Singing of the Mortal World

Ye Xinglan was thrown backward by his bounce, and the candy in her hand almost flew out of her hand.

She steadied herself, glared at him, unwrapped the candy, popped it into her mouth, and mumbled something indistinctly.

Yun Jingheng didn't hear clearly, but he guessed that what she said wasn't anything nice.

The morning light outside the window grew brighter, changing from a pale gold to a near-white brightness, and the noise from the streets grew denser.

The line outside the porridge shop had thinned out, probably because the first batch of people going to work had already finished their breakfast.

The guards at the city gate had been replaced by a new squad, their armor gleaming in the sunlight.

Several children ran out from the street corner, chasing each other, their laughter as crisp as broken silver falling to the ground.

Yun Jingheng looked at the children for a long time.

"What are you thinking about?" Ye Xinglan's voice pulled him back from his reverie.

Yun Jingheng did not answer, but hummed a song in a tune that sounded rather strange to Ye Xinglan.

What should we sing?

"Sing of freedom, sing of joy, sing of... humanity."

Ye Xinglan bit her lower lip, hesitated for a moment, then gently hugged him. "Don't overthink it, we're all here."

Ye Xinglan's hug was very light, so light that it felt like a leaf falling on Yun Jingheng's shoulder, as if she was afraid of hurting him, and only dared to hold him loosely with her fingertips.

Her chin rested on his shoulder, her hair brushing against his neck, tickling him and carrying a faint fragrance.

She held him quietly, neither tightly nor letting go.

Yun Jingheng froze for a moment; she was never the type to hug people first.

He neither pushed her away nor hugged her back.

He simply stood there, his hands hanging at his sides, watching the increasingly bright sky outside the window, feeling the furry head nestled in the crook of his shoulder.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the two people and casting their shadows on the ground, overlapping so that it was impossible to distinguish which part belonged to Ye Xinglan and which to Yun Jingheng.

"I wasn't thinking anything."

Yun Jingheng's voice was a little hoarse, but calm. "I just think it's good to be alive."

Ye Xinglan remained silent.

She gently patted his back twice with her fingers, as if soothing a child who had Nightmare.

Then she let go of him, took a step back, and looked at his face.

A faint smile even graced his face.

She smiled slightly, then reached out and lightly punched his chest, the force so light it was like a gentle breeze.

"It's good to be alive, of course! I'll bring you delicious food and fun things when I come back."

"Good."

Outside the door, Ya Li clung tightly to Yun Ming, whispering, "Hey, hey, did you hear me?"

"I can hear you, I can hear you, I'm not deaf yet."

Yun Ming was tugged at by Ya Li's clothes several times, his whole body tilting back and forth on the door frame like an old pine tree being blown about by the wind.

His ear was almost pressed against the door, his posture extremely awkward—his back was bent, his neck was twisted, one hand was braced against the wall, and the other hand was being held by Ya Li, whose nails were almost digging into the flesh of his hand.

He gasped in pain, but dared not utter a sound, only whispering, "Gently, gently... you're going to break my hand..."

Ya Li didn't hear what he was saying at all.

Her ear was pressed against the door panel, even closer than Yun Ming's, so close that the tip of her nose almost touched the wood.

Her eyes were wide open, reflecting the sliver of morning light filtering through the crack in the door. Her lips were pressed together, forming a thin line, and her whole body was taut like a fully drawn bow.

Her other hand was still clutching Yun Ming's clothes tightly, so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

She turned to look at Yun Ming, her eyes shining brighter than the morning light filtering through the crack in the door.

Her eyebrows were raised high, her mouth was agape, and she exuded an intense, suppressed excitement.

"Are we going to have a daughter-in-law soon?"

Yun Ming smiled helplessly, "This is nothing yet." Then he glanced at Zhuo Shi in the door.

The dignified Red Dragon Douluo, one of the most senior elders in the Shrek Academy, was currently lying on the floor in an extremely undignified posture.

The person looked like a giant, bright red gecko, with their belly pressed against the floor and their big butt sticking out.

His eyes narrowed to slits, reflecting the small patch of morning light filtering through the crack in the door. A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, a smile that was hard to define as either gossip or satisfaction.

"Zhuo Shi? Aren't you going a bit... too far?"

"Excessive? What's excessive? They're not doing anything shady inside, so how is that excessive?"

Ya Li's eyes lit up. "You can see it? What happened inside?"

Zhuo Shi's lips curled into a slight smile. "Little Ye, take little Jing Heng in your arms."

Ya Li covered her mouth, her eyes curving into crescents.

Her shoulders were trembling slightly, whether from laughter or excitement, it was hard to tell.

Yun Ming leaned against the wall, watching the two of them. One was lying on the ground, and the other was squatting beside him. Both of their ears were pointed towards the crack in the door, like two spies listening for enemy activity.

He sighed, his voice not loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet corridor.

"Can you get up? Aren't you cold?"

Zhuo Shi waved his hand, meaning "Don't bother me."

He pressed his ear closer to the crack in the door, his brow furrowed slightly, as if trying to decipher what the person inside was saying.

Ya Li squatted down next to him, extremely anxious, and whispered, "Excuse me, let me see too."

Zhuo Shi glanced at her sideways, "You think you can even lie down like that? Wearing a skirt?"

Ya Li looked down at her white dress, the hem of which hung to the ground and was already covered with a thin layer of dust.

She hesitated for half a second, then gritted her teeth, lifted her skirt, squatted down, and tried to lie on the ground.

Yun Ming reacted quickly, grabbing her by the back of her collar and lifting her off the ground.

Ya Li's feet were about two inches off the ground, and she flailed twice in the air, like a cat being grabbed by the scruff of its neck.

"Put me down!"

Yun Ming didn't release it.

He turned her around so she was facing him, looking at her face, which was slightly flushed with excitement.

"You, a Titled Douluo, peeping into your son's room from the doorway, what kind of behavior is that?"

Ya Li glared at him. "Didn't you listen to it too?"

"Wasn't that where you pinned me down?"

At the corner of the corridor, Wu Zhangkong looked at Cai Yue'er beside him, "Elder Cai, you..."

Cai Yue'er glanced at him, "Hmph, you can't get past it... you can't see it even if you want to..."

...?

I don't think that's what I meant.

Yun Jingheng stood by the window, holding a cup of water that had stopped steaming, looking at the increasingly bright and blue sky outside.

Ye Xinglan stood beside him, holding the candy wrapper in her hand, which was folded into a small heart.

She lowered her head, stuffed it into her pocket, patted it to make sure it wouldn't fall out.

I'll see you off when you leave.

"Didn't you still have things to discuss?"

Ye Xinglan sighed, "It's so boring. The students from the Monster Academy treat us with... almost fawning attitudes."

Yun Jingheng smiled.

After something this big happened, it would be strange if they didn't fawn over her.