Life Going Wild With Plug-ins

Chapter 29 - The small loyal dog’s pride, strange and foolish.


As for Yun Jiangli and Qin Chenyuan, they’re so similar to the Qin Kezou and Yun Pizhi of that time, that I’m afraid these two will repeat the same mistakes. As soon as Ye Tan was done treating his wounds again, I dragged him along to go knock on Yun Jiangli’s door.

Qin Chenyuan always stayed up late, and Yun Jiangli was the complete opposite. At this time, the rooster was only now beginning to crow and he was already neatly dressed and had eaten half of his breakfast. He was not surprised, and invited us both to sit down with a smile.

I did not like to beat around the bush, so I got right to the point and asked: “Brother Yun, what is your purpose for approaching Qin Chenyuan?”

Yun Jiangli deliberately poured a cup of tea, not too fast but not too slow, and smiled: “I don’t understand what Young Master Jun means by this.”

Actually, I also didn’t know how much Yun Jiangli knew about this matter, so I picked an obvious question: “Does Qin Chenyuan know that you’re from Taibailou?”

Yun Jiangli smiled slyly, and gave an irrefutable answer: “He’s never asked, so it can’t be seen as though I’m lying to him.”

“I naturally hope you two can help me conceal this matter.” He gave a long sigh, “Otherwise, I would have no choice but to have to go through the trouble of thinking of another way.”

I said: “I wouldn’t be able to bear seeing you two following in Qin Kezou and Yun Pizhi’s footsteps.”

Yun Jiangli’s phoenix eyes narrowed, “Their footsteps? Do you know something?”

“Yes, how much do you know?” I sighed, “Was sending Yun Pizhi in not enough, so now you insist on going in yourself?”

Yun Jiangli heard the words I didn’t say: “You know the whereabouts of Yun Pizhi.”

I carefully sized him up, he didn’t seem to be pretending, so I questioned: “He’s inside that coffin you have in the carriage, isn’t he?”

Yun Jiangli lowered his head and didn’t say anything.

I glumly said: “So you were also being kept in the dark.”

“I’d like to know the details.” Yun Jiangli suddenly said.

I didn’t have any more misgivings, so I repeated the story in detail from the beginning to the end. Yun Jiangli listened without saying a word, his eyes only reflected the light tea sprouts as they bobbed up and down, and his expression showed neither happiness nor sadness.

When he finished listening, Yun Jiangli asked: “Could Young Master Jun tell me how you found out about this?”

I shook my head: “I have my own way, I can’t tell you about it.”

He clearly didn’t hold any expectations, so he also didn’t seem too bothered. He quietly thought about it again for a moment, and said: “You two need to keep this from Xiao Qin.”

I was unconvinced.

“If what Young Master Jun says turns out to be true.....” Yun Jiangli faintly let out a sigh, then forced a smile, “If Xiao Qin and I know this matter, I’m afraid someone may not want us to live.”

That is not unreasonable.

Seeing their style of doing things back in those days, they probably killed a lot of people to keep them quiet.

I asked: “Who on earth is the person orchestrating things behind the scenes?”

“I advise you, it’s better if you don’t know.” Yun Jiangli shook his head, and said, “Anyway, if you’re worried about me harming Xiao Qin, you can rest assured. Since we have already retrieved ‘Qin Qi’s’ remains, my work can be considered as having been completed. From now on, I should no longer have any dealings with him.”

I hesitated: “You want to let Yun Pizhi be buried in the Qin’s ancestral tomb?”

“Then what else should be done? The dead are already gone, but the living still have to find a way to live.” Yun Jiangli smiled calmly, then muttered, “I will verify this matter as much as I can.... I just hope that one day the truth can come out to the surface.”

Yun Jiangli finished speaking, cupped his hands in farewell and, without taking anything, left by himself.

When he went out the door, he saw that the roads criss-crossed in all directions, but he didn’t know where to go, so he let out a regretful sigh: “If there were no opposing roads in front of my door, in this life I would have to suffer heartbreak no more.1 ”


He left so abruptly that Ye Tan and I stared at each other in dismay. We cleaned up the finished bean curd dishes from the table, still not knowing what we were going to say to Qin Chenyuan.

Qin Chenyuan was probably in a good mood today and woke up earlier than usual, he rushed to open Yun Jiangli’s door and, seeing me, was a little dazed.

“How come its you guys? Where’s Brother Yun?”

I was feeling very guilty, so I stammered: “He, he left.”

“Left? Where did he go?” Qin Chenyuan came in with big strides, and saw the bean curds on the table, “Ah, salty, nice, I want one too.”

“He went back to his home. To let you.... en, to let you take care of yourself, you don’t need to worry.” I made something up.

Qin Chenyuan was dumbstruck with grief: “You.... What did you say....?”

The rims of his eyes reddened, and he was about to cry. Me and Ye Tan shivered, quiet as chickens2 .

He was stunned for a short while, then, with a high-pitched wail, he moved to rush out the door.

Then he collided head-first into Yun Jiangli, who was just pushing the door open to come in.


I: ???


“Big brother Yun!!” Seeing clearly that it was him, Qin Chenyuan seized the opportunity to hug him tightly and then burst into tears.

“What are you doing?” Yun Jiangli looked puzzled, “I just went out to buy some sesame seed cakes.”

“This guy lied to me! He said you just dumped me and left!! How shameless, I don’t know what he’s thinking!” Qin Chenyuan’s sadness was endless, and he showered curses down on Ye Tan and I. My head was full of question marks, so I obediently took it.

“Ai, this is all a misunderstanding, what were you so worried about? Hey, why did you eat my bean curd?” Yun Jiangli peeled Qin Chenyuan off his chest, wiping the snot off his lapels, and said, “Xiao Qin, can I trouble you to go ask the waiter for another plate?”

Qin Chenyuan still wanted to eat, so he happily went downstairs.


I looked at Yun Jiangli with a complicated expression: “Why are you back again?”

Yun Jiangli got close and whispered: “I thought about it, it won’t do, leaving like this is too obvious and too sudden, and I’d be discovered sooner or later. I will pick a more natural time to leave again.”

He thought about it, and apologised again: “I’ve caused you two to be insulted, you must feel very wronged.”

I sobbed: “I’ve been wronged.”


I’ve been unjustly accused for the first time, and I feel truly wronged.

But Ye Tan’s scapegoating powers had reached their pinnacle, so he was immune to it, staring blankly at me, really not understanding why I was upset.


I was brimming with feelings of injustice, and powerless against Qin Chenyuan’s burning hatred. Thinking that the matter here was over, and that I had nothing to do with it anymore, I said goodbye to the two of them and left.

We got back on the road to Suyang, but since we were not in a hurry, in the afternoon we found a place overlooking the river where we could listen to some music.

I feel that, since we got mixed up in this matter and dug up some truths others don’t want us to know about, I’m afraid the future won’t be peaceful, so there are some things that need to be clarified in advance.

I said: “A-Tan, I’m going to ask you a few things that might make you uncomfortable, but you have to answer me.”

Ye Tan said: “Master, please command me.”

I let out a deep breath, and cautiously asked: “Your wuggong, how was it destroyed?”

Contrary to what I expected, Ye Tan was a lot more frank now, so he immediately answered: “This subordinate voluntarily destroyed it.”

I frowned, last time it was obvious that he failed to protect his master, I though that he had fallen into enemy hands and had been tortured to the verge of death, but I don’t know what he’s being used as a scapegoat for this time?

“Tell me the details.”

Ye Tan thought about it, and said: “A year ago this subordinate had messed up the Second Young Master’s major plans, and caused the Second Young Master to fall into an impossible situation. The Second Young Master said that the deadlock could only be broken if this subordinate was out of the picture, and asked if I would be willing to have my martial arts destroyed to help him accomplish this. This subordinate gladly accepted.”

I was speechless, and in a bad mood: “Then wasn’t it the Second Young Master that ruined you?!”

Ye Tan argued: “It’s not the same, this subordinate volunteered.”

“Even if you disagreed, don’t tell me you could have still gone against his orders?” I angrily said.

Ye Tan raised his chin, eyes sparkling like stars: “Of course, after all, there is no one in the entirety of Zhongli Court who can beat me.”


......He’s still proud of this.


It pisses me off.
 

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1 門前若無南北路，此生可免離合 lit. if there were no north-south roads in front of the door, this life could be free from the hardships of separation and reunion. I tried to make it sound like a poem because the author is using a line from the poem《贈別》, ‘Farewell’, and altering the second part slightly. The original line is 門外若無南北路，人間應免別離愁 lit. if there were no north-south roads outside the door, people would be spared the sorrow of separation. I couldn’t find this stanza in english anywhere though.Top.

2 Yes literally. It’s like a joking expression, meaning they weren’t quiet before and now they’ve been frightened into silence.Top.