Liu Changxing almost jumped up, staring at Yan Jianlan in astonishment, seeming intent on finding an “I’m joking” or “I’m talking nonsense to fool you” expression on his face.
But Yan Jianlan was as serious as could be, even smiling cheerfully: “I’ll send an invitation to the Sword Sect then. I’ll send it to you first, see how much I value you. Liu Tiaotiao, you should be secretly delighted.”
Liu Tiaotiao couldn’t be delighted. His eyes nearly popped out of his head. The sword cultivator with a will of steel seemed to suffer an unprecedented heavy blow, a mouthful of blood nearly spurting out along with his tears.
He clutched his chest tightly, looking pleadingly at Sheng Jiao, his face written with “Sect Master Sheng, say something!”
Sheng Jiao was drinking tea with Heng Yudu. Seeing everyone looking at him following Liu Tiaotiao’s near-collapsing gaze, his movements paused slightly. He nonchalantly took a sip of tea, his Adam’s apple moving as he swallowed, then slowly put down the teacup.
Sect Master Sheng’s sequence of actions was unhurried, dignified, and graceful, extremely pleasing to the eye. Anyway, Yan Jianlan propped his chin on his hand and watched with a face full of smiles.
Liu Changxing, however, was so anxious he wished he could flip the teacup, strangle him, and make him speak. His neck stretched out, ears pricked up straight, eagerly expecting: “Say it, say it out loud.”
Hurry up and say it’s fake.
Yan Jianlan had zero credibility with him now. As long as Sect Master Sheng said it, Liu Changxing would undoubtedly believe it completely.
Sheng Jiao looked at him coldly and finally opened his lips to speak for the first time in front of everyone.
“I, with Yan Ling, will hold our bonding ceremony on the tenth day of the tenth month.”
Everyone fell silent.
Liu Changxing let out a complete sigh of relief, slapped Yan Jianlan’s shoulder hard, and laughed loudly: “See, I knew you were talking nonsense. Sect Master Sheng is going to bond with Yan Ling. Hahaha, scared me into a cold sweat—oh right, by the way, who is Yan Ling? This name sounds so delicate, must be a great beauty. Unexpectedly, Sect Master Sheng, heroes truly struggle to pass the beauty trial.”
Great Beauty Yan: “…”
Everyone looked at Liu Changxing with complicated gazes, their eyes saying “Is this guy an idiot?”
Yan Jianlan pushed Liu Changxing’s hand away with a fake smile and said faintly: “Thank you, brother, for the compliment.”
Liu Changxing choked, realizing only belatedly…
Yan Jianlan’s original name was indeed Yan Ling.
Liu Changxing: “…”
Liu Changxing maintained the frozen smile on his face, staring at Yan Jianlan for a long while, then suddenly fell straight backward with a “thud” onto the ground, motionless.
Everyone: “…”
Yan Jianlan glanced at him.
Back when he and Sheng Jiao were trapped in the Peach Blossom Array, if it had been anyone else from the Zhuxing Zhai, they wouldn’t have even needed to think to know there was something fishy between the two of them.
Liu Changxing had practiced swordsmanship until his brain became rigid.
Yan Jianlan happily mocked Liu Changxing in his mind for a bit, then heard the sound of a teacup clinking against a saucer beside his ear. Turning his head, he saw Feng Yu drinking tea slowly, his face full of detached calmness as if he had seen through the mortal world.
Yan Jianlan almost forgot there was Feng Yu, who was even more stubborn—believing lies completely but not a word of the truth.
He looked affectionately at Feng Yu and asked softly: “My best brother, aren’t you surprised?”
Feng Yu sneered, putting on a calm air of “this is nothing,” and said indifferently: “Didn’t you tell me before? Something about your heart not being cold stone, admiring Sheng Jiao, having a unique affection, blah blah blah. I knew long ago, why be surprised?”
Yan Jianlan looked at him with a strange expression.
Feng Yu said calmly: “What, you don’t believe me?”
“I believe you.” Yan Jianlan dodged to the side, fearing tea might splash onto him. “If your hands weren’t shaking so much, I’d believe you even more.”
Feng Yu: “…”
From the moment Yan Jianlan started talking to Liu Changxing, Feng Yu, whom no one paid attention to, had gone from the same shock and horror as Liu Changxing at the beginning, to the panic of “only the two of us didn’t know,” and finally, after seeing Liu Changxing being mocked crazily, immediately pretended to be calm.
Feng Yu thought to himself: *Dammit, it seems everyone knows. If I’m the only one who knows nothing, won’t I look too stupid and like I’ve been fooled by Yan Jianlan again? No, I have to pretend, I can’t be laughed at.*
Though he thought this, the fact that the tight-lipped Sheng Jiao was truly “deeply in love” as Yan Jianlan claimed and wanted to bond with him was still too shocking. Feng Yu looked calm on the surface, but the hand holding his teacup was shaking uncontrollably.
The teacup and saucer clattered against each other, spilling hot tea everywhere.
“No, I’m not.” Feng Yu was still pretending, his hand shaking like a sieve, maintaining a smile as he said, “I’m not shaking, I’m very calm right now. Hahaha, congratulations on your bonding, may you have fortune as vast as the East Sea and bear sons early.”
Yan Jianlan: “…”
Starting to talk nonsense now.
The collapsed Liu Changxing finally came back to life, leaping up abruptly, pointing at the others with a red face and thick neck, angrily shouting: “You all knew?! Why did no one tell me?!”
Heng Yudu, kind-hearted as he was, said gently: “I only knew there might be something between them, I didn’t know they had reached the point of bonding.”
Rang Chen was merciless, saying indifferently: “Back in the academy, they were glued together. After graduation, they often went out to train together. What did you think it was?”
Liu Changxing’s arrogance wilted, and he said dryly: “I thought it was just deep brotherhood…”
Lezheng Jiu said nothing, face dark as he gulped down wine.
Absolutely furious.
Feng Yu, terrified of being mocked, decided to strike first and mock others, saying to Liu Changxing: “Blame yourself for being unobservant. They almost put it out in the open and you didn’t notice. Heh, hahaha, so stupid.”
After saying this, he felt guilty himself.
Liu Changxing nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
Fu Man turned a deaf ear to worldly affairs, his heart set only on making the new Spirit Mustard.
Yan Jianlan laughed loudly, slapping the table in delight.
Sheng Jiao gazed at him, feeling that the previous gloomy dejection was perhaps just an illusion from his excessive worry.
The entire Zhuxing Zhai finally had the joyous occasion of a bonding ceremony. Everyone raised their glasses to congratulate them, saying a bunch of auspicious words.
Yan Jianlan smiled with narrowed eyes. Seeing Heng Yudu pouring wine for Sheng Jiao again, he skillfully leaned over to stop him: “Don’t, really don’t, he really can’t drink.”
Sheng Jiao had a low tolerance but a great craving. Knowing his temper, Heng Yudu would usually agree with Yan Jianlan to his face but secretly pour wine for Sheng Jiao behind his back.
Only this time, Sheng Jiao had already extended his cup but was stopped by Yan Jianlan. He paused for a moment, then silently took the porcelain cup back and placed it upside down on the table.
He really didn’t intend to drink.
Heng Yudu looked at him in surprise, clicking his tongue in wonder, thinking, *Is this the man who is about to be bonded?*
Yan Jianlan was still afraid he would drink, so he squeezed between Heng Yudu and Sheng Jiao to sit close, placed brewed tea in front of Sheng Jiao, and said: “Today you drink this.”
Sheng Jiao gave a “Mm.”
Feng Yu cracked pine nuts loudly. Previously, watching the two interact always felt strange, but now he finally understood.
Isn’t this just how mortal couples interact?
Dammit, he hadn’t noticed a single clue and even watched it for amusement.
Everyone watched the high-ranking Sect Master Sheng quietly drinking tea with lowered eyes, finding it simply breathtaking.
The Zhuxing Zhai gathered for the whole day, and Yan Jianlan was cheerful throughout. Even just sitting there saying nothing, he would giggle foolishly.
Sheng Jiao quietly relaxed, thinking the listlessness of the previous days was just Yan Jianlan’s grief over losing Yu Tuishan acting up.
The Zhuxing Zhai crowd laughed and joked until midnight before dispersing.
Sheng Jiao didn’t want to travel further, so he took Yan Jianlan back to the dormitory for the night, planning to return to Xiezhi Sect tomorrow.
Yan Jianlan had drunk a little wine and went happily, but upon entering the inner room and seeing that bed, for some reason, he suddenly thought of Yu Tuishan again.
The three words “Yu Tuishan” encompassed Yan Jianlan’s entire past.
During the day, laughing and playing with everyone left no time to think, but now as the noise faded, memories of the past uncontrollably surfaced in his mind, and the deliberately forgotten emptiness and exhaustion swept over him silently once more.
Yu Tuishan had always wanted to break free from the world and leave without cares. Yan Jianlan had known for years that sooner or later, he would perish along with Tianyan.
The sadness of Yu Tuishan’s inevitable departure had long since dissolved into a flowing stream deep in his marrow over the years. Now, his heart was mostly filled with emptiness and confusion.
Yan Jianlan stared blankly for a long time, then wordlessly grabbed Sheng Jiao and walked away quickly.
Sheng Jiao grabbed his hand: “Where are we going?”
“Home,” Yan Jianlan murmured. “I don’t want to be here.”
Sheng Jiao’s heart, which had just settled, quietly rose again.
The two returned to Xiezhi Sect under the cover of night. Yan Jianlan washed up hastily and climbed into bed, wrapping his thin body tightly in the quilt.
He didn’t sleep, just lay there staring blankly at the osmanthus pattern on the bed curtain, his gaze unfocused, thoughts unknown.
Sheng Jiao got into bed and gently pressed his shoulder: “Yan Ling.”
Yan Jianlan gave a vague “Mm?”, turning his head to look at him confusedly: “What’s wrong?”
Sheng Jiao touched his forehead and whispered: “Talk to me.”
Yan Jianlan blinked, reached out to grab Sheng Jiao’s collar, leaned forward to sniff his chin, and finding no smell of alcohol, kissed the corner of Sheng Jiao’s lips in that position, chuckling muffledly: “I watched you all day today, didn’t let them pour you wine. You want to talk to me even when not drunk?”
Sheng Jiao frowned slightly and said coldly: “You’re not quite right right now.”
Yan Jianlan nuzzled into Sheng Jiao’s embrace, forcefully pulling Sheng Jiao’s hand open to rest his head comfortably on his arm, unconcerned, simply saying: “I might just be a little tired.”
Anyone whose mind had been tense for over a decade might fall into such a dejected state upon sudden relaxation.
Sheng Jiao didn’t believe it. He gently rubbed the side of Yan Jianlan’s face, a rare, imperceptible emotion surfacing in his eyes, and whispered: “Do you not want to bond?”
“No!” Yan Jianlan blurted out without thinking, inexplicably panicked as he clutched Sheng Jiao’s collar and shook his head. “We have to bond! It was agreed upon, you… you can’t go back on your word!”
Sheng Jiao looked at him with heavy eyes, watching the fear filling his gaze, his heart sinking to the bottom.
Something was very wrong.
Yan Jianlan shouldn’t have this attitude toward the bonding ceremony. It was as if he treated “bonding” as a goal like his previous “revenge” or “destroying Tianyan.”
…Or perhaps “task” was more accurate.
The two had long pledged themselves and dual cultivated; the bonding ceremony was essentially optional. Previously, Yan Jianlan had the same attitude—even if they skipped the ceremony entirely, he would laugh it off and not be fearful like this.
…He was afraid of not completing the “task.”
Sheng Jiao touched Yan Jianlan’s face, knowing he couldn’t let this continue.
If he didn’t intervene, Yan Jianlan might become the next Yu Tuishan.
**
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152