WJ Chapter 50

Shuli (2)

That day, until the sun set and the moon rose, and night fell, Yun Changliu still had not returned to the sleeping quarters.

“This afternoon, Miss Chanjuan came to make trouble again. This servant and elder sister both advised the Sect Leader not to pay her any mind, but the Sect Leader insisted on going out to see her!”

When Guan Wujue asked about it, Yinlang complained indignantly, “Miss is too inconsiderate. The Sect Leader was so upset by her that he barely ate a few bites of dinner. Now he’s shut himself in the study and won’t let anyone in… Though the Sect Leader did instruct the Protector to rest first and not wait for his return.”

Unfortunately, such instructions were destined to be useless.

When Guan Wujue went to the study to find him, Yun Changliu was sitting at his desk lost in thought, not even noticing his entrance.

On the lamp-lit desk lay a pile of scrolls, every one of them confidential documents stamped with the Archives Hall seal.

Guan Wujue walked to Yun Changliu’s side. “Sect Leader.”

Yun Changliu finally turned around, his profile reflected in the candlelight appearing extremely gentle, though with a somewhat weary pallor. “Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”

Guan Wujue felt a pang of heartache and bowed his head, saying softly, “Sect Leader, stop investigating.”

Yun Changliu feigned confusion. “This lord is pursuing the traitors within the Zhuyin Sect. Why would the Protector try to stop me?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly and, for once, took the initiative to joke with Guan Wujue. “Unless… this lord’s Protector is also part of the treasonous conspiracy?”

Guan Wujue pressed his lips together and knelt on one knee before Yun Changliu. “You said that whatever Wujue wants, you would give me.”

“This cannot be given,” Yun Changliu shook his head, his voice and expression solemn. “This matter is no small thing, and it doesn’t concern only you alone.”

He rose and helped Guan Wujue to his feet, then took from the desk the small copper badge that Xiao Donghe had submitted today and handed it to the Protector. “Look at this.”

“Hunting Wild Goose….Hunting Beauties?”

(TL: 獵雁 (liè yàn) — literally “hunt wild goose.”

獵豔 (liè yàn) — literally “hunt beauties” or “hunt for pleasure/romantic conquests,” depending on context.)

The Protector turned the object over several times, frowning and muttering very quietly, “What kind of tasteless name is that?”

Yun Changliu: “……”

The Sect Leader cleared his throat softly and pointed at the copper badge Guan Wujue was toying with. “This was extracted from inside the assassin’s body. Now you should understand—these people are targeting, at the very least, this lord’s father, and at worst, perhaps the entire Zhuyin Sect. How can this lord ignore it?”

Guan Wujue fell silent for a long while, then went to look through the pile on Yun Changliu’s desk. The Sect Leader didn’t mind, letting him look as he pleased.

Guan Wujue didn’t examine them closely, only glanced through them roughly. They were all related intelligence about the Lin family of Yulin Hall that the Archives Hall had investigated over recent decades. “You suspect Yulin Hall?”

Yulin Hall had always established itself in the martial world through hidden weapons, assassination, and lightness skills, which indeed matched the assassins’ martial arts perfectly. However, Yun Changliu slowly shook his head. “No, this lord suspects Xiaoxiang Palace.”

“……” Guan Wujue’s fingers gripping the scroll tightened suddenly.

Xiaoxiang Palace was the residence of Madam Lin, Lin Wanxia.

Yun Changliu pointed at the pile on the desk and stated blandly, “Since Lin Wanxia married into the Zhuyin Sect, she has had little contact with Yulin Hall; and Yulin Hall has no great enmity with the Zhuyin Sect, so they have no reason to expend effort specifically cultivating such a group of assassins to target Father… This group of assassins could only be forces that Lin Wanxia secretly raised herself.”

Guan Wujue’s expression immediately became complicated.

Yun Changliu remained calm and composed. “Why are you looking at me like that? You told me not to investigate, wasn’t it because you were afraid the investigation would lead to Xiaoxiang Palace?”

……Actually, there was one more thing that Yun Changliu had thought of but didn’t say aloud.

If this group of assassins really was Lin Wanxia’s private force, then they were very likely the ace card that Yun Danjing had intended to use in his attempted rebellion back then.

It was just that Young Master was still too naive and hadn’t had time to truly act before the matter was exposed.

Guan Wujue pondered for a long while. “What does the Sect Leader want to do?”

“This lord doesn’t have much time left.”

Yun Changliu folded his long sleeves, lowering his eyes under the dim candlelight, concealing the flash of cold killing intent in them. “If evidence can be found, then openly handle it according to Punishment Hall regulations; if evidence cannot be found, this lord will personally ‘handle’ it in secret.”

Directly killing Lin Wanxia would naturally solve everything once and for all, but the Protector didn’t agree. “Lin Wanxia cannot be killed. Not only would it be difficult to deal with Miss Chanjuan, but if we really killed Lin Wanxia, we would be locked in a fight to the death with Yulin Hall. We only need to eliminate the forces under her control, then keep her under house arrest for the rest of her life.”

Yun Changliu said, “Easier said than done. Right now we can’t find anything out, so how do we eliminate them? Better to capture the ringleader first—that would be faster.”

“We can lure the snake out of its hole,” Guan Wujue thought for a moment. “Set up a death trap and throw Miss Chanjuan in as bait……”

Yun Changliu’s expression turned cold. “Silence.”

“This subordinate misspoke.” Guan Wujue smiled, placing both hands gently on Yun Changliu’s shoulders and pushing him toward the door. “Let’s not talk about it anymore. It’s getting late, you should go back to sleep first.”

“Can’t sleep.” Yun Changliu shook his head with a light sigh, brushing away Guan Wujue’s hand that was reaching for the scrolls on the desk again. “You go back to sleep first. This lord will look a bit longer. Be good.”

Guan Wujue wasn’t being good.

He stepped forward and, without a word, blew out the lamp.

“You……”

The room instantly plunged into darkness. Yun Changliu looked at the Protector with utter helplessness, wanting to scold him but unable to find the right words.

Guan Wujue looked at him with a smile. “If the Sect Leader really can’t sleep, why not come keep Wujue company?”

Yun Changliu nodded. “Alright, what do you want to do?”

Guan Wujue couldn’t help but laugh. He had only said it casually, not expecting Yun Changliu would really go along with him like this. He thought about it and felt that finding something else for the Sect Leader to do would be better than letting him stay cooped up in the study worrying and exhausting himself, so he said, “Come with Wujue to look at the plum blossoms.”

It had just snowed outside, and now it was the middle of the night—it was cold. Yun Changliu didn’t want Guan Wujue to go out again and patiently tried to persuade him. “How about we go tomorrow?”

Guan Wujue insisted, “You just agreed.”

Yun Changliu had no way to deal with him. After a brief standoff, he could only compromise. “Fine, come with me back to the inner chamber to put on a few more layers.”

……

A moment later, the Four Directions Protector’s red robes were covered by a snow-white fox fur cloak that the Sect Leader draped over him.

Taking advantage of the late night silence, the two walked side by side out through the inner door of Yangxin Hall, but couldn’t help freezing in unison.

Outside, light snow had begun falling again at some unknown time, yet overhead hung a bright full moon.

It was an extremely rare moon snow.

In the courtyard, red plum blossoms blazed like fire, their branches all laden with snow bathed in moonlight. The crisp, delicate fragrance filled the air—it truly seemed like a fairyland.

“This should be the last snow. Winter is about to pass.”

Guan Wujue stood under the corridor, tilting his head back and sighing. From his handsome brow and eye contours all the way down to the beautiful collarbones at his neck, everything was illuminated bright and pale by the moonlight.

Yun Changliu made a sound of agreement, thinking rather melancholically to himself: When the cinnabar plum blossoms bloom again next year, I may not be able to accompany you anymore.

Seeing it was snowing again, Yun Changliu grabbed Guan Wujue’s hand to keep him from going out, forcefully supporting him to sit on the steps under the eaves. He himself sat down close beside him, gathering the Protector’s hands together and using his internal energy to warm them, yet still worried, “Are you cold?”

The Four Directions Protector said helplessly, “You’re being overly cautious. No matter what, Wujue is a martial artist—how could I catch a cold so easily? Viewing plum blossoms without going under the plum trees, what’s the point of that……”

“No,” Yun Changliu reached over to wrap the fox fur more tightly around him, until the fluffy snow-white fur covered even the Protector’s chin. “If you want to look at plum blossoms, this lord will break them off for you to see. Which branch do you like?”

Guan Wujue deliberately pointed with one finger at the highest tip of the plum tree, raising an eyebrow at Yun Changliu playfully.

The Sect Leader never took the Protector’s jokes as jokes. He stood up and glanced at Guan Wujue. “Wait here for me.”

The next moment, Yun Changliu rose into the air, his white robes swirling with scattered snow under the moonlight like a graceful silhouette.

In the blink of an eye, he had already swept from the corridor to the courtyard, his toes landing steadily on a branch of the cinnabar plum tree.

Yun Changliu raised his hand, his slender fingers brushing past the branch of red plum that the Protector had pointed to from afar, and delicately broke it off.

“Hold this.”

When the Sect Leader returned to the Protector’s side and calmly tucked that branch of plum blossom into the latter’s hand, the newly accumulated white snow throughout the courtyard behind him remained flat and unmarred.

Walking on snow without leaving traces.

Guan Wujue’s shapely thin lips curved upward. He held up the plum branch, letting moonlight fall on the crimson petals, then tilted his head slightly to smell the plum fragrance.

He closed his eyes and murmured in an almost intoxicated low voice, “Sect Leader……”

“……!”

Yun Changliu felt as if his heart had been scratched by a cat’s paw, his whole body going soft and numb from his Protector’s call.

He settled back down in his robes beside the Protector, feeling inexplicably hot in his chest.

Guan Wujue opened his eyes and smiled at him. “Sect Leader, speaking of which… have you forgotten something important?”

“What is it?”

Yun Changliu asked casually, but his mind had long since wandered.

He looked at the patch of moonlight reflected on Guan Wujue’s cheek, at the cluster of red plum blossoms near his lips, and for a moment felt his thoughts scatter and his soul overturn.

Sect Leader Yun’s head grew hot, and he suddenly wanted very much to lean over and kiss the person beside him.

……In recent days, while Wujue had been unconscious, he had secretly taken quite a few liberties. Now he had developed a taste for it and felt an unbearable itch in his heart.

Guan Wujue leaned a bit closer to Yun Changliu, squinting his eyes contentedly as he smelled the red plum blossoms. “Do you still remember why you left the sect this time?”

Yun Changliu said subconsciously, “You?”

At the same time, he clutched his sleeve corner in a daze, telling himself: No, I mustn’t be presumptuous. Once that boundary is crossed, there’s no coming back.

With the Fengchun Sheng poison in my body, my life hangs by a thread. If I truly sink too deep, how will Wujue manage in the future?

“——Medicine!” Guan Wujue moved close to the Sect Leader and said resentfully, “The medicine from Wanci Manor! If Wujue doesn’t mention it, won’t you even ask about it!?”

Yun Changliu’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his expression already very unnatural, his voice inexplicably hoarse. “You… stop fooling around, sit back.”

No… I still really want to kiss him!

Sect Leader Yun immediately felt tormented. He had wanted to silently recite a few verses of calming cultivation techniques, but found his mind was a chaotic mess, and for the moment he couldn’t recall any verses at all.

“You really are……”

Guan Wujue sat back somewhat unwillingly, turning to bring the plum blossom to his lips again.

He opened his mouth slightly, bit off a plum blossom and held it between his teeth, leaning back against the pillar under the corridor with his head tilted up, saying in a muffled voice. “There are some leads on the medicine… but we still have to wait a bit.”

Yun Changliu drew in an extremely soft, light breath.

He abruptly closed his eyes and turned his head away, but couldn’t help opening them again.

“Sect Leader?” The Protector suddenly turned his head and smiled. “Why is your heartbeat a bit fast?”

Those eyes he turned toward him were clear and bright as water, filled to the brim with Yun Changliu’s reflection.

The Sect Leader silently reached out one hand and covered those eyes.

“Sect Leader?”

Guan Wujue froze, his eyelashes brushing once against his palm.

In this moment, it was as if the last string of restraint snapped with a “crack.”

Yun Changliu kept one hand covering Guan Wujue’s eyes while the other grabbed the Protector’s collar. Under the moonlight, his fingers trembled slightly with nervousness, but the force carried a kind of gentle determination.

He held his breath and carefully kissed the Protector’s lips.

A gentle peck.

Guan Wujue shuddered in surprise, his hands instinctively pressing against Yun Changliu’s chest.

Yun Changliu kept his eyes tightly shut, thinking to himself: As long as he pushes me away even once, I’ll apologize immediately.

……And after apologizing, I’ll run.

But the resisting force he was waiting for never came.

Guan Wujue’s hands wrapped around Yun Changliu’s back and tightened slightly.

And so their lips met again.

In this moment.

Pale moon, white snow, red plum blossoms.

Two intertwined shadows.

Everything in this place fell silent.