After the Villain Lost His Cultivation - Chapter 4

Unable to obtain, love turns into hate.

Eight simple and unadorned characters stirred Feng Yu’s boundless imagination.

Xi Jianglan said, “When we were at Tianyan Academy, I lived in the same courtyard as him. Back then, I was a respected Young Immortal Lord with a slim waist, long legs, black hair, and snow-white skin. I was absolutely stunning.”

Feng Yu rolled his eyes, but he endured it for the sake of hearing the gossip: “Fine, stunning Young Immortal Lord, then what?”

“As for Sheng Jiao, he was just a poor, downtrodden guy.” Seeing Feng Yu’s obvious excitement, Xi Jianglan continued enthusiastically, “To him, I was like the bright moon in the sky, unattainable. It’s no wonder he fell deeply in love with me.”

Feng Yu frowned, “Hold on, why do I remember Sheng Jiao always giving you a hard time back then? Even when I passed you a note during class, his little thunderbolt would hit it.”

Xi Jianglan: “…”

Uh, let me make it up

“Furthermore!” Feng Yu’s mind suddenly became sharp for a moment. “Sheng Jiao despises cut sleeve the most. Last year, there was a rebellious scoundrel in the Xiezhi Sect who wanted to force his own master. Sheng Jiao didn’t even wait for the Tianyan bead’s verdict before he directly struck the person with thunder, almost killing him.”

Xi Jianglan pretended to be shy, “You don’t understand, he couldn’t get me, so of course he can’t stand other cut sleeves either.”

Feng Yu glared at him: “You still remember what Sheng Jiao’s innate mark is, right?”

“I know, ‘Way of Heaven,’ ” Xi Jianglan replied. “On the day we enrolled, he hung us up and beat us at the bustling entrance of the academy. I still remember that embarrassing incident for you.”

“…Let’s not bring up the past!” Feng Yu’s face turned green. “Sheng Jiao is just a cold-hearted, cold-faced monster. Love means less to him than a sheet of paper. As long as someone commits a crime, he’ll mercilessly follow the way of heaven and slaughter them, even if they’re his parents.”

People across the thirteen provinces secretly call him ‘Lord Tiandao.’

“That’s exactly how it is,” Xi Jianglan spun his web of lies. “Sheng Wuzhuo may look like a cold and distant flower on a high mountain, but his true nature is obsessive and crazy. Back then, when I refused him, he even tried to force himself on me! If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”

Feng Yu gasped sharply.

Force… force him?!

This… is quite an extreme provocation, isn’t it?

Feng Yu was about to ask more when Xi Jianglan interrupted him: “Hey, who was that scoundrel who wanted to force his master? So bold and reckless, is he still alive?”

“It’s Jun Shuofeng from Chang’an Dao in Zhongzhou. His master’s surname is Shen.”

“Oh, oh, oh!”

“Keep talking about you and Sheng Jiao.” Feng Yu planned to clear his mind and just enjoy the entertainment. “Did he really express his love for you?”

“Yes, and I rejected him harshly.”

Feng Yu became excited again: “What reason did you use to reject him?”

“I told him that he was poor and didn’t deserve me,” Xi Jianglan said indifferently.

Feng Yu burst out laughing, “Poor? Young Immortal Lord, do you know that the entire three regions of Zhongzhou now belong to the Sheng family? Truly, what goes around comes around, don’t underestimate the youth in their poverty.”

Xi Jianglan: “…”

Seeing that he had been hinting for a long time and that this scoundrel was still enjoying the show and laughing at him, Xi Jianglan decided to be direct: “I died in my past life because of you, and in this life, I’ve been misunderstood by you for years. You owe me something in return, don’t you?”

Feng Yu choked.

Although he had a bad temper, he was clear about love and hate. After a long pause, he reluctantly said, “How do you want me to repay you? If you want me to marry you, I’m not doing it.”

“No need for this kind of repayment, where you return kindness with vengeance.” Xi Jianglan’s eyes curved into a smile, and even his pale lips gained a bit of color from the joy. “I just need you to help me with something very simple.”

“What?”

Xi Jianglan said, “Help me kill Sheng Jiao.”

Feng Yu: “…”

Feng Yu’s face was completely indifferent as he stared at him, wide eyes meeting narrow ones.

Suddenly, the Rhino Horn Lamp flickered and exploded.

“Young Immortal Lord,” Feng Yu said seriously, “I feel like you’ve been away from Zhongzhou for too long, and with the rhino horn lamp sealed, you’re a bit out of the loop.”

Xi Jianglan responded with a simple “Hmm?” and listened attentively.

“Let me put it this way,” Feng Yu said. “I will have Rang Chen, Heng Yudu, and Liu Tiaotiao come along with the little poison creature. If we all leave the Zhuzinghai together and bind Sheng Jiao’s hands and feet, it will only be a death sentence for him. That saw-nosed gourd only needs one little finger, and a whole bunch of people will turn to ashes.”

Xi Jianglan: “…”

Xi Jianglan said disdainfully, “Why are you all so useless?”

Feng Yu, unable to bear it any longer, raised his hand to pull out the ghost blade, intending to give him a good beating.

“Spiritual level innate mark! Spiritual level! Born to ascend to heaven, otherwise, how could he take control of the Xiezhi Sect at such a young age?”

Xi Jianglan lifted his foot and pressed his slender calf against the handle of the ghost blade, conceding, “Then let’s not kill Sheng Jiao. Just get me a Yutang flower instead.”

Feng Yu said indifferently, “I’ll just kill Sheng Jiao for you.”

Xi Jianglan: “?”

Feng Yu continued, “Do you know who has been intercepting the Yutang flowers all these years?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Xi Jianglan said. “Back when the Xi family was dominant, controlling the three regions of Zhongzhou, we offended countless people, the Qu family, the Sheng family… oh right, and the Rang family.”

Feng Yu: “Wait, the Rang family? Aren’t you on good terms with Rang Chen?”

Xi Jianglan said innocently, “You still don’t know? I… accidentally broke his silence meditation, causing him to lose years of cultivation in an instant, and his innate mark was damaged as well.”

Feng Yu: “?”

“Can this fool do anything right?

No wonder he’s fallen to this state, it’s all his own doing.

“A Yutang flower is hard to find, especially if I go looking for it. The noble families in Zhongzhou will surely know that I’m in collusion with you, and they might even trace it back to you,” Feng Yu said, slapping Xi Jianglan’s hand away. “Get off.”

Xi Jianglan sighed and raised his hand to pull his robe closer.

Every move he made exuded the air of nobility cultivated from years of living in luxury, as if he were not in a shabby medical clinic, but still in the opulent Xi family of Zhongzhou, surrounded by riches.

“But if I can’t find a Yutang flower soon, I’m afraid I won’t even make it to the Zhongyuan Festival.”

Feng Yu’s eyebrows furrowed.

Just a moment ago, Xi Jianglan had been animatedly discussing the festivities, but now he lowered his gaze, looking as if he was on the verge of death.

“Anyway, I died in my last life at this year’s Zhongyuan Festival. Maybe this is just fate, you don’t need to worry about me anymore,” he sighed. “After I die, you can take my body to Sheng Jiao to claim the bounty of tens of thousands of spirit stones. You can enjoy yourself on my bones, I don’t care, I really don’t care.”

Feng Yu gently grabbed the Ghost blade as if he wanted to pull it out and strike him.

Using his trump card, Xi Jianglan let out a “Wo waa” as he spit out a mouthful of blood and fainted, both mentally and physically injured.

Feng Yu: “……”

Feng Yu was furious, but because of the matter of “rebirth,” he couldn’t just let him die.

He shot a cold glance at Xi Jianglan, who was pretending to be dead.

He really owed him this.

Xi Jianglan squinted his eyes and saw Feng Yu with a sullen face holding the Rhino Horn Lamp and seemingly searching for the Yutang flower for him. Only then did he feel satisfied and turn over, comfortably falling asleep.

Perhaps it was because they mentioned Sheng Jiao a bit too much, but the young Sheng Jiao inadvertently entered Xi Jianglan’s dreams.

In the ghostly and eerie mist, Sheng Jiao, dressed in black robes that seemed to blend into the darkness like ink, resembled a sublime deity, coldly staring down at him from above.

Suddenly, he spoke.

‘Lord Tiandao’ rarely spoke, but unfortunately, Xi Jianglan was like a deaf person, and in the dream, his ears were filled with an endless silence, he couldn’t hear a single word clearly.

He could only vaguely see the shape of his lips and knew that he was calling his name.

Xi Jue.

Crack.

The string of thunder pattern tiandao beads hanging from Sheng Jiao’s wrist moved without wind, spinning quickly and evenly until all one hundred and eight beads finally settled on the same character.

Punish.

A heavenly thunderbolt suddenly struck down.

Boom!

Xi Jianglan’s pupils narrowed sharply as he watched the lightning strike his forehead. But in the next moment, the heavenly thunder that could turn a person to ashes felt like a gentle spring breeze lightly brushing his disheveled hair. Amidst the chaotic fluttering of his ink-black hair, it seemed as if a dragonfly had kissed his forehead.

Xi Jianglan suddenly opened his eyes and instinctively covered his right shoulder.

It was an extremely strange dream, so short that it seemed to have lasted only a moment.

It was already morning outside.

A pale light streamed in from the window, bringing with it the strong fragrance of osmanthus flowers.

Xi Jianglan heard nothing but silence in his ears. He fumbled around on the pillow for a moment and touched a cold hand.

A beautiful ghost was leaning on the edge of the bed. Upon seeing him wake up, she smiled playfully, her ghastly pale hand hooked around the earring adorned with jewels as she floated gently to the door.

Xi Jianglan: “…”

When they were at the Tianyan Academy, Feng Yu also loved to use fierce ghosts to wake others up. Every morning, the Zhuzinghai would be filled with a series of screams and curses.

Who would have thought that after all these years, Feng Yu’s wicked sense of humor had not changed at all?

Xi Jianglan propped himself up and looked up.

As expected, Feng Yu was leaning against the doorframe, his long legs resting on the half-open door, lazily saying, “You’ve slept for so long, I thought you were dead.”

Because of the backlight, Xi Jianglan couldn’t see the shape of Feng Yu’s lips, but he knew that Feng Yu never said anything nice. He replied, “Barely alive… Why are you still here?”

Feng Yu said something else.

Xi Jianglan couldn’t quite catch what was said, so he casually responded, “Oh, give me back the earring, it’s the most valuable thing I own.”

Feng Yu walked over and sneered, “A few cheap, broken beads aren’t worth anything. I could buy you a whole pile to throw into the water for fun.”

Now, Xi Jianglan finally saw clearly what Feng Yu was saying and naturally replied, “As long as Young Master Feng doesn’t mind the expense, I’d be more than happy.”

Feng Yu casually threw the pendant earring back and said, “Someone outside has been knocking on the door nonstop. It’s driving me crazy.”

Xi Jianglan was always cautious in everything he did. He had initially thought that Feng Yu took his earring because he had noticed something suspicious about his “rebirth” and was testing his hearing. But upon further reflection, he realized that Feng Yu, who was so straightforward, had no concept of subtlety and he simply doesn’t have the brain for such test.

Feeling relieved, he casually tied his long hair back with a hairband and confidently put the earring back in his ear.

Suddenly, the sound returned, and there was indeed someone knocking loudly on the door outside the clinic.
“Lan Gege!”

The one knocking on the door was the little girl from next door who sells pastries. She had probably run over, her cheeks flushed.
Xi Jianglan asked, “Banban? What’s happened?”

The little girl, Qin Banban, happily said, “Lan Gege, weren’t you looking for that.. Yutang flower? The owner of the medicine shop in the north of the city said that he received a new one today, so I came to tell you!”

Xi Jianglan was taken aback.

Just yesterday, he had mentioned the Yutang flower, and today they had found a fish that slipped through the net?

“Is it the Yongning medicine shop in the north of the city?”

“Mm-hmm, that’s right.”

Only then did Xi Jianglan nod. “Thank you! I’ll go there right away.”

Over the years, most of the Yutang flowers that Xi Jianglan used to prolong his life had been found in this medicine shop.

After delivering the message, Qin Banban stuffed a steaming bun into his hands and was about to run away.

Xi Jianglan suddenly called out, “Banban?”

Qin Banban stepped into the puddle and exclaimed, “Ah!” as she jumped up, her bright red skirt swirling like a blooming flower.
The pretty and lively girl steadied herself and turned back, curious, “What?”

Xi Jianglan warned, “There might be snowstorms in the next few days, so don’t run around recklessly.

Qin Banban smiled brightly, “You told me so many times, I remember it!”

With that, she happily ran off, stepping on the snow.

Xi Jianglan returned to the medicine shop and stared thoughtfully at the pieces of osmanthus cake.

Feng Yu leaned against the medicine cabinet and casually glanced at the messages on the rhinoceros horn lamp. He casually said, “I searched all night yesterday, and even Heng Yudu didn’t know where to find the Yutang flower. How come this medicine shop just happened to have one? Could it be that someone is deliberately leading you there to catch you off guard?”

Xi Jianglan shook his head. “Not likely. I got the Yutang flower from this medicine shop a few years ago, around the same time, just before the summer solstice.”

Seeing that he seemed to be planning to leave, Feng Yu still felt uneasy. He raised his hand and stuck a small paper figure containing a bit of his consciousness on Xi Jianglan’s face.

“Take this with you.”

Xi Jianglan smiled at him. “What’s wrong, worried about me?”

“Yeah,” Feng Yu said, his smile not reaching his eyes. “I’m so worried about you. If you die, where will I go to find some fun?”

Xi Jianglan laughed heartily, draping on his thick cloak and leaving the clinic leisurely.

In Wuyin city, it had snowed for a day and a night, and surprisingly, the city was filled with blooming osmanthus trees. Xi Jianglan gazed at the golden osmanthus flowers, seemingly wanting to pick one and taste it.

On the long street, there were still numerous monks from the Punishment and Pardon Court searching for the “detestable Xi Jianglan.”

Xi Jianglan passed by them without changing his expression, not even raising an eyebrow.

After a moment, he finally arrived at the medicine shop in the north of the city.

This shop had been open for many years, with an antique sign, and the number of people coming and going on ordinary days was countless.

Cuddled up in Xi Jianglan’s sleeve, the little paper figure suddenly said, “I’ve just done a divination for you, and it’s a bad omen.”

Xi Jianglan, who was calmly stepping inside, paused with his foot hovering at the threshold and replied, “Why didn’t you say that earlier?”

Feng Yu added, “But amidst the bad omen, there is also a chance for survival, you will have noble help to turn misfortune into fortune.”

At this point, even knowing it was a dangerous situation, Xi Jianglan had no choice but to take the leap.

He couldn’t afford to delay his injuries any longer.

Anyway, as long as it wasn’t Sheng Jiao, he could meet almost anyone and probably make it out unscathed.

The shopkeeper of the pharmacy was counting on an abacus and, seeing someone had arrived, smiled and said, ”Doctor Lan, this year’s Yutang flowers have just arrived.”

On the table, there was a small box containing a rich aura of spiritual energy, filled with the scent of a flower that Xi Jianglan was very familiar with.

It was indeed the Yutang flower.

Ever since Feng Yu mentioned the “bad omen” in the reading, Xi Jianglan maintained a calm facade while secretly feeling apprehensive. However, the shopkeeper’s attitude was as usual, and there was nothing unusual about the Yutang flower; even the surrounding spiritual energy felt familiar. When Xi Jianglan handed over the spiritual stones from his storage bag and received the Yutang flower, he finally felt a weight lifted from his heart.

Think about it carefully, back when they were studying divination, that fool Feng Yu always copied his hexagrams during class tests. How could his readings possibly be accurate?

Xi Jianglan took out the Yutang flower and stuffed it into his sleeve, then returned the box.

Feng Yu noticed that he was afraid there was a tracking formation on the box, rolled his eyes, and thought to himself that this sickly guy was really cautious. No wonder he managed to escape from the pursuit of the Xiezhi Sect for six years.

The sickly guy said goodbye to the shopkeeper and leisurely made his way back home, taking the opportunity to mock Feng Yu’s divination skills along the way.

“It’s no wonder you get scolded by the elders. You call it turning misfortune into fortune, but I see it as turning fortune into misfortune!”

“Enough already!” Feng Yu shouted in anger. “I’ve had many accurate readings over the years!”

Xi Jianglan continued, “Then what about my misfortune?”

Feng Yu said coldly, “When you get back, I’ll chop you up with one knife, and that counts as encountering misfortune.”

He had never seen anyone so eager to invite misfortune.

Xi Jianglan fell silent.

Feng Yu thought he was up to something bad again, but suddenly he heard Xi Jianglan say, “Noble Feng.”

Xi Jianglan, maintaining his composure, walked to the entrance of the ‘No Way’ alley and calmly said, “Noble Feng, Brother Feng, help me.”

Feng Yu sensed something was wrong: “What happened?”

“Bad,” Xi Jianglan said, “Someone is following me.”

Feng Yu frowned and sent out his spiritual awareness: “There is no one.”

”Yes, there must be!” Xi Jianglan said, adapting to the situation. “I was wrong, Young Master Feng Yu’s hexagrams are the best in the thirteen provinces! A bad omen turned into good fortune, please help me!”

Seeing him act so cowardly, Feng Yu sneered, ”Aren’t you pretty good at showing off and deceiving people? How come you can’t shake off even one person who’s following you?”

Xi Jianglan was still shouting, “Help! Help!”

Feng Yu was so amused by him that he laughed, “Just hope for the best, I’ve already arrived at Gu Chang Temple.”

Xi Jianglan paused, “What are you doing at Gu Chang Temple?”

“I told you this morning, didn’t I?!” Feng Yu replied impatiently, “There’s a spiritual item for sale at Gu Chang Temple today, and I have to compete with others for the price. If I go back now, it’ll take at least half an hour!”

Xi Jianglan: “……”