As death slowly embraced him, Su Qing's mind drifted to a memory he had spent years trying to bury.
***
Twelve years ago
Su Qing was sitting at home, enjoying his tea, when he heard a knock at the door. It was a bit of an annoying interruption, as he liked to savor his tea time without any distractions.
Nevertheless, he got up to see who was visiting. As he made his way to the door, he wondered who it could be, and what they might want. He wasn't really in the mood for visitors, but he opened the door anyway, curious about who was on the other side.
As he walked, the sound of heavy rain filled the air, and it was coming down dangerously hard.
"Seriously, who had upset the ancestors this time?"
He approached the door and opened it.
On the other side, there was someone holding a baby who was crying, and from what he could see, it looked like a woman.
The woman remained silent, simply handing the wailing baby over to Su Qing.
Su Qing was confused on who the woman's identity was and lifted the robe that was covering her head and to his surprise it was his former fiancé, the same woman who he had thought had run away with another man because she didn't see any value in him.
Why has she come to him all of a sudden?
The woman grasped his cheek before saying:
"Su Qing, I'm deeply sorry for leaving without a word. My regret is overwhelming, and I don't expect you to forgive me. All I can ask is that you please take care of our child, I'm counting on you to give him the love and care they need."
Su Qing's eyes widened in shock.
"C-Child, what do you mean by that ? And what's with your breathing. It's almost like you're having a tough time inhaling air, and it's getting worse by the second. What happened to you, anyway?
The woman smiled and looked down.
Su Qing did the same thing and then she saw that she was holding onto what looked like a wound on her stomach.
The wound looked like a sword slash.
This angered Su Qing as who could have done this to his former fiancé in the first place.
But was there any worth in getting angry?
She walked out on him, choosing to be alone, all so she could marry some other guy and get her hands on more money than he had.
He was lost in thought, but his reverie was suddenly interrupted when the woman stepped into his personal space, her face inches from his, and gently pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss.
Su Qing was taken aback, her eyes wide with surprise as she just stood there, frozen in shock.
"Shui, what are you...?"
Shui's voice was shaking as she begged Su Qing.
"Please, I'm begging you, take care of my….no our baby boy. Make sure he has a better life than we did. Don't let him end up like us."
Tears streamed down her face as she thought about the future of their child. She wanted Su Qing to give him the opportunities they never had, to protect him from the struggles they faced.
"Give him a chance at a good life," she whispered, her eyes pleading with Su Qing to promise her that.
Su Qing had no words.
Shui felt happy with what she saw. It seemed like Su Qing didn't need to say anything, because Shui knew her fiancé would go along with what she wanted. She just had this feeling that everything was going to be okay.
And with that, she just fell to the ground and passed away, just like that, in an instant.
Su Qing slowly turned his head at the dead corpse of his former fiancé and still had no words.
Even in death, the memory still lived in his mind.
Out of all of the stuff he could have recalled, why did it have to be that specific one.
'I made my promise….he grew up into a fine boy.'
The moment had passed and reality set back in. The comforting feeling of nostalgia was lost, leaving only a chill that lingered.
"M-Master..."
Sun Yunso dragged himself across the blood-soaked floor. His vision was consumed by darkness. Blood continued to stream from the wounds across his eyes.
He couldn't see but he refused to stop searching.
His trembling hands reached forward again...
And again until his fingers touched someone.
"...!"
Sun Yunso quickly scrambled closer, his hand frantically grasping for the familiar shape beside him, and he managed to grab hold of Su Qing's shoulder.
"Master?"
No response.
He shook him.
"Master... wake up."
Su Qing's body felt icy to the touch as his hands gently moved over him, the chill of her skin sending a shiver through him.
Sun Yunso froze, his lips trembled.
"N-No..."
It hit him like a ton of bricks, a shock that cut deeper than any knife.
His master, the man who had taught him to wield a sword, the man who had taught him to forge one, the man who had raised him like a son was....gone.
Sun Yunso's face was a mess of tears and blood, his cheeks smeared with a mixture of the two. As he tried to speak, his voice broke under the overwhelming sadness that had taken hold of him.
"Why? Why would anyone do this? What did my master ever do to you? He never hurt anyone. So why? WHY?!"
A loud scream filled the empty, damaged house, and his hands, shaking violently, slowly curled into tight fists.
Every tear, every drop of blood, and every ounce of pain became hatred.
His voice fell to a whisper.
"You can't escape me, no matter how hard you try to hide. I'll track down every single one of you, and when I finally catch up, you'll face the consequences. I'll cut you all down."
That night, the boy who had always dreamed of making swords ended up creating something entirely different.
A vow of revenge.
A dull ache throbbed through Sun Yunso's head. His eyelids slowly fluttered open or at least that was what he thought they had.
Darkness, nothing but darkness.
He frowned.
"...?"
His mind was blank.
Where was he? What had happened?
He tried to remember, but a sharp pain shot through his head.
"Ah!"
He automatically reached up to touch his forehead, but his fingers made contact with something that was tightly wrapped around his face.
"What's this?"
His breathing became uneven.
He blinked repeatedly and he still couldn't see anything. Panic slowly crept into his chest.
"...Why can't I see?"
Before he could think any further, a calm male voice broke the silence.
"So, you're finally awake."
Sun Yunso flinched.
"W-Who's there?!"
His voice trembled as he instinctively backed away.
"I can't see you!"
The room was quiet for a second, then the stranger started talking again, his voice calm and soothing.
"Easy, I'm not your enemy. So... there's no need to be afraid."
Sun Yunso remained tense. His breathing refused to slow. As he attempted to disregard the stranger's comments, he made a move to push himself up from the bed, but the instant he applied weight to his body, his strength failed him.
He collapsed onto the wooden floor with a muffled thud, the sound echoing through the room.
"Ouch..."
The man let out a weary sigh.
"What exactly are you trying to do? I already told you...I'm not your enemy and yet you're still treating me like one."
Sun Yunso gritted his teeth.
"Am I wrong for doing that?"
The man gave a quiet chuckle.
"No, you're not."
He made his way over, his movements gentle, and then knelt down beside the boy. In silence, he carefully lifted Yunso back onto the bed, his actions soft and deliberate.
"Your body hasn't recovered yet."
The man waited until Yunso was settled in and comfortable before gently reaching out to touch the bandages that covered his face.
"I'm going to remove these now."
Sun Yunso stiffened but didn't resist.
Layer by layer the bandages came undone. As the final strip of cloth fell away, sunlight poured through the window.
"...!"
Sun Yunso instinctively squeezed his eyes shut. The sudden brightness burned after days of endless darkness.
He raised a hand to shield his face.
"...It hurts."
The man gave a small smile.
"That's normal. You've been living in darkness for several days. Give your eyes a little time. Then you'll be able to see the world again."
Sun Yunso's hand finally came to rest after a brief pause.
The light no longer stung as much.
"...Thank you."
The man barely nodded, then reached for a simple wooden bowl filled with steaming hot porridge and a cup of cool water that was sitting on a nearby table, and gently placed them down beside Yunso.
"You better eat, because your body needs strength."
Sun Yunso took the bowl, then turned to look at the man again.
"If it's not a bother, may I ask, Who are you?"
The man was quiet for a moment.
"I've known Su Qing for a long time, so just call me Anyu Feng.
"Anyu... Feng."
Sun Yunso quietly repeated the name to himself.
"Wait. I've heard that name before."
Anyu raised an eyebrow.
"You have?"
Sun Yunso nodded.
"Master mentioned you once. He said you were childhood friends and that the two of you traveled the world together."
A genuine smile appeared on Anyu's face.
"He really said that, did he? Well, he didn't tell you the whole story, it seems. There were five of us, and we had a name for ourselves - The Sapphire Wolves. We traveled all over the world, taking on requests, solving problems, and getting into all sorts of trouble."
A quiet laugh escaped him.
"I never imagined he'd tell all those stories to his son. He must've become quite the storyteller."
Sun Yunso couldn't help but laugh.
"He did like telling stories."
The laughter faded and Yunso blinked after finally processing the exact word that Anyu had stated.
"...Son?"
Anyu's smile disappeared. He realized what he had just said. Yunso looked directly at him.
"What did you mean by that?"
Anyu remained silent and a heavy sigh escaped him. Instead of answering, he gently pushed the bowl of porridge a little closer.
"Eat first. You need your strength."
The question remained unanswered. And somehow that silence said more than any explanation ever could.
Sun Yunso began eating his food, slowly taking his bites almost as if he was savouring his food so that it didn't go to waste quickly.
Each bite was amazing, even though he was impressed by Anyu Feng's cooking.
"This is amazing Mr. Anyu."
Anyu Feng let out a small laugh
"Thanks, I had to learn how to cook since I live alone."
Sun Yunso took another bite whilst listening to Anyu Feng.
"That does make sense. Anyway I already know that Master Su Qing will love this meal. Don't you think so?" Sun Yunso asked with excitement in his voice.
He kept on eating and enjoying the meal without a care in the world. Anyu Feng couldn't bring himself to meet Sun Yunso's eyes.
Sun Yunso saw this and was slightly confused.
"Mr Anyu, is something wrong?"
Anyu heard Sun Yunso's empathetic voice but still couldn't bear to look at Sun Yunso in the face.
"It's nothing, don't worry."
"Are you sure, your voice already says everything. It's filled with sadness and regret, so are you sure that there isn't anything wrong?"
Anyu was caught off guard. He slowly turned his direction to Sun Yunso, staring directly at him. His face was stiff as he was holding back his tears.
"Yunso, Su Qing….he's dead."
Sun Yunso dropped the chopsticks that he was eating with after he heard what Anyu Feng had just said.
"You're lying right? Please tell me this is just a joke, I was with him moments ago. Yes that's right I was with him nothing else so why....Why are you lying to me?"
"This is not a lie, Sun Yunso. Your master died."