Chapter 264 – Pan-Fried Shrimp Bun (a)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
“You can’t say we took advantage of her,” Lin Fan really did not like this phrase. “It’s a favour. The grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated by a gushing spring [1]. We might not be able to repay her directly now but in the future, when we are much stronger, we should have the opportunity to repay her grace.”
It is only when one takes without any indication of giving back is ‘taking advantage’.
Everyone agreed with this outlook and their troubled emotions calmed down.
“Since we all needed to be stronger, let’s go and Cultivate now,” Feng Luo stood up. “A storm is coming to Eastern Martial Empire, even if we could not participate in the major fights, we should not hold others back.”
Rumours had trickled even to the Imperial College. It looks like the enemies of the Eastern Martial Empire were more powerful than they had imagined.
With all sorts of pressure on them and the sense of urgency in the air… the one thing that made Feng Luo feel helpless was Shiyu’s Cultivation.
When they first met, Shiyu’s Cultivation was so far below his that she was labelled by [2] Mo Yin as a ‘climbing vine’ out to take advantage and suck up to the more powerful Liu Yi. But now? Shiyu was getting further and further ahead of them. Of him. Though his Cultivation had improved by leaps and bounds, isn’t it mostly due to Shiyu?
After a short discussion, everyone dispersed to busy themselves with their own matter.
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Early next morning, Shiyu returned to the Villa with a bloated Demon Vine.
They had busied themselves these few nights breaking into various medicine fields to steal the essence of precious herbs. Shiyu had collected enough Origin of Qi that the little wisp of vapour now has a solid form. She suspected that the low Spiritual energies in the Ninth Realm were to be blamed for the lack of Origin of Qi even in 10,000-year-old herbs.
All of the Origin of Qi was sealed inside the jade bottle, of course. As for the little green Demon Vine, it had become even more beautiful and lustrous due to a very nutritional diet of medicinal plant essence.
This morning, the Vine and Shiyu did not return to the College at the usual time. That’s because they received news from Feng Luo that Xiao Yun had been buried on a hill outside of the Imperial Capital by the husband and wife.
She was now on her way to dig up that little girl’s corpse.
The three drops of medicinal essence would still be lurking within Xiao Yun’s body. Although her vitality had been extinguished, the medicinal essence alone should be enough to preserve the soul within the body, keeping Xiao Yun in a state of suspended animation.
Following the instructions of the servant, Shiyu made her way to the hillside and located the grave.
Xiao Yun had been buried in a very nice place on a hill overlooking a good view and surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was not clear whether the couple was struck by some guilt or conscience but the place chosen was really good.
However, no matter how nice the view or how luxurious the coffin was, the eyes of the dead could not see it. Burial rites and all that is meant for the living after all.
Shiyu looked around and noted that the grave was away from the general traffic. With the rugged mountains behind them and the forests on either side, it was clear that people rarely come here. Still, Shiyu set up a barrier just in case. After all, she was about to commit grave robbery and it would not do to be seen.
With the tall trees and green hills around as well as the mountain breeze stirring the leaves, it was not so hot.
This would be Shiyu’s first grave robbery.
After walking around the tomb once, Shiyu stomped the ground, cracking the stone open. With a flick of her hand, the broken stones rolled to the side along with the soil, exposing the coffin within.
Shiyu leapt down and grabbed the lid of the coffin with both hands and with great force, open up the coffin.
A terrible rotting stench rolled out. Shiyu’s stomach lurched from the terrible smell and her heart sank.
This stench…
Of course, corpses usually decompose faster during the hot summer months but… Xiao Yun should be in a state of suspended animation. So what is this terrible stench?
“Why is it like this?!”
Xiao Yun’s body had decomposed. This was outside of her calculations.
“Isn’t it normal for the body to decay?” a voice called down.
“But she’s not really dead!” Shiyu snapped in frustration.
“There is no soul left in the body, so how could it not be dead?”
“But I…” wait! Shiyu suddenly turned around. Who’s speaking to her?!
Her eyes caught sight of a man with white hair and dressed in all white lounging in a nearby tree. He was swinging his legs casually and biting into a piece of fruit with obvious enjoyment.
At first, Shiyu thought she was looking at a ghost. However, this man was clearly alive. His face was very beautiful, surpassing the likes of Lin Fan and comparable to Wen Heng. Where Wen Heng’s looks were noble and prideful. This person could be called beautiful, bewitching even. He has the looks that get better the more one looks at him.
“Who are you?” Shiyu frowned. The Spiritual barrier she had put up should have alerted her if anyone approaches. For this person to suddenly appear here, his Cultivation must surpass hers.
There were too many powerful people appearing in the Capital. Who knows whether this person was an enemy or a friend?
The man jumped down gracefully from the tree, “Oh, I’m just passing by. When I saw you digging up a grave here, I thought it looked fun and came to take a see what you’re doing.” He took another bite of the fruit, an apple, and continued, “It’s fine. Just carry on. Pretend I’m not here.”
“… …” Shiyu gave him another glance before looking into the coffin again.
“Hold it, if you wish to look at the corpse, I must warn you first. It’s covered in maggots and very disgusting. Also, there’s no point looking because the little girl’s soul is no longer there.”
“But why is it like this?” Shiyu was frustrated. She had intended to save the little girl. If she had known that her scheme would end like this, she would have directly saved the little girl instead.
She was quite vexed.
“Oh? Sounds like there’s some intrigue behind this grave digging. Come, come, tell me your story. Perhaps I can give you an answer?” the man took another large bite of the apple and was chewing it with his mouth open. This rude behaviour was really at odds with his beautiful face.
Shiyu ignored him and flashed back towards the Imperial Capital.
If the spirit is not in the body, perhaps it’s still lingering around the house?
She arrived at Hai’er Alley and spread out her mental energies. However, no matter how hard she looked, she could not perceive the little girl’s soul.
[3] “One really can’t tell from your appearance. To think you have such majestic mental powers,” the man [3] casually followed this very interesting girl back into the City where he watched as she scanned the little alley for something. For the spirit of that little girl?
“Not even a Divine Transformation master yet but already have such strong mental powers. Girl, your future will have no limit- hmm?”
The girl had suddenly disappeared before his very eyes. The man casually glanced around.
“So quick?” he was a little surprised and deployed his senses. After a while, curiosity sparkled in his eyes. “Nowhere in the Imperial Capital… where have you gone?”
[Gumihou: Shiyu has done what we Chinese say ‘Calculate until the grass don’t grow’. Basically, she’s being overly calculative and thinks she’s too clever for everyone else… I guess this proves that she and Tan-Tai Chu are blood-related.]
We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places
[1] The grace of a drop of water should be reciprocated by a gushing spring – A small favour should be repaid by a hundred fold, or something like that. [2] Added Details for Dramatic Purpose: Also to remind people of poor Mo Yin’s contribution right at the beginning of her appearance. [3] Added Details for Logistic Purpose: Made the POV switch more obvious. Also, we are all going to play author-san’s favourite game of ‘pretending not to recognise this very obvious character’. [4] Adjusted Details to Reduce the Stupid: Make ‘white hair guy’ curious instead of ‘doubt his own senses’ because the latter is just a stupid attempt to make Shiyu, who had already done a stupid, appeared less stupid.
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