TM CH69

Chapter 69 Gifting the Zhukong Sword

After a while, Rong Qi brought up what had happened earlier that day. He skipped over the reason behind the argument and simply said he found the two jianghu men unpleasant, got into a dispute with them, and then ran into a weird person.

He said, “That man had profound internal energy, but his footwork was lacking. Probably someone who doesn’t fight often. I’ve never noticed before that there are really so many busybodies among your righteous sects.”

Gu Yunxing was a bit surprised. “Most of the experts in Qingshan have already left. Since that man helped you teach those two a lesson and even paid for the damages, he must be a decent person.”

Rong Qi rolled his eyes inwardly. “Sure, Qingshan is full of gentlemen, and I’m the only villain… mm.”

Gu Yunxing withdrew the hand that was feeding him candied apricot. “These were specially bought back from the neighboring town. I heard they’re a local specialty. How do they taste?”

Rong Qi chewed twice. “Not bad.”

So he liked them.

Gu Yunxing placed the small cloth pouch filled with apricots in front of Rong Qi.

A moment later, a few slender fingers reached in and pulled out a translucent piece of candied apricot.

Gu Yunxing smiled and poured him another cup of tea.

“Well now… it seems even Young Master Rong has times when others will stand up for him,” Gu Yunxing teased. “Come on, what did those two do to offend you?”

“This venerable one simply found them displeasing,” Rong Qi replied dismissively, clearly unwilling to say more. “Stand up for me? More like meddling. If he hadn’t butted in, those two would’ve been dead already!”

Gu Yunxing began to realize something. “You fought them?”

Rong Qi’s expression stiffened. “They were all show and no skill. I just stretched my limbs a little.”

Gu Yunxing said nothing.

Rong Qi glanced at him. At first, he didn’t want to pay attention, but Gu Yunxing just kept looking at him, as if waiting for an explanation. He pursed his lips, unable to bear it. “My injuries are almost healed. Why shouldn’t I fight?”

Gu Yunxing stood up and took the apricots from the table. “Come with me.”

Knowing that he wanted to check his injuries, Rong Qi refused on the spot. “I’m hungry. I’m eating first.”

Gu Yunxing took a deep breath. “Rong Qi.”

Rong Qi grew annoyed. “The Tianji Sect Master has such great prestige that he won’t even let people eat?”

Gu Yunxing: “You’re hurt?”

Rong Qi sneered. “As if. I don’t have a single new scratch on me!”

Gu Yunxing: “So it’s an old wound that reopened?”

Rong Qi looked at him as if he’d seen a ghost.

Gu Yunxing: “No wonder.” He even knew to change his clothes, probably because blood had seeped out.

Rong Qi gave up pretending altogether, thinking he was making a fuss over nothing. “It’s just a minor injury.”

“Come back to the room and let me take a look.”

Rong Qi frowned, clearly on the verge of saying something.

“I asked Ding Qi to make your favorites for dinner. She’ll bring it up.” Gu Yunxing spoke first, sighing. “Rong Qi, don’t make me worry.”

Rong Qi: “……”

Rong Qi stayed quiet for a moment, then glared at Gu Yunxing and stormed upstairs in a huff.

Gu Yunxing called Ding Qi over, gave her a few instructions, and followed after him.

“See? Just a small wound. Satisfied now, Sect Master Gu?” Rong Qi pointed to his shoulder. He had even bandaged it himself. There wasn’t a single sign it had reopened.

Gu Yunxing held back his frustration and reapplied the medicine himself.

Rong Qi let him fuss over his shoulder, then sneered, “With a wound like this, if I went to the Medicine Hall, Xue Yu would laugh at me for half a month.”

Gu Yunxing ignored the comment and helped him put his clothes back on.

Although Rong Qi spoke with disdain, his actions were fully cooperative. He knew Gu Yunxing hated seeing him hurt, but even if he had the chance to do it over, he would still teach those two gossipmongers a lesson.

“Gu Yunxing, why are you ignoring me?” Rong Qi asked, annoyed. When Gu Yunxing remained silent, looking grim, his temper flared. “I’ve always been a bloodthirsty demon. Are you only now finding that hard to accept? Or are you regretting everything?”

Gu Yunxing’s eyelid twitched. “Regret? Who’s regretting? I leave for one day, and you get yourself hurt again!”

Rong Qi looked at him in shock, then sneered. “What does this venerable one’s body have to do with you?”

“How does it not?” Gu Yunxing shot back, laughing in anger. “I’ve dressed every single one of your wounds myself. I stayed up night after night, afraid you’d feel pain or itch or anything uncomfortable. It took so much effort to nurse you back to health, and you turn right around and reopen the wound in another fight!”

“Gu Yunxing!” Rong Qi shot to his feet. “This venerable one would rather be injured than suffer humiliation!”

Gu Yunxing let out a sigh. “Great. I speak a few truths, and now you’re the one who’s suffering humiliation?”

Rong Qi snapped, “I wasn’t talking about you! Those two bastards couldn’t say a decent word if their lives depended on it. This venerable one just wanted to beat them up!”

Gu Yunxing: “That short-tempered? What did they even say to set you off?”

Rong Qi: “They said you and I have an improper relationship, that we’re together all day long!”

Gu Yunxing’s eyes flickered. So that was it. Looking at the still-fuming demon, he chuckled. “And that’s worth getting angry over?”

Rong Qi glared at him. “You’ve become their gossip fodder, and you’re laughing!”

Gu Yunxing: “So what? We were never exactly innocent to begin with. They’ll get used to it eventually.”

Rong Qi opened his mouth but couldn’t find a retort. He stared at Gu Yunxing, expression shifting into something more conflicted.

Gu Yunxing: “Or is it that spending all your time with this humble Gu brings shame to Young Master Rong?”

Rong Qi’s face darkened, and he gritted his teeth. “You know that’s not what I meant!”

Gu Yunxing pulled him into his arms. Seeing that Rong Qi was still sulking, his heart softened. “There are so many people in this world. Even if you and I had three heads and six arms, we couldn’t shut them all up. Why get angry over such things?”

Rong Qi: “Easy for you to say. Who was ignoring whom just now?”

Gu Yunxing: “…Those are two different things.”

Rong Qi let out a cold laugh. “You have something to say but won’t say it, forcing me to get angry. What’s the difference between you and those two rude people?”

Gu Yunxing grew serious. “There’s still a difference.”

Rong Qi scoffed.

Just then, a knock came at the door, followed by Ding Qi’s voice.

“Sect Master, Young Master Rong, dinner is ready.”

Rong Qi brushed his sleeve aside and stood up from Gu Yunxing’s arms. With a frosty expression, he opened the door, took one look inside the food box, and said, “Leave him a plate of greens. I’m taking the rest to eat in the main hall.”

With that, he strode out of the room without so much as a backward glance.

Gu Yunxing: “……”

Ding Qi blinked, then tiptoed into the room. She took out a bowl of plain white rice and a plate of stir-fried vegetables, then quietly retreated. Before leaving, she thoughtfully closed the door behind her.

“……”

Gu Yunxing looked around the now-empty room, then down at the pitifully plain meal. A wave of desolation washed over him.

In the end, he still didn’t eat the plate of stir-fried green vegetables alone. He quickly adjusted his mood and happily carried the food to go find someone.

Rong Qi noticed him following and let out a cold snort. But when Gu Yunxing sat down, he neither spoke to him nor drove him away.

Before long, Gu Yunxing poured them each a cup of tea.

Rong Qi wore no particular expression. After a while, he lifted his teacup and downed it in one go.

The corner of Gu Yunxing’s mouth lifted slightly — this counted as acknowledging him.

The next morning, the two of them slowly woke from sleep.

Still half-asleep, Rong Qi realized Gu Yunxing was hovering over his shoulder, busy with something.

He nudged the head beside him. “What are you doing?”

Gu Yunxing let out a sigh. “It’s been a full night. Looks like it’s finally healed.”

Rong Qi was still drowsy. He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head, planning to sleep a little longer.

Gu Yunxing didn’t wake him. He lay beside him for a while, holding him, then got up and headed outside.

But the moment he came downstairs, a disciple from the Wulin Alliance rushed into the inn, clearly in a hurry.

“So, you’re planning to set out now for Pingxing City to help Fang Lian find his sister?” Rong Qi asked lazily, reclining against the headboard and stifling a yawn.

Gu Yunxing’s face was troubled. “Pingxing City is two hundred miles from here. It should take at least seven days and at most half a month to resolve this.”

Rong Qi was all too familiar with Fang Ruoyao’s knack for getting into trouble. First, she had chased someone to the East Sea and run into a shipwreck. Now, she had gone missing and was suspected to have been captured.

“Do you need help?”

Gu Yunxing pondered for a while before saying, “Your injury hasn’t fully healed. A hard ride wouldn’t be good for you. Since things in Pingxing City are currently unclear, I’ll go ahead to scout the way first.”

When Gu Yunxing left the day before, Rong Qi had already suspected something had gone wrong on Fang Lian’s end. He just hadn’t expected the situation to be serious enough for them to seek Gu Yunxing’s help. He frowned. “This won’t delay the matter at Jizhou’s Wenxin Platform, will it?”

Gu Yunxing: “Don’t worry. I already reminded him about it yesterday on your behalf. I’m leaving now precisely to ensure Shuhuai has nothing weighing on his mind.”

Rong Qi:“Then go.”

Gu Yunxing hesitated. “You’re not even a little reluctant to see me go?”

Rong Qi gave him a puzzled look. “A week at the least, half a month at most. Is half a month supposed to be long?”

Half a month wasn’t long.

Gu Yunxing sighed quietly. He didn’t expect the former Right Protector of Lihuo Palace to suddenly learn to say anything sweet just because they were parting. He unfastened the sword from his waist and, in front of Rong Qi, drew the blade.

“This sword is called Zhukong. I carried it during my younger days while wandering the jianghu. It’s light, but incredibly sharp,” Gu Yunxing said, offering him the hilt. “It suits you perfectly.”

Rong Qi blinked in surprise. “You’re lending it to me?”

“Not lending.” Gu Yunxing gestured. “Take it. It’s yours now.”

Rong Qi blinked and lowered his eyes to examine Zhukong. He took the hilt from Gu Yunxing’s hand.

Gu Yunxing smiled. “Since you lost your sword and it’ll take some time to request a new one from Cuiwei Villa, just make do with this for now.”

A sword from the armory of Tianji Sect, and once the personal weapon of its sect master, Zhukong was hardly something to ‘make do’ with. Rong Qi turned the blade slightly, listening to the soft hum of steel, and remarked with admiration, “It’s a fine sword.”

Seeing that he liked it, Gu Yunxing was visibly pleased.

Rong Qi suddenly thought of something. “You’ve been using this sword the past few days. Now that you’ve given it to me, what will you use?”

Gu Yunxing: “The Hanhai Art emphasizes using momentum as one’s sword. It doesn’t matter what weapon I carry.” Seeing Rong Qi’s skepticism, he added, “Have you ever heard of my mother’s sword?”

Rong Qi: “Cangyuan?”

Gu Yunxing nodded. “Originally, there really was a sword called Cangyuan. But my mother eventually returned it to the armory. The swords she wielded afterwards depended on her mood. No matter what was in her hand, even a wooden sword, it was still Cangyuan.”

Rong Qi found that kind of mastery deeply admirable. “Then… the sword you used against me on the ship, was that also called Zhukong?”

Gu Yunxing shook his head. “I’m not at her level. I still believe that a sword should have a name, and that name should match the blade. I couldn’t just carry it around without a name.”

Rong Qi found that reasonable. “True enough.” He looked down at the sword in his hand. “But for me, a sword is just a tool. As long as it’s useful, that’s what matters.”

He pointed the sword at Gu Yunxing, lifting his chin with the blade. “I’ll wait for you for seven days. If you haven’t returned by then, I’ll go to Pingxing City to find you.”

Gu Yunxing pushed the sword aside, stepping forward and leaning to whisper, “Don’t play with swords on the bed.”

Rong Qi: “……”

Gu Yunxing left, leaving behind Zhukong, a bag of candied apricots, and the Di siblings.

Rong Qi’s injury gradually healed, but he no longer had the interest to go out and wander. He stayed in the inn all day, resting and focusing on refining his internal energy and improving his martial arts techniques.

Ding Qi was excellent at taking care of people. Everything, from clothing and food to living arrangements, was carefully thought out. Ever since he had casually mentioned disliking simple, elegant clothing, every piece she sent him afterward was dark in color, though still too extravagant, not resembling what a jianghu person would wear.

Fortunately, Rong Qi had no intention of going out. He spent all his time in his room, meditating and recuperating, paying no attention to the overly decorative clothes. Sometimes, he wondered how Gu Yunxing managed to avoid wearing all those fancy clothes, despite Ding Qi’s care.

Then, he discovered the usefulness of Ding Yi.

Ding Yi lived next door. His personality was lively and simple-minded, completely the opposite of his sister.

With just a few words, Rong Qi managed to trick the boy into sparring with him. After winning, he further tricked him into honoring the bet and being completely obedient to him. Not to mention buying clothes, he was even willing to offer his own pocket money with both hands.

Ding Qi had no idea about any of this.

All she knew was that recently, the patient had been obedient, and her younger brother had been well-behaved. In the letters she sent to Gu Yunxing, she wrote, “Everything is going smoothly, all is well.”

It wasn’t until the eighth day after Gu Yunxing left that Ding Qi prepared the meals and knocked on Rong Qi’s door, only to receive no response.

She hesitated for a moment, a bad premonition rising in her heart.

Pushing open the door, she found the room empty.

Ding Qi took a deep breath and rushed to the next room, only to find her foolish younger brother fast asleep, hugging a sword, completely unaware of anything amiss.

Ding Yi was, of course, still asleep.

He had no chance against Rong Qi. Before he even had a chance to stop him, Rong Qi had struck his sleeping acupoint. He also didn’t have as many tricks up his sleeve as Rong Qi. Unknowingly, he helped him prepare his luggage and travel expenses, emptying his already meager purse in the process. Even his next month’s allowance was cut off early by his sister for failing to keep watch.