As evening approached, the sounds of drums and gongs drifted over from beyond the wall. The high-pitched trills of Qinqiang opera and the melodies of shoulder-pole puppet shows intertwined in a chaotic symphony. Once we turned the corner into the main alley, the crowd suddenly surged, people jostling and rubbing shoulders in every direction.
I took a firm hold of Qiqi’s hand and looked back. "A-Tan, grab onto me. Be careful not to get separated."
Ye Tan was usually stiff about such things. When following behind me, he always maintained a standard arm’s length—a distance so precise it felt as if he’d measured it with a ruler, refusing to step an inch closer. Today, however, he was unexpectedly compliant, obediently letting me take his hand. I couldn't help but flash him an appreciative smile.
Ye Xiao immediately chimed in, "I’m afraid of getting lost too! I want to hold onto Boss as well!"
"If someone like you gets lost, so be it," I replied.
"Tch! *Sob!*"
I added, "But make sure you keep a tight grip on Ye Lan. If he wanders off, we’re never finding him again."
Whimpering, Ye Xiao grabbed hold of Ye Lan.
Each of us held a blown-sugar figurine as we squeezed into the crowd to watch the street performers. Given my frail constitution, I couldn't push my way to the front and was left staring at a sea of back-heads. Seeing this, Ye Tan picked up both Qiqi and me, hoisting us onto a nearby wall. Ye Xiao grabbed Ye Lan and scrambled up after us.
The view was wide, and we even had seats. Excellent. I was satisfied.
As our row of people crouched on the wall watching the acrobatics, I noticed Qiqi looking around, appearing somewhat distracted.
"Are you looking for someone?" I asked.
Qiqi quickly pulled her gaze back. "Um... I have a few sisters I haven't seen in a long time. I was wondering if they’d come today and if I might run into them."
I told her, "You can go look for them."
"Can I?" Qiqi asked tentatively. "But I haven't finished the chores at home..."
"Of course you can. It’s a holiday. Aren't there plenty of dumplings left over? Take some with you."
With my permission granted, Qiqi happily skipped away.
The lake was dotted with light as a vast number of lotus lanterns drifted from who-knows-where, bobbing and weaving between the painted pleasure boats and fishing vessels.
Seeing my gaze fixed on the lake, Ye Xiao asked, "Boss, do you want to release a lantern and make a wish? I also happen to—"
"No! I want to go boating!"
"But we don't have a boat..."
"Buy one!" I said decisively to Ye Tan. "Let’s go!"
Ye Xiao: "..."
We moved from the wall to the lakeshore. The owners of the small fishing boats and ferries had likely gone off to celebrate the festival, as no one was around. The larger painted boats, however, were brightly lit. A few were moored at the shore, so I went to ask them one by one.
The response: "Where did this bumpkin come from? Trying to buy my master’s boat? Scram!"
There was no room for negotiation.
It seemed money truly wasn't everything.
I fell into a state of profound grief over my unfulfilled desire. My ordinary wish to go boating had, under these circumstances, inverted into an obsessive need. I crouched by the lake, my brow locked in a deep frown.
"Boss, are you really that sad?" Ye Xiao asked. "It’s actually quite simple. How about I go snatch one for you?"
Ye Tan didn't say a word, but he suddenly gripped his sword with great enthusiasm.
"Do not engage in illegal or disruptive activities," I said solemnly.
Ye Xiao looked bewildered. "Since when do we people of the Jianghu care about the law? How can there be an honest, law-abiding citizen like you these days?"
*Sigh.* Mere ruffians. How could they possibly understand the scientific, advanced, civilized, and rational worldview of this Creator God?
"Ye Xiao, can you swim?"
"Of course. How could a Shadow Guard not know how to swim? Boss, what are you planning?"
"Since there are no boats to row, I’ll just row you."
Ye Xiao: "..."
The scene fell into an awkward, dead silence.
Ye Lan suddenly chimed in, "I can swim too. Row me."
Ye Xiao turned to him with a serious expression. "Ye Lan, if you can't tell whether we're joking or being serious, don't just butt in..."
I interrupted, "I’m not joking. I really want to row you. Though, I don't want to row Ye Lan."
Ye Xiao scrambled to defend himself. "His swimming is better than mine! And he’s taller! Rowing him would definitely be more stable! Right, Ye Lan?"
Ye Xiao shot Ye Lan a frantic look. Ye Lan, seemingly catching his drift, resolutely jumped into the water.
Both anxious and angry, I smacked Ye Xiao on the head. "Holy crap! Look what you did!! Hurry up!!"
Ye Xiao pondered for a moment. "Alright, I'll try rowing." With a sliding kick, he flew onto the back of the floating Ye Lan.
And then, the two of them sank.
Me: "..."
Ye Tan: "..."
Only two words occupied my mind: *Total idiots.*
I was fuming. Once they crawled back onto the shore, I grabbed the soaking wet Ye Xiao and gave him a sound thrashing, then urged him to take Ye Lan home immediately to change clothes.
It was the middle of winter, and they had just taken a dip in icy water. What if Ye Lan caught a cold?
Ye Tan comforted me, "After years of Shadow Guard training, they have at least this much endurance. Master need not worry."
*Sigh.* I was physically and mentally exhausted.
Seeing that I remained silent, Ye Tan spoke again. "Master, I have knockout powder on me. It wouldn't be difficult to procure a boat without anyone noticing."
I sighed. "No need. We won't go today. In the future, I'll buy dozens of them and stockpile them... Mmm, A-Tan, help me write a letter to Jun Luoshu tomorrow. Tell him to buy lots and lots of boats so we can row them when we return to the Sword Pavilion."
"Understood."
He was staring at the second floor of a painted boat to our front-right, his expression uneasy, as if his mind were elsewhere.
"A-Tan, what’s wrong? Ever since we stepped out today, you’ve seemed very tense."
Ye Tan snapped back to reality, lowering his gaze. "There are too many people. There are many martial artists along the way; I fear something might happen."
"You don't like crowds, A-Tan?"
Ye Tan frowned. "It is dangerous."
"Relax a little when we're out having fun. Nothing is going to happen..."
Ye Tan reached out and snatched a filthy little child who was brushing past me, lifting him into the air. "Hand over the Master’s jade pendant," he said displeasedly.
The beggar boy wailed, stuffing the pendant—which hadn't even warmed in his palm yet—back to me. "I'm sorry, Master! I'll never do it again!"
Me: "...The Jianghu truly is treacherous."
I had brought him out to play, but it had turned into high-intensity overtime instead. My conscience felt uneasy.
"Let's find somewhere with fewer people," I suggested.
It seemed I shouldn't wander around aimlessly in the future; I should just stay tucked away in the Moling Sword Pavilion.
Whenever I thought of Moling, my mood always improved. I wondered if Ye Tan felt the same, so I asked, "A-Tan, I haven't asked you yet—do you like Moling? Do you prefer damp places or dry ones? Do you like the South or the North?"
Ye Tan simply said, "All are fine." After giving this universal non-answer, he probably saw the 'I-want-to-hit-you' look in my eyes and quickly added, "I have never been to Moling, so I am not entirely sure."
As we walked along the road, we encountered a vendor selling river lanterns. I picked up two and handed one to Ye Tan.
The vendor gave us two slips of paper, saying we could write our wishes on them and tuck them inside the lanterns. If they drifted to the Pure Spring Temple, the wishes would come true.
The slips were speckled with gold dust, shimmering beautifully under the lamplight. I sat on the stone steps by the lake, flipping the paper over and over as I asked, "Then of the places you *have* been, which did you like most?"
Ye Tan held his brush and the paper, thinking for a moment before saying, "Tianshan, perhaps."
"Oh? You've been to the Heavenly Mountains?"
"Seventh Young Master Qin took me there. Or rather, he bought me specifically to go to Tianshan. It is a place of extreme cold where neither birds nor beasts can survive; one cannot live there without profound internal energy and extraordinary endurance. Master Qin took me to live in the mountains for a time to search for the Black Iron used in sword-forging. Because the snow blocked the roads and few people ever went there, I didn't have to be constantly on guard against attacks. It was the most relaxed period of my life."
I hadn't heard him mention this part of his past before. I asked, "Did you find the Black Iron?"
"We did. It was buried at the bottom of the Sword-Washing Pool. It took a great deal of effort to get it out. But not long after we returned to the Central Plains, Master Qin threw it away."
I was shocked. "After all that work, why did he throw it away?"
Ye Tan shook his head. "I do not know. After Master Qin met Yun Bizhi for the first time, he came back and said he didn't need it anymore. He specifically found a cliff and threw it off, then sat alone at the wind-gap all night. He wouldn't let me come near."
*Oho,* a man with a story.
"How do you know he sat there all night? You must have been watching him secretly from the side."
Ye Tan: "...??? Y-Yes... He was my master. Even if I wasn't allowed by his side, I had to guard him from a distance."
"But you don't even know why he threw it away."
"Huh?" Ye Tan tilted his head slightly, looking confused.
"He never told you anything, so why were you so good to him?" I said indignantly.
Ye Tan was speechless. "...Eh..."
I said crossly, "Even after all that, you still have that 'it would be nice if I could stay in Tianshan forever' look on your face!!"
Ye Tan said blankly, "I... I did think that. Because no outsiders would come, I wouldn't have to stay hidden all the time..."
I jumped up abruptly. "It’s just Tianshan! I can take you there too! Let’s go! Right now!"
Ye Tan hurriedly grabbed me to stop me. "You cannot. Tianshan is too cold; you cannot be exposed to the chill."
"You underestimate me! I can stay for ten years! Twenty years! Two hundred years! Longer than you, anyway! You trash, how dare you look down on me!" I was so annoyed my logic had completely collapsed.
Ye Tan didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he coaxed me, "Fine, fine. We'll go once your health is better."
I gave a disdainful snort and sat back down. "Finished writing your wish? We're about to release the lanterns."
"I'm writing it now..." Ye Tan saw that I had already tucked my paper back into my sleeve and asked, "Are you not writing one?"
"I have no wishes to make."
I thought loftily to myself: *I am the Creator God. Why would I need to make a wish? Anything I want is already within my grasp.*
Ye Tan gave an "oh" and began to daze at the blank paper.
I waited for a while, but he still hadn't moved. "Do you not have a wish to write either?"
"There are too many," Ye Tan said. "I don't know which one to choose."
I thought to myself: *Wait, is he breaking character? Aren't you from the 'few desires' school of thought?* I said seriously, "What are they? I'll make them come true for you."
"Um... I hope Master’s health recovers. I hope Master is free from disaster and illness. I hope Master has a life of peace and joy, yet I also hope Master can achieve great and magnificent things... But..." Ye Tan bit the end of his brush and looked back at me with a faint smile. "I also feel that your current state of having no desires might be better. It would be good if it could stay like this forever. They seem to conflict, so I don't know which to pick."
...Wait, aren't those basically all the same thing?
I teased him, "So we're not going to Tianshan anymore?"
Hearing this, Ye Tan said, "Oh, we are. I'll add that."
"..." I bared my teeth. "Do you even know how to talk?"
Ye Tan: "?"
I sighed. "Stop worrying about my affairs. Write something related to yourself."
Ye Tan nodded, and this time he put brush to paper without hesitation.
—"May every year be as today."
As soon as he finished, he quickly stuffed it into the lantern as if he were embarrassed, but I had already seen it clearly.
I said helplessly, "Why would you make such an inconsequential wish? Do you know what a huge opportunity you just wasted?"
If Ye Tan had wished for immense wealth, I could have straightened my back and said, "I grant it," then snapped my fingers to make it appear. Such a perfect chance to show off, and he didn't give it to me.
Ye Tan whispered, "I already feel as though I am in a dream."
***
