In the decade or so under the rise of the Supreme Devil God’s reign of terror, the tyrant was actually known by another epithet—Bloody March.
However, this gruesome name was not given to the Supreme Devil God because of his penchant for marching through bloody fields, after a horrific battle. It was actually the name of his sword. It was said that few knew the face of the Supreme Devil God, but many knew of what his devilish blade looked like. Eventually, as time passed on and as the Supreme Devil God’s body count grew, the master and sword became synonymous to each other—whether you see the wielder or not did not matter. The moment you saw the crimson glint of Bloody March, you were already on your way to the Yellow Springs.
This part of the cursed artifact stuck to Ge Nianlan. It was more so because even if he wanted to forget, he couldn’t. For some reason, Bloody March would constantly haunt his dreams. He would see it through the eyes of victims, of their comrades, or of even Huai Zhen. He despised it with all his heart, not just because it was Huai Zhen’s natal weapon, but it was also a weapon that “Ge Nianlan” coveted. And it led to many squabbles that deepened Huai Zhen’s hatred for him, as someone who wanted what belonged to others.
Ge Nianlan remembered a part in the cursed artifact that depicted that he, as a youth, did, in fact, meet Bloody March. It was a horrifying cursed sword, bound in talismans, sitting in the sealed weapon’s vault under Black Mane Palace. If Ge Nianlan became the next “crowned prince”, so to speak, then he would truly be the rightful owner of the sword.
But things have changed and Ge Nianlan wanted nothing to do with it.
However, because of this snippet that haunted his dreams, Ge Nianlan knew that Huai Zhen was actually a fantastic swordsman. Not just that, but he was a talent that hadn’t been seen in hundreds of years!
Even without cultivation, Huai Zhen was able to best his peers in pure matches of swordsmanship. It was just unlucky that his injuries hindered Huai Zhen’s process. Ge Nianlan was sure that if he wasn’t writhing in pain so often, his talent would have been seen through far sooner—before he became the Supreme Devil God.
Under Ge Nianlan’s burning gaze, Huai Zhen fidgeted.
“Um…I’m not really good with the sword,” Huai Zhen said.
“Have you tried?” Ge Nianlan asked.
Of course, Huai Zhen has tried. He used to love swordplay, but after a while, it hurt too much to hold his sword. His wrists would give way and it was fall to the floor. He could only take his shizun’s disappointed gaze a handful of times before he reluctantly gave up.
Ge Nianlan observed Huai Zhen’s expression. “Well, you have to do it now.”
“But—”
“I want to, so you have to accompany me,” Ge Nianlan stubbornly declared. He sat up and smiled. “It’ll be fun! I watch Luo-gege all the time and he’s always having fun.”
“Luo…?”
“The big brother that came with us earlier! He was the one standing close to the big sister,” Ge Nianlan said.
Huai Zhen could vaguely recall his face. Still, Huai Zhen shook his head. “I’m really not good. I can’t even hold the sword properly.”
“I can’t either! We’ll learn together,” Ge Nianlan said.
“But I really—”
“It’s settled then,” Ge Nianlan one-sidedly declared. “We’ll start…tomorrow! Tomorrow in the afternoon. I’ll make Luo-gege teach us first.”
Huai Zhen slowly closed his mouth and nodded.
A part of him was excited, but the more rational part already knew what was going to happen.
“Eat more.”
Huai Zhen shifted backwards from the sudden plate of food in his face. He glanced at Ge Nianlan.
“You’re small because you don’t eat enough.”
“I’m not that small,” Huai Zhen argued.
“How old are you?”
“I’m…almost eleven, probably.”
“Me too,” Ge Nianlan said with a provoking tilt of his chin.
“…”
Ge Nianlan was almost six centimeters taller than him.
“Eat,” Ge Nianlan said.
Huai Zhen reluctantly picked up a pastry and took a small bite. As he processed the flavor, his eyes slowly lit up. He glanced at Ge Nianlan and took a bigger bite.
Ge Nianlan smiled and settled back down on the cushions as he watched Huai Zhen eat.
Even his manner of eating was like a little rabbit, Ge Nianlan thought.
What Supreme Devil God? This was clearly a small rabbit who needed to be taken care of! It was decided. Ge Nianlan will save the world by raising this little rabbit.
“Try this too,” Ge Nianlan said as he brought over another plate.
By the time the adults returned to the children’s side, Huai Zhen had eaten half of everything on the plates. Ge Nianlan was watching him intently the whole time, as if he were observing an interesting specimen.
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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Lejl Itfc rtbbx tlr tfjv. Lf uijcmfv ja Xf Rljcijc, ktb kjr rbwfktja qbealcu ja tlr delmx fzla. Lf yeglfv tlr tfjv jujlcra Tf Zlcuzl’r ifu. “Lf’r clmf.”
Ye Mingxi smiled. This was exactly what he was hoping for.
“Things have been arranged,” Ge Jinsheng said. He glanced at Huai Zhen, who was still hiding behind Ye Mingxi. He turned back to his son. “Your new friend will be here for two years. During that time, make sure to take extra care of our guest.”
“Don’t worry, Father. I will take very good care of him!” Ge Nianlan said. He gasped, as if he just remembered something. “Right, Father, I want to take sparring lessons with A-Huai.”
“Sparring lessons?” Ge Jinsheng’s eyes widened in surprise. “What brought this on suddenly?”
“A-Huai was talking about how he learned swordsmanship from Lord Hanjing,” Ge Nianlan said. He pouted. “I wanna learn too!”
Huai Zhen peeked out at Ge Nianlan. Why was he lying?
“Alright,” Ge Jinsheng said with a small smile. He gently patted the back of Ge Nianlan’s head. “I’ll tell Lord Wen. How about that?”
Ge Nianlan nodded enthusiastically.
Perfect! Ge Nianlan could use this opportunity to get close to Wen Yuqing!
“Then, we’ll start the day after tomorrow,” Ge Jinsheng said. He turned to Ye Mingxi. “Lord Weidan, you are staying another day, correct?”
“I want to make sure Xiao Zhen has adjusted before I go,” Ye Mingxi said with a smile.
“Of course. You can stay as long as you’d like,” Ge Jinsheng said. He glanced at Huai Zhen again, but still couldn’t catch a glimpse of the child’s face.
With a reluctant sigh, he turned away. “Then, we shall let the servants guide Lord Weidan and Young Master Huai to the guest room.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Ge Nianlan watched Huai Zhen leave immediately with Ye Mingxi.
“Behave,” Ge Jinsheng said.
Ge Nianlan met Ge Jinsheng’s gaze with surprise. “Father, when have I ever misbehaved?”
Ge Jinsheng hummed. “Right. When have you ever?”
Ge Nianlan slowly backed down under Ge Jinsheng’s gaze. “I’ll behave. I don’t want to scare away the rabbit.”
“Rabbit?”
Ge Nianlan gasped. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He smiled sheepishly. “Doesn’t he look like a little rabbit?”
Ge Jinsheng opened and closed his mouth several times. After a few seconds of silence, Ge Jinsheng softly cleared his throat. “I’m not sure. I didn’t get a clear look at his face.”
“Well, he looks like a rabbit to me,” Ge Nianlan said with a firm nod. “So, I’ll take care of him. Apparently, rabbits get stressed easily and then they die. I don’t want him to die.”
Ge Jinsheng nodded. “That’s a lovely thought you have, Lan’er. Be sure to take care of him well then.”
Ge Nianlan grinned. “I will!”
After such an interesting talk, Ge Nianlan returned to his room, but despite his resolve to protect his new pet—or, rather, companion—Ge Nianlan didn’t see him for the rest of the day or even the morning after.
On the evening of the second day since Huai Zhen’s arrival, Ge Nianlan decided to take a stroll after eating dinner. It was only during this time when he was given the chance to believe that he was alone. Luo Qianwu would have already returned to his residence and Ge Nianlan’s trio of maids would normally have gone home as well, after feeding Ge Nianlan and helping him get ready for bed. Around this time of night, only Ling Tong would watch him. And Ling Tong only ever observed him from afar.
As Ge Nianlan strolled through the garden, he heard a soft sniffle from behind some bushes.
Ge Nianlan paused. He glanced around.
In the past, during Ge Nianlan’s nightly strolls, he would run into disciples crying to themselves in the forest or in the gardens. In the few rare times where Ge Nianlan asked them what was wrong, he would receive similar answers—“it’s nothing” or “it’s fine”. Even until now, Ge Nianlan wasn’t sure why they were crying. Were they doing poorly in cultivation? Were their peers bullying them? Did they have a nightmare?
These were all questions that flashed through Ge Nianlan’s mind each time. He wanted to ask, but each time, he would look into their eyes and his words would fail him. Although he didn’t quite understand why they were crying, something told him that he shouldn’t ask anymore.
And yet this question appeared again.
Ge Nianlan stayed where he was for a moment. He thought about just leaving. After all, that was the simplest thing to do. However, the sound of the crying was different than usual. It wasn’t the soft, muffled cries of a person who was trying their best to keep quiet. It was the sound of periodic sniffling, as if the person simply had allergies.
He glanced in the direction of the sniffling and decided to = offer the person a handkerchief.
Allergies weren’t something to be trifled with, after all.
Ge Nianlan climbed through the underbrush and over some gnarled roots. He frowned somewhat and was tempted to smack the leaves away, but when he looked up at the scene in front of him, he stilled and remained silent.
In the garden was a large lake that bled into the natural forest around Black Mane Palace.
Ge Nianlan was not allowed to come over here as a child, as he would have easily fallen in with how poor his balance was. But after he recovered, he had only stopped by once or twice, just to see what it looked like. At the time, he hadn’t thought it was anything impressive, but now, he had a different opinion.
The starry night sky reflected into the lake’s surface, creating a mirage that blended heaven and earth together. The moon hung up high and its reflection shimmered slightly, as if to remind onlookers of which was reality and which was illusion. Sitting on the lake’s edge was a small figure, wearing a fluffy white cloak. The only thing that contrasted the white cloak was the boys black ponytail, held up by a pastel purple ribbon.
The boy’s shoulders were hunched as he sniffled. And now that Ge Nianlan was closer, he realized that the boy’s sniffling contained a soft hiccup at the end. Still, this kind of cry was far softer than the cries he was used to hearing.
Ge Nianlan stared for a long time. He felt like a poem should accompany this scene, but he couldn’t think of one. He wanted to capture what was in front of him in a painting, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to do it justice.
As he walked up to Huai Zhen, he decided that he would capture this memory in a poem and painting when he was older and more knowledgeable. For now, he sat down beside the boy and held out his handkerchief.
Huai Zhen startled. He looked at Ge Nianlan with wide eyes.
The phoenix eyes widened in shock as pearl shaped tears rolled down the boy’s reddened cheeks. He was clearly surprised to see Ge Nianlan here, but his surprise shifted to embarrassment. He ducked his head, hiding behind the white fluff of his cloak, as if doing so would make Ge NIanlan disappear.
But Ge Nianlan still existed.
The young lord pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin against them as he observed Huai Zhen’s trembling shoulders.
“Why’re you crying?” Ge Nianlan asked.
Huai Zhen sniffled. “What…are you doing here…?”
His voice is trembling too—Ge Nianlan noted.
“I’m trying to digest my dinner,” Ge Nianlan said. “Then I heard crying. A lot of people hide in the garden to cry. I bet the flowers and trees here know a lot of secrets.”
Huai Zhen frowned slightly as his neck shrank into the cloak even further. Was Ge Nianlan mocking him?
“When I asked them why they were crying, they just kind of shook their heads,” Ge Nianlan said. He turned his attention out to the watery sky. “I don’t know what that means.”
“…They don’t want to talk about it.”
“If they don’t want to talk about it, then they shouldn’t be crying out in the open,” Ge Nianlan said.
“The disciples live in dorms,” Huai Zhen mumbled.
“Dorms?”
“…”
“What’re those?”
“That means multiple people share one room,” Huai Zhen explained.
“…Oh,” Ge Nianlan gasped. “So, by coming out here, that is their privacy.”
…He was quick to catch on, at least.
“But what about you? You have your own room,” Ge Nianlan said.
“…I wanted fresh air.”
“Does fresh air help you cry easier?” Ge Nianlan asked.
“…Fresh air is supposed to make you feel better,” Huai Zhen said.
“Do you feel bad?”
Huai Zhen finally snapped. “Why are you asking so many questions?”
“I don’t really get it.”
“What don’t you get?”
“Why you’re crying. I want to know,” Ge Nianlan said.
Huai Zhen finally lifted his head. His face was blotchy and red as he glared at Ge Nianlan. “Why do you cry then?”
Ge Nianlan stared blankly at Huai Zhen. “I don’t?”
“…What?”
Ge Nianlan frowned and thought about it. “I cried when I was in pain. Recently I got cursed…or, should I say I broke out of a curse? It hurt really bad.”
He met Huai Zhen’s gaze again. “Are you hurt somewhere?”
Huai Zhen’s lashes trembled as he blinked away the tears that blurred his vision. He sniffled again and used the heel of his palm to wipe away the excess tears.
“Don’t you cry when you’re sad or scared too?”
Ge Nianlan stared at Huai Zhen blankly. “Are you sad or scared?”
Huai Zhen pursed his lips and averted his gaze.
“I haven’t cried because I’ve been sad before,” Ge Nianlan said. “And I don’t cry when I’m scared.”
Huai Zhen’s brows furrowed tightly. He shifted away again, but Ge Nianlan leaned closer until their foreheads nearly touched.
“Are you sad or scared?” Ge Nianlan asked again.
“I…” Huai Zhen refused to look into Ge Nianlan’s eyes. “…Pavilion Master left.”
“Oh.”
“I said it was okay for him to go, but,” Huai Zhen stopped his next words. He squeezed his arms uncomfortably and turned his head away.
He wasn’t sure why he was telling Ge Nianlan. The boy was odd and a liar. He wasn’t someone that could even be trusted. But perhaps it was because Ge Nianlan’s odd apathy reminded him of his shizun, for some reason Huai Zhen felt more comfortable talking to Ge Nianlan, than to the servants who had shown him kindness earlier.
“But now you’re sad about it?” Ge Nianlan asked. “Or you’re scared because you think you’ve been abandoned?”
Huai Zhen’s neck shrunk back into his cloak. His nose began to sour again.
Ge Nianlan could relate in some ways.
When he relived his nightmares, he would always feel like his heart was being dug out of his chest whenever he saw Baili Liuye’s disappointed, downcast gaze. He never remembered crying, but it would certainly hurt. It was the same in the nightmares where Ge Jinsheng would glare at him coldly, before turning away to go back into Black Mane Palace with Huai Zhen at his side. Those false memories, implanted into his brain, felt like a thousand needles, prickling his chest and piercing through his heart.
But it was an odd, dull sadness. It was the kind of sadness that left him so hollow that he didn’t think crying would even do anything. No amount of tears he cried would fill up that emptiness.
So, maybe it was actually good that Huai Zhen was crying. Because if he was crying, then that meant something could be filled up, right? And, by the end of it, perhaps Huai Zhen will feel whole again.
A warm hand settled on Huai Zhen’s shoulder. He felt himself move towards a fairly warm body and a small hand started to gently stroke the side of his head.
“I think once you’ve cried it all out, you’ll feel better,” Ge Nianlan said.
Huai Zhen bit down on his lower lip as his vision blurred again.
“At least, I hope so,” Ge Nianlan said uncertainly. “I guess we can just try it.”
Huai Zhen let out a nasally squeak as he buried himself against Ge Nianlan. The chest was small and not nearly as broad as Ye Mingxi’s or Baili Liuye’s, but it brought about the same comfort he normally felt, being cocooned in the warmth of another human being. The soothing touch of another person calmed his numbed nerves. He found the pain in his chest lessening and the anxiety that buzzed in his mind disappearing. He closed his eyes and focused only on the touch of the other boy until a soft yawn escaped his lips.
Ge Nianlan looked at the starry sky silently until the white, fluffy lump in his arms stopped sniffling. He pressed his cheek against the top of Huai Zhen’s head.
“Are you sleeping?”
Huai Zhen squeezed his eyes shut. He tried his best to keep his breathing subtle. After crying for so long he was…far too embarrassed to face Ge Nianlan right now!
Ge Nianlan rubbed his cheek against Huai Zhen’s head for a moment before he sighed. “Ling Tong.”
The puppet demon appeared beside Ge Nianlan within a second. “Young Lord.”
“Carry Young Master Huai back to his room,” Ge Nianlan said as he slowly released him.
“But I cannot leave you—”
“Obviously, I’ll be walking with you,” Ge Nianlan sighed as he handed Huai Zhen off to Ling Tong. He grinned at the puppet demon reluctantly scooped the boy into her arms. “I would carry him, but I’m too weak.”
Ling Tong watched as Ge Nianlan happily skipped ahead.
“Come on, Ling Tong! Don’t drag behind!”
…She was absolutely speechless.
Nianlan taking such good care of his rabbit haha ^^
Thanks for the chapter!
hehehe thanks for reading!
Aaaaw 🥹
I wonder what could make them become “enemies”? 🤔
the “enemies” part accounts for what was seen in the cursed artifact too. i actually thought about removing that tag anyway cuz even into recent chapters they’re more like….disliked party, aside from the cursed artifact section :/
thanks for reading!
Oh okay thanks ☺️
Ge Jinsheng is such a great dad (๑˃ᴗ˂) “That’s a lovely thought you have” akchskchs
and this has a lovely thought on crying!! im enamored