Su Han and the disciples arrived two days later, but Fan Yi and Ren Yizhou’s group had yet to appear. Despite the strong faith they had in their sect leader and second pillar, the disciples couldn’t help but grow antsy. On the fourth day, their guests also decided to leave.
“Contact us if you need help,” Wuma Qiongling said. “My army has been a little bored recently.”
Tian Xiewen laughed. “We’ll keep that in mind.”
Wuma Qiongling glanced at Wu Lingtian. “In fact, I’ll still prepare them just in case. Though, I doubt you’d need my help.”
“Your offer is much appreciated,” Wu Lingtian replied.
Wuma Qiongling nudged Xiao Xunrui. The man glanced at Wuma Qiongling and then to Wu Lingtian. “…I’m sorry for the other day. I shouldn’t have—”
“No need to apologize,” Wu Lingtian said. “It’s not like you were wrong.”
Xiao Xunrui’s eyes widened. “No, Lingtian. I overreacted—really.”
“They were human lives. There’s no such thing as an overreaction,” Wu Lingtian said.
Xiao Xunrui’s mouth opened and closed. He lowered his gaze, an uncomfortable knot settling in his chest. “I still shouldn’t have said such a thing to you. I know that you’re anything but that.”
“It’s fine.”
Xiao Xunrui wanted to speak again, but when he met Wu Lingtian’s gaze, he could only shut his mouth. It wasn’t disappointment, nor was it anger. There was just nothing that could erase what he already said.
“I understand,” Wu Lingtian said, patting Xiao Xunrui’s shoulder. “And I’m not angry.”
“…I know.”
Wu Lingtian smiled. “As long as you know. Now, I won’t keep you two any longer. Stay safe in Fengya.” Wu Lingtian turned to Wuma Qiongling. “Make sure you keep Xiao-xiong and Xiao Guo safe.”
“Do I need you to remind me?” Wuma Qiongling scoffed teasingly.
Wu Lingtian chuckled.
He remained with Tian Xiewen and watched as the family of three took off to the skies, away from Qingyao Manor. Once they were out of sight, Wu Lingtian turned and headed back towards the main residence.
“A room’s opened up,” Tian Xiewen said. “You’re still not sleeping tonight?”
“I can’t sleep in tight places,” Wu Lingtian said. “Don’t worry. I’m still resting.”
“…Alright,” Tian Xiewen nodded.
When it came to handling Wu Lingtian, he was the worst at it. If Wu Lingtian said one thing, Tian Xiewen found it hard to argue the other way. He could only watch in silence at Wu Lingtian walked away. He turned, surprised to find the disciples still waiting for him not too far away.
The first person to speak when he walked over was Li Qing: “Is Wu-shishu okay?”
“He…well, what’s there to do?” Tian Xiewen asked gruffly.
Hua An’ting frowned. “Shizun, you’ve always been horrible at coaxing people.”
“Is he a woman? Why would I need to coax him?”
“You don’t even like women,” Hua An’ting pointed out.
Tian Xiewen glared at his disciple.
“What can we do to cheer him up?” Li Qing asked worriedly.
“I don’t know if cheering up is what he needs right now,” Wen Yi said. She glanced at Li Qing’s watery eyes and sighed. “Maybe it’s just been too quiet around here.”
“Too quiet?” Li Qing asked, tilting her head.
“Mn! Wu-shishu likes how lively it is back at the sect, doesn’t he? With just a few people here, this place is far too quiet. Maybe he’s sad because of that,” Wen Yi said.
Her reasoning, to the naïve children, made sense.
“If we just act as we usually do back at Screeching Sparrow Sect, I’m sure Wu-shishu will cheer up in no time,” Wen Yi said, reassuring the disciples around her.
Tian Xiewen watched helplessly, but didn’t bother putting them down. He knew Wen Yi was only trying to keep the disciples occupied. And, perhaps, a little bit of liveliness truly would help. But he knew that Wu Lingtian was not only burdened by his own past, he was also worried about Fan Yi. There were too many factors, but there was no need to explain these things to the children. Explaining would only make it more complicated and, in the end, they wouldn’t be able to help anyway.
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.
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Though, he knew it was useless in the end.
One week passed and then two. If it weren’t for the warmth around Wu Lingtian’s finger, he would already begin to assume the worst.
As dawn broke to day and as the disciples began their daily routine again, Wu Lingtian slowly awoke from his drowsy state. He stood to stretch his legs before slowly getting back down into kneeling position. Before his knees touched the ground, he felt a tug to his bicep. He frowned and turned his head to look at the person who had pulled him up. His chest was flush against the other man’s chest. A strong herbal scent engulfed his person and his heart began to flutter again.
Fan Yi’s eyes were narrowed charmingly and a sweet smile was painted across his lips. The hand that didn’t hold onto his bicep was placed at his waist, his entire arm enveloping it. Although he brought with him the chill of winter, there was a warmth that shot straight into Wu Lingtian’s chest, flowing from inside out. The coldness of the snow melted, revealing faint rays of sunshine behind the clouds.
For a moment, Wu Lingtian wasn’t sure if he was dreaming again, but then he felt a pair of chilled lips against his. He closed his eyes and fell into the kiss, his body turning as he draped his arms over Fan Yi’s shoulders. He felt the other man’s smile as he deepened their kiss, completely disregarding the place that they were in. His fingers dug into the many layers of fabric Fan Yi had on, as if he wished to tear through them.
When they finally broke off, Fan Yi’s lips had been bitten red. A faint flush was splashed across his face, but the smile he carried turned smug.
“Missed me?”
“A lot,” Wu Lingtian readily admitted.
Wu Lingtian leaned in for another kiss, but Fan Yi cruelly stopped him. Seeing his disappointed expression, Fan Yi could only cough awkwardly.
“A-Tian, it’s not good to act so disrespectfully in front of our guests.”
Wu Lingtian finally noticed the presence of others in the room. He looked over Fan Yi’s shoulder and found three other people standing there. Zhou Ying’an’s expression was dark, like a father who had caught his daughter kissing her secret lover at the back of the house. Sect Master Zhong and Situ Hong had long averted their gazes. They clearly found the architecture interesting.
Wu Lingtian released Fan Yi and hurried over. “Shijie, you guys are okay.”
“Mn,” Zhou Ying’an murmured. She glanced at Fan Yi behind Wu Lingtian, a look of disgust crossing her face. “I guess you can thank him.”
“He heard about what happened and went to find us,” Situ Hong supplemented. “We were being pursued when we ran into the Second Pillar. They guided us over to Sect Leader Fan.”
Wu Lingtian breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Is anyone injured?”
“Just a few knocks and bruises here and there. Nothing to fret over,” Situ Hong shrugged.
Wu Lingtian gave Situ Hong a disapproving gaze.
“What? As if you care when you get hurt yourself,” Situ Hong quipped.
“What do we do now?” Wu Lingtian asked Fan Yi, opting to ignore Situ Hong.
“Well, those people won’t be able to find this place, no matter how hard I try. But I have some bad news,” Fan Yi said.
Wu Lingtian became alert. “What is it?”
“Screeching Sparrow Sect…it’s a bit burned,” Fan Yi said. He gave a dramatic sigh. “I tried to stop the fires, but the explosions were too dramatic so—”
“As long as you’re safe, it’s fine,” Wu Lingtian said, frowning. “We can just rebuild it when this is all over. What’s there to fret over?”
“My wallet doesn’t even have a home anymore. It’s going to take a while to rebuild,” Fan Yi said.
Sect Master Zhong’s smile tightened. “Am I just a wallet to you?”
“Sect M—”
“No need for that anymore. Just call me Uncle,” Zhong Renyi said, pinched the spot between his brows.
“What’s going to happen to the Hall of Impartiality?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“What’s going to happen? Well, I haven’t decided yet,” Zhong Renyi shrugged. He glanced at Fan Yi. “I was just thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just let a certain brat take over.”
Fan Yi’s expression warped into one of disgust. He shook his head. “Don’t toss this rotting corpse to me. I definitely don’t want it.”
Wu Lingtian smiled softly, his hand reaching out instinctively to hold Fan Yi’s. When he felt a warm hand against his, Fan Yi glanced over while intertwining his fingers with Wu Lingtian’s.
“Well, you all saw him,” Fan Yi said, tugging Wu Lingtian behind him. “Disperse.”
“I still have a few words I want to say to him,” Zhou Ying’an said.
“Shijie, how about we all rest first. Aren’t you tired?” Situ Hong asked.
“I’m n—”
“Or you could visit Xiu Lan first,” Situ Hong said.
“You—”
Situ Hong was already steering Zhou Ying’an away. He looked over his shoulder and winked at Fan Yi as he pulled the irritable woman away. Zhong Renyi glanced at Wu Lingtian, nodded to Fan Yi, and silently followed the younger generation.
Once the two of them were left alone, Fan Yi finally turned to Wu Lingtian. “I heard you were hiding in here the entire time.”
“I wasn’t hiding,” Wu Lingtian said. “I just couldn’t be bothered to clean up another room.”
“So, you cleaned the entire ancestral hall?”
Wu Lingtian averted his gaze.
“I definitely know that this place wasn’t this spotless before,” Fan Yi said, looking around. He glanced at Wu Lingtian again. “What’s wrong? Who upset you?”
“No one,” Wu Lingtian said.
“Really?”
“…I upset myself,” Wu Lingtian said. He tugged his hand away and pulled his cloak on tighter. “You must be tired. You should go rest first.”
Fan Yi’s eyes narrowed. He stepped closer, his head slightly tilted. “Without you? What are you going to do?”
“Take a walk.”
“It’s the middle of winter, A-Tian. If I go sleep by myself, I’ll freeze to death,” Fan Yi said, a slight whine to his voice as he tugged Wu Lingtian’s cloak. “Are you willing to let your husband freeze to death?”
Wu Lingtian faced the other way, refusing to look at Fan Yi. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Really not in the mood?”
Wu Lingtian opted to not answer. When the silence grew too heavy, he suddenly felt a set of teeth latch onto his ear. He let out a yelp and turned to stare at Fan Yi incredulously.
“What’s wrong?” Fan Yi raised a brow. “You wouldn’t look at me, so I did something to make you look.”
“Yishan,” Wu Lingtian’s tone was a mixture of helplessness and annoyance.
“I won’t ask anymore,” Fan Yi promised, “but I missed you. Can’t you come with me?”
Wu Lingtian glanced at the cold hand that held onto his. The irritation in his chest began to slowly dissipate. He glanced at Fan Yi again and eventually nodded. Fan Yi smiled happily and tugged Wu Lingtian from the ancestral hall.
Instead of going to the guest rooms, Fan Yi made a turn and headed for his own room. It was a lot more spacious and there were personal touches all around. Wu Lingtian found that it was quite similar to Fan Yi’s room back at Screeching Sparrow Sect, but the taste of the furnishing was not quite refined.
“You can redecorate if you want,” Fan Yi said as he lit up the braziers. He straightened and walked back over to Wu Lingtian, who had placed his cloak to the side. His arms snaked around the man’s waist and he happily leaned against his back. “I tried to keep everything similar to when I was younger, but since you’re here, you can change it however you want.”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi. “I like it like this.”
“Well, the option is open,” Fan Yi chuckled. He let out a content sigh as he left half his weight against Wu Lingtian. “A-Tian, I’m so tired. I haven’t slept at all.”
“Then, you should sleep.”
Fan Yi groaned and shook his head. “I want to see you more.”
Wu Lingtian’s face flushed. “You can see me when you wake up.”
Fan Yi sighed and waddled under Wu Lingtian’s arm so he could hug him from the front. “You said that in my dreams every time, but when I woke up, you weren’t there.”
Wu Lingtian’s heart clenched. “Did you dream about me?”
“A little,” Fan Yi said.
“Well, this isn’t a dream, so you can rest well,” Wu Lingtian said, his movements softening as he gently nudged Fan Yi towards the bed.
Fan Yi let Wu Lingtian guide him, but he still refused to let go. “You’re going to rest with me too, right?”
“I suppose I could,” Wu Lingtian said.
Fan Yi’s smile grew. He fell back onto the bed and pulled Wu Lingtian down with him. Their shoes were kicked to the side and Fan Yi curled up against Wu Lingtian’s chest. He let out a content sigh and closed his eyes.
Wu Lingtian watched Fan Yi silently. His hand reached around towards the hairpin in Fan Yi’s hair. He gave it a tug, allowing the inky locks to drape across the white sheets. He shifted to set the hairpin to the side and laid back down. Fan Yi raised his gaze to look at him, his eyes already hazy from drowsiness.
“Sleep,” Wu Lingtian softly coaxed.
“We’ll talk after I wake up.”
Wu Lingtian hummed. The remaining irritation finally dispersed. He listened to Fan Yi’s quiet breathing and felt soft all over. He buried his head in Fan Yi’s hair and breathed out slowly. The scent of medicinal herbs wrapped around him comfortingly, drawing him towards the sleepiness that he had been ignoring in the back of his head. His grip on Fan Yi tightened as he finally gave into his urges.
When he woke again, Fan Yi was sitting at the headboard, a book in his hand as his fingers toyed with Wu Lingtian’s hair. Sensing his movement, Fan Yi looked down. Wu Lingtian had shifted forward, nuzzling against Fan Yi’s abdomen.
A small chuckle left Fan Yi. “Do you feel better?”
“Mn.”
“So, what happened?”
Wu Lingtian slowly recounted the events that took place until they arrived at Qingyao Manor. After he finished, he felt that it had been quite childish. He buried his head in Fan Yi’s stomach and sighed.
“I still haven’t spoken to Xiu Lan. I haven’t even properly explained everything between Da-shixiong and Rong Meihua,” Wu Lingtian grumbled.
“You can just tell her tomorrow,” Fan Yi suggested.
Wu Lingtian peered at Fan Yi, the lower half of his face still buried against Fan Yi. “You don’t think she’s mad at me?”
“I’m sure she feels guilty for what she said to you, even if she didn’t know the exact situation,” Fan Yi reasoned. “You’re her shishu after all. If she didn’t feel guilty then, after seeing Miss Zhou is safe, she’ll definitely feel guilty now.”
“I guess you’re right,” Wu Lingtian murmured. He rubbed his head against Fan Yi again. “What about you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Fan Yi smiled. “I told you to leave everything to me, didn’t I?”
Wu Lingtian hugged Fan Yi tighter. “I’m starting to change my mind.”
“Don’t,” Fan Yi pinched Wu Lingtian’s cheek. “You’re not stable at the moment; I’d much rather you stay behind and just take care of the sect.”
“But you’re also not…Forget it. What do you plan to do next?”
“We’ll have to meet with the other sect leaders,” Fan Yi said. “Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect’s decision to burn down the Hall of Impartiality will incur outrage on a lot of the righteous sects—we’re planning on getting them to ally with us. After that, we’ll be charging straight for Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect. We might have to reveal everything about Rong Meihua, since their main source of power is from those puppets.”
“Alright.”
Fan Yi watched Wu Lingtian closely. When he said nothing more, Fan Yi leaned a little closer. “That’s all?”
“What else is there to say?” Wu Lingtian asked. “I wouldn’t have anything to say, even if you told me you were going to tell everyone that I made those puppets.”
“Well, it’s not like they would judge,” Fan Yi said. He straightened and felt a slight pang in his heart when he looked at Wu Lingtian. He sighed. “I really want to protect you forever.”
Wu Lingtian tilted his head to look at Fan Yi. “Why are you saying this suddenly?”
“I was just wondering how you were raised,” Fan Yi said, his voice softening.
Wu Lingtian’s brows furrowed. The confusion on his face made Fan Yi want to collapse. He threw the book aside and pulled Wu Lingtian into his arms. The younger man leaned against Fan Yi’s chest confusedly. He raised a hand and awkwardly patted his back.
“I don’t really understand what you’re getting at,” Wu Lingtian said.
“I’m wondering how you’re so innocent,” Fan Yi murmured against Wu Lingtian’s neck.
“I’m not…?” Wu Lingtian frowned.
Fan Yi remained silently against Wu Lingtian until the other man shifted awkwardly. He pulled away, but still held onto Wu Lingtian tightly. “You’ll fit right in to Jianshi.”
“…Okay.”
“And,” Fan Yi smiled, yet the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, “I don’t know how Rong Meihua taught you, but you don’t have to worry about the others too. The pedestals they sit on may seem pretty, but Hell is the same for everyone.”
Have I mentioned how much I adore Fan Yi? Because I truly adore Fan Yi. Thanks for writing and sharing another great chapter!
🥺 i’m glad you like him thanks for reading!
I was just thinking that Wu Lingtian’s inner child is intact and maybe even in charge, and then Fan Yi called him innocent 🤭 so I guess we’re in agreement! Who told them to be so cuddly and adorable!
SO TRUE 😭 fan yi definitely needs to baby wlt more then mm mm
I KNEW THEY WERE GONNA BE ALRIGHT BUT STILL I DOUBTED JUUUST A TINYYY BIT;;;;;
also gods i love Fan Yi and Wu Lingtian