Bond

“Master.”
“How is the matter I asked you to investigate last time?” Beigong Qiyi leaned against the window. Night had already fallen, and no lamps were lit in the room. The faint light illuminated his face, making his expression impossible to discern.
Mu Min stood behind him, his black clothes melding into the dimness of the chamber. “Reporting to Master, nothing has been discovered yet.”
With a casual nod, Beigong Qiyi let out a soft laugh. “There’s no rush. After all, so many years have passed. Take your time.”
“Yes.” Mu Min clasped his hands in salute. Beigong Qiyi tilted his head. Although Fu Zhi promised not to reveal the truth to Beigong Juechen, yet… a faint smirk flickered at the corners of his mouth, and Beigong Qiyi laughed coldly. People are always selfish…
It made no difference even if he told Beigong Juechen everything, for those secrets he most wanted to hide, Fu Zhi knew nothing about. All Fu Zhi could reveal was that part of his memory had indeed been deliberately erased. As for what was erased… Another cold laugh escaped him. Beigong Qiyi said slowly, “Mu Min, light the lamp.”
The room gradually brightened. A warm golden glow cast across Beigong Qiyi’s slender profile. The young man turned, his exquisite features taking on an even more striking beauty in the candlelight. He glanced at Mu Min, who had come to stand beside him, and asked, “How has everything been in the Pavilion lately?”
“All is well, Master,” Mu Min replied in a deep voice.
Beigong Qiyi nodded slightly and continued, “And what of the Palace of a Hundred Calamities?”
“No unusual activity.”
Lifting his eyebrows lightly, Beigong Qiyi smiled. “If there’s any movement from the Palace of a Hundred Calamities, inform me at once. And Ximo… how has he been lately?”
Mu Min looked up at Beigong Qiyi, then replied quietly, “Ximo has resumed his martial training.”
“Martial training, is it…” Beigong Qiyi chuckled softly. “Not bad. He has a good physique. Had he trained from childhood, he would surely be a top master by now. What a pity…” Beigong Qiyi shook his head in regret. “A pity he gave up all his strength just to get close to me.” In the end, he lost everything.
Beigong Qiyi’s feelings toward Ximo were complicated. He had left the manor at ten, and that same year, he found Ximo. In the six years that followed, they relied on each other through their youth. Even after learning that Ximo had approached him for revenge, Beigong Qiyi felt little anger. Since Ximo had used him, he could just as easily use Ximo in return.
His feelings for Ximo were akin to those for a family member or a friend. Unfortunately, Ximo had fallen in love with him, and he—he could give Ximo anything, except his true affection.
“Master…” Mu Min glanced up, studying Beigong Qiyi, and hesitated before asking, “Do you… feel guilty toward Young Master Ximo?”
“Guilty?” Beigong Qiyi could not help but laugh. “Guilt? That’s not something I possess. True, I used him, but he came to me with an agenda from the start. The two of us, we only ever sought mutual gain. I feel no guilt, only that he was too foolish. How could he fall for the brother of his father’s killer, Mu Min? Don’t you think he’s a fool?”
Mu Min was silent for a while before he shook his head seriously. “No, Master. He’s not a fool. I may never have loved anyone myself, but I know there’s a saying—‘the heart cannot be commanded.’ Isn’t that how it is with you and Master Beigong? The heart cannot be commanded.”
Beigong Qiyi paused, turning to look at Mu Min, then suddenly burst out laughing. “Yes, the heart cannot be commanded, indeed… When love arises, there is no resisting it.”
“Mu Min.” Beigong Qiyi patted him on the shoulder. Mu Min looked up reflexively. The young man’s eyes were deep and bright, like luminous pearls in the night, breathtakingly beautiful. Those eyes blinked slowly, and Beigong Qiyi said quietly, “Remember, if you can, never fall in love with anyone. That will become your weakness.”
It may give you armor, but it will also give you a vulnerability. And if you never have a weakness in the first place, what need is there for armor…
Mu Min gazed blankly into those pearl-like black eyes and nodded in silence. He was someone who lived in darkness. Love was an extravagance abandoned from the moment he was born.
Su Yueling sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed in meditation. Zhucha watched him, bored and listless, then suddenly said, “Senior brother, shall we go for a walk?”
Su Yueling didn’t open his eyes, replying calmly, “Feeling bored?”
Zhucha nodded blankly. “Mm.”
Su Yueling smiled, slowly opening his eyes. “If you’re bored, why not meditate and train with me? I suspect you haven’t practiced much since you left the mountain.”
Zhucha blinked, muttering, “Senior brother, since you’ve come down from the mountain, why not go out with me for a bit?”
Su Yueling shook his head, laughing indulgently. “Ah, very well.”
A faint warmth crept into Zhucha’s otherwise cold eyes. He hurried over, grabbed Su Yueling’s hand, and dragged him outside.
“Are you two heading out?” They almost bumped into Beigong Juechen, who was walking toward them. Su Yueling stopped in his tracks. “Brother, were you looking for me?”
Beigong Juechen nodded. “Yes. You once told me Beigong Qiyi hid some things from me.”
“Mm.” Zhucha looked at him and asked, “Have you remembered something?”
Beigong Juechen shook his head. “No, I just came to ask if you have any way to help me recall.”
“I’ll think on it,” Zhucha replied.
Beigong Juechen smiled faintly and said, “You could go find Fu Zhi.” With that, he turned and left. Zhucha stared blankly at the dark green robes swirling behind him, then turned to Su Yueling. “Who is Fu Zhi?”
Su Yueling patted his head with a laugh. “Since your brother suggested it, let’s go find Fu Zhi today.”
Zhucha frowned slightly. “Senior brother, you just came down from the mountain—how would you know Fu Zhi?”
Su Yueling couldn’t help laughing. “I don’t know him, but I can find him.”
With that, he stepped forward, bending down as if to pick something up. Zhucha watched him in puzzlement.
Just as Beigong Juechen turned to leave, Su Yueling had spotted something flick from his sleeve. Sure enough, not far from where he’d stood, there was a bead. Su Yueling bent down and picked it up. Zhucha had come to his side. “Senior brother, what’s this?”
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be your brother’s clue for us,” Su Yueling said.
Zhucha thought for a moment, then raised his eyebrows. “A tracking butterfly?”
“Exactly.” Su Yueling smiled. “The Lì Manor truly lives up to its name as the foremost in the martial world, and Beigong Juechen deserves his place at the very top. Even the disciples of Yuhua Palace rarely know of the tracking butterfly, yet he does.”
* * *
Upon returning to Lì Manor, Beigong Qiyi headed straight for Beigong Juechen’s Studying Pavilion. Through the indigo gauze drapes, one could faintly see a man reclining on a soft couch. Beigong Qiyi smiled, lifted the drapes, and entered.
He placed the parcel he carried on the table and smiled. “Brother, I passed by the Imperial Dining Hall today and bought some pastries. Would you care to try them?”
Beigong Juechen tilted his head, gazing at him with a half-smile. Beigong Qiyi met his gaze calmly, but his hand, hidden in his wide sleeve, slowly clenched tighter and tighter.
Those dark green eyes flicked—seemingly by chance—over his sleeve. Beigong Qiyi’s heart skipped a beat, but in the next moment, Beigong Juechen rose from the couch, walked to the table, picked up a piece of water chestnut cake, and took a bite. The man chuckled, “Not bad.”
Relieved, Beigong Qiyi opened the other boxes of pastries with a smile. “If you like them, have some more.”
Beigong Juechen nodded. Beigong Qiyi watched him closely, but the man only ate the pastries with a calm expression, showing no sign of suspicion. Only then did Beigong Qiyi relax, picking up a piece of mochi with a smile.
“How did your talk with Chu Muji go?” Beigong Juechen asked.
Swallowing the mochi, Beigong Qiyi replied with a gentle laugh, “Rest assured, brother. If the Chu family wishes to stay out of the succession struggle, they have no choice but to support us.”
Beigong Juechen nodded, sipped his water, and said, “I went to see Fu Zhi today. He told me some things, but I have no memory of them whatsoever.”
Beigong Qiyi, pastry in hand, paused and looked up at Beigong Juechen, who was watching him with the same indifferent expression as always.
Setting the pastry back in its box, Beigong Qiyi brushed the crumbs from his hands and laughed quietly. “Master Fu Zhi would never lie.”
Beigong Qiyi considered that Fu Zhi might have told the man the truth, but he hadn’t expected Beigong Juechen to reveal it so openly. Then again, he thought with amusement, someone like Beigong Juechen had no need for subterfuge.
“If Fu Zhi isn’t lying, then clearly my memory is at fault,” Beigong Juechen’s brow arched, his tone deepening. “Qiyi, will you tell me just what it is you’ve hidden from me?”
“Brother,” Beigong Qiyi called softly, his wide eyes tinged with grievance. “How can you be so sure it was me? Aren’t you overestimating me?”
The man snorted. “If I hadn’t underestimated you, I wouldn’t have fallen for your tricks time and again. Beigong Qiyi, even if you refuse to confess now, do you really think I’ll never remember?”
“If you wish to remember, you’ll find a way, but…” Beigong Qiyi slowly stood, standing just a little shorter than Beigong Juechen, and tilted his head slightly. “But I will never tell you.”
He reached out and tucked a stray lock of the man’s hair behind his ear, then leaned closer and whispered, “After all the trouble I took to make you forget, why would I help you recall?”
“In any case, I will discover the truth sooner or later,” Beigong Juechen replied coldly.
Beigong Qiyi sighed softly. “Brother, it’s different, it’s different…”
How could I bear to shatter all this happiness? Even if you remember one day, it will never be because of me.
He stepped back, widening the distance between them, his jet-black eyes glimmering with unshed tears. “Brother, how can you be so heartless…”
Beigong Juechen stared at him in silence for a moment, then huffed coldly and swept out.
He didn’t see, as he left, that a single teardrop slid down from the corner of Beigong Qiyi’s luminous eyes—a tear of which even Beigong Qiyi himself was unaware.