My Junior Still Hasn't Killed Me

14

Chapter 14: Drunk

Translated by Rikko of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis, WagahaiFujoshi

Spring flowers were in full bloom when ZhongYan first arrived at Green Summit, a stark contrast to the present early autumn scenery. The interweave of golden autumn, red maple and cypress leaves dyed the layers of forests in their colours; every mountain in Green Summit was painted in gorgeous autumn colours.

While the bright moon illuminated the quiet autumn night, ZhongYan sat cross-legged by the window viewing the layer of silver frost-like moonlight outside the window. Despite going to great lengths to save the villain, he was deemed as a villain in the end, an absurd yet irrefutable outcome indeed. Nonetheless, ZhongYan's attitude was rather positive, neither downhearted nor resentful.

He just felt a little homesick on such an autumn night. He asked the system, [Can I go home once I'm done with the mission?]

The system probably detected his melancholy as its answer was lightning fast, [Of course. We will return you to the exact moment in time.]

After finding some solace, ZhongYan started pondering again, wondering if Gu XuanYan would miss him if he were gone. After all, they went through thick and thin together. Following which, he began to reason with himself. At the very least, Liang Zheng and Qing You would probably miss him, so why focus on Gu XuanYan?

Just as the thought popped up in his mind, it was knocked away the moment a pine nut hit his forehead, rendering him speechless. The sorrow of parting welling up in him dissipated right then. As expected, when he lifted his head towards the window, he found Gu XuanYan standing in the courtyard with his sword.

Noticing ZhongYan's eyes on him, Gu XuanYan went over to the window side and asked softly, "A penny for Senior Brother's thoughts?"

Since the window sill ZhongYan was sitting on was a tad higher than the floor, ZhongYan had to lower his head a little to meet Gu XuanYan's eyes. ZhongYan found his elevated viewpoint awkward and felt the two were too close.

Still, instead of getting away, Gu XuanYan raised his head as he waited for ZhongYan's reply. As the two locked gazes, the air around them seemed as though they were recreating a scene of a romantic poem, 'Await the moon below the western chamber, Welcoming the wind, the door is half ajar.'[1]

{1. A poem by Cui YingYing in 'Romance of the Western chamber'. The latter part of the poem: 

Brushing the wall, the shadow of flower moves. I think it is my beloved at the door.

The poem depicts Cui YingYing waiting for her lover, Student Zhang.}

Alas, neither was Gu XuanYan the lover described in the poem, nor did ZhongYan feel as though he was the author of the poem. ZhongYan swayed his legs about on the window sill, "I can't sleep, so I'm moon gazing."

Gu XuanYan seemingly let out a light chuckle, "The back of the mountains is a better spot for moon gazing." As Gu XuanYan noticed ZhongYan looking at him, the amusement in his eyes grew, "There aren't much green plums left there. But I plucked a few some time ago and fermented them. The bottle of wine is buried under the tree; does Senior Brother want it?"

ZhongYan's eyes twinkled, but he still let out a cough, "It's past the curfew hours, so it probably isn't a good idea."

Gu XuanYan nodded solemnly, as if convinced, "Well said, Senior Brother. Forget it then."

ZhongYan was stumped for words.

Gu XuanYan chuckled as he saw the regret on ZhongYan's face before taking half a step back, "Let's go, Senior Brother."