Chapter 84

“Ugh, huhuhu, hu….”

The boy, who seemed to be in his early teens, knocked on the closed door, seemingly aggrieved, but was pushed away from the wall by the rough hand of the remaining servant.

“Let’s go now. We don’t have time to waste.”

“Ugh… hu… I, I will….”

The boy, who had been glaring at the servant with tears and a look of determination, lowered his head.

“You should know that the elders are being kind by taking you home. Do you want to go back alone?”

The servant said coldly. The boy bit his lip tightly but couldn’t bring himself to say he would go alone. When the servant started walking ahead, the boy was startled and followed.

Bai Yiming, who was about to ask if he should follow the boy, was surprised by the boy’s unusually cold gaze.

‘What’s wrong? Did I look so warm to him?’

“Follow him and make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.”

“Um… by foolish, you mean….”

“I mean plotting an assassination or something like that.”

“Eh?”

Assassination?

The harsh word made Bai Yiming shudder.

The boy seemed to have been punished, but even if he harbored a grudge at his age, it didn’t seem like he would plot an assassination.

“Also, if he spreads rumors about the family or anything like that.”

The mention of the family made Bai Yiming flinch. He couldn’t ask, “What family?” so he asked another question.

“B-but if that happens… what should I do?”

“What should you do? Deal with it….”

The boy suddenly shut his mouth and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Ah… I just wanted to pay back the dumplings, but why did it come to this?”

The boy grumbled and sighed deeply.

“If you do anything like that, come find me. Just say you want to see a kid named Wu Hualun here.”

“C-can I do that?”

“Yes. If nothing happens, you don’t need to report.”

‘If I don’t come to report, will you not come back? Then I won’t be able to learn anything else?’

Bai Yiming looked at the boy and the servant, who were moving away, with a slightly anxious face.

‘What should I hope he does?’

“Why are you still standing there?”

“I’m, I’m going! Yes! I’m going!”

Bai Yiming bowed to the boy and hurriedly followed.

The boy, Hualun, clicked his tongue and watched the boy’s back until he disappeared, then entered through the back gate of the wall.

“Hualun, where have you been? The young master is looking for you. He seems to have prepared something to reward you. Didn’t you do a great job this time?”

The gatekeeper greeted Hualun happily. Hualun hesitated for a moment, nodded, and quickly walked away, letting out a sigh that no one could hear.

“After staying up all night to boil medicine and write letters, he’s preparing something again. Oh, I can’t live like this, really.”

* * *

The atmosphere at the family estate, which had been bustling all afternoon with the announcement of the qualified candidates, finally calmed down as the sun set.

The residence for the collateral line children was set in the Yingren Hall in front of the training ground. It was a space prepared from the beginning for the cultivation of disciples, consisting of a training ground, a small library, and a dormitory building.

Some children had brought a lot of things, while others had come with just their bodies.

Xu Jilin, one of those who had come with just his body, had washed in warm water, eaten a soft porridge for dinner, and was now wandering in the garden behind the dormitory of the Yingren Hall with a dazed look on his face.

‘I… am here.’

It felt like a dream.

When the invitation from the Danmu family came, his parents were surprised and bewildered, and he himself didn’t have much thought about it.

He had been learning martial arts from his grandmother from time to time, but he had never thought he had any talent.

He had come this far only because of his grandmother’s insistence.

— Jilin, the Grand Patriarch has attained enlightenment. This is a great opportunity.

His father suggested he might as well take a trip to Hangzhou. Xu Jilin agreed. Only his grandmother was serious.

She repeatedly told him he had talent and could do well. On the day he left with Danmu Jun, only his grandmother cried.

His grandmother saw him off with a look of joy and sorrow, as if she wouldn’t see him again for ten years.

‘I should write a letter to Grandma…’

The family said they would send news to his family, but he wanted to write the letter to his grandmother himself.

“Huh? Jilin?”

“Ah, Young Master!?”

Just as he was thinking he should go inside and write the letter before going to bed, a girl appeared behind him, and the scent of jinmu wood filled the air. It was Danmu Lian.

“What are you doing here?”

Xu Jilin, who was always described as mature and calm, was now unable to calm down and stammered.

He noticed the loose sash on his waist and felt a small sense of defeat.

“I thought everyone would have unpacked by now, so I came to give you the test answers.”

“Huh?”

At the mention of the answers, Xu Jilin involuntarily raised his head. The girl in front of him, slightly shorter than him, was smiling.

“More importantly, you worked hard today. Is it okay if you stay out here? Are you feeling well?”

“I’m, I’m fine! Thanks to your concern. If not, I would have been on my way back home by now….”

Xu Jilin vividly remembered the moment when Lian grabbed his wrist.

He had seen a carp in the pond at Danmu Jun’s house once. The carp, with its white body and red patterns, swam gracefully in the pond, just like the smooth touch of her hand.

The moment his hand was held, the nausea, dizziness, and discomfort in his stomach seemed to wash away, and it couldn’t have been a coincidence.

“Do you think so?”

“Huh?”

“Do you think you’re here because of me?”

At the subtle question, Xu Jilin nodded without hesitation.

He thought he didn’t particularly want the opportunity to stay and practice martial arts at the main house, but he realized it wasn’t true.

While holding his aching stomach and feeling nauseous, he felt Danmu Jun’s gaze on him, and for the first time, he realized.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have staggered to the training ground, even though he knew he was late.

It was Danmu Lian who gave him that opportunity, that last lifeline.

Right now, he couldn’t do anything to repay her, but if Danmu Lian had any wishes, he would do his best to fulfill them.

“You need to work hard. Understand?”

“Huh?”

“You can become a great person, Jilin. If you work hard. Eat well and sleep well.”

“Ah, yes!”

‘Is that… all?’

Xu Jilin was a bit taken aback.

When Danmu Jun gave him old clothes, Xu Jilin had to help with the grain, spread fertilizer, and assist with the harvest.

“Everyone seems to be resting.”

Danmu Lian glanced at the Yingren Hall and handed him a basket carried by the guard.

“I should have come earlier. Can you distribute these according to the names later? I don’t want to disturb them now.”

“Yes! I will… I will do it.”

“What? You don’t have to go that far.”

Danmu Lian waved her hand, but Xu Jilin held the basket carefully.

Seeing this, Danmu Lian encouraged him to do his best from tomorrow and turned to leave. The servant standing nearby chattered to Danmu Lian.

“Go to bed early. You stayed up all night writing… you could have just given it to me to deliver.”

“Still, now that we’re family, it’s nice to see each other one more time.”

“Still, you wrote all night and went to the medicine hall early in the morning….”

The rest of the conversation faded away.

Xu Jilin, holding the basket with ten letters, watched her back silently. When Danmu Lian turned and waved, he quickly bowed.

He pondered their conversation.

He had heard that more people had been affected by what Danmu Jun had done, and it seemed Danmu Lian had helped at the medicine hall to make medicine.

He understood this not through logical reasoning but through intuition.

He then reflected on Danmu Lian’s last words.

— Now that we’re family.

We’re family now. As he repeated the words in his mouth, the daze finally cleared, and he felt the cool autumn night air.

* * *

Since no one could sleep due to excitement, Xu Jilin gathered the children as soon as Danmu Lian left and distributed the letters she had given him.

“What… is this…?”

Danmu Wan, holding a letter with his name on it, hesitated and asked.

“Lian Young Master gave them to me. She said they were answers, but I don’t know what they are. Here, take yours.”

“Young Master came…?”

“Yes, a little while ago. She didn’t want to disturb us, so she just left these and went.”

“I see….”

Danmu Wan, with a slightly regretful tone, nodded and took the letter to his room.

Finally, a boy with a somewhat fierce expression, Maixinyou, snatched his letter and opened it on the spot.