Chapter 25 Chapter 25 “He’s better than his idiot brother…
The strong wind was so painful that it scraped the bones and marrow. Even some immortals in the Three Pure Heavens who relied on enduring pain to advance in their cultivation could not bear it.
What's more, Fuxu's realm is damaged now. The internal injuries and external pain are a double torture.
He said it lightly, but Jiu Zhao couldn't help feeling nervous.
As a phoenix that knows how to repay a favor, she immediately patted Fuxu's shoulder and eagerly invited him, "You've done so much for me, and I'm not someone who's ungrateful. How are you feeling now? Do you have any extra energy? Why don't we practice together?"
Jiu Zhao could swear to heaven that the moment he made the invitation to practice together, there was no extra thought in his mind.
However, as soon as the words of "repaying a favor" came out of his mouth, the pale-faced Fuxu suddenly became even paler.
Within his open robe, his firm abdominal muscles contracted violently, and the unbearable memories he'd vented at Jiu Zhao's feet once again flooded his consciousness. His pale skin quickly turned a drunken red as his energy and blood surged upward.
"...Your Highness, please untie the divine whip that is tied to my wrist first."
Fu Xu half-closed her eyelashes, restrained her fiery eyes, and requested in a low voice.
Jiu Zhao, who was thinking about the reward, didn't understand what was going on and thought that he had tacitly agreed, so he happily twirled his fingertips and withdrew his natal magic weapon.
Bang!
The next moment, the injured young man found strength from nowhere, grabbed her arm, lifted her up, and threw her out the door.
The deafening noise attracted the attention of the immortal guards guarding in the distance.
Inside the door, Fu Xu, who knew nothing about this, growled in dismay, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness, but I don't need it!"
The end of his voice trembled, and his usually dignified and upright image was shattered.
Along with the image being shattered, it seemed that the estrangement and shackles that had stood between the two of them for many years were also shattered.
After being yelled at by Fuxu, Jiuzhao blinked and reached out to wipe away the dust that had touched the tip of his nose.
"Well, if it doesn't fit, then it doesn't fit... Why are you being so fierce..."
She muttered softly, as if complaining about Fu Xu's rudeness, but her eyes were filled with a smile as light as clouds.
…
Jiu Zhao originally thought that the days of confinement would be so boring that they would feel like years.
But as time went by, she found that the process of practicing with Fuxu was not as boring as she had imagined.
From one pot of mindfulness flowers, four pots of mindfulness flowers, to ten pots, sixteen pots, twenty pots...
With Fu Xu's company, the influence of the inner demon Lan Qi on Jiu Zhao gradually weakened - at the beginning, she still needed timely reminders and protection, but after gradually getting used to it, her ability to find the weaknesses of the illusion also changed from unfamiliar to skilled, and she could break them one by one within the specified time.
Jiuzhao's progress was so fast that it was visible to the naked eye, which made Fuxu, his teacher, very pleased.
They no longer dislike each other, and their relationship is like ice meeting a sunny day, the sunlight melts the ice and turns it into a clear stream flowing.
Just a little bit.
Fuxu refused to obey and practice with her no matter what.
Whenever Jiu Zhao mentioned this, he always had a hundred excuses to prevaricate. When he was pressed into a corner, he said hesitantly that a normal immortal couple would not lose their minds and do such dissolute things as they did - he would consider doing this after he solved the mystery.
At first once or twice, Jiu Zhao would gently assure him that the life tablets left by the Mother Goddess could help them maintain their sanity.
Fuxu still refused.
There is no more to coax or persuade.
Jiu Zhao, having run out of patience, simply tied him up and forced himself on him twice.
The effect of He Xiu's treatment is getting better and better, and Fu Xu, who is suffering from the fire of love, is becoming more and more abnormal.
Jiu Zhao has a bad nature of playing tricks on others, and she enjoys the young man's behavior of changing his appearance and pestering her.
She used video recording technology to preserve the scene perfectly, and played it back every time for Fuxu to watch after he woke up.
Fuxu was so embarrassed that he almost died, but she praised his enthusiasm and smiled innocently.
…
Time passed quickly in the chaotic environment, and a month was gone in the blink of an eye.
Life in Changxi Palace has undergone changes to varying degrees. After treatment, Fuxu's abdominal wound is only left with a shallow scar.
Everything seems to be going in the right direction.
The only drawback was that on this day, Jiu Zhao's house, which had suddenly become deserted due to his confinement, welcomed an uninvited guest.
The palace door opened, and Ying Luo's brilliant yet annoying smile came into view.
She came alone, without the usual crowd of people following her, and she also showed Jiu Zhao the Heavenly Order specially bestowed by the God Emperor.
With the permission of the Heavenly Order, Yingluo's visit to Jiuzhao would not be considered a violation of the rules.
When two rivals in love meet, they can't help but feel jealous of each other.
He ordered people to arrange the meeting place for Ying Luo in the main hall of Changxi. Jiu Zhao hesitated for a while and specially changed into a gorgeous long dress to welcome the guest.
The folds of her skirt flowed up the jade steps like a tide. She turned around and sat in the main seat, her face cold: "What are you doing here?"
Ying Luo smiled gently, ignoring Jiu Zhao's expression, which read "I'm so annoyed, get out of here!" "It's been a month since we last met, Your Highness. How have you been? The eighth day of next month, after the Immortal Rank exam, will be my thirty-seven thousandth birthday. I've come to Lihentian to present you with an invitation to the banquet."
As she spoke, she turned her palm sideways, and an ice-blue invitation card engraved with ripples of the West Sea water hung in the air.
The maid brought it and presented it to Jiu Zhao. After recognizing the identity of the invitee, the closed invitation opened automatically. Beneath the sincere words written in handwriting, the signature "Ying Luo Respectfully Presented" was sharp and vigorous, without any of the soft and graceful manner that the writer usually used in his daily dealings with others.
Because of the inner demon illusion, old events are restarted one after another.
Jiu Zhao not only has complicated feelings towards the young Lan Qi, but also can't help but feel many emotions when he sees Ying Luo again.
She wasn't aware of the subtle shift in her gaze, which honestly reflected her inner thoughts. She simply lowered her eyes and looked down at Ying Luo with the air of a superior, casually asking, "Immortals only hold banquets and invite friends and family to celebrate their ten-thousandth birthdays. So, is the Western Divine King so certain that you'll successfully ascend to a celestial immortal this time around that he's planning to use the name of a birthday celebration for you?"
Ying Luo looked at her face and replied without a single mistake, "Your Highness, you are too kind to me. The Divine Emperor is diligent in his work, and the Three Pure Ones are full of talented people. My abilities are at the bottom of the heap. I don't believe I have the ability to determine victory or defeat before the battle begins. All I can do is try my best."
If you don't celebrate for winning the first place in the immortal exam, why make such a fuss over a mere birthday?
Touching the perplexed expression on Jiu Zhao's face, Ying Luo kept it a secret, "My father is holding a birthday banquet for me because of another important matter. This important matter would be incomplete without Your Highness's presence, so I humbly hope that Your Highness would do me the honor of attending."
The inviter was so sincere that whether he went or not, refusing in person would make Jiu Zhao, the invitee, seem ignorant of etiquette.
She was too lazy to ask what kind of medicine Yingluo was selling in her gourd. She waved her sleeve and put the invitation into her storage ring: "Got it, you can go now."
Ying Luo stood there without moving: "Your Highness, I have something else to say."
Jiu Zhao raised his eyebrows impatiently: "Then tell me everything at once."
Ying Luo didn't care about her coldness.
She looked around and asked tentatively, "It's a bit awkward to sit in the main hall and talk. Your Highness, could you please accompany me to the garden?"
Jiu Zhao immediately wanted to say no.
But somehow, he suddenly remembered the old stories between Yingluo and his classmates in Changye Academy.
At that time, if they wanted to share secret gossip, they would hold hands, talk and laugh and go to the small garden behind the academy.
At that time and now, two similar figures overlapped.
Jiu Zhao couldn't help but laugh silently.
When I think about the past, my heart becomes much softer.
She has been in a good mood recently, and she did not reject Yingluo's request after all.
After glancing at the other person lightly, Jiu Zhao snorted and turned to walk towards the garden.
It was morning, and the courtyard was warm and filled with the fragrance of flowers.
In the silver cage hanging under the eaves, the bird of paradise is nourished by the frosty air and lives a very comfortable life.
Sensing someone coming, they flapped their colorful wings and chirped as if they were talking to each other.
Ying Luo had heard about King Chongli's grand gift of birds, so she was not surprised to see this scene.
She fell behind half a step, following Jiu Zhaoxin down the corridor, and heard Jiu Zhao urging her without turning around, "Alright—if you have something to say, tell me quickly."
It really is...
He didn't even want to give himself a good look.
Yingluo's smile turned slightly bitter.
She lowered her neck, maintaining the respectful demeanor expected of a subject, and chatted with the Bird of Paradise, "I heard Your Highness has been preparing a birthday gift for the Supreme God Fuxu. Actually, my birthday came before the Supreme God Fuxu's. I wonder if I will have the honor of receiving such a gift from Your Highness personally?"
Jiu Zhao heard Fuxu's name and thought Yingluo was going to take advantage of the fact that no one was around to provoke her. But she went off on a tangent and said she also wanted the gift she had prepared.
"...Is this what you're talking about?"
Jiu Zhao's expression changed for a moment, and he turned around to look at Ying Luo as if she were a new species: "You wish!"
"All right."
Upon hearing this, Ying Luo showed obvious disappointment.
The glance in his eyes dimmed, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
Here it comes again, here it comes again.
Jiu Zhao secretly curled his lips, didn't look at her, and walked forward with his head held high.
The two walked to the end of the corridor, and after a few dozen steps they arrived at Jiu Zhao's bedroom.
The bedroom had been cleaned by maids in the morning, and now the two doors were wide open, welcoming the baptism of sunlight.
Ying Luo's sharp eyes caught sight of a small birdcage with even more exquisite decorations hanging on the colorful carved wooden rack next to the palace door.
As soon as the two birds of paradise that were nesting there saw Jiu Zhao, they immediately chirped with joy.
The magical aura attached to the cage is quite unfamiliar.
Ying Luo sensed it for a moment and found that it was not the same as the birdcage under the corridor, which came from Changxi Palace, but from the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.
"Your Highness, what is that?"
Following Yingluo's gaze, Jiuzhao saw the "gift" that Zhu Yan had given him that day.
"They're just like the ones down the corridor—birds of paradise." Tired of walking, she sat down against the fragrant blossoms that filled the garden, scorning Ying Luo's attempts at conversation. "Are you too young and have poor eyesight to recognize two birds that look alike?"
The chairs at the end of the corridor are not long enough. Although they can barely seat two people, they have to squeeze together closely.
Ying Luo's eyes were fixed on the empty seat beside Jiu Zhao. She stared at it for a few breaths with an unfathomable expression, but she didn't sit down. "I noticed that the cage used to house the bird of paradise was slightly different. I thought it was a different, rare species."
Jiu Zhao rolled his eyes. "Oh, so I must have misjudged you. You can observe even the smallest details so carefully. It's a shame you didn't serve in the government office in Yunshengshi. Otherwise, how could there be so many unjust cases in the storybooks?"
Ying Luo: “…”
Jiu Zhao finished his rant and leaned his elbows on the corridor railing, a look of admiration on his face. "The pair of birds of paradise in the bedroom were given to me by Immortal Zhu Yan. He's much better than his idiot brother, and a much more considerate and thoughtful person."
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