CH 86

Su Yang had a strange and fantastical dream.

He dreamt of the storyline where he had gone to the Wasteland to find the Dubious Tomb of the Sword Sage.

It was different from his personal experience which he was well acquainted with. The ‘he’ in the dream had journeyed to the Wasteland but subconsciously, he hadn’t gone to find the Tomb of the Sword Sage. Instead, he’d specifically travelled to find Gu Feidi.

He soon found Gu Feidi and got into a fight with him. Then, he overpowered him and slammed him on the Wasteland boulder. He kissed him through his veil covering and stretched out his hand to strip off his clothes.

However, he was interrupted by Tengyun Pavilion’s guards who’d rushed over. Gu Feidi seized this chance to escape.

After that, he continually attempted to blend in with everyone in Tengyun Pavilion. For this reason, he had many fights with Gu Feidi and Tengyun Pavilion’s guards. In the end, they came to the edge of the river cliff together.

What followed was the clashing of several sects and Eluo Ghost Tent’s infiltration into the battlefield.

Naturally, as the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, Su Yang was targeted by all sides. As such, Gu Feidi led the martial arts circles Righteous Way troops to pressure him into retreating all the way to the cliff edge.

All of a sudden, someone behind Gu Feidi turned traitor just as Su Yang had experienced previously. That person raised his weapon and slashed at Gu Feidi’s back.

Needless to say, Su Yang wanted to step up and save him. However, he didn’t anticipate that at the same moment when he blocked the blade for Gu Feidi, Gu Feidi stabbed him in the side with a sword.

This was positively frustrating.

Su Yang was beside himself with rage and had nowhere to vent, so exerted all his effort to knock Gu Feidi down and restrain him in his arms. Then he held his thin sword to his neck and scowled at the group of Righteous Way troops who were coming to Gu Feidi’s rescue; forcing them to back off.

Just then, an arrow was fired from a distance. Su Yang had no choice but to haul Gu Feidi with him and tumble to the side, avoiding the deadly arrow that could’ve completely pierced the two of them.

They both plummeted down the cliff like this and plunged into the water together. The surrounding ice-cold river surged in, instantly smashing Su Yang’s consciousness to smithereens.

After that, Su Yang incoherently bobbed up and down in the bitterly cold air while enduring a stifling sense of despair.

He wanted to struggle, but he felt that his hands and feet had been bound, and he couldn’t move at all. The fear of dying made him want to shout for help, but he was incapable of uttering a single sound.

It seemed that he could hear countless voices ringing in his ears:

“Shixiong, shixiong! Wake up!”

“……Chen Su Yang, the Devil Sect’s Young Saint is an exceedingly villainous person. Your expression here needs to be——”

“Shixiong, wake up!”

“……CUT! Adjust the wire a little at Xiao Chen’s* spot…… “

(*TN : xiao = little/ small. It’s common for people in China to address those younger than them with ‘xiao’  before their family/ surnames)

” Don’t die, Su……beg you……”

” ……Congrats on completing your scenes! HAPPY BIRTHDAY——! “

“SHIXIONG——!”

Su Yang suddenly opened his eyes and was dazzled by the bright light that filled the room. He frowned and closed his eyes again.

After some time, he pressed on his rumbling stomach and asked hoarsely: “How long did I sleep? Why, why am I this hungry…”

Gu Feidi exhaled heavily, sat down by the bedside and said in a low voice. “You’ve been asleep since yesterday afternoon until now.”

Su Yang narrowed his eyes to get used to the light, then opened them slowly and looked at Gu Feidi, “What time is it now? Ak, what time is it?”

Gu Feidi: “……it’s just past Si period*.”

(*TN : 9 – 11am)

“Si period…” Su Yang propped up his body and sat upright only to feel that his whole body was weak and his head was spinning. “I slept that long?”

“Elder Luo said you need to rest.” Gu Feidi held Su Yang’s hand that was hanging down at his side, “You just…had another nightmare?”

Su Yang was stunned for a moment and couldn’t help recalling the particulars of his dream. He instantly smiled.

“It wasn’t exactly a nightmare.” He raised his eyebrows to look at Gu Feidi and said, “I dreamt that I forcibly kissed you.”

Gu Feidi……Gu Feidi’s face which had been filled with concern and heartache, abruptly froze. It was immediately replaced with a layer of helplessness.

He got up, fetched the already warmed up decoction from the warmer in the middle of the room and brought it over to Su Yang: “Drink the medicine first. I’ll go and ask when lunch can be delivered.” 

Su Yang took the bowl of medicine and obediently drank it all as he watched Gu Feidi leave the room.

After moving around his weak arms for some time, Su Yang lifted the quilt while holding the empty bowl and got out of bed with the intention of putting it on the table.

Unexpectedly, before he could leave the bed, his legs suddenly gave way and he almost fell to the ground. Su Yang straightened up with the support of the bed’s edge and exercised his knees and ankles. He felt that he must’ve slept too much until there wasn’t enough steady blood flow to his limbs, causing his whole body to be weak and limp.

After moving his hands and feet for some time, Su Yang walked to the table and put down the bowl. Then he took his clothes from the rack, put them on properly and walked to the doorway. His gaze travelled from steam rising from the hot spring, over to the lush green trees in the courtyard and to the not-so-distant snow-covered roofs.

Gu Feidi returned to the courtyard carrying the food box and saw Su Yang standing by the door. He immediately came forward and pulled him into his arms, “Don’t stand where there’s a draft, go back into the room. I’ve brought the food over. Are you very hungry?”

Su Yang said helplessly: “I’m not made of glass and not so fragile……” Eventually, he was still led by Gu Feidi back into the room.

Both of them ate together. Gu Feidi packed up the food box and when he returned, he saw Su Yang sitting behind the desk, holding up and looking at the line drawing he’d done yesterday.

Su Yang regarded the line drawing that had a distinct detailed brushwork style on the paper. He thought to himself that Gu Feidi was really favoured by the original author. Why were all his skills perfect? They were clearly just lines of ink with different thicknesses. He had surprisingly outlined his facial features with such accuracy.

“I feel—” Su Yang raised his eyes and smiled at Gu Feidi, “—that you’ve really been impeded by martial arts training. If not, you could probably be this generation’s painting and calligraphy expert. Your handwriting is beautiful and you can paint like this…”

Gu Feidi shook his head, “What I’ve painted is not even close to your elegance and charm.”

Su Yang was pleased, “You’re too modest.”

Gu Feidi brushed it off, “I’m not being modest.”

“Your every move, every frown, every smile, your joy, your anger…” He stared at Su Yang and spoke slowly, “Your voice, tone, your singing, the way you look when you dance… I have no way of drawing that. “

Hearing these words, Su Yang felt a little sorrow emerge in his heart.

He knew that Gu Feidi was doing his best to hold onto something. In the face of time that stopped for no one, he was taking this last opportunity to try to leave behind some beautiful moments in the hope that he could use this to remember in the future.

Say nothing of not being able to take photos and videos in this world. Even in the technologically developed modern world, there was still no way to retain the warmth and touch of your beloved.

Therefore, since ancient times, love separation remained one of the seven sufferings in life.

Once he leaves this world, he may not wake up in reality. But if he could, he wouldn’t even be able to bring with him a portrait of Gu Feidi.

All of a sudden, Su Yang remembered something. He turned around to find his luggage and dug out a paper that had been folded into the size of a palm. He unfolded the page and the adapted lyrics that Gu Feidi had written for him came into view.

Su Yang looked up at Gu Feidi and smiled: “Let’s sing together. We’ll sing the song you revised, how about it?”

Gu Feidi smiled weakly, “Alright.”

Su Yang said, “I still have a lot of songs. Later…you can alter the words for me. What do you think?”

Gu Feidi sat down beside Su Yang and nodded: “Up to you.” 

They both sat on the couch at the table and sang a few songs. Su Yang told Gu Feidi that he wanted to watch him perform his sword moves. Gu Feidi naturally agreed, taking his Long Cherished Heart with him into the courtyard to practice. Su Yang did his best to suppress the fatigue from surfacing within his body again. He bundled himself in a quilt and leaned on the window sill to look on in admiration.

Once Gu Feidi had completed two sets of swordsmanship, Su Yang motioned for him to approach the window and said with a smile: “Didn’t you mention a few days ago that you wanted to create a set of swordsmanship to suit my Drunk Slashing Red Plums. How’s the planning of the moves coming along?”

“I have yet to start studying them.” Gu Feidi said, “Wait until your health has improved, we……can practice swords together and analyse them at the same time.”

Su Yang smiled and nodded: “Okay.”

Back inside the room, Gu Feidi was cajoled by Su Yang to chat for a while. Pretty soon, Su Yang wasn’t able to withstand it and fell asleep again on Gu Feidi’s shoulder.

The sky hadn’t yet dimmed, but the sun was slanting from the west and the light was tinged with a dull gray hue.

Gu Feidi carried Su Yang to the bed, helped cover him properly with the quilt and turned to leave the room.

He arrived at Luo Yu’s courtyard and knocked lightly on the door: “Junior Gu Feidi wishes to consult Elder on a matter.”

Not long after, the outer door opened and a disciple brought Gu Feidi into Luo Yu’s study.

Luo Yu was in the midst of assiduously scrutinising a medical scroll. He heard Gu Feidi enter and didn’t look up. “What is it?” he asked.

“Elder,” Gu Feidi said, “Su……he……” 

After a pause, he asked: “What can I do to save him? As long as he can recover completely, I’m willing to do it……no matter what it is.”

Luo Yu put down the scroll in his hand and glanced up at Gu Feidi.

It was a while before he said: “You don’t have to do anything. Just accompany him during these few days.”

Gu Feidi was slightly shocked: “These few days?”

Luo Yu said: “You’ve also seen the curse words on his back. The conditions of fulfilling Eluo Ghost Tent’s Ghost Blood Life Curse are extremely onerous. Since ancient times, there has never been an instance where the curse has failed.” 

After a while of silence, Gu Feidi said in a low voice, “Aren’t the biggest perils that he’s facing now the Cold Pond Ice Spirit and Half Withered Red techniques in his body? If they can be resolved, the curse……may not come true, you never know.”

Luo Yu couldn’t help raising his eyebrows when he heard Gu Feidi’s query. He surveyed Gu Feidi’s face for a moment, ascertained that he was truly privy of something and not baiting him. He helplessly released a sigh.

“You know.” He said, “Did Su Yang tell you or did you guess it yourself?”

“Although I guessed it, he didn’t deny it when I asked him.” Gu Feidi lowered his eyes, “It was because of me that he contacted the Cold Pond Ice Spirit and Half Withered Red. As long as there’s a way to save him, I’m willing to do it; regardless of what it is.”

Luo Yu stared at Gu Feidi for a long time. He looked down and picked up the medical scroll on the table: “Go back. There’s no method that I can advise you of.”

“Elder—”

“Qin Jianyue, drive him away.”

Qin Jianyue, who had been standing nearby with his arms folded, sighed. He walked to Gu Feidi’s side and patted him on the shoulder: “Go back first. The Gu was just removed from Su Yang’s body and there’ll be some temporary weakness, but it should quickly recover somewhat……you should be with him more.”

Gu Feidi stared fixedly at Luo Yu and was unwilling to leave.

“His jiujiu also doesn’t want to see him die young. He’s already doing his best to explore the ancient records.” Qin Jianyue said, “Why don’t you retire in the meantime, I don’t wish to employ forceful methods.” 

In the end, Gu Feidi had no choice but to turn around and leave Luo Yu’s study.

Qin Jianyue sent Gu Feidi out the door and returned to the study. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he helped Luo Yu light the lamp.

“Ah Yu, earlier you said that there’s no method you could advise Gu Feidi.” He gave a light laugh and asked, “Have you already thought of a way to help Su Yang restrain the Cold Pond Ice Spirit and the cold internal strength in his body? Is it not suitable to let Gu Feidi know?”

Luo Yu tossed the scroll in his hand onto the table. His expression was intense and his tone wasn’t positive: “What if I’ve thought of it? Su Yang risked his life to rescue Gu Feidi. Then, should I let Gu Feidi risk his life to save Su Yang? Do you think this is really amusing?”

“As expected…” Qin Jianyue said, “The way to save Su Yang…is only dual cultivation?”

Luo Yu was silent for a moment and said under his breath, “I’m just theorising that dual cultivation can possibly save Su Yang’s life…but I’m not yet certain.”

“Furthermore, the Cold Pond Ice Spirit and Half Withered Red are overly oppressive. If the person who dual cultivates with Su Yang doesn’t possess a complimentary rare matter and methodological technique to act as a support, I’m afraid he’ll be hurt by it instead.”

He heaved a sigh and added: “And the masculine rare matter and methodology technique that can counter the Cold Pond Ice Spirit and Half Withered Red must be equally oppressive… not to mention whether or not dual cultivation can save Su Yang. If subsequently, Su Yang cannot pull through the curse and dies, leaving Gu Feidi—who had practiced such blazing techniques—all alone, he would definitely be drained by the techniques and it will not end well.”

Eventually, Luo Yu looked at Qin Jianyue with a wry smile: “To exchange a life for a life. How unfair is that? How could I foist my old friend’s son onto such a path of no return with my own hands?”