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Mentions of ableism, mentions of natural disasters, mentions of death in battle, mentions of child endangermentWithin and outwith of Gaoling City, it was still tremoring and shaking nonstop. All of the commoners thought that an earthquake had come and they ran out to open ground, one after the other. On the other hand, the Wu family thought that it was a disturbance created by those who had come to save Ba Se. However, even after Ba Se successfully escaped from Gaoling City, the tremors still persisted. It was only then that everyone raised their guard.
Wu Ruo calculated the date in his head and mumbled: “It is about time that it appeared.”
However, Ba Se was in luck. If it wasn’t for the sudden occurrence of the tremors, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Ba Se’s people to successfully rescue him from the Wu estate.
Wu Ruo raised his head and looked towards the man beside him, yet Wu Ruo saw that the corners of his lips were slightly raised. If one didn’t look closely, there was no way of knowing that he was smiling.
“What are you smiling at?” Wu Ruo looked in the direction of Hei Xuanyi’s line of sight but he didn’t see anything worth smiling about. However, that was the direction that Ba Se had left in.
He thought about it a little more and very quickly arrived at a conclusion1More literally: ‘his thoughts turned and very quickly thought of something’.; he immediately asked again: “Did you do something to Ba Se?”
When Hei Xuanyi heard the two syllables ‘Ba Se’, he finally showed a reaction. He suppressed the amusement from the corners of his lips and said nonchalantly: “I only damaged his family jewels.”
Actually, he had also crushed Ba Se’s spiritual field. It served Ba Se right for lusting over his wife2Literally: ‘[to] see how he [Ba Se] would still try to have designs on his wife in the future’..
Wu Ruo: “…”
At this moment, the tremors stopped, closely followed by the roars of a yao beast. It was earth-shaking and everyone was struck with terror3胆寒 (dan han): literally, their dan was frightened. The dan refers to the gall bladder but it also figuratively refers to one’s ‘guts’..
The expressions of the Wu family changed drastically. The average practitioner could determine the strength4Literally: ‘could tell if the strength of a yao beast was big or small’. of a yao beast through the sounds that the beast made. Right now, this yao beast’s roars had such concussive force, it definitely wasn’t a small yao that would be easily dealt with.
Elder Rong said: “There’s a giant yao heading towards our Gaoling City5T/C (translator’s commentary, not translation related): No shit, Sherlock..”
Wu Bofang immediately commanded everyone from the Wu family to ascend the city gates to deal with the giant yao.
Wu Qianqing didn’t follow along to the city gates, but he let Wu Xi go along. In addition, he instructed her to be careful and to leave if she couldn’t manage.
Gaoling City’s commoners had naturally also heard the roars and, on the spot, they were so scared that their legs were shaking until someone yelled loudly: “There’s a giant yao incoming! Everyone, hurry and find a place to hide!”
The commoners hastily returned to the burrows in their own residences to hide safely. After the period of two joss sticks6Up till now, the period of a joss stick is still a toss-up between a couple of minutes to about 15 minutes. Basically, it refers to how long a regular skinny joss stick takes to burn down (not the massive ones that were used during the winter solstice prayers). There is no consensus on how long a joss stick takes to burn., the major street that had been filled with people became empty. All around, it was deserted. Only the floor was full of things that people had abandoned, it was extremely dirty and messy.
Wu Ruo said: “Let’s go to the city gates to take a look as well.”
Hei Xuanyi didn’t go to the city gates and simply brought Wu Ruo to the highest point in Gaoling City, allowing Wu Ruo to see the giant yao outside the city in a single glance. Its external appearance was a large white bear, but it looked much more vicious than a large white bear. Both of its eyes were crimson red and its teeth were white and sharp. It seemed as though it hadn’t eaten anything for many years. Yellow saliva fell endlessly from the corners of its mouth. When it landed on the ground, it would emit the hissing sounds of corrosion. Its claws were incomparably sharp; with one swipe, the walls of the city immediately became destroyed ruins. On top of that, there were large black horns all over its body, as though they were its armor. It was able to deflect the attacks coming from other people’s equipment. Its physique was also extremely tall and broad, like an immense mountain. The magic practitioners could only raise their heads and look at it with dread.
Half of those from the Western main estate responsible for Gaoling City’s security were dead in the span of one joss stick’s time. Although Wu Bofang had hurried to lead the Wu family to the city gates, but they only barely managed to stop the giant yao from entering the city. If things continued in this manner, it was only a matter of time before the giant yao broke through the city walls and protective arrays, and killed all the magic practitioners within the city.
Just as everyone was fighting intensely, someone suddenly said: “Isn’t this the giant yao beast that the First Master7In the original, it refers to ‘the First Master and the others’, so it wasn’t just him alone, but it makes it sound super clunky in English so I opted to simplify it and leave this note instead. released?”
At this moment, although the loud sounds of weapons hitting the yao beast’s body filled the surroundings, there were still people who heard what this person said.
The infantry leader8卫前 (wei qian) refers to the frontlines of security. I’m not sure how the title translates, so I opted to call it ‘infantry leader’. If anyone knows better, please leave a comment and let me know! and second master of the Western main estate, Wu Qianfan, who was currently healing everyone, rapidly turned his head over to look. He saw that the one who spoke was a bodyguard from the Wu estate and he immediately hauled him over, asking furiously: “What did you just say?”
The bodyguard was frightened and only then did they realize that they had just said the wrong thing: “N-nothing!”
Wu Qianfan gritted his teeth and said: “You clearly just said that this giant yao beast was released by the First Master. Which First Master are you referring to? Which main estate’s First Master is it9The oldest son from the Qian courtesy name generation in every main estate is referred to as the ‘First Master’. In the Southern main estate that Wu Ruo was from, it refers to Wu Qianjing (Wu Ruo’s oldest uncle, Wu Qianqing’s oldest brother). Each main estate has one, that’s why Wu Qianfan is asking which one is the bodyguard referring to.? You better answer me honestly. Otherwise, I’ll finish you off, right here, right now!”
The bodyguard was afraid and immediately answered: “The Southern main estate’s First Master.”
“Wu Qianjing?” Wu Qianfan’s eyes were full of red10More literally, the rims of his eyes exploded with blood vessels/streaks of blood.: “What the hell happened?”
The bodyguard hurriedly explained the matter from a while back, when they had gone with Wu Qianjing and the others to capture the giant yao beast.
When Wu Qianfan finished hearing about it, he fiercely shoved the bodyguard aside and said furiously: “What a good job, Southern main estate! You11English doesn’t differentiate the plural and singular ‘you’ anymore since ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ (singular ‘you’) fell out of use. However, Wu Qianfan is using the plural ‘you’ here. even dare to provoke this sort of giant yao beast. You simply don’t want your lives anymore!”
He looked at the ground that was filled with the corpses of those from the Western main estate, among which included his son, Wu Anya. He was filled with incessant grief and indignation. He immediately went to look for Wu Bofang, explaining the matter from start to finish.
Wu Bofang didn’t dare to believe that this giant yao beast had been incurred by those of the Southern main estate. He hurriedly summoned Wu Qianjing for questioning.
Wu Qianjing had never thought that Wu Bofang would find out about this matter. In an instant, his expression was like burnt-out cinders12I couldn’t find the expression 面如死灰 (mian ru si hui) that JYB uses, but there is a similar term 心如死灰 (xin ru si hui) that refers to ‘being hopelessly apathetic’. I’m guessing that Wu Qianjing has a haggard and blank expression, looking rather hopeless and dead.. Even without his acknowledgment, Wu Bofang could tell just from his expression that this giant yao beast had been provoked by Wu Qianjing and his lot. On the spot, he was so infuriated that he slapped Wu Qianjing across the face. He said, bursting with fury: “The lot of you from the Southern main estate, besides causing trouble, what other wonderful things can you do13Wu Bofang is being sarcastic here.? Other than Qianqing, not a single one of you sets my mind at ease14More literally ‘all of [you] don’t let [me] save my heart’, where the term 费心 (fei xin) ‘to use one’s heart’ means to worry. So the opposite 省心 (sheng xin) ‘to save one’s heart’ means not to worry. Not a single one of them saves him the trouble of having to worry about them.!”
Wu Qianjing was slapped across the face in front of everyone and felt both embarrassed and humiliated. When he heard Wu Bofang mention Wu Qianqing, he felt even more infuriated and jealous. In his heart, he thought to himself, of the whole Southern main estate, other than Wu Qianqing, who else was worthy of Wu Bofang’s attention? At this point, Wu Qianqing had already been reduced to a disabled piece of trash by the rest of them, but Wu Bofang still mentioned Wu Qianqing. If Wu Bofang felt that Wu Qianqing was so great, then he should get Wu Qianqing to deal with this giant yao15JYB swaps to first person POV here for Wu Qianjing’s inner dialogue, but I kept it in third person POV for consistency and to prevent confusion.!
But Wu Bofang didn’t know what Wu Qianjing was thinking and continued asking: “This giant yao was unleashed by you lot, then do you know the method of sealing this yao beast back again?”
Wu Qianjing shook his head no: “We don’t know.”
Wu Bofang was even angrier: “Then how did you lot know the method to unleash it?”
“We also only heard from the person who wanted to capture this yao beast.”
Wu Bofang howled furiously: “Then where is this person now?”
Wu Qianjing: “…”
“Hurry and spit it out! Do you want to see more people dead?”
Wu Qianjing replied: “He’s not someone from Gaoling City.”
What could be done even if that person knew the method to seal the beast? After all, distant waters could not put out a near fire16This idiom means ‘slow remedies do not address current emergencies”, according to Pleco Dictionary. I thought the idiom explained itself well, so this footnote is just to clarify.. Even if they found the person, it would be over for Gaoling City by then.
Wu Bofang’s body swayed a little; he was nearly about to faint from his anger.
He felt that the current Wu family was about to fall at the hands of this giant yao; he feared that they would not be able to overcome this disaster.
“Grandfather, are you alright?” Wu Qianjing hurriedly supported Wu Bofang, who was about to collapse.
Wu Bofang waved him away weakly, watching the Wu family members who were falling one after another. His heart was full of inexplicable despair and anguish. Just when he was about to ask everyone to retreat from the scene, suddenly, a giant crow beast flew in front of the giant yao beast. In addition, there were two small children with delicate features sitting atop the giant crow beast.
Their sudden appearance attracted everyone’s attention.
Wu Xi’s expression changed and she anxiously shouted: “Dandan! It’s dangerous over there! Come over here to me quickly!”
“Gugu17姑姑 (gu gu): the sister (regardless of whether your aunt is older or younger) of your father. There is also a similar title 姑母 (gu mu) but that one is used for when the sister is married. Gu gu can be used for both married and unmarried females.
Wu Ruo is usually assigned the traditionally female position with regards to his titles and how his relation to a person affects the title used for that person, but not for this particular one. Fun fact: the sister of your mother is called 姨 (yi)., I want to try out the new weapon that Father made!” Dandan giggled happily; he wasn’t afraid of the danger at all. After that, he took a round ball out of the pouch that Hei Xin had given him. Like launching a secret weapon, he tossed it towards the giant yao beast, with a ‘dong!’ sound, the weapon struck the giant yao beast’s body. After that, rolling rapidly, it slid off of the giant yao beast’s body.
Everyone: “…”
Ji Xi, who was sitting behind him, knocked his head irritably: “You need to channel your spiritual energy into the weapon before you throw it, so that it’ll activate. If you just hurl it like that, what difference is there from throwing a rock?”
When he finished speaking, he made Jiujiu fly downwards to pick the weapon up.
At this moment, the giant yao beast noticed them, lifting its talons and swiping towards them.
“Dandan, be careful!” When Wu Xi saw the scene before her, her heart jumped right up into her throat.
Jiujiu’s speed was extremely fast, the speed of Ji Xi’s hand was also very fast. When they flew past the weapon, they rapidly picked the weapon up. Afterwards, they were able to narrowly dodge the giant yao beast’s attack.
Wu Xi was so frightened that her legs went soft.
Everyone else was also dripping with cold sweat because of the two children.
The big yao beast was unable to squash them to death, but it did not give up and attacked in their direction once more.
Jiujiu spewed a raging blaze of fire directly at the giant yao beast’s claws. It burned the giant yao beast so badly that it cried out piteously in pain and retreated several steps.
Wu Bofang’s gaze brightened and he felt that there was hope of chasing the giant yao beast away. He hurriedly looked for Wu Xi and asked: “Who are those two children?”
Wu Xi’s worried gaze never left Dandan: “The littler one is my erge‘s son. I don’t know who the bigger one is. They could be a child of one of Yi-ge‘s18Wu Xi is referring to Hei Xuanyi here. Reminder that she calls him Yi-ge. relatives.”
“Erge? Xiao-Ruo? Xiao-Ruo already has a child?” Wu Bofang very quickly remembered that this child had been brought by Hei Xuanyi and he said urgently: “Quick, get that child to tell that giant crow to burn the giant yao beast and chase it away!”
“Ah?” Wu Xi was stunned for a moment.
“What are you ‘ah’-ing for? Quick, do as I say!”
Wu Xi nodded her head and yelled to Dandan as Wu Bofang had instructed.
Dandan was unhappy, pouting as he said: “I don’t want to! I haven’t had enough fun yet!”
Wu Bofang was almost angered into a faint by this child. Was this the time to be playing around?
The giant yao beast smothered the fire on its talons and immediately aimed at Dandan’s trio with its black horn. Following that, innumerable little black horns shot forth from within the black horn, as though thousands19万 (wan): this word specifically counts ‘ten thousand’. Literary usage of the word usually means ‘a lot’ and not actually ‘ten thousand’, but as a counting unit it refers to ‘ten thousand’. of jian20A type of Chinese long sword, commonly translated as just ‘sword’. were being launched simultaneously. Every single one shot towards the three of them.
Jiujiu agilely avoided them and spewed another mouthful of raging flames towards the giant yao beast’s eyes.
The giant yao beast made a bloodcurdling shrieking noise, crashing towards the ground, using its claws to madly swipe at the tongues of flames around its eyes.
On the other hand, Dandan, who was sitting on Jiujiu’s back, was still puzzling over how to open the weapon: “How do I open this weapon?”
“Channel your spiritual energy into it.” Ji Xi taught him how to channel his spiritual energy into the weapon.
After expending the energy of nine bulls and tigers21Another idiom for ‘a lot’., Dandan finally figured out how to use the weapon. Once the weapon opened, it soared into the air, spreading over their heads.
Dandan wondered: “Why doesn’t it attack the yao beast?”
Ji Xi rolled his eyes: “This is a defensive weapon. It only protects people, it won’t attack the yao beast.”
“Ah?” Dandan dug into his pouch again for another weapon.
Ji Xi glanced into the pouch: “These are all defensive weapons.”
Dandan replied indignantly: “Why is it all defensive weapons?”
“These were made for your daddy by your father, they can all help your father to protect your daddy. Of course he would only make defensive weapons.”
Wu Bofang, who was far away, could not hear what they were saying and could only see them still holding onto the weapons and discussing with each other, so he was very anxious.
At this moment, the giant yao beast that had crashed to the ground got up again. The black horn on its head began emitting black gas.
Wu Bofang thought that it could very well be poisonous gas, and his expression changed: “Not good!”
Jiujiu also noticed that the situation didn’t look good and rapidly spewed a massive fire towards the giant yao beast. This time around, the flames that were spewed out were even more vicious than those of the previous two times. In an instant, the fur on the giant yao beast were all set aflame. It was so painful that it kept shrieking, turning around to leave Gaoling City at the speed of light.
Dandan saw this and anxiously called: “It wants to run away! Jiujiu, chase after it quick!”
Jiujiu faced the skies and let out a loud call22Reminder that Jiujiu’s name literally means something like ‘chirp chirp’ and the text says that Jiujiu lets out a ‘big chirp’. It sounds very comical in English, so I rephrased., flying in the direction that the giant yao beast had fled off to.
Wu Ruo who had been observing from afar within Gaoling, saw Dandan chasing after the giant yao beast and felt a faint pain in his temples23This isn’t ominous foreshadowing. Wu Ruo is just going through it like every other parent..
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