As dusk fell, the entire city transformed into a world straight from a celestial tale. Every house, every alley, every corner had been adorned in celebration.
Crimson and red silk drapes flowed in the wind, lanterns glowed like fire spirits, and the streets were overflowing with sweets and smiling faces. Rivers carried floating blossoms downstream, while the cool evening breeze carried laughter through the air. The Hei Lin San Sect gleamed with a divine light, as if heaven itself had descended to bless the world with peace and joy.
It was a night of pure happiness, where joy danced upon the faces of everyone.
Amidst the celebration, Yu Sui and Mo Yan walked side by side through the bustling market.
Their shoulders gently brushed with every step.
Their eyes sparkled like distant stars, and soft, blooming smiles lingered on their lips. Alive and pure...without saying a word, they were speaking a thousand unspoken things.
Eventually, the crowd faded behind them as they wandered to the outskirts of the market.
There, they reached a tranquil space....a vast field of lotus flowers swaying in the breeze. At the edge of the field stood a grand tree, heavy with large blue blossoms, its petals floating down softly in the wind, like whispers from the heavens.
They stopped beneath the tree.
Yu Sui still held his bamboo flute.....the one that had been his Mo Yan for all those years of longing.
But tonight… Mo Yan himself stood there.
Beside him. With him.
The binding seal of their soul-link, still active, shimmered faintly between their wrists like floating silk threads in water.
Yu Sui turned to look at him...calm, serene, peaceful.
That peace was what Yu Sui loved most about him.
Mo Yan glanced back, a gentle smile curling on his lips. Then, without a word, without rushing, he wrapped Yu Sui into his arms.
It was like the evening itself was embracing a delicate flower...tenderly, fully, reverently.
---
A little while later…
Far from the noise of the world, hidden from every eye, they were both in each other's arms
Breaths mingled like fragrant mist in the air.
There was no rush.
No shame.
Just two souls, quietly declaring a love they had waited centuries to express.
This was no desire of flesh.
No hunger.
It was pure love.....a sacred emotion.
A connection of two souls that no word, no light touch, could ever fully describe.
These were whispers between souls, murmured silently as they melted into each other's presence.
Even the branches of the tree bent low, as if to shield this divine union from the eyes of the world.
The moon shimmered gently in the sky.
Their fingers interlocked, threads of love tangling softly between them.
Breath became one.
The gentle touch of lips was not a kiss...it was a seal of love.
Even their hair seemed to speak to one another, flowing together like lovers reunited.
And so passed the night.....in each other's arms, in their breaths, in their love.
Not a single word was spoken.
Perhaps none was needed.
Their mere presence was their language.
Their silence… their deepest conversation.
---
Meanwhile, in a distant room…
Peace was a foreign concept.
A full-blown battle had erupted between Su Nian and Duie...over tea.
Yes. Tea.
The sweetness of it, to be precise.
Like cats and dogs, the two bickered endlessly...one opinion flung after another.
Wuzu and Lao Duan were trying to calm them down, but their own laughter betrayed them halfway.
The argument had spiraled from sugar levels to lotus flowers, and made no sense whatsoever.
There was no resolution in sight.
Finally, Wuzu gave up with a dramatic sigh.
She glared at them with the expression of someone watching children fighting over nonsense, and tugged Lao Duan away.
"There's no saving them,"
Wuzu muttered through gritted teeth.
"They can't end the argument because it never had a point to begin with."
The two of them walked out, leaving the pair behind.
---
Some time later… silence returned to the room.
But the real reason behind their squabble wasn't sugar.
Or tea.
Or lotus.
It was shyness.
Both of them were hiding from something sweeter than tea.....their feelings.
Unable to express it, they had cloaked it in ridiculous banter.
Eventually… it was Duie who broke the silence.
His voice was soft now.
His face calm.
His heart… full.
That old memory had returned again.
The one he'd hidden away for 200 years.
The moment he first saw Su Nian.....beneath the plum tree, crumbling.
Even after two centuries, it felt like it had happened just yesterday.
He turned his gaze toward Su Nian.
And in that moment, the mischief on Su Nian's face vanished.
Duie's eyes were glistening with tears.
His face was pained.
And his heart was full of memories.
Su Nian was shaken.....worried...wondering what had caused such sadness.
He asked once.
Twice.
A hundred times.
But Duie didn't answer.
He simply leaned forward....
And his lips brushed Su Nian's lips like the first drop of rain touching a flower's petal.
No words were needed.
That one touch said it all.
Su Nian didn't wait a heartbeat longer.
He pulled Duie into a tight embrace, wrapping himself fully into Duie's arms.
And the night… passed just like that.
In each other's arms.
In quiet.
In stillness.
In love.