Young Master Bai — Chapter 3
Chapter 3: The Current Scenario is Already Nightmare Difficulty...
It turned out that gossiping about romantic affairs truly was a universal instinct. The little yao, who looked listless before, became animated the moment Bai Chen was mentioned. They stopped massaging legs and refilling tea, and immediately began chattering about the latest rumors they had heard.
The most enthusiastic among them was the little flower yao who had guided Bai Chen earlier. He was too shy to speak loudly before, but now he was brimming with energy. Grabbing a handful of melon seeds, he exclaimed, "The romantic exploits of Ancestor Bai Chen are countless! Let’s not even mention the others — just look at Shui Ziliu, a famously cold Young Lord of Chang’an. He cultivated the emotionless path for over a hundred years without showing the slightest interest in any beauty. People believed he would spend his whole life devoted only to his sword. But then Ancestor Bai Chen sent him a single letter, met with him under the moonlight, and Shui Ziliu was so captivated by his beauty that he renounced the family headship at the Mid-Autumn family banquet, claiming he could not leave behind descendants due to his preferences. Alas, Ancestor Bai Chen wasn’t interested in him, and the man could only retreat into mountains, tormented by longing."
To make the emotionless feel passion — such charm was indeed extraordinary. All the little yao were in awe, even Bai Chenzui listened, spellbound, without minding being ignored. Bai Chen, on the other hand, felt his scalp go numb.
Shui Ziliu had always been unknowingly fond of men. Li Wuming had arranged their meeting hoping they would get along. Shui Ziliu fought Li Wuming for an hour, then spent another three hours discussing the "Dao of Cut-Sleeves [gays]," finally realizing he was already in love with his young attendant. That very night, he eloped with the boy into mountains, leaving Bai Chen and Li Wuming to be hunted by the Shui family all the way from Chang’an to Jiangnan.
Bai Chen had felt wrongly accused even back then. Who would have thought this black mark would follow him for centuries, and now Li Wuming had been written out of the story, leaving him to bear the blame alone? It was truly exhausting.
Before Bai Chen could rid himself of this burden, another fox yao chimed in, "Alas, Ancestor Bai Chen really has bewitched the heroes of the world. Even the once-feared Demon Lord He Huan fell prey to his fox eyes. After a single glimpse at Zhetian, the Demon Lord decided Bai Chen was his destined partner. But Ancestor Bai Chen's heart was like a solitary moon in the sky, always out of reach. The Demon Lord went mad with unrequited love and eventually formed a Dao companion bond with his own Nascent Soul, never looking at another beauty again."
Sorry, that Demon Lord really was a lunatic who paired up with his own nascent soul. Bai Chen had nothing to do with it.
[He Huan and his embodied Nascent Soul He Ku are the main characters of the novel Fake Demon Lord (伪魔头) by the same author.]
He had always thought humans tried hard to cleanse the stains from their ancestral lines. He hadn’t expected that the yao would eagerly pile dirt onto their forebears and even take pride in it. What a warped perspective — clearly a result of not reading enough.
Bai Chen silently contemplated hiring a few teachers to educate these little yao on the crime of slandering their ancestors. Just as he was about to speak in his own defense, Chenzui, who had been listening quietly, let out a long sigh. "What a pity. A beauty like Ancestor ended up being taken by a Heavenly Tribulation."
At those words, the little yao remembered that Ancestor Bai Chen had long since passed away, and their expressions grew wistful. Bai Chen knew very well that his true cause of death was the loss of his yao core and the depletion of his lifespan. He stirred slightly and asked, "So, the official story from the Great Snow Mountain is that Bai Chen fell due to an aberrant Heavenly Tribulation?"
As expected, the Great Snow Mountain had concealed the real cause of death. The little flower yao immediately confirmed, "Of course. Ancestor Bai Chen's cultivation was unfathomable, and his transformation technique was the best in the world. When hiding his aura, even the tribulation-crossing cultivators couldn't detect his yao energy. How could he have perished unless it was due to an aberrant Ascension Tribulation?"
Losing the Nine-tailed White Fox was misfortune enough. If even the yao core had vanished, the Great Snow Mountain would likely fall into turmoil. Bai Chen understood the concerns of the fox clan. Sadly, though his body had come back to life, he could no longer produce a new yao core. That unparalleled power, once meant to protect the yao for generations, was truly gone.
Bai Chen didn’t know how to tell them that the legendary Nine-tailed White Fox who won the hearts of heroes was now this frail figure before them. Not to mention the top cultivators of the human realm — even the little fox yao massaging Chenzui’s legs could probably kill him with ease. He was no longer the savior of the yao race, yet the yao still pinned all their hopes on him.
People were always reluctant to accept the harsh truths. Yao were the same. As the human race grew stronger, the yao, plagued by insecurity from the loss of their guardian deity, assigned every significant event to the name of Bai Chen. They shaped him into a glamorous, peerless ancestor to soothe their fears.
Now even Chenzui, the future Fox King, couldn’t see the truth. He whispered to the other yao, "Actually, there's a rumor that the son-in-law has been guarding Supreme Peak all these years to care for the wounded Ancestor Bai Chen. The so-called death was just a cover."
"I believe it. As a Nine-tailed White Fox, Ancestor Bai Chen couldn't have died so easily. We are the descendants of the ancient yao. Our ancestors soared through Heaven long before the human race even knew how to speak. If not for the three times a Heavenly Star fell down, wiping them out, would there be any place for cultivators in this world?"
The Nine-tailed White Fox had nine lives. Even when the old Fox Immortal personally announced Bai Chen's death, many in the Great Snow Mountain refused to believe the long-awaited rise of their clan was over. Even now, rumors persisted that Bai Chen would one day return. Chenzui, for one, deeply believed it.
Yet even someone as proud as he could only lower his voice with gloom when he thought of how the yao had declined, and sighed, "It's a pity the ancient yao are no more. If Ancestor were still alive, we wouldn’t be hiding in the Great Snow Mountain, afraid to venture out."
The yao race was indeed in poor shape. The lively little yao all fell silent when they saw the sadness in Chenzui's eyes. Five hundred years had passed, but nothing had changed. The entire race still rested its hopes on Bai Chen. As if being a Nine-tailed White Fox meant he could do anything, never giving him a moment to breathe. The burden of their trust was so heavy that Bai Chen couldn’t imagine what chaos would ensue if he revealed his current state.
Oppressed by the atmosphere, Bai Chen found a random excuse to leave the yao behind and walked over to the hot springs where some cultivators were lounging.
Humans had even shorter lifespans than yao. To Bai Chen, this generation of cultivators were all strangers. Only a few sect names were still familiar. Clearly, the human world had also undergone drastic change over the past five hundred years.
This was the first time the Great Snow Mountain had opened to the human race, and many young cultivators had come to join the festivities. Bai Chen glanced around and immediately focused on the most extravagantly dressed youth among them.
The youth's waist was adorned with sachets and jade pendants. Around his neck hung a longevity lock made from spirit stones and precious gems. He wore openwork armor on his shoulders and legs that had no defensive purpose but were covered in hanging jade tassels. As he walked, the clinking of gems and jade echoed like a walking treasure trove. Cultivators usually favored a minimalistic aesthetic, and in Bai Chen's memory, only Myriad Treasures Hall would drape themselves in such opulence. That sect had been famous for its wealth even five hundred years ago.
The youth's magical artifacts were all high-quality, suggesting Myriad Treasures Hall had continued to prosper. But just as Bai Chen approached, he heard the youth complaining, "That old geezer, really! It’s bad enough they’re making me meet male yao, but now I have to court one with a bear head? At least he could have taken human form out of respect for us suitors!"
The Myriad Treasures youth had only one companion: a young man in blue and white robes, similarly aged but with a deathly pallor and dull grey eyes that were somewhat frightening at first glance. The man resembled a ghost, and his voice was faint and weak. He smiled pale and said, "Didn’t that bear yao say you were too skinny and lacked figure, then turned and left?"
"That’s the most infuriating part! That burly, ugly bear had the audacity say I was lacking!"
"I hear bears consider plumpness attractive. To them, Young Master Lin must look like a bean sprout."
At this, the youth became even more incensed, slamming his teacup on the table. "Whose side are you on? Are you mocking me with these beasts too?"
"You’re here to find a Dao companion. I’m not."
The pale man remained calm, pointing with his folded fan between the youth and himself. "I’m just here to enjoy the show and record everyone’s heroic deeds to sell for tips at teahouses. It’s only fair. Spectators shouldn’t get involved."
"Who said I came to find a Dao companion? I’m just curious about these yao and came for the fun of it."
The Myriad Treasures disciple, being young and well-off, clearly wasn’t lacking in candidates for Dao companions. His offhand remark likely reflected the true reason most guests were present. After scanning the crowd, he raised a brow at his companion. "They say yao are seductive, but I’m not impressed. Frankly, you demonic sect folks are far more charming."
The pale man clearly wasn’t from an righteous sect, and his composure exceeded that of the youth. He responded evenly, "You flatter me. You righteous sect types, with your holier-than-thou air, aren’t bad either. You have a certain immortal elegance."
From the first glance, Bai Chen knew these two had unusual identities. In his time, the human race's righteous and demonic sects were mortal enemies. How could they now be sitting together chatting like old friends? If this was the norm now, what terrifying heights had the united human race reached?
In just a brief stroll, Bai Chen had sensed that the yao were in crisis. He didn’t hesitate. Approaching the pair, he said calmly, "May I sit here?"
Regardless of their reasons for coming, Jade Spring was nominally a matchmaking venue. The two had no reason to refuse. But as soon as they looked up, the youth who had been indifferent to yao beauties froze, and even the pale man flashed a look of surprise. He teased, "Young Master Lin had claimed there were no beauties among the yao, yet here is one with unmatched looks."
Lin flushed, clearly flustered. Though he had seen many beauties, none matched this yao. Still, for pride’s sake, he grumbled, "You must be a fox spirit. No other yao could make me think men can be beautiful too!"
This illusory form, crafted to appeal to humans, could only show its true brilliance in front of human eyes. Yet Bai Chen had always only prided himself on his pristine fur, whiter than snow, and had no interest in human fascination. Ignoring their reactions, he greeted them briefly and sat casually, turning his gaze toward the pale man. "Are you a ghost?"
The scent of death couldn’t fool the sharp senses of a Nine-tailed White Fox. Bai Chen had known the moment he approached that this man’s body was a corpse. The ghost didn’t deny it, surprised by Bai Chen’s acuity, but still gave a courteous introduction. "Sharp eyes. I am a Ghost Tactician from Ten Thousand Ghosts Academy, currently studying under Demon Sect Master Cun Jie."
Another unfamiliar name. It was Bai Chen’s first time seeing a ghost walk the human realm so openly. Just as he was about to ask more, Lin couldn’t bear being ignored and piped up, "Aren’t you going to ask about me?"
Myriad Treasures Hall had always been an old rival; Bai Chen didn’t need to gather intel on them. He gave a cursory glance and replied coolly, "Judging by all your fancy trinkets and your surname Lin, you must be a disciple of Myriad Treasures Hall."
The youth looked displeased by his indifference. The Ghost Tactician, however, smiled and added, "Spot on. This is none other than the young master of Myriad Treasures Hall, Lin Kaitian."
Back when Bai Chen was alive, the Three Gods of the Ghost Realm had always stayed offshore, never meddling in the human world. The righteous and demonic sects were at each other's throats, and the yao secluded themselves in Great Snow Mountain, trying to recover their strength.
Now, five centuries later, human cultivators had reconciled. The ghost race seemed to mix freely with them, while only the yao, who had closed themselves off, remained unchanged and left behind by time.
All things considered, his resurrection really did come at a "great" time.
~ Chapter End ~
Comments
Post a Comment