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Chapter 21.5 - Chenyuan


Qin Chenyuan’s body had many injuries, so he followed his map to find a village along the way where we could stop to rest and find a doctor.

Yun Jiangli carried him to the doctor’s building, while Ye Tan and I sat down in a steamed bun shop to wait.

I asked: “So, apparently Young Master Qin doesn’t recognise you?”

Ye Tan stabbed the steam bun and brought it to my face, responding: “Yes, this subordinate spent most of the time hidden around Young Master Qin Qi, and when I would occasionally show myself I would also wear a mask, Young Master Qin has really never seen my face.”

I nodded, and asked again: “Can Qin Chenyuan be trusted?”

Ye Tan clearly hadn’t thought about this question, so he said in a wavering tone: “.....should we?”

“I see that Qin Chenyuan is foolish, but he leaves a good impression. I’m not too sure about this Yun Jiangli.” After I finished eating one bun, I felt like it wouldn’t be too hard so I tried to hold one with chopsticks using my own hands.

“We should also be able to trust him.” Ye Tan said, “He’s very much like this one person.... He was a close friend of Young Master Qin Qi back in those years. His last name was also Yun, and his given name was Pizhi. Before Young Master Qin Qi passed away, he was the one he was most worried about.”

Ye Tan had not realised what he had just revealed, and I couldn’t help but cast a glance at him.

These few sentences divulged three pieces of information, the first, Qin Chenyuan never saw his face, so the story that Yaksha often fought with his master and was punished for it was most likely false; the second, Qin Qi knew he was going to die; and the third, Qin Qi exchanged information about this matter with Ye Tan. Since Ye Tan is such a blockhead, if Qin Qi hadn’t explained this with his own mouth, he would never have been able to make this judgement by himself.

“.....that’s wrong.” He suddenly said this and grabbed my hand, smoothing out my index and middle fingers, then he put the chopsticks in and gestured, “It’s like this.”

I agreed, then paused my thoughts to completely focus on the two bamboo chopsticks.

I practised for a long time, and my hands kept slipping, but at last I could barely be considered to be able to hold them. Yun Jiangli came back, supporting Qin Chenyuan as he walked slowly, and casually sat down: “Fortunately, the wounds were only superficial, they’ve been dressed with medication, and he should quickly get better.”

I was completely concentrated on the chopsticks in my hands, so when I lifted my head to greet the two of them, this shift in attention was enough to cause the chopsticks to slip from my fingers.

Ye Tan caught them with ease, stuffed them back into my hands, and helped me adjust the angle again.

Qin Chenyuan glared daggers at us: “Can’t you two just eat properly?”

I was confused by his stare, and realised something wasn’t right, so I tried to explain: “I am very injured, and the chopsticks keep slipping out of my hands, so I have to trouble him to help me.”

Having heard this, Qin Chenyuan’s glance slowly shifted towards Yun Jiangli.

Yun Jiangli shivered at his stare.

Qin Chenyuan was silent for a moment, then slowly raised his chopsticks, and dropped them on the ground with a smack.

“Ah, I’m so injured, I can’t hold my chopsticks, someone help me.” He said with a blank expression.

Yun Jiangli panicked: “You, you don’t mean..... are you asking..... me.... ? Ah? Right.... ?”

“Forget it!! Anyway it won’t be the first day that I don’t eat anything! I’ll just starve to death!” Qin Chenyuan angrily slammed his hands down on the table, causing the small dishes on the table to jump.

Yun Jiangli’s expression turned various different colours, and he went to coax him again, but his tone was insincere and Qin Chenyuan became increasingly more angry.

The two people got into a fight again.

Yun Jiangli was worried about his injuries, so he didn’t dare take it seriously and was soon pushed to the ground and beaten up by Qin Chenyuan.

After a while of this abuse, Qin Chenyuan was still not happy, so he stopped his hands and went back to sulking with his back turned. Yun Jiangli crawled back up, all battered and bruised, and patted the dust off himself. He then went and half-knelt beside Qin Chenyuan, patting him clean and straightening out his clothes, and, seeing his hair tie had come loose, he undid it and tied it up again. Only then did he sit down back at his side, hesitating over and over again to pick up the chopsticks, turning to stare in front of him at both Ye Tan and me.

I considered saying: This person says he is unwilling, but he’s actually very good at doing what he should.

Yun Jiangli’s face was slightly flushed: “.....You two, can you not, not stare at me..... otherwise, it’s really hard for me to....”

I doubted: “What’s wrong? It’s just like if you were feeding yourself.”

Yun Jiangli was obviously filled with resentment and wanted to talk about it, when suddenly Qin Chenyuan turned his head to the side and glared at him. He was so scared he didn’t dare voice his objections, and stuffed the dish into Qin Chenyuan’s mouth quick as lightning.

I patiently waited until he finished eating and his expression eased up, and only then I asked: “Young Master Qin, is it possible for you to tell me how Young Master Qin Qi actually died back then?”

Qin Chenyuan frowned and fell into deep thought, until finally saying: “I had originally heard a few rumours, but I don’t know what’s true or false, and I’m afraid of disgracing the dead.”

“.....You two are Brother Yun’s friends, I shouldn’t keep this from you. There really is something hidden in this matter.” He thought for a bit, then opened his mouth to say, “That day, I was there at the hall, Qi-ge, he.... really was killed by Yaksha.”

My heart tensed up.

Qin Chenyuan said: “That day, I was still eating and drinking in the hall, Qi-ge came in to talk to us, and when he saw that Yaksha was also sitting there he asked: ‘Why is a lowly slave also sitting at the table with the honoured guests?’, Yaksha was unable to contain his anger, so he jumped up and stabbed Qi-ge through the heart.”

Next to me, Ye Tan was listening calmly, his breathing steady as usual.

I shook my head: “No, say it again. Start from the very beginning.... even if you don’t think it has anything to do with this matter, I want to hear all of it.”