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Dandan searches for a way to deal with the challenge of the beast colosseum…
© 12 and
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Ch. 5 | The Blood Weapon
Dandan lifted his eyes slightly. ‘What did you say?’
‘If Yu Huan is still alive, why hasn’t he come to look for you? If he doesn’t, it means you don’t matter to him and if that’s the case, why do you still persist in waiting for him?’
Dandan scratched at his ear. ‘I’m willing to wait.’
‘You honestly believe Yu Huan is still alive?’
‘… Yu Huan’s blood flows in my veins. If he were dead, I would be able to feel it.’
Bi An sighed. ‘Little rabbit, you’re just too obstinate with a one-track mind¹. Other spirit beasts look for a new owner after the previous one dies, but only you keep clinging on stubbornly to Yu Huan. Yu Huan died on Dragon Ridge and so you’ve remained there after that. Look at Scythe and Phantom — they both left to lead new lives whereas you leave the mountain periodically to look for him based on your body’s spiritual energy. You’ve been searching for a hundred years. What exactly are you after?’
Dandan finished his apple and tossed the core into the bin. ‘I’m not after anything except my own peace of mind. I want to find him.’
Bi An said helplessly, ‘Fine, fine, fine. Treat what I just said as nonsense. But since you’re so dead-set on Yu Huan and unswerving in your loyalty to him, then why are you thinking of making a pact with Second Master Song?’
‘It’s a bit complicated. I’ll explain it to you another time when I have a chance.’
‘I’m not all that interested in knowing anyway.’
¹ 認死理 rèn//sǐlǐ: COLLOQUIAL. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
‘By the way, Bi An, tell me more about any weakness the tiger-crocodile has or what way it can be defeated.’
Bi An seemed to think this was a joke. ‘For a Supreme-calibre beast like you, merely crooking one of your fingers will be enough to annihilate² it.’
Dandan scratched his head. ‘Uh, well, there’s something I forgot to tell you…’
‘What?’
‘In that battle on Dragon Ridge, some utterly shameless fellow stole more than half of my spiritual power, so now I’m actually…’
‘That doesn’t matter. After all, you’re still ranked a Supreme. Back then, even I could afford to swagger around as long as it was in your company. I still recall how the Gu tribe of giant scorpions, which struck such terror into hearts everywhere, were strung up on the walnut trees on Dragon Ridge by you and Phantom. You split open their heads and shells, seasoned them with a little spiced salt then roasted and ate them… So I believe you won’t need your full power to deal with something like the tiger-crocodile.’ Bi An sat down on the opposite sofa and propped his chin on one hand, asking casually, ‘So tell me, how much spiritual power do you have left?’
‘One third.’
‘WHAT?!’ Bi An’s hand slipped and his head fell forward. ‘Doesn’t that mean you’re now…’
‘…’
Dandan asked unemotionally, ‘Any ideas?’
‘Let me see… let me see… this is a little tricky…’ Bi An pondered for a while then suggested, ‘If you had a lethal Blood Weapon, even with only one third of your spiritual power left, you might still stand a chance…’
‘A Blood Weapon…’
² 灰飛煙滅 huīfēi-yānmiè. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
Every spirit beast had the ability to wield two unique weapons. One was a weapon that could be summoned by a spirit beast’s own spiritual power but that was not possible in Dandan’s current state. The other came from the lifeblood of a Guardian and was summoned by the Guardian’s incantation. The more powerful the Guardian, the more lethal the Blood Weapon.
‘How powerful a Blood Weapon do you think I’ll need to defeat the tiger-crocodile?’
‘In your current pathetic state, you’ll need one from the likes of an Arch-Guardian like Yu Huan.’
Dandan rolled his eyes. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘I mean that you need one from someone of his calibre, not him personally.’ Bi An gave a little wave.
‘Then… whom do you have in mind?’
‘Currently, the most powerful Guardians that I can think of in all of Ridge City are from the Five Great Houses. Since you say you know Second Master Song, then you might as well just borrow his Blood Weapon.’
Dandan said, ‘… Forget it. Asking this ancestor to bestow his Blood Weapon on me — I would be better off digging up Yu Huan and resurrecting him.’
Bi An: ‘…’
‘It’s true. He can’t wait for me to be shredded by the tiger-crocodile…’
They looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Bi An said abruptly, ‘There’s another way. You can hunt down that shameless thief from back then and take back the power he stole from you.’
‘I’ll certainly do that one day, just not now.’ Dandan frowned. ‘There’s nothing I hate more than people touching what belongs to me. One day, I’ll make sure I get back the stolen two thirds of my spiritual power, with interest.’
‘Lame.’
‘What?’
‘A hollow shell saying that when he only has one third of his power left really isn’t convincing at all…’
‘…’ The corners of Dandan’s mouth turned down. ‘Can’t you let me… be cool for more than three seconds, huh!!!’
‘Sor-sorry…’ Bi An snickered. ‘You’ve been as tough as old boots all your life and it’s rare to see you this weak so I couldn’t resist bullying you a little…’
Dandan had no comeback for the moment. ‘I had better be going now before Song Lin becomes suspicious. Don’t tell anyone that you’ve seen me. That includes your teacher, Feng Chulian.’
‘Why can’t I tell my teacher?’
‘He’s old… and therefore long-winded… I hate being nagged.’
‘Fine, as you please.’
Their conversation over, Dandan pulled open the curtain and went out. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a wisp of smoke but it was only for a second and by the time he wanted to take a closer look, there was absolutely nothing. Dandan stood where he was for a moment before making his way back to Song Lin.
When he got to the viewing stand, he wanted to sit in the farthest corner only to find that all the seats were full and the only empty spot was the seat next to Song Lin…
He was a bit hesitant.
Don’t tell me they left that spot for me? This Second Master isn’t as unreasonable³ as he appears, eh.
On this thought, he strolled over to Song Lin and whispered in his ear, ‘Was this seat left for me?’
Before Song Lin could reply, Styx walked over and sat down, clearly telling him with that action — sorry, this is my seat.
Dandan: ‘…’
Styx’s expression which clearly said ‘Don’t get any ideas about our Young Master, you little gigolo. I’ll protect Young Master with my life’ greatly tickled Dandan and he promptly plonked himself down on Styx’s lap.
‘There’s no seat left. You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?’
Styx’s eyes widened disbelievingly and a crack appeared in that normally stoic expression he had. It was a mixture of panic, indignation and a smidgen of embarrassment. After a few moments, he pushed Dandan off and fled, defeated.
Dandan was in stitches as he watched Styx’s sorry retreat.
Just then, Song Lin reached out and stroked his head briefly, ‘Enough. Settle down now.’
The sensation of his hand suddenly caused Dandan to lose focus for a moment — it felt so familiar for some reason. He shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the notion.
Dandan did not pay much attention to the details of the ritual to pray for rain. To him, that was just an act Bi An was putting on to fool the audience. Bi An’s Daoist skills were not even a tenth of his teacher’s, Feng Chulian. Forget about the rain, he couldn’t even invoke a raindrop.
³ 不近人情 bùjìn-rénqíng. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
After returning to the Song Manor, Dandan had a platter of roasted meat then took a rest. At night, he made the now familiar journey to the entrance of ‘Hengfeng House’. To avoid the guards, he leapt over the wall only to be greeted by the sight of Styx’s glassy fish eyes.
‘Aiyee, you scared the hell out of me…’ Dandan laughed hollowly and was forced to greet Styx, ‘Good evening, Your Excellency…’
In the end, Styx tossed him unceremoniously into the room by the scruff of his collar. He kept his face down and low to the ground as he shuffled forward by half a metre.
Song Lin was being waited upon by a servant girl as he brushed his teeth. When he saw the peculiar posture Dandan was adopting, he dismissed the servant before asking, ‘Why are you making such a grand obeisance at this hour?’
Dandan raised his face awkwardly from the floor and said, ‘I missed you…’
Styx, watching from the side, almost sent the fellow flying with one kick. He clenched his fists: I knew it, this gigolo is lusting after Second Master’s beauty! He keeps trespassing into Second Master’s bedroom because he’s planning to do unspeakable things to Second Master!
Such behaviour could rightly be termed ‘utterly shameless’!
Song Lin clearly did not take this ‘romantic’ confession seriously and merely leaned back against the bedhead, saying, ‘Out with it. What other request have you got now?’
Dandan got to his feet and dusted off his trousers. ‘Uh well… I would like to borrow something from you for the fight tomorrow.’
‘What?’
‘Your Blood Weapon.’
‘How dare you!’ Styx said coldly. ‘Who do you think you are, daring to demand Second Master’s Blood Weapon?’
‘Be reasonable, it’s not as if you don’t know what I am. I’m a weak little rabbit while my opponent is a slimy, slithery giant snake. My old man always taught me to get along with people and not fight, but now, not only do you want me to fight that thing, you won’t even give me a weapon. Don’t you feel in the least bit guilty?!’
Song Lin and Styx exchanged glances and said coldly in unison, ‘Nope.’
Not only did they not feel guilty, they were even very pleased with themselves.
Dandan: ‘…’
Fine, you win. I’ll leave.
(Approx. 1696 words)
12’s notes:
22nd March 2020: Deleted most footnotes and other minor revisions.
Edited on 29th April 2020.
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
Hmmmmm. Is the familiar petting hinting towards Song Lin being Yu Huan? Or is it a red herring? Ghhhh, I’ve never read the author’s other works (Do they have any?) so I don’t know what to expect. I’ll just patiently wait for the angst orz
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The author has other works but this is the first and only one so far that’s got fantasy elements. Her other works are about couples at university.
Err, it’s a hint. Hopefully the mix of fluff and angst will be worth the wait for you!
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So I’m not the only one who just wants to sit in someone’s lap when they take my seat! O.K., Song Lin is definitely (the reincarnation of?) someone Dandan used to know, right? No one spoil me please, actually, just speculating. I think Bi An must not be that weak anymore like Dandan thinks, I mean he even has disciples now. I really wonder what Song Lin is trying to accomplish with all this. Thanks for the translation!
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