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Ch131 - Clear Moon, Gentle Wind




This wouldn’t do.
If things kept going this way, Xiaoxiao’s memory would never come back, and he’d just become someone to be “taken care of” by his uncle.
Chongjue had lived for so long, he’d become a stone statue, indifferent to the world.
Except for Xiaoxiao.
Before losing his memory, the boy was always unpredictable—crying one moment, laughing the next, growling fiercely, then the next second, grinning and boldly provoking him, utterly shameless, honest and open, like a little fireball that made people want to get close.
Back then, Chongjue was devoted to Buddhism, his mind filled with kindness, wishing Xiaoxiao would be the gentle, obedient child he remembered.
Now, he’d gotten his wish—Xiaoxiao obediently called him “Uncle,” his behavior proper and never overstepping.
But Chongjue couldn’t smile.
The next day after seeing the snow, Zhou Gushè came to Yingxu Sect.
Shangyuan Prefecture and Yingxu Sect had always been close. Even after Su Xuanlin’s “death,” Master Zhou from Shangyuan Prefecture often sent people to check on Xiaoxiao. Su Xuanlin, unlike with others, received Zhou Gushè with proper respect.
After sitting down, Zhou Gushè had no interest in small talk with the Immortal Lord, not even drinking tea, and asked directly, “Where’s Xiaoxiao?”
Su Xuanlin, seeing the young healer’s demeanor becoming more like a sage, wondered what she was up to, but kept a dignified face. “He’s still sleeping. I’ll have someone wake him.”
Zhou Gushè nodded, sparing her words, not bothering to speak even to the revered Immortal Lord.
Su Xuanlin was even more pleased, nodding repeatedly.
“Gushè, where are you cultivating now?”
Zhou Gushè frowned. “Does the Immortal Lord have something to say?”
Why ask about this if there’s nothing?
Su Xuanlin, rarely meeting resistance, didn’t get angry, smiling instead. “Just caring for a junior. After all, I’m old friends with your master.”
“Oh.” Zhou Gushè, belatedly remembering her master’s reminder to greet Su Xuanlin, nodded and greeted him. “I’m cultivating here and there, treating difficult cases—does the Immortal Lord have any illness?”
Su Xuanlin: “…”
That greeting was quite unique.
Xie Shizhi nearly spat out his tea.
“I’m fine,” Su Xuanlin realized the girl probably wasn’t intentionally rude, and said, “So you came to Yingxu Sect for Xiaoxiao?”
Zhou Gushè nodded.
Su Xuanlin, for some reason, clapped his hands, smiling. “Good, good.”
Xie Zhizhi glanced at him, wondering if the sect leader was plotting something.
A moment later, Xiaoxiao still hadn’t arrived, but Chongjue came first.
Su Xuanlin raised an eyebrow. “Why are you still here?”
Xie Zhizhi and Zhou Gushè stood and bowed.
Chongjue didn’t want to answer, intending to sit and wait for Xiaoxiao, but Su Xuanlin mysteriously grabbed Chongjue’s hand and pulled him outside. “I have something to tell you.”
Chongjue, confused, was dragged out.
Su Xuanlin glanced back at Zhou Gushè, who was calmly sipping tea, and whispered to Chongjue, “When Xiaoxiao was young, I arranged a marriage for him because of the phoenix bone. Looking back, it was rash, but luckily it didn’t end in disaster. You were there—do you remember how this little healer chased after Xiaoxiao, shouting she wanted to marry him?”
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Chongjue: “…”
Chongjue took a deep breath. After merging with his evil mind, he felt a strong urge to fight this man to the death.
At that moment, Xiaoxiao finally arrived from Hanmang Garden.
He’d been so excited from yesterday’s fun that he stayed up late, and now his eyes were heavy, his hair and robes messy. Seeing the two men in the corridor, he obediently bowed.
“Father, Uncle.”
Su Xuanlin instinctively reached to tidy Xiaoxiao’s clothes, but before his hand could move, Chongjue stepped forward, gently smoothing the hair from Xiaoxiao’s forehead and asking softly, “Didn’t sleep well?”
Xiaoxiao, dazed, instinctively rubbed his cheek against Chongjue’s palm, his voice nasal. “Woke up too early. Want to sleep more.”
Chongjue gently coaxed him. “After the healer checks you, you can go back to sleep.”
Xiaoxiao nodded.
Su Xuanlin, watching, felt something strange, but then thought, after all the years he’d been away, Chongjue and Xiaoxiao must have grown close. Being affectionate… wasn’t so odd.
It was a perfect scene of a kind uncle and a filial nephew. Nothing strange at all.
Su Xuanlin relaxed completely, smiling as he watched Chongjue lead Xiaoxiao inside.
Xie Zhizhi, however, frowned slightly at the sight.
As soon as Xiaoxiao entered, Zhou Gushè’s eyes lit up. She rushed over, pushed Xiaoxiao onto a chair, and enthusiastically began to check his pulse.
Su Xuanlin watched with a broad smile, giving Chongjue a knowing look.
See, this little healer even smiled when she saw Xiaoxiao.
Chongjue glanced at him, wondering if Su Xuanlin’s mind had been scrambled by the false Heaven’s Will.
Zhou Gushè was a straightforward person, with no ulterior motives beyond her medical skills. She was even more innocent than Xiaoxiao. When she heard Xiaoxiao had suddenly become addled, she rushed from Shangyuan Prefecture overnight.
She was just excited about a challenging case.
Su Xuanlin thought they were a perfect match.
Zhou Gushè was thrilled. Xiaoxiao’s meridians and consciousness showed no issues, yet he had lost all memory and his body had regressed to seventeen. This was clearly a difficult illness!
So challenging.
Zhou Gushè grabbed Xiaoxiao’s wrist, saying seriously, “Don’t go out for a while. Be ready whenever I call, understand?”
Xiaoxiao, dazed, but seeing his father and uncle didn’t object, obediently nodded.
“Okay.”
Su Xuanlin looked at Chongjue.
See, they’re inseparable now.
Chongjue: “…”
After a brief examination, Zhou Gushè moved into the guest quarters at Yingxu Sect and busied herself with something.
Xiaoxiao yawned, silently asking if he could go back to sleep.
Su Xuanlin was about to speak, but Chongjue said, “I’ll take you back.”
Xiaoxiao nodded, sleepily clutching Chongjue’s sleeve as he left.
Watching them go, Xie Zhizhi frowned. “Master, don’t you think… the World-Honored One seems strange around Xiaoxiao?”
That gaze wasn’t like looking at a junior. His actions lacked the World-Honored One’s usual aloofness, instead showing deliberate closeness.
It almost looked like he was treating him as a beloved.
“Where’s the strangeness? It’s perfectly normal,” Su Xuanlin said, clicking his tongue. “They’re just a bit close. What’s wrong with someone caring for Xiaoxiao?”
Xie Zhizhi: “…”
Fine.
Chongjue, caring for Xiaoxiao, brought him back to Hanmang Garden. Seeing Xiaoxiao still dazed, he gently removed his outer robe and helped him onto the bed.
Xiaoxiao was almost asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
Chongjue sat by the bed, watching his defenseless face for a while, then forced himself to leave.
Slowly, step by step.
But as he moved, Xiaoxiao, eyes closed, suddenly grabbed his wrist, the force making his slender arm tremble.
“Don’t go.”
Chongjue paused, sitting back down. “Xiaoxiao?”
Xiaoxiao half-opened his unfocused eyes, dazedly looking at Chongjue’s face, not sure if he recognized him, but his hand kept gripping tightly, his fingertips turning pale.
“Where… are you going?”
Chongjue, hearing his weak voice, answered softly, “I’ll stay until you’re asleep.”
Xiaoxiao’s gaze was strange, not quite the usual dazed look, but like a cornered beast, his eyes showing a hint of desperate aggression.
“Jade pendant… shattered. You’re leaving…”
Chongjue was startled.
Xiaoxiao, half-asleep, seemed to grasp a memory from somewhere. He suddenly sat up and threw his arms around Chongjue’s neck, trembling all over. “You can’t leave… no, you can’t!”
His eyes were red, but he didn’t know what tears were.
Chongjue gently stroked his back, soothing him. “Alright, I won’t leave. I won’t go anywhere.”
Xiaoxiao, reassured, should have felt at peace, but instead, he sobbed and finally burst into tears.
It was as if the sorrow and despair he’d felt days ago in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, seeing the jade shatter in his palm, had finally erupted from a nightmare.
Listening to the boy’s stifled sobs, Chongjue’s heart ached. He tightened his arms, holding Xiaoxiao close.
Surrounded by the familiar scent of bodhi flowers, Xiaoxiao cried until he was exhausted, sinking into a deep sleep. But his hand still clutched Chongjue’s fingers, refusing to let go even when they were bent.
—
Su Xuanlin was a doting father. In ordinary families, children training in swordsmanship would rise before dawn, but he was different. He let Xiaoxiao sleep until the sun was high, and if he wasn’t well-rested, he could even go back for a nap.
A truly kind father.
After everyone else had finished lunch, Su Xuanlin guessed Xiaoxiao would soon wake up. He leisurely picked up his sword and went to Hanmang Garden to find Xiaoxiao, planning to teach him a few more sword techniques.
This year’s Wendao Festival competition among the Ten Great Academies hadn’t been held, but the academy elders were discussing holding a martial arts tournament soon.
By then, Xiaoxiao should have recovered his memory. With his sword skills, he’d surely amaze everyone and win first place.
Su Xuanlin casually kicked open the door to Hanmang Garden, walked in without announcing himself, and sat on the soft chair beneath the companion tree. He let the companion spirit, the black magpie, use its claws to brew tea for him, waiting to drink.
“Xiaoxiao, time to practice swordplay.”
There was no response from inside.
Su Xuanlin wasn’t in a hurry. He slowly raised a cup of tea and called out, “Xiaoxiao…”
Just as he finished, the door creaked open.
Su Xuanlin took a sip, smiling as he turned to look.
But when his gaze fell on the doorway, his tea-drinking motion froze. His hand instinctively tilted the cup, spilling most of the hot tea onto his robe.
Chongjue slowly opened the door, tidying his disheveled clothes and glancing at Su Xuanlin as if nothing was wrong. “Keep it down. Xiaoxiao is still sleeping.”
Su Xuanlin: “…………”
That morning, Xiaoxiao had cried in his arms, seemingly remembering the shattered jade in the Heaven-Reaching Tower. When he woke up, Su Xuanlin noticed Xiaoxiao’s youthful face had changed slightly, losing some of its childishness.
This was a good sign, indicating the aftereffects of the phoenix bone’s separation were gradually fading.
With the little healer’s help, Xiaoxiao’s memory would soon return.
With hope in his heart, Chongjue began to plan, so that when Xiaoxiao recovered his memory, his father wouldn’t be so shocked he’d hit Xiaoxiao.
Chongjue couldn’t bear that, so he decided to hint at it to Su Xuanlin.
Chongjue looked at Su Xuanlin, waiting for him to understand.
After a while, Su Xuanlin set down the empty cup, casually flicked his sleeve to dry his robe, and didn’t scold him. Instead, he lazily invited Chongjue to join him.
“Come, have some tea.”
He and Chongjue had known each other for thousands of years, their friendship too deep to think of anything as shocking as “my best friend falling for my son.”
Su Xuanlin even thought Chongjue was quite considerate, telling him to keep quiet so as not to disturb his son’s sleep.
Good.
Su Xuanlin nodded, satisfied. Among all his friends, only Chongjue was a noble, upright gentleman.
Chongjue: “…………”
***