The Qianling Umbrella nearly slipped from A-Yin’s hand. He was speechless, his face pale with shock.
His original plan had been to chat with Yue Xichen to ease his fear of thunder. He never imagined that Yue Xichen had such a tragic past. Doing this—wasn’t he just tearing open his Master’s wounds?!
“Master, I… I…” For a moment, A-Yin was like a stammerer, not even knowing how to begin an explanation.
Even without an explanation, Yue Xichen already understood A-Yin’s intent.
“It does not matter. My past is a fixed fact that has already happened. It cannot be changed, nor is it your fault. You need not dwell on it.”
No, no, no, I dwell on it very much!
A-Yin wanted to apologize, but the word “sorry” was swallowed back down. Yue Xichen had already told him not to mind; if he insisted on apologizing, it would only make him seem overly sentimental.
“Actually, I was not as tragic as you might think… At the time, Li Yin was about to strike, but fortunately, a wandering cultivator passing by to seek shelter from the rain sensed the evil energy emanating from the hut. He burst in and saved me…”
Yue Xichen spoke calmly, letting out an involuntary sigh. As the saying goes, one may know a person’s face but not their heart. He never could have imagined that Li Yin, who had raised him for years, was actually a demonic cultivator. The reason Li Yin picked him up in the first place was because he coveted the spiritual roots and energy in his body.
“That cultivator also believed I had good aptitude and was fit for cultivation. He felt it would be a waste to let such talent go unnoticed, so he brought me to Lingyun Mountain.”
Yue Xichen was only nine then, the youngest person ever to pass the Wanling Staircase test. But despite his talent, he wasn’t given much importance when he first entered Lingyun Mountain. He was even treated like a redundant outlier—much like A-Yin is now.
At that time, Lingyun Mountain placed great emphasis on lineage and background. Many disciples were descendants of prominent families, while those like Yue Xichen, with no background at all, were in the minority. Generally, such ordinary disciples could only be outer disciples. However, because of his talent, Yue Xichen was granted an exception to enter the inner sect.
Yet, after entering the inner sect, he was isolated. Furthermore, because he refused to speak, everyone on Lingyun Mountain believed he was a mute.
“For about five years… I never spoke a word on Lingyun Mountain. Others did not remember my name; they simply called me ‘Little Mute’.”
Little Mute?! A-Yin was dumbfounded.
His Master was a Great Convergence stage cultivator, the Sect Leader of Lingyun Mountain, and the leader of the Immortal Alliance… yet he was actually called “Little Mute” back then?!
A-Yin found it hard to believe. He had thought only someone like himself of unknown origin and a half-demon would be subjected to such ridicule!
So… Master was just like me before…
A-Yin knew he should feel regret and sympathy after hearing about Yue Xichen’s painful past. However, at this moment, his feelings for Yue Xichen were a mix of heartache and a tiny bit of secret joy. He was glad because Yue Xichen, who seemed so unreachable, actually shared an incredible commonality with him.
“Now I finally know why Master is afraid of rainy days.”
“…” After hearing A-Yin’s words, Yue Xichen’s thin lips pressed together. After a moment of silence, he corrected him solemnly: “I am not afraid of rainy days. It is just…”
It was just that as soon as it rained and thundered, he would unconsciously recall the past. Even though so many years had passed, the scenes from that night were like a thorn, forever lodged in the depths of his heart, unable to be pulled out, having long since rotted into the flesh.
“Mm-hmm, I misspoke. Master isn’t afraid of rainy days at all!” A-Yin changed his tune immediately.
He felt that Yue Xichen, with his “dead duck’s mouth” (stubbornness), was incredibly cute. But looking at it from another angle, perhaps Yue Xichen really wasn’t afraid of the weather itself; rather, the weather triggered his worst memories, which in turn affected his mind and spiritual energy.
“Master, you… what you’re afraid of isn’t the rain, but dealing with people, right? You believe that no one is trustworthy…”
His long eyelashes lifted slightly as Yue Xichen’s gaze met A-Yin’s. A-Yin had a face that still looked quite youthful, often making Yue Xichen mistake him for a child. Yet it was A-Yin who was the first to see through him.
After a long silence, Yue Xichen nodded. “You are right.”
The reason he didn’t speak to others was that he didn’t want to deal with anyone, nor did he want to get close to anyone. Because once one invests emotion, the pain of betrayal becomes exceptionally acute. Yue Xichen had already been severely hurt once; he didn’t want to taste that sensation a second time.
Ten thousand words turned into silence. Yue Xichen remained quiet, his delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as if carved by a knife, unable to be smoothed out.
A-Yin watched him. Even though Yue Xichen said nothing, his troubled expression was clear at a glance. Before, A-Yin always thought his Master was cold, arrogant, and aloof. But now he understood that he was wrong; he had misunderstood Yue Xichen all along.
Yue Xichen wasn’t cold, arrogant, or aloof. He was simply afraid of being hurt. Because he wasn’t good with words, he spoke little; because he wasn’t good at socializing, he kept his distance. Yue Xichen had always been using a cold and proud exterior to arm himself and protect that soft, burning heart.
Just like Yue Xichen had given him the peach blossom cakes specifically so he could stay at Lingyun Mountain, and the stone sword he gave him was actually Yinyue—how much of this quiet, permeating tenderness had he missed over the years?
“I will absolutely never betray Master!” A-Yin said loudly.
Yue Xichen was startled and looked at him blankly. He saw A-Yin raise his hand solemnly. “I swear to the heavens, in this life… and the next, and the one after that… anyway, I will never betray Master!”
A-Yin’s voice was forceful and his expression grave. Yue Xichen knew he was serious. In all his years at Lingyun Mountain, he had a Master he respected, junior brothers he got along with, and disciples who worshipped him. But he had no friends. No soulmates. No one had ever truly understood him, nor did he dare to be understood.
He thought he would have to live his life pretending to be solitary and aloof, a powerful figure who always remained undefeated in the eyes of the world. Yet… A-Yin had walked in. He had walked into his heart.
Yue Xichen’s slender fingers twitched. He suddenly had an impulse to touch A-Yin’s face. He wanted to confirm that all of this was real and not an illusion within the secret realm. However, the impulse was quickly suppressed; he feared a sudden touch might startle A-Yin.
Having spoken of his past for the first time, Yue Xichen felt a sense of relief and lightness. Leaning against A-Yin’s small, thin shoulder, he actually fell asleep without realizing it.
The thunder and rain finally stopped. For the first time, the sky in the Beiyun Secret Realm cleared. The azure blue sky was intoxicating. A-Yin looked up, his mood as beautiful as the clear firmament.
The weather clearing up was likely because someone had subdued Jinglei, he figured. A-Yin shrugged; he didn’t care. It didn’t matter whose hands Jinglei fell into; he was never that interested in hammers anyway.
And…
Turning to look at the sleeping Yue Xichen leaning on his shoulder, A-Yin couldn’t help but smile a smile overflowing with happiness. He hadn’t come to this secret realm for nothing, for he had obtained something far more precious than a divine weapon.
“Master… really is so good-looking!”
Just staring at Yue Xichen’s face made A-Yin feel intoxicated. He had always thought his Master was as beautiful as an immortal, but after getting to know him better, he felt he had become even more handsome.
Unable to look away from the peaceful sleeping face, A-Yin found himself drawn to Yue Xichen’s slightly parted thin lips. The lips were beautifully shaped—thin yet full, colored just right. At this moment, they glistened with a moist, crystalline sheen, though whether it was from rain or something else was unclear.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as A-Yin swallowed hard. He felt his heart was under immense stimulation thump, thump beating wildly and getting faster and faster. This was a completely new reaction: unfamiliar, yet thrilling.
It was like a person who had walked in a desert for a very long time, their mouth parched. Suddenly, they find an orchard where the fruit is sweet and sour, fresh and juicy, making them unable to resist wanting to take a big bite and feast.
A-Yin stared intently at Yue Xichen’s lips. The impulse to kiss him was like a fire, scorching his reason.
So hot…
Even though he had just been through a heavy rain, he should have been cold. Yet A-Yin felt his head was hot, his chest was hot, and even his Master’s breathing felt hot.
He wanted to kiss Yue Xichen…
Why did he want to kiss Yue Xichen?
A-Yin couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he tried. He only knew those crimson lips were enticing and dazzling, deeply bewitching him and making him unable to pull away.
Mwah!
In the end, A-Yin couldn’t hold back and stole a kiss. Fearing he might wake Yue Xichen, he only briefly pressed his lips against his and immediately pulled away, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
So sweet!
Licking his own lips, A-Yin felt a sweetness that went straight to his heart, as if he had drunk honey. He still remembered the taste of Yue Xichen’s fingers—they were sweet too. It seemed it wasn’t because of the cakes; his Master was just sweet. Sweet fingers, sweet lips.
Involuntarily scanning Yue Xichen’s form, his wet white robes clung to his skin. It was hard to tell if the fabric was whiter or the skin itself. A-Yin thought his Master’s entire body must be sweet certainly a thousand, ten thousand times tastier than any pastry.
His heart raced wildly. Just one kiss was clearly no longer enough to satisfy A-Yin.
And it was at this very moment that A-Yin finally had an epiphany.
“Why do I want to kiss Master?”
It’s because I like Master!
A-Yin’s entire face instantly turned as red as a giant radish.