TDSDE 10
by Lilium10. Living Together Again After a Long Time
Bai Yuanxiu gazed at Yunhua Mountain, now barren and desolate after the winter solstice, then glanced at the white-robed young man walking ahead of him.
This winter hadn’t been particularly cold, but the youth wore only a thin, snow-white outer robe that didn’t look like it offered much warmth. Just looking at him made Bai Yuanxiu feel chilled.
After hesitating for a long time, Bai Yuanxiu couldn’t hold back and finally said, “Put on another layer, will you?”
Xiao Qing didn’t respond. His breathing didn’t even hitch, as if he hadn’t heard anything at all.
Bai Yuanxiu cursed himself internally: Why’d you butt in? See? Now he’s completely ignoring you. Isn’t this awkward?
Honestly, Bai Yuanxiu wasn’t even sure what kind of relationship he and Xiao Qing had anymore—but he didn’t dare ask. He didn’t even know what exactly he was afraid of.
He followed silently the rest of the way until they arrived at the main hall, freshly painted in bright red. Not a word passed between them the whole time.
Xiao Qing’s origins, appearance, even his name—had always been a mystery within the sect. Before Bai Yuanxiu and he exposed each other’s disguises, probably only the sect leader and the Vermilion Bird Hall Master had ever seen the Left Protector’s face without his mask.
Today was no different. Xiao Qing still wore the same white-silver mask. His white robes and black hair, bound high with a silver crown, made him seem cold and distant.
Bai Yuanxiu’s Right Protector uniform was nearly identical, but he had always been free-spirited. He found the mask uncomfortable and only wore the full set for official occasions. Most days, he just dressed in simple black.
Sneaking another glance at Xiao Qing, Bai Yuanxiu found the situation oddly amusing.
He’d only wear the full Right Protector uniform during major events, and coincidentally, it was only during such events that the Left Protector would appear. As a result, the two of them had never seen each other’s faces all these years.
Touching the cold, heavy mask made of blacksteel on his face, Bai Yuanxiu felt a chill against his fingertips.
Today’s gathering of the two Protectors and the four Hall masters had been called by the Sect Leader himself. The man wore a gauzy black robe with exotic flair, even in the middle of winter—but no one present was paying attention to his looks.
Because…
“Hahaha—hey, stop licking me!” the Sect Leader said with a silly grin, pushing away the massive tiger rubbing against him. “Aww, my baby missed Daddy, didn’t you?”
Bai Yuanxiu watched for a while and then, worried that night would fall before the meeting even began, interjected, “Sect Leader, everyone’s still waiting to wrap up and head off for dinner.”
He just barely stopped himself from saying, Get to the point already.
Only then did the Sect Leader pull his head out of the tiger’s jaws, his hair slick with drool. “Oh, right—it’s about tomorrow’s martial gathering. Yunhua Sect asked if we could spare some space.”
After the Demonic Sect claimed half their territory, Yunhua Sect’s remaining land had become cramped. They already had a large number of disciples, and with so many people flooding into Yunhua Mountain for the gathering, there simply wasn’t enough room.
They’d rushed to build temporary lodgings, but the turnout had far exceeded expectations. So they reached out to the Demonic Sect for help.
The Sect Leader of Yunhua hoped that the orthodox factions could stay on their side of the mountain, while the unorthodox ones would be hosted by the Demonic Sect. Those with ambiguous or neutral affiliations could decide for themselves.
The Sect Leader didn’t really care, as long as no one disturbed his sleep. But both the Black Tortoise Hall Master and the Right Protector—Bai Yuanxiu—were notoriously antisocial. That’s why the Sect Leader decided to ask everyone’s opinion.
The White Tiger Hall Master was the first to speak up. “But we don’t have that many empty rooms.”
They hadn’t even finished moving into their new base—where would they find spare accommodations?
The Sect Leader looked completely innocent. “Why would they need rooms?”
They used to live in mountain caves, after all. Back then, every sect member just picked a tree or a flat rock to sleep on. No one even batted an eye.
Bai Yuanxiu gave a couple of cold laughs in his heart. Easy for you to say—you’ve been lying comfortably on your giant tiger every day.
It was a miracle the sect members had put up with it until three years ago, during the New Year banquet, when they all got drunk and collectively demanded a new place to live.
Everyone in the sect knew—something was a little off about their leader’s brain.
Hearing the Sect Leader’s opinion, the White Tiger Hall Master just said, “…Fine.”
The Black Tortoise Hall Master figured Yunhua Mountain was big enough—he’d just find a secluded spot for himself. The Left Protector gave a simple nod, indicating he had no objections either.
So, when the martial artists arrived at the Demonic Sect’s half of the mountain, they heard the White Tiger Hall Master come to a stop and turn around.
“Make yourselves at home,” he said.
The gathered martial artists: “…Make ourselves what?”
Night had already fallen. They looked around and saw the Demonic Sect members sprawled out on tree branches, the roofs of the few existing houses, and even the jagged ornamental rocks along the roadside.
They all felt like little saplings, shivering alone in the wind.
A thin young man coughed twice, crouched down, and began digging a hole. Once he finished, he laid down inside and said, “Remember to dig me out in the morning.”
Then he pulled some dirt over himself, closed his eyes, and began to snore.
The crowd: “……”
Maybe we should ask Yunhua Sect if they’ve got any spare blankets left. The floor over there would be fine too!
Regardless of how these guests—traumatized by the sect’s lifestyle—survived their difficult first night, by the next morning, the martial conference opened on schedule.
Those same martial artists, now sporting heavy dark circles under their eyes, glared fiercely at the well-rested orthodox sect members, like they were ready to bite someone.
As a result, on the first day of competition, nearly every victory went to the unorthodox side.
A righteous sect disciple clutched his clothes, face full of terror. “What are you doing?! What do you want?!”
His opponent from the demonic path ripped off his thick outer robe and burst into maniacal laughter. “Ha! Your coat is mine now! And your room too!”
That morning, when they heard that Yunhua Sect was distributing extra-thick robes to attendees, their eyes had gone green with envy. What was the big deal about having more people? If you won, you could kick the righteous ones out and take their rooms. Simple.
And so, that evening, the remaining righteous sects were indignant. “It’s a conspiracy! This is definitely the Demonic Sect’s scheme!”
The Demonic Sect, of course, had no idea about this accusation. Even if they did, they probably wouldn’t care.
What a joke. Their cult leader was eccentric to begin with—if you didn’t have a high tolerance for the absurd, how could you even survive in the Demonic Sect?
At that moment, Bai Yuanxiu was lying on the bed inside the small bamboo house, thinking his years of building up tolerance still weren’t enough. He was going insane.
Only heaven knew how he felt when he was told there was no room for him during the martial gathering—and that he’d have to bunk with someone. Worse, that “someone” turned out to be the Left Protector.
The White Tiger Hall disciple in charge of building the new sect base had said it as if it were obvious: “Right Protector, sir, you’re always out and about, so we figured we’d build your house later. But now we really don’t have anywhere left.”
Another member came over and whispered, “You know, that row of bamboo houses in Vermilion Bird Hall—those were the ones you tore down. If they were still here, you could’ve stayed there.”
Bai Yuanxiu had no way to refute that.
Back then, after the Demonic Sect flattened their finance department, they’d also eliminated several administrative positions. Since then, most of the sect’s logistics had fallen to the White Tiger Hall.
The White Tiger Hall Master basically acted as the whole sect’s mom—managing everything from internal affairs to the occasional duel. His subordinates were all multi-talented too—chopping wood, cooking, building houses, doing the books, even raising tigers.
In short, everyone was extremely busy.
Bai Yuanxiu was participating in the martial gathering under the alias “Hero Bai.” He was supposed to stay at Yunhua Sect, but their rooms were full. The sect master had sent him back, only for the Demonic Sect to one-up them—there weren’t even any buildings here.
The Sect Leader had waved his hand and said, “That bamboo house where Xiao Qing lives happens to be right on the boundary between the righteous and demonic sides. Outsiders won’t go near it. Just stay there for now. No fighting. No wandering off.”
But this wasn’t about fighting or not!
He and Xiao Qing had more than just the Protector identities between them!
Bai Yuanxiu wanted to scream in silence.
He curled up on the very edge of the bed, feeling awkward beyond belief. But if he offered to sleep on the floor or the chair, it would seem way too intentional.
He turned it over in his mind for ages, when a random thought popped up: Damn, this bed is hard.
He remembered how the first time he held Ah Qing’s hand, he’d been so nervous he gripped too hard and left red marks on his wrist that didn’t fade for a while.
With a bed this hard… would Xiao Qing even be able to sleep comfortably? Would he wake up covered in red marks?
Bai Yuanxiu’s mind was spiraling with all sorts of nonsense when a voice suddenly came from beside him.
“What are you thinking about?”
His mouth moved faster than his brain. “Thinking about you.”
As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted it and tried to cover it up. “I mean—what if we run into each other in the arena? Are we seriously gonna fight?”
Xiao Qing was silent for a long moment. Just when Bai Yuanxiu was starting to sweat nervously, that cold and nearly emotionless voice spoke again.
“What, afraid of losing and looking bad?”
Bai Yuanxiu thought—this Xiao Qing really had no charm at all. Every time he opened his mouth, it was full of barbs, stabbing right at that little flicker of feeling in his heart.
Then suddenly, Bai Yuanxiu got fired up.
He asked, headstrong and reckless, “Back then, when I gave you those jujubes, why did you still pick them up even though they’d gone bad?”
What he wanted was something with warmth, just a little, even a tiny bit. But Xiao Qing only said, “I didn’t want to waste food.”
His voice was calm—calm like a frozen lake in winter. One touch and it chilled you to the bone.
Bai Yuanxiu suddenly felt… a little hollow.
Ever since that day, Xiao Qing had acted like nothing ever happened between them—no, even colder than that. It was like they were just the Demons Sect’s Protectors, nothing more.
Everyone in the sect knew the Left and Right Protectors didn’t get along. The Left Protector always tossed out cold remarks, and while the Right Protector could chat with anyone, he’d clash with the Left like oil and water.
Looking back now, Bai Yuanxiu realized: even at the worst of times, Xiao Qing had never been this cold.
Now it felt like… they really were about to sever all ties.
Bai Yuanxiu had no idea what to say anymore. Xiao Qing remained silent as well.
They had once fallen asleep in each other’s arms for nearly a hundred nights. But now, the only thing between them was the winter’s freezing air.
Bai Yuanxiu turned over, his back to Xiao Qing.
I’m done, he thought. I’m never talking to him again.
He had no idea that two months from now, his only wish would be for Xiao Qing to still be alive.
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