Chapter 69 – Chilli Crab (c)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
It was a testament of Shiyu’s maturity and poise that she did not spit her tea into a certain idiot’s face.
Brother, where do you keep your brains, ah?
“When you acted, er, cool before…” wasn’t it because you realised what a calculative bitch she was and decided to avoid her?
“I didn’t want to drag her down with me,” Feng Luo smiled helplessly. “With the rumours flying all over the place, people are bound to come and look for trouble with me. Her Cultivation level is not very high, I was afraid that she’d be bullied because of me. That’s why I decided to protect her by maintaining a certain distance between us.”
“… …” this is… Shiyu has no words. “You take care,” was all she could say in the end.
The relationship between Feng Luo and Meng Li was just too complicated. Though Shiyu really wanted to advise this guy, she found it difficult to say anything. There are some things that one must discover for themselves.
The path to becoming an immortal was a long and arduous one. There will be many mental and physical challenges that one has to face to temper their heart and achieve enlightenment. Whether this relationship would be a test of his resolve on the path of Cultivation or bring ultimate doom… is not her place to say, ah. After all, who could say what would happen in the future? She had better just get back to dissecting Ginseng Fruit people!
Later that day, after a bath, Feng Luo changed into fresh clothes and went out to search for Meng Li.
Though his biggest concern has been assuaged, there were still countless other issues to be faced. Therefore, he did not set out with a light heart. Moreover, the stress of the past few weeks and sleepless nights had taken a toll on his face, leaving it thin and haggard.
When passersby saw him, sympathy welled up in their hearts. However, few approached him. Nevertheless, Feng Luo appreciated the sympathetic words from the few people who stopped to talk to him. To which he would smile back serenely.
As he made his way towards Meng Li’s classroom, Meng Li and her friends just happened to be leaving their classes when she spotted Feng Luo making his way over. Subconsciously, she shrank back and turned to Mo Yin, “Little Yin, I forgot something in the classroom, won’t you come and fetch it with me?”
Mo Yin, not suspecting anything, agreed quickly enough. The girls had just turned around and were hurrying away when Feng Luo saw them. He raced over and called out, “Meng Li!”
Meng Li increased her pace in reaction. Shocked, Feng Luo reflexively bolted forward and caught up with the girls. “Meng Li, where are you going?”
Unable to hide away now, Meng Li forced a smiled and said, “I’m just going back to the classroom to fetch something.”
The reason why Feng Luo came looking for Meng Li was to inform her that his family’s situation was probably going to turn out fine, but at her rigid expression, something in his heart sank. Unsure what to think, he pretended not to notice it and said, “It’s been a few days since I last saw you…”
“It’s fine. Didn’t I hear that something happened at the Feng Clan?”
“Yes,”
“I’m sorry for you,” now that the Feng Clan had fallen from its glory, the formerly heroic-looking Feng Luo no longer seemed as attractive to her eyes. He looked weak and desperate instead.
Just then, Liu Yi happened to move into Meng Li’s line of sight. She had heard that he was currently receiving personal attention from Elder Liu, and would be charged with some small duties now and then…
Meng Li’s eyes flashed over to glance imperceptibly at Mo Yin, her gaze when Liu Yi came up to them was searching. Suddenly, they both smiled at each other. Their gaze held only for half a second, but these two people making eye contact have achieved perfect understanding without the need for words.
Liu Yi laughed and turned to Feng Luo, “It’s a pity that such a terrible thing happened to the Feng Clan. But, what happened had already happened. Nothing you can do about but grieve and move on. Anyway, Little Yin and I have some other business to attend to. We shall take our leave first.”
Liu Yi had seen Feng Luo running towards the two girls and deliberately came over to provoke the young man. Though both of them were sons of prominent families, Liu Yi had always felt oppressed by the presence of this main family’s son. It gave him great pleasure to look down on this person now.
“Very well,” Feng Luo did not mind, since he wanted to speak with Meng Li alone. It’s better that they leave first.
However, just as he turned to Meng Li, she quickly said, “I also have some other business to attend to. Let’s talk later, ba.” With that, she hurried off, skittering over to Mo Yin’s side.
As the backs of these three people disappeared around a corner, Feng Luo found himself left behind. A lone breeze snagged the corners of his clothes, tossing it about as he stared in the direction of the people who called themselves his friends.
Compared to how they treated him before, and the way they deliberately snubbed and alienate him now, how could he not see their true nature? He was no fool.
No, he is a fool.
Hints of their double standard behaviour have appeared in the past, but he was just too blind to it.
He had been too in love with Meng Li, too ready to believe that these people were friends with him for himself and not his name or status. [1]
Finally, he turned around and made his way back to the Villa. His steps were quick, his pace almost desperately fast as he pushed past the gate and into the villa with its bright gardens and ridiculous ivy-covered house. It was very lively here. Shiyu was in the shade, dissecting Ginseng Fruit, San Pang was making a nuisance of himself on the side, now and then picking up a random Ginseng Fruit limb to nibble on. Old Gu was relaxing with a novel while Lin Fan was on the roof, cultivating as usual. A black cat was sprawled under a sunbeam, snoozing the day away
It was all very tranquil and peaceful here.
Feng Luo sat down on the stone bench in the garden and pondered over all that had happened. [1] How could he have been so stupid? How could he not see just what his so-called friends were really like? That what Meng Li wanted was the heir to the Feng Clan and not… Feng Luo?
As these thoughts occupied him, the sun continued to make its way across the sky, soon the day was over and night fell. Tonight’s dinner was very simple. Shiyu made some yam porridge for everyone and while it was bubbling away, she poked her head out to see that Feng Luo was still seated on the garden bench behind the villa. She sighed, the poor guy must have found out the truth and was now trying to make peace with his emotions. She drew away and resolved not to disturb him.
After dinner, she sat down in the lotus position and Cultivated until her spiritual powers were almost exhausted. Now was not the time to mess around anymore, she has the competition thing coming up, and she had no intention of letting Mo Yin kick her around. After the sitting meditation, she went after the Ginseng Fruits again. This time, she could break the fruit down to 12 individual components.
Shiyu worked through the night, dissecting the fruits as some sort of moving meditation until morning breaks over them. She finally looked up, stretching her sore body and made her way towards the kitchen. On the way, she noted that Feng Luo was no longer at the garden bench. As per her habit, she made a detour around the kitchen garden and was surprised to see Feng Luo with a little pile of vegetables in hand. He was contemplating the water pump, apparently trying to figure out how to wash the soil off the vegetables without getting himself dirty.
At the sight of Shiyu, he smiled awkwardly, “I woke up early and didn’t know what to do with myself. So I thought I’d help you get breakfast started. Hopefully, I haven’t made trouble instead?”
“Oh, no, no,” Shiyu looked him over discreetly and noticed that he looked perfectly cheerful, all previous tiredness was now gone. There was a new determination in his eyes that was absent before. More importantly, the aura around him…
“Did you just have a breakthrough?”
Feng Luo nodded, “I had been stuck on the 8th Level for some time now. I just happened to manage it last night.”
Breaking through required more than just spiritual pills and physical abilities, one’s mental state was also very important. Last night, he spent a long time understanding himself and the people around him, and with a clear mind saw everything that he had missed before and had an epiphany.
“How lucky!” said Shiyu enviously, ever since she had broken through to the Core Transformation Stage, her Cultivation rate had slowed down a lot. To the point that she had not even reached Level 1 of the Core Transformation Stage.
Just then, Lin Fan came down and said casually, “What a coincidence, I too had a breakthrough last night.”
“… …” Shiyu was very pissed off. Are these two performing a duet of some kind? Humph, you two deserve each other. “I’m taking the day off today. You can find your own three meals for the day!”
[Gumihou: Lolol, the frustration of an ‘ordinary’ character, lol]
[1] Additional Information: Gave Feng Luo a little more introspective text.
If you love my translations, do consider putting a review at novelupdates!
Or Supporting me via Patreon or Ko-fi ~
໒( ́ ́ )७
