Encountering a Snake - Chapter 10
v3c10
This was the second time he had dug up a grave.
Yi Mo thought as he skillfully pried open the wooden coffin. The coffin was made of thousand-year-old submerged wood, dense and impervious to water and fire. Ordinary people, even if wealthy, could not obtain such material. Only Ji Jiu could easily acquire such a coffin and rest within it, leaving the mortal world behind, free from suffering. Even knowing how beautiful life could be, he had no choice but to let it go.
Yi Mo touched him.
Clad in jet-black armor, he was still dressed as a general. Yi Mo couldn’t feel flesh, only the cold, chilling metal of the armor.
Yi Mo lay down beside him for a while before reaching for the blood pearl on his chest. The crimson pearl rested against his skin, as if it were sleeping over his heart. Just like in those rugged years, when he cradled the drunken serpent in his arms, secretly placing it over his heart in the dead of night. It seemed to be repaying the debts of the first life and expressing the feelings of the second—though only in silence.
Yi Mo cast a spell to break the blood pearl, revealing the faint fragment of a soul within.
A fragment of soul, lacking sentience, yet in the enclosed darkness of the tomb, it stared at him, as if saying: You’ve come.
Yi Mo gathered the soul fragment to prevent it from dissipating. Looking at it, he said, “I’ve come to take you home.”
He raised a hand to caress its face, only to feel emptiness. His heart trembled slightly as he murmured, “I’ll take you home.”
The soul fragment, as if responding to his words, condensed into a small beam of light and entered his palm—I’ll go home with you.
Beneath the vast sky, they would go home.
Back at the mountain courtyard, the old immortal was already waiting, along with Xu Mingshi and Shen Jue. Standing at the gate, Yi Mo cast a quiet glance at them. Over the years, only these few had been involved in his life.
Yet the one he wanted to walk the same path with was only one person.
The old immortal took the soul fragment, placing it in a porcelain vial. As he turned to enter the house to perform the spell, he couldn’t help but say, “Little serpent, humans and demons walk different paths. Why force this?”
Yi Mo watched his back and replied, “I want someone to stay with me.” Someone to stand beside him, to watch the sunset over the mountains, the stars before dawn, the joys and sorrows of the mortal world. And not be alone.
He had wandered the heavens and earth alone for far too long.
Until he met a frail scholar, with gentle eyes and a nervous expression, who solemnly said: Shall we walk the same path, despite our differences?
That single sentence let him taste the warmest, most vibrant colors. How could he now resign himself to the black and white again?
The old immortal paused but said no more. Clutching the vial, he entered the room.
Inside, on the bed, Liu Yan lay under a spell, sound asleep. His face was refined, his expression peaceful.
This ordinary man had bewitched a thousand-year-old serpent demon, making him lose his reason and give up immortality, without regret. The old immortal knew it was already too late to stop him. From the first glance at Yi Mo this time, he knew it was too late. Those thousand-year-old icy eyes had cracked, and streams of water now flowed, melting the glacier.
Perhaps he should never have allowed the serpent to become a demon. After a thousand years, perhaps the little serpent would have long since reincarnated as a human and grown old with this man.
Some people, if destined to meet, will meet.
The old immortal sighed, calmed his mind, and began the spell.
Yi Mo stood outside the house, looking at Shen Jue. Shen Jue had already learned everything from Xu Mingshi, his face filled with sorrow.
“Father…” Shen Jue called softly.
Yi Mo responded, waited a moment, and then said, “From now on… take care of yourself.”
“Father,” Shen Jue’s eyes reddened as he knelt at Yi Mo’s feet. “I will not leave.”
“Why?” Yi Mo asked.
“Because I can’t bear to.”
“What can’t you bear?” Yi Mo asked again.
“My family,” Shen Jue replied, looking up at him. “Father and you are my family. You are the ones who care for me unconditionally, asking nothing in return, with no reason needed. So, I can’t bear to leave.”
“You are my family,” Shen Jue said, enunciating each word. “If you abandon me, I will leave. If you are here, I will stay and serve.”
Family.
Yi Mo crouched down, meeting Shen Jue’s gaze. After a long pause, he said, “You are also my family.”
Someone who cares for me unconditionally. Yi Mo embraced him, as if he were still the child who fell asleep in his arms after playing, cradled like a devoted father.
They were both demons, with no blood ties, yet because of one person, they had the chance to meet, know, and grow close.
He had the privilege of raising a child, watching him grow day by day, learning more characters, understanding more truths. He could enjoy the filial piety, accepting his service as a matter of course. As if it were normal.
But it wasn’t normal.
If not for the person in that house, they would have remained strangers. One day, the immortal serpent might have slain the rogue wolf demon, but even that wasn’t certain. How fortunate they were to have met such a human.
To teach them to understand familial love—despite having no blood ties, their bond felt thicker than blood.
Now that person was gone, and they depended on each other. When he reincarnated, they each took up their responsibilities.
All because that person had never treated them as outsiders, never criticized them harshly, and always regarded them as ordinary people. Even though they were both stronger than him, he offered them tender care.
To protect, to cherish, to love—with all his might.
Shen Jue stifled his sobs, still like the child who once played and acted spoiled. Yi Mo stroked the back of his neck, silently comforting him.
The sky was clear, the breeze carried the scent of flowers.
Inside the house, Liu Yan had awakened.
As if waking from a long dream, in the hazy state of a newly formed world, the memories of past lives surfaced, shedding their hard shell, scattering the dust, and reaching his soul.
Liu Yan was awake.
He woke up but did not rise, lying on the bed with his dark, ink-like eyes staring blankly. The old immortal stood beside him, silent as well.
After a long time, he slowly sat up and turned his face, his gaze calm and serene. Looking at the old immortal, he asked, “Where is he?”
He said nothing else, as if everything was already clear to him, and there was no need for further words. After all he had gone through, two lifetimes of kingdoms and worldly affairs had become nothing more than a wisp of wind, vanishing without a trace.
His eyes and soul were etched with only one person.
The old immortal pointed outside.
Liu Yan walked to the door and pulled open the two wooden panels. With a creaking sound, the doors seemed to echo across two hundred years of time.
The sunlight was clear, golden strands spilling over the man in black robes standing outside, as if bestowed by the heavens. In the glow, Yi Mo lifted his face and met Liu Yan’s gaze.
Their eyes met, stunned and quiet, like the meeting of day and night, evoking countless visions. Two hundred years of entanglements and heartache surfaced before them.
And yet, their gazes were pure, free from impurities, each able to see straight into the other’s heart.
Liu Yan stood by the door for a long time before stepping forward, one step at a time, until he stood before Yi Mo. Yi Mo reached out and embraced him, as though holding onto his very life.
No words were spoken. None were needed.
All the ups and downs of life, the pursuit of fame and fortune, the twists and turns, the confusion and hesitation—none of it required explanation.
All that mattered was holding each other like this, breathing in each other’s presence, listening to each other’s heartbeat, speaking affection with their eyes.
I like you.
No one knew who had spoken these words first, but with them, the bitter cold of past nightmares had transformed into the warmth of spring.
“Let’s marry,” Liu Yan said, his fingers sliding down Yi Mo’s back to grasp the hand around his waist. “Let’s marry.”
Yi Mo replied, “Alright.”
He clasped Liu Yan’s hand tightly, their fingers interlocked, as if vowing to walk together to the ends of the earth.
The red candles and wedding hall had long been prepared. The old immortal stayed.
Xu Mingshi, covering his eyes and choking back tears, said, “I’ll officiate.”
Liu Yan held Yi Mo’s hand as they knelt on the soft mat. “Shen Qingxuan has become dust, and Ji Jiu rests in his coffin. In this life, there are no kingdoms or worldly affairs.”
He spoke slowly, turning his head to smile at Yi Mo. “There is only your Liu Yan.”
Yi Mo said, “Alright.” His gaze was warm as he solemnly knelt beside Liu Yan.
No tribute to the heavens, no reverence for gods or Buddha—this was the first time in Yi Mo’s life that he knelt.
Xu Mingshi, holding back his tears, announced, “First bow to the heavens and earth…” His voice trembled, the sobs breaking through despite his attempts to suppress them.
The two kneeling men looked at each other and smiled. Together, they bowed deeply to the heavens, their movements solemn and respectful.
With the heavens as their witness, they were married.
tl-ffs finally ig my crying sessions are going to end
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Sidchy
They finally got married 🥹 Yi Mo giving up everything for him I’m sobbing