Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 99: Two Choices

According to Ji Yuan’s previous character, he would not deliberately show off in front of others. However, this time the situation was different. It was obvious that all of the craftsmen in the Yan family’s shop shared a common hatred and a common enemy, and regarded Ji Yuan as a nefarious individual who was eyeing the Zuo family’s legacy.

The “nefarious” aspect might still be debatable, but the best way to protect the Zuo family was to make people think that there was no one left of that bloodline, regardless of whether the person came with good or bad intentions.

Although the craftsmen of the entire Yan family shop kept criticizing the Zuo family and even cursed the Zuo family to death, Ji Yuan was not only a martial artist who had benefited from Zuo Li, but also a cultivator, and someone who could see the flow of Qi with his supernatural eyes.

Although it was not necessarily possible to detect whether someone was lying by observing their qi, he could clearly see that there was no true anger in their aura, and the fluctuations in their energy were surprisingly consistent.

Ji Yuan found this kind of situation very admirable. If this group of respectable people casually believed it when an outsider said “I will not harm to the Zuo family” and boldly told others about the Zuo family’s descendants, then the Zuo family would long have gone extinct.

The best way to break through this situation was to elevate oneself to an absolute height, a height at which one would never be able to covet the interests of the Zuo family.

The identity of an immortal obviously achieved that height!

The surrounding people had long since fallen silent upon seeing the spiritual sword dancing about. The middle-aged blacksmith closest to him swallowed, and asked cautiously, with awe in his voice.

“SIr… Are you one of the immortals that Sword Immortal Zuo… no, that Senior Zuo Li had been searching for so hard?”

Back then, Zuo Li was the best in the martial arts world, but in his later years, he became obsessed with breaking through in his cultivation. Although there were many myths and legends in the world, it was difficult to avoid acting on insubstantial rumors.¹ Some paths to seeking immortality would even lead to one turning into demon, which was what happened Zuo Li in his later years.

“An immortal…”

Ji Yuan answered calmly.

“To be precise, I am a cultivator following the Tao.”

With a wave of Ji Yuan’s hand, the Green Vine Sword slowly flew to the table and lay still. Then, Ji Yuan looked at the middle-aged craftsman and at the several older master blacksmiths around him, and removed his concealment spell, revealing a pair of calm, ash-gray eyes.

“Are there any descendants of the Zuo family still living? If there are none, I will leave Juntian Prefecture. The next time someone tries to find me, they might become another Zuo Li…”

His voice inevitably carried some emotion. With the content of his speech, people couldn’t help but let their imaginations run wild, and this time, no one dared turn a deaf ear to his words.

Ji Yuan even deliberately hinted at an imaginary past event: that Zuo Li had truly met an immortal in the past, and very likely received guidance, so his martial arts improved by leaps and bounds until he became invincible in this world. However, in his later years, he wanted to look for the immortal once more, but that immortal was nowhere to be found. He had no chance of seeing him again, so he died with hatred in his heart.

And now, this immortal had arrived, only he was decades late!

Everyone suddenly thought of Ji Yuan’s previous claim: “to give Zuo Li an explanation that is decades late.”

Among the group of blacksmiths, two of them stared at the gray-eyed “immortal” with trembling throats and shaky breathing. Their hands grabbed at their trouser legs, nearly digging into their flesh.

An old blacksmith in the crowd took a deep breath and finally said the words Ji Yuan was expecting.

“I wouldn’t dare expect to fully satisfy the Immortal Master, but the Zuo family does indeed have descendants. Youtian, Youxin, come out and greet the Immortal Master. Yan Hua, go call Yuniang, your uncle Boran, and your aunt over!”

The shirtless middle-aged blacksmith next to Ji Yuan calmed down after hearing his orders, pushed aside the people outside the building, and ran towards the neighboring house.

From what Ji Yuan could hear, it seemed that there were still quite a few living members of the Zuo family.

. . .

Half a minute later, the sound of hammers began to ring out in the blacksmith shop once more. In a room next to the river behind the shop, Ji Yuan finally saw the Zuo family members, who all seemed nervous and excited. Of course, they now all carried the surname Yan.

A couple in their fifties; a sturdy man in his thirties along with a man in his twenties and their wives; an eighteen-year-old girl who was already married; and an eight year old boy and a three-year-old girl, both children of the thirty-year-old man. The latter two were being held by their mother with a look of nervous curiosity.

Additionally, the women’s in-laws were all waiting outside the hall.

Ji Yuan and the old blacksmith, who obviously held the most senior position, sat on either side of the table in the hall, with two cups of tea placed in between them.

“Mr. Ji, these are all the descendants of the Zuo family. Of course, we do not know whether there are any illegitimate bloodlines that continued on in the outside world. At that time, there were both internal and external conflicts, and the family was in turmoil, experiencing chaos and disasters. We did our best to protect a couple people.”

Ji Yuan was more accustomed to being called “Mr. Ji” than he was to being called “Immortal Master,” so he had already warned the others not to call him by the latter name so casually. From the point of view of the others, he was now a low-key immortal playing around in the mortal world.

Ji Yuan glanced at the Zuo family members through his blurred vision. They stood at the front of the hall, but did not dare speak. It seemed that the pressure of his presence that had accumulated before they had arrived here was too great.

When the Zuo family members came into contact with that pale gaze, none of them dared to look away.

‘Their spirit is gone…but maybe that is a good thing. ’

With a wave of Ji Yuan’s hand, the Green Vine Sword on the table flew out by itself and hung, suspended, in front of the Zuo family members.

“Anyone of the Zuo family’s blood, touch the hilt of the sword with your hand, and I will know whether you are a true member of the Zuo family.”

Ji Yuan was not without his own precautions. The longsword Qingying had been with Zuo Li for decades, and in its later years had developed a spiritual consciousness. It had a special sensitivity to the Zuo family bloodline. If anyone dared to pretend in front of him, they would be exposed immediately.

He watched these people, from the oldest to the youngest, each carefully touch the Green Vine Sword one by one. From the crisp sounds of the sword, it proved that these were indeed the descendants of Zuo Li.

However, at this moment, Ji Yuan suddenly hesitated. Should he give them the “Zuo Li Swordsmanship”? Although they were hiding their real names, their lives were currently stable, after all. Wouldn’t this unique book of martial arts secrets simply drag them back into the arena?

However, the reality slapped Ji Yuan in the face. He was worrying too much. The old man who had changed his name to Yan Boran was the elder of the Zuo family. At this moment, Annai² stepped forward excitedly, took out a book from his arms, and held it out.

“Sir… This is a manual of martial arts secrets passed down from my great grandfather, also known as the “Zuo Li Swordsmanship.” Please take a look, Immortal sir!³ My Zuo family suffered disaster because of this, but the elders of my family had always wanted to learn the peerless swordsmanship in this manual to avenge themselves, so they never handed it away no matter how difficult the situation. But the descendants of my Zuo family no longer have the talent of my great grandfather, and thus no one can attain his level of achievements…”

Indeed, Ji Yuan was really overthinking it. Even if there were rumors that the Zuo family had fallen into decline because the Mad Disciple Zuo did not pass down his peerless manual of martial arts secrets to his Zuo family—rumors that the Zuo family also had a hand in spreading—Zuo Li, despite his obsession with seeking immortality, was no fool. How could he not favor his own children?

Thus, the truth of the matter should be that Zuo Li had indeed passed down his peerless manual of martial arts secrets. However, no matter how many members the Zuo family had, there was only one Zuo Li; no matter how good the martial arts were, it all depended on those who practiced them. As a result, no one in the Zuo family could fight, and they were forced to break.

At that time, the Zuo family was angry. How could they be made to accept being forced into this state? So they definitely contemplated revenge. A series of complicated events had occurred in the intervening time, and thus it all ended up as it was today.

Ji Yuan took the book of martial arts secrets. However, it was obviously not handwritten by Zuo Li,⁴ and he had no intention of keeping it. Ji Yuan couldn’t see many of the words clearly, but he was able to take a brief look by flipping through it. The thickness of the book and the approximate number of words recorded seemed to be about the same as his own version. Some of the pictures were blurred in his vision, but they could still be just barely distinguished, and they too looked to be basically the same.

Since Zuo Li’s book of martial arts secrets had been preserved, it would definitely not cause problems for future generations in terms of incorrect recorded content. That would have been ridiculous.

After skimming through the book, Ji Yuan took out his own version of Zuo Li’s book of martial arts secrets from his sleeves and placed it on the table, together with the book that the old man had given him.

“This is the swordsmanship manual written by Zuo Li’s own hand. It should be almost identical to your family’s book of martial arts secrets. I will return it to you now. As for the longsword Qingying…”

Before Ji Yuan could say anything more, the floating Green Vine Sword made a clear sound and immediately flew behind to Ji Yuan’s back, leaving only the hilt exposed above his shoulder. The sword also made a slight humming sound, as if afraid that Ji Yuan would return it to the Zuo family.

“Haha, what are you afraid of? You are now the Green Vine Sword…”⁵

Ji Yuan scolded it with a laugh, and the longsword finally calmed down. The former smiled and shook his head, looking at the Zuo family once more.

“As for this longsword, I cannot return it to you. Zuo Li had been maintaining this sword for me for decades. However, now I still owe you this favor… How about this. I, Ji, will give you a choice.

“The first option: I will do my utmost to cast a spell and leave a decree. As long as this decree is not lost, it will ensure that your family remains peaceful and free of disasters for the rest of your lives. You can also visit the City God of Juntian Prefecture and ask him to take good care of your Zuo family. If you accumulate more virtue in this life, you might even be able to enter the Yin Division as an underworld messenger after you die!”

Ji Yuan spoke very solemnly, showing how seriously he would keep his word. Once he had finished describing the first choice, he paused for a moment before continuing.

“Second, I can stay in Juntian Prefecture for a while, and instruct the people of the Zuo family in swordsmanship, and impart some divine knowledge.”

Upon finishing his words, Ji Yuan opened his eyes wider, and looked at everyone around him.

“What will be your choice?”

The reason why Ji Yuan directly gave them these two options, instead of asking them for what their wishes were, was that he was afraid that each of them would wish to become immortals. The debt he owed Zuo Li was not that large, not to mention that he himself did not know how to fulfill that wish. It was better to just give them one or two options as he was doing now.

Seeing that several people in this group, both young and old, had opened their mouths to speak and then closed them several times, Ji Yuan simply raised his hand to stop their hasty decision.

“There is no need to give me an answer right away. Think it over for one night, and tell me tomorrow!”

After he had finished speaking, Ji Yuan stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed slightly to the old craftsman beside him.

“Many thanks for your hospitality, Master Craftsman. And many thanks⁶ to the Yan family for their righteousness. I will come again tomorrow!”

The old master craftsman hurriedly stood up and returned his salute.

With those words, Ji Yuan smiled, nodded at the Zuo family, and walked out of the hall.

No one dared to stop the immortal from leaving. Under the crowd’s astonished gazes, Ji Yuan neither flew up into the sky, nor did ne hide underground: he simply took a dozen steps, his image becoming fainter and fainter in everyone’s vision, until he had completely disappeared.

1. 捕风捉影 (bǔfēngzhuōyǐng): lit. “chasing the wind and clutching at shadows” ↩︎
2. As stated later in the text, this is the old blacksmith. Interestingly, his name 安奈 (Ān nài) is more often used as a phonetic transliteration of the female name “Anna.” I couldn’t find any good translations for his name, however, I can get close: 安耐 (Ān nài, same phonetics, different nài character) meaning “patient endurance” ↩︎
3. T/n: long story short, I’m not sure what’s going on or why there are 2 copies of the Zuo Li Swordsmanship book. I’m just going to assume there are 2 copies, one buried with ZL (the original) and the other given to his family (a copy of the original), and they’re both called the same thing; on top of that, there’s ALSO the Sword Intent Inscription, which isn’t being given away or taken out. ↩︎
4. As, in, this is likely a copy of the original, which JY has ↩︎
5. T/n: there’s an interesting subtlety here in the name. The original sword name is Qingying, while the new name is Qingteng (Green Vine). Both names kept a similar qīng syllable, with only a slight variation in the character: 清 vs 青. I thought that was cool ↩︎
6. Cool tidbit: 谢 (xiè) means “to thank,” but in its bound form also means “to apologize.” ↩︎