Ji Lanying was in high spirits and smiled. “You actually know him?”
Ye Huaiyao said, “I’ve heard of him. He seems to be from Guiyuan Manor. It’s a pity that our paths have never crossed, so I’ve never had the chance to meet him.”
Hearing Ye Huaiyao say this, Ji Lanying suddenly remembered something. He glanced at him and said, “Yes, this man is the young master of Guiyuan Manor, the one who was once betrothed to the Illustrious Sage.”
As they exchanged these few words, flames had already sprung up all around them. It seemed Yuan Xian was already directing the Lang Birds to breathe fire and burn away the Soul-Devouring Grass.
Ji Lanying carefully edged to one side to avoid sparks landing on him, temporarily bringing his conversation with Ye Huaiyao to an end.
Ye Huaiyao seized the opportunity to quietly remind A-Nan, “Stand over there for a while. No matter what happens, don’t step forward and don’t say anything. Understood?”
As an ordinary young man without spiritual energy, he was practically no different from an ant in the eyes of these cultivators. Naturally, the less attention he attracted, the safer he would be. A-Nan obeyed Ye Huaiyao without question and nodded at once.
Knowing that A-Nan would do as he was told, Ye Huaiyao smiled faintly. Then, with his hands clasped behind his back, he leisurely looked towards the gap that was gradually being burned open in the distance, a rather amused expression in his eyes.
“Alright, it’s all burned clean!”
The smell of charred grass drifted through the air. Seeing the Soul-Devouring Grass gradually curl in on itself and wither, the people outside finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The rustle of approaching footsteps could be heard. A flash of sword light swept past, clearing away the weeds.
A pair of small calfskin boots, decorated with embroidered patterns and ornaments, stepped onto the ground strewn with ash. The hem of a dark robe traced an arc in the gloomy light as someone strode quickly towards them.
Ji Lanying said delightedly, “Brother Yuan, you’re here!”
The newcomer was none other than Yuan Xian.
He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and wore a dark blue brocade robe. He was very tall, with a handsome face, and his pair of peach-blossom eyes were particularly striking, lending his features a few touches of carefree frivolity. At this moment, however, there was a hint of anxiety on Yuan Xian’s face, which made him seem somewhat more dependable.
He had hurried here after receiving Yan Lin’s message talisman.
Xuantian Tower and Guiyuan Manor had been acquainted for many years in the past. Although they had gradually grown more distant, they had never completely fallen out. With this relationship between them, it was impossible for Yuan Xian not to come and help.
However, it was only after he arrived and heard that Ji Lanying was also trapped inside that he became genuinely anxious. He ordered his mount, the Lang Bird, to burn the Soul-Devouring Grass to nothing in a single burst of flame before hurrying inside.
Hearing Ji Lanying call out “Brother Yuan”, Yuan Xian knew that he was unharmed and finally relaxed. He turned his head, about to respond, but he could never have imagined that what would enter his line of sight was a familiar face that absolutely should not have appeared in a place like this.
Yuan Xian came to an abrupt halt. For a moment, he felt dizzy, so disoriented that he even forgot where he was.
He murmured, “You—”
Ye Huaiyao.
It had been far too long since he had seen this person. Eighteen years had passed, and the events of the past seemed almost like a dream from another lifetime.
He could no longer remember clearly, or perhaps he had deliberately chosen never to remember.
The entire cultivation world did not know how many male and female cultivators had been green with envy that he had been able to form a Dao companionship with Ye Huaiyao. Yet Yuan Xian himself knew that there was more to it than that, and the truth was something that had greatly displeased him.
Yuan Xian was two hundred years older than Ye Huaiyao. In a cultivation world filled with thousand-year-old monsters, such an age difference was not particularly great.
He had been blessed with good fortune. As the eldest legitimate son of the Yuan family, he had been born with an exceptionally yang and noble destiny. He was naturally intelligent and strikingly handsome, and whether practising martial arts or studying, he had always progressed somewhat faster than others. Naturally, he had been showered with favour and affection.
A life so spirited and triumphant had given him no understanding of what it meant to bow his head or suffer defeat.
When he and Ye Huaiyao had first become betrothed, he had been rather pleased with himself for a time. Back then, Ye Huaiyao had not yet inherited the position of Illustrious Sage, but he was already a famous and elegant young man of extraordinary beauty, admired and envied by countless people.
It was only later that Yuan Xian learned that all of this had merely been a transaction.
Ye Huaiyao’s soul was unstable, and his destiny was unusual. Although he was clearly a person of this world, half of him seemed to exist beyond it. Therefore, Xuantian Tower had always wanted to find someone with a sufficiently noble destiny to enter into a contract with Ye Huaiyao and “bind” him to this world.
Finding the right person was not easy. They could not allow Ye Huaiyao to be wronged, yet they also had to find someone who would willingly agree. Xuantian Tower had gone to no small amount of trouble over it.
At the time, Guiyuan Manor was going through its most difficult period. Internal struggles over power had caused a split, while outside the manor they had inadvertently made some formidable enemies. Yuan Xian’s father had no other choice, and so he decided to make use of this situation.
He went to Xuantian Tower of his own accord and proposed that Yuan Xian had always greatly admired Ye Huaiyao, and hoped that the two of them might be betrothed.
Although Yuan Xian’s father had not mentioned his own difficulties at the time, Xuantian Tower could hardly have been unaware that he had another motive. However, Yuan Xian was indeed a rare and suitable candidate, so after repeated discussion and consideration, the two sides reached an agreement.
A marriage contract was drawn up, and Guiyuan Manor’s crisis was resolved.
Yuan Xian had also been a spirited young man. At the time, he was young and hot-blooded, and when he learned the truth and was subsequently mocked about it, he simply could not bear it.
He hated this transaction, this shackle.
His pride and self-respect had never allowed him to voice such complicated feelings. Yuan Xian merely began deliberately treating Ye Huaiyao with coldness and distance.
He did not know whether the other man understood why he behaved this way, or whether, even if he did understand, he simply did not care. There were too many people who wanted to surround Ye Huaiyao. He was hardly going to be missed.
Thus, after maintaining this nominal “Dao companionship” for so many years, Yuan Xian’s deepest impression of Ye Huaiyao was simply that, whenever he came to Xuantian Tower, Ye Huaiyao would stand at the mountain pass, smile, cup his hands in greeting and say, “Brother Yuan, you’re here.”
He would nod and return the greeting, and then the two of them would go about their own affairs, without any further interaction.
This lukewarm relationship continued, as though from beginning to end, whether willingly or unwillingly, he was the only one who cared.
Yuan Xian even felt that, in Ye Huaiyao’s eyes, he must have seemed utterly ridiculous.
He enjoyed the benefits brought about by their marriage contract, yet pointlessly rejected any closer relationship between them, while Ye Huaiyao remained calm and untroubled from beginning to end, utterly at ease.
This increasingly profound sense of oppression and helplessness meant that, when he heard news of Ye Huaiyao’s death, his first reaction was actually one of immense relief.
But afterwards, he could not help recalling the sight of that man standing at the mountain pass, his robes stirred by the wind as he gave Yuan Xian a courteous bow. His bearing had been extraordinarily beautiful.
He had hated how dazzling Ye Huaiyao was.
But sometimes he would also wonder whether, if the two of them had not begun like this, there might instead have been some… possibility of becoming closer.
Regardless, it was all in the past.
And yet, at this very moment, Yuan Xian truly could never have imagined that Ye Huaiyao would appear here, alive and well!
He was still as peerlessly elegant and extraordinary as ever. Memories came rushing back one after another, and for a moment, it was almost as though they were young again.
Yuan Xian felt as though he were in a dream. He had forgotten who else was around him, and even forgotten what sort of situation this was. He simply stood there in a daze until Ye Huaiyao addressed him as “Young Master Yuan”, which finally brought him back to his senses.
In the past, the other man had always called him “Brother Yuan”. Now the form of address had changed, and his tone was equally unfamiliar.
Yuan Xian finally managed to recover himself somewhat and asked, “What did you call me?”
The moment he said it, he realised that something was wrong. Meeting Ye Huaiyao’s unfamiliar yet innocent gaze, he cleared his throat and asked, in the most rational tone he could maintain at that moment, “May I ask who this gentleman is?”
“Let me introduce you two!”
Ji Lanying, who had been left standing to one side, stepped in at precisely the right moment. He had never once doubted Ye Huaiyao’s identity, but Yuan Xian’s attitude was so abnormal that Ji Lanying could not help feeling an inexplicable sense of unease.
He said, “This is Yuan Xian, the young master of Guiyuan Manor. Brother Yuan, this is Ye Huaiyao, the beloved disciple of Master Xuanyi of Chensu Sect.”
When Yuan Xian heard the three words “Ye Huaiyao”, his heart jolted once more. Ordinary people might not know the Illustrious Sage’s true name, but he knew it all too well.
The same appearance, the same name. How could there possibly be such a coincidence in this world?
Yet precisely because it was such an extraordinary coincidence, it somehow seemed even less likely to be true.
Yuan Xian studied the other man’s expression and, with that closer look, truly noticed some slight differences.
When Ye Huaiyao had died, he had looked like a young man barely in his twenties, at precisely the age when a person was at the height of his beauty and vitality. The man before him, however, appeared somewhat younger, perhaps only sixteen or seventeen. There was still a trace of youthful innocence on his face. It was simply that his bearing and manner were so outstanding that the childishness was not particularly obvious.
—Could it be that he had died exactly eighteen years ago, and had been reincarnated, forgetting his former life?
Or perhaps it really was nothing more than a coincidence.
Whatever the possibility, this man was not the Illustrious Sage, Lord Yunqi. He was merely someone who resembled him. So many years had passed. Yuan Xian had no reason to be moved or lose his composure.
That was what Yuan Xian told himself, yet he had no control whatsoever over the tumultuous thoughts filling his heart. His emotions twisted and turned, and finally, thanks to Ji Lanying’s interruption, he managed to force a seemingly calm smile and say, “Young Hero Ye, I’ve heard so much about you.”
Ye Huaiyao’s expression remained perfectly composed. He gave a soft laugh and said, “Young Master Yuan, you flatter me.”
Only then did Yuan Xian realise that the other man was merely an ordinary disciple of Chensu Sect who almost never left the sect. He had never even heard of him, let alone had reason to say that he had “heard so much about him”. He had misspoken again.
The corner of his mouth twitched. Irritated beyond measure, he simply fell silent.
As the two of them spoke, the others also arrived one after another. Yan Lin and the female cultivator whom Ye Huaiyao had pushed aside came forward, thanking him repeatedly.
A-Nan, meanwhile, continued to follow Ye Huaiyao’s instructions obediently, standing quietly to one side without saying a word. Naturally, no one paid any attention to this inconspicuous young man.
Ji Lanying had originally wanted to say a few more words to Yuan Xian, but at that moment, Yan Jin hurried over. The moment he saw Ji Lanying, he grabbed him by the arm and asked anxiously, “Lanying, are you alright? Were you hurt?”
That was simply how his character had been written. He was arrogant and aloof towards everyone else, treating them with indifference, yet whenever he faced Ji Lanying, he showed nothing but concern and care, attentive to his every need.
This sort of supporting male character was always popular with readers, but for some reason, when actually encountering one in person, why was he so irritating?
Ye Huaiyao glanced towards the two men once before losing interest and looking away. He returned the sword to Yan Lin, who was still thanking him profusely, and said politely, “Brother Yan, there’s no need to thank me so repeatedly. We came to Ghost Wind Forest together, so we’re companions. Helping one another is only natural.”
Yan Lin sheathed his sword. After hesitating for a moment, he said quietly, “Then, since we’re companions, may I be so bold as to ask Young Hero Ye a few questions?”
Ye Huaiyao raised an eyebrow. He did not seem at all surprised by the question, and said with a smile, “Ask whatever you like. I’ll answer selectively.”
For some reason, although this man clearly looked even younger than himself, his nonchalant manner inexplicably inspired a sense of awe in Yan Lin, making him somewhat nervous, almost as though he were speaking to a senior master.
He pondered for a moment, then said cautiously, “Just now, when Young Hero Ye warned us that a leopard demon had infiltrated our ranks, I held my sword horizontally before my chest, with the tip pointing diagonally upwards. In the swordsmanship of Xuantian Tower, this move is called ‘Immortal Points the Way’.”
Ye Huaiyao said, “A good name.”
“Whether the name is good or not is unimportant. What matters is that the techniques of Xuantian Tower are never taught to outsiders.”
Yan Lin said, “This move of mine is originally both offensive and defensive, poised to strike at any moment, with only the elbow of my right arm as its sole weakness. Yet, Young Hero Ye, you pointed precisely at that spot. Although you used very little force, it was enough to send my sword flying and rescue my other shijie. At the same time, in order to catch that sword, my body naturally had to lean forwards, which allowed me to evade the danger I was facing.”
Ye Huaiyao listened calmly.
Yan Lin carefully watched his expression. “So I would like to ask, Young Hero Ye, do you have some connection with Xuantian Tower?”
Logically speaking, Ye Huaiyao had only just reached the age at which he could leave the sect to gain experience, and this should have been his first time venturing beyond Chensu Sect. Therefore, for him to be so thoroughly familiar with the sword techniques of Xuantian Tower, either he had happened to receive instruction from some expert of Xuantian Tower, or he had secretly learnt them by observing others.
If it were the former, then the two sides were practically fellow disciples and ought to help one another. If it were the latter, however, it would be a major taboo in the martial world, and if the matter were handled poorly, things could become extremely serious.
Faced with Yan Lin’s question, Ye Huaiyao merely smiled faintly and said, “You’ve done something wrong.”
