Chapter 264: Extra: Ancient Times (End)
"That’s amazing!" Rong Xingyu’s spirits immediately soared.
At the thought of traveling across the beautiful land together with Ding Yixin, his heart seemed to transform into a little bird and fly out of the tent.
"I wants to go to Wuling to see the black canopied boats!"
"And also the far east... I heard there are beautiful pavilions in the sea."
"Hmm, why don’t we start from the frontier and head to south, going wherever we end up?"
"..."
Rong Xingyu chirped happily like a little bird, while Ding Yixin gazed at him with gentle eyes, repeating only a single word from beginning to end...
"Alright."
...
"Xiao Hu! Xiao Hu!"
A little boy who looked only seven or eight years old ran over from the hillside while loudly calling out to his companion.
The companion he was looking for stood in the shallow stream with his trouser legs rolled up.
He bent over his body and staring intently at something in the water.
"How come you’re here!"
The companion called Xiao Hu was slapped hard on the back by the little boy and nearly stumbled into the stream.
He hurriedly grabbed a rock in the water to steady himself.
But because of his movement, ripples spread across the surface of the water and the stream immediately turned murky.
After working hard for half the day only to end up with nothing, Xiao Hu straightened up in frustration and said irritably, "Hey! Can’t you keep your voice down? You scared all the fish away!"
His companion was clearly doing it on purpose and stuck out his tongue at Xiao Hu.
"I’m saying, skipping lessons is one thing, but you even dared to sneak out here to fish?"
An awkward expression appeared on Xiao Hu’s face.
He scratched the back of his head and a faint flush actually showed on his sun darkened face.
"I... I was just..."
"Alright, alright... Hurry up and come back with me. The teacher is looking for him!"
Hearing this, Xiao Hu quickly climbed out of the stream and found his shoes on a nearby rock.
He did not even have time to roll his trouser legs down.
He hastily slipped on his shoes and followed behind his companion.
He then asking as they walked, "Which teacher is it today?"
His companion snorted and said, "You’re lucky today, it’s Little Teacher. If it were Big Teacher, and you dared to sneak out to fish, you’d definitely be finished!"
"...."
The "big teacher" and "little teacher" that Xiao Hu and his friends spoke of had arrived in their small mountain village half a year ago.
The children of the mountains had never seen such elegant and extraordinary figures before and thought they were immortals from the heavens.
They never expected that the immortals would actually settle down in the village.
They even opened a small private school where the village children could come to study and learn to read and write.
The villagers were deeply grateful and, together with the children, they respectfully addressed them as teachers.
Among the students at the school, their favorite was the little teacher.
Because not only was the little teacher exceptionally handsome, he was also very gentle.
A warm smile always rested on his refined face and he was especially patient with every child.
As for the big teacher, he only smiled when he looked at the little teacher.
After getting a satisfactory answer, Xiao Hu could not help but let out a sigh of relief and quickly promised, "I won’t dare again, I won’t dare again."
...
Rong Xingyu looked at the tall figure outside the window and lowered his head with a smile.
He closed the book in his hands and looked at the children sitting below.
"Alright, today’s story ends here. Everyone can go home now."
Expressions of reluctance immediately appeared on the children’s faces.
Rong Xingyu smiled and said, "If everyone behaves well and passes tomorrow’s little test, there will be rewards too~"
The children who had just learned there would be another test tomorrow: "Goodbye, Little Teacher!"
Watching the children rush out eagerly, Rong Xingyu shook his head helplessly.
Ding Yixin then walked in and reached out to wrap an arm around Rong Xingyu.
Ding Yixin let out a low chuckle.
After all the children had left, Ding Yixin took Rong Xingyu’s hand and only then did the two of them walk outside together.
"Are you tired today?" Ding Yixin asked while giving Rong Xingyu’s hand a gentle squeeze.
Rong Xingyu shook his head and leaned against Ding Yixin. "I wasn’t tired. The children were all very well-behaved."
As if remembering something amusing, he let out a soft laugh. "Xiao Hu secretly slipped away to fish today and thought I wouldn’t notice."
Ding Yixin raised an eyebrow.
They walked along the uneven path and Ding Yixin crouched halfway down in front of Rong Xingyu.
Rong Xingyu glanced around and seeing that no one was nearby, he climbed onto Ding Yixin’s back.
Ding Yixin carried Rong Xingyu and continued walking toward home.
Rong Xingyu wrapped his arms affectionately around Ding Yixin’s neck and pressing his face close to his ear.
"What we having for dinner tonight?"
When he teach the children, Ding Yixin was usually the one responsible for cooking.
"Fish," Ding Yixin replied softly.
"Yay," Rong Xingyu happily swung his feet. "I loved the fish you cooked the most!"
Ding Yixin adjusted his hold under Rong Xingyu’s legs so he would not slip off.
Their small house built halfway up the mountain was not far away, and the setting sun stretched their overlapping shadows long, very long.
After Ding Yixin resigned from office, Rong Xingyu and he began traveling everywhere together.
They journeyed south along the frontier and over several years they visited every place along the way.
In the end, they chose to settle down in this small southern mountain village.
Life in the mountain village was simple but not dull.
Every day they tended a small vegetable patch, taught children at the private school, and lived a life much like reclusion.
After who knew how many years had passed, Ding Yixin took Rong Xingyu’s hand.
"Shall they go back, Yuyu?"
Rong Xingyu looked into Ding Yixin’s eyes. "Mm, we should go back."
Their hands were clasped tightly together.
Strangely, although Rong Xingyu and Ding Yixin had stayed in ancient times for more than ten years, their appearances seemed not to have changed at all.
It was almost as if, just as the children said, they were truly immortals.
When the white light before their eyes faded, Rong Xingyu and Ding Yixin found themselves back in their modern bedroom.
Rong Xingyu was still lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling unable to help feeling a little dazed.
It felt as though a lifetime had passed.
Fortunately, the familiar and comforting presence was still beside him.
Rong Xingyu turned to the side and rolled into Ding Yixin’s embrace.
Like a small animal, he nuzzled affectionately against Ding Yixin, his movements filled with complete trust.
"Yuyu?"
Ding Yixin placed his hand over Rong Xingyu’s and lowered his head to look at him.
"Did it feel strange?" Ding Yixin’s hand slowly stroked along Rong Xingyu’s back as he asked again in a low voice, "Did it feel strange for us to travel between different worlds like this?"
"No." Rong Xingyu still shook his head.
He finally lifted his head to look at Ding Yixin.
Seeing the gentle smile in Rong Xingyu’s eyes, the tension in Ding Yixin’s heart finally eased.
"On the contrary, it felt wonderful," Rong Xingyu said.
Breaking through the boundaries of time and space felt as though time itself had been stretched out, as if he and Ding Yixin could stay together forever and ever.
"Just thinking about having endless time to be with you made me feel so happy."
Ding Yixin’s gaze darkened slightly because of Rong Xingyu’s heartfelt confession.
"Me too."
He softly kissed Rong Xingyu’s eyelashes, the tip of his nose, and his forehead.
"Mmm, were there any other interesting worlds? We could go and take a look."
Ding Yixin raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a hint of deeper meaning. "Of course there were, and they were all the kinds of worlds you couldn’t even imagine. We could visit them all."
Rong Xingyu: ???
The End.
