Chapter 45
Little Sangyue was also shocked when she heard this.
He tore the portrait of the "crooked-mouthed donkey" to shreds and stomped on it twice.
Upon hearing this, the master ran out of the room, dragging his elaborate clothes.
"Who made Xiaoyue so angry..."
He ran to the pond, pulled me behind him, and stared intently at Wu Qi, whose face looked grim. Only then did he squint at the pond with his old eyes, sensing that something was amiss.
The fish are unusually enthusiastic today, all coming out to bask in the sun.
Two seconds later, a fish basking in the sun turned its belly up.
...
The master's world has collapsed.
"My—fish—"
He ran to the shore, muttering about how rare the fish was, that it only comes into being once every thousand years, while simultaneously cursing the murderer's ancestors for eighteen generations.
He stared back, and the murderer, Wu, was still holding the "murder weapon"—a small box specifically for holding fish food.
Wu Qi immediately sensed something was wrong, took two steps back, and prepared to run away at any moment.
My master was furious, almost bursting with anger. He grabbed a palm-leaf fan and chased after him. Just then, my crying rang out behind me... completing this hasty painting.
It's still funny to think about it now.
Wu Qi was later captured and put in solitary confinement. His master grabbed him by the back of the neck and yelled until his voice was almost hoarse, but he calmly looked at the setting sun on the horizon, not giving his master a kind look.
No wonder Master just said something like, "Then we wouldn't even complain about the fish that died in the pond."
Today, this place is once again an extremely elegant and beautiful pond, but the things and people remain the same, except that there is now a sign next to it that reads "No feeding by Mr. Wu".
Ha ha ha ha.
Master probably grew up as a mischievous child, his essence being a playful childlike spirit. Even with the golden glow of old age, he is still the most approachable and understanding old man.
On the other side, Wu Qi and Zhou Huai faced off in silence.
Senior Brother Changying's attempts to mediate failed, and he awkwardly scratched his head in the middle. One was an unapproachable celestial prodigal son, and the other was an arrogant demon prince; he felt that he was easily caught in the crossfire.
In the end, it was Wu Qi who started it. He shared the same doubts as me and questioned the existence of this person.
"This is not—"
"This is not a place for me."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Huai directly responded to his words.
Wu Qi didn't react much. He had experienced too many ups and downs today, and he could accept it even if he were told now that Zhou Huai was the Heavenly Emperor's illegitimate son.
He sighed softly, "It's good that you know."
“I know, I know better than anyone else.” Zhou Huai sat down on the ground and brushed off his sleeves.
He put his hands on his knees and lowered his head.
He suddenly felt a little aggrieved: "I know better than anyone else."
Upon hearing this, Wu Qi glanced in his direction.
What's going on with this reaction?
I remember this wasn't the first time Wu Qi had said this; he said the same thing that day in the alley.
The only difference is that the last response was one of anger, while this one was one of extreme grievance.
Could it be that there's some unspeakable story behind it?
Wu Qi made an expression for me, raising one eyebrow.
"You... never mind."
He had nothing nice to say to Zhou Huai, so he turned to Senior Brother Changying and asked, "What happened?"
Senior Brother Changying was always kind-faced and polite.
He stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Ah Huai, it has been a hundred years."
One hundred years?!
Let me do the math... it just so happens that he left without saying goodbye.
Does that mean he didn't go back after leaving us?
"Surprised?" Zhou Huai scoffed. "Do you think I really want to go back?"
Before Wu Qi could speak, he muttered to himself, "What's the point of going back? There, ghosts aren't ghosts, and demons aren't demons. We just live under the pressure of power all day long, barely able to breathe. So I'd rather stay in the Heavenly Realm, even if I'm just a rat."
The demon realm is rife with intrigue and scheming. Even as a deity, I've heard countless strange tales of this place. They'll stop at nothing to seize power, employing all sorts of secret techniques and curses that I've never seen or heard of before.
Just hearing about it makes one break out in a cold sweat, let alone someone like Zhou Huai who is actually in the thick of it; he would probably see even more.
I was still sighing when I heard Wu Qi speak up from the side, saying, "He said a lot."
Zhou Huai: "?"
Wu Qi: "Not a single word of it is useful."
Zhou Huai: "..."
"Everyone in the world knows about your family affairs. Don't be so nosy."
"..."
Zhou Huai was humiliated.
"You rest for a bit. Children shouldn't interrupt when adults are talking." Wu Qi turned to his senior brother Changying and asked again, "What happened?"
Senior Brother Changying was both amused and exasperated, and said, "You want to ask him how he can come and go freely in the Heavenly Realm, right?"
Wu Qi nodded.
Senior Brother Changying said, "As you all probably know, Ah Huai is under a curse and cannot maintain his human form."
The use of "you all" here is quite chilling when you think about it.
“He absorbed enough immortal energy in the immortal realm to temporarily regain his human form, but he did not fundamentally break the curse,” said Senior Brother Changying. “On the contrary, another situation will occur—the immortal energy and the demonic energy in his body will repel each other. At this time, neither the immortal energy nor the demonic energy can be controlled, and they can only perish on their own.”
Wu Qi frowned.
"So at that time..."
“Yes.” Senior Brother Changying knew what he wanted to say. “One afternoon a hundred years ago, he appeared in the back garden in an extremely distorted form. You can imagine that he had a snake-like upper body and a human-like lower body, like a walking punching bag. Anyone who saw him would want to punch him a couple of times.”
"...Let's just skip this part!" Zhou Huai finally couldn't help but say.
"Alright, alright, I won't say anymore." Senior Brother Changying seemed to have a lot of experience in teasing children, and said while covering his mouth, "Anyway, Master was stunned by how ugly he was."
“…” Zhou Huai clenched his fist. “Let’s omit the indirect description too!”
Wu Qi couldn't help but scoff.
Senior Brother Changying ignored him and continued, "It just so happens that Master had been in seclusion for many years and had already figured out 'retaining the soul and leaving the body' to reshape the physical body. He was just worried about not having anyone to experiment on. Just then, Zhou Huai staggered out."
"..."
Zhou Huai's lawyer did not intend to say another word before arriving.
Regardless of what happened before, Zhou Huai is now perfectly fine and can still descend to the mortal realm to cause trouble, which must be due to his master's considerable influence.
"So Master gave him..." Wu Qi thought for a moment before slowly saying, "...to retain his soul within his body?"
Senior Brother Changying nodded: "Yes."
Wu Qi asked the next second, "Then what about A Yue..."
“It’s the same. This method can be used on those whose true form is an anomaly,” Senior Brother Changying finally reassured Wu Qi. “With Master’s abilities, you can rest assured.”
Wu Qi's expression relaxed.
He was naturally at ease; if he didn't trust his master, he wouldn't have brought me directly to him.
Senior Brother Changying watched as he relaxed and sat down on the ground with Zhou Huai.
This scene makes it seem like the two are getting along very well, but they were just about to clash with each other.
Zhou Huai held a grudge: "Why are you sitting over here?"
"Is this your house?" Wu Qi asked. "Or is this land yours?"
Zhou Huai: "..."
Um.
Wu Qi's mood hadn't improved much, so I wouldn't be surprised if he were sitting on Zhou Huai's head at this point.
Wu Qi sat down next to him with a look that said, "I can sit wherever I want, it's none of your business," ignoring Zhou Huai's furious expression, and continued talking to Senior Brother Chang Ying.
"His situation is different from A-Yue's."
Senior Brother Changying nodded and said, "That's right. One was born a demon, and the other was a plump, white fairy rabbit raised by Chang'e—"
"Fat?" Zhou Huai seized on the point, "Where is our Sister Yueyue fat?"
“Okay,” Senior Brother Changying waved his hand with a smile, “Not fat, not fat—so the materials for reshaping the body are different, and the materials also vary from person to person. Zhou Huai, as the third prince of the demon race, can only use unformed python eggs, and he needs hundreds of them, but Sang Yue is different.”
As if he had guessed what he was going to say, Wu Qi choked up.
I am not a prince, nor an important figure, nor do I have any background or family connections. I am just a little rabbit playing the role of matchmaker.
With a pitying smile, Senior Brother Changying said, "All she needs is a handful of immortal soil."
after.
There was a long, long silence.
Wu Qi stared at the soil at his feet, grabbed a handful, and let it slowly flow out through his fingers.
Zhou Huai was speechless for a while, then his tone softened considerably: "Are you sure it's just a handful of dirt? Not some jade pendant, a ruyi, or a luminous pearl..."
His voice grew softer and softer until he lost his confidence.
Why.
Seeing them like this is making me a little upset, even though I wasn't upset before.
To put it bluntly, the real "country bumpkin" is still here, his fate uncertain. What are you two, a young master and a prince, doing here being so pitiful?
Am I pitiful for being ordinary?
But I'm all alone, and I'm lying in the house right now. I just wreaked havoc on the world, lost half my life, and there are two handsome guys waiting for me outside.
Am I really ordinary?
That might not be the case.
Seeing how annoyed they were, I jumped behind them and gave each of them an air kick.
Before I could even stand properly after they were all handed out, I heard a "creak".
The two of them stood up, somewhat unsteadily.
The master's door opened.
The door looked pitch black, as if it possessed an invisible suction force that seemed to drain every wisp of my soul, causing me to rush toward it, completely disfigured.
The surrounding scenery rushed past.
I then lost consciousness and fell into a long sleep.
-
The sound of seagulls.
When I regained consciousness, the cries of seagulls echoed in my ears.
Then they identified the sound as wind and flowing water.
I don't know how long I slept, or whether I dreamed or what happened, but it was very peaceful.
A breeze brushed my cheek, and my mind drifted away; suddenly, I didn't want to think about anything anymore.
The ears seem to have a purifying effect, filtering out all the noise in the world.
Until a pair of icy hands brushed past my ears, followed by a soft laugh.
"Ah Yue, what are you eavesdropping on?"
I opened my eyes and was greeted by a vast expanse of blue sky. Across from me stretched towering mountains and boundless waters, as if someone had painted a splash of turquoise blue into my vision.
I turned around suddenly, only to find myself enveloped in Wu Qi's laughter once more.
He opened his mouth, but found he couldn't utter a single word. When he raised his hand, he realized he was now a fluffy ball, hardly resembling a human.
I looked around again. It seemed to be a protruding attic. We were sitting on the protruding window frame, with the eaves overhead for shade.
Wu Qi was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, revealing two prominent collarbones on his neck. His hair had grown long, covering half of his eyebrows and eyes, which was then blown away by the wind, and his gaze was tender.
I think I've fallen into a new world, and he's my guide in this new world.
He told me, "Your master has restored your body, so you need to take good care of yourself. Be a little rabbit for a few days first, that way you'll recover faster."
Wu Qi glossed over the details of how the project was redone, showing no intention of mentioning it at all.
Even this line, spoken with such fluency, sounds as if it's been rehearsed hundreds of times.
"This is Yunnan, a place that can help people let go of many things."
Wu Qi leaned back, facing the sky, and told me that what he saw was Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake.
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