There is no Redemption for A Scum Villain

Chapter 1

"Mu-shidi, why are you bringing me here? Has something happened?"

"See for yourself..."

Mu Qingfang led Yue Qingyuan into the bamboo house on Qing Jing peak. The house was oddly quiet. The inner chambers lay before them, door opened. Someone crouched in the doorway, looking at something in the room. They were holding out their hand as if to try to persuade a small animal to come closer.

"What's the problem here?", Yue Qingyuan asked the person.

"The 'problem' is sitting under the table in there, refusing to come out!", the person replied. Annoyance was audible in their voice as they pointed inside the room.

Yue Qingyuan raised his eyebrow, coming behind the person. He looked inside the room and almost fainted on the spot. Under the table sat a small child, wrapped in a blanket. It could be no more than six or seven years old, but the hostility in its eyes could just as well belong to an adult's eyes. It was very obvious who this child was, even if Yue Qingyuan hadn't known him at this age.

"Mind your words, Shizhi. This is still your Shizun", Mu Qingfang advised harshly. He didn't particularly like his Shixiong, but it was still improper to call your teacher a 'problem'. Even if he disliked him, Mu Qingfang had to step up as a fellow peak lord if he wanted to ensure a respectful atmosphere.

"Of course, Shishu... I'm sorry", the youth replied and stood up.

Yue Qingyuan didn't move away from the door. His eyes were fixed on the boy, clutching a sword under the table. The spot in the door now vacant, he took it by sinking to his knees. He forgot to ask anything about the situation. He just knelt there, while he felt memories of a time long gone surface in his mind. Thinking back on that time hurt him deeply and his expression grew complicated.

"He probably had a qi-deviation, cultivating in private", Mu Qingfang said,"I'm unsure if he has all his memories. I doubt he would behave like this if he had."

"That, I can easily find out", Yue Qingyuan replied without looking back. He braced himself to say the name he long longed for to say to the person in front of him once again and took a breath, "Xiao Jiu?"

He stretched out his hand towards the boy. Mu Qingfang raised his eyebrow. Was that a name? That sounded more like a nickname for a child, but what was he saying? The Shen Qingqiu in front of them was only a kid. But why would Yue Qingyuan be calling him by that name? Or rather, how would he know it?

Meanwhile Shen Qingqiu had narrowed his eyes in suspicion, looking at the strange man in front of him. He didn't trust him at all. He looked rich. He knew that rich people were always bad and didn't care about people like him, but somehow the man looked familiar. And he had known his name. Although it was the nickname that annoying boy had given him.

"How do you know my name?", Shen Qingqiu hissed.

"It's me. Yue Qi", Yue Qingyuan replied. His heart started beating faster when he remembered that the others were still standing behind him, but he had already said enough, it didn't matter anymore. "It's your Qi-ge."

Mu Qingfang realized something was off and sent away the disciple. There had been people theorizing about why Yue Qingyuan never did something about Shen Qingqiu committing all these unjustifiable deeds. The way it sounded now made it look like the reason was a year old friendship. Though that brought up the question why now they were on such bad terms.

Shen Qingqiu looked closer at Yue Qingyuan's face. The man did resemble the boy he knew a lot, but he was an adult. This didn't make sense, even for a child.

"You're old," Shen Qingqiu said, bluntly.

"I know", Yue Qingyuan replied and held out his hand a little more, "Come to me."