Jade Shakes the Thousand Mountains - Chapter 18: The Abandoned Disciple

Chapter 18: The Abandoned Disciple

“Before this, were you often practicing sword techniques against corpses?”

In the room, a night lamp burned as slender as a candle, its flame clustered like a bean. The lamplight cast Yu Chanyi’s profile onto the wall, nestled close to Wei Shengming’s silhouette.

As the lamplight flickered gently, their shadows swayed along.

After staring at this uninvited guest for a long while, Wei Shengming suddenly let out a short, soft laugh from his throat: “This time, you’ve learned to use your spiritual power to resist the toxicity of the Bitter Heart Grass.”

“It seems this Bitter Heart Grass was prepared for me,” he said, looking at Yu Chanyi. “Isn’t that right?”

“If you don’t want to be poisoned to death, stop with the nonsense!” Yu Chanyi tightened her grip on the Bitter Heart Grass and reiterated her question: “Before you returned, I noticed people from the Grand Micro Sect active outside our sect. Since your return, they’ve become even more frequent in their movements. Today, I directly overheard your name in their conversation. Therefore, I’m certain there must be some unspeakable relationship between you and the Grand Micro Sect.”

She enunciated each word clearly and distinctly, but Wei Shengming suddenly raised his hand and waved.

Yu Chanyi’s body instantly tensed, her entire being on alert.

Yet she only felt a gentle breeze brush past her neck, a slight itch by her ear, as several stray hairs beneath her bun were softly stirred by the spiritual power he had directed her way – as if a pair of gentle hands had caressed them.

When the breeze settled, Wei Shengming held a slightly withered phoenix tree leaf in his hand.

“Overheard their conversation… while hiding behind a phoenix tree?” He pinched the leaf that had just been caught in Yu Chanyi’s hair, examining it as he spoke. “It seems you were focused enough that you didn’t even notice a leaf falling into your hair.”

So, his earlier use of spiritual power was merely to remove the fallen leaf from her hair.

Yu Chanyi’s heartstrings vibrated sharply, and she instinctively wanted to reach up and touch the top of her head. But Wei Shengming suddenly looked up, staring directly at her as he said: “No, you must have been hiding in the shadows beneath the phoenix tree while eavesdropping. Just now, you emerged from my shadow.”

“Such an impatient temper at such a young age…” His slender fingers traced the veins of the withered leaf several times. “Barging into someone’s room without announcement isn’t a good habit.”

The room fell quiet for a moment.

Yu Chanyi’s expression shifted slightly. Accompanied by the faint sound of his fingertips rubbing against the leaf, she felt an inexplicable urge to touch the top of her head again. The leaf must have been caught right there.

But she maintained her cold expression without moving, still clutching the Bitter Heart Grass as she said: “Where I was hiding to eavesdrop is none of your concern. What I want to know is your background.”

Talking about her being young – if they were to compare actual ages, it wasn’t necessarily true that he was older than her.

With her thousand years of age combined, she might actually be considerably older than him!

But Yu Chanyi couldn’t be bothered to argue this point with him. Her gaze drifted slightly downward, drawn to his exposed chest.

This was her first time seeing a man’s bare torso. Though her senior brother appeared to be a half-dead consumptive, his actual physique revealed tight, solid muscles, his chest rising and falling with each breath.

Yu Chanyi could have immediately averted her eyes, but she couldn’t resist looking a moment longer.

Because on his left chest lay a mark, winding and twisting like growing vines, far too conspicuous to ignore.

The terrifying crimson-veined patterns, like a massive spiderweb, covered the greater part of his broad chest and even extended to the left side of his neck. The markings at the base clustered around the hollow of his chest, as if poised to devour his heart.

This bizarre pattern etched upon his deathly pale skin possessed a grotesque and eerie beauty that stirred unease in the beholder.

Was it a birthmark?

“Seen enough?”

A surge of spiritual power swept the fallen garment back up to his waist, covering his exposed chest entirely. Wei Shengming gazed at Yu Chanyi with keen interest.

Yu Chanyi’s breath hitched slightly, yet she maintained her icy tone: “Just who are you?”

Wei Shengming lowered his eyes, idly toying with a withered leaf. “A castoff from the Grand Micro Sect. A man of no worth whatsoever.”

A castoff?

Would an ordinary castoff warrant the Grand Micro Sect sending so many to watch him, secretly plotting how to eliminate him?

Yu Chanyi said, “In their eyes, you don’t seem quite so worthless.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They want you dead. If you were truly worthless, why go to the trouble of killing you?”

At this, the corner of Wei Shengming’s mouth twitched, as if tugging into a faint smile. “Then my only remaining value lies in dying.”

“But if they had the ability to kill me, would I have lived to see this day?” His tone gradually cooled.

Yu Chanyi was taken aback.

According to Wu Xi Lan, this mysterious senior brother of hers returned to the Inexhaustible Sect each time bearing wounds that defied healing.

Each time, his life hung by a thread.

If they truly could strike when he was vulnerable, the Grand Micro Sect had more than just today’s opportunity yet they never succeeded in killing him, allowing him to survive until now.

From this perspective, it seemed the Grand Micro Sect indeed found it difficult to eliminate him.

Then why were they so fixated on his death?

The intricacies were shrouded in mist, and she knew too little about the Grand Micro Sect to make sense of it. Her head spun with confusion when she heard Wei Shengming sigh softly and say, “Little junior sister, I know what worries you.”

“You fear the Inexhaustible Sect will be implicated because of me.”

Yu Chanyi neither confirmed nor denied it.

“Set your mind at ease,” Wei Shengming said. “This is a personal grudge between me and the Grand Micro Sect. Even if I were burned to ashes, the flames would never reach the Inexhaustible Sect.”

As Yu Chanyi hesitated, Wei Shengming continued, “You should go.”

When she didn’t move, he sighed again. “You wouldn’t want to upset your senior sister, would you?”

Yu Chanyi frowned warily. “Why bring her up?”

Wei Shengming glanced at the Bitter Heart Grass in her hand. “If you stay any longer, that herb of yours might truly poison me. I’d hate for you to waste another Heart-Protecting Pill on me.”

Yu Chanyi studied him intently one last time.

The crimson rim around his pupils seemed deeper than when she first arrived, as if affected by the Bitter Heart Grass. Yet when she tried to recall how pronounced the red had been initially, her memory failed her.

After weighing her thoughts, Yu Chanyi decided to tentatively trust Wei Shengming’s words.

She remained curious about his identity and past, but then, she herself harbored hidden motives and a past she couldn’t speak of. It stood to reason that others might also have histories they preferred not to revisit.

Both adrift in this vast world perhaps there was no need to pry too deeply into others’ affairs.

Thus, Yu Chanyi stored the Bitter Heart Grass away and said to him, “In that case, let it be as if I never came tonight.”
Her tone softened considerably: “If things are truly as Senior Brother says, from now on, I will not interfere with your affairs in the slightest.”

“My apologies, I take my leave.” Yu Chanyi departed along the path she had come.

After she left, Wei Shengming held the withered leaf in his hand, staring in the direction Yu Chanyi had departed toward his own shadow cast upon the wall lost in thought.

The last time they met, Yu Chanyi’s cultivation was low, her spiritual power faint.

Yet, in just a few short days, she had broken through her second Spirit Vein.

The woman standing in his room today possessed significantly richer spiritual energy.

Such rapid cultivation progress…

Could it be that after a thousand years, the Giant Sea Ten Provinces were finally about to welcome another prodigiously talented cultivator?

As this thought emerged, a brief, derisive sneer escaped Wei Shengming’s lips, the red ring around his pupils unconsciously deepening further.

His expression cooling, he casually crushed the phoenix tree leaf between his fingers, reducing it to dust fine as floating motes that dissipated into the air.

–

After that night, Yu Chanyi observed for a while longer.

Just as Senior Brother had said, although the Grand Micro Sect members talked about taking advantage of his weakness to claim his life, they never actually made a move.

Since those Grand Micro Sect disciples lurking outside couldn’t affect the Inexhaustible Sect, Yu Chanyi stopped concerning herself with this mysterious senior brother of unknown origins.

She began treating him as invisible, just like Wu Xi Lan did.

Wu Xi Lan told her that once this man recovered, he might disappear without a word any day.

Rather than worrying about him, it was better to focus on how to make the spirit flowers and herbs in the spirit fields mature sooner, so they could be taken to the market to exchange for Spirit Coins.

As for this period without a proper sword, Wu Xi Lan didn’t just make Yu Chanyi help with chores. She procured a bunch of peach branches for Yu Chanyi to use as makeshift swords, and also borrowed a stack of beginner sword manuals for Sword Cultivators, handing them all over to Yu Chanyi.

Wu Xi Lan didn’t understand swordsmanship, but she enjoyed watching Yu Chanyi practice.

When Yu Chanyi held the peach branch and wielded it like a sword, it was utterly captivating.

She had seen other cultivators practice sword forms before some were too fierce and hurried in their movements, others had too many pauses and awkward gestures none could match Yu Chanyi’s seamless execution.

After Yu Chanyi completed a full set of sword moves, Wu Xi Lan, who had been cracking pine nuts nearby with great interest, immediately cheered: “Excellent!”

Wu Xi Lan said with a smile: “Little Junior Sister, your sword forms are truly beautiful, completely unlike someone who’s never even held a real sword. Even if we don’t win first prize at the Sword Debate Tournament, you’re sure to impress those Sword Cultivators!”

Yu Chanyi slightly lowered her gaze, looking at the scattered peach blossoms on the ground without speaking.

Wu Xi Lan continued praising: “The way you focus completely when practicing sword forms I feel ashamed by comparison. If I could concentrate half as much when studying medical texts and herb manuals, I wouldn’t always struggle to memorize them. But…”

Her voice suddenly dropped as she leaned close to Yu Chanyi’s ear, whispering: “Little Junior Sister, haven’t you noticed at all that someone’s been watching you from the roof?”

Yu Chanyi jerked her head up to see a silhouetted figure against the light on the rooftop.

It was her handsome senior brother, sitting on the roof, his gaze fixed on her.

Even after being discovered, his gaze remained frank and unflinching.

“When did he get there?” Yu Chanyi frowned slightly.

“He’s been here for days while you were practicing swordplay,” Wu Xi Lan said. “You get so absorbed whenever you hold that peach branch nothing else exists for you. I didn’t want to bother you with this, but today he stayed unusually long, and his gaze… gave me chills. I couldn’t keep it from you any longer.”

Having said this, Wu Xi Lan looked up and shouted fiercely at Wei Shengming on the roof, “Hey! What are you staring at?!”

“Do you have some problem with our junior sister?!”

Her talent in swordplay is her own ability your lack of talent isn’t her fault! If you dare threaten our junior sister, I’m still the head senior sister here! I’ll make you regret it!”

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, hinting she might climb up and confront him.

Yu Chanyi quickly stopped Wu Xi Lan.

She said, “Senior sister, it’s time the spirit herbs in the spirit field need watering. Go check on them. I’ll handle things here.”

Wu Xi Lan asked, “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Yu Chanyi hummed in affirmation: “Leave it to me.”

She spoke with conviction and added, “I believe senior brother isn’t a bad person.”

Though doubtful, Wu Xi Lan saw the determination in Yu Chanyi’s eyes and reluctantly agreed, mumbling to herself as she walked away.

Once Wu Xi Lan had left, Yu Chanyi looked up at the roof again, her smile completely gone.

Her face turned cold as she leaped up, landing lightly on the tiles before Wei Shengming.

One sat, the other stood.

Yu Chanyi looked down at him and said, “You don’t need to go through such trouble watching me. I have no intention of telling Senior Sister Wu about your connection to the Grand Micro Sect.”

Wei Shengming showed no reaction to her words.

Sitting cross-legged in a carefree, unrestrained posture, he propped his chin on his hand and gazed at the peach branch she held: “I was only watching you practice swordplay.”

“Your sword moves are exquisite each stance natural and flawless, not at all like someone who’s never held a sword before. Truly gifted.”

“Yet, you have one very strange flaw.” Wei Shengming lifted his eyes, staring directly into Yu Chanyi’s as if his deep gaze could pierce through to the most hidden corners of her heart. He asked curiously, “Junior sister, have you… often practiced swordplay against corpses before?”