Mao Yijun watched as the Mistress’ servants walked away and, once confirming they were gone, made his way to Su Xia’s side. He stopped a few steps away, clear eyes examining the damage that had been done. Blood had slowly started to pool at Su Xia’s knees as his eyebrows furrowed in pain.
“Young Master,” Mao Yijun whispered, bringing the other’s attention towards him. Su Xia’s pale gaze traveled to Mao Yijun’s and the younger couldn’t help but look down to avoid looking directly into his eyes. After a few moments of silence, he continued speaking, keeping his voice quiet as to not gather any unwanted attention, “Young Master… are you alright?”
Mao Yijun wanted to slap himself silly; of course he wasn’t alright! To be beaten until you were bleeding and heavily berated emotionally in open wounds in the heart… There was no one in the world who would be alright after that.
Su Xia stared at his small servant for a moment before speaking, his voice cracking slightly and raspy from holding in his screams, “I’m alright… I’m sorry you had to see that.”
Mao Yijun cried dry tears at his master’s bleeding heart; he was trying to comfort him when he was clearly in the worse situation! If before Mao Yijun had thought this was the same Su Xia before time rewound, he no longer held such beliefs. That Su Xia would rather die than speak highly of anyone, especially those he thought of less than himself, and, even if he were only doing it to play up his mask, he would have broken it the moment his father issued his punishment.
This Su Xia was not the same Su Xia from before. Was he possessed? Did he truly have a change of heart? Mao Yijun didn’t know. What he did know was that this Su Xia, the one kneeling in front of him, clearly in pain but not wishing to worry a mere servant, did not deserve the brutality he was being given. However, if this were to retrigger the Su Xia from before, that would only worsen the situation. So, Mao Yijun made a decision; he would raise this Su Xia to be a kind and thoughtful man, not one full of hatred and greed.
While his body was that of a child, Mao Yijun’s mind had already lived tens of hundreds of years. He was more than certain he was older than Su Xia in every sense and resolved to raise him into an upstanding man, taking on the role as a ‘brother’ that had been cruelly ripped from this child’s grasp. That last thought hit Mao Yijun hard; this Su Xia was only twelve, still merely only a child himself. He had not experienced the pain and trials Mao Yijun or even the previous Su Xia had been through.
With that thought in mind, Mao Yijun tightened his lips, asking a question that had been on his mind for a long time, “Young Master, why did you start eating breakfast with us servants?”
Su Xia looked up from his thighs, eyes portraying a sense of endless exhaustion, picking apart whatever emotion they could find in Mao Yijun’s cool gaze. After a while, he answered, “... I have always wanted to eat as a family.” Little did Mao Yijun know how much this statement held, not only to Su Xia, but to Xue Yahui; even in his previous life, Xue Yahui had not once had a proper meal together as a family and, once finding out he could finally live out a childhood dream, was more than happy to do so.
Not knowing this, Mao Yijun only knew half the story behind those words, but felt his heart melt at them all the same. For such a reason! While it may sound childish on the surface, once he became aware of Su Xia’s familiar situation, he clearly understood that they meant more than what could be heard. Mao Yijun was now more determined than ever to become a proper big brother to this suffering child, even surprising himself by his sudden change of heart.
Well, even though he was a demonic cultivator, he could never bring himself to harm children, so perhaps that played a role in his abrupt change of view for the person he had once hated. Even he was unable to come up with a concrete reason. However, that change also brought another, and that was an even more intense hatred towards the rest of the Su Clan. Unplanned or not, a child should not be something you throw away simply because you didn’t want it! They were not a toy to play with then abandon when you found them inconvenient!
“Young Master, let’s run away.” Mao Yijun said after a time in silence.
Su Xia’s eyes widened faintly in surprise but, after considering his words, simply shook his head in defeat. “And go where? We’ve no money or connections and, with my appearance, I would only be a clear give away to being the bastard child of the Su Clan. Not only that, but once recaptured, how can I guarantee your safety as well as the safety of the other servants? I couldn’t possibly take that risk.”
Mao Yijun bit his lips, unable to refute. Su Xia’s white hair and pink eyes were known almost everywhere the Su Clan was known in as being the bastard child of the Su Clan and would be a dead give away if they were to travel anywhere where there was knowledge of the Su Clan, which was any place they could travel to on foot for many days. Not only that, but, since Su Xia would be an outcast and Mao Yijun being an orphan, neither had any influence on their own.
Su Xia was even worried about the other servants, whom were to be more than likely fine even if they left, as they would only need to resign and then live their lives however they wished. Mao Yijun couldn’t cry anymore tears for how selfless this child before him was. He racked his brain for something, anything, to help Su Xia while protecting the servants his master clearly cared much for. After all, in Su Xia’s eyes, they were much more his family than even Mao Yijun knew.
“We could tell the others before hand, giving them time to come up with a plausible enough excuse to take the blame off them and then leaving.” Mao Yijun insisted, seeing as that was their only best option because Su Xia was more than likely to die before reaching the end of his punishment.
Su Xia still seemed hesitant, reluctance clear in his eyes. Just as Mao Yijun was going to try and push further, an idea popped into his head: “The trials!” When Su Xia gave him an eyebrow raised in question, he hastily continued, “The trials are set to start in three day’s time. We could run away and claim we are just going to attempt the trials; even the Mistress and Master won’t bother attempting to come after you if that were the case!”
Confusion flickered through Su Xia’s expression before a dawn of understanding settled in; the trials! While he hadn’t known about them upon transmigration, he had heard about the Sect trials through Qin Hong and the other servants. Apparently these ‘trials’ only happened once every hundred years and, while they accepted everyone who applied, after the time set for the trial, if they didn’t pass, they were immediately sent home without a second chance.
Not only that, but said trials were said to be extremely difficult; only a handful of people were accepted into each Sect and there was no guarantee one was get accepted no matter what your connections or credibility was outside the Sect walls. If you didn’t have the talent, you weren’t accepted. Su Xia gnawed at his bottom lip delicately, weighing the options.
One, he could stay here and most likely be beaten to death or two, he could try out for the Sect trials and at least have a small chance of escape from the chains that bound him to this brutal place. After heavy debation, he finally relented, giving Mao Yijun a faint nod. “Alright.”
Mao Yijun beamed, relief clear in his expression as he happily spoke, “Good, good! I’ll inform Madam Hou Lin immediately; Young Master, clean yourself up and get changed. I’ll meet you at the gates.”
As he said that, Mao Yijun slipped out a knife from his person, where he was hiding it Su Xia couldn’t even begin to fathom, before being ushered back to his room and Mao Yijun rushing to tell Madam Hou Lin their plan. Su Xia quickly washed himself and dressed his wounds as best he could before slipping out of the building, whose name he never learned, if it was even given a name to begin with, and hurrying to the gate’s entrance.
It wasn’t hard to find, as the building Su Xia resided in was set next to it, so all he had to do was walk alongside it until he met an opening. He peered out, seeing a thick bamboo forest surrounding the estate, and patiently waited for Mao Yijun. After around fifteen minutes, Mao Yijun appeared, carrying a small bag filled to the brim slung over his shoulder. When Su Xia tried to take the burden from him, Mao Yijun refused, saying, “You think I like to bully a wounded patient?”
Su Xia reluctantly allowed him to carrying something seemingly too heavy for such a small child to even hold and the two set off, neither one even once glancing back at the place that had caused them both so much harm. Of course, Su Xia didn’t know of Mao Yijun’s previous troubles with the Su Clan, only ever seeing him enjoy himself in the small building they occupied without any trepidations, but even that small child was happy to get away from that place.
Not only for his sake, but fo Su Xia’s sake as well.
Yaaayyy! Author is finally back! It's been, what, like half a year..? Idk, anyways, thanks for the chapter and as always, Su Xia is super adorable!
cute(▰˘◡˘▰)