Sigh, just… sigh…
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Ch. 45 | Severing the bond
They found Liang Feng in the main hall. He still looked every inch the pampered rich young master, except that he didn’t have that big lump in the red cloak by his side.
‘Have a seat.’
Song Lin instructed one of the servant girls to serve Liang Feng tea.
‘What brings you here, Master Liang?’
‘I’m no longer Master Liang.’
Everyone was astonished.
Liang Feng explained, ‘After the Guardians’ Tournament, my father threw me out of the Liang clan and my ancestral home.’ He picked up his tea cup and blew softly on the tea leaves floating on the surface.
‘Threw you out of the Liang clan? All because you lost the duel?’
‘No,’ Liang Feng smiled bitterly. ‘I’m guilty of a more serious sin than that. Being thrown out of the Liang clan is just a way of paying the price. Actually, it doesn’t matter whether I’m still a young master. I’m just worried about Nox.’
‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s lost half a wing and went back to the Marsh of Death alone after the duel was over. I’m here today to ask Second Master to loan me Styx.’
Song Lin glanced at Styx. ‘Loan him to you?’
‘Yes, I heard that Styx is proficient in the art of healing. I would like to request that he heal Nox.’
Song Lin considered it for a moment before saying, ‘That being the case, do go with him, Styx.’
Styx bowed and said, ‘Understood.’
Liang Feng smiled gratefully. ‘Thank you.’
Dandan said, ‘Our Ol’ Fish Eyes is very expensive. He charges by the hour and every double-hour will cost three hundred silver dollars.’
Liang Feng confessed: ‘… To be perfectly honest, I’m broke now.’
Song Lin could only shake his head at Dandan and tell him, ‘That’s enough, stop fooling around.’
Having realised that it was a joke, Liang Feng sighed with relief, thought for a moment and then said, ‘By the way, I passed by the League today and saw the results of the final draw. Your opponent will be the House of Bai, right?’
‘Yes, do you know anything about the Bai clan?’
‘The Bai clan is the most mysterious among the Five Houses. After the head of the family was changed a few years ago, they rarely attended meetings at the League and stopped contact with the other Four Houses.’
‘The head of the family now is…?’
‘Old Master Bai’s granddaughter, Bai Yini.’
‘Bai Yini… I met her once as a child… quite a pretty girl.’
‘The only thing you noticed about her were her looks, huh?’ Dandan muttered under his breath.
Song Lin glanced at him from the corner of his eye but didn’t respond.
Liang Feng cautioned, ‘Bai Yini’s spirit beast is extremely powerful: it’s ranked a Supreme. What’s more, it possesses an unbeatable ability so you had better be on your guard.’
‘Unbeatable?’
‘Yup,’ Liang Feng nodded. ‘Rumour has it that it’s a kind of ability never seen before in any spirit beast.’
‘There’s really such an ability?’
‘In general, spirit beasts possess abilities to manipulate elements in Nature, such as the wind, water, thunder and lightning. Or they can manipulate weapons, such as the swords, sabres or staffs bestowed by their owners. Or else they can manipulate their own physical changes, such as becoming solid, invisible or flying. But Bai Yini’s spirit beast is able to manipulate something that isn’t any of the things I’ve just mentioned; however, I don’t know the specifics since this is all I heard. It will be extremely difficult to defeat Bai Yini even with a Supreme-calibre beast, unless your calibre is Godlike.’
‘Godlike?’ Styx frowned. ‘In the last century, the best calibre mentioned in Ridge City’s annals has only ever been Supreme; there has never been one who was Godlike.’
Dandan picked at his ear and remarked, ‘That’s because you’re still wet behind the ears.’
Styx looked askance at him so Dandan kept quiet after that.
Song Lin ignored their banter and continued asking questions. ‘How did you hear about Bai Yini’s spirit beast?’
‘I heard about it last time from my father… oh, not that I can call him that now.’ Liang Feng became caught up in memories of the past, saying, ‘I brought this upon myself¹ but Nox is the one who’s been treated unfairly. He was sincere towards me but I deceived him.’
¹ 自作自受 zìzuò-zìshòu. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Seeing this, Dandan walked over to pat him on the shoulder. ‘Living in such times as these, no one is entirely master of their own fate. Don’t reproach yourself too much. The fact that you came specially to ask Styx to treat his injuries shows how much you care about Nox. I’m sure he’ll realise this someday.’
‘Dandan, you’re really…’ Liang Feng hesitated for a long moment, trying to find a suitable word from his limited vocabulary, ‘really too good at understanding others.’
‘I want to thank you too for giving us the information earlier.’
‘Oh right, I brought a present to apologise for Nox losing control during the duel and biting Second Master’s neck.’ While saying that, Liang Feng took out something wrapped in linen from his bundle.
Dandan laughed. ‘No need for presents!’
‘I don’t have much money now and thought since Second Master doesn’t want for anything, I decided instead to buy what Dandan loves best.’ Liang Feng unwrapped the bundle to reveal a bunch of carrots inside.
Dandan: ‘…’
Song Lin and Styx: ‘Stay calm… Dandan.’
Ten seconds later, an angry bellow rocked the Song Manor, ‘How many times have I said I don’t eat carrots!!!’
In the evening, Styx accompanied Liang Feng to the Marsh of Death where they found Nox. Having lost half a wing, the vampire beast appeared much more vulnerable as he curled up inside his lair in the dirty mud.
Liang Feng gave a low cough to get his attention. Nox looked up and after seeing who had come, his turbid eyes rolled round before he lowered his gaze.
Liang Feng said, ‘Nox, this is the Song Manor’s steward who’s proficient in the art of healing. He heard about your injuries and insisted on coming to take a look.’
Styx looked bemused as he pointed at himself, ‘Me? Insisted?’
Liang Feng looked faintly embarrassed as he gave Styx a little push. ‘Yeah, I couldn’t prevent you from coming so I had to bring you along. Anyway, go and take a look at him.’
Styx: ‘…’ Forget it, no point getting angry, anger only made one stupid. ‘You’re not going over?’
Liang Feng shook his head and turned away. He was not a satisfactory owner and Nox would never be happy following him. Since he had already cast himself as a villain, then he might as well continue to act the part. He was already guilty of a serious crime and neither deserved to have a home nor such a good spirit beast as Nox.
Seeing that Liang Feng was resolute, Styx walked towards the dispirited and listless² vampire beast.
Liang Feng heard a series of soft rustling noises which was then followed by Styx talking.
‘Lift up your wing slightly so I can take a look.’
‘… It’s all rotting.’
‘The wound is infected and inflamed. If this continues, it’ll lead to other complications.’
‘I’ll help you to cut off the rotting flesh first.’
After that, there was a lull followed by the sound of a knife scraping off flesh. Nox did not make a sound throughout this.
Liang Feng’s shoulders hunched and trembled slightly.
² 萎靡不振 wěimǐbùzhèn. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
After the whole thing was over, Styx dispassionately wiped the black blood and putrid flesh off his knife and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, ‘Actually, it was the little fellow who asked me to come.’ He pointed at Liang Feng.
Nox’s eyes followed the direction of his finger and remained fixed for a very long time as though he were in a daze but also as through pondering something.
‘I didn’t want to come at first but he begged my Young Master.’
Nox looked at his own wing, then at Styx, then at Liang Feng before lowering his head.
‘You can’t talk?’ Styx asked.
‘… A little,’ Nox answered haltingly.
‘Then how do you usually communicate?’
‘He… understands… me.’
Styx was momentarily floored before taking out some medicine to apply to Nox’s wound. While applying it, he remarked, ‘It’s a rare rapport that allows your owner to understand your feelings.’
This medicine stung too much and Nox, who had silently endured the amputation earlier, could not help inhaling sharply.
Liang Feng nearly turned round but forced himself to remain where he was.
Styx began bandaging the wound and said, ‘Spirit beasts are actually the most wretched. After a pact is made, a spirit beast lives for its owner, fights for its owner. But very often, an owner doesn’t understand a spirit beast’s feelings and intentions so a spirit beast usually has no choice but to endure that loneliness.’
‘Loneliness…’ Nox echoed.
‘So you should be thankful.’
Styx stood up and walked over to Liang Feng. ‘The wound is mostly taken care of. Let him rest for a few days and then remove the bandages. If there’s no further infection, then he’ll make a full recovery.’
‘Thank you.’ Only then did Liang Feng walk over to Nox where he stood staring down at the broken figure. The hands hidden inside his sleeves tightened and he swallowed a few times as he fought to control his emotions before asking, ‘Does it hurt?’
Nox’s muddy eyes were fixed on him as he shook his head.
Liang Feng crouched down and after a second’s hesitation, Nox moved closer, thinking of leaning on him as he used to. What he didn’t expect was for Liang Feng to say, ‘Let’s dissolve our pact here.’
Nox was stunned by this and his whole body stiffened.
Styx, standing some distance away, was also extremely surprised.
Liang Feng continued, ‘After the pact is dissolved, go and look for an owner who’ll treat you better.’
Nox’s eyes widened and he stared at him somewhat disbelievingly. When he saw Liang Feng raise his hand, he began retreating but the latter unexpectedly caught hold of his wrist where there was a golden spiritual seal. ‘Stop running away, let’s do it now and dissolve the pact.’
When making a pact with a spirit beast, an owner would set his spiritual seal on its body and when severing the bond, it was necessary to get rid of the spiritual seal entirely.
Nox kept shaking his head while struggling but Liang Feng was already channelling his spiritual power through his palm and once it connected with the seal, there was no escape for Nox. The spiritual insignia was pulled out inch by inch from his skin, right down to the underlying flesh and sinews. There was a ripping sound and Nox howled with pain.
His howl of pain startled a flock of crows in the marsh into flight.
The older the seal, the deeper it sank into the marrow, becoming one with the flesh and finally becoming a part of a spirit beast’s body. So when a bond was severed, it was akin to being flayed alive and having the tendons pulled out.
Nox gazed in abject despair at Liang Feng whose face was wiped clean of all emotions.
Finally, when every trace of the seal had been removed, Liang Feng stood up and said, ‘From now on, you’re no longer my spirit beast… you — are free.’ After saying that, he turned and left without the slightest sign of reluctance.
Styx stood there, watching the whole scene. For some reason, the words ‘you are free’ sounded so desolate. A sense of oppression filled his chest, impossible to shake off.
∆
He took one last look at Nox before turning and leaving as well.
Styx had only ever minded the business he ought to mind: i.e. Song Fuyan, Song Lin and everything to do with the Song clan. He never had any interest in anything else not related to these.
Although he did feel strongly tempted to ask how Nox was feeling, reason warned him that this was none of his affair.
Not every spirit beast could be with its owner until old age. He had witnessed too many unforeseen events to count: some with owners who had died; some with owners who no longer wanted them; others who had died for their owners. Whatever the case, Nox’s hard lot was just the lot of all mortal beings³ in his eyes.
Besides, Liang Feng did care for him, only he refused to admit as much. Perhaps one day, they would be able to express that clearly, who knew.
³ 芸芸眾生 yúnyún-zhòngshēng. Please consider reading from hiding in plain sight rather than from novelscraping sites.
He walked to the opening of the Marsh of Death where he saw Liang Feng, back to him, standing beside a tree and holding on to the tree trunk for support.
‘Are you resting, Young Lord Liang?’ he asked and walked nearer only to abruptly discover that big teardrops were rolling down Liang Feng’s face and plopping onto the ground. He was biting his lower lip so that he wouldn’t make any noise and the sobs in the back of his throat sounded all the more savage for being stifled.
Cry…ing?
Well really, still just a little brat.
Then again, he was still in his teens so it wasn’t easy for him.
Styx asked, ‘Do you need me to keep you company here?’ This was probably the nosiest question he would ever ask.
Liang Feng shook his head.
‘Okay, then I’ll make a move first.’
After Styx left, Liang Feng squatted down weakly, leaned against the tree and cried for a very, very long time.
∆
(Approx. 2280 words)
12’s notes:
∆ This scene is actually the opening paragraph of Chapter 46 but that chapter is mostly about a new development and very long as well so I put it here instead to complete this chapter.
☆ Please show moral support by reading the original and free translations from hiding in plain sight. © 12 and theresanother.wordpress.com 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the above material without express and written permission from 12 is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to 12 and theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Example here.
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 
Aww, Liang Feng being concerned about Nox is good. ;; AS YOU SHOULD BE. TREAT NOX WELL. Nox looks like a monster but he’s the squishiest inside. Him being all hurt, covered in mud, and curled up is just horrible! He’s a good boy!!! Get your head out of your butt Liang Feng and realize that all you have to do is treat Nox well!
Omfg, I could hear Nox’s heart breaking when Liang Feng dissolved the pact. Nox doesn’t DESERVE SUCH AN IDIOT FOR AN OWNER. I REGRET MY FIRST SENTENCE. GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE LIANG FENG. I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE CRYING. CRY MORE. CRY UNTIL YOU SHRIVEL UP AND DISAPPEAR!!!!
Hrnngggg, what a depressing chapter. ;; Nox doesn’t deserve this!!! Thank you for the chapter, my heart hurts, it’s okay it’s okay… :’D
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🤣🤣 your second reaction!
I felt kinda bad for Liang Feng but yeah, poor Nox really is the innocent one here. 😭
No wonder Dandan refused to dissolve the pact in the last chapter. Spirit beasts really have to pick their owners carefully!
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T__T I did feel bad for Liang Feng at first, but you don’t do something like that to another person (who you supposedly care about!) without discussing it first! That and I liked Nox and felt for him more from the get go, so Liang Feng doing this just enrages me. ALSO it being so painful for Nox is just–WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING LIANG FENG ARGH.
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True, true, poor Nox is unlucky to meet a young and impulsive owner like him who really thinks he’s doing it for the best. And it doesn’t help that Nox can’t verbalise his feelings 😣 much and make his case.
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