The words of the mysterious man from a public sect¹ made Wei Wuwei feel slightly relieved. Although this matter was considered a secret, it was not impossible for him to reveal it, and the situation was not something Wei Wuwei was imagining would happen. It whatever happened was what was.²

“Your Excellency, you may not know, but rumor has it that one of my Wei family’s ancestors once rescued a crane. Afterwards, the crane returned dwith a jade in his mouth, and gave it to my ancestor to repay the kindness. This blue jade has been passed down from generation to generation, and now it has been passed on to me, and is in my, Wei Wuwei’s, hands…”

“It is true that some elders say that carrying this jade can ward off evil spirits, but this is just a rumor, without any evidence!”

After speaking, Wei Wuwei paused and looked at the man in black lying on the ground, unable to move.

“The idea of becoming an immortal is too fanciful. In the past, when our Emperor Zeng of the Yuan dynasty of Dazhen searched for immortality for half of his life, he ended up depressed and dying young. Mad Disciple Zuo, who was known as a sword immortal, also died with hatred, didn’t he?”

Wei Wuwei thought it would be extremely ridiculous even if it were true. Even if he really gave them the Sword Intent Inscription to decipher its secrets and find Mad Disciple Zuo’s peerless book of martial arts secrets, even if he gave them the blue jade, did they want to become immortals only based on those? Even the emperor, who had all the power in the world, couldn’t do it, let alone these people.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s more practical to go to the temple to pray to the gods and worship Buddha. I didn’t expect that I, Wei Wuwei, would be attacked by a group of lunatics!”

To be honest, intuitively, Ji Yuan believed that Wei Wuwei’s disdain was not faked, which meant that the Wei family really only knew the story that had been passed down from their ancestors, and they truly thought that this blue jade did not have any magical properties besides its value.

However, the man in black on the ground didn’t refute, but instead kept trying to calm down the pain in his inner organs. He waited patiently for Wei Wuwei to finish mocking him before he was ready to speak. His focus was mainly on Ji Yuan.

He was afraid that this public servant would not hesitate to act in accordance with the law. Now that he wasn’t attacking, he could still have a discussion. Looking at the other man in black, he had already passed out, and he didn’t care about Xiang Feng and others at all.

“Indeed, what you, Wei Wuwei, have said is correct, but you dare to say that there are no immortals in this world? Six years ago, there was no wind and no rain, but Guangdong Lake flooded over thirty li. Who can say just how many people along its shores were affected by the disaster? Two years ago, the swordsman Du Yutian killed a ghost after drinking. After beheading the ghost, cold frost covering the blade did not recede for three days. What friends of the Du family wouldn’t know this story? The Smiling Rakshasa³ dreamed one night of the City God of the northern capital collecting souls. When he woke up, his friend had died of illness. From then on, he changed his name to the Smiling Soul Reaper.⁴ These are not just rumors!”

The man in black remained calm as he looked at Ji Yuan. His shadowed face seemed to be laughing at him, so he couldn’t help but get more excited as he spoke.

“Sir, five years ago, I broke a jar of old wine by the Chunmu River, which attracted a giant black-backed turtle. This giant turtle could speak human words and asked me for good wine. He said he wanted it dedicated to the god of Chunmu River, and that every May 15th from then on, I should go to the riverside to deliver wine. This is absolutely true, I am not lying!!!”

Hearing these words, everyone except for the other man in black, who had fainted, was surprised, even the five remaining Yan thieves, who were listless on the side. Obviously, they hadn’t known about these mysterious immortal things.

Ji Yuan only looked expressionless on the surface now, but in fact his heart had long felt shocked. However, he still restrained his excitement and spoke in a hoarse and cold voice.

“Keep talking!”

The man in black swallowed and glanced at Wei Wuwei, who was frowning in thought beside him.

“That giant turtle said that he would not accept my wine without giving anything in return, and told me that I could obtain immortality in three places. One was the Sword Intent Inscription, which he said was hidden in the Fan family mansion in Dingyuan. The old turtle clearly stated that the long sword’s clear trace had already nurtured its spirit. Enlightenment is naturally born of the spiritual essence.⁵ The first was obtained by chance; the second is the ancestral blue jade of the Wei family…”

The man in black stopped here for a while. It seemed that he didn’t want to talk about the blue jade too much, so he just skipped it and continued to speak.

“The third path to immortality was in Tongzhou, which is thousands of li away. As long as Your Excellency lets me go today, you can take this Wei family’s blue jade, and I will tell you how to use the blue jade to obtain immortality after I recover from my injuries! “

The evening wind blew slowly, but it couldn’t bring a chill.

Even though the things he heard before seemed absurd, as soon as these words came out, Wei Wuwei’s back felt hot and he became nervous.

“Sir, don’t believe in the nonsense of these insidious bandits!! You saved my Wei Wuwei’s life. I will give you this blue jade as a gift, as living is still far more valuable!”

Wei Wuwei showed his wealth and spoke righteously. He took out the blue jade from his arms and handed it to Ji Yuan, his face turned to the man in black on the ground.

“But this person not only speaks nonsense, and he also stirs up troubles in the world and causes countless deaths. He cannot be spared by law or reason!”

Wei Wuwei really didn’t want to give away the blue jade, but but he didn’t dare to gamble. Even if there was only a very small possibility, if this mysterious master got involved and believed in immortal paths before, he was afraid that he might encounter an accident while holding the family heirloom!

What was more, what the man in black said was so evil that even Wei Wuwei couldn’t help but feel disturbed. He judged others with compassion, but Wei Wuwei saw that this gentleman had a villain’s heart!

If he was really thinking about it, he hoped that taking this step would be of some use. Wei Wuwei’s angry shouting at the man in black was actually a cover for his own nervousness!

At this moment, Ji Yuan’s mind was spinning. Facing the blue jade that Wei Wuwei handed over, he was extremely excited. However, as a half-immortal cultivator, Ji Yuan noticed an obvious flaw in the story of the crane repaying kindness that Wei Wuwei had just told. If it were him in the story, the key to repaying kindness would not be the jade, but rather the person!

Ji Yuan would rather be prudent than suffer uncertain factors. Besides, there was one more crucial reason.

In his blind vision, this man in black had an evil aura that almost seeped through his body. He was definitely a bad prick,⁶ and this Wei Wuwei was definitely not a good person. If he really wanted to be safe, should he force the man to tell him about that specific path to immortality and then silence him? Could he be ruthles enough to kill someone himself? It might be possible to kill the violent bandits, but would he feel comfortable killing Wei Wuwei and others?

‘Is my character like this? When teaching the tiger, I said that to practice cultivation, you had to practice being virtuous first. If you want to cultivate immortality, should you do whatever you can to that ends? The immortal in my heart is free but not ungrateful, and can laugh and be moved when seeing the warmth of the world! What kind of immortal can I become if my morals are perverted?’

A man will always be in the middle, in between good and evil, until death.⁷ At this moment, Ji Yuan’s middle soul came up with a plan, and he became more open-minded.

‘When I was preaching to the little fox, I said that people can’t be too greedy. Isn’t it ridiculous for me to do this now? ’

He had to admit, Ji Yuan was very aware that his current thoughts might be a bit naive, but since he had the choice, why couldn’t he choose the option with fewer variables and a clear conscience? At least, he already possessed the Sword Intent Inscription!

He took a deep breath. Now that he had made a decision, his heart felt settled as if all his veins had opened, and his whole body felt an indescribable comfort. Ji Yuan just regarded it as a sense of accomplishment that he had figured out the problem.

Looking at the blue jade that Wei Wuwei handed over, Ji Yuan felt a little playful, without any burden. He naturally reached out to take the warm blue jade, and played with it in his hand, then turned his head to look at Wei Wuwei.

“Patriarch Wei, this blue jade is the ancestral treasure of your Wei family. Moreover, if what this person said is true, it is also a treasure related to the path of immortality. Are you just going to give it to me like this? Are you sincerely repaying me, or are you afraid that I will do something to you?”

These words made Wei Wuwei almost tremble. It was only with his strong will and body weight that he managed to cover it up.

“I am not afraid of sir’ jokes. I, Wei Wuwei, am most greedy for life, and afraid of death, but I won’t treat a gentleman like a villain! I sincerely wish to give the jade pendant to you. Besides, what gods can enjoy the glory and wealth I have in the mortal world, aren’t I rich and comfortable?”

Ji Yuan grinned, suddenly feeling that Wei Wuwei was a wonderful person.

“Hahaha… hahaha…”

This laughter was not only a catharsis for Wei Wuwei, but also venting for his own physical and mental well-being at this moment.

Of course, Ji Yuan’s sudden burst of laughter startled everyone. He weighed the jade pendant in his hand and threw it back to Wei Wuwei, who hurriedly caught it.

“I was just passing by here. I still need to investigate an important case. I have been delayed for long enough. Patriarch Wei, I will have to trouble you to hand over this group of prisoners to the government!”

After finishing his words, Ji Yuan directly raised his Qi and jumped in a vertical leap onto the trees beside the official road. He kicked off a small poplar tree, borrowing its strength and bending it slightly, then withdrew the force.

With a swish, his entire body directly flew out, using the force of the tree trunks to propel himself faster and faster, without any intention of turning back.

Everyone was stunned, but Wei Wuwei reacted the fastest, and hurriedly shouted at the retreating figure.

“I don’t know Sir’s surname yet!!!”

However, there was no response before the figure disappeared.

In the woods, on the official road, and beside the carriage, all was silent.

Wei Wuwei turned his head and glanced around at the bandits and men in black, who were still in shock. He touched his chest to calm himself down, and spoke with an uncontrollable smile.

“Uh… it seems that you all fell into my hands, hehehehe!!”

T/n: Quick PSA: for some reason, MTL is adamant that it was a tortoise, not a turtle. This is incorrect. Turtles live in water, tortoises live on land. As a river god, this is a turtle. If you see it accidentally unchanged, sorry for missing one!

1. T/n: I wrote a note last chapter about how “public sect” probably meant something like a publically-known sect, and while that still holds true I’m now thinking it’s also indicating a righteous/law-abiding sect. Just wanted to put a note here for context ↩︎
2. i.e.: “it is what it is” ↩︎
3. Rakshasa are a race of usually malevolent supernatural beings from Hindu mythology, but also appear in Buddhism, which where they come into this story. (As you can probably already see through this story, China as a rich history of multicultural belief systems that work in syncretism and sometimes distinctly from one another.) ↩︎
4. 勾魂使 (gōu hún shǐ), unsure why they called him the “Smiling Rakshasa” (alternate translation “Smiling Demon”) and changed to “Smiling Soul Reaper” ↩︎
5. T/n: what the fresh hell was this translation *cries* Basically, he’s saying that the treasure/sword that the SII leads to has nurtured a spirit that can help on the path to enlightenment; we’ve seen foxes and tigers cultivate to self-awareness, why not a sword? ↩︎
6. 鸟 (diǎo): crude word for a man’s family jewels, not entirely sure how to translate that in a way that makes grammatical sense in English. Settled for the British English insult “prick” as denoting an asshole guy ↩︎
7. 男人至死永中二 Uncertain about translation, did my best ↩︎

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read