Ink Blade Chapter 2 (Part 1)
Translated by Sylver
Edited by kleio
Chapter 2: Previous Life 2 (part 1)
Mo Ren's body was temporarily placed in his residence. When Chu Yan and Qiu Jin came in, a few people were scattered here and there. Qiu Jin threw a glance at them and signaled for those servants to retreat.
Chu Yan was still outside, taken aback. He stared at the dilapidated woodshed with air leakage everywhere. He had never been to this place, and hence didn’t know such a place even existed in his Jiuzhong Palace. When Qiu Jin reminded him that this was Mo Ren's residence, he almost couldn't help questioning the side hall’s steward—how can someone even live in such a place?
But he composed himself and held back in the end. After all, the person was already dead, so what was the point of saying anything?
Chu Yan pushed open the wooden door, and Qiu Jin lifted a lantern beside him. The warm, yellow beam of light poured over Mo Ren's body, initially shrouded in the darkness, illuminating it.
Chu Yan walked over, bending down. He stretched out his hand, and lifted the white cloth, observing carefully.
Many past events had become blurred and hazy, but he could vaguely recall that Mo Ren, in the past years, was very delicate and beautiful. The cold-blooded youth in his early years—with a slender and tall body clad in black clothes—was full of strength, carrying a pitch-black long sword on his back. He showed no restraint when fighting others, but was respectful and docile in front of Chu Yan.
However, that sharp man standing coldly in front of him now laid on the ground, his body pale, thin, and battered, with scars covering almost every inch of his body. It painted an ugly image.
Chu Yan stretched out his hand to caress Mo Ren's face. It was so freezing that he had to retract his hand.
Only then did Chu Yan’s brain actually register that Mo Ren was dead.
If Bai Hua had been with him for 10 years, then Mo Ren had accompanied him for nearly 20 years.
It was he who fell in love with Mo Ren when he was a child, gave him a sword, bestowed upon him a name, brought him out of the lonely, dark hall and forever kept him by his side, asking him to be his sharpest sword.
How could he have expected his ending to be like this, his sword…..to have been shattered into smithereens, even the fragments dissipating, refusing to leave any trace of his previous existence.
It felt peculiar. A moment ago, this person knelt in front of him and gasped weakly, listening to him speak ruthlessly. Listening to his heartless words. After a few hours passing by in a trance, he became motionless, even his heart refusing to budge.
Before, he was obviously fine even after kneeling in the snow for three days and three nights…..how come he died so peacefully?
Chu Yan felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He stood up, wanting to leave, but a noise suddenly rang out from the yard outside, and the door was shoved open roughly.
"Elder Brother!!" A young man clad in blue with a disheveled bun burst in, tear stains adorning his cheeks, with fresh ones streaming down. He didn't seem to notice that the Palace Master was present, and all the guards who came forward to block him were violently knocked to the ground by him.
The young man in blue took a few steps forward in a daze, and suddenly more tears overflowed. He threw himself on Mo Ren's body in desperation.
Qiu Jin's face changed. This young man was Ying Yu, the second guardian of Jiuzhong Palace. When he was young, Mo Ren saw potential in him and mentored him for more than a year. To him, Mo Ren’s existence was that of a teacher, a brother and a friend.
Seeing Ying Yu appear now, Qiu Jin feared that he might offend the Palace Master and be guilty of being disrespectful. Hence, she hurriedly reprimanded him, "Second Guardian, you are audacious enough that you dare to not show courtesy when you meet the Palace Master. What should be the crime[1]!?"
Ying Yu acted as if he never heard her, only howling heart-breakingly. Chu Yan frowned, casually waving his hand, "Forget it."
Thus, only Ying Yu’s wails were heard reverberating in the woodshed. He bent down and knelt beside Mo Ren, weeping and choking on his sobs heedlessly, "Elder brother...Elder brother, wake up, what trial, what crime…..I don't believe it! I don't believe it, Elder brother won't…."
He tremblingly held Mo Ren's stiff hands, tears vigorously streaming down with every word, "Elder brother...please open your eyes and look at Xiao Yu, okay? Please say something...Are you tired of Xiao Yu?"
"How about…..how about you look at the Palace Master? I know Elder Brother will surely get to your feet and greet the Master, Xiao Yu will take you to go to the Palace Master, Xiao Yu will accompany Elder Brother..."
In the end, the young man could only raise his neck, bulging veins visible, and whimpered, "Why, why is this happening..."
Qiu Jin couldn't bear to listen anymore. Chu Yan felt even more agitation crawling in his chest, extending its claws and engulfing his heart in an unnerving embrace. He raised his feet to walk away. But Ying Yu's voice still drifted over from behind him.
"Elder brother, you, your body is so cold..." Ying Yu whispered softly, as if afraid of disturbing Mo Ren’s rest, "Are you cold? Please speak, just tell me if you are cold...Elder brother, why aren’t you saying anything..."
Chu Yan's footsteps gradually quickened, and his face became colder by the second. Qiu Jin behind could barely keep up with his pace.
Suddenly, Chu Yan’s steps halted abruptly.
He looked outside at the thick, heavy snow. When Qiu Jin raised her head, Chu Yan's lips seemed to have trembled.
She thought she had simply mistaken, but the next moment, Chu Yan firmly grasped her wrist.
"What was the last thing this Master said to Mo Ren?"
Chu Yan's voice was a little weak, and he looked at Qiu Jin with eyes like an ordinary child’s, who was simply confused. It had the slightest trace of expectation so eager, like a drowning man looking at a life-saving straw just within reach.
"Tell me.”
Qiu Jin didn't respond for a while. Chu Yan tugged at her, and urged anxiously, "What was the last thing he heard? What did I say to him, tell me, what was it?"
Qiu Jin felt inexplicable, and hastened to recall. Then her face paled, the color drowning out.
"Rid…..”
Just one word, and she couldn't bring herself to say anymore. Qiu Jin clasped her hand over her mouth, her expression full of disbelief.
Suddenly, the maid who had convinced herself to stay calm so far couldn’t keep it in anymore, and burst out crying with endless tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
Get rid of him.
This was what Mo Ren had heard. These were the last words his master had said to him in his life.
Chu Yan staggered a few steps back. He suddenly turned around, and scrambled away as if fleeing. Behind him, Qiu Jin's loud, uncontrollable cries still sounded, lingering hauntingly in his ears.
…
Chu Yan returned to Mo Ren's yard again.
Ying Yu was no longer there. A deafening silence had descended, not a single soul present. Chu Yan pushed open the door unsteadily and entered, panting shakily.
He once again faced Mo Ren's bloodless face, withered black hair, and scars all over his emaciated body.
It felt odd to think about it. Chu Yan seemed to have never said that he didn’t want Mo Ren anymore. No matter how much he made him upset, no matter how much he loathed him, and even felt like he hated him when he tried to assassinate Bai Hua, Chu Yan never thought of completely "not wanting" him—like driving Mo Ren out of Jiuzhong Palace.
Even though he knew that that was undoubtedly the heaviest punishment for Mo Ren, he never even thought to threaten him with this.
In Chu Yan's heart, he could scold him fiercely, beat him, belittle him, acquiesce others to belittle him……But he could never abandon him, ever. This was the bottom line, the last thin filament that carried a thousand weights, which had its ends tied to the old friendship between the two that had been already shattered into fragments. Love was gone, trust was gone, but Chu Yan was still Mo Ren's master, and Mo Ren was still Chu Yan's sharp sword. Many things had changed; this was the only exception.
But what had he said earlier?
Did he say he didn’t want Mo Ren anymore? Did he say to get rid of him?
Chu Yan looked at Mo Ren's body blankly, and suddenly panicked, "...Actually, it's not... It's not that I really don't want you…”
No answer, of course there would be no answer.
In the small courtyard, Chu Yan’s helpless voice resounded lonesomely, with nary a soul to answer him, reassure him. He looked as if he was in a trance, and suddenly chuckled dryly, his voice trembling, "I, I was just joking, ah. In the past, a long time ago, didn't you and I often joke around? You, you couldn’t have taken it seriously, right?"
He wouldn't believe it, Chu Yan thought to himself. It was not the first time Chu Yan had jabbed at him with harsh words, so how could Mo Ren not tell? Didn't he always know his master best?
But...but...At that time, I said those words so heartlessly, and Mo Ren, he, he was injured and barely conscious...If so, did he really take it seriously?
What if he did?
With Mo Ren's temperament, maybe he really did take it seriously?
Chu Yan gingerly touched Mo Ren's hand again. It was cold and stiff. He thought of Ying Yu's cry—Are you cold?
He must have been very cold, in pain, tired, and sad…..Even Mo Ren couldn't stand it, finding the cold embrace of death to be more comforting than kneeling in the snow, deprived and lonely.
I shouldn’t be regretting it.
Chu Yan suddenly thought as he retreated his hand from Mo Ren’s, resting it against his chest; which, he noticed, was starting to hurt.
An undercurrent of anxiety flooded his heart, running through his veins and prickling at him. He shifted uncomfortably, not daring to continue that thought, afraid that if he pondered on it for too long, he would realize that he was wrong, wrong all along.
Chu Yan had a splitting headache. He scrambled to stand up, looking around as if trying to spot something. He longed for someone who could dispel his anxiety and calm him down.
The darkness surrounded him, with a cold corpse lying in front of him, haunting and tormenting his brain the more he stared at it. Qiu Jin was not here, and his four shadow guardians were also elsewhere. However, Chu Yan–whose brain was in utter chaos–was still habitually looking for that person–that person who always silently stayed by his side for many years.
He believed that no matter how much of a big mistake he made, that person would simply shake his head helplessly and, with a wry smile as usual, clean up all the mess….
That man, who was he?
Chu Yan frowned slightly, and put a hand on one side of his temple. He felt a wave of dizziness surging him, his mind spinning.
Immediately—that’s right, in the very next moment, Chu Yan instantly remembered who this person was; who it was that had always been by his side.
.
.
.
Footnotes:
[1] What should be the crime-Chinese word, pinyin is gāi dāng hé zuì, which means what kind of crime should be borne. It is what you say when you question the other party's guilt.
