WJ Chapter 44

Zijin (2)

Thud!

Outside the inner chamber, Xiao Donghe was slammed against the wall by Wen Feng.

Attendant Wen had trained primarily in fist and footwork martial arts, so his hand strength was considerable. The Left Envoy felt like even his gall bladder was about to be forced out, and immediately cursed angrily, “What madness has possessed you!?”

Wen Feng was thoroughly enraged and raised his hand to deliver a slap. “You drove the Sect Leader to cough up blood and faint, and you’re asking me!?”

Xiao Donghe spat out a curse and with quick reflexes caught the white-robed attendant’s wrist, “Wait, Wen Feng, are you a woman or something, slapping people across the face!? Should we start calling you Maidservant Wen, Aunt Wen—”

“I! You…!?”

These words were vicious enough. Wen Feng’s pale face instantly turned red with disbelief, so choked with anger that he couldn’t get out a complete sentence for quite some time.

The two glared at each other for a long while before Wen Feng finally flung his hand away in fury. “Left Envoy Daren, can you please stop bringing up the Bone-Crushing Whip punishment? The Sect Leader wasn’t in his right mind at that time—he didn’t mean to be so heavy-handed. Why are you still provoking him about this now? Just now was too dangerous… What if the Fengchun Sheng poison flared up? Could you take responsibility for that!?”

Truth be told, having just witnessed the Sect Leader vomit blood and faint with his own eyes, Xiao Donghe was also badly shaken and secretly regretted his actions.

But some people by nature respond to gentleness rather than force. Now that Wen Feng had spoken to him this way, a surge of anger rushed to his head instead, and he couldn’t help but cross his arms, lean against the wall, and retort sarcastically, “What do you mean ‘wasn’t in his right mind’? Wen Feng, I know you’ve followed the Sect Leader since childhood, but if you want to take his side, you should at least be reasonable about it!”

“This isn’t taking sides!” Wen Feng’s voice rose sharply as he said urgently, “That was all due to the Fengchun Sheng poison… Today the Sect Leader was willing to risk his very life to protect the Protector, what more do you want?”

Xiao Donghe sighed. “But the Sect Leader should at least know the truth, right? If back then the Sect Leader had known just how badly Wujue was injured, most likely he wouldn’t have had the heart to drive him away. Without even thinking about it, I know it was you who kept it from him!”

“I really don’t understand. Everyone knows you favor the Sect Leader, but you seemed to get along well with Wujue too—can you really bear to watch him suffer like this for nothing!?”

Wen Feng was suddenly stunned by the Left Envoy’s words.

That expression looked both pained and frightened, looking as if he’d been stabbed hard in the chest with a knife.

But he quickly collected himself and said coldly, “…Forget it, then just consider me partial to him. Anyway…” He bit his teeth and stiffened his neck, “Anyway, the Wen family knows only lifelong loyalty to the Yun clan. I am the Sect Leader’s attendant—nothing else concerns me.”

Xiao Donghe’s handsome face darkened, yet he laughed in extreme anger. He looked Wen Feng up and down and nodded, “Fine, so you want to throw out harsh words to anger me into leaving and brush this aside, is that it? You think I, the Punishment Hall Master, am just sitting around doing nothing and can’t see there’s a huge problem here?”

With that, Xiao Donghe swept his sleeve forcefully, his eyes practically shooting flames as he pointed toward the inner chamber and hissed:

“Let me tell you! I am the Left Envoy of the Zhuyin Sect. Speaking of those two ancestors lying unconscious in that room—one is my Sect Leader, one is my good friend, and then there’s the attendant standing right in front of me. If anything happens to any of you people, I cannot stand by!”

“Speak! What exactly happened on Wolong Platform that day?”

“Just who is this Ah Ku person?”

“What exactly is Guan Wujue up to?”

“And what are you, the Sect Leader’s attendant, hiding!?”

From Xiao Donghe’s very first sentence, Wen Feng’s mind reeled with shock, his pair of ink-black eyes fixed unmoving on him.

As the Left Envoy fired off question after question, Wen Feng’s lips turned somewhat pale, and what he managed to say while trembling was: “There’s nothing. Left Envoy, don’t let your imagination run wild. If you want to investigate cases, your Punishment Hall has plenty of them.”

Xiao Donghe’s gaze was piercing. “Then let me ask you… You’ve attended the Sect Leader since childhood, how could you possibly have never seen the Sect Leader’s medicine person Ah Ku? But that day on Wolong Platform, you clearly asked Wujue who this person was!”

Wen Feng said, “Much time has passed, Ah Ku’s appearance has changed, I didn’t recognize him.”

“Then why did you confront Ah Ku!?”

“Medicine people are lowly and unworthy of the Sect Leader. Moreover, the Sect Leader’s heart belongs to the Protector—everyone knows this perfectly well—”

Xiao Donghe suddenly fell silent for a moment, then spoke again:

“A year ago, Young Master Danjing wanted to seize power, but he never intended to harm the Sect Leader’s life. By the rules, the Sect Leader should have been informed first, then the case decided by my Punishment Hall. Why did Wujue insist on killing him on the spot?”

Wen Feng said, “I don’t know.”

“I still don’t believe the Sect Leader’s temperament would truly lose control to such an extent. Tell me honestly—when Guan Wujue received the Bone-Crushing Whip punishment, were there other injuries or illnesses on his body that the Sect Leader didn’t know about!?”

Wen Feng said, “I don’t know.”

“Do you know how terrible you look when you’re lying?”

Wen Feng said, “None of your concern.”

Xiao Donghe was truly so angry at Wen Feng that he wanted to hit him. He raised his fist then lowered it, and finally jabbed his finger hard at the white-robed attendant’s nose. “You! Just you wait! When I find out the truth, I’ll beat you to death… And that little bastard Guan Wujue too—not one of you will escape!”

With that, the Left Envoy turned around furiously and left without looking back.

Wen Feng kept his head held high the whole time, his spine held rigid and straight, like a stubborn bamboo stalk.

His eyes stared directly at Xiao Donghe’s retreating figure as it gradually moved away.

Finally, Xiao Donghe turned out through the Medicine Gate, and that blue robe completely disappeared from sight.

Wen Feng suddenly weakened and stepped back, leaning against the wall and sliding down until he was kneeling on the ground.

He slumped forward, like green bamboo broken into two sections.

“……”

Wen Feng suddenly covered his face with both hands, the bones and tendons on the backs of his hands protruding as a few strands of disheveled hair silently fell down.

He bent over, gasping for breath continuously, his shoulders heaving, looking as if he were crying. Yet no sound of weeping came forth, nor did any tears fall.

……

“Attendant Wen, the Sect Leader has awakened and summons you inside.”

By the time a medicine person came out from the inner chamber to relay the order, Wen Feng was still sitting on the ground in that corner, but had already recovered his surface composure, appearing expressionless with vacant eyes—looking merely as if he were in a daze.

Hearing the Sect Leader’s summons, the attendant finally came back to himself and stood up.

He hastily straightened his clothes, forcefully patted his own cheeks and rubbed them hard to recover his usual gentle appearance before pushing the door open to enter.

Inside the inner chamber, calming incense had been lit, its slightly bitter scent easily settling one’s mind. Yun Changliu wore a thick outer robe, eyes closed, leaning wearily against the head of Guan Wujue’s bed.

Guan Muyan had already instructed his attending medicine people to pack up all the items. Supporting his waist, he turned to Yun Changliu and said, “Well then, Sect Leader, this old man will take his leave first. Aiyo, I’m exhausted…”

Yun Changliu nodded silently. Wen Feng walking in and Guan Muyan walking out brushed past each other.

The white-robed attendant quietly stepped forward to support Yun Changliu’s arm, saying softly, “Sect Leader… shall Wen Feng help you to another room to lie down and rest?”

Yun Changliu slowly opened his eyes and forced himself to sit up straight with effort. “No need. Where’s the Left Envoy?”

Wen Feng said, “The Left Envoy left first.”

Yun Changliu said calmly, “You vented your anger on him.”

Not a question, but a statement of certainty.

Actually, the Sect Leader had summoned Wen Feng as soon as he regained consciousness not because he truly needed the attendant’s service, but because he feared he might lose his temper and quarrel with Xiao Donghe.

Unfortunately, it was still a step too late. Now hearing that the Left Envoy had left, how could he not guess what had happened?

Wen Feng silently lowered his head. He had no defense. Just as he was about to apologize, he heard the Sect Leader say another sentence. “You deceived me.”

Though the tone was casual, even carrying the weakness of insufficient vitality, falling on Wen Feng’s ears, it was harder to bear than any severe reprimand.

Pain piercing the heart is always worse than physical punishment. Wen Feng dropped heavily to his knees and kowtowed forcefully. “Wen Feng admits his guilt and asks the Sect Leader to punish him!”

Yun Changliu paid no attention. He turned his gaze back to the rhinoceros horn bed, looking at the sleeping Guan Wujue. “What use is punishing you? This lord only wants to hear the truth from your mouth. Will you speak it or not?”

The attendant’s lowered face showed a darkened expression. “…The only thing Wen Feng has hidden from the Sect Leader is this one matter.”

Yun Changliu was silent for a long while, unclear whether he believed it or not, then asked again:

“When leaving the sect this time, the Protector once told this lord midway that when the Fengchun Sheng poison flares up, it bewitches the mind and causes one to commit grave mistakes. Is this true?”

Wen Feng nodded. “Yes, so the Protector had already told you.”

“At the time, this lord didn’t yet know that was what he meant…”

Yun Changliu carefully traced the Protector’s eyebrows and features with his gaze, loosely holding his hand, muttering to himself, “This lord thought… no matter how out of control, this lord would never truly harm Wujue…”

As he spoke, he smiled faintly with a hoarse voice, self-mockery and bitter regret laid bare.

Wen Feng pressed his lips together and consoled. “Injuries can always be healed… Look, didn’t we get through it the same way back then?”

“True,” Yun Changliu kissed those ice-cold, pale fingers, his eyes filled with endless grief and tenderness, muttering to himself. “At worst, this lord will scatter his martial power to him—it can always be healed…”

Originally, when Wen Feng heard the Sect Leader say “true,” he thought he had finally come to terms with it and relaxed a bit. But when the second half of the sentence came out, he was so frightened his soul nearly shattered and flew away!

Scatter his martial power?

The Sect Leader actually said scatter his martial power!!

Scattering one’s martial power was actually a form of power transmission, but far more severe. Power transmission merely transferred a portion of internal energy to the recipient—the old Sect Leader had transmitted power to Yun Changliu several times in his youth to resist the erosion of the Fengchun Sheng poison. Among many martial arts families, it was not unusual for elders to transmit power to juniors.

…But scattering one’s martial power meant completely destroying one’s entire cultivation, and there was a high probability it would leave the person’s dantian and meridians completely ruined, never able to practice martial arts again in this lifetime—consequences so severe they were irreversible!

Generally speaking, only those great masters who knew their time was short would choose to scatter their power to their successor in their final days. Who had ever heard of someone like the Sect Leader, so young, casually uttering the words “scatter my martial power”!?

And Yun Changliu’s situation was different—the Fengchun Sheng poison in his body had long since penetrated deep into his bones and meridians, currently suppressed only by his profound internal energy.

If others scattered their martial power, they would merely lose their internal cultivation and become ordinary people with slightly weak constitutions… But if the Sect Leader scattered his power, that would be no different from suicide.

Wen Feng’s limbs went ice cold, his mind filled with buzzing. A terrifying thought emerged like an evil ghost, tightly gripping his wildly beating heart.

——Oh, the Sect Leader thinks he gravely injured the Protector, and now wants to directly pay with his life?

Wen Feng felt the world spinning. He was truly going mad. The attendant crawled forward on his knees, moving several steps to Yun Changliu’s side, lifting his face and saying in a trembling voice, “No, Sect Leader, please don’t speak like this. The Protector’s injuries can certainly be healed. Please don’t think such things… Please, Wen Feng begs you.”

Yun Changliu smiled again, but his voice was thoroughly cold. “When you can speak the truth to this lord, then it won’t be too late to use the word ‘beg.’ Go now.”

“Then, then please consider the Protector’s sake…” Wen Feng shook his head frantically in panic, clutching at Yun Changliu’s robes like grasping a final lifeline, “I beg you to cherish yourself…”

The Sect Leader sighed softly, resting his head against the bed rail, his face pale and haggard.

Yun Changliu closed his eyes, his long lashes trembling continuously:

“The Protector won’t even cherish himself for this lord’s sake—why should this lord care about his own life?”

With that, he bent down, his lips gently pressing against Guan Wujue’s.

Wen Feng held his breath, eyes wide.

All other sounds suddenly ceased.

The inner chamber became very quiet for a moment.

Yun Changliu caressed for a long while, then carefully took them in and licked, his soft, wet tongue smoothing over the dry, cracked skin bit by bit.

An indistinct voice, hoarse and tender, broke apart between their lips:

“…All deceiving me… Why do you all deceive me…”