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The day was long, and Chu Wanning was mildly tired. Maybe just a little bit annoyed. It wasn’t that unusual; naturally, being Shenmu Xianjun had its own benefits and losses. Whenever he went out to check on various plants, a group of flower demons and tree spirits would gather around him, chattering and complaining, almost begging to help them in various affairs, at times absolutely ridiculous.
For some reason, today was especially loud and eventful. Small grass and flower spirits kept complaining about haitang spirits, who apparently “dared” to shed their flowers, ignoring that falling petals are the normal thing to happen in spring; various tree demons kept pointing fingers to each other, being up in the arms about roots and suddenly entangled branches; and other things which anyone with half a brain could consider utterly childish. None of these problems could have been helped any other way than simply waiting a month or for a gentle breeze or for a cold rain or for anything else, Chu Wanning knew that. Yet he had to listen and promise he will do something with a straight face, ultimately feeling a bit embarrassed because of his thin, as a paper, face.
Yes, being Shenmu Xianjun gave him many abilities, and demons and ghost could help him too sometimes, when he needed help.
But it was also incredibly tiresome.
Eventually, after quarreling and checking the most troublesome spirits, he went back, by usual mountain paths, at times steep, at times easy; some of them couldn’t be detected by any other human – he did them himself, after years of living there with Mo Ran.
And there he stumbled upon a small, very small and quiet tree spirit.
Gentle pink hanfu, plain jewelry, bright white hair and calm black eyes. He knew that kind of spirits very well. Somewhere here a haitang tree was entering its first bloom.
She looked at him and smiled gently.
“Shenmu Xianjun”, she said in a quiet voice, greeting him in a polite manner.
He was puzzled a bit but didn’t find it strange. All kind of plant spirits and demons would come greet him whenever they arrived in this world, some would even go as far as wander off from their place of living just to see him and give him merits as if he was some kind of a god himself.
“Mn.”
“I heard you’ll be there from other spirits and came to greet you. I would like to ask you to humbly visit my first bloom today.” She bowed, as if apologizing for an inconvenience, and her face twitched, briefly unmasking carefully hidden anxiety. It almost looked like she was ready to beg him to come but didn’t want to lose face.
Chu Wanning truly didn’t know what to say to this spirit girl, didn’t know if he should reject or accept her plea. But in the end, despite being tired, he didn’t have the heart to say “no”.
His souls and mind really did soften after all these years, didn’t they?
The tree wasn’t far away from the path anyway.
The tree was thin as a gentle young maiden, leaves so gentle they were almost transparent, fluttering as white petals with red undertone were falling to the earth and grass. It felt like a snowfall, like big fluffy snowflakes dancing in the chilly air… yet it wasn’t one. That spirit girl was proud and happy Chu Wanning came to look at the spectacle, so she danced along the leaves, danced in the dazzling evening light, golden light reflecting from her hair almost like TianWen sparkles.
She was so, so happy the God she cherished right from her birth was stunned by the view, she smiled wildly, revealing small dimples on her cheeks.
All this reminded Shenmu Xianjun about certain someone.
The light of his life.
He didn’t know why that tree and that girl reminded him so much of Mo Ran. Was it the light? The haitang tree? Smile and dimples? Or a complete adoration and respect she showed to him all this time?
Chu Wanning truly didn’t know, but suddenly felt the urge to see him.
He praised the view and wished that spirit well (to her absolute happiness), and hurried home.
It didn’t take him long before he arrived.
The door was unusually silent, opening under his hand. Did Mo Ran fix it so it wouldn’t creak anymore?
Beidou Immortal felt flustered, if only for a bit. Mo Ran does so much, fixing things here and there… Even when he was Taxian Jun, he still tried to do things like these, with clumsy but sincere hands.
So much love.
Mo Ran was standing there, turned his back to the door, humming some tune while preparing food, so he didn’t notice his shizun, his lover, who came back from strolling around. Just that simple view filled Chu Wanning with heartache and adoration. Before he knew what he was doing, he sneaked around as silently as he could and hugged his disciple from behind, startling him to the point of an almost inaudible yelping.
“Shizun? What are you doing…” Mo Ran said, being shaken for a split second. Then he quietly laughed. “Did you miss me that much?”
“…”
Chu Wanning couldn’t find words. Just pressed himself tighter to his lover’s back.
I don’t know how someone can miss another person after only one day of departure despite living together for years, yet here I am, he thought sheepishly. But maybe I missed you… if only for a moment, but I miss you every day.
“Wanning, my treasure… it’s hard to breathe”, Mo Ran laughed.
“Nonsense”, Chu Wanning murmured. “But I… did miss you, Mo Ran.”
He couldn’t see this, but he could feel in his soul how Mo Ran smiled at that unusual display of stickiness and boldness.
Even the single thought of this smile made him feel so welcome and so warm, it was dizzying.
He felt… so loved and so in love.
“Welcome home”.