The Wedding Ceremony Beneath the Banyan Tree
Ji Chaoyun did not speak for a long time, and Feng Qi did not urge him, merely gazing steadily at him.
“Why have you started trembling?” After an unknown amount of time, Feng Qi asked softly, “Are you cold?”
Ji Chaoyun pressed his lips tightly together. A faint tremor spread from his heart throughout his limbs and bones, until even his fingertips began to tremble slightly.
Feng Qi held him tightly in his arms. That warm embrace was like a tender yet fervent dream, dragging him into a strange and dazzling illusion where he could only let his consciousness sink, unable to break free.
Feng Qi’s hand slid downward inch by inch, from the side of his face to his neck and shoulder, then along his forearm, until at last it reached his cold fingers.
At first, he only touched them tentatively. When Ji Chaoyun did not push him away, Feng Qi covered his hand with his own and carefully clasped it.
Feng Qi seemed greatly encouraged by this. A subtle change passed through his eyes as he asked in a low voice, “You’re not actually cold, are you? You are nervous?”
“...”
“What are you nervous about?” Feng Qi licked his lips, a faint hoarseness entering his voice. “Is it because I am holding you, because I am holding your hand, or...”
The end of his sentence drowned beneath the incessant pounding of both their hearts. Ji Chaoyun saw Feng Qi lower his eyes, his gaze falling upon Ji Chaoyun’s lips.
...He wanted to kiss him.
All those explanations meant to conceal what was obvious, all those seemingly accidental touches and moments of heart-racing emotion, all the feelings that could never be spoken aloud finally receded like the tide at this moment, revealing what had been underneath all along.
At the instant Feng Qi lowered his head, Ji Chaoyun turned his face aside. His half-lowered lashes trembled ceaselessly, and he could not make even the slightest sound.
At that moment, he could even feel Feng Qi’s breath against the side of his face, scorching and hurried, as though it might burn away every last shred of reason.
Yet Feng Qi did not touch him.
Feng Qi stopped when only a hair’s breadth remained between them.
Ji Chaoyun did not dare move. He clearly heard the hint of teasing huff of laughter Feng Qi gave through his nose. “That easily frightened?”
“...” Ji Chaoyun clenched his teeth tightly, his voice trembling so badly it nearly fell apart. “...Stop joking around.”
“I’m not joking with you.” Feng Qi maintained that same dangerous, ill-intentioned distance, as though another inch forward would bring his lips against the side of Ji Chaoyun’s cheek. “I won’t force you, and I won’t touch you. That doesn’t mean I’m joking.”
Ji Chaoyun abruptly opened his eyes and turned to look at him.
Feng Qi hurriedly tipped his head back to avoid him and laughed. “...Although if you’re the one who takes the initiative and kisses me, then you can’t blame me.”
Ji Chaoyun had no mind to joke with him. He met Feng Qi’s gaze and only after a long while spoke in a hoarse voice. “What you just said...”
“Brother Chaoyun, have you both finished trying on your clothes? Brother Ah-Xun said you have to stay in separate rooms before the wedding, so he asked me to...” Ah-Feng’s voice suddenly came from outside the door. Before the two had time to separate, the boy pushed open the door and caught them exactly as they were.
Ah-Feng stared at them dumbfounded and blinked. A long while passed before he finished the rest of his sentence. “...asked me to take you to your new guest room.”
The tense atmosphere inside the room vanished at once. Ji Chaoyun pushed Feng Qi away and stood, saying quickly, “I have finished trying mine on. Let us go.”
“Chaoyun...” Feng Qi instinctively reached out to catch him, but Ji Chaoyun turned aside and avoided his hand.
Ji Chaoyun said, “Sorry, I...”
He left the words unfinished. Unable to look again at the person beside him, he stepped toward the door. Just before leaving the tree house, Ji Chaoyun paused slightly, as though wanting to turn and look at Feng Qi once more.
In the end, he did not move. He only closed his eyes briefly, then quickly left the tree house.
After leaving, Ji Chaoyun remained cold-faced and silent. Ah-Feng tried several times to speak with him, but each time he shrank back beneath Ji Chaoyun’s frosty expression.
The residence arranged for Ji Chaoyun stood on a neighboring branch, not far from the tree house where he had previously stayed. Ah-Feng soon brought him there. The moment he pushed open the door, however, they found the old Clan Leader already seated inside.
Ah-Feng hurriedly bowed. “Grandpa Clan Leader.”
The old Clan Leader smiled and waved a hand. “Ah-Yi, go outside first. I want to speak with Chaoyun.”
“I am not Ah-Yi...” Ah-Feng muttered quietly before turning and leaving.
Ji Chaoyun watched him go, closed the door, and walked to the old Clan Leader’s side. “Did Clan Leader need something from me?”
“Hold out your hand. I have something good for you.” The old Clan Chief searched inside his robes for a moment and took out a pair of bracelets woven from vines. He drew Ji Chaoyun’s hand over and slipped one around his wrist. “These are woven from banyan vines and carry the power of the guardian tree spirit of our banyan tree clan. They can bless lovers so that they finally become a married pair and remain together for a lifetime.”
Ji Chaoyun’s expression stiffened.
The vines had been woven with exceptional intricacy. The dark bracelet encircling Ji Chaoyun’s wrist made it appear even more slender and fair.
Ji Chaoyun, however, felt as though the bracelet weighed a thousand jin, pressing upon his heart until he could scarcely breathe. “Clan Leader, actually, we...”
The old Clan Leader paid no attention to his words. He raised Ji Chaoyun’s hand and examined it from every angle, growing more satisfied the longer he looked. “I was originally supposed to wait until two days from now, after your wedding ceremony beneath the banyan tree, before giving this to you, but I couldn’t wait. I’ll give you the other one now as well. When the time comes, you can put it on your husband yourself, all right?”
The old Clan Leader stuffed the second bracelet into Ji Chaoyun’s hand and continued on his own. “These are usually given by parents or elders. I only have two pairs altogether. One pair was given to Ah-Xun, while the other... I have always kept for you. According to the banyan tree clan’s legend, once two people wear these, the tree spirit binds their fates tightly together, and they will never be separated again...”
Ji Chaoyun abruptly pulled his hand away.
The old Clan Leader looked up at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Ji Chaoyun looked at that weathered, aging face. His throat felt dry, and he could not say a single word.
Yao could maintain a youthful appearance for a very long time, but their lifespans were limited. Once their yao cores began to fail, they aged even faster than mortals. Ji Chaoyun had been away from the old Clan Leader for only five short years, yet the other had already changed so much that Ji Chaoyun could barely recognize him.
Ji Chaoyun looked away and said quietly, “It’s nothing. I’m just... a little tired.”
“I see.” The old Clan Leader nodded understandingly and said gently, “You will be busy with the wedding ceremony these next few days, so naturally you will be somewhat tired. Hurry and rest. I will not disturb you.”
“Clan Leader...”
“It’s all righ.” The old Clan Leader softly interrupted him. “I only came to bring you these. Now that I’ve delivered them, I shall leave. Rest well. I will come see you again another day.”
After saying this, he gave Ji Chaoyun no chance to respond and walked out of the room on his own, leaning on his bamboo staff.
The door closed once more. Ji Chaoyun stood alone where he was, his eyes lowered, his expression impossible to see. After a moment, he removed the bracelet the old Clan Leader had put on his wrist and placed it on the table together with the other one in his hand.
The sky outside had already grown completely dark. Ji Chaoyun extinguished the spirit lamp in the room, felt his way back to the bed in the darkness, and lay down without removing his clothes.
Ji Chaoyun curled up, his gaze drifting toward the window. Through the lattice and the banyan tree’s dense branches and leaves, he could just see the tree house where he had originally been staying.
The spirit lamp in that distant tree house remained lit throughout the entire night. Ji Chaoyun did not move. He simply stared at it in a daze all night long.
☁
Because the banyan tree clan did not allow a couple to see each other before their wedding, Ji Chaoyun did not see Feng Qi during the remaining two days.
The day of the wedding soon arrived.
Early that morning, Ji Chaoyun was awakened by the clan members to dress and prepare. Afterward, they led him beneath the banyan tree.
The area beneath the banyan tree had completely changed.
Hundreds of flowers bloomed across the grass. A pathway crowded with blossoms stretched all the way to the banyan tree. Countless aerial roots hanging from the tree were also covered in flowers. Their rich fragrances mingled together, while petals drifted down in the wind.
Feng Qi stood at the end of that path, his expression composed. When his gaze met Ji Chaoyun’s, he even gave him a slight smile.
It was as though nothing had happened that night.
Who knew how much effort he had spent persuading the clan members to replace his wedding attire with a normal style similar to Ji Chaoyun’s. The brilliant red wedding robes outlined his tall, slender figure, making him exceptionally striking.
Ji Chaoyun had never seen anyone wear red so beautifully. So beautifully that... he could hardly bear to look away.
Feng Qi was the sort of person who would never disappear into a crowd. No matter where he was, no matter when, no matter how he was dressed, he was always the most dazzling person present, and anyone beside him would inevitably pale in comparison.
Guided by the clan members, Ji Chaoyun walked along the long path until he reached Feng Qi.
Feng Qi watched him intently from beginning to end, never once looking away.
“You look beautiful,” Feng Qi said softly.
He raised a hand toward Ji Chaoyun, seemingly wanting to touch his face. Ji Chaoyun turned his head away and avoided him.
Feng Qi’s hand immediately stiffened in midair. Without revealing anything in his expression, he drew it back.
The wedding ceremony officially began. The ceremonial officiant stood before them speaking at length, but Ji Chaoyun did not hear a single word. Feng Qi was right beside him, close enough that Ji Chaoyun could see him merely by turning his head, yet Ji Chaoyun felt that the distance between them had never been greater.
After an unknown amount of time, the officiant’s voice abruptly stopped.
Ji Chaoyun belatedly raised his head and discovered that everyone was looking at him. A clan member somewhere beside him quietly reminded him, “It is time for the newlyweds to bow to the banyan tree.”
The banyan tree clan held its wedding ceremonies beneath the banyan tree. The newlyweds had to kneel and bow three times before it for the ceremony to be considered complete.
Bow to the banyan tree...
Ji Chaoyun raised his head toward the banyan tree’s towering canopy. The banyan fruits upon the tree shone with crystalline light. Petals decorating the aerial roots drifted down around them, while pair after pair of eager eyes watched, waiting for his next move.
Not far from the two of them, the old Clan Leader sat in a vine chair, wearing his usual gentle smile.
This isn’t real.
They were only putting on an appearance. It sn’t real.
Ji Chaoyun repeated those words to himself, withdrew his gaze, and knelt.
First bow.
The two bent forward together.
Second bow.
Ji Chaoyun closed his eyes. His lashes began to tremble almost imperceptibly.
Third bow.
The clan member presiding over the ceremony called out the third bow, yet neither of the two beneath the banyan tree moved.
Feng Qi turned his head toward Ji Chaoyun. Ji Chaoyun’s back was held perfectly straight, his eyes lowered, his thoughts impossible to discern.
Feng Qi gave an almost inaudible sigh and was just about to speak and call a halt to the ceremony when Ji Chaoyun suddenly caught his wrist and stood.
“?”
Ji Chaoyun’s eyes were red. Without giving Feng Qi any chance to object, he pulled him away. “There are a few things I need to tell you. Come with me.”
The banyan tree clan had never encountered newlyweds suddenly fleeing in the middle of their wedding ceremony. Everyone was thrown into such confusion that they even forgot to stop Ji Chaoyun as he dragged Feng Qi through the crowd and away.
Amid the chaos, only the old Clan Leader caught hold of Ji Xun and said unhurriedly, “Let them go. Young people only need to speak openly with each other. Don’t disturb them.”
Ji Xun started in surprise. “Grandfather, what do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean by what?” The old Clan Leader looked up at him blankly, then turned to look at the flustered crowd and said irritably, “What are all of you doing? The auspicious hour is almost here. Why have you not hurried to finish preparing?”
“...”
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
I did not deliberately stop here. The next section was too difficult to write, and I was stuck on it for ages. I will update again tomorrow orz.
I will try hard to make tomorrow’s chapter extra long~
Jade-Slip Fortune Draw
The road feels a little quieter today, catto. Unroll the jade slip and see what the heavens have already written for you. ♡
One fortune per browser day, catto. Even beneath quiet skies, the Heavenly Dao does not rewrite what has already been drawn.
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