Life in the Fang manor passed like any other day for Yue Ran.
To him, covering miles while walking or just staying cooped indoors didn't feel all that different.
Though he was sure many would disagree
Waking up early, he opened the door connecting his room to the verandah,
It was still quite dark, he didn't sleep all that long so he would often get up even before the roosters
The dews kissed the blades of grass in the garden as the winds sang softly through the empty places
The world often felt the loneliest and peaceful just moments before the arrival of dawn
While still in his inner robes, he walked outside breathing in feeling every inhale expand his lungs only to contract soon after
the sun was only beginning to rise, he watched the dews lift as the sunlight broke through them
Slowly brushing his fingers through his hair he felt the air around him kiss his skin
This moment sheltered by silence, he found his thoughts grow quieter
The time seemed to have slowed down
clouds drifting aimlessly
Everything felt the same as usual,
As when he traveled alone,
As when he lived with his master
He sat on the edge of the verandah as he closed his eyes, to meditate briefly.
He could now truly feel that he had left Shuangwei as the cold frost no longer burnt his face,
as Yuanxi welcomed him with gentler and warmer winds
His lips no longer bled from the cracks on his lips,
The crisp scent of snow had now left the tip of his nose, and was now replaced with the scent of warmth that oozed from the paddies and harvested rice, as the sun entered the skies, soon the scent of fresh warm rice drifted through the air, out of every household carried by the wind.
Breathing in the smell while feeling the gentle graze of the wind
He slowly loosened his body as the stress on his body melted off like snow after the arrival of summer.
It was a very pleasant feeling
Yet if asked if he preferred this over the harsh winter he wouldn't be able to answer as easily unlike others
Still,
Out of every scent to have entered his nose, only one remained as the most memorable one for him, the one that remained etched on his memory as if it had taken root on his soul
Enduring time and memories, it was rather persistent
The crisp smell of roasted tea leaves,
He was never fond nor disapproving of teas,
But this scent that always trailed behind his master since the day he met, he just couldn't help but grow curious, his master always smelt like roasted tea leaves
At first he wondered if it was because he owned a tea business but that was not the case, or if it was because he drank tea every single day, but surprisingly that also was not the case
One time he even asked about it which surprised his master before awkwardly prompting him to ask Yue Ran to open his palms to receive a tea sachet, then he finally thought he had solved the mystery and finally got an answer, a tea sachet, but that too, was not it.
Unlike his master, no matter how much he carried that sachet around the scent never rubbed on him, rather, the sachet itself smelt differently than his master.
And till now, he had never found a scent that has been able to replicate it, nor the mystery behind it.
As he was still lingering on this half meditation half reminiscing state he heard the distant sound of approaching footsteps, it was soft and gentle, he could tell the owner was trying to be discreet
Nevertheless, it was still audible.
Those footsteps soon stopped as soon as he reached the door to his room
Even with both his eyes closed, Yue Ran listened curiously
And sure enough, he heard them reach for the handle of the door
Yue Ran knew that this would happen so he had left the door unlocked, while Xue Hua hesitantly grabbed the door and opened it as slowly as possible but to his dismay,
It created a noisy squeaky sound as he did
Which took him by surprise
Yue Ran slightly turned his head towards Xue Hua, to see how he would react now,
While the door continued to creak briefly as Xue Hua stood still
Xue Hua never expected it to be that loud, rather he didn't expect the door to make any sounds at all,
He was certain he wouldn't make any noise but now that he did,
He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed,
He felt like a kid.
It was no wonder he was being treated as one
He thought.
But as he met Yue Ran's eyes, he quickly took a deep breath, as he approached him, the tip of his ears were still red
Yet, he hurriedly tried to compose himself, to make it seems as though he wasn't bothered by that
Then soon, he boldly claimed a seat beside Yue Ran
Who was looking at the garden while sitting on the edge of the verandah.
He glanced at Yue Ran, who had already changed out of his inner robes long ago, recalling his memory of the morning where he woke up and chaotically put on his robes to greet Yue Ran
He was almost running in the beginning but as the drowsiness wore off he quickly stopped and slowly approached the door instead
He didn't wanna disturb Yue Ran who was in his room by running or walking loudly.
He couldn't help but compare himself to Yue Ran who was all prim and proper, while his robes were wrinkled in some places and he didn't even manage to tie his waist properly before coming
As he awkwardly rubbed the back of his hand,
Pursuing his lips, but forced the words
"Good morning" while looking away,
"Mn" Yue Ran nodded,
"Good morning"
The sleep had not fully worn itself off yet before this but now it was fully gone, drowned out by shame and his own thoughts.
Now knowing how to fill the silence, Xue Hua began looking around the garden as well, turning his head here and there to make himself appear busy
But his bad habit returned, as his gaze unintentionally followed Yue Ran once more.
Leaving him staring at the immortal before him.
While his face remained indifferent, Yue Ran found the kid's behaviour rather amusing, there was no way he wouldn't feel his gaze on him, yet he pretended to be ignorant
Since he couldn't ignore the presence of this child, he might as well grow accustomed to it for the brief period they would be together
While yes, Yue Ran's days passed as usual according to his standards somewhere along the way, his usual had changed before he even realised it
He didn't realise when it happened nor how it happened as it did
Only that it did
After a while Yue Ran stood up leaving Xue Hua as he went to his table,
Xue Hua played with his fingers as he waited for Yue Ran
Looking down, seeing his dangling feet he swung them back and forth
Thinking back to Yue Ran's tall figure,
"I wonder when I'll become as tall as him..." He muttered to himself
He found himself far too small right now, has he always been this small? He wondered,
So was there not a chance that he could actually be taller? If this was just some form, or if not he could still be older than his appearance
His eyes lost focus as various thoughts ran through his mind
Yue Ran had never treated him differently from how he treated others but still he could feel the slight disconnect
Yue Ran didn't bother to keep it a secret either,
how he thought of him
But he always did wonder why he never pressed him about his identity, even if he had lost his memories, couldn't he just do something?
To see what he was?
Wasn't it dangerous to keep something of unknown origin by your side?
Even the owner of this house seemed to exercise more caution towards him, but perhaps it didn't matter since the other person was Yue Ran
Xue Hua thought, after all,
Yue Ran was incredibly strong
Even so, while knowing this he couldn't help but... question
He couldn't understand Yue Ran
But more so he couldn't understand himself,
after all, he didn't even remember his name, so he himself didn't know what he was, yet he was expecting Yue Ran to know
The immortal did not seem too concerned about this, which kind of bummed him out.
He didn't understand what he wanted, but he wished just a little that maybe Yue Ran would've been more curious about him, even a quarter as curious as he was of him.
His brother wasn't the least bit curious,
On the other hand, the master of this house seemed very curious about him,
His eyes expressed their curiosity the day they met
Those amber eyes of his were gazing directly at him
It felt...invasive and unpleasant
He scratched around his finger nails remembering that face as Chen Fang watched him with a strange curiosity...?
He relived that moment as he started digging on his fingers
Until, he felt the soft brushing sensation on his head
His fingers stopped in the middle of the motion as he silently raised his head to try and turn
But before he could,
"Stop moving" Yue Ran straightened his head, forcing him to sit still
Xue Hua silently obeyed, with his hands resting on his thighs firmly in a fist it was their morning routine, the calm rhythm of breaths behind him no matter how many times it happened
he still found this more calming than anything he ever felt
Not that he has much to compare it to
But surely, no matter what he experienced or felt in the future he had a strange premonition that he would rather stay even if it was merely existing beside Yue Ran
That it would continue to be his greatest wish as it now was.
Yue Ran brushed through Xue Hua's hair, detangling them carefully as he picked and separated some of those snowy strands himself.
At first he found those hairs strikingly similar to his master's
But now he couldn't help but find small differences
Like how his master had a much cooler tone compared to the warmer touches of colour on Xue Hua.
Even the sensation of the strands on his fingers, it started to feel more different as time passed
His stare lingered on the few strands wrapped around his fingers as he exhaled and continued before finally tying them neatly to prevent them from flying everywhere.
The next day,
The harvest festival was soon to commence in full swing from tomorrow onwards
Inside the Fang manor library, Yue Ran sat with a book on the table
Chen Fang had gone out for some business, leaving Yue Ran and Xue Hua in this large house
Slipping through the pages slowly, Yue Ran read through the words carefully
Xue Hua sat not further across from him,
He was sulking,
Sure he wasn't very proficient at reading but it wasn't as if he couldn't read either so why was he stuck writing characters?
He truly didn't like that Chen Fang person,
He grumbled,
When Yue Ran had approached Chen Fang to go to the library, Xue Hua was right beside him, but he unfortunately caught Chen Fang's eyes drawing mischief on his face as he started asking Xue Hua all sorts of literary questions,
And what? Just because he failed to answer six seven questions out of ten did it mean he was unable to read?
He grumbled,
Yet unlike him, Yue Ran was leisurely reading the book he had picked up,
Xue Hua was extremely curious,
He didn't want to do what that swindler had told him to do,
But he didn't want to be seen as disobedient by not doing it either
There were still so many characters left, he truly didn't want to do it...
Then his eyes snapped back as he thought of something,
"Gege"
He called Yue Ran
"Mn"
"Why is the harvest festival such a big deal?"
He spat out, he had been curious for a while now, but he just couldn't find the time to ask
Yue Ran's fingers stopped in the middle of flipping the page
"Well"
Yue Ran started,
"Yuanxi was originally a wasteland a couple hundred years back, caused by frequent droughts and storms"
He turned the page
Xue Hua was slightly puzzled,
It couldn't be helped, Yue Ran explained,
"According to records, it is said that a mortal from a respectable family passed through the place, and seeing the land felt extreme grief over it and the animals of this place animals so"
Yue Ran recalled the records he had read in the past,
"After he reached his home, he sought out many scholars to ask for their council where one of them had told him to seek out a particular god after hearing this he began praying religiously to the gods" Yue Ran briefly paused,
Glancing at the child
Then he continued, "however, he wasn't told who he was to pray to, so he prayed to every single god and was devoted to all of them"
"And then? Did the gods answer him?"
Xue Hua asked with curiosity,
Yue Ran shook his head, "not quite"
This confused Xue Hua
Catching this expression, Yue Ran sighed, he was never good with telling stories, if he was being honest, Chen Fang or his master were way better at telling stories in a way that appealed to kids, but seeing how invested Xue Hua was,
But these thoughts were trivial, after all Xue Hua was a "unique" kid so it couldn't be said for sure how he would've reacted.
"His prayer was answered, but only after many years had passed, people thought he had lost his mind and he ultimately got exiled by his own family for their reputation
Yet he kept praying, and this devotion caught the eyes of a certain god"
"But the god who answered that young lord wasn't of abundance nor fertility, rather it was the god of solar and blaze, and in order to fulfill his prayer,"
Yue Ran hesitated for a moment,
"it is only speculation without any explicit description, however people believe that the god asked for something in exchange for bringing prosperity to the wasteland"
"What did he ask for?" Xue Hua impatiently asked,
"It is not recorded"
Then he continues, "the young lord is said to have complied with the condition, therefore the entire land was engulfed in bright flames while the land recovered its vitality"
" many described it as the 'Descent of the Sun itself' but other than that there's no other description"
"Soon, after the fulfillment of the prayer, the land regained life as people started moving in, hearing tales of the golden hues dyeing the lands that once laid waste"
Hearing this, Xue Hua's ears perked up
Then he quickly opened his mouth,
"Were those golden hues caused by the paddies of the land?" He asked remembering the lingering scent of rice he kept smelling on the tip of his nose
"Yes, after all, it was the season of falling leaves the day the god answered his prayer"
There was still some more to it, like how the man vanished soon after the reclamation of the land or how much of an uproar it caused in that time period
As the people desperately tried to look for him, including his family that exiled him to save their reputation in order to bask in honor.
However, Yue Ran didn't speak after that,
As he concluded the story
Xue Hua was lost in his mind dazed, before he remembered something quickly spitting those words,
"What happened to that young lord after that?"
Yue Ran shook his head,
"Nobody knows"
....
Night soon covered the land of Yuanxi
Drowning it with the lights from fires and lamps
Through the brightly lit streets they walked among the crowd
Like any other man that had come to enjoy the festival
Although this wasn't something Yue Ran had in mind he had also become one of the crowd
It never would've even crossed his mind to wander the streets just the night before the official commencement of the festival
if Chen Fang didn't break down their door and dragged them out naming Xue Hua as an excuse
"C'mon you're not gonna make a kid just sleep through the most exciting night right? No guardian would do that~" he said in a dramatic tone
Yue Ran wanted to retort by saying no parent would want their children roaming the night so late, but seeing the confidence in his brows, he could only offer a skeptical glance
'Take him to the festival '
Yue Ran's brows twitched as he remembered that physician's advice
He closed his eyes, it was very unlike him, but taking care of a child was already completely beyond his usual act, so what was indulgence in some festivals even though he'd rather spend it resting?
"Fine."
He agreed, but the grin that appeared on Chen Fang almost immediately soured his face, realising he had fallen for Chen Fang's antics
And that's how the three of them ended up wandering through the lively streets of the city in the middle of the night with a large crowd of people
He sighed,
What could even be special about this night? What separated this night from any other night?
Yue Ran walked straight ahead while Xue hua turned his head every fifteen second while gripping onto Yue Ran's sleeves
It was obvious that he wanted to walk around, wander around but since Chen Fang was with them, Xue Hua didn't feel as good about doing as he pleased and enjoying his surroundings
he had a feeling that he shouldn't get separated from Yue Ran's side.
Although that immortal was indifferent to everything, he was very considerate, like letting his sleeves get wrinkled by a child's grip, or slowing his pace to accommodate him
Knowing this, Xue Hua couldn't help but want to be a bit more selfish, he could've pretended to be just as indifferent as that immortal towards this occasion,
but his presence alone made even his smallest resolve crumble down, leaving him with nothing but bare genuinity
Not to mention, he had a feeling that even if he pretended, Yue Ran would see right through him
And that thought of getting caught was...
Just imagining those cold eyes gaze at him with emptiness made his heart drop to his stomach
Those earthy eyes burying him underneath the earth with just a single gaze, it sent a cold chill down his spine.
So while Yue Ran allowed this childishness to exist within him,
He'll continue to lay himself bare whether it ends in embarrassment with multiple nights losing sleep or...
With precious memories...
it was something he was willing to bet in