Chapter 86: At This Moment
Meng Xueli walked back with his head lowered, kicking small stones out of his path, his expression weary and listless.
Ji Xiao had kept his word and not listened to the two of them talking. Yet seeing this scene, he knew they had parted on bad terms. He walked toward his Dao companion, extending his arms, intending to offer a comforting embrace.
Meng Xueli ignored him and slumped to the ground, like an autumn flower struck by frost. Ji Xiao touched his nose lightly and sat down beside him.
In the wilds where wildflowers grew everywhere, the two sat side by side, watching the setting sun. Ji Xiao asked softly, “Are you alright?”
Meng Xueli let out a self-mocking laugh. “Not really. I’ve messed things up again.”
Ji Xiao was not skilled in consolation, so he remained silently by his side.
The sun sank behind the mountains, casting the last layer of orange-red glow along the ridges, while the other half of the sky turned ink-blue. The blue-green streaks left by the peacock’s tail feathers gradually faded, and the long winds swept across the open plains.
Meng Xueli said, “It’s not his fault. I was… reckless before.”
The spirit ferret, the giant snake, and the peacock had once roamed freely across the three realms, lawless and unrestrained. The Snow Mountain King had fought countless battles north and south and had once disguised himself as Que Xianming’s scarf. He understood Que Xianming’s nostalgia for the past—that being a great demon meant being bold, spirited, and glorious. Meng Xueli had been in the right, and so had Que Xianming.
His Dao companion’s words were disjointed, but Ji Xiao roughly understood their meaning. He thought with a faint smile: who hasn’t been young and impetuous? Why did you two quarrel?”
Meng Xueli, “Because of Ji Xiao.”
Ji Xiao’s heart stirred slightly.
Meng Xueli added, “It wasn’t just for Ji Xiao—it was for myself, too.”
In both human life and demon life, there are times when even your closest friends do not understand your heart. Que Xianming had assumed he was confused by love and had left in anger.
Yet Ji Xiao’s existence to him was more like a form of faith: proof that what he could not accomplish, someone else could.
How bitter was it to be betrayed? How painful was it to rebuild the body? How difficult was it to be reborn as a human?
Ji Xiao was the unextinguishable spark in the long night, through storms and shaking winds.
“I just can’t accept it,” Meng Xueli muttered to himself. “My Dao companion lived upright and unyielding, yet died in confusion and injustice. Why?!”
Ji Xiao said calmly, “Life and death follow fate. The path you choose gives you the courage to face the outcome.”
Meng Xueli turned his head and fixed his gaze on Xiao Tingyun, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke word by word, “I don’t believe this world has no right or wrong, no justice. If it really doesn’t, then I will ask for justice on Ji Xiao’s behalf!”
Ji Xiao saw the deep emotion surging like a storm in his reddened eyes.
In a flash of insight, he seemed to understand something.
He asked softly, “Do you really not like Ji Xiao?”
Meng Xueli’s mind was in complete chaos. Ji Xiao’s death, the old grudges of the demon realm, the peacock leaving in anger—each event pressed down on him until he could barely breathe.
He suddenly leapt to his feet and shouted in a breakdown, “Who said I don’t like him! Who says we aren’t meant for each other? Even if he’s the moon in the sky and I’m the snow melting on the ground, I still dare to like him! Is that a crime?!”
Shouting his true feelings eased his heart somewhat. Meng Xueli panted violently, but then a shadow suddenly fell over him. It was Xiao Tingyun standing, blocking the light.
Meng Xueli froze for a moment.
Whenever Xiao Tingyun faced him, his eyes were always warm with a gentle, forgiving smile. Even when facing others, though reserved and quiet, he was patient and courteous.
Yet now, for the first time, Meng Xueli saw Xiao Tingyun expressionless. His brows and eyes were like frost covering ice, his aura like a high mountain and deep valley.
The feeling was both familiar and strange. Meng Xueli was a little dazed. “Y-you… what are you doing?”
Xiao Tingyun wouldn’t be thinking of fighting, would he?
The wind howled across the wilderness. Meng Xueli tried to step back, but Ji Xiao pressed him firmly into his embrace.
Ji Xiao leaned down slightly, their foreheads touching, their breaths intertwining.
He said softly, “Trust me.”
In the next instant, waves rippled through Meng Xueli’s consciousness.
Ji Xiao split off a strand of his divine awareness, reaching into the deepest part of Meng Xueli’s mind.
Meng Xueli stood frozen in place.
The sunset, the wind, the wildflowers, the entire secret realm—all of it vanished from his perception in an instant. None of it existed anymore.
A cultivator’s paths were as vast as the smoke-filled seas. Humans could seize bodies and rebuild cultivation, demons could reincarnate as humans, appearances could change in countless ways—but the spirit, the soul, remained forever unchanged.
That strand of divine awareness floated gently in his mind, careful not to disturb him, like a vast ocean narrowing itself into a babbling spring in springtime. It was, unmistakably, Ji Xiao’s aura.
Meng Xueli’s heart and mind were violently shaken. Waves surged in his consciousness.
He heard Ji Xiao, saw him, touched him, and felt him.
He was right there—right here, right now.
Author’s note: The mask is off!
Ciacia/N: He said: “Who said I don’t like him! Who says we aren’t meant for each other? Even if he’s the moon in the sky and I’m the snow melting on the ground, I still dare to like him! Is that a crime?!” Boohooo (crying noises)
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
