Edited by: NZRose and Bree
“After you return, copy the first 49 lines of the《Spirit Sect Admonitions》. For every 7 lines you finish, go outside and kneel for four hours.”
Yan Tianhen sweated profusely. Both his legs seemed to have turned into noodles. He wiped some cold sweat and pleaded, “Dage, in any case, I’m no longer a disciple of Spirit Sect now, and you and I are no longer martial brothers. I’m your closest and most obedient darling ah. Can we… Can we… not do this?”
In total, there were 49 rules, plus 28 hours of kneeling. Yan Tianhen seemed to see a cycle that he could never escape from — even if tens of thousands of years passed, he would never forget the fear of his eldest martial brother’s discipline.
Too terrifying.
Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen and sighed lightly. “Yeah, you’re right. Spirit Sect doesn’t exist anymore, and I’m no longer your Shixiong, so how can I be qualified to punish you? Forget it, just treat it as though I didn’t say anything just now, and I won’t mention it again.”
“Forget it, let’s just leave it at that.”
With that, Lin Xuanzhi turned to leave.
Yan Tianhen suddenly became so scared that he hurriedly rushed forward and grabbed Lin Xuanzhi’s arm like a scaredy-cat. He spoke anxiously, “Dage, don’t be like this ah. I was wrong. I was wrong, okay? How can you not be qualified to punish me? You’re qualified anytime, you’ll always be my eldest Shixiong. I definitely listen to you!”
“Aiya, isn’t it merely 49 rules plus some kneeling? We can even double it if you want. Dage, don’t ignore me ah. Dage, please say something. Dage–”
When Lin Xuanzhi saw that in his desperation, Yan Tianhen was practically plastering himself to him, he slowed his pace. Looking at Yan Tianhen, who was about to cry, he asked, “Do you accept the punishment?”
“Accept, of course I accept. Whoever doesn’t accept is a grandson!” Yan Tianhen patted his chest.
Lin Xuanzhi curled his lips. “In the future, am I allowed to discipline you?”
“Definitely, definitely. If you tell me to say one thing, I won’t say anything else. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west. If you tell me to kneel on the World’s Hardest Rock, I will never lie down on it.”
Lin Xuanzhi also couldn’t maintain a serious expression anymore and showed a smile.
Yan Tianhen was almost blinded by his sudden smile. First, he stared blankly, then, unable to restrain his emotions, he threw himself onto Lin Xuanzhi and bit those red lips. He didn’t care that they were in the wilderness.
He hugged Lin Xuanzhi’s neck tightly and kissed him for a long time. Finally, he gasped for air and said, “You still want me, that’s great.”
Lin Xuanzhi sighed and held Yan Tianhen in his arms. “Otherwise, what else can I do? Since I said I would protect you for a lifetime, how can I possibly give up halfway because of any excuse?”
Yan Tianhen was very moved.
Then he heard Lin Xuanzhi add, “After all, you’re so daring, and you also love to go on wild goose chases, so if I don’t restrain you and you get any ideas about destroying the Nine Lands again, what will I do?”
Yan Tianhen choked for a long time, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He then tearfully accused, “Dage, you’ve changed. You weren’t like this before.”
“Why, does Ah Hen like the me who was always indifferent to you and ignored you?” Lin Xuanzhi arched his brow. “If you really like that, then I might consider it.”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
Lin Xuanzhi really got worse.
Yan Tianhen took a deep breath and silently encouraged himself. He summoned his courage to say, “Dage, there’s actually another very important matter that I didn’t tell you. Now I think it’s better to tell Dage.”
“Only one matter?” Lin Xuanzhi said with deep meaning, “I thought there would be multiple matters.”
Yan Tianhen almost broke into a cold sweat again. He immediately made an innocent expression and blinked. “Anyways, since I’ve already let the cat out of the bag, I’ll answer anything Dage asks.”
“Look at you taking the initiative.” Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen’s pair of dark eyes and suddenly curled his lips teasingly. He raised his hand and rubbed Yan Tianhen’s cheek. “In any case, I have many ways to make you into a conscious child.”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
This time, he felt his chrysanthemum tighten.
“Many things can’t be explained in a few words. I’m not in a hurry to know. We’ve been delayed quite a bit. Let’s head to Jade Ocean City first and meet up with Dean Wan and Sword Saint Tianshu.”
Yan Tianhen jumped onto the sword and hugged Lin Xuanzhi’s waist. He rubbed his shoulder intimately. “Sword Saint Tianshu also came? Why didn’t he go save Rong Zhishui? At least they’re from the same family.”
The Zhige sword flew through the sky. Lin Xuanzhi held Yan Tianhen’s hand around his waist and explained, “Wan Miantang refused to let him go no matter what.”
“He’s worried that Sword Saint Tianshu will snap and kill all the Rong family disciples. If that happens, this matter will no longer be as simple as a stolen scroll.”
To be honest, Wan Miantang’s worry was not unfounded.
……
With Lin Xuanzhi leading the way, the two soon arrived at Jade Ocean City and met with Tianshu and Wan Miantang, who were waiting in the city.
Because the scroll was still a treasure left by the Rong family’s ancestors, even if Rong Zhishui already stole it, Myriad Dao Academy’s elders still couldn’t allow the scroll to enter the sect’s gates. Otherwise, they would be harboring and covering for a fugitive, which would give the outside world ammunition against them, and the sect would suffer.
However, they also weren’t willing to give up on the secret contained in this scroll, so they thought of a compromise.
If the mountain doesn’t come to me, then I can come to the mountain. Since the scroll couldn’t enter the sect, then it wouldn’t be against sect rules for the elders to go to Jade Ocean City to study the scroll, right? Thus, when Yan Tianhen stepped into the inn where the sect’s elders stayed, his entire person became dumbfounded.
Not only were Sword Saint Tianshu and Wan Miantang there, but Esteemed Fu Ye, Dean Mei, the Hall Master of Tool Ocean Hall, and Judge Sheng Ya were also sitting in the room. Besides them, even Hai Kuanglang and Zhang Fengting were waiting here.
Rong Zhishui sat on the ground with the scroll, his face full of worry. When he saw Yan Tianhen, he said miserably, “I suspect that the scroll we stole is a fake. Not only me, but even Uncle can’t see any records on the scroll anymore.”
Yan Tianhen somewhat guiltily rubbed his nose. “Ah, maybe the Rong family switched it. After all, when we went to steal it, all kinds of sects and families were visiting nonstop. Perhaps the Rong family was worried that they would lose the scroll, so they put up an illusion and replaced it with a fake scroll instead.”
“It must be like this!” Rong Zhishui beat the ground with a fist and seemed angry that he’d been tricked. “They put up a fake scroll for me to steal, but they actually had the face to chase me down with that dog. Rong Tianxian is truly shameless!”
Yan Tianhen coughed as he thought, Well then, I’ve successfully thrown the blame onto someone else. Although he somewhat sympathized with Rong Tianxian, who let Rong Tianxian be so merciless?
But Sword Saint Tianshu was still a little suspicious. He looked at the blank scroll and sneered disdainfully, “9.5 out of 10 Rong family members are stupid. I don’t think they have anyone smart enough to switch the scroll ahead of time.”
Rong Zhishui asked innocently, “What about me?” He thought he was pretty smart.
“You?” Sword Saint Tianshu smiled coldly. “Tomorrow, you can return to the Rong family with a humble apology and ask for punishment. I’m afraid the sect can’t accommodate the noble Young Master of the Rong family, and the Rong family will never allow you to continue studying in the sect.”
Rong Zhishui said very stubbornly, “I’m not the same as them.”
Sword Saint Tianshu replied, “I don’t care whether or not you’re the same as them. There isn’t a single good person in the Rong family.”
Rong Zhishui mumbled, “You’re also part of the Rong family.”
However, Sword Saint Tianshu coldly said, “I’ve severed relations with them a long time ago. My name will never be on the family tree again.”
Nobody knew whether Rong Zhishui’s brain was cramping, or whether he was overly emotional, but he actually spoke recklessly, “But Rong Chi is still on the family tree. I’ve seen it.”
What answered him was a slap from Sword Saint Tianshu.
“Who allowed you to mention him?” Tianshu’s face was dark and gloomy, and he came up to Rong Zhishui like a ghost, lifting him off the ground by his collar. Tianshu furiously gnashed his teeth and spoke, “Boy, the only reason I’m somewhat tolerant of you is because your father spoke a few fair words that year. Don’t think that you’re so different from them.”
Rong Zhishui was so scared that his face paled, at a loss on what to do.
Judge Sheng Ya’s expression wasn’t good. He walked over and pried Tianshu’s hand off, freeing Rong Zhishui.
“As an elder of the sect, you actually attacked a student in front of me. You’re not putting me in your eyes at all.” Judge Sheng Ya continued, “Since we can’t see anything from this scroll, we can just return it to them when the Rong family comes.”
Sheng Ya then frowned. “I’ve already been out of the sect for too long. I don’t have the time to waste; I’ll return to the sect today. However, I’ll still send someone to keep following the matter about the scroll.”
“I have another way.” Sword Saint Tianshu was also too lazy to continue bothering Rong Zhishui. He rubbed his chin and suggested, “Reincarnation Palace is powerful. Previously, they were tasked with investigating the theft of the Rong family’s scroll, and they actually gave such a quick reply.”
Yan Tianhen subtly glanced at Lin Xuanzhi. Lin Xuanzhi gave him a calm look.
Yan Tianhen, “…”
Sword Saint Tianshu continued, “Why don’t we ask them to look for the contents on this scroll directly? What do you think?”
Sheng Ya said, “I don’t think so. Even if we never mind the business of the Nine Lands’ Divine Clans, we still can’t brazenly make a deal with Reincarnation Palace.”
“Yeah.” Wan Miantang nodded. “The Yan family is openly targeting Reincarnation Palace.” While saying that, he even glanced at Yan Tianhen.
Yan Tianhen, “…” Like hell that’s any of my business ah. This is my Dao companion’s personal property. Of course I want it to be in high demand!
Esteemed Fu Ye touched his beard and cleared his throat. “I have a suggestion. Since we can’t do it openly, we might as well do it secretly. Although Reincarnation Palace accepted a lot of assassinations, it’s still very trustworthy. We can assume that it won’t sell out the customer’s identity. So as long as we keep a low profile, we won’t necessarily have to worry about others finding out.”
Judge Sheng Ya nodded with a serious expression. “I agree with Esteemed Fu Ye.”
Wan Miantang said, “I also agree.”
The other elders all agreed as well. Thus, everyone hit it off and decided to secretly collude with Reincarnation Palace — no, wait, it should be very honorably cooperating.
Yan Tianhen coughed lightly. He couldn’t help feeling that Myriad Dao Academy was truly the Nine Lands’ top sect. Its way of handling matters was indeed extraordinary, blazing a new trail.
The scroll was practically useless, so these sect elders who came for the scroll immediately went to take the boat back to Ethereal City. Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen also planned to return with them. They might as well have some company.
Before leaving, Hai Kuanglang said, “I’ll wait for you here for a while. The road to the North Land is long and arduous, and it also isn’t easy to enter the dragon clan’s old nest. After you guys finish handling the sect’s affairs, you can go with me.”
Yan Tianhen nodded and looked at Hai Kuanglang miserably. “I hope that when Shixiong sees me again, I’ll still be as lively and energetic as I am today.”
