Chapter 86 - The cross-dressing Mr. Cult Leader (3)
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
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"..." Lu Heng didn't feel guilty at all. He straightaway threw the soft cloth towards Duan Feiqing. "You Han people are troublesome. Wipe it clean, or the Gu will avoid you."
Duan Feiqing saw Lu Heng's eyes staring at him, and he asked uneasily, "can you please leave for a bit?"
Although he knew that Duan Feiqing saw him as a woman, Lu Heng still thought that the Han people were troublesome. It's just seeing his chest. Whenever it was hot, the Miao men in the village didn’t bother covering themselves when they went out.
Lu Heng turned away and left.
Crescent spring was the place where Lu Heng cultivated his Gu. In contrast to what other people thought, Gu were not raised in dirty places. The first-class Gu were very picky about the environment. They needed fresh air and clean surroundings. Crescent spring was such a place making it very suitable for breeding Gu.
Lu Heng had sprinkled the insect repellent herbal powder in the vicinity of this area. No other snake, insect, mouse or ant would dare to approach this place. Lu Heng recalled the smell of poisonous blood that he had just taken from Duan Feiqing's palm, and he thought of a solution. He went to the spring and dug out a small black pottery jar.
"Xiaohua, I choose you."[1]
1. Sorry I couldn’t resist ^_^
Duan Feiqing had finished cleaning up the blood on his body, following which he was in the middle of putting on his clothes, when he heard the crisp bell sound gradually becoming clearer. Then the figure of the little Miao girl appeared in the cave. Duan Feiqing noticed that her mouth was slightly raised, and as she walked in briskly, the bell she wore made a joyful chime. The haze shrouding Duan Feiqing's heart seemed to be disappearing quietly as the person in front of him got closer and closer.
Duan Feiqing seldom had a moment when his mind stopped. This was the only time when he indulged himself in this warm feeling.
It was not until Lu Heng was standing in front of Duan Feiqing that he came back to his senses. He saw a colorful Gu on the fair fingertip of the woman in front of him, and she was frowning at him. Duan Feiqing subconsciously recalled whether he had done anything else to make her dissatisfied.
"Why did you put your clothes back on? How can Xiaohua detoxify you?" Lu Heng asked.
From Lu Heng's impatient explanation, Duan Feiqing finally understood the process of detoxification. He consoled himself that the person in front of him was a doctor, and the gender difference didn’t matter. Then he untied his dress.
Lu Heng took out the small silver machete again, and made a miniature cross on Duan Feiqing’s chest, and then put the Gu in his hand on the wound. The Gu that was firmly sucked into the wound immediately began to voraciously absorb the venom from Feiqing's body.
A moment later, the insect, which was round from absorbing, rolled down from the wound and landed on the bamboo bed. The blood oozing from the cross-shaped injury was not as black as ink anymore. Lu Heng sprinkled some powder on the wound to stop the bleeding, and then carefully put the Gu into a small porcelain bottle.
"You're too heavily poisoned. Xiaohua cannot suck all of it at one attempt. A few days later, when it has finished digesting, we can try again."
Duan Feiqing had now recovered some strength. He sat up and bowed his head: "This life-saving grace will not be forgotten."
Lu Heng shook the porcelain bottle in his hand: "you provided such good nourishment for Xiaohua, so you don’t owe me a debt."
"Huh? How did you hurt your back?” Lu Heng suddenly noticed that the back of Duan Feiqing's white dress was smeared with blood.
"..." Duan Feiqing didn't know how to say that being dragged all the way back led to him being scratched by the dead branches and weeds on the ground.
Lu Heng didn't shy away from it. He went straight to take a look at Duan Feiqing’s back underneath his dress: "Oh, it’s a minor wound. The saliva secreted by Xiaohua also has medicinal properties. This kind of minor wound will be cured in two days."
Duan Feiqing's face was flushed. Even though he knew that she was a doctor, he still couldn't adapt to the young girl's enthusiasm.
"You were heavily poisoned. If you hadn't met me, you would have been the food for Gu. I am afraid the person who poisoned you wanted to make your death certain." Lu Heng jumped onto a boulder and sat cross legged, with his elbow on his leg and his chin in his palm.
No matter how mature he was, Duan Feiqing was only a 16-year-old after all. His life suddenly changed, and he was chased by people while poisoned. He had fled to the jungle in Miao area in a hurry. After meeting Lu Heng, he had a chance to breathe. At this moment, the mind was slightly relaxed, but he couldn’t help but let loose his inner thoughts.
"Yes, why not brace the heart and put me to death?” Duan Feiqing let the words loose without minding his manners. He fell back on the bamboo bed and raised his right hand to cover his face. "My Duan family was teeming with people and every single one of them died in their hands."
Duan Feiqing was born into a Wulin family, the Duan family of Anyang prefecture, known to everyone in the Wulin. His grandfather, Duan Hangyi, was a master swordsman renowned in the Wulin. The Duan family has always been one of the leading families in the Wulin. Then on his grandfather's 60th birthday, it all fell apart. During the birthday feast, it was clear that many precautions have been taken. However, the wine for birthday celebration had been tainted with a colorless and tasteless poison by someone.
Duan Hangyi, who had been in the Jianghu for half a lifetime and remained undefeated, fell under the poison. When the Duan family lost their ability to resist, a group of people clad in black broke in and killed whoever fell in their sight. The ground of the entire villa was stained with their blood. Duan Feiqing's mother had gone on an adventure when she was young. That time, she had been given a life-saving pill by a miracle doctor. Before she fell, she stuffed the pill into her only son's mouth. Duan Feiqing got a chance to barely escape from the hell on earth.
Feiqing! You must avenge the slaughter of the Duan family!" The bleak voice of his mother before her death kept haunting Duan Feiqing's ears. It was the last sentence of his dying mother that made Duan Feiqing escape to Miao and be saved by Lu Heng.
More than a month passed in the blink of an eye. Duan Feiqing's remaining poison has been cured and his injury has greatly recovered. Although in the midst of Crescent spring, the dream-like beauty stayed, but the deep hatred he carried in his shoulders reminded him day and night not to indulge in it.
Early in the morning. As soon as Lu Heng arrived at Crescent spring, he saw the man standing by the spring. Although he was dressed in Miao people's clothes, his youthful body still exuded the elegance and mannerisms of Han people. Lu Heng thought that this man was really too staunchly and mature. He was obviously not more than a few years older than himself. 15-16 year-old, for boys in the Miao village, was still the age of running around all over the mountain to chase cats and dogs.
However, Feiqing was always calm and restrained. Apart from recuperation, he practiced his sword beside Crescent spring every day. He has never been curious about the world beyond Crescent spring. Really like an old monk, Lu Heng thought in his heart, but he lightened his steps. He wanted to approach him without sound and see how he would panic.
However, Lu Heng, who had been walking all the way here, forgot how difficult it was to hide any sound from a martial artist. The idea had just occurred to Lu Heng, when he saw Duan Feiqing turn around.
"Ah Heng, here you are." Duan Feiqing saw that it was Lu Heng. His solemn expression immediately relaxed and he smiled.
Here it was again. Lu Heng wanted to cover his eyes. He couldn’t stand this man's smile, because this little Han brother was so just beautiful. Every time he smiled, Lu Heng felt as if he was seeing the scene of butterflies flying on the crescent spring at the peak of spring.
"Hmm." Lu Heng pretended to be calm and nodded while he looked the floor.
Duan Feiqing didn’t care at all. For the rest of this month, he has been used to Lu Heng's awkward temperament: "Ah Heng, I still have things to do, I have to say goodbye to you."[2]
2. The rhyming was accidental *shrugs*
Lu Heng was stunned. He saw that the face in front of him was gentle rather than firm, and he was a little unhappy: "Hurry up, hurry up. A Han man, after recuperating from his injuries, still staying in my Miao land?"
"Ah Heng, I will come back to see you." Duan Feiqing saw Lu Heng's face was puffed up again, and intended to pat his head to calm him, but he didn’t realize how unusual this action would be for him who has always been polite.
"Ah Niang said that you Han people are the most deceitful. I won't believe you." But Lu Heng retreated, and the words of scorn spewed from his mouth.
Duan Feiqing's hand landed in the air. He paused for a bit, and then he took it back and drew a black short sword from his waist.
"The shadow sword and the lustrous sword I use are a pair of long and short swords. I'm only used to long sword. I'll leave this short sword for you to defend yourself."
"The sword is black and ugly." Lu Heng mumbled, but he took it nevertheless. Lu Heng, who was born in the Miao area, didn't know that the Lustrous and shadow twin swords were the magic weapons that countless people in the Wulin dreamed of.
Time flew, and in a flash five years passed. Lu Heng was already a young man. Well, he still looked like a girl. Although he was tall and slender, he was more demure than a real girl. Miao people had always been negligent and they never doubted Lu Heng's gender.
Thanks to Lu Heng's face, as he grew older, the baby fat on his cheeks had faded away, and his eyes were more and more aggressive. Coupled with this he had soft lines, fair skin and sparse body hair. Lu Heng, who dressed as a woman, only made others think that the girl was gorgeous and warm no matter who saw her.
Lu Heng had just walked into the vicinity of Crescent spring, when he saw a familiar figure lying on his back beside the spring. Duan Feiqing? Lu Heng was not sure if he should get closer. This was the second time Lu Heng had seen him in five years. The last time was four years ago.
At that time, Duan Feiqing had brought a lot of rare things of the Han people to see Lu Heng, and said that he had worshipped a close friend of his father as master. Taichu sect has survived for thousands of years. It was even more influential in the Wulin. His Master heard that his close friend's family had suffered such a disaster. Now he vowed that he would find out the leader behind the scenes and seek justice for Duan Feiqing's enemies.
After separating that time, Lu Heng had lost contact with Duan Feiqing. Lu Heng thought that just as a Niang once said, the Han people were the most deceitful, so he didn't take Duan Feiqing's promise to come back to him seriously.
However, why did this man appear in Crescent spring? He seemed to be seriously injured and on the verge of death.
NILADRI: Well I think he either got his a$$ handed to him by his enemies, or miao people didn't let him enter, or someone betrayed him. What do you guys think happened? I would love to hear in comment section.
Also, does anyone here like those JP villainess noble girl otome game novels?