“It tastes good,” Gui Yin complimented. “I’ve never had anyone do this for me before. I really appreciate it.”

Gui Linghuo’s eyes widened. Shan Yu shrieked in happiness as she hugged her martial siblings beside her. Qin Siyi’s face was flushed with excitement and she even bounced along with Shan Yu.

As the three children celebrated, Gui Yin sat down to eat a few more bites. Once their excitement died down a bit, the three children joined him at the table as well.

As they ate, Gui Yin asked them about their day. When he asked, he expected complaints about how difficult it was to prepare a party by themselves, but nothing of the sort came from their mouths.

Shan Yu whined about how she had trouble with a certain concept in her book, while Qin Siyi talked about how amusing the martial siblings from another peak were. Gui Linghuo had little to offer, but he ate silently and only interjected when parts of Shan Yu’s story were incorrect.

Gui Yin listened patiently, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been since he had such a harmonious dinner with so many people.

…It seemed like he had never had one before.

Dinner was always a place for fighting or to pick at each other’s faults. The best dinners Gui Yin had experienced were ones that were done in complete silence.

“…Shizun?”

Gui Yin’s attention was drawn back to reality. He looked at Gui Linghuo.

“Shizun, are you okay?” Gui Linghuo asked.

Gui Yin softly shook his head. “I’m fine. I was just thinking…”

Gui Linghuo waited patiently for Gui Yin to continue.

“…Thinking that I should cook you all a meal next,” Gui Yin said.

Shan Yu’s eyes widened in excitement. “Can it be wonton soup?”

“It can be whatever you want,” Gui Yin said with a gentle pat to her head.

“I want to eat Shizun’s personally made wontons,” Qin Siyi said with some excitement in her eyes.

Gui Yin chuckled. He glanced at Gui Linghuo to see his reaction, only to find that the boy was looking at him with an equal amount of excitement.

“Alright. Tomorrow, I’ll make some wontons for dinner,” Gui Yin agreed.

“Shizun is the best of the best!” Shan Yu shouted. “I want to marry Shizun even more now!”

“What are you saying?” Qin Siyi clicked her tongue. “If Shizun is going to marry anyone, it has to be someone who knows how to cook and clean and take care of him. You can’t do any of those things.”

“I-I can learn!” Shan Yu looked at Gui Yin seriously.

“Really? Then, tomorrow, why don’t you go and clean the library?” Gui Linghuo suggested.

Shan Yu’s eyes widened. She gulped slightly and buried her head into her bowl of rice. “W-well, I’m still young. I can learn another time, right?”

Gui Yin laughed. “Alright, you two. Don’t tease her too much.”

Shan Yu rushed to hug Gui Yin’s arm. She stuck her tongue out at her two elder martial siblings. “This is why I love Shizun the most.”

“Who wants to be loved by you?” Gui Linghuo rolled his eyes.

Qin Siyi said nothing, but shook her head, as if in agreement with Gui Linghuo.

“Shizun,” Shan Yu whined.

“Your martial siblings are just teasing you,” Gui Yin laughed. He rubbed Shan Yu’s head. “Be good and sit up properly so you can eat.”

Once dinner was finished, Gui Yin took the dishes back to the kitchen.

The servant, who had stopped by to deliver groceries for the week, froze upon seeing Gui Yin. “Elder Gui, I could wash those if you would like?”

Gui Yin shook his head. “It’s fine. I don’t exactly have to wash the dishes personally anyway.”

Since Gui Yin had lost his memory, he had long dismissed the maids and servants that looked after the peak. He found it unnecessary, considering the fact that there were only four of them and the peak was actually quite small. Besides, doing one’s own chores strengthened their character. It would be horrible if Miss Shen’s little protagonists were raised to become young masters and young misses.

However, as someone who was a sect elder, Gui Yin obviously didn’t personally do the dishes. He used a cleaning talisman to tidy up the kitchen and put the bowls and plates away by hand.

Once he finished, he left the kitchen and returned to his own room.

It was dark by now. The lanterns powered by spiritual stones lit up the peak and flanked the cobblestone walkway. The dorms were still alight, but the library, the training grounds, and the small dining hall were all dimmed now. Gui Yin’s gaze lingered on the dorms for a moment. He could just barely make out the shadows of Qin Siyi and Shan Yu running around. He could hear Gui Linghuo yelling at the two girls, but the two girls were too involved in their own fun to pay any attention to him.

Gui Yin chuckled to himself and shook his head.

Children will be children.

The cobbled path from the kitchen to Gui Yin’s residence wasn’t far away and he arrived at his door before he could think much about the day’s festivities.

As he crossed the zig-zagging bridge, he paused a moment and looked up at the maple trees around him.

Maple trees on Shuangye Peak were red year-round because of a spell. No matter how many leaves fall to the ground, the tree itself would still be lush with red. Various red leaves had fallen into the lake below the trees a while ago. By some miracle, Gui Yin had remembered the spell he had used before to clear the leaves away. Now, whenever the lives piled up too high, Gui Yin would simply wave his hand and the leaves would disappear.

Gui Yin lifted his hand. The spell had yet to form in his mind when a movement caught his eye.

His wrist turned in mid-air. The deep thrum of the guqin filled the night air. Birds flew from their spots, startled by the sudden sound. The water beneath the bridge wavered and the red leaves above trembled.

Gui Yin frowned, his hand still hovering over the body of Shui Meng. He took a few steps closer to the underbrush he had seen move.

“Who’s there?” Gui Yin asked.

His voice was met with silence, but Gui Yin knew what he had seen was not an animal. He had sensed the presence of a person.

“If you come out now, I won’t harm you,” Gui Yin said.

He looked around warily, but there was still nothing.

Shui Meng vanished in a trickle of soft blue light. Gui Yin shook his head and, again, raised his hand to get rid of the red maple leaves. He continued over the bridge and past the main hall of his residence until he made it to his room.

The candles flickered on and Gui Yin pulled his coat off. He tossed it to the side and flopped down on the divan.

He reached out for the book beside the divan and flipped it open. But, again, his movements froze.

He looked around his room.

It wasn’t that there was something missing, or that there was even something necessarily off, but Gui Yin felt as if someone had been here before.

And it was that same aura.

Gui Yin placed his book down. He stood to search his room, but the book inexplicably fell to the floor.

Gui Yin stared at it.

After a moment of hesitation, Gui Yin bent down to pick the book up. He turned the book over to look at the page it had fallen open on. He plucked the folded note from between the pages before set the book down and unfolded it.

The penmanship was clean and elegant, but it was unnatural and fairly obvious that the person had put in a lot of effort to make it presentable. If Gui Yin squinted, he could almost feel a sense of familiarity, but whenever he tried to grasp onto it, the memory would run away and scatter. He set aside his doubts for now and concentrated, instead, on the words.

Happy Birthday.

The two words stood out starkly on the white piece of paper.

Gui Yin turned it to the back and looked at it again, but there was nothing else that accompanied these words. Gui Yin frowned.

“You went through the trouble of breaking past my formations, just to deliver a birthday card to me?” Gui Yin wondered out loud.

He scoffed, but still folded up the piece of paper neatly. He tucked it back into his book.

Although the note had appeared mysteriously, and Gui Yin still couldn’t shake the odd feeling he got from the intruder, and he, for some reason, was unable to bring himself to throw it away. He glanced at the book again and then looked around the room. He wandered to his bed and sat down for a moment.

“Happy birthday,” Gui Yin repeated. He laid down and looked up at the ceiling. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He sighed and closed his eyes. “Alright. I’ll accept your birthday wishes this time.”

Because, for the first time ever, today truly had been a happy birthday.