“Guess who!”
“Situ Hong.”
The cold voice made Situ Hong scoff. He pulled back, flourished his fan, and playfully kicked the back of Wu Lingtian’s shins.
“You’re no fun.”
“You just have too much free time on your hands,” Wu Lingtian said, watching as his friend sat down in front of him.
It had been three years since Wan Rong had confessed his love and, since then, the young man had been extremely persistent. It had gotten to the point that rumors began to fly about Situ Hong’s misfortune of having attracted the attention of the young heir of Black Scales Palace. From casual hookups to serious blind dates, they had all been ruined by one teenager.
The title “Lord Feng Ling” was no longer synonymous with “carefree” or even the worse counterpart, “playboy”. It was now associated with “Young Heir of Black Scales Palace”.
And it was rare for Situ Hong to come out of Purple Bamboo Sect in the past year. He had been avoiding Wan Rong like the plague. The only place he could hide in was his own sect. But doing so meant he had to listen to his father’s nagging. Unable to stand it for much longer, Situ Hong escaped and landed in Screeching Sparrow Sect.
Wu Lingtian knew of his friend’s struggles the past five years, but he wasn’t too worried about it. Situ Hong could handle himself better than anyone. As for the young heir…well, Situ Hong will either give in or completely crush his hopes eventually.
“So, why are you here?”
“Bored. I’m bored,” Situ Hong said. “It’s been so long since I’ve been out!”
“About a year?”
“Not that drastic,” Situ Hong shook his head. He smiled. “But enough about me, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“How’s married life treating you?” Situ Hong asked. “It’s been, what? Four years? Five?”
Wu Lingtian turned away. “It’s not that different from unmarried life. You just have to find the right partner.”
“Oh, listen to you. You sound like my stepmother,” Situ Hong said, his expression wrinkling.
“But it’s true,” Wu Lingtian said.
“I know, I know,” Situ Hong waved his hand.
Wu Lingtian observed Situ Hong for a moment. “You don’t want to settle any time soon?”
“I’m waiting for my little brother to get married first. When he does, I’ll think about it.”
“Why don’t you want to be sect leader?”
“Because if I become sect leader,” Situ Hong’s smile stiffened, “I’m afraid I won’t even have the power to protect the one I love.”
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze. “I see.”
“Silly, isn’t it?” Situ Hong said. “Everyone makes it out to be this glorious position, but at the end of the day, you have to choose duty over family. I don’t want that type of life. I don’t think I could do it.”
“…I know.”
“As long as you understand me,” Situ Hong chuckled.
“Then, what are you planning on doing about the Young Heir?”
“The Young Heir? He’ll get over it eventually. He—”
“A-Hong!”
The sudden shout made Situ Hong freeze. He wanted to stand, but before he could do so, a heavy weight threw itself at him. Situ Hong grunted as his waist hit the edge of the stone table. He didn’t have to shift his gaze too far down to see the young man attached to him.
“A-Hong?” Situ Hong repeated, his expression darkening. “Young Heir, how many times have I told you not to call me that?”
“But if I don’t call you that, you won’t answer me,” Wan Rong said, aggrievedly.
“What are you doing here?” Situ Hong asked, feeling a headache coming on.
“I came to drop off my little cousin. Today, she’s going to be Sect Master Fan’s student,” Wan Rong explained.
Situ Hong stiffened. He turned and smacked the wandering hand that had found its way to his ass. “Get off!”
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.
Wan Rong obediently stepped back. He glanced at Wu Lingtian, but without a greeting, he swiftly followed Situ Hong.
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“You’re annoying,” Situ Hong said, suddenly stopping. He turned around, expecting to see the same broken expression he had seen so many times before, but, instead, Wan Rong was smiling.
Situ Hong hesitated. Had he broken the boy into stupidity?
“You’re so gentle,” Wan Rong said, a soft smile on his face.
Situ Hong chilled. He must have. Or else, how could a perfectly sane person say something like that?
“I’ve always known that about you,” Wan Rong said. His spirits lifted again. “You don’t want to be with me because I’m too young, right?”
“No, there are many other reasons,” Situ Hong rejected.
“But it’s okay!” Wan Rong said, as if he hadn’t heard a word. “There’s three more years until my crowning ceremony, then we can be together.”
“Even if you get crowned, I still won’t be together with you,” Situ Hong said.
“But once I’m crowned, I’ll have to take on more duties from Black Scales Palace, so I won’t be able to see you as often,” Wan Rong said, taking a step closer.
“You really don’t have to consider me.”
“Don’t miss me, okay?”
“I won’t miss you.”
“I know it’ll be difficult,” Wan Rong said as he slyly intertwined his fingers with Situ Hong’s. His smile didn’t fade even when Situ Hong snatched his hand away. “But I’ll make this relationship work.”
“…I never hit your head, but you seem to have gone insane,” Situ Hong said, his expression blank.
Wan Rong chuckled. “If I’m not this way, how can I stick to you?”
“Young Heir,” Situ Hong took a deep breath. “I won’t ever be with you. Do you understand?”
Wan Rong shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“This isn’t about age, nor is it about cultivation path, it’s just that I do not like you in that way,” Situ Hong said. “And frankly, I don’t even know what you see in me. I’m handsome, but I’m far too old for you. My talents are outstanding, but you’re even better. You must be seeing me through rose-colored lenses of a first love, but I’m not great at all. You’re going to become the emperor of Black Scales Palace one day—you should broaden your horizons and not be so fixated on a person like me.”
Situ Hong watched as Wan Rong’s expression got darker. Thinking that his words finally worked, Situ Hong smiled.
“Then, I will be—”
“What are you saying about yourself?”
“…What?”
“A person like you?” Wan Rong said. “What kind of person do you think you are?”
“I—”
“Let me tell you who I think you are,” Wan Rong said. “I think you’re great. You’re handsome, talented, and kind. You’re carefree and willful, but you’re loyal to your friends and you care about your family. You extend a helping hand to commoners in need without asking for repayment. You’re patient with all your students. Even if you don’t like a person’s pursuit, you try to be kind when letting them down. I know that it’s not because I’m young and I know it’s not because of my cultivation path—it’s because you’re not ready to accept being loved, isn’t it? But that’s okay. I’ll wait. Our lives are very long. I’ll wait until you think I’m old enough to not be foolish and I’ll wait until you realize my feelings are sincere.”
Situ Hong frowned. “You’ve been stalking me too?”
“I have,” Wan Rong shamelessly admitted. He smirked. “You were avoiding me and I missed you, so I made my attendants keep a tab on you.”
“You’re…definitely from Black Scale’s Palace,” Situ Hong said with a shake of his head. “But everything you said is ridiculous. I don’t know how your attendants filter out my life to make it so sweet, but I’m nothing like that.”
“Okay.”
“…What?”
“Then, let me know what you’re really like. If you’re really not like this, then I’ll give up. But if you are,” Wan Rong’s gaze darkened, “I’ll keep you forever.”
“…No thank you,” Situ Hong rejected. He didn’t want to play such a dangerous game with a psycho.
“Are you scared?”
“I’m not scared,” Situ Hong said. He glanced at Wan Rong. “I just think you need to take a step back.”
The two men stared at each other for a long time until Situ Hong conceded. He sighed and gave Wan Rong’s head a brief touch.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m a good person or a bad person,” Situ Hong said. “But your obsessiveness will harm you in the long run. Not everyone gets as lucky as Wu Lingtian or Lord Wuma.”
Wan Rong felt a strong anger in the pit of his stomach as he watched Situ Hong leave. He hesitated for a moment and grabbed him by the wrist again.
“Then, what should I do?”
Situ Hong glanced at the hand around his and slowly pulled it away. “Go live your own life.”
After that, Situ Hong never saw Wan Rong around anymore.
“Did you hear? Apparently, Black Scales Palace from the Fengya region is actually participating in this years competitions!”
The younger disciples glanced at each other with a bit of fear.
“Aren’t people from Fengya really scary? They’re all eight feet tall, with big muscles and short hair,” one girl said. She shuddered. “If we’re against them, won’t they definitely win?”
“What are you scared of?” one of the older boys scoffed. “Who cares if they’re big and strong? As long as you can fight well, they’ll be beaten anyway! Only people who have no skills would be scared.”
The younger cultivators glared at the pretentious boy and were about to scold him when another cultivator stepped in.
“But aside from people from Black Scales Palace, aren’t those people from Screeching Sparrow Sect participating again? I think we should be more worried about them. I feel like they’re always winning over us.”
“Well, that’s a given, isn’t it? Those disciples are taught by the Yu Lan Sword Immortal. They would naturally be better than us!”
“But I heard a rumor as well that it wasn’t just anyone from Black Scales Palace participating! This time, it’s their prince and princess.”
A bit further away from the crowd, a young man watched them with half-lidded eyes. He yawned and reclined back on the grass, as if he would rather be sowing the fields than speaking with the other teenagers. Just as he closed his eyes, a shadow fell over him. His lips turned into a frown and he opened his eyes. His eyes widened at the girl who was looking at him, their faces mere centimeters apart.
“You—”
“Young Heir, isn’t it a bit too warm to be sunbathing?”
Wan Rong dodged Li Qing’s face and sat up. He looked around and then back to her with a frown. “Where is my cousin?”
“Xiao-jiejie is still with my shizun,” Li Qing said, a smile on her face. She sat down beside the boy and stretched out. She looked at the crowd below them and raised a brow. “It’s like they have nothing better to do. They’re always gossiping.”
Wan Rong’s gaze turned sharp. He glanced across the crowd and scoffed. “It’s how they always are. It’s why my Royal Uncle detests coming to these things.”
“And you?”
“What?”
“Why did you come this time?” Li Qing asked. Her lips quirked into a smile. “Did you miss Xiao-jiejie?”
“Of course, I did,” Wan Rong said.
Li Qing’s eyes slowly narrowed. “Oh. Oh, I see. It’s not your cousin that you miss. You miss…”
Wan Rong’s gaze darkened.
“It’s okay to admit it. Ever since you dropped off your cousin at Screeching Sparrow Sect, you haven’t seen that person, right? It’s been three long years,” Li Qing said. She grinned. “If I was separated from Xiao-jiejie for so long, I would be upset too.”
Wan Rong’s eyes narrowed. He had always disliked the way Li Qing’s eyes had a gloating spark whenever they spoke about Xiao Guo. Since they were young, Xiao Guo seemed to take the side of Li Qing more often. Now that they were teenagers, it was even more impossible for Xiao Guo to take Wan Rong’s side, as he was the oldest. All her attention was taken up by this little devil. But what bothered Wan Rong the most wasn’t the fact that his younger cousin took the side of a stranger—it was the way Li Qing looked at her!
It was obvious—clear as day even!—that Li Qing liked Xiao Guo in a more devious way. And Wan Rong’s dislike was further fueled by Li Qing’s incessant teasing.
Li Qing leaned closer, her lovely face scrunching triumphantly. “What’s wrong? Do you have something to say to me?”
Wan Rong’s handsome face twisted into a smile that oddly resembled Wuma Qiongling’s. “Xiao Qing, why is it that every time I see you, you become more and more detestable?”
“Me?” Li Qing gasped. She cupped her face and smiled. “It isn’t that I become detestable, is it? It’s because you can’t handle how lovely I am.”
“You—”
“A-Qing, Rong-ge!”
The voice interrupted the two’s bickering. Li Qing abruptly stood and pounced on Xiao Guo. The young woman nearly fell, but managed to keep a tight hold on Li Qing. Wan Rong nearly fainted at the sight of Xiao Guo’s hand sitting too familiarly on Li Qing’s waist.
He stood and walked over to the two girls.
“A-Guo,” Wan Rong greeted tersely.
Seeing his reaction, Xiao Guo looked at Li Qing with a small frown. “A-Qing, did you tease Rong-ge again?”
“No!” Li Qing exclaimed. She glanced at Wan Rong and smiled. “He was asking where you were. I think he was disappointed to just see me.”
“How could that be?” Wan Rong asked through a gritted smile. “It’s always to see you, Xiao Qing.”
Xiao Guo glanced between the two and let out a soft sigh. She never understood why it was so difficult for them to get along. The three of them had been playing together for nearly seven years now, but every time these two met, they would act like cats and dogs. If one wasn’t on edge, the other wouldn’t be comfortable. Was it that difficult to get along?
Her questions would never be answered, but it was already quite obvious. The answer was yes—it was very difficult to get along.
During the competition, everyone else didn’t seem to matter. Xiao Guo watched helplessly as Li Qing and Wan Rong jumped at each other’s throats at the closest chance. The other members of Screeching Sparrow Sect participated in other rankings, leaving only Li Qing, her, and Wan Rong in the lower level divisions.
Because of Wan Rong’s age, he was not yet allowed to join the upper level divisions, but his cultivation level exceeded everyone in his age group. Without even waiting, it was obvious who the winner would be.
Yet, when Wan Rong defeated his last opponent, he didn’t look happy. His gaze flickered over to Purple Bamboo School and irritation took over his expression. He glared at the young man sitting beside the sect leader and stalked off.
Situ Min awkwardly scratched his cheek. He didn’t know the young man personally, but he knew of him through rumors. And those rumors of him and his older brother were near rampant at all times.
“He doesn’t know his place,” an arrogant huff came from his left.
“Father,” Situ Min frowned
“Am I wrong?” Situ An asked, glaring at Wan Rong’s back. “Your brother would never like someone like that.”
“Someone like what?”
The father and son glanced back as Situ Hong sat down beside them.
“Who are you gossiping about this time?” Situ Hong asked with a frown.
“No one,” Situ An turned away.
Situ Hong glanced at his father and then to his younger brother. The man had an irritated expression on his face, as if he had something he wanted to say to their father, but Situ Hong’s arrival interrupted him.
Situ Hong turned his attention back to the fights below. It wasn’t his place to mediate a father and son fight—he had never extended that courtesy to Situ Min. The younger man was much more level-headed than he was, after all.
Once the competition ended, Situ Hong got ready to leave, but he was caught by Situ Min.
“What is it?”
“That young man was looking for you,” Situ Min said.
“Young man?” Situ Hong raised a brow. He thought for a moment and shook his head. “You already know my stance on the matter.”
“I do. I just wanted to pass on the message,” Situ Min said. He hovered hesitantly.
“What else?”
“You…haven’t been home in a while,” Situ Min said.
Situ Hong’s expression softened. He rubbed Situ Min’s head. “I’ll come back soon. I’ll buy you dinner.”
“Mother misses you as well.”
“Then, I’ll buy her dinner too.”
“Fa—”
“A-Min,” Situ Hong’s gentle smile grew. “You know, you’re very talented. And I know you’ve always wanted to be sect leader.”
Situ Min’s expression pinched. “…That doesn’t mean you can just stop coming home.”
“I’ll wait until you get married or find a disciple,” Situ Hong joked. “I’ll return then.”
Both of them knew it would be another hundred years or so for any of that to come into fruition. Situ Min lowered his head and let out a soft sigh.
With no one else to stop him, Situ Hong left the seating area of Purple Bamboo Sect. He wandered until he came to a river and sat down. His gaze dulled as he watched the river run by.
When did crowds start becoming too loud? When did life become so mundane?
Mundane huh? You know what makes things more interesting, some Black Scales royalty. Never boring with one of those around 😉
SO TRUE SO TRUE life is mundane, but Situ Hong, there’s still a lil wolf pup waiting for you ;v;