Life

"Why should I tell you?" Tianyan's bright, fluttering eyes fixed on the man's face inches away from hers, then she turned away. "Y-You only need to know that I'm older than you." Xu Yuan straightened up with a smile and looked at the girl hovering in midair, murmuring under his breath, "...Not willing to say? Then you must be an old hag." "An old hag?" "Well, your appearance certainly doesn't reveal your true age..." "Xu Changtian! Is riling me up really that amusing to you?" "Then tell me how old you are." "I'm not telling." "Suit yourself, then, childish old hag." As the two bickered, a crude matchbox of a building was quickly erected. Because of the excess timber, Xu Yuan chose to construct a three-story tenement-style building all in one go. Square and blocky on the outside, each floor spanned roughly two hundred square meters. Inside, there were no roof beams, partitions, or support pillars—just vast, open expanses. On top of that, the building looked dreadfully ugly. Due to the grain of the Thousand-Thorns Ghost Willow wood, the entire structure appeared bizarre and grotesque. Looking at the eyesore of a house, Tianyan's eyes showed a hint of distaste. "This is the house you were talking about?" "Is it that ugly?" "Very ugly." "True enough. Once we turn it into a home together, it won't be ugly anymore." "..." Tianyan felt a slight tremor in her heart. She opened her mouth to say something, only to see that Xu Yuan had already pushed open the wooden door and walked inside without looking back. Watching his figure vanish into the building, Tianyan quietly gazed up at the crude wooden structure for several breaths. With a soft huff, a helpless smile crept onto her lips. Days without pursuers at their heels were always leisurely and peaceful. The ghost mist severely impeded searches using intent-soul and Source Qi; even if their pursuers ventured deep into Zhujian Valley, as long as their luck wasn't exceptionally bad, they were virtually impossible to find. In these idle days, Xu Yuan resumed the healthy habit of sleeping. After all, his cultivation base grew on its own over time; he had no need to cultivate at all. Each day, he fell asleep to the rushing murmur of the waterfall outside the pavilion and woke up to Tianyan's exasperated shouts. They rose with the sun and rested at dusk. Truth be told, although Tianyan had an awkward temperament, she was genuinely a wonderful woman through and through. On the first day of moving in, while Xu Yuan laid out a blanket to sleep and rest, she had already begun tinkering with materials, carving formation runes onto the inner walls. Although both possessed formidable cultivation, staying inside the ghost mist for extended periods would still cause symptoms of ghost transformation. What was more, Tianyan needed to cultivate. Although Source Qi was exceptionally abundant within Zhujian Valley, years of ghost mist saturation meant the energy below could practically be termed "ghost qi." It could indeed be used for cultivation, but doing so would drastically accelerate the process of ghost transformation. Thus, they needed formation runes to shut out the ghost mist. On the second day after the frame was assembled, while Xu Yuan lounged lazily in an armchair reading, he saw Tianyan head into the ghost tree forest without a word. She left at dawn and did not return until dusk. Carrying a small pouch of flower and grass seeds, she painstakingly planted them by hand in the brown soil beside the secluded waterfall pool. Watching this from the side, Xu Yuan felt an inward smile. Back when they were at the Qionghua Sect, Tianyan had seemed quite fond of tending to flowers and plants. Come this time next year, when the blossoms were in full bloom, the area before the pavilion would surely be beautiful... On the third day, when Xu Yuan awoke from sleep, Tianyan had already begun "renovating" the pavilion's interior on her own. When he offered to help, she told him straight out to get lost. Her excuse was that his aesthetic sense was far too ugly, so their house would be better left in her hands. From then on, Xu Yuan became a complete salted fish, idling away his days. Because he tended to unconsciously attract all manner of yin entities, Xu Yuan rarely stepped outside unless necessary just to be safe. Aside from cooking for Tianyan, studying Dao Charm, and pondering the two cultivation methods inside him, he spent each day reading the various books he had accumulated over the past seven years. Meanwhile, Tianyan worked tirelessly to remodel their cozy nest, her petite figure bustling about inside and outside the pavilion all day long. The frothing white spray of the cascading waterfall washed through the entire summer, and gradually, the chill of late autumn pierced the heavy fog, seeping into the depths of Zhujian Valley... At dawn one day, Xu Yuan stood by the water. The misty spray from the waterfall was crisp and refreshing, clearing the lingering drowsiness of sleep from his mind. Turning his head, he took it in: The crude tenement-style block that had once stood alone beside the lake was now a meticulously crafted pavilion with upturned eaves. On the open ground beside it stood a stone gazebo for him to read in, paved bluestone paths, and a sea of flowers with budding blossoms. Amid that sea of flowers, a girl in a purple gauze dress bent over, tending to the plants with rapt attention, a faint smile playing between her brows. A few strands of long hair fell naturally against her temples; she gently raised a hand to tuck them behind her ear, looking gentle and dignified. Gazing at this scene that had grown all too familiar, Xu Yuan's heart involuntarily skipped a beat. If only life could go on like this forever... Right then, Tianyan suddenly looked up at him. Her golden eyes were limpid, and Xu Yuan reflexively averted his gaze. Noticing his reaction, Tianyan seemed slightly surprised, and then a mischievous smirk curved her lips. Straightening up, she flashed forward in a teleport, appearing directly before him. Her long hair danced in the wind as she looked down into his eyes, her lips curled: "Xu Yuan, were you peeking at me just now?" Regaining his composure, Xu Yuan rolled his eyes up at her. "Since when do I need to peek just to look at you?" The amusement in Tianyan's phoenix eyes deepened. She raised the watering pot in her hand and pressed with a bright smile, "Then why were you looking so guilty just now?" Xu Yuan chuckled offhandedly. "Probably because my heart was fluttering..." "Oh?" Tianyan wasn't flustered by the direct remark. Instead, she drew out the word, her eyes curving into bright crescents. "Fluttering over what?" "..." After a brief silence, Xu Yuan looked up at the lingering mist in the sky, smiled gently, and met her gaze directly. "I suddenly felt... "that living here with you for a lifetime wouldn't be bad at all." He turned his gaze toward the flower field she had planted. "Watching the blossoms bloom and wither together... this sort of life is truly infinitely better than all the scheming and plotting out there." "..." The smile in Tianyan's eyes froze, and her lips parted slightly. Xu Yuan raised a hand, gently brushing the girl's soft cheek before cupping the back of her head, drawing her closer. "So, what do you think?" "..." The rustling autumn wind swept across the withered treetops. Tianyan's bright golden eyes fluttered. Instinctively, she moved to pull away, but held back, meeting his gaze with a teasing expression. "You're asking me? What about your Ran Qingmo? She should still be waiting outside for you to come out." Xu Yuan fell silent at her words. He didn't answer immediately; only after several breaths did he ask quietly in return, "Tianyan, do you think... we can still get out?" "What if we can—" "You said 'what if' yourself. Do I really need to explain it to you?" "..." Tianyan's expression turned conflicted, and she asked in a low voice, "Is there really no way out?" Xu Yuan shook his head and murmured, "None. At least, none that I know of." The silence felt exceptionally still against the roar of the waterfall. Ever since arriving in Zhujian Valley, the two had rarely spoken about breaking the illusion. Part of it was avoidance, but more than that, it was because over all these years, they had exhausted every method available to them. The source of the illusion realm was dispersed among all living beings under heaven. Unless they slaughtered the entire world down to the last soul, getting out remained an insoluble riddle. And slaughtering the entire world by individual strength was simply an impossible feat... In the silence, Xu Yuan suddenly chuckled softly. "Alright, let's not dwell on this topic anymore. We—" Before he could finish, *Buzz—* A barely perceptible humming sound instantly choked off his words. His pupils shrank as he looked toward the east. As far as the eye could see, there was only gently drifting white mist and the shadowy silhouettes of the ghost tree forest. Yet through his perception of qi dynamics, east of the secluded pool was engulfed in a colossal, vortex-like fluctuation. Tianyan reacted even faster, glancing sideways with a solemn expression. "Xu Yuan, this is a sound Dao scouting technique." After months of reprieve, their pursuers had finally arrived.