After Marrying the Lord of the Underworld

1.Margaret

 

It’s a new day again, Ah Mei flipped the sign at the bar’s entrance to the “open” side. She has already wiped the tables and the bar, watered the newly planted flowers in front of the bar, and opened the window to let in the fresh air.

 

Ye Feng and Yao Gou have gone to do exorcism commissions, and Lu Yingjiu had also followed Jing Xian back to the ghost world. The bartender was still not awake, dozing off behind the bar.

 

However, there were fewer people in the morning, and they had a lot of free time.

 

Ah Mei pushed her long hair behind her ears, sat by the window, and watched the vehicles coming and going on the road.

 

“…Have you heard of Mt. Gassan Village?” A voice came from behind.

 

Ah Mei was taken aback, turned her head, and saw the bartender casually scrolling through his phone, “It’s the Mt. Gassan Village near us, the one where a nursing home was burned down. I’m looking at the popular ghost stories recently, many of them are based on it. Look, some people say that the big fire was the wrath of the mountain god, and some people say that there is a group of lingering patients in the ruins of the nursing home, having a party every night.”

 

The bartender didn’t know that Mt. Gassan Village, the nursing home, and that mountain range had all been eroded by the Spider Mother, and Ah Mei was the one who came out of that village.

 

That incident was an unforgettable nightmare for her.

 

Ah Mei nodded slightly and vaguely said, “I’ve heard of it.”

 

The bartender was about to say something when he heard the bell at the door.

 

A customer came in.

 

The two of them served the customer and didn’t continue the topic.

 

When they talked about this again, it was already a few nights later.

 

The weekend nights were always lively, they were busy serving customers and making cocktails. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that the two of them closed the shop door and walked shoulder to shoulder to the bus stop a few hundred meters away.

 

The moonlight was slightly cool, and their footsteps interlaced.

 

Ah Mei started to say, “We… have known each other for almost two years, right?”

 

“To be precise, it’s been a year and a half.” The bartender’s steps were light, “I came in the summer, when the air conditioner just happened to be broken, and we fiddled with it for a long time.”

 

“Right.” Ah Mei laughed, “Yes, I remember.”

 

“Why suddenly say this?” The bartender asked, “Want to reminisce?”

 

“Sort of.” Ah Mei bit her lip, “Actually, my hometown is in Mt. Gassan Village…”

 

For the first time in history, she told an outsider about her past.

 

The bartender had dealt with exorcism, but was not good at it. He listened in a daze, and after a long time, he slowly said, “This is really unimaginable, it’s a miracle that you guys could escape.”

 

“They are very powerful,” Ah Mei said, “They can always run out.”

 

She took a long breath. “I’m not as fanatical as others, and I don’t believe in the Spider Mother, which is probably why I can still retain my consciousness and survive. Even so, I was once a monster.”

 

The bartender was silent for a while, then said, “I want to make you a Margarita.”

 

“Why?” Ah Mei was a bit surprised.

 

“My sister likes to drink Margaritas when she’s upset.” The bartender said, “After drinking it and then sleeping, all the troubles are gone.”

 

The next night, he really made a Margarita.

 

Margarita was a cocktail that was very suitable for women. The tequila and lemon juice were mixed with a unique fruit aroma, and the rim of the cup was made with lime juice and salt, which was sour, sweet and refreshing.

 

Ah Mei sat at the bar, sipping it in small sips. The light was dim, falling into the transparent cup, the bartender said, “I don’t want to persuade you to let go of the past, those words are easy to say, but everyone knows it’s unrealistic.”

 

Ah Mei swirled her glass and laughed, “Maybe…”

 

“But as far as I can see, you are no different.” The bartender said, “Your passion for life is more than most people, and I am very envious of this.”

 

He was right.

 

From the exquisite layout of the bar, the neat picture frames on the wall, the decorations carefully arranged on the bar, to the simple drawings on the small blackboard in front of the door, and the lush and vigorous plants – green leaves and brilliant flowers, without meticulous and passionate care, this kind of landscape is absolutely impossible.

 

Perhaps knowing that this peaceful life was hard-won, she was working very hard. Not only to repay Lu Yingjiu for bringing her out of the village, but also because she loves life.

 

The bartender said, “You will have a wonderful life.”

 

Ah Mei was slightly stunned.

 

Then her eyebrows relaxed a little, a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she asked softly, “…How old is your sister? Where is she?”

 

The bartender said, “She will always be eighteen, staying in the North Mountain Cemetery.’” He took out his phone and showed Ah Mei an old photo.

 

After a brief silence, Ah Mei said, “She’s very beautiful.”

 

“Thank you. If she could see you, she would say the same.”

 

After finishing the drink, it was late at night, and they walked out of the bar together.

 

Ah Mei suddenly said, “Hey, it’s blooming.”

 

On the windowsill outside the bar, the roses that were still budding in the afternoon suddenly bloomed warmly, with deep red and light yellow intertwined, which was very eye-catching.

 

Afterwards, they arranged flowers and plants together and drank Margarita many times. The flowers and plants at the door bloomed more and more vigorously each time, and Margarita carried a fruity aroma, shining like a yellow gem. They became volunteers, counseling and relieving the emotions of those who were traumatized in supernatural events, and always left a large bunch of flowers before leaving.

 

They occasionally talked about the past.

 

But in the end, when the cups clashed, the bartender would always laugh and say, “To passion.”

 

Ah Mei also raised her glass, hooked the corner of her mouth, and said, “To tomorrow.”

 

2.Pigeon

 

The sports car stopped by the sea.

 

The lights were far away, the dock and the sea were pitch black, and several ships were sinking and floating. The woman in the red dress lit a cigarette, took a deep breath in the sea breeze, the cigarette butt was orange, and vaguely reflected the delicate makeup.

 

Two young people sat on the other side and shouted, “Sister Xiaoling, it’s so cold, don’t sit here.”

 

“You guys mind your own business.” Chen Xiaoling said vaguely, “Give me two more bottles of wine, I can sit until dawn.”

 

Those two people, like Chen Xiaoling, were all from the Chen family’s outer family. Their talents were not high, and they were basically not destined to be exorcists.

 

They thought they would live an ordinary life, but they didn’t expect that Chen Xiaoling would extend an olive branch to them.

 

–Chen Xiaoling was not old, just over thirty, and she was a figure in the outer family. Her intelligence sources were wide-ranging, covering all walks of life, and countless “pigeons” would bring secret news at any time. Perhaps she was idle recently, so she picked two little apprentices and planned to train them well.

 

The young apprentices slowly learned with her and gradually got on track.

 

It’s just that they were not confident and sometimes they wanted to quit.

 

Chen Xiaoling was half-drunk today and chatted with them desperately.

 

Another person said, “Sister Xiaoling, you’ve been talking all night, take a break.”

 

“I’m not going back.” Chen Xiaoling frowned, “I’m not going back, I haven’t told you about my love history yet, sit down, sit down.”

 

The two obediently found a post to sit down and listened to Chen Xiaoling list the people she had liked from elementary school to university to now, one by one.

 

Not many in quantity.

 

Just about a football team’s worth of people.

 

“Don’t look at me climbing walls all day,” Chen Xiaoling emphasized, “I have been in love too, although only with one person.”

 

Two apprentices: “Hmm hmm hmm.”

 

Chen Xiaoling flicked the ash off her cigarette, her consciousness slightly drifting. “My acquaintance with him was quite dramatic. At that time, there was a wicked ghost wandering around my parents’ house, and it was him – I’ll just call him Xiao Lu, who saved my parents. That’s how we met.”

 

Two apprentices: “Wow! A life-saving grace!”

 

“Yes,” Chen Xiaoling said, “It’s true that I have a good impression of him, but whether I really like him or not, I don’t know myself, and I’m living in a muddle. Before I figured it out, he…”

 

Two apprentices stretched their necks. “What did he do?”

 

Chen Xiaoling’s eyebrows were upside down. “He ran off with a big demon!!”

 

Apprentices: “…Ah? What big demon?”

 

“A big demon is a big demon.” Chen Xiaoling clicked her tongue, and the handsome face of Jing Xian appeared in her mind, “It’s a very big demon, very annoying, can fly, can be jealous, and can drink other people’s matcha latte.”

 

The apprentices: “…”

 

Apprentice A: “Sister Xiaoling, you are really drunk.”

 

Apprentice B: “Sister Xiaoling, you are as beautiful as a flower, you don’t have to hang yourself on a single tree.”

 

Chen Xiaoling: “Cut, how could I do such a stupid thing.” She shook her head, “Maybe I’ve never really liked anyone, ‘finding someone to spend the rest of my life with’ is too incredible for me.”

 

“When I was a child, my favorite animal was the pigeon. The neighbor’s house raised five or six of them, and every morning I watched them fly out, their wings were golden in the sun. I thought they were the freest creatures in the world, and I wanted to live like that for the rest of my life.”

 

“The hardest thing in this world is to do whatever you want. Everyone says that freedom is not dead, but few people can get it. I didn’t have the ability before, I can’t do it now, but at some point in the future, we will all be as free as birds.”

 

The two apprentice looked at each other and finally spoke weakly, “There will always be true love.”

 

“No, no, no, you completely misunderstood me. To hell with true love! Who cares! People don’t live for love.”

 

Chen Xiaoling laughed, “You don’t really think that I would be heartbroken and drunk because of a breakup, do you? I have plenty of money, there are so many men in the world, little wolves, little milk dogs, and wealthy old men are all waiting for me. If one doesn’t work out, just dump him, the next one will be better behaved.”

 

“What is this called? This is confidence!”

 

“It’s the same with you two. They look down on us outsiders, don’t they? Now when they see me, don’t they have to be respectful? You two also need to be ambitious like me, only when you stand tall will others respect you!”

 

“Have some confidence in yourselves, don’t show me those long faces. We’re still young, we have a bright future!”

 

The two apprentices nodded like pounding garlic, as if they were injected with chicken blood, “We remember! We will work hard! We won’t let Sister Xiaoling down!”

 

Chen Xiaoling was quite satisfied, and waved her hand, “Let’s go! Let’s continue drinking!”

 

Before leaving, the sea breeze howled, messing up Chen Xiaoling’s long hair, her red skirt billowing like waves.

 

She remembered many things from the past at this moment.

 

But she soon laughed, stepping on her ten-centimeter high heels and walked away gracefully. Above their heads, birds rode the wind, spreading their wings towards a brilliant sea of lights.

 

3.You can see your age at the age of three, and you can see your age at the age of seven.

 

(t/n: It means that when a child is three years old, you can see the psychology and personality of the child when he grows up; when the child is seven years old, you can see the progress of his life.)

 

The Chu family had been busy lately, even the workaholic Chu Banyang had taken half a month off.

 

The reason was simple: a children’s welfare home funded by the Chu family was well-known far and wide. A few days ago, someone left an abandoned baby at the door of the welfare home.

 

This kind of thing was not uncommon.

 

The problem was, there’s a faint birthmark on the baby’s shoulder blade, shaped like a bird.

 

–Every reincarnation of Chu Qianju had such a birthmark.

 

The Chu family was shaken, and the elders all ran to the welfare home.

 

The environment of the welfare home was elegant, with blooming flowers and shady trees. When they arrived at the door, there were more than a dozen Chu family members in the large room.

 

They… were gathered around a baby carriage.

 

This scene was somewhat eerie.

 

The people present could face life and death, could fight in blood, but in front of a child, they were all helpless, holding rattles and small toys in their hands, but their posture was like holding a knife or a gun. Fortunately, there were older women on the scene, leaning against the baby carriage, laughing and playing with the child.

 

However, no matter how hard they tried, the baby didn’t show a hint of a smile, his face calm and composed. When one of the elders made a face at him, there was a flash of disdain in his eyes, as if he was looking down on them for being childish.

 

This expression was simply Chu Qianju’s trademark.

 

Even though he was only half a year old, even though he had no memory, he could still accurately express his composure.

 

At this point, the Chu family was completely sure of his identity.

 

Afterwards, Chu Qianju showed an amazing ability to learn. He was indeed a reincarnated genius, less than a year old, not crying or making a fuss, and could say quite a few simple phrases.

 

Soon, it was his first birthday.

 

According to the tradition of the Chu family, children who were full of age were to have a “grabbing week” ceremony. For example, when Chu Banyang had his “grabbing week”, he held a talisman paper in his right hand and a full score test paper in his left hand, holding on tightly.

 

In front of Chu Qianju, various items were lined up in turn: talisman paper, gold pen, copper money, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, ancient books, abacus, food and toys… everything was available, dazzling.

 

Chu Qianju sat indifferently, uninterested, and didn’t deign to play with them.

 

The crowd couldn’t force him.

 

Just as they were once again marveling at his uniqueness, they saw him finally make a move.

 

Chu Qianju seemed to be attracted by something, his gaze fell to the left, and he reached out towards a thick exorcism manual—

 

Several elders couldn’t help but show approving looks, thinking, worthy of being the genius of the Chu family.

 

They saw Chu Qianju touch the spine of the book, struggle to flip the manual, and then grab the back of it, pulling out a… blue-green peacock feather?

 

Everyone: ?

 

Chu Qianju held the feather, and suddenly smiled.

 

Everyone: ???

 

Time slowly moved forward.

 

There was a saying that “you can tell a lot about a person when they’re three years old, and even more when they’re seven”. Everything in childhood, including character and hobbies, had already determined a person’s future path.

 

When Chu Qianju was three years old, he was calm and composed, spending every day clumsily drawing talisman papers and happily playing with peacock feathers.

 

When Chu Qianju was seven years old, he was still calm and composed, spending every day elegantly drawing talisman papers and happily playing with peacock feathers.

 

…The future was clear.

 

Finally, when Chu Qianju was ten years old, the Peacock God awakened.

 

In the past, the Peacock God would awaken after two or three decades of Chu Qianju’s reincarnation, and awakening meant madness, then being killed by Chu Qianju at the cost of his life, repeating this cycle endlessly.

 

No one knew whether it’s because the curse had been resolved, but this awakening came many years earlier.

 

But, there was an unexpected problem—

 

That day, the Chu family members were gathered around a small peacock, all with baffled expressions on their faces.

 

How…how did even the Peacock God become a juvenile?!

 

No one knew what to do. Moreover, the Peacock God had lost his memory and had become childish, tilting his head, looking at everyone with beautiful golden eyes.

 

A few young girls from the Chu family, who had finally seen the ghost god their family were bound to, looked so beautiful and cute… they couldn’t help themselves. They brought delicious food, claiming to be offering sacrifices to the ghost god, and wanted to touch those gorgeous feathers, but ended up being pecked until they were in tears.

 

As it turned out, the Peacock God had a really bad temper, pecking at anyone he saw, strutting around his territory all day, spending hours meticulously grooming his feathers, making sure he looked beautiful.

 

After all, he was a ghost god, and in a few days, he had regained quite a bit of strength and could transform.

 

—When he transformed into a human, he was a little beauty, about nine or ten years old, with a hint of blue-green at his temples, a pair of crystal clear eyes, but his face was full of disdain, and he didn’t want to say more than necessary.

 

Man: “Wu wu wu, you’re so powerful!”

 

Peacock God: “Hmph, I think so too.”

 

Woman: “This is the dessert I made for you!”

 

Peacock God: “Take it away, it’s not good.”

 

Child: “Peacock! Can you give me a feather?!”

 

Peacock God: “No way, I’ll become a bald chicken.”

 

The child ran away sadly.

 

After a while, they saw the Peacock God strut over, stuff a feather into his hand, and emphasize, “This is my charity to you!”

 

The child was overjoyed.

 

A few days later, when the Peacock God’s transformation had stabilized, they tentatively brought Chu Qianju to the Peacock God.

 

When the two met, they both paused.

 

The memory was still frozen like an iceberg, but there was a shock that spanned hundreds of years deep in their souls, like an undercurrent sweeping up from the bottom of the sea, shattering the rocks, spreading out in circles, making people tremble.

 

The Peacock God laughed—

 

That face, which was always full of disdain and arrogance, burst into a brilliant smile for the first time. His brows relaxed, his eyes shining, every inch of his smallest expression was filled with surging joy, which couldn’t be hidden no matter how hard he tried.

 

He practically flew into Chu Qianju’s arms. And Chu Qianju held him tightly, as if holding a lost and found treasure.

 

In the days that followed, they were almost inseparable.

 

As a ghost god, the Peacock God would travel between the human world and the ghost world.

 

According to the ghost king who wished to remain anonymous, every time the Peacock God went to the ghost world, he would inevitably pick a fight with other priests

 

One reason was his nature, without showing strength, a priest would have no place in the ghost world; the other reason was that he truly thought those priests were too ugly, swaying in front of him, hurting his eyes.

 

In any case, every time he returned from the ghost world, the Peacock God would inevitably come back with injuries, disheveled feathers, and a sense of arrogant pride.

 

He cared about his image, and wouldn’t let others see him in this terrible state, each time he would only go to Chu Qianju.

 

Chu Qianju was heartbroken, holding the Peacock God and combing his feathers, bandaging his wounds. The Peacock God would whisper in his ear, as if telling stories of the ghost world, or as if he was acting spoiled.

 

Just like many years ago in the wilderness.

 

A young boy found an injured peacock and brought it home, starting a wonderful journey.

 

Under normal circumstances, people would say don’t go to the ghost world next time.

 

But Chu Qianju was different.

 

Passing elders clearly heard him say decisively, “It’s okay, next time I’ll help you beat up those ugly things.”

 

Elders: ???

 

“Okay.” The Peacock God laughed in his arms, his voice soft, “You’ll help me beat them up.”

 

Chu Qianju really did help him beat up the priests.

 

But that’s another story.

 

Later—

 

Later, they both grew up.

 

The young man’s body grew taller, becoming slender and elegant. Chu Qianju quickly became famous again for his exorcism skills, and the Peacock God also regained his cultivation, establishing a territory in the ghost realm.

 

They still didn’t remember the past.

 

But that didn’t stop them from sticking together every day. The saying “you can tell a lot about a person when they’re three years old, and even more when they’re seven” was true.

 

At the age of seven, Chu Qianju was drawing talisman papers and playing with peacock feathers.

 

At the age of seventeen, Chu Qianju was still drawing talisman papers, and… playing with the Peacock God.

 

An elder sighed, “This is fate! I wonder when they will remember each other.”

 

“There will be a day.” Another person laughed in response, “After all, true love is invincible.”

 

Under the distant sunlight, the handsome young man was again telling Chu Qianju about his experiences in the ghost world.

 

He talked about how many ferocious ghosts he had beaten, how many fierce beasts he had scared off, and how much his territory had expanded. Apart from a silly furball that came to steal food every day, all the other priests were submissive to him.

 

He would talk for several hours, insisting on showing off his achievements.

 

And Chu Qianju listened attentively.

 

Finally, he picked up the Peacock God and said seriously, “Hmm, I know you’re the best.”

 

After saying that, he placed a kiss on his cheek.

 

So, the pair of eyes in his arms were filled with light, like an undercurrent sweeping up, a light breeze filling the mountains and rivers, that joy twirling into a gentle golden ocean.