Chapter 39

Tenderness and Sweetness

The long night in the spring chamber was filled with dreams. The candle had burned out, the incense had faded, and the silk robes were in a messy pile. Finally, the wind and rain outside stopped, and I rubbed my eyes, sitting up from my lover’s arms. “Master, the rain has stopped...” As soon as I said it, I regretted it and shut my mouth, but he pinched my cheek hard.

“I was wrong,” I mumbled. “Yinze...”

Having said that, I lowered my head, my cheeks burning. Saying his name out loud still made me feel embarrassed. I remember the first time he asked me to change my address. No matter how intimate I was with him, I always felt that my master was my master, and at first, I refused to change my address no matter what.

After being severely punished by him, I was forced to call him “Divine Lord.” I was punished again, and then I had to call him “Divine Lord Yinze”, but the result was the same. Finally, after being taught a lesson countless times, I was willing to call him by his name, but I still made many mistakes.

Yinze... It always felt very special to call him that.

Turning over, I met Yinze’s eyes. His outline was bathed in the moonlight, his nose was like a snow-capped mountain, his skin was like ice and frost, and his long hair was scattered on the pillow. His deep eyes were staring at me thoughtfully.

After so many days of being together, I no longer felt afraid of him. I leaned forward and poked the water mark on his cheekbone with my index finger, “Did you have this before?”

“Yes, it’s the water god’s mark, it’s innate.”

“Ling Yin God Lord also controls water, and he’s also a god, why doesn’t he have this mark?”

“He controls water, but he’s not a water god. A water god is born once every five thousand years, born in the water domain, and can control the water of the world, but before he becomes a Divine Lord, these powers are restricted, so this mark will only reappear after becoming the God of Cangying.”

“So, you were born a water god?”

“Yes.”

I blinked my eyes and clapped my hands excitedly, “So amazing! I still admire you so much...”

Of course, Yinze was never impressed by such flattery. He just smiled sarcastically, like an adult seeing through a child’s tricks, and didn’t argue with me. But even his sarcastic and arrogant side, I liked it very much.

My heart was as sweet as honey, and I wanted to get closer to him. But as soon as I moved forward, I was injured in the lower back, and I howled in pain, pressing on the sore spot. He slid his hand to my lower back, injected divine power, and the pain disappeared immediately.

I felt a sense of awe as if I had witnessed Nuwa creating humans, but I felt that it was too immodest to continue drooling over him, so I buried my head in his collarbone, enjoying the feeling of being his lover.

I knew that, except for death, which was destined by fate, no matter what injuries I suffered, as the supreme god of our water tribe, he could bring me back to life. Moreover, he would no longer suppress me with the airs of a master and say that I was bold and disrespectful. No matter how many questions I asked, he would answer me; no matter what I did to him, even if I touched his face, bit his chin, patted his butt, nibbled his shoulder, or rubbed against him in his arms... he would not resist at all, and he would let me do whatever I wanted.

The feeling of being infinitely indulged was intoxicating, and I couldn’t help but laugh foolishly. “So, pushing the master down feels like this.”

“You pushed me down?” Yinze smiled disdainfully, “Not skilled enough.”

I thought for a moment, then realized, and blushed, “That’s not what I meant.” Countless embarrassing memories came flooding into my mind, and my legs ached again.

I rubbed the sore spot, “I’m really old, and I feel so sore all over.”

Hearing the word “old”, Yinze, who had been healing me, raised one eyebrow. I said, “You’re different. How can a god and a spirit be compared? Even if you live for ten thousand years, it won’t have any effect. Besides, we’ve been doing that for so many days, and it’s been too frequent. How can ordinary people endure it...”

“Other people forget about it as soon as they put on their pants, but you forget about it as soon as you lie in my arms. Two hours ago, you were still begging me to use...” Before he could finish, I stopped him with a kiss.

I heard him chuckle softly, and then he kissed me passionately again, untied the silk gauze I had draped over my shoulders, and carried me onto him, while he leaned against the wall. He stroked my hair and slowly made love to me.

Our foreheads were touching, and we exchanged each other’s breath. Our lips were almost touching each other, but they didn’t touch. However, because the distance was too close, as soon as we spoke, we would softly kiss each other.

“Yinze.”

“Hmm?”

I didn’t want to bring this up, but if I didn’t, I was afraid something would go wrong. I reluctantly said, “You know, I just came out to play with my brother this time, and I didn’t tell my second sister. Su Zhao can’t do without me, so I may have to go back and stay for a while...”

“Okay,” he said.

“But, I’ll miss you a little... I might miss you a lot,” I held his hand tightly, “Will you write to me?”

“I don’t have time to write letters.”

Although I had already guessed that Yinze would be like this, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. I didn’t say anything, I just nodded silently. He said, “But, I can go with you.”

In his bright eyes, I saw my surprised expression. His eyes became even gentler than the moonlight: “Wei’er, I can’t leave you now.”

Outside the moonlit building, there were vast stretches of green, and the small window was as bright as day. The flowing clouds poured from the wine jug into the air, and then into my mouth. He held my lips and sucked and tasted them bit by bit.

At this moment, the smoke was hazy, the stars were falling, and the flowing clouds had seeped into my blood, even my heart was intoxicated.

Yinze was a divine being, and he didn’t need to eat or drink. He also shared his divine power with me, so I didn’t feel tired or hungry. Therefore, for seven days, except for bathing and going to the toilet, I didn’t even get out of bed. Speaking of going to the toilet, I realized that as long as gods didn’t eat a lot, they didn’t need to go to the toilet either. So every time I said I wanted to “relieve myself,” seeing Yinze’s look, it was both beautiful and annoying, and I couldn’t stand it.

Speaking of bathing, if it had been before, I would have felt that it was improper and shameless to bathe with a man, but now I could pat my chest and say that I could handle it - yes, since I first bathed with him, the so-called shame, propriety, and restraint had already been turned into clouds by his shamelessness.

Then, we stayed in the room for another half an hour, took a bath together, put on our clothes, and left Yinze’s bedroom to go back to my room to get my luggage.

I hadn’t been out for so long that when the moonlight fell on me, I felt like I was falling into a pile of needles, and my whole body was uncomfortable. Although everyone in Cangying Mansion was asleep, I was still very self-conscious, and it wasn’t until I reached the door of my room that I linked my arm with his and rested my head on his shoulder, “It’s great that you can go back with me. My second sister is a very good person, and she’s the first female emperor of Su Zhao...”

I found that Yinze’s gaze was fixed on the distance, and I followed his gaze. There was a small bridge, a hexagonal pavilion, and the evening light passed through the pavilion, illuminating a solitary figure.

The man was wearing a jade crown, his black hair reached his shoulders, and he was wearing a blue and white Cangying disciple’s uniform and boots, with a light fur robe over his outer garment, and a sword in his hand, which made him look tall and slender, with the air of a young sword fairy. Recognizing that it was my brother, I quickly let go of Yinze’s arm, feeling flustered and not knowing what to do.

My brother walked from the pavilion to the red wooden curved bridge and looked at me from afar, “It’s good that you’re okay. I’m going back to rest.”

I quickly ran onto the bridge and grabbed my brother’s sleeve, “Brother, actually...”

At this moment, the moon reflected on the still water, and my brother’s clear eyes also reflected the beautiful light like jade. He glanced at Yinze behind me and said, “I know what you want to say, you don’t have to tell me. Moreover, the whole of Cangying Mansion knows about it now. It’s just that an incestuous relationship is not a glorious thing to say, and it’s hard to stop people from gossiping. Think about how to deal with it.”

“I don’t care what others say,” I lowered my head, “I only care about what you think.”

“What do I think? You still care about what I think?” My brother suddenly laughed bitterly, “You want to ask me what I think of your incestuous relationship with your master? Or do you want to know what I think of hearing you tell your second sister that you’ve made a private commitment with your master? Now everyone in Cangying Mansion knows that you’ve been sleeping in his room for seven days without coming out for a moment! Are you still my sister? If this gets back to Su Zhao, can you still be a human being?”

I was so embarrassed that my face turned red and white. “But, I like him.”

Fu Chenzi said coldly, “What do you like about him? He’s over seven thousand years older than you, even older than Immortal Xu Xing.”

“It doesn’t matter. I just like him.”

“That’s because he appears as a handsome man. If he looked like Immortal Xu Xing, would you still be attracted to him?”

I was stunned and turned to look at Yinze. The ripples of the pool reflected on his indigo-colored robe like stars. His eyebrows were clear and his bearing was noble, with an aloof and ethereal air that was hard to describe. I thought that he must have heard our conversation, but he remained calm and indifferent, and the radiance from the upper realm made him seem unattainable.

I closed my eyes and imagined what he would look like as an old man, and then turned back and said, “If he had been an old man before we were together, I definitely wouldn’t have been attracted to him. But if he becomes an old man now, I wouldn’t mind.”

“Weiwei, you’re crazy. If you want to get married, you can. But he’s your master, he’s your elder.”

“He’s not my master anymore. When I marry him, it will be a proper marriage, and no one can say anything about us.”

My brother closed his eyes, as if waiting for his anger to subside, and then said slowly, “So, you’ve already talked about this.”

I hesitated, “Well... not yet. But I think he will...”

Without saying a word, he flew directly to Yinze, his expression stern. “Master, everyone knows about your relationship now. Since you’ve gone this far, you will be responsible for Wei’er, right?”

Yinze said, “This is a private matter between me and Wei’er, and no one else should be involved.”

Yinze was always like that, he didn’t like to talk much, and he had everything under control. If he really answered “yes,” it would probably seem strange.

We all understood his personality, but for some reason, my brother was suddenly enraged. He clenched his fists slowly and forcefully, his eyes reddened, and he lowered his voice, “Master, Weiwei and I grew up together, and she is the closest person to me in this world. If anyone hurts her, I will not let them go, not even you, Master.”

I quickly ran over and pulled on my brother’s sleeve, “Brother, you’re making a big fuss over nothing, Yin... Master, he’s just like that, he will be responsible for me.” But he wouldn’t listen, and he tried to pull my hand away, but I held on tightly, and the two of us tugged at each other for a long time.

Yinze glanced at our hands, frowned, grabbed my other wrist, and pulled me to his side, “Go back to your room and pack your things. We’ll leave early tomorrow morning.”

My brother had initially tried to push me away, but when Yinze pulled me aside, his eyes suddenly turned blood-red. In the darkness, a flash of white light illuminated the scene before fading. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, I heard a sharp clang of metal against ice, and Yinze, holding me tightly, quickly retreated. In the blink of an eye, we were more than ten meters away from my brother.

From a distance, my brother swung his precious sword. The tassel at the end of the sword fell to the ground, and then, sharp sword energy splashed up the water from the pond, creating a curtain of water droplets that scattered in all directions, perfectly blocking the wooden bridge beneath our feet. However, the ice wall in front of us remained unscathed.

Though my brother was indeed powerful now, he was still no match for Yinze. Unwilling to give up, my brother charged towards us with his sword drawn, his eyes blazing red. Yinze raised his right index finger and placed it on his left chest. A silver light flashed across the jade ring, and another ice wall appeared in front of my brother. Before he could turn around, there was a sharp clang, and three ice walls trapped him inside.

Finally, my brother, frozen solid, was trapped in this ice chamber, unable to move.

Yinze lowered his arm and mused, “My task is becoming more difficult.”

“Brother has gone mad again?”

“As he grows older and his powers increase, it will become increasingly difficult to control his condition, especially at night. Therefore, we can’t leave him here; he must always be with me. Otherwise, if this gets back to the Heavenly Emperor, he may lose his life.”

I was astonished. “Lose his life? Just because he’s possessed? Is it that serious?”

“It’s not that simple. I’ll explain it to you in more detail later.”

Early the next morning, we set off to return to Su Zhao. I thought that after such a commotion, people would gossip about us, but everything was as usual. My brother had returned to normal, and even Ling Yin Divine Lord merely joked, saying, “Seven days of newlywed bliss, how wonderful,” and didn’t comment further.

When Qingwu Divine Maiden heard that Yinze was back, she specially came from the White Tiger Heaven to see him off, saying that she wanted to bid farewell to the Divine Lord. Seeing the two of them chatting happily, I felt like a thorn in my side, so I helped my brother pack our belongings, my mind wandering.

Finally, when they finished talking, Yinze called my brother over to give him some instructions, but Qingwu Divine Maiden walked over to me.

She smiled slightly at me, “You don’t need to be so guarded around me. Any feelings between Yinze Divine Lord and me ended eight years ago.”

“Eight years?”

“Yes, right after you left Tianshi City. This time, I think he’s serious.” Her voice was soft and melodious, as beautiful as the most exquisite zheng music in the Nine Heavens. “The Divine Lord is handsome and noble, and he has many admirers in the divine realm, but none of them have caught his eye. So, you’re a lucky girl.”

Hearing this, I was overjoyed. Qingwu Divine Maiden smiled even more deeply, “He doesn’t even mind that you’re just a spirit, which shows that although the Divine Lord seems cold and aloof, he is actually deep and affectionate.”

“Thank you for telling me this. It’s just that I don’t understand. As you said, I’m not beautiful, and my background is nothing special to him. Why would he fall for me... Actually, I’m not very confident.”

“I told you, the Divine Lord is a sentimental person, and he’s very stubborn. For a thousand years, whoever he recognizes, he will do anything for that person and everything related to them.”

“... A thousand years?”

“Yes. For a thousand years, he has always cared more about anything related to Zhaohua Ji than his own affairs.”

When I heard this name, I was stunned. I was sure I had read about her in a book: “Zhaohua Ji, isn’t she the daughter of Ye Guangji, the Black Emperor of the North?”

“Yes. It’s a coincidence that she also has some connection to your Su Zhao. Does anyone know what Su Zhao means?”

I replied according to what my teacher had taught me: “To swim upstream and see the gods.”

“You might understand ‘Zhao’ as ‘gods,’ but it actually means ‘light,’ referring to Zhaohua Ji. She was the divine maiden who controlled light, but she loved the quiet moonlight, so Yinze Divine Lord built Su Zhao for her to enjoy the moon.”

“Wait, why is what you said different from what Yinze said? He told me that Su Zhao was built for my brother’s mother, and that they were old friends...” I paused suddenly.

Qingwu Divine Maiden laughed, “You silly girl, we must be talking about the same person. Zhaohua Ji is your brother’s mother; her real name is Shang Yan.”

I pondered this question for a while and then stopped thinking about it. Qingwu Divine Maiden liked Yinze, that was a fact. Shang Yan had passed away many years ago, and Qingwu Divine Maiden was just trying to scare me by bringing her up now because she was unhappy that I was with Yinze.

Everyone has a past, especially Yinze, who had lived for seven thousand years. It was normal for him to have liked one or two women. As long as he liked me now, I didn’t want to ask about other women and make myself upset.

The only thing I couldn’t understand was why, if Shang Yan was Zhaohua Ji, she was also a high-ranking deity. Unless my brother’s father was a mortal or a scattered immortal, she could only give birth to an immortal, otherwise, she would have given birth to a god. Moreover, my brother was abandoned in the mortal realm shortly after being born in the immortal realm, which must be because Shang Yan couldn’t bring him back to the divine realm.

I didn’t understand why she couldn’t bring my brother back to the divine realm. And what I was truly curious about was: what kind of extraordinary man could make Shang Yan abandon Yinze and turn to him instead, even crying every day and unwilling to look back at the infatuated Yinze? No, no, I can’t think about it anymore, or I’ll get jealous.

When we returned to Su Zhao, I asked Yinze to hide his divine power and water streak seal, and temporarily disguise himself as an ordinary immortal. We went to see my second sister first. Yinze even bowed to my second sister, which made me break out in a cold sweat. Despite this, everyone in the palace, including my second sister, was shocked by his aura. Countless people privately asked me about his background. I couldn’t have been more proud.

After the formal reception with my second sister, I finally got to see Xuanyue. As soon as it saw me, it flew towards me like a bee and clung to my shoulder, never leaving my side for the rest of the day. Later, I took Yinze on a tour of the Purple Tide Palace and even showed him the Cangying divine statue in the sacrificial hall.

When he saw the old man, he took advantage of the fact that no one was around and transformed into the statue, leaning on one hand and stroking his beard. “This is how you see me,” he said, making me both nervous and amused.

At the same time, I became more and more casual in my conversations with him, and I even told him the story of Kong Shu. After listening, Yinze thought for a moment and said, “You would give up any man your second sister likes. What if she likes me?”

I pointed at him and said without hesitation, “He’s mine!” Then I clenched my fist, “If she dares to take him, I’ll fight her tooth and nail.”

“Luckily, you answered wisely. If you said you didn’t care, you probably wouldn’t have a good time.”

“What, are you going to seduce my second sister?”

“I’m just stating the facts. I’ll just bother her a little in the middle of the night.”

“That’s still seducing her.”

“No, I’m making you bother her in the middle of the night.”

I tilted my head and looked at him puzzled. Me bothering my second sister in the middle of the night? My second sister and I have such a good relationship, it wouldn’t be a problem to bother her in the middle of the night...

I hadn’t thought about it deeply at first, but when I saw Xuanyue flying in the air, it shyly covered its eyes with its paws, not afraid of falling from the sky.

That’s strange, why is it shy?

Wait a minute.

Yinze said that he, me, in the middle of the night, bother? Does that mean making a noise in my bedroom to disturb my second sister... Is that noise...

My face turned red, and I stammered, “You, you, you... You’re so shameless!”

Yinze pinched my cheek and smiled lightly, “Wei’er, what are you thinking about, why is your face so red?”

Xuanyue seemed unable to watch anymore, and with a “woof,” it flapped its wings and dived into the grass.