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After changing his clothes, Ziche Duanyuan turned around to see Pei Bufan burying himself in the bed, looking like he wanted to dive headfirst into it. However, he only managed to hide his head, leaving his round black cat butt and tail exposed. As if sensing Ziche Duanyuan’s gaze, the black cat carefully scooted further in, its tail flicking to curl beside its body, exuding a “you can’t see me, you can’t see me” kind of dumb-cute aura.
Ziche Duanyuan was amused. He grabbed Pei Bufan’s tail with one hand and rather crudely pulled him out. Pei Bufan acted as if he were dead, not making a sound, eyes shut tight and limbs limp. He let his floppy body be dragged out by Ziche Duanyuan, feeling like a corpse being pulled along.
Pinching Pei Bufan’s tense tail, Ziche Duanyuan said, “Speak.”
Pei Bufan played dead.
“Make a sound,” Ziche Duanyuan threatened. “Or else, I’ll shave you.”
Holy shit! Can you all just leave my fur alone? What did it ever do to you, tell me!!!
Hearing Pei Bufan’s series of indignant meows, Ziche Duanyuan shook his head helplessly. “I don’t understand.”
Pei Bufan: Then what the hell are you asking me to speak for?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
“Do you know how to read?” Ziche Duanyuan asked. Since it was a case of body-snatching rebirth, if he couldn’t speak, they could still communicate through writing.
Pei Bufan nodded rapidly. He had wanted to bring this up for a while now. Ziche Duanyuan said, “Wait here,” and went to get a book. He returned after a short while, holding a thick, thread-bound volume.
Pei Bufan excitedly waited for Ziche Duanyuan to open the book. When he saw the familiar block characters, he was dumbfounded.
These are all f**king Small Seal Script1 characters, holy shit!!!
When he wrote the novel, he did set the writing as ancient, but he didn’t f**king say it was this ancient!!!
This is the script from the Qin Shi Huang era!!
How the hell am I supposed to read this??
Hey, wait a minute! It’s not like he couldn’t read any of it. Some characters, while written differently from how they look now, hadn’t changed too much in their strokes.
That character is… li (inside)!! And that one is… quan (all)! And ye (page)! Xi (evening)!
Besides those… heh heh!!
What’s the use of knowing just a few characters??
Ziche Duanyuan was still looking at Pei Bufan with an expectant face. Pei Bufan stared back with a miserable expression.
Ziche Duanyuan: “…Understood.” He quickly put the book away, but instead of putting it back, he stacked it neatly on the table. Then he took out another, thinner one. “It’s okay if you can’t read. I’ll teach you.”
Don’t talk as if I’m illiterate! You ask any modern person from my world, besides calligraphy enthusiasts, how many of them can recognize all of Small Seal Script???
The strokes are so numerous and complicated!! Besides being used occasionally to show off or as a wall decoration, how many people would use it?
This really isn’t my fault!!
“From today on, you’ll study characters for two hours2 every day.” The sooner he learned to read, the sooner they could communicate. Ziche Duanyuan stroked Pei Bufan’s tail. “It’s quite flexible. You can use it to hold a brush in the future.”
Pei Bufan: (:зゝ∠)
While Pei Bufan was suffering from being unilaterally tortured3 by Ziche Duanyuan, Gong Yi, who was staying in the guest room, wasn’t idle either.
From the moment he arrived at the Ziche residence, he began to inquire about the power dynamics of the Middle Realm, the influence of the Ziche family, and the person Ziche Duanyuan, as well as his so-called ‘lover.’
The Middle Realm had five great cultivation families: the wealthiest Ziche family, the strongest family of cultivation maniacs, the Qiu family, the You family with the most extensive territory, the Baili family with ties to cultivation sects, and the most mysterious Shennong family. And he was currently in the wealthiest Ziche family. That man was the most promising scion of the Ziche family, Ziche Duanyuan. Thinking of this, Gong Yi couldn’t help but marvel at his own good fortune, to have been lucky enough to meet him in a secret realm in the Lower Realm and be brought by him to the Middle Realm. It would be best if he could become this man’s partner; then he would have a support to rely on…
At this thought, Gong Yi couldn’t help but frown, remembering the man he had seen in the front courtyard, whom he had assumed was Ziche Duanyuan’s partner. But according to the servants, Ziche Duanyuan’s parents and clansmen were very fond of Zhong Yanqing and had the idea of forming a partnership contract between the two. And Ziche Duanyuan himself had not objected. It seemed Ziche Duanyuan’s refusal to accept him was likely because of Zhong Yanqing.
Gong Yi, placed in the guest room, was successfully distracted by Zhong Yanqing, and at the same time, became a convenient shield. If it weren’t for this, Ziche Duanyuan wouldn’t have been so polite to Gong Yi later, causing the maids to misunderstand.
And when Zhong Yanqing learned of Gong Yi’s existence, he was extremely uneasy.
He didn’t understand why Ziche Duanyuan’s attitude towards him had plummeted after just a few days, from there being some mutual interest between them to suddenly being treated like a stranger, and even being attacked in the secret realm. What had he done to wrong Ziche Duanyuan? A thought suddenly struck Zhong Yanqing. Could it be, that matter was discovered? If that were the case, it would explain Ziche Duanyuan’s recent attitude. But no matter how he agonized and investigated, he only managed to find out about Gong Yi’s identity and background. He remained clueless about everything else.
Ziche Liangxing was meditating in his room when he heard a maid softly announce Zhong Yanqing’s arrival. He opened his eyes slightly, an eyebrow raised.
He had never liked this Zhong Yanqing, but he disliked his cousin, Ziche Duanyuan, even more. He clearly possessed a single water spiritual root that others could only envy, yet his behavior and disposition were like that of an immature child. His state of mind was unstable in cultivation, and he didn’t know how to expand his network in social interactions, even frequently speaking ill of others and offending people everywhere. For this unruly cousin, he, the designated future head of the Ziche family, had exhausted his efforts and said many good words, but the other party was a stubborn rock, refusing to listen to anything. He even cursed him for being nosy, his words and actions filled with disdain.
The candidate for the family head must have a spiritual root. In the eyes of cultivators, ordinary people were just ants, so even if a person was talented, they could only serve as a strategist or the like. Without sufficient deterrent force, one couldn’t lead a family, especially one of the five great families of the Middle Realm. But their aptitude also couldn’t be too good. Someone with an aptitude that was too good was destined to ascend to the Upper Realm and become an immortal. Such a person usually held the position of an elder in the family and could be relied upon as a pillar of the great family.
Ziche Duanyuan, with the best aptitude, would become the pillar, while the smart and sociable Ziche Liangxing would become the family head. The two would support each other and help the family grow. This was the expectation of the older generation. But was Ziche Duanyuan cut out for that? Ziche Liangxing’s heart sank at the thought. Forget being the future pillar of the Ziche family; Ziche Liangxing would be thankful if he didn’t cause trouble. Single spiritual roots were rare in the Middle Realm but not nonexistent. Ziche Duanyuan’s aptitude was excellent but not top-tier. Besides, the reason the five great families became great families was that each had a few immortals from the Upper Realm backing them up. It wouldn’t be easy to deal with if they accidentally offended any of them. Even as a great family, there were many things Ziche Liangxing had to be wary and cautious of.
Ziche Duanyuan, what a useless teammate!
To prevent this useless teammate from holding him back at a critical moment, Ziche Liangxing had specifically found someone to watch over him. This person was none other than Zhong Yanqing.
Ziche Liangxing believed that Zhong Yanqing had good aptitude, and though his character wasn’t great, he was very hardworking. And he had very good luck. People with good luck were generally favored by the Heavenly Dao. Such a person, even if not a friend, could not be an enemy. Moreover, the other party seemed to have a tiny bit of interest in Ziche Duanyuan. So, Ziche Liangxing found an opportunity to speak frankly with Zhong Yanqing. What he wanted Zhong Yanqing to do was simple: hook up with Ziche Duanyuan, use the bonds of love to tie him down, and preferably slow down, or even halt, Ziche Duanyuan’s cultivation path. The stronger he became, the more trouble he would cause. Ziche Liangxing didn’t mind supporting a good-for-nothing dandy, but he absolutely could not have a trouble-making fiend who would wipe out half a cultivation sect with a single move and end up being attacked by everyone.
And how much of this was for his own selfish reasons, only Ziche Liangxing himself knew.
Alternatively, he could give the resources allocated to Ziche Duanyuan to Zhong Yanqing and have him take Ziche Duanyuan on a long trip far away.
This Ziche Duanyuan, he really didn’t want to deal with him anymore.
However, as long as he was still in the Ziche family, as the next family head, he really couldn’t ignore his affairs.
Suppressing his aura and tidying his clothes, he had the maid invite Zhong Yanqing into the living room.
The maid served two cups of tea.
“Have a taste,” Ziche Liangxing said with a smile. “This is from the Upper Realm…”
“I have something very important!” Zhong Yanqing didn’t even glance at the cup of tea beside him and directly interrupted Ziche Liangxing.
Ziche Liangxing’s tea-sipping motion paused. His smile faded slightly, displeased with Zhong Yanqing’s rashness and rudeness.
“Do you know that Duanyuan brought a youth back?” Zhong Yanqing asked with a worried expression.
“A youth?” Ziche Liangxing was puzzled. He had been cultivating in his room these past few days. Although he had begun to handle family affairs, his schedule was relatively flexible. And Ziche Duanyuan had only been back for a few days and hadn’t caused any major commotion, so he wasn’t very clear on the situation.
“Where did he bring this youth from?” Ziche Liangxing asked.
“The Lower Realm.”
Hearing it was the Lower Realm, Ziche Liangxing’s tense nerves immediately relaxed. Even if he had abducted him, it was just a youth from the Lower Realm, so it didn’t matter. The other party might even be grateful.
“But that youth’s identity is special.” Seeing that Ziche Liangxing wasn’t taking it seriously, Zhong Yanqing immediately said, “He is the one chosen by Perfected Chongyu, scheduled to be brought into his manor next year.”
Hearing the name “Chongyu,” Ziche Liangxing’s eyelid began to twitch. This Ziche Duanyuan really loved to cause trouble.
Perfected Chongyu’s current cultivation was only at the Nascent Soul stage. In this Middle Realm where Nascent Soul cultivators were a dime a dozen, he wasn’t considered a great master. Moreover, he was old and could die of old age at any time. But the problem was the backer behind him.
The Middle Realm had five great families and seven major cultivation sects. The Baili family was able to become one of the five great families because the You Ran Sect, the leader of the seven major cultivation sects, was founded by a member of the Baili family. That founder advocated for a leisurely path of immortal cultivation his entire life, disliked conflict, and focused on cultivating the mind, which was why the sect’s name was the simple “You Ran.”4 Although the current sect master of the You Ran Sect no longer had much connection with the Baili family, judging from the fact that cultivators from the Baili family would all join the You Ran Sect, the ties between the two sides had not weakened, but had grown closer.
That Perfected Chongyu was the eldest disciple of an elder in the You Ran Sect. Although that person had a bad reputation, how could a major cultivation sect not have a few black sheep?5
Even if that black sheep wasn’t well-liked in the You Ran Sect, he had never done anything to betray his master or ancestors, so he still carried the signboard of the You Ran Sect. Regardless of who was right or wrong, they still had to give the You Ran Sect some face.
“I will handle this matter,” Ziche Liangxing said, putting down his teacup. “You stay out of it.”
Seeing that Ziche Liangxing had no intention of helping him, Zhong Yanqing became anxious. “But now Duanyuan is ignoring me…”
“That’s your problem,” Ziche Liangxing interrupted. “If there’s nothing else, you may leave.” He was blatantly shooing him away.
Zhong Yanqing gritted his teeth and left.
Ziche Liangxing watched his angry back, pondering. He said to the maid beside him, “Tell me everything that happened between those two after I went into meditation.”
********
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Reika’s Notes:
- This text was translated by Kotori Translates, and given to BC Novels to publish.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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- 小篆 – an archaic, standardized script from the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC). While it is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters, it is very difficult for a modern person without specialized training to read. Its use here emphasizes that the cultivation world’s “ancient” setting is far more ancient than the protagonist anticipated, creating a humorous disconnect.
- 时辰 (shíchen), a traditional Chinese unit of time equal to two modern hours.
- The text uses 蹂·躏 (róu·lìn), which means “to trample on” or “to ravage,” but the dots in between suggest a playful or censored tone, as if Ziche Duanyuan is “tormenting” him with the lessons, not truly harming him.
- 悠然 (yōurán) means leisurely, carefree, or at ease.
- The original slang is 老鼠屎 – literally “rat droppings.” It’s an idiom for a single bad element that ruins a whole group, similar to “a black sheep” or “one bad apple spoils the bunch.”