Don’t Leave for the Ends of the Earth; Come Home

Blurb: In his previous life, Jiang Xianyu aspired to conquer the world. Alone, he rode off with his sword and horse, roaming far and wide. But after trusting the wrong person, he met a violent end in a foreign land. After he died, his spirit saw his childhood friend, the boy who used to fight with him every few days, race a thousand miles to collect his body, avenge him, and build him a tomb... Only to be buried in the same coffin as him?!!! When Jiang Xianyu opened his eyes again, he was back on that morning years ago. Outside, his childhood friend stood holding two horses, smiling as he said, "Come on. Didn't you say you wanted to go explore the world?" Jiang Xianyu's eyes reddened. He rushed over and hugged him. "I'm not going! I'm not going anywhere in this life!" In his previous life, the day Jiang Xianyu secretly left home, Xie Cheng rode after him for three hundred miles. When he couldn't find him, his father arrived with men and dragged him back, where he was punished according to family law. Half a month later, Xie Cheng came of age. His father said, "I have given you the courtesy name Linyuan. Remember this: Jiang Xianyu is a fish that dives into the depths and swims out to sea. You can only be a man on the shore, treading carefully at the water's edge!" Xie Linyuan, his injuries still unhealed, knelt in the ancestral hall. His eyes bloodshot, he swallowed the blood in his throat, along with the last of his sincerity and innocence. He is the moon, the stars, the beloved I can never have. He is the far horizon, my hometown, the boundless world I lost and found again. Leave the far horizon and return home. From now on, give up the martial world and cherish only the one before you. A sharp-tongued, stubborn young swordsman and childhood-friend uke vs. a composed, restrained, possessive merchant heir seme Reader's guide: 1. Xie Cheng is the seme. One-on-one romance. Happy ending. 2. Neither lead is perfect, but they'll gradually change. 3. Set in an alternate history. It draws on ancient customs and place names, but includes plenty of original worldbuilding. 4. It's tagged as a sweet romance, but it's not pure sugar. It's a rebirth story, after all. Expect roughly a 40/60 mix of sweetness and angst. 5. One part martial world, one part court politics, three parts everyday life among ordinary people, five parts youthful freedom. More or less a slice-of-life farming story. 6. I can't think of what else might be a trigger, so ask in the comments. 7. Weibo: @Bu Ci Gui Blurb first posted on 2020.9.16 Theme: People live not only for themselves, but also for love and responsibility.