Translated by Moe
TL Note: Chapter 2/3 for the week.
Chapter 12 Dugu Pays a Visit
A sharp whistling sound was heard as a blue meteor flew through the sky and landed directly inside Jun Mo Xie’s small courtyard. Jun Zhan Tian has arrived!
Once he returned, the old man was immediately taken aback. He had been all but certain that his grandson would be captured if not tormented during the time he had been delayed. Although his grandson had made tremendous progress as of late, in the end, he still had not broken through to the Ninth Level Xuan Qi. Getting beaten and captured was to be expected; he had already steeled his heart to see his grandson missing and have made plans to vent his wrath on Dugu Zongheng. How could he have anticipated that he would see this kind of situation?
Delight? Astonishment? Horror?!
Isn’t this too surreal?!
His grandson was sitting there safe and sound, but the seven pups from the Dugu Family were lying unconscious on the floor…Well, the old man realized that that wasn’t exactly right; the seven individuals weren’t unconscious but were rather completely wasted.
Jun Zhan Tian rubbed his eyes, still not quite convinced by what he’s seeing, and understood even less. He was curious as to how his grandson had achieved such a flawless victory; not only did he get his captors to drink, but he also got them all drunk…Although the old man knew that his grandson’s wine was strong, he realized that he had still underestimated just how strong it was based on the scene before his eyes.
Seeing that his grandchild was all right, Grandpa Jun said a few words before he leisurely walked away with his hands clasped behind his back. Remarkably, he did not have to get personally involved…
****
When Dugu Zongheng and Dugu Wudi returned home, sure enough, they were informed that the seven grandsons had long since left in a fit of rage to find Jun Mo Xie and became even more regretful. Seeing Jun Zhan Tian that way, if those seven grandsons had really gone overboard, I’m afraid that the Dugu Family and the Jun Family will have to fight to the death.
Sigh. If I hadn’t been so impulsive and had first found Jun Zhan Tian to vent my anger, maybe…
Father and son looked at each other in consternation, as if the pair was sitting on pins and needles. In a contest of strength, the Dugu Family would naturally not fear the Jun Family, but they still would not be able to afford the two families becoming irreconcilable enemies! Besides, Jun Zhan Tian already had nothing left to lose, and would not go down alone even in death. If the two families enter a blood feud, not only will the Dugu Family suffer Jun Family’s wrath, but the entire Tianxiang Kingdom will be embroiled in the conflict…
The situation had really gone to s***!
Dugu Zongheng paced back and forth inside the main hall like a cat on a hot tin roof. Standing to the side, Great General Dugu Wudi’s eyes blurred from watching, but he did not dare make a sound.
The uneasy father and son pair finally felt something was wrong when they saw the sun setting in the west. How come they still haven’t returned? These kids couldn’t have possibly been so tactless as to have crippled Jun Mo Xie during his capture, and then run into the old codger, who in a fit of anger…
Oh my god! Jun Zhan Tian wouldn’t have lost his sense of reason, right?
As both father and son had reached the same conclusion, they exchanged glances and saw the same alarm suddenly filled the other’s eyes.
Just then, pounding footsteps were heard as a bodyguard hurriedly ran over. “Reporting to the master, Jun Family’s Jun Mo Xie had sent someone to make a delivery.”
“Bring if forward!” Dugu Zongheng had a sense of foreboding. However, since Jun Mo Xie had sent this item, it meant that the youngster didn’t experience any major mishap. Feeling slightly relieved, he spun around and sat down on a wooden fauteuil.
What Jun Mo Xie delivered was a very small bundle wrapped in cloth. Dugu Zongheng lightly squeezed the package in his hand before his complexion rapidly changed, swinging his arm back and swept various items off of the side table.
“Garbage! A bunch of useless garbage!” Dugu Zongheng violently jumped up before delivering a flying kick to Great General Dugu Wudi’s body. “Look at this troop of monkeys you’ve raised up!” The old man pointed with trembling fingers. “It was seven against one, but they had somehow managed to all be captured! Even the family’s jade pendants have been sent back! Shameful display!”
Caught completely by surprise, Dugu Wudi clutched his buttocks and howled in pain, cursing in his heart. “What do you mean ‘I’ve raised a bunch of monkeys?’ Weren’t you the one who had the biggest hand in their upbringing?
The items Jun Mo Xie returned were precisely to Dugu Family’s hereditary jade pendants that the seven Dugu brothers carried on their persons and served as a symbol of their identities. They were also accompanied by a small note. “The seven Dugu brothers are staying as guests of my Jun Family, Since we’re getting along so well, the brothers will return in two or three months. Senior Dugu and Great General Dugu, please do not worry.”
“Guests? Return after two or three months? Do not worry?” Dugu Zongheng was so angry that his nose was crooked. “Wuyi! Head out immediately and bring those good-for-nothings back for me! I’m going to skin each and every one of them alive!”
Dugu Wudi moved as if he had received a pardon and shot out of the door like an arrow. Immediately after, a cacophony of hurried movement came from the courtyard before the sound of a horse galloping was heard fading into the distance.
When Great General Dugu Wudi and hundreds of guards arrived at the Jun Family’s residence, he had unexpectedly kept with formalities and requested an audience. His seven sons and nephews could thoughtlessly force their way in without the slightest scruple; young men will naturally act willfully, and this could be chalked up to youthful indiscretion. However, Dugu Wudi cannot be that impudent; even if he was a rude and unreasonable pain in the neck, he is still the foremost general of the TianXiang Kingdom.
He had one of his own men take out his great general’s jade slip to hand over to the gatekeeper along with a request for an audience with Senior Jun Zhan Tian. The gate keeper had politely received the jade slip but informed that the old master was not present and had just recently left to visit a friend. Dugu Wudi suddenly flew into a rage. You had clearly returned not too long ago after almost coming to blows with my old man and I had been hard on your heels. But you are actually saying that you went to find a friend at this time? If you didn’t come out on top and detain my sons and nephews, would you have been this carefree? Who are you trying to fool?!
Of course, after thinking for a bit, a person must lower his head when he stands under the eaves*. In that case, I’ll ask for Jun Wuyi. Your son cannot walk; he wouldn’t also be visiting a friend, right?!
[*A person has to yield in situations where the other party holds all the cards.]
The gatekeeper did not head inside to herald Dugu Wudi’s arrival, but showed a meaningful smile when he heard the request. “So it really was Brother Dugu. Wuyi is overjoyed that you honor us with your presence. How could I be so inconsiderate? Please make yourself at home—there’s no need to stand on ceremony.” Dugu Wudi focused his eyes and saw a wheelchair slowly roll out from the courtyard. Sitting calmly in the wheelchair, Jun Wuyi was dressed in a cyan colored gown and had a serene smile on his face as he stared intently at Dugu Wudi.
The man in front of him looked no different than before, but Dugu Wudi’s time on the battlefield had tempered his intuition, and his instincts are telling him that things are not as they seem!
Calm!
Yes, he’s too calm! It’s precisely this extraordinary calm that makes him feel a sense of foreboding, a sense of fear! A ghastly and chilling sensation!
Dugu Wudi could distinctly perceive that underneath Jun Wuyi’s sword-like brows, piercing eyes, and placid face was a proud man who had not accepted his lot in life; a man that’s pointing his sword defiantly towards the heavens! It almost seemed as if this peerless warrior, who had been gathering dust for all these years, was about to unsheathe his sword and reveal his brilliance, rising above the world once more amidst the roars of dragons and tigers!
At this moment, Dugu Wudi no longer saw the handicapped Jun Wuyi in front of him, but the mighty general dressed in white from all those years ago! Laughing in defiance of the heaven and earth, the eternal soul of the army who had led forces to trample all over the Xuan Xuan Continent, Jun Wuhui! He was Jun Mo Xie’s father, an iron-fisted commander that had once emerged victorious in every battle, the indomitable god of war!
At this moment, Dugu Wudi felt an ineffable sense of veneration!
Jun Wuhai! He was the only person who Dugu Wudi had revered in his life, a tall mountain he had held in admiration, and his greatest goal in life! Having served under Jun Wuhui, Dugu Wudi would often still frequently recall in the middle of the night those vivid memories of pitch battles fought in those extraordinary years!
“Wudi, wait for my return after I have triumphed over our enemies. We brothers will join hands and ride through Yu Tang and Shenci! Ha ha ha…” Dugu Wudi, who had not been able to go to battle, had made his way to bid farewell that fateful year Jun Wuhui went on his military expedition. Jun Wuhai had reached out to clasp Dugu Wudi’s shoulders and said these words.
This also happened to be the last time Wuhui and Wudi would ever see each other again in this life! Furthermore, this was also what Dugu Wudi keeps repeating every time he got drunk in the past ten years!
“Big…” Dugu Wudi emotionally took two steps forward, and was just about to blurt out “Big Brother” like in the old days but suddenly awoken from his daze. It was clearly still Jun Wuyi before his eyes! Jun Wuyi, who is sitting in a wheelchair!
The Jun Wuyi who had been disabled for over a decade!
Dugu Wudi seemed to have entered a trance at this moment; moisture could be seen in his tiger-like eyes…
“Brother Dugu?” Jun Wuyi looked at him with an indifferent gaze, staring at this brother-in-arms who had once campaigned alongside him. His sharp eyes seemed to contain no emotions at all; they were tranquil, detached, and aloof!
After the Jun Family’s powerful duo died in battle, Jun Family still managed to retain significant influence in Tianxiang, but the difference was night and day compared to before. On the other hand, the Dugu Family had risen to prominence during this period and, in one fell swoop, wrested control of half of Jun Family’s military power. Although this turn of events was by the order of His Majesty and there was no one at fault, Jun Wuyi still felt bitter in his heart.
He was aggrieved at the fate of the Jun Family, aggrieved at his father’s suffering, but most of all, he was aggrieved for his late older brothers!
He even felt regretful that his elder brother had taken Dugu Wudi under his arms all those years ago! During these years he had been disabled, Jun Wuyi’s anger had long since fermented to a frightening level. Therefore, he didn’t even pretend to act friendly in front of this person who had once been a brother-in-arms and a good friend!
Besides the heads of the major families, there was rarely any man in the capital that did not fear Great General Dugu Wudi. But Jun Wuyi had never feared him! Not only was he not afraid, but he had also given Dugu Wudi the cold shoulder every time they met. Dugu Wudi was unable to respond in turn, unable to look him in the face.
“Third Brother, your stupid brother has stopped by to check up on you. Your body’s been feeling a lot better, right? Haha…haha.” There are few people in Tianxiang City that Dugu Wudi was hesitant to cross, and Jun Wuyi is undoubtedly the one he wanted to avoid the most. If today’s matter had not devolved so suddenly and his presence was required, he would not directly meet this former friend.
Great General Dugu calmed his mind with difficulty and managed to squeeze out a smile before he continued. “I heard my family’s seven little brats did not know how to behave themselves, and have created no small amount of trouble for your Jun Family. I have come to take them back and teach them a lesson! I’ll find out who ordered them to act so impudent, and I’ll make sure they give Brother Jun a satisfactory answer at that time!”
Even though Jun Wuyi remained outwardly unflustered, but he wasn’t smiling. Who ordered them? You really have the nerve to say that?!
“Oh? There was such an incident? I had no idea.” Jun Wuyi smiled faintly, turned to the side and asked. “Did the Dugu Family’s seven young masters come over?”