Seeing that Tianxin was about to speak again, Scholar Xiao hurriedly cupped his hands and begged for mercy. “That’s really all this time!”
Tianxin nodded lightly. “At least you’re honest.”
Yu Qingtang tilted his head toward Ye Chenyan and gazed at him expectantly. “Can I go out and play?”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “You need my permission to go out and have fun?”
“I was rescued by you and brought here to hide, after all.” Yu Qingtang ingratiatingly placed a blackened piece of meat in his palm. “You can’t leave, so I’d feel a little heartless abandoning you to go have fun by myself.”
He gazed eagerly at him. “But I want to go.”
Ye Chenyan was speechless.
His eyes flickered slightly, and he gave a low laugh. “Then go. I’m not that petty.”
“Exactly!” Chi Yantian chimed in. “It’s not like you can’t bear to be apart for even—”
“Eat some more, Brother Chi.” Scholar Xiao anxiously stuffed food into his mouth. “Eat more, talk less. Shh.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes lit up. He turned to Tianxin. “Then, Senior Sister Tianxin, can I leave?”
“Of course.” Tianxin nodded gently. “Only he is confined here. You may come and go freely.”
“Since you’ve already made plans, I’ll come pick you up first thing tomorrow morning.”
Chi Yantian was about to speak when Scholar Xiao forcefully shoved a flatbread into his mouth and threatened in a low voice, “Brother Chi, if you say anything else about making a blind woman come pick someone up, I truly won’t be able to save you!”
Chi Yantian struggled to swallow the flatbread before saying, “I was going to say that we’d come with her!”
“Oh.” Scholar Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. “You scared me.”
Then he suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, the two of us didn’t delay at all on the road. We rushed straight to Nanzhou and already made excellent time. I never expected you to arrive even earlier!”
“Senior Tianji Zi brought us here.” Yu Qingtang spoke with puffed cheeks. “There was something urgent, and we also ran into...”
He paused, then turned and lowered his voice to ask Ye Chenyan, “Can I tell them about the Esoteric Sect?”
“Why do you keep asking me?” Ye Chenyan raised an amused eyebrow. “If you want to tell them, tell them. What could possibly be off-limits?”
Tianxin accepted the tea Scholar Xiao handed her and took a small sip. “That’s what he says, but he’s secretly delighted whenever you ask him.”
Ye Chenyan’s expression stiffened.
Yu Qingtang leaned closer to inspect his face. “Hm? Really?”
“Ahem.” Ye Chenyan looked away, picked up a random morsel of food, and stuffed it into Yu Qingtang’s mouth. “Eat.”
“My, my.” Scholar Xiao smiled and waved his fan, waggling his eyebrows. “Senior Sister Tianxin, some things should be left unsaid even after you see through them.”
“I know.” A faint smile appeared on Tianxin’s face. “But exposing them is more entertaining.”
Ye Chenyan fell silent for a moment. “It’s getting late. When are you all leaving?”
“Oh.” Tianxin nodded in understanding. “Embarrassed into anger.”
Ye Chenyan took a deep breath. “Of course not.”
Tianxin remained perfectly composed. “Truly?”
Ye Chenyan put on a flawless smile. “Truly.”
Tianxin nodded lightly. “Then let’s stay for another four hours.”
Ye Chenyan choked. “You...”
Tianxin gave a soft laugh. “I’m joking.”
“Since you’ve already agreed to meet again tomorrow, there’s no need to say everything today. You should head back early.”
After the three of them left together, Yu Qingtang turned around with a beaming smile and met Ye Chenyan’s gaze.
“What is it—?” Yu Qingtang deliberately drew out the words. “Could it be that you couldn’t bear to see—”
Ye Chenyan stepped closer and glared at him with a frown. “You did that on purpose.”
“Did what?” Yu Qingtang looked away. “I don’t understand.”
“You knew perfectly well that I didn’t know that senior sister and wouldn’t fall for her.” Ye Chenyan grabbed his wrist and gritted his teeth. “But you deliberately used her to...”
“How could that be—?” Yu Qingtang drew out his reply, then turned his head and admitted, “Yes. I did it on purpose.”
“Look. She was someone I saw you meeting in the book, and you still met her. That proves some things will happen if they’re meant to happen.”
Ye Chenyan frowned. “But I...”
“But you didn’t fall for her. You—you said you liked me.” A faint light flickered in Yu Qingtang’s eyes. “So now—you don’t have an amazing senior sister to rely on. You can only let me bully you.”
He pinched his thumb and forefinger together and raised an eyebrow at Ye Chenyan. “I’ve got you right here.”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened slightly.
Yu Qingtang swaggered away, shaking his head smugly. Ye Chenyan suddenly caught up, his eyes gleaming strangely as he asked in a low voice, “Were you jealous?”
“Nonsense—!” Yu Qingtang spun around in shock and pointed at himself. “I’m just really good at this!”
After a pause, he added, “And really bad!”
Ye Chenyan couldn’t hold back a laugh. “You’re bad?”
“What are you laughing at?” Yu Qingtang tried to prove his point, adopting a grave expression. “I’m telling you, the first person to fall in love is the one who loses. Running into me was the worst luck of your life!”
He narrowed his eyes and pinched his fingers together again. “Understand?”
Ye Chenyan suppressed another laugh and leaned closer. “Can you be even worse?”
“Hm?” Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You want me to be worse?”
That was the first time he had ever heard such a request.
“Yes.” Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you’re all that bad. Do you have anything more impressive to show me?”
Yu Qingtang sucked in a sharp breath and pointed at him. “Don’t provoke me.”
“When you end up hiding in the forest and crying by yourself, I won’t be there to hand you a little handkerchief.”
Ye Chenyan gave a muffled laugh, caught his finger, and leaned closer. “All right. I’ll be waiting.”
Their gazes met. Yu Qingtang was the first to look away, pulling his finger free. “Forget it. I’m tired today. I’ll be bad tomorrow. Let’s go back so I can lie down.”
Smiling, Ye Chenyan draped an arm over his shoulders. “You can’t lie down when we get back. You’re going out tomorrow, and there’s no telling whether you’ll eat meat and break a precept. You need to cultivate a while longer first.”
Yu Qingtang turned to him in horror. “Are you a demon?”
Ye Chenyan met his gaze with a smile. “I do possess half demon blood.”
...
The next day, Senior Sister Tianxin arrived as promised to leave with Yu Qingtang.
Ye Chenyan pretended not to care. He sat cross-legged inside the bamboo cottage with his eyes closed in cultivation. “To keep you from using her for more mischief, I won’t leave the cottage or see her today.”
“Go have fun by yourself.”
“You don’t have to guard against it that thoroughly.” Yu Qingtang scratched his head. “I’m leaving, then.”
“Mm,” Ye Chenyan replied.
He waited until Yu Qingtang had left the bamboo cottage before opening his eyes.
The room had been quiet for barely a moment when the window was suddenly pushed open. Yu Qingtang leaned over the sill, reached inside, and patted Ye Chenyan on the head. “I’ll bring you something tasty when I come back. Be good. You can have this for now.”
He handed Ye Chenyan a small, pitch-black fruit.
Ye Chenyan accepted it and couldn’t help smiling up at him.
Yu Qingtang lay against the windowsill, watching him expectantly. “Eat it.”
Ye Chenyan stared at him without blinking, then raised the fruit to his mouth.
Yu Qingtang craned his neck to watch his reaction.
Ye Chenyan’s eyes curved with laughter. “Sweet. Delicious.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in shock. “What?”
Ye Chenyan deliberately raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
Yu Qingtang turned around, took out another fruit and the illustrated guide, and muttered under his breath, “That’s impossible. This is clearly...”
A hand abruptly reached out from behind him and shoved the fruit into his mouth.
“Mmph!”
Yu Qingtang struggled in vain, his entire face puckering like a dried sour plum.
Ye Chenyan smiled as he covered Yu Qingtang’s mouth, leaned close, and whispered into his ear, “I used this trick back when we encountered that heretical cultivator.”
Yu Qingtang’s eyes flew open as he remembered that unbearably sour Spirit Recovery Pill. He whipped his head around and pointed a trembling finger at Ye Chenyan. “You...”
Ye Chenyan tilted his head, still smiling. “That’s all you’ve got?”
Yu Qingtang gritted his teeth. “Just you wait.”
He slammed the window shut with a bang.
Defeated in this round, Yu Qingtang sighed as he walked over to Senior Sister Tianxin and began pushing her wheelchair.
“Did you lose?” Tianxin asked.
Yu Qingtang sighed mournfully. “I underestimated my enemy.”
Then his eyes suddenly lit up. “Senior Sister Tianxin, do you have any brilliant strategies?”
In the original novel, this Starwatch Pavilion prodigy with the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart was practically the pinnacle of intelligence.
With her help, he would definitely be able to defeat Long Aotian!
Tianxin considered the matter, then gave a soft laugh and extended a closed fist toward him. “Your hand.”
Yu Qingtang did not understand, but obediently bent down and held out his hand. Tianxin dropped a piece of candy into his palm.
“Eat it,” Tianxin said gently. “It will take away the sourness.”
“Oh.” Yu Qingtang nodded obediently. “Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Tianxin laughed softly, raised a hand, and patted his head. “Good boy.”
Yu Qingtang was just beginning to find this strange when a sudden crack came from behind him. But when he turned around, the cottage window was tightly shut, and there was nothing unusual in sight.
Yet he was a music cultivator. He could not possibly have misheard it. Something had definitely made a noise just now!
Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
Tianxin withdrew her hand. “Have you learned?”
Realization dawned on Yu Qingtang. He struck one fist into his palm. “I have!”
“Hehe.” He pushed Tianxin toward the edge of the Immortal-Bewildering Forest. “I’ll challenge him again when I get back. Let’s go, Senior Sister!”
Scholar Xiao and Chi Yantian were waiting outside. Tianxin nodded to them. “Go ahead. I won’t accompany you. Come find me to open the restriction when you return.”
Scholar Xiao bowed with immense respect. “Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Clearly, he was still haunted by how she had exposed him before.
Yu Qingtang regarded her with the instinctive reverence he held for intelligent people. “We’ll bring you something to eat when we come back.”
Tianxin was about to shake her head, but then changed her mind. “Very well. Come back a little earlier and visit me at Starwatch Pavilion.”
Yu Qingtang obediently agreed. When he turned to leave, he even seemed reluctant to part with her.
Chi Yantian asked curiously, “What’s wrong? When did the two of you become so close?”
Yu Qingtang raised his head. “She reminded me of my Senior Sister.”
Then he asked, “Which way was Jinzhou again?”
“North.” Scholar Xiao pointed out the direction. “How did you lose your bearings, Brother Yu?”
Yu Qingtang turned to face north, toward Jinzhou.
Chi Yantian casually asked, “Is your Senior Sister blind too—ow!”
He screamed as though someone had kicked him through the air and went flying face-first.
“Ah.” Scholar Xiao closed his eyes in sorrow. “Brother Chi, I warned you about that mouth of yours!”
Yu Qingtang crouched beside him and patted his shoulder, still immersed in his own emotions. “My Senior Sister’s circumstances are different from hers. They don’t look alike, and their personalities are nothing alike either. Yet for some reason, Tianxin still reminded me of her.”
He sighed wistfully. “It seems homesickness always strikes without warning or reason.”
Scholar Xiao was just about to follow up with a few lines of poetry and share his reflections when Yu Qingtang turned around in high spirits. “What are we doing for fun today?”
“Why don’t we eat first? I’ve never been inside a restaurant in Nanzhou!”
He took out his savings from the Treasure-Gathering Basin, along with the manuscript fees Scholar Xiao had previously paid him, and looked rather proud. “I have a little money now! I don’t need to freeload off everyone else anymore!”
“I can even pay for something to bring back to Ye Chenyan.”
Scholar Xiao’s eyes curved with delight. At some point, the booklet had reappeared in his hand. “Yes, yes. I knew you’d still be thinking about him even after going out.”
“Don’t make things up.” Yu Qingtang leaned over to inspect his booklet. “What did you write? Ye Chenyan and I are both men. Surely you aren’t planning to put us in one of those publications?”
Scholar Xiao’s smile gradually widened. “Brother Yu, that’s precisely what makes this perfect.”
“What?” Yu Qingtang stared at him in shock.
“If one of you were a man and the other a woman, I could only submit your story to Taking Stock of the Nine Provinces’ Immortal Romances.” Scholar Xiao’s face shone with delight. “But as you know, that publication was founded more than five hundred years ago. Its original mission was—to chronicle the profound love between the men and women of the world, their mutual devotion and peerless romances.”
He excitedly seized Yu Qingtang’s hand. “But you’re both men! That goes against the founding declaration, so your story can’t be published there!”
“It falls to me to create an entirely new publication just for the two of you!”
His eyes gleamed brightly. “For every love that defies society’s conventions!”
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