WJ Chapter 3

Shiwei (3) 

“Guan Wujue! Let go of me!” Yun Chanjuan gripped her whip tightly with both hands, her face flushed red. “Don’t think I don’t know—you returned to the sect without permission! That’s a grave crime of disobedience! How dare you show such disrespect to this young miss! When Sect Leader Brother emerges from seclusion, I’ll make sure you pay!”

Guan Wujue looked at the young miss throwing a tantrum like a child, sighed helplessly, and was about to speak when an angry shout suddenly came from behind.

“Guan Wujue! What are you doing?!”

From the corner of his eye, Guan Wujue caught sight of Xiao Donghe, the Left Envoy of the Zhuyin Sect, dressed in blue robes.

The handsome face of the Left Envoy was twitching uncontrollably as he shouted at his old friend whom he hadn’t seen in a year. “Guan Wujue, do you have a death wish? Let go of the young miss immediately!”

“Ah, Left Envoy Xiao, you’ve been well.” Guan Wujue turned around and responded casually, then loosened his grip. Yun Chanjuan immediately lost her balance, crying out in alarm as she fell back into the snow.

“Well my ass! Why do you start causing trouble the moment you return!”

Xiao Donghe couldn’t bear to watch this sorry sight. He hurried over to help Yun Chanjuan up, brushing the snow off the girl whose lips were trembling as if she was about to cry, comforting her with gentle words. “There, there, young miss, get up now. Don’t stoop to the level of this madman…”

Guan Wujue acted as if he hadn’t heard the word “madman.” He stepped forward, stuffed the reins of his horse into Xiao Donghe’s hands, patted his shoulder, and said with complete seriousness, “Xiao Donghe, your timing is perfect. I’m currently homeless, so I’m temporarily borrowing your prestigious residence for Liu Huo to stay the night. Don’t worry, just take good care of him. If Huo’er loses weight by then, I’ll cut off your flesh to compensate me.”

“……” This person really wasn’t polite in the slightest.

“I say,” Xiao Donghe took the reins, frowning as he sized up the man before him, “…after a year away, you still haven’t had that temperament of yours polished at all.”

Yun Chanjuan hid entirely behind Xiao Donghe, gritting her teeth. “Hmph, he definitely hasn’t suffered enough, he’s asking for a beating! Hey, you surnamed Guan, who’s that person behind you? How dare you bring random people into Xifeng City?”

Hearing these words, Ah Ku, who had been standing obediently to the side with his head lowered, raised his head slightly and respectfully stepped forward to kneel, speaking in a pleasant voice. “Greetings to the young miss and Left Envoy Daren. This slave is Ah Ku, a medicine person under the Medicine Gate of the sect, exiled from the sect ten years ago. I have now returned to serve the Sect Leader under orders from the Four Directions Protector.”

As he spoke, Ah Ku slowly reached up with both hands to lower the hood of his cloak, revealing a delicate face.

Both Yun Chanjuan and Xiao Donghe looked over to see this medicine person had refined features and jade-like skin. Though he could hardly be called a stunning beauty, he was quite pleasing to the eye.

Especially with his respectful and proper demeanor—even calling himself “slave” didn’t seem particularly demeaning. Instead, it made him rather endearing. His gentle, soft smile was particularly attractive, a world apart from those base medicine people in the sect who were lowly as dust.

“Who would have thought the Medicine Gate could produce such a person,” Xiao Donghe was straightforward by nature, his eyes immediately lighting up as he couldn’t help but praise, “Guan Wujue, is this child really raised by your foster father, that ‘taking hundred medicines as wives’ fellow?”

Guan Wujue shook his head. “He was sent out of the sect when very young, so he can hardly be considered a disciple of the Medicine Gate. I found him at a branch.”

“What? Then wouldn’t that be even more—” Xiao Donghe was dumbstruck, swallowing the unspoken word “tragic,” his gaze toward Ah Ku immediately filled with several degrees more pity.

Everyone in the martial world knew that the Zhuyin Sect had two directly subordinate divisions. One was the Ghost Gate, headed by Elder Xue Duxing, commanding the death warriors “Yin Ghosts” and the guards “Zhuhuo Guards.” The other was the Medicine Gate, with Elder Guan Muyan as gate master, keeping hundreds of medicine people under him for the sect’s use.

Guan Muyan was also called the “Hundred Medicines Elder”—a divine physician obsessed with medicine and of a reclusive nature. It was said he had no wife, no children, no friends, and no enemies. Only ten years ago did he unusually take in a foster son, none other than the current Four Directions Protector Guan Wujue—though for unknown reasons, Guan Wujue didn’t learn medicine from his father but instead entered the perilous Ghost Gate.

This Hundred Medicines Elder was cold by nature. The medicine people he trained either became cultivation cauldrons or were raised for their blood to make rare medicines—all living extremely miserable lives. If their bodies were ruined, they would be expelled from Xifeng City and sent to branches. There their status became even lower, able only to be drained of their last bit of value in daily suffering before dying miserably. Looking at Ah Ku’s frail appearance, he had probably suffered no small amount of torment.

“Left Envoy Xiao, stop staring. This is the Sect Leader’s person—you’d better not get any ideas.” Guan Wujue frowned, pulling Ah Ku’s cloak down for him, then turned to bow to Yun Chanjuan, saying, “Since there’s no place for Wujue here, this subordinate will have no choice but to go directly to Wolong Platform to await the Sect Leader’s emergence from seclusion. Young miss, Wujue takes his leave.”

With that, he took Ah Ku’s hand, his red robes fluttering as he turned and walked away.

Behind them, Yun Chanjuan snorted coldly. “Fine! You’d better have the ability to wait at Wolong Platform until Sect Leader Brother  emerges from seclusion!”

“Sigh, Wujue, you…..Young miss!” Xiao Donghe was caught between them, his face bitter as he felt his head spinning. Having no other choice, he hurriedly bid farewell to Yun Chanjuan and chased after Guan Wujue.

The wind and snow outside showed no signs of stopping, making walking quite difficult. Fortunately, Guan Wujue wasn’t using his lightness skills, so Xiao Donghe caught up with a few quick steps.

“Wujue! Wait a moment!”

Xiao Donghe reached out to stop the red-robed protector, tugging at Wujue’s sleeve and urgently whispering, “Guan Wujue, are you so angry you’ve lost your mind, or were you frozen stupid on the road? You believe whatever the young miss says? The Sect Leader really didn’t…”

“—I know.”

Guan Wujue pulled down the arm blocking his way, a smile of unclear meaning somehow appearing at the corners of his mouth as he sighed, “Young Miss Chanjuan is indeed rather naive. She doesn’t even think—the Sect Leader dotes on his sister to the bone, so how could he possibly give her a residence that others had used? Even if he really did, how could that old nameplate have been left at the main gate for a whole year? How could those withered plum branches have gone unswept for an entire year?”

As he spoke, Guan Wujue couldn’t help but shake his head with amusement, his tone carrying a hint of helplessness. “Even her bullying is full of holes. With the Sect Leader spoiling her like that, the young miss still can’t grow up.”

“So you weren’t acting out of anger. Then why…”

“…Why would I be angry? I should thank the young miss—I couldn’t be more grateful. Without her, where would I find such a good excuse to go guard at Wolong Platform? When the Sect Leader emerges from seclusion, if he doesn’t want to see me and hides away, I’d have nowhere to search…”

Xiao Donghe listened in bewilderment. Having nothing better to do at this time, he unconsciously followed Guan Wujue up the path toward Wolong Platform at the mountain peak as they talked. Halfway up, they encountered patrolling Zhuhuo Guards, so he ordered them to take Guan Wujue’s beloved horse back to his residence.

As they climbed higher, the cold wind became even more piercing. After walking a few steps against the wind and feeling like he’d gotten a mouthful of ice chips, Xiao Donghe suddenly thought: How could Ah Ku, a frail medicine person, withstand such cold?

He turned to look and found that Guan Wujue had already taken hold of Ah Ku’s wrist, channeling his internal energy to ward off the cold while chatting casually, “It’s just that I really do feel sorry for those cinnabar plum trees. They were bestowed by the Sect Leader back then, carefully tended for several years, and they grew so well…”

Guan Wujue and Xiao Donghe continued their idle conversation, with the latter occasionally exchanging a few words with the quiet little medicine person. Ah Ku responded respectfully to each comment. After several such exchanges, Xiao Donghe’s impression of him was quite favorable.

Soon the snowy mountain path narrowed, leading to a quiet pine forest. Two upright black-clothed youths stood guard here. Seeing the approaching figures, they cupped their fists in salute. “Greetings to the Four Directions Protector and Left Envoy Daren. Ahead lies the sacred ground of Wolong Platform—idle persons are forbidden to enter without permission.”

“I’m here to await the Sect Leader’s emergence from seclusion,” Guan Wujue walked to the roadside, lifted the hem of his robes, and despite the thick snow on the ground, directly knelt on one knee, saying calmly to the two youths, “You two continue your watch—don’t mind me.”

Now Xiao Donghe and the two young guards were all stunned.

One youth said with difficulty, “Protector Guan, the Sect Leader’s seclusion never has a set time, and with this wind and snow, you…”

Guan Wujue shook his head, saying “No matter,” clearly intending to kneel there until the Sect Leader emerged from seclusion.

Seeing this, Ah Ku beside him also hurriedly moved to kneel, but was stopped by Guan Wujue’s raised hand. The Four Directions Protector looked down self-mockingly, hiding the dimmed light in his eyes behind lowered lashes, and said quietly to Ah Ku, “I returned to the sect without permission—I’m guilty, which is why I do this. You needn’t copy me by kneeling, but I’m afraid… you’ll have to accompany me standing here for quite a long time.”