Lianzhi had no parents and was adopted by Shen Yuchen, who took him to the Cangfeng Sect when he was little.
Everyone praised his good fortune. After all, he was Shen Yuchen's only disciple. Other disciples, though, sneered behind his back that he was good for nothing but a pretty face, and wondered why Perfected Yuchen treated him so well.
Only Lianzhi knew that Shen Yuchen would go into seclusion for three or five years at a time. Even when they occasionally met, he was extremely cold toward him. The vast mountain was cold and quiet all year round, and only the spirit beasts on the back mountain kept him company.
Their master-disciple relationship was nowhere near as close as others thought.
Even so, during their rare moments together, Lianzhi developed feelings for his master that went beyond mere respect. He didn't dare reveal them. He was even afraid to stay at the sect once Shen Yuchen came out of seclusion, so he hurriedly made up an excuse about going out to gain experience and left the mountain.
Unexpectedly, he ran into danger again and again as soon as he left the sect, and every time the same person came to his rescue. Lianzhi joked that, if this were a storybook, he'd have to repay the man by marrying him.
It was only a joke, but Pei Changjue answered with a serious look. "You want to marry me to repay the favor? You can."
Lianzhi waved his hands in a panic and blushed as he explained, but his heart only beat faster. He couldn't understand why he felt so familiar with Pei Changjue, as if they were old friends who had known each other for decades, when they had only just met.
Had they... known each other before?
*
Lianzhi had thought his admiration for Shen Yuchen was what it meant to be in love. But after meeting Pei Changjue, he learned what it really felt like to fall for someone, to be completely lovestruck.
Fortunately, Pei Changjue loved him too. He hadn't said so outright, but Lianzhi could feel it.
After a passionate night together, Lianzhi happily curled up in Pei Changjue's arms and fell asleep, thinking that soon they would become cultivation partners.
But when he woke the next day, the person beside him had vanished without a trace, as if he'd never existed.
At that very moment, Shen Yuchen sent him a message, ordering him to return to the Cangfeng Sect at once to marry.
He was going to marry Shen Yuchen.
Why would the normally cold Shen Yuchen suddenly want to become his cultivation partner? Lianzhi couldn't understand what had happened. After thinking it over, he arrived at only one conclusion.
Could it be that Pei Changjue had been Shen Yuchen in disguise all along?!
*
Convinced that he'd figured everything out, Lianzhi hurried back to the Cangfeng Sect, full of anticipation. When he saw Shen Yuchen, he couldn't hide his love, but Shen Yuchen's gaze was impossibly complicated.
There was the anger of someone displeased that he had fallen for someone else, the coldness of someone deliberately keeping his distance, and something else he couldn't put into words... a hint of pity.
Lianzhi noticed none of it. For the next few days, he happily prepared for his and Shen Yuchen's cultivation partner ceremony.
But among the red candles filling the room, the only thing waiting for him was a sword piercing his heart.
Only when he summoned the last of his strength to look up did Lianzhi realize that Pei Changjue stood behind Shen Yuchen, calmly and coldly giving an order: "Don't go easy on him."
Was he talking about Lianzhi? He wanted to ask, but the pain kept him from speaking.
As he lay dying, someone seemed to cradle him tenderly. That person said:
"Zhizhi, don't blame me. This is the fate you've been given in this life."
"Only this way can we be together sooner."
No, he didn't want to be together anymore, Lianzhi thought hazily.
He didn't want Pei Changjue or Shen Yuchen anymore.
Still an outrageously melodramatic story, with a little n/t/r thrown in (nervous laugh).
Theme: Cherish the present.
