In the days that followed, Jun Huailang’s nightmares did not improve in the slightest. Even Xue Yunhuan, whose nerves were as thick as a tree trunk, noticed it.
The fact that Jun Huailang’s spirits had remained poor was blurted out to the Empress by the quick-tongued Xue Yunhuan. The Empress was rather worried, and on the next day of rest, she summoned Jun Huailang to her palace early in the morning and had her personal female attendant, who was skilled in medicine, examine him.
Jun Huailang always felt that his nightmares these past few days had little to do with his constitution. But since the Empress was worried about him, he did not reject her good intentions. Thus, early that morning, he went to the Empress’s palace.
And so, when Xue Yan returned from practicing martial arts behind the courtyard early that morning, he saw a small figure standing at the entrance to his otherwise empty doorway.
It was Jun Huailang’s younger sister.
Xue Yan was wearing only a thin set of martial clothes. Although it was already the bitterly cold beginning of winter, a layer of fine sweat floated across his forehead, and his entire body radiated the vigorous warmth of a young man after exercising.
Xue Yan walked over and stopped three steps away from the little girl.
Jun Linghuan had been standing at his door with her hands tucked together, pacing back and forth, hesitating and not daring to enter. Hearing footsteps approaching from afar, she hurriedly raised her head and saw Xue Yan standing there.
Delight immediately appeared on the little girl’s face.
“Fifth Prince Brother!” she called in her clear, crisp voice, a smile appearing on her face as well. Her eyes curved into crescent moons when she smiled, making her look especially sweet.
Xue Yan immediately saw Jun Huailang’s appearance in his mind.
These two siblings really did look alike. Xue Yan thought to himself. Even the way they smiled was sweet in exactly the same way.
“I was wondering if I might disturb your sleep, but I didn’t expect you to already be awake!” Jun Linghuan said with a smile, looking up at him.
Xue Yan hummed in response. Seeing that the little girl happened to be standing directly in the wind and that her cheeks had already turned red from the cold, he quietly shifted his position and completely blocked the wind for her.
“What is it?” he asked indifferently.
Jun Linghuan could not see the coldness in his attitude at all. Hearing him ask, she mysteriously pulled a sachet from her sleeve and held it up to Xue Yan as though presenting a treasure.
“This is calming incense I found in Aunt’s storeroom!” Jun Linghuan said. “Aunt said she asked for it from Bao Guo Temple a long time ago. As long as you burn one pellet, you’ll be able to sleep well! I wanted to burn it for Brother myself, but I don’t know how, so, Fifth Prince Brother, can you teach me how to burn incense?”
At this point, she muttered, “The brothers and sisters in my room all refuse to let me do it. I’m already a big six-year-old child. Why can’t I use fire?”
She failed to notice that Xue Yan’s gaze had suddenly stilled.
Then she heard Xue Yan ask, “Your brother can’t sleep?”
Jun Linghuan shook her head. “Brother can fall asleep, but he has nightmares all night.”
Then she heard Xue Yan’s calm voice beside her.
“When did it start?”
Jun Linghuan counted on her fingers and thought for a long while.
“Mm… The day it snowed!” she finally remembered and said happily. “Brother caught a cold that day, and after that, he couldn’t sleep well anymore and started having nightmares.”
The light-colored pupils in Xue Yan’s eyes sank into complete silence, a trace of self-mocking ridicule surfacing within them.
The day it snowed was precisely the day he had arrived—the very day Jun Huailang had come to his room and then suddenly fallen ill.
“Do you know why your brother has nightmares?” Xue Yan asked after a moment of silence.
It’s because of the person standing before you.
Xue Yan thought to himself.
Because this person is the Seven Killings Star descended into the world, a lone star cursed by Heaven. Your foolish brother doesn’t know enough to be afraid and actually dared to approach him, so he has been afflicted by the evil star and suffers nightmares every day.
Xue Yan thought that, sure enough, he should have understood this long ago.
This was the fate he had been born with. He would harm everyone who approached him.
The fact that the people of the world feared and hated him should have been something worth being grateful for.
But Jun Linghuan had no idea what he was thinking. Hearing him say this, she hurriedly asked, “Why, Fifth Prince Brother?”
Xue Yan lowered his head and met Jun Linghuan’s clear, glass-like eyes.
Those words… he could not bring himself to say them.
After a long while, he said indifferently, “It’s nothing. Give me the calming incense. I know what to do.”
Jun Linghuan did not suspect anything. Hearing what this older brother said, she hurriedly placed the sachet in his hands.
The incense made by Bao Guo Temple gave off a deep, distant sandalwood fragrance, like the Buddhas in the clouds gazing down upon all living beings with compassion and benevolence.
Yet this broad, heavy fragrance was like fine but resilient threads, winding layer upon layer and tightly strangling Xue Yan’s throat, making even breathing difficult for him.
He was an evil ghost born from the abyss. All beautiful things had nothing to do with him. Even touching him would cause others to suffer his backlash.
Xue Yan lowered his eyes indifferently and reached out, taking the sachet from Jun Linghuan’s hands.
Throughout the entire process, he never touched her even once.
——
It was nearly noon when Jun Huailang finally returned from the Empress’s palace.
The female physician had examined him through observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, and had also administered acupuncture. She only said that he had been overly troubled by his thoughts lately and that there was nothing seriously wrong with his body, though he needed more comfort and reassurance.
Jun Huailang knew that the physician had not discovered anything either. He was not anxious. Instead, he smiled and thanked the Empress, politely declined her invitation to stay for a meal, and returned to Mingluan Palace.
After being examined all morning, he was truly exhausted and wanted to return to get some proper rest.
Just as he reached the entrance to his side hall, he smelled the fragrance of sandalwood incense, like the incense offered in a Buddhist temple. He was somewhat puzzled, but then assumed that Consort Shu had discovered that he had been sleeping poorly and had therefore sent someone to burn incense in his chambers.
Jun Huailang could not help but smile helplessly and shake his head.
He stepped into the palace amid the curling Buddhist incense and saw that none of the palace maids or eunuchs were present. There was only a tall, slender figure with his back to him, adding incense to the Boshan censer.
The figure was tall and straight, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, filled with a sense of strength and wild vigor.
“Fifth Highness?” Jun Huailang froze and asked.
Then he saw Xue Yan turn his head and glance at him indifferently.
It was the bitterly cold beginning of winter, yet he was wearing only a thin martial outfit. The sleeves were gathered into tight suede wrist guards, exposing the back of his hand where the veins were slightly raised.
Jun Huailang met those amber-colored eyes and inexplicably felt that they were darker than usual.
There was also an indescribable dimness and lifelessness in them, making Jun Huailang feel rather uncomfortable as he looked at them.
“…Why are you burning incense?” Jun Huailang asked.
Then he saw Xue Yan turn back and continue lighting the last bit of incense. Wisps of Buddhist incense curled upward from the Boshan censer and spread throughout the quiet palace chamber.
“I heard that ever since the day I arrived, you have not been able to sleep peacefully,” Xue Yan said with his back to him. He closed the lid of the Boshan censer, extinguished the flame, and spoke in a low, indifferent voice.
Jun Huailang paused and instinctively refuted him. “It’s not really…”
Then Xue Yan turned around.
Jun Huailang’s slightly pale complexion and the dark circles beneath his eyes both fell into Xue Yan’s sight.
Xue Yan glanced at him indifferently, as though he had not heard his objection at all, and asked in a matter-of-fact tone, “Why didn’t you tell anyone else?”
Jun Huailang had been busy in the Empress’s palace all morning, and he had not slept well the night before either. He was somewhat dizzy now and failed to understand Xue Yan’s meaning for a moment.
“Tell them what?”
Xue Yan was silent for a moment and said nothing.
Jun Huailang was stunned for a moment before hearing Xue Yan say calmly, “I will move out as soon as possible.”
After saying this, he turned and walked outside.
Jun Huailang hurried forward several steps and grabbed his arm.
“Why move out? You’re already Aunt’s child. How could you possibly move somewhere else to live?”
Xue Yan turned back and cleanly pulled his arm free from Jun Huailang’s grasp.
Caught off guard, Jun Huailang staggered from the force of his movement.
“You…”
“Hereditary Prince, you really ought to learn your lesson.”
Jun Huailang hurriedly raised a hand and caught hold of the corridor pillar beside him. Just as he steadied himself, he heard Xue Yan’s cold, heartless voice.
He raised his head and saw Xue Yan standing there, slightly turned to the side, looking down at him.
That gaze suddenly made Jun Huailang feel as though he had returned to his previous life—to the corridor beneath the eaves of Yonghe Palace, where he had caught a hurried glimpse of Xue Yan.
His eyes had looked exactly like this.
“Has no one ever told you that I am the Seven Killings Star descended into the world? That I bring misfortune to my parents and hinder those related to me by blood, and that anyone who approaches me will meet an untimely end?”
He heard Xue Yan speak in a calm and even voice, as though he were merely stating an indisputable fact.
Jun Huailang had naturally heard of it.
He had heard countless people—even everyone—say exactly this.
But he had never heard those words come from Xue Yan’s own mouth.
They sounded so casual, as though he were telling Jun Huailang that the weather was fine today.
“Even if no one ever told you, you’ve suffered enough during this period,” he heard Xue Yan continue. “Even if the Hereditary Prince doesn’t mind, I don’t want to have another life on my hands because of you, merely adding to my infamy.”
After saying this, he still did not leave. He simply stood there, coldly looking down at Jun Huailang, who was leaning against the corridor pillar.
Perhaps even Xue Yan himself had not realized it.
After laying everything bare in an attitude of throwing caution to the wind, he was still faintly waiting for an answer.
Any answer at all.
And Jun Huailang understood.
Xue Yan was certain that his nightmares were related to him, that he had been afflicted because of him, and that therefore he wanted to leave Mingluan Palace.
His expression was indifferent, his gaze cold, and the words he spoke were exceedingly unpleasant, yet they caused Jun Huailang’s heart to clench uncontrollably, making him feel almost unable to bear it.
How much suffering did a person have to endure alone before he could become convinced that he was a lone star cursed by Heaven, that he would bring disaster to others, and become accustomed to believing it?
Jun Huailang had been reborn once. He knew perfectly well that this was utter nonsense, a fallacy.
And looking at Xue Yan’s indifferent, unmoved appearance, it was clearly nothing more than a cold suit of armor, concealing the scarred body beneath it.
Jun Huailang leaned against the pillar and straightened himself. Then he walked directly to Xue Yan.
“Who said my nightmares have anything to do with you?” He stopped in front of Xue Yan, raised his head slightly, and met his gaze. “And who said that your Seven Killings fate means you will bring misfortune to your parents and family?”
Xue Yan thought to himself, This is something everyone under Heaven knows. Does anyone really need to tell him?
But then Jun Huailang’s clear, ringing voice suddenly reached his ears.
“You haven’t brought misfortune to anyone.”
Jun Huailang spoke with absolute certainty.
“They’re the ones talking nonsense.”