LWSL Chapter 142

Big thanks and a shout-out to biki for sending me a laptop so that I can translate LWSL more conveniently!

Without any explanation, Wu Ruo walked out of the main door of of the Proprietor’s residence and saw Hei Xuantang, Hei Gan, and Hei Xuanyi carrying Dandan standing by the entrance, waiting for him.

Hei Xuantang smiled: “Here comes dasao!”

“Daddy!” Dandan waved at Wu Ruo excitedly.

The corners of Wu Ruo’s lips twitched. Not only was the child fine, he had even gained weight. It was clear to see that the past few days had gone by luxuriously for him.

Hei Xuanyi walked up to Wu Ruo and asked: “Alright?”

“I’m alright.” Wu Ruo looked at the residence behind him: “Why did the Proprietor suddenly let us go?”

“Since we didn’t steal their top-grade shenling pills nor did we kill their sentry guards, of course they had to let us go.” Hei Xuantang said gloomily: “Since I was born, this is the first time that I’ve been locked up in jail by someone else. It’s smelly and dirty, with rats and cockroaches! It’s simply not for humans to live in. I don’t ever want to go to such a place again. Oh, right, dasao, where were you locked up?”

“I was locked up in an iron cage in the garden.”

Hei Xuanyi said: “This is not a place for chatting. Let’s continue after we return.”

“Hn.” Wu Ruo took Dandan from Hei Xuanyi, pinching Dandan’s little round face: “These days that you were taken away by the Proprietor, did you have so much fun that you forgot your father and daddy’s names?”

Dandan said with a proud expression: “My daddy is called Wu Ruo, my father is called Hei Xuanyi!”

Hei Xuantang interrupted: “What’s your sishu called?”

“Hei Xuantang.”

Hei Xuantang grinned: “That’s more like it! I didn’t dote on you in vain.”

Wu Ruo replied: “I thought that since you were eating and living well with the Proprietor, you would’ve forgotten your daddy and father’s names.”

“I wouldn’t forget Daddy!” Dandan hugged Wu Ruo’s neck and kissed him on the face.

Wu Ruo smiled and ruffled Dandan’s bangs.

“Xiao-Ruo!” Suddenly, someone called out.

Wu Ruo turned around absentmindedly, and was met with the sight of Ba Se being supported out of the Proprietor’s residence by his subordinates.

“Xiao-Ruo, it really is you!” Ba Se dashed toward Wu Ruo joyfully, but he was stopped by Hei Gan: “Xiao-Ruo, did you know, I came to Huangdu City especially to look for you!”

“Dasao, who is this person?” Hei Xuantang stood in front of Wu Ruo, blocking him from Ba Se, extremely displeased.

Viciousness flashed across Wu Ruo’s gaze: “A lecher.”

If it wasn’t because they still needed to locate Sang Lun, he would already get rid of this person right now.

“No wonder I could tell with one glance that he doesn’t seem decent.” Hei Xuantang looked at Ba Se: “My dasao already has my dage, if you keep pestering him, then I’ll castrate you.”

With a lift of his leg, he kicked the area slightly above Ba Se’s crown jewels, neither gently nor harshly. With a cold snort, he turned around and said to Wu Ruo and the others: “Dasao, let’s go.”

If Ba Se hadn’t been supported by others, he definitely would’ve crashed into a face full of dog shit. He tolerated the pain and gazed towards Wu Ruo’s distant silhouette, his eyes filled with a sinister ruthlessness.

The man who had just kicked him was quite good-looking, and the man standing next to Wu Ruo was also top-grade. It was a pity, both of them were taller than him and weren’t the type that he preferred.

Suddenly, Hei Xuanyi, who was walking by Wu Ruo’s side, glanced back. His cold and unforgiving gaze made the people standing by Ba Se’s side shiver unintentionally.

“Young Master, that person seems difficult to handle. It’s better if we don’t provoke him.” Ba Se’s guards said to him.

Ba Se naturally wasn’t a reckless person: “Let’s look for Sang Lun first, then we’ll talk about it.”

Only after they had left did Wu Xia emerge from the residence. He clenched his fists tightly within his sleeves, then he coldly spat two words out from between his gritted teeth: “Wu Ruo.”

If it weren’t for Wu Ruo, he wouldn’t have been played with by Ba Se in front of so many people, causing him to have no face to meet his parents with.

Wu Xia’s gaze darkened as he left the Black Market.

When Wu Ruo and the others emerged from the Black Market, in the next moment, they appeared in front of Hei Manor’s main entrance.

“They’re back, they’re back!” Guan Tong and Wu Xi said frantically.

Nu Mu said, smiling: “I already said they would be fine.”

Wu Qianqing walked up to them and asked: “Have you all been alright these past few days in the Black Market?”

Hei Xuantang said: “We’re fine! We were just locked up for a couple of days.”

Guan Tong said: “It’s good that you’re all alright. Quick, walk over this pot of fire to get rid of the bad luck¹This is an old superstition that you have to get rid of the bad luck ‘energy’ from jail before you enter your home again, and some people still practice this these days if they believe in the superstition..”

Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi looked toward the entrance, where there was a pot of fire burning at the center.

At this moment, Ji Xi walked out from behind the entrance and threw something into the pot of fire. With a booming noise, in that instance, the massive flames grew to the height of half a zhang: “Quick, come and get rid of the bad luck.”

Wu Ruo: “…”

Hei Xuanyi: “…”

Hei Xuantang’s expression turned black: “The fire is burning so high, how do you expect us to cross over it?”

Hei Xuantang carried Wu Ruo and Dandan, crossing over the pot of fire with one leap.

Hei Xuantang also jumped over it after them. Closely after, a pot of water splashed towards them. The four of them weren’t quick enough to react and were soaked all over.

Ji Xi said nonchalantly: “This is talisman water²符水 (fu shui): this is when you take a talisman, burn it up and then put it out in water. It functions kind of like blessed water., it can get rid of bad luck.”

Wu Ruo wiped his face and said with a dark expression: “Ji Xi, what’s your problem today?”

They had just narrowly gotten out of the Black Market, yet they were being treated in this manner. How could they possibly be in a good mood?

Hei Xin, who was standing to the side, said in a quiet voice: “His mood has been very bad these past two days. He’s been displeased, no matter who it is.”

Ji Xi glared at Hei Xin angrily. With a cold snort, he turned around and left.

Wu Ruo looked at Hei Xin: “What’s up with him?”

Hei Xin shook his head, gesturing that he didn’t know.

Nu Mu said: “I think it has something to do with Ye Ji.”

Wu Ruo raised an eyebrow.

“Is Dandan okay?” Guan Tong hurriedly carried Dandan from Wu Ruo: “Quick, get the servants to prepare hot water. Oh, and get them to quickly prepare lunch. Dandan must be starving! Look, his little face has lost weight.”

Wu Ruo: “…”

His son ate blood bird’s nest and shark’s fin soup when he was at the Black Market, how could he have lost weight?

Wu Qianqing said to Wu Ruo and the others: “All of you should hurry back to your rooms to bathe and change. Come to the main hall for a meal in half a shichen‘s time.”

“Hn.” Hei Xuanyi carried Wu Ruo and left in one leap, flying towards the courtyard that they resided in.

Shi Yuan and the others³Quick reminder: Hei Xuanyi assigned four high-level corpse servants to serve Wu Ruo, at Wu Ruo’s request, when they discovered that his previous servants from the Wu family were traitorous scumbags. They have the intelligence of the average capable servant, and are under Wu Ruo’s direct command. They don’t have to defer to Hei Xuanyi, if Wu Ruo has any controversial commands. had already prepared hot water. The moment they entered the bathroom, they could take off their clothes and have a bath.

Wu Ruo sunk into the bathtub and sighed in comfort: “It feels like it’s been years since I took a bath.”

Hei Xuanyi picked up a soap nut⁴皂角 (zao jiao): to be exact, this is the Chinese honey locust. Historically speaking, the pod of the Chinese honey locust was used for this purpose. Soap nuts, in English speaking cultures, refer to the soapberry, which is a different plant native to the Americas. For readability, I used the term soap nut, but please be aware that they are different plants in reality. and helped him to wash his hair.

Wu Ruo leaned against Hei Xuanyi’s chest: “Xuanyi, did you feel that the Proprietor was strange?”

Hei Xuanyi’s actions paused: “After we were locked up in the jail, we never met the Proprietor again. I don’t know what he’s like.”

“You never met him again? Then did the sentry guards interrogate any of you?”

“No. After we were locked up, they ignored us. After three days, they let us go.”

Wu Ruo turned around and said: “Then that’s strange. How did he know my name?”

Hei Xuanyi frowned slightly: “He knows your name?”

“Yeah. He asked if I was Wu Ruo and he even gave me good meals every day. The strangest thing was that he asked me to describe the incident of the top-grade shenling pills being stolen, then he repeatedly asked me to perform the actions of that man Jing Lun’s secret technique.”

When Wu Ruo mentioned Jing Lun, he could clearly feel that the person behind him stiffened slightly: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. What happened after that?” Hei Xuanyi turned Wu Ruo’s head back around and continued helping him to wash his hair.

“After that, it was even stranger. I was actually able to use your clan’s secret technique…” Even till today, Wu Ruo raised his arms disbelievingly, looking at his own hands: “How could this be? I’m not someone from your clan. Logically speaking, I shouldn’t be able to use someone else’s secret technique. Could it be that the Proprietor did something?”

Hei Xuanyi asked: “The skeletons that we saw after being locked up were summoned by you?”

“Both of you were able to see the skeletons I summoned from the jail cells too?”

“Hn. Later, after our meal, try it out again then we’ll know if you were the one who summoned it.”

“That’s true.” Wu Ruo turned his entire body around: “It’s my turn to wash your hair.”

“Hn.” Hei Xuanyi leaned against the side of the bath tub.

Wu Ruo said as he washed Hei Xuanyi’s hair: “I have something else to tell you. When Jing Lun died…”

This time, when he mentioned Jing Lun, he could sense again that Hei Xuanyi was a little uneasy.

Wu Ruo glanced at Hei Xuanyi curiously, then he continued saying: “I secretly absorbed all of the spiritual energy from his body. I should be able to elevate my cultivation level by one level. How about it? I was smart, right? I can increase my cultivation level even without the top-grade shenling pills.”

“Clever.” Hei Xuanyi’s lips curled up: “He was an eighth level practitioner. Perhaps you can increase your cultivation by two levels. In the future, if there are more opportunities like this, you shouldn’t miss them.”

“Hn. This way, I can help you save a huge sum of money.”

Hei Xuanyi chuckled lightly.

Wu Ruo pondered for a while, then he asked again: “Is the Xiu Jun that the both of you mentioned the other day very powerful?”

“No, but that person’s very ruthless. He’s capable of doing anything.”

“Oh.”

Hei Xuanyi was silent for a moment, then he said: “Xiu Jun⁵修筠 (xiu jun): the xiu character in his name means ‘to cultivate’ and the jun character refers to the skin of bamboo, which was what Chinese people historically used for books. Names referring to ‘bamboo’ have the connotation of being scholarly and studious, therefore also invoking the image of a refined gentleman. is as refined as his name suggests. He likes to hold a book with a blue cover like a scholar, but the book is full of very powerful curse talismans. As long as he randomly tears a page out and sticks it on your body, it’ll cause you to fall into endless suffering. Otherwise, it’ll directly cause you to internally implode and die.”

“So you’re reminding me that if I run into this person, I should stay as far away from him as possible, right? Are you worried that he’ll use me to threaten you?”

“Hn.” Hei Xuanyi turned around and pulled him into his arms: “Before your spiritual energy reaches the ninth level, you absolutely must not go head to head against him. As long as you can run, you must run. Do you understand?”

Wu Ruo nodded his head in agreement. He wasn’t stupid either. If he ran into someone who was more powerful than him and foolishly rushed forward, wouldn’t that just be asking to die?

After the two of them finished bathing and changed into a clean set of clothes, they headed to the main hall for their meal.

The moment Wu Ruo stepped into the main hall, he saw that Dandan’s mouth was stuffed full of food.

Guan Tong said, distressed: “You must have starved in the Black Market.”

Wu Ruo sat next to Dandan, doubtful: “Are you really that hungry?”

Hadn’t Dandan been well fed in the Black Market? Why was he so hungry?

Dandan said pitifully: “Daddy, I don’t feel full.”

Wu Ruo felt that something wasn’t right and hurriedly took his pulse, but he couldn’t find anything wrong.

“Shifu, can you help Dandan take a look and see if anything is wrong with his body?”

Nu Mu walked over and took his pulse: “His face is rosy and he’s eating so well, what could possibly be the problem?”

Wu Ruo was extremely worried: “Dandan, do you feel hungry no matter what you eat right now?”

Dandan nodded his head.

When everyone heard this, they immediately realized the severity of the issue⁶As a refresher, when Wu Ruo was young and still had the gu parasite in him, this was the symptom that he experienced: insatiable hunger no matter how much he ate..

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• 1
  This is an old superstition that you have to get rid of the bad luck ‘energy’ from jail before you enter your home again, and some people still practice this these days if they believe in the superstition.
• 2
  符水 (fu shui): this is when you take a talisman, burn it up and then put it out in water. It functions kind of like blessed water.
• 3
  Quick reminder: Hei Xuanyi assigned four high-level corpse servants to serve Wu Ruo, at Wu Ruo’s request, when they discovered that his previous servants from the Wu family were traitorous scumbags. They have the intelligence of the average capable servant, and are under Wu Ruo’s direct command. They don’t have to defer to Hei Xuanyi, if Wu Ruo has any controversial commands.
• 4
  皂角 (zao jiao): to be exact, this is the Chinese honey locust. Historically speaking, the pod of the Chinese honey locust was used for this purpose. Soap nuts, in English speaking cultures, refer to the soapberry, which is a different plant native to the Americas. For readability, I used the term soap nut, but please be aware that they are different plants in reality.
• 5
  修筠 (xiu jun): the xiu character in his name means ‘to cultivate’ and the jun character refers to the skin of bamboo, which was what Chinese people historically used for books. Names referring to ‘bamboo’ have the connotation of being scholarly and studious, therefore also invoking the image of a refined gentleman.
• 6
  As a refresher, when Wu Ruo was young and still had the gu parasite in him, this was the symptom that he experienced: insatiable hunger no matter how much he ate.