Translated by: Zryuu

　　Edited by: Butter

　　—

　　“If it were Yuyang…” Yuan Tianwen paused, then said, “I don’t know what decision I would’ve made in the end, but I definitely wouldn’t have turned him down so readily.”

　　“And why is that? Do you like him?” Lin Xuanzhi asked, a little surprised.

　　Yuan Tianwen blushed slightly. “I can’t tell you how much I like him right now, after all, we haven’t met in so many years, but I don’t dislike the kind of intimacy I feel with him. Also, when we were young, he had even mentioned that he wanted to marry me when we grew up. I never forgot about that after all these years. If I knew that it was him in the beginning, I would have been willing to interact with him for some time before seeing how things develop.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded, then suddenly started laughing. He laughed so hard that the tea in his cup began rippling.

　　Ridiculous, this was truly too ridiculous. There had actually been that many freak coincidences between Yuan Tianwen and Duan Yuyang. The fact that Duan Yuyang and Yuan Tianwen didn’t contact each other until their deaths in the past life was trivial to Lin Xuanzhi right now. In the past, he had just thought that Han Yuran had the means to win over people’s hearts through his pretenses, but he didn’t expect that Han Yuran would be so bold as to impersonate someone else!

　　“And what are you laughing about this time?” Yuan Tianwen felt a little indignant now. He said all of that to Lin Xuanzhi because, firstly, he thought that this person has always been good at keeping secrets, and secondly, at the very least they used to be disciples of the same sect, and they both know Han Yuran and Duan Yuyang, so he should be able to offer him some advice. He didn’t expect Lin Xuanzhi to react like this!

　　“I just think that everything in this world really is linked together. Heaven presides over justice, everyone will get their just desserts.” Lin Xuanzhi stopped smiling, “Yuan Tianwen, I always thought that you were a smart man, but I didn’t expect your brain to be filled to the brim with water.”

　　Yuan Tianwen, “…”

　　Why did he have to suffer such a personal attack?

　　“I’d like to ask you, have you ever wondered why the Han Yuran now differs so greatly from how he was like on Flying Luan Peak?”

　　Yuan Tianwen nodded. “I thought about it before. It’s just because the environments are different, so people would naturally change, in addition to the trauma you gave him…”

　　“I traumatised him?” Lin Xuanzhi pointed at his nose, “Me?”

　　Yuan Tianwen nodded guiltily, “When I asked him about it, that’s what he said.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “…”

　　How could you fucking believe that kind of nonsense used solely to trick fools?

　　Lin Xuanzhi didn’t carry much hope for Yuan Tianwen’s EQ. He continued, “Then have you ever wondered why Duan Yuyang would go to your place to propose to you a second time?”

　　Logically speaking, a person like Duan Yuyang and a family like the Duan family would not invite humiliation for themselves a second time after they were rejected once. The family’s honour was more important than Dao companions after all.

　　Yuan Tianwen frowned slightly. “Don’t tell me it’s because my affair with Han Yuran in Qing city had provoked him?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t even laugh now. He felt that someone like Yuan Tianwen, who couldn’t change his line of thinking, could not be talked to with an indirect approach. He could only dive straight to the point, otherwise he would have to waste an entire night talking to him today.

　　“Have you never suspected that the person on Flying Luan Peak was someone else entirely?”

　　“Wait!” Yuan Tianwen’s eyes widened all of a sudden. He felt like a streak of lightning flashed through his mind and his heart stopped. An incredulous idea that could perfectly explain all of his doubts now formed in an instant.

　　Lin Xuanzhi gently squeezed the tea cup in his hand.

　　“Han Yuran isn’t the one who sacrificed himself to save me on Flying Luan Peak.” Yuan Tianwen spoke quickly, “Which was why his personality changed so drastically, which was why I don’t feel anything for him at all, which was why he never dared to sleep with me. But if that person wasn’t him, then who could it be?”

　　A clear figure surfaced in Yuan Tianwen’s mind. Although he always seemed unreliable and cursed every time he opens his mouth, he was incomparably lively, cute, and made clear distinctions between his likes and dislikes. He always made others both love and hate him.

　　Why would Duan Yuyang muster the courage and throw his face away to propose a second time after his first proposal was rejected? Why did Duan Yuyang seem to find him an eye sore after meeting him? Why would Duan Second Elder clearly express his dissatisfaction during Han Yuran’s birthday banquet? Why is it that during his dreams at night, he would always dream of the naked Duan Yuyang enjoying himself as he tossed and turned below him…

　　The hand that Yuan Tianwen had used to wield his sword for many years was now trembling so hard it was getting out of control. The water in his tea cup had spilled out and burnt him, yet he didn’t feel it at all and allowed the tea to wantonly flow downwards.

　　“It’s him.” Yuan Tianwen said with a hoarse voice.

　　He was absolutely certain, there’s no doubt about it.

　　Lin Xuanzhi felt like the coagulated blood clot in his throat had finally been cleared. He really didn’t expect that this genius swordsman, who was actually an idiot, would be able to realise what the biggest problem was under his guidance. It really made the old Lin Xuanzhi feel quite comforted.

　　Yuan Tianwen fell into a long period of confusion and rumination. He couldn’t snap out of his stupor for a long time as he failed to extricate himself from his daze. He couldn’t believe that the one who did everything for him, accompanied him all that time and racked his brain to make him happy on Flying Luan Peak would be Duan Yuyang.

　　No, that’s not right, how could it be difficult to believe?

　　Yuan Tianwen’s heart felt like it got stabbed — of course that person was Duan Yuyang, and it can only be Duan Yuyang!

　　Aside from Duan Yuyang, who else would be able to treat him without reservation after knowing of his identity, and only treated him as Yuan Tianwen without the slightest intention of using him.

　　He finally understood where Han Yuran was most at odds with the person on the peak.

　　Han Yuran loved his status, and often borrowed his status, consciously or subconsciously, to gain quite a lot of benefits in Profound Sky sect, as well as from Yuan Tianwen himself.

　　It’s just that Yuan Tianwen regarded Han Yuran as his Dao companion, so he didn’t mind, and it was because he urgently wanted the person he was entangled with, so he deliberately ignored all the times he felt like something was amiss… now that he knew that Han Yuran was actually a fake, Yuan Tianwen felt so disgusted like he had just eaten a fly.

　　However, he didn’t want to think about anything related to Han Yuran right now. Yuan Tianwen had been fooled with like an idiot, so he was naturally indignant about it. But right now, all he could think about was someone else.

　　Yuan Tianwen’s thoughts changed from “thank god it’s actually him” to “why didn’t he tell me everything, this hurts so bad”, and then to “I’m a huge idiot who could actually mistake the one I love for someone else”, and finally changed into “with how I treated Yuyang in the past, he must have felt incredibly upset during that period”.

　　My heart aches so bad QAQ

　　“I’m going to find him.”

　　Yuan Tianwen suddenly stood up.

　　“Do you know where he stays?” Lin Xunahiz looked at all the changes in his expressions from the start and felt an indescribable delight right now — this was his first time seeing Yuan Tianwen suffer a setback.

　　Yuan Tianwen pursed his lips, “On the first day I arrived at Sky Peak city after leaving Profound Sky sect, I inquired about the Duan family’s whereabouts.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi was both infuriated and amused. “You’re really good at taking action, aren’t you? You actually acted so much quicker than your brain. If it wasn’t because I knew that you had just figured it out, I would’ve thought that you deliberately feigned ignorance to fool me.”

　　“I’m not that senseless.” Yuan Tianwen felt a pressing need to go and find Duan Yuyang. He was just about to leave when he was stopped by Lin Xuanzhi.

　　“If you go and look for Yuyang now, he’ll probably ignore you.”

　　“He should ignore me.” Yuan Tianwen was obviously not a complete fool, “I’m already prepared to get swept right out of their gates. He can sweep me away once, twice, a hundred times or a thousand times, but he’ll accept me someday.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi really didn’t know what to do with Yuan Tianwen anymore. He sighed, “I didn’t expect Young Peak Master Yuan to have skin as thick as a city wall.”

　　“If you want to say that I’m shameless, then just say it straight.” Yuan Tianwen didn’t find it humiliating at all and was instead quite proud of it, “What do I need face for if I’m chasing my wife? If you hadn’t taken the initiative to annul your engagement with Han Yuran, I would have probably resorted to some underhanded means a few days later to do so. In any case, I would’ve been able to find some sort of way, whether it was proper or not, to ruin the engagement.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “…”

　　He wanted to curse, but he didn’t know if he should.

　　“However, you must have laughed at me when you saw me proudly stand up for Han Yuran and take over your plate ba?”

　　“I didn’t even have the time to be grateful to you, how would I have had the time to laugh at you?” Lin Xuanzhi glanced askance at Yuan Tianwen, then said slowly, “I was just laughing at Duan Yuyang. I have never seen anyone more blind than him. He actually took a fancy to someone like you.”

　　Yuan Tianwen, “…”

　　Damn it, he couldn’t refute him at all!

　　“We were at least disciples from the same sect. Even if it wasn’t for my sake, you and Yuyang are considered friends, yet you could bear to see him suffer so badly by himself.”

　　Yuan Tianwen was full of indignance and heartache right now. “You knew about it for such a long time ago, yet you didn’t reveal the slightest bit of it to me, and I…”

　　Face with Yuan Tianwen’s accusations, Lin Xuanzhi was rather speechless as well. He calmly said, “I just knew that he had a past with you once on Flying Luan Peak. Who would have known that you and Han Yuran got together because you didn’t have a brain of your own and regarded him as Duan Yuyang!”

　　“What other reason could it be?”

　　“That you’re blind.”

　　Yuan Tianwen, “…”

　　“You just said that you weren’t laughing at me in secret.” Yuan Tianwen said.

　　“I didn’t laugh at you in secret indeed.” Lin Xuanzhi retorted, “I’m openly laughing at you, despising you, and spurning you.”

　　Yuan Tianwen, “…”

　　Yuan Tianwen took a deep breath and said rather meaningfully, “You actually find it very fortunate that there’s someone like me who helped you move Han Yuran’s line of sight away, right?”

　　“Yeah.” Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “If it wasn’t for you, it probably wouldn’t have been easy for me to annul our engagement.”

　　Yuan Tianwen was certain that this chat could not continue, so he didn’t utter any more nonsense and left this tea house straight away, wanting to see Duan Yuyang as soon as possible. He didn’t forget to pay the bill before leaving, and also ordered quite a bit of snacks for Yan Tianhen.

　　Lin Xuanzhi sat right where he was. As he drank his tea and ate the refreshments, he pondered for awhile, and after coming to the conclusion that Yuan Tianwen would probably go home with his tail between his legs, he calmly stood up, packed the snacks, and left.

　　After returning, Lin Xuanzhi had just entered his room when he was surrounded by the two tiger cubs.

　　Ah Bai and Hu Po stared at the small package in Lin Xuanzhi’s hands.

　　Lin Xuanzhi cast a glance at them and was amused by how the cute Ah Bai and Hu Po were, insisting on looking cool. “You two have really sensitive noses.”

　　Ah Bai howled and pawed Lin Xuanzhi’s leg.

　　Yan Tianhen sniffed and asked, “Dage, did you bring back some good food?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi placed the package on the table. “Some refreshments. They taste okay.”

　　Yan Tianhen opened up the package and took one to try.

　　“It’s delicious!” Yan Tianhen enjoyed it so much he squinted, then he took another piece and also fed two pieces to Ah Bai and Hu Po respectively.

　　The two tiger cubs couldn’t wait to gnaw on the snacks, then they squinted as well and grunted happily.

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at these three happy little guys and suddenly felt extremely contented. Actually, it would be really good if they could be like this for the rest of their lives.

　　Raising two silly and cute tiger cubs, and raising someone who he loves to the extreme.

　　“Dage, these snacks should be very expensive ba?” After Yan Tianhen polished them off, he thought of this problem.

　　Lin Xuanzhi smiled. “Young Peak Master Yuan was the one who paid for them anyway, it’s better if they’re a little expensive.”

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