IHOEAYSTTTIW Chapter 41
by VolareChapter 41: Always Together, Years of Worry-Free
A low, melodious bell sound slowly drifted over, and starlight gradually appeared along with the bell, as countless sky lanterns slowly ascended, floating towards the night sky.
Lin Yan fiddled with the mechanism on the rabbit lantern and sighed regretfully, “It’s a pity you can’t fly…”
“Big Brother, help me hold this.”
Lin Yan turned his head and saw Yun Qi taking out a prepared sky lantern from who knows where. He quickly helped to hold it steady, watching Yun Qi, right before his eyes, magically produce a brush dipped in ink.
“When did you prepare this?” Lin Yan gestured twice on the sky lantern with the brush.
Yun Qi smiled without answering. He straightened the sky lantern and placed the tag below it in a position convenient for Lin Yan to write on, “Big Brother, if you have any wishes, you can write them here. Granny will bless them to come true.”
“Granny can see it?” Lin Yan thought about his chicken-scratch handwriting and still couldn’t bring himself to write. He put down the brush, piously closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and muttered something.
The number of sky lanterns in the night sky gradually increased, and the orange-yellow light intertwined with the stars, complementing each other. The originally dark night sky was decorated like a dream.
Yun Qi stood quietly to the side, watching Lin Yan make a wish, watching Lin Yan pick up the brush again. He only felt that Lin Yan’s every move was several times more captivating than the night sky.
Lin Yan stuffed the brush into Yun Qi’s hand, his eyes sparkling, “Your handwriting is better, you write it.”
Yun Qi nodded and obediently took the brush.
He wanted Lin Yan to stay, wanted to see what Lin Yan’s wish was. Whether Lin Yan’s wish was “good health,” “thriving business,” or even “peace and prosperity,” he could try to fulfill it. Selfishly, Yun Qi hoped that Lin Yan’s wish was the same as his, “to be a couple for life,” but he knew that this wish could only be something he thought about.
Lin Yan’s finger brushed across the wooden tag, and suddenly he had an idea: “Just write… ‘Unreliable system, quickly appear, complete the mission and go home early.'”
…
Very good, very Lin Yan’s style.
Yun Qi briefly digested it and then wrote Lin Yan’s wish on the wooden tag with flamboyant strokes.
The rather stylish words combined with the antique-style characters looked a bit comical.
“Perfect.” Lin Yan snapped his fingers, becoming more and more satisfied as he looked at it.
Yun Qi forced a smile, his eyes almost overflowing with disappointment.
Lin Yan’s wish was simple, and he had told Yun Qi more than once that he wanted to go home, but Yun Qi couldn’t fulfill it, and even… even feared the day when Lin Yan’s wish would really come true.
Lin Yan poked the gradually stiff Yun Qi and pushed the sky lantern in front of him, “Do you have any wishes? Let’s write them together.”
“Big Brother’s wish is my wish.” Yun Qi shook his head and put the brush down before Lin Yan could persuade him any further.
Actually, Yun Qi had a wish. He hoped to always be with Lin Yan, worry-free year after year. But this was just a luxury, a luxury that couldn’t be realized even if it was written on a sky lantern and enshrined in a Buddhist hall.
Seeing Yun Qi being so resolute, Lin Yan didn’t continue to persuade him. He gently held the bottom of the sky lantern with both hands, watching the flame of the wick sway gently, and asked somewhat helplessly, “How do you release this lamp?”
“Hold it upright like this, and then… send it off.” Yun Qi straightened the lamp and slowly pushed it out after the hot air had filled it.
Lin Yan’s gaze closely followed the sky lantern, watching the faint light gradually rise in the night sky, merging with countless other sky lanterns, and unconsciously revealing a gratified and satisfied smile.
While Lin Yan was watching the lantern, Yun Qi’s gaze was always fixed on Lin Yan, until Lin Yan’s attention began to shift away from the lantern, and then he pretended to look at the lantern.
The lantern was released, the scenery was enjoyed, and it was getting late. People on the street began to go home, and many small vendors had already begun to close their stalls.
Yun Qi stretched and tugged at Lin Yan’s sleeve, feigning drowsiness, “It’s getting late, let’s go home.”
“Wait a minute.” Lin Yan grabbed Yun Qi, who was about to slip away. He pointed to the faintly visible sky lanterns in the night sky and smiled, “The atmosphere is already built up to this point, don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”
“I…” Yun Qi looked in the direction Lin Yan was pointing, hesitating slightly.
He had prepared these things to give Lin Yan some shock of the Great Zhou Ghost Festival, to give Lin Yan a reason to stay, to make Lin Yan realize that this world he despised still had its merits. But now…
Yun Qi found the atmosphere somewhat ambiguous, and the look in Lin Yan’s eyes was also telling him that as long as he opened his mouth, Lin Yan would agree.
But… Yun Qi thought of that lie again, that persona he had put on himself in order to stay by Lin Yan’s side. As long as the persona didn’t fall off, he had no possibility of taking another step with Lin Yan. If the persona fell off…
Lin Yan poked the wooden Yun Qi, smiling and urging, “Really don’t have anything to say? Really not going to try? I might agree.”
“Really don’t…” Yun Qi had just said two words when he heard a sudden commotion below the tower. He leaned over to look and saw the area below the tower brightly lit, with a group of soldiers appearing out of nowhere.
“Quick, let’s go, the guards you bribed are back.” Lin Yan pulled Yun Qi and rushed down, only to be forced to stop at the foot of the tower.
The leader was an old man with gray hair, followed by several tall guards.
Even if Lin Yan hadn’t had much contact with high-ranking officials and nobles, he had watched TV dramas. These people clearly had cranes and Qilin embroidered on their court robes, and he, a small fry, couldn’t afford to offend them, nor would they actively come looking for trouble with him.
But he was a small fry, Yun Qi was not. Yun Qi was royalty, a descendant of the dragon, so at least he was a… small lobster?
Lin Yan tapped his head, dispersing his strange associations. He took out a purse from his pocket and held it out to them, “My lords, we were just releasing a lantern on the tower, we didn’t mean anything else, you see…”
The leader glanced at Lin Yan casually, then directly stepped past Lin Yan and bowed to Yun Qi behind him, “Your Highness. This old servant has finally found you. Please come back with us, His Majesty has been waiting for a long time.”
Lin Yan dodged to the side to avoid the official’s bow, and incidentally blocked Yun Qi behind him, “Sir, what are you talking about…”
“Lord Chen, please rise.” Yun Qi came out from behind Lin Yan, wanting to help the Chen official up, but the official remained bowed, as if he wouldn’t get up unless Yun Qi agreed to their request.
Yun Qi turned to look at Lin Yan and sighed deeply, “I’ll go with you.”
Lord Chen straightened up and waved to the people behind him. Immediately, a sedan chair was brought over.
Yun Qi patted Lin Yan’s shoulder and softly reassured him, “It’s just a small matter, Big Brother, don’t worry.”
Such reassurance had no effect at all. Lin Yan was ten thousand times uneasy, but the two guards that Lord Chen had brought were not ordinary people either. The two of them stood between Lin Yan and Yun Qi, like a wall.
Lin Yan could only watch Yun Qi leave with this group of unidentified people through the gap, without even having time to say goodbye.
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