17 Please have more realistic expectations

A peasant from Zu Village was wandering up the slopes of the mountain with listless eyes. Without any hesitation, Yuan Xuelan ran out and stuck a talisman on the man's head, halting his mindless advance. He leapt out so suddenly, both Liu Sumeng and Chen Anyue almost stumbled over their feet as they were pulled along.

"Sorry, Shijie." It was only after she glared at him that he also added, "Sorry, Liu Sumeng."

"It's ok, but I need you to be careful not only for my sake but for your own as well," Anyue hummed before turning her attention to the entranced villager. "What are we to do with this poor man? I suppose we have to bring him along with us now."

"Wait," Liu Sumeng interrupted their advance, "there might be more."

Chen Anyue tilted her head, "More…?"

It took a moment for Yuan Xuelan to understand but he sort of had an idea about the Ivory Sword Saint was trying to say, "What, you mean more spell-bound villagers?"

Liu Sumeng nodded.

They contemplated in silence before Chen Anyue spoke up, "If they reach the lake then…"

Feng Yu's voice was soft and trembling, "Then my Qiaoyin will devour them…"

"One of us should go," Liu Sumeng suggested. This time there was no confusion, they were all thinking the same thing. Someone had to make their way to the lake to ensure no enchanted villagers ended up as unwilling sacrifices. After a moment of contemplation, he arrived at a simple and clear conclusion. "I will."

No one expected Yuan Xuelan to leap forward and yell, "No!" Visible upset was upon his face, both anger and annoyance pulled his brows together and downturned his lips, "You will not!"

"...?" Liu Sumeng was honestly at a loss.

Chen Anyue was a little confused as well, reaching out to hold her Shidi's shoulder to help calm him down, "What's wrong, A-Zhang? Should I go instead?"

"No!" he yelled, even louder this time and almost spat in Chen Anyue's face, only to blink with embarrassment as he realized his blunder, "No, I- Shijie you can't go by yourself ok? I'll go instead! I can just put them to sleep."

"A-Zhang…" Chen Anyue sighed, "If you go, then what's the point of me staying with Liu-ge? I can't dismantle those barriers by myself and there's no way for me to help him either."

"Pardon this one's intrusion," Feng Yu cut their argument, "Although I may know little about the workings between Master Cultivators, mind I purpose a suggestion?" They waited, patient for him to speak, "How about Young Master Yuan and Young Miss Chen go to survey the lake together? It is probably more dangerous by the lake anyways."

"But…" Yuan Xuelan's protest was weaker this time so Chen Anyue took the lead.

"You make a good point. Alright, then A-Zhang and I will go to the lake and make sure the villagers are safe, while you two dismantle the fog array."

"Yes," Liu Sumeng nodded in agreement, giving Yuan Xuelan no more opportunity to complain. Though reluctant, the Young Master Yuan finally conceded and watched silently as the Ivory Sword Saint untied the Golden Rope from his wrist.

"Stay safe," Chen Anyue smiled, taking the talisman off the villager so he may lead them towards the lake.

"Likewise."

Yuan Xuelan had his lips pressed tight. In the end, he didn't say anything else when he turned around to follow his Shijie. Liu Sumeng didn't bother to watch them leave as he headed off the direction pointed to him by Feng Yu.

"That Young Master Yuan is an interesting fellow," Feng Yu noted after the other two were out of earshot, "He seems fond of the two of you."

"..." Liu Sumeng wasn't really sure if he agreed, though he did privately wonder what had caused Yuan Xuelan's outburst. Did he for some reason not trust Liu Sumeng to deal with the tainted deity? Ah, that was probably it, wasn't it? Perhaps he thought Liu Sumeng wasn't strong enough.

"You're so weak," the emperor used to say to him, "that's why I'm keeping you here, ok? It's for your own good, Sumeng." His smile a little too wide to be sane and his eyes ablaze with intensity. "You're weak! You're weak! You're weak!" he screamed, like a child throwing a tantrum, a dam overflowed, laughing and seething, stomping and glaring.

Stop, Xuelan, please. Don't look at me like that anymore, don't say such words anymore.

As much as Liu Sumeng wished to say those words in his past life, how could he? He couldn't. Not when they rang true. And he couldn't do anything but watch the madness laugh and dance, cruel and overpowering because he was weak, too damn weak to do a thing-

"Young Master Liu?" Soft words brought him back to the present. Liu Sumeng blinked as a dark flag quivered in front of him, the barrier surrounding it trembling and feeble, "Are you ok? You seemed a little out of it…ah, we're here."

"I'm ok," he assured, casting those old memories away to focus on the task before him. Mingshui slid out of its sheath in one smooth motion. Liu Sumeng had no use for Undoing here, the barrier wasn't strong enough for it to warrant going through the trouble of such a spell. Instead, with Mingshui in one hand and his other forming seals, the barrier rippled and revealed tiny fissures, where it was frail.

How simple. He raised his blade and danced along those cracks where spiritual energy held weakly. The steel glowed a soft silver and sliced through the barrier as though it were nothing more than paper. Yin energy crackled and crumbled away leaving the flag vulnerable, easy to destroy.

"...I see why they call you the Ivory Sword Saint," the little frog hummed in approval, "that was a very beautiful technique."

"..." Liu Sumeng said nothing. There was no good reason for him to be called that absurd name but at this point, there was no use contesting it either. "Let's move on."

Meanwhile, Yuan Xuelan and Chen Anyue had followed the entranced man back to the lake, which laid as ominously still as when they first encountered it the day before. The air, thick with moisture invited an uncomfortable chill. They placed the talisman back on the man's face when the lake was in view and set him down at a safe distance.

Yuan Xuelan was unnerved. But he wasn't really sure by what anymore.

"A-Zhang," Chen Anyue called him, squatting on the other side of the sleeping villager, "there's something on your mind isn't there?"

Yuan Xuelan focused his gaze towards the deceitfully calm waters, refusing to look Chen Anyue in the eyes, "It's just that frog, I don't really like him that's all."

"That's not really what's bothering you, is it?"

There was never any real hope of lying directly to Chen Anyue's face, but Yuan Xuelan wasn't really sure what it was he should say.

Your future husband is stupid? Anyue had heard that enough from him.

I can't bear to look at Liu Sumeng's stupid face? No, but, that didn't quite seem right either.

But truth be told, it was simple. He was both worried and disgruntled by the behavior of that man and Yuan Xuelan had too much pride in him to admit it. He could only squat there, grumbling like a child and refusing to say anything of worth.

Chen Anyue watched him before she finally sighed and pushed herself up to her feet, looking out to the lake as well, "Do you dislike Liu-ge that much?"

No.

But he didn't say that. "I'm just having a hard time accepting this...., this arrangement. Shijie," he finally looked at her, "You said that you wanted to find true love one day. Do you really think that bas- that, Liu Sumeng could really make you happy?"

"..." She didn't respond right away, and only looked up to see a foggy canopy, greyish green and dewy above them. "There's no way to be sure of that…but instead of being sad about it, shouldn't I be trying my best in these circumstances?"

"Shijie…"

"It's not like Liu-ge wanted these arrangements for himself either."

"Shijie!" His voice raised, "He should count himself as the luckiest of all dogs in the world to have you!"

Chen Anyue laughed and smiled at him, "It makes me happy that you're worried about me, but really, I'm ok. I never wanted the world or my life to be perfect. As long as there's a way to find happiness every day, isn't that enough?"

"But…" He didn't feel satisfied. He couldn't understand it, refused to understand it. How could you just suddenly be forced to dedicate yourself entirely to someone you didn't even know? How could it be that you couldn't make that decision yourself?

"There are much worse matches that exist out there. I'm happy father picked Liu-ge for me," she giggled, "Seriously, stop worrying so much, A-Zhang." She reached over and poked his cheek. "Actually, shouldn't you be worried about yourself?"

Yuan Xuelan blinked, "What?"

Her smile turned mischievous, "A-Zhang, have you thought about the kind of girl you want to spend the rest of your life with?"

He blinked again, remembering a dream about a wedding veil and flushed, "O-Of course I have!"

She tilted her head and hummed, "Then…you must work hard!"

"What's that supposed to mean…!?"

Being as close as she was with Yuan Xuelan, Chen Anyue had a pretty good idea about his ideals. Her grin widened even farther as she thought about the little hints and details he'd shared with her over the years.

A quiet girl who only spoke when necessary who was both kind and diligent. Of course, she would have to be a skilled cultivator, someone who could support him and stand by his side through thick and thin. Loyal to a fault, like Yuan Xuelan himself. But also a little shy, a person who would be easy to tease with an elegant and beautiful face. She'd have to be tall, but not taller than him. And would listen to him without question.

…

Ah, dear A-Zhang, please have more realistic expectations.

"...Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?"

"No, no, it's nothing," she chuckled.

The fog wavered and cleared up some more. Not only visibility but a bone-deep weight seemed to lift, even if only in the slightest. "Looks like he's almost done with the array," Yuan Xuelan muttered.

"A-Zhang!" Chen Anyue suddenly called with alarm, tugging on his sleeve. On the other side of the lake, a figure stumbled as it swayed with a listless waddle. "Another villager!"

"I got it." Yuan Xuelan was quick to pull out a talisman and rushed over quickly to the middle-aged woman that inched towards the lake. It wasn't difficult to catch up to her even though she was on the other side, Yuan Xuelan simply hopped onto his sword to get to her faster. But just as he was able to stick the talisman on her face, he noticed more movement behind from within the fog.

"Uh…Shijie?" he called.

"What is it?"

"I think I'm going to need a hand."