A few days passed.
Liu Sumeng was starting to have doubts.
Each day he lived was like a carbon copy of his memories aside from when he did things that were different. So far, he hadn't varied much from the course of what he knew to be history. But it was slowly becoming obvious to him that he could.
Not to mention, there were no signs of this dream ending.
In fact, there were many signs that this dream wasn't a dream at all.
Liu Sumeng's head thundered at the thought, his mouth becoming dry at the implications.
Lost in his mind he couldn't focus well on the steps he was practicing in the courtyard. It was already past the hour for early morning routines, where all the disciples of the sect would practice their skills together. Liu Sumeng, however, stayed even after everyone else had left, his sword dancing, white and silver robes fluttering in the misty morning mist. His uncle frowned as he walked by and called, "Sumeng."
Liu Sumeng halted his swordplay and bowed to his uncle respectfully, "Uncle."
"You seem rather distracted, is something on your mind?"
"..." Of course there was. But Liu Sumeng didn't exactly know how to voice his concerns, especially not to his uncle.
His uncle only sighed, stroking his chin he looked down from the wooden steps at his nephew and disciple, "I understand you have many feelings about your fiancee being here and your impending marriage but don't let your thoughts wander too much. I fear you're approaching a bottleneck soon."
"..." Liu Sumeng lowered his eyes. Actually, that was partially true, because if things were to unravel as they did in his memories, he was approaching a bottleneck fast. He could even recall being really angry at his own lack of progress when the Supreme Hunting Tournament came about. But all those things felt so distant. He remembered…how he broke through that bottleneck, on his wedding night when he and Chen Anyue-
Suddenly he felt a little ill, the color on his face not looking all that well. Liu Fumao saw this complicated expression on his nephew's face and sighed, "As your teacher, I would advise you to go into seclusion, cleanse your thoughts and improve your cultivation. But as your uncle, I need you to take a little break and don't think about the cultivation world for a bit. Take care of that Chen Princess and make sure you understand what it is to be a good husband."
With those words, his face became even paler, but the reason was different from what Liu Fumao thought.
Before Chen Anyue died, Liu Sumeng never had the time to become a good husband. He was even forced to marry a second time. Neither of those ended happily, and yet he regretted his joining with Chen Anyue the most. The thought made Liu Sumeng feel sick.
Ah, he didn't want to think about those things, fearful that this dream of his existed only for him to relive those regrets that haunted him to the grave.
"Just listen to your uncle and go take a rest. There will be food in the Baiyun Hall soon, so don't skip out." With that, Liu Fumao took his leave and Liu Sumeng was again in the courtyard by himself.
"..." Actually, he thought, maybe he should. He remembered that originally, after Liu Fumao left, he had gone back to his room and drew a bath, ignoring his uncle's words. He only got to eat because Xu Hexian knew him well enough to bring him some leftovers afterward.
But what if he did something different? Would the illusion break and shatter? Or perhaps…
This wasn't an illusion at all, and Liu Sumeng had in fact…
He was still too afraid to entertain the idea.
He rushed back to his room and quickly cleaned the sweat off his brows and changed into a fresh set of clothes. Instead of drawing a bath, he decided to go to the Baiyun Hall. If his memory wasn't faulty he remembered Xu Hexian mentioning that Chen Anyue and Yuan Xuelan were there, and even caused quite a commotion. He hadn't been interested originally but now he wanted to know and see more of this younger, purer Yuan Xuelan, so he couldn't help but go take a look.
On his way to the Baiyun Hall, someone called after him, "Meng-xiong! Hey, Meng-xiong!" When he turned around he saw Xu Hexian's flailing form running after him. Liu Sumeng couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed on the other's behalf.
"Stop looking so ridiculous," he scolded.
Xu Hexian only smiled, "Are you going to Baiyun Hall to get some food? I'll come with you so you don't have to sit alone!"
"..." This was true. Aside from Xu Hexian most people were too afraid to sit with him. Inwardly, he was grateful towards his friend's company but he felt too ashamed to admit it out loud so he only continued to look at his Shidi with an unchanging expression.
It was lunch hour, so it wasn't unusual that there was a long line in Baiyun Hall, disciples and elders alike all shuffling about to get their share. Although the Heavenly Sword Sect was known to be a calm and orderly sect compared to the other big five sects, Liu Sumeng always thought of this place as rather lively.
However, after a few moments, he couldn't help but notice that the line hadn't moved at all. There seemed to be a commotion at the front.
Xu Hexian frowned, "I wonder what's going on?" He was balancing on his tiptoes to get a better view of the front. He could have just asked Liu Sumeng, who was taller but... Liu Sumeng refrained from commenting.
Truth be told, it was hard to see anything at the front even with his superior height, but he could easily pick out Yuan Xuelan's voice.
"I wasn't saying that at all so please stop presuming! Auntie, why are you so angry at me? Isn't this discrimination?" From the pitch of his voice, Liu Sumeng could tell he was barely keeping together his composure.
The Auntie screeched back, "You're the one who insulted me first! You made presumptions about my food and you dare talk back!? Do brats these days have no manners!?"
"Y-you! Take that back!"
Beside him, Chen Anyue pleaded, "A-Zhang, please… Auntie, we're sincerely sorry for our transgressions. Truly, we hadn't meant you any offense. If you are unhappy then I, Chen Anyue will-"
"Do you really think I care about the name Chen?"
"...!" At that point, even Anyue was shocked into silence.
"Y-you!!" Yuan Xuelan's voice shook with anger.
The disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect were all familiar with the cook Auntie's terrible temper. However her food was delicious and she had a good relationship with the head of the sect so no one dared to defy her, only knowing how to tiptoe around her rage.
Of course, neither Chen Anyue nor Yuan Xuelan knew about this and now they were assaulted with angry words. No one even bothered to step in and help them and only looked away with pitiful expressions.
Liu Sumeng could no longer bear to watch. He strode up to the front of the line with Xu Hexian following nervously, "Huh? Meng-xiong where are you going? Oh-"
"What is the problem here?" Liu Sumeng did not say many things, so people tended to really pay attention to him when he did.
The Auntie, however, was different and continued to sneer even as she turned her gaze to him, "Is that you, Second Young Master Liu? If you're here to defend these outsiders then you can stop wasting your time."
Yuan Xuelan was red in the face while Chen Anyue looked rather pale. Liu Sumeng stepped in front of them as though to shield them, "Auntie, they've already apologized to you."
"Erm, right!" Xu Hexian who noticed that Yuan Xuelan wasn't continuing began to add, "They understood their errors and won't do that again, right?"
"Yes," Chen Anyue answered immediately with a small apologetic bow.
Yuan Xuelan was a little more reluctant, after arguing with the Auntie for a while and making an unnecessary commotion, but when he looked up, he saw the Ivory Sword Saint give him an interesting look. Immediately he stuttered out, "Y-yeah."
Liu Sumeng was pleased, although he was beaming on the inside, it didn't show much on his face.
The Auntie, however, was still not placated, "You think just an apology is enough!?"
Was this woman always this unreasonable? Actually, Liu Sumeng never really knew because he hadn't gotten into disagreements with her before. His expression fell. "It's enough," he said darkly, "we've already been waiting for a while." Liu Sumeng was never good with words and always said things that angered other people easily. He'd grown accustomed to other people's displeasure and disagreement over his way of speech so he simply learned not to care…by keeping everyone at a distance.
At that moment, he really didn't care if the Auntie got mad at him.
However, Xu Hexian was quick to jump in after before the Auntie could begin crying out again with rage, "Auntie please listen to us for a moment, the disciples here have been waiting for a long time to get their food, and they still have many things to attend to after lunch. They haven't done anything to you, right? Don't you think it's unfair that you're holding them up for so long?"
The Auntie was not pleased, "Do you dare talk to me about fairness-"
Xu Hexian continued, cutting her off, "Auntie, are you forgetting that this man here is the Second Young Master Liu? He will probably become Sect Leader one day you know?"
Her face turned black, and then red, "Are you trying to threaten me?"
Xu Hexian had the gull to put on a light smile, "No, no I wouldn't dare, Auntie! I'm just telling you the truth… It's no secret after all!"
She was truly angry. Steam could almost be seen coming out from her ears and the top of her head. She growled and screamed at them but in the end, let them leave and reluctantly served the other disciples who had been patiently waiting.