Side Story 5: The Beginning (5)

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Bonus chapter! Thank you to katt for the donation! ^^

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 Time passes swiftly, and in the blink of an eye, over a thousand years have gone by.

 For many living beings, this span is unimaginably long, but for a god, it is merely a drop in the ocean.

 Gods possess endless life.

 For over a thousand years, Si Qing had remained within Si Ming's divine palace, never once stepping beyond the bounds of the two world cores, nor ever demanding to leave.

 He was never one to act willfully.

 A millennium of confinement would surely be lonely for most, but perhaps because he had his teacher by his side, Si Qing did not feel that way.

 His teacher would bring him books from countless realms, along with various rare and precious treasures. Even though he had never left the divine palace, through his teacher, he had witnessed the wonders of all existence.

 Si Qing felt deeply grateful to have met his teacher and to have become his student.

 Although, his teacher was somewhat different from other teachers.

 Si Qing had never interacted with outsiders, nor had he ever witnessed how other people relate to one another. All his understanding came from books.

 Yet, he had a vague sense that something about his relationship with his teacher was unusual, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

 It didn't feel entirely like a typical teacher-student relationship, nor did it resemble that of father and son. Si Qing couldn't find a more fitting term to describe the bond between them.

 If he had to put it into words, they were simply deeply important to one another.

 Si Ming hardly ever stayed in the main hall anymore; even when cultivating, he would remain in the library to keep Si Qing company.

 One would read quietly, while the other cultivated in silence, as if time had frozen in that very moment.

 This, perhaps, was the essence of peaceful years.

 Thus, the two of them spent over a thousand years in each other's company, and neither ever grew weary of it.

 Just like now: Si Ming sat with his eyes closed, deep in cultivation, while Si Qing leaned against him, absorbed in a storybook. The only sound in the library was the occasional rustle of pages turning.

 Even gods can grow drowsy, especially someone like Si Qing, who had not yet fully come into being and whose soul was still quite fragile. As he read, he gradually grew tired and eventually succumbed to sleep, his head falling onto Si Ming's shoulder, the storybook slipping from his hand and scattering on the floor.

 Noticing this, Si Ming slowly opened his eyes. He halted his cultivation, gently drew Si Qing into his arms, and let him rest with his head on his lap.

 The arrogance of a supreme god had long since vanished in the presence of the youth. He willingly served as a pillow for him, even taking delight in it.

 Si Qing, too, had long grown accustomed to Si Ming's presence. He shifted slightly in his sleep, adjusting his position, and soon fell into a deep slumber with his head resting on Si Ming's lap.

 A thousand years of companionship had made them the most familiar presence in each other's lives. It had also accustomed Si Qing to Si Ming's occasionally intense gaze, allowing him to sleep soundly even under such watchful eyes.

 Si Ming gazed at the defenseless figure in his arms, his eyes dark and unreadable. His gaze was so intense it seemed he wanted to devour the person he held completely.

 Yet, in the end, He merely gently and restrainedly brushed aside the hair scattered across the youth's face, allowing him to sleep more comfortably.

 Storybooks lay scattered across the floor. With a slight movement of Si Ming's fingertips, the books levitated into the air, automatically flying back to their places on the bookshelf.

 The book Si Qing had been reading was left open; he had clearly only finished half. As it floated up, Si Ming inadvertently glimpsed its contents.

 In the next second, the book that should have returned to the shelf instead hovered before Si Ming. Its pages began to flip rapidly on their own, as if moved by an unseen wind, turning from beginning to end in an instant.

 The story within was simple, mainly depicting a tale of a rootless protagonist who, through his own efforts, cultivated to ascension.

 It briefly mentioned his senior brother.

 Before the protagonist formally became a disciple, his master already had one student. This senior brother had always harbored improper feelings for their master. Seeing the protagonist receive the master's favor, the senior brother grew jealous and resentful, desiring to kill the protagonist to once again become the master's sole disciple.

 But the protagonist was, after all, the protagonist. He overcame every disaster and eventually exposed the senior brother's true nature.

 Master-disciple relationships were already a grave taboo in the cultivation world, and coupled with the senior brother's attempts to harm his junior, his crimes were compounded. He was directly expelled from the sect, fell into demonic ways to become the story's antagonist, and ultimately met his end by his junior brother's sword.

 Though the account was brief, his downfall was utterly tragic.

 Si Ming frowned in displeasure. In an instant, the entire book was consumed by a dark mist, vanishing without a trace.

 Not just that book—several others disappeared from the shelf as well. And His figure vanished from the library.

 By the time Si Qing woke from his sleep, the library held only him.

 Si Qing was accustomed to his teacher's unpredictable comings and goings, and to his teacher tidying the scattered books for him. He sat up, stretched with a yawn, and rose to walk to the bookshelf.

 But as he reached out to select a book, his hand froze mid-air.

 His teacher's divine authority was related to the concept of causality. Wherever he took a book from, his teacher could make it return to that exact spot.

 Yet the book he hadn't finished reading was gone.

 Not just that one—several other books were missing from the shelf.

 Si Qing possessed a remarkable memory, nearly photographic. A single glance told him exactly which volumes were absent.

 His teacher had never shown any interest in these storybooks, never read them. It was impossible that He had taken them to read.

 Had his teacher destroyed them?

 It's just a storybook. Even if he neglected his teacher because of it, only the one he was just reading should have been destroyed. Why did his teacher seek out and destroy the ones he'd read before as well?

 Was there something wrong with those books?

 Si Qing recalled the contents of those storybooks, trying hard to analyze and find the common thread.

 ...A master-disciple romance?

 These books all involved, to varying degrees, a romance between master and disciple, and the endings all seemed to be... tragic?

 Si Qing stared blankly at the bookshelf. So that was it.

 His teacher's unusual possessiveness, and that indefinable relationship between them, seemed to have an answer in this moment.

 His teacher loved him.

 Love?

 Si Qing had existed alone from the start, and later had only ever met his teacher. He didn't understand what love was, and he didn't know if he loved Si Ming. All he knew was that after these millennia of companionship, he had grown accustomed to Si Ming's presence.

 He was accustomed to His dominance, accustomed to His arrogance, accustomed to His tyranny, and accustomed to His possessiveness over him.

 Being with Him wasn't unpleasant. That was enough.

 Besides, he was no match for his teacher anyway. The possibility of escaping from his teacher was practically zero. There weren't really any other choices.

 "Awake?" Si Ming's deep voice sounded behind Si Qing.

 Hearing this, Si Qing turned around. He looked at the person behind him, the corners of his eyes slightly curving. "Yes."

 His gaze fell on the books in Si Ming's hand, a trace of confusion in his voice. "Teacher, did you go out?"

 Si Ming indifferently uttered an "Mmm," handed one of the books to Si Qing, and placed the remaining ones back on the bookshelf.

 When Si Ming usually left on business, it would take several days. It was rare for Him to return after only half a day. It seemed He hadn't left for business, after all.

 Was it to go find books?

 Si Qing opened the book in his hand. It was similar to the previous mortal-cultivates-to-immortality storybooks, except this time, the protagonist's efforts didn't seem to be for ascension. The entire story was about love.

 ...And it was about a master and their disciple, no less.

 Si Qing: "..."

 From that day on, the divine library gained countless new books from various worlds.

 Without exception, they were all about the love between teacher and student.

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