Chapter 62 Part 2
Ziying wasn’t Qin Shi Huang. The largest obstacle to Qin Shi Huang leaving the Mausoleum was Ling Xiao. The First Emperor’s strength was too formidable. As long as he stepped out, Daddy Ling Xiao would drop divine lightning and strike him to death. Ziying’s problem was how to leave the Mausoleum.
The Mausoleum was like a prison. Ziying’s strength was meager. He could neither enter nor exit on his own.
Xi Jia had already heard from Ziying that he felt that he could come out on his own. Unlike the First Emperor, he wouldn’t be subjected to Ling Xiao’s restriction. However, Xi Jia never expected that Ziying would come out so soon. Assuming that Ziying went to the Palace of Eternal Life to heal his injury from last time, his strength had grown very quickly.
The two chatted for a while, and Xi Jia thought of something, “Oh right, Ziying, did you tell the First Emperor about you going out?”
The smile on Ziying’s face suddenly faltered. He thought for a bit and said with a smile, “Probably did.”
Xi Jia, “Probably?”
This time, Ziying spoke without hesitation, “I spoke toward Father Emperor.”
Xi Jia didn’t suspect him. But in fact, just yesterday, Ziying tried using the He Shi Bi and the Tai’e Sword many times before finally noticing that he could pry open a small crack in the Gate of the Mausoleum. Ziying was a ghost. As long as there’s a crack, he could leave. Thus, he rushed to the Palace of Eternal Life and pushed at the door.
Eh, can’t push it open, what is Father Emperor doing?
Since he couldn’t enter, it’s nothing. Ziying loudly yelled out at the door, “Father Emperor, Ying wants to leave the palace and see an old friend.”
The gentle and clear voice echoed for a long time at the seventh level of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, but there was no reply.
Ziying was somewhat perplexed and loudly called out again. After waiting another five minutes, there was still no answer from Qin Shi Huang.
“Is Father Emperor in a deep sleep again?”
Although he felt that Qin Shi Huang shouldn’t be in a deep sleep again, Ziying truly couldn’t wait for the First Emperor’s answer. He could only consider that his father had truly fallen into a deep sleep. He knelt down before the Palace of Eternal Life’s entrance and gave a ceremonial salute before turning to leave. However, he didn’t know that his Father Emperor at this time had already gone berserk, exasperatedly pressing on the phone screen to control the hero. Then, his group of teammates were mad at him and flaming him, saying, “Are you an elementary school student?”
As the saying goes, “While one’s parents are alive, one should not travel to distant places. If it is necessary to travel, there should be a definite direction.”1
Ziying’s mother had been dead for more than 2,000 years. His father……strictly speaking, he had also been dead for more than 2,000 years. It wasn’t a problem for him to go out and take a stroll now.
It was a pleasant surprise that Ziying would come find him. Xi Jia knew that this friend of his had never truly seen this world. Furthermore, Ziying was a person who diligently followed etiquette. He was full of curiosity towards many things in Xi Jia’s place, but he didn’t look too long and only asked a sentence. Upholding the principle of “Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety,” he would never touch things indiscriminately without the owner’s permission.2
Since that was the case, in the afternoon, Xi Jia booked tickets to Hainan Island and planned on taking Ziying to see the sea. At first, he was worried whether or not Ye Jingzhi would get angry since he needed to continue to search for places with abnormal yin energy and couldn’t go with them. But, after Ye Jingzhi found out about this, he seriously said instead, “Jia Jia, take a good rest, don’t worry about me. I know that Qin San Shi is your friend.”
Jia Jia’s friend was his friend. Taking care of friends was a matter of course——That was what Master Ye thought.
Upon hearing this, Brother Jia was very moved, and he also noticed that Ye Jingzhi had asked Measurement to help arrange them a special, luxurious, all-inclusive 10-day tour of Hainan Island.
Ye Jingzhi said in a low voice, “I don’t really understand these things and never went there before. As the eldest disciple of Tian Gong Pavilion, Fellow Daoist Measurement is more familiar in this area, I’ll ask him for help. Jia Jia, if you encounter something and you need help, you can always find me and Fellow Daoist Measurement. I will definitely be there in half a day at the latest.
This time, Brother Jia was so touched to the point of tears.
With such a boyfriend, are you jealous or not?!
After arranging all the itineraries for Xi Jia, Ye Jingzhi went out to meet Cengxiu-zhenjun to find abnormalities in S City.
Ziying was a ghost. He didn’t need to buy a plane ticket or pack clothes. However, Xi Jia needed to pack his luggage. He quickly packed up his things. Once he looked up, he saw Ziying standing in front of the window and looking down at him. His slender eyes curled slightly with a smile, he merely smiled, but didn’t speak.
Xi Jia was suddenly stunned.
Ziying’s voice was gentle, “That person must be Celestial Master Ye, right?”
Xi Jia once said that he had someone he liked to Ziying before, but he had never spoken more about Ye Jingzhi to Ziying after. He didn’t expect that Ziying would guess it at once, but he didn’t deny it and smiled proudly, “Yes.”
Looking at his smile, Ziying said, “You’re very fortunate.”
Xi Jia smiled in reply, “Ziying, I think the current you are also very happy and very fortunate.”
Ziying nodded, “Yes, such a vast and endless world, so much novel and interesting knowledge, I’m very happy to be able to encounter them and see all of this.”
The two headed downstairs, and Xi Jia asked, “I remember that I burned a phone for you, did you receive it?”
Ziying flipped his palm over, and a small cell phone appeared in his palm, “This thing is really convenient for inquiring information.”
Xi Jia suddenly thought, “……Wait, don’t tell me, you don’t use your phone to play games, watch videos, or read novels and actually use it to check information?!”
Ziying had an expression that read, “If not for inquiring information, then what do you use it for?”
Xi Jia, “……” You should at least be like your Papa First Emperor, play some games! Even a single game is good, once you play, maybe you would get addicted and no longer be such a bookworm that a studying slag like Brother Jia couldn’t tolerate!
Ziying didn’t know the mixed feelings in Xi Jia’s heart. He wasn’t favored by the First Emperor since he was a child. If he indulged at will like his many brothers, he would have been exiled to the border by the First Emperor long ago and would never have become Qin San Shi.
S City didn’t have an airport. Xi Jia bought a high-speed rail ticket to Haicheng.
Walking beside Jingdu Lake, Xi Jia smiled and introduced the most famous Qiuku Towers in S City to Ziying, and then talked to him about the major landmarks in the city.3 Just after he had finished talking about the current tallest building in S City, the smile on Ziying’s face suddenly froze. He slowly turned his head and looked at the man-made island at the center of Jingdu Lake.
Seeing that he was no longer walking, Xi Jia also stopped and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Staring intently at this small island, Ziying narrowed his eyes for a long time, his gaze was heavy, “Xi Jia, what island is that?”
Even Xi Jia really didn’t know what the small island at the center of Jingdu Lake was used for, but looking at it from a distance, it seemed like a tourist attraction. He gave Ziying an explanation on what a tourist attraction was. Yet, Ziying shook his head and said in a grave voice, “That island gives me a strange feeling. It carries an odd aura, a trace of……an aura that is somewhat similar to the Palace of Eternal Life.”
Meanwhile, Ye Jingzhi was holding his phone and talking to Measurement, asking him to help set up an itinerary for Xi Jia and Ziying to have fun on Hainan Island. Next to him, Cengxiu-zhenjun appeared hard-pressed, and he became more and more confused.
“Young Daoist Ye, could it be that this poor daoist thought too much? We had already searched for so long and even gathered many fellow daoists together to search. We have searched through the entirety of S City, and nothing was out of ordinary. Could it be……this poor daoist was thinking too much?”
Ye Jingzhi put down his phone and said, “Senior Cengxiu, we can search again. Your thoughts are not wrong, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If there really was a problem in S City, we wouldn’t even have time to regret it when it happens.
Cengxiu-zhenjun felt much more comfortable and continued to look.
It was truly Young Daoist Ye who was more earnest and benevolent, and knew how to respect the elderly and cherish the young. If it was Qishan, Buxing, or any of those other old fellows, perhaps they would already be laughing at him for being inattentive or for thinking too much, and wouldn’t be accompanying him to find abnormalities.
S City was a water town. The things that the entire city had the most of were canals and brooks. Along each street in S City, there would be a river. It could be said that the city’s street plan was nearly parallel to the rivers. Wherever the rivers flowed, the roads would follow.
Ye Jingzhi and Cengxiu-zhenjun reached the old city district of S City and started searching the alleyways. Not long after, there were some curious passersby looking at them with surprised gazes. After all, one was old and the other was young, one was handsome and refreshing and the other had a white beard down to his waist. However, the two didn’t mind and continued to search.
By the time they reached S City’s famous Canglang Pavilion, Ye Jingzhi searched his surroundings for yin energy when he suddenly heard a mournful cry. He looked up and saw a woman around 50 years old with disheveled hair. Her entire body was dirty as she rolled around on the ground. A white-haired old lady was holding a rope and tied her up with force.
Ye Jingzhi wrinkled his brows, and Cengxiu-zhenjun also looked at this scene with confusion.
To the side, there was a neighbor who had gathered and said ruefully, “Granny Liu, your family’s lady is going mad again? How is it going, did anything break today?”
The old lady turned her head to look at the person who spoke. Only at this time did Ye Jingzhi notice that this old lady actually had a face full of tears. “N-nothing broke. Today was alright. Just that this morning, she was frightened by a dog and ran out. I’m bringing her back right away.”
The neighbor kept on using Wu dialect to speak, and Ye Jingzhi could only understand half. He watched the old lady using the rope to tie the woman’s hands and used all her strength to drag her into the house. That woman struggled as if her life depended on it and even used her feet to kick the old lady. The old lady could only hold back her tears and called out, “Xiao Fen,” again and again. Then, dragged her daughter beyond the large metal doors.
However, just as this lunatic-like middle-aged woman was about to be dragged into the door, she suddenly looked up and saw Ye Jingzhi and Cengxiu-zhenjun not far away. The woman suddenly widened her eyes. As if she saw a ghost, she frantically broke free from the old lady.
The old lady quickly went to pull her, and the woman suddenly bit the old lady’s ear to the point fresh blood was spilled. The surrounding neighbors rushed to help. The woman was punching and kicking them, pushing them all aside, before rushing at Ye Jingzhi and Cengxiu-zhenjun.
Ye Jingzhi had already taken out a talisman and was prepared to stabilize the mad woman. However, halfway, the woman picked up the cleaver at the roadside meat stand, and with reddened eyes, she cut down towards Cengxiu-zhenjun.
“Kill you, kill you! You’re a ghost, you’re a ghost!!!”
The Author has something to say:
Little Angel Readers: We noticed that this chapter is only 6000 words
Fuwa: Right! You didn’t read wrong, today’s short! So what!【 Shamelessly puffs out chest】
Little Angel Readers: ……
Translator’s Notes:
1 Confucius quote. ↵
2 Another Confucius quote. ↵
3 Qiuku (literally autumn pants) Towers is a nickname for the Gate of the Orient b/c the building resembles a pair of pants. ↵