Chapter 49 A Melancholy Person

"Ah...I know, I know..."

"You know that, yet you still won't take your medicine! I specially brewed it for you; please drink it quickly, otherwise it won't be as effective when it gets cold."

The porcelain bowl on the wooden plate was filled with a dark, paste-like substance with small bubbles rising to the surface; it looked no different from poison.

Qingjue felt her stomach acid was about to reflux.

Xie Zhoujian, who was standing next to him, blinked and silently looked away.

This bowl of medicine reminded him of his childhood, when he was malnourished and in poor health, and he drank Chinese medicine every day.

There is also a white powder that is very bitter. You put it on a spoon, add some water, stir it into a sticky lump, and then gulp it down your throat.

...Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

Qingjue hesitated before speaking, "I..."

Qingfeng didn't care about status or position in this matter: "You must drink it."

"..."

A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

Qingjue took the medicine, tilted his head back, and swallowed it all in one gulp.

He didn't know what Qingfeng had added to the medicine, but it was so bitter that it made his mind go blank. He had never drunk medicine this bitter in all the time he had been here.

Qingjue pursed his lips and frowned. Jie Zhoujian blocked his mouth and stuffed something into it.

He said, "I can't vomit."

Then Qingjue tasted it and found it sweet, which neutralized the bitterness of the medicine.

It's candied fruit.

"Mmm mmm (Where did this come from?)"

Jie Zhoujian actually understood: "I bought it on my way down the mountain. I figured Master would definitely need to take medicine, so I took it out when he needed to take it."

"Hmm (Oh)..."

Good apprentice, no wonder you raised him yourself.

Qingfeng said, "Some of those medicines have side effects. You'll need to take a few more medicines before bed to neutralize them."

"..."

Qingjue couldn't remember how much medicine he took that night, but he fell asleep quickly after taking it.

After Jie stayed by his bedside until he fell asleep, she covered him with a blanket, put on her coat, and went out.

Under the moonlight, Yan Shiqun leaned against the door and yawned.

He saw Xie Zhoujian come out and asked, "Asleep?"

“Hmm, taking medicine makes me sleepy,” Xie Zhoujian asked. “Why are you here so late?”

“It’s nothing, it’s just…” Yan Shiqun frowned slightly and said, “I’m a little concerned about what Tianyu saw at the bottom of the valley, and I’d like to talk to you about it.”

Jie knew what he was talking about during the day.

He just didn't expect that Yan Shiqun would be the one who cared about this matter the most.

Isn't he the person who least believes in fate?

“Alright,” Jie Zhoujian glanced back at Qingjue’s room and said, “Master Jueqian, let’s go outside.”

"Um."

The Cangshan Mountains are much colder after nightfall than during the day, with a chilling chill. Fortunately, cultivators only need to mobilize their spiritual energy and recite a warming incantation.

Jie Zhoujian and Yan Shiqun stood on the edge of the cliff. After a while, the cold wind blew, and Yan Shiqun asked, "Do you believe in fate?"

"Believe it or not," Jie replied during the day, "aren't we all just trying to survive in this world?"

“It’s easy for you to say,” Yan Shiqun said. “It’s not that simple to do. Before Qianlun Mountain was sealed off, I never thought I would be reduced to the point of having to rely on others for acceptance. If this is what you call fate, I would have found it really unpleasant before.”

Jie Zhoujian said with a half-smile, "I think you're doing quite well now."

Yan Shiqun did not deny his words, but instead asked, "What do you plan to do if Master and Young Master Yun get into trouble this time?"

“What can I do?” Jie Zhoujian looked up at the sky. “What can I do? Kill them to avenge them, then go into seclusion in the mountains and never leave my home again.”

"...This is a clichéd storytelling formula."

“It’s hard to say,” Jie Zhoujian recalled his anger in the last dilapidated house. “How do I know what I’m capable of? Aside from things that don’t harm anyone, human emotions are much harder to control than morality.”

Yan Shiqun: "Should I say you're clear-headed or foolish? Sometimes I think you're quite insightful, but other times I feel like you don't really understand life."

They actually use such morality to severely bind themselves.

Jie Zhoujian said, "We are all just wanderers in the mortal world. How can anyone truly understand everything? It is also necessary to accept one's own limitations."

“If fate dictates that people are destined to be separated,” Yan Shiqun was clearly venting something: “Perhaps it would have been better if we had never met in the first place, since we would have become strangers anyway.”

He was somewhat blinded by the passage of time over the past few years.

What an enchanting life! A powerful yet gentle master, fellow disciples who care for each other, and even kind and simple folks...

Yan Shiqun never forgot that he was not a positive character.

He was Yan Shiqun, the Demon Lord who died decades ago, not Yan Shiqun, Qingjue's closed-door disciple.

Once he finds his enemy, unseals Qianlun Mountain, and reclaims everything that belongs to him, how could they possibly chat so calmly?

It was this damned fate that played a cruel joke on him, leading him to enter the Qing family by chance, meet Qing Jue and the others, and inexplicably become their junior brother.

Yan Shiqun did not think he would lose his position within the Demonic Sect. The voice of the strong is always in their own hands. But when he wields his sword to kill his enemies on the righteous path, will Jie Zhoujian and the others still recognize him as their junior brother?

How ruthless and decisive must he be when he wields his sword?

When Jie Zhoujian heard this, he simply smiled faintly and said, "If Master heard this, he would definitely laugh at you."

The wild goose, puzzled, asked, "What's so funny?" He was seriously considering the question.

Just as Jie was about to explain, another voice came from behind:

"Of course we're laughing at you for becoming more and more melancholic as you grow older. Our Demon Lord, who used to have an insatiable temper, is now getting sentimental over such a trivial matter."

There's only one person making that sound, and one playing with a fan on a mountain in this temperature.

Jie Zhoujian and Yan Shiqun turned around at the same time. The former went to meet him and helped him up, saying, "Why are you awake? It's chilly at night."

Jie glanced at the folding fan in Qingjue's hand, seemingly unintentionally. Since giving it to Qingjue, he seemed to have rarely seen Qingjue use his sword.

Qingjue cherished this folding fan, and secretly rejoiced at the thought of it.

But since it's just a fan, you can't really use it all year round. Maybe next time he can give Qingjue something that he can use even in winter.

Qingjue waved his hand to reassure him: "I slept for a while, but I'm a little uncomfortable in this bed. It's alright. Yunshu brought over a heater from the Yun family earlier, so I just put it on me."

Yan Shiqun saw his face turn red and then pale again and muttered, "How could the dignified Immortal Lord Wuqing be eavesdropping on his disciple's conversation?"

“Gossip is human nature,” Qingjue said, walking to the edge of the cliff to admire the beautiful night view free of light pollution. “Besides, I just happened to find this place.”

"..."

Qingjue continued, "Since you've already listened, I'll give you another lesson."

Qingjue: "During the day, let Xiaoyanzi recall how I dealt with the matter of the resentful woman Menglan after returning from retrieving the sword from Beishan."

Jie replied during the day: "Set a trap to enter, make the culprit confess in public, guide the villagers' thinking, and let the vengeful woman eat him to pay for his life."

Qingjue then asked, "Is this in accordance with the conventional and orthodox practice?"

Jie Zhoujian replied, "Judging from how most people in the immortal sects handle this, it doesn't fit."

Qingjue's tone was unusually authoritative: "So, Yan lost his flock. You better remember this: I care least about traditional ideas and outdated rules. Besides, I'm a hypocrite and I'm biased. If you have the ability to take revenge, that's your skill."

"Even regardless of right or wrong, those who orchestrated this scheme should suffer the consequences of their missteps. In the end, they left themselves no way out. They should pay with their lives, and I will not stop them. Of course, you should take revenge yourself, and I will not overstep my bounds to kill for you."

“But if your methods cross the line and exceed the bottom line of being a human being, and hatred turns into anger that blinds you to go astray,” Qingjue slammed the Wanlifeng fan shut, making a “snap” sound between the blades: “Then I shall discipline my disciple—by disciplining him according to family law.”

"Ayan, are you clear about this?"

Yan Shiqun didn't mention a word about the matter of the Qianlun Mountain Demonic Sect, but somehow the truth was already pretty much known.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. How many things could the Demon Lord care about? Just a few.

The wild goose turned its head away from the flock, whispering, "Thank you for your guidance, Master... I understand now."

Jie Zhoujian nodded in agreement: "What Master is saying is exactly what Zhoujian is saying. Junior Brother, there is no need to worry. I believe Tianyu and the others share the same thought."

Is having such a master and senior brother a misfortune or a blessing?

Qingjue shook the closed fan and said, "Reach out."

Yan Shiqun was somewhat puzzled: "..."

Qingjue tapped his palm with his fan, saying, "If you don't understand such a simple and obvious principle, then all the years I've taught you will have been wasted."

A slight, tingling pain came from my palm; it wasn't much, but it felt real.

"Ah," Aju's voice came from not far from the cliff edge, "Master, you also get up in the middle of the night?"

Qingjue looked over with some surprise: "Little Aju, you are..."

Are you here to eavesdrop too?

Ah Ju, still half asleep, said, "Ah, I got up to use the restroom, but I'm lost... I can't find the toilet."

Qingjue was amused by this reason: "Hahahaha..."

"Ugh, tsk," Yan Shiqun sighed and tossed his hair, feeling restless and wanting to escape. He walked over and said, "Could you be any rougher? I'll take you there."

Aju was confused: "No... what else can you call a latrine besides 'latrine'?"

"Tsk, shut up and follow along."

Jie Zhoujian shook his head and smiled. Hearing Qingjue yawn beside him, he turned his head and said, "Master, let me go back with you. Senior Sister Qingfeng knows it's time to add more medicine to your prescription."

"...Hiss, that's true, we need to get back quickly, quickly, quickly."

Jie Zhoujian thought that Qingjue's arrival here was probably not accidental.

However, after thinking about it, he decided not to expose him.

After all, everyone already knows how good his master is, so there's no need for him to say anything more.

The next day, Qingjue slept until late morning. When he woke up, his several good disciples were waiting for him in his room. Ruan Linglai heard the sound and peeked out from behind the screen, exclaiming in surprise, "Master! You're awake!"

“Linglai,” Qingjue said, snapping out of his daze. He noticed that one of her hands was still wrapped in bandages and remembered, “I heard you broke your hand. Come here and let me take a look.”

Ruan Linglai giggled: "...Oh..."

Qingjue said, "Not just you, all of you come over one by one and line up for a physical examination. I will know who lied about their injuries as soon as I look."

Wen Tianyu and Aju, who were outside the screen, broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.