Snow fell over Qingzhou early in the morning, turning the entire landscape into a silver world.
When Ye Futian arrived at the yard, his sight was filled with white snow, and Hua Nianyu was building a snowman in the middle. She even asked Hua Jieyu to help out while Xia Qingyuan stood on the sidelines and smiled.
At the sight of the happening, Ye Futian did not feel the cold of winter but a warmth that came from the deepest part of his heart.
Only those who had gone through the prosperity and vicissitudes of lives and returned to live a common life could understand the beauty in the ordinary.
“Brother-in-law, who do you think this looks like?” Hua Nianyu asked with a grin. She had built three snowmen in total. The one in the middle was a man, and the other two beside were women. Obviously, they were Ye Futian, Hua Jieyu, and Xia Qingyuan.
“What are they?” Ye Futian teased with a smirk on his face.
Hua Nianyu pouted like a pufferfish as the temperament of her brother-in-law and sister could never be adequately represented by mere snowmen.
“Let’s go for a walk to watch the snow in the city.” Ye Futian strolled forward with a gentle smile, leaving his footprints on the snowy ground.
Hua Jieyu and Xia Qingyuan went after Ye Futian without hesitation.
After leaving the courtyard, they came to Qingzhou Academy. Many youngsters could be seen there. When the youths saw the group coming, they gave way for the latter and greeted, “Brother Ye.”
Ye Futian nodded happily. A sudden chilly breeze blew on his long hair. Hua Jieyu immediately went behind him and put a white coat over him. After shrugging his shoulders, the coat was firmly wrapped around him. Meanwhile, Xia Qingyuan went before him to fix his collar.
“Wow…” the young boys exclaimed from the sidelines. They were staring at Ye Futian with a joyful and innocent look. They were rather envious of him.
Ye Futian was relatively popular in Qingzhou Academy since he was handsome, humorous, and loved talking big.
After they had gone further away, someone noted, “Look. What’s wrong with being common people? Isn’t Brother Ye a normal person? But look at him having beautiful girls surrounding him. What a lucky guy!”
“Just look at yourself in the mirror, will you?” one of the girls said with disgust. At once, the expression of the person who said that earlier immediately turned gloomy. It was only natural since Ye Futian’s had a stunning look.
“Judging from Brother Ye’s temperament, he does not come across as someone normal. He may not have the ability to turn his eyes into the sun and the moon or hold the stars in his hand, but as Mr. Hua’s disciple, he will not stay as an ordinary person,” the girl continued.
After that, her voice became softer, and she mumbled, “Who knows, but the thing about him turning his eyes into the sun and the moon might very well turn out to be true.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for Brother Ye?” a boy questioned. The girl’s face instantly turned red up to her ears.
“Well, if you were to compare with Miss Jieyu in terms of looks, ahem…” The boy really loved to run his mouth. Although the girl was young and graceful, she was in no way comparable to Hua Jieyu.
“Are you tired of living?” the girl chided as she glared at him.
“Okay, I’ll zip it!” The boy said, “Didn’t you see that Brother Ye needed a coat to go out? Since he’s afraid of cold, he must be a normal person. Brother Ye’s handsomeness and extraordinary temperament are indisputable, I’ll give you that, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s an ordinary person. Y’all can tell, right?”
“Perhaps he’s doing this because he’s injured?” the girl stated.
“Oh, snap!” The boy gaped at the girl and murmured, “She has completely fallen for him!”
After he spoke, he turned around and made his escape while the girl manifested a sword will, chasing after him.
The winter in Qingzhou Academy became more lively because of them.
After leaving Qingzhou Academy and walking on the streets of the city, Ye Futian caught the attention of many people since a lot of the citizens knew him. They would greet him passionately and show respect to Hua Jieyu and Hua Nianyu.
The entire city of Qingzhou was covered with a layer of white snow. All the old trees were coated with hoarfrost, turning into silver branches that looked truly magnificent.
Ye Futian was strolling in the snow randomly. His pace gradually became slower. Each step he moved forward would take a long time. Hua Jieyu and the others did not interrupt him but stayed behind silently.
At one point, Ye Futian’s body slowly turned incorporeal as if he would disappear into thin air at any time.
Xia Qingyuan was a little worried about him and afraid that something would befall him.
She immediately turned to look at Hua Jieyu, who stood beside her. But the latter shook her head, asking the former not to disturb him. As a person with a higher cultivation level, she knew Ye Futian had been in a state of meditation constantly lately.
Ye Futian’s body turned insubstantial from the tangible state and then slowly solidified.
“I am the Heavenly Path; I am who I am.” A voice resounded in Ye Futian’s mind. At that moment, he would emanate an exceptional temperament like that of a god or immortal, and then he would suddenly turn into a common folk who could not exude any aura.
In the end, he reverted to the earlier state where he would search for his true self.
Ye Futian raised a light smile on his face without saying a word and continued moving forward, leaving many footprints on the snowy ground. The passerby would stare at them curiously.
They wondered what he was doing, as his action was rather peculiar.
…
Things were quite lively in Qingzhou Academy. The youths were excited as the snow continued to fall. They were all playing in the snow with each other.
Nevertheless, the sound of the youngsters having fun subsided. Many of them went blank for a while before turning in the same direction.
Following that, the entire atmosphere went dead silent for a moment as everyone’s attention was on the end of the snowy ground. A silhouette in black came into sight all of a sudden.
The figure was burly and gallant with a remarkable temperament. Anyone could tell that this person was extraordinary at first sight as he gave off a domineering vibe. All the people would lower their heads as their gaze met his. They were all nervous at the sight of him.
“Who is this?” the crowds muttered.
The burly person shot a quick glance at Qingzhou Academy and stood on the snowy ground silently as if they were waiting for something.
The snowfall caused his black robe and hair to turn white slowly.
But he stood rooted to the spot against the snowstorm and gale like a statue without moving an inch.
“Who is he waiting for?” The teenagers became increasingly curious. After a while, there was a person heading toward Qingzhou Academy from outside in the snow. He was a handsome man dressed in white, and he was none other than Ye Futian.
The moment Ye Futian caught sight of the silhouette, he immediately became high-spirited and headed toward the latter.
The hearts of the youths of Qingzhou Academy skipped a beat at the sight of it. Did that person come looking for Brother Ye?
Was Brother Ye not an average person, after all?
“You’re finally here,” Ye Futian said as he stopped before Yu Sheng.
“Yeah.” Yu Sheng nodded and remained taciturn.
“Accompany me for a walk,” Ye Futian requested. Then he turned around and began walking. Yu Sheng followed behind and wandered around Qingzhou Academy with him.
Hua Fengliu watched the scene before his eyes on the academy grounds, reminiscing.
It was as if the time had gone back. Many years ago, the two youths would take a walk in Qingzhou Academy just like that.
They both headed toward the old tree and came to a halt. This place was once their lodging when they were still studying at Qingzhou Academy. At that time, there was a tree where they would lean against and rest.
Ye Futian halted his steps before the tree and sat on the snowy ground, leaning against the old tree.
Yu Sheng followed suit and leaned against the tree, sitting next to him.
Snowflakes fell from the sky consistently. There was no sound in the atmosphere as neither of them spoke. They sat there quietly, allowing the snow to gather on their bodies.
Who would’ve thought that the two people who were quietly sitting there were the avatar of the Heavenly Path and the Devil Emperor who ruled over the Devil Realm?