“No, that’s not possible!” Yuelong said to himself. His eyes were open, but he saw only the Lanyue of his boyhood in the face of the man that fled. “Could it really be him!?”

Yuelong rushed to the window. The crisp, chilly scent of autumn leaves stung his nose. Under the bright light of the moon, the forest behind the temple lit up in a bluish glow. He spotted the figure’s silhouette among the trees.

Without a second thought, Yuelong immediately leapt out through the window and chased desperately after the shadow. Branches scraped. The dark shapes of the trees flashed by. His heart pounded faster and faster.

Please… Let it be him…

Yuelong stopped at a forest clearing, gasping for breath. He darted his head around looking for any signs of Lanyue. But the trees only stood around him like the bars of a jail, separating him from the only thing that he could ever want in this world.

Yuelong straightened an arm and summoned Cangming from his sleeve, and he started pointing his sword in all directions, hoping that Cangming would respond to Lanyue’s presence.

He pointed Cangming east—nothing. He pointed north—nothing.

Please, Cangming, please find him.

Cangming suddenly started vibrating gently in Yuelong’s hands. It was now pointing in the direction of the village.

He tightened his grip, a feeling of iciness washing over his chest.

“How could this be?” he said to himself. “I saw him run into the forest! He couldn’t have backtracked so quickly!”

Then, was Cangming wrong? Was he wrong?

His heart ached.

Yuelong—upright as he was—had never in his life sought the Heavens for help. But for the second time tonight, when hope was all lost, when his eyes would only see the face of the smiling boy that Lanyue once was, he begged.

Please, Heavens, let me see him just one more time…! Please…

There was a rustle in the bushes to the side. Yuelong’s heart leapt, and he hurried over. In the moon-cast shadows of the night, with a mind in mayhem, and with eyes clouded over with old memories and longing, he saw the answer to his prayers.  

“Lanyue!” exclaimed Yuelong. He immediately dropped his sword and caught the figure in a hug. His long-empty heart suddenly felt like bursting with love. “Shi-ge’s been waiting for you to come back! Why did you take so long?”

“…”

“What’s happened to you?” Yuelong pulled away and started blinking back the mist in his eyes. “Why do you look so young? Tell me everything!”

His smile faded when his sight cleared. This wasn’t Lanyue.

Yuelong felt his heart crack.

He stood and composed himself. Then, he looked at the boy again.

The boy’s whole body trembled as he fearfully eyed the sword that was lying on the ground beside them. There were holes in his thin clothes, and the fabric had been patched in a few areas. But the boy looked almost exactly like how Lanyue did in his early teens.

Although this boy did not have the beauty mark and golden eyes that Lanyue had, his face was shaped like a plump almond, and his creaseless eyes brought out a child-like innocence in his looks. His upper lipline made sharp mountain peaks, while his lower lip was generously curved. Like the stroke of a calligraphy brush, his perfectly dark brows tapered at the ends.

“So similar…” Yuelong whispered.

The sight of the poorly dressed boy stirred up another distant memory: the day he first met Nan Lanyue.

Holding his mother’s hands, the young Yiheng looked down from atop the platform stairs in Yanren Hall. Kneeling on the floor were an old couple and a five-year-old boy.

“Thank you, Leader Fan! We are forever in your debt!” the old man kowtowed.

Fan Haoren, sitting on his throne, slowly waved a hand at the couple. “No need to thank me. It is serendipity that brought us together. What is the boy’s name?”

“We are not educated people, Leader Fan,” replied the old man. “We found little Lanyue when he was just a baby. So, we named him after the month he appeared, after the seventh month, Lanyue.”

“Hmm,” Fan Haoren nodded. “Don’t worry, my wife and I will take care of him. He will be at home here.”

Together, all three of the visitors slowly stood up. The couple were of old age; grey and white hair streaked through their heads. The scrawny boy, dressed in what were almost rags, held on to the old woman’s hands.

“Lanyue, ah,” the old woman started, stroking the boy’s face. “I’m sorry we have to leave you here. We simply don’t have the resources to take care of you. And besides, we are old—we might not even be able to see you marry in our remaining life.”

“Nai-nai…” Beads of tears formed at the corners of Lanyue’s eyes. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Good Xiao-yue. Nai-nai has to go now. Stay with Leader Fan shu-shu.” The old woman patted Lanyue on the head and slowly made her way to the doors with her husband. “Be a good boy and listen to the other ge-ge’s here, okay?”

The little boy took a step towards the old woman, as if he forgot not to follow. But he stopped, and he wiped his eyes with his sleeves. The bitterness in his mouth grew stronger as he watched the old couple disappear down the palace stairs. To the young Lanyue, the old couple was his home, his family, his everything.

He squat down and cried, catching the attention of many people on Qianyang Summit. A lot of young disciples and even some elders peeked at the crying boy.

“Poor kid.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

“Life is but suffering.”

Lanyue felt a little pat on his shoulders. He looked behind with teary eyes and saw a boy of about the same age, standing over him.

“I’m Yiheng! From now on, I’m your da-ge.”

“I-I’m Lanyue.” He sniffed. “Yo-you can call m-me Xiao-yue.”

“Yeah, I heard your nai-nai. So, you’re also born in the seventh month, eh?”

Lanyue sniffed and wiped his nose with his dirty sleeve. Lanyue looked at the finely dressed boy. “N-not exactly.”

Yuelong squatted next to Lanyue. “What do you mean?”

“My nai-nai and ye-ye found me on their doorstep, so they took the day they adopted me as my birthday.”

“So which day is it?”

“The twenty-eighth.”

“Hey! That’s my birthday!” exclaimed Yuelong. “Mother! He has the same birthday as me!” Yuelong turned to look at his mother, who was sitting next to Fan Haoren.

Madam Mei smiled. “Really!? We must have a really big celebration on that day, then!”

“Wife, I shall hand the boy over to you, then.” Fan Haoren said.

“No problem!”

“That’s my father over there,” Yuelong pointed, introducing Lanyue to his family. “And that’s my mother.”

At the mention of “mother,” tears welled up in Lanyue’s eyes once more. “I miss my ye-ye and nai-nai.”

Taken aback by the sudden turn, Yiheng didn’t know what to do. He looked at the poorly dressed boy.

Tears began to roll down the boy’s cheeks before his face pressed into his knees, afraid of the piercing eyes of the man sitting on the throne. Lanyue sobbed quietly. Then suddenly, he felt a warmth wrapping around him.

“I will be here for you, di-di.” Yiheng held Lanyue in an embrace.

When Lanyue had lost everything, when his world had turned grey, Yuelong was there to fill the empty hole in his small heart with warmth and a sense of belonging.

Returning to his senses, Yuelong looked at the raggedy boy trembling beside Cangming. He knelt down beside the boy.

“What’s your name?”

Without taking his eyes off of the sword, the boy replied, “Pe-people usually call me X-Xiao-Kai.”

“Alright, Xiao-Kai,” Yuelong said in a warm voice. He reached his hand out towards Cangming’s handle.

“No! Please! Forgive me!” Xiao-Kai shouted, covering his face with his arms. “Please don’t hurt me!”

Spotting the slashes on the boy’s sleeves and the scars underneath, Yuelong immediately let go of Cangming. “What’s wrong?” Yuelong placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders, steadying him.

“You-you’re not going to pu-punish me?” The boy peeked out from under his arms.

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“Be-because I stole from the temple.”

“Why did you do that?” questioned Yuelong.

Xiao-Kai slowly let down his arms. He placed one hand over his stomach and looked up at Yuelong. His eyes were round and moist with tears. He wanted to say something but held back at the last moment.

Yuelong sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t hurt you.” He wrapped his arms around Xiao-Kai and patted his back.

Must be Heaven’s will that I met him tonight… Must also be destiny that he looks so similar to Lanyue.

Yuelong once again reached for Cangming. He could sense the fear coming from the boy at the sight of his sword.

“Return!” The sword dissolved into specks that slipped back into his sleeve.

Yuelong stood up and held his hand out towards the boy. “Come, let’s go grab you some food.”

Xiao-Kai took hold of Yuelong’s warm hands and looked up at him. “Thank you, glowing ge-ge!”

“Glowing?”