Papaya (3)
Duanmu Lin had thought that Wen Huan would soon lead him back inside to see Yun Guyan, but unexpectedly, it was Yun Guyan who followed Wen Huan out from the sleeping quarters—presumably so the young sect leader could rest quietly.
Yun Guyan had already regained his composure, his entire bearing still carrying the dark, inscrutable aura of the Zhuyin Sect Leader, showing no trace of having lost emotional control.
But he was clearly more irritable and violent than usual. He strode over and pulled Duanmu Lin to his side, his gaze fixed deadly on the child like a butcher eyeing a fattened lamb awaiting slaughter. He immediately asked Wen Huan, “Did Guan Muyan say when he could be used?”
Wen Huan said quietly behind the Sect Leader, “The medicinal blood hasn’t been cultivated yet. No matter how you calculate it, it will take over a year before he can be used.”
Duanmu Lin’s expression was gloomy as he looked away. Born precociously intelligent and perceptive, he had actually understood early on that his fate would not be good, and knew that this Zhuyin Sect of Xifeng City was absolutely not a place that valued human sentiment. But having these two people discuss how to “use him” right in front of him without any reservation was truly not something that could make anyone happy.
Yun Guyan clearly could not accept Wen Huan’s answer. He said coldly, “Isn’t this child adapting very quickly? Have Guan Muyan increase his dosage.”
“The dosage has already been increased to the limit. In fact, it’s already quite dangerous now. Any more increase will certainly damage his life,” Wen Huan smiled bitterly. “This child—aren’t you planning to use him for Liu’er long-term?”
“…Then forget it.” Yun Guyan sighed and sat down in the main chair, flicking his robe aside, wearily pinching his brow.
After a long while, he suddenly looked up, his sharp, icy gaze stabbing like something tangible toward the blue-robed child standing there. “Boy, do you know why this lord summoned you?”
Duanmu Lin’s temper flared up again. He coldly refused to answer, not even giving Yun Guyan a proper glance.
The Zhuyin Sect Leader wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he laughed darkly and said eerily, “This lord wants to tell you some good news. Now everyone at Wanci Manor is saying that Duanmu Lin is already dead. Ten days ago, they recited a eulogy before all the major forces of the jianghu—this news has already spread across the land. Do you know what this means?”
Duanmu Lin suddenly smiled. The child raised his head, his eyes already bearing traces of self-mockery unbefitting his age. “What does it mean? Probably… from now on I’m homeless and can only obediently serve as a medicine person for your Zhuyin Sect?”
“Wrong! Not only are you homeless, you have no name to bear!”
Yun Guyan’s graying brows, slanted into his temples, stood up sharp as sword blades. The Sect Leader slammed the armrest of his chair heavily, his voice faintly releasing a pressure as heavy and immovable as mountains:
“Duanmu Lin is thoroughly dead, and you have preliminarily been cultivated into a medicine person’s embryonic form. As a medicine person under our sect’s Medicine Gate, this lord should naturally give you a new name.”
Duanmu Lin suddenly clenched his fists, his chest feeling like there was a blazing fire burning fiercely.
What overwhelming methods this Zhuyin Sect Leader had! In just a few words, he had transformed from a living person into a dead person, and was about to transform from a dead person into another living person!
“A medicine person is medicinal material,” Yun Guyan slightly raised his chin, examining him from above. “And good medicine tastes bitter. From now on, you’ll be called Ah Ku. Remember it well.”
“This name is truly fitting,” Duanmu Lin immediately said, his voice not loud, but his tone seeming to carry sharp barbs. “Of course I’ll remember it.”
Yun Guyan said, “Refer to yourself as ‘Ah Ku,’ or like the other medicine people in the sect, refer to yourself as ‘slave.’ You can choose. Once you’ve chosen, say it again.”
Duanmu Lin bit his teeth hard to suppress the humiliation rising within him. He said coldly, “…Ah Ku will remember.”
“Good child.” Yun Guyan exchanged a glance with Wen Huan behind him, then nodded with satisfaction. “As long as you’re obedient, this lord will naturally treat you well. Every time you give blood from now on, this lord will have a reward for you.”
Duanmu Lin sneered and muttered quietly, “…Heh, a stick and a carrot.”
Killing intent rippled around Yun Guyan’s body, but instead of getting angry, he laughed. “That won’t be necessary. To cure an illness, a patient can endure the bitterness of good medicine. To save Liu’er, this lord can naturally endure you as well. Today, I’ll give you a gift first. Tell me, what do you want?”
Duanmu Lin felt his chest tighten under this oppressive aura. Having already indulged in verbal defiance, he immediately changed his tune as if nothing had happened. “I want peach blossoms!”
In the blink of an eye, this child stubbornly changed his self-reference back. Yun Guyan’s attention wasn’t on this detail. Instead, he frowned. “…What?”
Duanmu Lin lowered his eyes indifferently and said softly, “Give me a peach blossom tree. Wanci Manor has a peach garden called Fusheng Huan, but I’ve never been allowed to go in and see it.”
Regarding Young Master Lin’s inexplicable and willful request, Yun Guyan agreed very readily. “Fine. But the flowering season hasn’t arrived yet. When spring comes, I’ll give it to you. This lord’s word is as good as gold.”
Duanmu Lin smiled with pursed lips. “Is being a medicine person for your Zhuyin Sect this good? You can have whatever you want?”
Yun Guyan was too lazy to answer such an obviously sarcastic question. Instead, it was Wen Huan who sighed lightly and spoke. “Why? You’ve been in the Medicine Gate for over two months—haven’t you seen the medicine people kept inside?”
Duanmu Lin thought for a moment and said, “I’ve only seen them briefly, but they don’t seem to live as comfortably as I do, and no one asks them what they want.”
Wen Huan said, “Naturally, no one asks. Do you know where these medicine people are collected from? They’re either abandoned infants left in the wilderness, or children sold cheaply by their parents. From the moment they were brought into the sect in ignorant confusion, they were no longer human. Registered as medicine people slaves, they are slaves and livestock.”
“Is that so?” Duanmu Lin was still smiling, but his eyes had completely frozen over.
Wen Huan’s expression remained calm, his tone still gentle. “There’s no need to look at me like that. I’m only telling you the truth on behalf of the Sect Leader.”
“—You receive so much preferential treatment simply because the Sect Leader likes you and considers you worthy.”
“…”
Duanmu Lin closed his eyes in despair.
He thought sadly to himself: No one had ever said he was worthy before. Why was it that the enemy who harmed him would repeatedly say such things to him?
…..
That day, Duanmu Lin was still sent back to the Medicine Gate.
When Wen Huan came to fetch him, the whole affair was conducted so solemnly that he thought he wouldn’t be living in the Medicine Gate anymore. But for some reason, Yun Guyan didn’t give such orders, so he could only return.
That evening, he casually asked Guan Muyan about the strange poison Fengchun Sheng and the young sect leader named Changliu.
Only then did he learn that this Young Sect Leader Changliu normally didn’t live with his father in Yangxin Hall.
Fengchun Sheng was most sensitive to emotional fluctuations. Any excessive joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness would promote the poison’s spread, and once it thoroughly invaded the meridians and bone marrow, there would be no cure.
Yangxin Hall was the Sect Leader’s great hall, where there would always be various bloody and murderous reports delivered, and even messages like “the Zhuyin Sect Leader schemed to steal the young master of the Duanmu family to make into a medicine person” would be transmitted.
To avoid external disturbances stimulating his mind, Yun Changliu could only live alone in an isolated room, forbidden to go out, rarely conversing, living a life like an ascetic monk since childhood.
Although it was said that Yun Guyan insisted on visiting the child every day and would bring him to stay at Yangxin Hall for a couple of days every ten days or half a month… Duanmu Lin still couldn’t help but sigh inwardly with subtle feelings once more: truly miserable indeed.
After that, it was day after day of continuing to drink medicine to cultivate his blood. Drinking this potent medicine like water every day until he became accustomed to the bitter, nauseating taste in his mouth and the stabbing pain in his stomach.
Fifteen days later, the weather gradually warmed. Wen Huan once again led him out of the Medicine Gate, and Yun Guyan was waiting for him.
Yun Guyan beckoned to him and said only one sentence, “Your gift—follow this lord down the mountain.”
Duanmu Lin said nothing, calmly responding with a “Mm,” and followed the two of them out of the Medicine Gate.
But in his heart, he was quite annoyed. If the tree was planted outside where he couldn’t see it, what would be the point? What kind of gift would that be?
As if responding to Duanmu Lin’s thoughts, they walked further and further, actually leaving Xifeng City entirely and winding down a mountain path.
Arriving at the base of a cliff, Yun Guyan pointed at the steep precipice. “Your gift is down below. Do you want to jump down from here, or take the mountain path around?”
Duanmu Lin’s eyes looked coolly at Yun Guyan for a moment, then he leaped fearlessly, his form falling lightly from the cliff like a little blue sparrow.
Wind swept swiftly past him, blowing his robes into disorderly fluttering.
Children of martial arts families began practicing martial arts at age four, and for someone like Duanmu Lin who had been strictly disciplined since childhood, using lightness skills to traverse a cliff was no difficult task.
However, this time, before his feet even touched the ground, he froze.
Duanmu Lin had thought he would see the one peach blossom tree Yun Guyan had promised him.
But he was wrong.
Ever since coming to this Zhuyin Sect, he seemed to always be mistaken.
Below the cliff, pink clouds filled the sky, fallen petals scattered everywhere. He had actually descended among peach trees, their branches overlapping overhead, peach blossoms blooming riotously in full splendor, the winding little path covered with flower petals blown down by the wind.
The earth was fragrant, new grass emerald green, orioles calling to the clear weather, white butterflies fluttering among flowers—truly a perfect spring scene.
Duanmu Lin never dreamed that waiting for him here would not be a single peach tree, but clearly a small peach grove. At least several hundred peach trees, each one tall and straight, each one covered in abundant blossoms.
The blue-robed young boy stood alone on the only path through the peach grove, as if suddenly entering a fairyland. He looked back once—Yun Guyan and Wen Huan had not followed.
So Duanmu Lin walked forward in a daze. After a few steps, he began to run, the peach trees on both sides left behind him, while ahead, points of light penetrated through the gaps in the branches at the path’s end.
Until suddenly, everything opened up. He emerged from the peach grove path, but an even more beautiful scene burst into view.
An elegant, exquisite little wooden cabin sat quietly before him, also nestled against the large grove of peach trees. The flower shade cast faint, wind-swaying shadows on the wooden eaves.
Behind the house was a small stone-built well, where two magpies happened to be perched. Seeing someone arrive, they flapped their wings and flew into the blue sky.
Duanmu Lin suddenly stood rooted to the spot.
Black robes and white garments, one after the other, descended behind him using lightness skills—Yun Guyan and Wen Huan. The coiling candle dragon pattern on Yun Guyan’s black robe flashed with golden light in the spring sun. He swept his sleeve and said with a hooked lip, “Look, everything you see is yours. Isn’t that generous enough?”
Duanmu Lin suddenly turned to look at Yun Guyan. He bit his lower lip, his beautiful eyes bright and clear as if touched by spring dew.
Yun Guyan pointed at the wooden cabin. “Although you’ve been registered as a medicine person slave, this lord specially permits you not to remain in the Medicine Gate to be humiliated. From now on, you can live here alone.”
Duanmu Lin blinked, then suddenly turned around and rushed over to embrace the cabin door.
He breathed in deeply the faint woody fragrance. This wood was freshly cut; this little cabin was newly built. Someone had, just for him, built a wooden cabin. So what about that peach grove? Had it also been newly planted for him?
Duanmu Lin went inside the cabin to look around—table, chairs, cabinets, bed, everything was complete, all crafted with exquisite workmanship.
He touched each item one by one, and in his haze felt it was truly strange.
All along, he had never received fair treatment at Wanci Manor. He had begged his relatives to allow him to see the peach blossoms, but his relatives wouldn’t permit him to set even one foot into their own garden. And now, he asked his enemy for one peach blossom tree, and his enemy gave him an entire peach grove and a wooden cabin.
Could the things that happen in this human world really be this strange?
Meanwhile, Yun Guyan stood outside the house, watching Duanmu Lin run back and forth tirelessly, and couldn’t help but click his tongue.
He furrowed his brows and turned his head to whisper to Wen Huan, “Tell me… why does Liu’er never ask this lord for anything?”
Wen Huan said helplessly, “…If Liu’er can speak three sentences in a day, that’s already not easy. Don’t make it difficult for him.”
“Nonsense,” Yun Guyan glared at him unwillingly. “Yesterday he clearly said four sentences—four!”
“…”
Wen Huan was speechless. Yun Guyan stroked his chin and fell into deep contemplation again. “Tsk, could it be that children this age are all so energetic? If Liu’er weren’t plagued by Fengchun Sheng, would he also be like Ah Ku?”
“In Wen Huan’s humble opinion, a child like Ah Ku…cough, is truly quite rare.”
Yun Guyan raised an eyebrow noncommittally.
Before he could open his mouth to continue debating the matter of their young sect leader with Wen Huan, he suddenly heard Duanmu Lin call out from afar, “Sect Leader!”
Yun Guyan turned his head back.
He saw that Duanmu Lin had somehow already come out and circled around to the side of the cabin, leaning against the house and smiling in this direction, his eyes bright and moving. “Thank you! No one has ever given me a gift before. I like it… I really like it!”
Yun Guyan inexplicably felt like laughing. He had never heard any thanks from people he had harmed before. The Sect Leader crossed his arms over his chest and said with great interest, “Oh? If that’s the case, how will you repay this lord?”
Actually, Yun Guyan was just joking casually. But unexpectedly, Duanmu Lin became serious, saying very earnestly:
“I know that when you receive a gift, you should give something in return, but I have nothing except my life.”
“However… Sect Leader, you should need precisely this, shouldn’t you?”
Duanmu Lin leaned loosely against the cabin, not continuing to say anything more. But his expression was silently declaring: I know, I know everything—everything you’ve done is to obtain this one thing I have left. Don’t think I don’t know!
But when the spring breeze blew past, Duanmu Lin lifted his lips again. He seemed to think for a long time, but in fact it was only an instant before he spoke slowly, “Since you want it so much…”
That blue-robed child’s voice was tender and clear. He smiled shallowly beneath a spray of peach blossoms. “Fine then, I’ll give it to you.”
Yun Guyan’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
Ah Ku said even more seriously once more, “I’m giving it to you. I’ll properly serve as a medicine person in the Zhuyin Sect. This is my return gift.”
—From this very moment, Duanmu Lin was no longer Duanmu Lin. That child who had suffered endless neglect and injustice at the manor was casually killed by himself before a wooden cabin, carelessly buried beneath a peach blossom tree.
From this moment on, there was no longer a young master of the Duanmu family in the world. What remained… was only a small medicine person named Ah Ku in the Zhuyin Sect.