Enemies Chapter 8: “Are You Here to Save Me?”

Chapter Eight: “Are You Here to Save Me?”

Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations 

 

Editor: Addis

“Shameless! Despicable human!

Chu WuQing didn’t know that this unmoving corpse was currently cursing at him. Even if he did, he wouldn’t care.

Once the contract was formed, Chu WuQing patiently took out a regenerative salve, spreading it over the wound. His slender fingers, covered in transparent salve, gently stroked over the cut on the demon’s chest. He watched as the wound sealed up without a trace, a smile in his eyes.

For a normal cultivator, Otherworld Demons were very mysterious beings, because they didn’t exist in the cultivation world, only in the Divine Heavens and Void Battlegrounds.

All that cultivators knew of them were that they were very powerful. However, Chu WuQing, after being reborn, knew everything that happened from the beginning of One Blade to Seal the Heavens all the way up until his own death. During this time, the protagonist had once accidentally entered the Void Battlegrounds, and met a Queen of the Otherworld Demons.

That meant that Chu WuQing knew about the Otherworld Demons’ secret technique. Whether or not a royal had truly died wasn’t something cultivators under the Void Comprehension stage could figure out. No matter whether this body had died or not, it belonged to him since he had bought it, so he immediately used the method of claiming ownership that the protagonist had used.

This method was certain to work. It wasn’t a coincidence as he had made it out to sound like before.

“Though you’re a soulless corpse, you belong to me, so you can’t go without a name.” Chu WuQing raised his head, gazing up at the demon’s beautiful face. Even though he was looking upwards, his demeanour didn’t make him seem weak; it made him seem like he was still looking down at everyone from above.

“Lowly unintelligent human, thou are not worthy of knowing my name. I shall allow thy to address me as Your Majesty.” For the first time, the demon felt displeased by the secret technique he was so proud of. No matter how much he yelled in his heart, he wasn’t able to actually say anything.

“Black hair, red blood, you and I are bound by blood as well.” Chu WuQing had the corpse kneel with a thought, looking up at him and his fingers gently brushed over the corpse’s cheek…

“Stop, my name is Xin Ye.”

“Then I suppose I shall name you Xiao Hong (1).”

The corpse did not speak, but the air thinned as if reacting to the corpse’s anger.

Chu WuQing raised a shapely eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. “What, you don’t like the name your master has given you? The sharpness of a weapon doesn’t depend on its name. You’re my servant. Never mind Xiao Hong, even if you were called Er Dan (2), you could still make people weep.”

The air around them thinned further, as if helping the inhabitant of the corpse express their rage and annoyance.

However, Chu WuQing seemed to not care. His wicked sense of amusement had his smile widening, snapping his fingers to make the newly minted Xiao Hong follow him outside.

The auction venue had countless teleportation arrays cultivators could leave through.

Chu WuQing stepped into one of the arrays with Xiao Hong and arrived outside the XianQi Pavilion in an instant. He only managed one step before felt the presence of several Golden Core stage cultivators, their spiritual auras suddenly converging on him, causing cracks to appear on the defensive robes he was wearing.

In an instant, a Golden Core stage spell shot towards him with the intent to kill. He had no chance of avoiding it as a mere Qi Condensation stage cultivator.

“Xiao Hong, defend me.”

Xin Ye darted in front of Chu WuQing, forced to use his royal body to take the Golden Core cultivators’ attacks.

Those who had ambushed Chu WuQing were from the faction behind that middle-aged Golden Core stage cultivator!

They obviously wouldn’t have thought that the XianQi Pavilion went against them because of Chu WuQing. Compared to a low level cultivator that hid under a cloak, Zhao Bo was the much more likely perpetrator.

However, they couldn’t touch Zhao Bo, so they could only vent their anger on Chu WuQing, and steal that Otherworld Demon’s body as well.

“Brat, you only have one corpse. You might be able to block one attack, but you can’t block them all!” The middle-aged Golden Core stage laughed disdainfully, looking at Xiao Hong greedily. As he spoke, eight Golden Core stage cultivators appeared, clearly aiming to surround Chu WuQing.

Fighting was forbidden in ChuTian City, but the middle-aged cultivator wasn’t afraid. With that Chu Clan elder behind him, he wouldn’t receive any harsh punishment. If he didn’t repay this cultivator for the humiliation he suffered today, how will he be able to stand tall in ChuTian City from now on? He had to save his reputation.

Plus, if he could get that demon corpse and gift it to the Chu Clan elder, then everything that happened today would be completely insignificant.

“Fools,” Chu WuQing remarked.

These people wanted him dead, and it wasn’t that they didn’t have the chance when he just arrived, but these few moments that had passed were enough for the XianQi Pavilion to react.

In an instant, the eight Golden Core stage cultivators that attacked at the same time seemed to be grasped by some invisible force, falling from the air like rocks. Countless spears of ice then appeared and five of the Early Golden Core stage cultivators silently met their end.

At the same time, an elderly man with a long beard appeared behind Chu WuQing. He didn’t look like anything special, but his aura was that of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator’s!

This elderly man spoke to Chu WuQing, “Honored customer, our apologies for this.”

The tables turned too fast. In a split second, their positions were reversed. Chu WuQing was perfectly fine, yet on the middle-aged cultivator’s side, they had five dead and three maimed.

“XianQi Pavilion… You dare… I’m a friend of Elder Chu Hang,” the middle-aged cultivator howled in pain, now apprehended by several black robed Golden Core stage cultivators, glaring at Chu WuQing so hard his eyes popped. A guess was starting to form in his head, but he immediately dismissed it. If it really was that person, how could he possibly choose to sit on the second floor…

Seeing that the XianQi Pavilion had things under control, Chu WuQing didn’t spare the middle-aged cultivator another glance. He waved his hand and his Jade Boat appeared under him, taking both him and Xiao Hong away.

The Jade Boat was like the fall of a gavel. The middle-aged cultivator’s curses and rage died in his throat, his face paling… it was all over.

~~~

Upon returning to the Chu Clan, Chu WuQing settled Xiao Hong in Chu HuanZhi’s abode. Once Chu HuanZhi returned and made sure everything was alright, Chu WuQing immediately headed for the teleportation array on his Jade Boat.

The Gu Family was situated on the edges of the AnYang Realm, far enough from ChuTian City that the distance had to use the unit of tens of thousands of kilometres. Chu WuQing didn’t know, exactly, how far it was; he only knew that to get there, one had to go through several high-grade teleportation arrays, each costing at least ten mid-grade spirit stones.

After a whole day and night of teleportation, he finally arrived at the little city on the edge of the AnYang Realm called South City.

Though this South City might be called a city, it was really just a small town where low-level cultivators liked to congregate. A Golden Core stage cultivator here could rule the place. It was basically like a lower realm.

The Gu Family resided in this South City.

Speaking of, the Gu Family was also a family with thousands of years of history. They even had a Runesmaster ancestor that had brought their family infinite glory, yet how, they had declined to nothing more than an insignificant little family.

The strongest person in their entire family was only at Eighth Level Qi Condensation stage. However, in this tiny city, that was already an impressive cultivation level, enough to head a small cultivation clan.

Currently, in a courtyard in the Gu estate, a thin young boy who looked only to be five or six years old was being beaten up by several much stronger-looking boys.

There was a split bowl of mouldy congee next to him and a piece of bread that was going green.

Any servant of the Gu Family would be much better fed than this, but this was the only food that the child had – he had gone without for days – stolen from the trash thrown out of the kitchen.

The child’s hunger overwhelmed the pain of the blows, his stomach twisting unbearably. His gaze was fixed to that piece of bread and he reached out, wanting to grab it.

Yet just as his hand was about to reach it, a shoe stomped on the piece of bread. When he looked up, he saw the owner of the shoe smile at him mockingly. “Trash, you want to eat? You might as well starve; you’re nothing more than a blemish on the Gu Family’s name. If you want to be a beggar, go beg elsewhere.“

Hatred welled up in the child’s eyes. He was already ten, but because of malnutrition, he seemed so much younger. Combined with the torn, baggy clothing he had on, he seemed even more frail.

However, none of that affected the young boy’s aura or his striking features. He was dressed worse than a beggar yet the aura he exuded made him seem even more regal than the South City Master’s son.

A flash of ice cold appeared in his dark eyes; his gaze was locked onto the young man that had his foot on the bread. Even though he had no physical power to resist, his gaze put a huge, invisible pressure on the other; an aura that was even more terrifying than when faced with a Foundation Establishment stage cultivation senior.

This was exactly what irritated his tormentors even more. They wanted to beat him until he bowed his head in submission. He was nothing but a worthless beggar, yet he dared look at them like that, act like that… that piece of trash!

The child clutched the bread he tugged out from under the other’s boots tightly, devouring it in large bites. It was only at times like this that these other children would have mercy on him, mocking him, “That’s right, this is where you belong, stealing food from underneath my boots. Being a good little beggar and not glaring at people like that.”

The child’s head was bowed, pecking at the ground like a bird. It seemed like he was accepting what they said, but he tore into the food harder. He… he had to live… live with everything he had. There was hope so long as he remained alive, even if it meant he had to eat like this and endure this humiliation. He silently repeated to himself what he had snuck a peek at the bookstand. “The fish in the North of the Underworld are called Kun. The size of Kun is immense, an uncountable number of kilometres; it turns into a bird, named Peng. Peng’s back is immense, an uncountable number of kilometres…(3)”

As he chanted to himself, his urge to throw away everything and attack these people slowly calmed, as if he really had managed to distance himself…

“Grandfather said that those who are able to endure will win, but how come I still feel so terrible; how come I still want to cry?”

His name was Gu Yu, the youngest son of the previous family head. His parents and elder brother died when he was younger when they went to a Hidden Realm to collect something. The uncle that took on the role of family head thereafter had a grudge against Gu Yu’s father and vented all his hatred on this young child.

No one knew how talented Gu Yu might be because no one dared to take him for an examination, and no one would let him go to school or cultivate. Ever since he was young, he was treated like a beggar, and anyone who dared to express sympathy for him would be sent elsewhere. Anyone in the family could bully him and use him as a punching bag.

Under the current clan head’s intentional leadership, everyone thought Gu Yu was worthless trash who couldn’t cultivate; a blemish on the Gu Family name.

Him? The blood of the main family? Humiliating.

In reality, Gu Yu was the greatest array prodigy in the past hundred years. He was born with dual wood and water spiritual roots along with a Divine Eye. He was also a loyal follower the author created for the protagonist. After the protagonist rescued him from his family, he became loyal to the bone, and didn’t hesitate to destroy the entire Gu Family.

It wasn’t until their annihilation that the Gu Family knew what opportunity they had missed because of the Family Head’s hatred; they had lost their chance to relive their glory days.

“You dare cry?” Another person saw the tears that dripped onto the bread and immediately mocked him, “You should be thankful we don’t just beat you to death. You think you have the right to be displeased?”

“I think he’s being angry at second brother for stepping on that bread.”

“Isn’t it just a piece of bread?” That person kicked Gu Yu’s hand and then grinded the rest of the bread into little bits, kicking it away and laughing, “Haven’t you gone without food for days? Well? Eat!”

Gu Yu’s eyes went red. He knew how these people wanted to humiliate him, to watch him eat off the ground like a dog… This was all so that he could live… So that he could live, Gu Yu slowly crawled towards the broken bits of bread…

“Hey, Gu Yu, look up?” Someone suddenly laughed.

Gu Yu raised his head in confusion and then froze in shock. This direction… it was towards the ancestral hall, where they made offerings to and prayed to all the main family ancestors!

No, grandfather!

… Gu Yu couldn’t endure any more.

“You still aren’t eating? What? You want us to feed you or something?”

“Us? Feed him? He’s just looking for a beating, isn’t he?”

With that, they started punching and kicking Gu Yu again. They had long since gotten used to venting all their frustrations on this clansman. It wasn’t like anyone would care, anyways, so long as they didn’t kill him.

The family head even delighted at them bullying Gu Yu, so who would stop them?

Gu Yu ignored the blows landing on his body, trembling as he reached out.

Yet in the next moment, there was a commotion to the side. “Honored Xianzhang, there’s no need to go over there, only servants live over there.”

“Xianzhang, there are plenty of talented members of the Gu family here, there’s no need to lower yourself to take in that useless trash.”

“Xianzhang…”

A cacophony of voices melded together before quieting, seeming to have noticed what had been happening here. They all paled, their words dying in their throats.

Though they knew about one of their members being bullied and tormented, they didn’t think it would just so happen to be seen by their honored customer today. What were they going to do after this?

Those people that were kicking Gu Yu didn’t even seem to care, but when he heard what the others were saying, they knew that this visitor was no ordinary visitor and hurriedly bowed in respect to Chu WuQing.

Chu WuQing walked past them emotionlessly, not even sparing them a glance.

Honored visitor, Xianzhang, none of this had anything to do with Gu Yu. He was number to the outside world now, only wanting to take this chance where no one was attacking him to hurry and eat.

Gu Yu carefully tried to make himself as small and unnoticeable as possible, grabbing the broken pieces of bread, yet that was when there was the flash of a blade. His hand felt cold for a moment and what little remained of the bread was turned into powder, scattered across the mud.

Gu Yu’s hands trembled, trying to pick out the tiny bits of bread from the mud. He hadn’t eaten for two days and two nights… Despair washed over him like a tidal wave.

That was, until, a pair of clean, slender hands picked him up off the muddy ground. That concerned, melancholy expression was ever so perfect, so pure, on those delicate, beautiful features and the strands of silver hair that brushed over that white robe made the person seem like a god from the nine heavens.

Gu Yu froze, and the pieces of bread crumb covered mud that he sought to fill his belly after days of hunger fell to the ground, but he didn’t even notice.

“Are you here to save me?” Gu Yu’s eyes widened, the words tumbling from his mouth. His dirty little hands wanted to brush off the mud and dirt on himself, but it only made him dirtier, even staining the pure white robes of the beautiful person.

The child frowned, apprehensive and pained, but when he looked up, the sunlight lit up the broken hope in his eyes.

Ever so cautious.

The beautiful person smiled gently, ethereal, “That’s right, I’m here to take you away to become the greatest Runesmaster ever.”

 

(1) Little Red, a rather… er, plain name, I guess? More like a nickname you give to a kid

(2) Literally, two balls…

(3) by Zhou Zhuang