Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Wanting to eat immortal flesh.
"......who?"
Jiang Huaisu flew around the pavilion like a headless fly.
"Who is speaking?"
"Shh." The voice sounded a little anxious, no longer bothering to maintain its mystery, and spoke faster, "Keep your voice down, don't attract Miaolian's attention. I'm on your head, don't move around."
Above her head? Jiang Huaisu was shocked. Ignoring his warning, she shook her head vigorously. The next instant, something the size of a fingernail flew out from above her head, forming a thin parabola in the air.
No wonder she didn't see it; it was so small that it felt weightless on her head.
The little creature landed lightly on the ground, rolled over, and turned out to be a jumping spider. Its four tiny black eyes, like grains of rice, stared at Jiang Huaisu: "I told you not to move! Why were you shaking your head? You almost made me fall!"
"Oh...excuse me. But who are you?"
Jiang Huaisu doesn't remember ever knowing such a spider friend.
"My name is King Zhixin, and I am the spider with the highest cultivation level within a hundred miles... no, within a thousand miles."
Unsure if the spider was exaggerating, it was always best to be polite. Jiang Huaisu responded enthusiastically, "Wow."
As it turns out, the "King of Hearts" does have some skills.
After confirming that no one was around, he transformed into a young man with long, flowing hair and dressed in black, a very low-key outfit that almost blended into the night.
Jiang Huaisu: "Hmm!" This time it was a genuine sigh.
She didn't know how much longer she would need to cultivate before she could take human form. Seeing that her fellow demon, the Great King Zhixin, had already reached this level, she was naturally filled with envy.
"Little bird, you're lucky," the wise king said mysteriously. "There's a great opportunity right now, and you can share it with me."
What do you mean?
"If you agree to cooperate with me, I will tell you."
"...Never mind then." There's no such thing as a free lunch. He didn't even explain what this so-called "great opportunity" was, yet he wanted to get a promise from her for nothing. Dream on.
Seeing that he couldn't intimidate her, the King of Understanding chuckled twice: "Don't be like that, I was just joking. As fellow monsters, we should help each other. If you don't trust me, I'll cover for you first."
Jiang Huaisu adopted a listening posture: "Okay, go ahead and ask, I'm listening."
“That boy named Miaolian…” King Zhixin leaned closer to her, “is a celestial being reincarnated.”
Jiang Huaisu was stunned; this news was quite explosive.
But she wasn't too surprised; she'd noticed long ago that the boy was unusual. To be precise, this whole family was unusual.
"Moreover, this isn't just any ordinary reincarnation of a deity; this person is the Demon-Subduing God, the mortal incarnation of Nezha, the Third Prince. The situation is a bit complicated, let me explain it to you slowly..."
"Wait. N-Nezha?" She almost stammered, her eyes widening in disbelief.
"Yes. Don't interrupt, listen to me first."
How could the King of Hearts understand Jiang Huaisu's shock at this moment? He thought she was intimidated by the name of this great god and thought to himself that she was indeed a mountain spirit with low cultivation and limited knowledge, who was so frightened by just hearing the name.
However, Jiang Huaisu was simply surprised that the names Miaolian and Nezha... were actually equated?!
She was quite familiar with Nezha, the one who stirred up the sea. The incident caused quite a stir back then, even making it onto television. Every night at 8:30, his theme song would play on the children's channel, and the little hero on screen would make a dazzling entrance, swinging his Universe Ring and hands on his hips.
It was truly hard to reconcile the image of the well-behaved child with the bun and red bib from her childhood memories with the little rascal chaining her up now. The childhood filter had suddenly cracked open, and Jiang Huaisu felt as if fate was playing a cruel trick on her.
The confidant was completely unaware of her emotional journey and continued to explain the past to himself.
The story goes that Nezha, the Third Prince, in Heaven, after committing suicide and being reborn, recognized the pagoda as his father and resolved his enmity with Li Jing. However, since the father and son both served in the Heavenly Court, they inevitably disliked each other and had constant friction.
Lady Yin was troubled, and the Jade Emperor was also in a difficult position. In the end, it was Venus who mediated and suggested that Nezha and Li Tianwang each take a wisp of their divine soul, carrying the five poisons, six desires, and seven emotions, and reincarnate in the mortal world.
A mortal soul is essentially an embodiment of evil intentions; living as a human for a lifetime will surely diminish much of its malevolence. Meanwhile, the original body continues to serve in the Heavenly Court, thus managing both without any conflict.
Jinzha was far away on Mount Ling, Muzha was stationed in the South Sea, and Li Zhenying was still young, so she naturally didn't get involved in such troublesome matters. Only Lady Yin was worried, so she separated a wisp of her divine soul and went to the mortal realm with her youngest son.
Even if his soul returns in the future, there's no need to worry about things going back to the way they were. With an extra lifetime of father-son affection and the dissipation of his resentment, Nezha and Li Tianwang will certainly not be as hostile as they were before.
After listening to the whole story, Jiang Huaisu asked with some skepticism, "Where did you get this information from?"
King Zhixin revealed a smug look: "Part of it I found out myself, and the other part was spread by the local deity. Most of the monsters in the vicinity know about it to some extent, so no one dares to make a move against Prince Nezha."
All right.
After pondering for a while, Jiang Huaisu realized that once she accepted the premise that "Miaolian is Nezha," many of the abnormalities that had happened to Miaolian before seemed to make sense.
He was always surrounded by a lingering lotus fragrance, which was due to the influence of his original lotus root body.
He cannot cultivate the arts of transformation and immortality because he does not have a complete soul.
The absence of a soul can lead to unstable transformations or loss of control. The cultivation of the art of immortality... according to the book, requires mobilizing the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit throughout the body, progressing through the stages of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit into emptiness. If any one of these souls is missing, it's like a broken circuit in an electrical system—the cultivation cannot be completed.
Coming to her senses, Jiang Huaisu looked up at the King of Hearts, her eyes showing a hint of seriousness.
"...Even so, the matter of Prince Nezha seems to have nothing to do with us. What was this opportunity you mentioned before?"
"Ahem, aren't you curious how many years of cultivation you can gain by eating a bite of immortal flesh?" King Zhixin lowered his voice.
After all that buildup, it turns out that's what I was thinking about!
Jiang Huaisu gasped and shook her head vigorously.
Not curious at all. She knew from watching Journey to the West when she was a child that monsters who coveted the flesh of immortals never met a good end.
She tried to dissuade the arrogant little spider: "Didn't you say no one dared to mess with Nezha...?"
"How can I be like others! I am the King of Hearts, with extraordinary courage and unparalleled bravery. Besides, I'm not trying to kill him, just taking a bite of his flesh!"
"No, I won't do it. What if his spirit returns and comes after us?"
If the King of Hearts insists on delivering the vegetables, Jiang Huaisu will have no choice but to distance herself from him.
As a woman who held the script, she knew that offending Nezha was tantamount to courting death. This man was so hot-tempered that he could kill himself. She would be foolish enough to provoke him.
Besides, she couldn't even transform into human form, so her success rate in challenging a powerful being of a higher level was basically zero.
Even though Miaolian is now a mortal, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. The risk is too high; she doesn't need to risk her life for a piece of lotus root.
Before she knew Miaolian's true identity, she still harbored a little bit of a desire for revenge, but now she dares not think about anything anymore, and only hopes that they can part ways amicably in the future.
“Once he goes back to heaven and becomes a god, he’ll have long forgotten about us!” King Zhixin glared at her. “What’s wrong with eating a piece of his flesh? You have so many excuses, but you just don’t dare to.”
"Yes, I dare not."
The King of Understanding said, "Oh, so you mean you're not willing to cooperate with me anymore?"
"Brother Spider, I..."
Jiang Huaisu wanted to say a few polite words to smooth things over, but the man opposite her had already dropped his pleasant expression and said coldly, "Fine."
"......Um."
After the cooperation negotiations failed, there was nothing left for her and the "King of Hearts" to talk about.
Jiang Huaisu thought he was about to leave, and wondered whether she should inform Miaolian or pretend she knew nothing.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the golden chain that bound her, pouring in a large amount of demonic power, causing even the surrounding air to tremble.
Waves of heat were the embodiment of overwhelming demonic energy, causing Jiang Huaisu's feathers to sway from side to side. Her throat tightened, and she couldn't speak. She suddenly realized that the cultivation level of the person in front of her was much higher than she had imagined.
Tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the chain, followed by a crisp cracking sound as the links broke completely.
The sound wasn't loud, but it struck Jiang Huaisu like a thunderclap, making her scalp tingle. The anklets that had bound her for three years had their spell broken and were now just a pile of scrap metal.
But the King of Hearts' hair, as if alive, reached out and predicted her flight path, pulling her back to her original position. The fine hair bound her tightly, even her mouth was tied up.
King Zhixin didn't look relaxed either. He had expended a lot of demonic energy, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead, his lips turning pale.
Even so, he forced himself to maintain his composure, and curled the corners of his mouth into a smile: "You little bird, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences."
Originally, I wanted to persuade her to infiltrate Miaolian's group and work together from the inside. Since she refused, I had no choice but to start the second plan.
It took a little extra effort, but it's not a big problem.
The King of Intimacy took a small piece of paper from his sleeve and placed it on the table in the center of the pavilion.
After finishing this task, he tucked Jiang Huaisu into his sleeve and hummed happily, "It's done. You're my hostage now."
"......"
In a dramatic turn of events, Jiang Huaisu was captured again less than two seconds after gaining her freedom.
The King of Hearts carried her to a small hill outside the city, turned left and right, and entered a cave.
Everywhere you looked, there were fine, misty spiderwebs, and a pungent, sticky odor permeated the air. In one corner of the cave, there were piles of bones from various unknown animals, with bits of meat still hanging on them.
This seems to be the lair of the King of Hearts, and it has a lot of spider demon characteristics.
Jiang Huaisu peeked into his sleeve but didn't see a bed or chairs. Could it be that the King of Intimacy usually sleeps in spider silk? Good, even in human form, he hasn't lost his monster nature.
In the very center sat a large pot, its pale yellow liquid still bubbling and emitting a pungent, bitter aroma. She couldn't see what was being cooked inside, but her intuition told her it wouldn't taste good.
Noticing where her gaze was directed, the King of Hearts bluntly said, "That's a broth I've been simmering for three days, meant to accompany the immortal meat. Don't look, you're not lucky enough to have it."
He leaned closer to the pot, took a deep breath, and made a look of ecstasy, speaking in an exaggerated tone, as if deliberately trying to whet Jiang Huaisu's appetite.
"We added three children's livers, it's so delicious it'll make your eyebrows fall off... Now we're just waiting for the main dish to be cooked."
Jiang Huaisu was secretly alarmed. A child's liver... that's not a common ingredient. Judging from his nonchalant tone, it seemed he'd already eaten quite a few?
Her mouth started to water, not because she was craving food, but because she felt nauseous. After all, her memories of being human were still very clear, and with a pot of boiling baby meat soup simmering in front of her, it was really hard for her to remain calm.
"I've already left a message for that kid, telling him to come see me alone." The King of Understanding patted her head and said happily, "I'll trade a piece of flesh for you."
He muttered to himself for a while, then suddenly remembered that Jiang Huaisu's mouth was still bound, preventing her from speaking or responding. So, in a moment of mercy, he removed the restraints. "When do you think Miaolian will arrive?"
"......I have no idea."
“If he doesn’t come, you’ll have to take the place of the immortal meat in the pot. It’s a bit less of a main dish, but at least you’re a demon who’s only gained some intelligence, hmph.” He circled the pot once. “You’d better pray that you’re important enough to him.”
Unexpectedly, she found herself involved in this matter. Jiang Huaisu immediately sensed something was wrong and her mind raced. She decided that the most urgent thing was to calm down the King of Hearts.
"Then you've got it all figured out. With me here, he'll definitely come. I'm very important to him."
How important is it?
Jiang Huaisu blinked: "Let alone a piece of meat, even if he were to give his life for it, he might agree."
Her words were a mixture of truth and falsehood.
Miao Lian will come, but not because she is so important, but because he cannot tolerate this level of provocation.
Based on her understanding of Miaolian, she knew that Miaolian was extremely vengeful and capable of killing eight hundred enemies while losing a thousand of her own.
Moreover, as Nezha's clone, he carried the excess emotions and evil thoughts of the original body, and his temper was no less than that of the original body. How could he be so magnanimous as to let others take her away?
Jiang Huaisu's only worry was whether her life could be guaranteed.
She always felt that in Miaolian's heart, her position was somewhat ambiguous; she seemed to be closer to a "toy" than a "playmate."
Toys, whether dead or alive, are fine as long as you hold them in your hands.
It's still dark, and we don't know when Miaolian will get up, see the note in the pavilion, and come to our rescue.
Jiang Huaisu was filled with anxiety and couldn't sleep at all. Staring at the embers burning under the large pot, her eyes welled up with tears.
The best-case scenario I can think of right now is that King Zhixin and Miaolian can fight each other without hurting her.
And it cannot be a one-hit kill style of play.
Ideally, the King of Hearts would fight Miaolian for a while before dying.
If she gets a chance during the process, she can escape in the chaos. By the time Miaolian subdues the monster and comes to her senses, she has already flown to the horizon. He doesn't have wings, so naturally he can't catch up with her.
Of course, the outcome may not be as she expects. Perhaps in this life, Miao Lian is too weak and will be subdued by the King of Hearts.
In that case, she would have to escape even more. Otherwise, staying here would only serve to enrich the ingredients in the pot, allowing her to reunite with Miaolian inside the spider's belly, sitting side by side with their bones.
The difference is that Miaolian can return to heaven to become a goddess after she dies, but when she dies, she is truly dead, and Yama will not give her any special treatment.
...Recalling her original intention three years ago, Jiang Huaisu felt melancholy and wanted to sigh.
At first, I only wanted to go to Flower Fruit Mountain to see the monkeys.
Who would have thought that one trouble after another would follow!
A note from the author:
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