The next day, Fan Yi didnโt see Wu Lingtian at all. Whoever he asked would awkwardly avoid the question. If Fan Yi didnโt know what Wu Lingtian was up to, he would definitely have been suspicious. He let out a soft chuckle at everyoneโs expense and went to find Ren Yizhou.
Ren Yizhou was sitting at a gazebo in the gardens. They seemed to be staring off in the distance. The soft cloth that normally covered their eyes were gone and their brows were slightly furrowed. As Fan Yi approached, a small smile curved onto their lips. They turned their head over their shoulder and waited for Fan Yi to be right beside them.
โWhereโs your cloth?โ Fan Yi asked as he sat down beside Ren Yizhou.
โI felt a little stuffy today, so I took it off,โ Ren Yizhou said.
Ren Yizhou rarely took the soft cloth off, but when they did, they revealed a face of unparallel beauty. Their lashes were long and their eyes looked as if they once contained stars. Now, only lifeless glass-like orbs remained. Fan Yiโs smile faded a little as he watched Ren Yizhou pour him a cup of tea and place it right in front of him.
โThank you,โ Fan Yi said.
Ren Yizhou hummed. โWhatโs wrong?โ
โNothing. I justโฆfeel like itโs been a long time since weโve sat down together,โ Fan Yi said.
Ren Yizhou chuckled. โWell, you sure have been busy. A lot has changed since Lingtian arrived, hasnโt it?โ
โIt has.โ
Ren Yizhou turned their head out towards the greater part of the sect again.
โAnything on your mind?โ Fan Yi asked, his voice softening a great degree.
โOn my mindโฆ?โ Ren Yizhou murmured. โNot particularly. I was just wondering if we can experience some peace again.โ
โThereโs always some great evil out there,โ Fan Yi joked.
Ren Yizhou nodded. โThere is. But maybe with you around, itโll finally stop.โ
โNow, when did I become a hero?โ Fan Yi asked, with a small smirk on his face.
โYouโve always been someoneโs hero, Fan Yi,โ Ren Yizhou said. They tilted their head back. โYou were mine.โ
โOh please. You would have found a way to get out of there without me.โ
โBut it would have taken much longer,โ Ren Yizhou said. They reached across the table and lightly tapped Fan Yi.
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.
โI havenโt done anything. I didnโt do anything back then, and I havenโt done anything now,โ Fan Yi said, his finger lightly tapping the side of the teacup.
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โPโii ifjnf bcmf P mjc,โ Mjc Tl rjlv, j riluta ogbkc bc tlr ojmf. โZjsyf P mjc qjrr atlr tba qbajab boo ab Vlae Cc.โ
โIsnโt he talking about retirement all the time? Do you really think he wants to take over something like this before he leaves?โ Ren Yizhou said.
โThen, should I just set them free?โ Fan Yi murmured.
โJust set up some type of alliance and leave them be,โ Ren Yizhou said, vaguely waving their hand. โItโs not worth the trouble.โ
Fan Yi nodded thoughtfully. โIโll do that then. I donโt want to see those people more than I have to.โ
Ren Yizhou chuckled. They raised their head, their attention on something past Fan Yiโs shoulder. โSomeoneโs here for you.โ
Li Qing stopped beside Fan Yi. โShizun!โ
โWhat is it?โ Fan Yi asked, raising a brow.
โUmโฆcan you come with me?โ Li Qing asked.
Fan Yi stared at her and glanced back at Ren Yizhou. โI suppose?โ
Fan Yi was led away by Li Qing. He followed the girl, expecting to go to the main hall, but he was surprisingly brought down the mountain towards a lake. Just as they were approaching the path, Li Qing stopped. She let out a dramatic hiss and let go of Fan Yiโs hand.
โI just remembered something!โ Li Qing exclaimed.
Fan Yi smiled in amusement. โWhat did you remember?โ
โI, um, Wu-shishu told me to get something for him,โ Li Qing vaguely said. She nudged Fan Yi towards the lake. โShizun, you go that way first.โ
โWhy do I have to go that way?โ Fan Yi asked. โIโll come with you.โ
โNo!โ Li Qing blurted out. She stopped and covered her mouth. โCan you please go that way.โ
Fan Yi raised a brow but took a step down the path.
Li Qing nodded encouragingly and then sprinted off before Fan Yi could ask anything else.
Fan Yi shook his head slightly and continued down the path. Once he arrived at the lake, he looked around curiously but found nothing there. For a moment, he wondered if Li Qing had taken him to the wrong place.
Just as he was about to turn to leave a shower of flowers fell from above. Fan Yi remained where he stood in shock. He placed a flower from his head and turned it in his fingers. His lips quirked up in amusement just as someone softly cleared their throat behind him.
Fan Yi turned around.
โWell, you already know,โ Wu Lingtian said.
โWas this all you had?โ Fan Yi asked in amusement.
โNo, I had a lot more,โ Wu Lingtian said with a small sigh. โIt was supposed to happen a lot with fireworks in the sky and lanterns in the lake.โ
โYou should have still done it,โ Fan Yi said.
โBut youโre impatient. If I had waited that long, you would have definitely disliked it,โ Wu Lingtian said. โDonโt worry, Iโll still do everything tonight.โ
Fan Yi chuckled. โSo? Whatโs this now?โ
โNow, Iโll just give you the present I prepared,โ Wu Lingtian said. He produced a box from behind his back and held it out to Fan Yi.
Fan Yi raised a brow, but slid the lid back.
Inside was a carefully carved hairpin, fashioned from white jade into a magnolia branch. Fan Yi carefully lifted it from the box and then looked up at Wu Lingtian.
โItโs a bit rough,โ Wu Lingtian said. โBut I tried to salvage it.โ
โDid you make this?โ Fan Yi asked, his voice soft.
โI carved it a while ago,โ Wu Lingtian said. โIt was meant to be your birthday present, butโฆa lot of things happen and I didnโt get to attend that birthday banquet. I was going to make a whole new one, but it felt like it was a shape if I never gave this one to you. It was the first time I tried to carving anything, so itโs a little rough.โ
Fan Yiโs grip on the hairpin tightened. โIt looks very nice.โ
Wu Lingtian smiled. โI was going to get us rings or something else that matched, since that was customary, but then I figured we already had these rings, but I still wanted to give you something so Iโโ
Fan Yi pressed a careful kiss to Wu Lingtianโs lips. The younger man stopped talking and watched as Fan Yi pulled back again.
โYou still havenโt asked the question,โ Fan Yi said with a soft smile.
โDoโฆโ Wu Lingtian gulped. He cleared his throat and gently pulled the hairpin from Fan Yiโs hands. โYou know, Iโve admired you since I was very young.โ
Fan Yi chuckled, but he tilted his head curiously as he waited for Wu Lingtian to continue.
โThis admiration drove me to become the person I am today. If I had never met you, I would have been a different Wu Lingtian. But because of you I found the strength to stay true to myself. At some point, this admiration dared to become something more,โ Wu Lingtian said. He pinched at the hairpin and continued. โThank you for saving me. Thank you for taking me in. Andโฆthank you for letting me be by your sideโฆBut Iโm a bit selfish. I still want something a little more. SoโฆI know we already made some promises, but Yishan, would you allow me the honor of staying with you for the rest of eternity? Will you let me be your cultivation partner?โ
Fan Yi smiled. โYou have a way with words.โ
Wu Lingtianโs brows raised. โAnd your answer?โ
โYouโre very romantic,โ Fan Yi said with a light nod.
โBut your answer?โ
โI donโt know when it started, but I do love you,โ Fan Yi said. He gently took Wu Lingtianโs hand and kissed his knuckles, his gaze flickering up to meet the otherโs nervous gaze. โOf course, I would agree.โ
Wu Lingtian breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could bask in this new victory, a pair of soft lips met his. He smiled into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Fan Yiโs waist, pulling him closer.
There was little to be said about the wedding.
Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi invited only their close friends to Qingyao Manor. The event was small. The remainder of the cultivation world only knew far after the fact that Wu Lingtian, as pure as white moonlight, had actually taken the vicious Sect Leader Fan as his cultivation partner. Many stories of their tale would later be written, rewritten, and then saved down in the annals of history.
As everyone rejoiced their union, Wu Lingtian would be caught spacing out every once in a while.
And there was a simple reason for this: he had never liked the color red.
He preferred white, something that was so clean that it was easy to be stained. He preferred black, that was all encompassing yet so mysterious. The color red was too engrained in his past as a color of destruction and death. It was the color Rong Meihua adored and it was the color he had been forced to wear during the hardest time of his life. It was a harsh color. It was too passionate of a color.
But on the night of the wedding, Wu Lingtian came to a quiet realization. As he looked at the decorations that hung all across Qingyao Manor and as he looked at Fan Yi, with his brilliant smile, Wu Lingtian only had one thought on his mindโthe color red was actually a very lovely color.
A/N: I could write an entire essay on how I feel about this story ending, but I’ll try not to LOL Yu Lan…is the first original story I’ve written in a long time. Over all, I’m proud of this story, despite there being some areas where I wish I had done better. In the course of the two years I spent with the characters, I’ve learned about them and, in turn, about myself. It’s a bit difficult to say goodbye to these characters that helped me get through my hardest years at uni, but everything has to end eventually. I’m just grateful that I was able to think of a satisfying enough ending for Wu Lingtian. And I hope, in whatever silly universe he exists in, he can continue to be happy.
Thank you to the people who are so diligent in reading and catching updates! I’m grateful for every one of you and i hope to see you around in the comments or likes of my next story!
I’m hoping I will be posting again on this lovely website again, but we’ll see LOL If you’re interested in my next story follow me on twitter (if that’s still around)! All socials are listed in my carrd, linked here uwu: https://glowingreverie.carrd.co/
UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! happy holidays and have a happy new year!!
Aww look at Ren Yuzhou showing their face a little more since they acknowledged their truth! And I am so happy that Wu Lingtian found a way to like his least favorite color.
Looking forward to whatever you do next โค๏ธ
thank you so much for reading and commenting!!! it really meant a lot ;v;
It’s a privilege. I’ve been a bookworm for decades. To read such a great story as it’s being written is amazing!
๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ waaaaaaaaahh thank you, seriously ๐ญ๐
I just binged trough this in like 4 days or something and didn’t have any time to comment because I was way to busy reading the next chapter (I also never know what to say). So I am finally here to say I really loved your story โค I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun reading!!
Looking forward to your next work!!
Sorry, I didn’t mean to reply๐
waaaaaaahh thank you!!! ๐ฅบ๐ฅบ๐
Thanks for the story๐ I really enjoyed it and iโm glad i started reading this lol. Totally didnโt binge-read this in like 2(?) days or smth lmao
It was actually 4 days :0 oh my god time sure passes by fast
!!!!!!!!!! thank you so much ;v;
Congratulation for finishing this story ! This is a very well-writen story with deep characters. I personally like their hidden wounds and how they tried to overcome their traumas.
Thank you very much ๐๐ปโโ๏ธ
WAAAHH thank youuuuu ๐ฅบ
Thank you so much for writing! I enjoyed the entire intricate plotline, and the characters feel lovingly crafted and I found myself loving all of them ๐ very charming, and I’ll definitely be looking forwards to your next work! ๐
;v; thank you so much for reading!!
what a beautiful proposal (เนหแดห)
this is a very lovely story with fantastic characters!! made my heart both warm and ache. i’m gonna sit in these feelings for a moment but i’ll definitely be following your next stories!
thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!! your comments were lovely to read! I hope you enjoy my new series too <3
Finished re-reading, now iโm sad that it ended๐ญ๐ฅฒ
DKFASDLHG thanks for the reread!!! (and when you’ve recovered, i have a new series out to enjoy ๐๐)
๐๐
Thank you for the update, it was well tied together. Will miss them
thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!
This story is written beautifully and very well! I love it, thank you <3
omg sorry wrong place๐ญ๐ญ how do i delete the comment :”)
;v; idk if you can. it’s fine ;v;
Finally! I have finished this novel. I once again binge read one of your works. I am satisfied. Thank you author again, for bringing this story to us!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading!!!!!!! i’m glad you enjoyed it ;v;
I’m gonna miss them. How much I love this story. I hope more people will get the chance to read it.
An incredible story that I was able to read in two days, I really liked this one ans his characters. (and I love your other two projects just as much.)
I just have a very small question regarding Meihua but not necessarily serious haha