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Dandan makes a discovery…
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Ch. 20 | The Soul Crystal
Entering the kitchen, Bi An homed in on the servant girl who was preparing the food, batted his eyelashes at her and asked, ‘Are the roasted lamb legs done?’
‘Yes, yes, I’m just about to take them over to the High Priest.’
‘Here, let me,’ Bi An smiled and relieved her of the dish.
‘How come His Excellency suddenly feels like roasted lamb legs? Doesn’t he usually prefer his food to be more bland?’
‘…’ Bi An was nonplussed for a moment, then scratched his chin and said, ‘Maybe his tastes have changed suddenly. Teacher is unpredictable and his cultivation levels high, so his ways are inscrutable to us.’ Without waiting for the servant girl to reply, he picked up the plate of roasted lamb legs and walked off.
The servant girl stared at his departing back and scratched her head somewhat doubtfully.
Bi An entered his own bedroom, placed the plate on the table and then pushed it towards Dandan. ‘Here you are.’
Dandan proceeded to tuck into his lunch with relish.
Bi An massaged his aching temples. ‘If Teacher finds out that I’ve got you hidden away here, he’ll skin me alive.’
Dandan was too engrossed with¹ his lunch to pay him any attention.
‘Tsk tsk tsk, I just don’t understand why you love roasted lamb legs so much.’
‘…’ Dandan’s hands halted in mid-air — because it was the first kind of cooked food that Yu Huan had given him.
Meeting Bi An’s curious gaze, it was a while before he wiped his mouth and said, ‘Mind your own business.’
‘Fine, fine, fine, whatever your tastes, the grand Priest’s Manor can still afford this little bit of meat for you. So, what are your plans after this? Song Lin is bound to have discovered that you’re gone and might be sending people after you even as we speak.’
¹ 全神貫注 quánshén-guànzhù. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
‘Song Lin already has his little white dog and most likely can’t be bothered with me any more. I dare say he’s already made a pact with the little white dog and is happily preparing for the Guardians’ Tournament. I plan to look for the Ancient Book of Spells in Feng Chulian’s Chamber of Daoist Treasures to find out what the Transmigration Spell is all about first before returning to Dragon Ridge.’
‘I thought you weren’t planning to make a pact with Song Lin any more? What does it matter then whether he’s Yu Huan’s reincarnation or not?’
‘Yu Huan is the most important person in my life and he died so suddenly in his previous lifetime. I just want to make sure he’s safe and sound in this lifetime.’
‘Little rabbit, I really want to help you but Teacher’s Chamber of Daoist Treasures isn’t open to just anybody.’
‘But there’s always you, beloved disciple of the High Priest.’ Dandan pinched Bi An’s chin. ‘You can let me go in. Who would dare stop you?’
Bi An smacked his hand away. ‘No way, no way, if Teacher ever finds out… I’ll be dead.’
‘Think I don’t know how much Feng Chulian dotes on you? At most, he’ll just have you copy out a few pages of religious commandments, but it’s not as if he’ll really punish you severely. Besides, I’ll be sneaking² in and leaving after I’m done reading. I won’t take even a scrap of paper with me, so no one will discover me.’
Bi An swallowed hard. ‘… Dandan, I feel that if I were to die one day, it’ll be all your doing.’
Dandan narrowed his eyes and patted him on the shoulder. ‘Thanks, brother.’
² 神不知鬼不覺 shén bù zhī guǐ bù jué. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
And so a few minutes later, Bi An gloomily appeared in front of the Chamber of Daoist Treasures. Dandan was currently in his original form — that of a small fluffy rabbit — and was hiding in Bi An’s voluminous sleeve.
Two little disciples were presently on guard duty at the chamber’s entrance. When they saw Bi An, they saluted and greeted him, ‘Senior Brother.’
‘Ahem… well er… Teacher sent me here to look for something,’ Bi An said, rubbing his nose. Being Feng Chulian’s oldest disciple and the candidate to be the next High Priest, the two disciples had no reason to doubt him and let him in without another thought.
After passing through the first door, they came to a second one. This second door could only be opened with a secret spell and only five people in the entire Priest’s Manor knew what it was. Bi An was one of them. He hissed to Dandan through his sleeve, ‘Don’t eavesdrop!’
Dandan sniffed. ‘Not boasting, but I’ve seen more than my fair share of treasures in my long life. I wouldn’t look twice at those lousy, rusty weapons in there even if you gave them to me for free.’
Bi An: ‘…’ Fine, I have nothing to say in reply to that…
After entering the chamber, Dandan leapt out of Bi An’s sleeve and transformed into a human.
Bi An reiterated, ‘The ancient books and records are on the second floor. Be quick, otherwise Teacher might find out. I’ll keep watch at the door.’
Dandan did not dawdle either and merely nodded before going upstairs.
The Chamber of Daoist Treasures at the Priest’s Manor was a spectacular sight to behold with glittering treasures on every side. The first floor was the armoury; the second floor was devoted to ancient literature; the third to herbal tinctures; the fourth to all manner of talismans and charms while the fifth consisted of various rare instruments. Every item in there was worth several cities.
Dandan came to the second floor where there were more than ten neatly arranged bookshelves. Every shelf held thousands of books but the real nuisance was thanks to Feng Chulian’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies: he had placed kraft paper book covers on every book so that every single book looked the same.
Doesn’t this make it… bloody impossible to find anything? You and your dratted OCD, Feng Chulian!!
Dandan scratched his head, struggled internally and while seething, said something unprintable.
Bi An leaned against the door on the first floor, fingers drumming nervously on the doorframe. He would dash upstairs ever so often to hiss, ‘Are you done?’
‘Not yet, stop hurrying me.’
‘Dandan, tell me honestly, are you illiterate?’
‘You’re the illiterate one!’ Dandan took this aspersion ill. It was Yu Huan who had painstakingly taught him to read.
The minutes ticked by and just as Dandan was ready to vomit from all that searching, he finally spotted the Ancient Book of Spells on the last shelf. He had just begun reaching for the book when he suddenly heard Bi An’s panic-stricken voice from downstairs saying, ‘Tea-teacher!’
Feng Chulian was already a few hundred years old but there was no sign of the ravages of time on his excellently preserved face. He looked like a handsome young man in his prime. His long jet-black hair resting on his pure white changpao made for a strikingly contrasting visual.
‘What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to go to the Alchemy Room?’
‘I…’ Bi An had never once lied to his teacher and could suddenly feel his heart pounding at that very moment. ‘I couldn’t remember the herbs for some of the immortality pills so I came to look up some books…’
Feng Chulian’s gaze drifted lazily to his earlobes which were currently pink. This disciple of his had a weakness — his ears always turned red when he lied.
‘Oh? Is that so?’ Feng Chulian drawled, his voice deepening. ‘You’re not lying to me, are you?’
That cool limpid voice trickled into Bi An’s ear, making his hair stand on end. He clenched his fists nervously and stammered, ‘I, I wouldn’t d-dare.’
Feng Chulian’s eyes flicked lazily up to the second floor and he said, ‘I was thinking of looking for an old book on the second floor.’
‘Ehh??!!’ Bi An was so startled his voice shook.
Even Dandan was holding his breath, not daring to make a sound.
‘Teacher, you haven’t fully recovered. How about I help you look for the book instead?’ If one looked closely, it was possible to see the beads of cold sweat on Bi An’s forehead.
Feng Chulian said, ‘Xiao An, it looks like I spoil you too much usually…’
Before he could finish his sentence, he heard a disciple calling from the entrance, ‘Teacher! Second Master Song is here!’
‘Song Lin?’ Both Feng Chulian and Bi An stared in astonishment.
The Priest’s Manor and the Five Great Houses never had much dealings with each other. What on earth could have brought so unexpected a visit from this Second Master Song?
Feng Chulian hesitated for a while before saying, ‘I’m coming.’ Then he turned and strode out of the Chamber of Daoist Treasures.
Bi An instantly let out a heartfelt sigh of relief. Having waited until his teacher was far away, he rushed upstairs and bellowed, ‘Hurry up, you dratted rabbit!’
‘Coming,’ Dandan was rapidly flipping through the Ancient Book of Spells at that moment when a peculiar page caught his eye. The page was extremely concise, containing only an illustration of a Soul Crystal with a brief explanation written beside it: A Guardian will leave behind a Soul Crystal upon death. This energy can attach itself to a newborn baby with a corresponding level of spiritual energy and be reborn thereafter. On the death anniversary, the soul will depart the physical body for twelve double-hours.
‘On the death anniversary…’ Dandan’s fingers kept running over those words. That means, the Transmigration Spell has the power to let the previous life’s soul leave the current life’s physical body?
On the first day of the fifth lunar month, Song Lin would lose all his spiritual power… Dandan felt a niggling notion flashing across his mind but he just couldn’t make the connection…
‘Brat…’ Bi An rushed up saying, ‘Song Lin is already here looking for you. If you don’t make a run for it now, it’ll be too late.’
Dandan tore out the few pages and stuffed them into his pocket. ‘Going now.’
‘You, you, you…’ Bi An pointed a trembling finger at the torn pages, a most interesting expression on his face. ‘Didn’t you promise not to take even a scrap of paper with you?!!!’
Dandan patted him coolly on the shoulder. ‘Don’t panic. I’ll return them in a few days.’
Bi An fastened his hands around Dandan’s neck and began shaking him hard. ‘You’re going to get me killed one of these days, aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!’
Subsequently, a few minutes later, both of them tiptoed furtively³ into the outer main hall where they hid behind a crowd of maidservants.
³ 鬼鬼祟祟 guǐguǐ-suìsuì. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
Song Lin and Feng Chulian, who were presently drinking tea in the middle of the great hall, were seated parallel to those two. As long as the two of them were quiet, they would not be discovered. This was the only way out of the manor so they would just have to take that risk.
Bi An signalled to him with gestures: You go out first and I’ll follow.
Dandan nodded and had just turned away, intending to leave when he suddenly heard Feng Chulian say, ‘You’re requesting that I return a rabbit?’
‘Yes,’ came the sound of Song Lin’s familiar voice.
Arrested, Dandan stopped, turned his head despite himself and happened to glimpse Song Lin’s side profile. No matter the circumstances, he was always so fascinatingly handsome.
Dandan gave a shake of his head.
Now is not the time to be swooning over his good looks!
‘There has never been any spirit beast at this Priest’s Manor of mine. Perhaps Second Master has made a mistake?’
‘Your Excellency.’ Song Lin put down his tea cup and gave a deep chuckle. ‘My little rabbit seems to have misunderstood me somehow which is why he ran away. I very much appreciate your kindness in taking him in for the night but since I’ve already come looking for him, my hope is that Your Excellency will return him to me. After all, I haven’t seen him for a day and I rather miss him.’
I rather miss him…
Rather miss him…
Miss him…
Him…
Him…
Dandan placed a hand on his chest. Deuce, why is my heart suddenly pounding?
(Approx. 2043 words)
12’s notes:
Edited on 29th April 2020.
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
I wish I could carry a fluffy rabbit around in my sleeve even if that would not work out in real life for so many reasons. Does Feng Chulian like making things difficult for people on purpose? I think even if Song Lin has what was left of Yu Huan he is probably still his own person. Also, Dandan is really gone on Song Lin. Thanks for the translation!
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It just occurred to me actually that it’s a pretty effective way to deter theft 🤣, even if Feng Chulian hadn’t intended it as such. That way it’s almost impossible to tell which books are the important or rare ones at a glance.
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