Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 253: Seeking to Enter the Underworld

Lu Chengfeng’s tone as he said this was obviously self-deprecating.

“I think when the nine of us first met at Luoxia Villa, it was still be early spring…”

At that time, the nine young warriors from all over the country followed their elders to Luoxia Villa in ceremony.¹ They were all in high spirits in those days, full of vigor and vitality. They had only been together for two or three days, expressing their pride in their heroic spirit, and they all felt that it was a shame that they had met so late.

By chance, they had heard that a fierce tiger was attacking people somewhere in Ji Province, and the local government felt helpless. The nine people who believed in their martial arts skills hit it off and went to Ning’an County together…

Although Lu Chengfeng could not remember all the names of the other eight people, some of the key events in the past were vivid in his mind. When he reached certain points in his recollections, he would blurt out who had done what.

Ji Yuan could feel that this was not just because he had listed the nine names for him — when Lu Chengfeng recalled these memories, the people in question naturally resurged in his mind; he couldn’t claim to really have forgotten them.

During this whole process, Ji Yuan did not speak. He was just a qualified listener.

Lu Chengfeng did not recall all that much. He recounted only up until he saw Ji Yuan in the dilapidated mountain temple, because Ji Yuan already knew what happened next.

After talking about the first time he had met Ji Yuan in the temple, he looked up at him.

“Mr. Ji, do you think, if we had not come come to Ning’an County to show off our bravery, if we hadn’t had the whimsical idea of going up the mountain to kill the tiger, would things have ended up differently?”

Ji Yuan tapped the jade slip, which was currently disguised as a bamboo slip, with his knuckles, thought for a while, and replied with a smile.

“As far as you are concerned, Warrior Lu, the original young master Lu would merely have had his list of adventures reduced by one, and the overall trajectory of your life may not have changed much. Those who were truly most affected were naturally Du Heng, as well as Luo Ningshuang, Zhao Long, and Yan Fei.”

What Ji Yuan said was the truth. At that time, five people, including Lu Chengfeng, had emerged unscathed, through frightened. The remaining four had injuries that were each more serious than the next, and the impact was naturally much greater.

In the end, Du Heng’s right arm had been severed. Luo Ningshuang, a female warrior with skin as white as snow, had several deep wounds from the base of the neck to the chest and abdomen, which in this era was no different from disfigurement. The martial arts world in this feudal society was still dominated by men. Most female warriors ended up marrying, and the female standard of beauty was quite common. Having terrible scars left on the body would have a great impact.

As for Zhao Long, who used a steel-tipped rod, he had been injured by the tiger’s tail, and his internal organs had been severely damaged. No one had heard any news from Zhao Long in all these years, so it was unclear how he was doing.

Yan Fei was also badly injured by the sharp claws, but when he faced the monster and faced that life and death crisis, he experienced a breakthrough after he recovered from his injuries.

In general, these four people could truly be regarded as having had their lives influenced by the encounter. Lu Chengfeng’s experience was far from the same level of impact.

Of course, the one who was most affected might very well be Ji Yuan himself. During his most difficult time, no one came to carry him down the mountain.

Hearing Ji Yuan’s words, Lu Chengfeng laughed at himself again.

“Mr. Ji is right.”

Ji Yuan could see his weariness and depression. He must have experienced one or even several things that he regretted. People like that would always try to escape their reality or desire to go back to change the past.

“Young master Lu, you can confide in me without worry. There is no rule in this world that stipulates that warriors cannot be sad about the passing of time.”

Ji Yuan said. He stood up, walked to the kitchen, took out two ceramic bowls, and placed them on the stone table, then lightly tapped the wine jar to remove the seal.

He sniffed the aroma of the wine and poured it into the two bowls.

This wine smelled faintly of medicinal herbs, rather than the ordinary grain or fruit wine.

Lu Chengfeng did not stand on ceremony. He picked up his bowl, toasted JI Yuan, then drank the entire bowl of wine. As he tasted the wine, his eyes couldn’t help but redden.

“Mr. Ji, I met Du Heng previously. I want to ask you…”

Lu Chengfeng raised his head and looked at Ji Yuan. His gaze met that pair of old eyes.

“Are you really an immortal?”

Although Ji Yuan had saved their lives at the beginning, he didn’t actually show any supernatural abilities. He was definitely a master, but some monasteries and temples had masters as well, not just cultivators.

As they grew older and gained more experience, they got to know similar masters, some of whom were even more mysterious. The reverence they had for Mr. Ji gradually faded from their minds.

However, after meeting Du Heng once again and learning some things from him, Mr. Ji’s mystery deepened again.

“Warrior Lu, did you come here to see Ji Yuan, or to see an immortal?”

Ji Yuan asked. He took a sip of Tusu wine. The wine was not very strong, but it was quite bitter.

“Mr. Ji, I heard from Chengfeng that immortals have great supernatural power, longevity, and all the freedom in the world. They can ride on clouds and mist, and can even walk in the underworld. Is this true?”

‘It seems that he came here to see an immortal.’

Ji Yuan sighed in his heart and no longer hesitated. He looked at Lu Chengfeng’s aura and calculated a divination on his fingers, though he had already roughly understood the circumstances.

“Speaking of which, back then, young master Lu was the one who bought me this Ju’an Pavilion to use as my residence. I will naturally help you if I can.”

Just as Lu Chengfeng was about to speak, Ji Yuan raised his hand to stop him, staring at him indifferently with his pale eyes.

“I already know that your mother passed away not too long ago, and I also know that Warrior Lu is in mourning. However, the dead cannot be resurrected. I am not a true immortal, but even if I were, neither your father nor your mother can be brought back to life.”

After some divinations, Ji Yuan had vaguely calculated Lu Chengfeng’s current circumstances.

Lu Chengfeng smiled for the first time today.

“Mr. Ji misunderstands. I am not a greedy person. I neither ask for immortality nor do I expects my parents to return to life. It’s just…

“It’s just that I don’t know if there really is an underworld in this world, or if my parents are really there. People often say that parents will send dreams to their children after they die, but I… I have never even dreamed of them once…”

In the past, Lu Chengfeng had been full of pride and glory. He gained much, but lost much, too. The unexpected death of his father made it feel as though the sky above the Lu family’s Cloud Pavilion suddenly collapsed, and they faced a series of blows both from within and from without.

Only then did Lu Chengfeng realize that his past glory was nothing more than a castle in the air.² It was as fragile as his reputation in the martial arts world, which he had not earned through martial arts skills. After losing his father’s protection, although some old friends of his father’s generation helped him out in the short term, over time he experienced a lot of bullying.

There were those who sought revenge, and those who coveted the benefits of Cloud Pavilion’s status in the martial arts world. There were also those warriors who intended to challenge the Lu family’s fist, open-palm, and claw techniques to improve their own prestige in the martial arts world.

This was the reality of the martial arts world. Martial arts forces were rarely protected by the government. Without his father’s martial arts and abilities, if he wished to protect himself, he would have to endure more depression and helplessness. Such was his current situation. His eldest brother, Lu Chengyun, was in an even worse position as the current pillar of Cloud Pavilion.

The difference was that Lu Chengyun had a tenacious temperament and could withstand the pressure, while Lu Chengfeng did not. The latter had been crushed by reality. Other than desperately practicing martial arts in secret, in the eyes of outsiders, he had become the decadent son who got drunk all day long. The former Gentleman of Cloud Pavilion had disappeared.

When his beloved mother died of illness, Lu Chengfeng hated himself even more. He hated that he wasn’t skilled enough in martial arts, hated his lack of talent, hated himself for his incompetence, and was envious and even jealous of his brother.

Lu Chengyun was so “powerful” — so powerful that he could tolerate his younger brother’s failure to accomplishing anything. He could hold up Cloud Pavilion with gritted teeth and swallowed blood. However, Lu Chengfeng couldn’t bear the pressure, nor could he save his own reputation. His martial arts skills were not very good, and he was of no help at all. For the ambitious Lu Chengfeng, this was also a kind of despair.

And the death of his mother seemed to shatter even that despair, as what followed was a complete collapse of confidence.

Lu Chengfeng didn’t dare to elaborate on these matters with Mr. Ji, but he always felt that Mr. Ji’s pale eyes seemed to be able to read people’s hearts, as if he could see through everything.

“Mr. Ji, do people really turn into ghosts when they die? Do my parents also look down on a useless person like me? If you are really an immortal, can you take me to the underworld to meet them?”

This was an absurd request. Lu Chengfeng had asked countless experts and visited countless temples. He knew that it was an unlikely possibility, but in front of Mr. Ji, he still asked again with some expectation.

Ji Yuan drank the wine in the bowl and did not answer immediately. Instead, stood up, walked two steps outside the shade of the tree, and looked up at the sky.

“Warrior Lu has gained much and lost much, but that is all in the past. The world you know is always there; it is just covered by clouds in troubled times. But when the clouds finally dissipate, the light of heaven will finally be able to shine down on the earth.”

Ji Yuan turned to look at Lu Chengfeng.

“As for your father and mother, their Yin lifespan should not yet have finished. I will take you to meet them.”

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T/n: I translated the whole chapter on time but wordpress didn’t save it, so all my work vanished. TT^TT

1. Unclear whether it’s explicitly for some ceremony or if this is indicating “out of politeness”
2. In English it might also be translated “castle in the sand” — something that looks fancy or strong but has unstable foundations