Chapter 63
Countless years after Li Jia left, the four realms of the Divine Mountain returned to normal, the sun and moon rose and fell, and all was peaceful beyond compare.
But some interesting things happened, such as Hades falling in love with Persephone, the goddess of spring, and Cupid's arrow finally hitting this incredibly hard and venomous stone.
On a spring equinox, Persephone walked through the underworld carrying a basket full of irises.
A shadow suddenly fell on the black stone wall that should have been silent.
He had originally intended to scare her away, but the moment he saw her, for the first time, a color other than death appeared in the man's dark blue eyes.
That touch of spring, piercing through the gloom of the underworld, was like a small hammer, gently tapping on the tip of his heart, which had been silent for millions of years.
No one knows how the chase started.
At first, when Persephone was sowing spring buds in the human world, she always felt a faint black mist behind her. Later, it turned into a string of crystal-clear black pearls appearing on the branches when she went to pick the first blooming pomegranate flowers in the garden.
And then later.
Wherever the skirt of the goddess of spring swept by, Hades' black robe would silently follow, like a silent shadow, only to disappear into the clouds the moment she turned around.
At first, Persephone was afraid of this aloof and handsome man. She had heard rumors about him—that he was aloof, taciturn, and the god of death.
As a deity, he disdained to associate with other gods, and did not reside on the sacred mountain or in the human realm.
He lived alone in the Netherworld, and even the ferryman of the River of Oblivion dared not say a word to him.
Persephone did try to hide, concealing the breath of spring in the crevices of the snow-capped peaks. Hades then sent a spectral butterfly carrying an everlasting flower of the underworld to guard the crevices for an entire winter.
She deliberately went to the hottest desert to plant seeds at midday in midsummer, only to find that cool obsidian tiles had already been laid under the dunes. On one occasion, she even hid in the old garden in the rift of time and space in a fit of pique.
But when she turned around, she saw Hades brushing away the dust that didn't belong to any realm from her hair with his fingertips, his voice even deeper than the River of Oblivion: "There is no spring here, you will be cold."
Persephone stared at Hades's fingertips hovering in mid-air, a ripple of emotion spreading through her heart like a pebble dropped into still water. She wanted to say, "I'm not cold."
But the words that came out were a soft question: "How...how did you find this place?"
This was the first time Hades had faced such a gentle question, and his voice was even softer than before: "The Dark Butterfly can smell your scent. Even if you hide in the cracks of timelessness, I can still find you."
He paused, then added, "I'm afraid the dust here will scratch your skin, and without sunlight, the irises you carry with you will wither."
Persephone looked down at the flowers in the basket, and the petals were indeed a little wilted than before.
She suddenly remembered that a few days ago in the Ktabo Valley, she had accidentally slipped while trying to pick the highest flower. Just as she was about to fall into the mud pit under the tree, a black shadow suddenly emerged from behind the clouds. She didn't see who it was, but she felt a gentle yet powerful force lift her waist and land steadily on the ground.
When I turned around, there were only a few scraps of black fabric, which had fallen onto the petals in the wind.
At the time, she thought she was just seeing things, but now, remembering Hades' words, her heart suddenly started beating faster.
I recalled the rumors.
“You’re clearly so afraid of trouble…” Persephone looked up at his eyes, where her image was clearly reflected: “Why do you still do all this?”
Hades paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts.
He was never good at speaking gently, and when he gave orders to his subordinates in the underworld, his words were always brief and cold.
But when facing Persephone, he wanted to make his thoughts clear: "I used to think that death was eternal peace, and there was nothing wrong with that."
"But since I saw you, I've realized how dull it is when there's no spring in tranquility."
He reached out and gently touched the irises in Persephone's basket. As soon as his fingertips touched the petals, the wilted petals slowly unfolded: "I want you to leave behind an eternal spring for the underworld."
Persephone's eyes suddenly felt a little hot.
She always thought that he pursued her because of Hades' possessiveness, because he was used to controlling everything.
But now she realizes that what he did was a clumsy attempt to please her.
A god who has lived for millions of years and only knows death, for the first time, learns to give all his gentleness to spring.
She gently lifted the basket, took a step forward, and moved closer to Hades.
The scent of spring emanated from her, brushing against Hades' black robes and even giving the cold fabric a touch of warmth.
"Then you don't need to hide next time."
Persephone's voice was tinged with laughter, like a spring breeze across a lake: "If you want to see spring, I can take you to see the rapeseed fields in the human world, or I can plant your favorite flowers on the stone walls of the underworld."
Hades' eyes suddenly lit up, like stars rising in the silent night.
He reached out and carefully grasped Persephone's wrist; the warmth of his fingertips was greater than she had imagined. "Really?"
"real."
Persephone nodded, and seeing the rare look of expectation on his face, she couldn't help but laugh: "However, you're not allowed to scare me with the black mist again."
Hades nodded immediately, like an obedient child: "Okay, never again."
Looking at Hades' serious profile, Persephone suddenly felt that it was an interesting thing to let death embrace spring and to let the indifferent gods learn to be gentle.
What followed was a natural progression of acquaintance, understanding, and love. Demeter, though neither entirely agreeing nor particularly fond of this seemingly unapproachable "prospective son-in-law,"...
But Persephone liked him, and her daughter shyly and reservedly told her, "Mom, I like him, and the thought of being separated from him makes my heart very lonely."
Demeter wasn't ignorant of love, but the thought of Hades, who lived in the underworld and was always shrouded in coldness, made her frown.
She had seen him a few times, either when the gods were in a council, he stood alone in a corner, only responding faintly when Zeus spoke to him, or when she saw him from afar following behind Persephone, like a silent shadow, exuding a "keep away" aura.
Can such a deity truly protect her spring?
It's not that I don't like him.
Demeter looked at her daughter's reddened eyes and her voice softened: "I'm just afraid he won't cherish it, afraid you'll suffer in the underworld."
"No, Mom."
Persephone held her mother's hand, her fingertips warm with the spring breeze: "He just doesn't know how to say nice things, but his gentleness is shown in his actions."
Demeter looked into the light in her daughter's eyes, a vibrant light nourished by love, like the fullest new buds in spring.
She suddenly remembered that when she was young, she had also felt a stirring of romantic feelings for someone.
Perhaps love is never about how perfect the other person is, but about how much sincerity they are willing to give you.
She gently patted her daughter's hand, her tone tinged with helplessness but also with compromise: "Fine, you're all grown up now, you have your own thoughts. But next time he comes, I need to make him talk to me properly about how he plans to treat you in the future."
"My daughter can only be a goddess."
Demeter's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, making Persephone blush instantly and causing Hades, who was hiding outside the door and wanted to eavesdrop, to stop in his tracks.
He never thought about the title of Queen of Gods; he only knew that he wanted to give Persephone the best of everything in the underworld.
But they forgot that she was the goddess of spring, the precious jewel Demeter held in her hands, and deserved the most solemn treatment.
Persephone paused, then tugged at her mother's sleeve and whispered, "Mom, I don't care about titles..."
"I care."
Demeter interrupted her, gently stroking her daughter's hair, her gaze fixed on the doorway, her voice filled with unwavering determination: "My daughter is the spring that brings life back to all things, not some dispensable shadow in anyone's life."
“She’s going to the underworld, where she should be the mistress of the land, a goddess respected by all, not someone who secretly follows behind someone without even a title.”
Hades, standing outside the door, felt a sudden surge of warmth in his heart.
He had always assumed that Demeter was full of dissatisfaction with him, but he never expected that his mother's pickiness and worries were all for the sake of her daughter's dignity.
He took a deep breath, pushed open the half-closed door, and walked step by step to Demeter, bowing slightly.
This was the first time in a thousand years that he had bowed his head to a god other than Nyx.
"You're right."
Hades’ voice was deeper than usual, but with an unprecedented seriousness: “I never thought about the title. It was my oversight. But Persephone is not a shadow to me, but a light that illuminates the underworld.”
"I will marry her with the highest honors of the underworld, making her the rightful Queen of the Underworld, and ensuring that all things in the underworld respect and protect her."
“I promise you that from this day forward, Persephone’s wish is Hades’ wish, and anyone who dares to harm her in the slightest will be an enemy of Hades.”
Demeter looked at the seriousness in his eyes, and then at her daughter's quietly clenched hands, and the last bit of worry in her heart finally dissipated.
"Alright."
Demeter sighed, her tone softening: "Since you understand her preciousness, I will no longer object, but there is one thing."
“Persephone can’t live without spring. Every year from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox, you have to let her go back to the Poirot fields for a while so she can see the sea of flowers in the human world. Otherwise, she’ll get bored.”
Hades nodded immediately, like a knight who had received a command: "I promise you, I will personally send her back and personally take her back."
Persephone watched as her mother and Hades reached an agreement. She walked to Hades' side, gently took his hand, and felt a sense of comfort from the warmth of his fingertips.
Hades turned his head, and the two smiled at each other.
He was finally free from being a silent shadow, and could finally hold her hand openly and proudly, witnessing the spring of the four realms.
In the days that followed, the four realms of the sacred mountain became lively. When the gods of Olympus heard that Hades was going to marry the goddess of spring, they all sent their congratulatory gifts.
Zeus caught a glimpse of Persephone's beauty and was filled with desire to possess her, but someone beat him to it.
Hera, the goddess of marriage, personally registered Hades and Persephone's marriage in history. Persephone was the initiator of the marriage, and Hades was registered as a divine husband.
Hades stood to the side, his dark blue eyes filled with smugness. When his gaze swept over the marital history, he made a point of confirming the words "divine husband".
He never cared about titles or ranks; as long as he could hold Persephone's hand firmly and make her the sole mistress of the underworld, he didn't care what her status was.
"Thank you for coming so late at night to register our marriage history."
Persephone said apologetically to the woman in front of her. The woman smiled and reached out to pat Persephone's head: "In a way, you are my goddaughter. It is a mother's responsibility to do things for the child."
“You and Hades are now married, and no one can interfere in your relationship anymore, unless they want to challenge the divine authority of the god of marriage.”
Hades's gaze suddenly turned cold, and he tightened his grip on Persephone's hand.
He knew Zeus's nature well—debauched, immoral, and without regard for ethics. Now that he saw Persephone's beauty, he was sure to have wicked thoughts.
Fortunately, Hera acted quickly, using the divine power of the goddess of marriage to seal the marriage between the two. Anyone who dared to challenge this marriage would be going against the divine punishment of the mountain, and even Zeus would not dare to touch it lightly.
Hera looked at the two of them leaning on each other and said with relief, "With Hades protecting you, I can rest assured. From now on, in the Underworld, you will be both the Queen of the Underworld and the Goddess of Spring, protected by the sacred mountain. No one will dare to mistreat you."
"Thank you, Hera."
Hades was about to say something more when Hera interrupted him: "Consider this payment for setting up the lamp."
The golden divine patterns on the marriage certificate now carry an eternal legend about death and spring.
In the years that followed, love and promises ultimately became the most touching scenery.
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