The Rise of Phoenixes- Novel Translation #41

Her hand touches another body…an unmoving body completely cold to the touch. There seems to be another body on top of the one she just touched. Zhi Wei thought back to the position Ning Yi was in when he fell and her heart sank. Has he been crushed to death? The thought came and Zhi Wei felt something cold on her face. Staring at her fingers in numbing confusion when she touches her face and her figures come away with something wet, the faint light from the top of the cliff reflected off the small droplet on her finger, like a tiny mirror reflecting her heart.

How long has it been since she cried? When is the last time she cried? Was it seven years ago when her uncle’s daughter lost her gold hairpin and accused her of stealing it which resulted in her family starving for five days? Was it ten years ago when her mother knelt in front of the Qiu manor for three days and almost died from her sickness? Was it eleven years ago when father took them out of the mountain and burned down their house before they left? Or was it 12 years ago when she accidentally chanced upon her mother burning hell notes for some unknown person and she was severely reprimanded? She really can’t remember. She only knows the tears feel foreign yet very real at this moment. The droplet of tear on her finger slowly evaporates, Zhi Wei refocuses and gathers up the last of her remaining strength in preparation to move the dead body away so she can drag out Ning Yi who must be trapped underneath. She doesn’t want to waste time crying before she is certain Ning Yi is really dead. She wouldn’t waste time crying either if he really died. He, along with Chun Yu and the hundred soldiers who died…all those lives- there are too many things waiting for her to do.

Before her hand could touch the body, a hoarse voice suddenly says lazily: “How much longer do I have to wait before you are going to grope me?” Zhi Wei’s hand froze mid-air before her brain finally registered what was happening. Her hand instantly forms into a fist, Zhi Wei let the fist fall squarely on a certain someone’s chest.

“Ouch!” With laughter in his voice, Ning Yi accuses “Such a callous woman” before asking “What were you thinking about just now for so long?” Biting her lips, Zhi Wei doesn’t reply but instead touch the already stoned cold body under Ning Yi. Relieved once she realized Ning Yi must’ve killed the man before they hit the ground and used the body as a cushion for himself, Zhi Wei asks “You are not hurt?”

“I am fine.” Ning Yi adds “I think I just twisted my foot.”

“You didn’t damage your brain during the fall?”

Casting a surprised glance at Zhi Wei, Ning Yi thought silently: this girl sounds like she might’ve damaged her brain. Ning Yi was tempted to tease Zhi Wei but he suddenly remembered the way her voice trembled when she was calling his name and answered honestly “Yes.”

“Ok.” Zhi Wei smiles then falls into Ning Yi’s lap “I finally can faint now…”

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Zhi Wei wakes up to the feeling of her whole body aching like she either just finished a long trek or she just had a fight in the dream. Still a bit dazed, Zhi Wei belatedly notices the warmth on her body and looks down to see Ning Yi had covered her with his outer robe.

The sun had already risen but only a dim ray was able to reach to the bottom of the cliff. Sitting across from her without his outer robe, Ning Yi has his eyes closed as he tries to smooth out his internal energy (look for an explanation about this at the end of the post). Casting a look around, Zhi Wei could see that they have moved from where they were last night judging by the soft grass underneath and the small stream nearby. Heaven only knows how Ning Yi managed to get her here with his hurt leg. He didn’t drag her here by her feet…did he? Zhi Wei promptly checks herself all over, scared that she would find countless drag marks. Awaken by the rustling noise Zhi Wei made, Ning Yi chuckles silently as he thought: Girls! So full of contradictions. She can be so strong during a crisis but then she can also fuss over the smallest thing. Ning Yi stares at Zhi Wei with a soft smile, not seeing the tenderness in his own eyes.

Ning Yi thought back to how she calmly asked him two questions, made sure he is alright before she was willing to faint into his arms, Ning Yi couldn’t help but smiles again. Yet there is also an ache in his heart — what a tenacious woman! Remembering how soft and light she felt in his heart, completely different than the gentle but cold facade she wears normally. So fragile like a flower petal, he couldn’t help himself and then…

Ning Yi’s face turned slightly red in the next instant…a sight captured by Zhi Wei who just happened to look up at that very moment. “You are awake? Eh, you look a little strange.” Reaching up a hand to touch his own face, Ning Yi’s laughs “I do?” Giving Ning Yi a look of admiration, Zhi Wei thought: People like this don’t even need masks. He can make his face turn red when he wants to and he can make it not red in the next instant.

Zhi Wei asks dryly “Where are we? In novels, don’t the protagonists always wake up in a cave accompanied by a big roaring fire?”

“Not all cliff bottom come equipped with a cave and not everyone just happens to have a fire starter on them.” Ning Yi replies with amusement “Especially when there are people out chasing after you, wouldn’t you be a fool if you light a fire?”

Zhi Wei smiles and sits up “Is your leg injured badly?”

Ning Yi assures her “No.” but Zhi Wei has already made her way to him and took off his boots “We still need to treat it or it would be even more troublesome if you can’t walk on it.”

Zhi Wei carefully begins to message Ning Yi’s swollen ankle, exerting the perfect amount of pressure. Leaning against a rock, Ning Yi’s eyes are half-closed “You have learned this before? You are even better than those at my place.”

Zhi Wei smiles and replies “Mother’s time on the battlefield had given her a body full of old wounds which would act up whenever it rained. So I learned this at a young age.”

Silent for a few moments, Ning Yi finally says “Madam Feng had a difficult time.” Seemingly unwilling to continue the subject, Ning Yi falls silent again as he lazily lays there, enjoying the magic of Zhi Wei’s nimble fingers making his heart feel like its swimming in a warm bath….and that’s when the lady abruptly says “All done!” His eyes snapped open, Ning Yi asks with surprise “So soon?”

Smiling sweetly, Zhi Wei answers “My apologies for not being as gentle, tender and patient compares to those at your place to massage Your Highness for as long as you want.” Turning his head to “look” at Zhi Wei, Ning Yi’s unfocused eyes seems suddenly brighter. His expression somewhat strange, as if he was suppressing a smile, Ning Yi asks “You are jealous?”

“Ah?” Zhi Wei touches her own face and thought with shock- I am jealous? I am jealous? How could that be possible!

After a long moment, Zhi Wei blurts out an explanation she thought makes perfect sense “Those who are born with a silver spoon will never understand the resentment of those who had to struggle in poverty.”

Still peering at her strangely, Ning Yi says slowly, obviously in a very good mood “I didn’t finish what I was saying. The ones at my place…grandmas.”

After another long moment of silence, Zhi Wei smiles brightly “Ah! Your Highness, the sun is up! Time to go!”

Staring at Ning Yi who seems to be in a really good mood after their somewhat bizarre exchange, Zhi Wei’s own mood sours even more and quickly changes the subject “Do you think those up top are all gone?” Handing Ning Yi’s clothes over to him, Zhi Wei notices that the tie on his robe shows sighs of being ripped as if the rob was forcefully taken off.

“How could they possibly give up now they’ve discovered we are still alive.” Ning Yi says nonchalantly as he puts on his clothes “It is going to be a bit difficult to make our way out of this mountain range.”

Her arms wrapped around her knees, Zhi Wei stares at Ning Yi for a moment…then a few more moments… Fifteen minutes later…. Her patience all gone, Zhi Wei bats her eyelashes a few times and asks “Your Highness, are you not so skilled at putting on clothes?”

Giving up his vain struggle with his robe ties, Ning Yi nods without any hint of embarrassment and complains “You noticed and didn’t even offer to help…”

Inching closer slowly, Zhi Wei begins to help but that didn’t stop Ning Yi from nitpicking “Your hands are not much better at this than mine!” or “…the knot doesn’t look quite right?” or “Are you trying to do my buttons or are you trying to choke me to death?”

Smiling sweetly, Zhi Wei cinched up the robe belt even tighter “…at least it didn’t take me fifteen minutes to fail at dressing myself.” “….How is it not right? If you are so good then tie it yourself!” “….If I am really going to choke you to death, then how would this be enough?”

Both unnaturally pale in the face, Zhi Wei even coughs from time to time but neither mentions it as they bicker and jest together. The crisis has not passed. One of them is blind and the other suffered some sort of internal injury. Enemies in pursuit behind them and unknown dangerous traps ahead– yet precisely because of this they have to remain calm. They are both leaders, they know that panicking will just make the situation worse. After being on the run all night, sustaining various wounds, they both need time to rest physically and mentally. Of course this is easier said than done, but they are the same kind of people so they both knew the other could do it.

Finished with dressing Ning Yi, Zhi Wei rips a piece of the sleeve and did a simple bandage job on both Ning Yi’s knee and her own wounds before helping Ning Yi stand up. Exchanging a glance, the smile on Ning Yi and Zhi Wei’s face instantly fade away as Ning Yi says “Let’s go.”

 

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So a little explanation about internal energy. Some of you might be familiar with the C-novel genres of Wuxia and Xianxia. In Chinese Wuxia novel, where most of the martial arts are influenced by Taoism and Buddism, internal energy is something all fighters cultivate and rely on. Internal energy also exists in Xianxia novels, but Xianxia is a genre that has demons, ghosts and gods so magic plays more heavily there. Fuyao fits in the Xianxia genre while Phoenixes is more Wuxia but will dip into Xianxia when the story talks about the two leads in Fuyao. In this post, after a harrowing night, it would only make sense that our hero’s internal energy is all messed up- another sure sign of being hurt. Messed up internal energy is often compared to a tangled mess of threads that requires a person to meditate in order to sort out. The better a person is at fighter the stronger his internal energy will be. Remember the post where Zhi Wei was racing towards the rest stop to find Ning Yi and she cuts down a tree in half with one slash during her fight with the assassin on the way there? There was a little sentence that says Zhi Wei herself was puzzled at why her internal energy was growing at such a speed. That was a hint to the fact that Zhi Wei has a store of energy sealed up in her body because of her heritage which is why she is such a good fighter and will continue to get better at an abnormal speed.

There is another hint buried in this post…anyone caught it?