Hua Hua You Long - Volume 1 - Chapter 5.3

Chapter 5.3- Heroes of the World (Cont.)
           His voice wasn’t loud, but was as clear as if he was speaking in each individual’s ear. Lu Cang couldn’t help but be secretly surprised: this Jing Zong was definitely not a man unlearned in the field of martial arts. This type of voice radiation technique required potent qi, something that was, perhaps, awfully difficult even for Lu Cang.
           Before he could ponder further on the subject, he heard the Protocol Officer up on the gate tower once again declare the official commencement of the Assembly of Heroes. The first group of one hundred martial artists attending the first round ascended the stage in the midst of the crowd’s cheering.
           After watching on the sidelines for a few good hours, Lu Cang began to feel impatience rising from inside his chest—though the first twenty, thirty competitors he observed were acclaimed direct-line apprentices of big sects like Qing Cheng and Wu Dang, they flaunted fancy moves with no innovation, making Lu Cang feel dreadfully disappointed as he watched.
He decided to find a place to first fill his stomach, then rest well for a while, waiting to annihilate these short-sighted, so-called official sect apprentices in this afternoon’s match.
As he thought this, the remaining interest he had in the fight trickled away. He turned and squeezed his way out of the crowd, heading towards a seemingly decent restaurant[1] that had a banner written “wine[2]” hanging up its doors.
The capital’s prosperous street scenery flitted by like wind. Lu Cang’s chest was filled with the joy of freedom, something he had not tasted for a long while. The Lu Cang of this moment was full of confidence he could squeeze into the top one hundred. At the thought of escaping the demonic clutches of that freakish Jing not too far down the road, he had the urge to laugh from the very bottom of his heart.
The moment he walked into the restaurant, there was a grinning waiter who came up to greet him. Because it was still early, the restaurant had no customers. Following the waiter up to the second floor, Lu Cang picked a good window seat and sat down, ordered a few side dishes, and began to drink to the scenery in solitude.
After sitting for an hour, he heard the first floor grow noisy. Lu Cang estimated the time in his head; it was probably because the Assembly of Heroes had just ended that all these people naturally flooded into the nearby restaurant.
Along with the rowdiness came a group of large, burly blokes following after the waiter as they came upstairs—though this gang of people were all tall and muscular, every one of them hung their heads in defeat, and a few seemed to be muttering something under their breaths. Judging by their complaints, they seemed to have suffered great losses during their matches and were still too proud to accept it.
After this group of people, there were a few more that came upstairs who all chose empty tables and sat down. Because Lu Cang’s seat was next to the window, there were only two empty seats, so there wasn’t anyone who came to crowd his table. Lu Cang was quite glad to be at his own leisure.
  He heard the creaking of the stairs once again. Lu Cang turned his head slightly and glimpsed a spotless, blue-robed, elegant, and young-master-like type of young man emerge from the stairs.
He came to a stop at the top of the stairs, his eyes scanning the room quickly and fixing themselves on the group of tough blokes. A stroke of scorn instantly appeared at the corner of his mouth. The young man gave a cold “humph,” and, seeing that from left to right there were only empty seats over at Lu Cang’s table, stalked straight towards Lu Cang.
Lu Cang heaved a mental sigh, but there wasn’t anything he could do but give the young man a nod. He watched as the young man sat down at his table.
“Waiter, give me three liang[3] of Nu’er Hong[4], an order of soy sauced beef, and two side dishes.” The moment he sat down, he ordered the waiter to bring food. His voice was befittingly tender, matching his soft, delicate appearance.
The waiter served up the wine and food, and just when the young man was about to pick up his chopsticks, one of the burly blokes from before said, “Little puppy’s eating human food, huh?!”
The young man’s brows instantly locked into a frown. He threw down his chopsticks and stood up. “Who the fuck are you talking about?” His eyebrows seemed to form an upside-down straight line as he fixed his gaze directly at that group of people. Though his voice was high, his words were quite uncouth.
“We’re talking the fuck about that whatever Ye Men Sect’s faggot apprentice!” The large bloke didn’t evade his gaze at all but returned it straight, obviously taunting the young man on purpose.
“I was wondering which dog was barking. So it was the one that I just beat up— a small puppy from Hong Cheng Sect!” The young man’s sharp tongue surrendered to no one as he retorted with a high and mighty expression, infuriating the men from Hong Cheng Sect half to death.
“Fuck it! Last time was a fluke! I won’t accept it! How about we decide right here, right now who’s the real victor?!” The second his words escaped his mouth, his sword had already left its sheath. He obviously had the intention of a duel beforehand.
As Lu Cang listened, he pretty much guessed most of what had went down: this young man had probably defeated this gang of people in the Hero’s Assembly, but those blokes weren’t convinced, hence resulting in this whole fiasco of a fight.
Not one of the wulin men who watched from the sidelines was scared. Instead, everyone had their eyes wide open, wearing expressions of eagerness, as if their only fear was that the world didn’t break out into chaos.
The young man gave a cold, arrogant laugh, and also pulled out a long sword from his belt. “Who’s afraid of whom? Just see if I don’t chop off one of your paws!” The current predicament was tremendously tense.  A coldblooded battle seemed unavoidable at this point.
“Wait!” Suddenly, a slightly older man from the Hong Cheng group stood up. The people of wulin all around, including Lu Cang, all thought he was going to stop the fight, and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed they couldn’t personally witness a duel unfold.
But unexpectedly, that man spoke a string of narrow-minded words. “We’ve already solicited upon your one-on-one fighting skills, but that’s not Hong Cheng Sect’s forte. We have practised a Hong Method Sword Formation[5]. I hope we could consult the young hero’s instruction.”
Lu Cang gave a bitter scoff in his mind: this Hong Cheng Sect was so ridiculously shameless. They couldn’t defeat their opponent one-on-one so they use sword formation as an excuse to bully their opponent with unfair numbers? But Lu Cang was never the type to pull out his sword in aide if the road was rough[6], so although he sympathised with the youth, he still had no intention of joining the fight.
The youth scoffed. “Little dogs from Hong Cheng Sect...you think that sheer number can overwhelm me? How could I be scared of you? Just come at me.” His long sword left its sheath, the icy light reflecting off the blade lit up the frigidity in his eyes, transfiguring it into lightning, foiling against the symmetrical prettiness of his features.
Lu Cang frowned a little. Just as he was about to call over the waiter for final payment and leave this place of disputes without delay, the Hong Cheng Sect people had already initiated attack. The youth also raised his sword and charged to receive their attack: the opposing sides were soon engaged in an intense brawl. The waiter had been long since too scared to show his face, making it impossible for Lu Cang to pay for the food.
The Hong Cheng Sect’s whatever sword formation had quite some sophistication to it; six swords weaved into a dense battle net, wrapping the youth inside so tightly that he was in absolute isolation. Though that youth’s mastery of the sword was somewhat decent, it was still difficult for him to gain any advantage in such a short amount of time.
Lu Cang watched for a bit, then turned his head to gaze outside the window in slight boredom. But the turning point of the battle occurred at this very instant. The youth, quite obviously unwilling to remain trapped inside the sword formation, gave a sudden spin. His sword blade’s technique of attack abruptly changed, piercing straight for the weakest link in their six-people chain. That man couldn’t ward off the youth’s oncoming sword; the direction of the sword that had already thrust outward all of a sudden veered off course, and headed directly towards where Lu Cang sat.
By purely random luck, the moment the blade came into contact with Lu Cang’s clothes was the moment that its thrust power was used up. Although it was true that the blade didn’t cut through skin or flesh, the sharp sword qi[7] sliced a long gash through Lu Cang’s clothes from the collar down. His robe above the waist split into two and hung at his side, revealing his entire top half.
Instantly, the entire room gathered its gazes on Lu Cang. Usually, it wasn’t a big deal for a man of wulin to have his clothes ripped or torn, but to the Lu Cang right now, it was of utmost humiliation.
The reason was none other than the fact that that freakish Emperor Jing spent last night “loving” his body very hard, leaving countless, easily discernible bruises. Lu Cang’s expose, honey-coloured skin was covered with round, tell-tale bruises, starting from his neck and stretching down to his stomach, lastly disappearing beneath his waist, urging one to imagine that the places still covered with clothing was also covered in similar marks.
Finally, someone let out a snort in their carelessness. Lu Cang’s face immediately went red against his will. Though everyone else only assumed that these marks were the remnants after a night of play with a girl from whichever brothel, Lu Cang himself felt as if the evidence of he and Jing’s abnormal relationship was exposed to the public. He was embarrassed and angry at once, and wanted no more than to bring his sword down on the one who put him in this awkward situation.
“What nerve!” Lu Cang threw down his cup and sprang to his feet, gazing in rage at the Hong Cheng Sect apprentice. “What damned nerve you have! You dare slice open my[8]...my clothes?!”
The Hong Cheng Sect apprentice was already frustrated by the youth’s formation-breaking stab, and, being yelled at by Lu Cang on top of all that, his mood became even worse. He examined Lu Cang from head to toe with derisive eyes, then said in a scornful tone, “It’s just the things that go on between lowly men and women. What’s the big deal?”
If it really was what went on between “men and women”, I’d rather the entire world know, Lu Cang thought to himself. Of course, he wouldn’t voice his actual thoughts. The number one rule of Jianghu was to never show weakness. How could Lu Cang stand such an insult? Lu Cang grabbed his sword right there and then, his mien focusing into solemnity, and raised his sword, ready to unsheathe.
“Wait a minute.” A clear, bright voice halted both sides. Lu Cang was just about to attack when he found a long, purple robe land over his head.
“Put it on before you fight.” The one who spoke was the youth who had just clashed with the Hong Cheng Sect apprentices. He only had the white, middle robe left on, and had evidently taken off his own outer layer to help Lu Cang cover up the embarrassment.
“Fighting with no clothes on...what nonsense is that...” The youth’s face was suddenly laced with a tint of crimson, leaving Lu Cang confused. Abruptly remembering his very own freak Jing, he immediately shivered. It couldn’t be that he ran into another one who preferred men, right?
Quickly pushing aside the pointless strands of thought in his head, he hastily pulled on the young man’s outer robe, then sped into battle with the Hong Cheng Sect apprentices.
Even if his kung-fu wasn’t as good as Jing’s, Lu Cang was still definitely not some nameless underling in Jianghu. How could common apprentices of big-name sects like these possibly be a match for him? Naturally, after not even ten exchanges, he took care of the fellow who had publicly embarrassed him.
Coldly returning his sword to its sheath, Lu Cang didn’t even care enough to give the bloke (who couldn’t get off the floor) a second glance. He threw the money for the meal onto the table and strode out with his head held high, pretending not to hear everyone’s shocked praise for his skills that sounded from behind.
“Hey, wait for me...” Lu Cang had only cared to plunge forward, not expecting the youth, who had caught up from behind, to block his way.
“Wait for me.” He panted heavily, apparently finding the chasing a bit exhausting.
“What is it?” To be honest, Lu Cang was still quite thankful. If not for him, Lu Cang would have to rush through the streets with kiss marks all over his body.
The youth pointed to the thin middle layer on his body, and then pointed at the purple outer robe on Lu Cang’s body. Lu Cang immediately understood. “Ah...how about you come with me...my house isn’t far...”
The youth smiled as well. “I still have to participate in a second round this afternoon. I really can’t appear on stage with just a shirt[9] on.”
Lu Cang quickly nodded. “The Assembly of Heroes, right? I’m first round this afternoon.”
The youth instantly jumped like a joyous bird. “Your kung-fu is really good! Hopefully I won’t be matched up with you...” The two talked and laughed the whole way as they headed towards Yue Long Bridge. The shared topic of the Assembly allowed them to quickly familiarise with each other. From their conversation, Lu Cang learned that the youth resided in Tong’an, was named Xi Zhen, practised kung-fu from a young age, and wanted to test out his skills in this time’s Assembly of Heroes, but didn’t expect to have defeated Hong Cheng Sect’s representatives in the preliminary rounds this morning and caused himself trouble.
“There, this is my temporary residence in Tong’an.” Pushing open the small house’s yard doors, Lu Cang brought Xi Zhen inside. Xi Zhen’s eyes immediately fell on the elegant, carefree layout and a certain type of water lily in the jade green pond. He began to exclaim, “Big Brother Lu, your friend must really be rich! This type of house isn’t something commoners could afford, much less lend to a friend.”
Lu Cang stopped at Xi Zhen’s words. But then again, from the attitude of the procuress at Tonghua House last time, he had already guessed that Jing was aristocratic if not wealthy, definitely not born of the plebeian class.

“I think it’s very ordinary...” However, Lu Cang wasn’t willing to admit that someone with freakish qualities like Jing was of superior birth. “My house in Hangzhou is a lot bigger than this one.”
“Then Big Brother Lu must really be rich, too?”
“Average.” Lu Cang was a little tongue-tied. It wasn’t as if he could say he was a famous bandit. Despite that though, Xi Zhen had a type of innocence that made Lu Cang genuinely unable to refuse his approach.
Pushing open the door to the inner room, Lu Cang tried his hardest not to look at the eye-catching bed inside. “My clothes are all over here. You sit first, I’ll change.”
Xi Zhen sat down on the bench next to the table, curiously examining his surroundings. His eyes fell on the extra-large bed in the centre of the room, which immediately captured his attention. “What beautiful embroidery...” He walked towards the bed as if under a spell, and reached out to caress that extravagantly dazzling embroidery. A moment later, he suddenly cried out, “Ah, this is royal embroidery...it’s difficult for commoners to even steal a glimpse! Big Brother Lu, just what kind of god[10] is this friend of yours?!”
Lu Cang walked out from behind the folded screen, a different  light blue robe already on his body. He said as he returned Xi Zhen’s clothes to him, “Little Brother Xi, you know a lot, don’t you? But everything here belongs to that friend of mine. I really don’t know where he got it.”
Xi Zhen was obviously a bit disappointed, but then suddenly laughed sheepishly. “Big Brother Lu must be laughing at me. I...Ever since I was little, I’ve always liked these things. Sort of like a girl...” He began to blush before he finished the sentence.
Lu Cang thought to himself, he really is like a girl...But instead said, “How could that be? Little Brother Zhen[11] is worrying too much.” The two chatted and rested for a little, then began on their way to the Assembly of Heroes.
The matches of that afternoon and the following few days all went smoothly. Lu Cang barely had to use any effort to pass the first, second, and third rounds. In the fourth round, although the opponent was the renowned Kunlun Sect Taoist Xiao Yao, Lu Cang was able to secure victory with that one move Jing taught him.
At the end of the fourth round, Lu Cang carefully read the bulletin. Xi Zhen had also passed through the round, but was distributed in a different top thousand round than he. They probably won’t meet until the duel for top one hundred. Although he was a new friend, Lu Cang was still unwilling to be his opponent.

Today was the fourteenth, but the moon wasn’t any less full than on the fifteenth[12]. Sitting in the long, winding corridor[13] dyed by moonlight, Lu Cang stared blankly at the lily pond that seemed even more overwhelmingly charming that usual under the moon. Judging by his performance these past few days, he found that his chances of making the top one hundred were extremely high. He was supposed to be thrilled to the point of dying because he could finally escape from Jing’s demon claws. So why was his heart filled with a nameless, indefinable feeling instead?
Before he could make sense of the muddled worries and emotions, his whole person was already gathered into an embrace by a pair of strong arms.
“You’re here?” Lu Cang knew who the owner of this pair of arms was without turning his head.
A hand gently searched into Lu Cang’s robes. Jing inched his mouth near his ear and said, “Tomorrow is the sixth round...if I don’t come today and you pass through the sixth round tomorrow...then I won’t have another chance to approach you in the future!” His tone was strangely relaxed and cheerful. In Lu Cang’s ears, there was an indescribable sort of flirtatiousness.
“It seems you really won’t have any chance in the future...” Saying to himself ‘it’s the last time, anyway,’ Lu Cang smiled, and leaned his entire body back into the embrace of the man behind him. He raised his eyes obediently, but saw in front of him that man’s demonically seductive face emitting an unbelievably stunning radiance under the moon.
Perhaps sensing that Lu Cang’s defence was weakened because he thought their farewell was imminent, Jing didn’t waste any time. Before Lu Cang could react, he was dragged to his feet from the corridor benches[14], then was pressed viciously by Jing onto the well-carved wooden pillar to the side.
“Don’t...don’t be so damn rushed...ah...” Lu Cang frenziedly tried to guard against Jing’s vulgar movements, that hand which ripped open layer after layer of clothes on his body in a completely unromantic way. The fine-material clothing loosened and fell in a confused mess. Along with Jing’s vulgar hands which snaked inside Lu Cang’s clothes to mess came Jing’s impatient lips. That malicious biting burned those marks, which had only begun to fade, onto Lu Cang’s body once again.
Remembering the ignominious scene a few days ago at the restaurant, Lu Cang said a little helplessly, “Don’t leave any marks, okay? Other people will see...” Though he knew very well that the man biting on his body like a beast wouldn’t take note at all, Lu Cang was still unable to stop himself from uttering those superfluous words.
......
Jing seemed to have decided to prolong foreplay. His hand loitered and searched about Lu Cang’s body again and again. The marks left by his hand mixed together with kiss marks at the side of the neck, the chest, the waist, even a place so private as the inside of the thigh...Lu Cang was reduced to uncontrollable, heavy breaths. The eyes wetted by the tears of lust mistily gazed down at its owner’s body, which was sticky with impure fluids.
But Jing didn’t have any intention of ending this saga of teasing. His own desire was obviously as intense as if on fire, pressed tightly to Lu Cang’s waist and lightly dancing, but he forced himself to not enter that secretive entrance he lusted after.
“You...you...what’re you doing? Being this polite...” Lu Cang asked, laughing, trying his hardest to hold back his desire. But his whole body trembled against his will. The foreboding of their parting made him give up his usual guardedness and obey his instinctual, physical yearning. Jing didn’t answer, but abruptly and brusquely split open Lu Cang’s thighs, extending himself straight into Lu Cang the moment Lu Cang was least expecting it.
“What a cruel move...” Lu Cang smiled bitterly. Jing was truly deserving of the title of “evil demon.” He chose to invade the moment when Lu Cang least expected, bringing an unparalleled tide of thrill, scattering all coherent thoughts to oblivion.
But this type of unprepared entrance inflicted the most damage on his organs. Along with the unmatched excitement came a pang that was equivalent to the feeling of being kicked hard in the guts. Lu Cang’s entire face twisted up in agony, the disturbance to his innards making him open his mouth wide, on the verge of vomiting the next second.
“Very good, no?” Jing’s beautiful smile was just like a demon’s tooth-baring grin, not to mention it was combined with thrusting that sent jolts throughout Lu Cang’s entire body. Not wanting to gasp and groan in humiliation, Lu Cang clenched his teeth down hard, planning on enduring through this wave of attacks. But Jing once again proved that in front of him, it was very rare that Lu Cang would achieve any aspirations.
Not waiting until the second wave of heat receded, Jing once again sent the whole of his uncommonly large weapon into Lu Cang’s body. Long since collapsed because his legs gave in, Lu Cang lay powerlessly on the pile of clothes on the corridor floor like an oyster shell that had been pried open, his two legs wide open, the moon clearly elucidating the part of Jing that entered into his body. Jing thrust in and pulled out briskly, seeing the split-second painful expression on Lu Cang’s face every time he reached deep inside.
Just like the frightful demon lord’s hell, the seizure-like agony was mixed in with the thrill of climax, enough for all the trials that made mankind fall into insanity phase through Lu Cang’s body again and again...
The jaw he clenched tightly as if hanging on for his life had long since loosened. The faint sighs and gasps and the licentious air all gathered and filled this long corridor of early autumn...
“If you were a woman...with the amount of that thing I’ve put into you, you would probably already have[15]it...you know, this is what a lot of women want and couldn’t get...” Gently wiping away the drops love-making fluids flowing out from that fiery hot entrance, Jing didn’t forget to torture Lu Cang’s spirits in the aftershocks of climax.
“Have what...” As with every time after they have intercourse, Lu Cang felt as if his entire body had fallen apart, especially the waste area, which simply ached as if it were to snap in half. In this sort of miserable condition and still having to deal with Jing’s bastard words, Lu Cang thought himself, beyond a doubt, ill-fortuned to the utmost extreme.
“Let me feel where a man’s limits really are...” Jing laughed perversely all of a sudden, reaching his hand into the place that was intimately connected with himself just a few minutes ago.
It wasn’t the first time Lu Cang had been touched here...He only twisted his lower waist slightly to show his unwillingness, but didn’t put up too much resistance. Yet he quickly found that there was something not right.
In the past, Jing would also finger him quite frequently, but those times he would only insert, at the most, three fingers. But today, Jing seemed like a greedy and unrelenting child, refusing to stop going deeper, going as far as to attempt fitting his entire hand into Lu Cang.
“You’re mad...” Lu Cang wanted to twist away and escape, but moving one inch made an explosive, ripping pain flare up in that place, forcing him to stop his movements. “You...you...” He suffered so greatly he wasn’t able to utter a single word, and could only lie there on his stomach, trying his best to regulate his breathing, though unable to keep the tears that had filled his eyes from spilling out...
“Don’t use your strength...don’t talk...” Speaking as if coaxing a child, Jing was just like a demon who demanded humans to hand over their souls. “I’m just going to feel around a little, nothing more. If you struggle...you’ll hurt yourself!” Jing’s words might seem like he was thinking for Lu Cang’s good, but in reality, there was threat hidden in his voice.
Lu Cang’s body had already been pushed open quite a lot from the intercourse beforehand, but to swallow Jing’s full hand was really too much to ask. He could sense Jing’s fingers touching the depth of his insides, where he hadn’t been touched before. The mucous membrane contracted and drew back, vying to repel the foreign object, but Jing stubbornly caressed his insides, and even attempted to push his hand inside a little more...a little more...
Lu Cang was so scared he didn’t dare breathe. He held himself rigid, not moving a single inch, silently enduring this supremely freakish man’s abuse. He knew that any struggle would only bring him appalling agony and even injury that will last for life. He could only bite down hard, holding on for dear life as Jing searched inside of him as if it were some strange, wondrous, new territory, pushing inside a bit more, and a bit more still.
“How curious...it’s as if I’m touching your organs...” Jing seemed to have found some sort of immense pleasure from this horrifying search, his eyes glowing with radiant light, murmuring in his mouth, “It feels as if I could control your everything...it feels as if I can’t be any closer to you than this...”
Ice-cold tears slid down Lu Cang’s cheeks, silently falling onto the wooden corridor floor. Lu Cang’s heart was brimming with unredeemable sorrow: he knew that, even if he could pass through tomorrow’s sixth round in the competition, even if he could escape from this man, even if this was their last meeting...
However...the body that had been touched and felt by you as thoroughly as this...my entire life...I fear I could never forget this pair of hands infused with lust and pain as heavy as a mountain! 

[1] “Restaurant”- the best translation that I could muster is restaurant, though the original text was 酒楼, which translates literally to “wine tower.” Basically, the bigger restaurants in ancient China where a lot of people go to drink are “towers” two or sometimes three stories high. They’re called “wine towers” but really they’re just restaurants where a lot of dudes go to drink and celebrate, nothing on the same level as pagoda towers.
[2] Alcohol (酒)- the common translation for 酒 is “wine,” but really it just means any type of alcohol.  Alcohol sounds extremely scientific and not fit for novels, but in ancient China, they use the general term 酒, specifying only when needed, because the alcohol of ancient China is pretty much, for all intents and purposes, rice wine.
[3] Liang (两)- yes, it’s the unit of currency, but liang is really a measure of weight. 1 liang= 50 grams.
[4] Nu’er Hong (女儿红)- Nu’er Hong is the “accepted translation” for 女儿红, but for those of you who know a little Chinese, you know that the pinyin would be nv er hong instead. Anyway, it’s supposedly a type of rice wine, but I’ve heard different sayings about it. For instance, in some places in China, the tradition is to keep a good bottle (well, back in the day it’s more like a pot/vase thing) of wine the day your daughter is born. You keep the wine until the day she’s married, and this bottle (er...pot/vase) of rice wine is called 女儿红, because 女儿 means daughter and 红 means red (red symbolises marriage in this case). However, in most books you see people refer to it as just a certain type of rice wine.
[5] Formations (阵势)- Alright, so Chinese kung-fu writers officially have moved formations off the battlefield and into martial arts. As far as I know, there can be two types of formations (in the kung-fu realm), a physical battle formation and a maze formation. A physical, battle formation (as they have here) is used to engage in actual combat, consisting of more than one person, in which the fighters use a complex and clever combination of specialised moves. Sword formations are the most famous, since Chinese people are obsessed with sword...
[6] Pull out his sword in aide if the road was rough (路见不平,拔刀相助)- common Chinese saying that refers to those people who heroically stand out to help others if they see someone in trouble. It originates from stereotypes of wulin heroes who randomly travel around and help those in need if they coincidentally meet such person.
[7] Sword qi (剑气)- If you know anything about Chinese kung-fu culture, the sword is considered something quite special. True sword masters consider their sword a companion, a being connected with their heart almost as if it was alive. Hence, sword qi is different from normal qi, since it’s the combination of the wielder’s qi channelled through the sword and the sword’s own “soul” (but usually only if the sword is extremely powerful or well-made).
[8] My…my- alright, the reason he pauses here is not because he felt it was strange to say “my clothes.” It’s impossible to translate into English in the direct text without sounding awkward, but the original wording was “本大…我.” “本大…” is Lu Cang’s unfinished reference to himself as most presumably 本大王 or something, which means “I, the King” (since he’s used to being the King of the bandits). Then, he changes how he addresses himself in the middle and switches to 我, the common word for “I, me.”
[9] Shirt- he calls the middle layer a shirt because in Chinese, a robe is only what you would wear outside (that is, if you did wear a robe outside. Most peasant-farmers wouldn’t). Everything that ended around the pelvis is a shirt. But in English, all our loose, slant-collar Asian stuff is considered robes apparently...
[10] What kind of god- I use god because it sounds less awkward, but the original phrasing is “何方神仙,” which means something roughly like “the celestial being hailing from where.” The term 神仙 is loosely used in Chinese, since it technically can be a god but you’re also a 神仙 if you just have celestial qualities. There are a LOT of 神仙 in Chinese mythology, but really only the most important ones can be equated to the gods of western mythology. I know this hyperbole seems like an overstatement, but since the “god” in reference isn’t really so extremely godly, it’s actually a common phrase Chinese people use.
[11] Little Brother Xi/Zhen- I really don’t know why the author suddenly decided to change up the way Lu Cang addresses him.
[12] The moon...fifteenth- Due to the obsession with the moon the ancient Chinese had, the lunar calendar is based off of the moon’s cycle (hence, lunar), so the fifteenth of every month is when the moon is the roundest.
[13] Chinese corridors- remember, they’re outside and don’t have walls, only pillars to keep the roof up!
[14] Corridor benches- a lot of ancient Chinese corridors had benches along the side railings.
[15] “have” (有了)- In Chinese, when you say a woman “has”, it can mean (usually does if you don’t specify what exactly she has) that she’s pregnant.