The rites began, the funeral procession took place, and then to Ban Yan Temple to entrust the spirit; it was busy for a full three days.
And when the final ceremony for entrusting the spirit concluded, the day they stayed overnight at Ban Yan Temple coincided with New Year’s Eve. Yet, none of them had the interest to celebrate; they quietly consumed a fairly sumptuous vegetarian meal before retreating to rest at the Layman Forest in the back mountain of the temple.
Since the quarters at Layman Forest were naturally very simple, after Shang Ruyi finished her bath and entered the room, she found it spacious, divided into inner and outer sections separated only by a silk curtain. However, there was just one bed placed against the wall in the inner section, and the outer section had only two low tables and several carpets without any other adornments.
Shang Ruyi immediately furrowed her brows—
How were they supposed to sleep in such a setup?
But when she looked around again, Yu Wenye was nowhere to be seen. Logically, he should have returned to the room first after bathing and changing clothes. Why was he missing?
Could it be that he went to sleep in another room?
But just a while earlier during the vegetarian meal, the host of Ban Yan Temple had specifically come over to say that the Layman Forest rooms were in short supply, leading Aunt Hui and Jinyun to also have to squeeze into shared accommodations. Given that she and Yu Wenye were husband and wife, they certainly could not be separated.
After contemplating, Shang Ruyi dared not lie down first, especially since, due to the previous incident on that one night, she absolutely did not want to appear flustered in front of Yu Wenye again.
Thus, she donned a coat and stepped out.
The group was indeed exhausted from these past few days, and they had shut their doors to sleep early. The entirety of Layman Forest was left with only the sounds of insects and birds in the woods, which accentuated the nighttime stillness, making even her light footsteps somewhat conspicuous.
Shang Ruyi walked two laps around the courtyard, and just as she reached the entrance to Layman Forest, she heard voices outside on the long path of bluestones—
"So, the last time you saw him was when he came to stay six months ago?"
"Where did they go after that?"
"Second Young Master, please forgive me. The Eldest Young Master’s whereabouts are always uncertain, and he remains solitary; we dare not inquire hastily."
The voice belonged to Yu Wenye and the host of Ban Yan Temple, Master Du Hai. Their conversation tone was neither too high nor too low and didn’t seem like a secret talk, but Shang Ruyi instinctively stopped upon hearing these words, then promptly turned back to the room.
And even with the door closed, near the bedside brazier, she still felt waves of coldness rising from her feet.
In a moment of slight confusion, the door to the room was pushed open.
Looking up, she saw Yu Wenye enter, bathed in the chilly moonlight; he seemed to be carrying a cloth bag with some dirt on it.
Shang Ruyi felt tense immediately, sitting stiff-backed on the bedside watching him.
Yu Wenye also looked at her.
After a moment, a faint cold smile appeared on his face, "Rest assured and sleep well."
After speaking, he did not head to the inner section but instead sat beside a low table in the outer section, pouring out a bag of stones from the cloth bag onto the table, making a rustling sound as they spread across its surface.
Shang Ruyi was puzzled—what was he doing?
At this moment, sleeping was not an option, nor was going outside, so she could only sit by the bed, watching Yu Wenye arrange the stones in various forms, either gathering or scattering them, regardless of the dirt, then moving a few, looking again, then adjusting a few more.
It was akin to a child playing a game.
After arranging for a while, seemingly sensing Shang Ruyi’s gaze, he turned to her, seeing her face filled with fatigue yet determined not to lie down, for some reason his expression turned even more unpleasant with a cold smile, "What’s wrong? Do you need to tie me up before you feel secure?"
Shang Ruyi roughly knew what he was referring to about that night’s incident, even though it clearly was his fault, for some reason, bringing it up again seemed as if she was being overly confident and presumptuous. She did not want to quarrel with him as things had become quite strained, especially since Guan Yunmu had just passed away, and this mother had indeed not treated her poorly.
Thus, she picked up a blanket from the bed and walked out, handing it to him.
"If you feel cold, take this."
Yu Wenye merely glanced up at her, saying nothing, yet he grabbed the blanket and coldly placed it at his feet.
After doing this, Shang Ruyi did not immediately turn away; instead, she continued standing beside him, looking at the various shapes of stones piled on the table. Yu Wenye remained silent for a while, then said, "Do you still not want to go back to sleep?"