WJ Chapter 35

Deer’s Cry (2)

Mount Shenlie, Xifeng City.

Outside Yanyun Palace, moonlight stretched like silk.

Wen Huan, clad in white robes, walked inward with swift yet steady steps.

Inside the palace remained pitch-black and desolate.

…Still without any lamps lit.

The old Sect Leader Yun Guyan was still slumped lazily and listlessly on his throne, looking exactly like an unmoving sculpture carved from dark ink.

Wen Huan walked closer with head bowed respectfully, presenting a letter with both hands. “This is a message brought back by the Yin Ghosts. Please review it, Old Sect Leader.”

The old Sect Leader’s eyeballs moved. “Read it.”

Wen Huan said, “I dare not.”

“Ho, you dare not?”

Yun Guyan finally deigned to straighten his body, glanced at Wen Huan, and took the letter from him to open it. “Whose letter is it that you don’t even dare read?”

Wen Huan said, “It’s from Protector Guan.”

Yun Guyan’s eyebrows twitched. The unfolded paper was covered in densely packed tiny characters.

The old Sect Leader immediately felt his eyes ache, and waved his hand. “Light the lamps.”

The lamps were quickly lit.

Yun Guyan leaned close to the candlelight Wen Huan held and carefully read the letter. After a long while, he muttered to himself in a low voice, “Somewhat interesting… Mm, you should take a look as well.”

The letter was tossed to Wen Huan. This time he did not decline, placing the lamp on a nearby table to read the letter.

“This child…” After reading from beginning to end, Wen Huan sighed softly, his expression seeming somewhat melancholic.

Yun Guyan asked listlessly, “What’s wrong? Speak if you have something to say.”

Wen Huan smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Old Sect Leader… Wen Huan only feels that concealing things from the Sect Leader like this is ultimately not a long-term solution. If one day the truth comes out…”

“One day?” Yun Guyan’s fingers suddenly gripped tightly onto the dragon-carved armrest of his throne, and he snorted. “If we keep dragging this out, where will Liu’er have any ‘one day’?”

“As long as a person is alive, everything can be discussed.”

Wen Huan remained silent for a long time.

In the darkness, he gazed at the old Sect Leader whom he had followed since childhood, gazed at that figure who had once been spirited and vigorous, upright as a pine tree, but was now somewhat hunched.

Wen Huan’s fingers clenched bit by bit.

—If a person is alive, then everything can be discussed?

—Having lost the girl he loved, forever imprisoning himself in darkness and unwilling to emerge—can this also be called “everything can be discussed”?

Taking a deep breath, Wen Huan lowered his brows and said slowly, “Ten years ago, we already deceived the Sect Leader once….deceived Liu’er once. Wen Huan only fears this child cannot endure a second shock.”

“That memory loss was merely a coincidence with the Fengchun Sheng poison flaring up.” Yun Guyan waved dismissively, murmuring, “It was just an accident, just an accident…”

Wen Huan smiled bitterly. “Then tell me, if the Fengchun Sheng poison could truly be removed… would Liu’er’s memories recover as a result?”

Yun Guyan’s expression suddenly darkened.

“He would remember everything he had forgotten from the past, would remember who accompanied him through that past.”

Wen Huan seemed not to notice Yun Guyan’s change, merely sighing again.

“He would remember how that person made a promise with him to live on together, and how that person deceived him, and is now about to deceive him a second time.”

“He might also remember that ‘Qing Ku’ was always played together with ‘Yun Shu’… He would remember these two qins were carved from the same wood, originally a match made in heaven.”

“Unfortunately, the Yun Shu qin was already smashed by the Protector five years ago. There’s no way to find a second one in this world, Old Sect Leader.”

“Tell me, are we deceiving Liu’er, or are we deceiving ourselves…?”

……

“Are you deceiving Duanmu Nanting, or are you deceiving me?”

Accompanied by a clear, pleasant voice, slender fingers passed through black hair, and as they lifted upward, revealed a section of pale neck hidden behind the long hair.

Yun Changliu sat on the edge of the bed, set down the comb with his right hand, and reached for a hair crown on the table.

“First telling this lord that Duanmu Lin is dead, then telling Duanmu Nanting that you’ve seen the Young Master… Is this person currently dead or alive?”

As he spoke, he gathered up Guan Wujue’s long hair and fastened the hairpin and crown for the Protector. Finally, his fingers slid down along the bound hair, smoothing the strands neatly.

Outside came the sparse chirping of two birds.

From what seemed a more distant place, the sounds of manor disciples moving about could already be heard.

The morning at Wanci Manor was clean with a hint of rustic charm.

“Sect Leader, please don’t take it so seriously… By saying this, didn’t Wujue get us invited right into the manor?”

“To expose such family shame in front of outsiders, Duanmu Nanting must be desperately seeking any cure. With Young Master Lin as this heaven-sent opportunity, how could we worry about not having a chance to request medicine?”

Guan Wujue leaned against the headboard with half-closed eyes. When Yun Changliu entered, he hadn’t fully awakened yet, and even now after washing and changing clothes, he still nestled by the bedside, even his speaking voice lacked energy.

Yun Changliu slowly helped him sit up, saying worriedly, “How did you become so exhausted?”

Guan Wujue started slightly, seeming to wake up instantly, and immediately pushed the Sect Leader away to sit up straight. “Where? Nothing of the sort.”

He nimbly flipped off the bed and walked a few steps, reaching for that ink-plum red robe to drape over himself, turning back to smile at Yun Changliu.

The long hair just bound swayed slightly with his movements, the jet-black ends hanging against the dark red robe, the vivid color contrast utterly captivating.

Yun Changliu observed the Protector in red robes calmly.

Judging by his complexion… he didn’t seem to have any serious injury or illness, yet he still felt vaguely uneasy.

When his Protector was truly spirited, he was genuinely spirited—at yesterday’s banquet, remaining unruffled through changes, laughing and scolding freely, single-handedly withstanding the Eight Meridians Sword Formation with such imposing grace, so unrestrained and carefree that one couldn’t look away.

However, there were always one or two moments when this person would suddenly give him a very weak, or rather very fragile feeling.

Thinking back to some time ago, when this person sat before Qingjue Residence in the cold wind and drowsily fell asleep, not even knowing he had coughed up blood… Yun Changliu’s heart filled with lingering fear.

He didn’t even know what exactly he was so afraid of. Logically speaking, with Wujue’s internal cultivation, and being within Xifeng City, nothing serious should happen.

Yun Changliu walked over, frowning. “If you truly feel unwell, you can come back to sleep after eating breakfast. What use is being stubborn?”

Guan Wujue shook his head and smiled. “There’s nothing unwell… After a year of idleness at the branch, my bones have grown lazy. I’m just somewhat unaccustomed now, that’s all.”

The Protector spoke casually and naturally, but Yun Changliu felt a pang of bitterness hearing it.

That year of expulsion and estrangement—he truly had no other choice. Guan Wujue had personally killed Young Master Yun Danjing, simultaneously throwing the Zhuyin Sect into a situation of no successor and internal and external troubles. Not only could Yun Changliu not face it, but Yun Chanjuan and Lin Wanxia viewed Guan Wujue as a mortal enemy they would not rest until he was dead, and trouble could erupt at any moment.

…Besides sending Guan Wujue away, there was no way to preserve both sides.

But no matter how many so-called difficulties there were, they were all excuses.

In the end, he was the one who had wronged Wujue.

Perhaps it was the unease that had suddenly surged up earlier, but the Sect Leader spoke without thinking, blurting out:

“…Do you still hate me?”

But as soon as these words left his mouth, Yun Changliu regretted them immensely.

…No matter what the answer was, it seemed it would only make his heart ache unbearably.

Guan Wujue laughed in surprise. “What kind of question is this? Asking like this, aren’t you putting Wujue in a difficult position?”

He thought to himself that the Sect Leader’s question was truly excessive. What did he mean by “still” hate or not, as if from the very beginning he assumed he had hated him.

However, Yun Changliu clearly couldn’t imagine the Protector meant this kind of “difficult position,” only thinking he didn’t dare speak plainly due to their positions. His heart immediately plunged into an icy abyss, feeling all the blood in his body turn cold in an instant.

As expected… after that incident, how could there be no resentment…

It wasn’t that he lacked awareness. He had personally administered the whipping, personally issued the expulsion order. What was done was done, and the scars left behind could not be erased.

Yun Changliu’s face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling slightly. When he spoke, even his breathing couldn’t remain steady, his voice hoarse. “Then you… these past days…”

—These past days, have you been suppressing your resentment to accommodate me? Were the words you said at that inn also false…?

Guan Wujue’s face showed no obvious emotion.

He only stared at the Sect Leader, saying nothing.

The silence stretched longer and longer.

The air that had been so comfortable and tranquil just moments ago suddenly grew rigid and cold.

Guan Wujue finally smiled slightly, saying softly:

“Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?”

—Truth or a lie?

With that said, Yun Changliu immediately understood the answer.

…Or rather, Sect Leader Yun believed he understood the answer.

“Since you’re asking this lord to choose…”

Yun Changliu turned away, his voice trembling. “…Then tell me a lie.”

His complexion was terribly pale.

When he closed his eyes, even his long lashes trembled.

The Sect Leader thought to himself, just deceive me then.

Even if it’s self-deception, that’s fine. He didn’t have many days left to live anyway, and when the Fengchun Sheng poison flared up, it hurt so much that sometimes he truly felt he couldn’t endure it. If in the end he didn’t even have a shred of hope to cling to, that would truly be unbearable…

However, in the next moment, Yun Changliu opened his eyes, his entire body suddenly stiffening.

It was Guan Wujue approaching from behind, exhaling lightly by the Sect Leader’s ear:

“Ah, then Wujue truly hates you to death.”

Yun Changliu: “…”

He remembered choosing to hear a lie?

Guan Wujue laughed and pulled Yun Changliu around to face him. “Sect Leader, look at yourself… Last time Wujue already said he never resented you, yet you ask again. What answer are you trying to get before you’ll give up?”

“Asking is one thing, but you’re so easily teased. With the Fengchun Sheng poison in your body, Wujue doesn’t even dare frighten you too much.”

“…”

Yun Changliu stood stunned for a moment, taking a long time to react.

It was as if he’d been expecting a bucket of ice water poured over his head, only for it to fall warm instead—he didn’t know whether to be angry or to laugh.

In the next moment, he flung Guan Wujue’s hand away, turned with a cold expression, and walked out.

“Sect Leader!” Guan Wujue called out from behind. “Actually, this question should have been Wujue asking you instead.”

Yun Changliu had already reached the doorway. He turned back then, his voice cold with anger, yet the words he spoke weren’t frightening at all:

“This lord is a dying man. There isn’t even enough time to kiss you—how could I spare any thought for hate?”

Having said this, Sect Leader Yun slammed the door heavily and left.