Don’t Be a Kept Man

Chapter 143: As Long As You Keep On Believing, There Will Be A Day It Will Be Answered

The crickets were still chirping in the middle of night, and the branches of the crabapple tree were slowly dipping downwards after enduring the bright burning sun of the day; however, the scent of its flowers had not dissipated at all. 

If anyone were to push the window open and look out now, they would see the stars shining brightly in the night and lighting up the entire space.

Half kneeling on the bed, Xiao Feng Wu rolled the ends of Qin Ming Yue’s pants up to his knees.
He lowered his eyes upon seeing the dark and purple bruises and slowly rubbed his fingers over the edges of the injury. 

Qin Ming Yue wanted to retract his leg, but he was held tightly in place by his foot and couldn’t move.

Xiao Feng Wu grabbed some salve, applying some onto Qin Ming Yue’s bruising, 

“Did it hurt when you were kneeling?”

Qin Ming Yue thought, of course, but there was too much in this lifetime that has hurt him, so what did it matter if it was only for one night.

Not hearing a response, Xiao Feng Wu said the words that were always held inside the heart of a benevolent physician, 

“You have to love your body, care for it.
The more you keep kneeling, the more your knees will be injured, and if it reaches the point of no return, you will no longer be able to stand on stage to sing again……”

Qin Ming Yue pulled his leg back with a loud rustle, as if he was a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
His eyebrows furrowed slightly, expressing his stubbornness that was never gone from his bones, 

“If I can’t sing, then I won’t.
Would I starve to death otherwise huh.”

“Of course you won’t.
You have me.” 

Xiao Feng Wu packed up the medicine bag and placed it on the table.
Turning his head back, he saw Qin Ming Yue hug himself around the knees, his pair of eyes staring right at him with the corners slightly hooked up and embracing him with a seductive aura that could not be dispelled.

This was someone who has a soul and such a character, and how rare was it for someone to be like this.
Even though Qin Ming Yue was merely a theatre actor of a lower status, his heart was stronger than anyone else’s, and it was only when he was with Xiao Feng Wu that the bones in his body would be willing to bend.

“Ming Yue……”

Xiao Feng Wu climbed up onto the bed, holding himself up with a hand by his side.
Suddenly lowering his head, he bit lightly on the other’s pale white lips, holding onto them.
Qin Ming Yue’s face and eyes trembled in response, but when he felt a hand sliding into his underwear, he subconsciously turned his head, avoiding the kiss. 

Staring straight at Xiao Feng Wu, he asked with a light and lost tone, 

“Am I a plaything……?”

Xiao Feng Wu paused, his expression surprised, and then facing up towards Qin Ming Yue’s serious face, he suddenly felt as if his heart was being squeezed and mashed into a mess by a shapeless hand and his breath caught in his throat.

“No……”

Xiao Feng Wu quietly said, 

“You’re not a plaything.”

The loving, sweet words spoken before had been spoken too lightly, which was only characteristic of a heart filled with no emotion.
Now that his heart was full of Qin Ming Yue, he was tongue-tied and couldn’t even say a loving word of sweetness.

Xiao Feng Wu grabbed onto Qin Ming Yue’s hand and placed it right over his heart.
He said not a word as he stared at Qin Ming Yue, and after a while, Qin Ming Yue understood what he was trying to get across. 

Qin Ming Yue closed his eyes to hide the mist in his eyes, and his fingers tightened slightly, pushing up and forwards to become intertwined with the other.

A tongue tip began to move in and out, creating ambiguous, love-filled silver strands of saliva.
Qin Ming Yue’s breathing was slowly deepening, and his eyes were beginning to become tinged in a red hue, creating an image so seductive it could hook any heart away.
Wrapping himself around Xiao Feng Wu’s thin waist, he wanted to get closer, but his legs were suddenly being pressed down and he couldn’t move.

“There’s still some salve on your knee.”

Xiao Feng Wu parted the other’s legs and dropped them onto his shoulders before turning his head to the side to kiss that delicate inner thigh.
Breathing down, his hot burning breath tickled Qin Ming Yue so much that tears began to appear.

Today they played around with nothing, keeping only the most primitive stance, yet it was especially gentle, especially intimate.

Qin Ming Yue felt like he was being lifted into the clouds, so light and floating that he couldn’t even remember his own name.
His fingers left red marks all over Xiao Feng Wu’s back, and his body was so comfortable that it was tensed up, as like a fish that had left its water habitat, powerlessly struggling on shore.

In the midst of all his struggling movements, his hair had fallen down, the smooth black inky hair splaying onto the pillow.
Paired with his face, he was so beautiful that it was hard to even discern his gender.
Xiao Feng Wu bit down onto Qin Ming Yue’s ear as he smoothed his fingers down the other’s hair and asked,

“Where’s the hairpin?”

Hairpin?

Qin Ming Yue’s cloudy mind could finally piece something together with that, but he didn’t say anything for a while as he held onto Xiao Feng Wu’s back.
Finally, he was able to say,

“It broke.”

And then kissed Xiao Feng Wu’s lips, lightly saying, 

“Sixteenth Master, you will have to gift me another one in the future……”

Xiao Feng Wu naturally would not not respond in kind.
At first, he was so gentle, filling in the voids of his heart, and then he was like the wind in a storm, blowing the rain in such a way that even the curtain around the bed was torn in half.

Qin Ming Yue took it all in willingly, and after the storm subsided, when he was lying in Xiao Feng Wu’s embrace, he used his legs to lightly nuzzle him.
With a hoarse voice and a tone laced with contentment, he lazily said, 

“Sixteenth Master, you really don’t know how to take care of precious things, how to be gentle with them.
Are you only happy when you have seen blood?”

Something was flowing down, and Qin Ming Yue’s white feet were being painted with a light smattering of red.
Xiao Feng Wu opened his eyes at his words, and he rose up, grabbing a candle to take a look.
Only then did he find that there was faint traces of blood on the sheets.
Like a mermaid resting on the bed, Qin Ming Yue bit his fingers, smiling happily as he saw Xiao Feng Wu’s face become all frightened and shocked.

Xiao Feng Wu immediately went to go find a medicine bag, but then he thought that he should really clean up the wounded area first.
So he grabbed an outer coat and walked towards the kitchen.
He took a few steps before he finally realised that he hadn’t even put on his shoes and quickly came back.
Seeing this, Qin Ming Yue embraced him from the back, his tone slightly cold but still felt intimate and close, almost like a snake slithering with its tongue, 

“The one who was injured was me.
What are you being all frantic for, Sixteenth Master? After all, I had done nothing to you just now.”

Xiao Feng Wu said, 

“You can dream on, but do you really have the ability to do anything to me?”

Qin Ming Yue laughed out loud and then held onto Xiao Feng Wu’s face to kiss him.
His voice seemed as if it was laced with honey, so sweet and sticky, 

“Dummy, go get some water.”

Xiao Feng Wu turned to touch his all too skinny face and then with Qin Ming Yue’s gasp, he pulled him right into his embrace and found that the other’s body was also that skinny.
He contemplated a bit before saying quietly, 

“The Xiao family will have our ceremony to respect the ancestors in a few days.
Come with me.”

A prospering generation, a dying generation; a country was like so and a family was also like so.
If the grandchildren could come and work together, then they could prosper for a hundred years.
Yet if it was like a repeat of past history and they would just turn into an average family of commoners.

When Xiao Lao-tai-ye had passed away, everyone had scattered like falling grains of sand.
Within a blink of an eye, they were all heading in different directions, doing their own thing.
If it were not because of this catastrophic incident, who knew when they would have gathered together. 

Now that they have come out from such a deadly situation alive, they immediately gathered to have a ceremony to bow before the heavens, to thank the gods and their ancestors.

Even though Xiao Lin Ru had been cut off from the family tree, no one really cared about the past at this time and age.
To resign and retire from his position, it had already been too hard.
He had secretly taken a poison pill, turning his internal organs into a mess and causing him to cough up blood.
Only when he visibly looked as if he was about to die did the Emperor grant him the grace to retire.

On top of Mount Zi Yun was the Xiao family cemetery, and it was the only place that had not been taken away during the initial disbandment.
Because they were of a lineage involved in the medicinal arts, the mountain was filled with apricot trees and, from a distance, the entire area was filled with a rosy color.
The moment the wind blew, the flowers blooming on the trees would shake and in an instant, it was as if a rain of flowers had come down.

In front of their ancestors’ grave, they set out all the tables with everything needed for the rituals.
Xiao Lin Ru spilled wine to respect the heavens, and then with incense in hand, he knelt down, respectfully bowing his head on the ground.

Behind him were all the children of the Xiao family, with the men at the front and the women at the back.
A sea of black that heightened the serious atmosphere, especially with the lack of a single sound.

“With the heavens above, the lineage of our Xiao family has been physicians for generations, looking to save commoners and not ask for fame, but good will.
Yet this generation was not filial, causing this family to disband and almost causing the extinction of the family.
But now that the catastrophe has been put behind us, we bow towards our ancestors’ will and wishes, for tomorrow’s spiritual day where all the elements of the world align, with the discord of the heavens and the earth, with the reason of illnesses in people, we pledge to help the world, and not disgrace our ancestor’s reputation–“

Xiao Lin Ru bowed deeply.
Only after a long while did he raise his body and plant the incense into the incense holder.

If it was according to the rank of age in the family, it should have been Xiao Er-Ge at this time to lead the family to plant their incense in respect, yet it was the youngest instead, Xiao Feng Wu, that was standing behind Xiao Lin Ru and no one made any fuss.

Everyone knew: he was to be the next head of the Xiao family.

Xiao Lin Ru turned around to face everyone, 

“The Xiao family has been passing on its legacy for a hundred years and it is unbearable to end it here.
Those who are willing to be physicians, stay behind.
Those who aren’t willing, take your leave.
From now on, whether you become tillers of the earth, woodcutters, fishermen, or scholars, may you lead your own destiny under the heavens.”

A breeze of wind blew by, brushing the corners of their robes, yet no one moved an inch.

Seeing this, Xiao Lin Ru’s age-old eyes finally gained some light.
He willingly took a step back from the centre position and looked at Xiao Feng Wu, silently letting him take charge.

After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Feng Wu stepped forward.
He looked over to the side and pulled a very silent Qin Ming Yue who had been standing by his side along with him.
Then he flipped his robe, kneeling down with Qin Ming Yue in front of their ancestors’ graves.
His voice was not loud, but each word was very clearly transmitted to everyone’s ears, 

“For this catastrophe that we have experienced, we first thank the heavens, secondly to the earth, and then thirdly to Qin Gong-zi, for saving our entire family from the fiery flames of death.”

For the ancestral ceremony, those who do not bear the Xiao name should not be a part of it. 

Qin Ming Yue had been very anxious the entire time and became even more panicked at this.
He thought that Xiao Feng Wu was making too much of a scene and going overboard, and he quickly and strongly pulled his hand away.
He wanted to leave when he was suddenly frightened by the loud rustling behind him and his eyes widened visibly.

“We thank Qin Gong-Zi for his gracious act of salvation.”

With Xiao Er-Ge at the forefront, the men all lifted their lower robes to kneel on the ground on one knee and the women all curtsied.
Even Xiao Feng Wu was doing so, all facing towards him.

“No…… no need……”

Qin Ming Yue had truly become a wooden doll at this point.
He didn’t know if he should leave or if he shouldn’t.
Xiao Feng Wu comforted him with a smile and then retrieved two incense sticks, lit them up, giving one to Qin Ming Yue before bowing with the incense to his ancestors.

“From now on, we see the medicinal arts as our end goal, and we will use it to comfort and ease our hearts.
With no greed or ambitious desires, we will find the compassion in our hearts to make the promise that we will save the suffering of this world.
If there is someone who comes to ask for our aid, we will not ask of their status nor wealth, of their age nor gender, of their relationship, whether enemies or friends, nor of their wisdom or education.
We will treat them all the same, as if they are all our relatives.”

This was from Sun Szu-miao’s “On the Absolute Sincerity of Great Physicians”, and as physicians, these were principles they all should know.

For each sentence Xiao Feng Wu spoke, the rest of the Xiao family repeated his words, and their voices resonated through the mountains, transmitting far and wide.
After a long time, Xiao Feng Wu placed the incense stick in his hand, along with Qin Ming Yue’s, into the incense holder.

During the era of Three Kingdoms, a physician by the name Dong Feng had made his home in the mountains.
He did not take in any money; instead, those who had serious illness would plant five apricot tree saplings while those who were less serious planted one.
After so many years, at least a hundred thousand trees had been planted, creating a thick forest, and since then, each lineage involved in the medicinal arts has lived in the midst of apricot forests.

When the Xiao family bought this mountain as their cemetery, they had not buried themselves with gold or silver and instead planted apricot trees.

Xiao Feng Wu slowly tightened his grasp on Qin Ming Yue’s icy cold hands.
When the wind blew by, apricot blossoms fell on his entire body, 

“Ming Yue, you and I, after a hundred years, should be buried together here.
On the grave you will take my name, your memorial tablet taken into the ancestral hall, forever receiving the fire of the burning incense.”

Qin Ming Yue had no father nor mother, no relatives nor friends.
After he dies, there would be no one who would make a memorial tablet for him, and he would be a lonely soul wandering without a claim.
He had never cared for these things, as who would care about what happens after death when he himself was still living. 

Yet now that he heard these words coming out of Xiao Feng Wu’s mouth, his heart felt as if it had been squeezed and his lips trembled, but he could not utter a single word.
After a long time, he hoarsely said, 

“No, this cannot be.
I am only an actor of a lowly status……”

“So what if you are an actor? If you like to sing, then I will build a stage for you made out of gold and jade.
Let you do whatever you want up there.
If you don’t want to sing, then I will care for you for the rest of your life.
Why should you care about what others say?”

Xiao Feng Wu’s warm fingers stroked across Qin Ming Yue’s face.
When the wind suddenly came by, it felt cold, and only then did Qin Ming Yue find that he had somehow started crying.

“Ming Yue, a physician saves people from their illnesses, not asking whether they are rich or poor.
Humans should have never been separated by class, so do not look at yourself so lightly.”

The road to the mountain had been rugged, and when they arrived, they had done so on horses.
Two reddish horses were just gnawing on grass on the side, and after the ancestral ceremony had finished, the family members were cleaning up the tables.
As for Xiao Feng Wu himself, he was climbing up on his horse, preparing to head down the mountain.
He had planned to meet someone today as he wanted to buy a shop on the east street that would become their family medicinal shop.
The Xiao family would be prepared to rise again.

Qin Ming Yue was also climbing onto his own horse, but Xiao Feng Wu suddenly grabbed onto his arm, dragging the other onto his horse and perfectly landing into his embrace.

Qin Ming Yue slightly squinted his eyes, and as the warm wind blew in his face, he poked the person behind him with his elbow.
He was born as an exquisite beauty, so exquisite and beautiful that he was even more eye catching than all the flowers blowing on the mountain, 

“Sixteenth Master, what manners do you have? Are you not afraid to be seen by others?”

Xiao Feng Wu was riding fast, the horse galloping in a haste and stepping over flowers and grass.
He loudly laughed out loud at those words, 

“I’m not afraid, are you?”

Qin Ming Yue also shook his head with a smile on his face, 

“I’m not afraid.”

They were traversing through the mountain roads that were snaking in their paths when a light blue ball of light flew out of Xiao Feng Wu’s body, accompanied with an electric buzzing that had been absent for a long time ringing by his ear.

[ Ding! The process to withdraw has started.
Please my dear host, prepare yourself,

Starting Self-Check,

Self-Check Complete.

Preparing to withdraw,

20%

50%

100%

Withdrawal Success, this service has ended perfectly. 

My dear host, congratulations on passing the galactic judges’s judgement and successfully heading onto a path that leads you to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.
This system will be leaving now mou~]

“Buzz—-“

Xiao Feng Wu subconsciously tightened his hold on the reins and looked up towards the sky. 

Through the mountains in the background, through the white clouds floating in the sky, a ball of blue light was slowly flying farther and farther away.
He couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows in suspicion, but then he smiled.
He had never seen such an interesting monster: one that doesn’t eat human blood, one that doesn’t harm and instead forces humans to be self-reliant and self-sufficient.

He was not paying attention when he suddenly heard the loud, cracking sound of a whip and immediately after, the horse was running like an arrow released by a bow.
Frightened quite a bit, Xiao Feng Wu harshly grabbed onto Qin Ming Yue’s waist, taking back control of the reins, 

“Alright you fellow, would you be happy if you made me fall off.”

Qin Ming Yue laughed out loudly, a hand tightly grasping onto Xiao Feng Wu’s arm,

“I’m grabbing onto you hmm.
You won’t fall down.”

Through a road divided by the flowers and trees, the shapes of their bodies slowly faded away. 

A young shepherd was sitting on the back of a cow and as he blew on his flute, the clear sound of the song of the mountains slowly rose up to the clouds, frightening all the birds into flying away.

Remembrances that are never forgotten must have a resounding echo; as long as you keep believing, there will be a day what you are looking for will be answered.

 

And that’s a wrap on Volume 6! And it wouldn’t be characteristic of me without leaving a long note on the volume endings lol.
So some of you may have noticed I haven’t replied to the comments as I usually have (sometimes I do take longer, but I try to reply to all that I can!) and that is because… at the current moment, my family is dealing with a lot of things, including a sudden and unexpected loss in the family, and there’s just a lot of stuff to be dealt with that.

So in terms of releases, I will try to aim for the 1 chp every other week (as it’s nice to have some sort of schedule in my life lol) but as I don’t really know what is going to happen for the next few months because of everything that life has decided it wanted to throw my way, I can’t promise that it will be done.
Most likely, the releases will be sporadic for the next couple of months, until everything is, I guess, “settled”.
I’ll try to update the status page on when the next chapter will be released, but for now, I think the best answer I can give for when the next chapter release will be is it’s going to be sporadic.

There will, most probably, also be an update to this chapter as there’s a few footnotes I left out (regarding the past history/ceremonial stuff), but as I just currently don’t have the time to make sure they’re right/research a bit more, I will leave that for a future me lol (it was a bit of a miracle for this chapter to be done haha- thanks Plum <3).
If you’re interested, I’d probably leave a note in the status page as well when I update this chapter with the footnotes! : )

In any case, I hope you all Galactic Judges have enjoyed this volume! Thank you for being the supportive readers you all have been so far in terms of this translation <3, and I hope to see you all soon! Hope you are also safe and may we all be able to tackle over whatever life is throwing at us : ) See you soon for the next chapter!