The hunting portion of the competition ended without any great surprises. A disciple from Black Scales Palace took first place while Liang Jun nabbed the second. Third and fourth were disciples from sects that were not too well-known while Xiu Lan came in fifth. Fifth was already quite good, but judging by the look on Li Ran’s face, it was obvious that Xiu Lan would get a talking to when they returned to their place of rest.
Wu Lingtian and Situ Hong silently returned to the crowd as the results were being announced. Upon seeing Situ Hong swagger over, Sect Master Zhong looked him up and down. In the booming voice that was being projected to every cultivators’ ears at this moment, Sect Master Zhong spoke to Situ Hong.
“Feng Ling, did anything exciting happen while you were out?”
Situ Min glanced at Sect Master Zhong and wanted to tell the man that he was still broadcasting his voice, but his brother was quicker to answer.
“Mn! Something interesting did happen,” Situ Hong said with a grin. “Lingtian slipped and fell into the water. Afterwards, a pretty water fairy floated by and began flirting with him.”
A few people held back a snicker.
In Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect, where acting with propriety was more important than defending one’s own innocence in petty cases like this, the people had already long been used to Situ Hong making nonsensical jokes such as these in order to tease the quiet and wooden Wu Lingtian.
“When did I slip?”
The response surprised the cultivators surrounding them.
Wu Lingtian’s expression remained cold and calm as he recounted the true story. “Wasn’t it you who was shocked by a spider? Then, you clung to me and shoved me into the river.”
“Sp—it wasn’t a spider! It wasn’t just a spider,” Situ Hong protested. “It was a three mouthed azure spider! If it was that close to your face, you would have also gotten scared.”
“I was closer to it,” Wu Lingtian shot back. He looked Situ Hong up and down with a look of disdain in his eyes. “Every time I go out with you, I always end up the unlucky one.”
Situ Hong laughed in anger. He tugged at his sleeves. “Hey, do you want to fight? Didn’t I already apologize? Why are you telling everyone here?”
“Who told them that I slipped and fell?” Wu Lingtian replied evenly. “I don’t have much left to my reputation, don’t throw more dirty water on me.”
Tian Xiewen coughed out a laugh, interrupting the dazed atmosphere of the cultivators. He clapped Wu Lingtian on the back. “Lord Yu Lan is right—how ridiculous is it that he would slip and fall on his own accord?”
“He’s most well known for his Cloud Steps Technique. Lord Feng Ling is stretching the truth too far,” Ren Yizhou added sweetly.
Situ Hong clicked his tongue. “You’re all ganging up on me! Where are the members of my sect?”
Situ Hong turned to look for them but Situ Min looked away without even an inkling of wanting to help out his half-brother. He turned to Zhou Ying’an who suddenly became busy with her belt buckle before his eyes landed on Situ Min’s mother.
“Auntie,” Situ Hong waddled over like a big child and tugged on her sleeve. “They’re all bullying me.”
“Weren’t you the one to start it?” Mu Yuhua laughed. “Lingtian’s such a good child—where would he go provoking you?”
Situ Hong put on a wronged expression. He glared at Wu Lingtian who showed a triumphant smirk where no one else could see.
The truth of the matter was that Wu Lingtian had specifically found the spider and handed it over to Situ Hong. Situ Hong, who was terrified of spiders, shoved Wu Lingtian away, resulting in the other man’s embarrassing fall in the water. However, Situ Hong was still trying to protect Wu Lingtian’s good name, so a majority of the story had been cut out.
Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian. His normally wooden expression carried a pair of lively eyes. It was quite cute.
Sect Master Zhong had already returned to wrapping up the day’s festivities. The people who heard their childish squabble had had to crane their necks and really strain their ears, thus a majority of the cultivators had no idea that Lord Immortal Yu Lan had spoken out in such a fashion.
Li Ran threw a look of disdain in Wu Lingtian’s direction as they left, but Zhou Ying’an waved a farewell with a smile on her face. Wu Lingtian was surprised but, in the end, returned the smile with his own soft one.
“Did you have fun today?” the question was one a parent would ask their child.
“Am I five?” Wu Lingtian asked back.
The man had finally stretched out the wings he had been forced to hide for so long. It was difficult to revert back to his quiet, tight-lipped self at a moment’s notice. He lowered his head and glanced at Fan Yi’s amused reaction before humming honestly.
“I had fun,” Wu Lingtian said.
Fan Yi chuckled and patted the back of Wu Lingtian’s head. “It’s good that you had fun. When we head back to the sect, you should try and spend more time with Lord Feng Ling.”
Wu Lingtian turned to look at Fan Yi. “Why?”
“You two seem close. It’s good to communicate with friends,” Fan Yi said.
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.
In fact, seeing Wu Lingtian’s eyes so alight with emotions finally allowed Fan Yi to calm down. The scare he had received when Wu Lingtian first arrived at the sect and refused to wake up had stayed with him persistently. He thought back to the few times he had met Wu Lingtian before that incident and recalled that, other than the times when Wu Lingtian had narrowly saved Fan Yi from danger, there hadn’t even been a single spark in his eyes. Fan Yi didn’t know enough about Wu Lingtian’s life to off-handedly guess a reason, but he did know that, in that dullness and serenity, there had also been loneliness.
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“It’s good to communicate with friends,” Wu Lingtian repeated. “Sect Leader, we’ve already been through so much together, it couldn’t be that you don’t consider me a friend.”
It wasn’t that. It was that Fan Yi didn’t think Wu Lingtian considered him a friend.
“No…no, we’re friends,” Fan Yi nodded, still in a daze.
Wu Lingtian smiled at Fan Yi. “That’s good. It would have been embarrassing if I was mistaken.”
“Ah—oh. No. No, you weren’t mistaken.”
Wu Lingtian’s smile widened. Fan Yi averted his gaze and turned to face the front again. However, just after doing so, he couldn’t help but sneak a peek at Wu Lingtian’s smile again. If Fan Yi had to count on his fingers the amount of times he had seen Wu Lingtian smile, he would be able to do so using only one hand. And every time they had all been polite smiles, small smiles, lazy and indolent smiles—was this the first time he had seen Wu Lingtian smile so brilliantly?
It was true that when a cold beauty smiled, even a country would fall at their feet.
Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian again. The man’s face had returned to its neutral state, but Fan Yi’s heart had yet to calm down. Wu Lingtian was really good looking. He knew this before, but seeing him smile in such a way…
“Hey, Fan Yi.”
Fan Yi lifted his head and looked at Zhen Yueyue. “What?”
“What are you spacing out for? We were asking if you were planning on attending the banquet.”
The banquet. Fan Yi glanced at the others and shook his head. “I won’t be. I’m not feeling too well.”
The past few days had been the same routine. He would wake up late at night and not be able to fall back asleep. Only last night, when he was sleeping beside Wu Lingtian, had he been able to catch some semblance of a proper rest. But even then, he still woke up before the sun rose.
Under the heat of the beating sun all day, Fan Yi had felt horribly tired and sluggish, but Tian Xiewen and Ren Yizhou had decidedly not come until the very end, so even if Fan Yi wanted to escape, he couldn’t. The banquet didn’t have a mandatory attendance and was only something used as another form of entertainment. In order to give the hosting sect some face, Ren Yizhou and Tian Xiewen going was more than enough. Fan Yi would just take this time to sleep off whatever tiredness he would have.
“Ah? If you’re not going, then I’m also not going,” Zhen Yueyue pouted.
“Isn’t Young Miss Yu going?” Fan Yi looked at the woman behind Zhen Yueyue.
“No,” Yu Liulin smiled. She hooked an arm around Zhen Yueyue’s shoulders. “We’re going out by ourselves.”
“Then why did you even ask if I was going?” Fan Yi raised an eyebrow.
“I wanted to see if you were. If you were, then I would go for a bit before leaving,” Zhen Yueyue shrugged.
“Fan-ge, you’re not going? Does that mean we have to go?” Tian Xiewen asked.
“You and Yizhou shirked responsibility all day. I’m only asking you to go to this one thing for me,” Fan Yi said.
Ren Yizhou let out a sigh. “Fine, but only since it’s you.”
Fan Yi let out a cold laugh. “You do realize you two are also elders of the sect, correct? I’m not raising two lazy rice worms.”
“Then, Lingtian is coming with us, right?” Ren Yizhou reached out and accurately patted Wu Lingtian’s arm. The touch was as light was a feather, but enough to drag Wu Lingtian’s attention over.
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi.
“If he wants.”
“Wait, how come he has an option, but Yizhou and I are a ‘must attend’?” Tian Xiewen pouted.
“He hasn’t officially joined our sect. For now, he’s still a guest,” Fan Yi said. “Besides, weren’t we both here all day? If he wanted to skip, it’s in his right to skip. He already attended to his duties. Now, stop complaining or I’ll deduct your allowance.”
Tian Xiewen pursed his lips and held out his hands in a surrendering motion.
It was only after that did they have peace and quiet on the way back to the inn.
Fan Yi bathed early and went to bed after saying goodbye to Wu Lingtian. The sun was still up, but Fan Yi looked like a person who had run about all day and whose only respite would be his head against the pillow.
When he woke up again, the sun had already fallen but, instead of being greeted by a dark room, the candles were carefully lit. On the table was freshly cooked dinner and a person sat on the daybed, reading a nonsensical novel.
“A-Tian?”
Wu Lingtian looked up. “You’re awake. I just ordered the food, so it should still be warm.”
Fan Yi stood and walked over in a bit of a daze. He turned back to Wu Lingtian.
“Do you not have an appetite?” Wu Lingtian asked as he closed his book. He stood and pinched his ear as he looked at the food. “I chose lighter dishes since I figured you wouldn’t want to eat too much after getting up. It’s a good thing it isn’t too late, so you’ll have time to digest before you go back to sleep.”
“Didn’t you go to the banquet?” Fan Yi asked sluggishly as he sat down.
Wu Lingtian nodded and ladled out a bowl of congee for Fan Yi. “But Ren-jie said that you didn’t look too well, so they told me to come back to look after you.”
Fan Yi accepted the bowl and still felt a bit like he hadn’t yet come back to reality yet. Was he dreaming? But if it was a dream, everything was a bit too realistic, wasn’t it?
“Sect Leader, are you actually sick?” Wu Lingtian asked with a bit more expression than usual.
“I—no,” Fan Yi shook his head. “I was just a little tired.”
Wu Lingtian hummed in understanding. After so many sleepless nights, even a god would have collapsed by now.
Fan Yi took a few bites and placed the bowl down, but a pair of chopsticks suddenly came into view. He looked at Wu Lingtian.
“You have to eat a bit more or you’ll feel unwell in the morning,” Wu Lingtian said.
“Oh,” Fan Yi dumbly responded and picked the bowl up again. He paused in his actions for a brief moment before continuing.
Only when Wu Lingtian saw that Fan Yi really didn’t want to eat anymore did he call someone to clean up the table. Fan Yi watched Wu Lingtian’s practiced movements and couldn’t help but comment: “Do you do this often?”
“Do what?” Wu Lingtian looked over his shoulder.
“Taking care of others,” Fan Yi smiled. “You look like an expert.”
Wu Lingtian straightened and seriously contemplated. “Not exactly,” then he turned to look at Fan Yi. “Didn’t you say that your father once told you ‘when you love someone, you won’t want to see them having a hard time’? It’s a similar concept. I cherish Sect Leader, and since you aren’t feeling well, I’ll naturally take care of you.”
Fan Yi laughed. “You even remembered that small anecdote?”
“Everything Sect Leader has told me, I remember,” Wu Lingtian lowered his head again and finished wiping the table. He brushed his hands together and sat back down at the daybed.
“What to do?” Fan Yi reached out and grabbed Wu Lingtian’s wrist. He gently turned the hand in his own hands. “The great Lord Yu Lan is using the hands that are only used to wield a sword to take care of me. I’m flattered and guilty.”
“I don’t have a sword anymore, so I might as well use my hands to do something else,” Wu Lingtian replied easily.
Fan Yi released Wu Lingtian’s hand and watched him silently. “Your sword…”
“I’ll solve the matter myself,” Wu Lingtian replied. He met Fan Yi’s gaze. “It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Alright. If you need help, ask me,” Fan Yi reminded him. “Normally, I’m a lot livelier than this.”
Wu Lingtian chuckled. “Of course.”
Fan YI’s gaze lingered on Wu Lingtian for a moment before he looked away with a smile of his own. He let out a sigh. “You’re really good looking when you smile like that.”
“Do you like it?” Wu Lingtian touched his own jaw. He lifted the book he had been reading previously and opened its pages again. “When I was younger, I was particularly close with the big sisters who worked at the brothel. They said the way to a man’s heart is a well-placed smile.”
Fan Yi scoffed. “What kind of things were those girls teaching you?”
“They also said that my face is quite advantageous—whether I’m smiling or not, I would always be good looking.”
Fan Yi laughed incredulously. “Weren’t you six?”
“That didn’t stop them from telling me things,” Wu Lingtian said as he found the page he was previously on. “In Heixue Town, the more you know, the better chance you had at survival. It just so happened that everyone saw that I was nice and obedient and everyone took a liking to me, so they taught me things.”
“Well,” Fan Yi reached over and patted Wu Lingtian’s head. “You’re a very likable person.”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi. “You’ve been touching my head more.”
“Your hair is soft, what can I do? Should I stop?” Fan Yi removed his hand.
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze back onto the page. “Sect Leader can do whatever.”
“So generous,” Fan Yi smiled. He tugged at the blanket by his leg and crossed his legs before pulling it over his thighs. He tilted his head back and looked up at the ceiling, a bit of drowsiness beginning to take a hold of him.
“Sect Leader, you shouldn’t sleep right after you eat.”
“You sound like my dad,” Fan Yi murmured, his eyes already closing. “Worrywart…”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi and didn’t say anything else. He stood after he was sure Fan Yi had fallen asleep and blew out the candles save for the three nearest them. He shifted towards Fan Yi to lift him up, but soon paused. He retracted his hands and glanced outside.
Whenever it became night time, Fan Yi would have trouble sleeping. The few times he was able to fall asleep was when he was besides Wu Lingtian.
Can he sleep better knowing there’s a person beside him? Wu Lingtian wondered.
This wasn’t anything proper to ask though. It was already a lot that he knew of Fan Yi’s troubles sleeping in the darkness—to openly ask almost seemed rude.
Wu Lingtian thought for a moment longer and removed the small table that divided the daybed in half. He carefully moved Fan Yi so that he could lay his head on the pillow. Wu Lingtian grabbed Fan Yi’s blanket and settled on the outside of the bed, taking care to not lay on the blanket that Fan Yi was using.
Even if Fan Yi was fine sleeping while sitting up a few days in a row, Wu Lingtian disliked it. He felt like his back and neck were in total knots despite having stretched multiple times when he was walking around with Situ Hong. He pulled the blanket up to Fan Yi’s shoulder and laid on his arm as he looked at the man’s face.
Sleeping like this, Wu Lingtian couldn’t help but think of when he was younger.
It had been about two years since he had arrived at Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect. At that time, he was nominally Rong Meihua’s disciple but, for some reason or other, he remembered spending all his time on the main peak with Sect Leader Wang. The man was spritely and appeared young. He had a particular liking to Wu Lingtian and always taught him techniques that Rong Meihua deemed unnecessary.
Because of this, Wu Lingtian remembered seeing the two of them get into fights quite often.
Those two years weren’t happier than the time he spent at Heixue Town, but it was nice. His entire life, up till that point, had been cold. In Heixue Town, where it was winter year round, the people had become icy as well. Although they treat you well, no one wanted to form an attachment. One day, you could be happily taking a stroll with your neighbor when, the next, you find out your neighbor had died in a ditch somewhere.
It was that type of town. So, although many people adored Wu Lingtian on the surface, few bothered with the child most of the time. Only when Wu Lingtian met Sect Leader Wang did he learn what it was like to have someone who looked after him.
But then Sect Leader Wang fell ill. When asked what happened, Rong Meihua became angry. Wu Lingtian remembered the way her face distorted as she yelled at him. That was the only time Wu Lingtian remembered her anger so clearly.
Afterwards, several doctors were invited over in vain. No one could figure out why the sect leader was ill. Eventually, Sect Leader Wang called in a favor and Fan Yi arrived.
Wu Lingtian had stood by Sect Leader Wang when the disciple came in with Fan Yi. He remembered thinking that this man was even better looking than Rong Meihua or any other cultivator he had met so far.
When Wu Lingtian was young, he developed a habit of crawling into Sect Leader Wang’s bed late at night. But because the man had grown so ill and was in constant pain, Wu Lingtian no longer dared to. Maybe Sect Leader Wang understood this, so he sent Fan Yi to check up on Wu Lingtian in the days before his own demise.
Wu Lingtian pulled himself from his memories and looked at Fan Yi. If he thought about it, at that time Fan Yi had also lit a few candles before going to sleep.
He subconsciously lifted a hand and brushed aside Fan Yi’s hair. His movements halted. His fingers curled into his palm and he pulled back.
“Xiao Wu, how about coming back to gege’s sect? We’ll have a lot of candy for you and you can do whatever you want without getting yelled at.”
“But if I leave, what about Uncle Wang?”
Fan Yi’s brows had pinched at that question. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he just patted Wu Lingtian’s head and coaxed him to sleep.
“If at that time I had gone with you…” Wu Lingtian murmured.
If at that time, he had gone with him, what would have happened? In that universe, would there be a Lord Immortal Yu Lan? Would Rong Meihua still be alive? What kind of person would he have developed into? What kind of shizun would Fan Yi be to him?
Wu Lingtian turned on his back and closed his eyes. The world didn’t have “If’s” and “but’s”. Even if there was a spell or an array to distort reality and turn back time, Wu Lingtian wouldn’t take that chance. It was nicer like this.
He was sure that if he had become Fan Yi’s disciple, he would not be able to share a bed with the other man like today.
Wu Lingtian dropping subtle hints of his love to Fan Li ❤️
Ehhh? I think you would do it like a routine👄
👀👀
Back in Fan Yi’s court, this time Wu Lingtian is the bolder and more affectionate one. I love how they’re passing it back and forth. Maybe we will get to see Fan Yi drunk!
my heaaaarrrrrttttt it acheeeeeeeee i love so many moments in this chapter!! ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ