Love from the Male Protagonist’s Harem

Chapter 19-Incomparable Zhen Hun

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Translated by Snowfall77

 

 

After not sleeping for two days and two nights, even Ironman wouldn’t be able to prop himself up.  The second Xia Ge laid down on her bed, she fell asleep, not waking up until noon the next day.

Even when she did open her eyes, she still felt a bone-deep tiredness, with a fatigue-caused headache on top of it.

The tiny puppet lay calmly by the headboard, having lost her spirited attitude from the night before.  The initially light glassy skin had turned to a wood-ish color and her size had shrunk.  No longer the size of a palm, her body was now about one square inch, like a doll a child would carve to play with.

Rubbing her temples, Xia Ge picked the puppet up, her voice rough from just waking up: “……why is it so different from yesterday?”

The system answered lazily: [When It’s All Said And Done, It Is A Low-Level Puppet.  It Will Only Return To Yesterday’s Appearance When Driven By You.]

Xia Ge stared at the puppet vacantly: “……and how do I ‘drive’ it?”

“[{soul-controlling voice}]”  The system paused: [It’s The Skill That Every Puppet Master Must Know, The Most Basic Skill For Controlling Puppets.]

[Host, You Must Know At Least One Instrument.]

Xia Ge: “……”

Silently putting the puppet in a pocket, Xia Ge demurred: “Ah, let’s talk about that later.”

The poor can barely find rice to eat.  Who had time to study the four arts?

Breaking my balls……

Tidying up was an uncomplicated affair.  Xia Ge cast a look at the tottering black sickle in her roof, grabbed her identifying jade pendant, and went out the door.

The system assumed Xia Ge would go ask Carpenter Zhang at the end of the village to help remove the huge sickle.  Unexpectedly, the damaged goods instead made a beeline for the mountain.

System: [……You’re Not Going To Repair Your Hut?]

Xia Ge: “Today is payday!”

System: [……]

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Well, the salary of ninety copper coins was indeed a large sum of money for its host.

Still!  Wouldn’t a normal person get someone to fix their roof first?!

Xia Ge: “I want to be intimate with my money for a bit, before I have to spend it.”
System: [……] = =

The pavilion where Danfeng paid out its wages wasn’t far away and it didn’t take Xia Ge long to reach it.  And while it was indeed the day outer Danfeng disciples got their salary, they’d generally pick it up in the mornings.  It was rare for anyone to come for their salary in the afternoon, for they were leery of increasing others’ workload.

The accountant Liu Qian peered at his ledger with brows furrowed, papers before him and brush in hand.

“Hehe.  Brother Liu, I’m here to collect my salary.”

His train of thought interrupted by a boy’s clear and happy voice, Liu Qian took a second to come to himself, then looked up.  Seeing Xia Ge before him, Liu Qian’s expression turned displeased: “Xia Wuyin?  Why’ve you come this late?”

“Heehee,” Xia Ge scratched her head, “Brother Ye caught me this morning to run some errands for him, and it took me a while to get them done.  I came as soon as I finished.”

The system silently ridiculed its host who did truly excel at lying through her teeth.

“Never mind.”  Liu Qian’s frown eased.  Many outer disciples were temporarily called on to do tasks for inner disciples.  It was nothing to fuss over, and the boy’s excuse was reasonable.  All business, Liu Qian made a few strokes in the ledger: “Xia Wuyin……three hundred copper coins.”

Xia Ge was completely discombobulated.  Three hundred copper coins?
Shouldn’t it be only ninety copper coins?

Still, she kept a bright shiny smile on her face: “I really am sorry for bothering you.”

Liu Qian tore a slip of paper off and handed it to Xia Ge: “Go on over to the cashier to get it.”

Taking the paper, Xia Ge walked two steps towards the cashier before stopping.

Tilting her head back towards Liu Qian, she asked: “……Brother Liu, you didn’t give me too much money?”

Liu Qian snorted: “The only one who would overcalculate for your sake is you.  It was your Senior Sister who suddenly made a change yesterday.  She said that a certain outer disciple of Danfeng was full of meritorious service, and therefore their salary would be increased.”
The accountant gave Xia Ge an oblique glance: “Convenient for you.  Now go get your money.”

Eyebrows immediately rising, Xia Ge proceeded to the cashier in high spirits to collect her new salary.  Afterwards, weighing in her hands the heaviness of all those copper coins, she called out inexplicably: “Little puppet.”

The system lazily answered: [Hmm?]

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“You were right.”

The system was utterly bewildered: [???]

Going ‘hehe’ to herself, Xia Ge didn’t bother explaining.

As golden sunshine seemed to spread over the far ends of the earth, the young man with the green ribbon kissed his moneybag, black eyes sparkling.

——It was indeed beautiful fine black jade.

Within the quietness came a momentary peace.

= =

Out somewhere in the boundless open country, an unseen wolf faintly howled.

“A soul-suppressing song.”  The young lady’s melodious, lingering voice held a tinge of seductiveness: “Sing it to all the lands under heaven.”

Covered head to toe in a scarlet fur coat, half leaning on the rooftop, a bone-white flute was hooked in the young lady’s jade-like hands.  The flute’s red knot fluttered in the breeze, while silver moonbeams shone down, illumining her long delicate brows and eyes,  almost demonically entrancing, with lips red against snowy skin and charming bones, as if carved by the gods.

A mildly immature voice sounded, coming from a half-kneeling child who wore an iron mask across one side of his face: “Revered Master, it’s late, please get some sleep.”

“”

“The moonlight is very beautiful tonight.”  Her mellow tone was dripping with charm, her long and narrow eyes raising towards her temples.  Although it was obvious she was only about 15 or 16 years old, her frequent smiles were bone-chilling: “I’ve no wish to sleep.”

“Understood.”  The boy answered in a low voice.

The night forest was cold.

Fingers like white scallions gently stroked the bone flute, as if the young lady were caressing a lover: “What about Lingxi?”

“I received a report.  The demon puppets that were released were dispatched by one of Jianfeng’s senior disciples……”  The boy hesitated for a moment, “……it was done by one sword.”

“Mmm.”  The young lady didn’t particularly care.  Tenderly embracing her flute in her arms, her long wide red sleeves hid its shape, and her long eyebrows faintly creased: “Was it……Chu Yao, from the Chu family of Chang’an?”

Startled, the boy took a second before nodding: “Yes.”

“It’s truly unfortunate,” the young lady’s tone was soft and gracious, “Lingxi is such a nice place……yet there’s always people living there that I can’t stand to look at.”

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A seemingly casual sentence, but the boy’s whole body trembled, almost imperceptibly.

“Are you afraid of me?”  The young lady laughed lightly, “What are you afraid of me for?”

The boy opened his mouth to answer, however the young lady slightly lifted a hand, stopping him.

Slowly getting up, the lady’s red lips curved up in a little smile: “Be afraid, it’s good.”

The boy dared not answer.

At which the young lady covered her mouth to laugh again: “Now give me your opinion on this.  Who are the latest rising stars of Lingxi?”

The young boy bowed his head: “Besides Chu Yao, there’s Chang Lan, who was sent by [Order] to temporarily take the post of Jianfeng’s senior disciple.  And there’s also Danfeng’s new senior disciple, Gu Peijiu……”

“Gu Peijiu?”

The sound of the wind abruptly stopped.

“I cannot tolerate the sight of this great disciple.”

The child stayed silent.

“Bai Zhi, I will give you three thousand puppets and you will find a way to kill this Gu Peijiu.”  The young lady’s voice was soft, unhurried: “Alright?”

Bai Zhi’s body still shook a little: “Yes!”

The night breezes moved faintly, light and gentle.

Bai Zhi knelt there, feeling the wind move around him, not daring to move.

Gazing up at the luminous moon set in the night sky, the moonlight reflected in the young lady’s long and narrow eyes, their expression gentle and showing an deep attachment.

“”

The world was quiet for a long time, until–

“It’s been so very long……”  The young lady caressed her flute again, murmuring to herself.  Wrapped in her blood-red hunting fur, silver moonbeams pooled in her dark eyes like a river of broken ice in deep winter: “It must be time for someone to find out about the Zhen Hun.”

The souls of dead bones lamented and Zhen Hun was incomparable.

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Leisurely flute music wafted into the air.
Above the wilderness, in the eye sockets of countless puppets, blue spirit flames sparked to life, lit by the notes of the flute.

The howling of the wolf fell quiet, replaced by the low rumblings of demon puppets.

—-It’s been too long.

—-You ought to come back now.

“I will not let slip anyone who should be killed.”

The song came to an end.  Thousands of puppets roared.  Out in an endless wasteland, the terrifying blue flames of their eyes converged into a vast ocean.

Lovingly stroking her bone flute, the young lady spoke tenderly: “I will surely be the first to find you.”

—-Only I remember.

Remember how much I love you.

Even if the world is turned upside down, even if a million souls must be sacrificed, I will guard your mountain peak, your Zhen Hun, and your white bones.  I will be here, waiting for your return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The four arts

琴棋书画[qín qí shū huà]

the four arts (zither, Go, calligraphy, painting) / the accomplishments of a well-educated person