Papaya (4)
After “burying” Duanmu Lin, Ah Ku’s days in the Zhuyin Sect were… unexpectedly comfortable.
Yun Guyan had indeed given him tremendous freedom. According to Ah Ku’s requests, the Sect Leader arranged no surveillance in that small wooden house, only deploying some Yin Ghosts above and below the cliff and outside the peach forest, and having Guan Muyan come check on Ah Ku’s physical condition every five days… and that was all.
Wen Huan had worried that Ah Ku might not be able to endure the pain of having his blood drawn in the future and might want to end his life in despair. But Yun Guyan was quite confident this wouldn’t happen—he had seen through to the deeply hidden pride beneath this child’s carefree exterior. Once such a person made a promise of their own accord, they would never secretly go back on it.
And so Ah Ku moved into that fairyland-like peach forest.
After moving into the small wooden house alone, not only did he not feel any inconvenience, he actually lived quite happily.
He continued to practice martial arts diligently—though he had offered up his body as a medicine person, it didn’t mean he wanted to die. Every extra day he lived meant another day to enjoy, so naturally he gave it his all.
He also continued to study medicine diligently—despite all talk of abandoning the past, the blood of the Duanmu family still flowed in his veins, giving him an innate love for medicine and pharmacology.
At the same time, he also worked hard to make himself more comfortable.
In fact, before becoming Guan Wujue, Ah Ku—or rather, Duanmu Lin—had originally been someone who very much disliked wronging himself.
His father, Duanmu Nanting, had been harsh and cold to him for as long as he could remember; his mother, Lady Liu, came from a humble background and had a soft, timid nature—even if she wanted to care for her son more, she only dared do so secretly. Generally speaking, children whose fathers were unwilling to show affection and whose mothers didn’t dare show love had only two paths: either endure bullying from the outside world miserably, or learn to take care of themselves.
Young Master Lin clearly took the second path. While other aristocratic young masters never lifted a finger and learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting, he could light fires and cook, wash and mend clothes. At an age when he should still be acting spoiled under his parents’ protection, he could already handle all his daily affairs quite capably.
After leaving the Medicine Gate, at first someone specially brought him meals and blood-nourishing medicine every day. Later, when summer came, the child found it bothersome and began cooking his own meals and brewing his own medicine, actually doing quite well at it.
That day when Guan Muyan came to see him, he saw the child emerge from inside carrying a basin of freshly baked flatbread and nearly had his eyeballs scared out of their sockets.
Ah Ku still wore blue robes, sleeves rolled up and pants legs tied, flashing him a brilliant smile.
The young boy set the basin on the table, his hands circling the rim, and said in an almost beguiling soft voice. “I asked the Sect Leader to buy new flour, scallions and oil to make these flatbreads. Would the Elder like to try some?”
The thin flatbreads had been baked to a crispy golden sheen, their scallion fragrance filling the air. Guan Muyan nodded, then saw Ah Ku take a piece of bread first and bite into it contentedly, asking indistinctly, “What’s the medicine in Volume One, Earth Section, Article Twelve of the Wanci Pharmacopoeia?”
Guan Muyan laughed angrily and pointed at him. “Hey you little rascal! How would I know about your Wanci Manor’s books!?”
The wooden house had excellent lighting, and the fierce summer sunlight happened to shine right on the table. Ah Ku chewed his bread unhurriedly, the golden crispy outer layer making tempting sounds as it was crushed by the child’s small sharp teeth.
Guan Muyan stood there with a stiff face, facing off with the young boy for quite a while before finally swallowing and saying, “…Purple Pearl Leaf.”
Ah Ku’s eyes lit up. “Ah yes, that’s it! I remembered now.”
With that, he released his hands from the basin’s rim. Guan Muyan immediately snatched a piece of bread with lightning speed and chomped away, swallowing it whole in just a few bites, looking at Ah Ku as if he were looking at a little demon.
Ah Ku smiled and said, “Is it delicious, Elder?”
Of course he knew it must be delicious. He had learned his cooking skills from an old cook back at the manor. That old man was short and hunchbacked, his face covered in coal dust, and few people knew that in his youth he had been the head chef preparing banquets for the Duanmu family.
“…”
Guan Muyan wiped the grease from his lips, smacking his mouth with lingering satisfaction, then suddenly grinned. “Kid, let’s make a deal.”
“From now on, you cook for me and I’ll teach you medicine. How about it?”
Ah Ku’s eyes brightened. “Really?”
“How could this be fake?” Guan Muyan stretched lazily with a nonchalant air. “…However, I once took an oath never to accept disciples again in this life. Let’s be clear—this is just a transaction. You can’t go around calling yourself a disciple of the Hundred Medicines Elder.”
“Who would want to be your disciple!”
The blue-robed young boy raised his eyebrows. He picked up another flatbread for himself, then pushed the entire basin toward Guan Muyan, smiling. “Deal! The rest is all yours.”
…This was just an ordinary afternoon, with the sun beating down fiercely on the wooden house in the peach forest. No one knew whether, more than ten years later, someone’s appearance would be completely transformed, whether someone would be filled with regret.
Most melancholy matters in this world are like this.
…
And so time flowed onward unhurriedly, like a river.
The green leaves of summer gradually turned golden yellow, autumn fruits fell to the ground only to be covered by drifting snow, and when the winter frost melted, new buds and flower blossoms spread vibrant life across Mount Shenlie.
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
Once again it was early spring.
Going south from Yangxin Hall, at an edge of Xifeng City near the mountain, stood a small pavilion newly built several years ago.
The small pavilion had a very simple name: Changsheng. (TL: Longevity)
The eight-year-old Young Sect Leader of the Zhuyin Sect, Yun Changliu, lived alone in this Changsheng Pavilion.
Actually, to say he lived alone wasn’t quite right, as there were several servants in the small pavilion keeping him company. But to say they kept him company didn’t seem right either, because these servants all covered their faces with cloth, mostly communicated with him through gestures, and rarely spoke aloud. Between them and the Young Sect Leader, aside from the routine reminders about “meals,” “medicine,” “adding clothes,” and “bedtime,” there was no extra communication.
Yun Changliu vaguely remembered it hadn’t been like this at first. It seemed that a few years ago, an old servant who had gently cared for him for a long time suddenly fell ill and died. That time he had been stimulated into a poison outbreak and nearly didn’t survive. After waking up, the people around him had been replaced by his father with this current arrangement.
A few days ago, a fine spring rain had just fallen.
Outside, new grass grew and new flowers bloomed.
Inside the dim Changsheng Pavilion, the young Sect Leader wore snow-white robes, his entire being shrouded in darkness. Yun Changliu sat cross-legged with eyes closed, breathing and circulating his internal energy in a regular rhythm.
When the Fengchun Sheng poison saw fit to spare him, all he could do was pass this long time through the tedious practice of meditation and cultivation.
Suddenly, his quietly lowered thick black lashes trembled slightly. Yun Changliu’s eyelids opened, revealing a pair of cool pupils of pure color.
The young white-robed Young Sect Leader raised his head slightly as if sensing something. The next moment he heard knocking on the window eaves, accompanied by a tender voice calling out:
“Brother Changliu, Brother Changliu!”
“…” Hearing this, Yun Changliu turned his gaze over. A barely visible light kindled in his usually indifferent eyes. “Chanjuan.”
Sure enough, a head popped up at the window.
The young Miss Chanjuan wore her hair in double ring buns, her pink dress fluttering like a little flower fairy. Standing on a large rock, she leaned on the window sill of the Changsheng Pavilion, her eyes black and sparkling, a big smile blooming on her face. “Brother Changliu, Juan’er has come to play with you again!”
Yun Changliu moved closer to the window and sat down properly, saying flatly, “Mm.”
Yun Chanjuan was already used to her eldest brother’s taciturn nature. Fortunately, her ability to chatter away on her own was quite formidable. At this moment she shook her little head and said gloomily:
“Brother Changliu, do you know? The peach blossoms at the foot of Mount Shenlie have all bloomed—so beautiful, so beautiful! Juan’er really wants to go down the mountain to play, but Mother won’t let me.”
“Mm.”
“Mother says she’ll take us out when she has time, but in a few more days the peach blossoms’ blooming period will be over and they won’t be pretty anymore! Hmph… I told Danjing to sneak out of the city and down the mountain to pick some peach blossom branches for me, but he didn’t dare!”
“Mm.”
“Brother Changliu, don’t you think Yun Danjing is a big bad egg!”
“…Mm?”
“Brother Changliu!”
Yun Chanjuan immediately widened her eyes and puffed up her cheeks indignantly, stamping her feet on that large rock. “Why did you stop saying ‘mm’!?”
Yun Changliu frowned. “Don’t jump. Watch your footing.”
Miss Chanjuan immediately felt like all her energy had hit cotton. She huffed resentfully, then suddenly fumbled in her bosom and pulled out a small paper packet, tossing it through the window to hit Yun Changliu’s chest. “Brother Changliu is protecting Danjing—you’re also a big bad egg!”
Yun Changliu didn’t dodge, letting the packet hit him before reaching out to catch it. He opened the outer layer of paper to find several candy pieces inside.
“Danjing said you drink medicine all day, so your mouth must be very bitter. Last time he went to town he specially bought candy.”
As she said this, Yun Chanjuan’s temperament was just that mercurial—she had been sulking just a moment ago, but now she was smiling again. She looked seriously at Yun Changliu, her voice even sweeter than candy. “After you drink your medicine, eat one and it won’t be bitter anymore.”
Yun Changliu asked hesitantly, “For me?”
“Yes! It’s because he was bringing you candy today that Danjing was too embarrassed to come himself!”
Yun Changliu’s delicate brows relaxed slightly as he nodded. “Thank him for me.”
Suddenly, the Young Sect Leader’s expression tensed. He heard approaching footsteps. “Someone’s coming.”
To resist the Fengchun Sheng poison, Yun Guyan had to transfer internal energy to him once every two months. Combined with Yun Changliu’s own exceptional natural talent and his daily devotion to nothing but cultivation, his internal energy at such a young age had already reached an incredible depth. He could hear clearly even the footsteps of these servants who possessed martial arts.
The Changsheng Pavilion was originally a forbidden area of the sect where outsiders weren’t permitted to approach. Yun Chanjuan and Yun Danjing had already been scolded once for sneaking over to find him.
Hearing now that someone was coming, Yun Chanjuan scrambled down from the rock using both hands and feet and scurried away.
With the young miss gone, the Changsheng Pavilion once again returned to silence.
Yun Changliu withdrew his gaze from the bright sunshine outside the window and turned back to the dark interior.
…Actually, regarding the formation of the terrible habit of “disliking lighting lamps,” Yun Changliu had developed it much earlier than Yun Guyan.
Sure enough, the door was knocked and opened. A masked servant entered carrying a medicine bowl, respectfully placing it before him and gesturing for him to drink it.
Yun Changliu obediently picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
He could taste that they seemed to have changed to a new medicine recently, and it was very effective. Since switching medicines, he hadn’t had any poison outbreaks, and the weak, uncomfortable feelings in his body had also improved considerably.
After finishing the medicine, Yun Changliu handed the bowl back to the masked servant, then turned and quietly reached into his bosom to touch that small packet of candy.
…Chanjuan had told him to eat one after drinking his medicine, but he was a bit reluctant to, so he decided to save them for now.
“Young Sect Leader.”
The servant suddenly addressed him, bowing deeply with respect.
Yun Changliu looked back questioningly. Generally speaking, the people around him were rarely allowed to speak with him aloud unless there was something special.
The next moment he heard the person say, “Today the Sect Leader instructed that if the Young Sect Leader truly feels his body has greatly improved during this time, he may go outside for a walk.”