TXW Chapter 18

Chapter 18

[Please read Notes below]

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Qin Wanwan prepared her ‘present’ while she waited for Nanfeng to update her on the situation. While waiting, a paper crane knocked on her window. 

Qin Wanwan touched the paper crane and it activated a sound transmission from Bai Suiyou. “Li-guniang, I have escaped from the forest, intact with nothing missing. If guniang still wishes to leave this place together with Bai-mo, I will wait for guniang at the East Gate of the Xunxian Town.”

Qin Wanwan touched the paper crane again and sent her reply, “Understood.”

The paper crane lit up and flew out of Qin Wanwan’s vision. Soon after, Nanfeng entered her room and informed Qin Wanwan, “Master, the preparation is complete. You can go downstairs and have a drink with Jian-daojun.”

Qin Wanwan give Nanfeng a nod. She gulped down several Sober Pill before she dared to go downstairs. 

Tonight, she must get Jian Xingshi drunk!

Qin Wanwan arrived at the courtyard and was greeted with Jian Xingzhi in a blue dress. 

Nanfeng is a cultured ant. Within less than half an hour, he, with his subordinates, managed to turn the barren courtyard into a sea of flowers. Jian Xingzhi heard Qin Wanwan’s footstep and casted his gaze to her, “Finally arrived?”

Qin Wanwan sat down opposite Jian Xingzhi. She put aside the ‘present’ box. The box contained all the stuff she obtained from Wanshifang, all intended for Jian Xingzhi. 

Jian Xingzhi eyed the box, “What is that?”

“A present.”

Qin Wanwan sincerely replied. She then poured wine for the two of them. 

They tacitly had prepared a bowl for their wine. Qin Wanwan filled Jian Xingzhi’s bowl to the brims before she gave it to Jian Xinzghi, “I have blown up the Wen Xin Sect and washed away my grievances, such things are worthy of celebration and should have been celebrated. Here, I give you a toast.” 

Jian Xingzhi accepted her toast without wasting any time, “Cheers.”

They both downed their bowl. Then, it was Jian Xingzhi’s turn to pour wine for Qin Wanwan, “We have gone through thick and thin together these past days, the priceless feeling is also worthy of celebration. Here, I give you a toast.”

Qin Wanwan ground her teeth and forced a nod, “Cheers.”

Both of them were constantly throwing excuses one after another, neither relenting. After several rounds of going nowhere, Qin Wanwan figured that Jian Xingzhi wasn’t affected at all. 

She was here to get Jian Xingzhi drunk, if she were to shoot her own foot and get drunk by herself, wouldn’t that be self-defeating and embarrassing?

Thus, she suggested a change of rule, “It’s boring to toast like this, let’s add something interesting, a game.”

“The rules?”

“We ask each other questions, if we can’t answer them, we drink.”

“Acceptable.” Jian Xingzhi bit without hesitation. He pondered about things he couldn’t answer… Anyway, he knew a lot, ranging from all kinds of vegetation, spiritual beast, scriptures, sword styles, to spells.

“That’s settled, then.” Qin Wanwan nodded, “First question, can you recite a multiplication table from memory?”

“What?” Jian Xingzhi was dumbfounded.

Qin Wanwan motioned with her hand, “Drink.”

“What is the first sentence in the ‘Sutra of The Supreme Lord Crossing The Hurdle^[1]’?”

Qin Wanwan choked on her breath. She never expected Jian Xingxhi to ask something literate like that at his age. Jian Xingzhi motioned back with his hand, “Drink.”

Qin Wanwan inhaled deeply and drank her bowl of wine. “Do you know the continuation after ‘That wondrous view, so dear and tender all at once. Moved countless heroes, bowing from their waists, to pay their due homage.^[2]’?”

Jian Xingzhi drank without the least hesitation. 

“Do you know how to stack five-layer of the Thunder Spell?”

Qin Wanwan downed her wine. 

Another round of “you come, I go” began, now throwing questions instead of excuses. Neither of their knowledge overlaps with the other, and by the end of the night, they already drank enough wine to the point of vomiting. 

Qin Wanwan fought to stay sober with the pills she ate in advance, while Jian Xingzhi relied on the last thread of the Sobering Array he placed in his body. 

Qin Wanwan could feel the flush creeping on her face. She determined that this exchange of questions couldn’t continue. The dawn was about to break. She propped her head in her hand and rubbed her forehead, “Otherwise, you decide on something for me to do, if I back out, I will drink, and vice versa.”

“Fine by me.” Jian Xingzhi accepted the offer, “What do you want me to do?”

“Return my Qiankun Bag to me.” Qin Wanwan held out her hand. 

Jian Xingzhi also propped his head on his hand and gave her a smile. He fished the Qiankun Bag from his waist and swayed it in front of her face, “Then, you promise me first,” he set his gaze on her, “you will protect me until you ascend.”

They traded gazes wordlessly. 

The pear flower fluttered down accompanied by the moonlight. Qin Wanwan ground her teeth once again, “You know my plan.”

“You want to escape.”

Jian Xingzhi broke the pot. 

Qin Wanwan reluctantly forced a smile, “I am planning a better future for you.”

“You plan to dump me.”

Jian Xingzhi’s eyes were sharp. Qin Wanwan struggled to reason, “I do this because I love you.”

Qin Wanwan opened the box she had put aside before to support her statement, “I found a job for you. The job is especially good. You only work ten days a month. The State will provide you with a house and food. You will also get a fixed salary. The job is stable and peaceful.” The more Qin Wanwan spoke, the sadder she was, “This is the greatest happiness I can give you. Zhiyan, just accept it.”

Jian Xingzhi didn’t answer. He stared at the Letter of Appointment in the box for quite some time before he raised his gaze to meet Qin Wanwan’s, “Is your brain broken?”

He was born with the Golden Core and has always been the best among the Immortal Cultivators. Yet, she actually wanted him to guard a warehouse?

“My outstanding talents,” Jian Xingzhi had reached the end of his forbearance, “Can’t you see it?”

“Zhiyan,” Qin Wanwan stood up and walked to his front, “I know you can’t bear to let me go, but we all have changed.”

Followed by her words, Qin Wanwan cupped Jian Xingzhi’s face and Jian Xingzhi was startled. His wide eyes focused on Qin Wanwan, who stared down at him, “You… what are you going to do?”

“I know what you want,” Qin Wanwan’s eyes deepened with affection, “However, Zhiyan, you are the person on the tips of my heart, also the person that I can’t let go of…”

Qin Wanwan lowered her head, and the pear flower danced around her. Jian Xingzhi looked at her face as their distance narrowed down. The closer she was, the harder his heart thumped. His whole body froze, like an overly frightened cat with its hair blowing up, ready to give all his shot to retreat. 

“Precisely because of that, let us part with this kiss. From now on, live a life of happiness that I am unable to obtain…”

Their breath was entangled. She was so close at hand, and the moment before their lips touched, Jian Xingzhi was no longer able to contain himself. 

He tried to shove her and threw his face away from her while shouting, “Stay away!”

At the same time, Qin Wanwan moved swiftly, hand-chopping him on the neck and knocking him out. 

Jian Xingzhi slumped on the table with a “Bang!”

Qin Wanwan snatched the Qiankun Bag out of his hand. She stood upright with her hands on her hips, “I have given you a chance, but you really want it the hard way^[3], huh?”

Qin Wanwan stuffed herself with another Sober Pill. She inclined her head to Nanfeng who had been hiding in the dark and instructed, “Send him to the address reported in the box along with the box.” 

“Eh?” Nanfeng was caught off guard by the sudden twist of events and couldn’t believe his ears, “Send… send him away?:

Qin Wanwan ignored his shock. She took out a smaller bag from her Qiankun Bag and bowed herself to squeeze the bag into Jian Xingzhi’s pocket on his chest. Lastly, she patted him on the shoulder. 

“The money and the deed of sale are now yours, Jian Zhiyan. I have done the best I can for you, from now on, take care of yourself.”

Qin Wanwan straightened herself and lifted her head to the sky that began to light up. She pressed on hurriedly, “I will meet with Bai Suiyou first. After you put him in the carriage, go to the Tian Jian Sect and report I have found Qian Liu. Sense my location from our contract and bring the person you find in the Tian Jian Sect to me.”

Nanfeng was still in a daze. Only after Qin Wanwan left did he respond blankly, “Understood, Master.”

He turned to face Jian Xingzhi sprawled on the table and couldn’t help but show some sorrow. 

This man, ah.

A man who lost his heart to a heartless woman.

How miserable!

Still, Nanfeng carried his Master’s order perfectly. He fetched Jian Xingzhi on his back and the box in his hands. Then, he dispatched Jian Xingzhi to the location designated by the Wanshifang.

All according to Qin Wanwan’s plan. 

People came and went, and many got into the carriage. Jian Xingzhi, who was unconscious, was arranged in the best carriage. He was the last person to arrive, and as soon as he got into the carriage, the carriage set off. 

On Qin Wanwan’s side, she arrived at the city gate half-tipsy. She gave an apologetic smile when she noticed Bai Suiyou, “It’s my bad, Fellow Daoist Bai. I drank too much last night and might have to sleep in the carriage later.”

“There’s no harm,” Bai Suiyou chuckled with amusement, “It’s good to sleep more.”

He reached out to Qin Wanwan, “Li-guniang, hop in.”

Qin Wanwan entered the carriage with Bai Suiyou’s help. The sleepiness became even more unbearable after she hop in the carriage. She leaned against the carriage’s wall and fell into a slumber. 

The two carriages went in opposite directions. The time when the sun hung high in the sky, Jian Xingzhi woke up with a start. He got up abruptly and discovered a large group of people surrounding him. These men were all thin and bony, wearing rags and sackcloth. They curiously looked at Jian Xingzhi.

Jian Xingzhi pushed the crowd aside. He lifted the curtain and noticed the road was unfamiliar to him. 

He sensed something near his arms when he moved. He pulled out a bag from his chest pocket. He probed the inside of the bag and found many spirit stones and his deed of sale, as well as a letter. 

He took out the letter and saw it was signed by ‘Qin Wan’.

“My Love, Zhiyan.“

“When you read this letter, you should already be on your way.”

“I know you don’t understand my actions. Why must you have to leave me? I’m going to tell you the truth, it is because I am no longer ‘me’.”

“One day, I woke up and my view of the world changed a lot. I am no longer the one you love, and you are no longer the one I love.”

“We both have changed a lot. I hope, before the last bit of beauty in our hearts is exhausted, we can part and keep those beautiful memories of each other in our hearts. Whenever I recall you, I will remember deep from my heart that you are the gentlest, kindest, and loveliest Jian Zhiyan.”

“I scoured for a good job for you and found this one. You will have a stable salary and career. You can find your own happiness in this world.”

“May we not hate each other and love each other forever.”

“Yours,

Qin Wan.”

Jian Xingzhi sank into contemplation as he read the letter. 

666 heaved a long sigh, “Ai, she must have a change of mind. She finds that you are not as gentle and delicate as the person in her memory.”

“Are you saying I am not gentle enough?”

Jian Xingzhi’s expression turned into a scowl and 666 shut her mouth. She opened it again after a while to comfort Jian Xingzhi, “If I may say, the job she found for you is actually not half bad. If it was given to me, I would accept it.  Her action is also a kind of love on its own.”

As she finished her word, the carriage halted. 

A rough male voice shouted, “All of you! Get down!”

The people inside jumped down as ordered, and Jian Xingzhi followed. Once they got to the ground, they found themselves in front of a huge cave

“Stand straight! Divide them, send the good-looking one to Qian Liu-daren^[4]. As for the ugly ones, all of you are going to be miners in the Qianshan Mine! We won’t treat you badly in Qianshan Mine. We will guarantee one steamed bun for every meal. You will mine for eight hours daily and won’t have any vacations!”

“We welcome you, new slaves!”

Jian Xingzhi: “……”

“So, this is,” Jian Xingzhi clenched his fist as he eyed the brutish man bearing a mace in front of him, “what the ‘good’ job in her mouth is.”

[Mini Theater]

Jian Xingzhi: Don’t you say the job you arranged for me is a job in a unit owned by the State. How come I got arranged to go down the mine to be a miner.

Wanshifang: A miner, is also a worker who worked in a unit owned by the State. 

Somethings to point out:

1. Qian Liu appeared in Chapter 11. There are three new tasks assigned by the System to Jian Xingzhi. First, to cause trouble for Qin Wanwan. Second, to entice the lecher Qian Liu to kidnap him. And, third, to make the Female Lead sincerely promise him “I will protect you until you ascend”.
2. Chapter 12-17 of this article has been revised. If you are confused with the plot, it may be because you read the older version. You can re-read it from Chapter 12. 

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Important Notes

Click here to go back above.

Yes, I know another person has translated this chapter, but I still want to do my own translation. I won’t put the update on NovelUpdates, so, it’s alright… right? But I think my upload will automatically be listed in NU, so my apologies. Does anyone know how to prevent it? If you are the other translator, please don’t stop translating. I swear I’m no threat to you, bear no malice, and soon probably disappear again the moment Ry disappears.

Also, discrepancies in the content may be because of using different RAW.

I am here just to satisfy my itch to complete what I have picked up. I am aware that it is very selfish and unethical, especially since the reason I am back is only because Ry dragged me back to accompany her to post stuff on this blog. Translating alone is quite taxing in the emotion, after all. Name me an asshole, bc I am.

And, I am going to say this upfront, my updates won’t be frequent because currently, I’m building my ✨thesis✨ since early July, hopefully, I can graduate… next year at the soonest (then become corporate’s slave, hooray). I actually shouldn’t be building my thesis right now because I haven’t taken the thesis course (and the dreadful community service, fuk). I need moar credits to take it, but my leading professor told me to build it first and he will supervise it before I get my own thesis supervisor QAQ. Fear not, though, the more stressed I am, the more I procrastinate on my real work and instead do miscellaneous stuff like tiering in events or translating stuff. So probably the first sentence in this paragraph may be a lie.

Aside from malding from finishing my compulsory courses to take my thesis, I am in charge of guiding my juniors on the Student Committee. Perhaps bc they took online courses before they entered Uni for the past 2 years, they are quite… bold, if I may say politely. Fortunately, this is my last term on the Student Committee. See you never, fuc– I mean, baby.

So, yeah, you guys better continue to read the other translator’s works bc this is only a side hobby for me with irregular updates. 

Footnotes

1. 太上渡厄真经 – tài shàng dù è zhēnjīng. There is no real work of this. 太上 is the Supreme Lord while 渡厄 is Crossing. 渡厄 is also the name of a character in the novel ‘倚天屠龙记’. His name means to get through hardship.↵

2. “江山如此多娇，引无数英雄竞折腰”  is a line from the Poem 沁园春·雪 (qìnyuán chūn·xuě) or Snow (1936) by Mao Zedong. The next sentence is supposed to be… eh, it’s quite long, mentioning some historical figures such as Qin Shi Huang, Han Wudi, etc etc, and the poem ends with “俱往矣, 数风流人物, 还看今朝.” – “They are but history, For those who seek a greater figure yet, Must look toward this age alone.”.↵

3. 敬酒不吃吃罚酒 – jìng jiǔ bù chī chī fá jiǔ. Lit. refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Not willing to do something and must be forced as a result.↵

4. 大人 – dàren. A title of respect toward superiors. Lord.↵

Lei’s Corner

Nanfeng is an ant of culture. I am not even joking, he is described as a cultured ant and you can see from the previous poems exchange with Jian Xingzhi in the forest.

Qwn and Jxz says “干 – gān”/Cheers during the toast. I honestly laughed because 干 can also mean “Fuck”, so I can imagine they say “Fuck you” to each other as they drink to oblivion instead of Cheers.

Also, don’t worry about the Mini Theater, the one I translated is the newest version fresh from Jinjiang itself. I have spoken about the older version that got revised in my corner though… if I remember it right.

I’m actually surprised that the Manhwa only reached Chapter 21 of the novel as of now (31/10/22). Probably a break from Arc 1 to Arc 2. Also, I want to share some pictures I keep from the manhwa, scroll fast if you don’t want to see them bc I can’t hide them.

Bai Suiyou is way prettier than I imagined him to be and I need to get accustomed to Xie Gutang’s design in the manhwa… SHSHHSHS. No pic of Xie Gutang tho bc it is a spoiler.

Nanfeng also gets his design, a cutie but I don’t have a clear picture of him to post.

Bae Suiyou

shud I bArk louder, just in case

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Words count (excluding title, footnotes, TL’s corner): 2401

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