Ch172 - Marriage Proposal
Yan Tianhen was still a little unhappy and said, "But Yuyang Gege..."
"He saw someone that he shouldn't have today, so he got a bit of a shock. It's not surprising for his words to be incoherent and baffling. We should learn how to understand and tolerate others." Lin Xuanzhi said with great emphasis.
A sudden realisation immediately dawned upon Yan Tianhen. He looked at Duan Yuyang with much sympathy.
Duan Yuyang with a long face, "..." Fuck! This jerk who specifically picks on other people's sore spots!
The first day of the competition ended when the last ray of sunlight disappeared.
On this day, aside from the Lin family's huge change in ranking, the other third-rate families had changes in their rankings as well. However, their changes weren't as momentous as the Lin family's.
On their way back, Lin Zezhi said, "Although Lin Yaer's words are nasty to listen to, her strength can't be refuted."
Not just anyone from the Lin family could bring the Lin family straight up to 52nd place.
Lin Xuanzhi said, "Indeed. If she didn't have the capability, Cloud Jade Sect wouldn't have taken notice of her."
They hadn't walked far after descending the mountain when Lin Xuanzhi heard someone call out to him.
He looked back and saw someone he didn't expect to.
"Young Peak Master Yuan, long time no see." Lin Xuanzhi stopped and greeted Yuan Tianwen politely.
Yuan Tianwen wasn't with the others from Profound Sky Sect and had come forward alone. He looked at Lin Xuanzhi, then glanced at Duan Yuyang, who had looked elsewhere the moment he saw him. He walked forward, "I would like to ask for your advice on some matters."
Lin Xuanzhi was a little surprised. "Me?"
Yuan Tianwen nodded. "It has to do with Han Yuran."
Lin Xuanzhi, "..."
Lin Xuanzhi couldn't help but laugh, "He became my ex-fiance a long time ago. Aside from that, we no longer keep in contact with each other anymore. If you want to ask me about what he likes or detests, it won't be easy for me to answer you."
"No, it has nothing to do with that..." Yuan Tianwen was always beating around the bush when he spoke to Lin Xuanzhi and always looked like he was trying to hold back from saying something. Lin Xuanzhi realised that his gaze kept drifting towards Duan Yuyang but, unfortunately, Duan Yuyang was always looking elsewhere, so he never noticed. This is a little interesting then, looks like it has something to do with Duan Yuyang.
It was only after Duan Yuyang disappeared into the crowd that Lin Xuanzhi cleared his throat and said to Yuan Tianwen, who had watched Duan Yuyang until he disappeared, "Young Peak Master Yuan, he has already disappeared. If you have any business with Yuyang, you should've stopped him just now."
Yuan Tianwen looked back, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.
He composed himself, "No, there's no need for now. Let's go, I know of a teahouse on the East side of the city. It's very quiet and elegant."
Yan Tianhen blinked. "I don't like tea, so I won't go."
Lin Xuanzhi definitely didn't like Yuan Tianwen and would certainly give him a hard time, so he wouldn't join in this time.
Lin Xuanzhi rubbed Yan Tianhen's head, then said to Lin Zezhi and the rest, "Take him back, don't let him run around on the way."
Lin Zezhi nodded. "Xuanzhi can rest assured."
After Lin Xuanzhi and Yuan Tianwen left, Lin Dong scratched his head and looked at the happy youngster that was skipping gleefully in front. Puzzled, he asked, "Yan Tianhen is already this old, don't tell me he still doesn't know his way back? Why must Lin Xuanzhi treat him like some mentally handicapped child? And he even got us to especially look after him, I'm really..."
Yet Lin Zezhi was a little envious. "It's probably because he can't feel rest assured if he doesn't get some people who can take care of Yan Tianhen while he's not within his line of sight ba."
Lin Dong sighed and couldn't help but feel a little envious.
When could he have such a good Dage too? And he wasn't even his biological brother!
It was impossible for him to say that he wasn't jealous of Yan Tianhen. Recently, someone had already spread rumours that the magic treasures on Yan Tianhen were all either one of the best, or second best equipment, and all this good equipment was crafted by that Dage of his who wasn't related to him by blood.
Yuan Tianwen would definitely not invite someone out to a meal at a low-class, roadside street shop.
The two of them sat down facing each other in a small room at an upscale teahouse in the East side of the city. Yuan Tianwen ordered some spiritual tea and refreshments. Lin Xuanzhi didn't have any special requests for food, so he would eat whatever Yuan Tianwen ordered, just asking for two portions.
Yuan Tianwen cast a glance at him, "You're taking it back for your younger brother?"
Lin Xuanzhi nodded. "Of course. My Jiadi likes delicious food. I've been busy with seclusion recently and haven't had time to take him out to play, so I feel very uneasy and guilty about it. If there's anything delicious or interesting, as his Gege, I would always think about him and take one portion back for him."
Yuan Tianwen felt as if these words were two knives that stabbed into his heart.
Lin Xuanzhi actually felt uneasy just because he didn't take Yan Tianhen out to eat and play while he was cultivating. Then shouldn't an idiot like him, who mistook a person for someone else, and treated fish eyes as pearls, just go and die straight away?
Yuan Tianwen felt like he had just tasted something very bitter. "You're a really good Dage."
Lin Xuanzhi glanced at him rather meaningfully and smiled. "You will be a good husband in the future as well."
Yuan Tianwen, "..."
Frankly speaking, without any bullshit, he really felt like there was a deeper meaning behind Lin Xuanzhi's words, and that he had said that on purpose to diss him.
Unfortunately, he could not refute him at all.
Yuan Tianwen pulled a long face, "Of course I would be a good husband."
Lin Xuanzhi smiled. "I wonder when Young Peak Master Yuan intends to hold the Dao companion ceremony with Han Yuran?"
Yuan Tianwen fell silent for a moment. He grasped the small teacup in his hands, "I'm afraid that it will be delayed indefinitely."
Lin Xuanzhi pretended to be surprised, "Why? Don't tell me Han Yuran isn't willing to become Dao companions with you anymore?"
Yuan Tianwen said in a low voice, "I'm the one who's unwilling."
Lin Xuanzhi raised an eyebrow.
"He may not be the one I'm searching for." Yuan Tianwen probably regarded the spiritual tea as wine as he downed it in one shot. "I always thought that I would be able to treat gratitude as love and rely on this gratitude to treat him well. But I only realised recently that these are two different feelings that can't be regarded the same way."
When Lin Xuanzhi heard these words, he suddenly felt a little out of sorts. He frowned slightly, "You're in a relationship with Han Yuran because he had done you a favour?"
"Yes, he saved my life and I will never be able to return that favour." Yuan Tianwen sighed again, "A few years ago, I was accidentally injured on Flying Luan Peak and lost both my sight and strength. I also almost suffered a Qi deviation then. After picking me up by chance, he took care of me for a very long time. At that time, I swore to myself in secret that I must treat him well for the rest of my life, and even if he was already engaged, that I would think of a way to destroy it for him."
And it was because of that urgency that got Yuan Tianwen hoodwinked.
Yuan Tianwen looked at Lin Xuanzhi, "But I didn't expect his fiance to be you, I apologise."
"You didn't let me down in any way. In fact, I have to thank you for taking Han Yuran, otherwise he definitely wouldn't have agreed to annul our engagement so easily." Lin Xuanzhi said sincerely.
However, Yuan Tianwen's mouth twitched and he was completely speechless.
But Han Yuran was not the main point Lin Xuanzhi wanted to talk about. "Why did you like Han Yuran in the past, and not anymore now?"
Yuan Tianwen said, "Because when we were on Flying Luan Peak, he gave me the feeling that he was a very vibrant person and he loved joking with me. Sometimes he would even bully me on purpose, but I just thought that he was incomparably lively and cute, and his every word and action could tug at my heartstrings. But..."
Yuan Tianwen's gaze darkened. He took another sip of spiritual tea and said, "Ever since he ascended the mountain with me, it feels as if he had changed into a completely different person. Everything I liked about him seems to have disappeared from him. I don't want to be a person who tosses someone away after picking them up, but I don't want to marry someone I don't like to become my Dao companion either, so after feeling conflicted about it for awhile, I just feel like a tangled mess now."
Lin Xuanzhi could now understand why Yuan Tianwen came to find him. The matter with Han Yuran was probably about to become a thorn in Yuan Tianwen's heart soon, and this torn could very likely turn into a heart demon on his path of cultivation. If he didn't handle it well, it could easily make his mind of Dao unstable and his cultivation path rocky.
Yet, Lin Xuanzhi didn't care at all if Yuan Tianwen's mind of Dao would be unstable or not. Right now, he just wanted to smack the table and burst out laughing - Yuan Tianwen, how foolish must he be to not understand where the key lies in all of this?
Yuan Tianwen looked at Lin Xuanzhi's bizarre smile and an involuntary chill ran down his spine. He shifted slightly, his sword eyebrows furrowing. "What are you smiling at?"
"I'm just thinking that when you were looking for me to talk today, your gaze kept drifting over to Duan Yuyang, why is that?" Lin Xuanzhi grasped a small refreshment and put it in his mouth.
The fragrance of the spiritual tea and spiritual flowers filled his mouth and refreshed his mind. Lin Xuanzhi decided to bring more of these refreshments back for Yan Tianhen. Yuan Tianwen's face flushed red in an instant, then he took another sip of tea and put his cup down harshly, before he said with some difficulty, "Recently, ever since I came to know that Yuyang had come to my house to propose twice before, I've been dreaming about him every night. And it..."
It was even of some scenes where they were naked and doing some indescribable things.
Lin Xuanzhi was really surprised this time. "You didn't know that Duan Yuyang had gone to your place to propose twice before?"
"I only knew of the second time. At that time, I was already determined to marry someone else, so I naturally rejected it without a second thought." Yuan Tianwen looked quite embarrassed, "Recently, when my Dad and Father were chatting, I heard them accidentally reveal how he had proposed once a few years ago, which was how I knew about it."
"What happened the first time?" Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yuan Tianwen with a complicated gaze.
"At that time, I was wholeheartedly focused on pursuing the Dao path and was anxious about entering seclusion. My Dad didn't speak clearly, so I thought Duan Yuyang wanted to propose for one of the girls in his family. I've never even met people from his family before, so how could I have agreed?" Yuan Tianwen clenched his teeth, "Moreover, the Duan family is different from the Yuan family. Their family has always discriminated against marriages between men, thinking of it as an incredibly disrespectful act that defied the natural order of the world, so I never thought that it would be Duan Yuyang. When my Dad talked about it, I just listened to it briefly and immediately said I wasn't interested, then went into seclusion."
So his Dad thought he didn't like Duan Yuyang and refused this joyous matter that had been delivered to their doorstep. Yuan Tianwen thought that Duan Yuyang was proposing on behalf of a girl in his family, which didn't interest him at all, so he didn't consider the matter again and went into seclusion feeling very much at ease.
Lin Xuanzhi looked incredibly speechless. "I really don't know what to say about your Yuan family. Is Duan Yuyang the kind of person who would willingly deliver such news on behalf of someone else to another person's doorstep? Aren't you overestimating him a bit too much?"
Yuan Tianwen looked embarrassed, "My Dad was the one who didn't detail it clearly. If he had made things clear, I wouldn't have fallen out with Yuyang like this."
In any case, it was all his Dad's fault, it had nothing to do with him.
Lin Xuanzhi pondered for a bit and asked, "Then what if the one who had proposed was Duan Yuyang?"
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