First Immortal of the Sword

Chapter 168 - Chini

Elder Wen!

One of Family Head Yu Baiting’s most capable assistants, a mighty expert proficient in all manner of eerie and mysterious abilities.

He’d died, just like that!?

Earlier, from outside the private room, Qiao Leng didn’t hear any sounds of combat, but he did hear Elder Wen’s piteous screams. Only then did he realize something was wrong and charge back in.

Inside, he saw that Su Yi seemed perfectly normal, as if he had never even moved, but nothing remained of Elder Wen except bones and a layer of skin! 

Qiao Leng’s mind went blank. He stood there, rooted to the spot, and his hands and feet went cold.

Splurt!

Suddenly, the top of Elder Wen’s skull split open, and a little bright red snake emerged. It shot forth in a blur, intent on escaping.

However, before it got far, Su Yi waved his sleeves and trapped the little snake between the middle and pointer fingers of his right hand. It flicked its tongue and struggled like mad, but it was of no use.

“Did that ‘Blood Serpent’ kill Elder Wen?” Qiao Leng couldn’t help but ask. He naturally recognized it; the little critter was Elder Wen’s treasured companion, and he’d raised it on a steady diet of flesh and blood.

Who would have thought that, in the end, the filthy little beast would kill its own master?

Su Yi exerted strength through his fingers, squeezing the snake’s head. It instantly fell unconscious, and he slipped it into his sleeves.

Only then did he glance at Qiao Leng. “Do you plan to avenge him now? Or you do want to go back and report this?”

Qiao Leng quivered from head to toe, his expression changing erratically.

When he first encountered Su Yi earlier today, back at the canyon, he sensed that Su Yi was only in the Qi Accumulation Realm. Despite this, his combat strength was enough to strike terror into the hearts of even Grandmasters.

But even if you cracked open his skull, he never would have guessed that someone as mighty as Elder Wen would die like this.

This made it increasingly obvious just how terrifying Su Yi’s methods were.

“Young Lord, by doing this, you’ve set yourself completely at odds with the Yu Family.” Qiao Leng let out a long sigh; he felt rather conflicted. He was grateful to Su Yi, but it was undeniable that the forceful attitude Su Yi had displayed throughout their visit had displeased him.

Now, he finally understood at a deep level just why Su Yi dared behave so forcefully. At the same time, he knew that now that Elder Wen was dead, Family Head Yu Baiting would never let this go.

“The Yu Family? They’re just a clan of mundane martial artists with no sense of gratitude; you people even suspected me of harboring ill intentions and plotting against you. You lot really don’t know what’s good for you,” said Su Yi flatly. “Since you don’t plan to avenge the dead, go back and tell your leader that I’ll remain here tonight. If he wants to get revenge, he’s welcome to come looking for me.”

Qiao Leng took a deep breath, then looked at him, his gaze complex. “Young Lord, if you’ll forgive my boldness, might I ask if you did this on the sixth prince’s orders?”

Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “What, even now, you think Zhou Zhili is my pillar of support?”

Qiao Leng grimaced. “If not, I truly can’t think of any other reason why you’d do something like this. After all, by opposing the Yu Family, you have everything to lose and nothing to gain.”

“Why am I doing this…?” A cold arc formed on Su Yi’s lips. “I saved your lives in passing, with no intention of demanding slavish displays of gratitude, but you immediately assumed I had ulterior motives, and you even came knocking on my door just to threaten me. Do you really think that, even after all that, I ought to endure in silence and lower my head?”

Qiao Leng hurriedly shook his head. “I naturally wouldn’t dare think such a thing.”

“If you did, you’d be dead by now too, just like him.” Su Yi rose. “Tell Family Head Yu what I said, word for word. If he doesn’t show up tonight, fine. Next time I’m in a bad mood, I don’t mind paying the Yu Family a visit instead.

With that, he sauntered out of the door. “Remember, take those gifts back with you.”

Qiao Leng’s expression changed erratically. In the end, he slumped and shook his head in dejection, then got to work. First, he dealt with Elder Wen’s remains. Then, he gathered up the gift boxes still laid out on the table and rushed off.

……

When he returned to their room, Su Yi saw Cha Jin pulling apart and crushing a spiritual herb, which she fed to the beast cub. Her bright eyes and beautiful face shone with gentleness.

The little critter ate with great relish, and from time to time, it stuck out its pink tongue and licked Cha Jin’s fingers, leaving her beside herself with laughter.

But when she saw Su Yi, she hurriedly contained herself and rose to greet him. “Young Lord, have you resolved this incident?” 

“Not yet,” said Su Yi offhandedly. “I had no intention of demanding anything from them, but they’ve repaid my kindness with enmity. In that case, they’ll have to make good on their debts sooner or later.”

“Repaying kindness with enmity….” A hint of rage flashed through Cha Jin’s beautiful eyes. “I bet it’s that self-satisfied girl stirring up trouble.”

Su Yi grabbed the wine jar on the table, poured himself a cup, and drained it. “That’s not important anymore.”

Suddenly, he recalled something. He took the little red snake from his sleeves, then passed it to Cha Jin. “Have the little guy eat it; it’ll be a rare, highly nutritious treat.”

Cha Jin was stunned, but before she could react, the Jade-Eyed Crimson Flamebeast cub squirmed out of her embrace, jumped, and grabbed the snake out her hand.

It soon fell to the ground with an audible thud, but it didn’t care. It just lay there, devouring this unusual delicacy with great enthusiasm and getting blood all over its mouth.

Cha Jin scrunched up her nose. “How could such a cute little critter eat something so bloody and disgusting?”

“Cute?” Su Yi laughed dryly, “If it’s got the potential, it’s sure to become a yao king sooner or later. If it couldn’t even digest something like this, could you still call it a ‘yao king’?”

Cha Jin’s gaze darted around the room. “Young Lord, how about you give it a name?”

In truth, she’d long since thought of numerous names, but she dared not make a decision like that without permission.

Just as she expected, Su Yi couldn’t be bothered to think about something so trivial. He just waved. “Do as you see fit.”

Cha Jin lit up. “Young Lord, the little guy is the offspring of a Jade-Eyed Crimson Flamebeast, and you said it's highly likely to possess the True Blood of a Suanni. The character ‘crimson’ is read ‘chi’, so why not just call it ‘Chini’?”

Su Yi didn’t even pause to think. “Okay.”

Cha Jin instantly felt incomparably satisfied, and her joy showed on her face. Since becoming a servant, this was the first time one of her ideas had earned Su Yi’s approval. This was naturally deeply meaningful to her.

“Tonight, you’ll sleep in the bed,” said Su Yi out of nowhere.

“Ah?” Cha Jin’s pretty face instantly flushed red; she didn’t know how to respond. After a while, she bit her lip. “Young Lord, can I…. Can I refuse?”

Her words came out as a stammer, and they seemed to take every last bit of energy she had. Her heart quivered. Isn’t all of this happening too fast?

Bah! How could I share a bed with the enemy!? Wouldn’t that make me nothing but a toy?

But… If he really tries to use force, there’s nothing I can do to stop him….

Agh!

How can he be so direct? Doesn’t he realize that a refusal will only humiliate us both and hurt our feelings for each other?

No, that’s not right. How could I possibly have feelings for him….?

The expression on Cha Jin’s beautiful face flitted erratically, and she felt all twisted up inside. All kinds of thoughts flitted through her mind.

But Su Yi looked stunned too. Then, he seemed to understand, and his expression went a bit strange. “You’re not willing?”

His tone was teasing, and Cha Jin’s face flushed bright red with awkwardness, embarrassment, shame, and anger. Her hands clenched the hems of her clothes, and she said in a quavering voice, “Young Lord, it’s true that if you use force, I cannot stop you, but if you do, I…. I’ll hate you for the rest of my life.”

Su Yi laughed, and he no longer teased her. “You’ve let your imagination run away with you. When it comes to matters of love and pleasure, I’ve always disdained resorting to force against any woman. I’ve never done so in the past, and I’ll never do so in the future. You can rest assured about that.”

What a joke! In his past life, if Su Xuanjun desired companionship, he had no need for force; all he had to do was hook his finger and swarms of peerless immortal beauties would come running to recommend themselves!

What need was there for force? Was a man who used force even really a man?

Cha Jin instantly sighed in relief, and her tensed body visibly relaxed. She knew how proud Su Yi was; if he said something, he wouldn’t go back on his word.

But then, she gently gnawed her lip. “Then…. Young Lord, what did you mean by that?”

“We’re likely to encounter danger tonight. I’ll sleep on the couch; that’ll make it easier to respond to the unexpected,” said Su Yi. He was already sprawling out on the couch. “Remember: I won’t explain myself like this again.”

Whoosh!

The Suanni cub shot over, jumped onto Su Yi’s chest, and affectionately rubbed its head against his cheek.

Only for Su Yi to backhand it and send it flying. “Your mouth is covered in blood, but you want to rub your face on me? You really are a filthy little beast.”

The little guy rolled, completing several circles before crawling back to its feet. Its mind went blank, and it stared at Su Yi, feeling rather aggrieved, as if it didn’t understand why Su Yi would hit it.

When Cha Jin saw this, her heart ached. She hurriedly picked the cub up and comforted it.

“He’d even hit a little guy like you? He’s just too heartless….” muttered Cha Jin.

But Su Yi wasn’t thinking about all that.

He couldn’t even be bothered to consider whether or not the Yu Family would come for revenge.

Tomorrow, when we arrive in the provincial capital, we’ll get settled in first, then acquaint ourselves with the city’s current situation and sell off everything we don’t need. Once all that’s in order, I’ll head over to Heaven’s Origin Academy…..

As he thought, Wen Lingxue’s image rose unbidden in his mind, followed by Wen Lingzhao’s icy, aloof figure….

……

The mountain villa, the great hall.

It was like the air had frozen solid; the atmosphere was heavy and stifled as could be.

Bai Yuting sat in the seat of honor, staring expressionlessly at the floor, where Elder Wen’s bones and hollowed-out skin were laid out. A long time passed in silence.

Qiao Leng stood beside the corpse, his heart quivering; he found it hard to even breathe. 

He’d just explained the entire story in full detail.

Yu Baiting didn’t rage or bluster. He just sat there, calmly taking in Elder Wen’s corpse.

He said nothing, but the calmer he was, the heavier Qiao Leng’s heart.

An unknown amount of time passed before Yu Baiting suddenly spoke. “Qiao Leng, pass on these three orders.”

His expression was calm, and his voice carried no ripples of emotion even as it reverberated throughout the hall.

“Have every clansman in the villa pack up their things. We’ll begin our journey back to the provincial capital in fifteen minutes.

“Send a messenger falcon to Provincial Governor Xiang Tianqiu. Tell him that in two hours, I’ll pay him a visit to discuss his Tea Party.

“At the same time, send a message to the sixth prince. If he wants to chat, I’ll wait for him at my ‘Cloudscouring Tower’ until noon tomorrow, but not one minute longer!”

Seth's Thoughts

“Chini” is pronounced almost like “journey” but with a “ch” sound. It’s not “chee” or “chai”. That said, I doubt anyone will take offense if you make it rhyme with “teeny”. 

Chini is the cub’s Chinese name. For my translation, I considered a few alternative combinations of “crimson” and “Suanni.” Suanson? Or, if synonyms are allowed, Redni/Redney? 

….As I’m sure you can tell, I didn’t come up with anything good. To my ears, Chini is cuter than anything I came up with, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pinyin in proper nouns anyway. Open to suggestions, but I’ll probably just leave it?

-

A note about pronouns: Chinese pretty much always uses the gender-neutral pronoun 它 for animals, including pets. That’s fine; it’s a different language and all that. Still, as an English speaker, though, I would never call my own pet “it”. At least, not while speaking English. I could maybe see Su Yi doing that, given his general indifference, but it seems a bit unnatural for Cha Jin to do that here given her demonstrated fondness for the cub.

Thing is, there’s no clear indication of the cub’s sex yet, nor that Cha Jin and Su Yi have bothered to check, so I’m going to stick with “it” for now. I know it’s been referred to as “little guy” before, but the word 小家伙 is no guarantee of the cub’s maleness. It’s only sort of gendered, the way “guys” or “dude” are. Between that and my experience with the genre, I’d guess Chini is male (or I likely would have chosen a more neutral translation), but like.... you never know! 

If and when we find out the cub’s sex, I might go back and update this, or I might not, if it’s a plot point. In any event, I’m not touching it until we know more. It’ll just have to be “it” for now. 

Favorite