Chapter One Hundred Sixty: The Marvels of the World Should Be Like This
That meatball.
Young Master Sang didn’t know what it was.
If anything, demon cultivators were prone to having some strange things on them.
Maybe it was a technique, or maybe it was a magical artifact.
But most of it was probably not very clean.
After Young Master Sang crushed the meatball, he didn’t pay it much mind.
He turned to Gu Yingmian and asked, “Shall we continue our stroll?”
Gu Yingmian nodded.
“Where do you want to go this time?”
“Just around the city. Let’s check out the night view.”
Young Master Sang glanced at the sky; it was just about time for the lanterns to light up.
A larger city like Chen Zhou usually had night markets; it should still be bustling when it got dark.
However, just as he took a few steps toward the city, he noticed Gu Yingmian standing still, staring at her hand.
Young Master Sang asked, “Uh, do you still want to hold hands?”
She nodded again.
With a sigh, he offered his hand.
A smile spread across Gu Yingmian’s beautiful face as she gently placed her hand in his palm and obediently followed behind him.
At first, Young Master Sang didn’t think much about holding Gu Yingmian’s hand.
But after she reminded him, he suddenly felt a bit shy.
“Uh, didn’t you say holding hands didn’t mean much?”
“Mm…” Gu Yingmian tilted her head and blinked.
“I don’t know.”
Just like when you were holding my hand, running through the crowd just now.
I suddenly noticed how two hands holding each other looked together.
And for some reason, I felt a bit anxious and uneasy.
As if letting go a little would bring a wave of indescribable loss and disconnection.
Gu Yingmian couldn’t quite describe this feeling.
It was just a sudden moment.
It seemed like my heart fluttered softly.
Young Master Sang didn’t want to probe further, so he said, “If you like it, just keep holding hands.”
Gu Yingmian gave a light smile.
She slightly bowed her head, her eyelashes downcast, and whispered, “…Thank you, dear brother.”
——
——
The city at night was just as lively as imagined, brightly lit.
With bustling crowds, beautiful lanterns, and fine wine, it made the two walking seem to be in an ocean of glowing neon.
Along the way, Young Master Sang earnestly introduced all sorts of delightful things at the market to Gu Yingmian, including things as delicious as cotton candy.
However, this time, Gu Yingmian couldn’t concentrate on her surroundings.
Her gaze kept drifting back to their joined hands.
Young Master Sang’s hand wasn’t particularly broad, yet it was enough to envelop her delicate hand.
She wondered if Young Master Sang found her hand soft and pleasant to hold.
But to Gu Yingmian, Young Master Sang’s hand felt so warm.
Holding onto his hand felt like being wrapped in a heating stove.
A strange warmth pulsed from his palm. It seemed if she closed her eyes and focused, she could feel his heartbeat through his palm.
It was truly a peculiar feeling.
The last time Gu Yingmian felt this strange flutter was during her breakthrough in swordsmanship.
She seemed to notice her state wasn’t quite right.
She couldn’t focus her attention.
Her emotions had suddenly become sensitive, and her thoughts complicated and cumbersome.
She couldn’t help but think about the oddest things.
But she couldn’t remember when she started feeling this way.
It felt like everything changed in an instant.
She couldn’t ignore the fact that they were holding hands.
She couldn’t overlook his sometimes close yet distant affectionate gestures.
Whenever he gently tugged her hand and called out, “Gu Sister, look,” she instinctively avoided his gaze.
She didn’t even know what she was feeling shy about.
“Gu Sister, look, ironflower!”
Young Master Sang excitedly pointed towards a distance: “This one looks amazing! I saw it once before, and I didn’t expect to see it here!”
Gu Yingmian instinctively looked where he pointed.
The iron liquid was struck onto the canopy, instantly bursting into a brilliant array of sparks, resembling stars falling from the sky.
The onlookers nearby cheered, and Young Master Sang was captivated by the sight.
Yet Gu Yingmian stole a glance at Young Master Sang’s profile.
As sparks erupted, they glimmered like twinkling lights in his eyes.
Suddenly, Gu Yingmian recalled a long time ago, when she was practicing swordplay during the harsh winter, enduring the chilling temperatures while repeatedly swinging her sword.
Even if she shivered from the cold, she tirelessly struck the iron dummy again and again.
The more forcefully she swung, the more sparks flew.
Though there were only a few, it made the frozen cheeks and frostbitten hands feel a moment of warmth.
It was the warmth from deep within her heart.
Perhaps back then, when she was dressed too thinly and shivering, she didn’t imagine that many years later, she’d meet someone who mirrored the ironflowers in his eyes.
Holding his hand felt just as warm as those shining sparks in her heart.
“…Gu Sister?”
A clear voice pulled Gu Yingmian from her thoughts. She looked dazedly at Young Master Sang’s concerned expression and slowly shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“I see.” Young Master Sang chuckled, “I thought I had something stuck on my face.”
Gu Yingmian suddenly raised her head and fixed her gaze on his profile.
“…Don’t move.”
Young Master Sang froze.
He watched as Gu Yingmian lightly tiptoed, bringing her small head close to his cheek and pecking it.
Then she blinked her delicate eyes and softly said, “There’s definitely something stuck.”
Young Master Sang couldn’t help but swallow hard.
Gu Yingmian still wore her veil. Yet the thin veil could hardly mask her delicate face.
She wore a simple, light white dress, her hair falling gracefully over her fair collarbone.
Feeling a bit shy from Young Master Sang’s gaze, she awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Is…is sister really that pretty?”
She blinked her beautiful eyes, her cheeks dusted with a rosy hue.
Young Master Sang immediately averted his gaze, feeling guilty.
To be honest, Gu Yingmian gave Young Master Sang a very special feeling.
Her purity and innocence reminded him of the time in his previous life when he had a crush on the class belle.
Back then, in that youthful, naive age, his mind was filled with so many bizarre thoughts.
Just seeing the class belle’s smooth nape.
Her clean bangs and profile.
Her bright, succulent lips moving lightly.
It felt like the beauty of the world should be just like that.
Growing up, he gradually stopped having such perfect fantasies about anyone.
But Gu Yingmian made Young Master Sang feel like a memory of a moonlight that he thought was lost.
So pure and clean that it made him feel hesitant to touch.
“Ah… Sister must be beautiful.”
He scratched his cheek, awkwardly laughing: “But, um, Gu Sister, you just now…”
“What about it?”
“Nothing…”
Young Master Sang stammered for a long time before awkwardly saying, “Well, pecking on the cheek like that… could it be considered a bit too intimate? I’m afraid, dear sister might waste it on me.”
“This kind of thing, it’s better to wait until you find someone you truly like, someone who makes you feel special.”
Gu Yingmian gazed at him gently.
After a moment, she covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” She lifted her veil, her cute cheeks adorned with a slight blush, radiating a hint of laughter.
“I think I…”
“…Understand what that feels like.” She said softly, her face still flushed.
Young Master Sang felt a momentary pause in his heart.
The distant ironflowers continued to light up in the bustling crowd.
Gu Yingmian gently held his hand, her head bowed, her voice seemingly shy:
“Thank you.”
“Today, sister had a lot of fun.”
Young Master Sang silently looked at her.
“Let’s watch this iron flower show before heading back, okay?”
“…As you wish.”
——
——
By the time Young Master Sang returned Gu Yingmian to her palace, it was already deep into the night.
As they parted, Gu Yingmian sincerely thanked him before turning back to her quarters.
Young Master Sang felt a bit dazed, returning to his dwelling without saying a word.
He didn’t even take a bath.
Lying on his back in bed, he stared blankly at the ceiling.
“…Chun Lan.”
“What is it?” A somewhat irritated voice echoed in his mind.
“Did you see that?”
“See what? See you, the heartbreaker, deceiving our pure and kind palace master?”
Young Master Sang chuckled bitterly.
She wasn’t wrong.
From the very beginning, his approach to Gu Yingmian wasn’t exactly pure.
Like the first time that Supreme Treasure approached the celestial maiden Zixia.
But after today, Young Master Sang suddenly felt a bit lost.
Who was really pursuing whom now?
He wanted to ask Nian Nian how Gu Yingmian’s hearts’ progress was going.
But Nian Nian was absent.
And the only one he could confide in, Chun Lan, couldn’t grasp his messy emotions.
He felt a bit anxious. What if he hadn’t truly pursued Gu Yingmian…
But she had already pursued him instead?
What then?
Thinking of Little Ying, who was waiting at home, and Meng Qiyan, who was always thinking of squeezing him dry, Young Master Sang felt undeniably like a scumbag.
“But you know what?”
He stared motionless at the ceiling, as if speaking to himself.
“I don’t want it to be like this.”
“I’ve just been alone for too long in my past life.”
What he wanted was never obtained.
The love he offered always yielded silence and stillness in return.
“I’m almost drowning in this barren, lonely life.”
“So, I often can’t help but seriously respond to any affection offered by those around me.”
Like a starving stray dog, he’d be grateful to anyone who tossed him a bone.
“And now, I seem to be increasingly losing control.” He let out a bitter laugh.
Chun Lan had been quiet for a long time before finally muttering,
“…I can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You’re the strangest person I’ve ever met.”
“But…” she couldn’t help but add suddenly.
“So far, you don’t seem like a bad person.”
