Faraway Wanderers Novel (English Translation)

Belated Regrets

During this time when people were currently too worried about the Lapis Armor and the Ghost Valley to be able to sleep well, no one had any idea that in this small alley, a rarely seen clash between two martial arts masters was happening. Ye Baiyi had denied to be Monk Gu and Zhou Zi Shu was now unsure who he actually was; but upon seeing this unprecedented level of martial arts skills, him being Monk Gu didn’t seem like a stretch at all.

On the other hand, Wen Kexing showed no sign that he was in the disadvantage. When Zhou Zi Shu took a closer look, his martial arts approach was entirely different to his father, the 'Divine' Wen Ruyu—no, even the legendary Wen Ruyu couldn’t hold a candle to his son’s level.

The few moves Wen Kexing taught Zhang Chengling back then was pulled from his father’s method, and they gave a very neutral, balanced feel.

As of right now, Zhou Zi Shu saw that every single move from him showed an incredible level of ruthlessness, and he was unable to discern which sect he could be from with this kind of style; this to him was entirely uncharted territory. It looked similar to how Gu Xiang engaged in battle, but he seemed even more experienced than the girl. All in all, it wasn’t what he inherited from his parents… Zhou Zi Shu narrowed his eyes, his theory slowly taking form.

At the same time, he didn’t know how to feel about this: All the figures in the martial arts world that he couldn’t identify were gathering here in front of him tonight.

Suddenly, he felt droplets of rainwater fell from the sky as the wind seemed to turn colder. After a few drops, a drizzle quietly arrived.

Zhou Zi Shu tightened his outer robes around himself, stretching his legs and swinging them. He raised his voice to talk to the currently fighting men, “Hey, Sir Ye, Brother Wen, it’s raining right now and I feel very cold, so how about we call this off?”

His voice sounded like that of a circus audience, and not someone watching two martial arts masters go at it.

Ye Baiyi made a noise of contempt and retreated several feet. When he landed on the ground, he fixed his disheveled clothes, those ethereally fluttering sleeves torn by Wen Kexing. Zhou Zi Shu felt like this was Wen Kexing’s bad habit; since his orientation was not something often discussed out loud, he couldn’t help but imposing it onto everyone else.

Wen Kexing was struggling a little. He held his chest and took steps backwards, feeling like his organs were turned upside down. He coughed up blood, his ribs aching after the other man’s attack; he had no idea if they were still intact or not.

Ye Baiyi stared at Wen Kexing silently. “You’ve gone past your limit. If we hadn’t stop, I could have taken your life in the next ten moves.”

Wen Kexing’s shoulders curved forward as he stood there, glaring at Ye Baiyi coldly.

Zhou Zi Shu sighed. “Senior Ye, as our predecessor, why must death be the only treatment you have for us?” Please go back to your mountain and live your old man life, why dwell on your worries and run to Dong Ting to mess with others’ business?

Unexpectedly, those words seemed to act as a reminder for Wen Kexing. With no fear in his bones, he spoke up, “You’re past your prime. If you are still alive ten years later, I will be the one to take your life.”

Ye Baiyi looked stunned, like he just heard the biggest joke in the world. He immediately laughed, his Buddha stone face shifted disturbingly. Zhou Zi Shu was worried that those stiff lines on his face might crack if he kept going.

Ye Baiyi replied, “Take my life? Good, good—no one has dared say that to me in the past fifty years, I’ll surely be waiting for you.”