Wu Du is the only one who can accomplish this, but what are they going to tell Bian Lingbai? There can be no possible explanation for one of them to suddenly just go. In the end, it’s Wu Du who comes up with an excuse on his own, telling Duan Ling he doesn’t have to think about it, and that they can worry about what comes after once Duan Ling finishes writing that letter.
This letter is downright using up everything Duan Ling had ever learned in his life. If he racks his brains and tries to imitate Mu Kuangda’s memorial-writing tone, it sounds as comical as having an old head on his young shoulders. He writes one, tears it to pieces, then he writes another and tears it up again — none of his paragraphs sound right. First he must inform Mu Kuangda of Tongguan’s situation and remind him to be careful, but he mustn’t exaggerate and sound alarmist; second, he has to bring up his own sincere recommendation, but he can’t let Mu Kuangda know about his selfish motives, and he really mustn’t let him guess at the personal friendship between Helian Bo and himself; third, he has to clearly analyse the relationships between Yao Fu, Bian Lingbai, and Helian Da.
Duan Ling writes, and as he writes he sorts out the train of thoughts in his head. Currently, Yao Fu and Bian Lingbai are on the same side; Yao Fu has left his niece in Bian Lingbai’s care so that he can marry her to Xiliang’s Helian Bo faction. Yet Bian Lingbai has come to a secret agreement with Helian Bo’s uncle — not only is he betraying Yao Fu, he’s even planning to kill off Helian Bo outside Tongguan without anyone knowing.
Should he add in the fact that Helan Jie conspired to murder the late emperor? Duan Ling thinks on this some more and in the end decides against it. Then he puts forward his own idea — use this opportunity to ally with Helian Bo, exchange terms beneficial to both sides, divvy up the administration rights over the Silk Road, and kill off Bian Lingbai. This way, the northern section of the Silk Road will be under Helian Bo’s control, while the southern section will go to Mu Kuangda and the Chen imperial court. Helian Da’s motives and plans will be exposed for all to see, Yao Fu won’t get anything out of this, and Bian Lingbai will be dead.
But the moment Bian Lingbai dies, those promissory notes Helian Da has been holding will become uncollectible debts. He will undoubtedly invade Tongguan and seek to take control over the city, then continue to march south — no matter how incompetent he may turn out to be, he’ll at least plunder through Tongguan and some distance beyond before making his retreat.
Thus, unless they’re prepared to take over the army from Bian Lingbai, they can’t kill him. But if they don’t kill off Bian Lingbai as soon as possible, he’s going to raise arms against the empire. Duan Ling has managed to get all that on paper, but by then he’s quite ready for Mu Kuangda to tear his memorial to pieces. All he wants to do is to flip the table and howl in fury — how is that supposed to ever happen? How can anyone ever possibly take over the entire Tongguan army within seven days?!
Duan Ling suddenly hits upon an idea — isn’t he himself the best candidate there is?
Bian Lingbai has been telling everyone that Duan Ling is his nephew “Bian Rong”, which implies that if Bian Lingbai dies without any apparent cause, he can continue to hold the official seal from this uncle he’s gotten for free and call for everyone to take vengeance for Bian Lingbai!
It’s the last resort of last resorts, but Duan Ling writes it down in detail anyway, leaving it up to Mu Kuangda to make the final decision. Once he finishes writing the letter, he hands it to Wu Du. Wu Du flips through the ledger, but he doesn’t even bother looking at the letter before he goes to Bian Lingbai with Duan Ling to take his leave.
Bian Lingbai has spent the entire night running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and now he’s being woken up by Wu Du again; he looks truly miserable.
“I need to go somewhere,” Wu Du says to Bian Lingbai.
Bian Lingbai scrutinises them with eyes half asleep.
“I leave Zhao Rong in your hands. If anything happens to him, I will kill you.”
And with a quick flash of movement, Wu Du is gone from the room.
Bian Lingbai is still dazed.
Duan Ling doesn’t look much like he’s in a good mood either, and Bian Lingbai only wakes then with a shudder. “Where’s he going?”
“He’s going to go look for an item. That thing called the Zhenshanhe.”
Bian Lingbai stares at Duan Ling, perplexed, before quickly coming to a realisation. “Where’s he going to go look for it? It’s already been lost for a whole year.”
“Maybe it’s … because of the assassin who was here last night?”
Bian Lingbai is pacing in the room and shakes his head without minding what Duan Ling said. “No. That’s unlikely.”
“What’s the Zhenshanhe?”
“It’s the late emperor’s sword. Ever since the Mongolians breached Shangjing, and the late emperor passed away …”
Of course Duan Ling knows that, but when the words come out of Bian Lingbai’s mouth he cannot help but feel a sharp pang in his heart anyway.
“… The Zhenshanhe’s whereabouts has been lost. Could it be that last night’s assassin was a Mongolian? Hmm …”
“How did the late emperor die? Who killed him?”
“You don’t know?” Bian Lingbai considers Duan Ling, surprised. Since he’s already been woken up anyway, he orders the servants to serve breakfast, and they each sit down in front of a table to have congee.
Bian Lingbai’s impression of this “nephew” is actually rather favourable. After all, he’s travelled all this way and managed to resolve his debt problems with a single act. Before this, he had to put up with Wu Du, but now that the thorn in his side is gone, it gives him a chance for a good chat with this nephew.
“The late emperor was a real man. To save Yelü Dashi, he charged all the way into Shangjing, and fell to that knave Helan Jie’s ambush, dying in battle after giving his all. I’ve never been afraid of anything between heaven and earth — he was the one exception.”
“Helan Jie … would he be …”
Bian Lingbai hums in the affirmative, looking a bit forlorn as he stares into the courtyard. “It’ll be the Seventh of Seventh again in seven days. So I’m sure you understand; I’ve taken in even that assassin, so I really don’t have any other options left. Even if I don’t deal with the Mu family as soon as I’m able to, the Mu family is going to deal with me eventually.”
Duan Ling thinks to himself, the Mu family is dealing with you right now, hindsight is as useless as they say, but he keeps that to himself. “Uncle, you needn’t fear him. Dig up the treasure and we’ll have plenty of money. You won’t even need those funds from the government then.”
Bian Lingbai blows on his congee, cooling it as he eats. He shakes his head and gives Duan Ling a forced smile.
“Why would Helan Jie want to kill the late emperor though?”
“Well that I don’t know. That knave is …” When Bian Lingbai gets to this part, Duan Ling’s ears perk up, but Bian Lingbai has realised he nearly let something slip and changes his tune, “… a desperate fugitive. After he assassinated the late emperor, he escaped to Xiliang first, then when Xiliang didn’t dare shelter him he escaped into Tongguan.” Bian Lingbai ends his sentence with a long sigh.
Bian Lingbai’s sigh sounds so wistful that even Duan Ling feels old on his behalf. He really wants to keep pressing for more details, but too many questions can easily make him seem suspicious.
Once they finish their meal, Bian Lingbai says to Duan Ling, “Alright, we’re the only ones left in the estate now. Go back to your room and get ready, I’ll come get you in a bit and we’ll go on a hike.”
Duan Ling knows that Bian LIngbai wants to go check on his treasure, to see if anyone’s touched it, and so he tells him ‘yes’ right away. As he’s about to leave, Bian Lingbai says to him, “Do you have any other uncles left?”
Duan Ling shakes his head. “Everyone in the Zhao family is gone.”
“Then from now on I’m your real uncle. We can tell other people that too — I’ll just say you’re the son of my second cousin, and you’ve come to Tongguan to seek shelter with me.”
Duan Ling nods gratefully, but he thinks to himself: my real uncle’s in Xichuan right now. Watch out when you become a ghost my grandpa doesn’t beat you to death.
Duan Ling hasn’t slept all night. So sleepy he can barely keep his eyes open, he goes back to his room to lie down. His mind’s in a whirl as soon as he falls asleep; hours go by, and in his dreams he hears that song named Joyful Reunion again.
It’s quite strange, actually; he’s already heard four different people play this song — Lang Junxia, Xunchun, Li Jianhong, and Wu Du. The one that left the deepest impression on him was that one day in Shangjing’s Illustrious Hall, then there was that night after he came to Xichuan, when loneliness seemed to grow from the silence of the night and he stood leaning against the door listening to Wu Du play.
Lang Junxia.
Whenever he thinks of his name Duan Ling would shudder. He doesn’t even want to think about what he looks like, or to bring up his name. He rolls over subconsciously, but he doesn’t find Wu Du. Opening his eyes, he feels as though someone really has been playing the flute, but as soon as he wakes, the music stops.
Wu Du isn’t here.
It’s the first time he’s apart from Wu Du in all these months. Before this, Wu Du was always there whenever he woke up — maybe he would be outside practising his martial arts, or maybe he’d be in the courtyard watering the flowers, maybe inside the house, tidying up.
And now when he opens his eyes the room feels deserted, and seeing that the sun is setting is making him feel especially flustered, an ineffable panic gnawing at his heart. Today is the first day. There are six days left.
Duan Ling sits up, staring out into the courtyard with a blank look on his face. Autumn has arrived; there’s a bleakness to Tongguan’s autumn, with leaves rustling loudly in the breeze. The first wave of yellow leaves are falling.
“Wu Du …” Duan Ling mutters to himself.
“What are you thinking about.” Wu Du, crouching at the foot of the bed, suddenly says to him.
Duan Ling nearly jumps out of his skin. “How come you’re still here?!”
“Shh.” Wu Du is dressed in his rogue’s blacks, and he puts a finger in front of his lips for quiet as he stares at Duan Ling, his gaze wandering.
“I’m still not reassured. Why don’t we just leave together?”
“No. We can’t.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Wu Du frowns. “I really don’t feel assured leaving you here on your own.”
“And if I leave just like that, what are we going to do about Bian Lingbai?”
“I dosed his congee with Seven Day Frenzy. In seven days he’ll have a seizure and die from frothing at the mouth and haemorrhage from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. If we go back to Xichuan together, we’ll make it back here in time.”
“And what if Chancellor Mu has other arrangements? Helan Jie is coming back too.”
“And if you’re discovered, and died, what am I to do?”
Duan Ling’s heart feels like it’s being squeezed out of nowhere when he hears this, but Wu Du’s expression looks extremely calm, not at all resembling the impatient face he usually wears. Duan Ling knows he’s seriously considering this problem. Wu Du always looks like this when he’s being serious about something.
With a slight frown, Wu Du adds, “The first thing I did when I came out of that room was poison his congee, then I watched him until he drank it. I was worried that he’d do something to you as soon as I left.”
“Look, even now I’m still fine.” Duan Ling peers out into the courtyard and asks Wu Du, “Where did he go?”
“He’s talking to Master Fei. He’ll be over to see you soon.”
“Do you remember that phrase? The one the late emperor said to you. There are some things that you must do even if you know it leads to certain death.”
Wu Du falls silent. His eyes are very deeply set and beautiful. He raises an eyebrow and stares at Duan Ling.
“You have a lot of guts.” Wu Du smiles. “But you’ve overlooked something very important. Just one thing. Have you thought of it yet?”
“What?” Duan Ling says blankly.
“What are we going to do if he finds out that the ledger is gone?”
As though he’s just freshly woken up from a dream, Duan Ling says, “You’re right, my mistake. We really ought to make a copy and put it back, but it’s too late now. If he asks about it all we can do is play dumb. It’s already gone, so what’s he going to do?”
“Master Fei made you a copy. I already put it back earlier in the afternoon.”
Thank the heavens. Duan Ling is covered in cold sweat.
“I was already outside the city when I thought of that and made my way back here to get it done, then I came here to let you know I did it.”
Wu Du stares at Duan Ling. Duan Ling begins to smile.
“Um …” Wu Du is about to speak, but seems to hesitate.
Duan Ling is sitting on the bed looking guileless in the snow white undershirt and pants he wears to sleep. Wu Du gives him another glance before saying, “I’m leaving now.”
“You … be careful.” Duan Ling says.
“I know you can use a bow. If you’re in danger, just run. Protect yourself. You too … you must be careful.”
Wu Du is tall and slender, and he crouches there just like that motionless for a while, face to face with Duan Ling, with the only sound between them their quiet breaths. Out in the courtyard, a leaf parts from its branch, fluttering in the breeze to and fro until it lands in a flowering shrub; a bee takes wing and flies away with a buzz.
Wu Du turns, leaps off the bed, and with quick steps exits the room. Gripping the eaves above him, he vanishes with a swing and a flip.
Duan Ling feels a bit lost, for no other reason than some long forgotten words that rang out in his heart the very moment they parted. That voice came like a tide, carrying with it what used to feel like endless, fathomless sadness, rushing towards him like a wall of water. But just like tides coming in and tides going out, as it was about to roll its way into his heart, it retreated gently away.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
Wu Du is the only one who can accomplish this, but what are they going to tell Bian Lingbai? There can be no possible explanation for one of them to suddenly just go. In the end, it’s Wu Du who comes up with an excuse on his own, telling Duan Ling he doesn’t have to think about it, and that they can worry about what comes after once Duan Ling finishes writing that letter.
This letter is downright using up everything Duan Ling had ever learned in his life. If he racks his brains and tries to imitate Mu Kuangda’s memorial-writing tone, it sounds as comical as having an old head on his young shoulders. He writes one, tears it to pieces, then he writes another and tears it up again — none of his paragraphs sound right. First he must inform Mu Kuangda of Tongguan’s situation and remind him to be careful, but he mustn’t exaggerate and sound alarmist; second, he has to bring up his own sincere recommendation, but he can’t let Mu Kuangda know about his selfish motives, and he really mustn’t let him guess at the personal friendship between Helian Bo and himself; third, he has to clearly analyse the relationships between Yao Fu, Bian Lingbai, and Helian Da.
Duan Ling writes, and as he writes he sorts out the train of thoughts in his head. Currently, Yao Fu and Bian Lingbai are on the same side; Yao Fu has left his niece in Bian Lingbai’s care so that he can marry her to Xiliang’s Helian Bo faction. Yet Bian Lingbai has come to a secret agreement with Helian Bo’s uncle — not only is he betraying Yao Fu, he’s even planning to kill off Helian Bo outside Tongguan without anyone knowing.
Should he add in the fact that Helan Jie conspired to murder the late emperor? Duan Ling thinks on this some more and in the end decides against it. Then he puts forward his own idea — use this opportunity to ally with Helian Bo, exchange terms beneficial to both sides, divvy up the administration rights over the Silk Road, and kill off Bian Lingbai. This way, the northern section of the Silk Road will be under Helian Bo’s control, while the southern section will go to Mu Kuangda and the Chen imperial court. Helian Da’s motives and plans will be exposed for all to see, Yao Fu won’t get anything out of this, and Bian Lingbai will be dead.
But the moment Bian Lingbai dies, those promissory notes Helian Da has been holding will become uncollectible debts. He will undoubtedly invade Tongguan and seek to take control over the city, then continue to march south — no matter how incompetent he may turn out to be, he’ll at least plunder through Tongguan and some distance beyond before making his retreat.
Thus, unless they’re prepared to take over the army from Bian Lingbai, they can’t kill him. But if they don’t kill off Bian Lingbai as soon as possible, he’s going to raise arms against the empire. Duan Ling has managed to get all that on paper, but by then he’s quite ready for Mu Kuangda to tear his memorial to pieces. All he wants to do is to flip the table and howl in fury — how is that supposed to ever happen? How can anyone ever possibly take over the entire Tongguan army within seven days?!
Duan Ling suddenly hits upon an idea — isn’t he himself the best candidate there is?
Bian Lingbai has been telling everyone that Duan Ling is his nephew “Bian Rong”, which implies that if Bian Lingbai dies without any apparent cause, he can continue to hold the official seal from this uncle he’s gotten for free and call for everyone to take vengeance for Bian Lingbai!
It’s the last resort of last resorts, but Duan Ling writes it down in detail anyway, leaving it up to Mu Kuangda to make the final decision. Once he finishes writing the letter, he hands it to Wu Du. Wu Du flips through the ledger, but he doesn’t even bother looking at the letter before he goes to Bian Lingbai with Duan Ling to take his leave.
Bian Lingbai has spent the entire night running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and now he’s being woken up by Wu Du again; he looks truly miserable.
“I need to go somewhere,” Wu Du says to Bian Lingbai.
Bian Lingbai scrutinises them with eyes half asleep.
“I leave Zhao Rong in your hands. If anything happens to him, I will kill you.”
And with a quick flash of movement, Wu Du is gone from the room.
Bian Lingbai is still dazed.
Duan Ling doesn’t look much like he’s in a good mood either, and Bian Lingbai only wakes then with a shudder. “Where’s he going?”
“He’s going to go look for an item. That thing called the Zhenshanhe.”
Bian Lingbai stares at Duan Ling, perplexed, before quickly coming to a realisation. “Where’s he going to go look for it? It’s already been lost for a whole year.”
“Maybe it’s … because of the assassin who was here last night?”
Bian Lingbai is pacing in the room and shakes his head without minding what Duan Ling said. “No. That’s unlikely.”
“What’s the Zhenshanhe?”
“It’s the late emperor’s sword. Ever since the Mongolians breached Shangjing, and the late emperor passed away …”
Of course Duan Ling knows that, but when the words come out of Bian Lingbai’s mouth he cannot help but feel a sharp pang in his heart anyway.
“… The Zhenshanhe’s whereabouts has been lost. Could it be that last night’s assassin was a Mongolian? Hmm …”
“How did the late emperor die? Who killed him?”
“You don’t know?” Bian Lingbai considers Duan Ling, surprised. Since he’s already been woken up anyway, he orders the servants to serve breakfast, and they each sit down in front of a table to have congee.
Bian Lingbai’s impression of this “nephew” is actually rather favourable. After all, he’s travelled all this way and managed to resolve his debt problems with a single act. Before this, he had to put up with Wu Du, but now that the thorn in his side is gone, it gives him a chance for a good chat with this nephew.
“The late emperor was a real man. To save Yelü Dashi, he charged all the way into Shangjing, and fell to that knave Helan Jie’s ambush, dying in battle after giving his all. I’ve never been afraid of anything between heaven and earth — he was the one exception.”
“Helan Jie … would he be …”
Bian Lingbai hums in the affirmative, looking a bit forlorn as he stares into the courtyard. “It’ll be the Seventh of Seventh again in seven days. So I’m sure you understand; I’ve taken in even that assassin, so I really don’t have any other options left. Even if I don’t deal with the Mu family as soon as I’m able to, the Mu family is going to deal with me eventually.”
Duan Ling thinks to himself, the Mu family is dealing with you right now, hindsight is as useless as they say, but he keeps that to himself. “Uncle, you needn’t fear him. Dig up the treasure and we’ll have plenty of money. You won’t even need those funds from the government then.”
Bian Lingbai blows on his congee, cooling it as he eats. He shakes his head and gives Duan Ling a forced smile.
“Why would Helan Jie want to kill the late emperor though?”
“Well that I don’t know. That knave is …” When Bian Lingbai gets to this part, Duan Ling’s ears perk up, but Bian Lingbai has realised he nearly let something slip and changes his tune, “… a desperate fugitive. After he assassinated the late emperor, he escaped to Xiliang first, then when Xiliang didn’t dare shelter him he escaped into Tongguan.” Bian Lingbai ends his sentence with a long sigh.
Bian Lingbai’s sigh sounds so wistful that even Duan Ling feels old on his behalf. He really wants to keep pressing for more details, but too many questions can easily make him seem suspicious.
Once they finish their meal, Bian Lingbai says to Duan Ling, “Alright, we’re the only ones left in the estate now. Go back to your room and get ready, I’ll come get you in a bit and we’ll go on a hike.”
Duan Ling knows that Bian LIngbai wants to go check on his treasure, to see if anyone’s touched it, and so he tells him ‘yes’ right away. As he’s about to leave, Bian Lingbai says to him, “Do you have any other uncles left?”
Duan Ling shakes his head. “Everyone in the Zhao family is gone.”
“Then from now on I’m your real uncle. We can tell other people that too — I’ll just say you’re the son of my second cousin, and you’ve come to Tongguan to seek shelter with me.”
Duan Ling nods gratefully, but he thinks to himself: my real uncle’s in Xichuan right now. Watch out when you become a ghost my grandpa doesn’t beat you to death.
Duan Ling hasn’t slept all night. So sleepy he can barely keep his eyes open, he goes back to his room to lie down. His mind’s in a whirl as soon as he falls asleep; hours go by, and in his dreams he hears that song named Joyful Reunion again.
It’s quite strange, actually; he’s already heard four different people play this song — Lang Junxia, Xunchun, Li Jianhong, and Wu Du. The one that left the deepest impression on him was that one day in Shangjing’s Illustrious Hall, then there was that night after he came to Xichuan, when loneliness seemed to grow from the silence of the night and he stood leaning against the door listening to Wu Du play.
Lang Junxia.
Whenever he thinks of his name Duan Ling would shudder. He doesn’t even want to think about what he looks like, or to bring up his name. He rolls over subconsciously, but he doesn’t find Wu Du. Opening his eyes, he feels as though someone really has been playing the flute, but as soon as he wakes, the music stops.
Wu Du isn’t here.
It’s the first time he’s apart from Wu Du in all these months. Before this, Wu Du was always there whenever he woke up — maybe he would be outside practising his martial arts, or maybe he’d be in the courtyard watering the flowers, maybe inside the house, tidying up.
And now when he opens his eyes the room feels deserted, and seeing that the sun is setting is making him feel especially flustered, an ineffable panic gnawing at his heart. Today is the first day. There are six days left.
Duan Ling sits up, staring out into the courtyard with a blank look on his face. Autumn has arrived; there’s a bleakness to Tongguan’s autumn, with leaves rustling loudly in the breeze. The first wave of yellow leaves are falling.
“Wu Du …” Duan Ling mutters to himself.
“What are you thinking about.” Wu Du, crouching at the foot of the bed, suddenly says to him.
Duan Ling nearly jumps out of his skin. “How come you’re still here?!”
“Shh.” Wu Du is dressed in his rogue’s blacks, and he puts a finger in front of his lips for quiet as he stares at Duan Ling, his gaze wandering.
“I’m still not reassured. Why don’t we just leave together?”
“No. We can’t.”
“It’s too dangerous.” Wu Du frowns. “I really don’t feel assured leaving you here on your own.”
“And if I leave just like that, what are we going to do about Bian Lingbai?”
“I dosed his congee with Seven Day Frenzy. In seven days he’ll have a seizure and die from frothing at the mouth and haemorrhage from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. If we go back to Xichuan together, we’ll make it back here in time.”
“And what if Chancellor Mu has other arrangements? Helan Jie is coming back too.”
“And if you’re discovered, and died, what am I to do?”
Duan Ling’s heart feels like it’s being squeezed out of nowhere when he hears this, but Wu Du’s expression looks extremely calm, not at all resembling the impatient face he usually wears. Duan Ling knows he’s seriously considering this problem. Wu Du always looks like this when he’s being serious about something.
With a slight frown, Wu Du adds, “The first thing I did when I came out of that room was poison his congee, then I watched him until he drank it. I was worried that he’d do something to you as soon as I left.”
“Look, even now I’m still fine.” Duan Ling peers out into the courtyard and asks Wu Du, “Where did he go?”
“He’s talking to Master Fei. He’ll be over to see you soon.”
“Do you remember that phrase? The one the late emperor said to you. There are some things that you must do even if you know it leads to certain death.”
Wu Du falls silent. His eyes are very deeply set and beautiful. He raises an eyebrow and stares at Duan Ling.
“You have a lot of guts.” Wu Du smiles. “But you’ve overlooked something very important. Just one thing. Have you thought of it yet?”
“What?” Duan Ling says blankly.
“What are we going to do if he finds out that the ledger is gone?”
As though he’s just freshly woken up from a dream, Duan Ling says, “You’re right, my mistake. We really ought to make a copy and put it back, but it’s too late now. If he asks about it all we can do is play dumb. It’s already gone, so what’s he going to do?”
“Master Fei made you a copy. I already put it back earlier in the afternoon.”
Thank the heavens. Duan Ling is covered in cold sweat.
“I was already outside the city when I thought of that and made my way back here to get it done, then I came here to let you know I did it.”
Wu Du stares at Duan Ling. Duan Ling begins to smile.
“Um …” Wu Du is about to speak, but seems to hesitate.
Duan Ling is sitting on the bed looking guileless in the snow white undershirt and pants he wears to sleep. Wu Du gives him another glance before saying, “I’m leaving now.”
“You … be careful.” Duan Ling says.
“I know you can use a bow. If you’re in danger, just run. Protect yourself. You too … you must be careful.”
Wu Du is tall and slender, and he crouches there just like that motionless for a while, face to face with Duan Ling, with the only sound between them their quiet breaths. Out in the courtyard, a leaf parts from its branch, fluttering in the breeze to and fro until it lands in a flowering shrub; a bee takes wing and flies away with a buzz.
Wu Du turns, leaps off the bed, and with quick steps exits the room. Gripping the eaves above him, he vanishes with a swing and a flip.
Duan Ling feels a bit lost, for no other reason than some long forgotten words that rang out in his heart the very moment they parted. That voice came like a tide, carrying with it what used to feel like endless, fathomless sadness, rushing towards him like a wall of water. But just like tides coming in and tides going out, as it was about to roll its way into his heart, it retreated gently away.
I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎
