Wu Lingtian let out a soft sigh as he returned to the inn. He closed the doors quietly and turned around to find Fan Yi watching him with a quizzical look on his face. Wu Lingtian responded by holding up a pavilion bird and then the small letter that came with it.
“Sect Leader,” Wu Lingtian sat down in front of Fan Yi and put the bird down. The bird hopped about, looking between the two men before finding a comfortable place to settle down on the table.
Seeing Fan Yi distracted, Wu Lingtian called out again, “Yishan, can we avoid visiting the Hall of Impartiality?”
“Avoid it?” Fan Yi raised a brow. “We’ll need Sect Master Zhong’s help to bypass the security measures in Xianping.”
Wu Lingtian frowned, his fingers rolling the small letter back and forth. If Fan Yi insisted on having to go to the Hall of Impartiality, it’s not like he could avoid going. It would be rude to Sect Master Zhong and he was sure those two would definitely try to find him.
Fan Yi observed Wu Lingtian’s expression closely. “What’s wrong?”
Wu Lingtian glanced up at Fan Yi. He pushed the rolled letter towards Fan Yi. “I don’t want to deal with Situ Hong and Xiao Xunrui.”
Fan Yi took the letter and gave it a read through. It was a simple letter, expressing worry, but also hinted that they would have to have a talk when they met each other again. The sect leader glanced up at Wu Lingtian.
The younger man had taken off his mask and was staring at the bird the way one might at gunpowder that was about to explode.
“A-Tian.”
Wu Lingtian brought his attention back to Fan Yi.
“It doesn’t seem like a big deal,” Fan Yi said with a smile. “It’ll be nice to see your friends again.”
Wu Lingtian’s eyes widened. He straightened. “Are you trying to commit mariticide?”
“…What mariticide? How could you be considered my spouse?” Fan Yi’s smile slipped from his face. “Have you even asked for my opinion yet?”
Wu Lingtian leaned against the table with a small smile. “That’s true. I should ask for your opinion first.”
“You must not be too upset about this, seeing as you can flirt still,” Fan Yi raised a brow.
“How could that be? I am upset. This is just my only comfort,” Wu Lingtian said as he took the letter back. He began to fold it. “Sect Leader, do you know of Xiao Xunrui?”
Fan Yi paused a moment before nodding. “I know him. He’s great at concocting pills and he has a great medicinal mind. He was also one of the only disciples who has ever left Hall of Impartiality.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “He’s also vicious.”
“…Vicious?”
Fan Yi found it hard to believe. His uncle had been quite depressed when Xiao Xunrui claimed he wanted to leave the Hall of Impartiality. While the youth hadn’t had an affinity for the cultivation the Hall of Impartiality passed down, Sect Master Zhong had still wanted to keep Xiao Xunrui by his side. According to his uncle, the young man was admirable and kind. He had a soft heart and was raised to become the next sect master of Hall of Impartiality. And although they had never met face to face, the youth had always been courteous when asking for medicinal tips.
Seeing Fan Yi’s disbelieving look, Wu Lingtian leaned forward. “Sect Leader, you have to believe me. When you meet him, you might think he’s kind at first glance, but you must be careful.”
Under Fan Yi’s scrutinizing, Wu Lingtian let out a soft sigh. “Now that I’ve made myself his enemy, I’m not sure what will happen the next time we meet.”
Fan Yi stared at Wu Lingtian for a long time before speaking again. “A-Tian.”
“Yes?” Wu Lingtian looked up innocently.
“You’ve really…learned how to act,” Fan Yi said with a gentle smile.
Wu Lingtian rested his chin against his hand. “Sect Leader, it may not be as dramatic, but I really might die.”
“You won’t die,” Fan Yi reassured him as he stood to go through their belongings.
Wu Lingtian stood as well and followed Fan Yi. “I might. If I die, who’s going to keep you company anymore?”
“You’re not going to die,” Fan Yi rolled his eyes.
“But in case I do, Sect Leader can you do something for me.”
“What is—” Fan Yi’s words stopped short.
Initially he had planned to turn around to look at Wu Lingtian. However, the younger man was already right behind him. Upon turning, Fan Yi ended up running into the younger man’s chest. He took a step back and nearly ran into the wardrobe behind him. Quickly, Wu Lingtian reached out and cushioned the back of Fan Yi’s head with his hand.
Fan Yi bumped against the wardrobe with a soft thud.
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.
Wu Lingtian looked down at Fan Yi and leaned forward. “Yishan, can you fulfill my last wish and give me a kiss.”
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“What name?”
“’Yishan’,” Fan Yi said. “You’ve never once called me Fan Yi, but you’ve called me Yishan more than twice just today.”
“Shall I start calling you Fan Yi as well?” Wu Lingtian asked as he leaned against the wardrobe. He met Fan Yi’s gaze and spared a smile. “Well, Yishan feels more comfortable to call.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’m still shy,” Wu Lingtian leaned his forehead against the wardrobe and glanced at Fan Yi through the corner of his eye. “I feel like if I called you by your real name, I’d be too embarrassed.”
“…You’re just full of nonsense recently, aren’t you?” Fan Yi threw Wu Lingtian’s shirt at him.
Wu Lingtian hugged it to his chest and straightened as Fan Yi closed the wardrobe door. “Then, does Sect Leader want to know the real answer?”
“If you’re willing to give it,” Fan Yi said, though he had little expectation.
“In fact, it’s nothing much, but I was given permission to call you ‘Yishan’,” Wu Lingtian said. “I was never given permission to call you ‘Fan Yi’.”
Fan Yi paused. He looked back over his shoulder at Wu Lingtian. “Why do you need permission?”
Wu Lingtian watched Fan Yi silently for a moment before chuckling. “Why, I wonder.”
Fan Yi’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t pursue the matter anymore. Whether Wu Lingtian wanted to call him Fan Yi or Yishan or Sect Leader, it was all his own choice.
Wu Lingtian stopped speaking on the matter as well. He sat back down and looked at the letter in his hand.
It had been about a week since they had started traveling and they were already on the outskirts of Xing City. In fact, the letter had arrived on the second day of their trip, but Wu Lingtian had persistently ignored the bird until it started to perch on his head during random times of the day, whenever Fan Yi wasn’t looking. He got so annoyed with it, he had wanted to kill it and cook it over the fire, but thought better of it. It was a pavilion bird, after all.
After reading the letter, Wu Lingtian regretted not opening it sooner. Although it was a slim chance, if it had been sooner, maybe he could have safely avoided seeing those two ominous individuals.
Wu Lingtian glanced up at Fan Yi again, only to find the man staring at him.
“Do you really not want to go?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian smiled. “I’m only throwing a fit. It’s nothing.”
Fan Yi hesitated. He sat back down beside Wu Lingtian. “If you really don’t want to go, then don’t go. I can go myself.”
“They’ll come find me if I don’t go. It’ll become more of a fiasco,” Wu Lingtian said.
“I’m sure they’re just worried about you,” Fan Yi said.
“…I suppose,” Wu Lingtian tucked away the letter.
Fan Yi raised a brow. “A-Tian, what’s really bothering you?”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi and lowered his gaze again. “I…don’t know how to face Xiao-xiong.”
“What do you mean?”
Wu Lingtian’s frown deepened. “I know we’re close friends, but he…feels like a stranger. What if I hurt him by acting as if our relationship is estranged? I don’t want that.”
“You don’t remember him?”
“I do,” Wu Lingtian said, his gaze growing distant. “But I don’t have any emotions when I think of him.”
Fan Yi was silent for a moment. He glanced at Wu Lingtian and patted his head gently. When the younger man looked up, he smiled, “It’s okay. Just act as you usually do.”
“…Sect Leader…”
“I’m not just saying that. Before, you also didn’t feel close to Miss Zhou or Lord Feng Ling, right? In the end, you all seemed pretty close again,” Fan Yi chuckled. “And even with me, you acted as if I were a complete stranger, but we became closer again, didn’t we?”
Wu Lingtian wanted to lean into Fan Yi’s touch, but he resisted. His gaze was lowered, to look at his hands and mumbled, “The first part might be true, but not so much the second half.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing.”
Fan Yi drew back his hand. “Anyway, don’t be anxious. If he feels like something is wrong, just tell him the truth.”
Wu Lingtian looked at Fan Yi.
“He’s one of your best friends,” Fan Yi said. “I’m sure he’ll be understanding.”
“Sect Leader, you act as if you know him very well,” Wu Lingtian said. “Have you two met before?”
“No, but I’m friends with Sect Master Zhong. He talked about him a great deal,” Fan Yi explained. He paused. “Are you jealous?”
“Only curious,” Wu Lingtian shook his head. “Who Sect Leader associates with is not for me to manage.”
Fan Yi observed Wu Lingtian a moment longer. Only after confirming he truly meant it did he take a small breath.
“But, Sect Leader,” Wu Lingtian smiled. “Do you really care if I’m jealous or not?”
“Huh? No,” Fan Yi shook his head. “I just didn’t want you to misunderstand.”
“I see. Sect Leader has always been considerate,” Wu Lingtian said. After another moment, he stood.
“Where you going?” Fan Yi asked.
“To look at stars,” Wu Lingtian hopped onto the railing. He turned back. “Do you want to join me?”
The moon had risen high in the sky and their talk had trailed deep into the night. Fan Yi didn’t feel the slightest bit tired, so he nodded his head and allowed Wu Lingtian to help him up onto the rooftop. The two men laid down against the roof tiles and looked up at the stars as the quiet night closed in on them.
“If I did this back at Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect, I would get reprimanded,” Wu Lingtian said softly. “Then, they would punish me and make me write sect rules.”
Fan Yi frowned. “You were reprimanded for sleeping on the roof?”
“The roof, the trees,” Wu Lingtian scoffed out a laugh. “Anywhere they deemed to be an inappropriate place for rest.”
Fan Yi fell silent for a moment. “But I always saw you in trees.”
“Obviously, that didn’t stop me,” Wu Lingtian cushioned his head with his arms. “Eventually, they needed me too much, so they stopped punishing me.”
He smiled. “Did you know, in Tongyun Hall, there was a really, really big magnolia tree? Whenever I felt upset, I would always climb to the highest branch and sleep there. There, it felt like nothing could reach me and I could be as close as I wanted to the stars.”
“Do you like the stars that much?”
“’The world can change, but the skies and the stars are eternal’,” Wu Lingtian recited. He turned his head to look at Fan Yi. “That’s what you told me. You said ‘whenever you feel overwhelmed or upset, just look up at the night sky and you can be brought back to a happier time’.”
He turned back to the stars. “I remember asking you what your happier time was, but you didn’t answer me.”
“I didn’t?” Fan Yi’s gaze remained unmoving on Wu Lingtian’s side profile. “Then, what’s yours?”
“Mine?” Wu Lingtian repeated. “It isn’t very happy, but I suppose it’s comforting.”
“What is it?”
“The night we found out Uncle Wang wasn’t going to make it,” Wu Lingtian said. “You took me up to the highest point in Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect and said those words to me. Then, you said ‘if you ever need me, come find me at Screeching Sparrow Sect’.”
“But you never did,” Fan Yi noted.
Wu Lingtian chuckled softly. His eyes roamed the stars in the sky, greedily and carefully, as if he were reading the words of a book.
“No,” Wu Lingtian said. “I never did.”
Fan Yi fell silent for a moment as a sense of warmth took hold of his chest. He watched the way Wu Lingtian’s eyes carefully lingered on each star. It was oddly captivating and Fan Yi found it rather difficult to look away.
“My happier time,” Fan Yi said, “was once when I went out with my family.”
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze. He remained silent for a moment before turning back to the stars.
“It was me and my parents and my little sister and youngest brother,” Fan Yi said. “We were heading back home from a day of playing. I was trailing behind for some reason, but I watched them walk up the steps, and I just happened to catch a glimpse of the starry sky above the trees.”
“It was a moment you wanted to last forever.”
“It was,” Fan Yi agreed. He blinked slowly as he watched Wu Lingtian. “It really was…a moment that I wanted to last forever. But now, when I look at the night sky, I have other memories too. They’re all very warm and nice. They don’t make me feel lonely either.”
Wu Lingtian smiled, as if the warmth Fan Yi experienced was enough to make him happy. “That’s good.”
Fan Yi hummed. “Whenever I stop by a lake, whenever I see a bookstore, whenever I taste anything sweet—these simple things in life make me a lot happier now too. Since I lost my family, I could never find joy in the mundane things again. But it’s better now.”
After a short pause, Fan Yi sat up.
Wu Lingtian pulled his gaze from the stars and looked at Fan Yi. “What’s wrong?”
“A-Tian.”
“Hm?”
“We have to get up early tomorrow,” Fan Yi said. “We should go to sleep now.”
“Sect Leader can go first,” Wu Lingtian said. “I don’t feel like getting into bed yet.”
“But if you don’t go, how can I sleep?” Fan Yi sighed as he slumped back down, this time a little closer to Wu Lingtian.
“You can sleep here. I’ll carry you down when I’m done,” Wu Lingtian suggested.
Fan Yi thought for a moment before leaning against Wu Lingtian’s stomach. “Then, I’ll borrow you as a pillow.”
Wu Lingtian glanced down at the other man, but didn’t protest. “As long as you find it comfortable.”
“And if I don’t?” Fan Yi lifted his head to ask.
Wu Lingtian extended his arm. “You could sleep here too.”
Fan Yi clicked his tongue. “Are you trying to take advantage of me in my sleep?”
Wu Lingtian’s eyes widened a fraction. “I—”
Fan Yi pushed Wu Lingtian’s arm back down and laid down. “Well, this is a better option anyway.”
Wu Lingtian stiffened. He glanced at Fan Yi and then averted his gaze again. “Sect Leader, I wasn’t—”
“Alright, I know. I was just teasing you,” Fan Yi yawned as he scooted closer. “Besides, it’s not like we don’t sleep together every night.”
“That…” Wu Lingtian’s voice trailed off.
They had never been this close though.
“Stop talking, I’m going to sleep,” Fan Yi patted Wu Lingtian’s forearm.
Wu Lingtian hummed and obediently stopped talking. With one arm against his stomach and the other one acting as someone else’s pillow, Wu Lingtian silently returned to his previous task of counting the stars. Despite appearing calm, Wu Lingtian’s heartrate became faster the longer he thought about it. Finally, he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Fan Yi.
He had yet to change from his clothes, so he was still dressed in the soft yellow. When he wasn’t wearing black, Fan Yi appeared a bit more youthful. His hair, which had been lazily pinned up after entering the room, fell softly against his face.
Wu Lingtian reached out to brush it aside before returning his hand back to his stomach. He remained perfectly still until at least an hour had passed. Carefully, Wu Lingtian slowly shifted so that Fan Yi was resting against his chest before he cautiously sat up. He supported Fan Yi behind the knees and wrapped another arm around his waist. He stood as quietly as possible and hopped down from the roof, onto the railing before jumping down onto the balcony floor.
He moved as softly as possible until he reached the bed. He bent down and placed Fan Yi onto the bed before moving his arms out from under him.
When Fan Yi’s expression pinched, Wu Lingtian stopped moving. He unconsciously held his breath as he watched Fan Yi roll back towards him. Wu Lingtian stiffened. He shifted Fan Yi further into the bed again and inched his arms out from under him. When he properly situated Fan Yi. He gently pulled Fan Yi’s shoes off and placed them to the side before unfolding the blanket and placing it over him.
Wu Lingtian straightened his waist and turned to blow out most of the candles.
However, when he was finished with the task, he didn’t return to the bed. Instead, Wu Lingtian hopped back onto the roof and made himself comfortable again.
With the cool, autumnal wind, and the company of the stars above, Wu Lingtian finally felt a little more at ease.
In fact, Wu Lingtian knew that there was nothing to feel anxious about. But knowing didn’t mean he could just stop it and sleeping in an enclosed space tonight would only make his anxiety worsen. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
After a moment, a small smile emerged onto his face. It was a pity that he couldn’t hug Fan Yi for even just a second.
Another inch closer! It’s regretful that Wu Lingtian feels anxious but he cracks me up anyway – “I really might die” 😂. Fan Yi is this close to taking the food from his hand.
Matricide is the killing of one’s mother… I think that’s supposed to be ‘mariticide’, which is the killing of one’s spouse. I really hope that Wu Lingtian isn’t Fan Yi’s mother….
oops i didn’t fix it in this version LMAO, thank you!