A Bitter Heart (Part 3)

The Secret Realm inside the jade pendant was equivalent to a second Zhuochen Palace. Chi Lian was very familiar with this place, and with the reassuring aura enveloping him, he slept exceptionally soundly. He didn't dream; it was a deep and comfortable sleep.

When he awoke, the sky outside the window was bright, making the ivory-white bed curtains slightly translucent. Chi Lian propped himself up on the bed and slowly sat up. The brocade quilt slid down, revealing his long, straight collarbones and fair chest. His silver hair cascaded down, covering half his body, still like plum blossoms scattered in snow. Near his heart was a crimson scar. It had long since stopped hurting, but because it had been repeatedly kissed last night, it felt as if some invisible string had been plucked incorrectly, and it was now faintly hot, echoing the afterglow within his body.

Although he had greatly embarrassed the gods yesterday, he was, after all, an immortal. Besides, Wei Ming had treasured him a little too much. Apart from a slight soreness, there were no lasting effects; in fact, his inner spiritual reserves felt much fuller than before—

Suddenly, the arm around his waist tightened, pulling him back into the warm, soft bedding. Wei Ming's eyes were half-closed. Not yet fully awake, his voice was languid and lazy, with an alluring hoarseness. "Does it hurt? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

"It doesn't hurt." Chi Lian pushed his hair aside, answering him for the hundredth time. "You really don't have to be so careful. I'm not made of paper."

"What about your eyes?" Wei Ming skillfully reached out to cup his face. "Turn over and let me see."

Chi Lian said helplessly, "My eyes have been fine for a long time. It was over a thousand years ago, why are you still worrying about it?"

"You cried too much yesterday." Wei Ming held his chin, studying him carefully. "They're a little red. We'll apply a compress later."

Chi Lian: "...I didn't cry."

Wei Ming chuckled and casually pinched his earlobe. "You didn't? I remember you crying."

Chi Lian: "You remember wrong."

"Well, I also remember you saying you liked me many times," Wei Ming said. "Do I remember that wrong too?"

Chi Lian: "..."

Wei Ming was still hung up on being rejected by him before, so he seized every opportunity to confirm his feelings. Chi Lian had spent last night proving himself in bed, which finally pacified him for a short while. However, some things could be said in the dead of night, whispered in the warmth of the bed curtains, but became inexplicably hard to utter in the light of day. As if unable to bear his gaze, Chi Lian awkwardly averted his burning eyes and sighed, "Your Highness, you're like a fox spirit."

Skin against skin, he could clearly feel the vibration of the other's chest. Wei Ming smiled and lowered his head to kiss him. "If the Immortal Lord likes it, then a fox spirit I shall be."

The brocade quilt was steeped in warmth, the curtains trapping the lingering fragrance. Their voices, not yet fully awake, were still filled with tenderness, making their exchange sound even more like the whispered sweet nothings of newlyweds. Chi Lian had originally possessed the strength to get up, but Wei Ming had worn it all away. The two lingered intimately for a long time before finally dispelling the last embers of passion. They rose to wash up, dress, and clean up the mess left from a night of abandon.

The clothes were readily available; a slight change to the original style made them indistinguishable. It was just his hair that had come undone and needed to be tied up again. Chi Lian sat before the dressing table, recalling the last time the Emperor had sat him down here to comb his hair, and couldn't help but smile. Wei Ming, seeing this from behind, tapped his forehead with the comb. "What are you smiling at?"

Chi Lian met his gaze in the mirror. "His Highness truly knows a lot of things."

Wei Ming was unconcerned. "I can even do small braids. How about I make one for you?"

Chi Lian laughed. "Gui Heng would be scared to death if he saw that. Let's not."

"I think he knows perfectly well. It's hard to say which of you would be scaring whom." Wei Ming combed through his long hair and suddenly said, "Has your hair gotten a bit darker than before?"

Chi Lian hadn't paid much attention to it. Looking in the mirror now, he couldn't see a difference. "I don't think so."

His hair had turned white because his foundation was damaged. It wasn't like ordinary white hair that could be restored by eating black sesame or he shou wu. But Wei Ming measured with his eyes against his shoulders and said decisively, "It has gotten darker. I remember the line was at your shoulders before, and now it's almost at your shoulder blades. Have you felt anything else yourself?"

As for recent unusual events, besides falling into the mirror to recall the past, there was last night's carnal bliss. Chi Lian remembered how his spiritual reserves had felt inexplicably full this morning. He froze, murmuring, "That can't be..."

Wei Ming asked, "What's wrong?"

For a rare moment, Chi Lian hesitated before saying sheepishly, "It's hard to say. Perhaps we should go see the Emperor first...?"

Wei Ming didn't know what he was plotting and said, puzzled, "What kind of strange custom is this? Do I have to pay respects to myself?"

But Chi Lian was feeling particularly guilty right now, even discreetly tugging on his sleeve. The action made Wei Ming suck in a breath. One must know that while Immortal Lord Chi Lian might act coy with Emperor Cangze, the Grand Preceptor would never show a hint of weakness in front of others. But having been intimate was different after all. That unique intimacy was something even the former Emperor had to yield to; Wei Ming was the one who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him now.

The brilliant and martial His Highness, Prince Duan ultimately couldn't resist a beauty's charm. He was utterly captivated. Following the tug, he reached over to hold his hand and said helplessly, "Let's go."

In the depths of the lake surrounded by wind and lotuses, the white jade bed in the pavilion was empty. Yet, Chi Lian's face showed no panic, but rather a helpless expression of 'as expected'. Wei Ming hadn't anticipated this reaction and asked tentatively, "This is...?"

Chi Lian roughly understood the reason but didn't know how to explain it to him. He turned and hugged Wei Ming's waist, trying to gloss over it, only to be held by the scruff of his neck and shaken like a cat. "We were talking about serious matters. What's this about suddenly pouncing on me? No matter how effective this move is, you can't rely on being coy to get your way every time, can you?"

Chi Lian said nonchalantly, "It's nothing. It's not important. We should go back."

"A whole Emperor vanishing into thin air isn't important?" Wei Ming would have to be possessed to believe him. "Although they say 'out with the old, in with the new,' for you to forget the old love so quickly for a new one... and since I'm half of that old love, isn't this a bit unreasonable?"

Chi Lian said, "So it's reasonable for you to have nothing better to do than have your left hand fight your right, getting jealous of yourself?"

Wei Ming glanced down at his reddened earlobe and guessed it wasn't anything serious, just that the soft-hearted Chi Lian was too embarrassed to say it. He softened his tone and coaxed patiently, "You know how frightening the things you've done before were. I'm not afraid of anything else, but this concerns your health. I won't be at ease until I have a clear answer. If you have it figured out and can promise you won't suddenly come down with some ailment to scare me, then it's fine if you don't tell me."

Chi Lian had never been able to successfully resist his coaxing. He deflated, resting his head against Wei Ming's shoulder, and mumbled, "This is just my guess, it might not be right... The body of a member of the Heavenly Race is just an external manifestation of the Divine Soul, not a physical entity. Most of the Emperor's Divine Soul has already returned to heaven and earth. The remaining Divine Soul is now reincarnated as Your Highness, and that shell was merely a remnant of divine soul and power, barely maintained by the spiritual energy of this place."

"Last night, when Your Highness entered the Secret Realm, the spiritual energy here was abundant, and your soul was more solid than before. It was like rivers flowing into the sea; you spontaneously absorbed the power of the remnant body." His voice grew fainter. "And then, through Dual Cultivation... um... we mutually supplemented each other, which is why my hair color is changing back..."

The laughter in Wei Ming's voice was now completely unconcealable. Yet he feigned ignorance and humbly asked, "This 'mutually supplementing'... how exactly does that work? Why don't you elaborate, Immortal Lord, so we can study it together. Since this method of Dual Cultivation is so useful, we should make use of it more often..."

Chi Lian, flying into a rage from embarrassment, slapped him on the back. "It's not useful! And there won't be a next time!"

"Really not giving me any?" Wei Ming hugged him, laughing unrepentantly. "But I have tasted the marrow and savored the flavor; I can never let go again."

In Liang Continent, the large ship docked. Fang Tianchong and his accomplices were arrested and taken into custody. The storm caused by the Ghost Ship Case had temporarily subsided. At the same time, however, an undercurrent was surging in the Capital at the other end, and a cold, murderous intent was just beginning to reveal itself.

A dozen spies took turns watching Prince Duan's Manor. The moment they saw a guard who was supposed to have accompanied Prince Duan to Liang Continent hurry back to the manor, the stakeout agents immediately reported to their superiors. That very night, more than ten assassins surrounded the Prince's Manor. They infiltrated it separately and turned the manor upside down, but they couldn't find the key evidence their master had specified.

All the servants and maids in the manor were tied up and gathered in the courtyard. They listened in terror to the sounds of smashing and ransacking, frightened like molting quails, huddled together and trembling uncontrollably. After hearing his subordinate's report, the assassin leader swept a cold gaze over the crowd, then shot out his hand and grabbed a maidservant by the throat. "Speak! Where is the thing from Liang Continent hidden?"

There were never many maidservants in the Prince's Manor. The few there were had entered the manor as children. Wei Ming never made things difficult for people, and the steward also treated them kindly. Having never suffered such cruel abuse, she was instantly terrified, tears streaming down her face as she shook her head desperately. "I don't know... I really don't know!"

The leader threw her into the crowd, drew his long saber, and placed it against Chunzhi's neck. "Hand over the item, and I'll leave you with whole corpses. If you don't, you'll meet the same end as her—"

Before he could finish, a sinister, foul wind suddenly whipped up from the side, extinguishing the torches in the courtyard in an instant. It was followed by a loud clang. The blade, which should have drawn blood, had struck something harder than rock. The immense force instantly shattered the web between the wielder's thumb and forefinger.

"Who's there!"

The assassins' intuition was sharper than an ordinary person's. At this moment, they felt enveloped by an invisible killing intent and gripped their blades, their hair standing on end. Tonight was already a dark and stormy night, but the dark clouds layered over Prince Duan's Manor had somehow grown even darker than usual, to the point where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

For mortals, it was a predicament that rendered them immobile, but for a spirit beast, it was the perfect hunting ground.

Screams rose and fell one after another. All around, the dull thuds of bodies hitting the ground sounded in succession. The thick, metallic stench of blood filled the stagnant, humid summer air. Chunzhi finally couldn't take it anymore and gagged.

The sounds of slaughter suddenly stopped. A brilliant flash of lightning cut across the sky, illuminating the hellish courtyard.

Black-clad corpses lay scattered around the periphery of the crowd, the blood almost forming a pond. Every one of them had been disemboweled. And behind the sole remaining leader, who stood frozen, coiled above the roof of the Prince's Manor, was a dark golden dragon. Blood was still dripping, drop by drop, from the tips of its claws.

Rumble—

As if a heavenly tribulation had descended, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, one after another. Everyone was scared senseless by this auspicious beast on a killing spree. The leader trembled like a leaf in the wind, closing his eyes in despair under the gaze of those demonic, vertical pupils.

With a squelch, blood splattered.

One slaughter had ended another. As the last assassin fell dead, the lightning and thunder gradually ceased. The heavy tribulation clouds dispersed, and the moon hung high in the sky, casting down a gossamer-like glow.

But still, no one dared to move.

The golden dragon retracted its blood-soaked claws. It shook them twice but couldn't get them clean. It subconsciously raised a claw to its mouth to lick it, then remembered its identity and primly put it down. It stepped down from the roof and, with a light wave, severed the ropes binding Chunzhi. But it saw her eyes widen as she shrank back a few steps in terror.

The golden dragon paused, then seemed to realize they were afraid. It shrank its dragon form into the body of a cat, shook out its long, golden fur, and squatted on the spot with an eager look. It then let out a soft, aggrieved "meow" at them.

After a long time, Yi Dayou was the first to recover from the double shock of escaping death and seeing a monster. He asked tremblingly, "Is this... Ah Hu?"

Chunzhi suddenly burst out with a "Waaah!" and ran over to grab it in a tight hug. Her cries echoed throughout the entire Prince's Manor. "Wuwuwu, baby, how could you do something so dangerous... You scared me to death, wuwuwu..."

Ah Hu: "Mii~"

The author has something to say:

It's not a side couple, it's a poop-scooper and a kitty.