Legend of Lord San Shen
Many years later, when people asked Tang Ye how his first kiss felt, he chuckled and frankly replied, “It tasted like explosive powder mixed in a pit of manure.” When their lips made contact, depression enveloped his body; he felt that he had no escape. He just stared at the sky and spaced out. The only other proof he was alive besides his beating heart were the tears rolling down from the corner of his eyes. Tang Ye did an abundance of thinking as he lied there helplessly.
When he was around seven, his kind mother hugged him and stressed, “Ye, don’t ever do bad things.”
“I won’t, Mother, because doing bad things makes you a bad person, right?”
“No.” Tang Ye’s mother caressed her confused son’s cheek. “I… have asked a diviner to take a look into your future. You will never do bad things. Always bear in mind that bad luck will befall you if you do bad things; if you aren’t assaulted and cursed, you will be abused. If you continue to err, you’ll be poisoned or even… You won’t understand even if I tell you. Thankfully, you’re not a girl, so you won’t have to suffer ramifications. As a matter of fact, you might even find yourself a wife as a result… I shouldn’t have said that. Just remember to never do bad things.”
As his soul returned from a trip around the world, Tang Ye listened to the sound of cicadas’ chirps.
People truly shouldn’t sin. Why didn’t I listen to my mother…? Why did I tell a fib…?
Tang Ye shut his eyes and let the disgusting taste explode in his mouth. When he opened his eyes again, tears streaked down his cheeks.
Bai Yumo, crouching on the ground as she cleaned her teeth using a branch and teethpowder, stuttered, “Y-you okay?”
“How long was I out for?”
“Just a short while; basically, as long as it took me to grab stuff to brush my teeth. You feeling better?”
“… Still alive.”
“Oh. Want to brush your teeth?”
Tang Ye sat up and extended a hand in a way that could be interpreted as him trying to strangle innocent Bai Yumo or accept a brush. Of course, he was after the brushing implement as he would never sin again. Bullying his saviour wasn’t a good deed by any stretch of the imagination, right?
The two of them earnestly brushed their teeth in crouched postures.
Tang Ye didn’t keep “life and death unknown pill” on him to save a life but for interrogation purposes. It was a hassle to carry around a bunch of tools, but it was convenient to carry just one pill, after all. Heck, he could’ve neutralised even the sharpest of blades if he were just to take the cork off. Never in his wildest dreams did he predict he would be the one to consume it… not to mention have a girl straddle him and force feed it to him.
“I…”
Tang Ye’s face stiffened when he heard the “criminal” and his saviour speak.
“I… think you should refrain from fighting Brother Xun Feng.”
Tang Ye didn’t have the faintest idea what Bai Yumo was trying to convey.
“I’m not suggesting he wasn’t out of line, but… you can’t beat him in your current state.”
“I won’t fight him.”
“But the stuff he said…”
“He didn’t kill my father.” Tang Ye grabbed the cup of water to rinse his mouth. “I have no right to avenge my father if I can’t even tell who my enemy is. Don’t worry. I know who is and isn’t my enemy. He’s just a joke.”
“You speak too highly of me, Brother Tang.” Leading at the front, Xun Feng led two big men behind him carrying a stretcher.
Tang Ye squinted. “You’re back with what you said you were going to fetch?”
“Didn’t I tell you? No matter what tricks you try, the end result will be the same. We will win. We will dominantly win.”
“What have you done?”
“See for yourself, Brother Tang.”
The two burly men came forward and mindlessly threw the stretcher onto the ground. The person on the stretcher didn’t even make a sound upon impact with the ground. As soon as Tang Ye identified the individual on the stretcher, he lunged at Xun Feng and chopped at the latter’s face. Xun Feng smiled, expecting the violent reaction.
Bai Yumo shoved Tang Ye back before he could land his strike. “Don’t you have your priorities backwards? Check on your friend first.”
Bai Yumo was right, so Tang Ye went back to check on Su Xiao.
Su Xiao never looked so drained ever since practicing Yijin Jing. His face was smudged with dirt. His breathing was weak. His heart beats were slow. The worst injury on him was the attack he absorbed on his chest, which wasn’t to say the finger spear that landed on his back was negligible. His chest wound was either from taking impact from a whip or the wind pressure generated from a palm strike that broke through his qi armour. The finger spear on the back was the main reason he was unconscious. Being erudite in finger techniques, Tang Ye instantly recognised the culprit finger speared Su Xiao using a Buddhist technique.
Tang Ye took out the crimson vial again, pulled off the cork and waved it around Su Xiao’s nostrils. It didn’t take long before Su Xiao vomited up a big mouthful of blood. With lifeless eyes, Su Xiao gripped Tang Ye’s arm with everything he had left and uttered, “Tang Ye… be careful…”
Tang Ye gratefully responded, “Don’t speak. Rest.”
“Mm…” When Su Xiao shut his eyes again, his breathing was considerably smoother thanks to the whiff of “life and death unknown pill”.
Xun Feng smiled. “Brother Tang, you moved to first place using your wits, but you have lost a helper. How will you keep your placing tomorrow? We have Song Chi to substitute, but you are one man down.”
“Easy.” Tang Ye picked up Su Xiao and, with his back facing Xun Feng, stated, “It’s the martial arts contest tomorrow.”
Not even Tang Ye could explain how he felt so confident.
“I’ll just have to crush all of you.” Tang Ye looked over his shoulder. “Dead people can’t take prizes.”
Su Xiao opened his eyes just enough to see Tang Ye’s dominant form.
Su Xiao: Tang Ye, Tang Ye, I knew it. You really are Lord San Shen!
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