Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Chapter 102: The Letter

With the openness shown at the training ground earlier, Bai and Mei’s new relationship spread throughout Tianshan the very next day.

The reactions of the masters and junior disciples were mostly similar to those of Tian Luan and the others that day. At first, they were surprised; after thinking carefully, it felt natural. And then—

“Although we’ve all encountered unfaithful people before, now that Senior Brother Mei and Bai Big Brother have succeeded, it seems their path in love is finally smooth.”

“To be honest, I always felt that the Ninth Prince and us were simply not on the same path.”

“As for Junior Brother Gu… truly unexpected.”

At this, the Tianshan disciples exchanged looks, their feelings mixed.

Even though they equally disapproved of Fu Ming and Gu Miao’s actions, the disciples’ attitudes toward the two were still different.

For Fu Ming, there was clear condemnation and disdain. For Gu Miao, it was a lamentation of “so many years have passed, and I never realized… this is what they mean by ‘you can know a person’s face but not their heart.’”

However, what those people did had nothing to do with their Senior Brother or Bai Big Brother.

The Tianshan disciples cleared these scattered thoughts from their minds and turned to gossip with Bai and Mei: “Since this good event has happened, it shouldn’t just be something we hear about—it must be celebrated properly.”

“Yes! And grandly, lively—so everyone knows that our Senior Brother Mei and Bai Big Brother are truly a pair!”

They also wanted to mutter a few words about “temple people and martial world people just can’t get along” during the wedding process. This was not to disparage the Ninth Prince, but simply because the two sides truly had no common language.

Thinking this way, the eyes of the Tianshan disciples began to sparkle.

Bai and Mei looked at them and could only laugh and cry at the same time.

“We send letters to invite other sects to Tianshan to discuss important matters, but that’s for spirits, demons, and ordinary people. If we casually let them attend a wedding, the elders of the other sects might think Tianshan is too frivolous, letting personal matters interfere with the greater cause,” Bai Zhengliu said.

After speaking, he looked at Mei Yinghan on the side and asked: “Yinghan, am I right?”

Mei Yinghan… Mei Yinghan didn’t speak.

He looked at Bai Zhengliu. Seeing his lover’s gaze, Bai Zhengliu’s eyelids twitched, suddenly realizing: “Oh, you also want to hold a wedding?”

Mei Yinghan nodded.

His gaze was solemn and serious, making Bai Zhengliu pause for a moment before smiling: “Why worry about all that? As long as we know, and our close friends and elders know, isn’t that enough?”

Thinking seriously, this was actually something Fu Ming had once said. He was a prince of the Tian family; walking the martial world was one thing, but bringing a man back to the capital, the emperor would still greet him with a smile. The more Fu Ming acted rebellious, the less he posed a threat. Even if he cut off his own heirs, the emperor could scold him verbally for being reckless, but the curve of the lips never dropped.Bai Zhengliu hadn’t originally understood where Fu Ming’s words, “The imperial brother never truly cared for me,” came from. After that trip to the capital, he slowly realized.

He thought Fu Ming was pitiable, and only later did pity turn into some kind of feeling. But looking at it now, that “pity” wasn’t even worth keeping.

After wandering in thought for a moment and returning to himself, it was because Mei Yinghan said: “Not enough.”

Bai Zhengliu looked at him—still that solemn, gentle gaze—but he saw a hint of determination in it.

He inexplicably understood. After all, his lover felt that previously, when Bai Zhengliu was with Gu Miao, it was during the conclusion of the Blood Demon calamity, when the attention of the entire martial world was on the Tianshan Sect, and they had openly announced it, even held a banquet. When it came to himself, if these things were missing, his lover would feel it was unfair.

Even though Bai Zhengliu didn’t care.

But Mei Yinghan still wanted to give him better, the best.

What Bai Zhengliu didn’t care about, Mei Yinghan cared about on his behalf.

Inexplicably, Bai Zhengliu felt something stir deep within him. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, the smile on his face had faded. He said, “Yinghan, I understand.”

Mei Yinghan’s expression brightened slightly.

Bai Zhengliu still spoke matter-of-factly: “But at least right now, it really isn’t the right time. Let’s wait until the danger is resolved, then, we… hmm?”

His tone was generous and open, and at this point, the corners of his lips lifted into a new smile, using the same solemn, serious attitude toward Mei Yinghan.

He must still be happy, right?

Once an orphan, later taken in by his master. The two had relied on each other for many years; the master treated him well, but undeniably, the old man was weak and aged, and there were many things he couldn’t attend to for Bai Zhengliu.

Yet he had grown strong. He trained himself well, and even alone in the martial world, he suffered no disadvantages. Later, through his actions during the chaos, his reputation soared. At just over twenty, he was noticed by all the major sects.

Elders admired him, peers respected him, and juniors even revered him. Later, entangled with Fu Ming, in the Ninth Prince’s eyes, Bai Zhengliu was always that “omnipotent” figure—he needed no pity or care; after all, he could handle anything himself.

But Mei Yinghan was different.

He loved Bai Zhengliu, and so he wanted to care for him…

Just thinking about this made Bai Zhengliu feel like his heart was melting.

He softly, quietly added: “I hadn’t thought about it before. But now that you’ve said it, Yinghan, I’m starting to look forward to it too.”

Mei Yinghan held his hand: “Alright then, we can postpone the wedding ceremony a little. But we can start preparing now.”Bai Zhengliu smiled, “Alright, I’ll follow your lead.”

Mei Yinghan’s lips moved. Bai Zhengliu was certain that by now he had already started planning exactly what needed to be “prepared.” A light, floating feeling arose in his chest, as if his whole body were walking on clouds. It was like having a sip of mildly intoxicating rice wine, making his legs go weak, yet his heart burn hotter.

The palms they held together began to warm. Bai Zhengliu’s gaze drifted around. He wanted to do something, but there were still other junior brothers and sisters nearby… Sigh, the Tianshan Sect had many members, and most of the time, Bai Zhengliu thought that was a good thing—it kept things lively, and in trouble, everyone could unite against the enemy. But right now, when he wanted a private moment with his lover, it was a little inconvenient.

He sank into this sweet dilemma, planning to find an excuse to whisk the senior brothers away. “Sparring” was a good excuse. To prevent other disciples from following, perhaps he could say he wanted to practice lightness skills with his lover?

The words were already on the tip of his tongue.

Yet at that moment, a figure rushed in from outside. It wasn’t a stranger—it was the Tianshan disciple Tian Luan, who had grown increasingly familiar with Bai Zhengliu recently. He rushed in, holding a letter, and shouted toward the group that had been teasing Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan about their relationship while wondering when they’d get married: “It’s a letter from Senior Sister Yuhan and Senior Brother Han Shu!”

At this, everyone’s attention was immediately drawn.

Including Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan.

But unlike the other disciples who swarmed to Tian Luan, chattering, “Hurry, open it! What did Senior Sister Yuhan write?” or “This is the first letter back, I wonder how Senior Brother and Sister are doing outside,” Bai and Mei’s expressions darkened the instant they saw the envelope.

They stepped forward, their feet moving with lightness skills, perhaps even using a bit of spiritual energy. In short, before anyone else could touch the letter, a hand reached through the crowd and snatched the envelope from Tian Luan.

His hand suddenly empty, Tian Luan froze and looked at the two in front of him, slightly confused: “Senior Brother Bai, Senior Brother Mei?”

—That’s right. Although no one knew who started it, by now many disciples already called Bai Zhengliu “Senior Brother.”

Not just Tian Luan—other disciples present all looked toward Bai and Mei. Upon seeing their slightly heavy expressions, all the disciples involuntarily held their breath, their moods sinking.

They watched Bai Zhengliu carefully flip the envelope over, holding a corner delicately. After a moment, he looked up at Mei Yinghan.

All the disciples simultaneously looked at Mei Yinghan. Senior Brother Mei nodded to Senior Brother Bai.

Then they all looked at Senior Brother Bai, who pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows…

Tian Luan could no longer hold back and asked, “What’s going on? Is there a problem with this letter? Senior Sister Yuhan, Senior Brother Han Shu—they—”

Bai Zhengliu didn’t speak. He cautiously layered spiritual energy onto his fingers before tearing open the envelope.

After training in the spirit stone mine for some time, the other Tianshan disciples hadn’t reached the level of Bai Zhengliu and Mei Yinghan, able to convert spiritual energy for their own use, but their perception had improved a lot. Many noticed the small details in Bai Zhengliu’s movements, and their mood immediately worsened.

They saw Bai Zhengliu’s eyes quickly scan the letter and soon reach the ending.

Then he looked up, his tone relatively steady and calm: “Nothing dangerous happened, just ordinary situations.”

The others: “……” Should we breathe a sigh of relief or not?They were conflicted. Mei Yinghan said, “It’s possible something went wrong on the way back with the letter.”

Bai Zhengliu replied, “That’s true. But if that’s the case, it has nothing to do with Yuhan or Han Shu.”

Mei Yinghan said, “I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Bai Zhengliu remained in his previous posture for a while, silent.

Until Mei Yinghan spoke: “We still have to inform our Master and the senior uncles.”

At the same time, Bai Zhengliu said, “We should let the senior instructors know. It’s best if we retrace the path the letter took to see what actually happened.”

Mei Yinghan nodded.

The others: “……” So what exactly happened?

Perhaps their gaze was too intense, finally drawing the attention of the two people in front who had been pretending to be oblivious.

Before Bai and Mei went to find the senior instructors, they at least said a word to clear up everyone’s confusion.

Bai Zhengliu: “There’s a trace of yin energy on the envelope. Don’t worry, it’s very faint now and won’t harm anyone.”

Mei Yinghan: “To be safe, Tian Luan should still take a spirit stone and carry it for half a day. Also, get another one for the messenger.”

Bai Zhengliu: “It’s just that we don’t know if the other party is still in town.”

Tian Luan’s eyes widened as he listened to them, staring in disbelief at the envelope that had been in his hands not long ago.

It wasn’t until Bai Zhengliu’s final words reached his ears that he barely recovered and said, “It was brought by a merchant caravan! I’ll go ask in town; they probably won’t leave for now!” Saying that, he turned and ran.

Author’s note:

Here it comes!

As mentioned in the leave note, I originally thought I had to work today, so I didn’t mention changing the update time yesterday. But suddenly, yesterday afternoon, I was told I could take a day off early… and then I slept until completely disoriented, day and night blurred. The alarm did wake me up in the morning, but with no work to go to, I really couldn’t get out of bed otz.

From now until the end of the break, updates will be at “unscheduled times” each day. However, tomorrow night is the Spring Festival Gala, so there should be an update during the day (hopefully—if not, I’ll come back and delete this note…).