The house was up in flames again—metaphorical flames, that is. It was like this every year and Gui Yin hated it.
He sat down at his desk, put on his headphones, and turned on some music. He grabbed the book nearest to him—a xianxia book he had recently picked up. These were the types of books he had been reading recently. It was a special escape from a world filled with unpleasant noises. The genre was interesting and filled with topics that would pique Gui Yin’s curiosity. However, once in a while, he found himself thinking “this specific detail isn’t correct”. When he realized what he had just thought and tried to find his own reasoning, he would come up empty.
And it was always like this.
The yelling outside Gui Yin’s door grew loud enough for the headphones to be useless. Gui Yin could only close his book, grab his CD player, and head for the window.
His hand had just touched the curtains when a strong gust of wind blew the panels open.
In front of him was no longer the apartment across the street, but a vast field.
The field wasn’t anything beautiful or heavenly. Instead, what filled his view was patchy, dead grass and scraggly trees, scattered around the field, naked of its leaves. Still, despite the loss of its key identifying features, Gui Yin still knew that these trees were some of his favorites. They were maple trees.
Gui Yin slowly began to walk forward and, as he walked, he began to transform bit by bit. His short hair grew out past his shoulder blades. His CD player and the headphones disappeared and his shirt and jeans became a set of fluttering brocade robes.
The longer Gui Yin walked, the odder he felt about this place. It was odd that he didn’t feel unsettled by the decay and instead, was rather comfortable with his surroundings. The only thing that bothered him was a sour feeling that would just sting the tip of his heart, disappearing before he could grasp it.
He eventually came to a halt. He looked around the large space and frowned.
“Is there anyone there?”
His voice seemed to echo off the nothingness. There was nothing there to answer. There weren’t even any birds to be startled.
Gui Yin’s lips pursed. He tried again. “Is there anyone out there?”
A gentle breeze brushed against the edges of his robe, tugging him in a certain direction. Gui Yin took one last look over the dreary fields before following the direction of the wind.
He walked for what felt like a long time, yet he didn’t feel tired. Time was distorted, yet Gui Yin didn’t feel an inkling of alarm. Eventually, the trees on either side of him began to regain their leaves. The grass below his feet became fuller, softer, and greener. Red maple leaves drifted from the sky and scattered at his feet. One even attempted to land on his head, but was caught by a knowing hand, as if he had done this many times before.
He smiled at the red maple leaf, not even realizing that the clothes on his body had changed again, this time to a set of arrow-sleeved robes.
Gui Yin looked up at the stairs ahead. He didn’t feel that it was tedious to climb all those stairs. Instead, he felt excitement. He walked slowly at first, but he soon quickened his pace until he was sprinting.
He was excited. He wanted to see. He wanted to see what as at the top of the stairs. He wanted to see…
A humble bamboo cabin slowly came into view. Gui Yin felt his heart pounding against his chest. His excitement was soon replaced by utter dread.
He took a step back and nearly slipped.
The entire time he was here, he had felt nothing but comfort. However, when he saw this warm and inviting home, he had a sinking feeling. The feeling that he had forgotten something.
His hands became clammy. He wanted to turn around and run back down the stairs, but something kept him rooted in place. His fingers twitched as he tried to struggle free, but a heavy pressure kept him in place. Gui Yin’s hands clenched at his side.
He closed his eyes and used all his strength to call for the thing closest to his heart.
In the next moment, a loud twang broke the silence of his surroundings.
Gui Yin caught the guqin that had flown into his hands. He drove his heel down as he flew down the steps from the impact.
The cabin grew more and more distant and his mind began to feel more and more at ease.
His surroundings soon lost their color, but Gui Yin was just glad he could catch his breath once more. He sat down beneath a nearby tree and glanced at the guqin by his side.
He smiled slightly and pulled the guqin closer, as if he were hugging an old friend. “Shui Meng (水梦), you came to save me?”
Lord Immortal Ninglan’s natal weapon hummed in discontent.
“You cannot go there yet.”
“Yet?” Gui Yin raised a brow. “Why not?”
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.
“Not allowed.”
Xel Tlc ogbkcfv rilutais. Llr olcufgr ufcais ragbxfv atf raglcur. “P mjc’a ub atfgf cbk, yea P mjc ub atfgf ijafg?”
The instrument hummed louder, showing its growing agitation. “Cannot go. Not allowed.”
“Ktfc, ktfc jw P jiibkfv?”
Vtel Zfcu rffwfv ab tjnf cba qgfqjgfv jc jcrkfg obg atlr defralbc. Pa kjr rlifca obg j ibcu alwf yfobgf la rqbxf jujlc.
“When time is right.”
Gui Yin stared at the instrument quizzically.
The moment Gui Yin began to talk to Shui Meng, he began to remember his current situation. This entire realm was either an elaborate set up, or it was his own consciousness. If it was the former, he would have trouble waking up. If it was the latter, then he would be able to leave whenever he pleased. If it was a combination of both…well, that was why Shui Meng refused to let him approach that manor, wasn’t that right?
Gui Yin smiled at the instrument. “Shui Meng, you know I’m not your master, don’t you?”
Shui Meng paused. It vibrated heavily again. “You are.”
Gui Yin raised a brow.
Although cultivators would have to go through a certain process to tell if someone really had their body stolen or not, a person’s natal weapon was different. They were connected in mind and soul. With one glance, Shui Meng would have been able to tell the difference.
“What do you—”
Knock, knock, knock.
Gui Yin’s eyes snapped open. He sat upright and stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He clicked his tongue and irritable slapped his thighs a few times.
He forgot again.
Obviously, this time there was something important in his dreams but he. Forgot. Again!!
“Shizun?”
Gui Yin looked up.
Gui Linghuo stood hesitantly at the door. “This disciple knocked a few times but Shizun didn’t respond. I got worried, so I came in without Shizun’s permission.”
Gui Yin sighed. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I just…”
“Just?”
Gui Yin looked at Gui Linghuo. “Linghuo, is Shuangye the only place in Yunjing Pavilion with a lot of maple trees?”
Gui Linghuo placed the water basin onto the table nearest Gui Yin and fell into a silent contemplation. After a while, he shook his head.
“My apologies, Shizun, I don’t seem to remember any other place with a lot of maple trees…I can ask around though?”
Gui Yin shook his head with a light smile. “No, it’s fine if you don’t know. I was just curious.”
Once Gui Yin was finished getting ready, he left his room and decided to head to the dining hall.
With the excuse that he was feeling unwell, Gui Yin had been holed up in Shuangye Peak since his arrival. The few times he did leave was to go to places only the elders of the peak could go to. He had yet to visit the dining hall, but after that odd dream today, he didn’t feel like being alone.
There were few disciples roaming the sect at this time, as most were at the dining hall eating breakfast. The moment he stepped in, Gui Yin immediately felt the eyes that fell on him. Conversations were paused midway as they shifted in topic as to why Shuangye Peak’s peak lord was gracing them with his presence or whether or not rumors of him being severely ill were true.
Being a cultivator meant your senses were heightened and with these heightened senses, he knew that he was definitely the center of attention at this moment. But the disciples were young, not quite grasping just how keen a cultivator’s sense were once they reached a higher realm. And the conversations were harmless, mainly showing concern.
On regular days, Gui Yin wouldn’t have minded this type of harmless attention, but today, he felt a little queasy being at the center of it all.
Gui Yin shoved down this groggy feeling and went to get his breakfast. Once he was served, he found the most isolated corner he could and sat down. Unfortunately, the students who had yet to find their own seats began to gravitate towards Gui Yin, their gazes trained on him curiously.
Just when Gui Yin was debating whether he should leave or not, Ye Liuxing’s excited voice disrupted the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Gui Yin looked up. For the first time ever, he was glad to see this idiotic shidi of his. He took a breath to compose himself and spoke a soft greeting in return: “Ye-shidi.”
By Ye Liuxing’s side was Jiu Jingyi. Gui Yin gave a small nod to his shimei as Ye Liuxing inserted himself into Gui Yin’s line of vision and sat down across from him.
“Are you feeling better today? Your head doesn’t hurt?”
The unsettling feeling in Gui Yin’s chest vanished in a split second. He returned Ye Liuxing’s excitement with a more sincere smile. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. I suppose I got lucky today.”
“That’s good! We wouldn’t want to ruin your bir—oof!”
Gui Yin’s eyes drifted down at the heel that was mercilessly plunged into Ye Liuxing’s foot. He looked up again to meet Jiu Jingyi’s innocently smiling gaze.
“The skies are clear today and the weather is quite good. Shixiong, if you’re feeling better, would you like to go to town with me and Ye-shidi?”
“Into town?” Gui Yin looked at them quizzically. He frowned for a moment. “I think I still have some memorials to look over.”
“What memorials? Weren’t we allotted your portion of work anyway?” Ye Liuxing said as he sat down in front of Gui Yin. He looked at the other man excitedly. “There’s an acting trope that came into town today. I wanted to take Jiu-shijie to go see it. You can come with us!”
“An acting trope…”
“Yes! They’ve gotten quite famous! Their plays are exaggerated version of real life stories,” Ye Liuxing laughed. “I’ve had a few friends who went to watch their plays and ended up feeling embarrassed because of it.”
“And you want to go because you also want to feel embarrassed?” Gui Yin asked.
“Ah, well, maybe not me. But I am pretty curious. Besides, I hear the shows they put on are always high quality,” Ye Liuxing said. He looked at Gui Yin expectantly. “What do you say? Do you want to come?”
“Well….”
Jiu Jingyi nudged Ye Liuxing to encourage him to try harder.
“Besides,” Ye Liuxing continued, “it isn’t good for a recovering patient to receive so much stress. If you want your memories to recover faster, taking a break to walk around also helps.”
Gui Yin glanced at Ye Liuxing. This kid didn’t know what he was talking about at all. Just the day before, he felt that he was beginning to recover some memories and the following night, he was sent into dream that made him feel queasy and unsettled when he woke up. At this time, he really didn’t want to remember anything else, okay? If he had another dream, he feared that it would lead to him waking up in his dingy apartment in the 21st century.
But could he say all this? If he said all this, they would definitely think he had gone crazy. Instead, after a moment of well-placed hesitation, Gui Yin nodded.
“Alright. I’ll go. But the disciples—”
“Linghuo’s big enough. He can take care of his shimei. You don’t have to worry about them. Besides, Sect Master-shixiong will still be in the sect,” Jiu Jingyi said.
“Linghuo is only thirteen,” Gui Yin frowned.
“Shixiong, when you were thirteen, you were already taking care of all your martial siblings,” Ye Liuxing said. “And you had many more than Linghuo. Just two is fine. And isn’t Siyi there? So, really, they only have to look after Shan Yu.”
Gui Yin was unimpressed by Ye Liuxing’s suggestion. “I’ll ask Sect Master-shixiong to look after them.”
Jiu Jingyi nodded. “Then, we’ll meet at the front of the sect at noon?”
Gui Yin nodded in agreement.
After breakfast, he went to find Lin Cangyuan.
Ye Liuxing’s words echoed in his mind.
Whether it was the twenty-first century or this xianxia world, from the moment he could reach the sink, Gui Yin had had to take care of his many siblings. Thirteen was far older than when Gui Yin started, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t too young. Thirteen was the age where you were beginning to develop as a person. You start to question the beliefs of adults and friends around you. You learn more about yourself, like your interests, likes, and dislikes. Thirteen was when you were beginning to make your own decisions.
Rather than teaching Gui Linghuo how to be mature, Gui Yin would much rather him enjoy his last few years of freedom, before any responsibilities settled on his shoulders. Only that way can he grow at his own pace. And not just him—Gui Yin hoped the same for Shan Yu and Qin Siyi as well.
“Look after your disciples?” Lin Cangyuan glanced at Gui Yin. “Alright. But you know Linghuo—”
“I don’t want to give him that sort of responsibility,” Gui Yin said. “Siyi as well. Neither of them should learn to feel obligated to put others before themselves.”
Lin Cangyuan slowly set down his documents. “Did you remember something?”
Gui Yin looked at Lin Cangyuan quizzically. “I just want to make sure my disciples have a fulfilling childhood. What makes you think I remembered something?”
“No, no. I thought you remembered how your shizun treated you, so I just assumed,” Lin Cangyuan’s voice trailed off. He shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll make sure your disciples are fine until you get back. I’m sure they’ll behave with Xi’er and Die’an watching them.”
Gui Yin smiled gratefully. He thanked Lin Cangyuan and swiftly left the study.
When he returned with the three children, he went directly to find Lin Cangyuan’s direct disciples, Wu Ze’xi and Pan Die’an
“Don’t worry, Shishu, we’ll take good care of these kids until you get back,” Wu Ze’xi happily pinched Shan Yu’s cheek.
Shan Yu brushed Wu Ze’xi’s hand away irritably before she turned and looked at Gui Yin with a pout. “Shizun…”
“I’ll be back in a little bit,” Gui Yin reassured her with a light pat on the head.
“Shizun.”
Gui Yin looked over to Gui Linghuo. “What’s wrong?”
Gui Linghuo turned the words in his mouth for a moment before shaking his head. “It’s nothing.”
Gui Yin smiled. He looked between the three children. “Listen to your elder martial siblings while I’m gone.”
“Yes, Shizun,” the three children harmonized.
Gui Yin looked at the three kids and was suddenly struck by a sense of sadness. This was the first time he would be leaving the kids alone (with babysitters). Would they be able to adjust? Would they miss him?
In all honesty, Gui Yin knew he was thinking about this entire situation too intricately, but he finally understood why parents were reluctant to leave their children at daycare. There were too many things that could go wrong if he left!
Noticing Gui Yin’s internal struggle, Pan Die’an lightly cleared her throat. “Shishu, we’ll be fine. Besides, it’s just a few hours.”
Gui Yin looked at the kids uncertainly. It would have been fine if they remained silent, but they were nodding along to what Pan Die’an was saying instead. He was shot through the heart.
How were these kids…so willing to let go? Was it because they didn’t actually enjoy his presence? Of course, what kid would want an adult to hang around them all the time? They required freedom! But…just…could they at least pretend to be unwilling?
Gui Yin shook himself. What on earth was he moping for? Before he could sulk any longer, he quickly extricated himself from the scene.
The three little disciples watched as their shizun walked away from them. A gloomy cloud floated over their heads. Pan Die’an and Wu Ze’xi glanced at each other.
An arm landed heavily onto Gui Linghuo’s head. The bit of extra weight pushed him down. “What’s wrong with your face? Are you disappointed your shizun didn’t entrust you with your shimei?”
“Ze’xi,” Die’an frowned at the man. “Don’t bully the child.”
“I’m just saying,” Wu Ze’xi shrugged as he removed his arm from Gui Linghuo’s head. “This little bitter melon’s face looks even more sour than usual. I just wanted to comfort him.”
“That’s not how you comfort people,” Pan Die’an chided. She glanced at Gui Linghuo. “Ling-shidi, your Shizun just didn’t want to put too much pressure on you, that’s all. It isn’t because he doesn’t trust you.”
Qin Siyi nodded. “That’s right, Da-shixiong. Shizun trusts you the most out of all three of us.”
“I thought he trusted Shijie the most,” Shan Yu mumbled.
Gui Linghuo ignored Shan Yu and shook his head. “I’m fine. I’m just worried about all the work we have to do on decorating Shuangye Peak.”
“Don’t worry your little head,” Wu Ze’xi said, wantonly patting Gui Linghuo’s head. “You have your two elder martial siblings beside you! All the tall places you can’t reach, we’ll reach for you!”
Although Pan Die’an loved Wu Ze’xi, there were times when she wanted to shove a shoe into his mouth. She let out a sharp sigh and left Wu Ze’xi silent under a piercing glare. Once he had shut up, she turned to Gui Linghuo. “What he means is we’ll do what we can to help. You can rely on us!”
i have decided! i love Shui Meng the most!! mwah!!! (also more evidence of Gui Yin splitting himself off to modern world!! i can feel there is a juicy reason, perhaps with that bamboo house)
hhhhh Gui Yin exhibiting DILF behavior!!!! love to see it!! …would SILF (shizun i’d like to fuck) be more accurate? hm…
I’m not supposed to be laughing TT–TT I’M TRYING SO HARD TO NOT LAUGH HELPPP
He became a dramatic parent o((^▽^))o
Thank you for the chapter!! <3
He really did lmao
”Although Pan Die’an loved Wu Ze’xi, there were times when she wanted to shove a shoe into his mouth” lmao😂
I dunno why, but I hope Gui Yin finds Er-ye at the performance
Thanks for the chapter!!