Fallen At A Glance Chapter 12
byYou lied to me
“Immortal Master,” Lian Mu looked toward Xiao Cheng.
“Young Sect Master, if there is anything you need my help with, please say so,” Xiao Cheng assumed they were discussing the ‘antidote.’ “I will absolutely not refuse.”
“Thank you, Immortal Master,” Lian Mu smiled. “Yi Yi is quite interested in the Azure Cloud Sect disciple martial arts trial happening in half a month, and he wants to stay a few extra days to watch. I told him I would speak to the Immortal Master, and Yi Yi thought I was looking down on him and was afraid to speak to you. It just so happened that the Immortal Master came over and overheard our conversation.”
“…” Xiao Cheng’s expression froze momentarily. “Just to watch the trial?”
“That’s right,” Yun Suiyi nodded. “I’ve never seen Immortal Sect disciples compete before. I imagine the Azure Cloud Sect’s martial arts trial must be quite a spectacle.”
“Of… of course, that’s fine,” Xiao Cheng quickly found an excuse and left.
Left in the room were Yun Suiyi, laughing so hard he was bent double, and Lian Mu, watching Yun Suiyi with a gentle, smiling gaze.
“Lian Mu.”
“Hmm?”
“Didn’t you say there was no rush? Why set it during the martial arts trial in half a month?”
“I said you weren’t rushing, because you can’t beat him yet,” Lian Mu explained.
“Hmph,” Yun Suiyi rubbed his nose, complaining dismissively, “Only your Spiritual Power is high.”
Lian Mu chuckled. “It just so happens that the martial arts trial is in half a month, and the Azure Cloud Sect disciples who are out will return to participate. When Xiao Cheng dies then, it will be easier to find an excuse and avoid suspicion falling on the two of us.”
“What’s there to be afraid of admitting to killing him?”
“The Azure Cloud Sect is still one of the top ten Immortal Sects. If the Sect Master dies, the Hundred Immortal Sects will fabricate and invent all sorts of stories. We shouldn’t get involved. Sometimes, gossip is the sharpest weapon.”
“Oh,” Yun Suiyi nodded lazily. With only the two of them in the room, Yun Suiyi felt his eyelids growing heavy, almost too much effort to lift.
“Tired? Go back to bed and sleep a little longer,” Lian Mu looked at Yun Suiyi. “You only fell asleep at the third watch this morning.”
“Whose fault is it that I slept so late?” Yun Suiyi glared at Lian Mu, his mind clear.
“Mm, my fault,” Lian Mu chuckled, his smile like melting ice and the first spring water.
Lian Mu immediately slipped one arm under Yun Suiyi’s knees and the other around his back. With a swift exertion of strength, he effortlessly lifted Yun Suiyi into a bridal carry.
“Hey,” Yun Suiyi was suddenly picked up, his face still bearing a look of surprise. “You… why are you carrying me?”
“To go back to bed and catch up on sleep.”
“I finally got into the Azure Cloud Sect. You want me to go back to sleep instead of doing proper business?” Yun Suiyi was confused.
“It’s just a sect. You walk in when you want to. What’s so difficult about it?”
“Hmph, how can I compare to the Young Sect Master?” Yun Suiyi pouted.
Lian Mu smiled.
After placing Yun Suiyi on the bed, he originally intended to leave once Yun Suiyi fell asleep. However, seeing Yun Suiyi lying on the bed, suddenly full of energy again, Lian Mu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Lian Mu, you put me on the bed, but I can’t sleep. How about…”
Lian Mu waited for Yun Suiyi’s next sentence.
“Tell me a story. Tell me some fun secrets about your Immortal Sects.”
Lian Mu reached out a hand, his long fingers gently pinching Yun Suiyi’s earlobe. His tone was filled with doting helplessness: “What’s so good about those old stories? Sleep. Get enough rest, so you’ll have the energy to… make trouble tonight.”
Lian Mu spoke the last two words meaningfully, a dark glint flashing in his eyes that only Yun Suiyi understood.
A suspicious flush instantly flew onto Yun Suiyi’s cheeks. He pretended to be calm, speaking stiffly, “I… I’m already fine. Tonight… there’s no need.”
“The Bone-Eroding Craving isn’t cured in just one session,” Lian Mu explained. “It will take some time to create the antidote. For the next few nights, we need to do this to alleviate the drug’s effects.”
“What kind of medicine is that?” Yun Suiyi was angry. “They call themselves the righteous path of the Immortal Sects, yet they research such despicable things.”
“But how do you know so much about this medicine? Could it be…” Yun Suiyi probed.
“Oh, after you fell asleep last night, I used an invisibility spell and went to Xiao Cheng’s room to listen.”
“You went to his room!” Yun Suiyi immediately sat up, asking hesitantly, “Then… then…”
“What?” Lian Mu looked at Yun Suiyi.
“Did you see the Soul-Returning Pearl in his room?” Yun Suiyi asked directly.
“The item your mother wants you to retrieve?”
Yun Suiyi nodded.
“No,” Lian Mu stated firmly. “Be a good boy, close your eyes and sleep. I can go back to his room tonight to check.”
“Can I go with you to look?” Yun Suiyi’s eyes sparkled, carrying a hint of a plea.
“Not these next few days.”
“Why not these next few days?”
“You still dare to ask,” Lian Mu pinched Yun Suiyi’s cheek in a slightly punitive gesture. “Little liar. You promised me you’d be good before I went to find Yun Zhao. Why did you go looking for him to play chess the moment my back was turned?”
I thought you wouldn’t come back after going to find Yun Zhao. Since I have to kill Xiao Cheng myself eventually, I didn’t want to waste time. I wanted to find an opportunity to get close to Xiao Cheng quickly, so I played chess with him to test him, Yun Suiyi thought internally.
But on the surface, he looked extremely displeased and said, “I didn’t promise you anything. I can go anywhere I want in the Azure Cloud Sect. Do I need to report to you and get your permission? Who do you think you are?”
“Don’t think that just because I slept with you once, you can arbitrarily manage me.”
“That was only for the antidote. It means nothing. If it wasn’t you… it could have been someone else.”
“I am not Yun Zhao. I, Yun Suiyi, have always been despicable, shameless, insidious, and vicious. I can even accept being with my own father… Do you think I would care about last night?”
Yun Suiyi’s anger was like a summer downpour—sudden and fierce. His cheeks were flushed thin with excitement, and his pair of peach blossom eyes were wide and round, staring intently at the person who could always so easily provoke his emotions. He was already sharp-tongued, and now his words were like pearls and barbs, every sentence stinging.
Yun Suiyi spoke rapidly, like a string of firecrackers, afraid that if he stopped, his forced momentum would collapse. He even turned his face away, refusing to look into Lian Mu’s eyes, as if this would prove that he truly “didn’t care.”
However, Lian Mu merely sat quietly by the bed.
Dressed in white, his figure was tall and straight like a bamboo shoot, surrounded by his usual ethereal and aloof aura. Facing Yun Suiyi’s torrential questioning, he didn’t even frown.
His deep eyes remained calm and focused on Yun Suiyi. He saw through all of Yun Suiyi’s bluster—the red eyes, the deliberate avoidance of eye contact, and the seemingly fierce but disorganized words—all betrayed the speaker’s true emotions: he was afraid, panicked, and lacked security.
Lian Mu’s lips even curved down slightly, not in mockery, but in a kind of helpless indulgence.
So he chose silence, accepting all of the other’s bad temper and unreasonableness with the quietest demeanor.
Lian Mu’s gaze was as still as water. After Yun Suiyi finished speaking and quieted down, Lian Mu spoke: “Say whatever else you want to say. I’m listening. Until you’ve finished all those harsh, insincere words.”
Lian Mu’s words instantly turned Yun Suiyi’s burning anger into a lump of grievance stuck in his throat, neither up nor down, making him feel like he was about to explode.
A suffocating silence descended upon the room.
After a long while, a faint rustle of fabric sounded.
Lian Mu moved. He didn’t get up and leave as Yun Suiyi expected. Instead, he slowly, step by step, leaned closer to him.
Yun Suiyi’s spine instantly straightened, like a hedgehog raising all its quills. Yet, he still tried to sound tough: “You… what do you want to do? If you dare to mess around, I’ll kill you!”
Lian Mu’s face stopped less than three fingers away from Yun Suiyi. He was so close that Yun Suiyi could smell the cool, clean scent emanating from him, a faint aroma of grass and wood that inexplicably made him nervous.
“I know.” Lian Mu’s voice was very low and soft, as if afraid of startling something.
He looked at Yun Suiyi’s profile, his gaze resting on the tension in his shoulders. His voice held a barely perceptible hoarseness. “Yi Yi, don’t be angry.”
“Why shouldn’t I be angry?” Yun Suiyi jutted out his neck, but his eyes were uncontrollably red. “If you can’t stand my temper, you can…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence because a pair of slightly cool hands covered his eyes.
Lian Mu wrapped his left arm around Yun Suiyi, his right palm covering his vision, plunging his entire world into a gentle darkness. The embrace was light, like a sigh, carrying careful probing and infinite cherish.
“I’m not leaving,” Lian Mu’s voice sounded right next to his ear. His warm breath brushed against Yun Suiyi’s neck, causing a subtle shiver. “I won’t leave.”
Yun Suiyi’s body instantly froze. The anger that had been stuck in his chest, in this sudden tenderness, deflated like a punctured balloon.
He wanted to push Lian Mu away, to maintain his last shred of “angry” dignity, but his body honestly craved the warmth.
“You lied to me…” His voice was muffled, carrying a hint of grievance he hadn’t noticed himself. “You left me yesterday to go find Yun Zhao.”
“It was my fault.” Lian Mu tightened his arms slightly, resting his chin gently on Yun Suiyi’s shoulder. His voice was full of complete compromise and resignation. “I went to find Yun Zhao because I was worried that if he accidentally entered the Azure Cloud Sect and got caught, it would cause trouble for you. Don’t be angry anymore, okay? You can punish me however you like, Yi Yi.”
He paused, his voice growing lower and softer, with a tone that was almost pleading: “If you harm yourself with anger, my heart will ache.”
Yun Suiyi couldn’t hold it together anymore. He abruptly pushed Lian Mu away, his eyes red like a rabbit’s. Pointing at Lian Mu’s nose, his voice was already tinged with a sob: “Lian Mu! You’re a bastard!”
Lian Mu let him push, and watching Yun Suiyi’s exasperated look, he tightly embraced him again.
“Yes, I’m a bastard.” He held the struggling, warm person in his arms, as if holding a lost and found treasure. His voice was unprecedentedly gentle and reassuring. “So, Great Young Master Yun, please be magnanimous and don’t stoop to the level of a bastard.”
Yun Suiyi muffled in his embrace for a long time, finally letting out a defeated “Hmph.” He still wouldn’t concede verbally: “…I’ll let you off this time. If there’s a next time, I… I…”
“There won’t be a next time,” Lian Mu interrupted him, gently patting his back like comforting a sulking child. “Xiao Cheng’s attention is constantly on you. I’m worried that if you go to his room, he’ll notice. I’ll take you to check his room on the day of the martial arts trial, alright?”
“…Alright.”
Lian Mu lowered his head and pressed a kiss to Yun Suiyi’s forehead. His warm breath scattered across his brows and eyes. “Don’t cry. Lie down. I’ll tell Yi Yi an ancient legend to lull you to sleep, how about that?”
“Okay,” Yun Suiyi obediently lay down.
Lian Mu cleared his throat, and his low, magnetic voice flowed out like a cello, becoming the most beautiful music in the quiet room.
“Legend has it that at the end of the Abyss of Nine Heavens, there is a divine tree called the Wutong. A divine bird, named the Phoenix, rests upon the tree…”
As Lian Mu narrated, a magnificent ancient myth slowly unfolded. He spoke of how the Phoenix drove out demons and protected the peace of the land. His voice was sometimes deep, sometimes passionate, depicting the thrilling scenes of the divine bird fighting fierce beasts.
Yun Suiyi listened, captivated. His usually indifferent peach blossom eyes were wide and round, as if he could truly see the majestic Phoenix.
“What happened next? Did the Phoenix win?” He was tense and couldn’t help but ask.
Lian Mu was amused by his appearance and chuckled softly. “It won. The Phoenix used its divine light to dispel all the darkness.”
Yun Suiyi sighed in relief, a brilliant smile appearing on his face.
Lian Mu’s heart trembled at his smile. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his eyes instantly deepened. He suppressed the stirring in his heart and continued, “So, as long as there is light, there is nothing to fear.”
His voice carried a soothing power. Coupled with the low tone, the story, though exciting, also had a slight hypnotic effect.
After listening, Yun Suiyi’s eyelids began to droop. The initial excitement had passed, and drowsiness returned.
Lian Mu picked up the thin blanket nearby and gently covered Yun Suiyi, his movements as soft as if he were handling a rare treasure.
Yun Suiyi was nearly asleep, his consciousness blurring, but he still mumbled indistinctly, “…Tell more… still listening…”
“Alright, I’ll tell more.” Lian Mu’s voice became even softer and gentler, brushing against his heart like a feather. “After the Phoenix defeated the fierce beasts, it returned to the blessed land within the Wutong tree, to live happily ever after with its companion… never to be separated again…”
His voice grew lower and slower, carrying a strange, hypnotic rhythm.
Yun Suiyi was completely asleep, his breathing long and even. Lian Mu leaned closer. Yun Suiyi’s warm breath fanned Lian Mu’s neck, causing an intoxicating itch.
But Lian Mu was free of distracting thoughts at the moment, filled only with tenderness.
He lowered his head, looking at the peaceful sleeping face of the person in his arms. The long eyelashes cast a faint shadow on his eyelids. Lian Mu couldn’t resist tracing Yun Suiyi’s features with his fingertip, from the arch of his brow, to the corner of his eye, and finally to the lips he both loved and hated.
Finally, his fingertip rested on Yun Suiyi’s lips, gently caressing them, his gaze deep and burning, as if trying to engrave this person into his heart.
He leaned down slightly, his thin lips almost touching Yun Suiyi’s ear, and whispered in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear, tenderly and intimately: “Sleep, my Yi Yi. I will always be by your side.”
The sunlight outside gradually slanted westward. The room was quiet and warm, with only the intertwined sounds of their breathing and heartbeats in this tranquil moment.