Chapter 59: The Fake Gentleman* – Part 3

(TN:伪君子; also means hypocrite)

Warning: There are some detailed descriptions of gore

 

 

Ming ChangYan abruptly kicked the roots of an innocent tree, and with the wind blowing behind him, he ran away!

Seeing this person who looked like a smeared painting disappear right in front of his eyes, Huai Yu was caught off guard.

His expression changed and he yelled, “Ming ChangYan!”

Ming ChangYan stopped, the cold air hitting him in the face calmed him down a lot and he thought: Why am I running away?

Another voice in his mind said: Run somewhere where no one can see you, blush all you want, blush with all your might, and that little brat wouldn’t be there to ask you why!

Ming shaoxia was fuming with rage between gritted teeth: Asking me why, this shaoxia wants to ask himself why!

Huai Yu caught up in a few steps and said, “Why did you run?”

Ming ChangYan had just regained his rationality and his consciousness began functioning again, the redness on his face and heartbeat died down as he said, “I can run away if I want to, why are there so many why’s? What can you do, tie me up? Little Huai Yu, you ask too many why’s!”

Huai Yu was taken back, “You want to leave?”

Ming ChangYan, “Hm? Leave where? Oh, not now, I’ll leave after I resolve XiaoLan’s problem.”

After thinking about it, he thought: I really have been spending too much time together with Huai Yu, weird how it’s always gotten me so flustered.

“Even the finest feast in the world has to come to an end. Alright, let’s not talk about this now, let’s go look for XiaoLan first.”

Huai Yu suddenly grabbed his arm and paused for a bit, “Then I won’t ask.”

Ming ChangYan hadn’t fully reacted yet as he questioned, “Won’t ask what?”

Huai Yu pursed his lips and refused to speak.

After a long time, he repeated, “….I won’t ask anymore.”

Ming ChangYan was confused by his words, but at the same time, he was confused by his own actions, and now he was even more confused by Huai Yu’s actions.

It was a complete mess.

Since he wasn’t able to understand so he simply stopped thinking about it, Ming shaoxia consoled: Everything will work out in the end.

“I was quarreling with you for so long, I completely forgot about how XiaoLan was doing.”

Huai Yu said, “Why are you so worried about him?”

On second thought, Ming ChangYan thought: What’s there to worry about Zhao XiaoLan’s romantic backdrop. Besides, even if something did happen, Zhu Rong’s secretly there to accompany him, himself being there doesn’t really make a difference.

After composing himself, Ming ChangYan made his way back to the pavilion. He found a good spot to sit down, where he had a good view of the situation below. Zhao XiaoLan invited Li Li to view the flowers, but now that he didn’t have a billboard to read off of, he was flustered and didn’t know what to say. All of a sudden, Li Li smiled which caught him by surprise.

“I remember you. You often write me letters with little flowers on them.”

Zhao XiaoLan’s face flushed and suddenly felt less nervous, “That’s me. Ever since I laid eyes on my lady, you’ve constantly been in my mind.”

Li Li said, “How did you know that I liked watching snowfall?”

Zhao XiaoLan said, “I heard of it. It wasn’t hard to inquire about Maiden Li Li’s preferences, it’s just that snow in June was too hard of a task, that’s why I thought of a stupid method.”

Li Li looked at him and asked, “What stupid method?”

At that, Zhao XiaoLan didn’t respond, replying instead with his actions. He clapped his hands three times and instantly, all of the black clothes covering the June Snows were torn away.

June Snows bloom when they come in contact with sunlight. When Li Li looked upon the vast greenery, she was slightly puzzled.

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master Zhao, are you trying to fool us? It’s such a fine day, how could it possibly snow?”

Zhao XiaoLan said, “Xiao Yu-jiejie, just wait a moment.”

As expected, in less than half an incense of time, the first June Snow trembled as it slowly blossomed. Then, one after another, one by one, wherever a flower pot was located, a June Snow would bloom. They buried the pavilion with a thick layer of snow-white.

Upon seeing this spectacle, Li Li slowly widened her eyes.

Just then, the eastern winds blew its way on Taibai Yanyu Building, setting off a rain of flowers. From afar, it looked like snowflakes falling down from the sky, with the fragrance within the snow, the beauty was beyond compare.

Zhao XiaoLan’s heart was pounding as he secretly glanced at Li Li. Li Li seemed to be captivated at the scenery, unable to take her eyes off it. There was a gleam in her eyes, the tens of thousands of flowers were incomparable to beauty in front of them.

Li Li faintly nodded, “Thank you Young Master Zhao for your trouble.”

Zhao XiaoLan came back to his senses, using his fan to scratch his hair, “It’s fine as long as Maiden Li Li forgives me!”

Li Li smiled, “How can I forgive Young Master Zhao, if I never blamed you in the first place.”

When Zhao Xiaolan heard this, he let out a breath of relief, “That’s good, that’s good!”

Li Li caught a flower floating down the sky, “I heard that June Snows only bloom once and that their blossom was shorter than two incense sticks of time. It’s a pity that such a beautiful flower has such a short flowering season.”

She paused then said, “I’ve met countless men in my life. Among the men that came to see me, some came to me for my dancing, others for my face, and even those that wanted to invite me simply to give themselves face. But there will be a day that my face grows old, my body, unable to dance, and unable to satisfy their vanity.”

“All I have now is not eternal, just like these June Snows, only a moment of bloom, before the petals fall and dissipate. Flowers are like this, so are people.”

Li Li turned around and looked at Zhao XiaoLan.

“Young Master Zhao, what did you come here for?”

Zhao XiaoLan gazed at Li Li in a daze. He never thought that Li Li would say so many words to him.

A moment later, after seeing Zhao XiaoLan stammer over his words before faltering speechless, Li Li smiled, “Nevermind, I was just asking casually, Young Master Zhao doesn’t have to take it to heart.” After she finished, with a faint nod, she turned around and prepared to leave.

“Maiden Li Li, that’s not it!” Zhao XiaoLan suddenly said, “It’s because June Snows were so beautiful and the flowering season so short, that they deserve to be cherished.”

“Good things always exist for a short time…but! As long as I have it, I will always remember it! Maiden Li Li…..you, you, mustn’t be sad over your face growing old in the future.”

“Even if you grow old and unable to dance, there will still be people who love you, people who will keep you in their heart, no one will always be alone!”

Li Li looked at him.

Although Zhao XiaoLan said such bold words, the moment he came back to his senses, his entire face blushed a deep red and for a moment didn’t dare to look up.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he promptly began fumbling around his chest, before taking out a jade bracelet.

“Maiden Li Li, this, this is for you!”

Li Li thought that he looked extremely cute, thus she watched him in preparation for what he was going to say next. For a long time, Zhao XiaoLan continued muttering but was unable to make clear the origins of this bracelet. Finally, the more he said, the quieter he became. He merely held the bracelet and handed it straight to Li Li.

Li Li teased him, “Young Master Zhao, how can I wear it if you’re like this?”

Zhao XiaoLan’s body shuddered, and this time, even his ears turned red.

He took a deep breath before making up his mind, stuttering, his hands trembled as he reached to pick up Li Li’s left hand. The two’s hands were very similar, as they were both as white as sheep’s milk and fine as jade. That white jade bracelet was carefully put onto Li Li’s wrists by Zhao XiaoLan, in contrast with the skin, it looked even paler.

Li Li began, “The color white is clean and stands aloof to the world. Although it’s good, I prefer red.”

Zhao XiaoLan asked, “Red?”

Li Li gave him a faint smile, “But there is no red snow in this world.”

Zhao XiaoLan repeated, “Red snow, red snow…”

Li Li said, “Young Master Zhao, there’s no need to take it too seriously. I was happy today. I’ve said too many useless words, it makes me seem troublesome.” She changed the subject and said, “Thank you very much for inviting me out today Youg Master Zhao, Bai Jin….can’t thank you enough.”

Bai Jin was Maiden Li Li’s real name.

She said, “The fireworks show tonight, I’ll watch it with you.”

Zhao XiaoLan instantly looked up, “Real, really?!”

Li Li laughed, “Why would I lie to you?”

Zhao XiaoLan was extremely happy and laughed a few times. He even said a few “yes’s”.

Xiao Yu began, “Zhao…”

Zhao XiaoLan didn’t wait for her to finish, when he spotted someone at the corner of his eye, he broke out into a run.

“ZHU-XIONG!! ZHU-XIONG!!!”

Not too far away, Zhu Rong stood there with a slight smile.

Zhao XiaoLan ran so fast that he nearly fell down. The first thing he did when he saw Zhu Rong was announce, “I got an appointment with Maiden Li Li!”

Zhu Rong said, “Slow down.”

Zhao XiaoLan slowed down and stood in front of him, panting he said, “Li Li said, she would watch the fireworks with us tonight!”

Zhu Rong gave him a soft smile, “It’s with you, not us.”

Zhao XiaoLan was surprised, “You’re not coming?”

Zhu Rong supported his chin and said, “Why should I be there when you have an appointment with a beautiful woman, have you heard of something so absurd?”

Hearing this, Zhao XiaoLan scratched his head and fell into a dilemma. After a while, he said, “Then let me go talk to Maiden Li Li to reschedule for another time?”

He was just about to turn around when his collar was grabbed by Zhu Rong, “You already promised, if you go back on it now, do you really think there’ll be a next time?”

Zhao XiaoLan looked back at him and suddenly realized the gravity of this situation.

Zhu Rong continued, “There are many other opportunities to be together in the future, you can go watch the fireworks with her, I’ll meet up with you later.”

Zhao XiaoLan said, “Okay. But Zhu-xiong, you have to come find me after the Fireworks Festival. You already promised to help me fish this year, I’ve already bragged to A-Jun, if I don’t take first place this year she’ll laugh at me!”

Zhu Rong smiled, he didn’t agree but didn’t disagree either.

By eight, the entire sky had already turned dark. With the Fireworks Festival in Huating fast approaching, the streets outside of Taibai Yanyu Building had already been decorated with lights and banners. The peddlers and carriages came and went, shouts lingering throughout the street.

After Ming ChangYan finished watching the June Snows, he walked out of the Taibai Yanyu Building, and began walking down the street.

Huai Yu walked beside him. In less than ten steps, Ming ChangYan had narrowed his eyes and bumped Huai Yu’s arm, “Look upfront.”

Huai Yu followed his gaze and saw that in the distance was a monk from XiaoHan Temple laughing and talking with a beautiful lady in their arms. Although this monk had changed into a different set of clothes and not XiaoHan Temple’s uniform, that bare head of his was downright eye-catching.

Ming ChangYan joked, “You see, now even the monks are trying to find themselves women.”

Huai Yu said, “Why do you care about such things.”

Just then, he heard a pleasant-sounding jingle of tiny bells. Ming ChangYan was somewhat surprised as he turned around, “XiaoLan?”

Zhao XiaoLan cried out, “Yan-jiejie!”

There was a string of silver bells strapped beside his waist, jingling as he walked.

Ming ChangYan questioned, “Why are Zhu Rong’s bells with you, where is he?”

Zhao XiaoLan explained, “Zhu-xiong was busy. These bells aren’t his, I just bought these a moment ago!”

Ming ChangYan said, “Why did you buy a string of bells?”

Zhao XiaoLan sighed, “It was always Zhu-xiong who would come hang out with me, but now that he’s gone, sigh! I could only find a substitute and hope that Zhu-xiong’s incarnation will give courage! But that’s not the point, Yan-jiejie, the Fireworks Festival is starting soon, I made an appointment to watch it with Li Li at Taibai Yanyu Building, I’ve already made a reservation. It’s at the outer pavilion of Yanyu Building, we can see the best fireworks there!”

Him, “I came to find you for a reason, A-Jun and the others are already there, we’re just waiting on you and Huai Yu-gege!”

Ming ChangYan smiled, “Then lead the way.”

Sure enough, when they arrived at the outer pavilion of Taibai Yanyu Building, the tables and chairs had already been set up, complete with soldiers guarding the area. Apart from the ones that Zhao XiaoLan had already mentioned before, there was also the third prince and the country’s magistrate. Ming ChangYan suddenly realized: No wonder there are so many troops, both the son and daughter of the emperor are here.

After entering the pavilion, Ming ChangYan noticed that A-Jun’s complexion wasn’t very good. She looked fuming as she sat in a stool, her hands hugging her elbows. Duan Min stood speechless beside her, after taking a closer look, he discovered that Duan Min had another elegant black headband on his head. It seemed that A-Jun had bought some random new gismo and used it to dress Duan Min up again.

The third prince stood up and cupped his hands together, “Young Prime Minister.”

Huai Yu nodded and the two exchanged a simple greeting. The third prince then looked at Ming ChangYan again and said slowly, “Madame.”

Ming ChangYan nearly spits out all the tea in his mouth as he waved his hand around, “Excuse me. Don’t listen to the nonsense that A-Jun says and follow after her by making fun of me, us citizens really don’t deserve it! The Young Prime Minister and I are just friends, if the third prince doesn’t mind, then you can just call me a friend.”

Hearing this, the third prince said with a smile, “I had thought the Young Prime Minister was so extraordinary, that he’d actually taken a man as his wife.”

Ming ChangYan purposefully broke him off, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Zhao XiaoLan was confused, “Yan-jiejie, why are you laughing?”

Ming ChangYan stiffly responded, “I can laugh if I want, why ask so many questions.” He grabbed Zhao XiaoLan’s shoulders, “Children shouldn’t ask so many questions about grown-up matters.”

Baili Deng began, “Young Master Zhao, this way please.”

Ming ChangYan was a bit surprised. Baili Deng didn’t seem to recognize him to be Concubine Yan from the palace. After all, the medicine that had turned him younger had already weakened significantly. And since he never bothered to ask Hua YunChang for a second pill, his current appearance was barely any different from his appearance back then, he truly didn’t look like a woman at all.

Only Zhao XiaoLan and A-Jun, these two brain-dead children, would firmly believe that he was a woman.

Zhao XiaoLan was very excited to see Baili, “Baili, this is your first time seeing the Fireworks Festival, right!”

Baili gave him a bashful smile and said, “Indeed.”

Zhao XiaoLan said, “I’ve always only seen you inside the palace, you never come out to play. How come you came this time with Sanhuang-xiong?”

He was never arrogant in the palace, and because of that, he was always on good terms with the imperial bodyguards and palace maids.

Baili Deng said, “I came out of the palace today, in order to protect the safety of the princess and the third prince.”

Zhao XiaoLan laughed, “Then you really came with the right person! You’re just in time for the Fireworks Festival, in a bit, I’m going to take you to experience all the dangers here at Jianghu!”

Baili helplessly said, “Young Master Zhao, since you know the dangers of Jianghu then you should stay away from Jianghu. Don’t participate in it, so as to not cause any grave, irreversible mistake.”

Zhao XiaoLan said, “Don’t worry, that won’t happen. The more dangerous, the more I like it. After all, I’m going to be the world’s number one! How can I cower when faced with a difficult situation! Speaking of, my cultivation has had somewhat of a breakthrough recently, I’m not too far away from becoming number one. After the Fireworks Festival ends, you and I are going to swap some pointers!”

“Besides, I still have Zhu-xiong, if I’m no match for someone, he’ll help me! I’m going to surpass both you and him!”

Baili said, “Alright.” After a pause, he suddenly reminded, “But Young Master Zhao, a human’s heart is unpredictable, you must never let your guard down. You should still be careful, and take care of yourself.”

Zhao XiaoLan didn’t seem to pay in any mind; he waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t need to worry. Baili Deng paused for a while, and was just about to open his mouth and say something but was cut off.

Ming ChangYan notified, “Zhao XiaoLan, you Maiden Li Li is here.”

Zhao XiaoLan’s eyes brightened as he turned around to welcome the person he admired.

The bell’s echos followed after him.

The sound lyrical and detached, calm, and tranquil. It resounded across the night sky, traveling near and far, from the Taibai Yanyu Building to the closed entrances of XiaoHan Temple.

“Ding dong, ding dong…..ding dong, ding dong…..”

“Ding dong, ding dong…..ding dong, ding dong…..”

Suddenly, a splatter of blood landed on one of the silver bells.

The jingling came to an abrupt stop. Zhu Rong stopped and gave a faint smile, “Is it very painful?”

Below his foot was a horribly mutilated person, struggling and rolling around. Still alive, they had both their hands scratching at their throat until they gouged out pieces of skin and flesh, within the bloodied chunks exposed dense needles. Their eyes and mouth were so widened that their eye sockets had nearly split. They had swallowed hundreds of needles that had firmly pierced its way through their chin, cheek, and throat.

Zhu Rong nonchalantly kicked them away. The entire time, he was swinging his fan around, leisurely as if on a walk. The borders of XiaoHan Temple were completely unmanned.

There was a dead body every five steps. There were some at their final struggle and others that had already taken their final breath, not a single one of them didn’t have terror in their eyes. Their eyeballs had burst, the pus and blood thick and sticky as they were slowly dripping to form threads, before slashing onto the ground to become a small blood pool.

At today’s Fireworks Festival, in order to show the prestige of their sect, XiaoHan Temple had half the people go to the scene to maintain order, and the other half to remain here.

Zhu Rong’s footsteps were brisk and he was in a good mood. He hummed an unknown tune between his lips as he walked into XiaoHan Temple’s Bodhisattva hall. In the hall, there were a total of 18 Bodhisattvas that wore a ferocious expression of them. Facing the direction of the entrance, Zhu Rong kicked the Bodhisattva sitting above the altar and jumped up himself, occupying their position. He had one leg dangling beneath the altar, the other bent on its knees, beaming as he looked upon the barely alive monks below him.

“Fangzhang, is it very painful?”

On the floor, Dao Xuan-fangzhang was vomiting pus and blood with his throat pierced through with hundreds of needles. His perseverance was astonishing, even under such torture, he was still able to shakily stand up.

His voice was like broken bellows, coarse and unpleasant, leaving only an airy voice, “Let go….let us go….”

Zhu Rong smiled, “Old monk, I couldn’t hear what you just said, a bit louder?”

Dao Xuan-fangzhang kept an unwavering gaze on him. Zhu Rong’s smiling expression gradually turned ice-cold. Callously, he suddenly kicked Dao Xuan in the chest, Dao Xuan was hit so hard that he knelt on the ground, unable to stand back up.

Zhu Rong lowered his voice and said with a chilliness to him, “I said, I couldn’t hear you.”

“Please…..let us…..let us go….”

Monk Dao Xuan’s gazes faltered towards the floor where there were still a few disciples lying unconscious. Waking up after a long time, a few of the disciples were so afraid they were scared to move. Upon closer inspection, the disciple’s hands and feet had been nailed to the ground by a long, thick silver needle, even the slightest movement would tear flesh and cause unbearable pain.

Zhu Rong bored as he played around with the fan in his hands, his expression suddenly changed as he pitied, “Okay. But old monk, I’ll only spare three people, choose how you will.”

After that, he added, “I’ll give you ten seconds to think about it.”

Hearing this, the monk Dao Xuan’s face turned a deathly pale. The disciples there were even more terrified, as they all looked towards monk Dao Xuan. In their gazes held prayers, fear, as well as a deep hope.

Monk Dao Xuan was in a dilemma, just then, Zhu Rong had begun lazily counting down, “Ten, nine.”

He was engrossed in watching the two sides in front of him, their eyes filled with hysterical madness and paranoia.

All of a sudden, he skipped over the numbers in the middle, laughing as he counted without any prior warning, “Three, two, one.”

Monk Dao Xuan didn’t have time to respond when the bodies of several disciples suddenly began convulsing as some of the splattered blood landed below the eye of one of the Buddha statues. Slowly, it slid down like they were crying tears of blood in mercy.

Zhu Rong lifted his shoulder. At first, it began as a low chuckle, before long it had turned into a peal of wanton laughter, like he had just seen the funniest joke in the world.

He never had good intentions in the first place, playing with their hearts, toying with their relationships! He never thought about letting XiaoHan Temple go, only to satisfy his own vile interests of watching them struggle with morass.

When monk Dao Xuan realized this, he flew into a fit of rage as he completely lost his rationality. He frantically crawled towards Zhu Rong, like he was about to skin him alive and cut him into pieces.

Swaying his legs, Zhu Rong made no move to dodge or run, and on his face wore a smile as he continued to sit there, relaxed. He was only a step away from him when monk Dao Xuan took his final breath and fell straight to the ground.

The young man sitting on the altar’s smile completely disappeared.

“Boring.”

He swung around his fan.

“Boring.”

He hopped down from the altar, stepping on top of monk Dao Xuan’s corpse, he walked out of the front gates of XiaoHan Temple.

Zhu Rong overturned the oil lamp from a table, and allowed the flames to slowly grow in size, his cold, pale complexion as he looked on speaking levels. He was so adept in his movements that it seemed like this wasn’t the first time he’s done such cruel acts. From within the flames, countless wails and cries could be heard. Shadows twisted around him, whether real or not, they looked to be wearing splendid robes clearly not of XiaoHan Temple.

They seemed to be weeping and screeching in his ear, “Zhuang Xiao….Zhuang Xiao…..”

“Hateful…..I’m so hateful…….”

“So ruthless……murdering your own father……didn’t die naturally…..”

Zhu Rong’s was expressionless. Silent, for the echoing jingle of bells.

With each step, the effect of the bells grew stronger as the voices beside his ear gradually disappeared. Huating’s first firework had already been set off when he reached the gates.

He suddenly remembered he had an appointment with Zhao XiaoLan.

 

The author has something to say:

Even Zhao Zhao himself doesn’t even know why he’s always bashful!

All of the supporting cast have been introduced! Although they’ve appeared in earlier chapters, now they’re all officially here!

 

 

 

This was translated by https://poppyscanlations.video.blog/, any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work then I’m dressing your from head to toe in ugly leopard-print and cameo clothing.

 

 

 

Hey guys, with the recent things that’ve been happening not just in the US, but globally, like the terror bill in the Philippines. I’m not the most well-informed person for you to hear about this, but I will say this. Black lives matter and any person who wants to argue with me about this can leave this site, you’re not welcomed here.

LINK: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

On a lighter note, I hope everyone’s been able to find some source of solace during these insane times. I’ve been getting into Fire Emblem Three Houses, and I love my baby boy Dimitri so much, he just fills me with joy.

If you see any grammatical/translation errors, then please notify me!

Please stay safe everyone, and fuck the police ♥️

 

 

 

Chapter 58 : Table of Contents : Chapter 60