Duck Emperor Chronicles – Chapter 5

DEMONIC TRANSLATIONS

[Author – Blurry]

[Proofreader – Samael]

— — —

Chapter 5: Get Out Of My Body; A Father’s Contempt.

There was an ant in his head. 

It bit and clawed at his innards, chewing on his mind. 

‘Urgh.’

The pain was almost staggering, as if someone had thrown an axe at his genitals, or launched sharp blades into his tender, ducky loins. A piercing sensation that cut through to his very soul. . .

Perhaps his very soul was suffering damage.

His body felt fine, and there were no injuries, whether it be on the inside or out. The pain subsided as quickly as it arrived. That voice he had heard vanished, almost as if he was simply hallucinating.

Ya Jiao’s focus had returned to him. It cleared away his muddled state, sharpening his perception to a pinpoint degree. The Duck Lord leaped off the older woman’s arms and settled on a nearby tree.

“Jing’er? Is something wrong? Are you hurting anywhere? Was it those bullies again? You can tell your mother, we’ll find out which *beep* did it and *beep* them in the *beep*, those *beep*!”

. . . . . .

‘Uh, ma’am? You’re speaking in a very—uh. . . volatile way?’

Oddly enough, none of the others found anything off-putting about the absolute slew of curse words spilling out of the kindly older woman that would make a veteran sailor drop his pants in fear.

[PR/N: Well, that’s one way of expressing fear.]

‘I guess she is my mom.’

Even the infallible Ya Jiao was confused for a moment. 

As he collected himself, the white-feathered duck smoothly leaped off the tree and perched on the older woman’s shoulder, before whispering in an awkward manner: 

“I’m fine, Mother, just a bit startled.”

Unfortunately, this attempt did not succeed in assuaging her worries.

“Oh no! ‘Mother’? You’ve never called me so formally before. . .”

The sparks in her eyes burned into a bonfire.

“Ah Jing, don’t worry. Mommy will find them, and kill them all for you, okay—”

“Humph! This is exactly why Ya Jing is still a waste!”

An abrupt hush fell over the lively scene, as a gruff, domineering voice shook the fortress grounds. A tone and timbre that commanded authority and demanded respect. 

Ya Jiao subconsciously flinched at the sound, but stopped himself just in time.

The older woman and ‘Ah Xiong’ also reacted slightly to the words.

Everyone at the dusty grounds turned to look in the direction where the older woman had originally appeared from, before turning their gazes towards the earth upon seeing the figure standing at the shadowed doorway.

Everyone except the older woman and Ya Jiao himself.

“Dear. . .”

“Spoiled rotten, useless trash.”

An enormous, gaunt man walked out from the darkness. 

The older woman held Ya Jiao closer to her chest.

“There is no need to say such harsh words.”

“Really? Unfortunately, these are not even my own words. Not that it matters.”

His features were grave and imposing. Blade-like eyebrows atop piercing grey eyes. A stone-carved chin and powerful jaw, his face marred by grotesque scars cutting from his lips all the way to his eye. A powerful frame hidden under red and gold robes. The gaunt man’s short beard was trimmed and neat, his posture impeccable and dignified.

Moreover, there was a faint aura of flames covering him head-to-toe.

‘His cultivation. . . it’s above Golden Soul. A Fire Tempering Cultivator?’

The next Great Realm after [Mortal Coil] was [Foundation Building], with Fire Tempering Cultivators being at the elementary first level. 

This Great Realm was the one that set apart loose cultivators from sect disciples. With a total of five minor realms, each one pertaining to a specific element. Each person must build one’s Dao Foundation by utilizing and consuming resources and treasures of the correct corresponding element. 

Of course, for cultivators whose Martial Art clashed with any one element, special measures may be taken to help avoid or skip the clashing realm entirely. 

Ya Jiao’s eyes sharpened imperceptibly.

‘He is a powerhouse of Jiang River Village.’

The Duck Lord had already cross-referenced the gaunt man’s aura with several more prominent aura specks across the village. He found only two of the same calibre, and only one who was a notch stronger.

That was good.

Having fully assessed the situation, Ya Jiao visibly relaxed in the older woman’s arms.

The gaunt man expression suddenly grew colder.

But before he could speak:

“Father. I hear the Huai Family has come to visit us.”

Cupped hands and bent back, the Young Lady bowed and asked.

Glancing ever so slightly at the two guards, the stoic father replied.

“That is indeed true. They were here to renegotiate the purchase of our family heirloom.”

“!!!”

“No way! Father! You can’t possibly—”

“That is none of your concern.”

The girl paused before continuing.

“Even so—!”

A large, heavy hand landed on her shoulder.

“Xiong’er. Ya Xiong. You are still young, and still naïve. Things in this world are not simply black and white. There are inevitabilities that we must eventually face. Remember that.”

Ya Xiong quieted down after that, though tears had formed at the corners of her eyes.

“Strength is right.”

The father whispered, in a softer cadence than earlier.

“Strength is might.”

The daughter whispered back, holding back a sniffle.

“I-I’ll be going now, father.”

He looked even more tired than before as he nodded in affirmation.

Ya Jiao solemnly watched as his sister ran off into the distance.

The gaunt man looked at Ya Jiao for a moment, and then waved his sleeve with a disgruntled scoff, walking the opposite way from them.

“Dismissed.”

No one could tell what the Duck Lord’s thoughts were as he ruminated in silence. Pindrop silence hung upon the scene, an almost tangible soundlessness, as the guards quickly packed themselves up and left, leaving the older woman and Ya Jiao alone.

The older woman broke the silence first.

“Let’s get you back home, sweetie. We’ll talk about this later.”

————

Inside a spacious, and sparsely furnished room.

Ya Jiao rubbed his bloated belly and groaned in half pain and half satisfaction. 

The older woman wasn’t kidding when she said that she would cook his favourite food… she just forgot to mention ‘how much’ she would end up cooking. Two plates of shrimp balls, seven plates of Dim Sum, four plates of Xiaolongbao, and almost ten servings of rice! 

It was enough dishes to drown a ducking bull!

And yet, when he inquired about the ludicrous amount, she replied that this was his normal portion?

‘How odd.’ 

That said. . . the mere fact that he was indeed able to scarf everything down shocked even himself.

This new body of his confounded him greatly.

The Duck Lord patted his bulging belly once more, before straightening up in his seat.

There was much to do, and no time to tarry. His previous life’s downfall was mainly because he was so ill-prepared to receive that all-out assault. To put it simply: he was not strong enough, nor prepared enough to handle all his enemies at once.

Of course, the final nail in the coffin was the void geezer’s involvement, spurred on by his bedding of the Buddhist Temple’s sacred nun, but he blatantly chose to ignore that fact. Ya Jiao was not a man who could change his nature so easily. It was more efficient just to prepare better this time around.

Or, to put it in simple terms once more:

Ya Jiao was just a chronic womanizer with no hope of salvation.

With a wry smile upon his beak, the Duck Lord checked his body’s condition again, wanting to find a cultivation art that suited the current him. 

A concise catalogue soon appeared inside his mind.

[Heavenly Demon Body Art]

[Immortal Firmaments Destruction Art]

[Primordial Void Walker Art]

. . .

An hour passed. Two. Then three. 

Innumerable drops of sweat beaded Ya Jiao’s face. His snow-white feathers were drenched, matted to his skin. His pupils trembled as his mind shook in disbelief.

‘How- How is this possible?’

 The Duck Lord clutched his head with his wings.

‘I haven’t found a single art that suits this body?!’

It was insanity. Almost a hundred thousand years’ worth of cultivation knowledge, pillaged— I mean, ‘gifted’ to him from all around the Heavenly Realm. 

Yet none of them matched.

Even if he were teaching a fool, it was guaranteed that the fool would resonate with at least one of the millions of cultivation arts he possessed. Not even trash could be this trashy, right?

Ya Jiao dunked his head into the water bowl to cool off.

‘Every martial art possesses an attribute, but it’s not as if this body has no attribute either. There are specific heavenly arts meant for training such people, such as [Empty God] or [Nullifying Soul].

But instead of having no attributes at all, it was as if the attributes within his body had been devoured.

He could find traces of attributes, but they were not whole, as if chunks of them were torn out. The sight triggered a very vague and faded memory of his, an almost forgotten story.

Ya Jiao lifted up his head before he drowned, thinking.

There was no way a backwater realm would have the records he needed to ascertain his suspicions, so he needed to ask someone involved in the situation directly.

Someone who had lived through this condition in its entirety.

The Duck Lord loosened his hold on his ducky mind, weakening his control over it bit by bit, until an ant-like voice began ringing in his ears. A subdued, but familiar pain shot through his soul.

Found you. 

‘Get out of my body, you *beep*! I’ll *beep* your *beep*. Argh!!!’

‘Huh. Like mother, like son.’ 

He broadcasted his thoughts to the hysterical voice.

‘You know, those who curse at me usually don’t have a tongue afterwards. . . or will you be the one exception to that rule, little duckling?’

The white-haired youth with a foul mouth twitched at the icy tone.

Ya Jiao smiled menacingly.

‘Ya Jing, is it? Why don’t we have a little ‘chat’?’

———

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