bgm: cheerful tune  by zhongyue bangxing 

Mo Yixuan furrowed his brows. “I said, what makes you so attractive?”

“What do you mean?!” Su Shimeng’s tone was indignant. “You, I—!”

“You’re the inner disciple of a sect leader, but Iridescent Radiance Sect has its sights on bigger things than the jade trade,” Mo Yixuan went on placidly, “You won’t inherit the Su Clan’s business and you’re destined to live the rest of your life as a cultivator away from human beings.”

“Cut to the chase,” Su Shimeng sputtered, utterly at a loss.

“Right,” Mo Yixuan began to summarize, “You don’t fit a lifestyle down here. You’re better matched with a Dao companion from the Middle Realms.”

No no no, thats way too direct! 

Su Shimeng could feel himself turning red as he half-gaped, half-glared at the other man. “What are you trying to say?”

“That you’re beautiful,” Mo Yixuan narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen Old Madam Su in person, but I don’t think she could compare even in her younger years. Your looks are out of this world.”

Ba-dump.

“I-isn’t that true for all cultivators?” Su Shimeng snapped, though his words came out as a stammer. 

“No, it’s different in your case,” Mo Yixuan said. “Let me have a closer look.”

Is he seriously coming onto me?

Goosebumps rose on Su Shimeng’s skin as the other stepped forward. Immediately, he backed away and bumped into the chair, causing him to lose his balance. Shoot…!

But Mo Yixuan caught him by the wrist and pulled him upright, sending him crashing against the older man’s chest. With a yelp, Su Shimeng pushed him away and darted to the center of the hall. “What are you doing?!”

Mo Yixuan blinked at him. “Helping you up.”

“Not that, you bastard! Look, whatever you’re thinking, don’t even try,” Su Shimeng snarled back, “I already have someone I like!”

“Oh.” Mo Yixuan didn’t know what to say for that. “Congratulations.”

“And someday we’ll be proper Dao companions, so that’s the end of that!” Su Shimeng finished triumphantly. 

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Aren’t you the one who made me stay behind to listen to your weird confession?”

“Confession?”

“Mo Yixuan!” Su Shimeng exploded. “Dammnit, don’t toy with people just because you got rejected! We’ve only met for hours and you’re already courting me? Are all Star Pavilion Sect disciples this desperate?!”

Mo Yixuan’s expression suddenly hardened. “You thought I was trying to pursue you?”

Abruptly, the temperature in the room seemed to plummet as a heavy weight slammed into Su Shimeng’s shoulders. He almost choked, but managed to shield himself at the last second and glare daggers at Mo Yixuan. “Get ahold of yourself! If you wreck anything in Su Manor, I’ll make your sect pay for damages!”

Realizing his slip, Mo Yixuan held back the sudden burst of cultivation aura that had accompanied his flare of temper, but the icy atmosphere didn’t dissipate. “You have a grave misunderstanding,” he said instead.

“What am I supposed to think when you keep raving about my looks?” Su Shimeng didn’t back down.

Mo Yixuan only frowned. “I was talking about the relationship between you and your sister.”

“Big sis?” Su Shimeng was incredulous. “You didn’t mention a word about her!”

“You told me to cut to the chase.”

“Yeah, and you ran straight past the point to chase after me!”

The temperatures in the room plunged even further. Although there was no more pressure threatening to crush Su Shimeng, he could clearly see a layer of frost begin to form on the edges of the furniture.

“Cut it out!” he snapped. “You—these chairs are red sandalwood, it’ll be expensive if you ruin them!”

Mo Yixuan continued to glare at him, but Su Shimeng only raised his chin and stared back. “Weren’t you going to talk about my big sis? Well, I’m listening now!”

Mo Yixuan then frowned, but before he could speak a word there was a bang as someone slammed opened the doors to the guest hall.

“Shizun, what’s wrong?” Nan Wuyue all but ran inside with furrowed brows.

To Su Shimeng, the effect was instantaneous. All of the cold vanished in an instant, leaving the hall with a faintly crisp air. He blinked and looked between master and disciple dubiously. While Nan Wuyue was still hurrying forward with single-minded focus, Mo Yixuan’s expression had abruptly smoothed into a blank mask.

“What happened?” Nan Wuyue asked Mo Yixuan.

“Why are you back so early?” Mo Yixuan returned instead.

“I sensed shizun’s qi fluctuating and thought something went wrong, so I ran back,” Nan Wuyue explained. 

“What could you have done with a cultivation level lower than mine?” Mo Yixuan pointed out the obvious. 

“Two people are better than one,” Nan Wuyue said. He scanned the room, but found nothing out of place. At last he looked questioningly at Su Shimeng. “Did I miss something?”

“N-nothing,” Su Shimeng suddenly flushed again. As if he’d recall his embarrassing episode to this brat, even if the other was a coveted core disciple!

Nan Wuyue took one look at his red face before his expression stiffened. As the temperatures suddenly started dropping again, Su Shimeng grew alarmed. He immediately held up his hands and pleaded, “Alright, I cave, I cave! Will you two stop trying to freeze the room in the middle of the night!?”

Mo Yixuan was all too willing to steer the conversation along. Ignoring the cold, he asked his disciple, “What about Sir Su?”

Nan Wuyue’s expression instantly relaxed. “A servant helped Sir Su to his rooms—he’s fine, by the way. Nothing amiss.”

So he didn’t find traces of the scent again? Mo Yixuan only creased his brows at that, though it was unclear whether he was annoyed or perplexed. He sighed and turned to Su Shimeng. “Fine, let’s try this again. Junior Su, what is your relationship with Bai Tingyao?”

Su Shimeng was still reeling from how strange this pair worked. The master grew tense when the disciple appeared while the latter relaxed under his shizun’s scrutiny. Wasn’t it usually the other way around? Still, he pushed that aside and replied, “She’s my sister-in-law, what else?”

“But why does she like you so much?” Mo Yixuan wondered. “More than her husband...even more than her own son. Yet you’re the least likely person to stay by her side.”

“Hah?” Su Shimeng stared at him. “What are you talking about? Sis cares for everyone in this family.”

“You’re her favorite,” Mo Yixuan pointed out. “She’s always talking about her Mengmeng.”

“Maybe?” Su Shimeng shrugged, “Everyone plays favorites, don’t they?”

“But she only knew of you for eight years at most before you went off to cultivate,” Mo Yixuan creased his brows. “Why is she still so attached to you now?”

“Sis values family bonds,” Su Shimeng insisted, “She came from a poor family with only her grandparents surviving. When they died, we became the only family she had left.”

“I see.”

“If you’re gonna doubt sis, why not question my brother instead?” Su Shimeng huffed. “I’d say he’s the fishy one for refusing your help in the first place!”

“You suspect Sir Su?” Nan Wuyue piped up.

“I won’t go that far, but I know he puts the interests of the Su Clan ahead of everything else,” Su Shimeng huffed. “Don’t you know? Back when he fell off the cliff, everyone thought my mother had it out for him. He didn’t defend her until the rumors spread all over town because he was working out business deals instead! Even without the ghost, I’d come back every year just to check if he’s treating her right. And now I find she’s in a coma and he never bothered to tell me!”

The more Su Shimeng spoke, the more incensed he grew. In the end he burst out, “If sis hadn’t sent those letters, brother might have tried to deal with things on his own. Who knows what would’ve happened tonight?!”

“Even so, Bai Tingyao didn’t send a letter to your sect,” Mo Yixuan pointed out.

“That’s because she knew I’d worry,” Su Shimeng explained. “I know I’m rash, and sis doesn’t like that. She probably thought you two could handle it on your own...but I feel better knowing what’s going on. It’s lucky my junior brothers overheard and told me.”

“The Middle Realm get hundreds of appeals daily,” Nan Wuyue frowned. “How did those junior brothers find your sister’s letter in a pile like that? I heard this request shouldn’t be difficult enough to garner all this attention.”

“That’s what you don’t know,” Su Shimeng suddenly sounded a bit proud. “Sis managed to send letters to sects in the north, south, and eastern regions of the Middle Realms all on the same day. She knows some skilled couriers in the jade trade, but that still made a splash when the sect messengers found out.”

Just by distance alone, the scattered floating land masses where the celestial sects resided were enough to cover an entire continent. It was truly impressive to reach three of its extremities simultaneously, especially when the sender was only a Lower Realm human.

Mo Yixuan suddenly recalled Ouyang Che’s smug face as he presented this mission to him. A small suspicion rose in his heart. He couldn’t have selected this request just because he heard about it through the grapevine, right?

—

Back on Star Pavilion Sect, acting sect leader Ouyang Che sneezed in the middle of processing paperwork. In front of his desk, Mu Yelian gave him a disapproving click of her tongue.

“Who told you to sneak off work last night, hmm senior brother?” she huffed, “The mountain tops here are cold year round. I knew you’d catch a chill!”

“It’s not cold that’ll make me sick, but all these papers,” Ouyang Che grumbled back.

Mu Yelian sighed and shook her head while giving him a massive roll of reports from Mt. Luojia. “Well, make sure to process these for the healers’ quarters before tomorrow. We can’t move forward with the new recovery wing until you do.”

“Junior sister, you’re so hardhearted.”

“Who told you to send Brother Mo away?”

“I’m your senior brother too!”

“You?” Mu Yelian snorted. “You’re just a lazy slacker!”

Ouyang Che was much aggrieved. Even a slacker like him was forced to work now with his sect brothers away or out of commission!

I should’ve picked a nearby request for Yixuan instead of the one making rounds in the gossip circles...

—

“Isn’t sis impressive? The Su Clan wouldn’t have gotten this far without her!” Su Shimeng’s words were filled with admiration as he praised Bai Tingyao. To his disappointment, Mo Yixuan didn’t seem to register his words at all.

“All right, that’s all I wanted to ask,” the peak lord concluded. “Let’s meet again tomorrow.”

“You…!” Su Shimeng raised a finger, remembered Mo Yixuan’s overwhelming cultivation pressure, and dropped it again. “Fine then! But I’ll be visiting my mother in the morning first.”

“Then we’ll see you in the guest hall when we bid our farewells to Sir Su for the day,” Mo Yixuan said brisky.

“Yeah, yeah.” Su Shimeng couldn’t leave fast enough.

Master and disciple were thus alone. Mo Yixuan turned to give Nan Wuyue a look. “No scent?”

Nan Wuyue shook his head. “Either he concealed it or it’s gone for good.”

“No memory?” Mo Yixuan asked next. How hard was it to remember a distinctly bloodthirsty smell? 

“Not yet,” Nan Wuyue was apologetic. Extremely hard, as it turned out, if you fought for years surrounded by the stench of blood. “Disciple apologizes for being useless.”

“No,” Mo Yixuan disagreed. “I didn’t confront him when I had the chance. It’s fine, we have other avenues to explore.”

Silence fell between them as the topic died out. When Nan Wuyue was about to propose they retire for the night, Mo Yixuan blindsided him with one more question.

“Do you think Su Shimeng is attractive?”

“Shizun?” Nan Wuyue couldn’t believe his ears.

Mo Yixuan had been watching Su Shimeng off and on during the talk tonight and one thing stuck out for him: the young man was extremely pretty. His constant scowling marred his features, but couldn’t hide them fully. Yet it was an unusual beauty that set Mo Yixuan on edge, like a Venus fly trap beckoning towards its prey.

Truly uncanny. 

He wondered if Bai Tingyao had been taken in by this same strange allure, especially since neither Nan Wuyue nor Su Shiyu seem particularly affected. Questioning Su Shimeng was his way of probing into their history while testing the effects of such unconscious charisma on himself. In the end, he could only conclude that the boy seemed unaware of his effect on others. Mo Yixuan was also only affected on a superficial level, forced to acknowledge the aesthetic appeal of those exquisite features despite himself. 

He was suddenly curious to see how Su Shimeng would affect ordinary humans when they went investigating tomorrow.

“There’s something about him I can’t describe,” Mo Yixuan went on thoughtfully. “But his looks draw people in. I’d say it’s less ‘cute’ and more of an otherworldly beauty, though.” 

“I wasn’t paying him much attention,” Nan Wuyue’s reply was somewhat stilted. “I’ll take a good look tomorrow.”

“Good, I need a second opinion.”

“Is shizun’s type someone like Su Shimeng?” Nan Wuyue pressed on curiously.

“My type…” Mo Yixuan trailed off as Shangguan Yin’s features inevitably rose in his mind. The eyes were sharper, though their gaze duller. The eyebrows were less fierce and the voice softer, always gentle even as it fed the last fatal poison to his ears. “Thank God they’re nothing alike.”

Shizun actually has a type? Nan Wuyue stared at Mo Yixuan with mild shock. The peak lord seemed to have realized his slip, because he shook his head and quickly dismissed the thought.

“That’s irrelevant,” he said. “It’s late, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

He was already past Nan Wuyue and out of the room before the latter turned around. In the empty guest hall, the disciple was left floundering in his bewilderment. Underneath that was curiosity and a tiny flicker of speculation. Su Shimeng was impulsive, quick to act, and often looked surly. When he wasn’t blowing his top, he seemed to make a fool of himself. Without a doubt, he was still immature and his looks...a little delicate, was the first impression Nan Wuyue had when he saw that face.

So someone completely opposite should be thoughtful, methodical with their choices, and have an agreeable expression? Someone who kept his cool and was naturally wise? A mature type with masculine features?

“........” Nan Wuyue’s expression instantly fell as he thought of one man.

Shi Feng?

Just what happened in the week that shizun was away?!

No wait, why did I assume it’d be a guy? It could be a girl instead…

Except the presence of the skeleton flower hairstick in Mo Yixuan’s hair seemed to mock his doubts. In a flash, all of Nan Wuyue’s thoughts converged into one emotion: extreme annoyance.

He just wanted to make peace with his shizun again, so why were all these other men distracting him from his goal? Nan Wuyue stared at his small, 15-year-old hands and grew impatient. It’d be a full five years before his body reached adulthood again.

No matter, he breathed and calm himself down. Even if there’s five Su Shimengs and ten Shi Fengs, I still spend the most time with Master. There’ll be plenty of chances for us to mend our relationship.

He knew the world was a lonely place for both of them. That’s why...two is better than one, shizun.

—

Footnotes:

Red sandalwood (紫檀) - aka zitan, a wood so dense it sinks in water. Wow! Read more about it here. 

—

{extra}

Su Shimeng has something to say.

Su Shimeng: She’s not just my Dao companion, but my #GIRLBOSS!
Ruyi: She’s also...not in this story arc.
Su Shimeng: You’re going to give her a cameo, right? 
Ruyi: 
Su Shimeng: Right?
Nan Wuyue: Shut up, cannon fodder don’t have rights.
Su Shimeng: Who’re you calling cannon fodder, brat?
Nan Wuyue, who remembers SSM’s fate in the last timeline: Hurhur.
Su Shimeng: What are you laughing at?
Nan Wuyue: You.
Su Shimeng: Y-you…!! (｀Д´);
Mo Yixuan, popping in: Su Shimeng looks good even when he’s angry.
Nan Wuyue: ...wth shizun? ??
Ruyi: And thus the MC saves the day again. Ok, until next episode guys!
Nan Wuyue: You! What in the eighteen hells is up with you and your crappy editing choi—
Ruyi: And cut!