Pulling Together A Villain Reformation Strategy Chapter 8

Lots of footnotes this time, so please let me know what translations could be improved!

Chapter 8 – Thunderstruck by Bygone Events

In the past, Jiang Xunyi had often been a picky eater. If he ate just one less bite, Yun Xie would coax and plead with him nonstop. Now that he had changed his “sh.e.l.l”, his treatment was as different as night and day. Jiang Xunyi threw away his chopsticks and sat detachedly on the side, but Yun Xie didn't even lift his eyes. He slowly scooped up a spoonful of rice——Yun Xie didn't touch the dishes in front of himself either.

Awkwardness and discomfort rose in Jiang Xunyi's heart; he wasn't sure if it was out of resentment or melancholy. He couldn't help but humph: “He's already dead, what use is there in pretending like this?”

He blurted this out without thinking, and immediately cursed his own loose tongue. However, Yun Xie did not reply. He continued to shovel the rice in his bowl around as if he hadn't heard Jiang Xunyi's words, though he didn't send any food into his mouth. After a moment, he put the spoon down too.

The two of them sat wordlessly at this table of dishes that had barely been touched. The atmosphere was silent and strange. Instead, voices could be clearly heard coming from a nearby table of diners.

One harsh and unpleasant voice was the loudest amidst the clamor: “All of you guys are wrong. The way I see it, although that Solar Envy Sect Master Yun killed Jiang Xunyi, he didn't necessarily do it for some ‘great righteous cause of slaying evil'.”

Jiang Xunyi raised his brows imperceptibly, and a trace of a smile appeared on his face.

Even Yun Xie couldn't help but incline his head to glance at that table.　　

The people at that table were in high spirits. They didn't seem to notice the two of them on the side, and continued to converse excitedly. A teenage boy spat: “You can say this kind of gossip to us, fine, but whatever you do, don't say this outside. Sect Master Yun has countless fans; if someone else hears this talk, you're gonna get beat up.”

The teenager paused. He seemed to be curious, and asked the same question lingering in Jiang Xunyi's heart: “Moreover, I heard he and Jiang Xunyi were good brothers for many years, and their affections for each other ran deep. If Yun Xie didn't kill him for the cause of great righteousness, why did he do it then?”

The big man chuckled roughly, sounding very vulgar, but refused to say anything until the other people at the table kept pressing him for more. Only then did he continue with an air of mystery: “Brothers? Hehe, you really don't know a thing. Have you seen how that Sect Master Yun treated Jiang Xunyi? Do you feel those two truly seemed like brothers?”

A slightly sedate voice said: “The Dual Jades of the Spirit Stage had an ill.u.s.trious reputation, and they used to be almost inseparable1. Anyone can bear witness to this. In my opinion, that Jiang Xunyi was extremely icy and arrogant, with a haughty sense of superiority. He didn't seem like someone easy to get along2 with. But you all know how Yun Xie always treated him——Just by watching from a distance, you could see his look of love and care…”

When he spoke up to that point, Jiang Xunyi couldn't help but shudder in revulsion. He had always gotten along with Yun Xie since they were children. He never felt there was anything wrong with this, but that person's mouth made those same words sound disgusting. He silently wanted to argue and curse, but when he thought about it carefully, he couldn't come up with a proper refutation. That person also seemed to realize the strangeness of what he was saying, and stopped talking mid-sentence.

The big man with the harsh duck voice smiled instead. He lowered his voice: “You felt something wrong, didn't you? Let's say they were good brothers. Have you ever seen Sect Master Yun ever treat a second person that well? You said Jiang Xunyi had an icy and arrogant disposition, but Sect Master Yun is himself a proud and favored son of heaven3. What, you think he isn't arrogant too? He also has a famously troublesome and difficult temper—you think he's that thoughtful and attentive to just anyone?”

Jiang Xunyi's hands had been playing with a teacup. When he heard this sentence, his hand could not help but tremble slightly, and the tea immediately spilled onto his hand. He frowned and put the teacup down. He glanced over at Yun Xie to find his expression completely blank; it was unclear if Yun Xie had heard those words just now.

The previous teenager showed a look of repugnance: “What are you saying? In the end, what are you trying to hint at?! You're making way too many groundless accusations4 here! Can you even tell anything from these c.r.a.ppy little details?”

After being shouted at by him twice now, the man with the harsh duck voice grew angry and sneered: “Fine, all of these are c.r.a.ppy details, what do you want to hear instead? How about I tell you, Yun Xie personally admitted he ‘had intimate relations5 with Jiang Xunyi'!”

It was as if a Five Day Divine Lightning Tribulation6 had instantly struck Jiang Xunyi's head, rendering him utterly dumbstruck and stupefied. Fortunately, the teacup in his hand had already been put down, so he didn't make any more gaffes and barely managed to maintain the appearance of a fool.

This ‘intimate relations' can't be the same ‘intimate relations' that he knows, right? This person probably means something like ‘taking on the same surname'7 , right??

Otherwise, don't mention actually experiencing these things, he had never even heard about this before, okay?!

And Yun Xie… f.u.c.k, I simply can't imagine it. Is there some contagious craziness going through these people's heads? Would this shounen8 novel《Rising Clouds, Billowing Skies》actually have things like Fudans.h.i.+9?

The teenager was clearly also thunderstruck. Only after a long while did he finally stutter out: “This… this… this is simply…”

He hadn't finished expressing his thoughts when he was already kicked out of the way.

The teenager was instantly indignant, but discovered his companion had already been kicked over by a tall man. That tall man now stepped on the duck voice's chest and shouted: “What did you say?!”

The duck-voiced man struggled to look up, and his face instantly lost all color: “Yun Xie?!”

When that name was spoken, the entire restaurant froze from surprise. Several bystanders had also recognized the man in front of them. As if someone had poured cold water onto their heads in the dead of winter, they felt a chill seeping into their bones from head to toe.

One person who had previously remained silent now spoke up, his voice trembling with fear: “Sect… Sect Master Yun, I apologize for our offensive words just now, but… but in fact, our hearts all hold you in the highest esteem. We only thought that villain Jiang Xunyi was really too despicable, actually biting the hand that fed him. Please, Sect Master Yun, forgive us, forgive us.”

Jiang Xunyi curled his lip, he was used to this by now.

Yun Xiu had originally been glaring at the man he was pressing on the ground. At this moment, he turned his head to stare menacingly at the person who had just entreated him, and lightly said: “You're talking about Jiang Xunyi?”

The man continuously nodded: “Right! Right! I'm talking about that immoral and conscienceless Jiang Xunyi, he's worse than a dog or pig! Even if you two once had that… heh heh… that past together, it must have been because he concealed his evil thoughts and tried in vain to seduce and bewitch you, he really is contemptible…”

His voice spontaneously stopped and blood splashed onto the floor. When that man fell to the ground, his eyes were still opened wide with complete disbelief. It seemed he had never imagined Yun Xie would so easily take his life.　　

Yun Xie stood in front of him, coldly recovering his sword and flicking the fresh blood off Extinguished Flower's blade: “Asking for death!”

The two “Dual Jades of the Spirit Stage” were known for handling business with ferocity and ruthlessness, but they had always used their extraordinary talent for justice and chivalry, and also came from famous sects. Before Jiang Xunyi went renegade, they had an excellent reputation. No one could have imagined Yun Xie would kill people at the drop of a hat just for saying a few sentences. The people in the shop were instantly stunned. After a moment of dead silence, that person's companions shouted in both outrage and terror, and moved to surround Yun Xie.

Jiang Xunyi watched indifferently from the sidelines. He felt that though their skill didn't look to be low, these few people all had unfamiliar faces, so there shouldn't be any famous experts among them. Based on Yun Xie's normal ability, he'd probably only need a few moments to subdue them.

But Yun Xie was currently wounded, unable to use his full strength. After being besieged for several rounds, his previously graceful and quick body method was already worsening.

Jiang Xunyi quietly sighed. He chucked the teapot on the table onto the ground, and threw a tantrum: “Your fighting isn't even the tiniest bit fun to watch! Boring!”

That teenager who had previously been thrown out by Yun Xie saw him expose a weak point in the fighting. Just as he drew his sword to stab Yun Xie, he felt his face sting with pain——his face had actually been badly scratched by the flying broken porcelain pieces of the teapot. He instantly flew into a rage: “You idiot, you've really got a death wis.h.!.+” The force of his sword changed direction, slas.h.i.+ng at Jiang Xunyi's head. His move was fierce and quick, leaving no room to react——he obviously wanted to execute Jiang Xunyi under this sword.

Jiang Xunyi turned and ran, screaming in horror: “Ahhhhh!!! These entertainers are trying to kill people!”

The teenager exploded with rage. He didn't care to wonder how this complete lunatic had avoided his blow of certain death. He flourished his sword to chase after Jiang Xunyi, and the two of them joined the brawl with Yun Xie and the others.

Jiang Xunyi saw the sword edge slicing towards him, and simply dove forward. That teenager's sword hit empty air, so he rapidly strained to angle his sword down and stab again. At the same time, a black-clothed man behind Jiang Xunyi was annoyed by this idiot getting in the way. The black-clothed man also attacked with his palm, deciding to get rid of this moron before anything else.

Jiang Xunyi's hands clasped his head to put on the appearance of fear, yelling: “Two against one! Where's your principles?!”

The teenager let out a sneer and was about to talk, but suddenly felt his left leg numb and then instantly lose all sensation. His body could not maintain balance and immediately fell over. He didn't know that Jiang Xunyi had utilized that fl.u.s.tered appearance of clasping his head as a smokescreen; with that motion, Jiang Xunyi had used his elbow to hit the Creek Divide and Supreme Rush acupoints10 on the teenager's ankle. Precisely in the moment when the teenager was stupefied, his skull was suddenly smashed by a palm. 

It was the exact palm that black-clothed man had shot at Jiang Xunyi.

Jiang Xunyi calculated the angle between his two attacker's positions without the slightest error, used himself as bait, and perfectly lured the pursuing teenager into his companion's palm. That teenager did not even have the time to bitterly scream before his lifeblood gushed from his head11. The black-clothed man was frozen in place from shock. He had not yet retracted his outstretched hand when Yun Xie seized the chance to press his Jade Pillow acupoint12 from behind, and he immediately fell to the ground and perished too.

Two enemies removed from the field in a mere moment——An undetectable smile pa.s.sed across Jiang Xunyi's face. Immediately after, he pretended to climb up from the ground in a confused panic. But he had always loved cleanliness; even though the clothes on his body were already tattered and broken enough, he couldn't help but shake his sleeves.

Footnotes:
1. 形影不离 lit. "inseparable in both form and shadow"
2. 相处 can mean either "get along" or "live together."
3. 天之骄子 lit. "proud son of heaven". The modern usage is referring to famous figures who have made significant contributions to humanity. 
4. 捕风捉影 lit. "chasing the wind and clutching at shadows"
5. 肌肤之亲 can mean both "blood relations" and "intimate relations from s.e.xual intercourse" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
6. 五天神雷 lit. "Five Days of Divine Lightning". I think this is referring to a specific type of Lightning Tribulation (lightning storms that the heavens send down on cultivators about to break through to a new level of power). Not super sure though.
7. 同名同姓 lit. "same name and same surname". This is Jiang Xunyi's desperate attempt to interpret 肌肤之亲 as "blood relations" (as in, him and Yun Xie taking on the same surname and becoming legally related) instead of "s.e.xual relations"
8. 男频文 = novel aimed at boys, often with combat, conquest, picking up girls, etc. I didn't know how else to translate this, so I just borrowed the j.a.panese "Shounen" (media aimed at boys 15 and under)
9. 腐男 lit. "rotten male" = men who like Boys' Love. I believe this term is borrowed from the j.a.panese "Fudans.h.i.+" (the male counterpart to Fujos.h.i.+), so I just put that in.
10. 穴道 “acupuncture points”: Given the close relations.h.i.+p between acupuncture and Qi flow, acupuncture points are given some relatively mystical powers in Wuxia/Xianxia, from healing to unconsciousness to freezing one's body to instant death. Here, Jiang Xunyi hits the 解溪 [Creek Divide] and 太冲 [Supreme Rush] points on the dorsal side of the ankle——don't ask me what they're supposed to do lol.
11. Okay the original term was 七窍流血, which means blood flowed from seven openings in his head (the two ears, the two eyes, the two nostrils, and the mouth). I couldn't find a way to smoothly say this in English though ?
12. 玉枕穴 lit. "Jade Pillow Acupoint", located on the back of the skull