Chapter 106
Su Zhelan carefully tied the food box, and the celadon cup lay peacefully in the cotton pad.
The three walked through the corridor under the moonlight, and the old tree in front of the medicine house rustled in the night wind.
Sheng Xuan raised her hand to slam the door, but Xiao Qiyun grabbed her wrist: "Go easy."
Three soft taps were made by the knuckles on the door knocker, and the courtyard remained silent.
"Master?" Su Zhelan called softly.
A night breeze swept through the corridor, rustling the locust tree leaves. Sheng Xuan frowned, then knocked heavily on the door again: "Mr. Su Yan!"
"Coming, coming—" Suddenly, staggering footsteps came from inside the courtyard, mixed with the rustling of clothes.
The door latch clicked open a crack, and Gu Linzhao's face peeked out from the shadows. His hair ornament hung askew behind his head, a strand of hair clung to his sweaty forehead, and the collar of his undergarment was tied haphazardly, revealing a fresh bite mark on half of his collarbone.
"In the middle of the night..." The voice was unusually hoarse, and the gaze suddenly sharpened as it swept over the three of them, "What are you three doing standing here like door gods? Su Zhelan, you have martial arts practice tomorrow, what are you doing here instead of sleeping?"
Su Zhelan's gaze swept over Gu Linzhao's loose belt, then caught sight of his cloth shoes worn inside out, and her ears instantly burned.
Sheng Xuan craned her neck to peer inside: "Master Su Yan, are you sleeping so early?"
"Get to the point!" Gu Linzhao pressed down on the shaking door, his knuckles turning white.
Su Zhelan quickly held up the food box: "This is food for Master, the kind he used to really like."
Gu Linzhao stared at the food box, his Adam's apple bobbing. He reached out to take it, and as his sleeve slipped down, a half-circle of teeth marks was clearly visible on his wrist.
"Give it to me."
Su Zhelan passed the food box through the crack in the door, and when her fingertips touched Gu Linzhao's palm, she could clearly feel a thin layer of sweat.
As the food boxes were being handed over, he caught a glimpse of an overturned purple clay teapot on the stone table in the courtyard, with tea dripping down the edge of the table and forming a small puddle on the ground.
"...This disciple takes his leave." Su Zhelan took a half step back, grabbed Sheng Xuan's arm, who was still peeking around, and turned to leave.
Xiao Qiyun lagged half a step behind, his gaze sweeping over Gu Linzhao's disheveled clothes, a faint smile playing on his lips: "Excuse me."
The door slammed shut behind me with a loud bang, the scraping sound of the bolt hitting the lock particularly jarring.
Sheng Xuan stumbled as she was pulled, turning back with a bewildered look: "Why is Gu Linzhao acting like he's swallowed gunpowder?"
Su Zhelan didn't answer, but pursed her lips and quickened her pace, almost running away from the pharmacy.
Xiao Qiyun's soft laughter drifted on the night breeze, carrying the bitter scent of herbs, and reached Su Zhelan's ears: "Zhelan, you're going to be in trouble tomorrow if you practice your martial arts~"
Sheng Xuan and Xiao Qiyun were dragged along by Su Zhelan at a brisk pace, almost touching the ground as they returned to the entrance of Shuyu Courtyard. The night wind carried Su Zhelan's rapid breathing, the blush on his cheeks still lingering.
With the courtyard gate right in front of her, Su Zhelan practically lunged forward, reaching out to push it open while waving her other hand wildly behind her as if shooing away mosquitoes: "Go back, all of you!"
He had already squeezed half his body into the crack in the door, and was about to close it.
"Huh?" Sheng Xuan reacted quickly, slamming his hand on the door panel and forcefully blocking the door from closing completely with a muffled thud.
"Why are you closing the door? You're running like a rabbit, and you haven't even explained yourself yet!"
Through the crack in the door, Su Zhelan peeked out with only one eye, her gaze darting around, her tone revealing barely concealed panic.
"What are you saying? It's late! I need to rest! You should all go back too!"
As he spoke, he tried to close the door, but Shengxuan's hand remained firmly planted like an iron clamp.
"No, you..." Sheng Xuan was completely baffled, scratching his head in confusion, "What does Gu Linzhao's madness have to do with us? The snacks have been delivered, how about we chat for a bit? We just finished eating and need to digest..."
"What digestion!" Su Zhelan's voice trembled slightly from slamming the door shut. "We have to get up early to practice tomorrow! Master said we have to get up early! You, you all should go back and rest too!"
He emphasized it again, glancing at the composed Xiao Qiyun beside him, seemingly even more anxious.
Xiao Qiyun remained silent, simply crossing his arms and watching with interest Su Zhelan's flustered state and Sheng Xuan's clumsy attempts to block the door.
Seeing Su Zhelan's gaze sweep over, the corner of his lips deepened, and he slowly spoke, his voice carrying a hint of amusement: "So you're going to wipe us out completely? Not even leaving us a cup of tea?"
"What tea! There's no tea!" Su Zhelan practically yelled, his face turning even redder, whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell. He forcefully pushed against the door with his shoulder, using all his strength to force Sheng Xuan's hand out. "Let go! I'm closing the door!"
Sheng Xuan grimaced from the squeezing, but still wouldn't give up: "Ouch! You... hiss... okay, okay, I'll shut you up! Hey—!"
The last "hello" was interrupted by a loud "bang".
Taking advantage of the moment when Sheng Xuan relaxed his strength, Su Zhelan used all her might to pull the door inward sharply, while quickly pulling her arm back. With a "click," the door latch fell shut, crisp and clean.
Sheng Xuan stumbled from the door, nearly bumping into Xiao Qiyun beside him. He rubbed his fingers, which were almost red from being pinched, and stared dumbfounded at the tightly closed gate: "What's going on? Has this kid taken the wrong medicine?"
Inside, all was silent, save for a sliver of warm yellow candlelight peeking through the crack in the door and the faint rustling of someone's clothes as they slid down to the floor against the door.
Xiao Qiyun chuckled softly, the sound particularly clear in the quiet night. He reached out and patted Sheng Xuan's shoulder, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice: "Let's go, Second Young Master. Disturbing someone's peaceful sleep will bring retribution."
He paused meaningfully, "Especially... ruining other people's 'good things'."
Sheng Xuan was still rubbing his hands when he heard this and was even more confused: "What good news? Whose good news?" He looked at the closed door and then at Xiao Qiyun, who was smiling meaningfully. He felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"You'll find out tomorrow." Xiao Qiyun stopped explaining and turned to walk towards his courtyard. His dark robes blended into the night, leaving only a sentence drifting in the wind: "Meet me at the pharmacy at dawn tomorrow. I hope... Zhelan can hold on."
Sheng Xuan scratched his head, muttered "strange and mysterious" at the tightly closed courtyard gate, glanced in the direction where Xiao Qiyun had disappeared, and finally could only leave dejectedly with a belly full of doubts and a little bit of grievance from being pinched.
The pharmacy was filled with the rich aroma of herbs in the early morning. Su Zhelan practically tiptoed into the courtyard. His gaze first cautiously swept over Gu Linzhao, who was helping to sort the herbs.
Gu Linzhao looked up when he heard the noise, his face showing no unusual expression. He even gave him a smile that was neither warm nor cold: "You're here? Stretch your muscles a bit, I'll be there as soon as I finish this." His tone was as normal as if nothing had happened yesterday.
Su Zhelan breathed a slight sigh of relief and replied, "Yes." But her gaze involuntarily drifted towards the depths of the pharmacy—Su Yan was facing away from the door, busy in front of the medicine cabinet, leaving only his tall, yet inexplicably... authoritative? back view.
Just as Su Zhelan was hesitating whether to take the initiative to greet him, Su Yan seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and turned around at that moment.
Their eyes met!
Su Zhelan's heart skipped a beat, and she almost reflexively lowered her eyes, her face instantly flushing, her fingers instinctively clutching the hem of her clothes.
"What are you standing there for?" Su Yan's voice rang out, revealing no emotion, even more peaceful than usual.
Su Zhelan forced himself to look up and found that Su Yan wasn't looking at him. Instead, he was holding a pestle and his gaze was fixed on Su Zhelan with a kind of... scrutiny? Or perhaps, a calm understanding.
"Good morning, Master." Su Zhelan's voice was a little dry.
"Hmm." Su Yan responded, casually put down the pestle, and beckoned to him, "Come here."
Su Zhelan's heart leaped into his throat. Oh no, was he about to be interrogated? His mind raced, trying to figure out how to explain that last night's incident wasn't intentional, but his feet felt like lead; he moved forward hesitantly and awkwardly, each step feeling like walking on thorns.
When he finally moved in front of Su Yan, head bowed, not daring to breathe, bracing himself for the "storm," he heard Su Yan speak in a... gentle, even slightly nostalgic tone:
"The food delivered last night," Su Yan paused, seemingly savoring the memory, "was delicious."
Su Zhelan suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with astonishment, thinking she had misheard.
Seeing his surprised expression, Su Yan's lips seemed to curve upwards in a very subtle way, so quickly it was almost imperceptible, but his eyes clearly revealed a hint of genuine satisfaction. "The sweetness is just right, it really tastes like the ones you used to make, I haven't had it in a long time."
Su Zhelan was completely stunned; there wasn't a single reprimand she had expected.
“So,” Su Yan’s tone shifted abruptly, a hint of undeniable force creeping into his gentle voice. He raised his hand, his calloused knuckles, carrying the scent of herbs, and patted Su Zhelan’s shoulder lightly twice, his gaze fixed on him intently, “You’d better take good care of yourself. Get your body in better shape, and keep your spirits up. Don’t be all droopy and listless, or you’ll end up getting sick.”
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice, but every word struck Su Zhelan's heart clearly: "Otherwise, as your teacher, I'm afraid it will be quite a long time before I can taste your cooking. Hmm?"
Su Zhelan's cheeks flushed again, but this time it wasn't because of embarrassment, but because of a bittersweet sense of relief and a hint of pressure from being "called out".
He opened his mouth, a thousand words stuck in his throat, but in the end he could only nod forcefully, his voice trembling slightly with the relief of surviving a close call: "...Yes, Master! I understand!"
Su Yan then withdrew his hand with satisfaction, reverting to his usual demeanor: "Okay, go ahead. Practice diligently with Gu Linzhao, and don't slack off."
Su Zhelan felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and quickly turned around and jogged towards Gu Linzhao, her steps becoming much lighter.
Gu Linzhao, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, couldn't help but burst out laughing when he saw Su Zhelan's surprised, delighted, and slightly aggrieved expression as she ran over.
Su Yan's gaze instantly sharpened like an icy arrow, shooting towards Gu Linzhao with a "whoosh," all the remaining gentleness he had shown towards Su Zhelan vanished.
"Laugh! What are you laughing at! Have nothing better to do? Coming here to watch a show so early in the morning?!"
Gu Linzhao shrank back at the shout, but the gloating smile on his face hadn't completely disappeared. He put the basket of herbs he was carrying on the shelf next to him and tried to explain, "I...I wasn't watching the show, I was just preparing..."
"That kid's been standing here for ages! Eagerly waiting for you, his teacher, to give him some pointers!" Su Yan raised an eyebrow, his voice rising an octave as he pointed at Su Zhelan, who was standing to the side, tense up again because of Su Yan's sudden outburst. "Did you come here to act like a boss?!"
Spit nearly landed on Gu Linzhao's face. Gu Linzhao instinctively raised his hand to block it, his smile completely vanishing, replaced by embarrassment and helplessness at being publicly reprimanded: "Okay, okay... let's begin, shall we?"
He muttered under his breath and began to slowly roll up his sleeves, deliberately dragging out the motion, clearly still harboring some resentment about being yelled at earlier.
"Hurry up!" Su Yan was even more furious when he saw that he was slow. He slammed his hand on the heavy solid wood medicine table next to him with a "bang"! The impact made the lids of several medicine jars on the table jump up.
"Come here! Zelan!" Gu Linzhao darted to the open space in the middle of the courtyard used for practicing martial arts in a few steps, and casually picked up a long, smooth jujube wood stick leaning against the wall.
With a flick of his wrist, the tip of the stick sliced through the air with a sharp, piercing sound, then whistled through the air with impressive force. "Don't just stand there, get moving!"
When Sheng Xuan and Xiao Qiyun arrived at the medicine courtyard, the morning light was slanting across the courtyard wall, illuminating the wooden dummy in the open space with a warm yellow glow. Su Zhelan, with her back to the courtyard gate, was punching the dummy repeatedly, the dull thuds of her fists hitting the wood particularly clear in the quiet courtyard.
Sweat trickled down his forehead and jawline, wetting the front of his clothes. His loose hairband slipped down to the back of his neck, revealing a section of his reddened neck.
His moves were indeed still raw, and the force of his punches was sometimes heavy and sometimes light. Occasionally, he would stagger half a step due to his unstable center of gravity, but every time he raised his hand, he showed a stubbornness—clearly, he had been pushed hard by Gu Linzhao.
"What's the point of this thing?" Sheng Xuan leaned against the wooden post of the courtyard gate, pursed his lips, and stared at it for a long time, kicking the pebbles at his feet and making them roll around. "It's better to practice shooting at the training ground than to struggle with a dead piece of wood."
Xiao Qiyun stood beside him, his gaze fixed on Su Zhelan's hands as he drove the stakes. The boy's knuckles were red, and the skin between his thumb and forefinger was even slightly scraped, covered with a thin layer of sweat, yet he still clenched his fists and slammed them down again and again.
"Base."
He uttered two words calmly, his gaze sweeping over Su Zhelan's slightly trembling shoulders, "Mr. Gu Linzhao taught me to be steady."
"Can stability feed you?" Sheng Xuan scoffed, then suddenly raised his voice, "Ze Lan! Stop messing with a blockhead!"
Su Zhelan's movements suddenly stopped. When she turned around, the stray hairs on her forehead were all stuck together with sweat. When she saw the two people at the door, her eyes lit up, but her fist still subconsciously punched the stake again.
"Why are you here now?" he asked, panting, his chest heaving. "I haven't finished practicing yet..."
"What's the point of practicing on this broken dummy? If you're going to practice, practice with real weapons! That's what's truly exciting!" Sheng Xuan blocked the wooden dummy with his elbow before Su Zhelan could throw a punch: "Come on, spar with me!"
The wooden dummy wobbled from Sheng Xuan's elbow. Before Su Zhelan could regain her balance while holding onto the dummy, a loud "bang" suddenly came from the pharmacy—the sound of a medicine grinder being slammed heavily onto the table.
Su Yan lifted the curtain and walked out, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito, his gaze fixed on Sheng Xuan: "You brat! What's gotten into you this early in the morning?!"
He was still clutching a half-cut piece of medicinal herb in his hand, his knuckles white from the force. "Ze Lan is practicing her martial arts, what are you doing getting in the way? If you want to spar, go fight your brother at the training ground!"
Sheng Xuan shrank back at the shout, but still stubbornly argued, "I just thought his practice was boring..."
"Whether it's interesting or not is none of your business!" Su Yan took two steps forward, the scent of medicine mixed with his anger wafting over. "Gu Linzhao!"
Gu Linzhao was squatting under the eaves picking up the lid of the medicine jar that had been knocked off earlier. Hearing this, he jumped up with a start, still clutching a shard of porcelain in his hand: "Hey, I'm here!"
"You just stand by and watch him make a mess of things?" Su Yan's anger turned to him, his voice suddenly rising, "I asked you to teach Zhe Lan martial arts, and what did you do? You let him ruin the whole thing?"
"No, Ayan!" Gu Linzhao quickly threw away the porcelain shards, rubbed his hands on his clothes, and looked aggrieved. "The fight hasn't even started yet! I was just about to call a halt!"
He pointed to Su Zhelan, who was still holding onto the wooden dummy, and said, "Look, Zhelan is still standing perfectly fine, isn't she?"
Although Su Yan's anger lingered, it had lost its previous sharpness.
He glanced at Sheng Xuan, who was still arguing, then swept his gaze over Gu Linzhao, who looked aggrieved, and finally his eyes fell on Su Zhelan—the boy was leaning against the wooden dummy, panting, the red marks on his knuckles particularly noticeable in the morning light, yet he still clenched his fists, showing no sign of stopping.
"Ze Lan," Su Yan suddenly spoke, his tone softening, "Are you tired? Do you want to rest?"
Su Zhelan's breathing paused, and beads of sweat on his forehead fell onto the wooden stake, leaving a small dark patch. When he looked up, his eyelashes were still damp with moisture: "It's alright, Master, I'm fine, I can continue."
Su Yan ignored Gu Linzhao and stared at Su Zhelan's hands: "Your fists are all blistered, don't you know to find something to wrap them?" He turned and walked towards the pharmacy, leaving behind the words, "Gu Linzhao, bring the hemostatic ointment from the medicine box."
Gu Linzhao let out a soft "Hey!" and ran off to the corridor. As he passed Su Yan, he deliberately bumped into his arm, but Su Yan ignored him.
Sheng Xuan grinned at Su Zhelan, "Are you stupid? Why are you arguing with a blockhead?"
Despite his harsh words, he squatted down and pulled a clean strip of cloth from his pocket. "Hold out your hand."
Su Zhelan was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to dodge, Sheng Xuan grabbed his wrist and roughly wrapped strips of cloth around his knuckles.
The fabric brushed against the broken skin, and Su Zhelan hissed in pain. Sheng Xuan immediately softened his movements, unconsciously rubbing his fingertips against the back of Su Zhelan's burning hand: "Bear with it, or it will hurt even more later."
The dull thud of the wooden dummy sounded again, but this time it lacked the tension of before. Su Zhelan's fist landed on the dummy, the force still raw, but much more steady.
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