Xue Huai only remembered when he went to the market outside the Murong Mountain Manor with Yun Cuo this time that Yun Cuo’s birthday had already passed.
He is only two months younger than him. Coincidentally, it’s between the time when he left the Shenhua Terrace and came to Murong Mountain Sect to practice by himself. At that time, Yun Cuo hadn’t come to find him here yet.
This is also the first time Xue Huai has forgotten Yun Cuo’s birthday since he met him—the first time from his previous life to this life.
Yun Cuo himself didn’t mention it, but Xue Huai always thought about it.
When they came down the mountain, what they first saw was an immortal family celebrating their birthday—everyone in the Immortal Realm has a long lifespan, and the customs of celebrating one hundred years old are not much different from those in the Mortal Realm. The mortals worship and invite the statue of Magu because this immortal has seen the East China Sea transform into mulberry fields three times and can refer to rice as pearls, making him the immortal with the longest lifespan in the Immortal Realm. The immortal families would go directly to Magu’s garden to pick a leaf, burn it, and then drink it with the Nine-Colored Deer’s milk.
Xue Huai is seventeen years old this year, not yet a hundred years old. He is still as young as a young grass, but his family dotes on him, loves and values him, and even more so, they want to make a name for him as the young master. Therefore, year after year, they always hold a grand birthday banquet for him without stopping.
This year, he himself asked that things be kept simple, and the gifts were forfeited. Xue Zong auctioned a flute for him, as for Mrs. Liu and Xue He, he had forgotten what gifts they had prepared for him already. In any case, they were all the stuff that was immediately fed to the gluttonous.
Only Yun Cuo gave him a drawer of Xiaolongbao and a sachet.
Xue Huai asked knowingly, “Has your birthday already passed?”
Yun Cuo was taken aback and replied, “Yes.”
It is his first birthday after being reborn. Xue Huai was not by his side.
But he didn’t have much of a sense when Xue Huai wasn’t there for him; he didn’t remember his birthdate at all, and he always found these things to be flimsy and meaningless. In his previous life, his birthday was a diplomatic tactic for him. Xue Huai always whispered in his ear, urging him to hold a birthday banquet, receive congratulations from everywhere, and build good relationships with everyone.
He had nothing to look forward to on this day because Xue Huai was always busy—too busy to sit down and say happy birthday to him. He gave him things as well, but he also added items to him from time to time during the day, so it wasn’t really special. Xue Huai is like this to everyone: thoughtful and meticulous, smooth and slick, but no one is special to him.
Before he met Xue Huai, when he was even younger, his demon mother would cook two or three eggs of Biyi birds for him to eat on his birthday.
He looked at Xue Huai’s hand, which was holding his sleeve, swallowed, and asked softly, “Are you going to celebrate my birthday?”
Xue Huai was a little unnatural. “Just buy something for you and treat it as a late gift, is that okay?”
Yun Cuo smiled, let out an “En”, and looked away.
Both of them are awkward. Obviously, in their previous lives, they should have been twenty-five or twenty-six years old already, but at this moment, it seemed like they had truly returned to the age of fifteen or sixteen, carrying the unique youthful recklessness of a youngster.
Yun Cuo’s gaze remained on Xue Huai’s hand. Hanging around his sleeve, walking slightly ahead of him. From where he is, he can catch a glimpse of Xue Huai’s fair neck beneath his jet black hair, and his hands were also fair—Xue Huai happened to be wearing a dark green clothes, almost black dress today, making his skin appear even fairer.
There are many beauties in the immortal families. Yun Cuo had even seen a white fox boy from the nine-tailed fox tribe in his previous life. With red lips and white teeth, he looked as if he were carved out of ice and jade. However, he still thought that only Xue Huai was good-looking. Other people’s hands were also fair and beautiful. But he thinks that they’re too artificial or too feminine, not like a man at all. But it happens…that only the little fairness on Xue Huai’s body could pinch the tip of his heart, pinched it tightly, and both of his eyes were filled with that soft and tender skin.
If he could taste the tip of his tongue with a kiss, he thinks it would be warm and sweet. He has tasted it before, it’s just like a blade licking honey. If he could take a gentle bite……
Yun Cuo didn’t dare to think further.
The person he likes holds onto his robe.
They haven’t really held hands. In their past lives, when they were most intimate, they could sleep in the same bed and wear each other’s clothes. Lately, they’ve been hooking up but always maintaining a distance between companions.
He moved his hand, wanting to flip over and hook onto the warm and cool fingertips. He moved it several times, but eventually let it go.
Xue Huai directly pulled him to a tailor’s shop at the foot of the mountain—Murong Mountain Manor, which is thousands of miles away and is sparsely populated, with only one schoolhouse, and the most lively place is only this part of the mountain. The merchants are here to earn money from these immortal students, and their prices are higher than those from the outside.
Xue Huai is a person who is used to spending money recklessly and doesn’t look at the price. He first selects the style for Yun Cuo, and then takes him to see the satin.
Yun Cuo looked at the colors he had selected, except for red, green, black, and white, everything else was indistinguishable, and in his eyes they were the same gray. But he knows roughly which shades of gray correspond to which colors—yellow and blue, for example; in his eyes, they were greenish grey and reddish grey. He knew the true names of these colors as he grew up hearing about them.
The only time in his life that he witnessed countless colors with his own eyes was when Xue Huai used healing techniques to envelop his entire body—for a very short period of time, he glimpsed a normal world, but it came to an abrupt end.
That fear and shock left an unforgettable impression on him in this lifetime.
He stood quietly in place, smiling as Xue Huai picked out the satin for him and asked him one by one if they looked good.
“What about this color?” Xue Huai handed him a small piece of cloth and said, “Magpie Bridge Brocade is a precious material in the Heavenly Realm. The brocade is sewn by the Weaver Girl from the Milky Way, only a few pieces are available per year. It’s very beautiful, not flashy, but also grand. Emperor Fuli’s court dress was made from this. If you attend any more serious occasions in the future, you can wear it.”
Yun Cuo nodded and agreed, and Xue Huai handed the brocade to the shop assistant behind him to take note.
Then, Xue Huai waved several pieces of satin before his eyes, asking him to choose what he liked. Xue Huai tilted his head and asked him, “Do you like this blue one or this deep maple one? The former is more stable, while the latter is more lively and casual. It can also be cut into a nightgown.”
Yun Cuo stared at the two gray fabrics in his eyes and casually chose one: “This one ba.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of something amiss in the expression of the waiter next to him—he had seen this kind of look too much before. Yun Cuo guessed that this color was not liked by most people, so he hesitated for a moment and changed his mind: “No, the one next to it looks better.”
Xue Huai nodded and didn’t say anything. He just glanced at the shop assistant and said, “We won’t trouble you anymore. You can leave and let the Young Immortal Lord choose. It should be okay, right?”
The shop assistant repeatedly said it’s okay, putting the crystal nine-pot tray in his hands aside, closed the door, and went out.
He hadn’t noticed that the manner was exactly the same as in his previous life: polite and domineering, guarding and protecting him—even if he was not the Left Protector now, Yun Cuo was not the Immortal Master of the nine continents, and they were just two little chicks that were still cultivating.
Yun Cuo doesn’t like to meet strangers, he doesn’t like to be personally served by anyone except Xue Huai, and he even hates having people around asking questions. Therefore, every time Xue Huai goes out with him, he has to clear the scene, leaving only him and Yun Cuo.
He likes to go shopping with him, when he’s busy, this is his only opportunity to relax and communicate with Xue Huai. And the conversation was just about, Do you like this? Do you like that one? What are you buying?
It is as plain as a stream, yet it can murmur through the heart.
But there were not many opportunities like this. That was a long time ago. Before he ascended to the throne and took over the position of Immortal Lord, the two of them hastily arranged everything to prevent him from making a fool of himself in the end.
Recalling the past, Yun Cuo was momentarily lost in thought.
Until that white hand swung over again and shook it in front of his eyes—”Hey, come back to your senses!”
Xue Huai withdrew his hand and pointed out several pieces of cloth to him, asking him to choose a color.
Yun Cuo frowned and asked, “Aren’t you choosing too many? Xue Huai, I don’t need this many.”
Xue Huai insisted on pulling him and continuing to look: “What are you afraid of? I’ll pay, they’re gifts for your birthday. Just think about it, it’s not too many. You wear one piece for a change of season, and there are a total of eight sets of regular clothes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, eight sets of orthodox ceremonial attire, and four sets of spring and summer pajamas. These are all outer robes, and we’ll buy them separately later……ah, there should also be a cape and cloak that cannot be missed. What about Tangpozi? Forget it, there’s no need for Tangpozi, Grandma sewed many for me. The outer ones are not as good as Grandma’s. Also, should you at least have more bedding?
He earnestly explained to him the reason why he had to spend a lot of money today. Yun Cuo couldn’t resist him, so he followed behind him, watching him eagerly choose for him and then casually choosing the colors.
Every time he chose something, Xue Huai would definitely let him distinguish the color, and he randomly pointed at them. His whole body’s attention was on the white hand under the dark green sleeve of Xue Huai’s clothes.
Tugging at his sleeve, tugging all the way up.
He didn’t know where the courage came from, but he calmly reached out his hand and grasped it. Xue Huai’s hands are smaller than his, they are slender and fair. Holding them feels warm and soft.
Xue Huai hesitated for a moment.
Yun Cuo remained calm and changed his grip to interlock his fingers.
Xue Huai met his dark gaze and suddenly felt his heart beating a little faster. He quickly averted his gaze, lowered his head to look at the remaining few satin pieces, and asked him, “So… what about these two? Do you think this amber color looks good, or this red maple color looks good?”
Yun Cuo calculated the quantity and knew that he was about to finish picking, so he wanted to point at it randomly—but when he looked over, he was momentarily stunned.
He can distinguish red.
What Xue Huai pointed out to him now were both clearly red maple colored.
Sensing a change in his gaze, Xue Huai openly pinched his finger and deliberately learned in front of him, “Not pretending anymore? Young Immortal Master Yun?”
Yun Cuo looked at him helplessly, as if his mind had been pierced by someone. He felt a little nervous for a moment. “I…”
Xue Huai pouted, “The one I just pointed out to you is all of the same color, at most different shades. You can only see red, black, white, and gray, why didn’t you tell me?”
Yun Cuo looked at his bright and clear eyes, remained silent for a while, and suddenly said, “There’s also green.”
Xue Huai looked at him in disbelief, “?”
“There’s also green, I can see it.” Yun Cuo’s gaze lingered on him. Today’s Xue Huai is like a dark green onion, flaunting, lively, and playfully cute.
Obviously, they were discussing the question of whether or not he could see, but Xue Huai unconsciously blushed under……his unobtrusive and burning gaze.
He knew full well that he was wearing dark green today and that this was purely a crooked statement. Yun Cuo says it like this: it’s as if he is deliberately…… internationally dressed in this way to hook him up.
He pretended to be flawless and said, “Why didn’t you tell me early?”
He is a bit angry. He finally understood why, in his previous life, Yun Cuo gave him some incredibly colorful and vulgar things—it turned out that those things were the most beautiful things in Yun Cuo’s eyes.
Yun Cuo thought for a moment and said, “I… I’m afraid you’re worried about me. You’ll be worried about me, won’t you, Xue Huai… Xue Huai ge?”
His eyes bent and he smiled at him, innocent and harmless, as if he were the one being unreasonable.
Xue Huai immediately said, “Who wants to worry about you? Look, if you don’t tell me, what will you do if you make jokes out of your outfit in the future?”
He continued to pick things for him in a fit of anger.
Yun Cuo continued to clasp his fingers and was led back and forth by him.
This time, Xue Huai carefully picked for him, looked at it for a while, and then spoke again. He pretended to ask him casually, “What do you do with your eyes? Can they be cured?”
Yun Cuo looked at him quietly and said, “They can be cured.”
Xue Huai turned to look at him. “Then you say, what kind of medicinal herbs and techniques should be used? I should be able to do it.”
In this great, big world, there are countless colorful colors. If he couldn’t see them, he wouldn’t want to think about such a dull and uninteresting life as that.
And Yun Cuo has already lived this kind of life for seventeen years.
In his previous life, it was twenty-five years. Xue Huai felt that if he had been careless and hadn’t discovered it, Yun Cuo might have been able to carry this secret to death and keep stubbornly saying, “I only like black.”
Yun Cuo shook his head, “It can be cured by destroying the half-demon’s root within me. It’s okay, Xue Huai. I’ve seen what all colors are supposed to look like. You don’t have to feel sorry for me.”
Xue Huai squeezed his fingers again. “Seen it?”
“En.” Yun Cuo looked at him, “When you used the spiritual fire gun and used the healing spell on me, I saw… some of it. Although it won’t work later, I’ve made a note of it.”
Xue Huai’s eyes widened slightly.
Yun Cuo looked at him with a smile, “So, Xue Huai, can you teach me how to distinguish colors? Recently, I would like to cultivate the mind-viewing technique, and I would like to ask you to protect me. Although you cannot shate the memories of the past with me, I can hear your voice. You tell me what color something was that day, and I’ll remember it in my mind-viewing.”
“Okay.” Xue Huai said in a daze.
Along the way, Xue Huai didn’t speak much, looking proper and serious, thinking about Yun Cuo’s eyes.
Yun Cuo didn’t know what was wrong with him. He told him a few stiff jokes and comforted him with dry stories. He asked if he was tired and if he wanted to eat or sleep. In the end, Xue Huai laughed, “You’re so annoying, I’m thinking about something.”
Yun Cuo asked him, “About what?”
Xue Huai pouted, “Since you said the healing spell worked for a split second, then it proves that it can still be healed with the spell.”
He looked at Yun Cuo seriously and said, “I will cure you.”
Yun Cuo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and hugged him with a smile. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.”
His attitude was somewhat perfunctory, he was just delighted with the fact that Xue Huai was so worried about him—he knew better than anyone else the difference between his own special physique and that of an ordinary human being, and he probably would never be better in this life.
The colors in his world were dull, but what does that matter?
He still has a vivid and lively Xue Huai, who can be seen all the time.
He really likes him.
Xue Huai noticed his lack of interest and protested with some dissatisfaction, “I’m serious! I……wu.”
Yun Cuo suddenly picked him up halfway, carrying him into the room—leaned down to kiss him on the couch.
Letting go of his nerve to kiss him.
Licking over the warmth and sweetness of his lips and tongue, sucking in his soft and supple breath, and lightly brushing his eyebrows with his fingertips.
Yun Cuo whispered, “……I’m also serious, Xue Huai.”
“I really like……really like you.”
At night, when the neighboring senior brother Sha Hua returned, he unexpectedly found that Xue Huai had cleared several large suitcases and was contacting the green bird to send them out.
He stopped and asked Xue Huai, “What’s wrong? You don’t want those old clothes anymore?”
Xue Huai was half kneeling on the ground, tidying up his things. He put his finger against his lips and whispered to him, “Shh, Shixiong, keep it down. That’s right. I’m sending the rest of my clothes home, I won’t be here for the time being.”
Yun Cuo was cooking inside, and he has a good hearing sound. He only said that he would go out to take out the garbage and clean up his old clothes, without specifying what he wanted to do.
He flipped through them one by one, leaving behind all the red, green, black, and white clothes while packing and sending everything else away, even his favorite dark blue.
Sha Hua brewed a cup of tea and came out to watch, wondering, “Why do I see some of your regular clothes being sent away?”
Xue Huai solemnly told him, “My aesthetics have changed, Shixiong. I now think that colors such as red, green, black, white, and gray are the best.”
The author has something to say: Xiao Huai: Now my aesthetics are your aesthetics; red, green, black, and white are the best. Be good.
Three-year-old Yun: But my aesthetic is you ah quq
p.s: Xiao Yun’s eye setting reference is actually not color blind, it is a modified version of bicolor color weakness.
