Chapter 119: The Puppet's Love

At the entrance of the Palace of Ten Thousand Forms, Crown Prince Tiande knocked on the door. After a moment, a celestial maiden appeared and bowed to him.

“Your Highness, the Supreme Deity has gone to wander the four corners of the world,” she said.

“Oh? Did the Supreme Deity say when he would return?” Tiande inquired.

“She said it would be half a year to a year before he comes back,” the maiden replied.

Tiande smiled triumphantly and left the Palace of Ten Thousand Forms.

Deep within Kunlun Void, the Supreme Deity Wu Xiang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sky. After a moment, a lone white wild goose descended opposite him, transforming into Lu Xue.

“Was the wedding a joyous occasion?” Wu Xiang asked.

Lu Xue nodded happily.

“You must also handle my affairs. If you fail, Han Qing will never return,” Wu Xiang warned.

“Understood! Supreme Deity, please command,” Lu Xue replied.

Wu Xiang leaned close to Lu Xue’s ear and whispered instructions. “You may practice privately, but make sure he cooperates! I am offering you a mutually beneficial arrangement—do you understand?”

“I understand!” Lu Xue affirmed.

“Go now!” Wu Xiang said, hands behind his back.

“Supreme Deity, after Han Qing’s dispersed soul gathers into the artificial body to form his primordial spirit, will he always use this new body?” Lu Xue asked.

“Of course. His old body is dead. Didn’t I tell you?” Wu Xiang answered impatiently.

“Is this artificial body capable of marital relations?” Lu Xue asked bluntly.

Wu Xiang sneered, “That depends on your own ability. You may try, but don’t damage your Han Qing. If you ruin my plans, I’ll make you truly understand what marital relations mean!”

Wu Xiang’s words left Lu Xue both thrilled and fearful. She hurriedly pledged, “Yes! I will obey all your orders!”

After bidding farewell to Wu Xiang, Lu Xue resumed personally selecting items for her wedding. Wu Xiang swiftly departed to the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Within the Splendid Fragrance Palace of the Thirty-Three Heavens, the Heavenly Emperor drank heartily, holding the Nine Flowers Celestial Consort in his arms, both laughing joyously. “Recently, I received the wedding invitation—Ha! The Supreme Deity Yunxiao has been reborn and won a great victory. The first thing he does upon returning is get married and enter the bridal chamber. To lie in a crystal coffin for five hundred years must have been quite frustrating!”

The Nine Flowers Celestial Consort covered her mouth, laughing. “Heavenly Emperor, you are truly wicked!”

A celestial maiden reported, “Your Majesty, Nine Flowers Celestial Consort, Crown Prince Tiande is outside requesting an audience.”

The Heavenly Emperor frowned. “Is the Splendid Fragrance Palace a place for him to come? Tiande, now crown prince, grows increasingly disrespectful and improper!”

Nine Flowers smiled softly, “Perhaps it is an urgent matter.”

The Heavenly Emperor slammed his wine cup on the table. “What urgent matter? The Netherworld launched a massive assault, yet this crown prince didn’t even show his face and couldn’t even mobilize a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers! Perhaps the crown prince title should be given to Tian Sheng! I see Tian Sheng is no puppet; Tiande is the real puppet!”

Nine Flowers gently soothed him, “Please do not be angry, Your Majesty. Perhaps the crown prince is strategizing behind the scenes. Why not let him in and hear what he has to say?”

The Heavenly Emperor waved to an attendant, “Let him come in!”

Tiande strode into the hall. “Everyone else out,” he ordered, dismissing the attendants. He bowed his head respectfully to the Heavenly Emperor and Nine Flowers.

“What do you have to say?” the Heavenly Emperor asked, displeased at Tiande’s attitude.

Tiande clasped his hands. “Tian Sheng is secretly mobilizing troops, colluding with the Great Sound True God, conspiring and scheming. His treacherous intentions are clear. I urge you, Father, to decide quickly and strike him down with heavenly thunder immediately after the Supreme Deity’s wedding!”

“The war is urgent and unexpected. Although Tian Sheng disobeys orders, he achieved a great victory. A mere salary deduction should suffice as punishment. Your ruthless approach—are you afraid Tian Sheng will take your crown prince position?” The Heavenly Emperor’s face darkened.

Tiande quickly explained, “Father, you misjudge me! I fear Tian Sheng is already controlled by the Scarlet Flame Demon Star, commanding the heavens’ armies to seize power! This matter cannot be treated lightly; we must eliminate the root. The Great Sound True God and the Nether King are dead, but the Scarlet Flame Demon Star remains, indicating another player. The Greedy Wolf Star in the northwest suddenly brightened, signaling instability in the heavens. Father, you must be vigilant!”

The Heavenly Emperor slammed the table. “All these years I listened to you suppress Tian Sheng and the Jade Pure Realm, even killed the Great Sound True God on your advice. And what was the result? The Great Sound perished, and now you claim the Scarlet Flame Demon Star has others behind it! If I handed the heavens to you, it would already belong to the Netherworld! Tiande! How much have you deceived me all these years? I am greatly disappointed!”

Tiande glanced at Nine Flowers Celestial Consort. She quickly offered tea to the Heavenly Emperor and smiled, “Your Majesty has had too much wine. Please do not be angry. Perhaps Tiande has misunderstood Tian Sheng. Please listen calmly.”

The Heavenly Emperor took the tea and sipped it but sensed something amiss. He slammed the cup down. “And you, Nine Flowers! How could you side with him—” Before he could finish, he fainted onto the table.

Nine Flowers raised her sleeve to cover her mouth, laughing softly. “What do you mean, how could I side with him?”

Tiande stepped forward and nudged the Heavenly Emperor, who showed no response but gave a cold smile. Nine Flowers joyfully rushed to him, cooing, “Your Majesty, does your beloved consort satisfy you?”

Tiande teasingly tilted Nine Flowers' chin and pressed her onto the table, pinning her wrists with one hand while stuffing a silk cloth into her mouth. As Nine Flowers tried to get close, Tiande whispered in her ear: “My little darling… you know too much. Since you’ve been so obedient, I’ll spare your life!” With that, he sealed her immortal body, bound her hands, and transformed a celestial binding rope, suspending her from a beam. Casting a spell, he hung the Nine Flowers Celestial Consort up…

Tiande stood easily with his hands behind his back. Behind him, Nine Flowers struggled violently, kicking and twitching, muffled by the silk gag, reaching desperately for Tiande but unable to grasp him or free herself. Her hair came loose in a wild frenzy, and a hairpin fell to the ground.

Tiande picked up the hairpin and sneered at the struggling Nine Flowers, “You are my father’s consort. If you become my beloved consort, would that not be treason and immoral?”

Nine Flowers hung suspended, struggling in agony, then quietly expired. Tiande waved his hand, and the corpses of the Heavenly Emperor and Nine Flowers vanished. He summoned the Nine Immortals’ Pilgrimage Flute, playing two notes. Before him appeared the Heavenly Emperor and Nine Flowers Celestial Consort’s spirits. Tiande placed the hairpin on the Heavenly Emperor’s head and turned with a sinister smile, leaving Splendid Fragrance Palace. Behind, the Heavenly Emperor placed the hairpin back on Nine Flowers’ head, and she smiled gently at him.

In the Jade Void Palace, he sat on the main throne with a faint smile, seemingly lost in thought. From afar, I watched, my heart aching deeply. Celestial beings and immortals clamored to congratulate him, bursting through the doors. He sipped tea leisurely, patiently receiving one group after another, no longer wearing the usual icy expression. He treated everyone kindly, but his eyes could not tolerate a single “Yu Fei” or the presence of me, “Bai Fei.”

While everyone busied themselves with the visiting guests, he remained calm and composed. Lu Xue, on the other hand, basked in the attention, flying up and down Kunlun Void, coming and going at will. She delighted in sharing the miracles she witnessed, recounting over and over: she had waited bitterly for forty thousand years, guarded the spirit alone for five hundred years, until one day the Great Sumeru Heaven trembled, and auspicious snow fell. Days later, the crystal coffin glowed brightly as the primordial spirit of Yunxiao gathered, emerging like a butterfly from its cocoon! All praised the God of Rebirth for sparing the living. They marveled that after waiting forty thousand years, the two finally embraced the clearing skies and bright moon, renewing their bond without separation. Wedding invitations were sent throughout heaven and earth, proclaiming their story for gods and mortals alike.

These days, the two received visitors together and toured the Jade Pure Divine Realm side by side, inseparable as glue. Chun Feng sought a chance to speak privately to him about Tiande’s evil deeds and a plan to eliminate Tiande but found no opportunity.

At night, the two shared a candlelit moment in Lu Xue’s chamber, pouring out endless sorrow and longing. Chun Feng forcibly made me wait nearby, hoping the two would finish and he could return to his chambers. But by the lamplight, their closeness was unmistakable. Lu Xue shed her garments and threw herself at him; he lifted her up, and the lights went out.

“Ah, already sleeping together every night before marriage. Forty thousand years apart, now that they’re alive, they’re going mad!” Chun Feng muttered angrily.

So this is what love looks like! My closest moments with him were but a forced kiss under a spell and an embrace beneath the pear tree in the Valley of Memories before the Battle of Luolong. To him, I was merely a pity to be lamented—a fleeting beauty clearly described in his letter to the Danxia Holy Mother. Yet I foolishly believed he loved me because of a storyteller’s words and a single feather! The more I thought, the more I felt like a joke, my heart bitter beyond measure. A fierce fire rose within me as I vowed, “Whether or not you want to know about Tiande’s deeds, I will avenge my own grievances! I will rescue Tian Sheng! I will eliminate the calamities of the heavens! Better yet, I’ll burn Tiande to ashes! Just don’t interfere!” I left Chun Feng behind and returned to Xiao Bai’s chamber.

That night, the two of them shared a candlelit moment in the chamber, pouring out endless sorrow and longing. Lu Xue reminisced about the past, her emotions rising. Seeing the deep affection in his eyes, she could no longer restrain her desire and began to undress. “Han Qing, tonight I wish to spend the spring night with you!”

“After the wedding is complete,” he replied.

“The wedding is near; tonight I shall be your wife,” Lu Xue declared, throwing herself at him. He lifted her gently and carried her to the bed. Lu Xue extinguished the lights. He laid her down softly. Her already exquisite beauty became even more radiant with passion. Lu Xue placed her hands on his shoulders, breathing heavily, her snow-white chest rising and falling, her beautiful eyes gazing at him with a dreamy, almost intoxicated look. With their faces so close, Lu Xue leaned in to kiss him. He raised his hand to block her, gently removing her hands from his shoulders and placing them on the bed. Lu Xue looked at him with deep affection, allowing him to guide her. Yet he carefully arranged her hands and pulled a brocade quilt over her, then rose and transformed into his true white dragon form, coiling around the beams.

“Han Qing’s artificial body is also a gentleman,” Lu Xue said, feeling both disappointed and deeply moved.