This was the first time Qin Yun was wearing a Dharma treasure robe. It was very likely that he would not be switching it out for a very long period of time. After all, as a Dharma treasure, it was invulnerable to water and fire and could forever remain clean. In addition, the color and style could be changed. And most importantly, it was given to him by a woman he liked. Qin Yun was naturally happy wearing it.
In the coming days, the duo would continue discussing the Dao or spar in the Dharma occasionally. The only difference was that they met each other more often.
Without knowing it, it was already the fifteenth of the eighth lunar month, the mid-autumn festival.
"Mid-autumn."
Yi Xiao sat in front of a drawing and looked out the window where a bright moon shone like a round disc. She could even see some of the fireworks set off in Grand Dominance City. It was the night of the mid-autumn, the best day for reunions.
"Reunion…" However, Yi Xiao felt a little down.
Before her first memory, her mother left her. She did not even know who her mother was.
At the age of nine, her father had abandoned her heartlessly.
She had been alone since she was young. Only because of her accomplishments in Qi Refinement did she have a little status in Kunlun Prefecture"s thousand-year-old Yi family clan. After all, such ancient family clans would have a lot of descendants.
Every mid-autumn, Yi Xiao would feel her loneliness more acutely.
"Sou!"
A figure landed inside the courtyard outside the window.
"Who"s there?" Yi Xiao spoke.
"It"s me. It"s me." Qin Yun"s voice sounded.
Only then did Yi Xiao relax slightly as her face suffused a smile. She stood up and walked into the yard. "Seriously, you should have knocked on the door instead of flying in directly. I thought you were some flying bandit."
"It"s my fault. My fault." Qin Yun said with a smile. Yi Xiao"s residence naturally had servants but he would directly fly to the area outside Yi Xiao"s courtyard and knock on the door. However, it was already late at night and he seldom intruded on her at such times.
"Why are you here so late into the night?" Yi Xiao looked at him.
Qin Yun smiled and revealed an oilskin bag he had kept behind him. He opened it and inside, there were quite a number of mooncakes. "This is Zhang-branded mooncakes from the streets. I personally lined up early in the morning because they close at noon. It tastes excellent and there are lines in Grand Dominance just to buy them!"
Yi Xiao looked at the mooncakes and could not help but feel her eyes moisten. However, she instantly hid her emotions. She said with a laugh, "As a mighty Inspector Heavenly Amba.s.sador, you actually lined up by yourself to buy mooncakes?"
"I cast a Divine Concealment Spell so no one knew me." Qin Yun responded with a smile. "The line only took me an hour."
"You could have gotten a servant to buy it for you," said Yi Xiao.
"The thought matters." Qin Yun smiled as he walked to a stone table. He placed the mooncakes down and sat down. He urged, "Come, quickly take a sit. Admire the moon as we enjoy the mooncakes."
Yi Xiao walked over and took a seat.
"Have some." Qin Yun picked a piece of mooncake directly and took a bite. "It smells heavenly."
Yi Xiao picked one mooncake as well and nibbled on it gently as she watched the bright moon in the sky and the rising fireworks in the distance.
At that moment, she felt her mood uplifted.
That sense of loneliness had decreased greatly.
"One has to eat mooncakes while watching the moon during the mid-autumn festival." Qin Yun said, "Our families in Grand Dominance City usually does this. How does a thousand-year-old family like the Yi family spend the mid-autumn?"
"The Yi family?" Yi Xiao was slightly taken aback as some memories suffused her mind. She said softly, "There are too many rules in a large family clan. With a heritage of a thousand years, each lineage has no feelings for each other. All they know is to vie for the benefits the family has. It"s too cold and heartless. Those with talent and strength lead better lives. However, the ordinary members that are abandoned or ostracized are really worse off than ordinary commoners."
"Worse than ordinary commoners?" Qin Yun was astonished.
"Yea, some ordinary family members would even secretly live in a city and not reveal that they are part of the Yi family. But even so, they would occasionally encounter others from the family that purposely come to mock them. Some even deliberately bully them." Yi Xiao shook her head. "Let"s not talk about this."
Qin Yun nodded slightly.
"By the way, let me bring you somewhere." Qin Yun picked up the mooncakes and said immediately.
"Where to?" Yi Xiao stood up as well.
"Just follow me and you"ll know." Qin Yun began using a flying art.
Phew.
Immediately, mist gathered beneath their feet and rapidly brought them up into the sky. The flying art was a rather difficult Dharma spell. Very few people in the Connate False Core realm could use it. However, be it Qin Yun or Yi Xiao, they cultivated in top heritage and were highly intelligent; hence, they also were able to grasp the flying art.
Compared to Sword Kinesis Flight, common flying arts were a lot slower but it was stabler and more comfortable.
"Swoosh."
While riding the clouds, Qin Yun brought Yi Xiao towards the moon as they flew east.
They flew out of Grand Dominance City and to the Lanyang River before they continued east of it…
"Where are we going?" Yi Xiao was puzzled.
"You"ll know in a while." Qin Yun did not let on.
The further east they flew, the wider the Lanyang River became as they approached the East Sea.
Soon.
"We"re here." Qin Yun came to a stop.
This was a circuitous mouth at the end of the Lanyang River, also known as Circuitous Baymouth. There was a strong tidal current every year during mid-autumn in the mouth leading to the East Sea. It was also a famous sight—Grand Dominance Tidal Current!
"Grand Dominance Tidal Current?" Yi Xiao"s eyes lit up as she made a correct guess.
"That"s right. The best of the three great tidal currents in the world, the Grand Dominance Tidal Current." Qin Yun nodded.
Circuitous Baymouth was beneath them. The river"s surface was broad and very peaceful. The bright moon was reflected on the river"s surface. But from afar, one could see a white line that stretched across the entire sea. It appeared calm but as the white line approached the river"s mouth, the entire tidal wave rose to a height that towered over the river"s surface like a stampeding team of horses. Like thousands of horses, the tidal current stampeded up the river. And the spots that were not inundated by the tidal current remained extremely calm.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and beneath it, the couple sat on clouds as took in everything. And indeed, the beauty was absolutely breathtaking.
"Grand Dominance Tidal Current is extremely terrifying. It"s fine watching it from afar but when it comes nearer, especially when it hits the bay, it sounds louder than thunder." Qin Yun said with a smile.
"I see." Yi Xiao nodded gently as she took in the beautiful scenery.
The river"s surface reflected the bright moon as Grand Dominance Tidal Current surged down a path. With Qin Yun by her side, Yi Xiao felt that this was the happiest mid-autumn she had spent ever since she separated from her father.
"Have some mooncake." Qin Yun handed a mooncake that was wrapped in oilskin to Yi Xiao. She turned her head and accepted it with a smile before eating it.
Qin Yun also picked up another one to eat for himself.
Admiring the moon, the Grand Dominance Tidal Current… and a beauty…
Qin Yun looked at Yi Xiao"s side profile and the scene of the beautiful moon and the beauty left a deep impression in his memory. He felt that he would never forget it for the rest of his life.
None of them spoke.
Yi Xiao turned to look at Qin Yun, who was sitting beside her. She smiled too.
And at that moment, Qin Yun looked over.
Their gaze met.
The sounds coming from Grand Dominance Tidal Current"s waters were still gentle. The moon was a blur momentarily. Under the moonlight, Yi Xiao looked like a fairy from a dream. Looking at the woman he loved, Qin Yun could not help but lunge forward for a kiss. None of it went through his mind but his action was motivated by his very heart. He could not curb his emotions as he kissed her. Yi Xiao was momentarily stunned seeing Qin Yun"s approaching kiss. She froze up and did not react at all nor did she reject it.
Their lips met.
How soft…
Qin Yun felt as though he had immersed himself in a cloud as his mind went blank and his heart raced.
That instant seemed very short and also very long. Even though cultivators were able to have a precise take on time, Qin Yun and Yi Xiao did not know how much time had pa.s.sed. The only witness to this scene was the bright moon in the sky!
They heard a sonorous boom that was louder than thunder. The Grand Dominance Tidal Current finally struck the bay and shot up more than a hundred feet, inundating the bay"s surroundings.
The terrifying sound jolted Qin Yun and Yi Xiao from their reverie.
Yi Xiao immediately retreated as she widened her eyes. The usually calm her felt her heart racing as she turned fl.u.s.tered.
Qin Yun blinked as well. Had… Had he kissed her? How did he kiss her? Why did he do that just now? Wasn"t he always worried that he would be too imposing?
"I…" Yi Xiao"s face blushed red all the way to her ears. She looked at the radiant moon in the sky and said immediately, "It"s no longer early. Let"s go back now."
Phew.
Riding a cloud, Yi Xiao flew straight for Grand Dominance County.
"She isn"t mad." Qin Yun, who was feeling rather fl.u.s.tered, turned excited as his eyes lit up.
"Wait for me!" Qin Yun shouted immediately as he chased behind her while riding a cloud.
…
Yi Xiao and Qin Yun flew onward, with one behind the other. Yi Xiao ignored him the entire journey until she returned to her residence.
"It"s no longer early. Go back and have a rest." Yi Xiao said before flying into her yard.
"Yi Xiao, let"s have crab tomorrow. It"s the best season for crabs." Qin Yun said immediately.
Yi Xiao did not reply.
She went straight into the room and closed the door.
In midair, Qin Yun began to panic. "Did I take things too fast today? Did I scare her? Why did I do that…" Qin Yun had chaotic thoughts running through his mind.
"Alright, tomorrow at noon." A voice came out of the room.
Qin Yun"s eyes immediately lit up as he revealed an ecstatic look while clenching his fists tightly.
"Alright, tomorrow at noon!" Qin Yun replied quickly and immediately returned home.
Inside a room.
The lights were lit as Yi Xiao sat in front of her dresser, looking at her reflection. She felt her face boiling hot as she could not help but recall the scene that happened above the river. Under the bright moon, they had shared a kiss above the clouds.
"Why, why did I…" Yi Xiao"s burning face took a long while to return to normal. After exhaling gently, the corners of her mouth curled up ever so slightly. She smiled. "I never expected him to be so gutsy…"
"It"s good anyway. It"s good." Yi Xiao looked at herself in the mirror and spoke to herself.
******
Back at home, Qin Yun was extremely excited as he felt his blood boiling. He did not feel sleepy at all despite lying in bed! He could not help but recall the scenes that had happened just a while ago.
"She"s not mad. She doesn"t mind. She still agreed to go out with me tomorrow…" No matter how silly Qin Yun was, he understood her thoughts.
Qin Yun rolled, climbed out of bed, and walked out the house.
In his yard, he beckoned with his hand and with a whoosh, a jug of alcohol flew out from a room beside him. Qin Yun took a swig at the jug and drank large mouthfuls of it, staining his clothes with alcohol.
"It feels great." Qin Yun threw the finished jug aside and turned to fly to a corner of the yard.
Flipping his hand, a silver flying sword appeared in his palm. It rapidly expanded to three feet in length.
"Come on!" Qin Yun did not know where to vent his excessive excitement. He began engaging in swordplay as his blade s.h.i.+mmered under the moonlight. It was like smoke or agile raindrops… The sword flashes were filled with infinite joy and happiness.