Zhai Bairong had technically visited once before. On that occasion, he had been searching for Duan Mingyu, only to end up at Nie Shiyun’s residence. Now, years later, the situation had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
The front of the mountain was currently in a state of chaos, so Nie Shiyun led Zhai Bairong back to his secluded cave dwelling on the rear mountain. Since coming out of seclusion, he had been busy recuperating and forging equipment, leaving him no time to decorate. Had he known Zhai Bairong was coming, he likely would have put more effort into tidying the place up.
Zhai Bairong did not mind. Whether it was the small courtyard in Blossom City or the shop within the secret realm, none of them could be described as spacious or luxurious, yet each was more unforgettable than the last.
"Did your sect make things difficult for you?" Nie Shiyun asked urgently as soon as they sat down.
Zhai Bairong hesitated for a moment. Seeing Nie Shiyun’s expression sharpen, he didn't want to worry him and quickly explained, "I took the initiative to report to Master. At first, he did feel I had handled things poorly. However, after hearing my explanation, he didn't blame me too much. He was just a bit disappointed."
"And... regarding me?" Nie Shiyun thought of the reactions from the Yingyue Sect group earlier; they likely already knew.
"The speed of your advancement was simply too fast. Did you start preparing the moment you returned to Yunqing Pavilion?"
"I felt the breakthrough coming. There was no benefit in dragging it out," Nie Shiyun smiled.
Zhai Bairong recalled that not long after he had first mentioned Nie Shiyun’s name to Qu Zhanmeng, news arrived that Nie Shiyun had entered seclusion to ascend to the Nascent Soul stage.
Initially, when Qu Zhanmeng accepted the gifts Nie Shiyun had sent through Zhai Bairong, he merely thought Nie Shiyun was a discerning junior. Zhai Bairong had selectively reported a few details when the timing was right, but seeing his master’s lukewarm interest in Nie Shiyun, he hadn't said much more.
Who would have expected that in the blink of an eye, this Nie Shiyun would reach the Nascent Soul stage!
Just as most other sects thought, Yunqing Pavilion was currently in a transitional phase, poised for a rise, making it a power worth befriending. Qu Zhanmeng was overjoyed and summoned Zhai Bairong again, asking him to provide a detailed introduction.
Although Qu Zhanmeng seemed to appreciate Nie Shiyun, the man was still a cultivator from another sect. Furthermore, his junior sister Qi Xuan'er was the sister of Pinyin Pavilion’s beloved disciple Qi Miaohan. Zhai Bairong carefully measured his tone during the introduction, not daring to appear too sincere for fear of inadvertently displeasing Qu Zhanmeng.
In Qu Zhanmeng’s eyes, this disciple of his was excellent in every other regard—diligent in cultivation and obedient since childhood—but when it came to matters of the heart, he was too easily ensnared. Qu Zhanmeng did not want to see a cultivator raised by the Yingyue Sect siding with outsiders. Zhai Bairong deliberately avoided mentioning the depth of their feelings, instead describing how Nie Shiyun was enamored with him, giving him gifts in the secret realm and helping him forge magic treasures. Qu Zhanmeng was very satisfied with this and suspected nothing. He simply felt that after the ordeal with Duan Mingyu, Zhai Bairong had finally learned his lesson and understood that in the cultivation world, interests were more important than affection.
Weighing it all up, though they had lost a means of controlling Duan Mingyu, they had gained a close relationship with this young, newly-ascended Nascent Soul cultivator of Yunqing Pavilion. Qu Zhanmeng felt that, in the long run, the Yingyue Sect might have come out ahead.
"Since you have this layer of relationship with him, I shall send you to pay a formal visit this time. However, your seniority is still a bit low; it wouldn't seem sincere enough to the outside world. I will find a sect elder to accompany you and maintain appearances," Qu Zhanmeng had said.
Zhai Bairong had bowed in agreement, his attitude respectful. "Then, regarding Duan Mingyu..."
Qu Zhanmeng thought of how the Soul Transformation Ancestor above the Yingyue Sect had once again irritably pressed him for updates on Duan Mingyu’s cultivation progress a few days ago, and a flash of displeasure crossed his face. Seeing Zhai Bairong standing before him with his head bowed, quietly awaiting orders, he waved a hand dismissively. "You don't need to worry about him for the time being. Since he has returned safely to the Yingyue Sect, just let him stay within the sect from now on. He is not permitted to go out."
Nie Shiyun nodded as Zhai Bairong recounted the events.
"So, it turns out I was 'smitten by your beauty' and couldn't help but curry favor with you," Nie Shiyun joked, moving behind Zhai Bairong and pulling him into his arms before he could react.
Zhai Bairong said helplessly, "It's a pity you have to be misunderstood by Master Qu and the others again."
Nie Shiyun wasn't the only one being misunderstood. Zhai Bairong himself was also being misread by Qu Zhanmeng, who believed he was largely prostituting himself to Nie Shiyun for the sake of profit. Moreover, Qu Zhanmeng was quite pleased with this. Had Zhai Bairong not seen through his master's ways long ago, he might have been distressed by such an attitude years back.
"Just as you considered before, they won't be on guard against us as long as they misunderstand."
Nie Shiyun didn't care what the higher-ups of the Yingyue Sect thought of them; he just found the situation amusing. He immediately began to "be smitten by beauty" through practical action.
Zhai Bairong had also missed him dearly during this time and reached out quite passionately to embrace him.
It was said that time was the one thing cultivators never lacked, and years could pass like a single day in the blink of an eye. But Zhai Bairong felt this didn't apply to him. At first, he could endure a year of separation, but now, being apart for just two months felt like three long years. Although he had long known Nie Shiyun’s heart, when Zhai Bairong was alone, he would occasionally wonder if he was becoming overly lovesick. Only upon meeting and feeling Nie Shiyun’s hugs and kisses did he slowly return to his usual state.
"You're here!"
The warm atmosphere between the two was interrupted by Meiqiu’s joyful cry.
"No sense of timing at all," Nie Shiyun remarked.
Meiqiu usually hovered around the two of them anyway. They no longer bothered to hide their intimacy. Zhai Bairong pulled away from Nie Shiyun’s lips and turned to look at Meiqiu with a smile. "It's been a while. Have you adjusted to life at Yunqing Pavilion?"
He took out a bottle of sugar pills from his storage ring for Meiqiu. Meiqiu’s eyes lit up at the sight, and he immediately flew over to snatch the small bottle with his beak. Opening a bottle cap was somewhat inconvenient in bird form, but fortunately, he had long since learned to skillfully switch to human form while simultaneously donning clothes. In an instant, a child wearing a small padded jacket replaced the crow, eagerly opening the bottle to eat.
"Mmph, mmph, there's nothing much to do at Yunqing Pavilion... but, well, the braised pork hocks sold at the tavern at the foot of the mountain are really fragrant."
"He's still wearing a padded jacket," Zhai Bairong noted, looking at Meiqiu and remembering something.
"Oh, right. He usually stays in the space and doesn't transform much, so he has no concept of hot or cold," Nie Shiyun realized. It was already the third month of spring, yet Meiqiu was still wearing the padded jackets from the secret realm that made him look like a round ball.
Meiqiu’s cheeks were bulging as he chewed a handful of sugar pills, looking at them blankly.
"When I have time, I'll take you down the mountain to have a couple of new outfits made," Nie Shiyun said.
"Oh..." Meiqiu was not particularly interested. He had learned the common sense that one must wear clothes in human form, but he still lacked any refined taste in clothing. In his view, even the finest silk was not as beautiful as his own original feathers.
The two talked intimately for a while longer until Meiqiu began to find it boring. Having said his greetings, he clutched his bottle of sugar pills and dove back into the jade pendant.
At this point, Nie Shiyun remembered the main business. He told Zhai Bairong how the elder from Chiyan Cliff was lingering here, seemingly waiting for the Yingyue Sect to arrive. Zhai Bairong frowned and asked casually, "Xu Yehua isn't here, is he?"
"Of course not. If he were forced by his sect to come and congratulate me on reaching the Nascent Soul stage, he'd probably have died of rage halfway here," Nie Shiyun joked.
"True." Zhai Bairong thought about it; if that were really the case, there was no telling what Xu Yehua might do.
Zhai Bairong was a junior after all, so his knowledge of the situation wasn't exhaustive, but at the very least, he knew that the Yingyue Sect and Chiyan Cliff had planted spies within each other's ranks. He felt that Chiyan Cliff might have sensed something suspicious about Duan Mingyu and wanted to use this opportunity to investigate. However, the list of accompanying personnel was not made public; it was only today, upon the Yingyue Sect's arrival, that they realized Duan Mingyu had not come along.
"Speaking of which, I find it strange that Duan Mingyu didn't shamelessly insist on coming. It seems he finally understands that you weren't just trying to spite him."
Zhai Bairong felt a wave of helplessness recalling the situation. He had clearly explained everything to Duan Mingyu and had maintained his distance throughout the journey back from the secret realm, returning to the simple relationship of a senior brother and a junior. Yet before this trip, Duan Mingyu, who had been quiet for a while, had suddenly come to him again, bitterly lamenting and bringing up how inseparable they had been during their last visit to Yunqing Pavilion.
"I heard that you are going to congratulate Nie Shiyun on his advancement to the Nascent Soul stage, Senior Brother. Is it... is it because his cultivation is so much higher than mine, and you think I'm useless, so..."
Faced with such questioning from Duan Mingyu, Zhai Bairong only felt that he and the other were on two completely different, uncommunicable wavelengths. Xu Yehua was like this, Qu Zhanmeng was like this—it seemed many people around him believed that companionship between cultivators was mostly born of interest. This made Zhai Bairong, whose repeated explanations had yielded no results, feel quite weary.
"Duan Mingyu. In previous years, I may have deliberately hidden things from you, but ultimately, it was you who was unfaithful first," Zhai Bairong said, looking at Duan Mingyu’s face. "I once gave you everything out of sincerity. If it had been only the two of us from beginning to end, perhaps it would still be so now... but there are no 'ifs' in this world."
"I was sincere too! Although I also like Brother Rong Lü and Yehua, I didn't stop liking you because of that, Senior Brother..." Duan Mingyu’s brows furrowed slightly as he clutched his chest, his breathing hurried.
Zhai Bairong was stunned for a moment, thinking of the plot Nie Shiyun had once described to him that was supposed to happen in the original story. Was he, in the plan of the Heavenly Dao, actually supposed to eventually and gladly accept such nonsensical logic?
Seeing him silent, Duan Mingyu thought Zhai Bairong’s stance had softened and continued, "Has Senior Brother forgotten? That Nie Shiyun used to pursue me because of my looks. Now that he’s become so powerful, there will surely be many beauties chasing after him. Can you guarantee, Senior Brother, that he won't be moved by someone else in the future?"
*That person isn't Nie Shiyun,* Zhai Bairong thought to himself.
"The past is in the past. In short, I have said all I have to say. Instead of trying to keep me here, you should cherish what you still have." Zhai Bairong sighed. Perhaps unlike himself, Rong Lü could endure this kind of three-way relationship. If so, there was no harm in letting them continue to plague each other.
Zhai Bairong thought about his upcoming trip to Yunqing Pavilion. To avoid the conflict between Duan Mingyu and the Yingyue Sect, he might deliberately find a reason to stay there for a while. After all, he was the one who had brought Duan Mingyu back to the Yingyue Sect; seeing him left ignorantly in the hands of those old foxes, he ultimately couldn't help but mention: "The world is even more treacherous than you imagine. If there is a chance, let Rong Lü take you away."
"Eh?" Duan Mingyu was stunned, completely bewildered. "What does that mean?"
Although they weren't being monitored by his Master here, Zhai Bairong still couldn't speak too plainly. He only left behind the words, "This matter cannot be spoken of further," and after making Duan Mingyu swear an oath of secrecy, he departed without lingering, leaving Duan Mingyu alone in a state of anxious trepidation.
After this, his life or death would be up to fate.
***
