Arc 4
Ten Years Lanterns (9)
A bonus chapter thanks to WillieCoyote!
The towering gate slowly opened after her shout. Ye Chen leaped off her horse and walked over from the bridge. She reached the gate and met an old man dressed in a black robe. With his hands folded in his sleeves, he saluted Ye Chen, “Ye-guniang, this way, please.”
Ye Chen gave a nod and trailed behind the old man into the mountain. There was a small town at the foot of the mountain, each of which was ferocious-looking. Then, there was a steep ladder, circling up the mountain. Ye Chen followed the old man up the mountain ladder.
They climbed for a long time and then a clearing appeared at the top of the ladder. There was a statue of Phoenix in the open space. There was a path made of black marble. The path was like an imperial path, with stairs on both sides. The middle of it was carved with the Dragon and Phoenix emblem in white jade. At the end of the stairs stood a woman in a fiery red dress, with flame lines on her forehead. She played with the goshawk resting on her red silk sleeve. She threw a sideways glance at Ye Chen.
Next to the woman was Ye Feng, who was being held by someone. Two swords intersected on Ye Feng’s neck. Ye Feng caught sight of Ye Chen, the whole person roared and burst into tears.
Daughter ah, why are you here? What are you doing here? Why are you alone…
and so on.
Ye Chen quietly listened to Ye Feng’s rambles. Maintaining her dignity as the World’s First Beauty in Wulin, she raised her head with a frosty expression to glare at Yue Sheng. Her voice enhanced with her internal force, “What do you want me to do?”
After shouting, she asked with curiosity in her mind, “Say, if there is no internal force in this world. At this distance, would I and Yue Sheng shout at the top of our voices? That must be a show for eyes.”
“Yes, yes,” 38 approved frantically, “Especially when I thought of you shouting “Yue Sheng!” at the top of your lungs!”
“Hey!”
“Yue Sheng!”
“Hey! Hey!”
“Yue Sheng!”
“I asked you to come here, it’s all for our Jiaozhu.” Yue Sheng parted her lips and spoke, disrupting the one-on-one rap duet of a system and a person.
Ye Chen’s mind was still full of their rap of “Hey!”, “Yue Sheng!”, but she was calm on the surface. She glanced at Yue Sheng, “Speak frankly.”
“Our Jiaozhu takes a fancy on you and wants to marry you. Therefore, I’ll give you two options. Either be the concubine of our Demon Sect’s Leader and let Yao Wang Valley and our Demon Sect be in-laws. Or, watch your father’s blood splash right here and right now. Your choice.”
Ye Chen was utterly shocked by her. She quickly flipped through the original world line. After confirming it three times, 38 helplessly stated, “She is indeed really the Female Lead.”
“Is there such a Female Lead who helps the Male Lead open a harem?!”
“In the stallion novel, which woman doesn’t help the Male Lead? Believe it or not, if you ask her now for the reason, she will tell you that because, in the end, her beloved Xingchen-gege will belong only to her.”
38 sighed and continued its game, “The world is indeed terrible. Whatever, I will play my game to recover from my shock.”
“You… Don’t you love Mo-jiaozhu?”
Ye Chen could only ask that as she recovered from her shock. Yue Sheng sneered, “I do this only to show him how boring of a woman you are! The position of the Jiaozhu’s Wife will only be mine in the end. You only deserve to be a concubine!”
Lunatic!
She encountered a living lunatic!
She subconsciously set her hand on her sword, and at the same time, 38 set its hand on the electric shock switch.
“Don’t blame me for not reminding you,” 38 warned, “I don’t know what I will do if you break your character if it’s not for the last resort.”
It’s obvious what you are going to do. Thank you for your kind reminder.
Ye Chen’s sight moved from 38’s hand that was set on the electric shock switch. She withdrawed her hand from her sword.
While Ye Feng continued to wail, Yue Sheng looked condescendingly at Ye Chen, “Have you decided?”
“I have.” Ye Chen said her decision calmly, “At least, before getting married, let me meet your Jiaozhu first, is that alright?””
“A concubine dares to talk about marriage?” Yue Sheng sneered and said, “I have made an announcement that you will enter our door[1]. Our Jiaozhu is currently not in the Sect now. Thus, I preside over everything in this place right now.”
“Then, I have a question…”
Ye Chen frowned at her words. Yu Sheng motioned with her chin, “Speak.”
“Is the one marrying me your Jiaozhu, or is it you?”
Yue Sheng froze. A moment later, she roared, “Scram!”
Ye Chen,“……”
Sigh. What a capricious woman.
However, although she was capricious, it was not to the point she was beyond saving. After Ye Chen agreed to marry Mo Xingchen, Yue Sheng ordered her people to inspect her throughout and locked her in a small shabby room alone. Then, Yue Sheng spread her people to send messages to all the Sects of Wulin to congratulate Ye Chen as Mo Xingchen’s concubine in seven days.
The daughter of the Yao Wang Valley’s Lord and the Ex-Wife of the son of the Yue Shan Sect’s Sect Leader, the Head of all the Sects in Wulin, actually became the concubine of the Demon Sect. The news was like a slap in the face to those Sects, a great humiliation to Wulin.
Though, over the years, the Demon Sect had accumulated too much prestige. No one wanted to move them. Especially because the people in the Wulin were truthfully a heap of loose sand, disunited. Therefore, when the news reached their ears, the fury was there, but none acted on it.
Shen Qiuhe also received the news. He was so mad that he nearly smashed all the pots in the house. At this point, Shen Jingfeng had just arrived at Yue Shan Sect. He witnessed Shen Qiuhe smashing pots and wondered, “Father, what’s the matter?”
Shen Qiuhe opened his mouth and the words were already on the tip of his tongue. But, as if he remembered something, he changed his words, “Nothing. Oh, right, Jingfeng. The girl of the Ye Family, what do you think of her?”
Shen Jingfeng was taciturn. Eventually, he replied, “Jingfeng has no other intention to Ye-guniang.”
“She is such a nice girl ah…” Shen Qiuhe said with emotion. Then, he continued, “Jinfeng, you’re not interested in that Ye girl, is it because you are still worried about your mother?”
Shen Jingfeng had no words. Shen Qiuhe patted him on the shoulder and sighed heavily, “Jingfeng, let go of the past. You went to the Demon Sect with Yue Sheng this time and you can’t bring back the bones, then it means it indeed can’t be brought back right now. You’ve tried your best. Let’s search for it one time at a time from now on. At present, the Righteous Sect and the Demon Sect coexist peacefully. You are good at martial arts and you will lead the Yue Shan Sect to flourish in the future.”
Shen Jingfeng hung his eyes and concealed his emotions, “Father, rest assured. Jingfeng won’t be willful anymore.”
“That’s it. It’s late now. You have to go to the Western Regions tomorrow. Have a rest.”
Shen Jingfeng nodded. He set down the supper that he brought in and turned to exit.
Just as he stepped out of the door, he heard Shen Qiuhe sigh, “How pitiful that Ye girl is. This was a misfortune of her life, she could only resign to it.”
Shen Jingfeng’s steps halted.
Soon afterward, he walked back and slammed open Shen Qiuhe’s door. In a chilling tone, he spoke, “What happened to Ye Chen?”
Shen Qiuhe gawked at Shen Jingfeng, “Why is your hearing so keen?”
“What happened to Ye Chen?!”
Shen Jingfeng raised his voice and cast his gaze on the young man next to Shen Qiuhe. He was considered a great figure in the Yue Shan Sect, so the young man knelt down in an instant and informed him without delay, “Yue Sheng kidnapped the Yao Wang Valley’s Lord as a threat and demanded Ye-guniang to marry Mo Xingcheng as a concubine. The ceremony will be performed and Ye-guniang will enter their door on the third day of the ninth month!”
Shen Jingfeng didn’t reply to it. He spun around and bolted out. Shen Qiuhe chased out and yelled, “Stop right there! What are you going to do!”
“Save her.”
“You come back here!” Shen Qiuhe roared, “Do you think you can save her? Nowadays the Wulin is declining, the Righteous Sects in Wulin can fight back the Demon Sect just because all of us cooperated. You go there alone, do you wish to die?! Or do you want me to let you borrow the entire Yue Shan Sect and let the hundred-year foundation of the Yue Shan Sect be ruined in your hands alone?!”
Shen Jingfeng paused in place. With his back to Shen Qiuhe, his hand holding the sword was visibly trembling.
Shen Qiuhe sighed, “Jingfeng, even if you don’t care about yourself, you should still care about the Yue Shan Sect…”
“Yue Shan Sect! Yue Shan Sect!” Shen Jingfeng finally couldn’t endure it. He turned back and fulminated, “You are incompetent and weak. You only watched your sister snatched away and dishonored by others. Her bones were sealed under the throne and she couldn’t reincarnate. You want me to follow in your footsteps and let my wife end in the same way?!”
Shen Qiuhe stayed frozen where he was. The handsome young man in front of him shut his eyes in pain.
Then, he flung his sleeves and knelt on the ground.
“Jingfeng is unworthy. “Shen Jingfeng’s voice was raspy, “Here and now, Jingfeng bid his farewell.”
Footnotes
进门 – jìn mén, (of a woman) Be married off and move into the Groom’s home.↵
Ry’s Corner
Sigh.
5 more chapters until Arc 4 is done.
Please consider checking ‘The Memory Lost in Space‘ in case you like a good read(feels)! I’m gonna always put this here because I’m obsessed with it! No thanks needed.
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The chatting guest on the seat went, so the book slept.
Lets go lets go!! A trip to save wifey!!