Follow Your Dreams

Once Xu Jiyu had thoroughly explained to Liu Jian what a 'joke' was, Liu Jian began making jokes throughout the entire night.

"You, common—…. no, I mean, Xu Jiyu," Liu Jian says after a moment of hesitation, testing the name on his tongue. This is the first time he's called Xu Jiyu by his name, so even the youth himself is surprised and looks up. Seeing that he successfully managed to capture Jiyu's attention, he continues in a formal manner, "May I have a moment to tell you a joke?"

Xu Jiyu sighs in exasperation. However, seeing Liu Jian take his teachings to heart is actually quite nice. "...Sure, go ahead."

"Why did the old man fall into the well?"

"I don't know… why?" Questions the youth, biting into a crispy cooked fish.

Liu Jian answers, expression steady. "Because he couldn't see that well."

Xu Jiyu nearly chokes on his meal and forces out a strained, "...D-Did you just make that up on the spot?"

"En." The handsome man nods his head.

Xu Jiyu didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point. Did he just unintentionally create a very polite joke machine?

He chuckles nervously. "Ahaha… well, that was pretty good…"

"Is that so? Well, I have another jo—"

Xu Jiyu quickly shoves a fish into Liu Jian's mouth, effectively silencing him. "Hey, you know this fish is really good!! You should eat it, don't let me enjoy it alone! Hahahaha!"

Liu Jian simply gives him an obedient nod, before wiping his hands with his handkerchief and taking the fish into his own hands. He takes a bite of it, copying Xu Jiyu, and his face switches from indifferent to delighted in a second.

Really, he's just like a child…

Just like he thought, eating with company does make the food more delicious.

The two sit in silence as they eat, until there are no more fish to devour.

As usual, Liu Jian wipes his hands clean after the meal. Meanwhile, Xu Jiyu is standing up, stripping himself of his damp robe.

Feeling a gaze burning a hole in his back, Xu Jiyu pauses midway in removing his pants, fingers on the waistband, and catches Liu Jian staring at him intently.

"...Why are you staring at me?"

"...?" Liu Jian stares back unashamedly. "Am I not allowed to…?"

While it's true that both of them are men, being so openly scrutinized makes Xu Jiyu feel self-conscious.

"Lesson two, it's rude to watch people undress!! Look away!" Xu Jiyu shouts, red painting his cheeks, before picking up his previously discarded robe and throwing at Liu Jian's face.

Despite the fact that Liu Jian remains sitting, it would be easy to dodge. Instead, he allows the robe to hit him square in the face.

"Why didn't you move out of the way?!" Xu Jiyu didn't understand this man's thought process. Just as he ponders whether or not Liu Jian might've been dropped on his head during childhood—.

"...You told me it's rude to watch people undress." Liu Jian answers, voice muffled by the cloth.

Xu Jiyu firmly decides to just… keep his pants on. Limping over to Liu Jian, he retrieves his robe and sighs down at the obedient disciple he had gained a few moments ago.

...Liu Jian's eyes are closed.

"Liu Jian, I've changed my mind. I'm not undressing anymore, so you'd better open your eyes."

Immediately, Liu Jian does as he's told. Then, he peers up at Xu Jiyu and says, "Hello not undressing anymore. I'm Liu Jian."

Xu Jiyu's face is currently full of black lines. He's starting to seriously regret explaining what a 'joke' was to Liu Jian…

So he takes a deep breath, clears his mind, and offers one of his over-the-top smiles. "I'm going to leave my robes on the rocks near the fire so they'll be dry in the morning. We should get some sleep for tomorrow."

"En," Liu Jian nods along. He watches as the youth does exactly as he says, busying himself with drying his robes. Then, he continues, "Xu Jiyu, what is 'sleep'?"

Instead of getting angry, Xu Jiyu takes another deep breath, before calmly explaining to Liu Jian what sleep is. Liu Jian listens intently, as if mentally taking note of every word that leaves his lips.

It's almost endearing.

"So now you need to go over there and lie down on the other side of the cave and sleep, okay?"

"En."

Xu Jiyu wonders for a brief second if Liu Jian is someone incredible. If Liu Jian never slept before, then doesn't that mean he must be some kind of immortal being?

Just as he's lost in thoughts, he hears Liu Jian shuffle to the place he'd pointed at earlier and lie down directly onto the cold, rocky surface of the cavern. He didn't look too comfortable.

The youth stifles a laugh, "Pfft… you know that we usually use something to prop our heads up, right? Even a stack of leaves would help."

Hearing this, Liu Jian sits up, "Then I will go get leaves for us."

He hums, closing his eyes. The sudden positive change in attitude was really surprising for him, so he has to really think about it. "Well, you don't actually have to go out of your way to do tha—huh?"

By the time Xu Jiyu opens his eyes again, he finds that his partner is nowhere to be found.

Did Liu Jian already leave? He didn't even get to finish his sentence… ah, well.

"I hope he doesn't overdo it."

Xu Jiyu only shrugs his shoulders and settles himself onto the ground. Finally, he yawns, allowing himself to succumb to his exhaustion. The exertion of fishing and trudging through the frigid water had sapped him of what little energy he had left, and his injury took even more of a toll on his already-battered body.

Not too long after closing his eyes, he sinks into a deep slumber.

---

When Liu Jian returns to the cavern, countless leaves have already entangled themselves into his hair. His usually immaculate visage is smeared with dirt and his robe is in a state of disarray.

"Xu Jiyu, is this enough?"

A massive pile of leaves threatens to spill from his arms, and he has to crane his neck to the side in order to see the youth laying on the ground with his eyes shut. An emotion he can't quite describe clutches his heart, and he feels his stomach drop.

He can only think of one word: death.

"Xu Ji—!" He starts, but then he remembers that when humans sleep, they close their eyes and it needs to be quiet, else they're disturbed.

As silently as possible, Liu Jian tip-toes over to Xu Jiyu and arranges a pile of leaves around the dormant young man.

Once satisfied with his work, he sculpts his own makeshift 'bed' not too far away and lies down.

And thus, Liu Jian closes his eyes and sleeps for the first time in his life.

---

The next morning, Xu Jiyu wakes up to darkness. At first, he panics, but the moment he sits up, a light momentarily blinds him.

Once the light recedes from his vision, he realizes that he is covered in a gigantic pile of leaves. His expression changes to what one can only describe as an irritated emoticon ['-_-'], whatever that is. He immediately glances over at Liu Jian and locks eyes with him. It seems he is already awake. For a moment, Xu Jiyu feels as if he is stargazing.

"...Good morning," Xu Jiyu says, shaking his head, breaking eye contact. His cheeks flush red and he quickly remembers that it's now currently daytime and that stars wouldn't be visible at this moment.

Not that the stars would be visible anyways—the dense forest completely blots out the sky.

After yet another moment of silence with Liu Jian staring at him, Xu Jiyu understands what has to be done.

He heaves another sigh. "Ha… lesson three: every morning, afternoon, and night—if someone greets you in this manner, you should respond back."

Almost immediately, he receives a response. "Good morning."

"Did you sleep well?" Xu Jiyu asks, stretching his stiff muscles.

"En, it was my first time sleeping. It felt like I was floating in a space while watching strange, vivid images…" Liu Jian answers.

"Ah," the youth says, "that's called a 'dream'."

He thoroughly explains to the handsome man what a dream is, with Liu Jian nodding his head to everything he says.

"And so, in short, if you really desire something, you should follow your dreams."

"I see… then, I will do that." Liu Jian answers, humming thoughtfully. He seems to have stored the information in the back of his mind.

Nodding, Xu Jiyu stands up. "Anyways, we should really get going now. If we don't find Lang Jing by the end of today, I'm out of ideas."

"En."

And so the two begin preparations to resume their journey.

---

"Just how big is this forest?" Xu Jiyu questions once they've set off, limping next to the Liu Jian who finally matches his pace. "Surely if Lang Jing was sent here, we would've found him by now…"

It feels great to finally be walking side-by-side. He no longer needs to force himself to overexert his energy.

"...Wait." Liu Jian suddenly stops in his tracks, expression turning grave. He begins to survey the area, as if looking for something.

Xu Jiyu didn't sense anything strange around them. Though it must be because of his low cultivation that he's not able to sense most incoming danger.

"What's wrong—?" Xu Jiyu asks, before a gust of wind envelopes them. He has to squint to see through the sudden gale.

A voice clearly rings out, "You must be Lang Jing!! Get them!"

Before he can thoroughly process what's happening, with a flash of white, Liu Jian already has his spiritual sword by his side.

His platinum eyes exude extreme killing intent.

…Where did that sword even come from? Wasn't his partner a bit too OP?

Why is the world so unfair, ah?!