Cherry Blossoms Upon a Wintry Sword

Chapter 82: Surfacing

“What did you say?” After hearing Lin Rufei’s words, Wu Min’s emotions became slightly agitated. He grabbed Lin Rufei and whispered, “Who are you saying I am?”

Lin Rufei asked, “Wu Min, do you remember the Heavenly Ruler?”

Wu Min narrowed his eyes slightly, revealing a thoughtful look, “I don’t remember, but I know him.”

Lin Rufei observed Wu Min’s expression and noticed some clues from his expression. He didn’t know what Wu Min’s name was now, but it certainly wouldn’t be the name Wu Min. However, since he reacted so much to the word Wu Min, there was probably a reason to it.  

As expected, Wu Min looked back at his residence and nodded at Lin Rufei, “Tell me what you know, in detail.”

Lin Rufei inquired, “What do you remember?”

Wu Min shook his head and replied hesitantly, “I don’t remember much, but……I have a vague impression.” His memory was very bad now and many past events could not be remembered. However, occasionally some strange fragments would appear in his mind and most of these fragments would have some people and images that he had never seen before. After experiencing it more than once, Wu Min also developed some suspicions in his heart. For some reason, Wu Min did not tell Wu Yin about these things even though the two of them have a pretty good relationship. 

Lin Rufei then intermittently told him about Wu Min and Wu Yin’s history and the more Wu Min listened, the deeper his frown became. Finally, there was some confusion between his expressions: “So you mean, Wu Yin and I were once master and disciple, then something happened and we got together?”

Lin Rufei didn’t talk too much, after all, he didn’t know the truth back then either. He just euphemistically stated that this was indeed the case back then, he just didn’t know what had happened later on to make Wu Min and Wu Yin have the relationship they have now.

Wu Min continued questioning, “What is the reason for you to come to the witch tribe this time?”

Lin Rufei answered, “A senior of mine left something at your place and wanted me to retrieve it, so I made a special trip over here.”

Wu Min asked, “My place?”

Lin Rufei nodded his head.

Wu Min pushed, “What thing?”

Lin Rufei hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head, “I don’t know.”

Wu Min, however, persisted, “Who is your senior? Since he wanted to store something with me, my relationship with him should be good, right?”

Lin Rufei replied, “That’s right, he is the……Heavenly Ruler.”

Wu Min exclaimed, “The Heavenly Ruler? I’m friends with the Heavenly Ruler?” Although he didn’t know who he was, he still knew the name “Heavenly Ruler.” Wu Min’s expression changed, finally, he raised his head and glanced in the direction Lin Rufei came from, “You should go back first, come back here tomorrow to look for me, his ceremony is almost over and he will be back soon.”

“Okay.” Lin Rufei nodded.

“Be careful with everything you do.” Wu Min whispered.

Lin Rufei turned around and left. When he was walking back to his residence, he happened to see Wu Yin, who had finished his rituals, walking past him. The two of them looked at each other and Wu Yin cast a light smile at Lin Rufei.

If he didn’t have something in mind, the witch tribe was actually quite a nice place to live. Not only was the climate cool but the food was also to Lin Rufei’s liking—very refreshing—and the people of the witch tribe were also not xenophobic. In fact, they were very warm to Lin Rufei, a foreigner, and whenever Lin Rufei went out for a walk empty-handed, he would come back with all kinds of small gifts in his hands.

But Lin Rufei’s mind was preoccupied with Wu Min’s matter, so he didn’t have the heart to walk around. After waiting until the next day, when Lin Rufei saw Wu Yin appear at the altar, he immediately ran to Wu Min’s residence and after releasing the paper crane as he had done yesterday, he stood in place and waited patiently.

After waiting for a few moments, the door was slowly pushed open. However, when Lin Rufei saw the person who came out from inside, he froze in place.

Wu Yin, who should have been at the altar, was standing at the door, staring at him with an unfriendly expression, while Wu Min was nowhere to be seen.

Lin Rufei failed to undermine the foundation and was caught red-handed. Currently, the situation he was in was a bit awkward as Wu Yin called out quietly, “Lin gongzi.”

Lin Rufei could only bite the bullet and reply, “Great Witch.”

Wu Yin mused, “Since you are here, why don’t you come in for a chat?”

Lin Rufei questioned, “Where is Wu Min? You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

Wu Yin smiled, “He is my lover, what can I do to him? He is tired and is still sleeping at this moment.”

Lin Rufei mulled over his words but then said bluntly, “If I go in, will you think of killing me?”

Wu Yin curbed his smile and responded lightly, “What are you joking about, Lin gongzi? Since you are a friend of the Heavenly Ruler, why would I do anything to you?”

As expected, Wu Yin already knew all about this. Although Lin Rufei was prepared for it before, when he heard Wu Yin’s words, he still sighed, “Okay.” He definitely wanted to get his hands on Gu Xuandu’s stuff, and since that was the case, sooner or later he would have to confront Wu Yin.

He stepped into the house but did not see Wu Min anywhere. Wu Yin sat down in front of him, smoothly poured him a cup of hot tea, “Stop looking, he is not well and is sleeping in the inner room.”

Lin Rufei inquired, “You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

“What do you mean by ‘anything?’” Wu Yin asked, “Lin gongzi, did you misunderstand something? He is my beloved person, how could I do anything to him?” He then took a sip of the tea in front of him and his posture looked quite relaxed, not at all like he was about to have a fall out with Lin Rufei.

Lin Rufei frowned slightly at his words and did not touch the tea in front of him.

Wu Yin, however, didn’t care and said to himself, “Lin gongzi came here to look for the old thing left by the Heavenly Ruler, in that case, why say something to him that you shouldn’t have?”

Lin Rufei, “Am I not right?”

Wu Yin smiled, “Could it be that Lin gongzi knew what happened back then?”

Lin Rufei replied, “I know some of it.”

Wu Yin asked, “For example?”

“For example, he was your master.” Lin Rufei answered.

Wu Yin smiled coldly at his words. He then rose to his feet and stared down at Lin Rufei from a high position. The goodwill, that was once in his eyes, had all disappeared leaving only cold frost behind as he exclaimed, “Ridiculous! I don’t know where you found some books that haven’t been destroyed, but you think you know the truth after reading them? That year the Heavenly Ruler fell and the witch tribe was in chaos, it’s been more than a few hundred years since then and Lin gongzi wants to convict me on the basis of a few books?!”

Lin Rufei caught a key point: “The fall of the Heavenly Ruler?”

“Oh? Lin gongzi doesn’t even know this?” The members of the witch tribe all had a long life span and although Wu Yin was not very old back then, he was still a witness to all the events.

“Why exactly did the Heavenly Ruler fall?” This was one of the things Lin Rufei was most confused about, “Is it because of the failed ascension?” It seemed that the folk legends were mostly untrue. The Heavenly Ruler did not ascend but fell instead.

“Haha, the Heavenly Ruler’s cultivation was at the tenth level and even he failed to ascend. I’m afraid no one else in the world would succeed in ascending.” Wu Yin indifferently replied, “The Heavenly Ruler did something against the fate of the Heavens, that’s why his flesh body broke down and his soul scattered, ending in annihilation……”

Lin Rufei asked, “Exactly what happened……” He also tried asking Gu Xuandu, but Gu Xuandu refused to say anything.

“You want to know?” Wu Yin muttered coldly, “But why should I tell you?”

Lin Rufei remarked, “That’s quite true. So what exactly did you want to express by saying so much?”

Wu Yin vocalized, “I just want to tell Lin gongzi that some things are not as you seem. You think that I have harmed my master but maybe I actually saved him.”

Lin Rufei asked, “In order to save him, you destroyed all the existence about him from the world?”

“People are all greedy.” Wu Yin didn’t look guilty at all and calmly responded, “When you’ve finally got what you always wanted, it’s hard to hand it over again.”  

Lin Rufei was dumbfounded for a moment.

Wu Yin continued”Lin gongzi, please don’t blame me for threatening you. If you still want to return to your Kunlun alive, then don’t interfere in the matter between me and my master.” He narrowed his eyes and a thick killing intent arose from his body,  “Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“Not interfering is possible.” Lin Rufei answered, “You just need to find the thing I want.”

“What thing?” Wu Yin exclaimed, “You can’t tell me who handed it over nor can you describe what it is, so how can I find it for you?”

Lin Rufei said, “The thing is very important, Wu Min will surely keep it very well. Plus, there is something special about that thing. It is not an ordinary treasure……If you see it, you will surely recognize it at once.”

But Wu Yin shook his head, saying that most of Wu Min’s things were destroyed that year and none of the things left behind matched Lin Rufei’s description. However, when he had said these words, he seemed to have remembered something and revealed some traces of hesitation. When Lin Rufei asked again, he said it was nothing.

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The two of them talked for a long time. However, Wu Min, who was supposedly still resting, woke up at some point and stood at the door of the bedroom in a single outfit. He looked at the two of them coldly and when they finally noticed him, they didn’t know how long he had been standing there. When Wu Yin saw him, his expression immediately softened. He got up and walked to his side, whispering something to him in their dialect. Wu Min though, was fed up. He waved his hand and turned around to go back to his room. However, Wu Yin grabbed his hand and gently pulled him into his arms. The two of them were in a lingering atmosphere and Lin Rufei immediately caught glimpses of some ambiguous red marks on Wu Min’s neckline causing him to quickly avert his gaze with some discomfort.

When the two of them finally finished lingering, Wu Yin took Wu Min’s hand and walked towards Lin Rufei, “If you two have anything to say, say it in front of me.”

Wu Min glared at him: “If you’re here, do you think Lin gongzi dares to say anything?” 

Wu Yin coaxed, “But I’m not at ease.”

Wu Min asked, “What are you not at ease about? Are you afraid that Lin gongzi will abduct me?”

Wu Yin sighed, “Forget it, you two can talk, I’ll be outside.” He then looked at Lin Rufei and muttered, “Whatever he asks, you can answer.”

Lin Rufei didn’t think he would have a chance to talk to Wu Min, but looking at Wu Yin’s appearance, it was true that he didn’t really look guilty. Did he really misunderstand him and Wu Min?

Wu Yin turned around and head out while Wu Min looked indifferent. He picked up the cup of tea that Wu Yin had drunk out of and took a sip, “Since Lin gongzi felt that it was inconvenient to tell Wu Yin, I wonder if it’s convenient to tell me. Exactly what are you looking for? I’ll try hard to remember and see if I can recall it.”

Lin Rufei muttered, “You and Wu Yin……”

“After you spoke with me yesterday, I remembered something else and after I remembered, I did not want to continue to look deeper into this matter.” Wu Min replied, “He did lie to me, but sometimes it’s better not knowing the truth about some things.”

Lin Rufei mumbled, “How could this be……”

Wu Min raised his eyes and looked at Lin Rufei: “Lin gongzi is a bit like an old friend I know.”

Lin Rufei asked, “An old friend?”

Wu Min answered, “That’s right, an old friend.” He then continued, “At first I just felt that there was a familiarity in your aura, however, after thinking about it all last night, I realized that Lin gongzi even has some similarities with him in your eyebrows.”

Lin Rufei frowned: “Then who is the old friend?”

Wu Min trailed off, “It’s……the Heavenly Ruler.”

Lin Rufei froze. He never expected to hear such a sentence from Wu Min’s mouth. He immediately felt that Wu Min’s memory still seemed a little unreliable, after all, Gu Xuandu was right beside him and he did not feel the slightest resemblance to Gu Xuandu at all, “How is that possible, how can I resemble the Heavenly Ruler?”

Wu Min questioned, “Why is it impossible?”

Lin Rufei muttered, “I’ve seen the Heavenly Ruler’s appearance in picture books before and it’s very different from mine……Are you remembering it wrong ……”

“I didn’t remember wrongly.” Wu Min, however, was certain.

Lin Rufei decided not to dwell on this matter anymore. Gu Xuandu was the Heavenly Ruler and this was something that had already been confirmed so Wu Min must have remembered wrong. Besides, whether he looked like the Heavenly Ruler or not didn’t really matter much. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

“Then do you remember what the Heavenly Ruler handed to you?” Since Wu Min’s memory had recovered a little, Lin Rufei asked the question he most wanted to know the answer to.

He was originally not too hopeful, but Wu Min nodded slowly as he replied, “I remember.”

Lin Rufei exclaimed with surprise, “Remember?”

Wu Min nodded, “Yes, my memory was intermittent before, but after Lin gongzi reminded me of some things, I remembered them all.” However, there was no joy on his face, “That thing was very important, I did take care of it seriously, but then the witch tribe was in turmoil and I was too busy to take care of myself, so with negligence, that thing was unfortunately stolen.”

“Stolen?!” Lin Rufei was surprised, “Do you know who stole it?”

Wu Min sighed, “I guessed a few, just……”

Lin Rufei was anxious, “Just what?”

Wu Min continued, “It’s just that even if it really was him, it’s not really possible for you to find him.” 

Lin Rufei asked, “Who is it?”

Wu Min answered, “The Heavenly Ruler’s second disciple, Wu Ao.”

Lin Rufei froze once again. He never thought it would be this person. Only, he suddenly remembered something else: “Wait, wait a minute, second disciple? Meaning, there is also an eldest disciple?”

“Mnn.” Wu Min nodded.

Although the name of the Heavenly Ruler was known all over the world, not many people knew of his disciples. Whether it was the eldest disciple or the second disciple, they both seemed to be unrecorded in the book, as if the Gods were hidden. This was actually a very strange thing. After all, their master was so powerful, how could the disciples have no fame at all?

“Why haven’t I heard of it? Logically speaking, if the Heavenly Ruler was so famous, his disciples should have some records, right?” Lin Rufei felt this matter to be very strange.

“There’s nothing strange about it.” Wu Min looked calm, “Maybe there was some reason why they couldn’t reveal their identity. Wu Ao was from the witch tribe and I also knew him well. After he became the disciple of the Heavenly Ruler, he rarely ever came back. Only after the Heavenly Ruler had an accident did he completely disappear, so I never thought that he would sneak into the witch tribe and steal the thing that the Heavenly Ruler left with me.”

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Lin Rufei asked, “Was the relationship between the Heavenly Ruler and Wu Ao very bad?”

Wu Min sighed: “Actually……It wasn’t bad. The Heavenly Ruler was gentle. Although he had an extremely high cultivation, his heart was compassionate. He only had two disciples under his name so how could he bear to let these two disciples suffer?”

Lin Rufei pondered on that, but he still believed that Gu Xuandu’s perverse nature did not match up with gentleness at all. However, Wu Min and Gu Xuandu were good friends, no matter how much he thought about it, the stranger it became. But he did not rush to ask questions and patiently continued listening to what Wu Min was saying.

“Therefore, the relationship between the master and disciples is not bad.” Wu Min continued, “Unfortunately, later, in order to lay the Yaoguang Grand Formation, the Heavenly Ruler……the Heavenly Ruler was greatly injured, and the master-disciple relationship was broken.”

However, Lin Rufei found it incomprehensible: “Why would a wound break the master-disciple relationship?”

Wu Min sighed: “This involves the secret of the Heavenly Ruler, it’s not appropriate for me to say too much to you.”

Lin Rufei frowned: “But even so, the Heavenly Ruler treated his disciples generously. Even if his body was injured, his disciples should still remember the goodness the Heavenly Ruler provided for them……”

“That’s right.” Wu Min smiled bitterly, “They all remembered it.”

Lin Rufei was curious, “What happened afterward?”

Wu Min replied, “Later, the Heavenly Ruler got better, but unfortunately the relationship with Wu Ao became increasingly stiff and I did not expect that in the end, Wu Ao would do such a thing. In my current state, I can’t find any trace of Wu Ao at all.”

Lin Rufei sighed: “Then I have to go back and think about how to find Wu Ao.”

Wu Min smiled slightly, “That’s probably for the best.”

Since the matter was mostly figured out, Lin Rufei got up and planned to say goodbye. However, before he left, he was still a bit worried about Wu Min’s situation. He lowered his voice and asked if Wu Min was sure that he really didn’t want to leave Wu Yin, and that if Wu Min was being threatened, he could find a way to save Wu Min.

Wu Min responded, “Thank you for your kindness, Lin gongzi. You don’t have to worry about me, Wu Yin is very good to me.”

Lin Rufei asked to make sure, “Really?”

Wu Min nodded his head.

When he reached the door, he noticed Wu Yin sitting on a bamboo chair outside the house with his eyes closed and taking a nap. When he heard Lin Rufei’s footsteps, he opened his mouth and said, “Lin gongzi is a bodhisattva who has crossed the river[1], it is better to take care of yourself first.”

Lin Rufei responded, “Thank you, Great Witch, for reminding me.”

Wu Yin said, “I won’t see you off.”

Lin Rufei then turned around and left. Although Wu Yin had acted kindly in front of Wu Min, in fact, he still remembered the hatred he had when Lin Rufei quietly went to find Wu Min. Therefore, even at this time, he still didn’t give Lin Rufei a good expression.

After Lin Rufei left, Wu Yin entered the house once more and saw Wu Min sitting at the table, silently fondling the teacup in his hand, “He’s gone?”

“Gone.” Wu Yin slowly walked behind Wu Min and hugged him hard.

Wu Min was a little breathless from being hugged and let out a low cough or two. However, he did not tell Wu Yin to release him. He tapped his finger against the teacup and faintly asked, “Now you know to be afraid?” 

Wu Yin buried his head hard into Wu Min’s neck, sniffing the unique light fragrance on Wu Min’s body, and responding in a muffled voice, “Master is not allowed to leave and no one is going to take Master away from me.”

Wu Min sighed, “You are also quite ruthless.”

“How can I keep you if I’m not ruthless?” Wu Yin laughed, “Look at what happened to the Heavenly Ruler. Wasn’t it because his disciple was not ruthless enough and couldn’t bear to……”

Wu Min pursed his lips and did not speak.

“If he had been more ruthless, how would he have ended up in this state today?” Wu Yin continued, “The flesh was lost, the soul was scattered, and he doesn’t even have a decent appearance anymore. Even hugging the person you love for a moment longer became a luxury”

Wu Min was silent for a long time: “But in the end, he still came back.”

“So what if he came back?” Wu Yin chastised, “The thing he left with you had long been taken away by Wu Ao. How much Wu Ao hated you, you should know yourself……although I do not know what that thing is, but I think it must be very important if he was willing to leave it with you……” 

Wu Min looked at him obliquely: “You are not afraid that I will blame you?”

“What would I be afraid of? I did not harm Master, at most, I just left some selfishness.” He nibbled on Wu Min’s ear and watched with satisfaction as a faint tooth mark was soon left on it.

“Let go if you’re not afraid.” Wu Min uttered unhappily, “If you hold even tighter, I won’t be able to breathe.” Although Wu Yin said he didn’t care, he still desperately wanted to insert the person in front of him into his own body. He knew that Wu Min didn’t care about those things, but even though he knew that Wu Min didn’t care, he was still worried that Wu Min would blame him.

Wu Yin mumbled: “Not loosening.”

Wu Min sighed: “You, ah……”

“Just won’t let go.” Wu Yin said with a smile, “If I let go, Master will run away with someone.”

Wu Min no longer responded. Hundreds of years ago, he was the most prestigious witch of the witch tribe and there were countless disciples under him, however, all of them were afraid of him. And only Wu Yin was not afraid of his indifference. From childhood until he grew up, he was like a stink bug that liked to stick on his back. After a long time though, he had also gotten used to it and then even gradually began to rely on Wu Yin. He didn’t like interacting or getting along with anyone, but he was still the Great Witch of the witch tribe so he was still forced to take over many affairs. However, in the end, most of these things Wu Yin took care of, which saved Wu Min a lot of trouble.

Later, when the witch tribe was in turmoil, Wu Min was greatly injured and nearly killed. Wu Yin used his best efforts to save him with a secret method however, parts of his memories ended up being severely missing. And after being accompanied by a long slumber, Wu Min’s body finally recovered gradually. But he couldn’t remember who he really was. Wu Min then told him a new name, one which had nothing to do with Wu Min, and only represented an ordinary mortal.

Since then, Wu Min’s memory had been intermittent. Sometimes, he would remember something from the past and sometimes he would suspect that Wu Yin had an impure mind, but after thinking about it, Wu Yin’s impure mind seemed to have only one thing, which was……

“Stop messing around.” Wu Min sensed something and his tone didn’t sound good, “My waist still hurts.”

Wu Yin was aggrieved, “Master doesn’t like me anymore, he’s always yelling at me.”

“Don’t call me Master.” Wu Min was a little uncomfortable, “Call me by my name.”

Noticing some shyness on Wu Min’s face, Wu Yin smiled wryly, “Is Master shy?” He came up to Wu Min’s ear and whispered, “Master’s shy look is the cutest. His body is red all over…..” The latter words were too whispered and somewhat inaudible, but when Wu Min heard it, he immediately dealt Wu Yin a blow and said, annoyed, ” Wu Yin!”

“Oops!” Wu Yin blinked his eyes.

Wu Min said: “Don’t you dare—” Before he could finish his threatening words, he was kissed and embraced by Wu Yin again with great force. His body that originally wanted to resist, relaxed because it sensed something. Although Wu Yin was smiling, he was still a bit uneasy. He didn’t know if Wu Min would blame him nor did he know if Wu Min would just follow Lin Rufei and leave. However, he didn’t dare ask and could only express it through his actions.

Wu Min let out a long sigh and gave up struggling, allowing Wu Yin to vent his tense emotions.

********

The author has something to say:

Lin Rufei: So that’s how it is! Master and disciple could actually be like this? ! 

Gu Xuandu: Welcoming Xiao Jiu, who just opened a door to a new world~

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[1] In a difficult situation himself and is not able to help others.