Chapter 1

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Original Title: 云海囚心

Genres: Romance, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 1

The river water was red, the firelight piercing the sky, and the place where the sea and the sky met was stained with the colour blood.

“Young Master, you need to go!” The crewman desperately protected a handsome man as they headed toward the bow of the ship.

These ruthless bandits had nothing but money on their minds; in comparison, with a boat filled with weaponless individuals, how could they stand up to people like this?

“No, I won’t leave!” The handsome man stood his ground and rebutted in a cold voice, “The Fang family fleet is still afloat. Even if the cargo is lost, I will lay down my life for it! I will never abandon the boat!”

The surrounding area was plunged into a sea of hellfire, thick smoke and pieces of ember-lit cloth were swept into the sky by the heat current.

The man glanced around, unable to hide the desperation and rage in his eyes, but he couldn’t do anything, and there was no way to stop what was happening. Turning his head and squinted at something in the distance. His eyes fell on the surface of the river not far away.

There was a ship resting there, dark sails and a black flag flying.

Ye Qingyun put down his telescope, his face dark, and he slammed a fist onto the ship’s rail.

Someone ran up to report: “First-in-Command reporting, it’s the Du Qi gang. They didn’t follow the rules and robbed ordinary merchant ships on our territory. That ship…”

Ye Qingyun waved his hand. “Okay, don’t say anything more. We must leave first so that no one will misunderstand and think we were responsible for this.”

“Yes, sir!”

The sails were raised, the rudder turned and the flag flew in the wind. In the distance, the merchant ship was sinking slowly into a sea of flames, the light of the flames licking the sky, and the river looked like it was boiling.

Ye Qingyun stepped onto the deck and turned his head inadvertently. When he did, he saw a person standing at the bow of the other ship, hidden in the smoke and flames, his figure proud and standing tall.

“Which flag did that ship fly?”

“When I went back to report, I only saw "Fang.” As for which family, that wasn’t clear.“

When Ye Qingyun turned back around, the ship was more than half sunk, and the man standing proudly at the bow was gone.

"Fang…”

~

In the room where the night was as dark as ink, the air was chilly like the water, and a candle was flickering, there was a person reading by the light of the candle in the night.

There were a couple gentle yet firm knocks on the door. The person who was writing at the desk stopped reading, got up and opened the door. The man standing outside the door raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly.

“Qingyun, why aren’t you asleep at this late hour?” Fang Xiaozai asked as he opened the door to let him in.

“What about you?” Ye Qingyun walked in. He closed the door lightly behind him and asked, “Why aren’t you asleep?” Seeing the books on his desk, Ye Qingyun’s face changed to show a trace of concern. “Why are you straining yourself with all of these when your wounds still haven’t healed? The doctor said that you need to rest more and not concern yourself with anything but getting better.”

Understanding what he said, Fang Xiaozai collected the books on the table one by one, “I just want to take a look. I don’t know how many memories I still have, but after reading these for so long, I still can’t remember anything.”

Fang Xiaozai woke up a few months ago and found that he was in a strange place, surrounded by a group of unknown individuals. There was a middle-aged woman with a nice face and gorgeous clothes sitting on the edge of a couch. With tears in her beautiful eyes, she called him “Yinfeng” over and over again.

He tried to search through his thoughts but he had a splitting headache. His mind was blank, and he couldn’t remember anything.

The doctor said that his head had been injured, which may have caused him to lose his memory.

Later, while recovering from his injuries, he overheard bits and pieces of information from others.

This place was called Su Ye Manor. His name was Luo Yinfeng, and he is the second-in-command here. The owner of Su Ye Manor was Madam Su Ye, the middle-aged woman he saw when he woke up, and he was her son.

Su Ye Villa was considered to be a force in the nearby rivers and lakes, and their business was a non-profit organization. The young master Ye Qingyun was Madam Su Ye’s nephew. In this case, the two of them should be cousins.

“Yinfeng, no one is pushing you, so don’t worry. Take your time.” Ye Qingyun said, shaking out the bag he brought with him. There was a shawl inside, so white without even a trace of colour. Putting the shawl on him, he said, “The weather is getting colder, I got you a fox fur shawl, do you like it?”

Fang Xiaozai stretched out his hand and stroked the soft fox fur on the shawl, and thanked him softly. Ye Qingyun laughed loudly, “We are brothers yet you feel you need to be so polite? The doctor told you not to overexert yourself, so you should go to sleep early.” He patted his shoulder like he was trying to comfort him.

Fang Xiaozai smiled and nodded, just about to get up. Ye Qingyun signalled that he didn’t need to send him off, and then walked out by himself.

Once the door was closed, Fang Xiaozai took the shawl off his body and held it in his hand. He thought to himself, this… this was robbed off a ship, wasn’t it?

The so-called non-profit business was nothing more than theft and robbery. Su Ye Manor guarded over a certain area of the river. They had their own fleet and experienced sailors who specialized in looting the ships that go by, but they only chose dirty merchants or officials’ ships.

Even so, in his opinion, robbing was robbing. Even if it was robbing the rich and helping the poor, it still violated the rules of the law. But what’s ridiculous is that he is the second-in-command here, so why did getting amnesia cause him to have such righteous thoughts?

Did he really hit his head that hard?

Fang Xiaozai couldn’t help laughing quietly. He shook his head and got up to blow out the candles, but the world suddenly went dark.

He hurriedly grabbed the table for support only to feel that the things in front of him swayed. He started seeing double, everything blurred, and at the same time, his ears starting buzzing. He closed his eyes and held his forehead, and after a while, the dizziness passed.

Ever since he woke up, he would have bouts of dizziness and his vision would blur. He thought that maybe it was because he had been unconscious for so long, so he didn’t dwell on it.

After lying down, facing the silence of the room, he still couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sleep, it’s just that Fang Xiaozai was becoming more and more afraid of sleeping. After falling asleep, he would have dreams, and those dreams… were terrifying.

In these dreams, there were sights and people that seemed to be familiar, but they were not from Su Ye Manor, and naturally, they weren’t from there either. There was a blurry figure in the dream, calling him “Older Brother” over and over.

He once asked Ye Qingyun if he had any other brothers, but the answer was no.

So what did those dreams… mean?

It’s just that the more he wanted to see, the further he seemed to get. Every time he was within reach, the scenery and people shrouded in mist seem to be swallowed by the mist and disappeared. Then he would wake up shortly afterwards.

He described the dream to Ye Qingyun, and he only told him not to think too much about it. It was just an ordinary dream. But Fang Xiaozai felt that it was not an ordinary dream. The scenery and people in the dream were so familiar, but he just couldn’t remember anything.

Ye Qingyun walked out of the room, walked a few steps down the corridor and then stopped to look back at the closed door behind him.

The man was picked up from the river when his aunt had been sick. Truthfully, he was not the real Luo Yinfeng.

Since the death of the owner of Su Ye Manor, Luo Yinfeng’s father, Madam Su Ye has suffered from mental disorders, and the symptoms had gotten more severe after Luo Yinfeng left home. She often went missing wandering around, causing all sorts of headaches at the manor.

A few months ago, Madam Su Ye’s mental illness flared up again, and, when the servants were not paying attention, she had slipped away. After Ye Qingyun learned this, he had been furious. He sent out all the people he could to find her. When night fell, there was finally some news.

But they didn’t bring back just one, but two people; Madam Su Ye, and a seriously injured person she picked up by the river. Madam Su Ye thought this man was his son who had run away from home. Coincidentally, when this man woke up, he found that he had lost all his memories from head trauma and didn’t know who he was.

Ye Qingyun weighed the options, and in order to calm Su Ye’s condition, he let this person live in the manor as “Luo Yinfeng”.

In the beginning, Ye Qingyun was always wary. After all, not just anyone in Su Ye Manor could enter casually. He was afraid that this person was sent by his enemy. But after a few months of getting along with each other, Ye Qingyun’s wariness had gradually faded. This person was gentle and elegant and had a very good temper. The soft way that he spoke and the gentleness of his actions proved that he had received good family education and etiquette training.

But Ye Qingyun also thought that he couldn’t live as “Luo Yinfeng” forever. After all, he was not the real “Luo Yinfeng”, and the “Luo Yinfeng” in Ye Qingyun’s heart… couldn’t be replaced by anyone.

The next morning, there was sweet-scented osmanthus cake on the table during breakfast, and Fang Xiaozai, who had been troubled by the same dream all night, sat at the table and looked at the plate of cakes.

“Brother, I bought the sweet-scented osmanthus cake from Hui Xian Lou, your favourite…”

There was a voice by his ear for some unknown reason. He awkwardly picked up a piece and bit into it. The sweet fragrance filled his mouth and he didn’t hate it, not one single bit, so he slowly ate it.

“Yinfeng, you didn’t like sweets before.” Madam Su Ye sitting on the side looked at the cake in his hand and said, “You don’t like reading books either, you used to chase Qingyun to get him to practice swords with you all day long.”

Fang Xiaozai was stunned for a moment and then looked down at the cake he had bitten in his hand. Could amnesia change a person’s preferences?

He didn’t think he was capable of martial arts, but he can quietly look through accounting books for a whole day…

He wanted to speak more with Madam Su Ye, but Madam Su Ye’s mental state was still unstable, and she often spoke disorganized thoughts. Sometimes she ran around the manor all day, calling “Yinfeng!”, “Yinfeng!.” But when he was standing in front of her, she didn’t recognize him; sometimes she was strangely quiet, sitting on the edge of the cliff, looking at the river for a long time, and then said with a sigh, “Yinfeng, the day your father left, it was the same weather as today…”

Ye Qingyun told him that after the manor leader had been killed, Madam Su Ye was driven crazy from her grief. It was then that Luo Yinfeng also left the villa. As for why he couldn’t remember. Ye Qingyun didn’t say why. No one was willing to tell him.

“Yinfeng.”

Fang Xiaozai stopped and turned around when he heard someone call his name.

Ye Qingyun smiled and walked over, and involuntarily pulled him over to the stables, “It must be boring staying inside, I’ll accompany you on a walk outside.”

Fang Xiaozai didn’t say no, but he didn’t know if he even knew how to ride a horse. As for Ye Qingyun, he knew that he would never take ‘no’ for an answer. In his opinion, the best way to interpret the three characters of Ye Qingyun’s name was 'arrogance’. Even though he’d only dealt with it on one or two occasions, those memories still resonated with him.

“Be careful.”

Ye Qingyun helped him get on his horse, and after Fang Xiaozai was properly seated, he passed him the reins. In all honesty, whenever he was in front of Fang Xiaozai, Ye Qingyun was always considerably gentle and meticulous.

Fang Xiaozai was a little nervous. He gently clamped his legs around his horse’s sides, and the horse stomped forward in a trot, not too fast. Fang Xiaozai breathed a sigh of relief. All of his personal experiences from his past had been erased and he had to relearn everything from scratch. Not only was this troublesome, but it was also worrying to think about what would happen if he could never get his memories back…

He didn’t even want to think about it. If he died and showed up at the gates of hell and the ghost officer asked his name and he couldn’t even answer him, how sad would that be?

“What are you thinking?”

“Huh?” Hearing Ye Qingyun’s voice, Fang Xiaozai came to his senses and hesitated before giving an honest answer, “I’m thinking that if my memories never come back… what should I do?”

“What’s there to worry about?” Ye Qingyun stretched out his hand and flattened the furrow between his eyebrows. “The only thing you need to know is that you are Luo Yinfeng. You don’t need to worry about anything else. Come, let’s see who can reach the cliffside first.” After Ye Qingyun finished speaking, he snapped his whip off the horse’s rear, and they took off.

Luo Yinfeng…

Why does this name feel so unfamiliar and foreign to him?

Pushing his thoughts aside, Fang Xiaozai shook his head, pinched the horse’s sides, and followed Ye Qingyun. The wind blew past his ears, his senses overwhelmed by the whirling sound of the breeze as he got closer and closer to the person ahead of him… that person’s back was tall and straight, and his hair flew behind him in the strong wind; it was really was like his name…

Qingyun, Qingyun…

For some reason, as long as he was by his side, all his fear and anxiety faded away.

Seeing that he was almost about to catch up, Fang Xiaozai snapped his whip against his horse. Suddenly, his vision went dark and he couldn’t see anything.

Fang Xiaozai panicked and pulled back on the reins abruptly in confusion. The galloping horse came to a sudden stop and raised its front legs into the air. Fang Xiaozai didn’t know what was going on. He loosened his hands during the horse’s thrashing and he felt himself lift off the horse.

He didn’t realize that he had been thrown off his horse until he slammed into the rocky terrain.

His whole body felt broken, his eyes unseeing. All he could make out was the sound of the horse’s neighing followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Yinfeng?! Yinfeng?!”

He felt that he was being picked up, and the voice that fell in his ear was mixed with anxiety and worry, but he felt that it was not him that was being called by Ye Qingyun in his arms at that moment…

So who was he?

He didn’t know… He couldn’t remember!

Then he lost consciousness.

~

“You’re too impulsive. In this way, it’s like tearing off your mask and revealing your true nature!”

“If he’s willing to tear off his mask then we, the Fang family, don’t need to rely on him. Should we really be forced to speak in such a manner, lowering ourselves in front of him, putting ourselves down?”

“What do you know? All-day long, I put up with your nonsense. I let you learn about our business but, as soon as I turn around, you’re back to your antics again. Look at Ruochen, then look at yourself. What else can you do except add chaos? When will you ever become a capable person?”

“Enough! If you think I’m doing something wrong, tell me what I’m doing wrong. No need to compare me with that Feng guy, is there? I may be incapable, but I always put our family first. If I only cause chaos, then I’ll stop caring about you moving forward!”

Fang Xiaozai saw the young and energetic master slam the door as he left, but just as he went to catch up with him, the surrounding scenery changed. Now, he was standing on a pier.

“Brother Fang, you’ll be leaving as soon as I get back. When you return, I’ll treat you to this year’s new tea.”

“Don’t worry about the rice fields. The rice merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have a good relationship with me. I will collect some for you…”

Before he could respond, the scene flipped again, but this time it was full of flames.

“Young Master, you need to go!”

“No, I won’t leave! The Fang family fleet is still afloat. Even if the cargo is lost, I will lay down my life for it! I will never abandon the boat!”

The thick smoke choked their lungs and the river water was dyed red. He saw a boat on the river in the distance with black sails and black flags. He tried to make it out, but he heard a crisp sound above his head. He looked up to see the broken mast covered in embers falling straight over him…

Knowing that he couldn’t avoid it, he closed his eyes and stood his ground, but the pain he expected didn’t come, and there was a faint voice in his ear.

“Wake up! Wake up!”

“Yinfeng? Yinfeng… Are you okay? Do you feel any pain?”

Fang Xiaozai opened his eyes and stared with a blank expression… It took him a moment before he stretched out his hand tremblingly and felt the air in front of him.

“What do you want, Yinfeng? Tell me, I’ll give it to you.” Ye Qingyun’s voice sounded worried.

Fang Xiaozai’s hands shook as he felt for the face of the person closest to him. He moved his fingers across the other’s eyes, nose, and lips. He stopped, and then he retracted his hands in front of him.

“Why… can’t I see anything?”

Bang! The teacup in someone’s hand fell to the ground.

“What did you say?”

A violent force pulled him up from the couch, and the hands holding him were so tight, they left his arms feeling raw.

“Yinfeng, what did you say? Say it again, clearly!”

Fang Xiaozai followed the direction of the voice and looked over. “I… can’t see…”

“Say it again…”

“I can’t see… it’s so dark, there’s no light… did you not light any lamps?”

His body was slammed down. His back hit the bedboard, and there was another burst of pain.

Fang Xiaozai heard the pacing footsteps, then the muffled noise of something falling to the ground. Ye Qingyun’s furious voice rang out.

“Didn’t you say that he would be fine when he woke up? What’s going on now?”

“Young Master, don’t be angry, I’ll look him over and give you a diagnosis…”

“If you can’t cure him, you’d better be prepared to jump into the river yourself!”

There was a noisy mess happening near his ear, but he didn’t pay attention to it. Fang Xiaozai lay there quietly and instead thought about the images that had flashed through his mind just now.

Brother, Brother Fang, Young Master…

Why did those people in his dreams address him like that?

Fang Xiaozai was blind, and his daily life was now affected. Ye Qingyun felt that it was his fault for his inadequacy and the responsibility was on him, so as long as he was able to, he would accompany this man to take care of him.

Come to think of it, it was strange that whenever he was beside that person, Ye Qingyun would always feel totally calm. The faint sunlight of autumn mixed with the refreshing smell of his body; it as if he had returned to the peace and comfort of many years ago.

These last few years, he had not lived up to his title as the Sea King of Lianghuai. Initially, he’d only wanted to stay with his teacher because of his desire to race across the seas, but when he really got what he wanted, everything changed. Moreover, he was a person who was used to being easygoing. The matters of the Lianghuai needed a person with strong leadership and decision-making ability, and this person was obviously not him.

After Luo Yinfeng left, he let himself waste away and indulge in all kinds of debauchery, dominating the position of the Sea King of Lianghuai and openly doing what other river bandits did. the world called him the River Bandit Sea King, but river bandits never had any specific targets whereas he only attacked the ship of corrupt officials and black merchants. All because of the last words of Luo Yinfeng when he left.

“Big brother, there are consequences for behaviour, morality and righteousness. I hope you, the Lianghuai Sea king, may have a clear conscience!”

He wondered if Luo Yinfeng was so righteous, would he come back to correct him one day if he couldn’t tolerate his behaviour? Will he come back one day to help him manage the Lianghuai waters?

However, thinking about him wouldn’t bring him back. Ye Qingyun knew that Luo Yinfeng would never come back.

“Qingyun, what are you thinking?”

Ye Qingyun came back to his senses. The person on the bed was tilting his head and “looking” towards him. At this moment, his eyes, which were as clear as water, were a little sad.

Amnesia and then blindness, Ye Qingyun felt that even a strong man like himself would not be able to withstand such a double blow. But this person quickly accepted what had happened and adapted to it. It was just like how he trembled with fear after he was picked up by Madam Su Ye after coming out of a long coma but still insisted on showing a calm and calm expression. People can’t help but feel sorry for him.

Ye Qingyun stirred the porridge in the bowl, then took a spoonful and lifted it to his mouth, “How do you know I’m thinking about something?”

The man nodded and smiled lightly, like a lake in autumn, the water rippling. “Isn’t it said that people who are blind have heightened senses? I understand now, especially with my hearing. I can even tell which footsteps belong to… wu!”

Ye Qingyun stuffed a spoonful of porridge into his mouth and cut him off. From the rough spoonful, the corners of his mouth had some rice grains stuck to them, and he wiped it off for him with his fingers.

“Yinfeng, don’t worry, I will find someone to heal your eyes.” After saying that, Ye Qingyun surprised himself by saying that. Why should he be so good to him? Obviously, he was just a stand-in that Madam Su Ye picked up.

But when he heard him say this, Fang Xiaozai stretched out his arms and held Ye Qingyun’s hand. His fingers were very cold, but his palm was warm. The corners of his mouth were slightly curved, and his smile was gentle and beautiful.

“Thank you, Qingyun… Without you, I really don’t know how I could bear all of this. I’m okay now. Although I can’t see, I can still live my life, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Ye Qingyun looked down at the hands that held his, and there was a burst of softness in his heart. Since he woke up, he had silently accepted the changes that happened to him. Whether it was memory loss or blindness, he never wanted to make others worry over him. This was unexpectedly similar to Yinfeng.

Ye Qingyun put down the porridge bowl in his hand, then covered Fang Xiaozai’s hand and gave it a few pats, “I’m here, there’s nothing that can’t be overcome. Just make sure to take care fo yourself.”

Fang Xiaozai nodded, and then lay down with Ye Qingyun’s help. Ye Qingyun helped tuck him in and lit a soothing incense before quietly walking out.

Fang Xiaozai’s unseeing eyes were open and looking up at the canopy draped over his bed, when he suddenly reached up to touch his own chest and felt that his heart was pounding loudly.