Ch.161: This Jade Refuses to be a Thrown Away Brick 3
It became bustling and lively on the other end, and the heavenly official on this side was shocked, “Eh? You– you’re not His Highness Qi Ying???”
Only then did the others explain laughingly, their hands hugging their stomachs, “You got the wrong person, my brother! Did you forget? There are two martial gods ruling the west, one is Yin Yu and the other is Qi Ying. They’re shixiong and shidi of the same sect, the one in front of you is His Highness Yin Yu, hahaha…”
That heavenly official quickly said, “Oh oh oh, I’ve gotten the wrong person, how embarrassing, hahaha, I’m too ignorant of the world, and have only heard more about Qi Ying…” He trailed off, but Yin Yu had already closed his eyes like he was too tired for words and had given up on socializing. Someone had noticed things not going right and elbowed that heavenly official, and only then did he noticed what he said was hurtful. He haha-ed and quickly remedied, “Ahem ahem, I’ll take my leave now, Your Highness Yin… Yin Yue, Ah, no no no, Your Highness Yin Yu! Let’s get together again sometimes, happy Mid Autumn, hahaha…”
While he said he was taking his leave, he raised his glass and cheered, heading to Quan Yi Zhen’s direction. On the other end, there was already a large crowd of heavenly officials, all fighting to greet Quan Yi Zhen, the sea of people thick and the person in the centre couldn’t be seen.
It appeared that this was soon after Quan Yi Zhen had ascended, but he already erected his own palace and was at the height of his popularity, unlike how he was disliked later. Although the two were both martial gods of the west, his prominence was significantly greater than that of Yin Yu, and the people all swarmed over, practically leaving only He Xuan who still sat there drinking his soup, the table empty and quiet. It was awkward no matter if he stood or sat, so a moment later, Yin Yu suddenly said, “Let’s head back.”
The two left their seats and no one noticed. Jian Yu was enraged, “Those shallow, fairweathered people! And they’re heavenly officials no less! Back when that brat first joined the Upper Court, they all gave him the cold shoulder, complaining to you all day everyday. Now look at them. That brat’s ascended, he’s got lanterns, and they praised him to the skies! They change attitudes faster than flipping a page, what immovable status? What young and capable? His devotees are all mental just like him! Only idiots would worship someone with brain damage!”
Just then, Shi Qing Xuan walked over with a glass of wine, and Yin Yu whispered, “Don’t talk anymore, let’s get out of here!”
It was only seeing someone come that Jian Yu finally shut his mouth. Shi Qing Xuan was puzzled, “Yin Yu, are you going back? Didn’t Qi Ying just come? I heard him say last time that the two of you haven’t seen each other for a long time and even asked me what you’ve been up to. Are you going to go catch up a little with him?”
Yin Yu forced a smile, “No, I’m not feeling too well, so I’ll head back first.”
Shi Qing Xuan didn’t think too deeply of it, and when he saw the ‘Earth Master’ sitting behind them, he laughed cheerfully, “Then you go and rest easy, and we’ll get together next time. Ming-xiong! I told you not to sit there! Come come come, come over to my table…”
They waited until Shi Qing Xuan walked away and stopped caring for them before Jian Yu lowered his voice and continued to grumble, “Catch up my ass! That brat won’t have much time to be so proud before the rug gets pulled from under his feet and suffers a crushing defeat. I eagerly await that day!”
He kept grousing, aggravating Yin Yu’s silent frustration, “Just drop it, and stop being so resentful.”
“Drop it, drop it, that’s all you say, “drop it”.” Jian Yu complained, “How can this be dropped?
When he first came up, if it wasn’t for you always going around wiping his ass and begging for forgiveness, he would’ve long been kicked out already. I really can’t watch this anymore, I’m frustrated for you!”
The two had already swiftly returned to the Palace of Yin Yu. Compared to the exceptionally liveliness of the Palace Grand Opening Ceremony, the halls now were desolate and deserted with very few lower ranked officials attending to them. After closing the gates, Yin Yu’s voice grew louder, “Don’t say anymore! I don’t want to hear! It’s very normal for an ascended heavenly official to erect a palace, he didn’t do anything out of line. Since you get irritated just talking about him then why must you mention him?”
“Don’t think me speaking out of turn, but someone must remind you. Yin Yu, domain in the west is only so big, and there’s only so many devotees. He’s robbed so many; that wolf monster was totally wrenched away by him! Look at the state of you now, your domain’s shrinking smaller and smaller, just how much do you have left? How can you maintain your standing if this keeps up?”
“How is it considered robbing?” Yin Yu said, “It’s not like he held anyone at knifepoint to worship him, everyone’s willing. Besides, that wolf monster…”
He sighed and said frankly, “I really couldn’t have defeated it. It was useless praying to me, so of course they went to him.”
Jian Yu held his head, his heart aching, “I just… I’m just scared that if this fight continues, we’d have nothing left. Fuck, even those lower ranking officials are all ass kissers, each of them using empty excuses to quit to slip away to other heavenly officials, what a bunch of no-good asshats!”
Yin Yu sighed again, sitting down on the prayer cushion, “What fight… why care for such a thing? What must leave will always leave in the end, and what should remain will naturally stay. I didn’t ascend to fight over power with anyone, nor fight over domains, so why can’t you let this go?”
As they say, “one mountain has no room for two tigers”, just look at the present example: Feng Xin and Mu Qing who were both stationed in the south had been going at each other’s throats for years. If they weren’t in the same territory, things might be a little better, but “enemies are destined to meet”, where one is renown and ascends is one’s domain. The people of the past in one’s mortal life will often end up crowding together after ascension. In the heavens, in the mortal realm, as gods as humans, life is just awkward like that. There was no reason for Quan Yi Zhen to abandon the west and move to a different territory. The two were in the middle of their argument when there was someone suddenly banging loudly on the doors. Jian Yu called,
“WHO IS IT?!”
“It’s me.” The person outside the door replied.
Jian Yu turned to Yin Yu angrily and said under his breath, “…Why did this stinkin’ brat come?”
Yin Yu gestured for him to go to the back, and he schooled his expression before going forward to open the doors. Sure enough, standing just outside was Quan Yi Zhen. He seemed to have grown taller again since the last time, about the same height as when Xie Lian first met him, and had finally stopped perching on windows.
When Yin Yu spoke, he sounded fairly calm, “Yi Zhen, it’s you. Are you not attending the Mid Autumn Banquet? Why have you come?”
Quan Yi Zhen followed him into the grand hall, and the moment he spoke it was something blunt, “It’s my birthday.”
“…”
So the Mid Autumn Festival was Quan Yi Zhen’s birthday, and he had come looking for his birthday present.
Xie Lian had also heard that Yin Yu, as shixiong, would always gift Quan Yi Zhen a present on his birthdays. It was probably due to the many awkwardness that this year, there wasn’t one. By Shi Qing Xuan’s words back at the Mid Autumn Banquet, Yin Yu had probably been avoiding him on purpose for some time now. When someone started avoiding meetings and stopped giving gifts, those who were a bit more sensitive would’ve noticed and wouldn’t ever have gone to ask for gifts. Yet here he was, never thinking anything was wrong, and came knocking in full confidence. Xie Lian had never seen anything more tragically awkward. If he wasn’t touching foreheads with Hua Cheng right now he would’ve slapped his own face to cover his own eyes so he wouldn’t have to watch anymore.
Yin Yu puffed a dry laugh, “…Ah, that’s right, today’s your birthday. But, it’s been busy here in the palace recently, so…”
When Quan Yi Zhen heard, his eyes widened, “There’s nothing?”
Yin Yu seemed to think things weren’t right so when the words reached his lips they made a u-turn, “No, I didn’t forget. It’s in the back, just wait a moment.”
Quan Yi Zhen sat himself down on the spot, resting both his hands on his knees, nodding energetically, looking very hopeful. Yin Yu fled to the side chamber, and Jian Yu was sitting there grimly. Of course Yin Yu hadn’t prepare anything, so the moment he entered the room he flipped through all the drawers and dressers, chests and shelves, but he couldn’t find anything proper for the occasion, so he called out to Jian Yu, “Help me find something, quick, something that can temporarily be used as a gift.”
Jian Yu grabbed a rag cloth on the side and threw it onto the ground, stomping at it twice before saying hatefully, “Give this to him. “
“Jian Yu!” Yin Yu berated.
“Even gifting something like this is still more than what he deserves.” Jian Yu spat. “I can’t believe he’s shameless enough to come!”
Yin Yu said woefully, “You don’t understand anything. In the years past I’ve always gifted him something, if I don’t give him anything this year it’d seem too deliberate. Anything will do, as long as the intention’s there. How about this. Go find me that Golden Exorcism Armlet that we got last time? It’s not quite appropriate but at least it’s something.”
He had to urge a couple times before Jian Yu went angrily. Yin Yu returned to the grand hall then, and sat in front of Quan Yi Zhen, “Just wait for a moment. Things are a bit disorganized right now so I sent Jian Yu to look for your gift. By the way, what have you been up to lately? Things have been going smoothly, I presume? I heard the number of worshippers of your palace had increased five fold these past few months, congratulations.”
Quan Yi Zhen replied, “I don’t know any worshippers, I’m just doing me and they came crowding my temples for some reason, weird. I slayed a wolf monster recently.”
Yin Yu’s smile became stiffer. What he couldn’t take on, Quan Yi Zhen took on so effortlessly.
This was very much like how you just couldn’t win over a girl you loved, and she ignored you completely, but when she ran into the arms of someone else in tears, this someone else couldn’t even be bothered to spare her a look and instead, turned around to tell you how she was only average, nothing to be amazed by. Truly, what a bitter feeling. Quan Yi Zhen talked on for a bit, then suddenly said, “I saw you earlier at the Mid Autumn Banquet. I wanted to talk to you but you left so quickly.”
When he finally stopped talking so excitedly about the recent battles of his domain, Yin Yu finally exhaled in relief. “Oh, there was a little something, so I came back early.”
Quan Yi Zhen nodded, “Someone told me that it’s because they greeted you as the wrong person.”
Hearing this, Yin Yu’s face instantly dropped but Quan Yi Zhen didn’t notice at all, his lips curving upwards, “It’s too funny, so stupid!”
Xie Lian couldn’t bear to watch anymore and he buried his face in Hua Cheng’s arms, “This… this, this, this, is too tragic to watch.”
Of course Xie Lian believed wholeheartedly that Quan Yi Zhen thought it was funny that others made a silly mistake, and at the same time did not realize at all just how not funny this was to Yin Yu, but this didn’t change the fact that if the other two were going to continue this awkward conversation, he was going to die from suffocation. Thankfully, before he suffocated, Jian Yu finally came around with a gift box. He passed the gift box to Yin Yu and went away to the back again without a word. Yin Yu also looked like he just received absolution, and passed the box on directly to Quan Yi Zhen. He seemed to be ecstatic and hopped up on the spot to receive the box. However, Yin Yu’s smile was already laced with fatigue, “Why don’t you open it after you go back?”
Quan Yi Zhen nodded, “Ok. I’ll head back now. I’m going out for patrol next month, if shixiong is free, come with me.”
Yin Yu couldn’t listen to anymore of anything he’d say, and offhandedly placated him with an alright. Once the boy was sent off, Jian Yu came out cussing, slamming the doors, “WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?! DID HIS MOM DROP HIM ON THE HEAD HUNDREDS OF TIMES AT BIRTH?? IF NOT THEN HE’S HERE TO MOCK YOU ON PURPOSE. WHAT, “I DON’T KNOW ANY WORSHIPPERS”, WHAT PATROL, IS HE TRYING TO SHOW OFF? WHAT A MALICIOUS HEART!”
This time when he yelled, Yin Yu didn’t stop him. Silently, he headed to the back chambers and never did emerge again. Xie Lian instinctively felt the gift box Quan Yi Zhen took away was problematic, “Could it be? It’s the Brocade Immortal in that box?”
“You guessed it.” Hua Cheng said.
“Then Jian Yu should’ve been the one responsible for the crime of the Brocade Immortal incident, so why was Yin Yu’s punishment so heavy-handed later?” Xie Lian asked.
“Gege will find out three days after.” Hua Cheng replied.
He said three days, and three days went by. Rays of sunshine startlingly shone through into the quiet Palace of Yin Yu, and Yin Yu sluggishly walked into the side chambers, seeming to be rummaging for something. He flipped through the chests and delved through the drawers.
However, unexpectedly, as he rummaged he suddenly fumbled out a shiningly golden armlet that was covered in charmed spells from the desk. He didn’t care for it at first and placed it aside, but then a moment later, he suddenly picked it up and called out, “Jian Yu?”
Jian Yu entered the room, “What is it?”
Yin Yu held up that armlet and questioned puzzledly, “Why is the Golden Exorcism Armlet here? Didn’t you gift it to him? Didn’t I have you wrap this up in a gift box?”
Jian Yu humphed, “Gift him? He doesn’t even deserve a drop of your spit!”
Yin Yu was exasperated, “You didn’t actually gift him that foot cleaning cloth? Why must you offend people?” However, Jian Yu only smiled cryptically, “I didn’t. I gave him something better.”
Yin Yu’s face instantly changed and didn’t think things light anymore, “What? I was wondering why I couldn’t find it anywhere. That robe can manipulate minds, it can suck blood!” Then he turned to hurry away, but Jian Yu grabbed him, “Why so anxious! That robe can manipulate minds, that’s true, but you’re the one who gave it to him, so no one else can control him. As for the blood sucking, maybe it’ll be effective on mortals, but I doubt it’ll do anything to heavenly officials. Look, it’s been three days and nothing’s happened to him!”
Yin Yu gave it a some thought and paced back and forth in the side chambers. Jian Yu continued, “Besides, isn’t that brat capable? Young and capable, let’s see just how capable he is.”
In the end, Yin Yu still threw his hands together, “That won’t do! We don’t know just how dangerous that thing is, if anything happens then we’re done for! How can you take things so lightly?! Sigh!”
Then, without any regard for Jian Yu’s calls, he dashed out, bumping into many heavenly officials on the way, rushing into the Palace of Qi Ying. The person in question wasn’t there, so he grabbed hold of people everywhere, asking anxiously, “Where’s Qi Ying? I’ve something urgent, I need to find him!”
“Qi Ying?” The others said, “His Highness Qi Ying is in a meeting at the Great Martial Hall! All the top ranking martial gods of the Upper Court are there today…”
Yin Yu didn’t finish listening before he ran off. It was only once he reached the Great Martial Hall that he realized he couldn’t enter. First of all, this meeting only summoned the “top ranking martial gods of the Upper Court” and he wasn’t called; second of all, even if he went in he wouldn’t be able to talk about the matter in front of everyone, so he could only wait outside the hall. Through the windows, Xie Lian swept a glance, and sure enough, there were a number of familiar faces, like Feng Xin, Mu Qing, Pei Ming, who were in the hall, all listening intently. What Yin Yu saw, however, was Quan Yi Zhen donned with an impressive, shining armour.
He appeared perfectly normal, rather, it was Ling Wen who was standing next to Jun Wu on the throne who was distracted, making frequent mistakes, so much so that Jun Wu had to speak up, “Ling Wen? Ling Wen?”
He called her a few time before Ling Wen snapped out of it, “What? What is it?”
Jun Wu chuckled, “What’s with you today? You keep staring at Qi Ying. Are you perhaps like me, and think his new armour is quite nice?”
The few martial gods in the hall also started laughing, and Ling Wen mumbled an apology, wiping away the cold sweat on her forehead unnoticeably. However, the hand gripping the brush was still trembling.
If Xie Lian was present at the time, he probably would’ve just smiled. However, now he’s perfectly aware that Ling Wen must’ve been feeling afflicted and perturbed seeing Quan Yi Zhen wearing and flashing that bloody robe she herself created hundreds of years ago.
Yin Yu paced around outside the hall, sometimes squatting, sometimes standing, agitated and jittery. At last the meeting ended, and Quan Yi Zhen was the first to come out. When he saw Yin Yu outside, he greeted, “Shixiong, why are you here?”
Yin Yu instantly rose to his feet and incoherently said a few words before immediately getting to the point, “Your armour…”
“It’s great!” Quan Yi Zhen replied, “The emperor and Ling Wen complimented it earlier. Thank you, shixiong.”
“…”
Yin Yu spoke with a forced calm, “It’s good indeed, but the person who forged the armour said there’s a little problem and wants you to bring it over for some tweaking.”
If he ordered for Quan Yi Zhen to “take off this armour” directly, he would risk for Quan Yi Zhen to discover himself manipulated after the fact, and it wouldn’t be good if the matter should be found out, so Yin Yu couldn’t afford for him to notice anything amiss, which was why he could only make the request in such a roundabout way. However, Quan Yi Zhen was puzzled, “What problem? I don’t think there’s any problems.”
It was also awkward to ask for a gift already given to be returned after all, and Yin Yu thought really hard on what to say when Quan Yi Zhen spoke again, “By the way, shixiong, next month we can go patrol together.”
Yin Yu instantly looked up, a little dumbfounded, “What?”
“I don’t think my name is on the list for patrol?” He’d almost forgotten about the whole business with the Brocade Immortal.
Quan Yi Zhen looked quite happy and excited, “There is. I mentioned you earlier, and the emperor said he could consider it.”
“…”
In that flash of a second, Xie Lian could almost see waves of hot blood rushing to Yin Yu’s head.
Years of built up resentment and pent up grievances finally exploded in this very moment. Yin Yu yelled, “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU??”
This was the very first time Quan Yi Zhen saw Yin Yu so angry, and he blinked, confusion filled his face. A few heavenly officials who were passing by also snuck peeks over. Yin Yu hugged his head, “DID I SAY I WANTED TO GO?? WHAT’S THE PATROL OF MARTIAL GODS GOT TO DO WITH ME?? I DIDN’T BEG YOU SO WHO ARE YOU TO MENTION ME TO THE EMPEROR??”
Outsiders might not know why Yin Yu was losing his cool like this, but Xie Lian could understand perfectly. After all, to an extremely proud martial god, this was a great humiliation.
The Patrol of Martial Gods was a ceremony that only the highest ranking martial gods of the Upper Court could participate in. During the procession of this patrol, the chosen martial gods could demonstrate their might and subdue and disperse monsters and demons. Not only could this help spread their name and increase the number of worshippers, there was also the opportunity to spar with fellow participating martial gods, improve their skills and build their relationships. In any case, this was a grand affair, and there was a certain demand for prominent foundation and high skills for the attending martial gods; for example, having at least four thousand temples or ranking in the top ten.
With Yin Yu’s qualifications, he for sure wouldn’t be eligible to participate in the Patrol of Martial Gods. Even if he could go and was able to gain actual benefits, those who were aware of his status would for sure talk. Those with thick skins might not care, countless small heavenly officials would fight to squeeze themselves in, but Yin Yu was clearly someone who wasn’t thick skinned, and knowing deep down he didn’t have the qualifications, how could he possibly depend on the connections of someone else to force himself in? Besides, this someone else was Quan Yi Zhen who once depended on him to escape expulsion from heaven!
Quan Yi Zhen didn’t get it at all. He probably thought it was a good deed and so he mentioned it, and didn’t think there was any need to care for anything else. However, because Yin Yu looked truly furious, for the first time, Quan Yi Zhen seemed to want to say something but stopped, looking like he didn’t dare to speak. A moment later, he mumbled, “Shixiong, why are you mad? Did I do something wrong?”
“…”
Those words again!
Xie Lian practically wanted to beg him to stop talking. As for Yin Yu, veins popped on his forehead, teetering on the edge of a meltdown, and he pulled at his own hair, “ENOUGH! I’VE HAD ENOUGH! I’M GOING MAD! I’M GOING FUCKING MAD BECAUSE OF YOU!” Then he pointed at the Great Martial Hall, “QUAN YI ZHEN, DON’T TALK TO ME ANYMORE! GO TAKE BACK YOUR RECOMMENDATION! STOP ADDING TO MY TROUBLES! NOW! RIGHT THIS SECOND!”
After he roared, without another word, Quan Yi Zhen instantly turned and dashed back into the Great Martial Hall. Yin Yu blinked, and only then did he remember Quan Yi Zhen was still wearing that Brocade Immortal, and his actions weren’t because he knew himself to be wrong and wanted to rectify things, but because he was being controlled by that Brocade Immortal!
Within the Great Martial Hall, the few martial gods who haven’t yet left were all watching in confusion as Quan Yi Zhen came blazing back in. Yin Yu was outside the hall, slightly trembling, and he yelled again, “STOP!”
Quan Yi Zhen almost made it to Jun Wu when he braked abruptly, and indeed came to a stop. It was only a good moment later before he was bewildered, “What’s with me just now?”
Jun Wu also knitted his brows, “Qi Ying, don’t move! Come and have me take a look. I saw your eyes weren’t focused just now, surrounded by the aura of evil, it seemed you’ve been casted an evil spell.”
Quan Yi Zhen scratched his head, feeling confused, “Alright.” And moved to go forward. Without any choice, Yin Yu could only command, “COME BACK! LEAVE!”
The moment he gave the command, Quan Yi Zhen instantly turned around, running out of the hall madly, right in Yin Yu’s direction. Perhaps it was because rage filled his mind or perhaps he was going crazy from distress,Yin Yu started running too in confusion, his steps all messed up, looking very much like a fleeing criminal. Jun Wu couldn’t pretend he didn’t see, and he rose to his feet, “TAKE THEM DOWN!”
The martial gods all acknowledged, “YES, MY LORD!”
Yin Yu was falling deeper in despair, his mind in complete disarray, and he roared while covering his face, “LEAVE! LEAVE RIGHT NOW! TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES!”
Quan Yi Zhen’s eyes were blank, running rapidly while removing his armour. Yet unexpectedly, a number of martial gods came surrounding them halfway, going straight for an arrest. Seeing that there were people obstructing him from obeying his command, violence flashed in Quan Yi Zhen’s eyes, and his fists flew out, taking over ten of the martial gods in sight as targets and punched through a chain of holes!
“AAAAHHHHH!! MURDER!!! MURDER IN THE UPPER COURT–!!!!”
Series of screams and blood filled the air, and Yin Yu was already petrified, his face white as a sheet. It was probably only Ling Wen who possessed a face paler than him.
He had never imagined that this Brocade Immortal was so powerful, so incredible evil! Things were going completely out of control!
———
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