When everybody saw that it was Elder Qin, who was in charge of managing the academy, they hurriedly retreated to the side.
In a flash, Wu Zhu pulled Wu Xi behind him.
When Elder Qin saw that Wu Yu was collapsed on the ground, vomitting blood, he was shocked. He hurried forth to feed Wu Yu a wound healing pill, then, he lifted his head to look at the people around him, angrily saying: “Who was it? Who was the one harming others in the academy?”
“It was me.” Wu Zhu took the initiative to admit to it: “Elder Qin, I was the one who beat him up.”
“Wu Zhu?” Elder Qin was dumbfounded. He never would’ve thought that such a child of fine conduct and morals would hit others, but he couldn’t be bothered to probe further about it. Wu Yu’s face had been beaten until it had sunken inwards, and urgently needed treatment from a doctor1医师 (yi shi): nowadays, the common term for doctor is 医生 (yi sheng). The term Elder Qin uses here is also translated as ‘physician’, but I used ‘doctor’ for simplicity..
He got Wu Zhu to wait in his study. Then, he called for some people to help Wu Yu to the doctor’s for treatment. In passing, he got an understanding of the situation from the others. He would deal with Wu Zhu when he returned.
However, the Wu family was currently in shortage of talented people. The elders in the academy naturally would not give Wu Zhu, with outstanding skills, an overly harsh punishment. Besides, this was Wu Zhu’s first offence, and he hadn’t broken the rules by using magic2玄术 (xuan shu): I really should take some time to tidy up the glossary and organize my translations of certain terminology ? I can’t remember if this has come up before/what I might’ve translated it as, but this term is basically referring to the kind of special skills these practitioners can use. I think I should’ve translated it as ‘magic’. Yup, xuanshu should be translated as ‘magic’ now.
Also belatedly realizing now that LWSL is a xuanxia. to harm someone. In addition, Wu Yu’s injuries were not that serious. Under the treatment of the doctor, he recovered very quickly. So, in the end, the elders unanimously agreed to increase the difficulty of Wu Zhu’s internship and then made him return home to reflect on his actions.
When Wu Zhu returned to Shuqing Garden, he saw Wu Qianqing standing in the gardens, looking at him steadily.
“Dad.”
Wu Qianqing said quietly: “I heard about what happened at the academy. Wu Yu is the antagonist, isn’t he? You weren’t willing to talk about it last night because you were worried I would stop you from acting against him, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
Wu Qianqing sighed and said: “You silly child. Next time, when you beat someone up, be a little smarter about it. Don’t let others get a hold of your weakness and mistakes. In addition, you should make others feel that your action of beating this person was rightly done. You mustn’t act as rashly as you did today. And lastly, you only vented yourself for a brief moment, but it caused you to receive a severe punishment in exchange. Do you understand?”
Wu Zhu looked at him in shock: “Dad, you’re not going to blame me for hitting Wu Yu?”
Wu Qianqing’s expression turned serious: “Is your father such a pedantic person? To act like nothing’s wrong even when being bullied by others3欺到头上 (qi dao tou shang): literally means “to be bullied till the top of one’s head”. Expresses being bullied so badly that the other person is ‘walking all over you’. I love the visual imagery of the descriptions in Chinese and apologize for not being able to convey it well enough in my translations.?”
It seemed like his gentle attitude towards others had caused his children to feel that he would give in to others on everything, that he was someone who would let others bully him. In the future, he would have to properly correct the way he handled matters and treated others. Otherwise, the children would all think that he wasn’t a father who could be relied upon.
“As for the remaining matters, I will settle it. For the next few days, just stay at home and rest well. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, leave immediately for your internship.”
“I understand.”
Wu Zhu turned and returned to his own residences to rest.
After Wu Yu’s family received the news, Ruan Lanru and Wu Anyi immediately hurried to the academy in a rush to see Wu Yu. When they entered, they saw Wu Yu sitting on the bed in a daze.
“Xiao-Yu, are you alright?” Ruan Lanru walked forth anxiously to touch Wu Yu’s injured face and shoulder.
Wu Yu avoided her hand: “Mum, I’m fine.”
It was just that he couldn’t understand how Wu Zhu had found about the matter between him, Yu Tianbao, and the others.
Ruan Lanru angrily said: “Wu Zhu, that little rat bastard, he dares to hurt you! Mum will definitely get back at him for you4讨回公道 (tao hui gong dao): more literally ‘to demand justice (in return)’. I just find this expression really amusing because who is the one who needs to be ‘demanding justice (in return)’? It definitely isn’t Wu Yu..”
Wu Anyi said: “Xiao-Yu, I told you before not to get so close to them, but you refused to listen. Look now, you’re the one suffering losses, aren’t you?”
Wu Yu took a cold glance at him: “Didn’t I get close to them for your sake?”
The current Southern main estate appeared to be managed by his grandfather, Wu Xuanran, but in reality, every important matter had to be approved by his great-grandfather before anything could be done.
The reason why the Southern main estate was in such a situation was that Wu Xuanran was overly mediocre and incompetent. Although Wu Xuanran could be quite astute sometimes, in terms of magical ability, he was inferior to his other brothers. He couldn’t even compare to his own sons.
How could Great-Grandfather, who had built up the Wu family with his blood and sweat, bear to watch the Southern main estate continue to deteriorate? So, sooner or later, there would come a day when Great-Grandfather would choose someone else with the talent to manage the Southern main estate.
Wu Zhu and Wu Qianqing were the best choices; in the future, there was also a possibility that they would become the heads of the entire Wu family. If they weren’t gotten rid of now, then his father and older brother wouldn’t even have a chance.
Wu Anyi frowned: “What do you mean?”
Wu Yu didn’t speak, getting to his feet and walking out of the building.
Ruan Lanru and Wu Anyi followed behind him. On the way as they left the academy, quite a few people stood to a side pointing fingers at them.
“I already said that Wu Yu was a hypocrite. He usually pretends to be refined and courteous, treating others with kindness, but privately, he’s a sinister villain. Let’s see if any of you dare to get close to him after this.”
“Tsk! I thought that other than those from the Southern main estate’s Shuqing Garden, Wu Yu was still the person with the best character in the Southern main estate. I never thought that he would also do such villainous things. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“The moral character of the people from the Southern main estate really makes it hard for one to compliment them. First, they steal a junior’s betrothal gifts. Then, they also borrow equipment without returning it. Now, there’s also another matter like this. Who still knows what else will happen in the future?”
Wu Anyi had never been insulted like this before in his life. Even if those people weren’t specifically criticizing his flaws to his face, he couldn’t accept it.
Abruptly, he turned around and angrily said to those people who were whispering among themselves: “Is the moral character of those of you from the other main estates any better? If it was really any better, then you wouldn’t have been clamoring for a portion when our Southern main estate was taking our junior’s betrothal gifts.
“Before you criticize others, shouldn’t you take a good look at yourself first? Otherwise, you might really mistake yourselves as noble and above others.”
At that moment, everyone’s face flushed with embarrassment and anger because they were clear about it in their hearts. Their fathers and grandfathers had also taken the betrothal gifts.
However, Wu Yu behaved as though he hadn’t heard their words, walking out of the academy with brisk steps. He left the Wu estate and looked for Yu Tianbao and the rest.
Yu Tianbao knew last night, he had said things that he shouldn’t have said, so he cried as he begged for mercy: “Young Master Yu, we also made the mistake in a moment of drunkenness. We never thought that Wu Zhu would hear it. If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come out on their invitation last night.”
Jiang Xiaoliang looked at Yu Tianbao angrily: “Weren’t you the one who invited us out? Whose invitation are you talking about?”
Yu Tianbao was dumbfounded: “I invited you out? How could it be? I received Pan Feng’s invitation, that’s why I went to Zuiyue Restaurant.”
Pan Feng looked at them in shock: “You said I invited you to Zuiyue Restaurant? Did you get it wrong? It was clearly Xiaoliang who invited me to Zuiyue Restaurant.”
Jiang Xiaoliang said angrily: “When did I ever invite you out? I think you’re the one who got it wrong. I was invited out by Tianbao.”
Yu Tianbao said, feeling wronged: “I didn’t invite anyone out to Zuiyue Restaurant at all! I can swear to the heavens!”
Wu Yu realized that there was something strange about this, and asked: “Then why did you go to Zuiyue Restaurant?”
“Yesterday, in the morning, my servants told me that the servants from Pan Feng’s estate delivered a verbal message, saying that we hadn’t gathered in a long while, and so I was invited to Zuiyue Restaurant that night. After that, I went there.”
Pan Feng hurried to say: “I didn’t send anyone to send you a verbal message yesterday at all, and I definitely didn’t invite you out for a gathering.”
Wu Yu asked: “And why did you go to Zuiyue Restaurant?”
“I was the same as Tianbao, but I received a verbal message sent by Xiaoliang’s servants.”
Jiang Xiaoliang yelled indignantly: “I didn’t get anyone to send you a verbal message, and I was invited by Tianbao.”
Wu Yu immediately understood that these three had been fooled by someone. Someone had deliberately invited them out to let Wu Zhu hear their drunken ramblings so that they could expose Wu Yu’s true colours and Wu Zhu would no longer continue trusting him.
However, who was the one behind all of these plans?
At this moment, Wu Ruo was currently listening to Shi Yi’s report of the matter that had occurred at the Wu estate academy. When he found out that Wu Yu’s bones had been broken by Wu Zhu, he couldn’t help but grin a little.
He wouldn’t kill Wu Yu for now, and he wouldn’t let Wu Yu die so fast either.
So, Wu Yu, you had better live well. Keep living and wait for me to lose weight.
Wu Ruo asked: “Did the Southern main estate hand over this year’s public security and patrol duties over to the Western main estate today?”
“Yes, madam.”
Wu Ruo’s grin widened even further.
The 15th of zhengyue5正月: the first month of the lunar calendar. was the Shangyuan Festival. Early in the morning, Dandan dug his way into Wu Ruo’s nest of blankets: “Daddy, wake up!”
Wu Ruo cracked his eyes half-open, glanced at Dandan, then glanced at the colour of the sky outside of the window, and closed his eyes, going back to sleep.
Hei Xuanyi picked the little child directly off of the bed, then, he got out of bed, changed, and left the bedroom.
“Master.” Hei Xin walked forth, taking a sealed black letter out from the folds of his robes at his chest, and quietly said: “A letter has arrived from the clan.”
Hei Xuanyi’s gaze turned stern. He took the letter, opened it, and read it once. Thereafter, he placed the paper to the flame of a candle and burned it.
“Master, we’ve already come out for more than a year. Should we make a trip back to the clan? Otherwise…”
Hei Xuanyi interrupted him in heavy tones: “I know what I’m doing.”
Suddenly, a cry of alarm came from the bedroom.
Hei Xuanyi’s expression stiffened, and he swiftly entered the bedroom. Hei Xuanyi only saw Wu Ruo staring at the draperies above his head, holding his chest and panting badly.
He walked to the bedside and asked: “What happened?”
Hearing this, Wu Ruo rapidly turned towards Hei Xuanyi, looking at Hei Xuanyi from head to toe and sizing him up, as if he was making sure that this person was safe and whole. Wu Ruo only seemed to sigh a breath of relief after the better half of the day: “I only had a small, tiny nightmare.”
Just now, after he had been woken up by Dandan, he had fallen asleep again. Although it wasn’t for long, he’d had a little nightmare.
He’d dreamt that Hei Xuanyi was standing in front of a black spell array, his head lowered, harping on about who-knew-what towards the spell array. Hei Xuanyi emanated an air of grief that made Wu Ruo feel especially heartbroken for him and made Wu Ruo want to get closer to him to offer him some comfort.
It was at this moment, the sun rose in the sky. As the rays of sunlight shined onto Hei Xuanyi’s body, a strange scene occurred. The Hei Xuanyi in his dreams was like a piece of paper that had been thrown into a fire; his body was burned bit by bit.
When Wu Ruo saw this, he was extremely anxious and scared. He wanted to stop all of it from happening, but no matter what, he couldn’t stop it. He could only stand by and watch as Hei Xuanyi became a pile of ashes. When a gust of wind blew by, the black ashes scattered in every direction.
Then, he was startled awake.
Wu Ruo wiped away the sweat on his head, and allowed Hei Xuanyi to pull him out of bed: “Get Shi Yuan to come in and help me get dressed.”
Hei Xuanyi turned around, as he was about to leave, he heard Wu Ruo say again: “I dreamt about you just now.”
Hearing this, Hei Xuanyi turned back and looked at Wu Ruo.
Wu Ruo continued: “I dreamt that when you stood under the sun, you were burnt into ashes.”
Hei Xuanyi’s gaze was stunned for a brief moment, then he said softly: “Just a dream.”
Wu Ruo mumbled to himself: “Really?”
But, it had felt so real to him.
Notes: I am barely holding back my screams while I re-read and translate this. Imagine me vibrating in my seat while the force of the sound of my screams ricochets around inside my body ?
The whole ending scene is so important! It will not make sense any time soon if I remember correctly, but it’ll come back to haunt us in the butts later.
![He Lived Like You [End of the World]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/HLLY.jpg "He Lived Like You [End of the World]")
