As honorable guests of Beixing Sect, Zhu Mingyang, Gu Yingjie, and Yan Zhanjin were taken to a branch manor which Wang Zedong agreed to share. The small manor was heavily guarded by both Beixing Sect disciples and Yueguang Sect disciples.
Badly injured and having just declared themselves enemies of the Gu Household with nowhere else to go, the trio decided that here was the safest place for them at the moment to heal their catastrophic wounds.
A maid holding a tray of food led Yan Zhanjin, with two servants trailing behind him carrying a basin of water and a medication tray, all per Cao Wenyan's order. As they walked through the small corridor, Yan Zhanjin glanced at the full moon beaming brightly over the small villa on his right.
When they reached the room, the maid knocked gently and pushed the door open, entering Zhu Mingyang's room.
The maid and the two servants placed the food, the tray of medicine, and the basin on the table, gently bowed, and left the room, leaving Yan Zhanjin to treat Zhu Mingyang and Gu Yingjie's severe injuries.
Yan Zhanjin walked over to the bed and said, "Let me check your injury."
Zhu Mingyang looked at Yan Zhanjin and insisted, "First, look at Yingjie's injuries."
Yan Zhanjin turned his attention to Gu Yingjie, who was lying on the bed. He began to wipe the dried blood from Gu Yingjie's back. He noted the tenderness in the room: Zhu Mingyang was holding Gu Yingjie's hand and refusing to let go.
While cleaning the savage whip wounds on Gu Yingjie, Yan Zhanjin felt a familiar pang of sadness. In his life, no one except Chen Dandan had truly loved him like a brother. Not long ago, Zhu Mingyang had appeared in his life, and he had allowed himself to dream. He thought that even if Zhu Mingyang was a man, he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his life with him. He realized that if someone looked at him with the same intense, devoted eyes that Ma Jingguo used to look at Mu Dishi, he would fall instantly for that person.
After he finished cleaning and applying medicine to Gu Yingjie's ravaged back, Gu Yingjie had fallen asleep. Yan Zhanjin looked at Zhu Mingyang and said, "Now is your turn."
Yan Zhanjin carefully took off Zhu Mingyang's robe. The web of scars on Zhu Mingyang's back was shocking and left Yan Zhanjin momentarily speechless. He wiped the area slowly, little by little, then applied the medicine. He meticulously cleaned the deep holes left by the two hooks on Zhu Mingyang's shoulders and stitched them up. He then cleaned and treated the two wounds on the front of Zhu Mingyang's shoulders, followed by the whip wounds on his back. Yan Zhanjin gently wrapped Zhu Mingyang's upper body in a long strip of white cloth, tying the two ends around his waist.
Yan Zhanjin stared at Zhu Mingyang's wrapped waist for a moment, then, overwhelmed by emotion, reached out and embraced him. He pulled himself fully into Zhu Mingyang's arms and asked, his voice thick with confusion and pain, "Mingyang, why do you do so much for him?"
Zhu Mingyang held him close. "I don't know. I just love him."
Yan Zhanjin looked up at Zhu Mingyang and asked the question he had been holding back for months: "Are you willing to love another person?"
Zhu Mingyang looked down at Yan Zhanjin, his gaze filled with kindness, but his answer was firm. "I can't."
Yan Zhanjin's voice was a soft lament. "Mingyang, I always thought that the time we spent together would last forever."
Zhu Mingyang sighed, "Zhanjin..."
Yan Zhanjin pulled back slightly, his eyes searching Zhu Mingyang's. "Mingyang, when you kissed me in front of the house that night, did you treat me as Gu Gongzi?"
"I was drunk that night," Zhu Mingyang admitted, his voice soft with regret. "Sorry, I crossed the line."
"You don't have to say sorry, I was willing," Yan Zhanjin insisted. He looked up at Zhu Mingyang and stretched out his face toward him, inviting a kiss, but Zhu Mingyang gently pulled his face away.
Zhu Mingyang looked directly at him, his expression serious. "Zhanjin, the only person I love, and I'm willing to do everything—even sacrifice my life—to keep him alive, that person is Yingjie. He is my love, my life, my soulmate, and my everything."
Yan Zhanjin looked at Zhu Mingyang, his heart sinking with finality. "What about us?"
Zhu Mingyang gently clarified the nature of his feelings. "You are my best friend. The brotherhood between you and me is also very important to me. Apart from Yingjie, you are the second person that I love."
Yan Zhanjin pressed for absolute clarity. "But the love you gave to Gu Gongzi and me is different. You love me as a brother and a friend. You love him as a life partner. Am I right?"
Zhu Mingyang affirmed the truth. "That's right."
Yan Zhanjin let out a breath of resignation. "Alright, I understand."
Zhu Mingyang offered final reassurance. "Zhanjin, I cherish our friendship very much."
Yan Zhanjin pulled away and stood up. "I know." He picked up one basin and poured the water into the other. He stacked the basin filled with bloody water onto the empty one. Picking up both, he said, "You should rest." He walked out of the room, leaving Zhu Mingyang alone.
Zhu Mingyang quietly closed the door and turned to look at Gu Yingjie. He walked over and sat on the bed beside him. He stretched his hand forward and gently wiped away a tear on Gu Yingjie's face. "Don't cry," he said softly.
Gu Yingjie replied, his voice still ragged. "I'm no longer the heir of the Gu family. I am free to cry whenever I want."
Zhu Mingyang kissed Gu Yingjie's right temple, then lay down on the left side, pulling Gu Yingjie close. He placed his hand over Gu Yingjie's and wrapped him securely in his arms. He whispered, "Yingjie, I can tell from your breathing that you are not asleep. When it comes to us, we know each other best."
Gu Yingjie responded, giving voice to his deepest insecurity. "Mingyang, you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings. If you want to leave me and stay with Yan Yisheng, you can. We are no longer in the Gu family, and you don't owe me anything."
"Why do you say that?" Zhu Mingyang asked, surprised by the sudden doubt.
Gu Yingjie explained, "By the tone of Yan Yisheng's voice, he likes you very much."
Zhu Mingyang sighed. "Yingjie, there is only one winner in love, and the winner is you from the beginning."
Gu Yingjie turned to sleep on his right side, stretched his head to Zhu Mingyang, and kissed him. Zhu Mingyang hugged Gu Yingjie's waist, and both of them sat up. Zhu Mingyang began to untie Gu Yingjie's belt, kissing and sucking on Gu Yingjie's lips, and his hand slowly reached behind Gu Yingjie. Zhu Mingyang's breathing became more and more rapid, and Gu Yingjie began to moan.
Yan Zhanjin was lying on his own bed and couldn't sleep, a tangle of thoughts running through his mind. He could hear Zhu Mingyang and Gu Yingjie talking. Their voices were low, but he could clearly distinguish some words. Zhu Mingyang was right: there is only one winner in love, and in this case, he was not that winner. He realized that even when Zhu Mingyang was by his side before, Zhu Mingyang always regarded him as a brother, nothing more.
Immediately afterward, he heard Gu Yingjie's moans, and his heart trembled inexplicably. Suddenly, a blinding anger surged in his heart—an anger that made him want to stand up, kick in the door, and drag Zhu Mingyang out of the room. Listening to Gu Yingjie's moaning and the faint creak of the bed from the next room made Yan Zhanjin incredibly upset, especially since Zhu Mingyang had just made it so explicitly clear that he and Yan Zhanjin were just friends.
After making love, Gu Yingjie slowly unwrapped the old, bloodied cloth binding Zhu Mingyang, which was now soaked through with sweat. He walked around the bed and sat on Zhu Mingyang's lap, facing him.
Gu Yingjie wrapped Zhu Mingyang's new bandages around his back, tying the two ends neatly in the middle of Zhu Mingyang's chest. He spoke, the words carrying the weight of the painful truth, "Mingyang, Senior Lin told me that my mother is my father's sister, so my father asked my grandfather to send Senior Lin to kill her. Senior Lin's loyalty to my yeye is undeniable. He was willing to be mute and deaf to keep this secret forever. I am the product of shame."
Zhu Mingyang pulled Gu Yingjie tightly into his arms. He reassured him, his voice firm with love. "Yingjie, to me, you are the most precious treasure I have ever obtained."
Gu Yingjie smiled, embracing the hope of a new life. "Mingyang, let's grow old together. We can live somewhere quiet, or live far away, and we will never step into the martial arts world again." He looked up at Zhu Mingyang. "Or we could become wanderers."
Zhu Mingyang kissed Gu Yingjie's forehead and said, "I love to wander the world and grow old with you."