Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: I Want to Go Home
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I collapsed onto the street like a soulless fool.
To think I'd been taken in by a mere pickpocket.
Shame and regret crashed over me like a tidal wave, crushing my chest.
"Haa..."
I hung my head, sighing as if the earth itself might cave in.
Suddenly, something soft and warm gently enveloped my face.
"Mmgh?!"
My vision went white, and a familiar scent filled my nostrils.
It was Senior Disciple's embrace. She wrapped her arms around me where I sat and pulled my head to her chest.
Her heartbeat thumped steadily in my ears: thump, thump.
"It's alright. What you lost was just an object. You're unharmed—that's fortunate enough."
Her hand slowly stroked my back.
"Enlightenment comes not only from gains but from losses as well. Just as one must empty oneself to be filled, this loss will bring you greater insight. Don't blame yourself too much."
It felt like a Daoist's sermon washing away worldly woes.
For a moment, her warmth eased my heart, but the weight of reality still pressed down like a boulder.
"But Senior Disciple... even so, I can't help feeling lost. I have no face left to show the Sect Leader... How am I supposed to go back like this?"
At my mumbling, Senior Disciple pulled me away from her embrace and chuckled softly.
"I understand how you feel, but... the Sect Leader's scolding isn't what you need to worry about right now."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Senior Disciple put on a deliberately grave expression and patted down her coin pouch.
With a light jingle, a few meager coins tumbled out weakly.
"This is all the money we have left... We spent everything commissioning the Beggars' Sect for information, so we barely have enough to make it back to Mount Hua."
"......."
My vision darkened.
No time to grieve the lost elixir—we were on the verge of starving to death right here.
"Now, put aside the sorrow and face reality. Even the top prodigy who won the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament can't walk a thousand li on an empty stomach, unless you're planning to beg for food."
Senior Disciple annoyingly patted my shoulder with a calm face.
"But how are we supposed to get back! From Wudang to Mount Hua... And what if the Beggars' Sect sends word tomorrow that they've caught the thief? If it's after we've already left, the summoning pill is gone forever..."
I stomped my feet and grumbled.
My head knew Senior Disciple was right a hundred times over, but my lingering attachment to the lost summoning pill clung stubbornly.
To think one pesky elixir might leave us starving on the roadside—what an absurd twist.
At my childish whining, Senior Disciple let out a long sigh.
She stared at me for a moment, then nodded as if resolved.
"In that case, no choice. Let's head back. Time to see how fame works in the jianghu."
"Pardon? Fame?"
"Follow me. We're going back to Wudang Mountain."
"Yes...? Back to Wudang? We just came down today—why go back?"
I startled and asked again.
Face the Wudang disciples penniless and without the summoning pill? What a humiliation that would be.
But Senior Disciple had already turned and was striding toward Wudang's mountain gate.
"The Nine Great Sects form a vast fence supporting one another, yet they are also endless rivals with knives at each other's throats."
Her voice carried softly on the wind without breaking stride.
"But even that rivalry cannot stand above propriety and decorum. Wudang is the pillar of the jianghu. They won't act petty over sheltering two disciples from another sect—especially since you're this tournament's 'Dragon-Phoenix'."
Senior Disciple glanced back with a grin, not slowing down.
Bathed in the sunset, her smile looked slyly cunning.
"Mount Hua's tournament champion, winner of Wudang's own event, returns to the gate in distress on his way down? For Wudang, it's a golden chance to cash in on your fame. That's how you 'use' prestige."
I gaped blankly at her retreating figure.
She was an ethereal immortal when discoursing on the Dao, a crafty jianghu fox when talking worldly schemes.
No helping it.
I followed her with a reluctant expression, inwardly relieved.
Climbing Wudang's steep stone steps again, groans escaped my lips unbidden.
Regardless of martial prowess, crawling back up the path we'd just descended—penniless—felt utterly wretched.
Fame and elixirs be damned; the jianghu was this grueling and merciless?
"Ugh... Senior Disciple, I never knew becoming a jianghu wanderer was this tough. It's not just swinging a sword and striking poses."
I grumbled, sweat pouring down.
My aching soles hurt less than my shame at my own worldly ignorance.
"Once this is sorted, I'll return to Mount Hua and live quietly as a Daoist hermit. Sweeping fallen leaves, gazing at plum blossoms..."
At my lament, Senior Disciple halted abruptly.
She turned, staring straight at me with a mischievous look.
"Oh? Then no need to hunt for the summoning pill. Abandoning fame and power for a hermit's life—that's true Daoist enlightenment. In that case, let's turn around and walk straight back to Mount Hua."
As Senior Disciple pretended to descend again, I panicked and grabbed her sleeve.
"N-No... I just meant it figuratively! I was saying the jianghu's storms are fierce—not that I'm quitting for real!"
At my frantic excuse, Senior Disciple smirked with an 'I knew it' look.
At Wudang's mountain gate, the gatekeeper disciples gawked at us.
The champion they'd seen off grandly just half a day ago returned in grubby rags—it was startling enough.
But when Senior Disciple calmly explained we had circumstances and needed to impose briefly, they politely escorted us back to Purple Cloud Pavilion.
Walking the corridor to our lodging, fresh anxiety gripped me, and I tugged Senior Disciple's sleeve.
"Senior Disciple... Wudang folks aside, how do we explain to the Sect Leader and elders back home? If we don't return on schedule, they'll worry greatly..."
Losing the summoning pill was already a grave offense; delaying without word would make my filial impiety and disloyalty unforgivable.
To my worried question, Senior Disciple replied flatly without slowing.
"Don't worry too much. As I said earlier, in the jianghu, the sharpest and swiftest thing isn't a sword—it's rumor."
She gazed at the moon in the night sky and continued.
"From the moment we contacted the Beggars' Sect at the inn, swift carrier pigeons have already flown to Mount Hua with the news: 'Mount Hua's Yi Yi lost his summoning pill and sought Beggars' Sect aid.' By the time we arrive, the Sect Leader will know everything."
"......!"
That meant my blunder was exposed to all under heaven.
My face paled, words failing me.
Senior Disciple glanced sideways, enjoying my expression as her lips curved.
"So instead of excuses, prepare to roll up your pant legs. The Sect Leader's switch stings fiercely."
"S-Senior Disciple...!"
I could only make a tearful face at her teasing joke.
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In the dead of night, when even moonlight held its breath, a dank abandoned mansion at Hubei's southern fringe.
The scene within was bizarre and grotesque.
Five bear-like brutes lay prostrate on the floor, forming a human bed. Atop their hulking, muscled backs lounged an unbelievably petite and delicate girl at an angle.
She looked as light as a feather, yet the men below sweated coldly, not daring even a heavy breath.
It was Zhuge Jiun, infamous under the name of Hubei's top unorthodox sect, Bi Sword Sect.
At the tip of her slender white finger rolled a single elixir glowing faintly red.
The summoning pill.
Zhuge Jiun lightly licked the elixir with her tongue, then toyed with it between her lips.
The fragrant medicinal scent lingering in her mouth deepened her twisted smile.
"Hmm~ Bitter yet sweet—the aroma alone is killer."
She tapped the back of the burliest man's head with her bare foot.
Dull thuds echoed, but he didn't budge, only trembled.
She giggled and flipped over.
This time, her flat belly and chest pressed firmly against his spine, squishing down.
"Watching our little brats strut off to the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament all pompous, only to drop out early bawling their eyes out... Ahh~ I yawned so hard I thought my jaw would dislocate from boredom."
Tsking her tongue, she sat up.
Her compressed chest sprang back resiliently, faintly flushed.
She pinched the elixir between thumb and forefinger, holding it to the moonlight.
The elixir's sheen reflected in her serpentine eyes.
"But y'know, the real fun was something else. This precious thing stuffed sloppily in his pocket, wandering around like a slob. The so-called Dragon-Phoenix Tournament champ acting this dumb? Jianghu's in its end times, end times."
She caught the elixir between her lips again, rolling it playfully.
The fragrant medicinal scent deepened her twisted smile.
Zhuge Jiun pinched the ear of the man beneath her foot and whispered.
"Truth be told, when the crowds swarmed that hotshot, I thought about checking his dick size... But lookie what a catch I reeled in instead? Hehe, wonder if eating this'll make my skin even silkier?"
Her wicked, innocent laughter echoed chillingly into the mansion's darkness.