Seeing the Gentleman - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Yan Qing escorted me out of the Dao Sect, still unwilling to give up.

“Junior Sister Zhao, your innate aptitude is exceptionally suited to our sect’s core cultivation method. Are you truly not considering staying? Inheriting the Dao Lord’s mantle, honor, glory, and immortality-are those really worth less than that sworn brother of yours?”

“Senior Brother Yan,” I said with a smile, “I came to Lushan Sect only for Gu Yu. From the very beginning, he mattered more than wealth, honor, or glory.”

Beast Taming Valley and Talisman Sect sent word asking me to rest for a few days first.

The elders who had all been so eager to see me suddenly fell silent as well.

I understood. Perhaps the Dao Lord was angry and wanted to teach me a lesson.

So I simply shouldered my bundle and went to the outer sect to look for Gu Yu.

Finding Gu Yu was not easy.

I asked one person after another, but no one seemed to know.

It was only when I ran into Zhou Su that I learned Gu Yu lived in the servants’ quarters beside the dining hall.

As we walked, a timid fear slowly rose in me.

“Senior Brother Zhou, can outer sect disciples only work as servants?”

“Not exactly. Though they do have chores to do, they are also given cultivation methods and a small amount of supplies for cultivation, along with fifty taels of silver a month. There is a grand competition every five years, and those with comprehension may enter the inner sect.”

Zhou Su led me forward and gave me a veiled reminder.

“Junior Sister Zhao, with your aptitude, it would be best for you to take a master and begin cultivating as soon as possible. The Dao Lord intends to accept you as his disciple. Don’t be so stubborn.”

I said nothing.

After thanking him, I headed toward that cluster of low courtyards.

White walls and black tiles, bamboo growing along the path. Cultivators hurried to and fro, and white steam drifted up from the dining hall.

Gu Yu was still wearing an old robe, sweeping snow beneath the corridor.

I wiped at my tears, the brocade at my cuffs gleaming brilliantly.

The money he sent back had been enough for me to live comfortably, yet he had never left himself so much as one decent set of clothes.

A swallow cried beneath the eaves. Gu Yu sensed something and looked over.

With just one glance, he panicked so badly he lost his composure.

He seemed to want to hide the broom behind him, then realized it was useless.

In the end, he did not move.

He only gripped the bamboo handle and stood there stiffly, as if waiting for judgment.

I kicked through the snow all the way to him, hearing my own heart pounding wildly.

I was angry that he had hidden this from me. Angry that he had avoided me like I was something poisonous.

I seized him by the collar, and he stumbled, lowering his head toward me.

“Well done, Gu Yu!”

I pointed at him, but the words caught in my throat.

“It was all a lie. You haven’t been doing well at all.”

Gu Yu lowered his gaze to me, tears surging in his eyes.

I slammed into his arms and wrapped mine tightly around him.

He panted out white breaths, his chest trembling, and pried my hands away.

“Let go first. Be good. Jinyue, listen to me, you-!”

I shoved him through the door and slammed it shut with a bang.

The room was hardly any warmer than outside.

It was dim within. The bluestone floor was old, and everything on all sides seemed cold.

I forced Gu Yu into the corner, until his back pressed against a half-new table.

Tears had already fallen, a crystalline trail like clear dew on bamboo leaves.

His pupils widened slightly, and pale shock spread across his face.

I forced him into a kiss for a while, locking his hands tightly in mine.

His knuckles were slender, pale and cold.

His back was taut. His eyelids trembled open and shut, and at last his breath gained a little warmth.

Only after a long while did I stop, holding his face.

He stared blankly, then carefully brushed the corner of his lip. A faint smear of blood marked his fingertip.

I raised a brow and met his gaze, enunciating each word.

“That’s right. I bit you. So what?”

A flush seemed to return to Gu Yu’s face, reddening him all the way to his ears.

“You… you…”

He stood there dazed for a long time before gritting his teeth and muttering, “You’re being ridiculous.”

I made him turn his gaze back and stared hard at him. “If you were doing so badly, why didn’t you come back to find me?”

Gu Yu lowered his head for a long time. His eyes were red as he said softly,

“As long as I was here, sending money back every month, others would see you still dressed in fine clothes and eating well, and they wouldn’t dare bully you. The Gu Family no longer holds official status. If I were to leave the sect in disgrace too, how could I support you?”

I was furious. “We could have bought a few mu of poor farmland and farmed it. Would the heavens have let me starve to death?”

He looked at me for a long time. His throat bobbed several times before his voice suddenly choked.

“I swore before Auntie’s memorial tablet that I would never let you suffer again.”

I could not say another word.