Sleep preparations.

Yes, back then he even thought about strange philosophical things like 'what does it mean to be alive?'

When he was trapped in that dungeon Lai Yiteng often felt like even if he had a heartbeat, he wasn't really alive anymore. Waking up, waiting to fall back unconscious to avoid the pain. There was no freedom to be had. Even sickly people could at least go out shopping or read a book, but he couldn't.

Most in that situation would probably agree that it would be better to sleep forever.

Is there a point living when every day is just hard and painful, when it never seems like it will get better?

Those were the doubts Lai Yiteng began to have, and they became engrained in his mind. 

Perhaps his greatest hope was being able to escape that dungeon and being able to make those who'd been so cruel suffer a similar horrid fate as they deserved...but after that, he had no dreams left. He had no plans for the future after his revenge. If someone called him 'short-sighted' then they'd be right.

Surviving each day was already difficult, so what time did he have to hope about dumb things like the future?

And yet just because Xian Wu mentioned it, Lai Yiteng had been dumb enough to think about it again. He gave an annoyed twist of his lips.

Hypothetically, let's say he escaped Lushang Sect and that Chen Yuwen or whoever's evil plans, he killed them and became free again. Even if he survived but was sickly to the point he couldn't practice the martial arts, it still seemed pointless.

What would he be without his martial arts? Nothing. His martial arts and erhu playing were all he had!

If he were to assign worth to himself besides these two skills, it was probably close to zero. And it wasn't as though Lai Yiteng could say that his personality would do him any favors...unlike Xian Wu, who was so good with words. It was probably easy for him to make allies anywhere just by acting like the person that fits in with any environment.

For example, at that brothel Xian Wu had acted like an outgoing drinker, in front of his sect disciples he's a collected and kind leader, and in front of Lai Yiteng he was patient and persistent.

See? Xian Wu could always adapt to the situation.

But Lai Yiteng could only act cold, sharp-tongued, and pessimistic. If a situation went out of his control, then he tended to turn vicious and violent. He was honestly surprised that Xian Wu didn't hate him by now.

Lai Yiteng rolled over in bed, trying to tuck himself into the covers more securely. He felt tired.

He hated being ill.

And hated being spoken to and taken care of a like an ill person.

He also hated that there was no easy cure for this stupid poison in his veins.

He wasn't really sure what happened when his consciousness went fuzzy that one time because of the flute. It was extremely painful, but he also felt a surge of power at the time. Maybe it hadn't been so bad…

Lai Yiteng wanted to take a nap after all these tiring thoughts, but sleep wouldn't come to him as he lay on the bed. 

Something wasn't quite right...then he realized, although he'd been sharing a bed with Xian Wu, he wasn't here now. Since he was gone Lai Yiteng felt no particular need to sleep on the bed any longer. In fact, usually Lai Yiteng preferred to sleep in a corner or small space.

He let his eyes run over the room but found no open corners.

This room was so lavish that a large porcelain vase with cut flowers was in one corner, a table in another, then a dresser in another. One might say it was well furnished, but Lai Yiteng thought it was only excessive.

…oh. He had a good idea to fix this. It would require some preparation.

He carefully surveyed the room and made sure to leave his empty dishes outside his door, then shut it quietly. He took the nearby dresser and pushed it in front of the door. Maybe like this is someone tried to break in, they'd have a harder time. Fortunately, the windows in the room were not the kind easily passable by people, but slotted windows near the ceiling.

These were all good things.

If only he had the time to set a trap or two in the room or attach bells to the door. Especially since that Bo Penglai never brought back his dagger yet! He did not even have his sharpest weapon. Although he did have his rope.

No matter.

Most of all, moving the dresser opened up a corner. The care in this mansion was so good, there wasn't even any cobwebs or dust there. Lai Yiteng could not help but be impressed for a moment.

In any case, he now had a place to take a short rest.

He pulled a blanket off his off his bed and brought it into the corner.

Wrapping himself up in it, Lai Yiteng felt more comfortable. Even more so after eating recently. And for some reason, as unnecessarily fancy this room was, this blanket kind of smelled like Xian Wu's scent of jasmine, with hints of peony added from the incense floating within the space. His eyelids were heavy as he took one more look at the large dresser covering the door entirely, then fell asleep.

…

In the meantime, Xian Wu was still sorting through paperwork.

It was a tiresome affair, as most desk work is.

Once he finished for the night he had a servant summon Bo Penglai.

The young man ran over across the rooftops a minute or two after that servant had gone, his scarf flying in the wind behind him. One couldn't say it was winter yet, but that didn't matter to Bo Penglai.

Xian Wu had never seen him without a scarf.

"Hey," he said as Bo Penglai landed in the garden a few paces away from him, "do you still have Lai Yiteng's knife?"

"Yes, Sect Master Xian! I've kept it in the right of my belt."

"Good, you can hand it over to me now."

Bo Penglai nodded.

Xian Wu grasped the knife in his hand, the somewhat dulled, short blade was stored in an old and faded scabbard. There was nothing special out it as far as he could see, but Lai Yiteng was attached to it.

"Sect Master," Bo Penglai stared at the knife, "is there a reason we couldn't give it back to him right away?"

Xian Wu sputtered. "D-Don't ask questions that you shouldn't!" But he then leaned over, his ponytail falling onto his shoulder, as he added in a low tone, "Well, I still need to discuss a few 'rules' to Lai Yiteng about staying here before I give it back to him. Ahem. You know, you've seen him…he can be a little violent."

Bo Penglai nodded in great understanding. "That's true. He's pretty violent. I saw him hit you all the time."

"Shut it. …anyway, do you know how he's been this afternoon?"

Bo Penglai gave a shrug. "I was off at my own place taking a rest. How would I know?"

Well, that was true. There was nothing to be done about that.

"However," continued Bo Penglai, "I did hear a servant say that they heard a few noises an hour or two ago, as though the furniture was being moved."

"Huh."