Gui Yin glanced up from his report. He twirled the ink brush between his fingers before he finally set the brush down and walked over to Langxia.
Ever since Gui Linghuo left, Langxia had been staring out the window absentmindedly. He was fiddling with a few long blades of grass that he got from who knows where and had managed to knit a half-finished grasshopper.
He would normally be reading or talking to Gui Yin about nonsensical topics. This kind of silence was rare and extremely unsettling.
Gui Yin stopped beside Langxia, glanced at him, and then out the window.
“Why are you spacing out?”
Langxia met Gui Yin’s gaze. “Nothing.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed and he frowned. “Nothing?”
Langxia rarely lied to Gui Yin and even when he did, he would normally backtrack right away. Although Gui Yin wouldn’t say that Langxia was a bad liar, he was always halfhearted when it came to lying to Gui Yin, so he could see through Langxia’s denial completely.
Langxia sighed after a while and began to knit the grasshopper together again. “I tried to be sincere today. Instead, I got laughed at.”
Gui Yin stared at him quizzically. He had been beside Langxia the entire day and hadn’t seen him try to be sincere once. He thought about it some more and came to a conclusion. “Did something happen with Lord Xun?”
Langxia nodded. His hands stilled again and he turned to Gui Yin. “Qinle, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“What if you loved a person, but they didn’t love you back?” Langxia asked.
Gui Yin raised a brow. He thought about it for a while before whispering, “Is this about Lord Xun and his situation?”
Langxia thought about it. Well, it was quite similar. He nodded.
“What would I do?” Gui Yin echoed. He thought about it for a moment. “I’m not the type to get hung up over something like that though. If I like them, then I’ll go after them until they like me. If they really don’t like me, then I’ll give up.”
“That’s it?”
“Or else?” Gui Yin asked. “Of course, I will try my hardest but if it really doesn’t work out, I don’t want to become a nuisance to that person. I would still like to have a good image in their books.”
“Then, when you give up, would you leave them forever?”
“No. I would stay by their side and help them when they need it,” Gui Yin said. He looked at Langxia curiously. “Why are you asking all of a sudden? Did he ask you something about this?”
Langxia shook his head. “I just couldn’t understand it, that’s all.”
He fell silent for a few beats. “I suppose, that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re in love with a person.”
“Well, each person is different,” Gui Yin said. He realized that this was most likely a gap in knowledge for Langxia. He thought about how to explain it. “It’s like…how every snowflake is different. How people love and express their love is different for everyone. For example, Shan Yu likes Siyi, but she has never tried to actively pursue her. When Siyi was still hung up over Li Yan, Shan Yu stayed by her side as a friend and quietly tried to help her. On the other hand, when Yenuo liked Sect Master-shixiong, he actively pursued him despite the taboos. He made it very clear to everyone and to Sect Master that the person he loved was him. Of course, I’m sure if Sect Master-shixiong had clearly been against it, Yenuo would have stopped.”
Langxia slowly nodded. “I see.”
Gui Yin sighed and took a seat beside Langxia. “Love and those kinds of things are extremely complicated. Sometimes, I feel like I would be better off unable to experience love.”
“I don’t know about that,” Langxia said. He tucked the last bit of grass in and held the grasshopper out to Gui Yin. “Even if it’s complicated, I’m sure it’s a beautiful thing to be able to fall in love.”
Gui Yin glanced at the grasshopper, then at Langxia. As if a grasshopper had taken over his heart, he felt it jump irregularly. He gently plucked it from Langxia’s hand and hummed softly. “Sometimes, it can be very sweet.”
“And sometimes, it can be very bitter.”
Gui Yin looked at Langxia curiously. “Have you experienced it?”
“Something similar. A long time ago. Of course, I remember how helpless I felt more than any kind of sweetness it came with,” Langxia said. He brushed his hands together. “Have you finished your report?”
“No,” Gui Yin said. “I’m suddenly lazy.”
“I can help you finish it.”
Gui Yin stood. “Actually, it might be better if I finish it myself.”
Langxia followed Gui Yin. “What do you mean by that? Are you looking down on my writing skills?”
“I’m sure your writing is fine. It’s your handwriting that I’m more worried about.”
Langxia frowned slightly. He sat down beside Gui Yin and looked over his shoulder. “I’ve practiced.”
“I’m sure you have.”
“I have,” Langxia said. He shifted a little closer. He watched Gui Yin write silently for a long time. “Or you could teach me.”
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.
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia. He lifted the brush from the page. “You want to learn?”
Ojcuzlj tewwfv. “P ifjgcfv j ilaaif ktfc P kjr j mtliv, yea yfmjerf bo mfgajlc gfjrbcr, P mbeiv cfnfg xffq ifjgclcu.”
“Qfii,” Xel Tlc atbeuta jybea la obg j wbwfca. Lf ygbeuta bea j cfk rtffa jcv rtloafv ogbw atf rfja. “Qts cba? Pa’r cfnfg abb ijaf ab ifjgc mjiilugjqts. Vla vbkc.”
Langxia sat as Gui Yin told him to. He was given the brush, but even just touching it, Gui Yin could tell what was wrong.
“You’re not supposed to hold the brush so low,” Gui Yin said. He leaned over and carefully adjusted Langxia’s hand on the brush. “Let go for a second. You have to hold it loosely with your index and thumb. Yes, and then lower this finger…don’t grip it tightly. It’s mainly in your index and thumb…keep your wrist loose too.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia, whose brows were furrowed in tight concentration. He smiled slightly and pressed Langxia’s wrist. “This part needs to be looser. How are you supposed to move if your wrist is so stiff?”
Langxia pursed his lips. He tried his best to relax his wrist. “Like this?”
“That’s good,” Gui Yin said. “Don’t think about writing words first. Just try to control the movement of your brush.”
Langxia hummed. He glanced at the hand that was settled on his and lowered his gaze. “Qinle.”
“Hm?”
“If you hold onto me, I won’t be able to move properly.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Gui Yin laughed. He stepped back. “Sorry. I’m used to teaching my disciples.”
As children, it was natural that they would have a harder time holding the brush. But Langxia was an adult who has known how to write for centuries. There was no need to be so close.
Gui Yin stepped back and watched over Langxia’s shoulder. All in all, his posture was perfectly fine. If Gui Yin had to guess, the problem probably lied in his hand. Langxia was originally right-handed, which was why he had given up using his sword once he had lost his arm. Now, he was trying to relearn how to write with his left hand. Judging from how he preferred throwing his staff rather than using it properly, Langxia was most likely not used to using his left hand the way he did with his right.
“Perhaps we should try to build strength in your wrist first,” Gui Yin suggested.
Langxia glanced back at him. “In what way?”
“I could make something with high tension for you to squeeze,” Gui Yin said. He thought about how some authors of his had to go through physical therapy because they had problems with overworking their wrists. “We could try some stretches too.”
Langxia set the brush down with a smile. “Sure, let’s try that.”
Gui Yin’s eyes lit up. He sat down on the chair that Langxia had pulled up earlier. “But you can wield the staff quite well. It shouldn’t take too much for you to be able to write with your left hand. Besides, all things considered, your handwriting isn’t that bad.”
Langxia chuckled. He glanced down at the hand that Gui Yin had unconsciously grabbed. “Yes, I suppose so. My natal weapon is a set of dual swords, so it isn’t alien for me to use my left hand to fight.”
“So, you’re ambidextrous?” Gui Yin asked.
Langxia nodded. “A little.”
“Then, that’ll make things even easier,” Gui Yin exclaimed. He happily pressed Langxia’s hand down between his own hands. “We have to be patient though. Even if we’re cultivators, it wouldn’t be good to rush anything.”
Langxia looked at their hands and hummed.
Gui Yin stood. “I’ll go get some materials then.”
“What about your report?”
Gui Yin froze in his steps. He pursed his lips and glanced down at the stack of papers.
Langxia shuffled through them. “You only have a few paragraphs left, at the most. Just settle back down and finish it.”
“…Alright.”
Langxia moved from Gui Yin’s seat and took the spare chair. His lips curved slightly as he watched Gui Yin reluctantly finish the remainder of his report.
It took Gui Yin another hour and a half before everything was written down and sorted out. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Langxia. Langxia hummed.
“What materials do you need? I’ll get them for you?”
Gui Yin’s excitement diminished again.
“Lord Xun said that you must remain in Kunlun for at least three weeks to get rid of the madness,” Langxia said.
“Yes, but doesn’t Kunlun have a night market?” Gui Yin pointed out. “Or can humans not go?”
“It’s not that you can’t go,” Langxia said. He looked at Gui Yin steadily for a moment. “Do you want to go?”
Gui Yin nodded.
Langxia thought about it for a while before finally nodding. “Alright. I’ll take you. Xiao Kui would probably rather spend time with Linghuo anyway.”
Gui Yin nodded excitedly. He stood. “Then, I’ll go change.”
Ancient times were a hassle like this—clothes that were worn inside shouldn’t be worn outside. If you were going into town, you should at least change into another set of robes.
Once Gui Yin and Langxia had both changed, they told the others that they would be heading out.
“Master, do you need us to come w—”
“Have fun!” Yankui interrupted Su Wen.
Su Wen and A-Qi looked at Yankui quizzically. Yankui sighed.
“Can’t you two be considerate of me? If you two don’t guide me to Lord Xun’s place, I’m going to be beaten to death along the road by some rabbit spirit,” Yankui said.
A-Qi wanted to say that that would be impossible, but Su Wen immediately cut in.
“Right. You’re right, Young Master,” Su Wen sighed. “In that case, we’ll guard you to Lord Xun’s abode.”
Gui Yin and Langxia glanced at each other, but could hardly come up with an explanation. Yankui may be young, but he has cultivated his entire life. He was more than adept at hiding his spiritual energy. However, it was better to be safe than sorry, so neither of them questioned Yankui’s oddness.
When night fell, Langxia took Gui Yin out of Huigu Palace.
The night life in Kunlun was comparable to Xinggang City.
The streets were filled with vendors of various clans. There were some dressed in feathers while the others were only half-transformed with their ears and tails protruding. Children bounded through the streets, chattering sometimes with barks and howls as well as a mixture of human language. The streets were brightly lit by a magical source that Gui Yin was unfamiliar with.
Along with food and trinkets, there were also wares and pieces of machinery that must have been farmed by the old mechanics of the past.
Gui Yin was most interested in those parts. When he approached the stalls, they were wary at first, but upon realizing who he was, they would become much more respectful.
“What is this?” Gui Yin asked curiously.
“This is a little treasure called Truth Seeking Mirror,” the badger spirit said. He held the mirror up, facing away from Gui Yin and Langxia. “All you have to do is ask it a question and it will show you the answer. For example, if you ask to see a person, they will show you the person. If you ask for an object, they will show an object. It’s very handy when looking for something. Although, if you don’t recognize the location, it would naturally be useless.”
“It’s like a little toy. Huigu Palace has one. It’s far more powerful,” Langxia said.
The badger spirit nodded in agreement. “I hear that the version that Palace Lord Sun has even allows you to see what is the truth in a person’s mind.”
“A person’s mind? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Gui Yin said.
“All Heavenly Treasures come with a price. That’s a given!” the badger spirit said.
“Then, what’s this?” Gui Yin asked.
“These are a set of promise rings,” the badger spirit said. He let out a long sigh. “It holds a tragic story. They once belonged to a set of lovers—one was a cultivator, while other was a spirit. They couldn’t become cultivation partners, since humans and spirits cannot be, so they used this to show their loyalty to each other.”
“Where’s the tragedy?” Gui Yin asked.
“Well, the spirit ended up passing long before the cultivator. And the cultivator…” the badger spirit’s next words trailed off. He looked at Gui Yin meaningfully. “Well, actually, I believe Lord Ninglan should be quite familiar with this story.”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. “You’re talking about…my shizun?”
The badger spirit nodded. He tapped the box the two rings sat in and sadly shook his head. “It’s not confirmed, but an old turtle found these two rings sinking to the bottom of the sea one day. And they look very similar to the ones Lord Immortal Kui often wore on his person.”
Gui Yin looked at the rings. By the time he had come along, his shizun no longer wore them so openly. He kept them as a necklace, close to his chest. But now that the badger spirit had pointed it out, he did feel like they seemed familiar.
Langxia glanced at Gui Yin. “Do you want them?”
“Huh. Um—”
“We’ll charge a third of the price,” the badger spirit said. He looked a bit sheepish. “We still have to pay the old turtle, you see.”
“Alright,” Langxia said.”
“Wait—”
“Lord Immortal, just take them,” the badger spirit said. He looked at the rings a little pitifully as he closed the box and handed it over to Gui Yin. “This can be counted as fate. Since they’ve managed to travel back to their owner’s disciple, just let them have a place to rest now.”
Gui Yin took a hold of the box.
When Kui Wanming had sacrificed his life, they had only found his natal weapon. Now, there was something a little more personal to solidify the existence of this heroic man. Gui Yin hummed. He softly thanked Langxia.
As they walked away, Gui Yin placed a hand on the box. “I should take these back to Fuyun Manor.”
Langxia glanced at them. “Did they really belong to your Shizun?”
“I’m not sure,” Gui Yin said. “But the rings are similar. And they’re authentic. Even if they’re not the same exact rings, at least my shizun and his partner have something to wear down below.”
Langxia glanced at them. “The rings are quite nice. They even have a charm for a long relationship written inside. You don’t want to wear them with the one you love?”
“Do you want one?” Gui Yin asked.
The two men’s gaze clashed. Gui Yin slowly looked away. He coughed lightly. “What I mean is…do you…want…it. Do you want it? You seem to be very interested in this sort of thing.”
Langxia glanced away. “No, I was only making a suggestion.”
“Right.”
An awkwardness fell over the two of them in a way Gui Yin couldn’t talk around. He looked ahead and completely bypassed a stall he would have been interested in. His mind reeled as he searched for a topic to talk about. A warm hand touched the back of his hand. Gui Yin reflexively slapped it.
He met Langxia’s gaze. Langxia’s fingers slowly curled into his palm.
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Back there,” Langxia said. He pointed past his shoulder. “There were some machine parts.”
Gui Yin stared at Langxia for a while before awkwardly nodding. He shimmied past Langxia and hurried to the stall that had been pointed out.
Langxia glanced at his hand and silently followed Gui Yin. The tumultuous feelings in his chest seemed to be screaming for help, but Langxia couldn’t even begin to decipher head from tail of what Gui Yin was feeling.
A few machine parts were bought to be studied when they returned.
A feeling of guilt sloshed around in Gui Yin’s mind. He wanted to look at Langxia—maybe to make sure that the other didn’t feel uncomfortable—but he couldn’t bring himself to look in his direction. They were reaching the end of the night market now. Although Gui Yin had found parts that he wanted to and accomplished what he had set out to do, he felt a bit put off.
He was subconsciously looking for something else, but that something else hadn’t shown up yet.
“Take a look! Take a look everyone! Synthetic phoenix feathers that are guaranteed to help your wishes come true!”
Gui Yin glanced over curiously.
The young woman who was screaming her head off noticed his look and quickly rounded her stall. “Sir, are you interested?”
Gui Yin smiled slightly and snapped his fan open. “Sure.”
The young woman’s smile grew and she tugged him over. “Take a look sir. These feathers are made from embroidery. Each little stitch was made by my little sister. And on the back is a charm for good luck!”
“This can guarantee that my wish will come true?” Gui Yin asked in amusement.
The young woman coughed awkwardly. “Well, maybe not guarantee, but it would be a cute gift to give to your lover, right?”
“Where would I find a lover?” Gui Yin chuckled.
“Hm? Are you and that gentleman over there not together?” the young woman asked. She seemed to be genuinely confused. “But you two look to have such good compatibility.”
Gui Yin turned the embroidered feathers in his hands. “No, we’re just close friends.”
“They will also make excellent gifts for close friends! You can use them as bookmarks or you can hang it up as décor. I know some people who have even attached it to their waist pendants,” the young woman said.
“Then, I’ll take five,” Gui Yin said.
The young woman excitedly began to pack the five Gui Yin pointed out.
Langxia looked over the booth and glanced at Gui Yin. “You believe in this stuff?”
Gui Yin shrugged. He took the feathers and picked out a white and gold one. He pushed it into Langxia’s chest. “Not really, but isn’t it nice to look at?”
Langxia took the feather and turned it in his hand.
“Just in case you need a little luck anywhere,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia watched the smile bloom on Gui Yin’s face. Under the warm light of the lanterns, there was a moment where everything else seemed to fade and blur away. There was a sincerity in Gui Yin’s eyes that was mixed with a slight bit of awkwardness. It was clear that he was still thinking about the incident from not too long ago.
While Gui Yin waited for Langxia to respond, a small flower fell down from the nearby peach blossom tree. It landed in Gui Yin’s hair, making for an interesting contrast. Langxia reached over and naturally plucked the flower from Gui Yin’s hair and held it out to him.
Gui Yin stared at it for a moment before awkwardly taking it.
“Are you ready to head back?”
“Y-yeah,” Gui Yin said. “Let’s go.”
Gui Yin glanced at Langxia, who naturally took the lead and opened the way up for Gui Yin to walk. He lowered his gaze. He turned the peach blossom flower between his fingers. A small smile lit up his face as he followed Langxia closely.
It was a good decision to ask Langxia to bring him here today.
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
thanks for reading uwu
Such a cute chapter 💕
Their romance is still the cutest. The eldest disciple’s romances have always been quite abrupt at the beginning and the youngest disciple’s romance has been lengthy but quite one-sided. The middle one is still coming to terms with things. It’s all a bit tragic, really, but at least things are moving in a more appropriate direction. I would prefer if they continue to do so with less egregious tension added into the mix.