Eye to Eye

"Take me to your place first so I know where the door is." Duan Yuxian planned to move in tomorrow. Tonight, she would stay one more night at the e-sports hotel to indulge herself for the last time. She quietly pulled a starch sausage from her plastic bag. After finishing this final one, she had no idea when she would be able to afford the next. Delicious. As the two walked along the road, Duan Yuxian suddenly said, "By the way, I will pay back the one thousand yuan I owe you." "No need." Zhou You was caught between laughter and tears. He felt Duan Yuxian was even poorer than he was right now. Besides, he shared the blame for how things had ended up, so how could he possibly ask for the money? Duan Yuxian waved her hand, her tone firm, brooking no argument. "A promise is a promise." Zhou You shook his head with a chuckle and said no more, figuring she would forget all about it in a couple of days. He led her to an old residential compound and pointed at a building. "Look, that lit window on the sixth floor is my apartment. You can stay on the roof above it. In a little while, I'll bring the tent up for you." The corner of Duan Yuxian's eye twitched slightly. The conditions were even worse than she had imagined. Whatever. Having a place to stay is good enough—no room to be picky. "Then I shall trouble you, fellow Daoist." Duan Yuxian bowed. After a brief hesitation, she added, "I have one more request, fellow Daoist: please do not tell Tingxue about any of this." Sneaking over to find Zhou You and blowing a hundred thousand yuan—if Su Tingxue found out, she would never be able to hold her head high in front of her again. Zhou You had no idea what Duan Yuxian was worried about, assuming she merely had other concerns. Had he known what she was fretting over, he probably would have comforted her by saying their situations were pretty much the same, since Su Tingxue had bought one too. "All right. Well then, fellow Daoist, see you tomorrow?" To his surprise, Duan Yuxian shook her head. "I want to take a look at the tent first." Without seeing the tent with her own eyes, she wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully back at the e-sports hotel tonight. "In that case, fellow Daoist, could you please wait on the roof for a moment while I head inside to fetch it?" Zhou You had originally intended to suggest she climb the ladder from the sixth floor to the roof, but Duan Yuxian had her own ideas. Spotting a poplar tree beside the building, she moved with unbelievable agility, scurrying along the trunk and stepping lightly onto the branches until she reached the height of the sixth floor. Then, with a silent leap reminiscent of a stray neighborhood cat, she bounded directly onto the roof. Looks like this fellow Daoist climbs trees quite often? Zhou You felt he could probably make the jump up there as well, though certainly not with the practiced ease she had displayed. Returning to his apartment, he rummaged through drawers and cupboards until he unearthed a long-unused tent from the corner of the wardrobe. "How long has it been since I last touched this?" Zhou You counted backward. The last time he had used it was during the summer vacation between his first year of junior high and his second—four years ago already. "That was when I went to the seaside with Chu Xiaoyao's family. Didn't she start claiming after we got back that a black dragon capable of destroying the world was sealed inside her body?" Zhou You shook his head. Too much time had passed, and he had been young back then, so the details were blurry. He opened the window and leaned out to look up, locating the protruding eaves. He planned to leap onto the roof straight from the sill. With his current physical ability, even if he failed the jump, he wouldn't fall to his death; it was merely a question of how many tries it would take. Tucking the tent bag under his arm, Zhou You stepped onto the window frame. His calf muscles tensed, and with a light surge of force, he sprang upward, seized the eaves, and smoothly vaulted onto the rooftop. "Made it on the first try." Zhou You was slightly surprised; his agility was even better than expected. Duan Yuxian stood at the edge of the roof, gazing out over the residential compound. Since the hour was late and the compound's streetlights were rather dim, Zhou You could only make out her silhouette, which lent her a touch of mystery. Her mouth was moving as she munched on a fried skewer. Seeing Zhou You arrive, she quickly wolfed down the rest of the skewer in a few bites, wiped her lips with her sleeve, and hurriedly put her mask back on. The top layer of the roof was waterproof membrane, giving it a slight bounce underfoot. Zhou You pulled out the tent components, looked up, and invited her, "Want to pitch it together?" Duan Yuxian did not refuse. After all, this was where she would be staying starting tomorrow—or rather, for the entire month before school started. The last time Zhou You had pitched a tent was four years ago, so he had forgotten most of the steps. Duan Yuxian was even worse off; she had never set up a tent in her life. "I'll assemble the poles, and you spread the tent out on the ground?" Zhou You divided the labor. "All right." "...My poles are done. How are things on your end?... Wait, you laid it upside down. This side should be facing up." "I don't know which side is which." "...It's a bit dark. Illumination Art... Why do you look so surprised? Isn't this a basic spell? You don't know it?" "...Step on that corner. Step on both corners—hey, hey, wrong corner!" "...Wind! Watch out for the wind! It's going to blow the tent away!" Fortunately, the tent had a simple design. Even though they were flustered and their teamwork was an utter mess, they managed to get it assembled in the end. A gentle breeze swept past, making the tent sway slightly. Squatting on the ground, both of them felt quite pleased with the fruits of their labor. Duan Yuxian in particular, having done it with her own hands for the first time, felt a deep sense of satisfaction, as if she had built her very own little house from scratch. Perhaps this kind of life wouldn't be so bad after all? "I'll go grab you a quilt." Zhou You stood up and headed back down to his room. Beneath his bed frame was an open storage compartment used to store folded quilts, pillows, and mattresses. The mattress wasn't the firm, sharp-edged modern kind, but an older cotton-filled pad with bright red fabric on one side that could be folded up. Gathering the quilt, pillow, and mattress in his arms, he prepared to haul them up trip by trip. Duan Yuxian called down from the edge of the roof, "That's too troublesome! Just throw them straight up—I'll catch them!" Zhou You complied, tossing the pillow with a heave. He misjudged the force, failing to give it a proper arc. Seeing that it wouldn't reach the roof, Duan Yuxian conjured a suction force in her palm, pulling the pillow straight into her grasp. "Got it! Next one!" Duan Yuxian shouted. The rolled-up quilt, mattress, and bedsheet were tossed up in turn, caught by Duan Yuxian, and laid inside the tent layer by layer. She wrapped the mattress in the sheet, then arranged the pillow and quilt on top. "Mission accomplished!" Seeing that Zhou You wasn't around, Duan Yuxian gave herself a thumbs-up. "Fellow Daoist, do you need anything else?" Zhou You hurried back up to the roof to ask. "Nothing for now." "Then I shall take my leave." Zhou You checked his phone. It was already midnight after all that commotion, well past time to sleep. Once she was sure Zhou You had left, Duan Yuxian took off her mask, revealing her exquisite features. She lay flat inside the tent. The mattress wasn't particularly plush, yet she found it surprisingly comfortable. Perhaps sleeping here tonight wouldn't be a bad idea either? "I have to sleep here tomorrow anyway, so I might as well sleep here tonight." Duan Yuxian felt a wave of drowsiness. Today had truly been exhausting. With her cultivation attainment, her body wasn't tired, but her mind was completely drained. She had played games all day, rushed over to find Zhou You at night, gone broke, and ended up in a tent. Life's great ups and downs were nothing more than this. Without even bothering to check her phone, she fell fast asleep. Late in the night, Duan Yuxian tossed and turned, her brow furrowing as she mumbled softly. "So hot..." It was August, and even at night, the sweltering heat offered no escape. Hazy with sleep, Duan Yuxian crawled out of the tent clutching her pillow. The e-sports hotel was too far away; she would just find somewhere closer to sleep. Swaying groggily, she pushed open the window and climbed into Zhou You's bedroom. The refreshing, cool breeze from the air conditioner deepened her slumber. Tossing the pillow onto the floor, Duan Yuxian collapsed beside it and fell right back to sleep. "So nice... I'll just wake up early tomorrow so he won't notice..." In the morning, Zhou You woke up a bit ahead of his alarm. His eyes half-open, he sat at the head of the bed, staring blankly into space. Why does it feel like there's something extra in the bedroom? He looked down, and all at once, his mind snapped wide awake—more effective than a bucket of cold water dumped over his head. Why is there suddenly a person here?! Who is this girl, and what happened yesterday?! I didn't do anything, did I?! The morning sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, catching the girl's eyelashes so clearly that every single one stood out. Her flawless face was bathed in the faint dawn light, looking just like a work of art. Zhou You felt a nagging familiarity about her face, as if he had seen it somewhere before. He hadn't seen her in real life, nor on television, but on the forum... Duan Yuxian?! He had searched the Immortal Cultivation Forum using "Duan Yuxian" as a keyword, and the posts included photos. No wonder she had kept her mask on the whole time and claimed to be Su Tingxue's friend. Bzzzz— The phone alarm began to vibrate and ring. Heavy with sleep, Duan Yuxian kept her eyes tightly shut, unwilling to wake, her voice carrying a hint of petulance. "Too loud... turn it off~" Zhou You hastily shut off the alarm. Duan Yuxian opened her eyes. The two found themselves looking right into each other's eyes.