When it came down to facing Fan Yi’s teasing or facing Xiao Xunrui and Situ Hong, naturally Wu Lingtian would choose the latter.
Although he was grateful for Fan Yi’s purposeful distraction, he felt that if he had to face Fan Yi’s suggestive comments or lingering looks any longer, his heart would implode in his chest. It was fine when Wu Lingtian was one-sidedly flirting, and it would even be fine if they were officially together, but this type of ambiguous atmosphere stirred up Wu Lingtian’s deeply buried feelings, making it almost unbearable. If it continued, Wu Lingtian feared that something might happen between them before Fan Yi actually acknowledged that he understood Wu Lingtian’s feelings.
Thus, the two men arrived at Zhuixing Mountain just as the pavilion bird reached Sect Master Zhong.
“They’re here already?” Sect Master Zhong raised a brow.
“Yes, Sect Master,” Mu Xing replied. “They just arrived at the gates and are coming up.”
“That’s just as great!” Situ Hong stood. He turned excitedly to Xiao Xunrui. “Xiao-xiong needn’t wait for Lingtian’s response any longer.”
“He’s come with Sect Leader Fan?” Xiao Xunrui frowned. He stood and looked to Sect Master Zhong. “Shizun, Situ Hong and I will head down to meet Sect Leader Fan and Lingtian.”
“We—we will?” Situ Hong stumbled over his feet as Xiao Xunrui dragged him out. He looked back at Sect Master Zhong, Xiao Guo, and Mu Xing, “Oh—then, we’ll be right back!”
Mu Xing hesitantly looked at Sect Master Zhong. “Sect Master…”
“Let them go,” Sect Master Zhong leisurely took a sip of tea. “I want to see how Fan Yi will deal with this fiasco.”
At the bottom of the mountain, Wu Lingtian had finally brought himself to calm back down. His gaze drifted towards Fan Yi, who was acting as if nothing was unusual, and lowered his gaze again. At least Wu Lingtian knew the other man didn’t have an aversion towards him. Instead, he was even slowly reciprocating his advances.
If it was just time that Fan Yi needed, then Wu Lingtian didn’t mind at all. After all, he had waited so long that even waiting another hundred or two hundred years wasn’t burdensome at all.
“How do you feel today?” Fan Yi asked.
Since they had left Zhao Village, Fan Yi had taken up the habit of asking Wu Lingtian every day. If he ever said he felt tired, the trip would proceed in silence. If Wu Lingtian said he was fine, Fan Yi would engage in conversation more often.
Today, Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi and smiled. “I’m in a good mood.”
“Oh?” Fan Yi raised a brow. “May I ask what caused it?”
“The one in my heart.”
Fan Yi held Wu Lingtian’s gaze for a moment before softly scoffing. “I thought you’d be saying you were glad that you finally found out how to find Yu Lan.”
“That’s another thing to rejoice,” Wu Lingtian agreed.
“But the first thing you thought of was the one in your heart?” Fan Yi asked. He sighed emotionally. “A-Tian, you’ve changed. Before, it was all about cultivation and martial arts, but now you’re always ruminating over your love life.”
“You could say that I’ve been tainted by mortal dust,” Wu Lingtian shook his head. He leaned a bit closer to Fan Yi with a lowered voice and a sweet smile, “However, I quite prefer this.”
“I also prefer this,” Fan Yi chuckled.
Wu Lingtian’s smile widened. “Sect Leader, I was actually wondering if—”
The moment the words left Wu Lingtian’s mouth, the rustling of underbrush beside them caught their attention. Wu Lingtian quickly unsheathed Rui Sword and blocked the three needles that flew from within. He pulled Fan Yi behind him and knocked the flying fan from the air before kicking away a sword that joined the attack. He parried the sword when he came back a second time and quickly enacted the Thousand Sword Illusion as the soft sound of the xiao filled the area around them.
The mirage of swords easily counterattacked and sliced the sharp leaves in half. However, because Wu Lingtian wasn’t used to using the Rui Sword and because he kept Fan Yi tightly behind him, the flying leaves managed to graze Wu Lingtian’s cheek.
He frowned at the underbrush and sent his sword into the foliage.
“Ah! Wu Lingtian, you monster!” Situ Hong’s voice quickly sounded out as the leaves rustled and parted.
The Rui Sword flew back into its scabbard as Wu Lingtian allowed his hands to fall back to his side.
“Who’s a monster? Am I the one who schemed to ambush my friend?” Wu Lingtian asked with a cold expression.
“This—” Situ Hong caught his fan and aggressively fanned himself as he pulled his legs from the leaves. “It was all Xiao-xiong’s idea!”
“Now, don’t be like that, A-Hong,” an elegant man emerged from the foliage as well, looking far less scrambled than Situ Hong was. “You can’t just blame me when your plan goes awry.”
Situ Hong stared at Xiao Xunrui in shock. He whipped his head back to Wu Lingtian. “It wasn’t me! Truly, it wasn’t! I told Xiao-xiong we probably shouldn’t attack you.”
“I trust you,” Wu Lingtian’s gaze settled on Xiao Xunrui. “You’re not the one who I offended recently.”
Situ Hong’s fan snapped shut. He let out a thankful sigh and turned to Fan Yi. He clasped his hands over the handle of his fan and bowed, “Sect Leader Fan.”
“Lord Feng Ling,” Fan Yi returned the greeting.
Xiao Xunrui looked behind Wu Lingtian. “This is…the sect leader of Screeching Sparrow Sect?”
Fan Yi smiled and bowed to Xiao Xunrui as well. “My surname is Fan and I’m named Yi. I am indeed the sect leader of Screeching Sparrow Sect. You must be the master of Yu Shui Manor, Lord Xiao, Xiao Xunrui.”
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.
Xiao Xunrui tucked his arm behind his back and one at his waist as he strolled forward. “That is me. Have you been well?”
Mjc Tl ibbxfv Wljb Wecgel eq jcv vbkc yfobgf mtemxilcu. “P tjnf. Ccv P agera sbe tjnf kfii jr kfii.”
Coafg gfmflnlcu j cbv, tf ragjlutafcfv jcv ibbxfv yfakffc atf akb wfc. “Glv Vfma Zjrafg Itbcu rfcv sbe akb ufcaifwfc vbkc tfgf ab ugffa er?”
“Something like that,” Xiao Xunrui looked at Wu Lingtian. He reached over and tapped the man’s waist with his xiao. “What’s up with you?”
“Ujgvbc?” Qe Olcualjc gjlrfv j ygbk jcv ibbxfv ja Wljb Wecgel.
“What’s with your dark face? Not happy to see me?”
“I was more excited to see Xiao Guo,” Wu Lingtian promptly turned away again.
Xiao Xunrui stared at him. “Are you holding a grudge?”
“How could I dare?” Wu Lingtian asked. “Lord Xiao was simply testing this humble one’s abilities.”
“You’re actually—”
“A-Tian.”
Wu Lingtian turned to Fan Yi as the man stretched out to gently wipe away a bead of blood that still lingered against his cheek.
“How are you feeling?”
Wu Lingtian knew full well that Fan Yi was asking about how he felt in regards to seeing Xiao Xunrui. “Everything is normal.”
“That’s good,” Fan Yi smiled. He held out his hand, “Give me your wrist.”
Wu Lingtian took off the wrist guards and tugged up his sleeve obediently.
Fan Yi seriously took Wu Lingtian’s pulse before helping him tie his wrist guard back on again. “You shouldn’t have exerted your internal energy to take care of a silly attack like that. Make sure to meditate when we get back.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “Yes, Sect Leader.”
After securing the wrist guard back on, Fan Yi turned to Xiao Xunrui and Situ Hong. “Then, I won’t bother you three anymore. I’ll head up to see Sect Master Zhong first.”
“Wait,” Wu Lingtian stepped in Fan Yi’s way.
Fan Yi raised a brow. “What’s wrong?”
“We can just go together,” Wu Lingtian said.
Fan Yi chuckled. “What? Are you scared I’ll leave you behind?”
Wu Lingtian shook his head. “I’m not. Sect Leader already promised me that we would go together.”
“Then, it’s fine,” Fan Yi patted Wu Lingtian’s shoulder. “I’ll head up first and we’ll meet up again later.”
Wu Lingtian relented and stepped out of Fan Yi’s way.
Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian, then to the two men who stood behind him. He chuckled before turning around and waving, “Good luck.”
However, to who this phrase was directed to went over the three men’s heads.
Wu Lingtian remained silent until Fan Yi had walked a certain distance up the steps. When he turned around, his expression was colder than it had been when Fan Yi was there and his actions told the two men that they weren’t very welcome in his presence.
“What’s wrong? Sad that your husband is gone?” Situ Hong grinned.
“Mind your words. Sect Leader and I don’t have that sort of relationship,” Wu Lingtian snipped. “It wouldn’t be good if someone were to overhear you and harm his reputation.”
“Oh, yes, it would harm his reputation—the one who previously declared to the world first, that he was in love with you,” Situ Hong nodded. He lightly cleared his throat and shifted closer before nudging Wu Lingtian lightly. “Have you told him?”
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze. He hesitated for a moment before looking between the two men. He glanced over his shoulder and gripped the two men by the arms before steering them towards the path of Frost Cliff Pavilion.
“I actually have to ask you something,” Wu Lingtian spoke to Situ Hong.
“Why not ask me?” Xiao Xunrui asked.
Wu Lingtian spared the petite man a glance. “Seeing that you’re here, you must have run off.”
“…”
“I’ll ask you for advice when I want to run away from my problems,” Wu Lingtian quipped before turning back to Situ Hong. “It requires a serious answer.”
Situ Hong pursed his lips, his fan lifted to cover his gleeful, yet puckered expression, as he watched Xiao Xunrui’s expression blacken quickly. He let out a pitched giggled before nodding. He cleared his throat and snapped his fan shut. “Ask away! What is it you want to ask?”
“You’re good at seducing people, right?” Wu Lingtian released Xiao Xunrui and Situ Hong once they were far enough on the path.
“Seducing…well, rather than actively trying, I would say my charms draw them to me,” Situ Hong said with a humble nod. “However, if you want to ask about romance, I do know a thing or two.”
“Say there’s someone you like and you’ve made it quite clear that you like them, save for actually saying it, and at first they rejected you and was angry, but then they slowly started acting normal again,” Wu Lingtian said. He looked at Situ Hong seriously. “What would you do in that situation?”
“They acted normal again?” Situ Hong echoed.
“Isn’t that just them trying to tell you to forget about it?” Xiao Xunrui pointed out.
Wu Lingtian turned to look at the other man. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a subtle rejection,” Xiao Xunrui said. “If you’ve gone to such lengths to profess your love, but then they started acting as if nothing happened, isn’t it just them trying to ignore the fact that they know about your feelings now?”
Wu Lingtian steps came to an abrupt stop and quickly became downcast.
“You—” Situ Hong glared at Xiao Xunrui. He inserted himself between the two men and waved his hands. “No, no! Lingtian, don’t listen to Xiao-xiong. What does he know about romance? He only knows to run off and hide instead of face his problems.”
“If you two mention that one more time, I’ll knock you out for weeks,” Xiao Xunrui said.
Instead of responding, Situ Hong blocked the man’s face with his folding fan.
“I think Sect Leader Fan just needs some time to think. After all, he did save you without question, so he must have some good feelings for you,” Situ Hong said.
“That’s not true. He just feels guilty for leaving me all those years ago. That’s the only reason he saved me,” Wu Lingtian said softly.
Situ Hong glared at Xiao Xunrui. The petite man glanced at Situ Hong and guiltily averted his gaze.
Xiao Xunrui cleared his throat. “In fact, I think A-Hong is right. Sect Leader Fan doesn’t seem like the type of man to avoid responding, especially when you’re someone so obviously precious to him. I’m sure he just needs a little more time to think.”
“That’s right!” Situ Hong clapped Wu Lingtian’s back. “I think that’s exactly it! He probably wants to think it through a bit longer, because you’re so important to him. He wants to make sure his feelings aren’t just a spur of the moment since he doesn’t want to hurt you.”
Wu Lingtian lightly shrugged off Situ Hong’s hand. “If that’s true, he’s probably reconsidering accepting my feelings now.”
“W-why’s that?” Situ Hong stared at Wu Lingtian blankly.
“Now that I think about it, I was acting so childishly when the two of you ambushed us,” Wu Lingtian mumbled. “Sect Leader likes more mature people.”
The more Wu Lingtian seemed to think about it, the more downcast he became. He held his head and sighed. “And I was so clingy…”
“Maybe Sect Leader Fan actually likes clingy men,” Xiao Xunrui said. “Every powerful man loves when others fawn over him.”
“He’s not superficial like that,” Wu Lingtian said. “Besides, he’s told me before that he likes people who can take care of him. I can’t even take care of myself.”
“This…Lingtian, I think you’re thinking about it too much now,” Situ Hong said awkwardly.
“It’s over,” Wu Lingtian knocked his forehead several times before letting out a defeated sigh. He turned and continued up the path to Frost Cliff Pavilion with his chin lowered to his chest.
Situ Hong and Xiao Xunrui glanced at each other before quickly following.
“Lingtian, it’s really not that bad!”
“And if it is, I’m sure with your disposition, you could easily recover,” Xiao Xunrui added.
“Yeah! You’re the famous Yu Lan Sword Immortal! If you’re not…caring, saintly, and mature, who is?” Situ Hong lightly tapped his folding fan against Wu Lingtian’s chest.
A low sigh was the only response Wu Lingtian could muster.
Situ Hong shot Xiao Xunrui another glare. The one look conveyed it all—this is all your fault!
Xiao Xunrui fiddled with the tassel at the end of his xiao. He finally approached Wu Lingtian again. “Lingtian, this…I’m sorry. I was just teasing you. I was still a bit mad about you sending Qiongling my way. And I know with that, you were just trying to help me, so I really shouldn’t have taken my frustrations out on you. I…Lingtian, don’t be sad, alright? Whatever I said first was just a joke—everything after was what I sincerely meant.”
Wu Lingtian pursed his lips, looking quite pitiful. He lowered his head further until it was difficult to see his expression.
Seeing this, Xiao Xunrui became more frantic. “Lingtian, don’t be like this. Sect Leader Fan was clearly caring about you earlier! I’m sure he really is just thinking about it, you don’t need to—”
“Pft.”
“…Pft?” Xiao Xunrui’s face immediately cooled.
Wu Lingtian shifted away from Xiao Xunrui was his body began to tremble with laughter. He blocked Xiao Xunrui’s slap and pushed his wrist back towards his chest with a cheeky grin. “Did you really think I was going to cry?”
Situ Hong clicked his tongue, “Wu Lingtian,we were genuinely worried about you! What was that?”
“Who told you to ambush me?” Wu Lingtian lightly kicked Situ Hong’s shin with the side of his foot. “And with Sect Leader there. What if he got hurt?”
“He’s Fan Yi,” Situ Hong said incredulously. “If we were to really fight, I’m willing to bet we’d die before he even loses a hair from his head!”
“Now, don’t sell yourselves too short. I’m sure he would at least lose one hair before you died,” Wu Lingtian coaxed.
Situ Hong rolled his eyes. “Forget it. We were the fools to think you would actually cry over something like this.”
“You can’t even take a little prank without retaliating. Are you sure your Sect Leader Fan will like someone as petty as you?” Xiao Xunrui asked scathingly.
Wu Lingtian raised a brow. “You mess with me, and I mess with you back. Mine was actually harmless. Did you two forget that I got scratched?”
“How am I supposed to know that you’re so weak now? In the past, you could have easily soared through the air and avoided everything,” Xiao Xunrui grumbled. He hesitated for a moment, “But…are you truly okay?”
Seeing Xiao Xunrui’s genuine concern Wu Lingtian smiled. “I’m fine. Sect Leader is just overly worried.”
“It’s good that he is,” Situ Hong said. He turned to Xiao Xunrui, “Did you know when this kid overworks himself nowadays, he faints?”
“You faint!?”
“It’s not that serious,” Wu Lingtian said.
“He faints—not just for a few minutes, but for several days,” Situ Hong said.
Xiao Xunrui frowned. He looked at Wu Lingtian seriously, “This is a very serious issue. Why are you treating it as if it’s nothing?”
“Because it really is nothing,” Wu Lingtian gave Situ Hong a warning look. “It doesn’t happen often and it won’t happen again. I’ve been extra careful recently.”
“Just recently,” Xiao Xunrui frowned, “but what about later? Have you thought about sealing your cultivation level so that you can’t go overboard?”
“There’s no need for that,” Wu Lingtian reassured Xiao Xunrui. “When I fight, I’ll be beside Sect Leader anyway. If he sees that I’m overexerting myself, he’s for sure going to give me an earful.”
“And since when has getting an earful stopped you from doing anything?” Xiao Xunrui asked.
“It’s different,” Situ Hong sighed. “Think about it this way, if I told you to stop sleeping at sunrise because it harmed your body, would you?”
Xiao Xunrui stared at Situ Hong blankly. “Of course not. Why does it matter to you?”
“Now, if Lord Wuma was looking at you worriedly and said ‘A-Rui, you can’t keep sleeping at sunrise, it’s not good for your body’, would you listen to him?”
Xiao Xunrui’s cheeks slowly reddened. He averted his gaze and muttered, “Why would I listen to that idiot?”
“But you would,” Situ Hong pointed out. “You’re both the same, only listening to your husbands.”
“I said we’re not like that,” Wu Lingtian said in exasperation.
“Who’s my husband!?” Xiao Xunrui snapped.
Situ Hong stepped back from Xiao Xunrui. “Alright, alright. He’s not your husband. You’re his husband—is that better?”
“As if,” Xiao Xunrui grumbled.
Wu Lingtian and Situ Hong shared a glance.
“Right,” Wu Lingtian lightly cleared his throat. “Just…what happened? Did he do something to make you angry again?”
Xiao Xunrui’s angry expression melted bit by bit. He let out a soft sigh as his finger twirled the tassel by his waist. Knowing full well that Wu Lingtian might find Wuma Qiongling if he implied he had been hurt, Xiao Xunrui shook his head, “Well, it isn’t that.”
“If not that then…?” Wu Lingtian prompted.
“He…asked me to move to Fengya with him,” Xiao Xunrui finally confessed.
“Mortal dust” 红尘 （Hóngchén）- lit. red dust. trans. world of mortals; human society.
A/N: I’M BACK!! I’ve been editing some chapters and I realized that the recent chapters I’ve written are full of plot holes and are quite Bad, so I’m rewriting them. Unfortunately, that means Yu Lan might suddenly go into hiatus. I will give week’s heads up 💀
Also I’m graduating soon and kinda jobless, so if you have a spare $3 to spare every month, consider subscribing to my ko-fi 🥺
Situ Hong has his hands full babysitting these two lovesick fools 😆
Situ Hong, “renowned” love expert: haha why’s there so much dogfood here 😀
Situ Hong and Xiao Xunrui were so worried about Lingtian, he’s such a tease