This chapter was brought to you by Ladenouement, and Yashayasak.
Bonus Story 1 : Love and Hate
“Hahaha! Interesting. This is interesting. As expected of Liola… Since young he had been riddled with troubles and now, he’s possessed by the Dragon Emperor’s Heart?”
Gle was lying lazily on his couch. A mirror without a stand floated gently in front of him. Gle’s reflection did not appear on the mirror, but instead, it displayed a large crowd of people. In the middle of the crowd, there was a teenager with silver eyes.
After a long hearty laugh, Gle muttered, “If that’s the case, the one I fought with must have been that thousands of years old collection of grief and hatred… Yeah, this should be it! How else could that idiot Caffey have fought against me toe to toe?!”
At this time, a knock came at the door from the outside. Gle turned his gaze to the door, furrowed his brows and asked, “What’s the problem?”
“Leader, someone has requested an audience with you.”
Upon hearing the request, Gle waved his hands and put away the magic mirror. He sat upright on the couch and withdrew his lazy expression, replacing it with an inscrutable smile.
“Bring him in.”
The guards outside opened the door and an elder with a walking cane entered Gle’s room.
“Old Rock Head.” [Wanyuan]
When he saw the old man, Gle was surprised. However, thinking back, perhaps it wasn’t that surprising. After all, the only thing that could have moved this stubborn old man was probably the news of Liola and his company.
“Good Afternoon, Alliance Leader Gle,” Wanyuan greeted with a smile.
Gle sneered. If he was asked how many martial artists in this world knew he was a fake Alliance Leader, Gle himself didn’t know for sure. However, the one thing he knew for certain was that this Old Rock Head definitely knew. Therefore, him calling Gle “Alliance Leader” at this moment was definitely out of mischief, rather than respect.
“What’s with your high spirits? Did you miss me?” Gle said mockingly and slumped down lazily on the couch, without a single trace of respect for the elder.
Wanyuan did not mind Gle’s attitude. It was clear to Wanyuan that the person in front of him looked like a dandy 20-year-old man. However, in terms of seniority, between him and this dandy youngster, who ought to be respected as the elder… that would be a hard question to answer!
“Yes, of course. Did you know that the Yao Shen, the old fart made some bizarre medicine? I have specially came to let you have some fun with it,” the old man, Wanyuan, giggled and fished out a gourd bottle.
Gle glanced at Old Rock Head suspiciously. Why had he come here without a proper purpose? He was most definitely up to no good!
Even if it’s not something good, it would definitely be something fun to kill time with. Gle laughed and retorted, “I say, don’t tell me that you and the old Yao Shen can’t take seeing me toy around with the martial art world…? Have you finally intended to go against me?”
“Not at all. Why, it’s merely the martial arts world. Do as you please with it!” As Wanyuan said this, he sighed and thought, ‘After being toyed by you, perhaps those little brats might understand that the martial art world is just like a game… It is not worth it to compete so fiercely and offering no quarter.’
Sigh… What a waste… Gle thought that such competition was meaningless.
“Say, what medicine did you bring?” Gle knew that since Wanyuan brought medicine here, he definitely wanted Gle to do something for him. Without revealing anything, Wanyuan patiently engaged in a mind game with Gle, seeing as both of them had more of time than anything else.
“Heh heh,” Wanyuan laughed slyly and replied, “This medicine is extraordinary. Upon taking one pill, it allows males to have the voice of females or allows females to have angelic voices…”
“What’s the big deal? My magic can do it as well!” Gle interrupted impatiently.
“What did you say? How can my medicine ever be so lowly?!”
The room door was suddenly kicked open. Two unknowing guards had already been knocked unconscious and they fell down sluggishly to the floor. An old man with a big bamboo basket rushed in and glared furiously at Gle, huffing angrily.
Wanyuan shook his head helplessly and thought, ‘This Yao Shen really hates people who look down on his medicine. Even though his temper has improved somewhat now that he’s older, in the past, whoever looked down on his medicine, even it it was the Martial Art Alliance leader… He would have charmed them to their knees and had them shout, ‘Your medicine is the best, the greatest and the most heavenly!’
Gle was not surprised. He knew that other than himself, there were other geniuses. In fact, there were quite a number of them!
“It has been a long time, Yao Gui.”
[T/N: Nickname for Yao Shen, where the Gui is ghost, which infer him as Medicine Fanatic.]
“It is Yao Shen!” Yao Shen glared at Gle angrily.
Gle answered nonchalantly, “Say, what is the effect of this set of medicine? If it is not interesting, then do not talk about it.”
Yao Shen exclaimed, “It’s interesting! These sets of medicine are very interesting! Upon consuming just one set, one’s voice will change into a lady’s voice. Upon consuming three sets, their skin will be smooth. Upon taking ten sets, their hair will instantly grow long, with the additional effect of having silky black hair…”
“Ah, so it is a beauty product?” Gle yawned loudly. He had totally no interest in it. However, he could give it to his daughter, Yasha, but his daughter was a natural beauty. Even without the medicine, she was as beautiful as a swan!
Yao Shen stopped raging and sent daggers with his eyes instead. Feeling the intense pressure, Gle narrowed his eyes. It had been a long time since someone sent him daggers. Even if they ended up fighting, Yao Shen’s drugs were truly annoying, however, there was no reason to be afraid of him.
“Gle! What Yao Shen fears the most is people looking down on his medicine, moreover he knows that you are knowledgeable. Do you think he would bring some normal beauty products to let you frown upon?” Wanyuan reminded Gle kindly.
“That makes sense.” Gle’s eyes darted to Wanyan, “Looks like this ‘Beauty Product’ is not so normal after all.”
“What medical properties does this medicine actually have then?”
After giving a slight thought, Gle did not want to let Yao Shen have his way. If he could enrage him by looking down on his medicine, getting him to fight would be a kind of profit, since he had not been exercising for a long time.
However, instead of being enraged, Yao Shen smiled. He knew he had already caught Gle’s interest and announced, “Upon finishing 49 packs of this, a peerless beautiful lady will be born!”
“So what?” Gle furrowed his brows.
“And…” Yao Shen dragged out his sentence purposefully.
‘There’s more?’ Gle glanced at Yao Shen but then retracted his sight. He did not want to let Yao Shen know that he was actually rather interested in the medicine.
“This medicine works for both gender,” Yao Shen announced.
“Even a male will turn handsome and charming?” Gle twitched his brows and questioned Yao Shen.
Yao Shen revealed a proud smile and answered in a high and mighty tone, “No, even a male will turn into a peerless beautiful lady.”
Gle paused and replied, “A legitimate female?”
“A legitimately peerless and beautiful lady from the inside out,” Yao Shen replied in a sonorous tone.
Gle’s eyes lit up. Although he could cast magic to turn a male into female, that was just an illusion. He could never turn a male into a legitimate female. Yao Shen’s medicine could perform something he could not!
‘Interesting!’ A thought flashed through Gle’s mind.
“Can you give me some of this medicine?” Gle asked impatiently.
“Wishful thinking!” Yao Shen snapped.
Gle sent a dangerous glance across. Yao Shen seemed to be sick of living. He provoked Gle’s interest with the medicine but refused to give him the medicine!
“If only…” With a quick change of mind, Yao Shen looked toward Wanyuan.
Gle eyes set focus on Wanyuan and gave a gentle smile. As expected, the reason they are here is because they can’t run away from Liola and company. Yao Gui and Old Rock Head were old friends. Wanyuan most probably knew Gle loved bizarre and interesting things to play with. So Wanyuan went to look for Yao Gui in order to find something that can interest Gle and use it in exchange for a request.
“Just say it, what do you want me to do? Old Rock Head! When have you become so long winded? Stop beating about the bush and go straight to the point. What are you planning?” Gle spoke lazily.
After hearing Gle speak, Wanyuan exclaimed in anger, “Rubbish. Nonsense! I only wanted to ask you about the situation of my disciple. Yao Shen, that old fart, told me you would refuse and came up with this silly idea. This has nothing to do with me!!!”
Upon listening, Gle became curious. Wanyuan wanted to know about the current state of his disciple. For that reason, it was understandable, however, what did this have to do with Yao Gui? Why was he getting involved so eagerly?
After hearing Wanyuan’s attempt to blame him for the plan and seeing Gle’s suspicious look, Yao Shen explained in embarrassment, “Having lived for such a long age, life now seems so boring! Upon hearing Daylight, that old fart Wanyuan’s disciple’s tale of his dimension, it lit up an interest in me.. The stories of such brave knights, magnificent mechas – all of them sounded so interesting. Being able to hear about it and yet unable see it in person – it caused my heart to itch in excitement!”
While scratching his chest, Yao Shen sighed, “If only Daylight was still here, I could hear more of these interesting stories such as holy knight, dark knight etc… but now that he’s gone again, don’t mention about witnessing such interesting things, I do not even get to hear about them.”
Yao Shen shook his head furiously and exclaimed, “Oh NO! I am bored till… the itch in my heart has spread to my whole body. How meaningless!!”
Although he only let out a “hmph” after hearing the rants, he understood how Yao Shen and Wanyuan felt. At the very least, he had managed to enjoy both dimensions. As for Yao Gui and Old Rock Head, who were stuck in their own worlds, it’s certain they were bored to death after living life for so long.
Interesting! Gle sniggered internally. While feigning innocence on the outside, he said, “So what does it have to do with me?”
“This…”
Yao Shen and Wanyuan looked at each other. It seemed that fawning Gle would be the easier way out. “What kind of a person are you? Gle! Aren’t you the leader of the Shaolong hall?! A mere request of sourcing for information from another dimension — to you, it should be a piece of cake, right?”
That was a nice question!
Gle sharpened his eyes. If he answered no, would that not be self-defamation? If he answered yes, these two old farts would definitely want to complain about how they’ve known each other for so long… and that if he does not accept their simple request, that would be too disrespectful of him.
Although he knew the question was a trap, he would prefer to not give them face… but neither did he want to defame himself. He snorted, “Easy peasy.”
Upon hearing Gle’s reply, Wanyuan and Yao Shen eyes beamed in excitement. Both of them exclaimed, “Then please, show us quickly…”
“Wishful thinking!” Planning to toy with him, Gle purposely imitated how Yao Shen talked earlier.
The moment Yao Shen heard that, he immediately fumed with rage. At the same time, Wanyuan’s expression turned sour and his face started to turn ashen.
Upon seeing both Yao Shen’s and Wanyuan’s reactions, Gle started laughing in his heart. It seemed that wanting to enrage these two old farts and then cause both of them to start a brawl with him had already become something that would happen in the near future.
At this moment, a cutesy voice sounded before the owner of the voice appeared.
“Daddy! There are a lot of people outside your door. What game are you playing this time? You better not hide it from me.”
Gle shot a glance at the door. His daughter entered the room with a puzzled expression. Upon seeing the two elders, her eyes widened, observing the two of them curiously. After a while, she identified both of them through their appearance.
“Elder Wanyuan and Elder Yao Shen?”
Gle let out a bright smile. His daughter was definitely not someone simple and unknowlegable.
Yasha fixed her sight on the two elders, then looked at her father. Why were the three ‘giants’ of the martial arts world together? If they planned to roam the land together, wouldn’t it be a disaster? Were they planning to exterminate the whole martial arts world?
“Daddy, what are you guys up to?” Yasha walked to her father’s side, grabbed his hand and shook it incessantly, trying to force words out of him.
Gle smiled and explained, “Oh, they’re here to request something of me. They wish for me to let them see the alternate dimension and broaden their horizon.”
“Alternate dimension? Is it the one I went to in the past?”
Gle nodded his head.
“Is my Master still there?” Yasha’s eyes widened.
“Of course,” he said, matter-of-factly, “He does not have the power to slice through the dimensions.”
“Then hurry up and let me see, Daddy. I want to see!” Yasha started shaking her father’s hand even more vigorously while requesting in a charming voice. “Daddy~”
Gle doted on her daughter the most. Had he ever rejected her request? It seemed that Gle had no way out!
“Alright, alright! Your requests are impossible to reject.”
Gle fixed his sight on Wanyuan and Yao Shen. “Let those people outside enter as well but remember, you all owe my daughter a favor!”
After having heard what Gle said, the people outside flooded into the room. They were of all ages and genders: Wanyuan’s disciple, Little Grass; Skyward Overlook’s Master Lee and his disciple void; the bandit Lin Ji Yun; Anise’s best friend, Long Yandi; and her master Long Yulie…
“Ah, so lively.”
As Gle set his gaze upon the large crowd of people, he could not believe his stupid disciple, who only spent one year here or perhaps only a few months, consciously managed to make so many friends. Most of all, he could not believe they were willing to risk their lives to meet him, Shaolong Hall’s Leader.
The crowd stared at him as if they were hungry wolves and tigers. Although no one dared to hurry him, that kind of anxious and fearful expression… was truly… interesting and amusing! Gle smirked.
“Daddy!” Yasha started pouting.
What a waste… His daughter’s request was of utmost importance, so he could not enjoy their amusing expressions any longer. With a wave of his hand, a magical mirror appeared.
Due to the sheer number of viewers, the current mirror he opened was much wider than the one he watched with while alone. This one was only slightly smaller than his room. The people projected in the mirror were of the same size as the people spying, allowing the spies to see clearly.
The mirror showed a large group of people, all surrounding a silver-eyed teenager.
A large, green haired boy slapped the shoulders of the silver eyed teenager and exclaimed, “Liola, don’t worry! There are so many of us here. By hook or by crook, we will solve the problems of the thousands-year-old corrupted heart!”
Upon hearing that, the silver eyed teenager turned to face him with a solemn expression… On his back, there were two figures of different sizes glued there. Both the big and small figure were fighting furiously. The big one was pinching the small one’s cheek, while the small one was pulling the big one’s hair. Although the silver eyed lad had a somber expression, for the others, it was very amusing.
The green haired lad turned around and laughed heartily. After a while, he turned back and continued consoling the silver eyed youth.
Liola seemed a little enraged. First, he berated at the young one. Although the young one felt wronged, he still climbed down from Liola’s back and started to sulk. However, as for the older one, Liola had no idea of how to deal with him. Furrowing his brows, Liola gave up as there was nothing he could do to his father. After attempting to persuade him, Liola failed miserably.
Liola seemed really enraged now but at least, his sorrowful expression had been swept away.
“Indeed, that is definitely Caffey.”
Gle gave a faint smile. If the corrupted Dragon Emperor’s heart wanted to imitate Caffey, it would be totally impossible for it to do such a childish act! It’s no wonder the Dragon Emperor’s heart failed to bluff Mocha. It even allowed Mocha, who could have helped the Emperor, to leave the palace. Mocha would rather live in solitude than see the corrupted Emperor.
“Caffey?” Yasha turned around and asked curiously, “Daddy, is that the person on Master’s back? Is he called Caffey? Who is he to Master? Why would Master allow him to climb onto his back?”
The string of questions made Gle smile, knowing that Yasha was jealous. She always loved to get close to Liola, however, the old Liola was the world’s best Assassin, who was merciless and ruthless. Would he allow anyone to get so close to him?
Yasha was unable to become that close with Liola. So, seeing others being able to cling onto his back so closely, it naturally made her green with envy and jealousy.
“He is Liola’s father,” Gle knew that by giving this reply, it would help Yasha’s jealousy subside.
Upon hearing that, Yasha returned to her normal composure. To her, being intimate with one’s father and to annoy one’s father were perfectly normal things… Although from the screen, it seemed the father was annoying the child and trying hard to get the child’s attention.
“He had a father? I have never heard him mention it.”
Long Yandi was very surprised as she watched. She was surprised that the number one killer in their world would allow someone to touch him like this.
“Even he himself did not know, how could he have told you?” Gle glanced at Long Yandi. This lad’s so brazen. How could she dare show up in front of him once again.
“The second senior does not know he has a father?” Void interrupted.
“How is that surprising? There are a lot of things he does not know,” Gle spoke with increasing interest. He wanted to cause this whole group of intruders to drop their jaws and see their reaction.
With bad intentions, Gle had uncovered all of Liola’s background. “Liola’s background is indeed terrifying. His father is actually an Emperor. He ruled over both humans and dragons. He is also the only Emperor in that world. One third of that world’s population have to listen to his commands.”
[T/N: One third is ruled by three leaders, one third is ruled by a Prime Minister.]
Everyone gave blank expressions, without even a tinge of surprise.
Gle was surprised by their blank expressions. Was the news too shocking that they got petrified?
At this moment, Void whispered to Long Yandi, “Did he just say that person glued onto Liola’s back is his father?”
Long Yandi furrowed her brows and started sizing up Caffey. “That sort of person… is an Emperor of an entire continent? Ruling over the humans and dragons?”
Then everyone started mumbling.
“It’s a lie, right?”
“Bullshit!”
“Absurd!”
The roles had swapped over and Gle had become speechless and expressionless. He waved his hands, dispelled the magic mirror and then jumped back onto his sofa, with his butt facing the crowd.
“Was I talking bullshit? In that case, don’t watch it then!”
As the folks heard him, their complexions suddenly changed. They started to bootlick him and brighten his mood up, even going as far as praising him as being Heaven and Earth’s only heroic alliance leader.
Despite that, Gle decided not to let these people have it their way. Hmph! How did they dare to say he was talking bullshit?!
“I’m tired! Maybe next time!”
At this point, Gle shut his eyelids and started ignoring everyone. After hearing Gle say that, tinges of disappointment showed up on everyone’s faces.
“Well, my dad said next time, right?” Yasha motioned to everyone. “Come, I will bring you all to find temporary rooms for all of you to stay in. Let’s come again and ask my daddy after a few days!”
Having heard that, everyone took a look at Gle and knew that it would be hopeless today. They could only follow Yasha’s words and left the room with her.
After Yasha left, Gle opened his eyes, jumped off the couch and looked toward the door.
“Yasha is being so kind… She must be wanting to inquire about how they met Liola. Seriously, this child… She is already an adult and yet still acting like a little girl pestering her older brother non-stop, even though she is slightly older than Liola.” Gle laughed to himself as he walked toward his study desk.
Others had interesting things to watch. He should make himself a play to toy with as well.
Staring at a half-drawn treasure map and a few scripts of martial art secret techniques, Gle let out an evil smile…
Three days later, Gle had not let the guests watch the magic mirror. He was not even at home. Even Yasha did not know where her dad had disappeared to. Everyone then started pestering Yasha, who had also become impatient and helpless because her father had disappeared without a trace.
Finally, Yasha saw some light coming out of Gle’s room and rushed out while shouting, “Daddy!”
Yasha kicked the door open just in time to witness Gle changing into a weird looking robe. On his desk laid a set of black clothing.
“Dad?” Yasha stared at the black clothing. It was something very familiar to her. Whenever an Assassin from ShaLong Hall went on a mission, they would wear this attire. This attire was used to prevent them from leaving traces of themselves behind. Shaolong Hall’s Assassins usually wore this set of uniform, regardless of day or night.
However, it was extremely odd for Gle to wear this attire. When did he even care about exposing his tracks?
“Dad, were you just wearing the stealth attire?”
Gle secured his robe and rubbed his daughter’s head, asking with a laugh, “Do you want to spy on Liola?”
Wass Dad trying to change the topic? Yasha became suspicious but she really wanted to see her Master. Who cared if Dad was trying to avoid that question or not? She nodded her head and shouted, “Yes!”
“Go get the people outside to enter!” Gle reminded Yasha.
Without waiting for a reply, the people outside flooded into the room and rushed to their respective places, as if they were little babies waiting for a storytelling session.
Interesting!
Although Gle wanted to pretend to be impatient, he could not endure it anymore. He turned to Yao Shen, raised his eyebrows and told him, “Yao Gui, hand over your medicine first! ”
Yao Shen heard Gle calling him names again but before he could fly into a rage, Wanyuan, eager to see his disciple, bumped into Yao Shen’s hips. Yao Shen looked at Wanyuan, who in turn was glaring at him, as if to say, “If I do not get to see my disciple because of you, you better watch out!”
Yao Shen swallowed his rage and said unwilling, “Only one day’s worth of medicine per viewing session.”
Gle raised his eyebrows but he did not bargain further. He himself was curious about the situation of Liola’s side as well. He would probably want to spy on them for several months. Although there were a lot people there to watch as well, it was not a big deal. Perhaps, it might even be more interesting to watch together.
“Deal.”
As Yao Shen handed over the medicine to Gle, he mumbled, “There are so many people here and yet I am the only one paying the viewing fee. How unreasonable…”
Gle’s mouth curved upward while Wanyuan shook his head and replied, “What are you complaining about? Seriously, how about I just give you the ten-thousand-year-old Ginseng?”
“Tsk! Who wants your Ginseng?! Can’t I even grumble? Don’t speak of the Ginseng so easily.”
Once again, Gle laid down on his couch and adjusted his posture. Then, with all eyes on him, he cast the magic mirror and they began their peeping acts which would last for over a month…