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Gu Hanjiang remained still.
After Qi Shu’s words, the atmosphere in the corridor grew even more ambiguous, as if the air itself had thickened. The setting sun poured through the round window behind Gu Hanjiang, casting a radiant glow over him.
In this world, only one’s gaze can never lie.
It is more straightforward than all the vague, evasive deceptions one might use.
Qi Shu slightly lifted his head, gazing unwaveringly at the person before him. In the other’s eyes, he saw his own reflection, and also… the same burning intensity he felt.
He couldn’t resist, moving closer again.
Close enough to feel the coolness of the other’s breath.
Close enough to be just inches apart—
Suddenly, Gu Hanjiang stepped back.
“Qi Shu.”
For the first time, Gu Hanjiang called his name with such weight. Qi Shu froze, instinctively taking half a step back, and the fleeting moment of tenderness in his heart was completely swept away.
All the color drained from Gu Hanjiang’s face as he slowly pulled his sleeve out of Qi Shu’s hand.
“Shizun, I—”
“Ashu, you’ve grown up,” Gu Hanjiang interrupted, closing his eyes briefly.
His voice softened considerably, but it was still as cold as ever—colder, even, than any other time he had spoken to Qi Shu: “We are master and disciple. There are things that should be done and things that should not. I hope you understand that.”
“I—”
Without giving Qi Shu a chance to speak, Gu Hanjiang turned and left, disappearing at the far end of the corridor in the blink of an eye.
Only Qi Shu remained, standing there alone.
His head hung low, half of his face hidden in the shadow of the setting sun, his expression unreadable.
***
As night fell, the magistrate of Lingyang City hosted a banquet at his residence to entertain Heavenly Venerable Immortal and two disciples from Kunlun.
Lingyang City wasn’t even considered a major city in the Central Plains, but the magistrate’s residence was constructed with great care. Several small tables were arranged on either side of the main hall, filled with exquisite dishes, and there were performances of song and dance in the center.
The magistrate of Lingyang sat at the head, his slightly chubby face beaming with a smile as he raised his cup. “Thank you, esteemed immortals, for your rescue. Without your intervention, who knows how much chaos that demon would have caused in Lingyang City. What are you standing around for? Pour wine for our honored guests!”
A maid came forward to pour the wine.
Heavenly Venerable Immortal, seated to the left of the magistrate, gently shook his head and declined the magistrate’s kindness.
When it was Qi Shu’s turn across the table, he smiled and offered his thanks.
Even Lu Chengyuan, seated next to him, found it odd. “Aren’t you bad with alcohol? Whenever we go out for small gatherings, you don’t touch a drop.”
“Mind your own business.”
Qi Shu cast him a brief glance, raised his cup to the magistrate in return, and downed the drink in one go.
He drank too quickly, and the strong liquor burned his throat, causing him to cough lightly. This drew not only Lu Chengyuan’s attention but also that of Gu Hanjiang.
Qi Shu noticed the gaze and looked up, but Gu Hanjiang immediately averted his eyes.
Qi Shu’s gaze darkened slightly. He turned to Lu Chengyuan with a smile and said, “I’m happy, is that a problem?”
“Well, that’s true. After finally getting rid of the demon, a little celebration doesn’t hurt…” Lu Chengyuan, not one to overthink, simply called the maid over to pour him some wine as well.
After a few rounds of drinks, the magistrate started up a conversation again.
“This humble official was down on his luck in his early years, with nowhere to turn, when he had the fortune of meeting Lord Immortal Venerable and his wife, who helped me greatly. Now, I am once again receiving aid from Lord Immortal Venerable’s son and his sect; it truly is my fated connection with the immortals.”
The prefect stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Just the other day, my only son was pestering me, saying he wanted to learn a few immortal techniques from the immortal masters.”
Heavenly Venerable Immortal was not talkative, and Qi Shu was preoccupied with drinking, leaving all the socializing to Lu Chengyuan.
Fortunately, Lu Chengyuan was fairly conversational. Hearing the prefect’s words, he replied courteously, “Master Yue, please forgive me. The techniques of our sect cannot be passed on to outsiders, so I’m afraid…”
The prefect waved his hand, “Not passed on, not passed on. Why not just have my son directly apprentice at Kunlun?”
The prefect, having been in the bureaucracy for many years, was well-versed in formalities. The whole night, this was the only straightforward thing he had said. He had gone to great lengths to invite Qi Shu and the others back from Misty Shadow Mountain, offering them fine food and drink, all to pave the way for this one request.
“This…”
Lu Chengyuan fell silent.
The Kunlun Sword Sect had been secluded for many years, and joining it was far more difficult than apprenticing at other immortal sects in the Central Plains.
Ordinary families wishing to join Kunlun must first personally travel to Kunlun Mountain, step by step climbing to the summit, undergoing various tests and trials, and in the end, it still depended on whether the elders of the sect took a liking to them.
That’s right—even for disciples like them, who were considered the elites of the cultivation world, they still didn’t have the qualifications to accept disciples.
Lu Chengyuan was pondering how to tactfully decline, when Qi Shu, beside him, suddenly spoke up: “That’s not so hard. The basics of immortal techniques are essentially the same, and not exclusive to any one sect. If your son wants to learn a few simple techniques, I can teach him.”
After several cups, his cheeks were slightly flushed, and there was a hint of drunkenness in his voice.
“Qi Shu, are you crazy?” Lu Chengyuan couldn’t believe he dared to say that and quickly lowered his voice to scold him, “The Immortal Venerable is still here.”
The Kunlun Sword Sect explicitly forbids disciples from privately taking on students and prohibits teaching sect-specific techniques to outsiders. Though entry-level techniques aren’t considered unique to the sect, it has been an unspoken rule that no disciple has ever broken since the sect’s founding.
This rule was personally established by the Heavenly Venerable Immortal back then. How bold is this man to say such a thing in front of the Immortal Venerable?
Lu Chengyuan assumed he had drunk too much and was about to smooth things over when a child’s clear voice came from the inner room.
“Really?” The child looked about six or seven years old, with hair tied into two little buns at the back of their head, wobbling as they ran. The child ran up to Qi Shu, looked up at him, eyes bright, and asked, “Can you really teach me?”
Qi Shu was slightly stunned.
“Yunqing, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you not to come to the front hall?”
This child was clearly the young one the governor had mentioned. At this moment, after being harshly scolded by his father, his eyes reddened with fear, and he timidly hid behind Qi Shu.
“You troublesome child—” The governor, furious, blew his beard and glared, apologizing to Qi Shu with a smile, “I’m sorry, Immortal Master. This child has been spoiled by me and lacks discipline. I will certainly teach him properly.”
Qi Shu, who had often played wildly with his junior brothers back in Kunlun, was naturally skilled in dealing with such young ones. He patted the boy on the head and smiled, “It’s fine. Your son is very likable.”
The child, quick-witted, seized the moment and asked, “So, can you teach me magic1?”
Qi Shu: “Do you really want to learn?”
Boy: “I do!”
The conversation between the two, one older and one younger, went back and forth like this. As Lu Chengyuan listened, he felt something was off. He pulled Qi Shu aside and asked, “Qi Shu, are you crazy? Are you seriously thinking of accepting a disciple on the spot?”
“No, how could I dare to disregard the rules of Kunlun Sect?” Qi Shu glanced at Gu Hanjiang, who was sitting across from them.
From beginning to end, Gu Hanjiang remained calmly seated, quietly sipping his tea, seemingly indifferent to everything happening around him.
Qi Shu withdrew his gaze and smiled. “It’s just that I happened to pass by, and the young master and I seem to have some fate. Staying to teach him a bit of basic Taoist techniques shouldn’t count as breaking the sect’s rules, right?”
Gu Hanjiang’s tea-drinking paused.
Lu Chengyuan was incredulous. “You’re staying here?”
“Why not?” Qi Shu replied. “I was sent down the mountain by the Sect Leader for training. He didn’t give me a time limit, so when I return is entirely up to me.”
He tilted his head slightly and spoke the first words of the night to Gu Hanjiang.
“—Isn’t that right, Shizun?”
***
The banquet at the mansion finally ended when the moon hung high in the sky.
Tonight, Qi Shu seemed to be in a particularly good mood, having an enjoyable conversation with the prefect. Even after the banquet concluded, he wasn’t satisfied and invited the prefect to the back garden for more drinks.
The night was deep when Qi Shu, swaying unsteadily with a wine jug in hand, made his way back to the secluded courtyard where the guest room was located.
The courtyard was unlit, and in the darkness, Qi Shu pushed the door open with one hand, but as he stepped forward, he tripped on the threshold and nearly fell.
A cool breeze swept past, and someone caught him in their arms.
“Lu Chengyuan, leave me alone,” Qi Shu reached out to push him away, but he was too drunk and lacked strength, unable to push him off. “If you keep bothering me, I’ll hit you!”
“…”
Gu Hanjiang let out a barely audible sigh and helped him through the door.
He supported Qi Shu to sit by the bed. Qi Shu tried to avoid him but failed, as his fingers were pried open and the wine jug taken away.
“Well, well, the second junior brother has grown bold while the senior brother was away,” Qi Shu said as he tried to get up, only to be pressed back onto the bed.
Gu Hanjiang replied calmly, “He got drunk and went to sleep a long time ago.”
“Oh…” Qi Shu mumbled, “Then why does he care if I drink? What business is it of his?”
There was no lamp lit in the room, only faint moonlight streaming in. Gu Hanjiang lowered his gaze, looking at him, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.
He helped Qi Shu out of his outer robe, shoes, and socks, laid him down on the bed, and then turned to leave.
After taking only two steps, he suddenly heard a voice from the bed.
“I don’t feel well…”
Qi Shu rarely drank this much, and now the alcohol was hitting him hard. He felt both dizzy and nauseous, curling up under the blanket in discomfort.
Gu Hanjiang closed his eyes briefly.
Seeing that no one was paying him any attention, Qi Shu even started rolling around on the bed, sometimes complaining of a headache, other times saying his stomach hurt, groaning and whining, clearly intending to make a fuss all night.
Gu Hanjiang, helpless, turned back and walked to the bedside.
He bent down, his cool, slender hand gently covering Qi Shu’s forehead. “Where does it hurt?”
Qi Shu suddenly reached out and pulled him.
Caught off guard, Gu Hanjiang was pulled onto the bed, and with a quick turn, Qi Shu lay directly on top of him.
Qi Shu pressed his hands on Gu Hanjiang’s chest, looking down at him with a playful grin. “Shizun, caught you.”
“…” Gu Hanjiang turned his head. “Ah Shu, let go.”
“No.”
Not only did Qi Shu refuse to let go, but he wrapped himself around Gu Hanjiang tightly, his arms and legs entwining him securely.
“Shizun, do you really think that just because you rejected me once, I would give up so easily?” Qi Shu’s muffled voice came from within his embrace. “I’ve persisted for so many years. If I gave up now, wouldn’t I lose face?”
Even though he had been drinking all night, Qi Shu didn’t smell much of alcohol, just a faint fragrance of wine. The scent clung to Gu Hanjiang, and he found himself becoming slightly intoxicated as well.
Gu Hanjiang’s expression softened slightly, and he sighed quietly, “Why do you make this so difficult?”
The person nestled in his arms, who had been mumbling, suddenly stopped.
Qi Shu lifted his head, looking at Gu Hanjiang in the darkness, his eyes glimmering with faint light.
“I wonder the same thing,” he said. “Why do I bother? Shizun will never accept me. What’s the point of continuing like this?”
Gu Hanjiang’s arms tightened around him.
“But I just like it,” Qi Shu said. “I miss you when I can’t see you, and I’m so happy when I do, especially since you’re someone so cold and distant2, yet you’re only kind to me. It makes me so incredibly happy.”
“Is it wrong… to want to be happy?”
His voice was soft, with a hint of grievance.
“No,” Gu Hanjiang’s voice was slightly husky. He raised his hand to gently stroke Qi Shu’s hair and softly said, “You haven’t done anything wrong.”
Qi Shu continued in a small voice, “Then, will Shizun still be mad at me?”
“I can’t bear to.”
Even though Gu Hanjiang knew Qi Shu had been deliberately throwing a tantrum all night, he couldn’t get angry.
He just couldn’t bear to.
“Then can Shizun tell me the truth?” Qi Shu suddenly straightened up, wobbling as he positioned himself above Gu Hanjiang. “Can you stop lying to me?”
Gu Hanjiang really couldn’t understand the logic of a drunk person.
One moment Qi Shu was saying one thing, and the next moment something completely different.
But his eyes were still red, and his hair was slightly disheveled, as if he’d suffered a great injustice.
Even a millennium of ice and snow would start to melt.
Gu Hanjiang asked, “What did I lie to you about?”
“You just lied to me,” Qi Shu stubbornly insisted. “You clearly know everything, you clearly care when I get close to others, you clearly…”
He paused.
The dark room was utterly silent, and even the moonlight was now shrouded by clouds. Under the cover of darkness, Qi Shu lowered his head, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper.
“…You clearly… also want to kiss me.”
********
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Reika’s Notes:
- This chapter is by PipGirlPixie. I only added the two footnotes.
- Somehow, copy-pasting the text messed up twice, but I think I fixed it.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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I can’t wait for them to get together! Thanks for the chapter.