#5: The Heaven of Six Desires (5)

Deep in Yunling Mountain, nestled amidst the misty haze, lay a hidden manor. Inside the manor, pine and bamboo grew everywhere, and water flowed gently, creating a very serene atmosphere, broken only by the occasional chirp of insects. Just then, a black shadow drifted like smoke, moving against the wind, then slowly re-materialized on a rockery, instantly transforming into a human figure.

The man’s exquisitely handsome features held an air of indifference. He landed lightly, his hands clasped behind his back, leaning against the rockery. He wore a black robe, its wide train trailing long on the ground. His black hair, like satin, cascaded to his waist, with a silver thread shining brightly at the very end in the darkness.

Beside the rockery, a shy, budding Lycoris radiata quietly bloomed. He gazed at the flower for a long moment, and seeing that it still wouldn’t reveal its true face, he finally raised the corner of his mouth and urged, “Come out.”

As he spoke, the tail of the flower reluctantly trembled, and soon it bloomed fully. A wisp of light smoke rose, and a faint red figure appeared on the ground. Hua Liluo sat on the ground, covering her face, refusing to get up.

“Who bullied you?” The man asked with a gentle smile, his voice filled with concern.

Hua Liluo glanced at him, then pouted, complaining, “What exactly is your purpose in bringing me here? You kidnapped me, yet why won’t you give me a proper title?”

“...” The man bent down and took her hand. His palm was broad and warm, and his every gesture was filled with affection, but he seemed unwilling to answer her question.

Hua Liluo looked utterly wronged, and continued, “Do you know they’re all laughing at me? Shiyan doesn’t even put me in her eyes. Look, this slap was from her! Do you know how much humiliation I’ve endured for you all these years?”

Facing Hua Liluo’s string of questions, the man consistently looked at her with doting affection, clearly filled with tenderness, yet seemingly not that concerned.

“Are you even listening to me?” Hua Liluo cried.

“Of course I am,” the man smiled, “I’ll listen quietly until you finish expressing your anger and grievances, then half your anger will dissipate, right?”

“What exactly are you thinking?” Hua Liluo’s eyes reddened, and tears streamed down her face. She repeatedly asked, “All these years, you’ve always avoided this question. When will you finally marry me?”

The man sighed softly, saying, “I merely want to give you a good life, so you don’t have to bloom so hard on the Road to the Yellow Springs.”

“The suffering of blooming on the Road to the Yellow Springs is not even one ten-thousandth of what you’ve given me!” Hua Liluo pulled her hand back, covering her face and wailing loudly, “Don’t you know how torturous it is for me in Luoyue Palace? You are mine, yet I have to endure them trying every means to break us apart!”

“...” The man listened, then chuckled softly and shook his head. He then picked a Lycoris radiata from nearby and placed it in her palm, saying, “Don’t be unhappy over such trivial matters. You know I cherish you the most. No matter how much others scheme, they cannot shake your position in the slightest.”

“You’re good at coaxing me!” Hua Liluo turned her head, no longer paying attention to him. Her eyes clearly showed anger, yet the corners of her mouth held a hint of a smile.

It was obvious she liked his sweet words and enjoyed his pampering; everything she did was merely to gain his attention.

Suddenly, the man’s gaze sharpened, filled with murderous intent. With a flick of his sleeve, a powerful gust of energy shot through the air. A distant tree branch snapped in response, accompanied by a woman’s shrill scream: “Ouch, that hurts!”

The man looked over in response and saw a beauty in red with a golden crown hiding behind a bush in the darkness, looking bewildered.

Yao Yin clasped the hem of her skirt, staring blankly at the man in black, utterly lost in thought.

The man in black also looked startled, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Yao Yin bit her lip, confirming she wasn’t dreaming. This was the first time she had seen a man whose appearance could rival that of Emperor Haoyue.

“Who are you?” The man shouted, “Who sent you?”

Yao Yin was startled by his piercing gaze and finally snapped out of her daze. Remembering that the other party was a powerful ghost, she instinctively conjured her tree branch and flew south to escape.

“She must be an ordinary little immortal, just leave her be.” Hua Liluo tugged on the man’s sleeve. But the man didn’t even look at her. A powerful spiritual energy surged from his body, lifting him off the ground. Seeing that he was about to give chase, Hua Liluo immediately stood up and pulled him back. “Where are you going? You’ve never lost your composure like this before!”

“Liluo, don’t be childish.” The man frowned, shook off her hand, and gave chase.

Not far away, Shiyan witnessed everything. Her robe was wide open, revealing her fair shoulders.

She leaned against the porch, laughing heartily, the twining vine on her shoulder emitting a faint green glow in the darkness.

...

Yao Yin moved like the wind, fleeing south with all her might. Her heart pounded, and the image of the man in black lingered in her mind. For some reason, that breathtakingly beautiful man made her want to escape; his presence filled her with an inexplicable fear.

Yao Yin had been flying for a while when she realized her spiritual power was insufficient.

“If that person wanted to catch me, he would have by now. I should be out of danger by now, right?” Yao Yin thought, slowing her flight. Gradually, the sound of falling water grew louder ahead. It seemed that the end of Yunling Mountain, the source of the Huai River, the Abyss Waterfall, was just ahead.

Just as Yao Yin let out a sigh of relief, she suddenly felt a strong murderous intent behind her. Before she could even turn around, the person had already attacked her.

Yao Yin dodged, but found herself unable to completely avoid it. The powerful force made her body tremble, and then she was sent flying backward with a loud crash, eventually colliding with a giant rock in the river.

Yao Yin felt a burning pain in her shoulder. She looked down and saw that her shoulder was merely grazed by ghost energy. The person’s magic was so powerful, beyond anything she had ever seen. If he had wanted to kill her, she wouldn’t have been able to dodge at all.

Realizing this, Yao Yin instead became calm. She simply sat on the rock, neither making a fuss nor begging for mercy. She closed her eyes, adopting an attitude of “since death is inevitable, do as you please, my lord.”

“You are not Qionghua.” The man in black flew in mid-air, stopping in front of her.

“Of course I’m not Qionghua, you’ve got the wrong person!” Yao Yin opened her eyes and saw that the man’s body no longer radiated murderous intent, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She wrung out her soaked dress, only to realize that her original gray daoist robe had, at some point, turned into a luxurious red cloak with gold embroidery. She looked down at the water’s surface and saw that what was reflected was clearly her appearance from the water mirror.

“What’s going on...” Yao Yin murmured, looking at her reflection in the water.

“Who are you?” At this moment, the man shouted again. His tone was cold, devoid of any emotion.

“A nobody, you wouldn’t know me anyway.” Yao Yin rolled her eyes inwardly, thinking how unlucky she was tonight, encountering only powerful ghosts, and this one in front of her was even someone the Ghost Monarch had to address as “Master.”

Yao Yin thought that since she couldn’t beat him anyway and couldn’t escape, and if he wanted her dead, she would have already turned to ashes. So she wasn’t afraid anymore. She then said confidently, “Either eat me now or let me go. Why waste everyone’s time?”

“Do you think I don’t dare to kill you?” The man narrowed his eyes, feigning sternness.

“Do what you will, I have nothing in common with ghosts and demons.” Yao Yin was convinced he wouldn’t kill her, so she became even more audacious.

“Heh, you still have that high and mighty, self-important goddess demeanor. So many years have passed, and you haven’t changed at all.” The man said, landing beside her.

Yao Yin had a thousand questions in her mind, but what came out was: “Why are you so close to me? Are we very familiar?”

She originally wanted to irritate him, but to her surprise, he seriously nodded: “Very familiar.”

“Who are you, Uncle?” Yao Yin felt irritated and blurted out.

“Uncle?” The man narrowed his eyes, raising an eyebrow. “You never used to call me that.” The man suddenly moved closer to Yao Yin, slowly caressing her cheek with his right hand, and gently whispered in her ear, “You used to follow me around every day, calling me Master.”

“You’ve got the wrong person!” Yao Yin emphasized again. The man’s warm breath made Yao Yin’s face flush. She instinctively wanted to push him away, but he dodged back before she could.

Yao Yin missed, and with a “plop,” she fell into the water again.

Yao Yin’s clothes were soaked, her makeup blurred. She simply tore off the messy pearls, jade, and rings from her body. Relieved of these restraints, she felt much more comfortable.

The water just covered Yao Yin’s chest. Her raven-black hair spread in the water, and water droplets slid down her creamy white neck, then flowed into her chest.

For a moment, the man was lost in thought, but it was only for a moment.

The river water in winter was bone-chillingly cold. Immersed in the icy water, Yao Yin felt the pain in her shoulder become even more pronounced. Her red cloak was completely soaked, clinging to her body, and the wind blew through it, making her feel cold to the core. She no longer had extra spiritual power to resist the cold. She felt that even if she didn’t die at the hands of the ghost clan tonight, she would probably freeze to death here...

Just then, a dazzling morning star, comparable to the moon, streaked across the night sky, illuminating the night sky of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. All the other stars became dim and lusterless under its brilliant glow.

After that burst of light, countless silver-white celestial horses flew across the firmament. They lined up in rows of six, row after row streaking across the sky, appearing like a silver ribbon fluttering and dancing in the air from afar.

After the celestial horses galloped past, a silver-white carriage flew by, pulled by the celestial horses, streaking across the sky. White silk ribbons were tied around the carriage, leaving beautiful trails of light in the air. The places where the carriage passed were resplendent, as if the entire sky became brilliant because of it.

“What is that?” Yao Yin had never seen such a grand scene before; her mouth was so wide open she could fit an egg in it.

“Haoyue’s honor guard.”

“Celestial Emperor... Haoyue?” Yao Yin wanted to see the person in the carriage clearly, but alas, they were too far away; she could only see a silver-white blur.

They were too dazzlingly beautiful, too unreal, appearing dreamlike from afar. This was a scene absolutely impossible to witness in the Pure Heaven.

“Since an old friend has appeared, I shall play along with him.” The man pondered, watching the dazzling silver glow gradually fade into the distance, as the night sky returned to tranquility.

Only then did the man withdraw his gaze and say to Yao Yin, “What’s your name?”

“Why do you care what my name is? I don’t want to deal with ghosts.” Hearing Haoyue’s name made her even more uncomfortable, so she became more impatient and bluntly said, “You are a generous person. If you’re not going to kill me, then let me go quickly. I have very important things to do...”

“You may leave.” The man interrupted her.

“Really?” Yao Yin saw how readily he agreed and became a little disbelieving.

The man nodded.

Once Yao Yin confirmed that he was truly letting her go, she immediately jumped out of the water, saying as she walked, “Mountains and rivers meet again, but we shall never meet again!”

“Wait,” the man suddenly seemed to remember something. He grabbed Yao Yin by her collar, lifted her like a small chick, and put her onto the grass, smiling, “You really don’t want to see me? You used to chirp and chatter endlessly behind me.”

“I would never associate with a ghost, let alone like you!” Yao Yin scoffed.

The man, instead of getting angry, laughed and said, “Remember, my current name is Hua Junyan.” As he spoke, he slipped a small silver ring from his pinky finger onto Yao Yin’s left middle finger. He commanded, “This is a sacred artifact of my ghost clan. With it, no ghost will dare to harm you. From now on, when I call you, you must answer immediately.”

“...” Yao Yin looked at him, bewildered and full of questions. He likewise stared back at Yao Yin, the imposing aura emanating from his eyes finally making Yao Yin nod blankly.

“Good girl.” Hua Junyan affectionately patted Yao Yin’s head, his movements so practiced, as if he had done so countless times before.

After Yao Yin reacted, she angrily threw a punch, but only hit a wisp of black smoke from his body. She looked closely, but where was Hua Junyan’s shadow in front of her?

He disappeared in the blink of an eye, as if everything that just happened was an illusion.

Yao Yin looked at the silver ring on her left middle finger. It was simple and rustic, yet stable and grand, and she found herself liking it more and more the longer she looked. After staring at it for a while, she felt her cheeks flush and her heart pound.

“This must be a ghost artifact. Wearing it for too long will surely enthrall my mind!” Yao Yin attributed her abnormality to the silver ring, so she tried to remove it. But no matter what she tried, she couldn’t take it off. The ring seemed to have grown onto her finger, completely unmoving.

Finally, Yao Yin gave up and simply tore a strip of cloth from her skirt to wrap it, out of sight, out of mind.

Yao Yin built a bonfire on the bank. She took off her outer garment and hung it nearby to dry, then gradually drifted off to sleep by the fire.

In her dream, she dreamed of herself forcefully slipping a silver ring onto a black-haired man’s hand, just as Hua Junyan had done to her. She couldn’t clearly see the face of the person in the dream, but she could tell he was extremely angry, as he immediately recoiled in disgust as if shocked, then turned around, took off the ring, and threw it into the ade Sea.

The ring fell into the sea with a “plop,” never to be found again.

The man walked away without looking back, leaving her standing foolishly on the bank, tears streaming down her face.