SS CH13

Ye Fusheng wanted to laugh a little, but halfway through the laugh, his eyes felt dry and astringent.

“I smacked those two fruits to the ground. He wasn’t angry, only asking if I hated them,” Xie Wuyi said. “Naturally, I said yes. I didn’t expect him to actually smile, saying it was good that I knew I hated them, so I wouldn’t vent my anger on innocent people.”

The so-called innocent people, presumably, referred to the then seven-year-old Xie Li and his disciple Xue Chanyi, who was still out wandering the world at the time.

Those were probably the most peaceful days of his life. Sharing joys and sorrows with the enemy who had stolen everything from him in this prison-like place. Not only did they live together in peace, but they were surprisingly quite harmonious.

Perhaps in this world, the thing most capable of making one forget both gratitude and grudges—besides a broad mind—is being fellow fallen wanderers at the end of the world.

Sometimes he couldn’t help but think that the man was indeed more suited for the name “Xie Min” than he was. A man who perfectly matched his name: a gentleman flawless like jade.

But he could not resign himself to it.

That night, a torrential rainstorm fell. Inside the cave, it was so damp and cold that it made people shiver. The man took off his outer robe and gave it to him, shifting himself to the cave entrance to block the wind with his own body.

He asked, “I severed the tendons in your hand. Do you really not hate me?”

The man smiled and said that if he didn’t hate him, why would he have dragged him down to serve as a cushion when falling off the cliff? It was just that after walking along the boundary of life and death, and putting himself in his shoes, he suddenly felt that his own hatred couldn’t compare to his indignation and unresigned bitterness.

“I was brought back to Duanshui Manor at the age of eight, and lived fourteen years of a life without daylight. I didn’t even possess an identity or a name, let alone freedom. All sorts of cold treatment were merely because Father still harbored a sliver of thought for you who was wandering in the Western Regions, and he didn’t want to give people a pretext to gossip. Therefore, it’s not that I had no resentment about this.” The man rubbed his palms together. “The two days before you returned, I was actually somewhat terrified, because I didn’t know what kind of fate awaited me when the true young master of Duanshui Manor returned. But what I didn’t expect was…”

“Seeing my condition like that, you were very happy, weren’t you?”

“Of course I was happy, because I was finally able to replace you, to possess the identity and status I had yearned for so long, and to live openly and honorably in the world. But it was inevitable that a chill arose in my heart. After all, if he could abandon you for the sake of Duanshui Manor that day, he could also abandon me in the future.”

He sneered coldly: “You are quite smart. It makes sense; if you were a fool, Rong Cui wouldn’t have been biased toward you. More than ten years of affection between her and me ultimately couldn’t match a fake-turned-real husband and wife.”

“She is a good woman. She supports her husband and raises her child, gentle, virtuous, and refined. I genuinely and sincerely wanted to spend a lifetime with her.” The man sighed. “Therefore, even though her poisoning the blade this time was indeed a loss of morality and justice, I couldn’t help but be deeply moved by this affection.”

“Then you’d best kill me right now. Otherwise, once I return, I will definitely make her pay the price.”

“You won’t.”

“Which eye of yours makes you think I’m a rotten, good-natured fool who repays malice with virtue?”

“You won’t repay malice with virtue, but neither will you repay virtue with malice.” The man curled the corners of his mouth at him. “Do you know of Mister Sun Minfeng from Cangxue (Vast Snow) Valley?”

“The Gui Yi known as the ‘Enemy of Yama’?” He had previously used this person’s title to mock Xie Zhongshan, but regarding the Gui Yi‘s abilities, he had only heard Jianghu rumors and didn’t truly understand.

“Mm. A year ago, while I was taking Chanyi out for experiential training, I happened to encounter him in some trouble, being ambushed by others. So I stepped in and saved him once, making him owe me a favor. Before heading to this battle, I secretly sent him a letter, asking him to hurry to Guyang City.” The man smiled. “The poison in your body is currently only being suppressed by your neigong, but the Gui Yi will definitely have a way to save you.”

He said: “Since the Gui Yi has such abilities, why don’t you let him try to restore your right hand?”

“This is the favor I am giving you.” The man looked at the wound on his right wrist. “There can only be one Xie Min in the Jianghu, and I am returning everything that you should rightfully possess back to you.”

He couldn’t help but sit up straighter, hissing, “You think I would be grateful for such charity?”

“I said, I am returning it to you.” The man turned back and pressed his shoulder. “I am returning your identity, honor, and responsibilities to you. Isn’t this exactly what you wanted to snatch back?”

“Ridiculous. If I change back to Xie Min, then where does that leave Rong Cui, her son, and your disciple?”

“You said it yourself—you know exactly who it is you hate.”

A thousand words choked in his throat. He panted rapidly several times before finally spitting, “You are a coward.”

This man did not fear revenge, yet he didn’t dare to accept a life changed beyond recognition. He would rather give up everything and return to being a self with nothing, than dare to bear the burden of the past.

He said mockingly, “I have never looked down on you as much as I do today.”

“I also think I am a coward.” The man gave a bitter smile. “So, let’s make an agreement.”

“What?”

“Three years. Let us meet again in three years. In these three years, you take back everything that is yours and settle your past. And I will start anew, to live out my true self.” The man said, “I have never felt myself inferior to you, and I presume you feel the same regarding me. This time, the victor was not decided. In three years, we will determine who is superior. At that time, life, death, victory, and defeat will all be decided by us. Who is right and who is wrong will finally have a definitive conclusion. What do you think?”

He froze, then sneered, “When it comes down to it, I’m still the one taking the loss. Taking back what is rightfully mine, yet I still have to help you resolve your troubles.”

“Then many thanks to you for taking this loss. When we meet again in three years, I will definitely treat you to a good drink… Hm? The sky is brightening.”

The man supported himself against the mountain wall and stood up. Looking through the curtain of rain at the distant sky, he suddenly asked, “Do you know why I chose the courtesy name ‘Wuyi’ for myself?”

He shook his head, and heard the man say: “Back then, I stepped into the Jianghu upon the fame you had built and the prestige of Duanshui Manor. I took over the grudges you had forged in the past, and shouldered the responsibilities of Duanshui Manor. I lived more and more exhaustedly. That kind of joy gradually faded. For a time, I couldn’t even clearly say who I was, feeling that within the Four Seas, there was truly not a single place I could rely upon. I originally intended to take the name ‘Wuyi’ (無依 – having no one to rely on) to mock myself, but unexpectedly, I met a disabled, retired old soldier…”

The old soldier was approaching sixty, missing an arm, and blind in one eye, yet he was still arduously hurrying toward the border pass. He couldn’t bear the sight and couldn’t help but speak up to dissuade him, wanting to prepare travel expenses for the old soldier and send him back to his hometown, but was refused.

—“A man has to shoulder many things in his life: gratitude and morality, his country, his wife, and children. I’m just an old man who has slaughtered on the battlefield for more than half his life. I have no family tying me down, and I can’t farm, weave, fish, or gather wood. Rather than waiting around to die while eating, I might as well return to the border territory I protected for decades; it can be considered a fitting end to my life. Young Master, you are a kind-hearted person. Since it is so, why not give me a good blade and a pot of strong wine? After all, in those bitter and cold lands, it’s hard to endure without these two things.”

“That was the first time I realized that, besides Jianghu gratitude and grudges, there are even more things in the world one can devote themselves to and gain from.” The man slowly exhaled a breath and recited, “I took the courtesy name ‘Wuyi’ (無衣 – No Clothes, homophonous with having no one to rely on) in the hope that one day, I could also be so generous, unbridled, and laugh proudly at the world. Now, the time has come.”

His eyebrows twitched, and he asked, “You are going to the border pass?”

“I want to go take a look, at the iron blood and sealed borders of the battlefield…” The man lowered his head, meeting his eyes, and gave a faint smile. “All those things from the past are now returned to you. Additionally, I present the word ‘Wuyi’ to you. From this day forward, you are Xie Min, and you are also Xie Wuyi.”

How can you say you have no clothes? I will share my robes with you.

The oil lamp in the room grew increasingly faint. As this turbulent, up-and-down story reached its end, Ye Fusheng only just realized his back was damp and cold, his clothes soaked through with sweat.

It turns out that the gratitude, grudges, affections, and enmities of the world truly possess a complex mix of the five flavors.

Xie Wuyi said, “After that night, he quietly left using a tree branch as a cane. I was also found by Xie Zhongshan and the others, and, hiding the truth from outsiders, brought back to Duanshui Manor. During those five days, terrified that people would pry into this matter of ‘substituting one for another’, all the physicians invited were silenced by Xie Zhongshan afterward, until the Gui Yi arrived in person… Having received that man’s instructions, he agreed to Xie Zhongshan’s request. Using skin-changing and disguise techniques, he concealed all the sores on my body, making my appearance look exactly identical to that man’s. However, the venomous illness was deeply rooted in my body; even he found it incredibly thorny. He could only treat my external injuries and temporarily suppress the relapsing toxicity, and then proposed the method of sealing acupoints with golden needles.” Xie Wuyi took a sip of water, a cold light flashing in his eyes. “Sealing the acupoints could suppress the toxicity to its absolute minimum, keeping my life safe for these few years, though it would also seal away more than half of my martial power. Since I agreed to that promise, I naturally couldn’t die yet. Thus, I set a timeframe with the Gui Yi. Within that deadline, I pressed down those scumbags trying to loot a burning house one by one, and then freed my hands to deal with Xie Zhongshan.”

Even if he was once overwhelmingly powerful for a time, ultimately, heroes age inevitably.

Xie Zhongshan was already old. Consecutive blows had left him physically and mentally exhausted. Let alone the fact that the Canglan Shisan Dao (Thirteen Sabers of the Deep Blue Billows), carrying the momentum of terrifying, storm-tossed waves, had always been invincible.

Drawing a blade to sever water was already tyrannical and domineering, but unfortunately, flying rapids and cascading waterfalls fought even harder to crash and roar.

He didn’t become a ghost under the blade, but he became a prisoner in the dungeon.

“I crippled his wugong, severed the tendons in his legs, poured a mute-inducing drug down his throat, and took control of Duanshui Manor. Yet, as I watched this father unable to crawl up from the ground, amidst the thrill of a great vengeance avenged, there was even more a sense of melancholy and loss.”

Ye Fusheng said, “Repaying a grudge with a grudge was never something that could make a person truly happy.”

Just like how Xie Wuyi finally took back Duanshui Manor, but taking on these responsibilities as heavy as Mount Tai, presumably he felt no sense of belonging or joy. It was simply that his years of obsession had finally been fulfilled in a single day, and even if his body were smashed to pieces and his bones ground to dust, he refused to let go again.

Those who shoulder a heavy burden are mostly like this. It isn’t that they are obstinately stubborn, but merely like a fish drinking water—only the one experiencing it knows whether it is cold or warm.

“Unfortunately, I am not as free and detached as you. I have always clearly separated gratitude from grudges, haggling over every single ounce. Given how Xie Zhongshan acted back then, locking him in the back courtyard and letting him live out the rest of his life without worrying about food or clothing is already merciful.” Xie Wuyi gave a cold smile. “Since he could hollowly betray a lifetime of father-son grace, I am not afraid of committing insubordination and striking ruthlessly. In the future, even if I descend into the Nine Springs of the Underworld and suffer a thousand cuts and ten thousand slices, I will still laugh long and loud over today.”

“The Manor Master truly distinguishes gratitude and grudges clearly.” Ye Fusheng paused. “So, even though Madam Rong betrayed you, and nearly caused your death, you still looked upon the affection of that single severed finger and spared her life, yes?”

“A woman’s bias is even more terrifyingly stubborn.” Xie Wuyi sneered. “I received a favor from that man, so I intended to punish her lightly, allowing her to still bear the title of the Manor Master Madam to teach her child and enjoy fortune. Unfortunately, in this woman’s heart, she loved her husband even more than her son. She would rather imprison herself in the forbidden grounds to atone for her mistakes than face me. She refused to accept the fact that the man had left, even leaving her son to be raised by an enemy. Heh, those two, husband and wife, truly are the same kind of people.”

Ye Fusheng thought of Xie Li and said, “I actually think you’ve raised and taught Xie Li quite well.”

Xie Wuyi wore a smile that was not a smile: “I either beat him or scold him. Even the servants in the manor find it unbearable to watch. Yet you think it’s good?”

Ye Fusheng lowered his eyelids: “It’s not as if you bully him without reason. Putting myself in your shoes, if I were you, I would also find it difficult to face this child. Yet, ultimately, you still taught him many things, not even hiding the Canglan Shisan Dao from him. Although it’s a bit bitter for him to learn these things, it’s a hundred times better than suffering losses in the outside world in the future. After all, not every time you make a mistake do you get an opportunity to correct it.”

Xie Wuyi’s hand caressed the rim of the cup. His gaze was faint, as calm as mirrored water, devoid of a single ripple.

Support me on Ko-fi