Record of the Missing Sect Master Chapter 17

In which emily greatly regrets her decisions to translate titles/honorifics…

Fengchun House is the city of Suzhou's largest brothel.

With all varieties, the beautiful women were as numerous as clouds. With the present gathering of people in Suzhou, the boss was using the recent opportune time to bring over a group of enchanting entertainers to dance, leaving the onlookers stupefied and allowing Fengchun House's business to boom yet again.

The people from Jianghu who drank wine with Ye You last time were mostly all present, with the same single-seating floor arrangement as before. These people were staring mesmerized at the dancers, as if hoping their eyes would fly out and attach to their bodies, remaining there until the end of the set. They couldn't help but loudly shout their welcome.

“What does Sir Xiao think?”

Ye You laughed as he drank a mouthful of wine. “Not bad.”

“Why not call one over?”

“No need, this is already very good.” Ye You put down his wine cup, and the young miss on the side immediately refilled it completely.

The young miss wore a thin, yellow goose skirt. And whether it was that she had seen much of the world or that she was taught well, when she met this kind of guest wrapped up like a “lantern” where none of his facial features were visible, she didn't show the slightest bit of astonishment. She accompanied him, all smiles, with the occasional pouring of alcohol and a few murmured sentences. She was certainly discrete.

The group observed for a while. Noticing that Sir Xiao didn't seem that interested in these proceedings, they stopped trying to call people over and instead brought up some conversation about the Wang family, subtly asking why all the lords went to Dingtian Academy a few days prior.

They initially thought that since this young sir had never mixed in Jianghu, he'd be easy to extract information from. Who knew that, after a while, they not only didn't manage to get a single word out of him but also managed to be talked into a deep discussion on a completely different topic. It was only when some returned to their seats that they managed to pull the topic back, like reining in a wild dog.

Re-energized, these elders of Jianghu asked once again, and while they weren't thrown off this time, they still didn't manage to weasel out a single useful word.

From these few times, they already realized that this person wasn't naive enough as to be so easily tricked. And after thinking about his identity, they suddenly became well-behaved, realizing that they were actually quite lucky. Some thought even more deeply, secretly wondering why such a person would so easily agree to drink wine with them if he was so difficult to handle. They really couldn't talk about what had happened?

The thin, tall man carrying the monk's spade from last time was also present. He didn't think in such a roundabout way, so when he saw that Sir Xiao wasn't saying the reason, he simply said, “Then if in the future there really is some news, don't forget to tell these brothers.”

“Naturally, of course,” Ye You said, “Other than Senior Brother, the only ones I recognize in Jianghu are you heroes, and I also feel as if we're all kindred spirits. If I can't say it to all of you, who can I say it to?”

Those words were very pleasing to the ear.

Although these elders of Jianghu knew that this person was probably speaking only pleasantries, they still couldn't help but consider that this person had joined them to drink wine because he was lonely. Secretly, they thought that the people over at the Wang family residence were all important lords, so probably no one was available to accompany him. Thinking this way, they were all a bit moved, especially the thin, tall man who felt even more goodwill towards him.

Just by sitting there, the young miss dressed in yellow could tell that this young sir was different from those staring, wide-eyed men. Now seeing this situation, she inevitably started feeling curious about his identity.

Ye You laughed as he gave her a glance.

The young miss restrained her thoughts and pointed towards the front. “Young sir, Sister Ru is going to play the qin[1]. Her playing is extremely good.”

Ye You good-naturedly made a sound in acknowledgement and didn't expose her.

The sound of the qin was sweet and melodious, and those people quickly became engrossed once again.

Ye You looked around at this spring-colored[2] atmosphere. His heart couldn't even muster up the slightest bit of upheaval.

He felt as if he had already seen too many beautiful, blossoming flowers and experienced too many twists and turns. Now, watching all of this just felt like mist before his eyes. With the surrounding sound of delicate laughter and the racket of song and dance, he inevitably started reminiscing about reading books and drinking tea in the everyday tranquility of the Wang family residence.

He came to Fengchun House to give that group of people an opportunity to get close to him, but after the events of that morning, that group probably won't come again. And he still didn't know if they truly did not know him, or if something had happened midway that made them no longer recognize him… Ye You inwardly ruminated, patiently sitting until nightfall. Seeing the people next to him get increasingly more restless, he considerately indicated to them that if they had something to do, they should just go do it.

The people asked, “Sir Xiao? Do you want to return now?”

Ye You was about to answer when he heard a delicate cry from upstairs, immediately followed by a, “Young sir, be careful.” He lifted his head, only to be met with a completely full wine cup dropping from the second floor, conveniently falling in his direction. Right at the interval when he was looking over, the spilling wine cup had already gotten close and, in the next moment, would've splashed on his face.

The hearts of those on the side startled. Right when they were about to pull him aside, their eyes blurred, and by the time they recovered, they found that he had not only moved a step who knows when but also acquired a new wine cup. Furthermore, not a single drop of wine had been spilled, all had been caught with his cup, and his other hand was steadily holding the other dropped cup, as if holding a flower.

The others took a breath. Such a short period of time, yet the cup was held and the wine caught; this speed was really too fast. If he used this lightness skill[3] to murder… These people thought of that image and immediately felt a chill down their necks.

As luck would have it, the maiden from upstairs had run downstairs, her lovely complexion pale. “Is the young sir all right?”

Ye You smiled as he handed over both cups to her. Warmly, he appeased, “Don't worry, nothing happened.”

The maiden stared at the newly filled wine cup and then turned back to look at him. Her smile was stiff as she accepted both. Ye You's eyes followed her upstairs before turning to the yellow-clothed young miss next to him. “Who was that beauty?”

Before the young miss could reply, the people from Jianghu, after finally regaining their senses, told him that she was Lady Yun, ranked third in Fengchun House. Their tones had some level of both respect and fear.

“Ranked third, as expected of a beauty,” Ye You praised and asked the young miss, “Does she have customers today?”

The young miss said, “Yes, she does.”

Ye You asked, “Do you have any idea who?”

The young miss said, “There's four noble guests. They asked for many sisters, so even I'm not sure who Sister Yun is accompanying.”

The scarred man had come out when the accident had happened and had also been startled by Young Master Xiao's lightness skill. But following that, hearing him ask about the other maiden as if he wanted to call her over, the scarred man felt cold sweat dripping down his body in waves and started considering sending someone to return to inform the Sect Master.

However, before he had the chance to send someone, he heard Young Master Xiao manage to drag out that the leader of the noble guests was surnamed Wei. He couldn't help but stare and then thought of the accident just now before quickly understanding that that cup of wine had been intentionally spilled.

“So it turned out to be Sir Wei. Then forget it,” Ye You said as he called over a waiter and ordered a jug of wine to be sent over.

The waiter was very swift with his tasks, and he went up at once. When the arrogant Sir Wei[4] saw the jug of wine, he didn't speak for a long while. Lady Yun, who had volunteered just now, was biting her lip, nestled next to a certain someone's side, not daring to look in his direction.

Those at the same table asked, astounded, “What's the meaning of this? Did he see through it?”

“Or else what?” Sir Wei said. “His moves just now, who saw it clearly?”

The entire table shook their heads.

Sir Wei didn't accompany Manor Lord Wei to Dingtian Academy last time and didn't hear that Sir Xiao's analysis, so he still had an impression of that person as a quiet and well-behaved Junior Brother. Now that he had seen how sharp the other was, he certainly had some interest and said, “Wenren Heng's Junior Brother is indeed not just a simple person.”

The table asked, “What do you want to do?”

Sir Wei took the wine that had been sent and poured a cup. He said, “Not what.”

After gifting the wine, Ye You said his goodbyes and unhurriedly left Fengchun House. Looking at the scarred man who had caught up with him, he said, “Don't tell my Senior Brother about what happened just now. The other party was also doing it for the sake of his younger sister.”

When the scarred man realized that Sir Wei was also at Fengchun House, he too understood the reason.

From the first meeting with the Sect Master, Lady Wei already had those kind of thoughts. But seeing that the Sect Master continually refused marriage and the way the Sect Master treated Young Master Xiao that was obvious to all, Sir Wei surely began to have some doubts. Thus, he wanted to manufacture an accident so as to seize the opportunity to see Young Master Xiao's face. The only unclear thing was whether the idea about spilling the wine was his or not.

In fact, it wasn't only Sir Wei, every single person who wanted to become familiar with the Sect Master could see that the way the Sect Master treated Young Master Xiao was completely different from the way he treated everyone else. In the future, if this favoritism was seen by those who liked the Sect Master, then there would most likely be many people who would secretly come and trouble Young Master Xiao.

The scarred man couldn't help but look at the person beside him.

Ye You thought that the other was suspicious of his words and laughingly said, “Listen to me. If Senior Brother had some intentions towards this young lady, then what good would it do to learn of this matter which might cause a rift between them. It's better to destroy ten temples than a marriage.[5] Besides, I'm still waiting for my red envelope.”

“…” The scarred man silently turned his head. What was the point of secretly worrying?! Even their Sect Master would occasionally be made to feel helpless by Young Master Xiao, so how could other people be this person's match?

Although it was nightfall, the streets were still very lively. The scarred man followed for a while before realizing that the other wasn't returning to the Wang family residence and asked, “Where is Young Master Xiao going?”

Ye You said, “I haven't decided.”

The scarred man immediately investigated the shops in front, afraid that Young Master Xiao would enter a male brothel. If this person really did spend the night outside, their Sect Master might laugh enough to terrify, and just thinking of it made his blood run cold.

He advised, “It's late. Why not go back?”

Ye You thought for a bit. “That's also good. But I don't want to return too early, so let's walk slowly.”

The scarred man naturally didn't have any objections.

Ye You said, “I always forget to ask Senior Brother, but right now the sect leaders[6] living at the Wang family residence, other than Manor Lord Wei, Pavilion Master Ding, and the Alliance Leader, the remaining four Sect Masters[7] — Chen, Han, Dong, Tian — belong to which sects?”

“They're all from relatively strong sects,” the scarred man said, “Sect Master Chen is the first Sect Master in Jianghu from Shuizhai, Sect Master Han is Qingcheng Sect's Sect Master, Sect Master Dong is…”

He carefully laid it out, and then hearing Young Master Xiao ask some other questions, he ended up walking and talking at the same time, gradually turning towards discussing the other sects of Jianghu.

Ye You said, “Last time I was drinking wine I heard them talking about the Demonic Sect's Sect Master and thought that they said some incredible things. How much do you know about Sect Master Ye? Does he have any friends?”

The scarred man said, “He does. Wuwang Temple's Temple Master.”

Ye You thought back. “Called Xie Junming?”

The scarred man said, “Yes, after the incident at Yushan stage, Temple Master Xie invited Sect Master Ye to drink, and from that, those two became friends.”

Ye You said, “Oh?”

The scarred man laughed and said, “Because Temple Master Xie said that since the Gold Sect was changed to the Demonic Sect, that righteous faction could no longer call them the Demonic Sect and they could finally yell back as per etiquette[8] that they were the Wudang Sect.”

Ye You laughed. He asked, “What kind of person is Sect Master Ye?”

“Sect Master Ye doesn't often show his face, but the rumors about him in Jianghu have abounded these past few years. All of them have been things that spark enthusiastic speculation. He lives extremely free and easy, without restraint. Even our Sect Master…” The scarred man suddenly thought of something as he spoke and suddenly looked at the Sir Xiao next to him, feeling cold from head to toe.

Speaking like that, Young Master Xiao's disposition was somewhat similar to Sect Master Ye's. Is he overthinking it?

[1] A Chinese zither. Has seven strings. Usually called a guqin (“ancient qin”) now since there are other instruments known as qin in the modern day.

[2] Censored. 春[*]色. Probably referring to the lustful gazes of the patrons here or something.

[3] 輕功 (qinggong) A Chinese martial arts thing. If you've seen wuxia TV dramas, this is the skill that lets all the characters jump tree to tree and fly through the air with B-movie effects lmao and stuff.

[4] Whoo boy, so I knew translating 公子 as “young sir”/”sir” would come to bite me in the ass one day, and here it is! Here, this Wei is referred to as 二公子, meaning he's the second son. This… is difficult to translate nicely in English, which is probably why other folks have kept honorifics in pinyin instead of translating them! For now, I'm going to just leave it “Sir Wei”, since that's what Wenren Heng introduced him as to Ye You back in chapter 10. If the first son ever appears… well, that's for future!me to worry about. [insert cursing from future!me here when I inevitably have to fix this]

[5] 寧拆十座廟，不毀一樁婚 A saying. Pretty self-explanatory, I think.

[6] 掌門 (zhangmen), which is used as a catch-all term for all leaders/masters of any type of sect, from what I gather.

[7] aslhrlwrew it's 幫主!! Curses, past!me!! /lies down Anyway, in case you forgot, the 幫 here indicates that they're a smaller sect, like a gang or whatever. I translated it as “Academy Master” for the leader of Dingtian Academy, but I'm going to leave it as “Sect Master” for now for these guys… /pushes problem off to future!me again.

[8] Text specifically says 八經, which according to baike is apparently eight never-changing rules of etiquette? I have honestly never heard of this, but it sort of makes sense in context, so here.

I never thought that 姑娘 and 公子 would be such a frustrating thing to translate in English lmao. It's really the small things that trip you up…

I also ended up reading all the translated chapters of Don't Pick Up Boyfriends From the Trash Bin in one go and needed a day to kind of just bask in its greatness. So, uh, sorry for the lateness of this, but if you haven't read that WN, I highly, highly recommend it. It will ruin you for all other quick transmigration novels, and then some.

Chapter end