T/N: Thank you to Cocole for the Kofi donation! Here is the belated chapter, plus an extra!
Chapter 37 – Lean
“Fate is truly incredible. We just separated yesterday, and unexpectedly met again here. Isn’t this destiny?” Hao Chen marveled pretentiously.
Feng Ye: “…..”
Like hell this is destiny. This is clearly your doing.
The corners of his mouth gave a slight twitch. He’d known Hao Chen wouldn’t be so easy to get rid of. This guy had come back with a surprise attack.
He’d been wondering why Hao Chen had left so abruptly yesterday. He had probably planned it all in advance, and was waiting to appear in front of him today and scare him.
Judging from the direction he came from, Hao Chen had come from the large ship belonging to Tiangong Pavilion. Hao Chen had likely done the same as Feng Ye and used some means to secure a spot, participating in the Floating Island Secret Realm as a disciple of Tiangong Pavilion.
“Fellow Daoist Hao Chen…..moves so quickly, ah.” Feng Ye gave a heartfelt sigh.
Although Lingxiao Sword Sect and Tiangong Pavilion were on good terms, the distance between them was not short, and it might take ten days of walking to reach the other sect. Flying on a sword would be faster, but it would still take around an entire day.
It had taken a full day and night from the time he and Hao Chen parted ways to when they met again.
And during this day and night, he would have had to rush back to Tiangong Pavilion to reunite with his sect members, figure out how to secure a spot, and finally take the sect’s ship to reach the entrance of the Floating Island Secret Realm above the North Sea before him.
Such a complex process had been accomplished in one day and one night. If he didn’t exclaim over Hao Chen’s speed, he wouldn’t be doing his efforts justice.
So when Feng Ye said this, he was being sincere. This piece of sticky candy was really trying hard to stick to him.
Hao Chen’s smile deepened when he heard this. He naturally knew what Feng Ye meant, so he didn’t pretend it was a coincidence, and just said half-truthfully: “For the sake of being able to follow Fellow Daoist Feng Ye here, it was nothing. After all, you’ve recognized my painstaking efforts.”
He winked at Feng Ye.
There was no expression on Feng Ye’s face as he tried to block this slightly pink-hued sight from his mind.
“Hao-dage, why are you here too?” A youth’s voice, still somewhat immature, cut into their conversation.
Fang Yang approached them curiously, first looking at Hao Chen, then at Feng Ye. He was already surprised when Useless Shixiong appeared on the ship, and he certainly hadn’t expected to see Hao-dage here.
In order to catch Hao Chen off guard, Feng Ye had secretly exchanged his fan for a spot in the Floating Island Secret Realm without telling anyone, including Fang Yang.
Considering the mouth on Fang Yang, what would be the difference between telling Fang Yang and telling Hao Chen?
Thus, like Hao Chen, Fang Yang hadn’t known that his Useless Shixiong was going to the secret realm until he boarded the ship at the last moment.
Fang Yang was successfully persuaded that Feng Ye had done it as a surprise for him, and he had indeed been surprised.
Although the Floating Island Secret Realm was full of dangers, and Useless Shixiong’s cultivation was completely useless, at least there would be someone he knew with him. Fang Yang’s previously anxious heart calmed slightly.
He just hadn’t expected Hao Chen, whom he’d said goodbye to yesterday, to appear here.
Facing Fang Yang’s naive, puzzled gaze, Hao Chen asked a question instead of giving a straight answer: “What did you shixiong say?”
Fang Yang said honestly: “He said he wanted to give me a surprise, so he secretly exchanged places with someone else without telling me.”
Hao Chen smiled and plagiarized Feng Ye’s excuse: “I wanted to give you a surprise too.”
“I see, ah.” Fang Yang immediately nodded and expressed his sincere gratitude: “Thank you.”
Feng Ye: “……”
He could only hold his forehead. This naive boy really believed whatever people told him.
Hao Chen’s lie was so perfunctory that he didn’t even bother to make up a new excuse. It was likely that nobody in the world would believe it other than Fang Yang.
Just as Feng Ye was speechless, there was suddenly a noise off to the side.
This place was as lively as a market, but at this moment, there were some unified exclamations of amazement.
Feng Ye and the other two couldn’t help but follow the gazes of the others, looking toward the object of the exclamations.
When they looked up, the first thing they saw was a dark cloud that covered almost their entire field of vision.
The exclamations outside startled Sect Leader Ji, who was sitting inside the ship cabin. He rushed to open the door curtain, walked onto the deck, and put his hands behind his back as he gazed at the dark cloud above his head.
Some people just thought the weather had changed.
Feng Ye, however, instantly realized that this wasn’t the case. The dark cloud pressing down on everyone’s heads wasn’t just some dark cloud. There was no way a cloud could have dropped this low and rolled forward in such a way. It was more like…..
It was being controlled by someone.
As soon as this occurred to Feng Ye, a somewhat rough shout reached his ears: “That old fellow Xiao Ding always does something like this before the Floating Island Secret Realm opens. Isn’t it just the heaven-grade weapon Cloud-Summoning Banner? Is it necessary to show off like this?!”
This voice immediately attracted everyone’s attention, and their gazes moved in unison from the dark cloud to the person who had cursed.
This person was incredibly tall and well-built, with bronze skin and muscled arms that could be seen through his sleeves. At this moment, he glared and cursed at the dark cloud overhead, giving off an inexplicable sense of ferocity.
Who was this? How had he gotten onto their Lingxiao Sword Sect’s ship?
Many people were asking themselves this question.
Feng Ye thought the same, but quickly came to a conclusion based on his own speculations. Looking at the man’s gold-edged daoist robes, he compared them to Hao Chen’s.
Apart from the fact that the man’s robes boasted more intricate workmanship and refined patterns, there was no particularly obvious difference between the two robes. They were basically of the same style.
Sect Leader Ji’s answer mirrored Feng Ye’s conjecture. Ji Chengyue glanced at the visitor and couldn’t help but laugh: “Wu Wenbo, you haven’t changed at all.”
The man named Wu Wenbo[1] had a personality that didn’t match his bookish name at all. When he heard this, the man smiled heartily: “Ji Chengyue, you also haven’t changed at all.”
The fact that this person could address the Lingxiao Sect Leader by his given name meant that the two were of equal status and position. The man’s identity was self-evident.
Feng Ye suddenly nudged Hao Chen next to him with his elbow. Hao Chen had yet to realize that this was Tiangong Pavilion’s sect leader.
Hao Chen was truly an actor who didn’t put his heart into the show. Not only was he unprofessional, but he also often forgot about his fake identity.
Such a carefree person who treats life as a game and is obsessed with himself is the type to bring misfortune down on his own head, Feng Ye thought.
When Feng Ye suddenly elbowed him, Hao Chen looked at him in puzzled surprise. Feng Ye had always been so careful to avoid him, so why did he take the initiative to touch him now?
Feng Ye saw his expression and immediately understood. This unprofessional guy still didn’t get it.
He immediately grasped Hao Chen’s fan-holding hand and unfolded the fan, covering their faces with it as he whispered: “Your boss is looking at you.”
That face coming so close to him caused Hao Chen to become slightly distracted. He should have no interest in such an ordinary face, and should even dislike it being so close, but he felt no resistance to Feng Ye’s approach.
He stared blankly for a moment before reacting to Feng Ye’s words.
What boss?
Hao Chen belatedly looked toward where Wu Wenbo was standing.
This burly man with a body like an iron tower was staring at him.
Why is he staring at me? Hao Chen wondered in confusion.
Wu Wenbo suddenly changed directions, veering off course from Ji Chengyue to Hao Chen.
Feng Ye gave a wicked, knowing smile and immediately took a step back, leaving the space entirely to Hao Chen and his nominal boss, Wu Wenbo.
He naturally wasn’t kind enough to remind Hao Chen of his fake identity. His inspiration for doing this was an incident where Feng Ye had been eavesdropping on people, and the movements of Hao Chen’s fan exposed him.
Hao Chen was standing quietly aside, and Wu Wenbo hadn’t yet noticed that there was a disciple from Tiangong Pavilion on Linxiao Sword Sect’s ship. But when Feng Ye suddenly opened the fan in Hao Chen’s hand with a swish, the movement drew Wu Wenbo’s attention.
And Hao Chen, this imposter, still hadn’t realized that this was his own sect leader, and didn’t even bow.
Wu Wenbo looked at him for a moment, and when he didn’t see him move, he approached with the likely goal of punishing him.
Hopefully he would take this opportunity to expose Hao Chen! Feng Ye intended to watch the fun, and didn’t overthink it.
Wu Wenbo stopped a step away from Hao Chen. He was tall in stature. Hao Chen was certainly not short, and had a well-proportioned figure, but he looked rather frail and weak in front of Wu Wenbo’s iron tower-like figure.
Wu Wenbo crossed his arms, muscles bulging as he regarded Hao Chen: “Which sect are you from? Why do you seem so unfamiliar to me?”
Feng Ye gave Wu Wenbo an internal thumbs-up as his attack hit a critical point. It seemed that Hao Chen could no longer keep his fake identity.
And at this moment, Hao Chen finally realized the man’s identity.
At the same time, he realized why Feng Ye uncharacteristically approached him.
I’ve fallen into a trap, Hao Chen thought with some regret.
However, even though he’d fallen into a trap, it wouldn’t be so easy to remove his disguise.
Although Hao Chen’s acting didn’t come from the heart, the identity he had forged could still stand up to scrutiny. So he bowed to Wu Wenbo and answered in a respectful manner: “Answering the sect leader, this disciple is from Lizi Pavilion, and entered the sect three years ago.”
But Wu Wenbo frowned even harder when he heard this. He looked Hao Chen up and down, feeling that his body was too thin and weak, and questioned: “The entry requirements of Lizi Pavilion are extremely strict when it comes to strength. How did you pass?”
Tiangong Pavilion was a sect that focused on refining weapons, and refining weapons always required strength. The disciples who were assigned to Li Pavilion were all physically powerful.
In terms of strength, even if they weren’t as tall as Wu Wenbo, they were very much like him. Hao Chen…..looked like a weak scholar. How strong could he be?
Therefore, Wu Wenbo had some doubts about Hao Chen’s claims.
Facing Wu Wenbo’s questioning, Hao Chen didn’t answer directly. Instead, he extended a hand to Wu Wenbo and said with a smile: “Try it and find out, Sect Leader.”
Was he trying to compete with him in strength? Wu Wenbo raised his eyebrows. This young disciple had guts. Who didn’t know that Wu Wenbo possessed superhuman strength?
He disdainfully took Hao Chen’s hand, and then…..couldn’t move it at all.
Wu Wenbo couldn’t help but get serious, and used all of his strength this time. His face turned red and veins popped out on his forehead, but Hao Chen’s hand remained motionless.
After several attempts, Wu Wenbo was finally convinced. He patted Hao Chen’s shoulders, which were relatively thin compared to his own, and praised him: “Alright, you can’t judge a person by appearance. You look so lean. I didn’t expect you to be so strong.”
Hao Chen retorted with a smile: “This disciple isn’t lean.”
When it came to tonnage, who had the ability to rival him?
[1] Wu Wenbo’s name, 武文博, contains the character 文, referring to the arts. Wenbo, 文博, also refers to the study of ancient relics. ⮐
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