Chasing The Moon (Moonlight Mystique) - Chapter 6
Volume 1 (Human World): Chapter 6
Glazed purple tiles, blue sea tide.
In those deep purple eyes, it seemed as though the vast ages of the world were engraved.
Bai Shuo looked up, gazing at him as if he were a god.
Tianqi lowered his eyes, finding it all absurd when he came to his senses.
This was an ordinary mortal, without any significant fate in the cycle of reincarnation.
In his tens of thousands of years of life, he had seen such a gaze before, but when exactly?
Tianqi didn’t want to remember.
His eyes merely glanced indifferently at the kneeling Bai Shuo, and then he turned to leave.
He saved her, but it was merely a whim of God’s favor.
The black dragon-patterned boots took only one step before stopping.
Tianqi lowered his eyes, seeing the trembling little hand on the hem of his robe.
The hem of his plain black ancient robe was stained with blood and dust. The owner of that small hand seemed to notice this and quickly withdrew it, only to grasp it again even faster.
Tianqi, for some reason, sighed in his heart and turned back.
He had merely stopped because of a cry of anguish and casually exterminated a demon that was slaughtering mortals.
He had no idea what had happened here or who this mortal girl was, nor did he care to know.
“Lord, Lord God.”
Bai Shuo’s voice was stammering.
She grasped the corner of his robe with one hand and tightly held Bai Xi’s hand with the other, her eyes filled with hope, pleading, and sorrow as Tianqi turned around.
“Please, Lord God, save Ah xi, save Ah xi.”
Her small hands trembled continuously, yet they clung firmly to Tianqi’s robe, as if letting go would mean giving up Bai Xi’s life.
Bai Shuo couldn’t see it, but a small soul stood not far away, tears filling its eyes as it watched her plead on the ground.
Tianqi glanced at the soul, somewhat surprised.
The one who had died in this imperial tomb was a girl with a noble destiny.
But she was already dead, and mortal reincarnation followed its destined path.
Just like the Qian brothers nearby, who had sustained their lives with the demonic energy of the nine-headed snake demon. When the nine-headed snake demon died, the demonic energy in them vanished, and they instantly turned to white bones.
“She is already dead. I do not interfere with mortal affairs or alter destinies,” Tianqi said coldly.
Bai Shuo sobbed and choked, but she keenly caught the implication in Tianqi’s words.
He could save Bai Xi, but he disdained altering mortal fates.
“Lord God, please save Ah Xi!” Bai Shuo pleaded urgently, “If you save Ah Xi, I will surely repay you in the future!”
“Repay?” Tianqi, who had lived longer than the heavens and earth, was amused for the first time by someone promising to repay him—a mortal girl, no less.
He glanced at the Qian brothers’ remains and casually asked Bai Shuo, “Next time I descend to the mortal world, it might be a thousand or ten thousand years from now. How can a mortal who cannot live beyond a hundred years repay me?”
A thousand or ten thousand years?
Bai Shuo’s trembling hands froze.
In her mind, living for a hundred years was a blessing from the heavens.
“I, I…” Bai Shuo stammered, trembling, “I will seek out immortals, strive to live to a thousand or ten thousand years, master great skills, and when I see you again, I will repay you!”
Afraid that Tianqi wouldn’t believe her, she lifted herself higher while clutching his robe and said, “I am willing to offer my life to you, Lord God. As long as you save Ah Xi in a thousand or ten thousand years, whatever you wish, I will do it, even if it means dying a thousand times!”
In the little girl’s eyes, it seemed as if a flame had ignited, dazzling to the extreme.
In Tianqi’s purple eyes, her blood-stained and determined gaze was reflected. He suddenly spoke.
“Very well, I will accept your promise. If one day you break through the three realms and attain the great Dao, atop Ziyue Mountain, I will give you a chance to repay your debt.”
As he finished speaking, a divine energy emanated from his hand, falling upon Bai Xi. The blood wound on Bai Xi’s neck vanished instantly, and Bai Xi’s soul felt a flash of purple light as it flew back into her body.
The body in her arms suddenly grew warm, and Bai Shuo looked up in delight.
“God…” But Tianqi’s figure was no longer there.
She stared blankly into the sky, seeing only the silver full moon, with the throne gone and the purple moon vanished, as if the black-haired, purple-eyed deity had been a mere illusion.
If not for the skeletal remains of the Qian brothers nearby and the blood still on her hands, Bai Shuo would have thought that everything she experienced tonight was just a nightmare.
“Ti… Ti…” Bai Shuo muttered, suddenly realizing she couldn’t even remember the god’s name. Her eyes were filled with urgency and fear.
“Shuo’er!” A desperate shout came from behind, and countless torches lit up the dark clearing.
Bai Shuo turned to see her father’s kind and worried face. Overwhelmed with fatigue, she closed her eyes and collapsed.
Bai Xun leaped off his horse, catching Bai Shuo as she fell. Seeing his daughters covered in blood, his face turned pale with fright. He quickly checked their pulses, and upon finding them stable, he breathed a long sigh of relief. His gaze fell on Bai Shuo and Bai Xi’s clasped hands, and a sense of relief crossed his eyes.
Nearby, the soldiers searched for the kidnappers but found nothing in the clearing except a fissure, two skeletons, and unidentified blood. Despite holding torches, they all felt a bit of fear. They had heard the screams from this forest half an hour ago, but after searching it thoroughly, they had found nothing until the Bai sisters suddenly appeared here.
How did the ground crack open? What were the skeletons about? Why were the two young ladies covered in blood if they weren’t injured?
If they hadn’t been the Bai family’s soldiers, they would have fled in terror.
Bai Xun picked up Bai Xi and Bai Shuo, glanced at the two skeletons nearby, and his eyes grew cold.
“Fill in the fissure and burn these two skeletons on the spot.” Bai Xun looked at his soldiers with a stern, icy expression. “Report to the Five City Guard and the Imperial Court that the young ladies were out late enjoying the lantern festival and got lost in the city. Apologize for the trouble. As for tonight’s events, I don’t want to hear a word about them again, understood?”
“Yes, General!” The soldiers, suppressing their fear, responded firmly.
Bai Xun nodded in satisfaction, holding his daughters tightly as he headed back towards the city.
In the ghost realm, Tianqi sat on his throne with a wooden expression. Xiuyan stood in the great hall, looking even more expressionless than Tianqi, completely devoid of the flirtatious demeanor he had once shown at the Naihe Bridge.
The Ghost King, Ao Ge, had a fierce and cold temperament. It was always Xiuyan who handled the challenging task of welcoming the true gods, especially since the one on the throne today came with anger.
(T/N: Ao Ge and Xiuyan share one body.)
“Lord God, the book of life and death in my realm has fixed numbers. You saved those two girls and disrupted the mortal world’s fate. This has disrupted the fate of the mortal world for more than ten years. If the Heavenly Palace questions my realm, I’m not taking the blame!” Xiuyan, knowing why Tianqi had come, feigned ignorance and complained bitterly.
“The child who died had the fate of a life-after-birth fate. Her constellation fate was not extinguished, and today was not her day to die. Moreover, with her fate, she was supposed to be an immortal from the Heavenly Palace undergoing reincarnation trials. If I hadn’t passed by today and she was devoured by the nine-headed snake, her soul would have been damaged, and her millennia of cultivation would have been destroyed. You, the Ghost King, would have a hard time explaining to the Heavenly Palace, wouldn’t you?” Tianqi glanced at Xiuyan and spoke indifferently.
Xiuyan’s face fell, and he cursed inwardly.
Damn, you know everything, yet you trick that little girl into repaying you!
A rich and noble girl vowing to live a thousand or ten thousand years just to repay a favor—how absurd!
“didn’t I save her?”
“didn’t I save her sister?”
“I showed kindness to her; shouldn’t she repay me?”
Who is Tianqi? Xiuyan just rolled his eyes.
Tianqi knew exactly what Xiuyan was thinking from his expression. The Lord God on the throne raised an eyebrow but did not get angry.
Xiuyan was an experienced god, having worked diligently in the ghost realm for years.
Compared to his irritable brother, Tianqi had more patience for him.
“She should,” Xiuyan grudgingly admitted, knowing Tianqi’s arrogance and self-importance were well-known in the god realm.
“Her sister might live a thousand or ten thousand years and have the chance to see me again,” Tianqi sneered, recalling the girl’s fiery eyes.
“As for her, with no fate or spiritual energy, she will be lucky to live this life well.”
Xiuyan lowered his head, pondering which of the Bai sisters Tianqi was more interested in. Before he could figure it out, Tianqi, evidently unwilling to discuss mundane matters further, got straight to the point.
“In the past millennium, has there been any news of Yue Mi in the ghost realm?”
At the mention of Yue Mi, the hall fell silent.
“Lord God, whether in the cycle of reincarnation or on the Bridge of Rebirth, there has been no trace of the supreme god Yue Mi,” Xiuyan said earnestly.
Seeing Tianqi’s expression darken, Xiuyan continued, “Back then…”
He paused, then ambiguously corrected himself, “Since then, the ancient true gods have come to the ghost realm looking. If she were here, we wouldn’t still be searching after sixty thousand years.”
Back then? Since then? The matter of the world-destroying array in the lower realms over sixty thousand years ago was taboo in the god realm, and no one dared to mention it in front of Tianqi.
(T/N: I mistakenly translated the world-destroying array as being in the mortal realm, but I’ve done some fixing on the previous chapter and put the translation as ‘lower realm’…)
Tianqi narrowed his eyes, meeting the Ghost King’s silent but unwavering gaze.
“Lord God, Yue Mi’s divine soul is gone,” Xiuyan stated.
Ao Ge, Xiuyan, and Yuemi had fought side by side in many battles against gods and demons. Over a thousand years ago, when Tianqi came to the ghost realm searching for Yue Mi’s soul, Ao Ge nearly attacked the true god with his divine sword.
“Three hundred years ago, in the Heavenly Realm, she left a trace of her divine consciousness,” Tianqi began, his deep purple eyes reflecting an intense depth. “If her soul no longer exists in this world, how could that trace of divine consciousness have persisted for sixty thousand years?”
Back then, in the statue of Yue Mi, who died in the Heavenly Realm, the last remnant of her divine consciousness concealed ancient memories lost for three hundred years. If there was no soul in existence, how could a mere trace of consciousness last for sixty thousand years? This was the reason Tianqi had never given up searching for Yue Mi’s soul over the years.
The Ghost King was at a loss for words, facing Tianqi’s sudden question, “Then have you found it? If I were her, I’m afraid I don’t want to be found for by the Lord God.”
Even though Tianqi was a true god, the Ghost King couldn’t bear to see his righteous determination to find Yue Mi. When she was alive, you ignored her. Now that she’s dead because of you, what are you looking for?
The person on the throne suddenly raised his head, and a divine pressure descended within the hall, causing the entire Ghost King Hall to tremble.
The entire ghost realm felt this terrifying divine presence, and the streets outside the Ghost King Hall were instantly filled with trembling souls kneeling in fear.
Inside the hall, Xiuyan’s face turned pale. Though his knees nearly buckled, he stood firm, refusing to kneel.
Regarding Yue Mi, Xiuyan had always harbored resentment toward Tianqi, no matter that he was a true god. He could kneel to Tianqi for anything, but not for this.
Ao Ge was raging within him, demanding to come out and fight, but Xiuyan forcibly held him back.
If Ao Ge confronted Tianqi today, the entire ghost realm might be destroyed.
He could see that a millennium later, Tianqi was more exhausted and more determined in his search for Yue Mi.
Tianqi’s cold purple eyes fell on the Ghost King, who was barely holding on, and the overwhelming divine pressure suddenly subsided.
He rose and silently headed towards the hall’s exit.
“You are right. If I were her, I too would not wish to see myself in this world again.”
The desolate voice echoed in the hall, Tianqi’s back appearing extremely lonely.
Xiuyan watched him, his emotions in a complex tangle.
“Wait!” Just as Tianqi was about to step out of the hall, the Ghost King’s voice rang out.
Tianqi stopped in his tracks and quickly turned to look at Xiuyan.
“Do you have any news of Yue Mi?” Tianqi’s question was almost a statement of certainty.
“No,” Xiuyan said, shaking his head. Tianqi’s expression grew cold, and his eyes filled with anger at being deceived.
But Xiuyan, seemingly oblivious, asked, “Lord God, do you still remember the trace of Yue Mi’s divine consciousness in the Heavenly Realm?”
“Don’t tell him! Xiuyan, you ghost brat, how could you go back on your word! You promised not to tell him!” Within the Ghost King’s body, Ao Ge roared furiously, struggling to break free from Xiuyan’s restraint to stop him from speaking.
“Shut up! Or I’ll destroy your Ghost King Hall, chop your divine soul, and send you into a hundred lifetimes of love tribulations!” Tianqi coldly directed his words towards Xiuyan’s chest.
The Ghost King, inside whose body Ao Ge resided, shuddered.
A hundred lifetimes of love tribulations? He hated those bothersome love affairs the most. He didn’t want to go through that; he wanted to stay with Xiuyan.
Seeing the noisy Ao Ge fall silent, Tianqi looked at Xiuyan with an unusually kind and patient expression. “Speak, what about Yue Mi’s trace of divine consciousness?”
Even Xiuyan, who was accustomed to the myriad scenes in the ghost world, couldn’t help but applaud Tianqi’s remarkable ability to change his demeanor. No wonder he was a true god; living long had indeed made him both flexible and steadfast.
“Lord God, for over sixty thousand years, the Ghost King Hall has never stopped searching for Yue Mi’s soul, but to no avail. However, more than a thousand years ago, a trace of divine consciousness entered the ghost realm and ascended the Naihe Bridge alone.”
Xiuyan opened his palm, revealing a faint trace of divine consciousness emanating a silver-white aura.
Tianqi’s gaze sharpened instantly.
It was the trace of divine consciousness Yue Mi had left in the Heavenly Realm.
He had thought it had long since dissipated, but he had not expected it to be in the ghost realm.
“Lord God, you know that the Soul Suppressing Tower has the power to nourish souls. If you use your divine energy to recreate a divine body for Yue Mi and nourish this trace of divine consciousness with the Soul Suppressing Tower, there might be a day when Yue Mi awakens and returns. Or perhaps…” Xiuyan lowered his eyes. “This trace of divine consciousness may never become sentient again, nor condense into a soul.”
Xiuyan handed over the faint silver-white divine consciousness to Tianqi.
“Lord God, are you willing to spend thousands of years to gamble on this one chance?”
The trace of divine consciousness was taken without hesitation.
Tianqi’s figure disappeared from the Ghost King Hall.
“Even if it takes tens of thousands of years, she is worth it.”
“I owe you a favor. Should you ever need anything, I will do my utmost to fulfill it.”
As the purple divine light faded, that defiant voice could be faintly heard from the sky above the ghost realm.
“Hmph, who cares! I eat and drink well in the ghost realm; who needs his favor!” With Tianqi gone, Xiuyan no longer suppressed his irritable brother.
Ao Ge finally took control, daring to shout angrily at the sky.
After shouting, he turned and walked into the hall, changed into ordinary clothes, and hurried towards the boundary of the ghost realm.
“Where are you going?” Xiuyan asked suspiciously, seeing Ao Ge looking like he was about to leave the ghost realm.
“To the demon realm.”
“Where in the demon realm?”
“Ziyue Mountain.”
“What for?”
“To ask him to forge a divine body for you with his true god power.”
“……”
Two days later, at the General’s Residence, Bai Shuo suddenly woke up from a deep sleep.
She looked at Bai Xi, who was watching over her, lying beside the bed. Waking up felt like emerging from a dream.
