‘Lanxing’ looked at Lu Zhixing with gentle eyes and took the hand Lu Zhixing held out to him. His peerlessly handsome face was filled with overwhelming indulgence and accommodation.
Luo Cheng’an’s pupils contracted. The ‘Lanxing’ in Lu Zhixing’s illusion was far too realistic.
But no matter how realistic it was, it was still fake!!!
Luo Cheng’an raised his hand to dispel the illusion, but his arm was intercepted in midair. Then a tremendous force struck him in the abdomen.
Luo Cheng’an staggered backward several steps and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Lu Zhixing’s gaze sharpened. He waved his hand and erased the bloodstain on the floor. Only then did his expression soften slightly, but his voice was still cold when he spoke to Luo Cheng’an. “Get out! Don’t dirty my room.”
Luo Cheng’an’s abdomen twisted with pain, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. The pain dissipated some of his drunkenness, and he gradually began to calm down.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his lips and stared at Lu Zhixing. “Zhiyue, if you don’t go keep him company now, you’ll regret it. That’s all I have to say. Whether you want to spend your last few days embracing a fake or go be with Lanxing, think it through yourself.”
After saying that, Luo Cheng’an disappeared from the spot.
Lu Zhixing gently rubbed his face against Lanxing’s palm. After a long while, he gave a mocking laugh and murmured, “I won’t regret it.”
He didn’t want to be tormented again.
He didn’t want to hear those unbearable words again.
He just wanted to spend these next few days in peace with his ‘Master.’
Holding ‘Lanxing’ in his arms, Lu Zhixing slowly lay down on the bed. He buried his face in ‘Lanxing’s’ neck and drifted into a hazy sleep.
Meanwhile, just on the other side of the wall, Xi Yu had just activated the Li Ying Mirror. When he saw this scene, his pupils contracted.
In the mirror, Zhiyue was holding him, a smile on his face, looking peaceful and serene.
Zhiyue was holding ‘him,’ but it wasn’t really him. It was nothing more than a fake created from spiritual power.
So this was the Master Zhiyue had gone looking for.
Xi Yu felt a little jealous. He even wanted to step into the illusion and pretend to be that fake. Would that give him another chance to hold Zhiyue in his arms, even just once?
But he quickly suppressed the thought. He couldn’t afford to let his heart soften. Not before the Nine Stars Aligned with the Moon—not even a little.
If he transformed into an illusion now, he could easily be discovered.
So he couldn’t do it. He could only watch as Zhiyue held that ‘him.’
The hand Xi Yu had wrapped around the wine bottle was trembling. He tilted his head back and poured the last of the wine down his throat, then raised his hand and dispelled the Li Ying Mirror.
*
The following morning, Xi Yu finally stepped out of his room.
Shen Qing and Luo Yuan were eating breakfast with worried expressions. When they saw Xi Yu emerge, their eyes lit up.
“Son!” Luo Yuan hurriedly waved him over. “Come and eat breakfast!”
Shen Qing relaxed when he saw that Xi Yu’s complexion was healthy and he didn’t look particularly downcast. “You didn’t eat anything yesterday. Have some congee first.”
Shen Qing served Xi Yu a bowl of congee, which he accepted. “Thank you.”
“We’re family. What are you thanking me for?” Shen Qing said, then asked with some puzzlement, “Why hasn’t Cheng’an come down? He should have been down by now.”
“I’ll go check on him,” Luo Yuan offered.
Luo Yuan had just started to get up when Luo Cheng’an came unsteadily down the spiral staircase. His under-eyes were dark, his eyes were a little swollen, and his hair was a mess.
Luo Yuan was startled. “Good grief! What were you doing last night?!”
Luo Cheng’an replied, “I watched a movie that was so moving, I couldn’t sleep.”
Luo Cheng’an looked at Xi Yu’s back. A trace of pain flashed through his eyes. He took a deep breath, adjusted his state of mind, and forced a smile.
Luo Yuan teased him. “How old are you, still crying over a movie? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Was I supposed to be sad?” Luo Cheng’an sighed. “If you’re sad, you cry. Otherwise, won’t you just suffocate from holding it all in?”
Xi Yu’s hand paused around his spoon. A little while later, he finished his congee, put down the spoon, and said, “In a few days, I may have to take a long trip. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Clatter!
The spoon in Luo Cheng’an’s hand fell onto the table.
……………………
Xi Yu didn’t look up, as though he hadn’t heard the sound, and continued eating quietly.
“What’s wrong with you?” Luo Yuan muttered. “You’re a grown man. How can you not even hold a spoon properly?”
After saying that, Luo Yuan turned to Xi Yu without giving the matter much thought. “It’s fine. Just take care of your own business.”
Shen Qing agreed.
Xi Yu was different from them. They had known that for a long time. He couldn’t be expected to stay home every day.
Shen Qing and Luo Yuan reminded Xi Yu to be careful.
Neither of them noticed the numbness and pain in Luo Cheng’an’s eyes, or how the smile he struggled to maintain looked even worse than crying.
They simply assumed that Xi Yu would return after a few days, just as he had after going to Wutong Village.
Xi Yu responded to Shen Qing and Luo Yuan, his expression unchanged from beginning to end, maintaining a polite smile.
Only when he heard that Lu Zheng and Jiang Shuhe had returned to M Country did his expression stiffen for a moment. He quickly returned to normal.
After finishing breakfast, Xi Yu went upstairs. Luo Cheng’an followed behind him.
Xi Yu stopped at his door and turned around.
Luo Cheng’an instinctively forced a smile.
“Thank you,” Xi Yu said.
No one except Luo Cheng’an knew what Xi Yu meant by those words.
Luo Cheng’an’s lips trembled slightly. “Lanxing, we’re best friends. You don’t have to thank me.”
Xi Yu said nothing more and turned to enter his room.
Luo Cheng’an wanted to follow him inside, but he forcibly stopped himself. After a long while, he turned and returned to his own room.
Xi Yu lay down on the bed, set up a barrier, and activated the Li Ying Mirror.
To watch Zhiyue and ‘Lanxing.’
Zhiyue was still in the same position as the previous night. He was holding ‘Lanxing’ on that bone bed, his eyes closed, without having moved at all.
Xi Yu lay on his bed. In the next instant, he pulled the ‘Zhiyue’ created from spiritual power beside him into his arms.
Two illusions, one inside the mirror and one outside it.
Close enough to touch, yet separated by ten thousand miles.
*
Shen Qing and Luo Yuan had to travel to a neighboring city for work. After seeing them off, Luo Cheng’an felt a little lighter. He no longer had to force himself to put on a cheerful face and attend to them.
Luo Cheng’an walked to Xi Yu’s bedroom door and slowly crouched down. He seemed utterly exhausted as he rested his head against the door.
Seven days. Neither particularly fast nor particularly slow, yet enough to leave three people’s hearts feeling as though they were being roasted over a raging fire.
Lu Zhixing had spent seven days lying in bed. On the night of the seventh day, he stared blankly at the ‘Lanxing’ in his arms.
‘Lanxing’ gently stroked his face, his expression peaceful.
Lu Zhixing watched him for a while before burying his face in ‘Lanxing’s’ neck.
He had not spoken for a long time. His voice was hoarse, as though it had been scraped raw with sandpaper, when he murmured, “Master… I have to go.”
“Will you wait for me to come back?” Lu Zhixing asked ‘Lanxing.’
“Of course,” ‘Lanxing’ replied, his voice as gentle as a breeze. “Your Master will wait for you to return.”
Lu Zhixing smiled. He buried his face in ‘Lanxing’s’ neck, but there was no scent at all in his nostrils.
No pear-blossom fragrance.
Lu Zhixing blinked, and tears suddenly fell. He looked at ‘Lanxing’s’ bright red lips.
The illusion before him was exactly like the real Lanxing. Those lips were as red as ripe cherries, as though one could bite into them and suck out their sweet juice.
Lu Zhixing’s eyelashes trembled. He could barely suppress his urge to move closer. He lowered his head…
‘Lanxing’ continued smiling, but there wasn’t the slightest trace of emotion in his eyes.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Lu Zhixing abruptly stopped. In the next instant, he raised his hand and dispelled the illusion.
The room’s layout suddenly changed, returning to its original appearance.
The illusion that had kept him company for seven days had finally come to an end. The longing and pain in Lu Zhixing’s eyes disappeared along with it.
Outside the window, the sky was as black as though ink had been splashed across it. Lu Zhixing got out of bed and walked to the wall, running his hand over its surface.
“Master…” Lu Zhixing murmured. “Wait for me.”
The illusion was a web he had woven for himself. He couldn’t stand before his real Master in his demonic form. He was already broken into pieces and could no longer endure being met with cruel words.
He had lost himself in the illusion, yet he knew every moment that it was false.
He couldn’t bring himself to kiss a fake version of his Master.
But he didn’t have the courage to look at his real Master again, either.
Today, everything would come to an end.
If he could come out of this alive, he would be worthy of standing by his Master’s side again.
Lu Zhixing gazed longingly in the direction of Xi Yu’s room.
Through the Li Ying Mirror, that single look was transmitted clearly into Xi Yu’s eyes.
To Xi Yu, that look was like an arrow straight through the chest, making the corners of his eyes redden.
Only after Lu Zhixing’s figure disappeared from the Li Ying Mirror did Xi Yu finally dispel it.
He was a god. He shouldn’t feel cold. He shouldn’t be afraid of anything.
Yet at this moment, fear and resentment clung to him like maggots burrowing into bone.
The people of the Divine Realm lived long lives. When it came to partners, they came together if they were compatible and parted if they were not. Their relationships were not usually fraught with hardship or unpredictable twists of fate.
At worst, the person they loved did not return their feelings, and they had to endure the suffering of unrequited love.
When Xi Yu had lived in the Divine Realm, his heart had been filled with hatred, and he had paid little attention to matters of love.
He had never understood the foolish things Huaixi and Zhiyue had done for love. They had seemed utterly disgraceful, as though making a mockery of oneself and resorting to any means necessary were the very foundations of love.
And the terrible evil born of love had seemed even more unbelievable.
But now, at this very moment, Zhiyue was no longer visible in the Li Ying Mirror. The Nine Stars would align with the Moon, and everything would soon come to an end.
Suddenly, Xi Yu understood.
He could not control the resentment and viciousness rising within him—the evil that had grown out of his love for Zhiyue.
There were so many people in this world who loved without being loved in return, whose secret affections came to nothing, who never became lovers and never found their happy ending. Even when love bore no fruit, there was at least a reason for it.
But he and Zhiyue loved each other. They were mutually in love, yet they were still destined to be separated by life and death.
Xi Yu could only feel that the Heavenly Dao had treated him unfairly. Why was he never allowed to keep the person he loved?
His mother had been devoured by demons right before his eyes. Now Zhiyue had fallen into demonic ways because of him and was about to activate the Execution Array, leaving him behind.
Xi Yu suddenly recalled what Huaixi had told him that day: as long as he let go of his hatred, all difficulties would resolve themselves.