Reborn As The Short-Lived White Moonlight of the Tragic, Powerful Male Lead - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Come See the Surprise Your Senior Brother Prepared for You

Gu Yunqi contacted Gu Bu before returning to the Gu family. The moment he saw Gu Bu upon arriving home, he immediately lowered his head to admit his mistake.

“Uncle, your nephew was playful and enjoyed himself so much abroad that I forgot to contact the family, causing everyone to worry. It is my fault.”

Gu Bu wore a look of kindness, patting Gu Yunqi’s shoulder reassuringly. “Young people… it’s fine to go out and see the world, as long as you come back. Just remember to stay in touch next time. Leaving without a word really had us worried.”

Gu Yunqi was exceedingly respectful: “Yes.”

Gu Bu’s son, Gu Jingping, chimed in at this moment: “Everyone has been busy working themselves to the bone for your wedding, yet you went out to enjoy yourself without telling a soul. That’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

Gu Bu made a show of advising him: “Now, Jingping, say no more.”

How could Gu Yunqi not know what they meant? His tone remained unchanged: “I have committed a fault; I request to go to the ancestral hall to reflect on my actions.”

“Sigh, you child…”

Gu Bu sighed but did not stop him from accepting the punishment. Gu Yunqi went to the Gu family ancestral hall on his own, lifted his robes, and knelt straight as a pillar. His movements were practiced—it was clear he knelt there often.

The doors of the ancestral hall creaked shut, locking his figure into a lonely room and cutting him off from the light and shadows of the outside world.

Gu Jingping snorted with disdain. “Fleeing a wedding is fleeing a wedding. What ‘forgot to contact’? Who is he trying to fool?”

Gu Bu placed his hands behind his back, showing no anger. “This is a good thing. I used to be on guard, fearing his gentle nature was all an act. But over the years, it’s clear he has no talent and no schemes. Look—he clearly didn’t want the marriage alliance, but his only way of venting was to run away from home. He didn’t even dare to complain to me.”

Hearing this, Gu Jingping felt a bit better. He grinned. “He’s a waste to begin with. If not for the sake of our reputation, we should have kicked him out of the Gu family long ago, or…”

He made a slashing gesture across his throat. Gu Bu shook his head. Gu Jingping curled his lip and lowered his hand in boredom. His father always said Gu Yunqi might still be useful, but after so many years, was keeping him around really worth it?

Gu Bu turned around. “Let’s go. Contact the Sword Sect. They said a few days ago that Immortal Lord Lanyue had started his journey back. I wonder if he’s arrived.”

…

He had arrived, but he wasn’t doing well.

By the time Xie Lanting reached Xuemei Peak, he had already removed his mask. His face was deathly pale and his lips were purple. One might have thought he had frozen in the ice and snow. Terrified, his young servant lad dropped his broom and hurriedly helped him into the house.

He had barely made it back before the deadline. His body was incredibly weak and he felt wretched. Because the pain had flared up on the journey back, he had been forced to stop and start repeatedly. Pain amplified by poison was truly not something a human should have to endure.

When he was alone in a ruined temple, he had rolled around on the ground in agony, abandoning all dignity. But now, back at the Sword Sect and facing the boy, he forced himself to act as if nothing were wrong. Even though he was the one suffering, he was the one comforting the other.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Lanting forced a smile. “Hey, why the look like you’re about to cry? Don’t cry, haven’t I come back?”

“You, you…” Hearing this made the boy want to cry even more. He bit his lip, his eyes red. “If you were going to run, just stay gone… why did you have to come back…?”

Xie Lanting felt helpless. He reached out and rubbed the boy’s head. “I just went out to clear my head. I missed your cooking, Tong’er. Go warm a jar of wine for me and make some honey-glazed roasted goose. Bring two sets of bowls and chopsticks; eat with me.”

Tong’er sniffled. “Your complexion is terrible. We should call a physician first.”

“No need, I know my own body,” Xie Lanting said softly. “Go on, be a good boy.”

Tong’er glared at him and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. Ultimately unable to win against Xie Lanting, he turned to prepare the food. As soon as he left, another person stepped slowly into the room, his voice carrying a hint of a smile: “Senior Brother is soft-hearted, even going out of his way to send the child away.”

Xie Lanting leaned against the back of his chair, struggling to sit upright. He had to maintain appearances. “I’m not nearly as cold-blooded as you and Liu Qifeng—to even use poison on me.”

The newcomer was the Fourth Elder of the Sword Sect, Xie Lanting’s “Green Tea” younger martial brother, named Shudao. Xie Lanting took a sip of the tea Tong’er had brewed to warm himself. “Ah, the tea is truly fragrant.”

It was a pun on Shudao’s “tea-like” (manipulative) personality.

Shudao sat beside him. “Is there no tea for me? The poisoning had nothing to do with me, truly. Senior Brother, believe me.”

Xie Lanting set the teacup down. “If you want tea, you have hands; brew it yourself. I believe you, of course I do.” Xie Lanting sneered. “After all, you’d much rather see me alive and suffering. There are no outsiders here, Junior Brother; there’s no need to pretend. Let’s talk business. Where is the antidote?”

Shudao didn’t press the issue of the tea. He readily produced a wooden box. “I’ve come on behalf of Senior Brother Liu to deliver the first dose of the antidote. In passing, let me ask: where are the betrothal gifts and the dowry?”

Xie Lanting also flicked his wrist and produced a box, placing it on the table. Shudao waited for a moment, and seeing that Xie Lanting didn’t intend to pull out anything else, he couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother?”

Since they used storage rings, no one had ever invented a “storage box.” With so many treasures, how could there be only one tiny box?

“There are three doses of the antidote. If you think you can trade the first dose for everything, you’re dreaming.”

The smile on Shudao’s face finally faltered. “The natural treasures could fill an entire main hall. Even if split into three, one portion couldn’t possibly fit in one small box!”

Xie Lanting glanced at him indifferently. “Did I say it was an equal split?”

Shudao’s expression completely cracked.

Xie Lanting placed his hand over the small box. “If I say this is the first portion, then it’s the first portion to be exchanged for the first dose. If you don’t give it to me, at worst I die from the poison, and everything will rot in my spatial ring to be buried with me. We can both go down together; you won’t get a single thing back.”

Shudao’s face changed colors several times, from pale to green. Finally, he took a deep breath, put back on his familiar “Green Tea” smile, and handed the antidote box to Xie Lanting. “It doesn’t have to come to that. Senior Brother, I truly wish for you to live.”

Xie Lanting took the antidote. Inside was a single pill. He didn’t even test it; he threw it directly into his mouth. The agonizing sensation from earlier was finally suppressed a bit, and he regained enough strength to sit steadily.

Seeing this, Shudao smiled. “Senior Brother didn’t even test it first. It seems you truly do trust me.”

“If I didn’t take the real antidote, I’d have dropped dead on the spot.” Xie Lanting exhaled slowly, his limbs finally warming up.

Shudao reached out to open the box Xie Lanting had provided. He wanted to see exactly how much Xie Lanting had given. When he opened it—there was actually another box inside!

Shudao: “…?”

He was a man who had seen the world and wouldn’t lose his composure over such a small thing. Shudao steadied himself and elegantly opened the second box—whereupon he saw a third box.

Shudao’s fingers tightened as he violently flipped open the third box!

If he had been calm while opening the first few, he was now slapping them open one after another, wanting to throw them on the ground and chop them open. However, just as he was on the verge of exploding, the final box actually contained something. It was a tiny, shimmering golden bead.

To an ordinary family, a gold bead was valuable, but compared to the treasures that could fill a room, a single gold bead was negligible. After opening nine boxes only to find this tiny thing, Shudao gripped it in his hand, momentarily stunned into a stupor by rage.

Xie Lanting finally let out a joyful laugh. Seeing Shudao unhappy made him happy. “The surprise I prepared for you… interesting, isn’t it?”

Shudao crushed the bead in his palm, his cheeks tightening. He didn’t speak for a long time. It was clear he was holding back his fury with everything he had. When he opened his hand, the gold bead had been crushed into powder, sliding from his palm to the floor.

Shudao took out a handkerchief to wipe his hand. “Interesting. I also have something interesting to tell you, Senior Brother. I don’t think anyone has given you a detailed account of your husband, Gu Yunqi, yet?”

He specifically emphasized the word “husband.” Xie Lanting was unfazed. “Oh? Tell me.”

Unlike Liu Qifeng, who would openly fight with Xie Lanting, Shudao was different. When he and Xie Lanting traded barbs, their voices remained steady and calm. From a distance, they looked perfectly harmonious; only up close could you tell their conversation was filled with absolute passive-aggression, looking for any gap to drive a needle in.

Xie Lanting had played Shudao, so Shudao naturally wanted to make him feel uncomfortable.

“Gu Yunqi, the son of the former head of the Gu family. I heard he was a genius as a child, but unfortunately, he fell gravely ill when his parents died, ruining his foundation. Since then, his path of cultivation has been very difficult. He is essentially a waste.”

Xie Lanting nodded noncommittally. Formed a Core at ten, Nascent Soul at twenty, Great Transformation at twenty-two, Spirit Severing at twenty-six… the number one person in the cultivation world, a cheat-code protagonist. Such a “waste” indeed.

“I also heard he is weak-willed, incompetent, and timid.”

Xie Lanting listened: Mhm, mhm. He’s decisive and ruthless—anyone who crosses him gets hit with a heavy fist.

Having listed Gu Yunqi’s flaws and thinking of Xie Lanting being forced to marry such a person, Shudao finally felt a bit better. Finally, he smiled sweetly and concluded, “The Head of the Gu family only said his face is decent and a good match for yours.”

Shudao’s point was that Gu Yunqi was useless except for his face, and since Xie Lanting was no longer a powerful Spirit Severing master, the two “wastes” were a perfect match. Xie Lanting, however, focused on the wrong thing: “Ah, I know I’m good-looking. Stop praising me, stop it.”

Shudao: “…”

He clutched his chest. He felt that Liu Qifeng’s desire to kill Xie Lanting six hundred days a year was justified. What? You say there are only 365 days? The extra days were spent in his dreams—who knows how many years of dreaming it took, and even in his dreams, he’d be infuriated by Xie Lanting.

Xie Lanting finished his tea and set the cup aside. “I’ve actually always been curious. What exactly do you hate about me?”

“I don’t hate you,” Shudao forced the words out one by one, smiling through gritted teeth. “I just feel that some people are born for everything to go smoothly, having the best of everything. It’s truly unfair, don’t you think, Senior Brother?”

“Heh, if you ask me—” Xie Lanting looked up. “Your brain isn’t working right. Go see a doctor. I smell the roasted goose. You should leave now, Junior Brother. There are no chopsticks for you here.”

Shudao immediately stood up to leave. “Since your brain is so good, Senior Brother, remember to tell me later how it feels to be married to a useless man.”

Xie Lanting chuckled and said to his back, “Hey, you forgot something.”

Shudao stopped and looked back in confusion. Following Xie Lanting’s gaze, he saw the boxes he had just dismantled, scattered across the floor.

Shudao felt a lump in his throat. This time, he said nothing at all. He flicked his sleeves and strode away. Xie Lanting sent him off with laughter. Even as Shudao hurried away from Xuemei Peak, he felt as if that hateful laughter was still ringing in his ears.

Xie Lanting’s laughter slowly faded. Having laughed his fill, he slid from his chair and slumped to the side. The “smell of roasted goose” was a lie; he simply couldn’t hold himself up anymore. If Shudao hadn’t left, he would have embarrassed himself.

Xie Lanting was trembling all over. Although the first dose of the antidote had eased the poison, it couldn’t immediately make him energetic. His hands had been too weak to hold anything; he had almost dropped his teacup. Fortunately, he had infuriated Shudao so much that the latter hadn’t noticed anything unusual.

Want to see me as a joke? Dream on. As long as I’m not dead, don’t think you’ve won.

The door was wide open, and the snow blew inside. The little bit of warmth that had gathered dissipated. Cultivators shouldn’t fear the cold, but at this moment, Xie Lanting felt the icy air pierce to his bones.

He had planned to pull himself up before Tong’er finished the roasted goose, but he found himself growing weaker as he lay there. In a daze, he couldn’t get up and actually fell asleep on the floor.