Chapter 41: The heart is like still water

One could endure darkness if they had never seen the sun, but if one had been trapped in it for years, perhaps it would not be so hard to accept.

On the fifth day after the long-awaited healing finally ended, Yun Mu’s consciousness began to gradually clear.

When he tried to get up and look around, he found his eyes wouldn’t open, and only darkness greeted him.

The first thought that rose in his mind was exactly that.

His hand instinctively reached down to touch the soft surface of the bed beneath him, the real texture confirming that, just as Qin Luoyi had said, he was not dead.

The invisible world had arrived in his in a strange form, even though he had anticipated it.

A marvelous sensation—this was his initial reaction.

Then came an unprecedented calm.

He quietly sat up on the bed, stopping the fingers that had been tracing the bedding, and gently sniffed.

A faint, sweet fragrance of osmanthus cake lingered at his nose.

Listening carefully, the distant sounds of the Shangguan family’s lively atmosphere reached him.

Unconsciously, many realizations had already dawned on him.

For instance—

Such a noisy scene meant Miss Qiuyue must have recovered from her illness.

And also—

This scent of osmanthus cake was remarkably similar to the smell on Miss Luoyi’s body.

His heart was calm, unnaturally calm.

He showed none of the fear or helplessness a normal person would feel upon losing their sight.

Nor did he feel sad about losing his eyes.

All he thought about was what he should do next.

To be honest, he was somewhat confused.

“Miss Luoyi said she’d take me away, but I don’t know when we’ll leave. It’s strange—if she already knew I’d go blind, why would she be so persistent about someone she’s barely met?”

He lazily stretched out his hand, only to grasp something soft.

“What’s this?”

He lightly pinched it twice but couldn’t figure out what it was.

Just as he tried to grab it and pull it closer, a small hand, cool to the touch, grabbed his arm.

By his ear came a trembling, coquettish voice.

“Um… could you please let go? It’s very rude to touch a lady like that.”

“Ah, sorry. I thought it was something else. I didn’t expect it was you, Miss Luoyi. My apologies.”

His soft voice came with a quick release of the disrespectful hands.

“I hope you don’t mind.”

His flat tone and expressionless face slightly annoyed Qin Luoyi, who had originally been shy.

She lowered her gaze and pinched herself twice before raising her eyes to glare at him.

Really, she had wanted to secretly observe his reaction when he woke, but he was so calm.

At fourteen years old, she thought he would have been flustered and clumsy, if not outright panicked—maybe even falling off the bed.

Unexpectedly… the soul fragment taken away with the Glazed Bone when it left his body had such a significant impact on his personality.

The girl smiled uncontrollably.

She was excited.

In her eyes, this version of Yun Mu was far more malleable and interesting than before.

She had loved nurturing plants since childhood and believed that nurturing people was essentially no different from nurturing flowers and grass.

Still, she was a bit dissatisfied with the boy’s earlier reaction.

No one had ever touched her body like that before, and after feeling the parts she was proud of, all he gave was that half-hearted apology?

Unforgivable!

Feeling insulted, she decided to regain control of the situation.

Qin Luoyi moved forward a couple of steps and lightly straddled him, unconsciously wrapping both hands around Yun Mu’s neck.

“Xiaoyunzi, why didn’t I realize before—you’re such an improper person? And just waking up and touching me like that… an apology alone won’t do, right? You should take responsibility.”

Feeling the sudden closeness and warm breath on his face, Yun Mu leaned back slightly, but to no avail, before replying.

“Miss Luoyi, it was indeed my mistake just now. It’s my fault, so… whatever punishment you want to give me is fine.”

As for responsibility?

I’m blind now, so there’s no way I could take on a prince consort role in the imperial court.

“Punishment… um… ouch…”

Just as she was about to press the advantage, Qin Luoyi unexpectedly bit her tongue, and all her teasing words vanished.

The girl stared at the delicate-faced little blind boy before her, her expression full of shy anger.

There’s an old saying—things don’t go beyond three—and this was already the third time she’d been embarrassed in front of Yun Mu.

“Miss Luoyi? Are you alright?”

“I’m… I’m fine… Don’t be fooled by how I look now—I usually speak pretty fiercely.”

“Hmm, that’s good.”

He smiled, his tone oddly soothing like he was comforting a child, which only made her flush with vexation.

But Yun Mu’s words truly had no hidden meaning—he never spoke in riddles or with double meanings.

It was true in the past and remains so now.

Unfortunately, she didn’t know that and just felt she was being doubted.

“Really! Don’t disbelieve me!”

“Of course, I believe you.”

His calm tone nearly made the girl exasperated.

She tightened her grip on his face with her still-loosened hands, voice threatening.

“Punishment, huh? Fine, I’ll satisfy you! Xiaoyunzi, say after me: My lady master Qin Luoyi is quick-witted.”

Her voice was low but firm, and Yun Mu almost didn’t catch it.

Calling someone ‘master’ was something he’d only heard between people and their pets.

Between people, it was beyond his comprehension.

He pondered for a moment before replying, “Um… Miss Luoyi, quick-witted?”

Obviously, he couldn’t accept that title.

“It’s master, not miss!”

“Miss Luoyi, isn’t ‘master’ a word that shouldn’t be used casually?”

“But from now on, I’ll be taking care of you—doesn’t that make me your master?”

“That would apply for a person and a pet, but… you only want to take me away because you’re interested in my body, right? So actually… our relationship should be transactional. Basically, I provide the body, and you provide food and lodging?”

“No… you… don’t twist what I said before so strangely!”

She blushed.

The usually articulate and assertive girl had already been cornered countless times by the boy in just the brief time since waking.

She placed both hands on his shoulders and buried her head in her arms, giving a helpless smile.

“Xiaoyunzi, although your way of speaking really annoys me, I like a challenge. Just you wait… I’ll make you willingly call me master someday.”

“Is that so… then Miss Luoyi, you have to work hard.”

“Ugh… damn it… If I hadn’t already spent so much Starforce, I’d carve a hundred—no, a thousand wounds on you so you’d know what it means to wish you were dead!”

Qin Luoyi raised her head, face full of displeasure.

“Xiaoyunzi! I’m no good woman! You’re doomed from now on!”

Noticing the change in her tone, Yun Mu recalled being cut by her dagger before and nodded gently.

“Miss Luoyi, do as you please.”

Honestly, it didn’t really hurt, and he wasn’t bothered.

To him, this was just part of the transaction; he saw no issue.

“Ugh! You’re so annoying! I’ve never seen anyone say such things with a straight face!”

To be honest, the non-crazy version of Qin Luoyi still seemed somewhat adorable in Yun Mu’s eyes.

He merely chuckled lightly at her, saying nothing, feeling a bit strange.

They had only known each other for a few days, yet he already felt somewhat familiar with her.

He didn’t know if it was because her residual power remained in his body, or her uniquely curious personality, or because he had noticed before going blind the distinct, pure yet slightly wild aura her body gave off.

But he didn’t care to dig deeper.

After all, aside from leaving with the girl, he had no better choice.

“Hey, why do you look so lost? You’ve already lost your emotions—would you still be troubled by something?”

Seeing him suddenly stop their “play,” Qin Luoyi’s tone returned to normal.

She looked down at the dazed boy, tightened her arms around his neck, and pulled him closer until their heads bumped together.

“Uh… what are you doing? That hurts…”

He came back to his senses.

“This is emergency treatment… huh… why is your head so hard?”

This self-damaging awakening method made Qin Luoyi realize what it meant to have an iron head.

She withdrew one hand and rubbed her “bumped” spot, her face showing a bit of disdain.

But just as she was about to tease Yun Mu again, she looked up and saw his slightly furrowed, delicate face and was startled.

Unconsciously, she reached out and gently massaged the reddened spot on his temple.

After steadying herself, she spoke of something more important.

“Xiaoyunzi, actually, there’s something I want to tell you. I don’t know if you want to hear it?”

“This probably isn’t something I can refuse to hear, but go ahead—I won’t mind.”

“Okay, then I’ll be straightforward. The peach blossom tree at the foot of the Shangguan family’s side courtyard has fallen.”

“The peach blossom tree… has fallen?”

“Yes, just two days ago. It was in full bloom but quickly withered away. The once thick branches have all decayed. It can’t be saved.”

“Can’t be saved? I see… Is the tree still there?”

Qin Luoyi shook her head.

The tree was cleared away just yesterday, leaving only a pit where it stood.

“I see… that’s a pity…”

Yun Mu murmured, feeling a clear pang in his heart as his brows furrowed.

He knew that now he was experiencing an emotion called sadness.

After all, that peach blossom tree was the last memory Lin Xizhi left him in this world before falling off the cliff.

From age six to fourteen, eight full years, he had rested beneath that tree countless times, spoken to it of longing and thoughts.

Now it was gone, beyond rescue, and he hadn’t even seen it one last time.

How could he not be sad?

Yet… at this moment, he couldn’t clearly feel that emotion.

He wasn’t used to this strange situation.

He merely sighed deeply and fell into long silence.

“But I have good news for you.”

Qin Luoyi watched the silent boy and waited a moment before continuing.

“I woke up earlier than you, so I took the chance to go to the foot of the Endless Cliff.”

“To be honest, the terrain down there is quite complicated. If not for my cultivation being decent, I probably couldn’t have made it down.”

“But once I reached the bottom, the terrain was much flatter. Although it was still overgrown with weeds, a river ran through the valley. So I followed it downstream for a long time. Guess what… what I found?”

She asked without pausing and held out a piece of clothing stained with years-old dried blood.

“Look, I found this.”

“…”

Yun Mu sniffed lightly.

The smell of fresh earth wafted to his nose.

He lowered his gaze and ‘saw’ nothing, saying nothing.

“Oh, sorry. I almost forgot you can’t see. My bad, my bad.”

After waiting a while, Qin Luoyi suddenly apologized with a knowing look.

Whether sincere or not, Yun Mu didn’t care and just took it as her being a little childish.

“No worries, Miss Luoyi, please continue.”

“Geez, you’re so dull, no fun at all,”

the girl complained, then got serious again.

“This is a Bloodstained Cloth Fragment. I used my power to sense the aura on it. Though it’s weak after so many years, I could still glimpse the life frequency.”

“The frequency matches perfectly with that emitted by the peach blossom tree. Meaning this bloodstained fragment belonged to your master. But strangely, I didn’t find your master’s remains nearby.”

“You mean my master could still be alive?”

“Hmm, you’re smart to guess what I’m going to say next.”

“So… what Shangguan Hongzhi told me about my master’s remains being gone…”

“Most likely was a lie. Or… to him, your master is no different from dead.”

“That makes sense, since those black-clothed men who appeared back then were probably his subordinates.”

Yun Mu shook his head.

Over the years, he had tried to find Lin Xizhi’s remains.

But whenever he tried to get close to the edge of Endless Cliff, an unknown force drove him away.

He couldn’t identify the source or fight against it.

After thousands of attempts, he gave up.

Now, Qin Luoyi’s news offered him a new purpose in life—finding his master.

He raised his hands carefully and accepted the clothing fragment like a treasure, folding it reverently into his arms.

“Miss Luoyi, if possible, please give me time to find my master. I beg you.”

The boy’s sudden seriousness made Qin Luoyi feel a bit awkward.

She waved her hand, her tone indifferent.

“Don’t worry. Since I told you about this, I’ll help you look. Anyway, from now on you’re mine. I’ll do my best to fulfill this wish of yours.”

“Thank you.”

“Hmm… compared to that, how about you call me master instead of thank you?”

“After it’s done, I might consider it.”

“Tch tch tch!”

She clicked her tongue in mock disappointment before speaking again.

“Oh right, there’s one thing you probably don’t know. Shangguan Qiuyue now—”

Knock knock knock.

Before she could say the words “temporarily amnesiac,” the knocking interrupted her, followed by the soft, sweet voice of a girl.

“Excuse me, is Mr. Yun Mu here?”