Pursuit of the Truth

The smell of the sea was contained within the breeze, and it rose up when the waves struck the reefs. The smell fused with the fragrance of the grass and turned into a smell that was unique to areas near seas. Those familiar to it would love it, but those who were unfamiliar would find the smell a little difficult to bear.

Fang Cang Lan was clearly already used to the smell. She stood beside Su Ming, and once she smoothed out his clothes, she looked at the horizon and remained quietly by his side, not saying a single word.

She knew that Su Ming loved silence.

After a long time, he said slowly, ”After this, I’ll head to the Alliance of the Western Region.”

”Mm.” Fang Cang Lan nodded with a soft hum.

Su Ming turned his head around and looked at her. This woman was not as beautiful as Yu Xuan, but her quiet demeanor was comforting to other. This was something Yu Xuan did not have.

”Are you coming back?” Fang Cang Lan’s eyelashes fluttered lightly and she looked at Su Ming as well.

Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he said calmly, ”Perhaps I will, perhaps I won’t.”

”It doesn’t matter whether you choose to come back or not, I will always be here. If a day comes when you are tired, you can come here and take a rest. If I am no longer here when that day comes, my soul will still be here to keep you company,” Fang Cang Lan said softly. There was a determined quality in her voice, along with a carefree air.

Her determination came from her existence in this place, and her carefree attitude came from her rejecting Su Ming’s companionship when he had offered it to her not out of love.

Su Ming did not speak, but instead looked at the world in the distance.

But this silence that existed between him and Fang Cang Lan… was broken by a bark that sounded like a dragon’s roar after a moment.

The mutt came running over with an expression of resignation and suffering as it cried out towards the sky. By its side was Yu Xuan, who had her hands behind her back. She walked with a smile on her face and would occasionally kick the mutt, causing it to cry even louder.

When Su Ming and Fang Cang Lan turned their heads to look, Yu Xuan stuck out her tongue and put on an embarrassed look.

”Ah… what’s wrong with this mutt? It keeps barking and won’t listen to me. It didn’t interrupt the two of you, did it?” Yu Xuan blinked and looked towards Su Ming and Fang Cang Lan. As she spoke, she kicked the mutt again.

Su Ming frowned. Fang Cang Lan smiled gently by his side and looked at the woman, then asked softly, ”Who might you be?”

”Hello, senior, I am Yu Xuan. I’m-I’m Su Ming’s betrothed.” A shy look appeared on Yu Xuan’s face.

Fang Cang Lan was momentarily stunned. Then, with her smile unchanged in the slightest, she looked towards Su Ming.

”Second senior brother was the one who arranged our marriage. I’ll be married to him in a few days’ time. Please come to the wedding feast at that time. I’ve heard my husband-to-be mention you before, and now that I’ve met you…”

There was a shy look on Yu Xuan’s face, along with an air of naivety as she spoke softly, but before she could even finish speaking, Su Ming took out the strand of her hair. The words then died in her throat.

Fang Cang Lan smiled softly and sized up Yu Xuan. She then took a few steps forward to hold Su Ming’s arm. She turned her head sideways to look at Yu Xuan again, and at that moment, her smile was akin to a blooming flower.

”Then congratulations, little sister Yu Xuan. I’ll definitely attend the wedding feast later, but I’d like to talk about some private matters with your betrothed right now. Could you step aside?”

Su Ming smiled wryly. This was the first time he saw this sort of expression on Fang Cang Lan’s face. She might be smiling, but there was a sharp edge to her smile.

As Yu Xuan and Fang Cang Lan faced off verbally, leaving Su Ming by the side smiling wryly, Zi Yan held back her tears as she smiled and looked at second senior brother on the other mountain.

Part of his face was turned so the sunlight would shine on it. He looked at Zi Yan, and gradually smiled at her as well.

However, their smiles were laced with a hint of melancholy and an indescribable nostalgia. They were like two good friends who had not met each other for years and had buried away the beautiful moments of their past. When they met again, they were strangers who were not really strangers.

Zi Yan smiled and asked softly, ”Did you really like me when you were still at the ninth summit?”

”I did indeed like you… but you avoided me like the plague, and I didn’t even have the chance to confess to you.” Second senior brother let out a dry cough and changed his position, letting the sun shine on the other side of his face.

When Zi Yan saw second senior brother behaving this way, she covered her mouth and chuckled. She sounded really happy, as if she had returned to the past.

”Honestly, I’ve always wanted to tell you… that when you let sunlight shine on your face like this… you look really horrid,” Zi Yan said as she laughed while covering her face.

Second senior brother touched his face and changed an angle before he turned his head sideways to look at her.

”How about now?”

”Still as horrid as ever.”

”How about now?”

”Still horrid.”

”But I saw youngest junior brother behaving this way last time.” Second senior brother changed a few more angles before he eventually sighed.

”Honestly, when you smile, that gentle expression of yours and that tender gaze make you much better looking than anything you did now,” Zi Yan teased second senior brother as she laughed.

She had changed. She had become different, and was no longer the girl from all those years ago. There was a mature gracefulness to her, and even her words had become much more magnanimous than in the past.

As second senior brother he looked at the happy Zi Yan, he was dazed for a moment. The image of the girl from the ninth summit and the current Zi Yan gradually overlapped with each other before slowly separating. There were similarities between them, but there were also certain aspects that were very different.

Zi Yan gradually lowered her head under his gaze. No matter how brilliant her smile was, it was still a way to hide the emotions in her heart. She did not want anyone to see how fragile her heart was, especially second senior brother.

He fell silent, and it was something that rarely happened to him. With his personality, it was rare for him to be silent, but at that moment, as he looked at Zi Yan, for some unknown reason, he felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart and fell silent.

How could he not see that Zi Yan was trying to cover up the air of seasons having passed that was all over her? How could he not see the fatigue that came from the bottom of her heart? In silence, he walked towards her slowly.

Zi Yan bit her bottom lip and looked at the man who was like a flower walking towards her. When he stood so close to her that she could even smell the scent of grass on him, she lowered her head.

She did not see Ya Mu sitting on a stone in a place far away from them. He was looking at her blankly, and there was deep anguish on his face.

”Come with me.” Second senior brother stretched out his hand and lifted Zi Yan’s chin, then gently kissed her forehead.

A dazed look appeared on Zi Yan’s face as she looked at him. After a long moment, she lifted her hand and gently caressed his face before shaking her head and taking a few steps backs.

Second senior brother fell silent and looked at Zi Yan moving backwards, then sighed. The gentle smile appeared on his face again.

”Then I wish that you will be happy.” Once he finished speaking, he lifted his head and cast his gaze towards Ya Mu, who was sitting on a rock in the distance. After giving him a profound look, he turned around and left the mountain.

Once second senior brother left, Zi Yan looked as if she had lost all her strength and took a few staggering steps backwards. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes. During that instant just now, she had wanted to agree to him… but she could not.

Zi Yan knew that what they’d had was all in the past. All of the things that transpired could only be said to be fate toying with them.

There had only been some fondness between the two of them, and that fondness had all been from second senior brother. As for her… after the things she went through during the change in South Morning, her memory of second senior brother had become incredibly clear as she went through all the vicissitudes of life, but that was only because of recollection.

Due to her helplessness in reality, as she remembered the past, she regretted, but that… was not love.

She could not lie to herself and certainly not to second senior brother.

As she cried, a person she was familiar with appeared by her side. It was Ya Mu, who had taken care of her without complaint over these years and yielded to her wishes. He was Ya Mu, who gave and kept on giving quietly without asking for anything in return.

”Ya Mu… let’s go home.” Zi Yan wiped away her tears and look towards Ya Mu. She looked at his gentle gaze, and it was… so incredibly similar to that of second senior brother.

The group did not stay long in Southern Swamp Island. The next morning, Su Ming left with everyone following him. As they left into the distance, Fang Cang Lan stood on the island quietly and watched Su Ming’s body disappear, just like she had done in the past. She did not know when would be the next time she would meet him and did not know whether… she would still be alive at that time.

She knew that she was in Su Ming’s heart, but that was all. It was not love. There seemed to be some sort of barrier she could not describe between the two of them. There seemed to always be a ravine between them, and it was invisible… as if it was life and death itself.

”He’s a heartless person.”

A calm voice came from beside Fang Cang Lan. It was Wan Qiu who had spoken as she moved to stand beside Fang Cang Lan, and she, too, looked at Su Ming leaving into the distance.

”Even he doesn’t know that he is a heartless person… There is no woman in the world who can truly walk into his heart… unless she is a dead person,” Wan Qiu stated lightly.

”Perhaps one day he’ll understand, and only when he understands would he perhaps be able to accommodate love in his heart.” Wan Qiu’s voice became lighter with each word, and in the end, she was speaking in a volume at which only she could hear.

”You’re wrong.” Fang Cang Lan shook her head. ”He’s not a heartless person. He’s simply burdened with too many things, and these things are suppressing him so much that he can’t accommodate anything else in his heart, because his heart has always been in a state of confusion.”

Zi Yan and Ya Mu stood together and watched Su Ming leave with his group in the sky. There was a silent man standing behind them. It was Zi Che. He had regained his senses during the years he was in the Candle Dragon’s body. Su Ming had promised Zi Yan before that he would help search for Zi Che, and now, Su Ming had fulfilled his promise when he returned to the island.

Zi Che wanted to continue following Su Ming, but when he saw his sister, he chose to stay.

Yu Xuan sat on the mutt and remained by Su Ming’s side in the sky. She would occasionally look at him, and she would feel slightly pleased with herself in her heart. Due to her interference, Su Ming and Fang Cang Lan had no longer had any time alone. Yu Xuan had thought about everything that she could do and changed her methods to continue following Su Ming during that day in the island.

Second senior brother returned to his usual gentle self. There was no hint of melancholia or unhappiness about him, but he knew that his third change of heart had started during this trip, and this change of heart was due to a woman and the fondness he held for her in the past.

’She doesn’t like me, and neither does she like the man beside her now. She likes… a gentle gaze. She likes it because it can give her warmth.’ Second senior brother sighed softly.

As the group flew, they moved through the Dead Sea and arrived at the island where Freezing Sky Clan was located. Gradually, Su Ming and his second senior brother saw a mountain in the sea in their field of vision. They saw a tall figure standing on the mountain, and it was… Hu Zi.