Zui Wu Dao. Part 1 -Chapter 1

To my dear readers,

I am going to be translating a Chinese internet novel called Zui Wu Dao due to demand. I will be posting a translated chapter twice a week. This is just for leisure and for me to practice my Chinese/English skills. The original content can be found here

The author posted his book on multiple Chinese sites because he wants more viewership. The book is free to read online for anyone who is interested in Wuxia novels. By translating, perhaps both of us can also get more exposure. Anyhow, this will not affect my weekly Monday post. Feel free to read and give me suggestions.

P.S. It takes me about three to six hours to translate a chapter because my Chinese is not that great (I suck T___T). Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy.

By the way, the story doesn’t start getting better until after you finish reading the first 10 chapters. So keep reading, or you will be disappointed!!! 

Chapter 1       The Ragged Book

“Hot…it’s so hot, where…where am I? FIRE. Everything is on fire! What happened to everyone else…?”

A small fragile figure stumbled and ran. If one looked closely, they could tell it was a child around seven or eight of age.

The child seemed to be unaware of what is happening. He was moving forward, with survival being his only wish.

The child tripped as he ran, behind him, the red blaze reflected upon his face. We could vaguely see that his clothes were all torn, with only one sleeve, revealing a thin arm.

Despite being covered in dirty ashes, it does not hide his delicate features. His messy long hair indicated that it had not been cut in awhile. His hair nearly covered his clear eyes from sight. His skin was the colour of yellow wax, and he was at least one size smaller than a child of his age.

The child staggered for some distance. Distracted, he did not notice the uneven curb.

As expected, he fell. His hands reached out as he lost his balance, and his fingers deeply sunk into the mud. The harsh impact caused his palms to bleed. The blood mixed with the soil, revealing a colour of pain.

The child woke up from the fall, and his cloudy eyes showed a sense of consciousness. It was instantly filled with fear. The child turned back, and only saw a towering fire.

At that instant, the child suddenly felt lighter. Looking down, he realized he was in mid air; someone was firmly holding on his waist.

Xuan Luo didn’t dare to look down. But the moment he closed his eyes, all he saw was the blazing inferno. He did not want to open his eyes but he did. Since he did not want to look down, he could only let his curious eyes follow the person who was holding him.

Without warning, everything turned black, and he lost all consciousness.

—–

“Ah!!” Xuan Luo’s forehead was covered in sweat. His whole body was drenched as well. His face was white as paper. This was not the first time he had this nightmare. In the recent months, he had been having this nightmare more frequently. But it was never this clear. This time, he saw the whole thing.

He was thirteen this year. As far as he knew, he had been living at this place for five years now. But how he arrived, he had no idea. He cannot recall anything.

He sat upright, back against the bed frame. Looking ahead, his eyes seem hollow. On his forehead, big drops of sweat appeared and rolled down his face. His breathing was quick and deep. The dream had quite an impact.

After taking a few deep breaths, he felt slightly better. But he still lacked energy…

Leaning on the bed frame, Xuan Luo closed his eyes. After resting for a bit, he quickly got up and without realizing it, he took out the yellow book he found from the forest and started scrutinizing it.  The book did not have a name, and he had difficulty understanding the content. The words together didn’t make sense.  When he first found the book, he thought it was useless. After he got home, he put the book away and did not think much of it. Once in awhile, though, he would take it out and look at a few pages.  Since he couldn’t understand it, he left it aside. But at this moment, he realized there was a secret to it.  Usually, books are read from right to left, from top to bottom. But for this book, it was read from left to right!  The moment he figured this out, he was excited. Although he wasn’t used to reading it this way, he could not wait to turn the pages.  Time passed, minute by minute. The setting Sun shone through the window and onto his table.  “So this is what…” Xuan Luo was talking to himself. It seemed like he was starting to comprehend the book and was following the instructions.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he repeated the xin fa from the book. Slowly, he felt a warm current spreading throughout his whole body.

At that moment, he crumpled his brows. He seemed to be suffering from severe pain.

The warm current happened to cause a burning sensation. Xuan Luo had no idea why, because he was just following the instructions from the book. He did not even know what the book is for. The pain left him momentarily stunned.

Xuan Luo didn’t know what to do and tried to stop the xin fa from moving. But the moment he tried to prevent it, the xin fa accelerated and not only did the pain not go away, it was getting more intense.

“What the heck is going on?” Xuan Luo was anxious, silently blaming the spell.

“Ah!” He cannot stand this any longer. His face was so red, it was frightening. His body looked like he was roasted.

At that instant, he felt a cool current spreading out, slowly passing through his body, fighting with the warm current.

The two currents refused to back down, and due to the cold current, he felt hot and cold at the same time.

He had no idea what was happening, and could only bare with it. If anyone saw him, they would think that he was distorted and about to transform.

After awhile, his face finally looked normal again.

The two currents have combined together.

According to the book, this was nei li. But he never thought that this nei li would be so overbearing. He never thought he would have to experience something like this. He had no intentions of experiencing it a second time.

Since his clothes were soaked, he decided to change. As he took off his clothes, he revealed his strong chest. Around his neck, was jade pendent that somewhat resembled a snake turtle.

Subconsciously, he touched the jade. Immediately, astonishment appeared in his eyes.

The jade was actually producing a faint current. After, he carefully analyzed the feeling -the current felt practically like the current that went through his body!

Xuan Luo quickly dressed and took his jade off. He looked at it in great detail.

Ever since he was young, he had this jade. He had never thought much of it, but what happened today shocked him. It was only now that he was starting to wonder about the history of this jade.

After inspecting it for awhile, Xuan Luo was still clueless. He decided to wear the jade again. The jade was the only item that could help him find his real family. He had nothing else that could identify him.

Unconsciously, the sky had already turned black. Xuan Luo never thought his afternoon nap would turn out this way. Sighing, he shook his head.

Everything around him seemed more clear and fresh though. Even the insects did not seem as loud and annoying. Instead, it gave him an unique feeling.

But then again, it may be because he was comparing it to the pain that he has been through. He seemed to feel extra fresh, and his mind enlightened. Running out to the courtyard, he bent his waist, yawned, and climbed onto the roof.

The evening sky was filled with shining stars, under the bright yellow moon. Xuan Luo reaches out his hand, and felt a sense of calmness surrounding him. He loved that feeling. On the roof, he felt at peace. Because of that, each time he had a nightmare, he would climb to the roof and look up at the sky. It didn’t matter whether the sky was white or black. He just liked being part of nature…

(Creak)

The door to the courtyard opened, and a man with greying hair walked out. He looked up and saw Xuan Luo on the roof. Smiling, he said, “Xuan Luo. It’s so late! Why are you still on the roof? Come down and sleep!?”

The old man looked a bit angry, but the smile on his face was nice and relaxed.

Without looking at the old man, eyes still upon the stars, Xuan Luo loudly replied, “Yes, Stepfather! I will. You go to sleep first!”

The old man heard him and didn’t say anything else. He knew Xuan Luo had this habit. After all, he had already spent five years with him.

Humming a song, the old man swayed back into the room…

Xuan Luo shook his head, grimaced and mumbled, “You know you can’t sing, why are you trying?”

He was conflicted. Each time the old man returns home, his ears always had to go through the awful singing…