The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide

Shakily, Zong Jun reached out to gently touch Ye Ming’s eyes, but his hand came to a stop less than an inch away from his eyelashes. 

Ye Ming blinked. He seemed to be a little puzzled and surprised, but a look of understanding quickly crossed his face. He felt the tremors in Zong Jun’s hand that held him and sighed silently. He quirked up the corners of his lips, revealing a faint smile. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

In fact, they both knew that this day would come sooner or later. They just hadn’t thought…it would come so soon.

Even if their love was as deep as the sea, it was no match for the ruthless passage of time and the heavens’ cruelty.

Ye Ming lifted his hand. He wanted to touch Zong Jun’s face, but everything was black, and he accidentally knocked into Zong Jun’s shoulder. His hand slowly inched up along Zong Jun’s neck, his chin…and finally rested against his cheek. 

His cold fingers touched Zong Jun’s skin, tracing the contours of his face, as if to commit him to memory.

Ye Ming smiled a little. “Even though I can’t see you, I still remember what you look like. I won’t forget you.”

Just as you won’t forget me.

Zong Jun’s eyes were red; his lips quivered. That’s right…I know you won’t forget me. I know.

Ye Ming said, “Don’t be sad. Actually, I’m already quite satisfied.”

Zong Jun shut his eyes, pained. How could he not be sad? He once thought this person didn’t love him. He went through untold hardships in order to revive him…for no other reason than to keep him by his side.

No matter how deep his hatred or how bitter his grievances, in the end he couldn’t let go.

Now he finally understood that Ye Ming loved him. But this time, he didn’t even have the chance to go back and undo everything. He was going to lose this person completely and utterly. Just as he brought him back with his own hands, he ruined him with his own hands. 

They could have been immortal partners, but they just had to part in both life and death.

Given Zong Jun’s silence, Ye Ming knew that Zong Jun must be taking it hard, even if he couldn’t see his expression. This person…always blamed himself, but that was because he loved him.

Ye Ming slowly got up. He couldn’t see, but he held onto Zong Jun’s hand. Feeling Zong Jun’s warmth put him at ease, because in these countless years…this man’s companionship and care had already become part of his life. He knew that he would always protect him, until he died.

No matter when he turned around, he would always see this man right next to him. 

Ye Ming smiled gently and said, “I already died three thousand years ago. My time now…is time you stole for me. In the end, you and I didn’t manage to transcend the mortal world. No matter how long this path is, it must come to an end.

“This was decreed by fate. It’s not your fault.”

Zong Jun felt as though all of the blood in his body was frozen, unable to flow. After a long time, he finally rasped, “It shouldn’t be this way.”

You should have been able to live for a very long time. You didn’t have to die after fighting over the spirit jade for my sake. You didn’t have to end up trapped inside the spirit jade because of me. And you didn’t have to…end up with your soul scattered, without even the opportunity to reincarnate. 

None of this should’ve happened.

Ye Ming smiled. “But I feel that I lived quite a good life.”

He tilted his head up and slowly kissed Zong Jun’s lips. Even though his eyes were dim and dull, like gemstones covered in a layer of dirt, Zong Jun could still seem to see the determination in them. Not even death could dim his radiance.

Ye Ming said, “I am very grateful that you were here to accompany me down this lonesome cultivation path. My one and only regret is that I raised my sword toward you…My one and only regret is that I killed the man I loved most, and yet I never even had the chance to apologize. 

“Even until he died, I never got to tell him that I loved him.

“But I never would’ve thought…that the man I loved was still alive. I still had the chance to meet him again. I still had the chance to tell him I was sorry…I still had the chance to tell him how I felt.

“Even if I couldn’t become an immortal…I have no other regrets in this life.”

Ye Ming laughed gently. It sounded as if it came from somewhere far away, drifting its way to Zong Jun’s ears. It carried a promise of eternal love, intoxicating and tender. “So do you understand now? I don’t blame you.” 

Zong Jun finally reached out and slowly wrapped his arms around this person with grief in his eyes.

Yes…I understand.

I understand.

[Ding, Zong Jun’s blackening value -1, current blackening value 0] 

………………

Ye Ming lost his eyesight, and so he didn’t go down the mountain again. Zong Jun stayed right by his side.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Zong Jun seemed to straighten out his emotions very quickly. He didn’t want Ye Ming to feel ill at ease because of his own sadness, so he pretended to be unaffected. Smiling, he said to Ye Ming, “Whatever you want to eat today I’ll make for you.”

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No matter how hopeless, he had to do all that he could until the very last moment.

Not long after, Zong Jun finished cooking. Because Ye Ming couldn’t see, Zong Jun fed him personally, bringing the food right up to his lips.

Ye Ming gave a slight smile. He experienced none of the pain and panic of losing one’s sight or the fear of coming face to face with death—he was calm and at ease. 

But the more he was like this, the sadder Zong Jun was, because he knew Ye Ming was only acting like he didn’t care because he didn’t want Zong Jun to hurt. He was always giving thought to him like this…

In contrast, he had never truly understood Ye Ming’s affection for him.

That night, Zong Jun held Ye Ming as he fell asleep. He didn’t do anything; he just wanted to hold him. He watched Ye Ming the entire time. Even one thousand, ten thousand years later, he would not forget this person’s face, but still he wanted to keep looking at him…to remember him in even greater detail…

Ye Ming couldn’t see any of it, and he didn’t realize that Zong Jun didn’t sleep all night long. 

………………

Two days later, Ye Ming realized that his sense of taste disappeared. He could no longer taste the food that Zong Jun cooked for him. No matter what passed his lips, he couldn’t taste any of it; it was like he was eating wax. But he never said anything and pretended like everything was normal.

Zong Jun cooked for Ye Ming again today. He fed Ye Ming a mouthful and asked, “How is it?”

Ye Ming smiled as always and said, “Very good.” 

Zong Jun sighed in relief. This spirit grass was very rare and precious. This was his first time making it, and he was worried it wouldn’t turn out well. But seeing Ye Ming eating with great relish, he felt relieved. When Ye Ming was nearly full, he finally tasted a bite, and his expression abruptly changed.

It tasted horrible. The flavor of this spirit grass conflicted with one of the panaceas in the dish, and it tasted so terrible that not even he himself could take another bite.

Zong Jun slowly looked up at Ye Ming with incomparable despair in his eyes.

Ye Ming didn’t know what Zong Jun’s expression looked like. Puzzled by his long silence, he asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?” 

Zong Jun was choked up and unable to speak. Can you really eat something that tastes so terrible? Or…is it that you don’t even know what you’re eating…?

Zong Jun tightly pursed his lips. A long moment later, he forced out, “Nothing.”

If you don’t want me to know, then I’ll pretend I don’t know.

If you don’t want me to be sad, then I’ll pretend I’m not sad. 

With a wave of his hand, Zong Jun cleared the table. He gently picked Ye Ming up and walked out of the room. When they reached the bamboo forest, he set him down, and the two of them strolled along, hand in hand.

Ye Ming was very familiar with this bamboo forest. At night, when the cool breeze blew, it would carry a faint sweet scent that touched the heart. But today, apart from the cool breeze, he couldn’t sense anything…His sense of smell had gone too.

This body was worsening faster and faster.

At night, they returned to their room and laid on their bed, but Ye Ming couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. He suddenly opened his eyes and turned in Zong Jun’s general direction. Quietly, he said, “Talk to me.” 

Because very soon I won’t even be able to hear your voice.

Zong Jun’s voice was hoarse. He chucked quietly. “Alright. What do you want to hear about?”

Ye Ming thought for a moment and said, “Just talk about something I don’t know. How did you survive back then?”

Zong Jun didn’t really want to dwell on those terrible, dark memories. But if Ye Ming wanted to hear about it, it wasn’t like he couldn’t talk about them. A look of remembrance appeared in his eyes, and he slowly said, “In fact, I didn’t think I would survive either…When I woke up, I discovered that a wisp of my soul still remained. It drifted with the wind into the demonic domain. I wasn’t resigned to dying just like that, and I held onto the desire to return and stand before you once more no matter what, and that allowed me to live on.” 

He spoke of his experience lightly, but no one knew of the dangers he went through. In the demonic domain, where evil spirits haunted every corner, there were countless times that he, a mere remnant wisp of soul, ran into the danger of his soul being scattered and escaped only by the skin of his teeth…but in the end, he persevered. And after going through endless pains and endless torment, he finally became a true devil.

But he didn’t need to tell Ye Ming about these difficult details, because Ye Ming would blame himself and feel terrible.

Zong Jun gently held Ye Ming. There was a smile in his voice. “Perhaps my life wasn’t meant to end then. As long as I thought of you, I refused to die.”

There was a smile in his voice, but in his gaze was only full of sorrow. 

Yes, because I thought of you, longed for you. Whether that longing came from hatred or love, it was all you in the end. You were the one who allowed me to live on in those circumstances by holding on to this conviction.

This time, is there anything left that’s worth my constant obsession?

Probably not.

Ye Ming’s dull eyes were fixed firmly in Zong Jun’s direction. Suddenly, something hot and wet flowed out from the corners of his eyes. 

Zong Jun noticed him crying. Deeply distressed and helpless, he asked, “What’s wrong?” He’d already done his utmost to simplify everything, and he didn’t talk about those difficult dangers. So why was Ye Ming still crying? He quickly said, “I’m fine. I’m alive and well now. It’s all in the past.”

Ye Ming shook his head. He remained silent as he cried.

He didn’t have the courage to ask one thing. He didn’t have the courage to ask Zong Jun: Then in the future will you continue to live on like you are now?

He feared that the answer he would receive was one that he wouldn’t be able to bear. 

Cultivators like them lived very, very long lives, but they were even more staunch and resolute in love. Once they really fell in love, that love was forever…They were unlike ordinary mortals, who were fickle throughout their short lives.

Perhaps ever since a long, long time ago…perhaps ever since they became cultivation partners, from the moment the heavens and earth witnessed them joining in heart, blood, and soul, he knew that Zong Jun would not abandon him and spend his life alone.

For a moment, he thought, How great it would be if Zong Jun could also be fickle.

Ye Ming shut his eyes. Quietly, he said, “Nothing.” 

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to ask that question, to make such an excessive demand.

He’d already caused Zong Jun three thousand years of pain—was he about to make an even more painful decision for him? That wasn’t what Zong Jun wanted.

………………

Ye Ming fell asleep in a daze, and he woke up in a daze as well. Suddenly, he noticed that everything was silent. 

[Ye Ming: Mommy, I’m scared! I can’t see or hear, it’s too quiet! All sorts of horror films keep flashing through my mind 5555, why did I watch so many horror films?!!!]

[Ye Ming: Everywhere I go, I feel uncertain. Every step I take I’m worried will land in thin air. You have no idea how difficult it is for me to pretend to be calm. As someone who’s new to being blind, I’m having a very hard time staying calm. I need time to adjust QAQ] This charade was way too hard to keep up…

[Ye Ming: 5555 Why won’t you talk to me? Talk to me.]

[888: …] 

[888: I’m not your mom.]

A strange silence settled over them.

[Ye Ming: I was wrong, you’re my dad QAQ]

[Ye Ming: Dad, talk to me! I’m so scared!] 

[888: Don’t worry, you won’t live for much longer.]

[Ye Ming: Dad QAQ]

Ye Ming couldn’t hear, couldn’t see, and couldn’t eat. He felt pretty much like a living corpse. If he didn’t have 888 with him, even three seconds would be unbearable, to say nothing of three days.

Zong Jun slowly woke up and watched as the sky grew bright outside. Sunlight shone into their cave from the east, exactly as it had every past morning. 

He held Ye Ming and softly said into his ear, “Qianhong…”

Ye Ming didn’t react.

Zong Jun thought he hadn’t woken up yet, so he gently called his name again and then said, “Yesterday, Mu Yuanqing passed me a message telling me that he would come visit you today. He’s been very busy recently. He has recruited many new disciples for the Xuanguang Sect.”

But it was as if Ye Ming couldn’t hear him at all. 

Zong Jun was stumped. He stroked his cheek and called his name again. After a moment…his gaze grew pained.

You can’t hear, can you?

Every day, every minute, every second was as painful as sawing at flesh with a blunt knife. It hurt so much that Zong Jun was already numb and would no longer have emotional fluctuations.

He didn’t call Ye Ming again; he simply lay with him, quietly holding him in his arms. 

All was still and quiet. There were no sounds aside from the occasional breeze. The entire world contained only the two of them…only the two of them, and nothing else.

Sometime in the afternoon, Ye Ming woke up. He quickly realized that he couldn’t hear anymore, but his expression was tranquil.

This was a death that had long been foreseen. There was nothing surprising about it; there was only helplessness.

Ye Ming whispered, “Are you still there?” 

Zong Jun didn’t say anything. He just held Ye Ming’s hand, intertwining their ten fingers.

From that, Ye Ming knew that he was right next to him. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. In the end, he simply smiled. “I’m a bit tired. I want to go back to sleep for a while.”

Zong Jun nodded and gazed at him tenderly.

Ye Ming had only just woken up, but he was exhausted. He shut his eyes and fell back asleep. In total, he’d only said three sentences. 

Zong Jun kept on watching him without blinking.

A long time later, once the sun began to set behind the western mountains, Zong Jun gently picked Ye Ming up and walked to the edge of the summit of Wangyun Peak.

The sun gradually sank lower in the sky, dyeing the clouds red. When one gazed out at them, it was like looking at a sea of red clouds, and that red slowly grew deeper and darker. The sea of clouds stretched onward for as far as the eye could see…as if it was infinite.

Zong Jun dipped his head, looking down at the person in his arms. He softly said, “You once told me that the view here was your favorite.” 

He knew Ye Ming could no longer hear anything, but he spoke to the air anyway.

“Whenever I saw you standing here by yourself, I’d always feel as though you would become an immortal on the spot and leave this world, and leave me…Completely unfettered.

“I worked so hard to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with you for no other reason than to be able to catch up to you, keep up with you, and to become your fetters.

“I thought that if you really were to leave one day, no matter where you went I could follow you.” 

Ye Ming was still quietly and deeply asleep. His lofty, immortal-like features were illuminated by the light of the setting sun, as beautiful as a painting.

Suddenly, with a crack, the jade between his brows shattered completely. It was webbed with fractures, and the last of its radiance faded away. It was like a dull rock now, devoid of any spiritual energy. One could no longer tell it was the spirit jade that the entire Immortal Cloud Realm once fought over.

At the same time, his body lost the last of its warmth.

And his deep sleep became eternal. 

Zong Jun gazed down at the man in his arms. This spiritual tool he created with his very own hands lost its spirit in the end, leaving behind only an ice-cold body.

Just like those previous two thousand years.

For those two thousand years, he faced his ice-cold body day after day, summoning his soul, calling for him to return…But now, all that was left behind was this ice-cold body again.

Zong Jun’s gaze was gentle and full of yearning. He lowered his head, kissing Ye Ming’s cold lips. 

You said that in this life you had no more regrets.

Honestly, I shouldn’t have any regrets either. I received your love, so what regrets could I possibly have? I ought to be perfectly content.

I once said that we would never be apart for all eternity.

Three thousand years ago, I made this promise. Three thousand years later, I will still stick to my promise. In this world, wherever you are, I will be there too. No matter where you go, I will accompany you. 

Together in life and together in death, never to leave each other.

………………

Mu Yuanqing hadn’t gone down the mountain in a long time. Because of Ye Yin’s death, the Tianhai Palace was banished, and peace slowly returned to the Immortal Cloud Realm, leaving him with endless things to do.

As the first disciple of the Xuanguang Sect, he was terribly busy. Today, he descended the mountain to recruit new disciples and went to a town he went to with Ye Ming in the past. Time was a fleeting thing that turned blue seas into mulberry fields. The mortal world had gone through too many changes. 

Inadvertently, Mu Yuanqing caught sight of a mortal snack that tasted similar to what he and Ye Ming ate in the past. Thinking that Ye Ming would like it too, he bought some and hurried to get back.

The entire way back, he never stopped to rest because he was worried that the food would go cold if he took too long. Very soon, he arrived on Wangyun Peak.

Only, Wangyun Peak was silent, without a soul in sight. Mu Yuanqing looked around for a while in the bamboo forest, in the room…He searched everywhere, but he could find neither hide nor hair of Ye Ming and Zong Jun, and he began to feel an odd sense of unease.

Mu Yuanqing continued to search his way up the mountain. Finally, he arrived at the summit of Wangyun Peak. 

The summit was deserted; he had a clear view of the entire expanse. He looked ahead in a daze. The snacks in his hand fell to the ground.

In the midst of the boundless sea of clouds, at the edge of the precipice of Wanyun Peak…

Only two lonely swords stood upright, inserted into the earth.

One was Cangxuan, one was Zhushui.