Chapter 36 resembles the shy, timid smile that appeared in the corners of that person's eyes when they mentioned that little Taoist priest.
I want to stay in this dream a little longer.
In my imagination, falling asleep in a dream is a sign that I'm about to wake up, so I keep trying to stay awake.
Until the last ray of light in the bamboo house was swallowed up, the candlelight was lit, and the warm orange flame flickered between us.
If we can just get through this night, tomorrow will be Yu Qingzhou's wedding to that boy named Li Nian. By then, I should be able to see my senior sister.
I originally thought it wouldn't be a difficult task, since time in dreams doesn't flow the same as in reality.
Sometimes night and day are just a blink of an eye apart.
But I lay on the table for a long time watching the smoke. From initial interest to boredom, I finally shifted my gaze to the only light source in the room, staring at the flickering candlelight, and gradually became drowsy.
"No, no, if I just fall asleep like this, wouldn't that be..."
Wouldn't that mean missing a rare opportunity? Who knows when we'll be able to have the same dream again?
That would be such a shame.
Even knowing that this is just a dream, it's probably only in dreams that I might have the chance to see my senior sister.
I think I heard the woman mention that Yu Qingzhou often followed behind her when she was young, calling her "Senior Sister Yingxue, Senior Sister Yingxue" over and over again. I don't know if those are the two words I'm thinking of.
But when I heard the other person talk about this past event, this was the first thing that came to mind.
—I just don't know what my senior sister's surname is?
Even though I knew nothing about it, I still had a gut feeling that a beauty like my senior sister must have a very nice surname.
Asking the man opposite should provide the answer. Since he dislikes Yu Qingzhou so much, he should at least know the name of her senior sister, who has a close relationship with her. As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy…
Just as I was about to ask, I suddenly remembered something else.
Speaking of which, what was the man's name again?
All I know is that he is the Imperial Advisor, and I don't know why he has some complicated and hostile relationship with the king of this country—that gloomy-eyed boy in blue, and the latter's soon-to-be husband.
—Oh, right, I even know the boy's name now.
Li Nian, despite sharing the same surname as Li Xiao, bears a striking resemblance to Young Master Lan. It's unclear whether this is purely coincidental or due to some other reason, leading to such a coincidence.
In short, whether out of politeness or simply to satisfy my curiosity, I asked the man for his name.
"Are you asking my name?" The man tapped his forehead, making a troubled expression. "What should I do? So much time has passed, I can't quite remember."
After a pause, a glint of light flashed in the man's eyes as he looked at me, as if he had an idea.
"How about this—" he said, "you help me come up with a name, how about that?"
Upon hearing this, I froze on the spot, thinking I had misheard.
"You want me... to... name you?!"
“That’s right, exactly.” The man nodded calmly, unaffected by my surprised expression.
“Isn’t a name meant to be called?” he argued logically. “Here, you’re probably the only person who would want to call me by my name. And since I don’t remember my own name, it’s better if you decide. That way, it’ll be easier to call me that.”
"Are you... joking?"
I simply can't believe it, because it's so absurd. To suddenly have a stranger name me is so outrageous that I'm starting to wonder if this is really a dream.
“Absolutely true.” The man said, enunciating each word clearly. Perhaps noticing my confusion, he smiled reassuringly in my direction. “Don’t be nervous, and don’t feel burdened. It’s just a name.”
It's just a name...
As I repeated this sentence in my heart, something seemed to flash through my mind.
My heart was sinking uncontrollably.
For a fleeting moment, an indescribable pain suddenly shot through my legs, which had been completely unnoticed. It was... the lingering pain from a violent impact.
The feeling came quickly and went quickly, if not for my heart still pounding wildly.
They might even think it's an illusion.
"Are you alright?" the man asked with concern.
"N-nothing." I silently swallowed the strange feeling in my heart.
"But your appearance has faded a bit."
Hearing the man say this made me a little alarmed. He said my appearance had faded, which meant that my time here was running out.
Actually, according to the general pattern of dreaming, I should have suddenly woken up from the dream just now.
But I didn't; instead, my appearance in the man's eyes changed accordingly.
"Does this mean I'm about to wake up?" I asked the man somewhat anxiously.
"Maybe." The man casually shrugged. "This is the first time I've encountered this situation. Practice makes perfect, and this is a good opportunity to test it out. Once I have more experience next time, I'll naturally know."
Upon hearing the other person say "next time," I couldn't help but blurt out, "You mean next time is—"
The man put his index finger to his lips and winked at me: "Well, that's a secret. As long as the time, place, and people are all right, we'll meet again someday."
Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but mutter to myself, "...It sounds like something those quack liars would say."
The man smiled, his beautiful eyes crinkling into a smile that was both open and cheerful: "Who can guarantee that I'm not one?"
After getting used to the other person's way of speaking, I was no longer as surprised as before.
I looked at him back and answered seriously, "You are not."
So, this time it was him who showed a surprised expression.
"...Why?" The man looked at me, his smile seeming to fade a little, making his long, narrow eyes appear even more unfathomable.
My thinking was simple: "Aren't you the Imperial Advisor? How could someone who holds such a prestigious position be a fraud? Unless all the officials in the court and the emperor are either blind or stupid."
This time, before I could finish speaking, the man in front of me chuckled.
He seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world; his shoulders trembled slightly as he leaned over the table, laughing so hard he could barely stand up straight.
I was a little stunned and embarrassed.
I know nothing about national affairs, so it wouldn't be surprising if I said something stupid.
Seeing the other person laughing like that still made me feel a little uncomfortable.
I should have kept quiet...
I said, "I'm sorry, you must have found this amusing."
Upon hearing my voice, the man slowly stopped laughing, then looked at me and gently shook his head: "That's not true. I was laughing because I thought what you said made so much sense."
Actually, there's one more thing I haven't said: since he's the first person I've met in this world who can see me, that alone makes him quite extraordinary.
"So, have you made up your mind?" the man suddenly asked.
"What"
"Of course, it's the name they gave me."
If he hadn't mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten about it.
As I watched the man's face regain its composure, the image of Young Master Lan resurfaced in my empty mind.
"orchid……"
The man uttered a single word, which was exactly what I was thinking.
—This person has indeed seen through my thoughts again.
I didn't have any particular ideas, so I just went with the flow: "Do you like the character '兰' (lan)?"
"like."
The man responded almost immediately: "If you like it, then I like it."
……here we go again.
It's that kind of incomprehensible language again.
However, seeing that Lan seemed to genuinely think it was pretty good, I finally felt relieved and stopped worrying about it.
"Lan, aren't you scared living alone in a place like this?" I asked.
I was thinking of finding something to do before dawn to distract myself.
"I'm used to it," Lan replied, seemingly unconcerned.
I was a little curious: "Don't you feel lonely?"
This time, Lan paused for a moment before answering softly, "I used to, but not anymore."
The man's smile faded, and a rare look of melancholy flashed in his deep eyes. He looked at me, his gaze passing through my location to the dark night outside.
I became increasingly curious, but I also felt that it would be impolite to continue asking questions.
As if sensing my hesitation, Lan suddenly spoke, her eyes turning back to me with a deep gaze.
"Aren't you going to ask me why?" he said.
I thought for a moment before saying, "Would you be willing to tell me?"
"Of course," Lan smiled. "It's not a big deal."
He said that people don't actually feel lonely from the beginning.
You have to feel the excitement first before you can feel the desolation when the excitement ends.
He had always been used to being alone and had never had any particular feelings about it.
Then one day, someone suddenly appeared in his life, chirping incessantly in his ear like a sparrow. At first, he found it noisy. But because of the other person's status, he had to endure it.
Later, he gradually grew accustomed to a person arriving at a specific time each day, carrying freshly picked fragrant flowers and snacks. That person brought a vitality and sunshine that was absent in the dark room, tirelessly telling him about the interesting things that had happened during the day.
The flowering trees on one side of the slope are in bloom, and the fruit trees in the other side of the grove are bearing fruit. The wind blows from one side of the hillside, causing ripples to spread across the mirror-like lake. A plump fish leaps out of the water, but before it can fall back down, it is snatched away by a circling, low-flying falcon and carried high into the sky, disappearing without a trace.
They are all such small yet vivid scenes.
While that person was speaking, he didn't agree or offer any comment. He simply ate the snacks the other person had brought in silence, and then put the flowers, still smelling of dew, into the vase.
Before that, he had never thought about how he should spend his life.
But after that, he thought that if he could live like that for the rest of his life, it wouldn't be so bad.
But one day, the person he was waiting for was late.
Before that, he didn't realize that he had actually been waiting all along.
The person finally arrived late, still bringing snacks, but forgetting to bring flowers.
That was the first time in many years that the other person had talked about things other than flowers, birds, and trees—it was someone from outside.
The young man from outside possessed a gentle smile and a refined demeanor that the men here lacked.
[Like the immortals in those storybooks, aren't they all said to live in seclusion on high, misty mountains? My father said that the young Taoist priest came from a very, very high mountain, and the snow on that mountain never melts, a vast expanse of white, so beautiful.]
The other person enthusiastically described to him how special and adorable the young Taoist priest from out of town was.
He stared blankly at the somewhat wilted flowers in the vase.
Finally, he interrupted the other person and asked, "Could you bring some fresh flowers tomorrow?"
The other person paused for a moment, then looked at him with wide, beautiful eyes, as if they didn't understand how a flower could be more important than the little Taoist priest he was talking about.
Unfortunately, he saw it quite the opposite.
He disliked that young Taoist priest he had never met. In fact, he harbored a grudge because the latter had prevented him from receiving the flowers that day.
However, he didn't say it directly.
Because he couldn't bear to see the person's disappointed face. Of course, the main reason was that he didn't want to lose the flowers and snacks the other person had brought... and perhaps the short time they spent together each day.
Sure enough, the next day, the person arrived on time with snacks and his favorite flowers.
However, some things are still different, such as the little Taoist priest who has dominated almost all the conversations.
Like when that person mentioned that little Taoist priest, their eyes and brows showed a shy and timid smile.
The other party has never done this before.
He thought that this so-called little Taoist priest was probably some kind of demon in disguise, the kind that specializes in bewitching people.
He came to this idea thanks to the storybook that person brought.
Even if he didn't like it, the latter would patiently tell him the story.
But now all that's left is—little Taoist priest, little Taoist priest, little Taoist priest… little Taoist priest, little Taoist priest, it's really annoying.
He thought, if he could kill that little Taoist priest, would everything be back on track?
He felt it was worth a try, but before he could take any action, a major event that shocked the entire clan suddenly occurred—the secret treasure that had been specially worshipped and passed down from generation to generation disappeared without a trace.
At the same time, the young man from out of town also disappeared.
What a seemingly ethereal and refined Taoist priest! He turned out to be nothing more than a shameless thief plotting to steal treasures.
Everyone was saying this, and the current clan leader seemed to have aged many years overnight.
And after that, that person didn't appear for a long time.
The last flowers delivered withered silently in the dark room, fell to the ground, and crumbled into powder before his eyes.
He knew the other person wouldn't come back.
It was as if he knew that the other party was actually the one who stole the secret treasure.
"Of course, that little Taoist priest wasn't innocent either, because his purpose in stealing the treasure was to give it to his sweetheart as a token." Lan stopped there for some reason.
I couldn't help but ask, "And then what happened?"
"And then," Lan reached out and touched the candlelight in the corner, the flickering flame falling on his pale profile, white candle wax suddenly dripping down, "they all died."
"They're all...dead?"
"Yes, not long after we lost the treasure, an invading army stormed in, breaking through the barriers. Of the entire clan, not one of us has survived to this day except for me."
"..."
Lan spoke calmly, her words chilling, and when she turned to see my horrified and bewildered expression, she actually smiled softly.
"Oh right, I almost forgot to mention," he added slowly, "that army just happened to be surnamed Li. And the young man who left without saying goodbye with the secret treasure just happened to be surnamed Yu."
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