Chapter 12: Chapter 12
Qiwan was quick to ask for forgiveness, fearing it was her who had angered the Exiled Goddess, but Honglie just moved on to the next sentence.
“So, young one, you seek the whereabouts of this Yingshang.”
Qiwan nodded. Honglie did not question their relationship nor what she wanted out of meeting the God of Mischief.
“My Lady, I just wish to see him one last time.”
“Young one, you do know that in return for any transactions I help to make here, I will ask for one favour from you. You don’t have a hundred thousand years of cultivation, nor any of the treasures from the Jade Emperor’s palace. Why do you think I would help you?”
Qiwan’s face paled. Surely Honglie wouldn’t reject her outrightly like that? With her lowly ranking among the immortals and her perceived dependency on her Lord Father by the , she had nobody but Honglie to turn to. She trembled in a disoriented state, concerned on what she should do next, given Honglie would not consider her request.
She opened her mouth to implore Honglie, but she knew clearly there was nothing she could do. Unless anything changed, but even if she was to return to the Nine Heavens to find something valuable enough in exchange for Honglie’s help, she didn’t know if she could make it in return to the Cave of Lost Gods. Such a journey could only be done once.
Just as she thought it was all over, Honglie’s voice intruded into the quietness of the room.
“What about we make a deal? I help you get what you want, but you will be in my debt. Then one day, when I call upon you for this personal debt, you have to do what I asked for.”
Qiwan’s lips trembled. Honglie’s request was such an unknown one that she didn’t know if she was about to risk the lives of others by giving Honglie her word. Particularly her beloved father’s, or even her companions’. She had already risked theirs by insisting on the voyage.
As if Honglie could read her mind, she suddenly said, “Don’t worry. I will not ask you to hurt anyone. Not your father, not those two who came with you here, and not innocent lives.”
Qiwan didn’t dare to ask Honglie how she knew, or if she could read her mind, but she just nodded and gave Honglie the affirmative. Just one more time, she told herself, and she would be freed from her unhealthy obsession for someone who she couldn’t be with.
“You will have to make the trip alone. Once you have achieved what you want, I will claim what I want from you.”
Honglie’s eyes sparkled with an unexplainable desire. Her curly hair swayed as she strolled around the chamber. She owned a particular elegance, yet nobody knew the reason for her exile. Did she trigger Empress Wangmu, the Jade Emperor’s wife’s jealousy? Or were there deeper, darker secrets that were forbidden for even the regular immortal to know?
Whatever it was, Qiwan only needed to focus on getting the deed done. During the period she was immersed in cultivation and reading, she was intentionally avoiding the problems in her heart. Her longing and infatuation for someone who hadn’t come to look for her all this time, although a part of her wished to believe it was because of his punishment. He hadn’t dated his letter to her.
All of this seemed such a mystery.
At Honglie’s instruction, Qiwan strode into the inner circle of a circular platform overlooking the magical mirror. She watched earnestly as Honglie recited an inaudible mantra repeatedly. The sensation of something that felt like magical energy washing over her, encompassed her. Honglie had blessed her with some sort of magic, which she didn’t quite understand due to her young age.
A magical hourglass materialised slowly. Once the colourful sands in the hourglass stopped flowing, Qiwan would be whisked into the place Yingshang was, to which she didn’t even ask Honglie the whereabouts.
“What about my companions, My Lady?” she asked Honglie, realising there wasn’t much time.
“They will be fine. They will find their way home.” The exiled goddess swished her hair seductively behind her back.
As the last speck of coloured sand spilled into the bottom of the hourglass, everything faded to oblivion before her eyes. In just minutes, she would be in a different place. Whatever happened in the past, soon it wouldn’t matter anymore. Soon, it would be all over.
As Qiwan reappeared in a strange world, she missed the insidious laughter of the exiled goddess. Whatever thoughts resided in the goddess’ mind, nobody would ever come to know.
With a loud splash, Qiwan ended up in a clear pond. Her entire body ached, like she had literally been walking during the teleportation. In addition, the teleportation past thousands of worlds had caused her delicate robes to shred.
Her weakness hindered her from shielding her modesty. Gathering up her strength, she looked upwards. It was night, and she was in a very familiar place. If this was the mortal realm, she must have been here before. But her head felt so heavy that she couldn’t remember. The more she contemplated her previous appearance in the place, the more her head hurt.
The breeze was cold on her bare body, adding to the chilliness of the pond water in which she was submerged partially. Her mind whirred terribly, dizzy from all the travelling. Also, she was so exhausted that she felt she could collapse anytime. As immortal as she was, she still needed a definite number of hours of sleep. The travelling had deprived her of all her godly energy.
Then, everything blurred before her eyes as she fell into an unconscious state.
…………………………………………………………
“Wan-er?”
To be able to see the man she had been missing day and night, would have been pleasing to one’s eyes and ears. But for Qiwan, she needed answers. She was relieved, more than happy, to see Yingshang.
His long dark hair was now a pale silver. Qiwan knew for a god to have silver hair, he either suffered some kind of punishment, possibly a curse or had had his powers awakened to a point that he even had to carry his silver hair while serving his punishment.
For Yingshang, it was probably a mix of all the possibilities. Probably he was already a High God in disguise, but none of his victims nor his father’s subjects needed to know. He had successfully kept it hidden from his Lord Father all this time, for his father to perceive him as the useless son that he had.
The Jade Emperor had many sons and daughters. Like Qiwan, Yingshang was the youngest. He was the rule-breaker and rebel that enamoured Qiwan’s attention. Qiwan had, at her lowest point, wanted to let Yingshang lead her by the reins, commit herself to sin but the memories of Fang Yiqi in her mind hindered her from doing so. But after this one last time with Yingshang, she knew it was an eternal goodbye.
“Wan-er,” he repeated in his bewilderment, “What brings you to the mortal realm?”
So, indeed it was the mortal realm, Qiwan inhaled slowly, not a word leaving her cherry lips. Under the blankets, she found herself naked, just as she was in the water earlier.
“Brother Shang.”
She began to cry, after all she had been through. This was the time, and probably the only chance for her to pour out all her feelings to him. All the love she had been hiding in her heart all the while and her heartfelt pain, all streamed down her cheeks like a waterfall.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, Wan-er. You’re here with me, that’s all that is important now,” he whispered and drew her into a kiss. A kiss that was tenacious enough for her to remember throughout a few lifetimes.
Her body stiffened. She recognised the kiss as the same kiss she had shared with that mortal in her half-forgotten memories.
Fang Yiqi. Had she loved him before or not? But was he really Fang Yiqi? Or was he actually Yingshang in disguise? It suddenly dawned upon her of the probability that it was him who had disguised himself in the mortal realm in her past memories. He had said, her past didn’t matter to him, could it have been because he was Fang Yiqi?
His touch streaked through her, drawing her deeper into him.
Whether he was Fang Yiqi or Yingshang, it didn’t matter to her right now. She desperately tugged on his robes, eager to complete what they left unfinished.
She wouldn’t regret her decision.