7 Days CXS - 6

CHAPTER 6: Day Six

Waking up in the morning, I felt a sharp, stabbing pain all over my body. Propping myself up to crawl out, I slammed straight into Treading Snow’s belly.

Scrambling out in a mad panic, I discovered that the straw in the "safe zone" had already been neatly tidied up and piled into a stack, with not a soul in sight.

My heart sank.

Could it be that he thought this was the Shen Manor proper, and thus assumed he was free to wander about without a care in the world?

If he happened to run into Shen Pian or Ouyang, it would still be manageable; but if he crossed paths with any of the other servants and ended up being dragged off to Eldest Brother, Eldest Brother wouldn't care in the least whether an unauthorized trespasser was a beauty or an ugly mug, a righteous hero or a demonic cultist—it would straightaway be a one-way ticket to "chopped into pieces and fed to the dogs."

At that thought, a fresh wave of anxiety gripped me. Even though the spots where I’d been kicked were still aching agonizingly, I couldn't afford to worry about that anymore. I gave Treading Snow’s rump a reassuring pat to settle him down, dusted the grime off my clothes, and bolted out.

Whether I should be glad or heartbroken, I hadn't gone more than a few paces before I ran straight into Ouyang.

If there was reason to be glad, it was indeed because the person right beside Ouyang was unquestionably Yin Cheng.

But if there was reason to be heartbroken, it was equally true because Ouyang was currently leaning in close to Yin Cheng with a thoroughly lewd grin, feeling him up from top to bottom. The latter, evidently having his acupoints sealed, wore an expression of utter grief and indignation.

After weighing my options, I stepped up behind the fully engrossed Ouyang, tapped him on the shoulder, and let out a heavy, deliberate cough.

"Your granduncle!" Ouyang snapped, his face twisted with resentment.

"You lied to me!" Yin Cheng chimed in, his face a mask of bitter tragedy.

It took me a full three hundred moves to beat Ouyang into retreating; following that, it took me a solid three hours of persuasion to convince Yin Cheng that the perverted scoundrel who had just subjected him to all those outrages was genuinely none other than the jianghu-renowned "Seven-Step Smile," Seventh Young Master Ouyang.

"Actually, he wasn't always like this. Back when he was thirteen or fourteen, he was pretty much just like the legends described". Once Yin Cheng quieted down, my own heart settled somewhat. As I recounted those old-day anecdotes to him, I busied myself dressing the injuries on my own body.

He sat off to the side, turning his head away and stubbornly refusing to look at me. But having spent so much time telling stories to Shen Pian and Shen Ke back in the day, I knew full well that even though he was putting up a front of utter disinterest, he was actually burning with curiosity. Everyone possesses a bit of that childish streak, and given his haughty and proud nature, I figured it best not to call him out or tease him, choosing instead to simply press on with the tale.

"His martial arts were superb, and he had plenty of youthful mettle. Yet for some reason, his face almost never carried any expression, making him utterly inscrutable. Back then, let alone laying eyes on an ordinary beauty, even if a celestial maiden had descended straight from the heavens right in front of him, he wouldn't have spared her a second glance".

As I spun the tale, my hands involuntarily came to a halt. In my mind's eye, Ouyang's appearance from those years seemed to surface once more.

A handsome, elegant youth wielding a three-foot green blade, robes fluttering in the wind, transcendent and ethereal.

If that incident hadn't occurred back then...

"Th-Then why did he turn out like this now?"

Yin Cheng’s hesitant voice broke the silence, snapping me back to reality as I realized that, caught up in my own reminiscing, I had zoned out completely.

Feeling slightly awkward, I cleared my throat.

"Well... speaking of which, it's actually nothing special... When he was sixteen, a certain event happened".

"——What event?!"

I let out a sigh, casting my gaze past Treading Snow and the stable fencing toward the distant, unknowable horizon.

"When he was sixteen... he accidentally got to know my Eldest Brother".

Close to vermilion gets stained red; close to ink gets stained black.

My Eldest Brother is quite literally the basin of water Wang Xizhi used to rinse his calligraphy brushes.

Once I finished tending to my injuries, I spent a while looking after Treading Snow. Yin Cheng was remarkably well-behaved—perhaps entirely traumatized by Ouyang, he simply sat quietly in the corner of the stable, obediently gnawing on whatever steamed bun I handed him and drinking whatever water I offered, staying completely still and making barely a peep.

With him being so docile, I felt a heavy sense of relief. Still, feeling a bit uneasy since I had to step away to fetch water, I deliberately gave him a parting reminder:

"Things are a bit unstable around the manor right now, so you'd better not run around everywhere".

He stared to the side without answering, though I knew he'd definitely heard me.

I sighed, picked up the water bucket, and tiptoed away—human nature being what it is, when the person beside you stays dead silent, you naturally don't dare kick up any major commotion yourself.

However, I was far too naive. When I returned, straw was scattered all across the floor, Yin Cheng’s acupoints had been sealed once again, something was stuffed firmly into his mouth, his outer garments were torn wide open down the front, and his face was flushed beet-red.

Looking up toward the other side, Shen Pian was leaning against Treading Snow, casually munching on a steamed bun and giving me a lazy wave.

"Second Brother, you're really too careless. You didn't even notice when his acupoints got unsealed; what would you have done if he'd managed to run off?"

Before I could even frame a reply, he had already tossed the remaining half of his bun to Treading Snow and sauntered briskly toward me with a smile that looked terrifyingly like Ouyang's.

"A moment of evening value is worth thousands in gold; Second Brother, you should hurry up and taste the flavor for yourself".

"I really didn't lie to you, honest".

After exhausting every ounce of my eloquence to finally pack Shen Pian off, I spent the rest of the time—right up until dusk—apologizing to Yin Cheng and trying to clear my name. Only when evening fell did his expression finally soften a fraction. I hastily poured him a bowl of water, which he accepted with a deeply suspicious glance at me before finally drinking it down.

"Actually, Third Bro isn't normally that kind of person. He really is..."

"Is what?" He set down the water bowl, fixing me with a half-smile. "You aren't about to tell me that something happened to him too, are you?"

Feeling thoroughly guilty, I gave a small, sheepish nod.

"What happened to him?"

I swallowed hard.

"He... when he was born... he accidentally got to know my Eldest Brother..."

That night, I once again ended up sleeping beside Treading Snow. Despite putting in a mountain of honeyed words, Yin Cheng still stubbornly refused to share even an inch of his straw bed with me.

Once more, I was forced to take the fall and shoulder the blame for both Shen Pian and Ouyang.

Though Yin Cheng never brought it up, I honestly felt a strong urge to tell him that I, too, was once nothing like the person I am today.

It's just that back in my innocent, ignorant childhood, I accidentally got to know Eldest Brother, Shen Pian, and Ouyang...

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