ATAVID CH74

“Green Dragon, His Reverence has not stepped out of the Jade Capital Tower for over a month. Could it be that after the last great battle, His Reverence truly suffered severe injuries, just as the rumors say?” The newly appointed White Tiger stood outside the palace, staring at the cloud-shrouded Jade Capital Tower in the distance, his brow furrowed with deep anxiety.

Xie Chuan stood to the side, not knowing how to answer.

In truth, his master wasn’t injured. On the contrary, because he had broken through to a new realm, the wounds on his body were healing at an exceptionally fast pace.

It was just that on the day his master woke from his coma, when he opened his eyes, there wasn’t a hint of the usual grogginess or confusion. There was only a deathly, hollow void.

He was unnaturally calm. Raising his hand, he dismissed everyone and sat alone by the window of the warm pavilion, sitting there for an entire day. His gaze always fell downward, freezing intently on the apricot blossom tree outside the Jade Capital Tower, looking at who-knew-what.

He just sat like that, speaking not a word, eating and drinking nothing. A lingering, unshakeable loneliness enveloped him, as if more than half of his soul had been drained away, leaving him devoid of any vitality.

Only occasionally, when Xie Chuan went to the Jade Capital Tower, Wei Xun would lift his eyes and casually hand him a piece of Xuan paper covered in names. In a flat, emotionless tone, he would tell Xie Chuan to take the other protectors and slaughter every single demon on the list.

When Xie Chuan received the list and saw the names clearly, his expression shifted instantly in shock. He couldn’t help but advise, “Master, these few are high-level demons who have occupied positions in the Demon Realm for many years. They hold illustrious statuses and possess immense prestige within the clan. If we kill them rashly, I fear it will cause widespread panic throughout the Demon Realm, and the people will find no peace.”

Wei Xun cast a faint glance at him and curled his lips into a smirk. “Who do you think leaked the matter of my trip to Kunlun?”

“They merely coveted this position and wanted to use the hands of the Immortal Alliance to kill me.” Wei Xun looked at the apricot blossom tree outside the window, his tone indifferent. “When the Immortal Alliance besieged Cloud Palace City last time, they were undoubtedly fueling the flames and passing information behind the scenes.”

Hearing this, Xie Chuan didn’t ask another word. He turned around and left with the list. Within just a few days, those high-ranking, powerful high-level demons in Cloud Palace City vanished completely without a sound.

Later on, Wei Xun never stepped a single foot out of the Jade Capital Tower again.

Initially, rumors spread like wildfire within Cloud Palace City, becoming more absurd by the day as demon cultivators whispered on street corners. Some even asserted with absolute certainty that the Demon Venerable had already breathed his last in that great battle half a year ago. Supposedly, the upper echelons of the Demon Realm were just suppressing the news, and it wouldn’t be long before Cloud Palace City changed masters, with a new Lord of the Demon Realm quickly rising to replace him.

Whenever Xie Chuan heard these rumors, he would track them down with a cold face and a sword in hand, ruthlessly teaching them a lesson.

As time went on, the rumors gradually changed their narrative, turning to say that Wei Xun had broken through to the Body Integration Realm during the Immortal-Demon war and was currently in secluded cultivation, fully dedicating himself to consolidating his cultivation and stabilizing his realm.

Once these words came out, the entire Demon Realm had no further objections.

In the thousands of years of the demon race’s history, no one had ever managed to cultivate to such a profound realm. Even that little prince of Tiandu City two thousand years ago, who possessed exceptional cultivation talent, had only stopped at the fourth layer of the Void Refining Realm, ultimately dying a tragic death at the hands of orthodox cultivators. Therefore, those demon cultivators in Cloud Palace City who were itching to make a move for the position of Demon Venerable could only drop their designs.

Cloud Palace City returned to peace, but Xie Chuan’s worries grew heavier by the day. He would always look for various excuses to run to the Jade Capital Tower from time to time, delivering food or organizing the tower’s affairs.

Unlike the other three protectors, Wei Xun had always been a bit more indulgent toward him; he was the only one allowed to step inside the Jade Capital Tower. Over time, the task of reporting the master’s recent situation to the other protectors naturally fell upon his shoulders.

Xie Chuan was still quite awe-inspiring in front of the others. Keeping a cold, rigid face, he would say, “Master is cultivating hard; he has thinned down a bit.”

After another period of time, it became: “Master is still cultivating; he has thinned down a bit more.”

In the end, he simply uttered two words: “He’s thinner.”

Days passed one by one like this. Spring departed and summer arrived, the apricot blossoms fell away, and the branches grew lush with leaves. In the blink of an eye, half a year had slipped by.

When Xie Chuan emerged from the Jade Capital Tower once again, Xuanwu seemed to have expected it: “You come and go, yet all you ever say is that His Reverence has thinned down. If that’s all it is, you might as well not say anything in the future.”

Xie Chuan’s expression, however, was incredibly strange. He lowered his gaze, and only after a long silence did he speak: “No, Master only asked me to buy him a bronze mirror.”

“A bronze mirror?” To the side, Zhuque’s expression grew complex upon hearing this. “Isn’t His Reverence in secluded cultivation? Why would he suddenly want such a thing?”

Xie Chuan didn’t know either. He could only run through every large and small shop in Cloud Palace City, bringing back a pile of bronze mirrors in all sorts of different styles, carrying them back to the Jade Capital Tower in a grand manner.

By the window inside the tower, the youth still sat quietly.

His weight loss was strikingly obvious. Due to long-term sleeplessness, a patch of dark bruising clung beneath his eyes. Though the ghost markings on half of his face had mostly faded, the remaining few lines contrasted against his deathly pale skin, appearing all the more eerie. The demonic energy around him waxed and waned, twisting haphazardly by his side in an extremely poor state.

Xie Chuan gave him the bronze mirrors and was about to leave when he heard Wei Xun speak. Perhaps because he hadn’t spoken for too long, his voice was terribly hoarse: “Xie Chuan, how long has it been since the third day of the third lunar month?”

Xie Chuan froze, quickly calculating in his head before replying, “Replying to Master… it has already been seven months.”

“Ha,” Wei Xun casually picked up a bronze mirror, placing it flat against the low table in front of him. His gaze fell upon his own face in the mirror, watching unmovingly for a long time. At last, the corners of his lips curved slightly, pulling into an extremely faint smile. His voice was flat. “Has that much time really passed?”

Hearing his master speak so many words for the first time in ages, joy sparked in Xie Chuan’s heart. Thinking that he was finally willing to step out of the tower to clear his mind, his eyes shone brightly, and his tone grew cheerful: “At this time in previous years, Master would always take me out to ride horses!”

Wei Xun didn’t take up the conversation. He merely faced the bronze mirror, trying to move the corners of his mouth, bit by bit imitating the way Jiang Qunyu usually smiled.

But it was clearly the exact same face—why was it that when Jiang Qunyu smiled, it looked so clean and lighthearted, yet on his own face, it only looked stiff and hideous?

“If you want to ride horses, go by yourself,” Wei Xun said faintly.

He thought that perhaps by next year, Jiang Qunyu would return. He had always been indulgent toward Xie Chuan; when the time came, the two of them would go together.

“Oh.” Xie Chuan felt a bit deflated, but since his master put it that way, there was no harm in him going alone. He nodded, slung his sword over his back, and tread lightly as he withdrew.

Inside the Jade Capital Tower, only Wei Xun was left once more. He sat quietly by the window, facing that face in the bronze mirror—a face he had once utterly loathed—clumsily imitating Jiang Qunyu’s eyes and brows, Jiang Qunyu’s expressions, and Jiang Qunyu’s smiles over and over again.

Seven months. Two hundred and twenty-one days and six hours. He still hadn’t managed to wait out Jiang Qunyu’s return.

The 88th year of Xiping, midwinter, New Year’s Eve.

This year’s snow came exceptionally late. Goose-feather snow drifted down in torrents, wrapping around the cold wind to blanket Cloud Palace City, draping the entire capital of the Demon Realm in a layer of pristine white, even dampening a bit of its usual bloodlust.

For the first time, Wei Xun walked out of the Jade Capital Tower. His ink-black robes made his figure look increasingly gaunt, and the remaining ghost markings on his face had long since faded, leaving only a whole year’s accumulated loneliness settled between his brows.

Seeing him from afar, Xie Chuan was so startled that he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He rubbed his eyes forcefully several times. After confirming it was indeed his master, he hurriedly leaped down from the tree, his voice brimming with uncontainable joy: “Master, do you still want to drink the plum wine from that shop in the south of the city like previous years?”

“Yes, let’s go,” Wei Xun said calmly.

On this day, Xie Chuan was incredibly happy, fully believing that his master had finally stepped out of the haze of the past and restored his former self. Just like New Year’s Eves of the past, they drank plum wine and went to the largest tavern in Cloud Palace City to listen to the storyteller’s tale.

They even picked out storybooks together. Only this time, his master didn’t mutter curses while throwing away those romance novels about love between men and women. He seemed like a completely different person. He merely placed those storybooks quietly into his spatial pouch, standing in place dazed for a long time before turning to walk to the next destination.

Xie Chuan watching his back, inexplicably felt a pang of sadness as well.

…

As the twilight deepened, the festive New Year atmosphere on the streets grew thicker. Wei Xun then dismissed Xie Chuan to go play on his own, while he walked with light, slow steps along the corridors of the palace.

The cold wind curled around the snowflakes, blowing the strands of hair before his forehead and scraping against his cheeks with a piercing chill, yet he was completely oblivious to it. With his eyes half-lowered, he walked aimlessly. Suddenly, his gaze swept across a nearby garden, and his footsteps abruptly froze, unable to move an inch further.

In the snow of the garden stood a tiny snowman with a round head. Charcoal had been used to dot its eyes and mouth, and a section of a half-worn, plain-colored silk thread was tied around its neck. Its appearance was clumsy, looking exactly like the little trinkets Jiang Qunyu used to make on a whim.

…Jiang Qunyu.

The ice within Wei Xun’s eyes shattered instantly, melting into a faint tenderness. He unexpectedly felt as though his feet were filled with lead, unable to move in the slightest. The gloom, dead silence, and torment accumulated over an entire year were swept clean in this single instant. He wanted to pull his lips into a smile, but his eyes grew red first. A wave of sour ache surged violently up, making him want to shed tears for no reason.

Three hundred and seven days and ten hours. How could Jiang Qunyu leave for so long?

He had thought that Jiang Qunyu didn’t want him anymore. He had broken his promise.

Originally, he was thinking that if Jiang Qunyu didn’t return soon and made him wait too long, next time, he would lock him up, confine him, and from then on there would only be the two of them. But Jiang Qunyu had returned, so he forgave him for leaving for so long. It was his own failure to protect him; it was his fault. If Jiang Qunyu wanted to kill him, he would hand Jiang Qunyu the blade himself.

He didn’t blame him. Just… don’t leave him again. Don’t abandon him anymore.

“…Jiang Qunyu,” Wei Xun called out softly, his voice shaking uncontrollably.

His fair, slender hands were already covered in wounds. Bright red blood flowed down his fingertips, landing on the snow-white ground like blooming red plum blossoms. He strode over to the small snowman, his face deathly pale, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings with urgency and tension, staring dead at every single corner.

Jiang Qunyu loved doing this most. In the past, he always liked to quietly slip up behind him, cover his eyes, and smile as he teased him. He must be nearby.

But in the next instant, from the archway of the corridor came two maidservants. Holding fresh snow in their hands, they were talking merrily about their private secrets. The moment they caught sight of Wei Xun, the smiles on their faces instantly froze. Scared out of their wits, they dropped to their knees with a thud, their entire bodies trembling. The fresh snow they held scattered, fluttering and falling all over the ground.

Wei Xun lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a small patch of shadow beneath his pale eyes. His heart felt as though it was being brutally squeezed by an invisible hand, pressing down so hard he could barely breathe. A dull, heavy pain slowly seeped into his limbs and bones, making even his breathing ache like needle pricks.

So, it wasn’t Jiang Qunyu.

He heard his own voice—very light, very hoarse, and terrifyingly calm. He asked, “This snowman, did you two make it?”

The maidservants prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to lift their heads, their voices shaking uncontrollably: “Yes, ye… yes… It was just something these servants made out of boredom. We have disturbed Your Reverence, we beg Your Reverence for forgiveness.”

Wei Xun didn’t speak for a long time. Finally, he curled his lips slightly and left.

Night deepened, and Cloud Palace City grew even more lively. The city was ablaze with lights, illuminating the night sky as bright as day. Over the city towers, endless fireworks erupted, radiant and breathtakingly beautiful.

Yet Wei Xun had absolutely no heart to watch them.

He lay quietly on the bed, tightly holding that body which possessed no warmth and did not breathe, burying his head in the crook of the youth’s neck, murmuring softly: “Liar…”

Outside, the fireworks of Cloud Palace City continued to burst across the sky amidst bursts of firecrackers, making the Jade Capital Tower feel all the more desolately lonely.

Xie Chuan had originally remembered that according to previous years, he would always ask his master for a red envelope, but this year he had forgotten. Yet just as he stepped into the Jade Capital Tower as usual, he saw winding traces of blood upon the white jade steps, extending all the way up the staircase.

His heart violently skipped a beat, and the blood throughout his body nearly froze instantly. Gripping his sword, he rushed swiftly toward the top floor.

His master wasn’t in the warm pavilion. Xie Chuan followed that broken trail of blood all the way to the outside of the innermost bedroom. This room was a forbidden zone within the Jade Capital Tower. Having followed his master for many years, he had never stepped a single foot inside. But looking at the bloodstains on the ground right now, his heart was filled with terror. How could he care about any prohibitions? Gnashing his teeth, he pushed the door open directly.

The door hinges creaked softly, and the scene inside met his eyes. Xie Chuan instantly froze in place, shocked to the absolute core.

The cold moonlight spilled through the window lattices onto the bed. Within Wei Xun’s arms, he seemed to be cradling a youth. The youth wore a set of red robes, his features exquisite. The white clothes on Wei Xun’s body overlapped with the youth’s red robes, and their long hair intertwined together, scattered across the bedding. The scene was beautifully tragic to a near-eerie degree.

Xie Chuan had never known that his master had actually hidden a person inside the Jade Capital Tower. He stood at the doorway, completely at a loss.

Yet he saw his master slowly rise. His face was deathly pale and cold, his eyes devoid of any ripples, as chillingly silent as a pool of stagnant water. The gaze he directed toward Xie Chuan was exceptionally flat, yet showed no signs of anger. He merely opened his thin lips, his voice terribly hoarse as he uttered two words: “Get out.”

“Yes.” Xie Chuan was both startled and panicked. In his daze, he only thought that even though his master hadn’t punished him on the spot, he would definitely go take his punishment voluntarily after leaving; trespassing into a forbidden zone was already a massive offense.

Just as he was about to shut the door, he heard Wei Xun on the bed suddenly speak again.

His voice was very light, very hollow, carrying a cluelessness and pleading that even he himself hadn’t realized:

“Tell me… is it because too much time has passed, so… he forgot how to walk the way back…?”

However, Wei Xun didn’t seem to need his answer. Because after he finished asking, he no longer looked at him, lying back down once more to carefully tighten his arms, holding that handsome youth tightly in his embrace again.