Douluo Dalu - Volume 09 - Golden Iron Triangle

by Tang Jia San Shao

  The voice was soft and pleasant, with a lingering hidden bitterness, mournful, making any listener sad. The melody swung back and forth, indeed incomparably gentle and beautiful.

  “On nights I cannot sleep what can I use as anaesthesia?

  How can I endure so many feelings?

  It's not that I don't want you with me but some things you cannot know.

  I gave up my precautions and loneliness followed

  I want a space for myself.

  Where I can properly consider our tomorrow.

  If love isn't sweet like we imagined.

  Then let me shoulder all the blame.

  My heart is too confused and I need a bit of space.

  If you understand then let me leave for now.

  My heart is too confused so I dare not wish to love again.

  I want to cry but how to cry and yet not cry.

  My heart is too confused and I need a bit of space.

  Has Heaven forgotten to make plans for me.

  My heart is too confused and I’m afraid of love’s betrayal.

  I want to cry as if a lost child.

  A lost child.”[ For a change I’m butchering a song rather than a poem, and it comes with an interesting footnote. I’ve used a translation by letitbegin (http://sodawhite.livejournal.com/19111.html) with some minor edits. The song is (Wo de xin tai luan 我的心太乱) or “My heart is too confused” (1997) by Taiwanese composer and singer Steve Chou Chuan-huing (周傳雄). Of interest to us is that one of his nicknames is Xiao Gang (小刚) - precisely Grandmaster’s real name! Another nickname is “Godfather of love songs”. A recording that seems thematically appropriate can be found here: http://www.1ting.com/player/02/player_279912.html ]

  The singing voice faded sorrowfully. Flender and Grandmaster walking in front had both stopped walking when the singing started, and right now Flender’s expression appeared somewhat strange, while Grandmaster’s cheeks were streaming with tears.

  That melodious woman’s voice slowly reached them,

  “You even wrote this song for me, Xiao Gang. Do you remember? My heart is too confused. Where are you really?”

  Seeing Flender and Grandmaster’s strange expressions, everyone couldn’t help but pause.

  Suddenly Grandmaster turned around, about to run back along the path before Flender grabbed his shoulder.

  Flender shouted in a low voice:

  “Xiao Gang, how long do you intend to run away? We’re already here, do you truly have the heart not to see her?”

  “Flender, did you already know she was here? Blue Tyrant Academy, Blue Tyrant Academy, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, I should’ve realized it earlier.”

  Flender made a helpless gesture,

  “How could I have known she’d be here, it’s just a coincidence. Let’s go.”

  Grandmaster displayed a struggling expression. At this moment, the pain in his heart was no less than the pain Tang San felt when he absorbed the Man Faced Demon Spider’s spirit ring. Meeting again today after running for twenty years, and moreover without any time to prepare his heart, what kind of feeling was that!

  Flender’s hand on Grandmaster’s shoulder tightened, in his heart he was somewhat sorrowful, ‘Sister Long, I’ve brought him to you. This time you have to say something to catch him; you can’t let him leave again.’

  Just as Grandmaster conjectured, Flender really knew she was at this Blue Tyrant Academy. Originally when he chose to come to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, part of the reason was that she was in Heaven Dou City. Flender had never forgotten what had happened between the three of them, and he had long ago decided that even if he had to deceive Grandmaster this time, he’d still once again play the middleman for the two. What did other peoples’ opinion matter?

  Of the others, besides the guesses of Zhao Wuji who was most familiar with Flender, as well as Tang San who was closest to Grandmaster, nobody understood what was going on and could only follow behind, walking forward.

  Continuing several hundred meters forward, the forest gradually thinned. On a particularly thick and solid tree hung a sign, saying ‘Restricted area, please do not enter’.

  Past this great tree, the scenery immediately changed.

  There was a small lake, from side to side only fifty meters. A three meters wide brook flowed quietly into the water from the trees on the other side, and again back out, maintaining fresh water in what should have been considered a pool.

  Next to the pool was a simple thatched cottage built from wooden boards and reeds, in complete harmony with its surroundings. Within the fence surrounding the thatched cottage were all kinds of flowers, falling over each other in their eagerness to bloom, a multicolored beauty.

  In the midst of all those flowers stood a woman, holding a kettle and watering the plants. Perhaps because she heard the footsteps, her gaze unconsciously rose in the direction the Shrek Academy group came from. She frowned minutely, perhaps because they were disturbing the tranquility here.

  However, as her gaze passed the three guiding Blue Tyrant Academy teachers and fell on Flender and Grandmaster behind them, her whole body stiffened, her hand relaxed, the kettle falling to the ground with a thump. Right now she had already completely forgotten the kettle spilling over.

  She was a beautiful woman seemingly in her thirties, dressed in a simple blue-green dress that wasn’t able to disguise her charming figure. A blue-green scarf was wrapped over her head, a somewhat pale face below, her facial features delicate, appearance like a painting. Although her big black eyes were currently lifeless, they still had spirit. Under the dress were those undisguisable high peaks, rippling waves surging, a mature ample figure that ordinary young ladies couldn’t hope for.

  Part 3 (TL by Bagelson)

  Yin Shu and the other Blue Tyrant Academy Spirit Masters also guessed that Flender and Grandmaster were familiar with the dean from their previous conversation, but right now still acting according to etiquette they quickly stepped forward to the fence, Yin Shu respectfully speaking to the beautiful woman,

  “Dean, several Spirit Masters have arrived for the teaching positions, among them are six whose strength surpass sixtieth ranked spirit power. We are unable to make an assessment, so we respectfully ask you to judge.”

  Figure flickering, the beautiful woman was already outside the fence. The Shrek Seven Devils didn’t even see how she moved from inside, the other Spirit Masters also started. What is called ‘one simple clue reveals the general trend’, from this woman’s one simple movement, it could already be seen that her strength was formidable.

  “Xiao-, Xiao Gang, is it really you? I’m not dreaming?”

  As the previously gentle and beautiful voice asked these questions, right now her voice was trembling fiercely, tears uncontrollably flowing down her pale face, extremely moved.

  Grandmaster’s eyes were thoroughly red as he looked at this woman he had yearned for night and day but not dared meet, his lips shuddering, for a long time unable to say a word.

  It was still Flender who sighed,

  “Our full Golden Iron Triangle finally meets again today. Sister Erlong, we haven’t met for so many years, are you well?”

  At the same time he sighed inwardly, looking at her, in her eyes was still only Xiao Gang.

  At this the beautiful woman’s eyes focused, her gaze turning to Flender, difficult to describe emotions in her eyes,

  “Boss Fu[ This is the same “boss” that the Seven Devils use for Dai Mubai, and can also mean the oldest among siblings. ‘Fu’ is the first character in Flender.], it’s been so many years, but you still look the same.”

  Flender smiled wryly,

  “I’ve aged, but you’re still as graceful as before. Come, I’ll introduce you. These are all my Shrek Academy teachers and students, we accidentally saw the recruitment announcement for your Academy. I didn’t expect it would be your domain, and we came here looking for work.”

  Skipping Grandmaster, Flender separately introduced
the other Shrek Academy teachers to the beautiful woman, finally saying to everyone:

  “This is Liu Erlong[ (柳二龙) “Willow Two Dragon” That’s the same Liu as Liu Long, boss Xiao Chen-Yu’s third in command at Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy. But I wouldn’t expect them to be related.], perhaps you’ve heard of her before. She travelled with me and Grandmaster when we wandered the spirit master world, the last corner of our Golden Iron Triangle.”

  Liu Erlong. This name sounded somewhat monstrous, everyone from Shrek Academy didn’t dare slight her and one by one stepped forward to salute her. Liu Erlong put her feelings in order, wiping the tears from her eyes, and politely returned their greetings.

  “Sister Erlong, aren’t you going to ask us inside?”

  Flender said with a smile. Meeting Liu Erlong again, it wasn’t just Grandmaster’s heart that flickered, how couldn’t he as well? However, he could only secretly bury this flickering deep inside.

  Liu Erlong smiled wryly:

  “Boss Fu, does it look to you you that my thatched hut can hold so many people? What’s the matter with all of you? Since when were you reduced to this kind of state?”

  If anyone else had said that, perhaps Flender would’ve immediately become hostile, but before the question asked by the person who had once captivated him as well, he only laughed wryly, simply recounting their circumstances up till now.

  As she heard Flender say the Shrek Academy party had been driven away from Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, in Liu Erlong’s eyes flashed a densely baleful air,

  “Good, well done Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Boss Fu, don’t say anything. Isn’t my place yours? This Blue Tyrant Academy is completely in my charge. Let’s do it like this. Everyone stay here, from now on this will be your home.”

  Flender glanced at the walking corpse like Grandmaster at his side, jokingly saying:

  “The salary we demand is high, can you support it?”

  Liu Erlong smiled slightly, saying:

  “Boss Fu, you’re wrong. It’s not a question of whether I can support it, but a question of whether you can. You are the boss of our Golden Iron Triangle, so from now on, this Academy is yours. Tomorrow I’ll convene a general assembly of students and staff to announce it. At the same time, the name of the Academy will be changed to Shrek. Let me also benefit from the glory of your Shrek Academy.”

  “Ah?”

  Although Flender always knew Liu Erlong was a woman more straightforward than most men, he still hadn’t expected her to so easily present him with an academy on this scale, and for a moment he was unable to respond. On the other side, the three Blue Tyrant Academy teachers hearing this were even more lifeless.

  “Teacher Yin Shu, I’ll trouble you to go announce a general assembly of students and staff tomorrow. These are all friends I haven’t met for many years, so today we’ll reminisce about old times. Have the dining hall prepare a sumptuous banquet in the elegant room on the second floor, I have to receive them.”

  “Yes, dean.”

  Although they didn’t quite understand the relationship between dean Liu Erlong and these people, this clearly wasn’t something Yin Shu’s trio should ask about, and they hurried back along the path.

  “Xiao Gang, are you planning to never speak to me?”

  Liu Erlong’s gaze once again switched to Grandmaster. The emotions in her eyes hadn’t faded, but her voice no longer trembled - rather sounded somewhat lonely.

  Looking at the beautiful woman as delicate as a flower in front of him, Grandmaster’s heart shuddered, with some difficulty opening his mouth several times, but again discovering he was unable to say anything.

  Liu Erlong gazed deeply at Grandmaster,

  “Xiao Gang, this time I won’t let you once again slip out of my hands.”

  “I……”

  Flender smiling said:

  “Sister Erlong, even if it was a coincidence this time, I’ve delivered him to you. If you let him run away this time, I’m afraid you’ll never see him again. Time really passes quickly, in the blink of an eye it’s been twenty years, a whole twenty years.”

  Drawing a deep breath, Liu Erlong forced her gaze away from Grandmaster, saying to the Shrek party:

  “Everyone come with me first, I’ll introduce Blue Tyrant Academy to you, ah, no, it should be called Shrek Academy. This forest is the biggest in Heaven Dou City, a resource fully belonging to the Academy. Although the facilities here aren’t as good as at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, they’re still not too lacking. It’s already been ten years since the founding of the Academy, since we only accept commoner Spirit Masters, consequently the quality of the Spirit Masters’ spirits isn’t as high as ordinary advanced Spirit Master academies. But it’s also because our students all come from common backgrounds that they’re much more hardworking in cultivation than those from great clans or influential noble families. In the last Spirit Master Grand Competition we prevailed over a lot of powerful enemies, finally entering the top eight. That achievement was only a bit short of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Their second team was even eliminated by us.”

  After a pause, Liu Erlong continued:

  “As for the question of teachers and students in the future, that’s boss Fu’s problem. I’m basically unqualified to be a dean, and now I can finally give it up. Heaven Dou Imperial Academy unexpectedly dared drive you away, humph, I’d like to have a look at their reasons. Let’s see in next year’s Advanced Spirit Master Academy Grand Competition.”

  Liu Erlong gave everyone a somewhat peculiar impression. There was a gap between her words and appearance: if she changed into luxurious clothing she would appear a high class lady, but the words she used were brimming with belligerence.

  To Zhao Wuji who had some understanding of the original Golden Iron Triangle, this appearing somewhat flirtatious beauty was remarkable. Originally in the Golden Iron Triangle, Flender was called the flying corner, Grandmaster was called the directing corner, and this Liu Erlong was known as the slaughtering corner. Her character was vengeful, her temperament exceedingly fiery, it was only in front of Grandmaster and Flender that she was somewhat moderate.

  At once, Liu Erlong gave everyone a detailed introduction to Blue Tyrant Academy, and it was even better than they had imagined. Although the entire Academy only had two hundred students, it was universally praised throughout the Heaven Dou Empire. Even Spirit Masters from noble backgrounds were forced to recognize Blue Tyrant Academy’s contribution to the Spirit Master world. This could be called a cradle for commoner Spirit Masters. Although it had only been open for ten years, it had already produced a lot of Spirit Masters with considerable strength. Even Spirit Hall wished to cooperate with Blue Tyrant Academy, but Liu Erlong had refused everyone.

  Even though the facilities here weren’t equal to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, they were still far better than at Shrek Academy.

  “Good, it should be about time, let’s go eat and chat.”

  Liu Erlong seemed to have already forgotten Grandmaster. Afterwards she amply displayed her straightforward nature, bringing the Shrek Academy party to eat lunch, resolving everyone’s doubts one by one. Then she again brought everyone to tour the Blue Tyrant Academy, and finally brought them to the Academy’s teacher’s dorms to arrange quarters for everyone. As for the question of salary and so on, Liu Erlong directly pushed them onto Flender. Anyway, from tomorrow onwards this Academy would change to Shrek, no longer Blue Tyrant.

  Within this day going from the cheerful early morning, to the humiliation in the late morning, and once again finally to a glimmer of hope, to everyone in the Shrek party this was really somewhat excessive.

  At Flender’s request, supper wasn’t as sumptuous as lunch had been, and everyone very quickly finished eating.

  Flender said:

  “Today has been tiring for everyone, later go and rest a bit early. Starting from tomorrow, I’m afraid we’ll be busy.”

  Having just arrived in a new environment, whether it was
the teachers or students, they all needed to adjust. To say nothing of Liu Erlong already pushing the entire Academy on Flender. Regarding this, Flender wasn’t polite with Liu Erlong. He knew that his sister Erlong did it on purpose. Despite knowing that this was perhaps in Liu Erlong’s heart a compensation for him, he was still unable to refuse, just like he had always been unable to refuse her requests.

  “Little San, join me for a walk.”

  Grandmaster didn’t dare meet Liu Erlong’s cauterizing gaze, pushing away from the table, calling for Tang San and walking out.

  “Oh.”

  Tang San responded, hurriedly standing up and immediately following Grandmaster outside.

  Liu Erlong acted as if she didn’t see Grandmaster leave, picking up a napkin from the table and wiping her mouth.

  Flender’s face showed a smile,

  “You’re not afraid he’ll run again?”

  Liu Erlong looked at Flender, equally smiling, but her smile was somewhat pondering,

  “Boss Fu, do you believe he will still have the chance to run after meeting me again? This time, even if I have to tie him up, I’ll keep him at my side.”

  Leaving the dining hall, Grandmaster directly headed towards the forest. He’d always liked plants, and especially the quiet in the forest.

  Chapter 062: Golden Iron Triangle’s Past

  Part 1 (TL by Bagelson)

  Tang San followed behind Grandmaster without asking anything, only quietly accompanying his Teacher. He could sense Grandmaster’s complex feelings.

  At this moment, letting his Teacher calm down a bit should be the best option.

  Walking into the forest, the temperature clearly dropped compared to outside, the fresh and cool atmosphere rousing Grandmaster’s spirit and it seemed even his mood eased a bit.

  Stopping, Grandmaster turned to Tang San, calmly saying:

  “Little San, aren’t you very curious about my relationship with Erlong, why it is like this right now, why I would evade her for twenty years?”

  Tang San nodded.

  Grandmaster sighed,