Chapter 40
Chu Changge was shocked, "You said that you have the antidote for the Soul Snatcher?"
Murong Yunshu was also surprised. She did not expect that the Soul Snatcher which didn't have any obvious signs, would actually have an antidote.
"Well? Want to buy it for my face?" Old Man Shenji asked with a smile.
Without waiting for Chu Changge to answer, Murong Yunshu jumped in and said, "Nope."
Old Man Shenji was stunned and asked, "You don't want the antidote?"
"It is not cost-effective to exchange the position of Great Leader for the antidote."
"Ha...ha ha..." Old Man Shenji beat his thigh and said, "Little girl, we are talking about a life-saving antidote. You want to make a bargain for that too?"
Murong Yunshu remarked with a smile, "A business is still a business."
Upon hearing this, Old Man Shenji was completely defeated by her and he shook his head, while sighing, "You are really incomprehensible, really incomprehensible ah!"
Chu Changge laughed. He leisurely stood up, pulled at his slightly wrinkled clothes, and said in a loud voice, "I'll await respectfully for you all on the Black Wind Mountain." Then, his head tilted to the side, making a gesture of invitation to Murong Yunshu. "Madam, I've seen enough excitement. Let's go down the mountain with this husband of yours."
"Do you really want to give up the position of the Great Leader?" Murong Yunshu asked with a frown.
"What I want most in my life is the antidote for the Soul Snatcher. As for the Great Leader position, to be honest, I don't want to surrender my status and associate myself with these 'gentlemen'." Chu Changge's tone was very arrogant, causing the crowd to be livid.
However, Murong Yunshu only cared about the first sentence —— what I want most in my life is the antidote for the Soul Snatcher. For some reason, she felt that she could easily understand Chu Changge's logic. Such as now, he spared no expense to get the antidote, not for her, but for his reluctant and unwilling self. He was unwilling to let his beloved die for no apparent reason. Therefore, even if he abandoned the position of the Great Leader, the upright and illustrious families would still have an opportunity to unite against him and wouldn't let him leave with the antidote. And for herself, she felt that she was just being fortunate once more. This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.
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<img src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cZprNSWWMzg/XqBxxjpkaHI/AAAAAAAACMg/WozUHEMyoHUR54LOQGhE8M43KCbhbjmFACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/hua_tuo.jpg">
Huo Tuo
A Chinese Physician during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was the first clinician who used anesthetic in surgery. He was also famous for his abilities in acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, and medical DaoYin exercises. He is said to have developed the Wu Qin Xi which is the Exercise of the Five Animals, or five animals playing. - Rodd Sanchez, October 11, 2016
The antidote Old Man Shenji was talking about was not really the physical antidote, but rather, the direction in which the antidote could be sought —— the Li People. According to him, the soul-catching originated from the Li tribe, which used an ancient witchcraft of the tribe -—— the medicine must be administered to the target prior to the removal of the soul. Depending on the dosage, the time for the target to lose one's sanity also varied, where the fastest would be a few hours, while the slowest would be in three to five years. Once the sanity was lost, one's body was no different from being dead. Unless the antidote was taken within twelve hours, otherwise, even if Hua Tuo was alive, he would still be unable to turn around a hopeless situation¹Chinese idiom : fail to save the situation.
The Li People, a mysterious group that had only appeared in mythology, now lived in the pristine forest outside the northern part of the Daye Dynasty. However, to enter the territory of the Li People, one must pass through a gate - the Gate of Illusion. The Gate of Illusion was supposed to be true, even if it was hard to tell if the gate really existed, going through the cliffs between the two peaks of the mountain, none could retreat. However, if one went through, one would only fall into ten thousand fathoms²fig. extremely deep abyss. What made the matter worse, the two peak rock walls that formed the Gate of Illusion were bare and unclimbable. None of the people in the group, who had reached perfection³Chinese idiom : a superb artistic achievement in qinggong⁴"the art of lightness". The body is trained to be "light as feather", so that a person can run at great speed, leap high and drop down softly on the tip of the toe. except for Chu Changge, thus none could volunteer to climb up the cliff.
"I'll go to the top of the cliff first and explore the situation." Without waiting for the crowd to react, Chu Changge flew up in the air, stomped on the cliff wall and used the strength of his feet to fly to the top.
"It's too dangerous to let the Leader get up there alone. We've got to figure out how to climb up the cliff." East Guardian said with a gloomy face. The remaining three nodded heavily, then they looked at Murong Yunshu, who had been quite calm since the beginning. "Madam, you're really brilliant, so you should come up with an idea."
Murong Yunshu replied, "I can only make money, I can't climb mountains."
"...try to think of climbing mountains as a way to make money." East Guardian suggested as he resisted the urge to vomit blood.
Murong Yunshu lifted her eyebrows⁵looking delighted and felt that this method was feasible. Then, she raised her up at the peaks that were tall and erect, reaching through the clouds⁶used to describe tall mountain or skyscraper before her. After a long time, she retracted her gaze and said, "I will choose not to earn this money."
"Why?"
"The cost is too high."
"..." The Four Guardians suddenly appeared dishevelled in the wind. Could it be that she never made any loss in business?
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At the foot of the mountain, the crowd waited until the sun was going down, and yet, they still did not see Chu Changge coming down. Murong Yunshu finally lost her cool and looked up at the top of the mountain several times. Her beautiful face showed how anxious and worried she was. While the Four Guardians were like a cat on a hot tin roof⁷Chinese idiom : anxious / agitated, continuously whirled around. Only Lu'er alone who blindly worshipped and blindly had optimism on Chu Changge.
"Miss, are you hungry?"
No one answered.
"Miss, are you thirsty?"
Still no one answered.
"Miss——" Lü'er stretched her voice, and her pair of big eyes stared pitifully at her own master. She had not eaten anything since she went out this morning. Miss, you really think you're really an immortal who does not eat food of common mortals⁸fig. placing oneself above the common populace ah! Although it was said that when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven⁹fig. ride on sb else's success, Miss at present was a pseudo-immortal, still a real human being. Even if this maid was being starved for three days and three nights, she would never become an immortal!
The more Lu'er thought about it, the hungrier she became. The more she looked at Murong Yunshu, the more sorrowful she became. Her heart muttered, go back to the inn, go back to the inn.....
After getting along for so many years, Murong Yunshu certainly knew Lu'er's little mind. In fact, she was so hungry that her chest had stuck to the back¹⁰famished. However, Chu Changge had not returned yet, which made her feel not at ease...wait...not at ease? Could it be that...unconsciously, she had begun to worry about his safety? This noob translation was translated by a noob translator きつね. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.blogspot.com.
This realization made Murong Yunshu feel anxious. She raised her hand, somewhat sheepishly, to pin a few strands of messy hair that had been blown against her cheek by the wind, behind her ear, "Let's go back to the inn."
"But Leader has not come down yet." East Guardian anxiously said.
"Then, you guys can keep waiting." Once the words came out of Murong Yunshu's mouth, she turned to leave.
The Four Guardians were in a dilemma. Leader had ordered them to protect Madam's safety at all times, but how could they leave so hastily when Leader's life and death was still uncertain?
After a long time, East Guardian finally said, "Looking at Madam's cool and calm appearance, I think she must have come up with a good plan."
"Madam had been looking up to heaven. Maybe she has learned from heaven that the Leader is safe." South Guardian made a show of being very much in earnest¹¹Chinese idiom : to put on an affectation, as if it were true with his words.
West Guardian nodded his head in agreement, "Furthermore, the Leader has made his word clear beforehand¹²Chinese idiom : forewarn that it is of utmost importance to protect Madam."
North Guardian said in a low voice, "Yes, in case something happens to Madam, Leader won't spare us even if he becomes a ghost......"
"Crow's beak¹³fig. person who has made an inauspicious remark!" The other three guardians South, East and West spoke in unison.
The North Guardian bitterly touched his nose and whispered, "I was just assuming...nothing more."