Sheng Jiao couldn’t smile.
Not that he didn’t want to—he couldn’t.
This ice-block face had been maintained for over ten years. It wasn’t something he could smile on command.
Seeing Sheng Jiao still cold-faced, Yan Jianlan’s face fell: “We’re about to bond, but I’ve never seen my dao companion smile. If word got out, I’d definitely be laughed to death.”
Sheng Jiao said indifferently: “I smiled before.”
“So you know you smiled before.” Yan Jianlan immediately seized the opportunity. “Then smiling once more should be easy, right? Please, I’m begging you, Sect Master Sheng.”
Seeing Sheng Jiao unmoved, Yan Jianlan even leaned forward to kiss the corner of his lips, extremely ingratiating: “Then tell me, Sect Master Sheng—what can I do to make you happy? I’ll definitely do it with all my might, even climbing mountains of knives and diving into seas of fire.”
Sect Master Sheng didn’t want to deal with him, brushing aside Yan Jianlan’s thin body to continue watering.
Yan Jianlan saw that even using all eighteen tricks still couldn’t let him see that smile again. He glared at Sheng Jiao, then flicked his sleeves and left.
Smile or don’t—he wasn’t watching anymore.
Turning back to the small courtyard, Yan Jianlan originally wanted to find Lezheng Jiu directly, but before entering heard a sound.
“Shixiong.”
Yan Jianlan froze, turning to look.
Yan Yuhu had arrived at some point, his form slightly translucent in the sunlight. He seemed to have gathered enough spiritual power to successfully appear, a smile appearing with difficulty on his pale face.
Yan Jianlan said in surprise: “Ah Yue? How did you come?”
He hurried over, pulling Yan Yuhu under the corridor to avoid wasting spiritual power being exposed to sunlight.
“Lezheng Jiu brought me.” Yan Yuhu looked at Yan Jianlan hesitantly. After a long while, he said softly: “These past days, why didn’t Shixiong come find me?”
Since Yu Tuishan’s death, Yan Jianlan seemed to be avoiding Yan Yuhu. If Lezheng Jiu hadn’t told him about Yan Jianlan’s crisis, Yan Yuhu would probably have been kept in the dark until the end.
The smile on Yan Jianlan’s lips stiffened. He sat silently on the corridor railing.
Yan Yuhu didn’t speak either, walking forward to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with Yan Jianlan, looking together at the small courtyard taking initial shape.
The corridor railing was somewhat high. When Yan Jianlan sat, his toes couldn’t touch the ground—they could only dangle slightly.
Yan Yuhu’s toes actually touched the ground directly.
Yan Jianlan had been feeling melancholy, but catching this from the corner of his eye, irritation flared. He stretched out his foot to forcefully kick Yan Yuhu’s shin.
Yan Yuhu looked utterly confused at being kicked, but having been bullied by Yan Jianlan since childhood, he wasn’t angry—just looked at him with puzzled eyes, waiting for Shixiong’s “reproach.”
“What’s the use of being so tall?” Yan Jianlan glared at him.
“Oh.” Yan Yuhu obediently nodded. “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have grown tall.”
Should say he shouldn’t have grown taller than Shixiong.
His solemn answer instantly dissipated Yan Jianlan’s unreasonable anger. He couldn’t help laughing. After a while, he lowered his eyes lightly, saying quietly: “…I shouldn’t have gone to Xiezhi Sect back then.”
If he hadn’t gone to Xiezhi Sect, Yan Yue wouldn’t have been found by Xi Qingfeng because of the aura on him.
…And there wouldn’t have been that “thunder.”
Now Yan Yuhu could only use a water mirror as his body. Even with ‘Drawing Encirclement,’ he couldn’t reconstruct his flesh.
Forever cold.
During his period of extreme pain and confusion, Yan Jianlan simply couldn’t think about Yan Yuhu.
Yan Yue’s existence was comfort to little Yan Ling, but Yan Yuhu who’d become a ghost cultivator was a mountain of unbearable weight to Yan Jianlan who’d achieved his revenge, pressing so heavily he couldn’t breathe.
Madam Zong’s words had already made him question whether he was the murderer who killed Yan Hanque and Madam Zhao. If he added another childhood playmate and relative who died miserably due to his negligence and blind trust in others, he’d probably collapse directly.
But now Yan Jianlan could calmly face this mistake.
Yan Yuhu paused slightly, tilting his head to look at Yan Jianlan. After a long while, he said gently: “When we were young, Shixiong always got into trouble.”
Yan Jianlan’s hand supporting himself on the railing tightened slightly, lowering his thick lashes as if waiting for an executioner’s blade hanging overhead to fall.
“Every time you snuck out to play, you’d swear to me ‘we won’t get punished’ or ‘if we really get punished, Shixiong will take the punishment for you.'” Yan Yuhu said indifferently. “…Those promises never once came true.”
Yan Jianlan’s face froze. His fingers nearly left marks on the wooden railing.
Yan Yuhu boldly “scolded” Shixiong for a while. Seeing his body almost stiff as a pillar, he smiled silently, resting his head on Yan Jianlan’s shoulder—dependent and trusting like in their youth.
No matter how many times he was implicated or deceived, Yan Yue always trusted Shixiong with his life.
“I never blamed you when we were young,” Yan Yuhu murmured softly. “I’ve never blamed you.”
Moreover, Yan Yuhu never thought his tragic death back then was Yan Jianlan’s fault.
He was killed by aristocratic family treachery. Even if little Yan Ling hadn’t gone to Xiezhi Sect to report, once the Xi family discovered Yan Yue’s identity, they’d definitely have used any means to make him completely disappear from the world.
Yan Jianlan’s tense body suddenly relaxed. Though he knew Yan Yuhu held no grudge against him, hearing him say it out loud still brought immense relief.
He reached out to put his arm around Yan Yuhu’s shoulder, feeling the icy temperature—his fingertips curling slightly.
“Ah Yue.”
“Mm?”
Yan Jianlan suddenly exerted force, pushing Yan Yuhu hard off the railing.
Yan Yuhu stumbled, one foot landing in the freshly watered flower bed. He looked back blankly: “Shixiong?”
“I still think you’re too tall,” Yan Jianlan said meaningfully. “You can’t be hugged in one arm like when we were young. So annoying.”
Yan Yuhu: “…”
Seeing Yan Yuhu show that childhood expression of docile acceptance after being bullied, Yan Jianlan suddenly burst into laughter, nearly suffering karmic retribution by flipping off the railing himself.
He laughed until he coughed. With his heart knot untied, everything in the world looked adorable.
Yan Yuhu walked back, his large palm pressing Yan Jianlan’s shoulder to prevent him from falling, saying gently: “What does Shixiong plan to do after this?”
If this question about “the future” had been asked before, Yan Jianlan could have had an episode right then and there.
But now he was extremely languid, lazily using Yan Yuhu’s arm as a chair back, crossing his legs casually: “We’ll see. I don’t know either. Bond first, then talk.”
Yan Jianlan always planned everything, always proceeding methodically. Suddenly having no plan didn’t bring much unease—”taking it one step at a time” was an extremely novel life attitude for him.
He decided to try it.
“Bonding?” Yan Yuhu frowned. “With Sect Master Sheng?”
Yan Jianlan looked up at him meaningfully: “Who else? I even dug up the osmanthus wine.”
Yan Yuhu said “Oh,” then fell silent.
“What?” Yan Jianlan tugged on Yan Yuhu’s little braid, smiling without warmth. “Do you have some opinion about the dao companion Shixiong chose?”
“I wouldn’t dare.” Yan Yuhu thought, then said: “You’re well matched.”
Could indulge Yan Jianlan’s unrestrained nature while also reining in his overly flamboyant temper.
Very well matched.
Just that in their youth, he never imagined Shixiong would bond with a man. If Madam Zhao were still here, the entire Yan Family Mountain would probably be in chaos.
Yan Jianlan snorted, skillfully scolding Yan Yuhu: “What do you know? What’s wrong with my dao companion that you all look at him unfavorably? Hm? Say it?”
Yan Yuhu said tactfully: “One thing—perhaps Sect Master Sheng is too cold.”
So cold even Yan Yuhu, a ghost cultivator, found it unnerving.
Yan Jianlan said indifferently: “What cold? Sect Master Sheng is quite passionate and even smiles at me.”
Yan Yuhu was shocked.
Sheng Jiao could smile?
His shixiong hadn’t recovered from his serious illness and was starting to hallucinate, right?
Yan Jianlan glared at him. Just about to say more, he seemed to think of something and changed expression, smiling cheerfully: “Ah Yue, run an errand for me?”
If it were anyone else, they’d definitely not bother with him. But Yan Yuhu had no bottom line when facing Shixiong. Completely unconcerned that he’d just been scolded, he said obediently: “Alright.”
“Go to the Northern Border.” Yan Jianlan gave him the clinic keys. “Help me bring Wujinqi to Yan Family Mountain.”
Yan Yuhu: “That black cat?”
“Mm-hm.”
Yan Yuhu nodded, saying softly: “The cat we raised before… already died of old age.”
Yan Jianlan froze.
Since being taken by the Xi family, Yan Jianlan had no energy to ask about that black cat’s fate.
An ordinary cat’s lifespan was only about ten years. Calculating the time, it should have naturally aged by now.
“How did you know?”
Yan Yuhu said: “I returned to Yan Family Mountain a few years ago.”
That cat was still there, always guarding Yan Family Mountain’s ruins, as if waiting for someone to return.
Upon seeing the grown-up Yan Yue, the black cat came forward to sniff, seeming to recognize him, docilely curling up at Yan Yue’s feet.
The next day it stopped breathing.
For the first time, Yan Jianlan was moved by a cat that hadn’t gained sentience or transformed into human form. He was silent for a long time before saying softly: “Go ahead.”
Yan Yuhu said no more, nodding before leaving.
Yan Jianlan sat alone on the railing looking at the bare medicinal garden.
When he and Yan Yue brought the cat home, Madam Zhao, who didn’t like cats, smiled warmly, gently touching his head and saying: “Between you and the cat, only one can stay. Be good, you choose.”
Yan Ling: “!”
Little Yan Ling clutched the cat tightly with teary eyes, refusing to let go, sobbing “Then I’ll sleep on the streets with the cat, wuu,” leaving Madam Zhao both amused and exasperated, finally agreeing.
The little black cat was very obedient, curling up in the catnip patches in the medicinal garden all day, never causing trouble for Madam Zhao.
Over time, little Yan Ling would often see Madam Zhao, who claimed not to like cats, crouching in the medicinal garden with a small ladle, feeding the black cat water.
Yan Jianlan raised his hand to gesture at the wall, muttering quietly: “I need to plant a bunch of catnip there.”
Wujinqi would definitely like it.
Having decided on the tenth of the tenth month for bonding, Yan Jianlan picked up the rhinoceros horn lamp to inform the others from Zhuxing Zhai.
The eight had deep relationships—even if something major happened on the tenth, they’d definitely attend. All agreed without hesitation.
Only Liu Changxing cried endlessly, cursing: “You’re really going to bond?!”
“…” Yan Jianlan choked, saying gently: “Brother, it’s been so many days—you’re still dwelling on this? Why don’t you think more carefully about why Sheng Jiao absolutely refused to give you fingertip blood in ‘Meeting Peach Blossoms’? Was it that he didn’t want to?”
Liu Changxing: “???”
Liu Changxing’s crying stopped abruptly.
He gasped sharply, his mind finally reacting. Just as he was about to roar furiously, Yan Jianlan quickly extinguished the lamp wick, tossed the rhinoceros horn lamp aside with satisfaction, and went out to play with a grin.
Liu Changxing: “…”
**
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152