Chapter Ninety-One: Another Journey to the Qilin Realm

After returning from the Muco Grasslands to the Island of a Hundred Flowers, I gave the Black Tortoise to Spring Breeze and had him take it back to the Jade Purity Realm.

When I entered the Morninglight Grotto, I resumed the form of Yu Fei and summoned the Azure Sea Bow, calling forth Biyou. Even Biyou was visibly startled when she saw my true appearance.

Then I told her everything: my ordeal in the Heavenly Palace, and how Celestial Virtue had laid his trap and framed me. I also told her that my master had gone into battle at Luogong only to be slain by Mingzhong, his spirit scattered beyond recovery. And with all the bitterness in my heart held back, I told her that my master had always held her dear.

Biyou wept that she had failed to repay her master’s kindness. As she cried, she thought of her own teacher, the Holy Mother of Danxia, and her sorrow deepened into longing.

“Biyou, Celestial Virtue is our common enemy. He now holds the Prince’s Seal, and behind him stand the Five Hills, Eight Marshes, and the power of the Heavenly Palace. If we oppose him openly, the Netherworld may seize the chance to invade. We must keep our affairs secret. We need to win the support of the provinces and departments of the heavens, and gradually hollow him out until we take away his military and administrative power.”

Biyou nodded in agreement.

“Will you persuade the Holy Mother of Danxia to unite the strength of the Five Peaks and Three Mountains?”

“I’ll do as you say, Yu Fei.”

Biyou and I reached an accord at once. After we had made our plans, I sent her back to the immortal realm of Penglai, where she had once lived and studied.

Upon reaching Penglai Pavilion, I called for Danxia in the name of the Great Sound True Divinity. The Holy Mother of Danxia came into the courtyard and saw a divine bow lying beneath the corridor, yet nowhere could she find a living soul.

Biyou emerged from within the Azure Sea Bow and called out, “Master.”

The Holy Mother of Danxia stared at Biyou in a daze. After a long while, tears streamed down her face, and she rushed forward to gather the Immortal Lord of Biyou into her arms, sobbing aloud.

Thus master and disciple were reunited.

From the eaves, I watched in silence before beating my wings and flying away, my heart filled with a grief too deep for words...

Though the Immortal Lord of Biyou had died unjustly, there had still come a day when she could meet her master again. Yet the word “Master” could no longer pass my lips...

Even if he had never truly loved me, even if he had only pitied me because I was Biyou, as long as he lived, it would have been enough for me to call him “Master” once more...

I flew back to the Island of a Hundred Flowers. In the Morninglight Grotto, I silently mended the great heap of garments Spring Breeze had thrown my way, my mood heavy and low.

In the past, his clothes had always been torn by Mountain River. Now that Mountain River no longer pestered him, they were being ripped by his playing with Little White and practicing martial arts. Every time, he found some way to keep me on the Island of a Hundred Flowers, and only when I had repaired the garments so flawlessly they seemed seamless would he let me be.

“Little Crow, if we tally this up, you’ll owe this lord a lifetime of mending clothes, and you’ll have to make new ones too!” Spring Breeze lounged on the couch, one leg crossed over the other, waving his folding fan with languid ease.

I smiled faintly, already knowing what he would say next.

“Do you remember our promise from five hundred years ago?” he asked.

“I remember.”

“Then it’s time for your answer.”

“Spring Breeze, I’m sorry.”

As though he had expected those words, Spring Breeze sat up from the couch, his expression turning solemn. “Little Crow, there are some things I must say to you.”

“Go on.”

“Your master knew from the beginning that you were a woman. If I had not struck you with the Dawn Spring Life Palm that day, he would never have taken you as his disciple. What he felt for you was only the affection of a master for a student. He was so protective of you because he pitied you,” Spring Breeze said.

“Spring Breeze, you and my master both think I am Biyou, don’t you? That I am her reincarnation after her suicide?” I said quietly.

Spring Breeze froze, then laughed. “Little Crow, who have you been listening to now?”

“You thought from the very start that I had been innocently swept into this and was pitiful beyond measure. Using the excuse of earning money, you forced me into the Jade Purity Realm and made my master care for me. Wasn’t that so?” I asked.

“Of course not! Making money comes first, naturally! What rumors have you been hearing now?” Spring Breeze fanned himself, his gaze drifting away as he searched for a reply.

“I saw Biyou in Muco. She is now the spirit of the Azure Sea Bow, and I have sent her to Penglai,” I said.

Spring Breeze was startled, then laughed. “Little Crow is Little Crow indeed. I always felt you were not Biyou. Little Crow is cuter than Biyou, fiercer, and far more mischievous. You two only look alike.”

“Biyou was not driven to suicide back then. She was killed by Celestial Virtue, stabbed through the heart with a dagger. He had originally intended to betroth himself to her. Coveting the power of the Thunder Marshes, he wanted to become the son-in-law of the Thunderlands, but feared losing face and being condemned by the people of Heaven. So he plotted to have Biyou killed.” Needle by needle, I carefully repaired Spring Breeze’s garments, and each stitch felt like a thorn driving into my heart.

“What!” Spring Breeze snapped his fan shut with a sharp crack.

“Spring Breeze, aside from the heavenly tribulation thunder of the Thirty-Third Heaven, is there any other way to remove his Prince’s Seal?” I asked.

“That seal bears the merit accumulated over countless lifetimes by the filial sons and worthy descendants of the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Unless he ascends to the throne of Heavenly Emperor and naturally relinquishes the seal, or unless the seal is broken by thunder when the proper time comes, there is also the possibility of the Heavenly Emperor removing it himself. But if the Heavenly Emperor removes it, he must use his own Heavenly Emperor Seal to replace the Prince’s Seal. As the saying goes, if a son is ill-bred, the fault lies with the father; having raised an unworthy son, he must remove the seal and confess his guilt. Unless the palace is forced, that old man will never agree,” Spring Breeze said.

“And if we force the palace?” I asked.

“That would not be impossible.” Spring Breeze was unconcerned.

“Good! Then first we gather the power of the provinces and departments to deal with the Netherworld. If there is no other way in the future, then we will force that old man to yield!” I said.

Spring Breeze smiled. “As for the Jade Purity Realm and the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, leave that to me. With your master gone, you still have me. Those bratty youngsters would not dare disobey my command! As for the Heavenly Palace, I have already made contact with Formless. I’ve handed everything over to him.”

“The Five Peaks and Three Mountains are Biyou’s responsibility. That leaves only the most troublesome of them all, the Five Hills and Eight Marshes...” I said.

“Forcing the palace is only the last resort. Besides, the Netherworld has not yet been eliminated. Leave that aside for now, and first answer what you promised me!” Spring Breeze said.

I paused. I did not want to disappoint Spring Breeze, yet I could not deceive my own heart. “I cannot forget him...”

“Who said you had to forget him? Just remember that he is your master. Whether or not you are Biyou, the one your master loved was Lu Xue, not you. Since you were his female disciple, he naturally worried more about you than the others. He used soul-seizing arts on you, but he also scattered his spirit for the beings of Heaven. His love for you was the love of care, of great compassion, not the love between man and woman,” Spring Breeze said.

I smiled faintly.

“Did your master ever say he loved you?”

“No.”

“Did he ever tell you to wait for him?”

“No.”

“Did he ever say he would marry you?”

“No.”

“Then what are you waiting for!”

“I know he will not return. I am not waiting for him. I am simply doing what I must. You need not wait for me either. I am not worthy of my master, and I am no more worthy of you. You deserve a better choice,” I said quietly.

“You’re still brooding over the Netherworld? If I were so narrow-minded, how could I ever serve as the great deity in charge of the seasons? Little White has been calling me Father for five hundred years already. Do you mean to let him go on forever having a father but no mother when he has a father, and a mother but no father when he has a mother?” Spring Breeze’s earnest expression made him look so much like my master.

My master had never said he liked me. I had never said I liked him either. I had simply carved him into my heart. If I had never met my master, perhaps I really would have agreed to Spring Breeze. He was kind to me like an old friend, like family. But how could this small heart, already overflowing with tears, contain two great gods?

“Mother, Father, are you quarreling?” Little White stood at the entrance of the grotto.

“No! Of course not! How would your father dare quarrel with your mother!” Spring Breeze immediately put on a smile again, walked over, and lifted Little White into his arms.

“Little White, why don’t you let Mother marry Father?” Spring Breeze asked.

“Then what about my Father-God?” Little White asked.

“Your Father-God, like your second uncle, has been worn out running about for the sake of all living things. He’s busy sleeping,” Spring Breeze lied without a flicker of hesitation.

“But when Father-God wakes up, he’ll be very sad.”

“Your Father-God is too tired, so he must keep sleeping. What if no one takes care of your mother?”

“I can! I can take care of Mother.”

“You’re still too little. What if someone bullies your mother?”

Little White thought for a moment, then said to me, “Mother, marry Father. Actually, I think it would still be all right to wait a little longer for Father-God. But Father-God hasn’t come back in five hundred years, and Mother can’t go without anyone to care for her. So Mother should marry Father. Father-God would certainly want Mother to be happy.”

Crystal tears trembled in those little eyes.

This child, ever since I first took him into my arms after his birth, had never cried, no matter how he was jostled or hurt, no matter how I scolded him, even when I was displeased with him or weary of him. I had once thought he might be as cold-blooded as his cruel father. But seeing him like this, I felt he was unlike Mingzhong after all.

I set the clothes aside and took Little White from Spring Breeze’s arms. “Be good. Mother is very happy. Having Little White is enough for me. I don’t need your father-god, and I don’t need to marry Spring Breeze Father.”

“Little Crow! Do you want me to pinch Little White to death?” Spring Breeze complained from the side.

Little White blinked away his tears and smiled. “Father, you were already too late either to win Mother’s heart or to pinch me to death.”

Spring Breeze pointed his fan at both Little White and me. “You two! A pair of rascals! You’re driving me mad. I must have owed you in my previous life!”

This hard-mouthed, soft-hearted deity had a heart full of warmth.

“Father, actually I think Aunt Mountain River is a better match for you,” Little White said to help me out.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Me and her, a match? An insult! Your eyes are clearly broken!” Spring Breeze glared and scolded Little White.

Little White stuck out his tongue at him.

“Mother has some free time lately and can keep Little White company. Why don’t we go out to play? Let Spring Breeze Father have a proper rest, all right?”

Five hundred years had passed. Since I had this leisure, I should take Little White out for a proper adventure and do my duty as a mother. Ever since I took him to Mount Luojia and let him pretend to be a little herbal boy, he had kept saying he had not played enough and wanted to go out and see the world. Taking Little White out for a while would also give Spring Breeze some freedom, so that this eternally single old god could hurry and sort out his lifelong affairs.

“Mother, I want to go to a lively town! The flower fairies said Kirin Town is very fun!” Little White said excitedly.

The moment he heard of a lively town, Little White became just like I once had been, filled with curiosity and delight.

I frowned slightly. Kirin Town again... It had been there, in Kirin Town, that everything had begun, from one fateful encounter and one decision. I was afraid that if I went there, I would not be able to stop myself from longing for him...

Spring Breeze guessed what I was thinking and hurriedly said, “Little Crow, you can’t just leave me behind! I’m going too! All I ever do these days is either look after children or plant trees.”

Seeing that I did not answer, he tugged at my sleeve and coaxed me in Little White’s manner. “My dear Mother, I want to go play in a lively town too. How pitiful it would be to leave me all alone.”

I said nothing, lost in the memories of those years... In the end, I still could not resist Spring Breeze’s persistence and Little White’s expectation, and so I went to Kirin Town...