“Happy birthday, Gui-shixiong!”

“Happy birthday, Le-shixiong.”

Gui Yin looked at the gifts that had been pressed into his hands and looked at the three people surrounding him. He blinked at them blankly as his fingers brushed against the small packages. A short, sheepish laughter escaped from him.

“You still gave me presents,” Gui Yin said, a small smile gracing his face.

“It’s just a little gift to represent our thoughts to you,” Jiu Jingyi said. She nudged Gui Yin with her shoulder lightly. “Le-gege wouldn’t deny a gift from Jiu-meimei, right?”

Gui Yin ducked his head to hide his laughter. The cheesy childish nicknames made his ears redden. He glanced at Lin Cangyuan and Ye Liuxing, who were looking at him equally as expectantly.

“Can I…open them?” Gui Yin asked.

“Of course, you can!” Ye Liuxing exclaimed. He awkwardly touched his nose. “But I’m just not sure if what I picked is to your tastes.”

“Even if it isn’t, I’m sure I’ll find some use for it,” Gui Yin said.

Gui Yin first opened Ye Liuxing’s gift. His eyes widened as he turned the book in his hand.

“You’re always talking about how you want new books to read, so I got you this one,” Ye Liuxing said. “Is it bad?”

“No, it’s good,” Gui Yin felt a bubble of excitement. In the week or so he had been here, he had been going through the book collection of the original owner and found that his taste in books was rather similar to himself. But since he had just about thumbed through all the books in his personal library, so he had been thinking about going down to get new books.

“Then, you’ll like mine too,” Jiu Jingyi tilted her chin towards the package in Gui Yin’s other hand.

It was another story book—one that told tales mixed with fantasy and reality of the famous heroes of Jianghu.

After setting the two books aside, Gui Yin opened the sandalwood box Lin Cangyuan had given him. Instead, it was a simple hairpin. Gui Yin looked up at Lin Cangyuan.

“Just a welcome back gift,” Lin Cangyuan smiled. “Nothing too fancy.”

Gui Yin felt a bit of warmth circulating within his chest. He smiled at the three people. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Well, you don’t have to be that sincere,” Ye Liuxing laughed awkwardly. He clapped Gui Yin on the back a few times. “It’s just to show our appreciation.”

“Appreciation?”

Ye Liuxing’s smile weakened slightly. He glanced at Jiu Jingyi and then back to Gui Yin, a hint of confusion in his eyes. “Yeah. Appreciation.”

Gui Yin looked at Ye Liuxing uncertainly. “I haven’t done anything recently. Or, rather, with my amnesia, I’m probably more of a burden.”

“But you breathed, didn’t you?”

“…What?”

“We’re just glad you were born. And alive still,” Ye Liuxing laughed. His eyes crinkled into lovely crescents. “We’re grateful that you got to be our martial sibling and that you got to be part of our Yunjing Pavilion’s family. Isn’t that all we need?”

Jiu Jingyi and Lin Cangyuan nodded in agreement.

“That’s what birthdays are for,” Jiu Jingyi said. “To show that you’re glad that that person was born and that they chose to be in your life.”

Gui Yin looked down at the gifts in his hands blankly. Ye Liuxing said something else and Lin Cangyuan scolded him gently, but Gui Yin didn’t hear any of that conversation.

At some point, Gui Yin had walked all the way back to Shuangye Peak. His mind was still in a haze, unfocused in anything that he was doing. He had long tucked the gifts away into his Qiankun sleeve, but his fingers still fidgeted against each other, as if he were looking for something to grasp onto.

As he made it to the top of the stairs of Shuangye Peak, he heard a loud squeak in the form of his name.

Gui Yin looked up just in time to catch a ball of yellow launching itself into his arms. Soon, another followed, and, finally, Gui Yin saw Gui Linghuo hesitantly walk up to him.

Gui Yin’s smile widened. “Do you want to join too?”

Gui Linghuo’s ears reddened. “No need.”

Ignoring Gui Linghuo’s weak refusal, Gui Yin shuffled forward and pulled his head disciple into the hug as well. He rubbed the heads of the children in his arms.

“What’s wrong? You missed me this much? I was only gone for half a day.”

“Of course, this disciple missed Shizun,” Shan Yu whined. She buried herself further into his chest. “Without Shizun here, the peak is so boring!”

“That’s right, Shizun,” Qin Siyi nodded in agreement. “Shuangye Peak is only Shuangye Peak if Shizun is here. If it’s just us and Da-shixiong the whole place feels cold and empty.”

“Really?” Gui Yin glanced at Gui Linghuo.

Gui Linghuo met Gui Yin’s eyes and quickly averted his gaze. Shan Yu nudged him in the stomach until the young boy nodded his head.

“Really?” Gui Yin asked again.

Gui Linghuo glanced at Gui Yin. “Yes, Shizun. It’s hard to control Shan-shimei and Qin-shimei without you.”

The two girls turned to glare at Gui Linghuo, but the boy smiled warmly at the venomous gazes. A bright laugh escaped Gui Yin.

The three children turned to look back at him in surprise. Shan Yu, who had only been around for a year, had never heard Gui Yin laugh so brightly. But it wasn’t just her who had never experienced this, even Gui Linghuo who had been here since he was seven had never heard his shizun laugh so freely.

Gui Yin’s arms squeezed the three children tighter for a moment before he finally released them. He took a step back and looked at them with a pair of warm, gentle eyes.

“It’s my pleasure to have you three as my disciples.”

Shan Yu’s eyes widened. She pursed her lips as she squeezed the edges of her robes. “Shizun…”

Qin Siyi shook her head. “It’s our honor to have you as our Shizun!”

“Yeah! That’s right,” Shan Yu nodded aggressively.

Gui Linghuo glanced at his two martial sisters before turning back to Gui Yin. “Shizun.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s go in to talk first. Shizun must be tired from leaving the mountain for the first time in so long. We can sit down and talk some more.”

Gui Yin chuckled and agreed with Gui Linghuo’s thoughtful suggestion. He allowed Shan Yu to take his hand and drag him down the cobbled path towards the main hall they shared. Gui Yin raised a brow as he silently followed the three children, quietly wondering what these little chicks had planned this time.

Just before they entered the room, Shan Yu turned around. “Shizun, close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes?” Gui Yin raised a brow.

Shan Yu nodded. “Close them really, really tight.”

Gui Yin glanced at Gui Linghuo. Seeing as the boy didn’t show any objection to Shan Yu’s suggestion, he obediently closed his eyes.

“Okay, now, walk forward carefully!” Shan Yu exclaimed. “Don’t trip!”

Gui Yin chuckled. “Okay, I won’t trip.”

“Careful! Careful!”

“Okay, okay.”

Qin Siyi moved ahead of them to push the door open. Gui Linghuo ducked in first to make sure he was in the optimal position to light the candles in the room. Shan Yu carefully guided Gui Yin forward, no longer as spritely and reckless as she was just a few seconds before. Gui Yin had to bite down on his lip to keep himself from laughing.

The children were being so sincere. If he laughed now, wouldn’t they be offended?

Silence followed the next few seconds. Gui Yin felt Shan Yu let go of his hand and move from his side.

“Is it dark enough yet?” Shan Yu whispered to Qin Siyi.

Gui Yin raised a brow. “The sun is just beginning to set. Shall I stand here until it’s night time?”

There was a short silence.

“It’s summer, so days are longer,” Qin Siyi whispered.

“It should be dark enough,” Shan Yu insisted. Gui Yin heard her little feet patter about impatiently. “It’s dinner time anyway, isn’t it?”

Gui Linghuo sighed.

In the next moment, Gui Yin felt a hand that was slightly larger than Shan Yu’s wrap around his own. He allowed himself to be tugged forward towards what he assumed to be the dining table.

“Shizun, you can open your eyes.”

Gui Yin did as he was told.

The large room, which was normally empty save for a few side tables and chairs, had been immaculately decorated with various table cloths and banners. Some of the decoration seemed out of place, but it was arranged as tastefully as possible. Although there was still a trail of sunlight, streaming in through the paper windows, the room was just dark enough to show off the few candles that were carefully placed around the room, allowing the room to look as if it were a scene straight from a fantasy novel.

Gui Yin looked at the faint orbs that circulated the room and held out his hand for one of them to land on.

“Where did you learn this spell?”

“Wu-shixiong taught us,” Gui Linghuo said. “He said it would make the room look prettier.”

Gui Yin glanced down at the food on the table. They were simple dishes that children who were just trying to cook wouldn’t be able to get wrong, but they were cooked to perfection. He glanced over at the three kids by his side. One was a little princess whose hands had never touched water until she came to the sect, while the other two fully relied on the dining hall to provide them with food.

“Who helped you cook?” Gui Yin asked in amusement.

“Pan-shijie,” Qin Siyi said.

Shan Yu shifted nervously. “Does Shizun not like it?”

Gui Yin stepped towards the table and picked up a pair of chopsticks. He randomly selected a dish to taste. Only after swallowing did he turn to look at the three children.

Gui Linghuo and Qin Siyi had always worked hard and excelled in cultivation. Even during their monthly evaluations, they were never this nervous. Their fingers fidgeted at their sides. Shan Yu was even worse. She resisted every fiber of her being telling her to demand an answer from Gui Yin and waited in silence.