Dark Blue Frost - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: No Need to Ask
To describe Fu Yunchuan, once the top courtesan of the male brothel, as “faded and old” was no longer enough.
His body was slightly hunched and his skin was loose and pale, carrying a sense of decay like plants facing winter.
Even that handsome face which had captivated countless people was now beyond recognition.
The corners of his eyes and brows held an aura of death, and the suspicious, terrifying ulceration near his lips made him look seventy percent like a ghost.
Although he tried his best to shrink his hands into his sleeves, he could not hide the colorful rashes and pustules covering the backs of his hands.
This appearance was clearly that of a walking corpse, terminally ill.
Evidently, Fu Yunchuan recognized Qing Xuan as well.
However, in his expression, besides the same astonishment Qing Xuan felt, there was actually panic and fear.
“You! Aren’t you already—”
He pointed at Qing Xuan as if seeing a ghost.
His lips trembled and his speech stuttered, his body shaking uncontrollably like withered leaves rustling and falling in a cold wind.
Qing Xuan did not quite hear Fu Yunchuan’s words.
He was simply puzzled that an old acquaintance showed fear instead of joy upon meeting.
He took a step forward, reaching out to support him and ask what serious illness he suffered from, only to see the horror on Fu Yunchuan’s face grow deeper.
The man retreated involuntarily before finally losing control and fleeing the way he came.
Qing Xuan found it increasingly strange.
Gazing in the direction Fu Yunchuan fled, he thought deeply but could not find a convincing answer.
“Master?”
He turned his head, looking at Qian Se with pleading eyes.
He knew that his Master was an immortal and could not interfere with the birth, aging, illness, and death of mortals.
Doing so could disrupt the Book of Life and Death, which would be of no benefit to his young apprentice uncle, Bai Lian, King Yama of the Underworld.
Therefore, his Master usually disliked meddling in such affairs.
As for being involved with the Zhao family dyehouse this time, it was only to help him achieve an immortal body.
Now, he simply felt the young master’s behavior was very strange.
Not only did he appear in this small town, but he was also in such a destitute state.
Qing Xuan wondered what secrets lay behind this.
Earlier, he had vaguely heard Doctor Chen mention that the young master suffered from a “filthy disease,” which only increased his shock and confusion.
One must remember that years ago, Master Yunchuan’s fame echoed throughout the capital.
Even princes and nobles had to bring heaps of gold and silver and wait patiently just to see him.
He wanted to know why the young master had become like this.
He even hoped his Master would show mercy and heal that so called filthy disease.
After all, during those years in the brothel, the young master had looked after him well.
Though not to the extent of his Master, it was still decent.
Now, to meddle in this unrelated business, he had to ask his Master.
Of course, if his Master did not approve, he would immediately drop the thought.
“Go ahead.”
As if knowing this interlude would happen, Qian Se frowned slightly and let out a helpless sigh, signaling him to pursue.
“Escape solves no problems.”
Qing Xuan nodded.
Despite his haste to give chase, he did not forget to pick up the bolts of cloth left by the roadside.
These fabrics were personally selected by his Master to make clothes for him, ranging from thin cotton for summer shirts to padded material for winter warmth.
Everything was neatly prepared.
How could he neglect one for the other and fail his Master’s kind intentions?
Because of his illness and panic, Fu Yunchuan did not run very fast.
Qing Xuan followed closely and finally trailed him to the Fu family ancestral home.
It was called an ancestral home, but now the long dilapidated shack was half collapsed.
Fu Yunchuan hid in a pile of firewood, muttering something while shivering.
Seeing Qing Xuan standing before him, he shrank into a ball in terror.
“You, you, you—”
His eyes bulged, and his already unkempt hair became a mess.
He begged in a low voice, “Don’t come over! Don’t come over!”
“Young master, what is wrong? Do you not recognize me?”
Seeing that he seemed mentally unstable from some shock, Qing Xuan stopped his pace and tried to awaken his memory and soothe his fear.
“Young master, I am Qing Xuan. The Qing Xuan who used to serve you!”
“Qing Xuan, Qing Xuan, Qing Xuan…”
Fu Yunchuan seemed triggered by the name.
He repeated it several times, but soon the fear on his face intensified.
He began to babble absurd words.
“Qing Xuan, I know I wronged you… I shouldn’t have encouraged you to run away that day, and I certainly shouldn’t have fled while the brothel guards were busy capturing you…”
Eventually, he fell to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly for mercy, his expression becoming more wretched.
“Qing Xuan, I know you died a horrible death, unable to rest in peace… but every debt has its debtor. Ultimately, it was the brothel owner who killed you… I have already been punished for my sins… please, please, just let me go…”
“Young master!?”
Qing Xuan did not remember the things Fu Yunchuan mentioned.
He did not know how to respond and was hesitating when a woman suddenly rushed into the shack.
She shoved Qing Xuan hard and threw herself onto Fu Yunchuan, hugging him tightly.
Qing Xuan was holding several bolts of cloth and stumbled from her brute force, nearly falling.
Once he steadied himself, he saw that the woman was Fu Qiuniang, whom he had encountered twice before.
“Who are you? What are you trying to do to my brother?”
Fu Qiuniang was very nervous.
She shakily checked on Fu Yunchuan and, seeing he was unharmed, stood up.
Though a frail woman, she questioned him sternly.
When she saw Qing Xuan’s face, she froze and remembered something.
“Oh, I remember, you are from the Zhao estate—”
She stopped mid sentence, perhaps unsure of his relationship with the Zhaos.
She instinctively decided Qing Xuan was not a good person, grabbed a stick from the woodpile, and swung it at him threateningly.
She growled with resentment, “Go! Get out! You are not welcome here!”
Qing Xuan was forced to retreat.
He was about to follow her wishes and leave the shack when he realized Qian Se had already entered.
Though he knew his Master was incredibly powerful and not easily hurt, he still worried the stick in Fu Qiuniang’s hand might blindly strike her.
Without hesitation, Qing Xuan dropped the cloth and shielded Qian Se.
“Fu Yunchuan.”
Standing behind Qing Xuan, Qian Se called out the name softly and slowly, letting the sound linger.
Seeing Fu Yunchuan’s body shudder, a cold gloom rippled in her eyes.
Her gaze was sharp enough to seize one’s soul.
“Trading an innocent life for your own freedom—do you truly feel no guilt living like this today?”
She was direct and piercing, leaving him no room to hide.
The huddled Fu Yunchuan shook even harder.
His face turned ashen like dead wood.
Even though he was gasping for breath, he let out low whimpers and buried his face in his elbows, trying to deceive himself and escape the inescapable past.
Qian Se looked at his current state without a hint of pity.
Beneath her calm words lay a terrifying aura like a spark hidden in ice, ready to turn into a sea of fire and consume everything.
“That day, knowing your own freedom was hopeless, you actually encouraged Qing Xuan to run, using him as bait for your own gain—”
She paused and smiled coldly, speaking each word distinctly.
“There are gods three feet above one’s head. Fu Yunchuan, do you not know that Heaven is watching what men do?!”
Initially finding her words nonsensical, Fu Qiuniang suddenly understood.
She stopped her movements and stared at Qing Xuan, asking a question she already knew the answer to.
“You are that Qing Xuan?”
Her tone suggested she was very familiar with the name.
Despite being the subject of the conversation, Qing Xuan was the most confused person there.
He looked at the shivering Fu Yunchuan and then at the stunned Fu Qiuniang.
His eyes were full of questions, sensing some truth he had missed.
Shrinking behind Fu Qiuniang, Fu Yunchuan felt the guilt from Qian Se’s accusations like a sharp curved blade carving into his chest, leaving a massive, empty void.
No, that void had always existed, gnawing at his conscience.
Now it threatened to drown him inch by inch.
Facing the overwhelming pain, he was powerless to resist.
After a long silence, he cried out in a raspy voice with a weak defense.
“I knew that if he was caught by the guards and taken back, there would be no way for him to live. I—I didn’t want it to be like this, but I truly had no other choice—”
“He had more than just no way to live.”
Qian Se knit her brows slightly.
Her dark, emotionless eyes shifted, interrupting him with natural authority.
“Do you know what kind of torture you caused him to suffer?”
Fu Yunchuan recoiled and stopped defending himself.
He just let his head hang, not daring to lift his face again.
“Qing Xuan, it is time for you to remember those unbearable things.”
Looking at the confused Qing Xuan, Qian Se sighed softly.
She reached out to touch his forehead, lightly tapping between his eyebrows to release the seal on his memories.
The sealed memories came rushing back like a tide.
Qing Xuan could never remember how he had met his Master.
He knew he must have forgotten something, only remembering being in a daze, as if in a long dream.
The dream was noisy and chaotic, but he had slept deeply.
He wanted to wake up but was powerless, floating and sinking in that dreamscape until he nearly drowned.
When he woke and saw his Master’s eyes—though cold and smileless—they made him feel strangely warm and safe.
At that time, he had forgotten the darkness and gloom he had experienced in his life because Qian Se had sealed his memories.
Now, as he recalled them one by one, even he could not believe he had once endured such inhuman treatment.
That day in the brothel, he had accidentally overheard the owners discussing having him receive guests, saying that young catamites were currently in fashion and a certain high official had taken an interest in him.
Knowing disaster was coming, he naturally thought of a chance to escape.
When the young master found out, he not only protected him to stall for time but also pointed out an escape route.
How could Qing Xuan not be moved to tears of gratitude?
But who knew that before he could even flee twenty miles, he would be caught by the brothel guards.
Later, through the constant cursing of the owners, he learned that his escape route had been told to the owner by Master Yunchuan! Not only that, while the guards were out catching him, Master Yunchuan had packed his valuables and vanished in the chaos.
Now, although Qing Xuan was caught, the brothel had lost its top money maker.
How could the owner let it go?
He knew he was dead!
In the dark room of the brothel’s backyard, he endured three days of a fate worse than death.
Afterward, barely breathing, he was wrapped in a rotting straw mat and discarded at the mass grave outside the city.
That year, he was only ten years old!
In his final moments, just like in his previous ten lives, he again saw that dress as red as flame.
Only this time, it was no longer the observation of a helpless onlooker, but a salvation that disregarded past grievances!
His Master had stepped in to save him!
His Master first used magic to protect his heart and repelled the ghost messengers coming for his soul.
Then, carrying him while he was on the verge of death, she ascended Mount Qianyuan, kowtowing with every step. She knelt before the Golden Light Cave for twelve full days before finally moving the Great Taiyi Deity to defy fate and change his destiny.
Finally, because she should not have meddled in the reincarnation of a mortal, his Master violated heavenly laws.
She later bore the Heavenly Tribulation for him, tied to the Binding Platform, and endured eighty one strikes of heavenly lightning!
This lightning punishment was not the first his Master had suffered.
Ten lives ago, because of his naivety and foolish infatuation, his Master had been innocently implicated and lost her position as the leader of the Shenxiao Sect. This time, his Master was severely injured and had not recovered for years, nearly losing all her cultivation!
He never imagined that his destiny would be so tightly intertwined with his Master’s!
