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[JunEr] «Candle Snuffed Out, Chess Game About» 02 - The lonely and helpless Big Villain


Zhongli Zixi lay motionless in the pitch-black darkness, holding his breath as he trembled in fear the whole night, afraid that he might hear a sound coming from that small thatched hut.

He still hadn’t thought clearly about anything, nothing made sense, and the sky was already bright.

He had never felt that the night was so short.


When the rose-tinted clouds of dawn completely dispersed, he groped about and crawled up, crookedly put on his outer clothes, and limped around to the door of that thatched hut and knocked. His movements were extremely light and slow, as if he was afraid the one inside would hear him.

Nobody answered.

Currently, Zhongli Zixi’s inner strength was depleted, so even if he was almost within reach of the door, he couldn’t determine whether there was someone inside or not.

For the first time since he had been crippled, he earnestly became aware of his own deafness, dumbness, and weak powerlessness.


Without saying a word, he stood still outside and waited.

Birds by nature took delight in mountain scenes, and in the pond, a mind cleansed by the waters a lucid reflection made¹. It was not until the tired birds returned to their nests, the spring dew evaporated, and the falling flowers were sent away by flowing water that he gradually understood the heaviness of the saying ‘there is no time in the mountains’², and that human life was truly, suffocatingly long.

“Ye Jun.” He supported himself on the doorframe, quietly saying, “I’ll go back first, and come back a little later.”

He limped back to the wooden house, never daring to push open the door.


Zhongli Zixi returned to the wooden house, sitting idly until the sun set over the western mountains.

He hadn’t closed his eyes for a day and a night, and he couldn’t hold on any longer.


He again slowly supported himself on the wall and moved to the thatched hut, standing dazed at the doorway for a while, then asking towards the wooden door: “I’m not used to staying over there. Can I come back here to sleep?”

He customarily waited quietly for a moment, and still no one answered him.

Zhongli Zixi took in a deep breath, lifted his hand, and pushed open the wooden door.


One bed, one table, both simple and neat, but absolutely empty.

Ye Jun had long since run off without a trace.


Zhongli Zixi was stunned for a moment, until finally letting out a quiet laugh, as if he’d just been relieved from a great burden.

All of his fears and worries, alongside the ridiculous hopes attached to them, finally vanished together in a puff of smoke.


Zhongli Zixi laboriously climbed up into that crude, narrow bed, closing his eyes wearily on that plain wooden board that had already been stripped of its bedding.

The night wind carried along water vapour from the mountain stream, the sweet scent of plants and peach blossoms, and the mildewy smell of still-damp wood, but not the smell of Ye Jun.

Ye Jun was originally a person without any scent.

Zhongli Zixi once really liked this about him. In those days, he was forced to deal with many people every day, and was forced to smell many disgusting scents: the bloody reek of murderers, the coppery stench of profiteers, the powdery smell of flatterers…..

Only Ye Jun was different from them. No matter how much killing karma he accumulated in his hands, his scent was always clean.

That was one of the reasons he once gained his favour, but now he hated that this characteristic of his didn’t even leave him with a last opportunity to reminisce.


Zhongli Zixi spent over ten days practising walking and doing tasks. He fell so much there was not a single patch of intact skin anywhere on his body, until he eventually gradually got used to this almost disabled body, and could barely use his left hand to eat a meal.

He had to eat and drink, had to survive, the things he had to do every day were truly too many, and his speed was truly too slow. He discovered he was really busy just being alive, and he didn’t have time to think about that person who left him in the end, just like everybody else.


As spring came to an end, the rain falling down the mountains became fiercer. The small, shoddy thatched hut shuddered for a few days amidst the cold wind and bitter rain, and the roof was unable to stand the pressure and got blown away by the violent wind. Zhongli Zixi was half asleep when the torrential rain poured down on his head.

He lay on the broken thatched hut with rain leaking from all sides, and turned to face up, staring dazed for a while. He remembered the cold poison from Wangsheng Palace, which was like gangrene on the bone that couldn’t be healed.

It was not until his four limbs were ice-cold that he suddenly, belatedly thought that if he were to get sick, he definitely would not have the ability to walk down the mountain to the village alone to seek medical help, and that he was really so poor he couldn’t pay a single penny for a consultation. He had no option but to crawl up and grope about in the darkness as he staggered back to the large wooden house.

Through the window of the wooden house, looking through the gaps in flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, he stared at that broken thatched hut swaying amidst the wind and rain, and couldn’t help but sigh: “How weak.”

It really was weak, simple, and crude. Nevertheless, Zhongli Zixi was reluctant to abandon it in spite of that.

After all, that was the only thing related to Ye Jun deep inside these mountains.


The next day, the rainstorm fell until the afternoon, then the sky cleared. Zhongli Zixi gathered the thatch that had been strewn about all over the place, added some new ones, and prepared to climb up and repair the roof.

But his hand and foot had been crippled, and the qi in his empty dantian was insufficient, walking already felt hard enough, so climbing up on a ladder to reach the roof was easier said than done.

At that time, in order to have a view of the mountain, Ye Jun built the thatched hut on the edge of a high cliff, so if he was even a little careless while fixing the roof he could fall down into the mountain stream. There was a spring chill in the air, and the cold water from the creek was bone-chilling, it was also surrounded on both sides by sharp, precipitous cliffs, so if he fell in it was unknown whether he would be able to climb back up.

Zhongli Zixi leaned on his crutches as he circled along the base of the thatched hut, picking an angle to climb up.

After very carefully finishing the repairs, he had just breathed a sigh of relief when, next to him, a startled sparrow suddenly took flight, slamming headlong into the ladder. Zhongli Zixi was tilted to the side and immediately fell from the roof, scrambling around in a frenzy, but everything was slippery wet after the rain, and he couldn’t find a hold anywhere.

He fell and collided against the railings of the ladder one after another, then was knocked half a zhang into the mountain stream. But he was not submerged in the ice-cold stream water, instead, he fell into a warm embrace. Unfortunately, his momentum was too violent, and the person catching him was unable to steady their body and was knocked into the running water. He heard the sound of a short, muffled, almost inaudible groan next to his ear, as if filled with pain.

Ye Jun caught the Second Young Master and held him high above his head, fearing the stream would get his clothes wet, and after a moment’s pause to stand firm and absorb the momentum, he leapt up back to the shore.

Ye Jun placed his Young Master on the steps and sat him down against the railing, then retreated half a step back and knelt in front of him.

He pulled out a small, fine iron-cast token from his chest and handed it to him, but took it back after a quick glance and rubbed it against his chest, wiping off a stain from the metal token, and offering it to him again with both hands.

Although it was a brief flash, Zhongli Zixi could still tell that it had been stained with blood.

“This is the token for the Nightrunner’s ‘Ye Jun Imperial Servant’ for this year, I just got it.” Ye Jun furrowed his brows and nodded his head at it in salute, softly saying, “For you, my Master.”

Zhongli Zixi stared at him blankly, as if he didn’t understand his words, momentarily stunned.

He was dumbfounded for a long time before talking to himself: “Why did you….”

But Ye Jun asked: “What do you trust more, my loyalty to you or my responsibility towards the title of ‘Ye Jun’?”

In a split second, Zhongli Zixi knew his answer was the latter, and even he felt ashamed of himself this time.


“You don’t need to answer me, Young Master.” But Ye Jun shook his head and interrupted his train of thought, “Gaining your trust is also my duty, and I am willing to do whatever it takes for you. I am very clear on what kind of person you are, you don’t need to bear any guilt, and you don’t need to make any changes for this subordinate.”

Ye Jun bowed his head and spread out the hands Zhongli Zixi had balled tightly at his knees, kissing his fingertips: “Please rest assured, Young Master, I’ll take care of everything.”


“…..Since that’s why you left, why didn’t you just tell me?” Zhongli Zixi’s voice was hoarse, unexpectedly carrying a trace of grievance.

Ye Jun laughed bitterly: “With how dangerous the Nightrunner’s competition is, I had no certainty I would be able to come back alive, if something went wrong….. how could I be willing to let you wait in vain?”

When he mentioned this, Zhongli Zixi immediately sensed that the pallor of Ye Jun’s face was a little strange, as if he had a blood and qi deficiency. According to his previous skills, there was no way he wouldn’t have been able to steady himself and get knocked down into the stream, so Zhongli Zixi said in alarm: “You’re hurt?”

Zhongli Zixi was well aware of his martial arts style, he’d always excelled at nimble agility, but his defence was extremely weak. There were only two circumstances in which he would engage in battle, either because he could do it skilfully and easily, or because there was no doubt he would die. During the ten years at Zhongli Court, Ye Jun was wounded in action very few times. He had said that he would not be wounded, but would only be killed.

Ye Jun suppressed the pain and coughed lightly, pressing his chest and speaking: “I was wounded by this cycle’s Yaksha. I really couldn’t get up, so I lay down for a day before coming back. I was in too much of a hurry today and reopened the wound when I wasn’t careful.”

Zhongli Zixi’s breath caught in his throat and he once again felt afraid. Ye Jun was already on the verge of collapse, so he hurriedly reached out his hands and supported his waist.

He had never been so intimate with Ye Jun, and he was still nervous and hesitating, but Ye Jun had already consciously leaned over.

Ye Jun’s voice was a little weak, he rested his head on his shoulder and said: “This time the wound is a little serious….. I might have to burden you for a time. I’m very sorry….. Young Master.”

Ye Jun’s voice became lower and lower, and his head dropped as he lost consciousness. Zhongli Zixi avoided his wound and very carefully wrapped his arms around him. Ye Jun had always been the person that understood him best in the world, and he always knew the best way to put his mind at ease.

He whispered: “I’m the one who should apologise.”


From this angle, Zhongli Zixi naturally couldn’t see that Ye Jun, who should have been unconscious, secretly smiled slyly and smugly.