WJ Chapter 13

Making Plans (2)

Watching Guan Wujue’s departing back, Yun Changliu closed his eyes.

Everything was in chaos.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him now, why he had become so foolish he couldn’t even speak properly; just as he didn’t know what was wrong with Guan Wujue now, why he was so determined to push Ah Ku into his arms.

If he was merely helping him find the old flame he couldn’t forget, that could barely count as a protector’s loyalty to the sect leader. But what kind of subordinate would risk the great crime of defiance and presumption again and again, just to bring his master together with a medicine person!?

Moreover, his relationship with Wujue… wasn’t merely that of master and servant.

Yun Changliu suddenly asked Ah Ku, “What did the Protector say to you when he brought you back to the sect from outside?”

Ah Ku didn’t understand, so Yun Changliu pressed more sternly. “What exactly does he want you to do?”

“Protector Daren… wants Ah Ku to come serve the Sect Leader.”

“Serve this lord? Is that all? What exactly does he want you to serve, and how to serve?”

Ah Ku’s face instantly flushed red. He stammered without speaking, only lowering his head to stare at the sect leader’s robe hem.

Yun Changliu was puzzled. “You needn’t fear him, speak the truth!”

Ah Ku bit his lip, his eyes darting around evasively.

His cheeks flushed, he said in a voice as thin as a mosquito’s hum. “Ah Ku… Ah Ku… admires the Sect Leader…”

“Protector Daren also said that the Sect Leader still… still thinks of Ah Ku…”

Yun Changliu felt as if struck by lightning, completely stunned.

His gaze somewhat dazed, he looked toward where Guan Wujue’s figure had long since disappeared, hearing Ah Ku’s timid voice right beside his ear:

“I heard that the Sect Leader’s inner chambers still have no one. Protector Daren wants this slave… no, me—he wants me to become a catamite, to relieve the Sect Leader’s worries…”

Like a flash of bright light sweeping through his mind.

Yun Changliu’s face turned deathly pale. He felt he understood Guan Wujue’s thinking.

When it came down to it, it was still his fault, for having developed improper feelings for his own protector first.

They say love arises without knowing from whence it comes. Over these years he had vaguely harbored these feelings, never making them explicit, yet never deliberately concealing them either—that the Sect Leader favored the Protector, and thus doted on him excessively, was something the entire sect knew.

He had always maintained a tacit understanding with Guan Wujue. Until last year’s late spring, when peach blossoms bloomed brilliant red across the entire mountainside. Under the pavilion with vermillion flying eaves, when he pressed his protector against the table and kissed him, the wine pot and cups were swept to the ground, making clear ringing sounds; yet transparent droplets splashed upward, landing on hair black as ink and dripping down along the strands.

In the memories he possessed, that was his first time drinking wine, his first time kissing another person’s lips—though it was only once, only a brush.

What had happened then? He only remembered that Guan Wujue had teased him first, holding a peach blossom petal and provoking him with words, sitting impolitely on the stone table with one leg propped up, tilting his head with such a beautiful smile.

He only remembered being teased into some anger, an irrepressible heat rising in his chest, exploding until his internal organs were in chaotic blazing turmoil, like fireworks and like raging fire, most like harsh liquor. His head was burned dizzy, his heart and lungs burned through, he had no idea how he ended up doing such an absurd thing. The last layer of hazy unspoken understanding between them was thus broken by him.

Only later did he realize it was improper, very improper. The cracks in his memory began to ache deep in the night, and from the originally chaotic memories of his youth, he suddenly recalled a name called Ah Ku, remembered that he had a green-robed medicine person to whom he’d promised a lifetime. Those few days he was in a daze, nearly driven mad, until it was actually the Protector who came to console him, telling him not to worry, his pitch-black bright eyes full of gentleness and comfort. He was coaxed into deceiving himself, treating this matter as truly a momentary lapse of control.

He had wanted to find Ah Ku’s remains and background, properly bury the deceased, provide for Ah Ku’s relatives, settle this debt of affection, then carefully consider matters with the Protector.

But later, the peach blossoms withered.

And later still, the peach leaves fell.

It was that autumn when Guan Wujue killed his good-for-nothing younger brother, knelt before him with dripping bloody swords, and calmly asked for punishment.

Twenty-seven lashes of the bone-crushing whip fell from his hand, and then there was nothing left.

Now that he and Guan Wujue had reached this state of discord, there was no longer room for any additional feelings. This strand of attachment that was neither here nor there instead became a barrier separating the two… Yun Changliu couldn’t see through it, couldn’t think clearly, and could only push the person away seeking peace and quiet. If Guan Wujue hadn’t returned on his own this time, who knows how long he would have continued being pushed away.

Guan Wujue must be unwilling to accept this.

Yet at such a time… the Fengchun Sheng poison in the Sect Leader’s body had relapsed, Yun Danjing had rebelled and been killed, Madam Lin and Miss Chanjuan bore deep grudges, and the headquarters would only become more chaotic. Being sent to a branch at such a time basically meant that whatever happened in Xifeng City, he couldn’t possibly know, much less intervene.

He would rather endure heavier torture than be distanced in this manner.

So Guan Wujue simply staged this performance. Making merit to offset crimes was secondary; the main point was to make Yun Changliu give up his feelings for him. Whether the Sect Leader had developed true feelings for Ah Ku or was repaying an old debt, as long as Yun Changliu’s heart belonged to someone else, that matter between them could finally be set aside.

Yun Changliu wouldn’t need to push the Protector away due to conflicting feelings, and Guan Wujue could return to properly be a pure subordinate. Take the punishment that should be taken, atone for the crimes that should be atoned for, and still be able to remain in Xifeng City as a blade under the Sect Leader’s hand.

—The bond of shared hearts was already severed, but the way of master and servant remained.

That day on Wolong Platform, the excuse Yun Changliu had found for his own soft-heartedness—Guan Wujue had already thought of it long ago.

The winter sunlight shifted through drifting clouds, slanting across the land where snow had just melted. Though his body should have been gradually warming, Yun Changliu felt a chill pierce to the bone. Faced with such “calculation,” he actually had no way to be angry, only an overwhelming sense of powerlessness surging over him.

Now, what should he do with Ah Ku, and what should he do with Guan Wujue?

“Sect Leader…?”

Ah Ku thought his earlier confession had displeased the naturally aloof Sect Leader Yun who didn’t engage in romantic affairs. For a moment he felt both ashamed and uneasy.

“I, I spoke presumptuously, Sect Leader, please don’t be angry…”

Yun Changliu came back to his senses, looking steadily at Ah Ku. “It’s not your fault, and I’m not angry either.”

He sighed lightly, somewhat dazed:

“We should go now. I’ll accompany you today.”

…..

Thus, when Elder Guan Muyan was ready to treat this former little medicine person, he was astonished to discover that behind them was an additionally distracted Sect Leader Yun.

Due to the innate poison, Yun Changliu could be said to have been raised from childhood on medicine fed to him mouthful by mouthful by Guan Muyan. Combined with Guan Muyan’s unconventional temperament, he and this Hundred Medicines Elder truly had nothing to be formal about. Upon entering, he randomly found a chair, sat down, closed his eyes and supported his temple without moving.

Guan Muyan was utterly baffled. “Wait, this… what’s wrong with the Sect Leader?”

Yun Changliu said, “Elder Guan need only administer needles to Ah Ku. This lord… is here to accompany him.”

As if venting at someone, he coldly and stiffly spat out four more words. “Accompany all day long.”

Yun Changliu wasn’t one who liked showing emotions. There were hardly any people who could provoke him to this state. The Hundred Medicines Elder scratched his head and tentatively asked, “Oh right, Sect Leader, have you by any chance seen that boy of mine?”

“…” Yun Changliu, having been precisely stabbed in a sore spot, didn’t respond.

Not responding at this time actually equaled admitting it.

Guan Muyan washed his hands, arranging his needle cases one by one, muttering as he did. “How strange indeed, last night I sent the boy to Yanyun Palace to see the old sect leader, how is it that at this hour he still hasn’t returned? Hey now, could it be he angered the old sect leader again and got struck down by a palm so hard he can’t get up?”

Yun Changliu’s expression changed abruptly. “He went to see my father!?”

Guan Muyan looked at the sect leader strangely and said, “Yes.”

Yun Changliu showed a pained expression, murmuring in a low voice. “He… he was the one who took Yun Danjing’s life, how does he still dare… truly doesn’t value his life!”

Two medicine slaves in blue robes lit a candle on the side, roasted the silver needles to be used over the fire, then carefully placed them back in the case, and respectfully carried them into the inner treatment room. Guan Muyan called to Ah Ku who had been standing with lowered head behind the sect leader. “That boy over there, you come here.”

Ah Ku walked forward, looking at Guan Muyan uneasily. Actually, from the moment he entered the room and saw this old eccentric physician, he had been somewhat frightened, as if trying hard to suppress his fearful emotions. The old man chuckled, pointing toward the inner room, and said mysteriously, “The treatment will use needles later, long needles. Are you afraid?” He raised an index finger and made a piercing motion at Ah Ku’s heart.

Ah Ku violently shuddered, his face pale as he gasped several times, only managing after a long while, “N-not afraid…!” Though he said this, his pupils were already somewhat unfocused, and he began helplessly trembling, wanting to curl up into a ball.

—How cruel was the Medicine Gate’s needle piercing and blood drawing? The immense pain and despair of ice-cold long needles piercing directly through heart vessels was enough for medicine people fortunate enough to survive to have it engraved in their hearts after experiencing it once, becoming a lifelong unforgettable nightmare.

“How can you frighten him so.” Yun Changliu couldn’t bear to watch, frowning as he walked over to hold Ah Ku’s hand.

Ah Ku couldn’t help but sob softly. His hand was both cold and trembling. He looked like a frightened young rabbit, wanting to nestle into Yun Changliu’s embrace yet not daring to.

Guan Muyan was unconcerned. “Sect Leader, I must first test him. What if when administering needles later he trembles from fright, and this old man’s hand isn’t steady, the long needle goes askew—that would truly be problematic.”

“Moreover, those with damaged heart vessels most fear shock and palpitations. Looking at him like this, he truly can’t withstand it. Better to use some sleeping medicine before administering needles. I have here a dose of ‘Drunken Immortal’s Village,’ let him drink it.”

Ah Ku hesitantly glanced at the sect leader, gritting his teeth in refusal. “I, I can endure it… I’m truly not afraid, no need to waste medicine…”

Yun Changliu sighed. “Use the medicine, let him suffer less.”

The sect leader spoke decisively. Ah Ku demurred twice more, but it was useless, so he fell silent. Guan Muyan quickly had the medicine people under him prepare the medicine, and for safety’s sake, lit two calming incense sticks with hypnotic effects. Ah Ku took the medicine in the inner room, and within a quarter hour was drowsily asleep on the couch.

Yun Changliu watched over Ah Ku until he fell asleep, breathing slightly easier.

Suddenly his shoulder was patted. He saw Guan Muyan smiling like an old mischievous child, leaning close to the sect leader, saying without any seriousness. “All right, Sect Leader, stop watching. This one is already asleep. Whether you accompany him or not makes no difference now—if you want to find someone, why not hurry and go now?”