Aug. 19th, 2022 at 3:26 PM
A sigh of falling leaf foretells of an autumn bleak,
A drop of dull rain carries a feeling of grief,
In the small hours, a dream of home, then I'm left alone.
The one man's chess game is not set before the snuff goes out,
I pine for being a lonely guest in an inn without friends about.
Ten years of dream
And many worries for my parents
All in my heart churns, just like a stream.
——Xu Zaisi “Night Rain - to the tune of Narcissus”1
———
During her life, mother really liked green plum wine.
In the childhood memories of the second son, Zhongli Zixi, every year during midsummer and autumn, the air was always filled with the fragrance of green plums. A large grove of plum trees had been planted in the back mountain of Zhongli Court, and their mother taught them how to distinguish the ripe green plums and how to make excellent wine with honey and fermented rice.
After Madame Zhongli was implicated by her second son and was beheaded, no one in Zhongli Court opened the jars of green plum wine again.
Zhongli Zixi was in the Wangsheng Palace for ten years. After he returned home, he went to that long since abandoned grove of plum trees and tried to make some wine himself. He didn’t remember the steps too clearly and messed so up many times that his older brother, who’d been in a cold war of disagreement with him for a long time, really couldn’t continue watching and was forced to personally teach him——This was like a subtle breakthrough, easing the relationship between the two to some extent.
Since then, the two brothers had an unwritten rule between them: if there was a rift, one person would host a dinner to treat the other to green plum wine, and the other person would attend, then their previous animosity and old grudges would be written off with one stroke, and not be argued about again.
That wine meant “I forgive you”.
The older they got, the two gradually drifted further apart from each other. Every time the Second Young Master felt worried, he would bury a jar of green plum wine under the willow tree in the courtyard. After ten years filled with ups and downs, the courtyard was almost buried full of jars by him.
But until the Second Young Master was banished from the house, he was unable to see the day when the jars of green plum wine would be opened.
The Second Young Master strategised for a lifetime, but now that he had made a careless move and lost the game, he actually felt incredibly at ease.
He had stood too high, his burden was too heavy, and the time he spent anxiously and desperately hanging on was too long. Now, he finally had nothing left to lose, he finally had nothing to worry about.
The green plum wine in the courtyard had nothing to do with him, and he didn’t have to use it as meaningless expectations anymore.
Thinking about this, that always-present existence by his side became even more of an irksome presence.
Zhongli Zixi knew that sooner or later he would have to get used to this crippled body with a broken arm and leg. He supported himself on the wall as he stumbled outside, preparing to set out and leave Changluo. He didn’t know where he could go, and he was also penniless, but he already didn’t feel like thinking about anything.
Just as he had staggered towards the door of the room, he was single-handedly carried back into the room by a returning Ye Jun, pushed onto the bed, and had his clothes nimbly stripped off.
“Just tell me where you want to go, Young Master. What are you trying to do, dressing so crookedly?” Ye Jun tore open the belt that was tied into such a hideous mess it was almost funny, peeled off that wrinkled undershirt, and took out a new set and carefully changed it.
Now that Zhongli Zixi couldn’t stand, Ye Jun had already gotten used to kneeling on the ground to help him with his clothes. He looked at the shadow guard who had an even more humble posture than before, and was slightly lost in thought.
In the few days since his fall from the clouds into the mire, the looks in the eyes of the people around him had completely changed. Only Ye Jun remained the same, his attitude of coexisting banter and respect not having changed in the slightest.
He was like this now, but what about the future? Zhongli Zixi did not have a single thread of certainty.
“I’ve rested enough, we should go.” Zhongli Zixi began to talk.
Ye Jun replied in an acknowledging tone: “Yes.”
Zhongli Zixi spoke again: “I’m no longer the Second Young Master of Zhongli Court, you don’t have to follow me any more.”
Ye Jun only said: “You will always be my Master.”
His tone was flat, and he couldn’t distinguish any sorrow or joy from it, nor any truth or falsehood.
Zhongli Zixi was a little annoyed when he heard this, asking: “Why? Is it because I accepted your master and servant rites? Because of ‘Ye Jun’s’ duty? Because that’s what the Nightrunner has always taught you? If these are your answers, you don’t need to continue following me.”
He was suddenly filled with hot anger that he couldn’t vent. In fact, he understood since long ago that there really was no intrinsic difference between Ye Jun and the other people in the world that followed him harbouring their own goals.
When he heard this, Ye Jun quietly stared at him. It was only until Zhongli Zixi looked away that he heard Ye Jun ask: “Young Master, why did you choose me at that time? You called into question every person in the world, why did you never doubt me? You would never kill me regardless of what I did, why?”
Zhongli Zixi was suddenly unable to respond.
Ye Jun answered his own question word by word: “Because I am ‘Ye Jun’. It wouldn’t matter who it was, as long as they were Ye Jun. You understand this better than me, right? Young Master.”
Zhongli Zixi opened his mouth, but was unable to say a single word in opposition.
Ye Jun asked: “The ten-year time limit is almost up, when I lose the title of Ye Jun, will you still believe me?”
Zhongli Zixi was silent for a moment, and finally shook his head.
Ye Jun sighed softly: “You’re still like this towards me, why should you care whether I have intentions towards you or not?”
There seemed to be nothing left to say between them, with only a rubbery silence remaining. Ye Jun dressed him neatly, carried him on his back and said goodbye to the main house, then left the Ye Residence step by step.
Zhonlgi Zixi only felt overwhelmed once again by that feeling of dismay as his every hope turned to dust when his brother first betrayed him, and was somewhat exhausted, so he leaned against Ye Jun’s back and closed his eyes.
For a split second, he thought about burying Ye Jun alongside those jars of green plum wine in the courtyard of Zhongli Court.
But the snow was so heavy, and the cold of the boundless world seeped into his bones, and only a little bit of warmth remained in the hollow of Ye Jun’s palms.
He was already unwilling to let go, he really was powerless.
Ye Jun left Changluo and journeyed South, walking unsteadily on the bumpy, snowy ground, complaining not long after: “Young Master, grab onto me, don’t keep sliding down.”
The Second Young Master’s two hands were withdrawn into his sleeves, hugging his own chest, and it seemed like he was just waiting to fall.
Ye Jun beamed: “You either tightly grab on or I will have no choice but to switch position and carry you under my arm.”
The Second Young Master weighed the pros and cons, then reluctantly extended his hands and encircled them around Ye Jun’s neck.
Ye Jun lowered his head to look at the Second Young Master’s hands and wrists which were red from the cold, and shook his head: “Forget it, I better get us a carriage.”
Ye Jun was a person who paid particular attention to trends.
For example, one should enjoy the flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, and the snow in winter. Summer was for eating watermelon, cold. Rich people had to look like rich people, and refugees had to look like refugees, so there should be no magnificent carriages, precious horses, brocade clothes, or fine food.
This was the reason why he had declined Jun Xuanheng’s help and insisted on going on foot.
But Ye Jun had gotten used to the good life these past few years with the Second Young Master, and he suddenly didn’t want to wrong himself again.
Ye Jun grabbed the Second Young Master and tied him inside a small teahouse, then slipped away and arranged a relatively simple and shabby horse carriage.
The carriage creaked and groaned as it slowly made its way to the south west, moving until early spring, when it stopped by the side of a mountain stream.
The landscape here was beautiful, the grass was lush, there were a few unconsolidated hunter households nearby, and the nearest village was a little less than half a day’s walk away. It was normally deserted and suitable for cultivation, and it was also convenient for going to the village to trade.
This dense forest was secluded and without roads, so they had to abandon the carriage. It was just the beginnings of spring, and the mountain was filled with unceasing showers of rain, which started pattering down on them after just a few steps. Ye Jun protected the Second Young Master by wrapping him up tightly and carrying him as he searched for half of the day, until he finally found a cave under a cliff.
Ye Jun peeled away the layers from the Second Young Master like an onion, pulling the frail, small Young Master out of the fine brocade pile. Ye Jun thought it was really cute, and he couldn’t help but laugh secretly as he watched.
The outside layers of clothes had been soaked through, but fortunately the inside ones had been unaffected. After checking everything was fine, he set up a bonfire and put the Second Young Master along with his clothes next to it to warm up.
Zhongli Zixi had not been soaked by the rain, but Ye Jun had been drenched all along the way and his face was a bit pale, so even if he was composed he still looked like a bit of a mess. So Zhongli Zixi said: “You’re drenched, are you not going to take off your clothes and come warm up?”
“I can’t always ask you to live inside a cave, Young Master, so I’m going to sieze the moment and build a simple temporary house.” Ye Jun hurriedly added more firewood, then stood up to go back out into the rain.
Zhongli Zixi said: “There’s no need to be in such a hurry now, let’s wait until the rain stops.”
Ye Jun only shook his head, turned around, and went out.
Zhongli Zixi really hated rain.
Because Wangsheng Palace was a humid and damp place, he always associated the rainy weather with the cruel gu poison and the haze of torture, this was a shadow he could not escape from, to the point that he would always be very irritable on rainy days.
He detested dampness, detested running water, and detested overcast rainy days. But when Ye Jun chose a place that was so contrary to what he wanted, he did not speak out in opposition.
He had to get used to it, he thought.
It was only after the sky turned completely black that a dripping wet, cold as ice Ye Jun returned, carrying a plump rabbit.
He looked at his Young Master and clicked his tongue: “Strange, your mood isn’t as bad as I expected. Every time it used to rain before, you seemed just like a pufferfish at the end of its patience.”
“You know I hate rain and yet you still chose such a place.” Zhongli Zixi knit his brows in annoyance.
“But I like rain.” Ye Jun lightly curved the corner of his mouth, “I like seeing your undisguised appearance, whether you are vulnerable or angry. I hope you can rely on me a little more.”
Zhongli Zixi spoke in a low voice: “Then I can’t give you what you want.”
Ye Jun spent five days cobbling together a crude and simple place that couldn’t really be called a house, it could only be considered a temporary thatched hut residence.
The place was very small, with only one table and one bed, but it had a window and a door in any case, and the nearby scenery was actually pretty good, so it could barely count as a place for a person to live in.
Ye Jun went back and forth to the village several times, buying and bringing back some bedding and linens. But because the mountain road was rugged he couldn’t ride a horse, so the things he could bring back each time were limited.
Ye Jun hurriedly arranged the place and stuffed the Second Young Master inside, then hurriedly began building the large wooden house intended as a long-term future residence.
Ye Jun was always in a hurry.
Busy and anxious.
He had to chop wood, measure the terrain and dimensions, go to high and dry places to collect dried up branches to use as firewood, fetch water, prepare meals for the Young Master, help the Young Master wash up and eat, go down the mountain to buy things in the neighbouring village, and even swindle and steal. He often rushed about all day long, so busy his feet barely touched the ground, without a single moment’s rest.
Zhongli Zixi told him many times: “No need to rush, take your time.”
But Ye Jun was getting more and more anxious, so much so that these past few nights he had even started building the house without stopping to sleep.
His night vision was very good, so his nighttime work against the clock was unaffected, and he climbed up on the house with just the moonlight and nailed down the roof beams. Recently, he had been so busy he didn’t even have time to talk to the Young Master. All day long, the only sound was the pounding of a hammer on nails, one after the other, striking against the heart of the sleepless Zhongli Zixi.
There was one time when Zhongli Zixi finally couldn’t stand it and told him: “Don’t rush to build a house first, talk to me.”
Ye Jun simply shook his head: “There won’t be enough time.”
Ye Jun swiftly finished building the wooden house, and at midnight he carried the half-asleep Zhongli Zixi from the thatched hut into the wooden house, laying him out on the soft bedding. This wooden house was already a very presentable house, with a main hall and inner rooms, it even had a kitchen.
“Young Master, this side is the kitchen, the tableware is inside the first cupboard, the seasonings are on the second. I put some food items that can be stored for a long time in here, take a look.”
Zhongli Zixi didn’t pay much attention to this new house, but his gaze fell on Ye Jun.
His hair was a complete mess, his clothes completely stained, and there was still the unpleasant smell of sweat on his body. Ye Jun was originally a person who really cared about his external appearance, and it was the first time he had seen Ye Jun with such a slovenly appearance.
Ye Jun paid no mind to his gaze, finishing his presentation on the layout of the house and moving on to tell him about other things. For example, how to get to the nearest village from here, how to recognise the road, where things are sold at the village, where to go to collect firewood, how long until he could eat the vegetables planted outside, and so on.
Zhongli Zixi listened indifferently, seemingly not caring.
After Ye Jun explained everything in one breath, he once again asked: “Young Master, can you remember all of this? If there’s anything you didn’t understand, I’ll say it again.”
Zhongli Zixi quietly listened to his repeated urging, but didn’t answer. He was silent for a moment, but then spoke: “Ye Jun, it’s been ten years.”
Ye Jun remained silent.
Zhongli Zixi said: “As of tomorrow, we’ll have known each other for a full ten years.”
Ye Jun nodded: “So you always remembered.”
Zhongli Zixi: “The Nightrunner will pick a new Ye Jun. After tomorrow, you won’t be Ye Jun.”
Ye Jun smiled: “Correct. After tomorrow I won’t be Ye Jun, but I still don’t have a name.”
Zhongli Zixi looked at him seriously, a thousand thoughts tossing around in his mind, until finally saying: “I’ll choose one for you tomorrow.”
Ye Jun nodded: “Good. This subordinate will go to sleep first.”
Zhongli Zixi’s heart suddenly swelled with the urge to yell madly and urge him to stay, but in the end, he didn’t say a single word.
“Ye Jun” was his shackle.
And he would soon be free from it.
During her life, mother really liked green plum wine.
In the childhood memories of the second son, Zhongli Zixi, every year during midsummer and autumn, the air was always filled with the fragrance of green plums. A large grove of plum trees had been planted in the back mountain of Zhongli Court, and their mother taught them how to distinguish the ripe green plums and how to make excellent wine with honey and fermented rice.
After Madame Zhongli was implicated by her second son and was beheaded, no one in Zhongli Court opened the jars of green plum wine again.
Zhongli Zixi was in the Wangsheng Palace for ten years. After he returned home, he went to that long since abandoned grove of plum trees and tried to make some wine himself. He didn’t remember the steps too clearly and messed so up many times that his older brother, who’d been in a cold war of disagreement with him for a long time, really couldn’t continue watching and was forced to personally teach him——This was like a subtle breakthrough, easing the relationship between the two to some extent.
Since then, the two brothers had an unwritten rule between them: if there was a rift, one person would host a dinner to treat the other to green plum wine, and the other person would attend, then their previous animosity and old grudges would be written off with one stroke, and not be argued about again.
That wine meant “I forgive you”.
The older they got, the two gradually drifted further apart from each other. Every time the Second Young Master felt worried, he would bury a jar of green plum wine under the willow tree in the courtyard. After ten years filled with ups and downs, the courtyard was almost buried full of jars by him.
But until the Second Young Master was banished from the house, he was unable to see the day when the jars of green plum wine would be opened.
The Second Young Master strategised for a lifetime, but now that he had made a careless move and lost the game, he actually felt incredibly at ease.
He had stood too high, his burden was too heavy, and the time he spent anxiously and desperately hanging on was too long. Now, he finally had nothing left to lose, he finally had nothing to worry about.
The green plum wine in the courtyard had nothing to do with him, and he didn’t have to use it as meaningless expectations anymore.
Thinking about this, that always-present existence by his side became even more of an irksome presence.
Zhongli Zixi knew that sooner or later he would have to get used to this crippled body with a broken arm and leg. He supported himself on the wall as he stumbled outside, preparing to set out and leave Changluo. He didn’t know where he could go, and he was also penniless, but he already didn’t feel like thinking about anything.
Just as he had staggered towards the door of the room, he was single-handedly carried back into the room by a returning Ye Jun, pushed onto the bed, and had his clothes nimbly stripped off.
“Just tell me where you want to go, Young Master. What are you trying to do, dressing so crookedly?” Ye Jun tore open the belt that was tied into such a hideous mess it was almost funny, peeled off that wrinkled undershirt, and took out a new set and carefully changed it.
Now that Zhongli Zixi couldn’t stand, Ye Jun had already gotten used to kneeling on the ground to help him with his clothes. He looked at the shadow guard who had an even more humble posture than before, and was slightly lost in thought.
In the few days since his fall from the clouds into the mire, the looks in the eyes of the people around him had completely changed. Only Ye Jun remained the same, his attitude of coexisting banter and respect not having changed in the slightest.
He was like this now, but what about the future? Zhongli Zixi did not have a single thread of certainty.
“I’ve rested enough, we should go.” Zhongli Zixi began to talk.
Ye Jun replied in an acknowledging tone: “Yes.”
Zhongli Zixi spoke again: “I’m no longer the Second Young Master of Zhongli Court, you don’t have to follow me any more.”
Ye Jun only said: “You will always be my Master.”
His tone was flat, and he couldn’t distinguish any sorrow or joy from it, nor any truth or falsehood.
Zhongli Zixi was a little annoyed when he heard this, asking: “Why? Is it because I accepted your master and servant rites? Because of ‘Ye Jun’s’ duty? Because that’s what the Nightrunner has always taught you? If these are your answers, you don’t need to continue following me.”
He was suddenly filled with hot anger that he couldn’t vent. In fact, he understood since long ago that there really was no intrinsic difference between Ye Jun and the other people in the world that followed him harbouring their own goals.
When he heard this, Ye Jun quietly stared at him. It was only until Zhongli Zixi looked away that he heard Ye Jun ask: “Young Master, why did you choose me at that time? You called into question every person in the world, why did you never doubt me? You would never kill me regardless of what I did, why?”
Zhongli Zixi was suddenly unable to respond.
Ye Jun answered his own question word by word: “Because I am ‘Ye Jun’. It wouldn’t matter who it was, as long as they were Ye Jun. You understand this better than me, right? Young Master.”
Zhongli Zixi opened his mouth, but was unable to say a single word in opposition.
Ye Jun asked: “The ten-year time limit is almost up, when I lose the title of Ye Jun, will you still believe me?”
Zhongli Zixi was silent for a moment, and finally shook his head.
Ye Jun sighed softly: “You’re still like this towards me, why should you care whether I have intentions towards you or not?”
There seemed to be nothing left to say between them, with only a rubbery silence remaining. Ye Jun dressed him neatly, carried him on his back and said goodbye to the main house, then left the Ye Residence step by step.
Zhonlgi Zixi only felt overwhelmed once again by that feeling of dismay as his every hope turned to dust when his brother first betrayed him, and was somewhat exhausted, so he leaned against Ye Jun’s back and closed his eyes.
For a split second, he thought about burying Ye Jun alongside those jars of green plum wine in the courtyard of Zhongli Court.
But the snow was so heavy, and the cold of the boundless world seeped into his bones, and only a little bit of warmth remained in the hollow of Ye Jun’s palms.
He was already unwilling to let go, he really was powerless.
Ye Jun left Changluo and journeyed South, walking unsteadily on the bumpy, snowy ground, complaining not long after: “Young Master, grab onto me, don’t keep sliding down.”
The Second Young Master’s two hands were withdrawn into his sleeves, hugging his own chest, and it seemed like he was just waiting to fall.
Ye Jun beamed: “You either tightly grab on or I will have no choice but to switch position and carry you under my arm.”
The Second Young Master weighed the pros and cons, then reluctantly extended his hands and encircled them around Ye Jun’s neck.
Ye Jun lowered his head to look at the Second Young Master’s hands and wrists which were red from the cold, and shook his head: “Forget it, I better get us a carriage.”
Ye Jun was a person who paid particular attention to trends.
For example, one should enjoy the flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, and the snow in winter. Summer was for eating watermelon, cold. Rich people had to look like rich people, and refugees had to look like refugees, so there should be no magnificent carriages, precious horses, brocade clothes, or fine food.
This was the reason why he had declined Jun Xuanheng’s help and insisted on going on foot.
But Ye Jun had gotten used to the good life these past few years with the Second Young Master, and he suddenly didn’t want to wrong himself again.
Ye Jun grabbed the Second Young Master and tied him inside a small teahouse, then slipped away and arranged a relatively simple and shabby horse carriage.
The carriage creaked and groaned as it slowly made its way to the south west, moving until early spring, when it stopped by the side of a mountain stream.
The landscape here was beautiful, the grass was lush, there were a few unconsolidated hunter households nearby, and the nearest village was a little less than half a day’s walk away. It was normally deserted and suitable for cultivation, and it was also convenient for going to the village to trade.
This dense forest was secluded and without roads, so they had to abandon the carriage. It was just the beginnings of spring, and the mountain was filled with unceasing showers of rain, which started pattering down on them after just a few steps. Ye Jun protected the Second Young Master by wrapping him up tightly and carrying him as he searched for half of the day, until he finally found a cave under a cliff.
Ye Jun peeled away the layers from the Second Young Master like an onion, pulling the frail, small Young Master out of the fine brocade pile. Ye Jun thought it was really cute, and he couldn’t help but laugh secretly as he watched.
The outside layers of clothes had been soaked through, but fortunately the inside ones had been unaffected. After checking everything was fine, he set up a bonfire and put the Second Young Master along with his clothes next to it to warm up.
Zhongli Zixi had not been soaked by the rain, but Ye Jun had been drenched all along the way and his face was a bit pale, so even if he was composed he still looked like a bit of a mess. So Zhongli Zixi said: “You’re drenched, are you not going to take off your clothes and come warm up?”
“I can’t always ask you to live inside a cave, Young Master, so I’m going to sieze the moment and build a simple temporary house.” Ye Jun hurriedly added more firewood, then stood up to go back out into the rain.
Zhongli Zixi said: “There’s no need to be in such a hurry now, let’s wait until the rain stops.”
Ye Jun only shook his head, turned around, and went out.
Zhongli Zixi really hated rain.
Because Wangsheng Palace was a humid and damp place, he always associated the rainy weather with the cruel gu poison and the haze of torture, this was a shadow he could not escape from, to the point that he would always be very irritable on rainy days.
He detested dampness, detested running water, and detested overcast rainy days. But when Ye Jun chose a place that was so contrary to what he wanted, he did not speak out in opposition.
He had to get used to it, he thought.
It was only after the sky turned completely black that a dripping wet, cold as ice Ye Jun returned, carrying a plump rabbit.
He looked at his Young Master and clicked his tongue: “Strange, your mood isn’t as bad as I expected. Every time it used to rain before, you seemed just like a pufferfish at the end of its patience.”
“You know I hate rain and yet you still chose such a place.” Zhongli Zixi knit his brows in annoyance.
“But I like rain.” Ye Jun lightly curved the corner of his mouth, “I like seeing your undisguised appearance, whether you are vulnerable or angry. I hope you can rely on me a little more.”
Zhongli Zixi spoke in a low voice: “Then I can’t give you what you want.”
Ye Jun spent five days cobbling together a crude and simple place that couldn’t really be called a house, it could only be considered a temporary thatched hut residence.
The place was very small, with only one table and one bed, but it had a window and a door in any case, and the nearby scenery was actually pretty good, so it could barely count as a place for a person to live in.
Ye Jun went back and forth to the village several times, buying and bringing back some bedding and linens. But because the mountain road was rugged he couldn’t ride a horse, so the things he could bring back each time were limited.
Ye Jun hurriedly arranged the place and stuffed the Second Young Master inside, then hurriedly began building the large wooden house intended as a long-term future residence.
Ye Jun was always in a hurry.
Busy and anxious.
He had to chop wood, measure the terrain and dimensions, go to high and dry places to collect dried up branches to use as firewood, fetch water, prepare meals for the Young Master, help the Young Master wash up and eat, go down the mountain to buy things in the neighbouring village, and even swindle and steal. He often rushed about all day long, so busy his feet barely touched the ground, without a single moment’s rest.
Zhongli Zixi told him many times: “No need to rush, take your time.”
But Ye Jun was getting more and more anxious, so much so that these past few nights he had even started building the house without stopping to sleep.
His night vision was very good, so his nighttime work against the clock was unaffected, and he climbed up on the house with just the moonlight and nailed down the roof beams. Recently, he had been so busy he didn’t even have time to talk to the Young Master. All day long, the only sound was the pounding of a hammer on nails, one after the other, striking against the heart of the sleepless Zhongli Zixi.
There was one time when Zhongli Zixi finally couldn’t stand it and told him: “Don’t rush to build a house first, talk to me.”
Ye Jun simply shook his head: “There won’t be enough time.”
Ye Jun swiftly finished building the wooden house, and at midnight he carried the half-asleep Zhongli Zixi from the thatched hut into the wooden house, laying him out on the soft bedding. This wooden house was already a very presentable house, with a main hall and inner rooms, it even had a kitchen.
“Young Master, this side is the kitchen, the tableware is inside the first cupboard, the seasonings are on the second. I put some food items that can be stored for a long time in here, take a look.”
Zhongli Zixi didn’t pay much attention to this new house, but his gaze fell on Ye Jun.
His hair was a complete mess, his clothes completely stained, and there was still the unpleasant smell of sweat on his body. Ye Jun was originally a person who really cared about his external appearance, and it was the first time he had seen Ye Jun with such a slovenly appearance.
Ye Jun paid no mind to his gaze, finishing his presentation on the layout of the house and moving on to tell him about other things. For example, how to get to the nearest village from here, how to recognise the road, where things are sold at the village, where to go to collect firewood, how long until he could eat the vegetables planted outside, and so on.
Zhongli Zixi listened indifferently, seemingly not caring.
After Ye Jun explained everything in one breath, he once again asked: “Young Master, can you remember all of this? If there’s anything you didn’t understand, I’ll say it again.”
Zhongli Zixi quietly listened to his repeated urging, but didn’t answer. He was silent for a moment, but then spoke: “Ye Jun, it’s been ten years.”
Ye Jun remained silent.
Zhongli Zixi said: “As of tomorrow, we’ll have known each other for a full ten years.”
Ye Jun nodded: “So you always remembered.”
Zhongli Zixi: “The Nightrunner will pick a new Ye Jun. After tomorrow, you won’t be Ye Jun.”
Ye Jun smiled: “Correct. After tomorrow I won’t be Ye Jun, but I still don’t have a name.”
Zhongli Zixi looked at him seriously, a thousand thoughts tossing around in his mind, until finally saying: “I’ll choose one for you tomorrow.”
Ye Jun nodded: “Good. This subordinate will go to sleep first.”
Zhongli Zixi’s heart suddenly swelled with the urge to yell madly and urge him to stay, but in the end, he didn’t say a single word.
“Ye Jun” was his shackle.
And he would soon be free from it.
✦✧✦✧✦
1 Cn: 徐再思《水仙子·夜雨》The title of the chapter is the line about the chess game, but I tried to shorten it because it would be too long otherwise (it’s only six characters in chinese smh). Translation taken from here. Top.
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