Lord of Pear Palace

Lin Qingyun turned his head toward He Zhuoming and asked, "Plot? Clues?"

He Zhuoming: "..."

Damn, she'd forgotten the male lead was right beside her.

She quietly sat up from the bed, feeling the night breeze blowing in through the broken window. She folded her hands under her chin, putting on a thoughtful expression.

Lin Qingyun smiled—a smile with no warmth, his eyes not even curving. "I had no idea, Xiao He, that you knew about the Lord of Pear Palace, especially since you can't even tell a True Deity from a Corrupted Deity."

He Zhuoming felt a pang of guilt. She looked down at the floor and her voice weakened: "I... I wouldn't say I know him, exactly. I just read about him in a storybook."

Lin Qingyun pressed on: "What storybook?"

He Zhuoming: "Oh, it was a book I read a long time ago. I've forgotten the title!"

Lin Qingyun walked unhurriedly to stand in front of her, then reached out and pressed down on the top of her head, forcing her to look up—their eyes met, and He Zhuoming saw Lin Qingyun's smiling face, those striking, vividly colored eyes staring coldly at her.

Lin Qingyun: "Aren't we friends? Xiao He, if you don't respect me and toy with me, I'll break off our friendship."

The latter half of what he said was exactly what He Zhuoming had told him during their earlier quarrel. After throwing her words back at her, Lin Qingyun suddenly felt a weight lift from his chest.

His mood subtly brightened. He abruptly let go of He Zhuoming's head and crouched in front of her, thinking: I can be harsh with Xiao He too, can't I?

It just needed the right timing. But that was only natural—he wasn't someone who made a fuss over nothing. Even if he was going to say harsh words, of course he'd pick a suitable moment.

He Zhuoming couldn't hear his thoughts, nor did she notice that Lin Qingyun's mood had already loosened.

In fact, even if she made up a lie to tell him now, Lin Qingyun, buoyed by his good mood, would have let it slide, easily dropping the topic.

She twisted her fingers, first frowning, then wrinkling her nose, until her whole face scrunched up visibly. Her gaze moved from the floor to her knees, lingered there for a long while, and then slowly lifted to Lin Qingyun's face.

Lin Qingyun's fingers twitched, ready to snap in front of the conflicted He Zhuoming, both to startle her and then to kindly tell her he'd lost interest in the topic... Xiao He would be so grateful, maybe even cry.

The more he thought about it, the better he felt. His eyes curved beautifully with delight.

But He Zhuoming spoke faster than his snap: "It's my secret, and I don't want to tell you. But I can promise I haven't disrespected you or toyed with you... Friends can have secrets. I haven't used this secret to deceive you."

Lin Qingyun: "A secret you can't tell me?"

He Zhuoming nodded firmly and said seriously, "You can have your secrets too. You can refuse to answer me."

Lin Qingyun: "...Tsk, fine."

His lips drooped, and the good mood he'd just had evaporated, replaced by irritation.

Lin Qingyun didn't know why he was annoyed, so he blamed it on the runners who'd come in earlier and this shabby post station.

He Zhuoming thought for a moment, then added, "Why did you press on my head again just now?"

Lin Qingyun: "I didn't press hard."

He Zhuoming touched her head and retorted, "It'll still stunt my growth!"

Lin Qingyun: "You weren't looking at me when you spoke. It's ruder to avoid someone's gaze when talking, isn't it?"

His mention of rudeness reminded He Zhuoming of something. She slapped her thigh and said, "Oh! I meant to tell you this from the start, but you went on about the Pear Blossom Deity and made me forget."

Lin Qingyun: "It's the Lord of Pear Palace, not the Pear Blossom Deity!"

He Zhuoming: "Whatever, that's not important... From now on, don't go around saying people are kids raised without a mother. Their mother would be heartbroken if she knew."

Lin Qingyun raised an eyebrow, twitched the corner of his mouth, and sneered: "Her mother isn't mine. Why should I care if she's upset? Besides, she didn't argue with me—maybe she really doesn't have a mother..."

He Zhuoming frowned and clapped a hand over his mouth. "I told you not to talk about her mother, and you keep going further! Even if her mother really has passed, if she heard someone talking about her child like that from up in heaven, she'd cry."

She was earnest, her hand pressed tightly over his lips and nose, so his breath had to hug the life lines curving across her palm.

Lin Qingyun fell quiet, blinking slowly. His narrow eyes looked docile and innocent.

He Zhuoming continued to reason with him: "I hate her too, but put yourself in her shoes. If someone said you were raised without a mother, your mother would be sad too if she knew."

Lin Qingyun: ...

He didn't know if his mother would be sad, but he did know the person who said that would end up dead.

He Zhuoming withdrew her hand, and her arm dropped to rest on the edge of the bed, her fingertips barely half an inch from Lin Qingyun's hand, which was also resting there.

She waited for Lin Qingyun to speak, to respond, but for some reason he'd gone silent. He just sat there quietly, his long lashes casting shadows on his skin.

When he was silent, not smiling, not glaring coldly, he actually looked kind of pitiful.

After waiting a while and getting no answer, He Zhuoming asked, puzzled, "Qingyun, why aren't you talking? Are you deaf?"

Lin Qingyun couldn't keep up the act anymore. He let out a helpless laugh. "Why would I put myself in the shoes of someone I hate?"

He'd put on a whole show, and Xiao He hadn't even noticed. Her mind was stuck on the earlier conversation.

Xiao He's eyes were practically useless as a blind person's.

He Zhuoming said, "Because everyone has a mother. We should think of our mothers."

Lin Qingyun found it boring and suspected Xiao He had infected him with some intellectual disease—why was he here discussing such a pointless topic with her?

Whatever. It was a trivial matter, and to avoid trouble, he'd just go along with her.

He stood up in one motion and said, "Fine, fine. I'll ask her father next time."

He Zhuoming thought it over and seriously suggested, "What if her father's dead too? Her dad—"

This time, it was Lin Qingyun who clapped his hand over He Zhuoming's mouth, smiling as he said, "Don't worry. We most likely won't run into them again. Stop worrying about whether other people's parents are up in heaven or down on earth, and start worrying about when you'll see your own parents."

To get back at Xiao He for covering his mouth earlier, Lin Qingyun deliberately used the same pressure. His palm was almost touching her lips, but she spoke anyway.

The muffled words were compressed against his palm, too garbled to make out.

But Lin Qingyun could clearly feel her lips move, her warm breath soaking into his skin. He was dazed for a moment, then yanked his hand back as if shocked—he thought Xiao He had bitten him.

A second before he pulled away, he'd genuinely felt the sting of teeth against his palm.

But when he looked at his palm, it was only slightly damp. No tooth marks, so no bite.

He Zhuoming leaned in, concerned. "What's wrong?"

Lin Qingyun pushed her head away with one finger. "Nothing. What did you just say?"

He Zhuoming thought for a moment, then said, "I mean, about the Pear Garden—you didn't finish. The Pear Garden enshrines the Lord of Pear Palace. What's the issue? He's a True Deity, right?"

She remembered the old man at the post station had treated Lin Qingyun well. If the Lord of Pear Palace were a Corrupted Deity, the station folks probably wouldn't have let him stay.

Lin Qingyun lowered his eyes, kneading his palm, and answered half-heartedly: "There are only nine officially enshrined True Deities. All the others are lesser deities, and there are way too many of them, with all sorts of messy abilities. As for the Lord of Pear Palace, he is indeed a True Deity, but he's a controversial one."

"There are two conditions to become a True Deity: one, ascend with the physical body; two, accumulate merit over ten lifetimes. Both are necessary. Those who manage the first are already extremely rare—'few and far between' doesn't even do it justice. Add the second condition, and the fact that humanity has produced nine of them is nothing short of a miracle of heaven and earth."

Even though he said the words 'greatest miracle,' his tone was so casual that it gave the phrase a comical ring, like 'biggest radish ever.'

Fortunately, his audience was He Zhuoming, whose standards for atmosphere were below sixty percent, so he could continue.

"But the Lord of Pear Palace doesn't meet either of those conditions. His predecessor was the Guye Immortal, who was once near death from decline. He chose a young disciple from his sect whose age and talent suited him, intending to use him as a vessel to extend his life."

"Whether the life-extension succeeded was never announced publicly. From then on, the Guye Immortal changed his statue and name in the Divine Palace, abandoned his original sect, and founded a new one. As a result, many cultivators outside doubt his status as a True Deity. Sects that worship the ancient True Deities also consider the Pear Garden, which worships only the Lord of Pear Palace, unworthy to be compared with them."

He Zhuoming suddenly understood. "So the Pear Garden is the new sect that immortal founded?"

Lin Qingyun nodded. "Yes."

He Zhuoming: "What about the vessel? Is he still alive?"

Lin Qingyun paused in pinching his palm, looked up at He Zhuoming—she was looking back at him, her round eyes full of curiosity.

Lin Qingyun had told this story to many people when the mood struck him, but everyone was more concerned about whether the Guye Immortal had truly revived, whether he'd lost his sense of being a True Deity in the process, whether he'd degenerated into a Corrupted Deity...

He Zhuoming was the first one who didn't care about the immortal and instead asked about the fate of the vessel.

Lin Qingyun stared at her for a moment, then suddenly let out a laugh. "Who knows? A vessel is just a side detail in the story. No need to record it and pass it around."

He Zhuoming's face scrunched up. "He's a person too. How can a True Deity go in for live sacrifices? That's just like a Corrupted Deity—ow!"

Before she could finish, Lin Qingyun flicked her on the forehead, and she yelped.

Lin Qingyun said darkly, "You can say things like that to me, but watch your mouth outside. If disciples of sects that worship True Deities hear you, they'll fight you to the death."

He Zhuoming was confused, thought about it, then asked, "Doesn't the Pear Garden also worship the Lord of Pear Palace? You're a musician there... Doesn't it bother you?"

Lin Qingyun spread his hands nonchalantly. "Doesn't bother me. I'm not really a musician at the Pear Garden anyway. I'm just there under a false name to earn a living."

He Zhuoming was shocked. "That's allowed?!"

Lin Qingyun smiled. "When there's enough money, a lot of things that aren't allowed become allowed."

He Zhuoming was outraged. "So corrupt! How can you be like this!"

Lin Qingyun inexplicably found this hilarious and laughed so hard he fell backward onto the bed.

He Zhuoming didn't understand. "Was that funny?"

Lin Qingyun: "It's hilarious—not the line itself, but the way you say it, hahaha—"

He Zhuoming still didn't get what was funny, but she noticed Lin Qingyun's lashes were glistening.

Tears had wet his lashes from laughing so hard, and his curved eyes looked like the crescent moon hanging in tonight's sky.

Remembering how Lin Qingyun had wiped her tears with his sleeve when she'd cried, He Zhuoming pulled out her own sleeve, wrapped it around the back of her hand, and dabbed at the corner of his eye.

Lin Qingyun closed the eye she was wiping, but kept the other open, his pupil fixed on He Zhuoming.

He Zhuoming carefully dried his tears and said, "With one eye open and one closed like that, you look like you're flirting."

Hearing that, Lin Qingyun deliberately closed just one eye and, with great flourish, winked at He Zhuoming.

He Zhuoming: "Your eyelid keeps twitching like that—it looks like you got sand in your eye."

Lin Qingyun: "..."

He Zhuoming thought for a moment, then added, "You're so different today compared to yesterday."

Lin Qingyun immediately opened both eyes wide. "Different how?"

He Zhuoming: "Yesterday you didn't talk. Today you talk a lot."

She'd noticed that when he was quiet, he was just a pretty boy. But when he talked...

When he talked, it was easy to forget he was a boy at all.

But she didn't want to say that out loud. Saying 'you don't seem like a boy when you talk' felt too weird.

Lin Qingyun pressed with a smile: "Isn't it better when I talk a lot? Guys who don't talk are so pretentious."

He Zhuoming: "You didn't talk yesterday either."

Lin Qingyun decided on the spot: "Yesterday I was being pretentious."

He Zhuoming now thought Lin Qingyun's speech was becoming strange too.

But they didn't dwell on the topic. He Zhuoming had slept enough, eaten her fill, and it was a clear night with the moon lighting the road clearly.

The two decided to leave the station—that den of trouble—right away and travel by night to Wen County.

He Zhuoming carried a bundle holding all her worldly possessions and a wooden sword in hand. Along the way, she mulled over the swordsmanship Lin Qingyun had taught her, and whenever she hit a snag, she diligently pestered him with question after question until she understood.

Lin Qingyun was patient, surprisingly so. He'd never taught anyone before. When he'd watched others cultivate, he'd thought each of them was stupid in their own unique way.

But teaching Xiao He was different—he found her particular brand of stupidity more amusing than most.

The two of them, one teaching and one learning, reached the outskirts of Wen County before they knew it. He Zhuoming spotted a large stone engraved with 'Wen County' and got excited, pointing at it with her wooden sword.

"This is it!"

Lin Qingyun glanced at the stone, then asked He Zhuoming, "Do you remember where exactly you first appeared in Wen County? How did you run into... Tang Shuyu?"

He still felt awkward saying that name out loud, and paused each time he did.

He Zhuoming, oblivious, spun the wooden sword in her hand and thought hard. "I remember... the first place I appeared was by a river! A river with lots of willow trees and a bridge."

She'd been on her way out of school at the time, but what she'd been doing exactly had slipped her mind.

She only remembered walking along, kicking a pebble, maybe thinking about something else. The school bell had rung, but then cut off halfway.

He Zhuoming had just been wondering about that when she looked up and around—and found herself in ancient times. People around her were all in period clothes, and the ground had become dirty and rough.