Faraway Wanderers Novel (English Translation)

Rainy Night

“Me?” Wen Kexing let out a strange laugh,

“Do you think I can survive until now if I don’t know more than I should?”

After a short silence, Gu Xiang continued. “Then… that Zhou Xu, he…”

“I met someone who escaped from Tian Chuang once.”

A pause.

“There has never been someone who can evade the fate of turning catatonic, but he can. From it I can guess that his rank was Great Butler at the very least; he… he might have been the former leader even.”

Gu Xiang was surprised.

“If he was the leader, then why would he run…”

Then she stopped, seemingly having realized something.

Wen Kexing was walking very quickly now, as if he wanted to leave something behind him as far as possible. With Gu Xiang’s short legs, she had to jog lightly to catch up to him. Seeing that he only got quicker and quicker, Gu Xiang disrupted the silence between them.

“Master, are you heartbroken?”

Wen Kexing asked gently without looking back.

“What would I be heartbroken about?”

After mulling it over, Gu Xiang had to admit that she wasn’t sure. She heard him laugh softly, his feet almost gliding over the ground rather than moving.

“With his disguise, I can’t even know for sure if he’s a beauty or not… Besides, I prefer the soft type, so he won’t be of my taste even if he is beautiful.”

Even with her qinggong Gu Xiang was unable to catch up, and she blurted out,

“But didn’t you say once that you liked the tall ones with tiny waist and pretty butterfly bones…”

“You remember it wrong.” he interrupted.

Then he added, justifying to no one in particular.

“I just felt like… I’d finally found someone I can relate to⁠—Gu Xiang, stop following me.”

“Huh?” In a blink, Wen Kexing was already meters away from her.

Gu Xiang called out sulkily, “Why, Master? Did I anger you again?”

Wen Kexing had already disappeared in the rain with only his distant voice reaching her ears.

“You talk too much.”

Gu Xiang, left all alone, stomped petulantly and cursed him under her breath,

“I was nice to you and this is what I get!”

Then she raised her head to stare after the direction Wen Kexing had vanished to, suddenly being reminded of the image of his soaked back, his broad shoulders, his unwavering steps under the rain that didn’t wait for her one bit. There was no one beside him but he never looked sideways, like he had been travelling alone for a while now.

She pitied him a little.

Finding someone you could connect with or whatever was fine… But that person was a flickering lamp that would die out in a few years, so what was the point?

Under the cold wind and rain, one thought they could have attained something but couldn’t.

Who in this world could really live how they wanted to?
Could you?