Title: Did We Agree To Be Arch-Rivals?
Original Title: 说好成为彼此的宿敌呢[穿书]
Author: 轻风白杨 (Qingfeng Baiyang)
Translated by: ~PurpleLy~
Right after Su Yang fled the guesthouse yard, he hurriedly activated his Prized Flower Steps, located a fairly concealed bush, bent himself over, and hurled his guts out.
It wasn’t until his stomach was completely empty and his face was full of tears and snot from retching that he gradually stopped and headed over to the lake to rinse his mouth and wash his face.
He urged himself over and over again in his heart that this world was just a fictional story and those people were just lifeless cannon fodder characters. They were all doomed to die in both original work and in the script to begin with. This was their destiny.
Furthermore, this was a martial arts world, and at some point in the future, there would be many bloody matters awaiting his participation. Two years later, in the battle of encirclement and suppression of the Devil Sect, there would be countless casualties, and that would truly be a hellish battlefield.
He must adapt as soon as possible.
It was at this moment that Su Yang genuinely realised what it was like after leaving Lesser Jade House and what a cruel world it was that he was about to face.
But he can’t cower now.
If he wants to return to reality, he must endure and make his way through the storyline properly.
Su Yang swiped away the drops of water on his cheeks, pushed himself off knees to stand up, and took a few deep breaths to clear his bellyful of resentment.
Nightfall.
In the Wasteland the temperature at night dropped sharply, bringing a winter-like chill.
The Devil Sect group erected two simple mat tents by Willow Leaf Lake and lit some fires. Some of them huddled near the rocky shore to rest, and others took turns to stand guard in case trouble arose.
Despite being wrapped in a blanket and nestled on a warm fur cushion, Su Yang was unable to fall asleep. When he closed his eyes, what he visualised was the cruel scene of blood flowing into a river at dusk or the still-open eyes of the brawny man staring at him even after death.
He’d overestimated his acceptance of the matter.
Su Yang sighed, patted Mei Shisan, who was next to him , and asked, “I remember when you left the sect, you brought some strong liquor with you?”
Mei Shisan nodded.
He took out the liquor sack, handed it to Su Yang, and said, “Young Saint, are you cold? This alcohol is strong; drink a little to warm your body; don’t drink too much.”
Su Yang took the liquor sack, replied with an indifferent ‘mmm’ sound, and took two depressive sips.
The liquor was indeed a bit strong, with a burning pungency. Su Yang silently tolerated the heat in his throat and then felt more comfortable in his heart. He was so bothered by the bloody stench that he’d vomited out all the contents of his stomach. His insides were now empty, so it was easy for him to get drunk after a mere four or five sips and his head began to feel dizzy.
He closed the cover of the liquor sack, handed it back to Mei Shisan, and curled himself in a blanket, trying to sleep with this slight drunkenness.
But he still couldn’t sleep.
Su Yang tossed and turned irritably for a while. At last, he flipped open the blanket, stood up, and grabbed his sword, “I’m going for a walk; don’t follow, “ he told Mei Shisan.
Mei Shisan was concerned: “But Young Saint, those people…”
Su Yang repeated coldly, “Don’t follow; I want to walk alone.”
Mei Shisan had no choice but to nod and obey.
Su Yang didn’t walk in the direction of the guesthouse on the other side of the lake. He sauntered slowly along the lake to the other end and finally reached the sharp corner where the stone banks met on both sides.
There was a huge boulder with a flat surface. Su Yang hopped onto it and raised his head to look upwards at the night sky.
The dazzling Milky Way stretched across the sky. This was a magnificent scene that could never be viewed with the bright lights of the city.
Su Yang observed that the stars in the sky were as bright as the taillights of the vast sea of cars on the city roads, and they appeared to be within reach.
He raised his hand and reached out to the night sky, trying to touch the dazzling and crystal-like lights.
There was a very slight sound of cloth scraping in the bushes behind him. Su Yang drew his sword and spun around to look at the person who was approaching.
It was the young martial artist whose head and face had been concealed all this while.
He’d changed into a dark suit to hide in the shadows of the oasis bushes, his figure indistinct.
Su Yang let out a laugh. “Still concealing your face in the dark of night, are you not fit to be seen?”
The man didn’t answer.
In that moment, his low voice came from under the face covering: “Those who like to stargaze are often innocent deep down inside. You’re not an evil person, though you are from the Devil Sect.”
Su Yang let out a cold snort when he heard this.
“Speaking nonsense has also exhausted my brain.” He showed off his arrogant manner and smirked, “How do you know that I’m not watching the sky at night while contemplating for a way to kill all of you here? What more is there that I can’t do since I’m from the Devil Sect?”
Gu Feidi laughed, shook his head, and said nothing.
Su Yang was thoroughly annoyed and put in an awkward position by this person’s reaction. He stared at the man for a long while and gripped his sword: “You know who I am, but you’re still wearing a sock puppet. Unfair! No matter what, today I shall see what you really are!”
Before he’d finished speaking, he used his Prized Flower Steps to leap off from the boulder to the ground. His sword edge was close to the man’s silk scarf that he was on the brink of revealing the man’s true face!
Gu Feidi fended off the strike: “I’m not wearing a sock puppet. Is that Devil Sect slang?”
Su Yang: ….
Su Yang was even angrier; his moves were fiercer. He wouldn’t give him anymore face and showed little mercy.
“What of the Devil Sect and the Righteous Way? Those of you from the Central Plains aren’t any sort of upstanding people!” Relying on the liquid courage, Su Yang started to ramble, “Only knowing how to fight and kill everyday, what kind of grievances and hatreds? In the end, aren’t they just a group of unrecognised militants? They can also differentiate themselves into good and bad factions to come here; what a joke!”
Under the silk scarf, Gu Feidi raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with surprise.
He leaned forward, barely avoiding the cunning point of Su Yang’s sword. The silk scarf on his face suffered a cut.
Su Yang snorted coldly, swung his sword forward, and continued to grouse: “Today, it was obviously those people who made the first move. I doubt they were decent people either!”
Gu Feidi warded off the attack and said, “Wujiazhai are indeed not good people. The imperial court has wanted to eliminate them for so many years now.”
Su Yang was taken aback and attacked again in anger: “You Central Plains haven’t even dealt with your own messes yet, but still have time to spare to provoke our Devil Sect?!”
Gu Feidi retreated and smiled: “That’s what I said.”
Su Yang was already a little depressed, but now hearing people tease him this way, he was even more aggrieved and rankled for no reason. He picked up his sword and slashed at him haphazardly in an effort to vent his frustrations.
“What if I am the Devil Sect?!”
“What if I ordered it?!”
“What if I’d killed someone?!”
“We are the Devil Sect anyway!”
“Even if I don’t kill people, those from the Righteous Way will kill us!”
Su Yang counted on the fact that the person before him was just a supporting role cannon fodder and would not affect the storyline’s direction, so he was brave enough to let loose and tell him everything.
The man blocked all his erratic attacks without saying a word.
Su Yang hacked away at the masked man with his sword and eventually thought: I’ve been disgraced enough already. If I don’t manage to cut him with this last swipe, just forget it. It’s time to pack up and head back to the camp.
But since he’d drank liquor, his movements were a little sluggish, and the opponent easily avoided his attack. Not only did he fail to cut anyone, the sword instead hacked onto a tree trunk. It was stuck in it for a long time, and he was unable to pull it out.
Gu Feidi placed his hand on Su Yang’s shoulder from behind, leaned in, and whispered in his ear, “You are drunk; go back.”
His sigh was so close to his ears that it made Su Yang’s scalp want to explode!
He instinctively released of the wedged sword, manoeuvred his internal force, and turned around to snatch it.
He pulled off the soft silk scarf, revealing a youthful, handsome face—close enough to touch.
Su Yang stared at Gu Feidi for a long while.
He raised his hand to slap his forehead in misery and said, “Akk, I’m really drunk! Why am I dreaming of this guy again?!”
Gu Feidi was surprised: “Again?”
Su Yang mumbled to himself, “What did you eat? You’re growing so fast; you’re as tall as I am.”
As he spoke, he stretched out his hand to compare their heights: “Your face isn’t as soft and adorable as last time…”
“What soft?” Gu Feidi was puzzled.
Su Yang blinked once, then more vigorously, and finally he closed his eyes and shook his head.
When he opened his eyes again, he finally confirmed that he wasn’t in a drunken stupor and that the person in front of him wasn’t a dream.
After grasping the situation, Su Yang’s expression instantly became dark when he thought of how he’d acted earlier.
He tried his best to retain the mannerisms of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, speaking first as a show of intimidation and questioning Gu Feidi, “Why are you here?!”
Gu Feidi stepped back and held his sword in his arms with a smile: “Tengyun Pavilion ordered me to unite with Qianfeng Villa to locate the Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage. Naturally I had to come to the Wasteland, but I didn’t expect to meet Lesser Jade House classmates here.”
Su Yang was silent for a moment.
Of course he knew that Gu Feidi would definitely come to search for the Tomb of the Sword Sage, but at that point, he couldn’t accept that he’d appeared right at that moment looking like this.
The point was…
What the hell had he said earlier when his confidence had been bolstered by liquor?!
He’d actually compared heights with Gu Feidi!
He also said that he wasn’t as soft and adorable anymore!
……Mr. Storyline, can I read the script and start again?
Let’s start reading from the part where the fight just began!
He had collapsed internally, but Su Yang still tried his best to maintain his expressionless face and snorted coldly, “Who’s your classmate? You advanced into the Veiled Pearl Pavilion and are a direct disciple of Lesser Jade House; how can I compare to you?”
After speaking, he turned to pull out the sword from the tree trunk: “We fought together two days ago, and you refused to reveal your identity. Tonight, I’ll pretend that I didn’t see you. You go your way, and I’ll go mine.”
Gu Feidi frowned. “You’re going to part ways with me?”
Su Yang said: “…You’re of the Righteous Way, I’m of the Evil Way, we shouldn’t be on the same course in the first place.”
Gu Feidi said: “I don’t think you are of the Evil Way. The Devil Sect, maybe. Anyhow, you’re not.”
Su Yang said: “I’m the Devil Sect’s Young Saint.”
Gu Feidi said, “…Are you being coerced by others?”
Su Yang: …
Su Yang was speechless and raised his hand to support his forehead: “I don’t know what you’ve imagined up, but I’m not being threatened by anyone, and I’m not at odds with the Devil Sect. You say that they are of the Evil Way; I’m also of the Evil Way. You don’t need to view us separately. It was me who gave the order today to deal with that group of people.”
As he spoke, he lowered his head and stroked the sword in his hand, adding: “If you can’t bear to let it go and want to avenge those people, I’ll have a proper fight with you again. If you win, you can deal with me as you please; if you lose then…”
Gu Feidi asked calmly, “You can deal with me as you please?”
Su Yang sighed and said, “If you lose, go. Don’t worry about my affairs anymore.”
Gu Feidi stared at Su Yang for a while and said, “I’ve already lost.”
Su Yang: ???
Gu Feidi laughed indifferently and said, “It’s cold at night. You just drank to warm up, but have sweated again. It’s better to return to the campfire earlier to warm up. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
After finishing, he didn’t wait for Su Yang to respond but merely turned around and departed.
Su Yang stood there in a daze for a moment, then raised his hand to bite his nails. He hesitated for a while longer before leaving.
Quietness was restored all around.
After a long time, a man in black crept out like a cat from the bushes, less than a foot away from the huge boulder.
He peered around cautiously for a while, then took out a bone whistle from his sleeves and blew a string of trembling insect-like sounds. He then put away the bone whistle and, with the help of the starlight and moonlight, carved two lines of fine print on a small piece of wood.
A fist-sized black owl flew out from the darkness of night and quietly landed on the shoulder of the man in black.
The man in black skilfully tied the piece of wood to the claws of the ghost owl, took out a piece of meat, fed it to the bird, and released it back into the night sky.