The years on Earth are short, and the changes of the seasons are most distinct. From spring to summer, the sun grows increasingly intense each day.
Yu Yi lay her head on the carriage window, her hand reaching out, the dappled light of leaves flickering across her pale hand. The wind that penetrated the carriage carried a scorching heat, and the cicada chirps echoed around them, like a noisy symphony.
"When I was little, our family wasn't well-off. We didn't have air conditioning, and the fan was broken. On days like this, it was so hot that we couldn't sleep at night. My sister and I would take turns fanning each other. One would fan for half an hour, so the other could sleep peacefully for a while."
Xue Chenjing fanned her with a hand fan, sending the cool air from the ice box on the table to her side. As he listened to her talk about her past, he had already grasped many words he hadn't known before, understanding what air conditioning and fans were.
He also knew that in her world, there were no immortals or demons. People believed in freedom and lived freely, in a place far better than this world.
Yu Yi chuckled at this point, "But I often cheated. I would fan and then fall asleep myself. When I woke up from the heat, it was my sister's turn to fan. She was so mad she would hit me, and we would end up fighting until the whole house woke up. Finally, my mom would come with two fans and fan us both."
Yu Yi rarely thought about her past. Once, even touching those memories was painful. Later, after practicing the Heart Sword, those memories became the source of her power. She learned not to evade them, to face her longing and unfulfilled desires head-on.
When she mentioned her past, it was as if she were counting pearls, her eyes shining.
Xue Chenjing loved seeing her with such vivid eyes.
Yu Yi's forehead was dotted with tiny beads of sweat. As a cultivator with spiritual energy, she was naturally immune to heat and cold. If she wanted, she could lower the heat around her with a flick of her fingers. But it was clear she didn't want to do that now.
Just as they could have taken the Imperial House Carriage or ridden Crane Senior Brother to reach their destination in a few days, they chose not to. Such haste would have missed the scenery along the way and the anticipation of the journey.
They traveled slowly, visiting many places along the way.
Xue Chenjing gently picked up a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, winding it around his finger. He whispered, "Yi, it seems you prefer the life of mortals."
Yu Yi turned her head and smiled, "Because I was originally a mortal."
As the carriage entered the city, Crane Senior Brother had already been waiting on the city wall for a long time, bored. It watched carriage after carriage enter the city.
Finally, as evening fell, it spotted a carriage with a snow-white feather stuck in the door. It dove down with a thud, crashing into a horse-drawn carriage slowly approaching the city gate in the distance, expressing its displeasure.
The coachman in front of the carriage was pierced through by the sharp beak of the crane, transforming into a paper figure hanging from its beak. Crane Senior Brother let out a confused "ga," and the paper figure was torn in half, fluttering down.
It pushed open the carriage door and peered inside, its sharp beak poking in, only to be caught by a tentacle-like appendage. A muffled crane cry was swallowed back into its throat.
Xue Chenjing glanced at it and hung their travel permits on its beak, saying, "Be quiet, she's sleeping."
Crane Senior Brother, knowing it was in the wrong, carried the guide and squatted in front of the car.
The city guards had already noticed this crane, a symbol of auspiciousness in the eyes of the people. This crane was particularly impressive, tall and majestic, with an air of intelligence.
The guards inspected the travel permits and peeked into the carriage before letting them pass.
Yu Yi had slept through the journey and woke up refreshed, ready to explore the night market with Crane Senior Brother and Xue Chenjing. Xue Chenjing was used to her habit of visiting the busiest markets wherever they went.
They filled their hands with purchases, and Yu Yi bit into a sugar-coated hawthorn, eating it with a smile. She then handed the stick to Xue Chenjing, saying, "Try it, this sugar-coated hawthorn is very sweet."
Xue Chenjing bit into one, his sharp teeth breaking the outer sugar coating, the inner hawthorn releasing a sweet and sour flavor. The seeds had been removed, and sweet sticky rice filled the center, indeed better than previous ones he had tried.
Crane Senior Brother let out a "ga," poking its head from Xue Chenjing's shoulder. Yu Yi had no choice but to hand the sugar-coated hawthorn to it, and it opened its beak wide, swallowing the remaining ones in one go.
Xue Chenjing quickly pinched its beak, annoyed, "You're eating too much!"
The crane flapped its wings, blurting out, "What's wrong with eating a lot? I'm eating what my little sister gave me, not yours!"
The surrounding people all turned to look at them. Yu Yi raised her hand and punched both of them, saying angrily, "It's just a stick of sugar-coated hawthorn! I'll buy you more, you're so embarrassing!"
Fifteen minutes later, Xue Chenjing had an entire straw target full of sugar-coated hawthorn sticks, while Crane Senior Brother had been turned into a small bird, perched on the straw, struggling to peck at the sticky rice with its tiny beak.
By the time they had walked half the street, a group of children, drooling with desire, had followed Xue Chenjing. He wasn't good with kids, and Yu Yi was even worse. She tried to send them away with sugar-coated hawthorn, only attracting more greedy children.
After distributing them all, only one stick remained, and one of the hawthorns had been pecked by Crane Senior Brother.
Seeing the quick-witted children finish and look back at them, Xue Chenjing's face turned as black as a pot. He put the bare straw target into his storage pouch and pulled Yu Yi into the shadows away from the candlelight, disappearing from sight.
Xue Chenjing had used a spell to escape the children just to keep a stick of sugar-coated hawthorn.
As autumn leaves were about to fall, they returned to Rounan County. The people there still remembered Crane Senior Brother, the white crane, and the Crane Fairy who had helped them solve many troubles.
As the carriage passed through the streets of Rounan County, they were given many fruits and vegetables, even two carp hanging around Crane Senior Brother's neck.
Yu Yi took Xue Chenjing to the Bamboo Grove Secret Realm. This place was built on a small spiritual vein, and the spiritual energy it provided was just enough to maintain the dense bamboo forest.
The secret realm was not vast, but it had everything: mountains, water, flowers, trees, and a two-story building.
When the secret realm opened, time in the bamboo forest began to flow again. Xue Chenjing's eyes reflected the green scenery. As he passed through the bamboo forest, he touched the thick bamboo with crossed sword marks.
Further on, the bamboo was carved with many words, all the same.
"What does this mean?" Xue Chenjing asked, puzzled.
"Ah, this," Yu Yi said, running her hand over the carvings. "This is how I kept track of how long I've been in this world. At first, I carved a stroke every day, then every seven days, and later once a month."
These few bamboos were the largest and oldest in the forest, almost entirely covered with her carvings.
Later, she stopped carving.
Xue Chenjing looked at the bamboo closest to him, wanting to touch it, but he quickly retracted his hand, his eyebrows furrowing. The carvings still carried the emotions of the person who had made them.
Yu Yi had already walked ahead, crossing the wooden bridge over the water. Seeing he hadn't followed, she turned back and waved, "Hurry up and come in."
Xue Chenjing responded and quickly caught up.
Yu Yi first paid her respects to her master, then sorted through the souvenirs they had bought on their journey, adding them to the bamboo house. Leaning on the railing of the second floor, she called down, "Now we have three properties: the Demon Realm, the Overseas Spirit Island, and the Bamboo Grove Secret Realm."
Xue Chenjing was in the kitchen, preparing Crane Senior Brother's carp, boiling fish soup, and making noodles. Through the rising steam, he looked up at her and said, "Actually, I also have a house in Lingyue."
Yu Yi quickly came downstairs, surprised, "Ling Yue? Isn't that the territory of the Wujilou?"
"Mm, I won this from a disciple of the Wuji Pavilion in a bet," Xue Chenjing said, rummaging around for a while before finally pulling out a slender jade slip about the length of a thumb. He swiped his hand over the slip, and golden characters floated into the air, revealing a deed and the seals of both parties involved in the transaction. This jade slip was the key to unlocking the estate.
However, the estate was located within the Wuji Pavilion's immortal domain, specifically in its outer sect. Xue Chenjing hadn’t had the chance to collect on this bet debt, and now that all the major sects had sealed their mountains and locked their territories, the opportunity seemed even more out of reach.
Yu Yi watched him scooping noodles while idly playing with the jade slip, sighing, "What a pity."
In the middle of the night, Yu Yi suddenly woke up to find the spot beside her pillow empty once again. She propped herself up, puzzled, having lost count of how many times she had woken up in the night to find Xue Chenjing gone. In the past, he would always return quickly, but this time, she waited for a long time, and he still hadn’t come back.
Yu Yi got up, casually draping an outer robe over her shoulders before pushing the door open and stepping outside.
The moon was nearly full, its light casting a clear, bright glow over the entire courtyard. Crane Senior Brother stood on the wooden bridge over the lake, his head tucked under his wing as he slept. His shadow reflected on the water’s surface, creating a scene as tranquil as a painting.
The outer robe was a bit too large—it was Xue Chenjing’s. As she walked through the courtyard, the hem of the robe brushed against the flowers and grass, producing a soft rustling sound.
In the bamboo grove, Xue Chenjing stood in front of the same bamboo stalks they had passed during the day. He wore dark inner robes and was staring intently at the characters carved into the bamboo. Transparent tentacles coiled around the stalks, their soft tips gently tracing the deep grooves of the carvings.
Through the countless sensory organs on the tentacles’ tips, he could feel the emotions lingering in each stroke of the carved characters. It was as if he could touch the traces of Yu Yi’s tears left on the bamboo.
The system asked, "Please confirm, host, whether you wish to exchange for the final reward."
Xue Chenjing traced the carvings, tears falling onto the back of his hand, as he replied irritably, "Once was enough. Do you really need me to answer a second time?"
The system responded, "Apologies, but this is to prevent accidental triggers or impulsive decisions, hence the need for a second confirmation prompt."
Xue Chenjing let out a bitter laugh, "Isn’t this the kind of thing you only do on impulse?" Like now, with the second confirmation, he was already starting to hesitate.
Every day, he had been delaying, finding excuses to keep her with him for one more day. Just like the tally marks on the bamboo, he had carved many such marks in his heart as well.
Xue Chenjing took a deep breath and closed his eyes, struggling to open his mouth when a voice suddenly called out from the distance, "Ah Qiu, what are you doing over there?"
The courage he had mustered instantly crumbled, and he hurriedly wiped his face before turning toward her.
Yu Yi stood on the wooden bridge over the water, holding up a small jug and saying, "Come here."
Xue Chenjing walked over and realized she was holding a jar of wine. "Apricot wine?"
"Yes, the apricot wine we bought in that small town," Yu Yi replied, leading him to sit on a wooden bench by the water’s edge. She handed him a small jug and held another one herself, clinking it against his before taking a sip. In a casual tone, she asked, "You’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. Is something wrong?"
The fruity aroma of the apricot wine mixed with a faint hint of alcohol wafted into his nose. Xue Chenjing gripped the small jug, still reluctant to tell Yu Yi about the existence of the task reward. He would rather send her away without her knowing than hear her choose to leave him behind.
Even though he knew deep down what her choice would be.
Xue Chenjing took a sip and glanced at Yu Yi, offering an excuse about not being used to the new environment. By now, he had become quite adept at finding reasons to explain his midnight wanderings.
Yu Yi, as usual, didn’t press for details. She gently clinked her jug against his again and said, "Then I’ll drink a few more cups with you. Being half-drunk and half-awake is the best time to sleep."
This sweet fruit wine wasn’t strong enough to get anyone truly drunk. But Xue Chenjing, feeling unsettled and with the person he loved by his side, followed her lead and drank sip by sip.
Crane Senior Brother woke from his sleep, smacking his beak and giving them a puzzled look before moving to another spot and tucking his head back into his feathers to continue sleeping.
The moonlight grew deeper, and the wine’s effects gradually took hold. Xue Chenjing’s thoughts became increasingly muddled, his gaze fixed on Yu Yi’s bright eyes and moist lips. He saw her say something, but he could no longer make out the words.
The jug in Xue Chenjing’s hand fell to the ground, and his body swayed before collapsing onto Yu Yi’s shoulder.
Yu Yi reached out to steady him, gently touching his cheek. "Good, it worked on you too."
Thanks to her master’s treasured stash of high-grade knockout powder.
