this self-reflection when Jun Wuwang said: “Come here.”

I got up and moved to stand in front of him, suspicious, and Jun Wuwang took another step towards me, standing close. He lowered his head, parted the hair on my forehead, and lifted his hand to lightly touch the space between my brows. A thread of warmth burst from his fingertips, and soon after, disappeared without a trace.

“Nirvana Gu.” Jun Wuwang explained, “If you still come across some unexpected misfortune, at least it can save your life. If you use it up, remember to come look for me to replace it.”

I asked: “Can you give one to Ye Tan?”

“Naturally I want to.” Jun Wuwang changed the topic, “Although I can’t help you cure Ye Lan, I can certainly try to for those people who are of no importance to you.”

I hadn’t yet understood what he meant when I felt a cold blade striking out in front of me, and Jun Wuwang had already been forced to retreat several zhang.

Someone was covering my line of sight, it was only when I clearly saw who it was that I said: “Hey? A-Tan?”

Ye Tan stood in front of me, shielding me and panting lightly. It was only so many steps from outside the garden to this side room, so with his current cultivation base it was out of the question for him to be actually winded, it was probably half from urgency and half from fear.

Ye Tan stared firmly at Jun Wuwang, and asked in a low voice: “Master. Are you alright?”

I: “Of course I’m alright. Why did you come here?”

Ye Tan said: “Ye Xiao said a very dangerous person took you away.” From start to finish, his gaze was locked onto Jun Wuwang, his rejection of him was abundantly clear.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry as I tried to push him aside: “Hey don’t cause trouble, A-Tan, we were in the middle of a conversation. Wuwang, you can continue.”

I had originally thought this incident would be exposed like this, but Jun Wuwang said: “This can’t be heard by him.”

I hurriedly said: “I’ve never kept anything from A-Tan, it’s fine, it doesn’t matter if he knows about these things, right? You don’t have to worry.”

Jun Wuwang coldly repeated himself: “This can’t be heard by him.”

Ye Tan immediately added: “Master, this person is truly dangerous, this subordinate will absolutely not feel at ease if you’re alone with him.”

I felt a little awkward.

Jun Wuwang certainly had his reasons to be so firm, but Ye Tan was deeply worried, and I couldn’t drive him away. As we were in this deadlock, Jun Wuwang suddenly lifted his hand, and Ye Tan unsheathed his sword, so I hurriedly asked: “What are you going to do?”

Jun Wuwang indifferently said: “Please have him go out.”

I was startled: “Hey, you can’t fight!”

“I also don’t want to fight him, he is the one forcing me. Don’t worry, I’ll behave.” Jun Wuwang stepped forward, and Ye Tan was also full of dense sword aura as he anticipated his next move. I suddenly got a massive headache and hurriedly said:

“Hey if he can’t hear then he won’t hear, I’ll cover his ears and you continue what you were saying, that’s it! Why on earth do you want to fight!”

Jun Wuwang paused: “…..it seems like it will work.” then muttered, “Why do you always have such useful ideas for such trivial matters.”

I grabbed the still-hostile Ye Tan and pulled him towards a stool, pushing Pine Wind back towards its scabbard: “Hey A-Tan, you’re a little tall and I can’t reach. Can you sit down?”

Ye Tan obediently sat down in front of me, still fixedly staring at Jun Wuwang. I stuck my hands into his shaggy hair, tightly covering both his ears, and softly called out to him twice. Seeing that he didn’t respond, I turned to Jun Wuwang and said: “Hey, you can continue. Whisper a bit, speak quietly.”

Jun Wuwang looked at Ye Tan, seeming somewhat dazed, and absent-mindedly asked: “Where was I?”

I reminded him in a whisper: “You were saying that, although you couldn’t cure Ye Lan, you could try with other people.”

“Oh….. right. I’ll give you one chance, you can revive one person.” Jun Wuwang spoke, “Ze Que and Yue Changsheng, you can pick one.”

Surprisingly, it was these two. The Eldest Young Master had helped me quite a bit, and he was also a pitiful man himself, so if I could return the help it would naturally be a good thing. But…..

I awkwardly said: “I don’t know who the Eldest Young Master likes more, wouldn’t it be better to go out and ask him?”

“You think having a choice is really a good thing?” Jun Wuwang laughed grimly, “If you let him pick, no matter who he chooses, he’ll have a guilty conscience for the rest of his life.”

“That makes sense,” I nodded repeatedly and praised him, “You really deserve to be the upgraded version of me, you even considered this problem more thoroughly than I did.”

Jun Wuwang angrily said: “I don’t want to be praised by you at all.”

I was also resentful: “Being praised also makes you angry? Fine fine, this me, how did you grow up to be such an angry and difficult person?”

Jun Wuwang: “You say one more word of nonsense and I’ll hang you and Ye Tan up and beat you.”

I was immediately too scared to dare make a sound.

I obediently shut up and turned the matter over in my mind, then I came up with a new idea: “How about this, just revive both of them.”

Jun Wuwang clicked his tongue: “Do you want to see a battlefield1 that bad?”

“Hey don’t worry. Place them in the homes of some distant ordinary people, and have them lose their memories for a few years so they can spend a few proper, peaceful days….. as for who the Eldest Young Master will meet first, that has nothing to do with us.”

Jun Wuwang looked at me, honestly saying: “Your ability of glossing things over could even be called the best in the world.”

I calmly accepted his praise: “Being praised by the upgraded version of me indeed makes me very happy.”

Jun Wuwang was quiet for a short time, then spoke: “If there’s nothing else, I really should leave.”

I reminded him: “You still haven't planted A-Tan’s Nirvana Gu.”

“I know…..” Jun Wuwang hesitated and, when he stepped forward, Ye Tan immediately reached for his sword hilt with his nerves stretched taut.

Jun Wuwang shook his head and laughed: “Look at him like this, how would he obediently let me plant a Gu in him? If I step forward again he’ll just try to jump up and fight me.”

I also sighed: “This brat…..” I turned a plan over in my mind, “You can change your appearance, right? Look for an opportunity to change into my appearance, he shouldn’t reject you like this then, and you can plant it when the time comes.”

Jun Wuwang gazed at me with his deep, dark eyes: “You’re actually so generous.”

I didn’t quite understand what he meant by that. I was still confused when Jun Wuwang waved at me and left.

I loosened my palms, and only then did I notice the scalding heat in my palms. I bowed my head to look at the tips of Ye Tan’s ears through his hair, which were as red as though dyed by the warm winter sun.

I used the back of my hand to feel his face, wondering: “A-Tan, your face is so hot, do you have a fever?”

Ye Tan whispered: “I’m, I’m fine.”

He shot up from the stool, avoiding me, and hung his head as he stood next to me.

I pulled him by the hand as usual, but it was damp to the touch: “Hey….. you’re sweating a lot.”

Ye Tan pursed his lips: “Just now, that person….. this subordinate wasn’t sure I could beat him. It’s just some lingering fear.”

Due to his guilt from that incident I had with the Second Young Master, Ye Tan had been treating everyone as an enemy, completely like a bird frightened by the mere sound of a bow. I couldn’t clarify things for him, so I could only say: “He doesn’t have any evil intentions towards us, don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Ye Tan nodded, softly saying, “You still haven’t completely recovered, this subordinate will bring you back to rest.”

Ye Tan led me out of the room, and only then did I discover that it was snowing again. The sun was warm, and it wasn’t cold at all. The floor was already clad in silver2 , and the branches were dotted with flower buds.

I stopped walking: “A-Tan, when will these trees bloom?”

Ye Tan looked at those dry branches and said: “Soon. Early spring is almost here, so the cherries, apricots, peaches and pears will begin blooming one after the other.”

I still hadn’t seen the splendour of spring flowers blooming in this world, so I was somewhat looking forward to it: “A-Tan, how about we stay here for a few more days? Let’s wait until these flowers bloom before we go to Moling.”

Ye Tan smiled lightly: “Okay.”

Then he added: “If you like them, we can plant some at the Sword Pavilion.”

As we walked around the hall, I caught sight of a familiar figure. Ye Jun was carrying the Second Young Master on his back as they slowly made their way out of the courtyard.

I hadn’t seen the Second Young Master in a few days, and he looked like he had lost even more weight. Both of his eyes were closed, as though he was still asleep.

“Ye Jun.” I called out to him from under the veranda, “Are you leaving?”

Ye Jun nodded his head sideways towards me: “Yes, Young Master Jun.”

I: “You can’t just go on foot like that, right? If you wait for me I’ll go fetch some silver for your travel expenses, then call someone to prepare you a horse.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Jun, but there is no need.” Ye Jun smiled as he turned me down, “Ten years ago, when the Young Master brought me to Zhongli Court, the two of us were penniless. So it’s also easy now for us to leave empty-handed.”

I thought about it, then pulled out a note from my pocket: “This is the address of the Sword Pavilion in Moling, if you’re willing, you can come to the Sword Pavilion to look for us to hang out.” Then I especially added the words: “A-Tan will miss you.”

Ye Tan interrupted in a whisper: “I will not.”

Ye Jun walked towards the outer railing with a smile, but both his hands were busy holding on to the Second Young Master, so he couldn’t receive the piece of paper. He turned his head slightly to the side, and said in a low voice: “Young Master, help me receive it.”

The Second Young Master didn’t move, appearing to be asleep.

“Young Master, don’t pretend to sleep, please help me.” Ye Jun spoke softly.

The Second Young Master frowned, extending a pale wrist from his wide cuff, taking the note, and stuffing it into Ye Jun’s breast pocket.

His left hand was still agile, but his right hand and left foot were already completely crippled.

He suddenly opened his eyes, turning his head towards the wall of the neighbouring courtyard.

“It smells like plum wine.” The Second Young Master’s gaze was empty as he sniffed, then he went back to closing his silver eyes, laughing bitterly, “How could it be, I must have made a mistake.”

Ye Jun moved back two steps, and nodded his head towards me: “We’ll take our leave first. Young Master Jun, I’m sure we’ll meet again some day.”

As the two people took their leave, making their way out of the courtyard, they saw a small wine cup arranged on the stone table. It seemed like someone had just been having a drink here.

There was a jar of still unopened plum wine left behind on the table, and a piece of rice paper whose author could not be discerned from their handwriting.

It read:

At the eastern gate of the Wheel Tower we bid goodbye,

On the snow-covered road to Heaven's Mountain high.

I watch his horse go past a bend and, lost to sight,

His track will soon be buried up by snow in flight.3

✦✧✦✧✦✧

1 修羅場 lit. Asura/Shura field. From the Buddhist demigod Asura, originally used to refer to literal battlefields or scenes of carnage, but was later adapted to mean a figurative battlefield, including those caused by love triangles. Top.

2 From 银装素裹 lit. clad in silver adornments. Refers to the scenery after snowfall, when the landscape is covered in snow. Top.

3 From《白雪歌送武判官归京》“A song of white snow in farewell to magistrate Wu going back to the Capital” from the Tang Dynasty poet Cen Shen. A very popular farewell poem that evokes the winter scenery. I found a lot of different translations for this one but the one I used is here:

Snapping the pallid grass,the northern wind whirls low;
In the eighth moon the Tartar sky is filled with snow
As if the vernal breeze had come back overnight,
Adorning thousands of pear trees with blossoms white,
Flakes enter pearled blinds and wet the silken screen;
No furs of fox can warm us nor brocade quilts green.
The general cannot draw his rigid bow with ease;
Even the commissioner in coat of mail would freeze.
A thousand feet over cracked wilderness ice piles,
And gloomy clouds hang sad and drear for miles and miles.
We drink in headquarters to our guest homeward bound;
With Tartar lutes, pipas and flutes the camps resound.
Snow in large flakes at dusk falls heavy on camp gate;
The frozen red flag in the wind won't undulate.
At eastern gate of Wheel Tower we bid goodbye,
On the snow-covered road to Heaven's Mountain high.
I watch his horse go past a bend and, lost to sight,
His track will soon be buried up by snow in flight.
✦✧✦✧✦✧