Sages romance

Amongst the stars and above the bright clouds, there was a translucent tower with a nameplate, "Ink and Brush". In that tower, there were countless books–as much as there were the sands of a beach. At the very top of this tower, a tall handsome man in a silver white robe held an ink brush in his right hand held in the air. His eyebrows knitted together like two pieces of magnets. The brush was held in the air for seconds, and seconds became minutes, hours, days, months, and years. Finally after 20 years, he set the brush down with a slight sigh of disappointment. 

For the first time in the last 20 years, he decided to get up from his seat and held his hands behind his back in disappointment, anger, and confusion. 

"20 years. 20 years and I haven't even written a single line." 

He closed his eyes, reminiscing about the past. 

This man was called Liang Zhao, a romance novelist and cultivator. In the beginning, he had been thrown into this world from earth and with great difficulty managed to get here today. Finally after the survival phase, he was already one of the legendary 10 cultivators to have reached the peak. Still, it was only about survival. Very quickly, he went back to perfecting his love of writing. In this world of dull entertainment, this was the only thing that had kept him from losing his mind. If one were to ask, yes–This was his dao.

Liang Zhao looked over the beautiful colors of the heavenly sky. It was perfect, but after seeing it for the past 500 years, he had grown bored of it. The greatest wine, the greatest beauties, nothing felt like they could move his heart. 

He scoffed to himself in his heart. 

"I have been too spoiled. I can't even write a novel nowadays. No, wait. Maybe because I was too focused on cultivating that I disregarded all other experience?"

He shook his head in regret. Just then, a realization dawned on him as a lightbulb popped up in his mind. 

"Experience."

How can he write the warmth of a person's love when he has never felt the touch of a woman? How can he write about the loss of family when he was thrown alone in this world? 

"Looks like I'll need to go to seclusion. Ha~ When was it that I last went to seclusion? 800 years ago? 900? Well, it doesn't matter."

With his right hand, he created 3 symbols and spoke. 

"Wu Yi, I'm going to seclusion for a few years. Don't let others disturb me in the meantime."

Liang Zhao closed his hand in a fist and blew the message into the wind. Without even wasting a second he walked to his study. He simply waved his right hand and all the items disappeared into strings that flowed into his Blue ring on his right index finger. Looking inside the ring which held enough space to fit in 3 medium sized worlds, he confirmed that he had everything he needed. Liang Zhao was about to teleport down the stairs with his formation, but stopped in his tracks. 

…Bad habits.

Due to the early years of constant fighting and battles, he had grown a habit to be as extremely efficient as possible. Now that he was trying to get new experiences for his perspective, it was also a great opportunity to slow things down. Liang Zhao chose to walk down the steps of the tower which had 100 floors. Along his descent, he would casually take a book out to read it and smile to himself as he felt nostalgia to his past. 

In the 80th floor, he was reminded of "Fiery Flurry of Rage" that he won in a bet against that idiot, Chi Hong. Even though he didn't want it, Chi Hong wouldn't stop pestering him about honor. 

On the 52nd floor, a blue book with only one single page was written. It was meant to troll those who thought that there was a specific meaning behind it, but after thinking about it, I found it too mean and harsh on those who were truly devoted to cultivation. Even Liang Zhao was one of them. Thus, he decided to hid his dark past on the 52nd floor hidden in a red box with a label "This is fake". Why didn't he just get rid of it? 

He completely forgot about it…. 

After a while, this book turned out to be a pebble in his past that created interesting ripples in his heart. Liang Zhao contemplated burning it right now to get rid of problems, but that would also erase his memories of the past. Now that he was all powerful, these small trinkets get a small chuckle out of him and so he decided to keep it locked up here. Now that he thought about it. If someone were to come in to steal his books which he safeguarded for hundreds of years, it can only mean karma if they stumble upon this book. Though the thief would have to be an expert.

With each step, it was like walking through his past as a ghost. It had been so long ago that he was completely detached to the past him. His dao heart was completely solidified and now, all the big events from the past were as worthless as the clicks of a ticking clock. 

Just as he reached the first floor, his student, Wu Yi stood in front of the gate. Wu Yi was also a handsome man that resembled a kind scholar with a polite smile. Some time ago, Liang Zhao decided to accept him as his disciple, sharing all his knowledge. Others might be scared, but Liang Zhao couldn't care less. If you don't trust your disciples, then don't make them your disciples in the first place. Though Liang Zhao thinks this, he also considered this thought. What if one day, he were to stab him in the back? Liang Zhao at that time laughed to the sky and said, "Maybe I deserved to get stabbed then! Hahaha!" Since he decided to trust Wu Yi, then the repercussions and consequences will be his. For hundreds of years, Wu Yi had been his greatest disciple, companion, and most importantly, friend.

Wu Yi noticed Liang Zhao's steps and looked to Liang Zhao in surprise. 

"Master, I thought you'd have already left."

Liang Zhao nodded, "I was…but then I decided that it would be a nice change of pace to walk."

"The seclusion this time, how long will it be?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe a day? A month? Maybe I won't even come back at all, hahaha." He joked and laughed at his own joke.

Wu Yi looked in surprise. "That long? Usually, it would take less than 100 years." For a second he hesitated. "Master…the madam of the blue moon wishes to speak to you."

"Miss Lan Yue? Why does she…"

Liang Zhao turned his head suspiciously as he leaned closer to Wu Yi. 

"Now that I think about it, isn't it such a coincidence that she found out the exact moment that I was about to go into seclusion?"

"Well…" Wu Yi started sweating. "She gave me a…1,000 year old wine as a gift." 

Liang Zhao looked at him wide eyed, "You gave up your master for wine!?"

"It's not just wine! It's the golden moons wine that only matures every 1,000 years and this one was even better than the previous ones! Just one drink of it and the taste will have you begging for more!"

Liang Zhao was taken aback. He knew that Wu Yi was an alcoholic, but to even give him up! Personally, he himself wasn't a wine enthusiast, but to not even offer him a drink made him want to kick Wu Yi in the shin. 

Maybe he will one day stab him in the back…for god damn wine.

"Forget it, Miss Lan Yue has always been kind to me and helping me. It's not too bad to go visit her every once in a while."

"Really!? You've never visited anyone before, they've always been the one to have to invite you!"

"Miss Lan Yue is also inviting me this time. Plus, most of the time, cultivators like to waste their time with stupid debates and feasts where they can brag on and on about their achievements. I don't like those settings at all."

"That's right~ Master has always preferred tranquility and peace."

"As per usual, take care of the tower for me."

"Yes, master!"

Wu Yi bowed and like a puff of smoke, Liang Zhao vanished. Wu Yi smiled from ear to ear to himself as he got up from his bow to look up at the bright sky, a little bit more colorful at this moment. 

"Master, I'm cheering you on!" 

He touched his ring to look inside. With a strong hold, he picked up the wine jar half his size. He began drooling, unlike a scholar as himself, but could care less about his appearance at the moment. Wu Yi lifted it up in the air and gulped down three big gulps. 

GULP! GULP! GULP! Cough cough!

"What the hell!?" 

He chewed on a piece of paper and spit it out. 

[You still have the gall to drink!?]

Petrified, Wu Yi burnt the note and kept drinking ferociously! What letter? Did you see a letter? He must have choked from drinking too fast, that's right!

Atop the clouds in the night sky, a full white moon hung over it. Directly in front of it was the jeweled palace, Blue Moon. In comparison to Liang Zhao's 100 floored tower, this was smaller in comparison with only 43 floors. Each floor contained servants that cleaned the place and worked there. Liang Zhao's tower was full of silence and peace, the Blue Moon Palace was currently having the time of their life. 

"Ink Sage, the madam of the blue moon has been waiting for you, please follow me."

Liang Zhao said nothing and nodded. 

As Liang Zhao walked into the palace and looked around, the scenes were like this. It was like entering a gambling shop hoping for a huge win. 

One worker looked up to the sky and marveled at the moon. "This is the greatest full moon in the last 500 years! I hope I'm lucky enough to get a date!"

Another worker prayed with their life to the moon, "Let me break through! Let me break through!"

He quickly made it up to the 43rd floor. The assistant stopped by the door and bowed. Even from here, he could make out a melodic singing voice that echoed the air and penetrated his heart. It was like eating a citrus as the sweetness bursted in your mouth, like fresh flowers blooming in spring radiated by the sun and the soft wind breeze. Liang Zhao walked towards the voice and eventually saw the back of Lan Yue, the Madam of the Blue Moon–one of the ten high towers built by a pure sage. 

"Miss Lan Yue truly deserves her reputation as the Lyrical Sage." 

Hearing his voice, Lan Yue turned gracefully to meet him. Her blue and white robes match the moon and the stars in the sky. Her long silky dark hair as it flowed like soft waves of the oceans. A gentle smile placed on her face as her eyes shone like stars.

"Liang Zhao, you're here."

He nodded and hummed in confirmation. "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" 

"Can't I invite you just because? Seeing as you are going into seclusion, I wanted to chat with you."

"Yeah." 

Liang Zhao nodded and sat by the table near Lan Yue. Lan Yue hid a chuckle from under her sleeves. 

She joked and poured him some tea, "You're still the same as always, is it so hard to have a conversation?"

Accepting the tea cup respectfully Liang Zhao responded, "When there's nothing to talk about, it's hard."

"When I first met you 600 years ago, I thought––this man…hates me!"

"No way!"

She laughed, "The way you were looking at me and talking to me was like a brick wall! Nothing I said or did came back with more than a yes or a no."

"That's because I didn't know you at all! With my life on the line I had to be wary of people, especially pretty people."

Her cheeks reddened a little and she looked away to conceal it. 

"If you go into seclusion, women will fall for your flattery!"

"Hmm, that might be a good idea."

"Yes, yes, that would be a good…" She stopped mid sentence and turned towards him, looking him in the eye. "Wait a minute…Liang Zhao?"

Liang Zhao looked at her with complete confusion, "Is something the matter?"

"Are you sick!?" Lan Yue asked with concern. 

"Sick?" He looked down and up not realizing what she meant. "If a sage were to be sick, the whole world would be dead."

"No, no, no. That wasn't what I meant. You…Okay let me think of how to ask this…"

She thought about it for what felt like seconds.

"You said that it wasn't a bad idea?"

"Yeah."

"Can we clarify what that good idea was?"

"To flatter women?"

"Right! That's it! For as long as I've known you, you've never been interested in three things. Romance! Women! And Rules! Why all of a sudden!?"

"It's not like I wasn't interested, but it wasn't a great time to be looking for love or those kind of stuff."

"Now you are?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me honestly, is this for your novels."

"How did you know?"

 "Sigh~ of course. That's the only thing you're interested in." 

"I thought about it over and over again." He gets up and views the moon above. "I want to know how love feels. Is it as sweet and warm as they say it is? Is it as heartbreaking and painful as the stories tell? I won't ever know unless I see the stories upfront. This is why I hit my writer's block. I don't have anything to write about. No experience and no meaning I want to tell."

Lan Yue saw his serious expression and knows that he had been thinking about this problem for a long time. 

"Love, huh."

Liang Zhao looks at Lan Yue with a curious look.

"Have you felt love?"

She stared at Liang Zhao and for a moment hesitated to speak. 

"I…Think that love is like looking at the moon." She points at the moon above. "Have you seen how many people adored the moon?"

Liang Chen smiles and nodded. 

"What did they seem like to you? Crazy?"

"A little."

"Maybe they are. Love is sort of like that. Sometimes, I think that no matter how much I view the moon, it won't ever look back at me. My heart is filled with sadness at the thought that I would never be able to walk alongside the moon, but can only look up to see it when night falls."

"But you're a sage, you can just.."

She chuckled at his naivety "That's not the point. Love to me, is like watching the moon rise and fall. When it's here, I'll be so happy that I don't know what to do. When it's gone, I'll be sad and look forward to the next time we meet. I just wish that…the next time we meet…we can stay together for a bit longer….I'm not expecting that the moon would stay by my side forever or that I can keep the moon all to myself, but I hope that the moon would notice me even a bit more than the others every now and then. I just hope that the moon can shine its bright light at me just once so that I can tell it what I feel. Lets just call it..a bit of selfishness."

Liang Zhao stood still and thought about the things that Lan Yue expressed. He stared at the moon, but had no thoughts running. It was as if he was staring at the moon in order to calm his heart, to distract it. 

"So? What do you think love is?"

"Love…" He stops for a while and continues. 

"Love is like writing a letter. We have a million things to say, a million things we want the other person to know, but at the same time the letter gets scraped up over and over again with doubts, fears, and delusions. Eventually we never send out the letter and we never hear back. Even if you love them, what can you do? All you can do is help them from behind and hope that their journey goes well."

"So we're kind of the same."

"How so? I feel like we're completely opposites." He drinks his teacup and puts it down, "I wish to help them from behind without obstructing their way, while you want them to notice you. Isn't that complete opposites?"

"I guess so. But you know?" She leans in her head supported by her hand against the table. "In the end, we both want love. Don't you think so?"

Their eyes looked to one another for a second, but Liang Zhao looked away and smiled. "How could it be the same? What if it's all just made up in our demons as sweet lies meant to trick us?"

"How do you tell from the lies? How do you tell it from the truth? The only way to know…is to try it."

"...Even if you end up regretting it later on?"

"We are cultivators, we live long lives and our powers are immeasurable. What can't we outlive? Eventually all things turn to dust, much less regret."

"..I…" Liang Zhao opened his mouth for a while, but no sounds came out. Only a sigh. A short and tiring sigh.

He once again stared up at the moon. "I see…"

Lan Yue looked at Liang Zhao for a second and then at the moon. 

"I like you." 

Lan Yue's words spoke aloud as she looked at the moon.

She continued her words, "What about you?"

Silence ensued as she waited for an answer…

Lan Yue turned to Liang Zhao and said with a slight smile, "As expected, the moon won't answer me."