Chapter 004: Me and My Enemy Father and Brother
Chen Yunli's room was right next door, and the furnishings inside were almost exactly the same as Chen Wenjian's, except that the cabinet lacked medicine, bandages, and bedding.
He looked down at his blood-stained clothes, took out clean clothes from the small bag at the end of the bed and put them on, and put the dirty clothes aside, ready to wash them in the morning.
After working for half the night, Chen Yunli was tired and lay on the bed yawning. The buckwheat-filled pillow was a bit hard, but the quilt was soft and warm. He could smell the scent of the sun - it was said that this smell was left by mites that died from the sun. It smelled pretty good.
As Chen Yunli was lost in thought, his mind gradually emptied and he fell asleep.
The system was about to remind him of something, but upon seeing this, it temporarily fell silent along with his consciousness.
The next morning, the dazzling sunlight slanted in through the window and fell right into Chen Yunli's eyes.
He only felt his eyelids slightly hot, turned over, and his nose hit the pillow, waking him up.
"Auditor, good morning." The system's reminder came timely and considerately, "You should get up and clean up."
"Hmm... cleaning..."
Chen Yunli woke up but not completely. He rubbed his nose and muttered. He was about to change his position and sleep for a while longer when he suddenly realized the system's address for him. All his sleepiness disappeared and he jumped up from the bed.
He turned his head and looked out the window. It was bright outside, at least nine o'clock in the morning.
"Damn, the Sword Sealing Tower Master and Chen Wenjian aren't going to get up, are they?"
Chen Yunli quickly got out of bed, put on one shoe and stepped on the other while jumping and skipping to get dressed. After finally getting himself ready, he opened the door and saw a small wooden table that had been set up in the open space between several wooden houses. Chen Wenjian, whom he had met last night, and a well-mannered middle-aged man were sitting opposite each other and eating breakfast.
Hearing the door open, they both turned around, their insubstantial gazes falling on him, but making him feel a suffocating weight.
Fortunately, Chen Yun had no advantages in parting, but he was thick-skinned and generous. He immediately touched the back of his head and smiled, then walked out as if nothing had happened. While washing up, he greeted: "Master, and this young gentleman, good morning."
In theory, the new "cleaner" at Fengjian Tower did not recognize Chen Wenjian. He didn't know how to address him, so he just used "young master" to get by.
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, rolling the steamed bun held by his chopsticks in the vinegar. He lowered his head and said, "Your breakfast is in the steamer in the kitchen. After you finish eating, clean up the mountain road. I have something to do today and must stay in the tower. If you have any questions, please ask Wen Jian. Don't cause trouble."
He gave the instructions very naturally, but Chen Yunli paused and became suspicious.
Judging from the tone of this person, why does he seem to be very familiar with the identity assigned to him by the system?
Chen Yunli paused, then continued washing his face calmly. He asked in his mind, "System, what does the Sword Sealing Tower Master have to do with the identity I'm playing?"
"You are the child of his deceased friend. Because your family suffered a disaster and had no way to survive, he felt pity for you and brought you to the Sealing Sword Tower to settle down and provide you with shelter." The system added character settings for him.
"So that's how it is." Chen Yunli nodded. This made sense.
But it seems that the Sword Sealing Tower Master is a normal person, normal enough to be a bit mediocre, and doesn't seem like someone who would torture others. What exactly caused Chen Wenjian's injury and his subsequent act of killing his master?
Chen Yunli pondered over it, and suddenly had the illusion that he was playing a real-life puzzle game.
After washing up, Chen Yunli went to the kitchen to get his breakfast. When he returned to the wooden table, the Lord of the Sealing Sword Tower had already gone into the tower, leaving only Chen Wenjian slowly drinking the remaining half bowl of soy milk.
He changed his clothes this morning. The fabric was soft and simple cotton and linen. The light blue was like the mountain scenery shrouded in morning mist, which perfectly matched his cold temperament.
Chen Yunli found it difficult to connect him with the madman in later generations who was bent on destroying the world, and thus became more and more curious about what happened to him afterwards.
"Mr. Wen Jian, good morning." Chen Yunli sat down next to him and did not hide his curiosity about him.
"Good morning." Chen Wenjian raised his long, dense eyelashes, his eyes clear and empty, "You have already greeted me."
"Never too many nice words." Chen Yunli took a bite of the bun. "What are you going to do later?"
Chen Wenjian seemed to have not expected him to ask this. After a brief moment of stunned silence, he actually started to think seriously about it. But after a moment, he did not answer a single word.
Chen Yunli looked up in confusion and saw that his face was full of confusion, as if he was stumped by this question.
Chen Yunli Yile: "Don't you need to practice?"
Chen Wenjian shook his head: "Master said that there is no need to practice during the day."
"Hmm..." Thinking of him coming out of the tower covered in blood last night, Chen Yunli nodded thoughtfully, "You are injured, why don't you go to your room and get some sleep."
"No need." Chen Wenjian shook his head, rolled up his slightly wider sleeves, and untied the bandages on his arms one by one, revealing smooth skin with no trace of the scars. "When you wake up in the morning, they will be healed."
After saying this, he looked at Chen Yunli steadily, as if waiting for him to continue recommending.
Chen Yunli was stunned. He was staring at him with such intensity that he could only bite the bullet and ask, "How about... you come with me to clean the mountain road?"
As soon as he said that, he rejected it in his heart.
Who was Chen Wenjian? He was a rare genius in cultivation, a future demon king who would destroy the world. How could he possibly be sweeping the floor with a mere cleaner?
"Can."
“…”
Chen Yunli scratched his ears and said, "The wind was so strong that I couldn't hear you clearly. What did you say?"
"I said yes." Chen Wenjian put down the empty bowl, his eyes swept over the half-eaten bun he was holding, thought for a moment, and pushed the soy milk he brought to him. "I'll accompany you to sweep the mountain road."
“…”
Chen Yunli's mouth twitched slightly. He finished the bun and soy milk in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and waved his hand proudly: "Let's go, sweep the floor!"
The first step to understanding the big devil is to take him to do housework.
…
Last night I watched the long and winding mountain road, which turned into a gentle slope this morning. Both sides of the slope were covered with half-human-high grass, alternating between yellow and green, with wild flowers in between. It went up into the lush forest and stretched down to the golden fields. The breeze blew, and all the colors between heaven and earth merged into a colorful scene, peaceful and tranquil.
Chen Yunli leaned on his broom and gazed into the distance, his hand against his forehead to block the light, and he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "The scenery is so beautiful."
Compared to his idleness, Chen Wenjian was quite honest. He started sweeping from the first step with a broom made of straw and dead branches, and continued to sweep to the end of the step, which was the gentle slope on the mountainside. He then gathered the fallen leaves into a pile and put them into a tilted bamboo basket.
He moved quickly, and while Chen Yunli was just enjoying the scenery, he had already swept over a hundred steps. He lifted the bamboo basket and shook out the leaves inside to make room, intending to continue sweeping down the gentle slope.
This efficiency and execution made the real cleaner Chen Yunli feel ashamed.
"No, no, no! Wait for me a moment!"
Chen Yunli quickly stepped forward and grabbed Chen Wenjian's sleeve, asking him to stop.
Chen Yunli looked at his hands and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Aren't you going to sweep the floor?"
"What's the rush? If you just finish sweeping the road, won't you have nothing to do?" Chen Yunli didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Why did this man seem so stubborn... no, he looked a little stupid. "Besides, it's autumn now. There will always be leaves, grass clippings, and dust. Maybe as soon as you clean it up, it will come back again. Do you have to sweep all the way up from the foot of the mountain again?"
Chen Wenjian tilted his head slightly: "It's not a bad idea."
Chen Yunli originally wanted to persuade him not to be so active, but he thought it was a good idea. He shook his sleeve lightly to shake off Chen Yunli's hand and pretended to continue.
"Hey hey!" Chen Yunli pulled again, this time with a little more force. Chen Wenjian was caught off guard and was pulled back a few steps, almost knocking over the bamboo basket next to him.
Chen Wenjian was not angry, but just looked at him to ask why he was pulled.
Chen Yunli raised his finger and shook it. "Sweeping the floor, especially the mountain path, is enough. The Tower Master didn't send me here to do this because he really wanted me to clean the path spotlessly. He just wanted to give me a reason to stay in the Sword Sealing Tower."
Chen Wenjian frowned slightly: "Then why did you ask me to come..."
Without waiting for him to finish, Chen Yunli snatched the broom from his hand, put it together with his own in the bamboo basket, and placed it casually on the side of the road.
Then, he raised his hand and pointed to the way down the mountain. "The Pagoda Master will be staying in the Pagoda all day anyway, so let's slowly walk down the mountain and stroll through the villages and towns below. We can have lunch and bring some dinner, and then return after sunset. Once we get back up the mountain, it will be time for you to practice. After you finish practicing, you can immediately wash up and go to bed. This way, the day will pass without being wasted or bored. Isn't that great?"
Chen Wenjian listened, his brows gradually relaxed, and he nodded proudly.
His tone was calm and firm: "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Chen Yunli smiled brightly: "Let's go!"
As he spoke, he slowly walked down the stairs holding Chen Wenjian's sleeve and stepped onto the gentle slope down the mountain. Perhaps he forgot and kept holding the other person's sleeve without letting go.
Chen Wenjian lowered his head and glanced at his hands. They were white, slender and delicate, with trimmed and rounded nails. There were thin calluses on the fingertips from years of practicing calligraphy, but there were no other marks. It was a very beautiful hand.
The owner of the hand was once a carefree and pampered young man. However, his family fell into poverty and all his relatives died, leading to his current situation, which is even worse than that of an orphan like him.
Master once said that the world is impermanent and life is ever-changing, and Chen Wenjian, who was so absorbed in his spiritual practice, found it difficult to fully comprehend this. Now, however, he can comprehend some of it.
Chen Wenjian thought to himself, and his arms swayed slightly following Chen Yunli's arm swinging movements. Although he was not used to it, he did not shake it off.
Chen Yunli took him along the way, enjoying the mountain scenery and looking forward to the next trip to the village.
In the wheat fields below the mountain, figures toiled, and children played and ran along the dirt paths. Further out, several neighboring villages stood, their houses clustered in rows, the sounds of chickens and dogs echoing from one another.
Chen Yunli took Chen Wenjian's hand and walked into the world of mortals.
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