Heartfelt Thoughts and Rice Grains
I fumed and walked towards a sparsely populated area, annoyed by Xie Jinhui.
Of all the things you could write, you had to come up with this fateful pronouncement that anyone could use to bind me—"Deeply Rooted in Love!"
Are you going to try and tie me up too?
I trusted you, someone I could play with, someone I could chat with across a basin of water, someone I could even agree to pretend to be your husband for a day…
of……
Qingting's words flashed through my mind.
Colleagues, referring to colleagues.
Xie Jinhui and I are just colleagues who are a step further than ordinary fellow cultivators.
Who does he think he is?
Xie Jinhui chased after me, but always kept a step's distance.
It seems he understands too. I, Yuan'e, will never be bound, instigated, or unjustly arranged to be someone else's someone else.
I did it willingly.
Now, I'm unwilling; I don't want to pretend to be his wife anymore.
However, the green grass in front of me became lighter and lighter, turning into a deeper yellow as I walked.
Until, the familiar golden wheat field appeared before my eyes.
Wheat field? How come it's still there?
I saw a grasshopper flying silly but clearly happy, chirping and drifting by with its pale brown wings askew.
I blinked and then chuckled.
That foolish me was back then, when I was learning the art of hiding and transformation, going mad from it all, and turning into a grasshopper.
But at that moment, I felt truly carefree and relaxed, even though the memories that followed weren't pleasant.
I wanted to see which monster would take me and Xie Mazha away next.
However, just as the shadowy figure approached and I braced myself to kick Xie Mazha away, the scene suddenly changed.
I turned my head and looked at Xie Jinhui with a questioning gaze.
He was also baffled. "It's strange, that scene is gone," he said.
Actually, I probably wasn't that angry with him.
Although he has always tried to get close to me, when has he ever restrained or forced me?
No.
On the contrary, I was too forceful with him, like a stone gathering dust. And that even made him always try to find solutions for me.
Well, since I've come to the wheat field, I'll take a good look at how mortals survive the winter after the grasshoppers have all died.
A calm and composed mind, a temper that is tempered and even.
I strolled forward, walking among the folds of the Butterfly Dream Bell.
From green seedlings to ears of grain growing tall and plump, the wheat fields are transformed into fragrant white rice.
What I saw most often were simple couples who worked from sunrise to sunset, hardworking, down-to-earth, and able to endure the daily grind.
As the sun rises, they are busy; as the sun sets, I see the cowherd coming down the mountain, returning home, and squeezing around his parents' table to eat white rice together.
Then, the cowherd tore through his homespun clothes and gradually grew up.
His child squeezed into the same table and continued eating, from what I saw as the same bowl of rice.
Why would ordinary people be content with such repetitive days?
Why should I need freedom to be content?
Right now, my brain isn't filled with mush, it's filled with white rice, grain by grain, and it's very sticky.
Before my eyes, the thatched hut beside the wheat field where generations had lived has extinguished its candles.
The crickets chirped again, raising their voices. The newborn baby whimpered a few times, then, bathed in starlight, nestled in its mother's arms, it quietly fell asleep.
At the same time, the butterfly dream bell rang, and the wind changed direction.
Xie Jinhui and I returned to the eaves of the tower, where lanterns filled the sky and firecrackers had been set off.
Time truly became the compass he faithfully manipulated.
I smiled and turned to Xie Jinhui.
"Xie Jinhui, ordinary couples in the world rise early and sleep late, living a hard life."
What do idle couples like us do at night?
Xie Jinhui's eyes flickered, and he raised his hand to stroke the hair on the top of my head.
He seemed to have grabbed something, and smiled as he brushed off a small clump of rice.
Alas!
Just now, I did indeed bend down and peek into the large pot of rice that someone had just steamed.
It smells so good!
As I watched him flick the rice grains off the tower, I groaned in frustration.
"What are you doing? That's white rice! I'm still hungry."
He was a generous deity, and said something.
"White rice is not only for mortals to eat; these few grains are a gift to living beings."
As he spoke, he moved my shoulder so that I could look up at him.
His eyes flickered with an unusual intensity, as if he was still pondering the question I had just raised about what couples should do at night.
His gaze moved from his eyes down, until it stopped below his nose.
He was like the gentlest breeze, slowly drawing me into his embrace.
At the top of the tower, the mountain wind urged my mortal body to seek something to hold onto.
Its body also seemed to yearn for his protection.
The moonlight was soft, and the skylight cast a beautiful, hazy glow on the lanterns.
At night, I was very hungry, so hungry that I was sleepy, and I also longed for safety.
I know that all of this is the feeling of an ordinary person, not my own.
But I'm willing to follow this feeling and taste the first sip of water and the first pancake.
Light the first lantern, and bring it close to the first person...
The slow movement, led by Xie Jinhui, came to an abrupt halt, and his head snapped up.
He gave up on what tempting thing he had been eyeing.
I heard his defiant sigh as he tumbled to the bottom of the tower in utter defeat.
The little creature munching on rice might even make a smacking sound.
I don't know who Xie Jinhui was talking to.
"Xie Jinhui, you can't be so greedy!"
He took another breath, stood up briskly, and extended a hand to me.
"Alright, Yuan'e, it's time for us to end this day."
I was instantly terrified.
We're about to return to the Heavenly Realm. I... I... I don't want to confess my sins.
I tentatively asked him, "Have you thought of a solution?"
"I've thought it through."
Xie Jinhui nodded confidently and leaned forward to grab my arm.
I shook and twisted at him, backing away until I slid to the edge of the roof.
"No, Xie Jinhui, I'm terrified of my twelve drops of water's 'Beauty's Tribulation'! I won't go back, I won't go back."
Xie Jinhui held me tightly, because if I took another step back, I would fall to the ground and become mud, feeding all living things.
"Yesterday in Guangmoping, who was so brave as to try to drag me to turn myself in?" he pressed aggressively.
I quickly answered the question.
“That’s not me. The brave one is the goddess Yuan’e. I am just a mortal.”
"Ha!" Xie Jinhui bent down.
Is this a case of pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth, or cutting off the fuel supply at the root?
I heard him say, "My wife, I am now just a mortal. I am so hungry that I really don't want to be human anymore."
He scooped me up with force, and I felt dizzy.
Xie Jinhui suddenly lifted me up and carried me in his arms.
I pressed my hands on his shoulders and kicked my legs with all my might. The strength of a mortal man is just too great.
"Put me down, put me down, I don't want to go back! Waaaaaah!"
Xie Jinhui was surrounded by immortal power, like a cascading Milky Way.
He lowered his eyes and said sarcastically, "Goddess Yuan'e, do you think you're a fish, that you can just splash your way back to the Celestial Realm?"
Is he bringing up my previous plan to fly back to the heavens in the form of a grasshopper, using it all as a sarcastic reference?
I continued to struggle.
"Thank you, Jin Hui. This goddess has her own cloud, I don't need..."
"I am happy to do so."
"you……"
I was stunned, and cursed inwardly: Shut up!
Xie Jinhui carried me all the way to the entrance of the Demon Cave in the Mountain Garden.
The flowers, the spirits, and the sentient stones in the yard all stretched out their strangely shaped heads, making no attempt to hide themselves, and showered us with starlight.
Ha, aren't they afraid of breaking their necks?
Upon arriving in the Celestial Realm, during the two days I spent on duty in the mortal realm and pretending to be husband and wife with Xie Jinhui, I only managed to push the Celestial Realm's sun forward by a barely perceptible amount.
It seems like it's still early, but right now, with just one breath, those twelve drops of water from the human world are swollen and growing rapidly in my womb.
I looked at Xie Jinhui, my eyes brimming with tears.
He looked at me with a bewildered expression, as if he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
“Yuan’e,” he said, as he was about to put me on the ground.
I don't want to come down, as if the passage of time in the human world can't begin as long as I don't come down.
But I forgot something more important: what am I doing here with him?
Hugging is fine in the mortal realm, but not in the immortal realm.
I quickly jumped off him.
But then he said, "When I came back from the mortal realm just now, I deliberately lingered for a while in the area between the celestial realm and the lower realm. Now, those children should all be able to speak."
Huh? You spoke? Didn't I just leave the Immortal Realm a little while ago?
Xie Jinhui told me that he knew of a zone where time flowed between the celestial realm and the mortal realm, and its flow rate was unique.
That's why we only hovered briefly above Guangmoping, and it wasn't until the next morning when we returned to Earth.
Oh dear, time flies like water, and years pass like a shuttle, all of which are strange and chaotic.
Xie Jinhui told me to stay in the room and told me that he would come to pick me up at noon.
Then, take me to play something big.
I remember when he said he would take me to play, the corners of his mouth turned into crescent moons.
I was both eager to try and apprehensive.
"Is Xie Jinhui reliable?"
And another thing, the children are all grown up, and their beautiful appearances can cause trouble at any time.
Twelve women of unparalleled beauty and charm—how many lands would be plunged into bloodshed and how many people would be stirred into turmoil by their desires?
Xie Jinhui laughed at my worries, saying, "The little kids haven't even grown all their new teeth yet, what are you afraid of?"
"Yuan'e should be happy, there are more and more temples being built for the True Beauty Fairy in the human world!"
The Temple of the True Face Fairy?
This was a position he made up haphazardly, and in Guangmoping, he even left my portrait for ordinary people.
I vaguely remember him saying, "If the celestial realm won't give you a celestial position, we'll just create one ourselves."
Is this what a big one looks like?
How do I do it?
In the afternoon, after Xie Jinhui left, I, who had been hiding my head, was secretly transferred by him to the Xuan Yu Pavilion of Lady Jieyu.
Lady Jieyu peeked out from the entrance of her own palace, trying to get a glimpse of us.
When she saw us arrive, she blew a fragrant breeze of rouge and powder, pulling Xie Jinhui and me into her secret courtyard.
The way we were sneaking around was practically a message to all our fellow cultivators.
"Look quickly, we're plotting a rebellion!"
Lady Jieyu was very warm and attentive to Xie Jinhui, but as for me, she only gave me a little face, which is hard to explain.
I can tell that Xie Jinhui must have discussed something with her beforehand.
Otherwise, based on that incident where he failed to serve for Lady Jieyu and broke her precious bottle, releasing all the beautiful water...
She would never smile at me.
Now, she not only gave me a forced smile, but also politely invited Xie Jinhui and me to the jade table in the courtyard to cool off among the shady trees and flowers.
After glancing at the secret inner courtyard, I sat down, taking advantage of the situation, and accepted the tea personally brewed by Consort Jieyu.
She smiled and squinted at Prince Moxu Chenyuan.
I then discovered that in the inner courtyard, which she had never led me into before, there was a beautiful spring with a continuous flow of water.
There were also rows of perfectly intact bottles lying side by side in the spring water.
Clearly, these bottles of water were not rare items for Lady Jieyu.
I felt a little less guilty towards her.
But when she bestows beauty upon mortals, it is said that a misty, beautiful woman is so stunning that even a half-finger could topple a kingdom.
Just a tiny bit.
I can't say she was too stingy, because if everyone in the mortal world were beautiful, no one would worship her.
Too much beauty can lead to endless troubles.
Lady Jieyu's divine duty of bestowing beautiful appearances is not easy to perform and requires careful consideration, but she is indeed adept at it.
I am absolutely certain that she is the most calculating, the most shrewd, and the best at seizing opportunities.
Instead, it's the kind of meticulous, win-win, god-like stinginess.
Although Lady Jieyu has many fairy nectar bottles, I did make a mistake while helping her, so I should still be more polite when we meet.
"Lady Jieyu, did you manage to pick the lotus from Feikong Mountain? Are you tired?"
I extended my sincere greetings with apologies.
Lady Jieyu was exchanging pleasantries with Xie Jinhui, asking about Moxu Chenyuan and whether the Ancestor was well, trying to build a closer relationship.
Upon hearing what I said, she rolled her eyes, barely managing not to.
She suppressed her anger until it blocked her immortal meridians.
"I didn't manage to pick any. Who would have thought that the mountain was so difficult to climb? Your Majesty, my skirt is all folded inside."
She glanced at me suddenly; if she had an abacus, she would have started calculating rapidly.
“Yuan’e,” she said, “Xie Shenjun said that he has a way to solve the trouble caused by those twelve drops of divine water.”
But you have to pay for breaking the bottle and losing the water.
Xie Jinhui sat down next to me and took a sip of tea.
He didn't look at me, and I didn't need his help.
I readily replied, "I'll pay. Your Majesty, name your price, how much?"
The immortal Jieyu Niangniang, having achieved her goal, hurriedly spread out her ten fingers and raised them over the table.
She suddenly realized that Xie Jinhui was also involved in her deal with me, quietly observing the situation.
Lady Jieyu silently and obsequiously tucked away the five fingers that were closest to Xie Jinhui.
The moment she opened her mouth, it looked exactly like my master's toad's gaping maw, as if it were swallowing gold.
"Fifty thousand years of immortal power," she said.
Fifty thousand years of immortal power?
This goddess used Lady Jieyu as her source of inspiration. In a thousand years, she only gave me fifty thousand years of immortal power.
Their eating manners are so unsightly!
Well, this is a compromised amount, made especially since Xie Jinhui was present.
Besides, she forced the broken bottle on me and made me do her descent to the mortal realm as a guard.
Now that a problem has arisen, she should take responsibility.
Why should I take the blame for her?
I, the goddess Yuan'e, could not tolerate the rudeness thrown at me by this scoundrel of an immortal. I braced myself on my knees, ready to stand up and fight her.
Xie Jinhui placed one of his hands on the back of my hand.
"I'll do it," he said gently.
His other hand was facing upwards, with celestial power and spiritual energy flowing over it.
Xie Jinhui looked across at the other side and gave a sinister smile.
"Your Highness, look, what is this?"
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