Chapter 212: Night at the Palace
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
She continued to ask him, "How can you not know? Just like your fifth brother and I – although we’ve been sold at a young age, we still know who our parents are. Even when they’re dead, they’re still our relatives after all. It’s where we came from…"
"According to what I know, fifth brother doesn’t know his ident.i.ty…" Yun Yang replied.
Yun Zuiyue’s gaze shone as she chuckled, covering her mouth. "Right. It’s a slip of the tongue, I’ve gotten it wrong."
Inwardly, she was thinking, "He does indeed know everything about Flame."
Yun Yang said quietly, "I’m the same as fifth brother. We don’t know where we came from."
A forced smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "It’s like… we just popped out of the bushes."
Yun Zuiyue was startled.
Looking at Yun Yang’s numb expression – looking at Supreme Cloud, who could single-handedly cause an upheaval in the world and shoulder the mountainous weight of his fate, a surge of heartache came suddenly to drown her entire being. At the moment, she only wanted to hug Yun Yang and comfort him.
She stood up and walked over lightly; squatting before Yun Yang and looking at him with a raised head, Yun Zuiyue spoke softly, "Young brother, you still have this sister-in-law. How unfortunate we’ve been in this world, yet how lucky we are now because of each other’s existence. We still have family in this world, after all, we still have solace from each other; that’s immensely precious."
Yun Yang smiled softly in reply. "Yes, Sister Yue. We’re all very lucky."
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I’m leaving, Sister Yue. I’m going to collect some interest tonight."
"Be careful in everything you do. Come back alive! Only by being alive can you speak of revenge!" Yun Zuiyue replied softly.
"Agreed."
Yun Yang nodded, his purple robes fluttering as he stood up; strands of raven hair fell too, covering half of his face as he turned to say, "Sister Yue, you’re really clever."
Yun Zuiyue was surprised when she heard him but Yun Yang had already gone out the door. A soft, almost inaudible voice drifted in through the wind, "You already know my ident.i.ty."
A sad smile was etched Yun Zuiyue’s face.
Yun Yang had disappeared – under the warm lanterns, under the nightfall.
Coming to the window, all that Yun Zuiyue saw was a cloud floating away slowly in the sky.
It was already a second fragment of the night1.
…
Mi Kongqun curled himself up as he coughed softly. His plump, fair face had lost a lot of weight; his wrinkles, too, had deepened significantly.
He clamped his mouth shut. It was as if a snake coursed through his torso continuously, while a surge of mystical Qi flowed around encircling his body. It was like a mini tornado was spinning in his room.
After a long time, his mouth opened abruptly as a green smoke sprayed out. Two harsh coughs followed before he spat out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, a weird pop came from his thigh and a b.l.o.o.d.y puncture appeared where the sound came from. A hiss of sword air gushed from the puncture immediately, slas.h.i.+ng the painting hung on the wall opposite into half with a crack.
Mi Kongqun’s huffs that were already labored became strained, a deep resentment pooling in his eyes.
Not only did Ling Xiaozui heavily wound Mi Kongqun with a strike of his sword the other day, he had left refined sword air in his body too. The sword air was so refined that it stayed condensate; it was also this exceptional sword air that was destroying Mi Kongqun’s body.
As long as he cultivated, the sword air would react promptly by exiting his body in the form of a sharp sliver.
No matter how minuscule the separated sword air that came out, it was still one that was left by Ling Xiaozui; it was not something Mi Kongqun could defend himself against. It also came from within him so it was difficult to avoid it; Mi Kongqun had only dissolved one-third of the sword air after so long by doing everything he could, cultivating to expend it or exhausting it intentionally.
Based on the dissolving speed, he only needed two months before he could entirely dispel the sword air. However, the separated sliver of sword air that erupted from within bore an unexpected destructive force. Even if Mi Kongqun’s body could last for two months, his internal and motor functions would be useless as most of it would be exhausted!
It was either a misfortune as a blessing in disguise or vice versa, though, as Mi Kongqun managed to stay safe when the entire palace was being overturned; the purge left him alone since he was in a critical state and no one bothered with him. Otherwise, he would have been gone on that day itself.
Until now, Mi Kongqun, who had turned better, was much more careful.
"Ling Xiaozui!"
Mi Kongqun panted heavily. Despite the resentment that was painted in his eyes, most of it was also helplessness. He knew that there was no chance of revenge in this lifetime.
Even if he cultivated for the rest of his life, he could not take even a single strike from Ling Xiaozui.
Two young eunuchs entered his room respectfully, leaving only after cleaning and tidying the s.p.a.ce.
The night was late now.
A ray of moonlight came in from the window, casting its glow before Mi Kongqun’s eyes.
Mi Kongqun looked at the bright moon hanging in the sky, slowly fading into a trance. A gaze that was cold like the moon surfaced in his thoughts.
Among the people in the Mi Family who were seized by Young Master Qiu Yunsan the other day… there was an old hunched woman who was long past her prime.
She had looked at him with such a gaze then.
From the moment he appeared to when he had left, she had watched him with that terrible look on her face, whether she was seized or freed.
Mi Kongqun sighed deeply.
It was his wife!
He could still remember back in the days when they were newlyweds. They were very loving, ascending to the roof every night with his darling in his embrace; they would sit on the roof and watch the moon together.
Her name was Leng Yue2.
He wondered when tender warmth had vanished.
It was when he had joined the Four Seasons Tower and had cultivated an unparalleled cultivation skill that he had begun to neglect his beautiful wife. It was when he had cultivated to a certain stage that he realized the cultivation skill was actually the legendary Art of Seclusion.
His skill improved vastly each day upon cultivation; the improvement more than ten times faster than a normal cultivation skill. Yet once he had cultivated this skill, he could no longer fornicate, no longer enjoy the intimacy that he once had.
It was also at that time that the Four Seasons Tower’s order came for him to be castrated to enter the palace, in order to achieve the bigger goal.
He could no longer copulate then, always feeling slightly disparaged before his wife. Since there was such a mission, he had gone for it without hesitation.
He had actually remembered everything about the parting that day; he had always remembered…
The deep emotions contained within his wife’s gaze when she watched him leave; it was drizzling that day too.
After so many years, she had never spoken a word to him. Even when they met during his occasional returns, she would only look at him quietly.
It was just like the cold moon in the sky right now, looking at him silently and coldly.
Mi Kongqun felt a sudden sense of bitterness. How long had he not felt so already?
It was indeed a long absence!
He went to the window with slow steps, his gaze bored into the moon with his head raised.
The bright moon was still cold and pure, unchanged, just like when both of them had watched it side by side, fifty years ago.
However, the beauty from fifty years ago had now waned.
As Mi Kongqun looked at the moon in a stupor, two lines of words surfaced in his mind.
It was the words that Leng Yue had said ever so softly with starry eyes on the rooftop, when she was snuggled in his embrace, with an arm circling his waist.
"The moon is here today, and so are you; that’s great. When we get old and are here to watch the moon again… I wonder how it will be when the time comes."
Upon saying this, Leng Yue had chuckled innocently, her hold against him growing tighter.
It was as if Mi Kongqun could still feel the soft arms around him once more; the longing of his lover was still so clear…
He watched the moon in a daze, murmuring, "When we get old and are here to watch the moon again… I wonder how it will be when the time comes."
For a moment, the heartache that blossomed in his chest was suffocating.
The image of the hunched old woman with the wrinkled face and a head of silver strands alongside eyes that were deep like the dead waters emerged before his eyes again.
"Leng Yue…" Mi Kongqun could not help calling out.
He clenched his eyes shut, feeling as if his heart was shattering. After a while, he mumbled, "I am sorry."
…
"Sorry? Mi Kongqun, there aren’t a lot of people you’re not sorry about in your life," a voice spoke faintly.
Mi Kongqun was still stilted in inexplicable bitterness. A hopeless sense of despair was crawling its way out – it was guilty remorse that ate him inside out.
Mi Kongqun, who was in a trance, was not at all alarmed by the intruder. Instead, he spoke blearily, "Who are you? Has Leng Yue sent you to punish me?"
The masked man dressed entirely in black in front of him was none other than Yun Yang himself. Hearing his words, he was taken aback. Leng Yue? Who was that?
Yun Yang’s stupor gave both of them a breather; Mi Kongqun had also regained his clarity from the hesitation and reacted. With a deep exhalation, he turned cold. "Who are you?"
Yun Yang said faintly, "Has Keeper Mi forgotten our wager earlier?"
Realization hit Mi Kongqun then; he asked coldly, "So you’re from the four n.o.ble families. What temerity you have, trespa.s.sing into the internal palace at night!"
"It’s not important where I come from, what matters is the unpaid debt. Won’t Keeper Mi invite his guest to have a seat inside?" Yun Yang replied.
Mi Kongqun seemed to have an internal battle with himself before he finally said, "Come in and let us talk about it."
As he spoke, he opened the window.
If the opposite party had come to kill him, of course Mi Kongqun would not mind making a big fuss over it. Since the man had only come to ask for the debt, and he had indeed lost the royal Luminary Paste that day… It was best to keep things peaceful and low-key.
If the issue were to be blown up, Mi Kongqun would only be stricken with more misfortune even though the other party would not benefit in any way.
It was under such a judgment that Mi Kongqun invited the person into his room despite his obvious reluctance.
Translator Note:
1second fragment of the night (二更èr gèng): Night in ancient times was divided into five parts according to the s.h.i.+fts of palace duty. Each part is two hours respectively as so – first part of night (一更天 yī gèng tiān) is 7pm to 9pm; second part of the night (二更天 èr gèng tiān) is 9pm to 11pm; third part of the night (三更天 sān gèng tiān) is 11pm to 1am; fourth part of the night (四更天 sì gèng tiān) is 1am to 3am; fifth part of the night (五更天 wǔ gèng tiān) is 3am to 5am.
2Leng Yue (冷月lěng yuè): the name of Mi Kongqun’s wife; it also means cold moon literally.