Record of the Missing Sect Master Chapter 25

Oh, good, this chapter is only like… 5.5k. Ha.

Young Miracle Doctor Fang's mind seemed to contain only medical books and patients.

After saying that he was going to monitor Sir Xiao constantly, he decided to start staying with them immediately, starting tonight.

When the scarred man went to send off Sir Wei and Sir Yang at the door, he didn't dare to look in the direction of his Sect Master's face.

The two Wei and Yang knew that Wenren Heng had always been living together with his Junior Brother, so upon their departure, they couldn't help first giving a look of admiration to the Young Miracle Doctor. The Young Miracle Doctor was sitting very straight and, having just brought out a medical text, was also diligently studying it. They internally thought that even if one's thoughts were pure, it still didn't mean that one would be free from trouble.

Wei Jiangyue had a mind to look at the expression on Wenren Heng's face, but when he turned over to look, through some supernatural occurrence, he somehow found himself drawn to Sir Xiao's person instead.

Ye You seemed to have somewhat felt that gaze and lifted his eyes to look at the other.

Ordinarily, he was covered in bandages, with only a few open holes left on his face, so no one ever felt the desire to look at him closely. Now that his bandages were gone, contrasted with his black hair, Wei Jiangyue suddenly realized that the color of his pupils was very light. Although his expression seemed disorganized, his eyes were penetrating, appearing mixed together with a sliver of indifference, looking for all the world as if he could see through one's soul.

Aloof and remote, untouchable by human hands.

Wei Jiangyue's breathing turned slightly sluggish, and he hastily averted his eyes in discomfort.

After the people left, the room became quiet.

Seeing Wenren Heng return, Young Miracle Doctor Fang lifted his head from the medical text and said to the other, “Your health isn't good. It's better if you go to sleep early. Sect Master Wenren, if there's nothing urgent, we can talk about everything else tomorrow.” The meaning was that the other could leave and go to sleep.

Wenren Heng smiled in a refined way. “I live together with my Junior Brother.”

Young Miracle Doctor Fang looked at him, then looked at Sir Xiao. Foolishly, he took a while to react before understanding his meaning. He persevered with, “I'm still going to stay here.”

Wenren Heng examined him closely a few times, eventually deciding to pass over this topic for now. He asked, “Young Miracle Doctor Fang, you said that it'd become troublesome if my Junior Brother spat out blood two more times, but what exactly is it that you discovered?”

Now that they were on the topic of illnesses, the Young Miracle Doctor quickly regained his previous solemn and earnest expression. “My Master's letter had previously mentioned his condition. It said that his internal energy comes and goes and that it can't be found, but when I was taking his pulse just now, I found that his internal energy was somewhat unsteady, most likely caused by his spitting out blood.” He looked at Sir Xiao. “When you spat blood, did you first feel as if your energy was stuffy?”

Ye You said, “Yes.”

The Young Miracle Doctor said, “As expected.”

Wenren Heng asked, “Do you know the cause?”

The Young Miracle Doctor said, “He's previously suffered from an internal injury, though I haven't figured out the exact details of how it happened. But he can't spit out blood anymore, which is why he needs to be watched.”

Wenren Heng finally didn't feel as opposed to the other's decision to stay behind and instructed his subordinates to make up another small bed in the room.

The Young Miracle Doctor's temperament was extremely good, and he was able to feel at home wherever he was. Hugging his medical text, he gladly and diligently walked over. After checking the patient's condition one last time, he indicated that they should go to rest early.

Wenren Heng pulled down the bed curtains and laid down. After a short while, he suddenly thought of something and asked, “After he got injured, he lost his memories. Does this have to do with his internal injuries?”

The Young Miracle Doctor stared in the direction of the large bed. “My Master's letter only roughly explained the issues with his internal energy, telling me to examine it properly. It didn't say anything else. Did he hit his head?”

Before Wenren Heng could even open his mouth, the Young Miracle Doctor had already stood up with a clatter and hurriedly walked over to them. He pulled open the bed curtains and told Wenren Heng to move over. Then, he sat at the side of the bed and took Sir Xiao's pulse. He furrowed his handsome brows. “From the pulse, I can't see that it has anything to do with the internal energy. Give me your other hand.”

Readily listening to the other's words, Ye You switched his hands.

The Young Miracle Doctor carefully took his pulse for a while before tucking him in and pensively walking back, all the while muttering, “Still can't see anything wrong… But if it really is related to the internal energy, what could it be…”

As he spoke, he nestled into the small bed, and from a pile of junk, he quickly pulled out a medical text, immersing his whole self into studying it, leaving the two other people to cool down on the side.

Wenren Heng, “…”

Ye You, “…”

Wenren Heng had somewhat sussed out this child's personality, secretly thinking that, in the future, he'd probably be interrupted from many things by this dense, little fool. He restrained himself and went back to lie down, telling the Young Miracle Doctor to also sleep early.

The Young Miracle Doctor answered in the affirmative, not forgetting to leave the instruction, “If there's anything wrong with his condition, remember to tell me.”

Wenren Heng mildly agreed. After reminiscing a bit, he said, “That's right, that day, we…”

Ye You gave an indistinct look to his Senior Brother.

Wenren Heng's voice stopped. Internally, he thought that if he spoke of going to see the Liuzhu flower that day, then that little fool outside would run over to take his Junior Brother's pulse once again to investigate whether the two were related.

The Young Miracle Doctor looked at the big bed. After waiting a bit, he asked, “What about that day?”

Wenren Heng gently said, “It's not very important. Let's talk about it tomorrow.”

The Young Miracle Doctor said, “All right.”

Wenren Heng turned his head to look at his Junior Brother, and the two almost simultaneously laughed silently, both made somewhat helpless by this little fool.

Ye You wanted to add some words of evaluation, but when he lifted his eyes, he unexpectedly collided with his Senior Brother's line of sight, and he couldn't help but pause. As they had gotten to know one another, he had looked at the other face-to-face countless times. There have been looks of calculation, pretense, and investigation, but it seemed like the first time that they've ever looked at one another in such a simple and pure way.

As he looked at the tenderness in his Senior Brother's eyes, he felt an uncontrollable, sliver of a feeling rising in his heart.

For a while, neither spoke.

In the room, a lantern was lit, and the glimmers of light shone through the bed curtains, slowly permeating the air, bringing with it a layer of hazy and indistinct ambiguity.

The emotions in Wenren Heng's eyes deepened by degrees, as he felt the sudden desire to kiss the other.

After ten years, he'd already forgotten how it felt to kiss this person.

He was just about to try approaching a little when he heard the Young Miracle Doctor outside closing his book and muttering, “How strange, what exactly is the reason…” — Although the voice was very quiet, with the two's hearing ability, everything could be heard extremely clearly.

In a flash, that gentle atmosphere that had been lingering indistinct in the surroundings was obliterated without a trace, and the expression in Ye You's eyes also cleared.

Wenren Heng, “…”

Sure enough, a good thing was interrupted.

With his premonitions confirmed so quickly, Wenren Heng felt like simply picking up that little fool and tossing him outside.

Ye You didn't want to open his eyes as he began examining those feelings just now. He couldn't really be attracted to men, right? Then what about Senior Brother? He couldn't help but once again look at his Senior Brother, this time with more inquiry.

Wenren Heng recovered his gentle appearance, lifted his hand to rub the other's head, and noiselessly said, “Let's sleep.”

If this person kept looking at him, he really wouldn't be able to endure it anymore.

Ye You didn't argue and obediently closed his eyes. Wenren Heng looked at him for a while, suppressing his heart full of sentiments, while in his heart letting out a sigh of regret, before also going to sleep.

After a short moment, Ye You once again opened his eyes and looked over at Wenren Heng.

The words he said before weren't lies. His Senior Brother did indeed look quite good, and what's more, he was of the category that looked progressively more and more good-looking, particularly with how outstanding he was. Ye You felt that as long as Senior Brother was willing, in this world, there were not many people who would be able to refuse his Senior Brother.

He earnestly sized up Wenren Heng for a while and reluctantly admitted that he didn't hate this person. Or else, if it had been someone else sleeping by his side for this long, he would've long thought of a way to get rid of such a person.

Then how exactly was the relationship between his past self and Senior Brother?

If it had been good, then Senior Brother wouldn't have had to hide so many things from him. But it couldn't have been bad, since Senior Brother truly treated him quite well. Senior Brother said that one thing had been concealed from him. What exactly was it?

Ye You was pensive, and only after giving his Senior Brother one last look did he fall asleep.

As the next morning came, Ye You was once again bandaged into a “lantern”. Although the Young Miracle Doctor interrupted with a sentence, reminding Wenren Heng that he didn't need to bandage the other so tightly, those words weren't able to stop Wenren Heng's determination.

Wenren Heng tied a knot and cheerfully said, “Done. Let's go eat.”

Wei Jiangyue and Sir Yang had already arrived at the dining hall, and now watched as the three entered the dining hall. Their gazes were unconsciously drawn to Sir Xiao's person, and upon seeing him, they were a bit regretful, feeling as if they now understood why that person was completely covered up even though only half his face was injured.

It indeed needed to be covered up, they thought, or else it'd harm too many people.

The three days passed very fast, but no matter what Manor Lord Wei said, he wasn't able to convince his daughter to remain, so much so that he had a mind to lock her up. He said, “There's still five pieces of the map left. Anytime something happens, I'll have to go discuss it with the Alliance Leader and the others, so I most likely won't have the time to take care of you… And don't even mention Xiao Heng. There's no way he'll pay attention to you.”

Wei Jiangrou bit her lips and said, aggrieved, “Then I still have Second Brother.”

Manor Lord Wei asked, “Are you so insistent on following because of the matter with Xiao Heng?”

Wei Jiangrou didn't reply. Wenren Heng had always treated her like this, and she had never thought it unbearable before, believing that as long as they spent enough time together, their relationship would become good, so no matter what, she was willing to wait. But with the sudden appearance of Ah-Xiao, it made her feel unprecedented unease. She feared that if she left now, they would never have a chance.

Manor Lord Wei looked at the top of her head and was silent for a while before finally agreeing.

Wei Jiangyue looked at his little sister going to pack up her luggage before turning, puzzled, to look at his father. Knowing what he wanted to ask, Manor Lord Wei sighed and said, “It'd be good to let her see the situation clearly so that she can give up. You should watch over her a bit more on the way.”

Wei Jiangyue nodded.

The people of Jianghu in Huayang City had already long finished their preparations, and seeing the Alliance Leader's group leave the Yang family residence one after another, they once again set out together.

After that night, Wenren Heng had wanted to create more opportunities for ambiguity between him and his Junior Brother, wanting to feel out the other's attitude. However, he quickly received a rude awakening, as the Young Miracle Doctor was true to his word, and wherever his Junior Brother went, the doctor followed. Now that they've sat down in the carriage, the Young Miracle Doctor also came in and sat down with them, unselfconsciously opening up his medical text. With the guarantee that the patient would always be under his eyes, he was rigid in adhering to his own words.

The scarred man stared fixedly ahead as he let down the carriage's curtain, not daring to look inside at all.

He was about to turn around when he suddenly felt a person approaching, so he couldn't help but look back and saw that it was Qin Yuemian.

Qin Yuemian blinked his beautiful, expressive eyes and confidently smiled at the other, passing over to also enter the carriage.

“…” The scarred man already didn't even want to contemplate the Sect Master's expression. Emptying his head, he earnestly concentrated on driving.

Wenren Heng looked at his good friend and raised his brows.

Qin Yuemian took the initiative to say, “I was bored, so I came here to sit with all of you.”

That previous route didn't just toss people around but was also extremely dull. Several times, he had wanted to find that pack of scoundrels and go carousing, but he couldn't stop his unease, so he could only follow. At that time, Wenren Heng's entire attention was on Sir Xiao's person, and Qin Yuemian tactfully didn't move forward with them, instead following alone with the troops. Now since he had seen a person fearlessly coming over, he naturally also came over.

He smiled at the Young Miracle Doctor, directing an enormous amount of sincere goodwill towards the other. “Sir Fang is reading?”

The Young Miracle Doctor was diligently reading, so it took him a while to react and realize that someone was referring to him. Vacantly, he lifted his head to look at Qin Yuemian and foolishly asked, “Who are you?”

Qin Yuemian, “…”

After investigating the route, the Alliance Leader's party made straight for the official roads and arrived at their destination after only two days. This area was already past the boundaries of Huayang City, and the second piece of the map had only a few more lines, so as they walked, they also looked for a nearby village. Luckily, they found another local to draw another map and managed to omit no small amount of trouble.

Midway, the carriage was once again unable to be used, and they could go only on foot, slowly entering a mountain range.

“We have to go through the forest.” The Alliance Leader looked at the color of the sky. “We'll probably have to spend the night in there.”

Manor Lord Wei said, “No matter. We'll organize a night watch.”

They were all people who have practiced martial arts, so this matter was easy to deal with. The Alliance Leader was very reassured and, nodding, brought everyone inside the forest. It was only when the road could no longer be seen did he stop them to rest and reorganize.

The moonlight was cool and clear, the color of the night peaceful.

The forest rang faintly with the sound of extremely light rustling. Ye You suddenly opened his eyes and sat straight up. Wenren Heng had already awoken, and the two looked at one another, simultaneously listening for movements within the trees. After a moment, the only thing they heard was a person suddenly shouting from nearby, “What is this!”

These people who had already been on guard immediately got up, looking over with single-minded focus, but the only things they saw were two shadows quickly fleeing into the forest. Before they had the time to figure out what kind of animal it was, they heard Wei Jiangrou shrieking in alarm, “Ah–!”

This time, even those who slept like the dead woke up and, quivering, climbed out of bed.

At the same time, the shadows also got a fright, squeaking as they brandished their sharp claws here and there, and in a flash, the forest turned into a complete mess.

From time to time, there were people screaming, people cursing, people falling, and also people angrily telling others not to panic. Ye You stood unmoving, concentrating amidst the noisy clamor in an attempt to identify the subtle movements and then quickly perceiving that there was something scuttling over in their direction.

Before he could even react, he heard a sound popping in the air. Wenren Heng had thrown a copper coin and hit the creature to the side. In the gradually brightening light of the flames, Ye You identified what it was and said, astonished, “Monkey?”

That creature was tenacious. After it had been hit to the ground by Wenren Heng, it immediately turned over and crawled up, fleeing into the dark forest. Wenren Heng didn't kill it and said, “It simply looks alike. Its claws are sharper than a monkey's, and its head is also bigger. I also don't know what it is.”

These animals didn't have much guts. With just a shout, they startled badly enough that they'd all ran, without a trace of their shadows to be seen.

The confusion gradually settled. When the Alliance Leader's group examined the scene, they found that other than a few people who had gotten scratched by the claws, the only losses were that one package of provisions was gone and two had been opened, confirming that the animals had been here to steal something to eat.

Manor Lord Wei was so busy he was sweating. He said, “Ah, it's a false alarm.”

A few people looked over at him and almost laughed out loud. They saw that both of Manor Lord Wei's sleeves were scratched into strips and looked as if they were hanging off his body, making him look pitiful to no end.

The Alliance Leader also couldn't endure it. “What happened to you?”

With his suffering, Manor Lord Wei found it difficult to speak. Fearing she'd be unaccustomed to the food on the road, that precious daughter of his had brought along many snacks, drawing over a crowd of things. Since he rushed over for the sake of protecting her, he had been scratched by those things to this extent. But in the end he had experienced much upheaval in his life, so he simply laughed out loud and explained that he had a moment of carelessness. As he spoke, he handily ripped off his sleeves and threw the tatters away, continuing to arrange for future matters with the group, all without changing his expression.

Under the faintly trembling light of the torch, a long[1], thick scar could be clearly seen hanging on his left arm. Although it had already healed, what remained showed what a harrowing ordeal it must have been at that time. It almost looked as if, just by applying a bit more pressure, that arm could still be cut cleanly in half.

The people in the vicinity who had remained to watch this comedy all saw this and immediately stowed away their own thoughts, feeling a deep respect. Even Pavilion Master Ding, who had originally wanted to use this opportunity to say a sentence or two in derision, moved his lips in indecision before swallowing the words back.

Ye You keenly noted this point, and when he returned to rest, he looked towards his Senior Brother. “Manor Lord Wei's scar…”

Wenren Heng said, “It was inflicted seven years ago.”

Ye You raised a brow.

Wenren Heng moved slightly closer and lowered his voice to explain, “At that time, there was a madman who learned the Absorbing and Plucking Skill[2]. This martial art was certainly incredible, but every night when the full moon came around…”

Ye You lightly let out a breath. “It needs to absorb the blood of young boys and girls, sometimes even requiring a plucking of yin to absorb the yang[3].”

Wenren Heng said, “You remember this?”

Ye You nodded and asked, “What happened afterwards?”

“That person's miraculous skills were already complete, and his power was obviously formidable. That year, he harmed a number of children in a row,” Wenren Heng said, “The people begged Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion for help, and Manor Lord Wei's party brought people to block the roads for more than two months, finally managing to corner the person on the edge of a cliff, and it was then that the scar was inflicted. It's said that that person's weapon caused disastrous damage, and in the end, it was Manor Lord Wei's willingness to sacrifice an arm that finally pushed the person off the cliff.”

Ye You asked, “Dead?”

Wenren Heng said, “Dead. The corpse was found at the bottom of the cliff.”

Ye You made a sound in acknowledgment and looked in the direction of Manor Lord Wei.

People had already gone to rest one after another, and the light slowly dimmed.

Wenren Heng looked at the distance between them and abruptly thought of trying to see if he can once again change the atmosphere into something more ambiguous. Even with nothing to say, he said, “Reportedly this is only one of his injuries. Pavilion Master Ding also has many on his body. It's not easy being a great power within the righteous faction. The fact that Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion has stood tall for so many years without being toppled means that they not only have many people but also convinced the masses.”

In these past few days, Ye You had just about sussed out the position of Shuangji Sect in Jianghu.

Nowadays, within the young people in the righteous faction, Wenren Heng's position was the highest. If, in the future, Fengxian Manor and Lingjian Pavilion both don't have worthy successors to carry on their names, then his Senior Brother would be the most likely candidate to achieve the same heights as them.

He asked, curious, “Does Senior Brother want to become a great power in the future?”

Wenren Heng fixedly looked at him. “Do you want me to be?”

Before Ye You could open his mouth, the Young Miracle Doctor in the vicinity was walking over in their direction while rubbing his eyes, with a careless tone reminding Sir Xiao that the other needed to sleep early.

In a flash, Qin Yuemian couldn't help but let out a pfft.

The scarred man didn't dare overstep, pretending that he hadn't heard a thing.

“…” Wenren Heng's plans were immediately ruined. He looked at the people around him and internally thought that he had been too impatient; this really wasn't a good location. Giving up, he said, “Let's sleep.”

Having been disturbed by the animals, everyone slept uneasily and woke up before the sky had even lightened, once again returning to the road.

Of the remaining roads on the second piece of the map, the hardest route to walk was through this forest. After they had successfully passed through, with just expending one day's time, they had finished walking the remaining roads. Following that, it was time for the third piece of the map.

This piece was in Wenren Heng's hands. Having no interest in leading the way, he gave it directly to the Alliance Leader, telling the other that they should follow what they did with the second map and first find a place to rest for two days, as well as someone to draw a route, before setting out.

Everyone then once again returned to the official roads and eventually ended up at Luohua Lake[4].

The sky gradually turned overcast, looking like rain. The Alliance Leader looked every which way before bringing them into the woods, wanting to find a place to avoid the downpour. At this time, they heard the the melodious sound of a qin passing by, incredibly pleasant and moving.

Among the group, an unknown person said, in a low cry, “Ah, it's Lady Tao[5]!”

“What, Lady Tao? Where?”

“Ah, we can actually meet Lady Tao…”

Ye You looked towards the front.

Wenren Heng's eyes twitched.

Of the people that his Junior Brother knew, if he wanted to line up his most hated people in order, at the very top would be these three names — Wuwang Temple's Temple Master Xie Junming, the Demonic Sect's Elder Mei, and this Lady Tao!

Ye You didn't forget that time at Xunliu Manor when he heard about the matter of Lady Tao willingly dancing the Fengqi Dance[6] for the Demonic Sect's Sect Master. And since that time he spat blood, he had mostly guessed that he was probably the Demonic Sect's Sect Master. He asked, “Who's this Lady Tao?”

Wenren Heng really didn't want to respond.

Smiling, Qin Yuemian helped clear up the confusion. “She's Jiangnan's most beautiful person.”

[1] Specifically, the text said it's 1尺 in length, which if you forgot was a third of a meter (or about 13.123 inches, so a bit longer than the length of a ruler). I really couldn't think of a way to word this nicely.

[2] 吸採功 Oof, this was actually kind of difficult to parse since 採 could mean both “to pluck/pick” and “looks/complexion”. I went with the former meaning because of what Ye You says, but since this skill is never really described, who knows whether I'm right.

[3] 採陰補陽 Rape, but with added wuxia energy absorption.

[4] 落花湖 lit. Falling Flower Lake. The 落 here is once again a character with a lot of pronunciations. But paired with 花, it's usually luò, so I went with that.

[5] 桃姑娘 I translated this back in chapter 3 as “lovely young lady” because I thought it was a euphemism, but apparently it's an actual name, so that has been fixed. The 桃 in here actually just means “peach”, and that's often used euphemistically in Chinese, hence my confusion.

[6] askhrwerw OK, remember back in chapter 3 when I was agonizing over whether a “perching phoenix dance” was actually a dance or a euphemism and I decided on euphemism? Well, it's apparently an actual (in-universe) dance!!

I legit cannot believe that what I thought was a throwaway line (and that I apparently mangled!!) was actually important. Well, it's been fixed. If you're confused, reread the last bits of chapter three when we're first introduced to Wenren Heng's pack of scoundrel friends and they talk about ditching some dude named Shao Yuan because he became infatuated with a woman. (That woman is Lady Tao, which is apparently a name and not a euphemism! /kicks old!me)

Chapter end