443 Exorcise Demons and Subdue Evil Fiends
Yong'an Prince Residence.
Ji Ruofeng and Ji Xue were still treating Xiao Se's injuries inside the room. The rest were waiting anxiously outside.
"Has the front door been locked properly? Have you sent people to guard all sides?" Ye Ruoyi asked the house steward.
The house steward wiped the sweat on his forehead as he nodded. "All the gates have been locked, but the noise is getting worse outside. I sent some people to take a look and they said it looks like there are dead people running around!"
"Dead people?" Ye Ruoyi was stunned.
"Yes. Our guests, Ming Hou and Wuchan, who had been staying indoors all this time, rushed out when they heard this news!" The house steward reported anxiously.
"They investigated this a few days ago and realised that it's not just Wuxin. Yue Ji is also in Xiao Yu's hands. I'm afraid that after seeing the current situation, they're worried about Wuxin and Yue Ji." Lei Wujie smashed his fist angrily on the ground. "Damn it! I can only stay here and wait."
Tang Ze glanced at the room and then, he turned around. "I'm going out to take a look."
"Be careful," Ye Ruoyi spoke softly.
"Don't worry. I'm from the Tang Clan. We fear such wicked and evil things the least!" Tang Ze smiled and leaped into the air before he headed towards the outside of the house.
"Butterfly, fly." Zitong took out a paper butterfly from his clothes and flicked it lightly with a finger.
The paper butterfly took off from his hand and fluttered among the crowd. The medicine men who were charging towards them in a frenzy seemed to suddenly lose all their strength. They collapsed onto the ground and tiny parasite bugs crawled out of their ears. However, within a few steps, the bugs dissipated into dust.
Fei Xuan pushed out with his palm and wherever the palm wind passed, the medicine men were knocked off their feet and collapsed onto the ground. They did not rise again.
Xie Xuan smiled. "Daoist arts are miraculous. Truly the nemesis of these vile and evil things."
Li Fansong was helpless. "But I'm not good at Daoism. I only know my sword arts. Do I really have to chop off their heads?"
"Although you're not well versed in Daoism, you're holding the Azure Empyrean sword which is imbued with Daoism arts." Xie Xuan chuckled. "You three stay here and deal with the medicine men. I need to find someone."
"Who?" Li Fansong asked.
"The master parasite host, of course." Xie Xuan readied his sword and with a leap into the air, he left.
Presently, the entire city was full of medicine men. If they only relied on Fei Xuan and Zitong's Great Dragon and Elephant Strength, then even if they exhausted all of their energy, they wouldn't even kill a tenth of the medicine men. All the medicine men were controlled by a parasite host. If they could kill the parasite host, then all the parasite bugs inside all the medicine men across the city would die instantly.
"Ghost doctor Ye Ya." Xie Xuan muttered to himself, "You need to die."
"Where's the Grand Eunuch?" Xiao Yu asked Long Ye.
Long Ye replied, "He's gone after Lady Consort Xuan and Luo Qingyang."
"Consort Mother… who does she really love? Ye Dingzhi, Luo Qingyang or Father. Why is it that every time she makes a choice, nobody can figure her out?" Xiao Yu clasped his hands behind his back, his fingers tapping on the back of his hand.
Of course, nobody could answer his question.
"Let's go. We're going to the Yong'an Prince Residence. This is the last chance we have to kill them." Xiao Yu had finally ran out of patience and walked towards the door.
"What about the White Prince Residence?" Long Ye asked.
"He has no fate to become an emperor, why bother with him." Xiao Yu sneered. Then, he stopped and turned around. "Mister Ye Ya, I will leave everything in the residence to you."
Ye Ya smiled. "I await Your Highness's triumphant return."
"To be enthroned on such a night of blood is really quite interesting." Xiao Yu grinned wickedly.
"It has been my blessing to meet Your Highness in my life," Ye Ya said sincerely.
Xiao Yu shrugged. "Such a pity that when other people meet us, it's their misfortune."
On this night, known as the "Night of Blood'' by later generations, Xiao Yu brought Su Changhe and Wuxin with him as he left the Red Prince Residence. They were about to utilise the most cruel blood and punishment to end this terrifying night.
They stepped into the carriage and headed straight for the Yong'an Prince Residence. The medicine men were in a frenzy and they attacked everyone they met but when they saw the carriage, they didn't just evade it but avoided it from far away. Xiao Yu laughed when he saw this. "What if we use this poison parasite craft at the scene?"
"It's far too sinister. Unless we've reached the end of the road and we're going to perish together with our enemies. After tonight, Heavenly Revelations City is probably ruined," Su Changhe said.
"Then let's change the capital city to another." Xiao Yu shrugged.
The carriage suddenly stopped, and Long Ye, who was driving the carriage, turned around and said, "There's someone ahead."
Xiao Yu looked up and was stunned. "Is it him?"
Su Muyu stood there holding his umbrella and corpses were littered at his feet. He looked like he was standing in a pool of blood. He raised his head, looked at the carriage, and said evenly, "Su Changhe."
Su Muyu raised his hand suddenly, and his umbrella burst open with a loud bang, like a flower blooming instantly. All the ribs of the umbrella ruptured, revealing the metallic gleam of thin swords. The seventeen ribs of the umbrella exploded, and seventeen thin swords shot out, piercing through the heads of the medicine men who were about to throw themselves at him before embedding themselves into the walls on both sides of the street. The umbrella handle in Su Muyu's hand was revealed to be a sharp sword and he raised his hand to face the carriage.
Su Changhe sighed. "Looks like Your Highness will have to go ahead on your own. After I deal with matters here, I'll join you."
Xiao Yu nodded. "Please hurry up, Patriarch. Long Ye, take another route."
Long Ye turned the horses' heads and galloped onto another road. The carriage left, leaving behind a figure standing where it was before. Su Changhe tapped the silver mask on his face lightly. "Su Muyu, I never thought that the day would come where I have to fight you."
Su Muyu walked forward slowly with his sword in hand. "When you made that decision, you should have guessed that you and I would have to face off like this."
Su Changhe shook his head. "We're people who live in the darkest night. I thought you wouldn't object to such things."
"We're the Hidden River and as the Hidden River, we've never obeyed the laws of the secular world but we have our own laws. And, the choice you made violated the laws of our Hidden River. Not only will you not lead us into a new era, you will bury the entire Hidden River. For the sake of Su House, for the sake of the entire Hidden River, I must kill you today," Su Muyu said evenly.
"Back then, you were the best candidate for the Patriarch but you gave me the position. Back then, you were better than me in every way but things are different now. I have been the Patriarch for nine years and practised the Yama's Devil Palm for nine years. Although your eighteen-blade array is very powerful, you're no match for me," Su Changhe remarked solemnly.
"Have you said all that you wanted to say?" Su Muyu suddenly asked.
Back then, when he was called the Umbrella Ghost, this was often the last sentence he said to his prey.
Su Changhe was stunned for a moment, and then he leaned over slightly. "Then you can walk through your Gate of Hell, and I will step on my broken soul bridge."
Back then, Su Changhe was once called the Funeral Master. They were once martial brothers who grew up together. They had also fought side by side and regarded each other as true brothers.
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About the chapter titles:
Some explanation of the last two chapter titles. Regardless of the exact meaning of the words, they're describing something evil, horrifying and beyond the experiences of the characters. But, that should be obvious from the text anyway.
442 修罗鬼蜮 [xiū luó guǐ yù]
Malevolent Evil Spirits
修罗 is translated as Asura, a class of demigods in Hinduism or Buddhism. Although there are good Asuras and malevolent Asuras, when used in Chinese, it's almost always referring to fierce and malevolent spirits. 鬼蜮 is a generic term for malevolent evil spirits or monsters that harm people.
443 降魔伏妖 [xiáng mó fú yāo]
Exorcise Demons and Subdue Evil Fiends
Both 降 and 伏 mean subdue or put down and 降魔 is specifically a Buddhist term to mean subduing demons. 妖 refers to supernatural beings in general and can be translated many ways, including monster or fae.
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Non-poetry note:
那就你走你的鬼门关，我踏我的断魂桥。
Then you can walk through your gate of hell, and I will step on my broken soul bridge.
This is a darker adaptation of the more commonly used phrase, "你走你的阳关道，我过我的独木桥！" (You take your Yang Pass road, I'll cross my single-log bridge!") which means, to go our separate ways without interfering with each other. The Yang Pass was a wide avenue that allowed for busy trade traffic because of its location as a transportation gateway in the Han dynasty. A single-log bridge is exactly as described, for example, a log used as a bridge across a small stream.
Su Changhe's version uses the Gate of Hell (鬼门关 also translated as Gate of Ghosts), which is the gateway to the underworld, in contrast with the broken soul bridge (断魂桥), which is possibly another name for the Bridge of Hopelessness (奈何桥). (See ch 52 notes for a brief explanation.) Ironically, both paths lead to hell so maybe what Su Changhe meant was that even if they went their separate ways and didn't interfere with each other, they would still end up in the same hell for the sins they had committed.