Hello! I'm back after more than 2 years! I'm busy refining my past translations (which made me cringe) and organising my posts.
This story is from a novel by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang called the Master series and published under the name Master feels stifled, the name of the first story. It is a collection of 4 short xianxia stories about Master-disciple relationships. This is the 3rd story in the collection, Master is old. There are 8 chapters and it will be a weekly release so it should take 2 months to be completed. After I'm done I will pick another Jiu Lu Fei Xiang story to translate cuz I love her xianxia novels.
Story 1: Master feels stifled
Story 2: Master is sick
Story 3: Master is old
Story 4: Master, let's fight
Note:
3 worlds refer to the heavenly realm, the human realm and the demon realm.
Prologue
I was the last ancient immortal, hailed as the female War God. After fighting for half my life, when the 3 worlds were at peace, I lost my job. I've already forgotten how long I’ve lived. I’ve seen the happiness of youth, the destitution of the poor, cycle after cycle of life, over and over again. The more time passed, the less I yearned for the things of the world.
I think, the day I die is not too far off.
But the heavens would not let me quietly leave and insisted on throwing a new episode in my life when I was quickly approaching the grave. It was even the colour of spring...
The kind that all 3 worlds knew about….
The kind that...
made me unable to save my old face.
Chapter 1
Looking at the youth that was as pretty as a flower, who appeared from who knows where, I seriously rejected him, “I don’t take disciples.”
He lifted his head and also answered earnestly, “It’s okay if you don’t take disciples, you can take me.”
Maybe it was because I was too old and unable to keep up with the youngster’s train of thought, but for a moment I felt short of breath. “Young man, I’ve been cultivating for tens of thousands of years, too old to play all your tricks.”
“No problem,” he was very understanding, “I can be the one playing those tricks.”
“……”
I could not out speak him, but I still chased him out of the courtyard. He stood outside the courtyard, his pitiful eyes fixed on me, showing hints of woundedness. Looking at him made me anxious. How I wish that I could throw this little devil off Misty Mountain with two slaps!
But I am a reasonable immortal, he didn’t cross any lines and on Misty Mountain, other than my house, nothing else has my name on it. Chasing him away would be unreasonable. Thus, I chose to shut the door, leaving him to do some self-reflection while still looking hurt.
I went back into the house to sleep and slept for three whole days. When I woke up, I thought that the youth must have already left. But the moment I opened the door, I sucked in a cold breath.
He was leaning on the door frame and when I opened the door, he turned to look at me and I saw a fleeting shine in his pupils.
“You’re awake,” he smiled “do you want to go out?”
As the saying goes, one does not reach out to slap a smiling person… This saying really saved him…
I ignored him and turned to go down the mountain. He also did not say anything else but silently chose to follow behind me.
Below Misty Mountain, there was a lake where I left a fishing rod so that I could fish whenever I was bored. When I sat down, the youth did not move but stood at the side for a while before turning to head into the forest.
I thought that he felt that I was boring and finally decided to leave. However, he came back again after a short while, having snapped off a flexible bamboo. He plucked a blade of long grass and sat a few meters away from me before starting to fish.
After a while, the sun came out and there was a breeze. On the ground near my feet, there was a constant pattering sound that made me immensely anxious….
Meanwhile, beside me, there was the sound of another fish getting caught.
Yet there wasn’t even a ripple at my side. This was simply unfair! I turned to him and coughed twice, “Are you an earthworm? You didn’t even use any bait… just what do you rely on to catch the fish?”
*TL: I think she is making a joke here, because the way she worded it was something like are you born in the year of the earthworm. Like the 12 zodiac animals.
He looked at the pond and calmly answered, “My face.”
“……”
How shameless…...
He was silent for a while, then, as if he had thought of a good idea, turned around and flashed me a smile, “If I fished for you, will you take the bait?”
I stiffened up as if I was struck by lightning. Even though I may look like a young girl in her 20s, but I’ve been through numerous trials and experienced much of the world in the course of thousands of years… This brat actually dared to take liberties with me!
I instantly had an absurd feeling of being an 80 year old grandma that was molested by an 18 year old brat….
I cleared my throat and felt that at this age, I should not be arguing with a kid. Since I did not manage to catch any fish today, I kept my rod and began to head back. Who knew that when the youth saw that I was leaving, he would also keep his rod and after gathering the fish he caught, followed after me.
When we were reaching the courtyard, the youth very naturally opened his mouth to ask, “Do you want the fish steamed or braised?”
I seriously considered it for a while before answering, “Steamed, it is fresher.”
“Okay.”
After he answered, I suddenly felt that there was something wrong but before I could say another word, he took the fish and entered my house. I followed him in and saw that he was skilful and relaxed when preparing the fire and fish and concluded that he was an expert.
I kept licking my lips until the steamed fish was served on the table and didn’t dare to say a word about chasing him out because the fish were caught by him, the dishes were made by him… I can’t just kill the chicken after taking the egg...
After all, I’m still an immortal with morals.
The youth was also not polite and took his own bowl before sitting down across me. I was concentrated on eating and did not lift my head. The youth on the other hand, ate about half a bowl before setting down his chopsticks to stare at me, “You’re so pretty.”
I choked on a fish bone.
After coughing loudly for a while and saving my old life, I turned to him, looking like I just ate shit. But he had already changed a topic.
“Why don’t you accept disciples?”
Actually, he asked a good question. Why didn’t I accept disciples?
Because I was afraid.
Afraid of taking another risk.
[I think that the way the Master speaks is rather crude haha. She actually says that she felt like an 80 year old grandma whose chest got touched by an 18 year old brat. Also she really states that her expression looked like she ate shit lol.]