Moonlight Kiss

Beneath the peach tree, the young man leaned, his eyes drifting from the blossoms to the moon above.

Yún Mù pondered whether he ought to leave and retreat to his stable for sleep.

He reached out a hand, catching a fallen blossom that seemed to consist of five delicate petals.

“Stay, leave, stay, leave, stay…”

He didn’t meticulously count, instead tearing off each petal one by one, muttering under his breath. When he clutched the final petal, a faint tremor ran through his heart, and he lingered, unwilling to cast it aside.

“Stay, leave…”

With a gentle hand, he tore that final petal into two, then recounted them once more.

In his estimation, even though he had deliberately altered his own destiny, it was, in a way, still fate’s decree.

This conviction stemmed from a memory: Lín Xīzhī, the young man’s master, had once confided in him during a moment of inebriation.

“Heaven’s will is not immutable; following your true heart is the righteous path. Therefore, when faced with circumstances that displease you, and you possess the power to alter them, you must always prioritize ‘yourself’.”

Back then, Yún Mù was but a child, too young to grasp the intricacies of ‘heaven’s will’ or ‘true heart.’ He merely nodded in a daze, for in his mind, his master’s words were absolute truth, and agreeing with her was, by extension, undeniably correct.

However, upon later reflection, he had come to a clearer understanding of her words. After all, Lín Xīzhī could have chosen not to send him away from the Shangguan family, and she could have avoided her fate of falling into the Endless Abyss, her remains never to be found. Yet, she had chosen to do these very things.

‘For Master, everything she did must have been in accordance with her true heart,’ he mused.

The young man murmured to himself, his right foot already stepping past the threshold, when his gaze caught a flash of peach-blossom pink, a skirt hem like cherry blossoms. Before he could fully process it, he was engulfed in a soft, dark embrace, the sudden closeness leaving him breathless and gasping.

“Xúnyī… Miss…”

The young man attempted to struggle, but his inadvertent touch against something soft caused the girl’s face to flush, a blush that perfectly complemented the cherry hue of her dress.

After he gently pushed her away, she playfully chided him.

“Yún Mù, how is it that I never realized before that you’re such a clumsy little rascal?”

He lifted his gaze to the girl, who was now looking down at him, her arms crossed over her chest. He found himself utterly at a loss for how to respond.

While Shangguan Xúnyī was undeniably the initial aggressor — her sudden ambush and unexpected embrace contributing to this inadvertent touch — such a perspective was purely logical.

In the young man’s mind, though rules, etiquette, and reason held no inherent hierarchy, he understood that when a vast disparity in status existed between two individuals, rules and etiquette superseded common sense. For, after all—

The rules governing such situations were dictated by those in authority, and ‘reason’ itself was often merely the pronouncements of the powerful.

Thus, without a moment’s hesitation, he offered a slight bow and an apology, intending to defuse the situation entirely and let the minor incident fade into nothingness.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to.”

“Apologies? I say… are you truly planning to be so distant with me?”

“Distant…?”

“Exactly! Refusing my affection as your elder sister—isn’t that precisely what being distant means?”

A clear note of complaint emanated from the girl, and what met his eyes was her rounded face, cheeks puffed out in a sulk, lips forming a pout.

The young man’s face remained blank. He had no idea how to respond, and a profound bewilderment settled in his heart.

‘Distant…?’ he thought. ‘But our estrangement, surely that began with avoiding suspicion, didn’t it?’

“What’s wrong? Why are you staring at my face?” Seeing Yún Mù’s prolonged silence, the girl took two small hops closer, leaning in slightly. “Do you think I, your elder sister, have grown even more beautiful? Or have you finally come to your senses and decided to become a pair of ‘golden boy and jade girl’ with your elder sister?”

Their eyes met, and ripples danced within her apricot-shaped eyes, reminiscent of peach blossoms. Beneath her smiling countenance lay an undeniable charm, distinctly that of an elder sister. Her slender, jade-like hand teasingly traced his chin, while a delicate fragrance wafted from her sleeve, enveloping him in the moonlight’s soft, intoxicating embrace.

“If that’s the case, then come with your Sister Xúnyī. I’ll take you far away from this place; what do you say?”

Were he any other man, Shangguan Xúnyī’s alluring gestures and seductive words would likely have him sprawling on the ground, mouth agape and tongue lolling, ready to cry out for his mother. Not that she would ever behave this way with anyone else, of course.

Alas, over the past three years, the young man had grown utterly accustomed to such scenes. While he might have experienced a naive shyness during their initial encounters, by now, these overt displays rarely left him flustered or at a loss.

“Miss Xúnyī, if there truly isn’t anything else, I shall take my leave. Tomorrow holds many tasks, and I require time to rest. After all… not everyone possesses your ample leisure to engage in such peculiar antics.”

“Yún Mù, I’m…!”

The girl’s lips trembled as she bit them, the words ‘saving you’ remaining stubbornly unspoken. She harbored no desire for him to despise Shangguan Qiūyuè because of her revelations, nor did she wish for the young man to be overcome with sorrow once the truth was laid bare.

After all, he had lived within the Shangguan family for such a long time. She couldn’t bear to imagine the depth of his anguish if he were to discover that his rescue had merely been to serve as a medicinal ingredient.

“Farewell, Miss Xúnyī.”

Yún Mù gently pushed aside the girl’s slender hand, his gaze cast downwards, unwilling to witness her tear-filled eyes. He had walked perhaps five paces before his lips parted slightly, silently forming the words, ‘I’m sorry.’

Those venomous, cutting words had been uttered by Yún Mù with deliberate intent, all to ensure Shangguan Xúnyī would utterly despise him.

With one less person to worry about, he could depart with a clearer conscience. It was a profoundly selfish decision, yet he harbored no regrets; at the very least, this way, her grief upon his death might be somewhat lessened.

****

The two of them… slowly drifted apart.

Their voices… grew ever softer, then silent.

****

“Yún Mù!”

At the sound of a shout, the young man, who had been on the verge of leaving, spun around abruptly. The girl, who had initially stood still, now rushed towards him with hurried steps. With a soft ‘thud,’ Shangguan Xúnyī easily tackled him to the ground.

Her hairpin clattered to the ground, and her silken hair cascaded across his face, stirring a tumult in his heart.

Gazing at the face mere inches from his own, Yún Mù sighed in resignation. He tried to exert gentle force to free himself, only to discover he was firmly pinned to the ground, utterly unable to move.

He understood that this disparity wasn’t merely one of height and weight; it was the vast chasm between a cultivator and a mere mortal.

“Miss Xúnyī, perhaps you should stop this… farce.”

“No, I won’t! I’ve finally caught you; why would I ever let you go?” The girl subtly tightened her legs, further securing his waist, then leaned down to whisper intimately into his ear, “Or could it be that you’re feeling shy?”

A tingling sensation, a delightful prickle, spread from his ear throughout his entire body. He squeezed his eyes shut as a faint, alluring fragrance lingered stubbornly at his nostrils. The young man, usually so composed, found his heart now a tangled mess.

“Yún Mù, why have you gone silent? You certainly weren’t this unresponsive when you were just holding Qiūyuè. How is it that with your elder sister, you’ve become so… helpless?”

Her face, so close, allowed her warm breath to gently caress his own.

His mind was so utterly disarrayed that he could no longer discern whether the girl’s actions stemmed from jealousy toward Shangguan Qiūyuè, or if she was simply indulging in a playful desire to tease him.

Noticing the young man’s face had flushed crimson all the way to his earlobes, Shangguan Xúnyī paused, momentarily stunned. Then, she narrowed her eyes, unconsciously licking her lips as a faint, pale green spiritual energy swirled at the tip of her tongue.

Sitting up, she let out a soft, delighted giggle.

“Yún Mù, oh Yún Mù, I had actually begun to think I lacked charm,” she purred, gently pulling the young man into a sitting position, though she remained perched atop him. “It seems I simply hadn’t been… thorough enough?” Her hands, by then, were already caressing his neck.

“Miss…”

Before he could utter a word of protest, the girl’s lips descended upon his own.

“Mm…”

Though it was undeniably her first kiss, Shangguan Xúnyī’s tongue tentatively slipped forth, clumsy yet as soft and lingering as a gentle drizzle.

Yún Mù instinctively attempted to pull away, but his head was held firmly in place. The watery softness of her lips left his mind utterly blank.

‘Miss Xúnyī…’

Their breaths intertwined, and soon after, a profound drowsiness washed over them both.

After a prolonged moment, the girl finally released her hold, her head bowed low, her expression obscured. Yet, the surging rise and fall of her chest, mirroring her tumultuous breathing, clearly betrayed her profound agitation. She lifted a hand to gently caress her chest, inhaling and exhaling an unknown number of times before her breathing finally steadied.

Beneath the moonlight, her captivating face was now imbued with a maiden’s bashfulness. Her lips parted tremulously as she whispered softly.

“Yún Mù… you absolutely must take responsibility for me. This is your elder sister’s very first kiss with anyone,” she declared, playfully pinching the young man’s cheek. “It was all to make you, this stubborn fellow, fall unconscious so I could take you away!”

Rising to her feet, she effortlessly hoisted the slender young man onto her back and began to walk, guided by the moonlight.

“Yún Mù, do you know? The first kiss I had always envisioned was meant to be far more romantic…”

“You’ll have to make it up to me later, alright?”