WJ Chapter 106

When the Rooster Crows (4)

Ah Ku furrowed his brow deeply, utterly baffled.

What’s all this about almost dying, about just wanting one look at the Young Sect Leader…

Was this little medicine person out of his mind?

Still, after turning it over in his head, he could guess well enough.

His Young Sect Leader was so beautiful and kind-hearted — at least that was how he appeared to outsiders — that for a little slave who had grown up knowing nothing but abuse, even a single careless rescue would feel like a heaven-sent act of salvation.

So then, what was this now… a moth flying into the flame, wanting to steal one more taste of warmth?

Ah Ku curled his lip in a disdainful smile, tossed four words at the little medicine person. “Never satisfied,” then turned and walked away in style, slamming the door shut with a bang.

The night grew colder and colder. Wind and rain grew wilder and wilder.

Beneath a sky black as ink, leaves were beaten about with a rustling roar, and cold rain lashed mercilessly against Ye Ru’s body — there was nowhere to hide from it.

The little medicine person, huddled before the wooden house, was so frozen that his mind had gone hazy. He trembled in wave after wave, his teeth chattering.

He felt he was going to die. His body was so cold, and the vessels around his heart had begun to ache unbearably…

Only the sound of rain filled his ears. He could not catch his breath, could not open his eyes. Ye Ru guessed he must have fallen ill. Perhaps it was because his body had already reached its limit — that was probably why Medicine Gate had discarded him.

…Ye Ru had been inducted into the sect when he was far too young, and everything before that had long since faded from memory.

His earliest recollection was the bitter medicinal liquid that was forced down his throat and sent agonizing pain shooting through his entire body, and a long, ice-cold needle that had been driven straight into his chest, piercing through his heart chamber.

They said he had originally been raised as a blood-nourishing medicine person for the Young Sect Leader — only he had been a failure at it.

Many, many others had already died. He alone was still alive.

To live was to keep drinking the medicine, to keep being bled.

He had spent several years in Medicine Gate as a slave, as livestock, until just a few days ago — when he had, for the first time, laid eyes upon the rumored Young Sect Leader of Changliu.

That day he had been forced to drink a new medicine, but the others all said there was a nine-in-ten chance he would not survive it. Terrified of dying, he had wept. He had struggled and been slapped twice across the face. Then those people had suddenly released him and fallen to their knees, calling out: “We greet the Young Sect Leader…”

A bolt of lightning split the edge of the clouds. Far away, thunder rolled and rumbled.

Wind and rain raged. The leaves shook more and more violently. Inside the wooden house, the lamp had long since been extinguished, and it seemed the house’s owner had already gone to sleep.

Ye Ru no longer knew how long he had been shivering in the rain. His lips had turned blue-grey, his feet had gone numb with cold, and his unfocused gaze seemed to make out, beyond the curtain of rain, that flash of snowy white once more.

…The Young Sect Leader’s robes were snow-white. The Young Sect Leader’s face was so beautiful. The Young Sect Leader’s expression was distant and did not look at him. When the Young Sect Leader spoke, his voice was clear and cool. The Young Sect Leader had made Medicine Gate’s people stop.

That Young Sect Leader — so transcendently noble, like an immortal sovereign or a divine being — had been willing to reach down from the clouds to save something as lowly as himself, a creature mired in the mud.

Where in his life had he ever encountered someone so precious and yet so merciful? He had been utterly entranced. Unable to help himself, he had secretly slipped away to follow the Young Sect Leader from a distance, wanting to steal a few more glimpses — yet he was so clumsy that he had fallen right off the mountain.

And then the Young Sect Leader had saved him a second time.

After that, Medicine Gate had inexplicably stopped forcing him to drink medicine.

Ye Ru felt certain he must have become useless and thus been abandoned. Soon someone would come to slit open his veins, drain every last drop of his blood, and let him serve his final purpose — to die having been used to the fullest.

He was terrified. Every single day, he was terrified.

When the fear rose up, he could not stop himself from going over it again and again in his mind — the moment the Young Sect Leader had saved him that day.

And then he had worked up a reckless, outrageous wish… to steal one quiet look at the Young Sect Leader before he died…

Back then he had been too frightened to study the Young Sect Leader’s face properly. He only remembered that it was beautiful. If, when the time came for his blood to be drained, he could close his eyes while holding the Young Sect Leader’s image in his mind — then perhaps he could die quite happily.

But now…

He would probably freeze to death before he ever got to see the Young Sect Leader.

If he died here, his corpse would defile the Young Sect Leader’s eyes.

And then there was the person of unknown identity living in this wooden cabin — this “Daren”… Why did this Daren treat the Young Sect Leader so poorly, and yet the Young Sect Leader was willing to be pushed around by him?

Creak…

Some unknown amount of time passed.

Ye Ru raised his eyelids — heavy as if filled with lead — and through his swaying vision he saw the door of the wooden house open. Through the curtain of rain, warm amber candlelight spilled out from within.

The young man in dark teal robes leaned at an angle against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest, those exquisitely beautiful eyes gazing at him with cool indifference. His voice seemed to come from somewhere very far away:

“…Come inside.”

Ye Ru’s mind was muddled. He only shook his head and shrank further back.

The expression on the teal-robed young man’s face grew even more unpleasant. He grabbed an umbrella and opened it, then stepped out into the rain, walking over in a few strides to stand directly in front of Ye Ru.

Ye Ru’s heart seized with even greater terror. He was sure he was about to be hit. Sure enough, a kick landed against his side in the next moment.

But to his surprise, the force was not particularly heavy — nothing at all like the way Medicine Gate’s people kicked him…

He had never known, until now, that there was such a way of kicking a person.

Ah Ku snapped icily, “Are you deaf? I told you to get inside!”

Ye Ru flinched. He saw the undisguised irritation on the daren’s face, and scrambled hurriedly to his feet. Obeying commands had been carved into his very bones as instinct. Like a small animal, Ye Ru went down on all fours and crawled into the wooden house.

It was wonderfully warm inside. The moment Ye Ru entered, he shuddered, then sneezed twice in quick succession.

He bowed his head in fearful anxiety, shrinking into the smallest possible patch of space by the doorway, desperately afraid of dirtying the daren’s room and earning more beatings and scolding — yet unable to stop the rain from dripping steadily off the ends of his wet hair.

Then suddenly, a large, wide towel was tossed onto his head, landing softly and covering his face.

Ye Ru froze.

Through the gap in the towel, Ye Ru could see that the teal-robed young man had turned sideways and was standing with his back half-toward him at the table, the candlelight tracing the outline of that beautiful half-profile — warm and bright.

Ye Ru felt he must be dreaming.

Ah… this had to be a dying hallucination…

“Wipe yourself dry. Don’t get my room all wet.”

At the writing table, Ah Ku pressed his fingers to his brow in irritation. He let out another sigh, then said flatly, “Let me make this clear — I’m only doing this out of consideration for Young Sect Leader Changliu…”

Thud.

Ah Ku turned in surprise to see the little medicine person topple face-first to the ground, wrapped up in the towel, and pass out cold.

Ah Ku’s eye twitched with fury. “…”

At that moment, he genuinely wanted to just kick the little creature back outside and leave him to fend for himself.

But in the end, Ah Ku stood there in silence for a long while, then walked over with great reluctance and used his foot to flip the child onto his back.

Ye Ru’s brow was tightly furrowed. In the lamplight, that small face was flushed a fevered red. His mouth hung open as he breathed in rough, labored gasps, his teeth still chattering and clacking.

Ah Ku bent down to check — the forehead was scalding hot, yet the feet were ice cold. He had already burned into a dangerously high fever.

“…”

Ah Ku accepted his fate, pressed a hand to his temple, and sighed.

****

The following morning, the rain had stopped.

Yun Changliu came to find Ah Ku as usual.

The Young Sect Leader knocked at the door from outside, and from within came a familiar voice — slightly more drowsy and languid than usual. “Come in, Young Sect Leader, the bolt isn’t latched.”

The moment Yun Changliu stepped inside he was startled. Ah Ku was propped against the headboard, head bowed, wrapped in a fluffy blanket and curled up against the wall, with only a thin mattress laid beneath him.

And as for the child lying in the bed — Yun Changliu stared for four or five breaths before he remembered… wasn’t this the medicine person who had made Ah Ku angry with him several days ago?

Ah Ku had been busy tending to the little invalid for half the night, had only just managed to sleep for a short while, and had been woken again by the Young Sect Leader’s knock at the door. He was still a little dazed.

Bleary-eyed, he saw Yun Changliu walk over — and leaned forward, falling into the Young Sect Leader’s arms. He let out a soft, whining murmur. “Mm, Young Sect Leader… look at the little thing you picked up — it found its way here to me… Tell me what I’m supposed to do about it.”

Yun Changliu quickly steadied his hold on him and pulled the blanket up a little higher around him, then furrowed his brow and cast a glance at the figure in the bed, saying quietly, “You sleep. I’ll take the person away.”

The ordinarily composed Young Sect Leader was, for once, noticeably displeased. He had not expected Ye Ru to come and trouble Ah Ku like this.

This child had become a medicine person because of him, and had had his heart vessels damaged by the blood-drawing needles. He had originally felt a certain debt, and had saved the boy on impulse when he saw him that day — but he had never anticipated that it would become entangled with Ah Ku…

“Don’t,” said Ah Ku, eyes half-closed, shifting restlessly in Yun Changliu’s arms until he found a comfortable position. “I only just finished decocting the medicine — it’s sitting on the table cooling now… I kept him shut outside in the rain for a long time last night, and he burned with fever the whole night through…”

Yun Changliu gently patted and soothed him through the blanket, his voice soft and full of tenderness. “Don’t you dislike him? You needn’t do this for my sake…”

“It isn’t only for your sake, Young Sect Leader.” Suddenly Ah Ku gave a quiet, sly little laugh. “Not liking him and being willing to save him are two different things. Just like…”

In the next moment, he sat up straight in Yun Changliu’s arms, reached out and pinched the Young Sect Leader’s cheek, and said with certainty. “I like you, and I want to torment you — those are also two different things.”

Yun Changliu: “………”

The Young Sect Leader kept his face composed, pressing his lips together to suppress the warmth spreading across his cheeks, then coolly wrapped an arm around the back of Ah Ku’s head and pressed him firmly back against his chest. “Stop making trouble. Go to sleep.”

****

After Yun Changliu had coaxed Ah Ku back to sleep, not long afterward Ye Ru woke on the other side of the room.

The moment the little medicine person came to his senses, he was so frightened that he tumbled off the bed and knelt on the floor trembling. Before he could even open his mouth to beg forgiveness, the Young Sect Leader — who still had Ah Ku in his arms — swept a cold glance across him. “Not a sound.”

Yun Changliu then rose, silently replaced the pillow and quilt that Ye Ru had soaked through with sweat with clean, dry ones, and only then carefully lifted the peacefully sleeping Ah Ku in his arms and laid him properly in the bed.

Ye Ru, forbidden by Yun Changliu from making a sound or moving, watched all of this unfold and was very nearly brought to tears.

Heavens — he had dirtied their room and their bedding, and he had caused the esteemed Young Sect Leader to personally… Heavens! Heavens!

Once Ah Ku was settled, Yun Changliu beckoned Ye Ru to come over to him, intending to have him drink the medicine and then properly question the little medicine person about his reasons for coming here.

The result was…

Yun Changliu told him to drink the medicine, and Ye Ru kept kowtowing, saying over and over that he was not worthy of such precious medicinal ingredients. Yun Changliu asked him his reasons for coming, and Ye Ru flushed crimson and could only keep stammering apologies.

The Young Sect Leader was a man of few words who did not enjoy speaking with strangers, and Ye Ru was far too self-abasing and terrified to string a sentence together. The two of them were at a stalemate for a long while, unable to make anything clear whatsoever.

In the end it was Ah Ku, waking from his sleep and coming in, who launched into a torrent of intimidation and interrogation at Ye Ru — and within less than a quarter-hour, had everything sorted out completely.

It turned out this little fellow had slipped out of the city hidden among a group of medicine people being sent off to a branch sect, then had doubled back through the rain following his memory to make his way here. It had not been easy.

After hearing everything, Ah Ku could not help but feel a complicated sort of wonder.

His first thought was: this child called Ye Ru was really too foolish, wasn’t he? Being let off from drinking the blood-nourishing medicine could only have been a command given at the Young Sect Leader’s instruction — yet he had actually concluded that his time of death must be approaching?!

His second thought was a sigh of bemused amazement: this silly, muddleheaded little medicine person had a better memory for roads than his own Young Sect Leader did…

As for what was to be done with Ye Ru — Yun Changliu wanted to send him straight back to Medicine Gate, but Ah Ku pointed out that Medicine Gate would not treat a medicine person’s illness. Ye Ru had been through the ordeal of having blood drawn by needles pierced through his heart, leaving his constitution extremely frail. If he was sent back before his illness had healed, he would very likely die.

“How about leaving him here with me for a few days?” Ah Ku raised an eyebrow, smiling over at Ye Ru, who was huddled into a small ball in the corner. “Think of it as keeping a sickly little puppy — nurse him back to health, then send him on his way.”

Yun Changliu, upon hearing this, appeared somewhat displeased.

He looked at Ye Ru again, then suddenly pulled Ah Ku aside by a few steps, frowning and lowering his voice. “You… actually like him quite a lot, don’t you?”

Ah Ku was stunned. “How could I possibly like him?!”

Yun Changliu quite naturally wrapped both arms around the lean, slender waist of the teal-robed young man from behind, resting his face against Ah Ku’s shoulder, eyes cast downward. “Before, you would clearly only ever let me into your room.”

“…”

Ah Ku tilted his head and studied Yun Changliu for a long moment, then declared with certainty, “Young Sect Leader, you’re jealous.”

Yun Changliu was bewildered. “Jeal…ous?”

What did jealous mean?

Was it… was it the consuming of vinegar that he was thinking of?

But Ah Ku’s eyes had suddenly lit up brilliantly. Overcome with excitement, he spun around, swept the astonished Young Sect Leader Changliu off his feet and twirled him half a turn, then held the Young Sect Leader close and broke into a delighted, wicked grin:

“Then I’ll keep him here on purpose! I like him very much indeed!”

Young Sect Leader Changliu accordingly descended into a silence that surpassed all understanding…