Volume 4: Immeasurable
Why be so overbearing?
That day, Luo Mingyuan woke up earlier than Chao Yun.
The little pig trotter, who had been asleep for over two months, was even more silent than before.
He shoveled food into his mouth under the watchful gaze of several pairs of eyes. Perhaps the pressure from the stares was too much; though no one was rushing him, he was in such a hurry that he nearly choked himself half to death.
“Slow down…” Jiang Yuyao couldn’t help but step forward and pat his back, helping him catch his breath.
Luo Mingyuan coughed for a long time before finally frowning and asking in a small voice, “Why are you… all staring at me…”
At his words, gossip-loving crowd each had their own reaction.
Xun Chi immediately lowered his gaze and nonchalantly poured himself a cup of tea.
Yue Zhuo tilted her head and looked away.
Jian Li stood up. “I’ll get another bowl for your soup.”
You Yan simply closed her eyes.
With that, Luo Mingyuan’s gaze shifted to Yi Qiu.
Yi Qiu glanced around and saw that her “melon-eating friends”1 were all putting on an act. She scratched behind her ear and pouted.
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that after two months, you’ve changed so much, little pig trotter… You seem more mature, more of a man.” As she spoke, Yi Qiu propped up her chin and teased the bewildered Luo Mingyuan, “That’s a good thing. Now you’re worthy of your shijie,2 am I right?”
The moment she finished, the pale-faced youth in front of her was seized by another violent coughing fit.
Yi Qiu wasn’t just speaking in polite words,3 either. No matter how you looked at it, Luo Mingyuan was now a man who had lived through nine lives and nine worlds4 in his dreams; it was only natural that his temperament would have matured.
She could clearly sense a change in the little pig trotter, especially in the small details of his gaze and mannerisms.
Perhaps because he had grown up feeling inferior, the old Luo Mingyuan’s eyes were always darting about. He lacked confidence in everything he did, always trying to minimize his own presence wherever he went, and he was painfully shy when he spoke.
Now, after a single dream, he had woken up like half a new person. The resolve in his eyes was so much stronger.
“Little pig trotter, what exactly did you dream about? Tell us, won’t you?” Yi Qiu couldn’t help asking. “Everyone’s very curious.”
“Yeah, yeah!” The ever-curious Yue Zhuo immediately chimed in.
“It’s a long story to tell,”5 Jiang Yuyao said.
“Then make a long story short,”6 Yue Zhuo retorted.
“It can’t be explained in just a few words,” Luo Mingyuan said, coughing lightly. For once, he spoke with his own mind. “There’s really nothing worth telling, so let’s not talk about it.”
Jiang Yuyao couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
Hearing this, Yue Zhuo bit her lip, crossed her arms, and began to sulk7 off to the side.
Yi Qiu pouted and suppressed the curiosity in her heart. “Fine, fine. It’s you two’s little secret. It’s not our place to ask.”
Jiang Yuyao subconsciously refuted her. “That’s not it at all.”
But Yi Qiu just shrugged and spread her hands, saying no more.
In the end, everyone just wanted to hear a story. The tribulations8 of gods and immortals were always fraught with hardship. If the nine failed lives and nine worlds of the Heavenly Emperor’s son were compiled into a storybook9 for the mortal realm, it would probably be a massive hit.
But those memories were, after all, old wounds. Even if they were long past, if he didn’t want to bring them up again, others couldn’t force him.
When they returned to their room, You Yan couldn’t help but ask, “Seeing how curious you are about Luo Mingyuan’s dream, could it be that the novel never wrote about the Golden Crow’s first nine lives?”
Yi Qiu pouted. “You’re right.”
You Yan heard this and said coolly, “If you really want to know, I can take you to force it out of him tonight…”
Yi Qiu frantically waved her hands. “No, no, no!”
She quickly linked her arm through You Yan’s, shaking her head. “It’s not that serious. Really.”
She had to hold back this overbearing CEO bird10 who did whatever she thought of. Nothing else mattered, but the story hadn’t reached its HE11 yet, and she still had to be friends with the two protagonists. She couldn’t just use her strength to strong-arm them.
“I’m not that curious, anyway. It doesn’t affect my mission. I just need to know that the little pig trotter’s failures in his first nine tribulations were all related to Yi Bird. That’s more than enough,” Yi Qiu said. Her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the room where Chao Yun was resting, and she froze for a moment.
“What is it?” You Yan gently squeezed Yi Qiu’s hand.
Yi Qiu came back to her senses, sighing as she shook her head. “It’s just a feeling I can’t quite describe.”
She pushed open the door and walked into her guest room.
You Yan followed her in, closing the door behind her. She didn’t forget to push open a small window to let the sunlight stream in.
When she turned back, she saw Yi Qiu slumped over the table, listless and without energy,12 idly playing with an empty teacup. The corners of You Yan’s lips curved up as she slowly walked over.
Yi Qiu looked up just in time to see You Yan sit down beside her and take the teacup from her fingers.
Yi Qiu pouted again, grabbed another empty cup, and stuck her fingertip inside, rolling it back and forth across the table.
“Why be so concerned with the affairs of others?” You Yan said faintly. “Never mind that they’re just friends; even with family, there are times when you are powerless to help.”
“…”
“In the end, we are observers. As long as we’ve done our best, that is enough.”
Yi Qiu sighed.
She gently set the teacup upright and said in a small voice, “That’s true, but if you put your heart in another’s place,13 you understand their difficulty. You can’t help but wonder what you would have chosen if it were you…”
“The moment I think that, if it were me, I probably wouldn’t have done any better than her, this indescribable feeling wells up in my heart…” Yi Qiu shook her head. “She already did her best, but she still couldn’t change a thing…”
It was that way in the novel, and even freed from the author’s manipulations, it was still the same.
Perhaps it was just as that Demon Lord You Yan in the book had said—in this vast, dusty world, kindness and gentleness were the most useless things of all.
After nightfall, You Yan borrowed some charcoal from Jian Li and, after catching a fish from who-knows-where, began grilling it right there in the room.
The nights on Ao’an Mountain were always exceptionally quiet.
Deep in the mountains, except for the room where Chao Yun was resting, every cabin still had candlelight glowing within. Who knew if anyone else was whispering secrets by candlelight, just as they were.
After some time, Jiang Yuyao emerged from Luo Mingyuan’s room, closed the door behind her, and walked toward the room Jian Li and Yue Zhuo shared.
The two Ferocious Beasts’14 world for two had been disturbed for at least two months now.
Every time Yi Qiu saw this, she couldn’t help but want to laugh out loud.
“What’s so funny?”
“You Yan, what’s the deal with Jiang Yuyao and the little pig trotter? Their feelings are so deep they’d protect each other with their lives, so why are they still sleeping in separate rooms?” Yi Qiu turned and blinked at You Yan. “You don’t think… the little pig trotter can’t perform, do you?”
“What are you talking about?” You Yan frowned, her gaze flickering away as she said coldly, “They haven’t had their wedding. How could they consummate the marriage?”15
You Yan’s words were a wake-up call for Yi Qiu—these ancient people were so conservative. A woman from a good family,16 no matter how deep her feelings for her lover, had to have her parents’ consent. She had to wait until he had properly married her through a matchmaker17 before she could deliver the rest of her life to him on the night of the bridal chamber and nuptial candle.18
Otherwise, it was a secret pre-marital affair,19 and she would be called someone who did not know shame.
For the ancients, to truly love a woman meant you absolutely could not touch her casually. Otherwise, it was the woman’s reputation20 that would be damaged.
So, is that what You Yan thinks, too?
She cares about me, so she’s reluctant to touch me?
As Yi Qiu thought this, she pulled back from the window. She glanced at You Yan, who was focused on grilling the fish. Clasping her hands behind her back, she bounced over to You Yan’s side.
She leaned forward, hands still behind her, and stared with wide, innocent eyes as she tentatively asked, “Then… isn’t it a little inappropriate for us to keep sleeping together like this? Maybe… we should sleep in separate rooms before we’re married?”
A flash of awkwardness crossed You Yan’s eyes. Finally, she opened her mouth and said with a frown, “It’s not convenient.”
“Not convenient?”
“There aren’t enough rooms,” You Yan said, quickly cutting Yi Qiu off before she could speak again. “We’ll talk about this when we get back to the Demon Realm.”
“…”
“Besides… I haven’t done anything to you…” You Yan said, her gaze darting to the side. “You just need to be a little more well-behaved when you sleep.”
“I’m not well-behaved?” Yi Qiu shot back, hands on her hips. “Have I ever been restless at night?”
She was certain that, aside from tossing and turning when she had insomnia, she was a very well-behaved sleeper.
You Yan was silent for a moment before saying, “You suddenly hug me.”
“That’s impossible!”
“Why would I lie to you?” You Yan said. Seeing that the fish was finally cooked, she handed it to Yi Qiu.
Yi Qiu was stunned for a moment. She studied You Yan from top to bottom, confirming that her tone didn’t sound like she was joking, before she dazedly accepted the grilled fish.
“How could that be?” she muttered to herself.
How could I be moving my hands and feet21 on You Yan in my sleep?
And if I made such a sudden move in the middle of the night, why didn’t You Yan kick me awake?
Isn’t this double standard, overbearing CEO bird not used to being touched by others?
Yi Qiu looked at You Yan suspiciously. Seeing that she wasn’t eating, You Yan said coolly, “Are you going to eat that or not?”
“I am!”
Yi Qiu retracted her suspicious gaze and held the fish up to blow on it. Just as she was about to tear off the skin, You Yan stopped her.
The next second, You Yan stood up under Yi Qiu’s curious gaze, walked to the door, and turned back. “I’m going to get a bowl and chopsticks. Stop getting your hands all greasy.”
Yi Qiu nodded with a smile, watching as You Yan left the room.
She had to admit, when conditions allowed, this bird woman was always very particular.
Through the wide-open door, she saw that the moonlight outside was perfect.
Quiet nights like this had always been her favorite… It would be nice if everything could just stop at this very moment.
Or maybe, not this moment.
The Kunlun22 from her dreams, the Mo River outside them, Snake Mountain, or Ao’an Mountain—it didn’t matter. Any place where she could stay by You Yan’s side would be good enough for her.
What a pity. You Yan didn’t belong to any of these places, so no matter where they were, they could never stay for long.
You Yan quickly found a clean bowl and chopsticks in the kitchen and returned to the room to share the midnight snack with Yi Qiu.
As they were eating, a coughing sound suddenly came from outside.
Yi Qiu instinctively looked up and saw Jiang Yuyao push open her door and hurry toward Chao Yun’s room.
You Yan said, “Chao Yun must be awake.”
Yi Qiu was about to get up when You Yan pressed a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t be so concerned with other people’s business.” You Yan tapped her bowl lightly with her chopsticks and said faintly, “Finish eating first.”
Her tone clearly left no room for argument.
“…Oh!” Yi Qiu pouted, forced to suppress her overwhelming curiosity.
Fine, I won’t go. Why be so overbearing?
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