Qian Ji Tower lay just beyond the borders of the forbidden zone.
A glance through the window revealed the Zhai Xing Tower and the pagoda, their silhouettes silhouetted against the twilight sky, standing tall and resolute at the edge of the bamboo forest.
The crescent moon, a celestial sentinel, gracefully adorned the eaves of the Zhai Xing Tower, its gentle glow casting an ethereal aura upon the tranquil scene.
A gust of frigid night wind swept through the narrow aperture, infiltrating the dimly lit chamber and causing the flickering lamplight to dance erratically, casting eerie shadows upon the room’s occupants.
Xia Qing glanced at Lou Guan Xue, hesitated for a moment. He was never good at comforting people. After listening to Lou Guan Xue’s words, he thought for a long time before saying, “But initially, I brought up those places just to comfort you. In fact, it’s not a question that needs to be answered.”
Lou Guan Xue nodded and asked with a smile, “Hmm. Just like there doesn’t need to be a reason to live, right?”
With a gentle sigh, Xia Qing affirmed, “Indeed.” His voice was measured, “These words resonate with me from a book I once read. The essence of life lies in the very act of living, not in pursuing external goals or achievements .”
Lou Guan Xue smiled.
Xia Qing carefully chose his words, “So, you can be happy. There’s no need to dwell on things you can’t understand.”
The smile on Lou Guan Xue’s lips remained, but he shook his head slightly, his voice very soft, “No, Xia Qing, it’s not that simple.”
Xia Qing was taken aback, his eyes showing a hint of confusion. “Hmm?”
As Lou Guan Xue spoke to him, his fingers flipped through the pages, swiftly scanning the book in his hand.
“There’s something I must find an answer to.”
Lou Guan Xue’s tone was calm, yet the unabashed hostility seemed to emanate from the depths of his soul.
Sharp edges exposed, chilling to the bone.
It tore through the façade of laziness and indifference he had always hidden behind.
Xia Qing was stunned, sitting motionless in his chair.
As Xia Qing snapped out of his trance, about to speak, Lou Guan Xue had already withdrawn the dangerous and solemn intent. Slowly curling his lips into a faint smile, he closed the book and spoke, “My dear, don’t ask. You know, there are ten thousand ways I can evade the questions I don’t want to answer.”
“…,” Xia Qing was infuriated by his words, gritting his teeth. “You know too.”
Every time pretending to have such a good temper, always answering questions! But what nonsense did he actually say?!
Lou Guan Xue stared at him for a moment, seeming lost in thought. “You seem to be easily provoked by me.”
Xia Qing, feeling frustrated, ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah.”
Lou Guan Xue lifted the lamp, glanced at the purple light on the top of the nine-tiered pagoda outside, then withdrew it casually. “So why not leave then?”
Xia Qing had long guessed that Lou Guan Xue would ask this question. He had prepared an answer back at the Feng Yue Tower, and replied sullenly, “Because I don’t know where to go.”
Lou Guan Xue raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”
Xia Qing was honest. “I’ve gotten used to being by your side. Besides, I’m not familiar with anywhere else in this world, so it’s better to stay in one place.”
Lou Guan Xue gazed at him quietly for a long time, then playfully curled his lips. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he tapped the table with his finger instead.
Xia Qing, having spent enough time with him to know that it wouldn’t be anything good, preemptively warned him with a grumpy tone, “If you’re not sure whether you should say something, then don’t say it.”
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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Lou Guan Xue propped his chin, his gaze crossing the window of the Qian Ji Tower, and said lightly, “Everyone says there’s a great demon sealed inside the pagoda, but when I was a child, I was locked inside, and I didn’t see anything in there.”
Xia Qing was taken aback, asking with a rough voice, “When you were a child?”
Lou Guan Xue glanced at him, nodding, “Yes, around six years old. I was trapped inside for three days, surrounded by darkness, with no sound at all.”
Six years old. Xia Qing only now realized.
The Lou Guan Xue from inside the barrier, as a child, ran back and put an end to everything, freezing time forever on the Jingzhe night when he was five.
But in reality, there was no such thing, no great fire. The five-year-old Lou Guan Xue did not meet Xia Qing.
Lou Guan Xue was alone in the cold palace, just after enduring the ridicule and sarcasm of Yan Lan Yu, struggling with his life against the snow wolves, suppressing dignity and shame deep inside, biting his teeth to survive. But then, he was told by his own mother that he was born as a vessel, and the meaning of living was to die.
“Lou Guan Xue…”
Xia Qing’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, involuntarily calling out.
Lou Guan Xue continued, “Inside the pagoda, it was very quiet. It wasn’t until I was starving to death that I heard a faint sound. It could have been a hallucination… I heard the sound of the sea. I also heard the sound of palace collapse and something falling.”
Lou Guan Xue fell silent after saying this, his eyelashes lowering to conceal the cold glint in his eyes.
When he was six years old, inside the pagoda.
In the darkness so silent it could drive one insane, at the brink of death, what he heard in his ears was the distant sound of the ocean.
The crashing of waves echoed, wind howled from the depths of the abyss.
Palaces collapsed, pillars crumbled, the world was crumbling and shattering, accompanied by screams, fleeing, and crying.
Everything was falling apart, tumultuous and chaotic.
Yet, amidst the upheaval of heaven and earth, as everything was on the brink of becoming ruins, that crisp sound of something landing became the last trace of tranquility in his bizarre world, calming even his burning soul.
Then, he caught the cold, brisk scent of Lingwei flowers.
His body fell downward, and he saw a desolate yet gentle sea of blue flowers blooming atop the snow-white barren mound…
Xia Qing fell silent for a moment, his voice hoarse as he asked, “What happened next?”
Lou Guan Xue came back to his senses, and said faintly, “Later, Yao Ke found me and took me out. I had a fever for three days and three nights.”
Xia Qing didn’t know what to say.
At that moment, a sharp, vigilant voice of an old woman came from below the stairs: “Who’s up there?! Who! Get down here!”
Then the hurried footsteps of someone rushing up the stairs echoed.
The Qian Ji Tower and the Jingshi Hall were intricately linked, heavily guarded, and outsiders were not allowed to enter without permission.
Xia Qing’s somewhat confused mind was immediately awakened by this cold shout, but he inexplicably felt a sense of unease, looking up at Lou Guan Xue.
Lou Guan Xue’s expression was originally cold, but catching his gaze, he suddenly winked at him.
He placed the book back on the shelf, stood up, leaned down to blow out the candle, and then in the darkness, he grabbed Xia Qing’s hand.
“What are you doing?” Xia Qing asked in confusion.
Lou Guan Xue pressed a finger to his lips and smiled, “Shh, we can’t alert the enemy now.”
Xia Qing looked puzzled, “Are you still afraid of being discovered?”
Lou Guan Xue replied, “Aren’t you afraid of feeling guilty?”
Xia Qing hesitated, thinking, I feel guilty that you’re sneaking out and getting caught fooling around with me, which could ruin my reputation again!
Without saying a word, Lou Guan Xue led him to a corner where a bookshelf met the wall at Qian Ji Tower.
“This is a forbidden place of the royal family! Whoever you are, get out now!” admonished the old woman entering with a lantern, dressed in black robes, her white hair contrasting her solemn expression.
Her gaze was cold and sharp, her voice stern, clearly a figure of authority long established in the palace.
Xia Qing and Lou Guan Xue stood close together, his hand still gripping Xia Qing’s wrist, pressed against the wall. Xia Qing’s mind was in a whirl, unable to comprehend how they ended up in this situation.
“Come out!” the old woman approached with the lantern.
The atmosphere was too eerie, and Xia Qing dared not even take a breath.
Lou Guan Xue held Xia Qing’s finger, looking down, casually playing with the relic on his wrist, rolling it back and forth, the coldness pressing against his skin.
Xia Qing gave him a glare in the darkness, wanting to pull his hand back.
But Lou Guan Xue just lowered his head, smiling, using the index finger of his other hand to press against Xia Qing’s lips, softly whispering in his ear, “Don’t get caught, we can’t let Yan Lan Yu discover my disloyalty yet.”
They were very close, and the strands of hair cascading down Lou Guan Xue’s ear seemed to touch his shoulder, chilling like a handful of snow.
Xia Qing uncomfortably leaned back.
The place was very secluded, the old woman walked back and forth between the bookshelves, searching with the lantern for a while, but didn’t see anyone. She then frowned and muttered to herself, “Rats? How could there be rats in Qian Ji Tower?”
But she was still not at ease, carefully inspected the area again, suspicious for a while, and only after making sure there was no one, she turned and left.
As the footsteps of the old woman faded away, Xia Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief, the first thing he did was to pull back his hand.
“The person has left.”
Lou Guan Xue calmly released his hand.
Xia Qing complained, “You still care about Yan Lan Yu? Aren’t you afraid of being questioned about sneaking out from the Spring Banquet?”
Lou Guan Xue replied, “The Spring Banquet lasts more than just one night, she won’t rush into it.”
Xia Qing: “???”
So, he has to come out as a scapegoat for Lou Guan Xue again?!
Lou Guan Xue said, “Yan Lan Yu won’t give up on choosing a consort for me.”
Xia Qing asked a long-hovering question, “Why? Why is she so insistent on having you produce offspring?”
Lou Guan Xue paused, then admitted without concealment, “If the Chu royal family disappears, it will be the Wei, Yan, and Wu families who will suffer calamity next year during Jingzhe.”
Xia Qing was stunned.
By the moonlight streaming through the staircase, Xia Qing followed Lou Guan Xue downstairs and asked, “So, actually, the torment you endured during Jingzhe was on behalf of the three families?”
Lou Guan Xue said, “Not quite. The Lou family has always been of the bloodline most deeply cursed.”
Xia Qing asked, “What curse?”
Lou Guan Xue thought for a moment, then chuckled, “You do ask a lot of questions.”
Xia Qing’s mind raced, “Could this be a curse inflicted by the god of the Sea of Heaven?”
Lou Guan Xue nodded lightly.
Exiting Qian Ji Tower, they found themselves on a quiet, narrow path, flanked by walls covered in vines.
They needed to avoid palace servants and patrolling guards, so this was their only route.
Xia Qing pieced it all together, “So, it means that the ancestors of the Chu Kingdom brought the curse upon themselves. They violated taboos, incurred the wrath of the god, and were cursed. But instead of taking responsibility, they blamed the misfortune on the merfolk.”
“Then, according to this logic, the monster locked inside the pagoda shouldn’t be a demon at all? I think there is no monster there; the greatest evil within the Chu Kingdom’s palace is human greed.”
“But if it isn’t a demon, what could be locked inside? Oh, it could still be a demon.” He answered his own question, falling into deep thought, “That demon is the creation of the god, punishment brought upon the Chu Kingdom.”
Lou Guan Xue chuckled but refrained from giving an assessment, “Since you’re so clever, why have you never thought to ask me a question?”
Xia Qing’s train of thought was interrupted, feeling a bit annoyed, but quickly becoming even more puzzled by Lou Guan Xue’s words, raising his confusion, “What question?”
Lou Guan Xue, bone flute in hand, his black robe billowing in the wind, the crimson crane feathers adorning it gleaming under the icy moonlight.
His gaze lowered, a smirk playing on his lips, “Haven’t you noticed yet? Actually, I’m not afraid of Yan Lan Yu.”
Xia Qing froze, hadn’t noticed… but he had.
He had noticed since he didn’t even give the Regent face during the morning court, starting from the arrow shot at Feng Yue Tower.
Lou Guan Xue continued, “I don’t need a scapegoat.”
“Until the High Priest’s downfall, Yan Lan Yu would never resort to drastic measures, sever our ties, or coerce me into any action. Even the concubine selection is within my power to decline.”
Xia Qing froze, his mind echoing with one thought. So he was played???
Lou Guan Xue said, “I asked you why you didn’t leave, but in fact, you should also ask me.”
“Ask me.” With the bone flute in hand, he gently lifted Xia Qing’s chin, his eyes deep and icy, as he calmly said, “Why I kept you here.”
Ahhh Lou Guan-Always-One-Step-Ahead Xue the person you are!!! Your childhood always sends an army of soldiers holding torches to attack my heart but still! Thank you for the updates ❤️!!!
Xia qing being the clueless and probably amnesiac little dummy is such a nice contrast with lou guan xue’s character