Chapter 38

“What are you keeping it for? For the New Year?” A woman walked towards her from afar, dressed in a flaming red ancient robe, grinning arrogantly.

“Shhh.”

The drunk woman lying down put a finger to her lips, squinting and smiling like a fox, “For a dowry.”

“Tsk tsk, old-fashioned as ever, but you’ve finally come around. If you don’t act soon, you won’t be able to prevent that guy from wandering down to the mortal realm again. If he gets captivated by someone down there, you’ll have even more worries.”

“Who dares?” The woman in the white robe stood up straight, her expression intense.

“Who provoked you? Drunk like this and still throwing a tantrum?”

A man in purple, fiddling with a small wine pot, walked over from a distance and nudged the girl in red.

“Did you provoke this ancestor?”

“How would I dare? She’d tear down my Yuehua mansion.”

When the goddess in red saw the man in purple appear, her eyes were happy, but a little surprised.

“Weren’t you sent to the demon realm by Zhi Yang to enlighten the demons? How come you’re back in just two or three days?”

“It’s a barren land, full of uncivilized brutes. Only a small tiger demon caught my eye and was worth teaching. After a few days, my mouth was practically tasteless. Any longer, and I’d be bored to death before enlightening any demons.”

“But you’re the Demon God. If you don’t enlighten them, who will?”

“Let that icy block do it. Isn’t he the one who loves to preach and teach?”

“Would Zhi Yang agree?”

“I need to go down to the mortal realm to strengthen the Four Wildernesses’ barriers; I’m very busy.”

The man in purple winked and whispered, “Thirty thousand years ago, Pu Hua secretly brewed a few jars of fine wine and hid them in the back mountains of Kunlun. It should be ready by now…”

“Hidden for thirty thousand years, aren’t you afraid that old man will get mad at you…?”

“We’ll go quietly and take it quietly. With my skills, how could he discover? So, are you coming?”

“Yes.”

The goddess in red replied swiftly and decisively.

“Oops, Zhi Yang is coming. I have to go. Quickly send this ancestor back. I’ll wait for you at the Bronze Bridge.”

The man in purple glanced at the sky, used his divine power, and disappeared by the stream.

The goddess in red looked at the half-drunk person and sighed softly.

“Pu Hua’s wine; you love to drink it the most. He must be getting it for you, right?”

She gave a bitter smile, her face showing a hint of self-mockery.

Suddenly, she looked towards the void, exactly where Bai Shuo was standing.

For some reason, the goddess’s previously cheerful eyes were now filled with endless sorrow and longing, and a tear fell from the corner of her eye.

Facing those eyes, Bai Shuo felt a pain so deep it stopped her breath. She couldn’t help but reach out to the goddess in red…

Don’t cry…

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t touch the goddess’s face.

Before Bai Shuo, the goddess slowly disappeared, and she closed her eyes too.

In the Xuan Ice Cave, a tear slid down Bai Shuo’s sleeping face. She frowned deeply, curling tightly next to the barely flickering fire.

A wave of demonic energy, from an unknown source, slithered in through the cave entrance. The temperature of the icy stones inside the cave dropped significantly, and the trembling flame extinguished instantly, frost slowly creeping up from Bai Shuo’s feet.

Just as Bai Shuo was about to collapse, a young man in plain clothes caught her, holding her tightly in his arms.

Outside the cave, as dawn broke, Changxu sneezed.

Looking at the rising sun, he rubbed his hands, puzzled, “Senior brother, don’t you feel it’s getting colder?”

Yifan frowned, “Don’t be superstitious. If it’s not cold here, where would it be cold?”

Changxu, feeling disheartened, glanced worriedly towards the cave.

In the stone cave at the back of the of the mountain, Chong Zhao sat with eyes closed, a pure white aura swirling around him. The air moved without wind, and the ground stones flew up, forming a matrix, creating bursts of strong winds.

Er Yun landed outside the cave. Seeing the sharp white light at the entrance, she couldn’t help but look delighted.

“Such strong spiritual energy. Could it be that junior brother has advanced another level?”

Inside the cave, amidst the swirling immortal energy, Chong Zhao’s expression suddenly changed.

A scene appeared in his spiritual consciousness.

The entire Chong Mansion knelt at the execution ground, the executioners showing no mercy as they beheaded the kneeling people.

“Father! Mother!”

In the critical moment of refining the first-grade elixir, the scene of his family being executed appeared in Chong Zhao’s mind. He abruptly opened his eyes, blood-red, and his immortal energy went chaotic.

“Kill! Kill!”

Chong Zhao murmured unconsciously, his eyes filled with madness.

Outside the cave, the chaotic spiritual energy flew wildly, carving marks on the cave entrance. Er Yun was forced back several steps by the spiritual energy, her expression changing.

“Not good, junior brother has gone berserk!” Without hesitation, Er Yun rushed into the cave, but the chaotic spiritual energy pushed her back.

Inside the cave, just as the countless flying stones, driven by chaotic immortal energy, were about to strike Chong Zhao, a figure suddenly appeared. With a wave of her hand, the stones frozen in mid-air. She pointed at Chong Zhao’s spiritual platform, and his eyes regained clarity.

Seeing the newcomer,he was also startled.

“Do you have a death wish? Focus and clear your spiritual platform.”

Fu Ling spoke coldly.

Chong Zhao’s expression became serious. He gathered his immortal energy again and closed his eyes to reassemble his spiritual platform under Fu Ling’s protection.

After a moment, his complexion returned to normal, and his immortal energy became even stronger.

Fu Ling withdrew her hand and smirked.

“Unshaken even with demonic energy protecting you, Chong Zhao, are you deeply blessed by immortality, or are you fated with my demon clan?”

“Ah Shuo! Ah Shuo!” Bai Shuo was suddenly shaken awake.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Bai Xi’s large eyes, startling her so much that she tumbled out of bed.

“What’s going on?”

“Father and Mother went out. Today is the Lantern Festival. Let’s sneak out and have some fun.”

“Sneak out? How?”

“Don’t you remember? There’s a dog hole you dug at the back door.”

Bai Shuo stared blankly at Bai Xi’s glowing face, a bit puzzled. Ah Xi was always the most rule-abiding; wasn’t sneaking around something only she did?

“Are you coming or not? If you’re not, I’m going.”

“I’m coming, wait for me.”

Bai Shuo hurriedly climbed out of bed and clumsily put on her clothes.

The two of them expertly crawled out of the dog hole, where Chong Zhao was already waiting with a smile at the back door.

Seeing the boy’s bright and warm smile, Bai Shuo felt a momentary daze, “Ah Zhao?”

“Hurry up; the temple fair is about to start.”

Chong Zhao urgently pulled the two sisters along, and Bai Shuo felt a strange feeling in her heart, sensing something was off. But she didn’t have time to think as the boy dragged her along.

The capital’s streets were bustling and lively. The three of them walked around, eating and visiting the temple fair, watching performances. As the sun set and the riverbank filled with people, Bai Shuo was eating a candied hawthorn when Chong Zhao raised his hand to wipe the sticky candy from her mouth.

Bai Xi was setting a river lantern and turned her head just in time to see this scene, smiling with pursed lips.

Bai Shuo looked up at the sky full of fireworks but suddenly felt a wave of coldness enveloping her, causing her to shiver.

“Ah Shuo, what’s wrong?”

“Cold…”

“Cold?”

“Very cold.”

Bai Shuo began to tremble, half-kneeling on the ground as a layer of frost slowly spread over her body. The figures of Chong Zhao and Bai Xi gradually blurred in her eyes, and the whole world seemed to turn into ice and stone.

“So, this is what you and he often did together.”

Outside the Xuan Ice Cave, Fu Ling stood under a tree, demonic energy seeping from her fingertips directly into the Xuan Ice Cave. Yet, Yifan and Changxu, guarding outside, remained unaware.

“Even as a half immortal, you’re still worthless. Your final fantasies are so mundane.”

Fu Ling scoffed lightly but then paused.

A moment ago, another scene had appeared in Bai Shuo’s mind. However, perhaps because she was protecting Chong Zhao, the scene was shrouded in a mist, and Fu Ling couldn’t see it clearly.

With her demonic energy, she shouldn’t be unable to see Bai Shuo’s thoughts, especially since Bai Shuo was currently trapped in her “Drunken Life, Dreaming Death” demonic curse.

“Drunken Life, Dreaming Death” is a secret technique of the demon realm, capable of confusing a person’s mind and trapping their soul in endless dreams. If the mind couldn’t be awakened, one would exhaust their spiritual energy and die within the illusion.

Given Fu Ling’s status, if not for her curiosity about Bai Shuo and Chong Zhao’s past, she could have easily killed Bai Shuo with a single strike.

There was no need to waste this effort.

Although Bai Shuo and Chong Zhao’s illusions were dull and uninteresting, when she saw the way the boy in white looked at Bai Shuo in the illusion, Fu Ling couldn’t suppress her anger.

Could it be that Bai Shuo was more than just a half immortal? Fu Ling’s eyes flickered, but she quickly sneered at herself.

If she were truly an immortal undergoing tribulation, she wouldn’t still be a half immortal by now.

“In consideration of your acquaintance with him, I bestow upon you ‘Drunken Life, Dreaming Death’.”

Fu Ling smirked, her expression indifferent.

Inside the cave, the ice had already reached Bai Shuo’s chest. She seemed to have stopped breathing, with only her lips trembling faintly.

Fan Yue held her tightly, continuously rubbing her hands, anxiously calling, “Master… Master…”

But no matter how he called, Bai Shuo remained unresponsive. Just as the ice was about to cover her lips, the boy instinctively leaned down and kissed her.

He remembered that night in the medicine hut when Bai Shuo had saved him this way.

In the illusion, Bai Shuo’s vision was pitch black. She knelt on the ground, curled up and shivering from the cold.

She knew she was going to die, frozen to death. What she had just seen was merely a hallucination before death.

She might be the first immortal in history to die from freezing. The Xuan Ice Cave was so cold; the sect master had really found her a good place to die…

Suddenly, a faint warmth seemed to knock on her spiritual platform. Who? Who was saving her?

Bai Shuo was so frozen she couldn’t speak, her body stiff like an ice block.

After a long while, she realized the warmth was coming from her lips. Driven by survival instinct, she tried to open her mouth and bit down hard.

In the Xuan Ice Cave, as Fan Yue kissed Bai Shuo in a panic, he felt a sharp pain on his lips, blood trickling out. Whether it was Bai Shuo’s blood or his, he didn’t know. But as soon as the blood dripped onto his lips, Fan Yue’s eyes suddenly became clear. He looked sharply towards the cave entrance and coldly spat out a single word.

“Get out!”

The powerful soul force pierced through the barrier, striking Fu Ling’s spiritual platform directly. Her face turned pale, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, looking towards the cave in disbelief.

demigod pressure?!   The Lord of Haoyue Palace?!

“How could he be here?! This is impossible!”

Before Fu Ling could recover, another soul force struck her spiritual platform. She dared not stay any longer and instantly disappeared from the spot.

Outside the Xuan Ice Cave, the branches and leaves trembled despite the absence of wind. Chang Xu shivered and couldn’t help but whisper, “Senior brother, do you think our Piaomiao Island is haunted?”

Yi Fan looked straight ahead, “Confucius said not to talk about strange phenomena, forces, disorder, and spirits.”

“Senior brother, why are you talking like a mortal scholar? We are immortals.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh.”

Inside the Xuan Ice Cave, the cold light in Fan Yue’s eyes faded. He closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground, still holding Bai Shuo tightly in his arms.

The ice dispersed from Bai Shuo’s body, and a wisp of spiritual energy began to revive within her.

Two days later, the door of the stone cave at the back mountain slowly opened, and Chong Zhao stepped out, walking towards the rising sun.