“You actually let him leave?!”
In the simple, elegant courtyard, Pei Shian and Wei Xiyang sat opposite each other.
Wei Xiyang’s face was a mask of shock and disbelief. He blurted out, “Have you lost your mind?! Do you not know what he’s going to do?!”
He claimed he was going traveling, but the Dongling envoys had only just departed. The moment Ye Zhao left the capital, he headed straight in their direction. Who couldn't guess his true intentions?
Traveling, my foot!
If even Wei Xiyang could guess it, there was no way Pei Shian hadn't. However, he merely said in a calm voice, “I know.”
“You know, and yet you didn't stop him? What are you thinking?” Wei Xiyang’s eyebrows shot up, his voice booming like a great bell. He looked as if he wanted to grab Pei Shian by the ears and scream into them to see if he could wake the man up.
“He’s going to Dongling! He’s going to see Xiao Mu! Xiao Mu!”
“Do you even know who Xiao Mu is? He’s his old flame!”
Wei Xiyang was so incensed that his palms, as large as cattail fans, slammed against the stone table with a series of sharp cracks.
“The moment he regains his memories, the first person he goes to see is Xiao Mu. If you try to tell me there’s nothing between them, I’ll be damned if I believe it! What does he take you for? Are you not even angry?”
Seeing Pei Shian’s composed and leisurely manner only added fuel to the fire of Wei Xiyang’s rage.
*How can this man always look like such a listless fool?* Wei Xiyang thought to himself.
“Angry? Why?” Pei Shian asked in return. Then, he continued, “Simply because he is going to offer a sacrifice at Xiao Mu’s grave?”
Wei Xiyang paused, only then remembering that Xiao Mu was already a dead man.
“Then why bother traveling thousands of miles for it?” Wei Xiyang insisted, refusing to let his momentum weaken in the slightest, stubbornly maintaining his front.
“He must have his reasons,” Pei Shian thought, and so he said it aloud.
“You certainly are magnanimous,” Wei Xiyang snorted, his voice laced with silent sarcasm.
Pei Shian felt a sense of helplessness. “Ever since he reappeared before us, why have you never had a kind word for him? You act as if you have a personal grudge against him.”
“...I do not.” Wei Xiyang choked on his words. He looked angry, yet not entirely so. In a cold voice, he said, “Does he not deserve a scolding? He left without a word for so many years, and now he suddenly returns!”
“And... and he remembered nothing.”
“He forgot all of us. Everything.” Wei Xiyang’s voice grew heavy.
How could he not be angry? When Tianshu had vanished without a trace, leaving only a single letter behind, Wei Xiyang had wanted to ride his horse across the entire world to find him. But a day passed, then a year, until several years had gone by...
Tianshu had seemingly evaporated from the mortal realm; from that point on, not a whisper of news was heard.
His emotions had shifted from initial fury to helplessness, panic, and anxiety, until finally, with the passage of time, he was forced to accept the reality that the man no longer existed.
It was a feeling like subconsciously trying to forget a certain event or existence, yet the moment you think you have succeeded, the memory rushes back, vivid and clear.
But while Wei Xiyang had cherished those memories for years, upon their reunion, Ye Zhao had been able to cast them all aside with utter composure, even playing him for a fool by pretending he hadn't remembered a thing!
How could Wei Xiyang not be resentful?
By what right! By what right could he forget so cleanly! It was infuriating!
“But you... Pei Shian, why can’t you just harden your heart against him a little?” Wei Xiyang looked at his old friend, who was no longer young, his eyes full of lament.
“You never demand anything of him, but look—in the end, you still come up empty-handed. Do you not resent him? Not even a little?”
The two of them had weathered many storms together over the years. He knew exactly how deep Pei Shian’s feelings for Tianshu ran.
But in all honesty, it wasn't worth it!
After a long silence, Pei Shian remained mute.
He watched Wei Xiyang quietly, his gaze full of scrutiny. Slowly, he shifted his brows and asked tentatively, “Is this why you are always cursing Ye Zhao? To vent your frustrations on my behalf?”
As expected, Wei Xiyang was the type of person who, even when caring for others, had to take a convoluted path and refused to speak plainly.
Perhaps because Pei Shian’s expression was too subtle, Wei Xiyang, after being stared at for two seconds, bristled like a startled cat. He shouted, “What nonsense are you talking about?! Who’s frustrated?! That useless brat Ye Zhao deserves to be scolded more!”
Wei Xiyang denied it vehemently, refusing to admit that his distaste for Ye Zhao was for Pei Shian’s sake.
Pei Shian did not expose him. He listened to the man grumble for a while, and only when the other fell silent did he speak. “You are overthinking it. Those feelings from years ago... I have long since let them go.”
...
“What did you say?!” Wei Xiyang looked as if he hadn't processed the words, as if he were listening to someone talk in their sleep.
Pei Shian said, “I said, I am no longer obsessed.”
Watching Wei Xiyang’s expression slowly turn to one of stunned amazement, Pei Shian’s heart felt as calm as still water, without a single ripple. His voice drifted slowly. “In my youth, I had a most magnificent dream. Even after waking, I could never forget it. It was like a fixation, an illusion; my heart yearned to see that vision again, and the fragments of the dream were etched deeper and deeper into my mind.”
“But a dream, in the end, is something that cannot be pursued. I was trapped by deep affection, a prisoner of my own making. Fortunately, I have stepped out of that small world where I confined myself. Only now do I realize that letting go is, in fact, quite easy.”
...
Wei Xiyang looked at him, his heart also filled with emotion. Ultimately, he only said in a quiet voice, “It is not too late to have realized this now.”
After a long while, silence fell between them.
Suddenly, Wei Xiyang asked, “When is Ye Zhao coming back?”
Pei Shian turned his head to gaze at the distant sky and sighed softly. “It will be some time yet. By now, he should have reached Dongling.”
A wind laced with a hint of chill whistled through the forest, making the branches and leaves dance with a rhythmic rustling.
“I lied to you.”
Xiao Hongfei stood with his arms crossed, leaning against a tree. He watched the man standing before a stone tablet at the edge of the cliff and spoke suddenly.
That day, Ye Zhao had suddenly caught up with their party. At the moment he saw Ye Zhao, he had been surprised.
But later, he suddenly understood... the person who had pursued them was Tianshu.
“I don't have any ring. The one you gave my foster father years ago was buried with him in his grave long ago.”
As he spoke, his face remained expressionless. He only stared calmly at Ye Zhao’s back, secretly observing his reaction.
“Oh, is that so...” Hearing that he had been deceived, Ye Zhao only gave a faint response.
This was the legendary Tianshu; was this his only reaction to being tricked?
Xiao Hongfei tilted his head slightly. “You aren't angry?”
Ye Zhao replied, “What is there to be angry about? It was but a single sentence.”
“But I lied to you. Does that ring not have some special meaning to you?” Xiao Hongfei asked.
Ye Zhao looked up toward the west. There lay an endless plain, a sea of grass and green land that stretched beyond the horizon. With this mountain as the boundary, the east was filled with rolling green hills and the silhouettes of cities.
To the west was Dongling; to the east was the Wei Kingdom. This small mountain, situated exactly on the border of the two nations, was the place where Tianshu and Xiao Mu had met in secret many times.
“Sigh...”
Ye Zhao suddenly let out a soft sigh. He withdrew his gaze from the ethereal distance and turned to cast a brief, light glance at Xiao Hongfei. “I truly wonder what your foster father told you to make you misunderstand to this extent.”
Misunderstand?
Those words made Xiao Hongfei raise an eyebrow. A casual smile played on his lips as he asked with interest, “Foster father told me many things about you. He said you were a rare genius of this world and his destined rival. At the same time, you were the person he most wanted to be near, the one he felt the most kinship with.”
“Oh, then it seems you actually know everything.”
Ye Zhao said this because he felt that the reason Xiao Hongfei had joined the others in teasing him about an affair with Xiao Mu was merely out of a sense of playfulness.
The answer Xiao Hongfei just gave was the most accurate description of his relationship with Xiao Mu. There was no such thing as 'love at first arrow'; those were all baseless rumors spread by the world.
But after Xiao Hongfei finished speaking, he slowly shook his head and said, “Foster father said you were rivals and also soulmates. But those words... I only believe half of them.”
In his childhood, when he first asked his foster father about the ring on his hand, his foster father had smiled with eyes full of the colors of reminiscence. He had answered softly: *'This was given to me by the most important person I have ever met in my life.'*
Later, Xiao Hongfei learned that the person who gave him the ring was Tianshu.
He was well aware of the scandalous rumors circulating in the streets about Tianshu and his foster father, and he himself didn't know how much of them he believed.
“Only fifty percent credibility?” Ye Zhao murmured to himself with a helpless sigh. “It seems that blockhead Xiao Mu didn't express himself clearly enough. He was always so prone to making people misunderstand.”
“Your foster father was a man obsessed with military affairs his entire life. He was born for the battlefield and truly deserved the title of War God.”
Ye Zhao began to speak of the past as if no one else were there, his words a rambling stream of reminiscence. “He was just a bit dull when it came to social conduct. The way he spoke and acted always led people to misunderstand his meaning.”
“This is the place where he and I first met privately. Later, we met here often. I imagine he must have told you something about that?”
Xiao Hongfei’s eyelashes trembled as he gave a low response. “Yes.”
He slightly averted his eyes, whether because he was weary or because he didn't want to glimpse the grave before him. He said softly, “He said you often played chess here, sparred, and exchanged military tactics, like the best of friends. But at that time, you were the commanders-in-chief of two opposing armies.”
This was also the most unbelievable part to the rest of the world. Who would believe that while two nations were at war, the commanders of their respective armies were secretly becoming best friends?
It was simply sensational!
And yet, it had actually happened!
Ye Zhao recalled that period of time. Although the memories were somewhat blurred, the feeling of shared disbelief still lingered in his heart. “That was perhaps the most absurd coincidence in the world, and also the most wondrous stroke of fate.”
“So, slowly, you both developed feelings for each other?” Xiao Hongfei asked, finding it amusing.
Ye Zhao looked back at him again, his gaze very much like a helpless eye-roll. “Are you only daring to be this reckless with your words because your foster father can't crawl out of his grave right now?”
“No.”
Ye Zhao gazed at the distant scenery, his eyes seemingly fixed on the void, drifting to some unknown place.
“I have never given anyone a token of love. That ring... it was merely a return gift for your foster father allowing my army a period of rest after a battle years ago. After all, as you know, Dongling was aggressive back then, and the Wei Kingdom was weak and exhausted. Leading those remnants of a defeated army, it was nearly impossible for me to turn the tide.”
“Your foster father wanted to have a fair contest with me on the battlefield. I appreciated his tolerance and sincerity. I had nothing else to thank him with, and seeing that he used a spear year-round and had an old injury on the knuckle of his left ring finger, I gave him a ring to make it easier for him to exert force.”
“Who would have thought that Wei Xiyang and the rest of you would think of it as something else.” As he spoke, Ye Zhao gave a helpless smile.
...
After hearing this explanation of the past, Xiao Hongfei said nothing, as if weighing whether Ye Zhao’s words were true or false.
“So that’s how it was. But even if what you said is false, it’s not like my foster father can crawl out of his grave to give you a beating.”
After a long while, Xiao Hongfei spoke with feigned indifference, adding, “It’s better this way. Let it be...”
His words were strange, leaving Ye Zhao momentarily confused and unable to grasp the other’s mindset.
Thus, Ye Zhao asked, “Or did you actually believe the world’s rumors? That your foster father lived out his life in solitude because he was in love with me?”
Before Xiao Hongfei could react, he heard Ye Zhao continue: “You understand your foster father far too little.”
He turned back, his gaze carefully sweeping over Xiao Hongfei’s handsome face, as if he were secretly comparing him to someone else in his heart. His eyes were deep, carrying a heavy sense of the vicissitudes of time.
“Just as I can only keep company with the passing years, for your foster father, having a powerful opponent to be both enemy and friend was enough for him to live this life.”
“Perhaps it is true that he waited for me, but it was never out of love. Rather... it was for his own satisfaction.”
Xiao Hongfei looked at him, momentarily dazed. He could feel that Ye Zhao wasn't lying; he was speaking from the heart. Then... was it that he truly didn't understand his own foster father?
Xiao Hongfei’s gaze involuntarily shifted to the small stone tablet beside Ye Zhao. Unable to describe the feeling in his heart, he suddenly said, “My foster father insisted on being buried here even in death. He still wanted to wait for you.”
Ye Zhao nodded. “Yes. I know, which is why I came.”
The world likely did not know that Dongling’s famous War God, Xiao Mu, was buried on such a desolate little mountain at the border of two neighboring countries.
Because the person he was waiting for was in the Wei Kingdom, a solitary grave had waited for who knows how many years at the place where he once frequented with his old friend.
Xiao Hongfei fell silent, his brow furrowed. His face held conflict and confusion, along with a faint trace of irritation and dissatisfaction.
He still couldn't understand the meaning behind his foster father’s actions, nor could he grasp the kind of emotion Ye Zhao described. Was it truly that he didn't know his foster father well enough?
“You finally admit you are Tianshu...” Xiao Hongfei stared at the man before him with a complex gaze, then asked in a heavy voice, “Where did you go during those years you disappeared?”
Ye Zhao said nothing, only letting out a long sigh.
Just when Xiao Hongfei thought he wouldn't answer, he heard Ye Zhao’s voice, slow and deliberate. “I went to continue being someone else’s hero.”
“...A madman.”
“...A beggar.”
Three starkly different words came from Ye Zhao’s mouth in succession. His tone was low and raspy. At first listen, it sounded light and ordinary, but after a moment of realization, Xiao Hongfei was struck by the weight behind those words.
He composed himself, quietly observing this man whose name was spoken of like a legend across the four nations.
At this moment, Ye Zhao’s face was still young, but for some reason, from that upright and slender back, Xiao Hongfei sensed a profound loneliness.
“It sounds like your experiences over the years weren't very good?”
Xiao Hongfei narrowed his eyes, lowered his hands, and turned to leave. He continued in a relaxed tone, “Then I am happy.”
At least his foster father wasn't the only one suffering.
Xiao Hongfei showed not a shred of respect for the legendary figure, making no effort to hide his schadenfreude.
He waved a hand casually behind him. “I hope we never meet again, Tianshu.”
Since Tianshu’s battle with Xiao Mu and his subsequent disappearance for several years, Dongling had not been without thoughts of making a comeback. However, those impulses had all been secretly suppressed by his foster father.
With this trip, he had fulfilled his foster father’s lingering regret. There was no longer any connection between him and Ye Zhao. There should not be a day they met again; if there were, it would surely be on the battlefield.
He hoped that day would never come...
***
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