Wei WuXian first lifted the corners of his mouth with a ‘pfft’, then immediately burst into unbridled laughter.
Under everyone’s shocked eyes, he laughed so hard that he was out of breath, clutching Jiang Cheng’s shoulder as he spoke, “Absurd? Outrageous? I’d say you’re the one who’s all of those! Wen Chao, do you know who was the one that said those words? I’m sure you don’t, do you? Let me tell you. This was said by the most, most, most famous cultivator of your sect, the one who founded the entire thing, Wen Mao. You dared say that one of your ancestor’s remarks are absurd and outrageous? Well said, very well said! Ahahahahaha…”
Within the Quintessence of the Wen Sect that had been given out, even the most ordinary of smalltalk comments could be analyzed over and over, their deep meanings boasted with exceptional extravagance. Let alone memorizing it well, Wei WuXian felt disgusted after just flipping through its pages. However, he found this quote of Wen Mao’s quite ironic, which was why he could recall it with ease.
Wen Chao’s complexion switched between red and white. Wei WuXian added, “Right, what was the accusation given to those who insult famous cultivators of the Wen Sect again? How should they be punished? I remember that it was execution, right? Yes, very well, you can go die now.”
Wen Chao couldn’t hold himself back any longer, unsheathing his sword and lunging at Wei WuXian. With that, he lunged out of Wen ZhuLiu’s range of protection.
Wen ZhuLiu had always been used to defending against the attacks of others. He had never expected Wen Chao to leave by his own will. Facing the sudden difficulty, he somehow couldn’t react in time. On the other hand, as Wei WuXian provoked Wen Chao, he was precisely waiting for the moment of uncontrollable rage. The smile by his lips didn’t falter at all as he attacked with the speed of lightning. In a split second, he had snatched the sword and reversed the situation, subduing Wen Chao with just one move!
One hand gripping Wen Chao, he leaped a few times and landed on one of the islets above the pool, keeping his distance from Wen ZhuLiu. With his other hand he pressed the sword onto Wen Chao’s neck, warning, “Nobody move. If you’re not careful, I might just decide to let some blood out of your Young Master Wen!”
Wen Chao screeched, “Stop moving! Stop moving!”
The disciples surrounding Lan WangJi and Jin ZiXuan finally ceased their attacks. Wei WuXian shouted, “Core-melting Hand, you’re not moving either! You know how the temper of the Wen Sect’s leader is. Your master is in my hand. If he loses just one drop of blood, then not one of the people here should hope to live on, including you!”
Wen ZhuLiu put his arms down as Wei WuXian had expected. Seeing that the situation was under control, Wei WuXian was about to speak when he suddenly felt that the entire ground below him had trembled.
He was on guard at once, “Jiang Cheng! Is it an earthquake?”
They were currently inside of an underground cave. If an earthquake or a landslide happened, it’d be extremely terrifying whether their entrance was blocked or they were buried alive. Yet, Jiang Cheng replied, “No!”
But Wei WuXian felt that the shaking of the ground had intensified. The blade almost touched Wen Chao’s throat quite a couple of times, making him scream. Jiang Cheng immediately shouted, “It’s not an earthquake—what’s moving is the thing under your feet!!!”
Wei WuXian had noticed as well. It wasn’t that the ground was trembling, but that the islet that he landed on. Not only was it trembling, it was also rising and rising. The area above the surface of the water grew larger and larger.
He had finally realized. This wasn’t an islet, but a large creature that had been hidden within the depths of the pool—right now, he was standing on the shell behind the back the beast!
Translator’s Notes
MianMian: Mian means ‘soft’, but can also mean ‘ceaseless”.
Its ceaseless bounds yearn for miles and miles on: Here, Wei WuXian is making a pun with reference to a famous poem about a vast field of grass. Mianmian refers to the ceaseless bounds of the grass while yuandao refers to ‘a long distance’.
Wen Xu: Xu means ‘rising sun’.
Wang LingJiao: Wang is not only one of the most common surnames in China but also one of the surnames that are considered the least poetic. Ling means ‘vivacious” or ‘spiritual’ while Jiao means delicate. When put together, this is a very ‘unsophisticated’ name, compared to the other names in the story.
JiaoJiao: This is Wang LingJiao’s nickname.
Chapter 53 Courage—Part Three
The ‘islet’ moved quickly toward the shore.
The approach of the foreign beast brought upon them formless tension. Aside from a few—Lan WangJi, Jin ZiXuan, Jiang Cheng, and Wen ZhuLiu—everyone else kept on staggering backward. Just as everyone thought that the underwater creature would flip out any moment, it halted.
The dormant beast had been awakened because Wei WuXian jumped onto its back. Now, Wei WuXian didn’t dare move rashly. He remained where he was and waited.
Above the dark water that surrounded the ‘islet’ were a few maple leaves of an unusually bright shade of red, slowly floating by.
Below the leaves, within the depths of the pool, was something that looked like a pair of glowing bronze mirrors.
The bronze mirrors grew larger and larger, nearer and nearer. Wei WuXian exclaimed under his breath. Dragging Wen Chao, he stepped back just as the surface below his foot shook and suddenly began to rise. The ‘islet’ rose into the air. The large, coal-black head of a beast, atop it the couple of maple leaves, soared out of the water!
Under the screams varying in pitch, the beast slowly turned its head around, staring with its massive eyes the two humans on its back.
The round head of the beast appeared rather strange, similar to both a turtle’s and a snake’s. Simply looking at its head, it’d be more like a gigantic snake, but looking at its body, which had largely risen out of the water already, it seemed more like a…
Wei WuXian, “… What a large… tortoise…”
This wasn’t the average tortoise.
If the tortoise were to crash onto the Lotus Pier’s training ground, its shell alone could fill up the entire martial arts field. Even three burly men wouldn’t be able to put their arms around its dark crown. Much less, the average tortoise couldn’t extend out of its shell a snake’s long, winding head, within it a full mouth of yellow, criss-crossed fangs, let alone grow four sharp claws that seemed quite agile.
Wei WuXian met the pair of large, golden eyes. Its pupil was just a slit, its thickness shifting, as though its eyes were switching in and out of focus, not completely able to tell what exactly was on its back.
It seemed like that the beast had the eyesight of a snake as well—not too good. As long as they didn’t move, maybe it wouldn’t be able to notice.
Suddenly, two streams of water vapor shot out of its hole-like nostrils.
The maple leaves that had been floating in the water just happened to be near its nose. It spurted out the air likely because they were itching it. Wei WuXian was still motionless, standing as if he was a statue. However, the slight movement scared the life out of Wen Chao.
Wen Chao knew that the beast craved slaughter more than anything. Seeing that it suddenly shot vapor from its nose, he thought that it was about to go into a rage. Disregarding the sword by his neck, he screamed toward Wen ZhuLiu, who was at the shore, “Why aren’t you helping me yet?! Help me now! What are you waiting for?!”