In the dead of night, a dark shadow flickered past Shi Wuduan’s window. The courtyard was silent save for the sound of falling snow. The shadow had materialized as unobtrusively as the snow sliding down from the roof. It shouldn’t have been noticed, yet Bai Li opened his eyes.
There was not the slightest hint of drowsiness in his eyes; he’d never fallen asleep in the first place.
Bai Li looked down at Shi Wuduan, the latter of whom had unconsciously squirmed into the blankets. His head was no longer on the pillow, as he was already curled up entirely beneath the blankets. Somehow, he wasn’t uncomfortable.
Bai Li folded the blankets back slightly so that his chin at least was exposed. A moment later, Shi Wuduan shrank down in discomfort again. Bai Li smiled as he quietly got up out of bed. He brushed the “light” by the bed with a finger, making it grow, then tucked the blankets in and left, but not through the door. Unwilling to let in the cold air outside, he ghosted through the walls like a phantom.
It was almost like he’d been made of cold wind and dark night all along. Leaving that warm room was like entering a different world. He raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and fiercely curled his fingers into a fist. The black shadow easily fell into his grasp, forced into its true form.
It was not a person. “His” body seemed to be entirely illusory. It was like a piece of cloth in Bai Li’s hands. It had a face, a neck, even a torso and four limbs; its face could be considered beautiful — if only it wasn’t constantly shifting in the breeze.
The cloth person opened his mouth but dared not to speak. Though it was dark, it was not hard to tell that Bai Li’s expression was extremely fearsome. He glared at it and said nearly silently, “I’ve warned you before not to follow me in this city. If you tail me one more step, I’ll kill you.”
A sound finally escaped the cloth person, but it wasn’t human speech, it was like the sound of someone gurgling underwater.
What was even stranger was that Bai Li was able to “understand” it. His face remained stony as ever, “I have plans of my own. Since when did the likes of you ever have the authority to question me?”
The cloth person stopped moving, its gurgling sounds slowed as well. An unmistakably concerned expression appeared on its face. Bai Li examined him for a moment before finally releasing it. The cloth person slowly drifted to the ground before him. Bai Li clasped his hands behind him and said, “I know. You can get lost now.”
The cloth person was entirely pitch black. Somehow, it got up and stood on its soft noodly legs. From afar, it looked like a pitiful streamer, propped up by an unseen pole as the wind battered it yet did not carry it away.
The cloth person floated closer to Bai Li. Its feet floated over the ground, leaving no trace on the snow. It boldly clutched the collar of Bai Li’s robes and gurgled softly. Bai Li flung him aside and snarled, “Don’t overstep your place! All you need to do is stop meddling! I’ll be leaving Guji in several days, and also… don’t get any ideas about him.”
The cloth person took a step back, glancing in the direction of Shi Wuduan’s room.
Bai Li impatiently snapped, “Scram!”
His words were accompanied by a gust of razor-like wind swirling up around him. The cloth person was sent flying. It landed gracelessly on the roof, rolled a few times, and floated into the air. It finally learned to stop provoking Bai Li. It flickered and was gone.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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His once quiet shadow began to “stand up” from the ground. It slowly enveloped Bai Li and vanished with him on the spot — it was several shades darker than the coal-colored cloth person.
Bai Li’s expression was cold and unfeeling.
Separated by a single door, Shi Wuduan quietly opened his eyes. His breathing remained constant; aside from his lucid eyes, there was no other difference from when he’d been asleep.
Shi Wuduan watched the candlelight that flickered as if it’d been disturbed. Its dim light reflected off the pupils of his eyes. His thoughts were unreadable.
A few days later, it was just as Gu Huaiyang predicted. The King of Anqing couldn’t sit still any longer.
Upon receiving news that the King of Anqing was approaching his doorstep with an army, Gu Huaiyang called his brothers for a meeting to discuss how to approach the situation.
Meng Zhongyong said directly, “Let’s just whoop his ass.”
There was no room for two tigers on one mountain. Gu Huaiyang was beginning to think that his forces were consolidating nicely and that it was time to stab their former benefactor in the back.
Yet Li Rushuang advised, “I’m afraid fighting him openly would be improper. Even though Cui Hu is an upstart himself, he was offered amnesty by the court. It’d be hard to absolve ourselves if we kill him brazenly, and our losses would outweigh our gains if the imperial troops came after us.”
Gu Huaiyang wasn’t in a rush; he’d been making most of the decisions on his lonesome. He was the one who’d plied Cui Hu’s emissaries with money and he was the one who’d let them escape to report back. Everything was going according to plan; he delegated tasks to each of his brothers.
Meng Zhongyong was jittering with excitement, bouncing up and down like a monkey. But Lu Yunzhou looked at Gu Huaiyang and asked, “Are you planning on accepting titles from the court this time, eldest brother?”
Gu Huaiyang hesitated before slowly nodding.
The foolishly jolly look on Meng Zhongyong twisted. His eyes bulged as he slapped the table and questioned, “What? You’re gonna submit to that bastard emperor? But why? Before, even when us brothers had no food and no weapons, we didn’t bow our heads then, why’s it that now we’re strong we’ve gotta….”
Gu Huaiyang motioned at him to sit back down and ordered him to not act rashly. Meng Zhongyong, like a trained dog, immediately quietened, waiting to hear his explanation.
Gu Huaiyang said, “Before, when we were ants, they could crush us under their thumb no matter how much chaos we stirred. The only reason they didn’t is that this place is remote and the court didn’t have the time on their hands to deal with us. If I’d accepted their offer back then, how do you think we’d have fared against those eighteen bandit leaders? They all thought they were heroes of legend or something. Which one of them would’ve tolerated an emperor’s dog running around under their noses?”
Li Rushuang leisurely continued, “What eldest brother means is that if we can absorb Cui Hu’s forces, Haining is as good as ours, and it’ll draw too much heat down on us?”
Gu Huaiyang sighed, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. We’ve only gone from a tiny ant to a small cricket. The strength of a bug will not suffice to shake the tree.”
He glanced at Shi Wuduan, who’d been sitting silently ever since he entered the room.
Gu Huaiyang clarified his plans in greater detail and gave a few more words of instruction before sending everyone off to get ready to move against Cui Hu, but he held Shi Wuduan back and asked, “Has eldest brother said anything amiss today? You haven’t spoken at all this whole time.”
Even though Gu Huaiyang was a very decisive person, he wasn’t too obstinate to heed other’s advice. He was respected as the “eldest brother” and he fulfilled the role very well. He was warm and slow to anger and was always fair and impartial no matter the situation. He never abused his position as the “eldest brother,” and even if a babbling toddler were to pass judgment and criticism on him, he’d listen carefully and take it into account before deciding if it was useful or not.
He was very open-hearted and open-minded. No matter how rudely he was treated, he could always laugh it off. Aside from the time when they’d been struggling to survive as they fled famine, and Gu Huaiyang led them to rebellion, he never stern in voice or expression. He treated his sworn brothers as if they were real siblings born of the same parents.
Shi Wuduan’s expression sombered. He glanced at Gu Huaiyang then suddenly stood up and opened the door. He retrieved a few thin sticks out of his sleeve and poked them into the ground in some bizarre sequence. When placing the last stick, he tied a small bell to it. It had chimed as Shi Wuduan removed it from his sleeve, but as soon as it was bound it ceased to ring no matter how hard the wind blew at it.
Only then did Shi Wuduan turn around, carefully closing the door, and quietly ask, “Eldest brother, I have something to ask you.”
Gu Huaiyang was more than familiar with what kind of character Shi Wuduan was. On a normal day, nine out of ten of his thoughts were about what he was going to eat next. Only rarely was this person ever so serious. He couldn’t help but get serious as well, he asked, “What is it?”
Shi Wuduan replied, “Haining isn’t a bad place really. Unlike Jiangnan or Xianghuai, it’s not highly coveted, and unlike Pingyang City, where chances are that a random tile falling off the roof would hit some powerful official and the ears have walls, and it’s not a poor backwater dump either. Despite how we’ve managed to seize it while the court was unaware, if we adapt accordingly, the court will probably ignore whatever happens in Haining. You could slowly and surely stabilize your power base here, living comfortably off your fortune for the remainder of your life.”
Gu Huaiyang faintly knew what he wanted to say. He sat on the edge of the table, his finger tapped against the dark-colored wood.
Shi Wuduan asked, “Eldest brother… what do you think?”
Gu Huaiyang suddenly looked up at him and asked, “If I nodded, were you planning on making an unannounced departure?”
Shi Wuduan startled, but didn’t deny it.
Gu Huaiyang sighed and, after a moment, responded, “Little sixth, the first day I met you and the bird flying after you, I knew you weren’t the child of some ordinary commoners. I’d heard that, a few days ago, a lady of the evening had been killed. It wasn’t a big deal, yet you had the matter concealed. I knew then, that perhaps… you might make your move.”
Shi Wuduan didn’t lie to him, he said straight out, “I had some things in mind.”
What those things were, he obviously didn’t intend to share them with Gu Huaiyang. Though, Gu Huaiyang still did not distrust him. He only sighed somewhat sentimentally as he looked at Shi Wuduan and said, “You’re very ambitious, little sixth.”
Shi Wuduan lightly pressed a hand against his chest and said, “I am always ill at ease, feeling like I’m suffocating, like there’s mountains hanging above my head. When I look up, I can’t see the sky; when I look out, I can’t see the seas and mulberry fields. I feel like I can’t breathe.”
His shoulders hunched as if he really was struggling to breathe. He took a deep breath, but his expression was still distorted and a shadow was over his face.
Gu Huaiyang looked at him searchingly. After a long while, he finally nodded, “Throwing aside the pursuit of fame and fortune, striving only to sweep aside all obstacles. Regardless of success or failure, this turn in the wheel of reincarnation will have been worth it. Very well, that is what true men should be like in the first place.”
Shi Wuduan’s eternally muddled gaze instantly cleared, like a sharp gleam tearing through the morning mist.
Gu Huaiyang asked, “Wuduan, will you follow me?”
Shi Wuduan looked him in the eye, then raised his cup in toast and pledged decisively, “I’m willing to follow you, even unto death.”
The mirror before Bai Li shattered, sending droplets splattering everywhere.
The drops that landed on him stained his clothes like ink. They lingered for but a moment before they vanished as if sucked dry.
“Follow unto death… what a wonderful ‘follow unto death’….” Bai Li’s voice was strained as if it was on the verge of tearing. His whole body began to tremble. He touched his hand, which once again began emitting black mist, to his cheek and quietly laughed.
If you’re willing to follow him unto death, then what about me?
In your heart, just how much do I count for?
Thanks for the chapter<3
Aw, I feel sad for Bai Li.
Poor Bai, the only person that once treated him as an equal now put him on an armlenght
Bai li – these thoughts are unhealthy 😳😢
💙💙💙💙
I want to tell him that actually Shi Wuduan still didn’t understand and his focus now is not that. I really want to tell him 😭😭
Same 😭
Bai Li…… Don’t hurt yourself like that 😭
SWD come back home meow..
Thank u for the chapters!!!
So if I understand correctly, swd is saying ghy should continue gathering power and topple the existing dynasty?
Very intriguing. I also had trouble imagining the tool swd made with the bell.