Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 36- Ancestral Tomb Part 1

Translated by Snowfall77

Gu Peijiu leaned over and plucked the green ribbon off the branch, the soft cloth ice-cold to her fingertips.  Gazing down at the emerald hue contrasting with the snowiness of her own skin, Gu Peijiu froze, unable to name the mood that’d come over her.

A rustling of leaves…someone was coming.

As she placed both the jade pendant and ribbon in her sleeve, a clear voice called: “Senior Sister, you’re here also?”

Casting a sideways glance, Gu Peijiu saw that the new arrival was dressed in blue and white, with a long sword hanging from his waist, blue deerskin boots, and an unclouded countenance.  Jianfeng’s Chang Lan.

“Mmm.”  Gu Peijiu nodded nonchalantly, “Senior Brother is here too?”

“The wind seemed strange, so I thought I’d come and investigate,” Chang Lan then smiled before asking, “But Senior Sister got here before I did, did you discover anything?”

Not bothering to wait for Gu Peijiu’s reply, Chang Lan next thoroughly searched the surrounding area.  When he’d finished, he frowned, an eyebrow raised: “It seems the demonic qi had dissipated.  The disciples that were supposed to be patrolling were not diligent, but that is Jianfeng’s negligence.”

Her hand up her sleeve, Gu Peijiu’s grip tightened around the jade pendant, yet her voice was utterly calm: “Senior Brother, don’t blame yourself.  Guarding the back mountain should be a duty of Danfeng as well.  Unfortunately, Danfeng disciples are not good at attacking techniques, and so full responsibility for watching over the back mountain was given to Senior Brother, to this junior’s shame.”

“Sister thinks too seriously,” Chang Lan hurriedly assured her before changing the subject, “But what did you find here?”

“Well, there’s a puppet corpse over there, split in two.”  Gu Peijiu walked over with Chang Lan to where the halved puppet and fallen trees were.  The young lady in red and white was impassive, her voice detached: “And there’s this tree that was horizontally chopped down.  However, I don’t know who did these things.”

“……”  Chang Lan took a long look at the trees and puppet on the ground.  Then, surprised, he stooped down and picked up one of the halves of the demon puppet’s mask, “This puppet, it was……a guardian puppet?”

“Mmm.”  Gu Peijiu’s response was faint, but still an answer.

Chang Lan felt momentarily awkward.  Even though he was Jianfeng’s acting senior disciple, for some reason he just couldn’t seem to talk to this young lady.  In front of the elder, Gu Peijiu claimed to rely on his assistance.  But in truth, apart from absolutely necessary matters, they did nothing to help each other out and had almost no communication.

……perhaps Senior Sister was just naturally that cold.

Chang Lan pondered the puppet on the ground for a minute: “This puppet would have been a guardian of Lingxi’s ancestors.  I can’t imagine who’d disturb a guardian puppet.”

“……”  Gu Peijiu was silent for a bit, until finally saying: “Senior Brother, a demonized guardian puppet is no longer guardian over anything.”

If you’ve lost your own soul, how can you protect the souls of others?

The old guardian puppets were the symbols of Lingxi’s ancestors being watched over.  Yet while the Lingxi’s ancestors’ bodies might rest on the back mountain, their souls had long since been reincarnated.  Now all that was left behind now was a mountain of guardian puppets, and various terrifying Yimei and monsters.  Therefore, in order to still maintain respect for the Lingxi ancestors, but also keep disciples safe from harm, the back mountain had been made a forbidden place.

Chang Lan’s expression was mildly frustrated: “Then why bother to affirm that it was a guardian puppet?”

Looking around the area again, Chang Lan easily tracked the fight that’d taken place: “So, someone entered the back mountain, fought the puppet right here, killed it, and then fled.”

“Yes.”  Gu Peijiu gave a slight nod, thinking of a certain youth’s smiling face from a few days before.  However, despite her inner turmoil, Gu Peijiu’s face remained expressionless.

“This matter will have to be reported to the Master……It’s an important time right now for Lingxi Sect, we’re recruiting new disciples and we can’t afford mistakes,” Chang Lan concluded.

“Mmm.”  Gu Peijiu nodded again, “That’s as it should be.”

“……I heard that you chose a disciple to teach personally?”  Chang Lan’s tone was casual as he carried both halves of the demon puppet, walking side by side with Gu Peijiu, “Did one of the new potential inner disciples catch your eye?”

Gu Peijiu’s mien grew even colder at the question, though Chang Lan wasn’t sure why.

The jade in her hand seemed to burn.

Yet her tone was completely tranquil: “No one has caught my eye.”
No one new had caught her eye……but there was someone who sorely vexed her.

==

By the time Xia Ge regained her senses, she was bewildered to find herself following the sika deer down bluestone steps into a dungeon-like place.  They were in a stone passage, intricate murals on the walls, and there were fist-sized night pearls embedded about every three steps, brightly illumining the way.

“Hold on—-why are you bringing me here?!”  Xia Ge immediately stopped walking, clenching her sickle handle, “I want to go back!”

The lost deer turned its beautiful head to look at Xia Ge, its horns elegant and its deep violet eyes like the stars and moon.  It nodded at her, then its body slowly became indistinct, like a hazy dream, until it finally vanished without a trace.

“……gone?”

Xia Ge was left completely confounded, “Disappeared, just like that?”

……what the hell kinda deer had that been?

Back to her right mind, Xia Ge shook her head.  What kind of deer that had been wasn’t important, what mattered now was quickly returning to where she should be.

Turning around, planning to go back the way she’d come, Xia Ge reasonably expected to find a flight of bluestone stairs.  Instead she was confronted with a stone wall!

Xia Ge: “……”

She hit the stone wall with her sickle and a thick ‘bang’ sounded.  So the wall was solid.  Not an illusion and not hollow.

“But……wasn’t there a passage behind me a second ago?”  Xia Ge stared at the stone wall, dumbfounded, “Where did it go?”