Where is Our Agreement to be Each Other’s Arch-Rivals?

The next morning, Su Yang slept until the sun was high in the sky before bewilderedly waking up.

The weather today was sunny and it was a rare chance that there wasn’t a layer of clouds around Yuqiong Peak. The sky was deep blue and bathed in exceptionally bright sunlight. It reflected the accumulated snow that never melted all year round and they seemed to twinkle with the resplendence of the little stars in the Milky Way.

The atmospheric temperature there was still quite low. As he stood at the door of the room, the chilly air from outside caused Su Yang to shiver a little.

“The interior of the room is warm and cosy, so there’s no need to go out today.” Gu Feidi dragged him back inside the room, “Now that you want to nurse your health here, you can recuperate with peace of mind. There’s no need to wake up early everyday.” 

Su Yang raised his head to look at the sun, he was pleased: “Wake early? I’m afraid it’s already Si period*. Any later and in a while, we can have lunch straightaway……”

(*TN : 9 – 11am)

True enough, not long after that, Luo Yu dispatched his disciple to deliver lunch and a set of fur robes to protect against the cold.

After Su Yang and Gu Feidi ate lunch together, Luo Yu called Su Yang over for an examination. He took Su Yang’s pulse, then picked up a brush and began drafting a prescription.

“The Ice Spirit is overbearing and your internal strength is this cold. It will gradually impair your meridians, then your body and vitality soon after.” Luo Yu said, “I can’t subdue the Ice Spirit for you. As such, I will use a prescription to strengthen your meridians and nourish your vitality. This will enable you to endure the abrasion of the Ice Spirit as much as possible. We’ll buy as much time for it as we can.”

Su Yang nodded as he retracted his hand into the sleeve and discreetly massage his cold fingertips.

He silently watched as Luo Yu finished writing the prescription before speaking: “Luo… Elder, I still want to trouble you to help me eliminate the blood Gu completely.”

Luo Yu heard what he said and frowned, “If you want to eliminate the Gu, you need to manoeuvre Half Withered Red. It will still worsen your cold symptoms even if you use the hot spring pool. Besides, eliminating the Gu is basically harmful to the meridians. In the event the process goes awry, your body will be incapable of enduring it and will swiftly fall apart…”

After considering for a moment, Su Yang said: “Regardless, I still don’t want to depend on consuming medicine to nourish and delay only for a year or two. If by some chance the curse on my body comes true, this delay may not actually delay it for that long. I might as well… proceed according to my own wishes.”

Luo Yu was taken aback: “Do you truly not fear death?”

Su Yang slowly released a breath and gave a wry smile: “It’s not that I don’t fear death, just that…now that it’s already like this, it’s pointless to be fearful, right?”

Seeing that he had already made up his mind, Luo Yu sighed and said: “So be it. I’ll add an acupuncture session for you. After completing a course of treatment, I will eliminate the Gu for you.”

Su Yang nodded: “Thank you, Elder.”

Luo Yu looked at Su Yang and couldn’t stop himself: “If you want, you can hereafter call me jiujiu.”

Su Yang: …

Though he strove hard for sometime, in the end he couldn’t bring himself to say it. So he gave Luo Yu a slightly apologetic smile, “Still… in any case, it’s more fitting to address you as Elder.”

He couldn’t make out any clues from Luo Yu’s expression. His tone was calm : “Anyway… it’s fine. Besides, I’ve not fulfilled my duty as a jiujiu. Moreover, your mother…… forget it. I’ll do my utmost to help you, yes. We can begin acupuncture today. Once the medicinal herbs are ready, you can start to eliminate the Gu and recuperate in peace.”

Su Yang nodded.

Luo Yu continued: “Don’t feel awkward living here. It’s fine if you treat it as your own home. If there’s anything you require, let me know and I’ll go buy it for you.”

……

From that day onwards, Su Yang and Gu Feidi resided in one of Yuqiong Peak’s small courtyards where the hot spring was located.

Luo Yu drafted a prescription and requested for Qin Jianyue to head down the mountain to find medicinal herbs. Everyday, he himself would examine Su Yang’s pulse, perform acupuncture and include a dietary supplement to nourish Su Yang’s body.

During and after the acupuncture sessions, Su Yang’s body needed to be kept away from chilly drafts and cold air. As such, Su Yang and Gu Feidi both lived in a warm partitioned room a few steps away from the hot spring pool. It was the warmest place in the mountain courtyard.

On regular days, he wasn’t allowed to leave the room or practice his martial arts. Su Yang was so bored that he pestered Gu Feidi and taught him pairs ballroom dancing; from the waltz to the tango and even the Brazilian rumba.

When Su Yang hummed the dance music, Gu Feidi laughed and said that the rhythm was illogical. Su Yang rolled his eyes and curled his lips: “This is not known as an ‘illogical rhythm’. This is known as an ‘international style’.”

In the past few days, Gu Feidi heard Su Yang babbling more and more nonsense. He dismissed them all with a laugh.

Their bodies were sweating all over after dancing and playing boisterously. As usual, Su Yang and Gu Feidi soaked in the hot spring and took a bath together.

Gu Feidi scrubbed Su Yang’s back with a cotton towel.

Having been rinsed by water, the tattoo became even more tender and redder. However, they both knew that concealed beneath the incomparably flourishing bouquet of flowers was a heart-piercing, bone-chilling curse.

Gu Feidi approached and dropped a soft kiss on Su Yang’s back. He hugged his neck and whispered: “The Queen of the Night is beautiful. When you’ve eliminated the poison Gu, what say we go down the mountain together and I get one tattooed on my body?”

Su Yang smiled: “Are you mad? You’re Tengyun Pavilion’s Young Pavilion Master. How’s it going to look when you have a tattoo of the Devil Sect’s flower on you?”

Gu Feidi smiled and remained silent.

Su Yang internally felt a sense of tranquility being reservedly embraced by Gu Feidi. However, there was always a touch of perplexing sorrow within this tranquility.

Su Yang couldn’t refrain himself from asking, “When did you start keeping your hands to yourself?”

Gu Feidi was confused: “What?”

Su Yang said, “Previously, there was a time when you would harass me whenever you had the chance and wanted to…*cough*… with me. Did something happen? Why have your hands been so well-behaved recently, hmm?”

Gu Feidi gave a light laugh and grabbed hold of Su Yang’s hand to prevent him from smacking his fingertips. He lowered his gaze to look down from Su Yang’s shoulders at the needle holes on his chest which were reddened by the hot spring water.

“Your body is ailing.” He said in a low voice, “How could I willingly touch you?”

Hearing this, Su Yang raised his eyebrows. He narrowed his eyes and asked in a threatening tone: “Why is it that you’re unwilling to touch me? You should know, I’m also a man… Who knows, you might be the passive one?”

Gu Feidi looked at Su Yang’s face, his lips suddenly curled up and he displayed an unfathomable smile.

Su Yang raised his eyebrows: “Why are you smiling? This is also a possibility. Let me tell you: I’m also a highly skilled young martial artist.”

Gu Feidi said, “When you are able to beat me, I might concede to you somewhat. But… it’s better that you completely recover first.”

Su Yang bit his lower lip, leaned forward and put his arm on Gu Feidi’s shoulder. He blew into his ear: “If, I say…” He whispered, “…I want to be on top, would you be willing to yield to me?”

Gu Feidi stared at Su Yang for a while, smiled and avoided the question: “You’ve not fully recovered yet. This matter… we can discuss this again later. There’s still time.”

Since the blood Gu in his body had yet to be eliminated, Su Yang didn’t dare continue seducing him. If not, both of them would find it unbearable as a result. They took a chaste bath together, then went to bed innocently hugging each other to sleep.

……

Early that morning, Qin Jianyue finally returned. He had been out searching for medicine for several days.

The medicinal herbs had all been prepared. Once Luo Yu had readied the items he needed, they could begin the process of eliminating the blood Gu.

As it turned out, the acupuncture treatment had just been completed that day. Luo Yu ordered Su Yang to have a good rest in preparation for the Gu elimination——in order to eliminate the Gu, Su Yang was required to manoeuvre his internal strength to drive the Half Withered Red technique and he had to fine-tune his body state so that it was as its best. That way, he would be able to endure the pain caused by the Gu elimination process.

“When I went down the mountain this time, aside from buying medicines and sending letters, I also discovered a matter.”

Qin Jianyue waited until two juniors had left before saying to Luo Yu: “Central Plains martial world circles has been spreading word that Gu Feidi is being controlled by Su Yang using witchcraft and has been abducted off to who-knows-where. They’ve tried to use this to incite Tengyun Pavilion to start a war against the Devil Sect and… I found out that Tengyun Pavilion seems to have this intention and have been secretly mobilising the elite troops from various branches.”

Luo Yu frowned. “How’s that possible? If Hai Ge wanted to make a move on the Devil Sect, he would have done so many years ago…… Not to mention that he is fully aware that Su Yang is not at the Devil Sect, but is…here with me… wait a moment!”

“You’ve realised it!” Qin Jianyue raised his eyebrows, “I have a hunch that Gu Ruohai intentionally sent Gu Feidi and Su Yang here, so that he can keep them away from the Jianghu disputes which are about to take place.”

Luo Yu didn’t comprehend: “What’s the reason? Hai Ge hasn’t been willing to oppose the Devil Sect for so many years. He wouldn’t unexpectedly change his mind.” 

After muttering to himself for a while, Qin Jianyue said: “Do you recall three years ago when Eluojue murdered his brother and usurped the throne?”

Luo Yu paused and then replied, “… I recall.”

Qin Jianyue said: “What is Eluojue’s character like? Actually… I suspect that the recent turmoil in the Jianghu was set up by him for the sake of avenging the past; the matter where Su Huaizhu massacred the Central Plains and covertly exterminated Ghost Tent until they were wiped out.”

“Eluojue…”

Luo Yu took a deep breath, slowly released it and said in a deep voice: “He’s like a poisonous snake, incredibly patient, restrained, focused and devious enough… Ever since he was a child, there’s never been an instance where he hasn’t gotten what he wanted, except…” 

At this point, Luo Yu suddenly widened his eyes and stood up. He stared at Qin Jianyue with a shocked expression, his voice trembled: “…Except for Jin’er!”

Qin Jianyue was astonished: “Jin’er?”

Luo Yu nodded and said, ” Back then Eluojue loved Jin’er very much and he once publicly said that he only recognised this one sister. Moreover, he has a strong desire to dominate. When he saw his other brothers and sisters getting close to Jin’er, he would assertively drive them away. Jin’er and I were from the same mother and our mother was favoured at that time, so he didn’t dare to mess with me and I could play together with Jin’er.”

“After my mother died, I was mischievous and ran away to Lesser Jade House on the sly… Jin’er stayed in Ghost Tent for two years and then also sneaked out of the royal court to come and find me.” He said, frowning, “Eluojue…… it’s hard to say whether some obsession emerged from this reason.”

Qin Jianyue rubbed his chin: “Eluojue should have known about Jin’er’s travels together with Su Huaizhu and Gu Ruohai.”

Luo Yu’s expression was slightly downcast: “It’s not just this. Su Huaizhu’s abduction of Jin’er and Jin’er passing away. He should be aware of all this news by now. Based on his character, if he wanted to avenge, he would not merely kill the person he hates. He would stir up trouble, fiddle with them until their families were ruined and have lost the ones they loved… He would release a wave in the martial arts circles, let Gu Ruohai and Su Huaizhu face each other with swords and battle to their deaths… this is indeed his manner of handling things.”

Qin Jianyue asked, “Do you want to warn Gu Ruohai and Su Huaizhu?”

Luo Yu nodded, “This matter may have something to do with Ghost Tent. Of course, I have to say something… I’ll go write a letter now and will need to trouble you to go down the mountain again to deliver this news.”

Qin Jianyue: “No matter. But are you going to tell those two children the truth?” 

Luo Yu pondered for a moment and said: “When Gu Ruohai passed over the jade pendant as a token, I’m afraid it wasn’t just for the sake of requesting me to heal Su Yang…… back then, I gave him this jade pendant to express my appreciation for him helping to conceal my whereabouts and now I’m afraid…… he had entrusted me to look after the two children and to keep them far away from the disputes.” 

After speaking, he released a sigh: “The two children are also suffering. In the future, they may have to face separation by death… Better to let them be together for a while longer and not to be disturbed by these worries. This is our generation’s grudge and it should conclude in the hands of our generation.”