Record of the Missing Sect Master Chapter 32

In which there's a bunch of gossiping voyeurs.

Ye You honestly said, “I've thought about it.”

He had long known that he couldn't conceal it from his Senior Brother, so he was especially accommodating and took the initiative to voice his analysis, “After I was injured and lost my memories, the person who harmed me never appeared even up until now. And right as something happened to me, the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison appeared. This is too coincidental. So there's the possibility I caused my own amnesia deliberately for the sake of participating in this incident. There's only one thing I don't understand.”

Wenren Heng said, “You could actually have just pretended to lose your memories.”

Ye You made a sound in agreement and pretended as if he didn't know anything, showing just the right amount of bewilderment. “Yes, I originally could have just pretended to lose my memories. Why would I really lose them? Is it this easy to induce amnesia?”

This was also the same thing that Wenren Heng didn't understand.

Exactly what method did his Junior Brother use to induce amnesia? And how did his internal energy become such a mess? And not to mention the burns on his body. If his Junior Brother really did do all that, then he truly was too ferocious.

Wenren Heng let out a sigh in his heart and, in a quiet voice, said, “It looks like we have to wait for you to regain your memories in order to know exactly what happened. Since it looks like there's a distinct possibility that you were the one who orchestrated this matter, you should practice a little more restraint.”

Ye You said, “Senior Brother, it's because I've guessed that this situation has something to do with me that I want to hurry up and resolve it.”

“I understand.” Wenren Heng's tone didn't contain a single trace of blame or disapproval, as if it'd be fine even if the other pierced the heavens. He said, “As long as I'm here, no matter what happens, I will protect you.”

Ye You lowered his eyes slightly, covering up his complicated mood, and said, “All right.”

Wenren Heng looked at his docile Junior Brother and said, “Then first promise me one thing.”

Ye You lifted his head.

Wenren Heng looked into his eyes. “If this truly is your doing, then when you recover your memories, tell me everything from beginning to end. Whatever I ask, you answer.”

“…” Ye You said, “Senior Brother, you're asking an amnesiac person to make such a promise?” Isn't that a bit shameless?

Wenren Heng calmly said, “In that case, the chess game will already be over. It wouldn't matter if everything was revealed then.”

Ye You said, “Then I'll consider such things once I regain my memories.”

Wenren Heng pressed on the umbrella and moved slightly closer, saying, calmly and evenly, “Since you're unwilling to agree right now, does that mean you don't trust me?”

Ye You felt faintly nostalgic at this feeling of being pressured by his Senior Brother, though this method already counted as being quite mild in comparison to before. Previously, they had even traded blows with one another — since the time he returned to the Central Plains and his identity was seen through by his Senior Brother, this Senior Brother of his had wanted to uncover the truth behind his departure that year and had, at one point, almost kidnapped him; although he hadn't actually been kidnapped, he clearly saw the desire to do so.

He tactfully replied, “My subordinates said that our relationship wasn't good.”

Without a change in expression, Wenren Heng said, “That's because our factions were in conflict, and I always wanted to bring you home, so they disapproved of me and spoke nonsense in retaliation.”

Ye You, “…”

Fortunately his memories had returned, or else if he hadn't been prepared, he really would've almost believed that.

Ye You turned his eyes and said, “Then all right, I promise you.”

With one look, Wenren Heng could tell that his Junior Brother was simply appeasing him and that, when the time came, the other would purposely say, “I promised you that I'd talk, but not when I would actually do so.” But he actually didn't care and said warmly, “Yes, it's fine as long as you remember.”

What does that mean?

Ye You suspiciously sized him up. It couldn't be that Senior Brother is planning on forcing it out of him?

The dark mood that Wenren Heng had been in because of the singer had made a complete turnaround. Feeling some desire to stroke his Junior Brother's head, after seeing the distance between them, he also started feeling the desire to hug his Junior Brother. He tried enduring for a while, but he ultimately failed to endure and ended up “copping a feel”, moving the bandages on his Junior Brother's forehead aside slightly in order to reach out his hand to feel if there was any sweat. He considerately asked, “Tired?”

Ye You said, “Not really.”

“Then let's walk a bit more before going back.” Wenren Heng paused. “That's right, there's one thing we haven't let the Young Miracle Doctor look at.”

Ye You was just about to ask a question when he saw his Senior Brother quickly moving to hit his chest acupoint. He immediately turned rigid, unable to move.

Wenren Heng was carrying a somewhat concerned expression, as if he was truly surprised at this outcome. “How is it? Before, hitting your acupoint was always useless, so I was worried that a problem would arise. How about now?

Ye You didn't want to answer, but he also couldn't not answer, so he said, “It's very effective.”

Wenren Heng made a sound in acknowledgment and helped him undo it. “That's good. It looks like we won't have to bother the Young Miracle Doctor then.”

“…” Standing in the autumn rain, Ye You was silent, feeling a layer of cold sweat appear.

He was willing to bet that his Senior Brother hitting his acupoint had nothing to do with the Young Miracle Doctor. It must be entirely because he had just made a promise which led to the other suddenly thinking of this matter and wanting to try it out.

It looked like his premonitions were right; when his Senior Brother realized that his memories had returned, the other was definitely planning on using force.

How would the other force him? It couldn't possibly be that the other was planning to hit his acupoint and take him to bed, right?

Was he imagining his Senior Brother as too unhinged?

There were many taverns within the city, and the fragrance of wine floated ambiguously through the air, capable of seducing the spirits of many. Even the falling rain couldn't stop the rush of excitement from the people.

Wei Jiangyue and a few other Junior Sect Masters were sitting in a private room in one such tavern.

They were different from the other customers in that they weren't there to drink tea, but rather, they were purely there for a place to sit for a while.

The white piece was a person of prestige and virtue, and their fathers all so happened to be right in this category.

At dinnertime, their fathers were all sitting at one table and, on the face of it, were very amiable; no issues could be seen. These young ones were seated at a table on the side, and they were completely unable to control themselves to such a degree, so their minds had been a collective mess while eating, and they all hastily ran out the moment they finished.

These people looked at each other, none of them knowing what to say. The only things they wanted to do was to give a bitter laugh and heave a sigh.

After a while, one of them proposed, “I say… let's not think of such things today and just drink some wine.”

“That's right, let's drink!”

Wei Jiangyue said, “If we don't think of it, will the matter just go away?”

“Then what can we do. We can't just sit here and fight and scheme against each other… Wenren Heng!”

The turn of this conversation was too strange, so it took everyone a while to react and realize that he had seen Wenren Heng. At once, they rushed to the window to look out and indeed saw Wenren Heng and Sir Xiao diagonally across from them. Wenren Heng was holding up an umbrella and speaking to his Junior Brother. The umbrella covered up most of their faces, so if it wasn't for that half-visible “lantern”, they wouldn't have been certain about who they were seeing. Right now, those two people were very close, and they had stopped under the hazy, gentle light of the lanterns; the air seemed laced with ambiguity.

They sneaked only a few glances before backing up, afraid that they'd be discovered by Wenren Heng.

Although Wenren Heng was also young, he was different from them.

Frankly speaking, Wenren Heng was someone who could sit at the same table as their fathers, while they were able to sit only at the accompanying table. Tonight, Wenren Heng was even able to request for a separate private room with his Junior Brother without even a word of notice, while they wouldn't have dared to do such a thing.

In this group, only Wei Jiangyue's relationship with Wenren Heng was not bad, and they were able to interact as friends of the same generation. The others didn't dare to act presumptuous in front of Wenren Heng, even if Wenren Heng's temperament was quite good.

These past few years, their fathers had always criticized them by comparing them to Wenren Heng, resulting in them all feeling somewhat wronged by Wenren Heng. At first, they still felt unconvinced, but as time passed, Shuangji Sect became better and better, and Wenren Heng's position also rose higher and higher, so if they still remained unconvinced, they would've just been inviting unnecessary trouble.

But misapprehensions were one thing, saying a word or two behind the back was another, and they still dared to do the latter.

Especially since Wenren Heng had always lived like an immortal, but recently even he had been splattered with human emotion[1] and unexpectedly fell to earth, making them all very excited at this turn of events.

“Does he like that Sir Xiao?”

“Anyone with eyes can see that.”

“No, all of you haven't been looking carefully. I've been paying attention, and he hasn't done anything too intimate.”

“Stop joking around, Young Master Han. If they had been intimate, would they have let you see it?”

“I'm referring to that sort of feeling. There's none of that between them. What do you think, Second Brother Wei?”

Wei Jiangyue indifferently said, “I don't know.”

He also thought that Wenren Heng liked Sir Xiao, but looking at the two's appearances, he had a feeling that Wenren Heng hadn't made his inner thoughts known.

“It looks like Sir Xiao is quite clever, and is probably hard to handle too. Do you think it's possible that Wenren Heng actually doesn't dare… Ah, he hit Sir Xiao's acupoint!”

The others' eyes immediately shone with light, and they felt their blood boiling[2], feeling as if they were about to see something interesting.

Wei Jiangyue's expression changed slightly, and his hands suddenly clenched into fists, a trace of anger bubbling up in his heart.

With no martial skill, Sir Xiao wouldn't have been able to dodge at all. Wasn't this just Wenren Heng taking advantage of this person's weakness?

However, before he could decide if he was going to rush over, he saw Wenren Heng undoing the hit acupoint for Sir Xiao. His expression loosened, and as he watched them walk away, his line of sight couldn't help but be drawn to Sir Xiao's person.

Those beside him sighed, disappointed. “Why are they just walking away like this, I thought that… Ugh, all of you understand.”

“I understand, but why didn't he do it? Was it something Sir Xiao said?

“Actually, compared to this, I'm more curious about what Sir Xiao looks like. Since he's able to get Wenren Heng acting like this, he must look quite good, right?”

“I don't know. Second Brother Wei, have you seen it before?”

Wei Jiangyue came back to his senses, and while an image flashed by in his mind of a face so beautiful it shook him to the core, he unconsciously said out loud that he had never seen it. Upon hearing them follow that with their desire to find an opportunity to see it, he immediately said, voice cold, “Stop making trouble!”

The group was startled by his demeanor, and they quickly remembered the matter with Wei Jiangrou.

Having associated with this person for a long time now, they all knew that this Second Brother Wei set clear lines between right and wrong. Since Wei Jiangrou had caused the other party to lose all internal energy, he was surely finding it hard to take. Thus, they tactfully didn't bring it up again and instead turned to a new topic of conversation, the atmosphere turning lively once again.

Wei Jiangyue wasn't in much of a mood to listen to them talk and was instead thinking that Sir Xiao looked far too remarkable. Now that he had ended up like this, no matter how clever, he probably wouldn't be able to handle all the troubles that came his way. It was still all right with Wenren Heng protecting him, but the two's relationship was unclear. In the end, if the two weren't able to be together, would Wenren Heng still take care of him day and night?

The group looked at him in surprise. “Second Brother?”

Wei Jiangyue lifted his head and saw that they had all lifted their cups and were waiting on him. He thereupon also lifted his cup and gave them a toast, feeling stuffy all the while, all the wine in his mouth tasting bitter.

Full of thoughts, he unconsciously drank quite a bit, and dazed and confused, he was supported back to the inn. He looked at the door to his dad's room before brazenly opening it and stepping inside.

Manor Lord Wei smelled the alcohol on his body and was somewhat surprised.

His son had always known how to behave properly and so, no matter what, shouldn't have gotten drunk at a time like this. He asked, “Why did you drink until you were like this?”

Wei Jiangyue silently looked at him.

Manor Lord Wei said, “What exactly happened?”

Wei Jiangyue said, “What have you decided to do about the matter with Sir Xiao?”

Oh, so it was actually about this matter, but it also shouldn't warrant getting drunk. Although Manor Lord Wei didn't understand, he still sat down beside his son, poured two cups of tea, and said, “I'll think of ways in the future to make it up to him.”

Wei Jiangyue said, “No matter how much you make it up to him, his martial arts are never coming back.”

Manor Lord Wei lifted his teacup to drink tea and said, sighing, “I know, we can only make it up as much as we can. Or else what can we do? In the end, we can't have your little sister pay with her life.”

Wei Jiangyue said, “I want to take care of him in the future.”

Manor Lord Wei was caught off guard and that mouthful of tea was spat out. He looked at his son. “What do you mean by taking care of him?”

Wei Jiangyue was so stupefied that it took him a while to realize that his dad had choked on water. He wanted to go over and pat his dad's back, but just as he stood up, he immediately fell down like a plank of wood. He laid there on the floor and fell right asleep.

Manor Lord Wei, “…”

Manor Lord Wei felt his mouth twitch, and after he sent his son back to the other room, he returned to ponder over the matter carefully. The next morning, he continued pressing his son for the other's intentions.

Wei Jiangyue asked, baffled, “Yesterday night's words? What did I say?”

The moment Manor Lord Wei heard this, he knew the matter had been forgotten. He guessed that because the incident had occurred recently, his son had made the decision recklessly, and perhaps after some time had passed, the other would also change his mind.

After thinking this through, he consoled with a careless, ‘It was nothing,' and took the other downstairs.

The Alliance Leader and the others were already awake. After eating a simple meal, they began hurrying towards Bodhi Prison.

Bodhi Prison was built fifteen years ago and locked within were who-knows-how-many notorious villains, so now that word had gotten out that something had happened to it, the entirety of Jianghu was nervous. Those who had lost their patience because of the map and had previously left midway were once again returning, and those who had always looked at the matter of the secret book with a detached eye were also finding themselves unable to help but pay some attention to this incident, afraid that those people would really escape.

At this time, the culprit behind this public outcry of alarm was leisurely sitting in a carriage, obediently listening to his Senior Brother telling him about the two people in the rumors.

“‘Colorless Blood' and ‘Lone Wolf' were both people who were locked up in Bodhi Prison because they had done too much harm,” Wenren Heng said, “It's been five, six years, and Jianghu still has not forgotten them.”

He gave his Junior Brother a considerably profound look, internally thinking that you're quite good at choosing people. Ye You innocently met the other's eyes, indicating that he didn't know anything since he lost his memories.

Sitting beside them, Qin Yuemian didn't notice them ambiguously “making eyes at one another” and interrupted with, “I'm somewhat curious. The black piece wants to attract people to Bodhi Prison, so he found people to pretend to be those two to provoke the populace; this much I understand. But what of the possibility that the white piece's place for manufacturing drugs is well-concealed, the clean-up done well, so once people arrive, nothing can be found? Then how can this play continue to go on?”

Wenren Heng also wanted to know how much this Junior Brother of his had planned in advance and said, “When the time comes, we'll understand when we see it. He's been setting this up for so long, he probably already made preparations.”

“I hope he has, or else it'll be too boring.” As he spoke, Qin Yuemian couldn't help but tsk. “I really want to know who this black piece is. Seeing one move after the other, I think this person really isn't anyone ordinary.”

Wenren Heng said, “It's probably an incredibly clever person.”

Although Ye You himself knew that he was clever, he still felt very happy hearing his Senior Brother praise him.

He was about to lift up the corners of his mouth when he heard his Senior Brother say, “But he's too good at tormenting people. Really just asking to be spanked.”

Ye You looked out the window, pretending that he hadn't heard that.

Bodhi Prison was built on Lianhua Mountain[3]. Outside the prison cells was a small courtyard for the guards to live in, and Shaolin and Wudang would switch duties once a month. On the side of the small courtyard closest to the rear mountain hung a large bell, so if anything ever happened, they needed only to ring this copper bell and the nearby Shaolin would be alerted, allowing them to send people over quickly.

Lianhua Mountain had only one road for going up and down the mountain, though it counted as quite wide, as a carriage could still pass through it.

When they arrived, Shaolin and Wudang's people were already there, and there were many people congregated in the vicinity. Upon seeing them now, those in the surroundings all collectively turned to look in their direction.

Ye You followed his Senior Brother off the carriage and calmly and unhurriedly entered the small courtyard.

The Shaolin Abbot[4] and Wudang Sect Leader came out together to welcome them, and behind each of these two was a row of people. Ye You swept his eyes over them and quickly realized that there were quite a few injured in the Wudang row. He sized them up while keeping an ear open. Upon hearing the Alliance Leader asking if “Colorless Blood” and “Lone Wolf” truly escaped or not, he turned back his line of sight.

The Shaolin Abbot put his hands together and let out a breath of Amitabha.

The Wudang Sect Leader said, “A few ran away.”

The Alliance Leader frowned. “Their cages were all made of black iron[5]. How did they escape?”

The Wudang Sect Leader said, “I heard it was Single-eyed Li[6] who had been practicing who-knows-what kind of sinister martial arts over these years. When they were delivering meals, he sucked a person over to the prison door and threatened to kill if the key wasn't handed over. When they brought the keys over, they originally wanted to stall for time, but who knew that the keys would also be sucked away into the cell. When Single-eyed Li came out, he knocked them all unconscious and threw the keys away randomly to someone else. This was also how ‘Colorless Blood' and ‘Lone Wolf' escaped.”

The Alliance Leader said, “We'll go in and look.”

The Wudang Sect Leader nodded and indicated to one of the injured disciples behind him to take them inside. The disciple gave an affirmative, taking the keys and leading the way. He spoke as he walked and relayed the entire night's thrilling events once through.

Pavilion Master Ding couldn't suppress his temper and directly asked, “Is there anyone taking people to test drugs here?”

“Test drugs?” That disciple was shocked and said, “How could that be? Oh, well, there have been those who had been locked up here with prior injuries, and over the years, if these old injuries festered, we invited doctors to come and prescribe them drugs. There's also one who has been drinking nothing but medicine these past few days. But in the past, whenever we had someone not make it, we would always inform the Sect Leader and Shaolin Temple of who died. They've all left behind a criminal record, and what's more, these prisoners also have close friends and family, so after a while, they'd also have visitors coming for them. We always keep a record, so who would dare to test drugs here?”

That indeed made sense. Everyone turned quiet and unconsciously looked towards Sir Xiao.

[1] 七情六慾 lit. seven emotions and six desires. Different schools of thought differ on what exactly these are, but needless to say, they're considered the essential parts of being human.

[2] 狼血沸騰 lit. wolf blood boiling. From what I can tell, the 狼血 is from internet slang and refers to the blood of a pervert (“wolf”) boiling, since they're excited to see perverted things.

[3] 蓮花山 lit. Lotus Flower Mountain.

[4] Shaolin Temple is a Buddhist sect, so their leaders are referred to as “abbots”. In Chinese, it's 方丈. (Wudang is Daoist, by the way, and their leader is referred to here as 掌門.) This is one of those cultural things that most Chinese folks who read/watch wuxia would've already known, so this is never mentioned explicitly here.

[5] 玄鐵 A fictional wuxia metal first conceived of by author Louis Cha (better known by his pen name, Jin Yong). It's apparently a black magnetic rock that also lets off a faint red glow.

[6] 獨眼李 I translated this because it honestly did not sound like a name to me, but there were no quotes to mark it as a title either. If it does turn out to be a name, then I'll come back and change it.

I never expected Wei Jiangyue to take up such a big role, despite having such a nice sounding name, but apparently he's an important boy! Too bad that Ye You probably just thinks of him as a plaything in between this cat-and-mouse game he's playing with his beloved Senior Brother.

Chapter end