Chapter 20

In the blink of an eye, it was Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon, which was not yet fully round, was hanging in the sky. In the moonlight, Zheng Shu was directing Qiao Lang to move the table to the yard. Tong Le and others brought the dishes and placed them on the table.

Qin Zunyue was cooking in the kitchen. He was already hot-bodied and was sweating profusely in the kitchen. The wind blowing in from the window was not enough to cool him down at all.

Seeing him wiping his sweat frequently, Liu Huaizhao cast a cooling spell, and Qin Zunyue gave him a grateful look.

Tong Le kept going back and forth between the kitchen and the yard, occasionally saying a few words to Liu Huaizhao.

During this week or so, without any distractions from other things, Liu Huaizhao, in addition to producing golden elixirs, was teaching them and the soldiers in the army how to fly.

The spell to transform the pure air into spiritual power was not difficult and they memorized it quickly, but the process of using the spiritual power to make themselves fly was indeed difficult.

This spell is actually not difficult, it is entry-level. Liu Huaizhao doesn't even know how to teach it. It is too simple for him. He can only tell them the method, send them fresh energy, and watch them practice repeatedly.

But after all, they did not learn these things since childhood, and their techniques are too unfamiliar.

In order to ensure that the soldiers going to the front line quickly learned this before leaving the safe city, Liu Huaizhao stayed in the command center for a long time to guide them. He was almost never at home except at night. This gave Qin Zunyue time to secretly prepare a gift for him.

Today's dinner was particularly sumptuous. Qin Zunyue also made mooncakes. He has become a master now and can make both Chinese and Western desserts. Liu Huaizhao was given a special meal by Qin Zunyue before the meal and ate a piece in advance. The mooncakes now are not the same as the ones they had back then, but he still thinks they are delicious, almost better than the ones made by the grandma up the mountain - you know, the grandma's craftsmanship is famous within a hundred miles.

There was a table full of dishes, and Qin Zunyue even opened a bottle of white wine for the first time.

"Brother Qin, where did you get the wine?" Qiao Lang asked.

"Uncle Wang gave it to me." Qin Zunyue unscrewed the cap of the bottle. "We'll be leaving after Liu Huaizhao's birthday. Uncle Wang said he won't eat with us, so this is a farewell drink. Let's drink it."

As he spoke, he poured a small cup for each of them, not daring to add more. One reason was that none of them had ever drunk alcohol before, so he didn't know how much they could drink, and the other was that they still had to continue practicing after dinner.

Tong Le took a sip tentatively, sticking out his tongue at the spiciness, and said, "This doesn't taste good. Why does Uncle Wang protect it like a treasure all day long?"

After the end of the world, wine is no longer produced and we can only rely on the previous stock. Just like desserts, things are valuable because they are rare. Uncle Wang himself is reluctant to drink too much.

Qiao Lang actually liked this one very much and asked, "Will you still drink it?"

Tong Le shook his head and poured the liquid in his cup to him.

The moonlight was very faint and the lights in the yard were not very bright. A few people were eating and chatting in this somewhat dark environment, still full of laughter.

Although Qin Zunyue said at the beginning that they should control their drinking, he actually continued to serve them in the end. After all, apart from Liu Huaizhao's birthday today and the day after tomorrow, they didn't know when they would be able to drink and chat like this again, and they didn't even know if they could come back alive.

Since I can’t see the road ahead clearly, I might as well get drunk today.

But none of them had ever drunk much alcohol, so their alcohol tolerance was too low. Except for Tong Le, who didn't drink at all, the others fell down after the second glass. Qiao Lang held on until the third glass, but after taking only a sip, he slumped his head on the table and started snoring.

Tong Le pushed his head aside in disgust, and then someone held her hand.

She looked up and saw that it was Yan Liao.

"What's wrong."

"I'll sleep with you tonight."

"?" Tong Le looked at her with some confusion, "Didn't you say that we won't sleep together when we grow up?"

Yan Liao seemed to be drunk as well, his eyes were a little blurry, but he still insisted: "Sleep with you."

Tong Le couldn't do anything about the drunkard, so he looked at Zheng Shu for help. He saw Zheng Shu laughing at the table, but he didn't know what he was laughing at.

Rubbing the goose bumps on his arms, Tong Le asked softly, "Sister Shu, what are you laughing at?"

Zheng Shu raised his head slowly and said to her, "Hehe."

"How scary!" Tong Le stood up suddenly. Yan Liao, who was leaning on her, almost fell down. Tong Le hurriedly supported her.

"You're all drunk, right?" Liu Huaizhao said calmly, taking a sip from the wine glass in his hand.

Tong Le said, "Holy crap, are you okay? You don't have some magic trick that allows you to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, do you?"

Liu Huaizhao looked up at her and said, "Your wine is not as intoxicating as the one my master brews himself."

"...Okay, then I'll take Sister Shu and Yan Liao, and you take the other three back."

Liu Huaizhao nodded.

Tong Le patted A Jin's head as she was still picking at the fish meat. "Don't eat it, baby. This fish is already a skeleton. If you want to eat it, I'll make it for you later."

So A Jin got up obediently, and after Tong Le helped Zheng Shu up, she and Yan Liao followed Tong Le into the house like a little tail.

Liu Huaizhao sighed as he looked at the remaining three people. He then said to Qin Zunyue, who didn't seem drunk but whose eyes were already unfocused, "I'll go see them off first. Can you wait here for me?"

Qin Zunyue nodded and stared at him motionlessly.

Liu Huaizhao looked at Wei Zhirong and Qiao Lang again. He really didn't want to support the big guy Qiao Lang, so he opened his lips and chanted a spell, and the two of them floated up.

As a result, just as he was about to take the two people into the house, he saw Qin Zunyue suddenly stand up and block in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Liu Huaizhao asked.

The drunk man didn't say anything, but just touched his body as if looking for something.

Liu Huaizhao suddenly had an idea, and said with a smile: "This is not a turbid demon, look at who these two are?"

After saying that, he patted Qin Zunyue's hand and said, "Sit down and wait for me to come and pick you up."

Qin Zunyue looked at the two people floating in the air, then looked at Liu Huaizhao, and sat down obediently.

Liu Huaizhao led the two into the house. Wei Zhirong looked confused, but fortunately he did not struggle. Qiao Lang's sleep quality was surprisingly good. He did not wake up when Liu Huaizhao threw him on the bed.

After he sent the two into the room, he returned to the yard.

Qin Zunyue sat obediently on the chair, in the same posture he had been in before Liu Huaizhao left.

"Can we go now?" Liu Huaizhao asked, "I'll take you back to your room."

Qin Zunyue didn't say anything and just kept looking at him.

Liu Huaizhao waved his hand in front of him and asked, "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Qin Zunyue grabbed his hand and still said nothing.

Unexpectedly, Qin Zunyue still had so much strength after getting drunk. Liu Huaizhao tried to pull it out twice but failed. He didn't dare to use magic for fear of hurting him, so he gave up and let him hold his hand.

The two of them stayed like this for a while, and Qin Zunyue finally couldn't hold on and fell asleep. Liu Huaizhao did the same thing, brought him into the house again and threw him on the bed.

After putting Qin Zunyue down, Liu Huaizhao did not leave, but stood there staring at him.

Even if he was slow-witted, he should have figured it out.

So he squatted beside Qin Zunyue's bed and looked at Qin Zunyue's face carefully.

He realized that he liked boys when he was about sixteen or seventeen years old.

At that time, the turbid demons and the monks were in a delicate balance. The monks could not completely eliminate the turbid demons, and the turbid demons could not cause particularly great harm to mortals under the protection of the monks. Neither side could suppress the other.

This also made the heavy and turbid Qi dare not act rashly. The turbid monsters at that time were stronger than they are now, and they consumed more turbid Qi. Even the heavy and turbid Qi did not dare to be wasted.

So the monks are relatively relaxed, and even practicing will not interfere with their daily lives.

Including getting married.

Liu Huaizhao, who was sixteen or seventeen years old, was already of marriageable age, but fortunately his master didn't care about this at all. He himself hadn't married, and several of his senior brothers and sisters hadn't married just because they were of age. They still took him to the mountains and rivers to catch birds and fish all day long.

Liu Huaizhao himself didn't take it seriously until one day, his junior sister told him mysteriously that the eldest and youngest brothers from the neighboring sect were together!

That was the first time Liu Huaizhao knew that men could fall in love with each other.

So not long after, the young man had his first beautiful dream. After waking up, he could no longer remember the details, but the gender of the person in the dream woke him up.

I told Qin Zunyue before that this kind of thing was not uncommon among cultivators, and I was not lying to him. Although these cultivators did not announce it to the world, he himself secretly observed many such things, so he was not panicked or afraid, but just kept it in his heart and told no one.

He has never met a man who moved his heart in his life, so he has carried this secret for thousands of years until now.

Qin Zunyue was very quiet when he slept, and he rarely even turned over. Liu Huaizhao just looked at him. After an unknown amount of time, Qin Zunyue opened his eyes.

Liu Huaizhao didn't move, and just looked at Qin Zunyue quietly.

Qin Zunyue chuckled softly, raised his hand and touched Liu Huaizhao's long hair, gently stroking it from the top to the end, then lifted the end of his hair and held it loosely in his palm.

It seems he is still drunk.

Liu Huaizhao breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring the slight disappointment in his heart, and reached out to cover Qin Zunyue's eyes. After his breathing became steady again, he slowly pulled his hair out of his hand.

-

The next day, Liu Huaizhao did not go to the command center again, but stayed at home to inspect the training results of several people.

According to their plan, they would set off within three days after Liu Huaizhao's birthday, which was just in the next few days, so no one was lazy, after all, this was a life-saving thing.

Some time ago, Liu Huaizhao could only help them practice at home at night, but today he had a whole day free. He repeatedly sent them fresh energy and watched them fly into the sky and then slowly fall down.

They were quick learners to begin with, and they had mastered the technique after just one morning.

"Take a break." Mr. Liu said, and several people landed on the ground obediently. Except for Qiao Lang who stumbled a little due to anxiety, the others were very stable. Liu Huaizhao nodded, very satisfied with his disciples.

Qin Zunyue looked at Liu Huaizhao. He seemed to see Liu Huaizhao sitting beside his bed in a half-awake state, but he had indeed drunk too much last night and was still a little dazed this morning.

Seeing that the others had already entered the room, he walked over to Liu Huaizhao and asked tentatively: "I was drunk yesterday. Were you the one who took me back to my room?"

"Yes, you are all drunk." Liu Huaizhao said.

Qin Zunyue didn't look at him, and seemed to be concentrating on looking at his feet. "Thank you for your hard work. Are you tired?"

"No, you can use magic." Liu Huaizhao rubbed the corner of his clothes and added, "I'll go back to the house after leaving you behind."

Qin Zunyue nodded, thinking it was a good thing it was just a dream.

On the night of Liu Huaizhao's birthday, others gave him the birthday gifts they had prepared.

Zheng Shu gave Liu Huaizhao an ink painting of an orchid, saying that a gentleman is like an orchid, which is very consistent with Liu Huaizhao's temperament. Liu Huaizhao affirmed her compliment and said that he wanted to hang it in the room to appreciate it every day.

Tong Le and Yan Liao sent two boxes of books together, which were carefully selected by her. They were all novels and story collections. Liu Huaizhao planned to keep them at home and read them slowly after he had settled all his affairs.

Wei Zhirong took out his medicine box. Last year, on Tong Le’s birthday, he gave her a few boxes of cold medicine and was chased and beaten by Tong Le. Who would have thought that he still hasn’t changed his bad habits.

Tong Le was almost speechless and said, "Brother, can you give me something auspicious for my birthday? Besides, the other person can heal himself, what's the use of yours?"

Wei Zhirong paused while taking something out of the medicine box, and rarely did he refute Tong Le.

"It's okay." Liu Huaizhao stretched out his hand to him, "I'll take medicine next time I get sick."

"Pfft, pfft, pfft." Qin Zunyue quickly stopped him, "Don't be so careless on your birthday."

Qiao Lang took out a big bag of snacks, which made Tong Le's eyes widen. Every time they came back from hunting and exchanged for food, they would give some to them and let them save it to exchange for other things. Tong Le usually used it all to buy books, and relied on Yan Liao for support in other aspects. But snacks were so expensive now, she really couldn't bear to buy any of them.

I didn’t expect Qiao Lang to be so hidden that he could actually afford a big gift bag of snacks!

Liu Huaizhao had never eaten these before. As for snacks, he had only seen those bought and made by Qin Zunyue, so he was very curious when Qiao Lang took out the snack gift package. Even if Qiao Lang only gave him a bag of potato chips in the end, he was still happy.

Finally we arrived at Qinzun Yue.

In full view of everyone, he took out a hairpin.

It is a wooden hairpin without any gorgeous decorations or complicated patterns. The shape is also simple, with a straight tail and a wavy head. It is a very ordinary plain hairpin.

Liu Huaizhao liked it very much, so he took off the original jade crown and replaced it with the hairpin given by Qin Zunyue.

He was not used to using hairpins. He could tie all his hair into a ponytail with the jade crown, but not with a hairpin. So Qin Zunyue used the hairpin to pick up part of his hair and tie it up.

The original ponytail was neat and stylish, but now this half-tied hairstyle is more casual and elegant.

Liu Huaizhao held the small mirror Tong Le gave him and looked at himself in it, feeling very satisfied.

After the meal, Qin Zunyue brought out a big cream cake. Liu Huaizhao was even happier. He listened to their words, made a wish to the candles, and then blew out the candles. This birthday, which was completely different from the past, made him smile.

After everyone else returned to the house, Qin Zunyue knocked on Liu Huaizhao's door.

"What's wrong?" Liu Huaizhao still had a smile on his face.

Qin Zunyue handed him the thing in his hand.

Liu Huaizhao looked down and saw a little wooden figure.

There was a big thing hanging on the little man's body.

"What is this?" Liu Huaizhao was surprised. "Why is there a gift?"

"I've never given them this for their birthdays before. I was afraid they would make a scene, so I gave it to you secretly."

Liu Huaizhao took the figurine, examined it carefully, and suddenly looked up. "Did you carve this yourself?"

"Yes." Qin Zunyue said with a smile: "It's a bit rough."

Liu Huaizhao had good eyesight and quickly noticed the slight wound on Qin Zunyue's hand.

Qin Zunyue noticed his gaze and said nonchalantly, "It's okay. I have thick skin and flesh. It will heal soon."

Liu Huaizhao didn't say anything else, just stared at his hands.

Qin Zunyue couldn't stand it anymore and stretched out his hand in front of him.

Liu Huaizhao grabbed his hand, and Qin Zunyue felt a little itchy, wondering if it was because the wound was healing.

After his hand was healed, Liu Huaizhao asked, "What about this hairpin?"

He took off the hairpin, and his long, inky hair fell down. Qin Zunyue controlled the urge to tuck his hair behind his ear and listened to him: "Did you make this hairpin yourself too?"

Liu Huaizhao lifted the figurine again and asked, "What's hanging on it?"

"Pig bone." Qin Zunyue took the thing hanging from the little man's neck. "It's said to ward off evil spirits. You probably won't need it, so consider it... a blessing."

"Thank you." Liu Huaizhao said, handing the pig bone back to Qin Zunyue, "This rope can be worn on the hand, right?"

Qin Zunyue nodded, took the rope and tied it around Liu Huaizhao's wrist.

Liu Huaizhao was very thin, and his wrists were so thin that Qin Zunyue felt he could easily hold them. He held his breath and let the rope wrap around Liu Huaizhao's wrists, trying to minimize contact with Liu Huaizhao, for fear that his rough hands would scratch Liu Huaizhao's delicate skin.

The red string made Liu Huaizhao's wrist look even whiter. Liu Huaizhao raised his wrist, looked at it carefully, smiled and said, "Thank you, I like it very much."

Qin Zunyue touched the back of his head twice and said, "Then I'll leave. You should get some rest early."

"Okay." Liu Huaizhao stroked the wooden sculpture twice with his hand in his sleeve. After Qin Zunyue left, he closed the door and looked at it carefully.

It can be seen that the person who carved the wood was not very skilled and the details of the facial features are not very clear, but the long hair and long robe prove that this little man is Liu Huaizhao.

The wood was polished very carefully, without a single prickly spot. Liu Huaizhao looked at the wood carving, then at the hairpin, then raised his hand to look at the red rope on his wrist, and his heartbeat quickened slightly.

But soon, he put the small wooden sculpture away and placed it together with other people's gifts, leaving only the bracelet on his hand.

Liu Huaizhao closed the lid of the storage box, exhaled, touched the bones on the bracelet, thought about Qin Zunyue, and then thought about the man in black who was now motionless, and pushed the storage box under the bed.