It was customary to send wishes out on the Lan River in lotus lanterns at each Dragon Boat Festival. After the sun set, the Lan River would glow with a warm pink light that warmed the hearts and minds of all who passed by.
Qiu Yunru bought a lantern for himself, and one for Li Chenyuan. They were intricately built, with thin pink-yellow paper and curling green leaves. There were also slips of paper on which one could write their wish before curling it up and slipping it into the lotus lantern to be floated away.
After waiting around a little for a brush, Qiu Yunru sat down and thought about what to write.
Should he wish for that peaceful life as an immortal cultivator in the mountains that he had been longing for and working towards all this time?
Should he wish to have his Golden Core within the next three months?
Should he wish to not die before reaching immortality?
He had never been one to believe in superstitions, even in his past life. When given the opportunity to write a wish and send it out, he would scribble something like: money, no headaches, and toss it onto a lantern. When seeing a shooting comet as a little boy, his mother would poke his arm and say, "Xiao-Zhi! Look, make a wish!" Qiu Yunru would merely blink at her, puzzled. "Can a star give me things?" In the end, he only began to wish on shooting stars as a habit. It felt good, even if a star couldn't give him anything but something pretty to look at.
However, this was no longer the world of his previous life.
In cultivation realms, there were demons, ghosts, and immortals. Who knew if there was a Jade Throne and an Emperor in Heaven, taking prayer requests and casting down heavenly officials to fulfill them?
So, he should at least take this a little seriously!
As he deliberated, lowering and pausing the brush over and over, Li Chenyuan quickly finished writing his wish and folded it up into his lantern.
"So quick, Li-shidi?" Qiu Yunru remarked, impressed. "Do you have something you've really been wishing for?"
Li Chenyuan turned away. The moonlight shone on his jade skin. His cheeks were flushed.
"I do. Doesn't everyone?"
Since they were already sitting close by the river, he crouched down and placed his lantern carefully on the cool waters and gave it a small push. Glowing warmly, it spun off among the others and into the night, carrying his wish to perhaps the gods in heaven, or perhaps some far-off river bank.
After seeing it disappear among the hordes of lanterns, Li Chenyuan sat back down next to Qiu Yunru, peering at his blank paper slip.
"Is Qiu-ge struggling? Isn't there something you really wish for?"
"There is..." Qiu Yunru said, wanting to weep just a few tears for himself. "But there are too many things..."
"Aren't some of those things more important than others? For example, aren't wishes that concern your health and people you love more important than wishes for wealth and status?"
Wealth and status? Did this kid think he was so shallow as to want to sacrifice a wish to wealth over, say, his own family?
"Ah..." He laughed awkwardly. "Don't worry. It's not that. It's just that I'm not sure how to word my wish."
"You should be as specific as possible," Li Chenyuan said seriously. "If you want a red brocade bag with gold trim, you should wish for a red brocade bag with gold trim. If you want to live until you're two hundred thirty-one and three days, you should write that."
This kid...Even though a wish in this world might not be a trivial matter, his level of seriousness almost made Qiu Yunru laugh a little. It was, in a way, endearing. Or, adorable, was it?
Was that too inappropriate a word to describe an eighteen-year-old kid? Any man would certianly feel belittled, no? He would absolutely have to keep that thought to himself!
In the end, Qiu Yunru scribbled out this wish:
I wish to live a peaceful life in the mountains as an immortal, where I'm not bothered by anyone I don't want to be bothered by, and the days are calm and restful.
This was a good wish, he thought.
After they had sent this last lantern off, it was time to gather their things and head back into the city proper. Since it was already late at night, it would too difficult to fly all the way back up Li Hua mountain, and they decided to stay in Jin He City overnight.
However, there was a bit of a problem.
The Li Mansion sat at the other end of the large city. As they began to trek back, Qiu Yunru noticed a heavy pressure on his shoulder.
When he looked down, he saw Li Chenyuan sleeping leaning on him, his phoenix eyes closing and opening over and over as though his eyelids had turned to lead. His cold, sharp face seemed incredibly tired somehow.
How unusual!
This kid who practiced day and night, who woke early to train and went to the hot springs even earlier, was tired like a little kid after a day out at the festival!
"Li-shidi," Qiu Yunru murmured, wrapping an arm around him to support him. "Let's get on my sword. We can fly to the Li Mansion then..."
Li Chenyuan seemed to hesitate for a moment, sleeping blinking at him. Then, he nodded.
However, when he tried to step on Qiu Yunru's sword, he seemed to ahve lost all sense of spatial awareness! His foot fell to the left of the sword, to the right, even on the tip...but he simply couldn't get a foothold on it!
This wouldn't do. If Li Chenyuan couldn't keep even a little bit of balance, he might fall out of the air and get seriously injured.
What a difficult situation!