Chapter 37 - 2#
If You See SnowCh37.2 - Why Look Back?#
“Choose a different wish.” Dantai Jing said.
Su Ruhui shook his head, “A-jiu, he’s the disciple you personally raised.”
“He is also a Yao.” The Beidou star official, Kun Wu, interjected, “Su Ruhui, demons are inherently cruel, bloodthirsty, devoid of morality, and indifferent to kin. To him, humans are food, not fellow human beings. He possesses the secret arts of Devour. Given time, he will become a great threat!”
Motuoyanna sighed: “Here’s why, Hui’er— if the Yao clan finds him, they will use him as a weapon. We have to prevent that from happening.”
“You all watched him grow up,” Su Ruhui said with difficulty, “Can’t you tell what kind of person he is?”
Motuoyanna gently shook his head, “You’re wrong, Hui’er. He did indeed choose virtue, but that was because the Grandmaster ordered him to. Before he defected, he scrupulously abided by the Grandmaster’s orders, just like how your inventions follow your commands. But they weren’t thoughts and actions from the bottom of his heart, he does not truly understand the totality of human attributes. He feels no pity at the sight of the disabled and sick, and he shows no benevolence for the orphaned and weak. One can only grieve for their own kind— he has never felt sorrow and joy for us humans. Will a cat pity a mouse? Will tigers and wolves pity lambs? Think back carefully. He was always a child who stood apart from others, had no friends, and always kept to himself.”
So Ruhui tried to retort, but was overcome by a fit of coughing. His sense of taste had also deteriorated; he coughed up a handful of blood, but he could not taste the bloody iron.
Motuoyanna continued to persuade him, “He is not a loner because people do not accept him, but because he does not accept others.”
No, he cried today. He cried for Su Ruhui.
Could a monster who was devoid of humanity cry?
Su Ruhui struggled to speak, but his throat was clogged with blood. The more he coughed, the more blood he choked up.
Dantai Jing sighed and put a hand on his forehead, “Sang Chiyu’s matter, I will consider it some more.”
Darkness swept over Su Ruhui’s body, his senses retreating layer by layer. His legs gave way, and he finally collapsed.
“Hui’er!” He heard Dantai Jing’s voice.
Motuoyanna was shouting, “Someone come, summon Li Zhibei!”
Su Ruhui heard a bunch of footsteps, and many people entered the cave. They lifted him up, numerous pairs of hands supporting his back.
“A-jiu, he cried…” He tried his best to finish his sentence.
“Li Zhibei is unconscious and hasn’t woken up yet!” Someone returned.
Another reported: “Grandmaster, someone opened a formless gate to the palace, Sang Chiyu has escaped!”
His blurred vision was hazy and disoriented, and a cacophony of sounds buzzed in his ears. Darkness cast a shadow over his consciousness, which withdrew from his body as if retreating from battle.
A “dii” sounded in his ear.
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In the final moments before plunging into darkness, the internal pathways within his consciousness opened automatically. In an instant, light and shadow shifted, and the world spun around him. He opened his eyes to find the warm lights of the small courtyard in the Shunkang community. His head was still spinning, and a lingering ache from the moment of near-death remained at the back of his skull. He leaned against the square table to stand up, his steps unsteady, as if his feet weren’t touching the ground.
Someone had forgotten to close the gate, and a chilly breeze swept in, blowing snowflakes all over his face. A person stood in the courtyard, clad in a long, pitch-black robe. His hair was covered in white snow; even his long and curled eyelashes had snow fallen on them.
He gazed at Su Ruhui in the lamplight, saying nothing.
Su Ruhui leaned against the doorframe and smiled faintly, “My father told me to look after you. For a son to take care of his father’s little lover, is my duty.”
Sang Chiyu tightened his grip on the sharkskin saber handle, as if trying to suppress the urge to beat him to death.
Sang Chiyu asked: “How did you do it?”
“Ai, oh you, always only saying half of your sentences.” Su Ruhui brushed some snow off his shoulders, “You’re lucky I understand you. Otherwise, with the way you speak, who would be able to get what you mean? The Feng Hou star array, observing the constellations, and calculating the waxing and waning of the cosmos. The star array borrows the power of the heavens. As long as you find the method to establish a link with the heavens, anything can be achieved. My puppet core star array is connected to my spiritual consciousness. As long as I think it, I can travel between two corporeal bodies. What do you think, aren’t you very impressed by me?”
The air was silent. Su Ruhui stood there alone, basking in his triumph.
Sang Chiyu lowered his eyes, his expression a bit dark, “Jiang Xueya knew the truth all along.”
“Of course, she helped me make this puppet.” Su Ruhui grinned, asking, “Oh right, where’s my shijie?”
“She said she had something to do, and we split up.” Sang Chiyu answered.
“Where did you split up?” Su Ruhui followed up.
“The palace’s main street.”
They split up so early, what did Jiang Xueya, that brat, go off to do? Su Ruhui felt a bit puzzled. Jiang Xueya’s path differed from both his and Sang Chiyu’s; she was wholly dedicated to making a name for herself. Most of the officials at court were her drinking buddies, and she had been laying the groundwork in Yunzhou for years. Now that the Yao clan had invaded, she naturally had to gather her advisors to discuss countermeasures. Su Ruhui couldn’t concern himself with her affairs. At most, he could only provide her with some gunpowder and puppets as support, so he didn’t ask any further questions.
Su Ruhui looked at Sang Chiyu again and noticed that the kid’s face was rather pale. He couldn’t help but frown, “Are you feeling unwell?”
“No.” Sang Chiyu dully responded.
Having used several secret arts while breaking into and escaping the Secret Sect, his spiritual energy flow had become somewhat unstable again. This imbalance affected his mental state, leaving him with a strange sense of unease. He stood there for a while, the snow reaching above the soles of his boots. Su Yu’s identity had been exposed, and Su Ruhui was too crafty for Sang Chiyu to keep anything from him. Unwilling to stay any longer, Sang Chiyu turned to leave.
The guy behind him ran after him, hollering out: “Where are you going? Hey, don’t leave ah!”
Sang Chiyu ignored him and kept walking. Just as he was about to leave the courtyard, the footsteps chasing him suddenly stopped.
“Agh, Sang Chiyu, my head feels so dizzy.”
His voice was weak, very convincing.
He had already used this trick too many times; Sang Chiyu was long immune to it.
But even though he knew Su Ruhui was pretending, Sang Chiyu still stopped, turning around to make sure he was okay.
Su Ruhui squatted in the snow, his eyes bright, filled with dazzling light.
“Why do you always turn around when I pretend to fall, get sick, or be lame?” Su Ruhui grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him.
Sang Chiyu stood there like a stake, letting Su Ruhui pelt snow on him without batting an eye. He said in a low voice, “Since you know that lying too much will make you untrustworthy, then stop lying all the time.”
Su Ruhui couldn’t help bursting out into laughter.
Sang Chiyu knew it was fake, but he still turned back because he was afraid it might be real. Even if it was true just once, he still had to turn back.
“This time it’s real.” Su Ruhui’s head spun, and his fingertips were ice cold.
Snowflakes swirled in front of him. Su Ruhui could no longer even squat steadily. He fell to his side, collapsing into the snow.
The author has something to say:
Sang Chiyu: I didn’t even know what Jiang Xueya had known all along.
Kitty feels wronged. Kitty is jealous. Kitty is sad.
TL corner:
No, he cried today. He cried for Su Ruhui. Could a monster who was devoid of humanity cry?