Chapter 23.2: Things have remained the same, but people have changed.
Chapter 23 Part 2
Wu Xiang Qing Li shook endlessly as if it couldn’t believe that its own enchantment would actually get cleaved open so effortlessly. It was both annoyed and angry. It felt wronged as it flew to Xi Jia’s hand seeking comfort.
Ye Jingzhi turned to look at Xi Jia. He raised his finger, and the gold triangular enchantment suddenly dispersed with a loud rumble.
Xi Jia held Wu Xiang Qing Li and asked, “The sword in Ziying’s hands seems to be very powerful. Master Ye, do you recognize that sword? I saw two characters in seal script on the blade, but I don’t know the words.”
Ye Jingzhi shook his head, “I also don’t know seal script. But I have a friend that should know.”
Saying this, Ye Jingzhi unlocked his phone, opened WeChat, and tapped open a name. He used a picture to draw the two seal script characters. Then, he asked Xi Jia to identify them.
Xi Jia lightly nodded, “Yes, it’s those two characters. It’s this image.”
Ye Jingzhi sent the image over.
Xi Jia saw the name on Ye Jingzhi’s WeChat, “……Measurement?!”1
Ye Jingzhi said, “He is Tian Gong Pavilion’s eldest disciple, called Measurement.”
Xi Jia, “……”
After a short period of silence, he couldn’t help but ask, “Although your pronunciation is the same as what I’m thinking, but I kind of want to know if this Measurement……has the same meaning as the Measurement that I’m thinking of?”
Ye Jingzhi nodded, “Yes. He originally wasn’t called this name. But, when he was little, he always made mistakes on the fine dimensions of magic treasures and made mistakes when measuring. Since then, his master changed his dao name for him and named him Measurement.”
Xi Jia, “……” Truly concise and comprehensive!
Not long after, this Measurement sent a message back: 【 Tai’e?2 How come you suddenly started learning seal script? Fellow Daoist Ye, you have a wide range of interests lately. We’re all at the Mausoleum and unable to leave. Yet you actually still have time to learn seal script. This younger one admires, admires. 】
Xi Jia faintly felt that the name “Tai’e” was very familiar but couldn’t think of where it came from.
Ye Jingzhi didn’t reply to Measurement, and instead he raised his head to look at Xi Jia. His expression gradually became more serious, “Tai’e Sword is one of the top ten most famous swords. Tai’e Sword is the national treasure of the State of Chu. It’s said that when the First Emperor was unifying the Six States, he found it and stored it away in E’pang Palace’s treasury. Then, it became a funerary object and was buried together with the First Emperor.”
Xi Jia finally understood the seriousness of the situation.
Because he still needed to film in the evening, Xi Jia could only put things aside for now and return to the crew. Ye Jingzhi entered the crew together with him. The staff in the crew looked curiously at Ye Jingzhi. Their comments spread to Xi Jia’s ears, saying nothing else besides “Ye Jingzhi is very handsome” or “Is he also a celebrity?”
Xi Jia finished shooting his three scenes and sneaked a glance in Master Ye’s direction.
He couldn’t help but admit that Master Ye was truly very handsome, but he’s also really too cold and serious. He had entered this crew for this long and those ladies who loved to make jokes don’t dare to talk to him.
After he finished filming and removed his stage costume and makeup, Xi Jia left the set and walked with Ye Jingzhi in the movie city. Ye Jingzhi planned on finding Qin San Shi’s trail. Xi Jia then opened his phone to search for information on the “Tai’e Sword.”
Just like Ye Jingzhi had said, the Tai’e Sword was made by the famous swordsmiths, Master Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang, joining hands during the Warring States period.3 It was once the national treasure of the State of Chu and was called the Sword of Weidao. Later, it was obtained by Qin Shi Huang and became a funerary object in the Mausoleum.
Since Ziying had escaped from the Mausoleum, then it wasn’t impossible for him to get the Tai’e Sword.
After closing the web page, Xi Jia said, “Since that sword can break your sword and even cleave open Wu Xiang Qing Li’s enchantment, Master Ye, you guys need to be careful.”
Ye Jingzhi, “Although that sword is powerful, it’s not what we need to be most afraid of.”
Xi Jia was stunned and thought for a moment, “Could it be that Ziying himself is more powerful than the sword?” Although Ziying doesn’t look like a malicious ghost, he reckoned that he stayed in the Mausoleum all these years. It’s possible that he didn’t eat anyone, but he had been dead for more than two thousand years and even had the aura of a regent. It’s possible for him to be quite powerful.
Ye Jingzhi said, “The jade pendant that he’s wearing at his waist……I think it’s the He Shi Bi.”4
Xi Jia, “……”
Ye Jingzhi didn’t notice Xi Jia’s strange look and continued to talk, “That He Shi Bi is even more dangerous than the Tai’e Sword.”
In the end, Xi Jia couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t the He Shi Bi a very large round piece of jade?”
Ye Jingzhi looked at him in astonishment, “Why would it be a very large round piece of jade?”
Xi Jia said it as a matter of fact, “That’s how it is always shown on TV!”
Ye Jingzhi looked at Xi Jia in a daze. Looking at Xi Jia’s “Are you playing with me?” expression, he seemed to be in a good mood, and the corners of his mouth slowly rose. He patiently said, “After the First Emperor obtained He Shi Bi, he had it made into Qin’s jade imperial seal. In the end, Ziying gave the jade imperial seal to Han Gaozu, Liu Bang.5 Nobody had said that the He Shi Bi was round. But not the entire He Shi Bi was made into the jade imperial seal. There’s still other whereabouts.”
Xi Jia, “……” My worldviews have been broken again, the scripts on TV aren’t written like this at all!!!
The two of them walked for a while. They had spent more than an hour to stroll through the entire movie city and didn’t find a trace of Ziying. Xi Jia suddenly remembered a problem, “Master Ye, did you tell the others of the Xuanxue world about the matter of finding Ziying?”
Ye Jingzhi, “……”
The corner of Xi Jia’s lips twitched, “……No?”
Ye Jingzhi held out his phone and immediately opened “Ghosts Know” to send a message.
A minute later, Xi Jia’s phone received a notification.
【 Ghosts Know What I Experienced: Fellow Daoist Surnamed Ye’s scoop! Found Qin San Shi’s trace in the Qin and Tang movie city in Chang’an’s suburbs! 】
The masters who have just arrived at Xianyang by plane, “……”
The daoists of Tianji School who have already calculated for two whole days in the skies above the Mausoleum, “……”
Qin and Tang movie city?!
You are a ghost and can even be considered a ghost emperor. What are you doing at a movie city?!
Shouldn’t you be going to Xianyang, your country’s capital?! Unless you want to act?!
Underneath “Ghosts Know”’s announcement, everyone in the Xuanxue world complained that Qin San Shi was really negligent of his duties. Didn’t even properly go to the capital to reminisce, didn’t even go and be a proper malicious ghost, and actually ran to the movie city to act.
Neglecting! His! Proper! Duties!
Ten minutes later, a dense mass of people flew over from the distance.
Xi Jia saw the group of people in the distance, and he hurriedly faced Ye Jingzhi in alarm, “They are just going to fly over like this? They’re not afraid of being seen by the ordinary people below?!”
Once he had finished talking, someone really exclaimed, “Holy crap! Such a dark cloud!”
Ye Jingzhi flipped his hand and casted a gold light. The masters in the sky immediately disappeared without a trace. “They’re probably too hurried and forgot to conceal their bodies.”
Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi left the movie city together and saw the anxious group of the Xuanxue world’s masters.
This was Xi Jia’s first time seeing this many people from the Xuanxue world. This flock of masters flew across the sky. Everyone’s age was above 60, white hair and white beards. Some wore daoist robes and monastic robes, while others wore sportswear and gym clothes. There’s even a female master wearing public square dance attire, and on the back in large rose-red letters, it read “Dalian City Xinghai Square First Dance Group.”
……Are you afraid of others not knowing that you do public square dances?!!!
Seeing Ye Jingzhi, a white bearded old daoist leading the group came over with a serious expression, “The Fellow Daoist Ye that ‘Ghosts Know’ has mentioned, as expected, it’s Young Daoist Ye. Young Daoist Ye, why have you come to this movie city? Is that Qin San Shi really hiding in this movie city? Did you fight with him?”
Ye Jingzhi told them what had happened during his battle with Qin San Shi.
Cengxiu-zhenjun furrowed his brows tightly, “Tai’e Sword? You’re sure that sword is the Tai’e Sword? And that jade pendant, it can actually obstruct Wu Xiang Qing Li’s Myriad Sword Formation. Then, it’s truly a treasure, just do not know if it’s the He Shi Bi or not.”
Ye Jingzhi said, “Ying Ziying is not in the movie city anymore. I have already searched the entire movie city just now.”
This time, Xi Jia recognized the speaker. It was the “more money than sense” Zhuzhao-zhenren who had selfishly broken into someone’s home, made a hole in their house’s front door, and even paid them one million. “This movie city is so big, how can you finish checking it. We’ll check it again, maybe that Qin San Shi is still here.”
Ye Jingzhi’s voice was calm, “I spent an hour and checked the entire movie city.”
Zhuzhao-zhenren widened his eyes, “An hour? You already found Ying Ziying an hour ago?!”
Ye Jingzhi, “……”
Xi Jia, “……”
Expose it! In fact, it’s not an hour but two hours ago……
Ye Jingzhi’s strength nevertheless spoke for itself. Since he had already carefully checked the movie city, then that meant Qin San Shi really had escaped again. The situation fell into another deadlock. Qin San Shi’s whereabouts made the head of every master constantly hurt.
When everyone’s having a headache, Master Buxing had rushed over from Xianyang. Upon arrival, he asked right away, “Qin San Shi? Where’s Qin San Shi?”
Qishan-daoren also hurried to the scene, “Fuck! Causing this old man to simply stand in the crux of the formation for a whole day and night. Quickly call that Qin San Shi over. This old man needs to send him a Five Thunders, strike him so that even his father, Qin Shi Huang, can’t even recognize him!”
Cengxiu-zhenjun said, “Fellow daoists, the situation is not that simple. Although it is Qin San Shi who has escaped and not Qin Shi Huang, according to Young Daoist Ye, this Qin San Shi actually has the Tai’e Sword and He Shi Bi. That He Shi Bi is quite powerful and can break Wu Xiang Qing Li’s Myriad Sword Formation with one strike.”
Qishan-daoren was suddenly stunned silly, “Ah? That powerful?”
Cengxiu-zhenjun, “Fellow Daoist Qishan?”
Qishan-daoren gave a hollow laugh, “Just……just act as if this old man didn’t say anything just now, this old man didn’t say anything.”
Everyone, “……”
Xi Jia, “……”
Qishan-daoren awkwardly laughed. He swept his surroundings and unexpectedly saw Xi Jia standing next to Ye Jingzhi. Qishan-daoren immediately started to talk, changing the topic, “How come I’ve never seen this young daoist before? Which sect do you study under? Young daoist seems quite familiar, has this old man seen you somewhere before?”
Once Qishan-daoren mentioned this, the other masters’ lines of sight also concentrated onto Xi Jia. They could forget it if he hadn’t said anything, but once said, the others also felt that Xi Jia was very familiar. Cengxiu-zhenjun carefully looked at Xi Jia for a long time and couldn’t think of where he had seen him before. Tianji School’s Zhufeng-zhenren even directly started to calculate with his fingers, wanting to figure out where he had seen Xi Jia.
Only Zhuzhao-zhenren’s face became dark, glaring at Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi.
This poor daoist’s one million!
This poor daoist’s one hundred thousand points!
Ahhhhhhhhh! This poor daoist cannot exist together with you!!!
Merry Christmas! Happy Boxing Day! Happy Holidays!
Translator’s Notes:
1 度量衡 Du Liang Heng – weights, volume, length, etc. basically measurements ↵
2 太阿 or 泰阿 Tai’e – One of the top swords of ancient China. Author had called it a 短剑 short sword/dagger in chapter 23 part 1, but this sword is actually 3 chi/100cm/39in in length. Definitely not short. ↵
3 Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang – Ou Yezi’s wiki page is pitifully small compared to Gan Jiang’s. According to Baidu, Ou Yezi has a daughter named Mo Ye, and Gan Jiang is Ou Yezi’s son-in-law. ↵
4 和氏璧 He Shi Bi – an ancient jade disc that has quite the story of discovery. It was later obtained by Qin Shi Huang and became an imperial seal. ↵
5 Han Gaozu, Liu Bang – Han Gaozu is Liu Bang’s most commonly used title today. In English it would be (Emperor) Gaozu of Han. Liu Bang is his personal name. ↵