I just want to repair a flute [Martial Arts]

Taking in Yun Wuxin was originally just a spur of the moment decision.

When Xiao Donglou brought the strange boy hanging on the pine tree on the cliff down the mountain, he never thought that he would lose all his past memories when he woke up. After Yun Wuxin was rescued, he lay on the bed in the inn and had a high fever for several days. When he finally opened his eyes and looked at Xiao Donglou beside the bed, he had turned into a pure white paper.

"Who are you? Who... who am I?" He asked Xiao Donglou in a daze, his confused face like a piece of uncarved white jade. The latter was silent for a long time, and finally let out a long sigh.

"...If you are willing, from today on, you can call me Master."

Unlike his sensible and obedient senior brother, Yun Chuxiu had an unusual personality since he entered the sect. When Xiao Donglou first saw him, he was sitting next to a pot of half-withered peonies, swinging his feet in boredom. People came and went around him, and everyone couldn't help but look at him twice. The reason was that although he was young and pitifully thin, he was indeed a child with outstanding appearance.

His father was standing aside, negotiating the price with the madam, talking with saliva flying all over the place, looking very proud. The child didn't know if he understood what he said, but he was happily picking the petals of the peony beside him. The strangest thing in the world is that people cannot choose their own birth. Xiao Donglou, who was sitting in the carriage, watched this scene and two lines of poetry emerged in his mind.

The flowers in the forest have faded in spring, too quickly. There is no choice but to wait for the cold rain in the morning and the wind in the evening.

He bought Yun Chuxiu with a large sum of money and brought him back to the valley. Yun Wuxin came out to greet him, expressing great surprise and welcome to this little junior brother who suddenly appeared, while Yun Chuxiu looked at him with a very calm expression on his face.

A few days later, Yun Wuxin worriedly went to talk to his master privately: "A-Tu is really different from other children. He never seems to be afraid."

Yes, other children at his age would always be afraid of all kinds of things, but Yun Chuxiu seemed to be accustomed to everything. He would sneak out of the room in the dark of the night and run to the grass to play. He would sleep soundly even on thundering nights. He showed no curiosity no matter what happened. Yun Wuxin originally thought that his junior brother needed his care, but who knew that he had such a personality. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Xiao Donglou let him lie on his unconscious legs, stroked his hair, and said softly: "Wuxin is such a good brother. I can rest assured that you are taking care of Chuxiu."

"Master, this is all my responsibility..." Yun Wuxin jumped up shyly after being praised by him and shouted. "I, I'm going to practice sword first!"

He ran out, Xiao Donglou couldn't help laughing at first, then he started to cough violently, making him gasp for breath. When he came to his senses, Hu Ju had come to his side without him knowing when, half kneeling beside the bed, holding a small bowl of emerald green medicine on a tray in his hand.

Xiao Donglou closed his eyes and swallowed the blood in his mouth, then motioned him to feed the medicine to his mouth. The seven-foot-tall man from Persia served his master very carefully, fearing that even a drop of the precious medicine would leak out. Xiao Donglou's expression was indifferent, neither resisting nor expecting anything.

His entire back was shattered, and he was fixed to a frame made of fine iron. He had been struggling to survive for many years, but he was still alive today. It was very strange. I don't know when he will pass away. I hope that when that day comes, the two children can take good care of themselves.

*
When Dizang came to visit the non-human world, he did not inform anyone as usual. He sat in a large coffin carried by four people like a sedan chair. When he sat up from the coffin, Yun Wuxin was obviously scared. He grabbed Yun Chuxiu with one hand, trying to hide him behind him, and blocked Xiao Donglou with one hand, blocking him with his thin body.

He seemed to be born with such a gentle temperament that cared for others, and Xiao Donglou was often pleased by this. But because Dizang was present, he couldn't show it, so he just greeted his old rival and asked him directly: "Are you here to see when I died?"

Dizang's gaze fell from Yun Wuxin's face to the face of Yun Chuxiu who was looking up at him. He was a skinny man. Years of pain had tortured him like a living skeleton. No wonder Yun Wuxin felt fear. However, Yun Chuxiu rarely showed curiosity. After being let go by his senior brother, he refused to leave and sat down beside Xiao Donglou's bed.

"Are these your new disciples?" Dizang asked knowingly, so Xiao Donglou could only answer him. "Yes, they are all my new disciples."

——They both once had a pair of identical twin brothers as apprentices. Each of them chose one of them and taught each of them martial arts, so that one day they could complete their unfinished duel in the past.

Sadly, the duel still ended in a loss. It seemed that from the moment they started to care about winning or losing, they fell into a cursed vicious circle. The more they wanted to win, the less they got the result they wanted. They kept going around in circles, but they could never get what they wanted. In the end, they were left with nothing but broken hearts.

Dizang asked him, "How about these two disciples of yours? Do they remind you of Meng Chen? I wonder if your disciple is still alive in heaven. Would he be happy that two more people have fallen into your clutches?"

The tone was full of sarcasm, because they both understood each other's weaknesses and knew how to hurt each other's hearts. Although Xiao Donglou acted very calm in front of him and refused to give in, he fell down as soon as Dizang left, coughing up blood all over his clothes, and seemed to be on the verge of death. Yun Wuxin was horrified and quickly asked someone to take Yun Chuxiu away so that he would not see this terrible scene. He went to the pharmacy to get the pills that Xiao Donglou often took.

——However, as he walked out of the pharmacy with the medicine bottle in his hand, he suddenly felt a sharp heartache, like a tide, and in almost an instant, he was dragged into a state of near-death suffocation. When he came to his senses, Hu Ju's worried face appeared in front of him. Yun Wuxin then discovered that he had unbuttoned his collar and was pressing hard on his heart with his big hands.

He still held the medicine bottle tightly in his hand, fearing that it would fall to the ground. Only then did he pass the bottle to Hu Ju with difficulty, and warned him: "Don't... don't tell Master..."

Afterwards, he also fell into a coma, and even his breathing became weak. This was a heart disease he had from birth, and there was no cure. Hu Ju had no other options but to use his inner strength to stabilize his heart pulse and ask someone to go down the mountain to invite the miracle doctor who had treated him.

He was so busy trying to take care of both ends that he naturally didn't notice Yun Chuxiu standing in front of the window on a stool, staring at the chaotic situation for a long time. When Xiao Donglou woke up in the middle of the night and was about to ring the bell to call for help, he saw Yun Chuxiu sitting by his bed, staring at him without blinking.

"A Tu... why are you here?" Xiao Donglou drank the medicine with the help of the servants and asked him with difficulty. "Where is Wu Xin... where is your senior brother?"

Hearing this, the servants around him remained calm on the surface, but their hearts suddenly lifted. Yun Chuxiu blinked his eyes, remained calm, and replied calmly: "Senior brother went down the mountain to find a doctor. Uncle Hu's persuasion was useless, but he insisted on going, so Uncle Hu had to go with him."

If they didn't know that Yun Wuxin was lying in his bedroom, no one would have known that he was lying. Xiao Donglou didn't ask any more questions, but raised his hand to signal the others to leave and let Yun Chuxiu come forward. He saw that the young disciple had something else to say, so he took the initiative to ask, "What do you want to say?"

"Master, are you dying?" Yun Chuxiu asked him. His attitude was so calm and matter-of-fact that Xiao Donglou suddenly realized that he had already experienced death in his young life.

"...Have you ever seen anyone die?" Xiao Donglou asked. Yun Chuxiu didn't know how terrible this topic was. When he asked, he answered directly: "My mother was also sick. She kept coughing and coughing, and she kept vomiting blood. One morning, I woke up and called her, but she ignored me."

"At first, I thought she was sleeping, but later, a lot of small bugs grew on her body and crawled all over the house. The uncle from the neighbor's house said our house was too smelly, so he came to check it out, and then he ran away in fear. They said that my mother was dead, so they carried her to the woods and buried her, saying that this was the return of fallen leaves to their roots."

"Are you going to die now?" Yun Chuxiu asked him. "Can I die later? I'm too young to hold you now, and I probably can't bury you either."

Xiao Donglou was silent for a moment after hearing this, and then he asked softly: "A Tu, why do you have such an idea?"

"I wanted to do this when my mother died, but I was too weak to do it." Yun Chuxiu pinched his fingers. "I heard them say that if they buried my mother so shallowly, she might be dragged away and eaten by wild animals, but this is the best they can do."

"If I were to bury you, I would not bury you so shallowly."

It started raining outside the window, and a flash of lightning suddenly struck the window frame, causing Yun Chuxiu to turn around and look. Xiao Donglou closed his eyes for a long while before calling his name, signaling him to turn around.

"Chuxiu, do you think all these servants in your house are just for fun?" He barely raised one hand, and Yun Chuxiu immediately grabbed his finger. But facing the master's words, he just replied as a matter of course: "They are your servants, of course they will obey your orders, but if you die, how can they obey me and my brother?"

These words seemed too cold and heartless for a ten-year-old child, but thinking of his deceased mother and unfaithful father, Xiao Donglou just smiled gently and hooked his hand.

"In this world, there are not only orders, but also grace and friendship. If I die here, they will never leave you, but will take good care of you until you grow up. You don't have to worry."

Yun Chuxiu uttered an "oh", but it was unclear whether he had taken his words in. He lay on the bed, still holding Xiao Donglou's hand tightly, and suddenly asked again: "So, the person who emerged from the coffin is the ghost messenger?"

"...Are you scared?" Xiao Donglou thought to himself, if he was actually very scared, but could still appear calm and composed like before, then he had underestimated his character.

"Well, why should you be afraid? It was almost like that when my mother died." Yun Chuxiu said. "But I can feel that he hopes you... never appear in front of him again. Does this mean he wants to send you to reincarnation? In fact, when you didn't wake up, I was thinking whether I should ask him, maybe he would let you go back..."

He was talking to himself when Xiao Donglou suddenly grabbed his hand. The middle-aged man, who was always smiling and gentle, frowned and said to him solemnly: "No matter what happened, A Tu, no matter what will happen in the future, you can never ask him for help, understand?"

Yun Chuxiu was startled by him and asked stupidly, "Why? Because he will kill me too?" He just said it carelessly, but he saw the master in front of him turned his head away as if he was stabbed. Xiao Donglou remembered the illusion he saw in his dream a few days ago. No, perhaps it should be said that it was a painful memory of the past.

That day was the day that Meng Chen and Meng Jiao had agreed to duel. Decades of hard work and entanglement finally came to an end. After he saw Meng Chen off, he sat alone under the eaves, waiting for the final result.

No, no... To be precise, he already knew the result when he sent the person away.

Meng Chen is a gentle and sensible elder brother who always tolerates his eccentric younger brother. As a disciple, he always protects his master. If one person must fail to end this tragic duel... he will definitely face this failure calmly.

Even if this defeat represents more than just his failure, even if this defeat will cost him his life...

But when he thought of how he squatted down and put his face on his knees reluctantly before leaving, Xiao Donglou felt that he was not too angry about the result. He had spent half his life and sacrificed a lot for this duel. Even if he won, he could just die calmly. But if he lost, how could Dizang let it go? How could his beloved disciple face the fact that he had killed his brother with his own hands?
When he was arrogant and proud, he never thought that there was anything wrong with his decisions. Today, he has to swallow the bitter fruit himself.

He waited from early morning till dusk, half of his body stiffened by the cold wind, before he finally saw Hu Ju, who was full of joy. The big man knelt down in front of him and couldn't wait to tell him in his native language: "The young master won! He is back safely! Master, he is back!"

At that moment, even though she felt something was wrong, she was still looking forward to his return. Xiao Donglou looked behind him with a smile, and saw a blood-red figure gradually coming into view.

——With just one glance, he recognized the other person's identity, and the boiling blood in his chest instantly cooled down. It turns out that the most painful thing is not losing hope, but coming here with hope, but being ruthlessly shattered by fate!
Meng Jiao knelt down on one knee in front of him. He had always been arrogant and domineering, and was indulged by Dizang. But now he lowered his eyelashes meekly and called him Master. No wonder Hu Ju recognized the wrong person. Xiao Donglou closed his eyes and swallowed the bitter blood in his throat with great difficulty. Then he asked him in a low voice: "...Did you win?"

"...I won?" Meng Jiao seemed a little confused. He used to have a pair of bright, lively and affectionate eyes, but now there was only a dead silence. "I survived, did I win?...No, no, no, I lost, I lost..."

He leaned forward and suddenly burst into tears. Xiao Donglou raised his face and couldn't help but burst into tears.

The next morning, Meng Jiao disappeared without leaving a single word, which caused a lot of discussion among the servants. Xiao Donglou did not go looking for him either, after all, he was not the answer he expected.

The life-and-death competition between him and Dizang has finally come to a dead end.

Time went back to the present, he pressed Yun Chuxiu's head on his knees, forcing his face to stick tightly to his clothes. Yun Chuxiu did not struggle, but gently stroked his fingers. He was a gifted child, born with an extraordinary sensitivity to other people's emotions, so when Xiao Donglou brought him back, he had already decided to teach him the worldly mind method.

"Atu, you must remember my words. This is my order! No matter who you meet or what happens in the future, you can never ask Dizang for help." Xiao Donglou said to him in a deep voice.

"…I've had enough of the feud between him and me, and now it's on you guys!"

Just as he finished speaking, another bolt of lightning struck the ground. After a muffled sound, the earth couldn't help but tremble.

In the dim light, Yun Chuxiu turned his head to look at his face, then nodded softly.

The next day after the thunderstorm, Yun Wuxin woke up from his bed. He was so weak that he fell off the bed just as he was about to get up. The maid who heard the noise and walked in was startled. She hurried over to help him back to bed and fed him some warm water.

Yun Wuxin had not regained consciousness yet. He stared at her face and subconsciously called out a name: "Brother Xiaoyu..."

"Master?" The maid was quite puzzled and just looked at him blankly. Yun Wuxin came back to his senses by himself, raised his hand and rubbed his forehead in disappointment, then he cheered up and asked in a deep voice: "I'm fine, how is Master?"

"After taking the medicine, he is much better now. The young master has been accompanying the master these days." The maid replied with her eyebrows lowered. Yun Wuxin was shocked and frowned, "What can Ah Tu do? He is still young. Don't let him mess around. It will be bad if he hurts the master."

He thought again, and thought that Yun Chuxiu might be afraid to stay alone because of the series of accidents at home. In the final analysis, it was because his body was too useless, so he gritted his teeth and sat up again. The maid pressed his body down, and said softly but firmly: "Master, Doctor Ye said that you can't get out of bed in the next few days. You need to stay in bed and rest. He will come to give you acupuncture every three days. Manager Hu has issued a death order for this, and the servants are watching you."

Although her hands were slender, they were extremely powerful. Yun Wuxin couldn't break free, so he could only say with a straight face: "Are you going to listen to him or me? Let go!"

The maid's smile remained unchanged as she said softly, "When you are better, it is up to you to decide how to punish us. But now, you should just lie down."

"You--" Yun Wuxin wanted to say something, but suddenly he heard someone calling him "Senior Brother". He looked up and saw Yun Chuxiu stepping into the room and looking at him.

Yun Wuxin couldn't lose his temper in front of his junior fellow apprentice, so he coughed twice and lay down obediently. Yun Chuxiu seemed to have noticed nothing, and asked the maid to leave, and climbed onto his bed with his hands and feet. Yun Wuxin noticed that he was holding a book in his hand, and after a casual glance, he found that it was a book on medical skills. He couldn't help but ask him curiously: "Where did you get the medical book? Is the master using this to teach you to read?"

Yun Chuxiu sat down beside him and answered nonchalantly, "No, it was given to me by Divine Doctor Ye. I promised him that if he gave me this, I would keep a good eye on you and not let you move around."

"This..." Hearing this, Yun Wuxin was both angry and amused, but there was nothing he could do. Yun Chuxiu saw that his head was covered in cold sweat, so he wiped his sweat with his sleeve and asked him, "Brother, did you have a nightmare?"

"... Well, I seem to remember something from the past, but unfortunately, even in my dreams, I can't see his face clearly." Yun Wuxin sighed and rubbed his little face. "Our A-Tu is still the best, he's not afraid of anything and doesn't have nightmares!"

Yun Chuxiu tilted his head and told him secretly: "Master also has nightmares like you! I heard him calling out someone's name in his dream..."

"Who?"

"My name is...Meng Chen." Yun Chuxiu flipped open the medical book. "And Uncle Hu and the others are also saying that it would be great if the young master was at home, so that the master would be happier...Who is the young master?"

"Ah! That's Meng Chen, our senior brother." Yun Wuxin arrived earlier than him, so he must have known Meng Chen. "I heard that he was traveling, probably to a very far place, and hasn't been back for a long time. I haven't seen him yet... But everyone says that he is a very good and gentle person, and he will definitely like A-Tu!"

"Will he?" Yun Chuxiu didn't feel anything about it, but couldn't help but say, "But Master misses him very, very much... Why doesn't he come back?"

"Because, because he is already an adult, he has his own things to do." Yun Wuxin tried to explain to him. "Just like an eagle will leave home and fly into the sky when it grows up, the eldest brother must also have his own sky. I think we should be able to see him during the New Year."

"Yeah." Hearing his sincere words, Yun Chuxiu nodded and continued to read the medical book. Yun Wuxin saw that he looked serious and asked softly, "Why, Chuxiu, do you want to be a doctor like Doctor Ye in the future?"

"No, I don't want to be a doctor." Yun Chuxiu answered without raising his head. "I just want to learn his golden needle technique, so that when you and Master feel uncomfortable, I can give you acupuncture. But Doctor Ye laughed at me, saying that I don't even know how to read... It doesn't matter, I can learn slowly."

He raised his head and looked at Yun Wuxin, and said seriously: "Although I know very few words now, I will keep learning. In the future, I will know more and more words, and I will definitely learn his skills. When my brother is heartbroken, Uncle Hu can come and call me directly, without going down the mountain to ask for help!"

Yun Wuxin was a little speechless for a moment. Ever since they met, Yun Chuxiu looked dull and always seemed to lack emotion. Although he felt a little disappointed, he was more heartbroken about his past experiences... He didn't expect that he could say such words now.

A-Tu is a taciturn person, but does he see everything that his master and he have done, and keep it in mind?
Perhaps, there is no need to mention the past. In the future, Ah Tu will surely become more lively and sensible! They are now a family, and they can no longer have different opinions. Everything will undoubtedly get better and better!
"Okay!" He took a deep breath and replied with a smile. "I'll wait for A-Tu to come and treat us. Then I'll use the money I give to Doctor Ye to buy you some candy!"

"Pin it up?"

"Let's pinky promise!" Yun Wuxin stretched out his hand and lightly pinky-pinched his.

(End of this chapter)