Eyes and brows
There is a person you have carefully observed and thought you understand, but in the end you find that what you have seen and understood is only a superficial understanding.
Yan Dan felt inexplicably depressed and frustrated. Twenty years was not a short time, and Yu Mo had gradually become the closest person to her. She didn't know if she could call it liking him, but she felt that if she never saw him again, or even if they never spoke to each other again, she would definitely be very sad. She considered herself to be quite decisive; when it was time to let go, she let go without dragging things out. If Yu Mo intended to avoid her from now on, she naturally wouldn't pester him. Some things are better left unsaid; leaving some room for each other, so that they could meet again when things had calmed down.
Yan Dan tilted her head back and gently exhaled.
For some reason, even though it was all in the past, she kept thinking about it lately. Yu Mo stood at the bow of the boat, his expression blurred in the moonlight: "You don't want it, but you won't let me throw it away. What do you want from me?" That moonlit night seemed like a phantom, relentlessly haunting her.
She turned and went back to her room, only to run into Lark.
The moment Bai Ling saw her, she looked slightly embarrassed and at a loss. Although Yan Dan saw through her expression, she pretended not to know anything and smiled slightly: "Bailing, how has Lord Yu Mo been lately? I haven't seen him for a long time, so I thought I'd ask him."
Bai Ling paused, then mumbled, "It's...it's alright, actually I don't see the Mountain Lord very often."
Yan Dan nodded and said, "That's good." She continued walking, and just like that, she brushed past Bai Ling.
They knew each other well and were close, but not intimate. Meeting each other didn't necessarily mean fate, and even if it was fate, it would eventually come to an end. Besides, she was increasingly unable to understand Yu Mo's attitude and thoughts.
It's also possible that she never understood it from beginning to end.
After some time, winter passed, and spring arrived, a time of warmth, blooming flowers, and fluttering butterflies.
Yan Dan's cultivation has made great progress recently, and these days it is the time of the full moon, which is the best time for cultivation, so she often goes out at night to bask in the moonlight.
She counted the days; three whole months had passed since Liu Weiyang entered the Underworld Palace alone and parted ways with Tang Zhou in Nandu. She wondered if she should go to Xiangdu to find Tang Zhou and go out for fun. After all, in her lifetime, Tang Zhou was the only Celestial Master who could control her. If they traveled together, it would certainly be very impressive.
Just as she was making these plans, she suddenly heard two very light and steady footsteps coming from afar. Yan Dan recognized the sound as Yu Mo's footsteps and immediately jumped up, hurriedly looking for a place to hide. Meeting them now would only make things more awkward, although she didn't know what she had done to offend him.
Yan Dan touched a tree beside her, rode the wind to climb up the trunk, and squatted down on a relatively sturdy branch.
Yu Mo walked slowly over and casually arranged some pebbles by the lake. Yan Dan watched him in the moonlight as he bent down, moving the pebbles around before finally standing still. She could only see his profile. Yu Mo had indeed lost some weight; his once-fitting black outer robe now looked somewhat loose, and his already straight nose appeared even more prominent.
Yan Dan rested her chin on her hand, thinking that Yu Mo's appearance was actually rather gentle, but his high nose bridge made him look dashing and elegant, and there was always a lively smile in his eyes and between his brows. Just as she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard Yu Mo say in a low voice, "Yan Dan, what are you doing hiding in the tree?"
Yan Dan was immediately embarrassed. Her hiding and dodging only made her seem sneaky and suspicious. She used a branch to support herself and gracefully fell from the tree. Because of her progress in cultivation, she inexplicably felt much lighter. Before she even landed, Yu Mo casually caught her and pulled her onto his arm.
Yu Mo smiled and said in a low, gentle voice, "Why are you still barefoot? It's not hot yet, aren't you afraid of catching a cold?" He reached out and held Yan Dan's ankle, spreading out his clothes for her to step on.
Yan Dan was flattered: "I won't catch a cold. I've been doing this for the past few days."
Yu Mo raised his head slightly, his deep eyes fixed on her: "These days..." He paused, a smile playing on his lips, "I've thought about a lot of things."
Yan asked, carefully choosing her words, "So, have you thought it through?"
"Whether you understand or not is irrelevant now." He paused, then added, "Yan Dan, have you seen the play?"
"Not only have I read plays, but I've also written quite a few play excerpts."
“Those actors, after performing so many plays, even though they know it’s not a real story, they still get caught up in the performance. And those who watch the play, even though they know it’s not their own story, after watching it for a long time, the story slowly becomes their own,” Yu Mo said calmly. “That’s the principle.”
Yan Dan said sincerely, "I still don't quite understand."
Yu Mo chuckled softly, then turned to look at the formation made of pebbles: "This formation is something I just came up with. Originally, with my abilities, I could only set up a barrier within half of Yelan Mountain at most, but with this formation, the barrier can be expanded much further."
Yan Dan thought for a moment: "But in this way, all the impacts outside the barrier will backfire on you, which is really not worth it for the person who sets up the barrier."
“In the past, my grandfather set up a barrier to protect our entire clan. In the end, everyone in the clan was safe and sound without any damage, but he passed away because of his injuries. This is the price that the person who sets up the barrier has to pay. I think it is worth it to pay the price to protect the important people.”
Yan Dan smiled slightly: "But I think, isn't it more worthwhile to live well for the people who are important to us?"
After that night's heartfelt conversation under the moon, the previous issues seemed to be forgotten. Yu Mo returned to his original attitude towards her; although not particularly close, he no longer avoided her.
Yan Dan knew she wouldn't get the truth from Yu Mo, so she went to Bai Ling: "Do you think it's possible that Yu Mo actually dislikes me but is too embarrassed to say it directly, so he's trying to find a way to get rid of me?"
Bai Ling was filling a teacup with hot water and slowly ironing Yu Mo's outer robe on the table. Hearing this, she laughed and said, "If the mountain lord really hated you, he would have found an opportunity to dismember you into pieces and throw you somewhere."
"I really can't figure out the reason," Yan Dan said, shrugging.
Bailing looked at her for a while, then said quietly, "Sometimes we can't guess what the mountain lord is thinking. Since we can't guess, why bother trying?"
Just as Yan Dan was about to speak, she suddenly heard Dan Shu outside screaming like a pig being slaughtered: "Oh no, oh no, that ghost, the ghost is coming!"
Yan Dan rushed out to see what was happening, only to find Dan Shu scrambling to her feet, tears streaming down her face, a little fox clinging to her head, trembling as she cried, "Sister Yan Dan... something terrible has happened..."
Seeing his expression, Yan Dan bent down and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Dan Shu trembled for a while, then burst into tears: "A...a mortal broke in, and he...he still has the mountain lord's restriction on him, and he's...he's a ghost..."
As Yan Dan listened to his rambling, sometimes claiming to be a mortal, sometimes a ghost, a thought suddenly struck her: "Could he be a celestial master?" She had been thinking about asking Tang Zhou out a few days ago, but unexpectedly, he had delivered himself to her doorstep first. Yan Dan took a few steps outside and, sure enough, saw a group of flying and crawling monsters gathered in the distance, with Tang Zhou standing there with his back to her.
Yan Dan smiled radiantly and rushed over: "Senior brother, senior brother, you really came?"
Tang Zhou turned around, his brows furrowed slightly as if he were a little confused: "This is the first time I've been surrounded by monsters, I'm a little not used to it..." The moment he turned his head, the monsters who had been watching him from afar immediately scattered like birds and beasts, some flying into the sky and some diving into the ground, and suddenly they darted to even more distant places to continue watching.
"Ah, they're probably curious because it's the first time they've seen a Celestial Master here. Besides, they get used to being stared at."
Tang Zhou smiled slightly: "Your cultivation seems to have improved a bit."
"It's more than just a little improvement; it's at least three or four points, right?"
Tang Zhou sighed softly: "Actually, even if you improve by ten more points, I won't care at all."
Yan Dan was furious, her anger rising within her: "Tang Zhou, what exactly are you here for? Don't tell me you're here just to badmouth me!"
Tang Zhou dusted off his sleeves and looked around: "I was just wondering why this place is in the north, near the desert. Logically, there shouldn't be a place like this here. It's warmer and more comfortable than Jiangnan."
"I was also puzzled by this when I first arrived here. Later, I heard from others that there was some kind of treasure that gathered energy to form mountains and rivers buried underground in Yelan Mountain."
“I have no interest in treasures. Let’s talk about something else first,” Tang Zhou said with a smile, which made his handsome features even more striking. “I’ve come all this way. How do you plan to show me hospitality?”
Yan Dan discovered that Tang Zhou truly possessed an astonishing ability to adapt. After only one day in Yelan Mountain, he was already oblivious to the monsters who were watching him from afar. He ate and slept well, and even politely helped a lizard demon pick up a fallen embroidered handkerchief when he practiced his sword in the morning. Later, Yan Dan heard Bai Ling complain that the storeroom was running low on embroidered handkerchiefs.
The weather was gradually getting warmer, and it seemed that it was late spring and early summer in the mortal world. Yan Dan, wanting to fulfill her duty as a host, accompanied Tang Zhou to explore the entire Yelan Mountain area. Seeing that the weather was getting warmer, she came up with a plan to give Tang Zhou a good lesson in swimming.
Tang Zhou was indeed reluctant to go into the water, but he stubbornly insisted on saving face: "Isn't this inappropriate? There is a difference between men and women. What kind of behavior is this?"
Yan Dan smiled and said, "It's alright, it's alright. Look, I don't care, so why should you?" If Tang Zhou had understood the proper etiquette between men and women earlier, it would have been fine. But he only remembered this virtue at this moment, which was clearly just a show of bravado. She stepped into the lake and dragged Tang Zhou into the water as she did so, saying, "This lake isn't deep, it's only about five or six times your depth."
Tang Zhou swayed, his clothes already soaked by the lake water: "I'm not a good swimmer. If we get into the water and start arguing, wouldn't that be too forward?"
"No, no, don't worry. No one has ever drowned in this lake before, no, no, no demon has ever drowned. You certainly won't be the first one to drown here..." Yan Dan thought to herself, of course he wouldn't drown, at most he'd be half-dead. This thought had barely formed in her mind when Tang Zhou suddenly and decisively stepped into the lake, pressing her down with his bare hands.
Yan Dan was stunned. She frantically thrashed about, but somehow stepped on something, and a stream of muddy water rushed towards her, blurring her vision. Luckily, Tang Zhou immediately pulled her wrist to the surface; otherwise, she might have been the one choking on water. Her attempt to steal a chicken had backfired, and Yan Dan was somewhat disgruntled. She saw Tang Zhou treading water and floating on the lake, albeit somewhat awkwardly: "How is it?"
Her heart skipped a beat. She stared at Tang Zhou's water-dampened eyes and brows, the expression lingering, evoking a long-forgotten familiarity. Before she could ponder further, she heard a rushing sound, and a whirlpool appeared in the center of the lake. The water level rose lower and lower until she could finally step onto the bottom. A dark, square-shaped object floated to the surface, covered in moss, its original form unrecognizable.
Tang Zhou's smile faded slightly. He raised his hand and picked up the object, his voice barely audible: "This is... Earth Stop?"
Yan Dan felt a blinding light before her eyes. The originally dark object, now in Tang Zhou's hands, emitted a dazzling light that shot straight into the heavens. The earth shook and mountains trembled in Yelan Mountain, the lake dried up, and the wind howled and thunder roared, as if the light was about to tear the mountain apart. For a moment, Tang Zhou's expression was as if he wanted to abandon the earth, but he was powerless to do anything about it. A few streaks of crimson blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and finally, he could no longer hold on and spat out a mouthful of blood.
She staggered from the shock, and before she could regain her footing, she suddenly sensed a chilling sword aura behind her, aimed directly at Tang Zhou. Yan Dan quickly stepped in front of Tang Zhou, only to see the spine of Yu Mo's short sword flash with a blue light that resembled both a dragon and a fish, stopping abruptly just before it pierced her.
Yu Mo's expression was indifferent as he said in a low voice, "Get out of the way. It's not too late to kill him now." His sleeves and hair fluttered in the howling wind and thunder, but the emotion in his eyes was extremely cold: "If you don't move out of the way, I'll kill you too."
Yan Dan glanced back at Tang Zhou, then turned away, a sudden chill ran down her spine as the cold, menacing blade of a sword pressed against her throat. Yu Mo's murderous intent intensified, seemingly uncontrollable: "Yan Dan, I'll say it one last time. Get out of the way." She still didn't move. Some things could be retreated from, but some things could not be yielded to.
She stared intently into his eyes, where a dark, deep turmoil raged within, and all his murderous intent suddenly subsided. He flicked his sleeve, and a surge of dark blue-black demonic energy erupted from his body, a faint blue glow enveloping the entire Yelan Mountain Realm, seemingly attempting to block the tearing force.
A large group of mountain demons and water monsters fled and leaped about, creating a chaotic and noisy scene. However, amidst this chaos, a seven-colored radiance descended from the sky, and a group of beautifully dressed celestial beings slowly landed on the ground. A fairy wearing a snow-white silk robe stepped forward, bowed her head, took two steps, and suddenly knelt in the muddy ground, completely disregarding the pristine whiteness of her robes: "Welcome Emperor Qingli Yingyuan of the Eastern Pole, who has passed through seven lifetimes of tribulation and returned to the Heavenly Court."
She slightly raised her neck, and her eyebrows and eyes were almost identical to Yan Dansheng's.
Yan Dan called out in a barely audible voice, "Zhixi..."
The other party did not turn to look at her, but remained kneeling gracefully, and said, "Zhixi, Lu Jing, and the head scribe respectfully welcome the Emperor back to the mansion."
Emperor Qingli Yingyuan of the Eastern Pole.
Yan Dan slowly turned her head to look at Tang Zhou, and finally said softly, "Congratulations."
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