Chapter 66 – Ambiguous Distance

When Zhang Xiuqi woke up, the first thing he felt was a cool sensation on his chest. He frowned slightly and looked down, noticing a delicately crafted Bodhi bead shaped like a lotus hanging around his neck. The coolness emanating from the bead brought a calming Zen-like tranquility. Under the soothing effect of the Bodhi bead, the lingering shadows in his mind began to gradually settle, becoming more docile and controllable, no longer as irritating as before.

Shifting his gaze from the Bodhi bead, he soon caught the enticing aroma of food. Zhang Xiuqi looked up and was met with a smiling face.

“Brother Qi, you’re awake?” Wei Yang, with one hand still injured, clumsily opened the thermal lunchbox with his other hand and took out several containers of food. “Woody came by earlier and brought some food from Yuexin Lou. Let’s eat while it’s still warm.”

As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly. Only then did Zhang Xiuqi realize how famished he was. Without hesitation, he sat up from the bed and prepared to get up, but Wei Yang stopped him. “No need to get up. You probably can’t eat on your own right now. Just sit on the edge of the bed.”

Due to the fierce battle with the corpse puppet earlier, Zhang Xiuqi’s hands were wrapped in bandages. The backs of his hands were bruised in several places, and his knuckles had suffered extensive soft tissue damage. The fluid from the corpse puppet had also caused some inflammation, leaving his hands completely swathed like zongzi. It would be difficult for him to eat with such hands.

Wei Yang didn’t waste words. He simply propped up the bedside table, placed the dishes on it, and stirred the century egg and lean meat porridge with a small spoon. With a smile, he said to Zhang Xiuqi, “Just so you know, this is my first time feeding someone. Be careful, Brother Qi, and don’t choke.”

His demeanor was natural, and the familiar aura around him was comforting. Zhang Xiuqi was momentarily stunned but didn’t resist. He obediently sat by the table. Seeing the little Celestial Master like this, Wei Yang chuckled softly, and his tense shoulders relaxed slightly. He scooped up some porridge with a ceramic spoon and fed it to Zhang Xiuqi.

Zhang Xiuqi’s eating habits had always been proper—back straight, eyes focused, each bite the same size, and he would only take the next bite after finishing the previous one. In the month they had spent together, this had never changed. Thus, today Wei Yang fed him with great care, his movements gentle and his rhythm steady. The two of them sat quietly around the small movable dining table, as if performing a silent and solemn ritual.

Wei Yang’s gaze remained fixed on Zhang Xiuqi. Every time he swallowed the food from the spoon, his eyelashes would lower, looking at the spoon being offered. Regardless of what was brought to him, Zhang Xiuqi would eat it in one bite. His handsome face showed no emotional fluctuations, but it didn’t resemble a clay puppet either—it was just quiet and calm. The emotional turmoil he had experienced earlier was slowly fading, but it had left behind something else.

Wei Yang’s hand paused, and the spoon stopped mid-air. Zhang Xiuqi looked up, his dark eyes devoid of confusion, only a silent inquiry. Seeing the curiosity in his gaze, Wei Yang tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Brother Qi, we’ll have to stay in the hospital for a while longer. Once your injuries have healed a bit, we’ll head home with me, okay?”

“Okay,” Zhang Xiuqi replied without hesitation.

It was still that same unconditional, unreserved trust, which had only grown more urgent after the recent battle. Wei Yang’s heart twitched slightly. He smiled and continued feeding him.

The meal took quite some time. After finally finishing, Wei Yang called Heipi to order some high-quality cinnabar and specially made talisman paper. The supplies he had brought with him had been used up, and he still needed to draw the Soul-Stabilizing Talismans, so he had to restock.

Zhang Xiuqi sat quietly on the sofa nearby, showing no intention of moving. His deep gaze seemed distant, as if he was looking at the traces of the past. With the Bodhi bead suppressing his emotions, he could now freely explore the fragmented memories in his mind, searching for the forgotten traces. Occasionally, he would look up from his memories and glance toward Wei Yang, confirming that the person with the familiar aura was still by his side and wouldn’t leave.

Wei Yang still felt anxious about the little Celestial Master’s current state. After all, no one knew how long the Bodhi bead’s effect would last. What if, when the next third day of the lunar month arrived, they still hadn’t found the so-called “causes and effects”? Would his soul become unstable again? And what about the thirteenth and twenty-third days of the lunar month? No one could give a definitive answer. If only they could find Mr. Zeng…

After sitting in silence for a while, Wei Yang finally stood up and walked over to Zhang Xiuqi. “Brother Qi, since we can’t draw talismans right now, let’s go for a walk. Staying cooped up in the hospital room isn’t good for your health.”

Those pitch-black eyes looked over, like a calm, dark pool of water, still immersed in the past. Wei Yang didn’t give him more time to think. Instead, he simply pulled him up from the sofa and headed outside.

By now, the sky had darkened. Since this was a convalescent hospital for high-ranking officials, it wasn’t located in the city center but rather closer to the new district. The hospital grounds were lush with greenery, with dense trees and flower beds stretching as far as the eye could see. Not far away was a sizable ornamental lake. There weren’t many people taking walks in the hospital, so the two of them strolled along the winding path until they reached the rockery by the lake. A clear evening breeze, characteristic of the suburbs, blew in, causing the lotus leaves in the center of the lake to sway gently. Occasionally, a few colorful koi fish would swim to the edge of the pond, peeking out and blowing a cluster of tiny bubbles, as if waiting to be fed.

Watching the fish making their futile efforts, Wei Yang suddenly chuckled, breaking the silence. “Brother Qi, what was your childhood like? I was quite mischievous when I was a kid, always following my grandpa around. That old man knew too much and loved to scare me with his stories. I followed him to so many places and met so many strange people. All the things I know about the old Eight Gates, I learned from him. If it had just been grandpa, I probably would have had a pretty good childhood…”

His voice trailed off, and the faint smile on his lips slowly faded. “But the family wasn’t just grandpa. There was also grandma. She was… hard to describe. To outsiders, she seemed profound, like a divine priestess, but when she faced me, she would reveal a terrifyingly vicious gaze, ranting and raving, calling me a family-ruining ghost and telling me to get out of the house. That was in the countryside, where her words sometimes carried more weight than the village chief’s. If it hadn’t been for grandpa, I probably would have left long ago, or been sent away.”

Wei Yang paused, as if searching for the right words. After a long moment, he continued, “Later, grandpa passed away, and I left my hometown to study elsewhere. My uncle and aunt were actually quite nice, but the way they looked at me was always off. Grandma only grew more deranged. Who could stay in such a situation? Eventually, news came that grandma had fallen ill, a very costly illness. I sent money a few times, and my uncle accepted it, but he didn’t dare tell grandma. This dragged on for several years until her tough life finally came to an end. Before she died, she made it clear that I was never to return home, never to mourn at her grave, and never to disturb my uncle’s family, lest I bring them misfortune.”

Perhaps because the wound on his throat hadn’t fully healed, his voice was hoarse and dry, echoing in the quiet night. Zhang Xiuqi frowned suddenly and reached out, patting Wei Yang’s head with his bandaged hand. The gesture wasn’t gentle—it was more like a child patting their beloved pet, clumsy and forceful. Yet Wei Yang’s lips twitched, and a small smile appeared.

“But I’ve decided to go back and take a look. Not just for you, Brother Qi, but also to find out the ’causes and effects’ that Master Chizhi mentioned. Now that I think about it, was grandpa really so open with me? Why did he hide so many things, even the origin of the talisman jade? Grandma, such a shrewd and powerful priestess, why did she deliberately target her own grandson? And those forgotten memories, the things that were deliberately or inadvertently concealed—what were they? What exactly am I…”

A night breeze swept by, whistling through the rocks beside them, as if trying to scatter the words that had just been spoken. Zhang Xiuqi pressed his fingers harder against Wei Yang’s hair and answered in a deep voice, “You are Yangyang.”

Wei Yang smiled, as if the gloom in his heart had been blown away by those words. He grabbed the clumsy hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Yes, I’m your Yangyang. Brother Qi, get better soon. Let’s go home and see what these so-called ’causes and effects’ really are.”

With his hand held by Wei Yang, Zhang Xiuqi’s furrowed brow seemed to relax slightly. The intensity in his eyes softened, as if melted by the evening breeze. He couldn’t articulate what exactly he was searching for, but someone was still by his side, and he needed to keep an eye on this person, to make sure he didn’t leave like his father had.

The two of them stood by the lake for a long time, until the crescent moon rose silently in the sky and climbed above the treetops. Wei Yang scratched his hair, tousled by the night breeze. “Let’s go, we should head back and sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll start drawing the Soul-Stabilizing Talismans. At the very least, we need to make it through the day when the three souls are summoned in ten days.”

Zhang Xiuqi nodded without objection, and a smile appeared on Wei Yang’s face. Although they were still facing a tangled web of mysteries, their goal was at least clearer than it had ever been.

By the time they strolled back to the hospital room, it was already past nine, which was usually the time the little Celestial Master would go to sleep. However, he didn’t seem particularly tired, perhaps because he had been hypnotized for too long during the day. After giving Zhang Xiuqi’s face and neck a once-over, Wei Yang said, “Brother Qi, you still have a lot of the corpse puppet’s filth on you. Let me help you wipe down.”

There was no suggestive undertone in his words, and Zhang Xiuqi didn’t hesitate either. He nodded, and the two of them walked into the bathroom attached to the hospital room. The bathroom was surprisingly larger than the one in Wei Yang’s new home, and it even had a rather comfortable-looking bathtub. However, given that both of them had plenty of injuries, Wei Yang didn’t fill the bathtub. Instead, he ran some warm water in the sink and then helped Zhang Xiuqi out of his hospital gown.

The body beneath the hospital gown was bare, but this time, Wei Yang didn’t feel the same panic he had during the hair-washing incident. Instead, he calmly wet the towel and began wiping Zhang Xiuqi’s face. The dust on the bridge of his nose, the black water behind his ears, and the bloodstains on his neck and upper arms were all gently wiped away by the warm towel.

Since Wei Yang’s left hand was still injured, the towel wasn’t wrung out completely dry. A few drops of water slid down Zhang Xiuqi’s slender neck, only to be stopped by the jagged scar on his chest. Wei Yang paused the towel in his hand and asked softly, “Brother Qi, was this scar from when you were a child?”

Zhang Xiuqi’s gaze followed Wei Yang’s hand downward, and he nodded. “Uncle said they stitched me up.”

Wei Yang’s heart twitched. He moved the towel away and lifted Zhang Xiuqi’s arm, gently wiping under his armpit. Less than an inch from his armpit, another scar ran across, extending all the way to his back. Wei Yang couldn’t help but ask again, “What about this one?”

“Twelve years old. Evil spirits backfired.”

“And this shorter one?”

“Going down the mountain. Encountered a Ming Tong.”

Wei Yang found it hard to continue asking. There were still many scars on Zhang Xiuqi’s body, varying in depth, cutting across what should have been an enviable physique. If it had been before, Wei Yang might have blamed the people around Zhang Xiuqi for not taking better care of him. But after learning about the side effects of the Soul-Stabilizing Talismans, those words were hard to say. Why had the people of Mount Longhu entrusted this direct descendant to relatives in Sanliao Village? Perhaps there was a reason for that too. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Zeng, would Brother Qi have already died in those extraordinary adventures?

Wei Yang wet the towel again and knelt down, gently wiping Zhang Xiuqi’s thighs. His legs still had no excess fat, and like every inch of his body, the lines were graceful yet marred by scars, like a meticulously carved statue that had been damaged, evoking a bittersweet sense of pity. His hands were steady, and his heart was calm. The youthful, inexperienced lust had disappeared, replaced by an indescribable tenderness. Wei Yang felt that he had changed somewhat. What he needed wasn’t just the easily attainable things but something deeper and more cherished. For this, he could let go of those desires that couldn’t be openly acknowledged.

As the towel brushed past the back of the knee, a hand gently lifted his ankle, slowly wiping away the bloodstains on his calf. Zhang Xiuqi looked down in confusion at the dark hair of the person crouching before him. Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up in his heart, as if something was clawing at it, spreading warmth and itchiness. His bandaged hand twitched slightly, and he instinctively moved closer to the person in front of him.

“Feeling a bit cold?” Wei Yang quickened his pace, finishing the last of the bloodstains before standing up. “I’ll go get a clean hospital gown. Wait here for a bit, Brother Qi.”

With that, he tossed the towel into the sink. The towel swayed slightly before sinking to the bottom. Watching the ripples in the water, Zhang Xiuqi frowned in confusion. He hadn’t felt cold before, but after the other person left, he felt as if something was missing, and the cold became unbearable. Without suppressing this strange feeling, he followed Wei Yang out, almost bumping into him.

Clearly surprised, Wei Yang chuckled softly. “Looks like I should prepare a bath towel next time. Is it that cold? Here, put this on.”

The soft hospital gown once again covered his bare skin, but it didn’t seem to be what he wanted. Zhang Xiuqi’s brows furrowed slightly, but when he looked at the man carefully buttoning his gown, the confusion slowly faded. He reached out and lightly patted Wei Yang’s head, while Wei Yang patted his shoulder. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow, we’ll draw the Soul-Stabilizing Talismans.”

Soon, the lights in the hospital room were turned off. Zhang Xiuqi subtly shifted his body, pressing half of it against the person beside him. Feeling the warmth emanating from the other side, he sighed contentedly and closed his eyes.