CH 4

“I didn’t expect that someone would appear midway, in the end I still let him escape.” The third prince Yu Ren Shu (surname is Yu Ren) said seemingly carelessly, sitting with legs crossed and one foot poised in the air.

That elderly man who wanted the seize Jiang Chao Ge in the audience hall, frowned severely. His greyish white hair and face full of wrinkles as deep as ravines allowed him to appear full of prestige, “According to Your Highness’s strength, how could you allow a Other World person with weak spiritual power to escape right before your eyes?”

Yu Ren Shu shrugged his shoulders, “I removed my armour, and didn’t have any decent weapons on hand. That old man used Dark grade spirit weapons.”

“Oh? Then when you initially got seized by him, what’s your excuse? That you drank too much last night?” A mocking voice rang in the hall of the Great Master.

Yu Ren Shu looked back. A slender, magnificent and pretty male figure leaned against the entrance door. That shining, magnificent silver hair was the distinctive symbol of the royal family.

Yu Ren Shu nodded slightly, and said neither haughtily nor humbly: “Second Brother.”

The person that came was precisely Tian Ling Nation’s—— Second prince.

Yu Ren Kui strolled inside, “In the great magnificent sacrificial hall, in front of His Excellency the Great Master and so many people from the royal family and nobility, you being a prince and a Rank 5 spirit weapon user, was actually seized by a Other World person and in addition even allowed him to escape. Do you even allow the royal family to have face?”

Yu Ren Shu said without the least bit of care, “What he grabbed was a Heaven grade spirit weapon. Once he lets go, a thousand jin’s weight will crush me into…. meat pulp. Naturally I can’t be careless.” He remembered that Other World person’s strange adjective, ‘meat pulp’? Really interesting, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but pull a little. He looked towards the elderly man, “Your Excellency the Great Master, the appearance of the Other World person is a complete accident. Since he escaped from my hands, I will take responsibility for recovering him and the spirit weapon.”

The elderly man, that is the Great Master’s expression was stiff, the hands beneath the long sleeves of his robes tightened around the armrest. “Then I’ll trouble Your Highness to attend to the matter personally.”

Yu Ren Kui gave a sarcastic smile: “Shu, you already let him escape once, if you cannot snatch back the spirit weapon…..”

Yu Ren Shu said rudely, “In any case, that spirit weapon is also not compatible with Second Brother. Then I request that Second Brother no longer worry.”

Yu Ren Kui narrowed his eyes and gave a cold snort.

Yu Ren Shu got up and stretched, “If there’s nothing else, then I’m going to catch someone.”

“Your Highness take care.”

After the two princes both left, the pure handsome youth that stood beside the Great Master who’d been silent and wordless all this time said, “Yifu, Prince Shu is brave and battlewise. How could he be so easily seized by the Other World person…” His voice seemed to have yet to change (pre puberty), and is a bit thin and soft.

The Great Master softly let out a breath, voice as cold as winter ice, “That’s right, he purposefully let the Other World person go.”

“He wants to monopolise Heaven grade spirit weapons?”

“Under all the heavens, who doesn’t want to monopolise Heaven grade spirit weapons? Even if they themselves are not compatible, holding it in ones hands is also a treasure.”

The youth was surprised, “Then should we send people first…..”

“No.” The Great Master stood up. His figure is tall and thin and with a demeanour rather like that of a transient being said, “Prince Shu, while arrogant and conceited, is nevertheless an open and honest person and also has formidable power. If he brings back that sword first, it’s also a good thing. Only….” The Great Master sighed once again. A thin and withered hand supported his forehead, shoulders collapsed as if unable to bear some great burden. He appeared extremely downcast.

“Yifu what’s wrong?” The youth jumped in fright. He had never seen the Great Master so worried.

The voice of the Great Master shook a little, “I’m afraid that sword…..”

The youth gulped, his heart thumping heavily.

“That sword…. perhaps it’s not a Heaven grade spirit weapon at all.”

At first the youth was dumbfounded, then soon afterwards became shocked, his expression changing abruptly, “Yifu, you’re saying…..”

The Great Master clenched his hands into fists, “You Zhun(this is a name), you know how serious this is. You must never reveal even a bit of what we discussed today.”

“Please be reassured. Only…..” A bit of fear caught in You Zhun’s eyes, “Yifu, if it really is….. then what should we do?”

The Grea Master shook his head, his expression a bit indistinct, “If I discovered it first, then it wouldn’t be placed on the sacrificial altar for spirit weapon users of nobles and the royal family to choose. Then what happened today also wouldn’t happen, ignorance…. The power of the seal has been unstable for ten thousand years already. It has been weak and unable to hold up since a long time ago. That day will come sooner or later. It’s not something manpower can control. Once the Divine grade spirit weapon appears, this world and that world will be in imminent danger.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Jiang Chao Ge and that child stared at each other for a minute. He scratched his heads, snapped his fingers, pointed to the child and said: “You uh… what type of rare beast are you?”

The child said in a stern voice: “Foolish people, put down your finger.”

Ordinarily, Jiang Chao Ge would still have the mood to tease the child. At present, he held down a stomach full of resentment, that may explode at any time. He stood up and reached out his hand, wanting to pick up the child.

Meng Sheng immediately stopped him: “You cannot…..”

The child’s ability to walk was weak. He tottered forward two steps and opened his mouth, revealing a mouth full of little canines. Then he bit towards his arm.

Jiang Chao Ge avoided it easily, grabbed the front of his robes, picked him up and held him. The child was burning with anger, and struggled with all his might in Jiang Chao Ge’s embrace, feet kicking, “Foolish people, trash! You are so bold, you actually dare touch me! I’m going to eat you! I’m going to tear your body into a thousand pieces!”

Jiang Chao Ge shouted beside his ear: “Shut up!”

The child became stunned.

Jiang Chao Ge thought he’d been scared stiff and sighed, “You….”

The child seemed to have deeply shamed and humiliated, pupils like a burning flame, giving out brilliant rays of light. He opened his mouth and started to scream, only the sound that came out of his throat was nevertheless the delicate scream of a child.

Jiang Chao Ge covered his mouth with one hand. The child opened his mouth and bit Jiang Chao Ge’s finger and unexpectedly his strength was not small. Jiang Chao Ge felt a burst of pain from his finger, it’s definitely bleeding. He shook off the child’s teeth, and said furiously, “You fucking make more noise and I’ll tie you up!”

“You dare! I will eat all of you——”

Meng Sheng hurried forward two steps. Jiang Chao Ge thought he had a way to stop this little brute, when he saw Meng Sheng kneel down with a plop.

Jiang Chao Ge’s eyes widened and looked at Meng Sheng as if he was looking at a stupid cunt.

Meng Sheng cupped his hands in obeisance, “Rare beast sir, there are many foolish people and they are disrespectful. Please calm your anger, calm your anger.”

The little chest of the child rose and fell powerfully and, probably thinking that he regained some face, calmed down. He opened Jiang Chao Ge’s hand and glared at him, “Trash, put me down.”

Jiang Chao Ge took a deep breath, resisted his impulse, telling himself he couldn’t abuse a child, and put him down.

~~~~~~~~~

The child straightened his robes, and with a wave of his small hand, arrogantly said, “Get up.”

Meng Sheng stood up and winked at Jiang Chao Ge, “Rare beast sir, if I may ask, your true body is……”

The child cast his face over, “This type of trash, doesn’t deserve to know.” He glared at Jiang Chao Ge, “And you, don’t vainly hope to be my spirit weapon user.”

Jiang Chao Ge raised his eyebrows, “Then you go find someone else. Just relying on your short arms and legs, after walking a hundred metres you’ll collapse.”

The child frowned, “What is a hundred metres?”

Meng Sheng said hurriedly, “Rare beast sir, while he’s spiritual power is weak, he is nevertheless the only person that is compatible with your spiritual awareness. Without him, how could you appear in this world?”

The child frowned in anger and glared, “Appearing in this sort of form? I would rather….” He paused, and thought for a bit. It seemed that anything would be better than being dormant all the time. He arrogantly pointed at Meng Sheng and said, “You, go find me a decent spirit weapon user.”

Meng Sheng smiled, “Rare beast sir, the probability that a spirit weapon and a spirit weapon user will be compatible is that low. Where should I go to find you one in such a short period of time?”

The child glared at them angrily, “Then you shouldn’t have allowed trash to summon me!”

Jiang Chao Ge got called ‘trash’ left and right by a little brat, making his brain hurt. He said impatiently, “Whoever you want to find I won’t block you. Take your lousy sword away.”

The child was about to explode again. Meng Sheng furiously winked at Jiang Chao Ge, let him sit to the side, and pretended to berate him, “Youngster, you cannot be rude to rare beast sir.”

Jiang Chao Ge sat down to the side and looked at the appearance of Meng Sheng, a 60 year old elderly man, being referent and respectful towards a three or four years old child. He felt that it was comical and laughable but he couldn’t laugh out loud. This lousy sword was originally his only hope. In the end, it summoned a devilish little brat that couldn’t help with anything and only knew how to shout. He became more and more at loss for the path ahead.

“Rare beast sir, my surname is Meng, name is Sheng. He is called Jiang Chao Ge. Could I be so bold as to ask rare beast sir’s name?”

The child rolled his eyes, “Zhi Xuan.”

“Sir Zhi Xuan.” Meng Sheng lowered his voice: “Although you can only appear in the form of a child right now, its at least better than always being dormant. When his spiritual power gradually grows, then you can return to your real body.”

Zhi Xuan shot a cold glance at Jiang Chao Ge, and said without a trace of politeness: “Wait until I return to my real body, I will eat him!”

Meng Sheng said, all smiles: “No rush, no rush. What I mean is, although his spiritual power is weak, at least it can awaken you. Even if you want to eat him, you’ll have to wait until he summons your real body…..”

Jiang Chao Ge gave a click of his tongue, “You act as if I’m deaf.”

Zhi Xuan said, “How long can I maintain my current appearance?”

“Three or five days.”

Jiang Chao Ge thought to himself, wouldn’t this be carrying a burden while running for ones life?

Zhi Xuan stuck out his little butt, jumped down from the chair, and walked towards the sword. He used a very small palm to stroke the dirty blade, an indescribable sadness filling his golden pupils. He said softly, “My horn.”

“What?”

“This is my horn.” Zhi Xuan turned his head, glaring at Jiang Chao Ge and said indignantly, “Your type of trash, don’t deserve to use it at all.”

Jiang Chao Ge said surprised, “Your horn is this big?” In the end, what sort of rare beast was this devilish brat?

~~~~~~~

Meng Sheng was also curious but did not dare to ask more.

“It’s even bigger than this.” Zhi Xuan quietly said. He suddenly laid on top of the sword, delicate little face pressed up against the blade, golden pupils slowly becoming empty, losing its focus. There was no knowing what he was thinking about. Perhaps he was remembering the majestic appearance of his real body as it galloped across the heavens and the earth.

“Hey, aren’t you afraid of catching a cold…..” Jiang Chao Ge had yet to finish when Meng Sheng made a hissing sound and moved, pulling him out of the house.

Jiang Chao Ge irritably patted at his hair. The hairstyle he once meticulously fixed was now as messy as a birds nest, “Can I withdraw him now? How can I run for my life bringing such a burden?”

Meng Sheng shook his head, “You can’t. If you withdraw him now, next time you let him out, he’ll hate you even more.”

“He still doesn’t hate me enough now?” Jiang Chao Ge curled his lip.

“He is a millennium old rare beast. Short lived and frail humans were originally as insignificant as mole crickets and ants in the eyes of rare beasts. He’s been sealed for so many years, what he yearned for the most was appearing in the world. Yet you cannot summon his real body, and can only allow him to appear in the form of a human child. Of course he’s angry.”

Jiang Chao Ge snorted: “What can I do? How was I to know that a sword would be so quarrelsome.”

Meng Sheng said with emphasis, “Youngster, can you be a bit more cool headed!”

Jiang Chao Ge looked at Meng Sheng’s serious expression, and took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, his restless brain becoming somewhat clearer. In fact, he rarely revealed his temper in recent years. The more you reveal, the easier it is for people catch hold of information that could be used against you. Today was the most chaotic and strange day of his life. Thinking about everything that happened today, he really wasn’t like the usual him. The calmness and rationality that should be there seemed to have all been scared away by crossing worlds. Along with this breathe in and out, he gradually returned to a more rational position.

First, he must be clear about his own goal and that is to return to the world he belonged to. For this goal, from now on, he must advance gradually and dig in at every step. He could no longer be frantic and confused. He must seize every possible opportunity, resource and information and get closer to the goal step by step. Second, he had to be clear about his current situation. His disadvantage was that he took a thing that stirred up trouble and he had also seized the prince of this nation. He would definitely be chased to be killed yet he knew practically nothing about this nation and also didn’t have the important spiritual power. But his advantage was that he had someone who could temporarily help him, and a Heaven grade spirit weapon that was extremely hard to ask for help. Finally the conclusion he reached was, this Heaven grade spirit weapon, might his biggest bargaining chip. If he could avoid being pursued and attacked and cultivate spiritual power, one day he will be able to control this weapon. Under the support of a powerful force, only then can he have the possibility of going to find the ‘Great Master’ and think of a way to go back.

As expected, after quickly straightening out his train of thought, Jiang Chao Ge calmed down. He didn’t have time and also didn’t have the energy to get angry, complain, or go mad. In this unfamiliar world, he could only rely on himself, just like back then when his parents disappeared and he was forced wonder the streets. It was simply starting from the start again. He could stick it out when he was 7 or 8 years old, he could stick it out now!

Jiang Chao Ge said calmly, “Old Meng, I’ve calmed down.”

Meng Sheng nodded, “Very good, you youngster is really not normal.”

“Old Meng, why do you want to help me? Don’t say it’s because we are both Other World people, I don’t believe you.”

~~~~~~~~

Meng Sheng stroked his beard, “At first it was really a momentary impulse. I hadn’t seen someone who came from the same world as me in a very, very long time. I couldn’t help but reach out when I saw you. After I realised that you had a Heaven grade spirit weapon in your hands, I saw a hope.”

“What hope?”

“Hope of returning home.” Meng Sheng sighed, “Its already been about ten years since I crossed into this world, I’d already given up for a period of time. The Great Master is one of the people with the highest cultivation and spiritual power in this nation. It’s impossible for me to even approach him. But you, you are still young and most importantly you are compatible with a Heaven grade spirit weapon and it is right in your hands. Little Jiang, perhaps you really can go back.”

This reason Jiang Chao Ge could accept. He was someone with a very suspicious frame of mind and always couldn’t easily trust in other people. Only, Meng Sheng was the only person that could help him right now. Regardless of for what purpose, he could only choose to believe him at the moment.

Jiang Chao Ge mentioned their world, planning to probe Meng Sheng with a few sentences, and discovered that Meng Sheng truly came from their world. This allowed him to be at ease a lot more.

Meng Sheng said: “We can’t spend the night here tonight. We will go after resting for a while. That little prince will definitely catch up.”

“How do you know he’s a prince?”

“His hair. The hair colour of many of the royal family and of nobility are silver and light golden. Only a member of the royal family has pure silver hair like that. In order to ensure a pure lineage, from generation to generation they intermarry close relatives. Sometimes they will give birth to spirit weapon users with enormous potential. Sometimes they can also give birth to an idiot.”

Jiang Chao Ge shrugged his shoulders, “He said he’s the third prince.”

“Indeed.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Third Prince Shu, is the strongest spirit weapon user out of all the princes. He’s only a little more than 20 this year, and is already a Rank 5 spirit weapon user, extremely talented.”

“How many Ranks can spirit weapon users be divided into?”

“9 Ranks. The Great Master is at least Rank 7, possibly Rank 8.”

Jiang Chao Ge still didn’t have much of an idea towards the Ranks of spirit weapon users, “What about you?”

“About the same as Prince Shu, only my spirit weapons are Dark grade, but Prince Shu’s spirit weapons are Heaven grade. Even if spirit weapon users are of the same rank, if the weapon is different, strength will also be worlds apart.”

Jiang Chao Ge said surprised: “He also has Heaven grade spirit weapons?”

“Yes, rare beast Zheng, the weapon’s name is called Tian Rong Jian.”

“Zheng…..”

“It’s a extremely powerful rare beast. I heard that it’s appearance is like a leopard with five tails one horn. At that time, I only dared to rescue you when I saw that he didn’t bring spirit weapons, otherwise I’m definitely not his match.”

The more he thought about it the more Jiang Chao Ge felt his scalp tingle. A wrong decision made in a moment of weakness. He offended a person that should not be offended, “We’d better go.”

“Wait a minute, first let me finish speaking.” Meng Sheng glanced at the inner room, “Little Jiang, the child inside, is not a child but a millennium old rare beast. However, some rare beasts are haughty and aloof, cold and arrogant, never coming into contact with mankind. Therefore their temperament is like a child, unfeeling and unreasonable, subject to changing moods. You can respect him as a millennium old rare beast, or you can forgive him as a child. No matter what, from now on, you must win his favour. Without you, he is still the Heaven grade spirit weapon that everyone wants. But without him, you are only a traitor who dares to steal spirit weapons and threaten the prince.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jiang Chao Ge took a deep breath, and gave a resigned smile, “Old Meng, I understand.” It was only acting helpless and miserable, it was nothing difficult for him. The only strange thing was, his previous targets for acting helpless and miserable were big shots. Only this time, not only was it not a person, but a child with only his knee’s height.

The two entered the house. Zhi Xuan still laid on top of the sword, only, his eyes were closed, appearing as if he was asleep.

Just as Jiang Chao Ge walked over, Zhi Xuan opened his eyes, pure gold pupils bright and piercing.

Jiang Chao Ge said: “I thought you were asleep.”

Zhi Xuan said coldly, “I’ve slept for tens of thousands of years. What I do not lack the most is sleep.”

Jiang Chao Ge loosened his bones and muscles, and imitating Meng Sheng’s manner, knelt down with a plop, “Sir Zhi Xuan, I committed a grave offence before, I ask that a person of great moral stature like you, do not remember the offences committed by one of low moral stature like me. Even if you appear in your real body later, I ask that you also don’t eat me.” Everyone says that there is a thousand pieces of gold under a man’s knees, but for people like Jiang Chao Ge, if you could get gold out of kneeling, he only wished to kneel a while longer.

Zhi Xuan made a humph! noise from his nose, “Depends on your behaviour.”

Zheng/狰- A legendary leopard like beast. It does appear later in the book and I’ll show scenes from the web comic as they come but for now imagine it as a huge as demented leopard with five times the number of tails and an extra horn.

a thousand pieces of gold under a man’s knees/男儿膝下有千金- this is basically saying that a man does not kneel easily in front of others due to pride etc. In context, Jiang Chao Ge basically has no pride in front of money.