After Sheng Jun Chapter 3 (Part 1)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 3 Stuck With Him (part 1)
Zhu Yan, being a grown man, had been picked up in the same position twice in one day, and was now hugging his knees in self-loathing.
A cold voice suddenly came from behind him, "Don't tense up."
Zhu Yan shuddered and quickly complied.
From a distance, Jiang Xingzhi propped his chin up and looked over.
The man had his back turned to him, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his black clothes tightly bound to his figure. As he moved, one could see his shoulder blades slightly shifting. Perhaps it was because this person naturally carried an air of danger - even applying medicine felt like performing surgery.
Jiang Xingzhi was worried Zhu Yan might not survive this.
Soon the wound was treated, and he quickly glanced over, somewhat surprised - the wounds on Zhu Yan's back had been cleaned very meticulously, and the bandaging was quite skillful, as if he was someone who frequently dealt with injuries.
Zhu Yan thanked him sincerely, "Thank you, sir."
Zhong Ming didn't respond, merely rinsing his hands casually with the remaining water in the ladle before walking over to sit opposite Jiang Xingzhi.
Jiang Xingzhi couldn't help but look at him a few more times...Could he really be someone who offers one's medical skills for the benefit of all?
Zhong Ming raised his eyes to look at him, their gazes meeting, "Something to say?"
Jiang Xingzhi's impression of him improved, and he took the initiative to ask, "I haven't asked how to address you yet."
The opposite side remained silent for a few breaths. The fine wind from the wilderness passed through the cypress forest outside the cave, making a "rustle" as it entered. After a while, a deep voice spoke, "Bai Mu."
Since he had decided to stay by this person's side with a new identity, he might as well use a completely new name.
"Bai Mu?" Jiang Xingzhi glanced at the greenery outside, strongly suspecting the other party had just made it up on the spot.
"'Mu' as in 'admire,'" the deep voice enunciated each word carefully. Jiang Xingzhi felt his eardrums tingle, thinking that if a young lady were sitting opposite hearing this, she would probably be swooning.
He looked at the man opposite him, and this look met directly with the man's deep eyes.
Jiang Xingzhi froze for a moment, then said, "Is that so."
Zhu Yan, who had just put on his clothes and was preparing to sit down beside the two, "......"
With one leg suspended in mid-air, he suddenly didn't know whether to step forward or backward.
Jiang Xingzhi came back to his senses and quickly noticed someone nearby who seemed uncertain whether to move or not. He looked at Zhu Yan's foot hovering uncertainly in the air, "Doing physical therapy?"
Zhu Yan hurriedly sat down, "I can never repay this life-saving grace. Whatever information Daren wishes to know, I shall hold nothing back."
Jiang Xingzhi asked, "In the current Three Realms, how many cultivators are there at each level?"
Zhu Yan answered, "Qi Refinement and Foundation Building cultivators are still common, above that there are about a hundred Golden Core masters, and over fifty Nascent venerables..."
Jiang Xingzhi frowned, seemingly confused, "Why are Nascent Soul practitioners called venerables?"
Zhu Yan was instantly shocked: such words, how audacious!
Before he could explain, Zhong Ming spoke flatly from the side, "Don't understand."
Zhu Yan: ............
Jiang Xingzhi hadn't noticed the former's dispirited expression and skipped several realms to ask directly, "How many are there at the Integration stage and above?"
"There shouldn't be any," Zhu Yan regained his composure. But upon seeing the two people opposite him, he added uncertainly, "As far as the world knows."
No one even at Integration stage? Jiang Xingzhi pondered this internally. However, Zhu Yan's latter half reminded him of more hidden possibilities, and he glanced at the man opposite him: like this person.
Peak Mahayana from a thousand years ago... truly monstrous.
As he was glancing, the other looked over again. Their eyes met, and Jiang Xingzhi slowly looked away: it's crazy how even a side glance could be noticed, better stop looking.
After asking about the general situation of the Three Realms, he had a rough understanding and turned to ask, "Has anything major happened recently?"
"Actually, there is one thing - they say an auspicious beast appeared in Fu City, right on the main peak of the Deputy Sect Leader of the Kouyue Sect. Because of this, the Kouyue Sect has invited various sects and noble families to attend a banquet, to share in the auspicious occasion."
"Auspicious beast?"
"They say it has a human face and snake body, completely crimson red."
Jiang Xingzhi's heart stirred: human face and snake body, completely red... sounds like the legendary Torch Dragon.
The Torch Dragon governs yin-yang and the four seasons, it's a divine beast that controls time. His rebirth to a thousand years ago, could it be related to the Torch Dragon's appearance? If he found the Torch Dragon, would there be a chance to return to his original world?
Interesting, worth checking out.
"Thank you." Having learned most of what he wanted to know, Jiang Xingzhi stood up to leave. As he rose, Zhong Ming, who hadn't spoken since earlier, also stood up.
Jiang Xingzhi gave him a perceptive look, "Going the same way?"
Zhong Ming's lips curved slightly, "Brother Jiang understands me."
Jiang Xingzhi was startled by this form of address, and was about to say something when he suddenly realized, "Did I tell you my name earlier?"
"..." Zhong Ming paused for a moment, then nodded, "Of course."
Jiang Xingzhi thought carefully, "Did I? Did I really say it?"
"How else would I know?" Zhong Ming said while glancing at Zhu Yan, his expression mysterious, "You heard it too, didn't you?"
Zhu Yan felt a chill down his spine from that glance, and the recently treated wound area seemed to feel drafty, "...Yes."
Jiang Xingzhi nodded, thinking he must have forgotten due to the large amount of information he had processed. He stopped dwelling on it and turned to hand Zhu Yan a communication stone, "I'm leaving now. Stay here and recover well. If anything happens, contact me through the communication stone."
Zhu Yan anxiously asked, "If the people hunting me return..."
Jiang Xingzhi said, "Don't worry, I've already set up barriers around this area. Not even a fly could get in!"
Zhu Yan, "..."
The familiar words were almost identical, and even the light falling on Jiang Xingzhi was still just as brilliant.
Zhu Yan quickly glanced at Zhong Ming, then silently lowered his gaze.
"No problem," this time it was Zhong Ming who spoke, heading toward the cave entrance first, "Besides me, no one can enter."
Zhu Yan didn't understand, "Why is that?"
"Didn't you say there's no one above Integration stage in the current world." Jiang Xingzhi followed behind Zhong Ming as they stepped out of the cave, his indigo robes fluttering in the wind, his high-tied long hair rising.
Then their figures flickered, leaving only two streaks of light at the cave entrance, "This is a Mahayana-level barrier."
"...!"
In Xunyang City.
The streets were bustling with people, vendor calls mixing with civilian conversations.
Jiang Xingzhi didn't care what psychological impact that last statement had on Zhu Yan, he leisurely walked along the street, following the flow of people forward.
Zhong Ming still walked by his side, not only very "coincidentally" going the same way, but also taking the initiative to ask, "Where are you planning to go?"
"When traveling, one needs money at hand."
Zhong Ming looked at the storage pouch at his waist, understanding his meaning, "Mm."
As they spoke, the crowd behind them pushed forward. Jiang Xingzhi's mind moved quickly, stepping aside to avoid a carrying pole coming from the side.
Thump - his back hit against Zhong Ming's chest, and simultaneously a hand rose to steady his shoulder. That hand was very warm, its temperature penetrating through two layers of clothing, pressing against his slightly cool body, feeling quite comfortable.
Zhong Ming looked down at him, "Be careful."
The warm breath brushed past his ear tip, and Jiang Xingzhi quickly straightened up, "I'm fine."
Zhong Ming's hand on his shoulder pulled him a bit closer to his side before letting go.
"Sorry, sorry!" The passing porter apologized repeatedly upon seeing this.
The commotion drew sideways glances from surrounding pedestrians, and when they saw the appearances of Jiang Xingzhi and Zhong Ming, everyone was stunned: when had their small border town ever seen such outstanding looks?
Moreover, they appeared together - they must be young masters from some noble family or cultivators.
The porter was also stunned, not expecting to have nearly crashed into such "noble persons."
Jiang Xingzhi saw him standing there motionless and took the opportunity to ask, "Where is the largest pawnshop in the city?"
"It's at the alley entrance in the west of the city, the Shang family's pawnshop."
"I see, thank you."
He bid farewell to the porter and turned toward the western direction.
The two tall figures quickly disappeared into the crowd.
At the alley entrance in the west of the city, the largest pawnshop stood at the street corner, with a huge character "商" (Shang) on its signboard.
Just as Jiang Xingzhi was about to step inside, he suddenly looked at the man beside him.
The latter was blessed with good looks and had unfathomable strength - perhaps another person would consider it incredibly lucky to have him accompany them all this way, something to be greatly desired.
Just didn't know why he was following behind himself so persistently.
Seeing that he planned to follow him in, Jiang Xingzhi reasoned with him, "I have business to attend to, and your looks tend to make people wary, having you with me would be inconvenient."
He spoke with complete sincerity, but Zhong Ming's eyelid twitched upon hearing it: it was hard to imagine what this person planned to do that required the other party to lower their guard.
"Go ahead," Zhong Ming said, then leaned against the doorway to stand guard.
Jiang Xingzhi saw that the other seemed intent on waiting for him to come out, having apparently abandoned the excuse of "going the same way" and now following him openly.
He couldn't figure out the man's intentions - in fact, they had just met, and besides his name, he knew nothing else about him.
He only vaguely sensed that the other's cultivation level was probably not below his own - he hadn't expected that there would be someone at the peak of Mahayana a thousand years ago.