Chapter 289 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (f)
Translated by Gumihou
Edited by Gumihou
[Gumihou: … brain holes, it’s all brain holes, potholes and plot holes everywhere!!]
By the time Shiyu reached the Imperial Capital, a whole day had passed. However, instead of going to the College, she went and hunted down Suo Lan instead.
According to the Panda Brothers and Ding Qi, the gang who murdered the people in Dawn City were all Divine Transformation realm or above. Moreover, all of them except the leader wore black cloaks. This was suspiciously similar to Suo Lan’s gang of thugs. They must be affiliated somehow.
Suo Lan was a little surprised by her visit. However, he was happy to see that she had successfully broken through. Now that she has reached Divine Transformation Realm, the advantages out weights the disadvantages.
Shiyu came to him and went straight to the point, “If I buy information from you, what would it cost?”
Suo Lan was surprised by this question. However, [1] he soon recovered. His eyes squinted into curves and he said, “That would depend on what you wish to know.”
“What I want to know is, are there any Demonic Cultivators among your Enforcers?” Shiyu said, staring straight at him.
“Yes, of course, we have.”
“Then, do you know this person?” with a wave of her hand, Shiyu conjured up a cloud of aura and it manifested itself into a person shrouded in a grey cloak.
She had reconstructed this person’s appearance based on the Panda Brothers’ description. Although they were quite far away and were in a state of panic, the trauma was enough for them to memorize the brief glimpse they had of this person.
When Suo Lan saw the man in grey, the blood vessels on his forehead jumped. “What do you want to know about him?”
“In other words, you know him?” Shiyu immediately pounced on this remark. “Who is he? Where is he now?!”
“May I know why you’re looking for him?”
Shiyu did not answer, instead, she said, “Are you going to make the deal or not? I need to know who he is and where he is now. I will make sure you are properly compensated.”
“Very well, I’m convinced,” Suo Lan spread out his hands. “The man you are seeking out is an Enforcer with a supervisorial rank. He could be considered my superior. His name is Li Tian and he came into the Imperial Capital yesterday. Unfortunately, that’s all I know. Remember to send me an Earth Attribute 3000-year-old precious herb later.”
After getting her answer, Shiyu turned and left.
Looking at Shiyu’s disappearing back, Suo Lan could not help but frown. A Supervisor generally only come down to the Ninth Realm once every three years. This was an unexpected visit. It was even more unlikely for Shiyu to know about this person, so why is she seeking him out?
Had… something outside of his knowledge happened?
Or perhaps… the Supervisor had been instructed by the Third Miss to make a move against Shiyu?
When he thought of this Suo Lan felt a sense of helplessness. The weak really have no way of struggling against the strong.
The next day, Suo Lan received a piece of news that surprised him. The Supervisor had left with Third Miss.
For Third Miss to leave so easily was out of character for her. There must be something amiss with this move. However, the people he had set out to monitor them confirmed this.
He had people paying close attention to the movements of the people within the Imperial Capital and had not seen any new characters [2] aside from the Supervisor and his followers. [2] However, he later picked up an interesting piece of news.
[2] Hundreds of thousands of ordinary mortals and Cultivators in Dawn City had been cursed to turn into dried up corpses and died. [2] Suo Lan immediately thought of the Soul Drawing Flag carried by Supervisor Li Tian and Shiyu’s sudden desire to buy information on Demonic Cultivators. She even showed him a manifestation of a grey cloaked person with a very specific flag to him… [2] Should he be concerned?
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News of the Dawn City Massacre spread across the Imperial Capital like wildfire. The Imperial College managed to get more detailed facts. Among the things reported, it was said that nobody within the city was spared. Men, women, children and all living things within the city had their vitality sucked away. When the Dean heard this, he was so incensed that he smashed his table with his fists. Other elders were angry as well.
Hundreds of thousands of people. Those were the lives of human beings, ah. To think someone would be so bold as to disregard the lives of the humans in Ninth Realm!
“Beasts! Who did this? Has anyone found out?”
“Not yet,”
“We must investigate this matter,” said the Dean immediately.
If it happened once, it could happen again. Who knows which city would suffer the same fate as Dawn City?
“But… isn’t Shiyu on her way to Dawn City? She’s not back yet, could it be…” Elder Gu said anxiously. He regretted mentioning those Metal Eating Beasts to Shiyu, what if she got into trouble because of him?
When he brought the matter up, the atmosphere grew tense for a while before Elder Feng shook his head, “No, if we count up the timing, she shouldn’t be caught up in the matter.”
“If Shiyu is fine, why isn’t she back by now? Is it possible that she has gone after the murderer? Isn’t it too dangerous?” asked Elder Gu. [4] “Do you think she met the murderer and…”
“I believe…” the Dean [3a] said thoughtfully. “There is also another possibility. [3b] She might have followed the murderer to the Imperial Capital but did not return to the college.”
While the elders were discussing the matter, Lin Fan, Qing Chen and Feng Luo were also talking about it.
“Do you think Xiao Shi is back?”
It’s been five days since Shiyu left the Capital and Feng Luo had already crossed over into Divine Transformation realm. Unfortunately, his good mood was crushed by news concerning the Dawn City’s Massacre.
It was especially disturbing when he knew that Shiyu had been on her way to Dawn City when the massacre happened. He was worried for her safety and the safety of his friends. However, what shocked him more was Lin Fan and Qing Chen who both believed that Shiyu had returned to the Imperial Capital [5].
“Wait, [3a] [4] if she’s back, why didn’t she come to the College?” Feng Luo frowned. “She must be upset since she has friends there, and the Shi Clan…” [3d] [4] “It’s not that she did not wish to return… I believe she can’t return,” Qing Chen lowered his eyes. A rare anxious look on his face.
“What are you saying? Isn’t it better for us to fight together? The strength of many is better than one after all,” moreover, the College has its own resources, not to mention its connection to the Imperial Family.
Lin Fan said, calmly, “You think too simply. Dawn City was slaughtered overnight. Moreover, it was done so openly that we can only deduce that the enemy has great confidence in his own strength. More than 10 Divine Transformation powerhouses appeared and they killed hundreds of thousands of people. Yet, no one had captured or suppressed these people, don’t you think it’d odd?”
Feng Luo [3e] paused, “Then… if it’s a group of people… [4] it must be those bloody Enforcers again!!! Shiyu must have known this too, do you think she wants to avenge the Dawn City people?”
[5] “No, before that, there’s something else she’s probably wanted to do.”“What?”
“She probably wants to sever ties with the College and not drag us into the conflict.
[Gumihou: … what kind of brain fart are you experiencing, Lin Fan? And you as well, Qing Chen! What is this brain-damaged conclusion? Everyone suffering from mass stupid! Feng Luo is the only sensible person here! And that’s only because his IQ has been raised back to normal levels!!]
We now have Glossaries for Character, Cultivation Terms, Clan Names, Restaurants & Places
[1] Adjusted Detail for Logistic Purpose: original text were ‘he immediately understood’ …understood what? [2] Reduce the Stupid: Adjusted Detail for Plausible Brain Activity aka please do not make character stupid for your convenience.
In the first place, author-san mentioned the Supervisor & Co, then Suo Lan said there were ‘no new character appearing’, then, he ‘heard a sensational news’ only to ‘could not help but think of the Soul Drawing Flag’ in the next paragraph, with the 3rd paragraph going ‘is there any connection?’
Aren’t you dumbing down this smart character too much for the sake of exposition?
Also, why don’t you spare a thought for Shiyu’s sudden questioning that happened less than 24 hours ago?
He asked all his subordinates to pay close attention to the movement in the imperial capital these days, and he didn’t see any powerful characters. On the contrary, the subordinates brought a relatively sensational news to him.-Dawn City’s people were slaughtered, and hundreds of thousands of people in the city all turned into corpses.
Dawn City, Suo Lan didn’t know about this place. But hearing those people turned into corpses, he couldn’t help but think of the spirit-calling banners in the hands of the inspectors.
Is there anything to do with this?
Like… wut?
[3] Deleted Stuff: [a] calculated their guesses.… what is there to calculate when they have just blatantly said it out?
[b] You believe that Shiyu has not returned to the College, but that doesn’t mean she’s not back.Actually, the Dean’s theory makes the least sense, followed by a stupid conclusion. It’s only correct because it’s according to the Word of God.
[c] …if she’s back why didn’t she tell us?… isn’t this the wrong question to ask?
[d] …he did not continue. Although he was not familiar with that family. He understood that she treated that family as her own.Unnecessary explanation. Bogs down narrative. You already have ellipsis for ‘did not continue’ so please don’t say ‘did not continue’
[e] …suddenly thought of somethingAgain, unnecessary USAGI MOMENT to make plot VERY OBVIOUS, why don’t you just CAPITALIZE and BOLD EVERYTHING?
[4] Reduce the Stupid: Adjusted Details for actual intelligent discussion instead of letting poor Elder Gu play the Dumb Feng Luo role. Also, reduce the stupid in Feng Luo. [5] ¯\_༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽_/¯
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Have a Grilled Rice Ball
Cooking St – 290 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (g)
Grilled Intestines are Yummy!
Cooking St – 291 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (h)
A Bucket of Crowdads
These two chapters are posted together since they have less than 800 words each…
Cooking St – 292 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (i)
Cooking St – 293 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (j)
Cooking St – 294 – Toothed Bur Clover with Garlic (k)
Grilled Matsutake
Cooking St – 295 – Untitled
Cooking St – 296 – Untitled
Cooking St – 297 – Untitled
Cooking St – 298 – Grilled Rushan (a)
Cooking St – 299 – Grilled Rushan (b)
໒( ́ ́ )७
The author is simply taking writing shortcuts by having characters “pontificate” knowledge. By simply spouting out knowledge, it now exists in the story for others to use regardless of how that character was able to even know. This is often done in fanfics and WN, but should not be allowed in published light novels as they supposedly have competent editors that will tell the author to fix those plot hole problems.
There’s an explanation for this phenomenon. The author knows, so they fall into the false impression that everyone knows it too.
Because, like, isn’t it common knowledge?
That’s why stories had to be read by someone who have no background knowledge of the writing to catch all these continuation issues.
Gumi is an aspiring writer, which is why she could keep track of most of the plotlines, random stuff people said and items of interest somewhat in line. At least enough to have a ‘this isn’t right’ feeling whenever a plot-hole opens up.
[DEAN has used PULLING A PLOTLINE OUT OF HIS —–]
[EH… has used FAMILY-FRIENDLY CENSORSHIP!]
[It’s not very effective.]
.
I can understand why the Dean might think Shiyu could have returned to the capital and not yet to the College, but where the heck did he pull out the notion that she followed the murderer to the capital?
My problem is… how the heck did he know the murderer was coming to the capital when he did not know who the murderer was?!!
Exactly! Do all murderers there naturally flow to the capital? Must be nice to be a police investigator there…
The only possible long-shot explanation I can come up with is that the Dean concluded that the only party powerful enough to kill a whole city in that way would be the Enforcers, and all Enforcers would eventually come to the capital to dispose of the Imperial family, so the murderer would eventually come to the capital, but…why assume Shiyu would come straight there, even if she somehow put together enough brain cells to come up with that long-winded explanation?
They rambled on and on about things that had nothing to do with the matter at hand, like politicians pontificating on whether the skirts of nurses are too long or too short instead of increasing the finances for medical equipment.