Thanks to Anon and Ria for the ko-fis! Apologies that this chapter came out late.
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Canon typical Wu family toxicity, incel behaviour, racism.Wu Qiantong’s expression was very ugly. Asking him as a senior to lower his pride and meekly plead1低声下气 (di sheng xia qi): di sheng is literally ‘low tones/quietly’ and xia qi is pretty much like ‘speaking up to someone from beneath them’. The translation Pleco offers is ‘meek and subservient’. with a junior? He really couldn’t bear to set his ego aside2丢不起那个脸 (diu bu qi na ge lian): literally ‘can’t afford to throw that face’. I really love the very literal and imagery-evoking language in Chinese..
Wu Xi snorted coldly: “When you were repeatedly3口口声声 (kou kou sheng sheng): I love this idiom because it is quite literally ‘mouth mouth, sound sound’ and it means repeatedly insisting on something. So much fun. accusing my erge of harming you with the gu parasite, did you think to remember that he was your relative? You didn’t, did you?”
Dong Mingji’s expression was full of shame: “It was because I was anxious to find the culprit who infected us with the gu parasite so that everyone could obtain the antidote and be relieved of their pain. Xiao-Xi, if you were in my position, you would also be afraid of death, you would also not want to see your own sons and daughters suffering, and you would also be anxious to find the culprit to quickly obtain the antidote.”
“Yes, I would be anxious. But I wouldn’t be like you and carelessly accuse an innocent person wrongfully. I wouldn’t make it such that, in the end, not only could I not get the antidote, even others wouldn’t be willing to save me.” Wu Xi tugged on Guan Tong’s forearm: “Mum, let’s go back.”
“Hn.” Guan Tong also didn’t want to linger here.
Wu Qianqing followed after them, turning away.
When Liao Liuyan saw this situation, she urgently nudged Mu Xiuwan, so that she would hurry and say something.
“Qianqing.” Mu Xiuwan endured the excruciating pain, weakly calling out after Wu Qianqing: “Everyone here is either your parents or your brothers, or your nieces and nephews. Can you bear to just watch us die?”
Wu Qianqing turned back and said: “Mother, when you4Highlighting that Wu Qianqing is using the formal ‘you’ here, by the way. assumed that it was Xiao-Ruo who set the gu parasites, in that moment, did you ever think of me as your son? And that Xiao-Ruo is your grandson? If you had thought to remember this bit of familial relations, then there wouldn’t be this sort of scene.”
“You…!” Mu Xiuwan was angered breathless by this accurate emotional attack, with a ‘pu!’ sound, she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood from her mouth.
“Mother!”
“Grandmother!5Just a note, in the Chinese raws, JYB actually doesn’t use exclamation marks. I have adjusted them in English to convey the appropriate tone.“
Everyone swarmed over.
Wu Xuanran was infuriated: “Beast! She’s your mother! Are you just going to stand there and watch with your own eyes as she dies in front of you?”
Wu Qianqing’s eyes flashed with a hint of worry but when he remembered that they had just been accusing his son of setting the gu parasites, his heart was incomparably cold. He turned around, no longer looking at them, and left with quick steps.
Mu Xiuwan watched as the one who had always been her most filial son left without even turning back and she angrily said: “Ever since he married6娶 (qu): the word used for bringing a bride back into one’s family. So, typically used for men or Hei Xuanyi, in the main CP’s case. Guan Tong, that bitch, he hasn’t cared for this mother of his7The literal phrase here is ‘he hasn’t had this mother of his in his eyes’.! I should’ve stopped that bitch from marrying into8嫁进 (jia jin): the word used for when a woman marries someone and is considered to have left her maiden family for her husband’s. Typically used for women or with reference to Wu Ruo, in the main CP’s case. this family from the start! She was the one who stole away my son!”
Wu Bofang looked at this family of people and sighed heavily: “Committing sins.”
If they had refrained from carelessly accusing people from the beginning, it wouldn’t have ended up with Wu Ruo being unwilling to lend a hand to save them.
When Wu Qianqing walked out of Xuanwan Garden, he saw Wu Ruo, Hei Xuanyi, Guan Tong, and Wu Xi waiting for him.
He sighed: “Let’s go, let us go back.”
Wu Ruo asked: “Dad, you’re9Formal, respectful ‘you’. not going to bother with them?”
Wu Qianqing smiled bitterly: “With your great-grandfather around, they temporarily won’t die. Your great-grandfather will definitely have some way to save them. Besides, I’m not a physician or a shaman doctor, I can’t be that bothered with them anymore.”
The Southern main estate was increasingly less tolerant of him. If it was possible, he really wanted to…10Not a typo or missing text. It really does trail off like this without continuing.
When Wu Qianqing thought about this, he hurriedly stopped himself: “Xiao-Ruo, Xuanyi, the two of you should head back first.”
“Hn.” Wu Ruo said to Wu Xi: “I’ll only come back for classes after two days.”
Wu Xi nodded her head: “Alright, erge, I’ll wait for you.”
When Wu Ruo and Hei Xuanyi walked out of the main gates of the Wu estate, they didn’t see the horse carriage that they had taken to come over.
Wu Ruo wondered: “Where’s the horse carriage?”
The guards on duty at the gate pointed at a horse that had been tied to a tree by the entrance and said: “Sixth Young Master, the servants from your household left the two of you a horse and left. He said to let the two of you ride back by yourselves.”
Hei Xuanyi: “…”
“…” Wu Ruo held a hand to his own forehead: “I daresay with certainty that this was your fourth brother’s idea again.”
“Riding back on horseback is not bad.” Hei Xuanyi walked beneath the tree and flipped onto the horse’s back, then he pulled Wu Ruo up, hugging onto Wu Ruo in front of him.
Wu Ruo leaned against Hei Xuanyi’s body and said softly: “Did you notice that there’s someone watching us?”
Hei Xuanyi glanced at the little alleyway across the street and quietly hummed in agreement.
Wu Ruo turned his head back and looked up at Hei Xuanyi: “Do you know who it is?”
Hei Xuanyi gazed at the moist red lips close to him, right before his eyes. His pupils dilated and he lowered his head, pecking those lips.
“You…!” Wu Ruo glared at him, displeased: “We’re outside right now, don’t just kiss me as you please.”
Wu Ruo snuck a surreptitious glance at the guards by the entrance. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the guards weren’t looking in their direction.
When Hei Xuanyi saw Wu Ruo’s face full of embarrassment, his own lips quirked a little, and he directed the horse to leave.
After they left, someone emerged from the little alleyway across the street. It was Ba Se, the one that Wu Bofang and the others were currently looking for.
Ba Se looked at the silhouettes of the people who had already left, jealousy appearing on his dark11Just to clarify, the ‘dark’ here doesn’t refer to Ba Se’s skin tone. It means ‘dark’ as in the mood, the vibes, etc. countenance: “Xiao-Ruo is mine, that ugly man just doesn’t suit him at all.”
He closed his eyes12Literally ‘he kept his gaze’., then glanced at the entrance of the Wu estate before turning around to leave.
At this moment, a layer of gloom had settled over Xuanwan Garden. Wu Ruo was unwilling to get the shaman to save them and the physicians were unprepared13素手无策 (su shou wu ce): su shou means to be emptyhanded, and wu ce means to have no strategies. against gu parasites. Everyone was in critical condition.
“Now what? I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die yet!” Dong Mingji wailed loudly as she held onto her agonizing stomach.
Sang Dongyi glanced at her weakly: “If you hadn’t accused Wu Ruo of harming us with the gu parasites, would we have ended up in this state now?”
Dong Mingji said angrily: “Are you blaming me right now? At that time, weren’t you thinking the exact same thoughts too? How come I didn’t see you standing up for him? And now you want to hold a grudge against me after the fact.”
Liao Liuyan frowned: “Things are already like this, let’s all not begrudge each other anymore. We should still focus on coming up with a strategy to cure us of the parasites.”
Ruan Lanru said: “But right now, other than Wu Ruo, no one else is acquainted with a shaman. Why don’t you, Qianli, and the others make a trip to the Shaman Tribe and hire a shaman over with money?”
Wu Qianli shook his head ‘no’: “There are gas barriers all over the exterior of the Shaman Tribe. On top of that, there are a lot more gu parasites than usual. If there’s no one who is familiar with the route to bring us to the Shaman Tribe, it’s easy to die outside.”
Wu Qianbin’s eyebrows knitted together tightly: “The personalities of those from the Shaman Tribe are strange as well. When they’re willing to help you, they won’t want for anything and they’ll still help you. They would even be willing to sacrifice themselves. However, when they’re unwilling to help you, it’s useless no matter how much money you spend.”
Dong Mingji sobbed: “Th-this, then what? Let’s try begging Wu Ruo again.”
Mu Xiuwan said angrily: “That filthy brute had clearly been resolved not to help us, how do you want to beg him?”
Wu Anqi’s countenance was filled with anger: “This Wu Ruo really intends to leave us for the dead14见死不救 (jian si bu jiu): literally ‘to see (sb) dying and not extend help.?”
“Stop mentioning Wu Ruo and his lot. We don’t want to hear their names anymore.” Wu Xuanran commanded coldly. He turned to look at Wu Bofang who had remained silent: “Dad, you have a lot of connections15Literally ‘you know a lot of people’., you’ll definitely be able to save us, won’t you?”
Wu Bofang didn’t make a sound.
Wu Xuanran was even more certain that Wu Bofang definitely had a way to save them: “Dad, you have to save our wives and children. You can’t just watch with your own eyes as they die.”
Wu Bofang sighed: “I’m not acquainted with any shamans or jiangtou practitioners either. However, I do know a physician and I once heard before that he has a friend in the Shaman Tribe. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get this shaman to help.”
Wu Xuanran hurriedly said: “Dad, just give it a shot. Who knows, maybe it’ll work.”
The rest all looked at him with pleading16乞求 (qi qiu): the qi character here is the same as the one used in the word meaning ‘beggar’. And ‘qiu’ means to ask someone else for something (typically some kind of favour). expressions as well.
Wu Bofang frowned: “If you want me to try, I can, but there is one condition.”
“Please speak17您说 (nin shuo): Kind of like ‘go ahead (and say it)’ but since it’s paired with the respectful, formal form of ‘you’, it has a very subservient nuance to it..”
Wu Bofang said sternly: “After curing all of you of the gu parasites, you cannot go and look for trouble with the Northern main estate.”
Wu Xuanran asked angrily: “We’re going to let go of this matter of being poisoned by gu parasites just like that?”
“You can rest assured about this. After I go back, I will thoroughly investigate if this matter was instigated by them and I will definitely give them a severe punishment. I won’t let them do these sorts of things again. All of you can’t be like the people from the Northern main estate either, privately hiring a jiangtou practitioner to harm the other. About this point, will all of you be able to abide by this?”
Everyone from the Southern main estate had no way of just letting this go18Literally ‘to hold this breath’., however, right now, other than agreeing to this, what else could they do?
Wu Qianjing said: “Alright, I agree.”
He didn’t want to lose his wife or any more of his sons. As for future matters, he would decide on them again later.
When the rest of them saw their oldest brother agreeing, they also nodded and agreed.
“Very good. I will find an opportunity for all of you from these two main estates to swear a solemn oath19Similar to the blood oath that Guan Tong had to swear, where there are certain things that she cannot say or do without hurting herself or causing herself to die. In a solemn oath’s case, the consequences are usually less severe and are simply meant to punish sternly rather than to strictly police..”
When Wu Bofang finished speaking, he turned around and left to go write a letter to his physician friend.
After two days, Wu Ruo came to the Southern main estate once again and immediately saw that everyone was fumigating insects everywhere with fogging medicine. It was as if everything was on fire. The entire main estate was thickly filled with smoke and fog. It was hard to even see who was standing next to you. Only Shuqing Garden was the same as it had always been.
“Erge.” When Wu Xi saw Wu Ruo, she immediately flung herself at him and clung to his arm: “I thought you wouldn’t be coming today!”
Wu Ruo pointed at the thick smoke in front of them: “This is…”
Wu Xi huffed angrily: “Great-Grandfather found fogging medicine to help them smoke all the gu parasites out, then burned the parasites all to death. Every estate has the fogging medicine except ours! They said we didn’t get infected, so we don’t need the fogging medicine. They’re really too much!”
“If we don’t have it, then we don’t have it.” Wu Ruo had already laid parasite repelling powder a long time ago. Those parasites couldn’t climb into Shuqing Garden at all.
Wu Xi saw Wu Ruo’s indifferent expression and her eyes started darting back and forth20Literally ‘her eyeballs started turning’. The original expression is horrifying and hilarious.. She quietly asked: “Erge, do you have fogging medicine?”
Wu Ruo replied, amused: “Where would I get fogging medicine from?”
“Then why aren’t you anxious?”
“Because I’d already laid parasite repelling powder a long time ago. Those parasites can’t enter Shuqing Garden.”
Wu Xi’s gaze brightened: “Really? But, erge, how come you laid parasite repelling powder a long time ago?”
Wu Ruo said, half-jokingly and half-serious: “The shaman who was staying at our21Casually pointing out here that Wu Ruo is referring to Hei Manor as his home rather than Shuqing Garden, where his biological family members are. manor previously told me about the style of dress of jiangtou practitioners. So the first time that I saw Ba Se, I recognized that he was a jiangtou practitioner from the way he dressed. On top of that, he was someone brought along by the Northern main estate, so I naturally had to be guarded against him, right?”
Wu Xi sighed in relief: “It’s a good thing erge is alert and cautious. Otherwise, Dad, Mum and I would also have been infected by the gu parasites.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of even if you did get infected. Aren’t I here? I would definitely find a shaman here to help cure all of you of the gu parasites. Oh, that’s right, have dabomu and the others’ gu parasites been cured?”
“Not yet. Right now, they’re in so much pain that they can’t even get out of bed. However, I heard that Great-Grandfather already went to invite a shaman to cure them.”
Wu Ruo’s gaze flickered with a flash of pity22Pity in the sense that the situation hadn’t played out as he would’ve liked. Not pity that his relatives are suffering. Just to be clear.. The ones who had been infected would all still be able to live.
When Wu Xi and Wu Ruo arrived at the academy classroom, they heard someone calling out to them: “Xiao-Ruo!”
The two of them turned around to look; Wu Sheng was dragging Wu Xia over.
Wu Ruo raised an eyebrow: “Sheng-ge.”
These two people actually took the initiative to greet him. The skies were truly raining red23Meaning something unusual/unlikely is happening..
Wu Xia glared at Wu Ruo viciously and then immediately looked away, refusing to look at him.
Wu Sheng pushed Wu Xia: “Aren’t you going to greet them24Can’t remember if I explained this before so I’ll drop another explanation here: Usually, the person of lower rank or status is expected to go forth and greet the person of higher rank or status. You are essentially submitting to someone else if you go over to say hi first. As Wu Xia is younger than Wu Ruo, he should be the one greeting Wu Ruo instead of waiting for Wu Ruo to greet him. As such, Wu Sheng taking the initiative to greet Wu Ruo first is also a way of placing himself in the ‘lower’ or ‘more vulnerable’ position.?”
