Memories (8)

Yun Lan had just stepped through the front door with Yi Jiang and Yi Xuan. The soft light in the entryway dispelled the last traces of dusk outside. The two girls were still carrying several small shopping bags containing a few new shirts, pairs of pants, and skirts. Their faces were flushed with the excitement of having been out, and though they remained quiet, their eyes were much livelier than when they had first arrived.

Just then, the phone in his pocket gave a faint vibration at a particular frequency. He paused, nodded to Uncle Su, who was helping take the bags, then walked straight to the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room.

Outside, the courtyard was beautifully lit for the night. His reflection appeared in the glass, his expression indistinct in the shifting light. He took out his phone, its cold white glow illuminating his impassive face. On the lock screen, a simple, almost eerily black ram's-head symbol flashed. There was no name attached, only a question:

"What are the mission requirements, young master?"

The sender was marked with a simple symbol, "". Yun Lan glanced at it, then quickly tapped out a crisp reply, clearly having planned this in advance:

"Stay close and protect those two girls."

After sending the message, I paused briefly. The corner of my mouth seemed to lift in the faintest, most calculated smile as I continued typing:

"As for how to stay close... go apply to be their homeroom teacher. Fufu will take care of the school, qualifications, identity, and everything else."

I thought it over, then added two words at the end, as if to confirm the arrangement or simply greet her out of years of familiarity: "Xiao Tang."

The message sent, and the screen went dark, reflecting Yun Lan's calm features. This was the most suitable arrangement. School was where the girls would soon spend long stretches of time, beyond the full reach of my attention. As their homeroom teacher, Xiao Tang could approach them naturally and keep close track of how they were doing at school without attracting undue notice. Fufu had never made a mistake handling background matters, and as for Xiao Tang... I trusted her to take care of things.

When he turned around, he saw Yi Jiang carefully fixing her younger sister's hair, which had gotten mussed in the car. Yi Xuan tilted her little face up and obediently let her. Warm yellow light fell over them, casting a peaceful halo.

I said to Yi Jiang and Yi Xuan, "After the New Year, you two will start school. Judging by your ages, you should be in sixth grade. If you have a hard time keeping up, Uncle Su will find someone to tutor you in the evenings."

Yi Xuan was very excited, since she had never been to school before. But Yi Jiang asked, "What about you, young master?"

I smiled. "I finished teaching myself middle school material a long time ago. Now I'm studying under a master at Yungui Mountain, so I'll only be able to come see you on weekends or holidays."

Yun Lan's words were delivered in a deliberately light, almost joking tone, but they were like a stone dropped into a still lake, stirring unexpected ripples in Yi Jiang's heart.

She froze. A flicker of confusion crossed her usually cautious, quiet eyes, only to be swallowed up by a sudden, overwhelming wave of loss and panic. The young master was leaving? For a mountain so far away? From now on... he would only come back once in a while?

Before Yun Lan could say anything else to ease the mood, before Yi Xuan beside her could even react, and while Uncle Su merely raised his eyebrows slightly—

A pale blue figure suddenly rushed forward like a startled fledgling instinctively seeking shelter.

Yi Jiang wrapped both arms around Yun Lan's waist with all her strength. She buried her face in the fabric over his chest, her small body trembling uncontrollably. The embrace came without warning or grace, but her attachment and fear were unmistakable.

The unexpected impact caught Yun Lan off guard, and he instinctively steadied himself. He could feel the girl's slender arms gripping him tightly, as if he would disappear the moment she let go. Through their clothes, he could even feel her racing heartbeat, and hear the sob she was trying desperately to suppress.

Then he felt her rise slightly onto her toes. Her soft lips, warm and damp, touched his ear, her breath trembling. Her voice was so faint it was like a feather brushing against him, yet it carried a scorching warmth and a desperate plea. Each word was clear as it slipped into his ear:

"Then... young master, don't forget me and my little sister..." She sniffled, struggling to make her voice sound less broken. "Come visit us often. You have to... come back."

Every word was steeped in the terror of being abandoned and an intense longing for the warmth she had only just found. It wasn't a plea for attention so much as the humble, desperate insistence of someone drowning who had seized a piece of driftwood.

Yi Xuan seemed to catch her sister's distress. Her little mouth drooped, her eyes reddened, and she timidly reached out to tug at Yun Lan's clothes.

Yun Lan stood frozen for a moment. At last, the hand hanging by his side slowly lifted, hesitated, then gently came to rest on Yi Jiang's trembling back. Her slight shoulder blades showed through the soft fabric, their outline fragile.

"Mm," I replied, my voice lower and gentler than usual. "I won't forget. I picked you two up, so I'm responsible for you."

Time flew by. The New Year came and went, and Yi Jiang and Yi Xuan started school.

Yun Lan, too, packed a simple set of belongings and returned to Yungui Mountain with a suitcase utterly unsuited to the austere life of a mountain hermit, stuffed full of all kinds of high-end health supplements.

"Here you go, Master. A little something from your devoted disciple." Yun Lan set the suitcase of supplements down in his master's bamboo hut, his expression unchanged. His master, a disheveled old man who claimed to have an "immortal bearing" but often snuck drinks and kept a wildly erratic schedule, was sitting with his feet up, gnawing on a roast chicken. At the sight of the suitcase, his eyes widened. Grease still glistened on his beard. "You little brat! Trying to fob me off with these sugar pills? You'd be better off bringing me a couple more jars of good wine!"

Despite his grumbling, the old man rummaged through the suitcase, picked up a bottle of liver supplements, and held it up to the light. The corner of his mouth twitched suspiciously. At last, he waved Yun Lan away. "Go on, go practice your sword! Stop loitering around here!"

The days on the mountain passed in a steady rhythm of sword energy slicing through the air and breathing exercises. At dawn, Yun Lan practiced his stance against the biting mountain wind. In the afternoon, he rehearsed sword forms deep in the bamboo grove, and at night, he sat in meditation, contemplating the mental techniques. His skills improved at a visible pace. His movements grew more upright and precise, and his gaze became sharper and more composed.

Yet his quiet life on the mountain did not completely cut him off from the world below. His phone became a warm link between the two.