We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

Chapter 488: Xiao Mo, You Are a Pig

The following morning, just as Yueshi had said, Tushan Jingci went to the study hall for class, and Yueshi followed without leaving her side for a single step.

"Your Teacher Xian has some matters to attend to recently. For the time being, I will be taking his place and teaching all of you." In the study hall on Yunxiao Peak, the new teacher stood at the front of the room and made his introduction. "My surname is La, and my given name is Guo. Easy enough to remember."

Tushan Jingci paid not the slightest attention.

Her gaze kept drifting sideways toward the window.

Elder Sister Yueshi was standing just outside, watching her with a composed expression.

The young girl pushed out her lips and drew her gaze back.

At that moment, only one question was turning over and over in her mind, and that was how on earth she was going to shake Elder Sister Yueshi but very quickly Tushan Jingci deflated entirely. With Elder Sister Yueshi watching her this closely, how could she possibly get away?

Inside the study hall, Teacher La had already begun the lesson, yet Tushan Jingci did not take in a single word.

When she closed her eyes, all she could see in her mind was Xiao Mo.

When she opened her book and looked at the characters on the page, every line between the words seemed to spell out Xiao Mo's name.

When she picked up her brush, and by the time she came back to herself, she found two neat little characters had already been written on the white paper before her, and those characters were Xiao Mo.

It was the first time the young girl had ever realized so clearly, that her whole world was filled entirely with him.

Without him nearby, she seemed unable to find any enthusiasm for anything at all.

When class ended, Tushan Jingci returned quietly to her courtyard, and Yueshi followed in silence behind her.

Watching her Young Miss walking with her head bowed the whole way, as though her spirit had gone elsewhere, Yueshi felt a growing sense of guilt and reluctance in her heart.

At lunch, Yueshi also noticed that the Young Miss sat in the courtyard with the food set out before her and hardly touched any of it.

That afternoon, Tushan Jingci sat upright on the stone bench in the courtyard and watched leaf after leaf drift slowly down from the branches, spinning as they fell and settling onto the stone ground below.

The young girl's eyes gazed vacantly into the distance, without blinking.

She sat there without moving, like the most perfect statue that heaven itself had carved with its own hands.

"Aah."

Watching the slender and graceful silhouette of her Young Miss, Yueshi let out a quiet sigh from somewhere deep within her and walked over to the young girl's side.

"Does the Young Miss truly care so much about Xiao Mo?"

Yueshi's voice gave the daydreaming Tushan Jingci a small start. She gave a faint shiver, then came back to herself.

"Elder Sister Yueshi... I do not know either."

Tushan Jingci lowered her head, her two small hands gently kneading together, her fingertips drawing absent little circles.

"When Xiao Mo first moved out, I felt as though something was missing from inside me. At first I thought it was just because Xiao Mo and I had been together for so long, and that the strangeness of his sudden absence would pass after a few days..."

"But as time went on, I still could not get used to his not being there."

As she spoke, Tushan Jingci straightened her legs, tucked both hands between her knees, and set her heels lightly on the ground, her small feet in their embroidered shoes swinging back and forth with a restless energy.

"Before, I really did not enjoy going to the study hall at all. But these past few days have been different."

"By comparison, I find myself looking forward to going every single day, because at least if I go to the study hall, Xiao Mo will come."

"But now, Xiao Mo is in seclusion. Even if I go to the study hall, Xiao Mo will not come anymore."

Her voice gradually dropped, carrying an indescribable loneliness.

"It is like all of a sudden there is nothing left to look forward to in each day."

"Even when Mother used to leave me, I never felt like this."

As she spoke, Tushan Jingci drew her small feet up onto the stone bench, wrapped both arms tightly around her knees, and curled herself into a little bundle, looking thoroughly forlorn.

Yueshi listened quietly to everything her Young Miss said. Her throat moved slightly, as though she wanted to say something, but in the end she closed her mouth.

At last she turned away, putting her back to Tushan Jingci, and her voice came forward softly. "I am feeling a little unwell today and need to rest in my room for a while. If the Young Miss wishes to go and spend time with the other young ladies from notable families, I will not be accompanying her."

Hearing those words from Elder Sister Yueshi, Tushan Jingci first went still for a moment, and then those beautiful eyes of hers were gradually lit up as though by warm, bright sunlight, slowly filling with life and energy.

"Elder Sister Yueshi is the very best!"

Tushan Jingci leapt down from the stone bench in an instant, rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to Yueshi's cheek with a bright little kiss, and the long legs beneath her skirt had already broken into a run, carrying her swiftly out of the courtyard.

"Young Miss..."

Yueshi stood where she was, watching her Young Miss's retreating figure as she ran further and further away, and pressed her lips together, her small hand gripping the hem of her robe.

"That hollow feeling inside you, Young Miss, it is because you have truly grown into a young woman now."

Her gaze followed that bright, quick figure for a long while, her eyes carrying a measure of quiet warmth alongside something else, a worry she could not quite put into words.

"Only, this weight that has come to rest on Xiao Mo... can he truly bear it?"

After leaving the courtyard, Tushan Jingci did not pause for a single moment, and before long had arrived at the bamboo grove at the foot of the mountain.

Xian Xichun, who had been sitting on a stone outside the bamboo courtyard with his eyes closed, opened them slowly. A faint smile rose to the corner of his lips and he murmured to himself with a quiet laugh, "As expected, here she comes."

The words had barely faded before the soft, delicate sound of footsteps on bamboo leaves came drifting through the grove.

"Teacher Xian?" Tushan Jingci arrived before the bamboo courtyard and caught sight of Xian Xichun, her expression showing a flicker of surprise. "What brings the teacher here?"

Xian Xichun smiled and said, "I made a promise to young Brother Xiao that I would stand guard for him during his seclusion."

"Oh? The teacher is standing guard?" Tushan Jingci paused for a moment, then quickly gave Xian Xichun a respectful bow. "Many thanks to the teacher. Tushan will keep this kindness in her heart."

"Ha ha ha, I am standing guard for Xiao Mo. It has nothing to do with your Tushan clan. I simply have a favorable impression of the young man." Xian Xichun rose from his stone and brushed the dust from his blue robe, then drew a talisman from his sleeve and held it out toward her.

"Right then, since you are here, Jingci, help me keep an eye on him for a while. I am going to Hanshan City to pick up some wine and will be back shortly. If anything goes wrong, press this talisman to my sword."

"Of course, teacher." Tushan Jingci did not expect any mishap to occur within the Hanshan Academy, but in the face of Teacher Xian's careful precautions, she accepted the talisman with respectful hands.

"Off I go." Xian Xichun clasped his hands behind his back and strolled unhurriedly out of the bamboo grove.

After Xian Xichun departed, there was no one left outside the bamboo courtyard but Tushan Jingci.

The young girl stood at the bamboo fence, her eyes blinking as she looked in at Xiao Mo.

Watching him there, the worry that had been filling her heart seemed to settle quietly all at once.

Looking at him, that hollow place inside the young girl seemed to be filling, little by little.

"Xiao Mo, you are such a great fool!"

"Xiao Mo! You are a pig!"

"Xiao Mo, you are so ugly!"

The young girl cupped her hands around her mouth like a trumpet and called her quiet, private scoldings at Xiao Mo.

"Hey, Xiao Mo."

"Can you hear me?" The young girl's lips curved upward slightly. "I am scolding you and you cannot hear a word of it, can you."

"Hey, Xiao Mo... let me tell you something..."

The young girl's eyes curved into crescent moons, like spring sunlight stirred into sweet rice wine.

"Xiao Mo, this Young Miss of yours..."

"Has come to see you."