Chapter 36 - 1#
If You See SnowCh36.1 - He’s Afraid of the Cold and Afraid of Being Lonely#
Secret Sect, Immortal’s Cave.
Jiang Xueya opened her eyes.
She found herself in a square stone room, her hands tied behind her back with rope, and her feet bound as well. The stone chamber was sparsely furnished, with a single stone bed against the wall, covered with old bedding. Jiang Xueya recognized it at a glance: this was where Su Ruhui had once been imprisoned, and now Dantai Jing had temporarily moved her here. Unlike the Infernal Prison, this stone chamber lacked talismans and star arrays. The crushing sense of oppression that had weighed on her finally lifted, and she instantly felt refreshed and invigorated.
Xia Jing was the one in charge of the prisoner transfer. En route, he had slipped a blade to Jiang Xueya, which she concealed beneath her tongue. Jiang Xueya slowly maneuvered her bound hands beneath her buttocks, shifting them from behind her feet to the front. She spat out the blade, gripped it between her teeth, and cut through the ropes. The guards at the Infernal Prison were too strict; it was nearly impossible to escape. Although there were still many guards at the Immortal’s Cave, at least the restrictions imposed by the star array talismans had loosened considerably. This was her perfect opportunity to escape.
Jiang Xueya rose to her feet, stretched her limbs, and tiptoed to the door, pressing her ear against it to listen for sounds from outside. It was dead silent, not a single sound to be heard. This seemed odd. As far as Jiang Xueya knew, medical officers were stationed at the Immortal’s Cave for twelve shichen a day to brew medicinal concoctions and administer them to that hollow shell of a man, Su Ruhui. It was simply too quiet; something was amiss.
From the inner side of the stone bed, Jiang Xueya retrieved a spirit fire gun and a dagger—items that Xia Jing had prepared in advance. The route had already been mapped out, and all she had to do was follow the preplanned path. At the first quarter of zishi, Xia Jing sent men to open a formless gate on the left flank of the palace city, allowing her to leave the Secret Sect. Jiang Xueya pushed the door open and, moving with the stealth of a cat, crept across the threshold. The room was brightly lit, but the guarding soldiers were nowhere to be seen. The floor was littered with debris, as if a fierce battle had just taken place. A cauldron lay overturned on the ground, its pitch-black medicinal brew splattered everywhere, while the air hung heavy with the bitter scent of medicine.
She passed several unconscious doctors and soldiers, picked up a saber, made her way through the narrow stone passage, and arrived at the entrance to the Immortal’s Cave. People lay scattered haphazardly on the ground, all of them unconscious. Jiang Xueya stepped over them, turned the corner, and saw Su Ruhui lying in the center of the cave, along with a man standing silently nearby.
It was Sang Chiyu.
She had not seen this guy in ages and never expected to reunite with him here. Moonlight fell upon the man in black’s shoulders, cascading like flowing water down his pale hands and pooling on the saber he held in his grip. He lowered his gaze, silently watching Su Ruhui as he deeply slept on the bed. Jiang Xueya felt an inexplicable sense of oppression, much like the gloom of overcast skies.
“Um, are you here to kill Su Ruhui?” Jiang Xueya asked.
She crawled to the window and cautiously peeked out with a pair of eyes. In the pitch-black night, she saw warning lanterns rising into the sky. Their glaringly scarlet glow signaled that the Secret Sect had activated a Level A alert, and the Thirteen Guards would soon arrive.
“Do you have an escape route?” Jiang Xueya returned and asked him.
“No.” Sang Chiyu remained fixed on the person on the bed.
“You freaking… still as crazy as ever after all these years.” Jiang Xueya urged him, “If you’re going to kill him, just do it already. Slit his throat, let the blood flow. One clean cut, just like slaughtering a chicken. Once you’re done, come with me. For the sake of our old history, I’ll give you a hand.”
Sang Chiyu raised his hand and pulled out the cowhide meridians from Su Ruhui’s body, leaving behind streaks of red and flecks of blood upon his pale, almost translucent skin. Sang Chiyu then removed his own black outer robe and draped it over Su Ruhui.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Xueya asked.
“He’s afraid of the cold.” Sang Chiyu replied.
“He’s literally about to die, what cold is he afraid of?” Jiang Xueya was about to lose it, “Are you done yet? Hurry up and come with me.”
Sang Chiyu meticulously fastened Su Ruhui’s buttons, working his way up until the very last one sat beneath his chin. He whispered, “You go. l still have one more person to kill.”
“Who?”
“Dantai Jing.”
Sang Chiyu actually addressed his master by his name, which greatly astonished Jiang Xueya. She asked, “Since when did you become enemies with your master?”
“Just now.”
Jiang Xueya couldn’t make sense of this guy anymore. It seemed she’d missed a lot of important events while she was imprisoned. Once she got out, she’d have to catch up on her homework. Sang Chiyu finished dressing Su Ruhui into his outer robe, hoisted him onto his back, bent down to pick up his saber, and turned to walk out.
“Didn’t you want to kill Su Ruhui? Not killing him anymore?” Jiang Xueya followed behind him with her blade in hand, “Why are you taking him to find Dantai Jing? Going to challenge a grandmaster of the Chaosheng level, you’re clearly looking for death.”
The hand with which Sang Chiyu was pushing open the door froze. Within his icy eyes, a profound sorrow suddenly welled up. This bone-rendering grief made Jiang Xueya choke up, and no one could bring themselves to speak at that moment.
“He loves to talk,” Sang Chiyu murmured softly. “On the road to the Yellow Springs, there must be someone to listen.”
If no one is there to listen, then he shall be the one to.
As he opened the door, he heard the breathing of three soldiers within the shadowy depths of the forest. The moment the door swung open, he pulled the trigger of his musket. A flash of fire erupted from the muzzle like fireworks, and three shots rang out in rapid succession into the night. The three men were struck one after another right between the eyes and fell backward to the ground.
Amidst the explosive gunfire, he seemed to hear Su Ruhui on his back softly calling his name.
“Sang Chiyu.”
Su Ruhui must resent him, he thought.
Five years ago, Su Ruhui had suffered from massive bleeding after taking out his heart core. Dantai Jing transferred him out of the Immortal’s Cave, secretly sustaining his life through external meridians while keeping him in the dark, all while dispatching Lang Yaguang to probe Su Ruhui’s memories. They were willing to let Su Ruhui cling to a mere thread of existence just to get their hands on his Phantom Puppets. They had already obtained the puppet-making techniques and the spirit fire gun, but the Phantom Puppets were also monopolized by the Secret Sect; all the puppets on the market were now produced by the noble families and the Secret Sect. Yet they were still not satisfied. They also wanted the secret key to the super first-grade puppet.
One month ago, Sang Chiyu happened to return to the Immortal’s Cave and witnessed Su Ruhui being treated like a lump of dead meat, being jostled and moved about by others. That day was the second time in his life he had defied his master’s orders. He pulled out all the meridians and vessels from Su Ruhui’s body and let his breath fade away, little by little. Then he was expelled, was expunged. Perhaps he was still unwilling to believe that Su Ruhui was really dead, that when he met the resurrected Jiang Quexie, he naively believed that Su Ruhui had somehow used some secret means to reincarnate himself in another body. But in the end, it was nothing more than a puppet— Su Ruhui’s personally made puppet-Su Ruhui.
Once again, he had left Su Ruhui all alone to lie in this ice-cold cave. Su Ruhui, who was afraid of being lonely, who was afraid of the cold.
Years ago, he was tasked with guarding the maze array and standing watch over the Immortal’s Cave. He rarely set foot inside the cave, steadfastly holding the boundary he had drawn in his heart. Su Ruhui would often wrap himself in a fox-fur quilt, lean against the doorway, and beckon to him, “Come inside and sit for a while, it’s so cold out there ah.”
He wouldn’t respond, but Su Ruhui never gave up.
“Say, Sang Chiyu, isn’t it boring to be guarding me like this day in and day out? How about you let me go? That way you won’t have to listen to me yap everyday, and it’ll be a win-win for both of us.”
“Sang Chiyu, consider it as me begging you, come keep me company? I’m about to die of boredom, how about I teach you how to play cards? I’ll let you win three rounds.”
“Wife, wife, wife. If you don’t answer me, I’ll call you wife from now on, and everyone in the world will know that you’re my wife.”
Sang Chiyu turned a deaf ear, unmoving as a boulder.
Su Ruhui drawled out his words pitifully: “How about I let you sleep with me just once, and then you let me go?”
Sang Chiyu finally reacted. He tightened his grip on his scabbard and said in a deep voice, “Su Ruhui, behave yourself.”
“What behave myself,” Su Ruhui snorted, “It’s not like we haven’t slept together before. That thing of yours is way nicer and warmer than your face.”
Sang Chiyu couldn’t listen to his obscenities anymore and turned to leave. A cry of alarm suddenly rang out behind him. It sounded as though Su Ruhui had fallen. He hurriedly turned back around, only to see that the man inside the cave was perfectly fine and leaning against the entrance with a stalk of dry grass dangling from his lips.
Su Ruhui’s eyes and brows were alight with a smile, “Look who came back after all.”
“You came back after all.”
In the boundless night, that exact same smiling voice rang out beside Sang Chiyu’s ear. Sang Chiyu set down the still smoking gun, turned his head in a daze, and met a pair of dark, piercing eyes.
Su Ruhui had woken up. It was as if a miracle occurred, and a starlike brilliance appeared within his originally vacant eyes.
Su Ruhui gave a helpless smile, “Where are you taking me ah, Sang Chiyu?”
TL corner:
“他爱说话。黄泉路上，要有人听。” 若无人听，便由他来听。
“He loves to talk. On the road to the Yellow Springs, there must be someone to listen.” If no one is there to listen, then he shall be the one to.
One of the most famous quotes in IYSS! This part may be a bit confusing bc Sang Chiyu is again, super indirect, but it’s in reply to Jiang Xueya’s “you’re clearly looking for death.” Jiang Xueya and Sang Chiyu both know that he can’t defeat Dantai Jing. Sang Chiyu intends to send himself to his death to accompany Su Ruhui, so they can walk together on the road to the Yellow Springs. ;-; ClfpkU