Chapter 85 - The cross-dressing Mr. Cult Leader (2)
Please don’t post this translation anywhere, even if it's in Wattpad. It’s no problem if it's only redirect to this site, but no reposting.
Translated by: Niladri
self-edited
_________________
Recap: Lu Heng has to take over the role of Gouma, a Miao man cross dressing as a woman in the five immortals cult that uses the power of Gu. To make his acting more realistic, his memories were wiped at the start of the mission. His mission is to become the leader of the cult and have the power to prevent his people from being slaughtered by the barbarians. And so our tale begins...
___________________
The dense towering ancient wood blocked the sun almost entirely, forming a moist and dark space at the bottom. The thick fallen leaves on the ground were rotting, and were interspersed with countless poisonous vines and grasses. The combination of hot, humid air and the translucent miasma gave the dense forest a kind of ethereal beauty.
This was a paradise for venomous snakes, ants and insects. A colorful spider in the ground near the broad-leaved plants had set up a trap, waiting for the prey to come in. However, before it could harvest the rewards from the incessant day-long weaving, it was crushed by a delicately crafted boot.
Where is this? Those people after me didn’t follow me in here. Duan Feiqing covered his chest and spurted out another mouthful of blood. The front of his chest was covered with blood. Also, I’ve been afflicted with this incurable poison. No matter how I struggle, I will only live for a moment. Those people don’t have to bother chasing me into such a dangerous place.
This side seemed to be the territory of Miao. Those Miao people who were good at using Gu, were very guarded towards the Han people. Those people wouldn’t want to provoke the unfathomable Miao people for someone like him.
When his mind plagued with prolonged exhaustion relaxed, Duan Feiqing felt a bit dizzy and relaxed his breath which he had held on to for a while. He propped himself against a nearby tree trunk with one hand and wanted to have a rest for a while, but he felt a sting in his fingers.
Duan Feiqing looked sideways and found that there was a brown centipede lying on the trunk, which was similar to the color of the trunk. His hand had just fallen on the side of the centipede. The fierce poisonous insect gave him a rude bite. The centipede was extremely venomous, and Duan Feiqing's fingertip wound started to turn black in that instant.
Duan Feiqing reflexively drew his sword, raised the remaining bit of strength in his body, and chopped the centipede in half. The two halves of the centipede had barely fallen, when Duan Feiqing heard a clear sound.
"How dare you kill my little gold!"
A young girl dressed in Miao people's clothes could be seen behind the dense trees. The young girl looked like she was about eleven or twelve years old. She was wearing a pair of blue tie-dye print pants over her knees and her white calves were exposed. On her ankle, she wore several delicate silver bracelets and small bells. With every movement, she made a crisp sound.
The little Miao girl had a pair of clear opalescent eyes, with the tails of her eyes slightly raised, as if they were delicately painted with a brush. She glared at Duan Feiqing angrily, which was meant to be a fierce expression, but since the baby fat in her cheeks had not yet faded, there was no attacking power in it.
"I'm sorry." Although he didn’t know why the little girl angrily was angry at him, Duan Feiqing bowed to apologize.
Duan Feiqing, who was born into a martial arts family, already managed to become the head of the four masters of Wulin . People in the Jianghu couldn’t help but praise Feiqing. Anyone who interacted with him would feel like a spring breeze. Duan Feiqing's character was extremely refined and did not make anyone feel the slightest discomfort.
But the young Miao girl didn't take Feiqing into consideration at all. Only her pretty eyebrows stood up: "Han person! You have snuck into us Miao people's territory. What's your intention? "
Duan Feiqing was intending to explain a few words, however his throat became full of fishy sweetness. He didn’t realize when everything grew dark in front of him and he collapsed into the ground.
Lu Heng looked at the Han youth whose beauty couldn’t be concealed despite lying in the mud and being covered with blood. Remembering what his beloved mother said, the Han people were all fickle, and also extremely deceitful. But this little brother looked so beautiful. Lu Heng didn't mean anything else, but this young man of Han nationality was born with a face he had always dreamt of, and there was no place that wasn’t according to his liking.
Lu Heng thought of the soft contours of his own somewhat androgynous face, his lips showed a bit of unhappiness. Yes, this Miao girl was actually a boy. Lu Heng's mother was a contradictory woman. She hated the Han people, but she gave Lu Heng a Han name. In the family, others call him "Gouma", which was a Miao person’s name. And Lu Heng's Niang usually called him ah Heng. She said his name was Lu Heng.[1]
1. adding “ah” before someone’s name is like adding “-chan” in Japanese. I guess in English it’s like “Dear Heng”
Lu Heng himself did not know why, but preferred the Han name of Lu Heng.
Lu Heng’s mother Nadolo was the leader of the five immortals cult. The Miao people's most elite techniques had always been passed on to females and not to males. Only a woman could be the leader of the five immortals cult. If the cult leader had no daughter, she could only find a child who was gifted and outstanding in the way of Gu from her family to carefully cultivate as a substitute leader.
Nadolo was the most accomplished master in the history of five immortals cult. She had the best talent, and her children were better than her. Nadolo didn't want to waste Lu Heng's talent, so in front of the people, Lu Heng had been pretending to be a girl since he was young. But in private, Nadolo still raised him as a boy.
"Until the day you can prove in front of the clansmen that even men can also practice the most profound Gu techniques, you need to conceal your male identity." Nadolo has always taught Lu Heng this way.
Lu Heng walked around the Han man again. The more he saw him, the more he thought he was beautiful. If he died here, it would be a pity.
Even in the groggy semi-conscious state, Duan Feiqing felt his back hurt so much that he couldn't help but open his eyes to see what happened. In his field of vision were the interlaced branches swaying in the blanket of canopies overhead.
Duan Feiqing's assumption was that he was being moved now. He tilted his neck slightly forward. What entered his sight was a slender little back belonging to the little Miao girl. Seeing her holding his ankles with both hands, Duan Feiqing knew that she was dragging him with his back to the ground.
The little girl looked thin and delicate. Looking at the young girl's brisk pace in front of him, Duan Feiqing did not worry about the pain in his back, and instead such a strange idea appeared in his mind. It’s just that when this idea popped up, Duan Feiqing hit the back of his head on a stone. This time, he was so angry that he had to stop this strange little Miao girl.
"This girl, can you please stop for a moment?"
Lu Heng turned around and saw that the Han man on the ground had opened his eyes. He immediately threw the foot he was holding in his hand and turned around. But listen to his “This girl” call, Lu Heng felt very unpleasant: "Gouma."
"Lady Gouma." Duan Feiqing was startled for a moment, and immediately realized that this was the name of the Miao girl.
The two characters of "Gou Ma" were of Miao language. Duan Feiqing was not familiar with Miao language, so he pronounced strangely. Lu Heng frowned and said, "forget it, you'd better call me ah Heng."
"Lady Ah Heng, I'm Duan Feiqing." Duan Feiqing wrote his name in the ground.
Lu Heng knitted his brows even tighter: "Just call me ah Heng. Hearing Lady this Lady that from a Han person is making my teeth cringe."
"Now that you are awake, get up by yourself." Without waiting for Duan Feiqing to say anything, Lu Heng continued onwards.
Duan Feiqing propped himself up on the ground with his elbow and tried to stand up, but found that the poison in his body had reached deep into his heart and he had lost all sensation below his waist. He gave a wry smile: "ah Heng, my lower body is affected with extremely toxic poison, which cannot be cured by any medicine. I won’t bother you. I just hope after I die you make arrangements for my body, instead of leaving it exposed to the wilderness. "
Lu Heng saw that his lips were black and blue. He was really poisoned. He didn't waste any words. He directly grabbed a small silver machete from his waist and drew a line with it in the palm of the man’s hand. The black blood, like thick ink mixed with the smell of pungent gas gushed out. Lu Heng did not mind it. He dabbed his finger on it and smelt it under his nose.
"With me here, you won’t die, but we have to find a clean place to detoxify you." With that, Lu Heng planned to move Duan Feiqing following the same method just now.
"Ah Heng, could you please change your method? I really have a bad back pain." Duan Feiqing hurriedly stopped Lu Heng because he felt that the back of his head hurt badly. If he was knocked again, he will become a fool.[2]
2. People believed if their head was hit badly, they would become mentally handicapped
"What if your face is damaged if I turn you over?" Lu Heng said.
Duan Feiqing understood the other person's meaning inexplicably. This Miao girl saving him, was it because of this face? Thinking this way, he let his guard down. The Miao people were generally very hostile to the Han people, and Ah Heng, who suddenly appeared, wanted to save him-Feiqing could not believe she was doing so for no reason.
Duan Feiqing smiled bitterly. This face that he always thought was too striking was now the key to saving his life. Duan Feiqing wanted to let the other half carry him forward, but thinking whether that girl would support a man like him or not, he decided to give up.
Through the dense forest, Lu Heng finally saw the crescent spring. Although his strength was not low, but to walk so far while dragging a person- he was somewhat tired.
There was a clean cave next to Crescent Spring, which was Lu Heng's favorite place to stay in his spare time. Its location was hidden and unknown to others. It should be the most suitable place to heal this Han man.
Because Lu Heng came often, there were all kinds of life tools in the cave. Lu Heng placed Duan Feiqing, who had fainted again, on a small bamboo bed and went out to get a basin of water. Before detoxification, one needed to clean up the person a bit, or his dirty appearance will definitely make one’s precious Gu avoid him.
Holding the wet soft cloth, Lu Heng wiped the face of the man in bed first. As the blood was slowly wiped away, even with the eyes closed, the face in front of him became more and more elegant. His pair of blade-like sharp eyebrows slant into the temples, his nose was stalwart. There was no place that wasn’t perfect.
This young Han brother people looked better after cleaning. Lu Heng thought about it in his heart, but his hands kept moving, and he prepared to use them to lift Duan Feiqing's coat. Just as his hand touched the man's skirt, it was gently blocked.
"Ah Heng, men and women should not be close to each other. Let's go ahead." The person on the original bamboo bed, already awake, opened that pair of star-like eyes, and looked at Lu Heng.
NILADRI: We are all thinking it right? Is that Shi Kong?