“Do we…have to go this far?” Gui Yin asked.

Shan Yu glared at her shizun with puffed up cheeks. “Of course! Shizun has never had a proper birthday celebration, so we have to do it properly.”

“But it’s just the four of us. Don’t you think it’s too much?” Gui Yin said.

“It isn’t!” Shan Yu insisted. “Whenever it’s Shan Yu’s birthday, she has way more than this! Shizun is much more important, so Shizun should have at least this much.”

Qin Siyi agreed with Shan Yu for once. “That’s right, Shizun. We don’t even know when my real birthday is, but whenever we celebrate it, you always throw me a feast.”

Even Gui Linghuo expressed his agreement. “This is the least us disciples should do for Shizun.”

Gui Yin glanced at the list of dishes the children had written down, as well as the types of decorations that they needed to get in order to make their peak appear livelier. He lightly cleared his throat.

“No. Now that I think about it, this really is too much. Just get me a few simple dishes and call it a day, Why must you go this far?”

“If Shizun is embarrassed about going shopping for all these things yourself, Da-shixiong can just take us!” Shan Yu said.

“That’s not…”

Gui Yin’s denial stopped halfway. He looked at the sincere gazes of the children around him and sighed. He set the paper back down and nodded. “Fine, fine. Let’s just go with what you planned.”

Hearing his approval, the children immediately lit up once more.

“Here’s some money. You can go into town tomorrow and—”

“We can’t use Shizun’s money! This is a celebration for Shizun!” Shan Yu said.

“That’s right, Shizun. How could we use your money to buy things for you?” Qin Siyi frowned. “It’s okay. It’s not like we’re trying to buy anything expensive.”

“But still—”

“We receive allowance from the sect monthly. Shizun doesn’t need to worry,” Gui Linghuo chimed in.

Gui Yin glanced at the three kids and couldn’t help but feel a bit of discomfort. “Then…make sure you tell me before you go tomorrow.”

“Alright!”

The children’s excitement made Gui Yin smile. However, the discomfort in his heart didn’t fade.

“What are you spacing out about?”

Gui Yin was pulled from his thoughts of the day before. He glanced at Ye Liuxing, who was shelling peanuts. He reached out and mercilessly grabbed a handful. “I already told you, didn’t I? I feel like those children are too excited. I don’t know how to react.”

“Well, just react sincerely,” Ye Liuxing said, staring mournfully at the peanuts he had just spent a lot of time shelling. He turned back to Gui Yin. “You won’t know how you feel until it’s the time, right?”

Gui Yin frowned. He thought about yesterday and even this morning when his disciples looked at him with bright, hopeful eyes. He glanced at Ye Liuxing and threw a peanut shell at him.

“What? What was that for this time?” Ye Liuxing clicked his tongue.

“I miss Jiu-shimei. When is she coming out of seclusion?” Gui Yin asked.

Ye Liuxing froze. He glanced at Gui Yin. “Jiu…shimei?”

“You actually dare to be so disrespectful and call your shijie ‘shimei’?” Gui Yin used this excuse to throw a few more peanut shells at the other man.

“Wait, wait. No, you remember Jiu-shijie?”

“Of course, I remember. Why wouldn’t I…” Gui Yin’s voice trailed off as he realized what he had just said.

Ye Liuxing moved forward excitedly. “What else do you remember? Do you remember Mèngmèng (梦梦)?”

Gui Yin found that those names really did sound familiar. If he wasn’t wrong, Mengmeng should be Méng Mèng (蒙梦), who was the disciple of Jiu…Jiu…

“Jiū Jìngyì (樛静忆),” Gui Yin said.

Ye Liuxing’s brows furrowed. He waited patiently for Gui Yin to continue, but the man had gone completely silent.

After a long moment, Gui Yin looked at Ye Liuxing. “Liuxing.”

“What is it? Do you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. I wanted to ask why did you suddenly distracted me? I was asking when Jiu-shimei was coming out of seclusion.”

Another peanut shell landed in Ye Liuxing’s hair. Ye Liuxing clicked his tongue and brushed the shells away. “You and Sect Master-shixiong are all like this. You only care about Jiu-shijie. Then, what about me? Aren’t I the youngest? When are you guys going to care about me?”

Gui Yin stared at Ye Liuxing as if he had just pulled a snake from his mouth. The cutely pitched voice did nothing but send shivers down his spine. He caged Ye Liuxing’s face with his hand and pushed the other man further away.

“Please reevaluate yourself before saying anything like that to me again,” Gui Yin said.

Ye Liuxing clicked his tongue and grumpily sifted through the peanuts again. “Only Jiu-shijie cares about me.”

There was a long silence before the two men let out a long sigh.

Just as Gui Yin was going to say something else, the scene in front of him suddenly went dark. He felt wispy locks of hair brush against his face and heard Ye Liuxing’s excited gasp. The slim fingers wiggled against his face before he heard a sing-song voice.

“Guess who?”

“Shimei?” Gui Yin gripped the wrists and gently moved them aside.

He turned his head and looked up at the woman behind him.

The woman was youthful in appearance, looking as if she were in her early twenties. Her hair was pulled up in a complicated hairstyle, but was not bound in the way married women’s hair would be bound. Rather than the wide-sleeved robes the other sect leaders wore, she was dressed in a more youthful set of seafoam green arrow-sleeved robes. If Gui Yin tried to convince someone that Jiu Jingyi was actually a disciple, he was sure they would believe him.

“I heard you two missed me?”

“Where did you hear that from? How come neither of us noticed you?” Ye Liuxing let out a bright laugh.

“It’s because you two were so engrossed in your own discussions,” Jiu Jingyi clicked her tongue. She rounded the table and sat down beside Gui Yin. She looked him up and down with a hint of concern. “I heard you got injured while I was in seclusion. How are you now?”

Gui Yin looked to the doctor for the proper diagnosis.

“He’s fine,” Ye Liuxing said. “It’s just that the medicine we used had a bit of a side-effect. For now, there are a lot of things that he can’t remember.”

Jiu Jingyi’s expression turned subtle. She glanced back at Gui Yin. “Are there a lot of things you can’t remember?”

“I wake up every day remembering more,” Gui Yin offered her a reassuring smile. “Shimei doesn’t need to worry about me.”

Jiu Jingyi hummed. Her gaze traveled back to Ye Liuxing. “Does he remember that event?”

Ye Liuxing had already returned to shelling peanuts when he heard the voice transmission. “He doesn’t. Sect Master-shixiong also said to not bring it up in front of him.”

Gui Yin glanced between the two people silent people. Choosing to ignore what his instincts told him was happening, he said: “That’s right, Jiu-shimei, did you get through your bottleneck?”

Jiu Jingyi was surprised that Gui Yin could even remember a detail as frivolous as this. She smiled. “I did. Pretty soon, I’ll be able to stand toe to toe with you and Lin-shixiong.”

“That would be the best, wouldn’t it?” Gui Yin chuckled. “Then Yunjing Pavilion has another master to guard it.”

Jiu Jingyi nodded happily in agreement. “But why were you and Ye-shidi calling for me? Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing serious,” Ye Liuxing waved his hand. “It’s just that this one’s youngest disciple wanted to throw him a birthday celebration, but he’s afraid he isn’t going to react properly.”

“You’re not going to react properly?” Jiu Jingyi turned to Gui Yin in surprise.

“What if I just stare at them and they feel offended? They’re putting so much effort into this—I don’t want to make them sad,” Gui Yin confessed.

Jiu Jingyi giggled. “Well, then, just react how you would normally react.”

“That’s what I said!” Ye Liuxing said.

“You’re worried about this now, but when the time comes, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just relax and enjoy it,” Jiu Jingyi said. She patted Gui Yin’s shoulder. “After all, isn’t this your first birthday celebration in a long time?”

Gui Yin smiled uncomfortably.

It might be for Lord Immortal Ninglan, but Gui Yin’s birthdays had always been a battle zone for his parents. The one year he had a boyfriend during that time was the one year he had managed to make an excuse to escape their feud. But, even then, he hadn’t even celebrated it with his boyfriend—he had spent it alone.

Jiu Jingyi looked at Gui Yin helplessly. Gui Yin’s expression betrayed exactly how he felt about this situation.

Once Gui Yin returned to his own peak, Jiu Jingyi grabbed Ye Liuxing by the scruff of his robes. “Come on, let’s go get Gui-shixiong a gift.”

“What? But he doesn’t like that kind of thing!” Ye Liuxing protested.

“He doesn’t, but since his little disciples are hosting a birthday celebration, we should at least give him a little present. I guarantee that Lin-shixiong has already decided what to give him.”

Ye Liuxing froze. He looked up at Jiu Jingyi as he straightened himself up. “You think so?”

“Do you not know what he’s like after so many years?” Jiu Jingyi scoffed. “He definitely got Gui-shixiong a new ribbon or something.”

“A new ribbon? That’s it? We should get him something more expensive then!”

“Now you’re the one being ridiculous. Your Gui-shixiong hates expensive gifts. Something small and from the heart is enough,” Jiu Jingyi said. She hummed for a while before snapping her fingers. “I got it. Let’s both get him a book.”

“A…book?”

“He likes reading! We’ll shop through the bookstore for books that were just published recently and give it to him. With everything that’s been going on recently, I doubt he’s had time to go to the bookstore,” Jiu Jingyi said with a triumphant smile.

“But what does he even like to read?” Ye Liuxing asked.

“Does it matter? He’s always asking us for book recommendations. We can just get him what we like,” Jiu Jingyi said. “This gift is casual enough, but it shows that we understand him. Isn’t it nice?”

The more Ye Liuxing listened, the more he agreed. However, he wasn’t sure if he was agreeing because he really thought what Jiu Jingyi said was reasonable, or if she was just that persuasive.

“I suppose…”

“Then, it’s settled! Let’s go into town right now,” Jiu Jingyi dragged Ye Liuxing away from the gazebo.

Ye Liuxing stumbled after her, still feeling hesitant. However, when he thought about Gui Yin’s troubled expression, he straightened up properly and walked after her.

It had been a long time since Gui Yin was willing to celebrate his birthday. Giving him one small gift would be fine, wouldn’t it?