A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 36

Chapter 36: The God of the Yellow River Takes a Wife – Part 6

Translated by: Ritpoppy

In a dark and windy night, Ming ChangYan decided to dig a grave.

Diverging away from the crowd, he wore black from head to toe. Standing by the doorway, he raised his head looking for someone before the person he was looking for finally arrived.

As soon as Huai Yu arrived, Ming ChangYan was bewildered, "Why didn't you change clothes!"

Huai Yu was puzzled, "Why do I have to change clothes?"

Ming ChangYan, "Wow, Young Prime Minister. What we're doing is some shady business and you're wearing gold. Being so eye-catching probably isn't too good."

Yet Huai Yu simply marveled, "Why isn't it good?"

When Ming ChangYan saw his persistence, extremely confident in his own cultivation, somewhat like the demeanor of his past self, he felt admired, "Fine fine fine, I won't waste my time with you. Let's go."

The Little Mouth Valley was located just west of the foot of a mountain in GuangLing. Between two mountains there was a small hole just like a mouth, thus giving it that name.

Ming ChangYan's injury still hadn't fully healed yet. He still took his medicine every day and nursed his health, his cultivation really seemed to have recovered 10 to 20 percent. But as soon as it turned nighttime, his vision was still no good.

But Ming ChangYan's five senses were still very good. Although he couldn't see the road in front of him, he relied on the wind blowing on the grass to determine the obstacles ahead of him.

After walking for a while, if not for the roads becoming more windy, when Ming ChangYan tripped on a small stone and he stumbled a bit, Huai Yu wouldn't have discovered that his eyesight was poor.

Huai Yu stopped and grabbed onto his arm, supporting him up.

Noticing he stopped, Ming ChangYan thought that they arrived, tilting his head up to ask, "We're here so soon?"

Huai Yu, "Not yet. Can you not see?"

Ming ChangYan was a bit stunned, smiling, "So what, aren't I still walking just fine?"

Huai Yu, "Walking just fine?"

Ming ChangYan rubbed his nose, "With so many roads to cover at night, it's easy to lose your footing. It's fine, you don't need to care about that. My eyes are just blind for a while, it won't interfere with what we're doing. Otherwise, you can light a few more torches for me to use as light."

Huai Yu was silent for a short period of time, "Have you always been like this?"

Ming ChangYan, "Occasionally. It's been pretty good these days, and isn't that all because of Dage's care?"

Stopping, he giggled, "Could it be that you're scared of the dark? Don't worry, if you're afraid you can scoot a bit closer to me. Back then Yi Yue was also afraid of the dark but still loved to listen to scary stories. After hearing them, she'd beg me to go pick fruits with her in the middle of the night, then along the way, we'd bump into Lady Hua–"

"Oh I forgot, you've never met her before. Just cause she looks sick right now, in our childhood days, horse-riding, archery, she was better than me at all those things, just like a juvillene youth–where was I? We'd bump into her halfway and Yi Yue would make her come to pick fruit together. My sister was always the most cunning, when it was just two of us would always walk in a line, and when it came to the three of us we'd always walk in a row. Just like you right now, are you afraid of ghosts?"

Huai Yu's footsteps stopped, humming, "Not afraid."

While the two were chatting, they had already arrived at the Little Mouth Valley.

In a very deep gorge, there lay coffins piled in disorder. It had been raining earlier and some of the lids weren't fully closed. The coffin lids that hadn't been sealed shut with nails were already beginning to roll off to the side.

Ming ChangYan held onto his torch, about to jump down. However, before he was about to jump, his collar was firmly grasped by Huai Yu.

"You're just going to jump down like this? What if there's something down there? We're in a desolate mountain range outside the city, granted that even if there weren't ghosts, there'd still be wild beasts. You have no source of protection, how are you able to escape anyone's grasp?"

Ming ChangYan said, "Don't worry, I have my own methods. There's a lot of corpse energies down there, regular animals wouldn't dare go down.

Huai Yu's grip tightened on his collar, "No."

Ming ChangYan said, "Fine, if you won't let me go down, then I'll look at it from above."

He continued, "Only, my eyesight isn't very good. Little Huai Yu, help me take a look."

Huai Yu asked, "Look at what?"

Ming ChangYan, "Naturally it's to look to see if there are corpses in the coffins!"

Huai Yu took the torch and shone it below. The flame was too faint so you really couldn't see it very well. However, in the next moment, Huai Yu took out a night pearl from his sleeves. He untied the black cloth around it, rays of light shined out in a split second. Not waiting on Ming ChangYan to begin talking, Huai Yu lifted his hand and threw the pearl straight down.

"HUAI YU!!"

Huai Yu's hastily grabbed onto the Ming ChangYan that was about to jump down.

He said, "Didn't you say you couldn't see very clearly? Isn't it brighter now?"

Ming ChangYan sorrowfully turned his head around, nearly writing the words "prodigal" on his face.

Huai Yu knitted his eyebrows together, "The coffin's empty."

When he said those words, it scattered away the pain Ming ChangYan was feeling. With the night pearl's light, the two were able to clearly see: In the coffin which has been washed away by water, there was not a body in sight.

Ming ChangYan exclaimed, "Just as expected."

Huai Yu hummed, then said, "When did you suspect this?"

Ming ChangYan clapped his hands, "If it wasn't an epidemic, then it's a human disaster. If that's the case then why would someone plant poison, and why would they put on the facade that it's all caused by an epidemic? I thought for a while then came to a conclusion, they needed dead bodies or just humans in general. Only in an epidemic would there be a lot of dead bodies, and even if the bodies disappeared, no one would question it. It's just that, why would they need dead bodies?"

Huai Yu looked at him. Ming ChangYan pondered for a long time, then suddenly realized, "Could it be that they're missing a player*?"

(TN: "三缺一"; three missing one. In mahjong, there needs to be four people playing. But if you're missing a person, then the three are required to just play together. The term means you're missing a player in your game.)

"Ming ChangYan, is this interesting!"

Ming ChangYan laughed out loud, "Not interesting not interesting, the atmosphere was too tense so I made a joke."

He said, "Now that we understand the situation, it's going to be easier to handle. Since this isn't an epidemic, but instead a poisoning, then there's definitely a cure. Little Huai Yu, I'm going to have to bother you again."

Before leaving, Ming ChangYan's heart was still sore, wanting to crawl in to pick up the night pearl. Of course, he was unsuccessful and dragged back to the inn by the collar by Huai Yu.

Six days later, one of the epidemic patients who were voluntarily cured by Huai Yu no longer had any more physical problems. As he got out of bed, he burst into tears, kowtowing to Huai Yu multiple times in a row. Ming ChangYan was afraid that just escaping from the gates of Hell, if he continued to kowtow, he'd have to take a trip back. They quickly called someone over to take him away.

After the person left, Ming ChangYan sat down, "How is it? Has there been any answers these past few days?"

Huai Yu poured a cup of tea, replying, "None. This poison is unheard of, no one in the Central Plains has seen it before."

Ming ChangYan, "Two years ago, GuiFeng sect died to this type of poison. What kind of poison is this, to be able to harden the body of the victim?"

Huai Yu said, "I've never heard of one before."

Ming ChangYan was pensive, standing by the window calmly thinking for a moment. Suddenly his figure moved and he flipped out of the window.

Huai Yu's cup of tea flipped over. After the other jumped out of the window for the second time, he was finally angry enough to open his mouth and begin cursing. Except after he searched in his head for a long time, no swear words came to mind. After all, up to this point, no one has ever taught him how to swear and the most important fact was that no one has ever made him angry enough to begin swearing. As a result, he pursed his lips over and over again, but truly couldn't let anything out, so he only harshly yell out a, "MING CHANGYAN!"

Ming ChangYan this person, regardless of whether he was jumping out of a window, a building, a wall, or even jumping into a river, it was all with the same posture. No matter how seriously he injured himself or how slim chances of survival were, he didn't care. In brief, it was always jump down then talk.

The moment he landed, Ming ChangYan pulled out a sword that he purchased at a weaponry a day before yesterday.

He noticed a person, a young man clad in white robes. The person noticed that he harbored ill intent, the moment he was met with the other's sword, the two of them were entangled without another word said.

The swordsmanship Ming ChangYan was using was precisely that of TianQing's sect's six sword techniques. The opposite party's sword technique was exactly the same as his, he used his strength and with a wave of his sword he knocked back Ming ChangYan. He yelled, "Who are you! Why do you know TianQing's six sword techniques!"

"How could the person who taught you TianQing's six sword techniques, not know it."

Ming ChangYan said, "Ming Yue, keep a steady grip on your sword. My next strike is going to take your life."

Ming Yue's complexion was deathly pale. At first, it was shock, then it was delight, yet with Ming ChangYan's later statement, it turned into sadness. His expression shifted everywhere, before he was ultimately blank, "Dshixiong, Dshixiong, you didn't die, alive, I…."

While his expression was shifting irregularly, a sword penetrated his shoulder. Ming Yue suddenly paused, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Ming ChangYan pulled out the sword. Without any support, Ming Yue quickly kneeled on the ground.

"Steady your sword!"

Ming Yue covered his shoulder, blood spilling out from his mouth, vacantly saying, "Dshixiong, why are you hitting me?"

Ming ChangYan clutched onto his neck and pulled him up. His expression was filled with grief and hatred, "You killed Yi Yue."

Ming Yue opened his eyes and suddenly began to struggle, "What, what? I didn't…I didn't! Dshixiong, I can't understand what you're saying! My shoulder hurts, Dshixiong, it hurts!"

Ming ChangYan's breath abruptly stopped, somewhat loosening his strength a bit. Ming Yue went into a wild coughing fit, wiping away the tears on his face, "Dshixiong, I didn't. You, you're still alive. Why didn't you come home, why didn't you come back to TianQing …"

Ming ChangYan, "Shut up," he pressed on his temples, then asked, "If you weren't the one who gave Yi Yue to Wan QianQiu, then who else?"

Ming Yue's body shook as he got up, "Dshixiong, I didn't." After a while he suddenly said, "Shixiong, I'm hungry."

He seemed to be at a loss like he truly didn't understand why Ming ChangYan was unexpectedly hitting him or whether or not he's done any misdeeds.

Ming ChangYan tightly clenched his fist then loosened it, grinding his teeth he said, "First eat. After you're finished eating, I have things to ask you. If you dare to say a single lie towards me, I'm not going to be courteous."

Ming Yue covered his shoulder that was dripping with blood. Every time Ming ChangYan took a step, he would follow a step. He was unable to hold onto his sword so he hugged it to his chest, miserably asking Ming ChangYan if he could hold onto it for him.

He took Ming Yue's sword and dragged him to a nearby pharmacy. He absent-mindedly bought some medicine to stop the bleeding and smeared it on the other's shoulder. Ming Yue didn't dare to speak and merely bowed his head.

Just as they exited the pharmacy, they just so happened to run into Huai Yu.

Huai Yu's expression wasn't good, Ming ChangYan waved his hand, "Find a restaurant, I have questions I need to ask him."

After eating, the finger Ming ChangYan was tapping on the table finally halted.

Ming Yue set down his chopsticks. Ming ChangYan said, "Does your shoulder still hurt?"

Ming Yue shook his head, "Dshixiong, I didn't kill Yi Yue"

Ming ChangYan, "Reason, explanation."

Ming Yue said, "If I didn't do then I didn't do it, why are you doubting me? Dshixiong, my life is something that you saved, if you think I was the one who did it, then you can take it back. I won't question you at all."

Ming ChangYan asked, "Jade pendant. The jade pendant that I gave you, where did it go?"

Ming Yue, "I don't know. After you jumped into the Yanbo River, I never saw it again."

Ming ChangYan wasn't able to ask a reason why and had a splitting headache. It's true that Little Bell would never lie to him, yet Ming Yue's words didn't seem like lies either. He simply changed the to another question, "Are you the only one here? Where's everyone else? Where's YuLou?"

Ming Yue's expression turned blank.

Ming ChangYan set down his teacup and questioned, "He didn't come?"

Ming Yue paused for a bit, then slowly said, "He didn't come. I only came by myself this time."

Ming ChangYan didn't seem to have any suspicions, so he took a sip of the tea and continued interrogating, "Why did you come to GuangLing?"

Ming Yue said, "Every sect in Jianghu sent disciples to come to GuangLing, naturally TianQing cannot remain indifferent."

Hearing this, Ming ChangYan seemed to understand. Most of the disciples sent by the other sects to investigate this matter were outer disciples. However TianQing received heavy damage two years ago, and with Ming ChangYan drowning in the Yanbo River, most of the outer disciples should've already packed their bags and rushed to a better future. Therefore, with this epidemic, they could only call an inner disciple like Ming Yue to come.

Ming ChangYan asked a few more questions, took Ming Yue into custody and arranged for him to stay in the inn.

Huai Yu asked him, "What do you want to do?"

Ming ChangYan, "Ask two people with good martial arts to keep an eye on him. The truth still hasn't come to light, he cannot leave."

Huai Yu supported him with his hand, "You should take your medicine."

Ming ChangYan sighed, "Look at me, do I look like I'm in the mood to take medicine?"

Huai Yu slowly and strictly said, "If you don't want to eat it, then I'm going to pour the medicine into you. If you think you can beat me, then you can try."

Ming ChangYan irritatedly exclaimed, "Cheeky."

Huai Yu coldly humphed. Ming ChangYan knew what he was going to say next, promptly saying, "Right, it's my fault, I forgot again. You're my Ge, my good gege, gege, okay?"

Walking out of the inn, Ming ChangYan said, "I'm going to interrogate those brides again."

Huai Yu added, "I'm coming with you."

As they passed through the central main street, they bumped into the Zhao XiaoLan and Zhu Rong working for disaster relief. The two of them were both in a temporarily made stand while giving out congee. However, while others filled each bowl one at a time, the impatient Zhao XiaoLan piled multiple congee plates on a tray, wobbling while he walked. Looking over, someone might have mistaken him as someone performing on the streets.

Just as expected, Zhao XiaoLan didn't even take more than two steps when his body when askew. His body along with the congee, was about to fall on the ground.

At this moment, a hand came in and grabbed onto Zhao XiaoLan's back collar. The man was steadied, but the congee together with the bowls all slipped out. The victims of the epidemic watched as the bowls completely shattered on the ground, sucking in a cold breath of air, their heart hurt, making them feel very remorseful.

"Zhu-xiong, thank you so much!"

"Do you really have to finish carrying them all at once?"

Zhao XiaoLan stationed his body, "Isn't it faster this way!"

Zhu Rong helped him separate a few bowls onto the table, "It's dangerous. Don't do it next time."

Zhao XiaoLan laughed out loud, "What's there to be afraid of, I'm a man! Only after a few tumbles can you mature! Plus, Zhu-xiong will be there to help me."

Zhu Rong smiled at him, his eyes curving. He turned around, the tiny bells on his body softly jingling, "There will be times I won't be there, perhaps, you could've fallen on the ground just now."

Zhao XiaoLan waved his hand, assessing, "Nonsense!"

At this moment, Ming ChangYan shouted, "XiaoLan-xiong!"

The hand Zhao XiaoLan was using to scoop congee stopped, replying, "Yan-jiejie!" He turned around his face, "Zhu-xiong, take care of this side for me, I'll be back soon." While saying this, Zhao XiaoLan began running towards Ming ChangYan.

Zhao XiaoLan said, "How, Yan-jiejie, how do have the time to come out!"

Ming ChangYan said, "Just coming to take a look. What's that fragrance on your body, smells nice."

Zhao XiaoLan took a small box of rouge from his bosom, "I just bought it. Do you want it, I'll give you a box. GuangLing's production of rouge is very good, I bought some to bring back."

Ming ChangYan said, "Who are you buying it for? A close female friend?"

Zhao XiaoLan's face flushed red, "Regular, regular friend!"

The two were still conversing when from the corner came the voices to two people chatting, "Back then when this sort of thing occurred, XiaoHan Temple always sent in a large number of people, why did they send fewer people in this time?"

"Aren't they just at that overhauled HuaTing Shrine. They all went there, who would come here and care about the life or death of the people?"

"Humph, all XiaoHan Temple knows how to do it put on an act. Feigning kindness!"

Zhao XiaoLan suddenly said, "Yan-jiejie, TianQing sect's school uniform!"

Turning around to take a look, on a distant alley, the four people speaking were wearing TianQing sect's school uniform. On the outside, they wore a small vest while the clothes were embroidered with the yin yang ba gua. Two strips of silk fell down from the cuffs that floated in the air when they walked. The artistry of this uniform came entirely from the aesthetics of Ming ChangYan.

Ming ChangYan was frozen.

TianQing sect didn't just send Ming Yue?

Huai Yu instantly reacted, saying, "Ming Yue is lying."

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work I'm going to stab you on the shoulder.

The next chapter is going to take a while (it's the 10,000+ chapter I mentioned earlier). Also, my finals are coming up, so you probably won't be getting a chapter till like the last week of the month, so I apologize. Because of that, I'm going to wish y'all a Merry Christmas beforehand with a piece of fanart!

I've been looking back at previous chapters and cringing at my horrible translations, so I'm probably going to edit this whole novel after I've finished translating.

Also, I've got a bone to pick, so I realized that the author revised a few chapters of this novel a bit. This is a bad thing for me cause she may have added additional info that wasn't there before. So I've just decided to use the old version (why? cause I really don't want to reread 30ish chapters then edit the 30ish chapters, that's 155,410 words)

This has been really stressing me cause I don't know if it's vital info that the author added or just like small stuff. So I hope you guys can be lenient with me.

In the future, I'll make separate posts on the revised chapters (or someone else can I don't care) but for now, you can enjoy this novel from when I read it, AKA the old version.

Okay, have a great holiday!

Chapter end