Young Master Bai — Chapter 12
Chapter 12: The Novice Village Scenario Has Began
The battlefield is the best place for a faction to display its strength — if the victory is dazzling enough, future challengers will be too intimidated to stir trouble. Thus, in this battle at Qishui, the Demon Sect dispatched Protector Hanba, while the Heaven's Way Alliance sent the third-ranking Azure Heaven Manor. Both sides fought in earnest.
Over the years, the human race had indeed progressed significantly. The Demon Sect's control over ghosts and monsters had reached mastery, while the mechanical puppets of Azure Heaven Manor behaved almost indistinguishably from living beings — an extraordinary feat. Bai Chen observed the entire battle and gained a new estimate of the human race’s current strength.
The righteous-versus-demonic battlefield was broadcast only to human cities. Chenzui was seeing a live scene for the first time. Even though he had grown up being taught that the human race had lowly blood, far inferior to the noble prehistoric yao beasts, he still couldn't help but sigh, “Azure Heaven Manor’s mech arts are truly impressive. I heard their manor lord crafted a small wooden bird modeled after a magpie. When placed in a nest, even real magpies couldn’t tell the difference and raised it as their own for over a month.”
That was indeed a marvel. Bai Chen turned to Li Wuming and asked, “How come I’ve never heard of this sect before?”
Experience proved that Li Wuming was the right person to ask about such curiosities — he didn’t even need to think before replying. “Azure Heaven Manor only rose to prominence four hundred years ago. They used to trade in tea and had no major achievements. But the current manor lord, Qiu Xiaohan, was born with an immense talent in puppet arts. By sixty, he had become one of the top mech masters in the world.”
As the saying goes, ‘thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river’ [meaning — luck tends to change] — who could have guessed that this small sect once ignored even by the Great Snow Mountain would, after centuries, rise within the Heaven's Way Alliance and surpass the Hidden Wisdom Sect? Bai Chen inwardly marveled at the fickleness of the world and couldn’t help but feel a bit envious. “That’s the advantage of the human race’s numbers. Even if the older generation fades away, among millions of people there will always be a few promising new talents.”
If the Bai family could envy anything about the human race, it would be their reproductive ability. Chenzui thought of their tribe’s dwindling descendants and sighed, “Good thing that humans love infighting. If they ever united, we yao would be in real danger.”
The young fox was too naive. Bai Chen shook his head helplessly and said, “No matter how fiercely the Demon Sect and the Heaven's Way Alliance fight, they still belong to the same race. The fierce ghosts of the overseas Ghost Realm were once human too. Don’t be fooled by the current chaos. If a true extinction threat ever faced the human race, these three factions would join hands in unity. Don’t forget — when the Yao King attacked the mortal world, he suffered greatly under the Demon Venerable.”
A thousand years ago, the Demon Venerable had slaughtered recklessly in the mortal realm. The Yao King led numerous yao to seize cities, thinking to take advantage of the chaos. But before he could capture a few cities, the Demon Venerable turned his troops around and confronted the yao. That gave the righteous sects a chance to form the Heaven's Way Alliance and, in a desperate counterattack, defeated both the Yao King and the Demon Venerable to become the dominant force among the cultivators. This ever-shifting battle remains a famous legend among humans.
Bai Chen had long studied the human history. He understood well how this race, devoid of bloodline-inherited powers, had used intellect to become rulers of the world — his grasp of strategic trends was better than that of many human cultivators.
Li Wuming stood beside him, watching him lecture the junior calmly, and thought to himself: the Nine-tailed White Fox truly knows how to bewitch. If not for their shared interests and numerous discussions of philosophy and politics, how else could he have developed feelings for someone he was assigned to kill? Not only did he fail the mission, he even lost himself in the process.
Sword Immortal Li looked down at his right hand, which hadn’t held a sword in five hundred years. Though he lamented the loss, seeing the mischievous little fox right before him made him feel like he had struck gold. At last, he spoke and rescued Chenzui from Bai Chen’s lecture.
“You’re getting naggy at your age. Relax. Until the Heaven's Way Alliance is strong enough to fully subdue the Ghost Realm and the Demon Sect, they still need the threat of the Great Snow Mountain.”
But opening his mouth only got him into trouble. Bai Chen shot him a glare, “Don’t think I don’t know. If you only wanted to revive me, you could’ve just stolen my corpse and escaped. You stayed in the Great Snow Mountain on purpose — to use the yao to suppress human infighting.”
That’s why having a too-clever Dao companion is troublesome — you can’t even hide private funds.
Li Wuming sighed inwardly. He pulled Bai Chen to sit beside him and said with a light chuckle, “You’re overthinking, little fox. I’m not the kind of man who wants to live with dynasties and empires.”
Bai Chen had only snapped at him out of stress. Upon hearing that, he quickly grabbed his partner’s collar. “Then who do you want to live with?”
“Of course — ”
Bai Chen had planned to undress his Dao companion the moment he got his answer. But just as Li Wuming got halfway through his sentence, a commotion broke out outside. A voice shouted, “Something terrible happened! Someone has been killed by a yao!”
Since the Great Snow Mountain signed a treaty with the Hidden Wisdom Sect, they had closed off the area and refrained from conflicts. For a yao to kill someone just at the mountain’s base — this was a major issue.
The trinity — two yao and one man — changed expressions upon hearing this. Li Wuming stopped joking, picked up Bai Chen in his arms, and leapt out the window. “Don’t worry. Let’s go see what happened.”
[Using the window as a door — a habit of the Sword Immortal line.]
When handling serious matters, this man never dropped the ball. Still, Bai Chen felt cheated — he had barely tricked a sweet word out of him and now they were interrupted. Which blind fool dared to cause trouble at a time like this? Such people deserved to be thrown to the Heavenly Wolf clan!
According to the gossiping crowd, the victim appeared to be a Demon Sect disciple. The body was discovered by a herb gatherer returning with a snow lotus foraging. It was covered in beast bite marks; even the abdomen had a chunk missing. The golden core — crucial to any cultivator’s life — was gone. A tragic, miserable sight.
When they arrived, Lin Kaitian was already at the scene. The Demon Sect had sent the Ghost Tactician to handle the situation. The two appeared to be discussing the cause of death. Before the corpse, a youth wrapped in furs wept bitterly. “Brother! We only had a fight, why won’t you come back? I — ”
Given the gravity of the incident, senior figures from all sides arrived promptly. Bai Chen stepped forward slowly and asked the two faction leaders, “What happened here?”
Since the deceased was a demonic cultivator, the Ghost Tactician — as the disciple of the Demon Sect leader — was obligated to investigate. Seeing Bai Chen, he calmly responded, “These Lu brothers were indeed disciples of our Demon Sect. Skilled in snow combat, they were transferred to Yinrong a few days ago. It is unknown why one suddenly died. I’m puzzled myself.”
The Ghost Tactician was already dead and thus unmoved by the smell of blood. He glanced at the grieving brother and said blandly, “Looks like they fought before the elder brother died. The last memory left for a lone surviving sibling is this quarrel — he’ll live in regret forever.”
“To speak so coldly without emotion... truly heartless.”
Lin Kaitian was clearly upset by his indifference, but the Ghost Tactician remained unfazed. “I’ve been dead for a hundred years. Why would the emotions of the living affect me?”
In any case, the Demon Sect’s reaction was still relatively calm, which reassured Bai Chen. But as he glanced at the corpse’s wounds, he found that it did look like a yao attack. He frowned. “If they’re skilled in snow combat, how could he die outside the town?”
Yinrong borders the Great Snow Mountain and the human territories. Every year, righteous and demonic sects station cultivators here to prevent yao invasions. A defender trained for this situation should have had time to send a distress signal even if ambushed.
“The herb gatherer who found the body said there were bear tracks nearby. Judging by the snow, the attack happened within the past hour.”
The Ghost Tactician also found the death suspicious. He glanced at Bai Chen. “Lu Ren Wang was at the late Golden Core stage. Born on the Northern plateau, he had over ten methods of survival in the snow. Ordinary bear yao wouldn’t have been able to harm him.”
Though he said no more, everyone immediately thought of the Great Bear clan. Chenzui’s face changed at once. He whispered in Bai Chen’s ear, “Ancestor, this is a setup!”
“I know. At this time of year, the Great Bear clan is storing yao power to prepare for hibernation — they wouldn’t come down the mountain.”
Bai Chen certainly didn’t believe the Great Bear clan would suddenly descend to eat people. But the wounds did resemble a yao attack, so he turned to Li Wuming. “What do you think?”
Li Wuming understood immediately. He secretly transmitted his thoughts. “A few months ago, someone in the Heaven's Way Alliance proposed ending the treaty with the yao. It was the Hidden Wisdom Sect that insisted on keeping faith. Now that their sect master is escorting the Divine Wordless Book far off in Jiangdu, if this incident escalates, chaos will follow.”
They clearly saw the problems. Lin Kaitian and the Ghost Tactician were also cautious. After some discussion, Lin Kaitian stepped forward and said, “Something like this can’t go unanswered. The Heaven's Way Alliance must give the Demon Sect an explanation. Since it’s the season for snow viewing, why don’t the three of you stay a few days as my guests? I will see to your hospitality.”
His words were polite. Bai Chen, not looking for conflict, simply replied, “Fine. I too want to know who dares violate the oath and commit such acts.”
Relieved at the Nine-tailed White Fox’s reasonableness, Lin Kaitian quickly summoned attendants. “Prepare two premium rooms for our guests, and assign some servants to attend to their every need. There must be no lapse in courtesy.”
~ Chapter End ~
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Translator's notes:
Li Wuming has a very special relationship with his right hand. It's not just the sword that he hadn't held for five hundred years. But — spoilers.
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