Outside the bamboo courtyard, the evening was deepening.
Gui Junmeng raised her head and looked past the low bamboo fence into the courtyard.
Standing inside was an old man with snow-white hair, his presence settled and still as deep water.
Looking at this old man, Gui Junmeng could not help tilting her head slightly, a flicker of puzzlement rising in her bright, clear eyes.
Was this Xiao Mo?
Obviously not.
In her imagination, Xiao Mo should have been around her own age. How could he possibly be a white-haired old man?
And yet, why was this person in Xiao Mo's courtyard?
Moreover, from this old man, Gui Junmeng sensed an extraordinarily rich Confucian literary fortune, so deep and substantial that one could not look at it lightly.
The old man was standing in the courtyard reading, and Gui Junmeng's gaze passed over the cover of the book without meaning to, catching a few characters that told her it was a Daoist classic.
After a moment, the old man set the Daoist classic slowly down, turned around, and looked at Yun Xi and her disciple standing outside the courtyard gate with a composed and unhurried gaze.
Daoist Master Yun Xi took a step forward and gave a deep, respectful bow. "My respects to the Dean."
At those words, Gui Junmeng's heart gave a small start. So this old man before her was the Dean of the Hanshan Academy.
"Junmeng pays her respects to the senior."
The young woman stepped forward beside her master and gave a proper, careful bow.
"Two such distinguished guests have come from afar, and this old man failed to go and meet you. I must ask your forgiveness." The Dean of the Hanshan Academy, Cun Caiguang, looked at them both with a smile, his manner easy and warm.
"Dean, please." Daoist Master Yun Xi shook her head, her expression gracious. "We arrived without sending word ahead, which was the lapse in courtesy on our part. We only hope the Dean will not hold it against us."
"Ha ha ha, in that case let us call it even." Cun Caiguang waved a hand, his laugh open and genuine, the familiarity in his manner entirely unaffected.
"Speaking of which," Daoist Master Yun Xi looked around her surroundings, a note of curiosity in her eyes, "why is the Dean here? And where might Xiao Mo be at the moment?"
"Oh, you mean that young fellow Xiao Mo." Cun Caiguang stroked his beard with a smile. "He has just gone to walk someone back to their courtyard. With him away, I took the opportunity to slip in and borrow his courtyard to receive the two of you."
Cun Caiguang smoothed his beard and let his warm gaze settle on the young woman beside Daoist Master Yun Xi.
"This must be Miss Gui." He gave a small smile and raised his hand toward a winding path that curved up the hill beside the bamboo courtyard. "If you would like to go and meet Xiao Mo, just follow this path up. He only went to see someone to their courtyard and should not be long before he comes back down."
Gui Junmeng heard this, and glanced slightly sideways at her master.
Daoist Master Yun Xi gave a small nod, her tone gentle. "Go ahead."
"Yes, Master. Many thanks to Senior Cun."
Gui Junmeng gave a bow to her master and to the Dean of the Hanshan Academy in turn, then turned and walked up the quiet path at an unhurried pace. The hem of her skirt brushed lightly over the green grass at the path's edge, and the evening light stretched her figure into a long, slender shadow.
"Daoist Master Yun Xi, please be seated as well."
After Gui Junmeng had gone, Cun Caiguang drew his gaze back and made a welcoming gesture with a smile.
Yun Xi did not decline. She pushed open the bamboo gate gently, walked into the courtyard, brushed a trace of dust from her Daoist robe, and sat down gracefully on the stone bench.
"How does Daoist Master Fuchen fare these days?" Cun Caiguang picked up the teapot, poured a cup, and set it slowly before Yun Xi, his tone relaxed and warm.
Yun Xi took the cup in both hands and held it. "The Dean is kind to ask. Elder Sister is doing well. She has already returned to the ancestral home of the Vermilion Bird clan."
"I see." At this, Cun Caiguang's expression carried a note of regret. "I had been hoping to share a drink with Daoist Master Fuchen one day. It seems that will have to wait for now."
He raised his head and looked at Yun Xi with a smile, shifting the subject slightly. "I expect Daoist Master Yun Xi passed through Hanshan City before coming to us here at the Hanshan Academy. What did the Daoist Master make of the city?"
Yun Xi gave a nod, approval showing in her eyes. "Within Hanshan City, humans and demons live in harmony with one another. That is something quite rare in any other part of the Demon Realm."
"Ha ha ha, but one small Hanshan City is far from sufficient." Cun Caiguang let out a quiet sigh, his gaze reaching somewhere distant. "If the whole world could be that way, then the Demon Realm would have truly come to a settled peace."
As he spoke, a faint melancholy drifted across the weathered lines of the old man's face without his quite showing it.
"And yet how very difficult a thing that is to bring about. Never mind the great war now raging between the Human Alliance and the demon races. Even the demon clans and kingdoms are at each other's throats, every one of them trying to become the dominant power of the Demon Realm."
Daoist Master Yun Xi said nothing.
Her silence was answer enough.
"Well, well, let us not dwell on it." Cun Caiguang waved a hand and turned the conversation with a light touch, his gaze settling on Yun Xi's face. "Has Daoist Master Yun Xi come today with the intention of taking Xiao Mo away?"
"Yes." Daoist Master Yun Xi gave a nod, her manner straightforward. "Senior Gui arranged a match for his granddaughter. The children have all grown up now, and it is time for them to form a partnership on the Dao."
"But what if Xiao Mo is unwilling to go with you?"
Cun Caiguang asked with a tone of genuine curiosity.
"I have it from Xian Xichun that the young girl of the Tushan household has developed feelings for him, and that Xiao Mo himself appears to have something of a similar disposition toward the Young Miss of Tushan."
"And beyond that, though my understanding of Xiao Mo is limited, and we have exchanged no more than a few words, I know well enough what his character is like. If he is not willing to go with you, taking him by force would do no good."
"Our Daoist school holds that one should follow the inclinations of the heart." Daoist Master Yun Xi's tone was even, yet it carried a certainty that admitted no argument. "If Xiao Mo is unwilling, then so be it. Only..."
She paused slightly, as though choosing her words with care.
"If Xiao Mo continues to remain at Tushan Jingci's side, the danger to him will be considerable. And if he truly cares for Tushan Jingci, he must come with us. There is no other way open to him."
"Aah." Cun Caiguang shook his head, his tone carrying a helpless kind of feeling, tinged with something like wonder. "Two sisters, and both of them have set their heart on the same man."
"The Dean is mistaken in that regard. Xiao Mo coming with us would be for Junmeng's sake, yes, but also for Jingci's." Daoist Master Yun Xi shook her head gently, her expression unhurried, a faint smile on her lips.
"They are not sisters."
Her voice was unhurried, but each word was perfectly clear.
"They are, in fact, one and the same person."