A/N: this epilogue takes place right after the main story ends.
The snow had long melted, bringing sunshine and warmth back to Qingyao Manor. The flowers that had been dormant the entire winter, slowly began to bloom again. The bare trees had sprouts linger on their branches. The sounds of life decorated the long abandoned manor, bringing back comfort that once lingered in the walls of the original manor.
As Fan Yi walked past the disciples, he was greeted with hearty shouts. He smiled and murmured a greeting to everyone who walked past, but he was tired. His lips weren’t pulled as high as they normally might be and when the disciples left, his shoulders immediately felt a heavy weight again.
The war between Jianshi and Xianping ended just a week ago. Rong Meihua had fallen early in the battle, but there were always people who wanted to take advantage of the situation. Fan Yi could only count their blessings that the puppets had stopped working just a few days after Rong Meihua’s passing. Wuma Qiongling’s help managed to suppress opposing forces and the power was handed over to Fan Yi.
But that left Fan Yi with a mess to sort through.
To make things worse, as soon as the war ended, his uncle disappeared, leaving a note that said the Hall of Impartiality would not be rebuilding itself. It was the start of a new era, with Fan Yi at its helm, but it was the last thing he wanted.
He had been gone, whisked away by the so-called righteous, to participate in a discussion conference that lasted three months. It was now the beginnings of summer and Screeching Sparrow Sect had yet to be rebuilt.
Fan Yi felt his temples throb. He hadn’t had a good sleep in the past three months either.
After Wu Lingtian’s confrontation with Rong Meihua, the man had entered seclusion. He hadn’t heard a word about him from Zhou Ying’an and the others. His heart was unsettled. He wanted to ask Wu Lingtian what had happened, but he was afraid of fracturing the man’s mind further.
“Oh, you’re back?”
The familiar voice brought Fan Yi back to reality. He looked up, his brows furrowing slightly. “Lord Feng Ling. I see you’re still here.”
Situ Hong lightly cleared his throat. “I wasn’t just staying here the entire time! I left and only came back yesterday.”
“I see.”
Situ Hong forced a smile. “So…how did it go?”
“How is Wu Lingtian?” Fan Yi asked, bypassing the question.
Situ Hong swallowed his displeasure and gave a small shrug. “He exited seclusion a while ago. He’s been quite busy.”
“A while ago?” Fan Yi showed a lost expression.
Situ Hong shifted from one foot to another. “It should be about a month now?”
A month…and he didn’t look for Fan Yi at all?
Normally, Fan Yi would be great at hiding his emotions, but now that he was tired and already irritable, Situ Hong could read him like a book.
“Where is he now?”
“He went back to Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect Zhou-shijie and Xiu Lan,” Situ Hong said. “I’m sure he’ll be back today or tomorrow.”
“I see,” Fan Yi murmured. He bowed his head and walked past Situ Hong.
The moment he passed, Situ Hong pressed a hand to his chest and breathed out a long sigh. Thank Heavens and thank Buddha, the scary man didn’t ask him anymore questions. If he had, what would he say? What could he say?! Situ Hong didn’t cave under pressure easily, but Fan Yi scared him more than his own father—no. Even if his own mother came back from the dead, Fan Yi would still be scarier!
But he couldn’t just sit here now and happily rejoice. He had to contact Wu Lingtian quickly to tell him Fan Yi was back a week earlier.
Fan Yi, on the other hand, was blissfully unaware of Situ Hong’s stress.
He didn’t bother trying to find Ren Yizhou or Tian Xiewen. He returned to his courtyard and entered his room. The doors swung open as they usually did, but the person he wanted to see most was not inside. Fan Yi stepped in, allowing the doors to close behind him. He sat down at the tea table and wasn’t sure what to make of his own thoughts. His eyes scanned the room for traces of the other.
He was comforted to find piles of books, a comb that didn’t belong to him, and a pile of red fabric, bundled into the corner. But still, a frown sat on Fan Yi’s lips.
Since Wu Lingtian had come to Screeching Sparrow Sect, it was rare for them to be separated from each other for more than two weeks. The only time it happened was during an extremely tense situation and neither had been willing.
But it had been three months. Wu Lingtian hadn’t even sent him a letter.
Fan Yi’s brows furrowed slightly as an uneasiness began to bubble in his heart.
What if Wu Lingtian didn’t want him anymore?
Fan Yi stood abruptly. The chair he was sitting on toppled over and he laughed at himself.
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.
Sleep deprivation helped little with wild and intrusive thoughts. What would make Wu Lingtian suddenly abandon him? Besides, he wasn’t that type of person. If Wu Lingtian no longer wanted to be with him, he would cleanly break it off. He wouldn’t just leave without a word. And he was still a member of Screeching Sparrow Sect.
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“—don’t know how Fan-shibó would react though,” Wen Yi murmured worriedly.
“What are you so worried about? This is a matter between Wu-shishu and Fan-shibó,” Hua An’ting said with a slight sigh. “We’ve already done our part, haven’t we?”
“I know. I just don’t know how Fan-shibó would feel about it.”
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Wen Yi frowned. She wanted to say Hua An’ting really didn’t have a romantic bone in her body, but she stopped. Hua An’ting looked at her quizzically, but felt a sudden chill down her spine. She slowly turned around and met Fan Yi’s gaze.
“Did I interrupt something?” Fan Yi asked, a soft smile on his face.
Wen Yi and Hua An’ting glanced at each other.
“Is it…something I shouldn’t have heard?” Fan Yi asked, his expression souring.
“N-no! Wait—I mean, yes,” Hua An’ting said, nodding seriously.
She was nudged aside by Wen Yi. “But it’s not anything back, Fan-shibó, we promise.”
Fan Yi glanced between the two girls who were fidgeting nervously.
“A-Anyway…um…why did you come to the kitchen? Are you hungry?” Wen Yi asked.
“I wanted a basin of cold water to wash my face,” Fan Yi said.
“I’ll get that!” Hua An’ting quickly ran off.
“I…I’ll get you something to eat,” Wen Yi said, turning abruptly.
“Wen Yi.”
She froze in her steps. She took a short breath and turned back around. “Yes?”
“Can you tell me what you and An’ting were talking about?”
Fan Yi’s request was soft. Wen Yi temporarily forced aside her anxiety and observed the sect leader for a moment. Dark circles were about to set place under his eyes. The whites of his eyes seemed clouded and slightly red. Wen Yi had been around long enough to know Fan Yi had trouble sleeping in new places. Perhaps, this trip had also given him a great deal of grief.
“It…it really isn’t bad,” Wen Yi reassured Fan Yi. She glanced around to make sure Hua An’ting hadn’t come running back. She cupped her hand over Fan Yi’s ear and whispered. “It’s a good surprise.”
Fan Yi’s brows furrowed slightly. He turned to Wen Yi, obviously skeptical. “A good one?”
Wen Yi nodded. She nervously pinched the pads of her fingers. “Wu-shishu wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Fan-shibó. You also know this.”
Fan Yi slowly nodded. And even if Wu Lingtian was planning to harm him, there was no way so many people would be in on it.
“Cold water!” Hua An’ting said, the water sloshing out of the basin slightly. She held it out to Fan Yi. “Sect Leader, here—”
“Your Fan-shibó is sensitive to the cold,” a strong hand took the basin from Hua An’ting’s hand and pulled away. “Were you scared into silliness?”
“W-Wu-shishu,” Hua An’ting breathed a small sigh of relief.
Fan Yi glanced at the man behind him and shifted away slightly. The warm chest that was pressed to his back was comforting most days, but right now he was still reeling for his own thoughts.
Wu Lingtian’s hand stilled. He turned to Hua An’ting and Wen Yi. “Why are you two still standing here?”
“Oh, right. We—”
“We have to…”
“Yeah!”
The two girls scrambled off, leaving Fan Yi and Wu Lingtian in the courtyard of the kitchen.
“Feng Ling said you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow.”
“What does he know?” Wu Lingtian murmured. He gently warmed up the water with spiritual energy and then held it out to Fan Yi. “It’s warmer now.”
“I don’t want it anymore,” Fan Yi snapped.
Wu Lingtian stood there absentmindedly. When Fan Yi caught a glimpse of his expression, his chest shifted uncomfortably. He knew he was being highly unreasonable right now. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his brow.
“I haven’t been able to sleep lately. I’m sorry,” Fan Yi said softly.
Wu Lingtian shook his head, he dumped out the water and placed the basin somewhere on the kitchen counter before returning to Fan YI’s side.
“Let’s sleep then,” Wu Lingtian said, taking Fan Yi’s hand.
“Did you finish your business?” Fan Yi asked, allowing Wu Lingtian to tug him back towards his room.
“It wasn’t anything big,” Wu Lingtian said. “We just had to make sure members of Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect were okay. And there were some of Rong Meihua’s records that we had to look through as well.”
“I see.”
Wu Lingtian glanced back at Fan Yi and gave his hand a light squeeze. “I missed you.”
Fan Yi’s lips twitched into a smile. “I heard you’ve been out of seclusion for a month though. What were you doing during that time?”
“It’s a surprise,” Wu Lingtian said as he interlocked his fingers with Fan Yi. “I can’t ruin the surprise. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
Fan Yi looked at Wu Lingtian with a raised brow. “I don’t really like surprises.”
“I think you’ll be okay with this one,” Wu Lingtian reassured him. His steps slowed until he was right beside Fan Yi. He pressed a small kiss to his lips. “I think if you weren’t so tired, you would have figured it out already.”
“Is it that obvious?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian pressed another kiss to his lips. “I wouldn’t say it’s obvious. But you’ve always been smarter than me.”
Fan Yi’s smile gradually widened. “Are you coaxing me right now?”
Wu Lingtian leaned in for another kiss. Fan Yi’s hand rested against the back of Wu Lingtian’s head, making sure he didn’t pull back too fast this time. When they pulled apart, Wu Lingtian’s ears had reddened tremendously.
“Is it working?” Wu Lingtian asked.
Fan Yi laughed and lightly shook his head. “I really can’t stay mad at you.”
Fan Yi was ushered back to his room with Wu Lingtian following close after. As soon as his back hit the bed, a wave of tiredness washed over him. He felt Wu Lingtian gently tug the hairpin from his hair and tug the shoes from his feet. Fan Yi watched Wu Lingtian through half-opened eyes and reached out a hand.
Wu Lingtian caught it immediately and laid down beside Fan Yi with a small smile. “You can finally get some good sleep.”
“You aren’t going to leave me after I’ve fallen asleep, right?” Fan Yi murmured. “I’ll wake up right away.”
“I won’t,” Wu Lingtian promised. He patted Fan Yi’s shoulder with a wistful expression. “Sleep. I’ll stay right here.”
“Mm…A-Tian.”
“Hm?”
“About what happened with Rong Meihua…”
“We can talk about that after you get a good sleep,” Wu Lingtian said.
“No, I just…do you feel better?” Fan Yi asked, forcing his eyes to remain open.
Wu Lingtian stared at him in surprise. Everyone was curious as to what happened, but the one person Wu Lingtian didn’t mind telling only asked if he “felt better”. A soft chuckle left Wu Lingtian’s lips. He pulled Fan Yi into a tight hug and gave him a gentle kiss to the forehead.
“Well, I can’t say I do. But I’ve sorted out some things,” Wu Lingtian murmured, his lips still pressed against Fan Yi. He pulled back and chuckled at Fan Yi’s appearance. “Sleep, okay? I’ll tell you more about it when you wake up.”
Fan Yi hummed, quickly giving into his own drowsiness.
Wu Lingtian’s smile fell slightly. He took Fan Yi’s hand and began to play with the other’s fingers absentmindedly. The uneasiness in his chest vanished, the more he felt Fan Yi’s warmth. He fiddled with the ring on Fan Yi’s finger that matched his own and smiled.
When Fan Yi woke up, he found Wu Lingtian cuddled to his chest. He was surprised at first, but he soon readjusted to his bearings. He squeezed Wu Lingtian into a hug and gave him a kiss.
Wu Lingtian’s eyes fluttered open. He looked up at Fan Yi confusedly and smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Refreshed. It must be because you’re by my side,” Fan Yi said.
“You just needed sleep,” Wu Lingtian mumbled, drilling himself further into Fan Yi.
Fan Yi chuckled. “I was the one who needed sleep, but why are you the one unable to wake?”
“It’s not dinner time yet, let’s sleep more.”
“But if you sleep more, you won’t be able to sleep tonight,” Fan Yi pointed out.
“Then we can just stay up all night,” Wu Lingtian said, draping himself over Fan Yi.
Fan Yi’s smile widened, but he still sat up. He patted Wu Lingtian’s back to urge him off. “Come on, let’s get up now.”
“Do you need to go anywhere?” Wu Lingtian asked, pulling Fan Yi back down.
“Not particularly.”
“Then, stay,” Wu Lingtian said. “I haven’t slept in my husband’s arms for three months. Let me indulge.”
Fan Yi slowly laid back down. He watched Wu Lingtian with a small smile. “A-Tian.”
“Mm?”
“What do you think about…really getting married?”
Wu Lingtian stiffened imperceptibly in Fan Yi’s arms. He hugged Fan Yi tighter and hummed. “That would be nice.”
Fan Yi chuckled. “And we can make a blood bond. Then, we can truly be cultivation partners.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “That would be nice.”
Fan Yi’s smile only grew. “Then, shall we do it now.”
Wu Lingtian shifted away from Fan Yi. “Right now?”
Fan Yi nodded.
“I think we should wait a little,” Wu Lingtian said seriously.
“Why?”
“Because I want it to be extra special,” Wu Lingtian said, sitting up.
Fan Yi looked at Wu Lingtian in amusement. “I thought you wanted to sleep some more.”
“I suddenly remembered I had something to do,” Wu Lingtian said, shifting out of the bed. He kissed Fan Yi’s temple and stood. “You should rest more though.”
“You’re acting awfully suspicious.”
“Can’t you just pretend like you don’t know?” Wu Lingtian said, peering around the silk divider. He smiled sweetly. “Just this once.”
Fan Yi hummed. “Alright, I’ll pretend.”
Fan Yi watched Wu Lingtian head towards the door, but couldn’t help but tease him one last time: “A-Tian.”
Wu Lingtian paused and looked at Fan Yi. “Yes, my dear?”
“Why did you buy so much red fabric?” Fan Yi asked, his gaze settling on a corner, close to the closet. His gaze flickered back to Wu Lingtian. “I thought you didn’t like the color red.”
Wu Lingtian’s smile became a little helpless. “I don’t. But some occasions require that color.”
He let out a sigh and crossed his arms. “Tomorrow, you have to act extra surprised. I worked very hard.”
Fan Yi laughed. He nodded with extra enthusiasm. “Don’t worry, I will.”
I was so relieved when Wu Lingtian showed up. It felt like Fan Yi was spiraling from exhaustion and loneliness.