“…Just like that, tell Wan Shao that I have safely returned to the realm of cultivation. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll find time to visit Bi Luo Huang Quan soon, so she doesn’t need to worry.”
After leaving Tianwai Tian, I unexpectedly contacted the Night Crow from Bi Luo Huang Quan. The young demon clan member was flapping his wings and clutching my arm, crying and fussing, which pulled me somewhat out of my sorrowful mood. From him, I learned that Bi Luo Huang Quan had been very anxious since I had lost contact.
“I understand,” the Night Crow said, wiping the excited tears from his bird-like face. “Can’t Lord Can Zhe come back with us now?”
“…” I paused for a moment and shook my head. “I can’t. I have some important matters to attend to in the next few days.”
The Night Crow pouted and hesitantly prepared to fly away, turning back three times.
“Wait—”
Called back suddenly, the Night Crow was overjoyed and hurriedly turned around. “Has Lord Can Zhe changed her mind?”
“…No, it’s nothing. You can go.”
Though I appeared somewhat contemplative and hesitant, I waved my hand gently, making the Night Crow feel dejected. He lingered for a while, but I seemed lost in thought, and didn’t call him back again. Seeing this, he could only take flight, quickly invigorated by the thought of bringing the good news of my safe return back to Bi Luo Huang Quan, diligently flying away.
Unaware, I rubbed my forehead, but couldn’t shake the worries that lingered there.
I had initially thought about telling Wan Shao about Yun Duan, but quickly dismissed the idea. After all, this was a matter between me and Yun Duan; it was ultimately up to me to make the decision.
As for why this thought had suddenly crossed my mind… Perhaps it was because I had been too tangled up in my emotions. I really wanted to hear someone else’s opinion.
But what kind of advice did I want from Wan Shao, anyway?
After the Night Crow left and I was alone again, I walked silently through the quiet night, with only the sound of my footsteps echoing in the street.
If Wan Shao found out, she would probably suggest something irresponsible like, “Just do something that makes you happy.”
If only things could be resolved this easily. I could return to Yun Duan, even back to Qing Yu; Wan Shao might generously allow me to leave Bi Luo Huang Quan. Perhaps the news of Can Zhe’s return would cause quite a stir in the realm of cultivation, but none of that mattered to me. As long as I could be with Yun Duan, that was enough to make me happy—
Yet there were always some undeniable issues blocking my path, like the blood I had tasted before and my increasingly frail body, all clamoring to tell me: this road is impassable.
I chuckled softly to myself, stopping in my tracks. The smile faded quickly.
“…Qin Yi, you really are hard to shake off.”
I spoke wearily, and a sudden chuckle echoed through the quiet street. From the shadowy corner ahead, a figure slowly emerged, walking calmly into the middle of the road. It was a night without stars or moon, and I summoned a ball of fire to illuminate the mocking face of the person opposite me.
“Previously interrupted by that woman, Nan Shuang, I put our matters on hold, but I haven’t given up on them.”
Qin Yi seemed to casually stretch his wrist, but I immediately felt the air around us turn chilly, a dense aura of death gathering, indicating that he had come prepared.
“I don’t have time to waste on you right now.”
I felt irritation bubbling up, and took a step forward. Behind me, enormous flaming wings spread wide, exuding a powerful pressure as I looked at Qin Yi. “If you want to fight, let’s do it outside the city.”
However, Qin Yi gazed at me with great interest for a while, then suddenly took a step back and chuckled softly. “What’s the matter? Have you parted ways with your junior sister?”
“…”
My expression darkened as I lifted my eyes to strike, but Qin Yi sighed heavily, sneering coldly.
“Shang Can, oh Shang Can, if I had known it would turn out like this, why did you share half your life with her back then… what was the point?”
Shang Can had not returned all night.
And Yun Duan had also not slept a wink all night.
She sat in Shang Can’s room, the tea long gone cold. Oblivious, she mechanically lifted the cup to dampen her trembling, parched lips.
Outside the window, dawn had broken, the hazy light filtering in. Yun Duan stared blankly out, the anxiety in her heart growing increasingly hard to ignore.
To say she had spent the entire night in unease would be an understatement. Though she had vaguely guessed that Shang Can might have sensed something during their time in the ghost realm, when she was actually questioned, she still felt flustered. She had rehearsed countless times how to respond if the truth about her concealment were to come to light, but in the end, she could only confess everything she knew to Shang Can.
Perhaps it was guilt that plagued her. Yun Duan thought, after all, she had been following Shang Can with this unspoken burden all this time, pretending to be calm, while inside, her heart had already turned into a tangled mess, or perhaps a pool of warm water.
She clearly knew. She clearly knew that the person before her was her senior sister, her… A Can.
Yun Duan suddenly stood up and quickly walked out the door.
It was still early. She encountered a few disciples who were out for morning exercises in the Tianwai Tian realm. They all greeted her with respect and trepidation, but Yun Duan kept her feet moving, merely nodding slightly. She felt a twinge of regret for her rudeness but showed no intention of slowing down.
She couldn’t see that Shang Can’s restlessness was even more intense than she imagined; no matter how many deep breaths she took, it was of no help. Yun Duan quickly left the Tianwai Tian realm and only halted abruptly at the entrance of Yan Yang Street, nervously looking around.
She didn’t know where to find Shang Can.
Almost as soon as this thought crossed her mind, a tremendous sense of fear and suffocation engulfed her. Yun Duan held her breath slightly, tightly gripping the jade pendant in her sleeve. The pendant, which had already developed cracks, could not withstand her strength and broke with a crisp sound. The sharp edges of the shattered jade pierced into her palm; it didn’t hurt much, but it suddenly made her throat feel sour.
Last night, she should have found a way to return this pendant to Shang Can, or, by any means possible, followed Shang Can or stubbornly clung to her until they left together. Anything would have been better than her current aimlessness and anxiety—
The phrase “gained and lost” seemed too cruel to contemplate.
Yun Duan stood dazed at the street corner. Her striking beauty attracted many gazes, but she remained oblivious, racking her brain for the most likely places Shang Can would go until suddenly, she felt a warm flame lick at her palm.
“…!”
She instinctively flinched but quickly realized that it was the Heavenly Fire on her wrist that had suddenly come to life. The unconscious Heavenly Fire could not understand Yun Duan’s feelings at that moment; it simply stretched languidly from her wrist, slowly spreading to her palm where the jade had hurt her. It lingered around her wound for a while, and that hurt quietly scabbed over, even cleaning up the blood.
Yun Duan stared blankly at her hand, seeing the Heavenly Fire withdraw obediently.
She finally realized that this fearsome Heavenly Fire had somehow been infused with a healing spell, likely tampered with by its owner before being given to her.
Yun Duan’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, feeling a little dazed. The warmth on her wrist felt very much like the style of that person these days.
Suddenly, the retreating Heavenly Fire halted abruptly, then surged with a crimson gold glow, becoming uncontrollably hot, barely managing to stay within a range that wouldn’t harm Yun Duan, but spitting sparks restlessly.
This feeling was familiar.
Yun Duan’s heart stirred; she suddenly looked up in the direction the flames were leaning and was shocked to see crimson gold fireworks blooming in the distant sky.
It was the outskirts of Yan Yang.
Yun Duan flew down on her sword, furrowing her brow at the acrid smell that hit her nostrils.
The scene before her was no longer as she remembered it; the place she once visited with Shang Can was now just a patch of scorched earth.
It seemed like it hadn’t been long since it turned into this; the culprits of this devastation still smoldered quietly on a few unburned tree trunks. Yun Duan knew they originated from the same source as the Heavenly Fire on her wrist.
Yun Duan quietly scanned her surroundings, seeing nothing but horrifying ruins, without a single person in sight. Fortunately, she also didn’t see any remnants of corpses among the debris.
She bit her lip tightly and flew over the scorched earth on her sword.
But the area affected by the Heavenly Fire far exceeded Yun Duan’s imagination. She had been flying on her sword for about the time it takes to brew tea; despite flying slowly to search for Shang Can’s traces, she had covered several miles, yet still saw no signs of life around—only the eerie silence left in the wake of the raging Heavenly Fire.
The longer time passed, the heavier Yun Duan’s heart became. She didn’t have the luxury to think about what Shang Can had encountered to summon such a large-scale Heavenly Fire; her worry for Shang Can and her sense of helplessness in finding her consumed her entire being.
The carefree sword she rode seemed to sense her inner turmoil; it suddenly let out a long, sharp cry and, uncontrollably, changed direction.
Yun Duan was startled and focused her mind to control it, but unexpectedly, it started acting up, buzzing a few times before stubbornly continuing to fly forward. Although it no longer obeyed Yun Duan’s commands, it carried her steadily.
Since she had thrown Fei Wang into the Wang Chuan River, Yun Duan had been using Wuyou and had never seen it behave this way, operating on its own. She instinctively reached for the Fei Wang at her waist, and before she resumed her flight, she suddenly had a thought and looked at Wuyou thoughtfully, halting her actions.
The place they finally arrived at felt familiar.
The previous reckless behavior felt unreal; Wuyou obediently lowered itself to the ground, allowing Yun Duan to dismount, then quietly retracted its sword light and stood still. Yun Duan put away Wuyou and exhaled gently.
This place was ten miles outside the outskirts of Yan Yang, where two people had once come to roast chicken while hiding from the Tianwai Tian cultivators.
It didn’t seem to have been affected by the Heavenly Fire and still appeared as Yun Duan remembered it. Her heartbeat quickened gradually, and she unconsciously quickened her steps, pushing through the even more abundant foliage to approach that spot.
Not far away, under a tree, sat the person she had been searching for.
Shang Can was right there, leaning against the trunk, sitting quietly. There was nothing unusual about her, but for some reason, her eyes were covered with white cloth, completely obscuring her always affectionate gaze.
Compared to when they had just reunited, Shang Can’s hair had grown a bit longer, now lazily draped over her shoulders, the tips touching the ground without her caring. The morning sunlight filtering through the leaves cast dappled light and shadow on her robe, adding a lustrous, jade-like sheen to her already pale skin.
Yun Duan had always thought Shang Can was someone who thrived in a crowd, laughing freely. Now, she felt that Shang Can also suited the gentle sunlight in a quiet valley.
Unaware of Yun Duan’s arrival, Shang Can raised her hand to lightly touch the white cloth before her eyes, confirming its presence by tracing the outline with her fingertips. After doing so, she lowered her hand again, seeming to sigh in fatigue.
“…”
When she couldn’t find her, she was anxious and restless. Yet now that she had finally located her, an inexplicable shyness struck her, akin to homesickness. Yun Duan wanted to call out to her, but momentarily didn’t know how to address her, so she hesitated and slowly approached Shang Can.
This time, she was finally noticed; Shang Can’s ears twitched as she lifted her head in Yun Duan’s direction.
“Yun Duan?” Her voice was gentle and clear. “What brings you here?”
“…I came to find you.”
Her voice didn’t sound injured, and Yun Duan’s heart, which had been held in suspense, finally settled.
Half of Shang Can’s face was obscured by the cloth, revealing only her delicately contoured lower face. Unable to see her eyes made it impossible for Yun Duan to discern her emotions at this moment. She couldn’t help but step closer and crouch down, resisting the urge to lift the cloth to check on Shang Can’s condition. She softly asked, “What happened to your eyes?”
“I sustained some injuries.” Shang Can explained in a warm voice, devoid of any negative emotion. “It was Qin Yi; I had bad luck and ran into her after leaving.”
“Don’t worry; it’s not a serious injury. It’ll be fine in a while. I just can’t be exposed to light for the time being.”
Perhaps sensing Yun Duan’s sudden change in breathing upon hearing about her injury, Shang Can quickly added a few more words, smiling wryly: “She’s probably more seriously hurt than I am, but her escape skills are exceptional, and I couldn’t catch her.”
“…And I might have overdone it a bit.”
Shang Can bit her lip in slight frustration, whispering, “I seem to have burned a lot of places… I’m sorry. I wasn’t completely clear-headed back then.”
“I wanted to return earlier, but it was more troublesome than I thought to navigate with my vision obstructed…” As she spoke, she suddenly became anxious, instinctively sitting up straighter and leaning closer to Yun Duan. “Is it already bright out? Did I make you worry again? It’s my fault; I…”
She evidently couldn’t see her surroundings at all and hadn’t fully adapted to moving without sight. She had leaned in too close.
The familiar face Yun Duan had been searching for all those days was right in front of her, and her heartbeat suddenly quickened. She instinctively held her breath, afraid of making Shang Can aware of how near they were.
“…You’re not at fault.” Even though she harbored unspoken feelings, Yun Duan softly responded to Shang Can’s words, her voice gentle yet firm, “You’re doing well.”
“…” Shang Can fell silent for a moment, as if blinking behind the cloth, then unknowingly leaned in closer, hesitatingly saying, “…Don’t worry. I promised I would return; I won’t run away by myself.”
An unwarranted heat rose from Yun Duan’s neck, making her hastily divert her gaze, instinctively asking, “So you won’t leave again?”
The words slipped out before she could process them, surprising even herself. Yun Duan glanced at Shang Can, saying softly, “…I’m sorry, I misspoke.”
“What did you misspeak about?”
To her surprise, Shang Can responded calmly, a faint reassuring smile appearing at the corners of her lips as she sighed gently, “You don’t need to be so afraid; it’s all right.”
“I thought a lot yesterday,” she said, lowering her head slightly, self-deprecatingly, “I haven’t figured everything out yet, but at least I understood one thing.”
Yun Duan was taken aback and asked, “…What is it?”
Suddenly, the person in front of her raised a hand, perhaps realizing how close they were upon touching Yun Duan’s body. Shang Can paused in confusion but awkwardly opened her arms toward Yun Duan.
“After recognizing me, you must have been suffering a lot, right?” Shang Can revealed a soft smile, whispering, “I should have done this last night.”
“I think I should at least hug you as Qing Yu Shang Can…” She trailed off abruptly, sounding slightly awkward, “Of course, you might not want that—”
Before she could finish, Shang Can felt the person in front of her suddenly leap into her embrace. She instinctively tightened her arms around Yun Duan, startled by how close they had just been.
But she quickly set aside her thoughts, feeling the person in her arms trembling. Yun Duan held her back tightly, as if wanting to pull her in even closer yet hesitating, her body pressed against Shang Can’s, revealing her rapid breathing.
“…I found you.” Yun Duan’s voice, more ethereal than usual, reached Shang Can’s ear, soft as if afraid of waking from a dream, “Isn’t that right?”
“…”
Shang Can couldn’t see, but she could imagine Yun Duan’s expression at this moment; those eyes must be as fragile and beautiful as glass, and the whole person seemed like a celestial being who had stepped down from the clouds of a dream, embodying a kind of ephemeral, shattered beauty.
She smiled softly and quietly said, “Yes, you found me.”
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