#8: Celestial Tribulation (3)

Yao Yin stood on the tree branch, her arms wrapped around Zichen’s waist. She had him stand in front of her for a more stable flight.

Zichen remained silent throughout the journey. Yao Yin, thinking it was his first time flying on the wind and that he might be nervous, comforted him, “You’ve never flown like this before, have you? How does it feel to ride the wind? Isn’t it amazing? Come on, feel the wind whistling past your ears and the sensation of the earth beneath your feet!” Yao Yin supported him under his armpits, urging him to spread his arms like a bird about to take flight.

But Zichen looked utterly reluctant and said with a dark expression, “Yaozheng took me flying before, and she didn’t need a tree branch.”

“Oh.” Yao Yin’s enthusiasm was instantly doused. She pouted, forcibly suppressing the urge to throw him down, and ignored him.

Not long after, the two arrived at Nanjiang City, the border town of Yamato Heaven. Nanjiang City was built by mountains and rivers. Being in the southwestern heartland, its immortal customs were simple. Immortals who cultivated lived in immortal caves on the mountains, unlike the complexities of the Heaven of Six Desires.

At this time, Nanjiang City was holding a large post-New Year market. Stalls of all kinds lined both sides of the street: furniture, antiques, immortal artifacts, general goods, seasonal vegetables and fruits, essentially all daily necessities were available. Vendors sat on the ground, and pedestrians with back baskets moved through the crowds. The market was bustling with noise, making the already narrow streets even more crowded.

Nanjiang City and Yundu were separated only by Yunling Mountain, yet their customs were vastly different. Yao Yin stood at the intersection, staring wide-eyed at the walking “back baskets,” feeling completely opened to new experiences. From birth until now, she had never seen so many immortals. They were either ethereal and refined or charming and alluring, but most of them dressed simply and were obscure.

Because in the Upper Six Heavens, filled with such talented immortals, few were willing to stick their necks out unless they possessed truly immense power. They focused solely on cultivation, detached from worldly affairs. This made Yao Yin feel somewhat unaccustomed. She searched for a long time before finally discovering an inn at the corner of an alley, with a small sign above it bearing the single character “Inn.”

“We’ve been traveling all day, let’s rest first,” Yao Yin said, pointing at the inn.

“Do you have money?” Zichen asked.

Yao Yin rummaged around and found her pouch empty.

She spread her hands, shaking her head, “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Me neither,” Zichen said calmly, as if leaving home without money was the most normal thing in the world.

Yao Yin thought for a moment, then remembered that all her money had been lost in the waters of the Abyss Waterfall. At once, she bitterly exclaimed, “That damned ghost demon!”

“What did you say?” Zichen frowned, not quite hearing her clearly.

“Nothing.” Yao Yin said, then suddenly felt the blood jade she had taken from Zichen in her pocket. She immediately had an idea, and nodding towards the inn, she said, “You go order food first, I’ll go make some money.” As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief and covered Zichen’s face, adding, “Wear a veil. With your appearance, you might scare others.”

Zichen nodded blankly, without much thought, and walked into the inn wearing the veil.

Inside the inn, the first floor was a restaurant. The immortals sitting in the hall ate simply: a cup of tea, or a pot of wine, accompanied by two vegetarian dishes, and they were content. However, Zichen was quite different. As soon as he sat down, he called a waiter and boldly ordered a table full of dishes. Not only were there chicken, duck, fish, and meat of all kinds, but he even ordered two servings of soup.

“That’s too much, you actually ordered so much!” When Yao Yin entered the inn with a spring in her step, she immediately saw Zichen sitting in the corner. Far from scolding him for ordering a table full of dishes, Yao Yin, in a very good mood, began to enjoy the meal.

Seeing her in a good mood, Zichen couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Did you get some silver?”

“Mmm,” Yao Yin nodded.

“That’s good,” Zichen breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat.

His eating manner was refined and unhurried, vastly different from Yao Yin’s ravenous consumption.

Yao Yin was surprised by his elegance, yet also felt he was a bit too calm, so she said, “Aren’t you curious how I got the money?”

“The process isn’t important, the result is,” Zichen replied. Seeing a hint of displeasure on Yao Yin’s face, as if worried she might suddenly change her mood, he humored her, feigning curiosity and smiling, “How did you get it?”

“You really should thank your ex-girlfriend!” Yao Yin said, and Zichen’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. Sure enough, the next moment she pulled out a stack of gold leaves from her sleeve, smiling, “I pawned the blood jade you gave me. I only expected ten taels of silver, but that pawnbroker actually gave me twenty gold leaves! I was still reeling when he kicked me out, and after counting carefully, there was even one extra. Here, this one’s for you.”

Yao Yin handed the gold leaf to Zichen, and said, “We can eat our fill today, there’s enough money to pay for whatever we eat! When we have a moment, we’ll buy some snacks to take with us for the road.” She chatted on, completely oblivious to the fact that Zichen across from her had already turned to stone.

“You...” Zichen excitedly pointed at Yao Yin’s nose, speechless for a long moment.

“Me what me? What about me?” Yao Yin shoved a gold leaf into his hand, saying, “That quick rock was just taking up space in your pocket, wasn’t it? I helped you sell it for so much money, you should be thanking me.”

“...” Zichen looked up at the sky, suppressing his tears, and it took a long time for him to compose himself.

He smiled bitterly, and said calmly, “Never mind, never mind. They’re just external possessions; they’ll come back eventually.”

“That’s the right way to think! Weren’t we at our wit’s end originally? Look, haven’t we become rich again? As the saying goes, the boat will straighten itself at the bridge, and a fortune lost will return again!” Yao Yin smiled, counting the gold leaves, her eyes holding no one else.

“...” Zichen ate his rice silently, completely unwilling to bother with her.

Much, much later, when Yao Yin learned that the blood jade she had pawned could access all the gold and silver treasures in the Celestial Realm’s national treasury, she was so excited she almost jumped off the Immortal Executing Platform, because she felt utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly ashamed.

...

While Yao Yin and Zichen were eating, across the street in a cloth shop, a graceful middle-aged woman was trying on clothes with a child of about ten years old in front of a full-length copper mirror.

The woman’s face blossomed into a smile. She had just changed into a Miao tribal outfit and said with delight, “A-Yan, these clothes are too beautiful. Do you want a set too?”

The child, called A-Yan, stared at her expressionlessly, his mouth opening and closing twice, but no sound came out. However, his eyes clearly urged her to leave quickly.

The woman uninterestingly flicked her sleeve: “To think I sacrificed so much by becoming a middle-aged woman just to match you! You don’t even want to go shopping with me, sigh... truly, a son grows up and no longer listens to his mother.”

The boy’s expression grew increasingly gloomy, looking as if ink would drip from his face.

“Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. We’ll pick another headscarf and then we’ll go.” The woman said, ignoring the boy’s seemingly fiery gaze, and turned to select headwear from a nearby rack. She scanned through rows and finally picked up a white headscarf with silver flowers. The headscarf was exquisitely made and very beautiful. She caressed it twice, finding the fabric soft and delicate, and was even more satisfied. She was about to put it on her head.

The shopkeeper, seeing this, immediately came over and stopped her: “Auntie, you can’t do that!”

“Auntie?” A vein throbbed on the woman’s face. As she spoke, she was about to reprimand him, but then she froze the moment she turned her head—she saw Yao Yin in the inn across the street, her mouth covered in oil from eating. Although her expression was exaggerated, the woman still recognized her; she was the little immortal she had pranked on Yunling Mountain.

While the woman was in a daze, the clothes shop owner said again, “White handkerchiefs are inauspicious for us. Wearing a white handkerchief signifies mourning and filial piety for a deceased relative. You can’t just use it casually!”

The woman turned her head, feigning an expression of uncontrollable excitement, and smiled, “I’m here to mourn and observe filial piety!” As she spoke, she tied the white handkerchief on her head, then threw down a silver ingot, and dragged the child into the inn across the street.

At this time, Yao Yin was still eating, while Zichen had already finished and gone upstairs. The two planned to stay here for the night, so they had taken two guest rooms.

Yao Yin was eating heartily when, glancing up unintentionally, she glimpsed a very beautiful small boy standing at the entrance. The child was led by a woman beside him and wore a long black robe utterly unsuited for his age. He stood there with a pale face, the long train of his robe dragging behind him, looking very peculiar.

Then, he suddenly looked up, his gaze meeting Yao Yin’s curious one.

The boy gave Yao Yin an indifferent glance, then turned his head away, completely ignoring her.

“This little brat... is truly arrogant.” Yao Yin’s expression stiffened. She was glad she wasn’t eating, otherwise, he definitely would have made her choke.

“What! Fully booked? What kind of inn is this?” The woman next to the boy suddenly slammed the table and angrily shouted.

Only then did Yao Yin notice the woman. Her attire was strikingly different from the child’s; she looked quite normal, dressed like a local resident. But their expressions didn’t seem like mother and son... Could she be a human trafficker? Yao Yin couldn’t help but make a dark guess.

“The last two guest rooms were just taken by that immortal friend. My apologies, my apologies...” The shopkeeper said with a forced smile.

“Fine then, I’ll just eat. Bring me all your signature dishes!” The woman said, then led the child towards Yao Yin. No, “led” was a stretch; it should be said she dragged the child along. Yao Yin’s conviction grew stronger; this person was definitely a human trafficker!

The woman noticed Yao Yin looking at her and returned a generous smile. Yao Yin immediately felt awkward and turned her head back to her meal.

“Miss, do you mind if I sit here?”

Yao Yin was halfway through her meal, rice still in her mouth, when the woman’s voice came from above her. She looked up and saw the other party smiling at her amiably.

“Please do,” Yao Yin nodded.

“Thank you.” The woman then settled the child beside Yao Yin and sat down opposite Yao Yin herself.

“Miss, are you from Yundu?” the woman asked.

Yao Yin nodded, but felt a little surprised. How did she know?

“I could tell from your aura that you’re an immortal friend from the Heaven of Six Desires, and the closest place to here is Yundu,” the woman chuckled, as if seeing through her confusion. She continued, “I, too, cultivated in Yundu, but alas... alas, my family suddenly underwent a drastic change, and I was forced to drift to Nanjiang City.” As she spoke, her face suddenly changed, and her eyes instantly filled with tears.

Her face changed too quickly, didn’t it?

Yao Yin was at a loss. She glanced at the small child beside her, only to find him calmly pouring himself a cup of tea and leisurely drinking it, as if the upheaval had nothing to do with him.

Yao Yin collected herself, and after a long moment, she asked, “Immortal friend, what kind of change did your family encounter?”

“It’s a long story...” The woman sighed faintly and slowly said, “My name is Yun Luo, and I was the concubine of the Yundu City Lord. I was in the prime of my youth, but unexpectedly, a while ago, a powerful ghost from the ghost clan suddenly appeared in Yundu City, causing panic throughout the entire city, creating a widespread atmosphere of extreme fear...”

“Cough, cough, cough...” Just then, the child beside them suddenly started coughing violently. His face was flushed, seemingly choked by the tea.

Yun Luo immediately went forward, patting his back, helping him calm down. Only when the child stopped coughing did she continue, “This is the City Lord’s and his wife’s son. His name is Yun Yan, and he’s just turned... sixty this year.” Yun Luo paused here, receiving a fierce glare from Yun Yan. She completely ignored it and continued unhurriedly, “Poor A-Yan lost his parents at such a young and ignorant age! That demoness took a fancy to my Immortal Lord. When he refused her, she murdered his entire family. A-Yan and I happened to be out playing, which is how we escaped. And A-Yan... he’s been so scared he can’t speak. Everyone else in the mansion also met with misfortune.”

“A ghost demon actually murdered the entire family of a City Lord? Such a thing actually happened? This is utterly lawless!” Yao Yin slapped the table fiercely. Although her face showed great shock, she knew very well in her heart that the ghost demons in Yundu City were Shiyan and Hua Junyan. Both of them were absolutely capable of committing such monstrous crimes.

Yao Yin suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with the two, after all, like herself, they had both suffered bullying from ghost demons. Yao Yin turned her head, and her eyes filled with pity as she looked at A-Yan. She pitied him, such a beautiful child, yet so scared he became mute. Truly, heaven should have pity on him.

Aside from his brief coughing spell, Yun Yan remained expressionless, continuing to drink his tea, at most occasionally rolling his eyes at Yun Luo. His nonchalant demeanor, however, made Yao Yin feel even more sorry for him. She thought, This child must be cold and arrogant towards others because of the sudden changes in his family. That shadow in his heart will probably never disappear.

Yun Luo continued, “The City Lord and his wife were immensely kind to me, so I must protect Yun Yan at all costs.”

Yun Luo’s expression suddenly became resolute and unyielding.

Hearing this, Yun Yan actually nodded slightly, a hint of a satisfied smile in his eyes.

“But!” Yun Luo raised her voice abruptly at this point. Yun Yan had an ominous premonition, and before he had a chance to stop her, he heard Yun Luo’s tone change, lamenting, “But I’ve suffered severe injuries in my search for news of the ghost clan, and I fear I don’t have much time left...” As she spoke, she suddenly began to cough loudly.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough—” The heart-wrenching coughing sounds filled the entire inn, startling everyone.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yao Yin immediately went forward and supported her, “Why are you suddenly coughing so severely? You were fine just a moment ago?”

Yun Luo frowned, and instantly tears streamed down her face, saying, “I was already weak, and I inhaled a large amount of ghost energy, plus these past few days of travel fatigue, cough, cough, cough, cough...” Her heart-wrenching coughing echoed throughout the inn, terrifying and alarming.

Yun Yan’s expression was strange, but he remained calmly drinking tea, seemingly indifferent to this stepmother.

At this moment, Yun Luo suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground. She tightly grabbed Yao Yin’s hand, gasping, “T-This immortal friend... I’m entrusting the young master to you. I fear I won’t make it! You... you must take good care of Young Master Yun Yan. Yun Luo has no way to repay your great kindness; I only wish to be a beast of burden in my next life, to repay you in any way I can...” As she spoke, she coughed up another mouthful of blood. She released Yao Yin’s hand and then lay on the ground, lifeless.

“Yun Luo? Yun Luo?” Yao Yin shook her body, but there was no response at all.

S-She just died like that?

Yao Yin was dumbfounded...

“Oh no! Someone’s dead!” The waiter, seeing the situation, shouted.

The shopkeeper immediately rushed over, shaking his head and sighing, “What a sin... How could she just die like this? Of all places, she had to die in my inn! How unlucky!”

Yao Yin stood up and walked to the equally dumbfounded A-Yan. She placed her right hand over his eyes, unable to bear having him see such a bloody scene.

He didn’t push Yao Yin away, still standing there expressionlessly, his entire body stiff.

He showed no excitement, no excessive body language, but Yao Yin clearly saw his lips twitching. Presumably, it was from overwhelming grief...