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[Chapter 19 - Sin!] This is clearly a hastily put together group
After finishing a simple dinner in the room, the two of them began to stare at each other.
They couldn't go out and had nothing to do either, so this was the most awkward time. Shen Qian Ling could only find a topic on his own. "What do you usually do during this time?"
Qin Shao Yu said, "Practice martial arts."
"Practice martial arts right after finishing dinner?" Shen Qian Ling's eyes, full of pity, were directed at him. This warrior, you're lucky you don't have gastric pain.
"Bored and want to go out?" Qin Shao Yu asked him.
"I can go out?" Shen Qian Ling's eyes brightened up.
Qin Shao Yu shook his head. "No."
Then what did you ask me for. Shen Qian Ling choked a little.
"Sect leader." A subordinate knocked on the door from outside. "The person who was sent out has already returned. Should he be brought here?"
"No need." Qin Shao Yu said, "All of you, go and wait in the backyard. I will arrive immediately."
"You're going out?" Shen Qian Ling was curious.
"To handle some internal matters of the Dominion." Qin Shao Yu stood up. "You stay here and don't run around everywhere."
"Can I go with you?" Shen Qian Ling tried asking. Although handling matters didn’t have anything to do with him at all, no matter what, it would still be better than being stuck in the room, and to be honest, he was somewhat curious about the Dominion of Shadow Chasers.
"You want to come?" Qin Shao Yu hesitated.
".....Can't I?" Shen Qian Ling pouted. Just as he was preparing to say that if he can't go then he won't, Qin Shao Yu nodded instead and said: "Alright."
Actually, I hadn't really wanted to go, but since you wanted to let me come with, then I will come along reluctantly. Shen Qian Ling was in high spirits, and followed him to the backyard.
There were already a few people standing in the room. Upon seeing the two of them enter together, all of their faces became blank.
Shen Qian Ling stayed silent. Why are you using these kind of expression to look at me? I'm not here to borrow money from you anyway.
"Sect leader." The leader of the group hesitated.
"Everyone introduce themselves to fu-ren first, to avoid confusion." Qin Shao Yu instructed.
Shen Qian Ling: "........."
I'm just so free that I got bored, and only wanted to come and see what’s happening.
You're the fu-ren, your whole family are fu-ren.
Qin Shao Yu glanced at him, a threatening look on his face.
Once he remembered that he still had to sleep with him at night, Shen Qian Ling tactfully closed his mouth.
Who would understand the misery of relying on the charity of others.
Below them, the group of people looked at each other in dismay, no one willing to speak up first. It was obvious that they didn’t particularly recognize this so called "fu-ren."
"Need me to repeat it once more?" Qin Shao Yu said coldly.
……
This warrior, you are really cool and handsome, but this time I'm just simply unjustly implicated right? Shen Qian Ling wanted to cry but had no tears. Did water enter his own brain? Why did he want to follow him over of his own accord? If he has known earlier that he was so disliked, then it would have been better for him to stay in the bedroom and look at the stars. And it was especially classy too.
The silence in the room was slightly awkward. A moment later, a lady, wearing a flower, finally spoke up first. "This subordinate is Hua Tang, the left chief(1) of the Dominion of Shadow Chasers."
What should he say in such a scenario? Shen Qian Ling looked helplessly towards Qin Shao Yu, and saw that he had his hands behind his back with a gloomy and cold expression, like he was going to destroy the room. Thus he could only rely on himself and plagiarize his stage lines, and praised, "The left chief is certainly young and promising...and very beautiful too." No matter what, it couldn’t go too wrong if he called a woman beautiful.
"Fu-ren flatters." The left chief said modestly, "If we were to discuss looks, then how can this subordinate be even a thousandth of fu-ren?"
Blood rushed up Shen Qian Ling's throat. Are you sure you are just boot-licking?
"This subordinate is Yao Qian." A pale-faced scholar stood out, and said sickly, "Dominion of Shadow Chasers' right chief."
This brother, are you sure you don't want to visit the physician? Shen Qian Ling looked at him with worry. With such a pale expression and weak footsteps, please don't faint in the next second.
"This subordinate is Fan Yan, the previous right chief." The bearded man's voice was like a great bell.
"Promoted now?" Shen Qian Ling said enthusiastically. "Congratulations, congratulations."
The man's expression instantly turned into grief and indignation.
"He's been demoted." The lady with the flower said faintly, "He was just assigned as Fen Tan Tan Zhu by the sect leader."
Shen Qian Ling: "........"
This big brother, I didn't rub salt into your wound on purpose.
"And one more." Qin Shao Yu's eyes swept to a corner of the wall, his voice still as cold as ever.
There was one more? Shen Qian Ling looked towards his line of sight, and saw that in the dark corner of the wall, there was a man tied up like a dumpling and thrown there.
To make someone introduce themselves when they're already like this, is there still any humanity left in this Dominion of yours.
"This subordinate is.....Fang, Fang, Fang, ke ke ke, Fang....." The dumpling guy climbed out from the shadows with difficulty, and tears in his eyes.
Watching this, Shen Qian Ling almost cried too.
"Fang, Fang...." The dumpling was still trying to do his best to talk.
This was too wretched. Shen Qian Ling turned his head and criticized Qin Shao Yu, "How can you treat him like this?" Not caring about your subordinates one bit.
"Fu, fu, fu-ren.....thinks...too much...." The dumpling man waved his hand weakly, "I only have my, my, myself...."
"Men." Qin Shao Yu was also vexed from listening to him. "Quickly drag him away."
And thus Shen Qian Ling saw a group of men enter and pick up that person.
"Myself to blame....." Right at the moment when he was carried out the door, the dumpling man finally finished saying three words in a row, and was moved to tears, and gasped contently.
Why hadn’t this kind of weird sect collapsed? Shen Qian Ling remained perplexed after much thought, and also lowered his impression of Qin Shao Yu down a level. He thought that he was a young and handsome Mr. Perfect, but now he seems more like the boss of a fly-by-night company, who randomly hired a bunch of people and formed a pugilistic sect. It sounded bright and beautiful, but it was in fact very dubious.
Shen Xiao Shou said sincerely, "I still feel I should go back."
Qin Shao Yu smirked. "That's also fine, but I may return very late tonight. Fu-ren will have to rest by yourself."
Shen Qian Ling, secretly bitter and resentful, thought: This was clearly a threat.
"If you see snakes, insects, mice, or ants in the room, fu-ren simply just has to scream." Qin Shao Yu's tone was full of concern. "But it must be louder, or else I may not be able to hear it."
"......I should stay here for a while more." Shen Qian Ling was emotional. The thought of a snake dropping on him halfway through his sleep was simply too horrifying.
Qin Shao Yu was obviously very satisfied with this answer, reaching out and pulling him into his own arms.
Shen Qian Ling struggled in great alarm, but obviously his skills were simply too low, and it was basically a futile situation, making it seem more like he was welcoming despite his rejection.
Hua Tang praised, "Truly affectionate, fu-ren is as tender as the rumors say."
How can you speak such drivel! Shen Qian Ling began with indignation, "I---"
"Stop being noisy, and listen properly to everyone talk." Qin Shao Yu, with an unchanging expression, lightly tapped on his back.
Shen Qian Ling went stiff in his arms, silently hysterical. He actually pressed on my mute pressure point.
Despicable.
"How are the matters now?" Qin Shao Yu asked.
"The entire jianghu hasn't been very peaceful or stable recently," said Hua Tang. "The actions of the demonic sect have been increasingly unbridled, and have offended no small amount."
"How are the various famous sects responding?" Qin Shao Yu let Shen Qian Ling recline in his arms.
"Seems like they would want to form an alliance soon, and hold a martial arts assembly in the name of injustice." Hua Tang said with condescension, "It's the same every year, but the demonic sect gets bolder year by year."
"Right chief, how do you see this?" Qin Shao Yu said.
"Sect leader, this subordinate---" The bearded man started, before remembering that he had been reduced to Tan Zhu, thus he closed his mouth with tears in his eyes, feeling as if a knife had been twisted in his heart.
The new right chief remained silent, because he kept looking at the floor in a daze, obviously not having heard Qin Shao Yu's question.
Why was it quiet all of a sudden? Shen Qian Ling was curious, but could neither move nor turn over to look, only able to glare at Qin Shao Yu's chest.
Hua Tang crossed her arms, obviously not intending to remind him, with the posture of one preparing to see a good show.
Among this group of people, Fan Yan was comparably kindhearted. Although he wasn’t happy that his position of chief was taken by someone else, he still said quietly, "Yao Qian."
But the new right chief was still lost in thought, with absolutely no response.
"Yao Qian."
Still no response.
Qin Shao Yu was expressionless and yet his eyes were like ice; clearly his mood was extremely poor.
The room became increasingly silent. Shen Qian Ling was getting unbearably nervous. Just what happened? If you force me to stay here then at least give me something to see.
Probably because his eyes were too resentful, Qin Shao Yu finally found his conscience, and let him change his position.
Fan Yan called out a few times, and saw that Yao Qian still didn't have any response, and so reached out his finger and lightly poked him, wanting to make him return to his senses. But the previous right chief has clearly overlooked a matter, and that was that his body was basically twice the size of the current right chief. Thus, although he was as light as possible, Yao Qian was still poked till he staggered and stumbled, and loudly fell forward.
......
Shen Qian Ling saw this the moment he turned around, and so he was stupefied: They can be a pugilistic sect even with this?
"Ai ya, how can you just fall like that?" Fan Yan was shocked, and quickly pulled him up from the ground.
"Are you looking for a fight?" Yao Qian said angrily.
"I had good intentions," Fan Yan felt greatly wronged. "Sect leader was asking you something."
"Of course I heard it." Yao Qian kicked him, "But I was having a vision just now, how dare you interrupt me."
Fan Yan gasped. "You had a vision again?"
"Humph." Yao Qian swept his sleeves, and turned his back towards him.
Shen Qian Ling looked at the scene with complicated feelings; how was this the Dominion of Shadow Chasers? It was clearly a bunch of jianghu swindlers that came out from nowhere. Luckily he didn't relent and agree to be married, or else in the future, he would probably be holding a beggar's dish, eking out a living by performing at four-way junctions.
"A vision?" One of Qin Shao Yu's eyebrow rose. "What did you see?"
Yao Qian looked towards Shen Qian Ling, hesitation in his eyes.
If you had a vision then you had a vision. What are you looking at me for? Could it be that he had a vision that I'm fake goods?
Shen Qian Ling instantly became nervous.
"No harm in saying it." Qin Shao Yu said.
"No offense, sect leader," Yao Qian frowned. "This subordinate saw that fu-ren and sect leader have inseparable injustices across seven generations, and so it's better....not to marry."
(1) Left chief: 左护法 - lit. left protector of the law.
An overview of ranks in a typical taoist sect (afaik):
Core part of the sect
Sect leader
Left and right protector of the law
Elders
Subordinates
Fen Tan Tan Zhu
Xiang Zhu