Ye Yunlan was sitting by the window with his head down, reading. The candlelight reflected his face, and his eyelashes casted a thick shadow under his eyes.
The candle wick burned with a crackling sound with occasional cicadas singing outside the window.
The lingering pain in his body was still present and he felt a little nauseous in his chest. He frowned for a moment, then coughed.
After a while, the coughing gradually stopped.
He looked down. His palms were a dazzling bright red.
The door was then suddenly pushed open with a creak.
A man with a high crown and black clothes walked in with a medicine bowl.
âJunior Brother, I just heard you coughing againâŠâ He Lanze was surprised when he saw Ye Yunlan sitting by the window. He hurriedly walked over to put down the medicine bowl. âBecause of your current injury, you canât leave the cold jade bed at will. Come, Let Senior Brother help you back to your bed to rest.â
Ye Yunlan avoided his hand and called out calmly: âSenior Brother.â
He Lanze stopped moving, his face full of worry: âWhatâs the matter, Junior Brother?â
He Lanze in his previous life had never shown such an expression to him.
This person would only look at him with disgusted eyes, as if he was looking at a mouse in the depths of a gutter, or the dirty dust on the ground.
The young admire the strong. He Lanze was a sword cultivator, and so was he.
Towards this Senior Brother in his sect, he was full of longing.
He had once waited outside He Lanzeâs door in the cold winter, hoping to get some guidance from the other party. However, after waiting for a long time with heavy snow falling on his shoulders, he only received the other partyâs âget lostâ.
He had once prepared a gift for the other partyâs birthday. However, at the birthday banquet, the sword talisman he drew was thrown on the ground and sneered at by the receiving party, then trampled into a pile of waste paper by the surrounding disciples giving gifts to the other party.
Later, in the Sectâs Law Enforcement Hall, he was slandered for killing his fellow disciples. He Lanze didnât listen to his explanation and pierced his dantian with a sword and watched coldly as he was dragged down three thousand steps outside the mountain gate by angry disciples.
The only thing he said to him during this period of time was when he tore his mask off in public. Looking at his burnt face, he sneered and spat out one word:
There was no expression on Ye Yunlanâs face.
âIâm fine, I can go by myself.â
He Lanze stared greedily at Ye Yunlanâs face.
The warm yellow candlelight flickered. The appearance of the person in front was beautiful, but they still looked tired and pale, like snow that had not fallen off the branches of a tree.
Only his scarlet mole at the outer corner of his eye became more vivid in the fire, like a silent drop of blood tear.
Both fragile and scorching.
âYou coughed up blood in your hand, are you okay?â He Lanze said with reproach. He held Ye Yunlanâs pale and slender hand. This time he wouldnât let Ye Yunlan resist. He knelt to the ground on one knee, took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood on his hand.
From the tip of the finger to the base, to every finger gap, to every line on the palm, and every inch of his skin.
Ye Yunlan couldnât move, so he let him wipe it.
He sat on the red sandalwood carved chair with a solemn appearance. No anger, no fury, his expression was not lively, so he even looked like a doll.
But it was still breathtakingly beautiful.
As soon as He Lanze lifted his eyes up, he could not help but gasp as he saw the splendid beauty rushing towards his face.
In a daze, the other partyâs fingertips were removed from his palm.
Ye Yunlan supported himself on the carved chair to get up. His plain white long sleeves fell down. He didnât cast his eyes on He Lanze. He just picked up the lamp and walked slowly into the inner room.
A head full of fine black hair scattered behind him, swaying with his staggered pace.
He Lanze recovered and hurriedly picked up the medicine bowl on the table and followed him into the inner room.
There was a cold jade bed in the inner room exuding faint cold mist.
Ye Yunlan was already sitting on the bed. The cold breath of the cold jade bed invaded his body, nourishing the broken meridians in his body.
However, for this body that has been destroyed into ruins, no matter how nourishing it was, it was nothing but futile effort.
He picked up the Queying Sword placed on the head of the bed. He slowly pulled it out, and laid it horizontally on his knees.
With the long sword in hand, there seemed to be a noticeable difference to his whole person.
Suddenly, the empty skin bag was filled with soul and his thin back became as straight as a sword.
Ye Yunlan touched the point of the sword with his fingertips. He placed the candlelight on the bedside, and the shadow of the flame flickered on the sword.
The beauty looked at the sword with the lamp, it was a beautiful scene. But, He Lanze felt a little chill.
He thought it was caused by being too close to the cold jade bed, so he did not take it seriously. He only sighed secretly. Junior Brother was still unwilling to give up practicing his swordsmanship: âJunior Brother, your body was hurt by divine fire essence. The damage is serious to your meridians. It is fine to practice the sword occasionally, but you must never use your spiritual power, otherwise the divine fire will reverse and it will even be difficult for the gods to save you.â
If you canât use spiritual power, a cultivator would be equivalent to a mortal.
In Sky Sect where strength was respected, Ye Yunlan was considered thoroughly crippled.
âI know.â Ye Yunlan responded.
He Lanze pitied him. His tone softened, âSenior Brother has already achieved something within the sword. Half a year ago, Senior Brother broke through to the Zongshi realm. If Junior Brother does not know something when practicing sword in the future, you can always come to me for questions.â
Ye Yunlan did not respond.
In his previous life, he had waited in the frozen snowy winds until late at night but could not obtain it, yet now He Lanze could casually promise him this?
Itâs just that he doesnât need it anymore.
The path of the sword was divided into five realms, namely the five realms of Qizong, Ningyi, Zongshi, Xiaosheng, and Dasheng. Being able to break through the realm of Zongshi, considering He Lanzeâs age, was considered a talent.
However, in the last life, there was another realm outside the five realms, and it was only achieved by Ye Yunlan alone.
He Lanze sighed. Knowing that Ye Yunlan has been habitually silent, depressed because of his injury, he picked up the bowl of traditional Chinese medicine. He blew on it and scooped a spoonful of medicinal soup. He moved it towards Ye Yunlanâs lips, âJunior Brother, drink the medicine.â
Ye Yunlan turned his head, âI can drink it myself.â
He Lanzeâs thin lips pressed together slightly. He was born extremely talented and looked down on the people of his generation. He had never shown such meticulous care to others, so he didnât expect that the other party would not appreciate it.
But facing that face, he couldnât get angry.
He Lanze could only pass the medicine bowl to Ye Yunlan. Ye Yunlan didnât use the spoon. He pressed the bowl to his lips and drank. He raised his head slightly, revealing a long, white, slender neck. His adamâs apple slowly moved. The sound of his swallowing was very soft. So soft that He Lanze had to listen very carefully to be able to hear it.
The five fingers clasped on the black porcelain medicine bowl were long and pale, with distinct structure. They were hands that were very suitable for holding a sword, but also very suitable⊠to hold something else.
âJunior Brother Ye,â when Ye Yunlan finished drinking the medicine, He Lanze suddenly spoke, with a slightly husky voice, âI donât understand one thing. You obviously were born with a good appearance, so why did you always wear a mask before and refused to show your true appearance?â
Ye Yunlan: âI just wanted to concentrate on practicing the sword.â
Someone once told him that a personâs appearance was the most useless thing for cultivators, that it could even cause a disaster.
That person had made a mask for him and told him to wear it as much as possible when he was out.
He met that person when he was young. After being taken to the sect by that person, they took good care of him. Thus, he always listened to that personâs words and arrangements. Every time he went out, he would seriously wear a mask.
Later, his face was burned by the divine fire in the secret realm and the mask became a means to cover his scars. Even when he slept alone at night, he never took it off.
âJust wanted to concentrate on practicing swords and didnât want to be disturbed by other things? I thought Junior BrotherâŠâ He Lanzeâs voice became more and more muffled. He didnât say anything. Instead, he took the medicine bowl in Ye Yunlanâs hand and stood up, âItâs getting late. Junior Brother, rest early. I will see you again tomorrow.â
He Lanze went out in a hurry.
Ye Yunlan didnât look at him, he only resheathed the queying sword.
The moment the long sword returned to its sheath, the spirit that supported him also disappeared. He leaned down, blew out the lamp lightly, then laid down on the bed wearily, closing his eyes.
The cold jade bed was cold to the bones, but there still seemed to be flames in his body eroding his bones and burning his body.
Falling into a drowsy sleep, he slept unsteadily.
His weak soul could not carry the messy memories of more than three hundred years. Numerous pictures flashed into his dreams. All the past events that he had deliberately forgotten and had never forgotten were all coming up, not allowing him a second to breathe.
When he woke up, it was already bright.
It was early spring and it was raining outside the window. The sound of rain was endless.
Ye Yunlan didnât like the rain.
He especially didnât like listening to the rain alone.
There was a sudden knock on the door.
After he was injured, He Lanze placed him in his own home to recuperate. When he had the time, he would come to see him.
Before he entered the room, he would never knock on the door.
An elegant voice sounded outside the door. âAh Lan, are you awake? Why donât you open the door for me?â
Ye Yunlan slowly stood up from the cold jade bed.
In the Sky Sect, there was only one person who would call him âAh Lanâ.
ââ Sky Sectâs Masterâs only personal disciple, todayâs No. 1 Beauty, and at the same time, the one who led him into the sect and cared for him.