WJ Chapter 48

Zijin (6)

However, in the next moment, Yun Changliu’s expression subtly changed. His gaze swept toward the study door.

At the same time, two knocking sounds rang out.

Ah Ku was startled. Clearly, before the Sect Leader had brought him in, he had already instructed those around not to let anyone enter and disturb them. Yet this person outside the door not only knocked without hesitation, but even more boldly pushed the door open and walked in without waiting for the Sect Leader to speak.

——Looking across the entire Zhuyin Sect, the only one who dared to be so presumptuous was the Four Directions Protector—there could be no one else.

Under Yun Changliu’s suddenly cold and condensed gaze, Guan Wujue walked calmly to stand before the Sect Leader.

He had just gotten out of bed, wearing only a loose single robe, barefoot on the floor, his long hair disheveled and hanging loose. Yet he walked very steadily, not at all like someone who had been critically injured and near death just days ago, who had only just awakened from a long coma moments before.

Guan Wujue walked right up beside Ah Ku, then suddenly dropped to one knee, actually kneeling before Yun Changliu as well, bowing his head and saying, “Sect Leader, Ah Ku is wholeheartedly devoted to you. I implore the Sect Leader to show mercy.”

Ah Ku’s face had already been colored with helpless desolation, but now it was completely replaced by shock. “Protector Daren…”

“……”

Yun Changliu stared directly at Guan Wujue.

After quite a long while, the Sect Leader finally spoke softly, asking, “Is the Protector interceding for Ah Ku? …You want this lord to keep him?”

Guan Wujue said, “Yes.”

Yun Changliu’s face showed neither joy nor anger: “Did you hear what this lord just said to Ah Ku?”

“Heard.” Guan Wujue lowered his eyelids, his voice calm as he said, “Wujue was the one who brought him back. I ask that you give this subordinate some face.”

The air slid past in oppressive silence.

Ah Ku kept his head lowered, not daring at all to glance at Yun Changliu’s expression. His heart had already risen to his throat, pounding wildly without stop.

Although the Sect Leader had not spoken explicitly just now, who that so-called “good match” was—anyone who wasn’t blind could see, and even the truly blind could hear it!

Now the Sect Leader wanted to send him away for the Protector’s sake, yet the Protector had turned around to plead for him instead. This, this—wasn’t this… completely trampling the Sect Leader’s feelings into the ground!?

Would the Sect Leader become angry at the Protector?

Or would he be disappointed, heartbroken, and leave with a flick of his sleeves…

In an instant, Ah Ku had already imagined eight kinds of terrible consequences.

But none of those scenarios occurred.

Yun Changliu only remained silent for a few breaths before removing his outer robe and bending down to gently drape it over Guan Wujue.

“…Sect Leader.”

Guan Wujue was slightly stunned as he looked up, his fingers touching the noble Zhulong embroidered pattern. The magnificent robe that should only be worn by the Zhuyin Sect Leader now rested on his shoulders.

“Don’t move around,” Yun Changliu’s hands separately embraced the Protector’s back and the bend of his legs, and with one effort lifted him horizontally into his arms, frowning as he said, “Your internal injuries haven’t healed yet, you can’t withstand the cold entering your body.”

He glanced at Ah Ku again, surprisingly neither angry nor annoyed, lightly taking back his earlier words. “Since the Protector has pleaded for you, then you may remain in Xifeng City for a few more days. However, if you change your mind, you may come find this lord at any time.”

Ah Ku stood there dumbfounded, even forgetting to thank him.

He never imagined that something the Sect Leader wouldn’t relent on no matter how he begged and pleaded could be accomplished so simply with just two sentences from the Protector kneeling down…

Yet Yun Changliu didn’t even glance at Ah Ku, carrying Guan Wujue without looking back as he walked toward the door.

It was snowing; it would clearly get cold soon.

Other small matters could be delayed for a while—it didn’t matter. But Wujue’s body had already been damaged; he truly couldn’t be harmed even a bit more.

Yun Changliu frowned with some heartache, secretly annoyed that this person was really so stubborn—what couldn’t be said properly? Why did he have to abuse himself like this…

The moment the Sect Leader turned out of the study, Ah Ku heard him murmur softly like a sigh.

“…Satisfied now? Go back and drink your medicine.”

……

A moment later, Guan Wujue was wrapped back into the brocade quilt, and the Sect Leader had even thoughtfully tucked a hot water bottle next to his feet that had stepped on the cold floor.

The Protector lay on his side, half-leaning against the headboard, his head resting on a soft pillow, saying in a somewhat guilty low voice, “Wujue thought you would be angry…”

“This lord is clearly very angry. Can’t the Protector tell?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yun Changliu took the medicine bowl from the serving maid Jin Lin’s hands and calmly brought it to his lips. “Drink your medicine. Be careful, it’s hot.”

I really can’t tell…

Guan Wujue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Under Yun Changliu’s urging, he helplessly opened his mouth and drank a sip of the medicine.

The bitter medicinal liquid entered his mouth, and the Protector froze. He dodged backward, eyeing the dark brown medicinal soup suspiciously.

“Sect Leader, this medicine seems… seems not quite right.”

Yun Changliu asked calmly and confidently in return, “Guan Muyan personally prepared the prescription. What’s wrong with it?”

Guan Wujue tasted two more sips and gradually recognized several medicinal ingredients, becoming increasingly convinced something was wrong.

The Protector smiled bitterly, pointing at the bowl Yun Changliu held up:

“This isn’t a prescription for treating ordinary internal and external injuries, Sect Leader. The medicines used in here—any single one taken out is no ordinary thing… Just this one bowl of medicine would require at least a thousand taels of gold to be thrown into it!”

“Making such a big fuss over nothing can’t possibly be a prescription the old man wrote.”

Yun Changliu knew that Guan Wujue was proficient in medicine and pharmacology, and hadn’t really thought he could fool him. At this moment, he readily nodded in admission. “This lord ordered Guan Muyan to change the prescription. We’ll use it like this for half a year first… What, doesn’t the Protector find this medicine somewhat familiar?”

Guan Wujue was puzzled. Yun Changliu tucked the quilt corner firmly around him and said gently in a low voice, “You really don’t remember? Years ago, when you first left the Ghost Gate and followed this lord, you used the exact same prescription.”

“——Sect Leader!!”

Guan Wujue was so shocked he nearly flipped up from the bed. He gasped a few breaths in disbelief. “That prescription from back then? You’re making Wujue drink it for half a year! This—this—this will drain the Medicine Gate dry! Under no circumstances is this acceptable. How could this subordinate’s minor injuries be worth…”

As the Protector spoke, he felt a wave of pain, as if his own flesh were being cut. He knew his goods well, and thinking of those precious medicinal ingredients, he thought this was too extravagant, too wasteful.

Just a few days ago at Wanci Manor, he had marveled at Gu Jinxi’s vast wealth. Now looking at it, when his own Sect Leader splurged, he wasn’t falling behind in the slightest!

Most importantly, he clearly… wouldn’t live much longer anyway.

Yun Changliu didn’t know of Guan Wujue’s internal struggle. He only stared at the Protector. A hint of a smile floated at the corners of his lips. He couldn’t help but reach out to tuck Guan Wujue’s loose hair behind his ear, leaning close and saying softly, “You said the same thing back then too.”

Guan Wujue cast him a puzzled look.

Yun Changliu didn’t speak, but his expression suddenly softened.

Five years ago at that time, his Protector didn’t yet have the courage to call out to him so urgently, much less dared to refer to himself as “Wujue” in his presence. He only knelt at the Sect Leader’s feet, pleading in a low, hoarse voice: “This subordinate’s life is cheap and fortune meager. I won’t live more than a few years anyway. Please don’t waste it, Sect Leader. How could this subordinate be worth it…”

As soon as he recalled the past, old memories surged forth like tidal waves, beating against his chest until it ached unbearably.

The Four Directions Protector with his prestigious reputation in the jianghu, dashing in his red robes—this was the person he had painstakingly supported and protected to nurture into what he was…

If he delayed any longer, the medicine would get cold. The Sect Leader collected his thoughts, cleared his throat lightly, pulled Guan Wujue into his embrace, and forcefully brought the medicine bowl to his mouth. “Are you going to drink or not?”

These words sounded terribly familiar. He felt like he’d heard them once before on this very bed not long ago.

Guan Wujue wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, he lazily leaned into Yun Changliu’s embrace, his eyes brimming with radiant light, unable to stop smiling. “Ah, this time… are you going to turn around or not?”

Yun Changliu kept a straight face, encircling Guan Wujue—person and quilt together—in his arms, and repeated, “Drink your medicine.”

Knowing that with the Sect Leader in this posture there was no escaping, Guan Wujue obediently lowered his head and drank two sips, but feeling Yun Changliu’s body warmth pressing against him, his heart itched unbearably.

The Protector put on an expression of serious contemplation. “I remember that morning, you took Ah Ku to the Medicine Gate…”

Yun Changliu’s expression changed, abruptly cutting him off, “Drink your medicine.”

Each time the Sect Leader urged him once, Guan Wujue obediently drank a few sips as told, but still seized this rare opportunity and wouldn’t let the Sect Leader off, saying with a smile. “Wujue just wants to advise you—your temperament really isn’t suited to having conflicts with your own people. Please don’t do it again in the future.”

Yun Changliu thought: Pure nonsense. Aside from you, there’s never been anyone else who could make this lord lose face like this.

Looking at Yun Changliu’s face so close at hand, Guan Wujue suddenly couldn’t help but sigh inwardly with emotion.

When he had returned to the sect of his own accord back then, both he and the Sect Leader had each believed that the affection between them had been destroyed almost completely in the other’s heart.

The result? Now weren’t they still holding and embracing each other, rolling around on the bed just the same.

Guan Wujue thought about it some more, then suddenly stared at Yun Changliu with an odd expression. “That’s right—not long ago, the morning you left Wanci Manor, when you held Wujue, didn’t you still say ‘just this once’? How is it now that…”

At that time, the two of them had also both secretly thought that after returning to Xifeng City, they could no longer be close like this.

Yet now they were still just the same…

Even with Yun Changliu’s good temper, being teased over and over like this by the Protector finally became too embarrassing to endure. Seeing that the medicine bowl had finally reached the bottom, he withdrew it coldly and said, “Has the Protector had enough fun yet?”

Guan Wujue stopped teasing. He straightened up, looked at Yun Changliu seriously and said, “Wujue just finds it somewhat strange in his heart. It’s like walking blindfolded on a mountain path ten thousand zhang high—every time I step into emptiness and think I’m going to fall, you always reach out from behind precisely to catch and pull Wujue back.”

Yun Changliu found this metaphor rather apt. “What, for the Protector, if this lord no longer dotes on you, it’s equivalent to being shattered to pieces?”

The Four Directions Protector made an “mm” sound, pondered for a moment, then raised his face toward Yun Changliu with a smile. His handsome brows and eyes suddenly rippled with vivid color. “Not exactly… but it’s not too far off either.”