WJ Chapter 109.1

Peach Blossoms (1.1)

Lush and bright were the peach blossoms,
Brilliantly radiant were their flowers.

When this maiden went to her new home,
She would bring harmony to her household.

——

The blood-drawing blade was set back onto the tray.

Fine cloth soaked in cool medicinal salve was wound around the wrist where the bleeding had just stopped.

Guan Muyan set Ah Ku’s hand back onto the bed and said, “Done.”

Only then did Yun Changliu, who had been standing to one side, let the tension drain from his body.

Even having stood watch over Ah Ku’s blood-drawing more times than he could count, this sort of thing… he still couldn’t quite get used to it.

The blue-robed young man’s face was deathly pale. He struggled to sit up on the bed, and before he had even steadied himself he began to sway. The Young Sect Leader rushed forward to gather him up, holding him carefully and murmuring a few soothing words, whereupon Ah Ku drowsily curled into his embrace.

Yun Changliu knew that the loss of blood had left him cold all over, and hurriedly wrapped the thick cotton quilt tightly around Ah Ku’s body, then channeled his internal energy with both hands and sent it beneath the covers, using his internal energy to warm him from within.

Even though the charcoal fire in this wooden house had always been kept burning generously, the Young Sect Leader still feared that Ah Ku might catch a chill after the blood-drawing. If that brought on an illness, it would be no laughing matter.

After all, it was now the depths of winter. It had snowed just two days prior, and atop Mount Shenlie the cold was especially fierce.

As ill luck would have it, this round of Ah Ku’s blood-drawing had fallen on New Year’s Eve — whichever way one looked at it, this was not going to be a particularly cheerful celebration.

As Yun Changliu grew older with each passing year, the Fengchun Sheng poison became ever harder to suppress, and the blood Ah Ku was required to give each time grew more and more. The Young Sect Leader had always worried quietly about what the future might hold. Fortunately, Guan Muyan had given him his word that the amount of blood drawn would not increase further — only then had Yun Changliu grudgingly accepted the arrangement.

As things stood now, this was already the absolute limit he would tolerate. The Fengchun Sheng was unpredictable; on occasion something would go wrong, and when emotions lost their restraint the poison would flare up savagely, bringing unbearable agony. Even so, Yun Changliu had never once allowed Ah Ku to draw additional blood outside of schedule. He would rather shut himself away and endure the poison’s flare alone through sheer willpower than yield one inch further on that line.

“Young Sect Leader…”

Having been warmed by Yun Changliu’s internal energy for a little while, Ah Ku felt somewhat more comfortable, and began calling out softly with his eyes still closed.

He would call “Young Sect Leader” once, and Yun Changliu would answer close to his ear with “I’m here.” This sort of exchange was plainly without any practical purpose — it was more like the one calling using it as an excuse to tease the one answering, carrying with it just a hint of a pampered child seeking indulgence.

After this went on for a little while, Ah Ku gradually fell quiet. Just before he drifted into sleep he reflected hazily that he had never actually been like this before — it was all the Young Sect Leader’s fault for spoiling him so…

And that was the truth of it. Over these years, Ah Ku had truly been ruined by Yun Changliu’s indulgence. Especially in the days following each blood-drawing, the Young Sect Leader could be said to grant his every wish, attending on him with such care and devotion that he always felt it was not enough.

Yun Changliu ordinarily lived in Changsheng Pavilion, but on the few days following Ah Ku’s blood-drawing he would move into this wooden house, not even removing his outer robe, keeping watch over him. Come nightfall, he would gather the frail little medicine person into his arms, and the two of them would squeeze into one bed together.

This time was no different. When Ah Ku awoke, the sky had already turned dark. True to form, Yun Changliu had not gone back — he was still keeping watch by the bedside.

When the Young Sect Leader saw Ah Ku open his eyes, he rose and brought out a bowl of freshly made brown sugar water from inside, cradled Ah Ku upright along with the quilt he was bundled in, blew on it to cool it, and fed it to him spoonful by small spoonful with a porcelain ladle.

Ah Ku sat wrapped in his quilt, drank a few sips with his head bowed, then wanted no more. He had regained a little energy by now, and smiled up at Yun Changliu. “Why is the Young Sect Leader still here? It’s New Year’s Eve — aren’t you going to the night banquet in Yangxin Hall?”

The Young Sect Leader shook his head. “Staying with you.”

The year-end banquet was always a grander affair. Every person seated at that table was a high-ranking member of the sect — hall masters, envoys, and the like. The Sect Leader Yun Guyan and his wife, the Young Sect Leader Yun Changliu, and both the Young master and Young Miss were all expected to attend.

In years past, Yun Changliu would first attend the night banquet in Yangxin Hall, then make his way back to this wooden house to keep Ah Ku company through the night watch. Later, Yun Guyan — dissatisfied with not being able to spend New Year’s Eve with his eldest son — had taken to bringing Wen Huan along to crowd in as well. But none of that needs to be elaborated upon now.

This year, however, Ah Ku happened to have his blood drawn on this very day. Yun Changliu could not bring himself to abandon Ah Ku alone at such a time and go off to a banquet. Even if it was nothing more than going through the motions, he had no wish to do it.

Ah Ku frowned. “Go quickly.”

Yun Changliu said, “Don’t want to.”

Ah Ku grew a little vexed. “So you want people gossiping about you again, do you?”

Yun Changliu was unbothered. He lifted another spoonful of brown sugar water to Ah Ku’s lips. “Let them say what they will — what does it have to do with me? Open.”

“Young Sect Leader, I’m truly getting angry now!” Ah Ku’s face fell, and he pulled back. “Even if you’re willing to be talked about, I have no wish to be condemned as someone who bewitches his master!”

At those words, the Young Sect Leader’s expression visibly darkened. Ah Ku pressed on. “Besides, if you’re not there, what happens when the Sect Leader and that younger brother of yours start fighting again?”

Yun Changliu said nothing, jaw set tight, and threw the porcelain spoon into the bowl with a cold clatter. Seeing that he had provoked displeasure, Ah Ku quickly softened his tone and coaxed:

“All right, Young Sect Leader — it won’t be more than two hours before you can come back, will it? And if you really can’t stand gatherings like this, you can simply abolish the whole thing once you’ve taken over as Sect Leader…”

“For now just bear with it a little — endure it, and Ah Ku will be here waiting for your return. How does that sound?”

“…” Yun Changliu bit his lower lip, picked up the spoon again, and at last relented. “Fine. Drink this bowl down, and I’ll go.”

Only then did Ah Ku settle his heart and drink the brown sugar water, warm and sweet, to the last drop. He watched the Young Sect Leader leave, then flopped onto the bed with nothing to do, stared at the ceiling for a while, and closed his eyes to rest.

But before much time had passed at all, he heard two knocks at the door of the house, and someone pushed it open and walked in. Ah Ku opened his eyes to look, and there was the white-haired, fresh-faced old man in his slovenly clothes — who else could it be but Guan Muyan?

Ah Ku was puzzled. The Young Sect Leader had only just left, and yet here was Guan Muyan already — it was almost as though he had timed it perfectly.

What’s more, the expression on Guan Muyan’s old face was strange indeed. At ordinary times he was carefree and flippant, without a shred of dignity to his manner, but tonight he had walked in with his face set and his brows pressed low.

A vague sense of unease stirred in Ah Ku’s chest — something was probably about to happen. But he was so accustomed to Guan Muyan’s company that his mouth moved faster than his mind, and he called out with an instinctive grin:

“Old man, here for the dumplings?”

The perpetually gluttonous eccentric physician’s face betrayed neither joy nor sorrow. Those slightly clouded old eyes of his fixed themselves on the smiling, beautiful young man lying in the bed, and he spoke in a rasping voice:

“There is something I have been meaning to tell you. The time has come.”

****

That night, by the time the Young Sect Leader came hurrying back from Yangxin Hall, Ah Ku had already fallen asleep.

Ah Ku lay curled on the bed facing away from the door, gripping the quilt and wound tightly into a ball, lashes lowered, breathing shallow. Outside there were neither stars nor moon. The pale young man lay buried in the darkness, and for no clear reason gave off an impression of fragility.

Yun Changliu felt a pang in his chest that he could not quite explain. He assumed Ah Ku must have been feeling so wretched that he had been unable to stay awake until his return — and immediately regretted making that trip to the banquet at all.

The Young Sect Leader washed up briefly, shed his outer robe, and very carefully lifted the edge of the quilt from the other side, sliding in and drawing Ah Ku against his chest from behind, and then he too closed his eyes and slept.

The following day, Ah Ku awoke with no sign of anything amiss. Everything seemed as it always was.

The festive New Year atmosphere within Xifeng City was always a shade more muted than in an ordinary household, yet still far livelier than usual.

Ah Ku’s wrist was injured, so he lay in bed directing the Young Sect Leader to set off firecrackers outside, listening to the sound from within.

After the firecrackers, a layer of burst crimson paper lay piled at the house door like spread red brocade, looking quite festive and cheerful. Yun Changliu came back inside with his hands over his ears, muttering that it was too noisy, and Ah Ku leaned against the bedhead and laughed without stopping.

The days passed one by one, until the fifteenth of the first month.

The Lantern Festival — the day to pay tribute to the Heavenly Official.

Ah Ku suddenly insisted on dragging the Young Sect Leader down the mountain to see the lanterns, with a stubbornness that was somehow not quite normal.

Yun Changliu knew this day was a festival and that Madam Lin always took Young Master Danjing and Young Miss Chanyuan out to enjoy it, but he himself had never liked joining in such merriment, and had never once gone to see any lanterns. This time he could not withstand Ah Ku’s pestering, and after a long struggle with himself, he finally nodded.

Ah Ku also insisted on bringing no one else along. So the two young men each rode a horse, took no attendants, sent word to Yun Guyan’s side, and rode straight out of the city and down the mountain.

The Young Sect Leader rarely ventured out, but Ah Ku was always running beyond Mount Shenlie to wander here and there. Now that Yun Guyan had grown quite fond of this little medicine person, he imposed no restrictions on him — he merely sent a few Yin Ghosts to follow at a distance, less surveillance than it was protection.

Ah Ku brought Yun Changliu in search of larger towns, deliberately choosing to travel further so as not to risk running into Lin Wanxia and her children.

The two of them rode for nearly half an hour before entering a town. The sky had already darkened, and inside it was ablaze with lantern light.

Festival days were always noisy. The larger the town, the more cheerful, and the more people jostling within it… a sea of heads, shoulder pressed to shoulder.

“…”

Yun Changliu — who preferred quiet to clamor — had gone quite green in the face. He stood rigid, clutching Ah Ku’s sleeve, neither speaking nor moving.

Yet from the tip of every hair on his head to the very ends of his toes — every inch of him — was radiating, from the inside out, the unmistakable message: I want to go back.

Ah Ku gave Yun Changliu a firm tug, and the other stumbled forward.

Ah Ku could only shake his head and drag the person beside him into the street, all the while chattering without pause. “Young Sect Leader, don’t be like this… relax, walk properly! Honestly… what is wrong with you!”

Yun Changliu kept a tight hold on Ah Ku’s hand and simply trudged forward with his head down, not so much as glancing at the crowds laughing and jostling on either side, as though all that merriment had nothing to do with him.

Ah Ku hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he stopped, pressed a hand to Yun Changliu’s shoulder with a headache, and shook him. “Young Sect Leader! I brought you out here to look at lanterns! Why do you keep staring at the ground — are you looking for coins to pick up?!”

With that, he reached up and tilted Yun Changliu’s face upward. “Look above your head!”

Overhead, a rather large lotus lantern hung suspended. Its petals were carved with exquisite detail, and the flame within illuminated the colored paintings on its surface — it was truly beautiful.

Yun Changliu stared at it for a long moment before coming back to himself and murmuring, “…Beautiful.”

Only then did Ah Ku feel satisfied, and he pulled Yun Changliu along to look at the lanterns all around. The longer they walked — and the more Ah Ku steered them toward quieter paths — the more the Young Sect Leader was finally able to settle and look at the lanterns properly.

The two of them continued along a small side street, looking at lanterns as they went, until they had gradually walked the whole street to its end. After a little while, Yun Changliu had been watching Ah Ku walk ahead of him for some time, and then, out of nowhere, he opened his mouth and called:

“…Lin’er.”

— At that moment, Ah Ku had been standing lost in thought beneath the last string of lanterns, actually turning over in his mind the words Guan Muyan had spoken to him that day. Yun Changliu’s single utterance of “Lin’er” was no less than a bolt of lightning crashing down upon his head with a resounding clap of thunder.

Ah Ku turned his head very, very slowly, staring at the Young Sect Leader with an expression of horror, gulped down two great gasping breaths, and then forced out a trembling voice:

“Young Sect Leader, you… you… what did you just call me?! No, wait… were you just now calling… me?”

Yun Changliu gave a nod and looked calmly at the young man standing among the fading lantern light. “Over these past few days, Father had me start familiarizing myself with the operations of the Archives Hall. I had nothing in particular I wished to look into, so I looked into your past.”

“…So it turns out,” he said, lowering his eyes, the words coming with some difficulty, “that you are the young master of Wanci Manor.”

Ah Ku quietly looked away, and after a long pause said, “Not anymore.”

Yun Changliu said, “If you had never joined the sect because of me, you should have been—”

“—If I had never joined the sect, never met the Young Sect Leader, I would have been a walking corpse forever!”