Ink Blade

Previous Life 1 (part 1)

When broken consciousness was pulled back a little bit, Mo Ren found himself curled up on the ground. His dry black hair was scattered on his pale face, covering his sight.

The scrawny servant moved and tried to flex and stretch his fingers. Before he could tell how long he had fainted, he felt cramps in his stomach. Before falling asleep, he hadn't taken a bite for two days.

There was no light in the woodshed, it was dark, and it was filled with a humid and rotten smell. The north wind of the cold winter leaked from the gaps of the windows, making a sharp sound.

At the same time, there were loud noises, chaotic footsteps, and the beating of gongs and drums.

A trace of uneasiness in the heart that was almost numb suddenly came, like the stagnant rotten water that was suddenly thrown with stones, making huge waves and countless drops. Mo Ren endured the increasing pain, he sat up and looked out. Here was one of the lowest parts of the Jiuzhong Hall. Generally, only servants constantly worked here. There should not have been such a lively and festive noise.

What came into his eyes were bright lights, countless people mingling together, and a fiery color red that was spread far away.

He was at a loss. A frightened look appeared on his thin face.

Why does everything appear like a wedding banquet?

In an instant, the last trace of blood faded from his already pale face. He could no longer care about anything else, and pushed away the crumbling woodshed door, the cold wind with snow was freezing, and the bright light of a lamp pricked his eyes.

The servants in the side hall gathered together to put up lights and decorations. A little servant came over holding a red brocade that was gorgeous and exquisite and looked contemptuously when he passed by Mo Ren.

He didn't like the former personal bodyguard of the Hall Master at all. It was said that this man grew up with the Hall Master and that he was proud and bullied people. He also framed the upright and kind-hearted Young Master Bai Hua several times. Eventually, he angered the Hall Master, his martial arts was abolished, his meridians were cut off, and then he was sent to the side hall.

Now this person who fell from the clouds and into the mud was already a waste even worse than ordinary people. Any stronger servant can insult and bully him. If it wasn't for the fact that this little servant was afraid of being scolded for missing his job, he would really want to make a few sarcastic remarks. But, now with important clothes in his arms, he just wanted to walk in a hurry, but he did not expect to be stopped by the said disabled person.

"Who is……cough cough..." 

As soon as he opened his mouth, Mo Ren did not expect that his voice was so hoarse that he couldn’t even form a full sentence.

In such cold weather, the emaciated man only had an old gray singlet. He coughed bitterly, but the cold wind like ice dregs poured into his lungs, only adding to his pain.

The little servant frowned fiercely and pushed Mo Ren to the ground hard. "Go go go, what bad luck!" 

After the little servant cursed, he raised leg and was about to walk away. Unexpectedly, his trousers were pulled. Mo Ren sat in the snow and gripped the young servant’s trouser tightly. He looked up at him with almost humble and pleading eyes. With his frozen blue and white fingers, he quickly wrote words on the snow covered ground. 

Who is getting married?

"Hey, you trash, let me go." The little servant impatiently kicked him on his abdomen, and said, "What’s the point of asking? Of course, it’s the wedding banquet of the Hall Master. "

"Ugh....”

The kick was merciless. Mo Ren only felt that his stomach, which was already hungry, twitched violently. The sharp pain at that moment almost made him see black and faint.

But that's it, he persevered and didn't let go of the little servant, and wrote on the snow again. 

Wh-

He hadn't written the word "marry" yet, and the word "who" was not even written successfully, when the little servant suddenly laughed. "Who is it? Of course it is with Young Master Bai. Why? You think it could be with a useless person like you?”

Mo Ren didn't seem to react much, but simply loosened his hands and slowly closed his eyes.

It was not a surprise to him.

He knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but….

The little servant went away swearing. Mo Ren suddenly vomited a few large mouthfuls of blood, which was exceptionally bright in the white snow.

He had no idea when he had started to get used to vomiting blood. But this time, he simply grabbed a handful of clean snow from the side, and carefully wiped the corners of his mouth with it.

Then he stood up strenuously and watched the red color that made him distressed, walked unsteadily step by step towards the direction of the main hall, like a moth being drawn to the flame.

******

An hour later, a fire broke out in the Lianhua Hall, but it only burned the colorful silk lanterns hanging outside. Chu Yan, the Hall Master, had long reconstructed the material of Lianhua Hall with materials that were invulnerable to fire and water. Therefore the fire didn’t cause much damage.

Mo Ren knelt straight in front of the Lianhua Hall, and his eyes were full of despair. He had no idea how long he had been kneeling in the snow and it was not until his consciousness had begun to waver that the Head of the Execution Hall appeared behind him and said with a cold voice, "Mo Ren, setting fire in the Lianhua Hall, accept your crime and receive punishment for attempting to kill its Master.” 

Mo Ren raised his face, his frozen purple lips trembled, and after a while, he said with difficulty, "Bai Hua.....no master."

The Head of the Execution Hall felt that the man was unreasonable and explained in an almost earnest tone, "Bai Hua would be the wife by default, why won’t he be called master?"

Mo Ren seemed to have accepted this explanation. He merely nodded, lowered his eyes, bowed his head, and obediently accepted his punishment.

In fact, he was already cold, as if there was a suffocating cold flowing through his whole body. While panting intermittently, he asked calmly as much as possible.

"Master….what did he say?"

"The Hall Master was furious and beheaded the Chief guard of the Lianhua Hall. The remaining guards and secret guards were held in accordance with the rules for failing to protect the Master and neglecting their duties."

Unexpectedly, Mo Ren murmured with a smile, "Guards of Jiuzhong Hall...it should be rectified. Even a waste like me can burn the Lianhua Hall. Would its master’s chamber be next and still nobody would know?"

"....You are exactly what the Hall Master said.”

The Head of the Execution Hall glanced at the man who was kneeling in the snow who was waiting for death, he sighed and couldn't help but say, "Why are you being troublesome again? You know that Bai Hua is the person favored by the Hall Master, you know it is impossible to do anything about him..."

Mo Ren did not answer, but only asked dumbly instead, "If I live to survive Ling Chi's punishment later, can I see the Hall Master before I die?"

(t/n Ling Chi- the specific implementation is that the executioner uses a sharp knife to cut off the flesh of the victim piece by piece, ranging from hundreds to thousands. The tortured often endure hours of pain before they bleed to death.)

"If you can really survive those things, according to the rules, you should be punished in front of the Hall Master before being executed. However, that punishment, let alone how you look like now, I dare not say that you could endure Ling Chi to the end until the execution. "

Hearing this, the Head of the Execution Hall felt complicated and sighed, "You….you better just commit suicide. It’s never too late."

Mo Ren just shook his head and begged weakly, "Mo Ren dare not escape, please asking the Head of the Execution Hall to fulfill my last wish".

The Head of the Execution Hall only sighed again, waved his hand and asked someone to tie Mo Dao, then helplessly repeated, "Alas, why are you so troublesome..."

However, he didn’t hear the other answer anything for half a minute, he only heard the servant say in surprise, "Master, he……he fainted."

He was only left dumbfounded and smiled bitterly in his heart. 

–It wouldn’t do until you’re punished, yet you’re still delusional about going to see the Hall Master alive? 

Shaking his head, he took a step to leave, however, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of what was clearly left in the snow where Mo Ren was kneeling just now. He narrowed his eyes. Two words written with his fingers in the snow were seen.

 Ming Zhi.

(t/n Ming Zhi-to demonstrate one's sincere convictions; yǐ sǐ míng zhì-to demonstrate one's sincerity by dying.)

"To express one’s will in death..." 

The Head said to himself, "But what can I do? Even though it was obviously clear, the Hall Master has not cared about you for a long time."

****

Three days later, Chu Yan, the Hall Master of Jiuzhong Hall, got married.

People from all over the world had always been bold and generous, and it was never uncommon to spend a lot of money. But this time, the style of the Master of the Jiuzhong Hall was just amazingly large. Three thousand banquet seats, gold and silver plates; vermilion lanterns like stars, and floating red colors that looked better than clouds.

People couldn't help but admire: This background really is not comparable to ordinary sects.

The cheerful banquet continued until sunset, and then the guests gradually dissipated. When night fell, it turned overcast, and snow floated softly, which made it even more silent and cold.

A layer of snow had accumulated on the long steps outside the Lianhua Hall, and Master Chu, the Palace Master of the Jiuzhong Hall, stood at the highest place. His red wedding dress was not yet taken off, and his handsome face was indifferent, like the ice that never melted in the mountains for thousands of years, and only casted a faint glance at the overwhelming evil of the world.