Chapter 35 | Ink East

Edited by renderedreversed

Chapter 35

The cheerful tunes of the river played in my ear. Chu Kong’s chest brought back memories of warmth; I went back to that day in Fengxuashan Manor, lying on bed with my one-and-only Shifu of that lifetime. Depending wholeheartedly on him, I wholeheartedly trusted and loved him. The other memories that I had no love for slowly disappeared.

I reached out and was about to wrap my arms around Chu Kong’s waist when a familiar figure came excitedly rushing down the road.

“Aiya, what am I seeing? Blindingly beautiful, oh! Two enemies hugging each other, ah!”

Like we had done something reckless, Chu Kong and I pushed each other away. We looked at one another with uncertainty.

Yanwang, who had just come back from Heaven, was wearing a complex robe. He touched his chin. His pair of bright eyes looked between me and Chu Kong. Yanwang came back to the Netherworld and saw me and Chu Kong, so his mood turned happy.

“Don’t be nervous. I didn’t come to be a third wheel. You two continue, ah. I just got excited when I saw you two hugging each other like your souls would merge together.”

“Who’s-who’s soul is merging with her!”

Chu Kong’s roar beat inside my ear drums.

“Xiaoye…xiaoye just got the cramps! It was just the cramps!”

I also roared, “Who wants to hug that thing there! I also just got the cramps!”

“I understand, I understand. I totally understand.”

Yanwang cheaply smiled as he nodded.

“Youngsters playing some push and pull is also good.”

This guy must’ve been real pleased, watching us play with our hearts like that.

I gave him face and didn’t expose him. After all, Chu Kong and I didn’t managed to live for twenty years in the mortal realm; we still needed to receive punishment from him…

I hadn’t finished that train of thought yet when Chu Kong suddenly pulled my shoulder. He stared at me seriously and asked, “Have you already kissed?”

I blinked and stayed quiet. Did…did this mean he cared about me? When I saw General Kong through the mirror, I sometimes couldn’t understand his thoughts. Now that I was faced with the surfaced feelings that had been hidden in the shadows all this time, I couldn’t help but feel shy.

While I was too busy being shy to answer, Yanwang stroked his chin and smiled. “We already kissed, yo.”

The hand on my shoulder tightened. Chu Kong’s face darkened. Yanwang continued to laugh. “Kissed fiercely.”

The hand pinching my shoulder tightened a little more. He gritted his teeth and said, “Couldn’t you wait for me…”

I…have been waiting for you. Of course, I couldn’t say that. So I only glared at Yanwang and coldly asked, “When exactly have I kissed you?”

Yanwang continued to laugh. “You missed this gentleman everyday in the Netherworld. Not seeing this gentleman, you became weak. Such feelings made you become thin. You’ve certainly become lighter. Am I wrong?”

轻(qīng): lighter. Losing weight. 亲(qīn): kiss. They sound the same. Yanwang is playing with them.

I raised an eyebrow. The hand on my shoulder loosened. I was silent for a while, and then I understood that he was playing with us. I clearly saw the veins on Chu Kong’s forehead pop.

“Yanwang, you actually dared…”

A red whip swept across Yanwang. He dodged and said, “Aiya, aiya, I was wrong. Celestial Star Chu Kong really isn’t cute. It was just a joke, a joke.”

Yanwang was forced to take a few steps back by Chu Kong’s whip. He then firmly stood his ground and smiled again. “However, Chu Kong, as you can see, you have deep feelings for Xiao Xiang Zi. Even your face is green.”

He was saying that so excitedly. Chu Kong’s face must’ve really turned green because of him.

In order to prevent Chu Kong from running away, I stopped him and said: “Did you forget? We still have to receive punishment from him…”

Chu Kong stiffened, gritted his teeth, and reluctantly hid his whip.

Yanwang scratched his head and put on an unwilling expression. “You don’t need to worry about that…”

His words had hardly left his mouth when, on the road to the Netherworld, there came the white aura of an immortal. I had never seen such an aura before in Heaven. Even my soul was getting stronger in its presence.

Ot the road stood the three little ghosts who had bumped into me. They smiled while walking beside the immortal.

“Great God, this way.”

“Great God, no hurry.”

Such smiles were totally different from their previous rude actions.

When they got nearer, I saw that inside the white aura is Great Golden Star, Taibai. Why wasn’t he enjoying life in Heaven? Why did he come to the Netherworld?

“Yanwang really walks too fast. I can’t keep up with you.”

Great Golden Star Taibai walked over to Yanwang and shook his head.

“These old bones of mine can’t move anymore. Your Netherworld’s miasma has gotten heavier. This pile of old bones can’t inhale anymore. Are Celestial Star Chu Kong and that Cloud Fairy Xian Zi here? After saying His Majesty’s will, I need to hurry back.”

Yanwang pointed at me. “They are all right here.”

Great Golden Start Taibai was famous in Heaven for being blind. He took a few steps towards us before he was able to see us clearly. He nodded. “That’s right, that’s right. En, His Majesty’s decree is here.”

The old man searched in his sleeves for a long while. He scratched his head and said, “Huh…where…where did His Majesty’s decree go? Aiya, I, these old bones... Could it be that I lost it on the way here?”

My mouth twitched. Chu Kong’s mouth also twitched. “Isn’t it that thing in your sleeves?”

Upon realizing he was correct, Taibai exclaimed, “Ah, here, here. This pile of old bone’s memory is not good. Wait, I’ll read it.”

Chu Kong said, “Don’t. You need to rest. We’ll read it ourselves.”

While saying that, he took the decree from Great Golden Star Taibai. He opened it. His eyebrows raised, eyes narrowing slightly. Then he closed the decree and looked at Yanwang. “You’d better explain what’s going on.”

I was curious and took a peek at the decree in Chu Kong’s hand. Chu Kong gave me a glare. That look said, “adults are doing business; children need to wait.” I thought I was truly being looked down upon.

Yanwang squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Well, in general, it’s like this. On the eighteenth level of the Netherworld, a hole has been created. That hole is connected to a mountain in the mortal realm. In order to prevent the evil aura from leaking into the mortal realm through there, you are hereby ordered to go with Xiao Xiang Zi to fill the hole. Considering that this a difficult task, the Jade Emperor decided to give you two a little reward.”

Hearing the word “reward”, my mind was instantly filled with gold. Excitedly, I cried, “What reward?!”

Yanwang touched his chin. He smiled secretly. “You still have three lifetimes left. But if you complete this task, you don’t need to experience those three lifetimes anymore. Besides, Heavenly Emperor Li is feeling bitter because there hasn’t been a single lifetime where you followed the fate he’d written. He doesn’t want to arrange a fateful love story for you anymore.”

Hearing this reward, Chu Kong and I went blank for a moment. My heart felt inexplicable empty.

Honestly speaking, I always wanted to escape our lifetimes together. But suddenly hearing that I could get rid of Chu Kong in an honest way and go back to Heaven to continue being an idle fairy, I actually didn’t feel happy.

Beside me, Chu Kong also went silent.

Yanwang continued on. “Taking into account the rules of the mortal realm, you still have to reincarnate in order to go. In this next lifetime, you’ll use your own body and still have your powers. If you unfortunately die in the mortal realm, you’ll still need to come to the Netherworld to reincarnate. In short, only when you two close the hole will you turn back into an immortal and go back to Heaven.”

I looked at Chu Kong and saw him frowning. I asked Yanwang, “The stones that need to be used to fill that hole. Where are they?”

“On the west side of Wu Mountain, there’s white fluorite. This product has the power to eliminate the evil. Using these stones to fill up the hole is the most appropriate thing.”

I nodded. Chu Kong threw the Jade’s Emperor decree on the ground and said, “I won’t do it. Don’t think I don’t know. That place is guarded by an ancient beast. Whoever bothers him will be roasted. I am not stupid enough to take this task.”

Great Golden Star Taibai picked up the decree and said, “Celestial Star Chu Kong doesn’t want to go, ah? But His Majesty has pointed you and Cloud Fairy Xian Zi to go do this task.”

“Are all the people in Heaven dead? There are many others who have greater ability than me. Why the hell would he make xiaoye and this thing go risk our lives?”

Yanwang coolly replied, “Recently, only you two have committed a mistake. This way, you two can atone. Also, you can say that there isn’t really a risk. If you accidentally die, it’ll just be a trip to the Netherworld.

Chu Kong furiously said, “Do you think that every time we die, it won’t hurt or what?!”

He was putting up strong resistance, while I was silent. In fact, according to Yanwang, going to get the stones and going through a love lifetime weren’t really all that different. The only difference was the purpose. Going through a love lifetime was meant to torment me and Chu Kong. Going to get the stones was to block the evil and, at the same time, torment me and Chu Kong.

No matter where we looked, left or right, he was dead-set on tormenting us. But if we went to get the stones, we could openly not drink the Soup of Oblivion! And we’d still have our powers! This was much more convenient than three lifetimes of powerlessness!

Going to the mortal realm with power was a great advantage!

I immediately dragged Chu Kong behind me, took the decree from Great Golden Star Taibai, and said, “I am a sensible fairy. The Jade Emperor has given me a great responsibility, so I can’t say no!”

Chu Kong pulled my hair and gloomily said, “You want to get whipped?”

Great Golden Star Taibai nodded. “Good girl, good girl. Very responsible, very responsible.”

Yanwang continued to coolly say, “Well, in that case, let Xiao Xiang Zi go get the stone alone. Celestial Star Chu Kong, you can go drink the Soup of Oblivion and go reincarnate. Ah, this really is a happy arrangement for you two.”

Chu Kong gritted his teeth for a while and was silent. He fiercely pulled the decree out of my hand and said, “You want to get the stones, then let’s get the stones.”

Then he glared at me. “You stay far away from me. You’re not allowed to get in my way.”

The implication was “I go take the risk, you hide behind me.”

Ha…now I could slowly understand the hidden meaning behind his words. This was clearly a sentence that had the ability to warm someone right up, but why was this guy saying it in such a bad way…that’s really dishonest, you know.

Yanwang smiled and said, “Aiya, I didn’t know that Celestial Star Chu Kong is a good man who cares about other people.”

“Who cares about who?!”

Chu Kong glared at Yanwang.

Yanwang shook his head and sighed. “Really not honest, ah. So not cute.”

I also sighed. “That’s right, he’s really not an honest person.”

Great Golden Star Taibai nodded. “Not honest, not honest.”

Chu Kong’s pressed down on his veins that were about to pop.

“If you want to go get the stone, be fast. Xiaoye doesn’t have the free time to dawdle with you.”

“Celestial Star Chu Kong, wait! This pile of old bones still has something to say.”

Great Golden Star Taibai’s eyes lit up as he went to Chu Kong’s side. He said softly, “Does Celestial Star Chu Kong know that the Heavens have started a bet? Betting on if you and Cloud Fairy will end up together or not.”

I looked at Great Golden Star Taibai. Chu Kong’s mouth twitched. “You people in Heaven really don’t have anything to do, do you? Since you have so much free time, you can go finish that beast at Wu Mountain. In the meantime, I’ll be getting the stones! Make my job much more easier, won’t you?”

“Don’t be angry, Celestial Star Chu Kong. It was difficult for Heaven to get such a pair as yourself. Naturally, we’ll concern ourselves with you just a little bit more.”

He leaned even closer to Chu Kong and whispered, “From what I’ve observed, I bet three golden taels that you won’t be together. Celestial Star Chu Kong, don’t let me down, ah.”

Chu Kong pushed Taibai’s head away. “Go back to your Heaven.”

Then he turned and said, “Xiao Xiang Zi, let’s go.”

I rummaged through my robes for a long while and finally dug out a ten copper coins. Then I stuffed them into Great Golden Star Taibai’s hand and solemnly asked, “When you go back, remember to help me make a bet. I bet we won’t end up together. How much are the odds? How many people have already bet? When the bet is over, when can we get the money…”

My wrist felt tight. Chu Kong grabbed me. I looked at him and he said, full of evil, “So you also have the time to pursuit things, ah.”

I opened my mouth, but didn’t get the time to speak. He turned around. He seemed really furious. I immediately went silent and walked over to the bridge.

Passing Yanwang, he looked at me smilingly and said, “I bet ten golden taels that you will be together.”

I looked at Yanwang, stunned. He waved at us and wished us a good journey.

Wait, wait! I struggled a bit. Chu Kong grabbed me tighter. What this Yanwang said still has some value! Wait, wait! I want to change my bet! Ten copper coins, betting we’ll be together! Great Golden Star, don’t go!

I couldn’t say what was in my heart. Chu Kong pulled me over to the well. He didn’t say anything and kicked me into the Circle of Reincarnation.

Wait, wait! That’s ten copper coins, ah! Ten copper coins, ah!

Comments:

I’m beginning to like Yanwang. He’s really a fox. He really knows how to get to Chu Kong XD

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