Love's Tribulations (Part 2)
Ying Yuanjun gradually recovered and sometimes he would wander around in the dark.
Yan Dan was overjoyed. Her true form would finally stop going bald. You see, their clan only blossomed every few hundred years; going bald this once meant she would have to remain bald for the rest of her long life. Yan Dan couldn't tolerate it; it was utterly ridiculous.
In fact, after Ying Yuanjun moved to Diya, he did have a relapse once.
She was tidying up outside when she heard the noise of chairs and tables overturning and rushed over. Ying Yuan's aura was dazzling; the Immortal Binding Lock was almost shattered by the force of his aura. Yan Dan hesitated greatly; would she die if she rashly approached?
She heard that when Ying Yuanjun's fire poison flared up, he was able to whip Lu Jingxianjun half to death with a single flick of his sleeve. So, although she is very worried about him now, she would still feel guilty if he died under mysterious circumstances.
Yan Dan made up her mind, squatted down not far away, and watched his every move intently. She asked cautiously, "Shall I tell you a story?"
Ying Yuan's immortal aura suddenly dimmed, and after a moment he responded weakly, "What?"
Yan Dan briefly recalled the story in her mind and slowly began to speak: "Let me tell you the story of Pangu creating the world. Pangu, also known as Fuli, is revered as the ancient Chaos God. When he was born, the world was like an egg, with heaven and earth connected together."
Everyone knows the legend of Pangu creating the world, but Yan Dan's master is an extraordinary figure who usually only talks to them about Taoism and Zen. He would never tell stories. In this situation, it would be too strange to talk about Buddha or Taoism.
"The first thing the primordial god Pangu did after waking up was to split heaven and earth apart with his axe. At that time, what connected heaven and earth were jagged, strange rocks. After being shattered by the divine axe, they had no choice but to sink into the earth, never to rise again for eternity. After separating heaven and earth, the primordial god Pangu felt very tired and fell asleep. His body became one with the mortal world, becoming mountains and rivers, his bloodline becoming rivers, and his eyes becoming the sun and moon." Yan Dan paused, then continued, "But I think the most innocent ones here are the strange rocks that connected heaven and earth. They guarded heaven and earth, but in the end, they had to sink into the earth, never to see the light of day again. But who knows? Maybe those strange rocks once did their best to support heaven and earth. Even if they were ugly, their hearts were sincere."
Ying Yuan couldn't help but chuckle: "Nonsense." He slowly sat up, and after a long pause, he said: "According to you, the God of Fuli has become the villain who breaks up the lovers?"
Yan Dan smiled slightly: "Old stories sometimes need to be looked at in a different way."
Ying Yuan slowly opened his eyes and looked in her direction. Although he could no longer see, Yan Dan felt as if she were being scrutinized, and she felt inexplicably nervous.
"You said last time that the lotus flowers are in bloom now, and I want to go and see them."
Yan Dan was speechless. The flowering season was long over, and she had only agreed casually last time. Now, only withered lotus leaves remained in the pond; where could she find any lotus blossoms to admire?
After thinking it over, she reluctantly nodded: "If you want to see it, it's not difficult."
In the quiet, empty courtyard, a censer of sandalwood incense burns like dust.
Yan Dan held the auspicious beast-shaped sandalwood incense burner in her hands, silently watching the figure standing before the carved window lattice. She had slowly come to understand what had happened to her these past few days.
In reality, it's nothing more than an annoying thing.
No matter where you go, you can't escape that one word.
Ying Yuanjun stood by the window, tilting his head slightly. He soon heard light footsteps behind him. He reached out and groped around the window, turning around somewhat awkwardly: "Yan Dan?"
Yan Dan approached, and the faint fragrance of lotus blossoms in the lonely courtyard became clearer: "I originally thought the lotus flowers over at Yaochi were even better, but unfortunately I can't take you there. Fortunately, there's a lotus pond here at the edge of the world, although it's not very lush..." A gentle breeze blew, and the wind chimes hanging on the windowpane began to tinkle again, mingling with her voice.
Ying Yuan smiled gently and shook his head: "Being able to smell the fragrance is enough." He clasped his hands together and placed them on the window frame, and said softly: "Now that I think about it, I think you are right. Even if I can't see it, I can still hear it, touch it, and feel it with my heart. It doesn't necessarily have to be seen with my own eyes."
“Most of the lotus flowers in this lotus pond are pale pink, except for the one in the far corner which is snow white. I’ve always felt that lotus flowers are only beautiful when they bloom in a vibrant red; white ones are too plain—uh?” Yan Dan was getting into her story when suddenly a hand reached out and gently brushed across her eyebrows and eyes.
"Let me touch your face. I want to know what you look like." His slender fingers traced your face carefully for a while, a faint smile playing on his lips. "If I could see you again someday, I'd recognize you immediately, and then..."
Yan Dan's heart stirred.
He spoke with such certainty, as if she had no choice but to believe him. Actually, even if she never saw him again, it wouldn't matter; she would still keep him company and talk to him to relieve her boredom.
She will be his eyes.
Several days passed in this way, and Ying Yuanjun stayed in his room, sometimes thinking about things, and sometimes just sitting.
Yan Dan, however, found a book about their Four-Leaf Lotus clan in the library at the edge of the earth. She didn't need to read it all; she reached the most crucial part. The Four-Leaf Lotus is the most precious medicinal race from ancient times to the present, and the heart of the lotus can cure incurable diseases.
Yan Dan stared blankly for a long time before finally closing the heavy book and placing it back on the top shelf. If curing Ying Yuanjun's eyes were to happen, wouldn't it mean stewing her and eating her? Was Emperor Ying Yuanjun more important, or was she, a lotus flower with low cultivation, more important? The answer was clear. The Heavenly Court's most skilled physician, Linghua Yuanjun, surely knew this. Fortunately, he was kind-hearted; otherwise, she might already be lying dead on the ground.
This Linghua Yuanjun, whom I have never met, is truly kind-hearted.
However, this idea did not last long and was immediately shattered by a single sentence from Ying Yuanjun.
“I know that the heart of the four-leaf lotus can heal my eyes. Linghua Yuanjun mentioned it before, but I didn’t agree.” He frowned slightly. “If I have to exchange a pair of eyes for the heart of a living person, I would rather be like this.”
Yan Dan broke out in a cold sweat. Although mentioning Zhi Xi's name had granted her the rank of Fairy Zhi, it had almost killed her. If Ying Yuan had agreed then, it would likely have been Zhi Xi who had her heart ripped out. She had almost made a grave mistake.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Ying Yuan softened his tone: "Actually, I don't care anymore whether I can see or not. Don't bring this up again in the future, and don't tell anyone else."
Yan Dan was enraged by a rare sense of justice that burned from head to toe: "This Linghua Yuanjun is outrageous! As an immortal, she only thinks about killing people!"
Ying Yuan was slightly puzzled: "Yuanjun only mentioned it casually, and besides, it's not like she's asking you to do anything, so why are you so angry?"
Yan Dan was speechless. She felt it was best not to tell him the truth.
The Palace at the edge of the heavenly court is rarely visited by people.
Yan Dan hadn't joined those celestial children in their daily chatter for a long time, and even when she occasionally saw them, she didn't stop to chat like before, which showed that she still had the potential to become an immortal.
She returned to the house behind the cliff, where she saw Ying Yuan sitting there, having found a small knife and sandalwood from somewhere, fumbling around and carving something: "What are you carving?"
“It’s a wooden figure, that’s something from the mortal realm,” Ying Yuanjun smiled. “I once descended to the mortal realm on business and saw some craftsmen carving them. I was about your age back then, and I found it quite interesting.”
The mortal realm?
Yan Dan had lived in the Heavenly Court since she could remember. The mortal realm was a very distant place for her: "What is the mortal realm like?"
"It's hard to say, everyone's feelings are generally different. I used to be in charge of the changes of dynasties in the mortal world, so what I saw was the people and the country. The mortal world is a very lively place, and the lifespan of mortals is only a short hundred years. Some mortals live a very miserable life, while others are very happy, which is quite different from the Heavenly Court."
Yan Dan rested her chin on her hand, watching him slowly carve on the wood. The sandalwood gradually took on a human shape. Although it was a bit rough, it was clear that it was a wooden figure with a slight smile and a simple, honest appearance. "You're carving very well..." He was completely blind now and could only carve things by feeling.
"Back then, I was bored in the mortal world, so I learned from a master on the street corner. That master's eyes... were also blind."
Yan Dan realized she had misspoke and stammered, "Then...can I have this wooden figure?"
Ying Yuan smiled slightly and handed the wooden figure to her: "Of course you can."
Holding the smiling wooden figure, Yan Dan couldn't help but ask, "Can you carve other things?"
Ying Yuan raised his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Tell me about it, maybe I can."
Where is the incense burner?
He was slightly taken aback.
Yan Dan realized she had gone too far and immediately said, "Actually, I was just asking casually, just pretend you didn't hear it."
Ying Yuan flicked his finger to his forehead, still smiling, "Okay." He paused, then added, "Actually, I've been wanting to ask this for a while now, you seem to really like agarwood?"
"A person should have some hobbies. Besides, I only have this one hobby. Compared to Bai Lianlingjun's quirks, this is nothing."
Ying Yuan seemed to recall the grand spectacle of Bai Lian Ling Jun, with its fluttering petals and colorful ribbons, and his lips twitched slightly: "Bai Lian Ling Jun's grand spectacle was a bit..."
Yan Dan picked up a booklet from the side, using it as a folding fan to flick it against the other person's chin, and imitated Bai Lian Lingjun's tone: "You little fairy are not bad looking, do you want to come back to my manor with me? If you follow me, you will definitely not suffer losses - he said that to me back then, it gave me goosebumps all over, so disgusting."
Ying Yuan reached out and took the booklet from her hand, chuckling slightly. "So what kind do you like? I only want you in this life, and I won't bother with anyone else, okay?"
Yan Dan abruptly took two steps back, bumping into the chair behind her, her voice trembling with fear: "You...you...you..."
How am I?
Yan Dan touched her cheek and replied, "The moment you say that, I guarantee that some fairy would rather break the heavenly rules than not follow you to the underworld."
Ying Yuan reached out and fumbled on the table for a while before slowly standing up. "In my current state, I'd be lucky if I wasn't scared away immediately, let alone the netherworld." He thought for a moment and then said calmly, "Yan Dan, it's good that you weren't scared."
Yan Dan didn't know how to answer. He was indeed only vaguely resembling his former self now, but she had never been afraid; it was as if he was always meant to look this way. There were countless beautiful faces in the world, but there was only one Ying Yuan. Even if his appearance was ruined, his charm would not be diminished in the slightest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
