As he squeezed the small pouch once more, Yue’er, sitting nearby, frowned and said, “Precious Ling, are you really listening to me? You’ve only been sitting here for less than a quarter of an hour, and you’ve squeezed that small pouch three times.”
Yue’er paused and added, “Could it be that something’s going on with you?”
Feng Xuan: “?”
He looked puzzled, “What could be going on?”
Seeing his bewildered expression, it was clear that the Heartless Pearl inside him was still having some effect.jpg
Yue’er put down the red thread she was holding and said mysteriously, “It’s about your big devil husband.”
Feng Xuan didn’t expect Yue’er to know about this matter, but remembering that her job was to oversee mortal romances, he corrected her, “Mind your words. He’s my former Dao companion.”
“Oh, alright, former Dao companion,” Yue’er said. “Now that you know about this mortal marriage, what do you plan to do?”
Feng Xuan was taken aback, “What do you mean, what to do?”
Actually, for a god to go through a tribulation, even an emotional one, wasn’t unusual.
In the mortal world, they might have a few fleeting romances, but since mortals’ lives were so short, after a hundred years, they’d turn to dust. Thus, after returning to their divine status, the ties to their mortal romances naturally broke.
Someone like Qi Zhuoyu was an anomaly.
To rise to the position of Demon Venerable, with such overwhelming power that even gods feared him, was rare.
It could be said that within the Three Realms, he was the only one of his kind.
If he truly wanted to do something to Feng Xuan, it would be hard for White Jade Capital to come out unscathed.
Yue’er continued, “What if your mortal husband wants to rekindle your relationship?”
She asked casually, not knowing Qi Zhuoyu’s intentions, and besides, inside her family’s Precious Ling was the Heartless Pearl of their Moon Palace’s Zhen Palace, capable of severing any immortal fate.
After all, Yue’er knew Feng Xuan very well.
He was someone who, even at ten thousand years old, still felt young and wanted to play a bit more, not wanting to be tied down.
After a while, Feng Xuan finally spoke, “I don’t know.”
His expression was conflicted, clearly troubled.
Yue’er: ???
Yue’er: !!!
What do you mean you don’t know?!
Shouldn’t you be saying you disagree?!
After Feng Xuan finished speaking, he left.
He left behind a stunned Yue’er.
A moment later, the Taiyin Goddess returned to the Moon Palace.
Seeing her little disciple with a serious expression, she tugged at her skirt and said, “Master, I need to ask you something. Our Moon Palace’s Heartless Pearl, it hasn’t expired yet, right?”
The Taiyin Goddess: ?
Just when Feng Xuan thought Qi Zhuoyu had finally remembered his protagonist role, returned to the Chaotic Sea to restart his career, and probably wouldn’t come back to White Jade Capital, he suddenly appeared one night.
At first, Feng Xuan didn’t know he had come.
He was, as usual, sleeping on the wooden bed under the Wutong Divine Tree. The night was cold, so he had layered several thick divine wool blankets, making him feel like he was sinking into a cloud of white cake.
Then Feng Xuan had a strange dream.
He dreamt he had really turned into a piece of white cake.
He accidentally fell to the ground, unnoticed by anyone. Eventually, a stray cat spotted him, picked him up, licked and bit him, but didn’t swallow him. Instead, it kneaded him with its paws. He felt so suffocated, buried in the cat’s fur, that he could hardly breathe.
Then he woke up.
He realized it wasn’t a dream causing him to struggle for breath.
It was because he was actually being held tightly in Qi Zhuoyu’s arms.
Looking up, he didn’t know how long he had slept.
His face looked a bit pale, almost bloodless. Qi Zhuoyu’s face always looked quite pale throughout the year, but recently it seemed even more weakened.
Feng Xuan instinctively sniffed the air for any scent of blood but found nothing.
Qi Zhuoyu hadn’t been slaughtering people in the demon clan, so why did he look worse than before? His eyes were dark-circled, indicating sleepless nights. Could it be that he was staying up all night to cultivate? He was already so powerful; why would he need so much more cultivation?
Sometimes, he really couldn’t understand this man.
More importantly, though.
Why was he being held in Qi Zhuoyu’s arms?
Feng Xuan pushed him away expressionlessly.
With that push, Qi Zhuoyu woke up.
He opened his eyes, looking a bit confused.
Feng Xuan wondered what right this man, who had crawled into someone else’s bed in the middle of the night, had to be more confused than the host.
After a moment, Feng Xuan asked, “Why are you sleeping in my bed?”
Qi Zhuoyu replied, “Qifeng Palace only has this one bed.”
It made sense.
For a moment, Feng Xuan couldn’t find a reason to argue.
“You still can’t just sleep in my bed,” Feng Xuan sat up and explained, “It’s not right.”
“What’s wrong with it?” Qi Zhuoyu said, “In the mortal world, we used to sleep in the same bed too.”
“That was in the mortal world. And back then, we were nominally Dao companions, so we could share a bed,” Feng Xuan hesitated, “But I already told you before, I haven’t remembered my past memories, so our relationship, to round it off, should be as good as separated.”
Qi Zhuoyu sneered, “Separated?”
instinctively sensed that his mood was a bit off.
He quickly changed the subject, “In any case, if you want to sleep in my bed in the future, you need my permission.”
“Aren’t you busy in the Chaotic Sea? You didn’t even have time to send a message. I thought you weren’t planning to come back to White Jade Capital, so why are you here tonight?”
Qi Zhuoyu replied, “The Chaotic Sea is unstable, I need to resolve some issues.”
After he spoke, Feng Xuan didn’t doubt him because he had overheard discussions in Lingxiao Palace. Apparently, something had happened in Biluo River too, which seemed to trouble all the divine clans.
Feng Xuan was silent for a moment.
Remembering the dark circles under Qi Zhuoyu’s eyes, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
He genuinely wanted to share some of Qi Zhuoyu’s burdens.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Qi Zhuoyu burst out laughing.
It was a genuinely amused laugh, rare on his face.
But it also significantly bruised a certain salted fish’s self-esteem.
He held back but couldn’t resist, feeling a bit annoyed, “What are you laughing at? Are you looking down on me?”
Although he was indeed a bit lazy.
But if Qi Zhuoyu was willing to teach him, he would learn quickly.
“No,” Qi Zhuoyu’s sudden survival instinct kicked in.
“Are you sure you want to help me? You don’t like killing, do you? Those corpses, with blood splattering everywhere, will stain your favorite clothes.”
Feng Xuan hesitated, “I can do non-killing tasks too. Don’t your demon clan have those who write books or do clerical work?”
Seeing how serious Feng Xuan was, Qi Zhuoyu realized he wasn’t just talking.
He softened his tone, somewhat teasingly, “So eager to help me manage the demon clan? There’s no rush. When you marry into the Chaotic Sea, you can write as many documents as you want.”
Feng Xuan: ? What nonsense. He’s seriously thinking about helping! And what’s with marrying into the Chaotic Sea to do paperwork?
Feng Xuan showed a face of not wanting to deal with him.
Qi Zhuoyu, however, seemed amused by his expression and started laughing maniacally again.
After laughing enough, he somehow produced a simple yet beautiful necklace.
On either side hung four pearls from the East Sea, with a small snow shell in the center.
Before Feng Xuan could react, Qi Zhuoyu had already placed the necklace around his neck.
“What is this?”
“A necklace.”
Feng Xuan: …
Thanks, he wasn’t blind, he could see that.
“Why are you giving me a necklace?”
“It’s a gift,” Qi Zhuoyu said, lifting an eyelid, “If you don’t want it, you can throw it away.”
… He didn’t say he wanted to throw it away.
Every time Qi Zhuoyu gave him something, it was always quite expensive. Feng Xuan felt that this necklace might not be as simple as it appeared.
So, he covered the necklace with his divine consciousness. Immediately, he saw a vast space filled with heaps of heavenly materials and treasures, spirit stones and veins, gold, silver, and jade, and even those ancient artifacts that had disappeared since the primordial times. There were hundreds of them, each with a known name.
With just one glance, Feng Xuan gasped in shock.
Then he gripped the necklace tightly and looked at Qi Zhuoyu nervously. “…Big devil.”
Qi Zhuoyu responded, “Hm?”
Feng Xuan’s voice trembled, “You said you were recently handling matters in the Chaotic Sea. Could it be that you went on a treasure-robbing spree?”
Qi Zhuoyu looked at him with an expression that seemed to say “Is there something wrong with your brain?”.
Feng Xuan asked, “How do you have so many treasures?”
Qi Zhuoyu’s expression showed a subtle satisfaction, “Is it a lot? Well, compared to two hundred years ago, it is a bit more.”
Feng Xuan suddenly felt the necklace was burning hot in his hands.
These treasures, let alone the demon realm, even the divine clan didn’t have this many primordial artifacts.
He felt overwhelmed by sudden wealth.
He wanted to take it off and return it to Qi Zhuoyu, but the latter said calmly, “It used to be yours.”
Feng Xuan, “Huh?”
When he was in the mortal world before, was he a second-generation wealthy person?
“You left it at Zhujian Xiaozhu before you took the thunder tribulation for me.”
Feng Xuan: So, this is a relic he left for the big devil.
Qi Zhuoyu looked at him, “Now it has returned to its original owner.”
Feng Xuan: This doesn’t seem right. Carrying so many treasures with him, he feared he would be robbed the moment he stepped out of Qifeng Palace.
Qi Zhuoyu suddenly leaned against his shoulder and laughed softly, “You’re still the same as before.”
Feng Xuan thought: Maybe a bit different would be better.
Looking at the relic necklace, he remembered the fact that he had taken the thunder tribulation for Qi Zhuoyu.
Feng Xuan never expected that he was once a love-struck romantic.
He thought that’s why he had this urge to go wild and gather wild vegetables recently.
And Qi Zhuoyu coming to Qifeng Palace in the middle of the night, occupying his bed, and giving him such a valuable gift.
According to the mortal romance script, this should be the moment where the main characters confess their love and share their heartfelt emotions!
What a dilemma.
Should he come up with a few romantic lines to suit the occasion? To express his gratitude?
But he really couldn’t remember those past memories of love.
It felt like his emotions were shrouded in a mist, blurry, with a fluttering feeling trying to burst out of his chest, only to be gently suppressed.
“No need.” Qi Zhuoyu suddenly spoke.
Feng Xuan realized he was referring to not needing him to come up with romantic lines.
Qi Zhuoyu seemed to have developed a habit of pinching his face, and he did so with a few affectionate squeezes, “It’s okay if you forget about loving me.”
“To love someone is to suffer.”
He heard the man’s voice in the night, amidst the rustling leaves of the Wutong Divine Tree, ethereal as if coming from the horizon, “Xiao Qi has already suffered enough before, so from now on, let Senior brother suffer for you.”
Ah, que lindo 😭❤️