When Lin Fuqing woke up the next day, it was dawn.
The Demon Lord frowned, held his forehead, and sat up.
The medicine from the Golden Osmanthus Palace was indeed very good. After taking it, he felt almost fine.
With a cleansing spell, he removed the blood from his white clothes. Then he bit his hairband in his mouth, gathered his long hair, and neatly tied it. After finishing, he calmly stood up, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened last night.
He positioned Ji Na so that he was sitting on the ground. Half of Ji Na’s soul was imprisoned in his sea of consciousness, unable to wake up without his permission.
Lips raised, Lin Fuqing woke Ji Na up, who immediately looked at him in despair.
He smiled, saying, “Holy Son, please rest assured in your retreat. There’s no need to send me off.”
Ji Na hatefully said, “I will kill you with my own hands.”
Lin Fuqing nodded seriously. “I’ll wait for you then.”
Then he walked down the Mountain, Sea, and Stars Terrace, bid farewell to several Ziwei elders, and went left through the main gate.
As he was leaving, an elder politely asked if he wanted to borrow a millet boat. Lin Fuqing thought about it, and with a smile, said that it’s not far and he’ll fly back on his own.
Ziwei Pavillion was built atop a mountain, and the leaves around it were dyed a bright red and yellow. The disciples opened the double-door for him, and a quiet, long wind rushed past.
He closed his eyes and looked at the sunlight scattered through his eyelids. The wind brought the scent of grass and trees.
This time, he hadn’t killed anyone.
He’d achieved the two things he’d been seeking.
When he opened his eyes, his vision was clear. He slowly made his way down the long steps on the mountain road, his footsteps sounding crisp in the morning air.
The dark shadows around him slowly faded away, replaced by brightness and warmth.
Under the sunlight, the demonic shadows that had entangled him for nearly a hundred years seemed reduced, slowly disappearing behind him.
How wonderful.
He raised his hand and was about to call Tunan, but suddenly stopped. Lin Fuqing was startled, having noticed a figure waiting at the bend of the mountain road in the distance.
A very familiar figure.
Fang Zhiyuan was leaning against a rock with his arms folded around his long sword. His head was slightly raised, as if looking at the white clouds in the sky.
His hair, usually a little messy, was blown by the wind. Lin Fuqing couldn’t see his expression clearly; he could only see his pleasing profile and his thin lips.
He just…
Stood there all night?
A sharp pain stabbed through Lin Fuqing’s heart, and his feet grew leadened.
He knew that Zhiyuan had always regarded him as an immortal in the clouds.
But what was the reality?
More than a hundred years ago, he became stained by dirt.
He had killed Ji Na, the Saint of Ziwei who had devoted himself to the world, and his hands were stained with blood.
He had concealed the divination results that the late Ziwei Pavilion master Ruan Mingtong had exchanged his life for, and hidden the source of the calamity predicted by the Purple Star Astrolabe.
He had forged Ji Na’s last words and deceived all living beings in the three realms for three whole years.
He was too arrogant when he was young. With the Sanche Qingfeng sword in hand, he dared to kill the glorious stars and behead the God of Heaven. Fearless and greedy, he felt that if he didn’t grab fate in hand, he would not be able to achieve the perfection he sought.
He wanted his little calamity star, but he also wanted peace on earth.
In the end… he exhausted all his efforts but failed to change his fate.
The calamity that befell the immortal world became the greatest catastrophe, and countless innocent cultivators became demonized and died. The war continued, and all lives were destroyed.
The karma of the entire three realms had long been weighing on him. He was a demon, a disaster, and the worst of all evils. He was so filthy and disgusting, yet he still refused to repent…He wasn’t worthy.
And Fang Zhiyuan…
At the steps in front of the mountain, Fang Zhiyuan turned around as if he’d sensed something. His eyes brightened. “Shige.”
He was still holding the paper goose that Lin Fuqing had sent him last night.
Using light skills, Fang Zhiyuan appeared in front of Lin Fuqing within two steps, hugging him without speaking.
Lin Fuqing’s eyebrows softened, and he leaned on Fang Zhiyuan’s shoulder. Smiling and sighing, he said, “You’re so warm.”
After the calamity, the immortal realm was full of turbulence. The major sects were only concerned about protecting themselves, while independent cultivators slaughtered each other, leaving blood and corpses everywhere.
Fang Zhiyuan, the calamity star long despised by the immortal world, rose up in times of crisis. He first wiped out the filth in the three major families, and then put aside past grudges to unite the five continents of the immortal world. He protected countless low-level cultivators with his Huangyang Sword.
You are warm.
You are the light, you are the savior.
For a long time, the Demon Lord felt a certain panic whenever he thought of the Immortal Sovereign.
During his last period of escape, he often wondered whether he was still worthy… of being held in the arms of his little calamity star.
Until today, he had finally deviated from the first mistake of his past.
He can be kept warm without having to worry about getting others dirty.
The dim light of dawn enveloped their two figures, and their shadows intertwined and stretched out on the mountain road.
Fang Zhiyuan held Lin Fuqing’s shoulder and asked anxiously, “Is everything okay? How is Ji Na? What did you do all night?”
Lin Fuqing said seriously, “Ji Na has entered seclusion once more. Last night, we watched the stars and chatted… I was very happy.”
He actually wasn’t lying. He’d watched the stars in the illusion within his sea of consciousness. He’d chatted with Ji Na, although the content was a bit scary.
As for the truth, of course, it could not be said
What else could he do? Should he tell Zhiyuan that, in the previous life, the reason for the immortal calamity, where so many had died or went mad, the Xuyun Sect was disbanded, their fellow disciples scattered, and he, the senior brother, fell into the demonic path and ended up tortured beyond recognition due to the backlash of yin qi–all of it was because Zhiyuan didn’t die at the age of 19?
Lin Fuqing felt that this was unfair and unreasonable.
Back then, on the Mountain, Sea, and Stars Terrace, everything was just a matter of a thought. He was the one who wouldn’t let Zhiyuan die, he was the one who had killed Ji Na, and he was also the one who brought disaster to the immortal world… Fang Zhiyuan was unaware of this from the beginning to the end, and he had nothing to do with it.
If Fang Zhiyuan knew this, he would surely make the same choice as he did on the fishing boat when he was twelve years old.
Therefore…it was wholly unfair and completely unreasonable to let Zhiyuan bear this sin.
This was his own sin, and he should bear the consequences himself.
“Is that so?” Fang Zhiyuan lifted his eyebrows, then frowned at Lin Fuqing in mocked anger. “I stood here fearfully all night, and you were watching the stars with others on the Mountain, Sea, and Stars Terrace? Hmmm?”
Lin Fuqing smiled and said, “Yes, yes… I know I was wrong, so I brought you an apology gift.”
Fang Zhiyuan repeated, “…An apology gift?”
Lin Fuqing took out an egg from his Qiankun bag.
He held it in both hands and said seriously, “Here.”
A baffled expression flitted across Fang Zhiyuan’s face.
The egg in Lin Fuqing’s hand suddenly shook and cracked.
A furry, wet newborn chick tumbled with difficulty out of the broken eggshell.
Its body was covered with light purple fur, its little red feet unable to stand steadily. With a faint chirp sound, it fell in Lin Fuqing’s palm.
Fang Zhiyuan’s expression turned horrified.
What was the meaning of this?
His shige accompanied Saint Ziwei to the Mountain, Sea, and Stars Terrace and brought him back an egg?!
And a bird even hatched from this egg?!
After calming down and taking a closer look, Fang Zhiyuan became even more surprised. He pointed at Lin Fuqing’s palm and said, “Isn’t this the Divine Purple Luan bird? The one you bought at the Golden Toad House. Wasn’t it a dead egg?”
“Look.” Lin Fuqing showed a mysterious smile and brought the weak, pitiful and helpless baby bird closer to Fang Zhiyuan. “Look, isn’t it cute?”
Fang Zhiyuan felt indescribable. However, it was rare for his shige to give him something, and a living thing at that, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, “It’s…cute.”
As soon as it was brought in front of Fang Zhiyuan’s face, the newly hatched Divine Purple Luan bird flapped its wings wildly,screaming “chi chi chi chi” non-stop, as if it wanted to peck the person in front of it to death.
Lin Fuqing pretended not to see it and said, “It seems to like you very much.”
Little Divine Purple Luan bird: “Chiji! Chijijichiji!!”
Lin Fuqing urged, “Sign a master-servant contract with it, and it will be yours.”
Fang Zhiyuan was speechless.
He suspected that Lin Fuqing was playing him for a fool.
Lin Fuqing added, “Give it a name?”
Fang Zhiyuan coughed and said, “Well, you…get up.”
He thought cruelly to himself that as long as his shige was willing to peacefully go back to Xuyun with him, he was willing to pretend to be a fool.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t see that Lin Fuqing was hiding something from him. However, since Lin Fuqing was determined to hide it, he could pretend that he didn’t hear or see anything.
Little Divine Purple Luan bird: “Chichichichichichichi—”
Lin Fuqing hummed. “Why not just call it Xiaoji? Jiji? Xiaojiji”
The little divine purple luan bird trembled and instantly quieted.
Fang Zhiyuan wasn’t sure if he was imaging it, but he thought that there had been a look of humiliation in the bird’s black bean-sized eyes.
Lin Fuqing was still holding the bird, frowning and wondering, “Ji’er? Ahji? Jijiji? No, I think I should call it Xiaoji.”
“….Shige.”
Fang Zhiyuan turned his gaze away and casually said, “Since it was born in front of Ziwei Pavilion, why not name it… Ziwei?”
“……!”
Heart sinking, Lin Fuqing struggled to keep his expression unchanged.
He said, “Okay, then let’s call it Ziwei.”
Fang Zhiyuan brought the little bird over to him and signed a master-servant contract with an expressionless face, feeling it imprinting on his soul.
Lin Fuqing felt a little regretful and guilty.
Zhiyuan had always been extremely sensitive to details, and Lin Fuqing didn’t know whether the name Ziwei was just a coincidence. He was a little too proud of himself, he should have been more cautious about this matter.
In fact, the truth was that he was just confident that Zhiyuan was unwilling to question him…
That was right. The Demon Lord had injected Ji Na’s soul into the egg. Now, the little fellow chirping in Fang Zhiyuan’s hand had the soul of the holy and noble Saint Ziwei.
Unfortunately, for a long time to come, it could only be a divine purple luan bird named Ziwei.
A rumbling sound shattered through the sky. A dark shadow gradually loomed closer, revealing a familiar shape. In the whistling wind, Ling Fuqing looked up and saw the eye-catching dragon head and phoenix wings, recognizing it as Song Youdu’s millet boat.
Lin Fuqing asked in surprise. “You asked Little Fifth to pick us up?”
Fang Zhiyuan asked in a deep voice, “Will you go back with me this time?”
Lin Fuqing’s expression slightly shifted, and he suddenly remembered that, during this time in the previous life, he had also ended up on the long steps of the mountain road in front of Ziwei Pavillion. The night was darker than usual, and rain was pouring. He was surrounded by a group of Ziwei elders.
Fang Zhiyuan had rushed up, soaking wet. He looked for him, with a fierce and anxious fire between his brows, and none of the Ziwei Pavilion disciples could stop him.
And he… he stood tall and far away, and said to Zhiyuan with great pain, “Return. I won’t go back with you.”
But this time.
He could finally say what he had truly wanted to say to his little calamity star.
“Of course. After being delayed for so long, it’s time to go back.”
Lin Fuqing spoke softly. Song Youdu’s face on the millet boat in the sky was already clearly visible, and he waved his hand.
“Da Shixiong!”
“Da Shixiong, Second Shixiong!”
Several heads popped out from above. In addition to his fellow disciples, there was even that little demon boy Shentu Linchun. It looked quite lively up there.
While watching the millet boat slowly descend, Lin Fuqing approached Fang Zhiyuan and whispered, “A’Yuan, become a Taoist partner with me and retire to Taiqing Island.”
“Okay…” Fang Zhiyuan responded absentmindedly,seemingly lost in thought, before finally reacting. He turned around in surprise, “Huh?”
When he turned around, he saw Lin Fuqing raising the corners of his eyes triumphantly and smiling at him with pursed lips.
The snow-white robe and the warmth in his eyes all melted in the faint morning light, looking very beautiful.