Two Swordsmen Among the Singing Willows

I picture a bright, warm, resilient top (Chen Fang) × a haughty, tsundere bottom (Ji Xiu) who seems aloof to everyone else but is always provoked by the top (is that really true?). They understand each other best, and their rivalry keeps driving them to greater heights, until they realize that the one person beside them who can stand as their equal is each other. How could that not count as happily ever after?

Ji Xiu and Chen Fang were both astonishingly talented martial arts prodigies. They were the same age and rose to fame at almost the same time, so the martial world grew accustomed to comparing them.

Whether it was Ji Xiu or Chen Fang, competing with the other had become a habit. Their last duel took place on the Cloud Terrace atop Mount Qiliang, ending in a draw. After that, Ji Xiu shut his doors to visitors, withdrew from worldly affairs, and devoted himself to studying martial arts.

The peace was broken one morning.

The guest-blocking formation Ji Xiu had set up could stop anyone else, but not Chen Fang. Chen Fang strode through the morning mist. Though they had been apart for a long time, neither seemed to have changed, as if their duel on the Cloud Terrace had happened only yesterday.

Ji Xiu's sword had not left its sheath in a long time. He raised it, ready to fight, but Chen Fang tossed aside the weapon in his hand and clasped his hands in greeting. "Chen Fang of Qizhou has come to pay a visit to the Master of Lingxiao Manor, and ask the Master to grant him one thing."

Ji Xiu paused. Chen Fang was rarely this polite to him. He waited to hear what Chen Fang wanted.

Chen Fang: "Your love."

Ji Xiu: ?

Apparently, Chen Fang said that after spending all his time fooling around out in the world, he had finally gotten himself into trouble. He had been afflicted with an incurable love curse, and the only way to survive was to obtain "the love that is hardest to obtain." After thinking it over, he decided it had to be Ji Xiu.

Ji Xiu: Idiot.

Theme: Only sincerity can win true love.