Lanke Chess Edge -
Chapter 65: The Fine Wine of the Immortal Palace Is Good, and the Huadiao Wine of the Human World Is Also Intoxicating
[T/n note on chapter title]1
The dragon had always been of great significance to the Chinese nation. Even though in this world the prestige of the dragon might have been inferior to its prestige in the China of his previous life, the supreme ruler of a country still wore a dragon robe,2 meaning that the word dragon was still just as profound.
It would be a lie for Ji Yuan to say that he was not nervous at this moment, but more surprising was that, although he was extremely agitated on the inside, his body’s reaction was normal. Perhaps it was because he had been mentally prepared from their previous conversation, or perhaps it was the question itself that affected Ji Yuan’s thinking.
In fact, this story was not recorded in A Historical Account from Outside the Tao. There had been no record of a dragon causing rain in Ji Province for two hundred years. Ji Yuan didn’t know whether this old man had read the entire Historical Account from Outside the Tao. However, this issue had little to do with the book, or even with the ideological tendencies of the one who had written A Historical Account.
‘Is he seeking affirmation? ’
In truth, it was not necessarily very difficult to ensure good weather and a good harvest in Ji Province. After all, the changing of the weather was a natural law. As long as there was nothing abnormal, as the months passed, drops would willingly fall from the heavens.3 What was rare was that it had continued for two hundred years without any unexpected variables, such as a drought. Ji Yuan vaguely felt that this might not be as simple as just being able to spread rain.
Everyone could speak compliments, but how many would listen to them? Did he really just want to hear a compliment? Ji Yuan faintly felt that this was a knot in the heart of the flood dragon.4
But perhaps because the old man was very kind and reasonable, or perhaps because he might have met a “dragon,” which held a lot of importance in the hearts of all Chinese people, Ji Yuan’s spirits were lifted in excitement.
Ji Yuan stared straight at the old man beside him with his pale, still eyes, and gave an answer that was somewhat irrelevant to the question.
“As an individual, I admire this dragon for blessing the area with abundant rain for two hundred years, and I am even more happy to see that it has done good deeds. But if I had met the evil flood dragon from three hundred years ago, and had sufficient ability, I would have killed him!”The old man frowned and squinted his eyes, and a little steam escaped the corners of his mouth.
“Then, sir, do you think that the dragon’s deeds over the past two hundred years can offset disaster of the flood?”
This tone and this appearance made Ji Yuan’s heart skip a beat. Although the other party didn’t release any power, Ji Yuan felt an incomparable sense of oppression. It seemed that this dragon only appeared easy to speak to, and that wasn’t truly the case…
Yes, if he had previously only suspected that the man he had been talking to was either a full dragon or a flood dragon and somehow related to the water-traveling flood dragon from the story, then Ji Yuan had now confirmed that the old man was precisely that flood dragon.
He had just said what he believed, but Ji Yuan didn’t intend to immediately flatter him just because of the fear that arose in his heart. If he were the one sitting opposite, he would not appreciate such an effacing attitude.
Even though he was nervous, Ji Yuan pretended not to notice the old man’s changes. He just gently put A Historical Account from Outside the Tao away into his bag, and took advantage of the moment when he looked away to ease his almost untenable condition.
After putting the book away, Ji Yuan turned his gaze back to look straight at the other person’s face.
“I’d like to ask the old gentleman first, sir: if everyone believes that your achievements over the past two hundred years have offset your sins, and that that you have accumulated immeasurable merits, then will you continue to control the clouds and rains for Ji Province?”
This sentence directly revealed the opponent’s body as that of a dragon. The beginning was very gentle, but at the end, as if to resist the fear, Ji Yuan used a questioning tone.
He was apprehensive and even a little regretful in his heart, but he had to grit his teeth and hold on to his serious expression.
As soon as this question was asked, the old man was stunned.
He frowned and looked outside the cave at the dark clouds that had not dispersed even though the rain had stopped, and could not come up with an answer.
“From my point of view, merits are merits, and sins are sins. Only by making up for the sins can you accrue merit. There is no such thing as offsetting one or the other. I, Ji, hate the former evil dragon, and admire the current dragon. There is no contradiction here!”
He completed this sentence while maintaining his momentum. Ji Yuan ruthlessly calmed himself down internally, but didn’t dare to make any big moves on the outside.
As soon as these words were spoken, the old man, who had originally been frowning, was shocked, and turned his head to look at Ji Yuan.
“Well said, well said!”
After the two affirmations, the old man seemed to have figured something out and appeared a little absent-minded. He leaned back against the wall of the cave, stroking his beard, smiling and shaking his head from time to time. In his heart, he seemed to be making associations and laughing at himself self-deprecatingly.
‘Hooh…’
On the other side, Ji Yuan sighed in relief, and even had the illusion that his breath was trembling. When he heard the two words, “well said,” he understood that the disaster was over.
At this moment, his heart was relieved and he lost his balance. He slipped and fell on his bag. Fortunately, it wasn’t a big movement.
After thinking about it, he felt that it would be better to show some courtesy, so he took out the four remaining jujubes in his bag, took two, and handed them to the old man.
“You should try these fresh jujubes. They were grown on the jujube tree in my small courtyard. They are not miraculous, but they are sweet and delicious!”
The old man turned around and immediately took the two jujubes with a smile on his face.
“It’s rare to have jujubes in this season, but are there any more? Two are not enough for me!”
Ji Yuan believed him, but although he might have agreed to his request when he had been afraid just now, he would not agree to it now.
“I only have four in total. I’ve already given you half of them. Just eat them!”
While speaking, he directly tossed the two jujubes into his mouth, and chewed continuously with a crunching sound. A fresh and fragrant aroma overflowed from his mouth, and he behaved like a child protecting his snacks.
The old man sniffed the fragrance, smiled, and followed Ji Yuan’s example, eating the two jujubes in one mouthful, chewing them and tasting the delicious fragrance.
“Good fruit, good fruit. Although the spiritual energy is thin, it tastes very good. Where might your residence be, sir, and would you allow me to pick some more to taste?”
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. This old dragon was so greedy!
“They would be long gone by now. Before the trip, I told a good friend in the county to pick all the jujubes left and share them with the neighbors. It has been a long time since then.”
The old man suddenly felt that it was a pity, but he didn’t seem to give up.
“Maybe your friend has some extra fruit stored? You could ask him to give me some.”
“Hey, my friend is just a teacher in the county school. He has no magical power or special skills. Besides, he has a greedy kid at home. There’s no way he would be able to hide the jujubes!”5
It seemed that the jujubes were really all gone, but the meaning of Ji Yuan’s words stirred the old man’s curiosity.
“Sir, your friend is a mortal?”
Ji Yuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes.”
“But is he famous for his talent and great virtue?”
Ji Yuan thought of the letter and smiled knowingly.
“He has not yet gained a reputation for virtue.”
The old man frowned.
“How could a mere county school teacher deserve to be your good friend?”
Ji Yuan spat out the pit of the jujube that he had been sucking on in his mouth for a while, and answered naturally.
“What virtue and ability must he have? Isn’t it enough for me to recognize him as my friend?”
This was the second time the old man had been stunned today, and it might even had lasted a little longer than the last time.
“Hahahahahaha… Hahahahahahaha…. Excellent, you are absolutely right, well said! As for who Mr. Ji recognizes as his friend, it is naturally up to him to decide, hahahahaha….”
The sudden and violent laughter frightened Ji Yuan so much that he found himself trembling, unable to pretend. The old man had already stood up in his wet clothes.
“I wonder if I, a demon from my clan, has the qualifications to be Mr. Ji’s friend?”
There was an obvious sense of anticipation in this sentence that could not be ignored.
Ji Yuan gulped with extremely gentle movements, then stood up. He stabilized his mind and choked on the impatient words of approval in his throat, replacing them with another sentence.
“It depends on whether the old gentleman will invite Ji for a drink next time!”
“Mr. Ji, just tell me what kind of wine you would like to drink!”
“Haha, it’s just a matter of looking at the person and not the wine. The fine wine from the immortal palace is good, and the Huadiao wine from the human world is also intoxicating!”6
“Hahaha, what a great saying! Even Huadiao can make you drunk!”
The old man stretched out his hand to bow, and then spoke in a clear voice.
“I am Ying Hong of the Tongtian River!”
Ji Yuan did not dare to be negligent, and returned the same gift.
“My name is Ji Yuan, and I am from Ning’an County!”
The old man’s face was flushed with a smile, indicative of his current state. After saluting each other, the man slowly walked out of the stone wall cave and turned to face Jiyuan.
“I still need to spread the Mangzhong rain to the various prefectures in Ji Province. When we next meet, I will definitely invite Mr. Ji for a good drink!”
After saying this, the man turned into a blurry dragon-shaped stream of light and broke through the clouds, disappearing in an instant.
“ROOOOAAAR!”
The dragon’s roar in the sky resembled the lingering sound of thunder.
- T/n: that moment when it’s only 6 characters per phrase in Chinese but WAY too long in English… Anyhow, this can be read as a metaphor indicating that the more common luxuries and pleasures in everyday life can have their own charm and be just as extraordinary as “celestial,” rare, or luxurious treasures. ALSO! This phrase is (apparently) trying to be a couplet, since it has 6 characters on either side. ↩︎
- The dragon robes were literally every-day robes embroidered with dragons, worn only by the emperor. Oftentimes they were dyed yellow, a color commonly restricted to the royal family due to it representing the earth & thus all life ↩︎
- 节气到了自有天降甘露 yes it’s just as poetic as as it sounds ↩︎
- T/n: In case you’re not familiar with cultivation novels or Chinese novels in general, a knot in the heart is another way of saying an emotional stumbling block, or an emotional/metaphorical wound that tends to linger ↩︎
- T/n: This whole section makes me crack up, because here is one person who was scared out of his mind earlier now acting like the biggest kid in the playground with the new toy, and an over-400-year-old dragon acting like a tsundere for some fruit ↩︎
- T/n: oooh fun translator times!! This phrase, as we saw in the title, could definitely be read as a metaphor saying that common luxuries are just as extraordinary as heavenly ones, but there’s a bunch more layers to it in context now: 1) obviously literal – the dragon asked what he likes to drink, JY replies it doesn’t matter. 2) That metaphor we referenced earlier. 3) The dragon is trying to buy his way into JY’s good graces, and JY is gently telling him that’s not going to work, or maybe responding “just be yourself.” 4) A subtle reference to their earlier conversation about how Yin Zhaoxian is mortal and still just as good of a friend as an immortal. 5) JY being his usual performative self by putting this in the form of a poetic couplet with 6 characters to either side (see footnote about the title). So much subtext, so much fun! ↩︎
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