CH 2

Su Yang couldn’t help being stunned when he heard this question.

He had been discovered?

The flower aide reminded him: “Young Saint, you were anxious just now and your movements were too obvious.”

Su Yang realised this.

Although this world was fictitious, it was defined by martial artists after all. The martial art practitioners in it were clever and perceptive; not to mention that the one below was the talented-and-admirable protagonist, Gu Feidi.

In his haste earlier, Su Yang’s action of grabbing a branch to get up was so pronounced that it would be a long shot if Gu Feidi was unable to detect him.

Only when this happens could the plot of the script be thrown into further disarray.

To go down, or not to go down; that is the question.

Su Yang had nothing to chew on, so he nibbled his nails in irritation. The thought came to him: As a matter of fact, this scene doesn’t deviate too much from the script, right?

In the script, the villainous Devil Sect’s Young Saint had competed with the protagonist, Gu Feidi, for the jade bell to gain entrance to Lesser Jade House. He had teamed up with a Devil Sect flower aide to force Gu Feidi into a desperate situation. But because of the ‘usual-script-themes’, he had continuously spouted nonsense, prolonging the time until Gu Feidi’s reinforcements arrived. 

Although he wasn’t driving the protagonist to desperation at that moment, it was actually not too bad.

Perhaps… when he goes down there and completes his lines, then maybe Gu Feidi’s xiao shimei* would make a grand entrance and usher in the reinforcements in accordance with the script?

(*TN: xiao shimei = youngest junior martial sister)

There wasn’t any movement from Su Yang’s end, but below, Gu Feidi did not relax his posture in the slightest.

The young man lightly grasped the sword hilt in his hand and straightened his body leaning on the tree trunk; his expression even more solemn than before.

Su Yang regarded the determined Gu Feidi and suddenly felt that it was all a little insufferable.

Having an unsettled feeling in his heart, he decided to ask the flower aide behind him for endorsement: “Since we’ve been discovered by him, why don’t we just read the lines and follow the storyline? It’s no big deal if we go down and show ourselves, right?”

The Devil Sect flower aide ignored the bewildering nonsense that his master had been uttering since five days ago and respectfully replied: “Young Saint may do as he pleases.”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Su Yang felt at ease.

He raised his hand and felt his hair out of habit. After realising that the full head of hair was not a wig, he quietly mocked himself. Only then did he activate his internal energy and leap off the tree branch to the ground.

His plan was like this:

He would use the Devil Sect’s unrivalled light footwork skill of the martial arts world —the Prized Flower Steps— and land softly on the small open space in front of Gu Feidi. Once he saw that he was adorned in Devil Sect’s attire, Gu Feidi would be so stunned that Su Yang would take this opportunity to display his evil aura and proceed to recite his monologue from the script.

Moreover, considering that he and Gu Feidi were so close to each other, he must display the full extent of his acting skills and push himself to deliver his best performance. This would leave the young man with the most profound impression of him!

In Su Yang’s mind, his plan was magnificent, but he didn’t take into account that he had yet to fully master his body’s internal strength and martial arts.

As soon as he’d landed, Su Yang regretted that it was not good.

When he’d launched off, he’d exerted too much force and advanced too rapidly.

Realising that he was about to come into close contact with Gu Feidi, who was standing under the tree, Su Yang immediately recalled his Prized Flower Step. He whirled around to offset the momentum, but had to inadvertently slam his leg on the tree trunk beside Gu Feidi’s ear and steady himself as a result.

He had unwittingly cornered Gu Feidi with both his arms and a leg propped up against the tree.

Su Yang: …

F**k, suffered a setback.

For a while, the two on the ground as well as the Devil Sect flower aide who was still hiding in the tree, were all dumbfounded.

Su Yang braced his hands on the tree trunk, a little embarrassed, wondering whether he should first deliver his lines or get up from this awkward position.

In accordance with the evil character of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, since he had already cornered someone, retreating wasn’t an option. However, there was no such part in the script of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint slamming the tree trunk and Su Yang wasn’t inclined to make too many changes.

But wouldn’t it seem a bit weird to recite the script’s original lines while his body was in this pose?

Su Yang’s thoughts were scattered. But before he could come up with a solution, he saw the young man half-circled in his arms suddenly cough up another mouthful of blood.

Gu Feidi’s eyes narrowed as he scanned Su Yang. His lips trembled slightly and he murmured softly: “Prized Flower Steps…”

Everyone in the Jianghu knew about the Prized Flower Steps, the number one light footwork skill of the martial arts world which was conceived by the Devil Sect. This exceptional, first-rate skill was only taught to direct disciples of the sect and would never be passed on to outsiders.

Gu Feidi recognised the Prized Flower Steps. His eyes regarded Su Yang’s face again, staring at the corner of his eye for a moment and finally managed a wry smile: “…Indeed, it’s you.”

It was rumoured in the Jianghu, although the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, Su Yang, was exceptionally good-looking, his whole person exuded an evil aura. The corner of his eye was slightly raised where one could make out a small red mole; as if he had just returned from a kill and a speck of blood had been left there.

There were also rumours that Su Yang, the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, had an unpredictable temper; his character was perverse, extreme and incomprehensible. Because he practiced the Six Underworlds Inter Flower technique of the Devil Sect, his internal strength was as powerful as one who had been immersed in martial arts for over ten years although he hadn’t yet reached twenty. His Blooming Lotus Sword technique, when paired with his whip-like thin sword, was unsurpassed and made others tremble with fear.

The rumours continued that among the young talented martial artists, only Gu Feidi, the son of the Martial Alliance Leader, could take on the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, Su Yang.

But that meant circumstances where both of them were in peak condition.

At present, the heavily injured Gu Feidi was hostile towards Su Yang, who in turn, seemed to be biding his time. Say nothing of his lack of strength, if Su Yang were to effect a single move on him, Gu Feidi wouldn’t be able to avoid it and would lose his life instantly.

Gu Feidi had recognised Su Yang and his eyes dimmed with tenacity and stubbornness. His eyelashes narrowed slightly, trying to hide the helplessness and despair in his eyes.

But Su Yang was very close to him and he was still keenly aware that the young man half-circled in his arms seemed to have given up all resistance. The expression on his face betrayed a sense of powerlessness; as if he had resigned himself to accept his fate.

Su Yang was caught off guard by Gu Feidi’s response.

The ‘Gu Feidi’ in the script was a fearless young simpleton, who, no matter what kind of predicament he encountered, would jump headfirst into the fray while disregarding his own safety. Even if he was left with one final breath, he would never display such a… fragile appearance as this.

At this point, Su Yang suddenly felt that the Gu Feidi before him seemed to be a more flesh and blood 16-year-old youth compared to the ‘Gu Feidi’ in the script.

Even though he was full of vigour and spirit, he would be fearful and distraught when confronted with an enemy he could not defeat.

Su Yang stared at this Gu Feidi and almost had the urge to smack him on the shoulder and say: “Don’t be afraid, little bro. Join me and I’ll protect you in the future!”

Su Yang was shocked by this line of thought. That would definitely ruin the image of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint. He hurriedly shoved away his musings. Nope, nope, shouldn’t think nonsense. Hurry up and recite the lines so you don’t screw up any further.

He then composed himself and strived hard to radiate some of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint’s evil aura. He narrowed his eyes, raised the edges of his mouth to smile in Gu Feidi’s direction.

“Ah, aren’t you that rumoured Martial World Tiger, the Young Righteous Hero? I didn’t expect you—whom the whole righteous Jianghu has placed such high hopes on—would also be interested in the legacy of Lesser Jade House?”

Just as he’d spoken the words, Su Yang suddenly felt something didn’t sound right. No—this line should have been uttered when he had just met Gu Feidi in the dense forest.

After this line, the two of them had come to blows over the jade bell. When they were fighting, Su Yang had a lot of lines to deliver, after which he’d inflicted heavy wounds on Gu Feidi and continued to pursue him in the forest… and even throughout the chase, his character had many lines where he’d relentlessly tease and taunt Gu Feidi.

But now that Gu Feidi was seriously injured and unable to fight back, how could he begin with this sentence? He should start reciting from the scene where Gu Feidi was forced into desperation!

Oops, that was a mistake.

Su Yang blinked a couple of times, dispensed with a long series of conversations between the two of them and skipped forward to the next few scenes.

“What’s happening? I’ve suddenly…lost all my strength?” Su Yang finished this line and exhaled in relief: That was close!

The original sentence in the script was ‘I don’t have enough energy to run anymore’, but now he’d skipped the chase part, so obviously this line had to be revised as well.

Seeing that Gu Feidi didn’t have any reaction to the strange pause in his sentence, Su Yang began to recite the follow-up line:

“I’m not fully satisfied yet…”

…and I want to exchange a few more moves with you.

…Wait a minute! The second part of the speech wasn’t right either! He hadn’t sparred with Gu Feidi at all, so why mention that?

He hastily blurted out the first thing on his mind: “…and I’d like to go on admiring your amazing figure.” 

Su Yang mentally prided himself on his versatility skills since he’d finally delivered the line with his evil character’s persona still intact.

But when he recalled his speech, it came off as a bit cringeworthy.

——I’ve suddenly lost all my strength? I’m not fully satisfied yet and I’d like to continue admiring your amazing figure!

Gu Feidi abruptly raised his eyes to scowl at Su Yang with a dagger-like stare, his face filled with shame and resentment.

“You—kill me if you wish.” He clenched his teeth, “Why insult me!”

Su Yang: .…..

Okay, he knows what went wrong.

Can’t blame Gu Feidi for going off-script since he was provoked.

Su Yang gaped and was speechless for a long time, feeling a little vexed, he said to himself: Does that mean the plot has collapsed? Despite being misled into expressing the wrong line, Gu Feidi is full of resentment towards me because of that. For the most part… maybe it hasn’t collapsed?

Having adequately reassured himself, Su Yang decided to continue speaking according to the script.

“As a matter of fact, there was no need to push yourself so rigorously.”

Su Yang smiled and continued: “Every time Lesser Jade House opens its gates, sixty-six jade bells are hung all over Meizhu Mountain. Although only those talented ones who have obtained the jade bell and reach Lesser Jade House mountain gate are allowed to enter the formal assessment, however you can still snatch the jade bell from others. Give me yours and you can procure one from the countless others in the forest who won’t be able to withstand two moves from you. Why must you absolutely insist on defending yourself—”

“—you only desire…the jade bell?”

Gu Feidi interrupted before Su Yang could finish.

Gu Feidi’s breaths were perceptibly poor by now, but he still supported his body to prevent himself from falling over. Lifting his blood-stained face and looking stubbornly at Su Yang, he asked, “Just… the bell?”

Su Yang blinked again.

What just happened?

Shouldn’t Gu Feidi’s reply be: ‘Even if I die here, I would never hand over the jade bell to anyone from the Devil Sect.’ Wasn’t that right?

Hey, dude, you can’t randomly change my lines just because you are the protagonist!