“This is called a True Form Mirror,” Baili Liuye said. He rested his chin against his palm as he watched Ge Nianlan’s expression shift through various emotions. “Whether you are a high-class cultivator or a million-year demon, your true form will be revealed in front of this mirror.”
“My true…” Ge Nianlan looked at Baili Liuye with round eyes that pleaded for an answer.
“Someone went to great lengths to hide you from me,” Baili Liuye said, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Even to go as far as changing your appearance.”
“Is this really me?”
Baili Liuye looked at the boy’s sparkling eyes. He released the mirror and let the child grip it tightly. “It is.”
Ge Nianlan stared at himself before he sprinted down the stairs to the mirror that hung as decoration at the first floor. He looked at the regular mirror and then back to the magical mirror. His eyes widened in fascination. When he touched his face, both reflections also touched their faces. When he scrunched his nose, they both also scrunched their nose!
“Having fun?”
Ge Nianlan tilted his head back to look at Baili Liuye, who towered over him, and nodded honestly. “Mn! This is so cool!”
Baili Liuye raised a brow. He wasn’t sure if the boy was acting or if he was being genuine.
“So, that’s why I look like them,” Ge Nianlan mumbled as he approached the regular mirror. He placed a hand against it. After a few beats of silence, Ge Nianlan spoke, “Lord Immortal Hanjing, do you know if this spell will ever fade?”
Baili Liuye placed an arm behind his back as he observed the child. “Are you planning on staying?”
Ge Nianlan was silent. He looked at the reflection of the face he had known for a decade and the man behind him. What did this man feel at the moment? Was he disappointed that his child won’t go home with him? Or did he feel as indifferent as he looked on the surface?
“You are the next Guardian of the Dragon Tree,” Baili Liuye said.
Ge Nianlan stiffened. Although he had clearly just heard Baili Liuye’s voice, he quickly realized that the man was not speaking normally. His lips hadn’t moved and that voice had been directed directly into his ears. His eyes widened and he looked at him with shining eyes.
Baili Liuye continued to communicate his thoughts. “Your destiny is to return to my side.”
Ge Nianlan felt a little irritated. That was his destiny? If that was his destiny, then how come this man cast him aside so easily?!
“You’re mad.”
“I’m not,” Ge Nianlan refuted.
Ge Nianlan glanced at the man again and had the itchy feeling that this man could tell exactly what he was feeling at any given moment.
“You know something that I don’t,” Baili Liuye said. His silvery eyes narrowed. “How peculiar. Do you have the gift of foresight?”
Ge Nianlan pressed his lips together. He didn’t really want to tell this man what he knew. He didn’t know if he could trust him.
“How about we trade information?” Baili Liuye asked.
“What kind of information?” Ge Nianlan asked.
“I tell you what’s wrong with you and you tell me how you know the things you know,” Baili Liuye said.
Ge Nianlan’s guard dropped. He took a step forward. “What’s wrong with me? The physician said I’m perfectly healthy?”
Baili Liuye tilted his head, provokingly, as his voice echoed in Ge Nianlan’s ear again. “You have to choose, my boy.”
Ge Nianlan gritted his teeth.
He didn’t know much about the Dragon Tree, but he learned from the cursed artifact that it was something super important and that righteous cultivators treated it as if it were greater than the sun. He also recalled that not just anyone could be a guardian of the Dragon Tree, so that must mean that Baili Liuye was super powerful. In that case, it was likely that he truly was able to sense something that the physician and Ge Jinsheng had missed.
During the extended silence, Baili Liuye sat down at the nearest table and crossed his legs. His posture was arrogant, as if he knew he had tossed out a deal that could not be turned down. Ge Nianlan despised this cockiness that the man exuded and he hated even more to admit that this man was probably deserving of such cockiness.
“I read a cursed artifact recently,” Ge Nianlan said.
Baili Liuye raised a brow, as if prompting Ge Nianlan to continue.
“You only wanted me to tell you how I knew things,” Ge Nianlan said. “You didn’t say anything about needing to know what exactly happened.”
Baili Liuye stared at Ge Nianlan for a long time before he let out a deep, rumbling chuckle. “You really are one of us.”
The statement irked Ge Nianlan. “Will you tell me what’s wrong with me or not?”
“Fine. Actually, if you read a cursed artifact recently, that explains it,” Baili Liuye said. He reached out a hand, his fingers gently grazing against Ge Nianlan’s fringe. “Up here is cracked. I can sense that your mental sea was broken into. Something else had dug its claws into it for a long time, but then it was forcibly pulled out and now there are canyons that are tearing the land apart. And those canyons have been polluted by something disgusting and dangerous.”
Seeing Ge Nianlan’s face blanch, Baili Liuye seemed to find some pleasure in instilling fear into the arrogant boy.
“Whatever hid you from me was most likely the initial culprit. The cursed artifact you read has created this aftermath,” Baili Liuye said.
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.
“Pr atfgf j kjs ab olz atlr?” Xf Rljcijc jyrfcawlcvfvis jrxfv. Qtfc tf gfjilhfv ktb tf kjr ajixlcu ab, atf ybs’r uejgv kfca eq bcmf wbgf. “P’ii jcrkfg jcbatfg bcf bo sbeg defralbcr lo sbe afii wf.”
“Cgf sbe qijcclcu bc rajslcu?”
Xf Rljcijc’r fsfr klvfcfv lc regqglrf.
“You know you don’t belong here,” the voice in his ear said. “It’s dangerous for you too, to some degree. If they find out that you knowingly impersonated the Devil Lord’s son, they’ll kill you.”
Ge Nianlan clenched his teeth.
Baili Liuye’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t trust me.”
Ge Nianlan averted his gaze. He tried to school his expression, but the dislike on his face could be clearly interpreted. Baili Liuye watched the boy struggle and try to appear more collected than he was.
“Fine,” Baili Liuye said. He reached into his sleeve and pulled out the kind of folded up talisman one might get at a Buddhist temple. He dangled it in front of Ge Nianlan by the necklace it was attached to. “Take this.”
“What…is this?”
“You’re still young. Your body is unable to handle certain kinds of demonic energy, so this will protect you. At the same time, it will make sure the filth in your mental sea won’t continue to contaminate you,” Baili Liuye said. “Be sure to wear it at all times.”
“Will it affect my daily life?” Ge Nianlan hesitantly asked.
“No. It won’t. I promise.”
And Ge Nianlan found himself believing in that promise. He cautiously took the talisman necklace and slipped it on over his head. It was oddly warm. He wasn’t sure if it was from Baili Liuye’s hands or if it was because the talisman had magic working with it.
Ge Nianlan fiddled with it and glanced up at Baili Liuye. “You aren’t going to take me back by force?”
“I don’t need to,” Baili Liuye said as he stood. He glanced down at Ge Nianlan. “You’ll come to the Dragon Tree whether you plan to or not.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No. It is merely a fact,” Baili Liuye said. “You have the blood of the Guardian of the Dragon Tree flowing through you. You can’t avoid this kind of fate.”
Ge Nianlan wanted to refute, but when he met Baili Liuye’s eyes, he found himself falling silent again.
Baili Liuye held out his hand.
Ge Nianlan stared at it blankly and placed his hand against the man’s wide palm. His hands were surprisingly warm, unlike his cold disposition. Ge Nianlan felt like it would probably be really comfortable to be coaxed to sleep with this kind of hand.
To his surprise, Baili Liuye’s fingers twitched.
“What are you doing?”
Ge Nianlan looked up in confusion.
“The mirror,” Baili Liuye said, the corner of his lips twitching as he tried to hold back a smile. “I would give it to you, but if anyone sees your reflection, you’re the one who will be in trouble.”
Ge Nianlan’s face flushed in realization. He quickly placed the True Form Mirror back into Baili Liuye’s hands. He hid his hands behind his back and started to blabber.
“You—you should have been clearer then! Why would you—you can’t just hold out your hand and expect me to read your mind!” Ge Nianlan blurted out.
Baili Liuye smiled as he looked at the top of Ge Nianlan’s head. Ever since the connection was established a month ago, he had been feeling overly anxious. He wanted nothing more than to fly to the child’s side, but it had taken time to figure out where he was and how to get close. Now that he was here, he realized that everything his mentor had told him was true.
Even without wanting to, Baili Liuye felt some affection towards this boy.
“If you ever need me, just write me a letter,” Baili Liuye said.
Ge Nianlan glanced at him skeptically. “I can’t write.”
“You will be able to,” Baili Liuye said. He snapped his fingers. In a plume of smoke, a small, plump, black bird appeared in his palm. He held it out to Ge Nianlan. “This bird will find its way back to you even if you leave it behind. And it knows its way to me.”
“I don’t want it,” Ge Nianlan said with a pout. “I don’t need it.”
“Take it as a present to celebrate our first meeting,” Baili Liuye said.
Ge Nianlan glanced at Baili Liuye hesitantly.
Could it be that this father of his actually cared a little bit about him?
Reluctantly, Ge Nianlan held out his hand for the plump black bird. The black bird strutted around his hands for a moment, scrutinized him closely, and finally settled down. The bird seemed to be giving Ge Nianlan attitude.
The boy looked up at Baili Liuye with clear dissatisfaction and Baili Liuye nearly laughed.
“He is a proud spiritual animal,” Baili Liuye said. “He is one of the many spiritual animals who live around the Dragon Tree. You two have an affinity with each other. You share the same birthday and birth time. Try to make a contract with him.”
“How do I do that?” Ge Nianlan asked.
“Just ask.”
“…He’s a bird.” Ge Nianlan said.
“Spiritual animals are different from regular animals,” Baili Liuye calmly explained. “For one, he can understand human speech. Offer him a name. If he accepts, then he is yours.”
“…Sesame.”
The bird looked at Ge Nianlan as if he were an idiot and squeaked.
Ge Nianlan looked at Baili Liuye hopelessly.
“Ahem. You’ll have to coax it then. Get on his good side,” Baili Liuye said. “I think this is a good exercise for you anyway.”
The bird reminded him too much of Baili Liuye, but on the flip side, Baili Liuye really felt like this Ashen Phoenix truly matched Ge Nianlan.
The pudgy bird’s rejection sparked the competitive streak in Ge Nianlan.
He sat down at the table of the library and started to recite any kind of name he could think of to this bird. Baili Liuye took a seat nearby and eventually drifted off to dreamland again, leaving Ge Nianlan to struggle.
When the sun finally set, Ye Mingxi came around to look for Baili Liuye, only to stumble upon this sight.
Ge Nianlan’s frustrations had reached its climax. Just as he was about to yell at the stupid bird, he paused upon seeing the newcomer.
He stood immediately and bowed.
“Lord Weidan.”
“Oh, hello,” Ye Mingxi grinned. He looked at the napping Baili Liuye, then to the red-in-the-face Ge Nianlan. “Did you two…talk at all?”
Ge Nianlan stiffened. Did he know everything between him and Baili Liuye or was this just an offhanded question?
“He isn’t coming with us,” Baili Liuye murmured, as if he were still asleep.
Ye Mingxi’s awkwardness faded into shock. “Huh?! Why?”
Ge Nianlan frowned slightly as Baili Liuye rose from his sleep.
“He doesn’t want to.”
“But—but—” Ye Mingxi looked at Baili Liuye pleadingly.
“If he doesn’t want to, how could I possibly force him?” Baili Liuye continued, as if none of this concerned him. He stretched his neck and glanced at Ge Nianlan. “Have you thought of a name for it?”
“This dumb bird won’t accept anything,” Ge Nianlan grumbled.
“Well, you just have to keep trying then,” Baili Liuye said.
Ye Mingxi came closer and looked at the plump bird in Ge Nianlan’s hand. His eyes widened. “You—are you crazy? He isn’t coming with you and you gave him an Ashen Phoenix?”
“Ashen Phoenix?” Ge Nianlan curiously glanced at Baili Liuye.
“Do you know what a phoenix is?”
Ge Nianlan nodded.
“This kind of phoenix is what you would call a sub-breed,” Baili Liuye said. “Legend has it, this type of phoenix is born from the ashes of corpses.”
Ge Nianlan stared at him speechlessly.
“The person must have been someone with a pure soul,” Baili Liuye continued to explain. “Their desires and hope for the world are conjured into this. An Ashen Phoenix takes a long time to grow up. Even well into their first phase of adulthood, they have this black coat. But after they molt in their second phase of adulthood, they come out as a bird with beautiful, fiery feathers.”
Baili Liuye glanced at Ge Nianlan, whose initial shock had faded somewhat.
“Learn from him.”
“Learn from this burnt chicken?” Ge Nianlan asked.
The bird squawked.
“Yes, learn from him,” Baili Liuye said. He stood and stretched his waist. “And give him a good name. He will probably outlive you.”
“Are you cursing me?” Ge Nianlan snapped.
“Then, learn to be smart,” Baili Liuye shrugged. He glanced at Ge Nianlan. His voice echoed in the boy’s ears. “You’re my son. I know that will be all too easy for you.”
Ge Nianlan hesitated as he looked at the burnt chicken in his hand. He glanced at Baili Liuye. “So, you think names are important?”
“I think names aren’t something that should be used as a joke,” Baili Liuye said.
“Then…what do you think of my name…?” Ge Nianlan asked with another cautious glance.
“I like your name.”
Ge Nianlan tried to hide his disappointment. He hummed. “I like it too. It has a lot of meaning behind it.”
“It sure does,” Baili Liuye agreed. “I thought about it for a while.”
“…What?”
“Baili Yihong,” Baili Liuye said. His silvery eyes met Ge Nianlan’s. “That is my child’s name.”
Ge Nianlan stared at Baili Liuye for a disconcerting amount of time.
“Do you dislike it?” Ye Mingxi cautiously asked. He scratched his cheek. “I told him it’d be a bit much for a boy, but he didn’t listen.”
“What does it mean?” Ge Nianlan dazedly asked.
“He was ruminating over the saying ‘a dot of red amidst a forest of trees’ for a long time,” Ye Mingxi explained. “He wanted his child to be someone who was outstanding and eye-catching.”
Although the name felt ostentatious, the meaning was pure. Ge Nianlan couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. If this was a person who put so much thought into his child’s name, then why on earth had he casted Ge Nianlan aside so easily in the future that he saw? And how come he hadn’t come to look for him for so long?
Ye Mingxi glanced at Baili Liuye, who was watching Ge Nianlan intently. He softly cleared his throat. “It’s okay if you don’t like the name. It—”
“It wouldn’t matter if I don’t like that name, since that isn’t my name,” Ge Nianlan said.
Ye Mingxi stared at the little boy, then turned back to Baili Liuye.
Baili Liuye hummed. “That is true. It’s the name of my son.”
“Wait, hold on now—”
“Mingxi, let’s go,” Baili Liuye said.
Ye Mingxi’s mouth hung open. Were they just going to leave things like this? At such an awkward rejection?!
Ye Mingxi hesitated between Baili Liuye and Ge Nianlan.
“Unfortunately, my son has his own plans, so he is not yet by my side,” Baili Liuye said. He glanced at Ge Nianlan.
“Perhaps he will return to you in the future,” Ge Nianlan said.
“I hope so.”
“…May it go as you wish.”
“Thank you, Young Lord,” Baili Liuye said with a prompt nod.
Ye Mingxi was left flabbergasted, but he hastily followed Baili Liuye out, leaving Ge Nianlan in the large library by himself.
Ge Nianlan sat down. He gently poked at the sleeping pile of burnt chicken on the table and pressed his cheek to his palm. He stared dazedly at the door that had fallen closed again.
“Baili Yihong,” Ge Nianlan mumbled. He glanced at the Ashen Phoenix and poked it. “I’ll name you…Sigu. How is that?”
The Ashen Phoenix stirred slightly and opened one eye. Without another second of hesitation, it nipped Ge Nianlan’s outstretched hand.
Ge Nianlan yelped and was about to yell at the burnt chicken when he felt something warm touch his wound. He watched as the little bird lapped away the blood on his finger and as that single red droplet caused the bird to glow.
“…Whoa.”
A/N: 龙年快乐！ Happy Lunary New Year (in my timezone lol)! I decided to put out a surprise extra chapter to celebrate my favorite holiday and to open up the new year. Hope you guys all had a fantastic day and I hope you all have a fantastic year of the dragon！祝大家龙马精神，吉祥如意，幸福安康！
woohoo!! Happy Lunar New Year (๑˃ᴗ˂)
this chapter giving me such a lovely mix of feelings with the interactions btwn Ge Nianlan and his bio dad………. like, to be rejected isnt nice but to accept that its alright to not force themselves to be father and son…. i like that a lot
i ESPECIALLY love Sigu, mwah!!
Sigu my fave character LOL
thanks for reading!!!
this is lovely!!! i’m looking forward to more of your writing, your characters seem very fleshed out, i can’t wait to read more 🙂
happy lunar new year!
aahh thank you! happy LNY!
lovely chapter everything was so cool q(≧▽≦q)
thanks for reading!!
Am not that happy about this boy’s manipulative behavior. He is just a selfish person. And the real dad..meh. Take your son home and return the other boy to his rightful parent, that’s what adult should do.
They are not even considering the guy’s real son feeling. Just so sad and weird..
Great write up, well immersed when reading it.
I’m glad you enjoyed some part of it at least!
Yeah he’s supposed to be a selfish child and the dad is supposed to be a weird adult. Thank you for noticing lmao