Inside the main hall of Tianyan Peak.
Xie Lingyu hadn't waited long—or rather, she hadn't even finished reading more than a few of the Western Niu Continent intelligence reports—when she saw Chu Xingchen walking back from the rear hall.
Yanyun's gaze also turned over strangely. He's only been gone a short while, she thought, but quickly dismissed the notion.
Chu Xingchen was still under the illusion technique. Even if he wanted to sense anything, he couldn't. Now that she thought about it, he'd only taken a single glance before returning.
Nothing particularly remarkable about that.
Xie Lingyu stood up, raised her hand, and wrote:
[How did it go?]
"Nothing much." Chu Xingchen shook his head lightly, then turned his gaze toward Yanyun. "These urgent orders from Western Niu Continent—can I take them with me to look over?"
Yanyun nodded and said:
"I've already reviewed the information from that side. You're free to take them, but it's best not to let them leak out."
Xie Lingyu raised her hand and swept all the jade tokens on the table into her spatial ring.
"Then I'll take my leave. If anything urgent comes up, you can come find me."
Chu Xingchen cupped his hands in farewell.
Yanyun nodded lightly once more, but said nothing else.
She simply watched the two figures depart.
Peak of One Big Happy Family.
Xie Lingyu didn't ask much, nor did she ask how Chu Xingchen's observations had gone.
The two of them tacitly sat back down in their original chairs. Xie Lingyu took a jade token from her spatial ring, read the message inside, and after confirming it was correct, would reach out and write in front of Chu Xingchen.
One token. Two tokens. Three tokens.
Occasionally, Chu Xingchen would ask Xie Lingyu for her thoughts.
Xie Lingyu would also lightly write out her insights.
As yet another jade token was taken back by Xie Lingyu, she didn't write its contents for Chu Xingchen.
Without a doubt, this jade token was the one Daoist Yuyang had written to talk about Chu Xingchen.
Chu Xingchen seized this gap and suddenly asked:
"Lingyu, I heard from Senior Bai that she taught you a little tune."
Xie Lingyu paused, but didn't reply. She simply held the jade token she had just taken out.
Chu Xingchen gazed at Xie Lingyu, and seeing her somewhat at-a-loss expression, spoke softly:
"Can you sing it for me?"
Xie Lingyu pinched the jade token in her hand, then raised her hand to write:
[You can't hear anyway.]
Chu Xingchen looked at Xie Lingyu with delighted eyes:
"If I could hear, would you still sing it for me?"
Xie Lingyu's expression grew slightly flustered, but she quickly raised her hand to write.
[I would not.]
Seeing this, Chu Xingchen's expression turned somewhat forlorn:
"Then in that case, why not sing it for me when I can't hear?"
Xie Lingyu's brush strokes turned sharp as she wrote:
[No!]
"Are you shy? Is it a tune for a lover, perhaps?"
[Of course not. How could Master teach me that kind of tune?]
"Dear Lingyu, really can't you sing it?"
[No.]
"Why not?"
[No means no.]
Seeing Xie Lingyu's firm attitude, Chu Xingchen sighed lightly, then changed the subject:
"Then let's keep going through the Western Niu Continent news. By the way, how come there's nothing from Daoist Yuyang yet?"
Xie Lingyu pinched the jade token in her hand, and seeing the slightly disappointed look in Chu Xingchen's eyes, wrote lightly:
[Perhaps it just hasn't been Daoist Yuyang's turn yet.]
After writing that sentence, Xie Lingyu continued writing out the messages from the jade tokens.
As if she had brushed aside Chu Xingchen's suggestion.
Chu Xingchen didn't press further, but watched Xie Lingyu with a calm expression tinged with slight disappointment.
Xie Lingyu's fingertips tapped lightly as she continued writing.
Then suddenly, she spoke in a soft voice:
"It should be the warm spring breeze…"
"How many times do human feelings…"
Xie Lingyu sang softly with her head bowed, while simultaneously writing out the intelligence from the jade tokens.
"As if lingering flowers meet the rain…"
"How could one not speak of parting…"
The tune wasn't long. Before Xie Lingyu had even finished writing the jade token's messages, she had already finished singing the little tune.
After finishing, Xie Lingyu kept her head down for a moment before slowly raising it—only to find Chu Xingchen's eyes fixed tightly on her.
Chu Xingchen smiled softly. "It sounds beautiful."
Xie Lingyu's expression showed slight shock, and she quickly raised her hand to write:
[What are you finding beautiful?]
Chu Xingchen smiled and said: "Naturally, what I just heard."
[You're deaf…]
Xie Lingyu wrote halfway, then finally caught on. She raised her eyes to look at Chu Xingchen and said, word by word:
"You're better?"
"Not long ago." Chu Xingchen raised his eyebrows slightly. "How about it? Pretty lucky, right?"
Xie Lingyu gripped the jade token tightly in her hand, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Seeing this, Chu Xingchen quickly raised his hands:
"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have…"
"You have to sing it for me too!"
Xie Lingyu cut off Chu Xingchen's words, her tone extremely serious:
"You have to sing it for me too!"
Chu Xingchen paused, looking at Xie Lingyu's earnest expression.
He had thought she would be angry… or at least give him a good simplifying.
But Xie Lingyu did neither.
Chu Xingchen lowered his hands and said with a light laugh:
"But I don't know how to sing."
"I'll teach you."
"I'm pretty slow. You'll have to sing it many times before I might learn it."
"Then I'll sing it many times. But you absolutely have to sing it for me too."
Chu Xingchen nodded lightly, his gaze soft as he looked at Xie Lingyu:
"Alright. You teach me, and I'll sing it for you too."
Xie Lingyu placed the jade token in her hand back into Chu Xingchen's. No longer bashful as before, she continued to softly sing the little tune.
Chu Xingchen held the jade token in his hand, listening to Xie Lingyu's gentle tone…
Truly… the omnipotent Lord Lingyu.
Far too captivating.
Really making one…
Xie Lingyu finished singing through once more.
The breeze was warm and light, the floral fragrance drifting faintly, here and gone.
Xie Lingyu didn't immediately press Chu Xingchen on whether he'd learned it, but instead spoke softly:
"Master said this little tune was taught to her by her master—my grandmaster."
"Master said our lineage has always valued affinity of the eye. There are so many people in this world, but those with whom one shares such affinity are few and far between."
"That's why our Pearl Peak lineage has always had so few members."
"This little tune seems to be a hometown tune from Grandmaster's homeland. Nothing profound, and no other particular meaning."
"It's like singing for a lover, or like singing about one's own life."
"However, the tradition of Pearl Peak is that this tune is sung only for the person with whom one shares the deepest affinity."
"It can be sung many times, but only to one person."
"Master only sang it to me, so she won't sing it to anyone else."
"I sang it of my own accord, so I can't blame you."
"But I'm not that generous either. So you have to sing for me too."
Chu Xingchen's eyes softened, and he asked quietly:
"What if I learn it and then sing it to someone else?"
Xie Lingyu turned her head slightly to look at Chunhua nearby:
"Then nothing would happen. Many things require mutual willingness. I'm not the type to force things."
Chu Xingchen asked softly:
"Then after I sing it to you, wouldn't this tune end with just you and me? It couldn't be passed down anymore? Wouldn't the tradition be lost?"
Hearing this, Xie Lingyu smiled:
"Then this tune would belong only to you and me—our unique one—and the tradition would simply be to choose another."
"After all, what's precious isn't the tune itself."
Chu Xingchen's smile grew even softer:
"Lingyu."
"Hmm?"
"The omnipotent Lord Lingyu."
"Hmm?"
"I like you."
"Hmm."
[
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