Chapter 68: Sect Nephew, Don’t Rush Off!
Bai Xiaochun was the type of person who liked to find the fun in anything…. Now that he had discovered the joy in being the Junior Brother of the Sect Leader, he couldn’t be more happy. He strutted along the mountain paths of the sect until he saw the Missions Office off in the distance.
Clearing his throat, he straightened his garments and assumed the air of a Senior member of the sect. Sticking his chin out, he clasped his hands behind his back and sauntered forward.
The Missions Office was one of the busiest places in the sect, and today it was as packed as usual. The clamor of Outer Sect disciples coming and going could be heard from quite a distance away.
When Bai Xiaochun arrived, he stood there with a benevolent smile on his face, looking around at all the Outer Sect disciples.
Almost as soon as he appeared, people noticed, and the disciples nearest to him, who were in the middle of discussing various mission-related topics, suddenly gaped.
“That’s… that’s Sect Uncle Bai! Greetings, Sect Uncle Bai!”
Clasping hands in his direction, they called out, “Greetings, Sect Uncle Bai!”
After hearing them, more people looked over, and soon, virtually all of the Outer Sect disciples in the area were clasping hands in greeting.
Bursting with joy at hearing everyone call him Sect Uncle Bai, he strode forward, smiling, hands clasped behind his back as he said, “Keep up the good work, everyone.”
The surrounding disciples looked at him enviously and began to murmur among themselves.
“Wow, Sect Uncle Bai is the Sect Leader’s Junior Brother….”
There were a few Honor Guards stationed at the Missions Office, and when they saw Bai Xiaochun walking up, they hastily rose to their feet and clasped hands in greeting. Virtually the entire Missions Office lurched to a halt as everyone turned to look. Bai Xiaochun was only getting more exciting.
“Carry on, everyone,” he said. “There’s no need to worry about me. I’m just here on behalf of Elder Brother Sect Leader to inspect the Outer Sect disciples of the Spirit Stream Sect.” Happiness blossomed in the depths of his heart. In response to his words, the surrounding disciples once again clasped hands, and even the Elders from the Missions Office came out and nodded politely to him.
However… although Bai Xiaochun had clearly told them not to pay him any heed, he didn’t leave. He strolled through the crowd, nodding to those he recognized and reveling in their calls of ‘Sect Uncle Bai.’ Some of the disciples even said it ten times….
Soon, strange looks appeared on their faces as they realized that apparently, Bai Xiaochun had actually come to hear them call him Sect Uncle Bai…. In the end, he decided not to push things too far. Waving at everyone, he swaggered away, and soon the Missions Office returned to its normal state of affairs.
“What an awesome status,” he thought, his eyes shining. Not only did he feel incredibly happy, most importantly, he could tell that his status was vastly removed from everyone else.
“Prestige disciple. Junior Brother of the Sect Leader. Might as well just say that nobody in the sect will ever dare to provoke me, right?” Having reached this point in his train of thoughts, Bai Xiaochun laughed heartily and hurried off in the direction of the 10,000 Medicines Pavilion.
The 10,000 Medicines Pavilion… was also packed.
It didn’t take long for him to get there, and when he did, he looked up at the ten stone steles and listened to everyone call him Sect Uncle Bai. He stood there for quite a while, sighing, until strange expressions began to appear on the faces of the disciples. Reluctantly, he left. By that time, evening was falling, but he didn’t feel tired at all, and went over to one of the locations where a lot of Outer Sect disciples resided.
Xu Baocai had just stepped out, and when he saw Bai Xiaochun, he immediately clasped hands.
Bai Xiaochun thumped Xu Baocai on the shoulder and then spoke in a wise, reprimanding tone. “Ah, it’s you, Little Treasure! After all the time I’ve been gone, you haven’t made much progress with your cultivation base! We can’t have that! You need to work hard at your cultivation!”
Xu Baocai’s jaw dropped, and he blinked. His heart trembled a bit after hearing Bai Xiaochun call him ‘Little Treasure’. At this age, only his father would call him something like that, and even then, only in private. Despite feeling a bit odd, he didn’t dare to say anything, and merely nodded in assent. 1
“I… um, I mean, as an important person like myself….” Bai Xiaochun suddenly realized that with a position like his, it would be improper to simply refer to himself as “I”, and so he decided to try to make himself sound like an important person, like Li Qinghou. He cleared his throat. Clasping his hands behind his back, he stuck his jaw out and said, “As an important person like myself, I’m not very familiar with this area. Could you show me around a bit?”
Xu Baocai had no choice but to immediately begin to show Bai Xiaochun around.
More and more disciples were returning home, and when they caught sight Bai Xiaochun, they looked a bit surprised. Many of them had already seen him earlier at the Missions Office and the 10,000 Medicines Pavilion. Seeing him here caused them to exchange quizzical glances. However, they had no other option than to clasp hands and offer greetings.
Bai Xiaochun once again revelled in the glory of this status. Joy surged in his heart at the sight of one Outer Sect disciple after another offering greetings. It was late at night before he finally left, feeling very pleased with himself.
As he walked along, he saw the Spirit Tail Chicken farm, and decided to stop by. Before long, calls of ‘Sect Uncle Bai’ could be heard. When he left, he held two Spirit Tail Chickens in his hands.
“Ah, the perks of having status. When I wanted to eat chickens before, I had to steal them. Now I can just take them openly. Who would dare to provoke me now, huh? My Elder Brother is the Sect Leader!” Bai Xiaochun hummed a little tune as he strolled back to his residence, emanating an air of pride and complacency.
Early the next morning, when the sun had just risen, Bai Xiaochun crawled out of bed, feeling in very high spirits. Straightening his clothes, he looked at himself in his copper mirror and selected the best pose he could come up with, then stepped out.
Then he went about doing things in a very serious way, as if it were… his job….
He didn’t go to the Missions Office, but instead, visited many other locations on Fragrant Cloud Peak. He even went to watch the fighting competition….
Throughout the day, he heard countless people call him Sect Uncle Bai. To him, it was almost as if he had become an Immortal. His spirits were so high he nearly burst. And then… the third day arrived. Then the fourth, and the fifth….
He strolled around the sect for more than ten days in a row. By that point, virtually all of the Outer Sect disciples on Fragrant Cloud Peak had called him Sect Uncle Bai, and were on the verge of going crazy. To call a kid like him Sect Uncle might be fine if it only happened once. But the more they had to call it out, the worse they felt.
Bai Xiaochun’s days were long and fulfilling, and he especially liked it when he ran into people he knew. He would quickly hurry over and call out a greeting….
One day he saw Zhao Yiduo. Eyes shining, he hurried over and grabbed his arm and said, “Sect Nephew Yiduo, long time no see! Don’t rush off!”
When Zhao Yiduo heard the term ‘Sect Nephew’, his face twitched. “Sect Uncle Bai, we’ve… we’ve run into each other several times in the past few days….”
Bai Xiaochun blinked, then cleared his throat. It was at that point that he saw someone else nearby, someone who had noticed him and was just turning to leave.
“Eee?” he said. “Sect Nephew Zi’ang, long time no see!” He quickly released Zhao Yiduo and hurried over to stand in front of Chen Zi’ang, face beaming.
Chen Zi’ang seemed to be on the verge of going mad. He had run into Bai Xiaochun every day recently, usually at least three times…. From what he had heard, it was the same with everyone who personally knew Bai Xiaochun. The person who had it worst of all was an unlucky fellow who called himself Lord Wolf, who supposedly was visited by Bai Xiaochun dozens of times per day….
“Sect Uncle Bai, uh… I have something to take care of, I have to run.” Chen Zi’ang promptly fled as though his life depended on it.
Ten days later, the Outer Sect disciples on Fragrant Cloud Peak had begun to pretend not to notice Bai Xiaochun. That of course left him less than pleased, and forced him to take the initiative more often.
Bai Xiaochun grabbed one of Zhou Xinqi’s former fans and said, “Aiya! You seem so familiar! Come, come, as an important person like myself, I sometimes forget things. Have we met already?”
The disciple looked downright wretched as Bai Xiaochun began to chat with him. After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, and after the disciple had called him Sect Uncle Bai more than thirty times, Bai Xiaochun finally seemed pleased, and allowed the miserable-looking disciple to leave.
However, such a strategy wasn’t really viable long-term. After realizing that everyone was avoiding him, he decided that he needed to take more initiative. In the following days, he would frequently clear his throat to alert people to his presence.
The results were only average, leaving Bai Xiaochun feeling quite down. Thankfully, there was another girl besides Du Lingfei whom Bai Xiaochun found quite charming.
It was Hou Xiaomei, who would take the initiative to come find him every day. There was no need for him to clear his throat; she was so enthusiastic she could hardly stand still in front of him, and would follow him around fawningly and call him Sect Uncle.
The other Outer Sect disciples felt a bit sick when they saw that, but Bai Xiaochun was delighted. Some time ago, Bai Xiaochun had provided her with some education regarding the mysterious little turtle of Fragrant Cloud Peak. She still adored the little turtle, and on one occasion when she was walking around with Bai Xiaochun, she asked him what he thought of the little turtle.
“The little turtle? He’s mysterious and unfathomable. He is naturally talented, and in the 10,000 year history of the Spirit Stream Sect, he is a rarely-seen, grandiose figure. He’s like a white cloud in a clear sky, someone that everyone can look up to!” In the end, he coughed dryly. After uttering such grandiose words, Bai Xiaochun had to work hard not to just blurt out to Hou Xiaomei that he was the little turtle. However, he was still determined to find a time when he was the focus of all attention to tell Hou Xiaomei about his grand identity.
“I feel the same way,” Hou Xiaomei responded, eyes glittering brightly. “I’ve told a lot of people that the little turtle is oblivious to material rewards. He pursues the Dao of medicine, and does not worry himself with worldly matters. He’s definitely like a white cloud in a clear sky.”
For a while, there had been a lot of rumors that Bai Xiaochun was the little turtle. However, those rumors had eventually been refuted. Everyone had an idea of what they thought the little turtle looked like, and it definitely wasn’t Bai Xiaochun.
The fact that Hou Xiaomei responded in such a way didn’t really register to Bai Xiaochun. He was currently thinking about one of the top five beauties of the south bank, Zhou Xinqi.
“I wonder what it would be like to hear a proud Chosen like Zhou Xinqi call me Sect Uncle?” he thought. The mere idea got him excited, and from that day on, he began to search relentlessly for Zhou Xinqi.
As the saying goes, everything comes to him who waits. One day, he looked up and happened to see Zhou Xinqi soaring through the air on her blue flying silk.
“Sect Niece Xinqi!!” he shouted.
Zhou Xinqi’s face twisted into an unsightly expression. She had heard about what Bai Xiaochun had been doing during the past month, and knew that all of the Outer Sect disciples had been talking about the matter in fearful tones. When the words “Sect Niece Xinqi” entered her ears, goosebumps sprang up all over her body. She immediately pretended as if she hadn’t heard him and proceeded along her way. However, how could she have imagined… that Bai Xiaochun would stubbornly run along beneath her, crying out at the top of his lungs.
“Sect Niece Xinqi, come on, have a chat with your Sect Uncle about life!” He was actually bursting with excitement; he had been looking for Zhou Xinqi for quite some time, and having finally run into her, there was no way he would simply give up.
Zhou Xinqi gritted her teeth and picked up speed. It was only by leaving Fragrant Cloud Peak that she was finally able to shake him.
Bai Xiaochun watched as she flew away, and sighed with regret.
“Ah it doesn’t matter. You can fly, but I’ll be able to fly eventually too. One of these days, I’ll get you to call me Sect Uncle Bai.” Feeling a bit depressed, he looked up at the darkening sky and then went to look for Du Lingfei.
As soon as she saw him coming, she covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. “Sect Uncle Bai, Sect Uncle Bai, Sect Uncle Bai….”
Bai Xiaochun’s spirits instantly soared because of Du Lingfei’s charmingness. A few days before, one of the sect Elders had taken her as an apprentice because of the services she had rendered. Then she had been assigned to Eastwood City to serve as the Spirit Stream Sect’s Honor Guard there. It was a great opportunity for Du Lingfei; after spending a few years in Eastwood City, considering her past experience and meritorious service, she would be directly promoted into the Inner Sect.
Furthermore, she would have lot of authority in Eastwood City, and access to even more abundant cultivation resources than were available in the main sect.
Bai Xiaochun sighed with regret as he saw her off. Then he continued to wander around Fragrant Cloud Peak looking for interesting things to do.
Time passed. A month later, the words ‘Sect Uncle Bai’ had become somewhat taboo. Whenever anyone thought of them, they would laugh bitterly.
By that point, Bai Xiaochun finally came to the conclusion that it was time to call an end to the matter.
“I, Bai Xiaochun, am the Junior Brother of the Spirit Stream Sect’s Sect Leader. I am the Sect Uncle to all disciples, not just the disciples on Fragrant Cloud Peak. I can’t discriminate against the other mountain peaks. I need to go visit them too.” After a bit of thought, he decided that it truly was the right thing to do. Thus, he headed toward Violet Cauldron Peak.
Important note: As of this chapter I am officially going on a short hiatus for A Will Eternal to focus fully on my other project, I Shall Seal the Heavens. As most of you probably know, the translation of ISSTH will be completed on July 1, slightly more than a month from when this chapter is being posted. Some time after that, I will be translating A Will Eternal as my main project, and the number of chapters posted per week will increase dramatically. Unfortunately, that won’t be happening on July 2. As I mentioned in other announcements and videos, after ISSTH is finished, I’ll be taking my first break from translating in over two years. One of the things I plan to do during that time is read AWE in Chinese in its entirety, or at least get several hundred chapters ahead. Up to now I’ve been translating as I go along, which not only makes things go slower, it can lead to mistakes in the translation because of misunderstanding certain passages that don’t get explained for dozens or hundreds of chapters. There are already a few things I’ve come across that I needed to look as far as 300-400 chapters ahead to get an explanation. And those were things I went looking for; who knows what other things might be lurking in future chapters that I didn’t think to check into. As of the posting of this chapter, AWE is still being written by Er Gen, and hasn’t quite reached 800 chapters. Given the standard length of Er Gen novels, that means the story is probably only about half done, with something like a year left before it’s finished. During my hiatus from AWE, you can contact me on Twitter or Facebook if you have any questions.
1. The “Bao” in Xu Baocai’s name means “treasure,” and “Little Treasure” sounds like the nickname of a child