You are you
On the stone platform in the center of the ice cave, Yueyuan sat quietly cross-legged.
His originally imposing and overwhelming aura, which seemed capable of devouring everything, was now noticeably weaker.
He still felt a faint pain in his chest where the Reverse Scale Shuttle had pierced him. Although he had been recuperating for many days and the scar was no longer visible, the spiritual energy inside had been completely torn apart by Ji Wang's attack and had not yet healed.
He kept his eyes downcast, clutching tightly in his hand a simple, ancient jade pendant with edges worn smooth from repeated use. The pendant was clearly very old, its spiritual energy fluctuations faint, yet he held it in his palm as if it were a precious treasure.
Inside the cave, apart from his slow breathing, the only other sound was a very short recording played over and over again from the jade pendant, a childish voice filled with deep dependence: "Senior brother...when will you return?"
The voice was clear and crisp, with a softness unique to children; one could even imagine the child pouting slightly and tugging at someone's clothes as they spoke.
"Senior brother...when will you be back?"
"Senior brother..."
The sound, in stark contrast to the chilling atmosphere inside the cave, was truly terrifying.
Yueyuan listened to it, over and over again, as if trying to extract a warmth that had long since disappeared from these brief words he had heard countless times before.
The barrier at the entrance of the cave twisted silently. As soon as Ling Gu entered, he heard the recurring child's voice, which was out of place with the surrounding environment.
He paused for a moment, but seeing that Yue Yuan did not even glance at him, he stepped forward as usual, knelt on one knee a few steps away from Yue Yuan, and lowered his head: "Your Excellency."
Yueyuan didn't seem to hear it immediately, or rather, he was so engrossed in the recording that he was a beat slow to react to the outside world.
It wasn't until Ling Gu called out a second time that he seemed to be pulled out of some deep nightmare and raised his eyes.
"Speak." His voice came through, weak from his serious injuries.
Ling Gu took a deep breath and reported in a low voice: "Song He and his squad's ambush of Bu Nian Guan's group... failed. Not only did they fail to intercept Ji Wang, but Song He himself was also severely injured... and captured."
His report was concise and objective, but the news of failure, given Yueyuan's obviously poor condition at the moment, was like adding insult to injury.
Silence fell over the cave, except for the child's voice that continued to repeat obliviously, "Senior brother...when will you return?"
"Useless." Yue Yuan put the jade pendant back into his pocket and held it close to his heart before raising his eyes. "You can't even handle such a small matter."
Ling Gu lowered his head even further, trying to explain, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger! I truly never expected that scoundrel Ji Wang could—"
"Shut up." Yueyuan's voice suddenly turned sharp, cutting him off.
In the brief silence, only Yue Yuan's slightly heavy breathing, as he suppressed his injuries, could be heard.
After a moment, Ling Gu finally found his voice, and with obvious trembling and fear, he carefully corrected himself: "It was...it was my mistake."
His Adam's apple bobbed as he reorganized his thoughts, carefully choosing each word: "I truly did not expect the Daoist Master to react so quickly and arrive so promptly..."
He used the title "Dao Zun" cautiously, no longer daring to address him by his given name. Yue Yuan's gaze fell on Ling Gu, assessing the offense he had just blurted out.
"Then go ahead." Yueyuan slowly stood up and stepped down from the stone platform. His voice calmed down, and he clearly instructed, "Bring my good junior brother back."
He took half a step forward, then stopped without warning, and softly said, "...Never mind."
His hand touched his chest, feeling the outline of the jade pendant: "As long as the 'Dao Yuan' returns intact, that's enough. As for my junior brother... now that he has been reincarnated, his soul has been reshaped, his memories have been altered, and his temperament is completely different, he is no longer him."
Ling Gu bowed deeply: "Your subordinate understands."
He dared not fathom the myriad emotions behind this seemingly casual change of mind; he could only etch the instruction into his mind.
Yueyuan stopped looking at him, simply waving his hand to signal him to leave, while he himself stood alone in the darkness, like a statue.
"Senior brother...when will you be back?"
Yueyuan smiled, and in a tone completely different from when he gave the order, even with a hint of confusion and emptiness, he slowly added the unheard second half of the sentence: "I... will come to pick you up."
After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, as if he was startled by his own unconscious words.
He then withdrew his hand, placed it behind his back again, straightened his back, and made the almost dreamlike whisper he had just uttered seem as if it had never existed.
"Finally back..." After attending Huaiqing's banquet, Ji Wang practically threw himself onto the bed, burying his face in the soft pillow, and let out a long sigh: "My head hurts so much... During the banquet, my mind was filled with that book... Did I really understand it before...?"
He had spent too much time in front of those scrolls, the obscure text, the distorted patterns, and the chilling fragments about the Reverse Scale Shuttle were like countless tiny hooks tugging at his nerves.
As I relaxed, I felt a dull ache in my temples.
He hugged his pillow and childishly rolled around twice, as if that would shake out the heavy thoughts in his head.
Bu Jiu followed him into the inner room and saw Ji Wang completely slumped on the bed, rolling around with a pillow in his arms. His dark hair was disheveled, and the once tidy bed now had several wrinkles.
He didn't speak up to stop them, nor did he immediately step forward to tidy up; he simply stood there quietly for a while. The light in his eyes appeared exceptionally soft under the indoor lamplight.
Only when Ji Wang's rolling motion gradually decreased, and he seemed to have finally found a comfortable position, sprawling out and remaining still, did Bu Jiu walk over.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, ignoring the mess of the bedding, and simply reached out and gently pressed his fingertips on Ji Wang's temples, massaging them with moderate pressure.
"Headache?" he asked.
Ji Wang turned her head from under the pillow, peeking out one eye to look at him, her eyes slightly narrowed because of the comfortable massage: "Hmm... those words look like tadpoles, they make my eyes dizzy."
Bu Jiu grunted in response, his fingertips continuing to circle the throbbing acupoint. His movements were meticulous and focused, as if he were handling some fragile porcelain, even though that "porcelain" was occupying most of the bed in an extremely unruly manner.
“I’ve remembered all of that, you don’t need to worry anymore.” Bu Jiu withdrew his hand, pulled a corner of the blanket that Ji Wang had been pressing down on him, gently unfolded it, and covered him with it.
The bed remained messy, but he chose to ignore it. Neatness was important, but Ji Wang needed rest at this moment, and the tolerance he could offer far outweighed his concern for a few wrinkles.
Ji Wang remained lying on his side. He suddenly spoke, his tone tentative: "Am I different from what you imagined?"
Bu Jiu asked with a hint of confusion, "What do you mean?"
His tone wasn't accusatory, but purely one of doubt.
Ji Wang shifted slightly, turning more completely to face him, her voice clearer: "I mean, is there any difference between me and 'before,' and the 'Ji Wang' you know, or the one you might have imagined during those three hundred years of waiting?"
He finally asked the question.
He knew that Bu Jiu was now wholeheartedly protecting "Ji Wang", but how much of his appearance and temperament, which were a mixture of his past and present lives, overlapped with the phantom that had been repeatedly sketched during the long wait?
“You are you.” Bu Jiu immediately spoke, “There is no ‘before,’ no ‘imagination.’” He seemed to be thinking about how to express the emotions that had been mixed for three hundred years, and finally only reduced it to one sentence: “Whether you are Ji Wang or have the shadow of Yun Shen. Whether you are lively and playful or gradually become more mature... whatever you become, you are still you.”
His eyes were fixed on Ji Wang, reflecting the faint light and his complete self: "So, I love you."
Before Ji Wang could respond, Bu Jiu suddenly reached out and covered Ji Wang's mouth.
At the same time, he shook his head very slightly. His eyes were filled with an almost pleading request—don't speak, don't respond, just let this sentence remain there.
Ji Wang understood. After Bu Jiu finished revealing his deepest feelings, he himself couldn't bear the words and was so ashamed that he just wanted to cover it up immediately.
A smile spread across Ji Wang's eyes, and he abandoned his plan to speak. He blinked and gently placed a kiss on that slightly cool palm.
The kiss was light, like a butterfly alighting.
Seeing that Bu Jiu did not react as expected, Ji Wang kissed him again. This time he lingered a little longer, his lips pressing against Bu Jiu's slightly cool skin, as if patiently tracing the interlacing lines on Bu Jiu's palm, or as if conveying some unspoken invitation.
"You can't cover my words with your hand." Ji Wang's mutterings were muffled under his palm.
Bu Jiu's eyes darted around, from Ji Wang's smiling face to his own hands, before finally returning to Ji Wang's gaze.
There was no coercion, only waiting, and an almost overflowing affection.
Bu Jiu sighed, then obediently bowed down.
Ji Wang raised his hand at the right moment, gently covering the back of his head, his fingertips sinking into the smooth, satin-like black hair, and with an irresistible force, slowly pulled him down.
Distance vanishes in the blink of an eye.
This time, there was no barrier of hands, only lips touching and breaths mingling.
At first, it was a tentative, gentle caress, as if confirming each other's presence and permission.
The kiss deepened, no longer a symbolic touch on the palm, but a kiss filled with unwavering possession and boundless tenderness, meticulously tracing every inch of his lips, breaking down his trembling defenses, and inviting him to this belated yet perfectly timed moment, a time that belonged only to the two of them.
The night breeze discreetly bypassed the window frame, leaving only the subtle sounds of water and gradually synchronized heartbeats inside.
The fox tail had somehow become tightly wrapped around Ji Wang's wrist, and the hand that had been lightly covering his lips was now resting weakly on the shoulder of the person in front of him, his fingertips slightly curled as he gripped the fabric.
A kiss conveyed all unspoken words and soothed all uneasy emotions.
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