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Chapter 2: That Type of Posture Truly Made People Feel Embarrassed
>>Part 3<<
“Miss Ye and I represent, respectively, the second generation of Bai Sect and Li Sect. We’ve unanimously agreed that you are connected to the martial dao schools.” Li Han saw Chen Luonian start to glower and rushed on. “No matter what you say, our profession judgement will definitely be effective in the face of law.”
Now law was being brought up? Chen Luonian was baffled. He glanced towards Ye Weishan, but Li Han continued. “Nowadays, the situation is tense so all the members of martial dao schools are being managed by an overseeing power. This isn’t something you can refuse with a sentence of ‘I’m not willing’. Do you know that the arrest of He Sect has already been ordered?”
What’s with that? Chen Luonian knitted his brows as he said, “The fuck? Does freedom still exist? Aren’t you guys worried that I’ll go find the media?”
“Do you feel like the current society would support a martial dao school member that cares only about himself? Especially after what happened today?” Li Han said seriously, “Honestly speaking, the moment the news that He Sect refused to confront monsters got out, all of their sect locations were destroyed by mobs. Right now, their whereabouts are unknown. Do you wish to also fall to that sort of condition?”
You’re threatening me? Fuck! Who’s afraid of you!? If he had been more polite, they could have still discussed things a little bit more. However, if he was going with force, there was nothing else to be discussed. From the start, Chen Luonian was the type to face a thousand pointing fingers with a cool scowl. So now, he glowered as he said, “Bastard! Then try getting someone to catch me!?”
“Luonian?” Ye Weishan was stunned.
“Luonian, how can you be so impolite?” Chen Shangshan was also surprised.
No matter what, Chen Luonian always respected his uncle. He paused for a moment before he said unhappily, “He doesn’t feel that he’s nosy, but I feel like it’s irritating.”
Li Han also didn’t expect that Chen Luonian, who was only over a decade old, would actually be so unmoved by both force and persuasion. He couldn’t keep his expressions from showing anymore and stood up with a dark face. “The reason I came today was to express goodwill as the representative of one of Taiwan’s sects. However, unexpectedly, you are so rude despite your young age. We’ll just leave things like this for now. We’ll be able to meet again very soon once the orders are handed down!”
It sounds like the Li Sect is even in charge of capturing people? Did he provoke the wrong person? Fuck, never mind so much. He’ll just deal with it when the time comes! It couldn’t be that this world was truly scared by the monsters so much reason no longer mattered, right?
“Mister Li, please wait a moment.” Ye Weishan didn’t want things to end up like this and hastily spoke up.
“What wise opinion does Miss Ye have to express?” Li Han turned around as he replied.
However, Ye Weishan didn’t know how to mediate either. Chen Luonian truly had made things final, so she had no idea what to say in his defense.
Just at this moment, the door to Chen Luonian’s room suddenly opened and Huai Zhen jumped out. Huai Zhen laughed ‘hehe’ as she said to Li Han, “Wait a sec. Sorry, Luonian has a bad temper. Don’t get angry please.”
Any normal person would soften a bit upon seeing Huai Zhen. Li Han was no exception as his anger immediately disappeared. He stuttered, “It’s nothing, I’m not angry.”
“It was I that prohibited Luonian from saying it.” Huai Zhen sat down next to Chen Luonian and gave a slight smile. “In reality, I’m Luonian’s distantly related cousin. I was the one that taught Luonian martial arts.”
A distantly related cousin from what relative? Chen Luonian was so shocked by this that his anger faded as well. He stared at Huai Zhen, taken aback, as well as with some curiosity towards how she planning to continue making things up.
“A distantly related cousin? From where?” As expected, the genuine relative, Chen Shangshan, was the first to doubt it.
“That’s… My grandmother’s younger brother once became sworn brothers with Luonian’s father’s cousin’s husband. It seemed to have been like that,” Huai Zhen said.
The fox spirit is starting to blather nonsense. What crappy serialized drama’s plot was this? And, how does sworn brothers equate to some ‘distantly related cousin’? Chen Luonan couldn’t help but find this funny. Leaning against the sofa, he didn’t speak and just prepared to watch the show.
“Grandmother’s younger brother… father’s cousin’s husband…”
Before Chen Shangshan even had the chance to figure out whether this counted as being cousins or not, Huai Zhen had already snatched the opportunity to say, “This isn’t important. It was my grandmother that had me come find Luonian and take him in as a sect member before she died. I heard it was something her younger brother and Luonian’s aunt’s husband agreed on!”
Seeing everyone’s astonished eyes, Huai Zhen continued to flesh out the lies. “We are indeed related to the martial dao schools. We are… the Hu(胡) Sect! That’s right, I’m called Hu(胡) Huaizhen. I almost forgot to introduce myself.”
Hu? The hu from fox spirit(Hu2lijing1狐狸精) or the hu from talking rubbish(hu2shuo1ba1dao4胡說八道)? Chen Luonian shook his head. This vixen’s skill at weaving lies isn’t all that great. This scenario was really a bit far-fetched.
“Hu Sect? So it’s Miss Hu…” Li Han said, half doubtingly, “I don’t seem to have heard of them before?”
“Of course ah. Our branch was passed on in a small circle for thousands of years and we didn’t come into contact with other sects either. Everyone thought that our line had already been broken off.” Huai Zhen slightly smiled as she continued, “Have you two heard of the Monster Binding Faction?”
Li Han and Ye Weishan were simultaneously surprised, their faces both confused. Huai Zhen smiled as she said, “Dual Cultivation and Specialized CultivationT/N aren’t the only factions in the martial dao schools. You should go ask your seniors, they should know. The cultivation style of the Monster Binding Faction doesn’t classify into inner or outer qi.”
Although Li Han didn’t know if this was true or not, they were the words of a girl whose charm penetrated one’s bones and moved one’s soul, not to mention that the last part didn’t seem to have been said randomly. Thus, even if he didn’t want to believe, he couldn’t help but believe and immediately nodded. “It is naturally a good thing for people of the same school to get to know each other… However, nowadays, all the sects of martial dao schools must accept supervision. May I ask how many members your sect has? I can represent you guys and help you guys prepare a report to send to the fourth branch of the presidential palace. It’d also be more convenient for getting a salary.”
“Where would there be members? It’s just the two of us, so there’s also no need to write up a report. If it’s so that it’d be easier to manage…” Huai Zhen shot Chen Luonian a glance, then said, “In any case, Luonian and Weishan are in the same school. For the time being, the Hu Sect can just become a subordinate branch of Bai Sect with a guest status. Weishan, could we?”
Ye Weishan didn’t expect for such a change to occur and couldn’t immediately react. Only after a few moments of being stunned did she reply, “Of-of course! But… it seems too disrespectful.”
“Not at all ah.” Huai Zhen said cheerfully, “Luonian also really misses being with you guys.”
Stinkin’ fox, just focus on pulling up your lies and don’t pull me in! Moreover, what was going on now? How come she suddenly wants him to fight monsters again? Chen Luonian aimed a glance at Huai Zhen, only to see her shoot a warning-like look at him. It was the same expression as the one last time in the Western-style restaurant… In any case, this fox probably wouldn’t harm him. Chen Luonian rubbed his nose and didn’t say anything.
Following that, Huai Zhen turned around to look at Li Han and exposed an earnest expression. “The reason Luonian persisted in not saying anything was due to my instructions. Then, there was also his bad temper, that’s why his tone turned rotten… I apologize in his place. I hope that Mister Li, as a benevolent person, will not hold this against someone pettier. Please forgive us.”
“What? Not at all.” Even Li Han’s bones turned soft from Huai Zhen’s gaze and he hastily replied, “How could I possibly bicker about such a small matter? Don’t worry, don’t worry.”
“Then…” Huai Zhen’s pretty eyes turned and she said, “As for other matters, allow us to discuss them with Weishan?”
Li Han had blanked out for a few seconds. Now, he snapped back to his senses and hastily stood up. “Then… Miss Hu, I’ll leave first.”
“Brother Li.” Chen Shangshan got up as well. “If you would do me the honor, I’d like to invite you out for a drink so we can talk a little more?”
“Thank you, but there’s still a lot of matters that must be taken care of today.” Li Han smiled slightly as he tactfully declined. “I’ll be leaving first, then. I’ll leave the rest for Bai Sect to handle.”
“Then, I’ll see you off.” Chen Shangshan got up and walked out, following Li Han.
◇◇◇◇
After that, there was only Chen Luonian, Huai Zhen, and Ye Weishan left in this relatively small living room. Ye Weishan looked at the two and her brows slightly knitted, as if she had a lot of questions but wasn’t sure where to start.
“Weishan.” Huai Zhen smiled as she asked, “Where do you want to start?”
Ye Weishan thought for a bit then looked at Chen Luonian. “Hu Sect of the Monster Binding Faction… is this why you didn’t join Bai Sect?”
He should probably nod right now, right? Chen Luonian glanced at Huai Zhen, then nodded slightly.
“Not joining was because of Hu Sect, joining was also because of Hu Sect.” Huai Zhen butted in to say, “I’ve never gotten in touch with other sects before. When I heard about you guys, I couldn’t help but want to find out about other sects a little, that’s why Luonian joined. You probably remember that back then, Luonian didn’t want to join. I was the one that forced him… Later, Luonian was gradually getting in deeper and was worried you guys would blame him after finding out. That was why he backed out while it was still early.”
“So it was like that…” Ye Weishan looked at the two of them, then muttered, “I wouldn’t dare to blame. But, this means that there’s really a Monster Binding Faction?”
“Of course ah.” Huai Zhen beamed. “Do you think I would lie?”
“Then… What does Huai Zhen jie feel would be the best way to coordinate with the Bai Sect?” Ye Weishan asked.
“If you would treat us as part of your own group, and just let Luonian operate together with that small group of yours, that’d be great.” Huai Zhen smiled. “I’m pretty busy sometimes, so I might not always participate.”
“En…” Ye Weishan hesitated for a moment before saying, “Then it’ll be the same as the past. We’ll be meeting up at the same place after school. During holidays, we’ll start at one o’clock in the afternoon. If it’s possible, please get a phone so it would be easier to get in touch.”
Chen Luonian said, “Got it.” As for a phone, Chen Luonian had treated it as wind past the ear last time. This time, he planned to do the same. He has never looked for anyone, nor did he want to let anyone find him. That’s why he didn’t feel any need for a mobile phone.
“I’ll leave first.” Ye Weishan stood up and said to Huai Zhen with a bit of formality. “There’s truly a lot of matters today and I must return to meet up with the others. When I’m not around, their efficiency in finding monsters is worse.”
“Luonian, you should see Weishan off.” Huai Zhen said with a smile.
Chen Luonian got up and followed Weishan downstairs. Even though he was ‘seeing her off’, the staircase of this old-styled apartment building was narrow so they were still walking separately, with one person descending at a time. The two didn’t speak during the entire walk. Chen Luonian was just considering whether he should walk her all the way to the station when Ye Weishan stopped walking and said, “It’s fine if you just send me this far. I’ll return on my own.”
Chen Luonian, who as looking at Ye Weishan’s back, suddenly couldn’t help but ask, “What are you worried about?”
Ye Weishan was slightly surprised and turned around. “Is it very obvious?”
He probably shouldn’t have been able to tell? Chen Luonian started slightly, then replied half-heartedly, “No, I was just guessing.”
Ye Weishan didn’t speak and just slightly tilted her head as she stared at Chen Luonian. That clear gaze in which black and white was distinguished clearly exposed a sort of complicated mix – a train of thought that was impossible to understand with a single glance. Chen Luonian felt at a loss. For some reason, he suddenly became a little flustered.
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Yours Truly
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
T/N – Dual Cultivation and Specialized Cultivation, I’m switching to these terms.
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