Chapter 9

The Snowy Night’s Sudden Change 

Lord Kaixuan was both sorrowful and resolute. He decided to drink alone under the moon, raising his cup and toasting to his reflection, making three of them. Seeing his miserable situation, I genuinely wanted to approach and offer a few comforting words, but the moonlit immortal was so beautiful, and if I were to interfere, it shouldn’t be someone like me holding a tiger cub. After thinking for a moment, I decided not to be the clucky old hen and planned to leave with Xuan Yue.

But after walking just a few steps, I saw Second Sister appear behind Lord Kaixuan.

The moonlight poured through the window, and Second Sister stood by the water holding a lantern. Her crimson dress shimmered like the glow of sunset, and for a moment, the pine wind and the water’s sound merged to create a scene of autumn moon and spring breeze. Witnessing such a beautiful figure, Lord Kaixuan cast a sorrowful look her way, appearing pitiful, saying, “Do you know, to you, I am but a stranger, yet to me, Princess Liuying has long been the dream woman of my past.”

Second Sister was confused, saying, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Before, I met Princess Liuying in the great country of You. My coming to Suyue this time was also for Princess Liuying.”

Lord Kaixuan took off the hairpin from his head, opened his hand, and it glowed and rose into the air, transforming into a scroll. The scroll slowly unfurled, and an orange glow shone from it, revealing a painting of a beautiful woman in red. In the painting, Second Sister was holding a bamboo basket, crossing a river by boat, picking water plants. Even I was taken aback.

“Disheveled water plants, flowing left and right. A graceful lady, I seek her in dreams and in waking,” Lord Kaixuan said slowly, his tone sorrowful, “I sought her in vain, restless in my dreams and my waking moments...”

Silence lingered for a long time. Second Sister, usually gentle, cruelly said, “Sorry, I can’t marry you.”

“Because I am not of the Suyue lineage, right?” When Second Sister remained silent, Lord Kaixuan continued, “Suyue has a royal law, the heir to the throne must be of the Suyue lineage, and descendants must also be purely of the Suyue bloodline, right?”

Second Sister closed her eyes. “...Yes.”

Lord Kaixuan seemed unable to bear this torment any longer. He gritted his teeth and asked, “Then, has Princess Liuying considered the happiness of a complete family?”

Wow, wow, wow! Second Sister, such a beautiful lady, truly has great fortune! A handsome immortal offering to share multiple husbands! I clenched my fists and mentally cheered for Second Sister a hundred times, but the answer I didn’t want to hear came: “Stop joking.”

Heaven of the vast ocean, what is there to joke about? Second Sister, are you possessed by the spirit of the Crown Prince? Why refuse such a good thing? At least have a child with an immortal bloodline! This way, Xuan Yue would have a companion when it grows up... Wait, this thought seems inappropriate?

No matter, words fail to express my disappointment. I was so moved that I accidentally tightened my grip on Xuan Yue. It let out a cry, startling both Second Sister and Lord Kaixuan.

The result was that Second Sister dragged me back to her chamber, where she, like Father and Minister Fu Chen, scolded me. Xuan Yue and I sat obediently on the floor and listened to her finish her reprimands. I said, “Sis, you really do like Lord Kaixuan, don’t you? Then let him come in.”

Second Sister grew angrier. “Others can say this, but you, Weiwei, don’t understand my feelings?”

“I really don’t understand.”

“For the sake of the Suyue royal bloodline, if I were to ascend to the throne, I can’t marry Lord Kaixuan. At the same time, I can’t give up the throne either.”

I tilted my head. “Why can’t you? Don’t I exist?”

Second Sister looked at me for a long time and sighed, “Go back and rest.”

I thought I had somehow made Second Sister angry again, so I went to talk to Mother about it. Mother shook her head and said, “Wei’er, you truly don’t understand Yíng’er’s intentions. Your eldest sister has already passed away. If Yíng’er were to repeat the same mistakes, how would it affect you?”

I replied, “It wouldn’t affect me. Second Sister isn’t eloping. It’s an arranged marriage, so it’s only natural.”

Mother said, “No, you would think that the throne is a mess that you’ll have to clean up. Even when it’s your turn to ascend, you’d probably be unwilling. Furthermore, she only hopes for you to marry well. For a daughter, marriage is ultimately the most important matter. If you ever meet a man who isn’t from the Suyue bloodline, you won’t have to worry so much and can just marry him smoothly, right?”

I realized there was this reason behind it. Second Sister truly is my good sister. I was so touched I almost ran to hug her. After thinking for a moment, I asked, “Then why doesn’t Second Sister accept the happiness of a complete family?”

“Weiwei, you’re still a child. The Suyue family follows a monogamous system. Think about it: if your Second Sister really marries two men, not to mention how the common people would talk, how would she explain it to her Suyue husband? Should she say that she married you just to have children? Then, when the child is born, how would she explain it to them? These are all problems. It’s better to cut through the mess quickly and endure a short pain than suffer a lifetime of regret.”

The world of adults is truly troublesome. That was my biggest realization of the day.

In the following days, I saw Lord Kaixuan linger on, day after day pleading for love, and night after night drunk. It was a case of “his belt becoming wider and wider, but he never regretted it.” Meanwhile, Second Sister’s heart was as hard as if made of iron and stone, unmoved by his self-inflicted torment.

Two months passed, and Lord Kaixuan finally became disheartened. He bade farewell to Father and left Suyue.

Additionally, after the death of the High Priest, we unexpectedly discovered that all the scriptures were blank. The path to the immortal realm, which was supposed to be opened, turned into an unsolved mystery. During this time, Father ordered the city’s defenses to be strengthened. Any foreign tribe wishing to enter Suyue must first undergo body checks and registration. If they caused any trouble within the borders, they would be completely expelled and banned from entering for fifty years.

Thus, peaceful days passed for a few months. I still went to the Xuan Study Room with my little companions every day. The calligraphy and ink still remained as it always had—unconcerned with business.

One day, the teacher asked us to copy a literary essay. The passage just happened to be a literary essay written by Bei Xiang during the reign of King Lingjing:

“Once, the nine provinces were shrouded in dust, the royal tombs desecrated. The common people were in dire straits, and the ancestral temples were piled with white bones. Now, the moon hangs high, and celestial weapons are concealed… Only Cang Ying protects us, averting the disaster that threatens our lineage…”

After reading this essay, all I can say is that talented people often don’t think things through. As a member of the Sui Zhao clan, using an example from mortals to warn the monarch, talking about celestial calamities and begging the god Cang Ying to protect Sui Zhao, as if all the prosperity and peace had nothing to do with the ruler—wasn’t that just putting the neck under unnecessary pressure?

Naturally, when King Lingjing saw this essay, he exiled Bei Xiang soon after. The previous king, Xi Jian, was a wise ruler who not only lifted the ban on Bei Xiang’s essay but also made him one of the five elites of Sui Zhao. This is why we now have to memorize so many texts and don’t have the luxury of good days.

However, when I saw the line “The moon hangs high in the celestial sky,” I suddenly remembered an old matter from years ago: when I was abducted by the Panlong, the unnamed young man who controlled the dragon also mentioned the celestial moon above, though I didn’t know if he was referring to the sky over Sui Zhao. If so, this moon had been hanging for quite a while, from King Lingjing all the way to my father... Why hasn’t the disaster appeared?

I shared this thought with my teacher, and his expression changed like the weather in August, fluctuating between sunny and stormy for quite some time.

One day, I suddenly realized: having a “crow’s mouth” really isn’t a good thing.

Since the establishment of Sui Zhao by Yin Ze, our Sui Zhao has not known war, and our country has been stable for over a thousand years. We never imagined that Sui Zhao would first make contact with immortals in our time.

Nor did we expect that the first foreign invasion would happen in our time.

In the cold winter, the north wind swept the land, and snow filled the city, turning the Luo River into frozen ice.

That night, my mother was teaching my second sister how to embroider, and Xuan Yue was lying on my lap. I was kneeling next to my father, massaging his legs. Suddenly, a soldier came to report that the guards at the Canghai Gate had all been killed. In addition to the foreign invaders who were indiscriminately slaughtering innocent people inside the city, two shadows in the clouds had also appeared. No one could see clearly who the invaders were, but at this moment, the city was filled with death and chaos.

Upon hearing that Canghai Gate had fallen, my father stood up in shock and without a word, flew out.

Canghai Gate was the main gate of Sui Zhao, and its defense was the strongest. To have it so easily breached—who could these invaders be? I quickly followed my mother and second sister to go outside.

The wind and snow were chaotic, and the battle cries echoed through the city. What was even more terrifying was that, in such a short time, the invaders had already reached the sky above Zichao Palace. There were two men: one was a black-haired young man with three eyes, holding a brush, and wearing a yellow robe; the other was an elderly man with white hair, his beard reaching his waist, holding a whisk and wearing a white Taoist robe. Both were wearing crowns, aloof and proud, riding on the smoke clouds, floating high in the air.

There was no water around them. This meant they were not from the Sui Zhao clan. The only foreign clan capable of flying on their own was…

“Who are you?” my father asked loudly, “We have no grievances with you two. Why harm the people of Sui Zhao?”

In contrast to my father’s anger, the young man showed no signs of youthful impetuosity. He looked down on us, calm as the cold wind and snow: “How dare you, wicked monsters. You have been causing chaos in the North Sea for a thousand years, and yet you dare act with such arrogance and disrespect, defying the heavens.”

“What... What nonsense are you spouting?”

My father, a kind and wise ruler, had never been spoken to like this, so he was momentarily stunned. But I wasn’t so easily intimidated. Holding Xuan Yue, I stepped forward and shouted, “What are you? How dare you speak to my father like that! You call us monsters, yet we, the Sui Zhao clan, consider you the real monsters!”

The young man narrowed his almond-shaped eyes, his gaze even colder. The old man, however, became furious. He waved his whisk and said, “You ignorant little water demon! Do you know who you are speaking to? I am Zhiwei Zuo, the Immortal of the Yellow Path. I have come on the orders of the Immortal Lord to end your lives today!”

I was stunned.

These invaders were from the Immortal Realm? How was this possible? Even an immortal as powerful as Kaixuan Jun would treat us politely. How could these immortals call us water demons, monsters?

I retorted, “Are you joking? We are a water clan under the protection of the gods. Our Sui Zhao was established by the revered God Yin Ze. You’re the one with an unclear origin, old man—you’re the real monster!”

The Immortal of the Yellow Path replied, “Little water demon, we are here to eliminate the threat. If you repent, you can be reincarnated as a human again. If you continue to speak disrespectfully and defame the gods, beware that your soul will be scattered and vanish in the six paths of reincarnation.”

The Zhiwei Zuo pointed at me with his thumb and forefinger, righteous and full of indignation: “You keep a ferocious ancient beast and still claim you are not a demon. How laughable.”

I said, “I don’t see a ferocious beast, I just see you as a pile of dog dung on the ancient god’s platform—hated by gods and ghosts alike.”

The old man was infuriated, but my father turned his head, glanced at Xuan Yue in my arms, and smacked his head. “This... has the form of a tiger, wings that can fly, and it kills humans. It knows human speech… I was too foolish, I didn’t realize—this little tiger cub is a Qiongqi...”

Upon hearing the name “Qiongqi,” I fell silent. This name was not unfamiliar. I must have seen it in books many times.

When Pangu opened the heavens and Nuwa created humanity, the water god Gonggong and the fire god Zhurong were incompatible, leading to numerous battles. The world was filled with surging waves and thunder. In the end, Gonggong lost and, in anger, struck the Buzhou Mountain with his head. The mountain collapsed, the pillar of heaven broke, and the earth’s support was destroyed. Afterward, Nuwa used five-colored stones to repair the sky, and Gonggong died. However, his spirit did not perish, and he transformed into the fierce beast, Qiongqi.

Qiongqi is an evil beast. When it sees people fighting, it will eat the side that is in the right; when it hears someone is loyal and honest, it will bite off their nose; when it hears of someone being rebellious, it will hunt beasts to give them as gifts.

I looked at Xuan Yue. It was curled up in my arms, holding its head with its fluffy little tiger paws, its big watery eyes staring innocently at me. When our gazes met, it even extended its paw toward me. Because it was so cute, I had overlooked its characteristics.

Before, when Xuan Yue occasionally showed its strength, I was slightly wary, but I still underestimated it, thinking that when it grew up, it would become a fierce beast. It turns out it was already a ferocious beast! Cang Ying, please protect us—I’ve raised a Qiongqi cub! What am I going to do now?

Wait, this doesn’t make sense. If Xuan Yue truly is a Qiongqi, then its parents should be fully grown Qiongqi, the ancient ferocious beasts, extremely violent and vicious. How could they have been captured by that tiger shopkeeper? Even if he didn’t kill it himself, someone capable of hunting a Qiongqi should have known just how powerful this cub is. They wouldn’t have let it go so easily.

I shouted, “Wait, I still have something to say...”

“Monster, don’t try to delay!”

At that moment, Ru Yueweng waved his whisk to the left, and rocks and soil from all directions flew in, gathering in the center of the giant moon-shaped disk. He waved his whisk again to the right, and those stones and dirt gathered into several large, solid stones, spinning at high speed, with sand and gravel flying everywhere. The speed was so fast it left one stunned. Then, he waved his whisk toward us.

The solid stones seemed to fly from the moon itself, turning into daggers that gleamed coldly, aimed directly at the king’s vital points.

The king immediately summoned water to shield himself, blocking some of the attack. The speed of the daggers slowed, but still, they left deep gashes on his body.

Although we had the power to control water, it was only limited to lifeless water, and we had no ability to freeze blood or solidify liquid.

Thus, the most impressive magic I had ever seen was the “Great River Freeze” used by the Spirit Art Lord during drills — freezing the surface of a river and lifting the ice block into the air, shattering it and using the shards to strike a target. Although this spell was inspired by the Cangying God, it required the power of river water itself, and even someone like the Spirit Art Lord, with immense spiritual power, needed time to gather energy.

However, for Ru Yueweng, turning dirt into stone and stones into daggers was but a moment’s work. It was then that I truly realized just how formidable our enemy was. If they truly wanted to take our lives, they could do so effortlessly.

“Stop!” I shouted. “Xuan Yue is not a ferocious beast! It’s just a pet I bought from an exotic animal shop. If it were truly that powerful, we wouldn’t have been able to capture it!”

The two immortals ignored me completely. At this point, the three Dukes, leading the soldiers of Sui Zhao, arrived to reinforce us. Huang Dao Xian Jun made no move himself, only using his magic to conjure a mist wall to block all incoming attacks from our side.

Only Ru Yueweng faced us alone. With a wave of his whisk, hundreds of soldiers were killed by his spell.

I had never seen anyone die before, but now, I saw my own people slaughtered in an instant, their blood flowing like rivers. I could only hold my mother and second sister, hugging each other in shock, with no tears left to cry.

The Spirit Art Lord, with his profound power, managed to withstand Ru Yueweng’s attacks for a moment, but eventually fell, clutching his abdominal wound and kneeling to the ground. As another wave of soldiers rushed forward, Ru Yueweng tirelessly swept through them.

Huang Dao Xian Jun said, “No need to waste time. Capture the leader first. Kill the water demon leader.”

Ru Yueweng nodded, spun his whisk in a circle, and gathered all the daggers and broken stones from the ground. After they spun for a moment, they coalesced into a sharp green sword. With the remnants of the snowstorm swirling around it, the sword gleamed like ice and shot toward the king!

Both my second sister and I cried out in alarm. But the next scream we heard was not from the king, but from my mother, who had somehow freed herself from our grasp and rushed to stand in front of the king. Her eyes were determined as she caught the sword with her bare hand. Her five fingers were severed, but she still could not stop the sword. The blade pierced her chest.

“Zitong!!” The king cried, collapsing to the ground, holding her tightly.

“Mother!!”

We tried to rush forward, but we were stopped by the military commander. He said, “Don’t go! You can’t help! You must preserve your lives! Otherwise, Sui Zhao will have no future! Stay here, don’t go anywhere!”

He then charged forward himself.

Drip, drip. My mother’s blood, mixed with her severed fingers, fell onto the white snow. Her body trembled, and she looked at the two immortals in the sky with a fierce gaze, without any trace of fear. “Ugly... hypocrites, claiming to eliminate harm while committing murder...”

The two immortals fell silent for a brief moment. The military commander issued an order to fire a hundred ice arrows, but they had no effect.

My mother spat out a mouthful of blood, gripping the king’s hand, her chest heaving violently. Her chest was stained with blood, turning it the color of camellia flowers. “Your Majesty... don’t mind me, protect Ying’er and Wei’er...”

The king’s hands and clothes were soaked with blood, his eyes reddening as he solemnly answered, “Yes!”

Huang Dao Xian Jun said, “Pretending to be a victim, like a trapped beast.”

He flew forward, writing silver-lighted symbols in the air with his brush, then sending them out with a swipe.

The snow seemed to pause for a moment, and the silver light filled the entire night sky.

We looked up, and something seemed to fall from the sky, as if a fiery net was descending upon us. Even before it got close, we could feel the heat, as if our skin was being scorched. I hugged my second sister, trembling in pain, with despair overwhelming us all.

But the king stood up, summoning water to rise into the air, opening his arms. The entire water source of Sui Zhao seemed to rise like smoke.

At this moment, whether it was the lands of Sui Zhao, the floating island fortress, the statue of the Cangying God, or the bright moon in the dark sky, they all seemed to be submerged in water. The world was a shimmering sea, swaying like willow catkins, blurred into chaotic indistinction.

Amidst the confusion, I heard Ru Yueweng shouting urgently, “Where did these demons go?”

Huang Dao Xian Jun replied, “Forget it. We can’t find them. This is indeed the magic of God Yinzé. Old Yue, I found something interesting...”