The night Ming Zhu jumped into the river was a complete state of upheaval. Shang Yanfeng hauled him from the water and, soaking wet, rushed him toward Shen Dian’s courtyard. Just as he stepped out of the gate, he ran into Yi Fuji, who was nearly dizzy from a frantic workload.
Seeing the bedraggled pair, Yi Fuji gestured a series of startled signs: *What happened?*
Shang Yanfeng said hurriedly, "Eldest Senior Brother jumped into the river."
Without further explanation, he took off like the wind.
Yi Fuji, his head spinning from the trivialities of the Sect Competition, clutched his zither and headed toward Yan Xueyu’s courtyard, intending to ask for help.
Upon hearing the request, Yan Xueyu gave a cold snort. "In this world, no one may command me to do anything. I act only upon my own will. Say no more; my mind is made up."
Yi Fuji: "..."
Yi Fuji felt a flush of secondhand embarrassment for him. He coughed twice before plucking a string of notes on his zither.
Yan Xueyu frowned. "Why call for me? Isn't Fifth Junior Brother usually the one doing this? Why didn't you go find him?"
Yi Fuji signed: *Yanfeng has been avoiding Master these past few days. Just now, I saw him rushing off with a soaking wet Eldest Senior Brother in his arms. He said Eldest Senior Brother jumped into the river.*
Yan Xueyu was immersed in his own world and only half-listened to the notes. Perhaps Yi Fuji’s dizzy head caused him to pluck the wrong string, or perhaps Yan Xueyu’s distracted mind misheard, but he took great delight in misinterpreting the meaning of that melody.
"Such a thing actually happened?" Yan Xueyu’s frown deepened. After a moment, he said, "Very well then."
Yan Xueyu had a decent temper, but his personality was somewhat eccentric; he enjoyed saying things that made others cringe without realizing it himself. Though his eyes were sightless, he performed his tasks without a single error.
Lu Qingkong had also been tricked into helping by Yi Fuji. While they had a spare moment, the two of them began to chat idly.
Yan Xueyu asked, "Have you heard about Eldest Senior Brother?"
Lu Qingkong replied, "Oh, I heard something about him accidentally falling into the river last night. Tsk, I’ll go check on him once we’re done here. How can he be even more of a weakling than that fellow Shen Dian?"
Yan Xueyu said seriously, "I just heard from Second Senior Brother that Eldest Senior Brother tried to take his own life by jumping into the river at midnight because Master scarred his face."
Lu Qingkong: "!!!"
"Is that true?!"
Yan Xueyu said, "Second Senior Brother said so himself."
"Holy mother of..." Lu Qingkong leaped up from the steps. "Master actually went that far? To drive someone to jump into a river?"
As everyone knew, if Lu Qingkong found out about something, the entire Rizhao Mountain would know within half a day.
Sure enough, thanks to Lu Qingkong’s vigorous promotion, a string of rumors quickly surged through the West and North Peaks of Rizhao, growing more outrageous with every retelling.
"Eldest Senior Brother jumped into the river to end it all in the middle of the night."
"Hey, did you hear? Because the Sect Leader disfigured him, Eldest Senior Brother couldn't take the blow and jumped straight into the river. If Fifth Senior Brother hadn't arrived in time, he’d be done for."
"What? The Sect Leader drove Eldest Senior Brother to jump into the river?"
"Shocking news! Guining Zhenren harbored indecent designs toward his eldest disciple and tried to force himself upon him! Eldest Senior Brother Ming Zhu, unable to endure the humiliation, committed suicide by jumping into the river! A total eclipse of humanity! A tragedy of cosmic proportions! An utter lack of conscience!"
Yi Fuji didn't have time for a drink of water until the afternoon. When he accidentally overheard this latest version, his face filled with horror.
"Such a thing actually happened?!"
***
Guining Zhenren emerged from his meditation and exhaled softly. There were two light knocks on the door, and Gui He entered carrying tea.
Guining Zhenren asked, "Why are you here?"
Gui He had a strange expression. He placed the tea on the table, looking hesitant, his words caught in his throat.
Guining Zhenren raised an eyebrow. "If you have something to say, speak."
Gui He wavered for a moment before saying cautiously, "Senior Brother... I heard some rumors outside..."
"What rumors?"
Caught between "asking might get me killed" and "not asking might make me burst," Gui He chose the latter, deciding to die for a worthy cause.
"I heard," Gui He whispered, "that because Senior Brother coveted Ah Zhu’s beauty and attempted... nefarious acts, Ah Zhu used death as a threat and even slashed his own face to preserve his purity. Afterward... Ah—Ah Zhu could not bear the shame and... ju—jumped into the river to end his life..."
Guining Zhenren: "..."
Gui He said tentatively, "Senior Brother..."
Guining Zhenren took a deep breath, his voice slightly unsteady. "You... where did you hear such bastardly words?"
Gui He replied, "They’ve spread across the entirety of Rizhao Mountain."
Guining Zhenren: "..."
***
Meanwhile, the Eldest Senior Brother of legend—the one who had supposedly jumped to his death in shame—was lying on Shen Dian’s bed. He was being dazedly fed medicine, only regaining full consciousness once the bowl was empty.
Shen Dian let out a sigh of relief and offered his practiced sarcasm. "Senior Brother, you truly are a man of unyielding chastity."
Ming Zhu: "?"
Having just woken up, his mind was still foggy. He asked blankly, "What?"
Shen Dian suppressed a laugh. "Master has already come looking for you four or five times. Every time he came, he was fuming with such rage that smoke was practically coming out of his ears. This is the first time I’ve seen Master this angry. Eldest Senior Brother, you’ve certainly got talent."
Ming Zhu propped himself up with his arms and rubbed his aching brow. "What exactly happened?"
Shang Yanfeng, hearing the news that Ming Zhu was awake, rushed over. Before he even reached the door, he heard a sudden, boisterous burst of laughter from inside, loud enough to nearly lift the roof.
He pulled back the exquisite cloth curtain to see Ming Zhu, who was supposed to be bedridden, now collapsed on the floor laughing, his entire body shaking violently. Shen Dian, who was supposed to be supporting him, was also kneeling on the floor, laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face.
Ming Zhu was laughing so hard he had no strength left, clutching his stomach and groaning in mock pain.
Shen Dian tried several times to help him up, but his own body was weak with laughter and his hands lacked any strength. He pounded the floor twice with his fist, his laughter becoming even more maniacal.
Shang Yanfeng: "..."
Ming Zhu gasped, "Ahahaha, no... my stomach hurts... help me, I can't laugh anymore... pfft, hahaha!"
Tears poured down Shen Dian’s face as he laughed and cursed simultaneously. "Stop laughing! You’re making me want to laugh more... Hahaha! You have no idea what Master’s expression was like every time he came by, or the murderous aura he had while glaring at you. I bet if you’d been awake then, he would have wanted to strangle you personally!"
Ming Zhu rolled around on the floor. "What... what does it have to do with me? I just went into the water to cool off... Ah, I can't... I’m going to die of laughter."
As soon as Shang Yanfeng heard this, he had a rough idea of what they were laughing about. With a cold face, he stepped forward and hauled the limp Ming Zhu up, leaning him against the couch. He gave a cold admonishment: "Stop laughing."
What Shang Yanfeng loved most was Ming Zhu’s face. Seeing him rolling around on the floor just now, he pinched Ming Zhu’s chin to carefully inspect the wound on his face. Only after confirming it was fine did he let go.
Ming Zhu, still unable to sit still from the giggles, said, "Fifth... Fifth Brother, if Master comes by later, you must remember to save me..."
Shang Yanfeng said with a stiff face, "Spreading scandalous gossip about your elders and laughing so insolently—do you two have no sense of discipline... pfft."
Shen Dian, still sitting on the floor, asked, "Fifth Senior Brother, did you just laugh?"
Shang Yanfeng replied coldly, "I did not."
Ming Zhu finally managed to suppress his laughter. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said weakly, "I wonder who spread the story like that. If Master finds out, he’ll definitely crush that person to death."
The source of the evil, Shang Yanfeng, had no idea that it was his own failure to explain clearly that had caused things to spiral out of control. He followed up by saying, "Though Master was in the wrong, it is indeed too much for people to spread such rumors. I will go discuss this with Second and Third Senior Brothers later to see if we can root out the culprit."
Ming Zhu rubbed his face, which was nearly stiff from laughing. "Then you’d better be quick. I’m afraid Master will silence me forever before you even find them."
Shang Yanfeng nodded. "Naturally."
He promised naturally enough, and then spent the entire day investigating with the other two culprits. They failed to find out exactly who had spread the story to such an extent.
"This is too much," Yan Xueyu said, slamming a hand onto the table. Because he was blind, he nearly smashed Yi Fuji’s Jiaowei Zither which was sitting there. "To spread such rumors about Master and Senior Brother—do they think we inner disciples are just a bunch of useless parasites?"
Yi Fuji also frowned. *No matter what, Master’s mood is bound to be foul after hearing such rumors. If we don't find a culprit, I'm afraid this won't end.*
Shang Yanfeng, his mind focused on ensuring Eldest Senior Brother’s face suffered no further devastation, pondered for a moment before suddenly saying, "Let’s find a scapegoat."
Yan Xueyu asked, "Hmm?"
Shang Yanfeng said, "Who is the most likely to have spread this everywhere, and is also the easiest to handle?"
The three of them fell into silence.
Right at that moment, Lu Qingkong walked over joyfully, cradling a wooden box. Seeing his three senior brothers gathered there, he immediately rushed over, eager to share the exquisite item he had developed.
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in the eyes of Shang Yanfeng and Yi Fuji. They looked toward the oblivious Lu Qingkong with ill intent.
Yan Xueyu couldn't see, but hearing the sound of Lu Qingkong running over, a slight smile touched his lips—one that was utterly predatory.
Lu Qingkong had no idea he had walked into a wolf’s den. He plopped down, a rare smile appearing on his usually gloomy face, thinking only of showing off his results. "Brothers, brothers, brothers, listen to me! I’ve developed a miniature Xingyuan based on the standard model. From now on, we won't need to buy Xingyuan Jade Tokens when we go out. This will save us a fortune over time. I was just about to go find Little Martial Uncle..."
Before he could finish, Shang Yanfeng delivered a chop to the back of his neck. Caught off guard, Lu Qingkong was knocked unconscious instantly.
Yi Fuji plucked a note on his zither that nearly went out of tune.
Shang Yanfeng expressionlessly hoisted Lu Qingkong’s thin frame onto his shoulder. "Let’s go. Time to report back to Master."
Truly, the rumors that the inner disciples of Rizhao did not get along were not unfounded.
The supposedly steady and composed Shang Yanfeng was willing to commit any sort of villainy for the sake of beauty.
The three of them walked side-by-side toward Guining Zhenren’s hall. As they moved further away, Shang Yanfeng’s voice could still be heard, sounding extremely puzzled: "Even though Old Nine is taking the fall this time, there’s no guarantee there won't be a next time. Who do you think would be so audacious as to do this?"
Yan Xueyu said, "I know not. Regardless, if the real one falls into my hands next time, I shall make them wish they were dead."
*Zither note.*
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 贞洁烈男 | Man of unyielding chastity | A humorous gender-flip of "贞洁烈女" (a woman who dies to protect her virtue). |
| 行鸢 | Xingyuan | A kite-like flying vessel used for transport. |
| 行鸢玉令 | Xingyuan Jade Token | A token used as payment or a pass for using the Xingyuan. |
| 焦尾琴 | Jiaowei Zither | Literally "Scorched Tail Zither," a famous type of ancient Chinese zither. |
| 老九 | Old Nine | Referring to Lu Qingkong, the ninth disciple. |
