But that was exactly why he felt such a mixture of happiness and pain.
If Yun Huizhou had been truly cruel to him, he wouldn’t be in this state; he would have slipped away long ago.
Yun Huizhou didn’t show it on his face, but he had been paying close attention to Lian Li’s every move.
Before being enlightened by Qu Tingquan, although he would notice Lian Li’s minor emotional shifts, he had simply assumed the boy was naturally delicate and sensitive, and hadn’t thought much of it.
But after Qu Tingquan’s wake-up call today, he suddenly realized that Lian Li’s bouts of moodiness and petulance actually had precursors.
For instance, the time Lian Li had acted out and gotten his backside swatted happened when they were in Fengyi City, while Master Su was constantly trying to play matchmaker between him and Su Fu.
At the time, Yun Huizhou had simply thought Lian Li was feeling restless and wanted to marry, and having happened upon the beautiful Su Fu during her marriage competition, he was unhappy to find that Master Su wanted to pair him with Su Fu instead.
Thinking back on it now, it was true that Lian Li was unhappy about Master Su’s meddling, but it wasn’t because of Su Fu—it was because of him.
At this thought, Yun Huizhou couldn’t help but delve deeper into his reflections.
Lian Li had been so focused on Su Fu’s martial arts marriage competition back then precisely because he was worried that Yun Huizhou would actually hit it off with her.
Even back then, he had been testing him.
And yet, at the time, Yun Huizhou had actually believed Lian Li wanted to marry Su Fu himself but was too embarrassed to say so, which was why he kept bringing it up indirectly.
Yun Huizhou found it somewhat amusing. Back then, Lian Li was worried he would take a liking to Su Fu, but wasn’t he himself worried that Lian Li would be tempted to stay in Fengyi City as the Su family’s son-in-law?
As he looked at Lian Li now, he could sense the many small emotions swirling in the younger man’s heart.
Knowing about Lian Li’s testing, he also had a general idea of what those emotions were.
It was exactly the same as he had felt before he clarified his own thoughts: wanting to get closer, yet not knowing if he should.
Lian Li noticed Yun Huizhou’s silence and realized the man had been staring at him the whole time.
Lian Li felt incredibly awkward, so much so that he nearly started walking with his arms and legs on the same side.
Along the long corridors over the lake, tall poles were erected at intervals, hung with exquisite lanterns that illuminated the path all the way to the lake-center pavilion.
There were many corridors around South Island, as well as several lake-center pavilions and waterside pavilions.
However, lanterns were only lit at night around the few areas where people lived; the other areas remained dark.
This was mainly because there weren’t many servants on South Island; lighting them all would take too much work.
But the areas that were lit provided more than enough space for Lian Li and Yun Huizhou to take a stroll.
In all of Drunken Dream Island, the brightest place at night was actually West Island.
West Island had the most servants, and the West Island Lord was the most extravagant of them all—naturally, he was also the wealthiest person on Drunken Dream Island.
He only had to let a few good medicines slip through his fingers, and people outside would scramble to buy them with gold.
Although the other Island Lords had their own industries, they couldn’t compare to the West Island Lord. In fact, their businesses were mostly managed by him; they never had to worry about a thing and were only responsible for collecting their money every month.
This was why, even though the West Island Lord ranked third among the four Island Lords, even the East Island Lord was held in his grip.
Lian Li had heard from Yun Huizhou that even the Grandmaster would occasionally shrink back in the face of the West Island Lord.
Under the lamplight, their faces seemed somewhat ethereal. Lian Li remained silent while Yun Huizhou was lost in thought.
Though they were supposed to be strolling, they looked more like two people in a huff, walking with their heads down in silence.
If Qu Tingquan had seen this, she likely would have been poking their foreheads frantically with her finger.
The two reached the lake-center pavilion and sat down. Seeing Lian Li’s persistently distracted expression, Yun Huizhou thought for a moment and spoke.
“Yesterday… when you brought out those Spring Palace pictures…”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Lian Li immediately let out a couple of awkward laughs and hijacked the topic. “Speaking of which, I spent the whole day at East Island today and haven’t returned those pictures to the Book Pavilion yet. Since we have time now, I’ll go return the books.”
Seeing Lian Li’s desperate attempt to cover up and flee, Yun Huizhou didn’t move.
However, as the younger man tried to pass by him, he reached out and grabbed Lian Li’s hand.
Lian Li instinctively tried to pull back, but he couldn’t break free.
He blinked and turned to look at Yun Huizhou, trying his best to keep his tone sounding normal. “Do you want to go return the books with me?”
He met Yun Huizhou’s eyes and realized he couldn’t quite read the expression there.
His gaze was too deep, like a vortex that wanted to suck Lian Li in entirely.
Lian Li felt his whole body go numb. He couldn’t understand why Yun Huizhou was looking at him like this.
It was far too different from the way he usually looked at people—so different that Lian Li felt certain Yun Huizhou had discovered his little scheme of using the Spring Palace pictures to test him yesterday.
He didn’t know what Yun Huizhou wanted to do now. He only wanted to escape quickly, but his feet felt as if they were made of lead, unable to move.
His lips trembled. Suddenly, he no longer wanted to avoid the issue. To hell with keeping it bottled up just to maintain their current relationship as fellow disciples.
This matter needed a resolution.
If he chose to distance himself and hide, Yun Huizhou would eventually notice his feelings anyway. Once he knew Yun Huizhou had no such intentions, he would never have the chance to speak his mind for the rest of his life.
And if he didn’t distance himself, staying with Yun Huizhou would be a form of self-torture, and he couldn’t be sure when he might be found out.
Moreover, he felt right now that Yun Huizhou might not be entirely oblivious.
Especially after his test yesterday.
He only dared to do such a thing because he was in this world, betting on the fact that Yun Huizhou wouldn’t overthink things.
If it were the modern world, he wouldn’t have dared at all; the moment he brought them out, he might have been asked, “You don’t happen to like me, do you?”
However, he didn’t dare underestimate Yun Huizhou’s intelligence. Yun Huizhou simply didn’t overthink things; it didn’t mean he was stupid.
Perhaps he had noticed.
If he really had noticed and was acting this way today, could he allow himself to dream a little?
Lian Li: “Yun Huizhou… I…”
“Hmm?”
Lian Li felt Yun Huizhou’s grip tighten, as if he were afraid he would run away.
A flicker of hope couldn’t help but ignite in Lian Li’s heart. “I have something to say.”
Normally, when he said those words, Yun Huizhou would usually reply with “Go ahead.”
But this time was different. Yun Huizhou spoke up: “I have something to say as well.”
Lian Li: “…Can you let me go first?”
“No,” Yun Huizhou refused decisively. “I think I should go first.”
Lian Li: “…Fine, you go first.”
He lost his nerve instantly, wanting to hear what Yun Huizhou had to say first before deciding how he should respond.
“When you brought out those Spring Palace pictures yesterday, were you testing me?”
The moment Yun Huizhou finished speaking, he felt Lian Li’s hand begin to tremble slightly.
