TDSDE 9

9. So-Called Heartbreak

The owner of Drunken Immortal Shade had died.

Bai Yuanxiu hadn’t meant to get involved. After all, this area was riddled with factions and tangled allegiances. As the Demonic Secr protector posing as a righteous man, it was a minefield—no matter who he sided with, he’d be in trouble.

He had just turned to leave when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xiao Qing standing under the eaves not far away, waving him over.

It was a fabric shop. Only when Bai Yuanxiu stepped inside did he realize Xiao Qing had bought him a new set of clothes. The fabric and style were all chosen—he just needed to try it on.

Running his fingers across the soft, skin-friendly cloth, Bai Yuanxiu felt like flowers were blooming in his heart.

Earlier on the road, he’d complained that his clothes were too thick. Even just sitting still, the collar clung to his neck like a vice—chafing, suffocating, unbearable.

Xiao Qing had noticed him fiddling with it constantly and asked what was wrong. Bai Yuanxiu had casually said it was too hot, never expecting Xiao Qing to remember. The moment they entered the city, he’d gone off to buy new clothes.

Bai Yuanxiu’s eyes were sparkling. If there hadn’t been so many people around, he honestly would’ve picked Xiao Qing up and spun him in circles.

The shopkeeper had been standing quietly to the side, but upon overhearing their conversation, his face lit up with excitement. “You’re the great hero Bai who took down the bandits, aren’t you?”

Bai Yuanxiu hadn’t robbed or hunted bandits in years, but his past of wiping out half of the vicious outlaws still circulated in the martial world.

To be recognized like this—Bai Yuanxiu was genuinely surprised.

When the surrounding crowd brought up the death of the restaurant owner, he could only act outraged and righteously indignant… and in the end, accepted the task of “seeking justice for the victim.”

Bai Yuanxiu felt a headache coming on. This whole act of righteousness—how was he ever supposed to shake it off?

Was he really going to keep hiding the truth from Xiao Qing for the rest of his life?

Xiao Qing, knowing he would only hold Bai Yuanxiu back in times of danger, always stayed quietly indoors when things got risky. He never wandered off, simply doing as Bai Yuanxiu told him and waiting obediently for him to return.

That time was no different. Bai Yuanxiu had been lying in wait to catch a murder. When he finally tracked him to an inn in the east of the city where the man was about to kill again, the murder flung powder in his face, injuring his eyes.

The powder was vicious. If not for Bai Yuanxiu’s powerful inner energy shielding him, he would’ve been blinded on the spot.

He wasn’t blinded—but his eyes were badly affected. His vision was a blur; he could only make out vague shapes.

That night, unable to sleep from the stinging pain in his eyes, Bai Yuanxiu suddenly heard soft rustling in the courtyard behind the inn.

Following the sound, he found a snow-white figure swinging a sword under the moonlight.

Martial artists were usually strong, and each person’s cultivation and sword-handling habits differed, meaning their swords varied in length and weight.

The one Xiao Qing held was the most basic model from the blacksmith’s. For someone who had never trained with a sword, it was far too heavy.

Bai Yuanxiu noticed Xiao Qing’s posture sway unnaturally and rushed over to steady him. But with his blurry vision, he stumbled—slipping and accidentally knocking Xiao Qing down.

His eyes were unreliable, but his inner strength remained. In a flash, he twisted their positions so Xiao Qing landed on top of him.

Worried sick, Bai Yuanxiu immediately asked if he was hurt—only to see Xiao Qing smiling.

Xiao Qing rarely showed expression, but that moment under the moonlight, his smile bloomed like an epiphyllum—breathtaking and fleeting, as if something too beautiful for the mortal world.

“Huh? Why is your face so red?”

Hearing Xiao Qing’s question, Bai Yuanxiu hastily lied, saying it was just the summer heat.

Xiao Qing didn’t doubt him. Bai Yuanxiu always radiated heat like a furnace—even in snowy winters, he stayed warm. Xiao Qing got off him and said, “Teach me a few moves.”

Bai Yuanxiu asked why. Xiao Qing simply said he was curious—watching Bai Yuanxiu practice every day made him want to try it himself.

But Bai Yuanxiu’s eyesight was shot. He couldn’t instruct Xiao Qing properly even if he wanted to. He was still stressing about that when he suddenly felt a chill against his chest.

Startled, he looked down. At this close distance, he could smell the faint scent of soap on Xiao Qing, and through the blur, he could just make out his calm, expressionless face.

“This is fine, isn’t it?”

Xiao Qing had him stand behind and guide him, hand over hand, in practicing slashing motions. The more Bai Yuanxiu taught, the hotter he felt. He knew his reaction was over the top, but he couldn’t help it.

Afraid Xiao Qing would notice something off, he quickly backed off after just a few moves and stood aside to watch, not daring to get close again.

Later, Bai Yuanxiu had a silver-white sword custom-made—light as cicada’s wings, perfect for Xiao Qing’s build.

Receiving the sword, Xiao Qing’s interest skyrocketed. Every day before dawn, he’d go to an open field to train. Bai Yuanxiu, not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm, simply followed in secret to make sure he stayed safe.

So one trained, and the other silently guarded under night and morning light. Half a month passed like that.

One day, as Bai Yuanxiu followed as usual, he suddenly saw a signal—a code his sect used to contact him.

He looked up at the pale dawn sky, calculated the time, and headed to the meeting spot.

It wasn’t urgent, just a heads-up: someone nearby was using the sect’s name to stir up trouble. As a Protector, Bai Yuanxiu was to keep watch and, if possible, capture the impostor alive.

Once the meeting ended, Bai Yuanxiu rushed to the rundown courtyard in the city’s northwest. Though this small city bustled by day, the northwest side was remote—almost like a different world entirely.

Still, it was generally a safe town. Patrols roamed regularly.

But when Bai Yuanxiu arrived at the courtyard, all he found was a snapped tip of a silver-white sword.

Xiao Qing was missing.

By the third day, Bai Yuanxiu felt like he’d gone mad.

He didn’t plan to wait for the authorities’ investigation. Just as he stepped onto the street, he bumped into an old woman holding the hand of a little girl who looked no more than four or five years old.

The old woman burst into tears at the sight of him, while the little girl giggled—an eerie sound.

Bai Yuanxiu had no time to spare for others, but as he brushed past them, the girl piped up in a clear voice, “Big brother, are you looking for someone?”

Bai Yuanxiu was in the worst mood possible, yet the smile on his face was gentler and brighter than ever. “Oh?”

Anyone familiar with him would know that provoking him further now would be a terrible idea. But the little girl just giggled. “I know where he is. I’ll take you there.”

Bai Yuanxiu crouched down to meet the child’s eyes at her level. “Sure.”

And so, a hunched old woman and a skipping little girl led the way, guiding Bai Yuanxiu straight into a gambling den.

Private gambling houses were forbidden in the Great Jing Dynasty—punishable by beheading—yet this one thrived openly beneath the largest restaurant in the area.

As it turned out, all the restaurants in this district served as fronts for the gambling operation, including the one in the small town Bai Yuanxiu and the others had visited earlier.

The owner of Drunken Immortal Shade had been murdered—not, as the authorities had concluded, by a jealous rival—but because the restaurant owners in that town had embezzled gambling funds. The powerful figure behind the gambling den was displeased, and punishment had to be dealt.

Coincidentally, Bai Yuanxiu had stumbled upon the crime, then later intervened when the assassin struck again, subduing the killer. The authorities followed the trail, raiding several establishments in the process. Naturally, Bai Yuanxiu had become a thorn in their side.

They had sent new assassins to eliminate him, but for some reason, all of them died under mysterious circumstances before reaching him.

Now that Bai Yuanxiu had entered the city, the mastermind behind it all enlisted the help of the Demonic Sect to kidnap the person by his side, luring him into a trap.

The old woman and the little girl were none other than the infamous Gu Lao (Ghost Granny) of the underworld, hired as security for the gambling den. But Gu Lao was notoriously capricious—for reasons unknown, she took it upon herself to personally lead Bai Yuanxiu back.

Bai Yuanxiu’s sudden arrival caught the gamblers off guard, but among them were four or five skilled fighters who surrounded and wounded him.

Just as it seemed Bai Yuanxiu was done for, Gu Lao abruptly turned traitor, slicing off the gambling den owner’s legs with a single stroke and throwing the scene into chaos.

When Bai Yuanxiu followed Gu Lao’s directions to the hidden room, he found several corpses strewn outside. Inside, Xiao Qing was curled up in a closet, face streaked with tears.

Bai Yuanxiu’s heart ached fiercely. He immediately scooped Xiao Qing up and carried him away from that wretched place. From that day on, Xiao Qing clung to him relentlessly—the two were practically inseparable, even sharing a bed at night.

A few months later, in an unseasonably early winter, Xiao Qing fell ill, burning with fever yet still gripping Bai Yuanxiu’s hand tightly in his delirium.

At the time, Bai Yuanxiu had been too lovesick to think straight.

But now, knowing Xiao Qing’s identity as the Left Protector, he felt an odd discomfort.

He had no idea what Xiao Qing had been thinking when he asked him to teach him swordsmanship, but looking back on his own awkward blunders made him cringe.

Just as he sighed inwardly, he heard sniffling. Bai Yuanxiu turned to see the Yunhua sect leader’s once-fierce disciple squatting beside him, wiping away tears.

Bai Yuanxiu: ?

The girl choked out, “I don’t blame you anymore. You’re heartbroken—it’s only natural to lash out when you’re hurting.”

Bai Yuanxiu: ……

Damn it, did I spill something again?!

And what’s this about heartbreak?!

He wasn’t heartbroken! He was fine!

Bai Yuanxiu rubbed his face and said solemnly, “You have to keep this a secret. Even from your master.”

The girl nodded emphatically, her expression so full of sympathy it made Bai Yuanxiu’s chest tighten.

Bai Yuanxiu had a habit of zoning out when lost in thought—and when zoned out, he tended to mutter to himself.

After fishing for more information from the girl and confirming he hadn’t revealed Xiao Qing’s identity, he breathed a sigh of relief. But from then on, every time he came to supervise her sword practice, she would gaze at him with a complicated look.

Bai Yuanxiu: “……I’m really fine.”

The girl: “Mhm, mhm, don’t worry—I understand.”

Bai Yuanxiu: ……

Why do I feel so inexplicably exhausted?

Still, because of this, the girl no longer resisted Bai Yuanxiu’s sword training.

Truthfully, Bai Yuanxiu wasn’t much of a teacher. But despite her youth, the girl was genuinely talented with the sword, so he only needed to correct her stance and technique. With each adjustment, her skills improved noticeably.

So when the Left Protector arrived at Yunhua Mountain’s territory on orders to retrieve someone, the first thing he saw from a distance was Bai Yuanxiu chatting amiably with a young girl.