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[JunEr] «Candle Snuffed Out, Chess Game About» 04 - The destitute and dejected Big Villain


In the night of sparse apricot blossoms, the showers were beginning to ebb, there was no more water in the mountains and it was hard to tell the time. Zhongli Zixi wiped Ye Jun’s whole body clean, and after checking his skin had regained some warmth, went to sleep on the ground near him.

Zhongli Zixi had never slept in the same bed as someone before, he slept until midnight, and was startled awake when Ye Jun stuck close to him.

Ye Jun’s injuries were too heavy, and his consciousness was a little disorganised, so his bearing was not as disciplined as usual. This person first pressed his forehead against Zhongli Zixi’s shoulder, drilling into his embrace, then held his arm, stroking down along it until reaching his palm and intertwining their ten fingers together.

At first, he was simply a little surprised by Ye Jun’s childish behaviour, but then the feeling of Ye Jun’s soft breath against his shoulder became clearer and sharper, so itchy that he couldn't stay still, and he couldn’t help but quietly and cautiously remove his fingers from Ye Jun’s hand and move his arms back.

Ye Jun was immediately awoken by Zhongli Zixi’s light movement, and sensing he had done something, spoke at once: “I’m sorry for disturbing you, Young Master.”

Ye Jun immediately withdrew his limbs, turning to the side and shifting away, distancing himself from Zhongli Zixi. But the quilt was not that big, so this move left half of his body exposed to the outside.

“It….. it’s fine.” Zhongli Zixi stuttered unconsciously, very reluctantly saying, “If you’re cold, it’s fine if you hold me.”

He actually knew very well that Ye Jun had never been so seriously injured before, so it was not the time to act according to his own wilful temper. But he really couldn’t get used to such close proximity, and he eventually felt a little embarrassed.

But Ye Jun didn’t move, and he didn’t say anything else. Zhongli Zixi’s heart was in a mess as he recalled a few old events, and it was hard to sleep peacefully.

This time, Ye Jun actually stayed still and didn’t stick close to him again. After Zhongli Zixi closed his eyes and lay down quietly for a long time, he heard Ye Jun get up and tuck in the corners of his quilt, then surreptitiously move away to a place even further away from him.

It was then that Zhongli Zixi realised that Ye Jun had been using all of his willpower to not fall asleep, so as to not do anything rude towards him again, and he felt even more guilty.

“You don’t have to run so far either, come back a bit…..” Zhongli Zixi reluctantly went to pull Ye Jun back, but when he touched him he discovered that Ye Jun’s whole body had long since become cold, he was shocked, and quickly drew Ye Jun’s whole body into his arms, wrapping him up tightly and asking: “Why are you so cold? Are you feeling unwell?”

Ye Jun didn’t answer, only stifling a few light coughs. When Zhongli Zixi heard this, his heart became even more anxious and he tightened the hands wrapping around him again. At this moment, he used the quilt to wrap around the other party, and discovered that the quilt was simply pathetically small, so he was afraid the quilt probably didn’t cover anything just now when Ye Jun had been so far from him. He couldn’t help but mutter: “Why is this quilt so small?”

Ye Jun thought to himself: Nonsense, I chose it deliberately. But on the surface he miserably said: “This subordinate is incompetent, and could only afford this size for the time being. Wait a couple of days when I can get out of bed, I’ll go do some labour and quickly replace it with a better one for you.”

Zhongli Zhixi hurriedly appeased him: “No need, no need, it’s important for you to recuperate in peace. Let’s sleep first….. it’s fine if you don’t mind being squeezed.”

Taking into consideration the wounds on his body, Zhongli Zixi rested Ye Jun’s head on the crook of his arm. Ye Jun finally got what he wanted, burying himself into his Master’s chest and secretly taking a few deep breaths. Since he was young, the Second Young Master soaked himself in all kinds of medicinal herbs year-round to expel the poison inside himself, so his body always carried the fragrance of medicine. He had always been extremely fond of this smell, and today he finally caught the opportunity to breathe it in at close range. The Second Young Master still thought he was drawing out air because he was too cold, so he lightly patted his back.

Ye Jun spoke in a muffled voice while buried in his embrace: “These days must have been very tough….. Young Master, I will recover quickly.”

Zhongli Zixi couldn’t help but laugh: “This isn’t something you can decide.”

Ye Jun finished breathing his Master in, and spoke sticking close to his chest: “If the Young Master orders me to recover quickly, then I will just recover quickly. I always do as I’m told.”

“……” Zhongli Zixi calmed his mind and pondered for a short time, saying, “Then, I order you not to do such dangerous things in the future without permission.”

As always, his unromantic and unsmiling Master didn’t understand his teasing, so Ye Jun was forced to stop smiling and seriously answer: “Yes, Young Master.”

Ye Jun thought: Sigh, I’m so shameless, the Young Master is really cute.


After pulling the man into his embrace, that unbearable itch of anxiety inside Zhongli Zixi’s heart from before actually vanished without a trace. He slept smoothly for the whole night, and only woke up when the sky was completely bright.

It was extremely rare for him to want to stay longer in bed, but today he had to go into town to get medicine, and he actually felt a little unreasonably reluctant.

Zhongli Zixi quietly got up from the bed, then looked around inside the poor, humble house. Only the jade pendants and silver ornaments from the clothes they were wearing when they came could be pawned for a few sliver taels. His gaze swept over Ye Jun’s delicate sleeping face, stopping for a moment as a thought suddenly emerged in his mind:

The most valuable thing inside this house might just be this Ye Jun.

He was the Nightrunner’s most outstanding shadow guard, worth ten thousand taels. But how easy were those ten thousand taels of silver, when there was only one such Ye Jun in the world?

Zhongli Zixi composed himself, tearing off the ornaments and putting them into his chest pocket, then boiling a large pot of congee. Ye Jun was still not awake, so he served up a day’s worth and put it close by.

He didn’t know at what time he would come back, and he was afraid Ye Jun would only be able to eat cold congee. Thinking this, he suddenly felt that Ye Jun was even more pitiful.


Originally, Ye Jun had told him about the road to go into town before he left, but he was absent-minded at that time, and he simply couldn’t remember. But according to the river, vegetation, soil, and the traces of the hunting houses, he could easily deduce where the town would be. Zhongli Zixi didn’t take the winding detour, but he still walked for a full half a day.

It was slippery all along the journey he walked, and he was so completely covered in filthy mud that the colour of his clothes could already not be made out by the time he made it to the village. Zhongli Zixi was too busy to care about these minor details, and hurried to ask at a pawn shop. The person doing the accounts behind the counter was a youngster known as Xiao Yu, who wanted to go on a long-winded talk when he saw a customer, but Zhongli Zixi didn’t feel like exchanging pleasantries with him, taking the jade and silver ornaments and pushing them into the counter.

Xiao Yu was speechless when he saw the jade pendants: “Hey? This is so pure and clear, is it real or fake? Let me look at it….. How long do you intend to pawn it for?”

Zhongli Zixi briefly said: “Until the absolute due¹, seven hundred taels.”

These pieces of jade were originally all rare treasures, it would be hard to find a thousand jin but he was in a hurry at the moment and had no time to haggle.

Hearing this, Xiao Yu was startled, and dumbly said: “Our entire shop doesn’t have that much money ah, and I’ve never seen such fine things, so I can’t distinguish real from fake. This, I can’t do this without the owner…..” He stuck his head out from behind the counter to size him up, and seeing that the guest’s body was covered in mud and half crippled, he muttered in a low voice, “Looking at you, you don’t seem wealthy, could it be that you stole it….. This kind of person coming to look for me still wouldn’t be beaten to death by Uncle Liu…..”

Zhongli Zixi sighed faintly in his heart, he’d long since anticipated this move, even if these treasures were rare and priceless, there was no market for them in this remote and desolate place, so he could only compromise and ask: “Dare I ask how much the shopkeeper is willing to pay?”

Xiao Yu counted on his fingers for a while, then lowered his head into the drawer, rummaging through and counting the silver inventory, and spoke shyly: “Three, three taels.”

Zhongli Zixi clenched his teeth and calmly said: “Say that again?”

Xiao Yu only felt a thread of murderous aura that left him trembling, he hurriedly waved his hands and stammered out an explanation: “So-so-sorry! I also know it’s not enough, but that’s just all the silver I can touch inside the shop. You-you don’t have to worry, our boss Uncle Liu will come back to the shop from out of town in a few days, he can make decisions, he’ll surely give you a more suitable price, customer you….. come back the day after tomorrow!”

Three days….. Zhongli Zixi lowered his head and lightly sighed again, no matter how short the day was, he couldn’t let Ye Jun suffer and endure in vain for another moment. He spoke dejectedly: “Three taels is three taels, right? Quickly exchange it for me, I’m pressed for time.”

Seeing him agree, Xiao Yu was even more alarmed, repeatedly nodding: “Hey, alright, I’ll give you a written pawn ticket. With it being so cheap, you don’t have to default, just pay it back in two days. The interest on three taels is also very cheap, so it won’t be a problem.”

Zhongli Zixi helplessly shook his head, he didn’t even have a penny now, let alone three taels.


Zhongli Zixi cupped the small pieces of silver in his hand and left, he calculated that with this meagre sum of money, he would only be able to get ordinary herbs to staunch bleeding. He was very familiar with these kinds of herbs, if his hand and foot weren’t crippled, he would just go pick them himself and there would be no need to get to this point.

Just as he was lost in thought, thinking about which herbs he would get and wanting to buy some good food to give to Ye Jun when he got back, someone suddenly spoke up from behind him: “Brother, your pawn ticket fell.”

Zhongli Zixi knew he didn’t have the money to redeem those ornaments, so he hadn’t put the pawn ticket away properly and only stuffed it away carelessly, so he spoke casually in response: “No need, I won’t redeem it.”

“A gentleman will not part with jade without reason². If you have any troubles, perhaps I can help you?” The man folded the pawn ticket and went around to hand it to him. It was only then that Zhongli Zixi discovered that the man’s figure was lean and strong, he was a martial artist with an excellent cultivation base and strength of character, which was really incongruous with such a remote village.


When Zhongli Zixi saw his appearance clearly, he was surprised, he was still lamenting that “there were actually people with such a resemblance in this world” when, in the next second, his eyes fell on the Sui Han sword on his waist, and his heart couldn’t help but thump.

It really was him.


When one is strong as a pine tree in winter, victory and defeat are meaningless³. “Sui Han” and “Ku Rong” were paired swords, Ku Rong was given to Yaksha by the Second Young Master, and Sui Han was bestowed upon Ze Que by the Eldest Young Master.

It was precisely because, although they were pair swords, they had no distinction between male and female⁴ that Ze Que especially liked looking to battle with Yaksha, but Yaksha never took up his challenge, and there was an awful disturbance for a time.

The person that came was genuinely that long-since dead Ze Que.


Zhongli Zixi was very stunned for a moment, forgetting to speak. Seeing him not saying anything, Ze Que hurriedly lowered his head and explained: “Don’t misunderstand, brother. You seemed a little familiar, so I wanted to approach….. this humble one did not have any malice, I hope you can forgive me if I was rude.”


Zhongli Zixi was dumbfounded: Not only was he alive, he actually didn’t remember anything.