The Star Lord Chang Sheng of the Palace of Trials - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Fumbling a Winning Hand
On this day, Weiqing returned once again to help Lord Changsheng alleviate the pain caused by the thousand-year Snow Frost Ice.
Before leaving, she made a point to visit Jufang. She felt that certain things could only be clearly communicated woman-to-woman.
The moment Jufang saw Weiqing, she greeted her enthusiastically. She genuinely liked this sister of extraordinary grace and elegance, feeling that if a celestial goddess were to descend to the mortal realm, this is precisely what she would look like.
Weiqing held Jufang’s hands, showering her with warm concern. She asked if Jufang was adjusting well to life on Mount Luoyun and offered to bring her whatever she might be lacking on her next visit.
After chatting for a while, Weiqing felt the time was right to broach the main topic. “What do you think of your master?” she asked.
Jufang replied, “Do you mean Niyan, Sister? He has taught me a few martial arts moves, but I wouldn’t really consider him my master…”
Weiqing shook her head. “I meant Lord Changsheng. Doesn’t he teach you about arranging the mortal trials?”
Jufang burst out laughing. “Him teaching me? Xiaofan has taught me far more! I’m just an errand girl at the Sili Palace. Calling Lord Changsheng my superior is just a polite way of putting it—in truth, I’m just his slave!”
Hearing these words, Weiqing couldn’t help but curse Lord Changsheng in her heart: He really managed to fumble a winning hand.
Weiqing then probed further, asking, “So, do you really dislike Lord Changsheng that much?”
With a face full of grievance, Jufang replied, “It’s a long story! While I wouldn’t say it’s an ‘it’s him or me’ situation, I at least hope we can just stay out of each other’s way.”
Upon hearing Jufang’s response, Weiqing had no choice but to swallow the matchmaking speech she had prepared.
Jufang pressed on, “What is it, Sister? Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
Since Jufang clearly harbored no feelings for her Zhinuo, Weiqing decided to speak plainly.
“Zhinuo—ah, Lord Changsheng—is gravely ill. If you cared for him in your heart, I originally planned to leave you with a few instructions to look after him for me. But I don’t want to force you. If you don’t wish to have much to do with him, then forget I said anything!”
To Weiqing’s surprise, upon hearing this, Jufang asked with a hint of agitation, “Gravely ill? Doesn’t he just have a cold?”
Having lived in the Kunlun Mountains for a long time, Weiqing was completely unaware of the rumors in the Celestial Palace, nor did she know how the Snow Frost Ice came to be inside Lord Changsheng. Not thinking to conceal anything from Jufang, she replied, “A cold? Who told you that? His internal organs are completely frozen!”
Hearing this, no matter how foolish Jufang was, she instantly realized that Lord Changsheng rescuing her was by no means as effortless as he had made it seem.
Jufang asked anxiously, “Sister, how can I help?”
***
That night, Lord Changsheng was in his room as usual, gazing into his Mirror of Mortal Observation. Whether it was because autumn had set in or because of the thousand-year Snow Frost Ice within him, he felt that tonight was colder than ever before.
Just as he was about to get up to draw a hot bath, he heard a thud. A small, fluffy creature came scrambling in through the window. Looking closely, he realized it was a little stray cat from the mortal realm.
As soon as the kitten entered the room, it scurried straight toward the hearth. It seemed it was cold outside and had come in to seek warmth.
Mortal animals frequently strayed onto Mount Luoyun by mistake, so Lord Changsheng was long used to it. He smiled at the kitten and said, “Every single one of you is like this. Is my room a place you can just waltz into whenever you please?”
He said so, yet he made no move to chase the kitten away. Lord Changsheng knew that if anything harbored malice toward him, even if it climbed through the window, Niyan would have detected it. It was just a kitten; once it left later, he would simply close the window properly.
As Lord Changsheng undressed to prepare for his bath, he said to the kitten, “Once you’re warm, leave the same way you came in! I’m going to bathe—don’t you dare peek!”
After his bath, Lord Changsheng’s hands and feet were warm, yet his body remained freezing cold. For ordinary people, body heat radiates from the inside out; when cold, the hands and feet freeze first. However, the Snow Frost Ice inside Lord Changsheng made it the exact opposite. No matter how hot the water was, it could not melt the ice within his chest and abdomen.
Seeing that the kitten had made itself at home, comfortably lying on his bed, Lord Changsheng scolded it with a gentle laugh, “You little cats are all the same. Are you trying to warm my bed too?”
He sat on the bed and tried to shoo the cat away. Instead of leaving, however, the kitten climbed onto his lap, curled up, and began to purr. Seeing how adorable the little cat was, Lord Changsheng gave up struggling. He extinguished the light and lay down, deciding to let the kitten sleep wherever it pleased.
Knowing that his core was extremely cold, he placed the cat on the pillow. But how could a cat understand such things? It insisted on burrowing into his chest, which seemed warm and cozy. Lord Changsheng thought to himself, Once you feel cold, you’ll probably come out. Yet for reasons unknown, the cat remained lying in his chest the entire night. Instead of the cat getting cold, Lord Changsheng’s lungs felt much warmer due to the cat’s body heat, allowing him to sleep exceptionally soundly.
Seeing up to this point, it is believed that none of the readers are as foolish as Lord Changsheng, and all know that this little cat was, in fact, Jufang.
As it turned out, that was precisely what Weiqing had requested of her that day.
Weiqing knew that this counted as intimate physical contact; if Jufang had no feelings for Lord Changsheng, she could never have asked this of her. However, Jufang, having grown up in the lower realm, did not care about such taboos at all. She only knew that Lord Changsheng had frozen his internal organs to save her, yet was putting on a strong front and keeping quiet about it. Even if he loved saving face, there should be a limit!
Weiqing believed that although she didn’t know the origin of the Snow Frost Ice in Lord Changsheng’s body, with his ten thousand years of cultivation, even if his unique constitution meant his recovery rate was far slower than that of ordinary immortals, he should still be able to recover gradually.
To adjust his internal energy and recover, he needed to eat well and sleep well. Yet in Lord Changsheng’s current condition, he was unable to get proper rest. Therefore, she could only beg Jufang to warm his lungs with her physical body in exchange for a good night’s sleep, enabling him to recover on his own sooner.
Of course, using a cat’s body temperature to fight the Snow Frost Ice was like using a single matchstick to keep warm in a blizzard—completely useless. To truly warm his lungs, she had to slowly release her spiritual energy, warming his chest degree by degree.
On the second night, when Lord Changsheng saw the little kitten sneak into the room again, he scooped it right into his lap, stroking it while looking into the Mirror of Mortal Observation. By bedtime, the kitten had already fallen sound asleep on his lap, so Lord Changsheng placed the sleeping cat on a cushion beside the hearth.
In the midst of his groggy slumber, feeling a fluffy ball in his arms, he thought to himself, The little cat burrowed in again. In a half-awake, half-dreaming state, he murmured, “Since you love clinging to me so much, I’ll just adopt you. What should I name you…”
Upon waking up and finding the kitten still in his arms, Lord Changsheng smiled and said, “You cat, how are you so much more obedient and gentle than the one outside? I’ll call you Nuannuan (Warmie).”
Hearing these words left Jufang at a total loss. In all her time at the Hall of Fate, she had never seen Lord Changsheng speak to anyone with such tenderness. Had she known that turning back into her true form would yield such preferential treatment, she would have done so from day one to save herself a lot of grief.
On the third day, Lord Changsheng even felt a bit anxious, worrying about what he would do if Nuannuan didn’t come tonight.
But when Nuannuan appeared in the room as usual, he let out a sigh of relief.
He happily lifted Nuannuan onto his lap, stroking the cat while watching the Mirror of Mortal Reflections.
Suddenly, he felt something strange under his hand. Nuannuan’s front paw seemed to have a scar. Looking closely, it was actually an old burn mark. Though it seemed mostly healed, the fur was a bit sparse there. Because the injury was so small, it wouldn’t be noticeable unless one looked very carefully.
A burn? Lord Changsheng thought. He pinched a bit of incense ash burning on the table, carefully dabbed a little on the back of Nuannuan’s neck, and then stood up.
Stretching his arms, he said, “I wonder what that little girl Jufang is up to? Let me go take a look.”
With that, he walked out on his own.
Arriving at Jufang’s door, Lord Changsheng knocked and asked, “Jufang, it’s me. Are you asleep?”
Jufang opened the door with bleary, sleepy eyes, looking as though she had just been awakened by the knocking.
Yawning, Jufang said, “Lord Changsheng? Is something the matter?”
Without saying a word, Lord Changsheng wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought his head close to the back of Jufang’s neck. For a man to bring his head so close to a woman’s neck was such an intimate gesture that even Jufang, who usually paid no mind to formalities, was startled.
Jufang hurriedly pushed Lord Changsheng away and said, “What are you doing?”
With a look of disgust on his face, Lord Changsheng said, “You are Nuannuan, aren’t you? What are you trying to do, sneaking into my room every night—what are your motives?”
Seeing that her cover was blown, Jufang said angrily, “What motives could I possibly have?! Wasn’t it because you saved me and got your internal organs frozen? I’m doing this to repay your kindness, alright?! You make it sound so despicable.”
Lord Changsheng asked furiously, “Who told you that? Don’t do such pointless things—I don’t need your gratitude!”
Hearing this, Jufang’s temper flared as well, and she retorted, “You don’t need it? From what I saw, you slept pretty soundly these past few nights! Without me, you’d still be coughing night after night!”
Seeing her total lack of remorse, Lord Changsheng grew even angrier and shouted, “You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you? Do you have any idea what it means for a woman to climb into a man’s bed in the middle of the night? Is this how you repay favors? I didn’t go to the Snow Lotus Pool on Tianshan just to save you—I just didn’t want the reputation of the Sili Palace ruined by you!”
Jufang, who had always sneered at the tedious rules and rigid morality of the Upper Realm, snapped back, “Hmph! Ruin your reputation? As expected, only pedantic fools from the Upper Realm like you would say such things. Ask yourself: Has your condition improved these past few nights? Have you been sleeping soundly? What the hell is reputation worth? How much does a pound of it cost? Can it buy you a peaceful night’s sleep?”
Lord Changsheng retorted furiously, “Of course it can! For so many years,Sili Palace had an impeccable reputation, and I slept soundly every single night! Ever since you arrived, I haven’t slept a wink!”
As these words were exchanged, Niyan—who had been standing behind them ever since the phrase “Do you have any idea what it means for a woman to climb into a man’s bed in the middle of the night?”—felt increasingly awkward.
He didn’t even know whether he should step in to stop them.
Seeming to have worked up a momentum, Lord Changsheng continued, “Pedantic fools from the Upper Realm? Your beloved Wuyi is an Upper Realm immortal now too! You still seem to love him plenty!”
Hearing this, Jufang thought, Scolding me is one thing, but you’re dragging Wuyi into this too?! She yelled, “What’s wrong with Wuyi? He doesn’t use grand principles to pressure me, nor does he yell and scream at me for no reason. Whoever treats me well, I treat well in return. He’s so good to me, so I like him—what’s wrong with that?!”
Hearing Jufang publicly admit her feelings for Wuyi, Lord Changsheng was instantly struck speechless.
Seeing him silent, Jufang sneered, “Ha! Lost for words, aren’t you? Realized you’re in the wrong now!”
Lord Changsheng’s expression suddenly darkened.
He said softly, “So you only did this out of gratitude… Then there is no need. I am owed no gratitude by you.”
With that, Lord Changsheng turned around and walked away.
He knew that the reason he had jumped into the pool without hesitation was for love. And love asks for nothing in return.
****
On this day, High God Kongqi paid a special visit to Mount Luoyun to congratulate Lord Changsheng on acquiring a new subordinate.
Having received advance notice, Lord Changsheng had sent Jufang and Wuyi away early to prevent them from running into him.
Upon meeting, Kongqi immediately sensed that Lord Changsheng was somewhat different from before; his complexion seemed significantly worse. However, when Lord Changsheng began to cough, Kongqi finally couldn’t help himself and grabbed his wrist to take his pulse.
Kongqi asked in surprise, “Lord Changsheng, what happened here? Why is there thousand-year Snow Frost Ice inside your body?”
At that moment, Xiaofan suddenly remembered that the Qilin Clan had always preferred living in extremely hot environments. It was precisely for this reason that their clan’s treasured artifact was the Drought Fire Lingzhi—a plant that grew only in scorching lands and appeared once every thousand years. Kongqi happened to be a high-ranking God of immense standing within the Qilin Clan, and the Drought Fire Lingzhi was the sole thing in this world capable of countering the thousand-year Snow Frost Ice.
Xiaofan immediately dropped to his knees before Kongqi and pleaded, “High God Kongqi, I beg you to save our Lord Changsheng!”
Kongqi hurriedly stepped forward to help him up, saying, “Immortal Xiaofan, please do not do this. Lord Changsheng is my benefactor; it is only natural that I do everything in my power to help. There is no need for such grand ceremony.”
Weiqing did not know the truth behind the Snow Frost Ice in Lord Changsheng’s body, but Xiaofan did. The waters of the Snow Lotus Pool on Tianshan were not something one could easily recover from. Without the blood of an Immortal Peach, there was likely nothing else that could save him.
Yet Lord Changsheng was the only person in the world with a unique constitution for whom eating an Immortal Peach was useless; he was capable of saving others, yet unable to save himself.
Without the Drought Fire Lingzhi, Lord Changsheng could only rely on others to transfer qi to sustain his life, rendering him no different from an invalid.
Noticing Xiaofan’s intention, Lord Changsheng stopped him, “Xiaofan, do not say what shouldn’t be said. This matter has nothing to do with High God Kongqi; do not drag others into this.”
Paying no heed to Lord Changsheng, Xiaofan knelt on the ground once more and said, “High God Kongqi, I beg you to bestow your clan’s treasure, the Drought Fire Lingzhi, to save his life!”
