Ink Blade

Previous Life 2 (part 2)

However, unexpectedly, a pair of soft, boneless arms wrapped around Chu Yan's waist.

"Brother Chu, you are indeed here..."

The soft voice and refreshing fragrance made Chu Yan's restless mood suddenly calm down.

Bai Hua held onto Chu Yan's hand with one hand, and gently covered Mo Ren's body with the white cloth with the other, covering his pale face.

He caressed his pale red lips, and said softly, "Brother Chu is a nostalgic person. Hua'er had already guessed that Brother Chu would have a hard time when this person died. Hua'er was worried that Brother Chu would feel uncomfortable, so he came in without permission. Brother Chu shouldn’t blame himself for what happened."

"I…..not in the wrong?" Chu Yan looked at Bai Hua and murmured.

Say no. Chu Yan’s heart shouted. You won’t be able to bear such a “mistake”, you will go crazy...

"Of course not, how could it be? Brother Chu has already treated him with the utmost benevolence.” Bai Hua replied with a light smile, looking at Mo Ren with compassion in his eyes.

"Really...really!" Chu Yan repeated hoarsely, and stepped forward to embrace his newly married servant. He sniffed the unique scent of Bai Hua that had accompanied him silently and tenderly for ten years, and his mind gradually became dazed.

"Hua'er, for many years……fortunately you have been with me. For the rest of my life, I will live up to your love."

Chu Yan leaned over and kissed him vigorously. Bai Hua simultaneously stretched out his arms and wrapped them around Chu Yan's neck, actively catering to the kiss.

Mo Ren's body was still only a few steps away from them, but no one casted him even a concerned look.

A gust of wind blew by, and the only dim light in the room was silently extinguished.

In the darkness, the two still embraced each other, and their intertwined tongues made obscene noises.

Chu Yan closed his eyes and felt Bai Hua's temperature–this person, made him sink, made him intoxicated…

****

Chu Yan was really drunk, drunk in Bai Hua's tenderness–to ignore, to be senseless, merely floating and sinking. He seemed to be in the boundless sea of sweet flowers, forgetting his worries, troubles, and everything, and only fell asleep peacefully in a daze.

In this way, he had become intoxicated for another whole year.

But Chu Yan never imagined that what would wake him up was the loud noise of the collapse of the gate of the Jiuzhong Hall that had stood for a hundred years.

It was a tragic scene of several shadow guardians fighting bloody battles along with the masters of the three halls.

Bai Hua was still dressed in white clothes, devoid of any dust, with a gentle smile like water, but this beautiful figure that stood opposite him had its eyes full of mockery.

He wanted to resist, but was suddenly shocked upon finding out that…….he didn’t know when, but his internal force was only one or two tenths of its original, which had obviously been eroded away.

The forces besieging the Jiuzhong Hall were unheard of, their martial arts were weird and they were also good at using strange poisons. Perhaps Chu Yan had offended too many people recklessly for Bai Hua in recent years, and now there was no one or any faction willing to lend a helping hand in the entire Jianghu.

In the end, only Chu Yan's personal maid, Qiu Quan, was left to protect her master and retreat to Tianlan Mountain.

When the two were resting in the cold cave, the once prideful, proud and aloof Jiuzhong Hall Master was covered in blood and was battered and exhausted. The pursuers would eventually find them any moment, and they would be forced to a dead end.

Until then, Chu Yan uttered the first sentence since the fall of Jiuzhong Hall, but only asked what happened to the rest of the people of Jiuzhong Hall.

Qiu Quan had already been poisoned and injured, she could only lean on the cold cave wall and replied with a wry smile, "Them, none of them came out."

".....None came out?" Chu Yan's black hair was scattered, his eyes were out of focus, and in a daze, he suddenly asked in a low voice, "Then, what about Ah Ren...?"

Qiu Quan shook all over, as if struck by thunder. She turned her face in disbelief, looking at Chu Yan as if she had seen a ghost. Her voice trembled, "Master, who…are you asking?"

Looking at Qiu Quan's expression, Chu Yan struggled in his dull mind for a long time before he came to his senses. He let out a breath slowly, and stroked his forehead wearily with his slender fingers.

Right, Mo Ren is long gone. How could he always forget this?

Qiu Quan, however tensed her body, stared at Chu Yan for a long time, and then burst into tears. While crying, she trembled and shook Chu Yan's sleeves, "Master, please wake up quickly...Please wake up, open your eyes and take a look... Bai Hua is a spy, and the Jiuzhong Hall has broken. Now, all of us are either dead or have surrendered...There is no place for us in Jianghu. Elder brother Mo died a year ago today, and this slave will not be able to accompany the Master for a few more hours... Master, wake up quickly..."

Hearing the desperate sobs of his faithful maid, Chu Yan's heart cooled down inch by inch. There was no longer any escape. It turned out that this would be Chu Yan’s end. He really deserved it.

He had always thought highly of himself, but he was blinded by a white flower, and had raised a colorful poisonous snake for ten years. The funny thing was, looking back now, he couldn't remember how he fell in love with Bai Hua in the first place.

Chu Yan suddenly thought of Mo Ren again. Now there was nothing to doubt, in the end, it was he who was wrong.

"Qiu Quan,” at this moment Chu Yan was suddenly not in a hurry to flee, he sighed, "Can you tell this Master about Mo Ren. "

The maid agreed. She already had some words buried in her heart for too long, and she was unwilling to just bring them into the grave like this. She wanted to seek innocence from the former guard who was wronged, and a share of mercy from the belated master.

Chu Yan listened without saying a word, his face expressionless. No one knew that at that moment, his internal organs seemed to be slapped to death, and every inch of him felt so painful that he could hardly breathe.

All he knew was that he had abolished Mo Ren’s dantian with a sword, and his cultivation for twenty years had been destroyed in one fell swoop. But he didn't know that Mo Ren's meridians all over his body had been severed by Bai Hua in his own name. Not only would he no longer have the slightest possibility of practicing martial arts, but he had even become a useless person worse than ordinary people.

He didn't know that Mo Ren was humiliated and tortured by some vulgar servants in the side hall after being expelled, living a life worse than death.

He didn't know that the repeated punishments caused Mo Ren's new wounds to overlap with the old ones, and that the internal organs of the whole body were suffering from pain almost everywhere.

Qiu Quan said that the last time she secretly visited Mo Ren, he had just had a high fever for a few days, and that his only ragged quilt was deliberately kicked out of bed by a little servant, resulting in him to only curl up into a ball, while his teeth clattered from the chill. He was unconsciously burning up, and muttering water...water...

But the little servant purposely took the jug of clean water, poured it all on the ground slowly in front of his eyes, and said proudly, “If you want to drink water, come and lick it.”

The truth of each sentence almost tore Chu Yan's heart to pieces, he felt like he was being fried naked in a hot oil pan.

He didn't want to believe the scene Qiu Quan described, nor did he dare to imagine it. 

When thinking about it, it only hurts so much that he wanted to carve out his own heart.

His Ah Ren, his most proud sword, was tortured like this...

But Mo Ren, he never gave up on this ignorant Master until his death.

"These words...why didn't you tell this Master earlier?"

Because of the poison, Qiu Quan's lips were gradually turning purple and black, and her voice had become intermittent. "Brother Mo...begged this servant, don't tell...the Master, his unbearable appearance."

Chu Yan said hoarsely, "...fool."

Qiu Quan showed a bitter smile, with desolate teardrops hanging on her eyelashes, "This slave is useless... I'm sorry, Brother Mo... and Master...this slave can't do anything...and finally made the Master feel so miserable...When this servant finally goes to her grave, the elder brother should scold this servant to death..." The voice faded away, and the maid slowly closed her eyes and stopped breathing.

Chu Yan reached out to touch his face, only to find that his cheeks were wet with tears unconsciously.

In the cave, everything was quiet for a while.

After a long time, Chu Yan got up silently, took off his outer robe and covered Qiu Chong's body. He then smiled self-deprecatingly. 

If Ah Ren’s spirit is in heaven right now, would he still care about this bastard Master?

The shouts of pursuers were gradually heard from outside the cave.

Chu Yan stood up and straightened his clothes, his eyes swept across the approaching figures indifferently. Among them, Bai Hua was smiling brightly but coldly, his brows and eyes glowed with ambition, as if he was still the handsome young man who surprised him the first time they met.

In the end, Chu Yan only looked up at the sky, it appeared as if it was going to snow, but unfortunately he couldn't wait.

End it.

Chu Yan suddenly raised his remaining internal strength, and slapped the mountain wall with his palm.

Cracks immediately spread, and there was a loud bang.

The mud and rock collapsed and fell, and the sweeping darkness quickly drowned out the flickering light outside the cave entrance.

Chu Yan closed his eyes.

He seemed to see carved railings and steps made of jade, bright lamps and scarlet tiles. It was the majestic Jiuzhong Hall that towered into the sky, appearing as safe as ever.

Chu Yan, half asleep and half awake, stumbled forward. In the distance, there was a person dressed in black with a cold air, holding a sword and standing in a dimly lit place, with a thin layer of cold frost that had accumulated on his thin shoulders.

He really wanted to see the figure in black clearly, but his vision became more and more blurred, like being obscured by a thick fog. The gatherings and partings, successes and failures, joys and sorrows of this life all melt away from the side like a fleeting shadow.

In the end, a hazy white light flooded up one after another. He didn't know if it was snowing, or if the pear blossoms at the foot of the mountain outside the hall were blooming again.

At that moment, when his consciousness completely sank into confusion, Chu Yan thought–

 If there is an afterlife,

If there is an afterlife,

Thousands of miles of wind and clouds, thousands of mountains and rivers. Abandoning the great rivers and mountains of one’s country, I only wish to live up to one person.